When you went to the zoo as a kid, which animals were you most excited to see? Monkeys? Lions? How about dogs? Or a pig? If you visit the small zoo attached to the Guanlan Mountain & Lake Garden Farm in Shenzhen, China, you won't find the first two, but you'll find plenty of dogs, cats, pigeons, pigs and other similarly exotic animals. And their sad eyes will bore … [Read more...]
Drinking Yak Sewage in Ngawal
A majestic yak with fuzzy red earrings greeted us at the entrance to Ngawal. We had seen a few yaks already, but from this point on they were everywhere—their meat even started popping up on guesthouse menus. We were mostly happy about this. Yak meat is delicious and the living animals make great photography subjects. They are little more than exotic looking cows and like their … [Read more...]
Chame to Pisang: Just Takin’ the Goat for a Walk
The next day of our little stroll through the hills of Nepal was dominated by a humongous slab of rock. At least that's the main thing I remember. That and the fact that we actually passed someone! Yes, it's true! But more on that later. The day was actually fairly long and for the first time, we covered just as much ground as many of the slower trekkers. It helped that there … [Read more...]
An Elephant Gets Revenge
I recently wrote a post about the mistreatment of elephants in Thailand, so I thought I'd balance that out by recalling a time an elephant got a bit of revenge on us humans. Apart from the ones that work in logging and those forced to carry tourists around a little loop in the jungle all day, there are also elephants who are marched up and down the busy streets of touristy … [Read more...]
A Good Day in Hsipaw Spent With Kids, Cows and Trash
If you spend a reasonable amount of time in any country, visiting that country's top tourist attraction will never be the most memorable thing you do while there and in many cases, it will actually be quite disappointing. Instead, the best moments are unplanned and generally come when you least expect them. Knowing this, I've actually started skipping the main attractions in … [Read more...]