Comments on: Middle East

By: Sam Buchanan

Sam Buchanan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:01:42 +0000

Actually, I’m going to strengthen my own comment and say that you’d be mad to miss Petra if there is the slightest chance of making a side trip from Egypt. Petra is stunning – it makes the great pyramid look like a big pile of rock.

If you are going to the Sinai, Aqaba is only a short ferry trip away. You could easily do Wadi Rum and Petra in four or five days in Jordan.

By: Lambcut

Lambcut — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:47:39 +0000

Mike S is more than right about the Turk-Arab dynamic. They are not the same and definitely don’t think of themselves thus. The only worse mistake you could make in the Middle East is to label Iranians, who are mostly Persian, as Arabs – they both don’t like that – seriously. Iranians speak Farsi which is an Indo-European language, correctly reflecting the culture. The majority of Iranians are best described as Aryans. Get that, DPF before you run off to Synagogue tomorrow (although Lambcut is sure you already know).

Anyway the Big Kahuna has enough to do. Oy! He is busy with the Musselmen bothering him on Fridays, the Jews bothering him on Saturdays, and the Christians hard at it on Sundays. I think we should all stop God bothering and give him the weekend off.

By: Mike S

Mike S — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:07:10 +0000

Well David, I lived there for 8 years, and no one I know kept elma cay in their pantries – it was strictly for the tourists. You can buy it in New World here in Auckland.

Istanbul is full of things to see, you could easily spend 2 weeks just sight-seeing and not see all the main points.

By: Trevor Mallard

Trevor Mallard — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:13:26 +0000

See if you can get out of Dubai to one of the other states, eat fresh dates with cottage cheese, drink coffee with cardamom and if you can try hangi camel and then hongi a Beduin as they come in from the sand hills.

By: Sarkozygroupie

Sarkozygroupie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:49:34 +0000

In Dubai airport if you are transiting you have to leave your passport at the passport office there. Hopefully they won’t lose it like they did mine when I went to leave. Less of a deal in Dubai, as I had already been detained by authorities in Tehran and couldn’t leave there either. Realised things were getting serious when my official government escorts told me they could not help me any further and walked away, having tried to sort things out with the police or Customs or whoever had detained me. Don’t mention your ancestry, pretty sure this was the reason I was detained in Iran.

If you are keen to buy some xmas pressies go shopping in Dubai and go to the Gold Souk. A mile long avenue of non-stop gold – the best prices in the world. The sand dunes are next to visit and take a trip to the 7 star hotel.

By: Sam Buchanan

Sam Buchanan — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:07:42 +0000

Pretty much agree with everything said about Istanbul – but add the Mevlana dervish ceremony to your list. I’m not much into dance shows/religious ritual, but this was cool. Take ferries and drink hot salep (sort of custardy drink made with powdered orchid root). Eat everything ion Turkey, especially Iskender kebap, which is nothing to do with rice as it kebab places here pretend. I’d second the Yeni Rejans restaurant, mainly for atmosphere. The military museum in Istanbul was good, the one in Cairo is a joke (unless it’s changed a lot – back a while it was just a series of displays on how Egypt won every war it fought right back to Alexander).

It was a long time ago when I was in Bursa – a spa town near Istanbul, but it was cool then – nice ferry trip half of the way from Istanbul too. Same goes for Iskenderun down south.

I thought Cappadocia looked great, but was too touristy when I was there in 2002 – I liked the west of Turkey better. Lake Van and surrounds are terrific (another nice ferry trip). Sanli Urfa was amazing, but Diyarbakir was horrible – unless you like being under military occupation. Out west look for the cafes that sell fresh pita bread with cream and honey for breakfast.

Syria is wonderful, and I’d skip much of Egypt for a quick trip to Jordan to see Petra and Wadi Rum.

