We just finished booking our summer travel. Read on to find out how you can travel for pennies on the dollar next summer or even for this winter…

Here is what we booked and what it cost us

So, how did we save over two thousand dollars on hotels and airfare? Well we didn’t do it by racking up miles flying all over the USA doing life/soul sucking consulting work with little to no personal life. Nope. Griffin works from anywhere with and internet connection doing work he loves and Valerie works around town doing social work that she loves.

What we did was strategically sign up for and receive credit card rewards from different credit card companies without changing our spending habits or overspending. Here are the cards we used for this trip:

American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card

Rewards Bonus Details

Bonus Amount: 30,000 SkyMiles
Minimum Spend: $500
Time Limit: 3 Months
Annual Fee: $0 for first year and then $95/year
Re-Apply Rules: Every 2 years
Bonus Perk(s): $50 Statement credit after you make a delta purchase on your card within time limit.

Chase IHG Rewards Club Select Visa

Rewards Bonus Details

Bonus Amount: 60,000 IHG Points
Minimum Spend: $1,000
Time Limit: 3 Months
Annual Fee: $0 for first year and then $49/year
Re-Apply Rules: Unknown
Bonus Perk(s):

• One free night per year after 1 year of having the card
• Upgrade to Platinum Elite Status as long as you are a cardmember. Benefit details here.

Chase Ink Bold Business Charge Card

Rewards Bonus Details

Bonus Amount: 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Minimum Spend: $5,000
Time Limit: 3 Months
Annual Fee: $0 for first year and then $95/year
Re-Apply Rules:  Unknown
Bonus Perk(s):

•  20% Off travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 1:1 point transfer with no transfer fees

List Transfer Partners as of this writing

I hope the information above makes sense. Basically, each card has a minimum spend usually within three months. If you meet the minimum spend requirement within the time limit you should receive the award points shortly.

So, how do we recommend getting all these points? Here is our method.

STEP 1 – Credit Monitoring

Sign up for a free credit monitoring account at one or both of the following sites:

• Credit Karma – Free monthly TransUnion score
• Credit Sesame – Free monthly Experian score

These will allow you to get your current credit score as well as Monitor your credit for any issues from here forward. If you are in credit card debt or have a bad credit score, this may be a good step to take to monitor your credit, but please note, these companies are making money from commissions by recommending credit cards to you.  We recommend not going with their recommended credit cards as they are not always the best available.

STEP 2 – Pick Your Card

Once you have confirmed that you have a good credit score then you are ready to apply for your first card. We highly recommend only applying to cards for which you are sure you will be using the resulting rewards within 12 months. The reason for this is that many of the rewards points have expiration dates and/or other stipulations that affect the points after one year.

Example
We signed up for an Alaskan Airlines card to get 40,000 Alaskan Airlines Miles, but it turns out if you cancel the card you lose all your points. So we have paid two $95 fees so far in hopes to be able to use the card on a future flight. If this continues for much longer, we will not be saving any money.

We can personally recommend the cards above, but there are plenty of other cards for most of the major rewards programs you may be interested in. For example, if you are wanting Amtrak points, you could sign up for the Chase Ink Bold card above which can transfer points 1:1 to Amtrack, but you may also be able to find another option via a quick Google search for Amtrak Credit Card. If you are looking for another reward program, just sub out Amtrak for the rewards you are looking for and google that.

This gets a little complicated, but we recommend only applying to one Airline rewards card per Ailine alliance. The three major alliances are

One World | Sky Team | Star Alliance

The reason for this is so that your miles are in one main account instead of spread across a lot of accounts where you can’t leverage them as well. As long as you have miles in one of the alliances airline accounts, you can usually book flights with any airline on that alliance and sometimes even get better mileage value as well.

OK. Now, after you have thoroughly read and understood all there terms and conditions of the card you have selected, go ahead and apply for your desired credit card and best of luck! If approved, move on to Step 3.

STEP 3 – Use The Card

Be sure to spend the minimum required amount within the time limit on the card. We highly recommend not changing your spending habits as this is another way to get in debt, so make sure before that you can spend the required amounts, usually of $500 – $5,000 on the credit card in the time limit required. If you are unable to meet the minimum spend or do it in the time limit, you will not receive the major point bonus and all your effort will not be worth it. What we do is focus on one card every three months or until paid off. This way we can spend only on the desired card for the three months period and make sure we have spent the minimum before the time limit.

