Bye bye (for now) Middle East.....

So here we sit, checked in and waiting to board our flight back to the
states. It feels like the right time to be returning home. Cairo is
quite a city. As like all big cities it has it's charms and it's
faults. But in general we were plesantly surprised as we had heard
plenty of horror stories. We were very thankful to hang out with some
local ex-pats last nite that we were introduced to via our Mendocino
network (thanks Nile and James).
We both leave this trip with a much deeper and sincere understanding
of this, at times troubled region. I know I will never be able to
watch, read, or hear another news story from any of these countries in
the same way as I once did.
As we depart, we have much to be thankful for including our health and
overall safe and pleasant travels. On a much deeper level I am
reminded of how thankful I am for all that I have been blessed with in
this life including my family, my friends, my lovely partner and (even
though I often speak of it in less kind terms) to be lucky enoegh to
have been one of the global few to be born and live in the United
States. All it takes is a few weeks in a such a region or really any
developing country(s), to renew one's appreciation for the little
things we all to often take for granted.
PS. I plan to upload a few more pictures to the blog and maybe add one
more quick post upon our return home. Thanks to any and all who shared
in this blog. It was a good exercise for me as I hope maybe it was for
you.
Thanks, and Happy Travels......... -CB

Sent from my iPod

104F in the shade...

Only thing of great signifigance report on here is the record tying heat wave afflicting the region. Today we hit at least 40C which is normal for summer, but not the middle of April (climate change anybody?). Everybody here, tourists and locals alike are wilting. We saw scary moment today at the Valley of the Kings when a tourist in a group passed out momentarily. Some of the tombs were oppressively hot, humid and crowded. We retired to our hotel to huff AC by 2:00pm and are thinking about reamerging soon as the sun is soon to set. We did a little better today with our heat aclimitization but no getting around it, it is too damn hot! What is truely astonishing to me how the farmers are out all day, in the sun, through the heat of the afternoon to bring in the harvest of sugar cane and wheat that grow along the vast flood plains. All hand harvested by men, women and kids, then hand loaded onto carts pulled by donkeys. These are then loaded onto a small narrow gauge train, by hand. I couldn't help but think how little life has changed here since these great temples and other architectural marvels were originally built.
Fortunately on Thursday it is to let up and be 10C cooler which will be good for Cairo time. We hop the overnight train down the Nile tomorrow night after one more day here seeing some more temples around Luxor. Then we will move on to the deafening, chaotic madness that is Cairo the largest city in Africa....wow, I can nearly smell the sea breeze blowing in on the Mendocino Coast. -CB

Hotta, hotta

Welcome to Luxor and the Nile River, but unfortunately the heat is a most unwelcoming host here. Today we topped out at 39C (102F) and tomorrow we expect 104F. As I write at 10:00pm it is 91F. Hot. It isn't nearly as dry of heat one would expect from a region that gets less than 1cm of rain a year, as the mightly Nile flows through town and keeps things rather moist.
We had productive day seeing some temples including Karanak with its extreamly large columns that are said to be the largest anywhere. Tomorrow we will brave the heat to take in the valley of the kings and whatever else we can manage to see with our 6:00am start. Today we were back at the room sucking on the AC by 1:30 and tomorrow will probably be the same. Egypt is pretty cool. We have had alot of scamming/hustle type of interact with people which is no fun but tonight we were hanging in the town park/center and met a bunch of cool college kids from a neighboring town. They were into practicing their english and taking photos with us. Chandra was very popular to have their picture takin with. If the local person isn't involved with tourism or in anyway making money off tourists they are very cool, much like people we have met in other countries, but the scams here are numerous and plentiful. Due dilligence and traveller savay is essential.
Glad we are not flying through the EU on our return next weekend. There are lots of people here who should have returned or will be deleyed because of the volcano.
Otherwise just checking in. We will be happy to return home next weekend. Just chill and get back into a routine. Travelling is where it its at, but can be exhausting and one does begin to yern for the comforts of home.

