When life took me to the “dry state” of Gujarat in India, my Northern Irish soul could think of nothing else but Michael Palin’s journey here and the trouble he went to just to have a few beers in his hotel room. I wanted that too. So I made a beeline for the city of Read more about Backpacking in India: Staying at the Hotel Formule 1 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
“They can come true, yeah. They can come true.” – Gabrielle Dreams can come true, apparently. Central Asia continued to inspire as I left behind the bright lights and modern parks of the Tajik capital city of Dushanbe on route to the Pamirs region, Gorno Badakhshan. This was off the wall stuff. Off the cliff I Read more about My Magical Winter Stay at Pamir Lodge in Khorog, Capital of the Pamirs, Gorno Badakhshan, Tajikistan[…]
At the end of December 2015, I crossed the border from the Kazakhstani town of Korday into the magical world of Kyrgyzstan. After initially touring some cool sights in the north of the country, like Ruh Ordo, Ala Archa National Park and the Petroglyphs at Cholpon Ata, it became obvious that I would use the Read more about Staying at the Luxury 4 Star Hotel Evropa (Europa) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan[…]