Aaron's Worldwide Adventures
3km to town. That’s less than 2 miles. I could walk that for sure. After all, I’d just spent the past 10 hours on an overnight bus so the concept of sitting in another vehicle to drive me that short distance was not terribly appealing. The scenery around was new to me. After all, I’d […]
History is everywhere in the Middle East. Throughout the “Cradle of Civilization” lie remnants of many millennia of human activity, stuffed right into the hustle and bustle of modern-day life. I saw bits of this in Istanbul, with its Roman ruins and massive mosques, dating back centuries, but even that is small potatoes in this […]
Have you ever heard of “Chemical Ali?” You know, Saddam Hussein’s cousin who was responsible for “Gassing the Kurds?” His biggest claim to fame happened on March 16, 1988 on an otherwise quiet day, at least as quiet as it gets in an active war zone! It was late in the Iran-Iraq War when Saddam […]
Iraq can be a hot place. The afternoon sun beats down with an intensity that makes you want to wither up into a little ball. Or just chill and do nothing. Not the best combination for traveling, if I do say so myself. Let’s rewind for a second. It was my first full day in […]
Think of Iraq. What pops into your head? Romanticized visions of Baghdad? Ancient Mesopotamia? A war-torn country filled with cities you’ve heard about on the news, like Mosul or Fallujah? If you want to travel to this Iraq these days I’m sorry to tell you that it sure as heck ain’t gonna be easy. Tourist […]
I don’t think I’d ever been quite so excited to cross a bridge. Here I was, literally in no-mans land, the space between border crossings, and up ahead lay grand mountains. Behind me? Turkey. Finally, the bus passed a sign: “Welcome to Iraqi Kurdistan.” This was the moment my whole trip was designed for. The […]
Hey, tourist! Yeah, I’m talking to you in the tour group. And to you with the backpack traveling solo. Haven’t you ever read up on travel ethics?? One of the biggest things is that you shouldn’t give stuff to kids! Let me say that again a little louder… DON’T GIVE STUFF TO KIDS! I know, […]
Dear Istanbul, I have a confession to make. I think I’m in love with you… See, I didn’t mean it to happen this way. I was just going to spend 3 days visiting you, the perfect introduction to my time in Turkey, before setting off to explore the country which you used to rule over in […]