London Take II

With only a few days remaining of our Excellent Adventure, we returned to London.


I immediately went on a 3 day shopping binge and blindly ignored the fact that A. I have almost no money left, and B. my luggage is already badly overweight. But I really needed those new dresses. And that jewellery. And those jeans.

Both pairs.

I caught up with my lovely friend Jo who I had missed the first time round (bloody volcano). She patiently trekked up and down Oxford St with me as I tried on at least one thing in every shop. Thanks Jo.

Sarah spent one night in Brighton visiting an old friend, and when we met up again, it was a shock to realise, we only had 2 days left.

We caught up with old friends Nat & Gerry (hi Nat & Gerry) for brunch, and had lunch with an even older friend Steve, who we went to school with. We even sneaked in a session of Eclipse (we were badly craving movies in English at this point). For those of you familiar with Eclipse, you don't need to know. Lets just say, Sarah is team wolf, and I, as always, am firmly on team vampire.

Our last day in England, since we hadn't quite had our fill of tourist spots, was spent doing a day trip to Stonehenge.

Sure, they're a bunch of half buried rocks in the middle of nowhere, and no one has any idea why they were erected in the first place, but I gotta say, those mysterious old rocks are cool. I loved that this was how we said goodbye to England.

This time anyway.

Turkey (gobble gobble)

After escaping the dust, heat, dirt, food poisoning and sweaty cheese of the Middle East, we entered Turkey. And it was like escaping prison and entering a garden. Because Turkey is most dissimilar to the Middle East, in that it is lush and green. Even the shops and architecture have more colour and vitality. In short, Turkey was a welcome reward to finish our trip. We skipped through the forgettable towns of Antakya and Nigde, on our way to one of the prettiest natural landscapes we've seen yet (and we've seen a lot!). Goreme, in Cappodocia is home to a surreal lunar landscape of unique so-called 'fairy chimneys' created millions of years ago from erupting volcanoes. Local people ended up carving cave homes directly into the fairy chimney rocks, and thus started the very small but very cool town of Goreme. I had no idea there were so many amazing people in the world, living inside rocks. A morning of quad biking took us through all the valleys of fairy chimney and rock formations. My personal favourite was the 'Valley of Love', so called due to its phallic spires. Cue hilarious photographic session that no one can ever see. And after 2 & 1/2 hours we headed back to town for some much sought after non Middle Eastern food and beer. Yes, beer! No stupid anti-alcohol rules here in Turkey, bless them. And of all the beers I've tried on this trip (and I've tried a lot) local Turkish beer Efes has to be one of the best. Oh Turkey I love you! From Goreme we left for Istanbul (no, not Constantinople) arriving on a grey and rainy morning. After all the 40+ degree heat that we had experienced for the last month, it was a shock to the system - the strange senstation of feeling COLD again. Well not 'cold' exactly, it was still 27 degree's, but hey, after a month 40+, 27 is practially freezing. It was here we said goodbye to the other members of our Intrepid trip, and our friend Rosie came to join us for a week of fun and debauchery. Istanbul is, quite simply, amazing. Sure the men are quite forward, but you can't complain about that. Being compared to beautiful movie stars by nearly everyone as we walked down the street never failed to make us giggle like schoolgirls. Mostly because they thought all 3 of us looked like Angelina Jolie (and I can tell you quite truthfully, none of us do, clearly). But the men of Istanbul sure know how to woo. We even met some local boys who were guides, and offered to show us around for free, just because they liked us. I know what you're thinking, sure just because they liked us, but they still asked for money at the end, right? Or ripped us off in some other way? Actually, no. Just some genuinely nice guys who gave us a tour of the Blue Mosque, the Underground Cistern and some local hang outs, all out of the goodness of their hearts. The Grand Bazaar is a jostling, vibrant, colourful experience that has to be seen to be believed. It might even beat the markets of Damascus. And the Spice Market is full of delicious smells and flavours that remind you that you are in one of the most tasty places in the world. The only annoying thing about the markets, are all the sellers who use the same 'pick up lines' to get you into their shops. I heard "wait, you've dropped something" more times than I can count. And when you turn around, they say it's their heart on the ground, broken because you haven't come in, and plead with you to turn back. It got so annoying when Rosie and I were in the Spice Market one afternoon, that when one guy called it out, I turned around and yellled "What? Is it your heart?" and I pointed to a spot on the ground, and then stomped on it. There was a moment of silence, and I thought, this is it, I'm going to be beaten up, and then a group of about 10 guys all started cheering and clapping their hands. Phew. On our last night, our beautiful friend Nicky managed to get our names on the door for Massive Attack, who were playing in Istanbul. It was AMAZING, and the perfect way to end our time in Turkey, under the Istanbul stars, at an arena by the waterfront, listening to beautiful music. Thanks Turkey, we had a great time.

