I finally succumbed to temptation and took a cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula. I saw a great range of wildlife: many, many humpback whales, a pod of killer whales, a leopard seal, great hordes of swaggering Gentoo penguins, some shyer Adelie penguins, many chinstrap penguins, wandering albatrosses, petrels, and more. The scenery, with ice bergs, […]
Browsing Posts in Travel
Antarctica: Graham Land
February 3, 2015
Caracas Supermarkets
December 23, 2014
Venezuela has a mix of nationalized and private businesses, but all with strong state controls. So I was curious to visit some Caracas supermarkets. I started at a large private supermarket. This had a decent range of imported and local foods, but there were many surprising gaps: no milk, no basic flour, no basic cheese, […]
Tibet: Everest Base Camp
October 28, 2014
Tibet has been on my target list for many years. I finally made it! I took the train in from Lanzhou to Lhasa and then overlanded out to Kathmandu, with a short detour to the Chinese Everest Base Camp, up at 5180 meters (16990 ft). We drove up from Shegar and got to EBC shortly […]
Ukraine: Soviet ICBM Base
July 11, 2014
You enter through the basement blast doors and then ride the tiny elevator 11 levels down into the armored control silo. You and one of your comrades man the launch control consoles. A quick consultation, then 1-2-3 you each turn your launch key and simultaneously push your launch button. And the SS-24 ICBM roars into […]
Chernobyl Tour
July 10, 2014
Touring Chernobyl feels distinctly odd. The name conjures images of a doom-ridden wasteland, but the reality is very different. Even deep inside the exclusion zone there is generally only low radioactivity, roughly the same as normal background, and it has turned into a pleasant green wilderness, marred only by a scattering of decayed buildings. We […]
Buddhist Elista
July 2, 2014
I’m in Elista, in South-West Russia, Europe’s largest (only!) Buddhist city. A Pagoda, a Golden Temple, stupas, a giant golden Buddha statue, assorted Buddhist art. And amazingly few tourists. Elista is home to the Kalmyks, a western arm of the Mongols, who settled in the plains North of the Caucasus in the 17th century. They’ve […]
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