What a surprise...in Frankfurt??

The night before my trip home I packed all night and barely slept. My mind became a big mess and I ended up missing my flight. So I took the next flight out of London and it put me in Frankfurt. Yes another city I can check of my list of places I've been, but an unexpected surprise with an even better ending. I didn't have a Lonely Planet to guide me through Frankfurt...I only had my intuition. I used my intuition to initiate a conversation with another backpacker. And to my surprise I not only met a backpacker, but a gourmet backpacker, Oz! Oz is a chef and not your average food network channel chef, but really an Iron Chef! We became fast friends with our common interests of photography and food and of course the love of a new adventure. Oz was planning on meeting a friend in downtown and as luck would have it I became friends with her (Meltem) so quickly that she offered me a place to stay that evening. The three of us and another backpacker made a feast that would excite all of your senses. Chef Oz and I prepped the food as Meltem and her friend made outdoor arrangements to enjoy our feast. We made sausages (well what else would I want in Germany???), potato salad with a dressing that I cannot recreate, bread and of course beer! This meal left our bellies full our mouth satisfied and hunger satiated! The evening came to end with hugs to the boys and a conversation about friendships between Meltem and I. The next morning I woke for my flight and was saddened to leave my new friend in a new city that I barely discovered. All I know is I left Frankfurt knowing I'll always have a friend there. Thanks Meltem for your hospitality, YOU ARE FABULOUS!!

A New City, A New Love Called London!

London, my love, oh how I miss you dearly! I miss your castles, your towers, your bridges and especially your pub crawls ;) London, you captured my heart and held my mouth agape as I gawked at your sights. I enjoyed watching you from double-decker buses, from "your eye" and from in between gates. Gates to palaces and gates to cathedrals. Oh how I wish I could lay in the grass again at Westminster Abbey, ride the tube to Charring Cross and sip a latte in Trafalgar Square, better yet have a lovely Pimm's with a good friend and eat your once national food of fish and chips! You were so kind as to entice me with your delicious foods from Borough market, dazzle my taste buds at Roast and grace me with company so pleasant that I did not wish to leave. I loved taking your picture as the sun shone down on your sculptures in Buckingham Palace and of your guardsmen during beating the retreat. You gave me a special surprise that day with a little wave from your Queen! Oh my heart filled with joy and my eyes widened on that unbelievable moment.

I enjoyed watching your theatrics at the Old Vic, the Criterion Theatre and especially at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. Although that day was the day you chose to show me how cold, literally, you could be by drizzling droplets of water on my head all performance long. I tell you London, I still had a fantastic time watching Shakespeare!! My most favourite part of my visit with you was your kindness to reunite me with my travel mates, Sat, Jamie, Hayley, Mannie and Livie! Without them I would not have understood your kindness to welcome so many to your home. And what will I give you London? One day I hope to give you my presence again, whether it be for a vist to walk like a Beatle or to reside with you permanently and fall in love all over again! I thank you, my dear sweet London, I thank you. I think of you often longing for a reunion...one day, my fair city...one day.

Israel with Friends

I had a wonderful experience in Israel! I was fortunate enough to make friends with a very cute Israeli couple while we were traveling in South Africa. This lovely couple gave me a lift from Blyde River Canyon back to Johannesburg and we've been friends ever since. So when they asked me to come and visit them in Israel I took them up on their offer! I was greeted at the airport by Katty (no longer pregnant), Shay (husband), Linoy (first daughter) and the new addition, April! A cute family of four to greet me with open arms!
Katty and her family took me to the boardwalk area where we saw Capoeira dancing, children running and laughing about, people enjoying the sunset over the sea while munching on food and sipping on drinks. We even strolled by a little local market! It was a great first night in Israel.
While there I ventured off to Jerusalem on my own and was astounded by the Wailing or Western Wall! The sight was humbling. The wall is sectioned off for men and women, but like a neighbors curiosity one can climb up on a chair and easily peek over the fence to see what's going on. On the men's side barmitzvahs were abundant! Young boys carrying the Torah while their male counterparts singing and rejoicing in the tradition of celebrating a boy's coming of age. Such joyous celebrations in the back grounds contrasted so starkly in the foregrounds near the wall with those individuals crying and sobbing while pressed against the wailing wall. That was another humbling moment for me. Every crack/crevice of the wall was jammed with small slips of paper with people's prayers on them. I joined the masses and began to write my prayer, folded it, gave it a kiss and with all my might shoved it into an open crevice. Feeling overwhelmed, I stepped back, admired my little slip of paper, gazed around at so many women coming together for one purpose and just sighed. So wonderful!
I walked around Jerusalem along the via Dolorosa where its believed that Jesus took his last steps. On this path there are plaques that indicate what happened to Jesus at certain points along the path. Unfortunately now most of these alley ways are covered in souvenir stalls. I did enjoy what was unobstructed. One of the best pieces of architecture there was the Dome of the Rock mosque. It took me ages to find the only entrance that permits non-Muslims to enter through. For a religion that highly promotes tolerance I didn't really appreciate this "discrimination". All the entrances/exits lead to the mosque and if you are non-Muslim then you are only granted access via one entrance, but you are permitted to leave out of any entrance/exit. The air of religious tension is obvious...unfortunate and obvious.
After seeing all I could in the heart of Jerusalem I scurried off to the Israel Museum where I laid my eyes upon 2000 year old documents...The Dead Sea Scrolls. I just couldn't believe that on my trip how much I've been amazed by and I continue to be in awe at everything I am fortunate enough to see! Most of the documents there were written in Hebrew and look amazingly good for surviving 2000 years. Incredible!!
The best part of this adventure was having the opportunity to see it from a locals perspective and enjoying a local lifestyle. Thank you Katty, Shay, Linoy and April for a wonderful time and I hope to one day return for another visit!

