Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad Al-Wazzan Al-Fasi, An elusive figure in history, just as he exploded onto the scene of Renaissance Europe, he vanished without a trace; his Cosmographia & Geographia de Affrica was Europe’s essential window into North and Sub-Saharan Africa for over 300 years.

“… I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia. I am also called the Granadan, the Fassi, the Zayyati, but I come from no country, from no city, no tribe. I am the son of the road; my country is the caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages.” Prologue, Leo the African, by Amin Maalouf.

According to some historians, Al-Hasan was born in Granada in 1494 CE, just two years after the Reconquista. Others are sticking to the safe side, maintaining that he was born between 1488 and 1494. However, according his own writings it seems he would have been born around 1488 CE. Not too long after that, his family, along with hundreds of Muslim families, relocated as refugees in Fez, fleeing the especially lethal persecution of the Spanish and their inquisition.

Portrait of a Humanist by Sebastiano del Piombo, c. 1520, assumed to be of Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad Al-Wazzan, known in the west as Leo Africanus.

His last name, Al-Wazzan, means the Weigh-master, indicates that they were a commercial family, heavily involved in trades and business. As with most children at the time, he was entered into the greatest centre of learning at the time, the madrassa of Al-Qarawiyyin. There he would have studied Qur’an and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), as well as grammar, rhetoric, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, history, and geography. By the time he reached the tender age of 14 he had earned the title of Qadi (judge), while a student still he worked as a scribe for the local maristan – hospital/asylum.

At 16, he accompanied his uncle on what was to be his first of many diplomatic missions, to the great cities of Gao and Timbuktu, then part of the Songhai Empire, one of the largest Islamic empires in history, on behalf of the Wattasid Sultan Abu Abd Allah al-Burtuqali Muhammad ibn Muhammad. By his mid twenties he had been on missions to North Africa and the Barbery Coast, Istanbul, Arabia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt. He had also extensively covered the Maghreb, both coastal and inland. Source.  He meticulously recorded everything he witnessed and during his diplomatic mission in Istanbul, he met with Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

Capture and Conversion

Upon his return from Istanbul (Constantinople) sometime in 1518, his ship was captured in Greek waters by the fleet Knights of St. John commanded by Pedro Bodiviglia, brother to the bishop of Salamanqua (in Spain), and a high ranking Knight. Recognizing him as a learned man, and seeing his potential, he was presented to Pope Leo X in Rome, in an event that was chronicled alongside other high-profile events on the Vatican calendar that year, becoming an instant celebrity. Source.

 A matter that is highly debated among Leo historians is the matter of his conversion, while western historians see him a willing convert who was given a gentle invitation by the pope, while their Arab counterparts completely refuse that theory altogether and provide that it was just a matter of survival.

Interior of the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and university in Fez, founded in 859 CE.

What probably happened was that his choice was very simple: convert and be part of the papal court, or rot in a dungeon for the rest of your life. The best analysis comes from M. Hajji, who studied Leo and traced his legacy for 50 years, in his Introduction to Wasf Ifriquia “Realizing that he could not live as a Muslim in Italy, he deceptively converted to Christianity (…), a decision we can understand as: “ Whoso is forced to disbelieve after believing, while his heart is convinced of the Faith, (he shall be absolved) but whosoever accepts disbelief willingly, he incurs Allah’s wrath, and there is severe torment for all such people. {Al-Nahl: 106}“*. Source. It was a strategy that meant the survival for many Moriscos (a forcibly converted Muslim) during the Reconquista.

Some riddles might never be solved in our lifetime, or maybe ever. Only Allah knows the sincerity of Al-Hasan’s heart, and whether he converted out of self preservation, or wholeheartedly. Only Allah knows. We only assume the best in his heart and hope that when he died, he did so as a Muslim.

Click here to view the embedded video.

He was baptised by the Pope himself two years after his arrival in Rome in 1520, and was christened after the Pope himself, Johannes Leo de Medicis, as a gesture of high favour. The Pope himself died a year later, and Al-Hasan found himself fleeing to Bologna from the new unfriendly Pope Adrian VI, where he taught Arabic in the University of Bologna and worked on several books, all lost except the Cosmographia & Geographia de Affrica, which he finished in 1526 shortly after returning to Rome under the protection of the newly elected Pope Clement VII.

Cosmographia & Geographia de Affrica

This magnificent encyclopaedia of Africa was written in nine volumes; an introduction with a general descriptions of the geography of Africa, its climate, and the characteristics of its inhabitants and their mannerisms. The next seven volumes concentrated on seven regions, each with its own book: The Kingdom of Marrakech, The kingdom of Fez, The Kingdom of Tlemcen, The kingdom of Tunis, the region of Numidia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sudan, and Egypt. The ninth volume of the book is dedicated to the rivers, flora, and fauna of Africa.

Title page of Johannes Leo Africanus; John Pory (trans. & comp.) (1600). A Geographical Historie of Africa, Written in Arabicke and Italian. ... Before which... is Prefixed a Generall Description of Africa, and... a Particular Treatise of All the... Lands... Undescribed by J. Leo... Translated and Collected by J. Pory. London: George Bishop

The work was published in Italian with the title Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili cheiui sono, per Giovan Lioni Africano in 1550 by the Venetian publisher Giovanni Battista Ramusio. Source. With several translations following the next 50 years, in French, Latin, and one English in 1600. Unfortunately the Latin edition contained many errors and mistranslations, and was used as the source for the English translation. There is speculation that Al-Hasan served as the model for William Shakespeare’s character Othello, published in 1603. Source.

In 1931, while rummaging through the archives of the Vatican and the National Library, Mrs. Angela Codazzi discovered a manuscript which she attributed to Leo. An Italian scholar working in Rome, Mrs. Codazzi found the document among uncatalogued (unidentified) documents in the Biblioteca Nationale de Roma. The discovery revealed that Ramusio, in smoothing the grammar of Al-Wazzan’s text had coloured many neutral details, to make it more palatable to Christian European audiences; French and English translators added further embellishments. Source. Source.

Legacy

Sometime during or after the sack of Rome in 1527 at the hands of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, Al-Hasan, under the cover of havoc and chaos, slipped away back to North Africa, his home. In 1531, German orientalist Johann Albrecht von Widmanstetter, mentioned that he intended to visit the great Arab scholar in Tunis, he mentioned in the preface of his book, Evangelica Syriaca, In the preface to this work, he alluded to the fact that he had returned to Tunis and to Islam after Rome.

