Helloooooo! We have just 1 week left of our backpacking adventure.... and we have been totally crap at updating!!! Thankfully, there's not too much for me to type. :)
We spent lots of time in Dahab after Jordan, diving twice a day, eating yummy Egyptian food at local shops, reading, smoking (and buying our own!) sheesha... We were meant to head off to Luxor to check out the sights, but then.... Oli got the Temple trots, Cairo craps, whatever you may call them. Anywho, 18 hours on a bus (egyptian bus, no less) was not the best plan, so we decided to push our trip back a day... and the following day he was no better and I was worse for wear as well. Doesn't it figure, at the end of our trip!? Well, what better place to be ill than next to the Red sea, surrounded by the nicest locals yet. We made lots of friends at our hotel/restaurant/dive shop, and basically spent the rest of our time hanging out with them within running distance to the bathroom! Not what we planned, but not too shabby! We loved Egypt anyway, so we will be back, and next time we will head to Luxor first before we fall into the Dahab black hole. On the 1st we headed to Cairo for the night, hung out with an Egyptian friend of ours for the evening, and headed out the following day on a flight to Athens.
Dahab piccies:
Upon arrival in Greece, we headed into town to pick up a bag we had left in storage at the hostel, grabbed a few drinks, then "slept" in the airport. Of all the airports we have slept in (5, 6?) Athens was by far the worst. The shops never close, so music is blaring all night, and thoughtfully they have chairs with awkward armrests, so you can't even recline. I slept on a table, and Oli hunched over himself. We were please when 3:30 came and it was time to check in. Zoom forward, we landed in Chania, Crete! After a bit of waiting, our rental car arrived, we plodded on down to a grocery store to stock up on the essentials (taramasalata, wine, pita, and tzatziki) then to Almirida to meet Jo and get the keys for our new temporary home! We are staying at the holiday home of some friends of Susie and James', and we are so so pleased! Gorgeous views of snow capped mountains to one side, the blue blue sea to the other, a full kitchen, and a COUCH. We had some lunch, smoked our sheesha, then took a nice 5 hour nap. Luxury! Then next day we headed in for a wander around Chania, oblivious to the fact that Crete practices the ancient art of the SIESTA. Shops were closed for 4-5 hours, so we had a bit of a walking tour, grabbed more groceries, and headed home. And it was a home that we hibernated until today. Sleeping, reading, reading, sleeping, eating, relaxing. We needed a bit of down time after this past year, and as we will still be hopping around from parents home to parents home then moving to parents home, we relished the quiet and solitude. We emerged from our cocoon today to find everything closes on Sunday. Drats. Ah well, this next week will be busy- we gotta make our last week count! Next Monday, we fly back to London, then I head off to Melbourne until the day before Thanksgiving. We must enjoy this lovely weather while we can. LOVE and MISS you all!!! We're comin' home soon.
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
ruins and dips and friends and camels
The next day we troddled on over to the brand new Acropolis museum- mere steps from our abode in Plaka (did we mention we can see the Acropolis from basically anywhere?!)paid our 1 euro entrance, and battled the tour groups gone mad for a small bit of space. The museum was phenomenal and incredibly well done. Oli was particularly tickled by the short film, however there were no copies to be found in the gift shop. We enjoyed every second of it!!! Next up we visited the Archeological Museum- fantastic!! Then back to our hotel for another night of lounging on the balcony, avoiding the rain.
On Friday we hopped on a bus and headed out to Nafplio- a gorgeous seaside town with a lotta history. It was the first capital of the Hellenic Republic, has a massive fortress or 3, and is a very nice place to sit in a cafe over a coffee. My old friend Angelo, whom I knew back in the old days at CSUC, lives there, and we were able to meet up for a few hours. He gave us a fab tour of the town and along the water and we were immediately jealous of his living in this paradise. We climbed around the fortress a bit in the afternoon, then hopped on the bus then the metro then to the hostel then the metro to the airport to wait until our 11pm flight to Egypt!!!!!!
