Blogs from Middle East - page 909

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Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus May 19th 2008

It is hot here! I've decided to escape from the heat for a few minutes and check my mail in an air conditioned internet cafe. Last night, I was woken up at 4am, by someone knocking at the door. My roommate had left just after midnight for a flight, so I had locked the door. A girl had arrived to take the other bed, so she came in dropped her backpack and went to get cleaned up, and I went back to sleep. When I woke up, I looked over at her bed and say a little head pop up! She had a baby! He was two and a half and really reminded me of my nephew Leland. Not what you expect when you sleep in dorms with backpackers, but they arrived late and all that ... read more

Middle East » Kuwait » Al Jahra May 19th 2008

Today we woke up at 1:30 AM to go to the firing range. We had to test fire our weapons to ensure that they work. We drove about an hour into the middle of the desert to get away from any civilization. I say bedowins with 2 herds of sheep. I also saw my first camels. There were two of them several hundred yards off in the distance. I fired my weapon as did 400 of my closest friends. It sounded like a huge fire fight. We arrived back at camp in enough time for breakfast. I decided to take a short nap. I woke up at 1530 realizing that I had slept half of the day away. Mark and I went to the gym. Who knows what tomorrow will hold.... read more

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 19th 2008

Siguiendo los pasos de los argentinos mas famosos en esta tierra (nadie recuerda que la Su y Marley filmaron aquí un programa de "Por el mundo?"), nos escapamos de los 40 grados de temperatura, y nos fuimos a jugar a la nieve. La verdad, que no tuvimos que tomar ningún avión ni subir ninguna montaña, bastó con un taxi hasta Ski Dubai. Se trata de una pista artificial construida en el que hasta hace un tiempito era el shopping mas grande del mundo, el Mall of the Emirates. Hay 2 tipos de entradas, una para jugar en el "Snowpark", es decir, hacer culipantín, tirarse por unos toboganes de hielo, gomas, etc, y otra es la entrada "Sloop" que es para esquiar propiamente. Lo bueno de este lugar es que no hay que llevar casi nada. Dentro ... read more
Preparandonos para entrar en la nieve
Teleferico
Carreras de trineos

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul May 19th 2008

We arrıved ın Istanbul yesterday afternoon after a 2 hour bus rıde. It ıs very dıfferent than the cıtıes we vısıted before. IT IS HUGE and CROWDED! and the people drıve CRAZY! Yesterday we met up wıth Selda who was the team leader for the team that was ın Louısıana for the month before we came here. She ıs a very nıce lady and ıt was good to see a famılıar face. We dıdn not do much yesterday because we were so tıred after travelıng and a late nıght the nıght before. I had dınner wıth my new host. She took me to resturant that ıs on the Bosphorus. I could see the Bosphorus brıdge that connects the contınents of Europe and Asıa. For those of you that do not know Istanbul ıs on both Europe ... read more
The vıew from Galata Tower
The flower market
Europe and Asıa


On Saturday we (my Cerner friends, Laura and Rebecca) ventured out on a desert safari - and what an experience that was! We went dune bashing - which basically involves driving like crazy people on the sand dunes in a Toyota Land Cruiser. The feeling is similar to a roller coaster, only slightly more terrifying because of the lack of safety regulations and such. After dune bashing, they took us to a camel farm to see the camels and their young…baby camels are too cute! Then we had a chance to put snowboards on and cruise down the sand. Let me tell you, climbing a sand dune is NOT easy! Going down was way more fun than climbing back up. Next, we watched the sunset over the desert and headed off to camp. At camp we ... read more
Camel farm
The Land Cruiser Crew
The Crew...safely out of the car!

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 19th 2008

I have travelled through Dubai Airport several times on my way to and from India or some other Asian country, but this is the first time I actually have left the airport and explored a bit more of the Emirate. The reason for this is because my sister has recently moved to Dubai with her family and so it is the ideal time to see a bit more and learn a bit more about the country. Of course the most important reason for coming is to visit my sister who I haven't seen in 2 and a half year and my niece of slightly more then 2 I have only seen on photo's too... I have had a great time here, though the weather is sizzling to say the least, with temperatures reaching up to 43 ... read more
Dubai
Dubai
Dubai

Middle East » Kuwait » Al Jahra May 19th 2008

Little to do today. Mark and I walked to the front gate of post to take pictures of the Camp sign. It is about a mile and a half to the sign from our tent. The sun was not too high as we began our trek. When we arived some of the workers were polishing the brass letters. The took pictures of us standing be the sign. We gawked for a while and began to hike back - y then the sun was higher and the temperature had risen considerably. It was supposed to be 104 today but the sand and dust cleared exposing the direct sunlight. Generally we do not see the sun as it is blocked by a dust cloud making the air thick and the view hazy. I got my first haircut today ... read more

Middle East » Israel » West Bank » Ramallah May 19th 2008

We made it safe and sound. It wasn't too long getting through the Israeli security relatively speaking. We were pulled aside and questioned for 45 minutes - that could be a record for Adri and I. Amber picked us up in the car that we are renting - it was great to see her. After dropping her off at her place in Ramallah, we made the 45 minute trip to the village. One of the checkpoints, that usually open with maybe a couple of IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers, was being blocked by several soldiers, so our trip took longer than usual. Hey, this is the Israel/Palestine/West Bank/Occupied territories! We spent a wonderful day with Adri's family, with no visitors. Some some reason everyone thought we were arriving today. Tonight the thousands of family members will ... read more
Gifts
Abu Falah
Adri the second


On Friday I visited the Abu Dhabi Golf Club...which is the site of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship - last year it was won by the delicious Paul Casey. It is a championship course with 27 holes, currently split into the National Course (18) and the Garden Course (9) which are currently being merged. The clubhouse is built in the shape of a giant falcon - it is really impressive and can be seen from anywhere on the course. The course also has seven saltwater lakes! This place was really great to see and I can't wait to bring the family back here to play a round...what a great course! http://www.abudhabigolfchampionship.com/adgc.htm ... read more
#9 Green
Saltwater lake
Lemonade, lemonade, lemonade!

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul May 18th 2008

Our last full day in our travels. To start the day off, we went to the Blue Mosque and went inside. It was stunning and so beautiful. We then went on a walk up to the Spice Market. On the way, we had a look in the front gardens of the Palace, but decided no to go in. After a kebab lunch at the Spice Market we had a look around the area. At the bridge there, all the men were lined up fishing. Out of all of the men there, I can’t say that we saw one guy catch anything at all, except the little fish they use for bait. We then decided to head in the direction of the Grand Bazaar, and wound our way around the local streets. I think we found the ... read more
More Blue Mosque
Aya Sophya
Fishing Bridge




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