Roadtripping Lebanon: Jeita and Byblos
“Will you not gasp like that, Mum?” says Z. “You’re embarrassing me.” Even after over two years of travel, the Jeita Grotto quite literally takes...
Category: Places
Roadtripping Lebanon: It’s Grand Theft Auto!
“Mum!” yells Z from the rear seat, an unusual position for someone who has pursued shotgun since shortly after he started talking. “This is TOTALLY...
I F*cking Love Beirut
As a child of the 70s, who grew up in the 80s, Beirut has all the magical allure of the forbidden that China did. And,...
On Mars in the Wadi Rum
“So, what are you doing about gravity?” asks Z. We’re sitting in a resort in Jordan’s Wadi Rum with an old, old friend of mine...
Petrified in Petra (2)
Even after our traumatic scramble over the cliffs, I still had a yen to see Petra from above – not to mention exploring Wadi Muthlim,...
The Friday Photo: Bedouin Girl
This is Anoud, 2, with her great-grandfather, Mohammed, 93, looking at a picture of him in his British Army uniform from World War II. They...
Petrified in Petra (1)
Back in the UK, for our first visit after over two years travelling, at a goodbye dinner that was, sadly, kind of a “hello dinner”...
Lost City of the Giants
Winding your way through a narrow, towering canyon where camel trains the size of armies once brought frankincense, myrrh, silk and slaves, that first glimpse...
My Son’s Brain Is Weird
Here in Aqaba, a coastal town in Jordan which is gunning for second city status but has all the verve and vigour of Bournemouth on...
Siwa: A Wild West Town in Egypt
There is something about the desert that sends folk stir crazy, and Siwa, a Wild West town in Egypt’s Western Desert, is about as crazy...