I flew into Athens and took a bus east to the port city of Rafina instead of the more traditional bus west to Athens. I decided to do Athens at the end of my time in Greece to avoid going into the city twice. Once in Rafina had to kill 6 hours because I missed the ferry by about 15 minutes. Rafina is nice, but there is not much to do.
Once on the ferry I was on my way to the lesser-visited Greek island of Andros. Apparently this island is such a infrequent tourist destination that there are no hostels, which forced me to pay 30 Euros a night for a room (I got him down from 80 Euros). I rented a motorbike/scooter thing the first full day I was there and explored the island going no faster than 80 kph (about 50 mph), done going down hill with the wind at my back. Andros is beautiful and I took more pictures than I think I have ever taken before.
I decided to come to Greece now instead of the summer 2010 because it is low season now compared to what would be high season and because Greece is kind of out of the way when visiting the rest of Europe (look at a map). Though less expensive than high season, Greece is still expensive, especially when I compare it to the country I was prior, Egypt. For example, my first accommodation in Greece was 30 Euros a night ($44ish), and he wanted 80 Euros, as written above. In Cairo, the hostel was 40 Egyptian pounds (less than $8). Yes, the room in Greece was far nicer, but I am not looking for nice places. I am looking for cheap places that I feel safe and trust the lock to protect my luggage. That is it. No frills, just a simple lock.
The next day it was off to Samos, another less-traveled island. In order to get there I had to stop off at the tourist destination of Mykonos. I ended up having to spend the night there and the entire following day because the first ferry to Samos did not leave until 12:50AM the following night. Mykonos is beautiful as well, but it was at this time that I realized it was the same views as Andros. It different in that is was full of drunken tourists. Also, I went rock climbing with a 20-year-old artist from Cape Town that has not been home for more than a year. He gave me tons of advice about traveling in South Africa, which (at the time was) is my next destination.
I took the ferry to Samos, which is supposed to take 6 hours but actually took 8. On the ferry I meet 4 Australians stopping in Samos for a day en route to Turkey (at one point Turkey is less than 1km from Samos, Greece). I told them that I intended on doing the same thing but then read how crazy expensive it was to take that ferry. Upon arrival in Samos the Aussies and myself went to the same ferry-booking store to book our respective ferries; them to Turkey, my returning to Mykonos in a couple of days. Apparently what I read was wrong and the ferry to and from Turkey is only 45 Euros, not the hundreds that I read. So, instead of seeing another island (probably would have been Syros) I am going to spend a short week in Turkey.
Right now I am in Samos waiting for a bit longer until the ferry to Turkey leaves.
This worked perfectly for me. As gorgeous as the Greek islands are I was getting kind of sick of them. And, I wanted to go to Turkey but the supposed cost created a barrier. I will be traveling with them until 9/4/09 when the get on a week-long ferry around Turkey and I will head back to Greece, via Samos, where I will spend the day exploring, before heading to Athens for a couple of days before catching my 9/9/09 flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.
NOTES:
1. Sorry about the lack of pictures. The pictures I take are big files (12M) and uploading them takes time. And, when you are paying for time on the Internet in 1-15 minute intervals, you tend to not want to take the time to upload. I can re-size them to make them smaller and easier to upload, but I cannot download and install the software to do so in Internet cafes. I will definitely upload a ton in early October.
2. I plan on a post at some point that will be updates frequently keeping track of certain things like ferries taken, miles flown, bouts of constipation, etc. I think it will be interesting any funny, for me, anyway.
3. I also have been meaning to post an inventory of the items I brought, but I keep forgetting and do not want to do so when the Internet is as expensive as it is in Greece. I hope to get one posted soon-ish.
31 August 2009
26 August 2009
Ups and Downs in Egypt
Maybe it was my disinterest in school, but I think I have been grossly misinformed about what Egypt is. I knew of Cairo and that was essentially it. And, I thought Cairo was basically the Pyramids and the "city" part of the city was tourist stuff to get westerns to and from the Pyramids and a place to spend their money.
Well, the last part of that exists, but Cairo and Egypt are so much more. The city is lively and has a great vibe. It has been Ramadan for the past several days, so the city is different now than it was when I was here when I last posted (not including the Quick Post earlier today). The people are visably exhausted from not eating or drinking anything while the sun is up. While normally very friendly and helpful, Egyptians are a little more curt and abrasive during the month-long holiday, though still very friendly and helpful.
