Author: <span>nickpotter</span>

Pakistan Diary

Day 1 - Dublin to Islamabad The night before leaving I saw a news article on the BBC website about the arrest of the ex-PM in Pakistan, Imran Khan, and the subsequent rioting that had kicked off. So heading for my early morning flight I was understandably a little anxious! My flight was from Dublin to Abu Dhabi and then onwards to Islamabad. The flights themselves weren't too bad but Abu Dhabi Terminal 3 seemed a bit of a warren and it took quite a while to find and then get to…

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May 2023

Mauritius is almsot entirely surrounded by a reef with waves breaking far offshore. This cove is on of the few breaks where waves reach the shore.

Travel Photos

Mauritius & Reunion

I got married in October 2022 and my partner and I travelled to Mauritius and then Reunion for our Honeymoon. I didn't take many photos as it was mainly a relaxing, chill by the beach type of holiday. However we did explore the southern part of Mauritius and take a helicopter flight over the cirques and volcano in Reunion.

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December 2022

Light streams into the Osogovo Monastery from a high window illuminating the frescoes

Travel Photos

The Balkans

On returning from Uzbekistan I realised I had a load of leave to use before the end of June otherwise I'd lose it. So after a quick search of places to go I opted for a trip to the Balkans - mainly North Macedonia with a small bit of Bulgaria and Kosovo through in for good measure. It was a tough trip in many respects with a lot of driving and single night stays in each location, but the landscape and many UNESCO sites were interesting to see. However it was frustrating…

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June 2022

Travel Blog

Balkans Diary

Day 1 After a 3 hour flight from London we arrived in a warm, but very wet, Sofia. It didn't help that the mini bus to the hotel leaked with water dripping from the roof on to several seats. However we eventually arrived at our hotel, the Sofia Palace, damp but looking forward to what the next few days had in store Quickly freshening up it was back out and a short walk to a local restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner and our first chance to sample the local food. Whilst…

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June 2022

The view over the old part of Khiva from the watch tower on the city walls.

Travel Blog

Uzbekistan Diary

So today (April 22, 2022) I finally head off on a trip I originally booked in 2019 for departure in spring 2020. Whilst I’ve travelled around Ireland a bit during these last two years, apart from a brief trip to Spain about 7 months ago there’s been little other overseas trips for obvious reasons. So my destination this time is Uzbekistan. Part of the ancient silk road between China and Europe. The ‘stans are somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a while and there’s still a few others to explore. Day 1…

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May 2022

The view over the old part of Khiva from the watch tower on the city walls.

Travel Photos

Uzbekistan

Part of the ancient silk road between China and Europe. The ‘stans are somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a while and there’s still a few others to explore. Many Persian cities took advantage of the commerce between East and West as the Silk Road developed and in Uzbekistan Bukhara and Samarkand eventually became extremely wealthy cities. In 327 BC Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered the region, followed by 7th century conquests by the Araba who brought Islam to Uzbekistan. In the 13th century Genghis Kahn invaded and the region changed with culture…

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April 2022