Taking the Long Way

Bogota, Colombia

jadepeters — Wed, 9 Sep 2009 06:28:00 GMT

For some reason that I can’t remember now we booked ourselves on a flight from NYC that left at 6am from Newark Airport, an hour outside the city so that meant getting up at 2.15am to head to the airport on Sunday. A 3hr flight to Miami, a quick change over and another 3hr flight to Bogota and we arrived in Colombia! The time here is 15hrs behind Sydney time for anyone texting/calling.

I’m really excited about being in South America but at the same time feeling a little disappointed that this is my last continent before I head home and its making the reality of going back to Sydney and real life that little bit closer…Ah still a few months left yet though according to my bank balance, especially as the little Aussie dollar is heading forward in leaps and bounds and is doing the best it has since I left home!

So Colombia….the cocaine capital of the world, producing and exporting over 80% of the world’s cocaine market. That really isn’t of any particular significance to me personally but seeing as it is the basis of the country’s economy its pretty important. The internationally the headlines generally speak unfavourable about Colombia, its ongoing civil war and the high level of crime but its certainly no reflection of its people who I’ve found so far to be gregarious, social and courteous (even when I don’t speak Spanish!).

Bogota is not a perfectly safe place but parts of the city centre, and in particular La Candelaria (the colonial quarter) have increased their policing over recent years and are considered to be the safest areas for tourists. We are staying in La Candelaria in a great little hostel called Musicology for the grand price of $8 each a night. I’m so happy to be back in a cheap country where my dollar goes much further! Security wise its not safe to carry any valuables around with you and it’s a definite no-no to be out after dark but as long as you stick to that things should be fine and we certainly haven’t had any problems at all. In fact I feel safer walking around here than I did in the ghetto we stayed in in NYC!

Bogota lies at an altitude of 2600m so its pretty cold here, about 14C year round with very chilly nights. The city is bordered on the east by a mountain range, topped by the two peaks of Cerro de Monserrate (which we went up by cable car) and Cerro de Guadalupe. In the city itself the Plaza de Boliviar is the heart of the historic town where we are staying with a mishmash of other architectural styles around. There is the classic Greek style Capitolio Nacional, the seat of the Congress, opposite the equally monumental Palacio de Justicia. The eastern side of the Plaza is taken up with the French-style Alcaldia, Mayor’s Office, adjacent to the neoclassical Catedral Primada.

I’m really really wishing that I had taken the time to learn some Spanish before I arrived in South America, my ‘20 key words and phrases’ really aren’t getting me too far here but I am learning quickly. First phrase I have learned and used regularly is ‘I don’t speak Spanish’!

Unfortunately I’ve had a cold since I arrived and spent the first 24 hours in bed so that put a limit to how much I could see here but I’ve made the most of today and wandered around despite the sniffles. We are heading south to Cali tonight on an overnight bus that the hostel owners have assured us is perfectly safe, despite the Lonely Planet saying otherwise. Fingers crossed…

New York

jadepeters — Fri, 4 Sep 2009 06:27:00 GMT

I arrived in new York about midday Tuesday and at 3pm was still trying to find my way to the hostel I was booked into in Brooklyn. The subway system here can’t hold a candle to that of London and its much dirtier and harder to navigate. Eventually we found our hostel, smack bang in the public housing area of Brooklyn, which suspiciously resembles the ghetto areas in a lot of movies I’ve seen. We didn’t do much that day as we were exhausted and we were too worried about trying to get back after dark in case we got shot or mugged so pretty much stayed put.

I found a website where we could by a New York Pass for $120USD each that gave us access to heaps of tourist sites for free and seeing as each site costs a fortune we were well and truly going to get our moneys worth out of it. I highly recommend it if anyone is going to New York anytime.

With a touch of jet lag, New York being 5 hours behind London, Luke and I were up at 5.30am and with not much else to do after a 6am breakfast at the hostel headed to the end of the street to our local Laundromat to do our washing; secure in the knowledge that the building is surrounded by razor wire should anyone try to infiltrate the serene washing environment.

For the better part of a century visitors to New York have headed straight to the Empire State Building for the ‘thrill of a lifetime’; the journey aloft to the Observatory 86 floors above 5th Avenue, so we thought we better do the same. Our pass gave us entry as well as a ticket to the ‘Skyride’ a 3D ride/video of the New York skyline. If you are going to New York do NOT pay for this ride, it was complete crap! At $36USD I think I would have cried if I had paid for it. From the Observatory the view of the city was fantastic, a breathtaking panorama across rooftops, avenues and byways of the New York metropolitan area.

From there we went to Madison Square Garden and did a behind the scenes All Access Tour of the famous arena, including the box seats, the smaller arenas and the NBA and NHL locker rooms. Once again we got a video as well, and in addition a meet and greet with one of the NBA cheerleaders (who Luke refused to get a photos with). Not a great tour and definitely not worth the $20USD it would have cost.

Heading back downtown we went to the Museum of Sex, which was an eye opener. Its mission is to ‘preserve and present the history, evolution and cultural significaance of human sexuality’ but the whole first floor was devoted to animal sex and masturbation, complete with videos that were quite educational! I had no idea what turtles get up to with a moment alone. The top floor was back to humans, with lots of exhibits and videos as well as pictures and interactive displays. Very informative…

Powering on we went to the NBC Studios and did a behind the scenes tour of the studios there, starting off with a lengthy video of course. I think every tour incorporates a video here. Given that I don’t even watch TV at home, let alone any American shows I didn’t really get excited about much of it but one studio we went to I did recognise the name of the show, Saturday Night Live. No photographs and no weapons allowed…

From there we went into the Rockefeller Centre, past the dazzling Swarovski crystal chandelier and into one of the glass ceiling shuttles to the top of the Rock for a 360 degree spectacular view of New York City that I thought beat the Empire State view hands down. Instead of wires around the viewing platforms they have glass panes so the view is uninterrupted and in addition there were far less people so much less crowded. That might be because its much more expensive to go up there than the Empire State…

In all the places we have been security is very very tight and the queues to get into places have been really long. Sometimes I think we spend more time waiting than at the actual sight! The subway is a lot dirtier than I expected, having come from the clean efficient London tube, but once we finally worked out how it went its pretty effective and much cheaper than the tube. A huge first full day in New York and I was sound asleep by 8pm!

London

jadepeters — Tue, 1 Sep 2009 06:26:00 GMT

My last night in Berlin was a bit of a nightmare. After my lovely pork roast dinner at the Lowenbrau I ended up with food poisoning and was up all night vomiting. But then had to leave the hostel at 4.30am to catch the train to the airport for our flight to London. I was not in a good way at all, which was made worse when we arrived at the airport and our flight was delayed 8 hours. By the time I arrived in London I barely had time to get to the hostel and throw on clean clothes before I headed out to Covent Garden to meet up with a friend from Sydney, Linda and her partner Emma.

After a few pints I stumbled back to the hostel and had an uneasy sleep in a strange dorm that had each bed surrounded by a curtain, similar to a few overnight trains I’ve been on. The following morning I discovered another other odd thing about this hostel; the showers are all grouped together in the sub-sub-basement in a grid formation with only a curtain between them and the water activated for 10 seconds at a time at a predetermined temperature by pressing a button. I felt like I was in prison.

I loved London when I was here in 2006 a couple of times and felt exactly the same way this time. London has been called a ‘world in one city’ and that’s exactly what it feels like to be here. While immigrants continue to flow in (especially Indians!) London nevertheless feels quintessentially British, whether it’s those boxy black cabs, the red double deckers or those grand symbols of Britain – the mother of all parliaments at Westminster, the silhouette of Tower bridge above the muddy Thames or the already world-famous London Eye.

