Syria and beyond

---

So once again I've been a little lax with updating this so apologies for that.

At the end of February, Anja and I headed off to Lebanon for the 3rd and probably last time this trip. We actually managed to get further out from Beirut than I have managed in the past which was good. First stop Tripoli, which was a lot more like Syria than the rest of Lebanon I had seen previously but still nice. We headed back via a picturesque port town called Byblos and had a fish dinner at a restaurant that was frequented by the rich and famous during the 1960's before the troubled times began.

After an eventful night that saw me locked in a bathroom for an hour at Anja's friends house in Beirut (it needed a Lebanese guy to kick it in to eventually free me!), the next day saw us spend some time in Baalbek and the Bekaa valley (i.e. Hezbollah territory) where we took in the sights and then ended up having tea with a pair of nuns at an orphanage in the area. Surreal but still a very interesting experience.

Then the week after that saw us travel to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (to give it its full name). We started off in Amman which is a modern Arabic City but has very little else to distinguish it and then made the journey to the Dead Sea which was very fun but the act of floating on the sea because of the high salt content was bizarre to say the least. As the mud from the sea is meant to be great for the skin we thought it was only right for us to lather up head to toe.

The next day saw us head south to Aqaba on the Red Sea. It was actually a bit of a disappointment as it was very touristy and a little bit tacky. However all was forgotten the next day as we got to Wadi Rum of Lawrence of Arabia fame. The terrain and scenery were incredible as was the experience of camping out in the desert that night. We even had dinner with Nigella Lawson's brother and his wife who after some research turns out to be one of Princess Diana's best friends. Weird. It was a big wrench to leave the next morning but leave we did, to Petra. Again this was tourist central but the view of the Treasury building (the big stone building in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) was worth the extortionate entrance fee by itself.

Jordan is a great place to visit, especially for the seas and deserts but unfortunately its just very expensive. Its definitely more geared towards big group tours than for us independent travellers but despite that I still had a great time and would recommend it to anyone.

Apart from that there is not much news to report. I moved in with Anja to our new flat at the start of the March which is a much better arrangement as it's much cheaper and in a really nice neighbourhood, close to a cute little French patisserie and the British Council. We have a huge terrace with a barbecue, a paddling pool that I bought and which I lay in all the time and even a hammock. The weather here is already up to 25 degrees Centigrade (80ish Fahrenheit) and so my pasty white body is developing a healthy glow at last. Because of the Rugby 6 Nations, I was a regular at the British Embassy's bar, the Bunker, every weekend to watch the matches whilst chatting to some of the other expatriates here.

Anyways, that’s about it. I have less than 2.5 months left here now (I fly back on June 30th) so am really going to have to hit the books hard but will hopefully find time to update the blog a little bit more frequently.

مع السلامة

Maa Salaama (with peace)

---