As a result of a series of Communist purges in 1939, Erdene Zuu Monastery near Kharhorin is one of the largest remaining Buddhist sites in all of Mongolia. All that remains after the purges are three temple buildings and a large wall of stupas that ring what used to be […]
Countries
Posts from or about various countries I’ve been to!
Wind Horses in Flight
In Tibetan Buddhist culture, prayer flags are an ever-present reminder of religiosity in the course of day-to-day affairs. In every instance of this cultural background that I’ve seen, from the far north of Mongolia and south to the Himalayas of Nepal, I’d seen prayer flags fluttering everywhere but never made […]
Kathmandu Monkey Temple
In the three weeks I spent studying for the GRE, the only real tourist site I made a point to visit was Swayambunath, the Monkey Temple. About 10 minutes after I showed up, one of those surprisingly violent monsoon rains rolled in out of nowhere. After passing the time chatting […]
Impressions of the Gobi Desert
Travel at its best should always evoke such feelings. Mongolia has always struck me as one of the less considered countries in the world, and after months spent exploring places like SouthEast Asia and China I felt like I was being pulled to go somewhere a bit out of the […]
Charging Rhinos in Chitwan
I came across this little lady while walking through Nepal’s Chitwan National Park with two guides and two randoms, and we were all stoked to spot some cool wildlife after spending most of the day fruitlessly looking. As we cut through the forest on a barely trodden path, our guide […]
Trekking Everest Base Camp
Trekking Everest Base Camp My experience with trekking up to Mount Everest Base Camp actually started outside of Nepal, in the common room of the Khongor Guesthouse in Ulan Baatar, Mongolia. In the course of a conversation with another American (Heather, from Arkansas) who was also headed next as a […]
Hey there! I'm Stephen, this is my travel blog, and that's me in the poofy hat.
I'm a photographer / writer traveling since 2008, and I've been doing my best to visit amazing places.
My current focus is Central Asia, because for a hiking and camping enthusiast it's as good as it gets.