SYRIA EXPEDITION 2ND OF OCTOBER – 8TH OF OCTOBER 2026 (12 persons)
Are you ready to explore Syria with me? Let’s do it! Homs, Syria
FULL SYRIA TRIP WITH ME?
I have travelled around Syria 2 times before.. In 2018 and in 2024 and I really want to return now to see the new Syria after Assad is gone. I feel like it’s the completely right time to travel to the Republic of Syria in 2026! Now we can finally get to experience a FREE Syria!
2ND OF OCTOBER – 8TH OF OCTOBER 2026
This will be my 21st Gus1thego Expeditions and this time we will tour all around Syria.. Sounds cool? I’m glad to hear! This is going to be a trip of a lifetime and we will cover ALL of the best places of Syria.. And additionally we have Raqqa and Bosra for this special expedition, which are places I haven’t even been myself before and I’m super excited about this. Are you ready to explore with me and try the most amazing food and ancient, marvelous sites that are real blessings to your eyes?
FULL PROGRAMME
Day 1 (2nd of October 2026):
We are going to fly in from Istanbul with Turkish Airlines to Damascus and land 9.30 am on the 2nd of October. We will get our visas sorted when landing since all of my tour members will be pre-aprrove. Note that visa price is different from each nationality. Usually it can vary from 30 USD to 200 USD. However we will all get the visas on arrival. We will then check in to our 5 star hotel in the heart of Damascus.
After we get a little bit of rest we will start with the Damascus tour, which has an unparalleled history as one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, offering a tangible journey through ancient civilizations with its UNESCO-listed Old City, Umayyad Mosque, and biblical sites, alongside vibrant modern life in bustling souqs, trendy cafes, and rich Syrian culture, flavors, and legendary hospitality. It’s a unique blend of deep historical roots and contemporary energy, from Roman streets to modern boutiques. A super authentic and bustling place!
Day 2:
We will be driving from Damascus to Palmyra and Derezzor.
We will be visiting Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Syrian desert, which offers a chance to explore one of the ancient world’s most vital cultural crossroads, featuring unique Greco-Roman and Persian architecture. Despite destruction, it remains a stunning, vast site with iconic ruins like the Colonnaded Street, Temple of Bel, and funerary towers, showcasing a remarkable synthesis of ancient civilization.
Day 3:
From Derezzor – Qasr al-Banat Palace in Raqqa and Jaabar Citadel
We will be visiting Raqqa, which has been a nearly impossible place to go for many years. Now it’s much safer with the New Syria. In 2026 it will be a specialized, “dark tourism” experience focused onwitnessing post-conflict recovery and the remnants of the city’s time as the former Islamic State capital. We will cexplore the ancient Jaabar Castle on Assad Lake, witness the city’s slow rebuilding efforts, and see poignant, destroyed landmarks like the Baghdad Gate. After we will drive to Aleppo.
Day 4:
Aleppo Tour
Citadel, Mosque, Old Bazaar
We will visit Aleppo, probably Syria’s friendliest city, which offers a profound, firsthand look at one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, characterized by a mix of deep ancient history, resilient culture, and stark post-conflict reconstruction. Key draws include the iconic 800-year-old Aleppo Citadel, the UNESCO-listed Old City and souks, traditional hammams, and the city’s renowned cuisine.
Day 5:
Aleppo – Hama – Homs – Al Wadi – Krak des Chevalliers
We will bisiting Hama, Homs, Al Wadi, and Krak des Chevaliers, which offer a profound journey through Syrian history, featuring the world’s best-preserved Crusader castle, ancient waterwheels, and scenic landscapes. It is a trip combining military architecture, cultural heritage, and, at Al Wadi, stunning panoramic views of the surrounding countrysid
Day 6:
Al Wadi – Maaloula – Damascus – Bosra
We will wake up early today and visit Maaloula for a quick stop and go back to Damascus to continue to Bosra. We will go into the roots of Christianity and ancient history. Maaloula, a cliff-side village, is one of the last places on Earth where Western Neo-Aramaic—the language of Jesus—is still spoken. It features ancient, sacred monasteries like St. Thecla and St. Sergius. We will visit Bosra (or Busra al-Sham, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Syria, essential to visit for its remarkably preserved 2nd-century Roman theater, which is uniquely enclosed. In the late after noon we will return to Damascus, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities for an amazing night out with the group!
– flights in and out of Damascus
– additional drinks (besides water)..
– extra sites entry fees
– any personal demands or souvenirs
– visa fees to pay upon arrival
– tips
If it sounds interesting, kindly send me an e-mail to gus1thego@outlook.com and tell me about yourself, then you will get more information. I will be very selective about who I choose for the Syria expedition. We need yes people and then I’m sure we will have so much fun.
I have traveled a lot over 7 years and visited 130 countries in that period of time, but in all fairness 2019 has been my most amazing travel year when it comes to unique travel experiences! This is my TOP 15!
