Postcript: blogging and Blogspot in Syria

Another postscript to my posts of a couple of weeks ago on blogging and Blogspot in Syria (see my last post and the postscript before it): after uploading the posts below, I received loads of emails and tweets from around the world, from Syrians asking everything from why I couldn't go to an internet cafe where it's often possible to access Blogspot (sorry, we were working 16-hour days so the only time I had to email was early morning or late at night at our hotels) to foreign and local censorship/IT experts wanting me to provide them with a list of every hotel we stayed at and the hotel's proxy info (apologies again, but one of the things we were doing in Syria was reviewing hotels, so we were moving hotels every second day, and I had enough to do as it was). Based on my recent experience ('recent', because I've never had time to blog on previous trips to Syria), my advice to you is if you're planning to travel to Syria and blog regularly, do your research first but research widely: there are plenty of experts eager to share their opinions (indeed, some rather aggressively) and there is a lot of contradictory advice around (even among the self-proclaimed "experts") about blogging and Blogspot in Syria, from people both outside and within Syria. I found that rarely did opinions align and every expert was able to cite a wealth of research on the subject. Once again, I apologise for not having time to test out your theories and suggestions, but I'm a travel writer who also blogs, rather than a travel blogger who also publishes - and that's likely to stay that way until someone pays me as much to blog as I earn writing. The paid work - which one charming "expert" referred to as "travel fluff" (rest assured, I took her as seriously as she took me) has to take priority, I'm afraid. So, back to work... or writing nonsense?

Blogging and Blogspot in Syria

A number of people have contacted me via the comments to my post below and on Twitter in response to my appeal for advice after my blog was momentarily blocked in Syria. Shukran jazeelan to everyone for their tips - much appreciated! Unfortunately (or fortunately), I'm a busy travel writer with a lot to do here in Syria at the moment - boutique hotels to review, restaurants to try out, artists and musicians to interview - and blogging is not high on my list of priorities at the moment sadly, so I don't have time to test out all your suggestions now. In addition to my lack of time, the intermittent and excruciatingly slow internet access at a lot of the hotels we're staying at means I simply can't get on the net when it's convenient nor wait for photos to upload at the usual size I post them. And I don't have time to keep running back to the Four Seasons, which must have the fastest internet access in town. Quite a few people have written to me about blogspot being banned here and forwarded links supporting this (sorry, but I don't have time to respond to everyone), however, just for your info, I can access a large number of blogspot blogs that I usually read from other parts of the world from Syria (and I was able to access them on previous trips here too), including many listed on my own blogroll, and Syrian-based blogspot blogs that I don't normally read but have discovered on this trip. People are asking me what ISPs I am using and am I using proxies. As I am reviewing hotels, I am moving hotels every couple of days so I'm using whatever ISP the hotel is using and whether the hotel has a proxy or not, I'm sorry but I don't have time to investigate, and would rather be talking to a singer such as the wonderful Rasha Rizk than an IT guy. Hoping you understand.

Access momentarily denied

My harmless little blog Cool Travel Guide has been blocked in Syria for a whole 24 hours - I was confronted with the dreaded "Access Denied" sign when I tried to update it yesterday. But, there's been a miracle, or someone came to their senses, and now I can access it. I realize my mistake - my Syrian advisors tell me it's because I used the 'I' word, which I'm not about to use again, so guess all you like. So, how did it get unblocked? Did the censors actually read the content and realise I was a 'friend' of Syria's? Just a travel writer who writes about places she loves and stays clear of politics? Or was it that the Minister for Information and her staff, who were staying at the same hotel as us last night, overheard my loud complaints to the general manager this morning? Either way, I can post for the moment, but if you don't hear from me again, you'll know why. Come and follow me on Twitter instead.

Post-script: this post and my tweets on Twitter generated scores of responses via email and Twitter about blogging in Syria. Most were friendly messages from Syrian bloggers, IT experts and officials, with tips on how to get around proxies, using Blogger/Blogspot and other blogging software in Syria, and advice on what's acceptable and what's not regarding blog content. I'm sorry I didn't have time to follow everyone's suggestions - it was an incredibly busy trip with little time for blogging unfortunately - but a huge thanks to everyone who got in touch.

