Video: Ten Things To Do In Qatar

Tiny Qatar may not be the the first place that comes to mind when you're planning your next escape, but adventure travel expert Richard Bangs recently visited the Middle Eastern country which is amongst the richest in the world. In the video below, Richard shares his ten suggestions of things to do in Qatar, which may be small on landmass but it is big in terms of culture and history. His number one choice certainly looks like it would be a lot of fun!

30 Great Adventure Travel Destinations For 2013

We're now just about halfway through the month of February, which means we're far enough into the new year that we should be thinking about our own adventures for the year ahead. Our friends over at The Active Times are here to help with this task, offering their selection for the 30 Best New Trips for 2013.

The AT broke their list of suggested destinations and activities down into region, offering the best options for Africa, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe & The Middle East. Each of their selections in those regions is a wild adventure that is far from the norm and decidedly not for the traveler who likes to sit on the beach watching the world go by. On the contrary, these are active, often demanding, journeys that will be reward adventurous travelers with once in a life time experiences and satisfying cultural, physical and historical encounters.

For instance, one of the options for intrepid trekkers is a 100-mile long hike through Kenya's Tsavao National Parks. The trek takes 11 days to complete and guarantees some memorable animal encounters along the way. Other options include new backpacking options in Patagonia, exploring the Mongolian Steppe on horseback and mountain biking the Himalaya in Bhutan. No matter what activity or destination you love, there are some good suggestions here, most of which will fill your adrenaline quotient while also providing plenty of amazing experience that simply can't be found elsewhere.

Over the past week or two I've been lamenting the fact that I've been home for far too long. Lots of work and a few bumps in the road of my personal life have kept me firmly rooted at by base of operations for far longer than I would like. I'm hoping to change that soon, as the wanderlust is certainly becoming harder to ignore. I see plenty of tempting options on this list for places I'd love to visit and experiences I'd like to add to my travel resume. It's time for me to choose my next adventure. How about you?

Video: Wingsuits Over Dubai

If nothing else, the video below proves that flying a wingsuit over Dubai looks just as amazing as you would imagined it would. This short, but sweet, video mixes some great timelapse images with fantastic aerial shots from high above one of the most dynamic cities on the planet. The only downside? The video is too short, ending before you know it and leaving you want to more.

I guess we'll have to just watch it more than once!

Exploring the Sky: Dubai from Richard Schneider on Vimeo.

Hatra: Exploring an ancient city in Iraq

I'm fortunate enough to get to meet and work with some very adventurous people. One of them is writer Sean McLachlan, who contributes regular travel and adventure stories at Gadling.com just like I do. Sean has recently returned from a visit to Iraq, which is one of those places steeped in history and culture, but is viewed by many as far too dangerous to actually go and visit themselves. He's been posting stories of that amazing journey over on Gadling for the past few days, but he has also graciously offered to share one with Adventure Blog readers as well. You'll find that story, about a visit to an ancient Arab city below. Enjoy!


Hatra: Exploring an ancient city in Iraq
By Sean McLachlan

Iraq is rich with ancient heritage. Babylon, Ur, and Uruk are famous as urban centers of the Cradle of Civilization. One of the most impressive sites, however, is little known outside the country.

The city of Hatra was founded in the third century BC by Arab tribes. Archaeologists believe it was the first Arab city. In ancient times it sat on an important trade route and the only good water supply for miles of desolate wasteland. Hatra served as a vassal state to the Parthian Empire of Iran and thus ended up on the front line of its war against the Roman Empire. Roman legions besieged the city in 116 and 198 AD and were pushed back both times. The Hatrans had built four miles of strong city walls and used catapults to bombard the attackers with flaming balls of bitumen and jars filled with scorpions.

Nowadays Hatra lies in an underpopulated region in northern Iraq, about 180 miles northwest of Baghdad. Our bus sped for hours along a Saddam-era highway through featureless desert, escorted by a pickup truck packed with Kalashnikov-toting Iraq police. While we had had no serious trouble so far (other than my almost getting arrested) the police insisted on coming along. As I gazed out the window at the hypnotic expanse of brown sand and pale green scrub, I couldn’t imagine any terrorist wanting to bother with the place.

