Diana Australis' photos

All the very best for the festive season, and for 2025. May it bring health and happiness, and may your troubles be light and easily float away, just like these balloons. Love and respect to all Diana

Tashkurgan is the north westernmost city in China situated at over 3000 meters in the Pamirs. It is close to the borders of Tajikistan and Pakistan and is predominantly Tajik, ethnically, and is in Xinjiang Province. We were here in 2000 when the road to it was a dirt one, and it was a tiny village with two grubby guesthouses. It is now a city with lots of modern hotels , official buildings, schools , traffic lights, electric cars and taxis, and a giant multi thousand panel solar farm to power it. It is the point from whic( to take transport over the 4700m Khunjerav Pass at the China-Pak border into North Pakistan…which we did. Such changes! The mountains encircling the city are some 5-6000 meter Pamir peaks. Have a festive preparation weekend…and hopefully enjoy good cheer! Diana

Khapalu Fort, centuries old, in Baltistan, Pakistan. Set in autumn beauty. This extremely remote area in the high mountains of North Pakistan was once a small isolated kingdom not too far from the current India/Pak border. Still remote, with road access frequently severed by land slips or snow, this more conservative area of North Pakistan has changed so much in 24 years, when we first visited. We saw no women publicly, ´schools’were for boys only, with teachers sitting under trees with slates and chalk giving basic instruction. Now there are lots of schools, well educated girls going on to universities, women and girls out and about the streets. All of which is brilliant to see. The old fort was in a state of disarray and has been taken over by the Aga Khan Foundation and sympathetically restored using local craftspeople. It is now part of their Serena Hotel chain, but is also open to tour or eat in the restaurant. It looks so lovely nestled in the mountains with the autumn foliage. Have a super Friday, and a peaceful and happy weekend

In Kashgar, Xinjiang, China. I stopped to talk to this lady, and she and her friends dragged me in to dance to some lively Uighur music on the street. It was wonderful fun, and she was marvellous!

Fairy Meadows at over 3000m, with 8,126m Mount Nanga Parbat in the background. This is where I arrived clinging in terror to a horse as it jolted and occasionally slipped on a narrow steep track for 2 hours. A high altitude grazing pasture for locals, it was discovered by a German mountaineering party in the 50’s and given this name. It is very beautiful, and from the mountain there is a giant glacier, Raikot, which is clearly visible from these meadows. There were a number of French, Thai, Polish and sundry others here despite the dreadfully terrifying jeep track and subsequent foot or horse climb to the meadows. Very beautiful and quite dry at the end of autumn here. Have a really wonderful weekend! Diana

Fairy Meadows is at 3,300 m and is a huge grassy meadow. It is on the way to a base camp for the 8,0000+ meter Nanga Parbat ( The Killer Mountain). The huge Raikot Glacier feeds into it, and one has superb panoramas of this and of Nanga Parbat. It is very difficult to access. First, a jeepable track of 15km only driven by locals, and named by the WHO the second most dangerous road in the world. This ends at a village where there is a 5 km trek on a hair raising track which ascends 800 meters. As I am still recovering from a torn meniscus in my knee, I ended up on a horse…ascending, and descending. I have never been so scared in my life. The horse slipped occasionally and generally walked right at the edge of the precipices. All I had to hold onto was the saddle… Was it worth it? Yes…..and I will share some shots at a later stage. For now enjoy seeing me being terrified , taken by dear Sher Baz!

HFF. In a previous post I told how I met a snow leopard in Pakistan. Her guardian rescued her, and has kept her for 10 years. The Pakistan Wildlife Service recently arrested and jailed 2 men in a remote valley for attempting to sell this baby snow leopard, and they asked Ghulam Rasul, the guardian of the older snow leopard to also care for this new baby, Leo. It had only been with him a week, slept in his bed, and was in a barred smaller enclosure to assimilate. It has since been introduced to the large outside enclosure. It was one of the most touching moments of my life to meet this very poor, but very selfless man, who has saved these two endangered animals. And the eyes of this animal! Have a happy Friday, and a super weekend. Diana

In Kashgar, Chinese Xinjiang, a Uighur craftsman works painstakingly hand making traditional instruments. No power tools or modern equipment was visible. I watched in fascination for ages. Happy Tuesday and a cheerful week to all