The flight was uneventful but when we arrived in Cairo things spiced up a bit. It was vaguely reminiscent of our landing in Chennai all those months ago. Hot chaos, people hassling, grabbing, begging for your attention so they can get your money. We hired a car from the Limo company so we wouldn't have to haggle over the price upon arrival at our hotel, and set off. The purported 20 minute ride was nothing of the sort due to our poor timing right after an accident with a flipped vehicle whose passengers they had to break out through the windshield and which caused gridlock for 90 minutes as we were on an overpass. Then off we went, zooming through the streets of Cairo only to realize that our cab driver had no clue where he was, no clue where the hotel was, and no clue how to get from point a to point b. Fabulous, especially at 2 am (3 am on our body clocks due to the time change). What was even better was that he couldn't read our map or let us direct him as he spoke no English. He had to resort to screaming out the car window at bums sleeping on cardboard boxes, reverse through many streets, and then barely believed us when we shouted that we were pulled up by the hotel. And then emerged another gem of Egypt-Baksheesh. Now, we have encountered this before, a bit of bribery here and there to make things run smoothly, but here it takes on a new level. As the average wage is 8 Egyptian pounds- less then $1.50USD, people rely on baksheesh to make ends meet. So every time someone opens the door for you, points out something (obvious as it may be) has any sort of social interaction with you, you are expected and socially required to give them baksheesh. Now this may range from a few pounds upwards to 10 or more, and they always want more. We fled from our stupid cab driver after he refused to take our measly few pounds tip, but what did he expect? The past 3 hours with him were not exactly pleasant nor did we think we would come out alive, and we had already paid him for the cab. However we did have to shell out to the bum who ran to our building and opened the elevator door for us. And so it continued.
We checked in and passed out.
The next morning we headed off to see the famed Egyptian Museum. Housing a massive unparalleled collection, we expected the museum to impress us as well. Unfortunately, no care is taken with the artifacts- they are all dirty and jumbled together. Many things are out in the open and as we have learned, with every "don't touch" sign there are 99% of people who will immediately touch once having read said sign. We were incredibly pissed watching the guards sit around and nap while all these priceless artifacts were desecrated. There were a few rooms that had obviously been recently renovated but for the most part everything was a shambles- disappointing after $30USD entrance per person. We did see the mummies, who looked a bit raisiny and had surprisingly intact eyelashes, and viewed Tutankhamen's royal burial goodies which was sweet. We may sound a bit jaded, but after seeing as many museums as we have lately we are becoming sticklers for quality.
The afternoon was mellow, dodging touts and overly friendly men, eating fabulous falafel and dips, and going to bed early to try and kick this cold that is just not ready to quit.
This morning we were up super duper early and hopped in our hired car to head out for a day of pyramid-hopping. We couldn't imagine a day of haggling with random cabs so we decided with a private driver from our hotel- a rarely afforded luxury. First we stopped at the bus station to buy our tix to Nuieba for TONIGHT, then (drumroll please) the Great Pyramids of Giza. Plunked in the middle of urban Giza, or rather having watched with Giza encircled them, the pyramids are as impressive as you could imagine. Massive and sandy. We tried to dodge most of the touts but Oli did get attacked by a man with Arab head wraps who wouldn't take no or running away for an answer (the photo says it all). After the obligatory baksheesh, we climbed on inside the biggest pyramid. The climb inside was surprisingly short and we only passed one woman hyperventilating from the claustrophobia. The final room was smelly and dark. I guess you just do it for the novelty- its pretty cool to be under all that stone. Not much of a view inside, however. We did our lap of the 3 pyramids, posed with the Sphinx, then hopped in the car for the rest of our adventures.
We visited the Steps pyramid at the Saqqara (oldest stone monument in the world), then off to Memphis with a cool old statue of Ramses II, then to Dashur to see the red pyramid (oldest pyramid in the world) where we climbed inside, it smelled like pee, but was a bit more impressing than Giza as the ceilings were vaulted. Back to the hotel for some reading and now here we are! Time for some dinner and sheesha, then off to sleep on a bus! Less than a month left....
