After debating a while on whether or not to go to Thailand after an exhausting trip through India, we decided to give Indonesia a try, as we had previously visited Thailand on our honeymoon.

We did some research and found that you can rent houses in Bali, world renowned for surfing and beach life, for only a couple hundred dollars. We booked into a little hotel for a few nights to relax and find a place to spend a few weeks.

We arrived in Bali on November 23rd, which was pretty much perfect. Although a lot cooler temperature-wise than the burning sun of India, we weren’t complaining of feeling the Summer heat while our friends and family back home in the states were bundling up for Winter.

We quickly worked out a housing deal with Bernard, a seasonal worker in Bali, to rent his house for the next several weeks. Because Bernard’s place came with high speed internet and several other perks, it was a bit more expensive at right about $430 for just under a month. It was just what we needed to get away from the chaos of the surfer laden Kuta area, but still have internet access to fit Griffin’s growing freelance design business.

The house was two bedrooms and situated near the beach, although the walk down proved to be a larger task than we thought. It also had a full kitchen and pretty large bathroom. Strangely, the kitchen and bathroom were separate from the bedrooms. We’re still a little unsure of the architectural design there. Perhaps the best part: it came with a daily maid! Every day the sweetest lady would come and make the beds, sweep, dust, wash dishes, clean the bathroom, change the sheets or whatever else she noticed. It was awesome.

Meanwhile in Bali we took in the sights and even tried our hand at surfing. Griffin, who had been surfing before, got it straight away, while I had to work a little longer. I’m not saying we’re professional or anything, but… yeah. Throughout the month we had lots of opportunities to play in the water, walk on the beach, try out cool restaurants and just relax.

Finally toward the end of our trip we headed out of the island of Bali and ventured North to Java to check out attractions there.

We were a little disappointed because the famous Ijen Volcano, known for it’s sulfur mines and huge crater lake, was not open to visitors due to an eruption only a few days before we arrived. So, we carried on to our next volcanic destination, Mr. Bromo.

Mt. Bromo is known for it’s volcano inside a volcano structure and for it’s ash cloud eruptions that happen about every half hour or so. The volcano has spread ash over the nearby region of Cemoro Lewang at least a few times over the past decade or so.

We checked out Mt. Bromo at sunrise which was a beautiful and awe-inspiring site. To get there, we just booked a jeep ride at one of the mountain side homestays that took us most of the way up to the view point. From there, some stair climbing was a good way to get some warmth as it was pretty chilly in that higher altitude at 4:30am. We watched the sun come up over the beautiful landscape and stayed a little longer to see the ash clouds erupting from the mountain. Then back down to our hostel for a nap!

From Mt. Bromo we headed to Yogyakarta to visit Borobudur Temple. This magnificent architectural wonder is one the most spectacular buddhist temples in the world and probably the coolest one we’ve seen. It dates back to the 8th or 9th century. The bell shaped stupas each house a buddha statue inside. Again, we were up early for a sunrise tour of the World Heritage site. It did not disappoint. As much as I hate waking up before daylight, it’s always worth it to see such beauty.

Yogyakarta also boasts another World Heritage Site, the Prambanan Temples, which are Hindu temples first built around 850 and rediscovered in the early 1800’s. It reminded us a bit of Angkor Wat, a site we got to see while visiting Cambodia on our honeymoon.

During our month long stay in Indonesia, we relaxed, saw some awesome sites and made some new friend. We even got to attend a wedding there, which was definitely a highlight of the trip.

After so much time in Asia, we decided to check out a new part of the world and booked a quick flight to Cairns, Australia. Check back soon to hear about our tour of Eastern Australia.

Big thanks to One Source Network for providing us with the Velbon UT 43D tripod as many of the shots in the post would not have been possible without it.

Blue

I grabbed this photo while taking in Carnivale in Venice in 2007. Blue is my favorite color, so when I saw these two revelers, I knew I had to take this shot. The masks are not only beautiful, but also mysterious. I also liked how the texture of the material make the photo seem almost a little icy. (Incidentally, this is my wife’s all time favorite of my photos.)

Green

This photo is one I treasure. After the long hike up the top of these rice terraces, I looked out over the landscape and just had to pause at the beauty of the place. When I saw this farmer with his back to the view, going about his work, I had to wonder how he kept himself from looking back all the time to see what he had created.

