Giza (hey-hey-hellomyfriendwanttorideacamel???)!

So today I visited the only remaining ancient wonder of the world.  It was big, it was dusty, and it was kind of a hassle.  Which is not to say that it wasn't also magnificent, precise and beyond imagination.  Cause really, it was those things.  An Aussie from the hostel and I took the metro to Giza and managed to hop a bus to the pyramids.  When we got off (were told to get off), we asked where the pyramids were - then we saw this.  It is hard to overstate how polluted Cairo and Giza are - they are very polluted, but this view was pretty spectacular.  

There it is poking its head over the suburbs of Giza

The two bigger pyramids

The Sphinx!

The lines are incredibly precise - to 5 mm over hundreds of meters

This was the most intact of the original casing - it must have been a sight to see!

We wandered around for a while, every few meters being accosted by some tout asking if we wanted to buy anything - I got one photo of a woman being followed by one - I saw several people actually running away from people trying to sell scarves, trinkets, camel and donkey rides, water bottles, anything.  Even after we walked through the gate a man asked us for our tickets - we finally speculated that he would 'check' a ticket and then start a tour for which he would charge.  We walked through the entrance twice, after getting tickets to inside of the big pyramid - he actually grabbed my arm as I walked past him, which did not make me happy.  Here's a photo of a woman being 'touted'

It was worth it, however, to make it all the way into the pyramid and all the way back out again with only a few moments of panic!  Yes!  The triumphant photo:

yesssssss

Behind the pyramids and entirely unattended by guides, guards or touts was what looked like an old city - I've not been able to find anything on it - so if anyone has an idea about what it is I'm all ears.  Here are some photos of that:

These were some of the coolest areas, maybe cause we could make our own way

It was old!  Everything felt old!  

I took this today - even if it looks old as hell for some reason

Cairo is a Dirty, Old Man-city

Hey team - I arrived by plane in Cairo last evening and after much negotiation of the streets around the hostel, I eventually decided to find it and make my way to Skype for some Thanksgivings greetings home, and to bed.  I woke this morning feeling rested and eager to check out what Cairo had to offer.  Keeping things simple, I opted to tackle the 4000 some artifacts of the Egyptian Museum - some of which are labeled, some of those in English.

Truly I enjoyed it quite a bit - it is old here - everything in the museum was older than pretty much anything I've ever seen before excepting Stonehenge.  Old.  It had kind of a warehouse feel - I popped in ear phones and took a good wander while enjoying some Iron & Wine - which nicely complimented the entire array, especially the mummy room.  Which I found strangely humorous.  I am hereby on record saying that, after my long full life, I wish to be cremated.  I'd like my ashes in a semi-appropriate statuette of some kind to be hauled out at family functions c/o Jeremy Bentham.

I've no photos there, they actually scan for cameras and take them.  You get it back of course, but still.  The city itself is very dirty - mostly from smog and car pollution.  Also - crossing streets is notoriously insane - the walk signal is an animated walking figure who goes from a leisurely stroll up to a frenetic run when the traffic is coming.  As in - he is always going, regardless of the oncoming traffic.  When cars are crossing, he suggests you run.  I did take a few photos of the city which I will share here:

The street I wandered up and down looking for my hostel - pretty typical Cairo

There's an election on Sunday and there were cops EVERYWHERE

Note the running man in green

This is what I look like - the sun is HOT

I also visited the Coptic Christian site/church/zone, after having a go at the metro, which was surprisingly easy.  It took it on a whim after the museum.  The Coptic site was at a stop, along with a Greek Orthodox church - all pretty cool.  I have some photos of that as well.

The outside of the buildings were lovely - all stone carvings

The insides were also lovely - in the middle is the lectern I think

On the right is the metro, on the left is the church, in the middle are police with battle shields

Orthodox Church

Self Contained Underwater Breathing Aparatus – ing!

(oops, thought this was up last night - sorry!)

It’s ear popping fun!  Today I went diving.  It was why I came to this city outside Sousse, and has been a goal of mine for a long time. 

So I got to the place at about 920 and asked about being certified, and sure enough, enough time and everything !  Yes !  I’m thinking ill do reading, training, whatever, maybe for the whole morning and part of the afternoon.  I’m thinking it will be nice to get into the water today but not essential.  Then they had me a wetsuit and tell me to get ready.  OK.  So I suit up, they have gear ready for me – it’s me and three others, two guides.  We suit up and he gives me some basics – pressure gauge, mouthpiece, inflate and deflate suit, and then we’re at the dive site, about 300 meters from shore and we’re putting on tanks and jumping into the water !  There’s a video of me doing that.  Yikes.  So we hit the water and down we go !

