The Red Bull X Alps is a unique race to say the least. Competitors begin the event in Salzburg, Austria and must race through the Alps to Monaco, covering a distance of about 1000 km (621 miles) along the way. They can choose their own route but they can only travel on foot or paraglider, which means the athletes are typically climbing up snow-capped peaks, launching their paragliders and flying as far as they can go, before repeating the process on another mountain. The video below follows two-time defending champ Christian Maurer as he goes for his third straight victory in the race earlier this year. It is an amazing look at a very cool competition that few people know anything about. Great stuff and these racers are definitely in a class all their own.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been to Spain since the 60's. I love Spain-- the people, the culture, the language, the food, the history... Reading FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS in high school, right after seeing Picasso's "Guernica" at the Museum of Modern Art for the first time, helped me understand that the political right has always been and will always be the mortal enemy of humanity. Even when the fascist monster, propped up by American post-War hegemonists, was still in control, I used to love visiting Spain. (I even had my first UFO experience there some time in the '70s.) So in planning out my vacation in Morocco I was eager as can be to include a week in Spain.
I figured we'd fly into Madrid, kick some jet-lag, eat some great food, walk around El Prado, and then make our way down to the Algeciras-Tangier ferry via Cordoba and Sevilla.

Roland got all gung-ho on Toledo, so I squeezed that into the schedule too. I mean, how could I resist this rationale: Frommer-- "If you visit only a few Spanish cities in your lifetime, make beautiful, romantic Toledo one of them." Now that sounds like a pretty strong endorsement and it's so close to Madrid, a really easy day trip.

It's a nice city, probably worthwhile, nothing really wrong with it. But the Toledo Chamber of Commerce must have hired Jack Abramoff to get to Frommer for that quote! Toledo is worth a couple of hours, if you've spent enough time at El Prado, the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and if you've wandered over all the neighborhoods of central Madrid and if you've already spent lots of time in the real treasure cities of Spain, like Cordoba, Sevilla, Barcelona and Granada. I enjoyed the Pamplona running of the bulls more and Ibiza was a way better experience too. But, hey, Toledo is ok-- kind of cold in December and desolate/lonely and... well, everything was closed and all you see is gaggles of camera-toting tourists...

We took the train; it's about an hour or so and the station was an easy walk from out hotel in Madrid. We had lunch in a beautiful setting, the highly-rated Hostal del Cardenal, "Toledo's best-known restaurant," according to Frommer, who even refers to a "chef." Although the restaurant is in the lovely hotel, that location is the best thing that can be said about it, and the idea of calling whoever is preparing the food a "chef" is patently absurd. This restaurant is a tourist feeding facility with nothing whatsoever to offer in terms of culinary sophistication (especially in light of Madrid's restaurant scene, one of the absolute most magnificent in the world). Del Cardenal reminded me of what I don't like about Venice: the food is for tourists who come and go and who don't really have to be catered to because the next day they'll be somewhere else. So you get a somewhat gentrified version of slop.

The Alcazar and the Cathedral were better but they don't hold a candle to what you see and feel in Cordoba or Granada or Sevilla. Toledo is better than mediocre but Frommer must have had a hot date there or something to rave about it the way he does. I'll write up some stuff about the places we loved-- Madrid, Cordoba and Sevilla-- in the next few days.

Photo © Ed Kashi/National Geographic-All Rights Reserved
Apart from joining the agency VII, Ed Kashi was also featured on NPR's The Picture Show in a piece titled On Photographing Pakistan. He also has more of his photographs on the National Geographic blog.

Ed Kashi's objectives were to show how the people of Punjab live, and how millions of Pakistanis just try to live their lives despite the threat of religious fundamentalism, especially as it's also home to the peaceful sect of Sufism.

I had the pleasure of meeting a number of young Pakistani women photographers at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul just last week or so, and I was amazed at how they just lived their lives to the fullest, worked and crafting their impressive body of work seemingly unperturbed by the events that get reported in our mainstream media.

The above photograph was made at the mosque of Badshahi in Lahore, which is the second largest mosque in South Asia and the fifth largest in the world. The way Ed Kashi photographed the scene by slightly tilting the camera seems to be giving motion to the barefooted man and his cane. Nicely thought out and it gives a different perspective to the mosque which must've been photographed countless times.

No, it's not like this place is anything that special. But it is cheap (two of us ate a small quantity at only S$10 or US$8 a head) and reasonably guilt-free as long as one is careful about what ingredients are being thrown up on that grill. Washing it down with some beer over ice always makes it kinda fun too.

Photo © National Geographic/Travis Dove -All Rights Reserved
Travis Dove interned on the photo staffs of several American newspapers including The Boston Globe and The Charlotte Observer, and was named the 2007 College Photographer of the Year by the Missouri School of Journalism. He also completed a prestigious photo internship at National Geographic Magazine.

His work has been awarded by World Press Photo, POYi, PDN, the NPPA, and the WHNPA, among others. In the fall of 2008, and appeared in the National Geographic, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, amongst many others.

I loved his photo essay The Holy Mountain made amongst the monks in Mount Athos, the spiritual center of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Mount Athos is a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece. It was established more than 1,000 years ago. Though land-linked, it's only accessible by boat. It's also home to communities of Christian hermits who follow a monastic rule, allowing them to worship in comparative solitude, while also affording them a level of mutual practical support and security.

Excellent work by Travis Dove!

A timelapse video shot in the wilds of Wyoming? Yes, please! Thats exactly what we get in this 6+ minute short film below, and it is just as spectacular as you would imagine.

Wyoming Wildscapes II from Nicolaus Wegner on Vimeo.

Not much tourism going on in Somalia

I'm putting the finishing touches on my return to Bali. I booked a flight from L.A. to Bangkok and then a hotel for one night in Bangkok, followed by a flight the next day to Bali, where I booked a beautiful villa on the outskirts of Ubud, far from the horrific tourist beaches down south. Last time I went to Bali-- about 3 years ago-- people were still frightened because of the 2005 suicide bombings in Jimbaran and Kuta, two congested and commercialized tourist areas.

I avoid places like Jimbaran and Kuta not because of terrorism but because they're filled with noisy partying tourists, mostly from Australia and Singapore but from everywhere. Bali has so much to offer and the southern tourist ghetto is a blight on everything good about the place. On the other hand, there are places I would avoid because of political danger. And last month's Forbes had a handy guide to the worst of the lot.

You'd probably guess that the worst of the lot, even beyond the tourist-unfriendly piracy, is Somalia. Most of the most dangerous states on earth are either Muslim or African. Somalia is both-- as well as a desperately poor failed state. The others in the top three are Afghanistan (one of the places I visited, in less unsettled times-- 1969 and 1972-- that I liked most) and Iraq. Also way up there are the Congo, Sudan, Pakistan, Yemen, Georgia (in the Caucasus, not the one in the U.S.), Nigeria, Algeria, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka (another place I've loved visiting, both before and even during the civil war), Palestine, Zimbabwe. And then there's parts of Mexico, although not the parts that tourists normally go to visit (unless you want to count swine flu as a danger). I don't usually care what officials say about what's too dangerous to visit and what isn't. They tend to be overly cautious. But not always. The U.S. State Dept. advises against Timbuktu but they're wrong about it. It's very safe. If, on the other hand you're reading about civil war and terrorism in the newspapers, it's better to stay away.


UPDATE: I'd Stay Away From Pakistan

Turns out Dick Cheney didn't order the hit on Benazir Bhutto after all. Still, you have to be a real pollyanna to go anywhere near Pakistan these days.

Conde Naste Traveler has put together a rather interesting list of places that are vanishing before our eyes, and may be completely gone, for a variety of reasons, in the not too distant future.

