Blogs from Middle East - page 11

I made it to Cappadocia, a place I tried and failed to reach 18 years ago when I was last in Turkey. It is an area where early Christians lived in caves dug into the stone formations. ... read more

The Museum of Philistine Culture is an archaeological museum in Ashdod by the southern coast in Israel. The museum is dedicated to the culture of the Philistines, the ancient people who inhabited the maritime part of Israel from the 12th century BC. It is the only museum in the world completely dedicated to the Philistine people. it held our for a few hours and were impressed by the exhibits and clear explanations. Using our own smartphones we followed a free self-guided online tour in audio and text. Several languages are available and we chose English, as did the couple who accompanied us. The Philistine people dominated the Mediterranean middle east for 6 centuries from From the 12th to 7th century BCE. Their kingdom centered in ancient Caanan with its seat of power on the southeastern Mediterranean ... read more

Here we go. Snuggled in, internet connection down, seats up, bags above and we are nearly off. Due to depart in 5 minutes and it appears we will. Strange how the few minutes seem important when the flight is scheduled for 14 hours! Good news is that if the wings fall off I’ll be the first to know as I’m almost directly above the port wing. Do you have port and starboard on planes? Boarding was seemless and easy but everything just takes time. We arrive and check in then we wait, we board then we wait but… The inflight info system has informed us that 2000 plus movies are part of the entertainment, that should mean 3 or 4 will be OK. Hope I find them. The safety details are currently displayed and have attracted ... read more

One of the things I started when I first moved to Dubai in 2012 was to try to do one new thing every week (usually the weekend). It could be something simple, like seeing a new mall or eating at a new restaurant, or a bit more planned like a tourist activity or visiting another emirate. I tried to do the same when I came back in 2018, but with more international travel, I don't always see those weekly new things as write worthy. Every now and then I'll do a hiking post or the Expo or I did one where I discussed life during Covid. So, I thought I would catch up on some of the things I have done and seen over the last year or so. In particular, I did a lot of ... read more

On June 19 we left our Glamping compound for the dreaded long day in a bus. There comes a day in every tour that no matter where you are going there is one terrible day spent traveling. If you recall, we started our tour in Amman in the north of Jordan and traveled ever south to Petra. We had many stops along the way so the travel was not bad...but the reverse was not so much. We were in Petra and our evening destination was the Dead Sea Resort hotel (Holiday Inn) for 7 of us; while the rest of the travelers were heading to Amman to board flights home, or to continue with another tour. Many continuing on were Aussies! Australians have a thing that their country is so far away, about 24 hours to ... read more