The post My 10 WORST Travel Experiences of 2019 appeared first on gus1thego.
]]>The year of 2019 is coming to an end and I’ve had an incredible travel year, where I’ve visited more than 45 countries, new and old ones.. It sounds pretty much perfect, right? Well, not totally. These are my 10 Worst Travel Experiences of 2019!
I had some amazing days in Somaliland, Somalia and out of a sudden my phone goes out (Iphone X), and I can’t open it again. I try everything to recover my phone, but there’s nothing to do. My phone is dead! I’m the type who plans pretty much everything on my phone, so not having it to navigate/plan stuff was incredibly hard for 1 week of travel around Somalia and Eritrea. You can read the full story below by clicking the link.
Because of high tensions between India and Pakistan my flight with Air India (one of the worst airlines from my travel experiences) was delayed. They kept on delaying the flight with 1 hour at a time, so I had to wait in the Airport, because of the insecurity if we were able to go. I ended up waiting for 20 hours, and I just made it last second to some work I had to do in Denmark, because of this crazy delay! Really not nice!
I had a really nice time in Belize City and doing islands hopping in Belize, right until I went to a Beach Club in Caye Caulker Islands. Two drunk guys (probably on drugs too) pushed me super in the back randomly when I was standing in the bar, and I turned around and asked “what are you doing?” I asked as politely as I could, but the second after they were straight in my face threatening me, so I took one of the guys and threw him into one part of the club and the other guy into a wall 5 meters away. They pulled up a knife each, but some people and the security came in between and threw them out of the club. They were apparently known for being bandits and making a lot of troubles in the night life. My adrenaline was pumping and at that time, and I wasn’t scared at all in the second! Nothing happened after and I had a good time still in Belize, super beautiful country! I’m really not the aggressive type normally btw
Going to San Pedro Sula is an INTENSE experience. I did 2,5 days there, in what was the World’s most murderous city, until Caracas in Venezuela surpassed it recently! You can read about my time in San Pedro Sula here:
I was detained in Ivory Coast for 5 hours after taking a photo of a flag pole in Ivory Coast that a local Ivorian guy had just taken a photo of seconds before me without any problems. When I took the photo the police yelled âno, no, no!â and took me to the Police Station for 5 hours, where I had to talk to so many different Police Officers.. I threw a water bag in the ground of anger to show them I’m not an easy target to rip off and I’m not soft (that’s how things work in Africa sometimes), and after I slowed down, kept my patience and explained myself well, and therefore I managed to not pay anything. I didn’t do anything wrong and I was really mad about what the police did!
Read how it was like to travel West Africa below.
I have taken between 1,500-2000 motorbike rides on my travels, but I’ve never tried anyone like this. Read about the MOST SCARY RIDE EVER here below!
I had an amazing time traveling around Syria for 1 week, and to be fair the capital Damascus in the south feels even safer than most European capitals. But when you get adventurous (like I usually do,) and travel around a country like Syria, bad things can happen. I haven’t told so many about this, because I want to spread a positive image of Syria and because I had an amazing time in Syria, so I haven’t felt the need to mention it. But since these are my 10 WORST travel experiences, I will do it now. Rocket attacks. 1 of my nights in the north of Syria in Aleppo was intense and I couldn’t fall asleep that night after what happened.
I could literally feel 3 rocket attacks at my hotel, with ISIS less than 20 km west of the city. I went that time ISIS-Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was still alive, so it was an intense time in the north of Syria.
Check out my 100% honest video about Syria and the condition of the country here.
You can’t believe how crazy this jungle border crossing was. They had closed the original border, so the only way was through the jungle in the night. Read about the story below!
In terms of my most difficult moment of 2019, it was losing my passport in China after coming back from North Korea. I had to stay in China for 1 week extra, and the process of getting an emergency passport was unbelievably hard. My own embassy was unable to help me, and I had to go to 20 different non-English-speaking Police Station, go to the Chinese Embassy and many other Government places in order to get my emergency passport to fly home. This is a process I wouldn’t even wish for my worst enemy, SO DON’T LOSE YOUR PASSPORT IN CHINA AS A DANISH CITIZEN! Or wherever you’re from! I did however try to enjoy my extra week in China as good as I could and got to see some new cool stuff on my 4th visit!
