Nice Day in Nice

I had to go through this blog and reduce the number of times I called something in the town Nice, nice. But it’s such a great term for this city. Not fantastic but pretty nice.

Flamenco Show

For our final night in Barcelona there was a correlation of significant factors that made the night ripe for strange occurrences. First off, Barcelona FC was playing Inter Milan in a very important football game. Second, it was a full moon. And finally our bunch of mainly Aussie tourists was ready to hit the town. All a recipe for excitement... (or disaster)

The flamenco show ‘tour’ was organised by the hostel we were staying at and was a new feature so our tour guide was just as interested as us to see what it was like. All met up and started to walk... and walk... After a decent walk during the day that most of us had done exploring Barcelona this was getting a little annoying. We arrived at a Tapas Restaurant (small snacks) and told we only had 20 minutes to get in and out. Food was pretty good – what we were able to grab – and then we were off again for another walk.

I had been hoping to watch the football live at some bar but thought I should stay with the group – so the whole time we were on this tour the streets were pretty dead as the whole city was watching the game it seemed. Was pretty disappointed when the places we visited didn’t have a tv.

So after our brief meal we were whisked to a flamenco show – bit of a flop unfortunately. The performers were pretty good but they had this child dancer who had the biggest pout I had ever seen when she wasn’t performing. Talk about a grumpy kid who would be a terror in any classroom. The show we were seeing was also packed with school kids on an excursion – and since we were late we were standing at the back... poor feet. Just to rub it in – the stupid kids were playing ipods and clapping purposefully out of time to try and throw out the beat. Would have been embarrassed if they were my students.

Football Update – The game finished in the middle of the show and the kids were following the score. So stopped and interrupted the show... Luckily Barcelona FC won – but this I was told weeded out the true followers and the ‘touristy’ ones. Even though Barcelona FC won 1-0, they lost on aggregate so didn’t progress (I think – talked to one semi-upset fan). So all those ignorant ‘jump on the bandwagoners’ fans like those kids were I’m sure mocked by the locals.

What could have been a big night for Barcelona was a bit subdued – half our group bailed before this underground bar. I stayed with the other half but we all bailed pretty quickly after our ‘local guide’ was more interested in chatting up the talent. We are extremely lucky with our Topdeck guide – she’s fantastic and I wish she had organised the evening.

On to Nice

Early start in the morning and day on the bus again – started teaching some people how to play 500. Went alright but those bowers kept popping up at the wrong time. Stopped at a perfumery – I’m definitely not a ‘nose.’

Nice Night

Arrived at Nice and headed out for a group dinner. Pretty good meal and great profiteroles for desert. Went to an English speaking bar with live music. Was lots of fun!

Nice Day

Due to the late night had a great sleep-in. Went out for a wander with two main aims and a map. (even though it was a McDonald’s sponsored map...) First aim was to climb the Colline du Chateau. This fortress had a great view of the city and the sea and a very pretty waterfall. Took heaps of photos of the same thing as I climbed.

(this photo from the very top!)

On the other side of the mountain was a marina with a huge number of boats. These two were the biggest but might see more in Monaco tonight.

Walked along the beach which wasn’t very exciting. Stones aren’t as comfortable as the great sand we have in Australia so not worth writing home about it (oops). The temperature of the water was about 17 degrees – so wasn’t keen enough for that.

Final mission for the day was to find an ice cream place recommended by our tour guide called Fenocchio. It was in the old city with tiny alleys so went wandering. Would have been a perfect detour for the Amazing Race. Managed to stumble across it and it had a very interesting list of flavours including Tomato and Basil, Avocado, Lavender and Coca-Cola. Wasn’t allowed to taste test so went for a Bounty one and a Choc/Nut combo. Delicious.

Ambled around and had a look in some shops – found a bookstore but no English. What I would give for a Borders or Dymocks.

Tonight we’re off to Monaco so have to dress up. Finally what’s the deal with this teen pop guy visiting Australia? The only news I hear of Australia over here is the crazy girls getting hurt wanting to see a boy I’ve never heard of. Great claim to fame...

Week Ahead

Sat, 1st of May French Riviera to Venice, Italy

Sun, 2nd of May Venice

Mon, 3rd of May Venice to Florence

Tues, 4th of May Florence to Rome

Wed, 5th of May Rome

Thurs, 6th of May Rome to Patras, Greece

Fri, 7th of May Patras to Athens

Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona...

Why the repetition you ask? Well as we arrived here and went on a quick bus tour they played the theme song from the 1992 Barcelona Games with Freddie Mercury and their most famous opera singer combining for a duet. Lovely song but it got stuck in my head as I wandered the streets and since I could only remember a tiny part all that played in my head was “Barcelona, Barcelona...” I should make a playlist of the songs that get stuck in my head – I’m sure that’s one way to keep them out... maybe. And the only way I can stop them is by replacing it with an even more annoying song. Like “It’s a small world after all...” Oh no, now that’s playing in my head – what have I done?!?

Quick Bus Tour

Went for a fast drive around the city – saw the Sagrada Familia – the unfinished cathedral of Gaudi. Pretty special and amazing story – been building it for ages and aimed to finish by 2026 or something.

Group Meal

Last night we had a group dinner of paella (but the double l make a j/g sound I’ve been told – so I’ve been pronouncing pollo wrong for so long...) which was pretty good. We had to walk a bit of a way but it was along La Rambla which is famous for its street performers. Was some fantastic ‘statue people’ but wasn’t feeling generous and didn’t want to pay for photos. Tons of people and with sun going down late we didn’t start eating till after 9pm. Still think Australia should have imported the siesta! What a fantastic idea.

Lost in Barcelona

So latish night and with no need to wake up and catch a bus to another country decided to have a sleep in. Our hostel is in a great location in the city and actually has comfortable mattresses. Quite a classy hostel (is that an oxymoron?)

