Highlights of our trip
Just to finish off, here’s a (heavily abbreviated) list of some of the highlights of our honeymoon…
- Watching the mists swirl in the wind and finally, in the end, reveal Machu Picchu (Peru) early in the morning of our last day of the Inca Trail
- Having the hike to Condoriri (one of the peaks in the Cordillera Real, near La Paz) base camp all to ourselves and watching the spectacular Andean landscape change as the snow laid down overnight melted throughout the day
- Watching red flamingos go about there business at the red coloured (and aptly named) Laguna Colorado (Bolivian Altiplano)
- Catching a glimpse into the crater from the rim of Vulcan Lascar (near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile) at 5480m and looking up to get an incredible view along a chain of other vulcanoes stretching off into the distance
- Having the stunningly varied hike around Refugio Frey and Refugio Lynch (near Bariloche, Argentina) all to ourselves on a beautiful sunny Xmas day
- Watching the sun rise over a cloudless Cerro Fitz Roy (anyone who’s been to Los Glaciaros NP in Patagonia can attest to how hard it is to catch a glimpse of the peak through ever-present clouds, let alone catch it on a cloudless morning)
- Walking into the natural amphitheatre formed by the peaks at the end of the (wind-swept) French Valley, having passed cascades, sliding waterfalls, crystal-clear streams, beautiful forests and dramatic (and regularly calving) hanging glaciers (Torres del Paine NP, Chile)
- Glacier walking at the base of Cerro Torre (Los Glaciaros NP, Argentina) on a beautiful sunny day
- Watching a deep red sunset envelop Manhattan, and in particular the Empire State building, from the top of the Rockefeller centre (New York)
- Waking up to find snow falling on the balcony of our guesthouse in Lower Pisang and walking through a stunning winter wonderland for most of the morning (Annapurna Circuit, Nepal)
- Early morning ascent up to the Thorung-La (pass), the highest point (5416m) of the Annapurna Circuit (Nepal) and and afternoon descent into Muktinath, on a perfect (and very bright!) day. Actually, the whole week from Manang to Marpha was pretty hard to beat. Spoilt for choice of highlights, I had to pick one
- Watching our plans for a walk up Bessho-san disappear under two inches of snow (laid down in about half an hour!). Very scenic though (near Fukuoka, Japan)
- Walking through a snow covered gorge with crystal-clear streams and waterfalls called Sandan-kyo (near Hiroshima, Japan) on a beautiful sunny day
- Staying at a secluded and ancient monastery (with sleeping quarters just out the back of one of the temples!) on Emei Shan in China (although had mixed feelings about being woken up by the chanting monks at 4am )
- Watching the sun rise over the rice paddies and karst limestone peaks in Chaolong (near Yangshuo, China)
- Lazing about on a picture-perfect beach on Koh Samui (Thailand)
- And last but not least: sharing all these highlights (except for one or two of the sunrises perhaps, a bit too early for some ) with Justine, who every day makes me feel like I’m the luckiest man alive
And, of course, just as important, our food highlights:
- Asado (barbeque) lamb in El Calafate, Argentina
- Some salmon dish prepared by our friends in Vancouver, Canada
- Cup Cakes in New York (somewhere close to the Library)
- Cold Stone Creamery (icecream) in Times Square, New York
- Some pork dish prepared by our friends in Groningen, Holland
- Sushi in Kyoto, Japan
- Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima, Japan
- Hida beef in Takayama, Japan (apparently similar to, but less established than Kobe beef)
- Steak in Hong Kong (after 4 weeks of trekking in Nepal )
- Some fish dish in one of the restaurants in the Muslim quarter (Xian, China)
- Most of the food around the Sichuan province… spicy! (Chengdu, China)
And finally, yes, I’m working on posting the photos… house- and job-hunting just might have to come first unfortunately