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| Middle East Map |
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| Flag Map of Middle East |
" Love is like war, easy to begin but very hard to stop. All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal "
Middle East Conflicts - the major conflicts in the Middle East include the ongoing conflicts between Israel & Palestine (the longest-running & the most violent disputes in the world, its origin go back to more than a century) & the civil war in Yemen, which is a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia & Iran. Previous major conflicts have included a number of wars between Israel & Arab countries & the Lebanese Civil War. Hence when you are travelling or on transit in the Middle East in 2026, there is always an element of risks so pray hard that from beginning to the end of your trip, you have a soft landing back to your own country & not stuck in any of the Middle East airports & wonder why !
Arab Spring (2010) - a series of pro-democracy anti-government protests, uprisings & armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010's. It began in Tunisia. I am glad that I made a right decision to go ahead with my 1st visit to Middle East in Oct 2008 as in a matter of 2 to 3 years after that, the social-political landscape in some Middle East had made a drastic turn from good to bad !
Iran Wars (2025 & 2026) - the region experienced a 12 Day War in June 2025, a US-Israel strike on Iranian nuclear facilities followed by a massive conflict with Iranian strikes across the Gulf states & severe maritime instability in the Strait of Hormuz. I was fortunate to do a solo visit to Iran in March 2018 covering the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Persepolis, Qazvin, Shiraz & Yazd.
Here goes my story " From courage & curiosity to memory in Middle East countries " - The Middle East generally includes 15-18 countries across Southwest Asia & North Africa, primarily spanning the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant & Iran. Key nations include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Türkiye, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Cyprus, Yemen & Bahrain. To date, I had visited a total of 7 Middle East countries ie Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Oman, Syria, Türkiye & UAE (todate, a total of 4 visits to Middle East). I was in Kuwait International Airport sitting lounge for 7-8 hours awaiting a transit flight to Amman City, Jordan in 2008, but no luck of catching a glimpse of Kuwait cityscape, so near yet so far ! In Oct / Nov 2025, I was on a transit flight (Kuala Lumpur > Baku, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia > Kuala Lumpur) at the Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar (each transit was approx 3 hours of waiting), I was very impressed with this world best airport & the state of art facility but it was just a 3 hour glimpse / sightseeing inside the airport, not Doha cityscape ! I hope the Iran war could end soon that one fine day I could show up in the major tourist cities of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar & Saudi Arabia.
My 3 free & easy solo visit + 1 package tour to Middle East countries:
- Oct 2008 - Jordan, Syria, Türkiye & Egypt
- Jan 2018 - UAE & Oman
- March 2018 - Iran
- Nov 2018 - Türkiye
1) My 1st visit to Middle Est countries (Sept 2008) - my 37 days free & easy solo visit to Jordan, Syria, Türkiye & Egypt. A steep learning curve for me to learn more about the geography & history of the Middle East region, the observation & study (via reading materials) of places, people & environments covering both physical landscapes (landforms, climate) & human activity (cultures, urbanisation, trade); but there was a little fear in me undertaking this backpacking trip as there was a gradual build up of social-political tension in some Middle East countries & later led to a sparking of an unfortunate incident of Arab Spring in Tunisia on Dec 2010 & spread on to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria & Bahrain !
The Challenge - Overland crossing from Jordan > Syria > Turkiye & return.
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| Amman (Jordan) > Palmyra > Homs > Aleppo (Syria) > Cappadocia > Istanbul > Canakkale Selcuk > Bodrum (Türkiye) |
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| Return Journey Bodrum > Pamukkale > Antakya (Türkiye) > Aleppo > Damascus (Syria) |
The Challenge - Ferry crossing from Aqaba, Jordan > Nuweibaa > Cairo, Egypt & return
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| Amman City > Wadi Musa / Petra > Aqaba (Jordan) > Nuweibaa > Cairo (Egypt) |
Travelling atmosphere prior to the Arab Spring was generally calm & peaceful hence my 1st visit to 4 Middle East countries covering Jordan, Syria, Egypt & Türkiye happened in Sept / Oct 2008 was overall pretty smooth & easy going though there were isolated incidents of suicide bombing reported near border check points ! I knew noughts about Jordan & Syria then, it was the UNSECO sites of Petra (Jordan) & the thousand year old city of Damascus (Syria), The Pyramid of Egypt & Istanbul of Türkiye that motivated me to work on a 37 days travel plan (travelling solo) & showed up in major touristy places of Jordan, Syria, Türkiye & Egypt ! I was travelling without a Sim card, no mobile phone & use of GPS to guide me to each of the city destination albeit using sign language & showing the address of my hostel to locals or passer-by for guidance seeking the right direction ! Then I realised that travelling solo is like you are an "one man army" looking after your own food, transport & shelter hence I had this feeling "traveling solo means getting to know the real you better" or keep dreaming of the places you yearn to see & adopt the approach of waiting for someone to travel with you, you may end up waiting a life time ! As this was my 1st backpacking / free & easy overseas visit, it was a real test of my mental, physical & spiritual strength & also an inter play of these 4 elements ie courage, curiosity, can-do spirit & building confidence, the sum of all these augured well for my subsequent solo travel to Europe, Russia, China & South East Asian countries !
