100 Country Recap

Written By Hailey Pryor

Countries: 76. Uzbekistan 77. Tajikistan 78. Turkmenistan 79. Taiwan 80. Phillipines 81. Hong Kong 82. Laos 83. Malaysia 84. Nepal 85. Bhutan 86. Bangladesh 87. India 88. Sri Lanka 89. Maldives 90. Dominica 91. St. Kitts & Nevis 92. St. Lucia 93. Grenada 94. Guyana 95.  Suriname 96. Guatemala 97. Belize 98. Honduras 99. El Salvador 100. Nicaragua 101. China

Click here to see our recap from our first 50 countries >> 

Click here to see our recap from countries 51-75 >> 

Well, we’ve finally reached our 100th country in February. It feels like it took forever to get here. At the same time, it feels like a gigantic accomplishment, and a certain weight has been lifted. Something about hitting that 100 mark makes you feel like you’ve actually done it. A little pat on the back. Only 65 more countries to go! 🫠

Countries 76-100 was a mixed bag of travel, from finishing out Central Asia (“the Stans”) to the world of India, a tropical few weeks in The Caribbean, exploring the ins and outs of Central America and finally making it to the larger-than-life China. We’ve officially had food poisoning in all continents, visited 7 of 7 world wonders, Hailey became travel fluent in Japanese (ok, she knows 10 words), and Max’s Spanish is at an impressive 30% fluent! 

A common question we get is to share our favorite cities, hotels, countries and experiences. From the last round of travel, here’s how things stack up

Favorite Experiences from countries 76-100 (in order of preference):

  • Visiting the Registan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan 

  • Walking around the streets of Khiva, Uzbekistan

  • Seeing the Door to Hell in Turkmenistan - this is off the beaten path!

  • Amanpulo, Phillipines 

  • Cruising down the Mekong River in Luang Prabang, Laos

  • Sharing our breakfast with monks in Laos as they make their daily trek to their temples in Luang Prabang, Laos 

  • Taking the Belmond train through the Malaysian jungle 

  • Taking Rickshaws around Georgetown Penang, Malaysia 

  • Seeing Mt. Everest via helicopter, setting flags up at at Annapurna Base Camp & hiking around

  • Lo Mutang, Nepal - the antiquity of the town, it’s people, and their ways will leave you breathless.

  • Lukla Airport

  • Going to Zhong’s & Temples on Buddha’s reincarnation day in Bhutan 

  • Climbing up to Tigers Nest in Bhutan 

  • Walking through the markets in Delhi 

  • Tiger safari in India, seeing 7 tigers, mother tiger with her 4 cubs (and also a few black bears)

  • Taj Mahal in Agra, India 

  • Hiking to the top of Sigiriya Rock in Sri Lanka 

  • Diving in the Maldives (seeing a pregnant sting ray!)

  • Diving around the Underground Sculpture Park in Grenada

  • Diving shipwrecks in Roatan, Honduras 

  • The Impression Lijiang show in Lijiang

  • Bana experience in the Shanghai, Spa 

  • Spending a month in china at 6 different cities - seeing it’s true diversity 

  • Seeing the pandas in Chengdu, China

  • Xian warriors 

  • Spending 2 hours climbing the Great Wall of china 

Favorite Hotels from countries 76-100 (in order of preference):

  1. Cheval Blanc: Maldives (perhaps top 5 of all time)

  2. Amanpulo: Phillipines

  3. Amankora: Paro, Bhutan 

  4. Joali Being: Maldives 

  5. Amangala: Galle, Sri Lanka

  6. Aman: Ranthambhore, India 

  7. Aman: Shanghai, Hangzhou, Lijiang

  8. Amantaka: Luang Prabang, Laos

  9. Capella: Hanoi, Vietnam

  10. Temple House: Chengdu, China

  11. Amarvilas in Agra, India: aesthetically one of the most beautiful hotels we’ve stayed at

  12. Mandarin Oriental Taipei, Taiwan

  13. Four Seasons: Hong Kong

  14. Kimpton: Roatan, Honduras 

Favorite Dining Experiences from countries 76-100 (in order of preference):

  • Central in Lima, Peru

  • UltraViolet in Shanghai, China

  • Mo Wang in Chengdu, China

  • Street food in Tapei, Taiwan 

  • The Bridge in Chengdu, China 

  • Mil, Valle Sagrado, Peru

  • 1947 in the Maldives 

  • Kings Joy in Beijing, China

  • Lunch at courtyard in China 

Casual dining:

  • Tacos hermanos in El Salvador

  • Mo wang in Chengdu, China

Favorite cuisine:

  • Peruvian

  • Bhutanese - Chili & cheese in Bhutan!!! 

  • Chinese if it’s at Mo Wang 

Best Diving

  • Maldives - anywhere you go

  • Diving with swarms of fish in Cebu, Phillipines

Favorite Countries (from country 76-100)

  • Bhutan

  • Maldives

  • Laos

  • Nepal

  • Sri Lanka

Charming smaller cities:

  • Lo Mutang, Nepal

  • Antigua, Guatemala

  • Roatan, Honduras

  • Luang Prabang, Laos

  • Pokhara, Nepal

Countries we went back to (which I include to share that we felt it had enough to offer to veer off course and go back to a country we’d already been to). You will notice that a lot of these countries also end up on our favorite country list. 

  • Mexico

  • Norway 

  • England

  • Italy

  • France

  • Austria

  • Spain

  • Netherlands Amsterdam

  • Chile/Easter Island 

  • Thailand

  • Vietnam

  • Japan

  • Iceland

In June of 2016, six years before we even left for this travel journey, Max and I sketched out what a world tour trip could look like. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that six years later we would start the trip

In June of 2016, Max and I sketched out what a world tour trip could look like. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that six years later we would start the trip, let alone be on it for almost 3 years.

Hailey Pryor
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