In Photos: A Journey Through 2013

Dariece Swift author's bio Goats On The Road

Photos play a huge part in our travel lives. It’s fantastic to be able to experience a country, culture, food and people and have those memories in our minds. It’s even more fantastic to have great photos of the things we see and do so we can look back on them whenever we choose.

This year took us through China, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, England and finally…home to Canada. We’ve gone through our bazillion or so photos and selected some of our favourites to take you on a journey through our year of travel.

January – July (China)

people of china

A wonderful woman we met in the Old Town, Yangzhou, China.

shanghai skyline

We went to Shanghai many times…such an awesome skyline!

street vendor suzhou

We went to the nearby city of Suzhou for a long weekend away. Motorcycles, bicycles and street vendors are found all over China!

yangzhou china

Beautiful Yangzhou, China – our home for a year.

spring blossoms china

Colourful blossoms were found all around China during March & April. We went to Hangzhou for a few days to see these beauties. 

chinese man

A very friendly Chinese man that we met during our trip to Hangzhou.

chinese dumplings

We ate so many dumplings during our year in China! Not only are they delicious, but they’re cheap.

July – August (Mongolia)

gobi desert sand dunes

We spent 6 days in the Gobi Desert and loved it. Watching the sun set over these gorgeous dunes was a highlight.

mongolian ger

Two lone gers in the middle of the Mongolian steppe. 

mongolian men

Man & Man’s Best Friend in Mongolia. 

camping in mongolia

We trekked independently in Mongolia for 8 days. This was one of our campsites for the night…with double rainbows as a background!

mongolian kids

Spreading around some Canadian cheer on the Mongolian steppe.

wagon in mongolia

A means of drying out cheese for the nomadic people.

August (Russia)

lake baikal russia

Camping along the shores of Lake Baikal: the deepest, oldest and one of the clearest freshwater lakes in the world.

August – September (Kazakhstan)

mosque in astana

The gorgeous Nur-Astana Mosque at sunset.

big almaty lake

Big Almaty Lake in the Alatau – Eliy National Park.

September (Kyrgyzstan)

yurt kyrgyzstan

A traditional Kyrgyz yurt.

horse trekking kyrgyzstan

A 3 day horse trek to Lake Song-Kul. Us at the 3,000m high pass. 

atlyn arashan trek kyrgyzstan

Looking back down the valley during our 3 day trek from Karakol to Altyn Arashan.

atlyn arashan lake

At 3,560m the Ala-Kul Lake was stunning.

arslanbob kyrgyzstan

Enjoying the picturesque village of Arslanbob.

September – October (Tajikistan)

girl in tajikistan

A Pamiri girl in Ishkashim. 

abrashim fort tajikistan

Gorgeous views of the Wakhan Corridor from the ancient Abrashim Qala Fort.

tajik woman

A Wakhi woman during the harvest in the village of Langar.

pamir highway

Views of the Pamir Mountains and Hindu Kush on the Pamir Highway.

afghan man

An Afghan man looks on during the cross border market with Tajikistan & Afghanistan.

girl in the pamirs

A Wakhi girl in the village of Langar.

October (Uzbekistan)

samarkand mosque

Amir Timur Mosque lit up at night in Samarkand.

November (Turkmenistan)

ashgabat

One of the many white marble buildings in one of the strangest cities we’ve been in: Ashgabat.

November – December (Iran)

garmeh iran

Hiking around the desert village of Garmeh.

iranian men

Taking an afternoon break in the sun, Tabriz.

pink mosque shiraz

Illuminated stained glass at the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in Shiraz.

karnaq village

Mud village of Karnaq.

persian cat

A Persian Cat in Persia! 

sheesha pipe

A Qalyan (water pipe) shop in Kerman…these are found all over Iran.

pomegranates

Pomegranates are so delicious and found all around Iran.

kandovan village iran

The troglodyte village of Kandovan.

kaluts

At the Kaluts in the desert to watch the sun set. 

December (England)

big ben

Our second visit to London was just as good as the first back in 2011.

December – January (Canada)

christmas in canada

Merry Christmas from Canada!

This was such a fantastic year for the two of us! Since being home in Canada, we’ve been so “go, go, go” that we haven’t really had a chance to reflect on this 5 month trip that we just undertook. Going through all of these photos really helped the reality of it sink in.

We thank everyone for following our journey this year, commenting on our articles and giving us constructive criticism. We really appreciate it. We have lots of plans for 2014, so stick around to see what we get up to!

What did you get up to in 2013? Any plans for 2014? Share with us below!

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In Photos: A Journey Through 2013

Dariece Swift author's bio Goats On The Road

Written by

Dariece Swift

Dariece is a co-founder of Goats On The Road, and an expert in saving money, finance management, building an online business and of course... travel. She loves meeting new people, trying new cuisines, and learning about the unique cultures of our world. She has over 12 years of experience helping others to realize their travel dreams and has worked in numerous jobs all over the world to help pay for travel.

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15 thoughts on “In Photos: A Journey Through 2013”

  1. Impossible to choose a favourite, they are all so awesome! I can’t wait to travel the silk route one day, and your photos are so inspiring. We’ve chatted to quite a few travellers on this trip who have come that way either by cycling or public transport and they have all raved about it.

  2. Thanks Rachel! I’m so happy you enjoyed the photos. The Silk Route was such an interesting part of the world. Had lots of ups and lots of downs, but in the end, it was VERY memorable for good reasons 🙂

    Happy Travels to you!

  3. Once again can I say… amazing photos! And what a year! I can’t wait until we make our way around that side of the world, not that I don’t love C. America but I can’t wait to experience something new! And eat more dumplings 😀

  4. Love the photos, especially of the camping in Mongolia. Love the Canadian stickers on the kids eh, some Canuck propaganda!
    All the best in 2014.
    Frank (bbqboy)

  5. Aren’t those kids so adorable with the Canadian flags on their cheeks! Too cute. Thanks for the comment Frank, the one of the campsite is definitely a favourite of ours.

    Happy Travels!

  6. Absolutely breathtaking photos guys, particularly of so many off the beaten track places that most of us would never think to venture to! It’s quite cool after seeing these photos from Iran and Tajikistan to suddenly see my hometown of London right at the bottom! Look forward to reading about all your adventures in 2014!

  7. these pics are really great. I have been traveled to china 5 years ago and i still want to come back there one more them. china seem to be a small world of many small countries because you can see many kind of people and culture there.

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