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Entries from October 2008

Carrizo Plain

October 31, 2008 · 2 Comments

The Carrizo Plain was my first destination on the California Loop Trip. Often described as California’s Serengeti, I was honestly not expecting too much after having seen the real thing, but as with all stops on this trip – results exceeded expectations.

In his very final days in office, President Bill Clinton signed a proclamation designating the Carrizo Plain a National Monument. Perhaps because the National Monument is still fairly young, no one seems to know about the Carrizo Plain.

I had gotten a late start from Mountain View, stopped for lunch in King City and ended up hanging out with some German girls for a couple of hours and, lastly, I was in an unusually mellow mood. So, I just kept the car at a steady 95 m.p.h. on the lazy Central Valley back roads.

As such, I arrived at the Carrizo Plain late in the day. However, it made for some spectacular scenery that the pictures only go so far in capturing.

My first view of the Carrizo Plain – the road in. There was absolutely no one around.

I hiked to the top of a small hill to capture a picture of “Soda Lake” and a view out across the valley.

And then I hiked down to Soda Lake to get these two pictures.

I loved the roads going through the Carrizo Plain. Having seen no one for at least an hour before I even got to the Carrizo Plain, they seemed full of promise.

A view across the Plain.

The Carrizo Plain used to be entirely composed of ranches and they did an excellent job of protecting it. In order to keep the ecosystem in balance, the BLM still leases the land out to ranchers to graze their cattle during certain periods of the year.

I snapped this picture after taking my Honda up to 117 m.p.h. here – the fastest I have ever gone on a dirt road. Cool road, huh? I had to ease off just after taking the picture though because I hit a section where the road was fairly washboarded and the back end of the car started getting really light and drifting.

A full moon framed the view of the Plain from where I decided to spend the night splendidly.

My camp site for the night. I had the entire Carrizo Plain completely to myself.

The next morning, I went exploring around some of the old ranching facilities.

The San Andreas fault.

You don’t see these until you’re right on top of them.

After not seeing a single person for the entire time I was visiting the Carrizo Plain, upon leaving the Monument, I was immediately joined by a pack of motorcyclists twisting toward Los Angeles on these mountain roads. It was a good way to ease back into society.

Categories: Travel · Travel To Wild Places
Tagged: Carrizo Plain, Carrizo Plain National Monument, Justin Ames

Oregon Peak

October 31, 2008 · Leave a Comment

It is impossible to gaze out from the Ames estate toward the east and to not notice Oregon Peak. Actually, Oregon Peak can be seen all of the way from California’s Central Valley, but it seems particularly seductive when viewed from the Ames estate for some reason.

Here is the view from the east deck of the Ames manor:

Now, recent forest fires have severely scarred the hillsides around Oregon Peak. So, keep that in mind. I’ve hiked up to Oregon Peak a few times before, but I’ve never documented it before. I realized that I needed to take care of that before heading overseas for an indefinite period.

So, I enlisted Sadie and we set out.

Unless you have bolt cutters or keys to the gates put in place by the Forest Service, park by this sign next to the old 4H camp along Oregon Hill Road (By the way, for any film directors reading this – that would be a great site for a horror movie).

This is the first gate you’ll see. Just walk around it or under it. You’re allowed back here. You’re just not allowed to drive back here.

Here’s a view of the old 4H camp which is off to the right when you first start up the fire road to the top of Oregon Peak.

Sadie noticed this grasshopper on the road. After getting closer and closer to take its picture, I assumed it was dead, but after literally touching it, the grasshopper decided to be alive and hopped away.

CHY Co. has been doing a lot of logging in the National Forest property (and on their own property) around Oregon Peak. Part of this is removing trees that were burned in the recent fires and part of it is a fuel reduction program – an example of which you will see on the way to the top and/or in the picture below:

The road switchbacks up, but is quite easy to walk on.

And the views start to get better. You can’t tell in this picture, but those are the Sierra Buttes off in the distance.

Sadie and I thought this was an, ummm, interesting tree…

This is the first communications tower you’ll pass on the route to the top. It is also the most prominent – especially at night as there is a blinking red light on top which can be seen from many miles away.

The signs of success.

Here is the view from the top of Oregon Peak out toward Oregon House, the Central Valley, the Sutter Buttes and, according to the volunteers in the tower, one can even see the steam rising from the geysers in Calistoga on a clear day.

Here is a view up toward the Oregon Peak lookout tower.

Feel free to walk up the steps (Yeah, I know Sadie’s going down in this picture, but I forgot to take a picture on the way up, so use your imagination).