Luke has been desperate to visit the Black Museum at New Scotland Yard for years so he had arranged with the curator to be taken through the next morning bright and early. There were extensive security checks and our police ID carefully scrutinised (as the museum is only open to serving police officers worldwide) before we entered the dark and freezing museum. While it wasn’t as big as I had anticipated it was truly fascinating. The museum is solely filled with the Met's private collection of macabre crime artifacts, all used in the commission of a crime or which have been exhibits in a court case in England. Some of the more interesting exhibits included those from Jack the Ripper, a pair of human arms sent from Germany (a very literal interpretation when British police had requested fingerprints of a body to be sent to them).

To be perfectly honest that was then the end of my sightseeing in London, I just ran out of time after that! We went shopping on Oxford Street that afternoon as it was freezing cold and I needed something warm. I also realised that my two pairs of footwear that had served me well all year (a pair of crocs and a pair of thongs) weren’t really suitable for going out in London so splurged on a new pair of shoes. How I long for my closet at home and the myriad of choice that lies within…

That night we went out with Seun, a friend of mine who I first met in Central America in 2006, and had a fantastic if expensive night out, and not just expensive by backpacker standards! To give you some idea, the standard price for a drink at the club we went to was 14 Pounds, or $28AUD. Unbelievable. Seun I adore you but if we lived in the same country and caught up more regularly I would go broke!!

The following morning Luke and I caught the train up to Cambridge to spend the night with Mark and Steph, friends of mine who I first met in Africa in 2006 and in Australia and Thailand as well since then. I love the London tube system, its so organised and punctual but Kings Cross station is a nightmare to the uninitiated. We spent over an hour walking around trying to find the platform we were supposed to be at to go to Cambridge and being seedy and tired irritation levels for both of us were at an all time high as we walked back and forth the enormous train station.

Eventually we found where we were supposed to be and slept the 45 minutes on the express train. Mark met us at the station in Cambridge which was so nice, such a change from buses and tubes and hours of waling to find our next destination. We spent a gorgeous summers day with Mark and Steph wandering around historic Cambridge. Its so different to London, none of the hustle and bustle and its far more quaint and laid back. There are push bikes everywhere and that seems to be the preferred mode of transport. After a fantastic home cooked meal (thanks again Mark and Steph!) we went out for a few beers and then off to bed.

We had organised to meet up on Sunday at the Nottinghill Festival with Luke’s sister Jodie who was visiting London. At the last minute Jodie changed her plans and wasn’t in London to meet us but as we had already bought our train tickets/accomodation etc we headed there anyway and went to the festival. OH MY GOD!! I have never seen anything like it. The debauchery, mess, chaos, noise and crowd crush was like nothing I have ever seen before. I’m still not really sure what the whole thing is about but from what I could tell the whole suburb of Nottinghill is closed off and over a million people descend for 2 days to listen to music at different stages around the streets and there is a parade (of sorts) of different musical acts.

I was thinking it would be kind of like the Mardi Gras in Sydney but its like that with 500 times more people, no organisation, no toilets, no barricades to stop people walking between the floats, no garbage bins and a general sense of lawlessness. People had set up bbq’s in their front yard and were selling food and drinks to the crowd, as well as selling the use of their toilets for up to 2 Pounds a flush! We met up with Linda and Emma there briefly but the crowd was so squashy that I just wanted to get out of there, and the music was terrible anyway. From that point it took us an hour and a half to get out of the festival area (about 700m away) because of the crowd crush.

My last day in London was spent wandering around Covent Garden, mostly accompanying Luke as he shopped his way through the suburb (in a way that I cannot afford!) and eating and drinking. That evening we met up with Matt, a friend I met earlier this year when I was at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand and we went out for a few beers. The early night we had planned for didn’t eventuate and it was a struggle to get up the next morning for a very early flight to New York on Tuesday.

Berlin

jadepeters — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:25:00 GMT

I wanted to head out to the Sachsenhausen concentration Camp but was torn between wanting to take a day tour so I would know exactly what it was I would be looking at, and going on our own so we wouldn’t be rushed around in a huge group like when I went through Auschwitz. The tour was 14Euro each, which didn’t include transport and considering entry into Sachsenhausen is free is seemed a bit outrageous to pay that price for a guide with a group of 40 others. So I jumped online and found a downloadable audio guide for the site for $7 which Luke and I downloaded into our iPods and off we went. I can’t recommend the audio guide enough! It was so great, all the information I wanted with none of the hassle, time restrictions or crowds of going with a tour. I’m going to try downloading walking tours for all the big cities I go to now. Fantastic!

A little about the camp itself…its about 45 minutes by the S-Bahn out of the center of Berlin (and there were background history segments to listen to on the audio guide on the way there!). At the end of the line is Oranienburg station and from there it is a 2km walk to the Sachsenhausen Memorial.

Sachsenhausen was set up as the ‘model’ concentration camp by the Nazi’s primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945 and as a training centre for SS officers. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD special camp until 1950. The remaining buildings and grounds are now open to the public as a museum.

Sachsenhausen was intended to set a standard for other concentration camps, both in its design and the treatment of prisoners. The camp perimeter is an equilateral triangle with a semi circular roll call area centred on the main entrance gate in the side running northeast to southwest. Barrack huts lay beyond the roll call area, radiating from the gate. The layout was intended to allow the machine gun post in the entrance gate to dominate the camp but in practice it was necessary to add additional watchtowers to the perimeter. The standard barrack layout was to have a central washing area and a separate room with toilet bowls and a right and left wing for overcrowded sleeping rooms.

There was an infirmary inside the southern angle of the perimeter and a camp prison within the eastern angle. There was also a camp kitchen and a camp laundry. The camp's capacity became inadequate and the camp was extended in 1938 by a new rectangular area (the "special camp") north east of the entrance gate and the perimeter wall was altered to enclose it.

The first thing you notice on arrival is a stark grey wall with evenly spaced sections missing out of if from which you enter the site. This is where the original wall of the camp stood and now can be passed through freely.

From there we entered via Tower A into the main compound area in which people were held. Virtually all the barracks have been destroyed but a wall has been erected in a semi-circle surrounding the roll-call area with facades of barracks displayed where the original barracks would have stood facing Tower A.

There are grey stone slabs dotted over the grounds which at first glace I thought were gravestones but in fact they represent the location of a former barracks. These slabs mostly had small stones on top of them, placed by Jewish visitors to the memorial as a sign of respect for the victims. Of the remaining barracks the living conditions were terrible, 700 people to a barracks and bathroom facilities for about 50. There was no heating, and this area of Germany often gets down below 0 degrees Celsius.

The infirmary, where victims were ‘treated’, experimented on or simply beaten to death has an incredible museum that recounts the horrors of medicine and mistreatment that took place there. Next to the infirmary if the Pathology Building, the top floor of which held a lab and autopsy room to examine the bodies of victims who died within the camp from various reasons, usually starvation, disease or exposure. The basement level was a cool underground tiled series of chambers that was used as a morgue into which the bodies were rolled down from the autopsy room via a steep concrete slope outside.

The remains could still be seen of the underground gas chambers and cremations ovens of the area known as Station Z. This name came about as the entrance to Sachsenhausen was Tower A and this was the only exit so it must be Station Z, according to those who lived and worked there.

