The Philippines is a set of islands that is very popular with people from just about everywhere in the world.  With its mix of cultures and food, this place is a gastronomic delight for all people. 

Unfortunately I showed up to the island of Palawan during a freak typhoon that pretty much lasted the whole time I was there.   It was difficult to leave the hotel during the daytime because of strong torrential downpour rains and even stronger winds:

I was able to leave on three different occasions during the late afternoon/evening.  The beaches still had a small amount of people on them; however I can imagine that during the high season it would be much more packed.  I was able to snap a few pictures of the beautiful landscape before the rains came back in.  I would have liked to visit some of the islands on boats during our stay there, but I will have to wait until next time.  I did manage to find a great restaurant on the beach that we made our home for the three nights.  They had everything from different types of fish, clams, lobsters, shrimp and other delicious seafood.  It was not uncommon to leave there ordering a plethora of fish and shrimp and only pay a fraction of the cost…

As we left Palawan heading south to the airport, the weather seemed to get a lot better with the first sun we had seen in days.  Come to find out, a friend that showed up just two days after us had a delightful time on the beach with sun and was able to island hop.  I guess it was just my luck…

Going to the mainland, we flew into Clark which is an old United States Air Force Base.  We stayed in the city of San Fernando which is filled with bustling streets and food just about everywhere. 

I was able to hang out with my friend from SMIC Mrs. Bes who organized for us a trip to Subic, which is down south on the mainland and boasts some impressive rain forests.  Rain is the keyword as we did a jungle hike, and it pretty much rained the first hour on our hike and we were drenched.  During the jungle hike we learned about the different plants that the local tribe uses as medicine and how they can take just about anything from the jungle and turn it into something useful.  We ended up at a village for lunch in which they showed us how to make fire from bamboo, even when it is wet and how this life they live has been going on for more years than anyone knows.  We were also able to open up stalks of bamboo to find the tiniest bats I have ever seen in my life.  At the end of the day on our search for monkeys (to no avail), we ended up seeing trees with hundreds of huge bats on them.

The next day, we went into Manila and stayed at one of the oldest hotels which was a throwback from the 1920’s USA and caught our flight at 4 in the morning.  You can guarantee that I will be back to the Philippines to see more of this wonderful land and perhaps I will go during the dry season….

Known as the “Land of Genghis (Chinggis Khan) and Yurts, this land has been on my list to go to for sometime. Situated north of China, and south of Russia, this large landlocked country has some of the most beautiful scenery and skies with wide open spaces known to man. Elements of its communist past are all but eradicated and little by little opening up to tourism in a great way. With their yurt huts that can be taken and moved around from place to place to their wonderful horse treks, this country has it all.

A great place to stay at or travel with that gives you an authentic experience and tailor your every needs for a trip would be Stepperiders. Weather you want to have a yurt experience, they have a camp for you, or take off on a group horse trek for X days, they also have this for you. Some people decide to do a solo trek in which they can take their horse, food, and water for as many days that they want and explore the wide open country themselves. They can also provide trips to nearby national parks and book your every need. Nathalie whom I coordinated with has been living there for years and she always kept us in the loop of all the up to date information and is quite knowledgeable. I would not hesitate to travel with them again as their prices are fair and the food they cook at the camp is top notch.

Steppriders is a camp that has over 200 horses and caters to people from all walks of life.  It is not uncommon there to see families with kids sitting and talking with 20 something students who are still in university.  Sharing yurts with complete strangers and then becoming best friends.  There is enough for the kids to do with games and horse rides happen a few times a day at different lengths and intervals.  Things do not always run on time in Mongolia (like other parts of the world), but everyone staying at the camp as a community just learns to accept it and understand that this is the way things are and eventually, it will get done.

Ulaanbataar is the capital city and was once seen as just another soviet apartment block city, but since the early 90’s is being restored to actually look very beautiful.  While I did not spend much time there, you can certainly notice that they are trying to restore it to being beautiful and a city that people would want to go to and stay on their vacation. 

There are a plethora of National parks all over Mongolia and two of them are a short drive from UB and can easily be done in day trips.

Hustai National Park boasts a good chance to see Marmot’s which are a small rodent that lives in the ground.  The other attraction there is the last wild horses in the world called the Przewalski Horse.  These horses have not been domesticated and look very different than the regular domesticated horses that we are used to riding.  They are mostly found in the steppes of central Asia and at one time were extinct in the wild, but have been reintroduced.  It was very difficult to get near to these horses as you must keep within 300 meters of them, however I got as close as I could and got some pretty good photos of a small herd of them.  As you can see form the photos below, they look a lot different….