After my relaxing wake up I decided I should do something with this magic weather. Couldn’t find a map which had the metro stops drawn on top of the city streets – so just headed off. Bit of a mistake – I don’t know if you can be considered lost if you don’t really care where you are going – but did want to get to see this!

I’ve found I’m a bit of a proud (don’t know if that’s the right word) traveller – I don’t really want to ask for directions... maybe it’s the male gene coming through. After a while I realised I could be walking in completely the wrong direction and not actually heading toward anything remotely exciting. Swallowing my pride a little I found a bike map thing and eventually worked out where I was. Hadn’t completely gone in the wrong direction but saw some semi-interesting parks. I was also looking for a bookstore so I could get some reading material for the bus rides. No luck – but for some reason I found 3 shops selling scaletrix slot car sets. Was a bit odd...

National Museum of Art of Catalunya

Typical art museum in a fantastic building - see photo above. Got an audio guide which made it better but I’m not that interested in art unfortunately. Was cool how it was set up to show how art in the region had progressed through time from the Roman period to Modern day. The modern photography exhibit was just weird. One of the photos I’m sure was a close up of dogs fur – and nothing else... Very strange those artist types...

Olympic Stadium and Museum

Left the Museum and kept going up the hill to the Olympic complex. This was better – massive buildings and something I was interested in. You were able to walk into the Stadium – see where the torch is – for free.

Had to pay to go into the museum part – was cheap though – and had a gander. Much more interesting stuff. Highlights included an interactive display that could pull up old footage – watch the lighting of the cauldron for Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney. Also saw classic replays of some of Australia’s success in Olympics like Cathy Freeman’s run, the 4x100 men’s relay, etc...

Another interesting part was their depiction of some of the world records. The long jump one is massive – I sort of knew how long the record was but to see it measured out and displayed – Woah.

The final thing of interest was this!

How many backseat drivers do you want! And you’d better hope they were all pretty good at balancing and you had wide turning circles... (For Bron – and I still think it would go faster than Mum cycling in Central Park... good times)

Metro Back

Since I knew my own stop back at the metro went and found the closest stop. Since I was up the hill it was this steep train back down. Bit of fun... And what had taken me a fair amount of time in the morning was covered in about 10 minutes of metro travel... For only 1 euro. At least I got some exercise.

Tonight we’re off to a Flamenco show which should be good. Supposedly a big night so I reckon there will be some struggling people on the bus tomorrow.

Thanks to all those who have responded and said they enjoy reading the blog – its great hearing from home and what everyone is up to.

Jungfraubahnen and other Unpronounceables

Say goodbye to Switzerland, The whirlwind continues. Again the taste of this country only whetted the appetite to come back and visit properly. As avid readers have probably worked out – i’m uploading probably a day or two late but writing when possible (mainly on the bus – not having iPod is painful...) so if my tense usage is confused between past, present and future actions I have an excuse.


Lauterbrunnen

We drove through some amazing scenery on the way to the campsite. But photos never work well through glass on the bus. Went near the aptly named Interlaken and headed to our village of Lauterbrunnen for two nights. Was a quaint little village situtated in the most picturesque valley – this is the view with our trusty bus in the foreground.

Have an on-site chef who gave us fondue (yum) and other great food. Managed to whip up a vego option since pork is big here. Headed to bed – back to bunks...

Trip to Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe

Had a reasonably early start to catch two trains up to the highest train station in Europe. Left exactly on time and very refined train. Even had reserved seating on the way up. For those who have a vertical interest our village was at 796m above sea level. We caught one train to 2063m above and interchanged. This next train could go steeper – we were dared to try and stand up. Managed to balance but was really strange – had to lean so far forward. Was hilarious seeing some people absolutely fail... Maybe thin air made it funny.

Final train trip was inside a mountain – with two stops at viewing points they had dug out to the side of the mountain. Had a bit of a headache – still not fully recovered from cold and this may not have helped.

Finally reached Jungfraujoch at 3454m above sea level. Our driver tried to get us to run around for 5 minutes. Didn’t want to pass out so managed to avoid that.

Jungfraujoch

Amazing! I need to go skiing – desperately. Even in Spring the snow looked impressive and there was very limited numbers of people skiing. It was the last day of their season. Some pretty cool things to do up there. Two places to go outside and have incredible views and wasn’t that cold. The cold occurred inside the facility in the caves but out in the sun was fine. Even saw some people sunbaking in the snow – boy they were getting burnt.

There was also an ice cave with some ice sculptures. I don’t like ice-skating at the best of times (ask my roll-class, I banned them from school socials so I didn’t make a fool of myself in front of my students) but was alright with shoes and a hand rail to hang onto. Didn’t slip over like some Asian tourists – boy it’s hard not to laugh some times.

And this held our attention for a little while.

Everyone had to get a photo on the cow – thanks to peer pressure. Now if I don’t look really comfortable it’s because this was in one of their caves and the metal cow was cold – icy cold. And jeans aren’t the best insulators. I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination...

Stayed up there for a while – took massive number of very similar photos and was so lucky it was a clearish day. Some people were looking forward to tobogganing but that started the next day. I wasn’t dressed for it so not too devastated. Would rather ski.

(group photo)

Train Ride Back

Was a very crowded train ride back. Myself and another person from the tour lost the others and just went looking for a seat. Finally found one and sat down and then realised we probably bought the average age of the carriage down quite a few percentage points. The gentleman next to us asked politely if we were on some tour – which we definitely weren’t – and found out the carriage was reserved. Thought we were going to be kicked off but no guard came. Had a good chat to this guy and his wife who were German tourists and had some limited English which wasn’t bad. Much better than my non-existent German. Luckily my friend’s mother was German so she knew some words (and how to count to 10) so that kept them entertained for the trip down. Managed to not make a complete fool of myself when talking about the World Cup – I hope.

