Going to London tomorrow (and NOT Budapest)

Tomorrow I am going to fly to London. Will do some sightseeing and visit some relatives.

Actually I was going to fly to Budapest tomorrow, but it turns out it is cheaper to fly to London, then to Budapest. Or if not Budapest, it is still cheaper to fly anywhere.

I have seen some of the highlights of Greece: Athens ruins, Delphi ruins, Archeological museum and an Island to give me a taste of this country but I think really I cannot experience the Greek islands properly in the winter. So I will put some summer time on a greek island on my todo list... I like Greece.

Visited Aegina (Greek Island)

Visited my first greek island today with Tony, Jeremiah and Natalie. It was pretty windy and cold though. The highlight of the trip was having lunch in a fish market with freshly grilled octopus. We wandered around the town a bit and then one dog started to follow us around. By the time we got to the ferry we had about 5 dogs wanting to go home with us.

Visited Delphi and Greek Restaurant

Tony (guy from Australia) and I from the hostel did a day trip to Delphi to visit the Oracle. I cannot remember what she said. There was a one eye cat that was really giving Tony a hard time there.

Afterwards we went for greek food in my first 'real' greek restaurant. I had mousakka, Greek salad, Red wine, calamari, Tzatziki (sp?). What stood out is how really great the olives were. Firm on the outside, very soft and clean tasting on the inside. Tzatziki was too garlicy for my taste though. Calamari was very big, meaty and a bit tough. I got to tell the story about my calamari/burned hand.

Middle East versus the West

Well I heard a bell ring today and waited for the Call to Prayer to start...
...
...
... la la la


The call did not start. Wrong country. I had got used to hearing it in Egypt and Turkey - so much so that any loud amplified sound makes me anticipate it. It is a pretty cool sound. Can sometimes be annoying - but it is the anticipation that is the point here.

So what I expect now is theft. There is no theft - none that I know of directly or indirectly in the middle east. Harassment - sure. Theft - no.

There is some bargaining here, though. I was able to get my 30 euro travel guide bartered down to 15 euros. Pretty happy about that little experiment and lesson from the middle east.

Greece

Today I went to see the Panthenon at the Acropolis, Zeus' Temple, the Agora and Athens University.

I also got soaking wet because it was pouring all afternoon.

So I had low expectations of Greece. These expectations were set by reading some of Rick Steeves books where he suggests that too often travellers stretch themselves and to some degree - regret the visit from Greece from Europe (I am going the otherway in case you have lost track). Also I have heard from many travellers that Turkey is a better visit than Greece. So - long story long - I had low expectations.

Turns out, Greece is exceeding my expectations. Looking at symbols and relics of Greece helps feed my imagination about classical greece, the progress they made in fostering mind through university, body through olympics and attitude and society through the senate and government.

That is pretty cool. The renaissance was 'just' the sequel...

On the other hand I am finding hard to connect with these actual ideals. The buildings look so cool. But they arrre empty.

Getting back to the positive And the present: What I do know though is that Greek people are very friendly and helpful. I have had alot of genuine offers for assistance while travelling which I appreciate.

I will never take a night bus again

I hate night busses. I don't know why I allowed myself to take another one. I spent the whole of last night next to a guy with broad shoulders and a gaping crotch on one side, while pressed against an overactive heater on the other. Within this 12 hour adventure I slept probably 30 minutes - twice. I felt like 'decking' this guy about 3 times, but resorted only to defensive moves when he brought his elbows up against my face. It is not his fault, but when sleep deprived eventually my patience wore thin. I was literally sweating in my T-shirt while trying to hold my body diagonally to give myself the maximum space with the best amount of circulation. The bus was packed.

Anyway I made it back from Cappaduchia and decided to fly to Athens right away. I considered visiting the Turkish coast - but I was honestly done with busses for awhile.

So I got to Athens this afternoon. The airport and tram system was very impressive. Things are still very much still cleaned up from the Olympics. In fact the transit map makes all of these references to where to see the different events and gives tips on how to use your tickets for the game to take transit.