As you drive around (or ride horses) around the land you can see land from beautiful rolling hills to rocky lands.  A common sight it trucks full of horses are seen zooming down the highway as well as houses that are not surrounded by anything for miles.  A common sign on the side of the road would be a pole with flags surrounded by rocks and items of personal nature that people deem important.  It is a very ancient belief called Shamanism which is still practiced in pocketed parts of the world.  The legend goes that you take three rocks of varying sizes and walk in a circle and toss the rocks down each time.  Good Fortune is brought to those who do it…..

Another National Park which is in driving distance from UB is Terelj NP.  A few hours driving will take you through some lovely rolling hills, to pine forested mountains.  Here you can see the famous turtle rock which really does look like a turtle as well as Bactrian Camels, Eagles, Horses and Cows.  A walk up a steep path with beautiful Buddhist inscriptions on signs will take you to a beautiful temple that overlooks this once glacial valley.  Definitely a place you do not want to miss.

One of the highlights of Mongolia that I always wanted to see was the massive Genghis Khan statue.  The statue is about 40 meters tall and shows him on horseback on the bank of the Tuul River.  This is where he according to legend, found the golden whip.  The complex below has 36 columns representing the 36 khans from Genghis on.  This is part of a larger complex that when completed will spread acres in every direction.  This is definitely a great symbol for Mongolia as is the Eiffel Tower for France and Statue of Liberty for the United States.

Naadam Trek

Naadam is a festival that is widely regarded as the Olympics of Mongolia.  It has been going on for centuries in one form or another and I would regard it as the biggest holiday of the year.  The three games are Horse Racing, Wrestling, and Archery.  Women have started to participate in Horse Racing and Archery but not wrestling.  It has an opening ceremony which rivals that (not in pyrotechnics) of the Olympic opening games.  It is usually held on the 11-15 of each year in the capital of Ulaanbaatar, but it has smaller followings in other isolated parts of the country. 

I thought the horse trek was the best way to see the racing, so we took the horses from the Stepperiders Camp about 50 kilometers to a very isolated hill with Yurts set up for us and pretty much lived without electricity for the next three nights.  The advantage of being here is that we were a short 20 minute horse ride to the grounds where the horse racing was.

Riding a horse Mongolian style was something that I Should of practiced before as 50 kilometers was a long journey.  I can honestly say that after about 25 kilometers, almost every part of my lower body hurt.  As the sun beat down, I wondered how long it would be to the camp where we were staying.  Luckily a little while before sunset we arrived at the beautiful camp and had dinner and retired to our Yurts. 

The next day we saddled up our horses again to take them about 20-25 minutes to the fairgrounds where the first races were held.  Unlike the short spring of western horse races, these last anywhere from 15-30 kilometers with horses ranging from 2 years on.  What is even more amazing is that kids ride these horses.  Usually the younger horses race the shorter distances and so on.  Children from 5-13 are on the horse as jockey’s, but it is the horse who usually gets the credit as this tests the skill of the horse.  While I was not there for the beginning, I was there toward the finish line in which I saw some interesting things:  Horses coming in with no jockeys, a horse that broke its foot near the finish line, two jockeys hitting each other while each trying to pass the other up, and a myriad of other things.  We were able to see two races on the first day, and one on the third day which are always very exciting. 

From the first to the third day an area with 50 little yurt shops had suddenly transformed into a small city to watch these races, with people just about everywhere!!!!!  

The opening ceremony of the games is typically held on July 11 in the capital UB at the main stadium downtown.  Even though everything was dictated in Mongolian, you can tell that the 1 hour and 30 minute ceremony went through their history from the Mongols sweeping across the lands, to the unification of Mongolia, to Communist times, to the current democratic rule.  They used people of all ages in this ceremony and animals that they typically use on a daily basis in the ceremony.  Even thought it was hot out and we were on the lower deck and had some of our view obstructed, I was watching it with great enthusiasm at all time.  The pictures below (though not all of them) tell a wonderful story of this great country….

The mobs of people that came there from all ages were enthusiastic and ready to cheer on their great heritage:

The wrestling for me was somewhere anticlimactic as it was far on the field while we were up in the stands, but it was still fun to watch (although I lost track of time and thought they were still warming up).  There is either 512 or 1024 Wrestlers (unverified as I got two different stories) that compete in a single elimination tournament that consists of rounds.  The wrestlers lose when any part of their body touches the ground with the exception of their feet or their hands.  They do little victory celebrations as well as entering celebrations and there could be as many as 8 fights going on at one time.  While my photos were not that good, because of sun position and distance from wrestlers, I tried to catch the essence of this sport below:

My favorite even was the archery, which was great for photography and for watching.  This is a competition which has men and women participating each gender rotation games.  Men shoot the arrows from 75 meters away, while women shoot from 65 meters away.  This is played with teams of ten in which each archer is given four arrows to hit 33 surs (small blocks) which are set up on the other side of the field.  They compete in this in the traditional clothing of Mongolia which makes them very colorful.  When a person hits the target, the judge yells and puts his hand up.  You get more points for hitting the surs in the center although I do not know how many more.  The surs forming a wall are then put back together after each hit until the team is out of arrows.  The winners are then granted the titles of national marksmen or women….