The site, although much smaller in size and scale than Auschwitz and Birkenau, waas nonetheless very sobering and personally I felt it was a more compelling place overall. That was probably partly to do with the fact that there was no compulsory tour so we were free to spend the whole day there looking at everything, rather than being rushed through in a horde as well as there being far less visitors at Sachsenahusen. The whole area is extraordinarily well documented and the museums and exhibits are all really well presented.

Prague

jadepeters — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:23:00 GMT

Prague, also known as Zlata Praha in the past, is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the bank of River Vltava in central Bohemia, the beautiful city of Prague is rich in history and definitely has a bright and promising future. The city has seen a major change in its rapid transition from communism to capitalism in the last 20 years but by all accounts of the locals there, people are much happier and have adjusted eagerly.

Whilst most historic sites and monuments have been preserved, the restructuring of Prague city has been vital in order to manage the influx of tourists, especially after joining the European Union in 2004. For example, while we were there a ring road project was underway to ease traffic congestion and we saw that certain historic buildings had been turned into hotels.

Prague claims to be one of the cultural centres of Europe, housing many institutions such as museums, galleries and theatres. There are also dozens of music halls, opera houses (including one at which Mozart conducted the first performance of his opera Don Giovanni, which he wrote in Prague).

We went on a walking tour of the city (for free!) and had a very exuberant Czech guide who provided a great, and humorous, account of Prague's history and showed us some gorgeous places which we went back to on our own later on.

The bathroom situation at this hostel is pretty dire, there is one bathroom for over 30 people and it is hideous! Mould, mildew and peeling paint is just the start. Add in holes in the wall, some filled with some sort of spray foam, no locks and so filthy you don't want to touch anything and you start to get some idea of what it was like.

The manager there was the rudest man I think I have ever encountered, refusing to give us $50 change when we paid for our first night's accommodation, then he said we had to check out after one night at 11am then wold not allow us to check back in for our second night until 2pm. AND refused to store our luggage in the interim hours despite the fact that we were staying in the same room as the night before, we had already paid AND they had no cleaners coming in so there was no need for us to leave. So we trudged with our packs down to the local coffee shop and sat for hours nursing hot chocolates and cursing the manager.

Auschwitz

jadepeters — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:24:00 GMT

After arriving in Krakow, Poland on the luxurious and expensive 6 hour train we met up the following morning bright and early with Nic and Sean in the main square and caught a bus out to Auschwitz; a place which is seared into public consciousness as the location of history’s most extensive experiment in genocide.

Established within disused army barracks in 1940, Auschwitz was initially designed to hold Polish prisoners, but was expanded into the largest centre for the extermination of European Jews. Another nearby camp was subsequently established, Birkenau (also known as Auschwitz II) 3km west of Auschwitz which I went to as well.

Auschwitz was only partially destroyed by the fleeing Nazis and many of the original buildings remain, including the first crematorium and gas chamber where the Nazi first tested Zyclon B. a dozen of the 30 surviving brick prison blocks house the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Museum not only contains haunting photographs and documentation but also personal belonging found when the camp was liberated; thousands of shoes, glasses, toothbrushes, suitcases and all manner of personal items seized from the Jews and stored in massive storage houses. One of the most shocking things on display was a room filled with all the human hair, 22 tonnes of it, that had been found in bales in storage as well.

Some areas, such as the starvation and standing room only cells are still intact as well, and it is incomprehensible how anyone survived under the conditions in the camp. Much of the camp is still surrounded by barbed wire and the watch towers are still in place.

Birkenau is not as well known as Auschwitz but it where the actual murder of huge numbers of Jews took place. This vast, 175 hectares, purpose-built and grimly efficient camp had more than 300 prison barracks and 4 huge gas chambers complete with crematoria. The camp could 200,000 inmates at one time. The gas chambers held 2000 people below ground level and then electric lifts raised the bodies up to the ovens.

Although much of the camp was destroyed by retreating Nazis , the sheer size of the place, fenced off with barbed wire stretching almost as far as the eye can see, provides some idea of scale of this heinous crime and makes Birkenau even more shocking than Auschwitz.

Budapest

jadepeters — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:25:00 GMT

After spending more time in Croatia that I have in any other country for some time now it felt strange to be moving on to Hungary and leaving behind the land of pizza and ice-cream. We took the train from Zagreb to Hungary but very sensibly decided on a day train rather than another sleepless night sitting upright. Coming into Budapest was an education; I had no idea that the city is not in fact called Budapest but rather it is two separate cities on the western and eastern sides of the Danube river that are called Buda and Pest, respectively.

I stayed right in the heart of Pest which seemed to be the more vibrant of the cities, in the central square of Deak Ter and although initially was only going to stay for two nights, ended up staying for three. Pest is the city’s commercial centre, with culture, restaurants and nightlife, smoky bars and shady gardens, museums and bath houses.

Walking along the Danube, which is the main artery of the city, there are numerous passenger ferries and sightseeing tours that trawl up and down the river past many of the main city sites and through to Margaret Island, which is located smack bang in the middle of Buda and Pest. Luke and I did it the old fashioned way by foot but after covering about 7km in one day were really wishing we had revised our plan.

Over on the Buda side was Gellert Hill which has a statue of a gigantic lady with a palm leaf proclaiming freedom throughout the city. The monument was erected as a tribute to the Soviet soldiers who died liberating Hungary in 1945. Just next to the monument is the Citadella; it was built by the Habsburgs after the 1848 revolution to ‘defend’ the city from further insurrection but it was never used as a fortress. The massive Kiralyi Palota, Royal Palace, is also in Buda and is an enormously impressive building, or collection of buildings really.

There are lots of other sights and museums scattered around Pest but arguably the most spectacular is the he riverfront Parliament which was modelled on London’s Westminster but with crazy spires. We also went to the colossal Szent Istvan Bazilika to see the mummified hand of St Stephen (big let down, it just looked like a brown log in a glass case).

But the finest activity that pest had to offer, in my opinion, was the Szechenyi Furno in the city park. This place is an amazing thermal bath house built in 1908 that has 3 enormous outdoor pools, all set to different temperatures, then inside there are multiple thermal baths, saunas, steam rooms and massage areas. The steam rooms and saunas each ranged in temperature from 35 degrees up to 100 degrees with the temperature of each clearly displayed outside the entrance. I wasn’t game to try 100 but I did get up to 80 degrees; for about 5 minutes. Similarly with all the pools, they ranged from a chilly 18 degrees right up to a toasty 38 degrees. Most people hire an indoor cabin to get changed in, which I found quite unusual as there were change rooms, toilets and lockers available for free.

Nicole, a friend that both Luke and I used to work with at Bankstown JIRT in 2006, has been living in London since 2007 and is travelling with her fiance, Sean though Europe before moving back home so it was fantastic that we were able to work out where our paths would cross and that happened to be Budapest. It was great to see Nicole again after so long, to meet her Sean and above all to see a familiar face from home! It looks like we will probably cross paths again in Poland and a game of Scrabble is on the cards, much to my excitement and Luke’s dismay as even though I often ask he has successfully avoided playing ever since he arrived.

The public transport system was easy to use, with basically three main metro lines to take you anywhere you wanted to go. The funniest thing was standing at he tickets counter two English little old ladies in front of me who were trying to buy tickets and were quite taken aback when the ticket seller, who spoke no English, repeated yelled at them ‘2 dickheads, 2 dickheads’. It was a few minutes before we all realised that he was asking if they wanted two tickets.

I’m not sure how it happened but somehow we have booked a hostel in Slovakia next and completely overlooked going anywhere else in Hungary so Budapest will have to remain my only memory of Hungary but it was a really great city, especially the goulash soup!

