The 2023 World Tour – Soothing the Soul With Temples, Myths, and Nature
After the world tour of 2022 (which was basically revenge travel), 2023 was equally fast-paced but much more quiet. The travel bug was not so ravenous and greedy for constant experiences. It wasn’t planned as such but the leitmotiv of this trip was religion and spirituality.
Shinto shrines surrounded by white and pink cherry flowers. Buddhist temples in Nikko amidst tall cedar trees and morning fog. Eastern orthodox monasteries perched on lunar-like rock formations in Meteora in Greece or Istanbul, with their mystical allure. And the religious melting pot that is Jerusalem, fascinating and contradictory, a city that really feels like a prize that has been crystallized in time.
From the silent ruins of Petra in Jordan at dawn, to the sunset rays between the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Greece. From the elegant beauty of the Taj Mahal, to the divine grace of Mount Fuji. Walks through silent forests such as Aokigahara, at the steps of Mount Fuji in Japan, or Litochoro, at the steps of Mount Olympus in Greece.
4 months. A journey eastward in spring towards Japan which had just (and finally) reopened it’s borders to witness the blossoming of Sakura. 9 countries visited. Over 28,000 kms flown and (a meager ) 2000 kms driven in 2 road trips, across the Pelopponese in Greece, hunting for ancient ruins, and in Jordan coasting the Dead Sea and crossing through the desert on the Old Kings Highway.
City escapes for long weekends in bustling cities such as Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Amman, Athens, Tel Aviv, Osaka, and others. In cities that cannot be described simply as vibrant megacities, but that through their sheer immensity require new adjectives just for them: the “tokyo-ing” city of Tokyo, and the “delhi-ing” Delhi.
Relaxing stays in the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Thailand in Phi Phi Don, and the unrealistically blue waters of Zakynthos in Greece, or the red, rugged, volcanic beaches of Thira/Santorini.
Such mesmerizing places. So many awe-inspiring sights. More memories which I don’t know anymore how I can hold. Since Japan was the highlight of the trip, the “Doge”/Shiba Inu doggo meme seems appropriate: Much Wow
Trip overview
- Best sunrise and dawn: Petra, Jordan. Lake Shoji, Japan.
- Best sunset and dusk: Cape Sounion, Greece. Santorini, Greece. Zakynthos, Greece. Phi Phi Don, Thailand. Lake Chuzenji, Japan
- Peak quiet moment: Petra, Jordan. Inari Taisha Shrine, Kyoto, Japan. Mount Fuji from Lake Sai, Japan.
Worst moments
Best moments
- Sakura season in Japan (actually all of Japan).
- Visiting Petra, Jordan at dawn in the morning with no one there.
- Jordi, the incredibly affectionate cat (actually all friendly and peaceful animals, cows in India, deer in Nara).
- Visiting again Meteora in Greece.
The journey
Istanbul, Turkey
City escape
It was my first visit to Istanbul and I was short on time. I knew that I would return to this magnificent city so much like when I went to Kuala Lumpur I went in a full marathon mode. Endlessly walking around the old streets Sultanahmet, and the modern Taskim, trying to capture as much as I could in the little time I had. I missed a lot and certainly did not get to experience the ambience. There was so much to see. The few moments I stopped were to admire the playful, mischievous, and lazy cats (of which there are thousands, the real inhabitants of this city). I put a pin in this giant ancient metropolis and moved on.
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Amman, Jordan
City escape
Amman is a fascinating city, and when seen from the citadel on the overlooking hill, it appears as a bucket within the valley with the sand colored houses dotting the landscape. A true hive of commerce, traffic, religion, and entertainment. Also, unexpectedly international (for me who arrived quite ignorant to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan).
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Jordan Road Trip – from Amman to Aqaba
Road Trip
I took a car for a short week road trip drove initially north to visit the perfectly preserved Greco-Roman ruins of Jerash, which were breathtaking. As a fan of Greek and Roman history and mythology and by no means a stranger to Greek temples or Roman Acqueducts, I was blown away by how well-preserved the ruins were.
I then made my way south, coasting the Dead Sea, briefly stopping in a resort for the mandatory swim (spoiler alert: you can’t are just a cork floating on the surface). I then cut inland on the magnificent, winding, Old Kings Road. This lead me to Wadi Musa where I stayed a couple of nights to visit the Petra, and then proceeeded south to the port city of Aqaba. I didn’t think there were so many hues of sand and rose tinted rocks.