My friend Sher Baz ..we were at 3800 meters in Basho Valley, in Baltistan, Pakistan, looking out on the 7000+ meter peaks out towards K2. A stunning day in late autumn

On a cold afternoon in Kashgar, China, Uighur families sit at benches on the fence lines round a park, catching the afternoon late autumn sun. Just home and starting to get organised. Have a fabulous weekend everyone. Will get back to visiting soon, promise. Diana

Just a quick post. Had the most exciting experience. This is Lovely, an orphaned snow leopard in the mountains of Pakistan. Rescued by a kind and generous man, she is now 10. She comes when called, and sits when told. She has a giant natural enclosure on a forested hillside, is loved and healthy. I was beyond thrilled to have this opportunity ..a privilege. I gave her owner a generous sum of money towards her upkeep, and that of a 4 month old snow leopard kitten which thé government asked him to care for after rescuing it from wildlife traffickers who are now in jail. Her long fur was like the softest silk. Keep well all. I am still on the move Diana ❤️

Gojal, North Pakistan. Have a bit of electricity and wifi. Thanks for all the kind and lovely responses to my letter about travelling for a while. I was very moved to receive them. I have not had internet and electricity to respond individually. I am currently in this beautiful part of the world, which I love so much. Wishing a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend. Love Diana Thanks for the visit

In the top LH corner of this picture is a fence, in front of which is this impressive collection of aging Vespas with Spanish number plates. But this is at Murghab on the Pamir Highway at 4300meters altitude in Tajikistan. It is 2-300 km in either direction to any other town , and the brutal winters up here (to-70°c) close the road for months. I was mystified to see these so far from home in such incongruous setting., I later found they live there, still with Spanish plates and are used by locals. How? Why? The next day in the middle of nowhere along this road we saw one like this braving the treacherous high altitude road, cheerfully carrying a local with a large fur hat and rifle. It was the only traffic we saw for an hour! Fabulous Friday to you, and a weekend filled with what brings you joy and happiness.

Central Market in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In the large food area, the stalls were filled with the smoke from hundreds of charcoal grills, and the steam of dozens of simmering cauldrons. This woman was selling various boiled and fried foodstuffs including some startled looking sheep heads. Have a good day…and don’t lose your head! Diana ❤️

In the capital of Tajikistan, some older buildings from Russian colonial days still linger among the president for life’s grandiose rebuilding of the city. Dushanbe means Monday market, and was a village when the Russians made it the capital of Tajikistan. Tea houses are very popular all through Central Asia, of course. I loved the cool and elegant beauty of this place..and the food was fabulous too! Have a really grand weekend…of peace, health and happiness

Fat bottomed sheep…they make the rocking world go round .. At a livestock market in Central Asia. Sheep for sale. These are the standard sheep here. The fat is valued highly, and used in cooking as lean meat is seen as tasteless and inhospitable to offer to people. It appears as cubes on kebab sticks, or as cooked lumps on top of dishes. I would imagine that the brutal climate and subsistence life here sees it as a source for the animal to draw on when times are tough. The huge lump on the backside is pure fat, and sold in markets for a high price as a large white lump, which looks most unappetising. Happy Friday and all the best for a happy and uplifting weekend.

A blind accordionist at a market in a regional small town in Tajikistan, in the Wakhan Valley, across the Panj river from Afghanistan. The people here are poor, and subsistence farmers Wishing you a peaceful and happy Friday, and a really fulfilling weekend

In 2014 I travelled on a simple expedition boat, a converted Russian icebreaker, run by a New Zealand company, around remote parts of Kamchatka and the Bering Sea islands in the Russian Far East. There were 45 of us in board in waterproofs and wellington boots. We tramped about the tundra tracking Kamchatka bears, walruses, and watched whales and sea birds and critters for 14 days. We landed on uninhabited Bering Island, and had fun with some juvenile Arctic foxes in their summer coats. They were totally unafraid, and came up to us as we sat on a windswept empty beach. One even nibbled my trousers ( middle picture) . Bering said of these animals that they had no fear and were a complete pest, raiding everything they could get into. It was a magical afternoon! Happy Wednesday!