After the crossing from Larnaca in Cyprus this was our first sight of Syria at dawn.

The flag flies over Latakia docks

After a 3hr coach trip through the Syrian hills, much of the way to Iraq, we reached the ancient city of Aleppo with this citadel at its heart

Walking through the Souk down from the Citadel

Our female tour companions had to wear this fetching attire to go into the mosque.

Back outside the ornate exterior of the mosque.

Local women shopping for fruit and veg in Aleppo

and a hardware shop - like all shops here in a row of similar shops

Overnight the boat moved from Latakia to Tartus, from where a shorter coach trip took us to Krak for this fantastic Crusader castle.

Overnight the boat moves down from Tartus, Syria to Tripoli, Lebanon. A short drive to the Jeita caves complex. Photos are banned, but this is a commercial picture of the upper level of the caves. This level is vast caverns with spectacular stalactites and stalagmites.

The lower level which is visited by electric boats.

After lunch we drove on to the Roman city of Baalbek. As you see, they don't care if you get up really close.

The theatre - where this group of Italians were holding an ad hoc concert.

More ruins from the city but in the middle of a modern boulevard.

The bus trip didn't start too well. We abandoned this bus and all crammed onto the other one.

But the temples of Baalbek were worth the slight discomfort of the trip.

General view across the octagon

A late lunch - we were getting used to mezzes by now. This was pretty typical.

We cruised out of the dock and watched Beirut's fireworks from the harbour.

Not a bad sunset really, after a day spent cruising from Beirut to Alexandria.

Typical traffic jam from the coach. We got used to those in Egypt. Plus we had minders on the coach and various police vehicles/bikes escorting the coach.

Outside of the new Library.

Inside the new Library.

Our boat, the Island Sky, at Alexandria docks.

Our captain was very dismissive of the skills of the Alexandrian pilots - this possibly proved his point. It had been there a couple of weeks.

The pyramids at Giza. When we went to Egypt in 1988 there was green space between Cairo city and Giza. No longer. And the smog's so bad you probably can't even see the pyramids from the city centre any more. This is the Great Pyramid or Pyramid of Khufu.

The Pyramid of Cheops

The Sphinx and Pyramid of Cheops.

All three main Pyramids at Giza.

Exterior of the Cairo museum - inside is Tutankhamun's tomb's contents (except the man himself who's still in the tomb).

Ugh!

Westernisation of Cairo

We started through the canal at 1am and by 8am had reached the Great Bitter Lake where we anchored to let the Northbound convoy pass.

The other boats were quite big really.

In the narrower Southern section of the canal, the ferry darts between the ships.

Dropping the pilot.

Continuing along the coast towards Safarga. Tea time and the catering staff entertain by cutting up melons.

Sunset

Ancient and very ancient forms of transport. Taken from the coach in outer Luxor.

Two from the lines of sphinxes which bracket the entrance to the temples of Karnak.

The row of sphinxes

Probably Ramses the nth

The Hypostyle Hall

An obelisk through the columns

Crossing the Nile by boat after lunch to meet up with our coaches and head off to the Valley of the Kings (Photography not permitted).

The Colossae of Mnemnon

A Colossus

Relaxing at the Red Sea. Firstly a trip in a tourist submarine.

and then a couple of hours on the beach

The main town is pretty tawdry

Good for shopping

Bushes tied to the gangplank ready for our departure from the boat

First stop on the coach trip to Amman was Wadi Rum, famous for its Lawrence of Arabia connections. The tour included a 4WD desert trip.

The camel was an optional extra

Two night stop at Petra. This gave a whole day to walk through the ancient site - 4Km from the visitor centre to the restaurant at the other end.

The Siq - the gorge that runs down to the area of the rock temples.

First sight of the Treasury from the end of the Siq.

The Treasury, or more properly Al Khazneh.

The ball at the top of the Treasury, reputedly damaged by people shooting at it thinking it was full of treasure. It was solid stone.

A Jordanian take on mezze - featuring purple pickles. We never were sure what some of them were.

Jaresh is just North West of Amman - the last major cultural sight of the trip.The gate in the Roman city walls.

The oval Forum - almost complete (though reconstructed).

One of the two theatres in the city.

The Quadrapylon

The Colonnaded Roman street - The Cardo

The Nymphaeum

Final day at our hotel in Amman - you don't want just anyone driving in, do you?

The morning of the last day was a trip to the Dead Sea, 400 mtrs below sea level. Floating was easy.

Looking out from the resort beach across the Dead Sea to Israel - the country the cruise/tour went all the way round, but didn't visit.