The final instalment of my favourite photos of our trip! Part 1 covered Latvia to Thailand, and part 2 from Kuala Lumpur to China.

I added a fisheye lens to my camera kit in Uzbekistan. Inside the dome of Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent was the perfect place to give it a trial run

Potato sellers perched on a bench in Tashkent’s Chorsu Bazaar

I got chatting to this group of ladies after I took this sneaky photo and found out that they were visiting Tashkent from the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon

Looking out through the entrance of Barak Khan Medressa to Khast Imom Square, Tashkent

One of my abiding memories of Uzbekistan is the colour blue, from the turquoise of the mosques to the clear blue skies

Laghman noodle soup with a round non bread and a side of the ubiquitous tomato and cucumber salad was a favourite lunch during our time in Uzbekistan

The Registan in Samarkand was jaw-droppingly beautiful by day and by night

A bright orange sunrise seen over the rooftops of Samarkand

The second time that Jo joined us on the trip was in Uzbekistan. Here she’s photographing one of the mausoleums at Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand

A bright green stick insect on the vibrant tiles of a mausoleum at Shah-i-Zinda

Uzbek gravestones feature portraits of the deceased. We enjoyed wandering through the cemetery in Samarkand and practicing our Cyrillic transliteration skills

Char Minar in Bukhara was the gatehouse of a long-gone 19th century medressa

The souvenir stalls in Khiva offered lots of thick woollen socks, often made by the stallholder like this lady inside the Tosh-hovli Palace

When we ascended the watchtower of the Kuhna Ark in Khiva to watch the sun set over the city we were surprised to find a music video being shot and spent as much time taking photos of the dancer as of the historic buildings

The ship cemetery at Moynoq which used to sit on the edge of the Aral Sea really brought home the environmental tragedy caused by the Soviet Union’s irrigation projects in the area to increase cotton production. Moynoq was a thriving fishing town at the edge of the lake in 1960 but is now 150km away from the still retreating water

Vendor of traditional Uzbek silks at Margilon Bazaar in the Fergana Valley

The Uzbek people were some of the friendliest we came across and we spent a lot of time saying hello and answering questions at the enormous Margilon Bazaar

Pigeons frightened by a cat outside Yeni Cami in Istanbul

Magnificent interior of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Necklaces for sale in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar

A man begins his afternoon prayer in the Rustem Pasha Mosque

We couldn’t resist the Turkish Delight shops in Istanbul

Andrew getting a different view of “Bring Yourself to Me” by Handan Boruteçene in Istanbul Modern

The huge Basilica Cistern in Istanbul lay forgotten for almost a hundred years after the Ottoman Conquest

This photograph really captures the day that we visited the Topkapi Sarayi, the former palace of the Ottoman sultans in Istanbul – rainy and grey

When Steph, Tom and Olly visited us in Istanbul we got to see the local playgrounds and behave like big kids!

Passengers on the ferry to the Princes’ Islands feeding gulls

The iconic Haghia Sophia stands in the centre of Istanbul and dominates its skyline. Its dome rises 56m above the floor and looks much smaller than it actually is from below

Malta’s traditional architecture is very distinctive and nowhere more so than in the capital city Valletta with its golden limestone, narrow streets and wooden covered balconies

Looking back towards the start of the walk at Dingli Cliffs. Not bad for a day in November

The prickly pear grows throughout the Maltese countryside and the fruit is both eaten and used to make a liqueur

The Lascaris War Rooms were a fascinating insight into WWII history

A can of beer and a packet of crisps on Għadira beach after a long day’s walk around the northern coastline

Roofline of the church at the Addolorata Cemetery in Paola, Malta

Street lamps in the twisting streets of Mdina, the fortress city in the centre of Malta

Stormy clouds behind St Lawrence’s Church, Vittoriosa

The fantastic Segway tour that we took on Gozo went past the natural salt pans on the north-west coast

Traditional fishing baskets are still used by Maltese fishermen who let them down and mark the spot, collecting them several hours later

It was eerie to see steam rising from vents in the snowy Monte Barbagallo crater of Mt Etna

Baccala, or salt cod, is a typical regional ingredient in Sicily. In Catania’s fish market we saw it drying in the sun

Looking up inside the conical Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime in Siracusa. We nicknamed it the ‘Cone of Shame’

Temple of Vulcano at Agrigento where we spent an unexpectedly cold and slightly snowy New Year’s Eve

