A masked fighter dressed as a convict gives me the evil eye at a wrestling match in La Paz, Bolivia.

Bolivia, La Paz, El Alto

The smashed sunglasses of a murdered police officer are displayed as a tribute in the Shanghai Museum of Public Security.

China, Shanghai, Shanghai Museum of Public Security

A magnificent mandrill watches me taking photos at Singapore Zoo.

Singapore, Singapore Zoological Gardens

A golden bodhisattva stands before the enormous Great Buddha Dordenma statue in Bhutan, just outside the city of Thimphu.

Bhutan, Thimphu, Great Buddha Dordenma

Looking across the surreal frozen landscape of Argentina’s most famous glacier, Perito Moreno.

Argentinia, Los Glaciares National Park

‘Man en Schapp’ (Man and Sheep) is a sculpture by Dutch artist Merijn Bolink, and is in a pond between Flevoparkweg, the Zeeburgerdijk and the Zuiderzeeweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Netherlands, Amsterdam

Sculpture 'Brown-nosers' by Czech sculptor David Černý in Prague’s Futura gallery.

Czech Republic, Prague, Futura gallery

Mourners carry a red silk banner over their heads as they walk ahead of the coffin at a funeral ceremony in Tana Toraja, Indonesia.

Indonesia, Sulawesi, Tana Toraja

A land iguana feasts on a prickly pear cactus in the Galápagos.

Ecuador, Galápagos islands

A skull on a white marble tombstone looks like it’s bathed in blood at the fabulous Beth Haim cemetery in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, on the outskirts of Amsterdam.

Netherlands, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Beth Haim

The equestrian statue of Bishop Absalon in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the spire of St Nicholas Church in the background.

Denmark, Copenhagen, St Nicholas Church

Over 1,000 red pyramids in Plaza Juárez, in front of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs building in Mexico City.

Mexico, Mexico City, Plaza Juárez

A wild Celebes crested macaque watches me take photos in Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Indonesia, Sulawesi, Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve

Beautifully painted and sculpted rooftops in Deoksugung, a walled compound of palaces in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korea, Seoul, Deoksugung

Inca Uyo in Chucuito, south of Puno, is a Peruvian temple with an impressive collection of stone penises.

Peru, Chucuito, Inca Uyo

A statue of the Hindu legendary bird, Garuda, at Haw Par Villa, Singapore’s strangest theme park.

Singapore, Haw Par Villa

A collection of antique confetti packets – as used by revellers during New York City’s famous ticker tape parades – in Brooklyn’s most offbeat museum, the City Reliquary.

USA, New York City, The City Reliquary

A man from the Korowai tribe chops down a sago palm, deep in the West Papua wilderness.

West Papua, Korowai tribe

A stone mermaid squirts jets of water from her breasts in Guatemala’s most unusual fountain.

Guatemala, Antigua, Fountain of the Mermaids

The famous lights at Ebisu Bridge in Dōtonbori, Osaka, shimmering in the Dōtonbori Canal.

Japan, Osaka, Dōtonbori

The Monument to the Equator in Ecuador’s Ciudad Mitad del Mundo that supposedly straddles the centre of the Earth.

Ecuador, Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

Lipstick kisses left by visitors to Oscar Wilde’s tomb in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.

France, Paris, Père Lachaise Cemetery

A wall of memorials to the dead in a hillside graveyard in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, Shek O, Dragon’s Back trail

A button spy camera at the Stasi Museum in Berlin, Germany.

Germany, Berlin, Stasi Museum

A metal trash can lid is transformed into a piece of cheerful, surreal art in Barcelona’s Fundacio Joan Miró gallery, Spain.

Spain, Barcelona, Fundacio Joan Miró gallery

Two women carry bamboo logs along a remote countryside trail in Bhutan.

Bhutan, Punakha district

The Shanghai Marriage Market is a weekly event for those unlucky in love. Set in the People’s Park in People’s Square, the weekend market sees concerned parents and grandparents setting up umbrellas, to which they attach details of their unmarried offspring.

China, Shanghai, Shanghai Marriage Market

A village elder gets the party started at a pig festival in the Baliem Valley, West Papua.

West Papua, Baliem Valley, pig festival

A curious penguin checks out my camera on Martillo Island, Argentina.

Argentinia, Martillo Island

Looking down on the cobbled backstreets of Porto, Portugal, from the iconic Dom Luís I Bridge.

Portugal, Porto, Dom Luís I Bridge

A traditional Dani tribal hut in the Baliem Valley, West Papua, Indonesia.

West Papua, Baliem Valley

Ancient paintings at the Inka Mach’ay cave, Bolivia.

Bolivia, Sucre, Inka Mach’ay cave

A wild silvered leaf monkey in Bako National Park, Sarawak (Borneo), Malaysia.

Malaysia, Sarawak, Bako National Park

The Himalaya mountains viewed from my airplane window as I flew from Bumthang to Paro in Bhutan.

Bhutan, Eastern Himalaya

Thousands of paper cranes outside the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan.

Japan, Hiroshima, Children’s Peace Monument

A memorial to Thích Quảng Đức, the Buddhist monk who burned himself to death in an act of protest in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Thích Quảng Đức memorial

Wartime graffiti on a prison cell door in the EL-DE Haus in Cologne, Germany.

Germany, Cologne, EL-DE Haus

A macaque licks an ancient stone statue in Ubud Monkey Forest, Bali.

Indonesia, Bali, Mandala Suci Wenara Wana (Monkey Forest)

Life bustles on a miniature scale in the Tokyo Origami Museum, Japan.

Japan, Tokyo, Tokyo Origami Museum

A woman passionately kisses a corpse in an ancient relic on display in the Larco Museum in Lima, Peru.

Peru, Lima, Larco Museum

The beautiful Gyeongbokgung in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korea, Seoul, Gyeongbokgung

A faded photograph looks like a ghost haunting a family tomb in Bori’ Parinding, Tana Toraja, Indonesia.

Indonesia, Tana Toraja, Bori’ Parinding, ghost portrait

An ancient skull elongated by cranial deformation or head flattening, displayed in the Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Museum of Anthropology) in Mexico City.

Mexico, Mexico City, Museo Nacional de Antropología

Abandoned stone cherubs in a locked storeroom in the tower of the Church of Our Saviour, Denmark.

Denmark, Copenhagen, Church of Our Saviour

Three teenage boys change their dead grandfather’s clothes during a macabre death ritual in the highlands of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Indonesia, Tana Toraja, ma’nene ritual

A flapping tube man, designed to look like a cathedral candle, advertises religious offerings in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City.

Mexico, Mexico City, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

A young macaque looks like he’s in trouble with a bigger monkey at the world’s most famous primate party, the Lopburi Monkey Buffet Festival in Thailand.

Thailand, Lopburi, monkey buffet festival

A grey crowned crane in Jurong Bird Park, Singapore.

Singapore, Jurong Bird Park

The Isla de las Muñecas (Island of the Dolls) is home to hundreds of rotting, mouldy and crushed toys, which were fished from the waterways to appease the angry spirit of a girl who drowned nearby.

Mexico, Xochimilco, Island of the Dolls

A woman from the Korowai tribe carries her sleeping baby in a mesh bag on her back, deep in the Indonesian wilderness.

West Papua, Korowai tribe