15. Experiencing The Algerian Hospitality And Mountains
Breathing in the fresh Algerian mountain air at Bordj Zemoura, Algeria
Go to Morocco and you’ll meet a lot of tourists, go to Algeria and you’ll hardly meet any. I didn’t meet 1 tourist on my trip through Algeria, and to be fair the visa was one of the hardest I’ve ever tried to get. It was impossible for me to go on a tourist visa, so I had to go on a business visa. Thanks to my friend Djaber and my own creative skills we made it possible, and Algerians (the Amazigh people) has a sharing mentality and hospitality I’ve rarely seen anywhere else in the World. I was completely blown away by Algeria, the people, the mountains and the beauty. This is one of my favorite countries in Africa.
14. Driving All Around Namibia For 2 Weeks
Roadtrip all around Namibia
Coming to Namibia with no plans, splashing out $500 on a rental car last minute, because it was IMPOSSIBLE to get around without a car in Namibia, forgetting my International Driver License which is necessary to have to rent a car, (thinking f*ck,) meeting two Namibian strangers by incident last minute, and David didn’t really have any plans for the next long time, so I asked if he wanted to join my trip for free. He did and so did Susan! Strangers who became friends and joined me on this EPIC trip around Namibia. You can watch the video from our crazy ride around Namibia below!
13. Attending An Indian Wedding In London, England
Attending an Indian Wedding was magical
When my parents got married 10 people attended, to this magnificent, fairy tale alike Indian wedding +400 attended and it gave me goosebumps being a part of. Furthermore the male spouse, my friend Hemal, whom I traveled Brazil with in 2016 gave me a shout-out in his wedding speech. Incredible day!
You can read all the details about this beautiful Indian wedding below in the link.
I have surfed in a few countries before, but no place like Costa Rica or El Salvador. I like to learn things myself and even though I’m good at most sports, surfing has always been slightly difficult for me! I like to challenge myself (one of the reasons why I love to travel,) and I felt like both El Salvador and Costa Rica was a good chance to take some surf lessons and actually improve my technique a bit. I must say I had an amazing time exploring both countries and I still think back on a few perfect days hitting the waves on some super beautiful beaches there. “If you’re having a bad day, catch a wave.” Surfing is really something I want to do a bit more of and get better at, when I feel like having some more time! Amazing feeling!
11. Visiting The Great Wall Of China
The Great Wall Of China
I have technically visited China 4 times, two times Hong Kong and one time on a 48 hour transit, but this was my first visit to ‘The Great Wall of China’ and walking around here for hours was worth every second!
I went to one of the best preserved parts, called Mutianyu, and it was surprisingly quiet. I couldn’t imagine a better day at the wall with sunshine, a clear sight and almost zero people. One of the greatest sights in the World!
These are my visits to the New 7 Wonders of the World below. There’s only 1 of them I didn’t visit yet, check it out!
I loved it so much that I went to see the sunrise in the morning and then spent all day to see the sunset. The most impressive thing about the Taj is the absolute perfect symmetry that around 20,000 people built in the 17th century. You can notice the perfection and small details, when the sun is low in the sky, and the shadows are perfectly cast on the marble stone. It surely is the one of the most perfect buildings in the World and it deserves its name as the “Monument of Love.”
Iraq became my first place to hold a travel speech. I honestly couldn’t imagine a better destination to do it, breaking all stereotypes! I did it in front of 40 people in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Kurdistan completely blew my mind. Iraqi Kurdistan is NOT at all what you think, super friendly people and it felt really safe in this region everywhere I went. Holding a travel speech in Iraq was a perfect experience and the Iraqi people really enjoyed interacting with me, and asked me several questions about my travels. I can’t wait to come back to Kurdistan, and I’m also really excited to travel around mainland Iraq in the close future!
8. Volcano Boarding In Nicaragua
Volcano boarding in Nicaragua with speed up to 80 km/t
When Cerro Negro—Nicaragua’s youngest volcano—last erupted in 1999, boulders tumbled down the western slope, creating a rocky, ascendable path. On the opposite side, the wind deposited dark, smooth ash that is perfect for sliding. In 2004, this unique pairing of terrains sparked an outlandish idea: volcano boarding. This is the only place in the world I’ve heard of where you can sit upright on plywood, feet-first, and coast down a cindery flank of a still-active volcano! This is the only place to do Volcano boarding. Rated #2 on CNN’s “Thrill seekers bucket list” Volcano boarding is a must do before you die! So much fun!
7. Seeing The Komodo Dragons With My Own Eyes
The Komodo Dragons can get up to 4 meter long, the closest we get to dinosaurs nowadays
The wildlife is on another level in Indonesia. Here sitting with a Komodo dragon, which can only be found on a few Indonesian islands in the World. There are only around 5,000 komodo dragons left worldwide. Psychical features of a dinosaur, a deadly lethal venom and they can grow up to nearly 4 meter long with a top speed of 20 km/h. One of the craziest animals I’ve ever been close to!