(one of the many photos as we descended)

Arrived back in our village – uploaded previous blog in internet cafe. Saw some of our group skydiving. Too expensive to do again. Nothing exciting happened at night and then packed bags and took off this morning. Now on bus back to France and we’ve been warned our next accommodation is pretty dodgy. Uh Oh. Hopefully it has normal European power points because that might be a problem very soon.

Luckily found power but told get free internet in Barcelona so will save upload till then.

Avignon

Had some issues on trip through France – some major accident so the freeway was closed. Stuck in traffic for an hour or so with people getting out of cars/trucks so took a bit longer than expected. Took a detour through some tiny village – don’t think they’ve seen a big Topdeck bus come barrelling through before.

Finally arrived at hostel – glad we’re only there for 1 night. I’m looking forward to a shower that I don’t have to pay or incessantly keep pressing some stupid button.

We went for a quick walking tour of the old part of town and saw the Palace of the Popes. Was alright but I think this is probably the first place I don’t need to revisit. There was also a ‘famous’ bridge which doesn’t even cross the river anymore that you have to pay 4 euros to walk on. I reckon you should only pay half since the bridge is only half way across.

Went out for tea – managed to order with our very limited French. Nice meal and fantastic desert crepes, managed to eat way too much. Then we joined the rest of our group on the banks of the river and a very chilled out evening.


Next day we headed straight to Pont du Gard – part of a Roman aqueduct that is older than the coliseum. Got me excited about Rome again – can’t wait for it. Not much to report there but got another photo for the album.

Spent another long trip in the bus and arrived in Spain. Great weather here – really helping me get over the cold. Don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow, probably just wander the city but might actually go into a museum rather than just walking past.



Week Ahead

Wed, 28th of April Barcelona

Thurs, 29th of April Barcelona to French Riviera

Fri, 30th of April French Riviera

Sat, 1st of May French Riviera to Venice, Italy

Sun, 2nd of May Venice

Mon, 3rd of May Venice to Florence

Tues, 4th of May Florence to Rome

Pretending to be Parisian

First of all, feeling a lot better. Sick Gareth is certainly brief Gareth. Head not pounding and can hear out of my right ear again. Still not 100% but able to enjoy holiday at this stage again. Once I sent out last blog thought I should explore city a bit and took some cold and flu drugs and able to get through day. Can sort of see how Washington D.C. was based on Paris – got a very similar feel in the center.


Louvre

Decided to do a bit of a walking tour – didn’t go into any places but just enjoyed the beautiful weather in a beautiful city. Caught the metro into town and impressed by public transport again. We are ripped off in Sydney – here trains every 5mins. Couple of interesting stations as well, went through one that was like a submarine with coppers walls and port holes. Got out at the Louvre and wandered around – took many photos because glass Pyramid is pretty cool. Since we were only here for 1 day decided I would have to come back and truly experience all the interesting things Paris has to offer later.

Unfortunately the bright sun was playing havoc with my hyperactive tear ducts and contact lenses. (Note for next time – wear sunnies in sunny Europe) I just couldn’t stop crying for a while when in the sun. Probably looked a bit odd in Paris – single guy crying while wandering in the city. Was thinking people could have thought I had tried to propose and been turned down and heartbroken – don’t know where that thought came from – was drugged up...

Another thing – not the best city to come to if you dislike PDA’s. My God, get a room!

Obelisk

To stop my crying I found a bench in the shade and just sat there for over an hour I think. Was very relaxing and fun to people watch. I was approached by a gypsy lady who asked me if I spoke English – used my best French impression and said ‘non’ and she believed it. So glad I didn’t have to go through her money wanting scheme. Which brings me to the other 2 tricks I’ve seen here:

1. String Ploy

Usually targeted at women – a man comes up and wraps a piece of string around your wrist. All fine and good – but if you want it or want it cut off you need to pay. So catch 22. We were warned by our great tour guide about this one. They also know all the places tourist visit – we were once travelling as a group and it was like getting through a rugby pack with everyone having their hands deep in their pockets.

2. Ring Ploy

Another sneaky one – you’re just ambling along taking in the magnificience of Paris when a random approaches you with a ring and says you dropped it. NEVER take it!! They get quite persistent if you don’t, saying it’s yours and so on. But if you do take it they want a ‘reward.’ And will follow and follow you until they get it – annoyance pays off I think.

Probably anyone who has travelled in Europe already know of these and if there are more I’d love to be warned about them.

Back to my wanderings – saw the Obelisk that Egypt swapped for a dodgy clock tower that stopped working after a short time. Raw deal for them because the Obelisk is pretty impressive in France. Even more impressive since it’s all by itself – and Paris buildings are so low. Purposeful decision by the Parisians and its paid off.

Champs Elysees

Strolled up this famous street – truly revealed my anti-shop-aholic status since I didn’t go into any shops at all. Can feel the gasp from here...

Arc de Triumphe

Another impressive monument in the middle of the crazy roundabout. It was bigger than I thought – and since still not feeling fantastic didn’t climb it. Will do that when I return.

Eiffel Tower

Thought I had to at least cross one thing off the list so chose to climb the Eiffel Tower. By climb I mean get the elevator the whole way up. Wasn’t that desperate to save 4 Euros and climb to the 2nd level. Due to the fantastic blue sky was a great view – might go up in the night next time I’m here.

Again I need to complain – yes I was a little annoyed by excessive PDA’s before but fair enough – this is the city of love. But at least i can escape. No such luck in an elevator. OMGoodness. I’m sure there was a competition between the couples in the elevator to the very top – was extremely glad to escape!

