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Country Highlights

I lost my notebook at a St Petersburg night club last night, and it was only through cunning detective work (retracing my photographs) that I managed to recall where the hell I’d been, and - joy! - there it was behind the bar. Anyway, I would have lost a whole bunch of information, such as this list below on my highlights in some of the countries I’ve been to. Just in case I lose the book again, I thought I best put this somewhere safe, like here. In no particular order:

Peru

Hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu, eating fresh ceviche on the beach.

Bolivia

Mountain biked the world’s most dangerous road, and cross the Salar De Uyuni (the world’s biggest salt desert) in a 4×4.

Chile

Climbed an erupting volcano (Villarica), and sandboarded in the Atacama Desert.

Argentina

Climbing and river rafting in Patagonia, partying in Buenos Aires, and eating those huge steaks everywhere!

Brazil

Hanggliding over Rio, visiting Iguazu Falls, relaxing in Jericoacoara, Sunday nights in Olinda, and sailing off Salvador

Czech Republic

Visiting the bone church of Kutna Hora Sedlec, jazz on the Charles Bridge

Poland

Finding my grandmother’s village, the haunting visit to Auschwitz

Croatia

Kayaking and swimming in the Dalmatian Coast, paintballing on the Serbia-Croatia border

Albania

Milking Ilir’s cow, visiting the abandoned castle in Gijirokaster, and hitching through the countryside

Greece

The red wine, olives and sunsets of Santarini, island hopping

Turkey

Paragliding over the sparkling Med in Olu Deniz, exploring Cappadocia, and sunset on a boat in Koycegiz

Dubai

Dune buggying in the desert, high tea at the Burj Dubai hotel

India

Yoga on the Ganges, seeing the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, getting a tattoo in Goa.

Malaysia

Riverboats in the jungles of Borneo, playing with monkeys, tigers, crocodiles, eagles and iguanas, and eating nasi kinder curries.

Japan

Singing Karaoke, meeting the Harajuku girls, being pushed inside a train.

Thailand

The lantern festival in Chiang Mai, riding an elephant,the buzz of Khao San Road.

Laos

The two-day slowboat down the Mekong, exploring temples by bicycle in Luang Prabang, tubing the river bars in Vangvyieng

Cambodia

Exploring the temples of Angkor, firing an Ak-47, visiting the Killing Fields and S-21 prison, massages on the beach in Sihanoukville.

Australia

Climbing the 72m tree in Western Australia, meeting kangaroos in Tasmania, cricket at the SCG, connecting with family and friends in Sydney

New Zealand

Skydived, Swooped, Zorbed, rafted the world’s highest vertical drop, speed races, Agrojetted, Bodyflying, mountain biking, 4×4′d, and lugeing in Rotorua

New Caledonia

Spearfishing giant lobster and hunting deer

Fiji

Sitting out a tropical storm

China

Zipgliding the Great Wall of China, stumbling on Tiananman Square at dawn

Mongolia

Galloping on the plains, camping in a traditional gur

Russia

Swimming in Lake Baikal, Siberia, doing the Trans-Siberia Railway, exploring St Petersburg with a new playlist on my iPod!

Malta

Hunting winter sun

Denmark

Absinthe and Christiania in Copenhagen, biking with a beer in Arhus

Sweden

A week with the moose on “Moose Mountain”

Norway

Camped in an old Nazi bunker in Narvik, under the midnight sun in the Arctic circle, bathing in fjords.

Zanzibar

Camping on the beaches of Nungwe, getting lost in Stonetown

Zambia

Swimming in a rock pool overlooking Victoria Falls, and flying up north for an afternoon.

Swaziland

Swimming in the king’s sacred rock pool, meeting a hippo, smuggling contraband.

Israel

Working on a kibbutz, floating in the Dead Sea, climbing Masada, debating Torah in the old Tea Room in Jerusalem

Egypt

Riding a camel by the pyramids in Giza, snorkeling the Blue Hole in Dahab

Scotland

Vagabonding and hustling my way at the Edinburgh Festival, exploring the highlands

England

Living in London for a couple years, and all that comes with it, oh, and spending a romantic night in an old castle.

Wales

Getting growled at on New Years Eve in Abergavanny

Ireland

New Year’s Eve in Temple Bar, visiting Belfast during a security alert, drinking Guinness from the source

France

Romance, the Louvre in Paris, Jim Morrison’s grave, the red carpet in Cannes

Monaco

Gambling in a casino in Monte Carlo

Italy

Michaelangelo’s David in Florence, the Vatican, pizzas and toga parties in Rome

Germany

Too much beer at a beer hall in Munich, exploring the Rhine

Holland

Amsterdam, but the memories are pretty fuzzy

Spain

Gaspacho in Valencia, the smell of olive oil in the air at Grenada

The United States

Mardi Gras 2000, driving through Nevada, Arizona and Utah in a red convertible

Mexico

A honeymoon without the wedding, and gorging on fresh guacamole.

South Africa

The Garden Route, the Drakensburg, Splashy Fen music festival, walking with a lion, bungee jumping in Gouritz River, and hell, my life ages 0 - 23.

Canada

Snowboarding in alpine peaks, camping in forests, lazy days on Wreck Beach, music festivals in Toronto, and hell, my life ages 23 -?

There’s more of course, but the train must have pulled into a station so this is as far as I got. But the true highlight, of course, is the people I met along the way. It’s a journey, this thing we call life.



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