Do you remember the time when you were a little kid and loved listening to fairy-tales or reading books full of adventures from places somewhere beyond the horizon and far far away. Tales of powerful kings and queens and beautiful princesses? Tales of brave heroes and conquerors, tales of unbeatable armies in their shining armors, tales of the everlasting battle between good and evil? Do you remember the time...? The time when one side was good and the other side was evil? But as time does not stand still and as everything changes, even the good and the evil will change...! [View Full Entry]

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Go back the timeline for a thousand years or more and imagine a caravan in the Syrian Desert, coming all the way from the far East, travelling along the silkroad from oasis to oasis, through a seemingly endless landscape of sand, rocks and stones, and then out of the sudden, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, one of the most graceful and splendid ancient cities of the Middle East with green palms, great Colonnades and temples for the gods... rises from the sands, rises right in front of your eyes.... like the Fata Morgana of a seductive beautiful woman, a Queen... [View Full Entry]

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The city of Damascus wakes up every day and opens its arms to touch you softly like the fabric of damask and bloom in front of you in its entire splendor like a damask rose. Walking through its streets you will soon find yourself intoxicated by the magic of this ancient city and the magic of the Middle East. T.E. Lawrence once wrote about Damascus: "The silent gardens blurred green with river mist, in whose setting shimmered the city, beautiful as ever, like a pearl in the morning sun. No wonder that they call it - The Pearl of the East..." [View Full Entry]

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Approximately 90 kilometers northeast of the city of Beirut in eastern Lebanon stands the magnificent temple complex of Baalbek, the ruins are one of the holiest places of ancient times. Before the Romans conquered the site and built their enormous temple of Jupiter, long even before the Phoenicians constructed a temple to the god Baal, there stood at Baalbek the largest stone block construction found in the entire world. The Phoenician word Baalbek means "God of the Bekaa valley". Ancient legends assert that Baalbek was the birthplace of Baal, later the town became known as Heliopolis, the "C [View Full Entry]

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If you take a look at the map of Lebanon, which is situated at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, you will realize that Lebanon is pretty small. Most people will be surprised that there are, unlike most other countries in the Middle East, no deserts in Lebanon. The landscape varies from beaches at the coast to mountain ranges with snow white peaks. It sounds amazing but it's possible to swim in the Mediterranean Sea in the morning and to ski down 3000m high peaks in the afternoon! [View Full Entry]

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Once known as the Paris of the Middle East, Beirut was long considered the most liberal and "laissez-faire" city in the region - the "joie de vivre" is evident. Without a map telling me that I was in the Middle East, I could be at any coastal city in Southern Europe. Despite the recent troubles the country has been facing, and the political instability which adds to the uncertainties about the future, Lebanon is a country with a lot to offer. Due to its unique geographical position at the western edge of the Arab world and the eastern edge of Europe... [View Full Entry]

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They say: „Never say never!“ After my last trip to the Middle East back in 1999, one of my first backpacking trips ever, to Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Israel, I returned home and said to myself: "Islamic countries?! Never ever again!" So it took me four more years before I finally dared to venture into an Islamic country (Morocco) again. But deep inside, I always felt like that the chapter "Middle East" was still open and my travel bug kept nagging me to close it. In fact, there were still some countries which I really wanted to see: Syria and Lebanon... [View Full Entry]

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There is something magical about the Nile, the longest river in the world and the source of life for many great civilizations throughout the ages. For centuries the Nile's source remained unknown. Today we might ask, "How hard can it be? Why not just go up the river?" But the quest became fascination, fascination became mystery and mystery became legend. Hundreds of explorers and adventurers died seeking to solve the big mystery. Ancient Egyptian pharaos sent armies in search of the source of the great river and the Greek philosopher Ptolemy held that the source was the "Mountains of the M [View Full Entry]

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Safari?! Just say the word and images of Africas wildlife will come to your mind. Close your eyes. Speak out the Swahili word "Safari", and your imagination will go off and away, over mountains, across the sea and around the globe right to the East African Savannahs and right to places like Serengeti or Maasai Mara with its endless herds of wildebeests where you can see lions, elephants, giraffes etc... just a few steps away from your jeep... Say the word "Safari" again, and you will find yourself trekking through the thick forests of Uganda or Rwanda to see some gorillas. [View Full Entry]

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The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa, mainly the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya and Tanzania, parts of Uganda and north Mozambique. The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word "Sawahil", which means "coastal dwellers". The Swahili Coast, along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coastline, had been the site of cultural and commercial exchanges between East Africa and the outside world - particularly the Middle East, Asia, and Europe... and even though the trade had stopped a long long time ago, the Swahili coast stayed a very unique part of this world, [View Full Entry]

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