Since I was last in here, I took a bus from Cairo (near the top of the Nile) to Aswan (at the bottom). The bus ride should take 11-12 hours. It took 15.5 hours, with the driver starting a third Arabic movie at 2:30AM, playing his Arabic "music" (this is not a slight, I really do not think it was music) blasting loud when movies were not playing, and honking the horn at literally nothing constantly during the ride. It was not pleasent.
Once in Aswan, the four New Zealand guys and myself hired a falucca to take us north toward Luxor. A falucca is basically a small boat that you ride up the Nile just relaxing, talking, playing cards, napping, etc. There is not anything specific to do not the falucca as it is almost the most basic boat imaginable, but it is an experience unlike any other still. Our captain, or "Cabten" as was painted on his boat, was coincidentally name Ramadan. He took us north for a few hours until we stopped at his village where he brought us dinner on the boat which was simple (rice, potatoes and veggies in a tomatoe sauce) and delicious. We slept on the boat then headed north further to Luxor (faluccas intending on stopping in Luxor always stop before then for some reason).
Luxor is my least favorite city in Egypt. Part of it is the heat 45 degrees Celsius (113 Farenheit). Part of it is that anything in the city worth doing cost relatively huge sums of money. Part of it is that because it was Ramadan and Luxor is not a major city like Cairo, there is no place to eat after 12 noon as all the locals go to mosque at noon then nap until 4:30 leaving tourists like myself to eat at a US-priced McDonald's or the uber-touristy Snack Time (similarly priced). But mostly it was that I was fined 250 Egyptian Pounds in the Valley of the Kings for taking pictures in the tombs. Yes, that is less than 50USD, but that is an enourmous amount of money here. The average per capita income for Egyptians is about $1643. For 5 photos I was fined about 3% of what the person who fined me makes a year. I was pissed, but it was better than the alternative of him calling the police and me hoping for the best.
I was not the only person unhappy with Luxor. We had planned on staying two nights and promptly left a day early when we got feed up with the city. I was pleased.
From Luxor we took a 10 hour bus ride (meaning 14 hours) to Cairo. This bus ride was different other than the complete inability of the bus company to estimate the duration of the trip. The bus departed Luxor at 6PM. At prciesly 6:30 we pulled over for 45 minutes. Why? So that everybody could eat. People bought McDonald's or made a sandwich or whatever and brought it on the bus waiting for the sun to set. Some people got off the bus and joined the table of locals gorging themselves after they finished the food they had. It was quite a scene. The rest of the bus ride was also the polar opposite of the other. On this one there was plenty of room, only a little unnecessary honking, and even a movie in English (Jackie Chan's Drunken Master which was great). The sleep I got on this bus was among the best I have had since I have been travelling.
In Cairo, we returned to the Lialy Hostel and just planned on chilling out for a bit. The Kiwis (slang for natives of New Zealand) had a flight in a couple of days and I scrapped my plans to visit Alexandria because of the money was fined in Luxor. I just wanted to soak up the city a bit more and organize my plans for the next month.
Then the fun started.
After a day of lounging around and figuring out exactly what I am doing next I sat down in an Internet cafe to book my flights. I need to arrange four in total (in previous post). I knew it would be a bit pricely, but doing Greece now would actually be considerably cheaper than doing it in the summer of 2010 because it would be high season then while it is currently the low season. I knew getting to South Africa would be expensive no matter what because it is pretty far away. I recognized flying to Dubai for less than a week is costly because of the flight and because of the city. And, I knew that once I return to Cairo getting to Tel Aviv takes way longer than it should and is complicated.
Still, these were all things I wanted to do and they needed to be done. So, I looked up flights, figured out the best and cheapest way to do everything, and decided exactly what I was going to do. Tried to pay for my first flight with my Visa credit card. Declined. OK. I probably typed something wrong. Declined again. Not good, but I do not have time to figure it out right now. I used my debit card. No problem. Second flight. Tried the credit card again. Declined. Debit card worked fine. Third flight. Credit declined again. Debit card, declined. I assume I typed something wrong. Try debit again. Declined. Shit. My two sources of cash are frozen, I have about 100USD in cash, and leave for Greece (one of the flights I did manage to make) in less than 12 hours. I am freaking out. I call the international collect numbers on the back of my cards. Ring, ring, ring. Nothing. Shit. I send paniced emails to family at home, but it is still too early there and nobody is awake.
