http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Ever-Onward/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Ever Onward en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:40:09 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:40:09 +0000 Today is the penultimate day of the trip. Today is a day of rest. Today we are playing DeadAfter a very relaxing night's sleep breakfast came round at 08h00 in a restaurant. What luxuryTo be totally honest I have done nothing today apart from upload my blog as it's the first day with any internet access albeit using the link belong to the hotel next doorThe only thing I have done today i http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/West/Dead-Sea/blog-387632.html The night under canvas went very quickly for me. Others complained at the noise coming from the dogs the little train the odd vehicle snoring but I heard nothing apart from the occasional mosquito trying to get a quick bite.I heard nothing until 06h15 that is when Bassam wandered through camp urging everyone to get up.Breakfast was a simple affair strong coffee pitta bread dipped in oli http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/West/Dead-Sea/blog-387621.html 08h00. There's a knock on the door. Housekeeping The alarm hasn't even gone off yet Packing and leaving the rucksack at the door I headed down to breakfast and made a packed lunch from the bread and cheese availableAli came to collect us at 09h00 and we began the slow climb up from Petra to the summit of the surrounding hills and the plateau beyond. Upon reaching the summit Ali stopped the bu http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Wadi-Rum/blog-387528.html I cannot find the words to describe this awe inspiring city just look at the photos http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-387527.html I awoke before the alarm this morning. Not because I wasn't tired but because I thought I'd overslept 45 minutes before breakfast and I was wandering around in the early morning sun taking photographs across the valley into Israel.Following a simple breakfast we packed our bags into the bus but set off on a three hour walk into the Dana Nature Reserve. We walked through the deserted village and http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-387518.html 07h00 came surprisingly early. I know it happens at the same time each day but I'd once again found it difficult to sleep on the small mountain that purported to be a pillow. Clearly though after having got rid of the pillow I must have slept as the alarm clock was waking me up.After taking a shower and dressing I packed my rucksack and headed down to breakfast. Not good again. This time the http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/West/Al-Karak/blog-387511.html Despite being very tired I found it difficult to sleep in a very cold room the windows had been left open with a pillow the size of a small mountain. Nevertheless I must have slept because the alarm woke me at 07h30 and the pillow was on the floor.I showered and headed downstairs for breakfast by 08h00 and found myself taking orange juice and black coffee with Pauline and Andrew who had taken http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Jerash/blog-387409.html I'm sitting here in Marrakesh starting my journal for a trip to Jordan. Why Marrakesh Well I only have six days between trips not a record as I was back at Manchester Airport for a weekend trip to the Isle of Man some four days after returning from New ZealandI've passed through passport control been scanned and am now enjoying a cup of coffee inside the airconditioned terminal building of http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-387375.html After last night's very heavy rain it felt cooler this morning. The fact that it was cooler may also have had something to do with the fact that I was up at 07h30 in an attempt to beat the queues and get in some early sightseeing. Not forgetting that I'd already been woken at 05h15 by the elfajr call to prayerFor an Englishman it was an unusual start to the day. Not being renowned for our la http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Marrakech/blog-383130.html Quarter past five in the morning. That's the time the call to prayer brought me from my sleep. Quarter past five. Turning over I lay there until a moment or so until a more respectable 08h00 appeared. Getting out of bed I washed dressed and went up to the roof for breakfast.The early morning sun was already hot and I found a table in the open air. Two of us had made a beeline to the aforementi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Ourika-Valley/blog-382865.html I was so tired last night that I simply walked down into the Place Jemaa El Fna paid little attention to the sound of the drums wailing pipes dancers and storytellers and had something to eat. Traditional Moroccan fare ensued at a street stall spicy tomatoes onion lamb tagine bread a large bottle of water and all finished off with very sweet mint tea. All for 50dh about 4.00. Back at http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Marrakech/blog-382580.html For the third time in six days I saw 04h30. This time however I was not driving down to London but having a quick breakfast before heading off to the airport. There's surprisingly little on the TV at 04h30 unless you're interested in teletextAn hour later I was parking the car close to the exit and close to the bus stop pulling my rucksack out of the boot and heading to the fast approachi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-382255.html Last day and what could have been a better end to the holiday than sitting in the hot sun for 4 hours listening to open air jazz ... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-370040.html Penultimate day of the trip ... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-370032.html No words just photos http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Lantau-Island/blog-370025.html Enjoy the photos ... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Sai-Kung/blog-370023.html Enjoy the photos text to be added later http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-344709.html Free Day to be completed later http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-344708.html It was a long wait for the bus this morning. For the experience our leader decided that we should take the bus from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island rather than the MTR or the ferry. So there we were stuck in traffic on a freezing cold airconditioned bus watching 6 lanes of traffic collapse into one as we went into the Hong Kong tunnel.With much joy we arrived at the Bank of China one of Hong Kong http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-343866.html Today was the first proper walk in the New Territories. As usual we walked down to Kowloon Hospital where we acquired two buses. The first group disappeared into the distance whilst our driver decided to throw his toys out of the pram no idea why and took us the long way round to the Sai Kung Peninsula. We arrived some twenty minutes after the first group although wersquod only left some 5 m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Ma-On-Shan/blog-343857.html