Category Archives: Mountains

Mountains – Their serene and brutal abilities had been honed into me from years of climbing and wild escapades that began in Switzerland as a child. In the immaculate words of a Himalayan muleteer, “the mountains laws are unambiguous, honest and eternal”.

Akahiao Nature Institute…and tea times

When, a few years ago, I left northwestern Yunnan to join my wife Julie and live here in Hawaii, there were concerns that I’d somehow be removed from what had been my base close to mountains and tea and of the … Continue reading

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Ayni – Reciprocity. The Third Instalment of our Andean Journeys along the Inca Road

The Llama’s ass, tea leaves, and a mountain where the Royal Incas came for guidance from the still-reverent spirit world. Our last instalment (here) of the ‘In from the Outpost’ (on tea’ journeys through the Andean world. Pariaqaqa, a mountain … Continue reading

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Tea Horse Road – Witness

“The tea caravans would come from the north and they would come in Spring and even winter. The Khampas who accompanied the caravans could frighten and impress us. They were unpredictable and without fear. Their journeys made them indestructible”. Words … Continue reading

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The Tea Horse Road – The Grace

A little moment of respite for our incredible hostess who remains still, one of most formidable characters in my memory palace. While running around researching the Tea Horse Road, a friend who was from the Yi minority invited me to … Continue reading

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Part 2 of our ‘In from the Outpost’

Second Part of our recent ramblings through Peru and the Andean world, with a visit to the village of Chawaytiri here. More sips of tea, more coca offers, still more coca…before an offering of a tea cake to the elders, which … Continue reading

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Mustang Spaces 4 – Lo Gekar and Kunga

Abu is chatty. Not prone to overly long sessions of speaking, Abu, when he is talking, usually has something to expel and it is always a treat watching it begin to emerge. Weeks in and heading west out of old … Continue reading

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In the Land of Ayni (Part 1) – Outpost Magazine

Part 1 of our journey into the Andean world and my own slight obsession with the concept and Quechuan word, Ayni, here. The Quechuan word ‘Ayni’…a sublime and old Andean idea; a responsibility that one has to one’s community. A … Continue reading

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Mustang Spaces 3 – The Smell of Smoke, The Scent of Sun

Withered little holes of caves rest in a line hundreds of metres above on a sheer wall of red stone. This pattern has repeated itself again and again on this journey. On sheer walls – upon closer looks through a … Continue reading

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Mustang Spaces 2 – The Cup, The Mountains

The Tibetan term ‘gtum mo’, pronounced “Tummo” refers to the tantric tradition of meditation that summons or produces heat and a kind of blissful warmth within the body. It is a kind of yogic heat, which is attained through a … Continue reading

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Mustang Spaces 1 – The Khampa Route

Departing along the Khampa route along the eastern flank of Mustang. Continue reading

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