This portolano map, drawn in the early 15th century for Charles V, shows the trading empires of sub-Saharan Africa, through which Leo traveled. Below: Leo’s diplomatic missions took him ultimately to Constantinople, where he met with Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE, PARIS / BRIDGEMAN-GIRAUDON / ART RESOURCE.

Whether he returned to Tunis in specific or some other region of North Africa, it is agreed that he died a Muslim, sometime after 1550.

Al-Hasan Al-Wazzan was the first to open up a land that was so mysterious to Medieval Europe; he fuelled their imaginations, and made their world a little bit smaller. And because of that, to this day, the name Timbuktu conjures up a world of exotic lands and riches beyond the wildest of imagination.

“The rich king of Timbuktu hath many plates and sceptres of gold, some whereof weigh 1300 poundes and he keepes a magnificent and well furnished court,”

At 14 he was a judge, and at 16 he went on his first diplomatic mission, and was a full-fledged ambassador before his mid 20s! He was an exceptionally complex diplomat and geographer, in his writings he relayed facts in an unusually neutral manner, and excelled as an ambassador. How much has a life of convenience and luxury taken away from us and from our children.

*مَن كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ وَلَٰكِن مَّن شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا فَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ (النحل: 106)

For more information about Leo Africanus please visit:
www.leoafricanus.com/index.html
http://said.hajji.name/en/book-leo.html (English-Arabic-French)
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200801/a.man.of.two.worlds.htm
http://arabcomments.blogspot.com/2007/01/blog-post_194.html (Arabic)

Most tourists stick to certain locales when travelling, mostly due to their tour operators planning a specific itinerary that does not allow the flexibility for casual sight-seeing, so they end up mostly visiting the usual suspects; the Giza Plateau, Luxor, and Aswan, they might even get a glimpse of Sharm Al-Sheikh. That’s why they are normally referred to as package tourists, they go through the paces, but never really touch most of what makes Egypt what it is; the diversity of its history and its unique natural environment.

Then again, tour operators are not entirely to blame, the previous regime led by Mubarak could’ve cared less about anywhere else in Egypt other than these places, for them, Egypt consisted of handful of locations that they could milk for cash, everywhere else was left for the carrion. They made sure that these tour operators never strayed too far from the path.

A wonder, whether natural or manmade, is defined as: something strange and surprising; a cause of surprise, astonishment, or admiration. Egypt is full of such objects of admiration, wonders that have been either deliberately or unintentionally neglected over the last 30 to 50 years that are finally starting to come into the light, although not a lot of people might know about.

This list is just a small list; only by going off the beaten path when you visit Egypt will you discover more gems.

1. Catacombs of Kom Al-Shoqafa, Alexandria

One of the niches within the Catacombs of Kom Al-Shoqafa. Author unknown.

The Catacombs of Kom Al-Shoqafa in Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, is a three-level underground cemetery complex, dating back to the 2^nd century CE, it lies about 100 feet below ground reached via a large spiral staircase, and featuring dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and other syncretic Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches, and sarcophagi, as well as a large Roman-style banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives of the deceased. It was lost in time, and only rediscovered in 1892.

2. Cleopatra’s Baths, Marsa Matrouh:

Rock formations around Cleopatra's Bath.

A cavern in Cleopatra Beach in Marsa Matrouh served as the royal bath for Cleopatra according to legend; it is a wonder of nature with a touch of man here and there. Inside the cave, there is a skylight and a pool but what makes it special is the way the water flows into and out of the cave from the waves of the Mediterranean. The water flows into the cavern, then it pools in the main area. The waves hit the rocks bringing new water in, if the tide is high enough, the water in the pool is warm and fresh. There are also remains of what used to be an alter on the far wall of the cave.

3. Rashid (Rosetta), Al-Buhayra:

The House of Tikli in Rashid. Author unknown.

After the renaissance of Alexandria in the 19^th century, the city that gave its name to the Rosetta Stone faded away and was almost abandoned by successive rulers, although the British loved it as a tourist destination in the late 1800s. And for good reason, the city was – and still is – famous for its medieval Ottoman mansions, although there are not as many citrus groves as there used to be. It is second after Egypt for Islamic monuments and architecture. It is also where the Rosetta branch of the Nile meets the Mediterranean.

4. Tanis, Ash-Sharqiyah:

The Royal Tombs of Tanis. By Jon Bodsworth.

If you have ever watched Raiders of the Lost Ark; then this is one place you have to visit. In the movie Tanis was said to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant which was hidden in a secret chamber. Tanis was inaccurately depicted as having been destroyed in a sand storm and buried until 1936 when it was discovered by a German expedition outside Cairo. In fact, Tanis was the site of numerous archaeological digs beginning in the 19^th century, involving Flinders Petrie and Auguste Mariette. Source: Wikipedia.

Try to visit around the same time as Ash-Sharqiyah’s annual world famous horse fare in September.

5. The Valleys of Maadi and Hulwan, Cairo:

The cascades area at Wadi Degla. By Ahmed Ali, Wikipedia.

On the periphery of Cairo to the south there are four rarely visited valleys or Wadi as they are called in Arabic. Three of which are in Hulwan: Wadi Houf, Wadi Gerawi, and Wadi Risheid, while the fourth, Wadi Degla is in Maadi, dubbed Egypt’s Grand Canyon. Between the four of them they make for great scenic and picturesque day excursions, perfect for a hike, and due to their age and nature, they are rich in fossils. You can find more about these wadis on PlanetWare, and on the Egyptian Ministry of Environment’s website.

6. The Sannur Cave Protectorate, Bani Sueif:

Stalagmites meet stalactites inside Sannur Cave. By OndřejKučera, the original and more can be found here: http://www.panoramio.com/user/1119448?with_photo_id=21717510

The Sannur Cave Protectorate, 200km from Cairo, takes its name from Sannur Cave. It is a rare type of cave formed by roofing over of a giant surface gour at its spillover point. The cave’s formation dates back to the middle Eocene period about 60 million years.

7. The Tombs of Bani Hassan, Minya:

Details of the wrestling scenes in tomb 15 - Baqet III. Wikimedia Commons.

