After being in the Middle East for a month, Bangkok was amazingly different. Everything seemed a lot more like home than it had in Cairo. All of the taxis were newish Toyota Camrys and all had working meters instead of Cairo's taxis that are all cars from the 80's at best and all seem to have broken meters - at least if you're a Western.
When I arrived in Bangkok, I didn't know where I was going to stay. This proved to be a small annoyance as I was trying to get through customs and the custom's guard wanted to know where I was staying. I didn't know - so I used the name of a hostel I had seen in Dahab. This made the situation slightly worse because he knew there wasn't a hostel by that name in Bangkok (I figured - how could he know, Bangkok is a big city - evidently not big enough), but unable to fully express his frustration with me in English; he let me pass. Now I had to get my bags and actually review the Lonely Planet to find a place to stay. I didn't decide on a place to stay, but read that a lot of the cheap places where on one road so I'd head there. On the bus to Khoa San Road, I met two Alaskan massage therapist that were coming to Thailand for a month to learn Thai massage. (I would run into them again in two weeks to find that they decided not to take the massage classes and were just going to enjoy themselves.) They were the backpacker type so I asked where they were staying. They replied "Khoa San Road." So I was like - "Can I follow you?" I had no idea what stop I was supposed to get off at and traveling solo - it was always nice to make new friends. When we got off the bus, I went to the cheapest place I could find - they went a little more Hollywood.
For $4.50, I had a single room all to myself. With single rooms that cheap, there were hardly any dorm rooms available because people would just chose singles. This is a delima for the independent traveler in South East Asia. However, if you try, you can still meet people. You still have buses and backpacker bars.
Anyway, I put my stuff down and headed out to get some real Thai food. I had Pad Thai at a little internet cafe/restaurant around the corner. Here I met one of the characters that make traveling interesting. His name was Muhammad and he was a Ghanaian citizen that was working in China, but had run into some visa issues and was now in Thailand - trying to get back to Ghana. Instantly we had stuff to talk about because, as you may or may not know, my father is from Ghana and I had gone there back in 2004.
My next mission was to find a repair shop for my camera that had been damaged in Egypt. Muhammad insisted on helping me in my cause. We walked around together for maybe five hours talking to a number of people selling or repairing cameras. The basic take away was that cameras were a little more expensive in Thailand than buying them online in America and that getting my camera repaired was not going to be easy. Through this whole time, Muhammad was very socially aggressive - not in a bad way though. He would ask to hold babies and treat people as if he had known them forever, myself included. I think the constant reinforcement in elementary school of our "bubbles" that people can't violate makes this behavior seem very strange to me, but no one really seemed to mind.
The one thing that did bother me about Muhammad is that he would attack the Buddhist religion and its practitioners saying "They believe in nothing." Muhammad appeared to be firm in his beliefs of Islam, which I can respect, but I really am of the belief that all religions should be respected.
At the end of the day, I found out that Muhammad had no more money and no place to stay. He asked to take a shower at my hostel - which I was fine with - it was a shared bathroom so he wouldn't even have to go in my room. Though at this point, my defenses were on high alert. That proved to be unnecessary, he didn't ask for any money only soap for the shower. At this point, the jet lag was setting in, I told him I would take a nap and meet up with him later that night. I never did see him again. The next day I was off to Koh Tao.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Blogging suspended until I go somewhere less communist
I will unfortunately be suspending my blog posts until I leave china.
China blocks access to blogger.
China blocks access to blogger.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Rest of Egypt
So I went to Siwa, Cario, Aswan, and Luxor after Dahab. Here is a quick summary:
Siwa:
This is a city built by an oasis in the western part of Egypt just a little bit away from Libya. I spent my time in Siwa hanging out with Jen, whom I met in Jordan.
Siwa is a very cool city. It has more donkey carts than cars. When we got there, we wanted to stay in a hotel that was 4km outside of the city, but it was really expensive to get there because the guy in the donkey cart didn't want to ride back by himself in the dark. As such, we stayed at a cheap spot in the city.
The most exciting thing I did here was go to sand dunes and spend two nights in the desert. The sand dunes where really amazing to see and riding around in the jeep over them was crazy. We also stopped by a cold natural oasis and swam. At the cold oasis, a wind picked up and blew sand into my camera and broke it. You'll notice between that point and Ben coming to Thailand, I don't have that many pictures because I didn't have a camera. As for the cold oasis, it was a really nice swim. The warm oasis we went to was kind of gross though. It had weird stuff growing in it, and felt like a lukewarm bath. There were also like 20 people in a 20 square foot pool of water, just gross.
That first night we stayed in a camp site just outside of the city with a bunch of locals and a few travelers. It was a lot of fun. Spent most of the night hanging out by the camp fire telling stories. We ended up sleeping outside by the fire despite the fact that we had beds in huts. Around 3am, it got really cold so I somewhat regretted that decision.
The second night, it was just Ahmad (our awesome guide), Jen and I in the middle of the desert. This was a lot cooler because we had no light around us except for our camp fire. The stars were amazing. During the night, a mouse attacked me after I went to sleep. I was terrified (for no reason at all) so I lit a candle and watched for a little bit. After accepting the mouse had run away, I went back to sleep. Ahmad thought I was ridiculous. It was a very cool experience being in the middle of the desert at night.
Cairo
Cairo is the busiest(traffic wise) and one of the dirtiest cities that I've ever been in. After a lot of reflection, I've determined that I really didn't like it. The museum is great and the Pyramids are cool - the Spinx is very cool - but outside of that I didn't like it. Tourist are always being harassed by people trying to sell stuff - more aggressively than other places. I think the bigger problem I had was that they were always trying to sell me crap. A couple people trying to sell me perfume were super aggressive and one called me a "very bad man" when I refused to buy anything after he had so "graciously" shown me his shop.
Quick story
So I "befriended" this guy that gave camel rides around the Pyramids. He gave me a free ride to a good view point and invited me back to his place for dinner. This was a really cool experience - and despite other people "befriending" me and later asking for money - I was not going to close myself off to this type of opportunity.
His house was poor. It didn't have a roof over all of it, and there were goats and chickens grazing on the second floor. There was also an amazing amount of flies. His parents and friends were very welcoming though, and dinner was good. I then talked to one of his friends who was complaining about how the government didn't do anything. Towards the end of the night, he suggested that I could give him my ipod and that would be okay. I thought it would not be, but I did end up giving about $20 USD to him as I left to cover dinner and whatnot. Still very cool experience.
Luxor and Aswan
So the only reason I went to Aswan was to go to Abu Simbel - an acient Egyptian temple close to Sudan. You can only go to the temple with a 4am and 11am convoy. Normally, the overnight train from Cairo gets you there at about 10am so it's perfect to catch the 11am convoy. But I was on the train that was traveling on the day that they switched to (or from - I never know) daylight savings time. I lost an hour on the train and missed the temple. I ended up going around Aswan a little and saw a lesser temple, but it was still a failed trip. At 3pm, I went back to the train station to go to Luxor.
Luxor has a number of great acient Egyptian temples and was a lot of fun to go around. I don't really have any good stories from there or any pictures because I had no camera, but it was a good time.
That was Egypt - next stop Thailand.
The most exciting thing I did here was go to sand dunes and spend two nights in the desert. The sand dunes where really amazing to see and riding around in the jeep over them was crazy. We also stopped by a cold natural oasis and swam. At the cold oasis, a wind picked up and blew sand into my camera and broke it. You'll notice between that point and Ben coming to Thailand, I don't have that many pictures because I didn't have a camera. As for the cold oasis, it was a really nice swim. The warm oasis we went to was kind of gross though. It had weird stuff growing in it, and felt like a lukewarm bath. There were also like 20 people in a 20 square foot pool of water, just gross.
That first night we stayed in a camp site just outside of the city with a bunch of locals and a few travelers. It was a lot of fun. Spent most of the night hanging out by the camp fire telling stories. We ended up sleeping outside by the fire despite the fact that we had beds in huts. Around 3am, it got really cold so I somewhat regretted that decision.
The second night, it was just Ahmad (our awesome guide), Jen and I in the middle of the desert. This was a lot cooler because we had no light around us except for our camp fire. The stars were amazing. During the night, a mouse attacked me after I went to sleep. I was terrified (for no reason at all) so I lit a candle and watched for a little bit. After accepting the mouse had run away, I went back to sleep. Ahmad thought I was ridiculous. It was a very cool experience being in the middle of the desert at night.
