Dazzled by an imaginative mix of costumery, choreography and acting, American audiences at UCLA found they could relate to - and thoroughly enjoy - satirical comedy by one of Egypt's greatest playwrights.

The traditional houses of the Holy City - an important element of Saudi Arabia's architectural tradition - are distinctive in function as well as design, playing a special role during the pilgrimage season.

Freya Stark, inveterate traveler and writer of "beautiful, measured prose," ventured alone into territories where few Europeans had gone before. She demystified the Middle East for generations of readers.

From early morning till late at night, crowds throng Marrakech 's most famous square, where snake charmers, storytellers, musicians and other performers transform casual passersby into rings of enchanted spectators.

At 23, he was the youngest dancer ever selected for the Paul Taylor Company. Two decades later, Lebanese-born Elie Chaib is the troupe's oldest performer, but critics still hail his work as "astonishing."

Ladakh: a remote land of incredible beauty, home to a people of great hospitality and piety. The road has brought change, and the people are moving hesitantly, sometimes painfully, into the world's mainstream.

One of the finest anchorages on the African Red Sea coast, this Sudanese island town no longer hosts merchants, soldiers and sailors from distant lands. Yet its centuries of greatness remain a richly-textured memory.