Where to go for the winter...
 

Hi all --

We were planning a tour of the Middle East for winter 2007: overland through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and possibly Israel if we could swing it (juggling two passports and stamps), before turning back up into Turkey in the spring and into Eastern Europe. Now, though, I read that we have to get a Syrian visa in our home country -- impossible since we are not going home before then -- or risk the whims of the border guards. If we get turned back trying to get into Syria, where else would you go for winter 2007? We will be starting our winter sun search from Italy, near Ancona, in mid-September and would strongly prefer to do it all overland.