TravelStream™ news feed for member pukeinoi on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pukeinoi en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 23 May 2008 09:30:59 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211570160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211570160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211570160/tpod.html Fri, 23 May 2008 09:30:59 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Jerusalem, Israel

After a day in Petra we travelled by bus back to Amman for the night to ensure we could get through the border on the next morning (Friday 9 May to Israel).

We had heard lots of comment about the border crossing being difficult, really heavy security etc. Our experience was different - The border crossing is very busy and confusing but we found the people friendly and the security seemed quite relaxed. Maybe it was our NZ passports?

Our overall impression of Israel was that these people are getting a bad deal in the international press. Well at least that is the impression I have from NZ. Israel as a nation is surviving. They are a country in continual defense mode. Their whole social strata is built around the consideration that they need to stay alert to possible attack. When you see soldiers walking up from the beach at the Dead Sea whearing their swiming trucks with their automatic weapon over their shoulder you gain a stark impression of what the security situation is like.

We felt very safe in Israel. The people are friendly and really interested to hear why you have come to their country.

This is a country of different religions and passionate people. We were visiting Israel because as Christians we wanted to see the places described in the bible. Wow - history comes alive in Jerusalem. The place is so old and it's history is so well documented. It is actually possible to walk on pavement stones that Jesus walked on - excavated from beneath subsequent layers of population in the old city. Jerusalem is a city of continual change - a look at photos from the 1930's show the wailing wall dramatically different from what can be seen today.

Walking the streets of the old city is hard to describe - the walls and the pavements speak to you about what they have seen and experienced. For example a visit to the upper room were the bible records that the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples. You can't stand in there and feel nothing - you can feel that the room is different simply by standing in the corner and being still - even with 30 or so other tourists in there.

God is listening to the prayers of his people for this nation. Living their would a priviledge.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211044560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211044560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211044560/tpod.html Thu, 22 May 2008 23:09:45 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Wadi Musa, Wadi Musa, Jordan

Our Taxi driver turned out to be a gem. He spent 7 hours driving us from Amman to Petra along the Kings highway. He stopped at all the points of interest and let us take photos. This land is full of history (as we anticipate Israel will be). Characters from the old testament walked this land. We were in awe.

The Petra palace hotel was a great haven and included free internet access which had been difficult to find. Our schedule was getting so short that we decided that we would need to spent only one day exploring the Petra city so decided to get up early the next morning and beat the yourist hoards to the site.

At 7:00am we were walking into the city. What an adventure. I'm going to struggle to find the words to describe it. You walk into the city through a narrow rock passage called the SIG. This is around 1200 metres long. When you come out of it your first view is of one of the temples - it is inspiring.

We walked through the city marvelling at what it once was. Sadly earthquakes and the lack of good ongoing preservation has reduced much of the city to ruin. It costs around 25 euros to visit and there are thousands of visitors every day - but sadly little of the money collected goes towards site preservation. I was dismayed to see around 2 cubic metres of broken pottery pieces in a rubbish heap. The whole site is commercialised. But it is still awesome.

We tramped to the top monastery. Interestingly the bedouin people live in this area. We met one bedouin man who had set up a camp/ tourist area at the highest point. He lived there or in a nearby cave when it rained. These people have a very generous spirit. He composes music using a folklore instrument called an OUDE.

What more can I say - see the photos
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211043300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211043300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1211043300/tpod.html Thu, 22 May 2008 23:06:27 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Amman, Amman, Jordan

We found it difficult to book any accomodation in Damascus so decide to travel on directly to Jordan. We travelled by Service Taxi deciding to hire one dedicated to ourselves. The cost was approx 50 Euro's which was great for the service especially as the driver assisted with all the border processes. Of course he was able to use our duty free alcohol allowance to purchase his discount bottles.

Of couse we were still in a smoke cloud - smoking in Turkey/Syria/Jordan continues everywhere including restaurants, buses, inside outside everywhere - I'm sure some tourists come just so the can smoke. Tobacco is even sold loose in the markets.

As we passed through Damascus we noticed that is appeared to be like any other modern city. There we obvious signs of wealth. The poor people appear to be in the provinces.

Amman is a neat city. Many of the hotels are in poor repairs including the one we stayed at but the people are friendly and the city is busy. We had a wonderfull meal at a very basic restaurant. They have very entrepenurial Taxi drivers - we stopped a Taxi to take us to the bus station so we could catch a bus to Petra, our next destination. The taxi driver convinced us that we should use his services to take us from Amman to Petra on the kings highway.

See Petra entry.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1210200720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1210200720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1210200720/tpod.html Wed, 07 May 2008 12:30:26 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria

We made our way from Cappadocia Turkey down to Adana (not a good place to get accomodation) arriving at around 10:00pm. The next day we travelled towards the border with Syria. Our goal was to get to Aleppo in Syria before nighfall. Our remaining travel in Turkey was great but when we got to Antayka ( the bordering town with Syria) things got interesting.

