Middle East and a bit of East Asia

Places visited

Note this list contains all locations I've ever visited in the countries of this trip. Some locations might be from other trips. You can have a look at the troute on the map to see which locations I actually visited.

• Krabi City in Thailand

  My first-ever backpacking stop

• Ao Nang City in Thailand

  Primary spot on my vaction with Sofia

• Kamala City in Thailand

  Vacationing at Ayara Kamala Resport & Spa

• Bangkok City in Thailand
• Pattaya City in Thailand

  Visting a former colleague from Oslo: Kung Snikvard Qvarsebo

• Ko Samet City in Thailand

  Not sure where I stayed... Escaped here after seeing Pattaya and waiting for my flight back to Finland.

• Khon Kaen City in Thailand
• Sisaket City in Thailand
• Nong Khai City in Thailand

  Sala Kaew Ku: Statue Park

• Vientiane City in Laos

  First stop on my middle east trip

• Luang Prabang City in Laos

  Too touristy for me, at that particular time of my travels. Only slept a few hours seeing all the sights before continuing north

• Oudomxay City in Laos

  Met Kyle at the hotel. We walked up a hill to see the surroind area for sunrise.

• Nong Khiaw City in Laos

  Was planning to take a river boat towards Vietnam, but there were no boats and I was in a hurry.

• Hanoi City in Vietnam

  Lived here with Phuong

• Halong Bay Sight in Vietnam
• Ninh Binh City in Vietnam
• Tam Coc City in Vietnam

  Halong Bay on land. Visited with my dad

• Hue City in Vietnam

  Visited twice, first time with Phuong and second time with my dad

• Da Nang City in Vietnam
• Ho Chi Minh City City in Vietnam

  Stopped by on the way to Cambodia

• Duong Dong City in Vietnam

  Stayed at Eden Resort while on vacation

• An Thoi City in Vietnam
• Hoi An City in Vietnam
• Dien Bien Phu Border Crossing in Vietnam

  Spent the day with a crazy South Korean girl

• Puerto Princesa City in Philippines

  Arrived by flight in the afternoon. Went on the firefly tour Phuong recommended.

• El Nido City in Philippines

  Met Daniël and Quiel on the bus here. We went on a snorkeling tour together.

• Manila City in Philippines

  Took the bus to the historic center and spent the day walking back to the airport.

• Coron City in Philippines

  Only spent a day, only divers and diving here.

• Calapan City in Philippines

  Not much to see here

• Sabang City in Philippines

  Shouldn't even have stopped here. Island hopping was the wrong decision.

• Tokyo City in Japan

  Camped in a park, slept in a capsule hotel as well as a manga café. Went to the Tsukiji market but couldn't afford sushi

• Chichibu City in Japan

  CouchSurfed with Chris at the Greenhouse

• Ogano City in Japan

  Enroute to the Greenhouse

• Kyoto City in Japan

  Only night I spent in a hostel while in Japan

• Osaka City in Japan

  Slept in a $8/night hotel with my own room (about 1x2m). Met an American who also tried urban camping.

• Nara City in Japan

  Spent the day but didn't sleep here

• Himeji City in Japan

  Stopped here to have a look at the castle while hitchhiking. Terribly difficult to find the entrance to the highway

• Hiroshima City in Japan

  Spent the day and camped on Miyajima to see the shrine for both sunset and sunrise

• Shimonoseki City in Japan

  Boat to Japan. A very nice lady drove me thourgh the tunnel and took me all the way to the boat terminal

• Kurokawa Onsen City in Japan

  Hitchhiked with a nice lady who drove me 2h out of her way to get me all the way here. Met a hiker who gave me a raincover for my bag at the youth hostel

• Busan City in South Korea

  Stayed in a really nice hostel with a big fluffy dog. The owner invited me to dinner with her brother downstairs

• Seoul City in South Korea

  Met up with David whom I met in India

• Gyenongju City in South Korea

  Went to the oldest hostel in South Korea. The recently deceased owner seemed like a fascinating person

• Sokcho City in South Korea

  Hitchhiked here to see the national park. Slept in a Jjimjilbang.