If there is a volunteer there (and there almost always is during the summer) they will be more than happy to have you up in the tower and to show you the equipment. They spend a lot of time up there alone and enjoy the company.

Below is the volunteer present when Sadie and I hiked up.

And these are some of the views from the top:

The lake you can see in this pictures is Bullards Bar Resorvoir which I have written about before, after intensively exploring the area around the dam with Brandon and Amanda.

For some reason I think communication towers are really cool – perhaps because of the extreme locations they are sited in – and so I took this picture on the way back down.

It’ll take an afternoon to get up and back if one takes a leisurly pace. And I’d put it in the Top 10 list of things to do in the Oregon House area (aside from the obvious). Enjoy.

Categories: Travel To Wild Places
Tagged: Justin Ames, Oregon House, Oregon Peak, Sadie Karsten

The Salton Sea – Part 2 Slab City & Beyond

October 30, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Over the past few years, visiting the Salton Sea took on an urgency of almost religious significance for me. Yeah, I loved the movie, The Salton Sea, but this only served to strengthen my desire to visit the Salton Sea. It did not create this desire in the first place. My passion to visit was sparked by the stories and legends I heard of the Salton Sea, the denizens of the Salton Sea and the pictures I had seen of the Salton Sea and the surrounding area.

I was not to be disappointed…

One of the first things I observed upon entering the Salton Sea area, was this example of industrial carnage. And anyone that knows me, knows that I have a great artistic appreciation for industrial carnage. It’s like poetry to me – in three dimensions.

The above pictures were immediately followed by a string of abandoned homes. I was on the proverbial Cloud 9.

After driving through Niland, I visited Salvation Mountain which merited its own post. However, just past Salvation Mountain, one finds Slab City:

Slab City (or The Slabs) is a camp next to the Salton Sea used by RV owners and squatters from across North America and the world. It takes its name from the concrete slabs and pylons that remain from the abandoned Marine Barracks Camp Dunlap there. Apparently, a group of Marines remained after the base closed, and the place has been inhabited ever since.

Several thousand people, use the site during the winter months. These “snowbirds” stay only for the winter, before migrating north in the spring to cooler climes. The temperatures are pretty brutal during the summer; nonetheless, there is a group of around 150 permanent residents, who live in the Slabs all year round. Most of these “Slabbers” subsist on government checks (SSI and Social Security). However, in a slight contradiction, many of the “slabbers” also have a strong desire for freedom from the American government.

Slab City is both decommissioned and uncontrolled – there is no charge for parking your RV. The camp has no electricity, no running water or other services (most campers use generators or solar panels to generate electricity).

Slab City, along with Salvation Mountain, was featured in the book Into the Wild and also in the 2007 movie of the same name.

I thought my father (Jimmy) summed up Slab City very well when upon reviewing my pictures he commented that it looked like a permanent Burning Man camp.

Niland.

There are abandoned buildings and houses all over the eastern regions of the Salton Sea.

The Salton Sea is off to the left in this picture.

And this is it. The Salton Sea…

From 1944-45, B-29s from the U.S. Army’s 393rd Heavy Bombardment Squadron, commanded by Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets, made regular but highly secret practice flights from Wendover Air Base in Utah to drop dummies of a new bomb into the Salton Sea.

On Aug. 6, 1945, Tibbets and his crew, in the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.

Dead tilapia line the shores of the Salton Sea – One peculiarity of the Salton Sea are the periodic algal blooms that cause the Salton Sea tilapia, to die in massive numbers.

Pumped to finally be at the Salton Sea.

As with every other place I slept on my trip, I had the entire area to myself.

1960: North Shore Beach and Yacht Club Estates opened on the north side of the Sea.

I don’t know why it was there, but I thought it was creepy.

Categories: Personal · Travel To "Normal" Places
Tagged: Justin Ames, Salton Sea, Slab City

The Salton Sea – Salvation Mountain

October 26, 2008 · 1 Comment

Any of you that have known me for a while, know that I have wanted to visit the Salton Sea for years. As such, I made sure to do so before moving back to London. The pictures of the Salton Sea and the surrounding area will come soon, but I felt that one place in particular deserved its own post: Salvation Mountain…

Salvation Mountain has always had something of an underground fan base, but has started to trickle into popular culture as well now (making an appearance on Sean Penn’s recent film Into The Wild to cite just one example).

Salvation Mountain is made from adobe, straw, and an estimated 100,000 gallons of paint. It was created by Leonard Knight to convey the message that “God Loves Everyone”.

