IAN LIPTON

Boy has it been a long time since my last post. I'm sorry people, I hope you lived without my silly jokes (I am funny right?). Anyways, I'm back and I'm ready to pick up where I last left off which was southern Iceland exiting an ice cave. If you happened to miss parts 1 and 2 you can find them HERE. If there is one thing I can say about Iceland, it would be that the landscape is stunningly beautiful. Every turn brings a new unbelieveable vista, a new jaw dropping mountainsca

After a good night's sleep, much needed after the excitement of the day before, we woke up and prepared to head back to "civilization." Our host had to go round up the horses so in the meantime Tali, Jana and I hiked up to the top of the ridge near the tent. The view was spectacular but for some reason I chose not to bring my camera on this one so you all will just have to take my word for it (note to everyone: Never don't take your camera with you!). As we were coming back d

We were awoken from our slumber by the odd sound of "wooooo" off in the distance. We all lay tucked in our sleeping bags for a while before our guide came and got us to start the day. The trek that we were on was not one of their normal treks because today was a special day. Today was the Home God Festival where the nomads celebrate the time when their ancestors decided to stop fighting with each other and lay down their arms. We trudged to the top of the ridge and took in th

We left HuaHu, got back in the car with our new friend and rode up the road to the small town of Langmusi. Langmusi sits on the border of Sichuan and Gansu provinces. In fact, the story goes that the border was drawn to separate two feuding monasteries. Both of these monasteries still exist to this day and make up ~50% of the population of the town. It is really interesting to walk around basically surrounded by monks of all ages, some driving cars, some buying sneakers and s