And we'll be back.

Syria-ously...

We arrived in Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Unlike Cairo, which is dirty, bland, dusty and disorganized, Damascus is alive with colour and vibrancy. It’s pretty clean too. You can’t do much about the dust in the Middle East, but there’s a lot less rubbish here. It also has one of the best marketplaces we’ve seen yet, the Souk al-Hamaidiyya, which takes up most of the old city. It’s busy with people, colour, perfumes and spices, and is a total sensory overload when you first walk around.

It’s awesome.

We also visited the Umayyad Mosque, located in the heart of the marketplace. This was the first mosque we’d been into, and they made us put on these hilarious, mushroom-brown full length cotton robes with hoods. We looked like Jawa's. Apparently our Western wear was too risque for a mosque. Inside it’s like a giant chill out room, men on one side, woman on the other, all lying around chatting, or sleeping. Some people were praying, but it seems in a mosque, you can just do what you want. Just don’t wear your shoes inside.

Women in full length, face concealing burka’s are commonplace here. In fact, we’re the ones that stick out like a sore thumb. As I wandered around Damascus, I noticed a lot of the men staring blatantly at my… knee’s.

Apparently my knee's are quite sexy. Who knew?

We heard one theory that burka’s were invented, not for religious reasons, but because the chief of one camp got so sick of the baddies from a rival camp sneaking in and stealing the most beautiful maidens from time to time, that he had all the women cover up, so the baddies couldn’t tell what the ladies looked like anymore. Imagine if bad guy got his new woman home and unveiled her, and she turned out to be a leathery 85 year old with beautiful eyes!

At first I thought quite a few of the women here had massive goiters, because under the black burka’s, they had huge bulges sticking out of their hips. It took me awhile to figure out that the goiters were actually handbags. It seems the burka is also useful for foiling pickpockets. Now I want one.

Our next stop was Palmyra. Palmyra is a tiny town in the middle of a big desert. There are a handful of shops, and run down hotels. There’s not much in Palmyra. Except maybe some of the coolest Roman ruins in the Middle East.

In its time, Palmyra was a huge city, bustling and full of people from every walk of life. They lived happily in hundreds of buildings that were first erected in the time when Alexander the Great conquered these lands. Back then, the Romans really were a force to be reckoned with. Standing in the ruins, I could almost imagine the centurions guarding the city, the gladiator battles in the coliseum and the traders bringing their wares from the East before moving on. In its time, Palmyra must have been great.

Our last stop was Aleppo where we stayed 2 nights before exiting Syria. Aleppo is famous for its olive oil soaps, and our tour leader Hala was well educated in finding the best ones. Apparently, the older, browner and more covered in dust your bar of soap is, the better.

And on that note I leave Syria behind, feeling an older, browner and dustier version myself.

Next stop? Turkey.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

As soon as you enter Jordan you see a marked difference from Egypt. It’s wealthy here. There are real streets with sidewalks that aren’t littered with rubbish and other broken household items (like toilet bowls). And on the distant shores, on the far side of the Red Sea, you can see Israel. It’s strange be so close to the country that everyone else hates in this part of the world. We arrived in the city of Aqaba and feasted on local fare. Stuffed vine leaves, baba-ganoush, and the best hummus I’ve ever had in my life.

