Living in a remote Syrian Monastery

Beirut - Tripoli - Mar Musa Monastery - Amman

Salaam Aluykum habibi!

Last time I left you I was in Beirut, Lebanon with Richard, a guy from the US doing some travelling with me.

There is something about the Middle East, in that everything is so laid back, and you really get into the whole lazing around doing nothing and taking it easy. "Sha'allah, Sha'allah" (God Willing) is often a phrase heard as an answer to anything in regards to time. "When will the bus leave?" "Sha'allah." "Where is the shai (tea) we ordered?" "Sha'allah." Even I’ve started using it in response to questions, though I prefer to use the cool sounding "mish mush kila" (no worries).

BTW, you may have heard of the car bomb that killed a prominent anti-Syrian journalist recently, well I’m safe and well, it was as most car bombs, targeted, and it was several blocks away. Mish mush kila.

Anyway, we reluctantly left Beirut (especially after I met two lovely Lebanese girls - one the receptionist at the nightclub with great knowledge of middle east politics, the other a sweet girl and a wonderful dancer. The problem though is that when you try to meet girls, you have to meet their male chaperone/family/friends first. If they perceive you as not a threat then you are free to pursue the girl. Unfortunately I only just got welcomed into their group and
invited to come out with them just when I had to leave the next day. Sigh. Problem with travelling is that you can't form relationships or deep attachments with people because you have to move on. Only flings. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.


TRIPOLI
Right, so, we went to Tripoli the next day, and regretted it. Tripoli is pretty much a dump, the "best souk in Lebanon" was average, the castle was small and plain, and all the streets were covered with dirt, dust, and rubbish. At least the people were very nice, and the pastries were delicious (being famous for it and all).

We left Tripoli the next day, heading for the Mar Musa Monastery in central Syria. I was planning to go on my own, but Richard decided in the last minute to tag along instead of heading for the Syrian coast as he planned.

It was quite interesting to see our driver bribe the border guards with a loaf of bread, which instantly disappeared into the hands of a passing guard before we were waved through with minimal bag and passenger searches. A smooth operation indeed.


MAR MUSA MONASTERY

Faux Pas of the day: "Jesus Christ! We're in a monastery, we shouldn't be talking about girls!"

Often heard saying: "We are so going to hell after saying that!"

Mar Musa Monastery is situated 1300m on a mountain hidden in a valley in the desert, somewhere between Damascus and Homs. Our driver had trouble finding it, since you end up driving into the middle of nowhere, along a mountainside, until you turn a corner and lo and behold it appears magically in front of you high above.

It was built in the 6th Century by Orthodox monks, the church within bearing faded earthen paintings from 11th Century. The Monastery was then taken over by Syrian Catholic monks, the church now containing colourful 13th century paintings of Saints, Judgement day, and the Virgin Mary. Later, it was abandoned (not sure why), and was
rediscovered over 100 years ago. Now it is populated with 4 monks, a couple of day-trippers, some volunteers helping clean and cook, and a hermit who lives in a cave higher up and comes down every Sunday for supplies before disappearing for the week. There is also a mule, some dogs, a few always hungry cats, and a turtle named "turtle" that wonders around the courtyard, sometimes coming over to share meals with us where we feed it slivers of cucumber.

(Speaking of which, me and Richard did buy another turtle as a companion gift, but the turtle ran away and we can't find it. How do you lose a turtle!?!!!)

We climbed up the 1.5km of stone steps with our heavy backpacks, and then entered the monastery through a small door 1m high. We were immediately given food and water and were able to enjoy the beautiful views below.

We were welcomed to stay, receiving free meals and accommodation in return for helping clean, cook and do some work. I only intended to stay for 2 days, but have ended up staying for over 10 days!

There are usually 2 church sessions, before breakfast, and before dinner. Each session begins with 1hr meditation in the church among candlelight, then 1hr singing, playing music, reading and sermoning in Arabic and occasionally French.

The church is quite unconventional. For one thing, you sit on the floor on laid out rugs and carpets, much like an Islamic mosque. Candles are lit, instruments are played, and meditation is done, much like Hindu or Buddhist. The sermons are all Catholic, but are done in arabic. All this is related to the intercommunion aspect of the monastery (see further below).

Meals are fairly basic but delicious, often consisting of a mezze of tomato, cucumber, olive oil, spices, cream cheeses, and some pita bread. Hot sweet tea (black or herbal) is usually consumed with the meal. Lunches are more varied, with a huge pot of rice mixed with meat or vegetables covered with yogurt, or pasta served for the people in the monastery, and any day trippers who happen to be around.

The monastery is well equipped, with a fantastic library in multiple languages, telephone, even internet access, though I denied myself to use it as I wanted to shut myself from the outside world for a while. Women and men would sleep in different quarters outside of the monastery on opposite sides of the mountains.

It is alot of fun being one of the people welcoming visitors (mainly French or arabic), offering them water and finding out about them. Many afternoons are spent napping or quiet contemplation on the mountain, monastery courtyard overlooking the views, or in the church itself.


THE 3 PRINCIPLES OF MAR MUSA

The monks focus of 3 principles:
1. Hospitality - "Hospitality is the highest virtue" This is emphasised by the way we greet people with water, tea and conversation when they arrive, and allow them to stay and share meals with us.
2. Meditation - An end to itself, important for reflection and pondering the mysteries of the world, and of your own self.
3. Intercommunion with other religions, races and creeds. By uniting people and religions by focusing on the similarities, many muslims, Hindus and Catholics come to visit and are inspired as a result. It is a overwhelming and inspirational idea, trying to bring the religions closer so that we all can share the messages within and be at peace
with one another.


