Well, It's Been Interesting

SUNDAY -- Getting into Egypt was much easier than getting out.

We were informed on the boat at 3:00 PM that we had a half an hour to pack to get to a chartered flight from Luxor to Cairo.  Intrepid, our Australian tour company, made a decision to get us to the airport.  There were no longer any public trains or planes operating in Egypt.

The scene at the Cairo airport was chaotic and ugly.  The floors were littered with trash, piled high with suitcases, smoke wafting from hundreds of cigarettes from travelers and workers alike.  Men standing on counters and yelling, passing suitcases over people's heads and occasional outbursts of fights.  There were families with children and large, noisy crowds. 

There were no soldiers or police and this was after security which is where I bought my one way ticket to Tel Aviv for only about $400 in cash only and no shekels.  Luckily I was only 11 Egypitian pounds short with my cashed-in Jordanian dinars and pounds.  I bummed the 11 pounds from some Israelis returning to Israel.  I am not sure the ATMs had any money left.  Fortunately I did not have to try.  I heard that the airport had run out of food.  A problem was that people arrived too late in the day to find a hotel since the curfew started at 4:00 in the afternoon.

I was thrilled to find a flight.  I waited from about 8:30 PM until 5:30 AM and arrived in The Promised Land at 7:30 AM Monday fleeing the land of the Pharaohs, Egypt.

Have decided to forgo Petra this year.

Judy

PS:  So happy to be in the land of working toilets and free toilet paper.  In Egypt, it cost a pound to get a square.

BREAKING NEWS....BREAKING NEWS....BREAKING NEWS....

THIS JUST IN
Out of Egypt...
In the Promised Land
Judy

Things Did Not Get Better

[Ed:  Photos now posted a few posts downstream.]  

Well here we are without Internet because the government of Egypt seems to have shut it down.  I assume we will have it again soon and I will be able to send this out.  I am a little afraid of being stuck in Egypt; the thought has crossed my mind.

Today, Friday, which is the Moslem Sabbath, we went by plane at 4:30 AM to Abu Simbel.  We returned to Aswan at 9:30 AM.  We are about to move to a boat for our trip on the Nile.  We check in at noon today but depart at noon tomorrow.

Last night Thursday we went to a Nubian house for dinner.  It was a highlight. The floor is all sand.  Straw mats come out to sit on. We sat on the floor and had a delicious dinner.  After dinner there was entertainment by Nubian drummers.  All the little girls came running over to ask all the blonds to dance.  I felt a little like a wallflower being a brunette.

Abu Simbel where we arrived before sunrise on Friday was magnificent.  Because of the Aswan Dam many antiquities were lost.  Some, like those at Abu Simbel, were moved to other sites.  In their original form there was a surreal design which allowed the sun to reach the holy of hollies, the inner sanctum, once a year.  Even though the configuration changed when they reconstructed the temple they have managed to have the sun do the same thing a day later.  The monumental figures outside the temple were a sight to behold.  Sadly graffiti started way before the twenty-first century and there are clear names and dates all over the temple from the 1800's. Kind of amusing but unfortunate to see. 

After a quite nice lunch buffet on the boat after we checked in, I decided to hang out instead of sightseeing. At 5:00 PM we all went for a walk to the tourist market.  On the way we saw the beginnings of a demonstration.  We walked through the market and on the way back the shops were being closed.  I thought it was the end of their day.  My eyes began to burn and breathing became a little difficult.  People were walking with tissues over their faces.  It didn't take rocket science to figure out it was tear gas.   Somehow I got separated from the person I was with and it became a little dicey. I found my way back to the corniche through a back street away from the running demonstrators.  Then I kind of had some real fear when I could not find my boat.  There were thirty boats at least. Finally miraculously I saw our tour guide and one fellow traveler on the sidewalk so at least I found the boat.  Bizarre to be on a tourist cruise boat on the Nile as Cairo burns.  I have no idea how I will return to Eilat Israel.  Events have proved unnerving.  

I now see on CNN that the demonstrations have spread all over Egypt.  I had a certain amount of anxiety about coming to Egypt in the first place which has certainly proved to be justified.
I see on TV that the army has moved into all major cities in tanks.  Mubarak's speech probably will inflame rather then remedy the situation. I am not afraid of the demonstrators or the army but I hope that terrorists don't use the situation to make trouble.  I am a Jewish American in a land where ne'er do wells could certainly target someone like me.  

