Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

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.




Saturday, September 25, 2010

Li River Cruise, China


Cruising up the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo.


A scenic 52-mile journey of karst mountains, ancient villages and water buffalo with thick bamboo groves along the riverbanks.




A wizened old face of China.




The Li River fishermen use Cormorant birds that they have trained to dive and capture a fish in their gullet. The fishermen massages the bird's gullet and throat and retrieves a whole fish intact. Incredible!!




Guilin, China



The peaks you see in this picture bring most people, including us, to Guilin. The city and surrounding area’s topography has these amazing, beautiful odd-shaped vertical mountains. A view from our hotel room.





We found Guilin to be a charming, Paris-like town with wide tree-lined boulevards and walking areas with the scenic Li River flowing through it. Pictured are the Sun & Moon Twin Pagodas.




One of the highlights of the Fantastic Guilin Ethnic Show were these flexible acrobats. In another scene a dancer stood en pointe on a male dancer’s head!



Rhonda was really in good shape as she climbed to the top of the Solitary Beauty Peak taking a picture of a similar karst peak from across the way.




The Elephant Trunk Hill






It's a city of lights at night, like Paris, that we enjoyed from a river cruise.





What we didn’t order....baby pig and duckling!




What we did eat....tiny fish replete with heads and eyes.


Hong Kong, China



The Star Ferry crossing the Victoria Harbour from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.




After riding the Tram was this impressive panoramic view of Kowloon from

the new Sky Park at Victoria Peak.





Standing along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront to view the Symphony of Lights featuring I.M Pei’s Bank of China Tower (1,209 ft.) in the center. This spectacular multimedia display, already named the "World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show" by Guinness World Records, includes more than 40 buildings on both sides of Victoria Harbour.



Here's the "Much Ado About Us" couple reflected in a sculpture.