Finally, this guy in my hostel, Chris, says I can use his Skype account to call the US 800-number over the Internet. Except, he needs to put money on his account. I have known Chris for less than 24 hours and, man, did he help me out.
Chris and I plan on meeting up in Dubai.
Well, the last part of that exists, but Cairo and Egypt are so much more. The city is lively and has a great vibe. It has been Ramadan for the past several days, so the city is different now than it was when I was here when I last posted (not including the Quick Post earlier today). The people are visably exhausted from not eating or drinking anything while the sun is up. While normally very friendly and helpful, Egyptians are a little more curt and abrasive during the month-long holiday, though still very friendly and helpful.
Since I was last in here, I took a bus from Cairo (near the top of the Nile) to Aswan (at the bottom). The bus ride should take 11-12 hours. It took 15.5 hours, with the driver starting a third Arabic movie at 2:30AM, playing his Arabic "music" (this is not a slight, I really do not think it was music) blasting loud when movies were not playing, and honking the horn at literally nothing constantly during the ride. It was not pleasent.
Once in Aswan, the four New Zealand guys and myself hired a falucca to take us north toward Luxor. A falucca is basically a small boat that you ride up the Nile just relaxing, talking, playing cards, napping, etc. There is not anything specific to do not the falucca as it is almost the most basic boat imaginable, but it is an experience unlike any other still. Our captain, or "Cabten" as was painted on his boat, was coincidentally name Ramadan. He took us north for a few hours until we stopped at his village where he brought us dinner on the boat which was simple (rice, potatoes and veggies in a tomatoe sauce) and delicious. We slept on the boat then headed north further to Luxor (faluccas intending on stopping in Luxor always stop before then for some reason).
Luxor is my least favorite city in Egypt. Part of it is the heat 45 degrees Celsius (113 Farenheit). Part of it is that anything in the city worth doing cost relatively huge sums of money. Part of it is that because it was Ramadan and Luxor is not a major city like Cairo, there is no place to eat after 12 noon as all the locals go to mosque at noon then nap until 4:30 leaving tourists like myself to eat at a US-priced McDonald's or the uber-touristy Snack Time (similarly priced). But mostly it was that I was fined 250 Egyptian Pounds in the Valley of the Kings for taking pictures in the tombs. Yes, that is less than 50USD, but that is an enourmous amount of money here. The average per capita income for Egyptians is about $1643. For 5 photos I was fined about 3% of what the person who fined me makes a year. I was pissed, but it was better than the alternative of him calling the police and me hoping for the best.
I was not the only person unhappy with Luxor. We had planned on staying two nights and promptly left a day early when we got feed up with the city. I was pleased.
From Luxor we took a 10 hour bus ride (meaning 14 hours) to Cairo. This bus ride was different other than the complete inability of the bus company to estimate the duration of the trip. The bus departed Luxor at 6PM. At prciesly 6:30 we pulled over for 45 minutes. Why? So that everybody could eat. People bought McDonald's or made a sandwich or whatever and brought it on the bus waiting for the sun to set. Some people got off the bus and joined the table of locals gorging themselves after they finished the food they had. It was quite a scene. The rest of the bus ride was also the polar opposite of the other. On this one there was plenty of room, only a little unnecessary honking, and even a movie in English (Jackie Chan's Drunken Master which was great). The sleep I got on this bus was among the best I have had since I have been travelling.
In Cairo, we returned to the Lialy Hostel and just planned on chilling out for a bit. The Kiwis (slang for natives of New Zealand) had a flight in a couple of days and I scrapped my plans to visit Alexandria because of the money was fined in Luxor. I just wanted to soak up the city a bit more and organize my plans for the next month.
Then the fun started.
After a day of lounging around and figuring out exactly what I am doing next I sat down in an Internet cafe to book my flights. I need to arrange four in total (in previous post). I knew it would be a bit pricely, but doing Greece now would actually be considerably cheaper than doing it in the summer of 2010 because it would be high season then while it is currently the low season. I knew getting to South Africa would be expensive no matter what because it is pretty far away. I recognized flying to Dubai for less than a week is costly because of the flight and because of the city. And, I knew that once I return to Cairo getting to Tel Aviv takes way longer than it should and is complicated.
