dryfly.ca started as a website for sharing one of my DIY projects, a stitch and glue kayak. Since then I've added several more projects including a skin-on-frame kayak, cedar strip canoe, kayak paddles, canoe paddles, building a spey rod, and an antenna for receiving OTA HDTV. I also occasionally ramble on about politics, technology, bike racing, product reviews and last but not least, our kids.
Click on the Photo Gallery to lots of my pictures in their full glory, including family, friends, boat building, travels, etc.
Tight Lines!
April 15, 2009 at 8:47 am · Filed under Just Stuff
I was really sad to learn this morning that a road is being built to Jomsom. Jomson is in the Nepal Himalaya and is part of the famous “Annapurna Circuit,” which I was lucky enough to visit in 1991. I suppose that it is entirely logical that Nepal shouldn’t stay in medieval times – and believe me, Nepal is very medieval in many ways – but I’m not sure how much help the road will offer the people.
On the surface, the road seems like a good idea. Easy transport of people, goods and supplies, it moves products to market. On the other hand, I wonder how much tourism may be lost because of the road. From the article linked above, it’s likely not much and in fact it may increase. I wouldn’t be surprised if record numbers of Indian tourists and pilgrims are attracted to a more accessible region.
In any event, roads are inevitable. The trek from Besisahar to Manang will also be compromised at some point, and that will be an even sadder occasion. One can only hope that as time progresses in Nepal, that eco-friendly roads and construction will be applied in an effort to have the best of both worlds.
Click on the map below to see the area around the Annapurna Circuit:

Here is a photo of mine that was taken around the Jomsom area:

To follow a portal/walkthrough of my trek in Nepal, click here and hover your mouse over the photos to click to the next one in the series.
January 14, 2007 at 8:14 pm · Filed under Just Stuff, Photos
There, I’ve finished scanning and uploading all of my photos good photos from my Nepal trip.
For some brief discussion on the portals that I used for the Nepal photos, check out the zooomr blog.
December 6, 2006 at 9:56 pm · Filed under Just Stuff, Photos
Follow the portals, starting from the picture in this post about my Nepal photos.
November 29, 2006 at 10:44 pm · Filed under Photos
I’m doing a bit of experiment. I’m scanning my photos from trekking in Nepal and uploading them to my zooomr photo sharing account. Each of these photos will have a “portal” in it. A portal is a “picture within a picture” concept. When you hover your mouse over a photo a small box will appear with photo inside it. Clicking on this box will take you to the next photo, and so on. So far I’ve only scanned maybe 1/4 or 1/10 of the photos I’ll upload. But if you want to see the start, go here:
In case I get lucky and one of my companions from this trip google their own names, I’ll list them here and maybe they’ll contact me. As best as I can recall, I trekked with: Scott Haddad, John McKone, Mark McPhail, John Taylor, Michael Lansten, Chris Arts, Tomer Peled, and Beto.