Overall, I really enjoyed Mongolia and all it had to offer.  The people are inquisitive and friendly which is hard to find in all countries today.  Their culture loves to eat meat and wash it down with a shot (or many of vodka).   They live a hard life of sometimes moving from place to place or extremes in temperature from hot and cold during the year, but it does not weather their spirit or their great work ethic.  The kids are some  of the strongest I have ever seen as most are learning to ride and control a horse before they can walk, and often help their parents out with jobs around the yurts or house.   It was my pleasure to be hosted by Stepperiders and their great family of volunteers, friends that were on the track and workers.  I WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK!!!! THAT IS A PROMISE!!!

Tibet, also known as “The Rooftop of the World”, is an autonomous province of South Western China.  This is a land of two extreme, very hot and dry in the summer and very cold and snowy in the winter.  Since I have been a kid, I have heard stories from my grandma about how great this land is and stories about the Dalai Lama.  As I was in Bhutan last summer, and the architecture and the practice is Tibetan Buddhism is essentially the same, I decided to  check it out.

A Good company to book with if you are looking for an experience that can cater to a backpacker budget or a rich person budget would be Explore Tibet.  They took care of all of my questions and needs before the trip started and is very accommodating.  They can answer just about the hardest questions you have and really make you feel at home.  Thank you Explore Tibet for a great time and itinerary. Our guide Namgyal was one of the best guides that I had and his knowledge of the history and practices of the country were wonderful!!!!! He was very accommodating to everyone and he helped out with just about every person and their needs. I would highly recommend him and Explore Tibet to anyone wanting to go visit this country.

Flying into the capital Lhasa, you can start to see the lovely snowcapped mountains.  Most people visit here to see the North Peak of Mt. Everest and the many beautiful monasteries that are up to 1400 years old.  The monasteries look very similar to the Bhutanese monasteries, because they both practice the Tibetan form of Buddhism.  I can tell you that altitude sickness is a real thing as most of this country is located upwards of 3600 plus meters!!  It is smart for you to drink a lot of water, but even for the people who are good with hiking, the altitude will still affect you!!!

I am not usually fond of capital cities, but I found Lhasa to be one of a kind.   There is so many different alleys and streets you can walk down as one part of the city is more Tibetan and very traditional, while the other part of the city is Chinese with many new modern buildings and (a mall and IMAX yuck).  For the most part I stuck to the Tibetan side to see the wonderful monasteries as well as the beautiful winding streets and alley ways!!!

What made everything great here was the fact that the skies were always blue with billowing puffy white clouds 99.9 % of our stay.  You can walk just about anywhere and see local people living their everyday life.  Everyone was so friendly in the capital city always greeting you with a wonderful smile and inquiring about what you are doing in their distant land.  This in my opinion made visiting here all the more exciting and worthwhile..

We were able to visit four monasteries during our visit in Lhasa, and I could of spent time in a few more.  I will give a brief description of them as they all had a similar layout, but very different history…..

Drepung Monastery

This was once one of the world’s biggest monasteries housing around 10,000 Monks.  It was a resident of the Dalai Lama for many years prior to the Potala Palace.  It has been destroyed several times, but has been rebuilt with even more grandeur than before.  The most interesting part of this monastery is that you can get lost in here with the many rooms and winding alleyways!!!  On the edge of the Monastery you can see a view of the city with the puffy white clouds above….

While we were on our excursion here, we saw a procession of monks (maybe almost 100).  When we asked our guide what they were doing, he mentioned that they were praying for  a rain dance as it had been one of the hottest summers in the last 10 years ,with very little rain.  Low and behold on our last day (as I was flying out of Lhasa), the rains certainly did come.  I am glad that they did not come while we were touring!!!

Sera Monastery

This monastery was built in the 15^th Century.  It was not  as big as some of the other monasteries that we went to, however  it had something I had never seen before.  Monks from all over Tibet were in an area where they debate about three hours each day. They would debate about different philosophies in their Buddhist order and it was fun to watch them ask a question, and they clap their hands loud and wait for the person to answer.  While it was very hard to get photos in here, I did take a bit of video to see the Monks very eager to debate.

 Jokhang Monastery

This temple is in the middle of Old Lhasa City. You can see the local pilgrims from very early in the morning praying outside with most doing an act of prostration many hundreds of times (looks tougher than most cross-fit exercises).  While photos were not allowed in the different parts of this temple, I did manage to snap a few of the areas outside.

