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BAGHDAD – IRAQ

28/3/24 – 31/3/24 Back in 2022, I found myself sat in Istanbul Airport watching the departure boards. Turkish Airlines flies to a remarkable number of destinations, ranging from tourist metropolises to war zones, and I wondered who would be on each of those different flights. One of those destinations was Baghdad, and I told myself…
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DOHA – QATAR

28/3/24 I’m not one to pass up an opportunity to visit a new city, and Doha was no different. I’d originally intended to fly directly from Lahore to Baghdad with FlyBaghdad, however U.S. sanctions had been placed on the airline, and their flights had been cancelled. My alternative was a trip with Qatar via Doha,…
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LAHORE – PAKISTAN

25/3/24 – 28/3/24 Crossing the Wagah Border was certainly a bucket list item for me – and once I had stepped across the boundary line and through the gates, I was officially in Pakistan, and quickly en-route to the country’s cultural capital, Lahore. Lahore is a city of 13 million, and is sprawling. Thankfully, rickshaw…
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WAGAH BORDER – INDIA/PAKISTAN

25/3/24 One of my ‘bucket list’ items has always been to cross the Wagah Border, the only crossing between India and Pakistan that is open to third-country nationals. This is the site of the famous border parades, in which each evening, Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off against each other in a choreographed routine, surrounded…
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AMRITSAR – INDIA

24/3/24 – 25/4/24 The Shatabdi Express I had stepped on in New Delhi trundled into Amritsar Junction, a sign proudly welcoming passengers to the Punjab capital. Instantly, you realise that this is a very different place to Delhi – it is cleaner and less chaotic – and the rickshaw drivers outside the train station were…
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AGRA – INDIA

21/3/24 After realising that the Taj Mahal shuts its doors every Friday to allow for Muslim prayers, I was left with little choice but to travel to Agra a mere 7 hours after arriving in Delhi. Departing from Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin station, the Gatimaan Express pulled away at 8:10, and arrived in Agra at 9:40…
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NEW DELHI – INDIA

20/3/24 – 24/3/24 After a very enjoyable overnight stop in KL, I was off to the airport again – this time for my flight up to New Delhi. I’d been warned beforehand about the chaos of Delhi, but even that left me unprepared as I headed out of the Arrivals hall at Indira Gandhi airport…

