Going to Iraq??

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Todd

I am not normally near road signs that says the right lane for Iraq and middle lane for Saudi Arabia

This is interesting because it was a painting in a hunting lodge ~700CE and the paintings depict nude women.  It was painted by the Umayyad Dynasty, the first Muslim rulers.  Now all women are completely covered.  The city I am in now (Madaba) is 1/3 Christian and the women here are the first local women I have seen without their heads covered (even at the beach).  There is the complete covering without an eye slit (rare, only have seen 3), then the covering with the eye slit (more common, but not very common), just the head covered with long sleeves and long pants, and just the head covered with the stereotypical one piece garb.  The last two are the most common and it is very interesting seeing the different designs and styles of the “one piece garbs”.  Some are impeccably tailored, others have side buttons or two rows or buttons, some are bedazzled, and some are baggy. I think that burkas are the very baggy ones, but there are not a lot of those.

A ~600CE mosaic map of the Holy Land, it is actually dimensionally correct

This is a local Bedouin house that has been adapted from some ruins in Petra.  Petra has a $70 entrance fee for foreigners and a $1.50 fee for Jordanians.

Another “locals” house.  When Petra was developed into a tourism site they “relocated” most of the locals into the village they built at the entrance to the site, Wadi Musa (it is spelled a different way on just about every street sign, Mosa, Mousa, Moosa)  These “houses” are outside of the main sight on a not very used trail.

800 stairs lead to this.  The stairs prevent 70% of the people that come to Petra from seeing the best building

Near sundown in Wadi Rum, a couple of days ago.

My internet is acting up so I am going to publish this.  The last computer I used was so old it did not have a USB port on the front

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I am a Mess on a Horse

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Todd

Yesterday I was able to ride horses and go to castles albeit not at the same time.  I rode my horse fast.  My official opinion is that cantering and galloping are a lot easier to ride than trotting.  My second opinion is that my ass is sore after spending 5 hours on a horse.

I was on a horse for real

When I left you last time I went and met up with the group from the previous night but the Aussie was replaced by someone from Holland. We decided to see Petra by Night which consists of walking a mile down the siq (a canyon similar to the ones in Zion) which was lit by candles to the Treasury (which is one of the two main buildings).  After we walked down there was suppose to be some cheesy music and story telling.  We tried to get some beer or wine to make the cheese more palatable, but we failed since it is only sold in hotel bars here.  The show ended up being awesome because there was a wind storm and the candles that were in paper bags started lighting the bags on fire creating mayhem, it was awesome.  Then it started to downpour and everyone started running the mile back up the hill and we just sat there while this guy tried to play the flute like nothing was happening, we had a blast.  We then went to the Cave Bar which is the “oldest bar” in the world since it is in a 2000 year old cave.  The atmosphere was slightly offset by one of the worse singers trying to do the Beatles, but failing with style.

The next day I went to Shobak castle which was built by Baldwin the 1st a long time ago.  It  was partly in ruins, but partly not.  It was really cool including a 275 step tunnel to the water source.  The only issue is that I didn’t have my headlight with me so I figured it would be a good idea to use the red light on my camera that goes off before the flash as a flashlight (it worked pretty well).  I had the entire sight to myself and a taxi with an hour waiting time cost $25 (my hotel said that was a really good price) to drive the 110kms and hangout while I was there (it took over two hours).  Talking with the taxi driver was great.  He was not pro their King and it was interesting to hear his views on the fact that the King is not changing with the times.  It seems that most people here are anti-Assad and that they are really being hammered by about a 50% decrease in tourism because of the violence in the region.
When I got back, I had a little down time before I started my horse adventure.  Two of my objectives on this trip were to see castles and go fast on horses.  I ended up talking to a horse boy and they are hired by the day and I ended up with a 5 hour horse ride.  The beginning was on the road and a little lame, but then we went on the flat desert with scenery kind of like Moab and started going fast.  I have to say that going at a cantor and gallop are so much better then trotting, I had a giant smile on my face (a giant one).  It was so much fun, but I was a mess on the horse since I really didn’t know what I was suppose to do other than the horse riding lessons I had when I was like 12.  Little kids laughed at me, I didn’t care, I was going fast on a horse.  My ass is sore today…
When I came back I was told that the group was going to dinner and they picked a pizza place (lame), but they said I had to come for comic relief so I said okay and went and was social over the food (plus I wasn’t super hungry after lunch).
Today it was great to wake up and see who won the election.  I didn’t have to deal with the entire evening of coverage, just the results.
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Jordan: “American” Tourists Give us a Bad Name

