Siwa is great! It is a small desert community that had no road until 1980, so things are still very "old Egypt". There are donkeys everywhere, the women were covered from head to toe (face too), and every morning everyone lines up at the bakery to collect their flatbread for the day (including me!). It is only 90km from the Libya border and in the middle of the desert. I was told by a Canadian guy (Scott Cable, met him in Irkutsk, Russia) that I had to check it out. He also informed me of an interesting tidbit of information that [View Full Entry]

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I made it to Africa! Yesterday was quite the trip. I caught a bus to Aqaba which is a port city in the south of Jordan at 7:30am, but it left on Middle East time (around 8:30) so we arrived in Aqaba at 10:30 and caught a ferry which also left on Middle East time, and we didn't arrive in Nuweiba (Sinai area of Egypt) until 3pm. I ended up finding a bus to Cairo but it was super slow so I didnt arrive until about 1pm. Luckily I had met a Lebanese guy so I had someone to go with [View Full Entry]

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Petra was incredible! I will have to upload some pics later because this computer also doesnt recognize my camera. It is truly indescribable! YOu begin the journey by walking though a gorge/tunnel called a seek that is caused by a shift in tectonic plates and a consequent flash float. It is truly incredible. Just check out Indiana Jones and the Last Cruisader to get a look. I met some cool people at the hostel and talked a group of American/Brit/Canadian guys (5 in total) into joining me for the 6am hike to Petra to get some pics in good light, and [View Full Entry]

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Today I got up early and got the bus across to Jerusalem. Adil joined me and it was nice to have the company because they held us at the border fo 3 hours because we had been in Syria. The border was really strange because it is completely run by 20 year olds who are doing their military duty. All these kids walking around with machine guns--quite startling. They took my passport and asked me to sit in a chair and wait, then (after an hour) a guy about my age pulled me aside and we had a lovely chat about [View Full Entry]

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Today I arrived to Jordan by bus from Damascus. It was fairly uneventful at the border which was nice. I had lunch with a Irish guy named Steve that I met at my hostel who is going to work for an NGO in Togo, Africa for 7 months. Then I hibernated from the heat for the worst part of the day (it was 40C), and just too hot to be walking around with a long dress and backpack, so I relaxed until it was cooler. Aterward, I checked out the Roman ampitheatre and odeon that is Amman's main (and really only) [View Full Entry]

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It is hot here! I've decided to escape from the heat for a few minutes and check my mail in an air conditioned internet cafe. Last night, I was woken up at 4am, by someone knocking at the door. My roommate had left just after midnight for a flight, so I had locked the door. A girl had arrived to take the other bed, so she came in dropped her backpack and went to get cleaned up, and I went back to sleep. When I woke up, I looked over at her bed and say a little head pop up! She [View Full Entry]

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So I got up at 5:30 so that I could be out the door to the bus station at 6:00, so I could make it for a 40 minute bus ride to the next city, to get to a 7:30am bus to Palmyra. So I arrived in Palmyra at 9:30am and checked out the ruins before it got too hot out. Like all tourist sites, I was getting harrassed to take tours, motorcycle rides, camel rides, etc... But I had already decided to just do it on my own. Finally a man on a camel came along and I told him [View Full Entry]

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Today I checked out the Crac des Chevaliers, which is an old (1000 AD) castle/fortress. It was really amazing--incredibly well preserved, but getting there and back to Hama was the real adventure- a knight in shining armor out have been useful! So Camilla (British roommate at the hotel) and I decide to set out around 9:00- 9:30, but first I had to exchange some Turkish lyra into Syrian pound. I didnt do this (well I changed a small amount at the bus station so I would have some, but the rate seemed bad so only a little) when I arrived and [View Full Entry]

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It is really amazing what a few hours travelling will do to change your surroundings! Syria is SO different: it is really amazing though. I dont even know where to begin to explain it, it is really something you just have to be immersed in to experience. It just seems concentrated: so much culture, dust, dirt, sunshine...and the stares! (you think I would be getting used to it by now...) The souqs in Aleppo were amazing. I met a law professor from US on the bus and we spent the day exploring together. He was really nice and helped me to [View Full Entry]

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haha so Im about to take another overnıght bus tonıght. Last nıght wasnt so bad actually. I asked the young attendents ıf I could lay down at the back of the bus and they let me, so between that and the cold medıcıne, I dıdnt get a horrıble sleep. I arrıved 4:00 to a Nevşehır (whıch ıs about 20 mınutes from Gömere, where I needed to go). Obvıously the taxı buses werent goıng at thıs hour and I thought was goıng to be stranded but the nıce attendents talked to the bus drıver and they drove the Greyhound all the way [View Full Entry]

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