59 Countries and (Not) Counting
… and some geographical observations
Thank you to Linda Ng, for the suggestion to write on this topic. I do share the opinion of Anne Bonfert, that I would rather experience the variety in countries, than merely count them. You can read her views on the issue here:
But I have to admit, that through work and leisure travel, I have visited quite a few countries. 59, in fact, depending on how the counting is done, because:
If Mayotte (which I have not visited) is listed as a separate country, while it is a Department of France, then Madeira (a Region of Portugal) and Tenerife (a Spanish island), both of which I have visited, should probably also be counted.
I have visited 4 of the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah) but I can understand that these are listed as one country.
And here’s a bit of free geographical consulting to the makers of that website: They have correctly located Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Asia, well done. I haven’t visited any of these (yet). However, it’s a mystery to me how they managed to place Uzbekistan (which I have visited recently) and Turkmenistan as countries in the Middle East... They are very clearly countries in Central Asia.
Also, it’s surprising to find Greenland (which is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark that I haven’t visited) grouped under North America. However, I see that Wikipedia agrees with this classification.
Now, we are invited to comment on the countries we have visited: What was remarkable or surprising, would we visit again, etc. I will spare you all a listing of my thoughts on 59 countries, you can thank me later. But here are a few thoughts:
China. I’ve only visited the Beijing and Guilin areas, but was very pleasantly surprised. When my wife suggested a holiday to China as a diversion from my work travels to Mongolia, I was at first not very keen. I expected lots of pollution and just too many people. However, I was fascinated by the Great Wall, which should actually be called “The Great Staircase”. Anybody who’s been there will know why. Also, the sights and tastes in and around Guilin are highly recommended, if you don’t mind being the only non-Chinese tourist there.
New Zealand. What a fantastic country! Looking at a world map, we tend to think of it as a small country, but it extends from quite far North (where they even grow citrus fruit) to South (where they have glaciers). Sadly, we only had 2 weeks during our family road trip with a camper van, in 1999, so we never got to see the most impressive parts of the South Island. But everywhere that we did visit, we met friendly people, lots of beautiful nature, great campsites, you name it. Would we go back for another visit? What a question, definitely!
Canada. I’ve “only” seen Toronto and the area between Calgary and Vancouver (and beyond Vancouver), but we have seen some of those areas twice. Would gladly do it yet another time.
Madeira. OK, yes, it’s part of Portugal, so technically not a country. But it is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, off the African coast. An island that I was initially not so keen to visit. I expected it to small, rocky (no brilliant white sandy beaches there) and full of vegetable gardens and lots of flowers. Yes, there are these gardens, and fantastically beautiful flowers, too. (The Jardim Botanico da Madeira is a must-see!) But also, lots of interesting history, great food, fantastic walks and hikes. And geology, of course.
So many other countries with so many different aspects sampled… I wish I had time to write about them all. (Actually, I do that, in my other stories, haha.)
However, my world map confirms that I need to visit more of the Caribbean (only been to the Dominican Republic once, for a week-long holiday) and I’d really like to visit Jordan, in the Middle East.
Now, just to keep in character, let me leave you with an image of a foreign sunset:
