Tourism’s effect on global politics in the 2020’s

Dec 6, 2020Dec 6, 2020 homeintheair4 Comments

(Notice: These predictions were written in the end of 2019, before the attack on General Suleymani or the occurrence of the 2020 pandemic)

In 1945 the United States of America had decided to use their first nuclear bomb on Japan, and thus compiled a list of potential targets. On top of that list was the historical city of Kyoto, Japan’s previous capital. Kyoto was the ideal target strategic wise, size wise and symbolically. Much of Japan’s identity lies in Kyoto, and back then that was a driving factor for it’s choice. Considerations towards world cultural heritage was non-existent at that time, specially for Japan, as the anti-Japanese sentiment and propaganda was on it’s highest in USA. Official slogans like: “Kill japs, kill japs, kill more japs!” made 13 % of the American population in favor of a complete genocide on the Japanese people in that year.

One person did not share this idea though. Henry L. Stimson was appointed Secretary of War, and he was in charge of choosing two cities to throw the nuclear bombs at. Luckily for the people of Kyoto, Stimson had traveled there as young and even brought his wife on a honeymoon to this city. He enjoyed it so much and made such a strong connection with the locals, that he could not bear the idea of wiping it all out. Even though he supported nuking Japan, he ordered Kyoto removed from the list of potential targets with a series of official arguments, that only makes sense to a traveler.

This story shows, how much travelling and tourism can change the course of history and even save entire nations. This will be the focus point of this article, where I try to predict coming events of the decade of 2020 based on my experience travelling around the world, specifically to places in conflict zones or places that, by the western world, is seen as “off the beaten path”. It is also based on tonnes of travel blogs and travel magazines that I read continuously while having a watchful eye on political news stories.

So why read a prediction by a travel nerd? Well, last decade I predicted the war in Syria and the french invasion of Mali. And I was just a kid back then.

Everything will depend on the enemy

Every beginning of a decade we are presented with one enemy, and every end of a decade we are presented with a victory on that same enemy – lately in the form of a dead body. In the 00’s it was Al-Qaeda and the death of Osama Bin Laden in 2011. In the 10’s it was ISIS and the death of their leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, in 2019.

The 90’s was kind of exception, as the decade started with the fall of the Berlin wall and communism, and the 10 years was used to see if capitalism could stand it’s own without an opponent. Maybe the only thing we had to enemize in the 90’s was Saddam Hussein after the Second Gulf War to prepare for an invasion of Iraq in the following decade.

The 80’s had several East European communist dictators as enemy as well as Ayatollah Khomeini. The 70’s had many far-left militant organizations and individuals like Red Armee Fraktion and Carlos the Jackal. The 1960’s had the Soviet Union and the Cuba Crisis and so on and so on.

So who is going to run away with the title of Enemy of the Decade in the 2020’s? Everything will depend on it. One possibility could be an entity of the Iranian military called the Basij. In case of war in Iran, get ready to learn this new group, that will be labelled as the terror organization of the decade, that we all must learn to hate.

(UPDATE: As the 2020 has progressed, we saw two confirmed assassination attacks on top Iranian leaders carried out by USA. One killed several top military generals, including General Qasim Suleymani , the other killed top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Meanwhile the world has been busy with the actual new enemy: Corona-virus, which I did not see coming. Is it a coincidence that the decade started like that? The occurrence of the virus has put a stopper for tourism, a vital problem towards world safety in my opinion. Meanwhile, what we in 2019 saw as far fetched is surprising no one in 2020. This means that world leaders can allow themselves to take drastic actions to change the world situation. Nothing is far fetched anymore. And with Trumpism: Nothing needs sane arguments to be carried out. This suddenly makes my predictions a little more plausible than I thought in the end of 2019.)

1. A nuclear attack on Iran

Okay, I admit it, the likelihood of this bold prediction might be very small as I write this. And let us hope it never happens, but there is a serious risk of this being the event, that will divide the 20’s from the 30’s. So here is why I think this is a risk:

What most people do not know about Iran is, that it is one of the safest countries in the region although it is portrayed as a closed country, it is actually very accessible and easy to travel in. While the vast majority of people would be scared to visit it, the travelling influencers have visited it for many years, recognizing how safe and welcoming it is, while it can boost any travel blog’s reputation for daring to go “off the beaten path”.

The truth is, the streets of Isfahan, Tehran and Shiraz have been beaten down by western male and female traveler’s boots during the late 00’s and 10’s. Not to mention the streets of the holy city Mashhad, that draws religious tourists from all over the rest of the world and European and American Muslims.

Back in time, all these influencers had one thing in common: They portrayed a strongly positive view on Iran. Iran has now made it even easier for western tourists to visit, by giving visa on arrival to most European tourists and in addition ensuring a removable visa, so they won’t be affected by Trump’s Muslim ban.

I have noticed in the last year, that the positivism has changed a lot. Many so called influencers have increasingly been using their travels to Iran as an opportunity to criticize the government. Some of this criticism is even sponsored by foreign powers like Saudi Arabia or Israel.

State sponsoring propaganda from travel influencers has become a real trend in the late 10’s. This has been seen in countless of example by many countries in the Middle East.

Many influencers, who have collected a large number of Iranian followers specially, have turned against the Iranian government and played a role in several attempts on creating an uprising against the government.

So all this propaganda, might finally lead to an opening for USA to finally invade. You can speculate, that the hope was to create a massive uprising, that would be met with massive violence, and thus giving an excuse for an American intervention, as it happened in Syria. This has not materialized, however a decision to invade the country might still be on the agenda, as it has been on the agenda of several prominent leader’s in the Republican party since before Trump came to power.

1.1 From an invasion to a nuclear attack

Russia and USA are currently working hard on developing a new type of weapon, that will make the Fat Man launched on Nagazaki in 1945 look like New Year’s fireworks. This new nuclear weapon will be able to travel 27 times the speed of sound by utilizing the nuclear energy for thrust as well as detonation. This means, a country like Russia can hit any target in the world with a nuclear missile after less than one second after the push of a button. This is simply unstoppable.

Now, the technicality of this technology is much more detailed, but once either country succeed in producing a maneuverable missile of this caliber, it most likely got to be showed off and tested in action. If USA decide to show off, as they did in 1945, meanwhile being at war with Iran, they might want to use it on a city named Qom.

Qom was were the Islamic Revolution of 1979 started. It houses one of the largest islamic universities that has produced many prominent Ayatollahs (a title given to highest rank of Shia muslim scholars), many of whom work for the government of Iran. The city is not a major tourist hub for western tourists, but attracts millions of muslim pilgrims to the tomb of a holy saint there.

If this becomes the last stronghold of the Basij, it might be portrayed in the media as the cradle of terrorism, and thus justifying wiping it out with assurance on trying to keep the holy site intact. Strategic wise, the bomb will have epicenter around 10-20 km away from the city center of Qom. In this way, arguments will be made that it intended to spare civilians and holy sites, well knowing that even the smallest A-bomb from this distance will wipe out most of the city. In the same time, it will be along the Qom River to ensure contamination and dysfunction. In a war, it is important that the civilian locals are dependent on the invading troops.

Qom map

I predict, that this will happen in the end of the 2020’s or beginning of the 2030’s.

2. Russian-Chinese conflict

First let us start in the neighboring region: Central Asia. The Uzbek and Kazakh authorities have made it exceptionally easy for travelers to enter their countries, now with visa free access for most Western countries and some Asian countries as well. This has created a huge boom in tourism in a region, that no one dared to visit in the 00’s. I myself visited Uzbekistan in 2019, and I have to say, that the country will be a tourist magnet very soon.

But why is it coming now? While tourism strengthens the economy, it is also a dangerous game for a dictatorship. Both countries have carefully prepared for tourism in the past 10 years, and both have now changed their president and revived their industries. For example, Uzbekistan went from exporting half of the world’s cotton production to only produce 3% of the world demand today. The production was no longer lucrative, as travellers discovered the inhumane slave-like conditions for the Uzbek people.

Tourism turned out to be more lucrative. Kazakhstan however, might be facing a problem due to this. The country has a large Russian minority from the Soviet time, and they have been marginalized (relatively), while the country is (and continuously will be) flooded with refugees with Kazakh background, fleeing the genocide of Muslims in China.

Kazakhstan has got along with Russia by being a strong ally politically and economically. With the rise of tourism 2 things will happen: More Russian’s will visit and hear the word of discriminated Russians in Kazakhstan, and their story of how Kazakhstan got a much larger piece of land after the fall of the Soviet Union, than they were entitled to.

The second thing that will happen is the westernization of the general public. Already now, the country is changing it’s alphabet from the Russian Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet we use in English.

Futhermore, economically, Kazakhstan is getting more and more independent from Russia and allowing neighboring China to invest, make projects and buy land in Kazakhstan.

Seen in the light of USA’s rivalry with both Russia and China, a conflict between the two countries over Kazakhstan might be very welcomed.

3. Russian victory in Syria

You can claim, that this has already happened. Russia has by far been more successful than USA in Syria, supporting Bashar Al Assad. Ten years back, Assad was supposed to be the “villain of the decade”, but Russia was not on board with this plan. Thus ISIS was conveniently introduced, but let us not dwell in the past.

In latest years, parts of Syria has been stabile enough to see a rise in tourism. Specially Damascus receives plenty of Arabic tourists from the Gulf, but also western tourists have been fascinated by this broken country. Many have realized, that Assad is not the large dictator, that he was portrayed as in the beginning of the decade. Sure, many travelers in Syria have been posting pictures of huge Syrian flags indicating regime propaganda, but very few of them have spoken directly against Assad. Furthermore, all interviews with locals have been more towards rebuilding the country.

An international demand for rebuilding Syria will lead to USA retreating from it. They will hand it over to Russia and Assad, while focusing on their more important wars in Iran and Iraq. Syria will also lose it’s strategic importance, as long as the alliance between Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran can be broken somewhere else.

4. The Kurds will fall into a trap (again)

There is one problem with leaving Syria: The Kurdish people, who have allied themselves with USA were betrayed in 2019, where American troops retreated to allow a Turkish invasion of their area.

Leaving the country to Russia and Assad, will make an end to the dream they had of creating their own country in the area. This is a necessity, because there is no way Turkey will allow a Kurdish state at it’s borders.

Turkey has been a tourist magnet the past 25 years, and they know very well how to deal with Europeans and even Americans. President Erdogan is probably the smartest politician in this century. Never has anyone played his cards better. He owns the immigration politics of Europe, he owns the nationalistic Turks, he owns the religious Turks, and he even owns the westernized Turks, whom he has granted freedom in the European side of Istanbul to pursue whatever lifestyle they want. In addition, he owns social media. He is the only leader of a Muslim majority country, who is seen addressing popular topics like the genocide in Burma and China and even criticizing Israel. Of course followed by absolutely no action, but he already won the hearts of the Muslims worldwide. If not by social media, then by the various pro-Turkey TV-shows like Ertuğrul that has become popular in the muslim world.

Another area which surprisingly has become a tourist magnet in recent years is Northern Iraq, also known as Iraqi Kurdistan. This region has more or less been acting like it’s own country, and issuing visa-on-arrival for western tourists, despite the rest of Iraq being almost impossible to enter. This has made the city of Irbil a huge magnet for travel bloggers on their quest to visit every official country in the world.

In many cases, these bloggers have been directly invited and sponsored by the Kurdish authorities. In addition, anyone who goes there will be meeting a Kurd, who will present the country to them as Kurdistan, and insist on using this name instead of Iraq when blogging on Instagram or making a YouTube video.

If you search for videos on YouTube, you will easily see how the videos from the early part of the previous decade had “Iraq” as the main title, then became “Iraqi Kurdistan”, and finally now any title will say “Kurdistan (Iraq)”, with emphasis on the parenthesis.

USA might persuade the Kurdish forces in Iraq to enter Iran and “liberate” the Kurdish part of Iran. For helping USA, they will be promised an independent country once the war is over.

