Destination: Middle East
David Plotz Digs the Bible
by Michael Yessis | 01.14.08 | 10:03 AM ET
Slate’s deputy editor spent last year blogging the Bible, and he followed up with a trip to Israel “to experience the Bible through archaeology, history, politics, and faith.” Plotz’s chronicle of his journey got off to a promising start today as the latest installment of Slate’s excellent Well-Traveled series.
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Yahoo! BuzzR.I.P. 64 Journalists
by Jim Benning | 12.18.07 | 4:00 PM ET
That’s the number of journalists killed around the globe this year—the most in over a decade. Not surprisingly, Iraq claimed more lives than any other country, 31, nearly all of them Iraqi. “Somalia was ranked the second deadliest country with seven journalists deaths in 2007,” Reuters reports. “Sri Lanka and Pakistan each recorded five journalists deaths, and Afghanistan and Eritrea each had two deaths.” One positive note: For the first time in more than a decade, there wasn’t a single reporter murdered in Colombia. Could it be further evidence of this?
A Christmas Story From ‘One of the Most Contentious Places on Earth’
by Joanna Kakissis | 12.05.07 | 11:00 AM ET
For many, the little town of Bethlehem evokes a Technicolor Christmas image of a dainty village with baby Jesus in a manger, his glowing parents and wise men bearing gifts. But visitors experience a very different Bethlehem—one crippled with poverty, suicide bombers and menacing military division, and divided by a giant security wall. As Michael Finkel writes in a fascinating article in this month’s National Geographic, Bethlehem is one of the most contentious places on earth.
New Travel Book: ‘Children of Jihad
by Julia Ross | 11.27.07 | 12:14 PM ET
Full title: “Children of Jihad: A Young American’s Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East”
Author: Jared Cohen, U.S. State Department policy planner and 25-year-old second-time author
Released: Oct. 25, 2007
Travel genre: Travel memoir, cultural commentary
Territory covered: Internet cafes and house parties from Beirut to Tehran
The Cost of Kindness
by Joanna Kakissis | 11.26.07 | 3:09 PM ET
Photo by Joanna Kakissis. The boy with the toothy grin led Joanna Kakissis on a personal tour of Tripoli, Lebanon. Afterward, she wondered: What, if anything, did she owe him?
Saudi Billionaire Buys First Private Superjumbo A380
by Terry Ward | 11.15.07 | 11:54 AM ET
Oh, to travel like a Saudi prince. Or the wife of India’s richest man. I was driving home from Orlando’s airport a few days ago, having just booked a long haul flight in coach and already dreading the knees-in-my-teeth-feeling to come, when I heard an NPR segment about Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s purchase of his own personal A380 superjumbo jet (like the one pictured) to the tune of just over $300 million. According to an envy-inducing piece in the International Herald Tribune, the prince, worth an estimated $20 billion and the world’s 13th richest man, regularly travels with an entourage of around 50 people.
Traveling Behind the Headlines in Lebanon and Beyond
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.29.07 | 6:52 AM ET
When I visited Beirut last November, most of my friends and family thought I was reckless, even crazy. Because of decades of war and assassinations, Lebanon is thought to be one of those places visited only by war journalists, soldiers and aid workers. That’s wrong, of course. Beirut still retains its “Paris of the Middle East” mystique and manages to attract tourists, even as the country remains on edge.
Women’s Travel Email Roundtable, Part One: ‘He My HUSBAND!’
by Terry Ward | 10.08.07 | 10:49 AM ET
Four accomplished travelers -- Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Liz Sinclair, Terry Ward and Catherine Watson -- talk about the rewards and perils of hitting the road alone as a woman
Interview with George Saunders: Loose in the Real World
by Frank Bures | 09.28.07 | 1:03 PM ET
Frank Bures talks with the author about Dubai, Nepal's Buddha Boy and what he learned about travel from a mob of rock-hauling, 70-year-old women in Singapore
Tehran’s Hidden Vault of Western Art
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.25.07 | 9:53 AM ET
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad—who made such a, uh, splash at Columbia University yesterday—may hate the West, but his country owns one of the most massive collections of 19th- and 20th-century Western art outside the West, according to a fascinating story by Kim Murphy in the Los Angele Times. The works—which include Picassos, Kandinskys, Miros, Warhols and possibly the best Jackson Pollock collection outside the United States—are relegated to the basement of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Amazingly, they have rarely been seen over the past 30 years.
‘Girls of Riyadh’: Saudi Arabia’s ‘Sex and the City’?
by Eva Holland | 09.17.07 | 12:40 PM ET
In June we blogged about one Western woman’s experience traveling under the abaya in Saudi Arabia. Now, Rajaa Alsanea’s debut novel, Girls of Riyadh, offers a look at the experiences of the women who spend their entire lives negotiating Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic code. The book, which is being called “Sex and the City, Saudi-style,” was recently released in North America and the UK; it already boasts bestseller status in Germany and the Netherlands as well as a banning in Saudi Arabia itself.
Tourists, ‘Diamante-Encrusted Bikinis’ Return to Lebanon’s Beach Resorts
by Michael Yessis | 08.22.07 | 10:48 AM ET
A year after war between Israel and Hezbollah rocked Lebanon, and with “sectarian tensions and political standoff” still simmering, Reuters reports that the country’s beach resorts are back and packed with revelers. “Until three weeks ago, it seemed that people couldn’t forget the scars of last year’s war. But now Damour is back again,” said Fady Saba, general manager of Oceana resort, referring to the coastal strip near Beirut. The resorts are using fashion shows and concerts, among other things, to attract travelers from Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East, particularly Arabs from Persian Gulf states.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Less Money, More Adventure
by Michael Yessis | 08.10.07 | 2:54 PM ET
Lisbon, Portugal (pictured) and the rest of Europe are top of mind this week—particularly Europe on the cheap. The Big Apple, the debut of Virgin America and the Island of Tiki round out the Zeitgiest. Have a look.
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Lisbon, Portugal
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
10 Ways to Keep Europe Within Reach
* We’ve unearthed some fine tips, too.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
10 Ways to Keep Europe Within Reach
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
Beautiful Places with Tony Farley
* This week: North Dome
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
James Teitelbaum: Escape to the Isle of Tiki
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
New York Shopping: The Best of the Big Apple
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
How I Scored a New U.S. Passport in One Day
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Virgin America Returns the Frills to Flying
U.S. State Department’s New Cultural Ambassadors: Ozomatli
by Jim Benning | 08.02.07 | 2:05 PM ET
Heading…
Burj Dubai Soars Past Taipei 101
by Julia Ross | 07.23.07 | 1:46 PM ET
From the rooftop of my apartment building in Taiwan, Taipei 101 (pictured) blinks reassuringly in the distance, hovering just above the hills. Some nights it glows blue and gold in its upper reaches; other nights it’s green and purple. I’ve whiled away hours on the building’s fourth floor, home to the city’s best English bookstore, and spent New Year’s Eve watching fireworks explode around the skyscraper’s edges. The spectacle is guaranteed to net Taiwan much-coveted global exposure on CNN. The world’s tallest building is always within sight, but I didn’t realize I held such affection for the place until I read Saturday that the Burj Dubai had unofficially stolen Taipei 101’s towering thunder. Taiwanese have long known the day would come; still, I felt my stomach drop.