This morning I was 'smelly zombie boy' after having been on the night bus. A form of physical torture. Wearing my glasses and bleary eyed and feeling at the bottom emotionally and physically, the coffee barrista at the airport told me I looked like Brad Pitt. I thought that was pretty funny/embarassing. Those barristas are not to be trusted.

Anyway. Don't take night busses. Take a day bus. Take a train. Rent a car. Take a plane.

Ok. Last reminder: Don't take night busses.

Cappaducia

I went on a two day tour of Cappaducia. The tour was excellent: I don't think I could have seen so much in such a short time on my own.

What I saw were all of these volcanic formations which look like chimmneys in some areas and just caves in others. What is neat is how the early Christians built their own sophisticated housing, stables and church complexes in these caves.

It is like these cool little forts that when you are a kid you dream of building.

From the outside the houses that look like they are in the chimmneys look the coolest. But inside the most interesting thing are the underground caves where they carved out their own ventilation systems, wineries, chapels, stables etc.

Turkey ıs pretty cool

I thınk I understand why lots of people lıke Turkey. It ıs dıfferent because of the geography and the ıslamıc culture. But ıt ıs by far the most westernızed Islamıc country I have been too (ıe other than Egypt and Israel/Palestıne) whıch makes doıng thıngs much easıer and more comfortable. I am thınkıng of lıttle thıngs lıke Taxıs havıng meters, thıngs havıng prıces ın stores, less people starıng, etc.

Trying to get to Cappadocia..

Kim is on her way back to Egypt :(

I am now waiting around to find out if I can get on the bus trip to Cappadocia which is pretty much booked up. Cappadocia should be pretty cool: It is where there are these volcanic chimmneys have been carved out by early Christians to make homes and churches.

Useless trivia...In Turkey they put the pepper in the shaker with the single hole and salt in the shaker with three holes.

Turkish Hammam Experience

Kim and I went to a Turkish Hammam (bath) last night. Separately... men and women bathe seperately here.

We were not sure where to go so we asked the hostel clerk to recommend a place. He offered a couple touristy/westernized places but recommended a place that was very authentic.

We chose the authentic and I think the place we ended up was authentic.

On arrival we knocked on the door. The guy answering the door spoke very little English but quickly ushered Kim further down the street to the other entrance to the other Hammam.

I went in and was taken to a little private individual change room and told to strip down and put on a stiff towel. I was then lead downstairs and put into a dry sauna.

And I was left there.

No one else was down stairs.

Like. How long am I supposed to stay in this sauna? Am I supposed to tell someone when I am done or do they come and get me?

Doo. Doo. Doo. Lots of time on my hands. I started trying to relax, but ended up counting and wondering how long I was supposed to be in here. I tried counting to 50. And then 20. And then 30. I was going to get up, but someone else came in. He did not speak English either. I thought I should count quietly to at least 10 before leaving to be polite. I forget how high I got.

So outside the hot sauna was a large circular area with a high concrete domed roof. I saw pictures of five or six men laying on this same large circular table in the brochure and wondered if I should just lay there.

But arranged around the centre were small rooms with small concrete tubs and taps with frisbee shaped plastic scoops. In Finland they often dump buckets of cold water on themselves after the sauna, so I tried doing that for a bit. I used warmish cold water which was very refreshing.

So I then tried laying on the big table in the middle of the huge room. And eventually the guy who showed me to the sauna showed up and motioned for me to sit next to one of the concrete tubs. He then poured hot water over me and started to massage my back with a black glove that he was wearing to exfoliate my skin.

I might point out that I have had lots of massages before and I prefer to be massaged by female masseuses. I just find that more relaxing.

This fellow was not very relaxing. It was a rough but not painful scrub down. He did my whole body twice separated with a hot water rinse in between. He then had me lay down on the large table and then gave me a massage.

The massage was painful. He really poked hard at my pecs and back muscles. I then got another scrub down and rinse.

