Well, Berlin is awesome. Really cool.
Customs and the airport were sweet as. We decided to go through customs as we thought that we had some semi dodgy stuff that we had nabbed in egypt but they were like 'sweet as yo''.
Went and saw Daniel Libeskinds Jewish Museum - a building which I have been keen to see for a while now and it was cool. Think I got vertigo within it though. There are no right angles to be found anywhere in the building. Anywhere. I am even talking about where the floor meets and wall and the wall meets the ceiling. The building itself was more of the attraction rather than the exhibits it displayed within it (stuff from the holocaust - jewish notebooks and photos etc). Yesterday we got up early and headed to the Reichstag which was updated about 10 years ago by Lord Norman Foster and that was amazing also. We stopped by the Holocaust memorial by Peter Eisenmann - a series of 2711 concrete columns protruding from an undulating ground. Really eirie memorial. Made you feel lost and disorientated. There were poeple crying in it even. All seemed to be a bit too much for them.
Right now I am in Prague in the czech rep. We travelled here by train (first class of course - the first class ticket was on special and was cheaper than second class, sweet). Prague seems awesome also. Going to go see the dancing building by Frank Gehry - another building that I am really looking forward to seeing.
Look these places up on Google or wikipedia maybe if you want an idea of what they are.
To some sad news. Yes, I am distraught that Michael Jackson died. I maintained all through his life that he was awesopme even though heaps of people put him done and made fun of him. He was so influential and one of my most played artists on my iTunes. I was in Egypt when I found out via BBC and sat there still for a bit. Nearly cried but I was tougher than that. Played a whole list of tribute songs to him and have been playing them ever since. Not cool at all. If I was around London I was going to check out his concert but now I guess I will never have the opportunity to do so.
Saw Transformers 2 the other day also and I tell you - if you want to waste time and money, go see it. What a disaster with the story and acting. I would have rather lost my passport than watched that.
I am kidding about losing that passport. Dont want to jinx myself.
Going back to London tomorrow for a week or so. Looking to head to places like Bath and Manchester and Legoland. Yes you read right - Legoland. Oh yeah.
Anways I better go check out the czech republic
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Travel Mishap
HOLY CRAP
and you have no idea how much frustration and stress was just thrown into that 'Holy Crap'.
We went to go to Israel but got denied because, wait for it,
Renee had a page somehow missing out of her passport. They treated us like criminals, literally. They emptied my bags completely, went through all my things, asked all these questions like "are we carrying weapons of any kind etc?". Then after a few hours of interrorgation they said we will be sent back to Egypt and not allowed into Israel.
So at 2 in the morning we were sent back over the border, and we had to grab a taxi for a 3 hour drive back to Dahab, where we were staying.
Ok. This was all easy compared to what followed.
At Dahab we decided to head back to Cairo early so we could get this passport sorted as we were leaving to Berlin in 2 days.
It turns out that for an emergency passport it takes at least 48 hours to process, not to mention a copy of your birth certificate needing to be officially signed and sent via fax and new passport photos to be taken which also need to be verified by (in this case) an Australian citizen who has known Renee for 6 months or more. We also needed to head to some shithole government building to get a new visa where all they do is tell you to sit and wait AND THAT IS IT! We waited for hours only to be sent back to the embassy because we didnt have the right documents.
We have had to change our flights to Berlin, stay longer at the hotel where we are (which, by the way, means it takes us 1 hour of driving just to get into central Cairo where all this stuff has to occur), and muck around for 4 days trying to get this sorted.
Every taxi driver we get wants to charge us as much as he possibly can because he sees us as white foreigners with lots of money and if we pay what we know is the proper amount they ask for more and try to beat you up. We have had to go to 2 different photo labs and get 24 passport photos taken becuase apparently 23 of them werent good enough and go back and forth between A to B to C to D but finally we have the stupid thing. You have no idea the stress that has happened to us in these last 4 days. Add to that these bloody taxi drivers, the insane choatic transport issue around here, the constant tooting of horns and the stifling heat and you really get pushed to your breaking point. No one knows english fully enough to be able to converse with us on a proper level and tell us exactly what is going on.
