TravelStream™ news feed for member dresdenfae on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dresdenfae en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:53:00 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/germany_2002/1023297600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/germany_2002/1023297600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/germany_2002/1023297600/tpod.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:53:00 -0400 From the Tower to Stalin, I wanted to see it all.

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Pairs, France

Right now I am sitting in the train station waiting to meet my uncle. I got here way too early and I have about a 50 minute wait. I have already done so much today. I went to the Louvre first. It was originally a palace. I am left with the question of who needs that much space? There are about 12 miles worth of hallways. I think that I walked it all twice. They had a huge Egyptian wing which was fascinating. It just sucked that I couldn't read the descriptions and was too lazy to find the English cards. I guess that is my own fault. I never did see the Mona Lisa. She was hiding and I gave up after about an hour of looking.

I then went to the Musee de Orsay. This holds more modern art. They had an entire room of Van Gogh's! My dad would have loved it. There were also many Degas'. Of course, my favorite impressionist also had a few rooms, Monet. I don't know what it is about his art. I saw the one of the bridge and I bought a print of it. While I was buying it there was a girl my age who was pick pocketed in the shop. I'm very glad that I have my book bag locked, at least I am not an easy target.

I forgot to add that yesterday we also went to a Holocaust Memorial. You had to walk down a long set of stairs to find yourself completely cut off from the world. The inside had quotes on the walls. It was set up like a prison. The structure was made out of stones and there were locked bar areas. Overall I thought that it was very well done.

Today I also went shopping. I bought a nice tank top from a real French store made by a French company. I think when in Paris you buy clothes!

Well tonight we are going up the Eiffel Tower. I am very excited about this. There was one disappointment today. It has been raining and gross. That's why I didn't go to Versailles. Hopefully it will not rain tomorrow. If it does rain I might go to the Picasso Musuem as my second choice. There is so much to do in Paris that I really don't think that I will ever be able to see it all in one week.

Later......

It's too bad that it was a bit hazy tonight, the view was amazing, I can't imagine what it is like on a clear day.

We were pressed for time to make the train so we ended up eating at McDonald's. It was odd because they had a coed bathroom, the guys just peed on the wall over a drain. Gross. I guess I am in Europe!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163434260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163434260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163434260/tpod.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:43:54 -0400 Race to Sarajevo

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New York, New York, United States

This was the best trip I have ever taken myself on. For the first time I felt what it was like to just have my pack and limitless freedom. There was nothing tying me down, nothing too heavy, nothing pressing. It was amazing from start to finish. I would do it all over exactly the same. It was too short. That is my biggest complaint. Due to the length I was very tired and ready for either 14 hours of sleep or to go home. My next trip will be longer and not so rushed. I often forget that travel isn't just museums and cities checked off a list. Travel is simply being in the place that you are at, and being part of it.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163347320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163347320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163347320/tpod.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:42:47 -0400 Race to Sarajevo

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

was up before the sun and only a few hours after I had gone to sleep the night before. I managed to get myself showered and together very quickly, but still the anxiety I always feel before a flight was creeping in. I had booked a taxi through the hostel but I was nervous about it showing up. I was also sure that there would be none around at 5 am. I was all packed and ready to go when I went to open the door and realized that I was locked in. I started freaking out, thinking that if someone didn't wake up in the next 15 minutes I was going to miss my flight. I didn't even know that the door locked, as I hadn't been given a key.

Luckily the person on the bed across from me was someone I recognized, and someone I knew had just come in about an hour before. I woke him up and tried to explain to him that I needed a key. The first thing he told me was that it would be light soon. Non-native English speakers say the funniest things when they first wake up. After a minute he understood and gave me his key. Still I couldn't the door to unlock and I was panicking at this point. I think he heard me because he got up and jiggled the key the right way for the door to open. I thanked him and was on my way.

