Zerzura the lost Oasis...

Count Lazlo Almazy

Zerzura is a mythical white city or oasis. Myths does impact the spirit of exploration.

 In Arabic the word Zerzura is a location populated by starlings. Zerzura was first mentioned in the texts in the 13th century and is said to be located deep in the desert with riches beyond measures. Zerzura has been described in the 15th century by an anonymous Arabic treasure-hunter as a white washed city of the desert on whose gate is a carved bird.  It states "take with your hand the key in the beak of the bird, then open the door/gates to the city. Enter, and here you will find great riches..."

László Ede Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós - Nicknamed - "Abu Ramla" Father of the Sands (22 August 1895 – 22 March 1951) Hungarian, aritocrat, explorer, aviator, soldier etc. 

He led an expedition to search for Zerzura from 1929-1930 and beleived it would be found in the area of Gilf Kebir. Gilf Kebir would be translated into "The Great Barrier" is a plateau in the New Valley of the remote southwest corner of Egypt and souteast Libya. It has been of great geological interest. Royal Geographic Society has sponsored several expeditions in their search to find Zerzura although without success. Until present day it has not been found.

In 1930 Ralph Bagnold formed the Zezura Club with the leading explorers of the Sahara one of the members were Count Lazlo Almazy who would be the lead character as well in the book "The English Patient"

"I like to think of Zerzura in that light, as an idea for which we have no apt word in English, meaning something waiting to be discovered in some out-of-the-way place, difficult to access, if one is enterprising enough to go out and look; an indefinite thing, taking different shapes in the minds of different individuals according to their interest and wishes. For the Arab it may be an oasis or hidden treasure; for European it may be a new archaeological site, some find of scientific importance, a new plant or mineral; or just an expectancy of finding anything that is not yet known.

Or for the less scientifically minded it may be still more vague; an excuse for the childish craving so many grown-ups harbour secretly to break away from civilisation, to face the elements at close quarters as did our savages, ancestor, returning temporarily to their life of primitive simplicity and physical vigour; being short of water, to be obliged to go unwashed; having no kit to live in rags, and sleep in the open without a bed.

Zerzura is sought in many places, in the desert, at the Poles, in the still unsurveyed mountain regions of Asia. There is no fear that the quest will end, even though the blank spaces on the map get smaller and smaller. For Zerzura can never be identified. Many discoveries will be made in the course of the search, discoveries which will make the seekers very happy, but none will surely be Zerzura. A new water-hole may still be found, a Stone Age burial-ground or a reef of gold, but it will not be Zerzura. The answer to the riddle of the dunes may be discovered, but it will not tell us where Zerzura lies.

As long as any part of the world remains uninhabited, Zerzura will be there, still to be discovered. As time goes on it will become smaller, more delicate and specialised, but it will be there. Only when all difficulties of travel have been surmounted, when men can wander at will for indefinite periods over tracts of land on which life cannot normally exist, will Zerzura begin to decay.

Perhaps a long time hence, when all the earth’s surface has been seen and surveyed, there may be nothing left to find. Fancifully we can picture the excavator rummaging about with his pick in the last yard of unexamined soil. Behind him we catch a glimpse of expert, microscopes and notebooks, while in front, very near now, stand the locked gates in the city’s misty wall.

The pick is withdrawn. The time has come at last when the experts can close their notebooks, for there is nothing else unfound. We see Zerzura crumbling rapidly into dust. Little birds rise from within and fly away. A cloud moving across the sun makes the world a dull and colourless place."

Ralph A. Bagnold - 1935

«Libyan Sands - Travel in a Dead World»

 Perhaps your adventure spirit will find the path in the Sea of Sands leading to Zerzura.

Time Will Tell

A life to remember - Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) - Adventures in Arabia...

Gertrude Bell

Eccentric? - Possible - Gertrude Bell gathered information/intelligence data which was used by T.E.Lawrence in the successful Arab revolt against the Turks (1915-1916). She saw the young T.E.Lawrence when he was just 23 years old in Arabia, she was then 42 years old and already famous. She spoke fluently French, German, Arabic and Persian. She had a passion for Arabia - Independent, Intellectual, Intelligent born in 1868 she attended Oxford, climbed the Alps which, also gave her a reputation for being mountaineer. She made two voyages around the world prior to her arrival to Arabia.

Gertrude Bell was the one of the Empires leading Arabists. She rode camels with the Bedouin in the Arabian desert, spoke their language, dined with tribal leaders. Recruited by British Intelligence during the First World War. Political Officer, Oriental Secretary to the High Commissioner in Baghdad. She had a strong interest in archeology and founded the Baghdad Archaeology Museum.

