20 Random Things about Jordan

The gem of the Middle East, Jordan, is one destination that is on the bucket-list for many people from all over the world. After all, who in their right mind would not want to float in the Dead Sea, walk amidst the historical lanes of Petra or be one with the Martian landscape of Wadi Rum. This post is not about the top attractions or top things to do in Jordan, but it is about some random things that I learnt or came across while I was on my Jordan holiday. I hope they make for some interesting reading and may be offer some tips for your trip to Jordan.



1) The entire region of Aqaba is a duty free area. One even doesn’t need visas to enter this place, which is why it is extremely popular with tourists coming from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel.

2) Massive watermelons can be found growing in the dry Wadi Rum desert. These watermelons are super sweet too. This is very surprising for a land that is hot and dry.

3) Jesus was baptized in Jordan and not in Jerusalem. In fact, a lot of Christianity's roots can be found in Jordan, including the map of the holy land.



4) Both the Dead Sea and the Jordan river that fills it up are drying up at a rapid pace. These days, the Jordan river is like a tiny stream. It is believed that if this keeps going on, we might not see the Dead Sea any more in the near future.

5) The men of Jordan love to smoke. Be it traditional hookah (sheeshah) or the modern cigarette, you will find the Jordanian men never too far away from their smokes.

6) The Medjoul dates of Jordan are possibly one of the biggest varieties of dates and are incredibly soft and delicious.



7) A lot of Roman history and ruins can be found in Jordan. In fact, archaeologists are still discovering more ancient sites. These could be anything ranging from the Byzantine, Ottoman, Greek or Roman era.

8) The Royal automobile museum near Amman shows the regal family’s penchant for automobiles, especially the uber luxury ones.



9) Like Egypt, the Red Sea off Aqaba is also home to some stunning coral reefs, marine life and wreck sites and that is why Jordan is quite a popular destination on the scuba diving and snorkelling map.

10) Locals still practice the ancient art of creating mosaics using colorful pieces of stone at Madaba. There are even schools to facilitate learning of this gorgeous art form.



11) For a country that is home to desert and arid land and is surrounded by some of the driest terrain in the world, Jordan’s capital Amman is surprisingly cool and pleasant all through the year.

12) Even though Jordan is a meat lover’s paradise, vegetarians and vegans will be spoilt for choice here as this country has many local specialties in addition to the Mediterranean cuisine that is easily available here.

13) There is a train track that runs from Turkey to Jordan. It doesn’t carry passengers, but it is used to carry goods. The most popular form of transport in Jordan is road, followed by air.



14) The bedouins of Wadi Rum are creators of many rare types of perfumes, soaps and clothing accessories.

15) Rainbow street in Amman is famous for late night car honking and hooliganism.



16) The Scottish bagpipe is a popular musical instrument in Jordan. In fact, there are some who believe that this musical instrument originated in Jordan and Oman before finding its way into Europe.

17) People drive on the right side of the road and overtake from the left like most of Europe.

18) People of Jordan love their candy and nuts. Huge crowds can be seen at popular establishments.

19) As Jordan shares a long border with Israel, one can easily spot the Israeli army, Isreali flag and buildings on the other side at places such as Aqaba, Al-Maghtas and the dead sea.

20) It is just a short boat ride from Egypt to the Aqaba side of Jordan, offering it extremely close proximity to the African mainland.

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25 Random Things from Queensland

Recently, I spent 3 weeks exploring Queensland, the sunshine state of Australia. During these 3 weeks, I explored Brisbane, Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba, Noosa, Twin Waters), Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise, Burleigh Beach), Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, Artherton Tablelands and Kuranda. While I traveled across these beautiful destinations of Queensland, I came across many interesting facts and things about Queensland. I have listed these random things below and hopefully you will find them an interesting read.


1) Queensland is a very green part of Australia. It’s east coast has dense greenery and some of the oldest rainforests in the world.

2) It is an awfully big state. I took a 2 + hour flight from Brisbane to Cairns and neither of these places are in the extreme parts of the state.

3) Queensland is a fairly laidback state and has a culture of relaxation.


4) In most of the state of Queensland, including its capital city, Brisbane, the restaurants, supermarkets and shopping malls shut down by half past nine.

5) Friday and Saturday are the happening evenings. Sunday is a more relaxed and quiet affair.


6) Like most of Australia, even the state of Australia loves to focus on its fitness. Everywhere in this state, you will see people running, jogging, swimming, cycling, surfing and indulging in many sports.

7) Queensland is one of Australia’s richest hubs for tropical fruits and vegetables.


8) The east coast of Queensland is known to get severe cyclones.

9) Northern Queensland gets more rainfall than most parts of Australia.

10) Queensland along with New South Wales has some of the best surf in the whole of Australia.

11) Foreign tourists on a working holiday make quite a bit of money while working here. The lowest wage is AUD 18 per hour for may be waiting tables or picking fruits at a farm and the wage can go up to as much as AUD 40 per hour if you are working the graveyard shift in a hospital. That is good wages for temporary workers.


12) Flights in this state are at most times cheaper than trains and buses. Self drive cars might work out cheaper, but they would take much longer due to the large distances.

13) The Queen of England is still the official head of state in Australia.

14) The tallest external building climb of Australia exists in this state.


15) This state is full of national parks, bush land and greenery and thus is home to many wildlife, including kangaroos, koalas, cassowary amongst others.

16) Surfers Paradise on the gold coast still has bikini clad meter maids on its roads.


17) The Gold coast has more canals than Venice.

18) Australia’s most photographed waterfall exists in the state of Queensland. It is the Millaa Millaa Falls.

19) One of Australia’s best managed zoos is located in this state.

20) There are only 2 places in Australia where you can indulge in Ocean Jet Boarding, a new adventure sport. One is at Sydney and the other is at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine coast of Queensland.


21) The Great Barrier Reef is the state icon of Queensland.

22) The eastern side of Queensland is very green while its center and west are pretty dry.


23) The streets of Brisbane, especially in its CBD area are named after the various Queens and Kings of England.


24) Queensland has one of the few rainforests in the world that ends onto a beach. And that is Daintree rainforest.

25) Queensland’s Gold coast is the theme park capital of Australia.

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50 Random Things about Iran

Happy New Year to all you lovely people!!

2015 is here, but I still have a lot of stories from 2014 to share with you. Iran was my last destination in 2014 and what a destination it was. I spent 27 days traveling across its mountains, deserts and cities. During these 27 days, I visited the capital of Tehran, the desert cities of Kashan, Isfahan, Na’in and Yazd, the ancient Persian kingdom at Shiraz, the sand dunes of Verzaneh, Abyaneh – a scenic mountain village that used to follow Zorastrianism and stayed with a local family at Darya Kenar by the Caspian Sea. While I was exploring these various places across Iran, I came to understand various facets of this country. Some of them blew my mind away. Some of them are very interesting and some are extremely handy to know for people who are planning a holiday to Iran. Below are these so called 50 random things from the land of Persia.


1) Iran is a very safe country.

2) 4 litres of gasoline costs 1 US Dollar. A year back, the fuel price was 10% of this number.

3) Road infrastructure across Iran is very impressive.

4) It is very difficult to survive as a vegetarian in Iran. Even most of their vegetable dishes contain meat sauces and their sweets, desserts and fats contain animal fats.

5) The women of Iran are drop dead gorgeous.


6) There is a tad bit of racism towards Indian citizens in Iran.

7) The Chador (full body veil) that the women wear is not like a dress, but like a wrap around.

8) The people of Iran are incredibly friendly towards the tourists. Most of them do this to practice their foreign language skills, while some of them are genuinely interested in talking to foreign nationals.

9) Most Iranian citizens will offer to pay for your bills (hotel, travel, food, gifts, etc.). This is called Tarouf and is sometimes taken to extreme levels.

10) A lot of Iranian women love to color their hair blonde, get a nose job done and sharpen their eye brows.



11) Even though many things are banned in Iran (access of internet, alcohol, satellite television, etc.), the locals have their own workarounds.

12) Iranians have insanely long lunch breaks.

13) As a city, Isfahan can compete with any top city around the world in terms of layout, organization, cleanliness and appeal.

14) Food portions are very large in Iran. This especially holds good for lunches.


15) Even though the official currency in Iran is Irani Rial, people make transactions in tomans where 1 toman equals 10 rials.

16) The VIP buses in Iran are super roomy and possibly the best in the world for tall people.

17) There are some parts of Iran where the women wear white or colorful Rusaris or Hijabs. These women originally belonged to Zoroastrianism, before they converted to Islam.
 
18) Bus ticket prices are much cheaper than the train ticket prices in Iran.

19) Locals say that they prefer to travel by road or rail than by plane. This is because air crashes are quite common in Iran.


20) There are dense jungles with wildlife in the north of Iran.

