Eva's Explorations

Lake Atitlán

2009-01-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

The last part of our trip is Lake Atitlán. Lake Atitlán is the deepest lake in Central America and one of the most beautiful in the world. In ancient times, it was thought to be a spiritual center, much like the Pyramids in Egypt. Today, the traditional indigenous people that live around the lake have found a way to co-exist peacefully with the dreadlock-wearing, pot-smoking, wonky gringos that also seem to be drawn here. There is a strong ex-pat population in a few of the cities!

Our base is the town of Panajachel, the biggest on the lake. From here, you can take a public boat and visit other towns around the lake including San Pedro and San Marcos la Laguna. We paid the 25Q fee (much higher than what the locals pay) and hopped on the boat for a 50 minute trip along part of the lake. We decided to get off the boat at San Pedro to explore the city across the lake. While in San Pedro we tasted some Guatemalan coffee and walked around the small town, all the while trying not to get run over by the Thai-inspired tuk-tuks that populate the streets:

We even saw some of the local ladies doing laundry in the lake:

We also saw some coffee plants, as well as a small processing plant where the fruit is removed and the beans are dried:

On the boat ride back to Panajachel our captain was a crazy gringa!

We were pleased to find that the food in Panajachel is much cheaper and more delicious than the rest of Guatemala. Dinner has been running us about $4/night here.

On Thursday we took a shuttle with Daniela (a fellow Pacaya climber) to Chichicastenango for their big Thursday market-the biggest market in Central America. We saw a variety of goods including: handmade blankets, hammocks, scarves, placemats, traditional clothing, various wooden masks, and plenty of food. In front of one of the churches was the flower market:

We said goodbye to Daniela, who is headed back to Croatia, and now we are enjoying the last bit of our time here together with some chocolate fondue:

Volcanoe Pacaya

2009-01-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

I think climbing the active volcano Pacaya, located a few hours outside of Antigua, will be one of my favorite memories from Guatemala. The trip required an hour trek uphill until we hit the tree line and then another hour scrambling through volcanic rock of various sizes until we hit molten lava. Especially near the end, it was very slow going, in the words of our guide, “se necesita caminar como niños,” or “you need to walk like little children [using hands and knees]”. It was quite cool until we got within forty feet of the lava. We could feel the heat radiating beneath our feet well before we could actually see the lava. We were so high up, mists of clouds swirled around us.

Our group consisted of eleven young people from all over the world – Canada, Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, and the USA. We bonded over the experience and even took turns roasting marshmallows over the lava.

The trip back down was also tricky, especially because the sun had set for the majority of it. Luckily some of the other travelers came prepared with headlamps so we didn’t have to feel our way down in total darkness. We celebrated our successful climb with Guatemalan beers on the bus ride back.

Monterrico

2009-01-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

Our last three days have been spent relaxing in the little beach town of Monterrico. Both of our guidebooks agreed, Monterrico is the place in Guatemala if you are in need of relaxation and some time on the beach.

After the shuttle from Antigua dropped us off, we trudged down a sandy beach path in search of our hotel, El Mangle. Our heavy suitcases, combined with the hot sun ensured this was not an easy task. Luckily, for a few Quetzales (the Guatemalan currency) we were able to procure the assistance of one of the locals.

When we arrived at El Mangle, we were told it would be a three hour wait for our room. We decided to spend the delay lying by the pool and grabbing some lunch at what would soon become our favorite restaurant, Las Brisas. When we returned to El Mangle, we were quoted a room rate that was much higher than we agreed to previously on the phone. Dissatisfied by the smelly room and the high price we decided to return to the hotel attached to Las Brisas for a sunnier, cleaner room at a better price.

CECON, a local turtle preservation group was hosting a baby turtle race in order to raise awareness and money. We decided against sponsoring a turtle in the race since our guidebooks mentioned that these races might actually be detrimental to the turtles’ survival. We were surprised at how dark the little turtles were – they were completely black!

After the race, we grudgingly returned to El Mangle to get some pizza cooked over a wood fire. We had seen a man preparing the pizza dough from scratch while working out the room problem and we couldn’t resist sampling it! Luckily, this is one aspect of El Mangle that didn’t disappoint.

The next morning at 5am we met Sender, a local guide, for a tour of the real Monterrico Mangle (Mangrove in English) by boat. The early start time maximized our chances of seeing a variety of fish and birds and also allowed us to catch the sunrise over the swamp.

Mangrove shoots are harvested by hand and used to make roofs for people who want a fancy alternative to the palm-thatched hut. Mangrove roofs are expected to last up to 25 years.

We also saw a bunch of “mud-skipper” fish, that the locals call “cuatros ojos” (four eyes), jumping along the water’s surface. They looked a lot like snakes, however they were much too speedy to be caught on film.

Our boat ride lasted two hours, allowing for ample siesta and beach time for the rest of the day. The beach at Monterrico has beautiful smooth black sand. The only drawback is the vicious riptide that makes swimming too dangerous for many.

We also checked out the turtle hatchery museum but were discouraged by the dirty, small appearance and the 40 Quetzal ($5) price tag, especially compared to the $1.25 price for locals. Our guidebook did tell us that the hatchery has an unwritten deal with local poachers - they don’t turn in the poachers as long as the poachers donate 12 turtle egg nests for every one they sell.

One night we caught the sunset over the beach and were quite amused by the creatures that come out at night at Johnny’s, a local bar:

This character is actually from Chicago, and he claimed to be a writer who has a play that is in production in London starring Joan Rivers. Seriously!?

Kelly also tried one of the local dishes, ceviche. Ceviche is marinated in a citrus-based mixture, usually with lemons and limes. In addition to adding flavor, the citric acid causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured which pickles or "cooks" the fish without heat. It was interesting and delicious, a little like pico de gallo.

All-in-all, Monterrico was just as beautiful as we had hoped and we really enjoyed our time there. Now we are back in Antigua for two days, a change in plans due to missing out on our first opportunity to climb the volcano Pacaya (more on that later). After that it’s off to Lake Atitlán for the last leg of our journey.

Antigua, Part I

2009-01-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

Our first day in Antigua was spent exploring the city. We stumbled upon a tiny kitchen with local women making tortillas by hand. They were happy to sell us four for 1 Quetzal (about $0.13).

We also checked out the city square and some old cathedrals.

We took a tour of the most famous jade factory in Guatemala. It was even visited by Bill Clinton during his presidency! I custom designed a beautiful jade necklace and picked out a matching ring and earrings, all for about $100 US.

On the way back from the jade factory, we stumbled upon a crowd in front of the church. Soon there were very loud fireworks and confetti as the Cardinal of Antigua (we think) and procession of people with candles exited the church.

Last night for we rang in the New Year in style in our new friend Ricardo’s Tabacos y Vinos (Cigar and Wine) shop. He was kind enough to provide us with some delicious wine and a Cuban cigar.

Some of these pictures may even show up online on Ricardo’s website: http://tabacosyvinos.com

For our New Year’s dinner, we went to Ricardo’s friend Hector’s restaurant. Hector went to culinary school in the United States and returned to Guatemala to turn his home into a restaurant. The tiny place consisted of a few tables with the kitchen in plain view. Even though Hector doesn’t have a sign, or even a name for his restaurant, word of mouth ensured that the place was overflowing.

We feasted on homemade pasta and duck with crème freche and choclat fondant for dessert. It was heavenly and very reasonably priced.

The streets were filled with people, especially in front of Ricardo’s shop right under el Arco de Santa Catalina, the famous arch of Antigua. There were musicians and people dressed up as old women dancing in the streets. There was also a little boy wearing a bull costume covered in fireworks that went off as he pranced around the street.

After Ricardo’s shop closed we hung out in the doorway safe from the jostling of the crowd and the spontaneous fireworks that kept going off in the streets. We friends with the other people sharing our nook. We were lucky because they were willing to share the bottle of champagne and flask of whiskey that they had brought with them.

These ladies really knew how to ring in the New Year!

The next morning, we enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in for the first time during our trip. Needless to say, not everyone was so lucky.

Flores and a Jungle Trek

2008-12-31T13:51:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately when we woke up on Tuesday morning for our jungle trek, it was pouring rain outside. We were able to delay our reservation until the afternoon, allowing us to relax and grab some lunch while we waited for the rain to clear.

We met up with Adam and Dave (the SF boys) and after a short shuttle, we arrived at Ixpanpajul. The boys wanted to do zip lines, while Kelly and I were more interested in the Skywalk above the canopy, so we parted ways – but not before taking a picture!

Here are Kelly and I, feet still planted firmly on the ground:

That didn’t last for long though, we hiked our way up a long narrow path that lead to a series of swinging bridges that allowed us to walk over the treetops and catch the view of the jungle below:

Unfortunately, due to the rain we didn’t see much for wildlife – only a few birds – which was a bummer.

At the midpoint of the trek there was a shelter that had a great view of the jungle.

We reached it just as it started to pour again, allowing us to weather out the storm relaxing in hammocks.

When we met Adam and Dave at the end, they were covered head to toe in mud but had also enjoyed their experience despite the rain.

We spent out last night in Flores eating dinner with a lake view and enjoying some local brews.

Today we caught a flight back to Guatemala City, followed by a 45 minute taxi ride to the beautiful city of Antigua. We’ll be exploring the city, celebrating New Year’s, and climbing a volcano in the next few days but more on that later!

Tikal and Flores

2008-12-29T17:55:00.000-08:00

Our flight on the “teeny tiny” plane from Guatemala City to Flores turned out to be nicer and almost bigger than any of the flights we took in the

United States

. We arrived in a quick 25 minutes (beats the 10 hour bus trip!) and caught the tourist shuttle to Casa Blanca, our hotel in Flores. Our “white house” actually turned out to be more of a dirty yellow color, but for $4 a night, who’s complaining!?

We left on the bus (more like a 16 passenger van) to Tikal, the famous Mayan pyramids located deep in the jungle. It was a ninety minute ride followed by hours of walking to explore all the different sites.

One of the first creatures we saw on our trek was some strange species of anteater rooting around in the dirt:

We also saw the ants he was hunting for marching along:

We took a little swing on some hanging vines:

As always, we stayed out of trouble!

Tourists are allowed to climb many of the Mayan pyramids. We climbed to the top of Templo IV, known for its amazing view of the jungle canopy. We could even see Belize!

Some of the temples, like Templo V, had very long climb!

However, it was worth it for the view of Templo IV and others through the treetops:

The Guatemalan turkeys look a lot like peacocks:

The finale of the trek was the Gran Plaza, once used for ceremonies and sacrifices. It was surrounded by two huge temples, a palace and an acropolis.

We had great weather the entire day except for a ten minute torrential downpour which we unsuccessfully attempted to escape by hiding under a thick tree.

On the bus ride home, we met two American boys on holiday from San Francisco. We talked to them about their adventures in Belize and the four of us have booked a jungle trek for tomorrow!

Tonight we’re relaxing and headed out for some “research” on locally available beers.

We've Arrived!

2008-12-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

After hours and hours of travel, and three flights, all of which were significantly delayed due to weather, Kelly and I are officially in Guatemala! The trip itself was fairly uneventful, highlights included talking to a man who has been stranded at O'Hare for three days due to a canceled flight, the standby list being 60 passengers long for our first flight to Atlanta (thank goodness we had a reservation!), and seeing this little monkey get pulled around in style by his parents-

I wish I had a better picture that captured the glee on his face, he was on our first two flights so we kept running into him sprawled out on his dad's carry-on.

Boarding our first flight:

We did manage to get an upgrade for our last flight to Guatemala City. Helloooo first class living! It was a fun experience but honestly wasn't the luxury we were hoping for. What do you mean we shouldn't have expected massages and caviar on our two hour flight? Instead we settled for some roasted potatoes, nuts, warm bread, and a delicious Greek Salad. The highlight was mini bottles of liquor for an after dinner treat....oh, and some champagne to welcome us aboard. We stashed some mini bottles of Bailey's in our purses which ended up coming in handy later for tipping a guy at the airport for helping us find a cheap taxi to our hotel. Ah, commerce at its finest.

