A Stroll through the Axis of Evil

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Syrian bazaarSyrian bazaar      EsfahanEsfahan

Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran are in the news for all the wrong reasons. Starting in Beirut, I unravelled a picture quite different from the news stories as I followed a winding route via the Euphrates, the Caucasus and the Valleys of the Assassins to finish eventually on the Persian Gulf. I met a spectacular variety of people – Druze, Maronites, Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Azeris and both Shi’ite and Sunni Iranians – and to my surprise I found families and whole communities working together to survive the harsh climate and political strife.

     Kurdish separatistKurdish separatist      City of QomCity of Qom

Iraq was fascinating of course, but it was the people of Iran who made the trip unforgettable. They must be the most warm and generous in the world – for days on end I was hardly allowed to buy any food or drink. Worryingly I managed to get arrested in the holy city of Qom, but was let off and continued south through the desert to Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf, a rocky no-man’s-land that hasn’t changed much since Marco Polo was there in 1271. Marco Polo had been intending to take a local boat to India, but the boats looked so unseaworthy that he turned north and went overland to China instead. Have Qeshm Islanders got to grips with boatbuilding since then? Come to a talk and find out!

                      Gulf coast womanGulf coast woman      Qeshm Island boatyardQeshm Island boatyard

“Everyone said this was ‘our best talk ever’ ” (Gosport Discovery Centre, Hants)

Follow John’s journey as it happened through his updates:

10th May 2009 – 1st September 2009

First update – Last update

Come to a talk!

Listen to John’s From Our Own Correspondent piece about Iraqi Kurdistan for BBC Radio 4.

Book now for this latest of John’s slide/sound shows.

View details of talk  A Stroll through the Axis of Evil   (Right-click to download)

Back to top – More talks – More about John – Books and how to order – Some impressions
Come to a talk! – Contact details – E-mail John now – Intro and main menu

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