On the subject of travel photography....

I receive a lot of emails right now about my photos from Yemen.

Justin wrote:

Magnificent! Well done you. Am hideously envious. Keep up the qat - are you seeing Tim Mackintosh Smith the travel writer??

Salaams

Justin

And Saad Sabrah from Sana´a wrote:

Many thanks Mikael..

Very nice pictures. Yet a lot of work to be done to improve Yemen’s economy with out spoiling such a rich culture …

I noticed a few naming mistakes on some of the pictures.. I have attached a few of your pictures after saving them with the correct names for your kind reference..

Regards,

Saad Sabrah

Marianne Ahrne wrote:

I had no idea that you were a world-class photographer as well. Your photos are world class and they really makes me wanna go to Yemen. How long are you staying for?

Lots of praise and, of course, that makes life easier. However, do see the Yemeni photos here!

And I get a fair amount of questions if I have any more slide shows from my travels to show. And I do.....but it was in Yemen were I finally got back to my old passionate photography, which have been on holiday for three years. However, why not have a look at these series of slide shows: (Have in mind though they´re quite crappy in comparison.)

• Oman
• The Galapagos Islands, Peru and Ecuador
• Patagonia
• Rub Al-Khali
• Papua New Guinea

And why not finish off with a little slide show from The Kolyma Expedition in Siberia?

Go here!

PS. Photo from the Maasai Expedition from the year 2000. the year I actually had hair. And a big stomach. DS

Ollie, Jamie, Gunnar, Sam, my brother and Mohammed Asad

Just came back from London and ended up at my brothers house in Dala-Järna. Which is where I am born, bred and educated. Kalle, my brother, is out of work, 60 and don´t know what to do with life. Any suggestion from me, which includes him cycling from Sweden to Oman, writing a blog about his thoughts and inspiring other people in his situation how to do with life, ends with:

"Am sixty for Christ sake!"

This is putting limits to oneself, just because of age. I don´t believe in setting any limits to what is possible or not. Neither does my friends Ollie, Jamie, Gunnar and Sam whom I have met during my visit to London, this cosmopolitan and great city. I will write a bit about all of them -these inspiring people- in the upcoming blogs, because the response from my blogging from Yemen, has been amazing, an average of 1200 readers a day the last three weeks, and it is still continuing. Let me start with Olly.

He is still only 33 or something, but mature like a 50-year old, extremely helpful and generous and I have a feeling there´s no limits to what he can do. It wouldn´t surprise me if he would be running Great Britain at the end of the day. He is that good. But most of all, he is a genuinly good human being who wants to make a difference. And he is every day of his life. I am very lucky and privilaged to have a friend like him. Or, as I say after I have entered the Arab World, he is a genuine brother. And I think, having good friends, is a major part of understanding the meaning of life.

Talking about the meaning of life, I went to London to meet a person with profound contacts, Gunnar, with the very exiting country called Saudi-Arabia, who after every new visit with people who have an intimite relation with this giant of a country, grows and I really want to go there more than ever! Next country to get into deepely as part of the preparation for the Big One, Anyway, on the trip over to London, on the plane, I started to read Mohammed Asad´s book, The Road To Mecca (photo at the top right) and suddenly I realised how simple it is to make a change in life. I started to think about my brother, who is suffering from not having a job, and that just be reading you can get very inspired to change your life. Mohammed Asad changed his dramatically, from being an Austrian Jew to a Pakistani Arab, and Mohammed Asad would easily be another brother had we met or he would be alive. The book is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read.

He is a true explorer in the sence of the word and his exploring, which I personally think should be the base of all explorations, is a cultural bridge builder and a search for the meaning of life. He found his version and he found in the Arab desert as so many others. Like the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus Christ. So, maybe even mine might become a pilgrimige than....This is the book I would suggest for any upcoming explorer to read, when to find out, why do I want to explore and what is true exploration. His prose is beautiful, adventures many, knowledge of desert great and his historical significance is amazing. I will bring his book on my upcoming trip, to bring out when I need inspiration, help and peace of mind at the same time and he wrote this strophe in his book about the eternal question, why do I and we travel, upon meeting a Kurdish Beduoin in the desert: (This will become my quote of life.)