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Petra, Jordan
Visit
The ancient city of Raqmu, better known today as Petra is a must-see on any travelers bucket list. This wonder of the world is breathtaking and the complex is immense. It is also incredibly crowded during the day. However, I stayed there 3 days and one day went early in the morning. Like Tikal in Guatemala, the ruins change completely giving a surreal atmosphere and returning to it’s original “Lost City” state. Seeing the sun rise and the early sunrays cast on the pink rocks, the mother cats returning to their hidings with their nightly catch, the innumerable street vendors still quiet and drinking their morning tea before the crowds and buses of tourists arrive, the donkeys and dromedaries quietly grazing the little grass available. Awe-inspiring.
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Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
City escape
I did a tactical flight stop in Abu Dhabi which I had already visited once. Personally I prefer Abu Dhabi to Dubai. The opulence is still there but it feels somewhat more “human” sized, and also “natural”, with green spaces and promenades which are wonderful to stroll along. I stocked up on some ultraluxury and the last slivers of arab and muslim culture before proceeding to India.
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Jaipur, India
City escape [icon name=”city” prefix=”fas”]
From Abu Dhabi I flew to India to visit the classic golden triagnle of Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. The Pink City of Jaipur was beautiful but was overshadowed from the cultural shock of me visiting for the first time India. The maddening traffic with cows peacfeully resting in the middle of the road, the scents (and smells), the hive-like amount of people, all packed together amidst wonderful palaces of the Mughal empire.
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Agra, India
Visit
I took a train south to the city of Agra to visit a classic bucket list item being the Taj Mahal. I always scoffed it as one of those massively overcroded touristic destinations, and yes, the place was packed, the people were noisy, the toilets were some something taken straight out of hell. But amidst the chais, the mausoleum stands there with a delicate and mounrful beuaty on the XX river. It was emotional and this was given purely by its architecture, a rare feat which I don’t know how many palaces can still the same feeling. As the author XX said “it is a tear on the cheek of eternity”
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Delhi, India
City escape
I took another train back to New Delhi and visited the immense metropolis. The usual words bustling, chaotic, vibrant don’t do it justice and there should be a new word for the capital: perhaps “delhing”. Delhi is the epitome of a megacity.
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Tokyo, Japan
City escape
From one megacity to another. I flew from Delhi to Japan, and all the previous visits cut short or trimmed down where to get here to witness the cherry blossoms and experience the sakura season. I stayed only a few days in Tokyo, but then returned weeks later and stayed much longer. What is there to say? The city is one of a kind. A careful balance between ultra modernity and tradition, between a sprawling mess where everything is stacked on top of itself, and a pragmatic order typical of Japanese culture. The most populous city on the planet truly is a unique urban marvel, and visitors can lose themselves for days and superficially see only the obvious touristic attraction that they will only have explored a tiny sub-city and a sliver of all that Tokyo has to offer. Majestic.
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Kyoto, Japan
City escape
Kyoto was the destination that I chose to experience the brief full bloom period on the island of Honshu. Perhaps the most touristic destination during this time of the year, Kyoto is packed to the brim with visitors.
In previous descriptions I indicate where I had peak experiences, the term coined by Maslow to indicate those moments of elation, serenity, fullfillness, almost epiphanies.
Kyoto was a constant stream of these moments. Despite the crowds, despite the stress of wanting to see as much as possible, despite the difficulties that such a popular period brings. Every Shinto shirne, very Buddhist temple, every street and corner, and every single flower were moments of bliss.
Kyoto is where I fell in love with Japan.
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Himeji, Japan
City escape
I moved to Osaka where I set up base to do some day trips to the ancient capital of Nara (where the free-roaming deer in Nara Park, gave what I can only call “peacefulness overload”), and the city of Himeji. It was yet another peak experience, as the castle is rightfully considered the most beautiful of Japan, and the surrounding cherry trees were losing their flowers, creating pink carpets, and sakura-fubuki, the breathtaking view of the wind carrying the falling petals, like confetti n carnival.
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Matsumoto, Japan
City escape
From Osaka I headed north, in the Gifu prefecture and what is also called the Japanese Alps. I visited Takayama (where I witnessed the festival with yatai/floats parading the streets), and Kanazawa, where I explored the magnificent Kenrouken gardens – one of the 3 most beautiful gardens of Japan, and considering the standards of gardens in Japan, might as well mean the world. As I traveled south back to Tokyo I stopped at Matsumoto, to visit another magnificent castle. This time the Black crow castle. Another tranquillity experience with the carps quietly swimming under the red bridge over the moat, and the graceful yet imposing castle overlooking, all surrounded by the beauty of sakura blossoms.
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Fuji Five Lakes, Japan
Road Trip
A month earlier I had tried to go on a day trip to Kawaguchiko to see Mount Fuji, but it was cloudy and hidden away. That missed opportunity stayed with me and a month later I picked up a car and decided to explore the 5 lakes and forests Aokigahara forest surrounding the divine Fuji-san. It was a peak experience. Well beyond the sakura season and into the green leaves period, it was fascinating to see the same spots so different just a few weeks later. I spent days hiking around the forest and the five lakes and then managed to visit the Fujishibazakura festival at lake Motosu which might just be the most picturesque place on the planet. The vast carpets of purple moss phlox with the imposing perfectly coned mount Fuji in the backdrop are a sight to behold and that won’t be easily forgotten.
