Blogs from Middle East - page 1028

Advertisement

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Selçuk July 13th 2007

Apologies - currently unable to restore. If you have a backup please edit this entry and save/publish. There is a small possibility that this entry will be restored - only small. ... read more
RECOVERED
RECOVERED
RECOVERED

Middle East » Israel » South District » Ein Gedi July 13th 2007

July 13th-14th, 2007 This was the best weekend of my trip. It was a ton of fun. My internship group went on another tour, this one for a whole weekend. We went to the Ein Gedi, which is the desert in the South by the Dead Sea. It was hot as all hell and full of amazing nature and history. That place is real old-school Israel. It’s even where David hid from Saul way back when. I could write about my experiences all day, but it would just get boring after a while. Check out the pics ‘cause they’ll describe things better than I could. G’day, Marcus Velelis ... read more
The Group on our Hike
Me at a Small Pool of Water
Nathan

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai July 13th 2007

7/13/07 When we first deplaned at 4:30 in the morning at Dubai international airport, Dan and I groaned at the lengthy transportation, immigration, and baggage process, wondering if this one-day stopover was a bad idea. Twenty-four hours later, we were laughing at how quickly we jumped to such an incorrect judgment. Dubai is in the United Arab Emurates and sits on the Arabian Sea. It is a wealthy nation containing only 1.3 million people, most of whom are Indian (dot, not feather), Filipino and Pakistani. Less than 20% are Arab. From what I read, it has transformed itself into an oasis of technology and western-style capitalism in less than a decade. Construction of high rise offices and living spaces, as well as architectual innovations are everywhere. I was told that 70% of the world's cranes are ... read more


Tit for Tat! I literally got Shyju and Irfan off their bed at 11 in the night cause I decided to go camping. I know they hated me for it but after that great night and early morning photoshoot, I know they have forgiven me. All's well that ends well! ... read more
Yathi at its peak
Boys thing!
Green Mustaffa

Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Ankara July 13th 2007

December 1 - 3, 2006 Friday We arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara late in the afternoon. While Istanbul ranks as the historic and cultural hub of Turkey, Ankara was selected to serve as the Turkish capital in 1923 as part of the revolution (Ataturk preferred the isolated, authentically Anatatolian geography in making a symbolic distinction between the new and old regimes). At the close of World War I and the subsequent foundation of the Republic of Turkey Ankara had a population of around 20,000 people, somewhat more tidy than today’s mass of four million. From the bus station, a massive, multi-level complex that just has to be seen to be believed, we decided to take the subway to Kiziray. While we were trying to figure out the fare system for the subway a ... read more
RECOVERED
RECOVERED
RECOVERED

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul July 13th 2007

Geo: 41.1075, 28.7079It was something we really wanted to try and were really looking forward to, but didn't know what to expect: the traditional Turkish Hamam. We (Kate and I) chose to go to a 400+ year old hamam that was designed by the preeminent architect of the Ottoman era: Sinan. I thought the architecture would be more impressive and, I imagine it is in the men's section. This hamam and most others are segregated either by area or by time/day. Since we are women, we didn't get to see the more ornate side. It's still up in the air whether or not Mike will go and report back on how the other half bathes.When you go in you select what you want to do off the menu. I picked the scrub and soapy massage. For ... read more

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul July 13th 2007

Geo: 41.1075, 28.7079Kate: Today we went to the Dolmabache palace. It was all beautiful. There were flowers, green grass and the person who designed it was the man who designed the Paris Opera house. When we toured the palace there were huge, expensive chandeliers in each room, a crystal staircase and original paintings in the halls. After the palace we had lunch and mom and I decided to go to a Turkish bath. Traditionally, in the days before it was common to have running water, a Turkish bath, or hamam, was a place where people could go to get clean and socialize. Here are the different steps that we went through today. First we walked in and chose what our Turkish bath would include. We chose the second package that had a soap massage, a hairwash ... read more
Attaturk's deathbed
Crazy mirror
Mirror on the way out of the harem

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul July 12th 2007

Geo: 41.1075, 28.7079Today was Topkapi Palace day. We had a lazy morning and didn't rush to get out of the room. It had been a pretty late night on Wednesday going to watch the movie and we were all tired. Some combination of more sleep, a more relaxed schedule, the lecture the children heard from me about whining and becoming more accustomed to Istanbul made the beans much more pleasant to be around today. They've been doing well, but there was room for improvement. They all can easily walk 5 or 6 miles each day so there is no reason to whine for the first mile. It just makes it seem longer for all of us.I'm sure the kids will have a lot to report, but I'll try and pick up a few things they may ... read more
Exterior view at part of harem in Topkapi palace
Into the Harem
Ooooh...mother-of-pearl inlay

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul July 12th 2007

Geo: 41.1075, 28.7079Josh: Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople. If I was a melting snowman, I could still go to school...in a thermos. Bu-dum-cha!Thank you, thank you. Now for the blog. We woke up and went to Topkapi Palace, the sultan's palace. When we got in, we got an audio guide and started walking around taking turns with it. We saw a kitchen. We saw where he kept his babes and where he kept a lot of other stuff. We also saw his treasury with an 86-carat diamond with other ones all around it and it was lighted up for a sparkly effect. You could look at it forever. It was called the spoon-maker's diamond because the way the person got it was he traded 3 spoons for it, diamonds don't look that good ... read more
Galata Bridge restaurants
The original gilded cage.
Trying out "street corn"

Middle East » Israel » Jerusalem District » Jerusalem July 11th 2007

I apologize for not keeping everyone updated about the wedding weekend, but there was shabbos and wedding hoorahs and other biznass with which to deal. So it turns out that the night before the wedding i was poisoned at a restaurant and spent the entire night blowing chunks and shitting water. I say i was poisoned because my friend rachel and i sat at the same table and Rachel was kinda giving the waitstaff a hard time because they were doing a shitty job. Anyway, the thing is all 14 of us ate at the restaurant, and rachel and i were the only ones to get food poisoning----neat. So i spent the day of the wedding curled in a ball in a dark room, trying to drink water and not throw it up, and somehow ... read more




Tot: 0.408s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 15; qc: 78; dbt: 0.0653s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb