What’s the very best country to go to? One top traveler picks his top five

I used to be unprepared for the natural great thing about Rwanda. Like many, I traveled to Rwanda for the primate trekking. However the sudden closure of the Burundi border meant I had some beyond regular time.

What a serendipitous gift it was to find gorgeous tea plantations, a luscious landscape of a thousand hills, and the singing fishermen of Lake Kivu who work at night from tri-hulled boats. 

Rwanda gets kudos for its reconciliation after the 1994 genocide. Across the country there are genocide memorials, which approach its difficult history respectfully and transparently.

The primate trekking shouldn’t be too shabby, either. I ventured to Volcanoes National Park searching for the golden monkey, a photogenic sub-species present in central Africa’s Virunga Mountains. I used to be hoping for a close-up, but as a substitute got a detailed encounter. One mischievous monkey found his blissful place between my feet.

At a dramatic cliff named the “Fringe of the World,” I watched the amber sun drift below the horizon on my first day within the Kingdom. The vast, uninterrupted views will likely be hard to top, I assumed.

A couple of days later I experienced one other Saudi superlative while immersed in a fertile green valley surrounded by massive red sandstone pillars. I wandered Wadi Al Disah, or “Valley of the Palm Trees,” in disbelief that a desert environment may very well be so sublime.

Wadi Al Disah is the geological cousin of Jordan’s Wadi Rum — but without the crowds. The Nabateans built the now world-famous site of Petra 2,000 years ago. Additionally they built Hegra, a prized World Heritage Site in Saudia Arabia, which is most interesting after dark.

Within the evening, a piece of its monumental tombs is illuminated by 1000’s of candles, creating the mystique of an ancient civilization. Mass tourism is comparatively recent within the Kingdom, and I felt genuinely welcome, because of the Arabian hospitality. The highlight of my journey: a spontaneous offer to go to a Bedouin camp. Our hosts invited us inside their tent compound and shared tea, photos and stories of their nomadic lifestyle.     

Some years ago, I cycled through this small gem of a rustic and its mountains, turquoise waters and Orthodox churches. While nearby Croatia gets a lot of the attention and visitors, Montenegro is the place to wallow in Adriatic ambience.

The UNESCO-honored Bay of Kotor is commonly called Europe’s southernmost fjord, but it surely’s actually a submerged river canyon.

Near the Stari Grad (Old Town) of Kotor, I hiked as much as a fortress and popped right into a Serbian Orthodox church that dates to 1305. Inside I discovered a talkative priest. One way or the other, he and I overcame the language barrier to have a superb chat.

Cycling along the Adriatic Sea toward Albania, I spotted the peninsular village of Sveti Stefan. I used to be just passing through. However the lingering image of that rustic hamlet with red clay rooves, fringed by blue shades of sea, calls me back.

On my journey “Way Down Under” I used to be among the many very first visitors of the season, which begins in mid-November. 

In Antarctica the colours are pure and spectacular: limitless, unblemished whites punctuated by fiery orange sunsets. The pristine places we explored on foot and by kayak had been untouched for not less than six months throughout the brutal winter.

On King George Island, a crew member of our expedition ship reached out to the nearby Polish research base, staffed by just seven members. After a protracted winter, the researchers were beyond longing for some fresh faces. They invited us into their intimate living quarters, generously sharing chocolates, snacks and precious fruit. I’m desirous to return to the White Continent again to experience the planet’s coldest, windiest, driest, and maybe most serene place.