29 January 2006

Germany – 24th – 29th January 2006

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On Tuesday (24th), we caught a flight from Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn. Both airports are located in out-of-the way places, and it took us twice as long to get to and from the airports than the actual flight between countries. Our arrival into Hahn was delayed for an unknown reason, which resulted in us having to queue outside before being able to pass through immigration. The delay meant we also missed our bus to Frankfurt’s Central station, resulting in further queuing outside. By the time we got on the bus we were frozen through and we were trying to guess the temperature. Neither of us came close – it was -7ºC. No wonder we were cold!

The purpose of our visit to Germany is to visit my friend Gitte and her family. I first met the Jakobs through a student exchange to Germany in 1997 and I have been back to stay with them several times. Gitte is now a teacher and lives with her partner, Stefan, just outside Frankfurt. Her parents, Kirsten and Joachim, live several hours away, in a town called Borken.

Our first morning in Germany was a big lie-in. Gitte and Stefan both had to work a half-day, so we did very little while they were at work. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day when they came home, so Gitte took us to a nearby village for a walk and some sightseeing. The village, Gelnhausen, is the birthplace of Paul Reis, who invented the telephone concurrently with (but independently from) Alexander Graham Bell. It is a very old village and has some lovely buildings, including one with cast-iron cats on the roof. As we walked around Gelnhausen it began to snow. Undeterred, we went to the ruins of a castle built by the German king, Barbarossa (a.k.a Frederick I). Unfortunately, we were unable to enter the ruins so we went back to Gitte’s house.

We had a wonderful evening with Gitte and Stefan, eating a delicious meal and playing Uno. The next morning, none of us felt like doing the dishes so we went out and bought a dishwasher. Gitte went off to school and Stefan took us to Flörsbachtal for some sledding. We passed several hours there, getting covered in bruises and having a great time. For novices, we found the hills quite steep enough, although Stefan assured us they barely counted as hills. Fletch had tremendous trouble NOT hitting trees, fence-posts and the like, whereas I just had trouble staying on the sled. We had a wonderful time.

On Friday, we drove to Borken to spend the weekend with Gitte’s parents. We arrived in the afternoon and spent several hours showing them photos of our trip – there are over 1000 so far! We then had a dinner party.

(Fletch subs in)

Saturday dawned bright and clear and cold. The meals here tend to encourage you to go for a long walk. Thus after extracting ourselves from the breakfast table, we grabbed some sleds and headed to a ‘real hill’ named Weinkopf. We took a delightful stroll through a snowy forest before launching from the top of the hill. There really wasn’t much snow on the ground by this time, but it was still quite icy. The result was a fast and extremely bumpy ride.

We then strolled back through the forest, past some lumberjacks with their chainsaws, to the cars.

Borken was originally a coal-mining town. Brown coal was mined underground until 1988 when an underground explosion killed at least 50 people and closed the mining operations. As a result the mines have been allowed to fill with water from natural springs, creating lakes. Each of the lakes is set-aside for a different purpose. One is for swimming, one is for wind surfing and aqua golf, and a third is currently in the process of filling and will be used for speedboats.

The first lake we visited, Singlis, has a coast guard boat moored in it. Why they decided to stick an old coast guard boat in the artificial lake I’m not entirely sure, but it is now used as a club and for small functions. This lake allowed me my first opportunity to walk on water. The aqua golf intrigued me, but I’d need to return in summer to see how it is played.

The next lake we visited is called Stockelache. In summer, thousands of people descend on Stockelache as it is the main ‘swimming hole’ in the area. When we visited, people were using it as an ice skating ring. Standing on a lake is quite fun, however the occasional growl and groan comes from the ice. The prospect of an icy bath when the ambient temperature is about -4˚C is distinctly distasteful for someone like me who will usually only swim when the temperature is above 35˚C. Thus the wonder of standing on a lake was tempered by the unease of standing on a VERY COLD lake.

We returned home for an afternoon nap before going out to a Greek restaurant for dinner. The experience of choosing food from a Greek menu can be fun anytime. Choosing from a Greek menu when the explanations are in German is much more interesting. I finally recognised gyros and was pleasantly surprised when it came with fried onion and baked potatoes.

After a lovely meal we came home for an espresso and a warm bed.

Today is Sunday and it is a lovely day, inside the house. It’s apparently bitterly cold outside, but we haven’t been tempted to find out. Tomorrow we return to Gitte’s house before flying to Stansted on Tuesday. Till we talk again, take care.

Fletch’s tip for new travellers

Don’t knock long underwear until you have tried it. Then, don’t give it back. (Danke schoen Jakobs)

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Off to London to visit the Queen - 23rd January 2006

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Our final morning in Egypt began like so many on this trip – EARLY! At the gentle hour of 4am, we set off for the Cairo airport with two others from our trip. We had independently organised a taxi-driver to take us, but the doorman was very insistent that we use a different taxi-driver (he wouldn’t get a cut from the other driver). At that hour of the morning, it’s not really worth arguing, so we gave in and took the hotel’s taxi.

We were out at the airport a bit early (the other girl’s flight was an hour before ours) and we had to sit outside for half an hour before they would let us in. However, we were the first to check in, got excellent seats, and spent the rest of our time in the coffee shop waiting for the flight to depart.

The BA flight was uneventful and we arrived at Heathrow 40 minutes earlier than expected. We had psyched ourselves up for a difficult immigration experience and in the end it was a piece of cake. We had our bags and were outside Heathrow within 20 minutes of landing.

We caught the tube into London, which we paid for with £12 of small change – 1p and 2p pieces. We’re not sure how we came to possess £12 in small change, but when we moved our stuff to Caboolture we discovered a bag of coins amongst my possessions, although I’ve no memory of collecting them. Anyway, we’ve been carrying these (heavy) coins around for the past month and the tube was our first opportunity to dispose of them. The ticket vendor smiled and said “of course” when I asked if we could pay with change: the smile changed somewhat when he realised it was copper. He took the money but told us for future reference that the vendors only have an obligation to take 20p in copper. We dashed off with our tickets before he could change his mind.

The tube ride was smooth sailing, the only disappointment being that they have changed the ‘mind the gap’ recording to something more banal. We went first to Oxford Circus to open our bank account and then headed to our youth hostel. It was in a slightly rough area of London and we were not put at ease by the 6ft signs telling us that a man was beaten to death there a few days earlier. Unfortunately, the hostel wouldn’t refund our booking fee on the basis of murder, so we took a private room and then headed out to do a few more chores and some sightseeing.

In the end, the chores took longer than expected (don’t they always!) and it was dark before we had a chance to start seeing the sights. We opted to eat dinner first, so we went to a pub called ‘The Shakespeare’, which is near Victoria station. Fletch was really looking forward to trying some authentic British beers and was very disappointed to find that the offerings were all imported. He forced himself to have one anyway and we then walked down to Buckingham Palace. It is lit up at night and looks quite lovely. We walked around the Palace and along the Mall for a while, seeing Big Ben in the distance. When it became too cold for further adventures, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hostel.

Fletch’s tip for new travellers

When we left Australia, many of our family members wanted to know why we were choosing the most dangerous places on earth as holiday destinations. Having visited London I now understand what they meant. The paranoia in London is so palpable, one wonders whether it is actually counter-productive to scare people so much.

Seriously though, I felt really secure and safe in Syria and Jordan. I also felt quite safe in Egypt, though I never took my hand off my wallet. London feels much more dangerous than the middle-east, and the ambient chatter is no less difficult to understand.

So until next time insha-Allah, shokran and ma salama.

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22 January 2006

Cairo - 21st & 22nd January 2006

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I am writing this while sitting on the bathroom floor of our hotel room in Cairo. It is approximately midday (none of the many and varied watches that Fletch has purchased over the past month are working, so I don’t actually know the time) and Fletch is sound asleep, so I’m trying not to disturb him. Our room here is like a cave – it is pitch black and very quiet. We’ve had some very noisy hotel rooms over the past few weeks, making this a pleasant change.

Our tour officially finished this morning at breakfast, although in reality it finished yesterday when the train pulled into Cairo. In many respects it is a relief to be off the tour. Some of the people were very draining to be around, so it is nice to have some space from them.

The train ride from Luxor was fairly uneventful, the only highlight being that the three most annoying people on our tour were ‘accidentally’ given tickets for a different train. With them dispatched, the trip was peaceful and we both managed to nap along the way. The train went quite slowly due to very heavy fog – so heavy that we couldn’t see the opposite bank of the Nile. However, we only arrived about an hour later than scheduled, so no major hassles.

Our first order of business when we arrived at the hotel was to sort out our washing – everything smells of either camels or dust, so we couldn’t put it off any longer. Having dispensed the clothes to the laundry, we headed to downtown Cairo to find something to eat.

There is very little to see in downtown. So we wandered back to Dokki (the suburb we are staying in) and went to the Sheraton for lunch. It was lovely to sit in their lounge and enjoy some respite from the constant noise of Egypt. It is difficult to describe in words the cacophony that is a constant companion in this country. The situation is compounded by the ever-present hawker, who just will not take ‘no thank-you’ for an answer. It is tiring to say ‘no thank-you’ all day long and it is unpleasant having people walking just a step behind you all the time. To sit by a fountain in the Sheraton, eating sumptuous Italian food, was a very agreeable way to pass the afternoon.

