Blogs from Middle East - page 2

Advertisement

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul April 15th 2024

In 2020 Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the conversion of the city’s historic Hagia Sophia back into a mosque after a court annulled a 1934 presidential decree that made it a museum. Shortly after Turkey’s top administrative court released its long-anticipated decision Erdogan issued a presidential decree transferring the management of the site from the Ministry of Culture to the Presidency of Religious Affairs which paved the way for its conversion. Erdogan has been a major proponent of the move. I am not sure that the population were entirely happy as this was at odds with the idea of allying Turkey to the West and the EU . I wish we had visited before he had changed its status as viewing was going to be less of an experience than it could have been. There ... read more
The discs on the walls
more of the stunning calligraphy
Signs of the christian church

Middle East » Jordan » West » Dead Sea April 14th 2024

It was a very strange night. We were woken up at around 2.00 in the morning due to lots of dogs barking, clearly sensitive to something that was going on. In the distance we could hear some noises, but they were, thankfully, a long way away. The only news channel we could get on the TV in our room was Aljazeera. It listed BBC World and CNN, but they didn't seem to have a signal. Aljazeera definitely has a certain bias, but not to the extent that you would expect and it seemed relatively objective. Most of the drones and missiles were intercepted, but, what was a little worrying, was that was most had been "before they reached Israeli airspace". I sincerely hope that doesn't mean over Jordan, who have nothing to do with it all. ... read more
Not Working Yet
Dusty Road
Hotel

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul April 13th 2024

Our first evening was a colourful noisy one . Istanbul was alive with people . Queues everywhere . We had no idea at times what they were queuing for . I might have been to attend the mosque and prayer . Women dressed in black , men talking and children added to the noise . We had lost track of time . Turkey was two hours ahead of us here in the UK and it was pitch black at 8.30. We were trying to acclimatise ourselves . We felt tired after our early morning start . Were overwhelmed with the sheer volume of people? Not really . Cities have that unique feeling and we have always avoided them in the van with the exception of Athens and a few scattered around France and Spain . We ... read more
Istanbul The Blue Mosque
The band as they moved round the square
Istanbul noisy colourful but wonderful

Middle East » Jordan » West » Dead Sea April 13th 2024

Our friends were leaving at 4.30 in the morning today. We had all been due to fly back on Friday, but that flight had been cancelled, presumably because of the lack of demand, They had got an alternative flight back today, but we were unable to get one until tomorrow. Never mind, it's hardly a hardship having to stay here another day! It was sad not to be coming back together though. We said our goodbyes last night - close friends as we are, we're not going to be up at 4.30 to see them off. In some ways, we were grateful that the Friday flight had been cancelled, otherwise we would have arrived late on Thursday (see ) and then rushed to get in a quick swim in the Dead Sea before getting an early ... read more
Breakfast
Bed Decorations
Mecca Direction

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul April 13th 2024

Day 2 Monday morning early . Breakfast was served at 7.30. Breads, yoghurts, cheeses of every description, selections of cereals, jams and other nice things . Salad which seemed out of place . Fresh lemonade a feature of every restaurant . The bed had proved fine for me but rather hard for Glenn who prefers softer beds . Room service changed the towels . I would probably in the interests of recycling and reusing been happy to keep the old ones for another day . Room service came in three times during the day . Replacing towels on the first visit , replenishing coffee the second time round and a final third visit called room control . Never did find out what that was . I was accosted at breakfast by a guy who spoke to ... read more
Blue skies and golden crescents
The second gate
A corner of the harem

Middle East » Jordan » West » Dead Sea April 12th 2024

Today is the first morning that we did not need to be up excessively early, so we left it as late as possible before going to breakfast. Unfortunately, so did everyone else, so, like the meal last night, it was over-run with noisy and energetic children (see ) who don't know how to queue. It was a buffet, so, as usual, I hit the pastries in a big way. So much so that even the Dead Sea would struggle to keep me afloat. The same probably applied to all of us as my cravings for pastries were matched by the others' various breakfast related cravings. I were a bit naughty as just before the breakfast closed, some women arrived with their faces fully covered. We were fascinated to see how they were going to be able ... read more
Dead Sea Rules
Mud Pot
Floating

Middle East » Cyprus » Limassol April 12th 2024

Today, now we have our little hire car we have been just to the other side of Limassol to:.Kourion which has superbly preserved ruins and mosaics.Kolossi Castle.St Nicolas of the cats . A monastery but nuns not monks who grow beautifu flowers and tend bees and look after lots and lots of pretty cats.Lady's Mile Beach which we drove to across a milelong stretch of sandWe also Tried to get to Cape Gata but concluded there was no tarmac toad to it and didn't want to wreck our little hire car trying .We drove past the British RAF base at Akatori but decided not to go inWhat a super day... read more
240412 Cyprus (57)
240412 Cyprus (10)
240412 Cyprus (12)

Middle East » Jordan » South » Petra April 11th 2024

It was, again, a very early start, as we needed to get to breakfast and be waiting at the hotel reception for a guide at 7.30 ready for our Petra tour. This time it wasn't Achmed, but a man called Khamal, who's obviously used to the British grasp of names and languages and was keen to stress that his name isn't Camel. We have been making some effort with Arabic, although those efforts have, so far, only stretched to "Salam" ("hello"), "Sabah El Khair" ("good morning") and "Shikran" ("thank you"). Khamal also introduced us to "Yalla Yalla", which means "get a move on". We were a bit dismayed to see all the coaches parked outside the Petra entrance. It's clearly going to be busy in there! Something that was also parked outside was the tourist police, ... read more
Breakfast Pastries
Petra Canyon
Reconstructed Dam

Middle East » Cyprus » Limassol April 11th 2024

Easy 10am flight on the 10th April from East Midlands Airport via Jet2 to Larnaca. Our pickup there turned out to be a private taxi as there was only the two of us to go West to Limassol. It seems most people went East, direction of Aya Napa. Very pleasant to have a taxi to ourselves and straight there with no other dropoffs on the way. We are staying at the lovely Atlantic Miramare Hotel. It's on the beach. We have a superior sea view room, extra big and a stunning view round the bay and across the sea from our balcony. No hire car until tomorrow but all organised for one to be delivered to the hotel tomorrow morning. We are as always only booked bed and breakfast as we plan to eat out everynight ... read more
240411 Cyprus (3)
240411 Cyprus (10)
240411 Cyprus (11)

Middle East » Jordan » South » Wadi Rum April 10th 2024

Something that I had always wanted to try and get a picture of is the Milky Way, but I had never been anywhere dark enough before. We had been advised during our star-gazing that it would be at its most visible at 4.00 in the morning, so at 3.45 I headed out of our little hut into the darkness. It's difficult to set-up the tripod and camera, select the correct settings, line the camera up in the right direction and focus it correctly in pitch darkness. After several blurred, over/under exposed and lopsided photographs, I got some that I was pleased with. There was no point in going back to bed as I also wanted to be out for the sunrise a couple of hours later. The restaurant building was unlocked and surprisingly has wifi, so ... read more
Desert Sunrise
Footprints
Hotel Room View




Tot: 0.277s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 16; qc: 14; dbt: 0.0145s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb