Blogs from Middle East - page 860

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Middle East » Turkey August 19th 2008

Ny tur, nye muligheter. Foerst vil jeg bare beklage hvis dette skulle bli uleselig, det tyrkıske tastaturet er litt tricky. Vı er godt i gang med turens femte dag, og teller ned timene til vi skal reise fra vaar nye favorıttby - Istanbul. Reiseboka vaar skriver at man fort gaar tom for superlatıver i denne byen, og naa forstaar vı hvorfor. Smeltedigelen Istanbul har bergtatt oss fra foerste stund. Paa flyet ned fra Rygge satt vı og godtet oss over at vi satt paa foerste rad, og at vı for en gangs skyld skulle komme foerst av flyet og ut av flyplassen. Foerst ut av flyet var vı, men vi klarte lıkevel aa havne sıst ı passkoeen. Det var fordi vi maatte kjoepe visum, som i Tyrkia skuffende nok er et stygt klistremerke, og ikke mer. ... read more
True love
Opa opa!
Den blaa moske

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Sharjah August 19th 2008

Ok so I am about to leave for my trip overseas to teach kindergarten in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirites. I feel incredibly excited one minute and then calm myself down the next minute because I need to make sure that I am packing everything and organising everything properly! I really don't know what to expect but today I received my induction program via email for the first week there and after the first 2 days-sorting out a home phone/internet and bank account, buying some food, and a tour of the city of Sharjah we are meeting with the HOD (head of dept) and the HOB (head of buildings!) and have about 3 days of meetings about something... and then we begin teaching! I think my working hours are from 9 until 2pm. This sounds ... read more

Middle East » Jordan » South » Aqaba August 19th 2008

I had read that the ferry trip to Egypt is a gong show and it was all true. We set out at 8am from the dessert and got to the ferry terminal at 9:30 for what we though was 11or12 ferry. Interesting process to get stamped out of Jordan and ticketed for the ferry but not too bad, helped some other tourists with the process while we waited but mostly egyptian migrant workers and some families as passengers, nice waiting area- not (pic later). At noon we were told one more hour, the gangs of egyptians rushed the gate several times we joined the first time but learned fast not to bother again. When the time to go did finally arrive at 2:30 we just walked by the line with our privileged tourist status. Ferry sat ... read more
Ferry friends

Middle East » Jordan » South » Wadi Rum August 19th 2008

Wadi Rum - land of dramatic canyons, red scorched sands, and heat-stroke impaired tourists. Touted as the most dramatic desert scenery, ever, its one of those must-sees on any Jordan itinerary. Its also the hang out spot of the Bedouin (as is much of the desert area in Jordan), those mysterious nomads of the desert that feature in the rare oppressed minority section of the Lonely Planet of every Middle Eastern country. The typical tourist activity in Wadi Rum is to hire a Bedouin guide to take you tromping across the desert, either in a 4WD jeep or a camel. Camping out under the desert sky with the hospitality of a Bedouin camp is another favourite, while the adventurous enjoy rigourous scrambles up the gargantuan rocky hills scattered across the desert. We started our day though ... read more
Trolloping across the red desert
More desert goodness
Sesame and Aouda enjoy a snooze


In an instant, we have escaped the throngs of tourists in Cappadocia and headed East in search of the 'real' Turkey. Only a couple hundred of km away you can really feel the difference in terms of the people and the culture. Life is a lot more traditional here than in cities in the West. You see more women in headscarves, and the pace of modern life is far from evident here. A lot of people talk about how it's dangerous to travel to Eastern Turkey and unsafe particularly for solo women travellers, so this only made me want to explore the region more! haha. In previous years during the Kurdish rebellion I probably would have thought twice, but in recent years all the turmoil has abated and the area has been opened up to foreigners ... read more
Sandra and I finding prime position for sunset
crowds watching the sunset @ Nemrut Dağı
Nemrut Dağı

Middle East » Jordan » South » Wadi Rum August 18th 2008

Had a nice time in the Wadi Rum dessert. We drove around in the blasting heat and did a little climbing around then after getting settled into our "Bedouin Camp" we went for a long camel ride. The company and food was good on the trip, load some pictures later.... read more
Camel jockey
Ethan on "the bridge"
The mushroom

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai August 18th 2008

The Stop over....DUBAI Well 16th August was finally here....years of planning were about to be put to the sword First up....Katelyns Birthday.....we had a cake and...well No candles.......Ok we had candles but didnt think it was appropriate to light them in the airport..... After embarrasing Katelyn in public......we said good by and with tears in eyes began the odesy! The flight was great...hardly felt the first landing in Singapore.... the kids were Good, Katelyn was a bit unwell......the Food was OK on the plane.....heaps of it. The service was a bit less than I expected. Tried to watch 2 movies one had an end with pic and sound like an old worn out VHS tape and the other had audio so low that i couldnt hear....Both attempts to get them fixed by the hostess failed! ... read more
Farewell Party
Entertaiinment
On Board with food

Middle East » Israel » North District » Nazareth August 18th 2008

Holy Land Notre passage en terre sainte, après le trop court séjour à Jérusalem, se passe essentiellement à Nazareth. On a l'immense privilège de loger chez les "piccolli fratelli di Jesus Caritas", les pères Paulo et Alvaro sont des preuves vivantes que le bon accueil n'est pas une exclusivité arabe, ils nous offrent la véritable dolce vita ! Matinée de travaux dans le jardin : c'est pas rien de bosser simplement à Nazareth, là où Jésus vrai-Dieu a appris à devenir Jesus vrai-homme, avec Marie, en travaillant caché parmi nous ! Demain déja le voyage prends fin, dernière étape : sortir d'Israel par l'aéroport Ben-Gourion. Si les douaniers découvrent ce blog et l'intégralité de notre parcours on risque de ne pas revoir la France de sitôt, c'est un peu excitant à vrai dire de devoir mentir ... read more
Piccoli Fratelli de Nazareth
Li Piccolli Fratelli di Jesus Caritas di Nazareth di Italia di...  tu crois pas k ça fais assez !
Devant le temple Bahà'i à Haïfa

Middle East » Syria » West » Hama August 18th 2008

The traumatic start to this weekend’s trip was our own doing! After successfully bartering down a taxi to the bus station to 100 SP for the first time ever, we found we had both forgotten our passports. You need them to buy tickets so we had to get a taxi home again to collect them!!! Once we got to Hama routine kicked in. We had another chicken shwarma from what we consider to be the best kebab stall in Syria. It didn’t disappoint. Then we took a taxi to the Riad Hotel where we were very lucky to get a room. They had already turned some people away but for privileged guests (well, we had stayed there once before!) they managed to find a room. This time we even had a balcony which was nice, especially ... read more
Tuk Tuk Trish
Atmospheric Waterwheels
Mosaic of the president

Middle East » Jordan » South » Petra August 17th 2008

Today we returned to the ruins at Petra and tonight we are invited to a BBQ by on of the guys at the hotel.... read more




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