Last night we rejoined the group for a farewell dinner with our tour leader. He took us into the main bazaar in Cairo, the name of which I don’t know how to spell but is said something like ‘Kalid Kalily’. We walked though the bazaar for a while and then went to a restaurant in the bazaar for dinner. Later still, we went to a pub for a few drinks and some dancing. It was around 2am when we came back to the hotel.

A few hours have passed. Fletch finally woke up and we went out for a stroll. Along the way, Fletch got a shave and we got led on several journeys by people trying to get us into their shops. We were looking for specific café that we read about in the newspaper, but couldn’t find it anywhere (no thanks to the people who deliberately misdirected us). In the end we gave in and caught a taxi. Even the taxi got lost, but finally we arrived. Chocofolie awaited us :)

This café has free wireless internet and a whole host of delicious chocolate offerings. Once we’ve finished up here, we’re going to go back and pack in preparation for our journey to London tomorrow. We’ll be in Germany on Tuesday, so you can look forward to lots of interesting stories, and the Jakobs can look forward to having us there in person! We’re very excited, see you soon!!

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

Trains in Egypt are non-smoking. This means that the smokers congregate at the vestibules at each end of the carriage to enjoy a cigarette. You may find yourself seated next to the door leading to the vestibule. Egyptians seem constitutionally incapable of closing a door after themselves. Resist the temptation to ask of the latest miscreant, “Where you born in a tent?”. The slightly hurt and confused Bedouin may indeed reply, “Yes”.

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Valley of the Kings – 20th January 2006

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We awoke early once more for a tour of the Valley of the Kings. We had to catch a motor boat across the Nile, which meant first climbing through a half dozen other boats to get into the one moored furthest from the pontoon. Our group met with the donkey boys on the other side who were to transport us to the site. We decided not to catch donkeys to the valley as Maria had had enough of riding animals by this point, and my feet tended to drag along the ground since the donkey isn’t an overly tall creature. Thus relatively safely ensconced in a cab, we rode in style to the valley whilst everyone else struggled with his or her wilful donkeys.

We met Saleh once again at the site entrance and he decided that another from the group would be his wife today, as he wasn’t greedy and didn’t want to deprive me of my wife for another day. This sentiment I agreed with whole-heartedly. After the usual security procedures, which involved walking through a madly beeping gate whilst the guards thoroughly ignored us, we took the short walk to the first tomb which we were to visit. Saleh was not allowed inside the tomb with us, but instructed us on the significance of the various elements within the tombs from outside, using his walking stick and the dusty ground as his chalk and blackboard. His knowledge of the tombs was extraordinary.

We visited a total of three tombs during our trip. The first was the tomb of Ramses IV. All of the tombs took many years to carve out the rock of the surrounding hills, and Ramses IV tomb took eight years just to decorate (according to Saleh – the official line is that it was completely built in eight years, but this seems unlikely considering how long the other tombs took to build).

The second tomb we visited was that of Ramses IX and the final one was of Merenptah. The Ramses tombs were both from the 20th dynasty whilst Merenptah was slightly older – 19th dynasty. Whilst all of the tombs in the valley of the kings were from the New Kingdom, they are nonetheless all over 3000 years old. What is remarkable about them is that they still maintain much of their colour. Every possible surface is decorated in carved, painted pictures and hieroglyphs. In the case of Ramses IX, the hieroglyphs indicate that it took 27 years to create the decorated tomb out of the bare rock of the mountainside.

After ogling at the ancient resting places, we decided to find a resting place of our own – for lunch that is. We jumped back in our cab with Saleh for the journey to the Africa Café. On the way we stopped for a look at the statues of Memnon. The are named Memnon by the Greeks after Agamemnon, although the statues are Egyptian and have nothing to do with Agamemnon.

Lunch turned out to be as delicious as it was extensive. Saleh regaled us with expansive tales covering topics of history, religion, philosophy and arranged marriage. We bid Saleh farewell before catching our speedboat back to the east bank of Luxor.

We had a free afternoon in Luxor which we used to pursue our favourite pastimes, (sleep and coffee – you can work out who did which). That evening we set out after some dinner. We had the cheapest restaurant meal ever. Two restaurant owners were standing next to each other outside their respective establishments beseeching custom. Having them bid for your custom was refreshing. We chose the one who offered free fresh juice and a 20% discount and ate our fill.

After satisfying our hunger, we had a look in a jewellery shop. Maria was interested in the ankhs, a symbol a bit like a crucifix, only with a loop at the top. The ankh symbolises the East and West Deserts, the Nile and the Delta, and like many ancient Egyptian symbols, influenced Christian art.

The shop was something of an anomaly in Egypt. Firstly, the proprietor, whilst very attentive and helpful, was not particularly pushy. He gave us a cup of tea and showed us some of his favourite pieces. He was obviously quite proud of his work. Secondly, the merchandise was obviously of a high quality, something rarely seen in Egypt. Finally the prices weren’t outrageously inflated. After some minor haggling, if you couldn’t afford to pay his stated price, he would let you walk away.

We discovered that the distinguishing feature of this gentleman was that he was a Coptic Christian. Usually I’m not one to use religion as a basis for comparison between people, but there are some basic cultural differences that can only be put down to religion in this circumstance (though the differences are cultural I’m sure rather than because of the tenants of the religion itself). As soon as you step into the Christian quarter of an Islamic city, it is like stepping into another city. The streets are clean. Nobody follows you down the street hawking his wares. The difference is stunning. According to our tour leader, the Christians earn on average 4 times what an average Egyptian earns and live in self-sufficient communities. The shop owner told us that the government doctors the census figures to show that there are only 10 million Christians in Egypt instead of 20 million, out of about 80 million people in total. Certainly I get the feeling that everything the Islamic Egyptians do has the feeling of transience. Nothing is made to last. Repeat custom isn’t valued, only the immediate sale.

Anyhow, we bought a quite stunning ankh bracelet made from silver and semi-precious stones, and Maria is yet to take it off. It is a wonderful reminder of our time in Egypt.

We had to run from the shop to get to the bus to take us to the train. The train left for Cairo at 10:30 pm Egypt time. So we boarded at 11pm. And left about 11:30pm.

Fletch’s tip for new travellers

Nobody in Egypt will do anything for you out of the goodness of their hearts. Either they get a cut, or they expect baksheesh. If you don’t think you want someone to take a cut, then you have to deal with locals directly. Take taxi drivers for instance. You say you want to go from downtown to the Sheraton. All he has to do is cross a bridge – probably 10 minutes walk. So he decides he wants to take a roundabout route across 3 bridges and charge you 4 times what it should be. So you tell him exactly how to get their and that you can see the hotel from where you are and that you won’t pay 4 times the price. So he takes you the direct way, sullen though he has become. When you get to the other end he still demands 4 times the correct price. To deal with this, you look very angry and tell him that his mother would be very disappointed and you shake your fist. This will generally attract the attention of the tourist police. When the tourist policeman moves to intervene the cabby will take any price.

At this point you realise that it’s just easier to get the hotel doorman to organise it even though he takes a cut.

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The road to Luxor – 19th January 2006

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The Egyptian section of our tour has been very full-on. We are on the move every day and usually we leave early. Today was no exception. The convey to Luxor left at 8am from the outskirts of Aswan, so we were on our bus at 7.30am. Those of us who stayed in the hotel last night are faring considerably better than those from the felucca, so I think we made a wise choice.

Today we were the first vehicle in the convey, so after we picked up our guards and their guns, we were on our way. Our first stop was Kom Ombo temple, which was dedicated to the crocodile god. Unfortunately, the convey allowed only 20 minutes at this temple, approximately ten of which were spent getting a ticket and using the bathroom, so it was really a waste of time and money.

We charged on to the temple at Edfu. This is a huge temple that seems to be in relatively good condition. It is apparently renowned for its colourful walls, but we didn’t manage to find any. We did try to walk to the roof of the temple, but our path was blocked by a gate. We were unable to find a guide (one of the problems when you arrive at the same time as a thousand others), so can’t really tell you much about this temple as we don’t know anything about it. One of the disappointments of the Egyptian leg of this tour has been that our tour leader knows almost nothing about ancient Egypt and tells us nothing about the sites. We’ve found that when we arrive at places, the guides have been prebooked by other tours, so we are left to wander around by ourselves. Nobody brought a guidebook, thinking we’d get the information from the tour leader or a guide: it’s the blind leading the blind, to be sure.

Having spent a tiny amount at Edfu, we moved on to Luxor. This trip took several hours, broken up only by the police demanding that we stop at certain places (usually because they wanted something to eat). It was around 2pm when we arrived in Luxor, but we had to rush to get to the Karnak temple before it closed.

The tour company had arranged a guide for Karnak, and it made a tremendous difference to our enjoyment of the site! The guide, Saleh, is quite famous in guiding circles and was even in the film “Death on the Nile” (playing, of course, a tour guide). He is very knowledgeable and very funny, which is a wonderful combination for a tour guide. He appointed me as his Queen for our time in the site, and he also appointed several concubines and adopted a few sons. At the end of the visit, he divorced me and gifted me to Fletch. It was a good laugh.

Karnak is actually three temples in one and it is quite remarkable. The hall of columns was a standout – 118 columns in a space of about 400sqm. The Egyptian columns are quite different from Greek and Roman ones. There are two types of capital – a closed capital which represents Upper Egypt and an open capital for Lower Egypt (or vice versa, we can’t remember). There was remarkable preservation of colour on the columns. It is very cool being able to see what they would have looked like in antiquity.

