Inspiring Travel Writing from Andrew Mueller
Australian born, London-based Andrew Mueller writes regularly for The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, Arena, High Life, Monocle and Uncut, among others. He is the author of "Rock & Hard Places" - a collection of his travel writing, foreign correspondence and music journalism - and was a contributing editor to the fifth edition of Robert Young Pelton's "The World's Most Dangerous Places". His current book, "I Wouldn't Start From Here: A Misguided Tour Of The Early 21st Century" is published in Australia and New Zealand by Picador, and in other territories at dates to be announced. His website is at www.andrewmueller.net.
Articles by Andrew Mueller
-
Before You Die: The Most Beautiful Place on Earth?
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Georgia
Ushguli, Georgia. In the least accessible part of this broken-down country lurks what might be the most beautiful place on earth. Ushguli is a tiny one-street village at the highest point of the mountainous Svaneti region, at the end of an awful...
-
Arunachal Pradesh
|
Andrew Mueller
|
India
|
Arunachal Pradesh
Tucked away in the far north-east, wedged between the borders of Bhutan, Burma and Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh is India's newest and least-known state. Before the region was elevated to statehood in 1986, Arunachal Pradesh was known as the North-East...
-
Before You Die: A Splendid Old Hotel
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Syria
|
The Northeastern Desert
|
Aleppo
Baron Hotel, Aleppo, Syria. In a more touristy town, this splendid old hotel would long since have been turned into a theme park. As it is, the Armenian family who run the Baron have hardly had reason to dust the place since T.E. Lawrence signed the...
-
Before You Die: Baghdad
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi capital, isolated by a decade of western sanctions, is well worth the 11-hour, pedal-to-the-metal hurtle along the highway from Amman and the rapacious attentions of the Iraqi border guards. To the eternal credit of the...
-
Back Out, The USSR - an extract from Rock & Hard Places
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Lithuania
|
Vilnius and the East
|
Vilnius
Every so often, I'll get off a train, bus, plane, boat, camel, donkey-drawn cart or elephant in a town I've never been to and might even know very little about, and feel like I've come home. It's an instinct I've never been able to quantify, but it'...
-
Jerusalem Notes
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Israel
|
Israel and the Palestinian Territories
|
Jerusalem
In the summer of 2000, Jerusalem was a boom town. The relative peace following the 1994 Oslo accords between Israel and the PLO, and the papal visit in March of 2000, ignited the enthusiasm of visitors secular and religious. Internet cafes in the...
-
The United
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Taiwan
|
Taipei
|
Taipei City
Les Suites Da-An’s self-declared mission is to replicate the executive floors of a five-star luxury hotel without the rest of the hotel - there is no restaurant, or gymnasium, or shop, just a simple, quiet, efficient, and extremely comfortable...
-
Haagsche Suites
|
Andrew Mueller
|
The Netherlands
|
South Holland
|
The Hague
From the outside, Haagsche Suites looks like an anonymous late 19th-century terrace house in a well-to-do neighbourhood of The Hague. Inside, it's what might be thought of as a monument to good taste. Haagsche Suites may well be the world's most...
-
Konig Von Ungarn
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Austria
|
Vienna
|
Vienna
This elegant yellow 16th-century townhouse has been a hotel since 1746. It is situated in a quiet ventricle of the heart of Vienna, visible from the bottom of the street, its name adorning an arched entrance that juts out onto the footpath. Inside,...
-
Georgia
|
Andrew Mueller
|
Georgia
Until we get into the city centre, Gori looks pretty much like everywhere else in Georgia, which is to say that Gori looks like somebody just dropped it. Everything metal is rusty, everything concrete is crumbling, everything glass is broken,...