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In Bulgaria I went to the Valley of the Thracian Kings, so called because several Thracian royal tombs have been unearthed there since 1965. The most famous tomb is located in the town of Kazanluk. We walked through the terraced Tylube Park to see mural paintings of the Kazanluk Vault which are considered to be masterpieces of Thracian paintings of the end of the 4th century.

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The Fourth King of Bhutan, its longest ruling monarch, whose pictures I saw everywhere in that country, as he continues to play a dominant role even after abdicating in favor of his son, married three additional wives after his first wife, all three sisters and all at the same time in 1979.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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A map of Khmer in its golden years is on prominent display in the Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace with a saying by the country’s most revered king, Jayavarman VII: “The King was suffering from the disease of the subjects more than his because it is the pain of the people which makes the pain of the King and not his own one.”

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As we shopped for souvenirs, I struck up a conversation with the owners of three small stalls who were friends. The man was Croatian, one of the women was from Slovenia and the other was a Bosnian Muslim.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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In the little bazaar behind the flower market in the center of Zagreb, I met a surprising remnant of the Socialist times.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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... under the paternal gaze of John Paul II.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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In the imposing new door of Ljubljana’s Cathedral I saw a symbol of efforts by religion to come back from the communist times. The scenes on the massive iron door which was installed in 1997, depict the history of the Catholic Church in Slovenia.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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Tito's statue.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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Tito's house.

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There the village of Kumrovec is maintained as an “open door museum” to illustrate how life was around the turn of the 20th Century when Josip Broz, alias Tito, was born.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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... a rural landscape of exceptional beauty.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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Farms are not far beyond the Croatian capital Zagreb’s city limits. Zagria to the northwest...

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A nearby museum commemorated this feat that in 1943 saved the lives of about 4,000 wounded partisans. Today it was closed and looked in a state of disrepair.

Photo essay: Travel Literature

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