Visiting Algeria

Algeria, a country in North Africa, shares its borders with a few countries and the Mediterranean sea. The capital and largest city is Algiers, in the North, on the coast. Algiers is a hilly city with impressive architecture, were you to walk around, you would definitely get your steps in and stay fit with the incline.

Places to Visit in Myanmar 2

 Continued...

In case you missed the previous post, you might find it useful, so here is the link

Bagan

The ancient city of Bagan in Myanmar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is considered to be significant in the history of Myanmar as that's where a good part of civilisation in the country started.

Lined with temples, stupas and pagodas, in burnt red bricks but also whitish and black ones, some of them date back to the 15th century. There are also the signature gold temples that you'll typically find everywhere in the country.

Places to Visit in Myanmar

Myanmar was once booming with tourism and was the next big thing in South East Asia (SEA). You would get such great deals at much cheaper than some other parts of SEA. It had people visiting in their droves until the military coup in 2021. The situation has changed significantly since then and has slowed many things down.

 

I moved to Myanmar for work in May 2023 and although I did not write much while I was there (better safe than sorry), I tried to see a bit of the country. 

See my first post on Myanmar in case you missed it Slowly Making My Way Around Myanmar

I took a few weekend trips around and discovered some beautiful places I think are worth sharing with you, in case you happen to visit that part of the world.

Ngwe Saung

Ngwe Saung is a beach resort area located about 238km from Yangon. It's a 5 hour drive without traffic but 6 hours realistically. I got there by public transport, by coach/bus. It was the only place in the country I was allowed to get to by public transport.

Reaching for the sun

Departure from Yangon from the pick up point was at 5:30am on a Friday and by 11am, I was settled in the hotel. I returned on Sunday and the pick up from the front of the hotel was at noon. By evening around 6pm, I was back home. 

Benefits of Travelling

 Let’s face it, life can be hard. We have a lot going on at different times of our lives. How do you disconnect from all the pressure and obligations we have? When do you get some down time?

Travelling is one way, at least it works for me from experience and from feedback I’ve got from fellow travellers.

Visiting Serbia

 I visited Serbia in August 2022 and it was so much fun.

Hello from the streets of Belgrade

My brother and I flew with Air Serbia from London, the flight took about 3hrs and 40 mins. The plane was neat and had enough leg room in economy. Staff were polite and the flights were right on time. Going back to London, we flew in business class. Business class was the same as economy, only difference was we were offered food, while in economy, we were offered water and biscuits. Those in economy who wanted food and drinks had to pay.

For Nigerian passport holders, in case you were wondering, if you have a valid and used UK or Schengen visa, you won't need a Serbian visa.

Travelling in Rural Africa

One of the many adventures of living in a remote place is travelling. Since I've been in this line of work, I have appreciated the ease with which I could travel in normal times. Getting from point A to B now takes a lot of planning and consideration. To get out of Uvira, the town I am currently in, I have to travel for 3 hours to another town called Kamanyola, then cross the border to Rwanda to a town called Kamembe.    

Kamembe is a small town that has a national forest of 1020km2. There are two exit/entry points from the Democratic Republic of Congo into South Kivu : 1) Kamanyola, which is around 46km and around 1hour and 15 minutes from Kamembe airport and 2) Bukavu which is 20km from the Kamembe airport and about a 40 minute drive. Typically, I would spend the night in Kamembe then fly to Kigali the following morning. It is a 40 minute flight, but a 5 hour drive to Kigali where I can fly from. This option is more practical for me than going to the capital (Kinshasa) to access the international airport. It is equally a two day trip.

See my previous post about some of my first impressions of the DRC.

Discovering Ethiopia

I stayed in Ethiopia for three months last year and of course I took time to discover a bit. It is a beautiful country but I only had so much time, which I tried to make the best use of. Visit Ethiopia with me through this post...

Addis Ababa is the capital of the country. The capital is at an altitude of 2,355m above sea level

- Amharic is the official language and there are 10 regions in the country. Each region has its own language

- The population of Ethiopia is about 113 million

- The Orthodox Church is super strong there

- The country is GMT+3 (2 hours ahead of Nigeria)

Things To Do in Abuja

Spending the holiday season in Abuja? Contrary to what I've heard a few times, you have options of things to do create pleasant memories.

Abuja, a planned city, became the capital of Nigeria in December 1991. It is often referred to as the administrative capital. Some people tend to feel that there is a certain artificial aspect to it. I live in Abuja and I like the city. I think it is one of those cities that has some hidden gems worth exploring.

Abuja has 6 area councils: Abaji area council, Abuja Municipal Area council (AMAC), Bwari area council, Gwagwlada area council, Kuje area council and Kwali area council.

Here are a few activities you might want to try.

1) The National mosque

The foundation of the mosque was laid in 1982. It is one of the oldest buildings in Abuja and the biggest in Africa according to our guide. It can accommodate an estimated 15,000 worshippers. The architecture and construction were done by Italians, it was commissioned in 1991 and is located in the Central Business District (CBD).

In 2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo visited and officially declared the mosque a national

monument.  

When we got in, we were directed to the Administrative block. There we were given the information above about the mosque and assigned a guide to show us around.

Countries to visit 'without' a visa for Nigerian passport holders

A few times I've been discouraged by visa processes or just did not have enough time to deal with it. This led me to do some research. 
I found a list of countries Nigerians can visit without visas here.

On the other hand, there are some visas that may be more powerful than you think for Nigerian passport holders. With these visas you can easily visit many other countries without a visa…dang! 

Nigerian passports

Many of these countries believe that if you have a U.S, U.K, Schengen or Canadian visa, you must have gone through some thorough checks. The visas therefore grant you access to other countries for a short stay (please check the length of time for each country). 

If you were looking for your next holiday destination, here is a list of some of the countries I found. You might need a map to locate some of them, haahahaha.