Category Archives: Middle East

“You’d be home by now.”

Posted on 04/11/2018 by awtytravels

People in Lebanon spend more than 16% of [their] individual productive time in traffic. Urban Transport Development Project – World Bank For six months, straddling a winter and early summer of a few years ago, I tried commuting to work … Continue reading →

Posted in Lebanon, Middle East | Tagged Beirut, Bicycle, Bike, Bike to work, Burn fat, Cars, Chain effect, Commuting, Congestion, Jolly Waggoner, Lebanon, Murales, Murals, No Oil, Peddling, Pollution, Public transport, Spray art, Street art, Traffic, Tube, World Bank | 18 Comments

Beirut people watching.

Posted on 23/06/2018 by awtytravels

Humanity is the best spectacle, in this city where gated communities rub shoulders with bombed-out, charred shells. Pneumatically-enhanced bimbos and babes driving Dodge Camaros on one end of the spectrum and ragged Syrian children tapping on their rolled-up windows for … Continue reading →

Posted in Lebanon, Middle East | Tagged Art, Beirut, Corniche, Hamra, History, Mediterranean, Middle East, People, People watching, Phoenicia, Phoenicians, Sea, Street, Syria | 12 Comments

You Were Filthy But Fine.

Posted on 16/06/2018 by awtytravels

“You were filthy but fine” sang James Murphy in that LCD Soundsystem jewel that is New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down and I, for once, think that it could very well fit to Beirut. Spotless, it certainly … Continue reading →

Posted in Lebanon, Middle East | Tagged Antiques, Arabic, Armenia, Armenia street, Art, Cedar, Dust, God, Graffiti, Lebanese Civil War, Lebanon, Middle East, Murales, Photographer, Protests, Stencil, Street, Street art, Writing, You Stink | 12 Comments

Remembrance for scatterbrains.

Posted on 08/06/2018 by awtytravels

Landing takes place at night. We descend into the warm Mediterranean air, those of us sat on the left-hand side being treated to a royal view of the entire city of Beirut lying, invitingly, beneath us. Here is Ras Beirut, … Continue reading →

Posted in Lebanon, Middle East | Tagged Alawite, Architecture, Asia, Beirut, Beit Beirut, Christianity, Civil War, Demarcation Line, Druze, Green Line, Hamas, Hezbollah, Holiday Inn Beirut, Iftar, Iran, Lebanese Civil War, Marina, Maronite, Martyrs' Monument, Middle East, Nightlife, People, Photography, Ramadan, Religion, Skyscrapers, Street photography, Taif, Travel, Urban photography, War | 18 Comments

Approaching Beirut.

Posted on 06/06/2018 by awtytravels

Beirut, Paris of the East. Beirut, mother of laws. Beirut, the city that can be Rio, Miami and 1943 Stalingrad all within the same block. Beirut, the filthy. Beirut, the ironic (another French legacy I suspect). Beirut, you’ve got the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lebanon, Middle East | Tagged Beirut, Cedars, Civil War, France, Graffiti, Holiday Inn Beirut, Lebanon, Mediterranean, Middle East, Phoenicia, Rubbish, Sunset | 17 Comments

Bethlehem, or how the other half lives.

Posted on 10/10/2015 by awtytravels

Call me ignorant, but Bethlehem always evoked pastoral ideas, of secluded grottos – or shacks, depending on the version you liked the most – and of comets. What we found was (once we got on the Arab bus that no … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Faith, Middle East, Palestine | Tagged Al Aqsa, Arafat, Asia, Bethlehem, Israel, Jesus, Manger, Middle East, Nativity, Palestine, PLO | 4 Comments

The world from above – An air race over the skies of Iran

Posted on 28/02/2015 by awtytravels

The flight was rather uneventful, a barely half-full Qatar Airways Airbus A380 from Doha to London. Meal trays were being cleared away and I was about to decide which film would’ve been more appropriate to induce me to sleep as … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Dubai, Middle East, Public Transportation, The pleasure of flying, The world from above | Tagged 380, 777, Airbus, airlines, Airplanes, AvGeeks, Aviation Geeks, Boeing, Desert, Emirates, Ennio Morricone, Flying, Iran, Middle East, Mountains, Qatar, Qatar Airways, See the world outside, Snow, Standoff, The pleasure of flying, The world from above, United Arab Emirates, Zagros | 2 Comments

Stray pets.

Posted on 14/02/2015 by awtytravels

Recently, in some of my travels at the fringes of the European continent or in the Middle East, I stumbled upon many stray domestic animals. Even though I’ve always seen cats happily going about, minding their own business, the sight … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Europe, Middle East, Random memories | Tagged Abandoned animals, Europe, Georgia, Istanbul, Middle East, Muscat, Oman, Pets, Stray cats, Stray dogs, Tbilisi, Turkey, Vagabond | 4 Comments

Marooned in Muscat

Posted on 08/02/2015 by awtytravels

“How are you, brother? You look a little lost.” The young, tall Omani – immaculate in his neatly pressed green dishdasha – was absolutely right. I was tired, red-eyed, yearning for a shower and, above all, utterly lost. Faithful to … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, Middle East, Oman, Overlooked locations | Tagged Arabic Peninsula, Auto, Failure, Gulf, Islam, Muscat, Oman, Sultan Qaboos, Sultanate, Tourism, Understanding Arabia | 5 Comments

“Shadow of the Silk Road”, by Colin Thubron

Posted on 10/10/2014 by awtytravels

The first time I took this book in my hands I almost regretted buying it. Mind you, it was a cheap bargain at Turnham Green’s Oxfam branch, so at least I was sure that those £2.90 had not been wasted, … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Books review, Middle East, Overlooked locations, Turkey | Tagged Books review, China, Colin Thubron, Iran, Mashhad, Shadow of the Silk Road, Uzbekistan, Xi'an | 3 Comments