The Middle East has had a turbulent history and has recently undergone some fairly dramatic political and military changes. In the late 1990s and early 2000s I visited a number of countries in the region, drawn by a fascination of their history and architectural remains. While it was relativey normal for people to visit certain parts of Egypt back then, some of the other locations I travelled to were obscure enough that they raised a few eyebrows with friends and family back home.
The current political and military climate in many of these places means that they are now impossible to visit, and in some cases have been severly damaged or destroyed. The current perception of the region in the West is unlikely to encourage tourists (and in many cases travel to these places is prohibited by governments), but back then these were truely fantastic places to visit, steeped in history and full of welcoming, friendly people.
The images here are a small selection from my travels, focussing on key tourist destinations that have been affected by past and current conflicts and political unrest.