by Matthew Allison | May 30, 2023 | Middle East
May 2023: After two prior trips to Iraq to visit Kurdistan and the southern marshes where I stayed with the Marsh Arab Medan people, I wanted to return and see the central part of Iraq. I only had a few days in Iraq on a layover to Nepal for a two weeklong trek in the...
by Matthew Allison | Sep 18, 2022 | Middle East, Weird Travel
I admit the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country governed by sheikhs compared to Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, isn’t my favorite Gulf country and there is definitely a level of decadence and superficialness about the UAE that doesn’t appeal to me. For...
by Matthew Allison | Sep 17, 2022 | Middle East
Qatar, a peninsula shaped country juts out from Saudi Arabia, is an oil rich kingdom in the Persian Gulf. it was the starting point for two-week trip to Pakistan and Taliban controlled Afghanistan as well as Dubai and Bahrain. To get to Qatar, it was difficult...
by Matthew Allison | Sep 17, 2022 | Middle East
Bahrain a group of islands with a land mass slightly larger than Singapore, is one of the smallest countries in the world and the smallest country in the Persian Gulf. Bahrain, a country largely prosperous not due to its immense oil supplies but because of its crude...
by Matthew Allison | Dec 30, 2018 | Caves/Tunnels, Asia, Middle East, Haunted Places, Most Unique Travel Experiences
December 2018: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was top of my list for years but virtually impossible to visit for tourists. Saudi Arabia the founding nation of Islam and home of the holiest city in Islam, Mecca was set on eliminating any foreign influence that could...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 10, 2018 | Africa, Asia, Middle East
November 2018: As part of a larger North Africa trip, my friend Richard and I visited Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai is technically in Asia, even though it is part of Egypt, which is in North Africa. The Sinai is a vast mountainous desert where the Bible...