I saw an empty cab go by and felt that I should miss the opportunity waiting for the one that may or may not come on time. Twenty minutes later I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight. The flight to Milan was one of the bumpiest I have taken to date. When I landed I wanted to kiss the floor. I felt that I had escaped from the Balkans instead of racing through.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163260800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163260800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163260800/tpod.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:40:56 -0400 Race to Sarajevo

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Today I woke up sad. Sad, happy, and exhausted. There is no way I could sustain travel like this for months on end. I haven't given myself a break. My body hurts, I'm tired, and I smell no matter how much I shower. If I ever want to travel long term I will need to learn to take it easy and not jam so much into each day. A hotel with my own shower would be nice every once and a while as well. Still I am happy. I can't believe I made it without any major hiccups. There is still one day left though!

I was hurting a bit from the beer the night before so getting up and going took me some extra time. The showers were discussing. There were only two bathrooms for about 30 people. They were broken down and dirty. One bathroom just had a toilet; the other had two showers and a toilet in it, but nothing to separate the three things. Who would let another person in while showering or using the toilet? In the very dirty kitchen a group of Bosnian men were hanging out and smoking. I think that the hostel is a front for something. It's just too cheap, and really kinda strange.

By the time I got my act together and updated the blog it was about time for my second chance at the Tunnel Tour. At first it looked like it was just me and one other guy. Not even Cedric showed up. Then, when they were just about to cancel it again, another five people showed up, maxing out the amount that could be in each group.

The tour guide was a late twenties blonde Bosnian Muslim. She didn't really say much until we got to the Tunnel Museum. During the siege from 1996-1999 the Serbians has the city sounded, except for the airport, which the U.N. had taken control of. They were using it for flying in medical supplies and food. The every day Sarajevian didn't have access to it and could not leave the city. Arms were also not allowed through the airport. To solve this problem a tunnel was built that led under the airport and to free Bosnian territory. They smuggled in food, medical supplies, and arms through it. It is still not clear whether or not the Serbians knew about the existence of the tunnel.

Today very little is left, just enough to preserve the memory and have a museum. Most of the crudely built tunnel collapsed shortly after the war ended. We watched a short movie of the tunnel and checked out the memorabilia from it, including the chair the mayor would ride through the tunnel on. The guy, mid twenties maybe, running the museum was very excited about the whole thing. I felt like he somehow thrived on telling undereducated tourist just how strong and brave the Bosnian people are and how that alone allowed them to survive such an ordeal. He did talk about the U.N. and how little they did, how the world just watched and didn't react properly. This did touch a little close to home for me. Between my freshman and sophomore year at college I dated a slightly older guy, I think his name was Chris. He was a marine and had been in Bosnia during the war. And I remember it on TV; I remember how big of a deal it was. I was just in high school at the time and I remember this.

We then slowly headed into the tunnel one by one. It took a while for everyone to get through; no one wanted their pictures to have anyone else in them. Luckily I was one of the first in line and I didn't get stuck down in the tunnel.

Our tour guide was answering questions and I heard her mention that she had been shot while walking down one of the many snipers' alleys. I mentioned this to Cedric and he tried to get her to elaborate, but she did not. This was despite repeating many times that she had this job because she wanted to tell her story.

We drove to a few vantage points around the city for pictures and eventually stopped at a partially destroyed Jewish cemetery. This was in the tour because it had been right in the middle of the gunfire. It has also not been restored, but left as an anti-war memorial.

Our guide then began her real spiel on the war. Most of it was historically inaccurate and exceedingly biased. In all honesty I didn't take notes and I'm writing this more than two months after the fact so I don't remember it all. Then someone asked if she felt any hatred towards the Serbians, or if people in general felt any hatred towards others.

"It's just that I don't know who was shooting at me. Was it a former friend? Someone now new in town? I don't know. So I must dislike everyone who was not here during the war."

"What happened to Jews during WWII, most of these graves are older than that?" one of the other people on the tour asked.

"There were never many Jews in Sarajevo and they remained safe during the war. They really don't bother us much; just sort of operate in the background." Our misguided tour guide answered.

This is wrong, just wrong. First of all, you don't say that sort of thing. Second of all, the Balkans handed over their Jews like you would hand off a French fry to a friend at McDonalds. That's why there are so few now. Not a whole lot from the Balkans survived and even fewer decided to return.

"Well, what do you think of tourists?" Another tour member asked.

"They are fine, as long as they don't come too much and want to learn about Sarajevo and hear the stories. I have a funny story I could tell about a Bosnian traveling. My cousin went to study in the U.S. He told someone at the airport where he was from. They didn't know where it was, he kept telling people and no one knew. American's can't even find Sarajevo!"

