Here is a little hint..........
Friday, May 8, 2009
guess where?
As I will be away for my birthday in October (no surprises there!) I will let you try and guess where I will be on the day.
Here is a little hint..........
Here is a little hint..........
Thursday, April 30, 2009
wings, wheels and a rudder.
Now I have actually booked my flight it feels more real. So I have begun to sort out some of the finer details.
I fly to Buenos Aires on September 17th, and then a few days later I fly up to Iguacu Falls. These amazing waterfalls border 3 countries - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. I will stay overnight in Argentina, cross the river into Brazil and then later walk over a bridge into Paraguay.
Then I head to the capital of Paraguay, Asunción, by bus for a couple of days and then fly to Montevideo in Uruguay. From there I bus it across to Colonia where I catch the ferry back to Buenos Aires.
A couple of days or so later I will probably fly to Mendoza so I can experience crossing the Andes to the capital of Chile, Santiago, by bus. The scenery is supposed to be spectacular.
From Santiago I head south by bus, stopping here and there (including the still active Volcano Villarrica which I hope to climb) until I get to Punta Arenas in southern Patagonia. From here I want to travel across to Tierra del Fuego.
Then it's a little north to Torres del Paine in Chile for a 7 day camping trek through the mountains, followed by another trip across the border back into Argentina to the Los Glaciaros National Park and the spectacular Mount Fitz Roy. After that I fly back to Buenos Aires for a couple of more days before heading home.
It might seem a little over-planned - but I intend to maximise every day I have for the 6 weeks.
trip route (click to enlarge)
I fly to Buenos Aires on September 17th, and then a few days later I fly up to Iguacu Falls. These amazing waterfalls border 3 countries - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. I will stay overnight in Argentina, cross the river into Brazil and then later walk over a bridge into Paraguay.
Then I head to the capital of Paraguay, Asunción, by bus for a couple of days and then fly to Montevideo in Uruguay. From there I bus it across to Colonia where I catch the ferry back to Buenos Aires.
A couple of days or so later I will probably fly to Mendoza so I can experience crossing the Andes to the capital of Chile, Santiago, by bus. The scenery is supposed to be spectacular.
From Santiago I head south by bus, stopping here and there (including the still active Volcano Villarrica which I hope to climb) until I get to Punta Arenas in southern Patagonia. From here I want to travel across to Tierra del Fuego.
Then it's a little north to Torres del Paine in Chile for a 7 day camping trek through the mountains, followed by another trip across the border back into Argentina to the Los Glaciaros National Park and the spectacular Mount Fitz Roy. After that I fly back to Buenos Aires for a couple of more days before heading home.
It might seem a little over-planned - but I intend to maximise every day I have for the 6 weeks.
trip route (click to enlarge)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
uncharacteristically vacillatory
I know I had set my mind on Iran.
What you didn't know was that after that post below I had had a change of mind and then decided I really must do the Baltoro Glacier Trek in North Eastern Pakistan.
"What...are you MAD??!!" is the usual exclamation at this point - followed by lots of words like Taliban, bombs, hostage, death, etc.
But really, if you stopped listening to or reading the utter drivel pumped out by moronic journalists who regurgitate snippets of gossip and hearsay, embellished with puerile globs of their own bigoted and ill informed ideas about places they have never been to, don't understand and probably cannot even spell; then sure it probably isn't the best place to go.
There is a great deal of hysteria whipped up about Pakistan which serves various powers' vested interests in certain wars being fought in certain neighbouring countries.
Much of North Eastern Pakistan I believe has, in its remoteness and isolation, continued along much as it has always done unaffected (and possibly unconcerned) about troubles around the Afghan border.
The North Eastern Frontier of Pakistan has to have some of the most beautiful and extraordinary scenery of anywhere in the world. Try Google Image searches for any of the following: Baltoro Glacier, Mashabrum, K2, Hindukush, Hunza Valley, Trango Towers, Rakaposhi and Fairy Meadows, and you will see what I mean.
The North Western Frontier.........well I wouldn't go there for quids. Full of bloody wackos.
The Pakistan trip was all but a reality - to the extent that I had even bought the Pakistan/Karakorum Highway Lonely Planet. But something held me back.
Possibly the fact that I had absolutely no money.
But also I realised that if I was to get there it was most likely to be mid to late September and I know that the high pass, Gondogoro La, would be getting seriously tricky by late September. At the best of times one needs crampons and ropes to get over it.
