I LOVE PETRA (Jordan trip, 4.24-4.26.08)

On April 24th, Celia and I took the 6am bus to the Israel border to cross into Jordan. The ride went off without a hitch (except us forgetting all our food on the bus) and crossing the border was surprisingly painless. We entered Israel and just as quickly left and entered into Jordan.

While waiting to show our passports to yet another person, we met a young French couple who offered to share a cab with us to Wadi Mousa, Jordan, which is the city housing the amazing Petra. We agreed, and our cab driver took us on a gorgeous ride through the Jordan countryside, stopping at little stands along the way to buy us food, tea, and coffee. The cab driver was very friendly and we all had a great time on our mini roadtrip.

Views from the drive

The Frenchies and our taxi driver

When we arrived in Wadi Mousa, we were dropped off at the Petra Gate hostel, and our French friends went their seperate way. After settling into the hostel (which we loved, by the way), we went downstairs for a communal dinner in the dining room, and the Frenchies were there! They weren't able to find another hostel, so they ended up staying in ours as well. We ate dinner together and talked all about Europe and America and had a great time. Then Celia and I walked down the hill to what we would later discover to be the entrance to Petra, and explored part of the town until nighttime, when we returned back to our room.

Views of Wadi Mousa

The next morning we got up early and ate a homemade breakfast by one of the hostel owners, and then her husband drove us down to the entrance to Petra. We ended up exploring for about 7 hours and were blown away by the beauty of one of the new 7 wonders of the world. The weather was hot but not scorching, and we had brought lunchboxes with us from the hostel, so we were set for the day. It was actually exhausting but very satisfying hiking around and discovering each gorgeous nook and cranny of these massive red rocks. More than 2200 years ago, the Nabataean tribe from the Arabian peninsula settled in Jordan. They carved Petra using influences from Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. It was rediscovered in 1812 by a Swiss traveller. Petra is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I definitely think everyone should consider going to see it someday. It was also fun to see where part of Indiana Jones was filmed!!! I am going to have to watch that movie again when I'm back home to get the full effect.

At Petra we saw all the main sights. The Obelisk Tomb was created with Graeco-Roman influences.

As-Siq is the ancient main entrance to Petra. The strange geological formations, water channels, and colorful niches cut into the rock were amazing.

Al-Khazneh is the Treasury, arguably the most amazing sight in Petra. It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb for an important Nabataean king.

I really love camels

We reached the High Place of Sacrifice afer a long hike up the mountain. This was the place for many Nabataean religious ceremonies.

The Theatre was built to seat 3000 people, but was extended to hold 7000.

There were also several tombs all along the way, and we didn't keep very good track of which was which, but they were all equally amazing and we continued to wonder how on earth all of this beauty could be carved into rock...

We walked along a Colonnaded street which held many Roman-looking pillars.

Ad-Deir is the Monastery, which we climbed 800 stairs to get to. This is also amazing- Petra's second most famed attraction.

After walking around in the hot sun all day, we were exhausted, so we headed back to the hostel and went out for Jordinian food. Afterwards we went to a really cool place called Cave Bar, which is just what it sounds like. It was actually kind of creepy because there were carved out places inside where chairs and tables were to sit, but I think they used to be tombs. The bar was really gorgeous though, and we sat with the Frenchies and smoked shisha and drank arrak, which is the liquor of Jordan (tastes like liquorice).

The next day we were tired and sore, so we slept in, ate a traditional Egyptian lunch of fuul (beans), falafel, shammy (like pita), and hummos. After lunch, we wandered around Petra again for several hours, seeing all the sights we had missed from the day before. We left with some new jewelery made by Bedouins, who had stands set up all along any pathway within Petra and were actually an incredible annoyance. This was a common problem in the middle east; everywhere we went, the effect of visiting amazing places was diminished by the insane amount of venders. I found this to be the worst in Jerusalem, but more on that later. The Bedouins in Petra reminded us a little of Native Americans. Although nomadic by nature, many Bedouins had settled in Petra, but were forced out by the government and given shops and stands in return for being kicked off their land. While you're there, you feel a mix of annoyance and sorrow for these people as they try to sell you anything and everything. The worst part was the massive amount of camels, horses and donkeys they wanted you to ride (especially anywhere that involved hiking up mountains or stairs). There were some typical lines they found hilarious, such as "taxi?!" or "air conditioned!!" or "happy hour!" while riding a camel or donkey next to you. It was quite annoying, but it all just added to the experience I suppose. Here are more photos from Petra.

A Bedouin woman basically forced Celia to walk this donkey partway down the stairs. It was kind of a struggle.

awkward camel stance

a very questionable bridge

After Petra that day, we returned to the hostel for a quiet night of dinner, chatting with the Frenchies and a German, and playing cards. The next morning we shared another cab with our French friends back to Eilat, which turned out to be slightly horrifying. We left in the morning and it was so foggy you couldn't see 2 feet in front of you, but our driver seemed to show no concern for slowing down while driving around the hairpin turns in Jordan. He was also picking out cds from his collection while driving with his knees (no hands!!), and then using the knees again while dancing to the music of his choice. He also found it funny to drive as fast as humanly possible on any straight rode we came to, and it felt like we were going about 110 mph, although as is the case with most taxis here, the odometer didn't work. :) We actually made it in one piece, much to my amazement... and continued onto the next leg of our journey, Israel.