From Egypt to Jordan in 20 days!

On my flight from Jo'burg to Cairo I met an Egyptian man who took me in like I was his daughter! My dear friend now, Salah! He gave me his number and offered to show me Cairo, so after traveling to the oases I took him up on his offer. Salah drove me around Cairo and showed me where Anwar Sadat was assasinated and now laid to rest. My first trip to the pyramids was courtesy of Salah and it was great! We only had an hour and rushed to see all the pyramids and the scenic viewpoints as well as the sphinx! It was great that I had Salah to tell the tourist police that I just wanted one more picture!!! He was kind enough to take a few pictures of me in front of the great wonders of the world!! Thank you Salah!! We then moved on to his friend Meena's place. She moved to Cairo from Canada about three years ago! A lovely woman who fed us and entertained us with her stories of being cheated in the markets when she first moved to Cairo!! Now she's got a seafood guy she can trust! After a lovely meal, Salah showed me Cairo by night! All lit up in it's colorful beauty! We saw a couple that just got married standing on a bridge getting photos with an amazing backdrop of the Nile and Cairo Tower! Locals standing on statues near the opera house and the riverfront alive with couples and families and falafel vendors! Oh the smell of those tasty falafels!!! YUMMY!!!!!!!!!! So around midnight Salah and I finally said our sad goodbyes but not without him stopping for a tasty treat of peanuts for me!



Next morning I met my tour group of 10 and off we headed to the Egyptian Museum for an information session that blew my mind! This museum is overfilled with mummies, sarcophagi, jewelry, pottery, canopic jars and amazing stone carvings!! The archeology foundation is building another museum near Giza to house it all...but even that won't be enough because every month there is a new discovery! Next stop The Pyramids!! Even cooler the second time around! Listening to the history the discovery and the conservation made this time a different experience! The pyramids are really as amazing "AS SEEN ON TV"!! I even crawled inside one...didn't find any kings just a bunch of other tourists! It was incredibly cool to know on May 11th 2009 I was inside a pyramid!! After climbing out of a pyramid I climbed on it near the No Climbing sign...yes bad tourist I know...sorry! Off to see the Sphinx!!! I gave him a kiss and was in awe at the view! Head like a king and body of a lion with one of the pyramids in the background...look out Nat Geo have I got a picture for you!
After a stinky and scary camel ride our group was off to a perfume shop. Egypt is known for making essences. They've got all the labels but call them by different names like Essence of Nefertiti or 1000 Arabian Nights...I didn't buy any...I'm okay with Eau de Manali (not a word Maulik!) Next we stopped at a papyrus shop and there I did a little damage...thank goodness for Capital One! After a tasty lunch we headed for the train station and set off for Aswan!



In Aswan I saw the Philae Temple, had dinner in a Nubian village and bargained for a few souvenirs and my most favourite sight...Abu Simbel!! At Philae Temple my group and I had a lovely time acting out the story of Set, Osiris, Isis oh and uh...sorry Mannie and Wassim but I've forgotten the other woman's name...it was the heat that melted my brain! A great temple with stunning work and the size is the one thing that always fascinated me the most!! Just incredible!!! Abu Simbel was my favourite because of it's story...this monstrosity of a temple was relocated 65m higher and 200m back from the river after the river was dammed. An incredible feat! Ramses was a bit full of himself at this temple depicting himself so largely and carving his cartouches so deep! But the man was very smart!



Aswan is where the felucca trip began and it was the highlight of my time in Egypt. I know the temples are great, but sailing on the Nile without a motor, just a sail and relaxing and reading and swimming and sitting in the sun and getting browner and browner (sorry mom and dad) and listening to the sound of the water slap up against the boat...just heavenly!! We only spent two nights on there, but I could have spent an entire week! The nights were great as well as we docked along the bank of the Nile had a fire sang and danced and smoked a little shisha (flavored tobacco)! Sigh...those were the days...Our boat docked finally in Kom Ombo and off for more temple sightings!! Edfu Temple was brillant again with it's size and the depth of the carvings into the stone...patience is what these artists and engineers had the most.