Courage was probably the main driver in motivating me to visit these 4 Middle East countries, what an excellent outcome after seeing The Pyramid (Cairo); Damascus & Palmyra (Syria); Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus, Pamukkale (Türkiye); Petra & Jerash (Jordan) ! Another factor was curiosity that led me down a road that was less travelled as a 1st time backpacker !
Travel itinerary (Jordan): Amman City > Jerash > Amman City; Amman City > Madaba > Mt Nebo > Dead Sea Beach > Amman City; Amman City > Wadi Musa / Petra > Aqaba (ferry crossing from Aqaba > Nuweibaa, Egypt)
1) Amman City (Capital), Jordan
2) Dead Sea, Jordan
3) Madaba, Jordan
4) Mt Nebo, Jordan
5) Jerash, Jordan
6) Wadi Musa / Petra (UNESCO), Jordan
7) Aqaba, Jordan
Travel itinerary (Syria): Amman City (Jordan) > Damascus > Palmyra > Homs > Aleppo (Syria)
1) Damascus (Capital), Syria
2) Palmyra (UNESCO), Syria
3) Homs, Syria
4) Aleppo, Syria
Travel itinerary (Egypt): Cairo > Alexandria > Cairo; Cairo > Port Said / Suez Canal > Cairo; Cairo > Luxor > Aswan > Abu Simbel > Cairo
1) The Pyramid, Cairo (Capital), Egypt
2) Luxor, Egypt
3) Abu Simbel, Egypt
Travel itinerary (Türkiye, free & easy Oct 2008): Aleppo (Syria) > Cappadocia > Istanbul > Cannakale > Selcuk / Ephesus > Bodrum > Pamukkale (Turkiye) > Aleppo (Syria).
1) Cappadocia, Turkiye
2) Istanbul, Turkiye
3) Cannakale, Turkiye
4) Selcuk / Ephesus, Turkiye
5) Bodrum, Turkiye
6) Pamukkale, Turkiye
My free & easy solo visit to Fes, Morocco visit in May 2012 - while touring Spain & Portugal, I took a ferry crossing from Tarifa, southern Spain, to Tangiers, Morocco followed by a train ride & visited the UNESCO site of Fes, a 3 hours by flight to Tunis, capital of Tunisia. Don't cry for me, my dear Tunisia for missing the boat to visit your beloved country as the social / political situation in your country was unstable then !
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| Tunisia, North Africa |
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| Algeciras, Spain (2012) |
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| Tarifa, Spain (2012) |
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| Fes (UNESCO), Morocco (2012) |
International North - South Transport Corridor INSTC (Russia > Azerbaijan > Iran > India) - While watching the current Iran War commentary in YouTube, there was a commentary on the strategic importance of INSTC, a 7,200km multi-mode network connecting India, Iran, Russia & Central Asia, the corridor connects India Ocean & Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Islamic Republic of Iran & then connect to St Petersburg & North European via Russia Federation. When the Iran War is over & peace returns in the region, you may consider to do an off the beaten track back-packing trip starting from Moscow (Russia), > Baku (Azerbaijan) > Teheran (Iran) & end in Mumbai (India) & make a few stopovers along the way ! Over the years, in separate visits & timeline, I was fortunate to have visited Moscow, Baku, Teheran & Mumbai, - well done, KM (I am a lonely planet style traveller, I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious !)
