Valley between Chanadorje and Jambeyang on the outer kora of Yading

Valley between Chanadorje and Jambeyang on the outer kora of Yading, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Valley between Chanadorje and Jambeyang on the outer kora of Yading

Valley between Chanadorje and Jambeyang on the outer kora of Yading, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Chanadorje 夏诺多吉 , Yading, May 2010

Chanadorje, Yading, May 2010, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Approaching Lurong on the way down

Approaching Lurong on the way down, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Deserted huts over the Yaka pass, Yading

Deserted huts over the Yaka pass, Yading, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Leica M2

Chanadorje from the south west 夏诺多吉

Chanadorje from the south west, originally uploaded by jiulong.

These pictures were all taken with my back-up camera, a Leica M2, with Kodak Gold print film, during a long 'outer kora' (circuit) of the three sacred peaks Chanadorje, Jambeyang and Shenrezig in May 2010.

Chanadorje from the Chongu monastery

Chanadorje from the Chongu monastery, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Scan of a negative.

Random shot of Chanadorje from Lurong pasture, Yading, 2010

Chanadorje from Lurong pasture, Yading, 2010, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Jazzed up a bit in Photoshop because the original was a terrible print - scanned this from the negative.

Random picture of Jambeyang, Yading, May 2010

Jambeyang, Yading, May 2010, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Taken on the way down from the lakes on the last day of our outer kora trek..

Deqin - en route to Yubeng

Deqin - en route to Yubeng, originally uploaded by jiulong.

An old picture from my Deqin-Yubeng trek of2003? that I scanned in last weekend - thought it deserved an airing.

Daocheng laundry

Daocheng, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Daocheng random picture

Daocheng, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Just a random old pic from 2010 that I scanned in last weekend - thought it deserved an airing. Scanned from a colour print negative and processed (reversed) in Photoshop and tidied up a bit with a 'Kodachrome' filter.

Daocheng wall

Daocheng, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Says something like:

Listen to the Party's directions
Serve the people
Bravely persevere

Nujiang at Bingzhongluo

Nujiang at Bingzhongluo, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Just a random old picture that I scanned in last weekend - thought it deserved an airing. Scanned from a colour print negative and processed (reversed) in Photoshop and tidied up a bit with a 'Kodachrome' filter.

Chanadorje - 夏诺多吉

Chanadorje - edited old scan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Faffing about in Photoshop with Kodachrome-style filter.

A young Joseph Rock listens to Caruso

Joseph Rock and Fred Muir listening to Caruso in Hawaii, 1913, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Here he is aged 29 with entomologist Fred Muir listening to Caruso in Hawaii, 1913.

Ragya monastery then and now

Ragya monastery 1926, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Here are pictures of my next destination - Ragya monastery near Amnye Machen in 1926 ( as pictured by Joseph Rock) and how it now looks according to Google Earth. Looks like a whole town has sprung up on what were once the deserted banks of the Yellow River.

I will of course be hoping to take some on-the-spot pictures of better quality than Google Earth images when I visit this place next month.

This guy makes Joseph Rock look like a cissy ...

Doing some research for my impending trip to Xining and Ragya monastery on Google Earth ... on which you can click on the photos that people have posted on Panoramio. Looking around the region of Amnye Machen I came across some amazing pictures taken by a young trekker from the US called Hannibal Taubes. He's trekked extensively in this area - and then I realised I had been in email contact with him a couple of years before his trip and he'd been asking me for advice! Looks like it should be the other way round ... He has dome some pretty impressive trekking around Amnye Machen and elsewhere in the region, real bones-of-your-arse hardcore stuff on his own, and with not much money. I can't imagine doing this kind of thing any more - just wandering around solo for days and weeks and dossing down with whoever you run into on the hills. He seems to keep running out of money and getting arrested/deported from forbidden areas. And he's only about 21! He's done the kind of journeys into the wild that Rock did but with virtually no support or money. Good on you, Hannibal.I can only look at your pictures and turn green with envy. Wish you'd write something about your trip - the pics looks amazing.

Pic: Hannibal Taubes.

Joseph Rock's handwritten notes of his trip to Amnye Machen

Joseph Rock's handwritten notes of his trip to Amnye Machen, originally uploaded by jiulong.

I'm preparing to head off to Gansu and Qinghai in April and I have just come across this handwritten account of Joseph Rock's trip there in 1925-26.
It makes for an interesting read in addition to his "Mountains of Mystery" article in the National Geographic.
I'm also looking at his hand-drawn maps of the area (see below) and comparing them with what I can see on Google Earth of the area. So much to see in preparation - I really wish I could spend a couple of months there instead of just a couple of weeks ...

And here is the Google Maps view of the same place:

Destination Ragya, Gansu

Ragya monastery, Gansu, 1925, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Well my leg is getting better and I've re-booked my trip to Gansu for late April. The plan is to follow in the footsteps of Joseph Rock to visit Choni (Zhuoni) monastery south of Lanzhou and also Ragya monastery (Lajia), which is actually in Qinghai, near Anye Machen.
It's not exactly going into unexplored territory as there have been many people already visiting and blogging about Ragya at least. You can read more about it - and see some great photos of the area - at the excellent blog by Jonas (a teacher at a school near Xining) here.

Photo by Jonas