It was 0758 when the earthquake hit on Wednesday. I was in the kitchen of my hostel in Taipei, Taiwan making coffee. The floor beneath my bare feet started to shake hard, the noise was like a stampede. At first I thought “wow that’s a crazy vibration from the train station,” but the trembling turned to violent shaking and didn’t ease. It was like a juggernaut. The volume of things rattling increased rapidly and then tiles began falling off the walls in the shower and smashing. There was a shifting of the whole building as I staggered in a zig-zag out into reception trying to steady myself. E ..read more

It’s been almost three months since I returned from Mongolia. In that time I have been working on what feels like a mini investigation. I tracked down interviewees from five different countries, ploughed through PhD papers and tried to make sense of a tradition that is steeped in thousands-of-years of history. The story about Kazakh Eagle Families is complex and the west has tried to simplify it through sloppy journalism, a Hollywood film that was made with factually incorrect marketing at the time, and tourist blogs that repeat these same narratives over and over. If you want the truth you ha ..read more

I met Hanuman Aspler at a dinner in the city three years ago. We were sat next to each other by accident. I was put on the chef’s table because I was alone and he arrived solo. It was at a fancy restaurant with a guest chef doing the dinner. The food was not memorable but the company was. I never expected a friendship to blossom out of that experience. In January this year I went to his farm and did a 5-day intensive Thai cooking course under his tutelage. His knowledge is impressive. Myself and a professional chef worked together and turned out 25 dishes between us. It was mind-blowing, exc ..read more

Today I watched my mum crumple up into a ball of tears, as I shared my hospital results with her via a video call. Yet again another hefty emotional blow, when I am far away and unable to put a comforting arm around her. After 3 years of blood transfusions every 8 weeks I have dangerously high levels of iron overload in my body. It is poisoning me and very soon I will have organ damage. It is always harder for me to keep it together when someone I love breaks down. I am sorry this is hurting you Mama especially so soon after dad died. I am ten times over the normal limit of iron. When iron br ..read more

It’s been five years since I had any work published as a journalist. I miss my career so much. Today I am wearing the biggest smile after seeing my story published online on Al Jazeera. Mongolia reminded me of who I once used to be, and the life I used to have. This is a hard month for me as my brain starts to slow down and the fatigue and pain increases before the next transfusion; but small wins like this one, has given me a huge boost today. Thank you to the entire team who helped me to get this article on climate change commissioned and up. The second piece on eagle hunting is coming soon ..read more

We didn’t plan to arrive at sunset, but it took hours and hours to drive here off road, and in the rain. We managed to catch a rainbow and a wedding shoot! Now they are gonna have some spectacular photos. Tsagaan Suvarga – white stupa – is found in “Middle Gobi”, in Mongolia and are stunning white limestone cliffs. Shaped by the weather they create a unique landscape of “stupas”. The wind is very strong here. The area is believed to have been covered by the sea thousands of years ago. When the water drained out, it left behind sedimentary deposits of ore and chemicals in the rocks which create ..read more

Would you believe there is a glacier in the Mongolian Gobi? And I walked across it in crocs!! This incredible, narrow gorge that runs through Yolyn Am, known as Yol Valley, fills with glacier ice during the winter and remains into the summer months. It’s found in Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park. The drive takes you through stunning mountains filled with livestock, I even saw a yak (that is unusual) vultures, eagles, and hiding somewhere in the shadows are snow leopards. The hike to start of the glacier is about 4km. Mongolians don’t like to walk (sounds like the Thais I know 555). So they hi ..read more

I had no idea how my body would react hiking at altitude (3000m) in Mongolia now that I have blood cancer. I have scaled many summits but not since I destabilised. It was a gamble, but one I wanted to test. People who live above 2700m have higher levels of haemoglobin because the kidney is stimulated to produce a hormone that encourages more production. My specialist has been wanting to inject me with a synthetic hormone that has the same effect. I have refused the drug due to the side effects. But doing it naturally, now that i was interested in exploring. My gamble paid off. Blood levels hav ..read more

The day we drove to Khongoryn Els Sand Dunes in Gobi we got a flat tyre. Volcanic rock, harsh terrain, nothing for miles and miles and miles. The outside temperature was 39 degrees Celsius (102.2F). The car had taken a battering and we had no air con. Were we even driving in the right direction? 4 hours later, the sight of the white rolling dunes glowing in the sunlight made my heart skip a beat. When we finally skidded over, bouncing our way closer, I raced out of the car, slamming the door and scrambled up the first big dune in front of me, leaving my footprints. The wind was strong and I ha ..read more

If you can’t rough it in the rural areas, Mongolia is not for you! I have been asked by a few people, “what is the toilet situation like?”. I am not going to sugar coat it for you, going to the toilet is basically squat, sh*t and go! When I stayed in the Altai mountain, I had two nights with two different locals. An eagle hunter family and my guide’s aunt. The hunter family lives in a wooden cabin during summertime that houses 8 people. They all share rooms to sleep in. The so-called toilet is outside in the freezing cold. It is a shallow dug hole in the ground, 150 paces to the right of the f ..read more