5. Qatar will rise from the ashes and the fall of the Saudi regime

2022 will be the year of Qatar. The world cut it’s tie to Qatar after Saudi Arabia banished them from the Arabic family. Since then Qatar has been holding a low profile, but this is to be changed after the World Cup Tournament will be held in Qatar in 2022. After this very prestigious event, Qatar will start to seek power once again.

Like the UAE, Qatar’s royal family is immensely popular in the country, also among westerners. They also hold the famous TV News channel Aljazeera, where most people get their news from. Saudi Arabia has forced all neighboring countries to stop dealing with Qatar because of political disagreements.

Saudi Arabia, however, has been reported to run out of money in the end of the 20’s due to the low demand on oil. They of course have known this for a while, and they have been trying to diversify their industries away from oil production. One of which is tourism.

Saudi Arabia came way too late into the tourism game. First they had to come up with a bunch of positive stories to frame their country for western tourists. One was making it legal for women to drive, which most likely only had tourists in mind. Now Bahraini women can drive over the bridge themselves on a visit, and western female travelers will be able to rent a car, and post a picture in it with a caption like: “Progression for women in Saudi Arabia!” or “I am surprised, women can walk without a scarf here unlike in Iran!”.

Because of the late entry into the game, the Saudis have been trying to boost tourism by allowing online visa applications and making professional video production on social media to promote their historical places and desert. Often with an oriental styled white woman posing without a scarf in front of a monument like the one in Madain Saleh.

If they got involved in a war with Iran however, it will be even sooner that they will lose this investment. They have spent 10 years buying military equipment from USA, who will be using these exact weapons on the same target: Iran. It is a huge waste of money for them, as they basically have financed the whole war.

Saudi Arabia’s power comes from Mecca. Being the protector of the holy city has given them power over the Muslim world, but few events in the past years have created distrust between them and the Muslim world: Their destruction of Islamic heritage to build huge buildings, their ill handling of the pilgrimage, their war on Yemen, the killing of Khashoggi, and their continues support of Israel.

Not to mention all the conservative Muslims, who do not want Saudi Arabia to modernize and allow it to become a tourist hub. In addition, the poor countries of the Arabic world (specifically in North Africa), have seen an undeniable increase in Saudi sex-tourism. A habit so obvious on the streets of for example Marrakesh, that it has made many North Africans despise Saudi Arabians in general.

All in all, Saudi Arabia’s dominance will not survive. This will open up for Qatari dominance. A country that has transported Westerners all over the world with Qatari Airlines for decades.

6. Pakistan: A new superpower

Anyone who have been slightly interested in travel blogging will know, that the biggest hot topic of the past 3 years has been Pakistan. Every professional travel blogger have already been here. Either on his own or on state sponsored trips. And the positive reviews can never end.

The hospitality of the people. The warmth of their welcoming. The taste of their food. The views of their mountains. The vibe of their cities. It is a new undiscovered ground for westerners, who have been going to India for ages and ages, but never dared to visit the Muslim counterpart.

While India is becoming a more and more problematic country with lots of bad stories about rape, racism, killing, discrimination of Kashmiris and worst of all: Litter everywhere. Pakistan has got a new “true” democratic president, who is very popular not just at home, but all over the world.

The two countries might get into confrontation, but Pakistan needs time to prepare. India has already been provoking with the deployment of 1 million soldiers in Kashmir and a discriminating citizenship law against muslims. Air strikes have been conducted between the two nuclear powers already.

It is indeed a larger threat to world peace, even though no one is talking about it. Pakistan will try to delay any confrontation to get time to prepare its infrastructure and open more up for the world. Invite more tourists who will spread the good word of the country.

For them, a much better strategy is to support the “muslim” side of an uprising, if things get out of hand for India.

7. Many new members of the EU

While many might believe, that EU needs to hold low profile until the dust has set from Brexit, they also need to show the world, that the idea of EU is still strong and attractive.

Whether you like it or not, Europeans have become one family. More than three out of five EU residents made tourism trips in 2017. With low budget airlines like Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizz Air and many many others, it has never been more attractive to visit the classics like Paris, London or Prague. Tourism is flourishing like never before, and for every trip one make, the European feeling strengthens.

7.1 Scotland

Scotland might very well get their independence soon. Specially if a nuclear war is pressing, as Scotland unwillingly has stored large number of the UK’s nuclear arsenal. Most political analysts agree, that Scotland will be going independent sooner or later. It might be tactical to allow them to vote sooner, specially if a Brexit turns out to be successful. I believe they will want independence, and afterwards join the EU easily

7.2 North Macedonia

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) recently changed it’s name to North Macedonia after a long dispute about the name with Greece. Finally both countries are happy. Macedonia is an interesting experiment for the EU. It’s population is small and very mixed religiously and ethnically. It will be the perfect country to include in the European family to learn a little about how to integrate the rest of the Orthodox and Muslim-majority Balkan countries in the future.

7.3 Another Norwegian referendum

Norway is changing. From Europe’s most oil-producing country to one of the worlds pioneers in sustainability. It is said, that Statoil has more or less pumped up all the oil there is in the North Sea and stored it during the 10’s. In the 20’s they will sell it and spend the money to transform their business to sustainable energy by building offshore wind farms. The oil-production (although many Norwegians might disagree) were a large reason why they have not joined the EU yet. Meanwhile EU has specific climate targets it needs to live up to. Persuading Norway to join the family will both help it reach it’s goal, be beneficial for Norwegians (now that their oil-production is over) and send a strong signal to the world, that the EU is very much alive. Whether Norwegians will vote yes, I am not sure about.

8. Colonial confrontations causing economical crisis in France and the USA

In 2019 I visited the beautiful country of Cape Verde after being on a small vacation in the Canary Islands. Here the ultimate prove of the cruelty of the early Spanish and Portuguese colonizers were right in your face. In the same time, when you walk down the streets of Praia, you can’t help but noticing the various art decos around the city calling for African unity. The symbols can be found all over Africa.

Africa unite

Previously, Africa has been held in poverty and every time a governmental change happens, that might threaten the interests of the colonial countries like France, USA the UK and so on, a military coup is sponsored or in worst case, direct war is initiated to uphold status quo. While most western colonial countries try to do this under the table, France in particular have been very visible in controlling its former colonies.

Luckily, this is very apparent to travellers in the African continent. While during the 00’s tourism in Africa was mostly restricted to large tour groups arranging safari expeditions, now more and more travellers and descendents of African immigrants in the Western World has been visible in their promotion of the continent and in exposing the truth about those neo-colonial policies that keep Africa in poverty, and how this poverty is funding the wealth and welfare of the Western World.

The more travellers, historians and progressive immigrants and politicians expose, the more likely things will change. The Africans are more educated now and in particularly they are more aware of how the world is exploiting them. The fact that at least 14 African nations still pay colonial tax to France in one way or the other is going to be well known in the 20’s, and a fact that will cause a shit-storm on particular France, but also USA’s direct and indirect involvement in the continent. A political demand for decolonization of Africa will be negotiated between the African Union and colonial powers. The question is, how much Africa will sell out for an official apology for slavery.

In the same time, we have China that is investing in (and also exploting) Africa in large quantities. There is a big chance, that the western colonial powers will lose their grip on Africa, and that will cause big problems in the industry of natural resources in Europe and USA. The dollar might lose value, specially considered that it is mostly backed up by oil, which has seen decreasing demands and decreasing prices due to a worldwide green transition.

Conclusion

These were 8 predictions of the 2020’s. I have more predictions that I did not get to write down before the decade began. I might follow up on this article when new events occur. These predictions are based on an analysis of the travel- and tourism industry’s effect on global politics and public opinion. Although tourism have played a larger and larger role in global politics, it is of course not the only factor that world leaders base their decisions upon. It is still undeniably true, that tourism has a strong political effect on bilateral relations. It is also undeniable, that tourism and travel-blogging has a strong effect on normal people’s opinion on each other. This view should have an effect on the countries politics in a democracy.

Finally, it is undeniably important for a traveller to have an eye out for peoples political views and feelings and opinions when travelling. If you feel safe, you can ask locals directly about certain hot topics concerning their country. But have in mind, this is only one side of the story. If you inquire about domestic policy issues from one group, make sure that you meet locals from the opposing group as well to really understand the topic. Eventually, our travels are meant to teach us, not confirm us in what we already believe.

The Black Live Matter Debate From a Traveler’s Point of View

Jun 24, 2020Jun 24, 2020 homeintheair1 Comment

For the past weeks I have been engaged in several discussions about racism and black lives in the USA. I did discuss primarily with republicans. Here are some of the arguments I encountered and my answers to them.

Image of Rua de Banana Street. The first street built by European owned enslaved people from Africa. It made it possible for Europeans to "train" their slaves before sending them to the Americas. — This is the Rua de Banana Street. It was this street in Cape Verde that kick-started the worst chapter in human history: The colonialism. This was the first street ever built and settled by European colonizers (with help of slaves) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Racism is not the only problem

“Racism is not the number one problem we have in the world anymore. What about human trafficking? What about Palestine? What about Yemen? What about black on black violence? What about abortions? Did you know the number one threat to black peoples lives are abortions?”

Yes, there are many problems in this world besides racism. However, I would like you to research a term called “whataboutism”. Basically, when you throw a “what about” argument, the underlying motive is to run away from this particular problem by pointing out something else wrong, that you think I would not support. So yes, there are many “what abouts”, but if we for a second only focus on racism in the American system and society, you might learn something very valuable that you can use to fight other problems that are nearer to your heart.

“Fine, so let’s focus on that. Did you know the biggest threat to black lives are other black criminals way more than police?”

Before I answer you, I want you to reflect about whether this question really has anything to do with the subject of racism in the USA? Because by asking this, you are diverting the problem we are addressing from “racism being a threat to black lives” to “black lives are a threat to black lives”. So this is also under the category “whataboutism”.

However, now you brought it up: The short answer is, that black on black criminality is just as common as white on white criminality proportionally. When you get angry about the high crime rate in the black community, you should relate that to their social circumstances rather than their skin color. Their social circumstances are dictated by the systemic racism in the USA. More on this later. If you take one thing out of this subject is, do not argue with “what about”.

I believe a decent human being can empathize with more than just one cause. Sure, you might have spent years fighting human trafficking or apartheid in Palestine or famine in Yemen, but I hope you wont be so much into only one injustice, that you cannot see another.

When is it time for other causes to get attention?

“I understand whataboutism, but I still wonder when is it time to talk about Yemen or Palestine? When can we create just as much awareness as the BLM-movement has had? Shouldn’t we tackle the more urgent problems first?”

There are some subjects that get more traction than others. They become more mainstream than others. And it is not always the most urgent ones. We have all been travelling and seen extreme poverty in other parts of the world than in the USA. But let me tell you this:

Now, we are lucky to have started a huge movement, which rarely happens for any of the “righteous” issues we like to fight for. So instead of refusing to be part of it, because Yemen or Palestine is more urgent, we should partake. Why?

The BLM is mostly focused on racism in the USA. The USA is also the most powerful nation on earth, and it’s policies (even the internal ones) have direct influence on the rest of the world, even on a personal level. The USA is involved in all larger problems in the world including Palestine and Yemen.

I believe, when the bottom line is lifted in the USA, when racism is just a little bit less, it will also have a positive effect on other more urgent topics.

The statistics are not so bad

“Here is a statistic saying 370 white people were shot by the police last year versus 235 black people”

Without even checking your source, I can already see that the killing of black people is way higher than the population percentage suggest it should be (13%). In fact, it should be only around 66 black people killed, if it had to correspond to the population percentage of black people.

“Oh, well if you compare to the crime rate in the black community, it should make sense then.”

So even here, you are not right. It is hard to make an estimate of how much crime every race makes, because not all crimes are reported or investigated, and most white crimes are financial fraud by mostly white Americans that never get caught. The very thing we are opposing; is that police are harsher on black people than white people. And the police are the ones making those statistics.

But let us play your game:

According to the OJJDP black people count for 26,5% of the arrests in the USA, while white people count for 69,7%. Let us for a second ignore the fact that cops are prone to arrest black people more than white people, and apply those numbers to your above killing statistics:

(370/69.7*100)*0.265 = 140,7 people

So even if you compare the crime rate in the black community, only 140 people should statistically get killed by police, not 235 people. That is 95 human lives statistically unjustifiably killed by the police every year.

So yes, there are a lot of statistics supporting the claim of police brutality against black lives. In all this, we have not taken into considerations the following:

Police under-counts the number of police killings in official reports (sources: The New York Times).
White crimes are often of another type, namely financial, which is rarely investigated, rarely exposed, and rarely put to justice
One thing is police brutality, another is sentences black people get for a crime are much higher than for white people.
The numbers do not reflect whether the victims of police killing were armed or not, or under what circumstances they got shot. There are many reports of unnecessary killings, when it comes to black lives.
- Unarmed black people are more than 4 times more likely to be shot by police than unarmed white people (sources: The Washington Post).

You should fight from within the system

“We have built an amazing country, although not perfect. This country will allow you to fight injustice from within the system. Going the legal way. That is the only way I will support a movement to deal with racism. I am against any kind of rioting.”
– could be talking about the USA or another majority white country.

While I sympathize a lot with this argument, I do not believe it is always true. And definitely not the only way. While some might work for the cause in silence, let others speak up.

If you are not white:
Basically, you are trying to infiltrate a system that in the same time is trying to hold you back as it favors white people. If you are very skilled and capable, you might succeed of course. However, the impact you can do for the cause personally will not be significant, in best case incremental, in most cases very local.

Obama became the president of the United States, and even he could not change the system. There are two things, that will hold you back:

You will have to compromise your integrity and belief system to reach that high, when you are not white. This is because you will have to appeal to the average white person who is unaware of their racial biases.
You will start to care more about being a role model for the non-white kids than doing an actual change.

So yes, accumulated talent working for the cause will work in the end, but it is a very very slow approach that will take ages to achieve. On the other hand, the BLM movement can accelerate all of this. 40 years worth of work could be achieved in a few months. Do not put your own career before your values, even if it feels hampering to your career to speak up.

If you are white:
You can certainly use your position and white privilege to fight racism, do work from within. No one is keeping an eye on you as much as they are on non-white people. However, do not stay silent. We have a momentum now to enforce systemic changes, and that we should take advantage of.

“But if I speak up now, it might hurt my chances to get to a better position, where I can make an even larger impact”

Again, there is no certainty you will. If this is about your own career, then do not use your career as an excuse for your silence. However, if you work to achieve a better world, you should know that it is more valuable to speak up now, loud and clear. We need as many white voices to normalize anti-racism.

Indeed, all this is of course my own opinion. I really think we need people to speak up and not be afraid.

I don’t agree with removing my Africa pictures

“I do not agree that my pictures of smiling children I took in Africa is portraying racism. These were pictures from real life, and I did not just take random pictures of poverty, I actually had a special connection with those kids I met and asked for permission to take their pictures. It is a valuable memory of my visit and a personal experience, and I know very well I am no savior to them, even if I volunteered.”

First of all, you are not a bad person for taking those pictures. If you absolutely want them on your Instagram or Facebook profile, then most people would not even notice. And those who do, would not judge you based on only that.

The problem with the pictures is, that they portray a continent in desperate need of your help to save them. In desperate need of tourists and volunteers and your old clothes. If you have been to Africa, you would know there is much more progress in the continent, and we should rather promote this narrative to flourish it even more.

So if those pictures mean so much to you, you can keep them in your private photo album. It is not enough, that you do know you are a savior. We do not need others to think that you are.

To someone who has never heard about this debate:

There are many morally questionable aspects of taking pictures of and with poor smiling African kids. You can read about it on those links:

Expat Panda: Stop Using Black And Brown Children as Photo Props

Sacred Footsteps: Orientalist Travel Photography: ‘Creating’ the Native

No more white guilt!

“Why do I have to feel bad for something I did not even do? No one agrees with slavery anymore, we would never want that back. But I do not want to live my life in guilt for something that happened hundreds of years ago.”

I agree, you should not live in guilt for what happened back then. If you feel guilty for that, I am truly sorry, I really do not see why you should feel guilty. I hope it goes away.

I understand it, because I feel the same thing about terrorism and wars fought in the Middle East, being from there myself. It is not my fault, but I found myself in constant blame by spectators.

So I also understand, that this feeling of guilt is magnified when you hear about how slavery has had a direct impact on black people’s lives today. History is not told and documented for anyone to feel guilty, it is told and documented for two reasons:

Learning from it and not repeating mistakes.
To understand why the world is how it is today. We are a result of what has happened in the past.

It is not your fault, that things are like this. You were born into a world of injustice. Try to turn this guilty feeling into a driving force to fight racism. You can even use this feeling to easier sense and distinguish racism. I have certainly used this, whenever I encounter an extremist.

As a rule of thumb, anytime you feel guilted as a white person, you can turn it into an understanding of white privilege.

I really really hope that you will not use your guilty feeling as an excuse to stop fighting racism and speaking up against inequality.

Equal opportunities, not equal outcome

“We live in a country with equal opportunities, and I feel black people are complaining because the outcome did not turn out to be as equal, which is none of our fault.”

I do believe that if there truly was equal opportunities for everyone, the outcome would also be equal within statistical uncertainty. However, it is a theory that is hard to prove. The question is rather: Why do you think the outcome would not be equal? Is there something inherently different about black people’s capabilities?

What you perceive as the right to equal opportunities is actually the right to claim equal opportunities. There is no guarantee you will get it. And especially not in the private sector. Especially in the USA, where education and healthcare has to be paid out of own pocket, it is hard to claim that there are equal opportunities. I can advise you to research systemic racism, red lining and even statutory racism in your own country.

There is a strong white bias all over the world. Everyone (non-whites included) prefer to do business with white people solely because of the prestige and reputation. White people favor each other at job interviews and as business partners.

Even in the schools, there is a huge bias. I have felt this on my own skin in elementary school, high-school and universities. The stories are so emotional, I cannot write about them.

I am sure any non-white person, will tell you that they had to work extra hard to achieve half as much as a white person. And when I say “all,” I actually do mean it. Even the ones supporting Trump, I believe would agree although they would add “but stop whining.”

Whining or not, there is no equal opportunity, there is no equal treatment.

“But you can see that Asian immigrants for example are doing very well in society compared to black people, so I believe if they wanted they could have achieved better, but they would rather complain.”

You cannot draw parallel between Asian immigrants and black people. Black people are not recent immigrants. They were brought to the Americas as enslaved people by the white immigrants from Europe who today rule the USA. All those years have developed an inherent bias that hurts black people more than Asians.

Asians came mostly to the USA because they were needed as a work force in recent years. They came to the country with skills and promised job opportunities. Black people have been refused to enter “white schools” until 1964, and they have since been kept in an economical gap by Redlining that prevented them from succeeding. When one black person despite all odds succeeds, he is discriminated against on the job market.

In fact, Asian people do not have it easy either. They are in constant struggle to overcome the stereotypes that white people hold against them.

As with everything, you need to study the history to understand why the world is as it is today. If you just look at a snapshot, you will fool yourself.

The looting must stop

“How does it even help their cause, when they start looting and destroying local businesses. Those businesses are struggling too and not even white. They are just repelling people who would have supported them.”

I do not agree with the looting either. But we must not use it as an excuse to be against the movement. Historically, all revolutions and protests have been exploited by some individuals or even large groups of people for their own benefit. There is no 100% pure and violent free revolution.

So instead of saying_

“It is sad that a black man got killed, but the looting must stop.”

Try to say:

“It is horrible that property is being looted, but killing black people must stop.”

There is also another argument, that has been roaming around since Trevor Noah made a video talking about it, arguing that the social contract that make up society is broken in the USA, making the looting irrelevant. I would really encourage you to watch it.

Unfortunately, peaceful protests have never led to any major change in this world. Modern history books will always pull out Gandhi and Martin Luther King as the two examples for peaceful protests, but the truth is much more complex and much different. As always, history is written by the victorious. In this case, the victorious are using those examples as to uphold the status quo.

The fact is that the media will show more attention when there is some kind of vandalism, which is find very sad.

Black people are naturally more violent

“Look at what is happening in Africa, in countries like the Congo and compare to what is happening in other former colonies who live in peace, in particularly Asia.”

It is not true that Africa is more violent than other former colonies. You can easily look to India and Burma, where you find plenty of violence. You can also look to the Middle East and find the same. Even in countries like Indonesia, there have been genocides, although it is peaceful today.

You have to understand colonial history very well to understand why some regions today are suffering with violence. When the Europeans left Africa, the Middle East and India, they divided the territories without any deeper understanding of the people who actually lived there. Then then went on to support one tribe over the other in different ways to create hate and envy between locals. It was a divide and conquer game that is still played to this day.

There is absolutely no historical and no contemporary evidence that says black people are more violent. In fact, if you look at it historically, Europe have been savages while the Middle East, Asia and Africa flourished with richness, art, science and great architecture.

It is hard to trust what Muslims say

“Their own books are filled with hate and violence, so I will not believe them when they say their religion is about peace. Just look at what is happening in the Middle East”

It is so sad that you deny a person the right to tell his own truth. The truth is, an average Muslim person did not grow up with books that promote hate and violence. In fact, these books you are talking about are probably a niche. You can find Christian books that promote hate and violence as well, that does not mean that all Christians are hateful.

Please, allow someone to explain his own beliefs himself, and do not impose your prejudice on them, even if you have read all the “bad” books yourself. If he tells you, he does not believe in something written in those books, he most certainly does not believe it.

The violence happening in The Middle East has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with the colonial past. What is happening in the Middle East is also happening in Christian parts of Africa and Buddhist parts of Asia.

In addition, you cannot justify racism against Muslims in particular. Why are we even discussing this topic? Did you give up on justifying racism as a whole so you are focusing on justifying your Islamophobia?

Do not judge too quickly

“The cop who killed George Floyd might not have been racist. He might have been just a very bad man. Do not assume anything, and leave the judging to God”

Millions of people worldwide have seen the video and have not been in doubt that the killing is racial related. Normally, I hate to use pathos in my argumentation, but when you refuse to see racism in a situation that is so obviously racist to millions of people, it says something about your lack of empathy and understanding of the majority of black peoples lives.

So let me explain this without any pathos: If you asked Derek Chauvin (the cop who killed George Floyd) if he is racist, he will say no. Almost no one would claim to be racist, and yet we have racism everywhere. It is the subconscious racism that is the problem. The subconscious racism that makes it more natural for Chauvin to be without mercy when he handles a black man versus a white man.

The question is, what do you want to achieve by arguing that Chauvin is not racist?

Is it that there is no racism in the police or justice system in the USA? All statistics are against you.

Is it that police brutality is not linked to race? Again, all statistics are against you, but even if you are right, it is still a problem. Police brutality is a problem no matter what.

I do not believe the protests will matter

“I do not think any of this will be fruitful. There will always be racism even a 100 year from now.”

It has already mattered. If it was not for the protests, Derek Chauvin would still be harassing people as a police officer. There has already been some reforms to some police departments and more is on the way. More people than ever now have a basic understanding of white privilege, white supremacy and systemic racism.

People have learned history, they were never taught in school. How many of the following topics did you learn about just since George Floyd’s death:

Smaller European nations part in colonization
Juneteenth
Tulsa Massacre
Redlining
Malcolm X
Whataboutism
Seneca Village and Central Park
Compensation to slave owners
The Red Summer of 1919
The crimes and racism of Winston Churchill

Imagine how many years until we get those topics in the curriculum. So maybe there will still be racism 100 years from now, but just in a few weeks the end of racism has come nearer than ever.

Small towns with incredible history

Jan 16, 2020 homeintheair2 Comments

Here is a list of 7 small towns in Europe with incredible history. Towns that definitely is worth travelling for. Small towns that have been former capitals at some point. As always, I only write about places that I have visited myself, so these seven towns get my warmest recommendation.

