Saudi Arabia Quietly Welcome Canadian Tourists to Visit the Kingdom for the First Time in History

With the recent political clashes between Canada and Saudi Arabia back in November 2018 over humans rights, with Saudi Arabia striking back by shutting down relations between the two countries, coming to the Kingdom was pretty much out of range for most Canadians. There has been no official warm up in the relations, but suddenly the government of Saudi Arabia quietly added Canada to its list of countries who can visit the country under its new “Sharek Tourist Visa”! This is great news for Canadian travelers and even for the relations between the two countries! At the time of writting, this has not yet been reported by news outlet or officially by neither govemenents.  Actually I don’t even think the officials actually know about this prior to this article… and I pretty much found it by luck! So a new country is now available for Canadians to travel! and I’d recommend you take advantage of this Visa before the situation changes, yet again… So here […]

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Exploring Niamey in Niger – An Example for African Development – (My 192nd of 195 Country Visited)

Back to French-speaking Africa this time in a west-African nation. It was the peak summer season in Niamey, known to be one of the hottest cities in the world, situated in the middle of the Sahara desert! We landed at night and as soon as the airplane doors opened, we felt a wave of dry hot air invade the interior… Just a preview to what I could expect the next few days, with a thermometer over 47 degrees during the day! In General, my expectations for Niger were totally off target from what I had heard and read through my pre-travel research. It was much better than I had imagined. And here’s why… In This Article…1 One of the Poorest Nation in the world… Really?2 The 4th largest producer of Uranium in the world3 Was Wakanda in the movie Black Panther inspired by Niger?4 Enjoying Niamey with local friends5 Top 10 Things to do in Niamey & Niger6 In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest One of […]

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Exploring N’Djamena in Chad – My 189th Country Visited, 50th in Africa

It was a night I will always remember… I arrived in a heavily guarded airport, where the plane was escorted to the front of the airport by military guards armed with Kalashnikovs. It was an evening of the hottest month of the year in N’Djamena, Capital of Chad, a landlocked country in the very heart of Africa. 41 degrees at nighttime, with pretty much 0% of humidity, and absolutely no breeze… I’ve travelled extensively in Africa but rarely have I been hit in the face with such heat! Simply hard to breath… But still, I was extremely excited to arrive once more in a new country on this beautiful continent that I hadn’t been before. And to make it even more special, I was celebrating my 50th country in Africa which counts a total of 54! So here I am in N’Djamena to learn more about Chad, its history, its culture, in the middle of the Saharan desert!  This is actually the first new country […]

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Dubrovnik – Still King of the Adriatic Sea

There is no need for a presentation to Dubrovnik, especially since Games of Thrones catapulted the city’s tourism industry out of logical proportions. The city is constantly bombarded with tourism from cruise ships to buses fully loaded of tourists to admire its beautiful old town all year round! Is it still worth a visit? In This Article…1 An  Overcrowded Tourist Experience2 Best 2 Days Itinerary in Dubrovnik3 Top 10 Things to do in Dubrovnik4 Top Rated and Recommended Cafes in Dubrovnik5 Top Rated and Recommended Restaurants in Dubrovnik6 Dubrovnik In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest An  Overcrowded Tourist Experience Definitely! Dubrovnik is definitely worth a visit! Even though I wrote an article a few years back detailing “How Games of Thrones Destroyed Dubvrovnik“, I still feel it is a worthwhile city to visit. The problem is that is is a little small to fill that vast amount of tourist that come just to walk through the few streets surrounded by the walls. The result is one of a cramped experience, […]

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World Map of the Friendliest Countries to Travel to… in the Eyes of a Man Who Visited Them All

This Article is part of my series about comparing every country in the world between each other, from the perspective of a man who has traveled all of them, 188/196 to be precise. After creating the most beautiful countries map, the best food in the world map or even the best quality price countries, this article focuses on the most friendly countries to travel to. It must be understood that the context here when I say “friendly to the traveler” is how welcoming a country is to visitors at first sight, and not necessarily about the population in general. I also tried to be objective in my way to rate them, even though it also reflects a little bit my personal experiences. As a traveler with an open mind, I do not care about religion or race, I am an observer of humans in general and human behavior everywhere I go, and this map is meant to be taken as a grain of salt. Nevertheless, […]

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A Few Days in Wroclaw, Rising Star of Poland's Tourism - #visitWroclaw #Wroclawtrips #travelWroclaw #Wroclawtourism #Wroclawflights #Wroclawhotels #Wroclawhostels #Wroclawairbnb #Wroclawtips #Wroclawbeaches #Wroclawmaps #Wroclawblog #Wroclawguide #Wroclawtours #Wroclawbooking #Wroclawinfo #Wroclawtripadvisor #Wroclawvisa #Wroclawitinerary #Wroclaw