Cairo
Cairo is the busiest(traffic wise) and one of the dirtiest cities that I've ever been in. After a lot of reflection, I've determined that I really didn't like it. The museum is great and the Pyramids are cool - the Spinx is very cool - but outside of that I didn't like it. Tourist are always being harassed by people trying to sell stuff - more aggressively than other places. I think the bigger problem I had was that they were always trying to sell me crap. A couple people trying to sell me perfume were super aggressive and one called me a "very bad man" when I refused to buy anything after he had so "graciously" shown me his shop.
Quick story
So I "befriended" this guy that gave camel rides around the Pyramids. He gave me a free ride to a good view point and invited me back to his place for dinner. This was a really cool experience - and despite other people "befriending" me and later asking for money - I was not going to close myself off to this type of opportunity.
His house was poor. It didn't have a roof over all of it, and there were goats and chickens grazing on the second floor. There was also an amazing amount of flies. His parents and friends were very welcoming though, and dinner was good. I then talked to one of his friends who was complaining about how the government didn't do anything. Towards the end of the night, he suggested that I could give him my ipod and that would be okay. I thought it would not be, but I did end up giving about $20 USD to him as I left to cover dinner and whatnot. Still very cool experience.
Luxor and Aswan
So the only reason I went to Aswan was to go to Abu Simbel - an acient Egyptian temple close to Sudan. You can only go to the temple with a 4am and 11am convoy. Normally, the overnight train from Cairo gets you there at about 10am so it's perfect to catch the 11am convoy. But I was on the train that was traveling on the day that they switched to (or from - I never know) daylight savings time. I lost an hour on the train and missed the temple. I ended up going around Aswan a little and saw a lesser temple, but it was still a failed trip. At 3pm, I went back to the train station to go to Luxor.
Luxor has a number of great acient Egyptian temples and was a lot of fun to go around. I don't really have any good stories from there or any pictures because I had no camera, but it was a good time.
That was Egypt - next stop Thailand.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Dahab
Dahab is a small town on the Red Sea in Egypt. It has some of the best diving in Eygpt and is a fun place to hang out. For my first three days in Dahab, I accomplished very little. I did a lot of chilling in the sun, swimming in the sea, and enjoying the local Egyptian brew "Sakara." Despite this, I do have some cool stories - at least in my opinion.
Let's start at the beginning. I came to Dahab from the Taba border crossing between Israel and Egypt. Sitting at the bus station in Taba, I was attacked by flies. When I was in Eilat, about 3km from Taba, there were no flies at all. How did the Israelis keep the flies from crossing the border. It amazed me and the girl that I sat at the bus station with.
Once on the bus, I met a very friendly but somewhat odd Egyptian guy. His favorite line was "I love you too much." I feel like something was getting lost in translation. The ride to Dahab was long, but it was cool just riding through the desert.My first night in Dahab, I met a little Bedouin girl that taught me how to play Backgammon and a Bedouin game that involved rolling the die, but no real strategy. She beat me at both because she cheated. (I'm not sore, I'm just saying) She gave me a little ankle bracelet for playing with her though. (Mom you're getting a present) Then we made a bet on the next game. If I lost, I had to buy another bracelet, if I won I got it for free. Needless to say I had to pull out my wallet, but I got a scarab(luck symbol) bracelet that I've worn everyday since so it's not so bad.
I also met a fair number of interesting people while diving and learned that all dive instructors smoke ciggs. One of the most interesting from my point of view was this mining engineer from Australia. He had mined silver, gold, nickel, etc. He had just been in South Africa to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend. He had interesting stories about mining, but also on the diamond industry. He basically said that the crack down on "blood" diamonds was a lie, and that they enter the market easily and unnoticed.
Finally, on the last day I went scuba diving. This was an amazing experience for me. The whole being able to breath underwater thing was kind of shocking. The reef was also amazing. I thought it was kind of going to be like when you go camping expecting to see a ton of animals because that's what you see on National Geographic, but when you go you're lucky to see a couple deer. This was completely like National Geographic though, there were so many fish of different colors and sizes. Great time. Stayed in a great resort "Red Sea Relax Resort" for only $12 a day. Dahab was a great start to Egypt.
Bethlehem
For those that don't know, Bethlehem is the city that was the birthplace to Jesus. It's just south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. I remember telling a girl that was staying in the hostel with me in Tel Aviv that I was going to Bethlehem, and she was like "By yourself, I heard it isn't safe." After going, that seems like a ridiculous statement. I took the West Bank bus to Bethlehem and got off a little over a kilometer (yep-I've been out the US for a while) from the Church of the Nativity. I didn't really have any idea where I was going, typical for me, so I asked around and everyone was helpful and nice. Any fear of the average Palestinian, at least in my experiences, appears to be completely unjustified. It is true that every once in a while someone does something bad, but middle school kids in the US shoot up a school every once in awhile too. I'm not going to be scared to go to a middle school anytime soon. But I digress once again.
So I get to the church. I have to duck down to get in the front door. The church is very beautiful. It's got some really good paintings on the walls - though my pictures of them do not do them justice. There's also a little place where you walk down to where Jesus was actually born. The first time I walked down I was unaware of what I was looking at. I was just wondering around the church. Then I got to talking to one of the priest and he told me how a little star marked where Jesus was born. I think to myself, "I've got to get a picture of it." Mainly for you guys.
So I go back down to where it is, and there are two tour groups of like 30 people lined up to get their picture taken next to this little star. I stand to the side and wait. While I'm waiting, another tour group gets in line, and I resolve to the fact that I'm going to have to join the tour group line. I end up waiting in like like 30ish minutes, but finally get my picture and got to touch the place where Jesus was born.
So I get to the church. I have to duck down to get in the front door. The church is very beautiful. It's got some really good paintings on the walls - though my pictures of them do not do them justice. There's also a little place where you walk down to where Jesus was actually born. The first time I walked down I was unaware of what I was looking at. I was just wondering around the church. Then I got to talking to one of the priest and he told me how a little star marked where Jesus was born. I think to myself, "I've got to get a picture of it." Mainly for you guys.
So I go back down to where it is, and there are two tour groups of like 30 people lined up to get their picture taken next to this little star. I stand to the side and wait. While I'm waiting, another tour group gets in line, and I resolve to the fact that I'm going to have to join the tour group line. I end up waiting in like like 30ish minutes, but finally get my picture and got to touch the place where Jesus was born.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Masada and the Dead Sea
As I'm sure you all read in my last post. My first attempt at going to Masada and the Dead Sea ended with me being very sick. I thought I was out some money, but the guy at the Jaffa Gate Hostel was able to get the tour company to take me two days later without charging me any money at all.
So first we went to Masada. This is a fortress in Israel where a bunch of Jews killed themselves rather than be taken prisoner in a battle with the Romans. The site is very cool and has some interesting structures. What I didn't like about it, was how it was presented in the video before hand. Before you went up to the fortress, you watch this 15 minute or so video explaining the historical significance of the fortress. It was somewhat informative, but also felt very nationalistic which I didn't like. But I digress.
What I found most amazing about this fortress is that it was on top of a plateau in the middle of a desert. How did they possibly live here? Well, they had these giant rooms built that collected water whenever it rained to allow them to survive. (And no, I didn't take my headphones out for the picture...) Other than that, it was similar to many other Roman period ruins, but still cool.
Next, we went off to the Dead Sea. This was really cool. The first thing you see when you get near it is this grey mud that looks so gross, and it becomes obvious that nothing lives in the water. It really took me a minute to get past the grey mud, but before long I had covered my upper body in it and began floating in the sea. You really do float effortlessly. I could have taken a nap if the current didn't keep pushing me into people.
So first we went to Masada. This is a fortress in Israel where a bunch of Jews killed themselves rather than be taken prisoner in a battle with the Romans. The site is very cool and has some interesting structures. What I didn't like about it, was how it was presented in the video before hand. Before you went up to the fortress, you watch this 15 minute or so video explaining the historical significance of the fortress. It was somewhat informative, but also felt very nationalistic which I didn't like. But I digress.
