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- Lungta Livyers #10 Road Trip taloeffler.com/2017/09/09/lun… https://t.co/ItudkkcKvG 1 week ago
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Author Archives: TA Loeffler
Lungta Livyers #10 Road Trip
Today’s road was a marvel of human engineering and labour. Wow. We drove over two passes, through two gorges, and much of the time it felt like what I imagine driving through the Grand Canyon would feel like. The scenery … Continue reading
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Lungta Livyers # 9 Dharma, Dharma Everywhere
Jule from Ladakh, We arrived yesterday and spent much of the day breathing, sipping water, and walking very slowly as the flight to 3300 metres is a big jump for acclimatization. We are both doing okay with only wee headaches … Continue reading
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Lungta Livyers #8: Four for Four
Later today we will be in our fourth country in four days. That might be a record for us and we knew this week was filled with transitory travel. We tried out a new hotel in KTM called the Hotel … Continue reading
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Lungta Livyers #7: Get Off the Bus and Into Comfy Jammies
We’ve slept in three countries in three nights and being here in Kathmandu feels like putting on your favourite, most comfortable pyjamas. That comfort comes after many buses and planes that transported us between Ulaanbaatar and Kathmandu via Beijing and … Continue reading
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Lungta Livyers #6: Stay on the Bus
We wanted to go for a hike. To some trees. So we did some research, found a few blog posts, and knew we needed to get near the Zaisan Memorial to get near the hike’s starting point. One blog post … Continue reading
Check-in/OK message from SPOT TA
Device Name: TA Latitude: 47.78851 Longitude: 102.81813 GPS location Date/Time: 08/29/2017 20:59:34 NDT Message: Lungta Livyers: TA & Marian are adventuring amid prayer flags. Check the map to see where they are hanging out Click the link below to see … Continue reading
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Lungta Livyers #5: Camels, Monasteries, and Gers Oh My
We are having a fabulous adventure to central Mongolia. Today we started off riding camels in Elsen Tasarkhai Sand Dunes. Turns out that I like riding two humped a.k.a. Bactrian camels better than the single humped a.k.a. Dromedary. The second … Continue reading
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Check-in/OK message from SPOT TA
Device Name: TA Latitude: 47.18155 Longitude: 102.79173 GPS location Date/Time: 08/28/2017 09:41:55 NDT Message: Lungta Livyers: TA & Marian are adventuring amid prayer flags. Check the map to see where they are hanging out Click the link below to see … Continue reading
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Check-in/OK message from SPOT TA
Device Name: TA Latitude: 47.32679 Longitude: 103.77480 GPS location Date/Time: 08/27/2017 07:48:59 NDT Message: Lungta Livyers: TA & Marian are adventuring amid prayer flags. Check the map to see where they are hanging out Click the link below to see … Continue reading
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Lungta Livyers #4: This or Something Better
This morning I remarked to Marian, that along with Lojong Slogans, other pithy sayings had been introduced to me and some stick and others don’t. I can’t remember who or where I was introduced to the saying, “This or something … Continue reading
Lungta Livyers #3: He said “Yes”
The doctor took a quick look and said, “You’re all good.” I in disbelief said, “Really? Please take a close look.” He looked at both the wrist and incision and said it looks fine that likely only inflammation remains. I … Continue reading
Lungta Livyers #2: The Bardo of Kindergarten
One of the joys of travel is that it immediately returns you to kindergarten or toddlerhood. Stripped of the comfort cloak of shared language, everyday tasks take on enormous challenge and adventure, requiring intense observational skills, pointing, and willingness to … Continue reading
Check-in/OK message from SPOT TA
Device Name: TA Latitude: 47.70772 Longitude: 105.91526 GPS location Date/Time: 08/21/2017 02:32:36 NDT Message: Lungta Livyers: TA & Marian are adventuring amid prayer flags. Check the map to see where they are hanging out Click the link below to see … Continue reading
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Lungta Livyers #1
Howdy from Mongolia, Our days have been very full here thus far so this is my first chance to drop you a line. We’ve been enjoying visiting many sights around Ulaanbaatar and getting a tiny sense of the place. We … Continue reading
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Check-in/OK message from SPOT TA
Device Name: TA Latitude: 47.92680 Longitude: 107.42848 GPS location Date/Time: 08/20/2017 01:22:32 NDT Message: Lungta Livyers: TA & Marian are adventuring amid prayer flags. Check the map to see where they are hanging out Click the link below to see … Continue reading
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The Team Visits The Great Wall
We arrived safely in Beijing and are now visiting the Great Wall and the Forbidden City before flying to Mongolia tonight. We are thrilled to be here and seeing sights we’ve heard about all of our lives. Thanks for joining … Continue reading
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Summer of Hand(s)
I usually mark each summer by the expedition or expeditions that happened that summer. Last summer was the “Polar Bear” expedition to northern Labrador. The summer before was the “Will the plane ever land?” expedition to the Kanairiktok River in … Continue reading
Posted in Lungta Livyers
Tagged 2017, adventure, climb, hand surgery, let’s do it all over again, Lungta, prayer flags, trek
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Boatbuilding as a Full Contact Sport
Using the linear planer is intense. I’ve adopted the role of board puller which means I’m face and eyes into the sawdust. I think I like it because it reminds me of skiing across Greenland or Sweden when we faced … Continue reading
Posted in Newfoundland
Tagged 2017, boatbuilding, dory, Winterton, Wooden Boat Museum
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Finding Centre and Other Life Lessons from Boatbuilding
Day three of boatbuilding school at the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador has come to an end and we’ve learned many more skills, ideas, and vocabulary today. We’ve focused on finding centre from almost minute one of the … Continue reading
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Tagged 2017, boatbuilding, dory, Winterton, Wooden Boat Museum
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From Stem to Stern
Marian, Michael, and I are spending this week at the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador in Winterton learning how to build a Grandy Dory (pictured above). I’ve been trying to get to a workshop here for a few … Continue reading
I’m Always Climbing A Mountain or “How I climb anything is how I climb everything…”
If I said to you that I was following an exercise program with discipline, eating food of the highest nutritional quality, making sure that I’m getting lots of sleep, doing lots of body care, and seeing progress each day, what … Continue reading
Visual Soliloquy #1280 It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure…
It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. –Joseph Campbell
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Tagged 2017, Nature, photography, Quotes, Travel
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Visual Soliloquy #1279 If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind ?”
If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind?” –Mary Ann Pietzker
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Tagged 2017, Nature, photography, Quotes, Travel
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Visual Soliloquy #1278 Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us…
Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us. ― David Richo photo Credit: Megan Frost
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Tagged 2017, Nature, photography, Quotes, Travel
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Visual Soliloquy #1277 “It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always . All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story…
It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story. ― Patrick Rothfuss
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Tagged 2017, Nature, photography, Quotes, Travel
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Visual Soliloquy #1276 I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity…
I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making … Continue reading
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Tagged 2017, Nature, photography, Quotes, Travel
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Visual Soliloquy #1275 The only real battle in life is between hanging on and letting go…
The only real battle in life is between hanging on and letting go. ― Shannon L. Alder
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Tagged 2017, Nature, photography, Quotes, Travel
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Visual Soliloquy # 1274 I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow…
I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow. — David … Continue reading
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Tagged 2017, garden, Nature, photography, Quotes, Travel
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Fire and Ice 2017: Time Flies
Today we travelled from Vik to Reykjavik. Vik means bay so when you see Vik in a name it likely is on a bay on the coast. This is the famous hole in the wall near Vik. We reached this … Continue reading
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Fire and Ice 2107: More Ice than Fire
It was another full day exploring the sights between Vagnsstaðir and Vik. We spent much of the day marvelling at the ice in all of it’s forms. Glacier tongues, lagoons, and crevasses drew our attention over and over again. I … Continue reading
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Tagged 2017, climb, Iceland, Nature, School Curriculum, Sweden, Travel
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Fire and Ice 2017: You Gotta Know when to Fold ‘Em
Hey Hey, as they say in Sweden. This will be quick. We’re down safe, we’ll fed, and ready for bed after getting up at four followed by a 13 hour climb. We reached out turnaround time without reaching the summit. … Continue reading
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Fire and Ice 2017: Brief Update
A day filled with lots of ice! Glacier ice A busy day moving across southern Iceland to be in place for the big climb tomorrow. Up at four am so hitting the hay. More tomorrow after a big big day … Continue reading
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Fire and Ice 2017: Transitioning to Iceland
After a appetizer visit to Stockholm, we spent much of the day transitioning to Iceland. Keflavik Airport kept us longer that we wanted but once released, we headed for a point of land that allowed us to look west to … Continue reading
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Fire and Ice 2017: Trains, Trams, and Sunken Ships Oh My
As we returned to trees and rocks and pastures and forests this morning out the train window, Marian and I reflected on our Northern Sweden experience. We shared our highs, lows, and things we learned. Life in Stockholm initially seemed … Continue reading
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Fire and Ice 2017: Transition from Mountains to Villages
Today is a transition day from the mountains through villages to the train that will take us far from snow and ice for a few days. We took the scooter from Kebnekaise to Nikkaluokta this morning. It took about an … Continue reading
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Fire & Ice 2017 Day 9: Kiruna to Stockholm
Today after our overnight train ride, we will explore Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Did You Know? Volvo, a Swedish company invented the 3-point seat belt system, and instead of patenting it to make their own company a lot more … Continue reading
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Tagged 2017, climb, Iceland, Nature, School Curriculum, Sweden, Travel
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Fire and Ice 2017: Up Close and Personal with Some Ice
Today was an ice day. We skied down the scooter track a ways and then cut right to ski up to an ice filled canyon. First, though, we had to find a snow bridge over an open stream. As we … Continue reading
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Fire & Ice 2017 Day 8: Kebnekaise to Nikkolauda to Kiruna
Today we will head out from Kebnekaise Mountain Station to Nikkolauda. There, we will catch a bus that will take us to Kiruna. There, we will catch a train to Stockholm. Did You Know?
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Tagged 2017, climb, Iceland, Nature, School Curriculum, Sweden, Travel
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Fire and Ice 2017: Lots of Ice (and some fire)
Today we said good bye to our ski expedition teammates. They rode out to Nikkaluokta by scooter, scooter being the Swedish name for snowmobile. Many folks ride between Kebnekaise and Nikkaluokta by scooter taxi while others ski or hike the … Continue reading
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