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Finding The Battle Of Gaugamela

Finding The Battle Of Gaugamela

by Calvin Sun | May 8, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

  Driving from Mar Mattai/Saint Matthew’s Monastery and closer towards the besieged city of Mosul, we reached the fabled site of the Battle of Gaugamela.     Also called the Battle of Arbela, here lies one of the greatest military victories in...
Mar Mattai – An Oasis By Mosul

Mar Mattai – An Oasis By Mosul

by Calvin Sun | May 8, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

  After an exhausting day driving around southeastern Kurdistan, this morning Abdallah and I set out at 9am west of Erbil towards Mosul. You would expect that we drove by a ton more military bases today.   By 9:45am we had reached the main checkpoint between...
Ghosts Of Halabja: The Silent City

Ghosts Of Halabja: The Silent City

by Calvin Sun | May 7, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble wrote a song in March 2011 dedicated to Halabja and the 7000 who died during the 1988 massacre by chemical warfare:    After a day alone in Erbil, I was ready to see more of Iraq. Douglas Layton of Kurdistan Iraq Tours and his...
Erbil: So I’m In Iraq

Erbil: So I’m In Iraq

by Calvin Sun | May 6, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

 A “helpful” friend sent me this last night, reposted from the Iraq Travel Advisory on the US Department of State website, updated January 10, 2018:Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism and armed conflict U.S. citizens in Iraq are at high...
From Den Haag (The Hague)/Amsterdam Via United Polaris Business Class

From Den Haag (The Hague)/Amsterdam Via United Polaris Business Class

by Calvin Sun | Mar 29, 2018 | Flying Fancy, How Did You Do That?, March 2018: Central Europe Road Trip, The Netherlands

 Yesterday afternoon I took Austrian Airlines’ Business Class from Vienna to Amsterdam where I got in a great 2 hour nap and try some of the best food you can get within the Star Alliance network:  I landed in Amsterdam at around 7:30pm, from...
A Montreal Monsoon

A Montreal Monsoon

by Calvin Sun | Feb 19, 2018 | Canada, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Layovers, Walking Tours, Weekend Trips

  Lei had done a much better job at covering Montreal in much better weather, but I’ll do my best to do Montreal justice myself: With 5 days off for Presidents’ Day Weekend and my upcoming in-service exam next week, I decided to take a quick getaway...
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