Tramping along the Heaphy Track
One…two, three, four. One… two, three, four. One foot in front of the other, in a steady rhythm, we moved forward, up into the clouds. We were trekking along the mountain’s edge or as New Zealanders prefer to call it, tramping. For five days in the northwestern corner of New Zealand’s South Island, we would […]
Laos Jungle Papaya Salad
Leeches are not in my OK list. I know they are technically harmless, but the idea of a tiny worm turning into a giant blood-filled slug at my expense is not convincing. There is no rationality to this of course, which is how I ended up trekking in dense 35 degrees jungle heat wrapped from […]
Along the Tea Horse Trade Route in Shaxi 沙溪
“冬日暖阳 – winter days with warm sun.” – Chinese saying The white sun burns my skin against the brisk air. It is early morning in Shaxi. All is quiet save for the sound of a set of old wooden wheels rolling over lose stones. It smells clean in that winter weather kind of way. I […]
Village Retreat in Jiaju 甲居
The driver drops us off at the entrance to the village. We are on foot from here on. The dust puffs out from under our steps as we walk towards the sloping hills, terrace upon terrace of fields descend steeply towards the deep canyon below. The Tibetan architecture pops out from the green background, little […]
What lies behind the gorge in Langmusi
Nature, always inartistic, takes pleasure in creating the impossible. – Jerome K. Jerome I can no longer tell if the white smoke is from my own breath or the million chimneys that surround us. Billowing fumes fight against the frosty air and warm patches of wet grass seem to be steaming from the ground up. […]
Conquering the Fann Mountains
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity…” – John Muir Most people who actually know where to pinpoint Tajikistan on a map have heard of the mountainous wonders of the Pamir Highway, a recurring destination listed on many adventurers’ […]
Likya Yolu – Hiking the Lycian Way
So far on our journey, we have generally proceeded without too much planning, not sure of where we will go next, when, how we would get to our next destination, happy to follow the unexpected. There are a few exceptions to this and one of them was the Lycian Way. One of our favourite methods […]
