Holy molé

We have arrived! We spent yesterday in the city (San Fran, obvs :) with my dad, munching on some house of nanking and getting nostalgic about our old days on Green St. We were dropped at SFO and joined the hour plus line to check in; security check was no joke either. After a hellish sleep deprived coupla flights, we hopped on a combo bus that gave us a tour of rural Oaxaca before plopping us at our gorgeous hotel an hour later. The time? Eight-thirty am. Check in wasn't until one, so we put out bags down, enjoyed some delish cinnamon coffee, and stared at each other with the realization that we are completely outta practice. Nights like last were the norm a year ago, now we look like we have been hit by a chicken bus after one measly night of discomfort. We better shape up! We grabbed our camera and cash, and set out to explore.

First stop, the Cathedral de Santa Domingo. Dubbed the most impressive in all of Oaxaca, the carved ceiling and incredible reliefs did not disappoint. Southbound, to the zocalo! Oaxaca is a darling city- reminiscent of Antigua with its old colonial architecture and color schemes. We hobbled downtown, admired the local entrepreneurs and the crap they were selling (from a distance!) and settled in at a cafe on the SE corner of the square for what will be known as the best huevos rancheros of my life. Oli's huevos de oaxaquina were delightful, ohhhhh all that queso fresco! This is going to be a challenge not eating every second of our time here. Maybe we should bite the bullet and reserve another seat on the flight home for our inevitable taco-induced love handles. I digress...
One thing we were not expecting was the vast number of bugs here. No, not las cucarachas- more along the lines of the German type. There are vw bugs on every corner, on every street. They've got to be the most popular car in Oaxaca. Even on the drive in from el aeropuerto we passed two vw dealerships. Oh Mexico, you are always full of surprises.

We headed back to our little Eden, las mariposas, and our room was ready! And hot damn, they gave us the nicest room in the place. Right at the back, overlooking the courtyard, big window, vaulted ceilings, king size bed, and a shower that I was happy to use whilst barefooted. What could be better? Ah yes.... Nap time.

Fast forward to dinnertime, which coincidentally is when we woke up. We ventured into town, past the grand Santo Domingo, and arrived at a hip little place that was packed to the gills. Dos mezcales de la casa por favor, y dos coronas. And the best molé we have ever tasted. Oaxaca has certainly held up it's end of the bargain! We are gonna stay put until Monday, when we venture out to the coast. But for now, we have lots of chocolate to sample, some ruins to see, and of course, to celebrate the passing of my first quarter century on this earth. I have a feeling that not all 26th birthdays could possibly be this much fun. We truly are blessed!

Back on the loose!

Oli and I are hitting the road again, for a nice little adventure along Pacific Mexico. We will be down there for a month- diving, eating delicious food, taking far too many pictures, and getting reacquainted with our good old friend, tequila :)

For those out of touch with our comings and goings of the past 8 months, here's a quick recap:

We finished up our relaxing, overindulgent times in Crete, and flew back to the UK. I split down to Melbourne, Aus. to attend the Australasian World Music Festival as a delegate for a week, coincidentally meeting up with our old pal Ryan for a few nights of mayhem. Oli relaxed at home with his family, and it was a happy reunion when I returned to Heathrow. We had a whirlwind few weeks ahead of us, helping out a bit with our good friends Nick and Lucy's wedding. It was amazing, to say the least. The bride was timeless, the groom a surprisingly adept public speaker, and Oli was one of the best men. Fun times! We then had my family come and stay with us at the Buchanans. We even had time to slip down to Brighton to give them a little tour! After a beautiful Christmas, Oli and I headed back to the states to visit with the other half of my family. We had a killer NYE party, and enjoyed a decompressing January, hitting the road in the 3rd week to venture back out west. We did another mini road trip, stopping in Birmingham for the best hospitality around with the Woods, and also getting to stop in on my old friend Kel in Austin. What would a road trip be without the requisite stop in Sin City with our old pals, before hitting that last 11 hour stretch to our new home- the Ranch.

Since February, Oli and I have been working on our family festival, Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, which went off without a hitch the June 18-20. We learned tons, it was nice to be around my Dad and Gret daily, and Oli is a handyman at heart, which brightened up the house dramatically. My dad was sick for a while, then our faithful old cat Wissa became ill as well, to the point where we had nightly drips from an IV. Oli became quite the nurse! Then there was the unexpected and tragic passing of my dear uncle Scott, which shook everyone up irreversibly. We were forced to power through and come together immediately, and as Scott was a key member of our staff, it was difficult moving forward with the festival. We pulled it off though, and couldn't have done so without the extreme loyalty and dedication of our staff and crew. The weekend was amazing fun, we were able to see so many of our favorite people, and even Oli's sister Sorrel was able to fly out at the last minute and partake in all the fun.

