adventure | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Mar

Train travel through Greece & Bulgaria with Eurail

Dream assignment: train travel through Greece and Bulgaria with the sole purpose to eat, think and travel deeply and slowly.

This journey started in Athens and ended in Ploviv, Bulgaria, with European rail pass company Eurail. With chef Ella Mittas and photographer Sarah Pannell, no mouthful went uninspected or undocumented. Also with us on the trip was videographer Paulo Magalhães , who has just released the trailer for his upcoming documentary about the furthest corner of eastern Europe. We visited restaurants, farms, vineyards, villages and the primary and secondary towns of the neighbouring countries.

The short for Paulo’s upcoming documentary is now out, and I love it! To keep the story going, Ella cooked a menu inspired by the journey for a group of media here in Melbourne at Julie restaurant in Abbotsford Convent last week, using trahana, a fermented grain and yogurt and a fabulous moussaka, which as its own, fascinating backstory.

You can also get a taste of our travels from my recent story for adventure.com https://adventure.com/off-the-eaten-path-slow-food-bulgaria/

Mar

The best things to do in Sofia, Bulgaria

For streets paved with gold, what to eat and 7000 years of history, I give you my list of the best things to do in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Crossing the border from Greece, I exchange my euros for a fistful of Bulgarian lev, which I’ll spend gleefully on banitsa, a flaky breakfast pastry that in its simplest form is filo stuffed with eggs, feta and yoghurt. You might have tried bougatsa, the custard-filled Greek pastry born in Thessaloniki – it’s just one of many demonstrations that these two countries share an ancient past, evolving to add their own twist. Isn’t it funny that when we think of Greece, we think of western Europe and all its familiarity, but just cross the border and eastern Europe is a whole different approach for travellers. Is it safe? Is it poor? Is it interesting?

Take a look at my latest feature for the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers to see if I’ve answered all these questions. I can recommend a great little art hotel in the embassy district to make your base, thoroughly recommend Bulgaria’s potent distilled fruit spirit, rakia, centuries-old churches and mosques, hundred-year-old markets and maybe you’ll also fall in love with the jaunty yellow trams that cross Sofia. The last time I visited Bulgaria, it was still shadowed by its Soviet past, so it’s fascinating to see how it tells its Communist story, from 1944 to 1989, to a new generation of travellers – see redflatsofia.com

And for disclosure, I travelled to Bulgaria by train from Greece as a guest of Eurail. From Athens, I travelled north to Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki, and then across the border to Sofia and onward to Plovdiv, using the European rail pass, Eurail. See eurail.com

https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/nine-must-do-highlights-of-sofia-bulgaria-20250214-p5lc49.html

And for a deep dive into Bulgaria’s food scene, you can read my piece written for Adventure.com , see https://adventure.com/off-the-eaten-path-slow-food-bulgaria/

And if you’re heading to Thessaloniki, I’ve written a ‘best of’ for that awesome city, as well – see https://globalsalsa.com/best-things-to-do-in-thessaloniki-greece/

Jan

Shuwa & chai: the best food in Oman

It’s sunset, and I’m in a taxi, getting a masterclass in how to order tea in Oman.

“You don’t even get out of your car to order karak chai,” says Ali, my taxi driver, wiggling two fingers.

Ali’s lesson occurs on a break on our 150-kilometre journey from the mountains to the sea, from the old capital to the new, from Nizwa to Muscat.

A runner emerges from the shop, sees two fingers for two karak, and disappears back inside, to reappear with two tiny takeaway cups.

Redolent of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and saffron, the tea is short and sweet – the perfect fuel for the taxi driver and the traveller. After Ali pays – because I am a guest first, and a customer second – we pull back onto the smooth, mountain-lined highway, hot tea carefully balanced in hand, for the descent to the turquoise sea.

One of my great trips of 2024 was a solo trip back to Oman, the Switzerland of the Middle East. Wealthy, calm, no high-rises, welcoming to all travellers. I’m afraid word is out about the reputation of this lovely little country on the eastern edge of the Arabia Peninsula – afraid because I kind of want it all to myself. Muscat has welcomed a brace of new hotels, and the glamping scene in the deserts are a feature on instagrammers’ feeds, but it hasn’t rolled over to change to suit travellers’ needs. That’s what I love about it. You go to Oman, you know you’re in Oman, not a generic version of a Middle Eastern country. It is genuinely warm and welcoming – saying this as a woman travelling alone in the country, and that doesn’t need to change.

I think that while there’s so much turmoil and tragedy in other parts of the region – the escalation of the Palestinian invasion, conflict in Lebanon and now in Iran – so many people are wary of visiting any country in the Middle East. But when there’s a problem in France, do we stop visiting Greece?

In Oman, I stayed at Anantara Jebel al Akhdar, at the Shangri-La Al-Husn (which is the adults-only hotel within this group, on the outskirts of Muscat and in Nizwa. The Anantara and Shangri-La stays were both hosted.

To read my full story written for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s Traveller section, click here:
https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/peaceful-middle-eastern-country-is-underrated-and-understated-like-its-food-20241111-p5kpi7.html

Oct

Should I swim with whales? An ethical debate

A few months ago, I jumped in the chilly waters to swim with whales, as a pod of over-excited humpback whales were tearing up the NSW South Coast on what’s known as the humpback highway.

Swimming with whales in Australia is still a fledging tourism activity – should we even be doing it?

This swim with whales is run by Jervis Bay ecotourism company Woebegone Freedive, and we also had whale scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta on board, and together, we teased out the ethics of whale swimming and interaction, for this feature in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers’ Traveller section.

For some whale background, every year, thousands of humpback whales migrate from the chilly waters of Antarctica to southern Australia, where the split around the continent – some going to the western coast, and others up the east coast, where they find their favourite creche to nurture and teach their babies about life on the humpback highway.

Interestingly, one of those creches is near Fraser Island, where I also spent my childhood. We never knew anything about whales, because by the 1960s, we’d killed most of them for a lucrative whaling industry.

Thankfully, Australia banned killing these marine giants, and the population has begun to swell again. Some scientists put the population at about 40,000, so now we can see them in places like Fraser Island, Warrnambool in Victoria and Albany in Western Australia which, ironically, was the site of Australia’s last whaling station. It now makes its money from tourism, as people come to see the majesty of the animals we used to slaughter.

The trip was hosted by Bannisters Hotels, which offers a stay-and-swim Mollymook Migration package https://www.bannisters.com.au/mollymook-migration/

To read my discussion about whether we should swim with whales, jump to https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/i-swam-australia-s-humpback-highway-but-should-i-have-20240917-p5kbb7.html

Jun

Best things to do on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia

In Melbourne, you’re either east or west holidaymaker. Mornington or Bellarine; pick your peninsula.

Never both – east is the Mornington Peninsula – a holiday hotspot close to my heart. It’s where I took my first holiday, at six weeks, and I’m still back there whenever I can shoot through from the city. Stylish and loaded with great wineries and restaurants, cafes and some of the state’s best hotels.

West is the Bellarine Peninsula. It’s the little sister. Also with great places to eat and drink, with fantastic produce and glorious views. But it’s quieter, it’s more low key. Less corporate, more family-run.

The two peninsulas are connected by a ferry across Port Phillip Bay, so I took the trip from Sorrento on the Mornington side to Queenscliff on the Bellarine, complete with dolphins surfing in the ferry’s wake- how’s that for a great omen for the holiday ahead?

