The Travel Olympics: Who Gets the Gold?

in travel •  8 years ago 

 Happy Olympics Opening Day!  I’m super-excited for  the London 2012 Games, wondering what the iconic moments will be this  time around.  I’ll never forget what it was like back in 2008, screaming  my head off as Michael Phelps and his teammates beat the French in that  one swim relay they weren’t expected to win. So to celebrate, I decided to do my own personal round of the Olympics, giving out medals to the 33 countries that I have visited so far! Here’s how I would award my medals: 

 

Best Beaches

Gold — Thailand Silver — Croatia Bronze — Indonesia Thailand is an obvious gold winner in this category, being home to  countless incredible beaches, both famous and obscure.  So many of these  beaches are icons, with the limestone cliffs of the Andaman Coast and  the gentle beaches of the Gulf Coast.  Thailand is also home to my  favorite beach in the world: Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach! Croatia’s beaches may not be sandy, but that doesn’t make them any  less amazing.  Croatia, in my opinion, is home to the world’s most  beautiful coastline.  Giant slabs of rocks, pebble beaches, and cliffs  jut out into the teal Adriatic.  Best of all?  The mountain backdrop. Indonesia takes the bronze for its stunning (and incredibly varied)  beaches in Bali and Lombok — and, though I have yet to visit them, on  the other islands as well.  Indonesia has surfing beaches, black sand  beaches, beaches filled with limestone cliffs, and the bluest ocean  you’ve ever seen. 

Best Food

Gold — Italy Silver — Vietnam Bronze — France There is no way any country but Italy could win the gold in this round, from the first plate of cheeses and salume to the final caffe!   Every meal in Italy is filled with such fresh ingredients and  attention to detail — and I love how most meals are a series of courses,  each better than the last. Vietnam gets silver for street pho, amazing noodle and rice dishes,  spring rolls, banh mi sandwiches, and local specialties that you can’t  find anywhere else, like cao lau in Hoi An.  Every dish in Vietnam is an  adventure — and unlike in Thailand, you don’t feel like they’re trying  to kill you with chiles. France would probably turn up their nose if they knew I were awarding  them only the bronze, but their food is SO exquisite.  Food is taken  more seriously in France than anywhere else I’ve been, with rich and  meticulously prepared dishes.  And then there’s all the glory of  baguettes, cheeses, crepes and gallettes… 

 

Best Cities

Gold — USA Silver — Spain Bronze — Italy The United States wins an easy gold for having more fascinating and  diverse cities than anywhere else in the world!  You’ve got inimitable  New York City, laid-back San Francisco and Seattle, unusual culture  havens like New Orleans and Miami, and quirky smaller cities like Austin  and Portland.  And my own beloved Boston, of course.  American cities  are amazing! Spain wins the silver for having a number of very interesting cities —  there are the big two, Madrid and Barcelona, plus gorgeous and cultural  Andalusian cities like Granada and Sevilla, university towns like  Salamanca, architectural marvels like Toledo, and small but glorious  cities like Santiago de Compostela. And Italy picks up the bronze medal for its sheer variety of cities:  hectic Rome; incredible and uncanny Venice, art-drenched Florence,  surprising lesser-visited cities like Bologna and Torino, and its least  Italian city of all, Milan.  In Italy, every city is filled with its own  artistic and culinary treasures. 

Best Natural Beauty

Gold — Montenegro Silver — Faroe Islands Bronze — Austria Oh, yes — Montenegro takes the gold in this round!  Surprised?  So  was I.  While in Montenegro, I spent almost all my time in cars with my  face pressed against the glass, enthralled by what lay before me.   Gorgeous fjords, mountains, beautiful coastline, and the occasional  picture-perfect island. The Faroe Islands were just barely edged into silver, but this was a  close one.  Giant cliffs plunging into the ocean, waterfalls, villages  with grassy-roofed houses, mountainous terrain filled with puffin  habitats.  The Faroe Islands are one of the most beautiful places I have  ever seen. Austria wins bronze for its incredible backdrops — the Alps changing  from purple to green, freshly dusted in snow after a storm; mountain  villages looking like they’re straight out of Heidi; and my favorite, the incredible turquoise lakes that dot the Salzkammergut region. 