She seemed too happy. I had to speak up.

"I'm American, and I seem to have found my way here just fine." I am not one of those travelers who is ashamed to admit I am an American. I might not be proud of the current government, but there is a lot that American's can be proud of.

"Well, there are the exceptions." She muttered. I was the only American in the group, and probably better at geography than any of the others. For the rest of the tour she made comments about my being an American. Nothing nasty, just sort of annoying.

Over all the tour was strange. How often does a tour guide just list the ethnicities that she dislikes? Also the history was wrong. I didn't do as much reading as I would have liked and I still knew that it was off. I guess that I'm a bit of a stickler for that with the history degree and all. However, I also find it fascinating to see how everyone presents their own history.

After the tour Cedric and I headed off to a LP recommended restaurant and just as the book said, had some problems finding it. Still, it was worth it and we both enjoyed nice rabbit dinners. After dinner we said our goodbyes as he headed off to do whatever it is English guys do and I ran around the city picking up some souvenirs for friends back home.

That night I joined a group from the hostel for a bit of a pub crawl. I didn't want to drink as I was waking up so early for my flight, so I wasn't out too late. We started at a hooka bar and then moved on to a club that played Bosnian dance music. It was really a classic way to end my foray into the Balkans.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163187480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163187480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163187480/tpod.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:36:56 -0400 Race to Sarajevo

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I always knew that at some point during my travels that this would happen. I just had no idea that it would happen here, in the middle of Europe. Yes, you know what I am talking about, the squat toilet. I think that when I go to South East Asia I will need to find a way to hold it in for months on end, or only stay at westernized places and never need the restroom in the middle of the day.

There was no bathroom on the bus for my ten hour night journey to Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina. The driver stopped every two hours, but then only squat toilets were to be found. Let's just say that I never managed to quite work up the courage for that one. This accounted for a rather uncomfortable ride.

The Aussie chicks had some km's on them and were nice enough to buy my bus ticket into town. I had wanted to pay them back, but I never saw them again. The hostel was disgusting. I saw no reason to shower when staying at a place like that.

Sarajevo is beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains; there is a gorgeous old town with craftsmen selling wares made while you wait. And there was a bakery, a magical 24 hour bakery with amazing aromas and even better cheese bread. As I wondered looking for an ATM I was astounded.

Then the first ATM rejected my card, then the second, then the third. Suddenly I had thoughts of waking up my poor parents and making them think something was wrong. Why didn't I call my bank and let them know that I would be withdrawing money from crazy places? Why didn't I keep the cash I had used in Bulgaria where my ATM did work? What is the next step?

After a bit of a meltdown I went to a bank and asked them if they could take the money from my card. It worked! Nightmares of waking up my parents and not having enough for cab fare to the airport disappeared immediately.

I then went back to the hostel for the Tunnel Tour of Sarajevo. There weren't enough people for it. So I ended up joining Cedric the Brit from Birmingham for the day. First stop was the Franz Ferdinand Museum at the Latin Bridge. Austrian Duke Franz Ferdinand was shot here in 1914 by Gavrilo Princip. This started World War I. The first breeze around the museum left Cedric and I rather confused. We were able to convince the guy at the ticket both to translate most of it for us. The most impressive bit was the gun, yes, and the very gun that started the war. Who would have thought that 90 years after the fact the gun would still be around?

Next the two of us headed to the History Museum. Upstairs there was a room on the blockade and bombing of Sarajevo by the Serbs from 1992 to 1996. There were several remains of shells, and various parts of weapons. So many people were killed and it was not possible to leave the city so the bodies were buried in city blocks, parks, and old cemeteries. Much of the food was airlifted in by NATO. There were dozens of shocking pictures. From what I was able to gather the Serbs and Milosevic wanted to have a greater Serbia, therefore they wanted to take over Sarajevo. It's odd to think that I was in Belgrade, staring at the uniforms of downed US soldiers just two days before. Now I knew why.

We were then told by a woman who spoke only a few phrases that the museum was closed and we would have to leave.

Nasty Bosnian Woman: Excuse me, closed, go home.
Us: But it is only 15:20 and the sign says the museum closes at 16:00.
Nasty Bosnian Woman: Excuse me, closed, go home.

After a bit of this we realized that we were getting nowhere and that there was really no point to try.

At the door the Nice Bosnian Woman who sold us our tickets motioned for us to go down the hall and see the rest of the museum. After a bit we were able to have her follow us. We then encountered Nasty Bosnian Woman.

Nasty Bosnian Woman: Excuse me, closed, go home.

Then suddenly Nasty and Nice got into a fight! In the end Nasty was giving us a nasty look while Nice looked a bit smug and motioned for us to continue. Winning the battle between good and evil was a short lived victory. We ended up in a room full of old pictures with descriptions written completely in Bosnian. The next room had a well translated description of the city. At that point it was 4 pm and the cold of the non heated or lighted building was getting to us. It was time for the next step.

Sarajevska Brewery. Sarajevska has several different types of beers. After a short tasting session I discovered that I liked the light unfiltered type. Cedric was traveling around Eastern Europe for several months. He'd even found the time to go to Kaliningrad; I'd never met anyone who had been there before. It was great to hear his stories and make meeting him one of my own.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163064960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163064960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/easterneurope06/1163064960/tpod.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:33:46 -0400 Race to Sarajevo

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Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

As luck would have it the hostel was almost empty and I ended up with my own room until around 6 am. I think that is when the trains and busses begin to arrive.

I mentioned before that Belgrade has about 30 museums, I think that only about 4 of them are actually opened on a regular basis. I had wanted to visit the Yugoslavia History museum, but surprise, it was closed. No biggie, right behind that is Tito´s grave. Around the stone itself were rooms that I think were filled with his possessions. None of it was in English. The grave was a large white marble slab in the middle of the room. In case you were asking who the heck Tito was, he was the communist leader of Yugoslavia for about 26 years. It was after his death in 1984 that things really began to fall apart. As far as I could tell people remember him fondly. I was a bit confused as to why I was the only person there. It was actually a bit creepy and I didn't stick around for very long.

Further up the hill is the museum of I don't know what. I asked them where the bathroom was and somehow ended up with a personalized tour from a guy named Veljko. The museum consisted of gifts that various peoples had given to Tito. The pieces from Ethiopia were the best. There were also some local costumes from various rural groups in Serbia and the former Yugoslav states. Towards the end of the tour Veljko told me that he has a few family members living in the U.S.

M- Have you ever been there?
V- Yes, twice, Miami, New York, and San Diego.
M- Did you like it?
V- Russia is a good, big country, but America is best. One day I will live there and get good job.
M- Good luck, I hope that you do.
V- My brother make marriage with American Woman. I marry American woman one day too.

With that he looked me up and down and waited a second for my reply.

V- You take my picture, remember me and come visit in Beograd.

I took the picture, thanked him for the tour and headed back to the city center.

There was a rumor around the hostel that about 15 minutes away there was a little town/suburb called Zemun that would make you feel like you were in the Belgrade of 50 years ago. All it would take to travel back in time was to take a bus over the Danube.

Zemun did not look at all new and sparkly as the woman at the hostel told me it would. However, there were some really beautiful old buildings. I found a stunning little church, but no information on the name or when it was built. There was also what they had labeled as the Danube Quay. Basically it was run down promenade area on the water. It was nice to walk around and be the only tourist in the area. Then again, there really haven't been many any where.

After strolling through the market of mostly socks and veggies my bladder was calling out to me. I found a cute little bar, and used the restroom while I waited for my beer. The ambiance was quite odd, there were cans from long forgotten Serbian beers, American west memorabilia, and pictures from the wars all over the place. I was the only non-Serb there.

I didn't find Zemun to be all that interesting, but for about 30 cents each way it was worth the cost.

When I got back to town I popped my head into the National Museum. I won't tell you about it, not really worth it.

I still had hours to kill and did so by seeing Borat. It's good, go see it now.

While trying to figure out how to purchase tickets a very nice girl named Hellena helped me out. She even invited me to join her and her friends out for drinks later on. It was an offer I would have love to take her up on, but my bus was leaving and I had to go.