After visiting the temple, we caught a horse & carriage back to our hotel in Luxor. We passed the evening strolling around the bazaar in Luxor. We ended up in a papyrus shop after I wrote an address down for someone on the street – he made me a bookmark as a thank-you and then of course tried to sell us lots of papyri. It was a fun night.

Fletch's tips for new travellers

Egypt is a profoundly religious country. Whether Muslim or Christian, the importance of religious devotion is very explicit. The ancient Egyptians themselves held devotion to their gods as so important that they built the most resilient structures in history as a means of delivering their gods on earth to the afterlife.

The reason for all of this devotion becomes clear as you travel through Egypt. Daily life abounds with miracles. Really it does. Let me give you give a few examples of miracles:

When you get a hot shower
When your taxi driver takes you where you want to go without having to resort to fisticuffs
When the train arrives within 2 hours of the specified arrival time
When you get all of your laundry back
And its clean
And its dry
When you manage to get out of a bazaar and you still have your wallet, your wife and your sanity

This is the reason that anything that is planned in Egypt happens “Insha’Allah” (God willing).

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Aswan - 18th January 2006

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We arrived in Aswan late yesterday after our horrible train experience. It was basically time to eat dinner, so we went to the Old Cataract Hotel (of Agatha Christie fame) but were told we didn’t meet the dress standards. Instead, we had some street food and then shopped for some fancy clothes for the Nubian party scheduled for tonight. Maria bought a stunning red number – literally with bells on. I chose a dashing, Arabian number in flowing white cotton, complete with an Arafat headpiece. Having obtained our fancy dresses, I bought yet another watch, this time complete with painted date and stopwatch functions. We decided to retire for the night, safe in the knowledge that we would be the trend-setters of the party.

This morning we awoke bright and early (actually dark and early since it was 3am), for a three hour bus ride to Abu Simbel. One of the idiosyncrasies of group travel in this part of the world is that it must be done in a police convoy. This is meant to provide safety for the tourists, but one would question whether it simply paints a bigger target. However, the convoy system means that our travelling is heavily regulated and the convoy leaves whether you are on the bus or not.

(Fletch buries himself in strong coffee, Maria takes over writing blog)

We arrived at Abu Simbel at 7.30am. The convey planned to leave at 9.30am, so we had quite a rush to get through the site in time. We started with a brief overview of the site from a local guide. Abu Simbel is a collection of two temples: one of Ramses II and one for his wife, Nefertari. The site was originally on the banks of the Nile river, but the Aswan Dam meant that the whole site had to be relocated. It now sits on the shores of Lake Nasser, approximately 40m higher and 200m behind its original location.

The first and biggest temple is Ramses’. Four massive statues of him, three of which are nearly complete, flank the entrance. Inside, the walls are intricately decorated with battle and offering scenes. At the very back of the temple is a little room with four statues in it. The fourth is the god of darkness and his statue is never exposed to the light. The other three are bathed in sunlight for 24 minutes twice a year (Oct. 21 and March 21, I think). Unfortunately, when they moved the temple to its new location, they miscalculated when the sun would shine into the room, so it now occurs on October 22nd instead.

Nefertari’s temple is not as big or elaborate as Ramses’, but it is still very lovely. Her’s is a far more peaceful temple, with wonderful statues of a cow goddess. I don’t know her name, but she has a human face and body with cow ears…it is actually a very cute look!

By the time we walked through the temples and around the site, it was time to go. So, back onto the bus….

This afternoon we’ve had transport of a different kind. When we arrived back in Aswan, we got changed into our party gear and walked down to the Nile, where we hopped onto a felucca (sail boat) called the ‘Nubian Dream’. Onboard, we had a delicious lunch while we floated down the Nile. We stopped at a place called ‘Magic Island’, though it is neither magic nor an island. It is, however, the spot for the best coffee in Egypt! I think we’ve mentioned the Nescafe before…if not, coffee here comes in powdered form. Usually, they give you a glass of boiling water, sachets of powered milk and coffee, and you stir it together. It’s not the most satisfying coffee, as you can imagine. However, this Nubian coffee was incredible. No milk, lots of spices (cloves, cinnamon, ginger), freshly roasted coffee beans, served in a gorgeous little cup about the size of an espresso glass. Yummy.

We spent until sunset floating along the Nile. The felucca then docked near a Nubian village and we disembarked to visit a Nubian family for dinner. We sat on their rooftop, eating a very nourishing meal and having henna tattoos put onto our feet (well, just the girls had tattoos done). By about 8pm, everyone was starting to fall asleep, so we walked back to the felucca. A group of us decided not to spend the night on the felucca, opting instead to catch a motorboat back to Aswan. As we walked back through Aswan to our hotel, we got lots of attention from the locals because of our fancy dress – they particularly took a shine to the boys, who were dressed in the galabea (flowing robes). Fletch, particularly, looks striking when dressed as a sheik. My outfit is quite musical, as every step I take is accompanied by the soft tinkle of bells. We’ve had a fun night, but now its time for some sleep. Au revoir…

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

Whilst featuring in ancient Egyptian art, we didn’t see a single Hippo in the Nile in Egypt. Not one. Apparently they used to live in the Aswan area but died out before Christ. *Sniff*

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17 January 2006

The train to Aswan - 17th January 2006

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Today is a fairly simple post. We spent 18 hours on a train that was scheduled to take 12. Six of those were sitting in the same spot. The doors were locked and we couldn't get off - they actually threatened to shoot us if we did. And we weren't fed. And we didn't sleep. And there were mice. And the bathroom... Lets just say that the bathroom isn't an appropriate subject for this forum.

It wasn't our favourite day thus far.

Fletch's tips for new travellers

If you are on an extended train ride (and you're not entirely sure by how much it is extended) it's a very good idea to only mention the mice you've seen darting around the floor of the carriage to your wife when you are getting off the train. 'nough said.

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Cairo – 16th January 2006

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What a day! We awoke and broke our fast before a tour briefing at which we met some new members of our group. We now have two more Brazilians and a Canadian in our troupe. We also met our Egyptologist guide for the day’s proceedings, which included the pyramids on the Giza plateau and the Egyptian museum.

We stumbled onto the coach and the guide started describing 5000 years of Egyptian history. And geography. And agriculture. And hotels. And sports clubs. And recent wars. When we arrived at the Giza plateau, she finally paused to take a breath.

Seeing the Great Pyramid of Cheops rise out of a quite standard suburb of Cairo was a surreal experience. In my mind’s eye, I expected a sweeping desert vista. Instead there are hotels and fast food joints within a couple of hundred metres of the great, geometric monoliths. Nonetheless, the last surviving wonder of the ancient world is an impressive sight to behold.

We had only an hour to soak up what we could of the pyramids close up, so we started by diving into the burial chamber of the Chephren’s Pyramid. Only 150 people per day are allowed into the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Since we didn’t arrive at the plateau first thing in the morning, we had to settle with the Pyramid of Chephren. The Pyramid of Chephren appears higher than that of Cheops, but that is because it is built on higher ground. It is actually a couple of metres shorter. It is the only one of the three large pyramids on the plateau to have any of its capping stones remaining.

We descended into the tomb of King Chephren one at a time, since cameras were not allowed in the tomb. This puzzles me, as the only thing to take a photo of in the tomb is a basalt sarcophagus. Surely the flash isn’t going to ruin a lump of unpainted stone? The passage into the chamber was roughly four-foot high and descended quite steeply, but this didn’t stop plenty of elderly English persons waddling their way down the path. After about 50ft, the passage flattened out and all those people less than 6ft in height could stand up straight. I could smack my head into the roof. This is a sensation I am to become accustomed to, it seems.

After this relatively short reprieve, another four-foot tall corridor led upwards to the King’s burial chamber. This chamber was about 20ft tall, and about 30x10ft in area. There is nothing in there except a stone sarcophagus, and some 19th century French graffiti. Oh, and the requisite old Egyptian guy trying with desperation to extract money from you. Since I couldn’t work out what service he’d done me, I decided to insult him with a 50 piastre note (roughly ten cents Australian). I then smiled blankly and waddled away back down the corridor.

The thing that impressed me about the inside of the pyramid was the oppressive weight of all of that stone. You could almost feel it weighing down on you. Not normally a claustrophobic person, waddling like a duck in a 4ft passage under thousands of tonnes of stone did raise a certain primal level of panic. The other thing that impressed me was the warmth of the pyramid’s interior. Outside it was about 15 degrees Celsius. Inside must have been at least 10 degrees warmer.

After emerging from the pyramid and fighting with a few hawkers, (why do they keep sticking those head dresses on my head?), and refusing the very impressive offer of 2000 camels in exchange for Maria, we went to have a look at the boat housed within a specially built structure next to the great pyramid. The boat was found underneath stone slabs buried next to the great pyramid. The slabs were found using ultra-sound, but the well-preserved remains of a complete boat found underneath were a rare surprise. The boat has been totally restored using the ancient methods. This means that there are no nails or screws. The planks of the boats are fitted together ‘tongue in groove’ style and lashed with ropes. The boat is quite large and an impressive sight mounted on the second level of the museum structure in which it is housed.

This is all we managed to see in an hour, so we got on the bus and headed off to get the famous panoramic shot of the three pyramids together. Having satisfied this requirement, we drove to the lower temple of the Chephren Pyramid, next to which is the Sphinx. The Sphinx is quite a friendly looking human headed lion. The lack of nose and beard doesn’t greatly diminish the ancient look of wisdom as the Sphinx stares towards the rising sun. The lower temple, where the pharaoh was embalmed, contains the oldest columns in human history. At this stage the architects were too scared to build the columns unsupported, so these columns are built into the walls of the temple. The temple, which was originally on the banks of the Nile, is connected to an upper temple by a causeway. The remains of the upper temple are barely recognisable.

