Volunteers needed to excavate Lawrence of Arabia’s battles

by Sean McLachlan on

A team of British archaeologists working in Jordan is tracing the military campaign of Lawrence of Arabia, and they need your help.

T.E. Lawrence was an English archaeologist turned soldier who capture the public imagination during World War One when he helped the Arabs rebel against the Ottoman Empire. After its disastrous defeat at Gallipoli at the hands of the Ottomans, the British Empire needed some good news from the Middle Eastern front.

The ten-year project started in 2006 and has already studied Ottoman fortifications, the Hijaz Railway (a favorite target of the Arab rebels), and an Arab army base. Besides traditional archaeology, the team is also recording oral histories of communities living near the battlefields. While all veterans of the campaign are dead, Arab culture is very much an oral one and many war stories have been passed down.

The project, run by the University of Bristol, is looking for volunteers for this year. Volunteers will work from November 14-28 in southern Jordan. The cost for participating is a hefty £2,450 ($4,017) but that includes airfare, food, and a three-star hotel.

For more information, check out the project’s website and blog.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Travel writer Q&A: Julia Dimon

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Travel journalist and television host Julia Dimon lives the sort of fast-paced traveling lifestyle that most people, even quite experienced travelers, fantasize about. She’s visited over 80 countries and she’s been featured as a travel expert for countless print, online, radio, and television sources. Dimon’s excitement as a traveler is palpable. I asked her about her background, her move from writing to television, some of her favorite destinations, and her top tips for travelers and prospective travel writers both.

Q: Describe your profession.

A: I’m a travel journalist, host of several travel TV shows and hard core adventuress with a blog called Travel Junkie Julia.

Q: Tell me about your family background as a traveler.

A: My mom is a travel writer. I guess that adventure is in the blood! I had the privilege of traveling with her on assignment when I was growing up. As a family we went to Costa Rica, China, Europe, Cuba. I got the travel bug at a young age.

Q: For years you wrote about travel for the Toronto Star and then for Metro. How did you make your move from writing to television? Do you expect to remain in television or return exclusively to the writing at some point?

A: I started out as a travel writer and columnist, freelancing for many publications. Then, while in Turkey on a round-the-world trip, I met a fellow Canadian travel writer named Robin Esrock, who is now my co-host. Robin thought it would be a cool idea if we had our own TV show. I agreed. He pitched a concept to a production company, who took it to a Canadian-based broadcaster. From there we collaborated and developed a show about the real lives of two young travel writers, under pressure and on deadline. The show is called Word Travels and we’ve shot 40 episodes over three years.

TV, like travel writing, is also in my blood. My Dad is an Emmy-award winning producer, so I suppose it was fitting to blend travel and TV. Getting on a full-time travel show was a combination of luck, timing, my strong reputation as a travel writer and a helluva lot of work. Since filming Word Travels, I have shot a travel series for MSNBC and am hosting a new show with Ethan Zohn (winner of Survivor Africa) for the new adventure network Outside Television. I really enjoy the medium of TV and am moving more into that direction but writing is a part of who I am. I’ve been a writer since I was 12. I wrote movie reviews for a kids page in the Toronto Star for over a decade before moving into the travel section. Writing will always be a part of who I am and what I do.
Q: As travel writers we are often asked about our favorite places. I don’t know about you, but I always find such questions impossible to answer. But I’d like to tweak this question and pose a few variations on the theme: your favorite destinations for beaches, street food, budget travel, splurging, and mass tourism?

A: Beach: Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, is one of my all time favorite spots. Sugar white beaches, amazing fresh seafood and a fascinating blend of Arabic and African cultures against a very cool capital city.

Street food: Thailand has some of the best street food. Steaming dishes of pad thai, green curry, red curry, chili mango and the occasional deep-fried grasshopper make for an interesting and extremely affordable foodie destination. As for street meat, you can’t beat a Toronto hot dog from a street vendor. Grilled sausage topped with a buffet of condiments, fried onions, pickles and bacon bits. Not good for you, but delicious.