SATURDAY  -- Well time to go to lunch.  The food is good though not too Middle Eastern.  We are supposed to visit sites this afternoon.  We are supposed to arrive in Luxor ON Monday. Time will tell what will happen.  Personally I think this is the beginning of a total Middle East shakeup of monarchies and dynasties.  We did not even stop at the temple we were supposed to see.  The boat slowed down slightly.  Feel like a prisoner on a cruise boat.  Anxiety increases.

Waiting for The Internet and WiFi

Things did not get better

Judy

Somewhere In Egypt

The nicest things we saw in Alexandria the other day were the catacombs, the seashore, the citadel, the new and modern bibliotheque, and King Farouk's palace which he left behind when he peacefully left for Italy with all his wealth in the 50's and Nasser and his military cronies took over. 

We spent the night on an overnight first class sleeper train (definitely not the Orient Express) on the 14-hour trip to Aswan from Cairo where we returned to yesterday from Alexandria.  The train stopped and started, bumped along, stopped around the time of prayers and started again.  We were excited to hang out in the club car but found out the only available beverages were juices, coffee, tea or soda. 

Looking out the window the landscape has changed.  There are many many palm trees and I saw a herd of sheep and a sheperd. Aswan is the very African part of Egypt with dark-skinned people, Nubians.  We will be going on a felucca, a typical Nile sailboat.  The hotel is supposed to be very nice with free wifi in the lobby. It is difficult to find Wifi here at all and if there is WiFi, it's usually not free. (Egypt, a tourist destination for years, has not caught up to newer tourist destinations like Vietnam and Cambodia, where there is Wifi everywhere and even in the rooms). 

[Ed., See pictures of Alexandria in previous post.] 

Judy

The Other Day In Alexandria

On A More Serious Note

We had to curtail our plans last night because of demonstrations here.   Saw on CNN that they were all over the country.  It was a holiday yesterday (Policemen's Day) so there was no school and no work.  Hopefully today it will be over.  It seems we got out of Cairo early, just before the demonstrations started right near our hotel.  A step above South India with a lot more history.

Anthony, Where Are You?

I am on the way to Alexandria.  We have seen the Pyramids of Giza, the noseless Sphinx, The Nile, camels, horses, donkeys and a million hawkers.  We are definitely tourists.  We are a group of ten, mostly Australians.   Several in the group are blond and of course scarfless so we stand out from the crowds.  And crowds there are in Cairo, a city of 20,000,000. 

The Nile flows up from Africa to the
Mediterranean ending in Rosetta (same place as the stone ) fifty kilometers from Alexandria.  Cairo is on the east side and Giza on the west.  Cairo is a crazy city with many unfinished buildings.

Almost the entire country of 80,000,000 live on either the East Bank or West Bank of the Nile.  In ancient times life was in the East Bank where the sun rises and the Pyramids are on the West Bank where the sun sets and life ends.  The Pharaohs built their monuments on the West Bank (sunset) for their boat trip to the afterlife.  

We went to the Egyptian Museum, a wonderful museum which looks like it comes out of an old movie.  The difference from a live Pharaoh and a dead one is the live one has a clenched fist which shows power and a straight beard.  The dead one has his arms crossed at this chest and a curled beard. There are many figurines.  

 We went to a light show at night at the Pyramids and Sphinx.  I also went to a light show in Jerusalem at Jaffa Gate.  I will not make a public comparison between the two.  The one thing in common was it was cold outside at both. 

More soon

Egyptian Intermission

While we wait for our intrepid Broad Abroad to file her next post, the editor presents some Turkish Egyptian Delights along with a few, ahem, belly laughs:

And for an extra special treat, you'll have to leave the page and travel to YouTube.  As they say, VAUT LE VOYAGE.

Ein Gedi, Encore With Pictures

Now Playing In Cairo

I am here in Cairo.  Pretty uneventful trip through the border from Eilat to Taba with a transfer person waiting for me on the other side.  Only interesting event was the tour guide accompanying us.  Great eyes, real cute, age undetermined, wanted to get it on.  Really took me by surprise.  The linguistics of the situation will probably make it a moot point.

I am having a Turkish coffee at a sister hotel of the one I am staying in.  There is no WiFi where I am staying so I decided to let you know that I don't know when I will have WiFi if ever here.

I do have a roommate although I don't yet know who she is.  The hotel is OK but I have gotten spoiled in Israel.  Even though none of the hotels would have reached my mother's standards they were not bad and I had my own room.   I think it was too expensive a supplement to have my own room here and the content of the tour should compensate for the lack of comfort.

