Top 5: Islands and Beaches

1. Archipelago San Blas (Panama)

Paradise. No buildings, no shops, no people. A true desert island experience in the Caribbean, I visited whilst catching a yacht from Columbia to Panama.

2. Caye Caulker (Belize)

This small island in the Caribbbean off the coast of Belize has great diving, cheap rum and Bob Marley non-stop on the record player. Perfect for a few days chilling out (or 8 in my case).

3. Pulau Perhentian (Malaysia)

This backpacker island has the clearest water you have ever seen, no roads and cheap beer (very impressive in Malaysia!)

4. Punta Del Diablo (Uruguay)

This surfing town was supposed to be the perfect place for me to wind down after the Rio carnival, however it was a little too fun for that. The 5 days I spent here was all too few, but very enjoyable.

5. Utila (Honduras)

The place where I learnt to scuba dive was also a pretty fun island to hang around and the first English speaking place I had been to in 5 months!

Top 5: Man-made Wonders

1. Macchu Pichu and The Inca Trail ( Peru)

Having seen the photos hundreds of times you expect seeing Macchu Pichu to be something of an anti-climax. It's not.

2. Tikal (Guatemala)

The most impressive of the Mayan ruins that I saw. Even a hurricane and the heavy rains that accompanied it could not dampen the spirit.

3. The Taj Mahal (India)

This grand tomb of white marble is another of those sights that has earnt its' reputation for beauty with good reason.

4. Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

The most impressive ruin in South-East Asia lies surprisingly in the small country of Cambodia. This city, formerly home to the Khmer kingdom consists of a number of vast Hindu (many converted to Buddhist) complexes.

5. Ciudad Perdida (Columbia)

The 'lost city' of the Tayrona's takes a 6 day return journey hiking through the Columbian rainforest to visit. It is worth it though. As upon arrival one finds an ancient city where you can truly find a moment of peace. On my visit there were only 6 other people at the site, most people seem to be scared off by the 6 day hike and the history of FARC abductions from the site.

Top 5: Natural Wonders

1. Attacama Desert (Chile)

Some people may think it strange for a desert to top this list. Those people haven't been to the Attacama Desert. In some areas a desolate wasteland with nothing for miles but barren rock, in some areas brilliant white salt plains. But it the desert's lakes that show its true beauty, they vary in colour from dark red, to bright green and pearly white, and are invariably filled with beautiful light pink pellicans.

2. Iguazu Falls (Argentina)

If Angel Falls has the title of the worlds highest waterfall, then Iguazu should have the title of most impressive. Vast, deafening and surrounded by the Amazon rainforest. I had to take a 26 hour bus out of my way just to visit it. It was worth it.

3. Annapurna Sanctuary Himalayan region (Nepal)

I spent 8 days hiking in the Himalayas in Nepal and it is undoubteldy one the greatest experiences of my trip. Defnitely worth 8 days of 5.30 am wake-up calls from my sherpa guide.

4. Uyuni Salt Plain (Bolivia)

These vast, brilliant white plains of salt go on as far as the eye can see. Breathtaking. Like a polar ice cap, but salt.

5. The Blue Hole and Lighthouse Reef(Belize)

Having spent nearly 3 weeks scuba diving on this trip, it is unsurprising that the underwater world should make an appearance on this list. The Blue Hole is one of the worlds top dive spots due in part to the beautiful circular reef (Lighthouse reef) that surrounds this underwater cave. However the real experience begins when you descend 40m into the hole, and go beaneath the cave ledge and suddenly see a number of sharks emerge from the void beneath you and begin surround you.

Top 5: Countries

1. Bolivia

The cheapest country in Latin America, is full of friendly people and wild nightlife. You can buy dynamite and 97% alcohol in the shops as long as your 9, bike down the worlds most dangerous road and traverse the stunning salt plains, all whilst sitting at around 4000m altitude in this beautiful Andean country.

2. Nepal

Another mountain kingdom even more astoundingly beautiful than Bolivia. The 8 days I spent hiking in the Nepali Himalayas is undoubteldy one of the highlights of a brilliant year.

3. Panama

Many people may be surprised by this choice, and my answer would be to tell them to go to the San Blas Islands, the most beautiful islands I have ever been to. Bocas Del Toro another set of Carribean islands is less attractive, but a lot more fun (diving boards off the roof of the bar!) and Panama City's a fun night out too.

4. Uruguay

This little visited country is the perfect place to enjoy surf, sun, sand and steak in relaxing fasion.

5. Laos

Want an authentic South-East Asian experience? Head to Laos. With less tourists, friendlier people and a limited tourist industry that has yet to squeeze the culture out of this beautiful country as has happened elsewhere in the region.

Top 5: Cities

1. Valporaiso (Chile)

This Bohemian enclave on the Chilean coast is just a 10 minute bus journey from one of South America's biggest beach resorts, Vina Del Mar, but packs in 100 times more culture at a 100th of the price.