Still, these were all things I wanted to do and they needed to be done. So, I looked up flights, figured out the best and cheapest way to do everything, and decided exactly what I was going to do. Tried to pay for my first flight with my Visa credit card. Declined. OK. I probably typed something wrong. Declined again. Not good, but I do not have time to figure it out right now. I used my debit card. No problem. Second flight. Tried the credit card again. Declined. Debit card worked fine. Third flight. Credit declined again. Debit card, declined. I assume I typed something wrong. Try debit again. Declined. Shit. My two sources of cash are frozen, I have about 100USD in cash, and leave for Greece (one of the flights I did manage to make) in less than 12 hours. I am freaking out. I call the international collect numbers on the back of my cards. Ring, ring, ring. Nothing. Shit. I send paniced emails to family at home, but it is still too early there and nobody is awake.
Finally, this guy in my hostel, Chris, says I can use his Skype account to call the US 800-number over the Internet. Except, he needs to put money on his account. I have known Chris for less than 24 hours and, man, did he help me out.
Chris and I plan on meeting up in Dubai.
Quick Post
Just a short post right now as I am leaving the Internet cafe soon. I plan on posting again in a couple of hours covering the last week's many ups and few downs. For right now, however, I present my itinerary until October 3:
8/27: fly from Cairo, Egypt to Athens, Greece
9/9: fly from Athens, Greece to Johannesburg, South Africa
9/24: fly from Cape Town, South Africa to Dubai, UAE
9/29: fly from Dubai, UAE to Cairo, Egypt
9/29-10/1: get from Cairo, Egypt to Tel Aviv, Israel
10/2: fly from Tel Aviv, Israel to New York, NY, USA, where I will be for 22 hours
10/3: fly from NYC to Mexico with family
Post covering the rest of Egypt to come later. Complete with all the mishaps that are inherent in travel that I have endured in the last week
8/27: fly from Cairo, Egypt to Athens, Greece
9/9: fly from Athens, Greece to Johannesburg, South Africa
9/24: fly from Cape Town, South Africa to Dubai, UAE
9/29: fly from Dubai, UAE to Cairo, Egypt
9/29-10/1: get from Cairo, Egypt to Tel Aviv, Israel
10/2: fly from Tel Aviv, Israel to New York, NY, USA, where I will be for 22 hours
10/3: fly from NYC to Mexico with family
Post covering the rest of Egypt to come later. Complete with all the mishaps that are inherent in travel that I have endured in the last week
20 August 2009
Egypt So Far
As I am learning is often the case, what was planned is not what is realized.
The Belgium girl (Lisa), four New Zealand guys (Jarod, Joel, Logan, and Sam), and myself did stay for a third day in Dahab. Lisa decided to stay for another day or two and the five guys were planning on going to Mount Sinai. On the morning we planned on leaving, an ATM ate Joel's card and delayed our departure. I decided I would try to catch a bus to Mt Sinai instead of the taxi they were going to take to minimize my costs. Upon arriving at the bus station, I found there are no buses to that location but managed to find a driver that would not only drive the five of us for a reasonable price but was willing to wait a bit until my friends arrived. Meanwhile, Joel got his card back when the bank opened without issue, but learned what I learned at the bus station at the hostel and found other means of travel figuring I would do that same (I was not going to travel in the same taxi as them because five is too many people for a trip this long).
At the bus station I waited patiently while my driver-to be grew more and more frustrated. Eventually I got "traded" to another driver (this is commonplace) and then traded again. I convinced the driver to drive me back to the hostel and see if my friends were still there and then he would at least know how much longer he would have to wait (I figured he was just having some problem with the bank getting his card back). I got there and they were not there, but Lisa told me they had left about an hour before. I pieced together what probably happened, asked the driver to drive me back to the bus station, and bought a ticket headed to Cairo in 10 minutes. According to the ticket office, the ride would take "7 to 10 hours," a comment me and three Australians and I enjoyed throughout the nine hour trip.
Once in Cario, I stayed at the hostel that I was supposed to meet the German couple (whose names are Kathi and Jan) hoping to catch them on their back trip. (No luck here.) However, I did meet two guys from upstate New York who were leaving that evening. I spent the day with them walking around the city and going to a museum that was "closed for 1-2 months" so the guy "can eat lunch." We decided we did not know what that could possibly mean and went to another museum that was pretty cool. Since they were leaving, they gave me their copy of their guidebook, Rough Guide Egypt. In return, I gave them my copy of Fight Club.
