Aussie

We've kind of finished our big holiday now. Well, the exotic places anyway. Mel's back working and I've been sorting out all the usual stuff you have to in a new country (bank account, driver's licence etc).

I survived meeting the family. They've all been very nice. They've teased me about the cricket of course. Hey, it's not my fault that they're so bad at the moment!

Mel's Mum and Neil took us to Doyle's Seafood Restaurant in Watson's Bay. That was spectacular. You have views back across the harbour to the centre of Sydney. We've also done the Bondi to Coogee walk with Mel's sister Jo.

Peter and Julie have been very generous and are looking after Mel and I very well. Mel's kid sister, Amanda, has proven to be very easy to get along with. It is a bit odd sharing a house with three other people after having a place to ourselves in London. Still, it seems to be working out.

We are looking forward to getting our own place though - either to rent or buy. Then we'll be able to properly unpack and start our Sydney lives in earnest.

Not sure that they'll be much more blogging. I might include an NZ post or two but that might be about it. Thanks for reading!

Hong Kong fluey

OK, not quite the Hong Kong flu but Mel did have the last bit of her Nile belly to contend with. All sorted thanks to a very good doctor in Hong Kong.

We loved Hong Kong. It's quite an amazing place. Lots and lots of skyscrapers like I've never seen anywhere. I also had in my mind that the Bank of China building was still the tallest building there. No! The new IFC 2 (International Finance Centre Building 2) is 88 floors and dwarfs the BoC building.

Of course, Hong Kong has great Chinese food. We had some amazing duck pancakes (served with Hou Sin sauce, spring onions (shallots) and cucumber). Very nice.

We also went to the Jumbo floating restaurant. That was a bit overrated. The food was nice but over-priced and the idea of dining on a floating restaurant really doesn't mean much when you can even tell it's a boat once you go through the main doors.

We went to the Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery. That was cool. The path up to it is lined with life size Budda statues. Each of them is unique. They look quite different from each other and are dressed differently or holding something unique. The Monastery itself has some 12,000+ minature Buddhas inside. The place looks like an amusement park though with all the brightly coloured Buddhas around the place.

We did a bit of shopping in Hong Kong too but we were well overloaded with the last of our possessions from London. Prices are generally very good. I didn't bother to look at electronics or computer stuff too much as I hadn't done my research. I certainly wouldn't have known what to expect to pay for anything. And, then of course, there's always the worry of it breaking down.

We did a day trip to Macau too. We kind of fancied this as the Portugese owned Macau for hundreds of years. The idea of a Portugese flavoured China appealed. There were certainly some nice Portugese buildings there and some of the food but mostly it was very Chinese. Macau is very well known and popular for it's casinos. Mel and I didn't bother with these though. When we were there they were just setting up for the Grand Prix. We meant to watch the Grand Prix when we got to Oz to see what places we could spot. As you can imagine, we forgot as we were very busy with relatives.

We'd go back to Hong Kong again but probably as a stopover rather than as a trip in itself. Next time I'd like to go to Lantau Island where there is a huge outdoor Buddha.

Camel diving

Backtracking here a bit but Dahab deserves more comment. The eight full days we had in Dahab were amazing. Unfortunately, we don't have that many photos. The best things to take photos of were under the sea. The other time I would have liked to have got a few photos was when we were on the camels but it's a little tricky to juggle a camera and ride a camel. Well, I figured it would be for me. However, our dive guide was able to read a book and smoke a cigarette simultaneously while riding her camel! The diving and snorkelling was amazing. For those that know the area we snorkelled at the Lighthouse on the first day. This gave us a chance to make sure masks, fins and snorkels were in good order. The Lighthouse doesn't actually seem to have a lighthouse near it. It's merely an area in front of the main broadwalk where the cafes are. I was quite amazed to see so much sea life so close to everything. Diving wise we dived at the Canyon a couple of times and at the "house reef" - that is, just in front of the hotel. This reef isn't dived very often as it's only really accessible when the tide is high and there's no wind. We also snorkelled at the Bells and the Blue Hole. The Bells were great. Not really any divers around but lots of sea life. We saw these cornetfish hunting smaller fish. The cornetfish are very long and thin and would make sudden darts into these schools of fish. Mel believes that the little fish were trying to stay close to us as this kept the cornetfish away. The Blue Hole is a big hole! It's blue because it's full of water - d'oh - and because of the way the light shines into it. It's very pretty but is notorious for divers being idiots and trying to dive through an archway at 52 metres. That's well beyond the limits of recreational diving but people still try to do it. Some succeed, some don't. The best dives were 1) the last one of our training. This was when we were surrounded by fusilier fish - as I mentioned in an earlier blog and 2) the second dive on the camel safari. Yep, we loved the camel safari. It was an early wake up but it was definitely worth it. We took all the gear out to the Blue Hole where the locals loaded it on to camels. They then walked the camels over the first, very steep, hill. We then hopped on and rode the camels for over an hour. Then we relaxed for a little bit in a so-called Bedouin village. It was more a bunch of beach shacks. Some of these were more protected from the elements than others. Not quite what I'd imagined for a Bedouin village but then again it was perfect for the local environment. We only saw a couple of other groups of divers entering the water and didn't see anyone but our group once we were under. The dive was very nice and we had to wind our way between different coral formations. Lots of different sea life again. I looked up a few but the diversity is overwhelming. Our second dive was a bit further up the way. We loaded our gear on to a jeep to get to the site. This slightly spoilt the illusion of being away from everything. Certainly, you can't drive to these locations from the south but you can from the north. Still, the location of the dive was indicated by a large boulder on the shore and a barnacle covered rock in the sea nearby. This site is known as Triggerfish reef. Funnily enough, it's called that because of the large number of Triggerfish. These are quite unusual looking in that they have tails shaped like a magnet and are a very dark blue, nearly black colour. There was lots else to see here that we hadn't seen before including a ray of some sort hiding under some coral and a nice big octopus. He was just staying in his spot in the coral so we didn't get to see him swim but he was impressive all the same. I can see why people get hooked on this diving lark.

