Rollin' On The River

My wife and I are big fans of river cruising. The pace is slow, there are WAY fewer people, you are dropped off right in the heart of the town or city, accessibility to great light is more available, and it's just very "civilized." Our first venture was to China in 2007, the year before the Olympics. We got four nights on the Yangtze River, catching the ship a few hundred yards upstream from the under-construction Three Gorges Dam. Summer in China and Good Light are oxymorons. It just doesn't exist what with the horrible pollution. We never, not once, saw the sun or any hint that the sky is blue. So, on the top photograph of the Yangtze, I did a B&W conversion in NIK Silver Efex since almost all color was washed out. It's much more moody in B&W. The light in the bottom photo was much better and  the color version holds up fine, but I wanted to give the other shot a River cruising partner. This is on the Mekong River in 2011. We used Viking Cruises both times and can whole-heartedly recommend this line. Their land portions are every bit as good as their river service, both in China and Southeast Asia. This is my last post of 2012, as we will be getting on an airplane tomorrow morning and jetting off to Puerto Rico before getting on a huge ship and ringing in the New Year in the Caribbean with two other couples. Happy New Year!