So 2 days ago I went online to see if Pakistan flights had (wistfully) come down in price - when a small ad by Qantas caught my eye.
It said - "Sydney - South America - AU$1033.00 (incl.taxes)
It seems unbelievable. Usually these offers come with a swag of conditions such as: you must leave on a Thursday at 3.30am, travel in a group of 25 or more, stay 2 days, travel with a canoe and your name must be Nigel.
I quickly entered a couple of random dates around September - and sure enough, it was genuine.
I have had an Argentina/Chile trip semi planned in the back of my head for quite a few years - but getting to South America from Sydney was always very expensive. So this was too good to miss.
Guess what I'm spending my Economic Stimulus Package bonus on?
Thanks Kev.
Here are a few photos from the web to show why I am going:
(click photos to enlarge)
torres del paine at sunrise
cerro torre, los glaciares national park
iguacu falls
perito moreno glacier
patagonia
volcano villarica (must climb...must climb...)
mt fitzroy
I'll do Pakistan next year.
What you didn't know was that after that post below I had had a change of mind and then decided I really must do the Baltoro Glacier Trek in North Eastern Pakistan.
"What...are you MAD??!!" is the usual exclamation at this point - followed by lots of words like Taliban, bombs, hostage, death, etc.
But really, if you stopped listening to or reading the utter drivel pumped out by moronic journalists who regurgitate snippets of gossip and hearsay, embellished with puerile globs of their own bigoted and ill informed ideas about places they have never been to, don't understand and probably cannot even spell; then sure it probably isn't the best place to go.
There is a great deal of hysteria whipped up about Pakistan which serves various powers' vested interests in certain wars being fought in certain neighbouring countries.
Much of North Eastern Pakistan I believe has, in its remoteness and isolation, continued along much as it has always done unaffected (and possibly unconcerned) about troubles around the Afghan border.
The North Eastern Frontier of Pakistan has to have some of the most beautiful and extraordinary scenery of anywhere in the world. Try Google Image searches for any of the following: Baltoro Glacier, Mashabrum, K2, Hindukush, Hunza Valley, Trango Towers, Rakaposhi and Fairy Meadows, and you will see what I mean.
The North Western Frontier.........well I wouldn't go there for quids. Full of bloody wackos.
The Pakistan trip was all but a reality - to the extent that I had even bought the Pakistan/Karakorum Highway Lonely Planet. But something held me back.
Possibly the fact that I had absolutely no money.
But also I realised that if I was to get there it was most likely to be mid to late September and I know that the high pass, Gondogoro La, would be getting seriously tricky by late September. At the best of times one needs crampons and ropes to get over it.
So 2 days ago I went online to see if Pakistan flights had (wistfully) come down in price - when a small ad by Qantas caught my eye.
It said - "Sydney - South America - AU$1033.00 (incl.taxes)
It seems unbelievable. Usually these offers come with a swag of conditions such as: you must leave on a Thursday at 3.30am, travel in a group of 25 or more, stay 2 days, travel with a canoe and your name must be Nigel.
I quickly entered a couple of random dates around September - and sure enough, it was genuine.
I have had an Argentina/Chile trip semi planned in the back of my head for quite a few years - but getting to South America from Sydney was always very expensive. So this was too good to miss.
Guess what I'm spending my Economic Stimulus Package bonus on?
Thanks Kev.
Here are a few photos from the web to show why I am going:
(click photos to enlarge)
torres del paine at sunrise
cerro torre, los glaciares national park
iguacu falls
perito moreno glacier
patagonia
volcano villarica (must climb...must climb...)
mt fitzroy
I'll do Pakistan next year.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
return to rightful owners.
Fifty years ago today, Tibetans in Lhasa were erecting barricades as part of the March 10th 1959 uprising against the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Around 86,000 Tibetans died in the badly outnumbered and short lived rebellion.
(Click here for a current statement by H.H. the Dalai Lama on the anniversary.)
In memory of the most incredible and beautiful country I have been to I want to add some notes from my journey there in 2002.
Often in defence of China, people will state that the Chinese have brought improved education, health and other benefits to the people. They also say the people were living a downtrodden feudal existence before the Chinese "liberated" them. These spurious arguments are naive and often made by people who have never even set foot in the country and have not witnessed the reality of the lives of Tibetans both in the past and the present day.
The truth is - Tibetans are third class citizens in their own country. During my trip across part of Tibet I witnessed several things that made me realise just how subjugated the Tibetans have become to their Chinese masters.
