160808-170808 – Egypt - Aswan
I got up fairly early and started to go for a bit of a wander around the train. Fraser (now also named Scottish, Foxy-pants and Fergison) had crawled into the compartment at around 1 or 2AM, minus a few bottles of rum, and was still in a state somewhere between “embalmed” and “zombie”.
I sat in with Troy and Sarah when the breakfast cart came around, chuckling at the little green faces that slowly started to appear (seems like the bottles of rum were well shared).
We got off of the train around 8ish and straight onto a bus for the hostel. Airconditioning and wifi made for a pleasant reception. After dumping our gear, we had a group meeting and decided to do the optional side trip to Abu Simbel, a famous temple 3 hours to the North, and the temple at Fille which was just near by. The bus convoy for these would leave very early the next morning.
We had a little free time, so I went through the markets to buy some kind of head cover (got an arab style scarf at a rip-off price) and got some sunscreen at the nearby pharmacy.
A couple of us in the group came to the agreement over the next few days, that Aswan is what we imagined Cairo to be like. Here you are woken by the call to prayer, the traffic is MUCH lighter and the cars are in much better condition. The markets are more spacious and the vendors are somewhat more polite. Unfortunately, the range andd quality of fruit is somewhat less than in Cairo, but such compromises are acceptable.
For the rest of today, we went on a boat ride up the nile while a local guide explained the ancient and recent history of the region. The various islands and monuments, tombs on hilltops and the Old Cataract Hotel where Agethar Christie wrote Death on the Nile. We had a delicious lunch provided by the boat operator along with the most fantastic fresh mango juice. Because it was still the middle of the day, we chilled out at a riverside Nubian cafe. Paddling in the Nile and sipping iced-drinks, I think we all would have been happy to chill there for a few days :p
Once it had cooled a bit, we were back in the boat and went to the suitable stop for a camel ride.
Camels are certainly a disgruntled and complaining breed of creature, groaning and bellowing any and every time that they think they might be listened to. In all, I kind of enjoyed the camel ride. The locals had done my scarf up like Lawrence of Arabia along with John and Troy (got a couple of “wise men” photos). We rode about 15minutes out into the desert and took photos of the Monastary of Saint Simon (I think, might have been Samuel). If I'd had time this trip, I would have liked to have toured the old and new monastary.
Camel ride finished, we got the boat back and had dinner on one of the floating river-side restaraunt, taking photos of the felucca's floating through the sunset.
170808
This morning was a 3AM start, we were in the bus waiting at the convoy rendezvous point till nearly 430 and somewhat cranky before the 20 or so busses took off.
The rode to Abu Simbel was long and tiring, it was a minivan barely big enough for all of us and my nasty-butt was only just behaving itself considering how much imodium I'd taken.
Finally we arrived at the final resting place of the temple,
My cards had not been working for the last 24hours for some reason, so I was borrowing money off of Fraser for most of the day today. As a group we decided not to get a guide and just wandered through.
The temple at Abu Simbel originally lay in the middle of no-where, carved into the side of a mountain. The building of the great-dam and the associated flooding was more extensive that originally expected, so the temple had to be transplanted about 400 yards away and somewhat higher in order to prevent it having a watery grave of its own.
$40 million and several years later, the temple was assembled like a giant lego set on the hilltop where it now sits.
The temples are quite large an impressive, but something seems to have been lost in the moving. Much of the temple is impressively well preserved... but...
Anyways, it was worth the trip. Plenty of photos and exploring later, we were back on the bus. During the wait, I called the bank to find out what was going on with my card. A little success, but I was told they couldn't take all steps necessary as it was still a Sunday.
A long trip later, we were back near Aswan. We jumped into another motor boat and went to Fille. These temples had also been transplanted to escape the rising water. With a heavy roman and greek influence, this island was much more conducive with “exploring” rather than “touring” and nearly deserted, rather than over-crowded.
Back at the hostel, we had another group meeting to arrange the felucca for tomorrow. A couple of group members also growled at Emam for the cost of the Abu Simbel tour, some of the other people in the hostel had done the same as us and more for less than half the cost, on a much larger bus. A couple of the people wouldn't let it go and I felt quite bad for Emam, she'd been doing a great job for us but all 2 of these people could do was whine and complain..
Anyways, off to dinner on the water again and a couple of drinks later, everyone had chilled out a bit and decided it was time to have an early night.
The ATM finally worked today, so it was a good day :) I'm not the only one who had been having card troubles, so it appears to be the Egyptian network rather than an account problem.
Monday, August 25, 2008
140808-150808 - Egypt - Cairo
After a long sleep in, I repacked and did emails over breakfast on the top floor of the hotel. Breakfast here seems to be boiled eggs and assorted eggs as standard.
The notice board in the lobby said the initial meeting would be at 2pm. I noticed that some of the other intrepid people had started to check in, so grabbed two of them and cruised up to where I'd had dinner the night before for lunch.
Erin and John where to guys from America. They'd studied at UCLA together and just flown in from Greece after a heavy night. They came across as pretty easy going and would be fun for the adventures to come.
Back at the hotel, I met my new room mate, Fraser Fox. Fraser is a scottish guy with an awesome sense of humour. He'd just had a series of rotten connecting flights but had already been suitable fed and watered.
The majority of the rest of the travellers were in the lobby by the time we got down there. 4 Aussies in total, a girl from the UK to join our Scottish colleague and 4 Americans. We relocated to the roof-restaurant for the briefing by Emam, our tour leader.
I've already mentioned Fraser, Erin and John. Debbie is an older American lady who works as a translater for deaf people. Well meaning and adventurous, she is also somewhat expressive in conversation. Evy is a young american girl who is turning 20 when we all get back to Cairo. Troy and Sarah are from Australia, Troy worked in logistics and Sarah is an opera singer, they are both really nice and fun to hang out with. Nick is a doctor from RPA who just finished PGY2, unfortunately this quickly blew my cover of “I'm an engineer” quite rapidly, but it'll be good to have someone qualified on the tour. Nick's girlfriend, Rachel, is from the UK. Two people hadn't arrived yet.
Emam is a muslim girl who had graduated from Archaeology and lived in Alexandria. She is extremely pleasant and quite easy going. She confidently and compitently outlined how the trip would operate and what were the main decisions we would have to make at various legs of the trip.
We briefly ran through everyones names (mercifully, no tacky ice-breakers or name-games) and handed up photocopies of passports, insurance and our “Local Payment” money.
Meeting done, we met with our local guide and caught taxis to a Mosque deeper into Cairo.
The mosque was a fasinating experience, hieghtened by having two women lead us and explain the various requirements and aspects of the building. We placed our shoes in the care of two older gentlemen, the girls in the group put on a head-cover and long-sleeves or hired what could only be described as a cross between a full body dress and a nightie. We proceeded into the building and sat in a quiet corner while our guides talked us through the basics of Islam. A bit of a wander later, along with photos of the more impressive architecture, we paid the required tips and collected our shoes.
Outside the mosque, we regrouped and crossed the street to the markets. After a brief orientation (ATMs over there, market enterance over here...) we occupied a couple of tables in a cafe and had egyptian pancakes.
Egyptian pancakes are very difficult to describe. The come in sweet or savoury, with toppings and fillings ranging from bananas to minced meat. I was recommended the pancake with sugar, which turned out to be icing sugar. The pancake itself is an odd type of pastry that is halfway between crepe and the inside of a crossaunt. They're quite tasty (once you remove half of the icing sugar). I also tried some of the sausage pancake that one of the guides couldn't finish, the savoury pancakes could make quite a meal.
Refreshed and renewed, we went back to the enterance of the markets and got let loose. A couple of us forged ahead, being assaulted from every angle with cries of “Hello! Welcome! Come into my shop!”, vendors stepping directly in front of us and youngsters gently tugging at your shirt to try and direct you towards the family business. While quite excciting to begin with, it rapidly became tiresome with EVERYONE trying to sell you something. The group seemed to decide en-mass not to buy anything right now, instead planning to pick up souvenirs when we got back to Cairo rather than lugging them the whole way up Egypt and back. After having a look around the cramped markets for about an hour, myself and the older American Lady emerged and sought out cold drinks and toilets. We were lucky enough to run into Troy and Sarah, two of the other Australians.
We caught taxis back to the hotel shortly after and met with Emam to go for dinner and the orientation walk. Dinner was at Gad, a fastfood chain with table service. The inside looked like a burger joint and served middle-eastern food. Compared where we went to lunch, the food was over-priced, no where near as nice, hot and cramped.. ah well, thems the breaks :p
One of our missing companions had joined us by this evening. Sarah is a Brit who had been working as a child-psych in Sydney. Wicked sense of humour and perpetually humming a tune, her and Fraser almost seemed to have choriographed jokes and pranks. No one knew of the final missing member, Rhiana.
The night ended with Emam taking us to a nearby street cafe for mint tea and sheesha. She explained how and why Cairo comes alive at night, as soon as it is cool enough to come outside for socialising and shoppoing. The tea was a lipton bag, same as home.
Sheesha is a mix of tobacco, mollasses and a flavour. Apple seems to be the most common. Sheesha is NOT hasheesh, which is “whacky tabaccy” and illegal here.
The sheesa is placed in the top of the Hookah, under a layer of aluminium foil. The foil is perforated with a long thin needle and a couple of hot coals. By drawing on the end on the long hose, smoke is pulled down through the hookah and bubbles through water at the bottom. We were told not to actually inhale, the point of it is to merely taste the smoke. It seems to be very popular here, with almost every other table at the cafe having 2 or more hookahs. Can't say it's really my thing, but worth trying (seems to be gaining popularity in Australia and America).
150808
The next morning was a reasonable start. Got up about 8, had the standard breakfast and the like.. Tried turkish coffee this morning, which was quite nice until I hit the sludge at the bottom and realised I should have been stirring it between sips :p
Then it was onto the bus to go to the pyramids.
I have only one thing to say about the pyramids. BIG.
I have MANY things I could say about the locals... none of them pleasant.. Seeing as my mum will probably read this, such things will remain unsaid.
The pyramids were Big to the point of surreal. We stopped halfway there to take photos by the side of the freeway. When you're actually underneath the great man-made mountains, you get a neck-ache trying to see the top. For most of us, it just didn't sink in. It felt more like a movie set.
Most of us got tickets to go down into the depths of the second pyramid (the tickets for the great pyramid had already sold out). It was awefully sweaty work, despite airconditioning. The main burial chamber was fairly large. I would have loved to have been able to wander through the side chambers, but they were all blocked off.
Once outside, we all seperated and dodged the locals to take photos. I got Rachel to take a photo of my biting the top off of the second pyramid, both of us ignoring the local who had started with “You are lucky man, your wife very beautiful..” and was probably planning on buying her.
Novelty photo taken, Rachel went back to the bus and I went to see the Pharo's Boat. Next to the Great Pyramid and in air conditioned comfort, the boat was quite interesting to see. It is fully assembled and floats suspended from the ceiling. It too is rather large.
Back on the bus, we drove up to the Panorama. The best location for getting photos of the pyramids, this area is an absolute tourist trap. Locals expect money for EVERYTHING and are very willing to tell whatever lies are required to get it. Two people in our group tried to get scammed into camel rides. Locals would wait until the last moment, jump into your photo and then demand payment. One local slided up next to a couple of us for “photo.. no money..”. Several snaps later, he held out a hand and was furious when we only tipped him 2 pounds, pointing at our money belts saying “more more..”
I can now see why there are tourism police everywhere.. with machine guns and assault rifles.
Back on the bus, we went to the sphynx and got suitably camera-happy. In a way, the Sphynx was more impressive, it just seemed more “real” or more believable. The pyramids were just like a hill or a mountain.
Lunch was at a local place, Fallafel and kebabs.
Once lunch had settled, we took off around the Egyptian Museum. Unfortunately, we were all close to exhaustion and the lack of real air conditioning made it very difficult to concentrate. The “nasty-butt” (as I'd come to call it) was continuing to deteriorate, so statues and ancient works of art were interrupted by regular visits to the toilet. After the tour of the major exhibits, Emam left us for free time. Most of us hoped in a monster sized taxi and retreated to the hotel for air-con, showers and beers in the foyer.
After a while, Sarah and I took off for the food markets near where we had Sheesha the night before. Sarah seemed to befriend every kid in the market as we haggled for fruit for the train (Sarah is a vegitarian). We found a bottle shop nearby and bought some beer as well, then stocked up on water on the way back. Once back at the hotel with plenty of time to spare, Fraser and the American boys took one look at the beer and decided they needed rum. I escorted them back to the bottle shops at a mad pace, we only had about 10 minutes to do it in before the bus left for the train station! Fraser got 4 bottles of Egyptian Rhummo (read: “Nasty Rum”) for about $20 Australian. There was a mad dash back for the bus, which turned into a bit of a wait.
The train station turned into another wait, seems the timetables in Egypt are “fluid”. Once it arrived, we were all suitably impressed. Each compartment took 2 people in bunk beds, there was a waiter for each car that provided food, drinks and arranged the bedding (we were told in advance to tip him well at the end of the trip). Fraser and I hjad a compartment with a door connecting to Sarah and Evy's. Once people had eaten, we piled into the two compartments for drinks and philosophical debate. After dinner, drinks and a biblical lecture by Nick, the majority of us wandered down to the “club car” for the belly-dancing competition. This mostly consisted of the male bar-tender teaching individuals a couple of moves (which also were typically male). Most of the dancing was on table-tops and could only really be described like staring at “rhythmic train-wrecks”, you know it's not whole-some but you just can't look away.
By this point, the nasty-butt was quite nasty. So I took off for an early night.
The notice board in the lobby said the initial meeting would be at 2pm. I noticed that some of the other intrepid people had started to check in, so grabbed two of them and cruised up to where I'd had dinner the night before for lunch.
Erin and John where to guys from America. They'd studied at UCLA together and just flown in from Greece after a heavy night. They came across as pretty easy going and would be fun for the adventures to come.
Back at the hotel, I met my new room mate, Fraser Fox. Fraser is a scottish guy with an awesome sense of humour. He'd just had a series of rotten connecting flights but had already been suitable fed and watered.
