While in Athens, we were happy to find there are several things to do that are free. One of the things we found was not only free, but is also an important part of the Hellenic military history. Not far from the Acropolis, just off of one of the main squares, is the Governments Parliament building. In front of the Parliament is the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”. A simple and powerful stone wall monument with a relief of a fallen man. Every hour, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year they perform this routine. It has become quite a tourist attraction and tour buses queue up behind each other while hoards of gawking tourists with cameras in their hands and matching tour bus stickers plastered to their chests pour out and fill the open space in front of the tomb – like excited and aggressive ticket holders rushing the stage and elbowing each other for a better view at a free Rolling Stones concert!
Continue reading 'Changing of the Guards, Athens Greece'»
Ahhh . . . Santorini – can you say “amazing”. I’ve seen the photos for years and let me tell you, it is ten times prettier in real life. But, it’s funny because when we arrived in Santorini on our ferry, we were expecting to be greeted by the famous white buildings with the blue domes and we were met with a dingy port and people trying to get to us stay in their accommodations. Are we on the right island? where are the buildings in the photos? Well, as it turned out, it took a a day or two until we actually saw them as we were staying on the other side of the island in a cool beach area called Perissa.
Perissa Beach, as it turns out, was a pretty happening place–the sand is pitch black and very fine which means it gets scorching hot during the day. It is also lined with tavernas and cafes on one side of the street and beach with chairs and umbrellas on the other. So, if you eat or drink at one of the establishments, you are most likely able to strike up a deal with a free chair and umbrella.
Continue reading 'Santorini & Anafi'»
PINCH ME!! I still can’t believe we are actually in Greece, let alone Mykonos. What a perfect place to celebrate my birthday – in the land of my ancestors. We are staying at Mykonos Camping and yes, there are tents here but hey, how else can we travel for so long, right. Our ‘private double’ was more like a shed you would have in your back yard but instead of it being 100% metal, it had a metal frame and was covered with canvas. Inside was a nice double bed cot and a light but what more do you need, we are in Mykonos for God sakes! The surprising part of it all was the grounds – these are not the campgrounds I know and love, these were amazing; a pool that overlooked the ocean, a bar, a DJ, a grocery store, a restaurant and a self service cafeteria. The infinity pool was surrounded by relaxing lounge chairs and trendy wicker chairs. There was a second level that had beanbag chairs and tables to sit and sip a cocktail while overlooking the gorgeous sea. So, we may be sleeping in a shed but the grounds were like a 5 star hotel.
Continue reading 'My Big Fat Greek Birthday ! !'»
We rose with the sun and quietly snuck out of our hostel room so we didn’t wake the four others that were still sleeping off last nights drinks and good times. Wow, that sounds odd to say. We haven’t been in a hostel for the past six months. Since Australia last December. It’s not that we don’t like hostels – we lived out of them for the first five months of our trip – it’s just that from January through June – we haven’t needed to. Throughout South East Asia, they just don’t exist. The cost of a proper guesthouse/hotel is over half, and sometimes even a quarter of what it costs to stay in the dorm of a hostel. So, now we’re back in Europe, and back in hostels. Yea! Big change!
Continue reading 'Strike Four . . . We’re Out!'»
One of the excursions we did while in Dahab, on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt was to watch the sunrise from the summit of a mountain top. For our sunrise, we booked a trip to Mt. Sinai. Actually, the mountain we hiked up was in fact Mt. St. Catherine, but Mt Sinai has a better ring to it. Sure, that sounds good, after all, at 7500ft, it’s the highest peak in the Middle East, but the adventure didn’t come in enjoying the sun break across the horizon and over the mountains to the east at 6:30am, it was in having our van pick us up at 11pm the night before. That’s right. To watch the sunrise, we’d have to drive and hike all night to get there.
Continue reading 'A Magical Sunrise and Another Crazy Driver'»
From Cairo, we took what turned out to be an eleven hour bus journey east. Eleven hours . . . door to door. Leaving Cairo at 7am, we didn’t get into Dahab until 6pm that night. The journey was long, the roads were brilliant, but it was longer than we expected it to be. See, we were told it would only be eight hours. That might not seem like a lot, but imagine a prison sentence in which, after your eight month incarceration, they suddenly decided to extend it for 30% longer than the time you’d just already served (though neither of us has been to either jail or prison of any sort – we’ve been on over 80 buses on this trip alone in over thirteen countries on five continents in eleven months – I’d like to think we could be considered authorities on the subject at hand). . . Like we said in an earlier post, don’t believe what anyone tells you – it will take longer, cost more, not be anywhere as nice, look nothing like the photos, and not surprisingly – be below any and all of the standards to which you expected and placed upon said journey.
