At the Shrine of Sachal Sarmast, Sindh

Tracking down rarities and wonders—one pin at a time

Welcome to places saved, a collection of entries, stories, photos and guides from mostly less-considered destinations. With the launch of Google’s ‘Saved Places’ function, large swathes of my world map were quickly smothered in pins: remote, dusty ruins, dazzling shrines, tombs, temples and churches, most pins placed to steer future routes. Here, they’re for sharing some special corners of the world I’ve been lucky enough to visit over the years, partly in hopes of inspiring others, passers-by like yourself, to add from my map of saved places to yours. Enjoy!

At the Shrine of Sachal Sarmast, Sindh

Travel Entries

Quest for the Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar

Anthon Jackson
Sehwan Sharif, Pakistan

Big kettle drums boomed from the blackness beyond Sehwan's station, where a sea of red fairy lights strung from pilgrims' tents stretched toward the central shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, where the lights glimmered brighter. The urs, Pakistan's greatest, was set to begin the next day, but the party had already started.

Venice Gold: The Treasures of Saint Mark’s Cathedral

Anthon Jackson
Venice, Italy

The 'skip-the-line' line appeared longer than the regular line outside Saint Mark’s Cathedral. The storm that had gathered all morning had just broken, as had the umbrella I'd bought for five euros nearby. Brooding over the piazza ahead, the dazzling portal seemed ages away....

The Twin Cathedrals of Aarhus

Anthon Jackson
Aarhus, Denmark

At Aarhus' cathedral, the superlatives flow: tallest in the country, longest, with the largest frescoes, votive ship, stained-glass window, organ. And it’s among the oldest in use in all Scandinavia, its Romanesque precursor having opened in the late 12th century. But it isn’t the oldest in town….

Qusayr ‘Amra and Jordan’s ‘Desert Castles’

Anthon Jackson
Jordan

A stone's throw from the runway at Amman's Queen Alia Airport I'd spotted the first on my list of Jordan's 'desert castles,' studding the empty Badia to the east: a little-visited, motley array of middle-of-nowhere caravanserais, lodges and Umayyad palatial pavilions long left to the desert...

Umm ad-Dami & the Bedouin of Wadi Rum

Anthon Jackson
Southern Jordan

The afternoon sun was sinking into the tops of the ochre cliffs as we burst south of Wadi Rum village, bounding along a highway of tracks in the sand in Salman’s old truck, subtly shifting the wheel to dodge dunes and shrubs. He hurriedly poked at his phone. The network wouldn’t last...

Cimitero delle Fontanelle & Naples’ Cult of the Dead

Anthon Jackson
Naples, Italy

Northwest of old Naples, an ordinary driveway leads to a gaping chasm in the hillside over La Sanità: the enormous Cimitero delle Fontanelle, a vast quarried cave packed tightly with the remains of tens of thousands of Neapolitan souls.