The Transient Nomad

Fidel says Hi

2010-03-25T12:54:00.000-04:00

***not much to post at the moment other than I am here and I made it safe and sound***

ciao!

Road Trip!!!

2010-03-22T13:21:00.000-04:00

After Jerusalem, I decided to rent a car and drive up into northern Israel to the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. The road that takes you there hugs the Jordan border and takes you up the Dead Sea valley. I love a good road trip and the scenery was amazing. Beginning in Jerusalem, you drive down to the Dead Sea, below sea level, and then gradually go up in elevation until you reach the high hills of the Golan Hights.

Produce farms

Sea of Galilee

Tiberias

Church of the Primacy of St. Peter

Capharnaum, town of Jesus

Mt of Beatitudes

Banias Falls

Nimrod Fortress

Bahai Gardens in Haifa, Israel

Then finally back to the Mediterranean Sea down to Tel Aviv

The whole trip took about 2 days, one night.

This is my final post for the Middle East. In 4 1/2 hours I'll be on a plane back to NYC for one night then off for another 2 weeks in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. An end to one adventure and the beginning of the next!

In and around Jerusalem

2010-03-22T12:16:00.000-04:00

The Sanctuary of Gethsemane

Mosaic tiles

grotto of olive trees where Jesus was arrested

Mount of Olives

Virgin Mary's tomb

Jerusalem Syndrome

2010-03-22T11:54:00.001-04:00

A must read. This actually happens to people here. No worries, it didn't happen to me...I think I'm pretty exempt from any threat of this.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

2010-03-22T11:50:00.001-04:00

This church was built over the believed location where Jesus was crucified. The church is to represent all forms and religions of Christianity. In fact, the keys to the church were given to the Muslims so that no single religion of Christianity could fight over the church.

The "exact" spot of crucifixion

This is the slab where Jesus was placed after being taken down from the cross

and here is the tomb Jesus was placed in.

Of course, it wouldn't be a holy place in Jerusalem without one of these.

Bomb detonation capsule

Bethlehem

2010-03-22T11:30:00.000-04:00

Church of the Nativity

Believed to be the exact spot where Jesus was born which is actually a cave under the main alter area of the church

Birthplace

The manger

Entering the West Bank

2010-03-22T11:04:00.000-04:00

To get to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, you have to cross into the Palestine occupied West Bank. Very easy except for Israelis which it is illegal. On my way to the bus I ran into a friend that I was traveling around with in Syria and he was wanting to go to Bethlehem as well so I was happy for the company.

This is the wall separating Israel and Palestine. A very sad sight to see that even after the Berlin wall, that building walls are still a solution in some government's minds.

Palestinian soldier

Leaving Bethlehem was a little more confusing. We were given a ride to the border by a nice Palestinian man. The border guards are always on alert because as approached the gate we were shouted at to STOP...STOP...STOP!!! I looked over to him and his gun was raised. This sounds intense but you honestly get used to being around guns while in Israel. Practically everybody has one. But just shows that they do not take this border lightly and are ready to keep anyone out that they don't want. Being used to guns or not, the feeling you get when one is being pointed at you is a feeling I do not want to feel again. All Johno and I could spit out were American and holding our passports out. We were then shown the gate to where you enter by foot. We were attempting to enter the vehicle gate. Very little was asked once at the correct gate. The guard just wanted to see the Israel stamp on our passports and kept commenting on how many stamps we both had in our passports. Johno got him to laugh which is one of his great talents and I was very happy to have him along at this point. While waiting for the guard to look at every passport stamp I noticed another armed guard above us watching our every move. We were let through to the other side and in a taxi back to Jerusalem. I think both of us were glad to be back though not the" kiss the ground" kind of feeling. The tension is very heavy and you feel it on either side.

