Mongolia
Gobi desert, Flaming cliffs, largest sand dune in the world for a sunset (well earned after climbing) the vast steppes, camerls, Ghengis Khan Gold, Dalazadgad, and UB.
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DPRK (North Korea)
had a VERY basic camera and lens and knew practically nothing about photography – however wanted to condense down to 30 photos to cover architecture, artwork, people, places and funny signs.
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China - Beijing and the Wall
Superb weather for the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
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Tunisia
This country is small compared to its neighbors but packs in a large number of UNESCO sites. Quick road trip to El Jam – the 4th largest Roman Colosseum and one of the best preserved. The damage to the one side was from the Ottomans not wanting it used as a hiding place for insurgents.
Bardot Musuem – world famous and rightly so – however pretty sad they hadn’t taken the bullet holes out of the display cases.
Goes to show how much they are struggling to deal with tourism drop and the violence.
The Ancient capital of Carthage sits just outside Tunis – nearby is baths, a villa, and a small colesseum. Carthage was one of the most powerful cities between 800 -200ish BC before the Romans dealt to them. In combination with the Phonecians they dominated the martime trade in the Med.
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Spanish Sahara
Colonized by the Spanish this rather large part of western Africa (twice size of England) is highly contentious. When the Spanish left in 1975 Morocco and Mauritania claimed it as their territory. So did the indigenous Sahrawi people. The latter started a guerrilla war and Mauritania called it quits.
That left the Saharawi’s – The Polisario Front – vs Morocco. In the end a ‘Berm’ was built north to south from sand and land mines to partition the territory with the Moroccos on the coastal side and the Sahrawi’s landlocked.
To Moroccans it is ‘Moroccan Sahara’. To every UN member it is ‘Western Sahara’. Morocco was loathe to join the African Union until this year as many African states have relations with the Saharawi “state”.
Morocco spends 800 Million USD a year maintaining control – which is 1600 USD per head of population which is a lot of money when the GDP per capita of Morocco is only $3000. That goes into subsidies and flags (see the pics).
The Police aren’t too excited about tourists and the moment I got off the bus I had my passport taken and copied and was followed for most of my stroll around the waterfront. Friendly folks though and was a nice day at the beach.
The other place to check out is Dakhla which is a coastal town further south.
There is some great art/antiques for sale across the road from the Mosque.
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Morocco
Casablanca and Rabat. Impressive Mosque in Casablanca which apparently has the highest minaret in the world. Built at great expense in the 1980’s is definitely the statement they were hoping to make.
Rabat is home to some Roman ruins and a beautiful little suburb, Kasbah des Oudayas, overlooking the coast.
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Libya
Visit to Tripoli.
There are no tourist visas available but I am advised there are 9000 people still employed by the tourism department. (1/3 of the population is on a government job)
Seems to be relative peace in the city as the armed militias have largely been stamped out.
I am told the airport runs a little smoother as now the people working there have uniforms so you know who they are – a few weeks ago everyone was just in street clothes.
Not a lot of military presence or even police. The main industry is Oil followed by Telecoms and Cafes. Cafes all brimming with men.
People seemed happy to see a visitor and were very welcoming.
It is a long road back to where Tourism was 7 years ago which is a shame for such a fascinating place. This is still very much in the ‘extreme’ travel level but the situation is improving rapidly and a visit is a must. Contact http://sherwestravel.com/Ibrahim on Ibrahimusta@sherwestravel.
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