Budget-friendly: Laos is one of the most beautiful and most affordable destinations out there. For those travelers who are concerned about making their money last, I suggest forgetting Europe and considering India, Cambodia, Bolivia or Peru.

Splurgeworthy: Jordan is a fascinating country but it’s not terribly cheap. Between spending a night in the desert at Wadi Rum, snorkeling the Red Sea, seeing the skillfully chiseled pink rock in Petra, floating in the Dead Sea, and soaking up the Roman ruins in Jerash, the country has a lot to offer the adventure traveler. You absolutely can do Jordan on a budget, but with so many five-star hotels and fancy Dead Sea spa treatments, it’s more tempting to splurge.

Mass tourism: Does Chernobyl count? Kidding… I was there last summer and I’m still waiting to glow radioactive. I’m a big NYC fan. After all the traveling I’ve done, I think New York is the most vibrant, dynamic city in the world. It’s my Number One city, closely followed by Paris. Number Three is still up for grabs…

Q: Top tips you’d offer to someone wanting to work as a travel writer?

A: I have written some tips for people wanting to break into the travel writing business.

Q: Top tips for regular travelers?

A: Go with the flow. Not everything is going to go according to plan so be flexible and take things as they come. Often the best travel experiences arise from the unexpected. Connect with local people and never turn down an invitation, within reason of course. Safety is obviously your number one priority. The people who know the country will be better than any guidebook and can give you insight into the local culture. Go local – where do local people eat, shop, play? Arm yourself with knowledge, be social and ask everyone you meet for recommendations on cool things to do. Learn some basic local language, try everything once, and always carry toilet paper.

Q: What are your essential carry-on items?

A: Laptop, iPod, all chargers, camera, a bunch of magazines to catch up on world events, an empty water bottle, snacks (almonds, dried fruit), sometimes a blanket.

Q: Where is your next trip?

A: I just got back from a palm tree-piña-colada filled weekend at the Gansevoort Turks and Caicos. Next I’m going on an Antarctic expedition, an 11-day voyage on a luxury vessel from Patagonia to the Antarctic Peninsula. Fjords, icebergs, glaciers and tons of cool wildlife are in my future. After this trip, I will have visited all seven continents. Whoo hoo!

Marriott International to open first luxury hotel in Jordan

by Melanie Nayer on


The Marriott International hotel group will open its first luxury hotel in Jordan in 2013.

The 264-room JW Marriott Hotel Aqaba will sit on the northern beach of the Gulf of Aqaba and provide easy access to top tourist spots including Petra and Wadi Rum. Marriott is boosting the “stylish, contemporary JW Marriott Hotel Aqaba will complement its exterior environs with public areas that offer space, light and excitement. It will feature a wide range of food & beverage offerings, including an informal, vibrant lobby lounge; a pool bar with a covered terrace; an all-day casual restaurant; a specialty steak outlet; a restaurant connected to the marina and a Champions sports bar.”

Other amenities include on-site WiFi and Internet access, an executive lounge, a book shop, spa (featuring a Turkish bath), retail outlets and a business center.

Amazing Destinations That Can’t Be Reached By Car

by Kraig Becker on

Modern transportation has made it extremely easy for travelers to get to just about any place in the world. Each day there are international flights that can take us to the four corners of the globe and modern roads and trains will deliver us to the best sights and monuments to be found at our destination, before whisking us back to a comfy hotel, complete with hot and cold running water, room service and a big comfy bed.

But not all of the world’s great places are accessible by vehicle. There are still some amazing destinations that fall way off the beaten path, that will force us to work a little harder to take in their splendor. The Times Online has put together a collection of these places, which they’ve dubbed “Holidays you can’t reach by car“, with a variety of unique locations that you’ll have to trek, paddle, or both if you plan to ever see them in person.