There’s not much to it really – pretty straightforward, just breathe through the mouthpiece and don’t go up or down very fast.  The bottom was very cool – wavy plants, lots of fish, some of which was quite colorful.  We even saw an octopus !  I didn’t expect that, one of the guides suddenly had this little guy on his hand, all suction cups and ink clouds – it was a little bigger than my hand, very cool to see.  After touching a number of things, I realized that generally when you step on something slimy, it is pretty to look at underwater.  Not much consolation for those of us with our heads above water, but oh well. 

It was also kind of tiring – I went through much more air than the others, and I am pretty tired now.  It was kind of tough to breath calmly for me – there’s a fair amount of pressure – we went down about 10m (that’s 2 bars of pressure, double atmospheric for the uninitiated).  It’s pretty disorienting to be up and down underwater and I needed a moment or two on land to regain my balance.  On the second dive I was able to relax a bit more, ease through the water more manetee-like.  It was fun, though my head feels a little soggy after so much ear popping underwater.  I am going down twice tomorrow, twice Wednesday, then I will be ready for straight away diving in the Red Sea in Egypt !  This, as much as anything else I’ve seen or done, feels like I am living someone else’s life.  It’s quite a ride. 

I moved out of the retirement community I was in in favor of a slightly more budget option, but not before making excellent use of the fancy hotel’s steam room.  It was the first time since I left Stockholm that I really, really relaxed.  I thought I would tack that on after my less than cheerful post earlier – it is not all bad (.

Sharp!

When it has been dry, the hat has been on! 

The Gear

TO WHAT the struggle has lead: I

It with humility I submit this blog post - this is where the blogging meets the road, why I held back for so long from the blogging world - what gives 'blog' its sinister leer.  But then, what's to be afraid of - they're only feelings.  I'll remain curt at least - the past week or so, as I have indicated here and there, has been a struggle, one that has waxed and waned according to some power beyond me.  I've had some great moments (often detailed here), and then some not so great moments (generally pushed through, sometimes dwelt in, often heaped upon CHW).  And it is true as many of you have suggested to me personally that those moments are the most pregnant.  So here are a few gems - hardly won and easily lost as they often are:

1)  It is the moments when I say enough - no more, than I am given (and I hesitate to use consider the actor behind that verb) the what I need.  Is this me?  Is this the world?  I mentioned before - it was at the youth hostel in Meknes, the granaries in Meknes, my travel buddy in ... Meknes - OK so maybe that was a big day for me.  But it stands, as it stood before, and I catalogue it here - it seems life is always just around the corner.

2)  It is in other moments when if I had a white flag I would wave it that I often dive in head first - consequences be damned - or disregarded.  Sometimes the gumption I need is on the farside of hope.  Giving up can mean going for it.

3)  Trucking around solo style has meant fending for myself socially, as well as every other way possible.  I've been in countries where very few people speak English and I have come to value conversations a great deal.  While the people I meet, like Eddie at the hotel bar last night, cannot provide the safety between words of familiar folks back home, the can provide the words themselves and that has gone a long way.

4)  I personally would poorly tolerate the complaints of someone who is on voluntary holiday to exotic locales.  While I have certainly encountered my steep gradients, I am also well supported and able to waltz out of here on a whim.  As many, many of you well know, the highest hills afford the best views.

I'm at a hotel resort type thing full of retired European couples.  I'm staying in Port El Kataouni for another few days, though I'm planning to move to a cheaper domicile tomorrow.  I'm taking it easy before Egypt.  Tomorrow I'm going to learn to scuba.  Neat!

Thanks all for the love and snugglies from so far away.  I set out on this trip with the myopic goal of challenging myself.  On that count and dozens of others - success.  Love to you!

Carthage and Sidi Abu Said (and some more Tunis!)

Howdy team - it's about 1030 over here (hostel address ... Mom) and I've enjoyed a lovely day today after being emo and despairing last night.  Thanks as always to Corinne for being my shoulder, however virtual, when I'm slogging along.  As always, a chance encounter with an English speaker - Jules from Australia this time, he shortly saved James from the UK from a dangerous encounter with some touts about town :) and the three of us wandered blindly towards the ruins of Carthage (which was a bit disappointing - 'not a stone upon a stone' as they said.  They were a bit cheesed after Hannibal nearly took over - the great Pyhrric victory (at Pyhrrus I think) where Hannibal won the battle without enough men to cover his ground, and ultimately lost the war.