Yellow

I love looking up to take photos! This is a simple photo taken from directly underneath The Eiffel Tower in Paris. At night, the tower lights up and puts on a great show. But not many people think to look up when walking right underneath!

White

I took this photo while waiting for a little friend who was enjoying her time on the Carousel. The movement of the whole apparatus, decorated with white lights for Christmas, really grabbed my attention. I couldn’t help getting this motion on camera by holding the shutter open.

Red

While living in Korea for two years, I saw a lot of gazebos, temples and pagodas. This one, however, really captured my imagination with its unique and secluded setting. I had to wait for a while for the rain to stop to get this shot, but it was worth it.

Thanks so much for taking the time to view these photos. I love photography and sharing with others the amazing scenes the world has to offer.

Nominations

Here are the 5 bloggers that I am nominating. If your name is not here and you think that it should be, no worries you can enter anyway. Just check out the link and make your own post. These are people who I greatly admire in both their photography skills and vision and find to be inspirational.

The 5 bloggers that I nominate that I think should participate in this contest are:

• Justin Troupe
• Trey Ratcliff
• Neil van Niekerk
• Gary Arnt
• Beth

Big thanks to One Source Network for providing us with the Velbon UT 43D tripod as many of the shots in the post would not have been possible without it.

We took a comfortable 5 hour train ride in the AC Chair car from Agra to Jaipur for a total cost of about $13 U.S. Upon arrival, we quickly set out to see the sites. During our four days in Jaipur, the Pink City, we were fortunate enough to encounter a great driver to take us around to all the sites. He was even honest enough to go by the taxi stand and get a pay slip so we could be sure we were not overpaying. This is basically the most honest man in India by our account.

We took time to visit the Isarlat Tower to see a great panoramic view of the city, which actually isn’t as pink as we thought it would be. Honestly, it’s more of a beige city. After seeing the view, we headed over to visit the City Palace. City Palace, once a royal residence, is now a really cool museum. It has courtyards and interesting artifacts, as well as a guy who “charms” snakes regularly outside the gate. The beautiful doorways that adorn each entryway around the palace are enough to make anyone want to stay around for hours.

Just across from the City Palace is one of the most interesting and most visited places in all of India. Jantar Mantar is an observatory and planetarium that houses fourteen large geometric devices for measuring time, tracking the positions of stars and planets and predicting eclipses, etc. The instruments were designed by Maharaja Jai Singh II, who was King of Jaipur in the 1700s. He had 5 such observatories built, of which the one in Jaipur is the largest and most famous.

Next on the list in Jaipur was the Palace of Wind, which is a really cool structure that was meant to be shaped like Krishna’s crown. It reminds most people of a honeycomb.

Griffin checked out the Amber Fort for some photo opportunities and we took a brief stop to look at the Jal Mahal, or water palace, which is visible from the main road.

We enjoyed our visit to the Pink City and were also excited to move on to the next city, Jodhpur. Check back soon for info on “The Blue City.”

As I mentioned in our last Travel Photo Of The Week post, New Zealand looks like the world may have looked thousands of years ago. This weeks travel photo is a prime example of that. We took a hop on, hop off bus tour of the entire country and one of the stops the bus let us see where these awesome vivid blue pools while driving though the Haast Pass in the South Island.

The driver told us there would be some very beautiful blue glacial water pools coming up, but we had no idea of the vibrancy to expect. These pools are about a 15 minutes round trip walk off the road and well worth the visit. We were told that the blue of the water is caused by the almost microscopic rock particles and debris that the glaciers scrape up as they move along the valley floor which are then carried by the glacial streams and rivers. This debris reflects the sun and gives off the vibrant blue color you can see in the picture.

The water in New Zealand is amazingly clean and clear, and even drinkable right from the river in a couple places. Some of the glacial water has been frozen for a couple thousand years or more, so again, you are able to see the earth as it might have been a couple thousand years ago.

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Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

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We are currently finishing our travels in New Zealand and let me encourage and persuade you that if you have not been to New Zealand before, you should put it on your bucket list and make it out here before you die. This place is amazing; so wild, beautiful and clean. It feels like seeing the earth a couple thousand years ago before factories, skyscrapers, garbage and pollution existed. The rivers and streams are clear as glass, some with even a vibrant blue tinge to them. The air is crisp and clean. The sunlight is strong and unhindered by smog or soot from too many cars, homes and people. The trees are large, plentiful and healthy. There must be more moss and ferns in New Zealand than in the rest of the world combined. You can visit and walk around on Glaciers right next to rain forests. You can check out thermal pools of strange colors, boiling mud pools and even a few geysers. You can wear shorts and a t-shirt and look up to see snow covered peaks or ancient glaciers high above. I am telling you, this country is breathtakingly beautiful and well worth a visit.

