Patrick Love Photography » Travel Photography

Puerto Princesa / Honda Bay, Philippines Travel Photography

05.06.12

Puerta Princesa is more a hub than a destination. Located almost in the middle of the Palawan Peninsula. To the north, lay some of the best scuba diving locations, resorts, islands and beaches that the Philippines has to offer. To the south… well nobody knows for sure. Almost nobody goes there. It’s just untouched nature and perfect empty beaches. Going south far enough will take you straight into Borneo.

Places that serve good food are close to my heart. Puerto Princesa serves the best food I’ve had in the Philippines. KaLui and La Terrase served up dishes and drinks that you simply can’t get anywhere else.

We stayed at the Palo Alto Bed and Breakfast. They do the whole, shoes-not-allowed-shiny-hardwood-floors-everywhere thing. The owners were very friendly. I would stay there again.

I was pretty skeptical about doing the Honda Bay tour. I figured that there would be too many people, mediocre beaches, and snorkeling with uninspiring coral and fish. Turns out that I was mostly wrong! There were a lot of people. However, the beaches were nice, and the fish and coral were actually pretty good. Living in the Philippines has really spoiled me. I’m not as easily impressed with tropical beaches, as I was when I lived in WA.

I was seriously wanting to go out on this makeshift dock. After giving it some thought, I realized that I would likely be the heaviest person who had ever trusted it. I gave it a miss.

Yellow Fin Tuna – The boat captain told me that he could catch about 10 on a good day.

It was a holiday, so I came across my first cock fight ever! Notice that the Filipino version ties 4-inch “long-knives” to the roosters’ left legs. In other countries with cock fighting, the knives are usually shorter.

(below) If you look closely, you’ll notice lots of blood squirting out.

Cock fights don’t end in draws or split decisions.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Landscape, Philippines, Travel Photography | Tags: cock fighting, honda bay, Philippines, puerto princess

by P-Lo

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Donsol, Philippines Travel Photography

05.04.12

Holy Week in Donsol! There are plenty of things to keep travelers entertained for a couple of days- a sandy beach, great food, nice locals, Holy Week festivities, firefly tours, and of course whale sharks. The only problem is that on top of all that, it gets seriously packed with visitors.

Donsol is a little bit like the guy who won the lottery, but becomes a victim of his own success. Locals have not yet found a way to manage the wealth of visitors who want to explore all the great things that Donsol can offer. Instead, of experiencing a peaceful stroll through Donsol’s wonders, crowds of visitors experience traffic jams and pushing mobs of other visitors as everyone vies for his or her own piece of the pie. Come back next year and you will find that they’ve paved paradise, and put up a parking lot. I’ll explain more on that later.

(above) I recommend that you stay at the Elysia Beach Resort. It has a nice courtyard, seen here, and it’s on one of the nicer stretches of beach. Not exactly budget lodging though. A huge bonus is that it is right next door to the BARracuda restaurant. Hands down the best restaurant in Donsol, and one of the top-five best restaurants I’ve eaten at in the Philippines. Go early (6pm) and have a reservation. The first night, we went early and had great service and food. The second night, we made a later reservation, and service and food were very slow, but the food was still great.

(above and below) Firefly tour – This is what a Nikon D700 with a 24 or 35/1.4 can do at iso 6400. Our guide told me that she had never seen anyone successfully take a picture of the fireflies.

Holy Week – Good Friday Procession in Donsol

While the Philippines loves Holy Week, Holy Week has to be the whale shark’s least favorite holiday. There are rules for whale shark encounters, but as you can guess, those all get thrown out the window. It’s pretty much guaranteed that if you do see a whale shark, it will have almost 30 boats and 50+ people swimming right on top of it. I can handle swimming with a crowd of people, but it really upset me to see people swimming up against the sharks, touching the sharks, or taking pictures from so close that the shark would have to change direction. Too see people stressing the animals out, and making them work just that much harder for survival really bums me out.

Secondly, because they are being treated so poorly, shark sightings during Holy Week go way down. Sharks have to go somewhere else, which puts even more stress on them. Boats will only take visitors on 3-hour tours, and every day at least 2/3 of the tour groups would come back without seeing any sharks! My group had to go out on two tours, just to be able to swim briefly with two sharks. When it’s not Holy Week, people report usually seeing about 5-10 sharks per trip, in uncrowded surroundings.

Donsol for Holy Week? – My advice is go elsewhere.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Philippines, Travel Photography | Tags: Barracuda, Donsol, elysia beach resort, Philippines, Travel Photography

by P-Lo

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Hong Kong Travel Photography

03.11.12

I liked the food in Hong Kong better than the photographic opportunities. But that’s just because the food is blow-your-mind amazing.