Aleppo's labyrinthine souqs

Aleppo's labyrinthine medieval souq - or rather souqs within a souq - has long been one of our favorites in the Middle East, mainly because it has remained relatively untouched by tourism up until recent years - especially compared to Istanbul's Grand Bazzar and Cairo's Khan el Khalili. It's a place where locals shop for anything from women's underwear to camel meat, as much as backpackers haggle for hookah pipes and harem pants. Great buys include olive soap (buy the soap the locals buy, not the soap packaged for tourists), Syria's famous silk brocades and other textiles, and gutras (men's checked headscarves). These days you'll also find stores and stalls with their eyes on the growing tourist market selling jewellery, carpets, and brass and copperware, and spruikers on corners hustling for sales. But we prefer wandering the back-alleys, where the locals shop for their cheap plastic shoes, spangly fabrics, and children's clothes, offering a far more authentic experience.

Aleppo and our room with a view

Aleppo is Syria's most atmospheric city after Damascus and it's our next favorite destination after the capital, the highlights for us being the medieval souq, the labyrinthine old quarters dotted around the inner-city, and the complex cuisine, arguably the most interesting in the Middle East. The new town with its stylish cafes - currently full of hip young Syrian expat kids home for the summer holidays - is pretty appealing too. We're here to do hotel reviews and a feature on Aleppo's oldest restaurant dynasty, as well as gather content for other stories, so we've been at the Aleppo Sheraton for a few days. While it can't compare in terms of atmosphere to Aleppo's myriad boutique hotels in restored old houses, the hotel's location, slapbang in the centre of Aleppo, mid-way between Al Jdeida and the souqs, is unbeatable. As is the comfort and space of our room, the big desk, and internet access - things that become more important to a writer and photographer on deadline than sleeping under an Ottoman-era ceiling, I'm afraid. Oh, and the views, pictured, are pretty special too.

Abu Shady, the last of Syria's traditional storytellers still tells his tales

One of our many reasons for coming to Syria this time was to interview Abu Shady, the last of the hakawati, or traditional storytellers. We last interviewed him almost two and half years ago when we were here to update our Lonely Planet Syria and Lebanon guidebook - that's the 'current' edition every Western traveller is clutching in their hands here now. (We're not using it ourselves - nor are we using any other guidebook - there's no need obviously after so many trips here, but it's interesting to see how many people have a guidebook *and* a guide - very different to last time when there were far more independent travellers around. Why people need help ordering a meal, I'll never know, but it's something I'm going to ponder in another post.) When we last spoke to Abu Shady he was conscious of his age, depressed that numbers of people attending his performances at Al Nawfara cafe in Damascus' Old City were dwindling, his biggest competition being cinema, TV and the internet, and was grooming his son to take over after he died. Ironically, now his nightly performances are packed (people even phone to book tables) and storytelling is more popular than ever (in line with a resurgence of interest by Syrians in everything old), yet he no longer wants his son to take over. Why? Because the pay is lousy. I guess there's a point artists reach when they're no longer prepared to go hungry (or allow their family to go hungry) for their art. I'll pop up the link to our story soon.

Damascus is Buzzing

The atmosphere in Damascus is electric now, and the streets of the Old City more alive than we've seen them before - and we've been regular visitors since 1998. Summer traditionally sees Syrian expats from around the world returning home to spend time with their families while Damascus has long attracted Gulf Arab tourists escaping the sweltering summer temperatures of the Arabian Peninsula - while it's warm here now (low to mid 30s Celcius), the Gulf is scorching (average mid 40s Celcius), so Syria is a cool escape in comparison. But we're seeing travellers from all over the globe getting lost in the Old City's labyrinthine streets at the moment, including Europeans, Australians and Americans. By the look of their travelling gear - harem pants and hippy attire dominate backpacker wardrobes here - they were expecting a cheap destination. But Damascus now boasts an array of beautiful boutique hotels, an ever-growing number of fine restaurants, a handful of hip bars and stylish cafes, a lively arts and cultural scene, and an increasingly chic shopping area in the new city. We're reporting on all of these for magazines over the next week or two, so I'll try and share a few of our discoveries with you as we go.