Before they left we were sitting outside the hostel just talking and I saw Joel walk by. Then the three other "Kiwis," as they are called. They are staying at the same hostel. Then, later that evening, I noticed a new bag in my dorm room. I am on my bed reading and in walks a Asian girl that looks familiar. At first, I tell myself that I am racist for thinking this is the same girl I met nearly a week earlier in Amman, Jordan, but, it was. Christina, from Hong Kong, also out of pure coincidence, is staying in the same hostel as well.
Now for the stuff you might care about. Today I went to see the Pyramids of Giza. Getting there, and especially getting back, was needlessly complicated. We elected to take camels and horses around (which cost 150 Egyptian pounds (less than $30) instead of 240 (nearly $50) thanks to my negotiating skills). It goes without saying, but the Pyramids are spectacular. It is difficult to fathom unless you see them in person and even then you have doubts. Seriously. Pictures just do not do them justice. We decided to purchase tickets to go inside the only pyramid that was open at the time, called Pyramid Number 2, according to the ticket. If the ticket was not so inexpensive (about $3 for me because I still have my student ID and about $6 for them because they did not) and if otherwise I would not have had to say that I went to Cairo and did not go in a pyramid, I am not sure the ticket was worth it; you follow a tunnel that is about 4' high for 3ish minutes, see a room that may have been a tomb that is no bigger than 20'x50', and then walk back out the tunnel. The whole thing takes 15-20 minutes if you take your time. There are no decorations or writing on walls save for some information about when it was discovered in 1818 written in what looks like black spray paint. The other pyramids may be different, but I doubt it. Cameras are not allowed inside because if they were everybody would know not to go in.
Tomorrow we are going to the Egpytian Museum, which is enormous with 120,000 items, then taking a 12-13 bus ride to Aswan, Egypt.
Until next time...
The Belgium girl (Lisa), four New Zealand guys (Jarod, Joel, Logan, and Sam), and myself did stay for a third day in Dahab. Lisa decided to stay for another day or two and the five guys were planning on going to Mount Sinai. On the morning we planned on leaving, an ATM ate Joel's card and delayed our departure. I decided I would try to catch a bus to Mt Sinai instead of the taxi they were going to take to minimize my costs. Upon arriving at the bus station, I found there are no buses to that location but managed to find a driver that would not only drive the five of us for a reasonable price but was willing to wait a bit until my friends arrived. Meanwhile, Joel got his card back when the bank opened without issue, but learned what I learned at the bus station at the hostel and found other means of travel figuring I would do that same (I was not going to travel in the same taxi as them because five is too many people for a trip this long).
At the bus station I waited patiently while my driver-to be grew more and more frustrated. Eventually I got "traded" to another driver (this is commonplace) and then traded again. I convinced the driver to drive me back to the hostel and see if my friends were still there and then he would at least know how much longer he would have to wait (I figured he was just having some problem with the bank getting his card back). I got there and they were not there, but Lisa told me they had left about an hour before. I pieced together what probably happened, asked the driver to drive me back to the bus station, and bought a ticket headed to Cairo in 10 minutes. According to the ticket office, the ride would take "7 to 10 hours," a comment me and three Australians and I enjoyed throughout the nine hour trip.
Once in Cario, I stayed at the hostel that I was supposed to meet the German couple (whose names are Kathi and Jan) hoping to catch them on their back trip. (No luck here.) However, I did meet two guys from upstate New York who were leaving that evening. I spent the day with them walking around the city and going to a museum that was "closed for 1-2 months" so the guy "can eat lunch." We decided we did not know what that could possibly mean and went to another museum that was pretty cool. Since they were leaving, they gave me their copy of their guidebook, Rough Guide Egypt. In return, I gave them my copy of Fight Club.
Before they left we were sitting outside the hostel just talking and I saw Joel walk by. Then the three other "Kiwis," as they are called. They are staying at the same hostel. Then, later that evening, I noticed a new bag in my dorm room. I am on my bed reading and in walks a Asian girl that looks familiar. At first, I tell myself that I am racist for thinking this is the same girl I met nearly a week earlier in Amman, Jordan, but, it was. Christina, from Hong Kong, also out of pure coincidence, is staying in the same hostel as well.
