Middle East Travel

There are many reasons why it might seem unwise to walk, mostly alone, through the Middle East. That, in part, is exactly why Leon McCarron did it. From Jerusalem, McCarron followed a series of wild hiking trails that trace ancient trading and pilgrimage routes and traverse some of the most contested landscapes in the world. In the West Bank, he met families struggling to lead normal lives amidst political turmoil and had a surreal encounter with the world's oldest and smallest religious sect.

For a period of seven years, Wilfred Thesiger canoed through the marshes at the confluence of Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers, living among the native Madan tribes and their islands made of reeds. Now extinct, their ancient way of life is speculated to have existed for 5,000 years, going back to the days of ancient Sumer, and possessed a unique culture found nowhere else in the Middle East. Thesiger documents the tribes' conflicts, traditions, cuisine, relationships, justice systems, and art, and reveals how they built their unique water-borne society

From the New York Times best-selling author Victoria Twead comes the third in the Old Fools series. Reluctantly, Vicky and Joe leave their Spanish mountain village to work for a year in the Middle East. How could they know that the Arab revolution was poised to erupt, throwing them into violent events that would make world headlines? Teaching Arab kids, working with crazy teachers, forming lifelong friendships and being placed under house arrest, Vicky and Joe laugh and lurch through their year in Bahrain.

Gertrude Bell was leaning in 100 years before Sheryl Sandberg. One of the great woman adventurers of the 20th century, she turned her back on Victorian society to study at Oxford and travel the world and became the chief architect of British policy in the Middle East after World War I. Mountaineer, archaeologist, Arabist, writer, poet, linguist, and spy, she dedicated her life to championing the Arab cause and was instrumental in drawing the borders that define today's Middle East.

Laura Kasinof studied Arabic in college and moved to Yemen a few years later - after a friend at a late-night party in Washington, DC, recommended the country as a good place to work as a freelance journalist. When she first moved to Sanaa in 2009, she was the only American reporter based in the country. She quickly fell in love with Yemen’s people and culture, in addition to finding herself the star of a local TV soap opera.

A gonzo ride through war-torn Yemen as only Chas Smith, the award-winning author of Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell and Cocaine + Surfing: A Sordid History of Surfing's Greatest Love Affair, could provide. Follow Smith and his misfit band of merrymakers as they search for the true origins of Al Qaeda and endeavor to ride the unsurfed waves of Yemen all while exploring the slim opportunities for fun in the margins of our global war on terror and at any cost - even if it means eventual kidnapping by Hezbollah.

Are you setting your sights on the rich tapestry of experiences that await in Arabic-speaking lands, from the bustling markets of the Middle East to the timeless landscapes of North Africa? Or perhaps you’re eager to delve into the Arabic language in a way that transcends the confines of traditional, dry grammatical studies? If you're nodding in agreement, Learn Arabic: The Traveler's Survival Toolkit is your indispensable companion. This isn't just another boring language book; it's a gateway to confidently engaging with the Arabic-speaking world, tailored for tourists and travelers like you.

Prize-winning author Michael J. Totten returns with a masterpiece of travel writing and history in this journey through 13 nations - all but two formerly communist - just beyond the edge of the West where few casual travelers venture. His work as an independent foreign correspondent takes him deep into the field beyond the sensational headlines, from his hilariously miserable road trip with his best friend to Iraq to the Wild West of Albania, the most bizarre country in Europe; from the killing fields in Bosnia and Kosovo to a Romania haunted by the ghosts of its communist past.

About the book A Saudi Hospital in the Empty Quarters. It became a tradition. People from the desert would come to visit their loved ones in our ICU, carrying weapons and ammunition. Confused, they would ask why they had to leave their guns at the door, and our guards would have to explain. Eventually, we put up a sign at the entrance, but it didn't help much as most of them couldn't read. In the early 1990s, I joined a medical team at a new hospital in Saudi Arabia. The country was closed off to foreigners and had strict cultural norms. We faced the challenge of integrating two vastly ...