What I found most amazing about this fortress is that it was on top of a plateau in the middle of a desert. How did they possibly live here? Well, they had these giant rooms built that collected water whenever it rained to allow them to survive. (And no, I didn't take my headphones out for the picture...) Other than that, it was similar to many other Roman period ruins, but still cool.
Next, we went off to the Dead Sea. This was really cool. The first thing you see when you get near it is this grey mud that looks so gross, and it becomes obvious that nothing lives in the water. It really took me a minute to get past the grey mud, but before long I had covered my upper body in it and began floating in the sea. You really do float effortlessly. I could have taken a nap if the current didn't keep pushing me into people.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Jerusalem
Disclaimer: This post will talk about places of religious significance. I don't know a whole lot about most religions so I may something slightly wrong. I do not mean to offend anyone with these transgressions. Feel free to comment and request a correction if I got something wrong, and I will gladly change it.
So I now see why Jerusalem has been so fought over for so long. The Jews (maybe others too, I'm by no means a religious scholar, I just know what I read there) believe that Adam and Eve were created there, Jesus was crucified and buried there, some believe the Mary was born there, and Muhammad ascended to heaven there. That's crazy! All that in one city. And now, Rob Aikins has been there.... (I know, not as important)
My approach to going around the old city was just to wonder aimlessly until I found something cool. The first thing that I found was the Western Wall. I knew I was about to go some place special before I got to the Wall because I had to go through a metal detector to continue down the little ally I was walking. When I first saw the wall, it'll really just seemed like a wall. But you could sort of feel how important it was to those praying at it. For those that don't know, the Western Wall is the only remaining part of the Second Temple which was a Jewish temple built around 19 BCE.
After the wall, I wondered into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Now in my complete lack of thinking, I didn't realize that I would be seeing the place where Jesus was buried in Jerusalem. This was somewhat of a moving experience for me, which I was not expecting at all. I'm not a very religious person, but kneeling next to the rock that covers the man that inspired Christianity, I felt moved. It was weird. On the walk away from the Church, I ended up on the path to see the Dome of the Rock, but I was not allowed to go right then. They had very specific times that non-Muslims could see the Dome, and I was already too late for that day. My first attempt at seeing the Dome had failed.
After that, I meet up with some Canadians that were really cool and went to get some beers. This turned out to be a horrible mistake for me, kinda. The Canadians I meet were really cool and we had a great night out on the town, but I ended up getting horribly sick (not entirely from the beer, I only had like two). I had been having stomach issues since I had left Jordan, and staying out late and drinking seemed to push my stomach over the edge. I'll spare you the details, but I was unable to make a tour of the Dead Sea and Masada that I had paid for the day before. For those that know me, you know I had to be really sick to miss a tour that I paid $50 for.
On day two, I woke up really late took some Cipro and did some more walking around the city. I wanted to see the Dome of the Rock, but I had woken too late. I decided I would pay to walk around the city walls so I could get to see all of the old city. It was cool to see that people were actually living in the old city and that it wasn't just a tourist location. Most of the people that I saw in the old city appeared to be Palestinian. What I personally found interesting, was seeing a bunch of kids playing soccer on a basketball court. Clearly, I was not in America.
The next significant thing that happened to me in Jerusalem was going to a Passover Seder. This was an awesome experience. It was hosted by the family of a friend from work. I think the most interesting thing was there was a reason for everything that happened during the night. I learned a lot about trip of the Jews out of Egypt. It also required that you drink four glasses of wine, which should be a requirement of all holidays. The food was also really good. After dinner, we went to a bar that was open in protest to the requirement that they be closed that night. A very good night indeed.
After this, I left Jerusalem for a couple days to go back to Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea, but on my last day in Israel I headed back to make a quick trip to the Dome of the Rock, which I had failed to make it to on multiple attempts before. This was on Easter, which made the city absurdly crowded. That traffic made me miss the morning window allowed for non-Muslim visitors, so I dropped of my big bag at the Jaffa Gate Hostel (really nice guys working there) and hung out until the afternoon window. When I finally got to the security entrance for the Dome, they scanned my day bag and saw that I had my laptop. Evidently, laptops can't go near the Dome of the Rock. I was so upset. I had come to Jerusalem with the sole purpose of seeing the Dome, and I didn't have enough time to drop off my laptop and make it back. So I hid it beside the security room and hoped that it would be there when I got back. I went into the Temple Mount area, took some quick photos, then ran back to my bag. I was disappointed that I was not able to go in the Dome of the Rock because I wasn't Muslim, but it was still cool to be close and see the beautiful tiles and dome. When I returned to the security room, my bag was still there. I thanked G-d and headed for Eilat.
So I now see why Jerusalem has been so fought over for so long. The Jews (maybe others too, I'm by no means a religious scholar, I just know what I read there) believe that Adam and Eve were created there, Jesus was crucified and buried there, some believe the Mary was born there, and Muhammad ascended to heaven there. That's crazy! All that in one city. And now, Rob Aikins has been there.... (I know, not as important)
My approach to going around the old city was just to wonder aimlessly until I found something cool. The first thing that I found was the Western Wall. I knew I was about to go some place special before I got to the Wall because I had to go through a metal detector to continue down the little ally I was walking. When I first saw the wall, it'll really just seemed like a wall. But you could sort of feel how important it was to those praying at it. For those that don't know, the Western Wall is the only remaining part of the Second Temple which was a Jewish temple built around 19 BCE.
After the wall, I wondered into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Now in my complete lack of thinking, I didn't realize that I would be seeing the place where Jesus was buried in Jerusalem. This was somewhat of a moving experience for me, which I was not expecting at all. I'm not a very religious person, but kneeling next to the rock that covers the man that inspired Christianity, I felt moved. It was weird. On the walk away from the Church, I ended up on the path to see the Dome of the Rock, but I was not allowed to go right then. They had very specific times that non-Muslims could see the Dome, and I was already too late for that day. My first attempt at seeing the Dome had failed.
After that, I meet up with some Canadians that were really cool and went to get some beers. This turned out to be a horrible mistake for me, kinda. The Canadians I meet were really cool and we had a great night out on the town, but I ended up getting horribly sick (not entirely from the beer, I only had like two). I had been having stomach issues since I had left Jordan, and staying out late and drinking seemed to push my stomach over the edge. I'll spare you the details, but I was unable to make a tour of the Dead Sea and Masada that I had paid for the day before. For those that know me, you know I had to be really sick to miss a tour that I paid $50 for.
On day two, I woke up really late took some Cipro and did some more walking around the city. I wanted to see the Dome of the Rock, but I had woken too late. I decided I would pay to walk around the city walls so I could get to see all of the old city. It was cool to see that people were actually living in the old city and that it wasn't just a tourist location. Most of the people that I saw in the old city appeared to be Palestinian. What I personally found interesting, was seeing a bunch of kids playing soccer on a basketball court. Clearly, I was not in America.
The next significant thing that happened to me in Jerusalem was going to a Passover Seder. This was an awesome experience. It was hosted by the family of a friend from work. I think the most interesting thing was there was a reason for everything that happened during the night. I learned a lot about trip of the Jews out of Egypt. It also required that you drink four glasses of wine, which should be a requirement of all holidays. The food was also really good. After dinner, we went to a bar that was open in protest to the requirement that they be closed that night. A very good night indeed.
After this, I left Jerusalem for a couple days to go back to Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea, but on my last day in Israel I headed back to make a quick trip to the Dome of the Rock, which I had failed to make it to on multiple attempts before. This was on Easter, which made the city absurdly crowded. That traffic made me miss the morning window allowed for non-Muslim visitors, so I dropped of my big bag at the Jaffa Gate Hostel (really nice guys working there) and hung out until the afternoon window. When I finally got to the security entrance for the Dome, they scanned my day bag and saw that I had my laptop. Evidently, laptops can't go near the Dome of the Rock. I was so upset. I had come to Jerusalem with the sole purpose of seeing the Dome, and I didn't have enough time to drop off my laptop and make it back. So I hid it beside the security room and hoped that it would be there when I got back. I went into the Temple Mount area, took some quick photos, then ran back to my bag. I was disappointed that I was not able to go in the Dome of the Rock because I wasn't Muslim, but it was still cool to be close and see the beautiful tiles and dome. When I returned to the security room, my bag was still there. I thanked G-d and headed for Eilat.
Friday, May 1, 2009
A Tel Aviv Story...
