Lamu is a town, port, and island in the Indian Ocean off the East African coast, 240 km northeast of Mombasa. A former Persian, then Zanzibari, colony, Lamu Island rivaled Mombasa until the late 19th century as an entrepôt for gold, spices, and enslaved people. The town of Lamu, the...
We stopped at the Umm Ar Rasas site, which spans the expansive ruins of Kastron Mefaa (mentioned in the Bible as the Roman military outpost of Mephaath). The ruins encompass four churches (including the Church of Lions, with impressive namesake mosaics) and the city walls. Arches rise...
We spend one day exploring ancient Petra, which lies half-hidden in the wind-blown landscape in southern Jordan. It is often deemed one of the most beautiful archaeological sites in the world. Inhabited since prehistoric times, this Nabataean caravan city, situated between the Red Sea and...
We arrived at the site (Bethany Beyond the Jordan, 🎟️ 12 JOD) around 4 pm, and it was closed already, so we just parked off the road behind some bushes. In the morning, we took a covered walking trail that meanders past ancient steps down to the original water level and the sparse...
As-Salt was the region’s administrative center during Ottoman rule. It was built on three hills: Qala’a, Jada’a, and Salalem. The town has never experienced an intense wave of modernization and retained much of its historic charm. Today, much of Salt’s downtown is a living museum of...
The guard at one of the best-preserved desert buildings of the Umayyads explained frescoes to us, which was our highlight of a trip into the Eastern Desert. The little castle is part of a much greater complex that served as a caravanserai, bathhouse, and hunting lodge. It is renowned for...
Our next stop today was Qatar’s first and only Unesco World Heritage site, which appeared in the desert as if out of nowhere. The impressive structure, built in 1938, has four striking towers and stands alone in a sea of sand. Inside are cabinets of artifacts containing pearl...
We arrived in Bahla late in the afternoon and parked just in the middle of town next to one of the oldest fortresses in the country, the 13th-century Bahla Fort. It is located 40 km away from Nizwa in the Hajar Mountains. It was built by the Bani Nebhan tribe, who dominated the area from...
Today, we drove to a highly atmospheric site of “beehive tombs” in Al Ayn village. This string of tombs is arranged along a low, russet-colored ridge against Jebel Misht that towers behind. Little is known about the tombs except that they were constructed between 2000 and 3000...
Our first, and for some time, last destination in UAE was Al Ain. We stopped here for a day on the way to Oman. Fed by natural springs and set amid date palm plantations, Al Ain was once a vital pit-stop on the caravan route between Oman and the Gulf and is the birthplace of the United...