On Christmas Eve 2015, I arrived in the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan. This city is huge, the biggest in Kazakhstan in fact, despite modern Astana being the capital city. I had flirted with Central Asia and “the Stans” a few times before, visiting Iraqi KurdiSTAN and PodjiSTAN as well as backpacking through Iran, Azerbaijan and Read more about Backpacking in Kazakhstan: Top 14 Sights in Almaty[…]
When I arrived in the city of Kraków in Poland, it was time to delve into some Jewish history. Yes, I have spent a hat-trick of weeks backpacking through Israel and Palestine, but here, Jewish history is a huge thing, for sad reasons. Kraków has always had a large Jewish population and a Jewish neighbourhood. Read more about Backpacking in Poland: Top 5 Sights in Kazimierz, Kraków’s Jewish Quarter[…]
The fact that Lviv Ukraine is brimmed full of wacky themed bars is enough to make any keen pub go-er enjoy this thriving nationalistic city with some style and panache. And let me tell you, it ain’t no glammed up pretentious place either. Italians, leave your Ferraris behind; mainland Brits, forget trying to be a Read more about Thirsty Thursdays: Top 5 Bars in Lviv, Ukraine[…]
I’ve hiked in every continent so far, yes even Antarctica – we hiked up Cuverville Island back in 2010. But my home continent of Europe has some surprisingly high peaks in places, all with tremendous views and some extreme hiking and ski-ing opportunities. An excellent infographic recently released shows all these peaks in an easy Read more about Hiking in Europe: Highest Peaks in the Continent[…]
When you travel around the world so much, it becomes second nature to sometimes drift into constant English speaking. However, on my travels I always tried to delve into some of the languages that I need to speak to get by. Admittedly I am not a great language expert, despite learning Cantonese in Hong Kong Read more about How to Be an International Master of Saying Hello[…]
Back in 2013, I made my first trip to Turkey and ended up staying for three weeks. There were some pure fire highlights along the way and I still rave about the cities of Trabzon and Ankara and the lonely town of Dogubayazit! We started off in mysterious Istanbul, before overlanding through Ankara and Cappadocia Read more about 12 Cool Landmarks to Check out in Turkey[…]
Following on from my incredible morning hiking to the Alpine Cemetery in Ala Archa National Park in Kyrgyzstan, I decide on the easier waterfall and gorge trail in the afternoon. I say easier because the trail is obvious and even has better markings on route, plus a clear path. This was in my first week Read more about Backpacking in Kyrgyzstan: Hiking in Ala Archa National Park Part 2 – The Gorge and Ak Sai Waterfall Trail[…]
“We’re in the army. Now. Woah oh we’re in the army.” – Status Quo. I find it hard to believe that it has been nine years since I backpacked my way to the unknown and non-touristy city of Bobruisk in Belarus. This obscure journey was the story I wrote for Shaun Schofield’s book “Albania to Read more about Backpacking in Belarus: Top 5 Sights in Bobruisk[…]