BUILDING A CAVE
One of the monks (Frederick) had recently been given permission to build a cave higher up in the mountains for him to have some more peace and quiet from the monastery which can get quite busy with visitors - in other words somewhere more remote than remote. We had volunteered ourselves to the task.

Frederick didn't want just an ordinary cave. No, he wanted a double story cave, the second floor of wood being his bed and study. On top of that he wanted a perplex see-through roof so see the stars through at night.

First we had to lug heavy wooden beams, sand, concrete and gallons of water 500m up the mountain, through rugged terrain, a couple of cliff faces and beaten gravel paths, before we found the cave, 5m up on a narrow ledge above us. I'm surprised none of us fell with our burdens! We also had to dig out and carry/roll huge stones down the steep slope near the cave entrance to the cave, which was to be used with concrete to build the entrance (the front of the cave was wide open).


LEARNING ABOUT MYSELF IN THE MONASTERY
Through discussions with the monks and through quite contemplation and solitude up in the mountains, I’ve learnt alot about myself and what I’m missing in my life.

My 3 motives in my life are:

1.To live life to the fullest, and to assist others to do the same. I have a burning desire to help people enrich their lives, to teach, to inspire, to assist in the fulfilment of their dreams.

2. To find a place where I could really belong in the world. I've always felt that I’ve never truly belonged anywhere. Being born in Australia with an Asian background, I’ve felt that I’ve never quite fit in with the Australian nor Asian way of life. My existence is quite a lonely one, deepened with the tragic death of my best friend last year. My need to travel is sparked by the need to find a place that I truly feel I belong in and be comfortable spending my life,
spiritually and physically.

3. To find a soul mate in the world who truly loves and understands me, and vice versa, to share my life with, so that I no longer feel alone in the world.

I am not a religious person. If there is a God, I don't believe he is the vengeful God as written in the bibles. The way I view Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc, is not ordained by God, but in essence people look up to them because they are in fact, heroes. They stood up for a belief of being true and good to themselves and to others, and never
faltered in the face of oppression, suffering and death.

I could very well see myself in future living my life there. I would spend years learning French and Arabic, and pouring over the many intriguing tomes in the library. I've even been offered by the monks to remain in a cave of my own! But now is not the right time for me to do so. I still have a voracious appetite for visiting and understanding
the many cultures around the world, deepening my understanding and education of the mysteries of life and myself.


NOW WHAT?

Reluctantly, we left Mar Musa monetary, and headed straight to Amman, Jordan. Tomorrow we will head towards West Palestine - I mean Israel, and Jerusalem.

Till next time,
Ma salaama,

Lebanon

Aleppo - Damascus - Beirut - Sidon - Byblos - Baalbek

Salaam Aluykum!

I tell you, I’m falling in love with the middle east. I was supposed to be in Turkey a month ago and yet I am still stuck here enjoying the sights, the hospitable friendly people, the good food (though am getting sick of schwarma and felafel so have started eating out more in style)...

So, when I last left you* I had arrived in Aleppo, Syria, with Richard, my US travelling companion I met in Jordan... Speaking of which, people in the middle east find it amusing that a Vietnamese is travelling with an American, but they do also realise that travellers/people in America do not represent their government. They all believe that we are all the same, but our governments are all pretty much screwed up.


ALEPPO
Aleppo is Syria's second last city. Travellers tell you that Aleppo has a way of keeping you there longer than planned. And indeed they were right, for I did stay a few days longer, just chilling out, sitting in the cafes in the romantic Christian quarter with it's narrow crooked cobbled grey streets and old houses, exploring the covered stone arched souks and the ruined citadel with beautiful views over the city. Aleppo is over 5000 years old, and competes with Damascus as the oldest inhabited city in the whole world! Aleppo also has a wonderful selection of beautiful elegant restaurants in courtyard settings complete with lemon trees and fountains and waiters dressed to the nines. I had the best steak I’ve ever eaten in one of these places. I also did an impromptu palm reading session for some curious waiters, the maitre-de, and other customers the maitre-de introduced me to after he saw me doing it to some friends for amusement.


THE HAMMAN
Tried a Hamman (Turkish bath) in Aleppo, in style in one of the most famous and oldest (800 years old) hammans in the world. I was a bit nervous before I started, but turned out to be one of the most relaxing things I’ve ever done.

First I was given a locker to lock my valuables, then asked to strip and come out wearing only a towel into the luxuriously decorated main hall. I was then handed a bar of famed Aleppo Olive Oil soap and sponge and lead into one of the many steam room chambers. Sweated it out in the steam room where steam was forced out of an old rusty worryingly fragile looking pipe. Then I was directed to another room, where an attendant was waiting for me.
Motioning me to sit on the floor beside him next to a water fountain, he then proceeded to pour hot water all over me, then using a rough loofah, started scrubbing hard all over my body. It's amazing what stuff gets scrubbed out of you! Then, using the soap and sponge, he washed and massaged my whole body, finishing off with more hot water.
I then glided dreamily back to the steam room where I could finish washing myself, then back to the main hall where another attendant draped hot towels all around me and then served me tea as I lay on one of the many couches
relaxing, positively glowing, and feeling cleaner than I’ve ever felt in my life! It is definitely an experience everyone should try!


THE DECISION TO GO TO LEBANON
We decided on the spur of the moment to go to Lebanon. Not just because of the famous Beirut nightlife mind you, or the food, or beautiful girls. No, for a reason more lamer than that. It was to see Star Wars III! (Which was pretty well done I thought, though some scenes were too computerized and dialogue a bit dodgy).

