would be a nice title for a book I thought but also a good idea to implement in reality. The 'Akamas' is the most western tip of Cyprus, the area after Pafos, the tourist center. Once one has left this nice but rather touristy town behind and starts climbing up into the hills, a little bit of the bygone and more rugged Cyprus appears, as always as soon as one moves away from the coast. Sure the coast has it's charm too, but not in the main tourist season when hordes of holidaymakers of all colours decent on the strip stretching from Aya Napa to Pafos. The mountains are not as crowded as well as the northern coast of the southern (Greek) part of the island. The Akamas is ideally placed, away from the crowds and more quite and serene.

It was a long time since I had visited Cyprus, so after five years it was about time to go again. The flight from Beirut to Larnaca is short, really short, 25 minutes. The time spend in Immigration can take you longer than the flight. November is low season, and instead of the dozen or so holiday flights that greet you in the high season on the tarmac, there was just one other plane at the gates when our plane from Beirut arrived. Arrival procedures where easy, lots of rent a car services and on the way to Ni cosia in no time. Driving is another thing getting used to, it is on the, sorry, wrong side of the road. :) It takes a bit of training and getting used to, on the highway no problem, but traffic circles are another story. Anyway, it was all good and the next day it was off to the Trodos Mountains, to the monastery of Johannes Lampadistes in Kalopanagiotes. The drive from Nicosia goes through the Mesoaria plains until the foothills of the Trodos Mountains, when the road slowly winds up the hill, the valley getting narrower by the mile. The land was dry, it had been a long and hot summer, and rain was desperately needed also in Cyprus. In the valley there was a little stream that was still flowing down from the Trodos Mountains, but if no major rainfall was to come soon, the days would be numbered for the creek. In contrast to most of the Middle East, the countryside was very clean and tidy, something that is appreciated if one comes from an area that sometimes feel more like a rubbish dump then anything else. But that is a complete other story.

The weather was nice for the whole time, and it was relaxing to travel with old friends and stay at their house. The Akamas peninsula was nearly empty but windswept the days we visited, clouds came in from the west and the forecast was advising of rain for a few days later. It was nice to travel during the 'empty' days, not much tourists and mostly locals. Even Limassol was pretty, autumn and winter have their advantage in those tourist hot places. For sure the time around Christmas and New Year, which is just around the corner, will see an influx of people, but very well so.

Back in the Levante, the Christmas season has started. While in Cyprus, finally, after 2 and a half years, a President was elected, also not all are happy about the choice. It is still the old guard from the civil war, there are young and inovative people that could have made a better choice, but so be it. Besides the presidency now for the first solved, it is the formation of the government now that hinges on the same deals, we will see. The other problems still persist, trash crises, electricity crisis, refugee crisis, war in the east, security situation and for sure a few other things. A day or so ago, a cosmetic surgeon was murdered after having been kidnapped 40 days ago and dumped in Sidon. Gee what did he do wrong? We finally had our first rainy days, and so did Cyprus. Weatherforecast indicates that more rain is to come next week, good, but the electricity and TV, as usual will suffer when it rains. The change of the year will be spend in Germany, if everything goes well, one more Christmas and I be free. Photography wise, besides being in Cyprus, I have continued with the work on the Rue Hamra project and the Graffity in Beirut. Mostly I used the Olympus cameras, OMD5 an EP2, which I kind of rediscovered for its grainy B/W setting which I like. I hope to write at least one more post before the year ends, and kind of promise that I will try and do more next year. Good Bye.