On Friday we hopped on a bus and headed out to Nafplio- a gorgeous seaside town with a lotta history. It was the first capital of the Hellenic Republic, has a massive fortress or 3, and is a very nice place to sit in a cafe over a coffee. My old friend Angelo, whom I knew back in the old days at CSUC, lives there, and we were able to meet up for a few hours. He gave us a fab tour of the town and along the water and we were immediately jealous of his living in this paradise. We climbed around the fortress a bit in the afternoon, then hopped on the bus then the metro then to the hostel then the metro to the airport to wait until our 11pm flight to Egypt!!!!!!
The flight was uneventful but when we arrived in Cairo things spiced up a bit. It was vaguely reminiscent of our landing in Chennai all those months ago. Hot chaos, people hassling, grabbing, begging for your attention so they can get your money. We hired a car from the Limo company so we wouldn't have to haggle over the price upon arrival at our hotel, and set off. The purported 20 minute ride was nothing of the sort due to our poor timing right after an accident with a flipped vehicle whose passengers they had to break out through the windshield and which caused gridlock for 90 minutes as we were on an overpass. Then off we went, zooming through the streets of Cairo only to realize that our cab driver had no clue where he was, no clue where the hotel was, and no clue how to get from point a to point b. Fabulous, especially at 2 am (3 am on our body clocks due to the time change). What was even better was that he couldn't read our map or let us direct him as he spoke no English. He had to resort to screaming out the car window at bums sleeping on cardboard boxes, reverse through many streets, and then barely believed us when we shouted that we were pulled up by the hotel. And then emerged another gem of Egypt-Baksheesh. Now, we have encountered this before, a bit of bribery here and there to make things run smoothly, but here it takes on a new level. As the average wage is 8 Egyptian pounds- less then $1.50USD, people rely on baksheesh to make ends meet. So every time someone opens the door for you, points out something (obvious as it may be) has any sort of social interaction with you, you are expected and socially required to give them baksheesh. Now this may range from a few pounds upwards to 10 or more, and they always want more. We fled from our stupid cab driver after he refused to take our measly few pounds tip, but what did he expect? The past 3 hours with him were not exactly pleasant nor did we think we would come out alive, and we had already paid him for the cab. However we did have to shell out to the bum who ran to our building and opened the elevator door for us. And so it continued.
We checked in and passed out.
The next morning we headed off to see the famed Egyptian Museum. Housing a massive unparalleled collection, we expected the museum to impress us as well. Unfortunately, no care is taken with the artifacts- they are all dirty and jumbled together. Many things are out in the open and as we have learned, with every "don't touch" sign there are 99% of people who will immediately touch once having read said sign. We were incredibly pissed watching the guards sit around and nap while all these priceless artifacts were desecrated. There were a few rooms that had obviously been recently renovated but for the most part everything was a shambles- disappointing after $30USD entrance per person. We did see the mummies, who looked a bit raisiny and had surprisingly intact eyelashes, and viewed Tutankhamen's royal burial goodies which was sweet. We may sound a bit jaded, but after seeing as many museums as we have lately we are becoming sticklers for quality.
The afternoon was mellow, dodging touts and overly friendly men, eating fabulous falafel and dips, and going to bed early to try and kick this cold that is just not ready to quit.
This morning we were up super duper early and hopped in our hired car to head out for a day of pyramid-hopping. We couldn't imagine a day of haggling with random cabs so we decided with a private driver from our hotel- a rarely afforded luxury. First we stopped at the bus station to buy our tix to Nuieba for TONIGHT, then (drumroll please) the Great Pyramids of Giza. Plunked in the middle of urban Giza, or rather having watched with Giza encircled them, the pyramids are as impressive as you could imagine. Massive and sandy. We tried to dodge most of the touts but Oli did get attacked by a man with Arab head wraps who wouldn't take no or running away for an answer (the photo says it all). After the obligatory baksheesh, we climbed on inside the biggest pyramid. The climb inside was surprisingly short and we only passed one woman hyperventilating from the claustrophobia. The final room was smelly and dark. I guess you just do it for the novelty- its pretty cool to be under all that stone. Not much of a view inside, however. We did our lap of the 3 pyramids, posed with the Sphinx, then hopped in the car for the rest of our adventures.