We travelled four hours the next morning to the desert of Wadi Rum to stay the night in a Bedouin camp. Not the dessert. We weren’t on our way to pudding camp. Sadly. There are signs of life here from 4000 years ago. Ancient caravans of pre Arabic people came through here and left drawings of camels and Aramaic writing on the very walls of the mountains.

It is quite simply, one of the most awe inspiring places on earth.

Out of the red sands rise mountain ranges, that millions of years ago used to be under the sea. The cliffs are shaped and eroded by water and wind that makes them totally unique. Almost like giant mountains of coral reefs.

This land is where Lawrence of Arabia famously settled for awhile. We saw his house. It was a cave.

We spent the night at a Bedouin camp, sleeping under the stars. Out here, with no smog, no lights of the city, no nothing, the sky is alive with stars. We could even see the Milky Way, a haze in the black night sky. In the distance, foxes bayed at the moon.

It was pretty much, one of the best nights of my life.

The next morning we got up early, and I drank coffee with the camp owner, a local Bedouin man called Zayid. He told me a man without a woman was worth “zero”. He’d already won me with the coffee, but after that I liked him even more. And they really know their coffee around here too. It’s a variation on Turkish, with Cardamom in it. You drink it black, and unsweetened, and it’s delicious. And I’m not a tea drinker, but Zayid also served what he called Bedouin whiskey, which is sweet tea with mint, and it’s got to be tried to be believed. When we first arrived the night before, he kept filling my cup with it, and I accused him of trying to get me drunk on his “whiskey”. He laughed out loud, and said “of course!”

After sadly leaving Zayid and Wadi Rum behind, we headed to Petra. Petra is an ancient city, carved literally into the hills by the ancient Nabatean people. It was ‘lost’ from the world for 900 years (though apparently still populated according to our guide) and then ‘rediscovered’ by a Swedish explorer in 1812. By then it was inhabited by the local Bedouin, who had moved into the old Nabatean caves and made Petra their home. Before it was ‘lost’ the Romans occupied it and built streets and temples and houses of their own, co-habiting with the Nabateans. But ultimately an earthquake felled all their Roman buildings whilst leaving all the Nabatean cave homes intact.

The Romans bailed after that. They were probably embarrassed an ancient culture had better methods of earthquake-proofing than they did.

Another attraction of Petra are all the camel and horse riders. They don’t look anything like most Arab men (especially the white dress, tea towel head guys like Zayid). They have long hair, and wear eyeliner and mascara. They look like Arabic Captain Jack Sparrows.

Kind of sexy actually.

But my favourite guy in Petra was not in the slightest bit sexy, although he was super cool. When the Jordanian government realised they could make some money out of Petra, they built a town nearby, and moved all the Bedouin who were living in Petra there. All except one. He refused to leave. And now if you visit Petra (and you have a guide who knows the way) you can go to his house and drink Bedouin tea with him. He also has the best date cookies I’ve ever eaten. Sure, maybe they’re the only date cookies I’ve ever eaten, but they were great nonetheless.

Really, a very cool dude.

Our last stop in Jordan was at Madaba, beside the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea was a place I had always dreamed of seeing, and it is like no place else on earth (like half the places on this trip we’re discovering). While the water may not be salty enough to actually walk on (thus throwing my ideas of Jesus impersonations out the window) it definitely makes you more buoyant. It’s also so good for your skin. If you can stand to stay in the water for very long. Because the salt stings, like when you pour lemon juice into a wound. Most people can’t manage more than 10 minutes. Others, less than 5. Me, I could have stayed in there all day. The salt didn’t sting me at all, not even a little bit. Sarah thinks it’s because I pour salt onto everything I eat, and now my body welcomes it like an old friend.

She may be right.

You can also paint yourself in the black Dead Sea mud, let it dry for 20 minutes and then wash it off in the water. Of course, I covered myself from head to toe, even smearing it through my hair. And all I can say is, it was hot. Burning hot.

Luckily there’s always the refreshing, salty, stinging Dead Sea to cool you back down.

All in all, as we head further North, this trip is showing us more & more ancient and amazing things every day. The Middle East is cool.

And still bloody hot.