Feeding Hyenas happens in Harar, the oldest Islamic city in all of Africa. I don’t harbor some kind of death wish, although such a desire might explain why I decided to feed a wild hyena from my mouth, placing my face within easy striking distance of one of the fiercest, most dangerous predators on Earth. With its incredibly powerful jaws, a hyena can even crush and digest elephant bones. Read the full story below!
In 2019, a number of Western travel influencers worked with the Saudi government to market inbound tourism due to the new E-Visa, which has now been introduced in Saudi Arabia. This triggered substantial controversy as the authenticity of their posts was questioned. Just to avoid all confusion: My trip to Saudi Arabia was NOT sponsored. My travel here was with my own funds and no state invitation.
I was very satisfied with my stay in Saudi Arabia, a country I’ve heard too much bad stuff about before coming here, and my 100% honest Saudi Arabia video went viral with more than 120,000 views. Check it out by clicking the link below.
North Korea was a VERY SPECIAL experience for me! I was extremely lucky to go during May Celebrations, so I was allowed to walk freely on several occasions, and I’m one of few travelers who had several encounters with the North Korean people. A bizarre and surreal country to be on the inside of! You can check my Youtube Video about my visit to North Korea by clicking the link below.
Aleppo, Syria. Traveling all the day from the south to the north of Syria
I traveled Syria when ISIS-Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was still alive, so there were some serious tensions, especially in the north of Syria. The capital Damascus in the south feels even safer than most European capitals. But Syria left a mark on me and is honestly an amazing country! I hope it will soon be completely safe again! You can watch my video about my Syria trip by clicking the link below.
Whenever I talk about Pakistan, I’m close to break down in tears. This country got totally under my skin. AMAZING people, AMAZING hospitality, one of the friendliest countries on earth, with mountain scenery that is beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. To all of my Pakistani friends, a big Pakistan Zindabad from your Danish friend 🇵🇰
Check out my 2 videos below about my visit to Pakistan to better understand why I love this country!
1. Traveling West Africa Solo With No Car (And 0 Flights)
Experiences I will never forget in West Africa
Most of the few travelers who went to West Africa, will usually talk a lot of sh*t about the region, because it’s challenging as few others, but it’s a beautiful challenge. If you’re an adventure traveler like me, you’ll love West Africa, the good and the bad days on the road, and it was my most rewarding travel experience traveling from Senegal to Togo over several months solo, just me and my backpack and without taking any flights. I lost 7kg and it was one of my toughest travel ever, but I enjoyed it so much! If you want to read in details about my West Africa trip and how it went, click the link below.
What a travel year! Only person at the Kambadaga Falls in Guinea’s jungle
Now you have some inspiration for your future travels. I’m btw going to the most dangerous country of them all (they say) to celebrate Christmas, I’m not sure any travelers have done that before, so if you want to follow my journey, you can follow me on Instagram: @gustavrosted, Subscribe on Youtube: gus1thegoor follow me on Facebook: Gustav Rosted.
Feel free to share the article and safe travels everyone!
I really don’t like talking about my bad travel experiences, as I always try to focus on the positive sides of traveling and the countries I go to. But sometimes bad stuff happen on the roads, and I also want to be honest about that, so people don’t think it’s all just picture perfect Instagram posts with no suffering.
Gustav in Eritrea
10 Worst Travel Experiences Of 2019
Free motorbike ride in Bamako, Mali
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!
10. No Phone For 1 Week In Somalia And Eritrea
Traveling Somalia with no phone.. Not the most easy region without your phone
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.
India was super interesting, but waiting 20 hours in the Airport wasn’t
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!
8. Getting Attacked By 2 Gangsters On A Beach Club in Belize
Beautiful Belize, but getting attacked was a crazy and bad experience
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 😜
7. Spending 3 Days In San Pedro Sula, Honduras (Most Murderous City in The World)
Honduras has some beautiful sights, but think twice before going to San Pedro Sula. Copan, Honduras
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 “no, no, no!” 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!
4. Hotel Shaking Because Of 3 Rocket Attacks, Aleppo, Syria
Aleppo, Syria
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.
Mud in the face after the MOST SCARY BORDER CROSSING EVER
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!
China is the WORST country to lose your passport in
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!
1. Caught In Shootings And Explosions In Liberia
Only white man at a road block in Liberia
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:
What a travel year! With A LOT of good memories and a few bad ones. Village in Burkina Faso with wild crocodiles
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!
Stay Safe And Travel The World With No Fear
Only guy at the Kambadaga Waterfalls in the middle of Guinea. One of the most difficult waterfalls to get to
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!