Now for the stuff you might care about. Today I went to see the Pyramids of Giza. Getting there, and especially getting back, was needlessly complicated. We elected to take camels and horses around (which cost 150 Egyptian pounds (less than $30) instead of 240 (nearly $50) thanks to my negotiating skills). It goes without saying, but the Pyramids are spectacular. It is difficult to fathom unless you see them in person and even then you have doubts. Seriously. Pictures just do not do them justice. We decided to purchase tickets to go inside the only pyramid that was open at the time, called Pyramid Number 2, according to the ticket. If the ticket was not so inexpensive (about $3 for me because I still have my student ID and about $6 for them because they did not) and if otherwise I would not have had to say that I went to Cairo and did not go in a pyramid, I am not sure the ticket was worth it; you follow a tunnel that is about 4' high for 3ish minutes, see a room that may have been a tomb that is no bigger than 20'x50', and then walk back out the tunnel. The whole thing takes 15-20 minutes if you take your time. There are no decorations or writing on walls save for some information about when it was discovered in 1818 written in what looks like black spray paint. The other pyramids may be different, but I doubt it. Cameras are not allowed inside because if they were everybody would know not to go in.
Tomorrow we are going to the Egpytian Museum, which is enormous with 120,000 items, then taking a 12-13 bus ride to Aswan, Egypt.
Until next time...
17 August 2009
Jordan to Egypt
Jordan was amazing. I am certainly happy I decided to go there. Even the city I liked the least, Amman, which I actually really hated at first, grew on me after as the day went on. Also, I had not eaten for a really long time so my blood sugar might have just been low and put me in a bad mood. It was probably a combination of the two.
On Friday, August 15th, I took a JETT bus from Amman in the north to Aqaba in the south. I was planning on going straight to Eilat, Israel on my way to Cairo but I decided to spend a night here so that I would have time to snorkel. The snorkeling here is not be best, in fact I have read that it does not compare to that on the other side of the Red Sea in Egypt (more on this in a bit), but I had never snorkeled and wanted to try it out. Now, I bet this is an abnormal reaction to coral, but I have to admit I was legitimately scared of the coral I saw for the first several minutes. I do not know why, but I was terrified when I was moving along and saw it for the first time. But, I kept going and became more and more comfortable with it and, while I still have some issues with it, I do not think I am still scared of coral. (And yes, it is embarrassing to admit that I was afraid of coral.)
After Aqaba I leave for Egypt. I have scrapped my plans of going through Israel and instead I think I will opt to take a boat from Aqaba, Jordan to a Nuweiba, Egypt. It is a bit pricey ($60), but I think it is an interesting way to enter a country and I really do not want to pay 94.5NIS (about $24) to leave Israel again just on principle.
On the boat from Aqaba to Nuweiba I met a Belgium girl who comes to the Middle East once a year because she likes deserts and speaks decent Arabic and four guys from New Zealand. I was planning on going straight from Nuweiba to Cairo, but these five convinced me otherwise. Right now I am in an Internet cafe in Dahab, Egypt (the other side of the Red Sea). I went snorkelling again yesterday and it was better than in Jordan. The coral is deeper and my fears greatly subsided. There are also too many different kinds of fish to count. My only complaint has to do with my limited experience with snorkeling: any time I dove more than a body-length my ears popped painfully. There is a trick or sorts to prevent this, which I learned, but still have not mastered. Either way, it is stunning.
I think the plan is to spend one more night here then head to Mount Sinai. Then off to Cairo, with hopefully a stop in the White Desert, at which point I may depart from my new New Zealand friends to head south to Aswan and then a falucca (not sure how to spell that correctly) north to Luxor, then back to Cairo to catch a flight to South Africa. Well, at least that is the plan.
On Friday, August 15th, I took a JETT bus from Amman in the north to Aqaba in the south. I was planning on going straight to Eilat, Israel on my way to Cairo but I decided to spend a night here so that I would have time to snorkel. The snorkeling here is not be best, in fact I have read that it does not compare to that on the other side of the Red Sea in Egypt (more on this in a bit), but I had never snorkeled and wanted to try it out. Now, I bet this is an abnormal reaction to coral, but I have to admit I was legitimately scared of the coral I saw for the first several minutes. I do not know why, but I was terrified when I was moving along and saw it for the first time. But, I kept going and became more and more comfortable with it and, while I still have some issues with it, I do not think I am still scared of coral. (And yes, it is embarrassing to admit that I was afraid of coral.)