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Todd
You really do need a vest with 37 pockets to ride a minibus in Jordan!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fat Guy, Little Ass

I am sure this is not what you want to see on my blog, but oh well.  If you are a bad traveler you get called an American by just about the entire traveling community.  It is amazing how many conversations I have lately about American politics.  It seems that everyone has an opinion from Israeli taxi drivers to Jordanian guides to fellow travelers.  One comment made was the US President has such an impact on the entire world that the entire world should get to vote (if they did Obama would be elected).

When I last posted I was in Aqaba and I left in the morning for Wadi Rum which is a mountain area in the desert that the Bedouin live in.  I had booked a tour with a guy name Saleeh (Saw-lee) and the morning got off to a little rocky start because I didn’t realize that Jordan was an hour earlier then Israel.  I ended up being like 15 minutes late to the town that the tour started from, but Saleeh didn’t care.  I think one of the main reasons that he didn’t care was that I think I was the first person to go through his service which he just started (he had been guiding for other people).

The jeeps they drive ranged from the 1970’s to the mid 2000s, but my guide had never driven one newer than 1998.  He is also one of 17 children and his father has two wives.  The two wives live in separate houses and his father alternates each house every night.  All of Saleeh’s older brothers are married and it is his turn to get married (they are not arranged).  The process is that if he sees a girl that he likes and tells his sister, his sister will talk to the girl to see if she is interested.  If she is he talks to his mom and his mom talks to her mom.  If that goes well then his dad talks to her dad (they do not have to be from the same tribe) and then the “couple” finally talk.  If they like each other they get engaged and then normally between 3-12 months laters they get married.  Saleeh wants a small family with only 3-6 kids and only wants one wife.  I think that this in the new trend.  About this time in the tour the jeep breaks down, but he is able to fix it in a couple minutes.  After we eat lunch the jeep won’t start and we hop in another one (I saw several other  broken down jeeps during my time in the desert).  After the day driving around in the jeep we arrived at the camp and Saleeh went to fix the jeep and I get settled and scramble up a mountain to watch sunset which was pretty cool.

Battle Wagons

The next day we drove about a mile from the Saudi border and started a hike up the third highest peak in Jordan and I was cold.  It turned into the third day that it rained this year even though it was just sprinkles. When we got to the top my guide brewed tea with sage and desert thyme which were really good.  That night in the camp there was a french family and a group of Italians and we ended up dancing and carrying on while drinking Bedouin whisky (tea..).

The next morning I woke up and Saleeh took me to grab the bus about 70km north to Petra.  Overall the tour with Saleeh was a decent tour and it was a good one for the fact that he was almost half price as some of the established guides.

The minibus ride was uneventful and about 5 minutes after I checked into my hotel, Cleopetra, I was whisked to the entrance of Petra by a cab ($2) and I paid the crazy $90 USD entry fee for 3 days ($75 for one day).  Petra is amazing and it is one of the new seven wonders of the world for good reason.  That night I ate at the hotel with a Brit, Canadian, and Aussie and we decided to go out for a beer (not a cheap prospect in Jordan).  We end up drinking Philadelphia because it is only 5% (our other choices were 8, 11, or 13% Petra beer).  Today I went back into Petra and explored some of the more remote sights where I was able to get away from the crowds.  It was great!!!  I would include photos, but my camera battery just died when I tried to download them so you are stuck with a picture of a fat guy riding a donkey.  Tomorrow I have a full day of castles and horses planned.

A couple thoughts:

Petra at time seems like Mexico with everything costing one dinar ($1.4 USD)

The pastries in Jordan are great and I somehow ended up with 1/2 a kilo last night (5 dollars)

Everything in Petra is downhill to start and up hill to end the day.  This is the reason they have asses to bring Americans back up along with camels, and horse draw “carriages” that go at a really quick pace.

This computer has a strange keyboard (plus no spell check to alert me of typos) and I refuse to reread my post so it will be filled with typos.

The Bedouin guides I was talking to said that they really liked the king and were able to give examples of why he was a good leader and what he has done for them.  Jordan does not have any oil, but they people are pretty well off compared to some other countries around.  They equated the king to being a very good business man and they have good relationships with the surrounding countries.

