Venice is grunge

The weather is terrible and the lighting for photography is worse. So even though I usually do not condone the over use of HDR, I am bored as hell and folks seem to enjoy it. Here is Venice in down and dirty grungy grunge HDR.

The a very wet road

The continued cold weather and overcast skies have been a bit of a bummer, but the coolness of the city brought us right back into the spirit of things. After getting a couple hours sleep after arriving late, we open up the dormer windows to see snow on the ground and the canals flooded. Real nice. No worries though, its very difficult not to have a good time in a city so interesting as Venice.  Although the city is not really all too big and I am big on trekking, you can always jump on a boat and find yourself lost in the maze of canals here. But the real fun starts when you simply head off in any direction and just follow the scent of the tastiest pastries and pizza.

Church Mania: Milan Edition: Duomo di Milan

Just stunning. The exterior was just uncovered after a four year renovation and cleaning. Duomo di Milan is built with amazing pinkish white marble that gleams in the sunlight.  The interior is grand with soaring ceilings, but unfortunately no good photos due to the lack of light.

Medieval Lyon

Lyon has some beautiful outskirts, including this beautiful medieval village sitting atop a hill about a half hour outside of town. It is known for its sweet breed flavoured with orange liquor... quite tasty.  The stonework is amazing and had lasted more than 500 years.  All but deserted in the winter, it is quite a cool little destination with great views of the countryside.

A very rugged place to call home

The people of these mountains are more rugged than you can imagine, and they don't fool around when setting up accommodations in these parts.  And of course all materials carried on the backs of porters.

Himalayan HDR leftovers

Crown of Borneo

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, tallest peak in South East Asia, and the youngest granite mountain in the world... Mt. Kinabalu. Traveling a few hours into the jungle from the coast you really feel like you are entering Jurassic Park. First you realize you are entering some serious jungle territory, then you start climbing into the mountains, and then you get the first glimpse of this amazing mountain of rock that emerges from the green forests like a crown on a king overseeing his kingdom below.  Our guide hailed from a former head hunting tribe in Tambunan in the interior of Borneo.  If you every really want to learn about the culture of a new place a local private hire guide is a great way to go, and often you find they are as interested about your culture as you are theirs.  We lucked out on this trip.

An evening on a river in Borneo

Our first critter hunt... southwest Borneo. On the lookout for monkeys... your average run of the mill macaques to your big honkin' proboscis monkey. We hired a boat and took a cruise down a river near Kota Klias. The monkeys are interesting, but the river we choose is also known for a type of firefly which swarm in the thousands on certain trees. What makes these unique is their apparent ability to communicate and flash in unison as if they are all operating as one organism. And then of course Borneo has some crazy critters of the amphibious sort. Me: "What the f*$# is a crocodile doing in that tree above us", Guide: "The crocs stay in the water. The water monitors are in the trees". Yeah that's right, not only do you have to mind your arms hanging over the sides of the boat in Borneo but 7ft lizards can climb trees. Christ! And apparently the adult monitors grow up to 9ft.

Temple Mania: Cambodia Edition: In high dynamic range

I usually do not condone the overuse of high dynamic range, but Angkor deserves it...