Articles from this Category
22 June 2026
Bosphorus cruise We woke at 0545 and had the whole day today to enjoy Istanbul. As we’ve been here often and recently, we didn’t feel like chasing sights or repeating them. While I love island-hopping by public ferries to the Princes Islands, that was something we had done several times too. Kim had not cruised […]
21 June 2026
Above: Our cheap but awesome flight. Walking to the airport We set the alarm for 0615 and left the Tune Hotel at KLIA Terminal about 30 mins later, and walked to the airport terminal to get airside. Unfortunately, I misdirected Kim to the manual immigration desks when he could have used the kiosks. Regardless of […]
14 November 2025
Dubai Marina I had set the alarm for 0640 so I could go explore before it got too hot. Yes, it’s November but the temperatures are still on the warm side in the sun. I felt groggy upon waking even though I wake at 0400 in Beirut. After the hotel buffet breakfast, I took the […]
13 November 2025
Leaving Beirut I woke a little later today at 0500 instead of 0300, which is still good as I have a long day ahead, flying to Dubai at 1155 with the intention of exploring there till late at night. Checking out of the hotel at 0730, I ordered a car which got me to the […]
12 November 2025
Above: Temple of Bacchus. Note the person on the extreme left, for scale . Getting to Baalbek Today, I make my fourth visit to Baalbek, a place that’s very special in all my travels. It started with a short taxi ride at 0645 to Cola station. It was an awfully long wait from 0700 till […]
11 November 2025
Tripoli Railway Station I woke at 0300, which is good for adjusting back to East Asia. I dozed for a while and headed out at 0630 by foot to Mina, which is Tripoli’s port area nearby. The route took me through a different side of Tripoli which was clean and modern. Some 25 mins later, […]
10 November 2025
Breakfast I had been keeping to roughly Malaysian or Chinese time for much of the trip, but the extra hour time change in Lebanon saw me wake at 0300. I dozed a little before heading out at 0700 to get breakfast at a place that came highly recommended because I’m Malaysian. It’s a fatta shop […]
9 November 2025
Crossing to Lebanon Today, I leave Hama in Syria to cross into Lebanon for my two nights at Tripoli. I had originally planned to just over night but have arrived early, having saved a day in Aleppo few days ago. This is a route I had done twice before in reverse in the days when […]
8 November 2025
Lazy morning I had hoped to make my third visit to Palmyra today but it wasn’t meant to be. I wanted to see what damage had been done during the civil war. Abdullah had appeared to discourage us from going and priced the trip at a prohibitive level. Instead, he suggested a half-day trip instead […]
