What You Need To Know When Visiting Abkhazia and Getting A Visa
What You Need To Know When Visiting Abkhazia and Getting A Visa. The UN recognizes 193 member states. Then there is Palestine and the Vatican, which are called Observer States. That brings you to 195. There are other countries like Taiwan and Kosovo which seem like countries but due to global politics, are not part of the UN 193 club. There is a process to joining this club which includes two thirds of the members voting affirmatively. Then there is an entire cast of characters that act like countries such as Somaliland, Republic of Artsakh, Transnistria, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. If it walks like a duck … These de facto countries have many trappings of a UN member state. Many have their own functioning governments, currency, flag, national anthem, armies, and even require a visa to enter their country. And this brings us to the Republic of Abkhazia. Abkhazia is a stretch of land the size of a combined Delaware and Rhode Island with only 250,000 inhabitants. It can be found on the Black Sea [...]
Victory Day In Sukhumi Abkhazia
Victory Day In Sukhumi Abkhazia. Maybe you have seen the images beamed to your TV sets or on the web of thousands of Russian troops and tanks parading through Red Square in Moscow every May 9th. This is Victory Day which commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. This day is recognized by Russia and many former Soviet Republics and Warsaw Pact countries. For a recent Victory Day in Moscow, over 14,000 troops, 126 military vehicles, and 78 aircraft were on display. It is a giant production showcasing Russia’s military might. As you can imagine, the military parades on display is much more modest in the other countries recognizing the day. One of the smallest commemorations can be found in Abkhazia. Abkhazia was part of Georgia until a brief war with Georgia’s giant northern neighbor, Russia, in 2008. Now, Abkhazia is a de facto state, virtually a client state of Russia. In fact, when you pass the border to present your passport, you will note the checkpoint is manned by Russian soldiers. By circumstance and serendipity, [...]
Peleg Cohen … has completed 133 UN countries as he gives back to the local community as he travels
Peleg has been on the road for over 13 years with no end in sight Peleg is a from a small town, just miles from the Lebanese border. In 2006, his military unit was called up for the war with Lebanon. He spent a month in combat. After this experience, he revisited the direction of his life. He decided he needed to follow his heart and passion and began traveling the world to learn and experience. Originally he brokered a deal with his family where he planned on traveling for four years before returning to lead a more traditional life. Those 4 years turned into 13 years, with no plan to stop. And check out our new sponsor - The Journey by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - take a listen and subscribe! Peleg has a passion for volunteering, and spent time working on many projects throughout the world from a favela in Brazil, living at the Smokey Mountain dump in Manila, and a school in Uganda. Pelleg is an extremely popular travel blogger in Israel, [...]
Five Days At The Russian Cosmodrome Baikonur For A Manned Space Launch Day Five
Five Days At The Russian Cosmodrome Baikonur For A Manned Space Launch Day Five. Today was the day. The climax. The denouement. We started off with a leisurely tour of the Museum of History in the town of Baikonur. We were expecting to see our guide, Amina, from the day before, but she was nowhere to be found. We speculated that we exhausted her from our barrage of questions from the previous day. Subbing in, was our guide, Misha, from the two days prior. Misha gallantly took us through the museum noting the highlights of the Soviet/Russian space program. Our group of space geeks immediately broke into an abrupt laughter when Misha yanked a stuffed dog (playing the role of the first dog in space) out of a miniature capsule. He stared back like a deer in headlights, totally perplexed at our reaction. I imagine he is still confused today. Photos provided courtesy of Prof. Thomas J. Brady There is also a small gift shop (really just someone's office) where I picked up some very cool and [...]
Samer Kawar … has completed 145 UN countries, while marrying his passion for travel and architecture
Samer has managed to work full time as an architect as he chases 193 Samer shared with me that he's driven to travel by FOMO and YOLO. The fear of missing out and you only live once, pushes him to plan constantly so he can maximize travel to the fullest. He is continually researching, creating lists, and making future travel itineraries. Samer has travel in his blood. From an early age he made multiple trips to Jordan and Syria to visit family. This opened the door to travel as a kid. And before he was even a teenager, he methodically learned and memorized geography data and trivia. In fact, he had already determined that he would travel to every country in the world. Please check out our sponsor The Journey - A Podcast by KLM Samer visited China as a 16 year old and went backpacking in Europe before he even started university. He shares with us how he nearly lost his cool in the Abidjan airport and his frustrations in the Miami airport. He tells [...]
Five Days At The Russian Cosmodrome Baikonur For A Manned Space Launch Day Four
Five Days At The Russian Cosmodrome Baikonur For A Manned Space Launch Day Four. Today was going to be a bit low key compared to the previous, action-packed, day. I crammed down some sort of egg creation for breakfast and met the group for our 10:00 am departure in Lenin Square. The day was sunny and even a bit warm. We were to spend the day visiting the Cosmodrome and visiting multiple sites. This is the fourth part in a multi-series, click here to go to the beginning. We exited the town of Baikonur and proceeded to the checkpoint at the Cosmodrome. The Cosmodrome is a vast area of area 700 square kilometers. Scattered throughout this area are multiple launch pads, hangars, airports, offices, hotels, museums, railway, chemical plants, and measurement point installations. Incredible feats of technology take place within the space port, yet first looks can be a bit deceiving. Many buildings and structures are a better fit for an Urbex’s wet dream than my image of a high-tech mecca. So many buildings were in [...]
