Herod
Richard Monks Joined: October 4th 2009
Logged in: January 12th 2010
Logged in: January 12th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Baptising myself
Day 21 (Friday): Damascus to Madaba Woke at the crack of dawn and negotiated service taxi to Amman. Friday is first day of Arab weekend so roads empty and customs quiet. Arab vehicles vigorously searched but we were cheerlessly waved through in the typical middle eastern fashion. Police attitude to westerners is understandable - tourists are unlikely to be smuggling arms - but the dichotomy between the heavy handed policing of locals and kid gloved treatment of tourists must piss the Arabs off. Difference between Syria and Jordan apparent at the border. Jordan is the more developed, a constitutional monarchy with an english queen, the darling of the US, at peace with Israel. In Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea it has world renowned attractions which see millions of tourists a year. Numerals are ... read more
Ummayad Mosque, Damascus
Met Mike from airport late Friday night. Nothing pretty about Damascus Airport, in fact it was particularly unpleasant. As the great Douglas Adams noted, it can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the phrase, 'as pretty as an airport.' Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort. Damascus Airport fell into the latter category. Day 15 (Saturday): Damascus Visited Ummayad mosque in Damascus, putting on Islamic dress in the amusingly titled 'Putting on Funny Clothes Room'. Loved the long flowing skirt - it felt free and refreshing. Might have to buy myself one. Mosque is 8th century and contains an ornate open courtyard, a prayer hall and shrines to John the Baptist and to Saladin. ... read more
Aleppo Citadel (1)
Antioch - Aleppo (Weds) Got service taxi from Antioch to Aleppo. Me, Guy and an obscenely fat Turkish man. He was balding and back of his head looked like a very fat thumb. From behind he didn't seem that large but when he turned sideways he blotted out the sun. Little upper body fat, his weight was entirely in a huge stomach with epic overhang. It was the single most impressive sight I'd seen so far. He looked a little like Ariel Sharon but I kept that thought to myself. No problems at Syrian border. Huge image of President Assad greeted us at the border. It was an image I'd get used to over next couple of weeks. Aleppo (Weds, Thurs, Friday) Lovely city. Not a huge amount to do but very chilled out and ... read more
Boat across Bosphorus
Train Left Europe late last night on ferry across Bosphorus to Asia. Boat goes directly to Asian Train Station, a grand 19th century German construction. Great way to enter a continent. Toros Express to Syria was cancelled so I took a train to Adana in south east Turkey. Didn't get a sleeper but that made journey all the better. Passengers more conservative than people in Istanbul and all girls wear headscarves. Met family from Konya comprising of grandmother, two mothers and three grandchildren. One of grandchildren was an english teacher in her mid 20s. Propriety prevented her from speaking to me directly but we communited via her 14 year old male cousin nicknamed Alex (after a Fernebache footballer). Usual chat about family, girlfriends, football etc. His favourite player was Colin Kazim-Richards who I used to ... read more
Alexander Sarcophogus
Great hostel. People from all over the world (not just Aus), mix of solo travellers and small groups all loving Istanbul. Bartender called Volcano tells many a tall story about his success with the ladies. He has a pink waterbed so they're probably true. Historical Stuff Five or six world beating sites within walking distance of hostel. Aya Sofia is a museum nee mosque nee 6th century Byzantine cathedral with grand domes, minarets and stunning 11th century mosaics. Blue Mosque is breathtaking. 17th century, six minarets, countless domes, tiled in blue. Inside is other worldly with an aura that surpasses the grandest cathedrals. The beauty and aura lie in simplicity. Cathedrals are stuffed full of paintings, statues and icons, drawing attention to saints, marytrs and biblical stories. Mosques are uniform, containing nothing but tiles and equisite ... read more
Blue Mosque
Train Jumped out of train at Turkish border at 1am. Somehow got a visa and visa stamp. Got back on train and fell asleep. Train got delayed somewhere. From 8am I was looking out of window trying to get my first glimpse of Istanbul. Nothing but fields for hours. Got bored and had a shave. Train eventually rolled in at 1.45pm. The Bosphorus express was a misnomer - the 6 hour delay meant a total journey time of 26 hours. Istanbul - first impressions Istanbul as amazing as I remembered. Checked in at hostel and enjoyed afternoon sunshine in the Hippodrome a public square between Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia. Probably the best public square in the world. I'd starred in an impromptu football game here ten years previously. I'd left hotel at midnight with ... read more
The Romanian Steppe
Day 5: Vienna - Budapest - somewhere in Romania Did another Vienna museum in morning, got runover and got lunchtime train to Budapest. Viennese people are astute - jaywalking is stupid. My mistake was forgetting that austrians drive of the right and stepping out onto a one way street after looking the wrong way. Car ran over my foot and knocked my breakfast baguette out of hand. Austrian man shouted at me. I did my best to look like a harmless tourist that couldn't speak German, which wasn't too difficult. Train to Buda was Railjet, a 180km/h super train. Good buffet service including three types of sausage. Hungary noticably shabbier than Austria but none the worse for that. I'd had a bad experience in Buda 10 years ago (losing my then girlfriend's passport and inter-rail ticket, ... read more
Kunthistoriques Museum
Day 3 (Monday) Arrived at hostel about 8pm last night. Sharing a room with German called Philip and four australian girls. Hostel reminds me of an australian university - underground bar where drinking games played late into night. Went to Grinzing, a wine growing village on the edge of Vienna. Rural idyll full of drinking taverns known as heuringer that serve their own wine. Neighbours take it in turns to open and display bushels above the door when they're serving. Discovered that bushel hunting isn't one of my talents and spent two hours trying to find a place that was open. Worth it in the end though, beautiful gardens, waitresses in traditional outfits, calm autumnal atmosphere. The fresh wine that had been made the previous day tasted much like fruit juice albeit very alcholic. Wine made ... read more
Big Beer
* 350km Rolled into Munich Barnhoff at 7am. The night had been mixed. On the negative side were the size of the carriage (6 people in a 6ft x 8ft x 10ft box), the Australian ladies who whinged like Kath and Kim, an english girl who couldn't climb down three rungs of a ladder without constant reassurance from her hen-pecked boyfriend, and fact that wasn't enough room to open my Beaujolais. On the positive side the remaining bunk was graced by a stunning french lady called Marie. Marie was unfortunately engaged to a guy called Luke who worked in media. Over him. Anywho, I stumbled off the train knackered and hopelessly in love. Plan was to pick up a map of Munich, find a coffee shop and work out how to make the most of my ... read more
Notre Dame(1)
* 1,200km Mixed feelings on Eurostar. Excited but anxious for first time. Last few weeks in London had felt like the build up to Christmas. Work manic, friends and family to see, loads of things to buy and sort out, no early nights, drinking most days. Hadn't thought about the trip at all other than in the most general terms. Cape Town suddenly seemed a long way off. Mood changed in Paris. Dumped rucksack and tuxedo at Gare Du Nore, hoped on Metro and jumped off by Seine to discover a stunning autumn day. Elation - Paris was mine for 8 hours and my weekend was 270 days long. Strolled over the islands to Notre Dame, wandered round the cathedral and the Louvre and bought fromage, jambon and a bottle of Beaujolais from an old school ... read more