One was the subsidising of Chinese restaurants and businesses in order to make Chinese goods and services much cheaper, thus trying to price Tibetan businesses out of the market.
Another being the Tibetan written language, with regards public signage etc, which has been relegated to a very small scale in comparison to the Chinese characters. Also Chinese is now the official spoken language.
spot the Tibetan script (photo source)
lhasa shop
Once when driving across the Tibetan plateau we stopped to spend the night in a small town called Tingri - basically 40 - 50 mud brick dwellings scattered either side of the highway. On telegraph poles either end of the town were loudspeakers. All day long these blared out Chinese music, news and radio. You couldn't avoid it.
It reminded me of a scene from Scorsese's amazing film KUNDUN where immediately after the Chinese invasion of Lhasa, loud speakers are set up all over the city playing Chinese propaganda.
The young Dalai Lama comments "They have even taken our silence".
edge of tingri
tingri - the one horse town
Another moment during the trip, our group was waylaid on a coach back from visiting some ruined monasteries by some very officious looking Chinese officials. We were shepherded by them out of the coach and into what can only be described as an almost finished, newly built monastery. We were then all led around by officials into various parts of the buildings including a place where around a dozen monks were seated going through the prayer rituals.
However, the entire building and grounds felt horribly fake and sterile, and the monks looked uncomfortable and unhappy. As we, by that stage, had already visited numerous genuine and very old monasteries, the whole experience left everyone in the group feeling unpleasant and wanting to get the hell away from there.
This structure and our forced viewing was clearly meant to represent the generous nature of the Chinese in promoting and rebuilding Tibetan culture. It felt as plastic and as cheap and soulless as Disneyland.
a genuine one - ganden monastery
and another - samye monastery ( we stayed overnight here)
(Click here for a current statement by H.H. the Dalai Lama on the anniversary.)
In memory of the most incredible and beautiful country I have been to I want to add some notes from my journey there in 2002.
Often in defence of China, people will state that the Chinese have brought improved education, health and other benefits to the people. They also say the people were living a downtrodden feudal existence before the Chinese "liberated" them. These spurious arguments are naive and often made by people who have never even set foot in the country and have not witnessed the reality of the lives of Tibetans both in the past and the present day.
The truth is - Tibetans are third class citizens in their own country. During my trip across part of Tibet I witnessed several things that made me realise just how subjugated the Tibetans have become to their Chinese masters.
One was the subsidising of Chinese restaurants and businesses in order to make Chinese goods and services much cheaper, thus trying to price Tibetan businesses out of the market.
Another being the Tibetan written language, with regards public signage etc, which has been relegated to a very small scale in comparison to the Chinese characters. Also Chinese is now the official spoken language.
spot the Tibetan script (photo source)
lhasa shop
Once when driving across the Tibetan plateau we stopped to spend the night in a small town called Tingri - basically 40 - 50 mud brick dwellings scattered either side of the highway. On telegraph poles either end of the town were loudspeakers. All day long these blared out Chinese music, news and radio. You couldn't avoid it.
It reminded me of a scene from Scorsese's amazing film KUNDUN where immediately after the Chinese invasion of Lhasa, loud speakers are set up all over the city playing Chinese propaganda.
The young Dalai Lama comments "They have even taken our silence".
edge of tingri
tingri - the one horse town
Another moment during the trip, our group was waylaid on a coach back from visiting some ruined monasteries by some very officious looking Chinese officials. We were shepherded by them out of the coach and into what can only be described as an almost finished, newly built monastery. We were then all led around by officials into various parts of the buildings including a place where around a dozen monks were seated going through the prayer rituals.
However, the entire building and grounds felt horribly fake and sterile, and the monks looked uncomfortable and unhappy. As we, by that stage, had already visited numerous genuine and very old monasteries, the whole experience left everyone in the group feeling unpleasant and wanting to get the hell away from there.
This structure and our forced viewing was clearly meant to represent the generous nature of the Chinese in promoting and rebuilding Tibetan culture. It felt as plastic and as cheap and soulless as Disneyland.
a genuine one - ganden monastery
and another - samye monastery ( we stayed overnight here)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
10,000
is the number of visitors to this blog as of today.
I lost the page counter on the blog's first page and don't know why it stopped working after 18 months or so. Fortunately I have also been running a smart little programme called "Google Analytics" which allows me to track the blog site via an interesting collection of varying data. (Interesting that is for those types that find numbers and graphs interesting!)