Riots in Jerusalem

2010-03-22T09:47:00.000-04:00

While visiting the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem, there was a rather loud procession of people singing, dancing and above all, pushing. Then there were the media and photographers. It was like the paparazzi surrounding a celebrity. In the middle of the crowd was an old man, a rabbi I assume. He was carrying a Torah. The Group moved (pushed) their way through the crowd and approached the wall touching the Torah onto it. Then off again processing through the streets on the way to the Hurva Synagogue. I found out later that this particular Synagogue is part of what's causing all the excitement to stir up again in Jerusalem between Israel and Palestine. The Hurva Synagogue was built in the 1700's, destroyed by the arabs 20 years later, then rebuilt in 1860's, then destroyed again in 1948 by the Jordanians to now be rebuilt yet a third time and it was just by coincidence that when I was there the Torah was on it's way to it's new home and the Hurva was to be reopened. Combine this with the announcement of new Jewish homes to be built in Eastern Jerusalem and you have a lot of unhappy Palestinian people.

Welcome to Jerusalem, Israel

2010-03-21T19:39:00.000-04:00

There's two things that you can be guaranteed to experience in Israel, especially Jerusalem.

Police/Soldiers

and extremely large groups of tourists...

But all that can be forgotten and the city is yours to experience, this ancient and holiest city in the world.

Aleppo, Syria to Jerusalem, Israel in one day

2010-03-21T19:13:00.000-04:00

This was the plan:
Overnight train from Aleppo to Damascus,
Shared taxi ride from Damascus to Syria/Jordan then on to Amman Jordan,
Then bus from Amman to Jordan/Israel border then on to Jerusalem.

I made it as far as Amman when I realized that on Fridays, the border is closed in the afternoon due to Shabbat so I ended up getting a room for the night. While sitting in the hostel, the news came on stating that there were riots during the prayers of Shabbat and the Israel government closed the borders for 48 hours so one more night in Amman is was. The following day (Sunday) the border was open again and off I went.

Here's my notes on the border crossing into Israel via the West bank Border.

9:20. Began departure from Jordan

Bag scan and took passport.

9:45 Passport given back on bus with piece of paper with departure stamp on it. Not stamped in passport. 4.25 JD for bus and luggage.

3 minute down road 1st checkpoint. Took paper departure stamp.

10:25

Standing in line at Israel immigration and everyone told to leave line and cross road into grassy area and wait. Was told it was a bomb scare.

Many many people bringing jugs of water across. I was just told Israel is controlling water in east Jerusalem and people there do not have enough so people import their own water.

11:50 just made it to counter to receive stamp. Was asked a few questions then given form to fill out and told to wait for more questioning. Other Americans did not do this. I think this because I had been to Syria.

12:43 still waiting to be interviewed. 2nd bomb scare. Everyone moved to center of immigration.

1:45 asked around why I'm still waiting. Finally got interviewed at 2pm. Asked normal questions.

"are you traveling with anyone? do you know anyone in Israel? How long are you staying in Israel? what do you do for a living? etc....

After, I was told will take 15 min to process.

2:30. Finall received passport back and stamp. Waiting in another line to pick up luggage and final check of passport.

3:00 finally in Israel and on bus to Jerusalem.

Although a little tense at times, all in all, this wasn't too bad and I was simply happy to be on the other side and on a bus being sent away from the border. For obvious reasons, I do not have any photos to share of this experience but the scars of the numerous feuds, if they could be called that, are still very apparent. Everywhere you look in this small .5 mile area is littered with bunkers, trenches and hideouts.

Aleppo, Syria

2010-03-21T15:12:00.000-04:00

Aleppo in the north of Syria is near the border of Turkey. Had a few days to check things out. There's a citadel here as well and lots of local markets to wander around in.

Inside the citadel

Walking through the market. So many choices for food.

Mobile Tea Shop

Pastries everywhere

and...

of course...

MMMMmmmmmmm!!!!

Crac des Chevaliers

2010-03-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

The Crac des Chevaliers is a World Heritage Site crusader castle near the border of Lebanon border. Built in the 1100's BCE.

Hama, Syria

2010-03-20T15:46:00.000-04:00

Hama is famous for it's Norias. Some of the oldest surviving water wheels in the world. Sadly, due to record low water levels, the wheels sat quiet and still.

