When I arrived in India for the first time in 2016, my first port of call was the capital city, New Delhi. I found out about the highly rated Smyle Inn Hostel and made this my base for my first three nights in New Delhi before night training it to Mumbai. When I Facebooked the Read more about Backpacking in India: Staying at the Popular Smyle Inn in New Delhi[…]
I meandered my way back into the republic of Kazakhstan thanks to a clever visa free passport switch at the border (Irish for Uzbek visa, British for Kazak visa free entry). The toughest part of my Central Asian adventure was over and I’d escaped Uzbekistan. The countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgzstan were up next, both Read more about Staying at the Orbita Boutique Hotel in Shymkent, Kazakhstan[…]
While backpacking in Afghanistan, I was delighted to be offered the chance of a homestay with a local family in the city of Masar e Sharif. In the years I’ve been travelling, I’ve had homestays in places like Israel, Iran, Uruguay, Nagorno Karabakh, Hungary, Tunisia and Transnistria. However Afghanistan was a whole new experience. The Read more about Backpacking in Afghanistan: My Homestay Experience in Masar e Sharif[…]
After the madness of the wacaday adventure in the barely known republic of Karakalpakstan, it was time to get back to some textbook Uzbekistan sightseeing and the city of Khiva was on the agenda. I wanted to stay in the Ichan Kala (“Old walled town”) which is the typical tourist option but by far the Read more about Backpacking in Uzbekistan: My Stay at the Lovely Hotel Xiva Atabek in Khiva[…]
My final stop on my Uzbekistan overland trip was in the capital city. It was here that I finally felt at ease with the Uzbeks when I arrived in their glamorous, northern swanky hub of Tashkent. The capital seemed to like me and I liked it too. It was nice to finally find a really cool city Read more about Backpacking in Uzbekistan: Staying at Gulnara Guesthouse in Tashkent (the Capital)[…]
This is probably the first hotel review I ever do where I won’t mention the actual name of the hotel. There are security reasons for this of course and I was there on tour with a cool company and they sorted out my accommodation. I didn’t go online and book any hotels or hostels. In Read more about Backpacking in Afghanistan: My Hotel Stay in Masar e Sharif[…]
My Uzbekistan adventure continued and I tried to make the most of the limited visa time I had in the country. Two quick nights in Bukhara were in store, one of them I had to be up early the next day to head on the wacaday journey to Karakalpakstan. This time I went for a Read more about Backpacking in Uzbekistan: Staying at Madina and Ali’s Guesthouse in Bukhara[…]
Believe me, this was another crazy journey on this ball. I mean, for a start how many of you have heard of Karakalpakstan? Sorry where? Karakalpakstan!! I travel full-time and until last week, I also hadn’t heard of it!! It’s an autonomous region within Uzbekistan. But they have their own language, people, culture, borders, road Read more about Backpacking in Karakalpakstan: My Night at the Jipek Joli Hotel in Nukus[…]