2009 has gone and with it goes my greatest year of travel; so many people have asked for highlights, so here is my top 5 in no particular order!

I had the enviable task of spending six months of 2009 on the road – taking in 14 countries – and I’m going to try and narrow it down to the top five spots that I visited. Plenty of people that I’ve spoken with think that such lists are daft, that there is little point in designating an obscure spot that is difficult, time consuming and expensive to get to, but I think some places are worth a mention.

It was a successful year for both Jamie McDonald Photography and Rice and Rock Concerts. Photographs from my journey are available for prints and licensing through my site, but will shortly be licensed through Getty Images.

Rice and Rock Concerts, which was conceived in China just this year is already ranking highly in the travel world and was picked up by Lonely Planet for their Blog Sherpa program.

The travel may have stopped for the very short time as I have now relocated to London and will be concentrating on work now (hey, we can’t all travel every day!) As an Australian to be sitting on the edge of Europe, Africa and the Middle East is pretty exciting and there are going to be some great weekends and short breaks coming up – check back here for news!

To my picks of 2009, and in no particular order:

• London, United Kingdom

What can I say that others haven’t said, or indeed what I’ve said myself already. When I arrived in London on July 31 last year I had already been on the road for 11 weeks, but it was instantly a standout city for me. I was as awe struck on the National Express coach into the city from Stansted as I had been anywhere in my life.

If I can ever recommend a London activity it is to walk around the landmarks in the middle of the night. Given that pubs and bars all shut around 11pm London gets quieter than almost any other European city. In literally the first few hours of August – the traditionally super-busy month of Summer – I had pretty much all of Westminster to myself.

If you’re on your way to London then I can recommend some of the usual tips – get an oyster card as soon as you get to London and get some £ on it. It’s so much cheaper than cash tickets and you can now use it on all transport in the zones you’ve picked.

Crash with mates if you can, but if not then don’t stress – London is not nearly as expensive as people make out. I stayed one night at Journey’s London Eye and it was crammed, uncomfortable and £12 per night. A quick look around though and I discovered that for another £5 I was in a 6 bed dorm at Astor’s great hostel in Victoria.

Eat lunch in the City – sandwich and (ok) coffee for £1.50? Spend days wandering through great museums, galleries, parks, and then just sit at Parliament Hill at Hampstead Heath and just take it all in.

• Dali, China

Now this is a long time ago – I made it to Dali in Yunnan Province of China in late May – one of my first stops on my trip. For detail it’s best to head to this entry http://riceandrockconcerts.com/2009/05/yangshuo-to-dali-china/ and this one http://riceandrockconcerts.com/2009/06/walking-around-dali-rice-paddies-and-eating-dumplings/

Perhaps they say it all, but at the time of writing it may have been easy to get caught up in the beauty of this mountain town stuck between a peak and a lake with nothing but rice paddies around. On reflection I should have stayed longer in Dali as I can say without any doubt that it was an absolute stand out destination in China. The people of Yunnan are as friendly as you can meet in the country, and the food and scenery is to die for. I’m already planning an overland trek with friends to go from Hanoi on the day train to Lao Cai, spend some time in Sapa, and then continue on through to Kunming in China, and before arriving in Dali again.

• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I can’t say enough positive things about Sarajevo. One of my friends told me that the name Sarajevo sounds like music and I can’t agree more.

I only have two tips for the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina – one, read this blog entry, http://riceandrockconcerts.com/2009/09/bratislava-slovakia-to-sarajevo-bosnia-hercegovina/ and two, get there now. Seriously there is no way that this beautiful city is going to be off the beaten path for long. Budget airlines are flying to more and more destinations as their fleets expand, and when that happens Sarajevo will be another (deservedly) busy and touristy spot on the map.

Again I wish I spent more time there, but you can’t do everything and stay in one spot for too long.

• Kashgar, China

Listing Kashgar as the destination is a bit of a misnomer, because it really was everything we saw in Xinjiang province in the north west of China that was a delight.

OK, so first off the bat we had some issues in Urumqi with rip-off cabs and hotels, but that is hardly unique to any destination in the world.

The train journey to Kashgar from Urumqi is often dismissed as a tough 24 hours through a desert – in my opinion that couldn’t be further from the truth. The need for sleep and the inevitable disappearance of the sun was the only reason I didn’t stay glued to the window. The desert could change into a green vista with a river flowing through it in minutes, and the stunning mountainous backdrop could never bore me.

Here is the link to my update at the time: http://riceandrockconcerts.com/2009/06/urumqi-to-kashgar-xinjiang-china/

Within minutes of arriving in the old town in Kashgar I was in love with the charcoal smoke filled streets, complete with knife makers, vegetable sellers and carpet touts. It genuinely felt like we’d left China and gone to an entirely new country; new language, culture, religion, food, ethnicity.

We made a trip into the desert on the back of camels and camped under the stars surrounded by emptiness and sand dunes.

http://riceandrockconcerts.com/2009/07/taklamakan-desert-xinjiang-china-photos/

Having a knack of avoiding trouble we had spent a fortnight in the province and had made it to Beijing before any news of ethnic violence in Urumqi made it to us – we’d only missed it by a couple of days. Now back in London I can only hope that friends that I made haven’t come to harm.

• Istanbul, Turkey

I know, I know. I haven’t even blogged about this, nor even updated my site with images. Don’t worry, I’m getting to it! My blogging took a backseat as I travelled through the Balkans and then into Greece where I relaxed in a great country town south of Thessaloniki for four weeks.

Leaving Adendro train station for the umpteenth – but last – time to Thessaloniki to board the train to Istanbul was the first time I’d been excited about travel for some time. I was into month five by this time, and the travel fatigue had been cured in Greece. The train was great, and the delayed arrival into Istanbul was enjoyable as it was possibly the softest bunk and pillow I’d had in months.

Jumping from the train and on to a tram and I’d found myself in Sultanahmet. Give it another 5 minutes and I was tucking into a sweet borek (cheese pastry – previously loved and adored in Sarajevo and Mostar) with a çay (black tea – sweet as you can handle it.)

I was bowled over walking to our hostel – the Blue Mosque, the Agia Sofia. I doubt there are two more beautiful structures standing opposite one another. Our chosen hostel was Antique Hostel, booked on http://www.hostelworld.com. Now I don’t get it, how and why around the world are hostels cheaper if I book through an agent instead of direct? I ended up staying an extra few nights and had to pay extra as I didn’t book online – come on, all the guy had to do was to take the cash from my hand and put it in the till???

There are so many must-do’s in Istanbul. See the aforementioned Agia Sofia and Blue Mosque, but please, respect the Muslims’ wishes, religion, and thousand signs asking you to not wear revealing clothes and for women to wear a scarf. It is fortunate the Blue Mosque is too beautiful for any overweight, camera toting tourist in shorts and singlet to ruin the experience, but they sure give it a shake. Spend a half a day at the Topkapi Palace (and do pay extra for the Haram tour), and then after lunch go to the Archaeological Museum. If you’re peckish then go to the Galata Bridge and get a fish sandwich – so good, and so cheap.

If you’ve got spare time for a walk under Galata Bridge, stop, grab an Efes beer and a nargileh (water pipe) and just watch the sun drop over the hill. Mosques, minarets and the call to prayer will stun your senses.

Other than the sites, you must eat. The food is so tasty and cheap and incredibly diverse. My final tip though – avoid the apple tea, it is positively the worst experience I found in Istanbul.