Ancient Aramaic city of Palmyra

2010-03-20T12:13:00.000-04:00

The View from the Castle

More Awesome Arab products

2010-03-19T11:34:00.001-04:00

Laby SReeb Slick??? What the...???

For your whitest whites, Use Aryan

Into Syria. The road to Damascus

2010-03-19T11:03:00.000-04:00

As I posted before, I made it into Syria after a 5 hour wait of anticipation to see if the Syrian Government was going to issue me a visa at the border. Headed to Damascus and spent a couple of days wandering around the old city. Damascus is known for it's souqs (markets) and we arrived on Friday where the souq is closed (as is most everything) due to Friday prayers. It was nice to be able to walk through the old city during this time as we practically had the place to ourselves. This was not the case on Saturday where everything basically exploded with people and shops. Quite a contrast.

Friday

Saturday

There are so many little alleys to get lost in.

In the center of the old city is the The Umayyad Mosque

and is one of the holiest in the Muslim world. It is also where John the Baptist's head was found buried underneath.

To enter the Mosque you must be dressed modestly or there are special clothes that can be used while there.

Great foods and smells are all over the old city.

but I just couldn't bring myself to try this.

Thanks, but no thanks, I've got my own pair.

The lowest point on Earth

2010-03-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

1400 feet Below sea level

After a long day hiking around Petra, a little R/R was in order. I took the morning bus from Wadi Musa to Amman the next day and spent the day walking around the city. That evening the rest of the crew that I've been traveling with showed up and the next day we rented a car. There are many tours to the Dead Sea but being 5 of us it was great to split the cost of a car and well worth having our freedom to do what we want. There are also many resorts and paid beaches along the Dead Sea which all are quite expensive. With our car, we found a quiet spot on the side of the road and simply walked down the hill to our own, free beach.

When visiting the Dead Sea:

RULE # 1: Never EVER dive head first into the Dead Sea!

RULE # 2: Never EVER...EVER ignore rule # 1!!!

Here is the resulting photo of me ignoring Rule # 1

I can't even begin to explain the pain in my eyes from the salt water. Lucky we bought several bottles of water because it took some serious flushing to reverse the breaking of Rule # 1. It also took a long time for my friends to stop laughing at me too. Happy to have entertained you guys.

The Dead Sea has a salinity of 33% salt. Normal ocean water is around 3.5% It was a strange feeling to be so naturally buoyant. I was actually able to put my feet straight down, as if standing, and still float.

Then it was spa time.

The mud along the shores of the Dead Sea are very rich in minerals and nutrients. The common thing to do is give yourself a little mud mask and scrub but scrub lightly because when you wash it off in the water, you'll be made aware of every single scrape, scratch or cut.

After a good bake in the sun and a rinse in the water your skin really does feel amazing.

Petra, Jordan

2010-03-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

I arrived in the evening in Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses) right outside of Petra where it was windy, snowing and raining. Here met up with again with my two Australian friends that I had met in the deserts of Egypt. It rained for 2 more days where I was forced to sit inside the most unpleasant place on earth...The Valentine Inn. Lonely Planet's Middle East book lists the Valentine Inn as "the quintessential backpacker hotel" which makes me now convinced that no one from the Lonely Planet crew has ever even been to Jordan. I'm not going to complain much about all the details but hopefully the word will spread and this place will cease to exist. Basically, the whole of Wadi Musa is a virus feeding off the wonderful world class ruins of Petra. Get in, go to Petra and get out is my only advice.

Finally the weather cleared and I was able to go to the "Red Rose City" The Entrance fee is exuberant but it is a sight that cannot be missed.

The road leading down into the valley of Petra.

The valley walls of solid rock cut straight up on both sides. Then at the bottom the sandstone walls break away and reveal the Treasury, the most iconic image of Petra.

The locals are quite proud of one particular movie that made this sight famous.

Petra is quite large. It's possible to see it in one day but 2 days are better as there are numerous hiking trails throughout the valley. I did it in only one because I was already falling behind schedule but I left very satisfied with what I saw. It's impossible to post enough photos of this place to do it justice. Absolutely incredible.

