Tag Archives: Mountains

Saving a corner of wilderness.

Posted on 29/09/2020 by awtytravels

Regulars of this blog will know that I originally hail from NW Italy. I was born in Piedmont but spent a lot of time in neighbouring Val d’Aosta (also known as Almost Switzerland). A region of glaciers, woods, gurgling streams, … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Italy, Uncategorized, Val d'Aosta | Tagged Alps, Annamaria Gremmo, Aosta, Cime Bianche, Climate change, Conservation, Francesco Sisti, Italy, Last wild valley, Marco Soggetto, Mountains, Ski, Skiing, Val d'Aosta, Vallee d'Aoste, Vallone selvaggio, Wild, Wildlife | 22 Comments

About home.

Posted on 01/07/2020 by awtytravels

Slowly, with a lot of very British dithering and even-more-British bursts of anti-social behaviour, our society is opening up. A few days ago, I went on the Tube: my first public transport ride since mid-March. Pubs are rumoured to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Italy, Piemonte | Tagged Alpi, cafetiere, Carabinieri, Cat, Coronavirus, Covid, Italia, Italy, Local news, Lockdown, Mountains, Piedmont, Piemont, Piemonte, Rutger Hauer, Snow, Tractor, Trivero, Valle Cervo | 22 Comments

Looping the Glen.

Posted on 01/05/2020 by awtytravels

Full circle. We’ve come full circle. Trekking has been my family’s only past time: it’s understandable if, like homing pigeons, we felt its call, the urge to get up and go, shoulder the pack and get out early, when it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Scotland, UK | Tagged Affric, Alba, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Caledonian, Caledonian forest, David Williams, Deer, Dudley Marjoribanks, Glen, Glen Affric, Highlands, Hiking, Inequality, Isolation, Lake, Land ownership, Loch, Lodge, MacRae, Mountains, Pippa Middleton, Refuge, Ross, Scot pine, Scotland, Snow, Stag, Strawberry cottage, Travel, Trekking, UK, Winter | 31 Comments

EOY Reviews, NY objectives.

Posted on 26/12/2019 by awtytravels

If you’re employed in a company you’ll be familiar with this period of the year: ’tis is the season when CEOs are wheeled out of their offices to recite a speech outlining everything that you minions have delivered and to … Continue reading →

Posted in Random memories, Reflections | Tagged 2019, 2019 in pictures, Asia, Atacama, Central Asia, Chile, China, Crimes, Desert, Driving, Easter Island, End of Year message, Europe, Hitch hike, Hitchhiker, Iceland, Kamaz, Kyrgyzstan, Milky Way, Mountains, Offroad, Orcas, Photography, Rapa Nui, Recap, Road Trip, Sary Tash, Sea, Snow, Summary, Travel, Travels, Turkestan, Whale watching, Winter, Wrap-up, Xinjiang | 22 Comments

Travels in Italy’s 11th most-visited region.

Posted on 06/10/2019 by awtytravels

There are twenty regions in Italy (or perhaps it’s only 19; Molise’s existence, much like dark matter, is still a matter for debate); together in 2018 they hosted a whopping 429 million tourists, half of them foreigners (of whom at … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Italy, Piemonte | Tagged Alba, Alps, Art, Asti, Autumn, Barbaresco, Barbera, Barolo, Belvedere, Beppe Fenoglio, Biella, Cattle, Cuneo, DOC, DOCG, Dogliani, Europe, Granda, Hills, Horse, horses, Italia, Italy, La Morra, Langhe, Llama, Mare, Modern Art, Monforte d'Alba, Montezemolo, Mountains, Occitania, Piedmont, Piemont, Piemonte, Prealps, Roero, Stallion, Torino, Tourism, Turin, Wine, Winery | 17 Comments

There were…

Posted on 02/10/2019 by awtytravels

…a rhino, a wedding, a few horses and a running llama. They all were here, in the same region. It’ll all make sense. Hopefully.

Posted in Italy, Piemonte | Tagged Biella, Europe, Italy, La Morra, Langhe, Mountains, Photography, Piedmont, Piemont, Piemonte, Tourism, Travel | 9 Comments

Monochrome Kashgar.

Posted on 04/09/2019 by awtytravels

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, Xinjiang | 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 | 15 Comments

Nobody speak. A Xinjiang journal.

Posted on 17/08/2019 by awtytravels

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, Xinjiang | Tagged Army, Arrests, Asia, Border, Border patrol, Brainwashing, CCTV, Central Asia, Chairman, Chen, Chen Quanguo, China, China Cables, Concentrated Education and Training, 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 | 44 Comments

Mountains, alleys and oppression. A taste of what’s to come.

Posted on 22/07/2019 by awtytravels

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.

Posted on 18/07/2019 by awtytravels

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 →