We said ma salama (goodbye) to the Sphinx and were deposited at the Papyrus Institute, where we were given a demonstration on the making of papyrus, and then subjected to the hard sell whilst we perused some really quite stunning artwork. We managed to escape with our lives and wallets intact, and clambered onto the bus to get some much-needed lunch.

After lunch we drove to the Egyptian Museum. Our guide gave us a chronological tour of the museum, starting with the pre-dynastic period and ending in the New Kingdom. The scale of the collection at the museum is staggering. One of the guidebooks we have read tells us that if you spent one minute at each exhibit, then you would take nine months to see everything in the museum. We had less than three hours. This was just enough to get a taste for it.

The highlight of the tour was certainly the contents of the tomb of Tutankhamun. So much treasure and gold for such a minor Pharaoh! His burial mask is eleven kilograms of pure, 24 carat gold. The sarcophagi in which his mummy was contained, layered around him like Russian dolls, were incredible in their beauty and sheer weight of gold and precious stones. All matter of paraphernalia was buried with him, including chariots, food, jewellery and his beds and chairs. Evidently he wasn’t a believer in the old axiom ‘you can’t take it with you’.

Another area of interest to us was the room of mummified animals. Two enormous crocodiles and a Nile perch at least 5ft long are displayed amongst a menagerie of cats, dogs, monkeys and horses.

We were on the verge of collapse from exhaustion by the end of our adventures and were very happy to get back on the bus for the return trip to our hotel. After a group meeting we did some repacking of our bags and ducked out for some dinner. In Cairo, there are a few KFC restaurants that exclusively hire deaf people. The service is very efficient and the whole restaurant is nearly silent. The gestures to indicate hot and spicy are something I will remember fondly for the rest of my days. It also goes to show that disabilities such as deafness need not stop people from working in service industries.

Tonight we catch the overnight train to Aswan. I doubt that our feeling of tiredness will be much aided by a night spent on-board a seated carriage. Nonetheless, we shall write again soon to let you know how we went.

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

Egyptian hawkers speak an incredible variety of different languages. My tactic (learnt from another member of the group) is to say ‘no thankyou’ in Arabic (la shukran) and then look puzzled when they try to speak English to me. Finally, in an enquiring voice, I say ‘Icelandic?’ – I have yet to meet an Egyptian who speaks Icelandic.

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St. Catherine and Mt. Sinai – 14th & 15th January 2006

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One of the things we wanted to do in Egypt was visit the Mt. St. Catherine monastery, which is located at the base of Mt. Sinai. This monastery is built on the site where Moses saw God transfigured as a burning bush. However, the monastery is closed on Sundays, which is the day that we will be at Mt. Sinai with the group. Tony, our tour leader, suggested that Fletch and I hire a car this morning and go to St. Catherine ourselves. We thought this was a great solution and arranged to be picked up at 8am on Saturday morning.

Mt. Sinai is located about two hours drive from Dahab, through quite desolate landscape. The area is heavily militarised, not only with Egyptian police and soldiers but apparently UN soldiers as well. The Sinai has been a source of conflict between Israel and Egypt and the military presence is to ensure that does not reoccur. For us, this meant the car was stopped frequently for checks. It was quite alarming to realise that while the car was stopped at the checkpoints, there were machine guns pointed at the driver and at us from afar.

The first indication that the morning might not run as smoothly as planned occurred about halfway to St. Catherine. The Egyptian agent who organised the car called us via the driver’s mobile to ask if we would still pay for the car if the monastery was closed when we got there. He kept assuring us that the monastery would be open, so we agreed to continue the drive and to pay for the trip.

Of course, when we arrived at the monastery, we found it was closed. We couldn’t really discern why it was closed, but we think that today must be a feast day. There were quite a few tourists and groups standing around the entrance, and we noticed that some were getting in after they handed over some money to the guard on the door. We decided to give that a try and thus engaged in bribery to enter the monastery.

In return for our cash, we were allowed to walk the path from the monastery gate to the ‘Burning Bush’. It was amusing to note the fire extinguisher sitting beside the bush. We also passed the well of Moses, although others claim that the well is on the path to Mt. Sinai. All in all, we weren’t overwhelmed by what we saw.

However, the guard noticed our disappointment and ran up some stairs to open a door. He called us inside and we found ourselves in the monastery’s museum, which houses a wonderful collection of icons, treasures, books, paintings and vestments. The earliest items date to the fourth century, the more recent to around the 18th. Of course, when other people noticed we had got into the museum, there was a bit of a stampede and the placed was packed in a very short time. We managed to stay in the museum for about 20 minutes. A monk then came in and yelled at everyone to get out, so we all scrambled out as quickly as we could. We didn’t get to see inside the chapel, which would have been the real highlight, but the museum was a fairly good substitute.

After leaving the museum, we drove back to Dahab. We passed a few hours quietly and then boarded our tour bus to drive back to St. Catherine. We arrived at our hotel around 8pm and went straight to bed.

At 2.30am we got our wake up call to get ready to climb Mt. Sinai. There is method in the madness of climbing so early in the day – we’ll see sunrise from the top. At 3am we left the hotel and we were on the path at 3.30am. There was a full moon in the sky, meaning the path was quite well lit. We were both surprised by the number of people on it – eight tour buses of Nigerians and a couple of Koreans as well. Add in the ever-present Bedouin guides and their camels and you have lots of people climbing a mountain in the middle of the night.

We set off quite determined to walk the whole path. After about 45 minutes, Tony decided that the pace for some of us was a bit slow and urged us onto camels. I got on a camel and Fletch walked beside it. He said the camel went at the perfect speed for him to walk beside. I made myself useful by holding the torch to light his way, the moon having slipped behind the mountain at that point. We continued like this for 45 minutes, until we came to the beginning of the steps to the top. When you walk up the camel path, there are 750 steps to the top of the mountain. They are the last section of the 3500 ‘Steps of Repentance’, which is an alternate path up the mountain. I hopped off the camel and we began the climb to the top.

We managed the steps in good time and arrived at the summit of the mountain by 6am. There we found a small church (which was closed), several hundred people, and very little space. Some Nigerians were, oddly, prostrating themselves to the moon and were engaged in very loud declarations of their faith. It actually seemed like they were trying to outdo each other – there was hysterical crying, screaming, beating of chests and so on. Add in the group of Koreans singing ‘Nearer My God to Thee’ and the summit of Mt. Sinai was not a peaceful place.

The sun didn’t rise until around 6.40am, so we passed the time trying to find the perfect spot to watch the sunrise. We opted to climb onto some rocks just below the summit on the eastern side of the mountain – this got us away from the crowds and allowed us to see in the sunrise in peace. It was freezing, though! We didn’t realise how cold we’d got until we went to climb down the mountain. The muscles in my left leg seized up and I couldn’t bend my knee to walk down the steps. After an excruciating 750 steps back to the camel path, I got on a camel to go back to the monastery. Paj, one of the girls in our group, led my camel down, while Fletch took the steps of repentance. His only comment about them was that they were very penitential.

It was about 9am when we arrived at the bottom of the mountain. Fletch went ahead to find some postcards of the mosaic from the church within the monastery since we had failed to gain entrance to the church the previous day. He returned with the postcards, and also with a cute, stuffed baby camel. It turns out that he had managed to trade his broken watch from Aleppo for the camel. We had time to go back to the hotel, shower and change, and then it was back on the bus to head to Cairo. That took seven hours, the only highlight being the Suez tunnel. We didn’t actually see the Suez Canal but we did see the ships floating through the desert in the distance.

Tomorrow is the end of the tour for some people, so tonight we’re having a farewell party for them. We’ll also have some new people join us tomorrow for the next leg of the trip.

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

As you huff and puff your way up Mt Sinai, you’ll find that the Bedouin guides will run past you, wearing thongs and smoking a cigarette. Having to drag a camel along with them only slows them to a trot. The only way to make sure that the camel driver doesn’t speed off into the distance with your dearly beloved is to point out as clearly as possible that you, the pedestrian, have all the cash. This will make him stick to you like a Syrian shoe polisher on a slow day.

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13 January 2006

Dahab, Egypt - 13th January 2006

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Not much to write today - we've crossed from Jordan to Egypt via ferry, which took most of the day. I have to say, air travel is somewhat easier to navigate than land-border crossing...well, it seems to be quicker anyway!

We're in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab tonight. It is very windy here, but the actual temperature is a bit warmer than it has been. People are starting to get sick, so today and tomorrow are being treated as rest days, as we've got some very long and strenuous days coming up. Fletch and I are getting better - the climbing at Petra and Wadi Rum saw my cough return, but a good sleep last night seems to have helped clear it up. We've both still got a bit of nasal congestion, but we're on the up.

Tomorrow evening we're going to St. Catherine, which is at the base of Mt. Sinai. In the middle of the night, we are climbing Mt. Sinai, the aim being to watch sunrise from the top. Climbing may actually be an exaggeration - our tour leader is trying to convince everyone to catch a camel up. We'd really like to walk up, so we'll see how we go. In our next post, we'll tell you all about it :)

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Wadi Rum – 12th January 2006

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After clambering from our cold beds at some ungodly hour, we slurped down some breakfast and chewed our way through a hot cup of tea before hearing a sound indescribably unique. Apparently camels are not morning people, and a herd of 20 of them bellowing from outside the camp, which incidentally was nestled against a rocky outcrop, is an experience I shall not forget soon.