We visited the Steps pyramid at the Saqqara (oldest stone monument in the world), then off to Memphis with a cool old statue of Ramses II, then to Dashur to see the red pyramid (oldest pyramid in the world) where we climbed inside, it smelled like pee, but was a bit more impressing than Giza as the ceilings were vaulted. Back to the hotel for some reading and now here we are! Time for some dinner and sheesha, then off to sleep on a bus! Less than a month left....
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hellenical Adventures
Another blog so soon...... unheard of! We have close to 200 pics from yesterday so we thought we'd share them with you!! We were blessed with a beautiful day and some of the photos came out wonderfully (if I do say so myself!), so please, have a gander....
Firstly, here are the remaining photos from our short time in St. Petersburg:
And just a days worth of Athens:
Off to 2 of the worlds great museums today, so they say. Strange to think that tomorrow evening we will be in Egypt!
Firstly, here are the remaining photos from our short time in St. Petersburg:
And just a days worth of Athens:
Off to 2 of the worlds great museums today, so they say. Strange to think that tomorrow evening we will be in Egypt!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Greece Bound
We have arrived in Greece!! Goodbye cold weather and somber faces, hello sunshine and pita bread! Before I get ahead of myself, lets recap the past 2 weeks, shall we?
We left Irkutsk for Tomsk in a lovely cabin on the train. We ate loads of noodles and bread, drank lots of tea, and napped. Upon arrival in Tomsk we were met by Nikita, our CS host. He drove us to his place, a very nice apartment which he shares with his wife, overlooking the city. Fabulous! We feasted on stuffed peppers (thanks Marina!), showered, laundried, and generally sorted ourselves out before heading into town with our lovely hosts for a grand tour. Tomsk is primarily a student town with gorgeous architecture overlooking the Tom river. We even went to the hill where Tomsk was founded! Lots of the buildings are adorned with wooden "lace", a characteristic of original Siberian architecture with Tomsk being having the most intact pieces. What a lovely time we had, strolling around and chatting. We went back to the apartment that evening for a dinner of solyanka, a delicious soup, and some mulled wine. We rounded out the night watching "Brother 2" a great Russian film.
The next day we continued our tour after a ridiculously great omlette brunch, and visited the campuses and parks in the southern part of town. In the afternoon we attended the annual meeting for the local branch of the Hospitality Club, an organization quite like CS. We even had to give a little speech and slideshow of our trip! The meeting was held in an awesome tiny theatre with the most fantasitc wooden puppets that move and talk to you electronically. Seriously awesome. We cooked our hosts dinner of Chili con Carne and wine, and enjoyed our last night in Siberia.
Two-point-five days on the train in 3rd class- woulda been grand had we not been plagued by this chick who decided to sit with us and talk to our neighbors all day and all night, regardless of the fact that her seat was down the cabin. Oli couldn't lay down when he wanted to and she was constantly crowding us!! ARGHHHHH.
Welcome to Moscow. Somehow, we found our way to the hostel without a hitch and found that Home from Home is not what it claims. We were met by a very confused staff, no record of our booking (a constant problem with this place, as it turns out) and then we were placed in the "dorm" in the common room- 4 saggy beds under the TV where the resident babushka sits all day watching the soaps. She also sleeps there and has a massive snoring problem, as we found out later. We headed out to grab a bite to eat (yummy blinys) and a night view of the Kremlin and St. Basil's cathedral. So picturesque!!! We rounded out the evening at a Cuban bar of all places, drinking extortionately prices drinks (thanks for the beer $ pops!!!!!) and avoiding our hellhole of a hostel.