“If water stands motionless in pools, it becomes stale, muddy and foul, only when it moves and flows does it remain clear.”

This will become my quote of life. Next I will write about Jamie.

The Arabian Vision, Amazing Meetings

It just came as a matter of fact. The vision.

Ever since returning home from the Siberian Expedition I have had no idea at all what my next Expediton would be. Or what to do with life. That is my life. To do Expeditions and hopefully build bridges of understanding between cultures. When returning home from Siberia in May 2005, life first when to the highest peak professionally in life, than it went all the way down in the gutter privately. Such is life at times. I ain´t complaining. It could always be worse. Suddenly, during a trip as a guide to the Galapagos I was asked by a great guy, Håkan, if I possibly could bring some shareholders of a company he was part of as a leading profile, to Oman. And guide them around this amazing country. I said:

"I would be delighted to do just that, but I need more information."

At which Håkan answered:

"Came to this meeting of ours next week in Stockholm, the VD is introducing our concept to our shareholders."

So I went there, mid-December last year, 2008, and when the very amicable and humble, but extremely knowledgeable and sharp VD, Magnus, showed a map over the area, where they had a succesful business, I happened to notice a long word at its top hand right corner. It said;

"Rub Al-Khali."

Suddenly I remembered a hidden dream of mine! The giant Desert Expedition! Biggest of them all! At that moment I remembered reading Wilfried Thesigers book, probably the best desert travler book ever written -Arabian Sands- regarding deserts and, of course, I said yes, please let me take your clients to this great country. However I didn´t know a lot about Oman, but it was decided I would go there for an inspection tour within a month. Which I did.

On the flight over, I took a break in reading about the country, brought out a flight magazine and happened to end up with a map of the world in front of me and what did I see, if not the perfect Expedition by camel, from Oman and the easternmost tip of Arabia to Mauretania or Morrocco and the westernmost tip of Arabia. Just like that! And I have always dreamt about doing an Expedition in the Arab World, somehow to try to build a bridge between these, as it seems according to media, opposite sides of civilisation and suddenly i just realised...THIS IS IT! We have an Expedition, opposite to my cold expedition in Siberia, now I had the hottest and I had a strecth which has never been done before in one go and, most important, a chance to build a bridge of understanding between these opposites and educate each other! But, the question was, how to get it going? I realised on the plane over that I needed the Expedition to be funded half by the West and half by the East.

After a week touring this amazing country called Oman, which I fell in love with immediately, both the nature and its people, I went to the airport to catch a plane and go to Salalah, where two local Bedus would bring me in to this the most beautiful of deserts on earth, Rub Al-Khali. I sat down in front of an Omani shouting orders on the phone, a man used to power, no doubt, and than he started reading a book from The Explorers Club, in which I had written a chapter!

"Woow!" I thought whilst getting on the plane. "Another coincidence!"

Turns out the guy has the seat next to me. He is one of my best friends today, Talib, and I sold him the vision on the one hour plane trip. In Rub Al-Khali, I fell in love with camels, Bedus and realised I was ready for a big Desert Expedition! With Talibs help and contacts I have been able to get very far in my planning and possabilities to put the expedition on its feet!

And from than on, I have just run into an array of personalities and amazing people who understands the vision, the possibilties and the need for such an expedition, and right now, back home again in a grey Stockholm, after ten weeks in Yemen, life looks better than ever!

Yemen even changed my life more than I thought possible, killed the awful memories of the time in the gutter and more than ever, I realise the importance of doing this Expedition. It can change how we look upon life today. That big.

Please see this film/pilot regarding the expedition!

And, do not miss this slideshow from my visit in this greatest of countries called Yemen!

And, if you haven´t read the reports from the Expedition, please go here!

The picture? taken with the group I guided in Yemen, when they were riding camels in Sharqiya Sands.