There are two images we snapped whilst away on holiday in the Middle East that proved to be really memorable for different reasons..The first is of a lone man I came across in the desert sands of Syria. He was standing on a rock wearing a beautiful body length Thoub (a long one piece Arab dress for men) which was blowing and fluttering behind him in the strong wind which thankfully was also cooling both him and me down. He was staring intently all around him and scanning as far as the eye could see. Through a bright smile punctuated by the odd golden tooth he asked "Where you from?" "London my friend" I replied trying to keep it simple. "Welcome" he added. He stated with some concern"I have lost my two camels. Have you seen them?". It struck me that if camels bugger off in such open space they can really go some and might not be seen for days for desert heat doesn't seem to bother them at all. He had a problem on his hands. I told him I hadn't but would keep an eye out for them.
The second image is of an Iranian Imam who joined us in a minibus on the journey from Beirut to Damascus. Neither Youngen nor I liked him from the start which wasn't very fair of us for we hardly gave him a chance. Youngen thought he looked like Mr Bean and me the baddie out of... well just about any film you can think of really. He refused to speak English or French to me and at every stop stood outside the bus talking to no-one but somehow appearing to watch each one of us closely. In Damascus we were dumped unceremoniously onto the pavement out of the minibus and left to fend for ourselves but not before Youngen snapped Imam Bean giving me a final good riddance of a farewell stare.
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