When you think about it, it's quite amusing having decided to go to another country to see a movie...

Well, I suppose we were also curious to witness history in the making, as Lebanon were about to have their first election without Syrian influence...


A SHORT HISTORY ON LEBANON AND SOME POLITICAL STUFF
Basically, there were some civil war and unrest, which the Syrians were called to by the UN to enter Lebanon and act as peacekeepers. After the civil war, Syria remained as a dominant influence in the political and economical spheres. Lebanon however wanted to stand on their own without Syrian influence. A leader called Harira was well loved by the people and was vying for Lebanon independence without Syria. However, a massive
car bomb killed him and devastated a huge area around it (I saw the crime scene, pretty shocking how big that bomb must have been), and it was of course blamed on the Syrians. This put the spotlight on the situation and the
UN and George Bush have pressured Syria to leave. Which they have. And now the new elections have taken place, peacefully, and with great joy but also uncertainty in the country.

The Syrian's I’ve talked to tell me that they don't know why the Lebanese were so anti-Syrian, since they helped preserve peace in the country.

The Lebanese I’ve talked to tell me that the Syrian's influenced the economical and political situation to their favor, gave Syrians jobs in Lebanon, and took advantage of many things, including a commodity Syria is
lacking - water. Of course, if only Israel would give the Syrians back their beloved Golan Heights, then all would be well, but of course that's not going to happen.

Personally, I think the Lebanese should be grateful for Syria for protecting them, but their stay had certainly been long overdue.

The elections were quite interesting to see. The days before, little rallies and protests consisting of cars with stickers, lots of booming (almost Russian/communist style) music coming out of boom boxes, people waving flags and pictures of their chosen political leader or (usually Christian) militant leader, all driving around the city, chanting,
honking horns, etc. Very peaceful too, with no altercations between opposing rallies, just respect. Many military soldiers with machine guns hanging back watching the scene unfold. And on the night of election day, a huge fireworks display in the city was put up to celebrate!

I was very touched seeing the shrine of Hariri in the main square, with posters of him graffitied over with peoples comments such as "we will never forget you" and "you are our hero" and other notes expressing great loss and respect for their much loved leader.


BEIRUT
Paris of the Middle East? With the great food (expensive but well worth it), great arabic music, the crazy nightlife and the *gasp* unbelievably hot hot women (no exaggeration here - even the Lebanese agree), and I think it should be more called the Spain of the Middle East instead!

Quite a large city, a massively sprawled out, where new French pristine style areas of cafes, bars and restaurants mingle with decaying old buildings clearly showing signs of the last civil war with it's bullet holes, bomb blasts, missing walls and collapsed rooftops.. lots of reconstruction work, and a beautiful waterfront where people swim, fish, rollerblade, and in the late afternoon when the sun sets, people walk down it all dressed to the nines (a great
place to check out gorgeous girls - a welcome respite after traversing through countries for so long where all the women are generally covered up (ok, so I’m a typical hot blooded male, alright? )


NIGHTLIFE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
There is limited nightlife in the middle east, and where it exists, it is usually in the Christian quarter (because Muslims don't drink or go clubbing).

I've been to the nightlife in Damascus, which was alright, but if there was a center of nightlife in the Middle East, it would be Beirut. Here, expensive cars would cruise with guys and girls in them checking the crowds at the pubs and nightclubs, girls would flaunt their bodies with high heels and the bare minimum of clothing - all of this to get people to notice them, and notice them people do. (Melbournites this may sound quite familiar with Chapel St, Lygon St etc).

It is quite hard to get into a nightclub unless you make a reservation, and are accompanied with girls. When you do go in though they are often small, hip and expensive. One must also be aware of the prostitutes (usually Russian) prowling the club. But the rich and famous come and the music, ranging usually from trance to Arabic music, is pretty good.

We were lucky to have a club open up near our hostel, as they had free entrance and free drinks for the first couple of nights. So guess where I ended up every night?


SIDON
Sidon is a lovely small port town south of Beirut, with a disappointingly small sea crusader castle accessible only via a bridge, but a wonderful small yellow stoned covered souk where I bought some new clothes (Lebanon is quite a European city, and the clothes are very cool indeed - if I weren't travelling I’d buy a whole new wardrobe!)


BYBLOS
Another beautiful sea port town, with old ruins from all periods, from the bronze age to Hellenistic, Roman, Ottoman and Malmuk ages. The most picturesque ruins I’ve ever seen, set on a peninsula, with pink blossoms and green vines and vegetation growing over the sand coloured ruins and crusader castle, the blue Mediterranean and green mountains speckled with white holiday apartments into the clouds providing a pretty backdrop to the whole scene.


BAALBEK - THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ROMAN RUIN IN THE MIDDLE EAST
It was quite a scenic drive to Baalbek, via the huge mountain ranges, their tops hidden in the clouds which we actually drove through. Every guard post and road barrier you pass is covered with the Lebanese flag of a green cedar tree on white with a red strip on top and below it. It was a little unnerving though driving through the
Hezbollah (Army of God militant group) areas with their yellow flags with some green machine gun on tree design to get to what is considered the most impressive roman ruin in the middle east. And it did not fail to disappoint. Even though it consists of a few grand temples, the state of preservation and the size of the temples leaves one at awe. You can spend hours trying to picture it in it's glory days, when the now sand coloured ruins used to be white marble facades with gold and bronze columns, colourful painted friezes, statues, people worshiping and sacrificing animals on the huge altars.