I played flip cup for the first time in years at the Halloween party at my hostel in Jerusalem

I will be happy to get back into a country the you can flush the TP.

Posted in Jordan, MIDDLE EAST | 1 Comment

Some Thoughts about Israel and Jordan

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Todd

I am having a really great time on this trip.  I think that I am having even more fun than I had in Ecuador.  The main difference is that in Ecuador I had a lot more crazy stories then on this trip.  I think partly because this trip is planned a little more and both of the countries are a lot more “first world” (yes I know I am not using the definition correctly).  I have a choice tomorrow between either wandering to the bus station around 6am and catching a local minibus the usually runs before 730am if there are enough people or  taking a cab.  The difference is about $30 US dollars and getting my first full night of sleep, 8 hours, since last Wednesday night.  I am going to probably choose the sleep, but know I am missing out on a travel adventure that I world normally be up for.  

There are a lot of differences between Jordan and Israel other than the fact I haven’t seen a monk in Jordan.  One that I have noticed is the prevalence of firearms.  A ton of people in Israel carry a side arm (my bus driver today had one tucked into his pants) and the police/military all have assault rifles.  In Jordan the only weapon I saw was one border guard who had an assault rifle.  All the other police/normal people don’t carry weapons.  

Another difference I touched on earlier is that the people are friendlier.  The shop keepers are less pushy and people have a smile on their faces.  Aqaba is a beach town with several major resorts and then a smattering of lesser ones that have access to public beaches.  I think that most of the tourists are Arab and there really isn’t an established “budget travel” scene.  What that means is that it is a little harder to meet other travels to split costs and do things with.  

Something else that is different is alcohol.  There are a lot of stores selling alcohol in both places, but a lot fewer places to drink it here.  My hotel actually has a no alcohol policy (which was one of the only rules written in English on the check in slip)

A third difference is the women.  Almost all of the women have a head scarf or burqa on.  In Israel I only saw a few women with a burqa covering their faces, here I would say at least 10%, probably more, have them on.

It is pretty warm here with today reaching over 96 degrees and the next two days in the desert being over 90 degrees.  After the desert, I travel to Petra (I might actually put a picture of this up) where it is going to be in the 70s which will be perfect weather.  Talking to locals I have realized that the time that I am doing this trip is actually the ideal time to be traveling in the region.  

Another thing that I need to be better at is eating lunch early so that I am actually hungry for dinner.  There is so much food that looks good to eat ( I picked up half a kilo of smoked nuts), but I haven’t been that hungry for dinner everyday because sometimes my lunch is really late (I ended up eating some oranges and apples on the bus and having “lunch” almost at 4pm today).

When I touch base again in a couple days I will include some photos.

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Israel: If you want pictures of the actual sites, google them

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Todd

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I wonder if “holy gators” don’t tip

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In the West Bank, she did not shoot me….Image

Haul from the market, yummy in my tummy

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I look retarded in this picture because I just slipped on some Dead Sea zest, but some how was still smiling and didn’t fall

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This 65+ year old women made it up these steps.  It was a struggle, she then had the biggest smile on her face ever.  I don’t think she has yet realized that she had to come down them.

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More market goodies

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Sunrise over the Dead Sea from Masada (a castle without horses)

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My sea view from my room in Aqaba (Jordan), that is Israel straight ahead and Egypt is to the left not in the photo, but trust me it is there.

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I call this animal a tree groundhog.  I think I am wrong, but I am okay with that.

I am now in Jordan, it is hot.  Jordan is AWESOME.  The people are super friendly.  I was sitting on a bench and a man came up and tried to talk to me (his English was a little better then my Arabic meaning he knew over 10 words) the next thing I know there are four people talking to me for about 20 minutes.  Before I was talking to them the only three Arabic words I knew were emmshe (which means screw off, but worse), Laa (no), and mumkin (maybe).  I now know nam (yes), shukran (thanks), and mahaba (hi).  Well I am off to wander some more and grab some food.  There really isn’t much to see in Aqaba.  I will try to include more photos if the computer allows it.

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Jerusalem isn’t complete without Dale Chihuly

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Todd

Jerusalem isn't complete without Dale Chihuly

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Israel: No Horses in Castle #1

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Todd

Today was another great day.  One thing that I started thinking about was all the tourists that were complaining, not smiling, and worried about details that don’t matter (like if we are going to drive on road X coming back from the tour since there is traffic on it now).  I don’t think that I would like traveling if I let those things bother me.