It was in the 60s at night and the 70s in the day. This was my first chance to comfortably wear jeans in, like… forever.

We stayed in a hotel that should be avoided at all cost. However, the location was money, and the price was right up my alley.

My inspiration for the trip was the Kowloon Walled City, which used to exist within the city limits of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, government officials had it torn down in an effort to “modernize” the city. I can only imagine what a wild place it must have been. I would have loved the chance to photograph within it’s dense maze of streets. It was once the most densely populated place in the world, and it is said that many of the residents would never see direct sunlight. Before it was torn down, a team of city planners or something, from Japan, did a cross section of what some of the buildings were like.

In Hong Kong, every market has a specific theme.

Sporting Goods Market

Flower Market

Bird Park – Birds are lucky in Chinese culture

Fish Market

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Travel Photography | Tags: Hong Kong, Travel Photography

by P-Lo

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Travel Photography

03.01.12

We spent a quick three day weekend in Ho Chi Minh City. Before I went, I heard a lot of comments about how it’s just not all that great. Hanoi seems to get everyone’s vote. Maybe they are right, but that doesn’t matter because I had a great time in HCMC and still don’t know any different. I loved HCMC, and I would go back in a heartbeat. Everywhere we went, the food was indescribably good. I’d take Vietnamese food over Thai food any day. We also did a really fun cooking class, and a scooter/eating tour of the city. We stayed at the Riverside Hotel, which was nice, but I wouldn’t splash out that kind of money again. We also ate twice at the highly acclaimed Hoa Tuc restaurant. I wanted to like it, as it’s the most popular place in town, but it really didn’t take the whole dinner experience to the next level. I also got the feeling that every tour group in HCMC eats at this place every single night. I’m going to go all Anthony Bourdain next time I’m there.

New and Old

At a Chinese New Years party someone gave me a $100 note. Unfortunately, I had to burn it. Was it real? Now I’ll never know.

Not sure what these funny hats are all about.

Same same, but slightly different

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Travel Photography | Tags: Ho Chi Minh City, Travel Photography, Vietnam

by P-Lo

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Chiang Rai, Thailand Travel Photography

02.16.12

Chiang Rai was a welcome change from Chiang Mai. Less tourists, and better coffee! Chiang Rai is also better suited for motorcycle day trips. These pictures were all taken on day trips.

Way out on some backroad, we happened upon a small hilltribe festival. Not much to see really, so we only stayed for about 15 minutes. Nice people though.

We drove up to a tea plantation. Did some tasting and bought a box of tea.

One morning we drove out to a local monastery that was carved into the side of a cliff. This was the only monk who was there.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Travel Photography | Tags: Chiang Rai, Thailand, Travel Photography

by P-Lo

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Chiang Mai, Thailand Travel Photography

02.15.12

Chiang Mai, New Years Eve 2012. The whole city lets off floating lanterns starting just after it gets dark, and building until well after midnight. Instead of joining the tourist horde, we slipped into a temple that was in the middle of its own celebration. Quiet meditation music and all the lanterns we could light, was the highlight of the evening. In Chiang Mai, we stayed at the Yindee Stylish Guesthouse. It was great. Nice location, friendly owners, clean flashpacker-friendly rooms.

Chiang Mai isn’t really a location that I would heavily recommend. It feels like it’s been overrun by tourists and kind of lost most of its character. Better to just keep going to Chiang Rai. The only reason I’d want to visit either one, would be to rent a motorcycle and do more touring of the surrounding hills. TOTAL.VACATION.WIN.

lift off.

Right at 12:00 fireworks joined the lanterns in the sky.

We met this monk and he told us all about the ceremony and his experiences living in Chiang Mai.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Travel Photography | Tags: Chiang Mai, New Years Eve, Thailand, Travel Photograhpy

by P-Lo

show hide 1 comment

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Kevin Wrenn Photography - Wow my friend. This is such an amazing post! How cool it must have been to shoot this!March 3, 2012 - 12:53 am

Lake Inle, Myanmar Travel Photography

02.15.12

Oh how I love to get me some good market! Lake Inle has a great market. Local hill people come down for the market and sell their things. Thailand has got nothing on this place.

We stayed at the Mingalar Inn in Nyaungshwe. It was amazing! Best breakfasts we had the whole time. I still remember the thin banana pancakes. The people who own the place couldn’t have been any more accommodating or helpful. They even arranged plane tickets for us.

One of (many of) Myanmar’s quirks is that steering wheels are on the right and cars drive on the right. That means that when passengers exit a bus or any other vehicle, it’s always in the middle of the road in the worst traffic.

We bought a bag of some amazing green tea from this lady. I would describe it as woody and buttery. So good.

Our guide around the lake. Great guy.