• Seoraksan Trek in South Korea

  Unfortunately I hurt my foot in Japan so I couldn't hike properly

• Dubai City in United Arab Emirates
• Sharjah City in United Arab Emirates
• Jaziraah Al Hamra City in United Arab Emirates

  Stayed with Marco whom I met in Uzbekistan

• Al Ain City in United Arab Emirates
• Jebel Hafeet Peak in United Arab Emirates

  Hitchhiked to the top with two Somalis in way too warm weather

• Abu Dhabi City in United Arab Emirates

  Spent the day, and slept at the airport. Went to the Mosque for Iftar and Masdar City where I took a ride in a self driving car

• Manama City in Bahrain

  CouchSurfed at JR's. Joan showed me around the city.

• Doha City in Qatar

  CouchSurfed with DJ and met lots of other couchsurfers through him. Hilarious guy who taught me a lot

• Al Wakrah City in Qatar
• Muscat City in Oman

  CouchSurfed with Robert. He really took care of me when I turned sick.

• Ibra City in Oman

  CouchSurfed with Malik. Met his friends, including Muhammad. Had iftar together

• Sur City in Oman

  Dropped by while hitchhiking

• Al Kamil City in Oman

  Slept outside a museum-castle and got a fever preventing me from traveling

• Wadi Shab Trek in Oman

  Left my bag in an abandoned shak, put my camera in a plastic food bag and went neck deep through the river into the Wadi.

• Ta'izz City in Yemen

  Went to see the fort

• Ibb City in Yemen
• Sana'a City in Yemen

  Arrived together with Harriet to start the tour around Yemen

• Al Hajjara City in Yemen
• Manakha City in Yemen
• Haraz Mountains Trek in Yemen
• Aswan City in Egypt
• Luxor City in Egypt

  Met Max for the first time

• Abu Simbel City in Egypt
• Hurghada City in Egypt

  Visited as a child with by family

• Dahab City in Egypt

  Forgot my boots in a van. Called around until I somehow reached the driver. Max brought my boots on the way to Jordan

• Nuweiba City in Egypt

  Met Haramain

• St. Catherine City in Egypt
• Mount Sinai Trek in Egypt

  Hiked up during the night to reach the summit for sunrise. My guide (forced on me) was too stoned to walk so he went home to sleep

• Giza City in Egypt
• Cairo City in Egypt

  Arrived in the middle of the night from Yemen. While looking for a hostel two guys tried to rob me. I screamed and flung my boots at them.

• Taba Border Crossing in Egypt

  Passing through Israel to get to Jordan. Me, Max an Keenan were cutting it close as Israeli officers interrogated me about my passport. Met Keenan on the way.

• Aqaba City in Jordan

  Slept on the beach after having chased a thief who stole someones phone. I found him but realized I was too alone (weak) to do antyhing.

• Wadi Rum Trek in Jordan

  Hitchhiked with a bedouin who drove me past the guards to avoid the entrance fee. He then drove me into the Wadi where we found a spot in the shade to eat the first proper meal in a long time.

• Petra Sight in Jordan

  Went with Max and Keenan. Took me a long time to decide to actually pay the ridiculous entrance fee.

• Wadi Musa City in Jordan

  The entrance to Petra, slept here for 2 nights

• Amman City in Jordan

  Had a quick look at the historical center and stayed at the first hostel in the country. Palestinian caretaker who told me about how the Israelis shot at him when he was left between the borders in the middle of the night

• Jerash City in Jordan

  Visited for a few hours with Max.

• Karak City in Jordan

  Visited the fort en route south

• Aqaba City in Jordan

  Passed through on the way to the Dead Sea. Bought beer.

• Qasr Amra Sight in Jordan

  Our second desert castle while hitchhiking with Max and Keenan

• Qasr Azraq Sight in Jordan

  First of the desert castles. We took a bus here and hitchhiked back.

• Mount Nebo Sight in Jordan

  This is where Moses overlooked the promised land. The final stop before our driver returned back home. Our friendly driver basically drove us across the country

• Dead Sea Sight in Jordan

  Slept by the Dead Sea. Woke up with our legs white with salt

• Eilat Border Crossing in Israel

  Egypt - Israel - Jordan as well as Jordan - Israel. Mostly passed through and waited for a ride all day

• Ein Gedi City in Israel

  Stopped to cook shakshuka on the way to Jerusalem

• Jerusalem City in Israel

  CouchSurfed with Ira and met Mona, Szymon.