Now, we're spending the night at El Aeropuerto Guest House, aptly named for its close proximity to the Airport. Honestly we probably should have held onto the Bailey's and walked, it's that close.

Tomorrow we'll head back to the airport to catch a flight on TACA airlines to Flores. The ticket was $210 roundtrip but saved us a 10 hour bus ride each way so we figured it was worth the expense. Flores is the closest city to the Mayan ruins of Tikal.

It's supposed to be 75 degrees here tomorrow! We don't miss the Wisconsin weather at all!

A Guatemalan Adventure!

2008-12-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Kelly and I are off on our next bout of traveling in....six hours or so! Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do the ol' blog update! This time we'll both be spending our first time in Central America...in Guatemala!!!

We don't really have a set itinerary, however we do know we'll be:

Landing in Guatemala City tomorrow night
Catching a flight to Flores in the morning to spend a few days seeing the Mayan ruins of Tikal
Celebrating the New Year in the beautiful city of Antigua
Checking out the beach and a turtle reservation in Monterrico
Exploring the deepest lake in Central America, Lake Atitlán and the cities that surround it
And whatever else we can fit in in the two weeks that we will be there!

I'll be back in Wisconsin on January 11th!

A Day in the Life

2008-10-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

I arrive at the drug information center at 8:30am every day after grabbing a hot espresso from the coffee shop on the first floor of the hospital.

In the morning, Apple and I go to the neonatology unit for morning rounds. Before entering the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) we must take off our shoes and put on special sandals for the NICU. The neonatologists and residents are sometimes willing to do the rounds in English for me; otherwise Apple or one of the brave residents translates to English.

Me, Apple, NICU Nurse:

Dr. Namtip teaching me something about our "golden baby:" Me with Dr. Naa, one of my favorite doctors:
Me giving a presentation to a few nurses about preventing catheter associated blood stream infections:

After eating lunch either in the cafeteria or at a local Chinese restaurant with the other students, I research drug questions in the drug information room with the Thai PharmD students and pharmacists.

Every evening when I leave the hospital, I walk through the middle of an aerobics class held at the hospital... After work, the other PharmD students and I grab dinner (my favorite place is Connections Restaurant) then relax (shopping or watching movies).

Fast Facts: Thailand

2008-10-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

-In Thailand, the year is not 2008; it’s 2551.

-You must drink EVERYTHING with a straw (even beer…and no, you don’t get drunk faster that way).

-A napkin equals a two squares of one-ply toilet paper.

-You must eat EVERYTHING with a spoon (and I mean it, even salad or chocolate cake!). The fork is used to help put food on the spoon and there is no knife.

-“Where are you going?” Actually means “Hello.”

-When I first arrived in Thailand, I wondered why everyone was sticking chapstick up their nose. But actually, many Thai people like to sniff a menthol/peppermint/eucalyptus concoction when they "feel dizzy."

-There are many “Lady-Boys” or “Tiffany girls” in Thailand.

-Products to whiten your skin are popular here, quite the opposite of the bronzing products you see in the US.

-Many Thai cars are blessed by a Monk and have painting on the inside roof similar to this:

-May is only person in Thailand (at least that I've found) who can pronounce my name. To all others, I am known as "Ewa."

-Most people in Thailand seem to think I look like Natalie. She is from Canada and won Ms. Universe 2005. Natalie is famous in Thailand because she married a Thai pro-tennis player and now lives in Thailand. Who wouldn't love a country where everyone thinks you look like Ms. Universe?!

-Thailand truly is the “Land of Smiles!”

Thai 101

2008-10-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

I would like to share my "knowledge" of the Thai language. These are all of the important words and phrases I have picked up over the last eight weeks. I don't have a word here for "goodbye" because in Thailand if you say "goodbye" it means that you may never see that person again. Please note that I have written the female versions of certain phrases...if you are male, just replace "ka" with "krup."

Being Polite:

Sawadee Ka = Hello

Kop Khun Ka = Thank you

Chai = Yes

Mai Chai = No

Mai Pen Rai = "It's ok" "It's alright"

Mai Pen Rai, Kop Khun Ka = The "La Shokran" of Thailand... How you say "No thank you."

Food:

Kin Jaay Ka = I am vegetarian

Alloy = Delicious

Alloy Maak Maak = Very delicious

Mai Alloy = Not delicious

Nam Plow = Drinking water

Cow = Rice

Numbers:

Nung = One

Song = Two

Saam = Three

See = Four

Haa = Five

Ho = Six

Jet = Seven

Baad = Eight

Cow = Nine

Sip = 10

Sip Et = 11

Sip Song = 12

Sip Saam = 13

Sip See = 14

Sip Haa = 15

Sip Ho = 16

Sip Jet = 17

Sip Baad = 18

Sip Cow = 19

Yi Sip = 20

Yi Sip Et = 21

Yi Sip See = 24 (my age!)

Saam Sip = 30, 30Baht is equivalent to about $1

See Sip = 40

Haa Sip = 50

Jet Sip = 70

Roi = 100

Song Roi = 200

Saam Roi = 300

See Roi = 400

Haa Roi = =500

Jet Roi = 700

you get the idea...

Random:

Farang = Caucasion Foreigner

Soi = Road

Pang = Expensive

Taaw Lie? = How much?

Mahout = Elephant trainer

Tuk Tuk = A three wheeled taxi

Good-die = OK, you must say the "good" part really fast

Ma-die = Not OK

Mung = O'Clock, Haa Mung is 5 o'clock

Amazingly enough with these few words I have had many Thai people ask me: "You speak Thai?"

Phuket, Part II

2008-10-22T21:09:00.002-07:00

Since I was on holiday in Phuket, I just wanted to relax! On Sunday I decided to rent a motorbike and give myself a tour of some the different beaches that Phuket has to offer. The motorbike rental for the day only cost $7! And yes they drive on the left side of the road in Thailand and yes I did a great job driving on the left!

First up I took the short drive over to Karon Beach, which is just north of Kata Beach. I did not like Karon beach as much as Kata Beach. It was quite large, but there was no one there picking up the garbage, so it seemed a little littered to me.

Next I drove to the market to eat some real Thai food, not the westernized stuff I was finding at the restaurants near the hotel. After lunch I thought it'd be a good idea to relax when the sun was strongest by getting a massage. I naively thought I'd be getting a western massage, but in fact the massage was half western and half Thai. But it still was very good and relaxing.

Next up I drove down to Kata Noi Beach (Little Kata Beach). Kata Noi was just as amazing as Kata Beach, but just smaller. I would recommend staying on this beach if you don't want to be near really any restaurants or shops at all.

Here is Karon Beach on top, Kata Beach in the middle, and Kata Noi Beach on the bottom:

Next up I made the long trek over to Nai Han Beach, which was recommended to me by all of the locals back in Phitsanulok. Nai Han is supposed to beach one of the most beautiful and isolated beaches in Phuket. However, this was probably the busiest beach I visited the whole weekend! This beach was full of expats and their Thai wives. It is a beautiful beach though. However, my photos are not that great because it was overcast when I was there.

Just in case anyone has forgotten what the sun looks like when setting over the sea:

Phuket, Part I

2008-10-22T08:19:00.001-07:00

I was so excited to be in Phuket, I spent the whole first day on the beach!!! I began the day with breakfast (from 7 Eleven of course) on the beach:

I had such a wonderful time lounging around the gorgeous Kata Beach. I believe that Kata Beach is the best beach I have ever visited in the world. It's quite big, the sand is absolutely perfect, no rocks or shells to step on, there's no garbage, the water is clear and beautiful, and I almost had the whole place to myself! Later in the day, the waves also got almost intimidatingly large.

For the next day I booked a tour of Phi Phi Island. The first stop on our tour was Maya Beach. This is where parts of the movie "The Beach" were filmed. Even though I haven't seen that movie, I still recognized the scenery:

After relaxing on the beach and swimming around the cove, it was time for some serious snorkeling. I saw many beautiful fish and even one shark!

Next up was Phi Phi island for lunch. The next beach was one of my favorites, Khai Nok Island. This was a tiny island in the middle of the Andaman Sea. I enjoyed more snorkeling and the picturesque scenery. After a long day in the sun I was ready to head back to the resort for a swim in the pool and an "after sun facial."

Bangkok & Phuket

2008-10-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night I hopped on a flight to Bangkok with P-Kik at the last minute. We stayed at Asia Hotel in Bangkok (http://www.asiahotel.co.th/asia_bangkok.htm) for the night. Asia Hotel is expensive (from a poor college student’s point of view) and looking a little old, but it’s still quite nice. One great thing about Asia Hotel is that you can walk straight from the hotel’s second floor onto the Sky Train.

Thursday morning I hopped on the Sky Train and headed over to the famous Siam Paragon shopping center. Just picked up a few things of course.

I spent the afternoon flying down to Phuket, the largest island in Thailand. This is where the tsunami hit back in 2004.

I chose to stay at Sugar Palm Resort located just 100 meters from Kata Beach. I was told that the beaches on the west side of the island are much better than those on the east. I thought that Kata Beach was a good compromise between the crazy tourism at Patong Beach and the isolated feel of Nai Thon Beach. And oh what a great choice! Kata Beach turned out to be one the most beautiful beaches on the island and the Sugar Palm Resort (http://www.sugarpalmresort.com/) was so amazing!!! I highly recommend Sugar Palm Resort and Kata Beach; it’s the best in Phuket.

Thursday evening I saw the Simon Cabaret show. This was an exciting show filled with lip syncing transvestites. Somehow I ended up with a front row seat to the show. Many of the lady-boys were quite beautiful and more than convincing. The Simon Cabaret show was quite entertaining, however the dancers seemed less than enthusiastic. After the show all of the lady-boys lined up outside begging for photographs. Of course every photograph you take with them costs about $2. If you want to see the Simon Cabaret show make sure to call ahead; they will pick you up from your hotel in a minibus and drop you back off after the show for only 160 Baht.

The Kitchen of the World

2008-10-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

I eat most of my meals from street vendors. I must say that most of the time before I eat, I think to myself "I hope this food/drink does not make me sick." But apparently I am very lucky or vegetarian; I'm not sure which is the responsible factor here.

One of the shops in the hospital cafeteria:

For every meal in Thailand you usually eat either rice or noodles. The rice here is either your standard rice or sticky rice. But there are a few different types of noodles.

There are glass noodles which are clear in color and long/skinny.

Then there is the fat, dark noodles that taste a lot like eggs.

There are also dark, long/skinny noodles that are quite stretchy and difficult to cut (not pictured here).

Some of my favorite foods are:

-DragonFruit! (The black and white fruit):

-Rice with Veggies:

-Pad Thai (noodles, sprouts, peanuts, veggies); Sorry, I've eaten numerous times, but have always forgotten to photograph.

-Fried Rice with Cashew Nuts:

-Pad See You (fat noodles, veggies, tofu, some delish sauce and spices)

-Coconut Smoothie:

Som Tum (raw papaya, peanuts, carrots, tomatoes, and sticky rice on the side):

Desserts!:

-Mangos with sticky rice and coconut milk (my personal favorite)

-Fried Bananas topped with something "made from rice:"

-Mini crispy crepes with cream:

Big crispy, sweet crepe:

-Taro balls in coconut milk (similar to Boo Alloy)

-A dessert I didn't really like...I thought it tasted like leaves:

-Coconut ice cream

-Coconut sweet bread

-Boo Alloy, Coconut milk with flavored sticky rice balls! So delicious:

My favorite part about Thai food is all the coconut I get to eat everyday!

And some food I haven't tried:

Herbal Medicine

2008-10-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to visit a rural hospital specializing in herbal medicine with Apple. This hospital was incredibly small, only 30 beds.

The hospital has a huge garden where they grow over seventy kinds of plants. After harvesting the necessary parts of the plants, they use their own manufacturing facility to create the final product. In the manufacturing building I saw how they make tea and herbal balls used in Thai massage.

