The Best Of The Best

Welcome to our Best Of list! It was not easy to make these choices but they did allow us to reflect over the year and pick out some incredible moments we shared along the way. It goes without saying that there are many other moments/cities/countries that haven't been mentioned here that were really amazing, but we tried to be strict with only one answer each. So here we go...

• The Best Scenery
• The Biggest/Best Surprise
• The Best Food
• The Best Meal
• The Best Tour
• The Best Culture
• The Best Value for Money
• The Best Drive
• The Best Beach
• The Best Tourist Destination
• The Most Jaw Dropping Moment

The Best Scenery

Alex: Anapurna Circuit, Nepal
This is definitely the first place that comes to mind. We witnessed incredible views every day of our 10 day hike, but the best part was that most of the time the mountains were shrouded in clouds, so it was only in those rare moments when the clouds parted that you'd get a clear view of your surroundings. That's what made it so special. Honourable mentions: Ecuador, Scotland and Oregon, USA.

Fernando: Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal
We tend to always list this as an overall highlight of the trip, and I have to put it under the "Scenery" category. Being in the middle of the Himalayas is an incredibly humbling feeling. Makes you realise that we're not big after all!

The Biggest Surprise

Alex: South Belgium
Due to a sudden change in events, we ended up with a few extra days in Belgium. We had already seen Bruges and Brussels (two cities that we enjoyed but felt were overcrowded) so we were a bit at a loss as to where to go. A few Google searches later and we landed on the south of Belgium, my biggest (and best) surprise of the trip: Namur and Dinant. We escaped the summer crowds and enjoyed beautiful walks up the citadels and a bike ride along the river. It was truly beautiful.

Fernando: China
The little I knew about China before going there made me have very little expectations, and I was happily blown away. Such a fascinating, shocking culture that makes you question most of your belief systems. What's normal or ordinary? What's polite or rude? What's right or wrong (if there is such a thing)? China, its people, culture, food and cities made me take a step back and reassess what I thought I knew.

The Best Food

Alex: China
For me, it would have to be China. I was obsessed with the food, there were always plenty of vegetarian options and it was always super cheap so we could order A LOT. Plus the Chinese really know how to cook vegetables in different, delicious ways, so we were never bored with the food. We loved the hot pots - enjoying a traditional super spicy one and a vegan all-you-can-eat one. The top photo is the dishes we learnt to cook in Chengdu, featuring vegetarian Mapo Toufu, tiger beans and sweet and sour eggplant, so good! Also, Fernando enjoyed freshly grilled lamb skewers in the muslim district of Xi'An (with the carcass on show, no less).

Fernando: Brazil
Of course. That's what I'm made of. Feijoada, pão de queijo, pastel, and the staple rice and beans of every day. Very happy to explore my hometown São Paulo with new eyes this time and taking the time to discover new restaurants and places I had never been before when I was living there. Makes me have a new appreciation for São Paulo and Brazil in general.

The Best Meal

Alex: Restaurant Blauw, Utrecht
A standout meal for me has to be the Indonesian rijsttafel we enjoyed on our first night in Utrecht to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. Rijsttafel is a Dutch word that literally translates to "rice table" and is an elaborate meal adapted by the Dutch, which basically involves many, many small dishes. The restaurant we went to had a vegetarian version, which was amazing so I could enjoy every dish.

Fernando: Mo2'S Delights in Pokhara, Nepal
Momo's are one of the national dishes of Nepal, and Mo2'S Delights in Pokhara provided me with one of the most memorable meals of the trip. Very simple, unexciting place, but the momos served there were just delightful (got why the name now). For as low as AUD 12 we would indulge ourselves in a great variety of momos - pan fried, steamed, vegetarian, pork, chicken. Makes me happy just to think about that meal...

The Best Tour

Alex: All Day Tour in Chengdu, China
Our best and most action-packed tour was definitely the Chilli Cool tour we did in Chengdu. We just so happened to be the only ones doing the tour that day, which made it all the better as it became a very personalised, special experience with our guide (and tour company owner) Winter.

Clockwise from the top left:

• We started the day at the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding - where we got see, you guessed it, heaps of giant pandas. We went first thing in the morning, which meant smaller crowds and we got to see the pandas eating breakfast!
• After that we went to a buddhist monastary for lunch, we ate amongst the monks and enjoyed a simple but delicious vegetarian lunch (the cost is donation based and you clean all the plates yourself).
• Following lunch we stopped at a traditional tea house for a cup of tea, sitting amongst the locals as they hung out (the people in Chengdu are known for enjoying the slow life, spending hours just hanging out at tea houses).
• We then walked through a local market, filled with fresh fruits, vegetables and some live stock (fish, poultry). We even had a quick lesson with the dumpling woman as she showed us the correct way to wrap a dumpling.
• Finally, we ended up at a restaurant where we enjoyed a private cooking lesson with the chef, who demonstrated by cooking beside us. We cooked: tiger beans, vegetarian mapo toufu and sweet and sour eggplant. It was delicious.

Fernando: Delhi (India) to Kathmandu (Nepal), by G Adventures
India is a very challenging country to travel, so we decided to jump on a tour that would take us through the Golden Triangle in India, all the way to Nepal. And this turned out to be the best tour for me. The places we visited were definitely amazing, but having had such an amazing group of like-minded people allowed us to have great times including some crazy nights out in local bars, and drunk, late-night, overcrowded tuk-tuk rides.

