We hear so many terrible things about the Middle East these days, and yet my father has spent twenty-five years in that part of the world. If you were to ask him why, this is what he would tell you.

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        We hear so many terrible things about the Middle East these days, and yet my father has spent twenty-five years in that part of the world. If you were to ask him why, this is what he would tell you.

Like most teachers, my old man has had to spend most of his life in classrooms. He was, however, lucky enough to be able to take five years off in the 1970s when it was possible to work hard at physical jobs in factories and foundries where you could make fast money which allowed you to travel. He chose to travel in the Middle East.

He flew into Amman, the capital of Jordan, with the vague idea that he would follow in the footsteps of his 'heroes', Jesus of Nazareth and Lawrence of Arabia. With five hundred pounds in his pocket, not a lot of money even then - he managed to spend the next ten months travelling around and working there, even though he had blown 10% of his budget in the first two days! He recalls that the view of Amman from the plane was ''downright scary'' - it may have been a capital city, but the faint twinkling lights below hardly made it look like one. He took a taxi to the Grand Palace Hotel, which was his first mistake. It wasn't cheap - plus you never meet the people like that, he has learned alot with all his travels.

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The next day, he set off with his heavy rucksack armed with the International Youth Hostel handbook he'd taken with him from London. After walking all over town, he was eventually directed to a small building in the far distance across the desert which he started walking towards. About half-way there he stepped on a sleeping dog which was well-camouflaged, the same light brown as the desert sand.  Typically enough, he was immediately surrounded by a howling pack of them, snapping at his heels, only encouraged by the smell of his terror - he'd always been scared of dogs. ...

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