Following our visit to the Halabja Memorial, we made our way across town to the cemetery where many of the victims of the chemical attack are buried. The first thing we noticed was the sign that forbids any members of Saddam Hussein’s party from entering Continue reading “Site 209: Halabja Cemetery”
March 16, 1988. Bloody Friday. That was the day the worst chemical attack against a civilian population was carried out. The Iran-Iraq War was drawing to an end, but the Al-Anfal campaign by the Iraqi Government to eradicate the Kurds was still ongoing. Two days after the town Continue reading “Site 208: Iraq’s Halabja Memorial”
Not far from Baku’s Martyr’s Lane is another cemetery known as the Alley of Honor. This cemetery is not for regular people, rather it is for the famous, important, and illustrious Azerbaijani people, including former Presidents, politicians, musicians, actors, singers, Continue reading “Site 197: Baku’s Alley of Honor”
One of the reasons I like visiting cemeteries and other memorials is that I learn some history that passed me by, either during my own lifetime (or often before it). I was still in high school when the Soviet Union broke up, but was really only aware of the larger Continue reading “Site 196: Baku’s Martyrs’ Alley”
Almaty is hardly known as a tourist destination, and that’s how I like it. Even though it lies at the far eastern edge of Central Asia, it has a very European feel to it, as evidenced by its grand leafy boulevards, impressive buildings, and the many monuments Continue reading “Site 194: Almaty’s Memorials”
Perhaps the most controversial place in Japan is Yasukuni Shrine, located in the heart of Tokyo. It certainly didn’t start out that way – after the end of the Boshin War, a civil war between forces loyal to the shogunate and the emperor in 1868-69, the emperor Continue reading “Site 154: Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine”
I’ll be travelling a lot this year, mostly work-related, but as I began sorting out which places I wanted to go to, I realized that there will be quite a shift on this blog as I venture further away from cemeteries, and more towards what are commonly known as “dark” Continue reading “2019: Going Dark”
Having just visited my 150th cemetery/memorial site in just over 3 years, I thought it might be interesting to look at the overall numbers of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen. Just sorting through the numbers have given me a few surprises – I didn’t realise Continue reading “Cemetery Roundup 2015-2018”
I was living in Japan when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened. I was already in bed when I got a couple of texts from my friends – something about the WTC in NYC – I was sleepy and wasn’t sure what they were getting on about; it wasn’t until I went to Continue reading “Site 143: 9/11 Memorials”
stone and dust 