Potala Palace (when you see pictures of Tibet, this is the one that pops up on the internet).

This palace is at the center of the city of Lhasa and can be seen from almost everywhere as it is the landmark of Tibetan architecture as well as being found on the 50 RMB Chinese note.  This was first built by a Tibetan king in the 7^th Century, then added on and rebuilt in the 17^th Century by the 5^th Dalai Lama.  It was then used as his home and the seat of government in Tibet. In the heat is a long walk up which is about 300 plus steps and hundreds if not thousands of people each day.  Pictures are not allowed inside but the architectural engineering of this palace is amazing!!!   Since the 1990’s this has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Leaving Lhasa, it was time to start our journey down to Shingatse as well as to Mt. Everest Base Camp.  This drive would prove to be the  most beautiful part of the trip.  As we drove from Lhasa we crossed the Lhasa River and kept with it until we headed up into the highlands where the roads were some of the most windy I had been on (until the next day).  We got up to Kampa La Pass which was 4700 meters which is probably the highest I have ever been.  There we feasted our eyes upon Yamdrok Lake, with its beautiful turquoise colored water sitting beneath snow-capped mountains in the distance.  We continued along the lake and saw traditional towns and people along the way.  As we climbed some more up in the mountains we stopped at Karo La which was 5150 meters to see the magnificent glacier- Mt. Nyechen Kangsar Glacier. This is about the time that I really started gasping for air since this was the highest I had ever been (until we hit another pass the next day).  As we went down the road to lower altitudes, you can notice the many yaks and goats and endless fields on the side of the highway.  Before arriving in Shingatse (second biggest city in Tibet), we stopped at the Kumbum  Stupa which is the largest Supa in Tibet!!!!  With the day being 12 hours in the car, I was extremely tired and ready for another long drive day to EBC!!!

From Shingatse, we ended up driving about 8 hours plus to EBC.  We ended up crossing several  passes one of which is Gyatso La and is about 5400 meters (which broke the other records of the highest I have been.  From here you can view the Himalaya Mountain range, each dwarfing under the mighty Mt. Eva rest.  We then crossed the Gawula Pass which is 5250 meters and here we can line up the different mountains:  Mt. Makalu, Mt. Lotse, Mt. Everest,  Mt. Cho Oyu, and Mt. Shishapama all towering over 8000 meters:

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After this view it is down the switchbacks (98 of them) to the dry valley of Tasha Lom.  Another short drive, we got on Eco Electric busses to the Everest Base Camp…

The Everest Base Camp is one of the most beautiful parts of this valley.  They have moved it back from where it used to be and there is two parts, the tented camps, and the guesthouse.  We ended up staying at the guesthouse  with a nice little restaurant and bar that served cold and hot drinks and some very good noodle dishes.  From here, we can see one of the highest monasteries in the world which is Rongbuk monastery, which is home to both monks and nuns.  There are other higher monasteries, but this is the one that most people are able to get to.  Yaks and Goats are often seen running around out here in the rugged, cold landscape. 

Seeing Mt. Everest is sometimes a hit and miss.  Usually in the evening the clouds are rolling around and you may be lucky enough to get a peak at the top before the sun goes down, or you may get the bottom of it, with the clouds blocking the top.  Sometimes patience out in the wind and cold is one of your best allies as in the evening, I just got a glimpse of the top and with my lens was able to photograph it in great detail.  After a light sleep (5200 meters),  I woke up early the next morning to see the sun rise and Mt. Everest completely free of any clouds around. This is one of the most impressive images I have ever seen and I will always remember it (in photographs and in my head).

Leaving the next morning on the same road we came in on, we went back to Shigatse and go to the Tashi Lhunpo monastery.  This monastery was built by the 1^st Dalai Lama in 1447 and became the seat of the Panchen Lama line and is home to many of their bodies.  The streets and paths are somewhat out of a medieval movie with many of the narrow walkways, going in all directions.  This I believe was one of the more impressive monasteries.   (no pictures allowed inside).

The next day, we head back to Lhasa on the Friendship Highway which runs along the mighty Brahmaputra River.  This river is a lifeline and one of the most holy rivers in India and runs through Bangladesh and into the Bay of Bengal.   On the way we stopped at some small shops and restaurants to see the local people going about their daily lives…

Overall this is a great country with friendly people and good food.  This is a place worth exploring for anyone and I will always have a small place for it in my heart.  Who knows, there is a good chance I could return here next year in order to see some of the more off the beaten path things. 

To my surprise, I was invited to go on the Beijing and Great Wall Camping with students for the second year in a row. I couldn’t say no….great food, great company, and camping was all I needed. Last years trip was so much fun, I decided to go again.

