Guntersville, AL

 

The Tennessee River from the back of the Top o' the River restaurant in Guntersville on a hot and humid evening.

Zurich, Switzerland

 

Taken from the shores of the river Limmat, we see St. Peter’s Church on the right. St Peter's is the oldest parish church in Zurich, founded in the early 7th century. It has the largest clock face in Europe, added in 1534 (8.7 m / 28.5 ft in diameter).

Lake Tata

 

During this trip to Hungary I stayed in Tata, about an hour's drive from Budapest. Tata is a beautiful old city. This is the largest of two lakes in the area.

New Phuket Friends

The White Sun Bar has the coldest beer in Phuket (or so they claim). I made many new friends there and elsewhere in Kamala Beach. Pictured are some of the better looking ones: from left, Gay, Kat, me with sunburned face, and Noi.

Long Tail Boat

 

These boats are traditional Thai boats used for fishing etc. Note the long prop shaft in the back connected to a big motor just behind the captain. We took a boat like this to our dive sites an hour or so away from Kamala Beach.

Phuket, Thailand

Spent 5 days in the sun in Phuket at the Kamala Beach Resort. Went scuba diving on a sunken tin mining ship wreck and on the coral reef. Very hot with days exceeding 35C. Cold Singha beer seems to be a good antidote!

Snowy Owl

 

I stood next to this owl to have my picture taken, and although he never moved, I was afraid the whole time he'd turn on me and bite my ear off!

With HK at the Night Safari

 

I'm smiling but I'm not happy at all!

Fire Breathing

 

Dancers in Malaysian native costumes put on a great show including dance, acrobatics, and theater at the Singapore Night Safari - a night-time zoo that's unique in the world.

Tokyo, Japan

 

On my way from Singapore to Huntsville, I extended my stopover in Tokyo to a full day and took a guided tour of the city. Here we see a large area of downtown Tokyo from the Tokyo Tower. The 332.6-meter-tall (1,091 ft) orange and white lattice tower is the tallest self-supporting structure in the world, the tallest artificial structure in Japan and the 11th tallest tower in the world.

Diving in Cuba

 

This photo was taken as I emerged from a cave during a dive just outside Varadero. The next day we went diving on a sunken ship wreck in the Bay of Pigs.

Beach near Varadero, Cuba

 

This beach was actually remote from Varadero and was visited during a day trip on a catamaran.

Swimming with the Dolphins

 

It was everyone into the water to swim with the friendly dolphins in the ocean near Varadero.

Christmas Eve Show

 

An elaborate stage show was presented Christmas Eve at the Barcelo Solymar.

Singapore Flyer

 

View of Singapore from the 61st floor of the Swissotel. In the background on the shore of the South China Sea is the Singapore flyer, a ferris wheel under construction and built larger than the ferris wheel on Canary Wharf in London

Damai Beach Resort

This weekend I stayed in a hilltop chalet at the beach on the South China Sea. Damai Beach is a 45 minute drive from Kuching. This amazing view was from my balcony. It's the same view as sitting up in bed as the bed faced a circular wall of windows. It's nothing short of paridise there. The food and the staff were excellent. I could have easily stayed a week, and I'm not usually one for a lay on the beach type of vacation. Actually I spent most of the time at the pool next to the deluxe chalets where I was staying. Today I had the whole pool to myself for most of the day as a lot of people were checking out. I wangled a late check-out and didn't take the shuttle back until 5. Whereas it has been raining in torrents all last week, both Saturday and Sunday were beautifully hot and sunny, raining only in the evening. I've got to make a trip back here!

Native Dances

The highlight of my trip to the cultural village was the stage show. Natives danced in the costumes and to the music of the main tribes in Sarawak province. It was amazing! So professionally presented! I would have stayed to see it twice, but the beach was calling...

Sarawak Cultural Village

On Saturday morning, I left Kuching for a weekend at the beach. But first, I visted the cultural village down the road from the beach resort. It's a 17 1/2 acre living museum. There are 7 traditional dwellings built in the style of each of the main tribes in Borneo, inhabited by natives displaying their crafts and lifestyle. Really interesting! I could have spent the whole day there, but the beach was calling. I bought a blowpipe and darts. Better stay on my good side! ;-)

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

This is Jason. He dropped out of the trees for lunch today. At another part of the reserve we saw 6 of his friends and relatives.

Berjaya Times Square

Right across from my hotel, I found the newest shopping mall in KL. It has 1000 individual retail outlets spread over 10 floors. Pictured is Asia's largest indoor theme park as seen from the 8th floor of Times Square. The mall also contains an IMAX theater.