I think I had another scrub down and rinse again. To be honest I lost track. Let's just say I got scrubbed alot.

The masseur then told me to go upstairs and the guy upstairs told me to sleep for 5 minutes in the change room.

Once Kim arrived at the Men's area, I was done.

I felt a bit worked over. But yet, very very clean.

Blue Mosque

There is a blue Mosque in Istanbul! This Mosque is very stunning and can be seen from a distance because it is encircled with no less than six narrow towers. The Mosque itself is also interesting because instead of a single dome, the huge roof is made of cascading domes.

I took a few pictures for my blue collection. I don't know if the pictures will be really any good. I just think it is funny that we are staying 5 minutes away from the "Blue Mosque".

BTW, there is also a blue circumsicion room at the Topkapi palace. I did not go in though.

Topkapi Palace

Near our hostel is the Topkapi Palace. I had not heard of it before but it is apparently quite famous and was very impressive.

On display were some Talisman Shirts which were supposed to protect the wearer. What is neat is that these shirts are completely covered in delicate caligraphy presumably quoting religion or magic to make this shield.

Within the treasure rooms there were the biggest and the most emeralds I have ever seen. There was one large Emerald throne from India which was encrusted with 25,000 pearls!

One strange surprise was to find the actual arm and skull of St. John the baptist on display.

There was also a huge 86 carat diamond on display... Pretty big!

There was an Islamic area as well in the Palace. I did not know much about the palace at all - so imagine my surprise when we encoutered Mohammed the Prophet's shoes, sword, teeth, foot prints, tomb dust, hair, letter to the Copts on display!

Finally the last part of the palace was the Harem. I expected the Harem to be quite luxurious but it was pretty cold and barren. Two things from the Harem visit stood out: 1. There was between 300 and 500 women there (I expected maybe... 20!) and 2. They had a small pool where dwarves would engage in mock battles on small boats.

In Istanbul, Turkey

Today...
Istanbul is rainy...
Istanbul is windy...
Istanbul is very cold compared to Egypt...
Istanbul is very western compared to Israel and Egypt...

Istanbul is like...Vancouver!

Just got here today. Not much else to say, other than my feet are soaked. My jacket is soaked.

Aswan and Luxor

We went to Aswan and Luxor and spent a few days at each place. What stands out for me is the amount of hassling we got to buy stuff, go to hotels or rent a camel/felucca/horse/taxi.

The west bank of Luxor was really bad for pressure sales.

On the ferry boat over a fellow started talking to us - at the start he said he was going over to pray at the Mosque. This changed though and it turns out he is a hotel 'tout' who gets paid a comission to take us to hotels. We tried to get rid of him, but he kept following us (by leading in a way) to the hotel we were going to. We tried to get rid of him, but he would still keep following and would interfere with conversations we would have with other Egyptians. In the meantime we were being followed at the same time by two other 'touts'. So we had three people following us. I eventually yelled at them to stop following us. They said they were not following us so I basically 'snapped' and 'forcefully' suggested I did not want to have any of them within my sight.

So we walked away on our own to find a cab. As a cab started to come down the street I noticed one of the touts, stop the cab and tell him something before the cab came to us! After all that! We ended up walking 5 minutes out of town and had to get rid of one last guy before walking another 5 minutes to find a neutral ride out of the town.

We also saw some cool temples (lots of basksheesh guides), met a nice French couple (Johnathan and Samantha from Paris) and spent some time with Uni and Graham whom I met in Cairo and who were still in Luxor.

Cairo and Pyramids

I visited the Pyramids with Kim. The pyramids are on the border of the city. It is pretty much high-density urban neighbourhoods and then suddenly a barren desert marked only by the pyramids.

To me the pyramids were smaller than expected. Especially the Sphyinx which is only a third - maybe - the height of the pyramids. The typical photos of the Sphinx distort the size by composing the photo in such a way to show it as big as a pyramid.