4 Days in Wroclaw, Rising Star of Poland’s Tourism

Just 10 years back we would hardly hear about this south-western polish city. Now it has a booming tourist industry that brings millions of visitors every year to see its beautiful Gothic and Baroque style old town, one of the best preserved in the country. This year I decided to see by myself what the hype is all about and if its worth a visit. In This Article…1 A City Built on Bohemian, Austrian and Prussian Traditions2 Best 2 Days Itinerary in Wrocław3 Top 10 Things to do in Wrocław4 Top Rated and Recommended Cafes in Wrocław5 Top Rated and Recommended Restaurants in Wrocław6 Wrocław In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest8 A City Built on Bohemian, Austrian and Prussian Traditions Now that I’ve been to all the biggest cities of Poland, I can finally compare them between each other and decide which is my favorite. And my favorite is without a doubt Wroclaw, not only for its beauty but also for its great livability. Contrary to Gdansk which is spread around 3 […]

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Dedicating a Few Days to Lodz in Poland

Not the typical city that will appear on travelers radar, Lodz is still worth a visit on an itinerary as its central location makes it logistically easy to include while traveling from Wroclaw to Warsaw or on the way north towards Gdansk. It doesn’t pack a lot to see compared to other polish cities, but I can expect its popularity will continue growing in the next few years. In This Article…1 The “One Street” City of Poland2 Best 2 Days Itinerary in Łódź3 Top 10 Things to do in Łódź4 Top Rated and Recommended Cafes in Łódź5 Top Rated and Recommended Restaurants in Łódź6 Łódź In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest The “One Street” City of Poland As local people like to joke about it, if you get even one street away from Piotrkowska Street you are out of bounds. That is actually very close to the truth as Piotrkowska is definitely the highlight of Lodz and where most of the interesting sightseeing areas are located. If I ever come back to Lodz, I would […]

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Visiting a Soviet Missile Silo in Lithuania - #visitSovietMissileSilo #SovietMissileSilotrips #travelSovietMissileSilo #SovietMissileSilotourism #SovietMissileSiloflights #SovietMissileSilohotels #SovietMissileSilohostels #SovietMissileSiloairbnb #SovietMissileSilotips #SovietMissileSilobeaches #SovietMissileSilomaps #SovietMissileSiloblog #SovietMissileSiloguide #SovietMissileSilotours #SovietMissileSilobooking #SovietMissileSiloinfo #SovietMissileSilotripadvisor #SovietMissileSilovisa #SovietMissileSiloitinerary #SovietMissileSiloh

The Insane Experience of Visiting a Soviet Era Nuclear Missile Silo in Lithuania

Lost in the forests of the Zemaitija National Park in Western Lithuania, a Soviet underground missile base was found after the fall of the Soviet Union. It used to house 22 meter long R12 Rockets with 3-meter nuclear warheads, ready to strike pretty much any target in Europe. This is the location where the missiles that departed to Cuba during the 1962 Cuban crisis were stored, and just the idea of being there to witness such a historic place was exciting to me! I had to go see it for myself. In This Article…1 A dark piece of history of the 20th century2 In Pictures3 Pin to Pinterest A dark piece of history of the 20th century After visiting Chernobyl 2 years back and loving the experience, I knew I had an interest for such things. Where else can you visit an abandoned nuclear missile silo that played an important role in world politics in the 20th century. So while in Klaipeda in western Lithuania, […]

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Kaliningrad in Russia – In the Shadow of Konigsberg

Once a very important city in the Prussian empire and now an integral part of Russia, this little enclave to the baltic sea hold its share of history. Its strategic location between the Curonian spit was seen by several empires to be a must keep area, which explains why it is awkwardly separated from the Russian Mainland. A lot of Kaliningrad was lost during world war 2, which is sad because It was once considered one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. Even St-Petersburg is said to be built on the bases of Kaliningrad. In This Article…1 The Missing Piece of the Baltic States2 Best 2 Days Itinerary for Kaliningrad3 Top 10 Things to do in Kaliningrad4 Top Rated and Recommended Cafes in Kaliningrad5 Top Rated and Recommended Restaurants in Kaliningrad6 Kaliningrad In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest The Missing Piece of the Baltic States It’s no secret that I consider the 3 Baltic States as one of my favorite parts of th world. And this is probably […]

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Athens On & Off the Beaten Track – 3 Days City Guide

Athens is this city where you can spend endless time exploring every corner of every street and you will always find something interesting. It’s just incredible how much a single city can hold, its a playground for history lovers, having literally layers over layers of civilizations stacked on top of each other, dating back more over 5000 years ago. On top of this, Greek people happen to have an extremely refined sense of design and their creativity gave birth to tons of stylish restaurants, cafes and bars spread around the city. These places are focused more on the experience rather than only consumption. I’ve been to Athens several times,  and usually the first visit to Athens is the same for everybody: Visit the same most important sights: the Acropolis, the Parthenon, at least 3 museums and enjoying the streets of  Plaka in the center. All of that is time-consuming and takes 3 to 4 days which is about what most people have in one visit. But […]

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