AMAZING MIDDLE EAST

       The Middle East is one of history's grand epics in the making. Once the cradle of civilisation, now a region where modern human history is daily being written upon the stones of the past, the Middle East is where the lines between history's story and the magic of the travel experience are forever being blurred.
       Few places in the world can match the Middle East's roll-call of ancient ruins, landscapes of rare beauty and extraordinary cities whose personalities seem to spring from the tales of The Thousand and One Nights. More than that, the unforgettable travel moments that the Middle East has to offer are almost as diverse as the stunning backdrops in which to enjoy them. You'll never forget the wide-eyed wonder of that first time you dip below the surface of the Red Sea and discover an underwater world of dazzling colour and otherworldly coral.
       Or the feelings of well-being as you sit by the feet of the Middle East's last storyteller in Damascus and he weaves an intricate web of fact and fable worthy of Sheherezade. Or the spiritual stirrings in your soul the first time you hear the haunting call to prayer carried by the wind through the lanes of old Jerusalem.
       Many travellers fall irretrievably in love with the region and its cities. Cairo is known as "the mother of the world"; it is a clamorous cultural hub for the Middle East, not to mention the home of the Pyramids of Giza. There's also something special about Damascus with its compelling claim to be the world's oldest continuously inhabited city (at least four other cities, all in the Middle East, make a similar claim); it is a place where the layers of history infuse every aspect of daily life.
       HISTORY EGYPTIAN STYLE
       When it comes to the most famous pyramids in the world there are few superlatives that do them justice. As the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, these 4,000-year-old goliaths continue to astound with their impossibly perfect geometry and towering dimensions.
       If you spend any time in Cairo then a must-see is the Egyptian Museum. Cramming one of the most significant collections of antiquities in the world into one space, with more than 100,000 relics from almost every period of ancient Egyptian history, if you spent only one minute at each exhibit it would take more than nine months to see everything.
       SHOPPING IN TURKEY
       Why not hone your haggling skills before dipping into the mind-boggling Grand Bazaar. Just north of Divan Yolu, this labyrinthine mediaeval shopping mall consists of some 4,000 shops selling everything from carpets to clothing, including silverware, jewellery, antiques and belly-dancing costumes.
       MIDDLE EAST: Available from all good bookshops for 1,050 baht.
       It's probably the most confusing and manic shopping precinct you could hope to experience.
       IRAQ'S ANCIENT WORLD
       Babylon is Iraq's most famous archaeological site, and one of the most important in the world.
       Its very name has become synonymous with depravity and hubris.
       Babylon dates back to at least 2300 BC. It was the capital city of two of the most famous kings of antiquity: Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), who introduced the world's first law code, and Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 BC), who built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
       Today, little remains of ancient Babylon except for several mounds and the famous Lion of Babylon, a basalt statue carved more than 2,500 years ago.
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       This is an edited extract from 'Middle East 6th Edition', by Anthony Ham Lonely Planet Publications.