This week, Big in Japan is on vacation in the Middle East, and will be bringing you travel news and happenings from around this often misunderstood region.

With the world premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull scheduled for May 22, 2008, it's no surprise that the internet is buzzing these days with Indy-related travel themes. After all, who wouldn't want jet-set across the world in search of mythical treasures, assuming of course that in the end, you get the girl and defeat the Nazis!

Well, considering that today's column is about Jordan, that surprisingly peaceful speck of a country that is bordered by Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia (there goes the neighborhood!), I thought it best to give into the Indy hype. After all, one of the newly minted New Seven Wonders of the World, namely the ancient city of Petra, happens to be the location of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Interested in reenacting one of the greatest moments in cinema history? Go grab your trusty bull whip and keep on reading.

To correspond with the release of their book Our Dumb World, the Onion has set up an online atlas to "reveal mind-expanding factoids about the lesser, conquerable nations of the Earth." The atlas is loads of fun, just like most everything related to the Onion, and it is updated with new content every week. It's somewhat reminiscent of the "Conan O'Brien Hates My Homeland" series, though the Onion's atlas seems slightly (only slightly) less offensive.

On China: "With over 700 billion citizens manufactured since 1892, China is the world's largest mass producer of Chinese."

On Brazil: "Boasting some of the sexiest people ever to be stabbed repeatedly at night, Brazil is home to perhaps the most attractive victims of carjacking, robbery, and violent assault in the world."

On Jordan: "From many years of regional conflicts to a recent shortage of natural resources, Jordan has had a long and troubled history. On the bright side, however, King Abdullah II made a very wise choice when he married Queen Rania.

So, so true.

There's a brand new airline in Iraq fittingly called ExPat Airways, and aside from limiting food and alcohol on the flight, they're also banning citizens of Iraq, among other countries.

According to ABC News, "Expat Airways said it is only accepting U.S. and Western citizens on its flights as it tries to capitalize on the thousands of U.S. contractors traveling in and out of the Iraqi capital each month." This is the first airline to restrict passengers based on nationality. Also barred from boarding are Indians, Pakistanis, and people from other non-Western countries, according to the Seattle Times.

The only route runs from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad, Iraq, and costs a whopping $450 each way. [via]

A friend of mine is in Egypt right now living and learning about Egyptian life, and he seems to be getting out a lot with his camera to do some shooting around the Middle East. I got this link from him the other day and immediately moved the ruins of Petra in Jordan higher up my list of must-do things in life. Let's say it went from 234 to 94 in the 1000 Things to do Before I Die. Petra means "stone" which will make sense once you see the video. Anyway, I'll let the vid speak for itself. It is unnarrated, but inspiring. Petra, you may recall, is the place they filmed part of the last Indiana Jones film. Once you see the video, you'll see why...and you'll understand why Petra is such a big tourist draw, even if it is hard to get to, as I understand is the case. If you're interested, here's a Wikipedia primer on Petra. And here's one on Cheerios, which has nothing to do with Petra, but is a nutritious breakfast cereal.

I feel like I've been doing a lot of US and European travel posts lately, so I figured I'd drop one in here about one of the places in the world that really intrigues me: the Middle East. Now ,I did my honeymoon in Israel and Dahab, Egypt, both of which are now dear to me. But I have to say two places I missed that I really want to return to are Cairo and Jordan. I mean, how can you be a fan of the Indian Jones series and NOT want to see Petra? And the pyramids ?So what if they are now a tourist nightmare. I want to see them.

And so here is a piece over at MSNBC.com that takes on both of these places. The writer discuses all the famous tourist spots...it's a basic travel piece...but somehow I came away with an even more passionate desire to check these places out. What makes the peice a bit more interesting is she visits during the holy days of Ramadan when, she says, people eat like eating is going out of style. But she hits some of the sites that have been part of my lifelist for many years, places like Luxor and, yes, the Pyramids. Then she spirits over to Jordan to see Petrra and once again I was filled with a desire to go. It's a nicely done bit of work, and if you're like me, you'll get inspired all over again to see these ancient wonders.

The famous River Jordan, described as a raging or "violent" river in the Bible, is now just a sad trickle of raw sewage and agricultural runoff. Even on the site where John the Baptist performed the ritual on Jesus, Kasr Al-Yahud (near Jericho), the river is now "an opaque, brown, sluggish" mess.