This last one is from "Little Petra" Another set of ruins that are free and well worth a visit outside of the Bedouin village near Wadi Musa. The sandstone here is more golden colored.

Catching up...Crossing Jordan

2010-03-13T10:03:00.000-05:00

I have some catching up to do. Since the last post from Dahab, Egypt, I've been into Jordan and Syria and now back in Jordan waiting to cross the border into Israel.

From Dahab, I took a bus to the port city of Nuweiba on the Sinai Peninsula in the Gulf of Aqaba where I caught the ferry into Aqaba, Jordan. This ferry crossing has many horror stories from other travelers with long wait times, ferries stuck at sea for hours, and one alleged sinking several years ago. To cross into Jordan by land you risk having unwanted passport stamps from Israel which would have made things difficult further down the line so the ferry was my only option. After enduring this, I have to say that everything that is said about the ferry is understated!

We bought our ticket ($70 USD!!!) and were told to wait. Then after about 2 hours we were told to hurry up and go down to the ferry landing and board the ferry. With no real direction, the whole mass of us rapidly wandered around until we found the landing where there was more waiting while we watched this...

For about 20 minutes, the driver of this tractor was attempting to load the ferry with the luggage trailer. I think this is the ideal situation to inform everyone out there that tractors are to remain in fields and not as a loading device. I'm not even sure how they did get trailer on because they gave up and let the foreigners on first. I was the first one on the ferry. The group was told to come up the ramp then no, wait here, then ok go, go, no wait, wait, ok now go, no wait so I just pushed past and walked up the stairs. When I arrived at the top of the stairs it was almost of a surprise to the crew that there were to be passengers on this passenger ferry. Two men began talking back and forth with eachother and pointing...a lot. Then one of them escorted me past the seating area then walked around and then back to the seating area. This was when I realized that no one else had boarded yet. They were still down doing the go, no, wait, ok now go game. After about 10 minutes the rest began to arrive. Tourists first then the locals. After about 1 1/2 hour the ferry was ready to leave. They closed up all the doors and then more waiting. I swear that the only way this much confusion and disorganization is possible is that the entire crew and ferry was doing this for the first time of their lives. Sadly this is not the case. This is what they do every single day. Maybe one day they will figure out a routine but undoubtedly any time soon. Immigrations was done on the ferry (another long messy process) and off we went. Finally we were allowed to walk around a little where I found the duty free shop on the ferry with some amazing designer perfumes, bootleg of course. Here are a few of the classics there.

And my favorite...

Total time: entirely way too long to account for what should have been 1 hour shore to shore.

"Error: The requested URL could not be retrieved "

2010-03-04T15:00:00.001-05:00

Hello all. I've made into Syria! I wasn't sure if I was going to be allowed in since I did not have a visa before leaving the USA which is what is required (in theory) to enter. After hearing from many other travellers that it is sometimes possible to get a visa at the border I thought I'd try. After 5 hours of waiting at the Syrian border I was given my 15 day visa and an entry stamp. Quite happy about this.

I'm jumping ahead a little with my travels here. I know that I still need to get all of Jordan up on the blog. I'll get to it but looks like it won't be for another week. Syria has many websites that are not allowed to be viewed within Syria. Facebook, Skype and apparently my blog or any blog from Blogspot for that matter.

"ERROR

The requested URL could not be retrieved

Requested URL:http://www.thetransientnomad.blogspot.com/
Error message: Access Denied
Administrator: webmaster."

I found a way to get in to post this message but this is all I will be able to do. So you will all have to wait for those photos.
I'm doing very well. Starting to get sad knowing that I only have 20 days left. It's been flying by but I am still loving it. In Damascus at the moment. I'll be spending 9 days in Syria before heading to the **unmentionable** country where I fly out of. Have to be a bit careful because I would not have been allowed in had the border guards known that I have been or plan on going to **unmentionable**. I'll give a hint...It's occupied Palestine. If you've been following me, then you know where my last country in the middle east is. If not, well, you'll just have to wait. At least I can still check my email.