The majority of the rest of the travellers were in the lobby by the time we got down there. 4 Aussies in total, a girl from the UK to join our Scottish colleague and 4 Americans. We relocated to the roof-restaurant for the briefing by Emam, our tour leader.
I've already mentioned Fraser, Erin and John. Debbie is an older American lady who works as a translater for deaf people. Well meaning and adventurous, she is also somewhat expressive in conversation. Evy is a young american girl who is turning 20 when we all get back to Cairo. Troy and Sarah are from Australia, Troy worked in logistics and Sarah is an opera singer, they are both really nice and fun to hang out with. Nick is a doctor from RPA who just finished PGY2, unfortunately this quickly blew my cover of “I'm an engineer” quite rapidly, but it'll be good to have someone qualified on the tour. Nick's girlfriend, Rachel, is from the UK. Two people hadn't arrived yet.
Emam is a muslim girl who had graduated from Archaeology and lived in Alexandria. She is extremely pleasant and quite easy going. She confidently and compitently outlined how the trip would operate and what were the main decisions we would have to make at various legs of the trip.
We briefly ran through everyones names (mercifully, no tacky ice-breakers or name-games) and handed up photocopies of passports, insurance and our “Local Payment” money.
Meeting done, we met with our local guide and caught taxis to a Mosque deeper into Cairo.
The mosque was a fasinating experience, hieghtened by having two women lead us and explain the various requirements and aspects of the building. We placed our shoes in the care of two older gentlemen, the girls in the group put on a head-cover and long-sleeves or hired what could only be described as a cross between a full body dress and a nightie. We proceeded into the building and sat in a quiet corner while our guides talked us through the basics of Islam. A bit of a wander later, along with photos of the more impressive architecture, we paid the required tips and collected our shoes.
Outside the mosque, we regrouped and crossed the street to the markets. After a brief orientation (ATMs over there, market enterance over here...) we occupied a couple of tables in a cafe and had egyptian pancakes.
Egyptian pancakes are very difficult to describe. The come in sweet or savoury, with toppings and fillings ranging from bananas to minced meat. I was recommended the pancake with sugar, which turned out to be icing sugar. The pancake itself is an odd type of pastry that is halfway between crepe and the inside of a crossaunt. They're quite tasty (once you remove half of the icing sugar). I also tried some of the sausage pancake that one of the guides couldn't finish, the savoury pancakes could make quite a meal.
Refreshed and renewed, we went back to the enterance of the markets and got let loose. A couple of us forged ahead, being assaulted from every angle with cries of “Hello! Welcome! Come into my shop!”, vendors stepping directly in front of us and youngsters gently tugging at your shirt to try and direct you towards the family business. While quite excciting to begin with, it rapidly became tiresome with EVERYONE trying to sell you something. The group seemed to decide en-mass not to buy anything right now, instead planning to pick up souvenirs when we got back to Cairo rather than lugging them the whole way up Egypt and back. After having a look around the cramped markets for about an hour, myself and the older American Lady emerged and sought out cold drinks and toilets. We were lucky enough to run into Troy and Sarah, two of the other Australians.
We caught taxis back to the hotel shortly after and met with Emam to go for dinner and the orientation walk. Dinner was at Gad, a fastfood chain with table service. The inside looked like a burger joint and served middle-eastern food. Compared where we went to lunch, the food was over-priced, no where near as nice, hot and cramped.. ah well, thems the breaks :p
One of our missing companions had joined us by this evening. Sarah is a Brit who had been working as a child-psych in Sydney. Wicked sense of humour and perpetually humming a tune, her and Fraser almost seemed to have choriographed jokes and pranks. No one knew of the final missing member, Rhiana.
The night ended with Emam taking us to a nearby street cafe for mint tea and sheesha. She explained how and why Cairo comes alive at night, as soon as it is cool enough to come outside for socialising and shoppoing. The tea was a lipton bag, same as home.
Sheesha is a mix of tobacco, mollasses and a flavour. Apple seems to be the most common. Sheesha is NOT hasheesh, which is “whacky tabaccy” and illegal here.
The sheesa is placed in the top of the Hookah, under a layer of aluminium foil. The foil is perforated with a long thin needle and a couple of hot coals. By drawing on the end on the long hose, smoke is pulled down through the hookah and bubbles through water at the bottom. We were told not to actually inhale, the point of it is to merely taste the smoke. It seems to be very popular here, with almost every other table at the cafe having 2 or more hookahs. Can't say it's really my thing, but worth trying (seems to be gaining popularity in Australia and America).
150808
The next morning was a reasonable start. Got up about 8, had the standard breakfast and the like.. Tried turkish coffee this morning, which was quite nice until I hit the sludge at the bottom and realised I should have been stirring it between sips :p
Then it was onto the bus to go to the pyramids.
I have only one thing to say about the pyramids. BIG.
I have MANY things I could say about the locals... none of them pleasant.. Seeing as my mum will probably read this, such things will remain unsaid.
The pyramids were Big to the point of surreal. We stopped halfway there to take photos by the side of the freeway. When you're actually underneath the great man-made mountains, you get a neck-ache trying to see the top. For most of us, it just didn't sink in. It felt more like a movie set.
Most of us got tickets to go down into the depths of the second pyramid (the tickets for the great pyramid had already sold out). It was awefully sweaty work, despite airconditioning. The main burial chamber was fairly large. I would have loved to have been able to wander through the side chambers, but they were all blocked off.
Once outside, we all seperated and dodged the locals to take photos. I got Rachel to take a photo of my biting the top off of the second pyramid, both of us ignoring the local who had started with “You are lucky man, your wife very beautiful..” and was probably planning on buying her.
Novelty photo taken, Rachel went back to the bus and I went to see the Pharo's Boat. Next to the Great Pyramid and in air conditioned comfort, the boat was quite interesting to see. It is fully assembled and floats suspended from the ceiling. It too is rather large.
Back on the bus, we drove up to the Panorama. The best location for getting photos of the pyramids, this area is an absolute tourist trap. Locals expect money for EVERYTHING and are very willing to tell whatever lies are required to get it. Two people in our group tried to get scammed into camel rides. Locals would wait until the last moment, jump into your photo and then demand payment. One local slided up next to a couple of us for “photo.. no money..”. Several snaps later, he held out a hand and was furious when we only tipped him 2 pounds, pointing at our money belts saying “more more..”
I can now see why there are tourism police everywhere.. with machine guns and assault rifles.
Back on the bus, we went to the sphynx and got suitably camera-happy. In a way, the Sphynx was more impressive, it just seemed more “real” or more believable. The pyramids were just like a hill or a mountain.
Lunch was at a local place, Fallafel and kebabs.
Once lunch had settled, we took off around the Egyptian Museum. Unfortunately, we were all close to exhaustion and the lack of real air conditioning made it very difficult to concentrate. The “nasty-butt” (as I'd come to call it) was continuing to deteriorate, so statues and ancient works of art were interrupted by regular visits to the toilet. After the tour of the major exhibits, Emam left us for free time. Most of us hoped in a monster sized taxi and retreated to the hotel for air-con, showers and beers in the foyer.