The Sinai

Long time, no post. We have been thriving nonetheless.
Currently, for the first time on this trip, we are taking a few days to enjoy a typical 'vacation'. Our current location is Dahab, Egypt. Which is situated on the Sinai Peninsula fronting the Red Sea. A once sleepy town that is a mandatory stopover on the backpacker circut, is now slightly more developed with a few more oceanside resturants specializing in new age chillout music and heaps of beduin style cushions. We have been kicking our feet up for the last couple of days for some much needed 'designated' relaxing. The extend of our activities include snorkeling, (I am also doing at least two scuba dives), eating and reading while watching the sun move across the sky. The diving here is world renowned and after our forays into the sea I would have to agree with this grandiose claim. They call this the Thai Islands of the Middle East, and you can see how easily people get stuck here for much longer than they had originally planned. We will be pushing on Saturday for a ferry to mainland where we will then gearup for Egypt's famous ancient landmarks.
Prior to the shores of the Red Sea we were in a wirlwind of contrasting people and places. When I last reported we were leaving Jordan's Petra for Wadi Rum, the land of great redrock sandstone uplifts rising out of flatbottom deserts like great geologic dinosaurs from a time long since past. This is the traditional home of the beduin, but now instead of riding donkeys around, chasing their livestock they ply the great sandy expanses with modified open topped Landcruisers ferrying sunburnt tourists to and fro. We lucked out and had our own rig (a Landcrusier with a whopping 430,000 desert km on it) , driver and camp to ourselves. We stayed out in a 'beduin' camp that was of beduin style but not a working camp. These sandstone monoliths provide excellent hiking opportunities. After topping out on one following just the right mixture of routefinding and length we found ourselves topping out on what may have been my personal landscape highlite of our trip. I had many a flashback to previous trips out in Southern Utah with friends and family. It was so great to be out in the wide expanses of the real desert again.
Then, flash... a few hours after waking up in the beduin tent, we find ourselves answering questions at the Israeli border as to who we are, what is my father's name, and why did we go to Syria? How long were you there? What was your business there? We were told it is all formality because of our Syria passport stamp. Regardless and hour or two later we were buying tickets for a bus. And that evening, walking through Jaffa gate of the old city of the holiest city in the world, Jerusalem. Without going into details, we saw lots of holy sites, including churchs, tombs, various places of worship and lots of sites that are sacred to three of the worldest largest and most influential religions. It is mind numbing to think that Christianity, Judaism and Islam can all lay claim to Jerusalem as their foundational birthplace. The old city is divided into 4 quarters and each one is so unique, so individualistic it is like walking into a different country, literally. While we admitably are not holy people ourselves, we stood in silence at these places trying to absorb the reverence that so many people hold dear.
This is also the birthplace of much conflict that has plagued the region and the world for much of the last 4000 years, and most recently for the last 60 years (since Israel was formed as an independent Jewish state in 1948 on the former lands of Palestine). It is here, in a country with only 7 million people and smaller in area than the state of New Hampshire, that has been the flashpoint for global political landscapes, global foreign affairs and needless death and suffering all over the world. The wars and terrorism that has plagued the US (and many other countries) for the last decade can be indirectly linked to US support of the Israel state.
We felt like had to go. We could not come to this region and not go Israel.
On a much more positive note, we felt very safe the entire time in the country. We did not have to show our passports anywhere, which is a positive sign of recent stability. The norm is numerous checkpoints and police/army randomly asking people for proof of identity. We saw lots of police and army officers all toting machine guns, and plenty of video survalience, all out on the streets and highly visible. Security is taken very seriously in this country and it shows. This is nothing new to the average Israeli/Palestinian.
We were unfortunately only able to stay in Jerusalem for 2 nights, 3 days before we pushed on. Israel was a side trip, a bonus that wasn't originally part of the plan. It was very worthwhile sidetrip and we look forward to seeing more of the country at another time.
Okay, enoegh for now. Hope all is well wherever this post finds one. We look forward to putting our packs back on and exploring this country of Egypt. I think we can say we will also look forward to boarding the plane in 9 days time, after what has been an very enjoyable venture through this intriguing region. -CB

