Sunrise at Manzanilla Beach, Trinidad and Tobago

Day 177 - Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹

July 29, 2021

Little Tobago is relaxed and slow paced while Trinidad is lively, energetic and densely populated. This is kind of unsurprising that Tobago only has 4% of the countries 1.3 million population.

Other interesting things to know about Trinidad and Tobago are that it hosts the Caribbean’s largest party - the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

Oh, and finally, Trinidad and Tobago is home to Pitch lake. Pitch lake is a continually replenishing lake of tar. The world’s single largest supply of natural bitumen.

No one can claim I don’t serve up factual gold, night after night.

Houses on the Hillside in Morvant Laventille, Port of Spain Trinidad

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Day 176 - Tonga 🇹🇴

July 28, 2021

Today we are actually travelling to the South Pacific, to Tonga. Tonga is a small island nation comprising of around 170 islands and is roughly similar in size to Singapore.

Like Australia, Tonga was re-discovered, or introduced to the western world by Captain Cook.

Tonga is known for its blowholes and whale watching opportunities where apparently you can even swim with humpback whales. The Mapu'a 'a Vaea Blowholes stretch along the coastline of the island Tongatapu and can blast up to 30 metres high. It’s also possible to see newly formed islands in Tonga - this means Tonga may eventually work its way further up the country-size league table.

When it comes to cultural activities, Tonga is known for its Rugby and feasts.

One thing Tonga is less known for is staging real-life Lord of the Flies episode in the 1960s. Six boys were shipwrecked on a Tongan island for 15 months. Unlike in the William Golding novel, they all survived, and in fact thrived. Having said that when they were eventually rescued and returned home, they were promptly arrested for stealing a boat.

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Day 175 - Togo 🇹🇬

July 27, 2021

Today we’re not visiting the South Pacific island nation of Togo. No, Togo is not in the Pacific at all. Togo is a West African country of eight and a half million people, who apparently were particularly unhappy in 2013. Don’t say I don’t serve up facts to-go.

Togo is one of the smaller West African nations as it’s smaller than Latvia. Togo is wedged between Ghana and Benin and is a particularly narrow country and is only 160 km wide at its widest point.

During the 1700s, Togo was colonised by Denmark before becoming the German protectorate of Togoland in 1884. After World War One Togo became administered by France before eventually gaining independence in 1960. Ever since a military coup in 1963, Togo has been run by the same Gnassingbé family despite numerous protests.

In late 2015 Africa's largest ivory seizure in 25 years was made in Togo's capital Lomé. The seizure weighed over 4 tons and was likely the result of poaching over 800 elephants.

If you decide to visit Togo, apparently the Koklo Meme, or grilled chicken is particularly good.

Anyway, I have to go. Catch you tomorrow!

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Day 174 - Thailand 🇹🇭

July 26, 2021

Thailand is a truly special country. Energetic, chaotic and vibrant, yet at the same time serene and rejuvenating. Thailand fuzes incredible draw-dropping natural beauty, vibrant cities.

All of this is without even mentioning the aromatic, spicy food. Thailand is the only place where I’ve had three meals consecutively. We started in a Michelin guide-worthy Hainanese chicken place, then simply had to try some fried chicken in a neighbouring restaurant before calling into another place for grilled chicken satay chicken. It was the Bangkok chicken trifecta.

Our Thai itinerary

For Joe and I, Thailand was the perfect escape from a dreary Danish February. Scandinavian winters linger far longer than I can handle, and getting a little winter sun is the perfect antidote.

Many other, probably better itineraries are available, but this is what we did when we visited in February 2019.

We started in Bangkok. No trip to Thailand would be complete without at least a short stay in Bangkok. We ate our round Bangkok, mostly eating as much street food as we could. We took in many temples, braved the bustle of Bangkok’s canal ferries and enjoyed the contrast between new and old Bangkok.

After Bangkok, we headed to Koh Yao Noi, a sparsely populated island paradise. The perfect place to learn to ride a scooter. There’s not a huge amount to do on Koh Yao Noi, but this is kind of the point. The island isn’t so popular with tourists, so its beaches are calm and unspoilt. It was the perfect island to read a few novels and enjoy doing nothing.

From Koh Yao Noi we travelled by boat to the island of Ko Lanta. Ko Lanta island has a lot more energy than Koh Yao Noi, but is no less beautiful. Here we mostly spent our days exploring the island by scooter, eating, and lazing on Ko Lanta’s spectacular beaches. Ko Lanta also has a beautiful national park, the Mu Ko Lanta National Park. We also took a particularly worthwhile cooking class - Cooking with Mon. The recipes we learned here we still use on a regular basis.

Our final stop on our trip was in the Northern city of Chiang Mai. Chang Mai was the perfect place to round off our trip with its beautiful ancient walled city, temples, great street food and beautiful forested surroundings. We stayed in the spotless 99 The Heratage Hotel which I cannot recommend enough. Oh, and Chang Mai is also the perfect place to enjoy a massage or two. My pick would be the Oasis Spa.

Thailand I cannot wait to one day return!

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Day 173 - Tanzania 🇹🇿

July 25, 2021

5 quick facts about Tanzania

Tanzania has a rapidly growing population. Currently, the population is around 61 million, but it’s grown by over 16 million people in the last 9 years.
Tanzania is home to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and the fourth most topologically prominent peak in the world.
Tanzania is also home to Africa’s lowest point - the floor of Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s deepest laking, stretching all the way down – 358m below sea level. Lake Tanganyika is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world. What’s more three of Africa’s Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania’s borders.
Freddie Mercury was from Zanzibar, Tanzania. In case you’re wondering Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous island off the coast of Tanzania.
The largest mammal migration, the great wildebeest migration takes place in Tanzania in the Serengeti National Park.