Up until the early 80s, a lot of Nile cruises started at Minya, it gave tourists a chance to  see some fascinating tombs, mainly the rock-cut tombs of Bani Hassan, with their vivid murals, and the imagery involving a multitude of wrestling positions. If you have a chance, you can also check Tall Al-Amarna and the remains of Akhetaten, the ancient capital of one of the most controversial Pharaohs in ancient Egypt, Akhenaten.

8. Halaib and Shalatin Triangle, Red Sea:

Majesty. Elba National Park, Egypt. By Ganay, Flickr. More of his images can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/ganay_elba/

The Halaib and Shalatin Triangle are mostly visited by the most adventurous, who really want something different. The area is home to two major protectorates: Wadi Al-Jemal National Park, the third largest wadi in the Eastern Desert draining into the Red Sea, and one of the best vegetated; and Elba National Park, located in the southern eastern part of the Eastern Desert. The summit of Jebel Elba is a “mist oasis” where much of the precipitation is contributed in the form of dew, mist and clouds, creating a unique ecosystem not found anywhere else in the country.

9. Wadi Al-Hitan Protectorate, Al-Fayoum:

Forelimb bones, vertabrae, and ribs of a Dorudon atrox in Wadi Hitan. By Tom Horton (Further to Fly), Flickr. More of his images can be seen here: www.flickr.com/photos/further_to_fly/

Wadi Al-Hitan, Valley of the Whales, in the Western Desert, is a paleontological site that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2005 for its hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest forms of whale, the archaeoceti (a now extinct sub-order of whales). No other place in the world yields the number, concentration and quality of such fossils, as is their accessibility and setting in an attractive and protected landscape. Sources: Wikipedia, World Heritage Centre.

10. Al-Gilf Al-Kabir National Park, Al-Wadi Al-Jadeed:

Rock art at Foggini-Mesikawi Cave. By Helen Romberg, Flickr. More of her images can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/helenromberg/

This is the final frontier of Egypt, the closest environment on earth to the surface of Mars. In ancient times the area was inhabited by cattle pastoralist cultures that left thousands of engravings and rock art depicting giraffes, ostriches, lions and cattle, as well as people hunting and swimming. This lifestyle came to an end when the climate changed dramatically, shifting savannah into arid desert around 5,000 BCE, making it a hostile inhospitable place. The closest water source is almost 500km away. At its heart is the Gilf Kebir Plateau a massif twice the size of Corsica, and at its south western edge is Jebel Uweinat – Mountain of Small Springs – discovered and named by Egyptian adventurer Ahmed Hassanein Bey in 1923.

The Egyptian cuisine is not very fancy; it is not as elaborate as French or Italian cuisine and not as heavy as some of the food in the Arabian Gulf, it also doesn’t rely on a massive amount of spices. It is very simple, and this simplicity is what makes it very tasty.

A lot of the food on the menu relies heavily on vegetables and legumes rather than meats, same as it has been for millennia, mainly because veggies are much cheaper than meat. However, you will find that a lot of items on the list below are very much of the meat variety, after all, a balanced diet of meat and vegetables does wonders for the body.

This list is not exhaustive, it might even be missing a thing or two, but it has the ones that are most easily accessible to everyone, whether they were tourists or residents.

Like the drinks and the desserts, the foods chosen can be found all over Egypt north to south, how heavy or different they are depends largely on which region you are in the country. Each region adds its own unique flavour or twist to the recipe.

Bon Appetite.

1. Ful wa Ta’meya (Fava Beans and Falafel):

Ful mudammas and Ta’meya are the original Egyptian fast food; they are a staple of the Egyptian diet. The ful (pronounced: fool) is made of fava beans that are simmered all night in a massive round cauldron-looking pot called Qedra. The ta’meya, or Egyptian falafel is made out of crushed fava beans that is later mixed and made into a paste then fried, unlike Lebanese falafel that is made out of hummus. Perfect for vegetarians.

Left: Ful by Noema Pérez, Flickr. Right: Ta'meya - Falafel - by ~W~, Flickr.

2. Kushari:

Rice, black lentils, spaghetti, round little pasta rings, whole hummus, caramelized onions, and thick tomato sauce. Now toss all the previous ingredients together in one big bowl, add some hot sauce and vinaigrette. Eat. That is pretty much what is in a kushari. Sounds mental but it’s delish!

Kushari.

3. Kabab wa kofta (Grilled meats):

Succulant grilled meat cubes and seekh kebab, typically made out of veal or lamb, they are usually served with bread (baladi) and an assortment of green salads and dips, mostly tahini, baba ghanoush, and tzatziki. They are grilled over charcoal and they are a must for any meat lover visiting Egypt.

Kofta and Kabab, by alanosaur, Flickr.

4. Sugoq wa Kibdah Iskandarani (Alexandrian Sausages and Liver):

Another treat for meat eaters, especially if they like their meat spicy; the sausages are cooked and left to simmer almost without end in a pan of very spicy chili tomato sauce, and the liver is cooked in its own spicy juices, served with Torshi. Should be immediately followed by a sandwich of halawa bel qeshta (sweet sesame paste with double cream) to balance the heat.

Three Sausages sandwiches: Alexandrian, Eastern, and Turkish, surved with Torshi (pickles).

5. Hawawshi (Egyptian meat pie):

Spiced ground beef cooked in a whole loaf of baladi bread, either in a rotisserie oven or baked in a regular oven.

Hawawshi and styrofoam.

6. Shawerma:

While shawerma is not originally a native Egyptian dish, it became so due to Egypt being part of the Ottoman Empire. That said, the best shawerma in Egypt will traditionally be available at Syrian owned sandwich parlours.

Shawerma, by Pius Lee, Daily Travel photos. www.dailytravelphotos.com

7. Fattah:

If you are familiar with Biryani, then this should be easy. It is the same concept: bread, meat, and rice layered one on top of the other with a vinegar and tomato sauce. The bread is, again, baladi bread, and the meat used is mostly beef, veal, or lamb.

Fattah by Enas Al Jamal, Flickr.

8. Sayadeya:

A seafood dish made with white fish, traditionally bass, bluefish, or mullet, cooked with rice and an onion/tomato sauce then baked in a tagine or similar earthenware. If going to Alexandria, Port Said, or Suez and you are a seafood lover then this is the dish for you.

Sayadeya by hashimture, Flickr.