WHAT'S NEXT?
The plan is to go to Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, then I will go back into Syria to live in solitude in a remote monastery called Mar Musa for a few days. As you do. If I can find it that is...

Afterwards, I’ll head to Israel and the Palestinian territories...

Syria

Bosra - Damascus - Palmyra - Hama - Apamea - Qala'at Marqab - Crac de Chevaliers - Beehive Houses - Qasr-ibn-Wardan - Rassafeh - Qal-aat-Jaabar - Euphrates River - Serjilla - Al Bara - Ruweiha - Jerada - Aleppo


Salaam alaykum!


QUESTION POSED BY CURIOUS SYRIAN:
"So, do you all go to school and learn kung fu?" (thinking I’m from Japan as all middle easterners do)


LAST THINGS ON JORDAN
- Jordan food isn't exactly inspirational. Basically the only foods you can get is either a Falafel (mashed fried chickpeas) or schwarma (chicken or beef or "mystery meat" roasted rotating on large skewers) sandwich. Or you can try the Bedouin speciality of “Mensaf”. which is basically boiled sheep or goat meat pieces piled on top of a
huge platter of rice. A hot yogurt soup is poured steaming hot on top of all this, and sprinkled with nuts and herbs. Guests of honour usually get the whole goats head, especially the eyes or tongue!

- Got a pack of playing cards featuring the 52 most wanted Iraqis that that US were handing out to soldiers (the one with Saddam as the ace of spades). Also picked up some cool Iraqi money with Saddam on it!


ENTRY INTO SYRIA

Caught a bus from Irbid to the Jordan border town of Ramtha, where the friendly bus driver took me by the arm and led me to the service taxi office (which you catch to go through the border into Syria). Here I was treated to free tea and coffee while I waited for 3 other people to fill the taxi with before we could leave (it took 2 hours).
Finally, we took off to the border, where we had to pay departure tax. Then I was in duty-free land....

No turning back now. If I get rejected at the Syrian side then I have to re-enter Jordan again with a new visa, and then work out how to get to Israel from there. The official law is that if your country does not have a Syrian embassy, you can get your visa at the border. Australia DOES have one, but there have been reports of Aussies
getting in anyway, and all the locals told me it would be ok.

So, took a deep breath, and walked into the Arrivals/Visa office.

I tried every trick in the book. I smiled, tried to speak in Arabic, and mentioned my family was from Vietnam*. It worked. After a quick word to the superior officer, they asked me to get 30US worth of Syrian pounds from the exchange office on the Syrian side for the visa. In other words, they let me into Syria WITHOUT a visa, to get
money, then come back to pay for the visa and re-enter with it.

So, after filling in a short form (which I didn't even need to complete - which is a far contrast from other people who get asked for all sorts of details, permission letters etc), I got my visa and I was in! Hurrah!

*Telling people I’m Vietnamese instead of Australian elicits a more welcoming response and more favours, particularly overlooking the fact that I’m not a student when I present them my youth card. This is because Vietnam defeated the Americans in the Vietnam war which they are happy to hear about.


SYRIA - THE FRIENDLIEST PLACE ON EARTH

Forget Axis of Evil, the threat of Terrorists and a nation of people wanting to destroy America - Syria is nothing like the way it is depicted in our often biased media. In fact, Syria is one of the most friendliest and hospitable places in the middle east if not the world. These people welcome you with open arms and bend over backwards to make your stay a pleasant one. Yep, Syria is definitely on my list of favourite countries along with Portugal and Morocco.

One thing I noticed in Syria - these people are fanatical on adding lights and all sorts of adornments on their cars. It is very common to see taxis driving past with neon flashing lights all over it. Also, trucks reversing (as with Jordan) do not make the standard beeping noise. No, they play this musical tune which is the same everywhere that really gets into your head and is really annoying after awhile, but you can't help and laugh at the same time when you
witness a macho guy in a big truck reversing to this happy cheerful tune!


BOSRA
Not Basra as in Iraq - Bosra, which is almost a black basalt version of the pink pale limestone roman ruins of Jeresh. What also made Bosra striking was the huge complete amphitheatre, modified into a fortress with huge walls enclosing it and citadels - one which used to contain a hostel but is now unfortunately closed.

I was lucky to get here from the border as I had no other Syrian money to pay for the bus to Bosra, but one friendly guy I met on the street offered to exchange a Jordan Dinar for 75 Syrian pounds (which is the correct exchange I found later on, so he didn't even try to rip me off). What a great group of people.

I then caught a luxury bus to Damascus. Luxury buses are quite cheap despite the name, and they serve free ice cold water and sweets as well!


DAMASCUS
Damascus is awesome! With a stunning labyrinth of covered souks snaking around the Great mosque with it's amazing nature influenced mosaics, the cheap greasy schwarmas and felafel stands amongst delicious ice drinks, ice creams and pastries (no one makes desserts as good as the Arabs), and a general chilled out environment, Damascus is definitely one of my favourite cities. Met up with Richard, an American who I have ended up travelling through Syria with. We explored Damascus and chilled out with a group of locals checking out the beautiful girls walking past their antiquities shop.


PALMYRA
Palmyra is a spectacular ruined city in a desert, featuring a huge temple dedicated to Baal, a series of colonnades, a well preserved amphitheatre, a scattering of pyramid shaped funerary tombs and a stunning Arab castle perched high up on a steep hill overlooking the ruins, which was a great place to witness the sunset. Palmyra is a great place to get good quality dates, and also dodgy fake student cards (which Richard bought as Student cards get 90% off entrance fees!)


