"The Wandering Camel's Caravan" TheWanderingCamel's Profile

The oldest statue in the world?

Tucked under a staircase in a small provincial museum in south-eastern Turkey, this statue of a man exudes a sense of quiet melancholy that is tangible and quite mesmerising. You feel that you could lose yourself in the gaze of his black obsidian eyes. Carved out of limestone, he stands well over a metre in height, giving credence to the claim that he is the oldest statue in the world - figures such as the Venus of Willendorf date back 10, even 20,000 years deeper in time, but they are tiny, small enough to be held in the hand, figurines, not solid statues. Nick-named - very aptly - the Snowman - this enigmatic figure is just one of the wonders we encountered on out recent travels through Turkey.

Why the Wandering Camel?

Back in 2005, a group of online friends with a shared love of travel - especially in the Middle East - thought it would be fun to share their adventures on this VT site. Since then our numbers have dwindled and now there's just one camel remaining to keep the caravan going. The others have all packed their humps and disappeared over a dune somewhere, maybe they'll be back one day.

A few of our pages such as Mexico (Khadi and leyle)and Paris (lulu and leyle) are joint efforts, Lulu has contributed most of the stuff on Jordan and Megypt's Cairo offerings are a mine of practical information.
I'm the one who caught the VT bug however, so pretty well everything else is the result of my travels over the last few years.

so ....

Ahlan Wa Sahlan! Welcome to The House of TheWanderingCamel

Fellow travellers are always welcome here.
Join us for a while,
Listen to our tales,
Tell us of your own adventures
The Caravanserai is open.

leyle

A taste of Libya

Living up to the name

Wandering camels indeed - whilst most of the original caravan have wandered off - as unhobbled camels are wont to do - there's still one of us, leyle, keeping the caravanserai open, and there are plenty of tales still to be shared.

March 2009 found me heading off for three wonderful weeks in Libya - a great place for camels. The photo montage here shows some of the sights that caught my eye on that trip.
This time, as well as returning to Tripoli and the Sahara, our travels took us east to Cyrenaica - Libya's Jebel Akhdar, the Green Mountains, where the ruins of ancient Greek cities rival the splendors of Roman Leptis Magna in the west, tales of wartime heroism become real, and quiet homage is paid to Libya's greatest hero of modern times.

Croatia in June, Uzbekistan in October - it was a good year.

*****

Famagusta

The best laid plans ....

2011 promised something more - for only the second time in my life (and the first time ever for MrL) we had plans for embarking on tours that we had no part in planning. First up was February when, after leaving Australia's sunshine a bit of English winter, we planned to head to Egypt, to revisit Cairo and take a cruise down the Nile.

So much for that plan! Cyprus in February is very pleasant, quiet and still a little wintry - a few days in the north and a few in the south made a satisfactory Plan B for our aborted Egyptian trip. The Nile will have to wait for another year.

Late May it's Vienna and Croatia - a great mix - and then in September, Eastern Turkey's the drawcard - Trabzon, the Black Sea, Lake Van, Mount Ararat, the great stone heads at Mount Nemrut and more. Another organized tour but led by friends who have a long association with Turkey through their involvement in the DOBAG Project.

It's going to be a good year.

******

Khokand to Khiva

Travelling the Silk Road

Samarkand, Khiva, Khokand, Bukhara - wonderful names that ring with the romance and mystery of the ancient Silk Road. October 2009 took us on a second visit to Uzbekistan (and a day in Tajikistan) with memory cards full of photos and my mind's eye even fuller of the sights and sounds of that extraordinary place. New pages followed that trip - Shahrisabz and Fergana. Updates to older pages written after the first trip - Bukhara and Tashkent are completed as are Khiva and Samarkand. Here's a taste of some of the fabulous places we saw and people we met along the way

*****

Palm Valley - central Australia

Even camels stay home sometimes

2010 was a fairly quiet year for camel-travel. The old saddle bags only came out for Easter in New Zealand, a brief two weeks in Barcelona and England in June and Alice Springs in August when some bold VT sailors needed a cheer team for their assault on the Henley-on-Todd regatta - a VT meet with a difference.

Gorgeous Jess

Meet Jess

Having been cat-slaves for years, we always thought, much as we love them, dogs were not for us. Then unforseen circumstances brought Jess into our lives and what a joy she is. A seven-year old rottweiler, she has firmly entrenched herself as an indispensable member of the family.

And the cats? One has come to an "accommodation" of the big black monster in the house, tolerating her presence, facing her off occasionally, certainly not prepared to be friends but not allowing it to faze her or keep her from where she wants to be. The other is not so sanguine - she's gone into a huff, spends most of her days under the cover of MrL's WWII jeep and rarely consents to come inside the house until she knows the monster has been put to bed for the night. Jess couldn't be less interested in them if she tried, as long as she gets her walks, her pats on the head and her cuddles, she's as chilled out as a dog could be.

Wonderful as the sights and sounds and smells we encounter on our journeys are, it's the people we meet along the way that really matter.

(Can you work out where the people pictured here are from? They're all to be found somewhere on our travel pages)

*******************************************
Borrowed (with permission) from June.b, this statement expresses my sentiments re my photos perfectly -

Unless flagged otherwise, the photographs on the pages are my own and no copyright infringement shall be imposed upon anyone who wishes to utilize any of them for decent, moral, respectable, and legal purpose - within VT's rules and regs. of course and providing those that feature friends or family are not used. And, I would certainly appreciate your mentioning the source or quote VT or URL where you've taken the photo/s. Thanks.

Intro Updated Feb 1, 2012
Report Abuse

Personal Pages (14)

1 - 4 of 14

Comments (487)

Reply
- Report abuse
JLBG Yesterday

Thank you Leyle for your wishes !
Reply
- Report abuse
PeteG Apr 13, 2013 at 12:09 PM

Just been reading your tips on Uzbekistan. Really good photos and tips, thank you.
Reply
- Report abuse
ranger49 Jan 18, 2013 at 3:30 AM

Hello stranger! Good to see you online, hope all well with you and yours and - belatedly hopes for a bright 2013.
Reply
- Report abuse
toonsarah Dec 23, 2012 at 12:46 PM

Wishing you a Merry Christmas Leyle, and a happy and peaceful New Year :-)
Reply
- Report abuse
lynnehamman Dec 9, 2012 at 12:31 PM

Thanks Leyle........hope you are well? Long time no speak!
Reply
- Report abuse
ranger49 Nov 13, 2012 at 10:28 AM

Many thanks for your greetings - good to hear from you! I'm feeling rather spoiled and its not over yet. Short break to Czech Rep coming up Friday.
Reply
- Report abuse
Parisforless Nov 4, 2012 at 11:12 AM

Happy birthday my wandering camel , sorry for a delay, it's a school holiday and I was away. All the best
Svetlana Bellon
Reply
- Report abuse
MichaelFalk1969 Nov 3, 2012 at 3:13 AM

belatedly a happy birthday to you from Frankfurt ! Greetings, Michael
Reply
- Report abuse
deecat Oct 30, 2012 at 4:36 AM

Belated birthday wishes. So sorry to have missed your special day, but I've not been online for ages.
Reply
- Report abuse
Aussienet Oct 29, 2012 at 11:02 PM

Happy Belated Birthday.. Sorry I missed the day, I hope it was a good one.