Positive mindset ALWAYS!
I’m writing this 6 months after the episode and to be fair I still have the pictures in my head after what happened this specific day in Liberia. The day where some villagers blocked the only International road to Ivory Coast. I remember all the details, and it’s probably a trauma I’ll have for the rest of my life. Running for my life, seeing two people get shot. It’s something you really don’t want to try!
You can read about the story and all the details here:
I’m writing the article from the slums of Luanda in Angola, which is said to be Africa’s new hotspot for kidnappings and I forgot all about mentioning a terrorist attack in Mali on my 2nd day there (140 killed), only 30 minutes away from me. I have 2 countries, which are considered dangerous left of 2019, and I hope to not add any more stories to this list. It was hard to write this article of my worst travel experiences, because I’m a positive guy who loves to travel, and I want to inspire other people to travel more and see the beautiful World of ours. But I also want to show you guys my honest travel experiences, what comes with visiting 130 countries over 7 years of lots of traveling. What comes with being an adventure traveler, and not a tourist who just visits resort or luxury hotels in safe areas, or just sets a foot in a new country and say “hey, I’ve been there now.” That’s really not interesting for me. Traveling to 130 countries on FULL ADVENTURE MODE is not as easy as it might look on Social Media Platforms!
I haven’t told you the thousands of amazing memories I had this year in this article, remember that please. Take care everyone and safe travels always! Never let fear decide anything in your life!
Gustav
gus1thego.com
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]]>Eritrea is called Africa’s most secretive country, and I can assure you the State of Eritrea is one of the hardest countries in the World to get a visa for. I personally had to fly to Stockholm and fight to get the visa over several days, and it was several months in the process. For my Norwegian friend it took 6 months to get the visa, so yes, this small African country is super difficult to visit, especially because of the war of independence with Ethiopia, which lasted nearly three decades. The Eritrean Government doesn’t really want foreigners to come.. Prolonged periods of conflict and severe drought have adversely affected Eritreaâs economy and it remains one of the poorest countries in Africa. I was told there still is a lot of land mines in Eritrea from the war, so you have to watch your steps when walking off-the-beaten path.
The number of archeological sites in the country which was 45,000 previously has now increased to 80,000. Eritrea is an ancient civilization dating back thousands of years ago. It is a land that had been inhabited by early humans for long. This informs its numerous archeological sites as proof of the early human habitation. It is considered the worldâs archeological Eden.
How many countries only had one President? Not many! Since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia through a UN-supervised referendum, there has hardly been any elections despite the first one having been scheduled in 1997 after the adoption of the Constitution that declared Eritrea as a democracy.
Wars with Ethiopia was used as justification for postponing the first scheduled elections. Afterward, there have been mountains of excuses not to hold another one to date.. Therefore Isaias Afwerki is the only President Eritrea has ever had!
Being a multi-ethnic nation, Eritrea has many languages. Constitutionally, there is no preference for one language over another. However, practically, Tigrinya is the most widely spoken local dialect and English is very rarely spoken in the country from my experience.. I met only few people during my 3 days around the country, who could speak a little bit of English. People who could speak English had lived outside of Eritrea and was back there to visit. So learn yourself some Tigrinya, remember you can use it in Ethiopia too!
Eritrea is a country with rich history and an old civilization dating back several thousand years ago. It has one of the ancient human habitats, evidenced by the high number of archeological sites that reaches almost 80,000. Public transport was illegal for tourists to take until 2018 and it’s very complicated to get around the country to say the least.
However most people I met in Eritrea was nice despite the language barrier, and despite not having my phone in these region for a week, which didn’t make anything easier. Read about that story here! Eritrea’s capital city Asmara has been branded by UN-Habitat as a world heritage site and Eritrea has great marine tourist sites, plenty of flora and fauna and scenic terrain. Eritrea is a place worth visiting to learn more about the hidden treasures of Africa.
