After a year and 52 pictures, we are proud to present our Photo of the Year, the image that most captured the imagine of The Travel Word and a group of external judges: the Dazzling Colours of Sunset, the Maldives. Exactly one year ago, we started featuring one picture each week on The Travel Word. We spotlighted favourite images pulled from our growing collections on Flickr. We also asked the photographer or owner to submit a short and revealing text about it. These text-image combinations have proven to be very popular.

It came as a triple whammy for which no one was prepared: Tuesday’s major undersea earthquake in the South Pacific triggered a devastating tsunami in Samoa and American Samoa; two pummelling tectonic shakedowns on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have produced heaps of rubble; all while the world deplored the wind- and water-lashed aftermath of last weekend’s Typhoon Ketsana, which slammed into the Philippines.

On 1 October 2009, Urban Adventures opened a whole new world to travellers yearning to unlock the secrets of some of their favourite urban centres. A global range of city-based tours, Urban Adventures is a franchise-based network of local tour operators specialising in high-quality experiential tour and activity services.

The news from Samoa Islands is heartbreaking. On early Tuesday morning, triggered by a powerful undersea earthquake (8.0 in magnitude), a towering tsunami struck with disastrous consequences. Three surges were reported, with waves of up to five or six metres reaching almost two metres higher than sea level. “At this time [late afternoon on Tuesday…