While visiting the North Island, we met up with some friends of ours that we had gotten to know in Korea. They left a couple months before us, did some traveling around Asia and then headed to their home in New Zealand to settle down and start a Photography and Design company. It was great to see some close friends and catch up for a couple days while also getting an inside look at New Zealand and some local insights into what it’s like to live here.

One of the highlights of our time with David and Vicki was a 10 hour hike across the Togararo Crossing. This is quite a unique landscape with lots of lava rocks and other volcanic features. Many of the landscapes on and around the hike were used as the backdrop for Mount Doom in The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. Toward the beginning of the hike we came across this little waterfall which I thought might make a great extended exposure image. Extended exposure just means that I kept the shutter open for as long as possible – in this case, 20 seconds. That is what gives the water its smooth look and the clouds a little bit of motion.

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Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA.

For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.

TECHNICAL INFO: For this shot I used what is called a Neutral Density filter and my awesome travel tripod – the Velbon UT 43D provided by One Source Network. The Neutral Density filter is basically a dark piece of glass which allows you to keep the camera shutter open for long periods of time which would usually not be possible in broad daylight. To create this image I used an ND 1000 which adds ten f-stops or levels of darkness. I used a timed shutter release of ten seconds to make sure my hand didn’t cause any shake in the image and made sure my tripod was set up nice and sturdy.

There’s really only one reason to visit Agra. I’m not saying that there’s only one thing to see there, but everything else really just pales in comparison.

You know what I’m talking about, the Taj Mahal; truly one of man’s most beautiful creations. After you’ve seen the Taj, is there really anything else to visit in the city?

Actually, there is. Though none quite as breathtaking, Agra touts several sites of interest to those visiting.

Agra Fort is a very beautiful mix of architectural design and building materials. Trading the red sandstone for white marble within the fort, Shah Jahan, gave instructions for the interior of the fort, which his grandfather had begun with the sandstone on the outside. From the Eastern outer wall, a fantastic view of the Taj can be seen, which was important to Shah Jahan, as he had built the Taj for his deceased wife.

The Tomb of Akbar is another great site to visit. It is believed to have been the inspiration for the Taj Mahal and houses the tomb of Emperor Akbar the Great, which he helped design and commenced himself.

We had the pleasure of hanging out with “Khan,” our auto-rickshaw driver for the day. Though depressed about the recent split with his girlfriend, he was quite knowledgeable about the city.

Khan took us to a great spot for a view of the back of the Taj along the opposite side of the Yamuna River. You can walk down a road for free and see the view, a little off center, or you can pay 100 Rupees to enter the Moonlight Garden area for a better view. Inside the garden is the ruin area of the mythical “Black Taj” which some believe Shah Jahan had in mind to build across from its counter part, but didn’t get the chance. The black “foundation” can be seen inside the garden. Griffin took a look, but I took a pass.

Now, let’s back up a bit and get to the real reason anyone visits Agra. We were both pretty excited to see this beautiful, timeless symbol, the Taj Mahal.

 

We started out early and met up with Khan outside our guesthouse at 5:30am. He dropped us off within walking distance as no polluting vehicles are allowed within 500 meters of the gate. When we arrived, the lines were already long. Griffin went to get the tickets and I went to stand in line. As it turned out, the line for tickets was more time consuming than we thought. Entry is expensive at 750 rupees per person, or about $15 U.S.. Indian entry is less than $1! As part of your ticket, you’re given a bottle of water and shoe covers for walking around the museum area of the Taj. Nice.

We finally were allowed inside after a very thorough pat down in gender segregated areas. My Clif bar was confiscated and Griffin was forced to go to an off-site locker location for tripod contraband… twice.

By the time we got inside, the sun was already pretty high in the sky, but the crowds had not yet turned up. We took our picture on the iconic bench alongside Princess Diana, and spent a lot of time admiring the intricate marble designs and gazing at the beauty of the structure itself. We walked around the tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtez Mahal and remembered how special and important love is.