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King Faisal I

Gertrude Bell was part of the negotiating the borders of Iraq.

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Gertrude Bell attends a meeting of the Mesopotamia Commission at the Cairo Conference of 1921.In the photo are Gertrude Bell, Sir Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence.

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Sir Winston Churchill accepted Faisal as the new King of Iraq due to his talks to Gertrude Bell. Further, Bell was close to King Faisal and acted as his adviser as well.

Dubai.....Walking...Walking...Walking......a Modern Young City from an Arid Desert Land.....Exhibition # 1....

(All photos from the streets of Dubai - by Tavarua)

La critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile..

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Buddha Bar - Dubai, UAE .......Sculptures - Water - Imagination.

and the old Scrapbook says; Buddha Bar/Paris/France...

and now....

You think it is a mirage - It is not -
Welcome to Buddha Bar - Dubai, UAE....

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Buddha Bar is located adjacent to the Grosvenor House Hotel

A 15 feet tall Buddha is centered in the restaurant.......

a view of the marina outside.....

(All photos in this post by Tavarua)
Enjoy an evening with good music - experience the Pacific Rim Cuisine (Buddha Bar - Paris - got to be a new experience for the Europeans in the early 90s).....and now - is time we exit - to dive in to a world of water, art, and people....

Sculptures - Water - Imagination

Desire to travel, to see, to smell, to hear, to explore, to live, a windwalker.....

Look to the blue sky and not the building and you will find in your mind that...

"In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true" - Buddha

"The way is not in the sky. The way is in your heart" - Buddha

“It is from the quiet and secluded scene of beauty found in the Arabian court-garden that Arabic poetry traces its beginnings.”

- Kamel Louafi

...and behind these wooden doors....

Beauty .....the interior of a mosque.............

“There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen”

“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

(All photos in this post by Tavarua)

“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” - Franz Kafka

Destination Arabia and the "City of Consulates" - al-Balad....

Sun rises over Jeddah and a new day is born.......

Life is good, it is all our experiences which we one day will conform into a book of memories when the season of fall arrives in our lives.

Here is some photos I took during my last couple of weeks in Arabia and a little tale about al-Balad - Jeddah, an ancient port city by the Red Sea.

Here is a place were you can smell the past, incense, spices, mystic, and romance,the sun beating down on your unprotected head, your senses creates a mirage and the imagination visualizes caravans, Bedouins in their oasis with date palms, their beauty, shade, and medicinal properties in an arid desert were water is as precious as gold.

It was here in Jeddah the pilgrims arrive(d) on their way to the Holy cities of Medina and Makkah.

Once, this was not more than a small fishing village.
The city traces its traditions back approximately 2500 years.

Jeddah got to be the port for trading between the East and the Mediterranean, with Makkah and Medina pilgrims travels from around the world.

A melting of cultures, very different from Riyahd and Dammam. Well, it is about al-Balad - In the 1880s the Ottoman Empire had reach out and had control over the city - Diplomats started pouring in and the "City of Consulates" grew up or as it is known in Arabic "Bilad al Kanasil" , or al-Balad.

Beautiful, intriguing buildings made out of coral blocks were you can see pieces of coral and sea shells incorporated to the structure. The walls and the foundation are built entirely with coral taken from the seashore or from the surrounding hills which once were under the sea level. The blocks are held together with mortar made by mixing sand and lime, which was produced by firing coral in large vats.

The buildings are slowly falling apart and some of their wooden balconies looks like they will collapse at any moment. I observed some restoration of some of the buildings and was told that they were slowly undergoing restoration.

The balconies provided beautification to the buildings but were there for the practical use of keeping the afternoon breeze to cool and ventilate the house(s).

Blue, pistachio green or sun bleached brown wood - Wood brought back from destinations far away.The balconies were extensions of the house were there owners could sit comfortably and smoke a Shisha (water pipe) with herbal fruits or tobacco in the cooling breeze.To protect the wood from the heat, humidity and insects the wood was coated with a liquid extracted from the Al-Bisham plant found in the mountains. Shark oil was also used for the same purpose. The resulting brown stain was an effective preservative.

The more elaborated balconies with integrate carvings are called mushrabiyah and balconies are called roshan.Balad is a city within the city and a part of the souk.

(All photos in this post by Tavarua)
The rest of this tale? Maybe - you will have some sweet dates and some Arabic coffee under the shades of a palm tree somewhere in the desert...and continue to write the tale of a traveler - I will leave it up to your own imagination.....