Ahlan wa Sahlan,

This year, my love of travel combined with my pursuit of a Masters degree in Islamic studies led me to the Middle East. From the second of September until the eighth of October, I traveled through Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank and made a short stop in Jordan. For the first four weeks, I was based in Damascus where I took Arabic classes through the Goethe Institute. During this time, I lived in the Christian quarter of the old city and made numerous small trips on weekends (and occassionally on school days). When my course ended, I set off from Damascus to Jerusalem in order to see a friend and spent 8 days in Israel and the West Bank.

Here you'll find a map of my travels, the posts I made while on the road and some additional information and pictures.

Chirol's posts from the Middle East: 1. Syria here I come 2. Greetings from Damascus 3. Syria Update #2 4. Syria Update #3 5. You Decide! 6. Syria Update #4 7. Lebanon Update 8. Israel and the West Bank Update 9. Israel and the West Bank #2 10. Back in Germany