Last temple stop...Luxor! It was blazing with heat and humidity here!! Stepping outside caused a puddle of perspiration to quickly pool at my feet!! In Luxor I eyed up the most stunning ring at a silver shop that I've ever seen!! Almond shaped, about an inch and a half long and half an inch wide with markecite and rubys...oh it was beautiful!! But if I wanted to return to the US I would need it to fly me home, so it was left there in the window longing for my finger...sigh. The next two temples were just as amazing as everything I saw from the beginning of this trip. Luxor Temple by night lit up with light orange bulbs against a clear midnight blue sky oh just incredible...when I thought I wouldn't need a tripod and this was the moment I did...oh guess I'll just have to come back one day...hopefully on Nat Geo's expense...a girl can dream can't she!? Final Temple...Karnak Temple which one day will be connected to Luxor Temple by a stone path 5km long lined on both sides with sphinxes (or is it sphinxi???). This temple is known for people walking around a statue of a scarab for good luck. So I circled it 10 times!! A scarab is a beetle...like the ones in the movie The Mummy, but none came to life!



My last destination in Egypt was Dahab...ahhhh...Dahab, a place of absolute bliss!!! Drinking freshly squeezed juices, eating seafood caught that morning, smoking shisha and listening to the waves of the Red Sea, diving in the Sea and witnessing an amazing reef of corals from colors that only computer imaging could create as well as spotting lion fish, snorkeling in the Blue Hole and feeling like you are in a world all your own (that is until a group of 50 Italians come talking with their hands through the water)...ahh...yes bliss...just heavenly bliss!!


Off to Jordan...although I was excited to see Petra I was sad to leave Egypt behind a place where I fell in love with the people and the culture...a place I will definitely return to in the future! Crossing into Jordan was a trying experience as our group needed to make our way via Eilat, Israel. At the border crossing I was grilled on my birth place, my religion and why I had a Dubai stamp in my passport. I politely answered all questions and was given access to pass through Israel to Jordan. I wasn't the only who was held up with a barrage of questions. My Kiwi friend Hayley was actually stopped and escorted to a security office secondary to having a stamp from Morrocco in her passport. After about 20 minutes or so she was also given permmission to cross the 20 minutes through Israel to Jordan. First destination...Wadi Rum. We spent the night at a cheesey but entertaining bedouin camp...no unusual suspects here, just good food and and dancing! A desert safari ride into Wadi Rum with quite an entertaining driver! The color of the sand and rock formations were absolutely fabulous! Knowing that we were riding through a desert that once was all under water was quite striking...global warming...sigh.




Second stop...PETRA!!!!!!!!!!!! A city 2000 years old carved out of a mountainside and eroded away by floods and wind to create an amazing landscape is a sight to see. My words or pictures can't even come close to depicting the beauty and size of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The impressive Siq winding it's way and creating a narrow passageway to bestow upon the doe-eyed tourist a spectacular and quite sizeable building known as the Treasury! Now I saw Petra by night as well and this one mile corridor was lit with small white candles in brown paper bags to lead you in the darkness to the Treasury. The walk is completed in silence as to just to let your other senses take it all in and let you be surprised by the scene at the Treasury. More candles lit, people sitting on Jordanian designed mats all surrounding a sole bedouin man sitting in his white gallibiya, head dressed with a red and white checkered scarf and stabilized with a black ring waiting to dazzle your auditory sensors with music flowing from his oud (a violin like instrument). A magical experience! When I thought the show was over another sound mystified me as I tried to locate it's origin. From inside the Treasury a man was playing the flute and it rang through the area with a sweet melody! Again I can't tell you enough how amazing this sight was and one can only really experience it in all it's glory in person! Seeing only 10% of Petra by day was exhausting but really worth it...the guide on the other hand...not so much. Walking around Petra I wondered how it survived for so many years because when you enter in a tomb/cave and touch the walls the colors of sand just come right off onto your fingertips! It was like a painter's palette! And to think this was only my third day in Jordan...what more could be in store for my eyes!! THE DEAD SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




The second highlight of Jordan! No lifevest needed here...you couldn't swim if you tried...and honestly I didn't try! I was content lying on my back and just floating and enjoying the feeling of absolute weightlessness! The water itself was oily and VERY salty which my eyes had the unfortunate first hand experience of feeling. The sign says just continue to lie on your back and the pain will pass...yeah that didn't happen for me so I felt my way to the shower and relieved my pain and then headed back to the sea for more floating, but not before getting muddy!! Now I'm not sure if the guy who coated me in mud was official or not, but I can tell you he got more than his one dinar's worth! At this point in our trip the seven of us were coated from face to feet with the Dead Sea mud and posed looking like really bad super heros for great photos and even better memories!!! Saying goodbye to the Dead Sea was hard to do but had to be done.


My trip ended in Madaba where I saw the oldest mosaic map containing the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, The Nile, Jericho, Mt Nebo and Gaza! Just incredibly beautiful!! This artist had patience as well. The mosaics are no more than a fingernail big and the colors are amazing!! In Madaba I found a lovely little coffee shop next to the Archealogical Park and enjoyed the loveliest hospitality in Jordan! The shop owner let me use his laptop for two hours while I sipped his refreshing latte and chomped quickly through a homemade chocolatechip cookie!! Later that same evening I enticed the rest of the group to hit up the shop for some lattes! This trip was absolutely fantastic!!! My dearest Egypt, I will be back for you!!!