I also saw some of the employees using a large machine to squeeze the oil out of garlic. The garlic oil was then frozen, then freeze-dried to make a powder which is then put into pill form (yes, I mean the actual definition of pill form for any of you pharmacy people who know what I'm talking about).

Lots of garlic:

This hospital encourages alternative medicine such as Thai massage and acupuncture too. Here is Apple, myself, and the director of pharmacy of this hospital in the herbal pharmacy. All of the drugs behind us were grown, manufactured, packaged, and sold on the hospital grounds.

Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Part II

2008-10-14T04:13:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we visited the old Political and Military School where the communists taught their doctrine. The Political and Military School consists of 31 identical buildings (in true communist fashion) which were labeled as places to sleep, a kitchen, a film developing studio, guard’s room, and many others. It was located in the creepy, moss-filled portion of the mountain. Right next door to the communist’s president’s house was the jail. I think my capitalist views got me in trouble:

We also visited a waterfall where the communists used hydropower to power a rice grinder.

The large rock crevice was used as a natural air raid shelter by the communists.

Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park is a beautiful part of Thailand with a rich history. I would advise anyone visiting this park to bring a car. All of the sites at the park are quite far apart, definitely not walking distance. There are no bikes, scooters, or cars to rent either. So if you arrive by bus you’ll be hitch-hiking with other tourists from site to site.

Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Part I

2008-10-12T07:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend May (a Thai pharmD student) and I thought we would check out one of Thailand’s National Parks, Phu Hin Rong Kla. Even though the park is only 2 hours away, it took us 6 hours to arrive at the park.

First we went to the Phitsanulok bus station at 5:40am to catch the 6am bus. After searching the small bus station, we finally found the random woman who we were supposed to buy bus tickets from. We bought our tickets and hopped on the bus, unfortunately the bus was already full. After fighting the woman for our money back, we waited at the bus station until the next bus left around 7:30am. We knew that we were supposed to get off at the Nakhorn stop, before taking a minibus to the park. May could tell by the map that we were getting close to our stop, then we heard the bus driver say that this stop was for those going to Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park. May and I got off, along with two other Thai tourists from Bangkok. I asked May about three times “are you sure this is the right stop?” because we were basically dropped off on the side of the highway with no minibus in sight. She double checked with the bus driver and “yes” it was correct. Obviously we were in the wrong place.

After talking to the locals, we hitch-hiked to the police station because apparently you can hitch-hike safer if you start at the police station. We were in luck; after standing outside the police station for about 7 minutes a caravan of minibuses full of tourists on their way to the national park drove by. We were able to hop onto the large tuk tuk full of tour guides that followed the minibuses. Little did we know that this was just the start of a weekend full of hitch-hiking…

This justifies my feelings of how difficult it is to get around Thailand by bus...I was even with a real Thai person and we still ended up lost and confused. I can't even imagine if I had been alone, because none of the people we interacted with spoke English (and of course nothing is written in English either). I would recommend anyone travelling around Thailand to just rent a car and drive yourself, it would be a lot less stressful. If you are not that adventurous, then I would suggest you stick to a tour group.

We finally arrived at Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park at noon!

Me with the English sign:

May with the Thai sign:

We first decided to walk down to Lan Hin Tak or the “broken rock field.” This mountain is the former battleground where the Thai government fought off the communists.

Next we took a walk over to Lan Hin Pum, another field of nodulated rocks located at the cliff’s edge. We also saw the old flag pole where the communists used to raise their red flag after they won a battle. Now the Thai flag is waved of course.

Me with one of the communists old guns:

Health Promotion

2008-10-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

I am currently participating in an event at Buddhachinaraj Hospital to promote health. The hospital is encouraging everyone to walk around the pond next to the hospital. If you walk at designated times, you will receive one stamp per lap on your lap-card. If you walk 81 laps before October 10th, then you will receive a free T-Shirt. The hospital chose 81 laps because that is the age of the King of Thailand. I was surprised at the high turnout everyday (even the weekends!) of all the hospital employees and patients who are walking.

Getting stamped for walking a lap:

Walking around the pond:

Me (and the King!) with all of my stamps:

This is not the only health promoting event I have seen at the hospital. All hospital employees are required to submit their BMI (Body Mass Index). Employees with BMI's over 23 are encouraged to visit "BMI Camp" where they learn about diet and exercise. The best part of all this health promotion is that no one complains or opposes at what Americans would probably call an "invasion of privacy."

The Imperial Phukaew Hill Resort

2008-10-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend I visited a resort located in the hills of northern Thailand with the pharmacy department of Buddhachinaraj Hospital. Saturday was a day to relax. In the morning I strolled around the resort grounds taking in the scenery. I spent the afternoon being a photographer of all of the team-building activities for the pharmacy department. After dinner, we had a party at the resort with the popular Thai past-time of karaoke! Lucky for me it was all in Thai, so I had a good excuse not to sing.

Sunday I hiked around the hills with another Farang, Robert, who moved to Thailand from England. Of course, it was nice to talk with a westerner again! After lunch Apple and I headed to the top of the mountain, then stopped for ice cream right before the afternoon downpour started.

Overall it was a nice weekend to relax at resort.

Chiang Mai, Part IV

2008-09-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I decided to sleep in after a night out in Chiang Mai. I took advantage of being a tourist town by eating a western breakfast consisting of nut pancakes, fruit, and actual coffee. After my brunch, I grabbed a tuk tuk and headed off to the Three Kings Monument. Next, I visited a wat, although I'm not quite sure what it's name is because I have seen too many wats!

Then I stumbled into Wat Chedi Luang; which I thought was one of the most interesting wats I have visited. This wat was built in 1441 and is now in ruins due to an earthquake in the 16th century.

My tuk tuk driver brought me to Wat Jet Yot next. I liked this wat a lot too. It is quite old, built in the 15th century, and has many shady trees.

My last stop of the day was Wat Suan Dok. This wat had many small, white-washed chedis behind the wat. I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed all of the wats I visited on Sunday because I thought I was all "wat'ed out," but the wats in Chiang Mai were actually quite unique.

At the end of the day, I headed back to Phitsanulok on the bus. On the ride home, the man sitting next to me talked to me for at least an hour...all in Thai. To say the least, I didn't have much to say back to him.

Chiang Mai, Part III

2008-09-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday Ba-Ouwan, P-Kik, and P-Yoo all headed back to Phitsanulok, while I remained in Chiang Mai. I decided to spend part of the afternoon at the Night Safari. The Night Safari is similar to a zoo, but a little nicer. It is located on the grounds of Doi Suthep National Park. I enjoyed a beautiful walk around Swan Lake observing the many animals.

Next, my tuk tuk driver took me to Wat U Mong. This wat is very old and located in the forest. I really liked this wat because it is totally different from every other wat I have seen in Thailand (and that's a lot of wats folks). I also liked this wat because it was sort of creepy; located in the woods with moss growing over everything. At this wat I met Mary. She from France and is travelling all around S.E. Asia by herself!

While in the wat, Mary and I saw a sign pointing towards a zoo located in the wat. Mary told me that her friend had mentioned that there was a zoo in Wat U Mong, but it wasn't advertised to tourists. I confirmed this, as there was no mention of a zoo in my Lonely Planet. After wandering around the woods and not finding a zoo or any animals, we came across some deer. The deer were quite close to us with no fence or anything. I figured this was ok, being from Wisconsin I am used to seeing deer up close. We followed the professional looking signs written in English to the nature trail. Just around the corner we ran into some bull-like animals; again, no barrier between us and the vicious animals. We stopped to talk to some French boys who had also found the zoo. A few minutes later, one of the animals started walking towards us, and we started to walk away...then is started walking faster towards us and we started walking faster away. Before I knew it was last in line running away from this horned animal. It was a terrible experience. But we survived with no scratches. I know that this animal is probably vegetarian, but I read "The Hatchet." I remember how the boy in that story was beat up by a moose, who is also vegetarian. Anyway, I would not recommend that anyone follow the signs towards the "zoo" at Wat U Mong.

"The animal" :

Later that evening, Mary and I met for the Saturday night walking bazaar (which is not as good as the regular night bazaar). Then we thought we'd meet Mary's friend from Colorado, who was playing at "Guitar Man" Pub. But of course, not one tuk tuk driver had ever heard of this pub. Finally, we found a tuk tuk driver who knew what we were talking about, or so we thought. This tuk tuk driver took us on the craziest ride! He quickly took us to every bar in Chiang Mai with a man playing guitar, while his Thai music was blasting through his homemade speaker system. Amazingly we survived (again) and eventually he found the right bar!

Chiang Mai, Part II

2008-09-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Friday morning Ba-Ouwan, P-Kik, P-Yoo, and I rented a car to explore the greater Chiang Mai area for the day. Our first stop was Maetamann Elephant Camp! We signed up for an elephant ride, an ox-cart ride, and a bamboo raft ride. This was every-one's first time on an elephant! I would definitely recommend everyone visiting Chiang Mai to visit one of the elephant camps. It was so much fun. Sadly though, we learned that our bamboo raft driver was only paid 80 Baht per day ($2.40) and that he must work everyday. If he misses one day of work, then he is fined 20 Baht ($0.60).

After elephant camp, we stopped by an orchid and butterfly farm:

Next we drove to the top of the mountain in Chiang Mai to see Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. We climbed a cool 306 steps to get there!For dinner we ate Korean food, which is not as delicious as Thai food. After dinner, we were back at the night bazaar. After more shopping, we visited the "Good View" restaurant for a few drinks.

Lamphun & Chiang Mai

2008-09-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning I left my apartment at 6am with Ba-Ouwan, P-Kik, and P-Yoo. We drove about four hours to the small town of Lamphun for a ceremony held at the eight hundred year old Wat Phra That Hariphunchai to retire a handful of pharmacists. Unfortunately, we were 45 minutes late for the ceremony and missed the whole thing! However, we did show up in time to receive a free umbrella and snacks. After exploring the wat, we hopped back in the car and headed off to Chiang Mai.

For our first night in Chiang Mai, we stayed at the beautiful, tourist filled Empress Hotel. After checking in, we visited Wat Phra Singh. This wat is home to the "lion Buddha" image. At this wat, we used this contraption to pour some water on the Chedi behind the main temple. P-Kik explained to me to make a wish and if I was able to get the water to the top and successfully poured on the Chedi, that my wish would come true. I succeeded of course!

After visiting the wat, I got to take a nap back at the hotel, while everyone else attended a meeting (all in Thai of course!)

I was glad to have napped, so that I could shop at full strength at Chiang Mai's famous night bazaar.

A Weekend In Phitsanulok, Part II

2008-09-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

On Sunday May, Jeng, Hong, M, and I headed down to the River, Mae Nam Nan, to watch the last day of boat racing in Phitsanulok. As we were looking for a place to sit, we saw my landlord who was sitting in the VIP booth. She ushered us up and we got to watch the boat races in style! We were sitting under a tent, with a fan, and just a few seats away from the president and vice president of Phitsanulok. We were even on TV!

After the boat races we stopped by a couple of wats:

Everyone prayed while I photographed the rainbow:

We ended the weekend with shopping at Topland Plaza and dinner at Blue White:

A Weekend In Phitsanulok

2008-09-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Song, May, and I visited the Sergeant Major Folk Museum. We learned about the history of Thai living, farming, cooking, and crafts. Next up we visited the Thai Bird Garden, where we got to see the birds of Thailand, including some endangered species. At the garden, we learned that there are 9,672 types of birds in the world and 946 kinds of birds in Thailand.

Next up we visited Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat, the home of Chinnarat Buddha. This Buddha is the most beautiful in all of Thailand. At the temple we also used a traditional fortune teller where you shake a cone full of wooden sticks (see photo of Song below) and number on the first stick that falls out matches with your fortune. I got fortune number seven, which was written in Thai of course; I'll keep the translation a secret!