Leonard Knight lives at the site (at least when I visited) in a small cabin mounted on the rear of a 1930s-vintage Chevrolet two-ton truck. Like Salvation Mountain, Knight’s “Salvation Truck” and an assortment of other vehicles and machinery are entirely covered with paint and Biblical quotes as well.

Look, I’m an atheist, but I’m telling you that you can’t miss this place if you’re in the area. It’s an incredible display of folk art and it’s fun to visit Leonard.

Categories: Art · Travel To "Normal" Places
Tagged: Justin Ames, Niland, Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain

Islamabad, Gorla Railway Museum, and The Road To Peshawar…

October 25, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Flying into Qatar… I haven’t altered this photo in any way – those colors are genuine.

Flying into cities in the Gulf states at night is an interesting experience. Unlike many countries, there are virtually no small towns between the massive cities. So, you will fly along in complete darkness and then all of a sudden find yourself on top of a brilliant, swirling metropolis. They reminded me of elaborate crop circles (remember those?) of lights.

Arriving in Islamabad was a bit different. I arrived at about two in the morning (Pakistan time) and just as the jet was landing, half of the city went dark. It was interesting to see.

I sailed through Immigration, but still had hours to wait until the rest of my crew showed up. So, I went to the front of the airport and started hanging out with all of the taxi drivers that congregate there. They all offered to take me anywhere I needed to go and several offered me tours of the city. After some reflection, I decided this wouldn’t be a bad idea given the amount of time I had to wait still. So, I accepted a tour with the driver pictured below on the far right.

We drove around for about 45 minutes or so through urban areas, past the recently bombed Marriott Hotel, through residential areas – all over the city and I don’t remember any of the names he mentioned.

With no prompting, the driver suddenly asked me if I liked motorcycles. I perked up and answered in the affirmative at which point the driver became excited and said that he had to introduce me to his nephew.

Now, remember that it is about four in the morning in Pakistan… We rolled up to the nephew’s house and, of course, he and his family were sound asleep. No matter, we went crashing inside and soon the entire family was rousted to greet the American guest. Far from being put off by my untimely intrusion, the family was giddy with excitement to have me as a visitor.

With little effort, I was talked into being given a ride on the nephew’s motorcycle. It was a Honda sportbike, but I didn’t understand what he was saying when I asked him what kind it was. All I can really tell you is that it looked sexy and was really fast. Anyway, we were soon on our way…

At first I just wanted to get off. I could feel the rear wheel sliding on the corners and we were absolutely hurtling through traffic. “Jesus Christ,” I remember thinking, “Here I’ve promised my mother I’ll be careful on this trip and I’m not even in Pakistan two hours and I’m tearing through Islamabad’s streets at triple digit speeds with a complete stranger and no protective gear.”

After a few moments, I realized the nephew was a skilled rider and I relaxed a little. He took me to a wooded area that was apparently popular with other riders to run through because there were many of them there on sportbikes. Some of the other riders were giving their all to a route through the woods and as genuinely good riders in their own right, were genuinely shocked to see someone blowing by them doubled up. But even though many people tried to race us, no one could keep up with the nephew.

(The nephew is the guy in the red hat in the above picture)

Eventually we made it back to the nephew’s home where I was treated to a remarkable breakfast prepared by his wife. Then the whole family accompanied me back to the airport and waited with me until my guide arrived from Britain several hours later. The taxi driver absolutely refused to let me pay him for the tour and as hard as I tried to extend some token of appreciation to his family (even trying to buy them lunch), all of my efforts toward generosity were resolutely refused.

After being treated like this, I get even more annoyed now when I hear people make comments about how we should just nuke Pakistan. Or comments about how everyone in the Middle East hates us.

Yeah, right. Imagine a family of Americans treating a stranger from the Middle East in the princely manner I was treated.

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Finally meeting up with my guide at the Islamabad airport, we were soon on our way to Peshawar. Driving out of Islamabad, we passed through a prime example of the sprawl cities in the developing world are experiencing as they continue to grow at tremendous rates.

The area pictured below was forested a few weeks before this picture was taken. And now, several months later, is probably completely covered in homes. You can see homes already under construction on the horizon.

Outside of Islamabad, we stopped at a brand new museum that isn’t listed in any guide books yet – the Gorla Railway Museum. As with all of the museums I visited, we were the only guests.

To the great credit of the museum, goats were given free reign on the grounds. This boy was keeping an eye on the two baby goats near the tracks.