Transylvania

jadepeters — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:53:00 GMT

This is what I've been waiting to see...the awe inspiring Transylvania where I half expected fanged goons to be climbing down the walls of their Gothic castle and wing-flap to moats to villages where they would pick and choose their daily meal of human flesh. I was sorely disappointed on that count... But the area is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and the history of the place is incredible; and NOTHING like what you think.

Luke and I headed out early and firstly headed to Sinaia, an hour south of Brasov, (enroute to which our bus broke down) to visit the magnificent Peles Castle originally the summer residence for the first Royal Couple of Romania. It is just like a fairy tale castle, with turrets rising above acres of lush green meadows (do NOT walk on the grass!) and grand reception halls fashioned in Moorish, Florentine and French styles. Endless heavy wood carved ceilings, gilded pieces and a truly remarkable fully stocked leather bound library threatened to overwhelm my wee mortal mind. Unfortunately not only did we have to wear slippers inside but photography was an additional $50, which travelling on a shoestring does not allow for, so you will just have to imagine.

Then onwards and upwards to Bran Castle; widely known as Dracula's Castle. Now I am sorry to break it to you but Dracula is not real. Kind of just like a really scary Santa Claus. In fact, not only does he not exist but the person on which his character in Bram Stoker's famous novel was supposedly based never sucked on any one's blood either!

One theory is that Bram Stoker used Vlad 'The Impaler' Dracul as the inspiration for his main character and whilst there is no denying that Vlad had a very nasty streak, being an accomplished torturer and sadistic man, he was no ghoul and never lived in a castle such as the one attributed to him in the novel. He simply lived in the area and had a remarkably similar name. I guess the connection is good for the tourist dollar though and the Romanians seem to milk it for all it's worth!

In reality, Bram Stoker never even visited Transylvania and his novel "Dracula" was loosely based on a compilation of various myths he had heard from travellers. Made for a great story though! So as I mentioned earlier, Bran Castle is widely known as Dracula's Castle, although there is nothing to support the theory that Bram Stoker based his famous novel on this location or even that Vlad the Impaler even visited the castle at any time. At first look the 60m castle, set on a rocky outcrop between facing hills, seemed vampirific but inside it was a bit of an anti-climax. The Dracula memorabilia being sold by the truckload outside was a bit of a detraction also. The Dracula cocktails were a nice touch though :)

From there we went to the ruins of the 13th century Rasnov Fortress, which while delightful, was over run with medieval-costumed characters, creating an amusement park atmosphere. The recently installed rock-climbing wall on one side of the fortress didn't help either!

Ephesus

jadepeters — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:40:00 GMT

Luke and I are staying in the seaside city of Kusadasi on the Agean Coast at the moment and enjoying a few days of relaxation and wandering around through this bustling little place that is a cross between the French Riviera and Surfers Paradise. We’ve hit the jackpot with accomodation and managed to find a great little place that had a studio apartment, pool and breakfast included for about $20 a night which is great. Of course the standards of cleanliness are lacking somewhat but you can’t have everything I guess.

We took a day trip out to Ephesus this morning and I have to say I was pretty disappointed. After the gorgeous ancient cities that I passed through in Jordan and Syria I think I have been thoroughly spoilt and my expectations are just too high. It was lovely but not with quite the same WOW factor as Petra, Jerash and Palmyra. The English speaking guide (who didn’t) was so difficult to understand that Luke and I eventually just wandered off and did our own exploring of the site starting with the Marble Sacred Street connecting the Great Theatre with the Library of Celcus. On the right of the Library is the Commercial Agora, connected to the Library Square by the Gate of Augustus. From the Library heading East is the Curetes Street paved entirely with marble.

Along the Curetes Street allegedly it had beautiful side walks for pedestrians paved with mosaics but there is little to indicate that now. On the right hand side there are narrow little streets heading to private hill houses, now excavated and partially restored. On the left side of the Street there were official monuments like the Temple of Hadrian, fountains and some other interesting places like the baths, the brothel and the public toilets.

From Ephesus we headed out to the Temple of Artemis which we had been assured was an amazing palce and a must see on any Turkey trip. When we got there Luke and I nearly fell over each other laughing; instead of the grand old temple we were expecting there was a board displaying a floor plan of what the Temple once was and all that was left was one lone column that had been pieced together with various bits of rubble lying around. Not exactly what we had in mind!

We’ve got another day here and for a bit of light relief are heading out to a Turkish Water Park tomorrow before making our way to Bulgaria via Istanbul on Sunday.

Istanbul

jadepeters — Sun, 5 Jul 2009 23:46:00 GMT

Istanbul

I arrived in Istanbul on the overnight train on Friday morning and caught the ferry over the Bosphorus to the old side of the city. There was a hasty farewell to my tour group (most of whom I hope to never lay eyes on again) and trudged up the hill to the hotel I was to stay at. With a whole day to kill before I headed out to the airport to meet Luke I was ridiculously excited and unable to sit still for more than five minutes but didn’t want to start sightseeing before Luke arrived. Finally I made my way to Ataturk airport and met Luke in the afternoon. It was fantastic to see him again but this time instead of a fleeting visit he is staying to travel with me for the next 5 months through Europe and South America.

The following two days were supposed to be lazing around the hotel and relaxing but both of us being excited and keen to see Istanbul we were up and out early the following morning to check out the city.

I really really like Istanbul, it is a feast for the eyes and the senses; a charismatic metropolis bursting with energy and an unrivalled appetite for life. From the first call to prayer echoing out from the mosques at 4am to the latest hours of the night the city is constantly on the go. But its not chaotic hustle and bustle, its clean, organised and above all fun. The people are very friendly and I’m not getting hassled anywhere near as much as I was elsewhere in the Middle East.

Our hotel was in Sultanhamet, near the Blue Mosque (much to Luke’s chagrin when the 4am prayer calls start) and was easy to access lots of sights from there. We walked to the Blue Mosque which is is a striking monument built between 1609 and 1619 with 6 slender minarets, a cascade of domes and half domes and the inside a luminous blue of tiled walls and pained domes.

From there we tried to find the Hippodrome, walking around in the heat for about an hour and a half in circles, before finally realising that it was not a specific location but rather an AREA in Sultanahmet…encompassing the Obelisk off Theodosius and the Aya Sophia, church of Holy Wisdom. Other places I went to include the mind boggling Grand Bazaar, one of the biggest covered markets in the world with over 4000 shops selling everything from carpets to clothing. It would be so easy to get lost in there for days on end. Not far from there was the Basilica Cistern, a vast atmospheric underground column-filled cistern that once upon a time held water for summertime and also for times of siege.

After two great days staying in a lovely hotel that Luke had arrange it was time to come back down to earth so we moved today to a little hostel in Cemberlitas, just the next stop on the Metro. The Metro system here is fantastic and it is unbelievably easy to get to anywhere you want in the city quickly and without any hassle. It’s a standard 1.50 Turkish Lira (about $1.30AUD) to get on the Metro for a ride, wether you go one stop or 20 so its very economical to use.

This morning we caught the Metro out to Karakoy, and hiked up the hill to the 61m tall cylindrical Galata Tower. For the princely sum of 10TL each we went up to the observation deck for a breathtaking view of Istanbul that was truly magnificent. The tower has an interesting history, being built in 528 with walls 3.75m thick to repel attack, then being transformed into a prison, an observatory, and then a fire lookout before it caught fire itself in 1835. In 1967 it was completely restored as a (very pricey) restaurant and nightclub.

