“Midnight at the Oasis” – Brand New Heavies. Make no mistake about it – Turkmenistan is totally worth the trip. It has a truly stunnigating capital city – Ashgabat. This is really the city of the future. It is a city full of crazy, cool and architecturally marvellous buildings and structures. As Turkmenistan is a…
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“I stand out from the crowd because I stand out from the crowd. But no-one stops to notice me, in over-crowded London” – Jonny Blair Poetry. Cities that are given random titles and monikers rarely live up to expectations. Don’t expect me to glorify excremental joints such as Venice (city on the water), Paris (city…
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After a thrilling reunion with my Israeli friends Natali and Alex, where we did an oil lamps tour in Caesarea, we stayed a few days in Haifa on the Mediterannean Coast of Israel. The second day was another eventful one and we arose early for a trip north to check out some caves in Northern…
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Have you ever heard of the Druze people? Well maybe you have, but probably not, as neither had I until I ended up staying with a couple of great friends, Natali and Alex in their home in Haifa in Israel. We hit backpacking pretty hard again in Israel, going through towns and cities a lot…
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When you are visiting Israel or Palestine, it’s a good idea to sample the food as well as take in the sights. Israeli and Palestinian cuisine is a melting pot of flavors from all over the world: Middle Eastern, American, Indian, Moroccan, and Eastern European, among others. It would be a mistake to skip trying…
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Ramallah sits proud and un-noticed. In reality, it’s the capital city of Palestine. Whether you believe that Palestine is a country or not, isn’t the point. Ramallah remains a Palestinian stronghold, nestled shyly north of the border between Israel and Palestine, this is the centre of the Palestinian authority. Politics aside, but with a bit…
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We spent 4 days hanging out in Haifa on the west coast of Israel and the story went back a few years. While backpacking in New Zealand in 2010 I met a cool Israeli couple. Three years later and we met up again. After spending our first day and night in the Port Inn in…
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On arrival in Oman in April 2018, I decided to stay in Muttrah. It’s 4 kilometres from Old Muscat and sits right on the Gulf. Muttrah is a harbourside village that is officially part of the Muscat sprawl. Oman’ s capital seems to never end though personally I saw the quaint and quittle Old Muscat…
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“Work is the curse of the drinking classes” – Oscar Wilde. While backpacking in Saudi Arabia recently, I realised it was one of the rare countries I visited where I didn’t consume any alcohol. This is due to the strict law – alcohol is simply forbidden here and will result in imprisonment, fines or expulsion.…
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“Grimsby Town don’t even play in the town of Grimsby!” – Every football fan! So another train journey and I love them. This one, in Saudi Arabia. Hail Train Station, Saudi Arabia Hail Train Station, Saudi Arabia just reminded me of over elaborate, middle of nowhere train stations in China. Shaoguan sprang to mind, I…
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