Cairo is very dirty. The air is really dirty and sometimes you just cough for no apparent reason - just that you inhaled something stronger than you are used to. The interior walls of buildings (hotels etc.) all have a build up of soot. I expected the air at the Nile to be cleaner, but it was like a toxic wind. The atmosphere of Cairo is comparable to an underground bus station. I often had the urge to wash my hands and brush my teeth during the day.

I get stared at alot - more than I am used to - but that is nothing when compared to the number of stares Kim gets while walking down the street. The majority of Egyptian men seem to lose all sense of self control when they see western women. Kim and other women from the program often get grabbed while walking down the street. Some cab drivers have been known to 'pull it out' while driving. It is really crass and really common: Say every 5th or 4th man leers while walking down the street...

Cairo is very noisy. There is truly a 'cacophony' of horns. I counted and the largest interval I got to before hearing another horn sound is 6 seconds. The drivers are crazy as they do not follow lanes so much as just to drive into any available space and honk their horn as they approach other cars.

Crossing the street is tricky in Cairo. Rarely to cars stop for traffic lights, so most times crossing the street is like playing 'frogger' or crazy taxi (as a pedestrian). You can be stuck half way in a 6 lane street waiting for the chance to step into traffic. The traffic is usually streams of taxis, but there is also donkeys pulling carts on the side.

Picture 3 lanes of beeping traffic in a dirty high density city with the far lane being held up by a donkey cart. The donkey is half on the ground because it's hips are underneath it. Men dressed in traditional clothes are pushing and pulling the donkey to try and get it up...

Graham and Uni in Cairo

When I got to Cairo, I met Graham and his wife Uni at breakfast at Pension Roma. They are both from England - Uni is originally from Korea. They are both "sexy pumpkins". They are 5 days into a 2 year trip! Pretty cool!

Uni has been in Cairo before. She is a very outgoing Korean girl who can speak Arabic. I was always a little surprised when she spoke Arabic - and I think alot of the people on the street were surprised too!

I hung out with Graham and Uni and visited the Citadel and the mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun. The mosque was a big outdoors mosque that was built in 895 AD and as the main mosque had to be big enough to house the entire male population of Cairo.

Going to Cairo for Christmas (Christmas II)

When I was in Jerusalem I met some Christian missionaries (Kim, Rachel and Matt) who are working in Cairo. They were also in town to go to Bethlehem for Christmas. They invited me to spend Christmas with them on the Coptic Christmas date which is January 7th. I did not think I would be in Cairo by then, but when I found out that the ferry from Sharm to Hurgada was not running on the day I wanted to leave Dahab, I thought it might be nice to have Christmas in Cairo too!

It was about a 9 hour bus ride from Dahab to Cairo (bus goes under the Suez canal).

A few observations:
* Egypt has alot of desert. Which is mostly just sandy mountains with plastic bags flying in the wind

* Checkpoints. There are checkpoints scattered through Egypt. I believe these checkpoints are run by the 'tourist' police and appear to me to be a sort of counter attack against fundamentalist violence or perhaps they are a form of internal border control to track people moving within the country.
The typical checkpoint has a road block with a few gates and barriers, with about 6 soldiers. One or two are stopping each car and visually checking out the passengers and occasionally checking each passport. Two more are behind thick shields which are each just big enough to protect one person. Then there are two or more behind machine guns on towers or on the back of a truck.

Now, after seeing checkpoints in both Israel and now Egypt, I think that checkpoints are just a common part of living in the Middle East.

BTW, they had dogs check all of the luggage before going under the Suez canal.

* Rain in Egypt! There was rain while we were on the bus. Everyone in the bus got really excited when it started to rain and were looking out the windows at the streets that were flooding. It was dark, but in the city I could see a few kids playing with the rain as it fell illuminated by a street light. Kinda like how we might try and catch snowflakes on a first snow.

* Arab movies on the bus. They showed three movies on the bus. All in Arabic and all featuring the same hero: A man in his 40s with slick hair and bulging eyes. A couple comedies and an action/adventure type movie from what I could tell.