It was great talking to you guys and when I return to Eilat on the 3rd of Feb.  I plan to make more phone calls.  What a perk.

Will send more dialogue and pictures in the near future.

Love,
Judy

Ein Gedi

[Pictures To Follow]

Yesterday [Friday], I went to the central bus station in Jerusalem with all my bags and took a bus to the Dead Sea.  Today I take a bus to Eilat, the most southern city in Israel, on the Red Sea.  I have two days of relaxation before my trip to Cairo.  I had planned to take a bus from the Egyptian border to Cairo but chickened out and have decided to spend the money to take a taxi straight to my hotel in Cairo.

I have arrived at the Dead Sea.  The sea is dead but the Kibbutz Hotel at Ein Gedi is alive with botanical plantings.  It is lush with a wide variety of plants from different lands.  The views of the canyons and the light here is extraodinary. 

I am waiting in the dining room for a French friend I made a few hours ago.  She is a dentist from Paris who owns a house in Israel.  I had dinner with her and her daughter.  Yesterday I had a hot stone massage just like a few years ago.  Was wonderful again.  I thought that I was really lucky to arrive on the full moon again and that I would go on the full moon walk at the Dead Sea.  I found I have aged five years and my legs hurt from the climbs in Jerusalem and that it would be too much for me so a little like an old lady I went back to my room and watched a little news which I haven't done for a week and went to sleep early. 

The spread here in the buffet dining room is really extensive especially the salad section which is never ending.  It was sophisticated fare different from a few years ago.  Enjoyed last night And breakfast too.  Who knew I would love herring?  I had it in a restaurant in Jerusalem and here as well.  Lovely pink fillets really succulent.  Maybe Russ and Daughters has the equivalent.  Not sure.

Gotta go

Judy  

You And Me And General Allenby

This is my friend CarolAnn and we are sitting in front of a painting of the general taken by her camera.

Timeless Jerusalem

The Saga Continues

My trip from Cochin, India to Jerusalem was a long and arduous journey through Bahrain and Amman, Jordan.  Since I had an ten hour wait in Amman, I got a visa, hired a car and went into the city.  It was the first time I experienced cold since China, and it was blustery and damp.  The city was really quite nice although it does pale in comparison to Jerusalem, and it sure beat Cochin.

We drove around the city and saw some very nice upscale neighborhoods.  I was told that government officials live in that area.  I thought how funny that government people would be the ones with the money.  Anyway after seeing the Roman ruins we tried to find money using my traveler's checks.  After trying at least 15 money changers and finding no one willing to take traveler's checks I went to an ATM.  I made the mistake of taking traveler's checks with me.  It is much easier to go the ATM route the whole way.  Next trip no traveler's checks.

When we ran out of things to do, we visited the driver's family at their apartment.  It was a treat to go to a home of a family.  There was a wife, three daughters, the oldest being eleven, and one son.  We talked, I showed them pictures and we had tea and cookies.  On the way back to the airport we went to a really wonderful restaurant where there was an assortment of fabulous mezzi with the best baba ganoush I have ever tasted, an assortment of other salads plus hummus.   Had mixed Lamb grill with chops, meat and sausage with wonderful freshly baked pita type bread.

Then on to the airport for the 30-minute flight to Tel Aviv.  Amman is the only connection to Tel Aviv for many Middle Eastern countries such as Kuwait.  

The Scottish Church Guestouse, where I am staying, is very reasonable (which is unusual in Israel). The city and people are so vibrant.  The guards that used to be outside every public place including every cafe seem to have disappeared.  Life is laid back and normal.  This is quite a change from four years ago when I was last here.  The Israel Museum has been renovated and is a world class museum.

Yesterday I went to Vad Yashem the Holocaust Remembrance Memorial Museum.  It traces the history of the Holocaust in chronological order. What an emotional experience.  It is one of the few free places in Israel.  The architecture is regal.  The emphasis is on little mementos of everyday life the dead led before the outbreak of anti Antisemitism became lethal.  There are photos of happy people getting married, having children, going on vacations, doing everyday things.  There are reproductions of their homes, furniture and daily routines.  Mostly they were just assimilated members of the societies of the countries they lived in.  There are historical maps of the spread of the Nazis from Eastern Europe, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, Morocco and the Soviet Union.  There are historical films, pictures and news clips throughout the years as the Jews were denigrated in society and turned into to nonentities.  Even if you were non-practicing or had converted you, were a Jew by race.

