Monthly Archive: June 2011

The Painted Lakes

We climbed through clouds and rain to reach the crater lakes at Kelimutu, Flores. Sacred to the local people, who believe that souls return to...

Namib desert satellite view via Wikimedia Commons

The Emptiest Landscapes on Earth

Looking for solitude? Drama? Isolation? Some of the world’s wildest places are more accessible than ever before. From deserts to steppe to swathes of frozen...

Ngada village in the highlands with view down towards the sea.

On the Up in Flores

It is a bright, sunny day and a beautiful ride. I’m starting to feel that the jinx that has befouled our overland mission from Bali...

A Tight Corner

Eating cold fried eggs and soggy white bread in the convent, under the scrutiny of a spreadeagled plastic Christ and an increasingly baleful Pope, Z...