And all this for a stupid page ripped out of a passport. We have figured out that it has happened when we handed a passport into a hotel reception for them to do their standard photocopying and the page got ripped out on the photocopier as it was the very page next to the photo ID. If I could grab the guy that did it by his melon head there is no telling what I would do.
So let this be a lesson to everyone that I have had to endure on behalf of you. LOOK AFTER YOUR FRIGGEN PASSPORTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dont let anyone handle them inappropriately. NOT ANYONE - IT IS YOUR PASSPORT AND YOUR PROPERTY AND YOU ARE LITERALLY STUFFED IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO IT. If you have to get an ID copied, give them your drivers licence or something because all of this simply isnt worth it.
It has cost us about $1000 (between us) to sort this whole thing out not to mention the money I may have to give to a psychiatrist to help me get over it all. It was good also that we didnt have to cancel all our flights and hostels as that would have been significatnyl more money lost - more like $3000
................................................
So apart from that everything once we get to Berlin should be sorted. We have 2 days in Berlin, then get a train to Prague and spend a day there before heading back to UK. We originally had 3 days at each place but due to this whole thing means we have shorter stays
I just want to leave this country now. It was good up until this debarcle.
And no, I am not talking out of proportion here. If only words could describe properly the series of events we had to go through.
and you have no idea how much frustration and stress was just thrown into that 'Holy Crap'.
We went to go to Israel but got denied because, wait for it,
Renee had a page somehow missing out of her passport. They treated us like criminals, literally. They emptied my bags completely, went through all my things, asked all these questions like "are we carrying weapons of any kind etc?". Then after a few hours of interrorgation they said we will be sent back to Egypt and not allowed into Israel.
So at 2 in the morning we were sent back over the border, and we had to grab a taxi for a 3 hour drive back to Dahab, where we were staying.
Ok. This was all easy compared to what followed.
At Dahab we decided to head back to Cairo early so we could get this passport sorted as we were leaving to Berlin in 2 days.
It turns out that for an emergency passport it takes at least 48 hours to process, not to mention a copy of your birth certificate needing to be officially signed and sent via fax and new passport photos to be taken which also need to be verified by (in this case) an Australian citizen who has known Renee for 6 months or more. We also needed to head to some shithole government building to get a new visa where all they do is tell you to sit and wait AND THAT IS IT! We waited for hours only to be sent back to the embassy because we didnt have the right documents.
We have had to change our flights to Berlin, stay longer at the hotel where we are (which, by the way, means it takes us 1 hour of driving just to get into central Cairo where all this stuff has to occur), and muck around for 4 days trying to get this sorted.
Every taxi driver we get wants to charge us as much as he possibly can because he sees us as white foreigners with lots of money and if we pay what we know is the proper amount they ask for more and try to beat you up. We have had to go to 2 different photo labs and get 24 passport photos taken becuase apparently 23 of them werent good enough and go back and forth between A to B to C to D but finally we have the stupid thing. You have no idea the stress that has happened to us in these last 4 days. Add to that these bloody taxi drivers, the insane choatic transport issue around here, the constant tooting of horns and the stifling heat and you really get pushed to your breaking point. No one knows english fully enough to be able to converse with us on a proper level and tell us exactly what is going on.
And all this for a stupid page ripped out of a passport. We have figured out that it has happened when we handed a passport into a hotel reception for them to do their standard photocopying and the page got ripped out on the photocopier as it was the very page next to the photo ID. If I could grab the guy that did it by his melon head there is no telling what I would do.
So let this be a lesson to everyone that I have had to endure on behalf of you. LOOK AFTER YOUR FRIGGEN PASSPORTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dont let anyone handle them inappropriately. NOT ANYONE - IT IS YOUR PASSPORT AND YOUR PROPERTY AND YOU ARE LITERALLY STUFFED IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO IT. If you have to get an ID copied, give them your drivers licence or something because all of this simply isnt worth it.
It has cost us about $1000 (between us) to sort this whole thing out not to mention the money I may have to give to a psychiatrist to help me get over it all. It was good also that we didnt have to cancel all our flights and hostels as that would have been significatnyl more money lost - more like $3000
................................................
So apart from that everything once we get to Berlin should be sorted. We have 2 days in Berlin, then get a train to Prague and spend a day there before heading back to UK. We originally had 3 days at each place but due to this whole thing means we have shorter stays
I just want to leave this country now. It was good up until this debarcle.
