From Bukhara to Khiva on a Soviet train The excitement of my trip to Khiva -the last stop in my silk road journey across Uzbekistan- started in Bukhara train station at 4.20 am when I was waiting at the platform to board my Soviet night train to Khiva. I was allowed to board the train after getting my documents checked by a male Uzbek conductor; … Continue reading Khiva, a city from another time 🇺🇿
Bukhara has existed for at least 2,500 years Bukhara is a major city on the silk road that has a significant importance in Islamic history as it served as a major center of Islamic culture for many centuries and became a major cultural center of the Caliphate in the 8th century. Furthermore, the city and its surrounding region were the birthplace of many scholars in … Continue reading Bukhara, Another Silk Road Gem 🇺🇿
Samarkand is a majestic city Samarkand, a majestic city with a central location on the silk road between China from one side and the Middle East and Europe from another side, a city with a history of over 2,000 years. The city had its golden age during the Timurid Empire era when Timur made Samarkand the capital of his empire. Simply put, It’s hard to … Continue reading Samarkand, a Pearl on the Silk Road 🇺🇿
I always wanted to visit Uzbekistan Those who know me well may know that I’ve been addicted to travelling through former USSR countries, especially in the last 5 years or so. Before my trip to Uzbekistan, I visited 11 former USSR republics out of 15 so Uzbekistan was the 12th former USSR country I visited. The only 3 ex USSR countries I didn’t travel to … Continue reading Tashkent, my first (and last) stop in magnificent Uzbekistan 🇺🇿
Astana is an intriguing yet an interesting city Update (September 2022): Kazakhstan changed the name of its capital for the 5th time and this time the name was changed from Nur-Sultan back to Astana. There’s a lot of controversy about this city; starting from how many times it was renamed, how it became the nation’s capital in 1997, and the modern and even futuristic architecture … Continue reading Astana, the intriguing capital of Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
Air Astana is one of the most underrated airlines I had the pleasure to fly in business class with Air Astana for the first time ever from Almaty to Nur-Sultan or Astana as it used to be called. Air Astana is the national carrier of Kazakhstan. Being an aviation lover myself, I heard great things about Air Astana and watched many youtube videos about how … Continue reading My Business Class experience with Air Astana (Embraer 190) from Almaty to Astana ✈️ 🇰🇿
Almaty is Kazakhstan’s largest city and its financial hub Almaty, historically known as Alma-Ata is the largest city in Kazakhstan with a population of over 2 million. It was the country’s capital after independence in 1991 till 1997 when the capital relocated to Akmola which was renamed Astana in 1998 and then Nur-Sultan in 2019. Almaty is a vibrant city and it’s the cultural and … Continue reading Almaty, the beating heart of Kazakhstan and the greenest city I’ve ever seen 🇰🇿
I wasn’t planning to fly on business class As you read in the title above, this business class flight was unplanned. How did it happen? As I mentioned in the previous blog, I had a plan to visit Kuwait to see my family and I decided to make a stop in Germany on my way to Kuwait. I spent 5 days in Stuttgart and Berlin … Continue reading My incredible business class experience with Turkish Airlines A321neo from Berlin to Istanbul ✈️🇹🇷🇩🇪
Why Stuttgart? In December 2021, I had a plan to visit Kuwait to see my family and I decided to make a stop in Germany for 5 days before continuing my journey to Kuwait. I originally flew from Toronto to Frankfurt and then took a train from Frankfurt to Stuttgart where I spent 2 days and then I spent 3 more days in Berlin. I … Continue reading Stuttgart, the Home to Mercedes and Porsche 🇩🇪
Why Lviv? Lviv is the 7th largest city in Ukraine so it’s not exactly a big city but it’s a city with a significant importance as it’s a major Ukrainian cultural center. The city was part of Poland until 1939. Before that, it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. After 1939, it became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and therefore, part of the … Continue reading Lviv, the City of Coffee and Chocolate 🇺🇦
Chernobyl is the most depressing site I’ve ever seen I knew beforehand that this would be the most difficult story to write. This is not a simple cheerful blog about the colourful streets of Chefchaouen in Morocco, the charm of the city of St. Petersburg, or even romanticizing about the trans-Siberian railway. Instead, this blog is about sharing an experience like no other; The experience … Continue reading Chernobyl, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history ☢️
