Potala Palace, Lhasa

The Potala Palace where the Dalai Lama's spent their political and spiritual life during the winter.

With our Tibetan guide whose knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism was extraordinary. When Rhonda couldn't take anymore "the 3rd Dalai Lama this, the 5th Dalai Lama that, she evaporated and left Al alone.

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

We listened to monks vigorously debating in Tibetan using loud slapping of the hands and arms swinging to emphasis their points and there were still smiles all around.

Drepung Monastery, Lhasa

Pilgrims spinning the prayer wheels.

The wandering Jew temporarily converts to Buddhism.

The Drepung Monastery

Feeding several hundred monks is quite an undertaking, so their kitchen facilities are huge. We walked by when the potatoes were being rinsed with hoses.

The monastery's kitchen cupboards are lined with copper jars.

The Buddhist monastery interior.

"Much Ado About Us" and the monks.

Barkhor Area, Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet

Pilgrims with prayer wheels circling the temple.

Prayer flags

The inner courtyard of the 1300-year-old Jokang Temple.

Buddhist monks chanting and we were fortunate enough to be there.

A local Tibetan with prayer wheels.

A female monk.

Sewing Tibetan prayer flags.

A delicious Tibetan dinner.

Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Danum Valley

We spent five days in the remote virgin tropical rainforest at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley. It's one of the best places in the world to observe wild Orang utans. We also saw red-leaf monkeys, a large jungle cat called a "civet" and a samba deer. Also a huge prehistoric-looking bird called Anhinga from our balcony.

To catch this picture, even though it's indistinct, Albert and his guide ran through the jungle to be able to view a large alpha male orang utan. On the way he also caught a leech inside his shirt and earned him the coveted Blood Donor Award from the lodge.

An early morning walk on the Canopy Walkway at 107 meters above the jungle floor.

Here we are enjoying the excellent food at this 5-star lodge amongst the 120-million-year-old tropical rainforest!

Albert and our guide, Donnie, who was Martha Stewart's guide the previous month. He took us on day-time and night-time treks. The animals and birds we saw were difficult to photograph in the rainforest jungle as they wouldn't sit still to get their photo taken.

The hikers.

Here was a large animal that posed for a photo.

Yangshou, China

West Street with the typical world-renowned limestone karst mountains in the background.

West Street, where we stayed, is the heart of the old downtown and is a walking street that the picture does no justice. This is an early morning view from our balcony where within a few hours the street is teeming with young, foreign backpackers, mountain climbers and tourists from all over the world as this is Asia’s premiere place for rock climbing.

A welcome notice in our hotel room from the local police!!

The Impressions Light Show in Yangshuo

The amazing thing about the picture is that it was all performed on water in front of us as we were sitting in an amphitheater. The lake which is an extension of the Li River is actually the stage. The ribbons of colored material were raised from a submerged position by the fisherman on their little bamboo skiffs. There are 600 local performers and the show is directed by Zhang Yimou who also directed the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. We couldn’t get pictures of all the different scenes because we were sitting in a downpour in our usher-supplied raincoats with umbrellas overhead.

A Chinese chop is hand engraved with Rhonda's name in English and Chinese.

Albert is Yin-Yanging

The symbol is actually painted on the rock.

Orang-Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Borneo

The orang-utans are now found only on Borneo and Sumatra. Here at the Centre orphaned and injured orang-utans are in rehab for five years before being released into the forest.