Dahab and the Sinai

          Nuweiba: Esther and the Algerian family, Day 29           Dahab: Evening on the Gulf of Aqaba, Days 24 & 25           Sinai: Coloured Canyon detail, Day 27           Dahab: Susan and Amber ride out of town, Day 26           Dahab: The Cotton Bracelet Girls, Day 28 Nuweiba: Esther and the Algerian family, Day 29

The Gulf of Aqaba is not very wide, but it sure is deep. Here on the western shores are the seaside party towns of Egypt. The mountains on the other side are Saudi Arabia. So near and yet so far...

It's hopeless!

          Benghazi, Libya: Peace, Day 13           Cyrene, Libya: The Baths of the Virgins of Astarte, Day 14           Apollonia, Libya: Water supply channel in the customs room by the harbour, Day 14           Tobruk, Libya: Lonely silence, so far from home, Day 15           El Alamein, Egypt: Battle flags in the El Alamein Museum, Day 16 Benghazi, Libya: Peace, Day 13

We've obviously had to give up on any pretense of catching up on the day by day account while we're on the road. We're in Sheki in Azerbaijan as I begin to write this and if we're lucky we'll get to post it from Baku, just before we board a ferry to cross the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan. Obviously, that's a hell of a lot further down the road than Libya!

Since our last post we've passed through Benghazi on the way to the ancient Greek city of Cyrene and its associated port of Apollonia. We've walked in silent reverie amid the headstones of the many who gave their lives in battle for control of the sands of Tobruk, crossed the border into Egypt and done the same at El Alamein.

A picture a day keeps the guilt at bay...

Good times keep on coming :)

No, time doesn't really travel that much slower in the Middle East. We have progressed beyond Day 10 of the trip, and I have the evidence to prove it! (Thanks to Margrete and Jennifer, our favourite geniuses, for the most of these photos.)

We're currently in a beautiful little town in northern Turkey called Amasya and we're yet to dazzle you with tales from Egypt, Jordan and Syria, but I thought some of you might like to see what a fabulous time we've been having.

Catchup Postage: Leptis Magna, Libya

Leptis Magna in the blue spring morning. Our flash visit starts here at the Arch of Septimius Severus on the Via Trionfale which runs down to the harbour on the Mediterranean.

Lucius "Lucky" Septi was Leptis Magna's most famous native son, rising to become the Empire's ruler in 193. He liked to build arches. His good pal Antoninus "Antsy" Pius liked to build baths - you might remember our pictures of the ones he erected in Carthage. Lucky and Antsy were one of history's famous teams and no wonder!