Everyone has been shockingly friendly, often going far out of their way to help me out. The Latin map and Cyrillic street signs can be very difficult. There were also no large buildings to help navigate.

I am shocked at how beautiful Belgrade was. I expected a lot of rubble. I did learn that the city has been rebuilt 40 times. Perhaps that is why the people were able to just pick up the pieces and get over it. I never felt one bit of hatred because I am American. In fact, it was quite the opposite. People wanted to work on their English; they wanted to tell me about their trips to the U.S. It was amazing.

That evening I boarded an 8 hour long bus with two Aussies I had met at the hostel. I had just been handed my next clue and it directed me to Sarajevo.

I'm sorry this one is a bit boring; I think it may be time for me to take a nap!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1185297540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1185297540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1185297540/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:20:20 -0400 Dancing with Camels

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New York, New York, United States

The last handful of days on my vacation did not exactly go as planned. However, that's travel. Sometimes things go awry in your favor and sometimes not. For example, had Rachel and I been able to go to Jerash on the first day we had intended to we never would have met a group of local kids and played soccer with them. Also, we might not have enjoyed Jerash as much if it was crawling in tourists as it would have been if we had arrived later in the day. But at the same time we missed the Dead Sea, one of the main reasons for coming to Jordan.

Overall, I'm still happy that I went. Traveling in the Middle East was just a mind blowing experience. Every preconception I had about the area turned into a complete misconception. Everyone (well almost everyone) was beyond friendly. The Middle East is not just one big country, nor is the whole area at war. It's sad that countries are being all lumped together because the Iraq conflict. Each country should be approached individually. I feel that was something that I managed to accomplish on this trip.

In Jordan if we looked lost for a minute we had someone who would lead us to where we wanted to be and not expect anything except for a thank you in return. As we walked around Amman people would call all welcome and hello. It was an amazing feeling. Jordan is definitely a place that I could spend some more time, in fact I will have to if I intend to see the Dead Sea from that angle. The few Jordanians that attempted to rip us off or ask for money gave up quickly; it was as if they all had an it-doesn't-hurt-to-ask attitude. The backpacker trail was well worn here; however, as it was low season we didn't meet many travelers. I got some sort of special thrill from throwing my pack under the bus and smooshing in with the locals. Jordan was our Middle East of Today destination.

Some aspects of Oman seem caught in time. There were more women covered up and following the old rules here. The souk looked much as it would have 100 years ago, with only some of the wares changing. Here everyone was friendly, however much more standoffish. Not many people seemed very interested in speaking to us and we did not attract stares as we did in Amman. It was really a pity that the infrastructure is not made for backpackers; there are not enough busses to enough destinations to get around easily. Between that and the heat, Oman was a tough place to see. However, it was our Middle East of the Past destination.

For the future of the Middle East we traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Everyone was from somewhere else; it was much like New York. We spent those days cruising around in air conditioned cabs to air conditioned malls. It was very foreign, as we had quickly gotten used to roughing it in Jordan. Here we could have five star meals and dress like ourselves without getting funny looks. However there was no backpacker trail to speak of here either. The only indication that they ever even came here was the one hostel. Still, we were able to ski and take a vacation from our vacation.

This trip taught me several things about myself. I had already figured out that group travel is simply not for me; however I didn't realize how much I enjoy just being alone when I travel. I love the freedom. It is also very important to pick a travel partner with the same idea of travel as yourself. I had a great time on the two trips I took with my German friend Markus. We worked well together and had two fabulous trips. Rachel and I have very different travel ideologies. That made the overall trip more difficult and less enjoyable.

Despite the difficulties of travel, some poor travel luck, and the challenges of traveling with someone else I still had a good time. I'm left with the desire to keep traveling and I can't wait until the next moment when I pack my rutsack and board a plane to some foreign place!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179681480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179681480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179681480/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:19:34 -0400 Dancing with Camels

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New York City, New York, United States

Our only task left was to make it to our flight on time. That would turn out to be harder and more complicated than we had thought.

We managed to find the bus to the airport with very little trouble. We were leaving with enough time to do a bit of duty free shopping and to hit up the Cinnabon at the terminal. When we arrived at the airport they were not even open to let passengers check in. So we passed the time reading the restricted list and talking to a couple of American soldiers headed home from Iraq.

