I’m in Tianjin, China, visiting the Kiev, a legendary 1970s Soviet aircraft carrier. Once the pride of the Soviet fleet, it was sold off in 1996 and is now a Chinese Theme Park. 😞 At 45,000 tons and 273m long, it’s a little smaller than the USS Midway, which I visited in San Diego a […]
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Tianjin: The Kiev
September 12, 2023
Tibet: Mount Kailash
September 4, 2023
Holy Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva, sacred to a billion Hindus, site of holy pilgrimage. I was only visiting as a tourist, but I saw others making the sacred kora circuit around the mountain. The Chinese government isn’t issuing visas to Indian citizens this year, but I saw a modest number of non-Indian Hindu […]
Tibet: Everest
September 1, 2023
We started with a distant view of Everest, from the Pang La pass. The pass is at 5159 meters and offers stunning views on a clear day. And today was clear! The next shot is a (relative) close-up from the Rongbuk Monastery. This now hosts the so-called “Tourist Base Camp” which is as close as […]
Uzbekistan: The Aral Sea
May 18, 2023
I’m in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, visiting the Uzbek arm of the Aral Sea. I had visited the Kazakh arm of the sea in 2015, so I was curious to see the Uzbek side. Unfortunately there was heavy rain the night before the trip, so the normally extremely bad dirt tracks became extremely muddy, extremely bad, dirt […]
Mount Nemrut: Decapitated Gods
May 9, 2023
In the first century BC, King Antiochus of Commagene built a shrine on Mount Nemrut featuring rows of giant enthroned gods. Including himself, naturally. Sadly, later visitors did not approve. The gods were decapitated and their heads are now arranged in a neat line in front of the thrones. When or why the decapitations […]
Göbeklitepe: Ancient Monoliths
May 8, 2023
I was out at the Göbeklitepe neolithic site in SE Turkey today. It has a set of monumental structures using stone monoliths, dating from roughly 9500 to 8000 BC. Yikes. That’s totally ridiculously old. It makes Stonehenge look modern. It probably pre-dates agriculture, which causes archaeologists’ brains to implode. There are an estimated twenty […]
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