Last September I went to the Middle East, Israel and the Palestinian Territories and Egypt.
It was of course a very interesting trip as few places pack more history (not to mention current intrigue). For some it also seemed like a risky proposition, not a vacation type scenario, but at this was (and remains) a calm period for the region and other than the certainly visible presence of security (kids in uniform with large guns everywhere, the occasional interrogation) Israel felt pretty safe and manageable, not to mention friendly. Then again, Israel did bomb Syria while we were there (now its generally conceeded that Israel bombed some type of nuclear facility but at the time all that was reported was that Sryia said Israel "violated it's airspace") so things can always change quickly.
Cairo was all bustle, all night. A huge cacophony where whole families are out in the middle of the night and the sidewalks constantly flow with people and the streets flow with cars. Throw in a hundred grand old mosques and the ancient pyramids just on the outskirts of town and you've got it.
Maybe I'll get back and write more about this trip but it's already been like 8 months so i wouldn't count on it. I'm mostly laying a tiny bit of groundwork for the next post which is a good story.
Slideshows available here for Egypt and here for Israel.
It was of course a very interesting trip as few places pack more history (not to mention current intrigue). For some it also seemed like a risky proposition, not a vacation type scenario, but at this was (and remains) a calm period for the region and other than the certainly visible presence of security (kids in uniform with large guns everywhere, the occasional interrogation) Israel felt pretty safe and manageable, not to mention friendly. Then again, Israel did bomb Syria while we were there (now its generally conceeded that Israel bombed some type of nuclear facility but at the time all that was reported was that Sryia said Israel "violated it's airspace") so things can always change quickly.
Cairo was all bustle, all night. A huge cacophony where whole families are out in the middle of the night and the sidewalks constantly flow with people and the streets flow with cars. Throw in a hundred grand old mosques and the ancient pyramids just on the outskirts of town and you've got it.
Maybe I'll get back and write more about this trip but it's already been like 8 months so i wouldn't count on it. I'm mostly laying a tiny bit of groundwork for the next post which is a good story.
Slideshows available here for Egypt and here for Israel.
posted by Wes at 9:38 PM
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