Journeys, &c

How to trek the Markha Valley (with or without a kid) – and what to expect

30 July 2023 / author

Kongmaru La Pass – 5,260 meters / 17,257 feet

We recently did an amazing seven day trek with our eight year old in the Markha Valley in Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas. After sharing some photos and details of our rich discussions with the people we met, we had multiple questions from friends. How did you organize it? How did you communicate with the locals?

There are lots of stories online about how to do it without a guide. For this trip, with a little kid, and lacking Ladakhi in our modest suite of languages, we decided to go with a guide. Not everything has to be hard.

Raiders of Ojo del Albino

25 July 2023 / author

“Can I ask a question?” he said in Spanish (that much I knew, though my traveller’s Spanish is all but gone). “Is this the path to Ojo del Albino?”

I looked at Barcelona. Barcelona looked at me. We both shrugged at the guy we would come to know as France. There were no names on this mission, no background stories. Just three guys from three places, brought together by fate for one purpose – to find the Eye of the Albino.

Little Painted Desert

3 April 2023 / author

Two things make a big difference to a trip. Local knowledge and explorer instinct. With our friend David, I stayed up late in the night tapping into the first and swapping the second.

To the Far East in Bolivia

6 October 2020 / author

Sept 2010: The Milton Farm. A tiny Quaker family in far eastern Bolivia. We’d just finished a hike and had stopped in to buy some fresh yoghurt. Our friendly guide, the young friend of Milton W’s five kids, told them about the yoga poses Yon had done on the hike.

Bolivia: Leaving the Altiplano

11 September 2020 / author

A complete transformation happens to Bolivia when you leave the well-visited altiplano and places like Uyuni and Sucre. The climate and culture are very different. And it’s not crawling with backpackers – in 2010 at least. To feel it, head east…

Daddy Daughter Road Trip in Hebei

28 August 2020 / author

“Daddy, I don’t want to go to Jimingyi”. Why not, I asked my two year old over my shoulder, while dodging trucks on the backroads of Hebei Province in June 2017. “Because it’s not good to go in there. It’s very dangerous”.

The High Cliffs of Huangyukou

16 August 2020 / author

^ With Ben (left) on top of the cliff at Huangyukou

Most navigation arguments have little real consequence. “You missed the exit!” “That was the exit?” “I told you to get in the right lane!” You might be late, but you won’t have to sleep outside in the cold.

But on the side of a cliff in failing light, they take on a different complexion.

Sunrise above Shuitoucun

8 August 2020 / author

November, 2016. Sunrise above Shuitoucun. Set off at three in the morning, a cold November Sunday, hike four kilometers through fog and forest to the pass, down to the Watergate and then up the long line of Great Wall. The first light rises as you breach the cloudbase, and then, southeast, to your left, the huge yellow sun bursts into the world from beyond the range.

Twin Otters in the Borneo Highlands

31 July 2020 / author

(click to watch in high definition at vimeo)

Sometimes you want to visit places a little off the regular route. The Kelabit Highlands, for example. You can get there by road, if you’re prepared for a minimum of eight hours in a bumpy jeep bouncing over logging trails, and longer still in the wet. Or you can fly by tiny Twin Otter…

Virginia & Maryland mini Road Trips

19 May 2020 / author

Living in Washington, DC, is not like living in Beijing, China. There are a million differences (and a few similarities to be covered another time, not least the traffic). Perhaps the most telling for me is the difference in hiking.