It was overall an interesting visit to Eritrea, which has went through so much brutality and still is suffering. I hope to come back one day, when the country is more developed, it was however fascinating exploring Eritrea at this time (it seemed to raw and pure) with no tourists whatsoever. Very unique experience!
Thanks for this time, Eritrea! See you again one day for sure, and I can’t wait to see the positive direction you guys are hopefully heading towards. Will follow this country closely and I’m sure thing will get better.
Gustav
gus1thego.com
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]]>The post 1 Week In Somalia And Eritrea With NO PHONE appeared first on gus1thego.
]]>A perfect day in Somaliland was coming to an end, which I had spend with local friends, whom I got in contact with through my phone which is 80% the way I get in contact with people. We went out on a roof top restaurant in the evening with views over Hargeisa and I ate camel for the first time in my life, which wasn’t as good as crocodile to be fair, but indeed good! A day with so many cool experiences and memories never to forget. We agreed to do some cool stuff the next day and would just text each other about meeting up somewhere in the city, using Whatsapp as I always use when I’m traveling, so I was really excited.. Everything was just fine..
I went to bed in my fairly small $6 luxury penthouse suite in Hirad Hotel, Hargeisa in Somaliland thinking, “what an incredible day it has been..” What I didn’t know was the next day was going to be the worst day I can remember in a long time!
I woke up super early next day around 5 am and wanted to check my phone (IPhone X), and when I checked for a few seconds the Apps started to close down and my IPhone completely shut down within seconds. Damn, what was that?! I was in tears, how could I get in contact with Lianura and my friends here in Somaliland, how could I plan the rest of my Somalia and Eritrea trip (had around a week left) and how about my videos and pictures? I knew it was a while a go I did a back-up – and yes, I did lose a lot of files after having trying 24 hours to bring back my phone to life without any success at all! All I could see was a Apple-Logo shining bright on the screen. I was completely devastated and the next days all I could think about was, “why didn’t I back-up my phone properly?!” But lucky for me still have evidence from each country I’ve been to, but would honestly rather lose all of my stuff instead of videos/pictures from traveling. Remember to back-up your phone really often guys – I learned it the hard way!
It was really tough to see my phone die, especially when you’re in Somalia and Eritrea and can’t contact your family for a week! What were they thinking, would they start an investigation, because they couldn’t get in contact with me? How could I now plan anything moving from Somalia to Eritrea, all the thoughts were running through my head.. Even all the important documents is on my phone, but now there was no other way than finding a way in these tough regions! I guess most people couldn’t do a week without their phone, I had to do a week without mine in Somalia and Eritrea and to be fair it was an eye-opener for me.
No one spoke English of the persons I met in Somalia and Eritrea (after I left Lionora and her friends), but I had to be much more social and was 110% in the moment, which was actually beautiful to experience in a World where the phone takes away a lot of our time unfortunately. I think I learned a lesson from this experience, maybe it was destiny, a sign from above, even though I don’t believe much in stuff like that..
I was really sad about what happened with my phone, but I started to put things into perspective. How many people can’t see, how many people can’t walk, how many people have bad health, and I’m healthy and complaining about not having my phone? Come on, man.. Move on Gustav, you’re wrong, make this possible without your phone.. And I did!
We grow from the challenges we face. We grow from the bad days and experiences, because that’s when we learn to appreciate things and that’s when we learn how to live with gratitude. You can’t have sunshine without a little rain, and even though you might be really sad right now about something, time will with guarantee heal you and you just have to move on and be grateful for what you have and enjoy the journey. Don’t let anything stop you from reaching your goals.
Somalia and Eritrea, thanks for this adventure!
Gustav
gus1thego.com
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]]>The post People Ask Me Why I Love Africa So Much? – This Is My Answer! appeared first on gus1thego.
]]>Appreciation of life (perspective): In my country and in many Western countries people love to complain. Life is sooo challenging, we don’t get the small pay rise we obviously deserve from our boss, why do we absolutely need to pay so much in tax, if I don’t live in the middle of Copenhagen I can’t live anywhere, tonight we’re having fish “badhrrr, I hate fish..” The list go on..