Fantastic banyan trees in Giardino Garibaldi, Palermo

Spritz o’clock became a late afternoon institution during our stay in Sicily where the refreshing cocktail is served with complimentary bar snacks

Views up the coast from the former fortress atop La Rocca over Cefalù, Sicily

The mosaics inside Monreale Cathedral tell stories from the bible to assist in medieval times when the vast majority of the population were illiterate

Sculptural Silk floss trees from South America in the Botanical Garden in Palermo

The rather unlikely sounding tile collection of Stanze al Genio in Palermo ended up being one of our favourite sights in Sicily. We dreamt about starting our own collection in an attempt to make our own home so beautiful

Locals leave offerings for skulls in the Fontanelle Cemetery in Naples

On one of the rare sunny days of our fortnight in Naples we spent exploring the house and grounds of the nearby Reggia di Caserta

We climbed to the cupola atop the dome of St Peter’s Basilica for views across Rome but hadn’t expected the staircase to be inside the sloping walls of the dome itself

Entering the base of the dome at St Peter’s Basilica was an unexpected treat for the vertiginous view to the floor of the church

Looking down into the Colosseum from the third tier trying to reimagine ancient Roman times

The view through the keyhole of the Villa del Priorato dei Cavalieri di Malta was surprising in its perfection even when we knew what to expect

A pyramid in Rome? Yes really! It was built in around 12BC as the tomb of Gaius Cestius

There’s a lot of graffiti in Italy. Most of it is fairly unsightly tags but occasionally it is well enough done that it improves whatever it is sprayed onto, like this line B metro train in Rome

The main synagogue in Rome stands imposingly above the River Tiber

The leaning Tower of Pisa is part of a complex known as the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles). The Baptistry has incredible acoustics which are demonstrated every half hour by the guard who stands in the centre of the room and sings a few notes which resonate for so long that he can create chords with his own voice!

The Camposanto Monumentale cemetery in Pisa is slowly being restored after being damaged by bombing in WWII

We loved catching up with our friends Heidi and Olivier in Switzerland and once again admiring the spectacular scenery of their home country

Sunlight streaming through the stained glass window of a tiny chapel on Spreuerbrücke in Luzern

‘Wandering the immeasurable’ by Gayle Hermick stands outside the visitor centre at CERN and is inscribed with major discoveries in physics in the language that they were made

The sun goes down behind the tree lined Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence

Inside the diminutive Basilique Saint-Nazaire in the medieval La Cité, Carcassonne

Carcassonne’s medieval walled fortress town, La Cité

Reflections inside Toulouse’s Church of the Jacobins

The bread, cheese and wine in France was just as good as we’d expected

Luxembourg’s Notre-Dame Cathedral has three spires, each different from the others

Smokers outside the ornate Centraal Station in Amsterdam

Amsterdam’s canal houses were built with a pulley projecting from the gable to more easily move goods to the upper floors and they are still in use today

National Monument and Royal Palace in Dam Square, Amsterdam

‘Tolerance’ by Alaniz is one of the artworks featured in Amsterdam’s Street Art Museum

Looking down the pond in Museumplein towards the Rijksmuseum

We got up early to catch the dew on the tulips at Keukenhof Garden before meeting up with Dan, Clare, Scott and Emma

All of the windmills at Zaanse Schans village are working, milling items as diverse as logs, spices and dyes for paint!

A funfair was squeezed into Dam Square for the King’s Day celebrations

We enjoyed cycling through the colourful bulb fields of the Netherlands

The European Parliament in Brussels

The Atomium was built for the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958 but its architecture still looks futuristic

I really enjoyed reviewing my photos and picking out the best ones. Part 1 covered the first 11 months of the trip up to Thailand. Here’s part two of three…

Looking up one of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Yellow-billed Stork at Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

A flower vendor relaxes on his stall in Hindu Street, Dhaka

Boats jostle for position beside the Rocket Steamer at Sadarghat Boat Terminal in Dhaka

Street food vendors sell snacks at Sadarghat Boat Terminal

Mr Colin’s tea stand in Khulna. He was so chuffed to have foreigners drinking his tea and taking his photo that when we went back later in the week he wanted us to show the photo to his friend!