Outside the wat I tried a delicious drink made from sugarcane, which I drank out of a plastic bag with ice:

A Night Out

2008-09-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

Friday night the other PharmD students and I decided to check out one of the pubs on the university campus. We had a great time. One difference between the Thai bar and bars in the US, is that in Thailand you mix your own drinks. You can order either a bottle of whisky, vodka, beer, or coke. Then they bring you glasses, ice and let you do the mixing. In Thailand, you drink beer in a glass with ice…which means that I had to drink my beer really fast before the ice melted! I think my favorite part of the evening was when a Lady-Boy got up on the stage to lip sync “I will survive” with a bendy-straw in her ear acting as a microphone!

Bangkok Part II

2008-09-18T05:23:00.000-07:00

Monday morning P-Kik met me in Bangkok. We started our day off with a visit to Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. Wat Phra Kaew is home of the famous Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade!). The Emerald Buddha has a different royal robe for each season (hot, cool, & rainy), which the King himself changes. The Grand Palace is a former royal residence. Today the Grand Palace is only used for certain ceremonies.

Palace guard that eats humans:

Next up, we walked over to Wat Pho. This wat has the largest reclining Buddha image in the world (46m long & 15m high). In the temple you walk a circle around the big Buddha. When we first entered the temple, I asked P-Kik what all the jingling noise was because the place was nearly empty. On the way out of the temple there are eighty metal bowls where you can donate 0.25 Baht into each bowl, filling the wat with this wonderful sound.

After the rain died down, we left Wat Pho and hopped on the river bus to Wat Arun. Wat Arun is named after the Indian god of dawn (Aruna). We didn't get to stay for too long due to the all the rain, but it was great to see one of Bangkok's landmarks.

Monday night I was lucky enough to see the award winning Traditional Thai Puppet Show with traditional Thai singing and a traditional Thai orchestra(http://www.thaipuppet.com/core/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/lang,en/). This is the only place in Thailand to see this dying art. The Traditional Thai Puppet Theater Company is also the official authoritative guardian of Thai puppetry. The show we saw depicted the story of Ganesha's birth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha). I loved it! I recommend to everyone visiting Bangkok to see a puppet show.

After the puppet show, I had to book it to make the 10pm overnight train back to Phitsanulok. I had rented a bed on the train in one of the non-air conditioned cars (it wasn't very hot that day). I was expecting the sleeper train to be similar to what Kelly and I travelled in Egypt with private rooms...However, it was no where near as nice! I slept ok despite the fact that they never turned off the lights in the train...

Bangkok Part I

2008-09-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Friday I decided to catch the bus down to Bangkok for the weekend. I was lucky to stay at Kay's house for the weekend (P-Kik's friend). We woke up early on Saturday and headed off to visit many temples or wats surrounding Bangkok:

After lunch, we went to the famous floating market. The floating market has many boats on the river where venders cook and serve food delicious meals and snacks:

Coconut-something wrapped in banana leaf...so good!

Sunday we visited the huge JJ market in Bangkok. I was glad to have Kay with me to help me get Thai prices on all the items I bought. Sunday night I was fortunate enough to attend a real Thai wedding reception. It was quite similiar to a western wedding ceremony, but no etoh or dancing...

Sukhothai

2008-09-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I decided to make the 1 hour bus trip to Sukhothai, the first capital of Siam. Sukhothai means “Rising of Happiness.” I was excited to visit Sukhothai Historical Park, home of the Sukhothai ruins dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Sukhothai Historical Park is also one of the World Heritage Sites. I rented a bike (for only $1!) and rode my way around the park with a 5km radius. The park consists of a series of wats or temples. The park is very serene with many trees, ponds, and moats around the wats. There were many peaceful Buddha figures still standing throughout the park. I had a wonderful time riding my way around the park; I think pictures tell the story best:

And a lizard:

Day Trip

2008-09-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

Ba-Ouwan, P-Kik, P-Yoo, and I headed off to Petchaboon on Saturday. We visited The Imperial Phukaew Hill Resort; the pharmacy staff will come back to this resort in October for a weekend of relationship development. The resort was beautiful. I also partook in a ropes course and go carting down the mountain.

After lunch at the resort we visited a farm to buy fresh fruit. I bought dragon fruit (my favorite!), star fruit, and passion fruit. Next we visited a local palace of the King which was surrounded by a lush garden:

Then, we stopped by a memorial dedicated to Buddha. At this Buddha memorial there is a place to make a wish and your wish will come true if you can lift a large rock. I made my wish and I was able to lift the rock, so I guess it will come true! We also visited a memorial dedicated to the Thai citizen’s that died during a war that happened in the Thai mountains a few years ago.

Our last stop was at a local coffee shop located in the picturesque mountains in northern Thailand.

Me, Ba-Ouwan, & P-Kik:

Nice to meet you.

2008-09-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

On my first day of clerkship rotation P-Kik picked me up and brought me to Buddhachinaraj Hospital, where I will spend the next eight weeks. I met my preceptor, Apple, who is a wonderful pharmacist specializing in neonatology. Apple took me all over the hospital and introduced me to everyone. At first it was difficult to learn all of the Thai names (nicknames, actually), but I think I am getting better. A couple of pharmacists traded off taking me on tours of all of the different pharmacies in the hospital. Apple is excited for everyone at the hospital to practice their English with me. Everyone here has been unbelievably friendly and nice. Pharmacists and Pharm.D students have been so kind to take me out for meals, take me to the supermarket, walk me home, show me around Phitsanulok and offer useful advice about Thailand and Thai culture. I am very lucky to be in such good hands here!

Song, Ann, Pao, & Me...We are working hard at the drug information center:

The hospital consists of many buildings that are connected with outdoor pathways (with covers because it rains a lot). Before entering many of the rooms in the hospital you must remove your shoes and either go barefoot or put on another pair of sandals. Some parts of the hospital are open to the outside (no doors, no glass/screen in windows). The hospital is nice and it is not as hot & humid as I had anticipated (that is in the hospital, it’s even hotter and more humid than I had imagined when I am walking around the city).

Part of the hospital:

Ba-Ouwan (the Director of Pharmacy), P-Kik, and P-Yoo have invited me to join them this Saturday to visit Petchaboon, a city that is two hours away from Phitsanulok. They are having a meeting in Petchaboon later, and we are going to check out the hotel, participate in adventure activities, and shop in the market…but more on that later!

Pharm.D students: Ann, Song, Me, Pao

The Pink Room

2008-09-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

Mission accomplished. I have a home in Phitsanulok. I rented an apartment just blocks from the hospital for less than $100 a month.

P-Kik and and P-Yoo (two pharmacists at the hospital), took me around Phitsanulok Monday night and helped me pick out a suitable place. On our quest, the apartment I ended up choosing was dubbed “The Pink Room.” The Pink Room has pink walls, a pink floor, and a pink ceiling... The Pink Room was the least expensive apartment we viewed, but it was the only one with all of the things I wanted (air-con, fridge, & TV). Most apartments lacked a fridge, which is crucial to my hydration status. Here are some delightful photos of the place (which unfortunately do not show the color very well):

The wonderful view from my balcony:

"Sawadee-ka Thailand!"

2008-08-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

"Hello Thailand!"

Well, I made it here all by myself in one piece! Getting to Phitsanulok was by far the longest trip I have ever made. My flights here were uneventful, no celebrities this time... Somehow though, I lucked out and never had to sit next to anyone. For all four flights I had anywhere from 2-4 seats all to myself.

When I finally arrived at the Phitsanulok airport, Kik was there waiting for me. Kik is a pharmacist who works with Apple at Buddhachinaraj Hospital. She was nice enough to take me to an affordable, brand new hotel (Rattana View Hotel, phone: 055-221999). I've got a king size bed, amazing bathroom, mini fridge, TV, balcony, pool, free wireless and free breakfast all for under $20/night!

In an effort to relax after a grueling 36 hour journey, I decided that I needed a massage to help my body recover from being cramped on airplanes and sleeping on airport benches. I got a one hour Thai massage for only $5. The Thai massage, however, is nothing like massages I have had in the U.S. It involved a lot of pulling, pushing, bending, and pounding. The massage was great, but I have to say that I was relieved that I didn't opt for the two hour version.

My next mission is to find a home for the next two months...wish me luck!

Up Next: Thailand!

2008-08-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

The time has come for me to venture off on my own to the "Land of Smiles." For the next 8 weeks I will be living in Phitsanulok, Thailand; see map below:

I will be doing a pharmacy clerkship rotation in the neonatology department at the local public hospital, Buddhachinarj Hospital. I am excited to meet my preceptor, Apple, because of all of the wonderful things my advisor has said about her.

Right now I am enduring a full 2 days of travel consisting of flights from Madison to Chicago to Tokyo to Bangkok to Phitsanulok!

Let the adventure begin...

Getting Home

2008-06-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

The trip home included one last night in Athens, where we stayed at Hostel Zeus, quite possible the seediest place in Athens. We picked it because it was the cheapest place available and we only had one night to spend there. In the morning before our flight left we checked out the Achaelogical Museum to see the mask of Agamemnon, many sculptures, the Vaphio cups, and much more.

With that, we headed back to Zeus to collect our luggage, took the metro to the airport and boarded an Olympic airways flight back to London.

Do to our layover, we spent the night sleeping on a bench in Heathrow airport. This is what I’m talking about when I say I lead a glamorous lifestyle:

Refreshed from our very comfortable accommodations, we boarded an American Airlines flight at 7:00am and watched eight hours worth of movies to kill time until we arrived back in Chicago.

Unfortunately, our adventures weren’t quite over. I noticed a security dog sniffing around the passengers at the luggage corral. I didn’t think anything of it until he got quite excited when he got close to Kelly and jumped up with his paws on her back! She was clearly a threat to national security! Turns out, he was actually an agriculture dog and he was only interested in the two apples I had in my backpack that we bought in Athens for a snack. Kelly willingly gave up the apples but not before the entire airport had stopped and watched the scene go down. Kelly got a special mark on her customs form that meant we had to get our bags x-rayed for more illegal produce before we left the airport.

Now we’re safely back in Wisconsin and happy to enjoy our own beds, hot showers, and toilets that you can flush the toilet paper in (ah the miracles of modern plumbing). According to many of the Greeks we talked to, in our three weeks in Greece we managed to more than most of the natives!

Now it’s back to the reality of school, work and responsibility. *Sigh.* It’s a good thing we’re already planning our next adventure, so stay tuned!

Mykonos

2008-06-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

As we arrived at Paradise Beach in Mykonos, we soon realized why our accommodations only cost us 10 Euro each – we were staying in a little tin shed that had two beds and – well, that was it really! Our little bungalows actually turned out to be a lot of fun though. There were tons of “campers” in similar set-ups, so we just left our door open and made friends with everyone! That’s how we met James and Ogie, two Aussies who were on a three month backpacking trip across Europe.

We soon got into the Mykonos routine, relaxing on the beach all day, taking a nap in the evening, and enjoying the nightlife ‘til all hours of the night. The first night we were at Paradise, the big club there, Cavo Paradiso had it’s opening night which entailed a big party with a big name DJ that neither Kelly nor I had ever heard of. I guess that means we’re getting old. During the course of our stay, we also checked out the scene in Mykonos Town:

Kelly and I also rented an ATV to help us get around the islands, especially to the grocery store so we could continue our cheap eating habits! I can’t believe we forgot to take a picture of us on it because it was quite the sight to see! We opted for the ATV because it was a bit more stable than the scooters available, even though it didn’t have the speed. After seeing numerous people all scraped up, including our friend Paddy who nearly dislocated his shoulder in a bad fall, we were very happy with our sensible decision. We were also sure to use our Darth Vader-style helmets at all times, modeled here by James:

All these days of laying in the sun have given both Kelly and I a nice tan, even though we’ve both been very good about using our sunscreen! It’ll be nice to be back in the United States with a little color since we’ve heard that everything in Wisconsin has been underwater for the last few days! We’re so lucky to have missed out on all the rain!

