Lazy Hazy Daze

March 30, 2008 at 4:15 pm (Netherlands)

Amsterdam – March 14

We stayed up late the night before drinking red wine, smoking grass (another national specialty) and generally amusing ourselves. We got up late, made a big breakfast and then sat around for the rest of the morning drinking coffee and talking about our plans upon returning to Canada. Mike and I were hoping to hear back from the Canadian Film Centre in the next couple of days. If all went well, we would be set up for the next half year in school. If all fell apart, well, those were the plans we were trying to make over breakfast, which spilled into a spontaneous lunch and then more coffee.

Later in the day, we went for a walk through Vondel Park, stopping to take pictures of ducks and trees with barren limbs. By the time the sun began to set, we made our way back to the apartment. After another stop at the grocery store, we made dinner, watched a couple of movies and stuffed our faces with junk food.

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Back With Friends

March 30, 2008 at 4:05 pm (England, Netherlands)

London to Amsterdam – March 13

Fab and I headed to the airport in the morning, downed a couple of lattes and then boarded the plane. The flight from London to Amsterdam took a mere 45 minutes. We cleared customs in Holland, grabbed the train to Central Station and went about trying to find the hotel where we were supposed to pick up the keys to the apartment. The directions given by the owner of the apartment were shit, so we got lost for an hour. Once we found the hotel, the owner, Peter, told us how to get to the apartment. In a classic case of internet misinformation, the apartment was nowhere near downtown. On the website, it had said ”a walkable ten minutes from downtown”. That would be ten minutes by tram. Walkable yes, in ten minutes? No. All in all it wasn’t that bad because we would be away from the tourist heart of the city as well as the seedy red light district.

We dropped our stuff off at the apartment and then went to the bus station to meet up with Mike and Jen. Upon arriving, we found out that their bus didn’t arrive there, but at the train station downtown.  When we got to Central Station, they weren’t there either. We walked around looking for them, but couldn’t find them. After an hour or so, we decided to go back to the apartment.

When we got to the apartment, Mike was waiting on the doorstep. They had arrived early. Jen was at the grocery store. I helped Mike lug their heavy backpacks up the stairs. Mike had let his hair grow out since we had last seen them and a loaf of brown hair now replaced his normally sheared head. He looked like he had crawled out of a bomb shelter, hair sprouted out of every pour and his tan had vanished. Good to see him though, it always is.

Fab left Mike and I and went to meet up with Jen. After dropping off the bags, Mike and I went over to the grocery store to meet up with girls. We found Jen fondling a pair of rubber boots: pink with a paisley design. She had her eye on them. All four of us wandered around the store, catching up on the past few months, stocking up on supplies and fortifying ourselves with enough booze to last the next four days. Jen bought some Dutch black licorice, a national specialty, that smelled of sour feet which the two of us enjoyed by ourselves since Fab and Mike are freaks. I mean, who doesn´t like black licorice?  

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Are You Happy Now Sharon Riel?

March 22, 2008 at 3:05 am (Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel, Jordan, Photos, Tanzania)

Here’s some new photos from Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Israel and Jordan:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabiolacaraza/sets/72157604192059930/

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Russia Robs Us Blind

March 21, 2008 at 4:11 pm (England)

London – March 12

Having booked our flights to Amsterdam the night before, Fab and I made it our mission to obtain our Russian visas before departing. We went down to the embassy, dropped off the extensive paper work and paid $200 each. Viola! Our visas were ready by the end of the day. The process was painless, except for the fees, because my friend Pavel in Moscow had done all the leg work for me. He had everything approved in Moscow, got the required forms filled out and then sent me the documents via courier. After picking up our visas, we went back to the apartment to stretch out and relax.

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Brazil and the Baby

March 21, 2008 at 3:35 pm (England)

London – March 11

We had wanted to sleep in, but instead we got up before seven to go down to the Brazilian embassy. When we arrived, we found out that our visas would take three days to process, which didn’t work for us since we were planning to fly to Amsterdam in two days. Defeated, we went to a grocery store and stocked up on food for the next couple of days. After traveling in India, the Middle East and Africa for the previous five months, the variety of food made our heads spin. We held off on our mutual urge to buy too much food and decided that we would wait until Amsterdam to indulge.

At night, we sat around and talked with Fab’s brother Emanuel and his wife Tanya about their unborn baby, now three months old, and the problems they were having with socialized health care. Back in Mexico, they had become accustomed to private health care. Now that Tanya was pregnant, they found themselves unable to navigate the health care system in Britain. Although their concerns were real and justified, I couldn’t help but defend universal health care.

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Long Day London

March 21, 2008 at 2:02 pm (Egypt, England)

Cairo to London – March 10

The plane to London was delayed for five hours. We sat on the tarmac at the airport in Cairo and waited for the windy weather in London to clear up. It could have been worse had the entertainment system not been working. Before we even pulled away from the gate I had watched “Juno” and “Michael Clayton”. The Clooney starrer reminded me of “Network” and “Juno” annoyed me with all its hipster references (we get it Diablo Cody, you’re cool!) before winning me over in the final act.

Upon arriving in London, we had our journey further delayed by a backed up Tube system. By the time we got to Fab’s brother’s place, it was dark and we were tired. What else is new?

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Farewell, Goodbye and Good Riddance

March 21, 2008 at 1:56 pm (Egypt)

Cairo – March 9

Fab and I shot another couple rolls of super8mm film in and around the hotel in the morning and then spent the rest of day getting ready to fly to London the following morning. We were a little sad about leaving Cairo. We had made friends with all of the guys at the hotel and the city itself had treated us well. We were going to miss Ash, Amr, Mustafa, Karim and Mohammed, all of whom were decent, honest guys.