After a while, Sarah and I took off for the food markets near where we had Sheesha the night before. Sarah seemed to befriend every kid in the market as we haggled for fruit for the train (Sarah is a vegitarian). We found a bottle shop nearby and bought some beer as well, then stocked up on water on the way back. Once back at the hotel with plenty of time to spare, Fraser and the American boys took one look at the beer and decided they needed rum. I escorted them back to the bottle shops at a mad pace, we only had about 10 minutes to do it in before the bus left for the train station! Fraser got 4 bottles of Egyptian Rhummo (read: “Nasty Rum”) for about $20 Australian. There was a mad dash back for the bus, which turned into a bit of a wait.
The train station turned into another wait, seems the timetables in Egypt are “fluid”. Once it arrived, we were all suitably impressed. Each compartment took 2 people in bunk beds, there was a waiter for each car that provided food, drinks and arranged the bedding (we were told in advance to tip him well at the end of the trip). Fraser and I hjad a compartment with a door connecting to Sarah and Evy's. Once people had eaten, we piled into the two compartments for drinks and philosophical debate. After dinner, drinks and a biblical lecture by Nick, the majority of us wandered down to the “club car” for the belly-dancing competition. This mostly consisted of the male bar-tender teaching individuals a couple of moves (which also were typically male). Most of the dancing was on table-tops and could only really be described like staring at “rhythmic train-wrecks”, you know it's not whole-some but you just can't look away.
By this point, the nasty-butt was quite nasty. So I took off for an early night.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
140808 - Cairo
So I arrived into Cairo after a convuluted series of connections.
Lunch in Johannesburg Airport after checking my luggage through to Cairo, flew out at 2pm. Sat next to an American Missionary in the emergency isle (Etheopian Airways has EXCELLENT emergency isle legroom). Got into Addis Ababa (Etheopia) at 2040 and had to rush through to my connection.
I think I took a wrong turn, because I had to go through Security again. The line was really long and there were 3 other flights using the same enterance. Eventually a lady came out and said “Cairo and Beruit”. I assumed that was me and sure enough, my half-hour security wait was cut short :) This was the first checkpoint where they actually looked insinde of any of my gear. I got the rush treatment from there on in, keeping a hold of my passport from enthusiastic officials was a bit of a challenge :p
The Flight to Kartoum was absolutely packed, my neighbours didn't know how to keep their elbows to themselves. We did get fed on this connection though.
The connection to Cairo was only half full, so I jumped back into the emergency isle... luxury
Landed in Cairo at about 0250 local time. Spent about half an hour getting Egyptian pounds out, buying Visas and getting US dollars for my tour. Getting my passport stamped took forever, by which the tourism officials had spotted me. From here on it was the royal treatment. I was escorted past customs and out to the “tour car” parking lot. Shuffled into a VERY nice car with an english speaking driver and then the car ride from hell to the hotel. I figured I was getting ripped-off, but by this point it was worth the extra few dollars.
Driving here is what I'd been told it would be like in South Africa. Tail-gating is more a standard of measurement than a potential offence, speed limits on suburban streets were a mix between “inspired by the old Australian Open-Limit” and seeing how far the pedal could be pushed down. Merging was like watching 2-ton ballet.
Horns here seem to be more a method of expressing one-self than an alarm for warning others against impending doom. Beeping is sometimes when there is nothing else nearby, not beeping when you almost get rammed. The car horn appears to be used in day to day life as a form of street poetry, with a complex system of communicating happiness, greetings, displeasure, “I'm about to merge” and “here is an opening for you”. It is a voice of the people in their motorised palaces, and they clear their throat at every opportunity.
In the simplest of terms, the Egyptian car horn is a replacement for the Australian indicator light (which they do not use) and so much more. Waking in the morning is sometimes to the beautiful Muslim “Call to Prayer” from nearby towers. More often it is to the harsh blaring of the ocean of horns boiling in the streets, screaming out praise to their petrolium overlords and humanity at large. It is a sound ubiquitous to the city, like the heartbeat or drawing of breath.
Racing through the streets with a driver who appeared to possess Jedi-like reflexes, I saw glimpses of Egypt. This truly is a city that never sleeps. Vendors had street stalls open with people milling around, there were food vendors open everywhere. Guys had wares laid out on blankets on the pavement. At this time of night, it looked like Perth or Fremantle on a quiet weekend morning.
Having arrived at my hotel in what was probably record time (in the whole 20minutes at 80-120km/h, I don't think we'd been stationary more than once.. despite traffic lights), the driver demanded a tip. I know I was probably overcharged for the trip, but I figured the experience was worth it. 100EGP plus 5EGP tip (about $21USD in total, about $5 more than what the travel info had advised was fair) was cheap for a ride with what could only be described as a champion rally driver. Super-Car rides are $50 a lap in Perth, I got the “escape and evade” slalem through Cairo at half that price :D
Inside the Hotel Capsis, the clerk said that I was very early but could check in at 6AM if I liked. I was welcome to use their massive couches and bar until then if I liked.
Big bottle of water and making sure that all of my gear was locked up, I was snoozing on the couch until the lights came on.
I got a double room with a window view of the street and a cold shower. The room was nice enough and seemed to have the essentials. I sat up for a little while, soaking in the sounds through the open window..
At 2PM I got ready for the day. I went hunting for food and water and hopefully internet. The lady who was on the counter now was a lot less helpful, or nice, than the gentleman this morning. I got bad directions to find an internet cafe and eventually came back to the hotel after a vendor wouldn't sell me water.
A short lesson on the differences between egytpian bank notes (I'd been trying to use a 0.50EGP note, thinking it was a 50), I was back on the road to victory. I wandered around for a while and resorted going to a nearby service-station for water and local pizza (hey, they have the prices marked.. best to get a price-benchmark before trying to haggle!).
By the time I got back to the hotel, there was a new clerk who was worth his weight in gold. I got directions to the shopping districts, he drew on my map and informed me that the hotel had ADSL wireless at $2USD an hour. WOW!
Emails to Isabelle and Justine to sort out France, Emma and Josh to sort out Spain, Jenny to tell her how much I missed her and posted my South Africa blog.
By the time I'd finished chatting to the clerk, it was about 8PM and still light outside. The clerk assured me that it was very safe in this part of town, so I dumped my gear upstairs and ventured out for dinner.
The one thing that hit me about the next few hours is how much I wish I had someone to travel with and share these experiences with. It was probably the culture shock that I noticed over the next hour or so, the fear that I always feel when I get into a new city. I don't know anyone here, I don't speak the language, I'll probably get ripped off. I'd better stick to the main street, is anyone following me.. wait here and see if that kid keeps walking or has he marked me. Travelling with other people does sometimes cause you to focus on them rather than monitoring your surroundings, but it also offers another set of eyes and a person to feel brave around. Travelling as I am makes me feel more adventureous, but it'd be nice to have people to laugh some of this stuff off with :p
I walked along Ramses St (where the hotel is) until I found the road that is the shopping district. I don't think that I'd gone as far as the clerk had told me to, but I didn't want to push too far into unknown territory. Trying to dress and walk like a local and putting on the “Officer Face” that my mates use was hopefully making me less of a target, but I was still sticking out badly (and a good half-foot taller than anyone around me).