Places that made the "most threatened" list include Bagan, Myanmar where ancient temples are being threatned by newer, more modern, and cheap, knock offs. The Pantanal, in Brazil, which is amongst my places I'd love to visit, but the once vast rainforests there are being destroyed to make way for more farmland, and the Galápagos Islands, which is being overrun by tourists.

The article does a great job of describing these remote locations, why they are endangered, and why we would want to visit them. It also has tips on the best time to go, and other travel advice to consider. This is an amazingly well done article that I highly recommend to anyone who loves to travel and get off the beaten path some.

Thanks Gadling!

Another Everest Update today from MountEverest.net. Word is that despite the bad weather, teams are moving up and getting into position for their summit bids. The weather reports say it's very windy on the mountain right now, but that those winds are expected to calm down and a weather window will open sometime in the next four to five days.

Things are especially busy on the North side where some of the larger teams are waiting for their chance. Nives Meroi sends word that she is heading up today despite the weather conditions and that she'll wait for the weather window to open while camped at 6300m. There is also word that Wim Hoff, the so called Dutch "Iceman" has made it to the North Col in just his boots and shorts. You'll recall that Wim is the crazy man who intends to summit in shorts. Lets hope that nothing... er...vital...gets frostbitten. As for me, I don't think I'd want to take the chance.

On the South side things are a bit more quiet. Teams are said to be mostly acclimatized now, and are resting in ABC or even lower. There are still some fixed ropes to be put into place, and the weather window is still a few days away for them as well. Mike Haugen of the Coleman Everest Team is keeping his cards close to the vest and has elected to not reveal his team's target summit day.

You get the sense that on the South face it's much more relaxed and there is a "wait and see" attitude. Much more so than on the North side where the fear of traffic jams seems much more likely. Let's hope the weather turns on schedule, and these anxious teams can start to make their way up.

Update: Alan is reporting on his Everest 2007 Page that there are two teams on the South side making their summit bids as I write this. The teams are breaking trail and laying down the fixed ropes with the hopes that they'll make the summit today. I'm sure we'll hear more about these teams tonight or tomorrow. It looks like not everyone is just resting at lower elevations.

Here's a highly recommended 16-minute long movie documentary of Joey L.'s (and his team) excursion into the land of the Mentawai. It starts with the 10-hour crowded cargo ferry ride from Sumatra across the strait to the islands of the Mentawai, approximately 150 kilometers off the Sumatran coast.

The excursion took 2 years to plan and prepare, and we are treated to a behind the scenes look at the photo shoots along with snippets of the Mentawai's life. The amount of gear that Joey and his team had to carry was quite significant. This is not a destination where you show up with a couple of cameras and flashes. They had to lug heavy lighting equipment, large reflectors and lightboxes, cameras, lenses, video equipment, generators, food and so forth.

The most visible Mentawai tribesmen in the documentary are Bajak Tarason and Bajak Tolkot, who seem to have a pessimistic view of the Menatawai's future. They address the interference of the Indonesian government in their ancient tribal customs, and of the Christian missionaries who seek to change their belief system.

It's Bajak Tolkot who invites the world to visit the Menatawai islands, to witness their way of life before it's too late. I really hope very few people take him on this invitation. I realize that an influx of tourists could bring a much needed infusion of prosperity to the Mentawai, but it would also accelerate the demise of their way of life, or turn them into performers; wearing their loin cloths and brandishing their arrows for the tourists' cameras.

In the documentary, I've seen young Mentawai wearing graphic t-shirts, including one of Donald Duck, posing next to a traditional Mentawai tribesmen. So the infiltration has already started, and not before too long, the baseball caps will appear as well. It's a shame that similar cultures and traditional ways of life can so swiftly disappear.

My thanks to Cathy Scholl for the heads-up on this movie.

Photograph © Michael Rubenstein-All Rights Reserved
Michael Rubenstein is a photographer based in Mumbai to cover South Asia for Redux Pictures, having lived in New York City and Portland, Oregon. He has a degree in Environmental Policy and has studied at Ohio University's School of Visual Communications.

His clients include: Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Magazine, The Oregonian, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, Complex Magazine, The Paris Match, Bloomberg News Service and W+K.

Some of his work on Andheri, a Mumbai suburb being transformed into a hip neighborhood appeared in the NY Times. And it's interesting to see the stylistic difference between this photo sideshow and his India gallery on his website.

Photo © Trevor Snapp-All Rights Reserved
Trevor Snapp is a self-taught photographer with degrees in anthropology and African studies, and his work is syndicated with Corbis and Millennium Images. His clients include Stern, National Geographic Traveler, BBC, Time.com, Chicago Tribune, Marie Calire and others. He has also worked for a variety of NGOs such as Heifer International, Gates Foundation, and Intrahealth in Africa.

Now based in Kampala, Trevor photographed La Santa Muerte in Mexico, among other galleries of Central Amercia

The cult of Santa Muerte is unusual because it's the cult of the drug lords, the dispossessed, and criminals. There are many shrines to Santa Muerte in the capital city, but Tepito is where the most popular shrines are. Tepito is an infamous barrio and its tough reputation dates back to pre-Hispanic times. The neighborhood is a warren of mean streets and alleys, lined with auto-body shops and small stores. It's here that the prostitutes, drug dealers and petty thieves come to pay their respect to the saint. It's also where the common folk; housewives, cab drivers and street vendors come to make their offerings...tequila bottles, candles, money and flowers.

The gallery strikes a chord with me since I photographed in Tepito in 2008, along with two other photographers, when we were within a hair's breadth of being mugged.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic EL-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here's a couple of "on-the-go" photographs made with my brand-new Panasonic GF1/20mm 1.7 lens on Bleecker street in NYC's West Village. There was a couple of garbage bags on the sidewalk which I had to frame out of the top photograph by chopping off the woman's shoes. The second is of a woman balancing 4 (actually 5, I think) lemonades and seemingly on collision course with another...it didn't happen.

I shot these with the GF1's Intelligent Auto mode on; essentially the "point & shoot" mode, which I'm using for a couple of days until I get used to its handling. The IA mode allows me to photograph in both RAW and jpeg. The images above are the jpeg versions (out of the camera), and were slightly sharpened with CS. Click on them for a larger size.

In my opinion, the GF1 is a hybrid between a point & shoot and a rangefinder, and is ideal to carry on photo walk-abouts. It's probably a camera that P&S shooters will consider as a step-up, while DSLR users will view it either as a backup or as a carry-around tool. The shutter lag isn't too bad...in fact, I didn't find it to be much of a problem. It's there, but it's not significant.

It still bothers me not having a viewfinder (a Panasonic EVF or Voigtlander OVF may be my next purchase) to look through, but perhaps I'll get used to it. One of the notable advantages of this camera is, when photographed, people don't seem fazed (or threatened) by it as compared to a DSLR.

I carry it on a hand strap, and I find that it doesn't nestle easily in my hand. Maybe I'll get used to it in a few days.

Am I in love with the GF1? Not yet...I like it, and getting used to it...but it's not love (yet).

Photo © Stephen JB Kelly-All Rights Reserved
Stephen JB Kelly is an English photographer, currently based in Hong Kong. He obtained a diploma in Photography from the London College of Communication, which was followed by a degree in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport.

Aside from winning a number of awards for his photography, Stephen has been published in various magazines including The Independent Magazine, The Observer Magazine, D La Repubblica delle Donne, IL Magazine and The FADER Magazine.

One of his portfolios is of Qi Lihe, on the outskirts of Lanzhou which is the most destitute area of this heavily polluted industrial city in northwest China. During the recent years, there has been an influx of migrant Hui and Dongxiang Muslim minorities into these urban centers. The main cause of the influx is the desertification of their land, forcing these farmers and families to seek a better existence in Lanzhou.

The Hui’s ancestors were Silk Road traders, largely of Arab and Persian descent, who first came to China in the 7th Century. The Dongxiang are closely related to the Mongolians and as an independent ethnic group they arose through contact with Central Asians who converted them to Sunni Islam in the 13th century.

It is shaping up to be another busy week in the Antarctic as the 2013 season really begins to ramp up. There are more teams en route to Punta Arenas, Chile where they'll soon catch a flight to Union Glacier ahead of their Hercules Inlet start. Meanwhile, some of the teams that are already on the ice continue to struggle with progress.

First up, one of the more high profile South Pole expeditions that we've been keeping an eye on this year is Richard Parks' attempt to break the speed record from Hercules to the Pole. He hopes to ski that distance in just 23 days but in order to do so, conditions are going to need to be just right. So, with that in mind, Richard hasn't set out just yet. He's at Hercules and waiting for a weather window to allow him to get underway. Despite being out on the ice for more than a week, Parks is being patient with his approach. Hopefully he'll be able be able to launch his attempt soon.

The Scott Expedition is now more than three weeks into their journey to the South Pole following Robert Falcon Scott's 1911-1912 route. They intend to make the round trip journey that Scott never could. So far Ben Saunders and Tarka L' Herpiniere have been battling high winds and cold temperatures, but hey are starting to find a rhythm and are making solid progress despite their very heavy sleds. The past few days they've managed to cover in excess of 12 miles (19.3 km) each day, which may not sound like much but is good progress considering the conditions.

Joining these teams on the ice soon will be Lewis Clarke (I can't make this stuff up folks!) who hopes to become the youngest person to ski solo to the South Pole at the age of 16. ExWeb has a good interview with the young man, who left for Chile yesterday and hopefully will be on a flight within a few days. It will be an impressive feat if someone so young and relatively inexperienced can manage to ski the full 700+ mile (1126 km) distance on his own.

Also setting out soon will be the husband and wife team of Chris and Marty Fagan, who left for Punta Arenas yesterday. These two endurance athletes intend to ski to the Pole in about 45 days and with a little luck, they too will be heading for the frozen continent soon.

Right now it is just a matter of weather that keeping these explorers from getting started with their expeditions. They'll sort their gear and prepare their food as best they can over the next day or two, but the hard part will be staying patient while they wait for an opportunity to fly to the Union Glacier base. Regular flights have resumed, but the weather in Antarctica remains fickle, even at this time of the year. We'll just have to wait to see when they can begin. Lets hope it is soon.

That was pretty cool. Some of our teammates have been talking about this place for a while now, so I suggested that we come here for dinner. Yes, the food was good (and prices cheap), but the more interesting thing about this place is the venue itself, which is out in the middle of nowhere and requires a bit of a drive out of Seoul (212-5 Sangjeok-dong, 31-723-9938).



See, one can choose to eat outdoors on the gravel with light bulbs dangling overhead. It was a bit cold tonight so they enclosed the dining area with plastic sheets to keep the heat in, but I can imagine that this would be even more fun during warmer days when presumably everything is just out in the open air. The charcoal kept us warm at least...as well as the copious amounts of soju.

I'm a bit torn about this place (397 River Valley Road, 6777-4992). On one hand, I absolutely hate how overpriced it is at S$6.50 (US$5.15) for a slice of cheese pizza that hardly puts a dent in my stomach. And S$4.50 (US$3.50) for a glass of watered-down lemonade? Bah! Every time I come here, I tell myself that I'll never go back.

And yet, I've been back here at least two or three times, in part simply out of sheer convenience, but also since there really isn't anywhere else around here that one can get a New York-style pizza by the slice, complete with oregano and garlic powder at each table. Admittedly it does smell pretty good in there when you walk in. (Where is the parmesan shaker, BTW??)

Either way, I keep cringing each time the cashier tells me how much I owe them. Yes, I know that it's not fair to compare to prices in New York when we are halfway around the world, but it still irks me. Surprisingly, I've seen multiple people paying at least S$42 (US$33) for an 18" pie there...and lots of bike deliveries too. Maybe next time I'll stick to their buffalo wings instead.

