I’m in Iraq for 10 days touring the northern region of Kurdistan. The place is bereft of tourists for the most part but brimming in optimism and enthusiasm. After what Kurds and Iraqis have been through the last 30-40 years it’s no surprise that they are enjoying their freedom. Or at least what freedom they…
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Iraq is still a relatively new backpacking beast, and once you’ve read this you will realise how simple it is to travel to Iraq. While hoards of youngsters head to places like Thailand, Germany, USA and Cambodia on their adventures, not many are tempted by Iraq. And why not? (It must be the media…) Hopefully after…
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The power of world leaders and political figures is something you get used to as a global backpacker. While I’m not often the best person to ask about world affairs, I have studied politics and I grew up in Northern Ireland. Through my years of backpacking I’ve seen the mausoleums of Artigas, Ho Chi Minh,…
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On my travels, I’ve ended up in a load of random places due to flight connections, cheap routes etc. and the whole ridiculous (but nice) fact that it’s often cheaper to take a stop over than it is to fly direct. Such was the case on my first trip to Qatar back in 2011. I’ve…
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Humus, humous, hummus, whatever way you want to spell it – it’s somewhat a speciality in Israel and the Middle East. Many restaurants will claim to have the best hummus in the Middle East. Not many live up to that claim. So we decided to head to the famous Hummus Said restaurant in the old…
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“I want to stand with you on a mountain; I want to bathe with you in the sea” – Savage Garden. While a load of young backpackers head to the Dead Sea early on, it took me until 2013 to finally visit the lowest point on earth. I had a few choices to see the…
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Bethlehem is a town you’ll have heard of. I’m sure of it. Yet you might not know that Bethlehem is in Palestine. Yes, there are no Jewish people here, it’s not in Israel and Israelis are not officially allowed into the Little town of Bethlehem. So I got my backpack on, boarded a bus across…
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Dogubayazit is a bizarre place. You have two options when you’re in and around it – either pass through it and change buses on route to Iran, or stay over there and do the sights. We had done 3 night buses in 3 nights that week, so decided to head to a hotel for a…
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Oh life…how I love the journeys on this planet sometimes. This was a special one like no other. It was completely unplanned, completely random and unexpected and best of all – I was reunited with two great Israelis that I met a few years earlier. To give this story some background. I’ve been backpacking a…
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I spent a whole month backpacking in Iran such was my desire to make the most of my Iranian visa and see as much of the country as I could. Despite rumours beforehand that the food would be terrible, it came as a pleasant surprise to taste a few above average meals. While the breakfasts…
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