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The Gentle Path to the Beyond The little train that carried me into Hakone started winding through misty mountains. The trees were thick and a fog was rolling in. I had a feeling that it would stay wet, moody, and fairly perfect. It had that heaviness that made you feel like it would remain like that for a few days, and it did.Before I get on train rides, I have a wonderful but dangerous habit of loading up with pastries. Train stations seem to have nice little selections of all sorts of foreign twists on the usual subjects. And, since I consider myself an explorer, I thought it would be good to get a TON of pastries and try them all. It's very nice... sitting there... looking out the train window at a new land... rain falling... eating pastries... (and I'm only a little ashamed to say that, upon arrival, my pastry bag was empty.)- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Chinese Mothership Look at this magical place in Beijing... it's on the edge of belief.I could hardly fathom the nature of this place. I expected the lights to appear on the grid with melodic tones a mystical, alien language, like in Close Encounters. But none of that happened... So I just stood there for a long time, thinking about how incredible this place was... and took my time, setting up my system for a fitting photograph.Remember when we were kids, and we never finished our food, even under the threat of starving children in China? Now, I say to my kids, you better eat your food, or else Chinese children will grow up and create an economic powerhouse. Well too late for that!This is the amazing National Centre for the Performing Arts, or as I like to say, the 国家大剧院 -- I find that rolls of the tongue a bit easier.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Most Beautiful Road in the World I found it!I've looked at travel guides and driven on a ton of beautiful, scenic roads all over the world, but I think this road to Queenstown (on the way to/from Glenorchy) is the most beautiful in the world. The road winds down one side of a perfect, fjord-like lake, and every few kilometers, the mountain views change dramatically. Depending upon the time of day you travel it, the entire landscape transforms before your eyes.Wonder what it looks like on the other side of the lake? You won't believe that it is in the same place! See this photo called Mountainstorm that I took on a previous trip to this location. It was shot later in the evening, so I wasn't able to properly capture the road that time.What's the prettiest road you have ever found? I've seen conflicting guides of the most beautiful roads in the US... I'm sure everyone has their opinion... I'd love to know what you think!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Morning Fisherman Now, getting to this place was not easy!I arrived about 1 AM at a tiny family-run inn by the river. I was meeting a local guide at 5 AM, so I didn't get a lot of what I would call "quality sleep". Anyway, I got up very early and went downstairs in pitch black. There seemed to be a big white cloth box I had to go around to find the front door. My guide was outside. The door was locked and we could not figure out how to get it open. Everyone at the little inn was sound asleep and I was totally confused. Then, from inside the big white box, a body flew out of it! There was a 60-year-old Chinese guy inside that was sleeping until I woke him up with all my lock-manipulations. His naked limbs in the white sheets scared the bejeezus out of me and woke me right up!And then we were on the river about 5:15. It was still completely dark outside. And I mean COMPLETELY DARK. It was a thin bamboo raft with an outboard motor.I turned around to ask my guide, "How the heck does the boat driver know where he is going?!?"He calmly said, "Oh, no worry. The river is very wide."I not-calmly said, "Well, that's great and everything, but I can't even see the edge to the river!"He calmly said, "But it is so wide."This line of questioning was not getting me anywhere, so I just decided to sit back and enjoy my possible last moments on Earth. Then the sun started to rise, and we moved the boat over to the best bank for the angle.Want to hear something amazing about these fishermen? You won't believe it... but maybe others can confirm this! The fishermen use these two trained cormorant birds that have their throats tied. The birds dive into the water, eat a fish, but then can't swallow it because of the rope. The fisherman rudely pulls the fish from the bird's throat and drops it into that basket behind him. The bird then goes over to a tiny keyboard and sends out the tweet, "WTF".- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Spaceship of Tokyo Maybe after the workshop Alfie will take us over to this place! The architecture inside is amazing and It's a dream come true for hundreds of interesting compositions. Alfie took me here the first time because he thought I would like it -- I think he regretted it later because I stayed so long to take too many photos!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Tokyo from the Air Wow this city is amazing. I have to go back soon!I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top. On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator. I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building! How cool! I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys. If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version. You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Trees and an Aircraft Carrier in the Fog The time I spent in San Diego was very moody and covered in fog. I went down to the shore one night to spy the USS Midway. The fog was pea-soup thick and it gave the environs quite the mood. I found these amazing trees nearby that seemed wonderfully illuminated against the glow from the aircraft carrier.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Bar with a View This is an incredible bar in that overlooks the amazing city of Tokyo. The place was amazingly awesome, and I could see it becoming a major hangout if I lived in the city. Then again, everywhere I went I could picture as a major hangout! Can anyone figure out exactly where this was taken? These little photo mysteries don't last long around here!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Zipping Through Tokyo I think it rained almost every day I was in Tokyo, but that's just fine with me. It gives you all these "Black Rain" conditions, and makes the place twice as moody as it already was. I walked through Rappongi one evening to find a secret Italian restaurant. I ended up having to cross the road so many times on these overpasses, that I finally decided to stop and take a photo of the action underneath.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Tokyo from the Air


Wow this city is amazing. I have to go back soon!

I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top. On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator. I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building! How cool! I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys. If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version. You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(742624848,'',XLarge,'',1024,716);">Tokyo from the Air Wow this city is amazing. I have to go back soon!I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top. On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator. I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building! How cool! I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys. If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version. You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Tokyo from the Air


Wow this city is amazing. I have to go back soon!

I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top. On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator. I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building! How cool! I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys. If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version. You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
See photo in original gallery.
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