During October 2011 I traveled to southern China for a short tour of Guanxi. Guanxi lies some ten hours by train from Hong Kong and features stunning sceneries that attract Chinese tourists and foreigners alike. Famous mainly for karst landscapes around Yangshuo and the beautiful countryside, the region is also particularly interesting for its historic villages and minorities.

It has been almost two years since I joined the faithful community of Mac users… after a life spent building and hacking PCs! Recently, I took yet another bite of the Apple by buying an iPad.

Another amazing timelapse video, this time by Terje Sorgjerd, a truly talented landscape photographer. Shot from El Teide, the highest mountain in Spain, it features stunning views of the sky along the notes of a beautiful song by Ludovico Einaudi (Nuvole bianche).

The first part of 20th century saw the birth of leisure travel. At first driven by railways and ocean liners, mainly in Europe and the US, it was later dominated by airlines that opened up the globe to adventure-seekers. It was an era of luxurious and elegant travel, privilege of a small but growing elite that progressively expanded their world from hometowns and country cottages to national and later far-flung destinations. It was the “Golden Age of Travel”.

I had to share this truly amazing video by Tor Even Mathisen! It’s the latest of his aurora borealis timelapse creations: built from a sequence of still frames shot with a DSLR and later post-processed before merging them into a beautifully edited video.

Last summer I travelled to Bolivia, returning after almost six years to South America. During my trip to Perù in 2004, I had also visited La Paz and promised myself to return to explore the magnificent high-altitude plateau in the south-west of the country. What follows is a short tale of my trip… which turned out to be quite an adventure! Don’t miss the photo gallery at the end of the post.

I was recently impressed by a photo essay on burn Magazine about rape issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The essay is by Argentinian photographer Walter Estrada and, through very strong and disturbing shots, depicts widespread violence and extreme brutality where rape is used as a weapon of war in the conflict that continues affecting the Congolese region.

Yesterday I was in Rome and while strolling towards the city center I passed by Mercati di Traiano (Trian’s Markets) and was attracted by the William Klein exhibition. Moreover, during my many visits to Rome I had never visited the Markets which is a fascinating complex of ancient roman ruins that overlooks Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Vittoriano.

During one of my recent “travels” on Google Earth (yes, I do that often… somehow I can’t live without travelling all the time!) I’ve spent some time looking into panoramic content from 360 Cities. They have now collected an incredible amount of 360° panoramic photos, uploaded from talented amateur photographers from around the world, that let you explore the globe from your armchair with a stunning immersive experience.

Today I was browsing Vimeo’s 25 favorite videos of 2009 and found out about timescapes.org timelapse videos. The author uses a custom-made dolly to produce really amazing footage.