NEXT STEP – Collect & Track Your Points

So, you have been collecting points and Airline miles for a while and now you are having a bit of a hard time keeping up with it all? No problem. There is free service that can help with that. We use and highly recommend Award Wallet. It allows you to track most rewards programs balances for free. You can pay to view expiration dates and other features, but we have been more than happy with the free version.

FINAL STEP

Go travel! Enjoy your strategic work and book flights, trains and/or hotels and enjoy the time with your friends and loved ones!

TAKING IT FURTHER

If you are looking to take this all to the next level, below are a few resources that we have found well worth the investment.

1. Frequent Flyer Master

If you want to learn more about travel hacking and even get a guaranteed free domestic flight in the States, check out this great resource by someone who has traveled to every country in the world!

Frequent Flyer Master is a full e-book, a 20-minute audio, and a 4-page Priceline specific guide on the art of hacking airline miles. Click for a full description.

2. Travel Hacking Cartel

If you want to join a group of people passionate about finding the best deals, racking up points and traveling in style using points instead of cash, this is the place to be.  There is a monthly charge for this group, but we have found it more than worth the cost and have made back 10x our investment and more through the rewards travel from it.

3. Flyer Talk Forums

This is another great group to join if you are looking to really stay up to date and on top of all the different rewards travel options, hacks and strategies.  It takes a bit more time and energy than the above two resources, but it has the added benefit of being free!

We hope this has been encouraging and helpful. We have shared these strategies with many of our family and friends and have always enjoyed hearing about their travels using points for first class flights, resort hotels and more. Have you used miles and points to book an amazing trip? Share about it in the comments and let us know if we missed anything.

I got 3 vaccines: Typhoid, Yellow Fever and a Tetnus Booster. Total price, more than $400. That pricetag hurt more than any of the shots!

When we got to Korea, we priced some vaccines and found them about half the price of the same ones in the U.S.

Better still, we waited until we got to the Kingdom of Low Prices – India. While waiting for our flight out of Delhi, we stopped by a clinic and priced vaccines again… and found a winner. I got 7 vaccines, (Lifetime Hep. A, Hep B, Meningitis, Rabies, Typhoid, Polio and TB) all for a total of $115. Griffin had several shots as well and we both drank lots of fluids and rested for a few days.

We had to get second and third doses of Hep. B and Rabies, for which we had to do some searching in other parts of the world. We found Hep. B for $15 in Indonesia (As long as you’re away from the touristy areas in or around Bali) and the 3rd dose of Hep B. in Spain for 5 Euros.

Unfortunately, we never priced a 2nd dose of Rabies for less than $100, which didn’t seem worth it after the $7 initial dose, so we just called that one off.

The bottom line is, if your home country is over-pricing their travel vaccines, a little research could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If you don’t get your travel vaccines at home, it’s more than okay to leave home without them, as long as your DO get them.

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.

By this point, we had enjoyed a lot of Indian food, some hot weather and some interesting places. However, for Jaisalmer, we were mostly interested in the Sam Sand Dunes, just about 30 minutes’ drive outside of town.

We quickly booked a jeep tour and headed out to the desert! The dunes did not disappoint. It was strange to see a sudden desert come up on the horizon and be able to access it from a main road. I can’t say that the desert stretched as far as the eye can see, because, frankly, it didn’t. The desert was big, don’t get me wrong, but you could easily walk to the end of it in about 20 minutes. Still impressive, though.

As we walked across into the dunes, we were spotted immediately by the touts we had grown so accustomed to in India. They were out in full force to sell everything from snacks to camel rides. (Point of advice, camels make this place one that is not friendly to bare feet. I recommend bringing sandals!)

We watched as costumed performers sang and danced and begged for tips. We enjoyed an ice cold water in the desert as we watched the sun set over the dunes. Then we headed back to our hotel and counted the day as a good one.

There were other cool places to see in Jaisalmer, which we quickly set out for. We took in the Gadisar Lake, which was near the place we met for the jeep tour. I found this one interesting mostly because of the giant fish that call the man made lake home. Apparently most Indians don’t eat fish, but like to feed them. =) The fish grow large and plentiful and are a lot of fun to watch.