Santorini

2008-06-04T02:07:00.000-07:00

Monday, we arrived in Santorini via a high-speed hydrofoil. It only took us two hours to get here from Crete.

We met three Canadians, Danielle, Ky, and Brittany in Crete and we convinced them to catch the ferry with us and stay at Tony's Villa. Tony is a legend in Santorini. His son has Down Syndrome and in order to convince the government to let his son go to school, Tony chained himself to the highest mountain in Santorini for six days until the Prime Minister of Greece took notice and rectified the situation.

We found out that Ky was able to drive stick shift, so we rented a car to go about the island. At 25 euro a day, split five ways, it was completely worth it! In fact, Kelly and I are determined to learn how to drive stick when we get back to the states. Anyone up for teaching us?

Our first stop was wine tasting at Boutari winery, the same place we checked out in Crete.

In the afternoon, we went to the beach for a bit, got some groceries, and drove to the capital city, Fira, to catch the sunset and do some exploring.

Tuesday morning we checked out Santo's winery and bought a few more bottles of wine.

In the afternoon, we relaxed on one of the scorching hot black volcanic sand beaches that Santorini is known for.

In the evening, we decided to walk the footpath from Fira to Oia, the northernmost city on Santorini. It was a 14 kilometer (8.7 mile) hike past all the beautiful villas on the cliff's edge as well as up and down paths made of volcanic rock.

We made it to Oia just in time for sunset and then grabbed a table at a cliffside restaurant to get some dinner. Kelly opted for the moussaka, a traditional Greek dish made of ground vegetables and mincemeat (ground beef) topped with cheese and breadcrumbs. Don't be fooled by the picture, according to her it was filling and delicious! I had the stuffed tomatoes and rice as shown on the left:

Wednesday, the Canadians left and Kelly and I took the bus to Fira to pick souvenirs and wander the maze-like streets.

We also made friends with some boys who were also staying at Tony's. They turned out to be a pretty good time and we almost took them up on their offer to go to the island of Ios with them. Instead, we boarded our ferry to Mykonos for the last leg of our journey. Paradise Beach, here we come!

Crete, Part II

2008-06-03T01:38:00.001-07:00

After Boutari Winery, we returned to the hotel and had a bit of a rest before meeting up with Garreth, an English guy who runs a water sports business in Crete. We had met him the night before at the Axos hotel bar and he had offered to take us to one of his favorite spots for dinner. We were super excited to try some traditional Greek cuisine and Taverna Fantastico was the perfect place to do it! It was far from the tourist traps, up in the mountains with a great view of the sea and the sunset. We chowed down on fried aubergines, stuffed vine leaves, saganaki (fried cheese), tzatsiki (yoghurt and cucumber dip), zucchini balls, fried zucchini, and bread – and that was just appetizers! We also enjoyed “village wine,” made locally. As if that wasn’t enough we also each had a main dish. Kelly had beef and I had tomato and cheese spaghetti. Everything was incredibly delicious but we were definitely surprised at how much fried food the Greeks eat. We were expecting to eat the traditional Mediterranean diet of fruits, nuts, beans, etc, but we’ve been finding the food a lot unhealthier than we expected. It’s a good thing we’re staying active!

After dinner we headed right to bed because we had to wake up at 5 AM to catch our bus to hike Samaria Gorge. The gorge is the longest in Europe, stretching about 14 kilometers. The hike was fairly strenuous, with lots of rocky paths down the side of the gorge and through it to the other side. It took us about four and a half hours to complete our trek, which is about two hours faster than average! I guess dinner the night before had really energized us!

At the end of the gorge there was another 3 km walk into town. We were rewarded with a relaxing swim and a few hours of laying on the beach before we had to catch the bus back to Rethymno. The sand was very black and rocky but the water was crystal clear – probably the purest water we have ever seen!

Sunday, we were supposed to meet up with Garreth again so we could do some of the water sports that his company offers. Unfortunately, when we woke up our leg muscles ached from the hike the day before and all we could even think of doing was lying on the beach all day. We caught a bus to Prevali, a gorgeous, secluded beach that is fed by a stream. Little did we know, there was a hike involved to get to it! We rallied and made it to the bottom and it proved worth the effort.

Back at the hotel, we packed our suitcases to prepare for the next part of our journey to Santorini and then met up with Stephano, another one of the locals, at the hotel bar for a farewell beer and a few shots of Raki.

Crete has been an amazing time. The island has a lot to offer and we’ve made some great friends. Looking back, we wish we had rented a car so we didn’t waste so much time on long bus rides but it’s probably best we didn’t because it would have been fairly expensive. Now we’re on the ferry to Santorini and we’ll back in the United States in just one week!

Crete, Part I

2008-05-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

After dropping off the car in Athens, we boarded our ferry from the port of Piraeus to start the island hopping portion of our trip! Our first stop is Crete. We were surprised that our ferry looked a bit more like a cruise ship!

Also, we noticed that one of the nearby ships reminded us of our best girlfriend back home:

OK, so it actually looked like this:

But so close! Miss you Ariane!

We even learned it had a pool on the top deck. Excited, we checked it out:

As you can guess, we didn't do any swimming after all! Instead, we decided to have a tea in the "saloon". Because the boat was landing at 6:00am, we called it an early night and retired to the bunks we had rented in one of the ship's cabins.

Once the ferry docked, we had to take a bus from the port of Iraklion to the city we are staying in, Rethymnon. We started to realize just how big the island of Crete is when the bus ride took almost an hour and a half and the cities aren't even on opposite ends of the island!

Our "budget hotel", Hotel Axos turned out to be absolutely gorgeous! We have a huge room with a kitchen, appliances (hooray for toast in the morning!), and a porch looking out to the pool! In addition, the staff is really great as well. It's a family-run business and they've been so wonderful making us feel at home and helping us plan activities. If you're ever in Crete you should definitely stay here!

Yesterday, we caught the bus back to Iraklion and then another city bus to see Knossos, an ancient Minoan palace. We were excited because our guidebooks had told us it was "partially restored".

Unfortunately, the palace wasn't as restored as we had hoped. For example, the "Grand Staircase" looked like this:

After seeing ancient ruins all of the world (Giza, the Acropolis..) we were definitely a bit disappointed.

After Knossos, we checked out Boutari winery, which was nearby. We took a tour and then did a tasting, The wine was delicious and we also learned their growing methods are very sustainable! They handpick all the grapes, use no pesticides, and only use rainwater for irrigation. The production is very small, only about 50,000 bottles are produced per year in the six vineyards they have in Greek and France.

When we got back to the hotel, we used our kitchen to cook a delicious pasta with goat cheese and fresh tomatoes. We also had a salad and some fresh bread spread with honey from Mount Olympus. Delicious!

One of the guys who runs the hotel, Manos, invited us to the hotel bar/club because a band was playing. The band played all American cover songs and the bar was packed with all the locals who run the trade industry. We got to hang out with a bunch of them and even got a chance to try the local drink, Raki. Raki is very strong and is made with the leftover grapes from wine production. It tastes terrible and comes in large 1.5 litre water bottles - very sketchy!

All-in-all it was a great night and we're happy to have made some new friends!

Road Trip, Part III

2008-05-29T10:24:00.001-07:00

On the way back to Athens from Thessaloníki, we stopped at the famous Mount Olympus to do a bit of exploring. As we saw it in the distance, it's easy to understand why the ancient Greeks thought that it was the home of the Gods and the throne of Zeus. Not wishing to hire a guide and spend an entire day climbing, we instead drove up the mountain as far as the road would take us. Our trusty Hyundai sounded like it was going to kick it as we neared the end but she luckily held out for us as we ended at the Monastery of Agios Dionysios.

As we walked around the monastery, which was in the process of being restored, we were stopped by a Chicagoan lovely couple, Tom and Mary, who were on holiday in Greece visiting family. Tom has family in Litohoro and his brother is a priest who is living at the monastery this summer. Even though they were initially skeptical of our attire of flipflops and sundresses (we had sneakers, but they were left in the car), they invited us on a hike to the holy cave, about a half hour hike from the monastery.

We made it the the cave and admired the altar that had been built there, tucked away under a rock. We also got to drink some holy water, which was cool and refreshing and bubbling right out between the rocks in the cave. Shortly thereafter we saw a frog swimming in the same water, but since it was downstream we figured the blessing still held.

At the end of the trip, Tom and Mary offered us their nephew to take home with us, but we had to decline as our suitcases are already stuffed and we've got 10 days on the islands ahead of us!

Amazingly enough, we arrived back in Athens without a single scratch. We can't believe we put over 1600 kilometers on the car in six days and lived to tell the tale! Looking back on the whole experience we really know we made the right decision renting a car because it gave us the opportunity to see so much more than we would have been able to otherwise. It's interesting to watch the locals' reactions when we tell them how many places we were able to visit without being part of a tour group. It's definitely a mixture of disbelief tinged with jealously followed by them questioning our mental health.

In order to put our journey into perspective for you, we've photoshopped this map to highlight our drive. The thunderbolts indicate places that we've talked about in this blog. Click on the map to look at it at a more legible size:

Thessaloníki

2008-05-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

As we wind up our three days in Thessaloníki, we really don’t have much to report. Thessaloníki is a trendy University town on the Mediterranean. Kelly and I have decided that this would be a great place to study abroad. We’ve spent our time here just as we intended – relaxing, people watching, and enjoying the weather. Also, we’ve caught up on a few necessary chores – grocery shopping, getting our laundry done, writing in the blog…

Our interest was piqued by all of the locals drinking a coffee drink in the main square – Plateia Agias Sofias – so we indulged in the popular drink of Thessaloníki – the Frappe. This delicious coffee drink comes chilled and sweetened and settles into two distinct layers. We forgot to snap a photo, so we flagged down a delivery boy walking down the street with one so you could get the idea:

We also stopped by one of the many sweet shops in the city to do a sampling.

We also had plans to climb the city's symbol, the White Tower:

Unfortunately, it was under construction and we were out of luck - this seems to be a bit of a pattern for us!

Last night we scored a prime spot at one of the hip bars that line the Gulf of Thessaloníki to people watch and enjoy some Greek wine while watching the sunset. It’s definitely entertaining to check out the local fashion here – there are some hits and some definite misses! For those of you interested in copying European style (ahem, Mark and Ryan) we recommend very tight jeans, fanny packs, and off-center rat tails.

As we were walking along the main street in Thessaloníki, our attention was captured by this sign:

We miss you Ariane!

Today, we drove to Perea, about 45 minutes outside of town to spend the day at the beach. Even though we were warned that the beach would be pretty small and not much to look at; we’ve been craving some time at the sea so we didn’t care! It was nice to have time in the sun and we’re definitely rocking that Mediterranean tan – carefully controlled by our previously purchased $20 bottle of sunscreen of course!

We’ve repacked our suitcases are ready to hit the road again early tomorrow morning. According to the reliable estimates of the locals we’ve talked to, the drive should take between five and eight hours! Tomorrow night we’ll be sleeping on a ferry as we cruise the Mediterranean to the island of Crete!

Roadtrip, Part II

2008-05-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up refreshed despite sleeping on pillows dense as bricks with bedsheets that felt like sandpaper against our skin. Hotel Metéora (the least expensive hotel in the city) offered a delicious complementary breakfast which very satisfying compared to our previous two meals consisting of energy bars (samples stolen from the library during finals week, tasting like a combination of diabetic granola bars - according to Eva, and horse feed - according to Kelly), Pringles Wheat Stix, pumpkin seeds, and Craisins (please send $$$).

The highlight of Metéora is a series of monasteries perched on gigantic cliffs. On the drive up to the top we used our common sense and good judgment (thanks Mom and Dad!) and stopped to pick up two young guys who were hitchhiking to the top. They turned out to be Greek students on holiday and quite harmless. Phew!