Boy meets girl and friend.
Boy shows interest in girl.
Girl shows interest in boy.
Boy, girl, and friend go to a bar.
Girl says she has a boyfriend.
Boy leaves bar.
Boy in a drunken stupor goes to all night sushi place.
Boy goes to sleep happy.
The End
Boy shows interest in girl.
Girl shows interest in boy.
Boy, girl, and friend go to a bar.
Girl says she has a boyfriend.
Boy leaves bar.
Boy in a drunken stupor goes to all night sushi place.
Boy goes to sleep happy.
The End
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
McDonald's Quest Pt. 2 - Tel Aviv - McKebab
After failing to make it to McDonald's in Syria and Jordan, I was ecstatic to see a McDonald's in Tel Aviv. That enthusiasm didn't last. 
I ordered the McKebab after some difficulty in interpreting the menu. They really weren't big on having English on the menu unlike most McDonald's I've been too, but I regress. The McKebab looked very similar to the McTurco except with a white sauce instead of a brown one. They tasted very different though. The beef (maybe???) tasted ridiculously burnt and had a piece of fat in it that was not chewable. This was one of the most disappointing sandwiches I've ever had a McDonald's and gets a 1 out of 5 on the McDonand's scale.
I ordered the McKebab after some difficulty in interpreting the menu. They really weren't big on having English on the menu unlike most McDonald's I've been too, but I regress. The McKebab looked very similar to the McTurco except with a white sauce instead of a brown one. They tasted very different though. The beef (maybe???) tasted ridiculously burnt and had a piece of fat in it that was not chewable. This was one of the most disappointing sandwiches I've ever had a McDonald's and gets a 1 out of 5 on the McDonand's scale.
Tel Aviv
So as I've been traveling, there have been places that I've seen a bunch of sights and places that I've just rested and relaxed. 
Tel Aviv was definitely one of the places were I was just resting and relaxing. The city felt a little yuppyish (it's a word if you know what I mean) to me, probably because I ran into a dog park and a little kid's picnic birthday party. These images were so different from what I had seen in the rest of the Middle East. This did not appear to be a city that felt threaten by its neighbors. Much more like a city that had all of its basic needs covered and was interested in the finer things in life.
I went to Tel Aviv at the beginning of my trip to Israel and again at the end, but both times were Friday and Saturday. Walking around most of the city on a Saturday is really uninteresting because so much closes on the Sabbath. But there was some cool graffiti.
After walking around the city for a little bit, I'd get something to eat - which was really expensive (European prices), then go to the beach.
After walking along the beach for a couple hours, I'd watch the sunset.
At night, I went to a couple bars with people I'd meet in the hostel. The bars that I went to were pretty chill. I didn't really get involved in the crazy club scene. (Note: I did not actually go to the pictured bar - it just made me think of my little brother.)
I unfortunately crashed around 2 or 3 every morning whereas I had roommates that routinely got in around 6:00am.
That was pretty much my time in Tel Aviv. No real crazy stories just a lot of R&R.
Tel Aviv was definitely one of the places were I was just resting and relaxing. The city felt a little yuppyish (it's a word if you know what I mean) to me, probably because I ran into a dog park and a little kid's picnic birthday party. These images were so different from what I had seen in the rest of the Middle East. This did not appear to be a city that felt threaten by its neighbors. Much more like a city that had all of its basic needs covered and was interested in the finer things in life.
I went to Tel Aviv at the beginning of my trip to Israel and again at the end, but both times were Friday and Saturday. Walking around most of the city on a Saturday is really uninteresting because so much closes on the Sabbath. But there was some cool graffiti.
After walking around the city for a little bit, I'd get something to eat - which was really expensive (European prices), then go to the beach.
After walking along the beach for a couple hours, I'd watch the sunset.At night, I went to a couple bars with people I'd meet in the hostel. The bars that I went to were pretty chill. I didn't really get involved in the crazy club scene. (Note: I did not actually go to the pictured bar - it just made me think of my little brother.)
I unfortunately crashed around 2 or 3 every morning whereas I had roommates that routinely got in around 6:00am.
That was pretty much my time in Tel Aviv. No real crazy stories just a lot of R&R.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
West Bank – Ramallah – My trip to the West Bank and my view of the Israel/Palestine issue after
Disclaimer: The content of this post is political in nature. The views expressed in this post are solely the views of me. I am not an expert in this topic nor claim to be. I am simply giving my views on the situation based of what I heard and saw while in Israel and the West Bank as well as information that I have read and heard during outside of my time in Israel. Further, it is only right that I disclose that I am a self described liberal.
So my trip to the West Bank started as most of my adventures during this trip have, with a taxi driver lying to me about my ability to get there other by then in a taxi and then naming a ridiculous price to take me. I really hate taxi drivers. But, I was able to get him to point me in the direction of the bus station even though it would take me 3 hours to get to Ramallah by bus according to him. Forty-five minutes later I was in Ramallah, and with the aid of a Palestinian schoolboy, was on my way to meeting my host for my time in Ramallah. I had a little trouble finding the coffee shop that I suggest we met in based on Lonely Planet. But, I was soon approached by two Palestinian men saying that they were looking for a foreigner named “Rob” and were wondering if I knew where he was. I did. When we got back to the Ashraf and Sarah's apartment, I was eager to check my email (I have a real addiction and need help...), but than began talking to Ashraf about his life in Palestinian. He explained to me how he works for a group that studies water issues in the West Bank and about how he came to have impeccable English skills – I really thought for the first little bit that he grew up in America.
After my first couple hours in Ramallah, it appeared to be just another regular small Arab city like the many I had been through to this point. To enter Ramallah from Jerusalem, you drive through a checkpoint, but you aren't actually checked. There were a number of open stores and people shopping and working when I got to the city. Things costs more than in Syria. I hadn't seen “the wall.” The apartment we were in was very nice and I was offered a glass of Coke. Based on this limited exposure, I would have said that the West Bank doesn't appear to be nearly as prosperous as Israel, but it doesn't seem to be the horrible place that it is sometimes made out to be.
We were joined at dinner by a couple of Ashraf and Sarah's friends. After dinner we went to have carrot cake at a local cafe. This is when my view of life in the West Bank changed. Ashraf's friend Rahmi told stories from when he spent time in an open air Israel prison. The story was about how he had spent a number of days (I think 80ish, but I'll try to check with him on that number) in solitude. During most of this time period, he was treated very poorly. No soap, no clean sheets, etc. Then, after about 50 days, the Israel Army (who run these prisons), gave him new soap, shampoo, clean sheets, blankets, and he thought to him self “Man, maybe things are going to get better.” A couple days later, the Red Cross did an inspection of the prison. After the inspection, all of the things he was given were taken away.
Now, poor prison treatment offends, but I know it doesn't offend everyone. There are a number of people that believe that life in prison should be harsh as it is a punishment. What should offend everyone is that Rahmi spent over three years in prison and was never charged with anything. Never once accused of committing any crime. Later that night Ashraf told me that the army will often do this if they suspect that someone committing any crime, and that the majority of Palestinian males are imprisoned at some point with no real charge. Ashraf also explained to me that often people in this situation will make up a confession for a small offense just so that they are able to get charged and receive defined sentence versus sitting in prison not knowing when you'll be released.
In addition to the fact that young males are randomly arrested and see many years in their youth disappear due to no fault of their own, the Palestinian lives are made harder because of the “security” wall and the checkpoints. I can see Israel's argument for a wall between what's been designated to be Palestinian and Israel. I might not agree, but I understand the legitimacy of the argument. The issue is that Israel has built checkpoints and walls throughout Palestine. I went by Palestinian mini-bus from Ramallah to Bethlehem and our bus spent 45 minutes at a checkpoint. We had started our trip in Palestine and were ending our trip in Palestine. I don't see why we had to go through a checkpoint to stay in Palestine. It strikes me as similar of going through customs to drive from Maryland to Virgina.
This would do a great deal of damage to interstate commerce. Similarly, it kills towns of man-hours in an already depressed Palestinian economy. Religious profiling also appears to happen at the checkpoints as well. When I arrived in Bethlehem, a camera man for I believe a BBC affiliate in Palestine helped me find my way to where I thought I would be staying that night. I asked him about the checkpoints and he said that he spent 1-2 hours each day at checkpoints because he worked in Ramallah and lived in Bethlehem. He was Christian, he said if he was Muslim that time would be doubled a lot of days.
