We planned this trip so last minute that, that we wrote down the wrong hotel in our itinerary, arriving at the wrong establishment on our first evening. The check-in desk lady looked surprised, when we presented ourselves as new guests; she wasn t expecting anyone that night. Luckily, we found the correct hotel and checked in [ ]
We headed eastward across the Iberian Peninsula toward Gibraltar. The journey took us from the white-sand beaches and kite-surfing spots of southern Spain into a curious pocket of British sovereignty carved into the rocky coastline. What made this crossing particularly memorable was not just the destination, but the peculiar formality of leaving one zone and [ ]
We arrived in Tangier in the morning after boarding the ferry from Tarifa, a small coastal town in southern Spain. As we stepped through passport control, we left the Schengen zone and entered Morocco in Africa. For the first time, I noticed that the Schengen stamp had distinctions between how someone entered Schengen with different [ ]
It started when we scored what we thought to be a pretty good deal on Air Canada business class tickets to Spain at just ~$2k for the outbound flight. What would have been a standard international journey became something far more memorable, beginning even before we took off. Three-Course Meal at the Airport Lounge and [ ]
We had always been curious about Istanbul’s history, but actually wandering through Sultanahmet put us in the centre of centuries-old architecture. Our self-guided walking tour led us from Byzantine structures to Ottoman buildings, each with its own distinct purpose and character. Instead of fitting into simplified geographical labels, there’s a strong sense of being part [ ]
Arriving at Pamukkale in the morning, the first thing that caught our attention was the dazzling sweep of white, rising from the plain like a tiered amphitheatre. The travertine terraces, created over thousands of years by mineral-laden hot springs, shone in the sunlight. After having lunch and chilling by at the hotel pool with the [ ]
When someone else in our tour group asked our guide about the possibility of visiting an additional archaeological site not included in our official itinerary, we jumped at the chance. At our own cost, we could explore Laodicea on the Lycus, an ancient city that promised to deliver something truly special. What we discovered was [ ]
We started our visit in Selçuk, small town in İzmir Province sits at the heart of one of Turkey s most significant archaeological regions, where layers of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Roman history create a compelling narrative of civilizational change. The Stork Highway of Ancient Rome Walking through Selçuk s streets during the ongoing heat wave, we couldn t [ ]
We were on what we thought was a fixed tour itinerary, until a history-loving fellow traveller asked if we could squeeze in Pergamon’s hill-top ruins. Thanks to our adaptable guide who arranged for us a quick taxi arrangement that we covered ourselves, we found ourselves standing on one of Türkiye’s most storied UNESCO World Heritage [ ]
During the peak of Turkey s summer heat wave, our journey took us from the legendary ruins of Troy, where Homer s epic tales come alive, to the charming coastal town of Ayvalik, where modern social innovation meets traditional Mediterranean life. Troy: Where Legend Meets Archaeological Reality Standing before the ancient walls of Troy, we grappled with [ ]