At the Granada compound, the ground shook, and windows rattled. I woke. At first, I thought someone had crashed into the building next door. Quickly dressed, I waited in the darkness, scanning the area until I determined it was safe, then joined others gathered in the street. All faces were directed towards the smoke rising into the hazy, yellow-illuminated night. The smell of cordite lay heavily on the dusty air, and a strange stillness lay in the air as though the earth paused between breaths. Ambulance and police sirens woke up, shattering the quiet with their desperate and urgent echoes...

Cyprus Revisited is part memoir, part travel literature and part solid journalism explaining the current issues in Cyprus regarding politics, lifestyle and economy but most of the book is focused on the cultural wealth of this fascinating Mediterranean island boasting a history that stretches back 12,000 years; Cyprus can easily be defined a cradle of civilisation.

Dubai is a city in the Arabain Desert, full of ambition with sights to behold, from the tallest building in the world, the biggest mega malls to keep even the keenest shoppers never thirsting for more, and huge manmade islands like the world has never seen. If you’ve never visited this "City of Gold", as it is often referred to, then you seriously need to consider doing so, and I’ve compiled 101 reasons in this guide that should hopefully persuade you to do so.

Told from Stewart's distinctly Western perspective, The Prince of the Marshes chronicles his time acting as the deputy governor of two southern Iraqi provinces.

Growing up in Tehran in the 1960s, Terence Ward and his brothers were watched over by Hassan, the family’s cook, housekeeper, and cultural guide. After an absence of 30 years and much turmoil in Iran, Ward embarks on a quixotic pilgrimage with his family in search of their lost friend. However, as they set out on this improbable quest with no address or phone number, their only hope lies in their mother’s small black and white photograph taken decades before.

Political figures are being assassinated ...across the Middle East Abandoned in the Middle East with terrorist groups angry at him and the American government accusing him of murder, CIA operative Dean Wells has only one way to save his life and clear his name. He must bring peace to the region. In acclaimed thriller author Fritz Galt’s “vividly portrayed locations” from the souks of Syria to the underwater world of the Red Sea, and from Jordan to Jerusalem, you’ll feel the hot desert wind breathing down your neck. Dean must assemble a cast of shadowy misfits to take on the CIA, ...

•Visit Israel with Jesus Himself as your guide.•See the Land through the window of His words and message and discover why the Land of Promise is like no other.•This book is a companion for those who visit Israel on a spiritual journey.•Explore the depths of Jesus' words and touch the Man and reality behind His words•A call to hear what God is doing through the restoration of Israel to the land today.•Presents through the places of Israel the call of Jesus to follow Him.Discover the challenge of His call and the power of His life.Explore why Israel is not just a land of history ...

When Anthony Shadid—one of four New York Times reporters captured in Libya as the region erupted—was freed, he went home, not to Boston, Beirut, or Oklahoma, where he was raised by his Lebanese American family, but to an ancient estate built by his great-grandfather, a place filled with memories of a lost era when the Middle East was a world of grace, grandeur, and unexpected departures.

Dom Joly was born in Beirut and lived there until he was 18. He lived through the civil war, went to school with Osama Bin Laden, and learned to ski. At the age of seven he was sent to an English boarding school. It was a schizophrenic existence. Dom's parents divorced when he was 18, and he moved permanently to the UK, becoming a diplomat, a political journalist and then famous as a man who dressed as a giant squirrel. He has been back to Lebanon only twice since. Then he read about an attempt to encourage tourism in this long-suffering country: The Lebanon Mountain Trail.

Not your typical travelogue. Instead, this book is organized by the nature of the experience the author had while traveling. I am an avid world traveler. I have lived in a variety of international locations, and I have both studied abroad and taught abroad. I have backpacked, camped out, stayed at youth hostels, and now, in my senior years, I have stayed in topnotch hotels and resorts. I have flown standby, and I have flown first class. I have hitchhiked, and I have taken public transportation, slow trains, fast trains, boats, and ships. I cherish my memories. They are solid, like granite, ...

Pamela Olson, a small town girl from eastern Oklahoma, had what she always wanted: a physics degree from Stanford University. But instead of feeling excited for what came next, she felt consumed by dread and confusion. This irresistible memoir chronicles her journey from aimless ex-bartender to Ramallah-based journalist and foreign press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candidate.