Pictured? That's Naranj, a relatively 'new' restaurant by Damascene standards, which was very good - the buzzy atmosphere indicative of that found in the whole city at the moment. Although Naranj is not the best, and don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise - that's a title reserved for Al Halabi at The Four Seasons Hotel, and I'll tell you why in detail very soon.

Goodbye Dubai

We spent our last night in the UAE in Dubai - stuck in a traffic jam, checking into our fully booked hotel, shopping for last minute necessities at busy Dubai Mall - packed with shoppers laden with shopping bags as late as midnight - and strolling the waterfront overlooking the new Burj Dubai, where tables at the outdoor restaurants and cafes were crammed with families, despite the 45 degree heat. It was the same old Dubai - not the 'ghost town' I'd be reading about in the media while we were in Australia. Ironically, summer has historically been the time of year when Dubai is usually a ghost town, when locals and expats who can leave the country for a couple of months evacuate for cooler climates for their summer vacation.

Pictured: the enormous aquarium at Dubai Mall.

Travel with us on Twitter

I might not get much time to blog over the next six weeks as we have a tight travel schedule, bouncing around the Middle East researching stories and doing hotel and restaurant reviews. So why not come and follow me on Twitter @laradunston?

One of the stories I've been commissioned to write is about how Twitter has been embraced in the MidEast and how it's being used. Twitter users are meeting socially at tweet-ups across the region, getting involved in charity work through Twestivals, and using Twitter for social change. If you're a Twitter user based in the UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait or Qatar, or anywhere else around the Middle East, please email me or leave a comment here - I'd love to get in touch with you.

The photo pictured is the workspace of British writer-poet Robert Graves in his former home, now a museum, at Deia on Mallorca. It's the kind of space I'd love to write at. If I didn't live out of my suitcase, that is, and actually had a home in which to write... But who's going to feel sorry for a travel writer, right?

Trip Base travel awards

The nice people at Trip Base recently gave me a little award - well, I was a finalist in their Best Travel Guides category - and I was so busy I didn't even have time to thank them properly (although I did as I was told and put the badge up). So, a big heartfelt thank you, Trip Base - or shukran jazeelan as we say here in the MidEast. If you want to see which other blogs won awards, you can see the full list here and here, and if you want to know more about Trip Base, check out their site.

The picture? That's Mallorca again, and the view from our room at the Maricel hotel.

Where to next?

Well, we're off again. And yet it seems like we'd only just arrived. After five taxing days of sleeping and eating in Barcelona, and before that seven grueling weeks working on a book in Mallorca, the last 12 semi-sedentary days in the UAE have sped by. It's been busy. We had a few days of restaurant reviews, interviews and photo shoots, then time in catching up on loads of writing and planning our next trip from our friend's colossal Abu Dhabi villa, rightly dubbed 'Falcon's Crest'. Picture this: a monumental Arabian villa, sweeping staircase, 20+ rooms, five bathrooms, one of which is nicknamed Hef's (it's all black!), and a gold falcon over the driveway gate.

But, sadly it's all over already and today we're headed back to Dubai to our other 'home away from home', Al Manzil, so we don't miss our early flight to Damascus in the morning. We're trying Jazeera Airways for the first time, and over the next six weeks we'll be testing out a number of low-cost Gulf airlines as we bounce around the region a bit researching stories for in-flights and travel magazines: Syria 2 weeks, Qatar 9 days, Kuwait 5 days, Lebanon 5 days, Jordan 4 days, then back to the UAE again. That's a lot of countries in a short space of time for us with not a lot of time in each place - normally we like to take things a lot more slowly. But it's work, not play: we're doing some feature stories, profiles, and a bunch of hotel and restaurant reviews, as well as having meetings for a couple of book projects we're developing. No, not guidebooks! And for the first time in some years this will be the first trip where we're working on magazine stories only - no guidebooks, thankfully. The last few have really taken their toll... but who's going to listen to a travel writer complain, huh?

