Fantastic year of travel: Bhutan, Israel, Peru, Russia, USA

I finished my one-year internship and returned back to classes this year. However, that also helped me save up some money and I was able to travel a lot this year. In particular, the second half of 2008 was amaaazing since I moved out and took 3 months off just to travel! Now I have been to 8 countries. 🙂

Israel

I started the new year in Tel Aviv, almost at the end of my Israel trip. It was a fun party, ending only at dawn.

New York City

I got my US visitors visa this year so I was very excited to go to New York City. It’s a fantastic city, almost overwhelming but then I tend to like crowded cities so I enjoyed NYC a lot.

Peru

On a random day in winter, I woke up and lazily looked at the web promo email that Air Canada routinely sends. It’s nothing but a gimmick, but regardless, I ended up booking a flight to Lima, Peru. I had no clue where I was going, or the language, food, safety issues. I think that’s why I enjoyed all the hiking, exploring and getting lost.

Canada

Early summer / late spring was a nice time to visit the Killarney Provincial Park, although I was bitten by black flies all over and came back with lots of souvenirs.

Since my roommate and I shared several interests, we embarked upon a multi-day bicycle trip to Niagara falls region. It was a fantastic trip and birthday, and I learned a lot about myself. I also crossed over to Buffalo, USA to get my immigration documents. Somehow I landed on the I-94 which is an interstate highway in USA, and it wasn’t fun!

Russia

Since the cheapest way to go to India was flying Aeroflot, I decided to take more time off work and school to make it a three month trip. I studied Russian which is very important if you want to enjoy the country, and it kept me yearning for more.

Bhutan

Land of the Thunder Dragon, happiest country in the world, hidden deep inside the Himalayas and the only country where having an Indian passport is the best thing that could have happen to you. I was in Bhutan only for 2.5 weeks, but it was enough to see most of the important sights and fall in love with the country.

India

I spent about 6-7 weeks in India, travelling to Kolkata, taking a road trip to Bangalore and generally hanging out. I was going back after 3 years so it was quite exciting and gave me lot of time to reflect and think things over!

So that’s the summary of my travels this year. How was did the year treat you?