Shait Gumbad (Sixty Dome) Mosque at Bagerhat actually has 81 domes, but 60 pillars. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and dates from the 15th century

Bangladeshi buses are a colourful but scary way to travel through the country, crammed with people and luggage and driven by seemingly suicidal drivers

Roots sticking up from the floor of the forest in the Sundarbans National Park

We didn’t see any tigers, but there was plenty of other wildlife on view in the Sundarbans National Park in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi food is cheap, satisfying and delicious, many of the country’s restaurants have the ‘kitchen’ outside in the street

Beautifully proportioned Govinda Temple at Puthia

Chicken seller in the New Market, Rajshahi

As foreigners we were curiosities wherever we went in Bangladesh, here we are being watched through a hole in a wall at Sona Masjid

Misty sunrise behind the stupa ruins at Paharpur

A greengrocer hangs grapes from his stall in the market at Dinajpur

A peaceful tea plantation near Srimongol

Life in the waterways near Srimongol

A fishmonger proudly displays his wares in Srimongol

Adverts line the street on election day in Sonargaon outside Dhaka

The Gardens by the Bay at Singapore Marina are dominated by the huge SuperTree structures which are lit at night

A family plays with the sound produced by pots of soil: “Sound of the Earth” by Chen Sai Hua Kuan at the Singapore Art Museum

The Daikokutai team ready themselves to move their float at the Takayama Spring Float Festival

Phoenix topping a box to be carried in procession during the Takayama Spring Float Festival

Cherry blossom in Kanazawa Castle Park

A display of masks at the Kanazawa Noh Museum

Inside the traditional Kureha-Za theatre at Museum Meiji-Mura

Rest house along the Nakasendo, or old post road, between Magome and Tsumago

Matsumoto Castle is the oldest wooden castle in Japan

Japanese Macaque eating pussy willows at Kamikochi in the Japanese Alps. The monkeys are also known to bathe in natural hot springs

Shrine reflected in the moat of a burial mound in Nara

The traditionally constructed roof of Kongobuji temple, Koyasan

Jizos with aprons in the Okunoin Cemetery, Koyasan

A Yabusame archer takes out the final target at full speed

Japan was much greener than we’d expected with plenty of beautiful countryside and well tended gardens

Monument on top of Mt Misen, Miyajima

Wisteria blossoms gently waving in the breeze at Kawachi Fuji Garden

Feeling blue. Kyushu island coastline from the ferry to Yakushima

Andrew with our hostel friends and fellow hikers, Brian and Claudia, on the trail to Jomon Sugi, the largest cedar tree ever found in Japan which is estimated to be over 2000 years old

Hikers rest on the riverbed below the trail to Jomon Sugi

‘Relatum-Point, Line, Plane’ by Lee Ufan stands at the entrance to his museum on Naoshima

Conveyor belt sushi in Kobe, lots of fun

Clouds reflected in rice paddies on the outskirts of Kyoto

Garden at Shoren-in temple, Kyoto

Bright red gates line the path up the mountain at Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto

We spent a fascinated hour watching the gardeners at Ginkakuji Temple recreating the zen garden

A rope encircles a Yorishiro or sacred object, in this case a tree, at Kurama-dera

Lake Saiko is one of the Five Lakes around Mt Fuji

Tokyo Tower from the observation deck of the Mori Art Museum

Fishmongers sawing up frozen tuna at Tsukiji Market, Tokyo

‘Unicorn’ fish for sale at Tsukiji Market, Tokyo

Looking 350m down from Tokyo Skytree

Sunlight shining across rounded stepping stones in Koshikawa Korakuen Garden in Tokyo

Traditional Shinto wedding procession at the Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo

Japanese food is famed for being light and healthy, but a bowl of ramen noodles with extra braised pork is satisfyingly rich and hearty

A man rests under the trees near Beomeosa temple in Busan

Cliffside carvings of the Buddha at Seokbulsa Temple, Busan

Lotus flower, Gyeongju

Colourful carvings in the eaves of Bulguksa Temple near Gyeongju

A Korean breakfast of abalone rice porridge, fish and kimchi at our guesthouse in Hahoe Folk Village

Visiting the de-militarised zone (DMZ) which divides Korea was an eerie experience after learning some of the history of the conflict

Sunset over Seoul from the edge of Namsan Park

Mung bean pancake stall in Gwangjang Market, Seoul

Andrew and the Bund Bull in the old banking district of Shanghai

The Mountain-in-View Tower, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou

Bonsai tree, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou

Sketchbook with a drawing of the Hall of Distant Fragrance, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou

Duck heads and chillis on a street food stall in Hangzhou – no we didn’t try them…

