After Jordan, I spent a week in Israel.
Jerusalem is a fascinating city crammed full of too much history for its own good.
You might think you have problems with your neighbours, but at least your disputes don’t have a 2000-year-old history.

The Dome of the Rock.

The Western Wall is a place where people use various methods to try and talk to god.

Looking for a message from above.

I visited Bethlehem in the Palestinian Territory.  There is a big “peace” wall dividing the Palestinian Territory from the rest of Israel.  It is decorated with graffiti, peace slogans, as well as advertising for nearby restaurants.

The end times are prophesised when the Antichrist arrives in the Holy Land. I encountered not one, but two devils on the streets of Jerusalem.

The Devil took time out to get a tattoo.

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Rolls towards Bethlehem to be born?

I visited Masada, the Jewish mountain fortress where rather than surrender to the Romans, a group of almost 1000 Jews killed themselves.  Personally I think they made a bad choice.  Let yourself be killed by a bunch of zealots (in the original sense of the word) or join up with the empire famed for its pizza, orgies and The Sopranos.

I stopped by the Dead Sea for a float.

I had a look in the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I also visited Acre, last of the Crusader cities to fall.

After UAE, I flew to Amman in Jordan.

The tourist sites in Jordan are very quiet at the moment, as lots of tourists are staying away because of the political problems in the Middle East.

Petra is one of the great ancient sites of the world.  A city built by the Nabataeans around the 6th century BC and described as “a rose-red city half as old as time.”  It has featured in numerous movies, including Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade.

I also visited Jerash, one of the best-preserved ancient Roman cities in the world.

Plus I visited Umm Qais, up near the border with Syria.  It is the place where the supposed miracle of the demon pigs happens in the bible.  Jesus encounters a man possessed by many demons.  If you’re a fan of science fiction or horror, you’ve probably come across the line – “My name is Legion: for we are many.”

Jesus cures the man by casting out the spirits into a herd of nearby pigs.

And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

Obviously the son of god didn’t particularly care for the animal rights movement.

I stayed with Australian friends in Abu Dhabi and they showed me some of the more unusual and interesting parts of the emirates.

In terms of land, Abu Dhabi makes up almost 90% of the Emirates, and has by far the most oil.  Dubai got more international attention by using Emirates Airlines as a hub to attract more international tourists and by building gigantic hotels.  But then the global financial crisis hit and the money ran out.  There are abandoned construction projects all around the outskirts of Dubai, which has fallen on hard times.

Abu Dhabi doesn’t want to be outdone and they set up Etihad, built some gigantic hotels of their own and are embarking on a series of new building projects, such as a new Guggenheim and other museums.

The Emirates Palace has a vending machine catering for all your gold purchasing needs.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is an amazing building.

Enough pork products to satisfy even Homer Simpson wait behind these supermarket doors.

The most interesting tourist attraction in the UAE is not very well known and is difficult to visit.  The Emirates National Auto Museum doesn’t sound like a particularly interesting place to visit, but in fact it is one of the strangest places I’ve ever been.

Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (also known as The Rainbow Sheikh) is a member of the Emirates royal family.  He has billions of dollars and has collected over 200 cars.  He built a gigantic fibreglass pyramid in the middle of the desert to house them.  The opening hours of the museum are extremely erratic and of around the dozen or so times my friend had visited, it had only been open once.  I was lucky enough to get a chance to go inside.

There are lots of ordinary cars, some very tacky cars, and the largest car in the world – a Dodge Power Wagon, eight times the size of the original.  It is simply enormous.  We could walk through the car which has a staircase and different levels.  There are four bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom.  They all decorated in a very tatty style.

The Sheikh even had his name (Hamad) written in kilometer-high letters on his private island so it appears on Google maps.

There’s a video interview with the Rainbow Sheikh himself and a tour inside the car.

My story Stone Flowers received an honorable mention in Gardner Dozois’ new Year’s Best Science Fiction.

Right now I’m in Cartagena, Colombia.  Reading Love in the Time of Cholera.

My story Hokkaido Green is now up at The Drabblecast

http://web.me.com/normsherman/Site/Podcast/Entries/2011/6/19_Drabblecast_208-_Hokkaido_Green_by_Aidan_Doyle_Drabble-_On_the_Inside_by_Kayla_Bashe.html

You can download the mp3 file directly at

http://web.me.com/normsherman/Site/Media/Drabblecast 208- Hokkaido Green 1.mp3

My story starts around the 5 minute 30 second mark.