Most travellers and backpackers heading to Botswana are there to see zebras. Yes, the zebra may be Botswana’s national symbol and the safari tours are cool. But away from the famous Okavango Delta and the deserts of Botswana, sits a charming and prosperous capital city by the name of Gaborone. The good news is it’s…
Read MoreAs part of my ongoing reports from backpacking in Iraqi Kurdistan I now report on my time in the city of Sulaymaniyah. After seeing the impressive mountain village of Amadiya, touring Duhok and Sulav, we headed way out east towards the Iran border, to the city of Sulaymaniyah which is astonishingly a city of over a…
Read More“We could sit by a lonely windowpane, We can walk the streets of my life while they still remain” – Noel Gallagher. Herm is yet another magical island from my journeys on this planet. It is easily “do-able” in a day. The only method of transport on the island is a tractor and the only…
Read More“There’s so much that we share that it’s time we’re aware it’s a small world after all” – Robert Sherman. Today is a long awaited overdue post. You will hear me mention the barely known city of Xinying (Shinying) in Taiwan a lot on here. Xinying? It’s easily in my top 10 cities from my…
Read MoreThe tiny republic of Nagorno Karabakh is easily one of the oddest places I have ever been. It completely feels like a separate country here. It should be and while I’ll certainly class it as a country on my own terms having seen the place with my eyes, United Nations and FIFA still don’t recognise…
Read More“You make me feel naked, undressing me with your eyes” – Louise Nurding. We are born naked. Somewhere along the way some bright spark invented clothes and decided we should cover up. Possibly to cope with cold weather, possibly to keep clean, possibly to protect ourselves or possibly shame at showing our so called “private…
Read MoreEast Timor is still a relatively “new country”, having gained its independence and official country state in 2002. When backpackers talk about South East Asia they normally head to Thailand, Laos or Malaysia. However, geographically East Timor is more “South East” Asia than any of them. In fact it’s so south east, it’s almost in…
Read More“And your bird can sing” – The Beatles. First up – I wrote this about my first visit to Paramaribo in January 2011. At the time, I expected it would be my only visit to Parbo. But no, I returned twice more, both times in 2014 before and after Guyana. In 2011, I got my…
Read More“From feudal serf to spender, this wonderful world of purchase power” – Richey James Edwards. I love Sark. It’s just a magical dream like island. No public transport. No major advertising. No worries or stress. Sark is one of the few remaining inhabited places in the world where cars are banned from roads and only…
Read MoreAlthough it’s rare for me to write about backpacking or sightseeing in London, England the fact remains that I once spent a year working my ass off in London and it was only after leaving that job in 2007 (almost 7 years ago now) that I started this blog and became a more hardcore backpacker…
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