This is not just your ordinary tale of backpackers seeing the world. The scene is the late 1980's in South East Asia - before Internet, before cell phones, before instant communication around the world. Two budget backpackers (Andrew and Kirsten) are trying to see the world on the cheap - pinching pennies by staying in ratty cockroach infested hostel dorms and quickly running out of money. Then Andrew discovers a money belt full of money and … [Read more...]
No Rest for the Weary – Trekking in Ala Archa, Kyrgyzstan
Armed with a variety of informative paragraphs gleaned from Goats on the Road, A Monk Bought Lunch, Backpacking Man and Wandering Earl and not much else in the way of plans we set off to explore the beautiful country of Kyrgyzstan. After 36 hours of planes and airports I landed in the warm air and darkness of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan at 5am. Hopping into a taxi where I was treated to music from the band Abba, silence from the driver after … [Read more...]
Parahawking in Pokhara
We flew from San Francisco to Kathmandu and spent a couple of days there to acclimate before we flew to Pokhara to experience a life changing experience, parahawking. Pokhara is a destination for paragliders and there are many companies that offer a paragliding experience. Scott Mason, a British national offers a unique experience, paragliding with a trained bird of prey. Scott, an avid paraglider, started Blue Sky Paragliding in part … [Read more...]
Learning to Breathe
Long time Photojournalist Alison Wright has traveled to the far corners of the planet photographing endangered cultures and people. Her work has been dangerous at times - including covering demonstrations that became violent in Nepal. And she has certainly been involved in a number of mishaps in her career. But this story is not about those adventures. It is about a horrific crash involving a bus she was in and a logging truck on a windy … [Read more...]
Conned By An Entire Community?
We'd been in Nepal's bustling capital city less than 24 hours. In what has become routine upon arriving in a new city, I was up around sunrise eager to wander out and explore the streets of a place that's been a dream of mine for over a decade. Like every other SE Asian country's capital, Kathmandu's streets are chaotic. Chaotic, I said. The roads are awful. Resembling heavily bombed strips of concrete, the streets are extremely fractured and … [Read more...]
A Quotable Vacation, Nepal
Tihar, or Diwali, came and went last week and I went to Pokhara for a mini vacation. After a rainstorm, dinner at a Nepali family’s house, and an impromptu whiskey with an old friend passing through Kathmandu, Kendra and I headed out to Pokhara via microbus on Tuesday morning. A day of travel on each end, we spent three full days in the town and it was a relaxing respite. We didn’t realize we chose to travel on the biggest day of the Diwali … [Read more...]
Body Laotian
John M. Edwards sings the Buddha electric, embarking on a quest in the Laotian capital for the world’s most unique body posture. People thought I was a lunatic for coming all the way to Laos, a landlocked nation without any beaches, for a “vacation”? Even I thought I was out of my mind. After a couple of days lying on the wavy grass in the hazy egg-yolk-shaped sun of Vientiane, a Southeast Asian Wild West boomtown, though, I was bronzed … [Read more...]
Back to the Wonderful City of Angels
We flew in last night over a sea of lights spread as far as one could see. It was Bangkok - one of the planet's greatest cities. At midnight along Sukhumvit it was a mix of lights, traffic and people wandering the streets in search of sleep, sex and alcohol. This latest visit was a throwback for me offering a nostalgic reflection on my first trip to the Kingdom in 1996 (on the way to Nepal). Then as now, we landed at Don Muang airport. I … [Read more...]
Possible Himalayan Trek to Sikkim
I've been to India several times already; earlier this year I secured a 10 year multiple entry visa, for more exploring within this amazing country. We visited Chennai in July for my sister's wedding - as expected, the weather was hot and humid - frequent dips in the pool made the weather more bearable. It was nice to visit Southern India for the first time - although we were missing the mountains. A few years ago we got to experience the … [Read more...]
Huaraz, Peru
In every inspiring natural creation there is a realism that speaks to you. In every moment on a mountain you find it more and more. You discover yourself in ways not possible through other means. This stays with you and guides you for the rest of your life. May everyone have this chance at least once. ~ Dave Remember, the key to getting high is not "the herb", but rather time spent acclimatizing ~ Dave Huaraz (population … [Read more...]
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