We've finally come to the end! 60 photos from 22 countries around the world! From -20 degrees celcius when I left Beijing to 45 degrees celcius in Delhi, from metropolitan New York to the poor villages in Central America.
This is dedicated to you, Mummy!
Happy 60th Birthday, Mummy!!!!!! :)
Now for the most most most important photo!!!
I was wrong when I thought I've seen a lot of mountains when I was in Colombia, Ecuador is where the real mountains start! And the views from the mountains are always always amazing.
Yes, it was cold! I have to be in boots and scarf...And sometimes the wind is soooo strong!
Taking a rest every time there's a nice view! It's cold but I am burnt in the face from the strong UV.
The river in the valley, the houses...This place looked so peaceful!
And now, we've finally come to photo #60!
Anyone who doesn't know Colombia well enough will be alarmed at the sound of this country but having been here, I'm telling you that whatever else you've heard is half-true! This is one of my favourite countries in Latin America (among those that I've been to)! People are incredibly friendly, food is good, mountains and beaches are amazing, what else can you ask for? :)
This is where the Andes mountain range starts for me. We no longer have to climb those unreasonably steep hills, months of cycling in Central America built me up for this! We now have to climb thousands of metres to get up to the mountains!
This picture is taken somewhere around the city, Pasto. A view like this is becoming a common thing.
Saw this in a town and thought it would make an interesting picture. A cowboy having a beer and a chat with his friend while his horse is waiting. :)
Cycling above the clouds again!
So, bad things sometimes happen when you are travelling too. Since we got robbed in Nicaragua, we had no camera with us. After Nicaragua, we went to Costa Rica and then on to Panama, only in Panama City where electronics are cheaper (than in other Central/South American) countries that we decided that we should get another camera. So I missed out on photo opportunities in Costa Rica and the West of Panama.
But here are some really cool shots!
We had to take a plane from Panama City to the coast and then take a boat over to Colombia. Had a big fight with the airport staff in Panama City because they wouldn't accept the bicycles claiming that the plane is too small. I mean, how small can your plane be?! Until I saw it....oooooh...that's a really small plane you have! And this picture above is taken at the coast when we landed...Just a short airstrip! And which belt will your luggages be at? No belt! No airport! Just like this! So much like a true-blue Caribbean flight you so often seen in the movies! :)
And of course after arguing with the airport staff for over an hour, they say they would try to put the bicycles on the plane, and this is what happened. They left it on the seats with the passengers, it's like taking a bus!
The passengers waiting around the plane for their flight to Panama City while we took our luggages, they deposited theirs. No check in counter, nothing. People coming with wheel-barrows to help with luggages and that's about it.
Had to ride in this persistent rain when we crossed from Honduras to Nicaragua. Everything is completely wet by the time we get to the next hotel!
I thought this looked very much like a simplified version of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco! Heehee! 
And sometimes it wasn't so bad to be on budget, check out this nice pool that we had in one of the hotels that we stayed in Nicaragua! :)
Chanced upon a Rodeo show while riding! So cool! Look at all the cowboys (and cowgirls)!!! I think they are supposed to make the horse dance and they look so good while performing!!!
And me! Watching the show among the locals!I came up with the idea of doing this when I got to Honduras. So I carried a sign like this and pluck it out everytime there's a 'Kodak moment' to snap! Had a few signs along the way, some were blown away, some got wet... :)
So here's from Honduras!!!
This is taken at the waterfall - Pulhapanzak, it was one of the hardest climb in the journey to get up to this waterfall, it's so steep that I have to stop to rest every ten steps (while pushing the bike). But of course, you are rewarded with a nice waterfall with a sweet rainbow after all the hardwork!
Where's El Progresso???
Finally arriving this town we're heading towards after a long and very hot (weather) ride...El Progresso, here I come! :)
A nice sight on the way to Siguatepeque.
And in this part of the world, you just keep seeing cowboys! So cool! Sometimes kids ride on these horses too!
And we have to camp sometimes when we cannot get to a town with hotel in time. We were camping with a very nice family in the countryside. The house isn't big but their backyard is the two or three hectares behind the house! 
New York! New York! Do I have to explain further? :) We had an amazing time with Gabor's aunty and did a presentation of the trip so far to her friends. New York is simply awesome!
Wall Street!
In Czech: Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám
Finally got to Prague - the capital of Czech Republic! Another very nice city, full of tourists, pubs and things to see!
In German: herzlichen Glückwunsch
One may think that travelling through Europe may not be much more adventurous and exciting than through the Middle East or the more exotic Latin America, but I guess at the end of the day it boils down to how you choose to do it - just follow the usual tourist routes or something else?
Partly because of limited funds and for the adventure, of course, we chose to do it differently. I went ahead and took a bus to Vienna from Budapest to meet a Chinese friend living in Vienna. Stayed with her for a few days and she brought me around Vienna and showed me things that tourists would normally not see!
She studied in an Arts College in Vienna and we went to check out the university. As we walked around the city, she even pointed out to sculptures that she took part in restoring and etc.
A late dinner at Xiaoshu's place. She's a really great cook! Whip something up for us in just 20mins! She said she didn't know how to cook while in China but eight years away from home, she had to learn to cook so that she can have Chinese food as and when she wants.