But, we’re not complaining . . .that’s reality – that’s just the way it is.
Continue reading 'Sinai, Security Checkpoints and Snorkeling'»
We’ve been traveling now for over ten months. In that time, we’ve seen many things. Much of what we remember are the various scams that are directed at tourists, backpackers and well, really anyone that doesn’t look like they live in that particular city, state or country.
In Cairo, we’d read about a scam, and also got to experience it first hand. From a sociological viewpoint, we were really fortunate to be a part of this so that we may see, in first person, who these people are, how smooth and savvy they are, and how easily even educated people can be parted from their money. From the viewpoint of a traveler, it was just another well rehearsed scam and a colossal waste of our time . . . . good thing we have a little time to spare.
Continue reading 'Cairo – The Scammers and the Savvy'»
So we took an all night flight into Cairo. Our original intention was to take public transportation to our guesthouse and when we got to the bus, we were bombarded with eager taxi drivers wanting to take us into town. The price was right so we agreed and good thing too because we would have never found our guesthouse. It was down a wiggly road with most road signs being in Arabic and it was in a building that in the bottom was a dilapidated shell of a bank. In fact, the guesthouse sign was tiny and three floors above the street – who’s going to look up there?! Even our taxi driver had a difficult time finding the place and had to ask about four different people for directions. Once there, we were greeted warmly and offered a complimentary breakfast of coffee, two baguettes, butter, laughing cow cheese and a boiled egg. A nice way to arrive! Our first order of business was to book a tour to the Pyramids of Giza. Rumor had it that our guesthouse inflated the tour prices so off we went in search or a tour agency and since we were in the embassy area, all we found were tours that were even more expensive. Little did we know, there were plenty of tour agencies downtown but since we didn’t know where the downtown was at the time, we eventually headed back to our guesthouse and they happily booked us for a private tour for the next day at an exorbitant price, of course.
Continue reading 'Walk Like an Egyptian'»
Leaving Cambodia, our next stop was Bangkok, and with that we would say farewell to our South East Asian Adventure. But there was a problem . . . we weren’t ready to say goodbye yet. Luckily, we had put a week aside, and with that week, we made our way back into Thailand and promptly back to an island beach paradise in the Gulf of Thailand. Sunny beach – here we come!
From Battambang Cambodia, we bought a pair of tickets to take us directly to the Cambodian/Thailand border. Our taxi took two hours and whisked us past temples, mountains and small villages to the small border town of Pailon. Once there we vacated our taxi only to pile into a second taxi that was waiting for us, which would take us to the border itself. With the hindrance of a language barrier, we verified and re-verified that we wouldn’t be charged for the second taxi, since we already paid to be taken to the border. Big smiles, head nods and unbridled happiness came from our two separate drivers as our bags were loaded from one taxi to the other while assuring us “no problem . . . you pay already . . . it’s OK”. All right then, we hopped in and off we went.
Continue reading 'Last Fling in Thailand'»
We have now stayed at 19 beaches and all of them have been incredibly impressive in their own right. Who knew we were such beach people but we seem to be drawn to them like magnets. It’s no wonder we got married barefoot on a beach. Each time we have gone to a new beach, I ask myself, “why has it taken so long to come here and how could anyone go to Mexico or Hawaii with such lovely beaches in Asia”. Why don’t people know about these beaches!! Why didn’t we??
Continue reading 'Our Quest for Beaches'»
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While in Athens, we were happy to find there are several things to do that are free. One of the things we found was not only free, but is also an important part of the Hellenic military history. Not far from the Acropolis, just off of one of the main squares, is the Governments Parliament building. In front of the Parliament is the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”. A simple and powerful stone wall monument with a relief of a fallen man. Every hour, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year they perform this routine. It has become quite a tourist attraction and tour buses queue up behind each other while hoards of gawking tourists with cameras in their hands and matching tour bus stickers plastered to their chests pour out and fill the open space in front of the tomb – like excited and aggressive ticket holders rushing the stage and elbowing each other for a better view at a free Rolling Stones concert!
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