We have endless problems! This is why you can learn so much when traveling around Africa..
Travel Africa and you feel like a massive douche bag complaining about some of these luxury problems.. All people have tough periods indeed, but some of the problems we create in the Western World aren’t really problems. In most African countries if you don’t have a job, the Government won’t pay you anything and you have two options: Find a job quickly/be an artists/create an income or go begging on the streets or die.
Appreciation is everything: The appreciation I’ve been privileged to witness in Africa over more than 15 months of travel on the continent is authentic, honest and incredibly powerful in the way it constructs most African people’s life. I have learned to be much more grateful for the small things and I guess the saying: “you don’t see the rich people dancing on the streets” is a very powerful statement. Those people you see dancing on the streets are the ones who have appreciation of life. The happy ones. There are those that live in extreme poverty yes, and in the face of a large stereotype- there are also those that don’t. Not one of them is deprived of an appreciation of life that we may never understand or care to look for.
Happiness: Most people I know are constantly searching for happiness in day to day life. The perfect career, the perfect relationship, the perfect car, the dream house.. If we have a Ferrari, we want a helicopter next! We keep wanting more and more stuff! People are yearning for the next event on the weekend that will distract them from their studies or uninspiring 9-5 job. But we forget living life right now! To be in the moment.. I thrive getting away from this environment here and there, to explore the World and the different mindsets that exists. I like to surround myself with people who value happiness as a rich part of life. The smiles, laughs and joy in Africa can be about the simplest things and sometimes we really don’t need to complicate things too much! Happiness can never be huge amounts of material stuff which limit us!
Generosity: Not generosity like buying our friends a drink, or buying them a meal, but generosity of the heart. Generosity that is not of monetary value, but consists of love, support, encouragement and respect. I witnessed children in kindergarten for those from underprivileged families in Arusha, Tanzania, literally share their food with those who didnât have any at lunch time. Children, 3 or 4 years old, breaking up their own food, and genuinely passing it to those kids whose family could not provide them food this day. This generosity does not stem from privilege, it stems from values. It stems from understanding what it means to not have anything at all, either from your own experience or from that of people you are close to, and understanding the warmth received from passing on your kindness. I get a little emotional thinking about this kind of stuff, but there are a lot of lessons to be learned about generosity from all over Africa.
A big challenge for me was getting a ride 1 hour in England from outside Portsmouth to London, because I was stuck there for hours with plenty of cars passing by. But when I arrived to Bissau, Guinea-Bissau with no idea where to go or stay, I was immediately welcomed as a complete stranger inside of a family’s house. They didn’t have anything, but offered me everything they had. I wanted to pay for it all, but they rejected me every time. Real generosity! Sometimes I had the most from the people who had the least.
Yes, cultural shock may confront most people on arrival, and you’ll for sure meet good and bad people like anywhere else in the World, but once you understand the heart of Africa, you’ll never look back.
Gustav
gus1thego.com
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]]>The post The Perfect Travel Guide – Backpacking Djibouti appeared first on gus1thego.
]]>Djibouti â the only country name Iâm aware of that contains a synonym for ass, that alone should be enough to justify a visit but if that doesnât quite do it for you, there are a few other gems in this hidden in this little âDubai of Africaâ⌠Maybe you’re fascinated about climbing Africa’s highest point Mount Kilimanjaro,  which I’ve had done, (and I’m arranging a trip this year for friends! – check it out,) but why not also visit Africa’s lowest point in Lake Assal, Djibouti.. Such a stunning place this saline lake!
I was expecting Djibouti to decimate my bank account but alas, thatâs not necessarily so. True itâs not Ethiopian prices but then where is?! Djibouti is expensive compared to Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, but there are ways in which you can make it cheaper.
