Travelling in the Middle East


Map provided by ReliefWeb

The religion that dominates most of the Middle East is the Muslim religion. In this area of the world women do not have many of the same rights and freedoms that women of the western culture are accustomed to. Women in this part of the world are accustomed to the rules of society that dictate them and believe that women who are travelling to this area should respect their beliefs. This is a religion that is often misunderstood because of the treatment of women in the religion.
Muslim women have always been treated as though they were inferior to men, even though in the Koran (the Muslim holy book) it states that men and women should be considered equal. Equality for the Muslim woman has not been granted to her. The modern Muslim woman has reached her present position in society by force and not through natural processes or mutual consent. Women are recognised by Islam as a full and equal partner of men in the procreation of human kind. He is the father and she the mother and both are essential and necessary for life. Her role is not less vital than his is; she is entitled to equal rights, undertaking equal responsibilities. Unfortunately for the Muslim woman in many parts of the world equality between the male and female sex is still a dream and has not occurred. The Muslim religion practised in the traditional manner prohibits women from showing their faces except in the privacy of their own homes and only to their brothers and mothers. One of the strictest countries for women is probably Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no official government. The temperature is extremely hot and dry as a large area of Saudi Arabia is desert. To look at some pictures that were taken in Saudi Arabia click on the following link http://u.n.u/travel/country/sa
It is difficult for women to receive visas when they want to travel to the Middle East and various travel groups recommend that a woman does not travel by herself. The women in Saudi Arabia also adhere to a strict dress code; women are covered from head to toe in the traditional Muslim dress. If you would like to see an example of what traditional Muslim dress looks like this link is to a store that specialises in Muslim dress. http://www.modestintentions.com/page2.html If you are travelling to Saudi Arabia wear the Muslim traditional dress because if you do not wear it the people can be extremely hostile and impolite. Another country that is very interesting to travel to in the Middle East is Egypt; this is a country that is vibrant and rich with culture. The land of the Pharoes, and everyone that has attended school has learned something of this culture. The dress style here is not as strict as in Saudi Arabia but Egypt is also a Muslim country, so the dress style here should be conservative, keeping the shoulders covered. There are many things to do here but if you are going to Egypt one of the best things to see would be the pyramids, it is hard to truly comprehend the magnitude of these structures without seeing them up close and in person. They were created with no advanced technology that we have just with simple human labour. There are many stories that are associated with the pyramids, myths how they came into being. To look at some of these theories click to http://www.nauticom.net/users/ata/egypt.html There are also some interesting pictures of Egypt at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Egypt_GIFS/menu_Egypt.html
All of the Middle Eastern countries are vibrant and full of culture but it is not a safe place for a woman to travel to alone. There are political reasons as well, because most countries require a visa for entry and the government often does not issue visa's to single women travelling alone. The people of this region though have a lot of respect for women that are travelling if they are wearing the traditional dress, single women should also wear wedding rings on their fingers to keep away men that are looking for other things. This area though is considered one of the safest areas in the world to travel to. The complaint that many female travellers have though is that they were not really talked to and if they were with a male, they were communicated to through him. The other thing that one should be careful of is being cheated check http://members.tripod.com/AprilNg/travel.html where a Chinese woman went to Egypt and talks about some of the experiences that happened to her. This is an area of the world where women are still trying to achieve equal rights. This can only happen slowly through change and with more people being educated. The Muslim woman has to be accepted first as an individual by her country and then she can start to have some of the privileges and rights that have been given to her Western sister.