The next day we went back to the Red Square to visit Lenin's Mauselium- creepy and sad, the past 85 years look like they were torture for the poor man. Lunch at a fab place in the famous GUM mall (Russians LOVE their buffet and cafeteria style restaurants!) and then the museum, afterwhich we were plagued with what to do until our 1am train to St. Petes. Oli decided on (what else) Tinkoff brewery! We lazed away the night having a few microbrews until our train. As we boarded our train, we realized that we had left our passports in the hostel's safe. Oh shit. Well, nothin to do but try to board the train with our photocopies and avoid the po-po at any cost! We boarded without a problem and slept the 9hrs to St. Petersburg.
Now this is a city we can dig! Immediately we loved the place, and were fortunate enough to be staying at the lovely Soul Kitchen hostel- nice! We checked in, grabbed lunch, and headed directly to the Hermitage. What a museum!!! We were there until closing, and saw every single room on both the first and second floors. It is one of the most fabulous museums we have ever been to and thats saying a lot after London, NYC, and the past year of globe trotting! Dinner at a local place where we munched on Ural dumplings and borscht.
Day two of St. Petes consisted of the Dostoyevsky museum (swoon), napping, and food at Yolki Polki- salad buffet for less than $10, a real feat in Russia, and where we found out later Obama had taken his kids to! Early night for us.
Final day in St. Petes was Hermitage time- had to finish up the 3rd floor! Hid out in a coffeeshop and then the ballet at the Mikaelovsky theatre- Giselle was on, and it was surperb. Russian ballet, can't beat it!! A bit fancy pants when you get down to it, and the men sure were proud of those tights they were wearing, but a great evening overall. Evening train to Moscow!
Final day in Russia, and it poured down with rain. We went to the armoury, where we saw a few Faberge eggs (I really don't get what the fuss is about), some awesome carriages, and a bunch of guilded things. Spent the afternoon in a coffee shop journaling and deciding on which Russian dolls to buy, then off to the airport for our 10:40pm flight to Riga, Latvia!
Slept in the Riga airport- I swear we were the only souls there. Not even anyplace to buy water, we had to suffice with sucking out of the bathroom taps. Slept surprisingly well for a few hours, had a cold pizza breakfast, and then caught our flight to ATHENS!!!
And here we are. We arrived yesterday and immediately had a beer at the rooftop bar overlooking the Acropolis, then found a market to buy dips and cheeses and pitas and wine, and spent the evening on our balcony enjoying the Grecian weather.
Today has been busy! We headed to the Acropolis first, where it was tour group hell, but still breathtaking. Of course, like every other fabulous thing in the world it was under refurbishment, but still- amazing. After that we popped in at a few other ruins around the city, ate a yummo Greek pita wrap, and decided to visit Nafplio on Friday. And that brings you up to date! Just a month left on our RTW adventure (then I'm off to Australia sans Oli for 10 days or so) and then Blighty for the holidays! Love and kisses.
We left Irkutsk for Tomsk in a lovely cabin on the train. We ate loads of noodles and bread, drank lots of tea, and napped. Upon arrival in Tomsk we were met by Nikita, our CS host. He drove us to his place, a very nice apartment which he shares with his wife, overlooking the city. Fabulous! We feasted on stuffed peppers (thanks Marina!), showered, laundried, and generally sorted ourselves out before heading into town with our lovely hosts for a grand tour. Tomsk is primarily a student town with gorgeous architecture overlooking the Tom river. We even went to the hill where Tomsk was founded! Lots of the buildings are adorned with wooden "lace", a characteristic of original Siberian architecture with Tomsk being having the most intact pieces. What a lovely time we had, strolling around and chatting. We went back to the apartment that evening for a dinner of solyanka, a delicious soup, and some mulled wine. We rounded out the night watching "Brother 2" a great Russian film.
The next day we continued our tour after a ridiculously great omlette brunch, and visited the campuses and parks in the southern part of town. In the afternoon we attended the annual meeting for the local branch of the Hospitality Club, an organization quite like CS. We even had to give a little speech and slideshow of our trip! The meeting was held in an awesome tiny theatre with the most fantasitc wooden puppets that move and talk to you electronically. Seriously awesome. We cooked our hosts dinner of Chili con Carne and wine, and enjoyed our last night in Siberia.
