Before I can immerse myself in my here and now and tell you guys about Sydney, I need time. Good stuff takes a while. There is a litany of things I want to review. So here it goes...
After two years of travelling around Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the look back is one thing above all else: nostalgic. Everything is more beautiful, better and brighter in my memory.
I have travelled through 19 countries: Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, United Arabic Emirates, India, Nepal, China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and now Australia.
MY HIGHLIGHT'S LIST
My favourite country: Finland.
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The most beautiful country: Iran.
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The most magical moment: In the snow while ice bathing in Finland.
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The tastiest wine: Georgia.
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The most delicious shashlik: Georgia.
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The most beautiful mountains: Georgia, Nepal, China (Tibet).
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The greatest cities: Bangkok, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Helsinki.
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The most hospitable country: Does not exist. Countries or societies aren't hospitable, but individuals are, and they exist in every country in the world.
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The best food: South of China.
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The country where travel was the hardest: Nepal.
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The hardest test: My two months in Iran.
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The most wondrous animals: Australia.
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The wildest party: Iran, Russia, Poland.
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The tastiest tea: Iran (black tea), Latvia (herbal tea).
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The (for me) most dangerous country: Iran.
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The biggest surprise: India and Armenia.
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The most impressive river: the Volga, followed by the Ganges.
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The most beautiful border crossing: Russia/Georgia at the foot of Kazbegi.
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The most beautiful churches: Armenia.
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The most beautiful mosques: Iran.
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The most beautiful temples: Tibet.
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The most beautiful palaces: Russia and Iran.
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The clearest water: Tibet and Finland.
Do you have questions? Put them in the comments. I'd like to go further into these statements, but need some points from you. What do you want to know more about? What surprised you? What don't you get?
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John (Saturday, 06 October 2018 19:20)
Hi Isabelle! I’d be curious why Iran was voted the most dangerous country for you and not, say, Russia, India, Nepal or China.
Also, what wild parties did you get up to in Russia?
And finally, what surprised you about Armenia?
My heart goes out to you in Australia. I wish you health and a good onward journey
Bella (Sunday, 07 October 2018 04:50)
Hi John! Thanks! :-) The Iran answer is a loooong one, I'll put it in a post. Don't think I have talked about that in detail yet, so thanks! :-)
Party in Russia: It's not a plural but I had a long and (for my stomach) devastating evening with a couple of travellers on Crimea. Similar to the one I had in Poland, actually. ;-)
Well, Armenia surprised me, because I thought it would be a mix of Russian, Georgian and Turkish culture and to a degree you could make the point that it is. But I didn't expect the degree of religious devotion I encountered and the social rules that foreshadowed my experience in Iran. Some of the things that happened in Iran, I also experienced in Armenia. The one big difference was, that this is a Christian country. I'm a christian. But Armenia is Christian in a way different to me. I loved learning about another way to do church, to understand the way we communicate with God etc. It was an education.
My bad experiences in Armenia were so similar to the once in Iran (beeing propositioned to by taxidrivers in dark tunnels, unwarranted male visit in an empty dorm room at night, etc) that I learned early not to look for answers in religious rules, as there are none. It was a fortunate (albeit horrific) experience and saved me from my own internal prejudiced nazi (that later took over my inner narrative for a couple of weeks in Iran).
But also, I met wonderful people from Armenia and other parts of the world. They were there when it first got really hard for me and helped with what seemed to me where little things then. They got bigger and bigger. I was lucky that I had people who looked out for me.
Right now, I'm sitting on the green leather couch of a lady I met in Jerevan. She has been putting me up for the past four weeks, while I looked for a job and tried not to loose my head during my transition to Sydney. But also, she gave me a fake wedding ring, to protect me in Iran, that last day we spend together in Jerevan. That ring was extremely important. I wore it everyday till it fell off my finger while doing Yoga in Nepal and dissappeared in the mud.
I get surprised a lot while travelling, because I don't do much research. But Armenia was the country where I was wrong all the time and that was kinda fun. I saw my first wild eagle in Armenia, went on an echanting hike, sat on a ski lift and saw the most beautiful churches of my life there. The good, the bad and the ugly. I didn't expect any of it. Voilá, that's why most surprising.