The final issue I would like to discuss is the settlements, which some are clearly visible from Ramallah. They, in my opinion, have made a two state solution impossible. Roger Cohen recently wrote an op-ed in the New York times about this that says what I'm going to attempt to say. In order to have a workable independent state of Palestine, the settlers would either have to leave or become Palestinian. Having the Israeli Army in Palestine indefinitely to protect settlers in the new Palestinian state would ensure that peace would be momentary at best.
I don't see Israel forcing the settlers to leave or give up their Israeli citizenships nor leaving its citizens defenseless in a new Palestinian state. I think anyone who is talking about a two state solution now needs to have a solution to the settler problem that I haven't heard. I think the push needs to be a one state solution where Palestinians and Israelis are seen the same under the law and are able to vote. This would quickly end Israel as a Jewish State and will be meet with much resistance, but this is the only solution that I see to the apartheid that is currently in place.
Good, I'm glad that's over. I would like to apologize for the political nature of this post. I know little divides people more than politics and religion and in Israel and West Bank they are neatly inner woven. I hope I did not offend anyone. I by no means endorse violence committed by either side in this conflict and understand that heavy tolls have been paid by people on both sides.
That said, a United States policy that gives billions in military aid to Israel and allows inhuman treatment of Palestinians to be committed in the name of security is not the path towards peace. (There he goes again, alright I'm done.)
So Ramallah, I saw Yasser Arafat's tomb, had really good shwarma, and a really good desert called Kanafe.
So my trip to the West Bank started as most of my adventures during this trip have, with a taxi driver lying to me about my ability to get there other by then in a taxi and then naming a ridiculous price to take me. I really hate taxi drivers. But, I was able to get him to point me in the direction of the bus station even though it would take me 3 hours to get to Ramallah by bus according to him. Forty-five minutes later I was in Ramallah, and with the aid of a Palestinian schoolboy, was on my way to meeting my host for my time in Ramallah. I had a little trouble finding the coffee shop that I suggest we met in based on Lonely Planet. But, I was soon approached by two Palestinian men saying that they were looking for a foreigner named “Rob” and were wondering if I knew where he was. I did. When we got back to the Ashraf and Sarah's apartment, I was eager to check my email (I have a real addiction and need help...), but than began talking to Ashraf about his life in Palestinian. He explained to me how he works for a group that studies water issues in the West Bank and about how he came to have impeccable English skills – I really thought for the first little bit that he grew up in America.
After my first couple hours in Ramallah, it appeared to be just another regular small Arab city like the many I had been through to this point. To enter Ramallah from Jerusalem, you drive through a checkpoint, but you aren't actually checked. There were a number of open stores and people shopping and working when I got to the city. Things costs more than in Syria. I hadn't seen “the wall.” The apartment we were in was very nice and I was offered a glass of Coke. Based on this limited exposure, I would have said that the West Bank doesn't appear to be nearly as prosperous as Israel, but it doesn't seem to be the horrible place that it is sometimes made out to be.
We were joined at dinner by a couple of Ashraf and Sarah's friends. After dinner we went to have carrot cake at a local cafe. This is when my view of life in the West Bank changed. Ashraf's friend Rahmi told stories from when he spent time in an open air Israel prison. The story was about how he had spent a number of days (I think 80ish, but I'll try to check with him on that number) in solitude. During most of this time period, he was treated very poorly. No soap, no clean sheets, etc. Then, after about 50 days, the Israel Army (who run these prisons), gave him new soap, shampoo, clean sheets, blankets, and he thought to him self “Man, maybe things are going to get better.” A couple days later, the Red Cross did an inspection of the prison. After the inspection, all of the things he was given were taken away.
Now, poor prison treatment offends, but I know it doesn't offend everyone. There are a number of people that believe that life in prison should be harsh as it is a punishment. What should offend everyone is that Rahmi spent over three years in prison and was never charged with anything. Never once accused of committing any crime. Later that night Ashraf told me that the army will often do this if they suspect that someone committing any crime, and that the majority of Palestinian males are imprisoned at some point with no real charge. Ashraf also explained to me that often people in this situation will make up a confession for a small offense just so that they are able to get charged and receive defined sentence versus sitting in prison not knowing when you'll be released.
In addition to the fact that young males are randomly arrested and see many years in their youth disappear due to no fault of their own, the Palestinian lives are made harder because of the “security” wall and the checkpoints. I can see Israel's argument for a wall between what's been designated to be Palestinian and Israel. I might not agree, but I understand the legitimacy of the argument. The issue is that Israel has built checkpoints and walls throughout Palestine. I went by Palestinian mini-bus from Ramallah to Bethlehem and our bus spent 45 minutes at a checkpoint. We had started our trip in Palestine and were ending our trip in Palestine. I don't see why we had to go through a checkpoint to stay in Palestine. It strikes me as similar of going through customs to drive from Maryland to Virgina.
This would do a great deal of damage to interstate commerce. Similarly, it kills towns of man-hours in an already depressed Palestinian economy. Religious profiling also appears to happen at the checkpoints as well. When I arrived in Bethlehem, a camera man for I believe a BBC affiliate in Palestine helped me find my way to where I thought I would be staying that night. I asked him about the checkpoints and he said that he spent 1-2 hours each day at checkpoints because he worked in Ramallah and lived in Bethlehem. He was Christian, he said if he was Muslim that time would be doubled a lot of days.
The final issue I would like to discuss is the settlements, which some are clearly visible from Ramallah. They, in my opinion, have made a two state solution impossible. Roger Cohen recently wrote an op-ed in the New York times about this that says what I'm going to attempt to say. In order to have a workable independent state of Palestine, the settlers would either have to leave or become Palestinian. Having the Israeli Army in Palestine indefinitely to protect settlers in the new Palestinian state would ensure that peace would be momentary at best.
I don't see Israel forcing the settlers to leave or give up their Israeli citizenships nor leaving its citizens defenseless in a new Palestinian state. I think anyone who is talking about a two state solution now needs to have a solution to the settler problem that I haven't heard. I think the push needs to be a one state solution where Palestinians and Israelis are seen the same under the law and are able to vote. This would quickly end Israel as a Jewish State and will be meet with much resistance, but this is the only solution that I see to the apartheid that is currently in place.
Good, I'm glad that's over. I would like to apologize for the political nature of this post. I know little divides people more than politics and religion and in Israel and West Bank they are neatly inner woven. I hope I did not offend anyone. I by no means endorse violence committed by either side in this conflict and understand that heavy tolls have been paid by people on both sides.
That said, a United States policy that gives billions in military aid to Israel and allows inhuman treatment of Palestinians to be committed in the name of security is not the path towards peace. (There he goes again, alright I'm done.)
So Ramallah, I saw Yasser Arafat's tomb, had really good shwarma, and a really good desert called Kanafe.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Petra
Most people know Petra as the place where the holy grail was in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but it actually has nothing to do with the Crusades or the holy grail. It was made by the Nabataeans in pre-Roman times.
The ruins in Petra are some of the most impressive that I've ever seen in my life. I went there with three other girls that I had met on a tour of Jordan on the way to Petra. Most of the facades where made as tombs, but there is also the treasury, monastery, and a few other buildings. The facades really are incredible, but unfortunately, unlike in Indiana Jones, the inside of most of the buildings are single small square rooms. There are a few great views at different points in the city and a couple great hikes. Particularly one to the "High Place", where you can see a sacrificial alter and a lot of the other ruins.
Some of these hikes can be a little far so there are people offering donkey rides to some of the locations. The group I was with took donkeys up to the monastery. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life! My donkey had a fetish for the edge of cliffs, and if he slipped, I was done. The guy that gave us the donkeys was like "Don't worry, the donkeys know the way." This gave me no comfort. All ended up being fine, and I would highly recommend the experience. Think of it like this, these donkeys do this everyday. If your donkey was prone to falling, he would have fallen a long time ago. (Sound logic...)
All throughout Petra there are a number of Bedouins trying to sell little trinkets. This can be a little annoying, but if you stop and try and talk to the Bedouins, they can be extremely welcoming. I ran into a number of travelers that were invited for tea and dinner by Bedouins even if they didn't buy anything. One girl told me that she tried to offer money for the dinner and they refused it.