Two-point-five days on the train in 3rd class- woulda been grand had we not been plagued by this chick who decided to sit with us and talk to our neighbors all day and all night, regardless of the fact that her seat was down the cabin. Oli couldn't lay down when he wanted to and she was constantly crowding us!! ARGHHHHH.
Welcome to Moscow. Somehow, we found our way to the hostel without a hitch and found that Home from Home is not what it claims. We were met by a very confused staff, no record of our booking (a constant problem with this place, as it turns out) and then we were placed in the "dorm" in the common room- 4 saggy beds under the TV where the resident babushka sits all day watching the soaps. She also sleeps there and has a massive snoring problem, as we found out later. We headed out to grab a bite to eat (yummy blinys) and a night view of the Kremlin and St. Basil's cathedral. So picturesque!!! We rounded out the evening at a Cuban bar of all places, drinking extortionately prices drinks (thanks for the beer $ pops!!!!!) and avoiding our hellhole of a hostel.
The next day we went back to the Red Square to visit Lenin's Mauselium- creepy and sad, the past 85 years look like they were torture for the poor man. Lunch at a fab place in the famous GUM mall (Russians LOVE their buffet and cafeteria style restaurants!) and then the museum, afterwhich we were plagued with what to do until our 1am train to St. Petes. Oli decided on (what else) Tinkoff brewery! We lazed away the night having a few microbrews until our train. As we boarded our train, we realized that we had left our passports in the hostel's safe. Oh shit. Well, nothin to do but try to board the train with our photocopies and avoid the po-po at any cost! We boarded without a problem and slept the 9hrs to St. Petersburg.
Now this is a city we can dig! Immediately we loved the place, and were fortunate enough to be staying at the lovely Soul Kitchen hostel- nice! We checked in, grabbed lunch, and headed directly to the Hermitage. What a museum!!! We were there until closing, and saw every single room on both the first and second floors. It is one of the most fabulous museums we have ever been to and thats saying a lot after London, NYC, and the past year of globe trotting! Dinner at a local place where we munched on Ural dumplings and borscht.
Day two of St. Petes consisted of the Dostoyevsky museum (swoon), napping, and food at Yolki Polki- salad buffet for less than $10, a real feat in Russia, and where we found out later Obama had taken his kids to! Early night for us.
Final day in St. Petes was Hermitage time- had to finish up the 3rd floor! Hid out in a coffeeshop and then the ballet at the Mikaelovsky theatre- Giselle was on, and it was surperb. Russian ballet, can't beat it!! A bit fancy pants when you get down to it, and the men sure were proud of those tights they were wearing, but a great evening overall. Evening train to Moscow!
Final day in Russia, and it poured down with rain. We went to the armoury, where we saw a few Faberge eggs (I really don't get what the fuss is about), some awesome carriages, and a bunch of guilded things. Spent the afternoon in a coffee shop journaling and deciding on which Russian dolls to buy, then off to the airport for our 10:40pm flight to Riga, Latvia!
Slept in the Riga airport- I swear we were the only souls there. Not even anyplace to buy water, we had to suffice with sucking out of the bathroom taps. Slept surprisingly well for a few hours, had a cold pizza breakfast, and then caught our flight to ATHENS!!!
And here we are. We arrived yesterday and immediately had a beer at the rooftop bar overlooking the Acropolis, then found a market to buy dips and cheeses and pitas and wine, and spent the evening on our balcony enjoying the Grecian weather.
Today has been busy! We headed to the Acropolis first, where it was tour group hell, but still breathtaking. Of course, like every other fabulous thing in the world it was under refurbishment, but still- amazing. After that we popped in at a few other ruins around the city, ate a yummo Greek pita wrap, and decided to visit Nafplio on Friday. And that brings you up to date! Just a month left on our RTW adventure (then I'm off to Australia sans Oli for 10 days or so) and then Blighty for the holidays! Love and kisses.
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