Wandering back over the Galata Bridge, past the hundred of fishermen casting their rods and the nearby fish market, we went to the Spice Bazaar, substantially smaller than the Grand Bazaar but infinitely more fragrant and tempting to the tummy. Walking back to the Metro stop there were hundreds of people sitting along steps near the Bosphorus river eating fish rolls, the vendors are obviously onto a very good thing there!

We’re heading down the Agean Coast tomorrow, first stop Gallipoli.

Heading into Turkey

jadepeters — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:42:00 GMT

I left Aleppo around midday today, caught a cab to the public bus station and piled into a public mini-van to drive from there to Antakya in Turkey; a journey that shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.

The bus driver was really rude (which was evident despite the fact he wasn't speaking English) and seemed realy agitated. When I got on the bus he threw a plastic bag at my feet that was tied up and I assumed it was rubbish and indicated for him to put it somewhere else, he seemed to be throwing these bags under alot of the seats.

When we got to the Syria exit point I was speaking to the tour guide, Chris about him and was informed that the packages were cigarettes that the driver was smuggling into Turkey. He went on to say that the driver had asked him to put some in his own bag and also if Chris could ask all of us to hide some in our bags too. Chris said he agreed to do it but wouldn't ask us to do it as well. I was flabbergasted! Not really the 'responsible tourism' that Intrepid prides themselves on.

Anyway I got stamped out of Syria and got a visa into Turkey but when I returned to the van at the Turkey border I saw chaos! The entire contents of the van had been pulled out and Police were going through everything, and everyone's bags, inside and outside the van.

And there at the side was a pile of hundred and hundreds of cigarette cartons that had been hidden all through the minivan.

Needless to say this put a great spanner in the works and we were delayed for hours at the border while the driver had to sort out what ever he had to regarding customs there. It obviously wasn't a chargeable offence as eventually he got back on the bus and drove like a bat out off hell all the way to Antakya in half the time it usually takes. I am only here overnight then leaving for Nigre in the morning. I am liking Turkey already, I don't have to cover my head and shoulders any more :)

Founded in 300 BC, Antakya was once the third-largest city of the Roman Empire and capital of the Roman province of Syria, as well as being notorious for its wealth and decadent luxury. It turned out to be one of the wealthiest cities under the Roman Empire. Antakya was once part of French-ruled Syria and, as a result, the city has a distinct character and remains culturally diverse.

Antakya, the biblical Antioch, occupies an important place in the history of Christianity. Antioch was the centre of Christendom outside Palestine. The apostles preached here before starting out on their missionary journeys, and this city was where the term 'Christian' first came into use, a term designating converts of St Paul. In 260 AD Antioch fell to the Persians. Over the next 13 centuries it was conquered by Arabs, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, Frankish Crusaders and Egyptians.

Damascus

jadepeters — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:44:00 GMT

I arrived in Damascus, Syria yesterday via taxi with ‘taxi team’ of Mike and Nikki. The tour leader has divided the 12 of us into 3 pre-allocated ‘taxi teams’ of which we are to travel throughout Syria with. I was couldn’t believe it when he told us, I felt like I was in primary school! Group travel has some benefits in seeing a lot of places in a short space of time but it really has its downsides too… speaking of which I forgot to mention that I had a ‘chat’ with Sarah back in Madaba about her surliness (after she hadn’t spoken a single word to me in nearly 3 days) and miraculously she seems to have found her voice again and is being pleasant, as pleasant as she can be anyway.

But I digress…

My first impression was that Damascus seems to have about twice as many cars as people, yes even despite the population being 6 million, and three quarters of those cars are yellow cabs. The traffic is so congested yet there seems to be hardly anyone, by comparison, on the street. The streets become like a parking lot by mid-morning with cars double and triple parked then left for the day turning a multiple lane road into a skinny one-way street. As I arrived around midday I had plenty of time left in the day to delve into the ancient alleyways and bustling bazaars of the capital's old city, including a walk to the beautiful Umayyad Mosque where I had to wear a druid-like cape to enter.

Damascus is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world with the Persians, Greeks and Romans all having their hands in the history of what the locals call ash-Sham, until the Muslims and Mongols took over, only to eventually give way to the Ottomans and finally, the French, before Syria finally gained independence in 1946. Given its varied past Damascus is one of the most architecturally significant cities in the Middle East.

In the Old City, it was easy find my way around on foot, that is, provided I used a map and stayed off the main thoroughfares (where it's easy to get run over). I also found out a little about the greatest Arabic hero ever, Saladin, and visited his mausoleum. I joined up with the rest of the group for a rare group dinner, the dynamics being somewhat awkward ordinarily, but between Mike, Nikki and I we managed to keep some sort of conversation flowing during the meal. The food was fantastic and the restaurant, in a renovated old Damascus house, was beautiful. They also had a little old man there who cooked bread in the main dining room freshly as people ordered it. A 3 course meal cost me a little under $6AUD, a bargain in any language. After this Nikki and I went out for a few beers with our male tour leader along as a protector seeing as the only bar around (as it’s a Muslim country) was a decidedly seedy joint, with a completely male clientele. The first beers I have had in a long time as alcohol has been tricky to come by ever since hitting Egypt.

This morning I had my first sleep in a very very long time. I could hardly believe it when I woke up at the leisurely time of 8.30am instead of the usual 5-6am wake up call to beat the heat. I spent the morning strolling through the New City and meandering along the bustling streets. In the afternoon I decided to go to a Hammam, a Syrian bathhouse for what I belived was going to be a relaxing scrub, massage and sauna. I SO wish I could have taken photos to show you because my word simply won’t do it justice but I will have to try…

Upon entering, and walking along a low, winding passage, draped at intervals with dirty sheets, I entered a round room with a high domed ceiling that was liberally peppered with naked Syrian women lolling about on mattresses and some getting their hands waxed. No one approached me and I started to wonder if I was in the right place or had I stumbled upon a a strange cult Eventually a woman spoke who was seated behind a cupboard to my left and asked, ‘Hammam?’ Ah, so I was in the right place after all! I walked around to talk to her and saw she was the only person with clothes on, but was breastfeeding what I am certain was 6 year old child sitting next to her.

Through a series of gestures and the 5 or 6 words of English she knew I managed to work out that the Hammam was 300 Syrian pounds but it was more for soap and shampoo. I figured I didn’t need shampoo as I could wash my own hair back at the hotel so just opted for soap. I turned and began walking to a narrow passageway at the opposite side of the room when I was stopped and instructed, by gestures, to remove my clothes. At this point I was wishing I had worn a more substantial pair of underpants as this is all I was permitted to keep on.

Suddenly out of nowhere this enormous, hairy, moustached Syrian woman appeared in nothing but underpants and dragged me at high speed by my arm through a rabbit warren of tunnels and through a catacombed round room so full of steam I could barely breathe, let alone see. I was hauled into a tiny room the size of closet and directed to sit on the stone floor. The only thing in the room was a stone basin set into the floor with a perpetually running tap.

Suddenly I was doused from above and this woman began frantically rubbing a bar of soap back and forth over my head and scrubbing vigorously; I realised then why I should have paid for the shampoo. After the most violent hair washing I have ever had, that left my hair feeling like straw, I was made to lay down on the floor while I was scrubbed raw front and back with a loofah and nearly had the life squashed out of me by the sheer weight of this mountain of a woman. At one stage I was clouted about the head with one pendulous breast and thought I was going to knocked into the wall. By this stage I was nearly hysterical with laughter.