1. Cetinje, Montenegro

Cetinje is a small town of around 14,000 people, but it is the very heart of Montenegrin culture and identity. All Montenegrins will tell you “a real Montenegrin” comes from Cetinje. Walking down it’s streets and sitting at it’s cafes, discussing culture, history and the country’s future, will give you the very essence of what Montenegro is.

It is the former capital, and here you find royal graves, monasteries, a palace, Ottoman ruins and so much more. The history of the Montenegrin kings is long and eventful. Because Montenegrin are a very proud people, you will start to learn how 700 year old events still have an influence on the culture and mentality to this day.

This is my favorite town in Europe.

2. Jelling, Denmark

In the outskirts of the city of Vejle, you find the small town of Jelling with only 3500 inhabitants. This is no ordinary small Danish town though. This is the former viking capital, and the home of king Harald Bluetooth, the old Danish viking king, who was the first to embrace Christianity.

In this town you will see the Jelling Stones, where he declares the new state religion. There is also a very interesting free museum, where you can learn about his motives for converting to Christianity. How he wanted to modernize Denmark, and how his name became synonymous with a new widespread technology, we all use every day.

3. Bayeux, France

With only 13,000 people, the town of Bayeux is not so big, however it sees a lot of visitors. It once was the capital of one of the Celtic tribes living in the area during the Roman Empire, however, it’s importance today comes from the Bayeux Tapestry that depicts the Norman invasion of England. The province of Normandy, where Bayeux is located, has a very tumultuous history with viking invasions, Frankish and Celtic wars, and wars with England. Having the story told by an audio guide while you slowly walk around the tapestry, taking in the history picture for picture, is one of the most educational and entertaining experiences a museum can give. You definitely will feel like part of the story.

Besides the tapestry, the town is beautiful with a cathedral in the city center. The city of Caen is not far from there either and is definitely also a place worth visiting.

20171029_171428

4. Gniezno, Poland

Going a little bigger with 68,000 inhabitants, Gniezno is one of those rarely visited towns in Poland despite it being the very foundation of the country.

Legend has it, that a long long time ago in a distant land, 3 brothers went travelling in unknown land. They were 3 princes: Lech, Czech and Rus, all descendant from Janus, the grand grandson of Noah. After a while the three brothers decided to split up. Rus went East, Czech travelled West, and the eldest of them, Lech, travelled North.

Rus founded Russia. Czech founded Czechia, and Lech founded Poland. It is said, that he was hunting for food in an area guarded by a big white eagle. Lech found this bird magnificent, he therefore attempted to steal one of it’s eggs to train it himself. The prince tried to scare the mother eagle away, but nothing worked and it all turned into a bloody fight between the two. After seeing the eagle protecting her eggs despite her white feathers being stained with blood, Lech felt shame and pulled back.

He made the white eagle the symbol of Poland, for it’s bravery and fight for freedom. And just near this nest, he founded the city of Gniezno and made it his capital.

5. Krujë, Albania

Kruje is one of the most beautiful towns in Europe with cobbled streets with different historical symbols and in the Albanian colors. It was the former capital of the Kingdom of Albania. The main attractions is the Skanderbeg museum, which is a beautiful castle that depict the history of Albania when it was fighting the Ottomans. Besides the castle and the beautiful streets, the town also has a an interesting Bazar, a mosque and plenty of medieval architecture.

The are is quite mountainous and offer some beautiful landscapes getting in and out of the town. The town houses 59,000 inhabitants.

6. Toledo, Spain

Toledo is the largest of these towns with 84,000 people. However, it is also the one with most history. It has been the capital of many eras. It was a Muslim capital during the Toledo Taifa kingdom, then a center piece in the conquest of Spain by the kingdom of Leon and Castille. Today, remains of both eras can be seen and even a Jewish quarter has survived after the genocide against Jews and Muslims during the Inquisition. The town also houses the very most impressive catholic cathedral in my opinion.

It is a true throwback in time to visit this town, and best thing is: It is just a small day trip from Madrid.

IMG_20170410_203150_264

7. Kalmar, Sweden

While this one has not really been a true capital, the city of Kalmar was the place where it was decided that Denmark, Norway and Sweden (with Finland, Iceland and Greenland under the same rule), should unite into one major political power. It was the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe I, who made this possible. For a short period in history, she was the most powerful woman in Europe ruling an empire that was half the size of the rest of Europe.

The unification happened in the Castle of Kalmar, which is a beautiful sight in the city center. The city has other attractions, a beautiful town, churches, lakes and a city hall. With a population of 36,000 people, this might be one of the most interesting towns in Sweden.

3 practical travel advice no one else will tell you

Dec 22, 2019 homeintheair6 Comments

You always hear the same general travel advice in every travel blog out there. Here are 3 specific and very simple travel advices for what to when travelling, that I have learned and applied personally, that has enriched my travel experience significantly. So without further ado, here you have 3 advices you won’t hear from anyone else:

Visit universities
Have you ever been in a city a little longer than it took to do all the sightseeing you could find in your travel handbook? I can most certainly tell you, that there is always more to see in every city. Even the most detailed travel blog or handbook won’t capture it all. But how would you know coming as a foreigner, not knowing much about the ins and outs of the city?What I often do, when I find myself in such situation, is to visit a university. Universities are the most underrated tourist attractions at all. I have personally visited several universities in more than 10 countries, from Sudan to Uzbekistan to Hong Kong.

Here are reasons why it is always worth visiting a university in the country you are in:
1. You will get a better understanding of the future of the country, watching the youth interact with each other, studying hard or even partying. Ear drop on conversations, specially if you find the campus of the political sciences. Or walk around inside the buildings reading the scientific posters that the students have hung up. If you have a scientific background yourself, you might understand the level of education, the level of innovation and what kind of ideas will shape the future.
2. There is always someone who speaks English there. Specially if you are in a country where you understand almost nothing because of the language barrier, the chances of meeting someone who speaks your language here is much higher. If not local students, then foreign students or exchange students. You will also find people from all faiths and continents in most universities. Maybe even someone from your own country, who lives there.
3. There is ALWAYS a very affordable cafeteria there, that you might benefit from.
4. You can always blend in. It doesn’t matter your age. You can be a undergrad student, you could be doing a PhD or even be a professor. You just walk around in confidence there, and merge in the atmosphere as were you a local.
  A university in Tokyo, Japan
Read local memes
This is a funny way to way to learn the deep and complex structures of a country and it’s relation to their neighbors. Or even their view on other countries. You can read all the news articles and essays about a country as you want, but the true mechanisms of the local’s mentality is more apparent in something as simple as a meme, rather than a 5 page analysis of the cultural aspects of a country.It is also a much more fun and quick way to learn some things, that you won’t be able to find in analysis reports or news, because of the political correctness that those have to adhere to. Good memes are rarely politically correct. Sometimes they even can be insulting or completely racists, but they will tell you the true mentality of some of the people there.

So go online, on Facebook or Instagram and search for a country specific meme page. It might take you a bit long to find. Prepare yourself to even opening google translate, to translate some of the memes. You will get more insight by those memes that are not translated to English.

Finally, if you know a local from the area, you might ask him or her to explain the memes that you do not understand or do not find funny. Yes – it might develop into a proper scientific research about memes, but believe me you will laugh most of the time. I can specially recommend memes from the Balkan region, those are clearly the most hilarious.

One gif-meme from the Balkans
Book a room for 2 people, even if you travel alone
I often travel alone, and I have found out that hotels lately uses environmental concerns as an excuse to give a worse service regarding cleaning. Today, many hotels do not change the towels every day, even if you throw them on the floor.When you travel alone and book a room, you are often left with the option to book a room for 2 people anyway, as hotels rarely have a single room. The price is the same – you do not pay more if you were 2 people travelling together for the same room. So when I book such a room, I put down 2 guests to ensure that they prepare the room with twice as many towels.

There is a problem with this approach, as some cities will impose taxes that has to be paid per person. So when you show up, you have to tell the hotel, that you are only 1 person coming to stay there to avoid paying double taxes.

So that was all for now, I hope you can use and benefit from those advice as I do! Remember, travelling is all about learning and understanding the world. Not just what fits into your own world view, so dig deep into it and get fascinated by it, even if it is far from your own believe system or values. But always, keep your integrity while travelling!

Top 10 Muslim Festivals to Experience

Dec 3, 2019Dec 3, 2019 homeintheairLeave a comment

Coming back from an adventurous trip to Iraq, I thought about how interesting religious festivals actually are. Some of the best travel experiences I have ever had, were combined with the observation of different old festivals with roots in world religions. I have previously made a list of Christian Festivals to experience, check that list out.

This list contains the name of the top 10 most fascinating Muslim festivals around the world, that would be great to experience in person together with the year 2020 happening dates.

Hajj
Place to be: Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Time to be next year: July 28, 2020
This one is undisputedly the most famous and important festival of the year in the Islamic world. Every Muslim is required to do a pilgrimage to Mecca once in his or hers lifetime. The pilgrimage consists of few rituals that traces back to Abraham who built the Kaaba, which is the most holy building in Islam.Every year millions of Muslims from all kinds of nations and races gather here, strip themselves of all symbols of status, wealth and pride and they put on the same white garments. All as one they walk around the Kaaba seven times, they face while praying in a circle and they perform all kinds of other interesting rituals and prayers that makes them forget all about their earthly desires, their race and nation and just feel one with their fellow believers.Unfortunately, this festival is closed for non-muslims, so only a muslim (traveller) will be able to witness it in person. However, you can enjoy the rest of the festivals on this list.
.
.
Mawlid
Place to be: Khartoum, Sudan
Time to be next year: October 28, 2020

Celebrating the Mawlid in Sudan – Personal trip, 2018

The mawlid is the celebration of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. This festival is celebrated all over the muslim world, officially except of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where it is forbidden, however, even there you can experience people celebrating it despite the law. However, if you want the best of all festivals, you should visit a strong Sufi dominated area. I can strongly recommend the Khalifa House Square in Khartoum. On the day, you will see Sudanese from all over the country arriving by foot and putting up a great festival in this square with lots of songs, dances, food and religious speeches. Every Sufi Tarika (Meaning “way of practice”) have their own tent and their own way of celebrating. Walk from place to place and participate in the event.
.
Ashura and Arbaeen
Place to be: Karbalaa, Iraq
Time to be next year: August 28 and October 7, 2020

Arbaeen 2019 – Personal trip to Iraq

Ashura and Arbaeen are two very connected ceremonies, so I have gathered them together here. Ashura commemorate the events of The Battle of Karbalaa in 685 AD, where the family of Prophet Muhammad was brutally murdered and captured. During 10 days up to the day of Ashura, the whole city is filled with mourning pilgrims crying and beating themselves over this terrible event, while poems and slogans are shouted all over the city and even plays are performed. It all ends with a run towards the shrine of Hussein, the grandson of prophet Muhammad.
The Arbaeen is a similar but much larger (and more calm) event, that happens 40 days after Ashura. This event commemorate the day, when the remaining family of Hussein finally came back to Karbalaa to mourn their dead. Up til the day of Arbaeen pilgrims from all over the country walk from their cities to Karbalaa to pay their respect. The Arbaeen is the largest annual peaceful gathering in the world with more than 20 million attendees every year.