21) The younger generation of Iran is very unhappy with the country’s restrictions and wants to emigrate to foreign countries.

22) Family bonding is very high in Iran. This can be seen every evening and especially on holidays when families gather together over a meal or at a nice location for a picnic lunch.

23) Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can be accessed through a VPN tunnel in Iran. By default, Skype, email, Instagram and Whatsapp work.

24) International credit cards and debit cards do not work in Iran. This applies to online transactions as well unless you change your IP Address.


25) International debit cards cannot be used to withdraw money from ATMs in Iran.

26) Iran has one of the world’s largest supply of natural gas and crude oil, but has very few refining facilities.

27) Cars and motorbikes in Iran are many generations old.

28) There is an import duty in excess of 100% for foreign cars.

29) There are more luxury cars (like Maserati, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, etc.) in Tehran than on the Autobahn.


30) The people of Iran love their poetry.

31) The people of Iran have a sweet tooth and love to consume lots of sweets and other desserts with their cup of tea.

32) A lot of people in Iran smoke. This includes the cigarette or the traditional hookah.

33) Iran is the nose job capital of the world. It is also famous for other cosmetic treatments, like lip jobs, hair transplantations, etc. And these are inexpensive too.

34) Many people of Iran live in the shadow of its rich and glorious past.


35) Saffron in Iran is 4 times cheaper than the ones in India.

36) A lot of Iran is mountainous and most of these mountains see snow during the winter.

37) Most of the women in the smaller villages weave carpets to keep themselves occupied and to supplement the family’s income. Sometimes, they might work for many years just to weave a single carpet.

38) It is very difficult to get a large silk carpet out of Iran. In all probability, you will be stopped at customs in Iran.

39) It is just a 2 hour boat ride from the South of Iran (Bandar e-Abbas) to Sharjah.


40) There is a lot of inflation in Iran.

41) During Moharram and other dates where important people of Iran died, people cry, beat themselves up and demonstrate all this in public.

42) Tourism is on the upswing in Iran. Lots of new hotel properties are being built to supply to this future demand.

43) Iran is extremely popular with motorcycling enthusiasts who tour this country during the summer months.

44) The people of Iran hold a bitter feeling towards the Arabs.


45) Even though Iran is largely a Muslim country, it has some of the most beautiful churches in the world.

46) A lot of Iran’s younger generation are not religious and wish to emigrate to other parts of the world.

47) All the citizens of Iran get money towards fuel compensation every month. This money is transferred into the bank account of the head of the family.

48) Normal foreign exchange rates peg 1 USD as roughly 26000 Irani rial and 1 Euro as roughly 33000 Irani Rial, but when you are in the country, you will get a rate that is much superior to this externally quoted rate. As an example, I got 34,700 Irani Rial for 1 US Dollar and my traveler friends from Europe got 41,300 for their 1 Euro.

49) Irani Rial has no value outside of Iran.

50) Eating roasted sunflower seeds is a favorite past time of the people of Iran. Some might include pistachios and almonds too.

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55 Random Things about Turkey

It has been 29 days of pure joy traveling across Turkey for me. In these 29 days, I have seen one of the world’s most dynamic cities in Istanbul, some of the world’s oldest civilizations in Ephesus, Aphrodisias and Mesopotamia, some of nature’s best rock formations in Cappadocia, travertines and Roman civilizations in Pamukkale, sensational beaches on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, very original local culture amidst great hospitality at Sanliurfa and Mardin and tasted one of the world’s top cuisines. During this incredible journey, I came across many different aspects about this country that I found very interesting or enlightening and these have been mentioned below to make an interesting read for you. Hope you enjoy it.

1) The language of Turkey (Turkish) finds its roots in Western China, Mongolia and Central Asia.

2) The foods of Turkey and India are very similar. Both of them love their yoghurt, their sweets and their spices.

3) Gasoline price in Turkey is one of the highest in the world.

4) Some of the earliest civilizations can be found in Turkey. 7,000 and 9,000 years old are common for this country.

5) Cost of living is fairly high even for the locals. This is due to its high taxes.

6) People in Turkey are very fashionable. I guess it is their proximity to Europe and frequent travel to Western Europe.

7) At many times, travel by air is cheaper than travel by bus in this massive country.

8) The world’s first place of worship (Gobekli Tepe) is present in today’s Turkey. It was built more than 11,000 years ago.

