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By Root 1990 0

strong. Practices to be avoided include: using anchors on reefs; grounding boats on coral; touching or standing on living marine organisms (polyps can be damaged by even the gentlest contact, and if you must hold on to the reef, touch only exposed rock or dead coral); dragging equipment across the reef; ignoring the power of fin strokes (surges of water and clouds of sand can damage or smother delicate organisms); not maintaining proper buoyancy control (divers descending too fast and colliding with the reef cause serious damage); and spending too long in underwater caves (the longer you stay, the more likely it is that your air bubbles may be caught within the roof, thereby leaving organisms high and dry).

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LEAVING THE WORLD AS YOU FOUND IT

Nothing spoils a good walk through the wilderness quite like discovering that the hikers who preceded you have left their mark upon the environment. A cigarette butt, a rusting tuna can, a mound of human waste that the former owner didn’t cover up – multiplied by even a small proportion of the tens of thousands of hikers who trek through the Middle East, these signifiers of the human presence add up to a whole lot of rubbish. Today wilderness, tomorrow a landscape spoiled for everyone.

Most of the rules for responsible hiking are common sense: don’t remove plant life or cut down trees for open fires; don’t forge new trails or take shortcuts as many areas are prone to erosion; do make sure any fire is fully extinguished before you move on; do bury all your bowel movements in a deep hole and at least 100m from the nearest watercourse; don’t bury your rubbish (animals will dig it up) and do carry it all out with you; avoid the use of detergents or toothpaste near waterways; never buy souvenirs made from endangered species; and don’t leave food scraps behind or otherwise feed the wildlife.

In some ways, it’s all about preparation. Carrying a lightweight kerosene, alcohol or Shellite (white gas) stove means you won’t go hungry and your environmental impact is minimal. Also carry reusable containers or stuff sacks. And if you must light a fire, spend your day with one eye out for dead, fallen wood and always remember the adage ‘the bigger the fool, the bigger the fire’.

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For more details, see the Activities sections in each country’s Directory.

Hammams

One of the great sensual indulgences of the Middle East, the hammam (hamam in Turkey) is better known in the West as a ‘Turkish bath’. There’s nothing quite like a robust massage on tiled slabs, a sweltering steam-room session, and a hot tea taken afterwards while swathed in towels, all under vaulted domes that have changed little in centuries (the architecture is invariably exceptional). Even if you’ve showered beforehand, you’ll never consider yourself clean again until you’ve had a hammam. For years afterwards, you’ll remember your masseur as you would a scary teacher who taught you some of the more invigorating lessons in life. For a rundown on the complete experience, see the boxed text, Click here.

The following is a list of the best hammams in the Middle East.

Çemberlitaş Hamamı (Click here) İstanbul, Turkey.

Cağaloğlu Hamamı (Click here) İstanbul, Turkey.

Hammam Yalbougha an-Nasry (Click here) Aleppo, Syria.

Hammam Nureddin (Click here) Damascus, Syria.

Al-Pasha Hammam (Click here) Amman, Jordan.

Al-Shifa (Click here) Nablus, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Hiking & Climbing

Jordan is a trekkers’ paradise, most notably in the spectacular landscapes around Wadi Rum (Click here), Petra (Click here) and the steep valleys of Dana Nature Reserve (Click here) and Wadi Mujib (Click here). For climbing possibilities in Jordan, Click here.

Maktesh Ramon (the Middle East’s largest crater; Click here) and the canyons and pools of En Avdat in Israel and the Palestinian Territories’ Negev Desert are great trekking areas, but those who don sturdy boots and head to the higher, cooler Upper Galilee and Golan regions will also be amply rewarded; for more information on the best hiking spots