Wandering Fractal

Buddhist temple. The Mongolian practice a version that is close to the Tibetan Buddhism. One of the highlight of our Gobi tour was to discover the lifestyle of the inhabitant of the desert. They live mainly from livestock: sheep, goat, cow, camel, horse. They eat the meat and the milk of the animals. I could even try the Airag, fermented horse milk. It was sparkling and sour. I'm glade I could try it, but I didn't ask for a refill. The skin and fur of the animals is used to make clothes and the Ger (yurt). They also sell their animals to make some money and buy what they can't get from the land. It's a harsh way of living with little water, extreme temperatures and having to work 365 days per year (no break when you take care of the livestock). But the nomad we met were always smiling and had an incredible sense of hospitality. They would always give us the best food they had, even if it was something very rare and expensive for them. One of the local family ...

The walled city of Pingyao has retained it's old architecture. Being there feels like you have traveled to ancient China. The main roads are full of touristic restaurants and shops, but you can also go away and witness locals playing majong in front of their house. If you are there, try the local vinegar. I found it had a taste akin to balsamic vinegar, even if it's made from completely different ingredients.

Spicy noodles. Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan province. I must confess I went there mainly for the food. Spicy, sour and the numbing effect of the Sichuan pepper. The cuisine is varied so you never get bored. Chengdu is also a good place to drink tea in one of the many parks. One day, with a fellow traveler, we went to the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. It's one of the main attraction of the city. We were expecting a natural reserve where they take care of the animals, but it was just a zoo. The Pandas lives at high altitude were the air is cooler, but in Chengdu it's crazy hot. The animals mostly stays in their caves with air conditioning. You need to queue to see them behind a glass. The worst was the 2 hours we waited to see the baby pandas. If you have time, moving to the reserves in the mountains of Sichuan looks like a better option. If you really want to go to the Research Base I would advise to go for the opening. We arrived at 10:00 in the morning a...

Hoi An's river side. Vietnamese boats have eyes painted to frighten the crocodiles, sea monsters and evil spirits. The ancient port of Hội An has now shifted it's main activity from trading toward tourism. The town is full of old houses and pedestrian streets that makes it pleasant to stroll. The architecture is influenced by all the foreign traders that had settled there, mainly Chinese, but also a few Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Indians. The town can easily be visited in half a day, so I used the afternoon to go to the beach. I rented a bike and went to the An Bang beach, 5 km outside of town. It was one of the best I visited in Vietnam. The waves were big enough to surf, but unfortunately I couldn't find a place to rent a board. To go to Hội An, I took a train from Ho Chi Minh city to Nha Trang. I stayed a few days in this city but except the beach there isn't much to see. It's a very popular spot for Russian families and it was fun to see restaura...

Tanjung Bungah floating mosque. The city of George Town on Penang Island is full of historical buildings, great restaurants and of course shopping malls. My favorite eateries were : The Spicy Lemak (278 Lebuh Pantai). The place doesn't look fancy, but the Nasi Lemak was great. Yeap Noodles (227 Chulia St.). Homemade noodles with different flavors. Nasi Lemak at the Spicy Lemak restaurant. I took a day to go to the Feringghi beach on the north of the island. I rented a city bike to ride the 16km from my hostel to the beach. The first part was an easy stroll in the old town, but once I got out I was in the middle of traffic on huge roads with cars and trucks on my side. There was also some slopes and the bike had no gears. It wasn't a pleasant experience. The beach had nice sand. The water was a bit muddy but overall clean. You can swim but no more than a few meters from the shore because there is a lot of jet-ski and boats for paragliding. In conclusio...

Tuvalu dancers and singers. First stop in New Zealand: Auckland. Biggest city with a population of 1.6 million. I wasn't too fond of the place, too hipster for me, but I was lucky to be there during the Pasifika festival. Held once a year, it gathers all the pacific island countries for a big cultural exchange. I could experience traditional dance, food and crafts. Meat and vegetables slow cooked in a buried hole. Hawaiian dancers.