We went out to meet the camels, and before long were mounted thereon for a quick, one-hour spin around the block. The trip went uneventfully for the most part, although Maria’s camel was determined to be the leader of the pack and would not wait for the rest of the group. The ride itself wasn’t too bad, I was able to sit down comfortably again at some point during the late afternoon…

After our camel trek we jumped in the back of some utes for what was touted as a ‘jeep safari in the desert’. We clung for dear life as the ute we were riding in seemed to find the path of most resistance through the desert, usually at 90 degrees to the direction of travel. We stopped at a pile of fallen rocks. Inside the mass of debris, our guide showed us a rock with a map carved into it from Nabataean times, probably BC rather than AD. Whilst this was thoroughly interesting, it wasn’t long before we were hurtling one more through the sand dunes to a large hill covered in sand with a Bedouin tent next to it. We took the unlikely decision to climb this hill (another painful experience) and then returned to the base for a cup or two of Bedouin tea. I’m not sure what’s in Bedouin tea, and it probably is better not to ask. It braced us however for the journey back to the main camp.

Once we returned to the main camp, we made our mournful farewell to the Bedouins, and loaded into the vans for the trip to Aqaba. The trip took an hour or so, and we were thankful for the respite.

We arrived in Aqaba about 1:30pm and checked into our hotel. By this time we were ravenously hungry. Our tour leader, Tony, took us for a quick walking tour of the city at about 2:30pm. Aqaba is a duty free town in a region where four countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Israel [or the occupied Palestine as it’s referred to here]) access the coast within a 100km strip of coast. As you can imagine, the town is very touristy, even more so at the moment when many Jordanians are on their annual beach holiday. Remember earlier I mentioned that we were hungry at 1:30? Well by 3:00 when we finished our walking tour we were fainting from malnutrition (no sniggering if you wouldn’t mind…) and thus our walking tour ended at the bastion of all things Arabic: McDonalds. Since I was in a foreign land I ordered two things I’d never seen at home; a McRoyale and a Double Cheeseburger. Maria also had a Double Cheeseburger, with a large coke the size of small grain silo. And there was a super size option available!

Having suitable stuffed ourselves with genuine Jordanian fare, we went in search of a massage for Maria’s aches and pains, and a good cup of coffee for mine. Maria was restored by the able hands of a little Chinese lady and I was restored by the able hands of a nearby barista. After a bit of quick shopping for supplies to make it through the potential nightmare of the water transit to Egypt tomorrow, we returned to the hotel for a quick rest before a 7pm group meeting. We ducked out for a quick kebab after the meeting. Maria rated it as the best kebab she has ever had, and all for less than an Australian dollar! I love Middle Eastern cuisine!

So now we fall into bed exhausted, but glad that we don’t have to leave the hotel till 9:30am tomorrow. But here I shall sign off until next time.

Fletch’s tip for new travellers

Three crazy Bedouins. Three four wheel drive utes. One big sandy desert with the odd dust bowl. 17 crazy westerners sitting in the tray. Lots of revs, lots of lock, dump the clutch… Instant doughnuts, instant joy!

Does my travel insurance cover this???

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Petra – 11th January 2006

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The day touted as the highlight of the Jordan leg of the tour had finally arrived. After a nourishing 6:30am breakfast buffet (which unwittingly also supplied our lunch) we were off to Petra from Wadi Musa at 7:00am. This early departure proved both fortunate and painful. It was cold - the sort of cold that makes snow men wander inside to sit by the fire and enjoy a warm bowl of potato and leak. It was also drizzling. We managed to pick only the third day of rain at Petra since October. It was fortunate however in that we managed to beat the crowds.

The first stage of Petra involved a horse-ride from the entrance gate about 600m to the start of the canyon. A 600m horse-ride may sound like a waste of time. However it was compulsory for members of groups with a guide to pay the 7 Dinar (about $12 AUD) fee to ride the horses, so we were going to get our money’s worth. We then had to tip the horsemen another 2 Dinar each, which just goes to show that the Jordanians know a closed market when they see one.

Once we untangled ourselves from our respective horses, we began our descent of the gorge itself. Our guide managed to build our anticipation to breaking point by pointing out every interesting geological feature on the way down the gorge, delaying what we knew was going to be a magical first view of the building known in modern times as the ‘Treasury’.

Seeing the Treasury rise into view through the gap in the gorge was like watching a magnificent sun-rise over Uluru. Known as the Treasury because of the 19th century fixation on finding treasure in any mildly ornate looking building, it was in fact a king’s tomb, and later a temple of the Nabataeans, who built the famous city. With two levels above ground, and one below, the scale of the building is matched only by the intricacy of the ornamentation on the façade. An interesting blend of Assyrian, Greek and Roman architecture makes the Treasury a truly unique architectural experience.

From the Treasury, our tour followed the gorge downhill through the necropolis section of the city. The unique thing about the buildings in this part of Petra (including the Treasury) is that they are carved out of the solid sandstone walls of the gorge. The residential section of the city was free standing, and was almost completely flattened by earthquakes. We clambered through caves, taking some beautiful photos of the colourful mineral deposits therein. These caves lead us to the royal tombs. We climbed inside the cavernous space within the ‘Urn’ tomb, so called because of the urn like feature decorating the very peak of the outer façade. The reverb time of the interior of the tomb was extraordinary. Unlike other buildings in the necropolis, the interior of the Urn tomb has been carved out in a totally square fashion. The number of slave hours required for the creation of the buildings in Petra is truly mind-boggling.

The next item on our tour was a 2,400 foot climb to the ‘Monastery’. The climb damned near killed us, but the wonderful condition of the Monastery, and the incredible view from ‘the end of the world’ made the gruelling climb worthwhile. For those interested in seeing the monastery without quite so much pain, it is possible to catch a donkey to the summit. Having recovered sufficiently, aided by the sandwiches we purloined from the breakfast buffet, we descended the mountain. By the time we reached the bottom we had just enough time for a quick perusal of the remains of a Byzantine church. The church had quite remarkable mosaics in the floor.

We then started the long but gentle climb back to the top of the canyon. At the top, we decided to reign in a couple of horses to get us to the gate. We indulged in a Movenpick ice-cream before getting into the vans for the drive to Wadi Rum.

We arrived at the Bedouin desert camp at Wadi Rum around 7:30pm. The Bedouins were very friendly and hospitable and a lively night was kicked off with good food and drink. Once we were sufficiently fed, the band kicked up and the Bedouins showed us some of their funky dance moves; we couldn’t help but attempt embarrassing imitations. The band consisted of a lute like instrument, and two drummers. I decided that I’d prefer performing rather than dancing, and having taken over one of the drums for a couple of tunes, I think the rest of the group preferred my drumming over my dancing too! The Brazilian girl on our trip, Virginia, was showing Maria some of her dance moves. I must say that I was unanimous in my support of that exercise. Female hips can move in so many wonderful ways…

All good things must come to an end however, and the end of our night was met by an incredibly cold bed that even my thick and comforting beer coat couldn’t overcome. So shivering and tired, after a long day of adventures, we fell asleep anticipating the warming caress of the camels that awaited us the next day.

Fletch’s tip for new travellers

On a serious note, the treatment of the animals in this part of the world ranges from mediocre to atrocious. As a case in point, the rather tired looking creature I rode from the top of the gorge at Petra to the entrance gate really didn’t feel like moving along at more than a leisurely meander. This was fine with me as I wasn’t in any hurry. Unfortunately the man leading my horse seemed in more of a hurry and moved to hit my horse across the neck with a length of nylon rope. My advice for dealing with this sort of situation is this: When the cruel ignoramus attempts to hit the horse, gesture that you want the rope so that you can do it for him. Like ignorami everywhere, he is also lazy enough to hand over the whacking duties happily. At this point stick the rope firmly under the saddle and refuse to give it back. When you reach your destination, the driver will be expecting a couple of Dinar as a tip. At this point I recommend waving the notes in front of his face, and then feeding them to the horse. This will hopefully serve two purposes. The first is to show the ignoramus aforementioned that if he wants to make any money then he needs to treat his animals far better. The second is to provide the horse with probably the most nourishing thing the poor beast has had to eat that day.

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10 January 2006

Dead Sea – 10th January, 2006

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One of the major attractions in Jordan is the Dead Sea, and it was our destination today. When we awoke, it was bright and sunny, which meant that we would have a nice warm day at the beach, as the Dead Sea is 418m below sea-level.

We left Amman when it was about 7ºC, so we were still bundled up in our fleecies, jackets, and scarves. When we stopped at the sea-level marker, it was warm enough to ditch the jacket and scarf, but not the fleece. When we hopped out of the minibus at the Dead Sea resort, it was warm enough to discard the fleece. There was much rejoicing!

The rejoicing didn’t last as we realised how cold the water was. However, it could not deter us from covering ourselves in black mud and floating around in the sea. It is quite a surreal experience, floating on top of the water. You can sit as though you are in an armchair - in fact you can maintain almost posture or position as long as you don’t attempt to be vertical.

After we had spent about an hour playing in the water and covering ourselves in mud (which is supposed to be therapeutic), we went into the resort’s aqua-land and played on the waterslides. We didn’t actually remain in the pool for very long, as it was very cold! However, time in the fresh water removed any remnants of mud and salt from our bodies, which meant that we could get dressed and go to lunch.

