Brought to you in part by our photo winners…

ALEX METCALFE Winner of the Active category in Wanderlust’s 2017 Travel Photo of the Year competition ( p116)

Mountain, desert, ocean or jungle… which are you? Easy, mountain! First great travel experience? Taking the Trans-siberian railway across Russia. Favourite journey? Cycling my way through Malaysian Borneo. Top five places worldwide? Nepal, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand and Cambodia. Passport stamp you’re proudest of? East Timor. Stamp you’d most like to have? Afghanistan. Guilty travel pleasure? My guitar.

SANGHAMITRA SARKAR Winner of the People category in Wanderlust’s 2017 Travel Photo of the Year competition ( p116)

Mountain, desert, ocean or jungle... which are you? I am a mountaineer from day one. First great travel experience? The cold desert of Ladakh, India. Favourite journey? The road from Sonamarg to Leh, across Jammu and Kashmir, India. Top five places worldwide? Pangong Lake, Kashmir, Nubra Valley and the Khuri sand dunes of India, plus Bhutan. Passport stamp you’re proudest of? Mongolia. Stamp you’d most like to have? Iceland. Guilty travel pleasure? Leaving my favourite people behind.

CALLIE CHEE Winner of the Landscape category in Wanderlust’s 2017 Travel Photo of the Year competition ( p116)

Mountain, desert, ocean or jungle... which are you? 100% mountain. First great travel experience? Italy. Favourite journey? Travelling to a place with 5,000 years of history, such as Egypt, was a surreal experience for me. Top five places worldwide? For photography, it would have to be China, Italy, Mongolia, Nepal and India. Passport stamp you’re proudest of? Pakistan. Stamp you’d most like to have? Turkmenistan. Guilty travel pleasure? I am incapable of guilt.

VIV LEESE Winner of the Wildlife category in Wanderlust’s 2017 Travel Photo of the Year competition (p116)

Mountain, desert, ocean or jungle... which are you? As long as there’s wildlife, I don’t mind. First great travel experience? Kos, aged 22 – it opened my eyes. Favourite journey? Swimming eye to eye with a curious blue whale in Sri Lanka. Top five places worldwide? Masai Mara, Kenya; Lake Tahoe, USA; South Georgia; Namibia; Svalbard. Passport stamp you’re proudest of? Easter Island. Stamp you’d most like to have? Rwanda/uganda – to see gorillas. Guilty travel pleasure? Decent coffee and a cafetière.