Although it does NOT allow me to know WHO is accessing the blog it can tell me some interesting things such as in the last 3 months:
- there were 1,288 visitors
- 57% were first time visitors
- 30% had visited 200 times or more (THAT surprised me!)
- they came from 454 different cities around the world
cities accessing the blog
- 69% used Firefox whilst
- 25% used Internet Explorer
- search engine keywords that led them to the blog included:
* "closing down" "soaps" "guest soaps"
* has anybody driven from vinales to trinidad?
* blundstone boots dangerous in icy conditions
It's a relief to know there are actually people out there looking!!
I lost the page counter on the blog's first page and don't know why it stopped working after 18 months or so. Fortunately I have also been running a smart little programme called "Google Analytics" which allows me to track the blog site via an interesting collection of varying data. (Interesting that is for those types that find numbers and graphs interesting!)
Although it does NOT allow me to know WHO is accessing the blog it can tell me some interesting things such as in the last 3 months:
- there were 1,288 visitors
- 57% were first time visitors
- 30% had visited 200 times or more (THAT surprised me!)
- they came from 454 different cities around the world
cities accessing the blog
- 69% used Firefox whilst
- 25% used Internet Explorer
- search engine keywords that led them to the blog included:
* "closing down" "soaps" "guest soaps"
* has anybody driven from vinales to trinidad?
* blundstone boots dangerous in icy conditions
It's a relief to know there are actually people out there looking!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
remembering sue
I know I am in danger of turning this blog into a memorial, but I wanted to mark the passing of a close and longtime friend of 20 years who took her life 9 years ago today.
Sue Howard was a very talented Sydney painter who won several awards for her work. I really felt that at the time of her death she was just hitting full stride with her creative development.
sue in my Paris studio
She and I met when we both worked at the 'salubrious' Old Spaghetti Factory in the Rocks, Sydney in 1980. (A nasty fast food joint that churned out third rate pasta for the masses.)
We clicked immediately as we both shared a love of artmaking and travel.
Many years ago she and I discussed how great it would be to be able to buy a little house in the south of France and settle there to live and make work. My desire was little more than a whim really, but Sue went ahead and did it. Unfortunately the fantasy was a long way from reality and she had many years of hardship because of it.
In 1995 I was awarded a studio through the Art Gallery of NSW to live and work in Paris. This was an incredible opportunity to spend quality time in a city that I have been to many times and love dearly. It turned out to be one of the best times of my life. Every day all I had to think about was either making art or wandering the streets of Paris investigating its lanes and alleyways, monuments and cafes.
the studio workspace
The studio was situated in the Cite Internationale des Arts, on the banks of the Seine right alongside Ile St. Louis (the smaller of the two islands) on the edge of the Marais. My studio was on a corner of the building that housed around 250 or more different ateliers. From my windows I could see the Seine, a beautiful old Palais and a Gothic arts library.
view from studio
night view from window
view from window
The Cite, I believe, has around 300 studios in several locations around Paris and they provide live in residencies for artists across all media - visual artists, writers, musicians, singers, dancers etc. My neighbours included a Swiss sculptor, a Croatian painter, an American Opera Singer and a Romanian concert pianist.
some friends made
One afternoon there was a knock at my studio door and when I answered there was Sue. She had travelled up from Italy where she had been staying to Sue-prise me! I almost fell over. It was incredible to be able to spend some time with her in that amazing city.
small abstract by sue (oil on paper 20c x 18cm)
(poor photo quality - taken under glass.)
Sue Howard was a very talented Sydney painter who won several awards for her work. I really felt that at the time of her death she was just hitting full stride with her creative development.
sue in my Paris studio
She and I met when we both worked at the 'salubrious' Old Spaghetti Factory in the Rocks, Sydney in 1980. (A nasty fast food joint that churned out third rate pasta for the masses.)
We clicked immediately as we both shared a love of artmaking and travel.
Many years ago she and I discussed how great it would be to be able to buy a little house in the south of France and settle there to live and make work. My desire was little more than a whim really, but Sue went ahead and did it. Unfortunately the fantasy was a long way from reality and she had many years of hardship because of it.