The Best Culture

Alex: Egypt
After visiting Egypt and marvelling at beautifully preserved tombs and monuments that are thousands of years old, it's hard to be impressed by anything ever again. The strength of the Ancient Egyptian empire and the culture that inspired the empires and civilisations that followed is absolutely baffling.

Fernando: Andean civilisation, South America
Sneaky answer, as this includes Ecuador, Peru and even Chile. But I was honesty fascinated by the Andean culture. How did they manage to survive - and thrive! - in such challenging conditions? Most of them learned how to live and grow food and animals over 2,500m above sea level, sometimes with humidity levels close to 0 and very broad temperature range.
Not only did they manage to settle in the top of the Andes, but they built civilisations as astonishing as Machu Picchu!
I loved everything about the Andean culture, but mainly the quirky bits: how they eat guinea pigs (and cow foot soup!), shrink their enemies heads, drink coca leaf tea and have a giant bird like the condor as their symbol. Not to mention their amazing flag!

The Wiphala, commonly used as a flag representing the native people of the Andes

The Best Value for Money

Alex: Ecuador
Some people would disagree with me, but I found Ecuador to be a reasonably cheap country and I felt like our money stretched very far here, especially compared to other countries in South America. We averaged $140 AUD per day (vs $350 AUD per day average in Peru and Chile).

Food, activities and hostels were all quite cheap and good quality. We weren't skimping in any way, yet we were finding ourselves well below budget. What also great in Ecuador was the bus system, which was a bit confusing but super well connected and super cheap. We were taking 2-4 hour buses for less than $5 per person. This saved us a lot of money.

In terms of activites, we did a lot of hiking, which is a great, free activity. But paid activites, such as zip lining, the condor park, cacao tour etc were all significantly cheaper than what we saw in other countries in Central and South America.

Fernando: Ecuador
The national currency in Ecuador is USD, which was not in our favour when we got there - but even with a stronger currency, Ecuador turned out to be an incredibly cheap destination, probably because it's not in the spotlight of tourism (just yet). Meals would average to around AUD 9 for the two of us, with accommodation and tours also being fairly cheap. And it's amazing! So this makes Ecuador the "Best Bang for your Bug" category winner to me.

The Best Drive

Alex: Scotland
I don't anything can compare to our motorhome trip in Scotland, my first time in both vehicle and country and I absolutely loved the experience. We were pretty lucky with the weather, but the beauty of the motorhome meant we could chill out when the weather turned and we had to wait out the rain. Specifically our drive around the Isle of Skye, where we enjoyed an entire day of beautiful, sunshiney weather was spectacular.

Fernando: Oregon, USA
When we realised my Canadian visa wouldn't come in time, we took a detour and ended up driving around the beautiful state of Oregon. The scenery we found along the way and the national and state parks there were stunning, which makes me place it on the top of my list. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

The Best Beach

Alex: Pouso da Cajaiba, Brasil
Although we visited a lot of amazing beaches throughout our year away, I don't think anything can compare to Pouso da Cajaiba. As beautiful as it is hard to pronounce, this tiny fisherman's village is surrounded by mountains and forest and is only reachable by boat.

Fernando had been telling me about this place pretty much since we started dating, so it was amazing that he could finally bring me. It certainly felt like a well kept secret (although I hear it gets packed during festive seasons). We were staying in a house just footsteps away from the water, albiet simple and humble living, the beach is absolutely gorgeous and the crystal clear water was a dream to swim in. A must do!

Fernando: Redang, Malaysia
Very hard to rank the best beaches, as we're very well served with these both in Australia and Brazil, so I chose Malaysia, because not only it featured white sand and crystal clear waters, but that's where we got to swim with sea turtles!

The Best Tourist Destination

Alex: The Great Wall of China
This was a hard one, but considering all factors (price, crowds, wow-factor, ease of visit), I have to say the Great Wall of China. We opted to go on a day tour, which took us to Tianamen Square and the palace first - something we needed to see anyway. And I felt like we still had ample time in the afternoon to explore the wall.

I mainly chose this as it really exceeded my expectations - it was by far the least crowded attraction I had been to in China (We visited Mutianyu - apparently it's not a super popular part of the wall due to the many stairs), so I felt like we had the space to enjoy it.

Also, it was really enjoyable to go up and down the wall: we went up on a chairlift and down via a luge. Super fun! My only regret is not going to another part of the wall and doing a day hike.

Fernando: Machu Picchu, Peru
If we were to list all the main touristy destinations we visited, Machu Picchu has to be on the top. I loved all the others (Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, NYC), but Machu Picchu has something special. I think it's the mystery around it and the grandiosity of the citadel nested high up in the mountains just leaves you wondering "how the heck?!". We visited during the rainy season, it was still busy, it was expensive, but none of this put me off.

The Most Jaw Dropping Moment

Alex: Driving up and getting our first glimpse of Crater Lake in Oregon, USA (the state's only national park), was probably the most jaw-dropping experience for me. We lucked upon a gorgeous day with little to no wind, which meant the lake became a mirror and the view was truly insane. Also, like most of our time in Oregon, we were doing things on the fly with very little research, so with such little prior knowledge we were constantly surprised and amazed by the sights we were seeing.

Fernando: Varanasi, India
India is everything we spoke about - intense, crowded, poluted, wonderful. Yet somehow, when we got to Varanasi all this awe was taken to another level. Seeing bodies beautifully wrapped in white sheets and flowers to be cremated and the whole cerimony by the Ganges with the burning ghatts. That was truly a shock. Definitely in a good way, but that doesn't make it easy to digest. Thank you for providing this amazing moment, India!