The folks at Keen, the company that makes some of my favorite shoes, clothing, packs and other gear, are outdoor lovers through and through. To prove it, they're giving away $100,000 to nonprofits across the globe and they're looking for our help in jumpstarting this new program which they've dubbed the Keen Effect.

All of the details can be found at the link above which gives instructions for to nonprofits that are interested in applying. All of the required criteria are listed as well and include such stipulations as any funded projects must attempt to increase participation in the outdoors and should have clear goals and measurable objectives. Applicants can request $2500 for Tier 1 consideration or $10,000 for Tier 2.

As outdoor enthusiasts Keen is enlisting us to help get the word out to nonprofit that we think are deserving. They can be operating on a local level or on a larger scale, but they should be doing something to engage more of us in the outdoors. If you have a favorite organization that you think deserves some funding, then encourage them to visit KeenEffect.com to apply.

For some reason, there aren't many Mongolian BBQ places up in the city nor even into the Peninsula. But once one goes deeper into the Valley, there are quite a few of them around. (BTW, does anyone know why Great Khan's closed at some of the malls around here?) We took a gamble by coming to this shop: after all, a place called "President Restaurant" doesn't exactly sound like much of a Mongolian BBQ place (1190 Hillsdale Avenue Suite 100A, 978-7188).

Fortunately, it was, complete with the giant round grill in the center of the restaurant as well as the grimey and greasy interior that usually accompanies this stuff. Now, the food wasn't exactly anything to get excited about, but it was still better than I thought it would be. I'll come back (interestingly, these guys also serve phở), but perhaps with a change of clothes given that I'll come out of here stanking like grease.

You don't think being in the country for like 8 hours makes me an expert yet? Me neither; but until today I don't think I recall ever meeting anyone who had been here longer. It sure is different from Buenos Aires! Montevideo is a kicked back town, almost rustic compared to sophisticated Buenos Aires, just down the Plata (and on the other side of that wide river).

This morning I took a fast ferry-- there's also a slow ferry-- to Colonia de Sacramento (bka- Colonia). It took an hour and it was comfy and pleasant. I met a really nice woman in the lounge before boarding, Ana, who works for HSBC. It's a whole other story but I can't emphasize enough that traveling solo affords opportunities that are rarely available to people who travel with someone. I like it both ways but I always talk with Americans who can't seem to fathom the idea of traveling alone. While I was waiting at the bus station I ran into a guy from Milwaukee named Tom who had ridden his motorcycle all the way down here. What a trip he's having!

Anyway, Colonia, which was founded by the Portuguese and chose to stay with Brazil instead of joining Uruguay-- although it doesn't share a contiguous border with Brazil-- is always raved about by everyone as a picturesque jewel of colonial architecture and so on. It's nice and it took me about an hour to see it all. I could have seen it in 30 minutes if I were in a hurry.

The bus to Montevideo took two and a half hours through the gently rolling Uruguayan countryside. It's a small rural country with 3 million people, half of whom live in Montevideo (which boasts a tree for every person, something I am willing to attest to from what I've seen so far).

Uruguay is far less cosmopolitan than Buenos Aires. Everyone looks like they came from Spain (whereas Argentina looks like a real hodgepodge-- a good one-- of Europe). Buenos Aires is a vertical city, tall buildings and stunning architecture everywhere. Montevideo's people seem less inclined to live in apartment buildings and the city is more horizontal. The public spaces are less ship-shape, although the private houses and their gardens look ver well-kept-up.

Uruguay is a social welfare state and everyone is kind of middle class. There are no great disparities in wealth apparent, the way there are in the U.S. and Argentina. I mentioned a few days ago that Argentines dress up and are ultra fashion-conscious. Here in Montevideo people are casual and even a little slovenly-- tee shirts, shorts and flip-flops everywhere.

I'm staying at the new Sheraton Hotel, which is supposed to be the best in town. The staff is friendly-- and very young. Sometimes in a new city I ask a concierge to recommend the best eating experience in town. Some concierges know; others don't. I should have been more thoughtful about this one when I realized he was the busboy and the concierge. He suggested a seafood restaurant called Francis. It's run by a bunch of kids and it isn't bad by any means but I know there are better restaurants in town. There have to be! This chef seemed to be having a good time experimenting with combining whatever came to mind. Some of it worked well, some of it worked less well. I have to admit that I was distracted from my meal by the manager furiously picking his nose the entire time I was there. No one else seemed to notice.

I've gathered that what people do here in laid-back city on a Saturday night is go for a walk along the shore (the Ramblas). The weather is beautiful and I think I'm going to do that now. After that I'm going to turn in early and soak up the Sheratoness of my new living situation. And tomorrow... they have an indoor rooftop swimming pool. I'm so glad I brought a pair of trunks!

NationalGeographic.com has posted an update for Will Steger's Global Warming 101 Expedition. You'll recall that the Global Warming Team set out to visit Inuit villages in the Baffin Islands to collect data on the direct effects of global warming on their lives.

The expedition has come to an end, after 78 days, and 1000 miles, of trekking across the sub-arctic region of Canada. Along the way the team collect hard data on temperatures and the thickness of the ice, but also spoke with the tribesmen living in the area, and getting their anecdotal reports of how life is changing as the temperatures increase.

They found some interesting results, such as previously unknown species appearing in the area like dolphins, robins, and other birds common further South. They also noted that the number of days the Inuit have to hunt is decreasing, and less snow and ice has made it more difficult to build igloos while on their hunts.

This is only the first of this type of expedition as well. It seems that Steger and his team will be heading out to other polar regions to collect more data, and interact with other native tribes in those areas. One thing is for certain, the planet is getting warmer, and it's going to have some profound consequences on the environment and how we live.

A little subtle Myanmar propaganda across from the U.S. Embassy

I loved driving through Bulgaria in 1969, and not just the bit that was on the "Hippie Trail" between Nis and Istanbul. I took the better part of a month and drove from Sofia to the Black Sea, met up with some fun-loving Bulgarians and drove all over the country with them. Earlier I had decided I liked Budapest more than Vienna; it seemed freer and more... romantic, less uptight and stuffy. I was blind to the oppression and tyranny in Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria even though it pervaded these places. I just didn't notice. Years later I was living in West Berlin. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time before the wall dividing the city was coming down. There were already holes in it and most of the guards looked the other way-- at least when West Germans went back and forth. I persuaded some West German friends to take me across one night. It didn't look free and romantic; the oppression, tyranny and decrepitude were apparent and tangible... and chilling. It scared and repulsed me. I was happy to get back to West Berlin.

A few hours ago, decades later, I just returned from a place like that, a place you read about in books by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley: Myanmar.

Myanmar was Burma when I was a small boy (and avid stamp collector). I remember there were military coups when I was in elementary school. It was one of those closed off places-- exotic, mysterious, impenetrable, vaguely dangerous, like Albania, Mongolia, North Korea... places no one ever went. In the 80s the military junta took the name SLORC (an unfortunate-sounding acronym for State Law and Order Restoration Council). It sounds like something from a James Bond movie. For the people there, I just discovered, it doesn't feel like a movie. It feels like a nightmare that never ends. Paid Republican lobbyists and operatives in DC got the military dictators to ditch the SLORC moniker for SPDC (State Peace and Development Council, which sounds far less ominous-- like Bush's Clear Skies Act).

One of the first things I noticed is that the oppressive, paranoid tyranny in Myanmar exists in a parallel world next to a beautiful traditional Buddhist culture. The gentle people, predisposed to kindness, seem a little nervous-- hundreds of beloved and revered monks were brutally and ruthlessly murdered by the regime a few weeks ago after peaceful demonstrations-- but when you shoot anyone (except some of the soldiers) a mengalaba (hello) their wariness invariably breaks down and they smile. They are friendly and the reserve often vanishes quickly and, at least in Yangon, more of them spoke English than anywhere else in Southeast Asia I've ever been.