After lunch, which was a massive buffet, we started the drive to Wadi Musa, where we are staying tonight. The trip took about three hours and was regularly interrupted by security checkpoints along the highway. Jordan is on a heightened security alert this week, so the checks were a bit more frequent than usual. The minibus had to stop and be examined by soldiers and we had to give them a cherry wave before being allowed to pass on.

Unfortunately, as we have climbed about 2000m since leaving the Dead Sea, we’re back to wearing five layers of clothing. It was dark when we arrived in Wadi Musa (the Valley of Moses), so we haven’t been able to see anything. The reason we are here is to visit Petra, which we will be doing tomorrow. That promises to be a hard day’s walking (starting at 6am), so its off to bed for us. Our love to you all…

P.S. Thanks for all the comments and emails, it is great to know everyone is enjoying the diary.

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

If you ever find yourself needing to drive from the Dead Sea to Wadi Musa (don't we all) then make sure you pack your sports car of choice. The road goes for about 100kms and climbs 1,800m. It has a nice smooth surface, more twists and turns than Pike's Peak, and no speed cameras! And I'm sure that those Humvees with the 16mm machine guns couldn't catch you... I'm really glad that I was wearing my sunglasses as, being the passenger in a Torago for this ascent, it meant that nobody could see me cry. Its enough to make you go out and buy a 20 valve quattro...

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Jerash and Mt. Nebo – 9th January, 2006

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This morning dawned bright and sunny, quite a contrast to the heavy rain and cold weather yesterday. The early part of the morning was taken up with tour administration, but around 10am we were on our way to the Roman site of Jerash, about 40km from Amman. We didn’t think we’d have time to visit Jerash, but we decided to skip a walking tour of Amman this morning to ensure we could visit the site.

We’re both very glad that we did! Jerash is one of the best ancient sites I have ever visited. Parts of it are mostly complete, allowing a very good idea of the way the town operated and what the buildings looked like. We hired a guide to take us around the site, which was very beneficial. He gave a lot of background about different buildings and more general Roman history, which Fletch found particularly useful. We had a really good walk all over the site and enjoyed the climb up to the Temple of Artemis, where we saw the ‘shaky columns’. These are 2000-year-old earthquake-proof columns, still standing in their original spot. The way they were built allows the columns to ‘shake’ with the movement of the earth (and the wind) but they don’t fall over. I think 2000 years staying upright is pretty good going!

The real highlight of the visit for Fletch, however, was the big amphitheatre. He was stunned to discover the unique acoustical properties of the building. He stood in the middle of the amphitheatre and spoke and could be heard from everywhere in the theatre. The design of the theatre created focussed beams of sound, designed to amplify the spoken word to the back of the theatre. The most fascinating element of the design were circular ports built into the base of the amphitheatre seating – when we sat on opposite sides of the theatre and whispered into the ports, we could hear each other perfectly. It was really quite astonishing.

We wished that we could have spent more time at Jerash, but had to return to Amman to join the rest of the group on a trip to Mt. Nebo. The first stop on our way there was at Madaba, which is famous for the mosaics found in the Church of St. George. The most impressive one is on the floor near the altar, and it is a map of the Holy Land. When we first looked at it, we couldn’t make head or tail of the map. However, once we got an explanatory plan for the map, it all made sense.

From Madaba, we drove up Mt. Nebo, which is where Moses glimpsed the Promised Land before he died. There is a little church built on the top of the mountain, which Pope JPII visited in 2001. The church is covered in mosaics, both on floor and walls. It also had stunning stained glass windows around the altar. Outside the church it was possible to see the Dead Sea, but haze prevented us from seeing much more.

As we left Mt. Nebo, I asked our driver if we could visit the Church of Sts Lot and Procopius on our way back to Amman. A stunning mosaic from this church was featured on our entry ticket to Mt. Nebo, so I wanted to see it in person. The minibus drove down the mountain along a little goat track and stopped outside a cottage in the middle of nowhere. We all looked a bit confused, but the driver kept insisting this was the church. We got out of the bus while a man came from a nearby house and opened the door of the cottage. Inside, there was a mosaic floor, but we couldn’t see the panel featured on the ticket. The man who opened the door for us explained that this building had been his grandfather’s home, and that the mosaic floor had been discovered under the fireplace. When it was excavated, the archaeologists decided that it had been a church and the building is now consecrated ground. However, we couldn’t see the panel featured on the ticket, so asked him to point it out. This required standing on tiptoe, looking over a stone step and seeing one corner of the panel. I have no idea how they managed to get the panel on the ticket looking so good, because on the floor it was quite unremarkable.

(N.B. When we entered the Dead Sea resort on January 10th, we were greeted with the sight of a large replica of the panel from the Church of Sts Lot and Procopius. I believe this is the stunning mosaic represented on the Mt. Nebo ticket).

We returned to Amman in the early evening and had a nice dinner. Compared to Syria, food here is very expensive. In fact, everything here is very expensive – the Jordanian dinar is almost the equivalent of an English pound. Tomorrow we’re off to the Dead Sea, which will be fun and, hopefully, warm.

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

The bagpipes have often been only half jokingly referred to as a weapon of war employed by the Scottish. I was therefore surprised to find that the Jordanians apparently have a highland regiment! The ‘entertainment’ provided in the amphitheatre in Jarash consisted of 2 bagpipe players and a drummer in military regalia. It is possible that they were taught how to play their instruments, if you allow for the fact that they didn’t seem to know any of the same tunes. They nevertheless played simultaneously (if not harmoniously) and very enthusiastically. I think what this proves is that the Jordanian army is quite capable of taking western weaponry and making it even more offensive!

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Goodbye Syria – 8th January, 2006

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We have had a really great time in Syria. The people here are extremely friendly and welcoming, even if they drive like maniacs :) The country has really surprised us with its contrasts, but we have enjoyed the experience. However, all good things must come to an end, and so today we go to Jordan.

Early mornings seem to be a part of our holiday routine. This morning’s start was 5.30am, to catch a bus from Damascus to Amman. As we drove to the bus station, we saw the most beautiful sunrise. “Red sky in morning, shepherd’s warning” – we should have taken note!

The bus was late, so we sat around the station for a little while. When it arrived, it was the yuckiest bus we’ve ever seen, filthy and smelly and uncomfortable. However, backpacking middle-east style means that you don’t have any choice but to get on, so we did. The first part of the trip went relatively smoothly and we reached the Syrian border within two hours. Here we had to go through several different formalities:

off the bus, have the passports stamped, fill in the paperwork, back on the bus, drive 50m, stop at duty-free shop, drive another 50m, soldier gets on the bus, checks all the paperwork, bus drives 100m, get off the bus in Jordan, change currency to buy visa, can’t buy visa until passport has been examined, get passport checked, go back and buy a visa, get passport rechecked, back on the bus, drive 50m, take all luggage off the bus (bus then leaves to be x-rayed), stand in the cold rain for two hours while nobody looks at luggage, stand in rain for longer as someone comes and examines the bags, get back on the bus, wait another hour while one person is detained and removed, drive 15m, stop at café for 15 minutes, spend $12 on a biscuit and water for two as it is the only food available, drive another 15m, soldier get on the bus and check all passports and stamps, bus departs to Amman, 30 minutes later something in the engine explodes, sit on the side of the road, in the rain, for another hour….on a good day, this process goes rather quickly and the bus reaches Amman by 11.30am. It took us until 2.30pm. Next time, we’ll take a service taxi!

We spent the rest of the very quietly, due to heavy rain in Amman. Tonight we met our new tour leader (an Englishman named Tony) and the new members of our tour. We are now a group of 16, of which there are ten Australians, two Americans, two Englishpersons, one Brazilian and one Kiwi. Fletch went to bed early with a migraine and I went in search of some cough syrup – my cold is getting better but my cough is quite nasty now. Having found some, I’m about to join Fletch in slumber.

Lunch! One of the best and certainly the biggest kebab I have ever had!

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

If an Australian wants to really communicate effectively with a Syrian, I advise a small amount of oral surgery. The rather simple procedure aims to extract the tongue from its usual position: firmly planted in the cheek. (See anonymous post to previous tip concerning questions about children). For anyone I may have offended (all right you lot in Australia, put your hands down now), I enjoy poking fun at Syrians much the same as I like poking fun at the English, Americans, continental Europeans, Asians, New Zealanders (particularly) and Australians. Most of all I enjoy poking fun at myself. So let me say now unequivocally that Syrians are amongst the most hospitable, polite and friendly people I have met.

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07 January 2006

Damascus and Maaloula – 6th and 7th January, 2006

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We write this from the salubrious surrounds of the Cham Palace hotel in Damascus, where a cup of coffee costs more than the meals we have been eating recently. We are sitting in their very comfortable lounge, enjoying some respite from the croweded Damascus streets. It is the Haj holiday tomorrow, so every man and his dog is out buying presents. The shops are open til midnight and the whole atmosphere is very similar to a shopping centre on Christmas eve.

Yesterday morning we left Palmyra for Damascus very early. The bus we caught is usually empty, according to Bashar (our tour leader), but was jammed full. This situation was further complicated about 30 minutes out of Palmyra, when the coolant and oil overheated and the bus pulled off the road, filling with smoke. Everybody is saying we are cursed – this is the second bus in a week to break down while we’re on it.

So, we passed the next hour or so sitting on the side of the road in the middle of the desert. Due to the holiday, buses are as rare as hens teeth, so we had to wait a long time for a replacement. The situation became somewhat complicated as the morning wore on and the girls needed to use a bathroom – there is not a lot of privacy in the desert!

