Bhutan: windows and doors | orange & grey

For Rob,who calls these "Ben's Doors"

Bhutan: windows and doors

Lingmethang. June 16th. The days were mercifully overcast; very warm and very muggy- but not the 40+ (104 F) weather of the weeks prior.

Bhutan: girls

  

Bhutan: boys

 

a little out of focus...

Bhutan: awesomest airport in the world

Jakar. Has all the necessities: short runway, fire engine, 1-room pine bark terminal with control tower.

Bhutan:gho

In Bhutan, men employed by the government and those visiting temples or partaking in formal activities must wear the traditional gho. More refined than the black robes of the Khamba, the style was introduced in the 1600s as part of a series of measures to create a strong Bhutanese identity and carries over that same utility of the nomad garb: a host of goods and chattels can be stored within its folds just above the belt, normally to include eating and drinking implements.

The robes come in a number of nice prints, usually within a range of tans to reddish browns, with black also very common. You'll notice them in most pictures of people in Bhutan, and I may even try to dig up a photo of myself in one for a future update...

The scarf is a required addition when visiting temples.

Bhutan: at the loom

Thimpu. June 18th.

Bhutan: woodwork

Beautiful. This at the Swiss Guest House in Jakar. Bhutan is a nice mix of Tibet, Switzerland, Colorado, and India... Hopefully one day I'll have time to explain.

Bhutan: prayer flags

You see a lot more of these vertical types, rather than the streamers all across Tibet.

Bhutan

Tip for traveling in Asia: always have plenty of passport-sized photos on hand.

3 pics of spring

I had never really noticed poplar blossoms until sharing the wonder of spring with Liza Ann.

iPhone 4 pics

3 ways to see Louisiana...

Float plane, Airboat, and Motorboat. Last week I was lucky enough to go on all three to see damage and restoration of marshes, bayou, and assorted wetlands. Didn't take a camera with me, so all I've got are photos taken with my phone.

Snapshots: Karakorum

 

Since I won't have time to write much... here are two more shots from the Karakorum Highway. This is on a hike eastward from the highway, a little south of Kala Kulehu.

These two shots are taken from the same spot- one emphasizing the blue heavens, the other the parched and stony earth. And between- the mountains.

Mapshots...Karakorum

Looking eastward over the route from Kashgar to Tashkurgan. Beyond is the Tarim* basin, filled with the Taklamakan Desert- through  and around which the ancient silk routes flowed and wandered, ebbed and dried like a braided river passing through alluvium- leaving little oasis towns and ghost cities amidst wind and sand; and, to this day, a far more Turkic and muslim culture than Chinese. To the north, unseen on this shot, are the TianShan Mountains, to the south the Kunlun range- northern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau.

Setting out from Xining, far beyond the horizon of this map, we aimed to cover at least the northern crescent route from Lanzhou to Turpan to Urumqi to Kashgar. We had no plan- but vaguely hoped to return by one of the southern routes near the base of the Kunlun Shan, or, maybe cut through the Taklamakan itself. Our goal was to see, taste, smell, hear and experience as much as health and luck would allow in 10 days- when we had to be back in Xining for the start of spring term.

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Kashgar is on the far western end of the Tarim basin, and the road south leads into mildly disputed territory at the confluence of China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In recent years, the Chinese have been investing in improving the route along with other projects in Pakistan. Above is an elevation profile of the road from Kashgar to Tashkurgan. This was the final leg of our outward journey- and it's from here that I'll start sharing the story through maps and photos and, when time allows, a story or two.

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*corrected 2/27/2012: previously I had said it was the Qaidam Basin, which is actually farther to the east and south- an inter-montane basin on the plateau, in Qinghai. Both basins can be read about on Wikipedia.

Snap Shots... Karakorum

March 14, 2009.
I first remember reading about the Karakorum Highway in some book by Robert Kaplan, maybe Eastward to Tartary. We aimed to make Tashkurgan on the Sino-Pak border, but ended up spending the day hiking toward an elusive glacier instead. We were surprised to find a little settlement tucked away in the folds of the foothills approaching the high mountains, and stopped for a little while to visit with the locals... Tajiks, I think, or were they Kyrgyz? I'll have to look back in my notes.

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They built homes, livestock pens, and bridges of beautiful stonework- the only material available to them, really. 

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Xinjiang 2009

Three years ago, Shinay and I and a couple of friends took a spur-of-the-moment train trip through Xinjiang. I've been wanting to write about that trip ever since- but just never have had the time to put it all together. Over the next couple of months I hope to share some snapshots and stories from that time.

This was our route, in red.

Snap shots...Kashgar

Not much time to write these days. Here's a snapshot from a trip to Kashgar in March 2009. This is deep in the heart of the old city, a place slated for bulldozing and replacement with concrete apartment blocks. Not sure if that's happened yet or not.

Stones on grass, Tajin ii

El Tajin, Papantla, Veracruz. December 2005. Pentax K-1000.

Stones and Sky, El Tajin

I had some film processed this past spring after shooting my Pentax in Costa Rica and Peru. I was happy to find some shots from a trip to Mexico in December 2005.

New Year

Charlottesville, 1.1.2012

A beautiful day. Sunny in the morning, upper fifties. Clouded over with a nice breeze late morning, refreshing rain in the late afternoon. It felt more like a warming spring day than the second week of winter.

The sun began to break through the cloud cover. After the rain, before the dark. I biked through the empty streets of Charlottesville on my way to the gym, catching glimpses of a beautiful sunset here and there when the rise of the land and the break of the building lines were just right. Everything was washed clean with rain.