Flipping through the pages of expired passports always brings a smile to my face, conjuring up images of all the great experiences, fantastic people and memorable moments encountered while traveling around the world.
Five years have passed since my last beloved passport was hole-punched and committed to the bottom of my junk drawer along with its other fallen brethren. Now it has a new partner in crime, a third stamp-filled musketeer to fill out this motley crew of expirees, each one bearing witness to a series of incredible and unforgettable journeys in far-flung places.
With a new passport in hand and confronted with the vast emptiness of its watermarked pages, I am truly confounded by the question: where to next?
2013 promises to be a great year for travel and I plan to make the most of it. Here is, after much deliberation, a travel wish list for the coming year.
Why Treksplorer? Founded in 2011 by Ryan O’Rourke, Treksplorer provides travel recommendations and advice to millions of readers every year. Our content is rooted in our writers’ firsthand experiences, in-depth research, and/or collaborations with other experts and locals. Read more about our editorial policy.
Cape Town, South Africa
A visit to South Africa has been on my agenda for at least four years but somehow the trip continuously evades me. In hosting the World Cup in 2010, airline ticket prices to South Africa soared and have yet to readjust to pre-FIFA levels. Even in spite of it all, I can’t help being drawn to the idea of planting my feet in one of the world’s most beautiful cities in 2013: Cape Town, South Africa.
Cape Town is an intriguing place. The first permanent European settlement in South Africa, Cape Town was an anomaly for sometime, a small Dutch outpost in a sea of African lands. But soon Cape Town would shed its humble roots and develop into a significant cultural and economic centre for South Africa.
One of the major reasons people visit Cape Town is its natural setting. In nearly every panorama of the coastal city, the colossal Table Mountain looms in the background, forming part of a national park of the same name.
Accessible by cable car or foot, the top of Table Mountain offers superb views of the city and surrounding areas and is a fantastic retreat for trekkers. In the south near Simon’s Town lies well-known Boulder’s Beach, famous for its colony of African Penguins (who said you had to go all the way to Antarctica to see our little tuxedoed friends?).
And, of course, who could miss the Cape Winelands? South African wine is justifiably famous worldwide and with most of it being made within a stone’s throw of Cape Town, there is perhaps no better place to taste some fermented grape goodness than in the Western Cape. Romantic at its core, the Winelands offer visitors some excellent B&B accommodation options and plenty of opportunities to sample some fine local vino.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Much like Cape Town, the thought of sky-high airfares has consistently kept Vietnam’s capital off my travel plans from year to year. But pining over the destination has yet to cease; perhaps 2013 will be the year that finally brings me to Hanoi, Vietnam.
Despite a history that was nothing short of tumultuous, Hanoi is now a thriving Southeast Asian city and a hub for Vietnamese culture. Chinese and French influences throughout the city’s streets belie a complicated colonial past and comprise much of the unique character that now defines Hanoi.
Much of the action radiates from Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Possibly rivaled only by Hoi An, a town much further down the coast, for its blend of colonial and ancient architecture, the Old Quarter unveils the heart of Vietnamese culture at every twist down its slender and ambient alleyways.
Hanoi also hosts a number of worthwhile museums and temples including the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum, Museum of Vietnamese History, Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution, Ngoc Son Temple and the Temple of Literature. But even with all these excellent insights into the country’s history and culture, where Hanoi truly excels is in its eclectic selection of street food.
Street food in Hanoi comes in all shapes and sizes varying in quality, cost and quirkiness. Even if you’ve been living in the West, you’ve likely already sampled Hanoi’s most famous dish, pho bo (beef noodle soup), seemingly available at every corner in the city.
From local and Asian specialities to the downright bizarre, Hanoi is, along with Taipei and Beijing, one of the Asia’s exotic food capitals. Like the Huaxi Street Night Market in Taipei, Hanoi’s Le Mat (Snake Village) slices up some dicey serpentine foodstuffs right before your eyes, making for an unforgettable (and depending on your constitution, perhaps nightmarish) experience.
Moscow, Russia
Like many children, I vaguely recall a moment during my pre-teen years when I spun a globe with my left finger resting on the surface waiting for the whirling sphere to stop. Wherever my index finger was left pointing when the earth ceased to spin, I promised myself that I would venture to (someday). That destination: Moscow, Russia.
I knew little of Russia, or the USSR as it was then, at that age. Other having a red flag adorned with a star, a hammer and what looked like the Grim Reaper’s scythe, I knew nothing of what would be in store for me. I’d like to think I’m somewhat wiser these days and instead of leaving these decisions to mere chance I have some calculated reasons on venturing to Russia’s captivating capital.
Who can deny seeing a picture of Red Square and not wanting to visit Moscow? Red Square, flanked by the unmistakable St Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin, is Moscow’s most recognizable attraction. Soviet nostalgists can even visit Lenin’s Mausoleum, a shrine to the fallen Communist leader containing his preserved body, in the centre of the square.