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Clonfert Cathedral in County Galway is probably best known for its amazing doorway, the finest example of Romanesque architecture in Ireland. The Romanesque style of architecture was influenced by classical Roman and Byzantine architecture, and generally dates to the early medieval period, some time between the 8th - 11th Centuries AD across the continent. It appears a little later in Ireland, and seems to coincide with large scale reforms of the Irish church in the twelfth century. The Irish builders incorporated their own styles with Romanesque to create a hybrid of the two, which is known as Hiberno-Romanesque architecture. 

A close-up of the carved heads

The doorway at Clonfert is in six ‘orders’ and has inclined jambs. Above the doorway, a steep triangular pediment is covered with Romanesque decoration showing animal heads, foliage, zig-zags, chevrons, but most striking of all are the individually carved human heads.

The wonderfully ornate Romanesque decoration

However striking, the Romanesque doorway was a late addition onto a church that was already famous in Ireland. It is referred to in the annals before 1050 as one of the four largest churches in the country (Annals of the Four Masters, Annals of Inishfallen, Chronicon Scotorum). Clonfert is associated with Saint Brendan, he is said to have founded a monastery here in the sixth century. Brendan is known as The Navigator, and is one of the most famous of Ireland’s monastic saints. 

A ninth century book The Voyage of Saint Brendan the Navigator records his legendary journey to ‘The Isle of the Blessed’, a journey that involves sea monsters, strange islands and their inhabitants and that some people even believe to suggest that Brendan was the first European to discover America! There are no remains of Brendan’s monastic site visible at Clonfert, though a gravestone in the churchyard marks the spot where he is allegedly buried.

15th Century sculpture, note the mermaid at the base

As you pass through the doorway into the cathedral you can notice that the innermost part of the doorway is a later medieval (around the fifteenth century) addition, carved of grey limestone in contrast to the sandstone of the flamboyant Romanesque door. Much of the fine carvings and archway in the interior are also of fifteenth century date, and see if you can find a charming carving of a mermaid dating to this period too. She is similar to that at nearby Clontuskert.  
Clonfert is certainly worth a visit to see the spectacular Romanesque doorway and the wealth of later fifteenth century sculpture inside. You’ll find it around 15km south-east of Ballinasloe, when you get to Laurencetown it is signposted down a minor road to the east off the R355 (Ballinasloe – Portumna Road). At co-ordinates 53.240651, -8.058621.

You can find more information about Clonfert from their website http://www.clonfertdiocese.ie

 

The interior of Clonfert

If you have a suggestion for a site I’d love to hear it, please let us know by dropping us a line at info@abartaaudioguides.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram where you can keep up with daily pictures and information about Ireland's wonderful heritage sites.If you'd like to support us please consider downloading one of our audioguides from www.abartaaudioguides.com, they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland's iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores download one of our guides and let us whisk you off to ancient Ireland!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here are two images made while traveling in Chhattisgarh and the neighboring Orissa. There were made using my first digital camera, the Canon 10D...remember that one?

The first is of an Odissi dancer in Bhubaneswar. Odissi is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It originates from the state of Orissa, in eastern India. On the basis of archaeological evidence, it's the oldest surviving dance form of India.

The second is of an adivasi in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, whom I found amongst the thousands of tribal people who congregated at one of the weekly haats. It's estimated there are 300 haats in Bastar, where villagers come to buy basic necessities, and to socialize.

It's at these haats that the adivasis imbibe copious quantities of toddy, the palm wine ubiquitous in these parts. The fellow was in a pseudo trance along with other members of his group. Despite my efforts, I never found out what the purpose of the trance was.

Here's my gallery The Adivasis of Chhattisragh.

The pace of the video below would best be described as "breakneck." Once it takes off, there is barely time to catch your breath as it speeds through a series of beautiful and adventurous timelapse segments. The title of the video is "Pause #24" but really its adventure in fast forward.

PAUSE #24 from PAUSE on Vimeo.