The whole city seems to be rotting and breaking down, although it may also be a work in progress of sorts. The city is immense-- but kind of slow and quiet... kind of left behind as the rest of the region rushes headlong into the 21st Century and globalization. Roland says Yangon reminds him of Havana in many ways.

It is easy, fast and cheap to get a visa directly from the visa section of the consulate in Washington, DC-- way smoother, quicker and far less expensive than working with the outsourced visa company India now forces you to work with to get a visa for that country. We flew Air Asia from Bangkok, a kind of Southwest Airlines for SE Asia. It is cheap and only takes an hour and a 15 minutes. (The flight back was delayed for a few hours and they gave us a signed chit so that we can get our money back, an Air Asia policy for flights that are delayed for over 3 hours. (The guy who runs it, Tony Fernandes, was the head of our Malaysian company when I worked at Warner Brothers. He learned a lot more about customer service than most music industry execs ever did.)

The currency exchange system in Myanmar is a real mess. If there even is an "official rate" it's around 500 kyats for a dollar. But dollars are the preferred currency in Yangon-- as long as the bills are new and crisp and have no marks or tears-- and even taxi fares can be paid with them. The street rates of exchange vary between 1,000 and 1,500 per dollar (depending on your bargaining ability)-- a very wide disparity. The whole thing is kind of shady and bizarre and, for a normal tourist probably pretty disorienting. Few places accept credit cards and the ones that do, charge an exorbitant fee. When you leave the country you pay a $10 airport exit tax. They want it in dollars. If you insist on paying it in worthless kyats (which can't be exchanged outside the country for any real currencies), they charge you 16,000-- not just far more than the "official rate," but more than the best black market rate!

On the other hand, we found the December weather absolutely fantastic-- warmer than Delhi and cooler than Bangkok. Bangkok is hot and steamy, never under 90 with lots of humidity. Yangon is dry and in the 80's. It gets hot in the sun in the afternoons but it's pretty comfortable and without the hellish man-made weather of Bangkok.

Part II next time I get to a computer.

Just as the fall climbing season in the Himalaya begins to wrap up, the 2013 Antarctic expedition season is just about to get underway. As usual, there are a host of explorers heading to the frozen continent this year, most of whom will be making the journey on skis to the South Pole. The first of those explorers will hit the ice today, officially launching another season of adventure at the bottom of the world.

The first team to hit the ice is will be Ben Saunders and Tarka L'Herpiniere, the two men who are taking part in the Scott Expedition. They are on a plane out of Punta Arenas, Chile this morning and are now making their way towards Patriot Hills in Antarctic to start their journey. As you may recall, Ben and Tarka will attempt to make an unsupported round trip excursion to the South Pole and back, starting and ending at the Ross Ice Shelf, while following along the same route that Robert Falcon Scott took on his fateful expedition more than a hundred years ago. If successful, they'll be the first to complete the 1800 mile (2897 km) sojourn that claimed the lives of Scott and his men.

You can follow the expedition on their website, Twitter feed and Facebook page. The team is carrying a lot of communications gear and plans to making daily updates and dispatches to keep everyone informed of their progress. That's a far cry from Scott's days when the ultimate fate of the men wasn't known for months. But for those of us who enjoy learning about expedition life in the Antarctic and the challenges the explorers face, these updates should prove extremely interesting. The next time we hear from them, they will hopefully be in the Antarctic and preparing for the start of the expedion.

Ever wonder what kind of logistics are involved with getting an expedition such as this one off the ground? Then you'll want to watch the video below which shows Ben and Tarka preparing some of their gear. More importantly, it shows them packing their food, which is a painstaking task that takes a great deal of time but is absolutely necessary for survival out on the ice.

Yomenya Goemon at Marina Bay Link Mall has undergone a makeover, and not necessarily for the better. It is still owned by the same people, and a number of the old pasta dishes are still there (as is the salad bar and tableware). But they cut back on the rest of the pasta dishes and expanded into other things like sushi, as well as that unappealingly mushy curry rice above.

