Northern Africa and the Middle East - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 131

in one of the world's most divided countries,
there is always a welcome at the inn.

162 follow JESuS To nAzArETH,
ISrAEl

Need to know For directions, rates, reservations
and volunteering info see W www.fauziazarinn.com;
T [phone]. Further info on the Jesus Trail
is at W www.jesustrail.com.

Secreted away in the souk quarter behind
the Basilica of the Annunciation, in a maze of
streets too narrow for cars, lies the Fauzi Azar
Inn - a 200-year-old mansion that has been
converted into the most welcoming place to stay
in Nazareth. Centred on an arched courtyard,
its ten adjoining rooms are decked out with
heavy drapes and cushions that soften the heavy
sandstone walls and high painted ceilings,
making this an oasis of calm beside the daily
hubbub of the markets.
But the Inn's owner, Maoz Inon, has bigger
dreams for Fauzi Azar, and has designed it to
be more than just a relaxing hideaway. He has
developed a “Jesus Trail” - a 65km walking
route that traces a path between some of the
most significant points in the story of the
Gospels, from the
fields and forests
that surround
Nazareth, along
the Sea of Galilee
to the place
where Christ
gave the Sermon
on the Mount.
With the help of
volunteers (who
get free lodging
in Nauzi Azar
for four weeks or
more in return)
he has worked
with various
other guesthouses
to mark out
the route with
accommodation
stops along the
way. So rather
fittingly, the Jesus
Trail ensures that

163 go on A dIvE SAfArI In THE
rEd SEA, EgypT

Packed with coral reefs, abundant tropical fish
and an assortment of World War II wrecks, there
is something for every diver in the Red Sea. Yet
if you go to many of the popular offshore sites
you can find them swamped with dive boats,
while below water there can often be more divers
than fish. Thankfully, there's far more to the Red
Sea than Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Join a
dive and camel-trekking trip organized by Sinai-
based Embah Safari and you'll be taken to some
of the less well-known areas along the coast,
such as the Nabq Managed Resource Protected
Area, which has excellent diving and can easily
be reached from the shore.
At the small coastal village of Dahab you
spend the first day getting back into the swing
of diving; an easy shore dive to Eel Gardens
and then a more technical dive to the Blue
Hole. After that you'll head to Ras Mohammed
National Park - Egypt's only national park,
which hosts Napolean wrasse, butterfly fish and
turtles. Early the following morning, the real
dive safari begins: you pack your belongings
onto a camel and trek north for four days along
the coast of Nabq towards Dahab, camping
overnight with Bedouin in the desert. You'll
dive two to three times a day at various rarely
visited locations - including reef tables and
walls, mangroves and seagrass beds - under the
experienced eye of local dive masters. Along the
way you're likely to see rays, sea horses and a
huge variety of coral and brilliantly coloured
fish. But best of all, there will hardly be another
dive boat in sight.

Chill out at the 200-year-old
mansion, the Fauzi Azar Inn