2. La Paz (Bolivia)

The capitial city of Bolivia has a wild nightlife, crazy daytime cativites (The world's most dangerous road bike ride) and dancing zebras instead of pedestrian crossings. What more could you ask for?

3. Kyoto (Japan)

Just a 2 hour bullet train away from Tokyo, the achingly beautiful Kyoto would be a highlight of any trip. In this city I took in the stunning architecture, developed the 'Gaijin smash' (see July entries) and learnt that my Karaoke song of choice is 'I Want it That Way' by the Backstreet Boys (if there was a 'most worrying things I have learnt about myself this year' top 5 that would be top).

4. Mexico City (Surprisingly Mexico)

Five street tacos for $1 and some of the best nightlife in Latin America alone put this city in my top 5. Did I mention 5 tacos for $1?

5. Pokhora (Nepal)

Nepal's second city is amazingly relaxed and beautifully set on the shores of a lake against a Himalayan backdrop. Cheap beer and steak did help push this up the list though.

Back to the Real World!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the penultimate installment of my blog and my last from my time on the road!

I am now back in Shanghai following around three weeks travelling around China. Unfortunately due to Visa restrictions I was unable to get a Russian Visa long enough to make my trans-siberian railway trip possible. This means that in two days I will be back in the UK as I fly home from Shanghai. I apologise for yet another lenghty delay between blog entries, however internet facilities in China are not that readily available and I have been unable to post until now.

After spending a few days in Shanghai and discovering that I was unable to get a Russian Visa, I decided to spend my last few weeks on the road taking in as much of China as I possibly could. So from Shanghai I flew down to Kunming in the Yunnan province bordering Tibet in Southern China. Kunming was a pleasant enough town, but in reality I only stayed there as it was a neccessary stop on route to Lijiang in the North of the province. Lijiang is far more of a tourist hub than Kunming, which is more of working city and in some ways this is one of the problems Lijiang has. Whilst it is a very attractive town, there are too many tourists. With the growth of the Chinese middle-class in recent years, there has been a huge boom in domestic tourism, and with 1.3 billion people in the country, thats a lot of tourists. The result is that while 10 years ago Lijiang would probably have been a city with incomparible charm, a Venice of the East, a small town built on a trading crossroads on top of a series of rivers and streams. However now, every house is now devoted to trying to flog poorly made crap to tourists and the town has lost much of its heritage. The town has also suffered from the Chinese tendency to go over the top with restoration work, to the point where the town in many ways begins to resemble Disneyland. However this is a little harsh and the town is still beautiful, particulalrly the Black Dragon Pool Park, from where you can gain a stunning view of the Himalayas reflected in the park's lake.

My next destination after another brief stop in Kunming, was Chengdu. I spent only a couple of days here looking around the pleasant city, however my real reason for visiting Chengdu was because it was home to China's biggest Panda breeding centre. I spent a very enjoyable morning looking around and got to see a large number of Pandas. This appealed to me far more than the tales of travellers' who had gone on 'Panda safaris' for a week only to see nothing but bamboo.

Following my brief stint in Chengdu, my next stop was Xi'an. Apart from Beijing, Xi'an is probably the one town in China which all tourists must visit. The town itself retains a surprising amount of charm and is home to a number of impressive sites all enclosed in spectacular fasion by the imposing city walls. However in Xi'an the must-see site is actually outside of town. The city itself was actually the first capital of China, being the home of its' first emperor Qin. His legacy is not only sealed by being the country's first emperor, but also by the Terracotta Army he built to guard his tomb. In all honesty I had expected to be dissapointed by the Terracotta Army and was surprised at how impressed I was. The site is definitely worth seeing, however I would probably stop short of agreeing with the self-proclaimed '8th wonder of the world' title given to it by the Chinese.

The next stop after Xi'an was the little visited (at least by Chinese tourists) Pingyao. This town was probably my favorite place in China, possibly because it was not mobbed by the tourist hordes that I encountered everywhere else in the country, and possibly because the town itself has been spared the poor restoration work that has ruined many other Chinese sites. I fell in love with this town particularly at night. This is when the smoke from the coal burners combined with the fog to shroud the air in a thick mist, which was given a red tinge by the lamps on the side of houses that illuminate the town. That is not to say that the town is lacking in things to see in the day, with many of the city's buildings being over 500 years old and the city being enclosed in a colossal city wall. Also unlike many other Chinese towns, Pingyao has resisted the temptation of the high-rise building, so that from the city's walls you can look down over the entire town.

However due to time limitations, I could not linger in Pingyao and had to head on to Beijing. I the country's capital I took in the Forbidden city (too many tourists but impressive) the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace(far more relaxed and particularly beautiful as there were fewer people and both are set in parks which are particularly attractive at this time of year with Autumn having set in) as well as visiting the Great Wall (impressive).

Now I am back in Shanghai and in 2 days will be back in the UK. I look forward to seeing everyone back home, and will write one last entry outlining my favorite countries, sites, natural wonders, cities and chill-out stops.

Catch you all soon

Phil