Photographer, writer and global adventurer Guy Sibilla's return from a two-month trip to the Middle East brings a well-timed invitation for the season. Sibilla shares travel notes from Syria and Jordan in "Ancient Cities," a visual presentation at the Honolulu Design Center.

Traveling along the King's Highway in Jordan, the old road from Yemen through which traders brought frankincense and myrrh, Sibilla trekked via Petra and Amman to Damascus. Also on the route was the Red Desert in southern Jordan, location for "Lawrence of Arabia" with Peter O'Toole.

"Syria (is home to) perhaps the most wonderfully warm and generous people on earth," Sibilla said, "Antiquities are so dense you may traipse through a Roman pagan gate to reach an Umayyad Mosque which stands in the shadow of a Byzantine church."

Sibilla has written for and published his photographs with local and national media including Honolulu Magazine, HI Luxury Magazine, Travel + Leisure as well as this newspaper. See photographs of his trip, including the famed Roman desert ruins of Palmyra, and hear how a sandstorm blew Sibilla into a Bedouin camp, 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Cupola Theatre, Honolulu Design Center. Free. Seating is limited. Reservations: info@honoluludesigncenter.com or 237-5462.

— Chris Oliver

CALIFORNIA

WALK YOUR WAY THROUGH WINE COUNTRY AND SCENIC WILDERNESS

Taking a page from inn-to-inn hiking vacations in Europe, Wine Country Trekking runs independent walking tours in the San Francisco Bay area.

Tours include city promenades, coastal paths, mountain trails and village lanes, with each day's journey approximately 4 to 12 miles long.

"Tomales Bay to the Wine Country," for instance, is a three-night excursion that includes a kayak outing and winetasting at private estates, for $1,100 to $1,300, while "San Francisco to Mt. Tamalpais" covers Sausalito and Muir Woods in four nights, for $1,100 to $1,250.

Prices vary by season and include comfortable lodging, breakfasts, lunches and luggage transfer, as well as tax, tips, maps and trail notes. Most dinners are extra, as are transfers before and after the vacations. 888-287-8735; www.winecountrytrekking.com.

Reach Chris Oliver at coliver@honoluluadvertiser.com.