Mirrored wall in the garden of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial

View up the stairway to Dr Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum near Nanjing. Considered the founding father of modern China, he’s a very popular guy

Yellow Crane Tower roof tile detail, Wuhan

Hankou railway station waiting room. The newer stations on China’s high speed rail network look more like airports to us

Queueing for the glass plank path on Tianmen mountain, Zhangjiajie

The cable car line to Huangshizhai runs between the rock pillars, Zhangjiajie National Park

Oil lamps burning at Aidao Nunnery, Chengdu

When we were thinking about wrapping up our two years of travel it seemed like a good idea to have a round up of our favourite photos. To speed up the process we decided to each go through the photos that we took and compile our own selections. It hadn’t really occurred to me how long it would take to just physically look through the 42,485 photos that I had saved, never mind decide which 50 or so were the best. It was a lot of fun though and we found ourselves frequently stopping to share a photo and ask “remember this?”

I’d say that the most photogenic countries we visited were Mongolia for stunning landscapes, Bangladesh for its friendly people, Japan for its culture, and Uzbekistan for a mix of buildings and people as well as phenomenal weather (a bit of sunshine can make the difference between an OK photo and a good one).

It quickly became obvious that I wouldn’t be able to whittle my favourites down to 50, so here is the first of three long instalments…

The reconstructed House of the Blackheads on our first evening in Riga, Latvia

A display of dried fish in Riga’s amazing covered market

Pickled vegetables are a big part of the food culture in the Baltics and Russia and we got quite a taste for them. This stall is in Riga’s market

Evangelic Lutheran Church in Sigulda, Latvia

Sibelius monument detail on a grey and rainy morning in Helsinki, Finland

One of the domes of the Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood in St Petersburg, Russia

St Petersburg’s Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood was one of my favourite sights in Russia, and the interior was just as spectacular as the exterior

Cadets stand guard at the statue of the Motherland at Piskariovskoye Memorial Cemetery in St Petersburg where 420,000 victims of the Siege of Leningrad are buried

Looking through the Grand Cascade at Peterhof

I loved the onion domes on the Russian Orthodox churches and these gold ones at Peterhof are particularly striking

Not buying myself a Russian doll is a small regret from my time in Russia though I probably would have been sick of carrying it very quickly!

The huge Tsar-Cannon in Cathedral Square at the Moscow Kremlin has supposedly only ever been fired once

Komsomolskaya metro station in Moscow

An icon and candles in the monastery in Sergiev Posad, part of Russia’s Golden Ring

Looking up the River Yenisey in Krasnoyarsk

As we moved into Siberian Russia, the landscapes got noticeably bigger and heavily forested. The view from the Stolby Nature Reserve near Krasnoyarsk seemed to go on forever

Snowy mountains above the small village of Baikalskoe on the northern shores of Lake Baikal

The Buryat people of Siberia practice animism, this sacred tree on Olkhon Island is tied with offering scarves

On our first evening staying at Nikita’s Homestead on Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal we watched a spectacular sunset

A dilapidated old boat lies on the lakeshore in the north of Olkhon Island

Looking along the length of the train as we leave Russia

Door handles at Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Young monks carrying a milk churn through Gandan Monastery, Ulaanbaatar

Sunset at Erdene Zuu monastery in Kharkhorin

Oogii, the guide on our 9 day tour to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia

A thunderstorm swept through as we arrived Tsagaan Suvraga in Mongolia, leaving us with moody skies and sunlight with which to admire the eerie looking rock formations

A typical road in Mongolia stretching off into the distance with no other man made feature in sight

More than half of the Mongolian population still live in gers

A huge full moon rising over the Gobi desert in Mongolia

This dog decided to accompany us on a walk through Terelj National Park in eastern Mongolia. In honour of the great khaan we called him Chinggis!

Ovoos, small cairns of rocks, are commonly found beside roads in Mongolia. Passing travellers add a rock to pray for a safe journey

Actually this photo was taken on Andrew’s camera but I snuck it in as it always makes me smile. We found this public artwork in Beijing’s 798 District

China’s Great Wall seen through a window in one of the towers of the Jinshanling section

It was great to have my parents visit us for two weeks in China and I love this photo of them walking along Pingyao’s city wall

At the City God Temple in Pingyao we happened upon a play performed twice daily

Temple visitors in China try to throw a coin into the pot for good luck

The scale of Pit 1 at the Tomb of the Terracotta Warriors near Xi’an took my breath away

Bell tower in Xi’an – we never saw the bell, but judging by the size of the tower it must be pretty big!