Yeah, I felt kinda sick after eating that thing; it was just too rich with all of that cheese, curry, and egg yolk on top. Sigh...I hate it when places like this mess with their menu to try to broaden their appeal. For me, it had the opposite effect. Fortunately, it looks like the other Yomenya Goemon outlets are still intact for now. Hopefully they won't change those too.

My work will appear in The Complete Photographer by Tom Ang, which is being published by Dorling Kindersley Limited. According to Amazon, the book will be released on July 19, 2010.

I"ll be featured as a Master of Travel Photography, with a profile and work resume.

The Complete Photographer encourages photographers to explore every discipline and experiment with different approaches, and is based around tutorials on ten different genres-Portraits, Landscape and Nature, Fashion, Wildlife, Sport, Documentary, Events, Travel, Architecture, and Fine Art.

In September of 2011, in a desperate attempt to escape his corporate existence, Rob Lutter left his home in the U.K. to cycle around the world, documenting his journey through photographs along the way. He called his adventure The Lifecycle and for a year and half he rode across Europe and Asia. His journey took him through numerous countries as he passed over the Alps and Himalaya while enduring the blistering heat of deserts and the cold chill of mountain passes. To date, he has spent 720 days on the road, passed through 21 countries and ridden more than 15,000 km (9320 miles).

In January of this year, he arrived in Hong Kong where he has been working to raise funds to start the next phase of his journey. He intends to set out again before the end of the year, this time heading south towards the Equator and I would assume an eventual ride across Australia. Before he leaves, Rob worked with filmmaker Edwin Lee to release the video below, which tells a bit of his tale and serves as an inspiration for the rest of us to get off the couch, leave the mundane life behind and go find our own adventures. It is a very well done clip that I'm sure many of you will relate to.

Also, be sure to check out some of Rob's photos on his website. He has some really nice shots from his ride so far.

A RIDE REBORN from Edwin Lee on Vimeo.

GoPro has a series of adventure videos on YouTube that are quite well done. The video below is an example of just such a video as it introduces us to an Orangutan rehabilitation center that prepares to release these primates back into the wild. Orangutan's are seriously endangered, and yet those working at this facility are hoping to protect them and bring them back from the edge of extinction. In the video, we get to meet some of these amazing creatures as they play in the jungle.

Carlingford in County Louth is a beautiful atmospheric town that still retains it's medieval character. Carlingford was founded at the beginning of the thirteenth century by Hugh de Lacy (the younger son of the Hugh de Lacy who constructed Trim Castle). He began by constructing a strong castle on an outcrop of rock that overlooked the Lough, and soon afterwards a settlement began to flourish in the shadow of the fortress. The name Carlingford has a number of possible origins, many of which appear to have a blend of the Gaelic Irish Cairlainn meaning bay of the hag, and the Norse Viking Fjord. Carlingford would have been an ideal location for a Viking Longphort or Overwinter Camp, but no evidence has been discovered so far to conclusively prove a Viking settlement.

The town flourished during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and many of the beautiful buildings listed here date to that period.  The town entered a steep decline however throughout the seventeenth century, a turbulent time in Irish history of war, famine and plague. The town was overshadowed by the near neighbours Dundalk and Newry which quickly developed into bustling urban centres, while Carlingford stagnated. However this decline served to protect the historic structures of Carlingford, as there was little development here in comparison to Dundalk, ensuring that today it is a wonderfully atmospheric place to visit. Here are some of the main features of the town (in no particular order).

 King John's Castle

The castle at Carlingford was established by De Lacy in around 1200 AD. It was named after King John who took the Castle in 1210. The castle is essentially a D shaped enclosure with a large curtain wall and projecting towers. It appears to have undergone regular alterations throughout the later medieval period, but by the later part of the sixteenth century it appears that the castle had already become derelict as it was described as being 'in a wretched condition'. The Office of Public Works began conservation works on the castle in the 1950's, and it is currently undergoing more conservation works so there is no access to the castle for the moment.

