Itineraries

Three valleys, three republics, one celestial range: Aksu-Zhabagly’s tulips, Sary-Chelek’s mirror lake and the Chatkal mountains above Tashkent.

One cold-winter desert, three countries: Barsa-Kelmes on the dried Aral bed, Repetek’s saxaul forests and the Kyzylkum between the Silk Road rivers.

Two doors into the Hyrcanian relict forest: Azerbaijan’s Hirkan park near Lankaran and Iran’s Golestan, where Caspian rainforest meets steppe in one reserve.

Two stops in Asia’s closed basin: shallow, saline Uvs Lake on the Mongolian side and Russia’s Ubsunur Hollow reserve, from sand dunes to glaciers on one transect.

The Serenissima’s stone shield from Zadar to Kotor: a capital’s ramparts, a fortress standing in the sea, and walls that climb a mountain above the bay.

On the trail of the stećci: Radimlja’s carved necropolis, the layered town of Stolac and Mramorje above the Drina — the Balkans’ shared medieval stones in three stops.

Central America’s wild spine in two stops: the binational La Amistad wilderness and the Chirripó trek from cloud forest to a summit that sees both oceans.

North to south along the Barrier of Spears: Royal Natal’s Amphitheatre, Tugela Falls, the painted shelters of Giant’s Castle and Sehlabathebe across the Lesotho line.

Four stops in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng: the park, the boat-entered Phong Nha Cave, Thiên Đường’s dry immensity and Sơn Đoòng, largest cave passage on earth.