I’ll readily admit that I had this whole fantasy built around the idea of Tibet, the way so many liberal-leaning Westerners seem to. I had also been living in China for nearly a year before I went to Tibet, so I had a pretty realistic view of the Chinese position […]
China
Home away from home.
Tibet Prayer Flags
Tibetan Prayer Flags Prayer flags just like these fly all over Tibetan Buddhist areas throughout China. Because these are blessed, every time they wind catches these flags and casuses them to blow a little bit of positive Karma goes towards the person who hung them. With the number of these […]
Hangzhou’s West Lake
One of the most famous tourist destinations amongst Chinese, Hangzhou’s West Lake is dotted with “scenes” named silly things like “Remnant Snow on the Bridge in Winter” and “Orioles Singing in the Willows.” Though I wont bore you, the reader, with all of them; there are a couple that I […]
Budget: China Travel
This is actually a fairly good representation of costs for budget travel through China. I stayed mostly in hostels where the were available, and had a good split between time in big cities and time out more towards the countryside. This also includes the visa, which is about $140 for […]
An Hour in the Air
For unreasonable reasons, I decided to fly back to Urumqi on my way out of the country. If it weren’t for Shanghai Airlines, I wouldn’t have been around Hotan long enough to this amused: So, perhaps Uigher/ Chinese race relations are still not so hot? As I wait for 5 […]
Sale at the Hotan Bazaar
As I wandered around the Big Bazaar in Hotan, Xinjiang province a couple of street (storefront?) musicians were gracious enough to give me the go ahead to film them playing. If I had known my flight would take off a day late, I probably would have stayed around to watch […]
Hey there! I'm Stephen, this is my travel blog, and that's me in the poofy hat.
I'm a photographer / writer traveling since 2008, and I've been doing my best to visit amazing places.
My current focus is Central Asia, because for a hiking and camping enthusiast it's as good as it gets.