The videos document my pilgrimage from Indonesia to the African continent by land (no airplane!). The route: 1.) Indonesia: Traveling through Sumatran Mountains and Prehistoric Sites 2.) Malaysia: Meeting with the Aborigines of the Malay Peninsula 3.) Thailand: Tracing the Southeast Asian Ancient Empires 4.) Laos: Experiencing the Lao-China Railway 5.) China: Backpacking the Tibetan Plateau to the Edge of the Silk Road 6.) Kazakhstan: First Contact with the Central Asians 7.) Uzbekistan: Pilgrimage in the Land of the Timurids 8.) Tajikistan: Lost in the Fenn Mountains 9.) Afghanistan: Visiting Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover 10.) Iran: Surrounded by the Ancient Civilization of Persia 11.) UAE: Short Transit in Futuristic Cities 12.) Saudi Arabia: Pilgrimage in the Holy Land of the Muslims 13.) Jordan: Catching a Glimpse of Jerusalem 14.) Egypt: Ending in the Land of Pharaohs
Curated by: Bang Jago (174 videos)
On the morning of the 169th day, my Iraqi friend accompanied me to the Iraqi Consulate in Ahvaz to apply for an Iraqi visa, but apparently I couldn't get it. He suggested going straight to the Iran-Iraq border at Shalamcheh in the hope of getting a special visa there. We left Ahvaz at 11 am by taxi. The journey took 2 hours to the south passing the oil fields that are often found in this area. At the border, I finally parted ways with Duke, who with a Chinese passport could get a visa-on-arrival to enter Iraq. Meanwhile my Iraqi friend had crossed first to make sure I could get a special visa. After getting the green light I went through Iranian immigration and got an exit stamp. However, when I arrived at Iraqi immigration, long story short, I still couldn't get an Iraqi visa to be allowed to enter, so I got stuck at the border between Iran and Iraq because my Iranian visa had been made void when I got the exit stamp. Luckily my friend was able to persuade the officer to allow me to re-enter Iran and my exit stamp was canceled with another stamp. This was where I really parted ways with Duke after more than a month of traveling together in Afghanistan and Iran. I took the same taxi, passing Moqavemat to get back to Ahvaz. My Iraqi friend welcomed me into his home so even though I didn't officially enter Iraq, at least I got to set foot in Iraq (at the border) and felt the hospitality of an Iraqi family. Tomorrow I would continue touring Iran and explore Shushtar. ___ Stage 1 Route - Sumatra (DONE!): Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru Stage 2 Route - ASEAN Mainland (DONE!): Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China Stage 3 Route - China (DONE!): Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan Stage 4 Route - Central Asia (DONE!): Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan Stage 5 Route - Afghanistan (DONE!): Kunduz - Samangan - Mazar-i-Sharif - Balkh - Kabul - Bamiyan - Band-e Amir - Yakawlang - Lal - Chagcharan - Herat - Mashhad, Iran Stage 6 Route - Iran: Mashhad - Tehran - Isfahan - Persepolis - Shiraz - Ahvaz - Shushtar - Shush - Shalamcheh Border - Bandar Abbas - Sharjah, UAE *Follow my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/obeysianipar/) for direct messages **Message me for sponsorship --- Music Credits: And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.