9. Besarah:

Besarah has been known since Pharaonic times and the ancient Egyptians, this vegetarian dish is a celebration of herbs and spices. Made with parsley, dill, leek, crushed fava beans, onions, green bell pepper or hot chilli pepper, fresh green coriander, and spices (dry coriander, dry mulukhiyah, cumin, salt and pepper). When cooked it turns into a green, creamy paste-like dip. Best eaten with baladi bread.

Besarah with caramelized onions.

10. Baladi Bread:

Baladi bread is probably the one food item that Egyptians cannot do without, as a matter of fact, in the 70s the government moved to stop subsidizing the bread and the result were riots that spanned the country and Cairo almost got burned to the ground. The government reinstated the subsidy almost immediately. The bread is flat bread made of whole wheat and bran and traditionally baked in a wood burning oven, now in a gas burning oven. When fresh out of the oven, it is so tasty that it can be eaten whole on its own, and with other foods, it gives them a whole new dimension.

The indispensable Baladi bread.

There has been lots of talk recently in Egypt about tourism, now that the Islamists have come to power in the parliament. Are they going to ban tourism? What’s to become of the 5 million people employed in the industry? What about the alcohol and the gambling and the bikinis?

As with everything in life there are etiquettes to travel and tourism within Islam, these etiquettes are there not to govern or dictate the way we should enjoy ourselves, but rather to temper it. Away from home and being among strangers gives a false sense of freedom to people, and makes them do things that they would otherwise never think of doing in their homeland; non-smokers become smokers, non-drinkers might indulge in a beer or two, and even if they make a different country their own, they are likely to take on jobs that they would normally sneer at home, like driving a taxi.

The main concept in Islam is that everything is HALAL (permitted) unless there is solid proof that it is HARAM (forbidden).

Since Adam and Eve set their feet on earth and we have been in constant motion, the curiosity within us led us to always be on the move, to discover new lands, greener pastures, far away wonders, and to trade in all sort of things. In fact travel is encouraged in Islam; it is a means of contemplation, learning, and earning livelihood.

Within Islam, everything has a higher purpose, and it is this refinement that makes a difference for Muslims in their daily lives, from the moment they wake up till the moment they go back to bed they can gain a higher level of spirituality. Travelling as an activity is no different.

The etiquettes of travel for Muslims are meant to give them the greatest benefit materially and spiritually while travelling, be it for business, pleasure, or a pilgrimage.

However, looking closely at these guidelines, and opening a guidebook you can find lots of similarities, they are not unheard of and they are not meant as a deterrent to roaming the earth and sampling its wonders.

The following guidelines are from the book Journey in Islam by Dr. Abdul Hakim Abdul Latif Al-Saeedy.

Petra, Jordan.

General Guidelines.

• Seeking the Pleasure of Allah:  When travelling one has to have the proper intention; and nothing is better than seeking the pleasure of your creator by turning the act of sightseeing into an act of worship.
• Sincerity: An integral part of seeking the pleasure of Allah is being sincere in your intention and your action. It is also required in all manners of interaction with people all over the world.
• Deriving Support from Allah: Nations and people all over the world have their traditions, rituals and prayers to help them in their daily lives, just as ancient mariners prayed for their deities or saints for help and good luck while sailing the seas, modern mariners smash a champagne bottle on the hull of a new ship for prosperity. Muslims are no different, only they ask for Allah’s assistance in their travels, they ask for spiritual support and for success in the trip, whether it was for business or pleasure. They also ask for good company while on their journey.
• Last Will and Testament: Sounds very ominous, however, this is exactly what a lot of insurance companies offer now, travel insurance in the case of death or injury. Muslims, on the other hand are encouraged to have their will written before the travel, stating their financials in it and whether or not they owe or somebody else owes them money. This way these rights and obligations don’t get forgotten in case of death or injury.
• Appointing a Guardian: When travelling for business, particularly when travelling for long periods of time, it becomes a good idea to appoint a trustworthy guardian to care for your interests and your family while you are away.
• Hiring a Guide: One of the best things anyone can do while travelling is hire a good local guide; especially if it is their first ever visit to a place. They know the ropes of their city, and they can definitely make a trip less stressful.
• Looking at things with Calm and Prudence: A traveller has to be balanced in their travels, in his sightseeing, and his actions. They can’t – and shouldn’t – imitate everything they see, and they can’t – and shouldn’t – be fascinated by all the thoughts and beliefs without proper contemplation.
• Show Good Morals: Muslims carry Islam with them wherever they go; it is not just in their acts of worship, but also in the way they carry themselves and most importantly, in their morals. They should act accordingly, be humble and moderate in their walk and talk as well as lower their gaze and voice.
• Tourism and Disobedience do not need to Mix: Disobedience is not to be confused with mistakes, everyone makes mistakes, disobedience, however, is intentional. Once it comes into the mix all benefits go out the window.
• Do Good for those who need it: Chivalry and helping those in need is an integral part of the Muslim character, it is embedded in the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah, and helping people in need, wherever we are in the world, regardless of their colour, creed, or gender comes with the territory.

Alhambra, an open window into beauty.

Fail to Plan. Plan to Fail.

Planning and preparing for a trip is essential – regardless of your religion or gender – it can be the difference between having a great experience or a miserable one. Sometimes failure to plan can even lead to death.

• How much will it cost and what will I need: Each trip is different from the next, and each country is different from the next, having enough money for a trip depends on your knowledge of the region you are visiting. The amount of money needed to visit the UK, for example, is not the same as the amount needed to visit Egypt. Same goes for attire, warm clothing or light clothing, tickets, whether you will need a visa or not. All of the above is necessary when planning a trip; otherwise, chances are things will always go wrong.
• How about their Culture: A simple hand gesture in Egypt can be an insult in Italy. Table manners, what to do when you enter someone’s home, learning about the traditions and customs of a country is very important, not only will it make for a smooth visit, but it is guaranteed to enrich your overall travel experience. Even learning how to say ‘thank you’ in the native tongue can go a long way in leaving a good impression.
• Health issues: This is perhaps the most important part of preparing for a trip. Learning about health issues that might arise during the journey, will they need special travel vaccination, will the trip have several different modes of transportation that might cause motion sickness, any special medication that must be readily available.

