A different way to see the world.
23 stories
By Irfan Ahmad “My bags are packed. I am ready to go. … I am leaving on a jet plane….” The strains of the John Denver song are permanently etched in my mind. It takes me about 10 minutes to put together my stuff for a trip that could keep me on the road for ten days. I have several hundred thousand air miles under my belt and I do not...
Read story →: Travel Tips: All ground staff please leave the aircraftIt was early afternoon when I walked up the steps to the French Embassy in London. It had closed its doors for the day. But I was confident that I would be able to get in and have a visa stamped on my passport. I had used wasta (connections). If you have a Pakistani passport and are visiting London for a few days, the chances are that...
Read story →: Budget Travel: Paris on a ShoestringBy Irfan Ahmad Living in Dubai has its downsides. A few years back, when we landed at Heathrow, my then five year old son looked around and said, “Why is this airport so dirty?” Granted, London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was still a couple of years away, but the aseptic environment of Dubai poses a number of challenges for destinations...
Read story →: An Expat visits BaliThe bed sheets felt fresh and crisp. The duvet was inviting. The heavenly bed seemed heavenly. After a 10 hour flight to Cape Town, sleep was what I craved. But a hungry stomach had other designs on my time. I went down to the Westin’s restaurant and ordered Tom Yom soup and a veggie pizza. The strange combination reflected the state I was in.
Read story →: Cape Town: Dinner at Mama AfricaThe van that took us to the hotel had picked up a few other passengers besides us and meandered around the “city” dropping people off at what appeared to be crude, container-like cabins. So this is how people live in this part of the world? I remembered reading that Longyearbyen was a mining town. The metal cabins looked the part....
Read story →: Longyearbyen: 78 degrees North