I would happily have spent hours watching the pandas at the breeding centre that we visited near Xi’an

I don’t have many people photos from China, largely being too intimidated by the crowds I think, but I’m glad I stopped to ask this busker in Yinchuan if i could take his photo

Side building near the Temple of Buddhist Virtue and view down to Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace in Beijing

The Star Ferry which crosses Hong Kong’s harbour has a distinctly retro look

Hong Kong’s skyline is justifiably famous. Every evening at 8pm there is a free light show

The Mong Kok area of Hong Kong is famous for its markets including song birds which locals keep as pets

A burning incense coil hangs from the ceiling in one of Hong Kong’s temples

We found the world’s best spring rolls in a small restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam

We joined a very rainy walk to some local villages along with an entourage of local ladies selling crafts during our stay in Sa Pa in northern Vietnam

During a homestay visit near Sa Pa we took a traditional herbal bath in the house of the sister of our host family

Andrew having the first of many street-side haircuts, this one was in Hanoi

There are far more varieties of noodles than I ever dreamed of for sale in Vietnam

Our friend Jo visited us for the first time in Vietnam. I was trying to brighten this photo which we took at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and really liked the effect I got by changing it to black and white

One of our fellow daytrippers diving off the boat during our cruise around Ha Long Bay from Cat Ba Island

A lady making silk lanterns at a craft shop in Hoi An

Wooden masks on a wall in Hoi An, Vietnam

Garlic and chillis are frequently used in Vietnamese cuisine

The floating market at Cai Rang was fascinating and we loved watching the locals’ standing up rowing technique

Vietnamese boats have eyes…

Crabs for sale at the Cai Rang land market

Bacon, the pet pig at Nguyen Shack homestay made very cute grunting noises when we scratched his back

Our trip was occasionally glamorous… To celebrate an incredible two weeks travelling through Vietnam with Jo we had cocktails in the rooftop bar of the Sheraton Hotel

We really felt for the guys who have to fix any faults with the electrical systems in China and Southeast Asia. This tangle was above the streets in Phnom Penh.

The atrocities committed at the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh during Pol Pot’s regime defy belief

Rush hour in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as seen from the back seat of a tuk-tuk

Andrew breaking the pool balls in a bar on street 172, Phnom Penh

Palm trees and rice paddies near Kampot, Cambodia

A curious calf near Kampot, Cambodia

A man paddling across to collect a box from the boat we took from Battambang to Siem Reap

It was worth getting up at 4am to see the sky slowly turning pink behind the iconic towers of Angkor Wat

Stone carving detail at Preah Khan temple, Angkor

Tree roots engulfing a gate at Ta Som temple near Siem Reap

A Changeable Lizard in the undergrowth at Bakong temple, Roluos Group, near Siem Reap

These Cambodian boys thought it would be a hoot to chase after our tuk-tuk on their bikes when we drove past!

Pad Thai was one of our favourite Thai street food meals

Buddha statue detail covered with offerings of flowers and gold leaf at Wat Pho, Bangkok

Buddha statue at Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai

Real monks checking out the spookily lifelike fibreglass models of their venerated predecessors at Wat Pha Singh, Chiang Mai

Street art in Chiang Mai, Thailand

A young monk collecting alms at the annual alms-giving to 10,000 monks in Chiang Mai

Lanterns floating above the moat beside Chalyaphum Road in Chiang Mai to wish for good fortune in the New Year

A butcher’s stall at the Tonlamyai market in Chiang Mai

Wat Prathat Doi Suthep stands on a hilltop overlooking Chiang Mai and is notable for the amount of gold covering its monuments

The intricate White Temple near Chiang Rai is full of popular culture references as well as traditional Buddhist iconography

Bundles of herbs for sale in the market near the cookery class we took in Chiang Mai

With my elephant Bunjun on our day as elephant owners

Stalagmite in Mueng On Cave, north of Chiang Mai

Buddha at Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai

Images of elephants are everywhere in Thailand, including surrounding this chedi at Wat Sorasak, Sukhothai

The impressive Grand Palace in Bangkok

A shop in Bangkok’s Chinatown

Footsteps on Long Beach, Koh Lanta

I especially liked this boat detail that I spotted in Koh Lanta’s Old Town as it looks like a J – I assume it’s actually a Thai letter