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| Moscow > Volgograd > Astrakhan (Russia) > Baku (Azerbaijan) > Tehran > Bandar Abbas > > Chahabar > (Iran) Mumbai (India) |
1) Moscow, Russia (May 2009)
The strategic important of Suez Canal, Panama Canal & Strait of Hormuz - a case in point, as of early 2025, the Suez Canal is experiencing significantly reduced traffic, handling roughly 32 ships per days (compared to hundreds of ships plying through during the good old days) down from pre-conflict levels of around 76+ ships, due to the security concerns, in the Red Sea, roughly 60% of ships are avoiding the route, opting to travel around the Cape of Good Hope, causing a 60% drop in revenue for Egypt ! Due to present Iran War (Feb / March 2026), the Strait of Hormuz suffered the same fate due to a blockade by Iran & this has gravely affected the whole world's economy especially for countries heavily dependent on oil & gas imports !
I had a glimpse of the busy Suez Canal when I visited the busy Port Said by bus from Cairo & return (2008).
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| Port Said, Egypt |
Although I have not come close to visiting the Panama Canal (Central America) & Strait of Hormuz (Iran) but over the years, I had the opportunity of undertaking a number of ferry & overland crossings (no security concerns but challenging!) in Europe & Asia !
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| Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf & Gulf of Oman |
Ferry Crossings
- Aqaba, Jordan > Nuweibaa, Egypt via Gulf of Aqaba (Oct 2008)
- Talinn, Estonia > Helsinki, Finland via Gulf of Finland (May 2011)
- Turku, Finland > Stockholm, Sweden via Baltic Sea (May 2011)
- Calais, France > Dover, England via English Channel (May 2012)
- Ancona, Italy > Spit, Croatia vis Adriatic Sea (May 2014)
- Johor Bahru, Malaysia > Pulau Batam, Indonesia via Singapore Strait (July 2014)
- Dalian, Liaoning > Yantai, Shandong via Bohai Strait, China (Aug 2015)
- Phu Quoc Island > Rach Gia, Vietnam (Feb 2026)
- Aman City, Jordan > Damascus, Syria > (Sept 2008)
- Talinn, Estonia > St Petersburg, Russia (May 2009)
- Irkutsk, Russia > Ulan Bataar, Mongolia > Erlian, China (June 2009)
- Padang Besar, Malaysia > Bangkok, Thailand; Udon Thani, Thailand > Vientiane, Laos, Boten, Laos > Mohan, China (Feb 2025)
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| Teheran > Isfahan > Shiraz > Persopolis > Yazd > Teheran > Qazvin (Iran) |
Iran - the Islamic Republic of Iran is also known as Persia, borders Iraq to the west, Türkiye, Azerbaijan & Armenia to the North West, the Caspian Sea to the North, Turkmenistan to the North East, Afghanistan to the East, Pakistan to the South East & the Gulf of Oman & the Persian Gulf to the South; with a population of over 92 million, Iran ranks 17th globally in both geography size & population & is the 6th largest country in Asia, the country is divided into 5 regions with 31 provinces, Tehran is the nation's capital, the largest city & financial center; Iran is one of the world's oldest continuous civilisations with settlements dating back to 4,000 BC.
1) Natural landscape of Iran
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| National Museum of Iran |
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| Golestan Palace, Teheran, Iran |
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| Dubai (UAE) > Muscat (Oman) |
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| Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi, UAE (2018) |
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| Muscat, Oman (2018) |
- There comes a time
- When we heed a certain call
- When the world must come together as one
- There are people dying
- Oh, and it's time to lend a hand to LIFE
- The greatest gift for all
- We can't go on
- Pretending day by day
- That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
- We are all a part of God's great big family
- And the truth, you know, love is all we need
- We are the world
- We are the children
- We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving
- There's a choice we're making
- We're saving our own lives
- It's the time we'll make a better day, just you & me
- When you're down & out, and there seems no hope at all
- But if you just believe, there's no way we can fall
- Well, well, well, well let us realize
- Oh, that a change can only come
- When we stand together as one
The Present (stakeholders or world super powers) - Mirror Mirror on The Wall, who is The Fairest of Them All !
War or Peace, all the world's children enjoy watching a Donald Duck show; given the opportunity, travellers could like to have a taste of Peking duck, Russian pudding, Ukraine braised pork, Jewish diaspora cuisine & Persian food & dates. So live & let live for we all deserve freedom, happiness & enjoy eating ! May peace prevail on this earth !
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| Harbin Provincial Museum, Heilongjiang, China (2011) |