Following my road up the Nile River, I couldn’t continue my Sudanese adventure without venturing through its breakaway republic, and youngest country in the world: South Sudan! And already before arriving here I felt like I already had an initiation to the country. Khartoum already counts a large population of South Sudanese, fleeing the civil war that has struck the country since 2013. Most of the South Sudanese I’ve met in Khartoum seemed very young and wealthy people sent by their parents to live better lives while the situation calmed at home. But arriving in Juba, Capital of South Sudan, I definitely experienced a different situation. Overview of Juba, South Sudan South Sudan is not even 15 years old, yet is has been through several civil wars and political struggles that still today leaves the country in uncertainty. To me, it doesn’t seem like a real country yet, still struggling to get any kind of stability. Poverty is striking everywhere, just next to overpriced hotels […]
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Interview with “Dawn News”; Pakistan’s Most Read English Newspaper
After the interview in Peshawar’s Newspaper “The Frontier Post”, I had another interesting interview, this time with Pakistan’s oldest and most read English Newspaper. It was published in the form of a Question/Answer on several subjects, from Travelling to my view on Pakistan while I was traveling there. The difference with the last article is that this article was published nationally, and knowing that Pakistan has a population of just about 200 million people, that’s a lot of readers! Too bad they didn’t link back to thedigitalglobetrotter.com… But anyway, here is a link the article: https://www.dawn.com/news/1357562/living-colours-the-hardest-part-of-travelling-is-the-visas Pin to Pinterest Enjoyed this guide? Help others find it too! Share the following Pinterest pin to your Pinterest account, by simply clicking on the top left corner. And Remember: Sharing is Caring 😉
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Guide to Travel to Afghanistan in 2017: My Personal Experience…
Afghanistan… Another one of those countries that raise eyebrows when mentioned. No wonder as we have all been brainwashed by the media for over 15 years of war with news every other day of a car bomb explosion or another suicidal terrorist attack. Afghanistan has its share of problems and war, but in my personal view, that is not a reason to rule it out of my destination list. Most often the best experiences that I live are in those countries considered “off limits”. And Afghanistan has turned out to be an incredible experience well worth time, which I will remember forever. Qargha Lake just outside of Kabul First of all, there was American army guy in the airplane that gave me an interesting insight on the situation in Afghanistan. His view was pretty clear on the aftermath of the American occupation of Afghanistan, as well as the reasons Donald Trump announced an extra 4000 Troops on the ground just a week ago. “Look, it’s pretty clear […]
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Taking Part in 2 Afghan Weddings, VIP with Afghan Ministers
I couldn’t have expected a better way to sample Afghan culture! Weddings are, in my opinion, one of the best ways for the traveler to immerse himself in the real essence of what local culture is all about. Not only the food but especially local customs and traditions are always omnipresent at weddings. I had many opportunities to join weddings around the world throughout the years, in Vietnam, Moldova, and twice in Iran. And now I was invited to a Pashtun and a Tajik Wedding, which are both very traditional people. When I arrived in Kabul, I was quickly amazed at those massive “wedding halls” that are everywhere in Kabul. They are covered with flashing lights, sort of like a Las Vegas Hotel, but with Chinese Christmas lights all over. After asking my driver about them, he told me it is currently wedding season and Afghan people traditionally love to invite as many people as they can to weddings, hence the size of the buildings. […]
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2 weeks Traveling Pakistan: My Experience and Impressions
Never would have I imagined Pakistan to be the way it was! I had pictured something similar to India and Bangladesh. But it is far from it! It has its very own flavor and culture, its people are particularly friendly and its landscape is breath-taking! Kind of a mix between Iran, Afghanistan and India and Nepal at the same time. What I hadn’t imagined is how big of a role the mountains take place in their country. It is very much their pride and each holiday local tourism rush to the north to enjoy their Kashmir region. I have seen the Himalayas from different angles before in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, but the mountains in Pakistan are in my opinion the most stunning! If Pakistan could take a breath with all the hate and bad news it endures around the world, it could rival with countries like Switzerland, Argentina or even Canada in terms of Adventure mountain destinations. Pasu near Hunza Valley I had the opportunity […]
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Visiting Iraq: My 175th Country Visited
Two years ago I was celebrating my 150th country visited in Iceland. That’s only 25 new ones in 2 years, as reaching new countries at this stage is getting increasingly difficult. Now I finally reached my next milestones: Iraq. So I arrived in Erbil, in the Kurdistan région of northern Iraq 2 days ago in one of the worst times of the year to visit, in mid-August. This means 45 degrees temperatures in the shade… But it I’ve seen this before and since it’s dry heat, it doesn’t seem that bad. I am sitting in its incredible 7000 years old citadel as I am writing this. It feels incredible to be here, as of all the countries I’ve visited, this is most probably the oldest historical site I have seen! Just 2 weeks ago I was stunned by the beauty of the ancient Romain city of Timgad in Algeria, which is about 1700 years old… And this place is more than 4 times older! It’s […]
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My Colombia Top 5 Lists for Best Activities, Food, Things to do, People, Cities
Very few countries around the world are as rich as Colombia in terms of activities and culture. In South America, I believe it is one of the most complete of any country and definitely ranks top 2 with Brazil in my book. It is a pretty large country too and with so much to do and places to go, I have prepared a list of my ”top 5 everything” for Colombia so you can prepare your itinerary, in consequence, depending on the amount of time you plan to stay in the country. Whatever happens, make sure to plan a lot of time because transport is always slower in Latin America, especially in Colombia as it is very mountainous and that alone slows down transit times! Top 5 Favorite Cities Medellin Cartagena Cali Guatape Santa Marta Top 5 Best Nature Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona Cali Mountains Guatape San Andres Bogota Top 5 Parties and events Mundial de Salsa in Cali Carnival de Baranquilla Feria de las flores, […]
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World Map of The Most Beautiful Countries, Through The Eyes of a Man Who Visited Them All
This is part of my series about maps of the world where I compare each country I have visited in different categories. The point of this analysis is that after having visited almost all the countries (173/196) I believe I have finally acquired the experience and the credibility to be able to put them side by side and give an honest comparison. Of course, many of them are personal views following my personal tastes and is only a generalization. But since I get so many questions all the time about “what is my favorite country, for this, for that, for everything… “ I decided to represent my results graphically for people to get a better understanding of my opinion. The world is truly a marvelous place! And humans are truly an amazing species! It is pretty incredible what human intelligence and creativity have been able to do in different places in the world, under different climates, different geography, and different beliefs. This creativity has resulted […]
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Oporto, Portugal: A must on any European trip
Been so many times in Portugal but never made it to Porto… What a mistake! this is definitely one of the most beautiful cities on the whole continent! Full of flavor, culture, wine, food, activities, and full of so many different photo angles! 3 days here, definitely not enough, but I’ll keep it on my list for future travels
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My Travel Map: Updated March 2016
I just finished one of the most puzzling and logistically hard to plan leg of my travels, the Pacific Islands. My count is now up to 173, a quick rise since these minuscule islands are quick to visit. It was especially hard to plan and synchronize the flights between the islands and spent 1 week in Bali planing to make it work. and it did. but it was risky… flights are non-refundable… Which means in the peak of the cyclone season, if I miss a flight on one island, I will miss the remainder of my trip! and oddly enough, it almost happens! Cyclone Winston, the strongest cyclone ever recoreded in the southern hemisphere struck Fiji, while I was waiting to fly there from the Marshall Islands. But I was just a few days lucky, I managed to catch my flight and continue my adventures.
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