Category Middle East
Friday Photo – Taxi Driver, Lebanon
I have recently published a series of posts showing my top twenty travel photos. This one was very unfortunate not to make it. It comes from a superb year 2000 independent tour of Lebanon. We hired this guy to take us from Beirut and through the scenic Bekaa Valley to the Roman site (and Hezbollah […]
A-Z April Challenge (Cities Visited) – P for Petra
Hamish and I visited the ‘Rose City’ of Petra in 2005 as part of an independent tour of Jordan. I pick up as we journey from Madaba near Amman. Journey to Petra, Jordan. We set off bright and early for what promised to be the highlight of our trip – we were not to be […]
My Top Ten Big Cities Outside Europe – Number One, Aleppo, Syria
Aleppo, Syria – population 1.8 million (estimated) Vying with Damascus to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world (6,000 years and still counting despite the recent devastation), Aleppo became my favourite from the moment that we met in May 2009. I had travelled by train from Istanbul to Adana in Turkey and then […]
My Top Ten Big Cities Outside Europe #6 – Beirut
#6 – Beirut, Lebanon (population estimated 1.3 million) I visited the Lebanese capital in 2000 with Hamish, a mighty fine way to start our travels in the new millennium. Beirut had been synonymous with civil war, terrorism & kidnapping but the city I visited was more akin to the Paris of the East title it […]
My Top Ten Big Cities Outside Europe #7 – Damascus
#7 – Damascus, Syria (population estimated 1.8 million) I visited Damascus in 2009, two years before civil war broke out. As a government stronghold, the main city has seen relatively little damage compared to the territories that were held by ‘rebel factions’ or ISIS. I have documented my love of Syria many times on this […]
Monday Morning Blues #16 – Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
Every working Monday me and a few of my Twitter pals (@wilburstravels) post a picture on Monday morning aimed at beating those Monday morning blues. Why not join in and spread the word? Post a picture from a wonderful place that features the colour blue. My choice today is of the fabulous mosque in the […]
Sunday Photos – Citizens of Syria
Yesterday I was honoured to give a talk about my 2009 journey from Istanbul to Damascus at the wonderful Globetrotters Club in London. The journey took me from Istanbul to Ankara, Adana, Antakya, Aleppo, Raqqa Province, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Palmyra and finally Damascus, a distance of over 1,000 miles in 12 wonderful days. I finished […]