More on Mallorca... another day

My scheduled posts on Mallorca didn't go up as hoped, so I'm going to save my best boutique hotels and best restaurant lists for another day, as I have some packing to do... I will post them over the next week or so, though, I promise. Especially as I've heard that UK travellers are now scrambling to get away from the dismal weather, and naturally, many are heading to Spain. For now, I'll leave you with a final pic that might entice you away...

Mallorca’s most appealling beaches, part 2

And here are some more of Mallorca's most stunning beaches (my favorites anyway), where you can soak up some sun, work on that tan, and have a wade in the calm sea; continued from part 1 (below):

* CALA TORTA – a beach beloved by locals and expats and popular with travellers on driving holidays, Cala Torta is reached by a winding road through a national park; turn-off just out of Artà on the road to Capdepera. Although the road was recently sealed, there’s still a very rocky, dirt section near the end. There’s a small beach bar and lifesavers, but no toilets, so watch where you step when walking over the sand dunes!

* CALA MONDRAGO – in the south near Santanyi, these two adjoining sandy coves boast perhaps the clearest water of any of Mallorca’s beaches; while the first one gets crowded, the second cove is quieter.

* CALA D'OR - you'll find one of Mallorca's prettiest beaches, with aquamarine water that looks especially lovely in the late afternoon, just in front of the hotel of the same name. Surrounded by low cliffs and white Ibiza-style houses belonging to affluent Spaniards from Barcelona and Madrid, aside from hotel guests, it's pretty much local-owners and wealthy holiday-makers. This is a beach that's worth checking into the hotel for.

* CALA SANT VICENÇ – several coves surrounded by rocky sandstone cliffs where the local teens like to lay their towels on the rocky ledges, flirt, and dive from the rocks. Far from unspoilt though, and the characterless town is comprised of little more than hotels and holiday houses. Don’t stay here, do a day trip instead.

* PORTO CRISTO – this fine beach has one of the loveliest settings, in a bay embraced by low cliffs, and on a day when the sea is sparkling diamonds, and kids are diving off the swimming pontoons, it can seem like one of the most stunning beaches in the world. This is a touristy town, though, with the road running along the beach lined with takeaway food places, generic restaurants, and souvenir shops. There are far worse places to spend a holiday on Mallorca though.

What have I left out? What are your favourite Mallorcan beaches?

Mallorca’s most appealling beaches, part 1

Mallorca became one of Europe’s most popular summer destinations for a reason. There’s no denying the island boasts stunning beaches. Unless you have a boat, though, it’s impossible to escape the crowds; don’t believe anybody who tells you any different. Even beaches proclaimed by locals as Mallorca’s most off-the-beaten-track were crowded when we recently went to investigate. Don’t even think about Magaluf, Palma Nova or Cala Millor, these are the spots to lay your towel – or rent a sun-bed!

* ES TRENC – for many sun-worshippers, this is Mallorca’s most sublime stretch of sand. Popular with naturists, this long, skinny beach is certainly a beauty, with pristine, aquamarine water and snowy sand. Reached by dirt roads and tracks through small sand dunes, it may not be the easiest beach to get to, but it still gets crowded.

* TRAMUNTANA MOUNTAINS – while you’ll need a boat to get to the best swimming spots on the spectacular coast skirting the majestic Tramuntana mountain range, there are some alluring beaches that can be reached by skinny tortuous roads, including Cala de Sa Calobra and the slightly more accessible, Cala de Deià. While it's not an easy drive to reach them (especially Sa Calobra), and it’s mindboggling how buses get here, they get very busy and it’s a long hot walk from the car park in summer.

* PORTO COLOM – several tiny crescent-shaped sandy beaches on an attractive bay; they’re miniscule but picturesque, backed by pine trees, with casual beach cafés overlooking the water. A marina and fishing town with cute fishing sheds beneath colourful houses, and good restaurants and bars, Porto Colom is one of the most alluring and laidback of Mallorca’s holiday towns. It's incredibly popular with Germans and Scandinavians who rent houses or dock their yachts at the marina for a while; most signs and menus are in German.

See part 2 for more beaches... pictured? Let me know if you can guess. This one was hugely popular but difficult to locate, and it's in my least favorite part of Mallorca I have to say.