Bryce
Ok, I hope Zion NP isn’t offended, but I kind of skipped it here (I also skipped Vegas, but I consider it mostly a cheap place to sleep).
So here are some of the almost 400 pics I took in Bryce…
This is your typical cheese backdrop 
Chipmunk!!! So cute!
Hiking!
LA
Already one week since I made it to LA and was joined by my girlfriend.
Road-tripping and lack of Wifi in the National Parks prevented me from posting… We’ve been through Vegas, Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon since. We’re currently in Kingsman on Route 66 on our way to Death Valley.
I now have time for a few impressions from Venice Beach and Hollywood.
They sure have good beer:
But that seems not to be the only drug popular around there:
Speaking of which, at least the guy on the left, dancing to the other guy drumming might be under some influence…
You can find other guys who actually play pretty nicely:
Hollywood offers much cuter creatures:
The weather could have been better, but we could see the sign:
And last but not least my favorite star:
Ann Arbor wrap-up and on my way to LA
Due to the wonders of on-board wifi, I’m actually writing this while being squeezed into an airbus economy seat in about 30,000 feet…
I have a few pics left from Ann Arbor, that I’d like to share.
First, the Big House:
For those of you who haven’t heard of it: It’s the biggest football stadium in the US.
Yesterday I went to Zingerman’s for dinner, an apparently well known deli place. Look, they have real cheese & bread:
I had a sandwich (I heard Obama had one when he visited Ann Arbor…)
And now to my last Ann Arbor pic. You gte extra points if you know why I included this rain picture taken out of the car here…
Detroit Central Michigan Station && Slows Bar BQ
Today my workshop ended just before lunch and hence I’ve had some time to drive to Detroit. I really wanted to take a few pictures of the abandoned train station. If you haven’t heard about it, check it out on wikipedia! It must have been really beautiful once…
Let’s get started with some pictures:
As you can see, it’s pretty big and not in the best of possible areas. I wasn’t asked for money or annoyed in any other way though. However, a car stopped and the guys asked me if I knew what “they” were gonna do with the station, which of course I haven’t really any idea. Well, a camera big enough apparently makes you look knowledgeable 
We chatted for a while and as it took them only a second to place me to be from Germany they asked me if I knew Heidelberg… Well, I just work there 
Oh, and they said they were looking for metal and had a metal detector on the back seat… Well, what ever, more pics:
It is owned by an investor, locked off by barb wire and slowly decaying…
I’d really like to get in, but you can’t…
It’s really impressive and well worth to go visit it!
Before actually going there I got lunch at Slows Bar BQ:
The ribs were really good:
And I liked the apple sauce:
There were some other nice looking car+building combinations in the area:
Afterwards I drove through downtown a bit, which was neither extremely impressive nor extremely scary
Overall I really liked my short trip to Detroit!
Back in the US of A!
Finally some time to take pictures, blog and travel
Guess where I am:
So far it’s pretty nice, most college towns are, only the weather could be better. Yesterday was so windy I didn’t even think about taking the camera out of it’s bag… I’ll have to remember taking some pictures of the big house…
Ah, my room is ok, as well:
Saturday I’m going to fly westwards, stay tuned!
ps: If you read this and have suggestions what to do/photograph in Ann Arbor, let me know!
Looking forward to outdoor shooting weather…
After we’re back from vacation and with the holidays being over I am thinking more and more about shootings again If only the weather was better outside Maybe I’ll be able to do a shooting in the snow, but shoots in the sun are usually more fun, especially for the ever freezing model.
I went over a few pictures and this turned out nice (I was standing in the water for the pic, so I’d prefer better weather as well):
The picture was taken in the small river Dreisam in Freiburg last summer.
You can find more from the model here:
Click
Little Thai Girl at the Sukothai Bus Station
This posing happy little girl made waiting for the Bus much more fun
How cute was she???
Thailand Wrap-Up — Some of the nicer pics
Now that we’re back in cold Germany I have some more pictures to share. Given some time I’ll add more on cooking and food and some other things…
One more from Dubai:
Burj Khalifa, 829.84 m high according to wikipedia.
And from the temple in Chiang Mai:
At Wat Phra Singh in Chang Mai
And from Sukothai:
Ruins of Sukothai
You should visit in the morning not the afternoon like we did, for better light
Moving on to Khao San road in Bangkok:
Khao San Road
Our last stop was Ko Lanta, an island in the south:
Long Beach, Ko Lanta
From a diving/snorkeling trip:
My Beach (at least for some time after swimming there)
We had a very nice vacation over there
What better pic to end with than this:
Elephant Nature Park (near Chiang Mai)
Elephants have always fascinated me a lot, so I was really looking forward to seeing some here in Thailand. Unfortunately not all are living in nice conditions, so we decided to visit a park dedicated to help former working elephants, the elephant nature park:
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
They currently have 36 elephants there. Those elephants don’t have to work and lead a happy life. The final goal is to bring them back to the wild at some point.
Enjoy the pictures
Elephants I
After feeding them, we took them to the river for a bath… And we got much closer
Elephant Bathing
Happy Washed Elephant
Happy Washed Elephant II
Happy Elephant Washers
So keep in mind:
Working elephants are “broken” in order for them to obey. This is a very brutal and sad ritual — they are stuck in a cage for days and stabbed and beaten 
So elephant rides may aren’t what you want to do. Please check out the park!
Cooking Class in Sukhothai Ban Thai Guest House – Part I: Market 5:30a.m
Getting up at 5:30 was well worth it
We have the nicest cook/guide and learned a lot. Just 2 highlight pictures, before we get an hour of sleep. Elephants and temples will have to wait for this
Thanks to Bird from Banthai Guetshouse for taking us there and shooting these nice pictures
Donating Food
Being Blessed by Chanting Monks