After the scrubbing which fortunately was far shorter than I had anticipated, came another dousing and then the ‘massage’. I continued to lay on the stone floor and by this stage I was already pretty uncomfortable after having my hip bones being shoved onto stone but then the massage took the pain to new heights. Not only was I being virtually ground into the floor by the viscous pinching, squashing and squeezing of this mad woman, she then started punching my back! No not a pummelling of the back, it was definitely punching. I felt everyone of the 17 punches.

As I lay there stunned into silence and gasping for breath as this mountain of a woman removed the bulk of her weight from my back, she peered down into my freshly scrubbed face and screamed ‘bakeesh’, which is basically asking me for a tip. To scared to say anything, I hastily nodded and made for the door.

I wandered around inside clutching the tea towel I had been given in lieu of a towel as I inspected the inside of the hammam. There seemed to be numerous little cavernous rooms like the one I had been assaulted in and one teensy weensey little steam room that could seat two people at a stretch but that was it. So I went back out to the main room I had first entered and put my clothes back on. I was offered a hand wax but politely declined. I paid my money and walked outside into the heat, humidity and reality of Damascus. When I looked at my watch I was surprised to see that not half an hour had gone by since I had entered the hammam, it had seemed an eternity.

Despite my scary initiation into the world of hammams I am still determined to go to a Turkish bath in Turkey soon and hopefully my bruises will have healed by then.

Petra

jadepeters — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:47:00 GMT

Hewn out of rose coloured rock, the ancient Nabataean city of Petra is one of the most spectacular destinations in the Middle East and one of the new seven wonders of the World with the imposing facades of its awesome buildings and tombs and rock-cut architecture.

The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was discovered by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt- a Swiss explorer. It was once described as 'a rose-red city half as old as time' and UNESCO has described it as 'one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage.' In 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site.

It hasn’t been determined exactly when the history of Petra began. Evidence suggests the Horites, probably cave-dwellers inhabited the area lending their traditional habits such burying the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves to the next wave of inhabitants- the Nabataeans.

In 106 Petra was absorbed into the Roman Empire and the native dynasty came to an end but continued to flourish for a century later. Eventually the building of tombs ended and trade moved away from Petra when it fell into steady decline over the centuries.

According to Arab tradition, Petra is the locations where Moses struck a rock with his staff and water came forth. Over time many of the tombs' treasures were stolen by treasure hunters and their glory and whereabouts are unknown. Petra declined rapidly during Roman times and then in 363 an earthquake destroyed many buildings.

After a two hour drive from Wadi Musa, a lot of walking is required, under the beating sun, to see all the sites and viewpoints of Petra. To visit the main complex, it was about an hour’s walk through the 1.2km Siq, which is NOT a canyon although that is what it looks like, but one sandstone block that has been rent apart by tectonic forces. The Siq seemed to go on forever but then just as I was starting to think there was no end in sight I caught my first breathtaking glimpse of Al-Khazneh, the Treasury. The Treasury (as featured in Indiana Jones) was carved out of iron-laden sandstone to serve as a tomb but no treasures were ever laid inside.

I kept walking from the Treasury down the Street of Facades, which features a number of grand Royal tombs and the weather-worn 7000 seat theatre. From there I went down the main path along the Colonnaded Street which back in the day was the heart of the city and was lined with shops. There is only one free standing building left in Petra today and that is at the end of the Colonnaded Street.

After that it was a very long walk back, all uphill, the 5km back out of the site and up the hill to Wadi Musa town where I am staying. Thoroughly exhausted after a long day, I plan to get an early night!

Luxor

jadepeters — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:55:00 GMT

Another early start saw us heading out at 6am to the Colossi of Memnon - two 17m high statues which are on the West bank of Luxor. They were carved from granite blocks and represent the Pharaoh Amentoep III. From there it was a one hour donkey ride across barren hills via the finery temple of Queen Hatshepsut to the spectacular royal burial site of the Valley of the Kings. This famous royal necropolis is dominated by the Al-Qurn Mountain. The tombs were designed to resemble the underworld ; a long, inclined, rock-hewn corridor descends into either an antechamber or a series of burial halls and ends in a burial chamber. Over 60 tombs have been excavated here and the excavation still continues. Despite my claustrophobic tendencies I went inside and it was well worth the effort, seeing the ancient inscriptions, paintings and hieroglyphics still so well preserved after such a passage of time.

It was a very long hot morning and was followed up by a fantastic long lunch a the home of the owner of the hotel I was staying at. I caught the overnight train back to Cairo that night and thus ended my travels with that group and I start another group heading north into Jordan, Syria and Turkey tonight. The train got in to Cairo about 6am and by 7.30am I was heading out to Sakara with a few others to see the Step Pyramid, the oldest known pyramid in Egypt.

I met up with my new group, which also consisted of 4 others from my last group and alas I have to give up the luxury of my own room to share with a young British girl, Sarah. Tomorrow is another early start and heading north to Mount Sinai, about 8hrs from Cairo.

Pyramids and the Sphinx

jadepeters — Sun, 7 Jun 2009 20:49:00 GMT

I met the rest of my group last night and for the most part they seem like a great bunch. Its so nice to be having someone else organise my accomodation, transport etc for a change. I can finally relax! Although the hotel is revolting and most definitely has not seen a cleaner in many many years. The rooms are filthy and the sheets hadn’t been changed in my room since the last guest as the sheets were filled with chip crumbs, as well as a belt and lip gloss.

We headed out to the Giza Pyramids this morning and the first thing I realised is that they aren't located in the desert anymore! The city of Cairo has crept closer and closer until now there are houses (and even a McDonalds and KFC) just metres from the base of the Great Pyramid.

The Giza Pyramids consist of the Pyramid of Khufu (the Great Pyramid), Pyramid of Khafre (Chepren) and the Pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus)-the smallest. From a distance Khafre’s pyramid looks larger than the Great Pyramid but its just an illusion due to the structure being built on higher ground. Originally when the Pyramids were built they were covered in a gleaming white limestone casing but over time it has been removed and all that remains is a small amount on the apex of Khafre’s Pyramid.

The statue of the Sphinx is about 300m from the Pyramids and I was surprised (and a little disappointed) at how small it is compared to how big I had imagined it to be. It is nearly 60m long and 20m high, made from a single stone left behind from the quarrying

I attempted to walk into the 2nd Pyramid but alas I was too claustrophobic to go all the way in. I consoled myself with the knowledge that there is nothing in there anyway except an empty undecorated room so I wasn't missing much. I spent most of the day wandering in and around the pyramids and the Sphinx.

They truly are incredible; the sheer size is amazing let along how they have been in place.

After a takeaway lunch; a falafel and salad pita sandwich for one Egyptian Pound (or 25c) I went to the National Museum that houses over 120,000 exhibits. Needless to say I didn't see a fraction of what the museum held but I did get to see the entire contents of Tutenkahmen's Tomb on display there as well as an assortment of mummified animals and a collection of Royal Mummies. Unfortunately all cameras were confiscated at the door and not returned until you exited the building so I don't have any photos.

Tonight I am catching the overnight train down south to Aswan.

Delhi

jadepeters — Wed, 3 Jun 2009 20:51:00 GMT

Given my change of itinerary for this last month I only had 2 full days in Delhi so I really had to makke them count. After a day of shopping the next day was set aside for some hard core sightseeing. Kirsti and I hired a driver for the day to maximise our time and set off at 9.30am armed with a list of places to see. It seemed however that our driver had other ideas, but as he spoke virtually no English we were at his mercy and he proceeded to take us where HE wanted. So I ended up seeing a few places I had already been to when I was in Delhi last time and not many new ones.