Apparently, Israeli water diversions, started in the 1960s, have been a large reason for the ninety percent drop in flow over the years. However, Syria and Jordan are also to blame. Now, a planned, joint Syrian-Jordanian "Unity Dam" threatens to do even more damage by stopping the river's largest tributary, the Yarmuk, and possibly completely drying up the river in parts.

Rather than the "original" spot four miles north of the Dead Sea, most religious pilgrims have had to move their re-enactments of the baptism to Yardenit (near Alumot, near the Sea of Galilee), over 60 miles away to the north, to the only clean-water spot: a lonely 3km stretch on the 200km river.

Here's one of those rather odd posts that make you do a double-take just before you say, yeah, that's actually rather cool.

A young Swede named Stellan Lind has gone to Jordan to recreate chariot races for tourists. Lind is a former executive in the pharmaceutical industry who was so entranced by the chariot scenes in the film Ben Hur that he headed to the Middle East and petitioned the government to allow him to establish a company that does recreations of the chariot races amid the ancient ruins of Jaresh, Jordan.

The show is known as "The Roman Army and Chariot Experience" or simply by its acronym RACE and features former Jordanian soldiers who play gladiators and compete in chariot races. Lind (perhaps a bit full of himself) oversees the races wearing a toga and a purple sash. He has yet to bring together lions and Christians, but perhaps it's only a matter of time. There is also a story about it on NPR.

We mentioned a while back a pretty cool contest by the makers of Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky wherein they offered several lucky souls $100,000 and the opportunity to travel the world. The winners would globetrot and then send back their notes, photos and such on the various places they felt were the best in the world. The idea was to find "the best that life has to offer". One assumes each leg of the journey involved quaffing Chivas...not that there's anything wrong with that.

According to the listing at the time, said adventurers "must be curious, intelligent, with strong writing skills and a sense of the world around them". If that doesn't describe a gadling reader, I don't know what does.

Well, the winners appear to be two people named Bill and Dana, and they offer their thoughts on these best places at the site here. So what are their findings? Well, here's a sample to make you extra-special jealous:

• Celebrate a Burns Night
• United Kingdom Harrods & The London Eye United Kingdom
• Art in the Italian Sky, Italy Florence, Italy
• Chasing the Ghosts of Venice, Italy
• Biking to the Dead Sea, Jordan
• Camping in the Wadi Rum, Jordan

Oh, to be 23, free and on the road. To be able to travel around the world...AND, get this...to have a newspaper pay for it? Or at least, have them publish regular articles while you travel. Such is the life right now of 23-year old Haley Edwards, a world-weary gal, apparently fresh (or near so) from college and sharing her thoughts about the world with others.

Now, I could make all sorts of nasty quips here about how youth is wasted on the young, but that would certainly be an expression of envy. Those of us who also traveled in our youth for long periods know that being on the road is about as healthy an experience as exists for mind body and spirit. So good for young Haley.

Let's see where young Haley went:

Haley's stated purpose is to go to places that scare her. That places her first and foremost in Egypt with a camel named Michael Jackson <insert poor-taste hump joke here>, and then on to Israel, Jordan Kashmir andIndia.

And so it goes. The pieces here (though I confess I didn't read them all, are thoughtful enough for a 23-year old. Needless to say, for most of us the joy of reading them comes from the vicarious remembrance of our own past travels. We are glad for Haley, but we read and hope and wonder if we, too, will be able to set out upon the world again someday so free and innocent and hopeful.

Naw, I doubt it.

I quite like having a popular tourist destination all to myself.

Unfortunately, this usually means one of two things; either I'm traveling in the off season and it is raining, or some recent catastrophe or civil unrest has swept through the region.

Or, it's the Middle East.

A recent article in The Guardian explores the lone silver lining behind the current dark clouds enveloping the Middle East since the most recent war started; empty tourist locations.

Kevin Rushby discusses the advantages that something horrific as war has for the adventurous travel; cheaper accommodations, far more welcoming locals, and even special treats like using historic bathrooms in house museums.

Sure, it's a bit sick to plug travel to such places during such times, but I have to admit, Rushby does make a good case for doing so.