Regardless of if it was the shopping district or not, it was PACKED. I walked along both sides of the roads and some of the side roads for a good hour or two. After overcoming the initial shock, I started peering down the side-streets and into the court-yards. Where in most cities you have a open mall-like enterance leading to a series of shops, these are more like a small opening in the wall that opens out after about 20m of tight alley-way. I figured I wouldn't risk getting lost and stuck to the main street, if I'd been travelling with Emma and Josh or someone like Jenny, I would have liked to have explored these places.
I walked past some packed shops selling food, some of them I didn't like the look of and at one I was simply ignored. I finally overcame my fear and asked one man if he spoke english and could I please have one of “those”. A quick “yes, please take 6 inside” I'd paid the cashier (who padded an extra 0.50) and was on my way with a VERY tasty roll stuffed with seasoned kebab meat and some kind of sour-cream and herb dressing. Feeling braver now and partially fed, I stopped at another store that seemed quite popular, surrounded by people in the street eating a kind of layered and mixed fruit dessert from beer mugs.
Emmulating the locals I vaguely pointed at one of the mugs and passed the cashier a note. In return I got a small token and a heap of change back, the token I gave to the man making the dessert and tried to take a mug.
“No..” and frantic waving of hands, he directed me to take a large one. ~AWESOME~
Dinner successful and back at the hotel, I repacked my bag twice to try and make some more space. I went to bed promising that I would stitch up the things that need repairing in the morning...
Today I got up at about 9AM and pottered around the room for a bit, the gentle baying of car-horns offering a soundtrack to my time-wasting. I wandered up a floor to the restaurant and pondered my situation. I'd like to try and get a phone card to call home today and need to get ready for the tour that starts at 1PM.
The breakfast supplied by the hotel was 2 boiled eggs, 2 small rolls, 2 small pita, jam and coffee. Fullfilling its purpose, I'll have to investigate lunch before joining the tour. Hopefully the activity and the light meals will help me get in shape for the rest of the adventure to come..
Lunch in Johannesburg Airport after checking my luggage through to Cairo, flew out at 2pm. Sat next to an American Missionary in the emergency isle (Etheopian Airways has EXCELLENT emergency isle legroom). Got into Addis Ababa (Etheopia) at 2040 and had to rush through to my connection.
I think I took a wrong turn, because I had to go through Security again. The line was really long and there were 3 other flights using the same enterance. Eventually a lady came out and said “Cairo and Beruit”. I assumed that was me and sure enough, my half-hour security wait was cut short :) This was the first checkpoint where they actually looked insinde of any of my gear. I got the rush treatment from there on in, keeping a hold of my passport from enthusiastic officials was a bit of a challenge :p
The Flight to Kartoum was absolutely packed, my neighbours didn't know how to keep their elbows to themselves. We did get fed on this connection though.
The connection to Cairo was only half full, so I jumped back into the emergency isle... luxury
Landed in Cairo at about 0250 local time. Spent about half an hour getting Egyptian pounds out, buying Visas and getting US dollars for my tour. Getting my passport stamped took forever, by which the tourism officials had spotted me. From here on it was the royal treatment. I was escorted past customs and out to the “tour car” parking lot. Shuffled into a VERY nice car with an english speaking driver and then the car ride from hell to the hotel. I figured I was getting ripped-off, but by this point it was worth the extra few dollars.
Driving here is what I'd been told it would be like in South Africa. Tail-gating is more a standard of measurement than a potential offence, speed limits on suburban streets were a mix between “inspired by the old Australian Open-Limit” and seeing how far the pedal could be pushed down. Merging was like watching 2-ton ballet.
Horns here seem to be more a method of expressing one-self than an alarm for warning others against impending doom. Beeping is sometimes when there is nothing else nearby, not beeping when you almost get rammed. The car horn appears to be used in day to day life as a form of street poetry, with a complex system of communicating happiness, greetings, displeasure, “I'm about to merge” and “here is an opening for you”. It is a voice of the people in their motorised palaces, and they clear their throat at every opportunity.
In the simplest of terms, the Egyptian car horn is a replacement for the Australian indicator light (which they do not use) and so much more. Waking in the morning is sometimes to the beautiful Muslim “Call to Prayer” from nearby towers. More often it is to the harsh blaring of the ocean of horns boiling in the streets, screaming out praise to their petrolium overlords and humanity at large. It is a sound ubiquitous to the city, like the heartbeat or drawing of breath.
Racing through the streets with a driver who appeared to possess Jedi-like reflexes, I saw glimpses of Egypt. This truly is a city that never sleeps. Vendors had street stalls open with people milling around, there were food vendors open everywhere. Guys had wares laid out on blankets on the pavement. At this time of night, it looked like Perth or Fremantle on a quiet weekend morning.
Having arrived at my hotel in what was probably record time (in the whole 20minutes at 80-120km/h, I don't think we'd been stationary more than once.. despite traffic lights), the driver demanded a tip. I know I was probably overcharged for the trip, but I figured the experience was worth it. 100EGP plus 5EGP tip (about $21USD in total, about $5 more than what the travel info had advised was fair) was cheap for a ride with what could only be described as a champion rally driver. Super-Car rides are $50 a lap in Perth, I got the “escape and evade” slalem through Cairo at half that price :D
Inside the Hotel Capsis, the clerk said that I was very early but could check in at 6AM if I liked. I was welcome to use their massive couches and bar until then if I liked.
Big bottle of water and making sure that all of my gear was locked up, I was snoozing on the couch until the lights came on.
I got a double room with a window view of the street and a cold shower. The room was nice enough and seemed to have the essentials. I sat up for a little while, soaking in the sounds through the open window..
At 2PM I got ready for the day. I went hunting for food and water and hopefully internet. The lady who was on the counter now was a lot less helpful, or nice, than the gentleman this morning. I got bad directions to find an internet cafe and eventually came back to the hotel after a vendor wouldn't sell me water.
A short lesson on the differences between egytpian bank notes (I'd been trying to use a 0.50EGP note, thinking it was a 50), I was back on the road to victory. I wandered around for a while and resorted going to a nearby service-station for water and local pizza (hey, they have the prices marked.. best to get a price-benchmark before trying to haggle!).
By the time I got back to the hotel, there was a new clerk who was worth his weight in gold. I got directions to the shopping districts, he drew on my map and informed me that the hotel had ADSL wireless at $2USD an hour. WOW!
Emails to Isabelle and Justine to sort out France, Emma and Josh to sort out Spain, Jenny to tell her how much I missed her and posted my South Africa blog.
By the time I'd finished chatting to the clerk, it was about 8PM and still light outside. The clerk assured me that it was very safe in this part of town, so I dumped my gear upstairs and ventured out for dinner.