THE CHILLED OUT TOWN OF HAMA
We caught a dodgy local bus to Hama, which is a chilled out little town famous for its gigantic wooden water wheels on the river, very picturesque though they make a sound similar to a cross between a lawn mower and a vacuum cleaner. Hama was where we stayed while we negotiated 3 days of tours for $62US each! Not a bad price to see half of Syria....


CASTLES, DEAD CITIES, AND SWIMMING IN THE EUPHRATES RIVER
Day 1 tour was with a driver driving us around in a '74 Mercedes. He took us to Apamea, which is one of the dead cities in Syria. A dead city is one which was suddenly abandoned and left to ruin after a earthquake or unknown circumstances. A great place to pretend to be Indiana Jones and climb over the ruins. Amongst the ruins you would
find Bedouins who have modified some of the ruins into homes for themselves and their goats. Apamea is quite a stunning dead city in a picturesque location amongst red poppy flowers and wheat fields with mountains in the background.

A drive through these mountains took us to Qala'at Margab, which is a small castle on a hill with overgrown vegetation crawling over it's ruins. More driving through the mountains which the driver pointed out stuff
to us in Arabic, to which with our limited knowledge could only reply "Khamila" (beautiful), "hellowa" (pretty), "kwayis" (good), and "muntaz" (excellent). Which is pretty much how I’d describe Syria.

We ended up at Crac des Chevaliers, the most complete and spectacular medieval castle I have been to. This place is huge, and all the vaulted passageways, dark tunnels, towers and battlements that you would imagine in a castle. It even had a secret tunnel which we sneaked into when no one was looking. It was fun exploring this castle perched high up on a hill overlooking the town below and the green valleys and mountains with fig and apple trees growing on them.

Day 2 tour was with a driver driving us around in a 51' Pontiac. He took us into the desert, starting off with the famous beehive houses. These houses are cone shaped mud brick houses which look like beehives and are inhabited by Bedouins. Next was to Qasr-ibn-Wardan, which was a striped Byzantine castle of basalt and brick in the middle of a plain. The ruins taking a rather desolate beautiful surrealistic Dali-like appearance.

Then to Rassafeh, a stunning dead city in that it is really in the middle of nowhere in the desert, consisting of a wall surrounding what is now mounds of dirt hiding collapsed ruins, in the centre a ruined church and palace the only thing standing in the desolate landscape. Very picturesque indeed.

Finally, we made it to the Euphrates river, which is what I’ve always wanted to see since it is the beginning of Mesopotamia, i.e cradle of civilisation. We visited Qal-at-Jaabar which is a citadel overlooking the turquoise coloured Euphrates. A class of school kids on camp found me more interesting than the citadel themselves, swamping me and getting me to pose in photos with them. Clearly they've never seen an Asian before or something - I felt like such a celebrity!

Afterwards, we swam in the cool crystal clear waters of the Euphrates, which was what we needed after a long day in the desert.

Day 3 tour was in an ordinary taxi. Oh well, can't have it all.
Anyway, we spent the day touring other dead cities. First was Serjilla, which was an eerie grey ghost town, very cool. Then we saw the pyramid tombs of Al bara. Ruweiha was next, set in a lunar like landscape. And finally Jerada, a red Byzantine city overgrown with thistles.

We ended up being dropped off in Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, which is where I am now...


WHAT'S NEXT?
I'm gonna hang out a few days here, then head along the coast back to Damascus, into Jordan, and then go into Israel. After that I fly to Turkey...
Stay tuned..

Jordan

Wadi Rum – Petra – Karak – Amman – Madaba - Mt Nebo – Jeresh - Irbid

Hi all,


MORE THINGS ABOUT EGYPT

-Egypt has some good beer - Not surprising since they invented the stuff!. Their beers are Stella (not Stella Artois), and Sakkara.

-Egyptians like to offer you presents, then ask for money in return. It's a dishonest way of trying to sell you something. In fact I got fed up with the dishonesty of Egyptians who try to rip you off and charge outrageous prices. Heres a difference - When a Jordanian tells you an outrageous price, he is always joking - When an Egyptian tells you an outrageous price, they actually mean it!

-Although I never witnessed a belly dance, I did get to see a Sufi dance in Cairo, which consists of a person (usually a women) brightly dressed, with layers of coloured stiff cloth disks (usually 3 tied to their waist like a skirt. They would spin around in a circle non stop for almost an hour, leaving a whirl of colours to the sound of musicians playing their instruments. At certain periods in the dance, the Sufi dancer would loosen the topmost disk and spin it up over their body over their head, adding to the effect, before discarding it. The dance ends when all disks are removed. It is definitely something one must go see.


ARRIVAL IN AQABA

To get to Jordan from Egypt, I had to catch the slow ferry across the red sea from Nuweiba to Aqaba. On the way I talked to an Iraqi from Tikrit on holiday, who told me that with the war in Iraq, things are good and things are bad, but at least things are better than before. I suppose even though the reasons for going to war were suspicious and illegal, luckily for the US the result has come out in the positive. But does the end justify the means?

Anyway, getting a visa into Jordan was a bit odd. On the ferry we had to fill in a green form and hand it in with our card to the visa desk. The officer would then rip your card in two pieces and hand you one half back, telling you to pick up your passport at Aqaba port once we arrive.

Having an Australian passport is useful because while other nationalities got crosschecked and baggage searched, all I got was a smile, a "welcome to Jordan" and an automatic wave though!

So, having arrived in Aqaba (to which stands the largest flag I have ever seen, must be at least 20m wide on a flag pole the width of a small office building - probably just to make their point clear that this is Jordan?), I went to Wadi Rum.