I actually spent a little bit of time talking to a couple Bedouins. The girl in the picture got to hear a little bit of my Arabic. (I feel sorry for her too) While one of her brothers (assumed), stanched a bag of cookies out of one of the girl's in my groups hand. (After they had been offered) It was hilarious.
After our day at Petra, we went back to Wadi Musa, the city near Petra that people actually stay in, for a couple of drinks and sheesha. The little cafe that we went to served no alcohol for religious reasons so we had some really good tea. The no alcohol thing didn't surprise me too much because Wadi Musa seemed like a very religious place. During the evening prayers, it sounded like everyone in the city was chanting along. Anyway, while we were at the cafe a couple young (20 something) Bedouin guys talked to us for awhile about Petra and the tourist that came through the city.
Finally, the night ended with me going back to the hostel and meeting a girl that's spent the last three years of her life traveling to do humanitarian aid. I thought that was amazingly cool. What was most impressive is that she was only 19.
I know I'm still way behind on post, but I'm slowly catching up and should be good by Thailand.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Damascus
I really like Damascus. The old city has a very classic feel and has a couple amazing mosques and churches. The Umayyad Mosque is the most beautiful mosque I have been allowed to go in. And word on the street is that when Jesus comes back he's going to do it in this mosque (Lonely Planet). Next I went to Sayyida Ruqayya Mosque, which was a little too flashy for my liking, but had grown men crying at its sight. On the Christian side of things, I went to the church where Saul/Paul (Can someone explain to me the name thing?) got his sight back and escaped from the Jews. There's also a lot of shopping if that's your thing. Finally, the National Museum had a really cool early church (200-300AD I believe). The only issue with the National Museum is that the information plaques are in Arabic and Italian. ITALIAN!!! So I didn't get as much from it as I could've, so if you go, if is probably worth getting a guide if you don't speak either one of those languages.
Other than the amazing sights, the people that I talked to were all really nice. Almost every Syrian that I met, once they heard I was American, said "Barak Obama!" "Do you like him?" I'd reply, "Of course." Then they would say "I love him!!!" I'm so glad he won. Also, other than cab drivers, everyone gives you a fair price. I tried to tip a couple people, and they refused the money.
I also met a few Americans that had decided to move to Damascus to learn Arabic. Any perception that you may have of Syrians objecting to Americans in their country at least appears to me to be greatly exaggerated (Blast you Fox News!!!!). The one weird thing is that the president's face is everywhere.
Finally, I stayed in the Al-Rabie Hotel in a three person dorm room with a 60 something year old French man and a 70 something year old American man. They were so interesting. They just spent all their time traveling and had some really cool stories. Especially of World War 2 sights, which they both had an interest in.
Aleppo - Day 2
So my trip to Aleppo started off kind of rough, but it got somewhat better. The main sight that I saw was the citadel, which was very cool. It was used as a power base for the Muslims during the Crusades (Lonely Planet). It was built on a very grand scale as you can see from the picture. The interesting about it other than its historical significance is that it appeared to be a kind of a hang out spot for teens from Aleppo. It costs about $3 for me to get in, but if you're Syrian it's only 30 cents, and from what I saw it seemed unlikely that the kids even paid that.
Other than the citadel, I just wondered around the city. It had a number of narrow roads and a not a whole lot of landmarks so I really feared getting horrible lost. Nothing stood out in particular, just a lot of people around. Most women with their head and face covered, especially in comparison to Damascus.
The hostel that I said in the second night was absolutely horrible. It cost $5 a night and I felt like I was getting screwed. I was in a room that was about 3ft by 8ft, but the worst part was the bathroom. The shower head was right over the toilet, and both looked gross. I ended up waiting until I got to Damascus to shower.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Update on the past week
Finding internet access in the Middle East has been much harder than I thought. I know I haven't updated as much as I planned, but I wrote down my thoughts on various places I saw and things that I did.
McDonald's Quest - Part One - Turkey
I have a love affair with McDonald's. It has made me more meals than anyone in the world, excluding my mother (but everyday it gets closer). My goal is to eat a McDonald's in twenty different countries on this trip. At each McDonald's, I will have the sandwich that is unique to that country or area and rate it on the McDonald's scale. The McDonald's scale is a 1 to 5 scale where 1 is the worst (Fish Fillet Sandwich) and 5 is the best (the ever elusive McRib).
In Istanbul, the McDonald's was right along the train track into the city. My eyes filled with delight as we rode by. Their special sandwich is called the McTurco. It's basically two patties (I'd guess beef, but not 100% sure) wrapped in pita bread with lettuce. It was actually surprisingly good. It had a brownish sauce that really brought it all together.
The McTurco gets a 4/5 on the McDonald's scale.
Note: This post was so enjoyable to write. I am looking forward to my McDonald's visits as much as anything else on this trip.
Istanbul - Day 2&3
On my second and third day in Istanbul, I just went around and saw the major sights, except the Palace - for some reason they wouldn't let me in. It was a lot of fun. The highlights for me are probably the Archaeological Museum and the Aya Sofya. The museum helped me realize how little I actually know of the history of this part of the world. The Aya Sofya was interesting because it displayed both Christan and Islamic images. The building was built as a church, but was later converted to a mosque in the middle of the 15th century. Before it was converted, it was the largest church in the world for 1000 years. Seeing this odd juxtaposition of art work was really very cool. Unfortunately, I only have pictures from the outside right now. I went to the Sofya with an Irish guy who has the pictures.
The night of day three was a lot of fun. Finally got to smoke Turkish Water Pipe, and had a fair number of beers with a number of other hostel dwellers. A good number of Americans came that day, so I felt like I had familiar company.
Istanbul - Day 4
I spent 6 hours at the bus station because I couldn't find the schedules online and once I got there I decided it'd be a waste to go back. I did explore the area around the bus station a little bit though. There was a number of hills and steps, which really sucked with my backpack on. I found a pretty cool looking mosque, but was troubled when I saw a man with a machine gun guarding it. I took that as my que to leave. On the way back to the station, I realized that the mosque was adjacent to a government building with several armed guards.
I will post more on my time in Aleppo and Damascus as soon as I get a chance.
McDonald's Quest - Part One - Turkey
I have a love affair with McDonald's. It has made me more meals than anyone in the world, excluding my mother (but everyday it gets closer). My goal is to eat a McDonald's in twenty different countries on this trip. At each McDonald's, I will have the sandwich that is unique to that country or area and rate it on the McDonald's scale. The McDonald's scale is a 1 to 5 scale where 1 is the worst (Fish Fillet Sandwich) and 5 is the best (the ever elusive McRib).
In Istanbul, the McDonald's was right along the train track into the city. My eyes filled with delight as we rode by. Their special sandwich is called the McTurco. It's basically two patties (I'd guess beef, but not 100% sure) wrapped in pita bread with lettuce. It was actually surprisingly good. It had a brownish sauce that really brought it all together.
The McTurco gets a 4/5 on the McDonald's scale.
Note: This post was so enjoyable to write. I am looking forward to my McDonald's visits as much as anything else on this trip.
Istanbul - Day 2&3
On my second and third day in Istanbul, I just went around and saw the major sights, except the Palace - for some reason they wouldn't let me in. It was a lot of fun. The highlights for me are probably the Archaeological Museum and the Aya Sofya. The museum helped me realize how little I actually know of the history of this part of the world. The Aya Sofya was interesting because it displayed both Christan and Islamic images. The building was built as a church, but was later converted to a mosque in the middle of the 15th century. Before it was converted, it was the largest church in the world for 1000 years. Seeing this odd juxtaposition of art work was really very cool. Unfortunately, I only have pictures from the outside right now. I went to the Sofya with an Irish guy who has the pictures.
The night of day three was a lot of fun. Finally got to smoke Turkish Water Pipe, and had a fair number of beers with a number of other hostel dwellers. A good number of Americans came that day, so I felt like I had familiar company.
Istanbul - Day 4
I spent 6 hours at the bus station because I couldn't find the schedules online and once I got there I decided it'd be a waste to go back. I did explore the area around the bus station a little bit though. There was a number of hills and steps, which really sucked with my backpack on. I found a pretty cool looking mosque, but was troubled when I saw a man with a machine gun guarding it. I took that as my que to leave. On the way back to the station, I realized that the mosque was adjacent to a government building with several armed guards.