After the festival was over, we forced my dad and Gret to go on vacation in NY, and Oli and I held down the Ranch. Our planned week of silence and recuperation was put on hold when we decided to work our asses off and get the house in the best shape of its century plus life. Oli even redid the bathroom (or tried to anyway, that toilet might forever be a work in progress). We enjoyed our 4th anniversary, even though the dog ate our dinner, and decided to go and visit our Vegas pals once again. So we hopped in the car for a long weekend down south, followed by a camping trip and then a trip to visit Grams. Our long weekend turned into a week in Vegas as the camping trip was cancelled, and I was able to indulge in some much needed Aidan James time, my favorite little boy in the universe. We brewed some beer at my old buddy Brian's house (the boys did... we ladies watched movies), went out on the Strip for the first time in years, hung out at Chris and Heather's house, ate far too many good meals, swam in the pool(s) for hours, and indulged in hanging out with our friends. After the week ended we headed to San Luis Obispo to hang out Grams. Went to a play, made pizza, had breakfast with her buddies, and prepared the house for the imminent arrival of my Mom, Aunt, Sister, Brother, and Lauren, brother dear's girlfriend, and Henry, Jessy's new little pup. Amazing times, a trip to Hearst Castle, and I even got to celebrate my birthday early :)

We drove home, but the next day popped into the city to see the fam for a yummy dinner at world famous La Barca. Yum! Nice to see the fam, as who knows when we will be back east next.

Well... that was Thursday! The past few days have consisted of shopping, packing, GTL, and such. We have a trip to prepare for! So on Wednesday, the 28th, we hop on our flight to Mexico City, then continue on to Oaxaca. The adventure begins... stay tuned!

lazy bones

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.

Petra

Enjoy!

Seven of Seven

We’ve been very busy since we last blogged, even though we had to deal with the extremes of the Egyptian way!

After a very long and cramped bus ride overnight we arrived in the port town of Nuwieba at 7am. From here our task was simple – get over to Aqaba, Jordan, and then up to Wadi Musa where we would set up for Petra in the morrow. Sounds easy right? Well…… getting the tickets was easy, even waiting until 3pm for the ferry departure was relatively easy, the rest was not. After a long hot day sitting at a café we went to board the ferry, only to be kept waiting and waiting. And of course when we were finally able to board (45mins late) it was an absolute nightmare of tour groups and generally oblivious people! Next was the journey, despite paying for the fast boat AND being assured we were on it, the trip was not 1hr, it was 3. The pain did not even stop here! When we finally arrived at the other side we had to go through immigration, and despite being the 1st people there, this honour is reserved for the tour groups, however long it takes them…. All of them!! Of course, by this time we were seeing red and being told to “take a seat” in a room full of people where there were no seats, was not a great way to stem the flames of anger. At least from here it was just a short cab ride to town, albeit 3 ½ hours later than planned. Yet our luck had not turned and our cabbie did not intend to drop us off at ouyr hotel so we hopped out in town and here we were told where we were – but we weren’t! So a little wander led us to find a hotel and we were able to settle in for the night, FINALLY!

With no intention of staying in Aqaba, but also no intent to haul ass to Petra, we allowed ourselves to sleep in and casually grab some food before getting into a share taxi to Wadi Musa. The trip was under 2 hrs and we arrived in time to get a nice room and find some more delicious Middle Eastern food before retiring for the night. After a nice sleep, with great anticipation, we awoke at 7 for breakfast and hustled out to get to Petra for the day – and what a day it was!

We got our tickets to the site and started the trek in to the heart of it all. On the way we were given little tasters of what was to come as with carved facades and caves in the face of the sandstone rock around us. After a short time we entered ‘the siq’ a narrow gorge forged from the tectonic plates separating. At time the light was almost cut out as we ventured deeper inside and the anticipation rose as we got nearer to the end and the figure-head of Petra, The Treasury.

When we did arrive we were able to see how so many people fall in love with Petra right there. It was astonishing. The detail and the craftsmanship involved and then the natural beauty of the lined and swirled sandstone. Also, Indiana Jones connect helps! Despite the throngs of tourists we were able to enjoy our time here with smiles on our faces as we had reached our final of the 7 Wonders of the World.