The Tholsel and Town Wall

The 'Tholsel' is the only surviving medieval gateway into Carlingford, and probably dates from the fifteenth century. Originally this would have been a three storey structure, but it has been modified in the nineteenth century and is now two storey with a modern slate roof. This gateway would have given access to the main street at the Eastern end of the town, with a levy being paid at the gateway before any goods could enter the town. There is very little of the medieval town walls left today, you can find a short section just south east of the Tholsel, and the other is at Back Lane at the north-west end of Carlingford.

Holy Trinity Church

The church of the Holy Trinity is an early nineteenth century Church of Ireland place of worship that has many clues of medieval structures that may have originally been on the site. The pointed doorway on the south wall appears to be from the seventeenth century or perhaps slightly earlier, and the church is attached to a tall three storey crenellated tower that may originally date back to the fifteenth or sixteenth century. The eighteenth and nineteenth century renovations makes the origins of this site a little unclear, but it is still well worth dropping in as the Church was leased to the Carlingford Lough Heritage Trust and is now a visitor centre.

Carlingford Priory

The remains of this Dominican Friary date back to the early fourteenth century. The Dominicans were invited to establish a foundation in Carlingford by the powerful Richard de Burgo. The Friary followed the usual convention of a Dominican establishment, with a cloister, a church, dormitories, a refectory and kitchen and a small mill that would have operated on the stream that runs alongside the site. Today you can still see the nave and chancel church with a fine tower.
The Friary reflects the turbulent times during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century, when raids on such monastic sites were common. The buildings were fortified and battlements were added to make the site more defensive, including a machicolation above the entrance.
The site was dissolved during Henry VIII's reign in 1540, but Dominicans returned to the site in the late seventeenth century.
You can access the interior of the site and explore the nave and chancel church, and the partial remains of the residence block.

The Mint

The Mint is located on the main street a short walk from the Tholsel Gate. It is a fortified townhouse that dates to the fifteenth – sixteenth century.
The name 'The Mint' presumably derives from a 1467 charter that granted Carlingford permission to strike its own coins, however it is more likely that this structure is simply the well built and defended townhouse of one of Carlingford's prosperous merchants during the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century.

One of the great features of this building is the beautfully decorated limestone windows. Each one bears a different design, and perhaps shows a harkening back to pre-Norman Romanesque design that may have been fashionable at this time.

Unfortunately it appears that you cannot access the interior of The Mint.

Taffe's Castle

Taffe's Castle is another good example of a fortified medieval Irish townhouse. As it is positioned close to the harbour front it was probably the home of a wealthy merchant, and is likely to have also served as a well protected warehouse for their goods. The usual layout of a fortified townhouse from this period is to have all the public business conducted on the bottom and lower floors, and the upper floors as the residence. The name is likely to derive from the powerful Taafe Family, who became Earls of Carlingford in the middle of the seventeenth century.

Unfortunately it appears that there is no way to access the interior of Taffe's Castle.

 ________________________________

This is just a very brief overview of a wonderful historic town. Carlingford is certainly worth a trip to enjoy the atmospheric medieval streets and beautiful scenery. Nearby you can visit a number of sensational heritage sites, particularly the fantastic Castleroache.

I hope you enjoy this blog, we're trying to cover as many sites as we can across Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions about sites you'd like us to cover please do leave us a comment. If you enjoy information and images of Irish heritage sites then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ If you'd like to support us then please consider downloading an audioguide to one of Ireland's wonderful heritage sites. They are packed with original music and sound effects and are a great way of experiencing the story of Ireland. They only cost €1.99 and are fun whether you are at the site or listening from the comfort of your own home. Our latest guide is to Viking and Medieval Dublin, visit us at www.abartaaudioguides.com for free previews and to download your free audioguide to the Rock of Dunamase

All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com 

More news from Everest today, as you would expect this time of year, courtesy of MountEverest.net. I imagine we'll be getting updates and stories nearly every day between now and the end of the month, as teams are now preparing for their summit bids and we'll be hearing about various attempts as long as the weather holds out.

