"Say Hello to Obama" - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

If going to Iceland is an adventure, visiting its highlands, which are mostly an uninhabitable volcanic desert, elevates the idea of adventures to a whole new level.  On this fall morning, we set off on the infamous gravel road F35.  

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When there could be any kind of weather all in one day, meeting such a group of men in bright orange could be comforting.  A short exchange of words with one of them even made me giddy.  It goes like this:
He: "Where are you from?"  
Me: "Los Angeles... Where are you from?"
He: "Iceland."  He then went on to say "I'm a sheep farmer."

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I knew almost nothing about people of this land and their life.  As I searched for words to respond, he then turned around and disappeared quickly with his horses in his last sentence: "Say hello to Obama!"

Finally waking up from the clip-clop of horses, I muttered into the cold air "oh, thanks, I will pass it onto him!"     

Seasons Greetings - Jean Huang Photography

Another year is fast behind us.  Physically, my Assistante and I have continued our journey of visiting new places, meeting new people and making friends with new horses, sheep, cows and birds, etc.  As if the Antarctic was not extreme enough for us last year, in 2016, we have gone to the other side of the earth.  In between the bi-polars, we have also crossed the equator and gone to the Amazons.  In a way, it seems that we have gone through the whole planet.  

Someone once asked us, "Where would you conquer next?"  My response was, "We wouldn't dare conquering any part of this world.  We wished to experience as much as we could and leave the places and their cultures as least disturbed as possible."  To us, it's the experiences that slowly change and/or transform us and the way that we look at this world that I wouldn't trade with anything.  

Spiritually, we continue to face and be challenged in the subject of life-and-death.  As we continue struggling with the question of what life is about, we strive to maximize the quality of experiences that we share with the ones that we are lucky to call family and friends.

We thank you for being along in our journey and for caring and laughing with us.  With the new year fast approaching, we wish you the joy of family, the gift of friends, and the best of everything in 2017!       

If you have not, please feel free to sign up with our VIP list.  In the coming year, we plan to share exclusive materials to the ones only on the list.

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The Lagoon is Blue, The Land is Full of Sagas - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

I don't think I was quite prepared for Blue Lagoon when approaching a scene with columns of white smoke evaporating into the angry sky.  Quite contrary to the likely misconception of us people that are used to the idea of air pollution, what I saw was steam coming from Svartsengi geothermal power station, one of Iceland's five largest.  And Blue Lagoon is the byproduct of such plant.

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At a land of fire and ice, geothermal power heats 89% of the houses in Iceland and over 54% of the primary energy used in Iceland comes from geothermal sources.  And the plan is to turn Iceland into a 100% fossil-fuel-free nation in the near future. 

While renewable energy is music to my ears, instead of letting myself being soaked in silica-and-sulfur-rich water, I went around and seek eye candy.  Who knew, I would end up rescuing a little beauty from the gnarly lava field?  There you have it, my contribution to the modern sagas of Iceland.

What would the title be?  The best answer will be rewarded. :-)

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