Cabaret Show

Met our group for a picnic near the tower. Because we’re down on numbers there is a massive amount of food. Great news for the ‘poor’ travellers with us (or those saving their money to get plastered) Decided to go to the Cabaret Show – since this is PG blog won’t say too much. Didn’t understand half of it but don’t think that’s the point. Unfortunatley for those so inclined - no photos.

Wasn’t just ‘dancing’ however, guy on massive unicycle was amazingly skilled with his tricks and juggling. There was also a trapeze artist that was fairly impressive. Luckily was sitting in the middle of our group so wasn’t pulled up the front unlike some of the group. Very interesting night!

Now we’re on our way to a camp site in Switzerland. (9 hours on a bus – yay) Spend a day here – probably going to go up the highest railway in Europe tomorrow and see snow. From the desert to the snow in a week.

Had day in Swiss Alps – will write about later. Incredible scenery and went to the Top of Europe!

Week Ahead

Sun, 25th of April Swiss Alps

Mon, 26th of April Heading to Avignon, France

Tues, 27th of April Avignon to Barcelona

Wed, 28th of April Barcelona

Thurs, 29th of April Barcelona to French Riviera

Fri, 30th of April French Riviera

Sat, 1st of May French Riviera to Venice, Italy

Fragments of a Frazzled Mind in France

Amazingly enough this email is coming from Paris! Who would have thought that I would actually catch the flight I was booked on from Cairo to London.

However, Karma has reared its ugly head and due to my ‘luck’ I’m fighting a cold (and losing badly – drugs help for a bit). Not much fun being sick and travelling. Last two days have been in a bit of a haze. Think I’ve managed to lose my iPod...

It’s been a few days since I last wrote but here’s a brief rundown for my memoirs.

Amman (also known as Philadelphia)

We did a quick tour of the old city.

Insert Photo

... I’m sure something exciting happened – might have to see if Mum remembers anything.

Jerash (Antioch I think..., maybe not)

Amazing ruins – but hot day. Might have weakened immune system here – lots of loud school kids. Glad I didn’t have to teach them.

Insert another photo

Flight to Cairo

No problems...

Flight to London

No problems... which is incredible. Got to hostel and straight to sleep. Funny seeing English in shorts/t-shirt in cold weather cause sun is out.

Join Tour and Drive to Paris

Meet tour early – instead of group of 35+ was only 15 at London, and maybe another 6/9 in Paris and more joining later. Spent trip to Dover, Calais and to Paris pretty much asleep. Not making good first impression on group.

Had a bus tour through Paris at night – luckily not too much walking. Went up Montmartre and saw the Basilica of the Sacred-Heart. Pretty impressive!

Saw all the big sites. Had a nice sleep-in and just a relaxing day. Need to come back to Paris later cause you can’t do it all in one day. Will catch Metro into city and catch up with group at Eiffel Tower later today. May go to a Cabaret show – see how I feel. Back to bed I think...

Seeing the highest mountain in the valley of Wadi Rum

Beginning to really enjoy Jordan. Not just the sites we’re visiting but they are really looking after tourists. Little things like our hotels have been the best so far – will be interesting to compare this 3 star hotel to the 5 star hotel in Cairo tomorrow night. Also free internet in each hotel! Bah – false advertising... had to pay.


Wadi Rum

Our first visit on a day we spent mostly in a car was Wadi Rum. Famous for its amazing vistas and links to Lawrence of Arabia we got in a trusty Toyota and headed out. Again it’s a place you have to visit – and my photos aren’t good enough. Might be worth taking a photography course if I even visit again.

[Cheers for Toyota that actually works and doesn’t need to be recalled]

We climbed up a sand dune – Mum did a bit of the way. Ended up with so much sand in my shoes and ran down without falling. We even had a camel ride – I think I like horses better cause my legs are pretty sore after the walking of yesterday. Happy snaps again!

Bedouin Camp

Our final stop for the day was a pretty well set up camp. Tourists can spend the night in a fantastic tent (with shower/toilet) and the clear sky would be pretty special with the stars at night. We were there for lunch which was great and ate way too much.

Was a quick day – we probably spent 6 hours driving everywhere and in Amman at the moment. Got a day here tomorrow and then flying to Cairo in the afternoon. Then I’ll see how I go getting out of Egypt.

Just a quick quirk about our hotel – they have a pretty well set up gym, pool and sauna. Went and had a look and I’m allowed to go in but Mum has to wait till the morning.

Week Ahead

Tues, 20th of April Amman and Jerash, then fly to Cairo

Wed, 21st of April Farewell Mum and head to London (Doubtful)

Thurs, 22nd of April Leave London for Paris (Prob. Heading to Paris someway...)

Fri, 23rd of April Day in Paris (Maybe caught up by now...)

Sat, 24th of April Paris to Switzerland (Better not still be in Cairo)

Sun, 25th of April Swiss Alps (Why volcano, Why?)

Mon, 26th of April Heading to Avignon, France

Petra Rocks!

This blog spans 2 days – for the best stuff head down to the Petra bit! Had to rewrite intro a tad but it’s been an alright day followed by a superb one! Keeps my mind of the trouble I might have getting to London in less than a week...

Israel and Jordan Border

We were picked up from our hotel Saturday morning and drove through the deserted streets of Jerusalem. We obviously were in a very orthodox part of town because for a while we didn’t see any other vehicle but plenty of well-dressed men heading to their synagogue. Got a few nasty looks from the locals, especially when roads were closed and our driver got lost and had to backtrack past some unhappy Jews. They probably didn’t need to see us twice!

We again descended to the Jordan River Valley, and I am beginning to hate Israeli border control. I could complain for another 2 pages about their idiotic system (glad Dad wasn’t with us or he might have blown a fuse) but we finally got on a bus heading to Jordan. Got there and passports were taken for another unorganised mess of custom controls. I need to take a deep breath and not get stressed – it’s all over now.

