The second half of the trip was joining our Trekkup group travelling to Mongolia. I had heard that this was a great trip from a few people, but no one could really tell me the details as to why. I got it later - it was just beautiful country, fun to camp in the gers, good (meat heavy) foods, friendly people, and just so peaceful. But there was no one moment that stood out above the rest really. It was all just a good time - we did a lot, yet it was a good, comfortable pace. We also travelled with a small, good group of five people, including our super friendly hyper guide E and our funny awesome driver H. Leaving China First thing was to get to the airport for our flight. I think ... read more

After a solid night of sleep, we got typical chinese breakfast again in the hotel - fried chicken, noodles, stir-fry veggies, not too shabby. Then we made our way to the metro and down to the east gate of Temple of Heaven. Temple of Heaven For some reason, I thought it was an actual Temple, but it is a collection of buildings in the park built in the early 1400's. We got our tickets easy enough (we were there soon after it opened) and walked through the gate. The first location to the right was the Animal Sacrifice Pavilion, which we skipped. Then we saw the seven-star stones, which have mountain motifs engraved on them, symbolizing the seven peaks of Mountain Tai, and intended to show a united country. The main site was the Hall of ... read more

For my next short weekend Trekkup trip, my friend and I decided on Cappadocia. I had long wanted to do this trip and, while I had initially planned to do the trip on my own for a more extended period, I figured why not. Trekkup trips are generally packed and so I should get to see what I wanted without having to spend too much time organizing it, including the balloon rides, which I was not initially planning on, but now was excited about. It was a small group of 6 going and we all got along pretty well, which is crucial for small groups! This was my first time in the other Istanbul airport, Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW), which is located on the east side of the city. We had a 4 hour layover and ... read more

Planning this trip, I only had a couple days before I needed to return to work, so I planned a couple roadtrips around the Reykjanes Peninsula. This is an area near Reykjavik, but much of it is not as well known to tourists as the Ring Road, Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon. The first day, J and A joined me. A, who is Icelandic, had never visited some of these places himself, so he also enjoyed it. Day 1 Our first stop was the Bridge Between Two Continents. Iceland straddles the boundary between the North American and Eurasian Plates, which is spreading. Over this part of Iceland, the boundary is in a roughly NE-SW direction, as you'll see later with some of the geothermal locations. You can actually see it from the plane - dark lines ... read more

Following my refreshing morning hike, I left Flåm behind and first set out to see the lookout point: Stegastein. There is a tourist road to go around the tunnel, but of course it was closed above Stegastein due to snow and season. However, the lookout point was amazing! Aside from the first 36 hours, the weather was absolutely perfect. When i parked, there were only two other cars and five other people. The lookout is a pine and steel structure that extends out from the hillside so you have a full view of the Aurlandsfjordand Aurlandsvangen below. I loved what looked like the interlocked connections. So, I got my initial view then waited until gradually the others had left and I had the whole place to myself! It was so lovely, words and pictures just cannot ... read more