Destination: Middle East
World Travel Watch: Major Earthquake in Haiti, Road Blocks in Greece and More
by Larry Habegger | 01.13.10 | 12:25 PM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
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Yahoo! BuzzFive Photos: Burj Tower in Dubai, World’s Tallest Building
by World Hum | 01.04.10 | 4:09 PM ET
REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah The Burj Khalifa just opened. At 2,717 feet, it casts a long shadow.
One Night in Palestine
by Cory Eldridge | 12.08.09 | 10:33 AM ET
Photo by Cory Eldridge Cory Eldridge only smokes when he's drunk or in the West Bank. During one tense night in Jenin, he goes through a whole pack.
Political Geography and the Jordanian Gerbil
by Eva Holland | 12.03.09 | 1:38 PM ET
Foreign Policy takes a look at a fascinating study that suggests political boundaries could have an impact on the development of animals living on opposite sides of the line. One of the test cases: Israeli and Jordanian gerbils. From the story:
A second study revealed that Israeli gerbils are more cautious than their Jordanian friends… The agricultural fields on the Israeli side of the border not only create a gulf between habitats and thereby cause an increase in the number of species in the region, but they also hail one of the most problematic of intruders in the world: the red fox. On the Jordanian side, the red fox is far less common, so that Jordanian gerbils can allow themselves to be more carefree.
(Via Kottke)
Photo You Must See: Preparing for the Hajj in Mecca
by World Hum | 11.24.09 | 12:13 PM ET
REUTERS/Caren Firouz Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba inside the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca after morning prayers, and before the start of this year’s hajj pilgrimage.
Astara: ‘The Tijuana of the Caspian’
by Eva Holland | 11.19.09 | 10:55 AM ET
The Atlantic’s Peter Savodnik has a fascinating, brief dispatch from the Azerbaijan-Iran border, where a small Azerbaijani town has become a sort of Sin City for Iranians looking to escape the strictures of the Islamic Republic for awhile. He writes:
Books, DVDs, fashions, and—most important—ideas that are inaccessible in Iran are ubiquitous in Azerbaijan. Iranians line up daily to cross the Astara River to buy and sell jeans, chickens, bras, laptops—and often sex and schnapps and heroin. This commerce, combined with cultural curiosity and shared Azeri bloodlines, has transformed Astara into the Tijuana of the Caspian.
Sometimes a Language Barrier Isn’t One
by Spud Hilton | 11.11.09 | 11:51 AM ET
On the benefits of language barriers in a Tunisian rug shop
World Travel Watch: Monster Shark Off Australia, Deadly Driving Games in Bulgaria and More
by Larry Habegger | 10.29.09 | 10:44 AM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Im Telech’ by The Idan Raichel Project
by Jim Benning | 10.07.09 | 2:07 PM ET
What if the Burj Dubai was in Manhattan?
by Eva Holland | 09.24.09 | 4:26 PM ET
Kottke posts an altered version of the Midtown skyline. Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
Slate Takes a Ramadan World Tour
by Eva Holland | 09.16.09 | 12:02 PM ET
Writer Jason Rezaian has spent time in five different Muslim-majority countries—Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Iran and Turkey—during the annual month of fasting, and in a short essay he reflects on the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences in the ways each one celebrates their shared holy month.
Post-9/11 Airport Security: Do You Know Where Your Dignity Is?
by Eric Weiner | 09.11.09 | 10:20 AM ET
On the intersection of place, politics and culture
Meet the Gaza Surf Club
by Eva Holland | 09.09.09 | 3:30 PM ET
The National has the unlikely story of Gaza City’s surf scene, from its early origins to the ongoing efforts to smuggle new boards in as the old ones break. The Gazan surfers’ main benefactor? A Tel Aviv-based organization called Surfing for Peace. “Surfing is not just the solitary act of standing on a hollowed-out plank on the face of a breaking wave,” Brian Calvert writes. “[T]he culture of the sport breeds an intense solidarity.” (Via The Daily Dish)
Beef Noodles in Taiwan, With a Persian Twist
by Eva Holland | 09.03.09 | 9:57 AM ET
I love a good tale of food cultures colliding—and this mouthwatering blog post from The Atlantic, about a Persian immigrant serving up his own brand of beef noodles in Taipei, certainly qualifies.
Here’s Davod Bagherzedh, the owner-chef of Laowai Yi Pin Niu Rou Mian (Translation: The Foreigner’s Bowl of Beef Noodles), on the key to his recipe:
“If I cooked them the traditional way, I could never compete with Taipei’s other stands, but if I make it with all Persian spices, I’d also have no business. So I import a spice from Iran called bahorat, a 12-spice mixture, and I add that to a blend of Chinese ingredients. It’s different, and people seem to love it.”
Beirut: It’s Hot Again!
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 4:16 PM ET
What do Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton and the members of Keane have in common? According to Global Post, they’re among the celebrities who’ve popped up in Beirut this summer, part of the city’s resurgence as “the party and cultural headquarters of the Middle East” after three years of violence and turmoil. And, happily for the Lebanese economy, the tourists are following in Snoop Dogg’s footsteps—in record numbers.