Anyway - here are some photos of Carthage:

What was left - excavated about 50 years ago by the Italians I think

Incredible views - the old city was very strategically placed

Sunset over western Tunis

Well before we got there - notice if you will the lovely sunsets - we we overtaken on our train out of Tunis by three Tunisian woman.  One sitting in our threesome on the train interrupted and told me I had beautiful eyes (my blushes).  While I was unavailable (which I confessed to upon questioning), they did lead the group of us around Sidi Abu Said, a lovely town last Carthage.  I'm still working out the Tunisian geography, but there is a lot of water, and this place is at the end of it.  They suggested we go there rather than Carthage and they were right - it was lovely.  Everything was white with blue trim (at the government's request/demand but who's counting?).  It was very Mediterranean, picturesque.  Here are some photos of it, along with our friends for the day.

What a lot of the doors looked like

It was quaint as hell - almost sick/sweet with it

Blue!  

People actually lived here!  Though lots of the houses were vacation houses for the rich boat owners

The great blue Med

Port!

Us and our guides - I should have written down names, but oh well - in the back is me, Jules and James

While I was, as I mentioned, struggling a bit last night, and having a time with being away from people I could connect with much less talk to, worked on being as open as I could, while taking it really easy on myself.  I met Jules while looking at a resort type place south of Tunis which has laundry service - and scuba diving.  Both are on my list.  The price for 4 star hotels is about 28$ per night, so I'm thinking it's time for a few nights out there.  It felt good to look at a break, especially considering it is so cheap.  I wrote them to inquire about it all and hope to hear back tomorrow morning.  I plan to head there Sunday morning, after a drive around with Jules tomorrow to see more of the country.

He was a great guy to bum around with today - he was very conversational, and between him and the Brit there wasn't much of a dull moment which was fine by me.  He made some great suggestions about how to travel Egypt (join groups, being alone gets you hassled, what to pay for taxis, water, etc).  It sounds like an intense place and I am glad I'm working my way up to it by going easy these next few days.

I'm gonna stick some more Tunis photos here cause there isn't really a better place.

Train to Moroccan Airport - also got my fever on at the kiosk outside Carthage ruins!  Oh baby!

Gate at the entrance to the medina

Giant clock thingy

James had kind of an interesting story - he is teaching English to employees of his father's something or other in Libya.  He is bored out of his mind, but he is making bank and hanging out with lots of Libyans.  He said Libyans are incredibly friendly people, very eager to welcome westerners and to demonstrate that they are not their government.  I was asked today point blank by one of our guides if I was racist towards Arabs before coming to Tunis, quite casually.  I told her no, I saw the people and governments as different, and didn't see why being prejudiced towards Arabs did anyone any good.  I pointed out that some in the US were, quite likely as some in Tunis were towards the West.  Finally, Jules mentioned that of all the people he had met (and this man had been everywhere, most of Africa, SE Asia, China, Russia, Europe, everywhere) he said Syrians were the most friendly, followed by the Lebanese.  This is not to start a debate over who is friendlier, but I think it is worth noting that the US (and lots of Western countries, but I see the US most) has notions about the middle east (and sometimes visa versa) but that Jules, who is white white white was received extremely well throughout his trip through there.  While I expect to be travel-sore by the time I get there, I am also eager to bring home my own story of what the folks there are like.

One final note - back at the hostel before coming downstairs to write this I chatted a bit with a Swiss fellow who is on his way to Morocco!  He asked my thoughts on where to go and how and I talked to him a bit, over-eager to be the direction giver after so often asking and being patiently lead along.  He welcomed me into that inner sanctum of travelers who have enough (laughably small in my case, but still) to be of service to other travelers.  As F Scott put it - he casually conferred on me the freedom of the neighborhood!  Be well!

Tunis!

I arrived in Tunis this afternoon after one last day in Casablanca on Eid, where I saw many a sheep head being roasted on open fires in the street.  Along with a lot of sheep blood.  The evening smelled putrid, as it was a little wet and the heavy air caught the smells and brought them back down.  I spent most of the day enjoying free wifi and toilets with paper at the Hotel Ibis.  C and I chatted for quite a long time, which, while luxurious and not entirely in the traveling mode, was extremely helpful for my brain - to sit and connect.  She, by the way, will soon be the proud mommy to a new Macbook Air!  Delivery shortly c/o Paul Wichser.  Exciting!

So before the evening smells of Eid and my questionable dinner came a giant Mosque - Hassan II.  It was massive.  Here are some photos:

It is one of the only holy sites open to non-Muslims

Lots of the decorations were patterns and stone carvings - no images for Islam - ocean on the right

Like, really massive.  It holds 25,000 people!  

I am in this one for scale

These were all over the medina

That evening I walked around, smelling the sheep heads, hungry and kind of sick, but I forced myself to find something to eat.  I landed at a restaurant where I was the only one upstairs watching some nuclear apocalypse film with Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves - I asked for a sandwich of some kind, and I was brought this.

Quite a spread!

