While backpacking in the Middle East, I made sure I headed to some insightful places to help understand the history and politics of this divided region of the world. After reporting on my tour of the Palestinian side of Hebron, I also visited the Israeli side to get both views, opinions and standpoints on this…
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I must be honest and say that I am just so delighted to finally get this story written up and posted. I won’t even apologise for the lateness of it – I’ve been busy backpacking my heart out for a few years and going back through my notebooks and memories, brings the best of these stories…
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Burnt out trucks, tanks chasing me, a country that doesn’t exist, a once vibrant city that is completely destroyed, angry stray dogs, dead end roads, rubble. My Halloween experience in 2013 was a tad eerie, spooky, scary and extreme. It was up there with my visit to Saddam Hussein’s House of Horrors in Iraq, the Venezuela border…
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Baku is not the disorganised, old school “Russia meets Middle East” stereotype that it was when it first broke away from the Soviet Union back in 1991. After that well needed shift, Azerbaijanis gained not just independence again, but a new sense of pride. Politically and geographically, Azerbaijan continues to be a complicated enigma. The…
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These top 5 posts I do on cities are always my personal top 5, there are not meant to be “THE 5” things to do by the way, there is no right or wrong way to travel and no real “best sights” – everyone picks their own. These days I like to list a top…
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As of today the worlds highest building is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As a backpacker in Dubai there was no way I was going to pay the ridiculous price tag of $30 US Dollars to go “to the top”. There’s even an irony there as “the top viewing platform” isn’t even…
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Kuwait City is vast, spectacular, confusing and admirable. Basing yourself near the epi-centre of the nation’s heart is a great way to see modern day KC and so I stayed in both the Ibis Salmiya Hotel and the Ibis Sharq Hotel to get the best of both worlds. There are no hostels here and definitely no…
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After arriving at Kuwait International Airport where I got my Kuwait visa, I stayed at the Ibis Salmiya Hotel for my first night in the country. It was nice to stay in Salmiya which is away from the busy bustling centre of Kuwait City. On my second night, I wanted to be closer to the…
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After arriving at Kuwait International Airport and getting my Kuwaiti Visa, I headed to the Salmiya District where I booked into the Ibis Salmiya Hotel on Salem Al Mubarak Street. Salmiya district is on the east side of Kuwait City and lies right on the Arabian Gulf. It’s worth a leisurely stroll and at least…
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So after spending around 6 months in Europe (my longest jaunt to my home continent in 6 years), I decided to head back to Hong Kong. But there’s no point in flying over endless countries without seeing them, so I decided on a stop over on route. I’ve been to the Middle East a load…
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