Author Archives: awtytravels
Monochrome Kashgar.
I had plans for more stories from Xinjiang; however, the more I try to put pen to paper the more I realise I don’t want to add words to what I’ve already said. What I do have are some photos. … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, China
Tagged Army, Arrests, Asia, Border, Border patrol, Brainwashing, CCTV, Central Asia, Chairman, Chen, Chen Quanguo, China, Concentration camps, Foreigners, Id Kah, Irkeshtam, Irkeshtam border, Islam, Islamist, Jiefang, Kashgar, Kashgar old town, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan - Xinjiang, Land crossing, Mao, Mosque, Mountains, Music, People, Peter Robb, Photography, Police, Qomuz, Re-education camps, Religion, Repression, Soldiers, Street photography, Surveillance, Terrorism, Tourism, Travel, Truck, Turkestan, Turkic, Urban photography, Urumqi, Uyghur, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Zedong
13 Comments
Nobody speak. A Xinjiang journal.
Why coming here? I loathe the term dark tourism. Yet why am I here? I’m not an activist, a journalist, somebody with a higher sense of purpose. My only answer is because it’s there. Because I want to see it with my own eyes. … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, China, Kyrgyzstan
Tagged Army, Arrests, Asia, Border, Border patrol, Brainwashing, CCTV, Central Asia, Chairman, Chen, Chen Quanguo, China, Concentration camps, Foreigners, Id Kah, Irkeshtam, Irkeshtam border, Islam, Islamist, Jiefang, Kashgar, Kashgar old town, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan - Xinjiang, Land crossing, Mao, Mosque, Mountains, Music, People, Peter Robb, Photography, Police, Qomuz, Re-education camps, Religion, Repression, Soldiers, Street photography, Surveillance, Terrorism, Tourism, Travel, Truck, Turkestan, Turkic, Urban photography, Urumqi, Uyghur, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Zedong
41 Comments
From dusk till dawn. Life in the Pamirs.
In my teens and early twenties this place would’ve been hell. Life in a tiny village where farm animals outnumber men by a wide margin. Where the main past-time is to sit down and watch the clouds move around Pyk … Continue reading
Posted in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Tagged Alpine, Asia, Central Asia, Children, Clouds, Cow, Cube, Goat, Grass, Hitchhike, Hitchhiker, Hitchhiking, Huckleberry, Izba, Kids, Kyrgyz, Kyrgyzstan, M41, Mountain pass, Pamir, Pamir Highway, Pamirextreme, Pass, People, Photography, Sary Tash, Snow, Summer, Switchback, Travel, USSR, Village
19 Comments
A Huck Finn state of mind.
What does it feel like to be floating on the mighty Mississippi with no worries but where to moor for the night? How does it feel to be absolutely unconstrained by timescales, worries or need-to? In a nutshell, what does it … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Tagged Aeroflot, Airplane graveyard, Airport, Alpine, Antonov, Asia, Basmachi, Breakdown, Central Asia, Clouds, Container, Cube, Daewoo, Finn, Fuel, Gagarin, Gulcha, Hitchhike, Hitchhiker, Hitchhiking, Huck Finn, Huckleberry, Ilyushin, Kamaz, Kyrgyz, Kyrgyzstan, M41, Mark Twain, Marshrutka, Matiz, Mountain, Mountain pass, Osh, Osh airplane cemetery, Osh airport, Osh Bazaar, Pamir, Pamir Highway, Pass, People, Photography, Rubik's, Sary Tash, Shared Taxi, Statue, Summer, Switchback, Taldok, Taxi, Travel, Truck, USSR, Village
24 Comments
Mountains, alleys and oppression. A taste of what’s to come.
It’s been my hardest trip. It’s the one I’ve been the sickest, the loneliest, the most confused and bewildered. But it’s also been a source of endless grins, of unexpected solutions to sudden problems, of sweeping views and of deep, … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tagged Alley, Almaty, Central Asia, Kashgar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mao, Mao Zedong, Mountains, Old town, Oppression, Osh, Pamir, People's Republic of China, Sary Tash, Summer, Turkestan, Xinjiang, Zedong
10 Comments
High and dry – Atacama Travelogue, Part III.