Anyway, I’m done for the day, hakuna matata!

I'm writing about every country in the world. One a day for 195 days. Learn more

The road to the Ak-Baital pass, Tajikistan

Day 172 - Tajikistan 🇹🇯

July 24, 2021

Today we head to Tajikistan, a central Asian country, and although it is larger than Greece, it’s still the smallest nation in Central Asia. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. This is exactly what makes it interesting, as Tajikistan is a country at the crossroads of so many differing cultures.

Tajikistan was previously part of the Russian empire and then the Soviet Union. Since a civil war after independence, Tajikistan has been ruled by President Emomali Rahmon who has ruled over an authoritarian regime since 1994. In the Economist's democracy index report of 2020, Tajikistan is placed 160th, after Saudi Arabia, as an "authoritarian regime”. It’s unsurprising that in the most recent election president President Emomali Rahmon swept up more than 90% of the vote.

In April 2021 there were border clashes between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan over water - the first clashes since independence.

Looking at the map you can see Tajikistan has some particularly messy borders with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan with enclaves and exclaves.

Tajikistan is a very mountainous country with more than half of the country lying above 3000 metres. 93% of Tajikistan is considered mountainous. That’s a lot of mountains to find names for - such as the mountain dubbed the “Lenin Peak” that reaches a dizzying height of 7134 m. Lenin Peak isn’t Tajikistan’s highest mountain though, that is Ismoil Somani which reaches 7495 m.

While we’re on the topic of mountainous superlatives, Tajikistan is home to the world’s longest glacier outside of the polar regions. The Fedchenko Glacier is 77 km long.

Tajikistan is also home to the Nurek Dam, the second tallest dam in the world at 304 metres built to provide hydroelectric power and supplies 98% of Tajikistan’s electricity.

Other than having fantastic geography for hydroelectric power, Tajikistan’s biggest export is Aluminium, cotton and dried apricots.

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Day 171 - Syria 🇸🇾

July 23, 2021

Today we visit Syria, a country that is now sadly synonymous with a bloody civil war.

More than 500,000 people have been killed, or are missing, the majority of which are due to actions of the Syrian government. The war has raged on for the past 10 years and has drawn in many countries such as Russia, The UK, US, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel. In that time More than half of Syria’s population has been displaced since 2011.

Instead of finding facts about Syria, I’m going to donate to the British Red Cross Syria crisis appeal - it’s a small action, but hopefully it can make a small difference. Unemployment is over 50%, the cost of food has doubled, and coronavirus has only added to the challenges facing Syrians.

If you want to read more about the Syrian war, I recommend this BBC article which explains why the Syrian War has lasted for 10 years.

I'm writing about every country in the world. One a day for 195 days. Learn more

Day 170 - Switzerland 🇨🇭

July 22, 2021

Haven’t spent that long in Switzerland. It was the first country I ever entered other than the UK and France.

To me (and probably most people) Switzerland is synonymous with good cheese, skiing, cows with cowbells, and money. Lots of money. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that Switzerland is the most expensive country in the world. It also has the fanciest trains I’ve ever travelled on. The train we took from Zurich Central to Zurich Airport was a double-decker train with a large restaurant car replete with waiter service and crisp white table cloths.

As well as being particularly refined, Switzerland is also a little weird. Not only because of its German dialect that other German speakers often can’t understand, but also because women weren’t allowed to vote until 1971, oh and also officially Switzerland has no capital city.

Switzerland is known as being neutral, but it only joined the UN in 2002. Despite having very low crime rates, Switzerland has one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world mainly because after national service, conscripts are allowed to keep their guns.

I’ll leave you with a final fact: Switzerland is home to the world’s longest tunnel. The Gotthard tunnel is 57km long.

I'm writing about every country in the world. One a day for 195 days. Learn more

Day 169 - Sweden 🇸🇪

July 21, 2021

First visited in 2008 on one of my first independent weekend trips. I remember I was very excited to be flying with Scandinavian. This was still the era where you got a free newspaper and meal in economy. Visiting Scandinavia for the first time was a big deal back then. I vividly remember trying moose for the first time, eating vast amounts of pickled herring and exploring Skansen.

Today I’m going to let the photos and a few lists do most of the talking:

My top 5 Swedish things:

Dill Crisps (chips)
Abba
Gravlax
Free dessert and coffee in country restaurants
Volvo

A few places in Sweden I’d love to visit:

Trollhättan
Sarek National Park
Gotland, Sweden’s Baltic island
Kiruna the desolate far-north mining town
Yasuragi, Stockholms Japanese themed spa and baths

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Day 168 - Suriname 🇸🇷

July 20, 2021

Today we head to South America’s least-known country. Probably.

For anyone as unfamiliar with Suriname as me, Suriname is a small country on the northeastern coast of South America. Incidentally, it’s South America’s smallest country (both in size and population) and is roughly the same size as Tunisia.

Suriname is a Dutch-speaking country as it was previously a Dutch colony (for 300 years) gaining independence in 1975.

Surprisingly for a South American country, 27% of Suriname’s population are ethnically Hindustani. They are descendants of 19th-century indentured workers from India.

Suriname’s main export is bauxite, an aluminium ore that contributes around fifteen per cent of the country's GDP.

Suriname’s national dish, pom is an oven-baked dish made using arrowleaf elephant ear root and chicken - it looks genuinely delicious. If your local supermarket happens to have an abundance of arrowleaf elephant ear root, here’s a pom recipe.