Leaving Continental Europe behind, we head into the home stretch of our time overseas. For the first time in six months, we find ourselves in an English speaking country though the words are strangely accented. Rolling green hills and grey skies embrace us as we visit cities, castles, and comedy shows.
Eastern Europe feels like a place just beginning to get its legs in a long race towards prosperity. Streets and businesses bustle with activity amongst the crenelated beauty of its buildings, some newly restored and resplendent, others falling to dust with neglect. Taken all together, they are a population on the rise.
A wonderful mixture of the old and new, cities and mountains, hot and cold roll together as we venture through several countries from the Netherlands to Italy. We return to more familiar surroundings and visit new places.
Abu Dhabi is a very old city quickly building itself into a very new and future focused city. We take a short trip to explore this desert oasis. And it's hot. Really hot.
Japan was at the very top of our places to go to list and it did not disappoint. From the food to the people to the sites and sounds, it was an amazing stop on our tour. Some places were over-the-top but a lot of the country is quite subdued and pleasant. Japan, you will be missed.
Bruce Lee is amazing so we decided to go to Hong Kong. That and Hong Kong is a place with an intriguing past and future. A place where East meets West and the new direction of this metropolis is still being decided. The massive towers that populate the city can be overwhelming but we had a few days to crawl through its artificial canyons. Next time, I hope it is more than just a few days.
Vietnam was one of the first places that felt truly alien to us. Hardly anyone speaks English and just about every sign is only in Vietnamese. Despite any hardship on our part, the people were great and the places we visited were very nice. It's definitely a place we would visit again.
We decided to go to Cambodia after hearing good things about it during the first few months of our trip and we were not disappointed. It is a place of dual identity. Stunning countrysides, temples and culture on one hand but populated areas in desperate need of infrastructure and resources on the other.
A brief stop before we really dove into the cultures of Southeast Asia. It was a good taste of things to come with areas of shiny newness and areas of failing infrastructure and maintenance.
The future looks promising with cities like this but hopefully we won't lose our souls in the process. There is more to a city than pretty looks and nice buildings.
Such an incredible culture and people that really moved us creatively. There was beauty around every corner while getting our first taste of a truly developing nation.
A familiar land that we had never previously visited. This country felt like America in many ways. We stuck mostly to metropolitan areas this time around and immersed ourselves in city life.
An incredible landscape awaited us in New Zealand. We explored amazing countrysides, small towns and rebuilding cities along the way. We also walked a lot and drank a good bit of beer.
The beginning of our journey was slow and relaxing. We met some great people and watched some wonderful sunsets. The perfect start to a journey in a beautiful land that was as close to perfect as you can get.