And no, I am not talking out of proportion here. If only words could describe properly the series of events we had to go through.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Mt Sinai & Jordan
Ok. I totally forgot to tell you in that last blog.
Its probably a week ago now we decided to head up to Mt Sinai - a really religous mountian where Moses apparently had those commandments engraved into the stones. So after a full day of snorkelling we got approxiamately 1 hour sleep before heading into a van at 10:30 pm to head to Mt Sinai. At 1am (yes thats AM!!!!) we started hiking. The reason why you start so early is becasue it takes abour 4 hours to get to the top and you get to see the sunrise. Also its much cooler walking at night than during the day. Anyway, the hike was about 12km straight up. We climbed about 2500m into the air and then had to climb a further 750 steps to reach the summit. It was a mission. Combine this with the fact that we had to take our backpacks with warm clothes and everything else up there also and we were well and truly stuffed. At the top of this mountain there was a small monastery that was pretty incredible considering all the effort we went to to get up this mountain. Saw the sunrise and decided to head back down but we could go a seperate way from the wy we came up (which was apparently the easy way).
So down 3000 steps we went. These arent just normal steps either mind you. When you consider that we had to get down 2500m in 3000 steps then it makes a bit more sense. My ankle was stuffed by the end of it and it was so hot by that stage. So hot.
Then went to St Catherines monastery which is at the base of the mountain where apparently the burning bush that talks to Moses was housed within. I saw this bush but it didnt talk to me. Not even a whisper. Musnt be holy enough. Got back to the hotel at midday after a good 28 hours awake with not muh food and a whole lot of exercise
So that was my trip to Mt Sinai.
2 Days ago we travelled to Jordan which was pretty sweet. We got taken to the city of Petra which holds the treasury of Petra - the second wonder of the world behind the great wall.
It was a 46 degree day and we walked for 2 hours through a large natural canyon to reach the treasury but when we got there it was pretty amazing. Type it in on Google and have a look at it. The whole thing has been carved into a stone cliff face and is huge. Absolutely huge. There is a whole city there and it was only rediscovered in 1822 or something because before that it had been completely covered by the sea (Red I think).
Awesome. Looking to do Israel on Thursday but it is pretty dodgy there at the moment so might have to check the forecast before we head off.
Its probably a week ago now we decided to head up to Mt Sinai - a really religous mountian where Moses apparently had those commandments engraved into the stones. So after a full day of snorkelling we got approxiamately 1 hour sleep before heading into a van at 10:30 pm to head to Mt Sinai. At 1am (yes thats AM!!!!) we started hiking. The reason why you start so early is becasue it takes abour 4 hours to get to the top and you get to see the sunrise. Also its much cooler walking at night than during the day. Anyway, the hike was about 12km straight up. We climbed about 2500m into the air and then had to climb a further 750 steps to reach the summit. It was a mission. Combine this with the fact that we had to take our backpacks with warm clothes and everything else up there also and we were well and truly stuffed. At the top of this mountain there was a small monastery that was pretty incredible considering all the effort we went to to get up this mountain. Saw the sunrise and decided to head back down but we could go a seperate way from the wy we came up (which was apparently the easy way).
So down 3000 steps we went. These arent just normal steps either mind you. When you consider that we had to get down 2500m in 3000 steps then it makes a bit more sense. My ankle was stuffed by the end of it and it was so hot by that stage. So hot.
Then went to St Catherines monastery which is at the base of the mountain where apparently the burning bush that talks to Moses was housed within. I saw this bush but it didnt talk to me. Not even a whisper. Musnt be holy enough. Got back to the hotel at midday after a good 28 hours awake with not muh food and a whole lot of exercise
So that was my trip to Mt Sinai.
2 Days ago we travelled to Jordan which was pretty sweet. We got taken to the city of Petra which holds the treasury of Petra - the second wonder of the world behind the great wall.
It was a 46 degree day and we walked for 2 hours through a large natural canyon to reach the treasury but when we got there it was pretty amazing. Type it in on Google and have a look at it. The whole thing has been carved into a stone cliff face and is huge. Absolutely huge. There is a whole city there and it was only rediscovered in 1822 or something because before that it had been completely covered by the sea (Red I think).