The one thing that hit me about the next few hours is how much I wish I had someone to travel with and share these experiences with. It was probably the culture shock that I noticed over the next hour or so, the fear that I always feel when I get into a new city. I don't know anyone here, I don't speak the language, I'll probably get ripped off. I'd better stick to the main street, is anyone following me.. wait here and see if that kid keeps walking or has he marked me. Travelling with other people does sometimes cause you to focus on them rather than monitoring your surroundings, but it also offers another set of eyes and a person to feel brave around. Travelling as I am makes me feel more adventureous, but it'd be nice to have people to laugh some of this stuff off with :p
I walked along Ramses St (where the hotel is) until I found the road that is the shopping district. I don't think that I'd gone as far as the clerk had told me to, but I didn't want to push too far into unknown territory. Trying to dress and walk like a local and putting on the “Officer Face” that my mates use was hopefully making me less of a target, but I was still sticking out badly (and a good half-foot taller than anyone around me).
Regardless of if it was the shopping district or not, it was PACKED. I walked along both sides of the roads and some of the side roads for a good hour or two. After overcoming the initial shock, I started peering down the side-streets and into the court-yards. Where in most cities you have a open mall-like enterance leading to a series of shops, these are more like a small opening in the wall that opens out after about 20m of tight alley-way. I figured I wouldn't risk getting lost and stuck to the main street, if I'd been travelling with Emma and Josh or someone like Jenny, I would have liked to have explored these places.
I walked past some packed shops selling food, some of them I didn't like the look of and at one I was simply ignored. I finally overcame my fear and asked one man if he spoke english and could I please have one of “those”. A quick “yes, please take 6 inside” I'd paid the cashier (who padded an extra 0.50) and was on my way with a VERY tasty roll stuffed with seasoned kebab meat and some kind of sour-cream and herb dressing. Feeling braver now and partially fed, I stopped at another store that seemed quite popular, surrounded by people in the street eating a kind of layered and mixed fruit dessert from beer mugs.
Emmulating the locals I vaguely pointed at one of the mugs and passed the cashier a note. In return I got a small token and a heap of change back, the token I gave to the man making the dessert and tried to take a mug.
“No..” and frantic waving of hands, he directed me to take a large one. ~AWESOME~
Dinner successful and back at the hotel, I repacked my bag twice to try and make some more space. I went to bed promising that I would stitch up the things that need repairing in the morning...
Today I got up at about 9AM and pottered around the room for a bit, the gentle baying of car-horns offering a soundtrack to my time-wasting. I wandered up a floor to the restaurant and pondered my situation. I'd like to try and get a phone card to call home today and need to get ready for the tour that starts at 1PM.
The breakfast supplied by the hotel was 2 boiled eggs, 2 small rolls, 2 small pita, jam and coffee. Fullfilling its purpose, I'll have to investigate lunch before joining the tour. Hopefully the activity and the light meals will help me get in shape for the rest of the adventure to come..
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
080808-20808 - South Africa
so, this is a bit of a back-dated blog.. (currently in Cairo)
The flight over was the same as usual.. try and sleep, cheap food, so on. though, this time I couldn't get good and drunk. Instead I had to take aspirin every few hours and drink lots of water. It did mean that I talked to a bunch of people though, I got a good run down on safety and such by a nice lady called Shawn from Jo-burg.
Snazzy picked me up from the airport and we went for dinner. WOW everything is cheap in Australian dollars!!! Mazzy and I had 2 drinks each, entre and mains (MUH-HAS-IVE mains) for about R280 (about $30AU) at a fairly swanky restaurant. Even with tips it was cheap (you have to tip everywhere).
Monash SA is pretty nice. Rooms are fairly spartan, but quite standard for collage. I can see why Snazzy wants to get her own place.
Security is everywhere, it's just a way of life. At home we lock the door at night, there they have a fence. Driving wasn't ANYWHERE near as bad as I expected.
Next morning, we went to the Cradle of Mankind. Cools caves with an underground lake. We then went to the next place over that had an "underground boat ride". Hoping it to be a boat ride through a cave-lake, it was actually an educational theme-park. It did have some very cool fossils though.
That night we went and saw "African Footprint", a Bollywood style interpretive dance of the history of South Africa.
On the Sunday we went out to Pilansberg National Park, about 180km from Monash. Priscilla and Lisa came along. It was VERY cool, we spotted Zebra, Giraffe, Rhino, Wilderbeast, Buffalo, Hippo, Warthog (not as ugly as you'd think, the girls thought they were cute :p ) and heaps of birds. No big cats though :(
We drove past some townships on the way up, there is a lot of work to do in Africa yet... towns of corrugated iron opposite construction sites for FIFA 2010.
I'd definitely like to do Suweto on my next visit.
The trip back was a crack-up of really bad jokes. Lisa does the most awesome Afrikans accent! Had a simple dinner when we got home.
On Monday Snazzy, Lisa and I went to the local Lion and Rhino Park after hitting the shops with Lisa. Stocked up on clothes and some other essentials.
The Lion and Rhino park is much more "enclosed". Got some good photos of Zebra, a heap of different "bucky-thingy" animals (wildebeast, Springbock, etc), Rhinos and so on. We went through the Wild Dog enclosure (one of them started to try to steal Lisa's numberplate...) and the big cats. Great photos of Lions, Cheetah, white lions.
The highlight was the baby-animal creche. Not what we have at home.. the only baby-lambs here would be for dinner :)
Got some photos of tigers so close I could have touched them. Cheetah that was pacing with us on the other side of the fence, purring. Leopards lounging in some trees...
AND BABY LIONS!!! we got to play with them, rough-house with them, tease them with squishy toys.. lots of photos :D
One of them was hugging my leg, licking it... which was funny till I realised how rough its tongue is, that its claws were getting sharper... and that now there is a lion out there that has my scent, and will forever pine for my flesh.
~AWESOME~
Had dinner that night with Marianne's Boss, Simon, his charming wife and AWESOME kids. Lots of wine and a most excellent dinner.
Hung out with Snazzy on Tuesday morning before getting the Uni transport to the Airport. Had tea with her colleagues while she was giving a tutorial. Collin and Kim had some excellent ideas for involving the uni in local and national development. David talked a heap about Jo-burg, the area Marianne wants to move to. Stocked up on trinkets at the airport, which was a heap cheaper than the other gift shops I'd seen.
In summary, I think I like South Africa more than Marianne does :p it will be very hard to top this stage of the trip.. It is just that awesome.
I definitely want to come back here in the future. Yes, safety and security is something that you must always be conscious of, always take hand of and NEVER assume someone else will pick up the slack. You can never go ANYWHERE unless you know how you will get home. That said, it is not that different from Perth. Outside of Jo-Burg, it may as well be the Australian bush.
If I had the opportunity, I'd very much like to study at Monash SA. I have been *THAT* impressed.
Mum and Dad HAVE GOT TO have a holiday here. The weather, people, animals, everything. You could have the most OUTRAGEOUS holiday of your life for 2 weeks and not spend more than $5000. It has been EXCELLENT.
The flight over was the same as usual.. try and sleep, cheap food, so on. though, this time I couldn't get good and drunk. Instead I had to take aspirin every few hours and drink lots of water. It did mean that I talked to a bunch of people though, I got a good run down on safety and such by a nice lady called Shawn from Jo-burg.
