Blogs from Middle East - page 1054

Today we got the car!!! Yos drove us to Netanya around noon and we picked up the car that Ilan had arranged for us. It's a brand new 2007 Nissan Micra, great small car. Once we were on the road, we headed up to the Galil to drive through Nazareth. This was mostly for Josh, but Noah and I had never been there either. Just before arriving in Nazareth we took a wrong turn and ended up in a small Arab village called Iqsal. It didn't take us long to figure out that we were in the wrong place. After a few strange looks, we headed back out to the main road and quickly found our way to Nazareth. Unfortunately, it was Sunday, and almost everything that we wanted to see was closed, but it was ... read more

Binnen enkele dagen is het zover, dan begint onze eerste reis samen en dan ook nog met onze 2 kindjes. Ik kan haast niet wachten, het is 10 jaar geleden dat ik nog gevlogen heb. Daar willen we vanaf dit jaar verandering in brengen, al zal dat niet zo gemakkelijk zijn met ons kereltjes. Sarah heeft alles klaargelegd en een reisapotheek samengesteld op aanraden van de dokter. We kijken er allemaal naar uit, het zal ook een belevenis zijn voor Sean, die gaat voor de eerste keer in het grote vliegtuig stappen hetzelfde geldt ook voor Sarah en Noah. Ziezo de valiezen zijn gepakt, maandag nog de handbagage en dan zijn we klaar voor vertrek. Maandag 21 Mei Vandaag nog eens vroeg opgestaan om de kindjes naar de onthaalmoeder te brengen en naar school. Vandaag op ... read more

I began the trip expecting major history lessons in Egypt, but not a great deal ın Turkey. My tours on the Aegean coast is correcting my ignorance. In the town of Selcuk (situated directly south of Istanbul), I planned to just visit Ephesus, the best preserved Greek city after Pompeii. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed by the stunning architecture and city planning at Ephesus. However, I had no idea other important history lessons are in store for me. Randomly walking around town after taking a grueling 10 hour over night bus ride from İstanbul, I stumbled upon three ruins near the outskirts of town. I came across a lone pillar ın the fields, which turns out to be the only remain of Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the world. It ... read more

EASTERN EXPRESS Train from Kars A Turkish seater (pullman) wagon, nearly full. The train is coming from Kars on the eastern border, traveling 1950km to get to Istanbul in 36 hours. Most passengers at this point have gotten on much later, after Ankara, and are dressed in "secular" "modern" dress: sports shirts and jeans on men; most women uncovered and also wearing jeans. It's early afternoon and most passengers are dozing or chatting in small groups. Somewhere towards the middle, Adam - a middle aged local-looking man - is re-reading a book he finished minutes ago. He has been on the train since its departure from Kars, and the seat has grown increasingly uncomfortable in the past 30 hours. He occasionally looks up to pay attention to conversations that go into politics or religion. Short hair, ... read more

In the two weeks since I left Damascus, preparations have hit full-stride for the upcoming referendum. It should prove to be a real nail-biter, with as many as .8% of Syrians expected to cast their nay votes, and President Assad riding the maniacal wave of popular support toward another seven years in office. As Sara explains, voters have two choices: “’Yes,’ I want Bashar to stay in power. ‘No,’ there is no one but Bashar.” Already the place has the air of a victory parade, with flags and banners strung from the street lights and Assad’s smiling mug plastered on every billboard. “You’d be smiling, too,” his face suggests. “The people love me. “Or else.” There’s Bashar beaming from an overpass and Bashar draped across five floors of a government ministry, his trim little moustache ... read more