The results of my finds on the Bellarine Peninsula are packed into this story for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers’ Traveller section, where I find all the gold; from gold-leaf facials to gold-medalled wines plus wild beaches, wild pinot, wild seals and wild convicts: all just 90 minutes from Melbourne.

https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/nine-must-do-highlights-of-victoria-s-underrated-peninsula-20240610-p5jkii.html

I was a guest of Visit Geelong & The Bellarine. See visitgeelongbellarine.com.au

May

Travelling in Oman: chat with 2GB Sydney radio

I’m recently back from travelling in Oman, the quietest little country in the Middle East. So quiet, you may never have thought of it, or thought to visit.

You’re missing out.

Today, I chatted with radio 2GB Sydney host Michael McLaren about Oman. About walking through the narrow streets of a mudbrick town, where you’ll pass men in the classic Omani dishdasha, a long, white robe topped with a kumar, an embroidered cap worn nowhere else but Oman. It is unmistakably different. It is unmistakably Omani.

Travelling in Oman is easy, safe and the people are welcoming – and this is the most fragrant country, the land of frankincense, myrrh, of cardamon-scented coffee and pure rosewater, which I watched distilled in the hill towns of Al Jabal Al Akhdar.

To listen to my chat with Michael McLaren, click here.

Otherwise, you can tune into my podcast, The World Awaits, where I caught up with co-host Kirstie Bedford on my return, to talk about travelling from Muscat to Nizwa to the mountains and the fjords of the Musandam peninsula as well as the deserts – the lovely, lonely, great sand deserts of Arabia.

2GB interview https://omny.fm/shows/2gb-afternoons/travel-oman

The World Awaits podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/4yGJB2Gu4axrPJJhWgDlhw

Mar

My slices of heaven: travel in Turkey & Egypt

Nisanyan was a stone house in rural Turkey, forgotten or ignored for generations and demoted to a lowly stable before its reincarnation into a small, family hotel.

Now, the hotel is its own village outside Selçuk; a series of hand made, whitewash-and-stone cottages, inns and villas along the tree-lined laneway, which I visited on a women’s-only expedition with @intrepidtravel

I wrote about the hotel recently for a cover story in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, where we were asked to describe our own idea of heaven.

The nights here are cool and silent, save the toll of a goat’s bell and the final call to prayer from a mosque down in the valley. In my cottage, deep red rugs are thrown over stone floors, handstitched coverlets and cushions adorn well-worn armchairs and my daybed, where I languish, the’ bells and the muezzin’s voice carried to me on the jasmine-scented night air.

Why heaven? Turkish breakfasts are the best on earth – here, the tables are laden with locally pressed olive oil, deep red tomatoes, fresh eggs, honey, handmade cheeses.
—-

I also have an affinity with oases – their sense of remoteness and salvation for the traveller.

It may be remote – on the edge of the Great Sand Sea and just 50km from the Egypt-Libya border – but Siwa’s log book of visitors cannot fail to impress; top of the list is Alexander the Great, who came to consult the Oracle of Amun in 332AD as part of his campaign to rule this rich land.

A mudbrick Bedouin town, it sits on the edge of the Great Sand Sea. It is filled with palm gardens, and surrounded by perfectly clear salt lakes, while freshwater springs bubble up from the hot sands. The local Bedouin culture is very different from the rest of Egypt, with the warmth and hospitality that befits an oasis town.

It is my slice of heaven on earth.

On the flip side, my idea of HELL ON EARTH is The Wall in Bethlehem, Palestine. Hot, dusty, fume-filled streets are dominated by the paint-spattered topped by watchtowers, which epitomises everything that is broken in the current conflict.

Also, anywhere you witness injustice to people, animals or the environment. The street dogs of Cairo break my heart. As does the dumping of chemical waste on the Israel-Palestinian border. And the plein-air butchers’ markets of Kashmir, where the fly-to-customer ratio is inordinately high.

Nov

Saudi Arabia on a plate

Camel kebabs, gold-flecked savoury porridge, shakshuka, mint tea, green coffee and lots and lots of dates. Eating in Saudi Arabia is an adventure in its own right.

I recently wrote a story about food in Saudi Arabia for Gourmet Traveller magazine, detailing my delicious meanderings amongst oases, deserts and desserts.