Dahab, Egypt

2010-02-24T16:56:00.000-05:00

Well, here's where I've been spending the last 9 days of my holiday. The mountains that can be seen in the background of the first 5 photos is Saudi Arabia. The last 3 are on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea.

Tonight is my last night in Egypt. Tomorrow I head north a little by bus and take a ferry across the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) into Jordan. A new adventure awaits...

The Real Deal.

2010-02-24T16:30:00.000-05:00

Breath in...

Breath out.

Alright! Many of you have already called me out on the photos of my last post. No, I did not take those. These are the ones of me. The two above are me at the bottom of a canyon. Depth here was 33 Meters/108 ft. below the surface. This was my first dive that deep and the combination of the pressure you feel on your chest simply breathing and the fact that there is nothing but rock and sand surrounding you was a true test of the mind. I loved it!!!

To the Red Sea Coast

2010-02-19T16:04:00.000-05:00

Having Luxor all wrapped up, I was quite ready for some relaxing on the beach so I headed to Dahab. There are a couple of options on getting here and the one I was wanting to take which was Luxor to Hurgada by bus, one night in Hurgada then a ferry across the Red Sea to Sharm el Sheik, then another bus to Dahab. I had heard from a few other travelers that this way is not recommended because the cost and hassle is far from fun so I opted for the 16 hour bus that travelled up the coast, crossing into Sinai at Suez then down and around the southern tip and back up the east coast to Dahab. I really didn't want to spend 16 hours on a crappy Egyptian bus but since Moses' staff had been rented out by some Russians, parting the Red Sea was out so the bus it was. I've had worse but this was by far the most tortuous transport. Much worse than the train. But the Red Sea is well worth it. I'm still here. My hotel is right on the beach. In the distance, you can make out the skyline of the mountains of Saudi Arabia with the most crystal clear beautiful turquoise blue water you could imagine. I went snorkeling on day one and after seeing the amount of marine life teeming on the reefs and the clarity of the water I quickly decided that snorkeling would not be enough so I enrolled in the SCUBA class and after tomorrow I will be certified for open water diving. I'm pretty stoked to get out there and have a look around. 4 out of the top 10 diving sites in the world are located here. I've only been down to 12 meters (36ft) In class tomorrow we are going on 3 dives and down to 18 meters (60 ft). Can't wait!!!

Luxor and the Valley of the Kings

2010-02-19T15:22:00.000-05:00

From Aswan, I traveled by train again up to Luxor. I spent about 5 days here traveling around to the tombs and temples. Every person breathing in Luxor is somehow associated with tourism and they are trying to get your money! I enjoy finding the way without the need to be a drone on some tour group. I rented a bicycle for 2 days and rode up into the Valley of the Kings and although it was a bit of a sweat, it was worth the $5 I paid for 2 days of transportation. The tombs are all off limits to any kind of photography so I don't have any to share. There are guards in every tomb and when you either ascend or descend into the tomb, they are there instantly to show you around and point out certain hieroglyphs or paintings of importance then rushing you out the door again (with hand out waiting to be filled with coins of quantity) to allow a new group of donations. This is also to keep your time inside to a minimum since the humidity of everyones breath increases the moisture of the air and encourages a bacteria to grow that eats the paint. You are also only allowed to visit 3 tombs. A small let down I suppose but understandable.

The temples, on the other hand, are really amazing and it is easy to spend hours in the afternoon or at sunset just roaming around between the statues, columns and doorways. I visited the Luxor temple, Karnak temple, Hatshepsut temple and Ramesseum temple.

Luxor Temple

Karnak Temple

Scarab beetle. Apparently if you walk in a circle around this statue 10 times you become Chinese.

Ramesseum Temple

Ramesseum Temple with guardians guarding

Deir el Medina Tombs

Birds eye view of Hatshepsut Temple

Camel Luxury Transport

2010-02-19T13:50:00.000-05:00

Hieroglyphs Translated

2010-02-19T13:31:00.000-05:00

Egyptian Voyeurs

Egyptian Peer Pressure.