We left the bus station in an unofficial taxi wondering if we were being kidnapped. Our fears were alayed a little when we awere transfered to a bus. However this was not a bus run by any recognisable bus company. The other passengers on board were people who regularly travelled accross the border. When we got to the Syrian border we found that the process of getting a visa into Syria at the border (even for a Kiwi) was not simple. After a lot of discussion the process was hassened with a financial handshake ffom a 'helpful' person on the bus. He obviously requested a 'consideration' afterwards.

So we were on our way to Aleppo - or so we thought. Next the bus dropped us at a crossroads and told us to hail a ride into Aleppo. The next ride along was an old van which was obviously the local transport. We made it into Aleppo and were dropped at the town centre. This was a market of at least 10,000 people. We then had to find our way to some accomodation. The lonely planet middle east guide was invaluable. We located a place in the guide - found a taxi to take us there (100 metres down the road) and managed to get the last room they had for the night.

We found Syria to be very sketchy. I'm not sure how to describe it but the people don't seem to have a lot of national pride and live for the day. They are not very welcoming to visitors - only granting us a 3 day transit visa. We found the hotel we stayed in at Aleppo to be clean. it was 'quaint' and good for getting us out of our already extended comfort zone. The hotel is in the middle of a souk which is a market of small shops, narrow alleys, and distinct smells.

We decided to travel through Syria quickly to ensure we got two days in Petra. So the next day we travelled to Damascus and on to Amman in Jordan. Our road to Damascus experience was not the same as Paul's but....The bus we travelled on was a local bus (not tourist) most of the other passengers were asleep, the curtains were all pulled and the driver had 2 or 3 friends riding up front. Every now and then we would stop to pick up other passengers. This got more interesting when we stopped to pick up some sheep which were loaded under the bus with our bags. (Lynn's bag was fertilised). To ensure all the sleepy passengers enjoyed their journey the bus boy played a music video loudly. The video was a Syrian version of ' american idol'.

We will continue this story in the next update
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209992100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209992100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209992100/tpod.html Mon, 05 May 2008 02:08:32 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Cappadocia, Cappadocia, Turkey

We travelled over night from Istanbul to Cappadocia. The bus journey was a bit hard on the bottom - while bus travel in Turkey is big business we nust have got the worst bus.

Cappadocia is an area of sensor assault. The area is is known for 100's of year of people living in caves - and they still do. We stayed in an up market version of what has for years been accomodation for people. The oginal vast cave networks including complete underground cities were build by early christians as a place of escape from invading armies.

The room we stayed in at Cappadocia had been carved out of the hillside. The walls are solid rough volcanic stone. If you rub it with your hand very course sand will come off. Here are the photo's more test later
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209738540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209738540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209738540/tpod.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:51:45 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Istanbul, Turkey

We arrived in Istanbul to a very reasonable temperature. Got offered us a Hotel shuttle which seemed reasonable but was proably about double the reasonable Taxi fares. The Hotel Mina is great - a contract to the palace we had in dubai but clean and comfortable - also well priced if booked off Hotelsclick.com. Many of the cheap Hotels in Turkey look good on the outside but don't deliver inside.

The best salesmen in the world exist in Turkey. Now i'm an experienced negotiator but I was like putty in the rug salesman hands. He expected me to pay a discounted nz$4000 for a rug - many people would have parted with the money - I held out for as long as I could and managed a reasonable price.

Walking around the Sultanahmet district is like walking in history. The buildings, stones,places etc all cry old. It's a bit off putting being the only KIWI's around. You look at another european face on realise that English is probably not their native tongue. People are all helpful and friendly.

We are heading off by bus tonight for Cappadocia. (11 hours). This was arraged by a local tour agent who was very helpful. He might be coming to NZ. It's easy to organise travel and accomodation once you are here. Air flights to anywhere in Europe seem very reasonable.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209566100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209566100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209566100/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:44:06 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

We have made it to Dubai, a long flight but emirates is a great airline. The anti jetlag tabs worked well and even after flying for 20 hours and getting little sleep on the plane - we managed to hit the Dubai malls without any sleep.

Our room at the Dubal Hotel we planned to stay at had som e sort of fault so we were transfered to another Hotel in the group. We ended up in a 5 star apartment Hotel with a 2 bedroom amazing apartment.


Dubai is amazing. Temp is around 38 deg. The swiming pool is fabulous. It's a concrete jungle with money everywhere. We went to a supermarket yesterday to buy some lunch. It was surprisingly cheap especially cheese ??? Food variety was amazing including the pickles and spices.

The size of the shopping complexes is a bit overwhelming. Copied shops are everywhere. Building projects are everywhere. It must be a consulting engineers dream place. Engineering technology is being stretched. We went over a floating bridge yesterday that rises and falls with the tide.

We are going to have a look at the gold and silver souks[markets] today and the electronics street in the old part of Dubai.Tomorrow off to Istanbul and back to the airport which is like nothing we have ever seen. It is huge!

Now some photos???
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209080520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209080520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pukeinoi/1/1209080520/tpod.html Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:48:46 -0400 Middle East Trip

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Waikanae, New Zealand

Ok so I've got leave from work for a month to go on this trip. Now just packing and trying out travel Blog entries
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