One of the more intriguing places to make their list is the Source of the Ganges River in India. The famous river which plays such an indelible part of Indian culture gets its humbles start at the foot of the Gangotri Glacier, located in the Himalaya at 12,600 feet in the Garhwal region. Anyone wanting to make the journey should be prepared for a ten day trek that will take them high into the mountains, past ancient caves where Hindu practitioners still meditate in their search for enlightenment.
The Omo River in Ethiopia is yet another interesting destination to appear on this list. The 470 mile long stretch of water drops more than 6000 feet over its length before emptying into Lake Turkana, while passing through rocky gorges and over beautiful water falls, offering up great whitewater in the process. The trip can only be made by raft or kayak, and along the way travelers will encounter crocodiles, hippos, and remote villages that still remain mostly untouched by the outside world.

There are plenty more similar treks, climbs and other adventures on the list as well, offering up great destinations that don’t just fall off the beaten path, they leave that path far behind. But for the adventure traveler, there is plenty to like here, with some ideas for your next trip that you may not even have considered before.

Big in Jordan: How to reenact Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

by Matthew Firestone on

This week, Big in Japan is on vacation in the Middle East, and will be bringing you travel news and happenings from around this often misunderstood region.

With the world premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull scheduled for May 22, 2008, it’s no surprise that the internet is buzzing these days with Indy-related travel themes. After all, who wouldn’t want jet-set across the world in search of mythical treasures, assuming of course that in the end, you get the girl and defeat the Nazis!

Well, considering that today’s column is about Jordan, that surprisingly peaceful speck of a country that is bordered by Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia (there goes the neighborhood!), I thought it best to give into the Indy hype. After all, one of the newly minted New Seven Wonders of the World, namely the ancient city of Petra, happens to be the location of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Interested in reenacting one of the greatest moments in cinema history? Go grab your trusty bull whip and keep on reading.

In the climax of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Joneses, Sallah, and Brody race across the world to reach the temple housing the Holy Grail, which is located in the Canyon of the Crescent Moon in Hatay near İskenderun. You don’t need to be a geography major to realize that Hollywood got a bit carried away with the names, especially since the the temple housing the Grail is a very real place. In fact, we’re talking about the Treasury, which is located in the Siq Canyon in Petra near Wadi Musa.

So, how do you reenact the Last Crusade? Actually, it’s quite simple. Wadi Musa, a small village in the south of Jordan, is the base town for exploring Petra, and home the area’s hotels, restaurants, cafes and tourist-related services. From here, the entrance to the ancient city is just a quick cab ride away.

Petra, a ‘rose-red city half as old as time,’ was hewn from towering rock walls of multi-colored sandstone by the ancient Nabataeans, Arab traders who dominated the region in pre-Roman times. The city’s most iconic building, and the film location of the Last Crusade, is the fabled Treasury or Al-Khazneh, a masterpiece of Hellenistic craftsmanship that is near perfect in size, scope and symmetry. Sadly, the interior of the building is empty, so you can abandon any hopes of falling rock bridges, grail cups and the search for everlasting youth.

The Treasury is approached via the Siq, a long and narrow slot canyon of multi-colored sandstone. In the final moments of the Last Crusade, the Joneses, Sallah, and Brody race down the Siq on horseback with the Treasury to their backs, fading off into the distance. If you’ve brought along your Indy hat and leather jacket, this is where you’re going to want to snap that classic screen shot. Fortunately, the local Bedouins have all seen the Last Crusade a few hundred times, so there is no shortage of horses on hand that can be rented for a small negotiable price!

Sure, it’s touristy, but once you’ve gotten the obligatory Indy snapshot, you can take comfort in the fact that Petra is one of the most stunning archaeological sites in the whole of the Middle East, yet sees a mere fraction of the tourists that swamp neighboring Egypt. So, wear plenty of sunscreen, clean up your memory card and don’t be afraid to call out your favorite Indy lines while trekking across the desert!

Intrigued by the Middle East? Want to know more about this often misunderstood region? Check out previous posts on the top sights in Dubai, a how-to-guide for would-be travelers in the Palestinian West Bank and reasons why Jerusalem is holier than thou.