The itinerary was almost exactly the same with some minor changes because of the high heat index and time restraints. It is not easy to get up at 3 in the morning and have 65 kids on a high speed train for four hours and expect to get a lot done during the day (but we did).

As we were divided into two different groups, we were able to visit the Houtons, acrobat show, and Forbidden City all while staying in a hotel the first night.

Beijing is a fun city, however the real fun is hiking up to the part that is not restored with not a tourist in sight. Camping under the stars and cooking your own skewers while sitting around a campfire is my idea of a good time. As it was very hot that day, we took a short cut up the mountain in order to get everything sorted at camp. The food was great as always with lamb and chicken skewers, corn, and cilantro wrapped in tofu. The kids had a great time as they had a little dance and karaoke party on the wall, after they went to bed, they probably had to listen to all the adults snore. We walked back along the jagged part of the Great Wall of China in the morning (which was a more difficult hike than I remember). A milestone for many of the kids was making it all that way in less than three hours, down to the small town to eat and heading back to Shanghai via Beijing. And thus was my last trip in China not counting Tibet….

If you like a place (like the abandoned island) then you keep going back. This would mark my last group trip with the Shanghai based travel group Dragon Adventures and one of my last trips in China.

What is there to do here? Relax at the great hotel (with a massive buffet), kayak, hike, hang out by the pool, karaoke, etc etc. That is just what I did and had a blast seeing the lake again and the tranquility it offers…

Of course up on the hill as the flowers were blooming, there were a lot of bees out pollinating the area. I found one bumble bee in particular that did not want to be photographed, but I tried anyway!!!

As this was my last photo walk with my photography club students, we decided to go back to a place we have already been to decide how much it has actually changed since we took our photo walk in October.

Laoximen like mentioned before is one of the older neighborhoods in Shanghai that is still trying to keep up its appearance despite the rapid urbanization and gentrification of Shanghai. Unfortunately as mentioned before, it is rapidly rapidly becoming just like the city around it but still trying to keep its old school charm. The once old looking buildings from eons past have been replaced with facades to make them look newer. I have seen a lot of change since I first went there this year but I am happy that it is still trying to not modernize with the skyscrapers around it. Lets hope that perhaps they can still keep their old school charm as this is a disappearing aspect of China….

I decided to take them to Yu Gardens which I have been to once before which is a short walk from Laoximen, however I did not anticipate the weather being so nice, thus hundreds of people and busloads of tourists quickly descended upon the place. None of us decided to go in as people walking around was interesting enough for me to watch. It is amazing with all the nice structures around that people were just taking selfies the whole time no doubt feeding their narcissism. I watched two ladies for over 20 minutes getting different selfies of themselves. This was enough entertainment for me as the theme of this time at Yu Gardens was simply Shadows (people projected) and selfies…

Goqui Island a part of the of the Shengsi which is an archipelago of islands (only 18 that are inhabited). Most of the islands are known for their fishing and tourism. But one island stands out above the rest and that is Goqui island. In the 1980s this village was a place where most fishermen called home. However with promise of a better life on the Chinese mainland which the boom of China’s economy, most people moved there. . This is still not a major tourist attraction in China which makes it nice, even though it has grown in the last couple of years. Small hotel/guesthouses dot this part of the island with most not being over 4 or 5 floors.

As this was my fourth time there, I knew pretty much where to go (or try to go), as many of the sections are forbidden because of unsafe structures. I still am amazed at the buildings and how they have somewhat been lost in time. As vines grow on the houses and old bottles lay around, you cant help but wonder, what did this place look like during its hay-day? What keeps drawing me to go back to this place over and over again? I believe it has not been overtaken by tourism and this abandoned village is not something you will find in other parts of the world. My fear is that it will be overtaken by tourism and lose the appeal and luster of its post apocalyptic scene look……

Some people that lived in the village have relocated to the other side of the island that supports tourism with their seafood street which is composed of different restaurants that cater to groups of people. Other things to do on the island is go fishing, go to the beach or simply just enjoy the walk of life that no other place in the world has. As China is becoming a shopping culture and most place in the mainland have big malls or shopping streets, this place is still holding to its simplistic values of life, and lets hope it stays that way….

As my time in China comes to an end, I am happy to have visited this place so many times on short three day holidays. I would definitely keep coming back over and over again over the years to see how much it has changed (or not changed). If the abandoned island part was not enough to see, the relaxation of just walking the streets would be a major selling point. I will truly miss coming here!!!!

Macau, which is known as the Las Vegas of China is a special administrative region, much like its neighbor Hong Kong, located in southern China. It boasts one of the highest population densities in the world, and is a playground for many people wanting to escape the mainland of China to gamble. What is interesting about this place is that 2/3 of the area is reclaimed from the sea.