Our driver speaks fantastic ‘American’ English – and is also our guide. It’s better than having a guide and a driver. We got in for our trek to Petra but like a good guide he offered to take us to some sights along the way (having to pay extra of course).

Mount Nebo

For those good on their Bible history, Mount Nebo is the location that Moses saw the Promised Land from and died. Supposedly on a good clear day you can see right to Jerusalem but no such luck for us. Still was a good view though! There is a church being renovated/repaired and a small museum – some amazing mosaics that have been uncovered. Good place to put on the ‘been there, seen that’ list that’s growing quite rapidly.

St. George’s Church Mosaic

The final extra stop we visited on the trip south was a church that has a very historic mosaic map on the floor. The photo I took of the real map on the floor didn’t really work out so here’s a photo of reconstruction of the map. I got a bit confused with the geography – it’s funny how I was assuming North was up on the map because our guide kept saying Egypt was on the far right. Got all confused with east and south... until I got the right perspective!

Oscar Hotel

After we finished the 3 to 4 hour drive – so glad to get out of the car. I’m never going to drive across the Nullabour. We arrived at our hotel which is set up with Oscar and movie paraphernalia. Actually it’s an amazing hotel for a 3 star. After our Russian experience, I think we’ve having a French experience! They’re everywhere here. (Another reason Dad might have been annoyed...)

We had a reasonably early night ready for the excitement of Petra tomorrow.

Petra

Wow! Today was amazing, impressive, incredible, superfragilisticexpeladociously awesomely fantastic!! (and I think I’m tired and prone to a bit of exaggeration) It ranks probably just a bit above day in Luxor to be the highlight so far! I took the most photos for any single day, am physically exhausted but ecstatic for all that we’ve seen and experienced. To think it was only because Mum wanted to see Petra that we ended up coming to Jordan.

Couple of things made it even more special – the silver lining of the ash cloud descending on Europe is that less and less tourists are getting to these places. Our guide wasn’t too impressed but while there were plenty of people it wasn’t Japanese public transport busy. The weather was great – warm but you can’t argue with that in the desert and clear blue sky. Also while we had a guide for the walk in he left us alone for hours and we just got to do what we wanted and show a little independence for a change!

I’m not going to upload all my photos – but since there is free internet will try to upload quite a few. We’ll see if I can stay awake...

Horse Ride

Our overall organising guide dropped us at the gates – he lives a great life – and another guide took us in. We had a horse ride to the start of the siq or gorge. Was very tame but something new to try – and our ticket price included it so why not?

Treasury

I don’t really want this blog to become a guidebook. I wrote a paragraph of what we saw. Sort of became a “And then... And then... And then...” Instead I’ll try and share highlights and funny stories that I want to remember – rather than the stuff like the history of their gods or their great architectural knowledge. However the part I’d been looking forward was the Treasury or the ‘Indiana Jones Temple.’ The gorge narrows dramatically and then wowsers! From then on the theme song just stuck in my head the rest of the day. Here’s another tourist photo that has to be taken – our guide was impressive for photo opportunities!

As our guide said, he will be remembered for this next photo he took. Was a bit out of the way but Facebook profile photo here we come!

He shared tons of information – there were heaps of photos but I don’t have time to subject you to an old school slide show of the fantastic natural rock formations or the exquisite rock carvings. Just trust me and put Petra on your eventual travel plans!

Monastery Hike

So our guide left us and it had been recommended to me to climb further to the monastery. Takes about 2 hours and is a bit difficult. Mum chose not to come – she could have made it – but shopping took priority! So off I set – feeling very adventurous. Until I started to pass 60+ year olds – dampened the excitement a touch...

Was an incredible climb but something unfortunate happened on the way up. I only took my wallet, camera and a water bottle. All was going well – heart rate was going up – until I started to pass this ravine. For some reason was doing the water bottle throw and grab one handed. As some certain people know (won’t name names) this can all end badly. Well I was sweaty and it slipped and fell. The worst part however was I swore... #&!% - I never swear!! I think the last time (except at TVC when I said ‘bugger’ playing handball – oops) I let out a 4-letter expletive was snow skiing while still in school. (stupid bindings not closing) Not that I’m a saint but I was foolishly proud of my record (unless someone remembers another time – I’m happy to be proved wrong). And then to make matters worse – I swore again when I realised I’d broken my clean run. Uh Oh... Before I got into an infinite loop of progressively worsening swearing my water bottle headed towards the ravine. Luckily for my hydration levels I managed to grab it without endangering myself. One thing I’ve been told is if you can laugh at yourself, you’ll always be amused!

[The &%$!ing ravine – had to take a photo – I was about where the lady was]

After the excitement I reached the top. The thesaurus has stopped helping me come up with ‘great’ words. Well worth the trip! Got some American ladies to take a photo of me in front of it but didn’t work well. Here’s a photo I took with some randoms to get perspective.

There were stalls the whole way up – and at the top there was a restaurant with ice-cold water and drinks. Many people looked as though they would have paid 1000 Dinar just to get a drink. I was told by our guide to continue on and there’s a fantastic view. My photos are just pathetic... One of those things you need to see yourself! Well worth the extra distance and so many people either didn’t care or didn’t know. You could see forever.

Return Trip

Got back reasonably quickly – no excitement on return journey. Met up with Mum and we started the long walk back. Luckily I arrived or Mum would require a 3rd bag for all her souvenirs. (just kidding Mum - kinda) Shopping just doesn’t excite me but whatever floats your boat.

But back to a feature that hasn’t got much run in this blog. I thought we’d have a moment in Israel that would make the list but either I’m ignorant or insensitive but felt safe the whole time we were there.

