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ence recent because i ve never had time to blog on previous trips to syria my advice to you is if you re planning to travel to syria and blog regularly do your research first but research widely there are plenty of experts eager to share their opinions indeed some rather aggressively and there is a lot of contradictory advice around even among the self proclaimed experts about blogging and blogspot in syria from people both outside and within syria i found that rarely did opinions align and every expert was able to cite a wealth of research on the subject once again i apologise for not having time to test out your theories and suggestions but i m a travel writer who also blogs rather than a travel blogger who also publishes and that s likely to stay that way until someone pays me as much to blog as i earn writing the paid work which one charming expert referred to as travel fluff rest assured i took her as seriously as she took me has to take priority i m afraid so back to work or writing nonsense posted by lara dunston at 7 33 pm 6 comments labels blogger blogging blogspot syria friday august 14 2009 blogging and blogspot in syria a number of people have contacted me via the comments to my post below and on twitter in response to my appeal for advice after my blog was momentarily blocked in syria shukran jazeelan to everyone for their tips much appreciated unfortunately or fortunately i m a busy travel writer with a lot to do here in syria at the moment boutique hotels to review restaurants to try out artists and musicians to interview and blogging is not high on my list of priorities at the moment sadly so i don t have time to test out all your suggestions now in addition to my lack of time the intermittent and excruciatingly slow internet access at a lot of the hotels we re staying at means i simply can t get on the net when it s convenient nor wait for photos to upload at the usual size i post them and i don t have time to keep running back to the four seasons which must have the fastest internet access in town quite a few people have written to me about blogspot being banned here and forwarded links supporting this sorry but i don t have time to respond to everyone however just for your info i can access a large number of blogspot blogs that i usually read from other parts of the world from syria and i was able to access them on previous trips here too including many listed on my own blogroll and syrian based blogspot blogs that i don t normally read but have discovered on this trip people are asking me what isps i am using and am i using proxies as i am reviewing hotels i am moving hotels every couple of days so i m using whatever isp the hotel is using and whether the hotel has a proxy or not i m sorry but i don t have time to investigate and would rather be talking to a singer such as the wonderful rasha rizk than an it guy hoping you understand posted by lara dunston at 10 16 am 8 comments labels aleppo blogging damascus syria tuesday august 11 2009 access momentarily denied my harmless little blog cool travel guide has been blocked in syria for a whole 24 hours i was confronted with the dreaded access denied sign when i tried to update it yesterday but there s been a miracle or someone came to their senses and now i can access it i realize my mistake my syrian advisors tell me it s because i used the i word which i m not about to use again so guess all you like so how did it get unblocked did the censors actually read the content and realise i was a friend of syria s just a travel writer who writes about places she loves and stays clear of politics or was it that the minister for information and her staff who were staying at the same hotel as us last night overheard my loud complaints to the general manager this morning either way i can post for the moment but if you don t hear from me again you ll know why come and follow me on twitter instead post script this post and my tweets on twitter generated scores of responses via email and twitter about blogging in syria most were friendly messages from syrian bloggers it experts and officials with tips on how to get around proxies using blogger blogspot and other blogging software in syria and advice on what s acceptable and what s not regarding blog content i m sorry i didn t have time to follow everyone s suggestions it was an incredibly busy trip with little time for blogging unfortunately but a huge thanks to everyone who got in touch posted by lara dunston at 8 31 pm 10 comments labels damascus syria monday august 10 2009 aleppo s labyrinthine souqs aleppo s labyrinthine medieval souq or rather souqs within a souq has long been one of our favorites in the middle east mainly because it has remained relatively untouched by tourism up until recent years especially compared to istanbul s grand bazzar and cairo s khan el khalili it s a place where locals shop for anything from women s underwear to camel meat as much as backpackers haggle for hookah pipes and harem pants great buys include olive soap buy the soap the locals buy not the soap packaged for tourists syria s famous silk brocades and other textiles and gutras men s checked headscarves these days you ll also find stores and stalls with their eyes on the growing tourist market selling jewellery carpets and brass and copperware and spruikers on corners hustling for sales but we prefer wandering the back alleys where the locals shop for their cheap plastic shoes spangly fabrics and children s clothes offering a far more authentic experience posted by lara dunston at 12 11 pm 4 comments labels aleppo aleppo souq souqs syria syria and lebanon aleppo and our room with a view aleppo is syria s most atmospheric city after damascus and it s our next favorite destination after the capital the highlights for us being the medieval souq the labyrinthine old quarters dotted around the inner city and the complex cuisine arguably the most interesting in the middle east the new town with its stylish cafes currently full of hip young syrian expat kids home for the summer holidays is pretty appealing too we re here to do hotel reviews and a feature on aleppo s oldest restaurant dynasty as well as gather content for other stories so we ve been at the aleppo sheraton for a few days while it can t compare in terms of atmosphere to aleppo s myriad boutique hotels in restored old houses the hotel s location slapbang in the centre of aleppo mid way between al jdeida and the souqs is unbeatable as is the comfort and space of our room the big desk and internet access things that become more important to a writer and photographer on deadline than sleeping under an ottoman era ceiling i m afraid oh and the views pictured are pretty special too posted by lara dunston at 8 55 am 3 comments labels al nawfara cafe damascus hakawati storytelling syria syria and lebanon sunday august 9 2009 abu shady the last of syria s traditional storytellers still tells his tales one of our many reasons for coming to syria this time was to interview abu shady the last of the hakawati or traditional storytellers we last interviewed him almost two and half years ago when we were here to update our lonely planet syria and lebanon guidebook that s the current edition every western traveller is clutching in their hands here now we re not using it ourselves nor are we using any other guidebook there s no need obviously after so many trips here but it s interesting to see how many