Baku - Oilfields and military cemetry

As I am a post-graduate student of political science, focusing on oil and gas policies, I could not help but go to Baku for research. The most impressive spots in this emerging city are for me the oilfields in the outskirts (including the environmental catastrophe) and the never ending military cemetery where the countless fallen soldiers of the Nagorno Karabakh wars are buried.

fish in the Caspian Sea

oil floating on the Caspian Sea



Looking into the faces of the countless fallen soldiers of the Nagorno Karabakh wars. Many of them were in their early twenties - today their graves are fondly decorated with flowers.

Gambia

harbor and fish market

sheep and goat market

our driver Mohammed with the cutest goat in the world

me with the cutest goat in the world

in the mangroves

monkey in the Bijilo Forest Park

 

Mali - Bamako, Djenne, Mopti, Pays Dogon

Bamako - evening on the Niger banks

somewhere between Ficko and Bla (I am not kidding!)

in the evening waiting for the ferry to cross the Niger

perfect camouflage - do you find the insect?

me, caught by thorns

love the traffic in Africa!

here too, 50 cent?

in Djenne

hey, look at me, look at me!

thank you!

gas station in Mopti

Bani meets Niger in Mopti

Songo - the most peaceful village

our driver - the BEAR - on the right

Mongolia - the pros and cons

+ Mongolia has the bluest sky I have ever seen. No Photoshop needed.
+ Mongolians wear the funkiest sunglasses in the world. They look great in combination with the traditional clothes.

+ Maybe it happens that a Mongolian nomad enters your ger (yurt) in the middle of the night, warms himself up next to the oven and then disappears silently. A very mystic experience!

+ If you feel an urgent need during night, do not hesitate to leave your ger to relieve yourself. You will probably see the most impressive starry sky like a dome above your head.

+ If you want to get an insight into Mongolian urban life try out home stay at least for a couple of nights. It could happen that the home's altar is in your room. In my case it included Buddhist goddesses and Tweety. 

+ If you travel by the end of the season (September), you will experience a nomad nation preparing for winter.

~ It could happen that you have to listen to the driver’s one and only tape in the van for six hours a day, every day, non-stop – which was in my case ABBA Greatest Hits.

- Most probably you can not wash yourself for days as there is no water.

- You will have to eat mutton meat from the bone – for absolutely sure!

- There is no toilet paper anywhere. Never ever ever.  

Please feel free to add your thoughts to the list!

Mongolia - desert tours

somewhere in the desert near Erdene Zuu Khiid

desert caravan

may I introduce you to the real cowboys



riding with my guide through the ger/yurt camps of Zuunmod 

I am sooo much bigger than the poor horse!

steppe blues in Zuunmod

children showing me their puppies in Zuunmod

the marshroutka back to Ulan Bator