I lived a beautiful dream in September and October, 2020 when I visited Turkey and Ukraine and that was after being stuck in Kuwait for long months due to the lockdown there. However, this dream -just like any other beautiful dream- was coming to an end. On October 19th, 2020 I had to leave the Ukrainian capital and to fly back to Toronto, Canada to … Continue reading My flight experience with Lufthansa from Kyiv to Toronto (via Frankfurt)
Why did I choose Kharkiv and not Odessa or Lviv? In October 2020, I spent 19 days in Ukraine. I was on my way back to Canada and decided to make a stop in Ukraine as the country was open for travelers (No PCR test or quarantine required). I spent most of my time in Kyiv but I decided to visit another city during one … Continue reading 24 Hours in Kharkiv; the 2nd largest city in Ukraine 🇺🇦
Flying business with Turkish Airlines for the first time I wish I could afford flying business class all the time. The reality is, I fly business only when I have enough points to upgrade, if I get a special deal, or if it’s a business trip sponsored by my employer and that doesn’t happen often. I travel a lot so I usually search for cheaper … Continue reading My Business Class experience with Turkish Airlines B787 during COVID (Istanbul to Kyiv) ✈️🇹🇷 🇺🇦
It was my first seaside vacation in so many years I like to explore cities and to learn more about their history, culture, traditions, and even cuisines so I would call myself a city traveler. I don’t even remember when was the last time I had a beach vacation. However, this time I felt that I really needed a big change; I had a real … Continue reading Bodrum, the Jewel of the Turkish Riviera 🇹🇷
I should have posted this blog more than 2 months ago but I got busy with settling down in Toronto and with my new job so I had to wait for the holiday season to go back to writing travel blogs and I am so happy to be able to do that again. In September 2020, I finally decided that it is time to return … Continue reading My travel experience in Istanbul during COVID 🇹🇷 (September 2020)
It was my first flight in more than 6 months In August 2018, I left Toronto, Canada to work in Kuwait for a couple of years hoping that I will return back to Canada end of 2020. However, the global pandemic caused a major disruption to my plans and forced me to leave Kuwait earlier than expected. I decided to leave Kuwait to Canada but … Continue reading My First Flight in the COVID Era 🇹🇷 ✈️
Bahrain is a tiny island country Bahrain is very small island country (archipelago, to be precise) with a total area of only 760 km2. The Arabic word “Bahrain” literally means “Two Seas”. It’s a country with a long history; a home to Dilmun civilization that was founded over 2,500 years ago. It’s a unique travel destination in the Gulf region with lots of delicious local … Continue reading Bahrain, an Oasis Island in the Gulf! 🇧🇭
Tbilisi is such a beautiful city In December 2018, I had a quick weekend getaway to celebrate my birthday while visiting a new country and meeting a good friend. Since I have an interest in exploring post-Soviet Union countries, and since I heard and read many great reviews about the beauty of Georgia which is a country that has deep roots in history and very … Continue reading Tbilisi, the Charming Capital of Georgia 🇬🇪
I simply love travelling across Post-Soviet states so in 2018, after completing my Trans-Siberian Railway trip, I flew from Novosibirsk (the biggest city in Siberia) to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. It was a great opportunity to discover a new country and a new region, which is Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country with a mountainous terrain -which helped them to preserve its ancient … Continue reading Kyrgyzstan; the Switzerland of Central Asia 🇰🇬
Deutsche Demokratische Republik Back in the 1980s, when I was 6 or 7 years old child, Germany was the first European country I’ve ever visited along with my parents. We used to travel there every summer to visit my uncle who lived in West Berlin (he’s still living in Germany). Back then, the city of Berlin was divided into two; East Berlin, which was the … Continue reading DDR Museum in Berlin; A Life Behind the Wall 🇩🇪
Saint Petersburg is a Gorgeous City Saint Petersburg is my favourite city in the world. In the last 3 years, I was fortunate to visit this city multiple times. I already wrote a blog about how the city looks like in a snowy winter trip. However, I thought it’s a good idea to share this blog about my impressions of the city in the summer … Continue reading Saint Petersburg, the City of White Nights 🇷🇺