We were lucky to be there around the time of a full moon, which meant the Taj was open for a night viewing. The cost is the same as a daytime viewing, but you’re only allowed to visit for 30 minutes. To be honest, we were kind of disappointed by the night viewing. For some reason, it was only open until 9:30 instead of the 12:30 time slot we were hoping for. The moon was not very high in the sky therefore not really casting any light on the Taj. We were surprised that there are no lights illuminating the Taj! Gates block off the entry and you can only go as far as the red sandstone gate. Photos were next to impossible because of the low light and the fact that no tripods are allowed. It was still beautiful and now we can say we’ve seen the Taj Mahal at night, but it’s not really worth the time and expense.

While India may be “intense” to say the least, the Taj Mahal makes it all worth it. I highly encourage anyone to visit Agra and be reminded of love both past and present.

Travel Points:

Hotel: We had the privilege of staying at a great hostel in Agra called Friends Paying Guesthouse. This is a family run place where the kids lend a hand in serving the guests with a sweet smile. The rooms were spacious and clean and they really went out of their way to make everyone feel welcome. The price was right at $4.50 per person per night. All the guests were treated to a wonderful meal of Mutton Biryani in celebration of a religious festival while we were there. Griffin witnessed the “mutton” being transformed from a goat, if you know what I’m saying.

Transportation: Transportation around Agra is cheap, as in all of India. Khan was with us for the entire day of touring for a total of 650 rupees or about $14 U.S. We took a train from New Delhi to Agra and continued on to Jodphur. For more information about train travel in India, check out seat61.com.

Daily Budget: As always in India, the daily budget it pretty low. The total, for two people, including train to Agra, transportation within the city, hotel and all meals was $23.97 U.S. for 4 nights and 5 days.

Tips: Tripods ARE allowed at the daytime viewing of the Taj Mahal, but only with previously obtained permission from the Archeological Survey of India. Otherwise, leave them at your hotel because they WILL find them. Tripods are NOT allowed for any reason at the night viewing. Neither are video cameras. Food is not allowed and the guards ate my blueberry Clif Bar.

Your tickets to the Taj serve as discount coupons for other area sites. In other words, they will charge you more without the Taj Tickets. The actual price is printed on each entry ticket, but they will jack it up if you don’t present your “coupon.” So, keep it and keep it with you. They are only valid on the day of use at the Taj.

This photo was taken on Phillip Island, Australia. While visiting Melbourne, one of Valerie’s friends and her family generously offered to host us for a while. We had an amazing time.

They invited us to their house on the Island which is a really cool place just an hour or so outside of Melbourne. Many parts of the island are protected as national parks and wilderness conservation zones. The island is probably most famous for the Penguin Parade with happens every night and whose stars are the smallest penguins in the world at just over 1 foot tall on average. They are, appropriately called Little Penguins.

While on the island we saw the penguin parade which we highly recommend, but were not allowed to take photos of, so you will not see any of those from us.

One of the many highlights of the visit to the Island was visiting an area called The Nobbies. The Nobbies is free to visit and walk around and is a really beautiful place of rocks, cliffs, caves, grass and sand all mixed together for a unique vista. This picture is from one of the walking ramps there and the hill type island in the back right of the photo is home to a colony of thousands of seals. In the visitors center nearby you can pay $5 to see the seals from a camera located on the island and you can even take pictures from the camera and purchase them for an additional fee.

We had a great time catching up and getting to know this great family better and really enjoyed our time Melbourne so much more because of their hospitality, friendship and generosity.

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Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

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Dae-Wang Am

King Munmu, the 30th King of the Shilla Dynasty, achieved the unification of the countries of the Korean peninsula in AD 688. The King used to express his desire to become a dragon after his death to protect his kingdom from enemies. When the king died he was buried under a great rock in the East Sea in accordance with his will and transformed into the guardian dragon of the kingdom. People, therefore, call the rock ‘Dae-Wang Am’ meaning ‘The Rock of the Great King’.  It is located in Gyongju, South Korea. Meanwhile, the spirit of the Queen also became a guardian dragon of the kingdom after she died since she could not forget her husband’s noble will. Later the dragon flew to Ulsan and submerged herself under this rock to protect the East Sea. People also began to call this rock ‘Dae-Wang Am’ and it is said that seaweed does not grow around this rock because of the dragon.

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Things got off to a rough start for us with some trouble getting to our hotel, but after we got that sorted out, we were off to check out the sites.

New Delhi is the capital city of India and has so much to see, we could hardly wait to get started.

