http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/vaj/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from vaj en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 10:26:31 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 10:26:31 +0000 I kept waking up like every 23 hours and finally couldnrsquot sleep after 6am was just lying and waiting because everyone else was still asleep.Everyone woke up around 730am and no one here takes a shower. Everyone just washed their face and hair and thatrsquos it.The dinner table was brought outside and the sun was just popping out and it was cold. I really enjoyed sitting outside with the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Tataouine/blog-351266.html I woke up early morning at 6am and went to the hill nearby to see if there would be a good sun rise but nope pretty disappointing. Got back to the hotel to have breakfast as itrsquos included in the price and was given bread butter jam and coffee. Sometime I just wished they just donrsquot bother but then again you got to learn to appreciate whatever thatrsquos given to you. The couple I m http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Tataouine/blog-351247.html Early morning took a shower and went to the louage station to catch a louage to Tatouine. I was the 2nd person in the louage and we had to wait till 6 more people turned up. Near the ticket counter there was this guy who looked like a student and fortunately he spoke English. I asked his if it was faster to go to Gabes and then get another louage to Tatouine as Gabes is closer to Tatouine and prob http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Tataouine/blog-351227.html Life was getting too comfortable in Sousse and it was time to leave and see the rest of the country. I went to Sfax from Sousse and I got into Sfax at 11am. Found the ferry port and found out that the next ferry to Kerkennah was at 1230pm and the next at 1430pm. Decided to get a room in the Sfax medina and then walkabout the medina and take the Kerkennah ferry at 1430. I realized later that this w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Kerkennah/blog-351189.html Woke up early morning and went to ElJem to see the Roman Colosseum. Houssem said he will be having lunch with his friends and for me to join. The louage which is the easiest form of travel between two places however at times can be very time consuming. Even though I got to the louage station at about 845am by the time we left to ElJem it was about 930am. It took nearly 1hour. The Colosseum was m http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Sousse/blog-351184.html I got into the Tunis louage station at 830am and took the louage to Kairouan. The louage took 2hrs and cost 5 dinars. The first thing I noticed in Kairouan is that people are more tradionally dressed than other parts of Tunisia and there are loads of butchers. Dead animals hanging on hooks and cow heads being displayed is very common. For the first time in Tunisia I also saw rabbits donrsquot t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Sousse/blog-351181.html Woke up at 715am and did the 3s's and went to the bus stop at 8 and met Bilal. We took the bus which cost 410millis and took the train to Monastir. Monastir is a brilliant place. The Ribat is gorgeous and the beach is stunning too. When you climb the rocky area which is connected to land by a little bridge you could see clearly through the turquoise blue water. One couple asked me if I could take http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Sousse/blog-351162.html Woke up at about 9am and had breakfast. Ricky Houssem and Iwent to the bus stop. I went to the medina to check out the Sousse medina while Ricky went to Tunis to spend the day in Tunis before catching a flight to Egypt. Houssem went back home as he had lots of homework to finish and I proceeded on my own to the medina.The views from the Ribat were very beautiful and the mosque courtyard looked qu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Sousse/blog-351153.html Woke up at 7am got ready and went to the bus stop. Caught a bus at 830am to Nabeul which is close to Hammamet. In Nabeul you got to walk across the city center to get from the bus station to the louage station to get to Kelibia which is close to Kerkouane. Nabeul city centre is really beautiful the main street has so much of ceramic stuff it is really nice and worth a visit. At the beginning of th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Hammamet/blog-351145.html I woke up around 830am took a shower. Celinersquos door was padlocked so I figured she had gone somewhere and wasn't sure if she was going to be back before I left. I went to the bakery downstairs and got half a baguette and a custard pastry. Got back to the house and went through the fridge looking for some butter as I desperately needed some butter to eat with my coconut sambol. Any Sri Lanka http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Hammamet/blog-351137.html Woke up at 830am and had a piece of German bread with Nutella. Celine had to go do some work and I was going to Carthage and Sidi Bou Said. We both set off together and Celine got me to check out this food. Essentially it is fried bread bun which they cut in half apply harissa fill it with some mash potato boiled egg and tuna and its out of this world. Irsquom so in love with all this food I w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Sidi-Bou-Said/blog-351132.html I woke up around 830am and I took a shower. Celine and I went all over the medina. When we started out we were a little hungry and Celine introduced me to fruit cocktails. It is quite similar to a smoothie the one that we had was a made from banana and I think they put dates and crushed cashew and almond as well and they top it up with a few banana slices and honey. It tasted fantastic and it cos http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-351120.html Woke up around 9am I had not done any of my packing and my room was in an utter mess. I also had to go to the bank because I have been busy working double shifts to payback days my colleagues have been working for me.I had a cup of green tea which I had drunk a few days ago and the cup was still beside my bed and the green tea leaves were still there with mold growing inside.After having breakfas http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-351010.html Woke up around 730am took a shower and had breakfast. Finished the rest of the bread and cheese spread.Told the lady at the counter that we were checking out and left my bag under the staircase which is where people keep their backpacks at their own risk. The beauty of my backpack is I don't care if anyone steals because I don't have anything worthwhile apart from my clothes which I am not too bo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Trakai/blog-319242.html J has this strange rule where you are not supposed to talk to her until she talks to you in the morning approximately 20minutes after waking up. Apparently the rule applies to her family too...I woke up around 0640am J was already up and she spoke to me. She had obviously woken up earlier and had already been through her hibernation period.We were taking the 0815am train to Vilnius. So had to ta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-317660.html I finished work at 11pm on the 26 Aug got home around 1130pm took a shower and I find my housemate Allan watching TV saying he cannot sleep. I had cooked some mushrooms the previous day so I finished the remainder with some bread and finished the yogurt that was remaining too. It amazes me how lazy the people in my house are. The bin was full and overflowing the previous day but somehow people h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Kaunas/blog-317654.html The kidnapping in Colombo On the 1st of January 2003 I was driving back from Negombo to Colombo with my mum sisters and Maggie amma a person who was employed by my parents when my sister Imara was one month old in 1984. I am writing this on the 24th of December 2007 and she still lives with us she has been promoted to our 2nd mother status long time ago hence all of us refer to her as l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Sri-Lanka/Western-Province/Colombo/blog-313706.html The bus got into Skopje at 545am. I had to change bus and the bus to Ohrid left just pass 6am.Got into Ohrid at 945am. At the bus station an elderly gentleman asked me if I was looking for accommodation and I said yes. He was riding a bicycle so we walked to his house which was a 10 minute walk from the bus station. He said he can give me a room with an attached bathroom for Euros 15 per night and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Macedonia/Ohrid/Ohrid/blog-258106.html Woke up around 11am and got dressed as some of Vesnarsquos couch surfing friends had organised a picnic in a nearby mountain called Avala.Here's a short history of mount Avala from Wikipedia...StartAvala is the mountain overlooking the city of Belgrade Serbia situated in the southeastern corner of the city and offering a great panoramic view. It stands at 511 metres 1677 ft above sea level http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Serbia/West/Belgrade/blog-258104.html I woke up around 7am but went back to sleep and woke up around 1130am. The girls Natasha Ivana and Jelena were still asleep.Ones the girlrsquos woke up it was breakfast time. Ivana wanted to go to the market near her flat to get food stuff. I went with her and I bought some onions bread eggs and some chillie powder.After we got back I made some ldquoSeeni Sambolrdquo essentially fried on http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Serbia/West/Belgrade/blog-255890.html