Egyptian Tea server

Egyptian Masseuse

Disco

Nubian children

2010-02-19T12:42:00.000-05:00

Came across a couple Nubian kids in Aswan. I want to comment on sincere kindness that the Nubian people that I met. They are generally very friendly and more interested in you and showing you their homes and inviting you for tea than getting your money. I enjoyed this part of Aswan a lot and a lot of them live on a island in the middle of the Nile so you are away from all the noise from cars and touts.

Aswan

2010-02-19T12:37:00.000-05:00

Some photos from walking around in Aswan and the Nile valley. Quite a beautiful little city but again, full of locals trying to sell you boat rides and crappy "made in China" souvenirs.

Nile Valley

Nubian ruins several layers deep. These are still being excavated.

Nubian Mummy

Islamic Cairo

2010-02-19T12:21:00.000-05:00

Sleepy little alley in Cairo

Abu Simbel

2010-02-19T12:02:00.002-05:00

Been a little lazy on the blog (blame the beaches of the Red Sea for that) so I suppose I should catch everyone up here.
After the Desert I arrived back in Cairo and spent a day there to wait for the night train that I was taking down to Aswan in the Nubian south of Egypt. The train ride was supposed to be a 12 hour ride but in reality was close to 16! Can't rave on the comforts much either. Anyway, found my hotel and kept it low key for the night since sleep wasn't so easy on the train. The next day, I booked my trip down to Abu Simbel which is the temple that Rameses the Great built for himself around the 13th century BC. He also had one built, though not as grand, for Nefertari. The entire temple was torn down brick by brick and relocated on higher land due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam when it was "discovered" well into the building of the dam that when it would be completed these temples would be under water. Egypt can thank the USA and many other countries for the emergency relocation which cost roughly $40 million and took 4 years to do.
To get here you are required to go in a police convoy and everything was a bit rushed. Get up at 3am to board the bus, drive 2 1/2 hours south to the temple, fight the crowds and souvenir vendors to buy your ticket, walk through the temples 45 min max with "no photo! no photo!"shouted in your ear. Back on the bus for 2 1/2 hours back and done. I'm happy I went but any readers out there wanting to go, contact me and I can recommend a much better way to get there without all this frenzy and a much better experience. Here are the only 2 photos I took here.

3 Days and 3 Nights

2010-02-09T18:43:00.000-05:00

Western Desert

Finally getting a chance to get some of these photos up. These are from my 3 nights camping in the desert near the Bahariah Oasis which is a little north west of the center of Egypt. This has to be by far my favorite excursion yet!!! We visited the White Desert, the Black Desert and the Western Desert all of which were relatively close to each other but quite distinctly different. Our first day took us out pretty far from the oasis with a stop off at a Bedouin village for lunch. I would have liked to enjoy the village more but they obviously are used to large tourist buses stopping here for photos and expecting Baksheesh (tips) in return. After lunch was where the pavement ended. Our driver was quite the skilled driver in the sand. Rolling along up and down and around sand dunes, he never got stuck in the sand the entire time we were out there. There were many times I thought for sure this is it, we had better get out and start shoveling or something but his experience was phenomenal. He was telling us over the campfire one evening that he comes from the south-western most point of Egypt and before working with the tour groups would make runs back and forth in transportation convoys of 5 jeeps, taking 25-30 days one way. He definitely knew how to read the dunes to see where the sand would be the most compact.

In the Western Desert, we began to see these "fields" of small black rocks. When we finally stopped to camp we were able to walk around a bit and do some exploring. The black rocks were in all sorts of crazy shapes and forms. The puzzle was finally solved. They were fossils. Fossilized coral, seashells, sea amenities, snails and clams. They were everywhere.

Needless to say, my pack is a little heavier now.

The White Desert is equally unique due to the chalky white formations of rocks. We were going to camp here for one night but this desert is a little easier accessible and there were many groups spending only one night there so we only spent a few hours here which was fine with us as it was a very large group and the serenity of the night before was calling at us. Here are a few pics.

The final night was spent in the Black Desert. Although not as beautiful as the others there are still wonders here.