.
Mela Chiraghan (festival of lamps)
Place to be: Lahore, Pakistan
Time to be next year: March 28, 2020
This celebration marks the death day of another Hussein, namely the sufi poet Shah Hussein. He was such a beloved character by everyone from all casts and religions in Pakistan, and every year the whole citizens of Lahore decorate their houses with different lights and oil lamps, making a beautiful scenery.
The main festivities happen around Shah Hussein’s shrine. Here free food is distributed and people from all over the country come to light up candles, lamps and lay flowers. The climax is the ignition of the large bonfire, where people would throw in all kinds of cotton lamps and candles making wishes. The bonfire will go on for 3 full days.
..
.
Perang Topat
Place to be: Lombok, Indonesia
Time to be next year: November, 2020
There is a holy place in Lombok for both muslims and hindu. The Pura Lingsar shrines house the combined Muslim and Hindu autumn festival. The festival is also called the Rice War between Muslims and Hindus. A very peaceful kinda war though. It all starts after both religious groups have finished their prayers in the temple. Time of the day: Just after the muslim afternoon prayer (Asr-prayer).
Both sides of the war will gather in formations on each side of their temple wearing tradition clothes and arming themselves with rice wrapped in leaves. After a speech and some festivities, both sides start throwing the rice at each other. They then engage in a joyful and friendly fight with rice and laughter will fill the temple site. It is truly a celebration of harmony and peace between two religions who live side by side.
.
.
Chechen Zikr
Place to be: Grozny, Russia
Time to be next year: Any Thursday or Friday, but best at major Islamic holidays.
The distinct Chechen Zikr is a one of the most fascinating Sufi ceremonies in the world. The circular dances, the rhythm, stamping and the prayers are simply so hypnotizing that just by observing it you can induce in a trance. The Zikr was in danger of being extinct due to atheistic rule enforcement by the Soviet/Russian authorities, who sees these ceremonies as a threat to them. Also Saudi Arabian Wahabi groups have several times attacked those Sufi orders. Now however, the Chechen Zikr is facing a renaissance and can be witnessed many places in Grozny, also in the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque. Try to visit during the Islamic Ramadan, Eid or Mawlid to catch a larger gathering of worshipers performing this ritual.
.
.
Fez Festival of World Sacret Music
Place to be: Fez, Morocco
Time to be next year: June 12, 2020
This is maybe the most modern festival on the list as it in 2020 will only be the 26th edition. Here religious (mainly Muslims but also from other faiths) musicians from all over the world perform religious songs. You can find famous artists like Sami Yusuf, local musicians, Sufi orderes peforming and artists from all over the world like Iran, Spain and Scotland also attend and perform. It is a bridge between the Muslim faith and other religions build with the love of music and art.
.
.
Bishwa Ijtema, Dhaka
Place to be: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Time to be next year: January 10, 2020
Directly translated to “World Conference”, this is truly an international Muslim gathering with over 5 million participants every year, making it another of the largest annual gatherings in the world. The small suburb city, Tongi, the streets will be filled with people praying all together as one. Not only the streets but also the rooftops and basically everywhere is occupied by worshipers praying for 3 days, reciting Quran and having preaches about the meaning of the Quranic verses. The final congregational prayer on the last day will be for wishing for world peace.
.
.
Durbar Festival
Place to be: Kano, Nigeria
Time to be next year: May 23 and July 30

Horseman at the Durbar Festival (Source: Andy Waite, Wikipedia Commons)

This is one of the most interesting festivals of all. It takes place in the former Kano Emirate, that is today a part of Nigeria. It is basically a ceremony that happens on important occasions, most certain to happen during the Muslims Eid Holidays. The city of Kano still have the Palace of the Emir called Gidan Rumfa, and he and his family still lives in it. Every Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid-ul-Adha he will wear the traditional medieval clothes and ride on his horse with his men out in the city. He and his men will parade the city, there will be music, prayers and rituals on horseback.
.
Tabuik
Place to be: Pariaman, Sumatra, Indonesia
Time to be next year: August 20, 2020

Tabuik ceremony (Source: Wikipedia)

This festival is very closely connected to the Ashura and Arbaeen, as it also commemorate the Battle of Karbalaa and Imam Hussein’s sacrifice for the religion. This ceremony however is very different in execution, as it is held by predominately Sunni Indonesian Muslims rather than Shia Iraqi ones. Here they prepare tall funeral biers made of bamboo and send them into the sea. Then people would swim after them. The whole festival is filled with sport activities like swimming and kite running and also plays are performed.

Besides these 10 Muslim festivals, there are hundreds of others all over the world that you can enjoy. In addition, being invited to a traditional Iftar during Ramadan might also be an experience you want to have. If you find it difficult to visit some of these countries, you can find very similar events in more accessible locations. Might even be in your local mosque in your own non-Muslim country. Muslims are in general very welcoming and would be happy if you showed interest in their traditions, so do not be shy to go and ask.

Unknown sightseeing in Copenhagen: 25 places off the beaten path

Sep 22, 2019Dec 22, 2019 homeintheair1 Comment

Visiting Copenhagen for 2-3 days, you will be busy enjoying the fairy tale city’s most known landmarks. Being it visiting a cafe in the famous Nyhavn area, with all the colored houses or getting your adrenalin up at Tivoli.

There are lots of things to do in Copenhagen, and if you are efficient, you can do them all in 3 days. Maybe you need a week if you slow down and take it all in. However, if you decide to spend more than a week in Copenhagen, here are 25 hidden gems to chose from for unique and quirky experiences in this fairytale city.

Living in Copenhagen, you will start to realize that there is not much to do in this city except of the landmarks. Denmark is one of the flattest countries in the world, and thus have only very few interesting hiking trails. The city has many beautiful parks, but you need to go outside the city for good forest walks or a nice beach in the rare hot summer days.

Luckily, Copenhagen is located on a small island measuring 100 km wide and 130 km long which means there are plenty of options to find beautiful good beaches and harbors. The city is located in the far east of the country and connected directly to Sweden by a bridge. The reason is, that Denmark used to own the southern parts of Sweden; Skåne, Halland and Blekinge, which back then, would have located the capital in the middle of the kingdom. The island is also connected to the rest of Denmark via a bridge on the west side, which makes it even easier to make interesting day trips around the country and into Sweden.

The list composes 25 secret places I found, that only Danish people know about with a guide to how to get there, what you can expect to see and how to get the best instagrammable shots of them. The list compose both places inside the city, in it’s suburbs and small day trips from the city. They are all listed in relation to distance from Copenhagen city center:

1. Glyptoteket (600 m)

20190127_155156~2 — The inside of Glyptoteket is beautiful and one of the only places in Denmark, you can find palm trees!

If you have been in Copenhagen for a few days, you might have visited the national museum. Carlsberg’s Glyptotek is not to miss though if you got extra time. This used to be the personal collection of the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Brewery. It has antiques from all over the world. Most noticable is his collection of roman figures, a nasothek, a gallary and the egyptian and nubian artifacts.

Practical info: It is free on Tuesdays, so go on a Tuesday! Otherwise it is 115 DKK (17 USD)

How to get there: It is located in the middle of the city. You can walk to it from the central station (Hovedbanegården).

2. Bastard Cafe (850 m)

20190302_183604~2 — The cafe has an amazing atmosphere

One of the best board game cafe’s in the world, this cafe has all the nerdy board games you can ever imagine. Go there on a weekday, cause it is very crowded in weekends and enjoy the atmosphere even if you are not into boardgames. The place is full of international nerds and hipsters having the best time of their youth. Try one of their easy “free to play” board games and have one of the Game Guru’s help you out with the rules. I can recommend simple games like Patchwork, Ticket to Ride or maybe one of the funnier games like Cards Against Humanity.

Practical info: This is a place to go if you are travelling 2 or more people, as it will be hard to find another group of friends to join for a game. But if you are very outgoing, try your luck, people are very friendly there.

There is one wall with free games, but borrowing any of the other games is cheap and costs 25 DKK (4 USD) per person. You can always ask the Guru’s for help and they most likely will help you out with rules and introduction to the game.

How to get there: It is right in the city center – walk from the central station.

3. Lucia kayak parade/ Lucia kayak optog (2 km)

This is a traditional Scandinavian ceremony that you can only witness on December 13 every year. In Denmark, small girls and boys walk the parade of Lucia which pays respect to an Italian saint. There are many theories about how this tradition came to Scandinavia. The story is about Saint Lucy (Lucia) who found herself forced to take her own eyes out to continue her charity work. The boys and girls walk a parade with candles on their heads singing. The nights are very long in December, so a theory is that it is a contribute to the darkness she must have had all the time delivering food to the needing. This particular kayak event is special. A kayaking club perform this parade in the harbour along the city and is most enjoyable to catch when they reach Nyhavn.

Practical info: Don’t miss it if you are in Copenhagen on December 13th. Google their specific time schedule, but you should in general be able to catch it around 3-4 PM in Nyhavn.

How to get there: Nearest Metro stop: Kongens Nytorv

4. Frederiksberg Have (2.9 km)

IMG_20161025_174058 — During fall the park around the castle really looks amazing with the red leafs.

Copenhagen has many beautiful gardens and city parks, and this one is one of my very favorite. It a castle garden featuring Frederiksberg Slot, which is located on a hill called Valby Bakke. This position of the castle makes amazing photographing opportunity both of the caste and of the garden. The castle can be photographed from the bottom with the stairs leading to the castle with trees on both sides and a green grass area in the middle. Walk up these stairs to take a stunning photo of the park itself – best time of the year for that is in the Autumn. The park will be less crowded, and the trees have the beautiful orange pop you want on your Instagram feed.

The Zoo is placed next to this park, so if you walk inside the park along that edge, you can have a free look into the Elephants house.

Practical info: If you come in summer the park will be overcrowded with sunbathing Danes.

How to get there: There are many buses going to different ends of the park. I recommend bus 6A towards Rødovrehallen from the central station (Hovedbanegården) and get off at Zoologisk Have. You can also take bus 9A or bus 26.

5. The cisterns, Søndermarken (3.1 km)

Søndermarken_Cisternerne — The Cisterns entrance

Søndermarken is another of Copenhagen’s many parks, and this one is located right on the other side of the road to Frederiksberg Have. This one is more than just a park though, here you find the a 200 year old water reservoir construction. The people of Copenhagen digged a 16 million liter hole to ensure clean water for the whole city, as their wells and lakes started to be more and more polluted. Today it is empty of water and instead functions as a museum with different art galleries.

Practical info: It is closed on Mondays and entrance is 70 DKK (10.5 USD).

How to get there: There are many buses going to different ends of the park. I recommend bus 6A towards Rødovrehallen from the central station (Hovedbanegården) and get off at Zoologisk Have.

6. Nørrebro (4 km)

1200px-Superkilen_hill-top_view — From Wikipedia: Emily [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D

Nørrebro is where everything happens in Copenhagen. It is where the hipsters are, it is where the internationals are, it is were the young people rebel. A lot of local history has been made in this district of Copenhagen. You can take a walk along Nørrebrogade, which starts at Dronning Louises Bro (the bridge), it will take you close to Blågårdsplads and Sankt Hans Torv, where the hipsters are. You can walk it further into the deep Nørrebro, where the shawarma-bars and café’s starts dominating the streets. You will end up at “The Red Square” and then it is only few seconds walk to Nørrebro Parken, which is a very active park with a mix of interesting people with graffiti, marijuana, ball games, sunbathing people, breakdance, skating and so much more.

Practical info: Nørrebrogade, is a long street so be prepared for a long walk and make some stops at the interesting shops and cafe’s.

How to get there: You can either start from Nørreport Station or take the train to Nørrebro Station and go the other way.

7. Experimentarium (7 km)

20190115_135105 — One of the most inspiring exhibition in Copenhagen.

This is the perfect place to bring your kids to learn about science in Denmark. All Danish kids who grew up in and around Copenhagen has been to this Science Museum. There are plenty of shows and “experiments” to play with. You can cut open a pigs lung or play with huge bubble blowers. But there are also some very interesting exhibition for adults: As I write this, there is a beautiful exhibition with plastified human bodies. This work is very unique and can only be seen in here and in The Netherlands as far I know. It is basically real human bodies who have been plastified so everything is clearly visible from veins to muscles to skin and set up doing their own professional sport like ballet or running.

Practical info: You will see many kids there. Let them loose and enjoy the adult exhibitions. It is open all days, so you can save this for a Sunday. Entrance is 195 DKK (30 USD) for adults and 115 DKK (17 USD) for children. If you go here by car, you can park for free in a nearby mall called Waterfront for 3 hours. After that it will cost 20 DKK for every additional hour.

How to get there: From the Central Station: Take train A towards Klampenborg and get off at Hellerup Station. Walk for 15 minutes from there, or take bus 1A for 2 stops and get off at Tuborg Boulevard.