Hot air is coming out of the blast furnace of the glass manufacturing workshop in Sarafand on the southern coast of Lebanon between the cities of Sidon and Tyre. The temperature in the furnace is 1400 degrees apparently and outside in the shade we have a hot 34 degrees. Inside the workshop it is also very hot, sweat running down my forehead as soon as I start photographing the workers in their chores. The glass manufacturing is done on a small scale in Sarafand using mostly recycled glass trash from one big beer company in  Lebanon. The tradition is old in the region and it was at the brink of disappearing but the Khalife family is continuing with making glass and seems to be the only one in or around Sarafand, maybe even Lebanon. Besides the workshop there is a small showroom where the produce is being sold at the source, instead of buying it in more expensive and perhaps overpriced boutiques in Beirut. For sale are all kind of glasses, carafes and teardrops for decorations in all kind of colours. The workshop is somewhat difficult to find, the little side road that goes off to the right coming from Tyre is hidden between the buildings, looking more like a driveway then anything else. The only sign to the place is when coming from the direction of Beirut on the old seaside road, but even that is not accurate and detailed enough. One ends up asking for directions but calling the shop on the phone is even better, with friendly advice received and guidance given. This place is definitely worth a visit when in Lebanon and travelling to the south of the country.

Right now the weather has become very hot, not like the furnace, but sometimes it feels close to it. The heat paired with high humidity makes it nearly unbearable to go out during the daylight hours, except early morning and after or close to sunset. But what to do and I thank the person every day who came up with the idea of air conditioning. Spend a week plus in Germany, small eye operation and all went well. Even there the weather turned hot and muggy and with no air conditioning or even a fan it became quite difficult to sleep. One week or 8 days is very short and like often now, it was so difficult to get going again and fly back to work. Here in the country, as every year there are problems with the electricity, political anyway with no real solution in sight, and let's see what else is brewing or going to come our way. The security situation is volatile, as always, the situation in the east not good, always threatening to affect this country as well. Thanks to the security agencies of the country who have managed so far to avoid the slide into the abyss. As every summer one can feel the influx of tourists but most, if not nearly all are locals, i.e. relatives from abroad in the diaspora coming back to see their relatives for the summer, crowding the street, beaches and restaurants. Traffic accidents have increased and one is happy once the quieter times come back in September, when all the hussel and bussel is gone and people have disappeared again back to their chosen exiles. I am looking forward to autumn and winter, cooler temperatures and rain and the chance to enjoy the outsides again with few people and nice breezes.

I only took the x100s to Germany and made some photos in the garden but nothing really noteworthy. It is a great travel camera of high quality and with the 35mm lens and the 50mm extension it covers most situations one encounters when travelling. I like the Fuji look of the Jpgs and the colours produced. It was the last camera I bought so far, and that is already over two years ago. Right now I am not planning on a new camera, the Olympus Pen F is tempting but for my style of documentary photography, I think right now I have all that is needed. This does not mean that eventually I get weak and buy one anyway. So for now this is all from here, more next months but nothing new much anyway. Bye.

one could say, it is already the beginning of June 2016. Although I realize not many people really read all of this, I should try and continue with this stories more frequently and not so sporadic as of late. Well, sitting here on a Saturday, happy it is weekend and I am not at work. Lately it has gotten quite intense and much, but for better or worse I need to carry on, at least for a little while. As one can read in the international and local press and also in the meantime on the internet, there have been direct threats of attacks made against the organization, so we are all taking precautions and even around our residences there is currently high  security. Let's all hope that nothing happens and this all passes, the world is already crazy but seems there are not limits.

So, since I last wrote, indeed I went to the mountains as long planned. The trip to the Qadisha Valley and Bsharre happened, it was the Easter Weekend but it was still cold and rainy, even mixed with snow at the higher altitudes. Never mind, I had a taste of the area, a view of Tripoli (another place to visit, especially the old exhibition grounds designed by Oscar Niemeyer). Also the coast between Batroun and Tripoli looks promising with regard to photography. The salt pans and Enfeh are definitive a destination worth a visit, later this year after the summer has subsided. Otherwise I have not been much around the country this year, only Beirut for the weekly sojourns but not even lately, security is high and one has to think if each trip is necessary. There were local elections during the months of May, so the situation was volatile and I rather stayed at home, also, the maddening traffic is not very enticing to engage in all the time.

