My time in Iran was quickly winding down. It was my final full day and we left Esfahan early, on our way to a historic village known as Abyaneh. The village itself has been in existence for the past 2500 years, back to a time where Zoroastrianism prevailed in this region. The village is situated about two hours north of Esfahan and is on a mountainside. Red sandstone is the main construction theme here and gives Abyaneh a distinct look. Predictably, many Iranian tourists could be found here. We walked the narrow alley ways and some of the locals were dressed in very traditional garb and were selling food and wares. Kurush, of course, gave us some historic pretexts about the place. I was then free to go around. The others with me decided on checking ... read more

Shiraz is old and beautiful, with plenty of sandstone structures and historic monuments. About two million people live here. The hotel was situated in the old city, within a maze of sandstone alleyways that kind of reminded me of the old city of Jerusalem. We walked the streets on our own and explored the area before finding a local Iranian restaurant for a late dinner. The room was quaint and comfortable and we had tea at the rooftop cafe before enjoying a pleasant sleep. Karl and Rebecca were truly British and required tea breaks every few hours. I was happy to oblige. Karl was fiending alcohol, but since this was a dry Islamic country and we didn't know any locals, there would be no way of getting any here. Not that I'm drinking much at this ... read more

My bag was almost torn apart as a giant and muscle bound Emirate border guard dug his way through. It felt like he was searching for any reason to give me problems. The American guy next to me was also selected for the search. I had made my way through Oman via bus, and everyone else was going to have to wait for them to finish and let us through. So I hoped. The only thing I figured might give me problems might be the Kamasutra deck of cards I had somewhere in there. Somehow I felt they wouldn't be appreciated so much. But him and his compadre that he called over seemed to be more interested in the plethora of pharmaceutical drugs I was carrying with me. Up until now, I never realized I had ... read more

My first ever stop in the Arabian Peninsula would be the city of Doha in Qatar. Over the last few years, Doha has been growing almost exponentially and has a massive expat population. When the crude was flowing, this country could spend money at will. My Qatar airlines flight arrived in the early afternoon and I immediately got a visitor visa on arrival. This was technically a long layover so may as well go out and explore a new place. Hamad International airport is one of the most advanced airports in the world since opening a few years back, and had everything I could of imagined. They even had international banks throughout so I wouldn't have ATM issues like I've had in many other places. I found the airport bus heading into the city. Another traveller ... read more

It took four bus transfers but I was finally back on the southern coast. The amount of sweat I was producing confirmed this. Since my arrival in Sri Lanka, I had been moving somewhere new practically every day. Despite the ease of travel in this country, I was getting tired. I needed a place to settle down for a few days and Mirissa would be this place. Situated between the bigger town of Matara and the beach town of Weligama, Mirissa was a quaint beach village that seemed to have an up and coming tourist industry. It definitely felt quiet compared to other places like Hikkaduwa. I hadn't written down the hostel address in my little notebook and all I had was the name so I walked around the place for a good while just asking ... read more