An old steam train on the grounds of the Gorla Museum.

I was rather impressed by this banyan tree on the grounds of the museum.

One of the old boys hanging around the museum.

Following our visit to the museum, we stopped at a roadside tea shop. These lovely statuettes were on sale next door… All of you are lucky that these were so large, or this would have been everyone’s Christmas present this year.

Back on the road again… The expressway to Peshawar. This road was absolutely lined with teams of Highway Patrolman, armed with radar guns looking to catch speeders.

Categories: Pakistan · Travel
Tagged: Gorla Railway Museum, Islamabad

Bamiyan – Part 4 (Departure)

October 23, 2008 · Leave a Comment

On the morning of our departure, we had to pay a ~~bribe~~ “environmental fee” to get out of town, but then almost immediately came across the rock slide pictured below.

Now, there is another road out of Bamiyan and it is actually shorter than the road we were on. However, no one takes the shorter road. Even Rory Stewart had trouble on that road. The other road is controlled by bandits and they have no compunction about killing. Westerners refer to them as Taliban, but along this road they are really just bandits. The point, however, is that the road we were on was the only way out.

Amongst us and all of the truck drivers that were stuck there as well, there was exactly one hammer. So, we all took turns having a go with the hammer. Your dear editor took off quite a large chunk of rock which earned a cheer from the Afghan truck drivers.

Below, you can see one of the drivers having a go with the hammer and a string of trucks stuck behind him.

I took this picture of one of the truck drivers in between us taking turns with the hammer.

We finally broke the rocks down enough to be able to move them sufficiently for us to be on our way again.

This is a picture taken at the crest of the Hindu Kush mountains that ring Bamiyan.

Again, we stopped at the village we had stopped in on the way to Bamiyan. I was so sick this time that I just wanted to die. So, instead of eating, I just wandered around and took pictures.

I thought these shots of the village butcher slaughtering a cow and some sheep made for interesting pictures.

Categories: Afghanistan · Travel
Tagged: Afghanistan, Bamian, Bamiyan, Bamyan

Bamiyan – Part 3 And The Band-I-Mir (or Band-e Amir) Attempt

October 22, 2008 · 4 Comments

It takes several rough hours on a dirt track road to reach Afghanistan’s first National Park from Bamiyan, but the beauty and solitude just getting there, is worth crossing the world for.

Band-I-Mir has been described as “the Grand Canyon flooded with deep sapphire lakes, bluer than the cloudless sky, with sheer golden cliffs plunging into turquoise shallows.” The lakes are formed by the flow of water over a succession of natural dams. And, obviously, I wanted to see it.

So, I hired a driver early in the morning and we set out. The driver I hired ended up being a real cowboy and so we made excellent time and I quite enjoyed careening through the ruts and streams we crossed.

Valley after valley like those pictured below unfolded before us as we raced toward Band-I-Mir. And don’t be deceived by the pictures illustrating a fairly benign-looking road. I was only able to take pictures on the relatively smooth sections when I wasn’t being thrown around.

Human habitation out here is very sparse and the families are entirely self-sufficient. The stacks on top of the roof are animal dung being dried to use as fuel during the harsh winters. And although you can’t see it in this picture, there was a whole array of laundry laid out on the mountainside behind the dwelling. In the absence of any trees, the Afghans place their laundry directly on the rocks heated by the sun to dry their clothing.

After a couple of hours of driving through mountain valleys in the Hindu Kush, we emerged onto the high plains.

Being a shepherd or goat herder is the only way to make a living out here.

Friendly shepherd.

Absolutely beautiful. Absolutely desolate.

At least an hour from Band-I-Mir and with a snowstorm closing in, we encountered the U.N. personnel pictured below. They told us that they had just tried getting to Band-I-Mir and that they had been unable to make it because of snow and ice across the road. With a new snowstorm approaching, they told us not to even consider it. Very reluctantly, I told the driver to turn around. Afghanistan is not a wise place to take serious chances in without proper gear or a support crew and I had neither to cover anything going wrong.

This person was at least twenty miles from anything – any settlements, any other roads, any goat herders – anything…

As I stated earlier, the driver was quite a cowboy and so we were back in Bamiyan by early afternoon and arrived in completely different weather – warm and sunny – so I decided to wander up to the U.N. compound right next to the air base where the troops from New Zealand are stationed.

I arrived at the air field…

…just as this airplane was landing with fresh troops. It was pretty awesome seeing the massive plumes of dust being thrown up behind the airplane’s powerful engines as it landed.