We arrived in Damascus early in the afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to find the temperature several degrees warmer. Now we can wear only three layers of clothes, not five! We didn’t stay in Damascus long, however, as we wanted to visit the town of Maaloula, where Aramaic is still spoken. In fact, 80 000 people, predominantly Christian, speak Aramaic in this area.

Maaloula is carved into the hillside and many houses are actually built in caves. We visited the Convent of Sts. Serge and Bacchus, where we saw the most beautiful church. They have had the wooden support beams dated by radiocarbon and found that they are over 2000 years old. Of course, that long ago the church was not Christian, but was pagan. It was adapted to a Catholic church before 325. The altar in the church can determine this date, as it is in a style that was abandoned by the Church in 325. It is filled with beautiful icons, mainly of the two patron saints of the church, but also of Mary and Jesus. One of the nuns from the convent said the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ in Aramaic – it was very atmospheric.

After visiting this convent, we went to the shrine of St. Takla. To get there, we walked down from Sts Serge and Bacchus via a chasm in the mountain. According to the legend of St. Takla, this chasm was created by Our Lady as Takla fled from soldiers (they were chasing her because she had converted to Christianity). Her shrine is beside a spring that is believed to be filled with holy water and people come from all over to get some to cure their ills. There is also a church near the shrine, but it wasn’t as nice as the one at Sts Serge & Bacchus.

The sun was setting as we left Maaloula, which gave us a great ‘Japanese stop’. The drive back to Damascus seemed to take a long time in the dark, but it was only about an hour. When we arrived back, we went to fight with the ATM again, still with no luck. The machines here do not recognise our credit card, so we’re running out of cash. Hopefully we’ll find a solution when we get to Jordan.

Today is a completely free day for us – Bashar is not accompanying us anywhere. It is a nice feeling, actually, to be a bit independent. We spent the morning in the Damascus museum. It is not the greatest museum I’ve been in and I’m surprised by how little it actually seems to have. There were two rooms, replicas of the Throne Room in Aleppo and of the Underground Tomb in Palmyra, that were very interesting. Also, I found the glass and ceramics to be very beautiful and Fletch really enjoyed the book section. However, after about two hours we had seen all we could.

And so we wandered the streets of Damascus until we ended up here. The city seems to be laid out in sections – we walked through the pen and stationary street, the calculator street, the electrical equipment street, the paper street and so on. The people are very happy and there seems to be good cheer in the air – just like Christmas, really. We have really enjoyed doing some window shopping – the clothes here (both men and women’s) are very beautiful. We’ve been writing this as we eat lunch and from here we are going to visit the Omayad mosque and the Damascus souq. We’ll write about them soon…

Well, soon came sooner than I expected! We walked over to the Omayad mosque from Cham Palace, which took about an hour. We had to walk through the souq to get there, which was like trying to push your way through jelly. We’ve come to realise that bazaars aren’t great places to be if you have no intention of buying anything . Also, if you do look at anything here, you almost have to buy it – you certainly can’t get out of the shop without something!

Once we made it through the mass of people, we came to the entrance to the mosque. We took off our shoes and started to climb through the gate. However, a guard came up and said we had to go to the ‘special clothes place’, which meant I had to put a tent over my clothes as my jacket wasn’t considered long enough. Fletch told me that I looked like an ewok in my tent, I refused all offers of photographs so you’ll not get to see what he meant :)

What can we say about the mosque… It was built around AD 705 and has been rebuilt and renovated several times. There are mosaics all over the external doors and the internal ceiling is intricately decorated. We were there in time for the 5pm prayer, so we saw the people coming in and being led in prayer. This was interesting to watch, not least because there didn’t seem to be an imam present – instead, it sounded like they were following a tape recording. We spent a little while there, just observing and looking around.

After leaving the mosque we got lost coming back to the section of Damascus where our hotel is. Finally we recognised that we were in the camera section (see my comment above about Damascus being laid out in sections), which allowed us to orient ourselves. We were very hungry, so we enjoyed a lovely meal before coming to the internet café. And that’s really the extent of our day. We have a 5.30am start to Amman tomorrow, so its off to bed now.

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

When a Syrian finds out that you are married they ask not whether you have children, but where you have left them. To deal with this, see previous tip for new travellers concerning tripods…

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Apamea & Palmyra - 4th and 5th January, 2006

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(January 4th)
Our itinerary listed this morning as free time in Hama. However, we decided that beyond the waterwheels, there wasn’t a great deal to see in Hama, so we took a minibus to an ancient site called Apamea. What we found there was astounding – a 2km colonnade along the top of a hill. We got dropped off at one end and walked through the site to the other end. The road was quite lovely and the weather was perfect (the cold wind that has followed us around seemed to drop away). We don’t know a great deal about Apamea – we think it was Persian. The site holds the ruins of several temples in addition to the colonnade. We spent a wonderful hour just wandering through.


On our way back to Hama, we stopped at the Apamea mosaics museum, which was very interesting. They didn’t have many complete mosaics, mostly fragments, but there were some beautiful ones of birds – we got a great photo of a rooster for Nana. The curator let us take photos until Fletch got out the tripod. He then told us we had to buy the postcards if we wanted any more. Unfortunately, the postcards here seem to have been made about twenty years ago and they look as faded as the mosaics themselves, so we gave them a miss.

We arrived back in Hama around midday and had some lunch before catching the bus to Palmyra. I slept for most of the journey and Fletch spent it listening to the ipod. There wasn’t a great deal to see on the three-hour trip – we were heading out into the desert. The road was quite busy, though, as it is the only road to Iraq and there were lots of military and commercial trucks heading that way.

It was dark and cold when we arrived in Palmyra. After dropping laundry off to be washed, we went out to a Bedouin restaurant for dinner. The meal was divine (Syrian food is really something to enjoy!) and very cheap. We have found that food prices here are very low – if we buy something in the street, we would be hard-pressed to pay over 50 Syrian pounds (this is about US$1). For a three-course meal, with drinks, we pay about 250 (US$5).

After dinner, the males in the group decided to go to the barber for a cut-throat shave. What happened next took us all by surprise – Fletch ordered the barber to take off his beard and goatee. Yes, you read correctly – he is cleanshaven! The change is astounding – most of the tour group didn’t recognise him afterwards. He looks quite a bit younger and I think he resembles Hugo Weaving in ‘The Matrix’. I’m still getting used to it, he really does look very different.



(January 5th)
I think he came to regret the shave just a touch the next morning, when we headed out into the coldest day we’ve yet experienced in Syria. He commented all day that he missed the warmth provided by his beard. It tried very hard to rain all day, without actually succeeding. This meant that none of us were too keen to be outside and ended up going over the ancient ruins of Palmyra in just a few hours.

We started at the Bel Temple, which was quite stunning. We then went to the Palmyra tombs – an underground and a tower version. Apparently, Palmyra is the only ancient city where the bodies were interred into these kind of tombs. The tower tomb we visited was four storeys high and held approximately 40 bodies per level, with the most important family members on the bottom level and young children on the top. We were able to climb up to the third floor for a look.

We then went to one of the subterranean tombs. I was only able to stay underground for a minute or two – the smell of sulphur was overwhelming. This tomb was even more remarkable than the tower tomb because most of the sculpture identifying the tomb occupants was still in place. There was also some painting on the walls, which was in remarkable repair.

From the tombs we headed over to the main ruins of Palmyra. We found the ruins of Apamea far more impressive than Palmyra and as a result didn’t really want to stick around for too long. We did have a ‘swim’ in Zenobia’s baths and took turns acting on the amphitheatre stage, but then headed back to town. Along the way, Virginia and I took a camel ride through part of the site, which was great fun.

We spent the afternoon in various ways – I had a facial massage and traditional Bedouin teas to help relieve the effects of the severe head cold I currently have and Fletch spent the afternoon smoking nageela in Mohammed’s Bedouin tent. Nageela is flavoured tabacco smoked through a water-pipe –he had apple-flavoured. The evening will be very quiet, as Fletch is starting to get my cold. I think we’ll have an early night to give our bodies a chance to fight the virus. So, til next time, adieu.

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

There is a weird device that Bedouins allege is a musical instrument. Looking like a square banjo, having only one string (which I’m almost sure was fishing line), and played with a bow, it is really a device for confounding western musicians whilst the Bedouin makes off with your wife, your camels, or both. To short-circuit this racket, ask the host to give an impromptu performance. When he cannot make a sound out of it either, he will attempt to cover his embarrassment by giving you complimentary tea. Is good ya? You like?

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03 January 2006

Crac des Chevaliers and Hama – January 3rd, 2006

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The thing I dislike about Syria is that everybody smokes. Everywhere. On the street, in restaurants, in the hotel, on the bus, everywhere. I’m the only non-smoker on our tour and the others are making the most of cheap cigarettes and the ability to smoke anywhere, so I’m constantly surrounded by smoke. As a result, my throat is raw and all my clothes smell. I guess I’ve got to get used to it…maybe I need to take up smoking…

Enough complaining! This morning we had to get up quite early to catch the public bus to Hama, our next stop. It is the Islamic festival of Haj on the weekend, during which many people hire buses to make pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. As a result, Syria is almost devoid of buses and the timetables are all out. To get to the bus station, we caught a taxi from our hotel. Taxis here are quite small and really not equipped to hold travel packs. Our taxi driver didn’t shut the boot, so we had a pretty nervous ride, watching our luggage through the rear window and praying it wouldn’t dislodge.


