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Holiday Inn Pattaya is hosting a photo competition in which the winner will receive an ultimate vacation to the Holiday Inn Resort in Kandooma, Maldives.

Thailand's Phi Phi Islands — Ko Phi Phi Don and Ko Phi Phi Leh — sit off the Andaman Coast, offshore from the town of Krabi. This area was hit hard by the devastating 2004 tsunami, but tourists have returned to this breath-taking mix of jungle and translucent water. L.A. Times staff photographer Wally Skalij captured the spirit of island life while vacationing there last year.

Melissa Brandts and her husband were surprised to find a squirrel posing with them in a photo taken on holiday. The couple had set the timer on their camera while posing at a lakeside in a national park in Canada. Just as they were about to be captured on camera the cheeky squirrel popped up in the foreground and stole the show. The picture was taken at the side of the stunning Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, Canada.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on a short holiday in the the Siberian Tyva region