In 1995 I was awarded a studio through the Art Gallery of NSW to live and work in Paris. This was an incredible opportunity to spend quality time in a city that I have been to many times and love dearly. It turned out to be one of the best times of my life. Every day all I had to think about was either making art or wandering the streets of Paris investigating its lanes and alleyways, monuments and cafes.
the studio workspace
The studio was situated in the Cite Internationale des Arts, on the banks of the Seine right alongside Ile St. Louis (the smaller of the two islands) on the edge of the Marais. My studio was on a corner of the building that housed around 250 or more different ateliers. From my windows I could see the Seine, a beautiful old Palais and a Gothic arts library.
view from studio
night view from window
view from window
The Cite, I believe, has around 300 studios in several locations around Paris and they provide live in residencies for artists across all media - visual artists, writers, musicians, singers, dancers etc. My neighbours included a Swiss sculptor, a Croatian painter, an American Opera Singer and a Romanian concert pianist.
some friends made
One afternoon there was a knock at my studio door and when I answered there was Sue. She had travelled up from Italy where she had been staying to Sue-prise me! I almost fell over. It was incredible to be able to spend some time with her in that amazing city.
small abstract by sue (oil on paper 20c x 18cm)
(poor photo quality - taken under glass.)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
the plan as it now stans...
Further consideration of my next trip i have expanded the idea to cover two of Iran's neighbours - Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
I have long harboured the desire to see Bukhara and Samarkand, so this seems like the perfect opportunity. Turkmenistan popped up as it is sandwiched between the two places I want to see.
Preliminary investigation seems to suggest that Turkmenistan will be the most difficult to organise. It appears the simplest visa to obtain is the transit visa which gives you about 3 - 5 days to skip across the country (which in itself seems to suggest there is not a tremendous amount to see in the place...)
I have found a place called Merv which has considerable historical significance, but a quick Google image search shows Merv is a long way to go for not a great deal.
So the plan so far is to fly to Iran - preferably Shiraz (to avoid backtracking), then continue on to Isfahan, Qom, Tehran and Mashhad in Iran, cross to Ashkabat in Turkemneistan and head overland to Darvaza in the middle of the Karakum desert.
Then I cross the border at Urgench and hopefully visit Khiva before heading down to Bukhara, Samarkand and finally ending in Tashkent. Will then try and fly to Norway and London en-route home.
proposed route (click to enlarge)
bukhara (photo source)
the registan, samarkand
I have long harboured the desire to see Bukhara and Samarkand, so this seems like the perfect opportunity. Turkmenistan popped up as it is sandwiched between the two places I want to see.
Preliminary investigation seems to suggest that Turkmenistan will be the most difficult to organise. It appears the simplest visa to obtain is the transit visa which gives you about 3 - 5 days to skip across the country (which in itself seems to suggest there is not a tremendous amount to see in the place...)
I have found a place called Merv which has considerable historical significance, but a quick Google image search shows Merv is a long way to go for not a great deal.
So the plan so far is to fly to Iran - preferably Shiraz (to avoid backtracking), then continue on to Isfahan, Qom, Tehran and Mashhad in Iran, cross to Ashkabat in Turkemneistan and head overland to Darvaza in the middle of the Karakum desert.
Then I cross the border at Urgench and hopefully visit Khiva before heading down to Bukhara, Samarkand and finally ending in Tashkent. Will then try and fly to Norway and London en-route home.
proposed route (click to enlarge)
bukhara (photo source)
the registan, samarkand
Friday, January 9, 2009
germinating...
Now is as good a time as any to begin thinking about my next trip.
There are about a dozen potential plans sitting quietly in the back of my head - it's a matter of deciding which are the most desirable/practical/logical.
Kilimanjaro was a good example of all three. At my advancing age I seriously need to consider which places require greater physical stamina than others - and do them first! The Trans - Siberian rail trip has been on the back burner for years - but lets face it - I could be loaded onto a train in a hospital bed in my 90's to do a 10 day rail trip.
But I think I have settled on the next choice: Iran.
These images helped convince me!
landscape
(photo from here)
history (palace of persepolis)
islamic architecture (nasir-ol-molk_mosque shiraz)
mountains to climb (mt. damarvand)
Well - the idea has been planted - let's see what this year brings!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
hippo histrionics
As mentioned earlier, this is the piece of filming I was doing when we were under threat from a hippo in the Serengeti!!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
phurther photos...
kili climb day one in the rainforest
neil and terry kili day one
kili breakfast day two
kili day two - porters' trail
kili day three - terry in the trees
kili day three landscape
kili day three landscape
the breakfast wall
neil resting kili day four
kili trail day four
hippo pool lake manyara
acacia thorns - detail
the beloved baobab
dik-dik tarangire national park
stonetown harbour zanzibar
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