Go For Gözleme
The previous post about fish, bread, and never giving up on food dreams reminded me of something that happened two years ago, during a road trip from Izmir to Antalya in Türkiye. We left our Airbnb early in the morning, eager to start a long day of sightseeing, and skipped […]
Searching for Fish and Bread in Istanbul
Two years ago, when we did a road trip through southwest Türkiye, I kept looking for balık ekmek. If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry. Neither did I. But Victor kept mentioning how he and his parents enjoyed a delicious balık ekmek in a restaurant by the Bosphorus […]
Our Travel Wishlist: Yemen
This will be a different kind of post. Normally, we describe places we’ve been to, but today we want to tell you about a country we want to visit. Recently, the area where we live saw a boom of Yemeni coffeehouses popping up here and there. These spacious, lavishly decorated […]
Against All Advice: Finding The Perfect Beach Near Istanbul
Planning a trip for just the two of us is now easy, as we know what we like and what kinds of trips bring us joy. But earlier this year, planning a family reunion trip to Istanbul with Victor’s father, brother, sister-in-law, and niece was a whole different story. Victor’s […]
Is Istanbul Now More Expensive Than Dubai for Tourists?
In August, we spent a week in Istanbul meeting with my family, and the city once again left us speechless. But this time, it was not for the reason you might expect. I could write about incredible sites or delicious food (of which Istanbul has plenty), but, as a travel […]
Paying the Price for Visiting Oman
Recently, we did something we had never done before. We went for an extended trip to a very expensive country. Or so we thought we did. Oman was our first Gulf country, and all we heard before our visit was that oil-rich countries of the region were not the friendliest […]
In the Heart of Oman: Exploring Sharqiya Sands
One of my favorite memories from Egypt was the two days and one night we spent in the White Desert with the endless starry sky, surreal white rock formations, and sand dunes glowing in the sunlight. I’ve wanted to go back for over a decade, and Oman finally offered a […]
Essential Oman – Forts and Castles
Ten years ago, we went to Thailand, and one of our main concerns was how to see as many temples as possible without being “templed out”. By the end of the trip, beautiful Thai temples did start to resemble each other, but we left just in time before they became […]
The Wonders of the Wadi
The next few posts are going to be about what we consider to be “essential Oman” – the natural beauty of breathtaking landscapes and the traditional architecture of historic forts and castles. I am going to start with something we’ve never seen before and that only exists in a few […]
Hump Day in Oman
It was 5 am, and we were on the move. We got up in the middle of the night to drive out of Nizwa, a lively city full of neon signs and bustling markets, towards a dusty outpost town of Sinaw in the desert. The next thing I am going […]
Driving in Oman: 5 Pros and 1 Con
I must admit I was a little bit nervous about the prospect of driving in Oman. Driving in the Middle East is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get. On the one hand, you can get Turkey with its excellent network of roads, […]