To be continued...

Alexandria, Egypt

Egypt: April 16-May 7, 2008


Hey everyone, I made it safely (kind of) to Cairo! My flight was really scary and I thought the plane would crash, but it didn't, and here I am. When Celia picked me up at the airport (after a long, confusing hour of misunderstanding...) we took a taxi to her apartment in a neighborhood called Zamalek. She had to go back to work, so we grabbed a quick lunch and I ventured back to her apartment, where I stayed and rested/unpacked until she got home in the evening. We had a traditional Egyptian dinner at her house with another intern, and then went out to a local bar called Huraya, where we were some of the only women... the bar was really rowdy and dirty, and unfortunately the beer in Egypt turns out to be even worse than the beer in Korea (can you believe that, Owen?). But it was still a great time, and I had fun getting accustomed to the feel of Cairo. The next day I was actually sick with a fever, so I had to stay in Celia's apartment all day and rest. On Saturday I was feeling better, so we took a train to Alexandria for the weekend.




April 19-20

After a few days in Cairo getting oriented, Celia and I took a weekend trip to Alexandria, on the Mediterranean Sea.
















This was the view from our room in Hotel "Crillon" (we don't know why there were quotes around "Crillon," but that made it even funnier). We had taken a train from Cairo with the intention of staying at Celia's favorite hotel, but on the train she realized she had forgotten her passport. We were worried we would have to return that same night, but after being rejected from the first hotel, "Crillon" took us in. The hotel itself seemed as though it had once been a beautiful building, but what remained was creepy and filled with taxonomy...

walking across a "bridge" to get to the hotel

We spent the first day walking along the Mediterranean coast and looking at Fort Qaitbey, which occupies the site of the former Pharos Lighthouse, which was one of the original 7 wonders of the world. It basically looks like a sand castle. It was really beautiful and sunny while we were at the fort, so I was able to get some nice photos.

Ahhh, the Mediterranean...

cats are everywhere!

On our way out of the Fort, a large group of young teenage girls asked me to pose in a picture with them. As usual, I stand out a lot in this country, so it's hard not to get harrassed. It was nice to have some friendly girls interested in taking a picture with me for once instead of men who may have other ideas... the picture was really funny and cute, but unfortunately we didn't get one on my camera.

There are always tons of picturesque minarets everywhere you go.

After the fort, the sun was beginning to set, so we decided to get dinner before heading home to get ready for a night out. In Alexandria there is always an abundance of fresh fish that you choose yourself. I don't really know what kind of a fish we picked, but it was delicious anyway! We also had calamari, both fried and sauteed. It was a fabulous dinner!

Fresh fish dinner

After dinner we searched and searched for a liquor store (they can be kind of hard to come by here, because of the whole Muslim thing...) and finally found some rum that Celia assured me would not make us go blind. It almost did. :) So we sat in our hotel room, enjoying the creepiness of it all, until we were ready to head out for the evening.

prefunking with an interesting rum concoction

We headed out to the Spitfire, which was a bar with a really Western feel to it. There weren't very many people in there and we made friends right away. It was really fun to meet some Egyptians and hear about Egypt from their perspective.

From our room at night

The next day we were supposed to return to Cairo, and we ended up having pretty much the whole day to spend in Alex because of bus schedules, so that was nice. We mostly walked along the coast in the sun all day, and later took a tram (which was definitely an experience!!) to the San Stefano mall (where Celia says all the rich Egyptians hang out) and met some of our friends from the night before at... STARBUCKS. Haha, I think I've been to a Starbucks in all the other countries I've been in, and they really are all the same, just like home.

Lord Shave is apparantly very popular in Alexandria

This picture is of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which was inspired by the original great library founded in the 3rd century BC. It is intended to hold 8 million books, but actually only has a few hundred thousand. We didn't actually go inside, but it was very nice with the sun hitting the water and windows.

I really liked this sculpture

I took this picture to give everyone an idea of how terrifying it is to cross the street in Egypt. Cairo is actually much worse, but this street was really bad in Alex. There are no crosswalks, and you basically have to play frogger to cross the street, except you honestly think you might die EVERY SINGLE TIME. There are rarely any openings between cars for you to dart out and say your prayers that someone will stop for you. There is also constant and incessant honking to distract and disorient you so that it's even more difficult to concentrate and cross "safely." Crossing the street is BY FAR my least least least favorite part of Egypt.

Sunset in Alexandria

Since it's taken me so long to start posting to my blog (sorry, guys!!!), I have seen so many beautiful and amazing things, but before doing much traveling, Alexandria was my favorite part of this trip. It is still my favorite part of Egypt, and I would love to return and spend more time in this seaside city.

Ok, keep posted, I am really trying to catch up on my blog today... I'll do my best!! Hope everyone is doing well back home, and I miss you all!!

p.s. Sorry about the crappy layout of this blog posting... something is messed up with the html and the the computer is basically formatting this however it wants.