Click to read about street eats and Michelin-starred restaurants serving up food beneath the stars, on desert sands and in the mudbrick town of oasis AlUla and seaside city of Jeddah.

All this takes place as Saudi Arabia transforms from secretive kingdom to global leader of luxury travel, with the money and imagination to make even the most incredible projects manifest.

In a whiplash reversal of protocol that took place just before the global pandemic, non-religious tourists are now welcomed into the Kingdom.

Women don’t need to cover their hair and while I admire and covet Saudi women’s dramatic abayas – long, often beautifully embroidered cloaks – there is no requirement for me to be so covered; simply modest clothing is just fine.

What to learn more about travelling in Saudi Arabia? Click to read more of my stories, such as travelling solo as a woman in Saudi Arabia.

Oct

Nominations for the Australian Society of Travel Writers’ awards 2023

Good things come in – whatever size, shape or form you’d like. But today, I have news of two very good things, I’ve received two nominations in the 2023 Australian Society of Travel Writers’ Awards; for Travel Writer of the Year (yep, the big one!) and Best Accommodation Story.

Some years are tough for those of us working in the creative industries: pandemics, deaths of loved ones, that sort of thing takes a toll on your creativity. Then there are the times where the light is golden, the stories pour into your lap and the words flow like sweet honey.

My three stories for the Travel Writer of the Year award are from far afield – from the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the jungles of Borneo – while my accommodation story is far closer to home, from lovely Beechworth, in north-eastern Victoria.

I’ve shared the links to my stories, if you’d like a read, and send especial thanks to my editors, who continue to commission me and are willing to listen to stories from these remote corners of the world.

2023 Travel Writer of the Year nomination:

Solo travel in Saudi Arabia (Sydney Morning Herald/The Age Traveller) : https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/visiting-saudia-arabia-as-a-woman-i-went-to-the-notoriously-sexist-country-as-a-solo-female-tourist-20220705-h24v9q.html

Women travellers in the Middle East (Sydney Morning Herald/The Age Traveller): https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/travel-guide-for-women-travellers-in-the-middle-east-tips-and-advice-20220624-h24nad.html

Lore of the Jungle (Gourmet Traveller) https://www.magzter.com/de/stories/travel/Gourmet-Traveller/LORE-OF-THE-JUNGLE

2023 Best Accommodation Story nomination:

Slow Road to a Blissful State (Explore/Canberra Times) https://www.exploretravel.com.au/story/8124768/slow-road-to-a-blissful-state/

Aug

Food of Saudi Arabia: Gourmet Traveller

Hot off the press, my travel feature in this month’s Gourmet Traveller magazine tells of the food of Saudi Arabia, and the landscapes that created it. Focusing on the sublime oasis of AlUla, in northern Saudi Arabia.

It’s mid-morning, and our camels are resting in the shade of a stone pillar. It’s a gharameel, the remnant of an ancient mountain, eroded by time, on this desert plain in north-western Saudi Arabia.

Like the camels, I’m also resting, but on long, embroidered cushions atop richly coloured rugs, drinking sweet mint tea as my mount is saddled.

To one side of the cameleer’s camp, the cook is browning cuts of tender lamb in an enormous stockpot, and I watch as he creates the classic Saudi lamb-and-rice dish, kabsa. Earthy cumin, fragrant orange blossom water and citrusy coriander are all added to the browning meat, and what looks like turmeric, for colour.

Do I detect a flicker of disdain across the cook’s face?

“It’s not turmeric,” he corrects me. “That’s saffron.” Of course it’s saffron – here in the desert, with a kitchen on the back of a truck, a couple of grumbling camels nearby. Using the most expensive spice is a reminder that, while we dine alone in a remote desert, we are still in one of the world’s wealthiest countries. A world away from clichéd Arabian bling, this is desert luxury.

On newsstands now, if you like a delicious read!

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