Rosy Cheeks and Dusty Boots

Whew. I am finally able to get to internet cafe and blog-on after a nice restup following day two at Petra, Jordan. We have been charging it since we left Amman 4 days ago with very little downtime aside from eating and sleeping. So today's planned several hours of R and R were much appreciated. The following post is going to read like a hitlist, but without trying to solely proclaim our exploits (something I have tried to maintain on the blog) here it goes...
Day 1 4-5: We jump into a shared taxi with two others from the hotel on a 'tour', but really it is just a driver the hotel organized to take us to various sites with the ultimate destination of Petra. After seeing some amazing 2nd century Christian mosaics in Madaba, we paid a visit to Mt. Nebo. It is written that this is the location where Moses climbed to view the promised land. Views here include the lower Jordan River valley (Christ's batisim location), Jerico and the Dead Sea. Pretty awesome 270deg views of places I have only read or heard about. This is also the location of Moses burial (never scientifically confirmed). We then dropped over 3000' down to the Dead Sea Valley to an elevation of almost 1400' below sea level and the lowest place on earth. The air was thick and warm for sure. Bleak, but also very beautiful landscape, punctuated by incised watercourses and interesting geology. We just happened to be driving by a small village when a helicopter was coming in for landing. School kids were running around and super excited. We pulled over and caught a very quick glimpse of the King and Queen of Jordan get out of the helicopter. While it was interesting to see the royalty, it was equally cool to see how excited the hundreds of kids were. Unfortunatly the rest of the day went downhill from this point. In summary, the group wanted to go swimming in the Dead Sea at a different location then where the driver wanted to take us (we theorize he would get a small comission at his choosen location). There was a disagreement and while no one fully lost there cool it wasn't really that of cool of a 'tour'. We got dropped off at our choosen location of Dana Nature Perserve that afternoon (part of tour).
Day 2, 4-6: We wake in Dana Nature Perserve Village (pronounced Daw-naw but we called it Dana for my mum). A small 600 year old mud brick town perched at the rim of a amazing 2500'vertical deep redrock sandstone canyon. We stayed the night in one of the 3 little hotels. There isn't much more in town. It was great to finally get out of the city, away from the cars and honking horns and into a quiet peaceful place that actually didn't have the scars of human development tattoed all over it. That morning we got an early start and hiked down the canyon, out and back for probably a total of at least 12 miles with the vertical. We were beat upon return. Too many highlights to list but mine included the sweet sounds of a distant bedouin flute being carried downcanyon in the early morning breeze. It almost sounded like he was playing along with the corus of birds calls. That sound just seemed to fit the landscape so well. We did not see the legendary (and extremely endangered) black horned gazelle-like ibex, but we had our eyes peeled. This was one of the highlites of the whole trip up to this point. That later afternoon we hitched a taxi and limped the 40km into Wadi Musa, home to Petra.
Day 3, 4-7: Thank god we found a place here because it is busy season and this place is busy an hotels are full up. Prices are way higher than in the guidebook because they can charge it. We got a nice little backpacker friendly hotel and slept in just a little to rest our weary bodies from the day before. Upon entry into Petra we were shocked to see that prices had increased to almost 20$ more per person as the guide book had listed. This price is further set to rise 15$ in Nov of this year. So now it is about 45$ per person to go into Petra for one day (about 55$ for two days, our choice). We are disappointed to see the government charge these exorbanant rates just because they know tourists will pay it. That is as much to get into anyplace, anywhere in the world.
Well again, not to go into to many details but this place is truely amazing. Combine the southern Utah red rock standstone canyons with, carved ancient architectural masterpieces in the sandstone, and you have Petra. Everything dates from a 400 year time period, between 200BC and 200BC. Old shit. This was historically at the crossroads of major caravan routes both from north to south and east to west. But our highlite may have been disappearing from the crowds in taking an alternative route to the main siq (canyon). We entered a sweet canyon of probably 2 miles, that at times narrowed down to 4' wide. There were several boulders we had to lower ourselves down and even some water we had to 'body bridge' over. This siq is high on my list of the best canyons I have traversed in anywhere including Utah. Quality. We explored the greater Petra site for about 8 hours yesterday.
Day 4, Today: We got up early to get our postcard picture of Petra's gem, the library (made famous by Indian Jones). While we didn't get to the entrance gate quite as early as we wanted to (7:30), we goosed our aching legs along at a good clip to pass as many people as possible. It paid off and we did get some 'tourist free' pictures of this awe-inspiring mounument. We then hiked on for another 7 hours visiting the sites we intentially missed the day before. It is just amazing to see the amount of labor that went into building the great cities of this time period. Everything at Petra is free standing, carved out of the rock, including a 7000 seat theatre, tombs with imense indoor spaces and exterior ornate details. These things could only have been done by somebody with a uncomprehensible combination of skills including artistry, strength, patience and spritual enlightment. One can just imagine the caravans laiden with spices and silks arriving here from weeks or months in the desert, and seeing the waterworks of fountains, buildings and associated infastructure. What a good feeling that would have been!
Our good feeling came when we got a nap this afternoon. What a feeling it was! We are now preparing for a trip out to the Wadi Rum desert tomorrow for a 4x4 tour in Larence of Arabia country. We will then camp out in bedioun tent and do the whole bit. I have heard they are getting a bit touristy but it is just about getting out into the desert and feeling the sand between your toes. We are looking forward to it.
Things are getting more touristy here and will probably continue in Egypt. Our tentative plan however is to try and go to Jerusalem first, in a few days for few days. We feel that we can't come all the way to this region and not go to the epicenter of it.
Okay, if you read all this, well "good on ya" (Kiwi saying).
Jordan is awesome. You should come here, see Petra, see the Dead Sea, meet the people. Then you can go home and tell somebody else how great it is and that they should come here too. -CB

