A Life of Travel: Surprise Tour Revealed...Cancelled Flights...New Plan!

A big welcome to the 29 new subscribers who recently signed up!

It's Tuesday and it's time for a travel newsletter...

update

Right now I’m in Morocco.

It’s been a wild few weeks though.

First, after visiting Azerbaijan, I flew to Tajikistan.

This was a very cool experience as it’s a country with very few tourists. The mountains, which cover 93% of the country, are mysterious and magical. The peaceful and remote villages are very hard to reach but worth the tough journeys along brutal dirt roads. The people are genuinely kind and welcoming everywhere we went and the food fresh and always home-cooked.

There may not be a ton to do there - if you’re not going there to hike - but it’s worth a visit regardless!

After Tajikistan, we crossed the border from Panjakent to Samarkand, Uzbekistan and soon made our way up to Tashkent, the capital city.

This is where my first SURPRISE TOUR began! The 12 guests that signed up for this trip arrived in Tashkent, where we spent a day wandering all around the city. But on the second day, we drove straight to the Chernayevka/Zhibek Zholy border and crossed into Kazakhstan by foot!

We spent the next 9 days in Kazakhstan, visiting Turkistan, Shymkent, Almaty and several destinations out in the countryside. The itinerary included a long list of unique activities, including an authentic game of Kok Boru, organized by some local friends just for our group.

This game involves men on horseback coming from all surrounding villages to a designated field. They then begin to battle over a headless goat carcass stuffed with salt, trying to bring the carcass to a designated ‘goal’. The winner of each round gets money. Once they have played for a few hours, it ends and the goat is prepared as part of the post-game feast.

We were lucky to witness this traditional game for real as it’s actually on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. When friends from a village found out that I was taking a group to their region, they actually changed the date of the first Kok Boru match of the season so that it took place when we were there.

Most of the participants and other spectators had never seen or interacted with foreigners before as this was not one of the matches specifically created for tourists that you can find in the region.

It was spectacular to witness.

Our time in Kazakhstan also included unbelievably lavish meals at the homes of local friends, time spent out in the beautiful nature of the Tien-Shan Mountains and national parks, going inside of a golden egg in Turkistan and watching a bizarre fountain and light show, wine tasting, hammam treatments and so much more.

Based on the feedback, it was a major success!

Once the Surprise Tour ended, I had a whirlwind 36 hour period that involved cancelled flights to Doha due to the situation in the Middle East, re-booking flights and ending up in Istanbul and then canceling my Iraq tour at the very last minute.

The situation in Iraq itself is perfectly safe and normal but I didn’t want to bring a group there if Iran and Israel are firing missiles between each other, all of which pass through Iraqi airspace. It was a very difficult decision to cancel the tour as my entire team in Iraq was as excited as always about the trip that we all planned together, but that’s the decision I went with.

After spending a night in Istanbul, I re-arranged my plans and I’m now off to Morocco, where I start leading another tour in 8 days from now.

What’s Up Next?

Soon I’ll have some news about my plans for this winter as it’s all starting to come together!

from my travels

If you’re headed to Baku or Dushanbe, here’s some recommendations from my recent travels:

Baku, Azerbaijan

(Sleep) Moss Art Boutique Hotel: Not the best but it’s a small, inexpensive hotel with clean rooms and the location is absolutely perfect.

(Eat) Mari Vanna and Firuze: Mari Vanna wins for its unique atmosphere and Firuze wins for it’s quality of traditional local food. Both were excellent!

(Visit) Full day trip: You can take an excursion from Baku that includes the Gobustan ancient rock art, mud volcanoes (see below), Atashgah Zoroastrian Fire Temple and the Yanar Dag burning hill, which constantly burns as a result of natural gas.

(My favorite memory) Wandering, wandering and wandering some more! Baku is an excellent city for simply walking around, chatting with locals, stopping for tea and watching the world go by.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

(Sleep) Hotel Atlas: Excellent hotel with beautiful and comfortable rooms, an incredible breakfast, free laundry, free fruit, cakes, coffee and tea all day and a great location.

(Eat) Bukhara (Buhoro) Restaurant: A large, elegantly designed restaurant with live music and dancing, offering delicious food, a wide variety of drinks and a super fun, wedding-like atmosphere every evening.

(Visit) Navruz Palace: This over-the-top, crazy opulent palace is a must visit! You need a minimum of 3 people for a tour and it needs to be organized in advance so it’s best to contact a local guide and see if they can arrange it.

(My favorite memories)
1. Meeting the kind blacksmith in the ancient village of Voru deep in the Fan Mountains.

2. Asking our driver if we can get some apples only to have him drive us to his home, meet his family and get a bag of apples straight from his apple trees.

around the globe

Cheapest Countries to Visit
Here’s a list and charts that show the cheapest destinations in the world, as well as the most expensive, for travelers to visit.

Free Flights in Japan
Japan Airlines is offering free domestic flights to some international travelers. It’s a great way to save some money if you’re headed to Japan soon.

John Frum Cult
On remote islands in the South Pacific, there’s a cult-like religion that worships a mysterious American named John Frum. If you’ve never heard about it before, it’s worth reading.

Swiss Embassy
Speaking of the safety in Iraq itself, after 32 years, the Swiss Embassy has re-opened in Baghdad. The official Swiss statement about the re-opening mentions that Iraq “is now entering a phase of economic development…and has made consistent efforts over the last few years to promote peace and security in the region.”

The Best Country for You
By answering a handful of questions, this quick quiz will tell you which countries in the world are ideal for you to live in.

50 Best Hotels
The latest list of the 50 best hotels in the world has been released, with Capella Bangkok taking the #1 spot.

Renew Your Passport Online
Eligible US citizens can now renew their passports online, making the process significantly easier… although the processing times still remain the same!

A Town of Books
The town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales has only 2000 residents, but it has 26 bookshops, many of which are absolutely beautiful. If you love books, this town should be on your travel list!

where in the world?

A big congratulations to John, Francis, Cheryl, Robin, Gokhan, Steve and Owen for correctly guessing the location of the photo in the last newsletter!

The photo is of the Gobustan mud volcanoes, located a short distance outside of Baku, Azerbaijan. While perhaps not the most impressive thing you’ll see during your travels, the site had a unique feel to it, partly due to the contrast between the mini-volcanoes and the old Lada vehicles dotting the landscape.

This week’s photo:

It’s time to guess…where was the below photo taken?

If you have a guess (the more specific the better), click reply and let me know. Anyone who guesses correctly will be mentioned in next week's newsletter 😄 

If you wish to help support this free newsletter, kindly forward it to people you know, make a donation or join one of my unique small group trips to some spectacular destinations!

 *If you received this email from someone else and want to sign up to A Life of Travel, simply click the button below:

Thank you so much for reading!

Derek
(my middle name is Earl)

WanderingEarl.com

Travel Insurance: My personal recommendation for affordable and reliable travel insurance is Safety Wing. It was created by travelers, for travelers, and it's rapid growth in popularity is well-deserved.

Affiliate links: Some links above may be affiliate links in which I earn a small commission if you click on the link and make a purchase. I only promote products/services that I genuinely use and love myself.