http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Tweedledeedums/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Tweedledeedums en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:28:01 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:28:01 +0000 A quick search of this website reveals that aside from an American chap working in Turkmenistan posting his contact details the last tourist entry for this country was September 2001. So it's hardly surprising then that of all the places we'd planned to visit on this trip the one that aroused the most curiosity amongst our friends prior to departure was undoubtedly Turkmenistan. Those who had http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-68963.html We thought that after 5 months of travelling we'd be starting to feel a little road weary but now that we've reached that minor milestone far from been tired of living out of a backpack our first few days here in China have left us really really excited about the next 10 weeks in the middle Kingdom. We've spent the last 2 weeks racing across the western deserts of this vast country in order to g http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/blog-53464.html Ah I see from Rob's previous blog that I have been implicated as a partner in crime for the tardiness of our travel updates we blew it. To be fair it hasn't always been due to someone procrastinating. 8 months sounds like a lot of time to be taking off but we are constantly amazed at how little time we have left at the end of the day for reading and writing when there are so many kilometr http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Cappadocia/blog-58335.html After a stupendous couple of weeks in the more remote regions of what is by any standards a pretty remote country Kyrgyzstan we're now back in the southern capital of Osh getting ready to cross into China via the Irkeshtam pass. When I say getting ready all I really mean is finishing this asap so we can get some sleep b4 the taxi arrives at 2 tomorrow morning. A tad expensive though as we coul http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Kyrgyzstan/blog-61730.html So we finally managed to escape Istanbul mid March albeit visaless and continue our Turkish travels after two somewhat frustrating weeks. We aren't complaining really well not too loudly anyway as Istanbul should be high on everyone's list of places to spend a little quality visa limbo time but if I ever run into that Mr B again.....With visa worries temporarily forgotten we set off for a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Eastern-Anatolia/Dogubeyazit/blog-56828.html Before we left on our travels we'd discussed the prospect of eating out everyday. Well 4 months down the road I can assure you it's been all good we haven't missed doing dishes and there's one less thing to squabble over. There has been the odd day when we wished we had access to a kitchen to whip up some decent pasta or some spicy Malaysian curry but on the whole we have been quite happy l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-51393.html Hi allRemember how we promised to get things up to date before leaving Iran Well we blew it I'm afraid and a proper rundown of the last 6 weeks in Turkey and Iran as well as KP's foodie post will just have to wait until we hit Uzbekistan. We're in Mashad north west Iran right now and will get up at the ungodly hour of half 4 tomorrow morning 20th April to catch our taxi to the Turkmen bo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/East/Mashhad/blog-53793.html Here's a helpful hint to start our first blog update in a month the next time you're in Istanbul looking for an Iranian visa what ever you do don't try to find it in the Iranian consulate cause it ain't there And if you should ever bump into Mr B from that consulate bad form to mention his full name but Kiwis will get it when I say that it sounds just like what everyone gets at the warehouse http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-47284.html 20th February BeirutWe arrived in Beirut last night just in time for the pension's rooftop BBQ hosted by the ownermanager Michel. A nice introduction to the city even if we were not quite in party mode after our 8 hour journey from Damascus. Another one of those whatshouldhavebeenastraightforward150kmjourney which turned into something not so straightforward afterall. We are learning fast that http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-42747.html Arrived in Hama with a grumpy husband in tow. We left Beirut on a servis essentially a shared taxivan and the driver had charged us USD10 each wh305ch we stupidly agreed to w305thout negot305at305on. 10 dollars would be cons305dered fa305rly good value for a 4 hour journey anywhere 305n the developed world but th305s be305ng Lebanon we found out latterly from the oth http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/West/Hama/blog-46494.html So our saviour wished us as he waved us off after showing us where we had taken a wrong turn. In the suburbs to the east of central Beirut the lingua franca of many of it's inhabitants is french arabic 305s reserved for speak305ng to the servants and the hoi polloi and in Gemmeyzeh where we lived one could be forgiven for mistaking it for a Parisienne quarter in France. Walk305ng thr http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-43103.html We got into Amman this afternoon 2.5 hours on the very straight and dull Desert Highway. We have had 3 fantastic days in Petra the site of the famous salmoncoloured sandstone Treasury building which is on just about every piece of tourist literature related to Jordan. I certainly didn't know what to expect from Petra apart from having seen pictures of the Treasury building but a visit to Petr http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-40033.html Or so we think that's what Moses may have said upon descending Mt Sinai in his barefeet. We are certainly feeling ours after quite a steep descent from Mount Sinai this evening. We left at 8 this morning to have a look around St Katherine's Monastery and climb Mt Sinai for the sunset. St Katherine's is a Greek Orthodox church which has thrived since the 6th C I think and was saved from being to http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-38456.html We decided that since we were in Sinai it would be a good idea to go one of the widely advertised desert safaris as we had never trekked in the desert before. We had tasted some of the other activities that Dahab had to offer we a full day's snorkelling in an area called the Blue Hole just 3km out of Dahab which was fantastic lots of really colourful fish sheltered snorkelling area and was http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-40037.html It's been a while since our last posting and those of you who know me well have probably gussed the reason why. Yes for the first time KP gets to surf the net whilst I make a contribution to our travel blog. Hence the delay. Although Amman seemed like a fairly nice place our brief stay there was notable for only one reason really it snowed very heavily Not exactly what you expect in the m http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-41767.html Just before we started this trip one of the things we said we wouldn't do was to travel on night buses in the developing world. Experience tells us from our time in India and Nepal that it is often bldy awful cold uncomfortable buses and dodgy driving. Anyway funny that we now find ourselves in Dahab utterly exhausted and out of sorts after a 17.5 hour bus journey from Luxor. Predictably i http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-37964.html We have been a week in Cairo and will be taking a 12hour train to Aswan tonight. Cairo is a bustling place and Downtown Cairo where we have been staying is particularly busy like preChristmas week on Oxford St all over again but this is 247 And the traffic...sheesh complete madness. No one stops at traffic lights and the weirder thing is nobody switches on their headlights in the evening http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-37373.html Minutes before we were about to board our ferry from Nuweiba Egypt to the Jordanian port of Aqaba we received a frantic text message from my parents telling us of a ferry sinking in the Red Sea and hoping we were OK. We were fortunately heading across the Red Sea in the opposite direction and in a much more modern and safe catamaran ferry like the ones plying the Marlborough Sounds . We cross http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-39531.html We moved to the West Bank of Luxor and have found ourselves a gem of a place called ElFayrouz. It's a lurid apricot palace with spacious and cool tiled rooms with a fantastic rooftop area and a very pleasant garden outback with seating under the shade of creeping plants and vines. I am sorry now that we stayed on the East Bank for the first 3 nights although it was convenient for the things we http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-37963.html We had our first proper sleep last night in weeks. The last month has been a blur of tying up loose ends at work organising our move back to NZ catching up with people and preparing for this trip. We have been anticipating leaving London for at least the last 6 months but it was still a struggle when the time came to say goodbye. Goodbye Burr Close Goodbye Tower Bridge Goodbye Lewisham Goodby http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-33908.html