Cappadocia in central Turkey. Its fabulous landscape was forged by volcanoes—the pinnacles of ash, also called fairy chimneys, can reach up to 100 feet

For those hoping to travel in the Arab world, it’s been a difficult year. Two of my favourite cities—Damascus and Aleppo—are now off limits, and it’ll be many months before anyone ventures back to Tripoli. Even Egypt makes us jittery, until we see all those soothing adverts on the Tube.

But does this mean I’ll change my habits? No chance. For the last 25 years, my wife Jayne and I have headed off, almost every January, for the Islamic world. We’ve visited most Arab countries, staying in caves, palaces and kasbahs, and collecting a houseful of oddities (including some slave’s shackles and a pair of Ottoman binoculars, dated 1915). We even got engaged in Aswan, and—since our daughter arrived—we’ve been taking her too. No one welcomes