London again

Well, here we are in London again - one last time for the forseeable future. We've had a long trip to get here. We left Dahab at 8:30am on a nine hour bus ride to Cairo. The buses are pretty basic. At least there was air conditioning. Mel hadn't been feeling well overnight so we were a bit concerned how she'd managed as there are no toilets on the buses and they don't stop very frequently. However, she managed fine.

The supposed nine-hour bus ride from Cairo to Dahab had actually taken 11 1/2 hours so we were concerned about how long it would take. Thus, we choose the early morning bus. In the end, the bus made good time.

Security on the Sinai peninsular is very obvious. There are road blocks quite frequently. There was even one just north of the hotel. They didn't look at passports when we went off diving but were, we were told, noting number plates and number of occupants. They check the numbers on your return. However, many of the locals would hitch a lift with us in the back of the jeep we were in so I'm not sure how strict they are about it all.

In places, I think they are much more careful. When returning from the Sinai to the mainland we had to get our luggage off the bus and line it all up with everyone standing in front of their luggage. A dog then walked past all the luggage - supposedly looking for drugs I guess.

We got kind of used to seeing people with machine guns on them. In many tourist sites there are guys posted behind portable shields just keeping an eye on things. And, obviously, we were aware that a group of tourists had been shot in Egypt in the 1990s so it was good to see the security. It's one of those things though where the real risk is actually quite low. Two million tourists visit Luxor every year. You'd have to be really unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Anyway, back to the trip. We got back to Cairo in good time and managed to get a room for about seven hours. This gave us some sleep at least. Our transfer to the airport picke us up at 1am for our 3:45am flight. The flight to Istanbul was less than 2 hours. We, then, had to wait around Istanbul airport for a couple of hours before flying on to London. But we're here now. Mel's got a very busy few days catching up with friends. I'm not so busy...less friends???

Diving in Dahab

This blog site is a bit unreliable at times. I've tried to update this a couple of times recently but without any luck.

Dahab has been great. The weather has been perfect - still up around 30. We've completed our PADI Open Water diving certificates. Six dives at a couple of different sites. The last was the best. We were surrounded by a school of fusilier fish. They split into two groups to go around us and then reformed on the other side. Amazing! We followed them for a little while too.

The coral reefs are very pretty too with lots of various sea life. Before we started our dive course we went for a snorkel at "The Lighthouse" which is at the north end of Dahab bay. There is a broadwalk along the shore with lots of restaurants and shops. All very trendy. A lot of the dive schools are based here. We were amazed that the reef was so close to all of this. And it seemed to teem with life - although we're told it's nothing like it used to be...too many tourists unfortunately :(

Not nice to think that we might be part of the problem but we've been very careful to avoid touching any of the coral...not like some divers and snorkellers apparently.

We've also climbed Mt. Sinai. That was quite hard work. We were picked up from the hotel just before 11pm and drove for 2+ hours to the start of the climb. We arrived at the summit at about 5am to watch the sunrise. Very pretty but it was freezing cold up there. Then we climbed down again (which took about an hour and a half). We went inside St. Catherines Monastery and saw the Burning Bush or, at least, it's descendant.

Today we're going to go snorkelling at the Blue Hole. You can dive there but we thought we'd take it a bit easier today.

Tomorrow we have a bit of an adventure. We go "camel diving". We'll get a ride to the Blue Hole where we hop on the camels for an hour and a half trek to a remoter diving spot called Ras Abu Gallum. This isn't accessible by road. From there we will do a couple of dives and have a Bedouin style lunch. Then back on the camels to return to the Blue Hole and then the hotel. Should be good.

The following day it's the long bus ride back to Cairo to catch the 3;45 am flight to Istanbul and then London. That will be a long, long day. Never mind...it's definitely worth it.

Bye for now...

Lots in Luxor

Last night we went to the Luxor temple which is gorgeously lit up at night. It's quite large and very pretty. There's an obelix that's the twin to the one on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. There's also a very pretty row of Sphinxes. All quite impressive.

