Middle East

I visited the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site of Petra, Jordan, in October ’07. A daytime visit is a long and hot walk but definitely worth the effort. For me, however, the highlight was the lesser-known night trip to the Siq and Treasury.

Starting at the Petra Visitors Center, you walk down the road through the kilometer-long Siq (a narrow gap between rock faces) to the famous Treasury. The entire route is lit only with lanterns on the ground (actually paper bags each with a candle inside) and moonlight.

by Ed Kinney

Like many cities in the Middle East, a relatively modern area surrounds the center of Aleppo, which claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Damascus disputes Aleppo’s claim, but who am I to argue with the antiquity claims of either?

I would like to recommend a personal guide for travel in Turkey.

Our group of eight friends met in Istanbul on Sept. 13, 2007, the day before embarking on a Mediterranean cruise (Norwegian Jewel).

My wife, Marie, and I took a 2-week Morocco holiday, Sept. 30-Oct. 12, 2007, and were introduced to an outstanding guide. I would like to share his name and our experience.

My husband, Kurt, and I took our third trip to Syria, March 19-23, 2007. It has certainly become one of our favorite places. The friendships we have developed over the years have been wonderful, and we’d love to extend these friendships to those of you interested in visiting such a beautiful place.

I read the interesting article about Jordan in the November ’07 issue. Toward the end, the author wrote, “With discerning Americans figuring out that Jordan is not Iraq, Iran, Syria or Lebanon. . .”

by J. Norvill Jones, Alexandria, VA

Iran has been demonized by our government and the American news media, but is it really part of an “axis of evil”? As one who spent much of his working life dealing with foreign policy issues, I am inherently skeptical of government pronouncements. In April 2007 I went to Iran to see the country for myself.

From PARIS, France, Oct. 10…

My husband, Leon, uses a wheelchair, and on our 3-week visit to Israel we found that most places tried to accommodate people with disabilities.

I was part of a group of eight Americans scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Oct. 22-Nov. 2, 2006, under the auspices of Advantage Travel & Tours. I was the only member of our tour group whose visa was denied. I also was the only member of the group who was Jewish and so indicated on the visa application form question asking us to list our religion.

My travel agent had assured me that the “official policy” of the Saudi government is they do not discriminate on the basis of religion.