Travel Alert: Areas of Yemen are considered unsafe for travel, including popular sites within Sana’a and Hadramaut Provinces. Foreigners have been targeted in several violent attacks, including bombings and kidnappings. Check Safe Travel for current government warnings.
There can’t be many places left in the world that could make God smile, but Yemen is one of [...]
While the United Arab Emirates (UAE) these days appears to be little more than a stage for Dubai to strut its increasingly crazy stuff, there’s far more to this fabulous little federation than Disneyesque dioramas. The UAE is a contradictory destination, an Islamic state where the DJs’ turntables stop spinning just before the muezzins’ morning [...]
Continue reading about United Arab Emirates:simply mix up a blend of everything
Here’s a newsflash: contrary to what the US State Department may wish the world to think, Syria is not populated by terrorists, zealots and other bogeymen. In fact, Syrians are among the most friendly and hospitable people in the world, and most visitors to their country end up developing a lifelong infatuation with its gentle [...]
Saudi Arabia. The world’s last great forbidden kingdom, and an emblem of everything most inexplicable to the West: the Middle East, Islam, oil and terrorism. For centuries the country was considered closed to outsiders, penetrable only to the bravest and the boldest, such as Richard Burton, TE Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger, who risked life and [...]
Continue reading about Saudi Arabia:the country is beginning to permit travellers past its portals
When looking at modern Qatar, it’s easy to imagine the great Oriental scholar, Edward Said, turning in his grave. Nineteenth-century Western travellers to the Middle East went in search of an imagined Arabia. When they couldn’t find it, they described an Orient they thought their readers would prefer to the reality.
Even today, it’s tempting to [...]
Continue reading about Qatar:the suspicion is turning Disney
It’s a curious observation about travelling in Oman that the moment you tuck behind a sand dune and begin erecting your tent, however discreetly, someone will park alongside and start camping too. Never mind that it is the only car you’ve seen all day; never mind that there are 2700km of beautiful, empty sandy beaches; [...]
Coolly combining the ancient with the ultramodern, Lebanon is one of the most captivating countries in the Middle East. From the Phoenician findings of Tyre (Sour) and Roman Baalbek’s tremendous temple to Beirut’s BO18 and Bernard Khoury’s modern movement, the span of Lebanon’s history leaves many visitors spinning. Tripoli (Trablous) is considered to have the [...]
Continue reading about Lebanon:one of the most captivating countries
Kuwait, in the cradle of one of the most ancient and most-contested corners of the world, is best described as a city state. The burgeoning capital, Kuwait City, is like a magnet: indeed it has been attracting Bedouin people from the Arabian interior, in search of a sea breeze and an escape from recurring drought, [...]
Continue reading about Kuwait:one of the most ancient and most-contested corners
For many people Jordan begins and ends with the magical ancient Nabataean city of Petra. And it’s true, Petra is without doubt one of the Middle East’s most spectacular, unmissable sights, battling it out with Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat for the title of the world’s most dramatic ‘lost city’.
Yet there’s so much more to [...]
Continue reading about Jordan:it offers some of the wildest adventures in the region
Travel Alert: The security situation in Israel remains extremely uncertain, particularly in the border areas around the Gaza Strip and southwest Israel, and along the border with Lebanon. Check travel advisories and news services before travelling. See Safe Travel for updated government warnings and the BBC for the latest news updates.
Israel, or Palestine depending on [...]
Continue reading about Israel:one of the world’s oldest travel destinations
Want to keep your cool and your cash in Dubai? This glorious megatropolis of mind-boggling architecture is perched on the edge of a hostile desert, so you’ll be tempted to live it up at the resorts, arcades and waterparks – but it still pays to venture beyond the hotel pool. Here are some of our [...]
Last week, the owners of Dubai World requested a six-month extension on paying off its debts. Hot on the heels of that announcement, the government of Dubai stated that it would not pay the Dubai World balances, as it wasn’t the state’s responsibility to bail out a private corporation.
These revelations sent global stock markets plunging, [...]
Continue reading about The Dubai ‘crash’: what does it mean for travellers?
The situation in Iran remains tense. A council of clerics in the holy city of Qum has defied Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei by declaring the recent election results invalid.
With an overwhelming amount of information and disinformation on the web, the situation can be very confusing for travellers. We highly recommend checking a variety of sources [...]
Travel in the Palestinian West Bank rarely makes any tourist’s itinerary, and it’s not hard to see why. With all the talk of roadblocks, soldiers, suicide bombers and militant regimes, it’s unlikely to vie with Jerusalem’s Old City or Tel Aviv’s nightlife as a major Middle Eastern drawcard. But, by keeping a close eye on [...]
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On Israel’s far northern coast, a mere 5km seaside stroll up to the shores of southern Lebanon, lies Akhzivland, a tiny self-proclaimed independent state comprising a series of raggle-taggle outbuildings, a grassy camp ground, a sliver of gorgeous Mediterranean frontage, and a vast and rambling museum of knick-knacks eccentric, old and interesting.
Presiding over this unlikely [...]