Can I have a cup of green tea, please?“, chiedo al Filippino dietro il banco, che manco un fusto di birra sotto i piedi eleverebbe alla stessa altezza dei miei occhi.

Green tea with milk, boss?“. “No, grazie, mi piace senza latte o zucchero, anche se una volta lo ho assaggiato col sale“, gli rispondo. “Yes, boss“: ogni e qualsiasi tentativo di proseguire la conversazione muore.

Mi pare lo chiamino “suutei tsai”, a Ulanbaator, in Mongolia, ma la traslitterazione fonetica della lingua locale si arrende già nel capire se si legga dall’alto in basso, da destra a sinistra, o completamente a casaccio senza alcuna base grammaticale. È preparato aggiungendo al tea delle foglie di menta, e un cucchiaio di sale della Steppa, a conferma che la gente di quelle parti ha abitudini un filo particolari.

L’ho assaggiato durante uno dei viaggi da quelle parti qualche anno fa, e non l’ho trovato malissimo, ma con -52 gradi fuori, qualsiasi cosa sia anche solo tiepida diventa fantastica.

Foto? Il mio Lipton Green Tea, mentre campeggio ancora nell’aeroporto di Muscat, sulla via di casa …


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It has been more than fifty years since I began traveling across the world — and the seven seas — for work or for pleasure, always with a Leica M camera close at hand. The camera has never been an accessory; it has been a constant companion, a way of observing, remembering, and making sense of the places and people I encountered along the way. I started keeping this kind of journal some time ago, not as a diary in the traditional sense, but as a space where images and words could meet. This is not a publication driven by schedules or algorithms. At times I disappear for long stretches; then, inevitably, I return with semi-regular updates. Publishing, for me, is a mirror of my state of mind and emotions. It follows my rhythm, not the other way around. You have to take it exactly as it comes. Every photograph you see here is mine. They are fragments of a life spent moving, looking, and waiting for moments to reveal themselves — often quietly, sometimes unexpectedly. This blog is not about destinations, but about presence. About what remains when the journey slows down and the shutter finally clicks.

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