 

Best Hospitality

Gold — Jordan Silver — Cambodia Bronze — Indonesia In Jordan, it seems like everyone wants to welcome you and thank you  for visiting their country.  Again and again I was invited to share tea  with different groups of people.  It culminated in Wadi Rum, where we  spent the night dancing, singing, and talking for hours, underneath a  starry sky.  That, to me, earns a gold medal. Close?  Cambodia with the silver!  The people in Cambodia have so  little, but they don’t hesitate in opening their hearts and homes to  visitors.  Especially in places like Kampot and Phnom Penh, I felt like I  was a member of their extended family. Indonesia gets bronze for Indonesians’ readiness to invite people  anywhere.  People elsewhere would hesitate before inviting a stranger  somewhere, but people in Indonesia knew no hesitation!  I was welcomed  as a close friend everywhere, and that kindness is what I’ll remember  for a long time. 

 

Best Adventure

Gold — Iceland Silver — Austria Bronze — Vietnam Gold medalist Iceland has one of the world’s most unique landscapes,  and there are unlimited adventure activities, from volcano hiking to ice  climbing to lava caving to snowmobiling to diving in subzero  temperatures.  The fact that a geyser could sprout out of anywhere adds a  nice element of danger to any adventurous activity. Austria’s gorgeous mountains make it a clear silver medal — where  else can you can hike, ski, and snowboard year-round?  And for summer  activities, there’s rafting, canyoning, rock climbing, horseback riding,  and more.  Austria’s mountains make it a playground for adventurers. Vietnam is a surprisingly adrenaline-driven destination.   It picks  up the bronze for kayaking, wakeboarding, and motorbiking adventures,  and for the beach town of Mui Ne being the kite-surfing capital of the  world.  The ultimate adrenaline rush?  Driving in Hanoi or Saigon! 

Best Value

Gold — Croatia Silver — Cambodia Bronze — Portugal In Croatia, you can enjoy hill towns and coastline in Istria that  evoke Italy for the fraction of Italy’s prices, (not to mention the  world’s cheapest truffle dishes).  Sailing the Dalmatian Coast costs far  less than sailing in Greece, and most say it’s even more stunning.   Want to go even cheaper?  Rent a beach apartment in a small town away  from resorts and prices plummet to the ground!  That’s a gold medal,  right there. Cambodia is the cheapest country I’ve been to.  It wins the silver  medal in particular for Siem Reap, where you can enjoy fancy meals,  cooking glasses, and handmade crafts for cheaper than anywhere in the  world, and Sihanoukville, a relaxed beach town where you can live like a  rock star on $15 per day. As for Portugal?  It has all the beauty and charm of Western Europe  without the sky-high Western Europe prices.  Lisbon’s a bargain compared  to Barcelona, and the Algarve is cheaper than Spain’s fancier resorts.   Keep in mind that dinner on Porto’s gorgeous riverfront will cost you  less than half the cost of its equivalent in Florence.

Best Undervisited Countries

Gold — Faroe Islands Silver — Laos Bronze — Liechtenstein Oh, the Faroe Islands — so very beautiful, so very interesting, and  so very untouristed.  They are somewhat challenging to get to and only a  summer travel destination, but visiting these islands is SO worth it  for their isolated beauty and the fascinating local culture. Laos may be a mainstay for Southeast Asia backpackers, but it’s still  obscure enough to elicit, “Where’s that?” questions from most people.   Laos is peaceful and has an extremely slow and relaxing way of life.   As the world modernizes, Laos is one place that’s staying still. Liechtenstein, our bronze medalist, is more than a little quirky.   Sandwiched in between Austria and Switzerland, Liechtenstein is home to  chocolate box villages, mountains for skiing, a scandal-free Royal  Family that opens its palace grounds to residents once a year, the  vineyards of a Prince, a bridge where you can walk into Switzerland, and  beautiful views from every angle.
 

Thanks for visiting. have a nice day :)
Kate McCulley 

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