Daily Archives: Thursday August 30th, 2007

The following galleries are rather in thematic order than chronological. Apologies for the sometimes not so high quality! Many pictures are shot through the windows of moving vehicles … trains, jeeps, busses; the camels had no windows of course, but their movements were even more irregulare and weird.

Train travel Moscow – Bishkek

Platskart compartments on an 80 h travel (1 h delay only). Sublime light over the Kazakh steppe, herds of cattle and muslim cemeteries, picturesque tiny houses in Russia and sometimes golden cupolas between trees … and the peaceful and silent Wolga.

Bishkek, capital of the Kyrgyz Republic

Astonishing examples of Soviet architecture, unexpected good restaurants, snow capped mountains, close to be grabbed by your hands – oriental flair in ferroconcrete, memorials, memorials, memorials … and the American University of Central Asia.

Kyrgyzstan

From Bishkek to Jalalabad; Trekking to Saimaluu Tash; Osh and jeep ride to Irkeshtam.

The latter was rather annoying through more than 5 (!) Kyrgyz passport checks and luggage controls. The kilometers between the Kyrgyz and Chinese borders had to be hitchhiked on trucks – there was no real procedure for individual travellers. Supposedly due to the Olympic Games 2008 the Chinese checkpoint was unexpectedly new and the dispatch quick and made a good impression.

Saimaluu-Tash / Kyrgyztan

In this folder, I really put a lot of pictures. Those with the touristic background come first, pictures of stone engravings later. So please stop, before you are bored and proceed, if you are really into prehistory!
For further information about this very special place, please also have a look on some background info under Texte!

Beijing – Clocks of the Forbidden City

In the East wing of Beijing’s Forbidden City there is a large hall housing one of the most fancy and noble clock collections worldwide. You can wander through a selection of more than 1000 timepieces; they came as gifts from European Kings, US-statesmen and Japan’s nobility or merchants. Most date from the 17th to the 19th century and even some Chinese artefacts are exhibited. Carefully dimmed light and the imperial dimensions of the hall’s wooden roof construction make this one of the most formidable places to re-imagine the end-days and decay of the old Chinese Empire.