By far, the best part about the 3 days spent in the desert was the camping! There is an eery silence here that reminds you just how far away from anything living. I don't think there has ever been a place where I have heard this complete silence. No airplanes overhead, no bird or animal sounds, no traffic noise in the distance, just pure, sweet, 100% silence. And then there were the STARS!!!

Of course we brought along a sheesha or hookah. This is Cam, sparking up the coals. We had Apple, the best flavor if you ask me.

Sean, warming by the campfire.

And here's our Bedouin camp.

The road from Siwa to Bahariah

2010-02-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

I'm adding some photos from the 6 hour trip from Siwa to Bahariah. There is no official road although one is being built. There is only about 1/4 of this journey that is completed so the rest is just tracks in the sand. To get between these two places, you have to hire a 4x4 Land Cruiser which costs about $300 total so what most people do is get a group together to share the cost. While I was in Siwa, the Egyptian Government decided to close the desert. There are several checkpoints along this trip and for tourists, you are required to get special permission to even go out into the desert. The reason the desert was closed is still unclear but it finally opened and I was lucky enough to meet 3 other people that were going. We were told that the reason for the checkpoints is if you do not show up at the next checkpoint within a certain amount of time, they come looking for you. Not out of concern for you but concern that you are out in the desert digging and tomb raiding.

Here's where we stopped for lunch

Crashed remnants of a helicopter. Very unfortunate location even if there were any survivors this is far far away from anything living.

Siwa Oasis

2010-02-08T09:36:00.000-05:00

After spending a day in Alexandria I took an overnight bus to the Siwa oasis which is located near the border of Libya. This is the view from my hotel window. Hotel room was 40 Egyptian Pounds which is about $7 USD. The village is surrounded by a mass of palm trees and a lake past the palms. A quiet little town but well worth the journey into the desert. I rented a bike for a day and spent the day roaming around. These are the ruins that was once the village where people lived up until the 1920's when there was a rain storm that lasted 3 days which destroyed their mud brick homes.

They have since rebuilt their town around the old one but still use the old mud brick type of construction.

Donkey transportation. I'm still trying to figure out the 4x4?!?

Discovered by a dumb ass

2010-02-08T07:04:00.000-05:00

kom el shokafa catacombs

Alexandria, Egypt

These catacombs were discovered in 1900 when the donkey of a man that was working near the area fell into one of the shafts that led to the tombs.

out of reach

2010-02-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

Internet in Egypt is quite sparse. Short and sweet entry here with no photos at this time. Soon to come I hope though. I've been in the desert oasis, Siwa for the past 2 days trying to arrange a 4x4 trip to Bahariha oasis near Bawiti. The trip was 6 hours and went through the desert with paved road for about 1/4th of the way. The rest was driving on the dunes. Amazing journey. No plants, birds, other cars, nothing...just us and the sand. Got some great photos from this. We stopped about midway for lunch and everywhere you look is littered with seashells, in the middle of the desert. Tomorrow I'm off on a 3 day/night camping trip back into the desert so I will be out of cell range until Saturday evening. This should be good. Again, photos to come afterwards....

For all your Burka needs

2010-01-30T10:19:00.000-05:00

Algeria 0 - Egypt 4

2010-01-30T10:17:00.000-05:00

Thursday was the Egypt vs Algeria soccer game. This was quite a big game for Egypt and I spent the evening walking around downtown. Cairo is a rather bustling city with lots of traffic, people and noise. It was quite amazing how the city pretty much came to a halt during the match. Everywhere you looked, every alley, open space, restaurant or store had a TV and a crowd huddled around to watch the match.

Well Egypt won and the celebration spilled into the streets and continued well into the night. I was luck to be right smack in the middle of it all. Had I not known what was going on I would have thought that this was a riot or protest but it was the country united in sheer crazy happiness for their home team.

Cairo Continues...

2010-01-30T09:53:00.001-05:00

The Great Pyramids

The Sphinx

The first layer of the pyramid

Spent my first day visiting the pyramids which turns our are more than just a big pile of 4000+ year old building blocks. I was able to go inside of the one with the still intact top. There is no photography allowed inside the pyramids so here’s a photo of me inside the pyramid. Thank you iPhone!!!