BEING NURSED TO HEALTH BY BEDOUINS IN WADI RUM

Wadi Rum is a national park, a wilderness of desert sands with huge jebels AKA rock pillars and formations shaped by the sands, wind and water (when it was under water a billion so years ago), creating fantastic rock formations with ripples, bridges and mushroom shapes - narrow at the base and wide a the top. The colours of the sands and rocks would change colour throughout the day, turning from blue to yellow in the morning, to a soft orange to red at sunset.

It was unfortunate that during my visit I had come down with a nasty stomach bug called Giardiasis. It was also unfortunate that it had reached it's worst when I was 7km away from camp after walking down to check out a beautiful canyon. Luckily there was a Bedouin tent nearby. I quickly made my way up to the tent to find a couple Bedouins, and asked them if they could take me by their jeep to the medical center nearby.

I was taken to the medical center, which was shut as the doctor had decided to go for a walk. So after a bit of driving around the streets we finally found him sitting in a shop talking with the owner.

The doctor was a gentle old man, with a deep slow voice and looked like Count Dooku from Star Wars Attack of the Clones (forgive my movie reference). After administering me a can of 7UP (good for the stomach he said), we drove down together to the medical center where he gave me an injection (for my fever), rehydration tablets and a prescription.

The driver of the Jeep, who was a local Bedouin called Eid, offered that I stay with him and his family for a few days to recover after seeing the doctor. I gratefully accepted.

The Jordan government provides free education and housing for the Bedouins, though not all accept it, preferring their old ways. Some however, such as Eid, amalgamate both. Eid has a house but with a large Bedouin tent of goat hair and plastic lining for reinforcement in the front yard. Here the family congregate around a campfire talking and relaxing - they use the houses mainly to sleep and store equipment. Upon arrival I was directed to the left inside the entrance - this area being the traditional guest area, where I had luckily read up on and knew that I could not venture into the other family or womens areas of the tent. Not that I had plans to, as I was quite happy to stay in bed recovering, while the family (30 in all) went about their normal life around me, tending the goats, going to school, talking and watching cable TV. I enjoyed my stay there talking to the kids, teaching each other English and arabic and showing them origami. My prescription (and money) I had given to a minibus driver to pick up for me in Aqaba, which I received later that day. It's such a nice contrast being among friendly hospitable people after the hassling in Egypt! The only annoying thing was sleeping outside where mosquitos would swam like war planes above me, seeking out and dive bombing into exposed areas of my body when I was asleep.

I was soon strong enough to leave. So I sadly farewelled my Bedouin family and left for Petra...


PETRA - A CITY CARVED INTO A VALLEY

Petra is an amazing place. A whole city carved into the valley walls of pink, purple, black, white and yellow stone, with heaps of amazing views and walking trails around the valleys and mountains. Entering via a long narrow canyon, you emerge into the famous Treasury - a temple with it's pillars, pediments, ornaments all carved from the pink cliff face. People might recognise it as the Temple of the Holy Grail from the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". Continuing along, huge royal tombs follow into the valley, also carved into the cliff faces, as well as houses and shops, all leading up a mountain to the monastery at the top (which is also carved in the rock) amongst spectacular views. As the day goes on the sun continually changes the colour and the effect of the stone city, which makes it look different every time you walk past the same place.

It was amusing having good humoured vendors walking by you pointing to their donkeys (or camels or horses) and yelling out "taxi?"

Stayed at a hotel called Cleo..(sigh)..PETRA (yeah I know such a tacky name), with a Swedish guy called Jacob who I’m travelling through Jordan with. Nice guy but I’m feeling a little uncomfortable about it because I’m not used to travelling with someone else and compromising all the time. But it does make things cheaper, since we both pay less for a double room than a single each, and can also share costs of taxis etc...


KARAK - A CRUSADER CASTLE

Next stop was Karak, which was a bit of an adventure to get to. We caught a service taxi to a town near Karak (as public transport is minimal in Jordan), where we were told we could catch a bus the rest of the way to our destination. Where we were dropped off was actually in the middle of the desert along the highway near a turnoff to Karak. We were told to hail any bus (or in fact any vehicle) that came that way which would offer to drive us to Karak. In other words we found ourselves unexpectedly hitching. We finally found a van that would transport us (and two police officers who were also hitching) and we made it to Karak.

Karak is a crusader desert castle nestled 900m above sea level. It boasts spectacular views, and also contains many dark rooms and tunnels, mostly underground, which you can explore with a flashlight. It became more interesting when a sandstorm covered the sky with a yellow haze which blocked the sun and bathed everything in an yellow hue, which made everything eerie and quiet, and changed any ordinary and mundane thing like the falling of leaves into a mysterious and alien experience.


AMMAN - CAPITAL OF JORDAN

The problem with buses in Jordan is that there is no fixed time for buses to leave and arrive. They will leave once the bus is completely full. Because we did not know this beforehand, we ended up waiting on the bus for 2 hours before it finally left the bus station at Karak to get to Amman (which only took 1 hour)!

Anyway, Amman is the capital of Jordan, a spread out heaving mass of dusty concrete blocks upon 7 hills. There are actually two sides to Amman: The central downtown poorer conservative Islamic areas, and the more affluent modern liberal areas where a plethora of chic European bars, cafes, clubs abound; where girls don't wear the traditional head coverings and veils.

Amman (and in fact most cities in Jordan) have pictures of their royal family members plastered all over the city walls and hanging in peoples homes and cafes. it seems the people of Jordan are proud of their royal family. Could you imagine people in England hanging pictures of Charles and Camilla* in their homes?

*Interesting thought: the sound of the name "Camilla" sounds like the arabic word for "beautiful"!!