• Tel Aviv City in Israel

  CouchSurfed with Zehavit

• Jaffa City in Israel
• Haifa City in Israel

  CouchSurfed with Asaf and Hani

• Acre City in Israel

  My first coffee treat in Israel

• Nazareth City in Israel

  First and only time I paid for accommodation in Israel

• Tiberias City in Israel

  Had a quick look at the city, and started walking north to find a spot where I could camp.

• Yehudia Trek in Israel

  Combined two of the three treks here

• Hebron City in Israel

  Palestine: Went to see the clash between a Palestinian town and an Israeli settlement

• Betlehem City in Israel

  Palestine

• Jericho City in Israel

  Palestine: Walked up to a monastery on the side of the mountain

• Ramallah City in Israel

  Palestine: Went to see Yasser Arafat's tomb

• Istanbul City in Turkey

  First time I arrived by air from Tel Aviv. Second time I went straight to the airport after a bus from Sulaimaniyah

• Selcuk City in Turkey

  Passed through on the way to Ephesus

• Ephesus City in Turkey
• Pamukkale City in Turkey
• Antalya City in Turkey

  We wanted to swim!

• Antakya City in Turkey

  Stopped by only for a few hours

• Göreme City in Turkey

  Cappadocia

• Uchisar City in Turkey

  Cappadocia

• Derinkuyu City in Turkey

  Underground city

• Cappadocia Valley Trek Trek in Turkey
• Diyarbakir City in Turkey

  Experienced the friendliness of the Kurdish people

• Hasankeyf City in Turkey
• Mardin City in Turkey
• Van City in Turkey

  Had an amazing breakfast before continuing to the church

• Akdamar Adasi Sight in Turkey

  Met Marcus while waiting for the boat to the island

• Dogubayazit City in Turkey

  Hitchhiked here with Marcus and slept on a field. He introduced me to canned beans for dinner

• Suleimaniyah City in Iraq

  Took a flight to Najaf, but they turned me back, and I took a bus straight to Istanbul. Whoah that's a lot of distance on one bus ride

• Erbil City in Iraq
• Dahuk City in Iraq

  Went to a Syrian refugee camp

• Amedi City in Iraq
• Koysinjaq City in Iraq

  CouchSurfed with Ali who showed me around

• Lalish City in Iraq
• Sulav City in Iraq

  Really just a restaurant stop where I slept and my phone was stolen.

• Kuwait City City in Kuwait

  Walked around town all day before meeting my CouchSurfing host Abdullah, and his friends from Bahrain, who arrived from Georgia at 3am.

• Beirut City in Lebanon

  Met Haya from CouchSurfing.

• Tyre City in Lebanon

  Sur in Arabic. Just spent a few hours to sightsee

• Tripoli City in Lebanon

  Heard there was a pro-ISIS walk in Tripoli the same day I was there. Had a fun conversation with the military

• Byblos City in Lebanon

  Jbail in Arabic. Spent a few hours sightseeing.

• Bsharri City in Lebanon

  Hitchhiked here to go hiking. Met a girl from the philippines working at the hostel.

• Baalbeck City in Lebanon

  Due to the insecure situation, and being tired from hiking I decided to take buses around to mountains to reach Baalbeck.

• Qadisha Valley Trek Trek in Lebanon

  Got lost following the trail on Maps.ME. Turned out there were two trails only a few meters apart but above and below a ridge

• Sidon City in Lebanon

  Went to see the fort, and sightsee around town for 1-2h

• Goris City in Armenia
• Tatev Monastery Sight in Armenia

  Met a Russian hitchhiker

• Tatevi Anapat Monastery Sight in Armenia
• Noravank Monastery Sight in Armenia
• Khor Virap Monastery Sight in Armenia

  Banged on the door, hoping a monk would open and let me sleep inside the monastery. Sadly no one answered and I slept outside

• Areni City in Armenia

  While hitchhiking with a tour group, we stopped to buy some wine at Areni Wine Factory

