The Beautiful Cascades

Crazy amounts of hiking as usual.  Lucky weather.  Killer views.

A Day on the Range

Malaysia - KL

Kuala Lumpur.  Soaring sky-scrapers.  "Massage parlors" on every corner. Temples, churches, mosques, and monasteries, all side by side.  Authentic Chinese, Thai, Indian, and Malaysian food, combining sometimes to create a curious blend of cuisines.




The Petronas Towers.  A very surreal moment viewing this sunset.  A diverse group of people gathered in the park to view the sunset, with Muslim chanting played on loudspeaker, and a very moving backdrop of two leviathan spires rising to oblivion.  Kuala Lumpur was by far my favorite metropolitan in Southeast Asia.  A combination of culture, beauty, and grunge.

Thailand Tigers

Baby tigers.  At this age, they are about as harmless and docile as dogs.  Wish they could stay that way!

Cambodia

A very sombering country.  Beautiful in its own right, with a very resilient and proud people.  Many unforgettable memories from this country.














Our tuk tuk got a flat tire.  This is the repair man's daughter.

Vietnam! A Pho Tographers Look (ha ... ha.)

In retrospect, my favorite country by far in Southeast Asia.  The people had the brightest and easiest smiles, the scenery in the countryside was breathtaking, and  the food was amazing.  I didn't want to leave.  I fell in love.


A common occurrence of a family of four on a scooter.  This family seemed especially jocund in nature.

Philippines

The Philippines.  I was born in Manila, but apparently only spent the first two months of my life there.  Good to see my birth place just to see what it is like.  I really enjoyed it, and I almost felt like I fit in more at here than in Taiwan because apparently I look Philippino... (according to taxi cab drivers and hostel owners at least.  many people are mixed here so that might be the reason).

Outside of Manila, we visited the island of Palawan and traveled to the town of El Nido.  El Nido is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, and the slow pace of life and friendly locals made it hard to leave.  I will miss these sandy beaches!


Locals collecting mussels at sunset.  A truly surreal sight.


El Nido.


Ripples.


Me watching the sunset.


Some of the clearest and most beautiful skies.


On a boat tour to a few of the many islands near El Nido.


Beautiful lagoons.




If only this was real life... haha.


I really liked the ripples this girl made as she walked through the water.


Thunder clouds.


A girl and her puppy.




Too beautiful.  I will never get tired of sunsets.




A dog I met on the beach.


A beautiful lunch prepared on one of our boat tours.


Too nice.  And only one week to explore.  I will return, Philippines!


Back in Manila.  My birthplace, apparently.