Tag Archives: must see

Peru. So, what’s generally known about this South American country by the average general-knowledge pub-quiz buff? I’d say: the mysteriously extinct Inca civilization/empire, the ancient cities of Cusco and Machu Picchu, the high-altitude Lake Titicaca, and, of course, the mysterious Nazca Lines (also known as the geoglyphs of the Nazca Plateau).

As to the latter, seeing these drawings in the flesh has been a childhood dream of mine ever since I enthusiastically studied the geography of this world through books filled with maps, pictures, and photos of different regions of the planet. Naturally, when planning my trip to Peru, visiting the plateau – flying over it in some kind of aircraft – was one of my top priorities. And now, decades half-a-century (!) later, I’ve finally made it happen! The lines, geometric figures, and depictions of funny-looking folks and animals on the Nazca Plateau – checked off the list!…

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Our fall trip around northern-central China was literally coming full circle on the big rock-desert loop from Xining to Xining. Our final must-see tourist spots were near the city of Zhangye, with the first one being the Zhangye Danxia Geopark…

So what is this place? Well, it’s just over 500km² (if the internet is to be believed) of multi-colored mountains and hills. And the colors here are absolutely mind-blowing:

No Photoshop used! This is exactly how things looks at sunrise and sunset! The daytime view is still stunning but a bit more washed out. The best shots are at the beginning and end of a day:

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Dunhuang. The name doesn’t ring a bell for most people – but it should! Not to worry, for we’re going to fix that right here, right now – as it’s next on the travel itinerary of our China-2024 trip…

So, Dunhuang. It’s a small city built around an oasis and surrounded by the rocky landscapes of the Taklamakan Desert (here). Once a major hub on the Silk Road, it’s a truly ancient place (being founded possibly as far back as 2000BC!). But let’s not get too deep into its history: we’re not historians – just meditative tourists here to take in the exceptional views (and share them with you photographically too:)…

There’s definitely plenty to see here. First and foremost: one of the world’s largest deserts, the Taklamakan, which the city’s situated next to and which features some impressive dunes:

Where the desert meets civilization, you get some really unusual, contrasting sights:

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The next day (after visiting Chaka Salt Lake) of our China-2024 trip was packed with tourisms. We were set to explore and admire a full three… and a half attractions. They may not be 5K-rated, but all together they were to make this section of our route a real treat…

As we ventured deeper into rocky desert, the scenery became increasingly striking:

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After what we could call our lake-tourism warm-up (Qinghai Lake) the day before, it was time for the first significant stop on our big-loop route around inner China – Chaka Salt Lake.

It’s not the largest salt lake in the world, with an area of “only” about 100km² – which is around a hundred times smaller than, for example, Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni (~10,000km²). However, it has its own unique charm: the Chinese have turned this “simple salt lake” into a major tourist attraction (fancy that?!), where you can easily spend an entire day (in the right season). The secret is simple: various installations have been set up across a significant portion of the lake that are practically begging to be photographed and shared on Instagram TikTok. These installations are a huge hit especially with girls – who bring bright (most often red) outfits specially for the occasion:

The photo installations here are plentiful and incredibly diverse:

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Not far from Jiuzhaigou National Park (100 km by road) there’s another unique beautiful natural object – the Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area. It features a cascade of travertine (limestone) baths, pools, lakes and waterfalls of various forms and colors. The cascade is around 3km in length in a straight line, or ~5km if you take the tourist paths beside it. The spectacle is fantastic:

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You’ve had my report on our six-day Uzon trek, but I hardly told you anything about where we ended up on the last day of the trek – the Valley of Geysers. Now, with a bit more time on my hands, I can collect up my thoughts and impressions thereupon, and share them with you at a gentler, more meditative tempo…

First – a few photos. Bubbling, hissing, spurting, steaming, pouring – all present and correct, sir:

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Not far (20 minutes on snowmobiles) from the 70-kilometer road between Verkhoyansk and Batagay, there’s a unique natural phenomenon that goes by the name of the Batagaika crater ->

Apparently it formed as a result of a combination of global warming and certain actions of Soviet Homo sapiens – those certain actions being cutting down the trees in the surrounding area, plus the making of ruts by heavy all-terrain vehicles (used during the deforestation). This eventually led to the permafrost thawing, becoming a ravine, and then spreading out, giving us today this here bizarre massive tadpole-shaped depressed formation on the Siberian plains:

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The main course on our Kenyan safari was Maasai Mara, the country’s vast game reserve, which we caught at just the right time: during the wild animals’ mass migration. Huge herds of wildebeest, zebras and assorted other, smaller hooved beasts. But the main attraction is the wildebeest, and their particular migration is known as the great migration – up from Serengeti in neighboring Tanzania ->

A zillion zebras too:

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Sea-based, then (low-land) land-based extraordinary experiences – done.

Next up – time to go higher…

First – proviso: I’m no serious mountaineer into tricky climbs requiring special equipment and training. I take my mountains volcanoes seriously, of course, but I’m always one to take the paths up an incline (if there are any paths), preferring to take a meditative-contemplative approach to volcano climbing/trekking…

I’ve scaled some of the more famous volcanoes around the world, but most of them – like Kilimanjaro – have almost become mainstream these days. So let me tell you about some of the more exclusive/exotic ones I’ve either climbed – or just visited and beheld (entranced!)…

First up – Krenitsyn volcano on the Kuril island of Onekotan, which I mentioned in the first post in this series ->

Read on:…