Awesome. Looking to do Israel on Thursday but it is pretty dodgy there at the moment so might have to check the forecast before we head off.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Change of Plans
Well.
Dahab has proven to be so cool that we have decided to stay here for an extra couple of weeks or so.
The snorkelling / diving is amazing. There is a place here called the Blue Hole and you can go swimming with all these tropical fishes around some awesome coral. Everyone is so easy going here that they just give you snorkels and flippers and stuff to use. Cheap enough to. Much like the prices in Bangkok.
So we have already booked some trips into Jordan and Israel. Why not huh?
Now, some travellers tips that I have figured out up till now.
- Washing your clothes is so expensive it just isnt funny. You are looking at aroun $15 - $20 for a single load. What the heck
- Internet is also another big money grabber. For Europe it costs around $8 for an hour of internet. You have to be really efficient when logging onto the net.
- Plastic bags are a life saver. For washing, dirty stuff, alcohol bottles etc.
- It pays to be nice to people all the time. Especially in places like Egypt here where they all talk about you behind your back and everyone knows every goings on in the town.
- Take a lot of Electrolites when travelling to places like this.
- Weigh up all travel options before jumping into things. The way we are doing it now we are basically not showing up to our return flight back to Amsterdam. It might seem stupid to just not turn up to a flight but we cant cancel it and it would work out cheaper for us to stay here than in Europe. It would have cost us 100 Euro to get from Amsterdam to Berlin by train with us having to sleep in an airport or somewhere for 8 hours in between. With this extended stay it has cost us 200 euro to fly directly into Berlin from Cairo with around 250 Euro saved on accomodation.
and we get our own room here and stuff and none of this bullshit dorm room crap.
Good times
Dahab has proven to be so cool that we have decided to stay here for an extra couple of weeks or so.
The snorkelling / diving is amazing. There is a place here called the Blue Hole and you can go swimming with all these tropical fishes around some awesome coral. Everyone is so easy going here that they just give you snorkels and flippers and stuff to use. Cheap enough to. Much like the prices in Bangkok.
So we have already booked some trips into Jordan and Israel. Why not huh?
Now, some travellers tips that I have figured out up till now.
- Washing your clothes is so expensive it just isnt funny. You are looking at aroun $15 - $20 for a single load. What the heck
- Internet is also another big money grabber. For Europe it costs around $8 for an hour of internet. You have to be really efficient when logging onto the net.
- Plastic bags are a life saver. For washing, dirty stuff, alcohol bottles etc.
- It pays to be nice to people all the time. Especially in places like Egypt here where they all talk about you behind your back and everyone knows every goings on in the town.
- Take a lot of Electrolites when travelling to places like this.
- Weigh up all travel options before jumping into things. The way we are doing it now we are basically not showing up to our return flight back to Amsterdam. It might seem stupid to just not turn up to a flight but we cant cancel it and it would work out cheaper for us to stay here than in Europe. It would have cost us 100 Euro to get from Amsterdam to Berlin by train with us having to sleep in an airport or somewhere for 8 hours in between. With this extended stay it has cost us 200 euro to fly directly into Berlin from Cairo with around 250 Euro saved on accomodation.
and we get our own room here and stuff and none of this bullshit dorm room crap.
Good times
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Dahab = Awesome
Ok. We came back to Cairo via a 12 hour overnight train, dropped those stupid polish chicks off and then left today at 6 in the morning for a 9 hour bus ride to the small seaside resort of Dahab.
First Impressions are that it is like a hidden paradise. Really super casual and relaxing. We got picked up from the bus by a guy in a ute and got told to throw everything in the back and jump in with it. Pretty casual alright.
Had a dinner propped up on the beach with some egyptian pillows that was so cheap and so awesome. Cats everywhere. Little ones. I am talking the size that can fit in one hand. And they all clambour all over you when they see food so the staff at the restaurants give you a spray bottle of water to squirt them in the eys with. Haha. I feel bad doing it but you have to.
Got two bottles of Vodka to get us through the next few days for a total of 36 egyptian pounds. Not bad considering that one pound is about 3.5 NZ dollars. Do the math.
.................
....................................