In April I went to Germany for my dad eye operation, which in the end did not happen due to a severe infection he got elsewhere that send him to hospital and the planned surgery at the eye had to be cancelled. He recovered, but it took quite a while and left him weak, his age of 86 showing and not helping in the recovery. In May then off to Cyprus to attend the weeding of one of my best friends daughter. It was a nice welcome break but the weekend was one of the hottest so far. Despite Cyprus being close and the flight is only 25 minutes, it takes about five hours from Tyre to either Nicosia or Limassol. The weekend was great with little sleep and tiring but well worth it.

Photography wise nothing dramatic happened during all this time. The mountains I photographed with the OMD and x100s, Germany a little with the x100s and Cyprus also with the x100s. Both of the cameras worked flawlessly and I am happy with the results, even they are not highly artistic. Despite all of that, I am also taking quite a few photos (or pictures?) with the Samsung S6, just because I guess I have with me all/most of the time and the results are, if not used in an too dark environment, are quite good. I also like the post processing of those images in Snapseed, which is a very nice tool to create unique images from photos taken on the S6. Most often I photograph in the square format so it is easily to identify as having been taken with the S6. I also like the square format from the days of the 120mm film, Rollei, Mamiya and Yashica 124G! I still have my Medium Format film cameras but have not used them in years, and for the price of a  digital Hasselblad one can better make a down-payment for a house!! The medium format Pentax is much more affordable but I do not need it for what I am currently do.

So, enough said, any more would be rambling only. I will attach a few photos from the recent months. Until next time, take care and good bye!

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter.

I am amazed how fast this year is proceeding. Nearly three months are done already, and what can I say, I have been to busy so far to think of anything interesting or useful that I could have posted. The SAP project is eating my time and brain...

Here in Lebanon the first swifts have arrived, not to sure if they are just passing or staying for good. I have not seen any storks on the way north so far. This winter was dryer then the last one, but for this long weekend some rain is forecasted. I am going up north to the mountains for the weekend, I do not expect much snow anymore, it has been to warm lately. Today we had 29 C down here at the coast. I will see if some snow is left. I am looking to photograph the steep gorges and monasteries of the Qadisha Valley, Cedars and whatever else comes around. It will be the real first weekend devoted to photography. Hopefully the weather plays along and I am looking forward to a long Easter weekend in the mountains. In this spirit, Happy Easter again and more shortly ( I will try:)

The rain is coming at the end of the year 2015, finally or at least that what is told in the media. Sitting in my office overlooking the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea I can see it coming, the rain that is, approaching from the south like a curtain, visible for miles out on the open sea. And now, within a minute or so it is here, hard rain and a howling wind, changed from partly sunny fifteen minutes ago.

So another year done, two more to go until R-Day. Looking back at 2015 it was not particularly bad or good either. No assignment to a new place this year, although I was requested to go to Somalia twice but this was not approved by management. There were several travels to Germany, the Gulf and South-East Asia, which for the most were enjoyable. Fortunately there were no major health problems  to anyone in the family and myself, only the small things like flues etc.

Photography wise I have been continuing to work on some of my projects, like the Sugar Cane cutters of SE Asia, Rue Hamra here in Beirut and sporadically the Graffiti on walls all around. Not sure how many thousand photos I took[ 5000+ :) ] still thinking not enough anyway. My favourite region in Lebanon remains the Chouf for its serene beauty and cleanliness. Of course there are many other places, but no, this remains the place I like the best here. Although I had planned to visit the north of the country this year, especially the Qadisha Valley and surrounding areas like the birthplace of Khalil Gibran, my favorite Poet, again it did not materialize. But then it remains on my bucket list for 2016.

For the year 2016 I would wish that peace may prevail in this region and anywhere else. Personally I do not have a specific wish except for good health to family, friends and myself. Maybe although that I get some of the passion back for the arts and photography. That really be it, nothing else.

In this sense I would like to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR 2016!!!

• Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream.
• Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
• If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.

​by Khalil Gibran