With the face I imagined it talking to me like those shrunken heads in cartoons

I enjoyed some (it was quite tasty) before realizing that it was not cooked all the way through.  Oops.  I decided on some Cipro which I had been thinking about anyway for my belly and went to sleep, prepared for a night of cold tile floors.

I woke up healthy and happy!  Chatted with an army ranger dude, was dramatically undercharged for my stay at the hostel and food at the train station (which was a nice change) and comfortably made my way to Tunis.  Not much to report on the city yet, I'll get out into it a bit tomorrow.  I have decided to slow down and will be here 8 days (which still isn't all that slow) before flying to Cairo.  I've been quite up and down emotionally, and while I feel much better, I am quite tired and am eager to sleep in a bit tomorrow, and have an easy day of wandering and eating and looking at things.  No real plans, no destinations other than back at the hostel at the end of the day.  The hostel is huge with lousy facilities - in a bank of three sinks, only one faucet works and it turns on all three of them.  I'm roomed with a Swiss guy and an Egyptian American, a self-described vagabond, who has been bumming around for 30 or 40 years.  Dreadlocked, accented, quite chatty, he has been a fun guy to share a room with so far.  I might try to walk around with him, at least get his photo at some point.  There's always more more more but that's all for now.  All my best!

Eid Mubarak!

 

Eid Mubarak!

Two basic posts here – the second will come first – tomorrow is Eid, which is I think a commemoration of the sacrifice of Issac (which didn’t actually happen, thankfully).  It’s kind of like Christmas – Moroccans everywhere (I assume Muslims everywhere) head home to celebrate with their families.  Because it is such a big holiday, there is little to no public transportation (other than cabs) in Morocco on Wednesday.  This posed a problem for our little group and folks scrambled a bit to manage.  Stephie (not Stephanie, as I had called her) and I grabbed a ‘gran taxi’ (intercity) first thing this morning to get out of Chefchaouen, which was the Bermuda triangle of available busses, and headed to Ouzane, an hour and a half south.  As mentioned, Moroccans don’t travel particularly well and one fellow (of the six of us passengers in the Mercedes) managed to puke in his mouth and hold it there till we pulled over.  His buddy had some oils that cleared the air and we were good to go.  From Ouzane it was easy-peasy to get onto a bus to Meknes, where we figured no problem, overnight there, me head to Casa and her to Marrakesh in the afternoon Wednesay.  Then we learned about the lack of public transport Wednesday, and the unavailability of busses from Meknes on Tuesday.  So I parted ways with Stephie (who was a great travel buddy!) and took a petite cab (their city cab) to the train station on the other side of town.  Once there it was a quick ticket nab, found I would be in town soon enough to get into the youth hostel I stayed in before, and am now sitting in the same room!  The train ride was comfortable and easy, I met a few Moroccans my age heading home and we parceled together enough Spanish French and English (mostly from one fellow) to share a few thoughts.  I am behind on my languages – his fourth (English, after Arabic French and Spanish) rivaled my second (Spanish).  I have tomorrow to kill and am thinking of trying to find a laundromat – cause some of my clothes are dirty.  And I have little better to do, Casasblanca is basically a big polluted metropolis where nothing will be open tomorrow.  A day to recharge hopefully. 

Secondly – yesterday the Aussies, Stephie and I tried to summit the mountain (hill) behind Chefchaouen.  We walked for a while, decided to just go straight up, and turns out the hill was protected by magic sleeping beauty style – pricklies, rocks, no paths whatever, and far far higher than it looked.  But we made it, hoping to find a path, but we saw that we were on the wrong hill, no path, so we scooted down the far side.  This is after the Aussies wisely gave up and headed back for some mint tea.  It was a hard climb, but it afforded us some great views. 

Finally, the day after tomorrow I head to Tunis, and then to Egypt in all likelihood.  Not sure how or where yet, but I’m thinking about moving more slowly this time, and continuing to work on attaching myself to crews, and being open to the world.  Hope you all are well!  You are on my mind! 

The path we wanted

Chefchaouen ) a long way away

Photos of Chefchaouen

The place really is magical, so much blue, like a swimming pool.  Here are some sample photos with our little group.  There is Matthew from France, Joe from the UK, Daniel and Bridget from Australia, and Stephanie from Austria.  

Stephanie, Joe, Matthew (the hooded guy in the back is getting water from a fountain

The water source and washing, that is a rug in the center stream - you can see the cleaning houses on either side where water has been diverted

Blue, with Matthew

Many of the men was these Djeballas, or hooded robes

And today, November 14th, marks six months for Corinne and I!  Here are some commemorative photos:  

Heart by Matthew and Stephanie, featuring Kevin with Flowers

From left, swimming Daniel, Matthew, Bridget and Stephanie, featuring Kevin in love!