Travelling in itself is not forbidden in Islam, the majority of the most famous explorers were Muslims, like Ibn Battuta and Ibn Fadlan just to name two, it’s what happens during the journey itself is what that might cause a specific trip to be unacceptable, and as Al-Imam Al-Shafei said:

تغرب عن الأوطان في طلب العلى … وسافر ففي الأسفار خمس فوائد

تفريج هم واكتساب معيشةٍ … وعلمٍ وآدابٍ وصحبة ماجد

Leave your country in search of loftiness

And travel! For in travel there are five benefits,

Relief of adversity and earning of livelihood

And knowledge and etiquettes and noble companionship

•  •  •  •  •

Globe: Some rights reserved by Elizabeth Thomsen

Petra: Some rights reserved by sharnik

Alhambra: Some rights reserved by Fotos de El Jubilado

By Mousha El-Haggar

Getting out of Cairo is always my favourite thing to do. I enjoy going to new places and experiencing new things that are outside of Cairo. This time around my trip was to Fayoum, a place I always wanted to go to but never had enough encouragement; people who live in the city are taken in by the city crowd and never want to leave their comfort zone. That; and many Egyptians don’t view travel within Egypt as a vacation, unless, of course, it’s to the beach! Recently, though, I had a friend who was planning a group trip to Fayoum and I decided it was time to go and experience it for myself.

Doors are always open at Zad Al-Mosafer. By Mousha El Haggar.

We travelled to a small village in called Tunis (pronounced like Tunisia in Arabic); a picturesque lakeside village overlooking Qaroun Lake famous for its amazing pottery work and pottery schools. The village is a mix between two very different kinds of people, Bedouins and Peasants, a mixture of rural Egypt and desert life.

Landscape of the desert. By Mousha El Haggar

In the heart of the village is an eco hotel called Zad Al-Mosafer – Provisions of the Traveller, surrounded by lush greenery and very simple furnishings. It’s built in the same simple mud-brick style that is a symbol of the rural houses surrounding it which I loved most. Out here, the atmosphere, the air, and everything is different; it makes you forget all about Cairo’s pollution and traffic.

I can keep going on about how nice it is there, about the richness of the culture, about the wondrous desert and the ancient monuments, but that will need for a book not an article.

Fossils can be found all around Lake Qarun and in the desert around Fayoum. By Mousha El Haggar.

It was not possible to see all the places in only three days. The scenery is fabulous in the desert and you are surrounded by fossils almost everywhere you go. It awakens your senses with the scent of ancient times and ignites your imagination to what used to be here before all of us. As I walk, I find fossils of sharks and sea creatures that make my mind drift away to how this place was like 40 million years ago; it was a big sea and now it is a desert land!

Simple mud-brick structures add to the organic feeling of Tunis Village. By Mousha El Haggar.

Egypt to me is not synonymous with Cairo only; it’s much more, and when I visit such places I start wondering why people are stuck in Cairo. Just because most of the services are in Cairo doesn’t seem like a good reason to me.  The more we live in the city, the more our needs grow, and the more we start changing – to the bad not the good.

Getting out of Cairo and seeing real nature makes me feel more spiritual and reminds me of my humanity.

Beautiful desolation. By Mousha El Haggar.

What I notice when I go to any place out of Cairo like Fayoum is that people have a quiet nature and they’re happy and satisfied with what they have, although they don’t have all the luxury that we enjoy in Cairo. They are peaceful; they can sleep at night, because life there isn’t complicated and polluted.

In the short amount of time we have, we seem to be missing out a lot in our beautiful country.

Mousha El Haggar is an up and coming jewellery designer who designs and hand-crafts unique pieces of jewelry, all made of fine silver and natural gemstones, she also loves travel and kite surfing. Have a look at her beautiful collection on her website: http://www.moushaz.com and her Facebook page.

It has been a little over 11 months since the January 25, 2011, ignited to culminate into the ouster of one of the worst rulers in the Arab world in modern history, Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, right on the heels of his brother-in-arms Bin Ali from Tunisia.

A lot has changed since then, some to the better, and some to the worst. We’re not going to get into either of them; they both have long lists.

What we’re going to be talking about is something that has managed somehow to divide the people, mostly triggered by a media that still plays by the pre-Mubarak days of divide and conquer for the sake of the person who is in charge at the time, SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces) at the moment. That something is “Tourism”.

Karnak temple at night, Luxor. By James Farmer.

The media boiled down tourism in Egypt into the following: Booze, Bikinis, and Gambling. Viva Las Egypt.

All of a sudden, Tourism is in danger; after all, the Islamists are coming. They are winning in the parliamentary elections and how better to fight them than to play the very old and tired Islamophobia card, which is a very funny card to play considering Egypt is an Islamic country. Not only did they come up with all sorts of statistics to prove their strange fantasies, they also became obsessed with it, they became the primary source of concern when interviewing any Islamist Presidential candidate.

They forgot why the revolution took place in the first place, or rather; they shelved it for a while.

The Red Sea. By Niels Rameckers.

Their first and foremost claim is that 75% of tourism in the world is beach tourism, and by extension, Egypt.

That is simply not true; on average the Red Sea resorts get about one to two million visitors per year, which is a far cry from 75%, considering that Egypt had 20.05 million international tourists visiting in 2010, and 11.91 million in 2009, according to the World Tourism Rankings, compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as part of their World Tourism Barometer publication, which is released three times throughout the year. In the publication, world tourism is ranked both by the number of visits and by the tourism revenue generated.  Source: World Tourism Rankings on Wikipedia.

Which means that Ancient Egypt is still the cornerstone of Egyptian tourism, sites like the Giza plateau, Abu Simbel, Luxor, and Aswan still have enough allure that regardless of the time of year, they still get the lion share of tourists. Even the UNESCO-sponsored Egyptian Grand Museum, when finished, is expected to attract around 3 million visitors per year, still more than what beach tourism attracts per year.

Mohamed Ali Pasha's Mosque insiede Cairo's Citadel. By Andrea De Stefani.

We’re not even going to discuss the gambling industry, I think even the lowliest of gamblers knows that Egypt is not exactly Las Vegas, it’s not even comparable to Macau. In other words it is highly doubtful that gambling would account to even 1% of tourism in Egypt. Same can go for alcohol; Egypt is hardly Napa Valley or known for an Oktoberfest type festival.

