REMEMBRANCES OF TIMES PAST:
None of this is exhaustive. It is simply the things which stick in my head.
COUNTRY HIGHLIGHTS:
Mongolia: the best of all that I visited on this trip. I have always wanted to go there, but never thought I would. Sometimes places you really want to go simply do not live up to your expectations but Mongolia was fantastic. I really want to go back there.
China: in second-place. I didn't actually think I would enjoy China as much as I did. Sichuan was brilliant, I loved being up in the mountains and on the plateau. An incredibly difficult country in which to travel the way I do, in so many ways, but perhaps that is
why I liked it so much.
COUNTRY LOWLIGHTS:
Russia: bleearggh! If I ever see Russia again I'm going to punch it in the face.
South Korea: mid-summer, unfriendly people, no birds.... South Korea is definitely not on my list of countries to return to any time soon!
MOST DISGUSTING COUNTRY:
India: most specifically Kolkata. Really just nasty.
China: a good distance behind India, although China does top my “most polluted country” rank. A lot of China was great, some of it was not. Probably the worst toilet conditions overall (although I saw individually worse toilets in India and, surprisingly, Malaysia).
PEOPLE HIGHLIGHTS:
Almost everybody in China and Mongolia! Some of the friendliest, most helpful and (in China) most honest people I've ever met – and I'm from New Zealand!!
PEOPLE LOWLIGHTS:
Alexander Beketov at Lake Baikal. Russian people in general.
COUNTRY WITH THE MOST MONEY-GRABBING THIEVING SCUM:
India
MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN:
In order: Mongolia, Burma, China. Two of the most beautiful women I have ever seen were in Ulaan Baatar (Mongolia) and Mandalay (Burma).
WORST FOOD:
China: I did have some good food there, but most of it was just gross. Three months of things like soup made of little else but big lumps of congealed fat; pork that was the texture of slime; everything swimming in pools of disgusting grease or oil. I can eat most things, but in China a lot of things on my plates got left where they were.
BEST FOOD:
India: probably because I was mostly staying at resort-type places.
Thailand in second place.
ZOO HIGHLIGHTS:
*Totally unexpectedly, Naypyitaw Zoo in Burma! Out of all the zoos I visited this had the best all-round standards, and was
almost entirely consistent in having spacious generally-well-designed enclosures. For species it was “boring” but as a zoo it was great.
*Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Park – a very nice surprise in its overall quality and presentation.
*The manatee aquarium at the Singapore River Safari.
ZOO LOWLIGHTS:
*Every other major zoo in Burma
*Also the nasty little Shanghai Natural Wild-Insect Kingdom.
GENERAL ZOO DISAPPOINTMENTS:
*The boat ride at the Singapore River Safari.
*The tram ride at the Singapore Night Safari.
*Melaka Zoo's sad decline.
CAPTIVE ANIMAL HIGHLIGHTS:
South Korea: African manatee. Armadillo. Giant anteater.
China: Beluga (whale....also sturgeon). Snub-nosed monkeys; Yangtze softshell turtle. Cone shells.
Malaysia: Horned lizard. Drongo cuckoo.
Burma: Shortridge's langur. Jungle cat. Bumese ferret-badgers.
Thailand: Philippine giant flying squirrel. Viper boa (just weird!). Blue-rumped parrots.
India: Pigmy hog!!
Singapore: Malayan pangolin. Tarsiers. Giant flying squirrels. Luzon cloud rat. Andean cock-of-the-rock.
Borneo: Malayan pangolin again!! Thick-spined porcupine.
WILD ANIMAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Far too many to choose, so these are just the ones that stick in my mind. It is mammal-heavy simply because there were so many birds that the mammals became more memorable. (And by virtue of being less commonly-seen, mammals become highlights easier than birds anyway).
South Korea: Black-faced spoonbill top amongst the birds. Oriental fire-bellied toad was probably the best animal overall, very cool.
Russia: were there any? If there were they were overshadowed by the disappointment of no Baikal seals. Muskrats were cool. Some nice birds including Spotted nutcrackers.
Mongolia: Pallas' cat eye-shine – it wasn't the sighting I wanted but exciting none-the-less. Jerboas: bouncy bouncy. Cinereous vultures the size of aeroplanes.
China: Red panda, Red panda, Red panda. Crested ibis. Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. Tibetan fox. Hog badger. Raccoon dog. Mountain weasel. All the pheasants! Hume's groundpecker. Hoopoe. Wallcreeper. Grandala.
Malaysia: nothing really stands out, but I think that's probably just because I've been there a lot.
Burma: Phayre's squirrel. Irrawaddy dolphin.
Thailand: finally a porcupine (which quickly became two species of porcupines). Short-tailed gymnure. Blue pitta.
India: Ibisbill. Golden langur. Ganges dolphin. Blind snake (albeit dead).
Singapore: Colugo I guess – I didn't see a lot of animals in Singapore.
Borneo: Slow loris without question! Also Horsfield's tarsier and Whitehead's broadbill. Trilobite larvae are always worth mentioning.
WILD ANIMAL LOWLIGHTS:
*Absolutely top of the list: missing out on Baikal seal due to the cost of the boat – and having to stand on the very shores of Lake Baikal knowing they were right there and I couldn't get to them. It still pains me even now, almost a year later...
*Indian rock python killed by a train in India when I may have been able to save it
*Not being able to get into any golden snub-nosed monkey sites in China.
*Still no pangolins!
*Khao Yai: such a disappointment.