Snazzy picked me up from the airport and we went for dinner. WOW everything is cheap in Australian dollars!!! Mazzy and I had 2 drinks each, entre and mains (MUH-HAS-IVE mains) for about R280 (about $30AU) at a fairly swanky restaurant. Even with tips it was cheap (you have to tip everywhere).
Monash SA is pretty nice. Rooms are fairly spartan, but quite standard for collage. I can see why Snazzy wants to get her own place.
Security is everywhere, it's just a way of life. At home we lock the door at night, there they have a fence. Driving wasn't ANYWHERE near as bad as I expected.
Next morning, we went to the Cradle of Mankind. Cools caves with an underground lake. We then went to the next place over that had an "underground boat ride". Hoping it to be a boat ride through a cave-lake, it was actually an educational theme-park. It did have some very cool fossils though.
That night we went and saw "African Footprint", a Bollywood style interpretive dance of the history of South Africa.
On the Sunday we went out to Pilansberg National Park, about 180km from Monash. Priscilla and Lisa came along. It was VERY cool, we spotted Zebra, Giraffe, Rhino, Wilderbeast, Buffalo, Hippo, Warthog (not as ugly as you'd think, the girls thought they were cute :p ) and heaps of birds. No big cats though :(
We drove past some townships on the way up, there is a lot of work to do in Africa yet... towns of corrugated iron opposite construction sites for FIFA 2010.
I'd definitely like to do Suweto on my next visit.
The trip back was a crack-up of really bad jokes. Lisa does the most awesome Afrikans accent! Had a simple dinner when we got home.
On Monday Snazzy, Lisa and I went to the local Lion and Rhino Park after hitting the shops with Lisa. Stocked up on clothes and some other essentials.
The Lion and Rhino park is much more "enclosed". Got some good photos of Zebra, a heap of different "bucky-thingy" animals (wildebeast, Springbock, etc), Rhinos and so on. We went through the Wild Dog enclosure (one of them started to try to steal Lisa's numberplate...) and the big cats. Great photos of Lions, Cheetah, white lions.
The highlight was the baby-animal creche. Not what we have at home.. the only baby-lambs here would be for dinner :)
Got some photos of tigers so close I could have touched them. Cheetah that was pacing with us on the other side of the fence, purring. Leopards lounging in some trees...
AND BABY LIONS!!! we got to play with them, rough-house with them, tease them with squishy toys.. lots of photos :D
One of them was hugging my leg, licking it... which was funny till I realised how rough its tongue is, that its claws were getting sharper... and that now there is a lion out there that has my scent, and will forever pine for my flesh.
~AWESOME~
Had dinner that night with Marianne's Boss, Simon, his charming wife and AWESOME kids. Lots of wine and a most excellent dinner.
Hung out with Snazzy on Tuesday morning before getting the Uni transport to the Airport. Had tea with her colleagues while she was giving a tutorial. Collin and Kim had some excellent ideas for involving the uni in local and national development. David talked a heap about Jo-burg, the area Marianne wants to move to. Stocked up on trinkets at the airport, which was a heap cheaper than the other gift shops I'd seen.
In summary, I think I like South Africa more than Marianne does :p it will be very hard to top this stage of the trip.. It is just that awesome.
I definitely want to come back here in the future. Yes, safety and security is something that you must always be conscious of, always take hand of and NEVER assume someone else will pick up the slack. You can never go ANYWHERE unless you know how you will get home. That said, it is not that different from Perth. Outside of Jo-Burg, it may as well be the Australian bush.
If I had the opportunity, I'd very much like to study at Monash SA. I have been *THAT* impressed.
Mum and Dad HAVE GOT TO have a holiday here. The weather, people, animals, everything. You could have the most OUTRAGEOUS holiday of your life for 2 weeks and not spend more than $5000. It has been EXCELLENT.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
T-2 Days 8 Hours
Had my going away party on the weekend, which was pretty nice :) Mum, Dad and I went to Clancy's early on to chill out for a while and have a late lunch. Irena also came along early which was really sweet, it was good to catch up with her for a bit. I'll miss hanging out with her when she moves to Melbourne. People showed up pretty consistently up until about 8PM. Neil, Zoe, her friend, Chris (Army mate), Dave and I all cruised back to Neils and watched movies/beer till late. All in all it was a good night and an ~awesome~ hangover the next day :p
Since then, WOW.. what a bastard of a week...
Finishing up at work.. I'm not sure if I'm some kind of closet misogynist or something, but now I appear to have inadvertently pissed-off a second girl at work. I really give up. I'm doing my best to complete my last few duties to the highest level possible, but frankly I'm fed up. They've taken some very deliberate and underhanded steps to undermine any loyalty I had for them. It's ironic seeing as how much I enjoyed working there to begin with, now it's just boiled down to not wanting to go Jack on my work mates.
Speaking of Jack..
Pretty dark at my Army mates, only one showed up at my going away party on Saturday and only one other actually seemed guilty for not showing. Guilty, FOR PLAYING BLOODY XBOX!!! Pretty disappointing, none of the bastards even bought me a beer tonight seeing as it was my last parade for the year (I also only just dodged getting discharged.. long story.. long disappointing story..)
Talk about a shitty day.
The RSM, the Major and my Captain were all *above excellent* though, the staff at my unit are absolutely top-notch and have been remarkably supportive considering how much I must have let them down this year. They really are.. inspirational. I want to be *that* kind of leader, *that* kind of mate.
On a good note, the Surgeon and my Physio are really happy with my progress. I just need to be careful while I'm away. My travel insurance still won't cover my knee though, even though there's no legitimate reason why my knee is uninsurable.. bastards.. If I had the time, I'd call them up and grill just why a pencil-pusher thinks I'm such a horribly bad risk.
Still, I'm *SURE* I'll get my passport back tomorrow, along with my new phone and that my last paycheck will arrive without hassle. I sold Marianne's car today for the amount that she wanted (small victory, considering the man-hours that have gone into selling it), so that is at least a win for her.
Only two more days, it'll be fine.. just need to keep my eye on the prize. Just these last few little hurdles.
Considering the COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF CRAP that this year has presented, there is NOTHING that can go "that badly wrong" now. I've successfully navigate some pretty daunting challenges, even in a manner which I consider to be above reproach. I've done GOOD, DAMMIT!!!
Now I just need to get my gear in order, to get on that plane.. Get off the ground, and it'll all be fine.
Since then, WOW.. what a bastard of a week...
Finishing up at work.. I'm not sure if I'm some kind of closet misogynist or something, but now I appear to have inadvertently pissed-off a second girl at work. I really give up. I'm doing my best to complete my last few duties to the highest level possible, but frankly I'm fed up. They've taken some very deliberate and underhanded steps to undermine any loyalty I had for them. It's ironic seeing as how much I enjoyed working there to begin with, now it's just boiled down to not wanting to go Jack on my work mates.
Speaking of Jack..
Pretty dark at my Army mates, only one showed up at my going away party on Saturday and only one other actually seemed guilty for not showing. Guilty, FOR PLAYING BLOODY XBOX!!! Pretty disappointing, none of the bastards even bought me a beer tonight seeing as it was my last parade for the year (I also only just dodged getting discharged.. long story.. long disappointing story..)
