Am Ende des Lavastromes

At the end of the 19th century, the British woman Gertrude Bell begins her travels in the Middle East. Her fearlessness takes her to regions and areas where solo female travelers are a rare sight, and she develops a deep fascination for this cultural space. She travels for three months through the Levant, from Jerusalem to the banks of the Jordan River, visiting the Druze mountains and the petrified lava flows, from where one can see the Hamad, the waterless desert. With a small caravan, the writer crosses the lonely landscape to the Syrian city of Aleppo. She impressively describes the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the Mar Saba Monastery, the artistic sites along the banks of the Orontes River, and later visits the desert city of Damascus. The focus is on her encounters with the diverse populations of the region. The British woman depicts life there.