Bus travel is the most popular means of transportation for travel and tourism in the Middle East. It is an opportunity for genuine and close-up tourist experiences, but that is offset by occasional travel discomfort, mostly related to issues of availability of amenities such as air-conditioning, personal space, reliability of bus service, or safety of the drive. Official travel reports often have a slightly ironic undertone, which seems to typify the way passengers handle, or report about, Middle Eastern bus travel.

The countries with the most reports about bus travel experiences are Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab [Page 193]Emirates. The United Arab Emirates operates arguably the most modern public bus transportation system in the Middle East, and Turkey’s Intercity Coach ...