After a minute or so of watching the troops, I walked into the U.N. compound. I kept expecting to get stopped and questioned as I was wandering quite freely around the military area and the U.N. compound, but no one took any notice of me. I presumed it was my “Western pass” as I was dressed in American clothing and don’t exactly look like the stereotypical Afghan (although there are plenty of Afghans with blond hair and blue eyes).

The U.N. personnel couldn’t believe I was there, but were really friendly with me. Theirs was a small contingent and so I think they were happy to have someone new to talk to.

As we were talking, a massive explosion rumbled across the valley. We speculated that it was likely an N.G.O. or the Kiwis detonating some land mines or unexploded ordnance. However, I was told the next day as we were leaving that it had been a roadside bomb and had killed two people. It was along the road I had just come back from Band-I-Mir on twenty minutes before. That will make you think! I’d like to think that going around the town of Bamiyan the night before and being friendly, handing out pens to the kids and shaking hands with the adults might have saved my life that day. But who knows why the bomber decided to detonate the bomb for the vehicle behind us rather than on me, the obvious Westerner, except for the bomber himself? Like I said, that sort of experience will give one pause for reflection.

Categories: Afghanistan · Travel
Tagged: Afghanistan, Bamian, Bamiyan, Bamyan, Band-e Amir, Band-I-Mir, Justin Ames, Tourism in Afghanistan

Bamiyan – Part 2

October 21, 2008 · Leave a Comment

As we arrived in Bamiyan in the afternoon, we decided to walk across the valley (a short walk) to where the giant Buddhas (now only niches) had been.

I thought this was an interesting alleyway.

Bamiyan became a front line between the Taliban and Northern Alliance in 2001/2 and the modern town was almost destroyed. Below are just a couple of pictures of the devastation.

The colossal statues were created in the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th centuries and around the Buddha’s were thousands of ornamented caves, inhabited by monks.

The Kingdom of Bamiyan fell to Muslim conquerors who captured it in 871. Genghis Khan destroyed Bamiyan and completely exterminated its inhabitants in 1221 and it has never recovered.

I thought this guy in front of the Buddha niches and caves was exceptionally photogenic.

As the valley is so small, agriculture extends right up to the base of the cliffs.

Fighters have frequently used the cave complex as bunkers and so one will see many martyr’s flags around the cliffs and caves as this was an area of intense fighting.

And is still heavily mined in some areas. Rocks painted red indicate a minefield, while white rocks indicate that an area has been cleared.

Although I was curious about the caves that had been mined, I entered this one instead which had supposedly been cleared.

The cave I entered above leads to a labyrinth of caves behind the Buddhas. Here is a picture looking out over the Bamiyan valley from where the larger of the two Buddhas used to reside.

And the picture below is a view looking straight down to all that remains of the giant Buddha – part of his feet…

There were two main Buddhas, one 36 m and the other 53m high. As I mentioned above, the cliff walls that these niches are part of are honeycombed with caves and monasteries. There are also other much smaller niches which also had Buddhas. There is still evidence remaining of some of the stucco work and paintings in a few of the caves. Some of the best frescoes from the valley were taken to the Kabul Museum, but alas were destroyed.

It took a large amount of tank fire and explosives for the Taliban to bring the statues down. Today some of the remains have been collected in sheds at the foot of the niches.

High up on the cliffs… Views from the caves. Don’t go up here if you are afraid of heights.

Back down on the ground, gazing up to where the larger Buddha used to be.

Evidence of combat is still everywhere you walk around.

I scrambled up behind the niche where the smaller Buddha used to be to get this picture below. Engineers were concerned that the entire cliff face could collapse at any time and so this reinforcement was placed in the niche. This is not the start of a restoration effort (yet).

As an interesting – “oh by the way” – there are rumors of a giant reclining Buddha buried somewhere in the Bamiyan Valley. However, no one is really in a rush to go out and find it because if it is found and the Taliban return to power, there is the very legitimate concern that it would be destroyed.

After exploring the cliffs and Buddhas, I walked through the town of Bamiyan to interact with the locals and get some pictures. Bamiyan feels like a real “Wild West” town – dirt streets, guns everywhere, no electricity… I loved it.