................................................................
.........................................................................................
Thats about $5 for a whole bottle of Vodka.
Going snorkelling through the coral tomorrow which should be awesome. They also have dive courses here which is pretty cool so I might check that out too.
Gotta go. Drinking to be done. Yola Yola (that means - 'Lets go")
First Impressions are that it is like a hidden paradise. Really super casual and relaxing. We got picked up from the bus by a guy in a ute and got told to throw everything in the back and jump in with it. Pretty casual alright.
Had a dinner propped up on the beach with some egyptian pillows that was so cheap and so awesome. Cats everywhere. Little ones. I am talking the size that can fit in one hand. And they all clambour all over you when they see food so the staff at the restaurants give you a spray bottle of water to squirt them in the eys with. Haha. I feel bad doing it but you have to.
Got two bottles of Vodka to get us through the next few days for a total of 36 egyptian pounds. Not bad considering that one pound is about 3.5 NZ dollars. Do the math.
.................
....................................
................................................................
.........................................................................................
Thats about $5 for a whole bottle of Vodka.
Going snorkelling through the coral tomorrow which should be awesome. They also have dive courses here which is pretty cool so I might check that out too.
Gotta go. Drinking to be done. Yola Yola (that means - 'Lets go")
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Where the heck am I now?
I am in Luxor.
We travalled here via a 5 star cruise from Aswan. Going to different temples everyday and it is getting to the stage where you just cant be bother seeing another decorated column. You know what I mean.
Anyway, the temples are pretty sick. Some taking up to 200 years to build.
I dont know if anyone remembers a program on TV called 'The Fast Show'. One where they did a skit pretending to be news reporters in a middle eastern country and they all said 'Hefefefefef Pefefefefef, and now to the weather' and the weather lady chick would always say 'Scorchio' and put sun symbols on every city loaction and one time she said 'Cumlio Nimbus' and the reporters were like 'CUMLIO NIMBUS!!!!!' and they went to a live feed and everyone was pointing up at a cloud in absolute awe.
Yeah, its like that here. A moderate 42 degrees celcius no less right now and it is 7:20 PM. Ridiculous.
The pool water is like it has come from a boiling jug. So so hot.
I can fart now though. We have figured out that if you have a shot of whisky every time you feel a bit crook, the alcohol kills all the stomach germs. No shit. Look into it.
We travalled here via a 5 star cruise from Aswan. Going to different temples everyday and it is getting to the stage where you just cant be bother seeing another decorated column. You know what I mean.
Anyway, the temples are pretty sick. Some taking up to 200 years to build.
I dont know if anyone remembers a program on TV called 'The Fast Show'. One where they did a skit pretending to be news reporters in a middle eastern country and they all said 'Hefefefefef Pefefefefef, and now to the weather' and the weather lady chick would always say 'Scorchio' and put sun symbols on every city loaction and one time she said 'Cumlio Nimbus' and the reporters were like 'CUMLIO NIMBUS!!!!!' and they went to a live feed and everyone was pointing up at a cloud in absolute awe.
Yeah, its like that here. A moderate 42 degrees celcius no less right now and it is 7:20 PM. Ridiculous.
The pool water is like it has come from a boiling jug. So so hot.
I can fart now though. We have figured out that if you have a shot of whisky every time you feel a bit crook, the alcohol kills all the stomach germs. No shit. Look into it.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Another post in such short a time. If only people read it. Haha
So this morning I had to wake up at 2am to catch a 3 hour bus trip to a temple way the hell out near the Serbian border. The polish chicks didnt want to come because 2 was just too early for them.
So you can imagine the bus. About 12 seats in it, little to no leg room and a driver who had about 50 different ring tones on his phone adn I got to listen to them all. Haha. It was a bit of an adventure.
We got to the temple called Abu Simble at around 7am and spent about 2 hours there. Pretty sick temple. Statues about 20 metres high on each side as you walk through the doors. Another three hours back and I am now aboard a cruise ship getting ready for two days of 'cruisin' down the Nile.
Guts have been getting a bit dodgy lately. Nothing too serious and I am looking out for what I am eating but you still get the old gripe every now and then. I am too afraid to fart sometimes.
