Anise, Atrice and Twitchy

I'm much more of a dog person that a cat person, but this has slowly been changing, after my bonding experience with Mangy in the Philippines, and now in Lebanon. We'd seen a fluffy cat wandering around the work compound and eventually we discovered that she'd had three kittens. It took a while to discover this as she'd been hiding out on the roof of one of the prefab containers our offices are in, but finally she brought them down. And promptly disappeared. We started giving them powdered milk (for babies) and named them Anise (meaning the friendly one), Atrice (the chubby one) and Twitchy (the scared one) once their personalities became clearer.

Atrice and Twitchy (pictured in front) would have nothing to do with us, other than hang around in the mornings waiting to be fed. Anise (pictured behind) on the other hand, was very sociable, and would spend hours sleeping on people's laps, or giving cuddles. It was winter time and quite chilly, so they would all pile on top of each other, or wrap their tails around each other to share warmth, like in the picture above. If you tried to approach Anise at this time, the others would bolt off, hissing as they ran.

One tragic morning, we were told that Anise was dead. It took a long time to confirm this, with different guards giving different stories, but in the end it was discovered that she was found outside, and appeared unharmed. We guessed it must have been a snake bite, or the cold. It was a very sad day for those of us who knew and loved Anise.

A couple of days later, an incredible thing happened. Twitchy stepped up and let himself be patted. We were shocked. But even more so, when a couple of hours later he was found curled up on a colleague's lap, sleeping soundly. We summised that he knew his sister had been the family breadwinner, encouraging us to feed them with her cuddly charms, and now that she was gone, someone else would need to fill her shoes. Twitchy remains as cuddly as ever, but some three months on, Atrice still won't come near us.

Hard work

A very recent tail to share, but not much of a tale. Just 2 days ago a group of friends journeyed to the north east of Lebanon to go for a bit of a hike and a picnic. Along the way, we drove through lots of tiny villages, where life was being led on the streets. There were people sitting outside cafes drinking coffee, butchers cutting off sides of meat, men greeting each other outside mosques, and all of this taking place on the side of the road.

The strength of donkeys never ceases to amaze me, and this one was no exception. He lumbered remarkably up the slight incline, with his owner struggling to keep up. Amazing what you can notice from the window of a minivan!

The Cats of Constantinople

I spent a few glorious days in Istanbul last year, and was amazed at the sheer number of healthy, shiny-coated cats in the streets. In other places I've lived and visited, the cats are the most pathetic creatures wandering the streets, all skin and bones, but not in Istanbul.

My wonderful travel buddy and I both marveled over these gorgeous felines, parading down little alleys, sitting on discarded armchairs, or investigating large potted plants. On this particular day we'd set out to find some funky boutiques and antique stores but alas, being a Sunday, everything was closed. We found ourselves in a maze of tiny streets, with shuttered windows, washing hanging on lines, and cats. Endless cats.

These two black cats were hanging out in an empty lot beside an antique store, and I wish I had a panorama view to share, because to the left there was another beautiful cat curled up on an armchair (which may make an appearance here at a later stage) and more to the right. There's definitely a calendar to be made of the cats of Istanbul!

Scooting Scooby

I've seen some interesting things on scooters and motorbikes in different parts of the world, usually it's a surprising number of family members and perhaps a couple of chickens all squished on together, or a suckling pig ready for roasting. A few months ago I was in southern Lebanon for a weekend away with a visiting friend, and we took a walk down to the water to watch the sun set over the Mediterranean (which is still a novelty for me). As the brilliant orange sun put itself to bed in the distance, I heard the buzzing of a scooter approaching.

At first I didn't notice anything unusual, but when the scooter came to a stop for the driver to light a cigarette, but then I saw the head of a dog stick out and then he jumped off the scooter and went for a little sniff around the rocks. A quick whistle was all it took for the dog to come running back and settle back onto his perch. The man caught my astonished look and gave me a big smile, before happily setting off with his dog in place.

Chickens after crisis

This is one of my most recent travel tails, from the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Northern Lebanon, where I'm currently working. For three months in 2007 the Lebanese army laid siege to the camp, in order to flush out members of the militant Islamist group Fatah Al Islam, who had established a base in the camp among the 27,000 Palestine refugees who had been living here for over 50 years. By the time the Government declared an end to the hostilities, over 95% of the camp, and large parts of the surrounding neighbourhoods had been totally destroyed. As such, UNRWA has begun rebuilding the camp, following a long period of removing all the rubble, which was made all the more challenging by the sheer number of unexploded ordinances and booby traps that lay in the ruins.

For the past two years, families that were displaced have slowly begun to return back to the areas surrounding the camp. There is little employment to be had, and the exam results for students are the worst in the country, due to the trauma and interruptions to their schooling during the conflict. On a visit to the camp one day, we stopped to get a snack, and this little boy was so excited to see some white people, and he wanted to show us his chickens. He tried to only open the door where they were kept a little way, but of course the chickens rushed out. He wasn't concerned by this at all, and spent a very happy few minutes playing with his feathered friends.

Posing in Petra

I have to say from the outset that this photo wasn't taken by me. I tried to take this photo numerous times but it just didn't work out as well as my friend Jeremy's did. So thanks to Jez for taking this fantastic photo, I'll make sure he gets some percentage of any future book sales...

I'd wanted to go to Petra in Jordan ever since I first saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as a kid, and then found out that the magnificent structure at the end was a real place. Funnily enough, many of the people I've met who've been there had the same inspiration. Jez and I, along with our friend Emma went to Jordan on holiday from Bangladesh and I was giddy with excitement at the thought of seeing the Treasury building (the one from the movie). After we'd bought our tickets, a bus load of ageing European or American tourists pulled up in matching white caps. We took one look at them and rushed towards the Siq, the long rocky corridor that leads to the Treasury, not wanting our first view to be masked by all the white caps. As we came around the last corner and got our first glimpse of the Treasury, through a narrow opening at the end of the Siq, my heart skipped a beat. It was absolutely stunning.

After admiring the view for quite some time, and throwing off attempts from the Bedouins to check out their merchandise, we headed off through the ancient city and started the ascent to the Monastery. Side note: have you ever noticed how so many wonderful places sit atop hundreds of steps? It was a long trek up, I think over 400 steps, and the summer heat was almost unbearable. But we made it in the end, and the Monastery was quite a sight to behold. While not as ornate as the Treasury, it was much, much larger. And there stood this donkey, perhaps taking a breather in between lugging unfit tourists up and down those 400 steps.