The biggest news today is probably that the Olympic Torch has made it to the summit! As most of you probably know, the Chinese sent a large team to the North side this season to practice taking the torch to the summit for next year when the Olympics will actually be held in Beijing. The team of 17 Chinese climbers who summitted on Wednesday had several torches with them and confirmed that it burned brightly while on the highest point on Earth. Apparently the Chinese burned brightly on the way down however, as they were observed to have been smoking cigarettes on the descent.

David Tait has moved up to ABC and intends to make a summit bid, along with Phurba Sherpa sometime in the next few days, weather permitting. David is reported to be ahead of the other teams and will rest in ABC for a few days before proceeding up to C1 on Sunday, C2 on Tuesday, and C3 on Wednesday. From there he'll assess the situation and then make his push. David is going after the historic Double Traverse and plans to descend into Nepal after climbing on the North side. After a rest there, weather and health permitting, he'll go back up the mountain and come down on the Tibetan side, ending up where he started.

On the South side all eyes are on the weather forcast. There has been a report of a team making a summit push, but having to turn back due to the high winds. But it seems everyone is returning to BC and ABC in anticipation of things improving soon. The Mountain Madness Team was suppose to leave on the 9th, but now intend to move up on the 12th, so we can expect the action to really get going over the weekend and into the early part of next week.

To be clear, this was a restaurant rather than an actual hotel (a bit like Saravana Bhavan, I suppose). Either way, my local colleague took me to an outlet of this place to try some food from Hubei province, like this river fish with tiny bones that apparently was a favorite of Chairman Mao's. And yeah, I liked the food here, including some delicious vegetable thing laced with bacon, as well as even the simple lotus root soup that had been stewed for hours on end. Apparently soup is a requisite part of Hubei food, but otherwise is relatively similar to Hunan food in its spiciness.

Drombeg is one of the finest of Ireland’s stone circles and certainly the most popular, attracting large numbers of tourists due to it’s picturesque setting. Like most of Ireland’s stone circles, the construction of Drombeg is thought to date to the middle and later period of the Bronze Age, approximately 3000 years ago. 

Stone circles are often considered to be places of ritual and ceremony. Drombeg is aligned with the setting sun of the mid-winter solstice (on the 21st December), a hugely important time in the ancient calendar as it marked the shortest day and longest night of the year. A time of rebirth and renewal as from that point on the days begin to grow. Drombeg’s  celestial alignment was first noted by Boyle Somerville in 1923, who saw that when observed from the entrance to the circle, the sun is aligned with the position of the large recumbent (horizontal) stone. 

The site has long been imbued with folklore and mythology, with the large recumbent stone being called ‘The Druid’s Altar’. In his book ‘A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany’, archaeologist Aubrey Burl records the story of Boyle Somerville who returned to the site in September 1935, accompanied by a psychic; Miss Geraldine Cummings: ‘She did not like the place. She felt it was…a place where animals, if not small children, were sacrificed at each winter solstice. She ‘saw’ a priest in blue and saffron robes standing at the altar of the recumbent about to kill his human offering… Drombeg was cursed. It was ‘guarded by spirits of darkness’. I didn’t notice anything overly sinister myself during our visit on Wednesday, instead of blue robed Druids we just saw a number of camera wielding tourists enjoying a lovely sunny day in West Cork. If you’re interested in more of the folklore associated with the site, do visit the excellent Voices of the Dawn website.

The site was excavated in 1957 by E.M. Fahy. He discovered that there was a compact gravelly surface within the circle, with a central pit containing the cremated remains of an adolescent and a broken, coarse pot dating to 1124–794 BC, perhaps as Aubrey Burl hints, this young person was an offering to the ancient gods. 

People still leave offerings of trinkets, coins and sweets on the Axial Stone

Nearby to the stone circle you can discover the stone foundations of Bronze Age huts and a well-preserved fulacht fiadh, these are a typical Bronze Age monument and fulacht fiadh are found across Ireland. Like this fine example at Drombeg, fulacht fiadh generally consisted of a stone-lined pit or trough, filled with water. Stones were heated on a fire, and when the stones were red hot they were dropped into the water, eventually causing the water to boil. Their function has been long debated in archaeology, from the traditional view of cooking places, to dying clothes, bathing pools or saunas and even as a brewery.  Back in 2007, I was fortunate to attend a reconstruction of a fulacht used to brew beer in County Galway by archaeologists Declan Moore and Billy Quinn. The simple process worked a treat, and produced very drinkable (and pretty strong!) ale. Just the kind of thing you’d want for a long cold mid-winter evening waiting for the Solstice!