Sahleb description

While in Dahab, I accidentally ordered a Sahleb because I thought it was a hot chocolate. Both options were next to each other on the menu and I thought that Sahleb was the Arabic translation and not something else.

Anyway I was pleasantly surprised. It is a hot white pudding topped with shaved coconut, peanuts, yellow raisins, sliced apple or sliced oranges, drizzled with chocolate and a strawberry in the middle. Yum!

Twisted Ankle!

Twisted my ankle while descending from Mt. Sinai this evening.

It was very cold and very dark on the way down. I heard something pop or crack and it is swollen now above my ankle... Hopefully it won't be too bad otherwise I don't know if I will be able to travel. Michael lent me some tape and a bandage. I'll know more tomorrow...

Enjoying Dahab - Snorkeling and Motorcycling

I am really enjoying Dahab. I had a really fun day today snorkelling on the reef outside of the main strip about 2 minutes away from my camp. I also rented an enduro 125 motorbike and rode it around for an hour this afternoon in the desert. Very fun and I am pretty tired now (it is not even 6 in the evening yet).

Yesterday I met a very nice couple: Mike and Ulrika from Sweden. We had dinner together last night and will be going to Mt. Sinai and St. Katherine's Monastary tomorrow morning.

As I mentioned above, I am living in a 'camp'. What this means for me is that I have my own little straw hut on the top of a hotel type building. It looks alot like a hut that Gilligan and the Skipper might live in (no hammocks though! I sleep on a mattress on the floor). There is a big hole in the ceiling to let air and maybe smoke out. I don't think they get much rain. There is an electric light though. If I look out to the left from my hut I can see the ocean. To the right is a desert mountain range. In front of the range are a couple bedouin renting camel rides. One of the best things is that it costs 5 dollars CDN a night. This is the cheapest I have paid so far as European hostels cost between 25 and 30 dollars a night for a bunk in a shared room.

There are alot of flies here. It is just normal for there to be about four that start to circle you while having lunch. The other pest are CATS. There are tons of cats in these warm countries... There were cats all over the relics in Rome, there were cats all over Jerusalem and there are Cats all over the place here in Dahab. The sandy area of the beach is not so wide... so often there is a smell... I wonder if the cats see this place as their own little um...sandbox.

Along the main strip/boardwalk there are tons of hustlers that try and get you into their restaurant or souvenier shop: "You speak English?" "Where are you From?". I get asked these questions about 100 times a day...or..150 times if you include people asking if I need a "Taxi?".

Aurally, the big thing is the call to prayer that goes on during the day. I don't know how to describe it (Aaaaoooooaoaoaoaooooo is not sufficient). On the way from Taba to Dahab our Bedouin driver picked up a young Egyptian police officer (a fater of two children) who was very friendly and excited to meet us. He explained that when he heard that sound it resonated in his heart.

The big discovery today for me was the - now obivous - scuba diving culture here. It was amazing to be within 5 minutes walk and wade to be able to swim through a tropical fish environment that looked like it was straight out of a National Geographic spread. I saw lots of small colourful fish, an eel (scary!), some bigger (1 foot circular) fish and tons of coral. I just missed seeing a milk shark apparently... I did see a nurse shark in Mexico so I now wonder if a milk shark is the same as a 'nurse shark'....

Riding around on the little enduro was just plain fun. While you can argue that I am free to go wherever I want - so I am free - I always have to deal with busses, taxis and trains. It was very cool to just drive around on my own and get a little dirty in the process.

The wind is really picking up today. I don't know if this is normal here or not. I hope the weather is good for tomorrow. That. And I hope my hut doesn't fly away.

More in Dahab

I found out today that the exchange rate posted in my guidebook was out of date.

The guidebook said that the exchange rate was 2 Egyptian pounds per CDN dollar. Checking the internet I found out the exchange rate is actually 5 to 1.

Everything is now half the price it was yesterday! Horray! Happy New Year!