MADABA AND MT NEBO

Did a day trip to Madaba, which has some pretty spectacular mosaics, the most famous being a map of the whole holy land, spread out on the floor of one of the churches.

Also went to Mt Nebo, which is the mountain that Moses is said to have looked over at the promised land (Israel), and also died on (though no grave exists). The views from Mt Nebo of Israel is stunning as you can see the whole Jordan valley, dead sea and beyond into the lands of Israel. Moses must have been impressed.


JERESH
Jeresh is a remarkable place. an astonishingly well preserved photogenic roman ruin, with a colonnade of columns scattered all over the place, many still standing, to enclose a large forum in the shape of an oval; huge temples dedicated to various gods still imposing themselves over the town; and the best persevered amphitheatre I’ve ever seen...


SYRIA OR ISRAEL?
I'm currently staying in Irbid, which is Jordan’s second largest city and a heaving university town. This town is near the border crossings to both Syria and Israel. What I hope to do tomorrow is cross into the border of Syria, applying for my visa there. Although I have no recommendation letter or prearranged visas, I've been told my chances are dependant on the moods of the border guards, who might be nice enough to let me in anyway.
But, failing that, I will simply go into Israel instead. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow...

Egypt

Cairo - Giza - Sakkara - Memphis - Aswan - Abu Simbel - Kom Ombo - Edfu - Luxor - Karnak - Valley of the Kings/Queens - Dahab - Mt Sinai

Salaama! Kef Halak? Fursa Sai'da! (Arabic for hello, how are you, pleased to meet you)

Sorry if this email sounds stilted and disjointed - I’m trying to cram as much as I can in as short an email in as short a time as possible!

My arrival in Cairo at 2am in the morning did not go as smoothly as one hoped (but whenever I enter a new country I always initially seem to have bad luck). The taxi driver mistakenly took me to the wrong street in the north of the city, and I mistakenly thought I was in the right place till I found myself in a dark alley. Eventually I worked out my way to the right hostel, (Dahab Hotel), which is up 7 flights of stairs, or a antiquated creaky elevator of scraps of metal and wires that looked like it's about to fall apart (the security guard had to hold part of the electronics together to get it moving!). In fact it did break down a couple of times during my stay there (thankfully with no one in it)

Cairo is quite a large city, with a Islamic quarter to the right containing a famous souk (but nothing compares to the souks in morocco), some extraordinary Islamic mosques (one I went in resembled something like a Persian palace with the huge marbled courtyard, minarets and domes), the Coptic Catholic quarter with beautiful churches - the first time I’ve seen a church with Islamic designs, built before the Islam religion existed (Coptic, which predates Islam and existing predominantly in Egypt, is an older version of Christian Orthodox, and different in that it believes Jesus was completely divine with no human element whatsoever). Cairo is also full of crazy traffic where there are always near death experiences and near accidents (some encountered by me personally), but surprisingly I haven't actually seen an accident...

Went to the Egyptian museum which contains pretty much most of the relics, mummies and stuff that were found in the tombs and pyramids. Saw the famed mask of Tutankamen, a stunning death mask of gold, as well as his 5 gold sarcophaguses (one inside the other) and 5 gold containers (one inside the other, the smallest containing the sarcophaguses. Obviously the dude was paranoid about being robbed or something I guess ) Also saw heaps of cool things like huge statues of Gods and Pharaohs, mini pyramids, alabaster jars where they keep the pharaoh's innards, and mummified animals such as crocodiles!

(Of course, there is still the terrorist threat lurking in the shadows. There is lots of police around, places south of Luxor you need a police escort to go anywhere. In fact two days after I went to the museum I heard that there was a terrorist attack at the museum resulting in two tourists getting shot.)

Shared a taxi for a day with some Israeli friends at the hostel to see the Pyramids and other places. There are quite alot of Israelis at the hostel, all of them unusually nice (I’ve been told Israelis are horrible people), and all pretending to be from somewhere else because they fear reprisal by the Arabs. One of them pretended to be South African, but was surprised when the hustler started talking to him in Afrikaans! It's amazing the languages they learn to speak to tourists...

Anyway, having been slightly disappointed in the size of other monuments (Piza, Stonehenge, Colosseum), I was bracing myself for being disappointed with the Pyramids. But, seeing them emerge from the distance overlooking the town I felt a sense of awe. The Pyramids were as alien, dramatic and surreal as I was hoping them to be. I went into the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which involved going up a narrow tunnel sloping upwards into the Kings chamber.

I had always wanted to go into the Kings Chamber since I was little, so I was overwhelmed with a great sense of awe and achievement knowing that I was finally there! It seemed the Pyramids knew it - as I was lucky to have the whole chamber to myself for a minute, to contemplate it's simplistic beauty, before it was overrun by the constant French and Spanish tourists (grr, but the gals are stunning ) and their chatter which echoed off the walls.

Anyway, the Kings Chamber is just a simple rectangular chamber of black walls of massive stone blocks - it's incredible to comprend how they got it up there, and on top of that, the joints are so straight and perfectly connected, it's no wonder people have alien conspiracy theories... In the end of the chamber is the huge black sarcophagus of the king, but of course the mummy and all the treasures have been stolen or put in a museum.

Next we went to Saqqara, where the oldest stone monument in existence stands - the step pyramid of Zoser. It's amazing how all these pyramids (for there are probably hundreds scattered about) are still standing after 5000 years! And it's amazing to be standing in front of it also!

Memphis is the original capital of Egypt, though there is nothing to see there apart from the open museum of statues and other monuments...