There were tourists from all over the world visiting plus many Israelis and Israeli soldiers.  I will send more stuff later.  Love it here in Jerusalem.  Every time I come here to Jerusalem it is more beautiful

More later

The Promised Land

Jerusalem is golden in both beauty and the expense of living.  I am fine and it is wonderful here.  Will try to write more later.

Judy

Amman's Gotta Do

With an extended layover in Amman, I was able to get into the city before continuing on to Tel Aviv.

 Historic ruins.

Part 2

View from the hotel roof.

Dinner at sunset at the Taj Hotel restaurant.

Sunset

And Now For Some Indian Photos

Tea Plantation...The neat shrubs are all tea plants.

 View from Houseboat

Waiter and Cook.

Chinese fishing boat

Street vendor

Indian Finale With Food And Sabbath

I am in a lovely restaurant in Fort Cochin with classical Indian music.  It is at a hotel and I am sitting outside.  This is the first good restaurant experience in India.  it is also the most expensive the price yet to be determined.  However the atmosphere is great and so far I have had batter fried cuttlefish with green chili sauce. I am waiting for my spicy crab fry.  Not what I expected.  A big mound of crab meat with rice.  Not a shell in sight.  Kind of like a crab cake but no eggs to hold it together.  If I had known I would have had the tandoori prawns because I am not crazy about the dish.  However I haven't eaten all day so I will force myself.  The atmosphere is still nice.  I did not finish the crab fry.

This part of India is so different from where I have been before.  There are churches everywhere and I presume the predominant religion is Roman Catholic with a few other Christian denominations thrown in.  I know there are some Hindus and I have seen Mosques and women with headscarves but they seem in the minority.  Tomorrow I will see Jew Town.  I don't know if there are really any Jews left.

Went to Jew Town today, Saturday, and since it is Sabbath the Synagogue was closed but since I am a Jew I went in for services.  They probably have trouble finding a minyan but with Jewish tourists they certainly had one today.  I am not used to being a second class citizen and the women are relegated to a small place in back of the main room.  However, it was interesting.   There is a police station adjacent to the Synagogue.   

Sunday tomorrow morning I leave my hotel at 1:00 AM for my flight at 3:45 AM to Bahrain.  There I take a plane to Amman, Jordan but my flight to Tel Aviv has been changed from 4:00 PM until 9:00 PM so I have eleven hours to kill in Jordan.  Hopefully I can get a visa at the airport (which I need anyway to go to Petra) and go into the city for the day. 

I am getting tired.  I look forward to my arrival in Israel.  I need my hair done, I am grey around all the edges.  I need to find some basic things which I am sure will be easier in Israel.  I was looking for a food odyssey around the world but besides Vietnam and Thailand I have been disappointed continuously.  I miss my home which is unavailable so I will persevere.  It is both a vacation and a difficult journey.  

Glad for the experience but getting tired.

On The Road, On The Rooftop, And On The Water

Tuesday -- We spent four hours driving to Munnar.  It is beautiful, way up high over the tea plantations in the mountains, all the tea bushes neatly manicured.  The view from the hotel and room were extraordinary.  Otherwise it was kind of boring.

Wednesday   We drove to Kumarakum which is on a lake which connects to the sea.  The hotel only had cold water.  The owner seemed nice so I had dinner there.  Big mistake.  14 kinds of chicken plus mutton on the menu and they only had one kind of chicken and only white meat although I asked for dark.  The next day the redeeming feature was that I had a massage.  It was wonderful, on the roof of the hotel and after they had buckets of hot water to mix with the cold to wash off the oil and there was a lot of oil.  I think it might have brought the bad toxins to the surface because I really started feeling lousy as the day progressed.

We then went back past Cochin to another lake where I went on a backwater houseboat.  I thought it would be like the boat with other people like Halong Bay Vietnam.  I was the only passenger with a pilot, server and cook.  By the time I arrived I was not feeling very well.  I felt kind of achy and feverish.  I spent the whole afternoon sleeping on the deck which was quite pleasant and the whole night sleeping.  I felt better in the morning but when we arrived back in Cochin I spent the whole afternoon sleeping.  I hope I have slept off whatever I had.

You Say Kochi, I Say Cochin

I will soon be leaving the lands of banana trees and crowing roosters.  All the countries since Vietnam have banana trees with the little bananas I love that I can only find occasionally in Chinatown and less often at Whole Foods.  Here in India and in every country since Vietnam bananas are hanging from every roadside stand.  They cost pennies.

It is dirty, dusty and crowded here in Cochin or Kochi.  The name of the city is in question.  It is chaotic and looks better from the hotel roof then from the ground.  There are mainly tourists in Kerala many of them Indians.  Here many of the men wear cloths rolled up to make a kind of skirt like Gandhi. 

