Oman, UAE & Arabian Peninsula

Author Jenny Walker has written yet another outstanding travel guide for the Lonely Planet publishing house. This travel guide is 7.7 x 4.8 x 1 inches and 596 pages long.

There are places in this world that you may want to visit on your own, without relying on tips from those who have gone before you. You travel to have adventures, and you want them to be your own adventures, not someone else’s idea of what you should do while in a foreign land. That’s a wonderful attitude to have, but the modern Middle East is not the region to have it. These are old cultures, with customs and taboos that are very different from those of western cultures. That’s why this guide book is so valuable.

It of course discusses safe places to stay, exotic cuisines to try and what restaurants are best to try them in, market areas to be sure to visit as well as areas you may wish to consider avoiding. But it also gives details that are lacking in many other guide books. It has subsections dedicated to the cultural history of the areas, details on the behaviors of children, what different garb indicates in different areas. Things that are important details which you could easily trip over if you aren’t aware.

The book also provides information not just for visitors, but for expatriates living in these lands. You are traveling to another country to view its culture, not to find areas of America within a foreign land – but the location of these familiar enclaves is good information to have.

The guide features chapters on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, with subsections on major cities in each country and cultural distinctions and details unique to each area. The guide gives tips on transportation, money, sites to visit and special considerations for female travelers. It also tells you what sort of environment to expect on your travels, because this area of the world is not all sand dunes. Some of the most beautiful beaches in the world can be found in the Middle East.