Moscow is a Phenomenal City Moscow is an incredible place; it is a vibrant city with a rich history and culture. It’s a gigantic city with 12 million inhabitants, 3 major international airports, 9 train stations which makes it the largest city on the European continent and one of the largest in the world. Moscow is an iconic city and the centre of politics, economics, … Continue reading Moscow, the Centre of the Russian Universe! 🇷🇺
24 hours in Baku In August 2019, I flew to Moscow via Baku, Azerbaijan with Azerbaijan Airlines. I had a layover in Baku for 24 hours and that gave me an opportunity to catch a glimpse of a new city and a new country that I’ve never been to before. Baku has a famous nickname, which is, the windy city. Those who have been reading … Continue reading Baku, the Windy Capital of Azerbaijan 🇦🇿
It’s a trip of a lifetime The Trans-Siberian train trip is a journey I dreamed of for so many years. After months of careful planning, I was finally able to make this dream come true. In September 2018, I started this epic train trip from Moscow all the way to Irkutsk in the Middle of Siberia. During this trip, I made stops in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, … Continue reading The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Trip of a Lifetime! 🇷🇺
About Kyiv Before you start reading this blog, let me clarify something, after an extensive research, looks like Ukrainian government and most of Ukrainian people prefer to spell the name of their city as “Kyiv” instead of “Kiev”. I personally know that Kiev is the commonly accepted English language spelling of it and I’ve been using “Kiev” spelling for all of my life but I … Continue reading Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine; an underrated European city!! 🇺🇦
Brest is a home of a Hero Fortress Hero City is a Soviet honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during the 2nd World War II. It was awarded to twelve cities of the Soviet Union. In addition, the Brest Fortress was awarded an equivalent title of Hero Fortress. This symbolic distinction for a city corresponds to the individual distinction Hero of the Soviet Union. Brest … Continue reading Brest, the Home City to a Hero Fortress in Belarus 🇧🇾
About Gdansk I visited Gdansk end of February, 2020 and spent 3 days there. In this blog, I will share with you my impressions about the city. Gdansk is a charming city on the Baltic sea located in Northern Poland. It is the 4th largest city in Poland and definitely one of the most magical and most charming cities not only in Poland but also … Continue reading Gdansk, a Polish Jewel on the Baltics! 🇵🇱
About Belarus Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe; boarded by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Minsk is the capital and most populous city. 40% of Belarus’ area is forest. Belarus declared its Independence in 1991 after the Soviet Union was dissolved. Prior to that, Belarus was part of the Soviet Union and was known as Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. During WWII, Belarus … Continue reading Minsk, the Capital of the Mysterious Country of Belarus 🇧🇾
Why did I decide to visit SPb in the winter? This short blog is about my winter trip to St. Petersburg in February 2018 where I spent 4 days there. Prior to this trip, I visited St. Petersburg in September 2017 for the first time and I instantly fell in love with the city; I got addicted to it so I decided to visit it … Continue reading St. Petersburg in the Winter; A Beautiful Fairy tale! 🇷🇺
The flight I flew with TunisAir from Casablanca to Tunis and the total duration of the flight was a bit less than 3 hours. It was on time, boarding went relatively smooth, and flight was generally comfortable. However, the plane was a bit old, food was inedible, no in-flight entertainment, and seats were in a bad shape. I didn’t have high expectations about the flight … Continue reading Tunisia..The Land of Harissa, Olive oil, and Freedom! 🇹🇳
I’ve been dreaming about visiting Morocco for years… I always wanted to visit Morocco; the idea of visiting a country that is vibrant, exotic, beautiful, warm, hospitable truly fascinated me. I even shared my wish with many people so Morocco was always under my radar until the opportunity arrived in January 2020 and finally, the dream became true. However, I had a very short time … Continue reading Morocco, What a Colorful Country! 🇲🇦
It is happening! I forced myself to go ahead and launch this travel blog hoping to encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone and explore the world. Stay tuned! Continue reading Finally, launching a travel blog!
Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton Continue reading The Journey Begins
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