From the Treasury we strolled down the ‘Street of Facades’, a narrow road with carved tomb fronts on either side. This led us out into an opening, from which we could gauge the enormity of the site. A large amphitheatre stood in front of us with carved tombs on either side, rising up the valley walls. We could also see the wide valley in front of us with more and more ruins to explore.
We continued our trek and went to explore some of the huge tombs that we could see, all ornately adorned and carved from the sandstone. As we walked to go and view them we saw that a guy that had shared in our ferry agony was sat with some local Bedouins, sipping tea at their trinket stall. We joined them and spent the next half hour sipping Bedouin tea and taking in the scenery. With brief goodbyes we started our hike to a secluded overlook of the treasury. This entailed us picking our way through crevices, climbing/scrabbling up worn out carved steps and pushing our way through bushes past the carcasses of donkeys! Not another person the entire time.

We arrived finally, feeling pretty hardcore, at the top of the cliff, with just a few minutes left until the overlook. It was here that we met some people finally, who had chosen the route we decided against. The view from the outcrop was fantastic; we sat and had our hiking snacks looking down on the Treasury and the bustling crowd below. We descended via the ‘proper’ route and decided that ours was much more fun then the hundreds of restored steps that lead us down, back to the valley floor.

We still had tons to see so we hurried on to explore the very Roman city centre, with it’s colonnades and free standing buildings. We stopped here for another rest before a long and strenuous hike up the Monastery. Although we soon found that it wasn’t as bad as people seemed to think and was a very nice, yet step-y, trek and we were once again rewarded heavily. The Monastery was as impressive as the Treasury, not as ornate, but larger, and of the same design – these guys were serious!

By the time we had returned to the valley we had only one thing left to do before the day was out – a hike recommended by our guidebook that a renowned US rambler claimed as being in his top 6. Well, as usual LP didn’t fail to provide a crappy part of the map at a vital point! We set off under my direction. We were having a lovely tie, with beautiful scenery when we happened upon a group of guys who wanted to check our map. This was when, after consulting our compass, we were on the wrong trail heading nowhere except for a 2 day hike to a village!! Needless to say, we pulled a U-y and went back the other way, forgoing our hike, my head bowed in shame! We did make it to the final destination, well I did. Jen, still fighting off a nasty cold, decided to wait at the bottom of the rock face and the staircase that lead to the top. So I left on my own, on weary legs to finish the day at the ‘High Place of Sacrifice’.

I was a rewarding hike up and, after forcing myself to quicken the pace, I was up in 20 minutes. The view was astonishing, as were the 2 obelisks, carved from the sandstone, yet being the only 2 objects on a flat topped pinnacle! With a little exploration I managed to find the 10 x 20 ft shallow pool, presumably there to catch whatever the ‘sacrifice’ ‘leaked’!

I arrived back down to find Jen, surprised to see me so quickly (Yes, I’m gloating – the book said 40mins each way, I was up and down in 45) and we took a leisurely walk back to the end of the siq, to take one final look a the Treasury before departing. We were even able to get a quick piccie with no one else in it! After a very long, hot, dust, sweaty, up & down, 9hr day we decided that we had better relax a little before going back to the hotel. So we had a nice cold beer in the Worlds oldest bar (Thank you Ranch Kids)!

So there we are, we have seen all of the 7 New Wonders and what remains of the Ancients. We even managed to finish on a favourite, Petra is a beautiful blend of natural beauty in the amazingly patterned sandstone and the natural landscape, mixed with the truly magnificent feat of the civilization that once lived here in constructing such an awe inspiring city. Magical.

Nothing left to do on our trip but relax – and so we shall!

We left Jordan the next day, much more smoothly than before, although we did have to wait a few hours for the ferry to leave, and, once back on Egyptian soil, Jen haggled a VERY good price for a ride down to Dahab, where we are now. For months this has been a place we have been looking forward to, a sea-side paradise of lazy days, sheesha pipes, great food, cold beers and wonderful diving. So far it has not disappointed. We have found a nice little ocean front hotel with a great bar/dining area on the water that looks over the glassy blue waters of the Gulf of Aqaba ( the Red Sea) to Saudi Arabia. And furthermore, we have had 2 days of fantastic diving and plan to have 3 or 4 more!

Unfortunately, we can’t get these computers to load Picasa and therefore we cannot post the pictures yet…. So you will have to wait! Sorry!

Bye, time for food, beer and another sheesha before bed!

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....

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!