Vienna is really beautiful, full of these kind of buildings in the centre. People were also very discpline, no one crosses the road when it red, shops close at 6pm and streets are quiet by the time it's dark.
And after Vienna, we thought of stopping by in Prague (Czech Republic) before heading towards Berlin, with limited amount of funds, we bid goodbye to Xiaoshu and her husband and headed out to the highway to hitch a ride to Prague. Hours and two car rides later, we somehow managed to get ourselves to the Austrian-Czech border. We stood at that border for around four hours and just no one would pick us up! It seems that Austrians are just not into hitch-hiking.
The next bus station would be too far to walk, having no choice, we picked up our backpacks and crossed the border over to Czech on foot. We passed by a shabby market that looked exactly like something that you would see in Thailand that says "Asia Market'. We never thought anything like that would exist in Europe! It feels a little dodgy...We walked on...and suddenly there's this huge amusement-park-looking buildings. Can't really place it, is it a shopping mall? Amusement park? Casino? Anyway, lots of cars are going in and out of the carpark, we dropped our bags and started hitching again. This time, and Audi A2 stopped just 5mins after we started. A nice couple who saw us four hours ago in the Austrian side picked us up.
They were such a lovely couple, we checked and there would be no bus for the day anymore, so they brought us for a ride and have a look at the beautiful countryside of Austria before having for some wine and food in this lovely place. This is the only working windmill left in Austria. We spent a night at their awesome apartment on the Austrian side before heading back to Czech the next morning.
In Hungarian: boldog születésnapot
Budapest is indeed a beautiful city. With the Danube river running through the city centre, Budapest is unique in its own right.
This is the cityhall - One of the many historical buildings in the city centre.
Budapest consist of two very different cities, with Buda on the West Bank and Pest on the East. Here I am, overlooking the entire city. See the hill over there, that´s the Buda side of the city.
Revfulop is located in the north of Lake Balaton and Lake Balaton is a popular place for city dwellers from Budapest to have a weekend home. It's a big, beautiful lake but I was there a little too early in the season and the water is too cold to swim in.Read more here.
The five days spent in Romania was pretty adventurous. This is taken in a defunct mining town of Lupeni, we arrived in this mountain town a little too late and missed the connection to the next place. Luckily we met a nice family who took us into their home and in the morning, we took a walk in the forest. The father of the family used to be a coal miner, he pointed out to us where the coal in the forest were and how to mine it!
The first Eastern European country that I'm visiting, Bulgaria is a surprise! Bulgarian is a member of the Slavic linguistic group, where the writings would remind you immediately of it's Balkan roots. I visited only the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia.
The streets of Sofia are really beautiful with interesting architecture lining the them.
Sofia is also one of the best-value places. Having a beer in a nice cafe in the park cost just one euro (approximately S$2).
A beautiful mix of the East and the West. Geographically located on both Asian and European soil, Turkey's interesting culture could be felt once you step into the country. It's a pity that I didn't have enough time to see most of Turkey this time round but what I've seen tells me that this is an amazing country.
Traditional agriculture is still one of the major pillars of the Turkish economy. Turkey is one of the few countries that produce not only enough for their own consumption but for exports as well. As I travelled across the country, you could see these really fresh produce in the shops and markets.
Istanbul is one of my favourite cities! It's the only city that I've visited on this trip that I said "WOW! I would really love to live here!" This is the centre of Istanbul - Taksim Square. I felt really safe in Istanbul while I was there. You guys have probably read/seen it on the news,this is the exact location of the bomb that exploded on 31 Oct 2010.
I spent a few days at the very beautiful Mediterranean Sea to rest and recuperate for the journey ahead. If you guys could recall, I was skyping with you guys and trying to show you how clear the sea is! :)
In Arabic: عيد ميلاد سعيد
The Iraqi region of Kurdistan (also known as Land of Kurds) is located in Northern Iraq. Research has been done to ensure that the region is safe and stable before the getting onto the bus. After Jordan and Syria, Iraq didn't excite me as much. Prices were also much higher than in the previous two countries and most times the quality didn't reflect in the prices at all. But still, it is an adventure visiting this 'warzone' country! You would feel really safe in this part of the country and there was never a time that I felt any danger (from terrorists). The only dangerous issue would be the way the taxi drivers sped through the weaving roads in the valleys.
I thought this would make an interesting photo...Have you ever seen anything 'Made in Iraq'? :)
You just need to make a left turn to get into warzone...or if you would like to get yourself on the news maybe! Turn left to Baghdad.
In Arabic: عيد ميلاد سعيد
It's not what you think! For many, images of overflowing terrorists would first come to mind at the mention of Syria. On contrary, you could only meet the friendliest people! Syrians are very welcoming to everyone! Food is amazing in this country. It is here that I had the best schwarma (kebab), ice-cream and so much more! With so much to do, friendly people and good food, Syria is one of my favourite countries to visit!
I'm not kidding when I say the best Souqs (markets) you could find in Middle East is in Damascus! Of course, that being said, I have to admit that I've only been to Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Iraq. But I'm sure nowhere would be able to beat this - the best nuts-coated ice-cream at this unbelievable price found in the Souq in Damascus!
Ruins unlimited - There are just so so many ruins site that you can visit in Syria. This is just one of the sites that I visited - Palmyra. Palmyra is an important ancient city in central Syria. And yes, mummy, see? I'm drinking lots of water! :)
Read more here.