The first thing you see as you approach Hatra is a giant crane looming over a Greek-style temple. The crane was from a reconstruction project during the Saddam era, finished now just like Saddam. Our guide told us the crane has been standing there rusting for more than a decade. What should have been an eyesore seemed, upon reflection, to be an appropriate addition—another relic of dead imperial ambition.

Hatra’s kingdom has little left above the surface except at this site. As we approached, we passed low mounds that may have been Roman siege works like those at Masada, Israel. Then we came to the walls, which two thousand years of desert winds couldn’t entirely destroy. Even now they look formidable, and I wasn’t surprised that the Romans, parched under the Middle Eastern sun, failed to take them.

We parked in front of the main temple, which in fact housed temples to several gods and goddesses. Being located between several cultures, the Hatrans adopted many different deities—the Akkadian death god Nergal, as old as civilization itself; the Greek messenger god Hermes; even the new god Mithras, whose mystery religion was Christianity’s main competitor for converts in the first few centuries after Christ. The buildings had a mixed quality to them too, with the balance and symmetry of Greek architecture and the elaborate Oriental decoration of Mesopotamia and Persia.

Our guards seemed as impressed as I felt. None of them spoke English, so we relied on my 200-word vocabulary of badly pronounced Arabic. They found my repertoire vastly amusing and soon I had a small crowd of them following me around the ruins. They kept calling friends on their cell phones and having me try to talk to them. One guy called up his wife. All she heard was some foreign voice saying salaam aleykum and her husband laughing in the background.

She hung up.

We discovered a dark staircase piercing the cyclopean walls of the main temple. Treading carefully, we ascended and came out on top, our eyes blinking at the harsh sunlight. From there we looked out at the crumbled foundations of temples and homes. The Iraqi police filmed the scene with their cell phones and had me wave at the camera.

One stood next to me at the edge of the wall, smiling as he surveyed the ruins.

“Zeen,” I said. “Good.”

“Ha ha,” he laughed and nodded. “Zeen zeen.”

Our guide had told me that during the Saddam era the schools didn’t teach ancient history, instead only teaching the history of the Baath party and Saddam’s life. I wondered if this policeman knew anything about this place, knew that he was standing in the first great city of his people. I wondered what he thought about that.

I never found out. I lacked the words.

Sean McLachlan is the author of numerous books, including the Civil War novel A Fine Likeness. Visit him on his blog and read more about his travels in Iraq in the special series on Gadling, Destination: Iraq.

Alastair Humphreys And Leon McCarron Announces Expedition Through The Empty Quarter

Adventurers Alastair Humphreys and Leon McCarron have announced that they are joining forces to take on a new expedition that will be as demanding and difficult as anything they've ever done. The two men plan to follow in the footsteps of one of Britain's greatest adventurers, Wilfred Thesiger, as they trek 1000 miles (1600 km) across the Rub' al Khali, better known as the Empty Quarter.

Stretching across parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, the Empty Quarter is the largest sand desert in the world. Its reach is vast, covering an estimated 251,000 square miles (650,000 sq km) with not much more than sand dunes, sometimes towering hundreds of feet in the air, in all directions.

Al and Leon set out on their adventure next week. They intend to walk through Oman and the UAE in much the same style as Thesiger. But while he had camel trains and a series of wells to help him find his way, our two intrepid explorers will instead pull specially designed carts, containing all of their supplies and gear, behind them. Their intention is to make a short documentary about Thesiger, the man who has inspired them in so many ways.

The video below was released to serve as a teaser for the upcoming expedition. After the jump, you'll find another video that gives us a glimpse at what they can expect while in the desert. Amazing stuff all around.


Empty Quarter Expedition Teaser from Alastair Humphreys on Vimeo.

And here's a look at the Empty Quarter itself.

Empty Quarter - George Steinmetz from George Steinmetz on Vimeo.