9) It is compulsory for every male child from the family to serve in the Turkish army for 2 years (if you have an university degree, it is only 6 months). These men are sent off to the army with great gusto and celebrations.

10) Raki is the national drink of Turkey and a Raki sofrasi session is like its pride.

11) A lot of Turkish and Kurdish words are similar to Hindi. This can be due to the fact that all these 3 languages have borrowed heavily from Persian (Farsi) and Arabic.

12) Road infrastructure of Turkey is on par with the rest of the world.

13) Buses in Turkey offer great luxury. They offer in-bus entertainment with internet, free w-fi, toilets (some buses), free in-bus snacks and drinks.

14) Turkey is a very mountainous country, especially in its south and east.

15) Turkey is a great destination to travel as a couple or as a family.

16) Turkey has been home to many ancient civilizations – Roman, Greek, Ottoman, Byzantine, Mesopotamian and much more.

17) Outside of the tourist areas and large cities, people do not speak any language apart from Turkish, Arabic or Kurdish.

18) In the Kurdish areas of the South, the people speak more of Kurdish and less of Turkish.

19) The Southern Eastern part of Turkey is more middle eastern in nature, poorer, cheaper and a little dirtier than the rest of the country. They have stone houses that are similar to those seen in the desert part of the middle east.

20) A lot of places in Turkey receive snow every winter.

21) One can indulge in a lot of adventure sports at Turkey – Hot air balloons, paragliding, scuba diving, snorkeling, yachting and much more.

22) Turkish economy is on a upswing.

23) Clothes and Shoes are surprisingly very cheap in Turkey.

24)  It is a myth that vegetarians cannot survive in Turkey. In fact, the opposite is true. Vegetarians have so much choice that you will have to watch what you eat else your waistline might start bulging.

25) A Sunday Kahvaltsi (breakfast) is one of the grandest breakfasts you can ever do.

26) Istanbul is a far cry from the rest of the country. The rest of the country is more laidback and relaxed.

27) It is very difficult to identify the people of Turkey by their surnames or family names. This is because after they got independent, the government allowed them to choose new surnames. However, it might still be possible to find out if they are left or right wing.

28) Istiklal street of Istanbul gets close to 3 million visitors every day making it one of the busiest streets in the world.

29) Turkey is extremely rich in agriculture. It’s olives, fruits, vegetables, nuts and spices are some of the best in the world.

30) A game of Backgammon and a hot cup of tea is a favorite past time of Turkey.

31) Most of the men and some women of Turkey smoke. Public smoking is not banned and sometimes drivers smoke inside the buses.

32) In spite of Turkey being a Muslim country, most of its citizens consume alcohol.

33) The Muslim women of Western and Northern Turkey dress liberally without any religious hurdles.

34) A lot of men sport a moustache and a beard in Turkey. And that is why barber shops are ubiquitous in this country.

35) Shoe shine vendors can be found almost in every city of this country, especially in the smaller ones.

36) An authentic Turkish Hamam Bath with a good scrub, massage and bubble bath is a rejuvenating experience.

37) There is more Greek history in Turkey than in Greece.

38) There are more cats in Turkey than dogs. In fact, locals tell me that cats are not neutered and their numbers are increasing at an alarming pace.

39) Turkey has snow capped mountain peaks.

40) A lot of houses in Turkey have red tiled roofs.

41) Most of the bank ATMs in Turkey allow you to withdraw Turkish Liras, Euros and US Dollars.

42) Turkey gets a lot of visitors even during its low season.

43) A lot of Turkish people speak Korean and Chinese due to the increasing number of tourists from China and Korea.

44) Most of Turkey has great public transport.

45) Bollywood movies and its Khans are quite popular in Turkey.

46) South Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey is still pretty unspoilt when it comes to big tourist crowds and thus leads to lots of meaningful exchanges with the local population.

47) Kurdish numbering (1 to 10) pronunciation is nearly the same as the numbering in Hindi.

48) The boys and men of Turkey seem to have a fascination for sweaters that have reindeers prints or weaves.

49) The women of South Turkey, especially the South Eastern area are drop dead gorgeous.

50) Hinduism as a religion is a mystery in many parts of Turkey. In fact, a lot of India is still a mystery to most of the country.

51) The man twirling his moustache while maintaining eye contact with a woman indicates that he is interested in the woman and wants a sexual favor.

52) Musical instruments are very cheap in Turkey and gets a lot of customers from neighboring Europe where the same instruments cost a lot of money.

53) Cars are very expensive in Turkey. Due to the high luxury tax, larger cars become more expensive.