We started out at the Red Fort, which used to be the main residence of the royal family. The fort is huge and full of history.

This was the first time we noticed a strange habit with soldiers here that most of the western world is unfamiliar with. As we rounded a corner of the fort, we both looked back to check out the gate we’d just come through, when we saw it… a shot gun pointed directly at our heads from behind a guard post. No, we weren’t in trouble and the guy wasn’t intentionally pointing the gun at us, it’s just where how he chose to rest his rifle. As more time passed for us in India, we grew accustomed to seeing guns pointed at us, and, even more strangely, the guards often point their guns at themselves or other guards. I think gun safety is glossed over a little here. So, please don’t be alarmed if you visit India and notice the same.

We were fortunate enough to hang out all day with the same auto-rickshaw driver, Muhammed, and he told us about the cool sites to see.

He drove us over to the government and military buildings in the area, which were pretty impressive. Here, offices of the Ministries of Defense, Finance, Home Affairs and External Affairs are housed as well as the office of India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

Next we went over to the Indira Ghandi Memorial Museum. Indira Ghandi was a four-term Prime Minister of India, who was assassinated in 1984 by her own body guards. The memorial is impressive and beautiful and made me want to learn more about Indira herself.

Finally, as sunset was approaching, we headed over to The Bahá’í House of Worship, also known as the Lotus Temple. The building is shaped like a giant Lotus flower and is one of the coolest designs either of us has ever seen. It has 27 petals and 9 pools outside, which contribute to the cooling system for the main sanctuary. As Christians, we’re not into searching out other religions, but we can always appreciate good architecture! (Plus, it was free!)

After that it was back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep.

We checked out a good part of the Main Bazaar area where we were staying as well. Griffin got his camera bag fixed by a local taylor for about $1 (U.S.) and we frequented a great restaurant with killer Indian Thali. Yum!

From here, it was back on the train to Agra, home of the Taj!

Travel Points:

Hotel: While in New Delhi, we stayed at Hotel Payal, which we actually do not recommend. The rooms were fairly clean, had air conditioning, and wifi, but it was the service and staff attitude that really put us off. Being tourists in India, especially when one of us has blonde hair, means we elicit a LOT of attention from just about everyone. Touts LOVE to see us coming. For this reason, we try to get our hotels to come to the train station to pick us up, thus keeping us from being ripped off by people who think we don’t know any better. When I asked for a pick up from Hotel Payal, the guy told me to “ask someone” when we arrived at the train station. This basically invites every con artist around to make up wild stories about our Hotel having burned down in the night, being full because of a festival, or that it’s only for prostitutes and druggies. It took us more than an hour to find the place, which is only about 10 minutes away from the train station. When we arrived, we were not even acknowledged at the front desk until the guy behind the counter finished cleaning and dusting back there. Forget the fact that it’s 6:30 in the morning and we’re still carrying our giant backpacks… Let’s DUST everything. We were asked for our passports, but the guy told us he wouldn’t be able to check us in yet as his scanner was broken and he would need to go down the street to copy our passports. When I expressed some concern about that, he became impatient with me and starting yelling at me, demanding our passports. I reluctantly gave in and gave him my passport, which he tossed on the counter and walked away to show us to our room. The door was wide open to the outside and guests were coming and going. I took the passport and placed it on the chair behind the counter so it wouldn’t get stolen. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we were given a room to wait in for the next 4 hours until it was. We were asked to pay for the wifi, despite it being advertised as free on the booking site. We refused and were given the password for free. Finally, at around Noon, they said our room still wasn’t ready, but we could stay in the one we had been waiting in… for a higher price. Again, I refused this and told him we would just wait until our room was ready. He gave in and gave us the upgrade for free… the only highlight of that place. Please do yourself a favor and do not stay here.

Transportation: Train trips can be booked online at cleartrip.com. Be warned, the trains fill up weeks in advanced and should be booked accordingly. For more information about the trains, including types of cars and train routes, check out seat61.com and click on India under the Asia category on the left.

Daily Budget: $45.00 for both of us including lodging, food, transport and activities.

Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

On our last day in Bali, I drove the scooter over to Uluwatu Temple on the West Coast of the Bukit Penensula for some final sunset pictures.

I got there just as the light was starting to change and took this shot of the cliffs with the mainland of Bali in the background. If you look closely, you will notice some of Bali’s mountains created from volcanoes on the right side in the distance.

