The National Museum bears testimony to the traumas of the last two decades. Until 1992 it contained one of the finest collections of art and cultural artifacts in Asia: 100,000 pieces from two milleniums of Afghan history. During the fight for Kabul, mujahedeen armies occupied and looted the museum; the structure was shelled in 1993 … Continue reading
Located in Pakistan, this was by far the largest Buddhist site we visited. Literally meaning “Spring on Flat Surface of Hill”, the spring still exists on the west side (pictured below) Therefore the Buddhist sanctuary and nearby village were named for this spring. Dating from the 2nd Century B.C. to the 5th Century A.D. and … Continue reading
I think pulp fiction cover artwork is great. Here are some examples… Amanda made these into a tabletop on a coffee table which I think is awesome… Continue reading
This is the entrance to the massive spillway on the front side of New Bullards Bar Dam. Obviously, water levels were significantly down when this sequence was shot… These gates are just massive – the pictures don’t do them justice… We soon threw increasingly large rocks into the water – requiring the maximum efforts of … Continue reading
This is where you park to hike down to the front of the dam. Well, there are other ways, but this is the easiest way: This is the road down: The road is paved all of the way down, but it is steeper than it looks. Hiking out will give you a good cardio workout: … Continue reading
At The Velvet Rocket we feel compelled to review our failures and not just to trumpet our, ahem, frequent successes… It was with a high level of optimism that Molly, Honey and I set off for some exploring of the High Sierra above Downieville, CA. Our destination? Chimney Rock. It was a lovely day in … Continue reading
After several days stuck in Peshawar, Pakistan because of heavy fighting in the Khyber Pass, we finally got the green light to move through very early in the morning. Tensions were running quite high as the tribesmen had been killing each other only hours before and were still freely roaming around the area with twitchy … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 