This is the only place in the world where fishermen stand up, paddle with one foot, throw a net cage into the water, and then spear the fish. How else would you fish in a 5 foot deep grass filled marsh?

When the water is up they can use nets too.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Travel Photography | Tags: Lake Inle, Myanmar, Travel Photography

by P-Lo

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

U Bein Bridge – Mandalay Bay, Myanmar Travel Photography

02.15.12

To start, I’ve been waiting to take pictures at the U Bein Bridge for well over 8 years, so this was a major accomplishment for me. U Bein bridge is the longest teak bridge in the world. Who cares? It turns out that it is also one of the best travel photography locations that I have ever experienced shooting. I would rank it up there with the old town in Sanliurfa, Turkey. Of course, when you get there it’s never just how you imagine it to be, but I’m used to that. For instance, based on my research, I was expecting the sun to rise on the other side of the bridge! Turns out that I should have tried to come to the bridge at sunset, instead of sunrise. I’ll just have to go back and try again. In fact, last night, there was a large AirAsia sale, and I purchased tickets to return to Myanmar for Nov. 2012. Can’t wait.

Ideally, the sun would be rising behind the bridge and I would be shooting dark silhouettes in front of a blazing orange sky with perhaps some mist on the water to add to the ambiance.

I ended up spending a long time talking with the monk above. He was really intelligent, curious and kind. After talking for well over an hour, he invited us to come back to his monastery with him.

In Myanmar it is common for people to carry around cages of birds that you can pay a fee to release. It has something to do with a spiritual belief that it brings good Karma or something (obviously I don’t know specifics). What they neglect to tell you is that the birds are trained to return to their homes, so that they can be gathered up and sold again the next day.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Travel Photography | Tags: Mandalay Bay, Myanmar, Travel Photography, U Bein Bridge

by P-Lo

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Bagan, Myanmar Travel Photography

02.12.12

Temple, Buddha, temple, Buddha, temple, Buddha. That’s kind of what we did for three days in Bagan. Basically, everyone rents bicycles and rides around the almost 2200 temples, which are packed into a 4 X 4 mile square.

We stayed at the Kumudara hotel, which is located in New Bagan. Location was a big deal for me, because I knew that I would have to get up well before the sunrise and ride a bicycle to specific temples for sunrise pictures. The best places for sunrise pictures are near Old Bagan, but they all cost well over $100 per night, and cater to bus-riding package tourists. For me Kumudara fell right into the middle of the intersection of location, value and comfort. As with most places in Myanmar, the staff were amazing, and would happily go out of their way to answer any question you might have, or make a phone call to book you a place in the next town. We also rented a horse and carriage for one day. The driver was a lot of fun, and took us around until well after sunset. It was a great value, and I was happy for the chance to invest in him and his family.

Hot air ballooning is popular in Bagan. It looked fun, but it would have cost Anne and I almost $700 to go for an approx 1-hr flight. Too rich for my blood.

Some of the Buddhas were massive. I’d guess that this one is over 40 feet tall.

Kind of a weird sunbeam thing. I’m guessing it’s because I’m shooting with a cheapo 70-300 f4-5.6 lens. I leave my pro telephoto lenses at home when I travel, because they are way too heavy for me.

If you look carefully, you’ll notice small photographers up on the temple shooting the sunrise.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Destination Review, Landscape, Travel Photography | Tags: Bagan, Kumudara, Myanmar

by P-Lo

show hide 1 comment

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Kevin Wrenn Photography - I am so stunned by your work these days Patrick!March 3, 2012 - 12:57 am

Yangoon, Myanmar Travel Photos

02.12.12

Yangon was a blast. I loved all the British colonial architecture and street layouts. For a capital city, the past has been preserved amazingly well. Due the historic feel of the place, it quickly became my favorite capital city in SE Asia.

We stayed at the Mother Land Inn 2. It was a decent place, with a decent location, and an absolutely wonderful staff. They have an airport pick up service that is not to be missed- a chance to ride on an ancient old bus with a transmission that grinds its way through the city. I also appreciated that everyone else at Motherland was backpacking through Myanmar just like Anne and I. There was a real camaraderie shared amongst us. In the morning everyone eats breakfast together, and in the evening everyone sits out front and has beers and smokes. It’s a great chance to hook up with new travelers, or get information and advice from people who have already traveled to the places you will be going.

Shwedagon Pagoda the largest most holy sight in Myanmar. The dome on the right is made out of gold. Actually, it seems like everything in Myanmar has at least a little gold on it.

Betel – Many of the locals chew Betel, as it is reported to alter moods and produce euphoria. It also stains their mouths and teeth dark red. There are thousand of stands around the city selling betel. Here a man is rolling up betel and other ingredients inside of leaves so that it can be chewed. It’s kind of gross but you get used to it quickly.