Check list of steps to check into a Royal Jordanian flight to the US:

1. Showed our tickets
2. We walked through a security check point had our bags scanned and we not only walked through a metal detector but were felt up by the woman doing further checks
3. Both of our bags were then hand checked the security people asked to have our batteries, we explained that they are not on the restricted list and that they were very expensive. We were not about to just hand them over. They said ok.
4. We then went for a more through hand check through our luggage
5. While obtaining our boarding passes we tried to complain one more time about the horrendous flight that we had been on a few days prior. We told the person we were checking in with that we had been guaranteed first class. It didn't work
6. First argue with a passing airline employee about whether or not our bags are carry-on size. Rachel stuffed her bag in the example for how large they may be after we explained to him that we had been carrying-on for the entire trip and that we were not about to stop now. He asked me to try my back too, but I just said it was the same size as hers, mine was in fact a little fuller
7. Walk through security one more time
8. Go through immigration
9. Spend time at duty free, buy wine and gifts for everyone who had been forgotten before
10. Eat Cinnabon and soda
11. Buy candy with all remaining Jordanian money
12. Walk through another metal detector, send bag through to be scanned again
13. Have one more hand inspection of bags. Then beg woman trying to stand on same ground you are to back off. She will reply that there isn't much time. Inform her that we will all arrive to New York at the same time. When she pushes again, "accidentally" elbow her
14. Wait for some more time for the plane to board
15. Board plane, then sit and wait as take-off time passes
16. Listen to announcement that the flight is being held for first class passengers. Aren't they special
17. Wait some more
18. Listen to announcement that we are waiting for clearance to fly over Cyprus airspace. Don't they flight this route every day? Haven't we waited long enough
19. Finally take off over an hour late so angry and upset with Royal Jordanian that thoughts of letters full of four letter words to be written to every major company officer are going through your mind

As you can see the process is quite straight forward and easy. It is also just delightful dealing with the employees of Royal Jordanian.

I was ready to come home. Traveling with someone else is simply not my cup of tea. I'm too used to my vacations being all up to me. It's hard to coordinate, and I didn't say a lot of things because I didn't want to feel like I was dragging Rachel along to something she wouldn't enjoy or hurt her feelings by saying the wrong thing.

On top of that I missed Al. I was very much ready to see him and give him a huge hug. I'm so glad that he was there to pick us up!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179595020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179595020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179595020/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:18:32 -0400 Dancing with Camels

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Amman, Jordan

Once again we were up early to catch the first bus to Jerash. On the bus we met a French girl named Laurence who was in the last month of her 15 month round the world trip. It was great to get to talk to her and hear her experiences. I wish that she had a blog for me to read. I got her email address and I am definitely going to keep in touch with her.

Rachel and I split up with Laurence when we got to Jerash. Jerash is famous for the ruins of the Roman city of Gerasa. Jerash is considered to be one of the most important Roman ruins in the Middle East as it is one of the best preserved Roman ruins. In the second century AD the city achieved great prosperity when new road bringing increased trade to Jerash was constructed. Jerash began to decline only a few centuries later after the Persians invaded in 614 AD. Just over 100 years later an earthquake destroyed much of the city.

We didn't have a guidebook with a lot of information and we also declined to pay for a guide. We made up what everything was as we went. Jerash became the land of columns. There was the area where they were buried, the area where the babies were kept, and a section for the naughty teenagers.

The most impressive part of Jerash is by far the Oval Forum. We had beaten the crowds and had the place to ourselves. It was spectacular. We wandered through the old town, speculating what each building may have been. The town, which once had a population of 800,000, had two theaters and a hippodrome. The theaters were amazingly preserved. The acoustics were still good. We climbed over the seats trying hard not to loose our balance. It was amazing how we set up theaters and stadiums the same way. More hand rails and less of a nose bleed incline are in use today, however.

After finishing Jerash it was time for a quick lunch. We ended up at a restaurant that had not yet begun to serve but fed us their appetizer course made up of giant sized pitas and various dipping sauces. It was one of the best meals we had had the entire time.