MOST DANGEROUS MOMENTS OF TRIP

1. Crossing 8 lanes of busy Cairo traffic without lights

2. Cornering wild goats on some temple stairs

I know this is a weak one – but my mind flashed to How I Met Your Mother. Do a search... There were heaps of goats in this temple and they were running from me as I wandered. They took off up some stairs that I wanted to go to but another person was standing at the top. The goats just about had a heart attack with so much pressure. They unfortunately chose to head back towards me – was just a baby rampage. Got a photo of some of the goats who just froze in shock.

Now back to regular broadcasting – this is called the Urn tomb which we both climbed up to and was probably the 3rd best carved tomb there. Huge area carved into the rock and nice and cool. Not great photo but best I got showing Roman influence on it all.

We finally walked out – was bit tired by then and Mum was glad she hadn’t done the extra. No horse ride this time but we managed. So glad it wasn’t oppressive heat. We got back to the town and just had to take this photo!

[Indiana Jones Coffee Shop]

Congrats to those that made it this far – Too many memories today. I need to go to bed – off to Wadi Rum tomorrow. Does anyone know of an anti-ash dance/sacrifice/musical number similar to a rain dance? I’d love to hear from you...

Week Ahead

Mon, 19th of April To Amman via Wadi Rum

Tues, 20th of April Amman and Jerash, then fly to Cairo

Wed, 21st of April Farewell Mum and head to London (Doubtful)

Thurs, 22nd of April Leave London for Paris (Prob. Heading to Paris someway...)

Fri, 23rd of April Day in Paris (Maybe caught up by now...)

Sat, 24th of April Paris to Switzerland (Better not still be in Cairo)

Sun, 25th of April Swiss Alps (Why volcano, Why?)

“Here all things silently scream”

We spent the morning today at the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. The title is a quote I saw really made an impression – and it felt like that – a silent scream of agony arising from the testimonies and artefacts of this despicable time.

Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial

I’ve been to the Holocaust Memorial in Washington while in High School so knew how emotionally draining this would be. The memorial is set up so you walk through the history as things get progressively worse for the Jews. Probably the parts that hit me the most were the quotes from those involved. They have recovered diaries of people killed who wrote such heart-rending entries just before they were taken away.

I was also reminded of the Edmund Burke's quote – “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Another moving part is the Children’s Memorial. It’s a large room filled with mirrors and candles with a lady’s voice reciting the names and ages of children that were killed. Such a terrible part of earth’s history. We weren’t allowed to take photos and I’m glad. One thing I’m finding is that when a camera is in my hand I’m more interested in the next photo – rather than fully experiencing what is in front of me. Such a strange paradox – Fully experience it now without distractions or take photos and be able to experience it later...

Mount of Olives

After this moving start to the day we headed up the Mount of Olives. It’s just so weird saying that – places previously only imagined when hearing Bible stories can be experienced and remembered.

[View from Mount towards the Old City – Golden Dome of the Rock in background]

Drive to Old Jerusalem

This part shouldn’t get its own mention but I was certainly silently screaming when we were stuck in traffic. The roads are terrible in Old Jerusalem. We headed through Gethsemane which was lucky to be wide enough for one car – but had two way traffic. Got stuck there for about 20 minutes with much Hebrew and Arabic being yelled between everyone. Our air conditioner on the bus wasn’t working and we had a couple of vocal Americans who weren’t impressed. I kept my silence but it was uncomfortable with the heat. We finally found a park and headed into the old city. There was so much that was shown – and I got a bit sick of our guides lectures so I might have missed some important information.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

This is a massive church that supposedly (there’s claims and counter-claims everywhere in Jerusalem) houses the location where Jesus was crucified, cleansed and then laid to rest. Some of the art is amazing and cameras were allowed to be used. I think that might have ruined it a bit and there were tons of people. A lot of Christians were lining up for ages to touch certain holy sites which you can see in the next photo.

[The location claimed to be where Jesus was crucified]

Via Dolorosa

This is the path Christ took on his way to his crucifixion. I didn’t know the full story – but there are 10 (I think) stations where something significant happened. Most aren’t mentioned in the Bible but the one that was I’ve uploaded. This street (let’s be honest – it’s an alleyway) has got market shops on each side now and pretty steep.

[Station 5 of the Via Dolorosa – where Jesus fell and Simon took up the cross]

Muslim Quarter

After lunch we headed to the Muslim Quarter. We didn’t spend long here because non-muslims can’t get to the Dome on the Rock mosque which was in the background of the previous vista. Need to research this up – seems a bit unfair. We got as close as we could but here in the Middle East you don’t argue with people who have guns.

Western Wall

Our final stop for the day was the Western Wall. We arrived here Friday afternoon and were able to use our cameras. Again I’d like to research exactly what they’re praying/chanting but it shows a dedication to their beliefs. Men and women are separated and after talking to Mum, it sounds like the men are well set up. We were inside, with libraries of their scriptures – while women are outside.

One interesting thing happened as I walked in – myself and another young Australian guy were asked if we Jewish. I said no and then they asked me if my mother was Jewish. I’d love to know why we were selected to be asked and not the older Americans with us. I was dressed as a tourist (with camera, water bottle etc...) and it was just an interesting interaction without answers.

[Male Jews praying at the Western Wall]

Tonight is Friday night and from our hotel, Jerusalem looks deserted. We’re on a main road and its very quiet – all the shops are completely shut (we went for a walk) and it's very serene.

So that ended our adventures in Jerusalem – I reckon I could come back to Israel because there was so much we missed and some places we moved too quickly through. However this trip waits for no man and it’s off to Jordan tomorrow. Going to be a long day of travelling. Heard the news about the Ash affecting Europe – hopefully gone by next Wednesday or could be interesting times ahead. A lot of our group today are flying home tonight or tomorrow with some going to be affected. What a mess!