Laguna Chaxa lies at the end of more off-road fun, a few kilometres of track dug into the soft sand and salt of the salar. Here there are no bathing tourists, only pathways scraped in the blinding whiteness of the … Continue reading
Posted in Americas, Chile
Tagged America Latina, Andes, Antofagasta, Argentina, Atacama, Atacamenos, Bolivia, Calama, Camion, Carabineros, Cejar, Chaxa, Chile, Clint Eastwood, Copper, Cordillera de la Sal, David Gilmour, Desert, Desierto, Enel, Flamenco, Flamingo, Lagoon, Laguna, Latin America, Licancabur, Lithium, Minerary, Mines, Monjes, Monjes de pacana, Moon Valley, Mountains, Nissan, Norte, Norte Grande, NP300, Piedra de Coyote, Plaza, Pueblo, Ruta, Salar de Atacama, San Pedro, San pedro de Atacama, Sky, Sun, Truck, Valle de la Luna, Volcano
14 Comments
High and dry – Atacama Travelogue, Part II.
Our hostal lies at a crossroad on the edge of town. Go right and it’s ruta 23, the lagunas, Socaire and, ultimately, Argentina. Go straight on ruta 27 and again it’s the Argentinian border, as well as the Bolivian one. … Continue reading
Posted in Americas, Chile
Tagged America Latina, Andes, Antofagasta, Atacama, Atacamenos, Calama, Cejar, Chaxa, Chile, Clint Eastwood, Copper, Cordillera de la Sal, David Gilmour, Desert, Desierto, Enel, Flamenco, Flamingo, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kunza, Lagoon, Laguna, Latin America, Licancabur, Lithium, Minerary, Mines, Moon Valley, Mountains, Nine Inch Nails, Nissan, Norte, Norte Grande, NP300, Pampa Union, Piedra de Coyote, Pueblo, Salar de Atacama, San Pedro, San pedro de Atacama, Sergio Leone, Sky, Sun, Valle de la Luna, Volcano, Vultures, Wind turbines
25 Comments
High and dry – Atacama Travelogue, Part I.
It’s said to be the driest desert in the world outside of Antarctica. So dry that certain riverbeds haven’t seen a drop of water in more than 120,000 years, some weather stations have never recorded any rainfall and, even where … Continue reading
Posted in Americas, Chile
Tagged America Latina, Andes, Antofagasta, Atacama, Atacamenos, Calama, Chile, Clint Eastwood, Copper, Cordillera de la Sal, David Gilmour, Desert, Desierto, Enel, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kunza, Latin America, Licancabur, Minerary, Mines, Moon Valley, Mountains, Nine Inch Nails, Nissan, Norte, Norte Grande, NP300, Pampa Union, Piedra de Coyote, Pink Floyd, Pueblo, Salar de Atacama, San Pedro, San pedro de Atacama, Sergio Leone, Sky, Sun, Valle de la Luna, Volcano, Vultures, Wind turbines
12 Comments
“Midnight in Sicily” by Peter Robb, Vintage.
Much in the same way that those who learn a language end up with a much deeper knowledge and command of its grammar than the natives, it’s also true that foreigners can, if they live someplace long enough, get to … Continue reading
Posted in Books review, Odd ones out
Tagged Andreotti, Borsellino, Christian Democrats, Cosa nostra, DC, Falcone, Giulio Andreotti, Mafia, Midnight in Sicily, Peter Robb, Robb, Sciascia, Sicily, Vintage, Vintage books, Vintage Press
2 Comments
Pacific skies.
I lied. I said that the last post was going to be the final one from Rapa Nui, but here’s another. The fact is that to go to Rapa Nui and not to be mesmerised by its skies is 100% … Continue reading
Posted in Americas, Chile
Tagged Ahu, Ahu Akivi, Ahu Tahai, Blue, Chile, Clouds, Crab, Dark, Devil Almight Blues, Easter Island, Gold, Isla de Pascua, Light, Ocean, Orongo, Pacific Ocean, Photography, Photos, Rain, Rapa Nui, Sky, Storm coming down, Sun, Sunrise, Sunset
12 Comments