8. Blue planet / Den Blå Planet (8 km)

20180224_145518 — One of the larger aquariums

This is the national aquarium and it is the best in Scandinavia and a candidate to that same title in Europe. Not much to say about this place, other than it is definitely worth a visit. You will be able to see all kinds of water animals from around the world, and yes even alligators!

Practical info: Open every day of the week – so another good activity for a Sunday in Copenhagen!

How to get there: Driving and parking is possible. Parking costs 12 DKK per hour for the first 4 hours. Then it costs 15 DKK per hour. If you go by public transport take the M2 metroline towards the Airport and get off at Kastrup St.

9. Trolls / Trolde (8 km)

Troels_The_Troll,_Horsens — One of the trolls. Picture taken from Wikipedia Commons: Tine [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D

All around the suburbs of Copenhagen, trolls are hiding in some of the parks and playgrounds. It is a fun activity for the family to drive around and hunting each of them. There are 6 giants in total named Teddy, Oscar, Louis, Thilde, Thomas and Trine and they are located in the districts of Rødovre, Hvidovre, Vallensbæk, Albertslund, Ishøj and Høje Taastrup. The trolls (or giants, as some people call them) are made by the artist Thomas Dambo and they are made of recycled wood and placed in places where people normally would never go.

Practical info: You can find the treasure hunt map by clicking here.

How to get there: As if I would tell you that now! Happy troll hunt!

10. Øresund bridge (8.5)

20190913_132443~3 — I took the shot from the airplane when I landed in Copenhagen Airport

What you tend to forget when being in Copenhagen is, that Sweden is only 20 min away. Normally, the capital city of a country would be located in the center of the country for defense and administrative reasons. Denmark is one of those countries, where the capital is located on the eastern most point of the country (not counting Bornholm). In Denmark’s case, the main reason is that Denmark used to own many of the southern Swedish territories. Those territories are now linked directly to Copenhagen by the Øresund Bridge, and it is one of the most interesting “bridges” of the world.

The bridge is specially unique because it is a normal bridge from the Swedish side, but a tunnel from the Danish side. They meet somewhere in the middle and it just looks stunning to see the bridge dive into the water from above. The technical reason for this construction is to allow large ships to sail through, as the bridge would have been too low for the ships to sail beneath.

Unless you pay for a helicopter ride, there is only one way to take a picture of the diving point of the trip: You have to do it from the airplane window when you land or take off. If weather and landing conditions are perfect, you can get a pretty good shot with even a smartphone, like I did. However, take a car and make the drive – it is nice nonetheless. And you can have the opportunity to see one of the largest Swedish cities as well, that offers many Gems as well: Malmö.

Practical info: The bridge is not free, a return ticket will set you back around 100 USD.

How to get there: Drive!

11. Bakken (13 km)

Dyrehavsbakken_in_snow_06 — Rutschebanen. Photo taken from Wikipedia Commons: Leif Jørgensen [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D

Welcome to the oldest amusement park in the world! And the entrance is free! You have probably already heard of Tivoli and maybe visited this amazing amusement park in the middle of the city, but it is not the only amusement park in Copenhagen. Bakken is an even more historic amusement park, as it is the world’s oldest still operating amusement park. It opened in 1583! Can you imagine that? Try out their famous wooden rollercoaster name Rutschebanen, which dates back to 1914. And don’t worry, it is totally safe! Or.. safe enough 😉

Another pro-tip: Every year on the day the park opens, Danish motorcyclists have a tradition of driving their bikes from the Copenhagen city center to Bakken. This parade is worth witnessing if you happen to be in Copenhagen in April.

Practical info: In 2019 the park opened on April 12. Check their website to see exactly when the next motorcycle parade is happening. The Park is very popular, because it is basically free to enter for everyone. So if you don’t like rides but only wanna pay for your kids, this is all possible.

How to get there: Driving is one option. With public transport: Take train A or C from the Central station towards Klampenborg Station and get off there.

12. Rungsted Havn (25 km)

20190325_175503~2 — Sunsets are something else here

This is a true hidden gem and my personal go to place when I need either piece of mind or a walk with a friend. This harbor i filled with yachts of all kinds and you will see some really fancy onces as well. During summer time, it is crowded and super cozy. You can also go to the beach there, which is one of the better beaches in the Copenhagen Area.

Practical info: There are restaurants there and a cozy atmosphere.

How to get there: Driving there is the best option. It is a bit long for a bus ride, but you can also take bus 29 from the central station.

13. Roskilde (31 km)

Roskilde_Cathedral_aerial — From Wikipedia Commons: CucombreLibre from New York, NY, USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D

Make the trip to the nearby satellite city, Roskilde. This is the place where the Danish monarchs are buried. The cathedral is one of the most beautiful in the country. It is also the city where the famous and crazy Roskilde Festival for rock music is held every year.

Practical info: Enjoy the city!

How to get there: It takes 30 min with a regional train from Hovedbanegården to reach Roskilde.

14. Frederiksborg slot (37 km)

IMG_20180225_102130_860 — The perfect picture is taken from the other side of the lake.

North of Copenhagen you will find the city of Hillerød. It houses one of the most beautiful castles in Denmark mainly because it is surrounded by a lake. The city itself is also worth a visit. Personally, I prefer to see this castle in the middle of the day in winter, because the view is wonderful when the lake is frozen. Walk around the lake and find your perfect angle of the castle. It is one of the most Instagrammable castles in Denmark because of the large lake and the size of the castle makes it easy to frame in one shot.

Practical info: Spend a day in the city. The castle is the city center, and there are plenty of dining options.

How to get there: Drive or take train A from central station to Hillerød Station. If train A is not driving to the city center, take line A towards Lyngby station and change to line A in Lyngby.

15. Visiting Malmø in Sweden (44 km)

Musrestaurangen_i_Malmö — From Wikipedia Commons: Johan Jönsson (Julle) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D

If you are interested in crossing the the Øresund bridge, you will probably end up in Malmø. This is Sweden’s third largest city and definitely worth a visit. You can look up it’s many famous landmarks, but what probably wont show up is that they actually have a small restaurant for mice. So go around and look for that tiny miniature restaurant!

Practical info: The street for the mouse restaurant is Bergsgatan. Remember your ID, cause you will be crossing to a different country.

How to get there: From Hovedbanegården there are many trains and buses going to Malmø. You can also take the car!

16. Vallø castle (46 km)

20190605_162420~2 — The beautiful Vallø Castle

If you drive to Copenhagen from Germany, you will pass by this beautiful castle that is totally hidden and unknown even for most Danish people. Only the locals of the suburban city of Køge knows about this gem. The castle is closed for visitors inside, but it’s beauty is from the outside and also the park around it is stunning.

Practical info: Bring a picnic

How to get there: Car is the best option, as there is a long walk from Vallø Station.

17. Helsingør (46 km)

20190126_114510~2 — I visited the castle in winter. The snow makes the place even more beautiful.

Helsingør or Elsinore is a historical city at the narrowest strait to Sweden. Here you can visit Kronborg, the castle of Hamlet. You can actually see Sweden from the castle, which was used to collect taxes from ships passing by the strait. If you go to the basement of the castle, you can encounter Holger Danske (Olgier the Dane), who is a sleeping war hero, that will only wake up when one day Denmark’s existence is in real danger. Nearby you also find some interesting museums and the city center is very charming as well.

Practical info: You can cross to Sweden on a 20 min ferry. On the other side is also a beautiful city called Helsingborg.

How to get there: It takes 45 minutes with a regional train from Hovedbanegården.

18. Strandvejen (10 – 46 km)

If you go to Helsingør or Rungsted havn with a car, drive along the famous rich man’s beach street “Strandvejen”. This is the road along the coastline north of Copenhagen, and here you find the big mansions of all the rich Danes. Danish people are often proud of telling you how much equality you find in the country, which is also true. But like in all other countries, there is always the rich and the poor, and in Denmark, the contrast is most visible if you compare other places to this road.

Practical info: Enjoy the view, and if you need to fuel your car, do it at Skovshoved Tankstation, which is a fuel station designed by the famous danish designer Arne Jacobsen.

How to get there: Drive along it with a car or a scooter.

19. Sand sculptures in Hundested (64 km)

In Hundested harbour they have a sand sculpture festival going on every year. Go to the beach and admire the beautiful creations by some very talented artists.

Practical info: It is open between May 10 and October 20. The entrance is 50 DKK (7.5 USD).

How to get there: With a car it is easiest, but it is also doable with the public transport, you just need to change trains twice. First take train E to Lyngby St., change to train A to Hillerød St. and finally change to Lokalbane 920R train to Hundested.

20. Spiral forest tower (66 km)

2019092112032452-32 — The famous spiral tower in the middle of a forest.

It is almost a shame to put this place on a “off the beaten path” list anymore, because since they finished this tower in 2019, the place has been featured on many travel magazines like Lonely Planet and Time Magazine. And still very few has been here, so come join the trend and visit this beautiful spiral tower in the middle of a Danish forest.

Practical info: The price for entrance is 150 DKK (22 USD), but if you book online you can save 25 DKK. The place also offers several different climbing activities for kids, that might interest you. Car parking is 50 DKK (7.5 USD).

How to get there: Taking the car is the easiest solution. Otherwise, you can take a train to Næstved Station, and from there take Bus 630R towards Faxe Ladeplads and stop at Sydmotorvejen (Ny Næstvedvej).

21. Stevns Klint (66 km)

Stevns Klint is an amazing hike and surprisingly empty place. Enjoy the nature in one of the few places to do a good hike in Denmark. It is a world heritage site for several reasons, one of them being fish clay and traces of a meteor attack. There is 22 km coast line to hike and several interesting sites, museums and fortresses along the way.

Practical info: The question is where to start, and there are plenty of places. Try to

How to get there:

22. Bonbon land (73 km)

20190803_105553 — One of the (least) disturbing figures in this amusement park.

Maybe of all places in on the list, this one is the most bizarre attraction in the whole Denmark. That does not stop it from being one of the most popular amusement parks by Danish citizens. This amusement park is the opposite of Disney. Everything here is designed to be ugly, trashy and dirty. Some of the ride’s names are: “The Dog Fart”, “The Dump” and “The Seagull Poop”, which is not even the most bizarre about the rides. Animal figures are posing in a sexist and dirty way all over the amusement park. All this makes it genuinly one of the most interesting amusement parks in the world and in the same time the kids love it. Not alone is “Bonbon” an amusement park, but it is also a Danish candy brand that are extremely popular amongst Danish kids and also adults.

Practical info: The best way to get there is by car. Parking is 40 DKK (6 USD) and entrance is 180 DKK (27 USD) and all rides included. You can also t

How to get there: To go by train to BonBon-Land you must first reach Næstved with a regional train and then switch to another regional train that stops at Holme Olstrup station and from here there is only a 5-minute walk.

23. Trelleborg, Slagelse (95 km)

Trelleborg_airphoto — Trelleborg. Picture taken from Wikipedia Commons: Thue C. Leibrandt [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D

If you want real viking history, look no further! You can see a real viking fortress in the west part of Zealand. This viking fortress was built by no other than the famous King Harald Bluetooth, which your bluetooth device today is named after. Here you can visit a museum and learn about the life as a true viking. Check their website for event, maybe they have a viking play or festival you can snapshot!

Practical info: Everything is free except special events like the viking festival.

How to get there: Best is by car. Otherwise, take the train to Slagelse. then take bus 439 from Slagelse Station.

24. Møns klint (126 km)

white_cliffs_sea_booked_r_gen_view_romance_mountains_tree-1007797 — Møns Klint

South of Zealand is connected by more bridges to other smaller islands. This beautiful natural gem is located in one of those islands called Møn. This is probably the most beautiful hiking place in Denmark and most certainly in Zealand. This is a small cliff pointing to the sea and you can walk it from the top or from the beach at the bottom. I recommend you take a round trip – but remember good hiking shoes. If the weather is good, you can also enjoy the beach which is a stone beach but at least with a stunning view to the cliff. Remember your camera down there!