That leaves the last point, the wildest claim from the Egyptian media supported of course by the hordes of “experts” who seem to appear out of the blue, then disappear into oblivion after doing their damage. If Islamists come to power, they will shut down tourism, close hotels, deface statues and temples, and put 5 million people out of work permanently!!!

One of the many fellucas on the river Nile in Egypt. By Martyn E. Jones.

There are many reasons why people travel, but tourism is special, it gives people some sense of adventure and exploration, people achieve that by interacting with the culture they are visiting, not by travelling half way across the world just to enjoy a cheap version of where they come from.

Egypt is full of wonders, but the people in charge of the media as well as a vast number of so-called elite, only see a very limited form of it, with no possibility in their skewed vision for any kind of tourism than one that involves bikinis, booze, and gambling. In doing so, they effectively recycle Mubarak’s views of Egypt and echo his words that Egypt is not a land of creativity, entrepreneurship, ideas, let alone a land that would ever be ready for freedom or democracy.

We proved him and the likes of him wrong, we are creative, and we are perseverant, we can think for ourselves, and if the only things that would bring tourists to Egypt are alcohol, gambling and bikinis, then we are in a sorrier state than we ever believed, then we are a doomed mediocre country that had no business revolting in the first place.

When I first started this site the main concept was to shed a different light on Egypt, and the tag-line of choice was “there’s more to Egypt than the Pyramids”, however, it is more appropriate now to change that into: There’s more to Egypt than Alcohol, Bikinis, and Gambling.

A view of Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert. By bebobebo, SXC.hu.

We have deserts, ancient architecture and monuments, we have mountains and corals, we have valleys and caves, and we have the mighty river Nile, we have a civilisation that spans millennia and one of the most generous people and cultures in the world. Our progress had been derailed by the incompetency of three consecutive governments, and our ambition crushed by the last of them, but we are back now.

It will take some time to shake of the dust of over 60 years of mismanagement, but we will get there insha’Allah.

As for Alcohol and gambling:

Al-Maa’idah (The Repast)>> 05:90 O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.

05:91 Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?

By Shereen Shirazy
Country Director at AID TO ARTISANS – Egypt

Aid to Artisans (ATA), an international non-profit organization, based in Connecticut, USA, is a recognized leader in economic development for the craft sector. By linking artisans to new markets and buyers to culturally meaningful and innovative products, ATA provides needed economic opportunities to artisans to build profitable craft businesses.

Since our founding in 1976, we have worked in over 110 countries uniting a global community of artisans, organizations, development experts, retailers, design industry leaders, business trainers, and supporters. Over 30,000 artisans a year participate in our programs. Aid to Artisans has spent 33 years creating economic opportunities for well over 100,000 artisans in more than 110 countries where their livelihoods, communities and craft traditions are at risk. Over the past 10 years, our efforts have leveraged nearly $230 million in retail sales. This income has empowered 125,000 artisans in 41 emerging regions of the world. About 70% of the artisans we work with are women.

Aid to Artisans began working in Egypt since 2009 with the launch of Handmade in Egypt, a three-year USAID-funded program that is contributing to the alleviation of poverty, particularly among women, through the support of entrepreneurship and income generating activities in the handicraft sector. We further empower low-income artisans by building profitable business inspired by handmade traditions. The program is focused on strengthening existing business associations, exporters, wholesalers and other craft sector service providers to increase their effectiveness in providing marketing and training activities. It works in different fields; ceramics, wood, textiles, rugs, accessories, leather, copper, and glass (recycled & Pyrex).

Aid to Artisans – Handmade in Egypt encompasses a group of professionals who work hand in hand and hands-on with the artisans. Handmade in Egypt opens new horizons to these artisans, providing them with out-of-the-box approach. We try to pave out the way for newly emerging and existing artisans in an attempt to encourage them towards more productivity, innovation and creation. We mix the traditional handicrafts with fashionable unique designs and link modest producers with the international business community to create their places  into the fiercely competitive local and international markets. Make access for those products to both local and international markets and exhibitions. Hence, the designed products can find its way to the target clients through reputable stores all over the world.

Design Mentoring Program; a program ATA is implementing which aims to create a competent pool of emerging designers, to be able to offer constant, demand-driven product innovation in order to maintain and create new market links and to foster the local design capacity at the enterprise and design service level. Hence, Aid to Artisans organizes seasonal bazaars on regular basis, to help the designers to better sell their products and widen their network. In such events, we also select the best designs to be shown in our international exhibitions.

“In a world of mass production, the touch of the hand has value.” a core vision for Aid to Artisan.  

Not only does Aid to Artisans support marketing and offering access to new markets for  the products of  these artisans locally and internationally, it further provides product development, design mentoring, business training, and eco-effective processes for better opportunities of these products into the global market.

Traditional artisanry survives only when traditional artisans thrive. In order for that to happen, a jolt of attention-getting design is often required. Our product development and design are rooted in solid market knowledge by hiring successful, trend-forward designers from the U.S. and European home décor, gift, and fashion accessories industries. Our product development aims to blend global market needs with traditional techniques and indigenous motifs. When design consultants work side-by-side in an artisan’s workshop accompanied by a local designer, their exchange of ideas is invaluable. The exposure of local designers to international market trends is critical to local business sustainability. It allows artisans to be inspired to innovate, design, and produce new products that keep their businesses viable, with consistent quality, affordable costs, care to the planet, and to the health and well being of artisans is the full recipe for lasting success, a core value in the Mission of Aid to Artisans – Handmade in Egypt.

Our next event will take place at the Intercontinental City Stars – El Montaza Ballroom, Saturday, December 17^th from 10 a.m – 10 p.m. More information available here.

For more on Aid to Artisans – Handmade in Egypt visit our Website: www.aidtoartisans-egypt.org

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/163627306996716/ 

By Islam El Shazly
Exercise by Darryl Edwards -  Fitness Explorer Training

Travelling and keeping fit sometimes don’t go hand and in hand, especially if you are visiting a food-centric culture, like Egypt for example.

A lot of the activities when visiting Egypt involve eating, and chances are if you are part of a package group or on a Nile cruise that you will be getting three open buffet meals everyday for the duration of your trip. If you don’t keep up with exercising then you will be going back home with something more than gifts and souvenirs.

If you are staying at a five stars hotel or resort, you will have access to a gym to burn off the extra bit of Kunafa with double cream that you just had to eat. But what if you’re not staying at a fancy hotel?