Today was a day involving a tour to Masada (a castle built by Herrod the Great before I was born), the Dead Sea, and Ein Gedi (a desert oasis).  I think it is important that I answer your most pressing question first, the mud/zest in the Dead Sea is superior to the zest at South Mountain.  The Dead Sea was really weird.  The water is 33% salt and it actually felt oily because of the salt and mineral content.  It was so dense that you could actually stand up in the water without kicking or treading water.  The mud/zest supposedly has healing properties so we all zested up and got cured of all of our ailments.

I am a little ahead of myself because the day really began at 330am when we hopped on a minibus heading to Masada.  We then walked 1000 feet up to the “castle” and watched the sunrise.  It was about 90 degrees by 9am and I was a little warm. The castle was mainly destroyed, but there were some rebuilt parts and some original mosaic and plasters left.

Ein Gedi is a natural oasis (I suppose as compared to a man made one) with water falls and some swimming pool.  It was pretty cool when the Italians and I got away from the masses of tour groups and had areas to ourselves.

I came back and did laundry (probably for the last time until I come home, I might be “that guy” on the plane).  I then went to the Old City which is a 1.6 mile walk for some hummus and Arabic salad and pita.  I then went back to the market and attacked it with confidence, buying more oranges, crackers (the guy thought that I couldn’t read Hebrew so he told me that they were sugar free in Hebrew (my Hebrew is still pretty rusty (I can say hello))) then I said “in English please” and he said they were sugar free and the normal ones were on the bottom shelf and smiled, it was the friendliest an Israeli shopkeeper has been), and some more pastries for my bus ride tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will take a bus, a walk, a border crossing, a walk, a border crossing, and then a taxi and I get to Aqaba.

Castles:1

Horses:0

Horses in Castles:0

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Smiles in Israel

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Todd

I am having a blast and still haven’t gotten lost beyond repair.  The past two days I have spent in the Old City and then this morning in Bethlehem (West Bank).  I have decided that most Israelis don’t smile and are grumpy.  When I was in Bethlehem someone offered for me to sit down next to them on their awesome white plastic lawn chair (all the rage here) and gave me some bread to share some of his hummus, olive oil with green dippy stuff, and some cheese with olive oil.  He smiled and didn’t try to sell me anything. It seems like Jordan is pretty popular with Brits and a lot of people have been there.  I have heard that the people are a lot more friendly, will tell you about their ducks, and it is cheaper. I am excited to go there in a couple days.

One big difference between churches in Europe and here is that in Europe they are a lot more beautiful and grand.  They are less decked out here, but important things happened underneath them.  Today I was doing my typical walk, trying not to go where I wasn’t suppose to be while hunting for an entrance to this church.  I ended up going through an open door which lead to a “secret area” with houses above the ground level with a great view from above the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The area had no other tourists (I heard some people) and was really large. I think it had something to do with Greek Orthodox and is normally closed.  It was great to get away from the hustle and bustle and have peace and quiet.

I made friends with the local market.  I spent $2.60 on over a pound of olives and also got some apples, green shelled oranges (which are really good), dried kiwi and strawberries, and some nut and pistachio pastries.

I have been hanging out with some people that I have met.  Some I have deemed lame after hanging out for a couple hours, others I have deemed  not travel worthy (same linen outfit for 3 days, come on), others really cool.  I have plans to go to a castle and the Dead Sea with some Italians that fell into the really cool category tomorrow.

I still haven’t figured out how to upload pictures or why some Israelis in the army have low rise pants, but I am determined to learn both things.

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Hungry and on the Hunt for Shwarma

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Todd

Last night after having my battle with technology to make a blog post I went on a hunt for shwarma.  It was sundown so Shabbat was over and I let my fearless send of direction take me.  I was able to locate pizza and slushies without fail in the direction that I walked.  I was being stubborn and didn’t want anything other then shwarma so I turned around and headed off in another direction and found copious pastry stands/stores open (who goes pastry shopping at 7pm Saturday night?), but no shwarma.  I then saw a crowd of people sitting out side a ways up on a side street and thought that it had to be s shwarma stand, no it was a $6 pizza shop, but right across the way was a shwarma stand with even more people outside and a line out the door. Little did I know that I had found the Primanti Brothers of shwarma.  I got to the front of the line and there is the awkward moment (at least for me) where they know I don’t speak Hebrew and I am 98% sure they speak English, but I am in a foreign country and don’t want to assume everyone knows English and I saw I want a shwarma and he says in a laffa and I say yes (thankfully I have been to Garbanzos before and know what a laffa is).  He then says “spicy” and I am not sure if this is a comment/command or a question and then he piles on the paste (spicy?), hummus, pickles, salad, the meat, and lastly a good amount of french fries.  I had a laffa that would make a Qdoba burrito look like an appetizer and it was a flavor explosion in my mouth.

