http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Adventuress Jen/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Adventuress Jen en-us Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:27:40 BST Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:27:40 BST Hey Everyone I have lots to update you on and i know you all have lots of questions. So here is the latest........bare with me this is a Croatian keyboard. I arrived in Dubrovnik Croatia on August 13th. My friend Flo invited me to stay at her familes's home. We are on the Island of Hvar in a village called Jelsa. Its absolutely amazing here. It reminds me of the Greek Islands and Corsi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Hvar/blog-313904.html Hi Everyone I just wanted to give you all a quick update. I am currently in Barcelona Spain. I love it here. I had forgotten how much I love Spain. My Spanish is improving. I left Paris France Monday June 23rd. I had a great time visiting my dear friend Flo. We spent five days together. She shared all her favorite places with me in Paris. I was also fortunate to be there during the France mu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-291443.html Well I leave tomorrow for France. I'm excited. I'm feeling better I ended up getting the flu while I was here. I was in bed for a few days but life is better now. gt A couple of days a go I went to dinner at Mama Africa. It was a blast the band was great. Beam me up Scotty I'm ready Europe here I come. gt http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-288050.html I spent the day touring four wine regions in Cape Town. It was a fantastic day It was different from the way I had been taught to taste wine in Napa California. We learned to breathe the wine literally and suck it in. It was an experience but I won't be practicing these methods in public. gt We visited Fairview Winery Goats Do Roam Winery Agostinelli Wines and Spice Route. We tasted abou http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-288040.html I had come to Cape Town expecting to feel safe. That has not happened. Everywhere I turn there are signs warning of theft even in the movie theatres and muggings. I have been told not to venture off my street alone at night. I am staying on Long street. It is the street that never sleeps. There are police everywhere here. There is the tourists police crime police and drug patrol. They are ev http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-287728.html I had been told several times how dangerous Johannesburg was so I had already decided to leave asap. While on my flight the woman across from kept giving me tips on safety. I was pretty scared once I arrived expecting to be mugged raped and left for dead upon arrival. You can only imagine how upset I was when my airport pickup was not there. I sat and waited for an hour only to find people were http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/blog-287711.html We made our way back to Cairo. Our last night we spent watching the Sophie dancers. I was so excited about this because I had heard and read about them and their history. The Nomad Gypsies used to practice this art. They dance in a trance state a form of meditation to commune with God. Its inspirational to watch. The man looks up and spins as he dances. He was so graceful as you can see in my http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-287705.html For the next two days we spent our time relaxing on the Red Sea. We stayed at Sata resort. Jordan is two hours away and Saudi Arabia is directly across from us. We had cute beach huts on the beach. At night we would lie down and count the shooting stars. The sky was amazing http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Red-Sea/blog-287698.html The Greek Orthodox Church built a Monastery on the roots of the burning bush that talked to Moses. They did replant the bush so you can still see it. The energy is amazing in the Monastery. One of the Priests spent time with Angelina and myself. He was pointing out images in paintings that were hard to see. He even took photos so we could see them better. You are not allowed to take photos. gt http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Sinai/blog-287693.html After we left Luxor we took an overnight train to Cairo. We headed out the next day on a minibus to Mt Sinai. It took us 7 hours to get there. It was beautiful. A huge Mountain in the middle of the desert. Mt Sinai is 2282 meters high and thats what we climbed This is the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments. We waited to climb all 3750 steps of repentance just as Moses did in the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Sinai/blog-287685.html We spent the morning roaming around Karnak Temple. It is huge in size and quite amazing. They built a man made lake in the middle of it. After we spent the morning there we headed off to Egypt Animal Care. This is a NGO started by two women from England. They are trying to teach animal awareness and care to the people and children. The people use their donkeys as means of moving things rather http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-287676.html We had to be escorted by a police convoy for 2 hours to Luxor. Everyone needs to be. Its quite an experience. Once we arrived in Luxor we roamed the city and took in the view of the Luxor Temple. It is located in the city square. The next day we visited the Valley of the Kings. This is where the tombs are. We were able to climb up the mountain to view them. Some have as many as six rooms. Once aga http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-285553.html The second day on our felucca we stopped in the small city of Daraw. Daraw is known for the camel market. Here nthey gather the camels from the Middle East and have a market once a month. These camels are less than happy. gt The people living in the city are quite vibrant as you can see. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-285541.html We spent the next 2 days on a Felucca boat traveling down the Nile to Luxor. Two days of complete relaxation. We all became great friends. We were on a boat with no privacy. So needless to say we bonded quite a bit. We spent the days talking reading and just soaking up the scenery. Our felucca Captain Abdul taught me to sail. It was great fun We had the most amazing vegetarian meals. Our first http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Aswan/blog-285532.html This blows the Pyramids and Sphinx away in my opinion. They moved this temple from Aswan to build a dam. We watched part of the video as we were waiting to board our flight. It costs us each 170 US to fly round trip to Abu Simbel and we all agreed it was well worth the money. I wish I had researched more on Egypt before I left. There is so much history here and it would be great to be able to r http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-285525.html We arrived in Aswan early in the morning. We decided to meet at noon for our tour of the city. Our hotel had a great view overlooking the Nile. It was beautiful We wandered the city and had lunch. I walked the markets with Angelina and Paul. The men would all comment to Paul what a lucky man he was to have two wives. Then they would follow it up with the question....how many camels did you pay http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Aswan/blog-285512.html We were all waiting in anticipation to see the great Pyramids and Sphinx They were surrounded by city streets but still it was an awesome sight We all stood staring with amazement. Such an incredible sight and the work that went into building such amazement Severasl of us climbed inside the pyramid. It is a very constricted space. Once you climb your way up you find yourself in a small room. It http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Giza/blog-285501.html It is my first day awake in Cairo. I arrived the day before but slept the day away. I needed the sleep after 22 hours including layovers. The city is very alive for a Sunday morning. I'm on my way top the Egyptian museum. I'm lost and trying not to show it when a nice man asks me if he can be of assistance. He says he is on the way to the cafe across from the Museum and would be happy to show me http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-285493.html I had originally planned on being in the States for 23 weeks. I have since learned not to make plans. Everything is evolving as it should just as everything that is meant to be happens. I needed this time home. I had the opportunity to spend quality time with my family take care of my medical needs take time out for my own spiritual retreat and I even had a couple road trips. This was time http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-275719.html Hi Everyone Now that I'm feeling better I've booked a flight leaving next week to see my mom. I will be there 2 weeks and then off to Africa. I will keep you all posted on my plans. I'll miss you all. gt Love Jen P.S. all my photos are now posted gt http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-262839.html