I will post more on my time in Aleppo and Damascus as soon as I get a chance.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Israel
Today I entered Israel. It took me about 4 hours to get across the border and I had to be questioned by two different security guards. I expected some issues because I had been to Syria and had those stamps in my passport. I don't really agree with that concern, but I understand it. However, that is not what caused them to hold me up at the border. Instead it was because my middle name is "Asare." The first security person checking passports asked me how to pronounce it, and I did. Then called someone else over to listen to me say it. I guess at this point it sounded potentially threatening, or maybe I looked too potentially Arab, because they felt the need to call in a security gaurd to question me as well as a large individual with a large machine gun to make sure I didn't try anything. I really don't know and can only speculate because they didn't tell me.
After questioning me about my trip for about 30 minutes, I was allowed to go through the metal dector and send my bags through. After my bags went through, they still wanted to search them so we went through all of my stuff. Finally they let me repack my bag, and there was one really nice security guard that offered to help.
Now it was one to the next point where they asked me about where I was staying. I told them and they started to ask about my trip so far. My explanation caused them to send me into a little office were another security guard questioned me for about 45 minutes about my trip. Then she told me to wait outside on the bench. As I did for the next two hours. Finally, they decided I wasn't a threat and allowed me to cross the border four hours after I arrived.
I went to a cab outside the border and asked him to take me to the bus station. At this point it was 12:30pm, he asked where I was going, and I told him the Dead Sea. He told me there would be no buses going to that area because it was too late on a Friday. So I took the cab to a hostel in Eliat to find that there was a festival in town and all of the hotels and hostels were booked. I still tried a couple more hotels - mostly out of my price range anyway. Next I went to an internet cafe, who's internet stopped working as I walked in the door. Finally, at 2:30pm, I decided to head to the bus station and just look for a bus to anywhere. At that point, I found out that the last bus to the Dead Sea area left at 1:00pm (blast that cab driver), but that there was a 3:00pm bus to Tel Aviv. I got the ticket and got on the bus. At this point in time, I still don't know where I'm staying, but the guy next to me has a Lonely Planet. I asked to borrow it, find a hostel, show up, and get a room.
All is well again.
More later on Petra, which was amazing, and Damascus.
See all the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.aikins
After questioning me about my trip for about 30 minutes, I was allowed to go through the metal dector and send my bags through. After my bags went through, they still wanted to search them so we went through all of my stuff. Finally they let me repack my bag, and there was one really nice security guard that offered to help.
Now it was one to the next point where they asked me about where I was staying. I told them and they started to ask about my trip so far. My explanation caused them to send me into a little office were another security guard questioned me for about 45 minutes about my trip. Then she told me to wait outside on the bench. As I did for the next two hours. Finally, they decided I wasn't a threat and allowed me to cross the border four hours after I arrived.
I went to a cab outside the border and asked him to take me to the bus station. At this point it was 12:30pm, he asked where I was going, and I told him the Dead Sea. He told me there would be no buses going to that area because it was too late on a Friday. So I took the cab to a hostel in Eliat to find that there was a festival in town and all of the hotels and hostels were booked. I still tried a couple more hotels - mostly out of my price range anyway. Next I went to an internet cafe, who's internet stopped working as I walked in the door. Finally, at 2:30pm, I decided to head to the bus station and just look for a bus to anywhere. At that point, I found out that the last bus to the Dead Sea area left at 1:00pm (blast that cab driver), but that there was a 3:00pm bus to Tel Aviv. I got the ticket and got on the bus. At this point in time, I still don't know where I'm staying, but the guy next to me has a Lonely Planet. I asked to borrow it, find a hostel, show up, and get a room.
All is well again.
More later on Petra, which was amazing, and Damascus.
See all the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.aikins
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The past couple days
The past couple days have been a little crazy, and I have to admit a little stressful. At the Syrian border, they weren't trying to let me in the country even though all of my stuff was in order. But the bus driver argued and got me in the country only to leave me 45 km outside of the city of Aleppo - my destination. At this point I was in a small village with no Syria currency and only $160USD. So I went to a cab - the only one for miles - and asked him how much it was to get to Aleppo. He told me $15USD - which is absurd. So I said no, thinking I could walk it. I was under the impression from the bus driver it was really close. After about 5 minutes with my bag and no sense of direction, I realized this was fruitless. Walked back to him and said take me. He laughed and let me into his mini-bus. First we went to a gas station and turned $20 USD into 900 SYP. Not the greatest exchange rate, but that's alright. Once he started driving, I understood why it was $15USD - now 700SYP - because it was far - though I still got took. Once in Aleppo, I asked him to take me to a hotel, any hotel. He dropped outside of a market. Pointed to the southeast and said the hotels were over there. So I started walking looking for an ATM. I FOUND ONE. I stick in my card put my pin in and ask for money. It says "This transaction cannot be completed." OMG!!! So I go to the next. Same thing. And the next. So now I'm thinking - I need to get out of Syria ASAP. I don't have enough money to stay here. But first I need to find a hotel. So I continue to wonder around and find one for 800 SYP a night. That's fine, but I only have USD. The guy at the front desk says that's fine, go to the banks tomorrow and change your money. It's Friday, a holy day (I think this is the reason he gave, but not sure), and they are all closed. So I feel a little better. Thinking a bank may be able to get my money even if an ATM can't. Or I can at least change it. I'm also thinking maybe the ATMs at the airport will work. So things are looking up from the "not having a hotel to sleep in situation" of earlier. I figure I should sight see. There was a giant mosque that I had seen on the way in that I was curious about. While walking there, I see someone who looks foreign, so I asked him if he was able to use the ATMs. He said yes, the one in the Sheraton. I asked him where the Sheraton was, and it was the building right next to use. In my defense, it looked like a government building with the guards it had. I walk in, and it is the nicest Sheraton I've ever seen. Similar to a Vegas hotel with the very expensive shops. I find the ATM. It works fine. I get money, and decide to spend a couple more days in Syria.
I will have new pictures and stuff about my last couple days in Istanbul later. I'm in an internet cafe now and trying to conserve time.
I will have new pictures and stuff about my last couple days in Istanbul later. I'm in an internet cafe now and trying to conserve time.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
So I promised to get you something...
I told a lot of people that I'd get them something from somewhere on my trip. If you're one of those people, or you'd like something, and you think I might get it, please comment to this post. I remember some of what I'd said I'd get for people, but you should comment to make sure you get what you wanted.
All that said - I have very little space. So if you want something big - that's not from Ireland (my last stop), it's not happening.
All that said - I have very little space. So if you want something big - that's not from Ireland (my last stop), it's not happening.
Day One - Istanbul - The journey begins
The morning started at Frankfurt airport with a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream cone. This was a good start to a day that would be great. Once on the plane, I started talking to a Turkish lady who was sitting next to me - who at first thought I was Turkish, which I thought was kinda cool. She told me in broken english the best places to go in Turkey and about how great Istanbul was. She was so nice, which I've found is a very Turkish charactrisic. I really don't like to generalize so I won't say all Turkish people are nice - because I don't know, and I'm sure there are bad apples out there, but everyone I've interacted with in these first couple days has been really nice.
So I step of the airplane and get my Turkey Visa. This was the easiest thing ever - I walked up to a booth that had no one in line gave the guy $20USD and he stuck th
e sticker in my passport. No form or anything like that - it was great. The immigration line was long, but also a painless process. So I grab my bag, walk out, and see a Citibank ATM. Queue angels signing.
When I went to Italy after college, I landed with like $5USD in my wallet. This was stupid, but I figured it'll all work, and it did. This time I had a fair about of dollars, but no Lira. This made life easy and cheaper than using one of those changer people.
Taking the metro out of the airport to the city was easy and upoun getting out of the train, I am greated by a Turkish man giving me directions to my hostel. He was j
ust out there and looked to be helping people find there hostel. I ran into a couple Americans on the walk because all of the hostels are next to each other. I'm saying at the Bahaus House.
Going to my room, I realized I had forgotten a pad lock, which I was able to buy at the front desk. This helped affirm my belief that if I had forgotten anything, I'd be able to buy it.
I dropped my bag off then was off to sight seeing. I went to the Blue Mosque, which is one of the most see tourist attractions. It was very impressive from the outside and cool inside as well. It's an active mosque so people were going in and out praying, which was cool to see.
