Middle East thoughts

Hi everyone. Sorry for being in hiding for the past few months. After Chiang Mai, I had a great time in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Japan before leaving for the Middle East at the beginning of June. And since then, I've been in Jordan, Sinai Egypt and I am now in Israel.

So far I've been pleasantly surprised at how friendly the Arabs have been (though I've been told that western women get a different reception). The locals I've met are always ready to stop for a chat and eager to point you in the right direction if you're lost. Of course, this doesn't stop them from trying to sell you something, but an "I'm not interested" gets a well-meaning smile.

But other aspects of this part of the world have been disappointing. The main disappointments have been in the areas of cleanliness and food, which is especially painful after spending time in Asia in general and Japan in particular.

And Israel is expensive! After spending $0.25 to $0.50 for water and soda, it's painful to come here and have to spend $1.50-$3.00 for the same. And food is pretty expensive today. In fact, I've been spending about as much on lunch in Israel as I did for accomodation, food and fun for a day in Egypt.

That's it for now. As I've promised (and not lived up to) before, I'll try and post more in the future.

PS - My next stop is Turkey. I'll be leaving this Saturday.