The remains of the fulacht fiadh

Drombeg is a lovely site to visit, and on a bright sunny day there are few better places to be in the world than West Cork! You’ll find the site less than 10 mins drive from Rosscarbery, off the R597 road to Glandore at co-ordinates: 51.564561, -9.086998. The site is open all year round and is free to enter.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog, and I really hope you find it helpful. If you'd like to support us please do consider downloading an audioguide from my website www.abartaheritage.ie, where we have over 25 guides that tell the story of Irish heritage and the majority are absolutely free to download. 

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

It gives me singular pleasure to learn that Dhiraj Singh was awarded Honorable Mention (Feature Audio Slideshow) in the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism 2010 for his My Name Is Dechen.

Dhiraj attended my MultiMedia class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali last summer, and not only received a standing ovation on showing his audio slideshow (Soundslides), but was also awarded Top Award For Photography by the workshop's instructors.

A well-deserved honor to this immensely talented photographer and photojournalist...and he's a very nice guy as well.

I don't think Dhiraj will mind me plugging the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in this post...so if you are still on the fence about your participation in the Istanbul workshop, you may want to take into account that if you do attend it, you may produce a similarly powerful project or photo essay that could earn you prestigious awards!

The Foundry offers the best instructors there is...real working professionals who will show you the ropes, and either change or reinforce your mindset. All you have to do is to leave your ego at the door...that's all.

ExWeb has all kinds of climbing updates again today, with this one from Everest topping the headlines. David Tait is reporting that the Chinese team has placed 17(!) people on top of Everest this morning in what is described as very windy conditions. As of this writing, we're still awaiting official confirmation, but Tait has a good handle on what's going down (or up as the case may be) on the North Side. He hasn't forgotten about his historic double traverse of course, and the word is that he'll make his first summit attempt around the 16th of May.

Meanwhile, over on Dhaulagiri, there is news that Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner will be heading to the summit on her own. When she and her climbing partner Lucie Orsulova proceeded up the mountain to make their first summit bid, they arrived at Camp 1 to find that all the gear they stowed there was missing. Someone found their stash and cleaned it out. The pair soldiered on however, making it to C2 the next day and the proceeding to C3 the following. But the exertion of climbing was too much for Lucie, who began suffering from altitude sickness. The summit attempt turned into a resuce mission as they proceeded back down the mountain. Now, Gerlinde will make the bid on her own. She is a strong climber and has topped out on nine of the 8000m peaks, so things look good. Still, a solo climb on a mountain like this one is never easy.

Finally, things are starting to heat up in Pakistan as well, with teams starting to arrive on Nanga Parbat. The climbing season is a bit different in the Karakoram, and while Everest teams are nearing their big push, the logistics of the climb are still being worked out. Dodo is at home right now, fresh off his double header of Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu, but he'll only take a short rest before going to Pakistan for a second double climb, this time on Nanga Parbat at K2. This guy sure know how to make us all feel like slackers. Hey Dodo! How about you stay home, sit on the couch, and watch some TV for a change? Please?!?

OK so I think I have a slightly better understanding of this local rabbitfish now than I did last time I ate this stuff. If my information is correct, this stuff normally goes for S$10/kg (US$3.50/lb), but in the runup to the Lunar New Year holidays, the price surges to well over S$100 (US$35/lb), in part due to a belief that it brings good luck, but also since this is usually when they get filled with roe and become sweeter.

Those in the photo above didn't seem to have any roe in them though, perhaps because they were frozen. And frankly, the meat otherwise didn't really have much taste, although I still enjoyed eating it thanks to that cilantro and sour Teochew chili sauce. I definitely want to try some fresh ones with roe to see what it tastes like though; I wonder if I can still get some at the market next week...hopefully at more reasonable prices?