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Nikko National Park, Japan
Visit
After immersing myself in nature around Fuji, I proceeded past Tokyo and visited Nikko, another awe-inspiring place. Nikko is famousd for its shrines and temples, where tranquil buddhist temples, mausoleums and shinto shrines sit amidst tall cedar trees. But for me the national park was the highlight and felt like a little sliver of paradise. The numerous waterfalls, forests, and the beautiful still lake Chuzenji, created an atmosphere of queit elation.
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Phi Phi Don, Thailand
Battery Recharge
After over a month spent in Japan it was time to return, but I could not not pay homage to Thailand and its paradisiac beaches. I flew to Phuket and took the iconic long tail boats to Phi Phi Don, the larger of the two Phi Phi islands made famous by the “The Beach” movie. Despite not being the hidden gem as depicted in the movie more than 30 years ago, the island is a true paradise and there isn’t much more to say. Great food, chilled vibes, powder-soft sand that meets a green warm water, and surrounded by limestone cliffs and jungle. To this day I have not found a beach destination that can quite capture the perfection of the regions of the Andamand Sea.
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Jerusalem, Israel
Visit
With a long-time passion for mythology, history and world religions, Jerusalem was a fascinating visit. I visited during the celebrations of the reconquering of the city from Jordanian occupation (which did create a lot of issues at passport check when security saw I had visited Jordan just a few months earlier), and the atmosphere was certainly vitriolic. Nonetheless Jerusalem is magical and mystical, a testament to the powerful effects of religion and an important marker in the history of humankind. Jerusalem is certainly one of a kind.
Santorini, Greece
Battery Recharge
I have been on many Greek islands, and I could say that it is my favourite vacation destination in the world. But I had never been to the arguably most famous of them all: Thira. Perhaps not the best in terms of beach life, but certainly the most impressive. The massive caldera, at the center, the towns perched over the cliffs, and the mesmerizing sunsets which seem custom-made for Greece and only for this country make this a must-see destination.
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Athens, Greece
City escape
Athens was the first city I got lost in when I was a child (back then parenting more easy -going). Despite the fear at the time it is perhaps the place that planted the seed of pleasure of being lost in a completely unknown place.
Athens stands up there when talking of cities that seamlessly blend tradition and antiquity with industry and modernity. In Europe, it might just be at the top, overlooking all the other cities, all of its children from the top of the Akropolis.
Greece Road Trip – Athens to Thessaloniki – the Tour of Archelogical Sites and Ancient Myths
Road Trip
I have traveled to Greece 7 times before and the country lways had a strong pull and allure on me. This time, as a solo traveler, I picked up a car and traveled west from Athens, across Corynth, Mycenae, Kalamata, taking a ferry for a brief battery recharge in the unrealistically beautiful island of Zakynthos, and the proceeding north towards Meteora, Mount Olympus, and ending in Thessaloniki. Over the span of three weeks I was mostly interested in ancient ruins. Olympia, Mycenae, the temple fo Poseidion at Cape Sunion. It was like a “best of” tour of places I had visited when I was much much younger. To expierience once again the places that had left so much of an impression in my young mind.
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Meteora, Greece
Visit
The “monasteries in the air” are the second most visited destination in Greece, which is a testament to how beautiful this region is. Both from a nature scenery point of view, as well as religious with the mystical monasteries, as well as historic. When I was a child I only passed by them but they left a lasting impression. This time I visited all the 5 monasteries, and explored fully the wonderful destination.
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Aftermath
Too many peak experiences. Too much beauty in such a short time. Incredible sunrises and sunsets. Temples, shrines, mosques, and churches one more mystical than the next. Silent forests where you can breath the weight of ages within them. The memories that I take with me from this journey will last forever.
By now I had a long list of future destinations that I wanted to visit. A long bucket list. Since many years I was yearning to visit extensively South America having been there only once. I had dear memories of Africa and was avid on exploring more.
But the travel bug had other plans for me. The trip to Greece had showed me not only that I knew how to travel better, but also that I had new eyes and a new heart to absorb the world. I could appreciate things more now.
Therefore the next year I felt the need to repeat more of the “best of” travel moments. I needed to recapture the moments of freedom of those extensive road adventures. I needed more nature. Also, Japan had pierced through my heart and left an empty hole that could only be filled by more Japan. I NEEDED to return to Japan. Enter, the world tour of 2024 🌏
