Asia

From Arabia to the "Stans", South-East Asia to India & China

beirut-bleak-graffiti-lebanon
"Last week, a guest was kidnapped," said the guy at hotel reception... Impressions of traveling around Lebanon in January 2024 during the Gaza War.
palindo lore lindu megalith bada valley
Exploring the ancient megaliths of Bada Valley at Lore Lindu, whose origins remain a mystery. Yet, their styling is similar to ancient relics in Laos and Colombia.
angkor wat cambodia 1994
Back in June 1994, the temples of Angkor were deserted and quiet as the Cambodian civil war continued...
hama waterwheels syria 1989
Memories of backpacking around Syria, talking my way into Syria by getting a visa on the border, exploring ancient sights while hitchhiking the desert, and visiting a restricted military zone on the Israeli border, and more.
killing fields skulls in sky cambodia 1994
Surreal account of Cambodia in 1994, visiting the killing fields and S-21 prison when the Khmer Rouge insurgency was raging and Pol Pot was still alive.
haizishan sichuan china
The bleak, high-altitude deserts of Tibetan Sichuan get surreal around Haizishan with a landscape of boulders and small lakes against distant mountains.
hmong hill tribe kids homestay sapa vietnam
In the mountains of Vietnam, I stay with a Hmong family living an ancient lifestyle (barely touched by the modern world in 1994), which included the accepted use of opium.
While the world saw it on TV, I was there in Cox's Bazar amid a deadly cyclone that devastated coastal Bangladesh in 1991, killing 138,000 people.
syrian men halabiye euphrates river
Traveling Syria in 1989, encountering classic Islamic hospitality on a bungled hiking trip to the desert ruins of Halabiye on the Euphrates River.
valli car promotion china
The 'Final Cut' of the Valli car advertisement filmed in the Litang region of Tibetan Sichuan by a Shanghai film agency.
girl ainaro east timor 2000
A letter home from my time in Ainaro in the mountains of East Timor, living with a local family and working for the United Nations in 2000.
baojun valli car launch party china
Our van life across China leads us to be invited to an all-expenses-paid trip to the Valli car launch event in the mountains of Morganshan.
yugur nomads sheep flock gansu china
Exploring the desert mountains of Gansu and meeting Yugur nomads while van camping a few days at a waterhole used by their flocks of sheep. In this wilderness, I celebrated my 54th birthday.
ganjia tibetan monastery gansu
An ancient city lured us – but the isolation seized us. Exploring Ganjia as winter approaches. From an ancient fortress and snow mountains to a living goddess temple and a sacred Tibetan cave.
masked women minab iran
Looking at the women of Minab Market reveals the ancient trading routes that once connected southern Iran with the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, and beyond.
Lazy beach days are always good. Some pictures and advice for enjoying 4K Beach on Koh Rong Island - away from the party scene.
yongtai fortress gate china_
In 400-year-old Yongtai Ancient city - a ruined frontier fort on the Silk Road - remains a village of soldier-descendants, herding goats and sheep amid the arid surrounds of this turtle shaped fortress.
The freedom, the beauty and the irony of van-traveling the mountains of Yunnan in China as the world stays locked-down with the coronavirus. But there's still a few issues ...
crazy streets car accidents tehran iran
First impressions of traveling in Tehran - Iran, in 1990. Racing across the city in a taxi amid chaotic streets that seemed asking for accidents every minute.
sarong beach sunset papua indonesia
Part #2 of story heading into outer Indonesia to Papua in search of my GF -Erica's, long lost father that she hadn't seen for 30 years.
camels sand dune sunset silk road china
Traveling the Silk Road trade route thru China's Gansu province on a long train journey from Lanzhou to Jiayuguan Fort + the Thousand Buddha Caves.
burning nightmare dream in vietnam
Last night I dreamed a disturbing dream. And that nightmare seemed real the next morning - walking the streets of Kontum in Vietnam.
kaluts-shahdad-desert-iran
Within the Kaluts region, you could be forgiven for wondering if you've stumbled into a lost city - as miles of eroded sand towers & blocks stick out of the desert.
van-camping-quarantine-corona-virus-dali-china
From van-camping over a lake and mountain panorama in Yunnan, to being sent to a quarantine area during the initial Coronavirus outbreak in China.
Ellusive Peace Jerusalem Israel & Palestine 1989
Surreal artwork based on my experience of being caught amid a riot in East Jerusalem during the first Palestinian Intifada in 1989.
Misty Wandu Tomb Ruins China
Van-camping in China, near Jian at Wandu Mountain City ruins, amid the valley of nobles tombs at the ancient capital of the Korean Goguryeo Kingdom.
Panorama Morning Pyramid Prasat Thom Koh Ker Temples Cambodia
The temples at Angkor are the most famous in the world, but how many people have heard of nearby Koh Ker? Check them out and enjoy the ruins without the crowds.
shaxi-ancient-village-stone-bridge-china
The ancient town of Shaxi in Yunnan was a market for trading Chinese tea and Tibetan war horses on the Southern Silk Road between India and China.
full moon rising sanaa yemen art panorama by Michael Robert Powell
Old Sanaa is an Arabian Nights vision - straight from the tales of the 1001 Nights. And it's one the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world.
north-korea-countryside
Black + White Photography: Traveling across North Korea on the deserted highway from Pyongyang to the DMZ border with South Korea, on a bleak and foggy winter's day.
UN APC Maliana East Timor
Australian United Nations Peace-Keeping Force of armored personnel carriers (APCs) assemble and then set off on a reconnaissance mission to the volatile Indonesian border nearby.
sudden dental disaster in cambodia
In Cambodia, eating pork fried rice proves hazardous - rushing me to an urgent dental visit. But then the disaster really begins as I get more than I hoped for!
boys crazy surfing yemen video
Video of boys surfing barefoot down ancient irrigation channels amid the mountain villages in Yemen.
angry piggy goes to market laos video
From the window of the bus, I watch 3 guys put a squealing pig into the cargo hold below, somewhere in central Laos. Is this cruel or?
beautiful mongolian folk music video
Video of traditional Mongolian folk music - with throat singing - recorded in a tent in Karakorum, Mongolia, once the capital of Genghis Khan's empire.
crazy street guy eating-meal cambodia video
In quiet Koh Kong on coastal Cambodia, there's this homeless - probably crazy - guy sitting on the pavement alone, and so I buy him a meal.
leh-highway-trucks-on-mountain-road
Traveling the Srinagar-Leh Highway. Travel photo-story and advice for the journey into the Himalayas. Built by the military, this is the only road linking isolated Ladakh with Jammu and Kashmir states.
wrecked ships aral sea moynaq uzbekistan
The shrinking of the Aral Sea is dramatic at 'the port' of Moynaq in Uzbekistan, with its cemetery of rusting ships - now stranded 170 km from the actual shore!
Cremation spot of Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge Cambodai
Exploring Anlong Veng - the ex-Khmer Rouge stronghold - on the trail to Pol Pot's mountain jungle hideaway, and visiting his pitiful grave.
family house marsh arabs iraq 1989
The Marsh Arabs of Iraq are a unique Middle Eastern culture that have thrived in the marshlands of southern Iraq for millennia. I visited them in 1989.
india travel tips and advice for backpackers
Are you worried about traveling India? Don't be. Check-out this seasoned India travel advice on handling touts, beggars, hotels, transportation, etc.