Greetings from the Middle East

Name: Ben Tilden
Price range: $

Posted Mar 30, 2019

A bearded man in a black suit and hat stands on a balcony in front of a cityscape with the golden Dome of the Rock and a tall minaret in the background.

I’m halfway through my two-week trip to Israel and Jordan. This is my second time to Israel and it’ll be my first time to Jordan. As before, I’ve been based in Tel Aviv, taking day trips to Jerusalem, Masada and the Dead Sea. The food, architecture and history here are all incredible. So many cultures have come together here and blended into something both new and ancient.

This afternoon I’ll be hopping onto a 40 minute flight and then taking a ride through the desert to our next destination, Petra. I can’t wait — this is the thing I’ve been looking forward to most on this trip.

Road to nowhere

Posted Feb 23, 2019

A muddy winding path cuts through a dense forest with tall trees and scattered fallen leaves along the sides.

Scan from negative

Summer 2001

Around the year 2001, I drove down on a whim from Seattle to central Oregon — an area that would later become known for cults and militiamen, but at the time was mostly just a blank space on the map to me. I wanted to explore, take a few photos, and find a place I remembered my grandfather once talking about, called Steens Mountain.

At the end of the second day, barreling down the backside of that mountain toward my motel room and a shower and a bed, a side road flashed into my peripheral vision and then was gone. Something about it grabbed me; I slammed on my brakes and went back to snap this picture.

This remains a favorite photo and a favorite memory — one of those times I ventured out on my own to nowhere in particular, just to see what I could see.

Joshua Tree

Posted Feb 17, 2019

Close-up of a spiky yellow-green yucca plant with long pointed leaves in a desert landscape and a blue sky.

Joshua tree on the Barker Dam Trail, Joshua Tree National Park

Feb. 16, 2019

Joshua Tree National Park

Posted Feb 17, 2019

Desert landscape with Joshua trees, shrubs, and rocky hills under a clear blue sky, distant snow-capped mountains visible.

Desert landscape with tall Joshua trees, rocky outcrops, and dry shrubbery under a clear blue sky.

Desert rocky landscape with large beige boulders, sparse shrubs, and a calm reflective pool mirroring the clear blue sky.

Desert landscape with large weathered granite boulders, a calm blue pond, and sparse desert plants under a clear blue sky.

Single Joshua tree with spiky branches in a desert landscape, rocky hills in the distance under a clear sky.

Desert rocky landscape under a bright sun, with large boulders in the foreground and sparse vegetation across a rugged terrain.

Desert landscape with a prominent Joshua tree in the center, dry brush, and distant mountains under a bright blue sky.

Clustering cholla cactus with spiky golden spines in a dry desert landscape under a clear blue sky.

Joshua Tree has been on my to-visit list for years, and despite the crowds, it did not disappoint.

I arrived early, I thought, on a Saturday morning in February. But when I pulled over the consult my map, I saw a near-constant parade of cars and trucks streaming in right behind me. So much for that.

Still, like most of the national parks I’ve been to, there’s something electric in the air, crowds or no. It makes me think about what the earth must have looked and felt like just a few thousand years and several billion people ago.

The trees at Joshua Tree are cool, of course, but the rock formations created a sense of place that I’ll never forget. I wanted to see more and soak the place up, but by midday the parking lots were annoyingly full of minivans, and I ended up heading back to Palm Springs for nachos and a margarita instead.

On my way back, the line of cars waiting to get in stretched on for more than a miserable mile.

I can’t wait to return someday and explore Joshua Tree properly — maybe on a Tuesday, or a Wednesday.

Saguaro National Park

Posted Jan 22, 2019

Desert trail winds through cacti and scrub as a pink-orange sunset lights the horizon, with hills in the distance and rocky ground underfoot.

Tall saguaro cactus stands upright in a desert landscape with scrubby bushes, prickly pear, and distant mountains under a blue sky.

Tall saguaro cactus with multiple curved arms stands amid desert shrubs, against a distant rocky hillside and clear blue sky.

Desert landscape with tall green cacti and dense shrubs across gently sloped terrain.

Desert silhouette at dusk with dark cacti and shrubs against a gradient pink, purple, and blue sky.

Silhouetted desert shrubs and tall cacti on a rocky hill against a gradient pink to orange sunset sky.

Tall desert hills with numerous cacti silhouette against a blue twilight sky, a bright full moon rising near the hill peak.

Tall saguaro cactus with multiple arms rises over desert shrubs against a sunset sky of pastel purples and oranges.

Tall saguaro cactus stands among desert shrubs with a mountainous backdrop at sunset.

Long line of people wearing blue and yellow vests walking toward the Forbidden City’s Tiananmen Gate with red banners and flags in the background.

People walk through a dark arched tunnel toward a sunlit traditional Asian building with orange-tiled roof and red walls.

Shoes? No. A traditional Chinese building with ornate multi-tiered yellow-tiled roofs, red wooden windows, and decorative blue-green trim set against a blue sky, bordered by a bright red wall.