On the move...

We have returned safely from our 24 hours of Jordan rally car experience (really just average Jordanian driving). We rented the car and sped out to the eastern desert following the signs for the Iraqi and Saudi Arabia border. We passed many a tanker truck, those coming from Iraq/Saudi full and those returning were of course empty. Our destination was Azraq, a small truck stop hamlet that is situated next to what used to be a 17,000sqkm wetland/oasis. This wetland has unfortanately literally been tapped out and now the ground water table averages 10M below the surface. There is an acitve wetland restoration program now in place to restore at least part of the wetlands, a rare bit of positive environmental action for the greater region. Much like its neighbors (see previous post) Jordan is guilty of terrible past environmental stewardship and responsibility.
Our journey took us to several ‘desert castles’ that are not really castles but other outposts or historic hunting camps for the ruling elite. Most dating to early Islam (8th century) but one back as far as 2nd century AD. Chandra found a really cool souvenir here that will be shared upon our return. Most of these places were of modest interest but it was good to get out and be on our own with the freedom of our own transport in the big expansive featureless landscape. The desert out in this area is made up of mostly black stones or large pebbles. I believe overgrazing for the last several thousand years have contributed to a drastric decline in what little topsoil previously existed. I would imgine most people from outside the region may describe this area as a ‘wasteland’. Current uses now consist of some bedouin grazing, and large government installations, including severel military bases and a large police training facility. At our hotel last night, we met with the owner’s friends who were policemen and they told us of large training facility that we passed. This is a federal Jordanian faciltiy with some American officers conducting much of the training they said. Interesting. Police here randomly wave over vehicles on all the roads, checking for anything suspicious, individuals, weapons, drugs etc. We got waved over but as we were stopping they waved us through. There are lots of police here in Jordan and they are very friendly and helpful (we talked to several for driving directions).
Today we took the car to Jerash, one of the best preserved ancient roman cities in Jordan. It was very cool. Several theatres and a large ‘Temple of Zeus’ were the engineering highlights, but sometimes it is the small things that make such a place unique. For instance at Jerash, for the first time we could see the grooves worn into the stone along the main ‘street’ from the chariots. There is also evidence of what they claim as the worlds first ‘machine’, a water driven stone saw from the 6th century AD.
Weather wise, the last few days is what most people probably imagine what the Middle East is like, hot, dry and dusty. Reading in the Jordanian Daily english paper, the temps the last few days and for the next few days to come are running about 10C above average, somewhere in the low 30’ C (low 90’s F), with breezy conditions.
So far we have really enjoyed Jordan. Based on our recent travels I would have to say it is step up from Syria and a step short of Turkey in terms of infastructure and overall social affluence. It is a comfortable place to travel and is reflected by the number of tourists we have seen here. A lot more big package groups than Syria, and seemingly a few more independent travellers as well. As we head south we are also getting into more of the peak season for tourists. We met a nice couple from Seattle tonite over dinner but otherwise the few tourists from the US have almost been exclusively from California. We have only seen one package trip from the US and that was in Turkey. All the other trips our from (in order of frequency), France, Germany, Italy, Korea, and other East Asian countries. Why aren’t there more Americans here or in most other countries? Given a nation the size of the US, one would expect to see more Americans abroad. It is just surprising how few Americans actually do travel abroad.
Chandra also wants to write soon about the women here and how she as been received as a female in the region. It is striking the differences socially between men and women here. That post will ‘soon come’.
Otherwise we have physically regained some of our strength. We crossed the halfway point in our trip today. We had a good day today after yesterday being not a great day. We were both ‘off’, for various reasons, especially hearing the bad news of a serious injury to, and also the passing of a friend back home.
We trading in the car for some bus tickets tonite and we will strike it out south tomorrow AM. We shoud be dipping in the Dead Sea by 1:00pm, and then on to the redrock, juniper forested Dana Natural Preserve. Eventually we will be tripping into Jordan’s pride and joy, Petra (and surely its most overun with tourists, oh joy) We may not be online for a few days but we will be sure to ‘blog on’ when we get a chance. We hope all is well with friends and loved ones the world over. Please be safe as we will return the favor. It is amazing how much one thinks of loved ones when we are so far away. I guess travelling like this, in places like this, we can’t help but appreciate how lucky we are and how much we have to be thankful for. -CB

