Things have been rather quiet here as of late, but I expect that to change as I get back on the off the beaten trail. Roughly 3 weeks ago I moved to the Middle East, for work, on a 6 month contract. Following my graduation in May, the stars aligned and called me to the Gulf. So far, it’s been a pretty rocky ride. Many struggles, low highs, and very low lows. But slowly, I’m starting to get settled in the Arab world. I expect life to continue to get better every day.

The majority of my time (think 55 hours/week) will be spent working tirelessly recounting beans for companies. Not quite as glamorous as ’studying’ in Bangkok, but this is what being a grown up is I suppose. My free time will be spent sleeping, surfing the interwebs, staying hydrated, and getting fat on Middle Eastern food.

Pertaining to this blog, I have a plan for some fresh new content and articles. As my scarce free time and holidays allow, I’ll be exploring the region as much as possible myself. Furthermore, I’m already lusting over a nice little swing through greater Asia when I’m finished working here. So be sure to stay in tune for some new articles in the coming days, weeks, and months.

As the rest of the world’s growth is finally starting to outpace the US economy’s growth, most of the new huge building projects are happening overseas and we tend not to hear about them, at all. Well these projects are massive, elaborate, beautiful, gaudy, and seem to be a fixture in future urban landscapes and urban tourism internationally.

So are these projects sustainable? And will they be budget friendly? Well probably not too nice on the pocket book, but that is yet to really be determined. But for theses massive building projects going on…

Kazakhstan - Entertainment Center

Norman Foster is bringing Kazakhstan (yes, the Borat kazakhstan) up to speed amongst it’s Asian neighbors with this entertainment center meant to show off the country a bit. Featuring retail space, a massive park, and some “entertainment center” Kazakhstan is looking to tap into some high end tourism. Maybe they’ll have some budget hostels in the normal part of the city so a day trip wouldn’t be too impossible.

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Nas Air, the first no-frills budget airline in Saudi Arabia flew for the first time February 17. This first flight, basically for media and publicity purposes, was led literally by the CEO, who is a trained pilot.

The ticket fares offered by Nas Air reportedly have the potential to be dirt cheap. I say potential, because it depends how early you book. The earlier, the better. Also, they are supposedly offering good discounts to those who purchase online at FlyNas.com.

Nas Air will officially open to all Arabians on February 25, 2007 with flights offered on one of its three Airbus A320s. Nas Air has big plans though, and expects to become a huge player in the budget airline market. They hope to have eight planes in their fleet in a year, and plan to service 23 Saudi Arabian destinations in two years. After that, they want to go international and will have an IPO. Yeah, like I said, big plans.

This happens to remind me a lot of Jet Blue and Emirates. Jet Blue, because of their urgency to grow and aggressiveness as a young airline. Emirates because Nas Air is exploiting (in a good way) an untapped middle-class Middle Eastern market.

If Nas Air doesn’t pull a downfall like their US rapper counterpart (sorry for the pop culture reference) they could become the next RyanAir or easyJet. Watch out Saudi Arabian Airlines.

The story from ArabNews

With the recent Middle East conflict between Israel and Lebanon, it’s starting to look like Lebanon will no longer be an attractive budget travel destination.

Just when it started to seem like Lebanon was starting to revitalize after their past conflicts with Israel, they started to get involved again. Economically, I do not see the point in being a nationalist in Lebanon because of the impact this will have on tourism.

Lebanon’s travel website boasts

Lebanon tourism prospects strong for 2006
Up to 1.6 million visitors projected this year

However, now those prospects are not looking too strong, atleast while they still detain two Israeli soldiers. If you couldn’t tell, I’m not a big fan of any conflicts in the Middle East, because most military action there just gets messy [see US/Iraq war]
Lebanon was a very cheap destination for travelers. Dorm style Beirut hotel rooms could be had for $6 a night, and double or triple rooms would never be more than $20. Full meals at the typical restaurant are usually around $2 or $3.
Popular ancient Roman ruins at Baalbeck, Lebanon

The most popular things to do in Lebanon include visiting the ancient Roman ruins at Baalbeck, walking along the Beirut corniche, which is a promenade along the Mediterranean Sea, and visiting the National Museum in Beirut. There are plenty of other things to explore in Beirut and in the rest of Lebanon also.

If you are still interested in traveling to Lebanon while Israel is slinging missles at Beirut’s airport, airbases, and the southern part of the country, I’m sure there are many great deals available since most of the Western world will be avoiding the area for awhile.

[tags]Lebanon, travel, [/tags]