Categories: Afghanistan · Travel
Tagged: Afghanistan, Bamian, Bamiyan, Bamiyan Buddhas, Bamyan, Justin Ames, Tourism in Afghanistan

Bamiyan – Part 1 (Bamiyan is also known as Bamyan & Bamian)

October 20, 2008 · 1 Comment

Bamiyan

Became notorious in 2001 after the Taliban essentially destroyed Afghanistan’s premier historical tourist site…

Bamiyan is a fairly isolated central mountain province in central Afghanistan and the town lies in a fertile valley that is only 15 km long and 3 km wide. The views are incredible.

The background to this surprising place is the Silk Road. The profits of Rome and China passed through here and the valley served as a resting place for caravans traveling between Balkh and Kabul.

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The turnoff for the safe – well, safer – road to Bamiyan is very close to Bagram Air Base which is about an hour out of Kabul (depending on traffic). The roads to Bamiyan are both dirt and are crude to say the least. It takes many bone-shaking hours to get to Bamiyan itself, but the drive and the sights along the way are amazing. I loved all of Afghanistan, but if I were forced to choose a favorite part, I would have to choose Bamiyan.

These are pictures I took out the window as we were driving in…

This is a village we stopped in to eat. I never caught the name of it and it may not even have a name. It is pretty small.

The typical Afghan breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s very good, but after a month, one does begin to crave a little variety.

The typical Afghan bathroom in rural areas. Not really much fun if you’re sick.

Shopkeepers in the village.

A martyr’s grave. There were some ferocious battles with the Soviets in this area as the mujahideen fighters would take advantage of the steep canyon walls to launch ambushes on Soviet convoys.

More pictures taken out the window on the way in.

The picture below is a H.A.L.O. Trust employee working on clearing land mines. One of Afghanistan’s most venomous presences, mines carry an endless list of threat. Tread on an anti-personnel mine and you will be lucky to lose only your foot. In over a third of cases, victims are made impotent by the blast or its accompanying shrapnel, or the grotesque secondary impact of having part of their foot blown into their groin. Following someone else through a mined area involves a balancing act whereby you need to stick close enough to step in their footprints, but far enough back that you are not scythed by shrapnel if they detonate a device. The process is further complicated by tripwires, double-pressure devices that are primed by the first footfall and initiated by the second and by bouncing mines that spring waist to shoulder height before exploding, in which case anyone in the vicinity will be hit, whether they tripped the thing or not. Double impacts are also common: in the shock and pain of a primary explosion, a wounded survivor frequently rolls on to a second mine.

I walked through a couple of mine fields in Afghanistan in order to get to difficult to access areas, but I wouldn’t suggest anyone make a habit of it.

Really, it’s tough to say enough positive things about the H.A.L.O. Trust and what they are doing. Evidence of their work is everywhere which is something that can be said of very, very few NGOs and UN agencies in Afghanistan.

This is our driver and vehicle a couple of hours into the journey during a break from the driving. That 4WD was immaculately clean when we turned off of the pavement and onto the dirt road to Bamiyan. We went through a lot of mud and dust.

This is one of the Afghan passengers that was also going from Kabul to Bamiyan. A cool guy.

A bombed out Soviet armored personnel carrier (APC).

Cresting the mountains that ring Bamiyan.

On the edge of Bamiyan is a field filled with bombed out Soviet tanks and other vehicles that were destroyed in fighting with the mujahideen. I thought it was extremely photogenic.

And I thought this juxtaposition was priceless. The donkey wasn’t tied down or anything; just ambling through the area.

This was our hotel in Bamiyan – the official government hotel. It looks nice, but it was bitterly cold at night and we only had electricity for two hours a day.

This fighting partridge belonged to one of the hotel employees.

This is the manager of the hotel checking us in. And that’s a portrait of Karzai hanging in the background.

Categories: Afghanistan · Travel
Tagged: Afghanistan, Bamian, Bamiyan, Bamyan, Tourism in Afghanistan

Great Halloween Costumes

October 18, 2008 · Leave a Comment

It is that time of year again and after seeing a few pictures of some great Halloween costumes, I decided a post on this subject was in order. So, it was off to the races with Google Images… I had to utilize as many search variations involving “Halloween” and “costumes” as possible such as: “stupid Halloween costumes” or “sexy Halloween costumes” or “worst Halloween costumes”… You get the idea. I have to confess to being a little disappointed with the quality of content available though and hopefully this post will go a small way in correcting this problem.

Some people have a few great Halloween costume pictures on Flickr, but aren’t kind enough to share them with the world. So, I’ve amassed the best collection I could here after wasting a couple of hours on the internet (I redeem myself in an hour by going out tonight with a whole flock of girls and being the only guy present).

So, anyway, here you are:

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Tim Burton fans?