After Aqaba I leave for Egypt. I have scrapped my plans of going through Israel and instead I think I will opt to take a boat from Aqaba, Jordan to a Nuweiba, Egypt. It is a bit pricey ($60), but I think it is an interesting way to enter a country and I really do not want to pay 94.5NIS (about $24) to leave Israel again just on principle.
On the boat from Aqaba to Nuweiba I met a Belgium girl who comes to the Middle East once a year because she likes deserts and speaks decent Arabic and four guys from New Zealand. I was planning on going straight from Nuweiba to Cairo, but these five convinced me otherwise. Right now I am in an Internet cafe in Dahab, Egypt (the other side of the Red Sea). I went snorkelling again yesterday and it was better than in Jordan. The coral is deeper and my fears greatly subsided. There are also too many different kinds of fish to count. My only complaint has to do with my limited experience with snorkeling: any time I dove more than a body-length my ears popped painfully. There is a trick or sorts to prevent this, which I learned, but still have not mastered. Either way, it is stunning.
I think the plan is to spend one more night here then head to Mount Sinai. Then off to Cairo, with hopefully a stop in the White Desert, at which point I may depart from my new New Zealand friends to head south to Aswan and then a falucca (not sure how to spell that correctly) north to Luxor, then back to Cairo to catch a flight to South Africa. Well, at least that is the plan.
08 August 2009
Israel to Jordan
Yesterday I took a bus from Tel Aviv to Israel's southern-most city of Eilat, where I spent just a night. (I will be passing through Eilat at least once more and maybe twice so I will have another chance to spend more time there if I wish. But, to be honest, I am not sure I will. Eilat basically consists of two groups of people: Israelis on vacation and tourists. The only reason I may spend some time there is if I decide I want to go diving or snorkeling there.) On the bus I sat next to a English guy named Edward. We shared the spare bedroom of some lady that night and headed to the Israel-Jordan boarder around noon. At the boarder we ran into another English guy, Tom, that Edward met when he was in Haifa, who had befriended a German couple, whose names I am blanking on right now. The five of us are staying in a hostel just outside of Petra, which, after paying a JD21 fee, we will be exploring tomorrow. (Yes, there is an entrance fee to the city.) The following day the plan is to go on a real camel ride (unlike the one I did with Birthright) and then to spend the night in a tent in the desert. After that, we will probably head north to the capital. Then, back south en route to Egypt.
A funny thing is that I originally had no intention on visiting Jordan at all. When I was still making plans from the States a relative convinced me to spend a day in Petra. After talking with friends of friends throughout my time in Israel I was conviced to spend more time there. Luckily for me the four people I have met all plan on spending nearly a week here, so things worked out nicely.
Jordan is not what you would expect. Everybody is friendly, which is the opposite of Israel where everybody is rude and kind of a dick. The currency is stronger than the USD, but everything is cheap. I ate an outstanding buffet meal of authentic Jordanian food at my hostel for dinner for JD4 (between $4-5). 1.5 liters of what cost JD.5 (about 60 cents) where in Israel the cost is at least 5NIS (more than $1) but usually 8NIS (about $2). A hostel in Tel Aviv is about $25/night. My hostel here is about $8 and much nicer. I have only been in Jordan for about 12 hours and I am already happy I was convinced to come here.
The Internet in this cafe is pretty slow so that is all for now.
A funny thing is that I originally had no intention on visiting Jordan at all. When I was still making plans from the States a relative convinced me to spend a day in Petra. After talking with friends of friends throughout my time in Israel I was conviced to spend more time there. Luckily for me the four people I have met all plan on spending nearly a week here, so things worked out nicely.
Jordan is not what you would expect. Everybody is friendly, which is the opposite of Israel where everybody is rude and kind of a dick. The currency is stronger than the USD, but everything is cheap. I ate an outstanding buffet meal of authentic Jordanian food at my hostel for dinner for JD4 (between $4-5). 1.5 liters of what cost JD.5 (about 60 cents) where in Israel the cost is at least 5NIS (more than $1) but usually 8NIS (about $2). A hostel in Tel Aviv is about $25/night. My hostel here is about $8 and much nicer. I have only been in Jordan for about 12 hours and I am already happy I was convinced to come here.