This area is a former Portuguese colony since the mid 1500’s as it was leased out by the emperor at the time. As you walk the streets you can notice the Euro-Portuguese architecture in the buildings as many of them still keep their original design, although a lot of the areas are slowly becoming gentrified with newer buildings and luxurious casinos and Hotels.

Walking the streets and immense alleyways of this city, you will see local people going about their daily lives of shop owners or tourists trying to get a glimpse of the popular tourist attractions

As there are a few beautiful cemeteries in this area, I was able to make it to just one. The gravestones and cemetery area is that combined with Catholic gravestones (some from the 1800’s) and new Chinese family plots which are located on the walls that are indicative of the eastern philosophies of Buddhism and Daoism.

Of course any traveling in China is not complete without rain or in my case a huge monsoon type of storm that lasted almost two hours in which I was stuck under an overpass watching people scurry around.

This place is beautiful at night. Many of the tourist attractions are lit up as well as the different food markets and winding alleyways around the city. The Cantonese culture of restaurant neon lights lighting up the way is spectacular to see as the reflection of them bounces off of the ground and lights up the whole area.

Macau, even though technically a part of China and technically not a part of China has their own unique culture as well as food and architecture. Even though I got around to a lot of places, there is so much more I would love to explore and is definitely a place I will return to in the future…..

The West Bund is an up and coming area of Shanghai opposite the city from the East Bund which is where the iconic Pearl Tower is. Years ago it served as an army airport as well as a fuel station for those planes. Today all the hangers are being renovated for art galleries. The old oil tanks are home to art shows and simply go by the name “The Tank.” Walking along the Bund area next to the water you can notice people bringing their kids out to play, jogging, or watching time go by. Many Birds are coming back to this area with the luscious Cherry Blossoms in Bloom only two weeks a year. The Long Museum hosts different traveling exhibits and is a must see…

Of course this place is popular for people trying to become “China’s Next Top Model”, and is a growing popular place for Instagrammers and people trying to have the next big WECHAT moment with their pictures. Most of the people were either posing with professional photographers or spending most of the afternoon taking selfies of themselves….

If you are looking for a good escape up away from a bustling city, then just 4-5 hours out of Shanghai in LinAn of the Zhejiang province is a perfect escape for a 2-3 day weekend. Surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers, this place is a hidden gem for anyone living in China and will give you a much needed break from the city.

A nice stop along the way to this little known place is the beautiful fields of flowers. Weirdly named in English “rapeseed flower” but better known as Canola flowers used to make oil, you can find these just about anywhere in China among great flat fields, but to see them terraced, along the mountains is a whole new experience.

A few minutes down the road you will run into Tai Hu Yuan scenic area which is the source of the TaiLake in China. With small waterfalls, streams, and rolling hills, this place is a hikers paradise. There is a glass bridge you can hike across (which are becoming popular in China), as well as a temple near the top you can hike to. Unfortunately, this place is becoming over touristed with many shops and a show in which they take the local Rhesus Macaque monkeys and put them in a circus performance which should be shut down!!!

Across from our beautiful hotel was an old abandoned what could be farmhouse and hotel. The photographer in me loved this place as I love all abandoned places for the eerie post apocalyptic feel to it. It seems just over night that people got up and left this place and the earth does what it does best, and that is retake the land….

Finally, on the way back to Shanghai, in parts unknown in the mountains, we stopped by the Chang Yuan Temple, which is one of the most serene temples I have been to in China. Unfortunately the Pagoda was closed to the public but there are still many good places to walk around there as well as some great scenery and birds. I even saw a Kingfisher which I have yet to witness in China. The whole temple was breathtaking and not over populated with people…

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Before we get to the 1933 Slaughterhouse, the walk from the metro is amazing!!!! You go through a lovely little neighborhood that is remnants of what Shanghai used to be in times past……these neighborhoods unfortunately are disappearing at a rapid rate with the gentrification and modernization of Shanghai:

<p> </p> <p>The 1933 Slaughterhouse was built in pre-Communist China and has a mysterious look to it, as it is in the Gotham-Deco design of concrete with glass and steel.  Certain sources say this is quite possibly the last kind of this structure in the entire world.  It has been used for different things since then and just recently has been opened up to the public.</p> <p>Back in the day it was used to herd cattle to their death and slaughter them, but now it is used for Ferrari owners to meet as well as different shops and businesses.  With the walls being 50 cm thick, and hollow, this helped control the air temperature in a humid Shanghai.</p> <p>The staircases are of a spiderweb design that are intertwining and the air bridges controlled the flow of the animals being sent to their death.  It has decorative elements including a central atrium which let an amount of light in which makes for great photography.  If you don’t believe me, then look at the pictures below.  But beware if you go, watch out for the people trying to get their perfect self gratifying selfie shot that stand in the same position for a long time…</p> <p> </p>

Yu Gardens was built in the 1500’s by the Ming Dynasty. Located in the central part of Shanghai, it is one of the major tourist attractions in the city, with people lined up early to get a glimpse of this beautiful place.