Birds flying over traditional Chinese temple rooftops with golden tiled roofs and ornate blue-green trim against a clear blue sky.

Ornate Asian temple roof with tiled, curved eaves, decorative dragons, and a colorful tiered finial against a blue sky.

Vivid Chinese temple complex framed by a colorful doorway, with ornate yellow-tiled roofs and a blue sky visible above crowds of visitors.

Ornate, multicolored architectural details with turquoise, gold, and red patterns, dragon motifs, and decorative curved tiles on a temple facade.

Decorative orange tiled roof edge with small dragon and animal statues against a clear blue sky.

Golden-tiled rooftops with ornate dragon motifs frame a multi-tiered green-and-gold pagoda atop a hill, surrounded by trees against a clear blue sky.

Bronze-green Chinese guardian lion statue with curled mane sits on a stone pedestal in a traditional temple courtyard, ornate orange-tiled roof and colorful decorative eaves in the background.

A multi-tiered, ornate pagoda stands among modern high-rise buildings against a bright orange sunset.

Hexagonal glass panels with warm sunset reflections and metal seams creating a honeycomb pattern.

Bustling narrow street lined with shops and pedestrians; a person on a scooter pushes through while others chat and stroll along slick stone pavement.

Temple-like multi-tiered pagoda with blue tiled roofs and ornate gold and blue detailing, surrounded by a carved white stone railing.

Circular, tiered Chinese pagoda with blue-tiled roofs, ornate gold trim, and a blue plaque with gold Chinese characters.

Two silhouetted people sit and stand at a pavilion overlooking a sparkling lake, with trees and distant buildings in the background.

A lakeside scene with a stone railing adorned by carved posts, a large tree trunk in the foreground, calm water, distant yellow trees, and a pagoda-style structure on a hill.

Two wooden boats float on calm green water beside a mossy stone wall and a white-walled building with lattice windows.

A well-trimmed, dense green bonsai tree with a thick, gnarled trunk in a brown pot sits on a white pedestal along a row of similar pots.

Terraced green tea fields on rolling hills with scattered trees under a clear blue sky.

Sunset over a lake with layered silhouettes of mountains and a small boat carrying people on calm, orange-tinted waters.

Nine-tier pagoda with blue roof rises among trees near a water body at dusk, gold spire and pink sky in background.

Skyscrapers line a riverfront under a bright blue sky with scattered white clouds, including a tall, twisting tower on the left and a slender, modern high-rise on the right.

Aerial view of Shanghai with the Oriental Pearl Tower, tall skyscrapers, and the Huangpu River winding through a dense cityscape under a hazy, sunlit sky.

China

Posted Dec 01, 2018

This trip was a little bit bonkers. To start with, it was only $299 per person (plus a mandatory $100 tip and the fee for a Chinese visa) for a ten-day China tour, including two intercontinental flights, two regional flights, all our lodging, and most meals. It was cheaper to go on this trip than it would have been to stay home.

Six of us signed up, and we were matched with about 35 other people from the same region, making ours a rather large group overall. The itinerary included several days in Beijing before flying south and visiting the cities of Suzhou, Wuxi and Hangzhou and then finishing up in Shanghai and flying home.

How was this deal so ridiculously cheap? We were told that these trips are subsidized by the Chinese government as a way to boost traditional industries, and we did indeed visit many a “factory” (i.e. showroom), though no one was ever required to buy anything.

We visited a jade “factory,” a pearl “factory,” a center of Chinese medicine (where a team of doctors descended on us and within 90 seconds diagnosed everyone with at least one ailment, curable with herbs conveniently available for purchase on the spot), an actually quite beautiful tea plantation, and I know I’m forgetting a few others.

One person I’ll never forget, though, was “Fiona,” the supposed daughter of the owner a jewelry factory outside Shanghai – she gave an Oscar-worthy performance in a pink polyester not-quite-Chanel suit and a perfect schoolgirl bob, telling us how kind we all were, stammering and pretending not to speak much English, and eventually whipping the group into an absolute face-clawing frenzy when she said – damn it! – she would sell us a few special items at cost, whether her father became angry or not, because we were all so kind to her, with our big American hearts — not like those rude Chinese visitors who screamed at her and made her feel bad.

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But it wasn’t all shopping. The tour also took us to the Great Wall; to gorgeous temples and gardens and parks and castles; to the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics; for a ride on the fastest high-speed train in the world; and down into the bowels of a massive underground mall bursting with knock offs of every kind and hundreds of tiny shops where you could choose and get measured for a suit and have it made and delivered to your hotel by checkout time the next morning.

A sunset cruise at Hangzhou bathed us in orange and purple as glowing golden lights turned on in pagodas and temples along the shore. A few days later, a nighttime boat ride on the Huangpu, winding through the center of Shanghai, dazzled us with the futuristic, ever-moving lights and colors of a scene from Blade Runner.

So many more memories… Too many to list. This would have been an amazing deal at many times the price. Flying home, we felt a sense of gratitude at having been lucky enough to have had this amazing experience and adventure together.