Talk about a shitty day.
The RSM, the Major and my Captain were all *above excellent* though, the staff at my unit are absolutely top-notch and have been remarkably supportive considering how much I must have let them down this year. They really are.. inspirational. I want to be *that* kind of leader, *that* kind of mate.
On a good note, the Surgeon and my Physio are really happy with my progress. I just need to be careful while I'm away. My travel insurance still won't cover my knee though, even though there's no legitimate reason why my knee is uninsurable.. bastards.. If I had the time, I'd call them up and grill just why a pencil-pusher thinks I'm such a horribly bad risk.
Still, I'm *SURE* I'll get my passport back tomorrow, along with my new phone and that my last paycheck will arrive without hassle. I sold Marianne's car today for the amount that she wanted (small victory, considering the man-hours that have gone into selling it), so that is at least a win for her.
Only two more days, it'll be fine.. just need to keep my eye on the prize. Just these last few little hurdles.
Considering the COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF CRAP that this year has presented, there is NOTHING that can go "that badly wrong" now. I've successfully navigate some pretty daunting challenges, even in a manner which I consider to be above reproach. I've done GOOD, DAMMIT!!!
Now I just need to get my gear in order, to get on that plane.. Get off the ground, and it'll all be fine.
Friday, August 1, 2008
T -6 Days 8 hours
Tax return has proven most delicious :D Now I have my spending money.
Waiting for Passport to arrive, waiting for new phone to come in on Monday, waiting to get on the plane...
Had tea with Olga tonight (RAMUS mentor) and got to see her lovely new house. She gave me a bit of a pep-talk about how important this year will be for helping me to realise my true passion for medicine. It was nice for someone to see it as that straight away, rather than grilling me for "slacking off".
Olga also gave me the lecture about "travel health" :p I suppose I had to get it from someone. She did raise a valid point about DVT for the AUS-S.Africa flight.
Found out very recently that Tom won't be travelling at all this year.
That was epically bad news, especially considering how much he slaved his guts out to earn enough. It *DOES* mean that he'll be able to afford a MOST EXCELLENT elective next year, but it is yet another kick-while-he's-down.
Tom, you've tackled the challenges of this year with tact, grace and dignity. I hope you take away enough experiences from this year to be "worth it". I feel for you, brother! I'll toast many drinks in your name during my absence.
I found out this morning that the awesome VIP tickets to Birds of Tokyo are for *THE SAME DAMN TIME AS MY GOING AWAY PARTY* :( also, the friend who wanted to come along to the gig is now in quaranteen for having the plague or whatever. If anyone would like the tickets, just let me know. It sounds like a good gig!
I thought about pushing back my party till 7pm, but figure that ample beer and food that is of the fishy variety would suit me better. Plus, getting the revised plan out to everyone would just mess everyone around :p
I think that work now truly appreciates that *I AM LEAVING* :p I'm trying to bring someone in on each of my duties, and hope to have much of them squared away before I leave. Regardless, I'm taking half-days for Monday and Tuesday. I can stick around for all of Wednesday if they want me to, but that is all. The critical stuff has someone on-board. The other stuff has a fair degree of documentation.. I'm sure that they will be able to deal :p
So, now I just need to pack my clothes, tidy the unit up and mothball the delicate stuff. Redirect my mail and ship a heap of stuff to my parents.
Ironically, packing is probably going to be the least intensive job but certainly the longest. I'm now looking on taking profoundly fewer clothes than I thought possible.. still too much other miscellaneous crap like cooking stuff and my little tool-pack. I'll just have to lay it all out and be merciless...
well, off to see Wanted tonight.
ciao
Waiting for Passport to arrive, waiting for new phone to come in on Monday, waiting to get on the plane...
Had tea with Olga tonight (RAMUS mentor) and got to see her lovely new house. She gave me a bit of a pep-talk about how important this year will be for helping me to realise my true passion for medicine. It was nice for someone to see it as that straight away, rather than grilling me for "slacking off".
Olga also gave me the lecture about "travel health" :p I suppose I had to get it from someone. She did raise a valid point about DVT for the AUS-S.Africa flight.
Found out very recently that Tom won't be travelling at all this year.
That was epically bad news, especially considering how much he slaved his guts out to earn enough. It *DOES* mean that he'll be able to afford a MOST EXCELLENT elective next year, but it is yet another kick-while-he's-down.
Tom, you've tackled the challenges of this year with tact, grace and dignity. I hope you take away enough experiences from this year to be "worth it". I feel for you, brother! I'll toast many drinks in your name during my absence.
I found out this morning that the awesome VIP tickets to Birds of Tokyo are for *THE SAME DAMN TIME AS MY GOING AWAY PARTY* :( also, the friend who wanted to come along to the gig is now in quaranteen for having the plague or whatever. If anyone would like the tickets, just let me know. It sounds like a good gig!
I thought about pushing back my party till 7pm, but figure that ample beer and food that is of the fishy variety would suit me better. Plus, getting the revised plan out to everyone would just mess everyone around :p
I think that work now truly appreciates that *I AM LEAVING* :p I'm trying to bring someone in on each of my duties, and hope to have much of them squared away before I leave. Regardless, I'm taking half-days for Monday and Tuesday. I can stick around for all of Wednesday if they want me to, but that is all. The critical stuff has someone on-board. The other stuff has a fair degree of documentation.. I'm sure that they will be able to deal :p
So, now I just need to pack my clothes, tidy the unit up and mothball the delicate stuff. Redirect my mail and ship a heap of stuff to my parents.
Ironically, packing is probably going to be the least intensive job but certainly the longest. I'm now looking on taking profoundly fewer clothes than I thought possible.. still too much other miscellaneous crap like cooking stuff and my little tool-pack. I'll just have to lay it all out and be merciless...
well, off to see Wanted tonight.
ciao
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
T-8 Days 1 Hour
wooo.. getting close now...
Going away party is organised for Clancy's FishPub in Fremantle. 4pm on Sunday August 3rd.
Come Down! Bring friends! Get there a little early if you want to join for a late lunch, stick around a little later if you want to do dinner, or just show up for a couple of pints to say "go away already"
Sorting out the last few details before I go. Waiting for my Passport to find its way home and for my new phone to arrive. Slowly winding up work, hopefully it will be a scorecard full of wins by the time I leave!
oooooh... Triple J just gave me some tickets to the Birds of Tokyo gig in freo this weekend (plus back-stage) :D I'm assuming that I'm getting a double pass, anyone want to go?
*sigh* off to work...
Going away party is organised for Clancy's FishPub in Fremantle. 4pm on Sunday August 3rd.
Come Down! Bring friends! Get there a little early if you want to join for a late lunch, stick around a little later if you want to do dinner, or just show up for a couple of pints to say "go away already"
Sorting out the last few details before I go. Waiting for my Passport to find its way home and for my new phone to arrive. Slowly winding up work, hopefully it will be a scorecard full of wins by the time I leave!
oooooh... Triple J just gave me some tickets to the Birds of Tokyo gig in freo this weekend (plus back-stage) :D I'm assuming that I'm getting a double pass, anyone want to go?
*sigh* off to work...
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