Practical info: It is free – remember to bring a picnic or some snacks, cause the dining opportunities are not many in the area. You can find a cafe there though.

How to get there: Go by car, this is my best recommendation as it becomes cumbersome and takes a long time to reach it by public transport. However, you can do that by taking a train to Vordingborg and from there take bus 660R to Stege and the shift to bus 678.

25. H. C. Andersen’s city and home (165 km)

Hans_Christian_Andersens_house_in_Odense — H. C. Andersen’s childhood home

Explore the home of the world famous fairy tale author H. C. Andersen. Coming to Denmark is for many tourists all about him. His home city is Odense, and there you can walk in his footsteps, visit museums, find statues from his fairytales and most importantly visit his childhood home. The city is on the island of Fyn, and you have to cross the beautiful brige, Storebæltsbroen, to get there.

Practical info: You can buy a 5-in-1 ticket to different museums and his birth home and his childhood home. You can also go visit the places in Odense one by one.

How to get there: You can take a regional train from Hovedbanegården to Odense. You can also go by car, but be prepared to pay for crossing the bridge, this can cost up to 500 DKK (73 USD).

Getting around Preveza and Lefkada

Aug 5, 2019Aug 5, 2019 homeintheair2 Comments

In the summer 2019, I landed in Preveza Airport (Aktion Airport PVK). It is a small airport, where most visitors have already booked an all inclusive hotel and have a big “charter” bus from different travel agencies sending them to their respective destinations.

However, if you travel on a budget like myself, you might want to know how to get from the airport to Preveza city with public transportation. Likely, you would also be going to Lefkada island from the airport or maybe even have Parga or Athena as a destination. Here is the guide to how you travel to those places from the airport, and how you get around with local transportation in Lefkada Island.

So here is a guide for how to get between Aktion Airport, Preveza, Lefkada, Parga and Athens.

From Aktion Airport (PVK) to Preveza:

Preveza is 10 min away with car from the Airport, however, you cannot walk the distance, because it goes through a car only tunnel.

The easiest option is to take a Taxi, which will set you back 25 euros. In my opinion it is not worth the trip, but if you can find few other people to share the ride with, it might be worth it.

By Bus:

There is a bus, that goes from Preveza Airport (PVK) to Preveza Bus Station. The price is 2 euros. When coming out of the airport, walk right to the main road and you will see a bus stop, with this time table on:

20190715_102023

If you are going to Preveza, you will have to look at the bottom green time table saying from Lefkas to Preveza Airport.

And be aware, that those times are not the arrival times, but the time of when the bus depart from Lefkada. It takes the bus around 45 min to reach the airport. I will suggest that you add 30 min and start waiting from then. At the airport, you can get food and coffee meanwhile.

Another important aspect: This bus do go to “Preveza Suburban Bus Station”, which is located 30 min walk outside the city center. It does not stop at the city center. If you want the city center of Preveza, you can walk or take a taxi from there, which is way cheaper than from the airport. You can also look for local buses, but these do not drive frequently.

From Preveza or Aktion Airport to Lefkada

If you are at Preveza Bus Station you can take a bus going to Lefkada. The bus will pass by the airport.

If you are at the airport, walk right to the main road when you come out. Here there is a bus stop, which is a bit away from the road. Make sure you stand near the road clear to wave it in, when it comes by.

This is the timetable for the bus for all days of the week. These are all departure times from Preveza Bus Station:

Preveza – Lefkada

6:45

10:00

12:30

15:15

17:15

20:15

It takes 15-20 minutes for the bus to go from Preveza Bus station to Aktion Airport.

From Preveza to Athens and return

There is a bus going from Preveza to Athens every day. It is not necessary to book your ticket before hand, as there normally is space in the bus. However, if you are at the bus station some days prior to your trip to Athens, prebook a ticket. A one way ticket costs 40 euros, or you can buy a return ticket for 60 euros. Online booking is not possible yet, but it will be soon on the following link:

https://www.ktelprevezas.gr/en/online-tickets/

You can see time tables on the following link:

https://www.ktelprevezas.gr/en/itineraries/athina/

You will arrive at Kefissos bus station in Athens, and from there take bus 51 to the city center. The bus stop for bus 51 is right on the other side of the bus station, so do not walk too much around looking for it elsewhere. Google Maps is not accurate when it comes to bus stations in Athens.

From Preveza to Parga and return

Going to Parga is also possible from Preveza Bus Station. Timetables are on the following link:

https://www.ktelprevezas.gr/en/itineraries/parga/

Going around Lefkada Island

The easiest way to get around Lefkada Island is on a scooter or motorcycle. You can rent one for maximum of 20 euros a day and get it delivered to your own hotel, so you can return it there as well. In this way you can get to see the whole island and visit all the interesting beaches, caves and waterfalls.

Going around Lefkada Island with bus

There are buses that goes around the island, and it is much easier than you fear. The only setback is, that the buses do not go to some of the gems, where you will need to do a long hike or rent a bike to get to your destination. The buses do visit the major and some minor cities on the main road around the island.

At Lefkada bus station you can grab a flyer with the bus times. I have uploaded it here. These are timetables for the summer 2019:

20190727

For updates routes, check out their website here: https://ktel-lefkadas.gr/en/routes/local/

You can pay at the station or on the bus. A good tip is to ask the driver or the ticket collector to stop somewhere along the route, if you know your hotel or your destination is not near a bus stop. They will be open to that.

From Lefkada to Athens or Thessaloniki

As you can see on the flyer above, there are buses going from Lefkada to Thessaloniki and Athens every day and back.

Timetable for buses from Lefkada to Athens and Lefkada – Thessaloniki:

Lefkada - Athens - Thessaloniki.png

My journey to the Pyramids of Sudan (part II)

May 31, 2019May 31, 2019 homeintheair5 Comments

This is part 2 of the story of my journey to the Pyramids of Sudan. In Part 1, I visited the Jebel Barkal pyamids and the Nuri Pyramids. For part one click here.

I was back in the capital Khartoum and I had planned with Musab, my driver and now friend, to go to the Bejrawiya pyramids the day after. The Bejrawiya is the arabic name of the pyramid site, that Google called Meroe. That day I was visiting the national museum in Khartoum and checking out some markets. I also had to call the airport to check up on the missing bag.

Going to the museum allowed me to see some of the treasures and mummies found inside the tombs I had just visited in Barkal and Nuri

Upon arrival to Khartoum I did not receive my luggage so I of course reported it and convinced the lady working there to give me her personal Whatsapp in order to contact her, as I did not have a Sudanese phone.

The luggage had arrived and was stored in the airport, but the problem was, that it was not possible to pick it up until the next day at 8 AM. Because it was also my last day in Sudan, it was my last chance to pick it up.

Airport first and then we are off to the Pyramids

It ruined my plans a little, because I was intending to go to Bejrawiya early morning to be able to make it back in time for the Mawlid celebrations that was going to happen in Omdurman later that day.

At 7:50 I was with Musab at the airport asking for my luggage back. As expected everything took lots of time to sort out, but 45 minutes later we were heading towards Bejrawiya.

The first bribe

On the way there are many checkpoints awaiting you. As soon as they see me they of course ask for identification. It should not be a problem, but they keep complicating it by saying we need some permit or that the car needs to be searched. Musab could feel the bribe vibe and gave a handshake with some money between his fingers. We were off again.

The distance to the Pyramids were 230 km, but we havent even completed 50 km before we got pulled over again.

Another bribe or a speed ticket?

This time a police officer pulled us over for a speed ticket. He wanted 200 sudanese pounds for exceeding the speed limit. That is the equivalent to 1 dollar at that time. Musab got off and talked to him for few minutes and when he came back, he told me that he negotiated the price down to 100 pounds. I could not help myself laughing, but it was great for him.

Third bribe, Musab got cocky

So third time we were stopped on our way there, and this time the officer wanted to know if we had a tourism permit to go see the pyramids. If you have read part one of the story, this was a huge issue when we went to Jabal Barkal.

This time Musab was getting confident and he said with conviction:

“No we don’t need a permit, our honored leader has announced it is open for everybody now”

To put this in context, this happened just few weeks before the uprising of the Sudanese people, that resulted a successful (and still ongoing) revolution, where they got rid of their dictator Omar El-Bashir, who had been ruling the country for 30 years. It was El-Bashir Musab was refering to here.

I honestly was surprised by his courage, and the officer was obviously confused as well. After a little pause, the officer said: “Yes yes, I know he did, but if there is a permit we still like to see it.”

Eventually he let us continue.

From 40 dollars to a fraction of a dollar

So we finally made it to the Bejrawiya, or Meroe, as it was signed in English. We parked by the entrance as the only car and only guests there. There were few kids trying to sell us souvenirs already and a small entrance office.

I was wearing a T-shirt saying “TOKYO” and my fancy sunglasses. I walk in and greet the lady at the counter. She looks at me for 3 seconds and says in English:

“40 dollars!”

I take my sunglasses off to expose my dark Arabic eyes and smile to her. I answer her in perfect Arabic: “What would you take from a local?”

I don’t know if she is disappointed in my ethnicity, but she says:

“Fine, of course as long as you are Arabic, we will treat you like one of our own. 300 (Sudanese) pounds please”

I say: “Really? Do you take 300 from Sudanese?”

Her: “Okay, just 50”

And that is how it is done!

The sight

The sight of these pyramids though are like nothing I have ever seen. It is not just 3-5 pyramids on a row like the Pyramids of Giza or the Pyramids of Jabal Barkal. No.. here is tens of pyramids all very close together. How many Pyramids where there at the Meroe site? Somewhere around 60-70 pyramids, in addition tens of ruins that may have been pyramids at some point.

Where else can you touch two ancient pyramids at the same time? The answer is: In the Sudan only!

The craziest car ride ends up with an accident

The way back was very hectic. We were trying to get back in time for the Mawlid celebration in Omdurman in Khartum, but it looked like we were gonna be late. Musab was driving fast on this two-sided bumpy road. When he slowed down, others would overtake him, and one van did smash into Musab’s side mirror.

Of course this is the Sudan, so you do not stop op and exchange ensurance information, the van driver slowed down to let Musab overtake him again and while he did that he put his hands out the window and apologized.

But the craziness did not stop there. A huge truck was fallen sideways on the road and that lead to a massive line of cars. So do we wait in line, or do we drive on the opposite side of the road?

You guessed right, we drove on the opposite side of what is supposed to be “the highway”. Now.. it is a one lane each way road. So of course cars came at us, and Musab was forced down the sandy sideway. There were few Jeeps following Musab’s example but in general this was not good for the car.

The good news is though, that we made it to experience the end of the Mawlid celemony which was so amazing! But that is for another post!

My journey to the Pyramids of Sudan (part I)

Mar 6, 2019 homeintheair17 Comments

Sudan is the country in the world with most pyramids and visiting those are one of the most fascinating experiences the country offers. It was one of the reasons why I a late November night landed in Khartoum Airport.

After a Nile boat ride, where I sailed where the Blue and the White Nile met, I jumped into a Tirhal Taxi (the Sudanese version of Uber). He took me to Jabal Aulia. We became good friends on this short trip and I asked him if he could take me to the Pyramids of Meroe the next day. We agreed on a price, which was equal to 150 dollars. On Google Maps I could see that the pyramids were 230 km away.

Where are we going?

The next morning we were on the road. He told me he needed to make few stops first just to make sure the car was fit for the journey. He stopped at some pit stops to buy oil for the engine, taking away a little air from the tires and changing the oil. He also made one more stop, that I only later discovered what was about.

It took an hour or so before we again were on the road. However, not the right road according to Google Maps. I thought… Google is an old clever friend, I can trust him. So I discussed it a bit with the driver, who was sure his way was the right one. We asked around a bit and he made some phone calls to friends who had done this trip before and everyone told him that he was right. I wasn’t convinced, but I thought.. fair, let us do it your way – at least it will be an adventure.