The bus stop was about a 4km walk from the entrance to Jerash. As it wasn't that hot we figured that it would be no problem to get there. Just a few feet away from the entrance to Jerash a car pulled over and a guy offered us a ride, for free he stressed, to the bus stop. We declined. He persisted; he thought that we didn't understand. After three or four tries he moved on.

After what seemed like forever we finally reached the bus station and asked around to find out where the bus to Amman stops. Instantly we had three young and dirty children holding out their hands to us and moving closer. I pulled my bag a bit tighter to me. I have a no hand out policy. There is no guarantee that the money will go to the child and not some shady adult. Also, by giving beggar children money you teach them that tourists mean money and they will just keep asking. I think that Rachel feels the same way.

Suddenly the guy who had tried to give us a ride was there and we were being told that he was the bus to Amman. We thought that this was a bit odd, but we were in a hurry to get back and let ourselves be loaded into the van. As soon as we got just far enough to make walking back an impossibility our driver told us that it would cost of 10 dinar for us to get back. This was not about to happen. We spent less than 1 dinar for us both to get to Jerash, and were not about to pay more. He said that this was a problem because he was not a big bus and that if we had taken that it would have cost the same. We told him that we didn't care, and that we had wanted the bus in the first place. We argued back and forth a bit. In the end he gave up and said fine, that it would be free. He dropped us off at some bus station somewhere in Amman and from there we were able to find our way to the bus stop for the Dead Sea.

After asking around and a bit of a wait the bus for the Dead Sea was finally there. We only had about an hour and a half until we would be floating easily in the salty waters. The bus ride went on and on and we never saw any water. Finally, when most of the passengers got off some Jordanian soldiers came on to talk to us. It turns out that due to a conference on Middle East economics the sea was closed. Who would have thought that you could close an entire body of water?

We both looked around outside and realized that we were in the middle of nowhere, there were loads of soldiers. If we got off and made a try for it we might be stuck in the heat, it was much hotter here, for a very long time. We decided to stay on the bus and just head back to Amman. After a few stops a couple of young boys who didn't speak much English got on. They tried to talk to us. At one point they were pointing to objects and yelling out their names. It was kinda fun to be able to talk about them without them having an idea of what we were saying. They mimed that they wanted us to go to the Amphitheater with them to take a picture. We declined, miming that we were too dirty to have our pictures taken.

After cleaning up at the hotel we put on our best clothes and headed to the top rated hotel in Amman for dinner. I don't remember the name now. We ended up at an English pub type of a place. It was odd how empty it was. I think we were the only customers in the massive restaurant. All the restaurants in the hotel were like that. We sat outside of the building and had a great view of the city as well as a perfect breeze.

When dinner was finished we tried a few different bars at the hotel, but they too were empty. It seemed odd for a Saturday night. The only place with any amount of people in it was the Irish pub we had been at the night before. Once again the same guy sent us drinks. This time we were determined to make him talk to us. It turns out that he was not Jordanian, but rather Serbian. When I mentioned to him that I had been to Belgrade during my last vacation he was a little surprised. Then he began asking us why we (not NATO, or the US Army) bombed his city. He repeated this question throughout the entire night. I kept telling him as nicely as I could that not only was I about 10 years old when this happened, but that we were out and having fun and there was no need to talk about that sort of thing now. Eventually Rachel turned around when he asked about the 100th time and about bit his head off telling him to back off and that we had been in the Middle East and didn't once feel a need to talk about September 11 except for when it was brought up by someone else. If we can do that then how come he can't keep quiet about something that happened before either of us even had a real idea of where Serbia was. He backed off at this point.

Strange Serbian guy did introduce us to one of his friends, a middle aged American man who had spent his life doing contract jobs all over the world. He was really interesting to talk to and we both enjoyed chatting to him. During the night he had bought us each a drink or two. When the bill came there was some confusion. I know that I had seen the 100 JD bill, but I didn't see him hand it, or not hand it to the bar tender. The bartender claimed that he never got it, the very drunk American guy got upset and loud.

Rachel and I decided to stay out of it and paid very close attention to the bubbles in our beers. Soon the drunken America began very loudly talking about Arabs, and then began talking about how the Jordanians were the smartest and the best of all the Arabs. A couple of Jordanian guys came over to argue with him. A first we tried to tell them to just stop, everyone had been drinking and therefore everyone was wrong. I pointed out that it was our last night and we didn't want it ruined. The Jordanian guys were acting like he was insulting them, when in fact he had complimented them.