As you can see, the water was just beautiful and you can see right to the bottom until it drops off about 50 feet from the shore. We really enjoyed our time in Bali. The people are kind, the scenery is beautiful and the weather is warm. We even met with a Facebook friend from Australia for the first time and made some Balinesian friends for life and were invited to their wedding. We hope to return to Bali in the future and catch back up.

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA.

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After a good night’s sleep, we headed up to meet our hostel owners and have some breakfast. Krishna, the hostel guy not the Hindu god, gave us the run of the city over eggs and toast.

We decided to book a full day tour of the city with Krisha for the following day, meanwhile taking care of some errands.

Our tour day started early as we made our way to the Ganges River for a sunrise boat ride. As you approach the Ganges, there are several things you will notice immediately. Although the Ganges is the holiest river in India, it isn’t treated very well. Garbage swells in every inlet and touts are everywhere trying to sell you some good karma. As Christians, we’re not too worried about karma, but found it funny when a girl became frustrated with us for not buying her flowers and stated, “Whatever. It’s your life.”

Cows are considered holy by Hindu people, and so are permitted to rome the whole of the country freely, including cooling off in the Ganges. Somehow, I always thought that was a myth, but I can assure you it isn’t. So, in the garbage filled river cows drift happily by.

As our boat driver rowed us silently up river, we approached one of several important places in the life of a devout Hindu. They are called Ghats, or more specifically “burning Ghats.” A Ghat is an embankment along the river, but a burning Ghat is basically a holy crematorium. As a tout told us vying for a guide job, “Burning is learning. Cremation is Education.” According to Hindu beliefs, reincarnation occurs over and over until a person dies in the holy city of Varanasi and is cremated at a burning Ghat along the Ganges river. Unless they have great Karma, this is the only way for a Hindu to finally reach Heaven.

You can see the smoke from the Ghats from several hundred yards away and as you get closer you can see the fires burning. Usually there are at least five bodies burning and several more families waiting with the body of their loved one. The families don’t seem sad at all and instead seem happy and relieved as they go about preparing the body and fire.

We were told that in some cases the bodies aren’t burned, but are simply rowed out to the middle of the river and unceremoniously dropped in. In those cases, the person can still reach heaven, even though they weren’t cremated. Examples include the bodies of children, pregnant women, victims of leprosy or snake bites, holy men and those who commit suicide. We did witness a body being loaded up onto a boat, but we got distracted by a guy trying to sell us something, and then we noticed the boat coming back to shore without the body. When we asked our boat guide about that, he said, “snake bite.”

So, let’s see what we’ve encountered so far. Trash, Cows, ashes and dead bodies… oh, and one more thing… people bathing in the river. Now, I know that this river is “holy,” but bathing in there? I’m quite sure I wouldn’t be caught dead in that river.

After the sunrise river tour, we headed back to our hostel for breakfast. Then headed back out check out the rest of the city.

Our first stop was the largest university in the area, Banaras Hindu University. The university is beautiful and has a unique arched campus. The temple in the front serves as a place of worship for its students.

Next we headed to the Durga Temple, also known as the Monkey Temple. We love a good monkey temple! Hundreds of monkeys came to greet us and stalked everyone for food. Note: no cameras or bags allowed inside.

We visited a local silk factory where we watched as some workers used a loom to hand make embroidered bedding. We were taken to a shop and shown the beautiful silk products available to purchase. Sadly, we couldn’t fit any of the duvet covers into our backpacks. =)

Afterward, we were pretty tired due to our early start time, so we passed up another temple and headed back to our hostel.

The next day we boarded the Indian Railway for New Delhi.

Stay tuned for Part II of our Train Tour of Northern India.

See more of our picture from Varanasi in our SmugMug gallery here.

Travel Points:

Hotel: We stayed at the Sabh Laxmi Guest House in Varanasi. It’s truly a family run place. The food is great and the staff are extremely friendly and even game me a free Henna Tattoo. It’s not that clean, but what it lacks in cleanliness is makes up for in friendliness. The owner knows that the place is run down, and he’s working on it as he has the money to do so. Overall, we recommend it.

Transportation: Train trips can be booked online at cleartrip.com. Be warned, the trains fill up weeks in advanced and should be booked accordingly. For more information about the trains, including types of cars and train routes, check out seat61.com and click on India under the Asia category on the left.