We chose to visit the most famous monastery in Metéora, Moni Megálou Meteórou, which was built in the 14^th century. The monasteries built atop these cliffs are still in use today. Born educators, we were tailed through the monastery by two women from the southern US who enjoyed listening to us read aloud facts about the monastery from our guidebooks (best $25 we’ve spent yet!). These monasteries are definitely an amazing feat of architecture and worth the visit.

Also interesting was the fact that the skulls and bones of all the former monks were archived in a small room:

After heading out of Metéora, we stopped at a local fruit stand to get a snack for our drive to the Tombs of Vergina. There were four tombs, one of which was Phillip II’s final resting place. We also saw a tomb that is suspected to be that of Cleopatra. These tombs are home to four gorgeous funerary wreaths made of pure gold. Unfortunately, as we were (not so gently) reminded by the security guard, photos were not allowed, so we had to steal some from Google images to show you:

As we rolled into Thessaloniki, we hit the 1,000 km ( 621 mi) mark for our trip. We are staying in Thessaloniki for 3 nights, enjoying the beach and the cosmopolitan atmosphere. Always smart shoppers, we comparison shopped for hotels after our arrival in Thessaloniki (OK, we checked out four hotels in one block). We finally settled on a nice hotel which we bargained the price down to save $35; we also convinced the hotel manager to carry our luggage up the three flights of stairs and cook us breakfast! We also saved ourselves from the peril of the budget hotels which offered rooms with a lingering smoke smell, cigarette burns on the bedsheets, a broken bathroom light, and a doorman who may have a been a recovering(?) crack addict.

Roadtrip, Part I

2008-05-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

With Kelly at the wheel, we “safely” escaped the hectic Athens traffic and headed to the Pelopennese peninsula. The first stop on our route was Náfplio. We would have arrived in Náfplio after about an hour except we got stuck in traffic and ended up moving about 6 km in about 30 minutes. When we finally made it to Náfplio, we followed four tour buses (to us tour buses equal free guidance to many popular destinations) up to the top of the city to Palamidi Fortress. Unfortunately, the buses didn’t contain the usual group of 65-year-old-plus tour group but instead a gaggle of obnoxious pre-teens. We did our best to avoid the madness and came away with some great photos of the Mediterranean:

We also snagged some delicious oranges picked fresh off the tree:

After touring Palamidi Fortress, we continued on with our road trip to Olympia. Even though Olympia looked close on the map, we soon learned that the “major” highway between Náfplio and Olympia was actually an extremely curvy mountain pass. As we wound through mountains of Greece, we came across several cute towns where we admired the wildflowers and enjoyed baklava soaked in locally produced honey.

Upon arrival in Olympia, we were dismayed to learn that the site of the original Olympic Games was also operating on “winter” hours. We decided to check into our hostel and tour the site early the next morning. As we wandered the main drag in Olympia we noticed that we were the youngest people in town by at least forty years. We realized how fortunate we were to have rented our car, because we are able to see a lot of the important sites that many young people miss.

The ancient Olympic site was worth the wait. It was inspiring to stand in the place where the Olympic Games were held over 2,000 years ago.

The site of the original Olympic torch is still used today to light the torch for our modern Olympic Games:

We also spotted some crafty tourists who had brought their own sun reflector to enhance their many photographs. We only wish we had planned ahead like them so we could look picture perfect too!

Back on the road again, we headed to Delphi, but not before crossing the newly-built bridge connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with the mainland. It must have been expensive because it cost us 11 euros (about $16) to cross!

Delphi is the site of the famous Delphic Oracle and the Temple of Apollo. We barely squeaked in before the 2:45 “winter” closing time (don’t worry we’re not bitter…even though it is 85 degrees out!).

After Delphi, we hit the road for Meteora, where we spent the night at Hotel Meteora.

Athens, Part I

2008-05-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Kelly and I woke up bright and early this morning to start our official first day of touring Greece. We headed to the Acropolis, one Greece's most recognizable sights. Our first stop was the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Originally made with 104 columns, only 16 now remain but the sight is still stunning:

We felt like tiny ants below the massive structures. It is the biggest temple in Greece.

Next we checked out the Hadrian's Arch. On one side of the arch, it reads, "This is Athens, the city of Theseus." However, the immodest Hadrian added, "This is the city of Hadrian, not Theseus," on the other side.

The actual enclosure of the Acropolis is situated high on a hill in the middle of the city. Near the Acropolis we saw Odeion of Herodeus Atticus, which is a theater built in 161 AD that is still in use today. Inside was the Propylaea (the grand entrance), the famous Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erechtheion, which was built where Athena planted the first olive tree in Athens, thus claiming the city as her namesake.

The Proylaea, the Erechteion, and the Parthenon:

After the Acropolis, we used our student discount-purchased multi pass ticket (only 6 euros for 6 sights!) to also get into the Ancient Agora to see the ruins of the public center for life in ancient Athens.

We had lunch at the Rough Guide recommended Skholiarhio. We chose the special which involved picking our choice of mezedes (appetizers) from a long tray (we chose cucumber/tomato/feta salad and a fava bean hummus-like paste) and was accompanied by bread, choice of beverage (we tried Mythos, a Greek beer) and dessert (Halvas - a sweetmeat of sesame). We really enjoyed our meal and the waiters took a liking to us, even bringing a second helping of Halvas (which we ate even though we were too full and didn't particularly enjoy it the first time).

After lunch we trekked to the Archaeological Museum only to find it was still observing "winter" hours and had actually close at 2:45pm. Bummer. Good thing we're coming back to Athens for one more day on our way home.

Instead of learning about ancient Greek archeology, we spent the afternoon getting sunburned, purchasing a $20US bottle of sunscreen (!), and price-shopping for our rental car for our road trip tomorrow. We finally settled on a 2007 Hyundai Accent from Axon Car and Van Rental that cost us a reasonable (at least we think, compared to the 600+ quotes other places gave us) 253 euro for six days and unlimited mileage, plus the added bonus of getting picked up and dropped off and a waiver of the 600 Euro deductible. We think we did our research and picked the right company, but I guess we really won't know until we're on the road.

We're off to Nafplio and Olympia tomorrow!

Getting There is Half the Fun!

2008-05-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

As Kelly and I were sitting in the Chicago O'Hare airport, she pondered aloud, "I wonder if there will be any celebrities on our flight today." I laughed and brushed her off, but as we boarded the plane a few minutes later we noticed a commotion in the first class compartment. A flamboyantly dressed black male layered with chains and tons of bling was struggling to get his luggage in the overhead bins. We noticed a huge clock hanging from his neck and realized we had our first celebrity sighting of the trip - Flava Flav!!! Mom and Dad, you probably haven't heard of him but he is a member of the 80's rap group public enemy and is currently starring on a reality dating show on VH1, Flava of Love. He graciously agreed to pose for a photo with us:

Today, we had a long layover in London so we checked our suitcases and ventured into the city for a few hours to explore. We did a whirlwind tour and caught Tower Bridge, London Bridge, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, The Houses of Parliment, Buckingham Palace, and Harrod's Department Store.

We just got into Athens late tonight and we're staying with Sophia in her cute little flat close to the center of the city. That's all for now, tomorrow we're headed to the Acropolis and the Archaeological Museum.

Eva and Kelly do GREECE!!!

2008-05-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

Kelly and I leaving today on our next voyage. This trip's destination - GREECE! We'll be spending three weeks traveling this gorgeous country. We fly into Athens where we'll be renting a car for a one week tour around the mainland followed by a relaxing two weeks on the islands. Stay tuned for tidbits and pictures from our trip that we'll try to post as frequently as possible! I hope you all enjoy following us on our next adventure!

XOXO,
Eva and Kelly

Cairo, Egypt Part II

2008-01-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

On our last day in Egypt, we saw the Citadel, an enclosure in the district of Islamic Cairo where many past rulers of post-pharonic Egypt lived. Part of the Citadel is a huge mosque where the prophet of Islam, Muhommed Ali is entombed. We were slightly disappointed that the mosque (and many others in Cairo) are in disrepair, needing a good cleaning and a lot of lightbulbs replaced.

We also visited the National Police Museum where we read about famous murders and assassinations in Egypt’s history.

Many sections of the Citadel were closed for restoration so we decided to move along to one of the largest mosques in Cairo, Ibn Tulun. We paid a bit of baksheesh (tips) and were allowed to climb the minaret, which can be likened to the steeple of a church. This is where the speakers that announce Islamic calls to prayer are placed in order to achieve maximum distribution of sound. Muslims are called to prayer five times a day, starting with sunrise and ending with sunset.

The view from the Ibn Tulun minaret unimpressive at best. Cairo is very crowded and dirty and many of the building are almost in ruins despite the fact that many people are living them. The rooftops and spaces between buildings are crammed with garbage and seeing the filth made me wish I was home in Madison.

We stopped for lunch at the hole-in-the-wall Egyptian Pancake house, where we had our first taste of Egyptian fiteers – baked phyllo dough stuffed with whatever you desire – cheese, mushrooms, olives, powdered sugar, raisins, jam and more. They were definitely greasy and reminded us of a cross between pizza and a thin pastry.

After lunch we headed to Khan al-Khalili, Cairo’s famous souk. The souk was different from other souks we had visited because it was like a labyrinth, with many narrow, winding passageways instead of one large street. Because we’d already done most of our shopping we picked up a few last minute items but mostly just browsed. We did have a nice shopkeeper take us to an off-the-beaten-path gold factory where all the gold from the souk is made. I bought a couple silver charms and got a great deal on them. Plus the guys polished our rings that we already have so they're nice and shiny. It was fun to see where all the jewelry that we've been seeing is made:

We also got henna tattoos on our hands which are supposed to last for a month, but we’ll see. It’s not like we’ll be going back to the shop to complain if it doesn’t!

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped in a beauty parlor because I wanted to get my legs waxed. I was taken to the upstairs, women-only floor where I sat in my underwear in front of seven non-English speaking women. The waxing procedure itself was very rustic – a ball of wax was heated up over a candle and then spread on my legs and pulled off quickly. Not very glamorous, but it got the job done! It also cost about one tenth of the price it would have in the United States.

We met Tyler back at the hotel and ate kushari (Egyptian takeout), cakes from the bakery next door, and a selection of Egyptian beers. It was cheap, but definitely hit the spot for our last dinner in Egypt.

This morning, we had to wake up at 4am to get to the airport for our flight home. Right now, Kelly and I are sitting in a coffee shop in the Heathrow Airport writing this on my laptop. By the time I have internet access to put this online, we’ll already be safely home.

Cairo, Egypt Part I

2008-01-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Kelly and I rolled into Cairo on the sleeper train at 6:45 in the morning.

Unfortunately, when we got to Hotel Luna, we were told our room wouldn’t be available until noon. We ended up staying the in freezing cold lobby until 11:30 waiting and waiting.

We finally got into our room, did a quick shower and headed to see the famous Egyptian Antiquities Museum, which houses such things as King Tut’s death mask and all the treasures found in his tomb along with many, many statues, papyrus scrolls and other artifacts – even a colossal mummified fish. We also bought an extra ticket that allowed us to visit the royal mummies. It was cool to see the remains of the royalty whose tombs we toured in Luxor. As you can imagine, no cameras were allowed. In fact they confiscated cameras at the gate, so we had to sneak my inside in Kelly's sunglasses case.

Today was the big day – we toured the Pyramids!!! We’ve been in Egypt for over a week and we finally got to see the first thing that comes to mind when most people think of Egypt – the pyramids and the Sphinx!

We decided to see all three major groups of pyramids near Cairo: Giza, Saqqara, and Dashur. We had to hire a driver, which would have been tricky, but fortunately we met a guy in our hostel who speaks Arabic and wanted to hang out with us today touring the pyramids. Tyler, a guy from Washington D.C. who is in Cairo touring and practicing his Arabic, was great to have around. Without him, we never would have made it!