Week Ahead

Sat, 17th of April Transfer via Allenby Bridge to Jordan

Sun, 18th of April Petra

Mon, 19th of April To Amman via Wadi Rum

Tues, 20th of April Amman and Jerash, then fly to Cairo

Wed, 21st of April Farewell Mum and head to London

Thurs, 22nd of April Leave London for Paris

Fri, 23rd of April Day in Paris

Would you Rather...

The title for this blog comes from one of those time-wasting games you play to relieve the boredom of waiting for transport, for New Years Eve fireworks or even Carols in the Domain to begin. For the uninitatied the game involves someone giving you two options and everyone has to decide which one they would prefer – with reasons. Usually it’s between two bad options (ie. Would you rather be killed by snakes or scorpions) or two good options (would you rather be a famous sportstar or actor). It’s a great game to get to know those in your group and often you find out more by the questions people ask rather then that answers given. More on this later...

Masada

I was blown away by this place. Again I was pretty ignorant about it all. We left Jerusalem and headed towards the Dead Sea. When you get there and head south, you have the sea on your left and imposing cliffs on your right. On top of these cliffs is where Herod built an incredible fortress. As we were driving there I wondered how you would attack one of these places. (As an aside – this and some other places we’ve visited would be epic to have capture the flag or even paintball tournaments in... don’t think the tourist authorities would be that impressed)

 

[North side of fortress – perception is skewed here but the Dead sea in background is about 400m below sea level and this is 33m above sea level I think]

So here I was thinking how on earth are you going to take this fortress with ancient technology and then realised I wasn’t thinking big enough. The Romans who had to take attack this fortress once the Jews rebelled and hid here built a ramp up to the citadel. How incredible – for two years they built this massive ramp just to capture this one place.

[Massive Roman ramp – those dots at the bottom are people walking up]

Which brings us to the “Would you rather” question for the day.

Would you rather be captured by the Romans and become a slave or commit suicide?

For those that know the story or have seen the movie could easily answer what the Jews decided. They chose to end their lives (including children) rather then be enslaved. Thinking about it, I don’t know if I would have done the same. I was reminded of the story of the man who told the king he could make a horse talk within a year to save his life. As he told his wife, “the King could die, or I could die naturally within the year. Or the horse could talk.”

If you haven’t guessed it’s been a day of thinking – which is pretty dangerous on a holiday... But the fortress is still pretty impressive – you can walk up the old path (2hrs +), the Roman ramp (30 minutes) or take the cable car (2 mins). Guess which one we took!

Once you return to the base they have a factory store of Ahava products from the Dead Sea. Supposedly its good stuff – recommended by Bronwyn – and was cheap here. Interesting name for the product. I remember the Nooma episode describing all the different types of love in Hebrew. Mum again went on a spending spree; she’s going to need a very friendly flight check-in agent to get her overweight baggage home.

Dead Sea

Our final stop for the day was the Dead Sea. I’ve been looking forward to this! We got changed, headed down to the water (so should have bought sandals... oh my poor and tender feet...) and got in. In the truest sense of the word, it’s an unreal experience! You wade in and slightly lean back and whooska – you feet are out of the water and you’re on your back. While oceans are around 3% salt, the Dead Sea is an amazing 33% salt. It’s also evaporating – they’ve had to rebuild this tourist spot a couple of times cause the water keeps receding.

Again the typical tourist photo – Mum trying to read a Russian newspaper.

One more sightseeing day in Jerusalem. Then off to Jordan which we’ve seen across the River and Sea.

Where Jesus walked

Travel to Jerusalem – Nazareth – Capernaum – Sea of Galilee and Jordan River

It’s been a couple of big days. Feeling quite tired so this may ramble – but a journey is more interesting with detours than a freeway.

Travel to Jerusalem

We left Sharm (finally) and were picked up by 3 people – a driver, a guide for the border crossing (all of 3 mins) and a manager. Was weird being outnumbered by those supposed to be assisting us. Trip wasn’t that exciting. But as I’ll mention later its great seeing places you’ve only read about in the Bible come to life. So glad I’m not an Israelite having to walk to the Promised Land. Certainly puts rogaining to shame, but at least they had a perfect compass.

We arrived at the border at Taba between Egypt and Israel. No problems except not much English on Israel side and before we knew it Mum’s passport was stamped with Israel’s entry visa stamp. Luckily I managed to avoid mine getting marked (cause some countries won’t let you in with that in your passport – crazy times but that’s only the beginning)

Picked up and taken to airport for flight to Tel Aviv. No problems and we were really early. Security heaps stricter – remind me not to roll my eyes at the questions next time. But do you really think a terrorist is going to answer yes to those questions? We were so early we went shopping (bad idea with Mum – she found an Israeli shopkeeper who regularly visits Australia and ended up buying half the shop!) The problem was that we hadn’t realised that time had changed as we crossed the border. So when we headed back thinking we were still early they were waiting for us in the plane. Stupid Australian Tourists...

Very quick flight and then driven to Jerusalem – very modern cities that we saw and seems quite fertile compared to our imaginations. Arrived at hotel which is fine and crashed knowing we had an early start next morning.

Nazareth

One thing I’ve realised this trip is that I’m pretty ignorant. Bit of a shock because I thought I had a reasonable idea of world events/history but so many details I am learning on this trip. If you don’t know the history of Israel it’s a fascinating read and actually being here makes it feel so much more real.

Our morning started at 6am at the hotel lobby. And we waited... And waited... Not fun when I could have been sleeping. Supposedly our bus was given the wrong hotel so we phoned up and finally got picked up. We headed north to Nazareth which is a thriving city – but mostly Muslim. I’m not going to get into a religious argument – mainly due to my ignorance – but found this sign a bit interesting. Israel is like a powder keg of conflicting religious dynamites waiting to blow.

