What could drive a 45-year-old woman to wander off alone to the Middle East in 1842?
Or what pushed a young female motorcyclist to hop onto her motorbike and ride from Paris to Isfahan, Iran, as the only woman-rider on a motorcycle rally in 1972?
I was curious too. So I immersed myself in the stories of six women, from different countries and backgrounds, who travelled in the Middle East over the past two centuries. And these points struck me.
Keep a sense of humour even in unexpected situations
When the Austrian explorer Ida Pfeiffer arrived in Palestine in 1842, she accompanied a group of male pilgrims to the Monastery of Mar Saba. However, on arrival, she had a surprise.
As her biographer John van Wyhe explains, while the men were allowed to enter without any problem, the gates of the monastery were shut to her. She had to stay in a tower (called ‘the Women’s Tower’) which could only be accessed by climbing up a ladder. She was then locked in this tower for the night. But she didn’t lose her nerve — or her sense of humour — and likened this experience to the story of Rapunzel.
Later, when she was on a ship going from Cairo to Cyprus, a Greek sailor saw Ida Pfeiffer brushing her teeth with a toothbrush. He had never seen this before and was curious to take a closer look at the device. However, after scrutinizing the object, he went on to try it out on his own teeth and told her that he was ‘entirely satisfied with it.’
Age is not a limiting factor
Ida Pfeiffer started travelling alone when she was 44 years old. This did not stop her from travelling around the world — she did it twice!
In total, she covered more than 20,000 kilometres by sea and 30,000 kilometres on land. Her curiosity and determination helped her brave social conventions which did not approve of a woman travelling alone.
Freya Stark, an English-Italian explorer, did her first trip to the Middle East in 1927. In her life, she spent time in Beirut (Lebanon), Syria, Yemen, Cairo (Egypt), Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. And she continued to travel until she was 92 — and lived until the age of 100.
Be warned: You see what you expect to see
Freya Stark was fascinated by what she saw and wrote extensively about it. She invested time in learning Arabic and found local people welcoming of this. As she wrote, ‘the village is doing their best to teach me — only too pleased to find someone who has come neither to improve nor to rob, but with a genuine liking for their language.’
Still, in spite of her delight at discovering middle eastern cultures, she contrasted the people and customs that she saw in the Middle East with her own culture and identity as a Western woman.
Her writings reveal that she saw Middle Eastern people as culturally and religiously inferior. And, sadly, woven within this lies her arrogant conviction that she understood the Middle East and could give meaning to what she saw.
‘A nation’s government and its people are entirely unconnected’
I am fascinated by a photo of Anne-France Dautheville, travelling in a feminine floral dress and black heeled shoes on a Kawasaki 125 motorbike. The picture was taken in the former Republic of Yugoslavia in 1973 as the French woman was finishing a motorcycle trip around the world that had taken her to Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
She appears dainty. Yet, the look in her eyes betrays her tenacity.
‘A girl on two wheels didn’t exist very much then’, she admits in an interview given to ‘The Vintagent’ in 2021. She also states that ‘in Afghanistan, a girl who arrives on a motorbike is like a smurf.’
Still, in spite of people’s surprise at seeing her zooming around on such a machine, she recalls that people were incredibly encouraging and kind to her, on occasion paying anonymously for her meal in cafés where she ate.
In 2013/2014, the British adventurer Lois Pryce also took up the challenge of doing a solo trip by motorbike from Europe (in this case Britain) to Iran and travelled nearly 5000 kilometres around Iran, a ‘land of secrets, fear, and irrepressible lust for life’ as she describes the culture.
Faced with all the negative rhetoric about Iran, she decided she wanted ‘to find out for herself’ and explains that the main element she learnt is that there’s a huge difference in a country between the position of the government and the attitude of the people.
Choose courage even in the face of fear
Suzanne Al Houby, a Palestinian woman who lives in the United Arab Emirates, is the first woman to have climbed Mount Everest. She was determined to climb even if this meant pushing herself to the limit. Since, she has founded an adventure travel company and works as a guide on walking expeditions in Jordan.
Angela Maxwell also chose to pursue her dream and walked for six and a half years around the world because she wanted to ‘feel the world’, connect with people and herself.
She was amazed by the generosity that she encountered in Turkey. In particular, she remembers that older women who were working on fruit farms came over to her and offered her fruit. Wherever she went, she was invited into homes and cafés to share tea and talk.
But on her journey, she also faced her own fears as she was attacked in Mongolia. After struggling with self-blame and facing deep questions about whether she should abandon her journey, she emerged stronger and more determined. She says that she chose courage and found peace.
I can believe her.
9 responses
Estarei em Omã no final de setembro e suas informações me ajudaram muito na escolha do Hotel!
Obrigada Christine
Merci Christine pour ce temps passé à nous décrire comment se sentir comme chez toi, chez nous !
J’ ai voyagé encore !
À bientôt ✈️
C’est un plaisir, Anne. Vraiment!
Wow❤️
Thanks. If you need more information about accommodation in Muscat or other aspects of travelling in Oman, don’t hesitate to ask.
Hi Christine, thank you so much for the restaurant recommendation. I loved the food, the atmosphere and the place in general. I also talked to Khaled, the supervisor. He says hi. Thank you again. Tomorrow is my last day in Muscat. Any last minute must- see places?
Saliha from Algeria
Hello Saliha, Glad to hear you enjoyed the restaurant. In terms of Muscat, there are many options but some must-sees are Muttrah (the Corniche, Souq and Fort), Al Qurum (Shatti Al Qurum with its beach, the Opera building), and Old Muscat (the Royal Palace and gardens around, the Bait Al Zubair museum). I hope you get to see some of these. Have a great day!