54) Tipping is not a common practice in Turkey, but if given, it is well appreciated.

55) Most of the people of this country are very warm and are keen on having a good conversation with you.

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35 Random Things about Abu Dhabi

Last month, I spent close to a week at Abu Dhabi. During this time, I got to explore a lot of the Abu Dhabi city, its islands and its oasis city of Al Ain and get a good feel of the local way of life. Based on this experience of mine, I have put together 35 very interesting things about this Emirate that you would have not known. I hope they make for an interesting read.


1) The emirate of Abu Dhabi occupies more than 80% of the land mass of the United Arab Emirates.

2) All of Abu Dhabi’s roads have date palms and other trees by their side. This is to prevent sand dunes from forming on the roads.

3) 50 years ago, Abu Dhabi was a proper desert where nomadic tribes used to live.

4) Abu Dhabi is the richest emirate of UAE. It owns a good chunk of the world’s oil and natural gas reserves.

5) One can find more than 100 varieties of dates from across the Middle East at Abu Dhabi’s date market.


6) Even though all the 7 emirates are governed by the rules of the country, each emirates can offer different perks to its citizens. For example, Emiratis of Abu Dhabi can own 3 cars per person, but Emiratis of Dubai can only own 2 cars per person. Overall, the people of Abu Dhabi get better perks.

7) Abu Dhabi is the most expensive of all the 7 emirates of UAE. Standard of living and cost of living are both very high when compared to other emirates.

8) Expats are not allowed to own property in Abu Dhabi.

9) Immigrants can become UAE citizens only after spending 30 years in that country and that too under very special conditions.

10) Abu Dhabi is home to more than 200 islands.

11) The largest mosque of UAE is located in Abu Dhabi. It is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.


12) Since Abu Dhabi is the largest Emirate, the head Sheikh of UAE will always be from Abu Dhabi.

13) The visionary Sheikh Zayed who transformed Abu Dhabi and the UAE hails from the oasis city of Al Ain. This oasis city is located in the Abu Dhabi emirate.

14) Abu Dhabi is the greenest of all the seven emirates.

15) The fastest theme park ride in the world runs at Abu Dhabi’s Ferrari world.

16) The only Formula one Grand Prix circuit in the UAE is at Abu Dhabi. It is the Yas Marina circuit.

17) Abu Dhabi drives on the right side of the road and overtakes from the left.


18) Abu Dhabi is home to the only five star hotel in the world that straddles a Formula 1 track. In fact, the race track passes from under the hotel. This is the Yas Viceroy hotel.

19) The expat population in Abu Dhabi is significant. People from South Asia make up most of the labor force.

20) Abu Dhabi is aiming to become the future cultural capital of the world.

21) Even though, Abu Dhabi has a lot of skyscrapers, construction and infrastructure development can be seen in full swing at many of its areas.

22) The speed limits on Abu Dhabi’s roads is 120 kmph.

23) Abu Dhabi, like Dubai is obsessed with being the best. It holds many tags like ‘world’s largest’,’world’s biggest’, ‘world’s richest’, etc. Examples would be the super rich Emirates palace, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, its shopping malls, unique buildings and much more.


24) Abu Dhabi is planning to build the world’s largest shopping mall.

25) The Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi use falcons as their hunting partner, take good care of them and even buy them a separate seat on the air plane when flying.

26) The world’s first and largest falcon hospital exists in Abu Dhabi.

27) The famous empty quarter of the Middle East passes through Abu Dhabi.

28) Unlike Dubai, Abu Dhabi is more traditional and hold importance to their culture.

29) Fuel prices are kept high in the United Arab Emirates even though they can opt to price it much lower as they have more supply.


30) Abu Dhabi wants to position it as a top quality international destination. Hence, it has opened up its economy (very much like Dubai) to foreign investors and is encouraging companies to come and set up their businesses here.

31) The citizens of Abu Dhabi, like the other emirates, get free education, free land and money to build a house on that. They also get many other perks from their government.

32) Abu Dhabi is home to some very interesting buildings. Some of them look like a pineapple, a coin, wings, golf ball on the roof and much more.

33) Commute within Abu Dhabi is mainly by road. There is a bit of water based commute.

34) Public transportation infrastructure is minimal in Abu Dhabi. Most of the commute is either private cars or cars on hire.

35) Distances in Abu Dhabi are huge due to its big land mass. But, when commuting no one talks of distances. Instead, they refer by commute time.

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