Asia
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Jordan – how to organise a trip?
Purchase budget flight tickets is just the beginning of the iceberg. Browsing the Internet to find relevant tips is time consuming and sometimes really boring thing. That’s why I’ve decided to write this post to collect all the most important infomation related to travel to Jordan. Visa and Jordan pass Flights to Jordan can be really cheap, especially from Poland or Germany, while on the spot you have to buy a visa that costs quite a lot because 40 JOD which is about 50€. The best solution is to buy Jordan Pass, which costs from 70 to 80 JOD (around 87 -100€). Jordan Pass includes the cost of the visa…
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The Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) – a country that does not exist…
The Southern Caucasus is famous for its beautiful views, excellent food, incredible hospitality, but it also has its dark side. The strategic position linking Asia to Europe has always been the cause of clashes among world players like Russia, Iran and Turkey. This area consists of three countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Before the trip, I did not expect that countries with such a small area, could be so different in every way: religion, culture and even origin. The Southern Caucasus is an area of very turbulent history, which is even now visible. Many conflicts remain unexplained, resulting in the existence of three self – appointed counries: Abkhazia, South Ossetia…
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Azerbaijan – The Land of fire and mud volcanos
Azerbaijan is also called The Land of Fire. The Absheron Peninsula has been famous for centuries of so called “burning ground”. This phenomenon can be seen 5 km from Baku in Yanar Dag. A unique attraction, located near Baku are mud volcanoes. It’s estimated that half of the all mud volcanoes in the world are located in Azerbaijan . In Qobustan National Park you can see numerous mud volcanoes. What’s more interesting, gurgling mud is cooler than the air temperature – checked by Lukas himsef! 😀 The volcanoes are located on slopes, from which you can admire a beautiful view of the Caspian Sea on one side, and on the…
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Azerbaijan, Baku – Mad Max in the shade of glass houses
Azerbaijan has always been the most mysterious country of the Southern Caucasus for me. While Armenia and Georgia seemed culturally close, in the case of Azerbaijan, even the name of its capital – Baku, sounded orientally. In fact, the Caspian Sea, actually the world’s largest lake, was an important communication route between the East and the West over the centuries ago. Actually, I hadn’t known what to expect from Azerbaijan. This country had seemed to me isolated from the rest of the world and expensive. However, Baku turned out to be a very cosmpolitan and cheap city. Apparently, my notion was caused by the high cost of obtaining a visa…
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Georgia – Gori, a short visit to Stalin’s hometown
The first time I heard about Gori, it was in History class a long, long… time ago, I didn’t even think I would ever be in Stalin’s hometown. Some time ago, the world remembered about Gori again. In August 2008, news and headlines were dominated by images of the city seized by Russians. During the short war between Georgia and Russia over two regions: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Gori, which almost borders with South Ossetia, has become the main point of military actions. Initially, it was bombarded by Russian forces, resulting in the death of many civilians and then from 13th to 22nd of August fell under Russian occupation. Being…
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Georgia – Kutaisi
Kutaisi is getting more and more popular destinantion among travelers and backpackers, due to cheap flight connections and relatively low prices. Kutaisi is the second largest city in Georgia and in my opinion, like whole this country is full of contradictions. Special attention deserves Gerogian architecture. I won’t hide that I’m as green as grass in this topic, but I have to admit that Georgian fantasy in this subject was a great surprise to me. In 2012 President Saakashvili decided to transferred here the Georgian Parliament, which previously had been located in Tbilisi. It wouldn’t be surprising but for the fact that Parliament’s building is located on the outskirts of…
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Girl on a (dangerous) Trail – roads safety…
Before I went to Georgia, I’d thought that I’d seen everything on the roads. There were roads in Mexico, especially those in Mexico City, provided me adrenaline comparable to bungee jumping. There were no rules, except for one – parking ban, which, as a matter of fact, didn’t improve my situation. It was hard, even today I still remember these dilemmas before going through pedestrian crossing, cutting 7-lane, busy road. To make matters worse, I felt constant uncertainty there, whether a driver, driving a 7th right lane, would begin to make a sudden turning left without warning. The entertainment comparable to watching a good psychological thriller was watching roundabouts during…
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Meat, gluten and wine – Georgian cuisine in a nutshell
Georgian cuisine is the kingdom of gluten and meat. The food here is very delicious and varied but certainly it’s not for people on diet. Vegetables are used here but usually they are only a decoration to the dishes. The popular snacks are also the perfect cheeses, and the meal it’s not the same without tetri – white wine. Grab a bite! Surely the most famous Georgian food is khinkali – dumplings with meat in a shape of pouches. Supposedly according to art, khinkali should be made up to 19 “folds”. But the true masterpiece is the stuffing of these dumplings, just imagine juicy, perfectly seasoned, slightly spicy meat, immersed…
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Girl on a Trail – Vietnam war, lost victory?
Vietnam War is the most brutal conflict since World War II. Sophisticated techniques of tortures and killing, chemical weapons like: agent orange, napalm or phosphorous bombs, and thousands of dead and wounded. So it isn’t surprising that in memory of the Vietnamese, the war is still alive. Just take a short walk along the streets of Hanoi and you’ll see the remnants of the war…. The first point in Hanoi – Long Bien bridge. Its story dates back when Vietnam was a French Colony. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century and was one of the longest bridges in Asia. Architect of this great achievement of…