Jaisalmer, like any other Indian city, also has a large fort, which we also scoped out. This was was honestly a little more decorative than some of the other forts we had seen, so that was a nice change.

We also spent some time looking at the Patwaon Ki Haveli and the Bada Bagh, two really beautiful pieces of architecture.

At this point on our journey, we had spent about six weeks in India, and to be honest, we were sort of itching to get out. We sped through the sites and booked our flight out of New Delhi, hopped a train to the airport and away we went.

We hope you will continue to follow along on our journey. Please check back soon to read al about our month-long vacation in Bali, Indonesia.

Travel Tips:
As I said, at this point of our trip through India, we were a little tired of India. We sprung for a nicer hotel, which did not disappoint. Hotel Roop Mahal, which had great food, nice room (with ac) and was in a good location. The price was steep for India at around $14 per night.

Transportation: We took an AC 3 Tier class train to from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, which cost about $7 per person. Remember, if you want to book a train in India you need to do that as far in advance as possible. For help in booking train tickets, you can always e-mail us, or check out seat61.com and click on India on the left hand side.

For Jaisalmer, we actually didn’t hire a driver and just talked with the autorickshaw guys for the one-two times we wanted to ride instead of walk. This is mostly a walking city, so no need to secure a tour guide or driver. Your one-way trip in an auto-rickshaw should cost you no more than $1-2. We did book the jeep tour out to the Sam Sand Dunes, which cost us about $5 each.

Daily Budget: Our daily was $40.08 for 4 days including train travel, accommodation, food and all attraction entrances.

Griffin and I have had pleasure and opportunity to see some of the most beaufiul places on the planet. But, sometimes, it’s not the most beautiful things that are the most interesting.

Deep in the heart of China’s mainland, sits the city of Xi’An, one of China’s Four Great Ancient Capitals. Though it’s not much to look at, it holds one of the most fascinating scenes in the world.

Xi’an, with over 3,000 years of history, took its place as China’s capital city during several different ruling dynasties for a total of more than 400 years. Its significance is far reaching as the start of the “Silk Road,” one of the most important trade routes in history, interconnecting Africa, Europe and Asia.

Since we’re not trading anything, we came to Xi’an to see something different. That is, something different that you can find anywhere else on earth.

During the days of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of unified China, one thing became abundantly clear: this guy was paranoid about death. Though the man is credited with many of China’s historal feats, including the beginning of construction of the Great Wall, he is perhaps best known for one thing, the 8,000 life-size clay soldiers that now guard his tomb.

First discovered by a group of farmers in 1974, archaeologists unearthed the now famous, Terracotta Army, still standing at attention and in perfect formation for their job as the attendants of the emeror’s soul. Every soldier is unique, with their differing facial features most likely being attributed to the unpaid laborers who constructed each one. The soldiers are also ranked and stand ready for their individual jobs as messengers, horsemen (complete with horses), officers, and even those tasked to accompany the carriage believed to house Qinshihuang’s soul.

There are four known pits where the soldiers are burried, located about 1.5km away from the emperor’s burial mound. Each of the soldiers was once painted from head to toe, but the oxygen that reaches it upon excavation instantly fades the colors and the true clay color emerges with minutes.

Standing at the enourmous warehouses, where the army members are still being systematically excavated and restored is truly mind-blowing. The details of their armor and the eyes that search out enemies are hallowing.

We toured the grounds with a guide who filled us in on the history, as well as the rank and job of each of the soldiers. What struck me, was just how life-like the army actually is. They are not only life-size, but they are actually set-up to be efficient. There are clay guards at the meeting room doors of clay officers. There are clay horses at the ready for messeges that may need to reach the clay ears of an officer at another camp. Some soldiers stand at attention and some kneel in reverence, to an emperor who was afraid of being vulnerable in life and in death. By the time we left there, we were talking about the Terracotta Warriors like they were real men, suspended in animation.

This experience was one that I will truly never forget. Looking out at this sea of soldiers made me feel small and and yet safe. I can’t recommend this destination highly enough.

If you’re making your way to China, it’s good to remember that Qinshihuang built more than a wall. His creations are still standing ready to greet you.

This article was originally published on Indie Travel Podcast

On from Jaipur, we took about a 5 hour train ride to Jodhpur, also known as The Blue City.