We, and the luggage, made it to the bus station in one piece. We boarded our bus and made the hour and a half trip to Hama. As soon as we arrived, we hopped into a minibus for the drive to Crac des Chevaliers, a castle near the Lebanese border. Driving in Syria is terrific in the proper sense and may be related to the level of religious devotion found in this region. Lane markings are there as rough guides – if cars can fit through a space, they can drive through it. In the cities, this is controlled to some extent by the massive number of cars on the road – they can’t go all that fast. Highway driving is a different story. The speed limit is 80 km/hr but most traffic is doing about 150. Indicators are only used to tell the car in front to get out of your way, horns are then used as a follow-up, meaning that the car in front really needs to get out of the way. The vehicles doing the honking do not slow down, they’ll just hit yours if it doesn’t move. As a passenger, this can be a somewhat stressful experience, especially when the vehicle bearing down on your little minivan is a prime-mover with two containers. We, as a group, found prayer on this journey!


The minibus survived the journey to Crac des Chevaliers, including the steep ascent just prior to the castle. We originally drove past the castle to view it from behind, and it is an awesome sight to behold. Built in the eleventh century by the Hospitaller Knights, it is considered to be the foremost example of crusader architecture. During the Crusades there were eleven crusader castles between Antioch and Jerusalem, five of which were in Syria. Crac des Chevaliers guards two valleys, which today mark the Lebanese and Turkish borders. It took 11 000 people 75 year to build and it housed 4000 soldiers, 400 knights and 400 horses. It could store enough provisions to withstand five years of constant siege, providing that enough rain fell to replenish the internal cisterns.

(Maria stops writing, Fletch takes over…)

Whilst physically imposing, the interior of the castle can only hint at the everyday activities of the inhabitants of the castle. Points of particular interest to me included the massive stone oven in the kitchen, the round table for the knights which was open to the elements, and the “King daughter tower” in which we ate lunch. The lunch was possibly the highlight of the tour, with an incredible variety of vegetarian food and quantities perhaps more suited to the hoards of Christian soldiers whom previously garrisoned the castle. We also enjoyed exploring the hidden passages surrounding the main part of the castle, a feature which was an extra layer of protection in times of siege. Our guide was keen to point out that the application of hot oil was considered a “welcome drink” by the defenders.

(Maria’s back)

After we had our delicious lunch, we braved the gale force winds blowing around the castle to head back to the minibus. Everybody was so full from lunch that the trip back to Hama was very quiet.

We arrived back near sunset and quickly went out to look at the wooden ‘norias’ (waterwheels), for which Hama is famous. The waterwheels have been in Hama for a very long time and were used to get water from the river Orontes into aqueducts, which piped the water around this region. There were originally 86, but only eighteen are still standing. They are not used for water distribution any more, but instead power a number of waterfalls and fountains around Hama.

After seeing the various waterwheels, we paid a visit to a loom weaver’s shop. We saw them making cotton and silk tablecloths and cotton towels. It was interesting to see how quickly they could do the weaving and how noisy it was! After visiting their shop, which contained an incredible range of cotton products, we walked through the main shopping district back to our hotel. Fletch and I went and got some fresh juice from a stall across the street and then had a brief rest in our room. We went out to get a quick bite to eat from a local pizza shop. We actually became the main attraction – they invited us in to watch them make the dough and the pizza. Everyone in the shop came up to say hello and the young boys making the dough began to show off for our benefit, becoming more and more elaborate in their rolling techniques. We had fun waiting for the pizza to cook and it was worth the wait – it was very good.

Currently we’re sitting in the hotel lounge drinking ‘raki’ with other members of our group, eating our way through a bag of Aleppo pistachios. We’ve got quite a big day tomorrow, so we’re going to have a relaxed night – the raki will help with that!! However, we can’t say goodbye without the latest instalment of….

Fletch’s tips for new travellers

Arak (raki in Turkey) is peddled in Syria as a drink. This is a joke perpetrated by Syrians upon unsuspecting travellers. It tastes of camel, and kicks like aniseed, or something…

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02 January 2006

Aleppo and St. Simeon - 2nd January, 2006

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Firstly, thanks for the comments and the emails, it is great to hear from people. We have had a lovely day today and we both feel quite recovered from the arduous journey to Syria. As we write this, we are enjoying a cup of coffee. To get instant coffee, you ask for 'Nescafe' and they bring you a mug of frothed milk with instant coffee sprinkled on the top. Stir it in, add some sugar, and you have a very nice cup of coffee.

After we updated yesterday, we went back to the hotel. We were planning on going to the museum, but it was already getting dark. It is winter here and the sun sets around 4.30pm. We had a rest and then met the new people on our tour. We now are a group of nine, five of whom are Australians. In addition, there are two Americans and one Brazilian. To get to know each other, we went out for dinner in the Christian Quarter. It was a lovely night, but by 10pm we were quite tired and headed back to the hotel for bed.

This morning we headed out to the St. Simeon monastery. This is about an hour's drive from Aleppo, so we hopped into a little minivan to get there. As we drove out of Aleppo, we got a good look of the countryside, which is very rocky. Limestone is quarried in massive quarries along the road – a suburb called 'New Aleppo' is built almost entirely of limestone, hence the demand.

The St. Simeon monastery is located on a hill above the ghost town of Telanisous. We stopped there first to have a look at the ruins and to get the backstory on St. Simeon, the stylite (person who sits on a column). He was born c. AD 392 and went to a school at Telanisous. When he was about 17, he developed a taste for fasting and would sit for days without eating. His school expelled him and Simeon would fast sitting on the hill above the town, looking down at his school. People would make pilgrimage to see him, especially after he developed a reputation for curing diseases. A friend suggested that he sit on a column and built him one that was about 2m off the ground. For the next 30 years, Simeon would sit on this column, which gradually was increased in size until it was 16m tall. After his death, he was interred at the site and a monastery was built around the column. It was maintained as a monastery and church for about 150 years (and a burial crypt housed the bodies of St. Simeon and the monks who lived there) and was then abandoned after a series of earthquakes. In the tenth century, a Kurdish prince discovered the building and turned it into his palace.

The monastery is in a state of disrepair but the grandeur and scale can still be discerned. The entrance is particularly remarkable – a series of arches and columns. Inside, the base of Simeon's column remains in the very middle of the building. Surrounding it are four domed areas, which are laid out in the shape of the crucified Christ: the arms are outstretched, the legs point west and the head is tilted to the right. Standing at the bottom of the 'foot' dome, you can clearly see the layout. The floor was originally covered in mosaics. Some still exist but have been concreted over because people kept trying to steal the tiles. Only a few are uncovered to give an idea of what the floor would have looked like. There are also eighteen different types of crosses found in the building, at the top of columns and on the arch keystones. We didn't find all 18, but saw about 10.



The site also houses a baptistery about 100m from the monastery. Very little remains there, but we could see the baptismal pool. It had steps leading into it from two directions and would be about five feet deep. The base of the pool is covered in mosaics and there is a viewing area to the west of the pool. As I said, very little else remains, but there is good views off the hill.

After making a requisite toilet stop, which requires payment to use a hole in the ground, we headed back to Aleppo. It was midday by this time and we visited the Aleppo citadel before lunch. It is in the centre of Aleppo and is on a very tall mound. After walking up a very steep slope and many stairs, we entered into the castle. It is currently being excavated and the archaeologists have found evidence that site has been used since Hittite times (which was c. 1500 BC). The majority of the castle that exists today was built after the crusades and borrows heavily from crusader architecture. We wandered around the ruins for about an hour, marveling at how much of Aleppo we could see from the top. From the way we have driven in and out of Aleppo, we had the impression that it was not a big city. We were wrong! It stretches as far as the eye can see in all directions. Almost all the buildings are made of stone or concrete. As very few of the buildings have any facing, this gives the impression that the city is almost white. In fact, we have noticed that the Syrian landscape in general is quite devoid of colour.

The highlight of our visit to the citadel was the Throne Room. We nearly missed seeing this, as we couldn't find the way up to it. As we were leaving the castle, we noticed a few men climbing out of a hole in the wall. We decided to investigate and went in. We had to climb about five flights of stairs (where each stair was almost 50cm high) and had nearly given up on finding anything when we stumbled into the most beautiful room. Every surface was covered in lacquered wood paneling and there was some gorgeous stained glass in the ceiling. Hanging from the roof were beautiful wooden chandeliers. The afternoon sun was streaming in through the stained glass, giving the room a beautiful rosy hue. It was a beautiful room and we were so glad we found it. Nobody else in the group saw it and they were all very jealous when they saw the photos. It really was the highlight of the citadel.

We had some lunch after visiting the citadel and then walked through the souk (bazaar) on our way back to the part of the city where we are staying. The souk is incredible; you could buy almost anything there. The whole thing is arranged into sections, with fabrics, jewelry, clothing, food and so on all divided into different 'roads'. The jewelry section is quite stunning, particularly the gold 'road'. It just glows! There were heaps of people in the souk and it was very slow moving through it. When we finally made it out the other side, we had some Aleppo pistachios and apricots to sustain us. Well, I ate the apricots and Fletch the pistachios. Both were divine, Fletch said the pistachios were the best that he had ever eaten.

We then had a wander through some of the old streets until we ended up here. We have a bit of free time until dinner at 7pm, and as it is dark, we thought we'd pop in and do the diary.

Fletch's tips for new travellers

A handy tool for the traveller is a camera tripod. Not only can you take better photographs, you can also rid yourself of beggar children and pesky traders!

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