I guess there are 3 main places which your trip to Djibouti will look to include. Djibouti city itself, Lac Assal and Lac AbbĂŠ. All of these are worth a visit for sure, although this is where Djibouti can begin to eat your cash :S
First of all I have a really good advice for you about how to get to Djibouti the best way.. Avoid the e-visa and expensive hotel booking like I paid for (cheapest hotel available was $50 that I HAD TO HAVE for the e-visa – no fake booking).. Here’s how you can do it better than me!
When I went to Djibouti the visa was a little harder to get than now, so I had to get the E-Visa to be sure. It was $60, and at that time there was a bug in the E-Visa-page, so you could only choose arriving my plane. I thought I could still take public transport from Addis Ababa without any problems (usually it’s not so important in most African countries!), so I hoped I could just get on a high-speed train from Addis Ababa to Djibouti.. Turned out I couldn’t! First of all they wouldn’t allow me, because my e-visa said arriving by air, secondly when I arrived to the train station two hours outside of Addis Ababa, they said there were no more tickets and that I needed to be book in advance and that the train didn’t go every day..
Damn it! How could I then visit ‘this booty’?! Off to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa and a $160 ticket to Djibouti City same day with Ethiopian Airlines.. Ouch!
(What you can do now is get a easy Djibouti Visa in Addis Ababa for $30 and then go by fast train if you plan a little ahead, shouldn’t be too complicated!)
Public transport? Small mini busses in Djibouti city, yep, but forget about it for the rest of the country! Public transport doesn’t exist in Djibouti.. You have three options:
1) Rent a car â costs around $75-$125 but you do need a 4 wheel drive, so that will be around the $100 mark
2) Go on a tour. If you have 6 people + you can go around various tour agents (there are loads in the city) and pay around $35 per person to go. Or if youâre feeling lucky, you can go on your own and hope to coincide with another group.
3) Hitchhike. I wouldn’t recommend hitchhiking at all here, because there are not many people/cars around in places like Lake Assal, Lake Abbe. You can easily be stuck out in nowhere for a long time in Djibouti, which is of course adventurous, but if you have a flight to make, it’s maybe not the coolest thing!
My price guide for Djibouti would be like this: If you stay for 3 days or so and donât visit the lakes, youâll need around $130-140 to visit Djibouti. Extend that by a couple of days and visit the lakes, that figure will jump to $400 or so for 4-5 days (but itâs well worth it if you can afford it).
Budget: Food and taxis are pretty expensive, but in general Djibouti is not as pricey as some would say. You can budget it to $25-$40 per day (excluding car rental)
Food: Street food and supermarkets allow you to eat for $2 â $4 per meal. Cheap restaurants are $6-$12 per meal. The French hangover in Djibouti means delicious pastries, croissants, pain au chocolate are in abundance here.
Restaurant: If you like a good restaurant, I recommend La Chaumière restaurant. Had some nice food there with my local friend Barryck, it’s a safe and beautiful place, but there was unfortunately a terrorist attack on May 24 2014, where two suicide bombers attacked the La Chaumière restaurant in this popular area in downtown Djibouti City. Nothing has happened since and they make some really good burgers!
Accommodation: The biggest cost. Start at $20-30 per night + (BUT that includes air conditioning which is almost a necessity in Djibouti!) I recommend the Horseed, with ice cold AC â just remember to barter hard and negotiate the price always!
Transport: Getting around the city you can use minibuses for next to nothing. Around the country, itâs pretty much nonexistent and you need car rental to visit the stunning lakes unfortunately.
People: Really cool people, although bring a French phrase book, English isnât widespread
Weather: HOT AS HELL!!!!, bring sunscreen and drink plenty of water. Did you know Djibouti is the hottest country on Earth on average?
Religion: Predominately Muslim, although in comparison to Somaliland itâs quite understated generally.
Currency: $1 USD â 180 Djibouti Francs. ATM’S do work with foreign cards although theyâre not entirely reliable so bring cash (USD or Ethiopian Birr just in case.)
Visa: $30, not available on arrival by land. No problems getting it now in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Collect the same day if you ask politely.
I hope to come back to Djibouti again one day and to see a bit more of this ‘pearl of the African Horn.’
Gustav
gus1thego.com
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