Blogs from Middle East - page 1052

First things first. Everything is fine here in Turkey, at least for the tourists. I'm in the middle of Turkey right now. The bombing in Ankara (the capital) 2 days ago has relatively low impact on the tourists here. The only effect that I've seen is tighter security. As I'm typing this blog there are machine gun armed para-military men checking the Internet cafe and looking at everyone. To quote the words from a local here: stupid things happen sometime, all because people are a little different. I thought of the title for the blog while hiking in the tuff (fertile compacted dust from volcanic dust ages ago) hills of Cappadocia, which is in central Turkey (I made a trail map of my routes in Turkey Turkey Route). With centuries of natural erosion and man ... read more

Well kids that looks like it for Jordan. We're at the border town of Aqaba by the Red Sea. I've been looking forward to this for a lonnnnnng time. Tomorrow if all goes well I'll be going diving in Dahab. Yes!!! Can't wait man... Until now we haven't really gotten a chance to actually sit and write without being under a time crunch. This whole internet cafe hopping thing is so not cool. Miss spending hours on the computer doing nothing. Tonight we're getting on an overnight ferry that sails into Dahab in the Sinai peninsular. The ferry crossing is so random that we'll prob end up waiting for hours on each side. Where's a good book when you need one? I've been writing in my journal religiously so that will keep me occupied as well. ... read more

Today was a lazy day, and was perfect. We had originally planned to leave for Jerusalem today, but changed our plans realizing that many places would likely be closed for Shavuot, and that roads would most likely be busy due to the holiday. So instead, we slept in, drove to Shai's house in the morning for Ro'i's 2nd birthday (yom huledet sameach!), and then came back to Kfar Vitkin. Noah wasn't feeling well and took a nap, and Josh and I proceeded to the beach for the entire day. Paradise... read more

We’ve been sitting and simmering in a minibus for a quarter of an hour, the driver outside smoking his L&M cigarettes and a few hoarse guys shouting out destinations (“Nebeknebeknebek!” “Halebhalebhaleb!”) while people go scurrying around the station, duffel bags and swaddled infants in tow. Within the hour I should be climbing the 343 stone steps to the hill-top monastery of Deir Mar Musa, a centuries-old sanctuary in the desert that’s famous for both its 11th-century frescoes and the free beds it offers for weary pilgrims and - let’s be honest here - budget travelers. But there’s been a hold-up, and after five minutes a thin, nervous man comes to the door and motions for me to follow. I’m sweating through my shirt and an hour behind schedule besides, but when I ask him “Shoo?” ... read more

We were woken up today by the LOUDEST music ever. The sounds of a Turkish group could be heard from I swear 500 miles away. They would take a few minutes to pause to (what i thought anyway) start a new song. If new songs mean identical beats, instruments, etc. then yes, they did a lot of that. :) Tracee and I walked (thank goodness no more boats to ride into port) into town. As soon as we entered, we were seriously attacked by store owners. I was nearly attacked when a man named "Benny" grabbed my hands and pulled me into his jacket store. Tracee had something similar from a jeweler that wanted to sell her a bracelet for the small price of 3500USD. Once we stopped laughing, we left and did more shopping. ... read more