Located near the town of Sheki, this abandoned fortress was actually one of my favorite sites in Azerbaijan (and by “this” I am including the hike in as well as Gelersen-Gorersen itself)… A fragment of the fortress now almost lost to the forest: Although the fortress dates back to the 8th or 9th century, the … Continue reading
This is the English version of our article published in Italy’s The Post Internazionale: Uncomfortably switching the selector switch on her AK-47 back and forth, 21-year-old Asmaa Dahar is detailing the sudden arrival of ISIS in her life. The small Iraqi village she is from, Seba Shekh Kheder, like many other Yazidi communities, received no warning … Continue reading
The rapid-fire invasion of Iraq and then Kurdistan by ISIS, as the Islamic State was calling itself at the time, stunned the world. For several hours, it even presented an existential crisis for Kurdistan itself as the momentum of the invasion by ISIS brought them to within mere kilometers of Erbil – with little standing … Continue reading
Zabid resonates in the minds of some given its history as not just the former capital of Yemen (from the 13th to the 15th century), but also a center of learning (particularly the famous university in Zabid) and culture with more than 230 schools and mosques at its peak around the 14th century. In addition, … Continue reading
Listen, forget about all of those grim, depressing pictures one sees coming out of North Korea for a minute… It’s not always like that. No place is grim and depressing all of the time. Keep reading this post if you need to be convinced… Having been under the close supervision of our North Korean minders … Continue reading
Picking up right where we left off in Part 1… Outside of Red Square, one can either proceed through Norton Park (more on Norton Park below) or journey across the countryside to see some of the other highlights of Molossia. One such example is the Trans-Molossia Trail. This trail, maintained by the Molossian National Park … Continue reading
The gateway to the Republic of Molossia: As promised earlier, the scene report from Molossia is finally here… ***** It’s a sad fact that Americans don’t get much international travel experience when compared to Europeans or those from other wealthy nations. Perhaps this is because the United States is a large country and there is … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 