We were pleasantly surprised that The Blue City is actually blue. Since visiting Jaipur, which was supposed to be pink, but really wasn’t, it was cool to look out over the city and see a whole lot of blue.

Jodhpur boasts an amazing asset, its incredible Mehrangarh Fort, which is set up on a hill, visible throughout the city. What’s more, the tour of the fort itself, is fantastic. A thorough tour of Mehrangarh will take several hours. What’s unique about this fort is that it’s not just old city walls, it’s an actual museum throughout the tour. You can visit the rooms where former Indian kings met with foreign dignitaries, see the actual palanquins (lifted chairs carried by servants) that the royal families used to ride on, battle tested armor and swords, and other really amazing artifacts. The fort is actually one of the best stocked museums in India.

Jodhpur also has a pretty cool building, which we didn’t take the time to visit, called Umaid Bhawan Palace. The palace is actually split up into three parts, a museum, a hotel and the primary residence of the Erstwhile royal family. If you do get the time, please go visit it.

Another cool thing we did see was the Jaswant Thada, a really cool white marble mausoleum which has walls thin enough that the sunlight shines through the marble and creates a cool glowing effect. It’s a small place, but well worth the visit.

We knocked out everything we wanted to see in Jodhpur fairly quickly, so we headed on to our last stop, Jaisalmer.

Travel Tips:

Our visit in Jodhpur included some work time, which worked nicely for us because although Jodhpur is a great city to visit and I highly recommend you stop there, the tour time you need there isn’t that much. I recommend only 1 1/2 -2 days.

Hotel: We stayed at a place called Shivam Paying Guesthouse. The cost, per night was about $8 per night for the two of us. This included a free breakfast and free wifi. The food was good and the beds comfortable. We did have a couple of problems. Our first night was spent with an “air conditioner” that was actually an extremely loud fan which just circulated hot air. We had to open the windows for fresh air, which invited mosquitos. We finally upgraded to a room with an actual a/c. We then had some trouble with the free breakfast, which they wanted to charge for. We had a discussion with the manager guy and eventually got what was advertised.

Transportation: We took an AC 2 Tier class train to from Jaipur to Jodhpur, which cost about $11 per person. Remember, if you want to book a train in India you need to do that as far in advance as possible. For help in booking train tickets, you can always e-mail us, or check out seat61.com and click on India on the left hand side.

For Jodhpur, we actually didn’t hire a driver and just talked with the autorickshaw guys for the one-two times we wanted to ride instead of walk. This is mostly a walking city, so no need to secure a tour guide or driver. Your one-way trip in an auto-rickshaw should cost you no more than $1-2.

Daily Budget: Our daily was $41.78 for 3 days including train travel, accommodation, food and all attraction entrances.

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.”

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.

If you can’t see the video, click here to view online.

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.

Click image to view larger size or to purchase a print

To see more photos from Dae-Wang Am and a lot more travel photography from around the world, check out our Smugmug page here.

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While living in Bali for a month, I was exploring some of the nearby area one night and came upon some sort of ceremony at one of the nearby temples. Curious to see what was going on, but not wanting to intrude or offend, I hung around near the entrance for a bit and listened and watched as the ceremony progressed. I exchanged smiles with the people going in and out and even tried to ask a few of them what was going on, but most spoke very little English, so I just enjoyed the atmosphere and continued to observe.

Not much time had passed when a very friendly man came and spoke good English and invited me to come in and watch. Up until this point there had been a lot of praying and ceremonious worship going on, so I was a little hesitant and offered that I was not Hindu, but he said that the prayer part was ending and now it was time for a show of some sort, the name of which I cannot remember. He welcomed me into the temple area and introduced me to some of the people there. As it turned out, everyone there was related in one way or another and this was their biannual family gathering. The kind man had to leave to go to his home a good ways away and so introduced me to his cousin Kadek.

Kadek welcomed me just as kindly and, after giving me one of his traditional dresses so I could enter the temple area, even offered to take me in and show me the inside of his family’s temple. We had visited a few temples in Indonesia at this point and I knew that non-Hindus were not supposed to be in the temples, so I politely refused, but was very humbled and touched to have been asked.
The ceremony commenced and was quite a sight to behold as different family members who had been secretly selected came out in full costumes dressed like some of the Balinese gods and demons. They shared stories, told jokes and overall made sure everyone was having a great time. They even made some jokes about me as I was the only white person and maybe wasn’t sitting quite right with my dress spread open or something. It was all in Balinese, so I am not exactly sure but I heard “American” as they motioned towards my legs and then everyone laughed, all in good humor.