Daily Budget: Our daily budget in Varanasi was around $40 (U.S.) for 4 nights and 3 1/2 days. This includes the following: hostel, taxi from the Nepal boarder to Gorakhpur, train from Gorakhpur to Varanasi, full day tour, all admissions and fees, rickshaws and food.

Photo taken using Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

While touring North India via the Indian Railroad, we spent some time enjoying the beautiful and detailed architecture of the walled city of Jaisalmer witch is located about 100 miles west of the Pakistan border. While there, we made an afternoon trip out to the Sam Sand Dunes about 1 hour away for sunset.

The dunes are not as expansive as we had hoped and, due to the culture of India, were littered with trash. They were also spotted with people trying to get paid for singing & dancing or selling camel rides, cold drinks or strangely, something we would never really crave in the desert from our experience – potato chips.

Because of all this, it was not as beautiful or as peaceful as we might have hoped a subset sand dunes visit would be, but it was a unique Indian experience all the same and, we felt, worth a visit if you are in the area.
The picture here is of one of the dancing women with a boy selling potato chips from his bag walking towards some other travelers to offer their services in hopes of making some money for the day.

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Photo taken using Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

We arrived in Bali, Indonesia with the intention to stay for one month in the best house we could find for about $200.

After some searching we quickly learned that if we wanted air conditioning and internet we would need to raise our budget. After a couple days of searching we had found three really good options and finally made a decision on one house that was a little more than we wanted to spend, but had everything we wanted plus a daily maid! The house was out in the countryside about 30 minutes from the main tourist area of Kuta, which we liked, and about 5 minutes from the coast. We paid $435 to the owner, who was leaving the next day to teach Paragliding in Nepal, and moved our things in. After a couple nights of settling in and exploring the nearby area we came to this cliffside beach just around sunset. The tide was so low that the outer sandbar was taking all the impact of the waves and the surface nearest to us was as smooth as glass. I zoomed my lens all the way in and captured this sunset scene. I am so thankful and blessed to be able to witness such beautiful and amazing sights like this.

The things you can see sticking up are posts that the local villagers tie ropes to in order to collect seaweed for eating and selling. There are many shacks right along the beach at the base of the cliffs on this side of the island where the local people seem to be living the same way they have been for centuries and taking what the sea provides for their health and sustenance.

P.S. If you click on the image, you can see a similar picture taken at the same time and location. Hope you enjoy!

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA.

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Okay, I had to. Sorry.

On our way to Nepal, we couldn’t find a flight that didn’t stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, so we figured why not check it out for a few days.

After checking into our hostel, one of the cleanest we’ve stayed in, we headed out for some food. We got a good night’s sleep and then headed out to see the sights the next morning.

We started out with a visit to the Batu Caves. The caves were located at the top of some pretty steep stairs, with monkeys jumping all around as you climb them. We stopped off at a side cave to check out the cute monkeys, which ended up being more interesting than the Batu Caves themselves. We did check out the temple located in the caves and then actually went back to take some more photos of the monkeys. =)

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After going to view an old train station, we headed to the National Mosque. We turned up only about 30 minutes before scheduled tourist times, so we took a walk around and Griffin took some photos outside.

When prayer time was over for the Muslims participating at the mosque, we headed inside to have a look. While Griffin was dressed appropriately in pants, (and so was I),I needed to don a tourist rental robe. I was dressed from head to toe, with only my face visible. We were free to walk around the mosque with exception of the main prayer room in the center. The mosque was beautifully built and surrounded by pools and stained glass. It was a nice breezy reprieve from the sweltering heat outside.

Finally it was getting dark, so we headed to see the beautiful Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world. These towers, completed in 1998, stand 88 stories high. Beautifully lighted, they are the centerpiece of the Kuala Lumpur night time skyline. We took photos and mostly just took time to marvel.

We took a little time to rest the following day as we waited for a red-eye flight to depart at 3:15am. Surprise! It was delayed by about 12 hours. After sleeping in the airport, we were finally onward…

We’re happy with our decision to check out Kuala Lumpur, and hoping to view more of Malaysia at another time. So, if you’re ever in the area, consider a stop over to check out the beautiful sites…and the cute monkeys!

Travel Points:

Hotel: In KL, we were lucky enough to find Serai Inn, an incredibly clean and friendly place, not too far from the subway station. It’s within walking distance of pretty much everything you want to see in Kuala Lumpur, except the Batu Caves. We enjoyed talking with the staff and they were also nice enough to lend us a room while were were trying to get everything straightened out with our flight.