My first stop situated in the heart of New Delhi, was the 42-metre tall India Gate; one of the largest war memorials in India. Originally known as All India War Memorial, it is a prominent landmark in Delhi and commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the erstwhile British Indian Army who lost their lives fighting for the Indian Empire in World War I and the Afghan Wars.

From there I arrived unexpectedly at Ghandi Smriti but it turned out to be the best part of the day. Mohandas K. Gandhi, better known as Mahatma (Great Soul), lived a life of voluntary poverty, but he did it in some attractive places. It was in this huge colonial bungalow, owned by Indian industrialist G. D. R. Birla, that Gandhi was staying as a guest when he was assassinated in the back garden on his way to a prayer meeting. Gandhi's bedroom is just as he left it, with his "worldly remains" (only 11 items, including his glasses and a walking stick) mounted on the wall. Pictures, text and intriguing exhibits tell the story of Gandhi's life and the Independence movement. It is by far one of the most interesting, technologically advanced and interactive museums I have ever been in, I could have stayed all day! After exploring inside I left the main building and by following a path marked with Gandhi’s last steps I reached the rear prayer garden. I had to take off my shoes (and very nearly scorched my soles off in the searing heat) before entering the somber prayer ground in back; where an eternal flame marks the very spot where Gandhi expired.

In keeping with India's violent history I then went to the Indira Gandhi Museum. On October 31, 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot outside her home by two of her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for her suppression of a violent Sikh independence movement in Punjab. The simple white bungalow in which Mrs. Gandhi lived from the 1960s to 1980s is now a small museum with endless photographs, quotations, and newspaper articles, plus a few rooms preserved as they were used. Displays included the sari, handbag, and shoes Mrs. Gandhi was wearing when she was killed, and the sneakers her son Rajiv was wearing during his even more grisly demise at the hands of a female suicide bomber some years later. Outside, the spot where Indira fell is marked and preserved under clear Perspex. The museum is ridiculously popular with Indian tourists; meaning it was very very crowded and it almost too hot and claustrophobic to stand inside.

I had a brief stop at the Humayun Tomb; built in the middle of the 16th century by the widow of the Moghul emperor Humayun. Resting on an immense two-story platform, the tomb structure of red sandstone and white marble is a dome within a dome style on which the Taj Mahal was later fashioned. It was a 300 rupee fee to go inside and by this stage I was over the sightseeing and the soaring temperature and didn’t bother going inside.

i also stopped in at the Laxmi Naryan Temple, a large, red-and-yellow temple (known as Birla Mandir) west of Connaught Place which was built in 1938 by Indian industrialist G. D. R. Birla—the same man whose house is now the Gandhi Smriti—as a nondenominational temple. (The sign outside welcomes all "Hindus," including Jains and Sikhs.) The temple is colorful and ornate and outside but overall it's relatively subdued.

The lack of communication, combined with the 43C heat was very tiring so in the afternoon we ended up getting the driver to take us back to the shopping centre we found the day before to sit in airconditioned comfort.

Tomorrow I'm off to Cairo, via Bahrain :)

Royal Chitwan National Park

jadepeters — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:53:00 GMT

In the morning we headed off about 6am with the Chinese and Ukraine for a canoe ride on the Rapti river to do some animal spotting. Unfortunately that was not to be as the Chinese did not understand the concept of being quiet; singing, laughing and playing music through their phone speakers, and no matter how many times the guides told them to be quiet they simply would not. I was so mad by the end that I refused to carry on to the subsequent jungle walk with them because I knew I wouldn’t see anything. In addition to that, the girls were dressed in party frocks and stilettos (I don’t know where they thought they were going) so I could see that walking through the jungle with them was going to be a mission.

Royal Chitawan National Park is a huge and beautiful nature reserve protecting 932 square kilometres of sal forest, water marshes and grassland. It is one of the last refuges of the one horned Indian rhino and also boasts more than 50 species of mammals including monkeys, tigers, crocodiles, sloth bears, hyenas, deer, elephants and leopards. There are about 450 different birds and 67 species of butterfly too.

The trek through the jungle (minus the Chinese, who went with another guide) lasted for a couple of hours and it was truly magnificent. I saw monkeys, deer, wild buffalo, hundreds of birds and countless bugs! It was also about then that I realised that the Ukraine man was taking pictures of ME whilst pretending to photograph in the jungle which I thought was extraordinarily rude. We walked to the Elephant Breeding Centre which I found just heartbreaking. The poor things are chained up constantly and are obviously not well cared for at all. Most of them looked to be suffering some sort of illness or disease, as well as rocking back and forth, displaying signs of distress. The elephants are bred into domesticity for use in patrolling the park or are sold to lodges but clearly whilst at the breeding centre the elephants are treated very poorly.

Then, once we went back to the lodge, I caught the Ukraine photographing me sneakily through the bushes as I sat in the garden reading on a couple of occasions. I was infuriated! Unfortunately then I had to ride on the same elephant with him for the jungle safari that afternoon but sat with my back squarely towards him to prevent any more photographic opportunities! The safari was great and I got to see quite a few rhino as well as deer and a sloth bear. I had been considering staying another day but seeing as the Ukraine is staying longer I've decided I have had enough of his freaky behaviour and would rather move on tomorrow to Pokhara, about 5 hours away.

Zhangmu-leaving Tibet

jadepeters — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:02:00 GMT

Way before the crack of dawn we all piled on to the bus as Gelu had informed us we needed to get an early start to avoid the numerous construction road blocks present on the only road to the Nepalese border. So in the pitch black at 5.30am we set off, all swaddled in jackets, blankets and sleeping bag and tried to get a more more sleep.

About 9.30am we were jolted awake by the bus stopping suddenly and an animated conversation taking place between Gelu, Topten and the driver. It seemed we had reached our first roadblock. We had met another larger tour group last night in Tingri and Gelu had made an arrangement with them as follows; we would say we were all one group spread out over two buses and if we hit a road block the guides would say that there were sick people on the bus who had to get through so we wouldn’t have to wait.

Well….it worked fine for the OTHER group. Their fake sickness story worked perfectly but we were left behind in the lurch. Topten again proved his uselessness by refusing to talk to the guards or to attempt to bribe them as he was too shy. So we settled in to wait….for 10.5 hours. At first we chatted, then read then walked up and down the 20m that was the town we were stopped at, then watched the only movie the driver had in English Terminator 3, then eventually just tried to sleep.

As we were first cab off the rank we were conveniently stopped outside a restaurant (or sorts) so not only could we get 2 minute noodles for lunch to stave off hunger, we could also get beer passed into us through our window so we didn’t have to brave the cold. But more beer meant more trips to the toilet…and the only toilet in town was a long drop that was full to the top, if you get my drift. Up there in my top 5 worst toilets ever I think.

Finally at 8.30pm we set off again but after a very short time, as the bus swayed wildly from side to side, we reaelised that the driver had gone the wrong way and was heading down the road under construction; not the by pass. It was touch and go as he engineered a u-turn, nearly planting us upside down in a ditch and there were water bottles and other paraphernalia flying everywhere. We were stopped again at the road black where the army guy in charge made the driver and Topten get out and rebuild a section of the road with cement blocks.

We forged on for another hour or so along a dusty, bumpy road before hitting another roadblcok, where we were stopped for 2 hours. Then carried on down a treacherous, winding road with 1000m sheer drops to one side and no guard rails. Fortunately by this stage it was dark so we couldn’t see all the way to the bottom. It was very slow and there was still construction going on as we srove down. It took an hour for the last 5km.