I had to leave the ceremony a little earlier than it ended as Valerie was waiting for me at the house, but made sure to give Kadek my email before going so that we could keep in touch. Before I left, he also introduced me to his sister who also spoke perfect english and was a pleasure to meet.

The next day Kadek emailed me and we conversed back and fourth and set up a time to meet again and shared pictures from the ceremony.

A couple days later Kadek let me know that his sister whom I had met at the ceremony was getting married and wanted to know if Valerie and I could come to the wedding. I told him we would be honored and we asked if we could bring food, presents or anything else, but he said having us there was special for them and no presents or food would be needed. He did ask for us to bring our cameras and help document his sister’s special day and we were more than happy and excited to do so.

About a week later we met Kadek at a local supermarket and he showed us the way to his house. He again lent me some traditional dress as well as a headdress this time and also had a dress for Valerie (which she of course looked stunning in;-).

We arrived in the morning before most of the family were there and got to see the beautiful bride as she got ready for her special day as well as all the preparation for the food and drinks for the reception. The ceremony lasted about five or six hours as the Groom arrived and they were blessed by a priest and then the bride went into one room maybe to get advice and things from the women, while the groom stayed outside and was surrounded by elders who seemed to go around the circle giving him advice, sharing stories and maybe just letting him know about what an important role being a husband is and how he should honor and cherish his wife. After this had finished, most people ate the delicious lunch provided, left some offerings in woven baskets and went home. We stayed around for another hour or so as some more ceremonies took place and got a quick picture with Kadek and his girlfriend Acik before heading home to rest at about 3PM.

After we left, the family and the bride and groom were to drive the two hours to the husband’s house and continue the ceremony there until well after diner time. We also were fascinated to learn that part of the ceremony for becoming a husband in Bali meant that the groom has to have his front tooth filed off just a little presumably so others will know he is taken.

We really enjoyed our time in Bali and a lot of it was because of the friendship of Kadek and his family. Many people have visited Bali before and many will visit after us, but one of the things we love about traveling a little slower and with a lot more flexibility in our schedule is amazing friendships and experiences like this one that cannot be planned for, paid for or booked in a tour package. This is one of the main reasons we enjoy travel so much is because of the opportunities to make new friends, experience new cultures and see things from a different perspective. We hope to visit Bali again in the future and when we do, we will look forward to meeting up with Kadek and Acik again and would be honored to have them as guests in our country as well.

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

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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.

As we have traveled around Asia, we have had a lot of fun visiting different temples.  Now you may think it a little strange to have a lot of fun visiting a temple but it is not the temples that were the fun part.  You see at a lot of the temples around Asia have monkeys hanging out at them.  Why?  Well from our understanding, in Hinduism, monkeys are considered holy and even represent or may be gods.

These moneys are very cute, smart, curious and most of all sneaky.  If you have any food, or even just some bright/reflective objects on your person and are not careful the monkeys will take it from you.  Many time we would be feeding one monkey a banana and a greedy monkey who was perhaps his partner-in-crime would come over and steal our entire bag of bananas from right out of our other hand.

Hope you enjoy the monkey postures.  We enjoyed encountering these cute and amazing animals.

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Monkey Forest – Ubud, Indonesia

The Amber Fort – Jaipur, India

Monkey Temple – Kathmandu, Nepal

Batu Caves – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Photos taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] and Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

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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.

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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!

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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

While in Varanasi, India, we were told about a religious ceremony that happens every night in one of the ghats on the Ganges. We decided to go check it out one night and were quite surprised at what a production it was.

There were 7 young men all performing the same rituals while music and bells were join on in the background. The ceremony starts around 7PM and last about an hour. If you come to the ghat before 6PM you can usually get “free” seats at on of the temples for a good view but will be asked to give a donation at the end. We decided not to go for the donation seats, but were able to get a decent views even after showing up at about 5 minutes after 7.
Valerie has written a post about Varanasi that we will post soon, but for now, let’s just say it is a very interesting city.

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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.