Urban places in Middle East

Do as the Lebanese; take a walk on the seaside promenade. With splendid view of the Mediterranean Sea, it's a great place for an evening stroll when the light turns soft and the air is... well, cooler. Families, young couples and friends hang out along waterfront having ice creams, learning to cycle or simple just picnicking on the pavement. At the small cafes in the west end you can have a puff on a narghile (water-pipe) while watching the pole-sitting fishermen. The afternoon can easily be spend here with people watching and chatting with locals.

Inside the reconstruction of Old Doha, across a parking lot from souq Waqif, lies an enclosure which is filled with camels. Whether this is suppose to be a camel market, or just a camel parking, and whether these camels were just here temporary or are a permanent part of the new "traditional" souq setup along with the patrolling horsemen, we don't know. But if the camels are still there, check them out, for camels are cool.

Hama is a very pleasant city half between Damascus and Aleppo. It was heavily destroyed during the bombardment in 1982 when the military eliminated the illegal Muslim Brotherhood movement. The remains of the old town, though still very charming, can seem as an insult to old towns in Syria since it's just a couple of winding lanes. The gorgeous Orontes River flows straight through the city with clear water and green banks, where squeaking old wooden water wheels (norias) lift water up into the aqueducts. It's a nice base to explore the surrounding countryside, like Apamea and the Beehive house villages.