Being about 5 acres big, you will need a couple of hours to go through here to enjoy the beauty it has to offer. It has different halls you can go in (some accessible, others not so) and has many different ponds with Koi in the pond as well as turtles. The architectures is amazing as there is small portals that you can get great photographs in of people moving around to see the splendor.

This is a great place to go (although sometimes very busy) as it is located in the middle of the tourist market of Shanghai. I would totally recommend on a visit to Shanghai for people to take an afternoon out (when its sunny) to enjoy this place. I believe the photos will speak for themselves….

You will notice from the pictures the beautiful architecture and how it changes from one area to another….

As the sun was finally out in Shanghai, I took this opportunity to get some great shadow shots of people in various positions around the Gardens, especially a portal where the sun was peaking out at the right time…

The country of New Zealand known for Rugby (The All Blacks), Sheep, and the ever so famous Haka Dance, is a country that boasts so much more and should be proud of it.  As it is way DOWN UNDER, located below Australia, it is separated by North and South Islands.  As I have talked to a few people and they have said to spend my time on the South Island, I thought I would go ahead and do that…

However I did want to fly into Auckland to see the city and visit the ever so famous Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings movies and Hobbit movie. 

A great company and guide to use for your time in Auckland or New Zealand for that matter is Wanasa Tours.  A small tour company run out of Auckland owned by Mustafa Almubarak will give you a great feel for the country.  He has over 10 years of service here and his tours are catered to every type of traveler as he helps everyone choose what they want and how much to pay.  A very honest man and wants people to enjoy coming to this great country.  You can speak or book tours at the following links:

Wanasa Tours- wanasa.nz@gmail.com and www.wanasatours.nz

Hobbiton is located about 2-2.5 hours from Auckland and is easily done on a day trip from Auckland.  As you go way out into the country to start the tour, you will notice the land changing with smooth rolling hills, while the cow and sheep graze peacefully in the pasture.  As you arrive at Hobbiton, you will take a guide around the main set where the movie was filmed (inside the Hobbit houses are in the studio), as the area has remained virtually unchanged from the movie.  During the tour you can learn facts about the famous movies including how they shot everything in the village…  Toward the end of the tour, you can stop into the Green Dragon Inn and enjoy a couple of cups of local Ale, Stout, Cider, or Ginger Beer that is sold nowhere else in the world. …

Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand, holding 3 million people which is half of the population of the country.  A quick stop to the ice cream shop to try some very interesting fused ice cream as well as the marina, and to a local art exhibit entitled the House of 1000 Doors is all you need in a day to keep you busy…..

 

Flying down to the South Island I booked a hop on and hop off bus. The first stop was the beautiful small town of Kaikoura, world famous for Sperm Whale watching as well as dolphin watching.

This may be one of the better places I have seen for whale watching in the world as we were able to see three different Sperm Whales and also different schools of Common Dolphins, the indigenous Hector’s Dolphins and the famous acrobatic Dusky Dolphins. The pictures here are amazing as the dolphins are very inquisitive and love to be around humans.

The next morning i went on another dolphin watch and it was spectacular as not only did we see more schools of the same, but they were even more acrobatic than before!!! This is defiantly something that you do not want to miss when you are in this part of the world.

Driving up the east coast up to Abel Tasman National Park via the North South Island ferry terminal, through the beautiful scenery, we ended up at the National Park. Very famous for its sea kayaking, hiking, as well as sailing, this place boasts some of the best scenery in New Zealand. The sea kayaking was amazing as was the sailing as we spotted families of the fur seal on the rocks of some of the small islands.

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As we head down the west coast we stopped in a small town of Westport which is famous for its surfing with people coming to try their hand at it. The town was beautiful as it reminded me of western cape of South Africa or small town 1950’s USA., the highlight here was hanging out with the coal miners at the local pub

Mind you now, the scenery in all of New Zealand is probably some of the top scenery in the world and I believe these pictures prove it….from beautiful beaches to cascading mountains, to the endless fjords, to rain forests, this place has it all…

On the west coast there lies a hotel with a great bar and food with everything you could imagine….Lake Mahinapua Hotel has been welcoming people for over a 100 years with their spot on accommodations and great drinks and food. Oh yea and my first costume party in years which in dressed up like a Cholo!!!

Franz Josef glacier is one of the most magnificent displays of glaciers I have seen in the world. It is right up there with Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina. Originally I wanted to do the hike up but because of weather I decided to do the all so famous helicopter ride up with time on the ice to just enjoy the great outdoors….

Likewise in the area their is a beautiful lake called Lake Mapourika which boasts some of the best scenery around and a brilliant boat cruise to see some of the plants and animals that are indigenous only to New Zealand…

Of course it is never a holiday without some off the beaten trek stuff. This hotel which was suddenly abandoned a few years ago because of a flood is something like out of post apocalyptic movie. A few doors were left open which led myself and another to go out and about and rummage through what looked like a proper beach on the bottom floor. You can notice how fast people left as postcards were still scattered with all of the glasses and mail still in place. We went into the servants quarters and found cassette tapes and old memorabilia from years past. Truly a great time!!!!

It was a great coach ride through the southern island and three people made it very fun for me, Arias, Ben, who I had beers with and are also coach drivers, as well as Stacy who works at nearby Rainforest Lodge in Franz Josef. Had some good food and drinks (possibly too many)…

If you take a trip to New Zealand, two places not to be missed is Queenstown and Wanaka. Known as the adventure capital of New Zealand, Queenstown is one of the prettiest cities I have been around as is Wanaka. The scenery is stunning and I got a chance to catch up with Grant and Andi who i spent 9 months with on the Africa trip and their lovely piece of property. What better way to enjoy the great outdoors than beer and BBQ next to the river on their beautiful land…

And of course if you want to see what New Zealand is famous for then you take the rather long bus ride to Milford Sound. The scenery here is absolutely stunning with dolphins and seals dotting the beautiful landscape. This is one of the most picturesque places I have ever been and the weather is always temperamental, so you must go with an open mind….

The famed land down under is a place I have always wanted to go to but has always been one of those places that is to far out of the way. Living in China I decided this may be the closest I may get in the near future to get down there. Plane flights straight are about 11 hours and with stopovers can be as much as 15 hours.

While the continent is huge, it is hard to go everywhere, as most of the people are situated along the coast. Plane flights are extremely cheap flying within Australia vs. other countries of the same size so I decided to focus my travels on visiting friends in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. While I wanted to see other places, I decided that for a first time out, I will just go and roam around these cities and the outskirts of these cities.

I got to stay with friends that previously I have traveled with in Europe (2005,2006, 2010, 2011, 2013), my cousin from Houston (Cousin David), people I have worked with Internationally and my 9 month Africa trip (2015-2016). Great people and I wish I had time to meet up with others but time was short. Funny looking at some of the pictures of us from then and now over some beers or wine….

Friends and family that have been a part of my travels in the world….

Melbourne was my first stop as my friend Jamie laid out a great plan for us, which was going on The Great Ocean Road for the day which is one of the most popular roads in Australia and is goes along some of the most scenic coastlines in the world (albeit bad weather sometimes). This was a beautiful drive with great scenery and wildlife (birds and even wild Koalas the whole ride through!!!

Melbourne is a beautifully laid out city with a lovely central business district with old buildings and cafes and restaurants. The different types of cuisines show the multitude of different ethnic groups from all over that live here.

Along with the vibrant flowing city, the street art scene is up and coming as I believe it will be a big tourist attraction in years to come as some of the street artists have made amazing murals.

The famed AC/DC Alley has tributes to many different rock bands who have left their mark on rock music….

As I left Melbourne, I headed out to WA to see my cousin David and a few friends from years past. As Perth is the biggest city in WA, I was not expecting much, but to my surprise the city is very well planned and very clean. It is not hard to get around here and as my cousin lives on Cottesloe Beach which is one of the nicest beaches in Australia, the scenery is amazing….

Of course it is any foreigners dreams to see a Kangaroo and in my mind they simply did not exist until I saw one with my own eyes and that is just what I did. We went to a place in which two kangaroos lived and got to see them in their natural habitat. In addition we got to see dolphins in the ocean, and osprey, stingray flapping around and a Kookaburra sitting and making sweet calling sounds….

Last stop was the Sydney area in which is stayed with an mate Grant who I traveled extensively through the UK with. He took me around a suburb called Newtown which is a hip part of Sydney with….you guessed it….street art!!!

We went up to the Blue Mountain Area which gets its name from the oil given off by Eucalyptus trees in the distance. It is more of a blue hazy mist, but the area was magnificent with many beautiful geological formations and canyons running as long as the eye can see

No stop to Sydney is complete without a city walk to all the popular beaches to see the surfers as well as the beautiful scenery. It does not hurt at all to take a ferry to see the famed Opera House which is a picturesque landmark as well as the bridge. Thanks T for showing me around as it was good to hang out with friends from the Africa trip who I spent 9 months with!!!