10 things to do & places to go

I was thinking about this in the car - 10 things that I have to do & places I want to go to before I grow old & die.

1. White water rafting
I've heard so much about it but never done it. Would like to try it in New Zealand or Nepal.

2. Trekking in Nepal
This is probably one of the coolest things to do in my life. Nepal has always been the place where I associate with mountains & the simple life. I really do want to go there to rough it out.

3. Go to South America
The football continent, apart from Europe. Brazil, Argentina, Chile..all there. It's such an interesting continent with so much diversity - from the Andes Mountains along the west of the continent to the Copacabana Beach in Brazil to the drug wars in Columbia. Massive attack!

4. Africa
You know, this continent never fails to amaze me. We, homo sapiens, are supposed to have originated from there (ermm..really?) Hot, dry & hostile it may be but it would be such an experience to be in the wild in the safaris, visit Victoria Falls, go to Mt Kilamanjaro...just so many things! Could even check out Morocco.

5. Egypt
'nuff said - one of the first civilisations in the world. This is also part of the continent of Africa but I'm putting this separately because this is totally something else to me. I've always wanted to check out the pyramids & sail down the Nile. Can't seem to explain it but there's always something so mysterious about Egypt that I want to find it out myself. Too much Indiana Jones ;)

6. Travel along the Silk Road
Would love to start the route from the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an (aka Chang'an in the past) and travel through the deserts into Uzbakistan, Azerbaijan...and end in Turkey. It's got such a rich history - east meets west here.


7. Take the Trans-Siberian Railway
I've been told that this is one pain in the arse ride because you sit in the train for a week, starting from Vladisvastok and travel across 8 time zones and end up in Moscow. But it's going to be so much fun, with so many things to see along the way. Not something you want to do many times but it would be one great experience to do so.


8. Fly in a hot air balloon over the Grand Canyon or across the English Channel from Dover into Paris
(i) The Grand Canyon is some place where I always wanted to see. The geographical phenomena surrounding it is simply amazing. To be able to see it from the top would be totally cool!

(ii) Going on the hot air balloon from Dover into Paris is like taking the Eurostar, except that this time, it's in the air & not through the Channel Tunnel or overland. Imagine looking at the lush green fields & little towns from the air. WOW!!


9. Walk the Great Wall of China
I probably won't be able to walk the entire length (For goodness sake, I DON'T FLY!) but hey, we're talking about a structure that is visible from space. MUST do it at least once in my life time.

10. Climb up a mountain & snowboard/ski down
I know, this sounds totally crazy but I am not going to do this 50 times in my life. It's for the experience & the thrill of reaching the top & then the exhilaration of going down. (OK, I'm not that good on the snowboard or skis so I'll probably not be speeding.) WOO HOO!!

Sorry, I won't be doing this!

There are still so many other things I want to see & do. It only goes to show one thing, that this world is so huge and there is so much out there to see & do - how exciting!! I'm getting high just thinking about this :) Take me there, everywhere!!!