people have a guidebook and a guide very different to last time when there were far more independent travellers around why people need help ordering a meal i ll never know but it s something i m going to ponder in another post when we last spoke to abu shady he was conscious of his age depressed that numbers of people attending his performances at al nawfara cafe in damascus old city were dwindling his biggest competition being cinema tv and the internet and was grooming his son to take over after he died ironically now his nightly performances are packed people even phone to book tables and storytelling is more popular than ever in line with a resurgence of interest by syrians in everything old yet he no longer wants his son to take over why because the pay is lousy i guess there s a point artists reach when they re no longer prepared to go hungry or allow their family to go hungry for their art i ll pop up the link to our story soon posted by lara dunston at 8 22 am 3 comments labels al nawfara cafe damascus hakawati storytelling syria syria and lebanon saturday august 8 2009 damascus is buzzing the atmosphere in damascus is electric now and the streets of the old city more alive than we ve seen them before and we ve been regular visitors since 1998 summer traditionally sees syrian expats from around the world returning home to spend time with their families while damascus has long attracted gulf arab tourists escaping the sweltering summer temperatures of the arabian peninsula while it s warm here now low to mid 30s celcius the gulf is scorching average mid 40s celcius so syria is a cool escape in comparison but we re seeing travellers from all over the globe getting lost in the old city s labyrinthine streets at the moment including europeans australians and americans by the look of their travelling gear harem pants and hippy attire dominate backpacker wardrobes here they were expecting a cheap destination but damascus now boasts an array of beautiful boutique hotels an ever growing number of fine restaurants a handful of hip bars and stylish cafes a lively arts and cultural scene and an increasingly chic shopping area in the new city we re reporting on all of these for magazines over the next week or two so i ll try and share a few of our discoveries with you as we go pictured that s naranj a relatively new restaurant by damascene standards which was very good the buzzy atmosphere indicative of that found in the whole city at the moment although naranj is not the best and don t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise that s a title reserved for al halabi at the four seasons hotel and i ll tell you why in detail very soon posted by lara dunston at 10 02 am 3 comments labels boutique hotels damascus restaurant reviews syria thursday august 6 2009 goodbye dubai we spent our last night in the uae in dubai stuck in a traffic jam checking into our fully booked hotel shopping for last minute necessities at busy dubai mall packed with shoppers laden with shopping bags as late as midnight and strolling the waterfront overlooking the new burj dubai where tables at the outdoor restaurants and cafes were crammed with families despite the 45 degree heat it was the same old dubai not the ghost town i d be reading about in the media while we were in australia ironically summer has historically been the time of year when dubai is usually a ghost town when locals and expats who can leave the country for a couple of months evacuate for cooler climates for their summer vacation pictured the enormous aquarium at dubai mall posted by lara dunston at 7 14 pm 2 comments labels burj dubai dubai dubai mall uae tuesday august 4 2009 travel with us on twitter i might not get much time to blog over the next six weeks as we have a tight travel schedule bouncing around the middle east researching stories and doing hotel and restaurant reviews so why not come and follow me on twitter laradunston one of the stories i ve been commissioned to write is about how twitter has been embraced in the mideast and how it s being used twitter users are meeting socially at tweet ups across the region getting involved in charity work through twestivals and using twitter for social change if you re a twitter user based in the uae lebanon jordan kuwait or qatar or anywhere else around the middle east please email me or leave a comment here i d love to get in touch with you the photo pictured is the workspace of british writer poet robert graves in his former home now a museum at deia on mallorca it s the kind of space i d love to write at if i didn t live out of my suitcase that is and actually had a home in which to write but who s going to feel sorry for a travel writer right posted by lara dunston at 1 24 pm 5 comments labels middle east travel by twitter travel writing twitter trip base travel awards the nice people at trip base recently gave me a little award well i was a finalist in their best travel guides category and i was so busy i didn t even have time to thank them properly although i did as i was told and put the badge up so a big heartfelt thank you trip base or shukran jazeelan as we say here in the mideast if you want to see which other blogs won awards you can see the full list here and here and if you want to know more about trip base check out their site the picture that s mallorca again and the view from our room at the maricel hotel posted by lara dunston at 12 42 pm 3 comments labels travel blog awards trip base older posts home subscribe to posts atom grantourismo has been nominated for the mashable awards please vote for us here like the blog subscribe in a reader subscribe by email about me lara dunston dubai united arab emirates a perpetual globetrotter and travel writer who has experienced over 60 countries authored 40 guidebooks and published 100s of articles for national geographic traveler wanderlust paperplane get lost lifestyle travel voyageur hemispheres the independent lonely planet dk footprint rough guides insight thomas cook aa guides fodors usa today and more this blog is about the things that are cool and not so cool about travel that inspire us to travel and that are inspiring about the places we visit it s a space for me to reflect upon my work as a travel writer the travel media travel publishing and travel industry view my complete profile profiles published work profile at travelwriters com profile on lonely planet published work at mediabistro com terry s photography site interviews 10 questions for dunston checks in interview with a travel writer life of a travel writer the cool travel guide lara dunston in dubai calabria book q a part 1 calabria book q a part 2 calabria book q a part 3 calabria book q a part 4 calabria book q a part 5 final grantourismo cool travellers grantourismo want to exchange links click here to leave your url please do not reprint my words and images without permission do you want to buy content appearing on this blog please click here what is cool travel guide what i will and won t post next destinations dubai london morocco marrakech essaouira spain jerez barcelona france ceret paris montenegro kotor italy sardinia puglia venice thailand phuket indonesia bali brazil rio de janeiro usa new york austin mexico mexico city san miguel de allende costa rica argentina buenos aires south africa cape town kenya nairobi diani beach masai mara turkey istanbul europe tbc austria somewhere berlin edinburgh destinations covered on recent assignments bangkok l...