20181106_084342 — Musab (the driver) fixing his car

The drugs in the car

After 70-80 km we did pass a rare sign on the road saying this was the way to Meroe in Arabic. This calmed me down, but the car did not. We kept stopping to add oil to the engine that consumed concerning amount of oil. Musab (his name) also used these breaks to smoke his cigarettes which I asked him kindly not to do in the car, as the smell annoys me. After having driven 250 km we still had no signs of Meroe. We kept driving trying not to take many breaks to make it there before the sunset. I was also wondering why he not once had to fuel his car.

We had now passed 300 km and still no sign. I noticed Musab started to take something green from a small bag and put it beneath his upper lip, just to spit it out later. It turns out this is some kind of drug (I assume it was Qat). That was the last thing he went to buy, before we headed out. Specially when not smoking he needed it to calm down.

He was a very chill guy already, but I told him he could smoke. The distance was much longer than any of us anticipated and I would rather he was comfortable.

Taken to the police station

After 450 km there was a check point. The officer looked at me and asked me if I am Syrian (Sudan has many Syrian refugees and I look Arabic). I said no, I said I was Arabic but from another country. He asked for my ID and after a long wait, he told us we need permission to continue. Tourists are not allowed in this area without a permission. Musab and I tried to talk sense to him, saying I am not a real tourist. I was his friend visiting him personally and staying at his family’s place.

While the officer was making some calls, Musab told me all of his family’s names so I could answer if they asked more into our relationship. In the end, they told us to go to the police station and get a permit. Another officer offered to go with us there both to show us the way to the police station.

So we drove to a little village and I could see the signs saying Police district of Meroe. The building was very small and with a tiny office, a TV and a back garden with a small mosque. There was only one guy sitting there who took my ID again, asked few questions and then told me to wait. After waiting for a while, I asked what was going on. Apparently, they were only waiting for the chief officer to arrive so he could give the final permission.

The wait was long, and I honestly started to get scared. They had my ID, I could not go anywhere, we had lied to them and Musab still had his drugs in the car. It was already late afternoon and they invited me to pray with them in the mosque in their backyard. So we prayed and I was trying to make as little notice of myself as possible.

The white man arrived

Finally a big car arrived. There was no doubt this was the chief officer arriving here. Out came all the other policemen and they opened the car door for him. And out came, surprisingly, a white man (not european white but middle eastern-like white). For some reason, I was not in doubt that he was actual Sudanese though. He gave us all a strong handshake, looked for 2 seconds at the paper work and told me, that I was a dear guest and this is as much my own country. And we were free to go.

However, the officer that showed us the way here offered to come with us and show us the way to the Pyramids. They were near. We couldn’t say no.

The Pyramids of Jabal Barkal

The feeling of relieve was exceptional when I first laid my eyes on the Pyramids. I was seriously feeling an accomplishment. Not only had we driven across the Sahara, we had overcome lots of issues, we forgot even to eat and the best part: We had the whole site for ourselves.

Musab had to drive on the sand to get all the way to the pyramids. We parked and we could run to them. Climb them (after kindly asking the officer). Musab even carved his fiance’s name on the pyramid, which I got really mad at him about.

There was a holy mountain there, Jabal Barkal. This mountain was sacred to the Farao’s and inside was a temple cave. And from the outside, from a certain angle, a cliff was naturally shaped like a cobra.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The car sank into the sand

Is is never a good idea to park your old front wheel driven car in the Sahara. We had to dig some sand away from the sunk car and push. I managed to lose my glasses in this process so out was my vision as well. But eventually we pushed the car free and off we went to the next site.

The Pyramids of Nuri

The officer (Ahmad was his name), told us about another site with pyramids only 20 km from this place. He took us there too.. and this place was at least as impressive. It was during the sunset, so the photos I got from this place were incredible. But the first thing I noticed was the skeletons of dead goats around the area. The next thing was the large amount of pyramids there. And the third thing, unfortunately, was how many of those pyramids were destroyed do to western treasure hunters.

Again we had the place for ourselves. Later, I visited the national museum where I learned, that this place was were they found Taharqa, the most famous of the Sudanese Pharos.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Did we finally run out of Gasoline?

Before going back, the car’s alarm sensors asked for a change of oil. Musab found a place near a gas station and started to work. I had the chance to sit with Ahmad and talk about everything from life to politics to the differences between arabs and africans, colonization, hopes and dreams. I have to say, as much as I was scared at the police station, as much he and everyone else in Sudan were kind. Musab had troubles with his car, so I went to help him fixing it. And at the end the gas station closed down but Ahmad made them open it up again for us to fuel as the last costumers. I noticed how thirsty the car was, and I assume he had the gas tank enlarged. I have never seen a car running as long without needing fuel.

Peeing in a hole and eating by a dead rat

We drove Ahmad back to work and head home. We stopped few times. One to use the toilets which were basically just a hole in the desert. Musab prefered to walk a distance and do it in nature. There was a small house there with open doors and few men sitting outside watching TV. They offered us to sleep with them and head out in the morning. We declined politely.

The second stop was to eat.. there were a stop for truck drivers were they could have something to eat. It was also outside and dirty. We sat on plastic chairs and table, but had to move them after I discovered a dead rat just besides me.

We had some of their food. We hadn’t eaten all day so I did not care what it was. We talked about how amazing Sudan was and where else we should see next time I visit. I understood that there is two places named Meroe. One is the one we went to, and the other one is the one on google which Sudanese call Bejrawiya. We made plans to go there together 2 days later.

The car broke down a couple of times on the road. My family back home was worried as well as we arrived back at 2 am.

What happened at the Bajrawiya? That is gonna be for the part 2 of this tale.

The Erased Heritage of Palestine: A traveller’s itinerary

Feb 21, 2019Feb 25, 2019 homeintheair3 Comments

By Homeintheair (Instagram: @Homeintheair)

During my 10 hours visit to Jerusalem I got a mild form of the famous Jerusalem Syndrome. I was so amazed by all the holy and historical sites. It is truly the most culturally dense city in the world. But Palestine is much more than just Jerusalem. The country is filled with historical sites.

However, during the Nakba the Israeli’s initiated a military program to erase as much non-jewish heritage from the country as possible. This meant the demolishing of some of the most holy sites in Islam and Christianity. Of course the Islamic sites has been hit the hardest, due to the Pope’s intervention which saved some Christian sites and made it possible for hundred thousands of the Christian Palestinians to return after being expelled in the first place.

Nonetheless countless of mosques and churches were either destroyed completely or turned into synagogues, warehousing, horse stables, nightclubs or the like. The exact number is of course disputed but both sides agrees that at least 570 villages were completely destroyed by the Israelis where each one had probably 1-2 mosques. On top of that comes the bigger towns and cities that were destroyed and the many muslim neighborhoods in Jerusalem. You can do the math.

So finally, I have a huge interest in discovering lost places. I seriously should have been an archaeologist! Some of these places I discovered while doing research for my itinerary for my next visit to Palestine. My researcher gene took over and I listed those 10 significant holy sites that were destroyed by Israel during the Nakba and until today. Number in parenthesis is the year of destruction.

1. Nabi Rubin (Reuben son of Jacob) (1948)
Nabi Rubin was one of the most popular sites in Palestine before 1948. The mosque housed Reuben’s grave and every year one of the largest festivals in Palestine would take place here. The festival included singing, dancing the Dabke, distribution of colorful candy, sufi prayers, horse races and magic shows. The festival was so exciting, that Palestinian women from afar would tell their husbands: “Either you take me to Nabi Rubin or you divorce me!”. In 1947 the last festival was held. The next year the city was razed by the Israelis and the mosque destroyed.
Today, Jews are trying to claim the ruins of the shrine to be one of their own, but their plans has been facing difficulty since Jewish tradition place the grave of Reuben somewhere very different.

2. Nabi Yamin (Prophet Benjamin) (1948)
This mosque was not destroyed but converted into a synagoge and prohibited muslim entrance even though the place in the first place was holy to muslims only. Before 1948 the place was not considered holy by the original Palestinian Jews (the Yishuv Jews), nor was it considered the true burial place of Benjamin.

Nabi-Yamin-50 — Nabi Yamin mosqye turned into a Synagoge

3. Nabi Shuayb and Mosque of Hittin (1948)
Hittin was a very special city to muslims. Here Saladdin won the battle against the crusaders that lead to the reconquest of the holy land. He built the city and the mosque in this place where the tomb of Nabi Shuayb happened to be. Nabi Shuayb has always been important to the Druze population of Palestine. Muslims and Druze shared this mosque until Hittin was destroyed by Israel in 1948. The mosque of Hittin was completely destroyed and ruins can still be visited while they gave the mosque of Nabi Shuayb exclusively to the Druze as a payment for them to join the Israeli forces.

PikiWiki_Israel_48150_Nabi_Shuayb — Nabi Shuayb still looking like a mosque from the inside

4. Nabi Samt (Judge Samson) (1948)
This shrine contained both the tomb of Samson and his father Manoah. It was destroyed with the city of Sar’a (Zorah). After it was proven that the tomb actually belonged to the two holy people, the ruins of the city has been taken over by Israel as an important archeological site.

5. Al-Nabi Yusha’ (Joshua) (1948)
This was the name of a small village that also housed the tomb of Joshua. The village was under French control during the colonization and therefore, officially, a part of Lebanon. However, the French decided to leave the village to the British who were colonizing Palestine. The British gave Palestine to the Jews which included this originally Lebanese village. And yes, they destroyed it all including the tomb. Ruins can still be found but are rarely visited.

Al_Nabi_Yusha_Mosque — What is left of Nabi Yusha Shrine

6. Al-Hussein mosque, Ashkalon (1950)
This site was the holiest to muslims outside of Jerusalem. Here the head of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad was buried. The shrine was said to be the most magnificent building in Ashkalon at the time. This having absolutely no value for Jews, it was the most important mosque for zionists to erase. Today a medical center has been built on the grave.

Sey'd_Hussein_ashkelon — Pilgrims going to the Al-Hussein Shrine in 1943

7. Sheikh Eid mosque, Jerusalem (1967)
The destruction of this mosque is part of the story of the destruction of one of the most historical areas in Jerusalem, the Moroccan Quarter. This quarter of Jerusalem dates back to Saladdin’s era and the Sheikh Eid Mosque was the biggest and most prominent in this quarter. The whole quarter was destroyed in order to make room for a big square where 200.000 Jews could stand in front of the Buraq Wall (Wailing wall). The residence got 15 minutes warning to leave their houses before the demolishing. Those who did not leave, were killed by the bulldozers wrecking their walls down.

8. Al Buraq mosque, Jerusalem (1967)
This mosque was also destroyed during the raze on the Moroccan Quarter. This mosque however, was the second most holy to muslims in Jerusalem. It was built where muslims believe that prophet Muhammad tied his divinely sent horse (the Buraq). One of the leaders behind this demolition said “”Why shouldn’t the mosque be sent to Heaven, just as the magic horse did?”. The basement of the mosque, I believe, is still accessible today.

9. Al-Khadra Mosque, Nablus (2002)
The Nakba never really ended. So I have included a very historical mosque that was destroyed not long time ago. This mosque was built on the holy site where Prophet Jacob cried after believing Joseph had been killed. The mosque is also named “Sadness of our Lord Jacob”.

Nablus is a large city belonging to the Palestinians on the West Bank. In 2002, Israel razed the city and their bulldozers destroyed countless UNESCO heritage sites including this mosque and Abd Al-Hadi Palace.

10. Siksik Mosque, Jaffa (1948)
This mosque is one of the examples of how they used mosques to other purposes after conquering land. This mosque was first turned into a Bulgarian restaurant, then a nightclub and then a warehouse for a plastic factory. And this is the fate of many mosques and churches as well in the bigger cities.

Maybe at some point I will research the churches and do a blog post about those too. And of course, there are countless more holy sites I did not include. There are also palaces, archeological sites, hamams and historical city centers that were completely destroyed that I did not include here. Long story short: thousand years of heritage was destroyed in this country, but ruins remain for us to go and explore which I would love to have the chance to do.