Hi. I was chuckling all through reading your blogs. Fantastically written. I am an Indian. Would love it if you could travel through India and write about your impressions, good, bad, ugly, everything.
the ability to walk away compassion, regardless of your feelings that those you see suffering deserve it, is lacking in men's hearts today....we have seperated ourselves so, that the plights of others have no impact on our own well-being.....to see the poverty of a nation and see no more than an unmotivated beggar in their want for bread. - Jeff
The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied...but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing. ~John Berger
Good Times at Hisar Yo, sorry I didn't say goodbye in Istanbul. Hope you're taking it easy for all us sinners and having lots of cheap drinks at Hisar!
Gettin' Jiggy Nicely written. Your piece transported me to my last visit in Hebron ('97) where it was Isralis soldiers on patrol, settlers creating consternation, and Palestian taxi drivers blasting Will Smith's "Gettin Jiggy With It" in earshot of the spice racks of the Souk. I'll never forget it... and I'll never forget the feeling that maybe in the music (?) there was some strange global unity. Amongst the kids (on both sides) anyway...... Thanks for the article. Keep writing.
Nice one Best blog I've ever read. I'm in Doha at the moment, got a bit stuck. They wouldn't give me an exit permit after saying their anti Danish cartoon stickers were not going to make me commit suicide for their cause. Now I'm teaching Technical English to Aviation and Engineering students from Qatar, Iraq and Lebanon (how I ended up doing that I don't know). Planning to leave this building site for good in Feb and travel around Africa, that's how I came across your site - I was checking about the possibility of getting a ferry from Yemen to Djibouti to start the trip.
Where are you now?
Tesekkurler, arkadasim! I can't imagine how rough it is, and I find myself speaking Turkish occasionally when the Arabic starts off... why couldn't you buy anything? You should have went to the casino! :)
The tower tombs Hi, I am a Syrian and I have got news for you. I worked on an archeological expidition at that same tower in the picture years ago, and it belongs to the Palmyrian Family Attanatan. Awesome picture dude. Cheers :)
I think you should of approached Somaliland, or Somali’s with an open mind, you should of researched into their history and culture before or even during your stay (access to internet is very easy there). Your experience I must say is disappointing, but very rare. Why were u given hostile stares, rather bizarre. It’s actually very shameful in Somali culture to be inhospitable; one of the greatest traits of Somali’s is their hospitability. There has been an increased Islamisation in Somalia as whole post-war. The green paste exfoliates the skin, it has minerals. One must remember Somaliland once a thriving city was left without a single roof on the houses during the war its recovery compared to the previous destruction is remarkable given the time. By the way, how long were you in Somaliland? you should of really mixed with some of the educated classes, to have a proper dialogue and insight into the people. Its not really a place for tourist at the moment may be with the recovery of the central govt possibly soon, can Somaliland become a place for reckoning, and Somalia as a whole.
PS the Turks are very mixed people, there are Turks with blue eyes, green eyes, naturally blonde, light skinned, darker skinned the stereotype that a Turk is dark and looks a bit like a belly dancer is wrong...u just need to go to Turkey to see that.
“I think it’s telling that Turkey is the other muslim country I’m aware of that is also pretty intolerant of other religions”... Turkey is a secular state, where Islam is not the state religion. Throughout Turkish history, they have been a very pluralistic tolerant society, with their personal law systems e.g. a Jewish persons laws/religion were recognised and accepted (in addition the Turks protected Jews during the WW2). Turkey according to its history is possibly one of the most tolerant states ever, when it came to other people’s religion, the position was “there is no compulsion in religion” surah 2 verse 256 of the Holy Quran. Apart from one dark chapter- Armenia by the way, the history here is fuzzy and clouded in controversy. It’s possibly also in Turkeys interest not to join bureaucratic Europe at a time of good economic growth.
Ps... blogger u seemed p****, if ur up for the challenge..may be in the future, u should reassess ur view of Somaliland and their ppl
this narration rouses a great pity for his author ! He is pitting on everyone, and his gobs are the exact reflected image of what he really is : somebody without a personality, moving in an ocean of emptiness, with some taste for masochism... For instance, what that idiot had to stay and to do with French people if he could not back up them ? Pityfull...
welcom If you came to latakia you would to enjoy very much
i advice every on to visit my great city
welcom to Syria
welcom to Latakia
your brother Nawar
are u sure ur in lebanon woooww this is sooo biased , sorry but r u a muslim extremist or something?? i have lived in lebanon all my life , i am a muslim ,, aftr reading all ur posts on lebanon i just cant believe what u r saying,,1st ur comments about people with tattoos of crosses on thr foreheads, these r not tattoos my friend , ths is a maronite christian tradition wer wen a very important person dies or on the monday after easter after the funeral or prayers black paste is put on the fore head , (from dust ur r made and to dust u shall return), come on man this is a terrible mistake!! and u seem to judge all the lebanese from a couple of extremists you met in bcharre!! thn u go make the palestinians look soo innocent!!! as a muslim i feel for the palestinians but i also understand y the christians dont like thm,, the palestinians slaughtered soo many christians u cant even count them ,after the lebanese goverment accepted the palestinians into their land , thy turned against us and totally messed ur country up!!!
A swift kick in the rear end for you Turkey/mogadishu man/Jesus/ whatever they're calling you these days, I believe you left behind a certain Pakistani flag on a flagpole where it had no business being hoisted. The authorities are still looking for you so they can return it. Quite a surprise stumbling on your blog. Anyway, glad to see you're living your dream while you can. Don't get killed and don't let them send you to gitmo. They just might mistake you for the next John Walker Lindh. Give me a holler sometime you hacker!
stupidity? there is a big difference between stupidity and ignorance... you only have to look at a whole swathe of middle america to see a race suspicious of books... as Bill Hicks recounted... "hey whattya got there... a book? Why you readin' that? Oh Oh... we got a reader here...."
Ooh too much for the white man Your supercilious attitude, blogged with a self importance only a pitifully immature and dispassionate a person could have, makes me wonder why you bothered making the journey at all... travellers such as yourself give westerners a bad name .... but hey your blog is compulsive reading all the same, if only to give oneself more reasons to dislike you and your French friends. Just wished you appreciated the life you live a little bit more... not many people get the chance to experience what you have of the world. Just give up about the begging lark FFS!!!
good article Never been to Somalia, but your description and story kept me reading. Good photos and descriptive text. Perception on political realm seems 'right on,' for unfortunately U.S. has earned the name "ugly American."
Just came across your blog, it's great. I've only read the past few blogs but your writing style is fantastic, as well as your stories...maybe one day I'll leave everything behind and travel
desperate? What did you refer to when saying "desperate"?
I really enjoyed your blog (had to grin broadely!)!
Good to hear from the pashtun warrior again :)
By the way - What about your pashtun warrior's sword (stick) ??
My trip began (July 19, 2004) as a 14-month leave of absence from my job, with the intention of "seeing the world", and a bunch of unrealistic ideas of what can be accomplished in a year. Turns out a year isn't as long as it seems, so I've recently quit my job (yeay!) to become a full-time traveler. Until, that is, I run out of money or decide I'm ready to rejoin the ratrace.
In the meantime, I'm trying to blog at least once a month from the countries I'm visiting. I'm not interested in Western Europe, so don't expect pictures of Venice here. My blogs are basically my impressions of pla... full info
Mads
non-member comment
Hi. I was chuckling all through reading your blogs. Fantastically written. I am an Indian. Would love it if you could travel through India and write about your impressions, good, bad, ugly, everything.