Lesotho Archives | Atlas & Boots

20 interesting facts about Lesotho

13th July 202419th December 2022 by Atlas & Boots

We share the most interesting facts about Lesotho collected on our brief but breathtaking visit to the ‘Kingdom of the Sky’

We had only 36 hours in the tiny Kingdom of Lesotho, but it turned out to be a gem of a trip, throwing up plenty of surprises along the way. We reached Lesotho via the twisty Sani Pass with a local expert.

Lesotho is tiny and one of the least-known countries in the world, yet it is a land full of fascinating facts. A mere 36 hours was nowhere near enough and we’ve pledged to return one day.

Danakil Depression tours military escort

10 most (seemingly) dangerous things we’ve done

5th July 20219th June 2021 by Kia Abdullah

Seven years after we quit our jobs to travel the world, we revisit some of the riskiest things we’ve done on the road

Peter and I have a long-running joke that I have fallen off my bike in the most beautiful places in the world – among them Bora Bora in French Polynesia and Isabela in the Galápagos. I only learnt to ride at the age of 28 and my lack of experience has led to numerous falls.

10 mispronounced country names

23rd December 201919th October 2019 by Kia Abdullah

From Kiribati to Kyrgyzstan, we list the most commonly mispronounced country names

When Donald Trump mispronounced Namibia as ‘Nambia’ in 2017, he became the subject of widespread ridicule. Journalists wondered if he meant Zambia or Gambia while social media users mocked up memes and one enterprising tweeter took the opportunity to pitch a new title to Lonely Planet.

Two men in vanuatu, one of the world’s least-known countries

Interesting facts about the world’s least-known countries

13th July 20241st August 2019 by Peter Watson

A selection of some of the most interesting facts about the world’s least-known countries we’ve picked up over the years

This is a subjective topic I know. What counts as an interesting fact? What counts as one of the world’s least-known countries?

There is no scientific answer but when this question was posed on Q&A site Quora, it certainly threw up some noteworthy particulars about some of the more obscure sovereign and not-so-sovereign states of the world.

Driving the hairpinned Sani Pass to Lesotho

31st July 202416th January 2019 by Kia Abdullah

Sani Pass is said to be one of the most dangerous mountain passes in the world. We decided to drive it on our overnight tour to Lesotho

Sometimes, I feel jealous of past explorers − not grandees like Cook or Magellan but everyday travellers that went somewhere and saw something not yet covered by Lonely Planet or indeed Atlas & Boots.

I imagine sultry Indian summers with endless corridors of uncharted possibility or China’s Hallelujah mountains, misty and deserted, and think how magical those times must have been.

15 crazy roads from across the world

18th May 20206th June 2015 by Kia Abdullah

In Bolivia, I tried without victory to convince Peter to let me do the Death Road bike ride from La Paz.

It’s not normally the sort of thing for which I’d ask permission, but given that he taught me to ride a bike and saw me fall off it in Bora Bora, ride into a wall in Tahiti and very nearly crack my head open in The Galápagos, I thought it best to check if he thought I could handle the Death Road, renowned for claiming 200-300 lives every year (see #15 below).