louiseinlimbo

 Around all of the great sights that one can see in Syria, however, is the awful legacy of the recent conflicts, with very visible war damage to homes and businesses.  Not to mention that the parts of the country around Idlib and Rojava are still subject to flare-ups.  It’s estimated that some 600,000 have been killed in the war, and millions have fled overseas.  I met several of the latter, on ‘home visits’ to their families – most of them very well-educated and now completing their studies overseas (eg one doing her masters in disaster prevention civil engineering, another looking for a place to continue her studies in genetics to doctorate level).  It made me feel rather guilty that I’d been so awestruck at all of the physical war damage, excitedly taking photos of the remains of apartment blocks without really thinking that those had been peoples’ homes, and that there might have been people inside when the rockets struck.  But when I expressed this to ...

Although I did pass briefly through Syria in 1985 on the way between Turkey and Jordan, I stopped to visit only Damascus and Palmyra – so when I later heard about some of the other great places in the country – Krak des Chevaliers in particular – I was determined to go back.  Then earlier this year I saw a trip organised (the only way to get a visa currently is on a group tour, and that way you also have a knowledgeable local guide managing the security side) for a week in August when I had nothing else planned.  As there are no flights in and out of Syria currently, the tour started and ended in Beirut, so all the government warnings to leave Beirut immediately due to the threat of imminent Hezbollah-Israel conflict were rather concerning.  But thankfully my flight was not cancelled and there was no escalation of the tension before (or during) my trip.  Although I did hear sonic booms from Israeli aircraft over Beirut (a daily reminder to Hezbollah of their capabi...

My time at the cat sanctuary passed quite quickly, particularly since the owner returned as she drove here from the UK with piles of provisions (mostly cat toys and blankets…), all of which has had to be unpacked, washed, sorted through, etc.   I managed to get talked into coming back here for nine days in August, when I should have been seeing as-yet-unvisited bits of Turkey, but I suppose it will save me a little cash again. I think the biggest down-side of being there was the inability to get any exercise.  Whilst I wasn’t doing anything measurable for much of the day (when not cleaning litter trays, watering the plants, etc), I had to either lock the little kitten and one of the disabled cats in a bedroom, or allow them to enjoy the garden but watch the kitten constantly, as it was small enough to escape between the gate bars into the big outdoors where there were feral dogs (as well as the sheep, goats, donkeys and bulls that wandered the area).  After seven weeks of...

Whilst the first half of 2024 has generally been quite cheap (Vietnam and Laos mostly £3-4 a night for hostels), I have a few organised tours booked for the second half and the costs are going to really mount up, so I responded to an advert I saw looking for a volunteer in a Turkish cat sanctuary – seven weeks with no accommodation costs, just food to pay for … with what turns out to be something like 16 cats (many are feral, so they come and go), some with disabilities, in a small home down the bottom of a lane in a nameless village with just one shop that doesn’t even sell any fresh produce. I also felt that it would give me the ‘down time’ I’ve been needing – to reflect on where I’ve been, plan for where I’m going next, and maybe even take time out to read, listen to music and watch videos. Well there has been less time out than I’d expected, not so much because of the time spent putting out bowls, cleaning litter trays (and the house generally) and watering the garden, but because ...

Bahrain wasn’t exactly at the top of my bucket list, but I’ve harboured an irritation that I couldn’t pass through it on the way to Saudi Arabia on my 2021 trip as I’d wanted, as Bahrain didn’t recognise COVID vaccination certificates from Senegal – so I was happy when I saw that the small number of international destinations from Multan included Bahrain (which was on the way to Turkey where I needed to be next).  There appear to be no hostels in Manama, and the (relatively) cheap hotels I found online had received ratings of between 2 and 3 out of 10, with comments about baths thick with algae, cockroach nests in cupboards, etc.  Enough to put even me off!  So as I had to spend rather more money than usual and stay in a proper hotel, I decided to limit myself to three nights – two full days to see the place. I prepared a list of the main sights I wanted to see, and set off on the first morning.  I’d decided to walk rather than go by bus, as the latter involved two d...

I was pleased to find that there are international flights out of the city of Multan, as there is a shrine in the area that I really wanted to see.  So I added a few days to my Kalash Festival trip with a plan to make my way to Multan afterwards.  Then once in Pakistan, and speaking to a guide about how to get to the shrine and also the Derawar Fort, it was suggested that I spend a day in Lahore and take a late evening bus to Multan, so as to see the famous Beating the Retreat border ceremony close to Lahore, in Wagah. So I spent the daytime around the Walled City, Lahore Fort, the Badshahi Mosque, and other mainstream sights (the majority of which I probably visited when backpacking across Asia in 1984, but I don’t remember now), and then headed off to Wagah.  OMG, what a crazy ceremony it is!!  Carried out daily on both the Pakistani and Indian sides of the border since 1959, border guards dressed up in over-the-top costumes perform an elaborate series of moves (in...

I dithered over this trip for quite some time, having received an invitation to visit Chitral from the assistant guide for my day in Peshawar last year.  We seemed to ‘click’ in a brief (20 minute) conversation in Peshawar, when he asked about my family and I explained that I was single and childfree – he said he was the same.  Unusual for a 50-year-old Pakistani man.  I’d let him have my WhatsApp number and facebook info, and then he made this invitation, said that I should visit for the Kalash festival and that he’d be delighted to host me.  Finally I decided that I would go, and I booked my flights in and out of Pakistan. Once it was all confirmed, the tone of his messages changed.  He told me that he loved me, that I was only the third person he’d loved in his life, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me…  My flights were non-refundable, and as this guy is (i) a very religious Muslim, (ii) employed from time-to-time by the most well-known ...