So you can imagine the bus. About 12 seats in it, little to no leg room and a driver who had about 50 different ring tones on his phone adn I got to listen to them all. Haha. It was a bit of an adventure.
We got to the temple called Abu Simble at around 7am and spent about 2 hours there. Pretty sick temple. Statues about 20 metres high on each side as you walk through the doors. Another three hours back and I am now aboard a cruise ship getting ready for two days of 'cruisin' down the Nile.
Guts have been getting a bit dodgy lately. Nothing too serious and I am looking out for what I am eating but you still get the old gripe every now and then. I am too afraid to fart sometimes.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Egypt
Talk about a culture shock!!!
After a stressful few hours before I left realsing that my travel insurance had run out and it was compulsory for myself to have it for Egypt I managed to get a Southern Cross Working overseas plan.
Dont use FLIGHT CENTRE, people. They are useless and take at least 2 months to do anything. I stil havent got my refund back from the start of my trip.
Anyway, Rotterdam and Maastricht were beautiful. Really nice to see a bit more of the Netherlands than the somewhat seedy underbelly of Amsterdam.
When we arrived in Egypt we were picked up by some dodgy looking guy claiming to be from the tour. We then jumped into a non descript car complete with dangly things hanging from the windows and AM/FM radio. An hour of stressing that he was going to take us to an out of the way place and ask for all our money, finally got us to our hotel.
The tour we are on is much different from the likes of Contiki but that is fine. It is just 2 other Polish girls on the tour and they sure know how to complain. One of them said from the start - 'Is there going to be Mosquitos here, because I am allergic to mosquitos'. Honestly, sometmes you have to wonder whether people travel for fun and adventure or just to show pictures of the places they have seen.
'We want a freshly squeezed Orange juice - can you take us to a shop?'
I think they have to realise that we are in AFRICA!!!!
Anyway, Egypt reminds me a lot of India in many respects. It is slightly more cleaner and slightly less choatic but it nevertheless still has all the same ingrediants as India.
We visited all the Pyramids yesterday and were literally swamped by hagglers. Everywhere. You get pretty good at saying NO. The sphyinx was a bit of a disappointment. Really tiny and pretty badly damaged.
The great pyramids were sick though. Last night we travelled by overnight train to Aswan - about 900 kms north of Cairo. Pretty dirty train and stuff but it was OK to spend a night on it.
Tomorrow we are going to Luxor. Ancient ruins everywhere. I guess they can get a bit overwhelming.
After a stressful few hours before I left realsing that my travel insurance had run out and it was compulsory for myself to have it for Egypt I managed to get a Southern Cross Working overseas plan.
Dont use FLIGHT CENTRE, people. They are useless and take at least 2 months to do anything. I stil havent got my refund back from the start of my trip.
Anyway, Rotterdam and Maastricht were beautiful. Really nice to see a bit more of the Netherlands than the somewhat seedy underbelly of Amsterdam.
When we arrived in Egypt we were picked up by some dodgy looking guy claiming to be from the tour. We then jumped into a non descript car complete with dangly things hanging from the windows and AM/FM radio. An hour of stressing that he was going to take us to an out of the way place and ask for all our money, finally got us to our hotel.
The tour we are on is much different from the likes of Contiki but that is fine. It is just 2 other Polish girls on the tour and they sure know how to complain. One of them said from the start - 'Is there going to be Mosquitos here, because I am allergic to mosquitos'. Honestly, sometmes you have to wonder whether people travel for fun and adventure or just to show pictures of the places they have seen.
'We want a freshly squeezed Orange juice - can you take us to a shop?'
I think they have to realise that we are in AFRICA!!!!
Anyway, Egypt reminds me a lot of India in many respects. It is slightly more cleaner and slightly less choatic but it nevertheless still has all the same ingrediants as India.
We visited all the Pyramids yesterday and were literally swamped by hagglers. Everywhere. You get pretty good at saying NO. The sphyinx was a bit of a disappointment. Really tiny and pretty badly damaged.
The great pyramids were sick though. Last night we travelled by overnight train to Aswan - about 900 kms north of Cairo. Pretty dirty train and stuff but it was OK to spend a night on it.
Tomorrow we are going to Luxor. Ancient ruins everywhere. I guess they can get a bit overwhelming.
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