Destinations
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The People Want the Fall of the Regime…
It’s said that those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it, and collective memory can be surprisingly short. Last week former Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi slipped into something more comfortable than his usual freshly pressed military dress uniform, determined to look his best civilian self for next month’s Presidential elections. It’s perhaps…
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Sri Lanka
The LTTE, or Tamil Tigers, were routed by Sri Lankan government forces in May 2009. On the back of a later 2009 visit the following piece was originally published by The Sunday Herald in April 2010. Apologies for the ‘kilt’ on the story, but in the light of Sri Lanka’s recent Commonwealth Summit I thought…
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Egypt – it’s all about the long game…
A couple of weeks ago I found myself in discussion with a UK-based lawyer, a frequent business traveller to Cairo, who sought to make sense of Egypt’s incomplete 2011 revolution, and its recent rather more emphatic military coup. ‘There were people in Egypt, ordinary professional people, women, minorities – Copts and others. They went to…
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Tunisia – Desert Dreams
‘After the revolution we thought all the young people will have jobs. But it’s just the same.’ exhaled Walid. We walked on through the dunes, Walid barefoot, wearily leading the camels, our happy band of trekkers following. 100km across a sandy finger of the Sahara’s Grand Erg Oriental lay our destination, the fort and oasis…
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Bulgaria – Land of the Lev
Until recently Bulgaria was pushing hard to embrace all aspects of the European Union, including adoption of the common currency, the Euro. That was then. The Euro zone crisis has forced a reassessment. As with many former Eastern Block states the post Communist honeymoon has long been overtaken by the harsh daily reality of free…
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Driving to Aleppo
In November 2011 as part of the Petra Challenge I drove from Newcastle to Jordan, crossing from Turkey into Syria and staying in Aleppo. Later, continuing onwards via Beirut and Damascus to Amman. Driving a British car across Syria’s land border is at the best of times potentially problematic. In the middle of a period…
The Irresponsible Traveller 