Finally we arrived at the border town of Zhangmu at 1.30am having travelled a total of 180km in 20 hours. The hotel was pretty basic but the squat toilet was the most repugnant thing I have seen in a very long time, so bad I cannot even begin to describe it; suffice to say it made everyone gag who went near it. I vowed to just hold on til Nepal.

We left at 8am for the Chinese border, a long and winding drive, then waited an hour to get through immigration. I glanced at the group visa as I went through and saw that we had all been given fictitious occupations; mine was accountant. I was grinning like a Cheshire cat as we were stamped out of Tibet and into Nepal, I haven’t been so happy to leave a country since the time I snuck out of New Zealand…

I must add that the Friendship bridge between the Chinese and Nepalese border was anything but friendly, I wanted to get a photo of me kicking up my heels in glee as I crossed the thick, red line in the middle of the bridge but judging by the reaction of the Tibetan guards you would think I asked them to sacrifice their firstborn!

It was another 6 hour drive back to Kathmandu by which time I had built it up in my head as some kind of mythical Shangri-La, a veritable paradise for weary travellers. I had my fantasy diminished somewhat by realising on arrival that there was no power in the city and therefore no hot water, laundry etc. Paradise can’t have everything I suppose. It was the last I would be seeing of my tour group and we all went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate our return.

Everest base Camp

jadepeters — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:12:00 GMT

After an exhilarating drive for about 9 hours of increasingly treacherous road from Sayka along what is little more than a yak track we arrived at Rongphu - about 5000m above sea level and a mere 8km from Everest Base Camp. The view is incredible! We had stopped along the way for lunch and inadvertently collected a climber, Peter, who is part of an expedition planning to summit Mt Everest later this month. When we arrived at Rongphu the weather was beautifully clear and we decided to trek out to base camp with Peter straight away before the sun went down. It was truly the coldest experience of my life but so exciting! It was amazing to be up so high and to be standing at the Everest Base Camp finally. Unfortunately out lazy guide, Topten, hadn't come with us so without our guide to show our permit the police stationed there sent us away and wouldn't let us look around and take photos. Lucky for me I was the first there and the police hadn't noticed me snapping away :) I stayed the night in a dorm at the Rongphu Monastery, one of the highest in the world, standing at a lofty 4,980m and its panoramas are utterly spectacular. This monastery was first built in 1902 by the Nyingma Lama and originally housed more than 500 monks. Today there are only about 50 monks and nuns left. Personally I think the others couldn't take the cold and moved on; this place is freezing! After another dinner of potatoes i headed off towards bed. The food is Tibet is starting to get very depressing. I can't stomach any more yak meat and the only edible food is potatoes. Now I am not exactly complaining, I LOVE potatoes!! But it is all i am eating, 3 meals a day; hash browns in the morning, french fries for lunch and fried sliced potatoes for dinner. Too much more of this could result in some sort of nutritional deficiency. I wore so many layers to bed that I lost count, as well as 2 pairs of gloves, a scarf and a beanie. Monica and I decided to push our beds together and combine our blanket resources so whilst we were each in our individual sleeping bags, we also had a total of 6 blankets over us as well. And I still froze; a cold and sleepless night. The sleeplessness was also contributed to by the rumbling snored of one of the women in the dorm. No showers and outdoor stinking long-drop toilets; I am starting to understand why Tibetans only shower every 6 months. Who would nude up here if they didn't have to??

Kathmandu

jadepeters — Mon, 4 May 2009 20:15:00 GMT

Finally arrived in Kathmandu about 9am yesterday (I'm 4.5hrs behind Sydney time) after a flight delay at Delhi and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and go to sleep.

But that was not to be...firstly, after a lengthy interrogation by health officials as to my possible swine flu connections, there was a drama when I wanted to get a 30 day visa as I already have a 15 day one so I ended up just not bothering and I'll either find someway to extend it or just pay a fine when I leave.

Then I went to get some money out of the one and only ATM at the airport to pay for a taxi into town and the ATM ate my card. I was so furious but then had to calm down and remember the last time that happened (in Zimbabwe) I not only had no card but my luggage had been lost as well, so really I got off quite lucky in that I had my backpack safely by my side this time!

After waiting for about a hour in the freezing rain a lady turned up and managed to retrieve my swallowed card, for which I was very grateful!

I was quite concerned at the 15C temperatures in the morning but it dried up to be a lovely day and pretty hot. I'm trying not to get lulled into a false sense of security though.

I felt a million times better this morning after a good night’s sleep and headed out in the morning to a Hindu temple. It was set in huge grounds and has a (shallow) river running through the centre. On the banks of the river there are steps leading up from the water to the ghats and this is where the cremations are held. On one side of the bridge over the river are the general funeral pyres and on the other are the pyres for the higher caste people. There are painted sadhus (like priests) all around and they are on to a good thing; they charge people 50 rupee to take their photos and if you try to sneak one in they chase you and take your camera. So they sit around chatting and smoking in their knock off Ray Bans then as soon as you hand over the cash, they ditch the cigarette and sunnies and pose garishly, very funny.

Only Hindus are allowed in the actual temple and although I may have tried to push my luck and sneak in as everyone here thinks I am Nepalese or Indian, someone must have been suspicious and demanded to see my Indian passport; cover blown.

From there I went to the Bouddhantha stupa which is the biggest in Nepal, and the Nepalese claim it is the biggest in the world. It stands on a three tiered platform and is encircled by a circular path, crammed full of shops and restaurants. It’s a beautiful building and even more so with the hundreds and hundreds of prayer flags strung from the highest point out to nearby buildings. As it was Buddha’s birthday on May 2 the prayer flags were being changed over and appeared to be both a complex and dangerous task at that height!

There is a great degree of political unrest in Nepal today and driving around there were numerous roadblocks and protesters waving Maoist flags in support of the government (or against, depending on where you were). The situation as I understand it is that the General of the Army has secretly added 3500 troops to his army without the authorisation or knowledge of the government. Yesterday the Cabinet found out about it and sacked the General, believing that the addition of that amount of troops in secret must mean that there was a coup being planned by the General. So today there is a great deal of unrest with no one being sure if there is going to be a challenge to the government or what the ramifications of the sacking will be. Anyway, it doesn’t seem to be violent at this stage and I fly to Tibet in the morning anyway.

The Tibet border has been closed to tourists for the last 12 months and only opened again a few weeks ago. The Chinese government is only issuing visas to tour groups though, under very strict guidelines, so I am travelling with a group of 5 others and we will be there for 11 days.

I’ve bought a heaps of gear since I arrived, for the 0C temperatures of Tibet but more so for trekking Everest later in the month. For the grand total of 3800R I got 4 pairs of hiking socks, waterproof hiking pants, a fleece jumper, waterproof gloves, thick waterproof jacket, and a walking pole. I get about 58 Nepalese Rupee to the Australian dollar so all that came to about $65, and ‘genuinely’ branded North Face too :P

Its not quite as cheap here as I thought it might be, more expensive than India but still very affordable. One thing I am struggling to adjust to are the rolling power cuts, for 12 hours a day. The hours of the cuts are posted in the guesthouse each day but aren't very reliable! The Nepalese are very friendly, even more so to me because they think I am one of them :) Every second shop sells hiking gear and its the same stuff in every shop, genuine knockoffs the lot! The food has been great so far, the local specialty is 'momo', which looks like a Chinese dumpling and is filled with your choice of spicy vegetables, buffalo or cheese.