• Yerevan City in Armenia

  Stayed at Kalle's place

• Geghard Monastery Sight in Armenia
• Sanahin Monastery Sight in Armenia

  One of the last monasteries on my monastery hunt

• Haghpat Monastery Sight in Armenia

  One of the last monasteries on my monastery hunt

• Alaverdi City in Armenia

  Very atmospheric mining town next to two churches I was visiting

• Garni City in Armenia

  Garni Temple

• Stepanakert City in Armenia

  Capital of Nagorno Karabakh

• Shushi City in Armenia

  Ghost town in Nagorno Karabakh

• Tbilisi City in Georgia

  Met up with David and Ana before my flight to Vietnam

• Sighnaghi City in Georgia

  Wine place

• Mestia City in Georgia
• Koruldi Lake Trek Trek in Georgia

  Couldn't stop walking, it was too beautiful here

• Chalaadi Glacier Trek Trek in Georgia

  Not worth it

• Kazbegi City in Georgia

  Stepantsminda

• Kazbegi Trek Trek in Georgia
• Sagarejo City in Georgia

  Hitchhiked with a horse

• David Gareja Monastery Complex Sight in Georgia

  Accidentally almost walked over to Azerbaijan

• Ashgabat City in Turkmenistan

  As I got turned back at the border when I tried coming here the year before I decided on taking a tour this time. Arrived by air and my driver was late. You weren't allowed to smoke at the airport.

• Darvaza Gas Crater Sight in Turkmenistan

  Door to Hell. Met an interesting Swedish photographer, and two weird Spanish guys who traveled for the purpose of visiting each country in the world

• Mashhad City in Iran

  Snuck into the Imam Reza Complex pretending I was a muslim. Suddently the guards started asking questions. Met Lucile.

• Bajgiran Border Crossing in Iran

  Turkmenistan - Iran. Shared a taxi with a weird turkish guy.

• Mirjaveh Border Crossing in Iran

  Iran - Pakistan. Stayed here overnight, not allowed to go to the nearby market by myself. Security reasons.

• Zahedan City in Iran

  Mostly passed through on the way to Mirjaveh

• Bam City in Iran

  Went to see Arg-e Bam

• Kerman City in Iran

  Did a quick tour of the cities sights before continuing towards Bam. Met the Pakistani without a passport here.

• Yazd City in Iran

  Met Germain and Rosie.

• Shiraz City in Iran
• Persepolis City in Iran
• Esfahan City in Iran

  Forgot my passport at a hostel in Kashan, another traveler delivered it to me here

• Qom City in Iran

  They wouldn't let me enter the shrine

• Tehran City in Iran

  Met up with Sona again

• Kashan City in Iran

  Forgot my passport at the hostel

• Taftan City in Pakistan

  Iran - Pakistan border crossing. Waited at the levis office half the day before they drove me to Dalbandin

• Dalbandin City in Pakistan

  First night during the Taftan - Quetta police escort. Police officer tried to scam me by asking for gasoline money

• Quetta City in Pakistan

  Met Zachary and two other motorcyclists at the hotel. Was not allowed to leave the hotel without a police escort. They were outside the hotel watching us all the time

• Lahore City in Pakistan

  One of my favorite cities. Lovely place. The entire city is a market

• Wagah City in Pakistan

  Did not cross the border, just went to see the border ceremony where there had been a suicide bomging two weeks earlier

• Islamabad City in Pakistan

  Only spent a few hours, too expensive, and boring to be worth stopping. Went north instead.

• Rawalpindi City in Pakistan

  Only spent a few hours on the way north

• Mansehra City in Pakistan

  Mandatory stopover on the way north and back. Slept in a triple room by the bus station for $3. Really creepy boy working there.

• Naran City in Pakistan

  Only stayed for a day to see the lake

• Saif-ul-Malok Trek in Pakistan

  Hitchhiked halfway before the there was too much snow to drive. Me and the Pakistanis on tour, hiked up where I got altitude sickness (or something).

• Chilas City in Pakistan

  Road from Naran - Chilas was closes, so I had to backtrack and go around. Slept here for a night.

• Gilgit City in Pakistan

  Spent half a day sightseeing while waiting for a bus.

• Karimabad City in Pakistan

  Finally met some other travelers. Gorgeous place

• Passu City in Pakistan

  Hiked to the glacier and the suspension bridge. As far north as I went