Our world is huge. But this does not stop me from travelling around. I have this problem where I spontaneously decide that it is time to move my feet again, so I buy plane tickets in a very short time and usually spend too much money on them. But then in a few days, I’m writing a message to my family or to my friends from the most famous coffee shop in Guatemala, or I’m taking a selfie from the biggest tower in the world, Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Because I can and because I am loving this so much. In this article, I would like to invite you to my favourite experiences around the world. Enjoy reading.
I have visited Sri Lanka in 2015. The country on a map looks like a tear and when you leave this country you can easily drop some of them from your eyes, as the trip is truly pleasant.
What I liked the most was the beautiful Ella! Sri Lanka is the world’s third largest producer of tea, and the majority of tea plantations grow around Ella. You must take the famous Kandy to Ella train to get there. Near Ella is also the famous Lipton Seat with a viewpoint, where Sir Thomas Lipton used to sit and admired his vast plantation, and sampled some of the world's finest tea straight from the source. An amazing little town where you can easily spend a few days. I invite you to read more about Sri Lanka in one of my already published articles.
Also, Malaysia has plenty of tea terraces around, like Sri Lanka has. But this time I will talk about wildlife experience in Malaysian Borneo. I have visited Malaysia in 2014, I was travelling through the peninsular part, then I took a flight to Borneo to the place called Sarawak. From there I took a boat to Bako National Park.
Have you seen these monkeys yet? Because I can tell you, they are really funny creatures. They are called proboscis monkeys or long-nosed monkeys. They are endemic to this island, and they are found mostly in mangrove forests and on the coastal areas of the island, so we were lucky to see them. What an experience!
Wearing a scarf on your head during walk around the city of Tehran at 40 degrees with long trousers and long blouse is a must in this country. The scarf was silk, which means it was falling from my hair regularly. I cannot imagine being covered like this in Slovenia, but it was for sure an experience there, even though it was an annoying one.
In visited Bangkok around five times (mostly because I was flying through Bangkok somewhere else), but what really impresses me in Thailand is the following: endless turquoise beaches which offer great snorkelling, friendly people, very cheap massages which draw people here from around the world, and affordable, tasty food.
This time I will put you on the island on the south of the country, called Koh Lipe. The island is not so visited by tourists as it lies on the south of the country, almost bordering with Malaysia. That is why it is so unique. You have three main beaches here, and one of them – the Sunrise Beach – is just breathtaking. Here I learned to snorkel for the first time, and I did not know at the time that this island will be one of my best island experiences when it comes to snorkelling.
They have a city called PETRA! Do I have to say more?
And besides the amazing desert they have there, I have climbed the highest hill in Jordan, but what is so interesting about this hill (called Jabal Umm ad Dami) is that it borders Saudi Arabia, which is a country most covered with deserts in the world.
There is a very interesting article about Jordan in our magazine.
The hardest trek I did in my life!
The whole experience is a bit scary from the very beginning, because you must enter a plane to fly to the one of the highest and deadliest airports in the world – Lukla. There is an adrenaline rush right from the start. During this trek, you are rewarded with an excellent view of the world’s highest mountains. Also, during the trek, you pay the price with an altitude sickness and a possible headache.
I invite you to read more about this beautiful country here.
In 2016, I had the chance to see the biggest creatures in the water, the mighty whale sharks. And what an amazing experience that was!
In the small village of Oslob, you can swim with giant whale sharks if you have the courage to do so. It is not necessary to go by boat, 100 meters from the shore is enough. Every morning, local fishermen feed these giants, which is why they come so close. Whales are not so dangerous as they eat plankton, but you need to be prepared if any of them open their mouths near you while you are snorkelling. You also need to be careful as the whale’s tail can be sharp, and you can injure yourself. It was a wonderful half-hour experience.
I invite you to read more about this beautiful country in my already published article.
My highlight here was paragliding over the beautiful OluDeniz Beach from the mountain Babadag. But what adds to this country to put it under number 8 is also the amazing food – so many choices for vegetarians, friendly and talkative Turkish people, and amazing historic building; all this made my three weeks of exploring Turkey a big Turkish delight.
Standing on the top of Africa!
I had a privilege to visit this country twice. First time in 2006, when I travelled around the country for one month. Tanzania has some amazing safaris on the north of the country, which are very famous and touristy, such as the biggest Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Manjara, Arusha and some smaller parks nearby. Very famous is also national park Gombe, which is on the eastern side of the country near Tanganyika Lake, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gombe is home of many chimpanzees and was home of Jane Goodall, who lived and studied chimpanzees for many years.
My second visit to this beautiful country was in 2019, with the purpose of hiking to the top of the highest African mountain. This was my highest accomplishment so far! With 5.896 meters, Kilimanjaro is proudly standing there.
I invite you to read more about this beautiful country here.
Geothermal activities, great volcanoes, green nature for hiking, super friendly people (when you are on a bus, the driver will start talking about the country and the history just to entertain you), so many turquoise lakes you cannot even imagine. And also, very beautiful men with long hair, as they are mixed with Polynesian population, this is the reason their skin colour is so chocolate and their hair is black. Something for my eyes, for sure.
If you are more curious, please read two of my articles about New Zealand:
Beautiful underwater world and turquoise colour beaches for a week or two to relax. I thought I would be bored, but at the end I realised that 8 days was not enough. You can snorkel or dive with mantas, eagle rays, sting rays, little sharks, turtles, nemos etc.
Little town of Esperance with pink Hillier Lake and beautiful Ningaloo reef for snorkelling is what puts this country on my number 4.
I can write so many pluses about this country. I have visited this country four times already, in 2009, 2019 and twice in 2022, this is how impressed about the country I am. Pink lakes, outstanding nature, amazing snorkelling, and animals like kangaroos and koalas which you would not see anywhere in the world.
Australians are a bit funny though, not really realising what is going on around the world and what I did not like about them is, when you speak “your version of English” there, somehow, they look at you a bit funny, as they speak “Australian English”. Still, so many pluses that it deserves to be my number 4.
There are two beautifully written articles about Australia here:
Bolivia is a country of superlatives!
Salar the Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at over 10,000 square kilometres in area. In the middle of this salty desert there is an island with huge cactuses, and they even have a hotel made from salt where you can spend the night.
We were swimming on almost 4,000 meters in one of many “aquas calientes” in this area. Outside temperature were near freezing, but the water temperature inside was around 35 degrees.
I have also cycled the death road, which starts at approx. 5,000 meters high and goes all the way down to Coroico village at 1,200 meters. The craziest adventure I have ever done!
This is a paradise on earth! Lonely Planet even put them on number 1 spot for the best country to visit in 2022. They have opened the door for tourism in January 2022, so pack your bags!
The Cook Islands have some of the best beaches in the world. And I know I was already writing about great beaches in this article, but the one beach I would like to point out here, is at Aitutaki lagoon. Since islands are far away from other countries, they are not crowded, but the prices can be a bit higher, due to the fact that they have to import the majority of the goods.
Please take a look at my article about Cook’s biggest island, Rarotonga.
On number one, of course, is my country. Green, clean, one of the five safest countries in the world. Slovenia. It is not expensive, our food is delicious, people speak excellent English. We have a seaside, mountains, turquoise lakes, great quality wine. What more does a traveller need here for two weeks? I will tell you my highlights – there are mountain lakes here. Whether it is lake Bled, lake Bohinj, Triglav lakes valley or Kriška lakes, they will all leave you speechless.
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