A few of my favourite things

This last six months have been a roller-coaster ride of experiences and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, some things more than others. A few people have asked what my favourite things were, and I'm afraid it's hard to narrow it down to a top five or ten. Instead I have broken it into three categories - my favourite experiences, favourite scenery and things that I would definitely go back and do, either again or differently. They're simply in alphabetical order since I couldn't decide on a ranking. Here goes:

The Blue Mountains, Australia

The Blue Mountains are, as you would expect from the name, "mountains," though one's definition of "mountain" is relative. For Australia, these hills are big and are only short drive west of Sydney. They are close enough to be a weekend destination for people in the city and the area boasts lots of attractions. It has many quaint little towns and villages, great hiking, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sydney, Australia

We arrived in Sydney early in the morning and were disappointed that our first glimpses of the city were through rain that persisted the entire day. Not exactly what you think of or expect from Down Under. We spent our first day adjusting to the new time zone and the "normalcy" of being back in a Western country.

The Bat Cave, near Battambang

Just before sunset Chin Chin brought us to a bat cave to see the evening entertainment. Every evening millions of bats wake up and leave this cave all at once to go hunting for food. It's an amazing sight to see. The bats stream out of a small hole in the rock and create a long black trail across the sky that undulates about the sky as if it were choreographed. And this goes on for over an hour.... It was quite dark out by this point, so the pictures don't really do it justice. Hopefully, you can still get a good idea of the spectacle: