potw - danshui

Danshui is popular attraction for tourists in Taiwan. The area is know for their open air food stalls and riverside parks. We visited in an attempt to capture a Taiwanese sunset and check out the sights. This photo was taken just after the sun dipped below the horizon and it cast beautiful light streaks up in the air. I had just captured a time lapse video and stuck around a little longer to snap a few photos. To see the rest of our photos from Taiwan, click here.

potw - luzhou

One of our final events in Taiwan was the Luzhou temple celebration on October 25, 2010. The surrounding cities brought their deity costumes and held an all day procession through the streets of Luzhou. The event brought out the community as people honored Chinese historical figures and Taiwanese politicians. We were able to capture some wonderful photos and video of this annual event. Here is a full description in the daily details section. 

potw - hoi an

We just wrapped up a fantastic month in Vietnam and are now in Taiwan. I uploaded the photos from Vietnam here. This photo was taken in one of our favorite towns, Hoi An. I woke up early on our final morning and took several photos along the river. This old lady flagged me over to take her picture and promptly asked me for a dollar when I was done. 

potw - sapa

Things have been a little quiet over here at the UL as Annie and I have been recovering from head colds in Vietnam. Last week we had an amazing visit to Sapa, that you can read about here. This photo was taken as we did some trekking just outside a H'mong village. Red Zhao villagers were working hard to get Annie to buy some of their local wears while I snuck away to snap this shot of two local boys keeping an eye on their water buffalo. I liked the colors of their umbrellas that offered an interesting contrast to the green and golden rice fields. Sapa was one of the most beautiful places we have visited on our trip.

potw - alms giving

Every morning at 6am in Luang Prabang two hundred local monks take to the streets to gather food for the day. Many of the locals honor this tradition by providing the monks with sticky rice and for one day I joined in the procession. To learn more about the experience please check out the daily details post. Also, to see all the photos from our travels in Laos visit the photo gallery. 

potw - muang ngoi neua

Annie and I spent a day in this beautifully quaint river village named Muang Ngoi Neua. The village only has electricity from 7pm to 10pm provided by a local generator. There are no roads to the the village, the only way to visit is by boat. I took this photo just before dinner as the sun was setting below the surrounding mountains. Many of the locals were bathing in the river as we enjoyed some food and live music from our restaurant patio. Muang Ngoi Neua is seven hours north of Luang Prabang and the boat ride south looked very much like what you see in this photograph. We have been pleasantly surprised at the beautiful scenery of Laos. Check out the daily details for the full recap of our stay.

photo of the week - akha silver

The northern region of Thailand is full of several nomadic tribes that inhabit the hill region to cultivate the land. The tribes have a notorious history in the Golden Triangle region for growing poppies to make opium. They aren't actual residents of Thailand and are not entitled to the benefits of the Thai people. There are several different tribes and each is known for their distinctive traditional dress. Much of the clothing is very elaborate and can take an entire year to craft. This photo was taken at a roadside stall in Mae Salong where this Akha woman sold us sunflower seeds. We asked for a photo as we were told to do because it is said that the tribespeople believe that when you take their photo, you are taking a part of their soul. I think there is truth to this because she allowed me to take it but when I showed her, she got upset. It was beautiful clothing especially the intricate headpiece. Check out the recap in the daily details.

lonely planet travel mosiac

Our friend, Lisa, emailed Jon about a competition hosted by Lonely Planet. To celebrate their 100 millionth guidebook they asked travelers to submit their favorite photos. The grand prize is a trip around the world. 200 finalists will be announced on Aug. 18th and the grand prize winner on Aug 26th.

We had taken loads of pictures over the last five months. Jon decided to submit a picture for each of us just to see what would happen. I didn't even know anything about the competition until I got an email from Lonely Planet saying my photo had been added to the travel mosaic. Regardless if we are a finalist we are just excited to part of the millions of pictures on LP. Jon says I can now honestly claim I'm a published photographer.

Click here to check out our photo.

potw - australian archive

We went to the archives to retrieve this photo. This was taken at the Ron Mueck Exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane. Ron used to create special effects in Hollywood and since then have moved on to sculpting incredibly lifelike figures. This was one of our favorites.

In the photo section we just added our photos from Australia. You can view the photos here.

photo of the week - (angkor wat)

I took this photo while visiting the Angkor Wat temple. Siem Reap, Cambodia, has a spectacular series of temples that rival the Egyptian pyramids. Angkor is the largest and most popular. This shot was taken late in the afternoon when I spotted this Cambodian woman taking a break from collecting plastic bottles in the hot afternoon sun. I really liked her weathered skin and penetrating eyes. In typical Cambodian style, she requested a US dollar after I took the shot.