Another climbing update from MountEverest.net today brings us news on the Spring Climbing Season in the Himalaya. Things are really picking up with all kinds of news starting to roll in.

Swiss Climber Ueli Steck has big plans for Annapurna, where he intends to climb the mountain by a new route, solo and in alpine style no less. Ueli, who recently set a speed record on the Eiger is warming up for Annapuran with summits on Cholatse and Pumori while he treks up the Khumbu Valley.

Over on Shisha Pangma, the Slovak Team are at 7000m and about to make their summit push, with weather conditions being less than ideal. On Dhaulagiri, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is celebrating a unique honeymoon. While she waits for her chance to go up the mountain, her husband is guiding another team on Manaslu. (Dude! You've got a keeper!)

On Cho Oyu the news isn't so good when it comes to summit attempts. Gavin Bate is reporting that his team is turning back, giving up on their attempts to top out. At 6800m, not far below Camp 2, they were turned back by an ice cliff that is making it all but impassable. Their climb, it appears, is over.

Alan Arnette brings us some news from Everest as well, where the word is that the HiMex sherpas will once again be the first on the summit, and by the end of April no less. Of course, these amazing climbers are laying down the fixed ropes that will allow the other teams to follow them up the mountain. Rumor has it that the Chinese team carrying the Olympic Torch may not be far behind though. Word from the South Side is that fixed ropes now reach up to Camp 3 and a number of teams are rerturning to Base Camp as part of their acclimatization process.

The last time I took a 787, it was on ANA. So I was kinda curious today to see how different United's version was going to be on this flight out of Denver. To my surprise when I walked in, they were using Continental's business class seats rather than United's, but that's actually a good thing since you get a lot more storage space that way. Fortunately, they've revamped Continental's in-flight entertainment system for the better, and we got the friendlier Continental staff too.

Of course, the lavatories didn't have any Japanese bidets in them, but they still had a mechanism to automatically close the toilet seat cover after you flushed. Otherwise, it was a 787, with generous overhead bin space, cool but unfamiliarly-opening lavatory doors, and electronic window shades, even if they were slow and never truly turned pitch black. Now that I think of it, I guess it was a relatively smooth ride without my eyes feeling dried out.

There was one annoyance that all of the 787's fancy new technologies could not fix though: somebody sitting near me was ripping some of the nastiest rotten egg farts for at least an hour, if not longer. I was also surprised that they didn't have Wi-Fi on board given that this is one of their newest planes. Later, I found a little card saying that "As a new aircraft type, the 787 requires further certification and development by Boeing before satellite Wi-Fi can be installed. We continue to work with Boeing to be among the first to fly the 787 with high-speed satellite Wi-Fi."

Photo © Andy Spyra/Courtesy FP Magazine-All Rights Reserved
I don't think of Foreign Policy magazine as one to feature top notch photojournalism, but it unfailingly does.

Its latest feature is on the 15th anniversary (if we can call it an anniversary) of the Serbian army entering the town of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, and in the days that followed killing 8,000 Bosniac Muslim men and boys. The Srebrenica genocide was the largest mass murder in Europe since the end of World War II, and the country is still recovering from the war that ended 15 years ago.

The Shadows of Srebrenica is a collection of black & white photographs by the incredibly talented Andy Spyra, and is a powerful reminder of that era, and also reminds us that many of those responsible for this genocide have yet to be apprehended, especially Ratko Mladić.

Amongst the many powerful images, I thought the one above was the most evocative, with the hand and the shadow on the pavement.. Its caption reads: "At the gate of the Srebrenica cemetery, Mehmedovic gestures toward a memorial marker with the number 8,372, though no one knows precisely how many Bosniaks were killed."

Andy Spyra is a freelance photographer currently based in Hagen, Germany. After school, he traveled to Central America and South East Asia where he took up photography. He subsequently studied photography at the Fachhochschule Hannover. He‘s currently pursuing personal projects in the Balkans.