PHOTO FRIDAY: "FACES AND PLACES" EXHIBIT IN WASHINGTON

Bridge Crossing in Burma

Since it's Friday and last night was the opening reception of our first-ever photo show, Faces and Places, above is the first print that sold--a shot of two novice monks crossing a handmade bridge near Lake Inle in Burma. 

Thanks to everyone who made it out and helped us open the show, which will be running through Dec 1 at the upstairs gallery in Shaw's Tavern in Washington, DC. 

PHOTO FRIDAY: A SAND DOLLAR'S WORTH

One year ago this week, we were enjoying a stunning sunset in the Philippines, and we wrote about all the crazy modes of transport it took to see it. 

This week, a sunset in Playa El Cuco in El Salvador was made all the better by the presence of a nearly symmetrical sand dollar Liz found on the beach. In monetary value, the little sea urchin doesn't come to much.

But considering it was Liz's first sand dollar ever to see in the wild, it sure meant a lot to us.

HIKING (AND CLEANING UP) THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS

Our friend Alex Parlini (the dark speck on the trail) hikes toward Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest peak.

While Liz headed south to Udaipur, Mumbai, and Goa, Kip and his buddy Alex from DC went northeast to Darjeeling (thanks for the visit, AP!). After testing out the region's famous teas, they traveled into the Indian Himalayas for a trek toward the world's third highest peak, Mt. Kanchenjunga (alt: 28,169 ft). 

There, they hiked five days and watched some incredible sunsets/rises over the mountains of India/Tibet/Nepal/Bangladesh/Bhutan, one of the most unique and spectacular views in the world. 

Along the way, they also filled garbage bags with trash that lined the trails. As we had experienced in places including Nepal, Borneo, the Philippines, and others, the people met along the way happily joined the trail beautification efforts, proving once again that cleaning up...and volunteering...can be contagious. A big thanks to the guides, as well as Alex, Stewart, Stephanie, Raymond, and Sara.

With no trash collection in the mountains, garbage must be burned to get rid of it. Above, Alex supervises while the guides incinerate a small pile of some of the debris we collected during the five-day hike.

Mt Kanchenjunga in the morning light.

Kip at sunrise. The view includes Everest.

Potato diggers met along the trail.

The sun sets behind afternoon clouds.

PHOTO FRIDAY: ANNAPURNA'S MACHAPUCHARE

Every once in a while, heaving a heavy pack up stone steps for days at a time can seem a bit pointless. And then, there are other times when--sweating, shivering, and dodging yak dung--it seems utterly ludicrous.

But then you're treated to a sunrise like the one above--with Machapuchare's near 23,000-ft peak shrouded in shimmering clouds--and we remember why we do it. At least, that's how we felt when we took this shot above in Nepal's Annapurna Sanctuary.

ANNAPURNA SANCTUARY TREK

Thanks for the "HEARTLY" welcome, "Lodge Owner Family!"

After surviving a 14-day hike to Everest Base Camp, followed by a hair-raising helicopter ride back to Kathmandu, we decided a few relaxing days in the beautiful Pokhara in central Nepal were in order. The town, perched on the edge of a beautiful lake, with warm temperatures, stunning views, and good food were just what we needed to get over the hiking we swore we would never do again.  

Our first morning there, we saw the peaks of the Annapurna and the holy, un-climbed Machapuchare calling us from behind the hill over the lake. We were hooked immediately, and after renting two dirty sleeping bags from a hard-bargaining eight-year old, we set off for a "quick" six day trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary.

The view, enjoyed from our sleeping bags, was worth the trip.

The first few days of the trek were tortuous, climbing and descending an endless set of stairs, some built for small children and others built tall enough for a Yeti. It did some serious damage to both our legs and our will to keep going. But, the early morning views from the town of Chomrong at left made every step worth it. 

Not only is the scenery incredible, but the Chomrong Guesthouse makes a famous chocolate cake, at least according to TIME Magazine, which we may have tried three times in our one night stay.

The cake was a nice touch, but the reason to hike this trail is to see Annapurna.

The Sanctuary did not disappoint. The views were stunning. And we did our part to keep them that way, picking up trash as we hiked, as we did on the Everest trek. We filled ten bags of trash and had some help from folks along the way.  

Thanks to two hard-charging Aussies we met on the trail, we even had a place to sleep at Base Camp. Being the planners that we are, we didn't book ahead for one of the few rooms available. Sim and Nada (the awesome Aussies) were kind enough to share their's with two smelly, cranky, exhausted hikers (that would be us) so we didn't miss the incredible sunrise over the Annapurnas. Thanks you guys! (G&T's on us next time we're in Oz).

Us with the "Amazing Aussies," Sim and Nada, at Annapurna Base Camp.

A buffalo unamused by our request for a ride.

The hike down the trail was no less exciting than the hike up. Since we were without a map (Kip's idea) we decided to take a new route home (Kip's idea) that would save a few hours of climbing down stairs (Liz was all for this part). 

We ended up in a town where jeeps normally transport locals and trekkers to down to Pokhara. Perhaps not surprisingly  we were unaware that it was a Nepali holiday, and there were no jeeps, no buses, no donkeys/yaks/buffaloes, and no helicopters to carry us down. 

A local villager suggested we trek another two hours to a crossroads, where jeeps sometimes pass and we might flag down a ride for the three-hour journey. Thankfully, one lovely man agreed to take us (for the incredibly ridiculous "holiday" price) in his off-road four-door hatchback. We were in. 

Our amphibious 4x4 Suzuki. Half way across the river, our feet got soaked...inside the back seat.

The closest equivalent of Mexican Food we've seen
so far. Thank you , Pokhara

The road was rough. We could feel rocks scraping the undercarriage under our feet. We drove through a stream, and Liz's feet felt wet. She looked down, and water was rushing through the holes in the floor, and we were taking on water. But the car didn't quit, and we make it back to Pokhara, for a traditional Nepali-Mexican dinner and drinks with our new mountain friends. 

After a quick stop in Kathmandu, we're heading south to India next. No more trekking...at least for a while.

The Annapurna crew, celebrating in Pokhara after a trek well done. From left to right, back row, Nada (Oz), Krissi (U.S.), John (Oz), Liz, Kip, Neal (U.S.); front row, Sim (Oz), Krista and Gareth (Oz). 

CLOUDS SWALLOW THE HIMALAYAS

Watch clouds engulf Lobuche's 20,000-ft peak.

The Himalayas tower far above everything. Even clouds often struggle to reach the summits of the world's tallest mountains. 

Yet, in the right conditions, a quick-moving storm can engulf the highest of Himalayas in a matter of seconds, as seen in the time lapse series of images above.

One of the images from the time lapse video showing Lobuche 

It was sometime before midnight on a blustery night two days' trek from Everest Base Camp. Bundled in all our clothes, we hiked a few minutes from camp to check out the stars before bedtime. Here above 16,000 feet, the wind chill was near zero. The cold, thin air made breathing difficult. 

After watching a cloud bank crawl slowly through a nearby valley, we set up the camera to try out time-lapse photography. Every 30 seconds for 15 minutes, we took a photo of the scene above, as clouds engulfed a pair of 20,000+ peaks before our eyes. 

Pros typically use a tripod and a remote control for time lapse shots...we used a pile of rocks, a wool hat, and a frost-bitten finger. The results, while not exactly pro-quality, we felt were worth posting anyway.

Hope you enjoy.

If you like this one, here are a few others (taken by pros) that are way better: time lapse nature photography.