Anyways, we visited two churches – one dedicated to Mary and one to Joseph. Forgotten the exact names but due to the holy nature had to wear a skirt thingo since I’d stupidly worn shorts rather than long pants. Amazing churches and just fascinating thinking Jesus had lived here for 30+ years. There were a few ruins but the fact it was a modern city built on top of everything made it a bit more difficult to imagine how life was. This all changed at the next location.

Capernaum

We headed towards the Sea of Galilee and the ruins of Capernaum. These ruins were pretty impressive and a church has been built on top of one of the houses that it is believed Jesus lived in. (I think) There’s still outlines of the houses and a bit of a reconstructed synagogue which was great to see as well. Again with the holy site, so again with the holy skirt.

[Foundations of houses with the synagogue in the background]

Sea of Galilee and Jordan River

Our next destination was the Sea of Galilee for a late lunch of loaves and fishes. Unfortunately we had to pay and another example of shotgun selling. You know it’s going to be bad when you’re just sat down, given food and then asked to pay at the end without knowing any prices. But when I’m next going to say that I ate fish by the Sea of Galilee? Also reminded me that I like my fish filleted – and not with eyes staring at me...

The typical tourist photo by the Sea – Smile...

The Sea wasn’t as big as I thought – you could easily see the other side – and was wishing there was a storm so I could see how scary that would have been. Saw quite a few speed boats (including wake board boats). That would have at least been one way to ‘walk’ on water! How incredible to ski or wakeboard on the Sea of Galilee – seems a little sacrilegious now I think about it.

Our final stop for the day was at the top of Jordan River. With the river drying up, the place where Jesus is believed to be baptised doesn’t have any water in it any more. So they’ve set up a touristy location to cash in but it still would have been special to get baptised there. We had limited time (and the water was an interesting colour) and we’ve got the chance to go the Dead Sea tomorrow so gave it a miss.

[Photo of Believers being self-baptised in the Jordan River]

So today off to the Dead Sea. Who knew that holidays could be so exhausting...

Week Ahead

Thurs, 15th of April Masada and Dead Sea

Fri, 16th of April Old and New Jerusalem Tour

Sat, 17th of April Transfer via Allenby Bridge to Jordan

Sun, 18th of April Petra

Mon, 19th of April Amman via Wadi Rum

Tues, 20th of April Amman and Jerash, then fly to Cairo

Wed, 21st of April Farewell Mum and head to London

The Good, the Bad and the Russians

We headed out of sand-storm covered Cairo and had a quick flight to Sharm el-Sheikh. This is quite a new city, only recently begun after the Egyptian-Israeli War so about 30 years old or so. We’re using it as a stepping stone to Israel and the border so only spending one full day here. A lot of Europeans use this as a resort town and there’s a huge number of hotels all situated near the water.

The Good

Hmm... not much is great here. We have been extremely spoiled so far in our trip. We went snorkelling in the Red Sea just by the beach within walking distance of the hotel. There was an incredible amount of fish and the coral reef was pretty good. When you swam away from the part that looks killed by the tourists it became really picturesque.

The Bad

I don’t know if its karma or the law of averages working but our tour guide here in Sharm was quite unhelpful. He didn’t know where our hotel was, didn’t help us organise any tours or adventures and when we tried to ring him didn’t answer his phone. So our great plans for heading to Mt Sinai were dashed since our hotel wasn’t super helpful either. I think we got lulled into a false sense of helpfulness by our amazing previous guides and assumed that it would be the same here. We also were thinking of trying to go snorkelling out on a boat but left that for too late as well – again it would have been nice for the tour guide to give us a bit of assistance or warning. Hopefully someone else is involved getting us to the border tomorrow.

We went exploring our hotel that night (took all of 5 mins – even getting lost) and survived through some interesting Russian disco music. To escape we thought of going to our balcony. It’s actually got a nice view of the pool and that weather at night is very relaxing. All well and good until we wanted to head back into our room. I had closed the door to keep the cool air inside and for some reason it automatically locks. Oops. Mum and I were left outside on the 2nd floor balcony (too high to jump down) wondering how we’re going to communicate that we’re stuck. I just wanted to hide in the shadows – luckily Mum has no shame and was yelling at passing waiters until finally one came and helped us. Haven’t been out on the balcony again...

So what was going to be a day heading to get the 11th commandment turned into a relaxing resort day. However even that went bad after we got our snorkel gear from the dive club and tried to get to the beach. Since our hotel isn’t quite on the water (about 3 minute walk), we share the area with another resort – and to get there we had to pass some towel Nazi’s. Our first problem was that we needed a voucher from our hotel – which they might have told us about but we didn’t understand. Then once that was retrieved we weren’t allowed one of their towels. Our towels were back at the hotel – would have been helpful if they told us the first time we walked back. Argh...

Finally we got to the water, pretty clear which was nice and then I manage to lose a contact. Doh. I’ve snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef and Fiji while wearing contacts but it just happens here that I lose one. So had a weird one-lens-working sight of the reef. And there’s 101 other things that are annoying us but I don’t want to cement the image that I’m a whinger.

The Russians

Now before you assume I’m calling the Russians ugly, I’m not. However I don’t think boardies have managed to reach their country and a few women aren’t being flattered by their choice of swimwear. It’s like seeing a picture of open-heart surgery, you can’t look away quick enough before the image is seared into your brain.

I’m talking about Russians because with Mum and I we bring the total number of native English speakers in this hotel to 2. For some reason we’ve ended up in a hotel set up for Russians. There’s a bit of English but most signs are in Cyrillic (is that right? The Russian alphabet?)

Anyways, it’s certainly an interesting experience and there are quite a few extremely sunburned Russians around. We’re going to go for a walk tonight and see what we can find on the coast. Off to Israel tomorrow so should be interesting!

Update – couldn’t find good internet in Sharm. Now in Jerusalem. Been a long day travelling so will write about it later. But found free internet in hotel!