New Airline in Iraq Bans Iraqis

by Justin Glow on

There’s a brand new airline in Iraq fittingly called ExPat Airways, and aside from limiting food and alcohol on the flight, they’re also banning citizens of Iraq, among other countries.

According to ABC News, “Expat Airways said it is only accepting U.S. and Western citizens on its flights as it tries to capitalize on the thousands of U.S. contractors traveling in and out of the Iraqi capital each month.” This is the first airline to restrict passengers based on nationality. Also barred from boarding are Indians, Pakistanis, and people from other non-Western countries, according to the Seattle Times.

The only route runs from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad, Iraq, and costs a whopping $450 each way. [via]

Petra Video

by Erik Olsen on

A friend of mine is in Egypt right now living and learning about Egyptian life, and he seems to be getting out a lot with his camera to do some shooting around the Middle East. I got this link from him the other day and immediately moved the ruins of Petra in Jordan higher up my list of must-do things in life. Let’s say it went from 234 to 94 in the 1000 Things to do Before I Die. Petra means “stone” which will make sense once you see the video. Anyway, I’ll let the vid speak for itself. It is unnarrated, but inspiring. Petra, you may recall, is the place they filmed part of the last Indiana Jones film. Once you see the video, you’ll see why…and you’ll understand why Petra is such a big tourist draw, even if it is hard to get to, as I understand is the case. If you’re interested, here’s a Wikipedia primer on Petra. And here’s one on Cheerios, which has nothing to do with Petra, but is a nutritious breakfast cereal.

Jordan and Egypt

by Erik Olsen on

I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of US and European travel posts lately, so I figured I’d drop one in here about one of the places in the world that really intrigues me: the Middle East. Now ,I did my honeymoon in Israel and Dahab, Egypt, both of which are now dear to me. But I have to say two places I missed that I really want to return to are Cairo and Jordan. I mean, how can you be a fan of the Indian Jones series and NOT want to see Petra? And the pyramids ?So what if they are now a tourist nightmare. I want to see them.

And so here is a piece over at MSNBC.com that takes on both of these places. The writer discuses all the famous tourist spots…it’s a basic travel piece…but somehow I came away with an even more passionate desire to check these places out. What makes the peice a bit more interesting is she visits during the holy days of Ramadan when, she says, people eat like eating is going out of style. But she hits some of the sites that have been part of my lifelist for many years, places like Luxor and, yes, the Pyramids. Then she spirits over to Jordan to see Petrra and once again I was filled with a desire to go. It’s a nicely done bit of work, and if you’re like me, you’ll get inspired all over again to see these ancient wonders.

Don’t Drink the Water

by Iva Skoch on

The famous River Jordan, described as a raging or “violent” river in the Bible, is now just a sad trickle of raw sewage and agricultural runoff. Even on the site where John the Baptist performed the ritual on Jesus, Kasr Al-Yahud (near Jericho), the river is now “an opaque, brown, sluggish” mess.

Apparently, Israeli water diversions, started in the 1960s, have been a large reason for the ninety percent drop in flow over the years. However, Syria and Jordan are also to blame. Now, a planned, joint Syrian-Jordanian “Unity Dam” threatens to do even more damage by stopping the river’s largest tributary, the Yarmuk, and possibly completely drying up the river in parts.

Rather than the “original” spot four miles north of the Dead Sea, most religious pilgrims have had to move their re-enactments of the baptism to Yardenit (near Alumot, near the Sea of Galilee), over 60 miles away to the north, to the only clean-water spot: a lonely 3km stretch on the 200km river.

Racing Chariots in Jordan

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s one of those rather odd posts that make you do a double-take just before you say, yeah, that’s actually rather cool.

A young Swede named Stellan Lind has gone to Jordan to recreate chariot races for tourists. Lind is a former executive in the pharmaceutical industry who was so entranced by the chariot scenes in the film Ben Hur that he headed to the Middle East and petitioned the government to allow him to establish a company that does recreations of the chariot races amid the ancient ruins of Jaresh, Jordan.

The show is known as “The Roman Army and Chariot Experience” or simply by its acronym RACE and features former Jordanian soldiers who play gladiators and compete in chariot races. Lind (perhaps a bit full of himself) oversees the races wearing a toga and a purple sash. He has yet to bring together lions and Christians, but perhaps it’s only a matter of time. There is also a story about it on NPR.