With my tummy full I then went back to the hostel and ordered a beer and started being social.  One interesting thing about hostel socializing is you really don’t ask the persons name unless you run into them multiple times.

This morning I went and did a couple hour “free” tour which was a nice group of 6 people to get the sights of the city.  I think that tomorrow I am going to do a Holy City tour that will probably  be lead by an Israeli, but covers the main 3 religions and what supposedly happened. I normally am not the biggest fan of guided tours, but I think that I will get the most out of the city by doing  couple of them.  I know that just about everyone made fun of me for reading “An Idiots Guide to the Bible” before I left to refresh my religious history from growing up, but I can actually relate and things make sense.  I did have the sense to leave it at the Toronto airport, before I got to my gate.

The hardest thing for me to relate to is all the history and sights literally on top of each other.  It isn’t like buildings were leveled everything and built something on top of it, there are actual multistory structures that have been excavated from under the streets.  I went to one museum that was over 20 feet under the current street and there were buildings from right around year 0 that have been dug up with full mosaic tiling in the bathrooms.

Other things I did today was go to the City of David and into the water tunnels that used to bring water into the city, the Tower of David (which actually Herod the Great built 1000 years after David died), wander around the streets, Mount Zion, and the Jerusalem Archaeological Park.  I actually did go into one church at the end of the day.

Wondering around the city I often feel like I am trespassing.  It seems like everything is open to wander into and there aren’t really any signs for anything.  I was confused about how to get into the church and a guy said just walk in after asking where I was from. I feel like one of these times I am going to end up in someones living room (I have already ended up on roofs, but there was a women with a stroller on the roof too so I feel it was ok).  Another thing about the city is around ever corner is something interesting around one is a monk, then you see a man and a women with machine guns (I am confused about the low rise women’s army pants that many women in the military seem to be sporting.  I am not complaining, they even might be boot cut), then a tourist with shorts and shin high socks under their sandals, then CCTV cameras, and then a gaggle of Jewish boys playing soccer in the street.  Interspersed among these sights are a bagillion 60 year old white people.

Well I am off to the market to eat some yummy goodness since it seems like I managed to skip lunch today. I also seem to be failing at being able to post pictures and I refuse to proof read this.

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Israel, Right Around the COrner

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Todd

I successfully made it to Jerusalem without getting lost or ending up in another city. I did somehow end up with a Canadian stamp in my passport, that I have no idea if I was suppose to get or why I go it.  My day began with 24 hours of travel and I have been in Jerusalem for about 5 hours now.  The day started a little rough with the bus to the airport taking almost 2.5 hours because of the snow and accidents on the road.  I was prepared and left early so I still made my flight with time to spare.  I then flew 3 hours to Toronto, spent several hours in the Toronto airport because my flight to Israel was delayed, and spent 11 hours next to a very grumpy women on the way to Tel Aviv.  The flight was long enough to get 2 hot meals and watch a movie and take a nap.

I then was prepared for a rough experience in customs/immigration from what I have heard.  Instead it took me less then 5 minutes to go through customs and immigration.  They only asked me two questions, where I was going and if I had any friends or family.  I answered no to having friends or family and I hope she was talking about in Israel or she probably thinks I am a very lonely person.  Most of those 5 minutes were spent finding and using an ATM.

I check into my hostel that has a mystery door on my dorm room.  I really have no idea how to open it.  I would post pictures, but I am scared to try to get into my room.  I then explored the Old City for a couple hours mainly wandering around. Since it is Shabbat everything was closed.  I think that it is impossible to get lost in the Old City, but also impossible to know where you are.  One amusing experience was a street that was 5 feet wide had a traffic jam and everyone was pushing and welling at people to walk in English.  After they berated the crowd in English they went back to speaking Arabic, Hebrew, French, Spanish, ect.

The next two days I will probably spend in Jerusalem.

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