music, travel, video, photo and blog etc
music, travel, video, photo and blog etc
The Lumba Sumba Pass trek is in a little-known region, the remote Eastern Himalaya of Nepal. The trail traverses the mountains between the third and fifth highest in the world - Kanchenjunga and Makalu. It passes through rarely visited Sherpa and Limbu villages, rugged valleys and up to the spectacular Lumba Sumba pass (about 5200 meters above sea level) itself.
The 2018 Others Way Music Festival featured 50 bands and artists across 14 different live music venues. The festival showcases new and emerging local artists and bands as well as established New Zealand music legends. Watch this short film.
Flying Nun Records, the iconic New Zealand music label, donated many hundreds of master tapes from recordings made between 1981 to the mid-2000s, to the Alexander Turnbull Library’s Archive of New Zealand Music. There was a time I thought those tapes were lost and this is that story.
The Others Way is a music showcase or festival that started four years ago. In 2015 I had just moved on from St Jerome’s Laneway Festival Auckland. I realised what I enjoyed most was releasing albums and working with local New Zealand artists, ones I knew personally.
I have been living in Wellington, New Zealand, for a little over a year. I moved here from the more northerly, larger and warmer city of Auckland.
In 1988, when I was 18 years old, I travelled to Pakistan, and it's northern Himalaya regions of Gilgit and Hunza. I then crossed the Khunjerab Pass into the far Western Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Gibara is a sleepy town on the north coast of Cuba, Holguin province. Located on the entrance to a small harbour, the settlement is surrounded on three sides by water. To the south, distant low green limestone hills rise above the glassy inlet. Apparently, when Christopher Columbus landed near here, he commented: “it is the most beautiful land that human eyes saw.”
The Old Ghost Road is an 85 km single track bike-packing mountain bike trail and walking path in the upper South Island of New Zealand. The Old Ghost Road traverses mountains, deep river gorges, dense forest and rough backcountry. It is remote, exposed, with rocky sections above the treeline.
The Old Ghost Road is an 85km single track mountain bike trail and walking path, upper South Island of New Zealand. I spent quite a bit of time preparing for the ride, deciding what to take and planning for the trip. Here is some background and suggestions.
Baracoa, at the far Eastern end of Cuba, in Guantanamo province is almost the end of the road. Travelling from the big city Havana, on the opposite side of the island, you can’t go much further without disappearing into the sea. We look for things to do, explore the town and travel around the surrounding region.
Chinchero is a very charming and sleepy backwater town, not far from Cusco, Peru. It has a beautiful old church and one of the most interesting Sunday markets in the region. On a clear day, there are fantastic views of the surrounding valley and Andean peaks.
I am planning to ride The OId Ghost Road, so I thought I better test my abilities for the trail. To do this, I rode out from my home in Brooklyn Wellington for the local trails called Barking Emu and Red Rocks.
Cubadupa is a festival that happens in Wellington, New Zealand, every March. It takes place on Cuba street, the creative hub of the central city. Good record stores, bookshops, cafes, restaurants and second-hand shops are all found in this area. I take along my Nikon FE2 35mm film camera.
Last week I attended the Newtown Festival in the suburb of the same name, in Wellington, New Zealand. It was the first time I had attended, being a recent immigrant to the capital city. Newtown is an old central area, partially, but not entirely, gentrified. It is located in a sunny valley. I took along my Nikon FE2 35mm film camera and took some shots.
Santiago De Cuba has a reputation. Voodoo, witchcraft; a hotbed of hustlers, pimps and thieves. The home of Bacardi and the country’s most energetic carnival. Apparently, it’s Cuba’s rough and gritty city. The wild east - Haiti and Jamaica just over the horizon. More Carribean. More Pirate. This reputation attracted us to the city, so Sonya and I decided to stop in.
Travel guide to Havana, Cuba, including exploring Vedado, a city bicycle ride and some useful tips. Although everything looks old, dilapidated and falling apart, there is vibrance and energy to Havana. It is a great walking and biking city.
When traveling overseas in can be interesting to choose a unique theme and investigate this. For example, when I visit a new city I like to explore it's Brutalist architecture. First, I research the city's notable buildings in this style, then, when I get there, I try to find them. It gives me a reason to visit neighbourhoods or parts of town that might not otherwise be on the tourist trail.
Located near Cusco and on the way to Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, Ollantaytambo gets it's share of tourists. But most are just passing through and don't take the time to explore or get out into the surrounding hills. It is worth staying for at least a couple of days, even if you do no more than explore the backstreets and drink coffee in the Plaza.
Transylvania feels like the forgotten corner of Europe. Best known as the apparent lair of Count Dracula, some people don't even realise it is a real place. Instead, in the popular foreign imagination it conjures images of spooky jagged peaks, medieval castles and Gothic dungeons.
When travelling around the back roads of New Zealand you will often see abandoned old villas and farmhouses. In various states of disrepair, they have been left to the elements. Slowly crumbling, trees growing through the middle, returning the property to the elements.
The image of Machu Picchu is familiar; mysterious stone structures almost floating among the misty mountains. A citadel perched high above the deep green river valleys. Machu Picchu also has a compelling story. Somehow lost and forgotten - inaccessible and buried in the jungle. Then, more recently, rediscovered by an American adventurer, self-promotor and historian Highram Bingham. With this story separating fiction from fact isn't always easy
The Central Otago Rail Trail is New Zealand's best known cycle trail. Built in 1994 on a decommissioned railway from Dunedin to Clyde it traverses the dry, grassy South Island high country; winding it's way through rocky gorges, over high river viaducts and across the sweeping wide open grassy plains. This is big sky country - crisp blue wide open spaces or brooding dark towers of cloud
Travelling in Ha Giang region in north Vietnam via Bac Ha and Dong Van.
Five French women motorcycle on Royal Enfields through Ladakh and the remote Indian Himalaya.
Pisac town and Inca ruins in Peru - three videos and the best blogs.
In December, we visited Kagbeni, in Lower Mustang and the pilgrimage town of Muktinath in the Annapurna Region, Nepal. The trekking season was almost over, so it was very quiet - but also cold!