The entrance into the pyramid is only about 4 ft tall and has hand railings on both sides to so you are able to hold yourself steady as you descend approx. 100 ft down then another 50 ft up all the while staring at the ass of the person in front of you. Once inside, in the exact center, is a room that opens up about 30 ft high where the body and treasures were laid. The memory I will take away from this experience will be the smell. Since there is little ventilation within the tomb, the tomb smells like the inside of a shoe...a really really bad smelling shoe. Oh did I say that the temperature is quite high as well? So the inside of a hot, moist, sweaty smelly sneaker. Um yeah. I guess there’s a price to pay to earn the bragging rights of being inside the Great Pyramid that’s visited by over 5000 people daily. All in all, it’s pretty spectacular to be amongst something that was put in place and is still standing from so long ago.

Here’s a few photos from Cairo. Actually a beautiful city and relatively clean, Cairo didn’t fail to impress me. Here’s a view of the skyline from Al-Azhar Park, their equivalent of Central Park.

Al-Azhar Park

On my second day, I went to the Egyptian Museum. Sadly, the museum looks like it is quite short of funding as everything is cramped into 2 small floors. Again, no photography is allowed but the main attraction is the King Tut exhibit which is amazing. To think of the age of these items and to know that so many of these treasures were found and looted along the years (again +4000 years ago) to have one complete tomb untouched for such an eternity is quite amazing. I wondered what it must have been like to be the one who wandered upon this great find not even knowing at the time what it was. These Egyptians were smart dudes. I once buried a jar of coins within the pine trees near my home in Wisconsin as a boy. I doubt anyone will ever find or care about this in the year 2384 A.D.

Just a few random pics of what I saw walking through the local markets of Cairo.

Egyptian phone repair labor union rep.

Buffalo Head anyone? I'll take the hooves.

Cairo Arrival

2010-01-25T13:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I have arrived to Cairo. I'm always amazed at how easy it can be to get into some countries and others are more inquisitive about how long your stay is, where you are staying and why are you here. This is not the case for Egypt. What is always the case with entering into a new country is the waiting. The passport line was moving along ok and it comes up to my turn and the man sends me away because I didn't pay the other booth for the $15 Visa. I would think signage would be of some use here but got the visa and moved back to the back of the line to wait again. Pretty uneventful. Get to airport, get on plane, sleep a little, get off plane, stamp passport. Move along. Next in line please. There were lots of people holding signs waiting for their guests with their names nicely printed and readable from afar to drive them off to their destinations except mine. Once out of the baggage area, I find mine. I wonder if he knew that my favorite sharpie color is light blue.

This is, after all, budget travel I suppose. At lease he was there.

On the walk to his car he hands me his cell phone and motions it to my ear. I'm told that there are other people being picked up so "5 minutes ok? ok?" (which became 25 minutes) So the driver doesn't speak English, well, a car is a car and at least he was holding my name right side up!

Met a couple from Brazil in the taxi that are doing Cairo in 3 days who are also staying in my hostel. I'm not big on tours but we did manage to get a cheaper rate for the tour of the Pyramids and the Sphinx tomorrow since there were 3 of us so starting off with the big daddy of the sights right off the bat. Not much else to say at the moment. It's 8pm here and for me it's still 1pm with little sleep. Going to fight the urge to sleep now and see if I can make up the 7 hour difference. Wish me luck.

2010-01-21T18:07:00.000-05:00

For the past 4 years , I have left the cold months of NYC and spent them wandering this round thing we all live on. So I've decided to start a blog to share my thoughts and photos with anyone who wants to read and for those of you out there with Facebook phobia...you know who you are. Well I'm down to 3 days before departure. Slowly but surely checking things off my list of errands and last minute tasks before being away from home for 11 weeks. This year I'll be heading to Egypt, Jordan and Israel with a short trip two week trip to Mexico at the end. I'm really going to Cuba (unofficially) but Cancun is officially where I'll be stepping of the plane since Cuba is still so "hush hush." Anyway, that's still 2 months away.

Now where's my passport.