Pick 1: ALASKA 149.4937° W
Pick 2: TUVALU 177.6493° E
Pick 3: VLADIVOSTOK 132.0065° E
Pick 4: FUKUOKA 130.4017° E
Pick 5: CASEY STATION 110.3128° E
Pick 6: ULAANBAATAR 106.9057° E
So Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world right?
Well I've just come from Antarctica so Ulaanbaatar is going to seem very bustling. It's actually a decent sized city with all the typical stuff you'd expect.
It's not just yak farming and Yurts.
Home of Genghis Khan:
It's got temples like all these other drafted Asian places:
They are just a little bit more realistic in size.
But then there's the natural beauty. Untouched and undisturbed by industry and intensive farming. I'll see the man made sights for a day or two, taste some local food, watch some local wrestling and listen to some traditional throat singing but then it's off on a horse to see what mother nature has to offer:
There are so many more pictures that have clearly been put through a filter, touched up and enhanced in some way. I've chosen not to post them. I'm just posting these honest, yet incredible looking pictures that show the true Mongolia.
Yeah, no idea why people think Xander is trolling, I think he has destroyed everyone here, expert play. I'm in the same boat as him though having been to the places he mentioned he has been and to none of the ones he has picked so I guess that's the difference
I don't think anyone (even filthy for once) is trolling. Everyone has their own ideas of what would make for a great vacation/experience & it's all personal preference.
I'm headed to the Krabi province of Thailand, which includes Koh Phi Phi & the other Phi Phi islands. As you can see, there is beautiful natural scenery (& some unnatural scenery), caves, snorkeling, lookout points & a variety of relaxation & not so relaxation options.
JM3 trip so far:
Las Vegas - 115.1398° W
San Diego - 117.1611° W
Bora Bora - 151.7415° W
Maui - 156.3319° W
Samoa - 172.1046° W
Taipei - 121.9189° E
Krabi Province - 98.9063° E
Well, while I'm waiting, I'll post my last writeup...
MAY 6-12
LEG 6: CAIRO, EGYPT
"Cairo, city of the living. A paradise on earth." -- Sallah, Raiders of the Lost Ark
I'm not looking for any religious artifacts here, just exploring one of the most ancient cities in the entire world. Among other things, I'll take a cruise down the Nile:
Explore the artifacts and antiquities of the Egyptian Museum:
Visit the Mosque of Muhammad Ali:
Maybe wander through the Khan el-Khalili bazaar:
Climb the Caito Tower:
And, if I have time, possibly manage to squeeze in a side trip to some old buildings:
would have been my next pick if it didn't take way longer than 1 week to get to the top of Everest
oh yeah that is off the table completely. would have to train rigorously for it anyways.
wrt to the pick, the climb to base camp takes ~8 days but apparently there is a bus that you can take from the Tibet side (maybe helicopters too?). I plan on touring Tibet for a couple days, then going up there and camping out the rest of the week. I assume there are shorter climbs to do for 1 or a few days and then return to camp but what do I know. Regardless, should be a unique experience on my fake vacation!
can we make daytrips that venture east of a previous pick?
like, if in Round 1 I pick somewhere in California
and then in Round 2 I pick somewhere in Canada that is far north and slightly to the west of my California pick
can I daytrip from that Canada pick to a location that would be east of the California pick, assuming that the Canada pick is a viable tourist destination in its own right?