Lhasa, it’s inhabitants and the Potala Palace
Unfortunately much of Lhasa is now a modern Chinese city, however the city still revolves around its old Tibetan zone with the impressive Potala taking centre stage. Its hard to take your eyes off this beautiful and powerful building.
The Shuton Festival | Drepung Monastery Lhasa
We had heard that Lhasa’s Shoton Festival would begin with a dramatic unfurling of a giant thangka banner of the Buddha at Drepung Monastery. With that in mind, Gina and I woke early and made our way with the crowds to the Monastery arriving at around 6am. Still in darkness we somehow managed to climb [...]
Drigung Til Monastery and Namtso Lake
Georgina and I teamed up with a delightful Italian/German couple Fabrizio & Simone and rented a Land-cruiser for a 4 day trip to Dripung Til Monastery and Namtso Lake. Drigung Til is a small monastery famous for performing sky burials and although perched in a beautiful location we found it quite a spooky place. Foreigners [...]
Gyantse, Tibet
We only had time for a overnight stop at this nice little Tibeten town, Gyantse, in the Nyang-chu Valley, which is famous for the Gyantse Kumbum, the biggest chörten in Tibet. The white chörten, a large tiered structure, contains a endless series of mural-filled chapels and offers amazing views the higher you go up. Check [...]
Mount Everest North Face Tibetan Chinese Base Camp
The bumpy 4wd trail to Everest Base Camp was simply stunning. We were extremely fortunate with the weather and Everest was in full view when we arrived. Absolutely amazing! We spent 1 night at the nunnery hostel and trekked around base camp for a couple of days.
On the edge of the Tibetan Plateau
Georgina, Simone, Fabri and I all hung prayer flags on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau before embarking on the longest descent in the World. 2000m in only 30km to Nepali border.
Kathmandu Valley
Kathmandu has thousands of historical sites, walking the streets you feel as if you have gone back in time. “Living history” is probably the best way to describe this intoxicating place. The people are both remakably friendly and devoutly religous. Kathmandu Valley has a special place in my heart. I stronly recommend using this city [...]
Janai Purnima Festival, Kathmandu
Nepal: Janai Purnima Festival Kathmandu – Images by Vincent van den Berg A full moon day, today high cast hindus chanted the powerful Gayatri mantra and changed their sacred thread (janai), while a raksha bandhan (a yellow and red protection cord) was tied around the wrists of everyone who attended. Our beautiful hotel Newa Chen [...]
The Cow festival in Bhaktapur
This colourful and humorous festival was such a joy to be part of. Bereaved families parade around the city following the heritage route with a cow, or a girl or boy dressed like the sacred animal. The cow is the cosmic se (Baitarini) on their way to heaven. It is also said that it is [...]
Kolmanskuppe, Ghost Town, near Luderitz, Namibia, Africa
This town was once a Diamond Mining town however it was deserted in 1956 after richer deposits were found at Oranjemund. I thought the emtpy rooms filled with desert sand made interesting photos, What do you think? let me know?
The worlds highest & oldest sand dunes transformed into a verdant Oasis. Sesriem, Sossusvlei, Dune 45 & Deadvlei
The Highlight of our Namibian road trip was without doubt the Sand dunes. Had it not been for Corne’s amphibious 2wd Mercedes Benz Kompressor we would not have made it. Other 4wd vehicles got stuck! At times this car really believed it was a fish!!! The Sesriem Canyon was filled with water, which I’m told [...]
Quivertrees
The beautiful Quivertrees or otherwise know as Kokerbooms, (Aloe dichotoma) are widespread throughout Namibia and are the countries most famous trees. The name derived from the lightweight branches that were used as Quivers by San hunters. They remove the branches’ fibrous heart leaving a hollow tube. I was constantly intrigued with the beauty of these [...]
Namibian Landscapes
This is a place I’d love to return to with a little more time. Unfortunately due to car registration issues and Corne’s work shortening his leave at the last minute, we were only left with 6 days in Namibia. This meant 3 days of +12 hour drives with no where near the amount of photo [...]
African Wildlife
Wildlife at Little Gowrie, Sabie Sands Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, Republic of South Africa
