intofarlands

intofarlands OP t1_j4ny4v6 wrote

Kazbegi National Park, as pictured, stands in the midst of the Caucasus Mountains along the Georgia and Russia border. To reach this landscape, most journeys start at a tiny hamlet of a thousand people called Stepantsminda, reached by bus from Tbilisi. Overshadowing this town to the west is the mighty Mount Kazbeg, a dormant volcano that lies 16,558 ft. high in the Caucasus Mountain range. It is the second highest volcano in the Caucasus, after Mount Elbrus, the highest in all of Europe.

If interested in more photos and our visit to this region: Kazbegi

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intofarlands OP t1_iydekl4 wrote

We embarked on a road trip through one of the most sensitive regions of China’s most sensitive province. Outside the edge of ancient Kuqa, standing alongside the noisy highway, we are attempting to ascend into the land of nomads by hitchhiking. They are the northern realms of Xinjiang graced by the Tianshan (Heavenly) and Altai (Golden) Mountains - a place of itinerants with their golden eagles, rolling green meadows set against snowy peaks, and landscapes of the bluest alpine lakes and granite towers dotted with cozy yurts. Kazakhs, Mongols, Uyghurs and Altais have shared these lands for thousands of years.

Our ambition as simple passerby’s is to just glimpse their way of life. A question lingers: do they still hold to those legendary traditions, or are they now merely a remnant of the past?

If interested in more photos and the story: The Heavenly Way

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