The best thing I did in Cairo was leave my hat on a bus and spend three days looking for it. I not only recovered my hat, but ended up in all sorts of fascinating bits of Cairo I’d never otherwise have visited. Getting lost in Cairo is easy – take a compass. And look out for fiteer – a sort of pizza made with a filo base.

By: David in Chch

David in Chch — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:58:31 +0000

Mike S: I watched them make the stuff, and Tang it weren’t. However, that said, you do have to be wary of those trying to give you a little bit less than what you would normally expect.

I just remembered something else not mentioned above – the Byzantine cisterns. Underground caverns used to store water. Massive!

By: wally

wally — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:21:30 +0000

what ever you do, go and see the cistern in istanbul.
and when you are in istanbul eat red mullet.

By: Mike S

Mike S — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:54:18 +0000

Oh, and the apple tea they sell to tourists is just Tang with an apple flavour. Turks rarely touch it but tourists think it’s terribly “authentic”.

By: Brian Smaller

Brian Smaller — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:31:37 +0000

Whatever you do, unless you are with some Copts, don’t say “i could kill for some pork ribs”.

By: expat

expat — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:01:06 +0000

Besides that you’ll be fine.

By: expat

expat — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:59:48 +0000

Don’t eat the chicken, or the lettuce, or the vegetables, or the hashish.

By: Brian Smaller

Brian Smaller — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:53:14 +0000

Just don’t mention your ancestry to anyone. Especially guys with knives.

By: Mike S

Mike S — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:48:43 +0000

Turks do not like being labelled as part of the Middle East, always a good point to remember.

You will only see a tiny glimpse of any of these places, as you won’t speak the languages, so your impressions will be superficial, but you should have a fun time.

Turkish food is the best on the list you are going to, but if you have the chance to get to Syria you can eat even better. In Istanbul see if you someone can show Haci Abdullah Lokantasi – it’s a great old style restaurant off the main street in Beyoglu (Pera). Also try and get to rejans further down and have a night in Rejans, an old Russian restaurant founded by refugees after the revolution – the lemon vodka is lethal.

By: Philonz

Philonz — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:37:30 +0000

Dimmocrazy, I must admit the turkish Bath took me way out of my comfort zone. A large hairy man bent my limbs behind my head and reminded me to leave him a tip. I also couldn’t turn my head for a week. But it was one of the most memorable expieriences of my travels. The architecture was amazing too, here is the link http://www.cagalogluhamami.com.tr/

By: Nigel

Nigel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:18:34 +0000

Try Efes / Pamukkale were two pretty cool sights in Turkey.

By: expat

expat — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:58:31 +0000

Urfa/Sanliurfa, birthplace of Abraham & Nearby Harran. Fly from Istanbul.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/destinations/turkey/article5857966.ece
http://journals.worldnomads.com/tk-tempany/gallery/19320/554170.aspx
http://journals.worldnomads.com/tk-tempany/gallery/19320/554171.aspx

By: dimmocrazy

dimmocrazy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:28:43 +0000

Do NOT get a massage at a Turkish Bath (Sorry Philonz), never, ever in my life experienced something as disgusting as extremely hairy and moustached men suggesting some “special” massage for extra $$, yuk, yuk, yuk.

By: vikyrox

vikyrox — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:32:42 +0000

Nile cruise to Egypt is one of the best holiday places I heard. Is it true? Anybody here experienced this before? I am planning for a year end holiday there on a Nile cruise.

By: libertyscott

libertyscott — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:33:49 +0000

Cairo is tiresome, Dubai is worth a day at best, but really only to do the Bedouin sand dune tour experience. Dubai itself cannot be walked around, and while a marvel of highrise (and a very very flash metro with a first class section, and hardly any passengers) is really quite ugly and has little to offer.

Be picky with food, avoid salads unless you are sure they are washed, cooked is best with everything. In other words standard instructions for the third world. Western food will be made at best mediocre, so go local – it can be very good, but be picky on meat as it can be of very poor quality.