This past June ArcticTropic and family took an extended Western journey covering California,Arizona and Nevada. One of our stops was Death Valley, the second hottest place on Earth – with an all time high of 134 degrees. In Libya 136 has been recorded, but Death valley has 130 + temperatures more often.

In general there is almost no vegetation. Years can go by without any significant rainfall. Water can arrive in the form of floods from far away cloudbursts or snow melt.

As it was only June the temperature was just 110 in the shade, 130 in the sun. This picture was taken at 8:30 in the morning.

The lowest place in North America, 282 ( 87 m) feet below Sea Level.

Dried up sea bed – all salt.

Those who don’t plan in advance will pay through the nose at the only gas station.

Skateboarding though Death Valley.

Onwards to the snowy Sierras !

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The Wakhan Corridor is a panhandle shaped territory that serves as a buffer zone between Tajikistan,Pakistan and China. According the the New York TImes, it is the “safest’ part of Afghanistan , meaning there no warfare because the area is not strategically important to the warring factions in other parts of the country. Mountains top the 24,000 foot range and the first snow falls in August. Noshak is the highest at 24,580 feet.

Obviously the area is extremely hard to reach. Kabul based Great Game Travel offers 11 day trips beginning at about $6000 per person in a small group.

From the Great Game website : ” You will be met at the Ishkashem border and from there you will drive for 2 days to Sarhad. From there, we leave behind our 4×4 vehicles, and trek with Yaks and horses into the heart of the Wakhan corridor, taking a circle route around the Big Pamir knot, before ending up again in Sarhad. From there we backtrack to Ishkashem.
This tour can be combined with the Afghan Adventurer trip to Bamiyan and Balkh or Afghan Explorer trip that includes Herat as well. You can also combine it with trekking in the Fann Mountains (Tajikistan) or with a jeep tour to north Tajikistan/Uzbekistan or along the Pamir Highway to Kyrgyzstan”

The 200 km drive from Mendoza  to San Juan runs up Ruta 40 through the desert along the Cordillera of the Andes – they rise 3 to 4 km straight out of the flatlands that run 1400 km from the Atlantic. Along the route are many vineyards – the desert sun and snowmelt providing ample water are the perfect combination for hearty Malbecs.

For best viewing, choose the 1080p setting.

The drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas takes about 5 hours – through extreme terraina nd climatic changes. When I left the tree-lined Boulevards of Hollywood about 7 AM , it was hazy and 63 degrees. Arriving in Las Vegas at lunchitime, it was 108 !

Kelso Road- Less than 50 cars a day sometimes.

On I-15 , crosssing from California.

Michaelangelo recreated at Ceasar’s Palace, above a high end shopping mall.Las Vegas is really the world’s largest mall, different in that it allows drinking,smoking and gambling everywhere.

One of two old Strip Casinos left. Still has $1 Blackjack.

One Armed Bandit nickel machine in Searchlight, Nevada.

Crossing the State Line from Laughlin,Nevada to Bullhead City, Arizona.

The temperature rose to 114 about 5 miles down the road – Arizona 95.

Looking across the Colorado River to Arizona,from Needles,California. I swam in the refeshingly cool clean water – runoff from snowmelt in the Rockies several hundred miles away.

Cross Country freight train nearing its’ destination.

Back on the Pacific – seeing the sunset before the flights back to Miami

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Los Angeles has over sixty miles of beach. The southern end, around the Palos Verdes Peninsula, is rocky. Then, from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica the beaches are mainly sand.In the North, Malibu, 26 miles long,is rocky, with some excellent beaches that one must climb down cliffs to get to. Surfing is great everywhere, though waves calm a bit in the summer.

Malibu Beach House.

Santa Monica – 26 mile long Bike and Blade path from Redondo to Malibu.

Venice Freak Show.

“Medication ” for the “Sick.”

Malibu Waves.

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On Saturday morning a local friend took me for a drive through the countryside to her family’s finca – a dairy farm in La Unión , about 35 miles outside of Medellín. In the city , at 5000 feet, the temperature was near 80, at 9500 feet in the tierra fria, it was in the 50’s, but very sunny. Our first stop was in San Antonio at this church.

Mass in Colombia is the real thing, not the bland “lite” version so common in the United States.

The air is cool, but the hot equatorial sun has people on the shady side of the street.

A potato farmer carrying his goods. Andean potatoes are the best – hundreds of varieties.

Medellín – Flower Captial of the World

The finca was beautiful. Milking the old fashioned way makes a much better tasting product.

Afterwards we went for a great lunch – with some of the best bean soup I had ever tasted,chorizo,steak,rice,potatoes,and eggs and sodas – total price 14000 pesos – about $7.

Medellín on Google Earth @ 6 17 24.00 N 75 32 23.98 W

Trucks cross a floating bridge in the Amur River on the Russian-Chinese border near Khabarovsk. Note the ships pulling the bridge to keep it in place. In the winter the river freezes solid in -40 degree temperatures and the the trucks drive on the ice. ArcticTropic already has several adventure destinations in the Russian Far East and Siberia.

Very little changes in rural India. The cycle of life goes in circles. This scene in Andra Pradesh could be 100 years ago or 100 years from now. Our documentary,India Incognito,shows the real India,beyond the usual tourist attractions.

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