Kyrgyzstan | Got Som?

Respect your elders

Osh Bazaar, Bishkek

Komuz player at Karool-dobo

12 Club, atop the tallest building in Bishkek

Kol-ukok

The 10 mile descent from Kol-ukok

Soviet salt mines

Beer and vodka break

Inside a yurt

Kol-ukok

Kyrgyzstan, a developing, mineral-rich, predominantly Muslim country, is one of the most spectacular countries I've been to.  Its mountains, lakes, flowers and people are unlike any I've known, in a very good way.

The majority of the people I met were intimately connected to the food they ate, whether it was slaughtering goats, sheep and horses themselves or growing their own produce, and their art was bright and symbolic, as you can see in the picture of the interior of the yurt.  They were also friendly, efficient, appreciative and generous.

Beyond the beauty, I had a lot of quirky firsts on this trip: winning a live goat in a foot race, watching a Russian boxer eat a big black spider, sleeping in a yurt, eating a milk-soaked sheep's lung, having my fortune told using magic stones, drinking fermented mare's milk and missing a flight. 

The trip was a challenge, ripe with rewards.

Som, if you were wondering, isn't a typo, but the name of their currency.  Here's a bonus video of a mom feeding a baby a shot of vodka:

Vodka...he'll learn to like it

 

Welcoming the in-laws to a wedding

On the way up to Song Kol

Kochkor

Prize goat

Molto Monégasque

What do you think about when you see or hear the word Monaco?

Most people view it as the lavish land of luxury, rich in excess, steeped in sexiness.  Some mistake it for Morocco and others think it stinks of capitalistic con.

Aside from an African country, it's all of those things, and it's also surprisingly accessible.

Last weekend I returned for the first time since studying there seven years ago and timed it to coincide with the Grand Prix, an F1 car race where the world's best drivers speed around the tiny, twisted public streets of Monte Carlo.  It was wild, expensive, fun, impressive, offensive astounding and exhausting; everything I wanted it to be.

I've been told Ross Brawn is in this pic

I rubbed elbows with celebrities and flirted with models and didn't recognize any of them.  I sped around town in a car driven by a race car driver and slept on a yacht.  I had bottle service and tables at the poshest clubs, danced between millions of Euros worth of the most expensive booze and never went to sleep until long after sunrise.

On the plane home I reverberated between embarrassment and disbelief, wondering why I enjoyed it so much and how many of the world's problems could be solved with the money spent there.  Was the happiness of a privileged few really worth all that?

Then I started coming to my senses and a conclusion.  I've made some amazing friends in Monaco and had some of the best times of my life there.  For every unapproachable, arrogant person in the principality, there are a thousand beautiful souls basking on the southern coast of the spectacular, sunburnt state, as intelligent and kind as anyone you'll ever meet.  And this is what you're supposed to do at this age, right?  I'm looking forward to my next trip.

Rooftop Diaries | The London Chapter

I think I'm going to like it here.

Escape artist

Strong and brave and inspiring and unafraid

Heroes live on, transcending space and time.

Embedded in the soul of the world

Forever on down the line.

Austen Everett's spirit will always inspire me.  What an incredible person.

To learn to sail

To learn to move and be moved; to trust yourself to trust the elements. Positioning yourself to make the most of what you're dealt. 

Moving, being moved; sailing, racing, relaxing, enjoying the ride. Without control, without concern.

Alamere Falls and the non-existent Bay Area winter

Super Bowl Sunday (February 5th) and still we've only had a few days of rain this winter. It feels like late spring and I'm sure all is not well in our eco-system.

Since I can't make it rain and am not the type to sit inside, I took advantage of the warm, dry day and headed to the Palomarin Trail, probably my favorite day hike in Marin. The sets of waves were suspiciously consistent, steadily crashing into shore at a therapeutic cadence.

Past the rope swing at Bass Lake and out to the falls we went. The poison oak was just beginning to sprout leaves and irises were popping up in all shades of purple.

Somehow there was enough water to create the usual spectacular cascading waterfall that spilled onto the quartz-filled beach, fighting back meagerly against the salted ocean waves.



Falls and flowers checked off the list, we headed back the way we came and drove off just in time to see the sun disappear glowing into the sea.



Want to experience this? Go through the small town of Bolinas to the Palomarin Trail. Start before noon, bring lunch, a swimsuit & towel, long pants and a sweatshirt. Hike two miles to Bass Lake. Go swimming and test out the rope swing on the far side of the lake. Eat lunch in the meadow or down by the lake and then walk another two miles to the trail to Alamere Falls. Put on your pants and long sleeves (poison oak alert) and walk all the way down to the falls and beach. Make sure you're back before sundown...