Intrepid Arabia: Imaginative Travels in Arabia - Softcover

Dalrymple, William; Etc.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0953442314 ISBN 13: 9780953442317

Publisher: La Belle Aurore, 1999

Synopsis

A collection of sixteen adventurous stories from the Middle East. The Middle East is the birthplace of some of the most ancient civilisations the world has ever known, and of three of its major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

This collection of short stories takes you beyond the jaded view of the war torn and fundamentalist Middle East of newspapers and television reporting and into the vibrant and challenging countries of Arabia. Lands where the imaginative traveller can still walk in streets which have changed little over generations, yet meet with peoples who are shaping all our futures.

Sixteen internationally known writers including William Dalrymple; Time Outs Peter Carty; Wanderlusts Matt Rudd and BBC Radios Penny Young take you through Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Oman, Turkey, Yemen and the Lebanon.

Whether you are on the road, planning a journey or just reading at home, you will be challenged, entertained and informed.

About this title

Review

Between them, the contributors have spent many decades in Arabia, and thankfully they have collaborated on a classic. May it take you to Dubai duty-free shop and beyond in a spirit of adventure and respect.

-- Simon Calder Travel editor of The Independent & presenter for BBC-2s Travel Show.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

On the Road to Damascus, by Matt Rudd

The rattle of machine-gunfire was all around. A car exploded and a man dressed in fatigues fell wounded from a roof top. Others dived for cover as a helicopter gunner strafed the scene with bullets. I couldnt believe Id come all the way to Lebanon to find the A-team wreaking havoc on my television set. I switched it off and walked to the balcony to watch the noisy bustle of West Beirut instead.

Id been in town for two days and was already confused. On one level, Beirut is a city looking to the West with its trendy bars, smartly dressed students and a casino straight out of Las Vegas. On another, its very, very Middle Eastern. Even today the word Beirut is a synonym for war and the battle scars are still evident. When I asked a Dutch diplomat to explain the complexities of the place, he adapted what was originally a Russian observation; Spend a day in Lebanon and you could write a book. Spend a week and you could only write a chapter. Spend a year and you wont be able to write a word. Nowhere else in the world do you have to step over an anti-tank barrier to get to a Hard Rock Caf.

The paradoxes began at the airport. Three times as many Lebanese live overseas as at home and Beirut has a new, flashy terminal to reflect this international flavour. The scheme to upgrade the gateway to Beirut masterminded by billionaire and former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri symbolises a determination to forget the horrors of the past. Still, I was escorted to the terminal by armed soldiers and when I stepped out the other side the first thing I saw was Haret Horaik, a Shi-ite area known as a recruiting ground for Hezbollah.

Then there is the challenge of getting from the airport to town. Outside the departure area I found myself in the taxi equivalent of the Grand Bazaar. I got rid of the first ten cabbies by claiming I was going with friends. As it became apparent that I had none however, the drivers became more persistent. They laughed when I mentioned buses and one particular enthusiastic driver gave me a well-rehearsed speech on government regulations when I mentioned service or share taxis. So despite my intentions of keeping to a shoestring budget, I found myself paying US$25 for a four kilometre ride in a 1974 Mercedes. Convincing the friendly con-artist to drive me to my hotel was an almost insurmountable challenge.

So you have a hotel? he asked. Yes thank you. Hotel Mushrek. Ahhh. This is not so good. Very expensive. Many dollars. Oh well. Its OK. I very happy to take you to beautiful and cheap hotel of my brother. No, thats very kind but I have a reservation at Mushrek. Im fine. Good then. Special rate its not far. And so it continued.

It is impossible to go to Beirut without any preconceptions, and if you go in search of the clichd war image, its easy to find. The infamous Green Line dividing the Christian East and Muslim West is easily identified by the bullet-riddled buildings and occasional shell craters. Walking along the line, you get a chilling image of two sides fighting each other from apartment blocks little more than 25 metres apart. On the subject of Holiday Inns, PJ ORourke somewhat irreverently asked, Who has not fantasised about blowing one to flinders? In Beirut, they did. The 1975 Battle of the Hotels was scene one of the first outbreaks of violence in the civil war. The Muslims were in the Holiday Inn, the Christians in the Hilton and that was the end of the Lebanese tourism industry.

Today, building sites have replaced bomb craters. Since 1992 the Government has been requisitioning properties in downtown Beirut that survived the war, levelling them and creating one of the worlds largest reconstruction schemes. Despite having read about the Solidere project before I arrived, the sheer scale of it astonished me. The Place des Martyrs, once Beiruts central square, is a series of holes the size of office blocks and is destined to become the new central business district by 2006. Assuming, of course, that the money and peace continue.

Unfortunately peace is not guaranteed. For despite years of war, Lebanons eighteen officially recognised religions are still allied to conflicting political and strategic ambitions. One Englishman who lived in Lebanon for several years described the new face of Beirut as a whitened sepulchre; a beautiful port city concealing a rotting core of sectarian hatred. Others consider that too pessimistic.

Ive spent my life worrying about things that never happened, said Bechara Namour.

Since the end of the war Lebanons answer to Terence Conran has adopted a more optimistic approach, building a string of stylish hotels and restaurants in the exclusive francophile Achrafieh district of East Beirut. Now Namour is expanding along the coast to the Muslim West and is one of many entrepreneurs busily recreating the Riviera chic for which Beirut was once renowned.

I was surprised by this civilised twist to Beirut. The streets of mainly Christian Achrafieh are lined with chocolate shops, interior designers and fashion boutiques. The city is a gastronomic paradise, with the very best of European, traditional Lebanese and many types of Asian cuisine all within easy crawling distance of my hotel. Better still, coffee was never far away surely a major factor when considering the merits of any city.

Beiruts admirable obsession with caffeine gave me many a happy hour sitting, Parisian-style, at pavement tables sipping espresso and indulging in the art of people-watching. My favourite was the Caf de Paris. Somewhat at odds with other more fashionable establishments springing up across the city, it has remained practically unchanged since 1971. Its the kind of place where the staff have to sit at the tables to make it look busy. The piped medleys of Yesterday and My Way ensure customers dont stay long, but the coffee is excellent.

Edition details

• Publisher: La Belle Aurore
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0953442314
• ISBN 13: 9780953442317
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 176