Transportation: In KL, we mostly just walked everywhere. There is a subway system which is pretty nice and the people at the ticket counters can help you get where you need to go. If you want to check at the Batu Caves, then you need the Number 11 bus, which runs about every 20 minutes or so.

Daily Budget: Our daily budget for KL was $34 US, for 4 days, beginning when we arrived on the afternoon of Sept. 29th, until we departed on the afternoon of Oct. 1st. This included all lodging, food, transportation and tickets.

Photo taken using Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

While in India, we took a trip to the city of Agra to visit the Taj Mahal.  Valerie and I have always wanted to see this amazing building and we were not disappointed.  It is by far one of the most beautiful buildings we have seen in our lives!

I love the symmetry and elegance of it, the story behind it, the mostly white color and the detailed inliad carvings throughout.

The entrance fee was the highest we have encountered at 750 Rupees ($15) per person, but it is a sight that should not be missed if you visit India and was worth it in the end.

We happened to be visiting Agra right around the time of the full moon and were also excited to learn that for the two nights before and after the full moon as well as the night of the full moon, you can purchase moonlight viewing tickets for the same rate as the day tickets.  We went the last night of our stay in Agra, 2 nights before the full moon.  We would recommend doing this if you have a chance.  The experience was very peaceful and something special.  It was only us, two other foreigners and an Indian family when we went, which was a stark contrast to the hundreds upon hundreds of tourists we had visited with in the daytime.  It was very dark even with the almost full moon shining on the Taj from behind us, but just to sit there and listen to the far away sounds of an Arab prayer call and the crickets while looking at the Taj was quite special and peaceful.

How To Get Moon Viewing Tickets

Moon viewing tickets cannot be purchased at the main ticket gates of the Taj.  They must be purchased a day in advance from the Archeological Survey Of India Headquarters in Agra.  It is a pink building about a 3 KM drive from the Taj and should cost about 150 Rupees for a return trip.  You will need your passport to purchase the tickets.

NOTE TO PHOTOGRAPHERS: No tripods of any kind are allowed in the Taj Mahal grounds.  In the daytime you can usually get an exception to this by going to the Archeological Survey Of India Headquarters Office in Agra a day before and asking for permission and the proper paper work.  For night viewing you are not allowed a tripod and, as far as I could find, can’t get special permission for it at all.  You are only allowed one camera per person and no video cameras for the night viewing.  On the day viewing I had already put my larger Velbon UT 43D travel tripod in the locker and come back though the security check when they found my Joby cell phone tripod I had forgotten was in my bag and they made me take that to the locker as well.  The Locker is about a 8 minute walk round-trip from the entrance, so it is a bit of a pain to go to and get back from.  Please leave your tripod in your hotel or put it in the lockers before trying to enter.  They will find it and make you do a locker run otherwise.  The night viewing, from our experience, was too dark for pictures with anything but full manual settings and, since no tripods are allowed, you must get creative with the wobbly barricade railings and ground in order to get a decent shot.

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA. For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.

Photo taken using Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

As some of you may have known, about two weeks ago we attempted a trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal.  We ended up encountering a snow storm which kept us from actually making our goal, and Valerie also came down with a case of HAPE requiring us to take a helicopter back to Lukla after trekking for nine days and hiking to within an hour of base camp.  I am working on a post about the whole experience which I will share later, but wanted to share one of the many beautiful views from that area.

The Himalayas are amazingly beautiful and seem to have the cleanest air and water I have seen in the world.  It’s hard to get a bad picture up there and at every step we were amazed by the ever  changing breathtakingly beautiful scenery.

This picture was taken on day 5 of our trek shortly before driving in Tengboche for the night.  It is a picture of one of the many Buddhist Stupas along the trail with the beautifully and sometimes deadly summit of Ama Dablam standing at 22,349 feet high in the background.

TECHNICAL INFO: This picture was taken using a setting called Auto Exposure Bracketing which is available on many SLR and some point and shoot cameras.  This allows me to quickly take three differently exposed images – one over exposed, one under exposed and one with the correct exposure.   I used the Velbon UT 43D provide to us by One Source Network for stabilization to make sure here would be no movement between or during the time the picture were being taken.  I then used NIK Software’s HDR Effect Pro to merge all the exposures into one image which is more similar to what the human eye can see than what the camera is usually able to capture.

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA. For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.