Arrival in Jordan

Note: please see updated pics from last 3 posts including video from "Welcome to Syria" post

So we bid goodbye to Syria yesterday and have arrived safely in Jordan. We had an uneventful boarder crossing but for some reason the process still takes a couple of hours. Amman is our current location and we are strategizing for the next week or so. While Amman is no Damascus it is still a nice city. It has a few cool arch sites including a large theatre and citidal. We did see what appeared to be slum-like housing on the outskirts of town which we read may be Iraq and/or Palastine refugee camps. Our intial take of the city and Jordan in general is much the same of Syria, but much smaller. The country is smaller and the cities our smaller which which is fine. Everybody we have met has been nice and helpful. Are intial plan is to rent car for a few days, exploring some of the more rural desert castles to the east, and then take a tour south in the direction of our ultimate destination, Petra.
A few departing thoughts on Syria… While we have been raving about it, the single greatest downfall was their environmental practices. We read that Syria has the worst environmental record in the Middle East, making them one of the worst in the world. The most ‘surface level’ evidence of this is the profuse levels of trash and waste is strewn about the landscape, alleys and near any traveled road surface (city centers seem to be cleaned regulary). Often the nearest receptacle is over the nearest wall or in the nearest depression which serves as a temporary landfill. Temporary only in that for longterm disposal, the trash is simply ignited and burned. This waste is further enhanced with large area of blackened soil stained by used motor oil. Often the oil has standing puddles associated with them. It is sickening sight. This is the evidence of the environmental stewardship of the average Syrian. This further supports the theory that in order to provide better enivronmental protection on a global level and the we must first address the global poverty issue. It makes the US argument that we ‘can’t afford’ greener policies and more stringent environmental protection sound pretty feable.
Otherwise things are going pretty well. Chandra stomach is a little funky and she has bouts of not feeling 100% but for the most part we are happy and healthy. We did admitably have our first day of traveller fatagiue two days ago. We have been going hard and long everyday and we hit a wall (we also went 36 hours without good protien). Travel of this nature can be exhausting and demanding and can take a toll. It is not always all fun and games. We are just very happy and thankful that we have had safe travels up to this point and we can continue on our journey. On less postive side note, we are very saddened by the tragic and unexpected lost of a former Crested Butte friend, Jack Hannon. We will be thinking of him and wish his family and friends the best during this difficult time. Even though we are halfway around the world, we are never far from those we care about and love. -CB