The Internet in this cafe is pretty slow so that is all for now.
06 August 2009
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Israel
After spending a few days in New York City with family, I left from JFK for my Taglit-Birthright trip with Israel Outdoors for 10 packed days of Israel. After a sleepless (for me) 9 hour flight we landed in Tel Aviv at 7AM and got on a bus for a few hours to the north part of the country for our first day in Israel. That is pretty much how the entire trip was: a few hours of sleep at night plus whatever sleep you could get on the bus and sight-seeing. In other words, it was a lot of fun. 40 Americans and 10 Israelis, all in their mid-20s, spending 10 days together in close confines makes for fast friends and interesting times.
I do not want to give you an hour-by-hour break down, or even a day-by-day break down, nor can I because all of it kind of blended together. We went to the Golan Heights, Safed, Mesada, the Dead Sea, the Galilee, a (fake) Bedouin tent, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other places I am sure I left out. Water hiking, floating, climbing, hiking, and diving were also included.
When the formal Birthright trip ended, several people had extended their return flights to spend more time in Israel or elsewhere. For the that first night, Carly, Limor, Jay (twin), Jesse, , Howard, Ehud (an Israeli student that joined us for the trip), and myself spent the night in Tel Aviv. Other people did as well, but this group shared a couple of hostel rooms together. After one night, Jay (twin), Jesse, and I joined Ehud in his home of Jerusalem (he left early in the morning) for a night. I really wanted to see the other Quarters of the city and, in particular, get a closer look of the Dome of the Rock. We went on a nice self-guided walking tour of the other Quarters, but the Dome of the Rock was sealed off. We tried sneaking in through a back way but still our efforts were futile. After a full day in Jerusalem, the four of us returned to Tel Aviv. The following day we rented a couple of surf boards and surfed, or at least attempted to, on the Mediterranean Sea. I would like to think that I successfully stood up on a small wave once, but I am probably just kidding myself. After a shower and some goodbyes, I left Jay (twin), Jesse, and Ehud in Tel Aviv for Haifa on a bus to visit an old friend.
After a few nights in Haifa I am now in, and posting from, the friend's family home in Ra'anana. I will leave to the south tomorrow and then onward from there.
Sorry about all the text. I will post some pictures as soon as I figure out where I can post them that does not take 8+ hours to upload.
In conclusion: I am having a good time and I am still alive and that means somebody owes me some money
I do not want to give you an hour-by-hour break down, or even a day-by-day break down, nor can I because all of it kind of blended together. We went to the Golan Heights, Safed, Mesada, the Dead Sea, the Galilee, a (fake) Bedouin tent, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other places I am sure I left out. Water hiking, floating, climbing, hiking, and diving were also included.
When the formal Birthright trip ended, several people had extended their return flights to spend more time in Israel or elsewhere. For the that first night, Carly, Limor, Jay (twin), Jesse, , Howard, Ehud (an Israeli student that joined us for the trip), and myself spent the night in Tel Aviv. Other people did as well, but this group shared a couple of hostel rooms together. After one night, Jay (twin), Jesse, and I joined Ehud in his home of Jerusalem (he left early in the morning) for a night. I really wanted to see the other Quarters of the city and, in particular, get a closer look of the Dome of the Rock. We went on a nice self-guided walking tour of the other Quarters, but the Dome of the Rock was sealed off. We tried sneaking in through a back way but still our efforts were futile. After a full day in Jerusalem, the four of us returned to Tel Aviv. The following day we rented a couple of surf boards and surfed, or at least attempted to, on the Mediterranean Sea. I would like to think that I successfully stood up on a small wave once, but I am probably just kidding myself. After a shower and some goodbyes, I left Jay (twin), Jesse, and Ehud in Tel Aviv for Haifa on a bus to visit an old friend.
After a few nights in Haifa I am now in, and posting from, the friend's family home in Ra'anana. I will leave to the south tomorrow and then onward from there.
Sorry about all the text. I will post some pictures as soon as I figure out where I can post them that does not take 8+ hours to upload.
In conclusion: I am having a good time and I am still alive and that means somebody owes me some money
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