This weekend my office went on our annual outing which consisted of two days hiking in the mountains three hours west of Beijing. You can view all my photos by clicking here..

On Sunday Ivan, Robbie, Slobodan, Kendall and myself drove out of Beijing in Ivan’s Merc and went for lunch at ‘The Orchard’ restaurant about an hour away from the city. We then drove towards Huairou in search of a place called “Intelligence Valley” which Robbie had heard about. Eventually, after a few wrong turns, and a lot of jokes as to whether we were clever enough, we managed to find it – a picturesque valley in the mountains with beautiful run-down farm houses and fields of corn. We then spent a peaceful afternoon relaxing in an attractive guest house, talking shit and drinking Yanjing beer before heading back to Beijing after dark. You can view all the photos by clicking here.. At risk of beiing lynched, I should emphasize that Kendall took some of these. Credit where credit’s due….

Last week, at pretty much the last minute, I decided to jump on a plane and visit my friends Gerlee and Saraa in Mongolia. I guess the place has always had a mysterious appeal and it did not disappoint. It was great fun and it gave me a chance to give my camera a proper test drive on the steppes. You can view all my photos by clicking here..