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Tallinn Part 2: Rakvere Castle and a Bit of Shopping
The town of Rakvere was just over an hour train ride. And the train station was situated just outside of the Old Town I was staying in, so a brisk 20mins walk brought me to Estonia’s modern rail system. Picture if you will – buying tickets online, boarding a perfectly clean train with broad and…
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Tallinn Part 1: My Old Town
The cruise from Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, took just over 2 hours, on calm waters with only the lullaby hint of being on the sea. There must have been a good 500 people, and having a walk around to check out all the bars and buffets, I was pretty sure I represented the only…
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A Wonderful Start, From Fall to Ferry
It began as a drizzle, became a shower, and ended in a down pour. The rain came down hard, forcing me to move faster than I intended, leaving my home and beelining to the taxi stand. The beating of the rain felt like being whipped by a stage coach driver, spurring me further on reckless…
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Retro Post: Turkey
Final country of Turkey on this Middle Eastern trip. I’d actually max’ed out my credit card at this point, and international ATM’s weren’t a thing 20 years ago. It was credit cards or travellers cheques. I had just setup in a VPN at my work, and remembered I had my bank login details on my…
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Retro Post: Syria
Old photos of my time in Syria 20 years ago, before the civil war ruined everything. Places visited included Damascus, Palmyra, Aleppo, and Krak des Chevaliers.
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Retro Post: Egypt
The Middle East was my 2nd solo trip overseas. And it was also with my the first digital camera – a $2,000 Sony, which I think was 2 mega pixel. Pics still look great, some 20 years later! Places visited in Egypt included Cairo, Aswan, and Alexandria. This Retro posts will just be to upload…
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Nurata – Last Days with a Lake and a Desert
My plans have a habit of changing, a new opportunity might present itself, or just a convenience where I simply think, yeah why not. When I realised that trains and plains were booked out early, had gone on a war path to book anything that made some sense, a piece in a jigsaw I hadn’t…
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Khiva Part 2 – Elliq Qala
The driver from Islambek Tours arrived outside the hotel at 10am, and after having a fairly large breakfast and a coffee, I felt prepared for the the day trip to the area known as Elliq Qala, which are a collection of ancient ruined Khorezm fortresses, which translates to the 50 Fortresses. The tour allowed for…
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Khiva Part 1 – Ichon Qala
Travelling has become by least favourite part of Uzbekistan, which admittedly is a weird thing to say. I try not to over plan, my preference is booking transportation tickets a day beforehand when I’ve actually made a decision on where I’ll be going to next. However that style of travelling doesn’t really work well here.…
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Bukhara – Add a Dash of Persian Spice
Take a seat my children and open your ears to to the Persian epic, Shahnameh. It is here we find the Persian prince, Siyavush. He is accused by his wicked step mother, the Queen of Iran, of lusting after her, and to prove his innocence, Siyavush is forced to undergo a trial by fire. He…
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page