My trip to India is not the greatest.  First of all I missed my connection to Cochin which I mentioned previously.  Most of the time I am in a car with a driver while very nice and a good driver who is supposed to speak English has a vocabulary of about 100 words of which I can understand about 25.  He does not seem to understand anything I say except restaurant and toilet.  I shouldn't really complain because I knew the agent who arranged this is a jerk and I went with him anyway.  I guess I should rethink my first reactions and go with them.  I arrived a day late and although I sent many e-mails that I would be late as I have already said, he didn't look at his blackberry because it was his day off.  The driver was waiting for me at the airport and that really pisses me off because it could have been so easily avoided. Although I asked him not to call me in New York in November he called anyway. 

The hotel I went to in Cochin isn't the greatest.  However on my return a few days later not in the middle of the night it seems OK.  When I arrived I found out they sold out their one day wifi connection cards. I made wifi a priority for a hotel.  I had to buy a card for the week.  I went to the room and I couldn't find any bottled water.  I picked up the phone but it was dead.  I took the wrong elevator downstairs and could not find the lobby or anyone for that matter.  It was 11:00 PM.  I had asked the driver to ask the hotel to wake me at 7:00 because we were leaving at 9:00AM  but because he really can't speak English he arrived at 7:00 AM because he didn't understand what I said and thought I wanted to leave at 7:00.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

Early Wednesday morning.  8"-10" overnight in New York.  Not much traffic.  Not very tropical.

Radio silence prevails.  Best guess is that Judy made it to India and is without wifi.

Four Orchids And A Willow?

 Singapore Botanic Garden.

While I'd rather be in India, spending time at the botanic garden isn't such a bad way to pass the time while getting a flight rebooked.

[Ed. Okay garden buffs, the picture arrived without a caption.  The editor thinks it looks sufficiently like a willow to call it one.  Corrections welcome.]

NOT QUITE Along The Malabar Coast

Sounds exotic, no?

Well, I missed my connection to Cochin India because my plane from Bali was an hour late due to some earlier problem in China. Since there is only one plane a day to Cochin I am in Singapore until tonight. Although I have sent five e-mails to the travel agent in India whom I have already paid, I have yet to receive a response. Hopefully I can get reimbursed for my hotel and potentially a missed tour from my travel insurance.

This morning I spent forty five minutes researching where to eat lunch. I finally found a moderately priced place highly recommended by the New York Times. I went to the front desk and asked them to make a reservation. After another fifteen minutes we found that the highly recommended restaurant is closed until at least April. So much for the best laid plans.

I am now at a restaurant at the botanical gardens sitting outside watching the rain. They do have a wonderful lunch menu with three courses for $32 Singapore which is about $25 US without wine tip or tax. I made a reservation here while it was still only overcast before it was a hardcore rain. I am happy to be eating a rice less and noodle free meal at last. The only advantage to the rain is that I won't have the hot sun beating down on my head. However the rain is a little bit daunting.

I started with a black pepper deep fried soft-shell crab with wasabi aioli. It was quite nice but not earth shattering. I am waiting for my vanilla scented boneless spring chicken with celery root mashed potatoes. It was quite delicious if not a little undercooked. Really tender and succulent with a slightly sweet demiglace reduction, crisp french green beans and the potato & celery root puree. I would give it a 9 out of a possible 10. I am also enjoying the paired wines, first a Riesling and now a Cabernet Sauvignon. I will skip the dessert pairing but not the dessert.

I am waiting for my cappuccino dunking pit (layers of warm chocolate, cool vanilla cream and coffee iced shaving with brownie cookie) dessert as the pitter patter of the raindrops intensify substantially. It is definitely the rainy season in this part of the world. Dessert was nice. I am in no hurry with no place to go and rain coming down quite heavily. There is still coffee and the orchid exhibit is inside I believe.

The orchid exhibit was not inside. I wondered around the botanical garden in the rain. At least the garden was not overcrowded. I am now at the airport and finally heard from the travel agent in India who never told the driver because he never looked at his blackberry because it was his day off he says.

I am not sure when I will have wifi again in India.

Judy

Indian Love Call

After a fabulous couple of weeks in Bali and environs, I'm on my way to Kochi, the former Portuguese colony on the southwest coast of India.  And with missing the connecting flight in Singapore, this will have to tide you over 'til I get there. 

Down To The Sea In Ships

Ah, Wilderness