Today we had a 5am wake-up call in order to see the sights before it got too hot. It still got hot. I'd hate to be visiting during the height of Summer. The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens were both impressive. We also saw some "minor" temples along the way.

Night train to Cairo tonight...oh yeah he says sarcastically. At least we have some time to chill at the moment. We stayed in Le Meridien last night. Very swanky. We've stayed in a couple of 5 star hotels on this tour. It's amazing that they could include such good hotels in a cheapish tour. But, then, a lot of things are quite cheap here. We've even ordered room service as it was so cheap. Whoops, I've just mentioned food again (sorry, Steve!).

Floating on Feluccas

We arrived in Luxor this afternoon and have a few hours of free time. After leaving Cairo by overnight train we arrived in Aswan. Aswan is so very different from Cairo. The town is quite small and is right beside the Nile. In fact, there is only a narrow strip of fertile land along the side of the Nile this far South. Our hotel was on an island in the middle of the Nile. A very nice hotel too...especially the pool.

We saw some of the sights in the area including the Philae temple. This temple was partially submerged by the production of the lower dam in Aswan. The temple has now been relocated to another higher island very close by.

We've also flown to Abu Simbel to see the amazing statutes and chambers there. These were also relocated. This time because of the production of the high dam which created Lake Nasser.

We've had two days cruising on Felucca sailboats on the Nile.

Still some great sites to see tonight and tomorrow before we get back to Cairo.

Chaotic Cairo

Cairo is quite a mad place. HUGE...18 million people or thereabouts. BUSY...streets full of taxis tooting their horns. BUT FUN...

We arrived late and slept in the next day. We went for a wander but didn't stray far from the hotel. In the evening we went to a "light and sound" show at the Pyramids. It was very good. A spectacular show with some great technical effects.

The next day we did a day trip to Alexandria. That's on the mediterranean. Quite built up and a bit of a summer get-away for Egyptians and some Europeans. An interesting day although 3 hours drive each way.

We're off to a dinner cruise on the Nile tonight. Doesn't that sound amazing! I hope it is!

Turkish Delights

The best way to summarise our Turkish trip is probably to mention those things we enjoyed the most.


Gallipoli.
Gallipoli is now a bit of a pilgrimage for Aussies and Kiwis. Mel had been previously for ANZAC day. The difference was quite amazing as there were very few people about. It was nice to visit the various monuments and to try and visualise what happened there. Lest we forget and all that.


Ephesus was stunning. Lots of ruins for a start then you walk over the brink of a hillock to see a marble path leading down to the two-storey marble facade of the old library. Quite stunning. Part of the thrill is imagining how the place must have looked when it was still in use thousands of years ago.

Pamukkale as I mentioned previously was very impressive too. When we arrived we looked at the Necropolis (city of the dead literally but just the cemetary in actual fact). This was interesting but it wasn't until we drove around the corner that we could appreciate that size of the city (of Hieropolis) that was once there. There were ruins practically as far as the eye could see, including a great old bath house and a huge theatre. I wasn't expecting any of this as the main attraction is the terraces that have been formed by calcium deposits from the water. People used to be able to walk over these terraces and also go for a dip if they wished. This is now banned. A good thing as they are very fragile. As it is they are suffering from a lack of water. They now have to redirect the waterflow over various portions at different times to keep it from falling apart. New Zealand had something similar with the Pink and White Terraces that were destroyed in the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886.

They have outdoor thermal baths here as well. These looked very nice but it looked a bit decadent given the fragile nature of the terraces outside the complex. Still, I don't know if bathing in the water was having a negative effect on this or not. Anyway, we didn't have time to go for a swim so at least we didn't have to worry about contributing to the problem ourselves.

Cappadocia was the other major site that we really liked. The area was previously very volcanic and layers of ash and volcanic rock covered the area. The soft rock and ash has eroded leaving the most unusual rock formations. There are "fairy chimneys" where rocks are balanced on top of other pointed rocks. There are strange shapes formed by rocks, such as camels and birds and really whatever you care to imagine. It's a bit like staring at clouds in the sky. The more you look the more you see. Many of these rocks have been carved out to form houses and even churches. The locals claim that there are as many as 3000 churches in the various rocks. Our guide thinks that the total is much closer to 1000. And these churches are often barely holes in rocks with some frescos on the walls. Still, very impressive.

Back in Istanbul we are enjoying the festival atmosphere of Ramadan. The area behind the two most famous mosques (Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque) and the hippodrome fill with people in the evenings when the locals are finally permitted to eat. During Ramadan, moslems are forbidden from eating during daylight (although many seem to ignore this in Istanbul). There are many stalls operating. A lot of these are food stalls so you can get a cheap and tasty meal there whilst people watching.

We're off to Cairo tonight. It's a late flight (departing at 11:15pm) so we're hoping to avoid delays. Our tour doesn't start for a couple of days so I think we'll have a late start tomorrow. At least, the tour arranges for us to be picked up from the airport so we won't have to try and figure very much out when, no doubt, we will be quite tired.

Although, we are really enjoying the travelling we are really looking forward to getting to Dahab. We get over a week in the one hotel! That will really feel like a holiday!