Just outside Red Square awaits The Kremlin, a massive complex surrounded by Moscow’s ancient city walls and containing a host of religious, cultural and political buildings. Simply meaning citadel in Russian, The Kremlin has been at the heart of Russian culture for centuries with its references to its existence as early as the second century BC.
Other than the wide array of museums, churches and parks found around Moscow, much of the thrill of the city seems to be just soaking it all in. When depicted in films or novels, the streets of Moscow always seem so animated and atmospheric. Hopefully 2013 will finally be the year to experience the Russian capital firsthand.
Tokyo, Japan
It’s nearly impossible to see an image of Tokyo’s buzzing streets and torrent of lights without being intrigued by the place. If extra-terrestrials hovered above earth seeking the planet’s most important city, there’s a good chance the blinding neon and sky-high buildings of Tokyo would give the city away (apologies to New York and Washington: despite your prevalence in Hollywood disaster movies, Japan’s capital just may have you beat).
If travellers were to ask me why Tokyo features on my 2013 travel wish list, I would be hard-pressed to put a finger on a single reason. Describing Japan requires a mélange of adjectives: hypermodern, trendy and fast-paced yet ancient and traditional. Tokyo – with all its glory – is all of the above.
A first glance reveals an invigorating city teeming with activity where youth flash all the latest gadgets on their way to trendy eateries as men in suits hustle into subways to make their next meeting. But outside the bright lights of Shibuya and Shinjuku is a completely different view of the city. Old imperial palaces, Shinto shrines, traditional ryokans (guesthouses) and peaceful city gardens are found throughout the city.
As the main international gateway to the country, Tokyo is also a great staging point for trips to other corners of Japan. In just a few short hours on the famous shinkansen (bullet trains), travellers can reach many of Japan’s most interesting cities including Nikko, Nara, Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto.
One look at Tokyo’s skyline will remind adventurous travellers of another gargantuan attraction of Japan: Mount Fuji. In many ways this superstar mountain is the very symbol of Japan and its no surprise that peak-baggers from around the world congregate here to conquer this majestic beast of a summit. I have yet to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and am, truthfully, not interested in risking my life on K2 or Everest, but Mount Fuji, of all hiking choices for 2013, seems just within reach.
Queenstown, New Zealand
While many travellers set their sights on Australia to check another continent off their list, I would gladly trade-in fun in the sun for a trip to Oz’s more temperate neighbour to the east.
Perhaps growing up in Canada makes the thought of exploring the great outdoors of New Zealand more appealing to me than the surf and sand of Australia’s Sunshine Coast. And if there’s anywhere in New Zealand that begs for exploration it’s Queenstown, the adrenaline capital of the South Island.
High-octane adventure activities present themselves in spades in Queenstown. Whether its hang-gliding, sky-diving, parasailing, skiing, rafting or bungee-jumping, even the most hardcore of adrenaline junkies will face no shortage of adventure in the town.
To set the record straight: I would never put myself in such a category without a hint of derision. So why would I want to go to a town famed for its defiance of gravity? The answer is simple: Queenstown is not just for travellers with a death wish.
As the gateway to some of the South Island’s most beautiful scenery, Queenstown is a great base to explore the Fiordland and West Coast regions including unforgettable Milford Sound. While you may never see me jumping out of a plane or leaping off a cliff in a hang-glider, there’s a good chance you will eventually see me sea-kayaking and trekking in Milford Sound (maybe even in 2013!).
Muscat, Oman
After travelling to Egypt, Israel and Jordan, I developed a soft spot for the Middle East but have yet to return. There’s something truly special about the Middle East; its uniqueness and its diversity in landscapes, people and cultures drew me in and has yet to cease its grip. With all that has befallen the region in recent times, visitors don’t seem to be knocking at the Middle East’s door in droves as they once did. But one country that seems to have held it together despite it all has been Oman and its capital Muscat, one of the most interesting cities on the Arabian Peninsula, would make for a superb city break in 2013.
Reflecting Arab architectural elegance at its best, the compact city of Muscat is worlds away from the other glitzy and glamorous oil-rich cities of the Gulf. Whereas Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi showcase ultra-modern skylines reaching deeply into the clouds, Muscat still retains an old world arabesque charm and a progressiveness that is rare on the peninsula.
What is now considered Muscat is actually three overgrown towns: Muscat (old walled city), Mutrah (former fishing village), and Ruwi (diplomatic area). Most of the sites of interest to visitors are concentrated in Muscat and Mutrah, the most traditional neighbourhoods in the city. For bazaar-lovers Muscat has one of the best in the Arab world: the Mutrah Souq. Here travellers will find household goods, spices, incense, silver and clothing among a multitude of other wares. Unlike other markets like Khan al-Khali in Cairo or the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Mutrah Souq seems to be geared towards Omanis rather than foreigners (Oman isn’t, after all, a tourism giant like Turkey). Then again, I could be wrong. But there’s no better way to find out than to explore Muscat in 2013.
Do you have any travel plans for 2013? What is the one destination you’d like to visit the most this year? Share your thoughts below!
