gaming in the middle east?

[foggy]

im planning a trip to the middle east. if you have 1st hand experience gaming in that region id love to hear about it

specifically I am looking at iran, turkey, israel, iraq and afghanistan

 

[Conquistador]

Obvs this is all secondhand but Surveyor specializes in this stuff so hopefully you’ll find it useful.

iran

There are tax-free islands in the Gulf where you should have no problems, last I checked. I’d look into the situation carefully anyway.

turkey

Large parts of Anatolia are surprisingly conservative. More than South America. Besides that you should be fine.

israel

Safest country for game in ME, but a few caveats:
-Absolutely do basic demographic research. Some areas are very liberal, others are heavily religious or heavily Arab.
-If you’re doing NG, I hear the competition is pretty stiff.

iraq

Honestly, I wouldn’t risk it in 2023.

and afghanistan

It’s not April 1 bro

Also, what passport do you have? Canadian?

 

[Police dog]

afghanistan

After you are done with it, consider North Korea and post your FRs, will be waiting!

 

[Chase]

Interesting!

Well, Iran, Turkey, and Israel all have vibrant nightlife scenes and pretty secularized cultures. The only one of the three I've done was Turkey (Istanbul), but wasn't impressed with the quality of women. I've met some pretty hot Iranian and Israeli chicks outside their home countries, though.

Iraq and Afghanistan... weren't they just invaded/regime-changed/under a prolonged military occupation? I might postpone that trip by a decade or so and wait for the lawlessness to subside.

Anyway, if you're going, I guess here's what nightclubs look like in Afghanistan... can't say I like that ratio...

Chase

 

[Conquistador]

Have you looked at Lebanon at all btw?

 

[ulrich]

Have you looked at Lebanon at all btw?

I was thinking exactly the same.

Never been there, but I heard that is the most fun and safest place in Middle East.

 

[Gladiator]

Have you looked at Lebanon at all btw?

I met a chic today from Lebanon's capital Beirut and she said nightlife there is better than most western countries.. Apparently it's a Christian country; thought it was a Muslim country until she mentioned that their president is a Christian..

 

[Conquistador]

I met a chic today from Lebanon's capital Beirut and she said nightlife there is better than most western countries

Beirut used to be called the Paris of the Arab world and it kinda still is (although now Dubai is the Vegas of the Middle East ). But now it’s the country cursed by the Phoenician gods.
Beautiful country, beautiful people, shitty economy, dysfunctional politics. Great to visit, sucks to live in.

Apparently it's a Christian country; thought it was a Muslim country until she mentioned that their president is a Christian..

It’s both. Wikipedia is a decent starting point to explain the situation.

 

[foggy]

hey everyone, thanks for the info

@Chase: Love that video. When I lived in Cusco Peru [do you know this place? maybe your long term gal from lima told you about it!], I met a lot of israelis. It was a common travel destination for them, so i had the chance to talk to a lot of them and understand them better. My initial findings were that they prefer it if you are more direct in your intentions. As well, all must do military service. Turkey: good observation, will keep your experience in mind

@Surveyor: after looking up iran, i discovered that in order to go there you must have a guide following you around all the time. which is not my thing. ive not done any research into lebanon, MOST of my time has been spent researching and getting familiar with the situation in iraq. this is likely the place i will check out first, from what i am seeing and understanding it is safe enough to go

@Police dog: funny!

 

[Conquistador]

iraq

Well, no matter what happens, you’ll have a bunch of interesting stories to tell when you get back…