Next I walked over to the Grand Bizhaar and saw a girl that was staying at the hostel. She's been traveling for about 5 months and told me some cool stories about the Trans-Siberian rail-road, making me a little disappointed about not being able to take it. We had a doner for dinner that came in at $2TL which is about a $1.30USD. It was alright. We had sought out the cheapest doner we could find, and the taste corresponded. After dinner, we went on a quest for beer. We saw a couple places that were a bit pricey ($6.50USD a beer) so explored further only to get really lost. Eventually we made it back to the hostel.
I went back to my room and discovered the hostel sold beer!!! And it was only $5TL. This is why I love hostels. So I sat next to two German girls and a guy from the Netherlands that were all very cool. We discussed many things, and of course, Obama came up, I had seen the ad on the right while on the train and wondered what it was for. They all supported Obama as he appears to have a lot of love abroad. Among the other topics was the difference between East and West German. Both of the girls that I was talking to were from East Germany and were 14 in 1989 when the wall came down. They explained how they felt different from the West and how some of those differences still persist today. These discussions is what I was looking for from this trip. A couple beers later I was fast asleep.
Conclusions of the day:
So I step of the airplane and get my Turkey Visa. This was the easiest thing ever - I walked up to a booth that had no one in line gave the guy $20USD and he stuck th
e sticker in my passport. No form or anything like that - it was great. The immigration line was long, but also a painless process. So I grab my bag, walk out, and see a Citibank ATM. Queue angels signing.When I went to Italy after college, I landed with like $5USD in my wallet. This was stupid, but I figured it'll all work, and it did. This time I had a fair about of dollars, but no Lira. This made life easy and cheaper than using one of those changer people.
Taking the metro out of the airport to the city was easy and upoun getting out of the train, I am greated by a Turkish man giving me directions to my hostel. He was j
ust out there and looked to be helping people find there hostel. I ran into a couple Americans on the walk because all of the hostels are next to each other. I'm saying at the Bahaus House.Going to my room, I realized I had forgotten a pad lock, which I was able to buy at the front desk. This helped affirm my belief that if I had forgotten anything, I'd be able to buy it.
I dropped my bag off then was off to sight seeing. I went to the Blue Mosque, which is one of the most see tourist attractions. It was very impressive from the outside and cool inside as well. It's an active mosque so people were going in and out praying, which was cool to see.
Next I walked over to the Grand Bizhaar and saw a girl that was staying at the hostel. She's been traveling for about 5 months and told me some cool stories about the Trans-Siberian rail-road, making me a little disappointed about not being able to take it. We had a doner for dinner that came in at $2TL which is about a $1.30USD. It was alright. We had sought out the cheapest doner we could find, and the taste corresponded. After dinner, we went on a quest for beer. We saw a couple places that were a bit pricey ($6.50USD a beer) so explored further only to get really lost. Eventually we made it back to the hostel.
I went back to my room and discovered the hostel sold beer!!! And it was only $5TL. This is why I love hostels. So I sat next to two German girls and a guy from the Netherlands that were all very cool. We discussed many things, and of course, Obama came up, I had seen the ad on the right while on the train and wondered what it was for. They all supported Obama as he appears to have a lot of love abroad. Among the other topics was the difference between East and West German. Both of the girls that I was talking to were from East Germany and were 14 in 1989 when the wall came down. They explained how they felt different from the West and how some of those differences still persist today. These discussions is what I was looking for from this trip. A couple beers later I was fast asleep.
Conclusions of the day:
- (While on the plane) OMG - I'm so not ready for this. What have I gotten myself into?
- (When I see the Citibank ATM) This won't be so bad.
- (When I find the hostel) I can so do this.
- (When I have dinner with the Aussie that's been traveling for 5 months) This is going to be amazing.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Packing List
Things I think I'm bringing
75L Backpack
This bag is a little smaller than what I would have preferred, but it was cheap and will force me to pack lightly. So it's not terrible.
Thomas Cook's timetable book
The fact that this book exists still amazes me. It has all the train schedules for non-European countries.
Umbrella/Poncho
I think I'm going to SE Asia in the rainy season. These will be needed.
Med kit
This is obviously important. If I get a cut, or get sick, or other random issue – this will be important.
Pepto
This may be the single most important thing that I take with me. I've been on trips where I had the runs, and it is killer. Pepto has been my savior.
Toilet paper
In the same breathe as the Pepto. This can be a savior, too.
Plastic mug
Read on a blog this would be good to have. A little skeptical, but hey.
Zip lock bags
Mainly to hold wet stuff and keep things divided.
Packing squares
I'm very unorganized normally, so I saw these as a tool to try and correct that.
Running shoes
I have this crazy vision of getting in shape while abroad. Plus running through a couple miles of a city or along the countryside will be an awesome way to get to know an area....hopefully it'll happen...
Casual shoes
No special reason
Sandals
Mainly to avoid the need for a lot of socks
The Gadgets
My netbook (Eee PC 1000HA)
My netbook is one of the greatest purchases I've ever made. Through Skype and gChat, I'll be able to see my family and friends who I've already started missing before I've even left.
My Kindle
This is another great device. I just recently re-discovered the joys of reading. The Kindle will let me do that easily while abroad without having to worry about the weight of books.
Ipod touch
I love music. Like love music. So this one just makes sense. I had a really hard time deciding between the Touch and the Classic, but the games on the Touch let it win out. Plus I have a ton of music on my netbook so I can keep the music on my Touch varied.
Clothes
This isn't completely decided, but I'm thinking 4 t-shirts, 2 long sleeves, 2 jeans, 2 shorts (one khaki, one knit) and a light jacket.
Hair clippers
I hate having long hair, and I'm not sure how available hair cuts are going to be abroad. So I just want to be safe with this one.
Introduction
I have been working in consulting for the past two and a half years, but will stop working on March 22. I plan to attend the Graduate Business School at Stanford next fall to earn my MBA. The time in between I intend to spend traveling around through the Middle East, South East Asia, China, and Europe.
Why now:
The main reason I wan to take this trip is because I love traveling. I did a similar style trip through Italy in 2006 after graduating from the University of Maryland. It was one of the best experiences in my life, and I look forward to having many similar experiences on this trip. Secondly, I think this is one of the few opportunities I will have in my life to travel for this length of time. Once I'm out of business school, it will be unlikely that whatever job I have will let me leave for 5 months to travel. Even if I was between jobs, I assume/hope that eventually I'll find a woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with, and getting our schedules to match or potentially traveling with children will be impossible. So that leaves the present.
Why These Countries:
I wanted to travel to countries that I've never been to before. I have already been lucky enough to spend time in Ghana, study abroad for a semester in Japan, spend three weeks in Italy after graduating, and two weeks in France a few months ago. I've also visited Singapore, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. Except for potentially Singapore, I wanted to experience new places and cultures.
I first got the idea to travel to Egypt when I took an Arabic class. From there, I began thinking about traveling all around the Middle East. I soon got more ambitious and wanted to plan a longer trip where I'd travel to other countries I have always wanted to visit. My options at first were Africa, Pakistan and India, or Southeast Asia. There are too many disease concerns and war-torn areas in Africa to make it a very viable option, and I learned quickly that to travel through the Pakistan/India region, including Iran, there were going to be multiple visa issues (especially after visiting Israel). Southeast Asia made the most sense. I found out that to visit Myanmar, I would have to fly in and fly out of the country. Cost is obviously a factor for this trip, and I want to choose cheaper transportation when available. To avoid two extra flights, I decided to enter Southeast Asia through Bangkok.
I've been interested in seeing China for a long time. First, China is the most populous country in the world, and its economy is still growing. China is similar to the United States in that different regions have their own unique identities and cultures. It would be really interesting to see how each region is different from the next. I wanted to but was unable to go visit Hong Kong while I was in Japan, so I definitely plan on checking it out. After a month in China, I'll fly out of Hong Kong to London.
One of the few good things with the economy right now is that travel has gotten much cheaper. I will be able to see more of Europe than I already have. I really enjoy museums and other cultural things, so I can definitely see and do a lot of that while I'm there. I will then fly to Morocco, where I have a friend I will stay with while I travel to the major cities there. After five months, I think I will be ready to travel home and get ready to start my Stanford MBA program.
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