Travelers' trails...

... sometimes cross. Lauren has been studying and adventuring in Kazakhstan, and sends photos both silly and sublime. Humor first- I'll let her narrate: " I went through an ordeal to try and get this well pump to work in the deep desert. It was so hot, I ended up wearing a shawl, the thinnest shirt I could find - that says "little miss scary" - and a mini-skirt. My friend snapped a covert shot, and it just struck me as absurd..."

She also took this beautiful shot from high above a mountain lake south of and above Almaty in the Tian Shan (double click for bigger);

..and I thought "I've been there!" So I had, on the gravel bar at the top of the photo, brought to see Ibisbills by Andrey Kovalenko, who bred our Kyran and owned Ataika's father, and photographer Oleg Belyalov. That is me looking at the unique Alpine waders, and them with Libby even higher up, I think at 12,000 feet. Did you get up to that meadow?

UPDATE. There is an old observatory from Soviet days above the lake and Lauren says she took the pic from there. Here is my photo.