I will post several different exercises that work for different people and different skill levels, below is the first of such series. It is designed by Darryl Edwards, and it is aptly named 300.

The routine is progressive, so depending on your skill and physical condition you can choose to skip one or two of the levels and go directly to the Advanced.

Workout: 300 by Darryl Edwards

The key here is to perform the circuit with as little rest as possible and to master each exercise with good and safe technique, in other words, do not cheat while doing each move.

Sometimes we dismiss exercises such as the ones below because of their simplicity.  However, sometimes a back-to-basics approach works.  This will work multiple muscle groups at once (compound work), ensure a full body workout and improve coordination with its integrated movement.  You will also find a cardiovascular element with your heart and lungs working hard to supply blood and oxygen to the working muscles.

Also don’t take too long to complete.  These should take up to a maximum of 15 minutes.  But your goal is to complete this in less than 7 minutes.  If any of the circuits take longer than 15 minutes.  Be patient, drop down to the previous level until you are comfortable in the 7 minute range.

Warmup:

5 minute shadow boxing/skipping (or virtual skipping if you have no rope).

Beginner: (100 reps)

20 Push-Ups/Press-Ups (4 sets of 5)

20 Air Squats (2 sets of 10)

20 Chair Dips (4 sets of 5)

20 Sit-Ups (2 sets of 10)

20 Back Extensions (2 sets of 10)

Intermediate: (200 reps)

40 Push-Ups/Press-Ups (2 sets of 15, 1 set of 10)

40 Air Squats (2 sets of 20)

 40 Chair Dips (4 sets of 10)

40 Sit-Ups (2 sets of 20)

40 Back Extensions (2 sets of 15, 1 set of 10)

Advanced: (300 reps)

50 Push-Ups/Press-Ups 

50 Air Squats

50 Sit-Ups

50 Lunges

50 Chair Dips (dip using a chair/sofa)

50 Back Extensions

Click here to view the embedded video.

300 – Stay At Home (Video added) with Kirk performing the workout.

Read more: Workout: 300 (Stay At Home) – Explore Fitness - http://www.thefitnessexplorer.com/home/2010/9/22/workout-300-stay-at-home.html#ixzz1aOOWdkPD
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Since the Napoleon’s ill-fated campaign against Egypt in the late 18^th century and the world became enthralled with everything Pharaonic. Especially Europeans and Americans, they came by the boat load to see the tombs, temples, and palaces that were long forgotten or half-covered in sand, they came, saw, and recorded what they saw in vivid illustrations; the only record of what a lot of these ancient monuments looked like. Since then many of these monuments became lost again under the waters of Lake Nasser, or just simply collapsed for neglect.

Thomas Cook – the founder of modern tourism – reinvented the Nile Cruise experience and reintroduced it to the world; effectively pioneering mass package tourism as we know it today.

Old Nile cruises 90 years old advert. Wikimedia Commons.

But what about the rest of Egypt; what about the deserts, the mountains, and the oases? Surely someone paid attention to them. Not really.

How about the two seas bordering Egypt, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea? The North Coast has been mostly reduced to holiday resorts aimed at the local market that only open during the summer months, while the Red Sea has been almost exclusive to foreign tourism for over a quarter of a century. There’s diving and sport fishing, but not everyone is into diving or have the patience or can afford fishing trips.

Eco or nature tourism has been largely ignored by consecutive governments for one reason: not enough money in them; at least in their limited vision. So they poured money into certain locations in Egypt and disregarded the rest because it wasn’t lucrative enough for them, it’s not a secret how corrupted most of the governments of Egypt were in the last 60 years.

One can find many ancient wall paintings and inscriptions, such as this one we found recently, scattered around Sinai. School of the Desert.

That’s all changing now, Alhamdulillah, Eco-tourism and nature tourism are starting to pick up, mainly due to the efforts of some small groups of independent travel operators and NGOs, some have been operating for a long time, and some just venturing in, but they are picking up speed. Their secret is the diversity and creativity of what they are offering.

One such group is aptly called “School of the Desert”. I stumbled on them while having a cup of tea at Cilantro in Tahrir while waiting for some papers to be finished processing in the ever-crowded Mojama’ Al-Tahrir. The article was in a little magazine published by the coffee shop, and it detailed what this little outfit of mainly two people did. They teach you how to survive in the desert and mountains of South Sinai, and the teacher is a Bedouin of the Tarabin tribe in Nuweiba.

First day of school: moving out. School of the Desert.

School of the Desert operates their own Ecolodge in Nuweiba, Kum Kum 3, and they are also expanding into Siwa in the Western Desert in collaboration with Taziry Ecolodge.

The following is a brief description of what they do from their own Facebook page:

“This is not only a safari, nor is it only survival training. We will teach you to think and act like a Bedouin, by immersing you in Bedouin life and activities over several 3-4 day trips in the Sinai mountains (longer or shorter trips can be arranged). Bedouins do not just survive; they have learned to become a part the natural desert environment, just as you have learned to become a part of the city or town you live in. For a Bedouin, the valleys are highways, the mountains are skyscrapers and the wild plants, animals & fresh water wells are their supermarkets.

El Mi’allim Asheesh, our team leader and a respected member of the Tarabin tribe in Sinai, came up with an idea many years ago. He dreamed of being able to transfer his and his fellow Bedouins’ passion and knowledge of the desert to others who did not have the chance to take part in this side of Bedouin life. With the help of Amr Bassiouny and several others who have the same passion and experience with the Sinai desert and its people, we are now making this dream a reality through the School of the Desert.

Though three or four days are not nearly enough time to learn everything about survival in the desert of Sinai, a little bit a time over several trips should do the trick. Each trip will be tailored around your interests and expertise.

Here are some of the essentials you should expect to learn on any given excursion:

• Basics and Essentials (what to bring for a trip, where to sleep, how to make a fire, where to get food and water from, etc)
• Plants and animals (medicinal and edible plants, sightseeing, how to deal with dangerous animals, etc)
• Culture and desert etiquette (what not to do, rules while driving or camping near Bedouin camps, what to do if approached by Bedouins, etc)
• Navigation (how to find your way using the stars, sun and moon)
• Off-road driving (driving for different terrain and recovery techniques)
• Cooking and food (fire-cooking, coal-cooking, Bedouin food)
• Bedouin tribes and history
• Bedouin arts (instruments, poetry, etc)
• Historical sites (caves, old settlements, etc)”

Sometimes, you need to be a little creative when trekking the desert. Getting from A to B isn't always straightforward. School of the Desert.