On the other hand, Egypt, as a country, had financially raped us. Out of all the countries we had visited so far, Egypt was by far the most corrupt. By my count, the government had taken more than $500 from me in less than a month in visa fees and duties. That’s not to mention the 10% service charge, 15% VAT (Very Arbitrary Tax) and 15% tip required in restaurants. In what country on earth is it acceptable to charge 40% extra on the total bill? Answer: Egypt.  

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Second Last in Cairo

March 21, 2008 at 1:44 pm (Egypt)

Cairo – March 8

Even though I was dog tired, I was up by 7am. Old habits die hard. By ten o’clock, I was nodding off. The rest of the day was spent smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee with the guys at the hotel. In the evening, Fab and I talked with Mike and Jen about meeting up in Amsterdam. They had found an apartment to rent near downtown for a decent price. We were originally supposed to meet up with them in Prague, but their visas had expired and they were on their way back to Canada. We made plans to get together on the 13th through to the 17th, when Mike and Jen were due to fly back to Vancouver.

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Three Countries, Three Arguments

March 21, 2008 at 1:41 pm (Egypt, Israel, Jordan)

Wadi Musa to Cairo via Eilat and Taba – March 7

Up early again and out the door by 7am. We took a mini-bus to Aqaba and then a cab to the Israeli border. Fab argued with the driver who said the crossing was 20km away. Fab said it was 8km. It ended up being 12km. On the way to the border, the cab driver told us that there had been trouble in Jerusalem. According to him, a Palestinian man had opened fire in a Jewish seminary, killing eight and wounding another thirty eight. We had missed the event by one day.

We crossed the Jordanian border, a process that involved Fab getting sexually harassed by a customs agent who made her take off her shawl and lift up her shirt to show her stomach. When I tried to intervene, I was told to take my bag back to the car and get inside. Asshole.

We got into Israel without any problems. After clearing customs, we grabbed a ride into Eilat in a taxi and got dropped off at the bus station. The meter read 19 sheckels, but the driver demanded we pay him twenty nine – three for the pickup and seven for our bags. I called him dishonest and accused him of cheating us. He denied it and called us greedy. Sometimes traveling just isn’t worth the hassle.

From there, we grabbed a local bus to the Egyptian border, paid the exhorbent Israeli exit fee and entered Egypt. We walked from the border crossing to the Taba bus station in order to catch the 12:30 bus back to Cairo. We were told that the 12:30 bus was “broken” and that the next bus was at 4:30. There were mini-buses leaving earlier, but they cost more and are usually much more hassle. We decided to wait.

After an hour of sitting on the curb in the desert heat, a local man approached us and asked if we wanted to share a mini-bus with him for the same price as the bus. I initially said no, knowing that the mini-bus would end up being a headache, but he sweetened the deal saying that we would leave immediately and that there would be no stops. Since Fab and I didn’t feel like waiting for another three hours, we agreed.

The mini-bus stopped everywhere picking up people and packages. Eventually, the bus stopped and we were told that we had to switch to another mini-bus. Fab lost her patience and screamed at the driver, her Spanish accent getting stronger with every passing word. Arab men do not like being yelled at by women, a fact confirmed by the veins popping out of the driver’s neck. He refused to respond to Fabiola and instead deferred to me. I just shrugged my shoulders and pointed to Fabiola. Sorry, man. You deal with it. To make things worse, the driver told us that we were not going to be dropped off in central Cairo, like we were told, but instead at a subway stop on the outskirts of the city. Fabiola’s yelling was now accompanied by wild arm gestures. When the mini-bus finally got back on the road, I gave her a high five. She had made me proud.

We got into Cairo late after spending close to an hour on the subway. If we had waited for the bus, we probably would have arrived at the same time. Oh well, at least we were back in a familiar environment.

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Petra

March 21, 2008 at 1:40 pm (Jordan)

Wadi Musa / Petra – March 6

We got up before dawn and headed down to the main entrance of Petra, the infamous Nabataean hidden rose-stone city. Fab and I bought our tickets and walked down the 1.2km defile known as the Siq. Guards in hokey period costumes stood near the entrance, smiling and posing for pictures with moronic Western tourists. Giddy German senior citizens rode by on horses and camels and a gay American couple bickered over how to take a proper picture.

We followed the snaking crevice until we came to Al-Khazneh, also known as the Treasury and popularized by “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade”, which is, not surprisingly, the most popular film in Wadi Musa. The facade was as impressive as it looks in photographs and alot bigger. We spent some time taking in the splendid natural environment before walking off down the colonnaded streets in search of the rest of the city’s highlights. In particular, I liked the Street of Facades and Royal Tombs. What I didn’t like was that touts with donkeys were allowed to roam around the site, pestering everyone they passed. I also didn’t like that the site was filled with merchants selling the same shitty tourist tat, including a group of Bedouin women that sat around smoking hashish and drinking tea.  

After spending half a day around the main area, Fab and I climbed up a winding rock cut stair case to see the out-of-the-way Al-Deir, also known as the Monastery. Equally impressive to the Treasury, Al-Deir is bigger in size and perched upon a hill top that provides stunning views of the surrounding desert. Fab and I lunched in the shade on hummus, sardines and crackers while trying to fend of a hungry flock of goats who had eyes for our food.  

We walked back down the hill later in the afternoon and took our time making our way back to the Siq. The sun had been strong during the day and we felt a little wiped out. All those early mornings and long days were beginning to catch up with us. While we sat in the shade in front of the Treasury, right before exiting the site, we made the decision that we would skip Wadi Rum and head back to Cairo. Jordan too was expensive and we were fast running out of money. It didn’t help that I had my pocket picked at some point during the day.   

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