Dashur was our first stop. The biggest of the three pyramids at Dashur is the Red Pyramid. It is the world’s oldest “true” pyramid (with flat sides). We chose to go inside this pyramid instead of the Great Pyramid at Giza because the ticket was very inexpensive and there was virtually no one there. From what we’ve been told, the view inside is equivalent to the Great Pyramid and we had the place to ourselves. To get inside we descended into a narrow tunnel 125 steps into the pyramid. When we neared the bottom, it was very hot and smelled like ammonia.

Also a part of Dashur is the Bent Pyramid, which we couldn’t get to close to because it was in a restricted military zone. As much fun as dodging landmines sounded, we decided not to try to sneak past the guards and check it out. The Bent Pyramid got its name because ancient Egyptians started building it at an angle too steep for it to remain intact, so they had to decrease the angle partway through construction.

At the next pyramid group, Saqqara, we saw the Step Pyramid, the World’s oldest pyramid.

The last pyramid group, Giza, is closest to Cairo and is the most famous of the three. We rented camels and saw the pyramids in style.

We also saw the Sphinx, which stands guard in front of the Great Pyramid.

Tomorrow, our last day in Egypt, we’re going to see Islamic Cairo and the famous Khan al-Khalili souk. Wednesday morning, bright and early we’ll be on our way back to the United States.

Luxor, Egypt Part II

2008-01-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

Friday morning, we hired a car and a private guide to take us to the West Bank of Luxor, where many of the tombs and temples that Luxor is famous for are located. We were approached by a fellow American, Franceso Dominick Arbolino (no really, he was American!) who asked if he could join us on our tour. He seemed fun enough, so we gladly agreed because it meant we saved five Egyptian pounds each ($0.80) on the tour, and hey, we’re all about living cheaply!

First stop was Valley of the Kings, which is, according to Lonely Planet, “A place of death, where nothing grows on its scorching cliffs.” Here we visited the tombs of Ramses IX, Ramses II, Seti II, and of course, the newly opened tomb of King Tutankhamun – King Tut! Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the tombs, but they were gorgeous with floor to ceiling painting of hieroglyphics and murals depicting the ruler’s lives. King Tut’s mummy, coffin and sarcophagus were also on display in his tomb – we were surprised as to how small he was!

We also visited Deira Al-Bahria, a temple built by Hatshepsut, the only female Pharo(ess) of Egypt.

Medinat Habu is a huge temple built by three pharos to glorify the god Amun.

Last was the disappointing Colossi of Memnon, which was covered in scaffolding and falling apart. They used to be part of a huge temple bigger even than Karnak but it was all destroyed a long time ago (27 B.C.) by an earthquake.

After lunch we did a bit of shopping at the Luxor souk. The shop owners enjoyed giving Francesco a hard time, telling him how lucky he was to have two wives (Kelly and I) and offering to buy us in exchange for camels or chickens. He put up with the attention good naturedly, replying, “They are lucky to be with me!”

We ate dinner at a 1920’s-style international cuisine restaurant because we’re getting a little sick of the local food we’ve been having. I had soup and potato salad, Francesco had a burger and French fries and Kelly had an omelet with a side of bacon – made with real pork!

After dinner we found a sheesha place in the souk that promised us good quality Egyptian molasses tobacco and enjoyed sitting outside people watching and sipping Karkaday, a traditional drink infused with hibiscus flowers.

This morning, we hired another taxi to get back to the west bank and saw Tombs of the Nobles, Valley of the Queens, and the Ramesseum. My favorite part was the stunning tomb of Sennofer, which had a ceiling painted with vibrant grape vines and leaves.

While visiting the Tombs of the Nobles, we were told that George Bush is also in Egypt right now, who knew? He’ll be in Cairo when we are on some sort of Middle East tour bonanza.

On the way back, our cab driver stopped at a sugarcane field and grabbed us seven huge stalks of sugarcane. Because he was parked alongside the road, the police came and started questioning us, but luckily Kelly and I were able to use our charm to keep us from getting in to any trouble. The situation ended with the police helping peel my sugarcane for me and taking pictures for us:

Right now Kelly and I are on an overnight sleeper train to head to Cairo for our last four days! Things are winding down and we’re starting to come to terms with the fact that we’ll be back in the awful Wisconsin snow all too soon.

Luxor, Egypt Part I

2008-01-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

Our three days in Luxor were over before we knew it! After checking into "Happyland" hotel Wednesday night, Thursday we hit the ground running, seeing two of the biggest attractions Luxor has to offer – Luxor Temple and Karnak. We were astounded at the size and scope of these two temples dedicated to Thebian gods and the glory of the pharaohs.

This obelisk has its mate in Paris in the Place de la Concorde:

It’s hard to convey how massive these monuments really were. It literally took us two hours to see all of Karnak and after seeing both we agreed it would be best to take a caleche (horse drawn carriage) back to our hotel as we were so tired walking was out of the question.

We even saw some bee hieroglyphics:

Our driver, Friday, and his trusty steed, Cinderella escorted us safely back to Happyland, our budget hotel (emphasis on budget) that we stayed at in Luxor. We even got to take a shot at driving the buggy.

For dinner, we went to Sofra, a traditional-style restaurant that made us feel like we were in the middle of one the 1001 Arabian nights. On our way there, we walked past a chocolate shop that grabbed our attention and ended up picking up some delicious Arabian chocolate to bring back to the States as well as some oriental desserts for ourselves!

After dessert, we weren’t that hungry, so we just had lentil soup and a bit of cucumber salad for dinner. Noticing sheesha was on the menu, we decided to try it but were disappointed that we were given a cheap, watered-down version that is probably meant to fool tourists. Luckily, it only cost fifty cents so we cut our losses and decided to try sheesha at a more authentic place that we had seen in the souk the next night.

Aswan, Egypt

2008-01-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

Even though we felt refreshed after our night on the sleeping train, Kelly and I weren’t quite prepared for the in-your-face, tourism centered feel of Aswan. Unlike Alexandria there are loads of tourists in Aswan and many of the locals make their livelihood from selling felucca (boat) rides on the Nile, pashminas, spices or tour packages. We made it to our hostel, Hotel Keylany, unloaded our luggage and set out to explore Aswan.

Our first stop was the Tombs of the Nobles which involved hiring a felucca to take us across to the West Bank of the Nile. Once there, we had to climb a very long series of stairs carved in the rock and covered in sand.

At the top, our Nubian guides unlocked several tombs for us. The tombs are carved out of the stone and were once filled with the remains of former rulers and nobles. Now, almost all of their mummies can be found in museums all over the world, but one room was still filled with baskets of bones.

It was very surreal to be able to be close enough to touch the drawings and carvings that have been there for thousands of years. We were also surprised that our so-called “tour guides” were just some random locals from a nearby village who split the baksheesh (tips) for giving tours amongst themselves.

Yesterday afternoon was spent exploring the city and the Aswan souk, said to be the second best souk in Egypt, after Cairo. We picked up a few more pashminas and debated the pros and cons of consenting to marriage with an Egyptian man. Six million camels is quite a dowry and was almost an offer we couldn’t refuse!

Dinner was at Aswan Moon, a restaurant that is literally a boat floating on the Nile. We were slightly disappointed by the watery lentil soup and the bland fare, but we did finally get to try Umm Ali, an Arabian dessert we’ve been hearing loads about but hadn’t actually gotten to try yet. It was also a bit of a disappointment but we haven’t given up on it yet, considering nothing we had to eat there was that great – I guess this place is popular due to location!

We long night sleep which was abruptly halted by a cold shower – our water heater in our room wasn’t working! Luckily breakfast was so delicious we almost forgot about it – crepes, toast, honey, tea, fresh juice and fruit! We packed up our suitcases and headed out in search of a felucca to hire for the afternoon.

We didn’t have to search long as we were literally accosted by a felucca captain less than five steps from our hostel. We negotiated a reasonable 25 Egyptian pounds ($4) an hour rate and spent the afternoon sunning ourselves as our sailboat floated gently down the Nile. Due to poor [no] wind conditions on the return trip, we stayed out a bit longer than intended and had to scrap plans to visit Elephantine Island. It was okay though, an extra hour relaxing on the felucca was nothing to complain about!

When our boat docked, we opted to Al-Madena restaurant for lunch, instead of taking our felucca captain’s offer for a traditional Nubian lunch in his home. Kelly finally got up the nerve to try pigeon - it came served whole and stuffed with rice and she managed to get about three bites of duck-like but gamey meat out of the bird before she cut her losses and focused on finishing the rest of my cucumber salad.

We returned to the souk after lunch and did some serious spice shopping, picking up some of the best spices Egypt has to offer (according to our salesclerk).

On the way back from the souk, we stopped back at our hostel for the sole purpose of going to the bathroom – from what we can tell, it’s the only place in Aswan that has a toilet with a bowl and a real toilet seat! It’s funny how this trip is making us appreciate those little porcelain luxuries!

Next we trekked up to (our rather paid a cab driver to drive us) to the Nubian House Restaurant out in boonies of Aswan. We were expecting a delicious, traditional Nubian dinner but were disappointed with oily soup and bland okra casserole – needless to say, our opinions of the food in Aswan aren’t very high! In addition, we had to wait almost an hour to get our food which made us nervous because we had a train to Luxor to catch tonight.

Overall, we’re definitely glad we came to Aswan. Despite the hassling of tourists and the disappointing food, it is very pretty and it was fun to catch a glimpse of the Nubian culture here. The souk was my favorite thus far and the felucca ride was a perfect way to spend a relaxing sunny afternoon. It’s getting harder and harder to even believe that back at home there are mounds of snow on the ground and people can’t walk around in sandals in the middle of winter!

Now, we’re on a train to Luxor and we’ve got just a week left of our fabulous adventure. It’s hard to believe two weeks have gone by already, but we definitely miss our friends and family back at home.

Alexandria, Egypt Part II

2008-01-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

Kelly and I finished up our last night in Alexandria with dinner at one of the best seafood places in town, The Fish Market. Before we even had a chance to order, our table was filled with enough mezze (Arabian appetizers) to feed us for days!

To select entrees, there was no menu. You had to go to the freezer and pick it out yourself, specifying how much you wanted by weight. Luckily the chefs were friendly and helpful and we had fun hamming it up for the camera with them!

After dinner, a group of gentlemen sitting near us sent over a round of Egyptian beer. They introduced themselves and we learned they were dentists on holiday from Greece. It was fun talking to them about their impressions of Egypt and also to hear a bit about life in Greece.

Yesterday we took a carriage (Hantoor) ride along the corniche from our hotel to one of the largest mosques in the city. The mosque was very ornate and we had to take off our shoes and cover our heads to go inside. There is a separate section for women apart from the main mosque and were were surprised to learn that photography is allowed and even encouraged.

From the mosque, we walked to Fort Qatibey, which looks almost like a sand castle sitting on the edge of the corniche.

We had to catch a train yesterday evening to Cairo in order to catch our sleeper train to Aswan. The sleeper car was very basic - two bunk beds and a sink - but much better than sitting upright in a chair for the fourteen hour ride! Dinner and breakfast were included, but inedible so we ate granola bars and some of the multitude of nuts and dried fruit that Kelly impulsively purchased in Doha (7 pounds of trail mix anyone?).

As we were rolling in to Aswan, some little boys caught our attention outside the train. They made motions of a camera with their hands and it was clear they are used to incoming tourists taking pictures of them.

Alexandria, Egypt Part I

2008-01-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Our whirlwind tour of Egypt has begun! Kelly and I arrived in Alexandria yesterday afternoon and jumped right in to the hustle and bustle that is this crazy city!

Even the airport is crazy! Going through passport control, we handed our passports to the agent and they were slid down a shoot and we were instructed to wait with a group of other travelers. Not knowing what to expect, we were shocked when the whole group's passports were handed to one traveler in a stack and he was appointed the task of giving them out to everyone! Needless to say, we were very relieved when we retrieved our passports! At baggage claim, the craziest things came off the plane: bedspreads, big garbage bags, a cooler, and even a jug of water:

After a death defying cab ride (seriously, we almost died....twice!) we arrived at the lovely Hotel Union, right on the Mediterranean. Kelly and I have a private room with a sea view...it's gorgeous!

