Traveling Solo Across the Middle East
Diego Pignatelli receives a warm welcome traveling a lonely desert road.
By Diego Pignatelli
At a time of increased tension in the Middle East, deciding to travel by motorcycle from Tunisia to Turkey may appear more foolish than adventurous. But during my trip, I encountered considerable friendship and generosity, as well as incredible sites. On my sixteen-year-old BMW K100RS, I visited the stone coliseum in El-Jem, Tunisia, as well as Sabratha and Leptis Magna, in Libya. Crossing the Sinai was a high point: from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to the Suez Canal, an empty road runs through flat desert on one side and the blue waters of the Red Sea on the other. In Aqaba, Jordan, I followed the King's Highway, one of the oldest in the world [5,000 years old]; it is said to be the route by which Moses led the Exodus. Shepherds always waved and yelled from the distance. In the Arab world, even those who do not speak English can say, "Welcome!" And they mean it.
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