I Love Heat

My love for the Middle East and the people that live there is well known I think. First time I left British shores was in 1968 and my next stop was RAF Muharraq, Bahrain, for a 2 day stopover before my journey along the Arabian Gulf to the island of Masirah, Oman, via Sharjah which is now part of the United Arab Emirates.
It was like being transported to a different planet compared to my life in South Shields and then a couple of years stationed at HQ Bomber Command, High Wycombe, after my telegraphist training at Cosford.

Little did I know just how much time I would spend in that area in the next few decades. 8 years working in Jeddah, Riyadh and ocassional trips to Taif via the infidel route to bypass Mecca (not allowed into the city if you aren't a Muslem). After that I had countless business trips from  one to 4 weeks at a time to many places from Cairo to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Damascus, Beriut, Jeddah, Riyadh, Al-Khobar. Sadly missed out on a trip to Tehran when some trouble arose involving U.S. hostages.

The book 'Heat' was recommended to me by HilaryinOman, who is becoming quite famous for her birds of Oman photographs on Blipfoto and even has a book published on the subject. I'm just getting into it but it's looking good, very interesting but just jealous that I'm not out there enjoying the 50 deg C temperatures that I used to enjoy so much in Saudi.