We spent the evening wandering the city, marveling at the insane traffic and the fact that the drivers don't use headlights - unless they are flashing them at pedestrians - and that they use their horns very liberally. There are no crosswalks, so pedestrians literally hurl themselves into traffic and the cars just swerve and honk to avoid them. Imagine this crossing eight lanes of traffic!!

Here's a picture of the outside of the newly built Biblioteca Alexandria:

We had dinner at a little restaurant called Mohammed Amed and our entire meal for two which consisted of Foul (Egyptian fava beans) with fried egg, two salads, two bowls of lentil soup, pita bread, bottled water, fried cheese (an Egyptian specialty) and dessert for only four dollars!! That's about what we'd been paying for bottled water at restaurants before this. Plus, it was delicious!

Alexandria at night is a bit like a carnival. Everyone is out on the streets and there are bright lights everywhere. The shops are open late and cars are whizzing by narrowly missing pedestrians. It's quite a sight to see!

We were both tired, so we got a good night's sleep so we could get up early and start our second day in Alexandria.

This morning we headed to the train station to book our sleeper car to Aswan for tomorrow night. We were dismayed to find out the trains had been canceled until further notice but luckily a very helpful travel guide helped us to book a train to Cairo tomorrow afternoon so we could take an overnight train from Cairo to Aswan. We even got a VIP behind the desk tour of the ticket desk:

The sleeper car from Cairo to Awan is $60 and puts Kelly and I in a private cabin and includes dinner and breakfast for the 14 hour trip. We were told the fare couldn't be paid in Egyptian pounds! We had to go to the money exchange office and exchange our pounds for dollars to pay for a train ticket in Egypt! Bizzare! Luckily everything worked out and we'll (hopefully) be on a train to Aswan tomorrow afternoon!

We checked out the Roman amphitheater near the train station:

Next we hailed a cab to the Catacombes, a series of tombs underneath Alexandria that was unearthed when a donkey fell through the ground many years ago! No cameras were allowed inside, so you'll have to visit yourself! We hired a guide for $5 and he gave us a very in depth tour with all the history and explanations of the designs and areas inside the Catacombes.

Pompey's pillar, one of the famous sites associated with Alexandria was extra fun because we befriended a policeman at the Catacombes who met us there and got us free, VIP entry. No admittance fee and we got access to the parts that no tourists are allowed to see!

Lunch was at a hole-in-the-wall pizza place, where it was made to order right in front of us. Greasy, cheap and delicious!

Tonight for dinner we're going to have fresh seafood at one of the best spots in Alexandria. Given the 6:1 exchange rate, it's nice to be in a place where we can afford to splurge a little!

I can't even describe how Kelly and I are being treated here. Every where we walk, people stop what they are doing and watch us. The children come up to us on the streets and stare at us. When I smile at them they get really excited. I was really surprised at how much of a novelty we are, but apparently not that many American tourists make it here. They are definitely missing out and I recommend this city highly! Keep in mind though, nobody speaks English and all the signs are in Arabic! Other than that, people have been going out of there way to accommodate us and we are enjoying the attention!

Doha, Qatar!

2008-01-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

After an hour flight we arrived in Doha, Qatar Wednesday morning. We finally got to see Ariane's apartment and the city she's been living in for the past six months. Ariane's friends arranged an SUV trip to the dessert for us, complete with cook-out, fire, and dune bashing. Dune bashing involves taking an SUV at full speed up and down the dunes - it's like a real-life roller coaster ride. It was thrilling and scary at the same time.

The desert is freezing at night!
Thursday Kelly and I walked along the Cornish, the road that boarders the Gulf. It was a 4.5 mile walk total, which felt great as we haven't been able to walk that much so far. In Ariane's words, the motto here seems to be, "we don't even walk across the street, we drive!" The Cornish is beautiful and has a very wide promenade that was full of Qataris enjoying the warm afternoon weather.
There are some beautiful new buildings in Doha:

It seems like for every one building completed there are two more being put up. Cranes dot the skyline:
I am not sure what this street sign says, but clearly it's had enough!

Doha is the pearl of the gulf:

We met Ariane at the old souk after she was done with work and spent the evening browsing spices, nuts, pashminas, perfume and more. We also each ordered necklaces that have our name in Arabic to be custom made.

For dinner, Kelly & Ariane stopped at a shwarma place to get some Arab fast food. Shwarma is basically like a gyro - lamb or chicken meat wrapped in a pita with sauce and onions. It was cheap and supposedly delicious!

Unfortunately for Kelly, it seems that she may have gotten a side of salmonella with her shwarma. She spent all last night doubled up over the toilet with an awful case of food poisoning. Today she spent most of the day in bed and wasn't able to keep even water down until almost lunch time. Kelly still has no appetite, but her energy is returning and I think she'll be back to full health tomorrow.

Also, I have a few extra pictures of our living arrangements in Dubai. Eight people in one bedroom with three twin beds!

Tomorrow morning we leave for the last leg of our journey - Egypt!! We fly into Alexandria and from there Aswan, Luxor, and Cairo!

Dubai, Part III

2008-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

We had a relaxing day today, spending all day at the beach. We even made some new friends, a few boys from Lebanon who now live in Dubai. Ariane played soccer with them and Kelly refereed from the comfort of her lounge chair. Needless to say, they were also okay to look at!

We stopped at the grocery store for a cheap lunch and saw this sign, warning Muslims away from the pork products section:

Happy New Year!!! After getting back from Medinat Jumeira, we hung out with the boys we are staying with for a bit and got ourselves all good-looking for a fabulous VIP night out at Club Peppermint.

We had a table and bottle service reserved in advance, so when we arrived we were whisked past the long line of people outside the club and let in the velvet rope VIP entrance. Would you expect anything less?

The club itself is housed in a hotel, as is common for most clubs in Dubai, because it's easier for hotels to get liquor licenses. The club had a DJ and party favors for us, including fun masks:

Pretend the 2 in 2008 isn't backwards:

We danced the night away and had a blast ringing in the New Year!

Tonight we had a dinner reservation at the 7 star Burj Al Arab, the most luxurious hotel in the world. We got all dressed up and indulged in an all-you-can-eat buffet (very Arab). There was so much food I couldn't even manage to try everything!

Trust me, I didn't clean my plate each time!

We also explored the hotel, something you can only do if you have a dinner reservation or are a guest of the hotel. We had to be checked off at the entrance just to gain admittance!

Right now we're hanging out with all of our new friends in the flat enjoying the remainder of our time together. We're leaving on a plane tomorrow to Qatar for the second leg of our journey!

Dubai, Part II

2008-01-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday night we went with Samir and Hekmat to Arabian Nights for a fantastic traditional dinner. We ate ourselves silly eating baba ganouj (mashed eggplant dip), hommos (hummus), tabbouleh (bulgur, chopped mint and parsley, and spices), stuffed vine leaves, halloumi (cheese made from goat and sheep milk), kebobs, and more! There was so much food and it was delicious and healthy (mostly!). I loved that almost everything was vegetarian and Ariane decided her version of heaven would be filled with heaps of hummus. Since we had a crazy New Year's planned for last night we decided to keep things low key - ie: finishing dinner at about 12:30am.

A mint tea toast:
If you're really fancy, you pour mint tea like this:

Yesterday was a holiday, so almost everything was closed. In the morning, we checked out a high-end mall, Wafi that has the types of stores that make you feel as if they're too expensive to even window shop in!

We explored Memoires, a store set up like an old Victorian mansion with imported antiques from Europe. It was so elaborate it felt like we were touring a museum and all the employees were dressed in period costume. They even had a vampire, who kindly agreed to a picture with us (in the store entrance as photography inside was prohibited).

One of the stores was selling furniture covered entirely with Swarovski crystals.

We also shopped in Wafi Gourmet, which featured premium chocolates and cookies as well as baklava and some candy/taffy looking stuff that I don't even know how to describe. We made friends with one of the clerks and he hooked us up with a bunch of samples! We liked it so much we decided to pick out a mix for Emre and Emil, the two boys who have graciously been hosting us this whole time! We also got to see pita bread being made first hand, even though I still can't understand how they get the air pocket in it!

In the afternoon we returned to Medinat Jumeirah to take a few more pictures and explore further. We even managed to sneak into the ultra posh Medinat Jumeirah hotel to do a little exploring.

Medinat Jumeirah has a great view of Burj Al Arab, the seven star hotel where we're having dinner tonight!!

Dubai, Part I

2007-12-30T13:19:00.000-08:00

It's gorgeous in Dubai! Even though it's technically winter, every day is 75-80 degrees and sunny. Yesterday, for our first day in the city we checked out the huge Mall of Emirates, the largest shopping center outside of the United States. It has over 450 stores and also houses Ski Dubai, the indoor ski place.

In the afternoon, we went to a hookah bar and smoked some shisha in true Middle Eastern style.
Dinner was at the Medinat Jumeira souk. Souks are traditional marketplaces that sell everything under the sun - pashminas, textiles, jewelry, spices, trinkets and more. The Medinat souk is a fake souk - it's very new and overpriced.

After dinner we went to a Cuban bar - Malecon - in Dubai Marine Club for drinks and a bit of dancing.

Today we shopped at the gold and spice souks in the morning which was amazing. Each of us bought a jewelry souvenir at the souk. Kelly bought a pretty sparkly white gold bracelet, Ariane got a white gold chain and I got an ornate gold link necklace.

Myrrh:

Frankincense:
Here Kelly is having a sample of dried and salted shrimp. It was a bit like Fear Factor, reaching into a bin of shrimp and eating one whole...sanitary I'm sure!

Some old men enjoying the Dubai sun:

The afternoon was spent at Jumeria beach, sunning ourselves and hanging out with the AIESECers we're staying with.

And having a bit of a photo shoot:

And yes, we did wear our bikinis at the beach, but it was a bit windy towards the end so we put our overclothes back on!

I'm loving Dubai and experiencing this completely different culture, although Ariane keeps reminding us that we're in for even more culture shock in Qatar, which is a much stricter Muslim country.

That's all for now, we're off to dinner at a really fabulous traditional Arab restaurant tonight!

Also the government blocks parts of the internet here due to its content being "inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates."

We've Arrived!

2007-12-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

Everything went smoothly, Kelly, Ariane, and I are all safely in Dubai! We got picked up at the airport by Ariane's friends, and whisked away to the flat we'll be staying in in Bur Dubai.The flights weren't bad, I actually ended up sleeping more than I expected. The most exciting thing that happened was when we opened our necessities package in our plane seat on British Airlines. We got a sleep mask, socks, headphones, and.......this:

After a bit of discussion, I was convinced it was a flashlight, but Kelly argued that it was a femmine product. Can you guess who was right?It actually turned out to be a toothbrush! Who knew? Much more practical than either of our guesses!

That's all for now, it's 10 hours ahead of Wisconsin time here, which makes it almost 3 am. We're headed to bed and have big plans to enjoy all that Dubai has to offer in the next few days!

Middle Eastern Adventure!

2007-12-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'm off on my biggest adventure to date! Miss Kelly and I are headed to the Middle East for three weeks! We fly from Chicago to London tomorrow night and then Thursday from London to Dubai. All in all we'll be spending 16+ hours on a plane and be traveling for over 24 hours total. We get in to Dubai at 11:30pm on Thursday where we will be meeting Ariane - she gets in about an hour before us.

The rough itinerary is as follows:

Dec. 27-28: Chicago-London-Dubai

Dec. 28- Jan. 2:Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Jan. 2-5: Doha, Qatar

Jan. 5-7: Alexandria, Egypt

Jan. 8-9: Aswan, EgyptJan. 10-11: Luxor, Egypt

Jan. 12-16: Cairo, Egypt
Jan. 16: Cairo-London-Chicago (Isn't it crazy that we leave Cairo at 8:30 in the morning and get in to Chicago at 3:30pm the same day!)I'm so excited for the three of us to be reunited again!

I'm so excited for the three of us to be reunited again!