Blogs from Middle East - page 1060

Hello Hello I set of from London on April 23rd to Turkey and joined in on a 35day overland tour from Istambul to Cairo. Fun eh! I'm having a blast and Loved Turkey. My Favourite place was Goreme which was so interesting with all the Farry Chimney's. All the Local shop owners kept offering us apple tea so we would come in for a chat...and maybe buy something. Fi (one of he girls on tour) stoped into one and he was born in one of the caves. He was funny "i am cave man" he said. Next on the Favourite list was Galipoli for ANZAC day. The New Zealand Service was very moving and I'm so glad I got there for it. Third favourite place was Olympos and after several long driving days it was ... read more

So here's a bit about the rest of our days spent in Tel Aviv. Actually we've been mainly chillin’ out in the house, cause after an hectic depart from Amsterdam and the first two days straight hardcore excursions in Israel we felt quite tired and needed some time out. Guy's house was an excellent place for this, our own ;) room with internet connection, loads of DVD's around, food, tea, coffee, what else do we need. Guy had to get back to work on Monday again, came home only around 20.30, an 11 to 12 hours workday seems pretty normal over there… So most of the days, he found us lazy at home, while he had just worked his ass off in his lawyers’ office. Not that we've been just a couple of numbs 4 ... read more

Could you tell me what colours pop into your mind when you hear about Iranian mosques? Quick! Well, I noticed too that most of my earlier photos are full of blues (dark, turquoise, many other tones). I assumed that there was some kind of colour rule in existence since the introduction of Islam in the Persian Empire. After all, I to my relief I didn't see any domes that shared an intricate colour pattern with my mother's Picasso print sweater from back in the 80s. Ouch. The Nasir-al-Mulk Mosque, or rather the 'Rose Mosque' as it is nicknamed in Shiraz is an unusual architectural masterpiece due to the generous use of coloured tiles, especially...PINK. Out of all blooming colours, they chose a cute shade of pink to dominate its appearance, with patterns of roses (one ... read more

We’re bolting through traffic on our way into Damascus, the driver fidgeting with his radio and his cigarettes and occasionally looking up to dodge the minibuses that come shooting across four lanes in one quick jerk of the wheel. My eyes are still smarting from the infection that left them bloodshot in Baalbek, and the flat sunlight sifting through the haze has me squinting toward the valley when Damascus comes into view. From a distance the ancient city looks like any other modern Arab metropolis: a low gray sprawl of concrete houses, broken by the thin columns of hundreds of minarets. We drive past rows of apartment blocks with their flapping laundry, the satellite dishes clustered on the roofs like wild mushrooms. This isn’t exactly what I had in mind. In fact, barreling through the ... read more

Said Humous in Akko, a place to never forget Guy en Morit had decided not to come with us to the south to Petra, so we decided to stay a day or two more to spent their weekend together on Friday and Saturday. Instead we went to the north, to the old town of Akko. Quite some history in this town, It's been in hands of Alexander the Great, the Egyptian Ptolemites, the Syrian Seleucids, the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, and Al-Jazzar, who's decrees shaped the Old Akko as it exist today. These days the Old Akko is left in the Arab hands by the Jews. It's a beautyfull little town at the Mediterranean Sea, still surrounded by city walls. After a few hours drive from Tel Aviv, the first thing Guy took us ... read more