I’ve just returned from the Indian Himalayas. I’ve spent three weeks in Himachal Pradesh (a region in the northwest of India) and in particular visited the valleys of Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur. I was confronted with incredible natural landscapes – ranging from areas with very rich vegetation to high altitude deserts to snow-capped peaks above 6000 meters – but also with stunning buddhist monastries and a very welcoming and sincere rural population always with a smile on the face. Now the cumbersome but rewarding work of processing the 1100+ photos I shot awaits me… below a quick one I’ve selected from the bunch. It’s the mudbrick fort of Dhankar in the Spiti valley: now empty and used as stable, it once sheltered the whole population of the Nono kingdom during times of war.

Today I was browsing mountain biking videos and stumbled upon this one about a great cycling adventure. 3 months and 4500 kilometers across Tibet from Kashgar (Xinjiang) to Dali (Yunnan). I really enjoyed the challenges, the stunning views and above all the intimate contact with the land and people.

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Around New Year’s Eve I was in the south of Algeria for a one-week trip to the Sahara. The desert has always fascinated me: the colors, the silence, the solitude all create an environment of sheer beauty. I have been to the Namib, the Taklimakan and some of the great American deserts but never to the Sahara which to me represents the greatest desert of all. I found out that the south of Algeria is probably the best place to start discovering the Sahara and in this post I’ll go through my trip. More »