Wandering Fractal

Skull of a dead goat. The Gobi desert is full of animals bones. I've spent 6 days in the Gobi desert in the south of Mongolia. It's a place of all the extremes. Temperatures can have 80 degrees of difference, from -40°C to +40°C. It can be completely dry for months then heavy rain can occur, rivers forms and huge floods cover the plains. It's a desert but it's not completely dead. It's full of plants and animals, but life there is harsh. Food and water is scarce. Climate is extreme. Hiding from predators is hard on those huge flat plain. The Gobi is a fascinating place. We were lucky to spot a lot of wild life: a corsac fox, some gazelles, lizards, but the most impressive was to witness a golden eagle hunting down a young gazelle. It was a bloody fight for life. Butterfly chrysalis. It was raining during summer, so part of the desert was green and full of flowers. The pink flowers are wild onions. Goat with her newborn baby. It was beginn...

The roaring Jinsha river. On the second day of hiking I finished the trail and arrived at Tina's guesthouse. It's the place where you can catch the bus back to Lijiang and also the starting point to go down the gorge. You can take a free shuttle at Tina that will drive you to the start of the trail. You need to pay a small fee to local people that maintain the trail. It's a steep way down to reach the river. Until now I only saw the river from fare up. Getting close make you realize the size and power of the water that has carved the gorge. You can walk along the river and then go back up by another trail. The way up is though, especially after a day and a half of hiking. I got back at Tina's guesthouse and had a cold beer  while waiting for the bus. One of the best thing about this hike is that you meet other hikers on the way. Even if some goes faster or slower than you, you will bump into each other many times, sharing a meal, a beer or the place you are stay...

The Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the most famous scenery in China. Fortunately if you go there to hike it won't be crowded like other famous place in the country. I met other foreigners on the trail, but not a single Chinese tourist. They all take the bus and only go at the bottom of the gorge. According to the legend, a long time ago a hunter was chasing a tiger. To escape, the animal has leaped over the river. Hence the name: Tiger Leaping Gorge. To do this hike I first took the bullet train to go from Nanning to Kunming. I stayed one night in the capital of the Yunnan province. Kunming is at 1892 meters of altitude and thus the air was cooler. I found that this city had surprisingly a lot of character. It might be due to the diversity brought by all the ethnic minorities living in the province. At the Kunming West Coach Station, I took a bus to Lijiang. The bus terminal is on the line 3 of the subway system. It took around 8 hours to reach this town in the mountains...

Abandoned water slides. Huế was for a time the capital of Vietnam. Thus it's main attraction is the Imperial City, but for me, my main goal was to go see the abandoned water park in the outskirt of the city. To reach Hue, I took a bus in Hoi An and in just 4 hours I got there. The city isn't too big so I walked from the touristic center to the imperial city and spent an afternoon there. Since Hue is in the center of the country, close to the border between north and south Vietnam, it sustained a lot of destruction during the war. From the hundreds of buildings in the imperial city, only a few could be restored. You can only imagine from the empty spaces and old pictures how it must have been. 8 km south of the city center is Hồ Thủy Tiên, an abandoned water park. I rented a bicycle and headed there. I went late in the afternoon to take pictures with the sunset. Once I got close a nice local boy told me the best route to go. Apparently it's better to enter from...

Tea plantation Four hours of bus north of Kuala Lumpur, the Cameron Highlands are a welcome escape from the heat of the city. I stayed in the small town of Tanah Rata, 1400 meters above sea level. At this altitude the air is refreshing, even cold during the night. I stayed at De Native Guesthouse where a camp fire was made every night to keep us warm while we were drink beer and chatting. The region is packed with tea, strawberry, flower and other plantations. It also has some jungles where you can spot some amazing plants like the biggest flower in the world or the pitcher plant. I saw the rafflesia with a guided tour. You have more chance to see it like this because the flower blooms only for a few days and the guides know exactly where to find the next blooming one. The next day we went with others from the guesthouse for a trek to the mount Batu Brinchang, the highest mountain of the Cameron highlands. After a taxi to the town of Brinchang we started the trek. We used...

From Cairns I took a plane to Bali since it was the only direct flight to Indonesia. I quickly went away from the airport and the party places around Kuta and headed to Ubud. This town is still touristic (can't walk on the street without people yelling at you "Taxi !?") but it's more a cultural and artistic center. Inside the city you will find many Hindu temples and traditional houses. Outside of town you can stroll along rice fields and old villages. But one thing you must not miss is the traditional Balinese dance. The mix between enchanting Gamelan music and mythological story told through dance is truly exceptional. You can find many places in town performing each night. I went to the Ubud Palace and payed 100'000 Indonesian rupiah. Ubud has many sleeping offers, so you won't struggle to find a bed. The aggressive competition is also lowering the prices, making Ubud the cheapest place I stayed in Indonesia. I stayed at the Happy Mango Tree...