These types of activities are readily available in Europe, North America, and places like Japan, where people are encouraged to love the outdoors and spend more time outside and not glued to a TV screen or a computer, they are not only promoted for the tourists who bring in foreign currency, but also to the locals who should learn more about where they live in order to be able to understand their environment, protect it, care for it and pass it on to the next generations.

So are you ready to pack up and get out of your comfort zone?

For more information:

School of the Desert official Facebook page.

@AmrBassiouny – Founder – Twitter account.

Egypt Today’s Travel Special: Visiting Sinai like a Bedouin

In 1260 CE the Mongol horde under Hulagu ravaged Syria, The Great Mosque and the Citadel of Aleppo were razed and most of the inhabitants were killed or sold into slavery.

In 1400 CE Timur, also known as Tamerlane or Timūr-e Lang, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, invaded Syria, sacked Aleppo then besieged and captured Damascus. The Umayyad Mosque was razed and most of the inhabitants were massacred, the rest were sold into slavery. The lucky ones were the artisans; they were spared and sent to Samarqand, the capital of the Timurid Empire. The unlucky ones had their heads piled up in a field outside the north-east corner of the walls, where a city square still bears the name burj al-ru’us, literally “the tower of heads”.

The Great mosque of Aleppo, it was badly damaged by Hulagu's Mongol horde in 1260, and later rebuilt after the city was freed by the Mamelukes. By yeowatzup, Flickr.

It will take a little over 500 years before Syria suffers its next wave of atrocities. Only this time it will come from Syria’s own leaders Hafez Al-Assad’s and later his son, Bashar Al-Assad.

Historically and up until Syria became a French mandate, Syria was synonymous with the Levant, or Bilad-Al-Sham. It included Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Alexandretta (now part of Turkey). Needless to say modern Syria does not include these territories any more, thanks to France and the UK and their Sykes-Picot Agreement. Syria has been in turmoil ever since.

March 15, 2011, the day one of the most brutal regimes in history was shaken to the core; Al-Assad’s Alawi/Baathist Empire was told enough is enough, soon insha’Allah Bashar’s name will be nothing but history, and the only legacy he will leave behind is hatred and spite towards him, his family, his party and all who supported him; a very vile legacy indeed.

A section of Hama before the government attack in 1982 (Left), and the same section after the attack (Right).

Hafez Al-Assad has earned a place in history as the “leader” who ordered the attack described as among “the single deadliest acts by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East”. The vast majority of the victims were civilians. The death toll is estimated to be between 10,000 and 40,000. The year was 1982, the massacre of Hama.

Bashar would closely follow his father’s footsteps; he had a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of dissent, you so much as breath the wrong way, you would be taken were the sun doesn’t shine.

The Syrians have had enough though, and the fire that ignited in the hearts of their brethren in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya paved the way for their own uprising.

A burned car is seen in the Syrian port city of Banias April 17, 2011. Thousands of Syrians chanted slogans calling for greater freedom at independence day rallies on Sunday, witnesses said, a day after President Bashar al-Assad promised to lift emergency law. The writing reads, Attention... you are in Banias not in Israel. REUTERS/Stringer

Hafez Al-Assad, an Alawite, came into power in 1970. The Ba’ath party that he belonged to was active since the forties; it was – and still is – dominated by Alawites who saw in it a means to hold power in a country that would never allow them to rule otherwise. Ba’athists fully seized power in a coup in 1963, and hopefully their reign of terror will be ending soon with the eminent fall of Bashar Al-Assad.

The Ba’ath’s list of crimes amount to genocide, they have been killing their own countrymen since the 60s, they have deployed the military and their thugs, AKA Shabbiha, to attack and crush all forms of dissent.

For all Al-Assad senior and junior’s bravado, they never once made an attempt to reclaim the occupied Golan Heights. Not once since their half-hearted attempt in 1973 have they so much thrown a rock over the Golan Heights. They would, however, employ the full might of the military to kill their own people.

“أسـدٌ عليَّ وفي الحروبِ نعامـةٌ”

A Lion while fighting civilians, an Ostrich when in war against an enemy.

Syria, Bilad Al-Sham, has been blessed by Allah as mentioned in the Quran; it holds a special place in the hearts of all Muslims. Most of Allah’s Prophets and Messengers passed through it or lived in it at one point in their lives; that made Al-Sham a target of aggression throughout the ages, but it also made the people of Syria resilient and perseverant. They are still here, and all there would be conquerors are gone, most not even remembered, others, especially the hellish ones, are only remembered in contempt.

The difference between Bashar Al-Assad and Qaddafi and Tamerlane is purely cosmetic, he’s soft spoken, highly educated, and spent most of his life in the west. He’s smartly dressed, and along with a dream wife, he sold himself to the Arab world as the next brand of leader that will lead them into future glories and a renewed vitalized Arab world. The Syrians, his people, discovered the horrors behind his gentle façade, by then it was a little late to remove him.

A protester holds a placard during a demonstration in the Syrian port city of Banias April 26, 2011. Syrian protesters in Banias chanted the people want the overthrow of the regime on Tuesday as forces deployed around the small coastal city for a possible attack, a rights campaigner in contact with Banias said. The placard reads, Sacrifice our lives, the martyrs of freedom. REUTERS/Handout

Not too late though, they are fighting back, and with the fall of Qaddafi, Bashar is soon to follow straight into the trash bin of history.

Syria should not expect any help or assistance from the west or from NATO, they don’t have oil! And they shouldn’t expect help from the still in power Arab leaders, the fall of Al-Assad’s regime is going to spell doom for them, just like Mubarak’s did.

Next in line: Yemen.

The Syrian regime has a complete media blackout of the uprising and foreign reporters and photographers are not allowed in the country, even UN delegation was kicked out of the country. Below is a link with some images that managed to get on the internet.

Totally Cool Pix:

April 27, 2011 – The Syrian Protests

For more information and to follow the events of the Syrian Uprising as it unfolds:

Al-Jazeera Syria Live Blog

S.N.N. Shaam News Network

2011 Syrian Uprising (wikipedia)