At this point it was time to go. We left our beers and walked out of the bar. Instantly we were surrounded by taxi drivers looking for a fare.

Cab driver - Do you need a taxi?
Me - I don't know, are you going to try and rip us off?
Cab driver - (Quiet for a second) Maybe.

And try he did, but we had gotten good at Jordanian cabs at that point after ripping ourselves off in the first half of our trip. Earlier on we had not realized that when the meter read 1,00 it did not mean 1 JD, but rather 1/10th of a JD. As you can imagine we grossly overpaid for many a cab before we realized this. At first he told us that there was no meter, but we could clearly see it and pointed it out to him. Then he tried to drive past the point we had asked him to take us, we pointed that out as well. And finally, he once again said that there was no meter despite the fact that it had been ticking away the entire time. We paid the meter and walked the short distance left back to our hotel.

I think that we managed to find the excitement that I had wanted to finish off our last night in Jordan.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179508560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179508560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dresdenfae/me2007/1179508560/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:17:39 -0400 Dancing with Camels

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Amm, Jordan

There seemed to be no end to our habit of waking up early. We were heading back to Amman, with the plan of visiting Jerash in the afternoon. Little did we know that our bad travel karma would kick us in the butt again.

There are two ways to travel by bus from Aqaba to Amman. You could pick the slightly more expensive Jett bus that is air-conditioned and goes direct that leaves at 8 am. Or you could pick the slightly less expensive bus that is not air-conditioned, stops frequently and departs at 7 am. We brilliantly decided to leave at 7 am and take the cheaper bus. Right from the get go we were not happy with our choice. The busses don't leave until they fill up, and even once this one filled up we still sat there for another 20 minutes trying to squeeze more people in. With our packs smooched on top of us and a few chain smokers on either side of us the bus took off. And then it stopped, and then it took off, and then it stopped again. More people got on, only a few got off. At the rest stop a woman offered me a cucumber, when I turned it down she began eating it like an apple, followed by a pepper and then a tomato.

About seven hours after we had gotten on the bus it arrived in Amman. The couple in front of us offered to share a cab to the downtown area. It turns out they had just been married a short while and he was a cop. The girl either didn't speak English or choose not to speak. They were very nice though and he offered for us to have dinner at their home. Had we not had our massive packs and a huge desire to get rid of them we would have said yes.

Prior to leaving Aqaba we decided to try one more hotel there, the Mary Land Hotel. The price was the same as all the others. It did have a circa 1970's feel to it though that was nostalgic, creepy and interesting all rolled into one.

After some rest and shows we decided to head to a movie theater. I can't even remember the movie we saw, that's how good it was. It was about some town that would kill off their second born child so that the first would live well. As I'm usually happy to just go to a movie, I didn't care much what Rachel picked. What was nice was that there was a Cinnabon and a chance to get a fun chocolate drink as we waited for the doors to open. When we lined up for the theater they tried to take our bags from us. We declined and they fought us a bit. We offered to let them look inside as much as they wanted, however neither of us were about to part with our passports and credit cards. In the end they let us go.

After the movie we began to wander, not really sure what we wanted to do with ourselves. Out of habit, and laziness we ended up heading down hill. At one point we came to a bus stop to see a bunch of kids playing soccer. Once they noticed us they all ran over and asked if we needed a taxi and what we were doing there. Rachel replied that we were there to watch a soccer game. The kids invited us to play and put us on opposing sides. We spent a few minutes running around on the asphalt, trying not to trip the youngest children while they all tried to pass us the ball. In the end we were out of breath, but we had each scored a goal. After pictures and goodbyes (one boy, about 10, asked for our phone number) we headed down the road.

After the movie it was time to find dinner. We ended up going to the ritzy area of the 7th circle for dinner. At the end of the night we ended up at an Irish Pub. We each had a drink, and par for course some guy bought us drinks. Just like all of the other times he did not come over to speak to us.

We had one day left in Amman. I was sure that we would be able to accomplish the last two must sees on our list.
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