Went to Aswan via overnight train on a second class seat (the recommended first class was booked out). It wasn't that bad as people say it is though, it's actually quite clean and comfortable. The local people were nice enough also, I tried to learn some arabic from them. Kwayyis!

Aswan is a small town south of Egypt with picturesque feluccas (a type of boat with curved sail used on the Nile) sailing around the islands in the middle of the Nile, and young Nubian dark skinned boys paddling in tiny boats singing out loud in their beautiful voices. In the islands are the Nubian villages, the original inhabitants of Aswan and south. The villages are all mud bricked houses and walls, where kids and black goats roam free, old women smile at you from their houses, and I met the village elder, a very educated guy, where we had a good chat about life and history. The Nubians claim to be the real cradle of civilisation, inventing astronomy and chemistry, before moving up into Egypt and the middle east to Mesopotamia, currently Iraq. The Nubians are simple happy relaxed poor people on a quiet island surrounded by the dust, hustle and bustle of modern touristique Aswan.

Went on a convoy of minibuses escorted by police to Abu Simbel, a great temple south near the border of Sudan. The temples are impressive, great statues and hieroglyphics, many retaining their original colours. What makes the temple more amazing was that it was recently cut up, moved and rebuilt 20m up the valley from it's original location, because the original location is now filled with water from the Aswan Dam.

Also went to Phillae temple, which was also moved, onto an island in the middle of the dam, a picturesque island reminiscent of a Mediterranean island.

Saw the high dam itself, the source of electricity and all the trouble of moving temples and covering original Nubian settlements, but despite it's worldwide fame as a technological masterpiece, it's not very impressive.

Went on a Felucca trip up the Nile from Aswan to Kom Ombo with some friends which involved a day of floating, relaxing, swimming in the Nile, eating, and then sleeping on the boat under the stars. Quite a fantastic experience!

Kom Ombo is a temple dedicated to the local crocodile and falcon gods. Next, I stopped at Edfu is a grandeur temple dedicated to Osiris, with heavily Greek influenced architecture. Apart from that it's just temples, and I was pretty much templed out by this stage...

Arrived in Luxor, aka touristville. Visited the spectacular Karnak Temple. Actually 3 temples in the one location, with an avenue of sphinxes, a massive ruined hall with nearly 100 columns towering in the sky, definitely a temple above the others. But I preferred the smaller Luxor temple, with a nicer preserved avenue of sphinxes leading to the temple entrance. Visiting it at night when it's illuminated is extremely beautiful. Though when I was there the power suddenly cut out and I was left standing in front of a eerily bathed moonlit temple with the wind howling in the sand and trees, which added to the feeling of desolation and wonder, knowing how these temples have withstood the test of time and still remain standing after everything around it has turned to dust..

Ventured into the Valley of the Kings, a valley of dust and sand and tombs amongst mountains, where I saw the well preserved tombs of Rameses IV, I and IX, the colourful paint on the tombs which shows how the carvings and hieroglyphics are supposed to look like, not like the sand coloured plain ones we're used to seeing. Same with the Valley of the Queens, though I was very disappointed to learn that Queen Nefertiri's tomb - the best preserved and most famous tomb in the valley after Tutankamen (which is actually quite ordinary) was closed permanently! This was the prime reason for me visiting the valley in the first place. But never mind. Also saw the massive Temple of Hatshepsut carved into the mountain face, Hatshepsut being is the only pharaoh that was a woman (go girl power - though she dressed up as a man by wearing a beard).

From Luxor I went by overnight bus to Dahab, which was 15 hours of gruelling being woken up every hour so they can check our tickets or our passports at the frequent police checks.

Dahab. What a chilled out place. Dahab is a coastal town on the Red Sea in the Sinai Peninsula famous for its snorkelling and lounging about. If you want a place where you can sleep, eat, chill out on the beach all day or swim or snorkel or dive in the nearby coral reefs all for under 5 pounds a day, this is the place to be (Cheryl, forget the Bahamas - come here instead! ).

Went to Mt Sinai with a couple of people at midnight, to climb the popular strenuous walk up the mountain to the top to watch the sunrise. It is bitterly cold up there (0 temperatures plus wind chill), and I did not enjoy myself as I had just come down with a bit of a fever that night. Bad timing indeed. Still, I resolved to see it, so, feeling cold, weak and tired, I finally reached the top (2580m). The sunrise? It was nice, though the bitter cold, me being ill, and the crowds of people coming to see it sort of ruined the effect for me. The walk back down the 3000+ steps wasn't pleasant either in my condition. But these steps of penitence were built by one monk, so if he can build it with his limited resources, then I have no right to complain walking down them!

We quickly visited St Catherine’s monastery, which contains the burning bush that Moses talked to God from. Though there is no burning bush there but an old tree surrounded by a brick wall, on a site claimed to be where the burning bush was found. Hmmm. Must have burnt down I suppose.

Tried snorkelling for the first time. The first time was disastrous, because it was early morning, cold, windy, and heaps of jellyfish abound! But the second time was amazing, in a better location with the sun high up, I snorkelled past beautiful coloured reefs with beautiful coloured fish swimming about. Also some larger fish deep down and in the distance.

I thought I’d try to learn to dive as it is very cheap here compared to other places in the world to do so ($30US for introductory session). I was given a good brief on the equipment, the safety stuff etc, then put on the suit and practised in the water before venturing to the reef and below. But I found that having no experience at diving, I couldn't get used to breathing through the mouthpiece and being under so much water that I started to panic. So, disappointly, I decided to give it up and go back to shore.
It wasn't a complete failure though. I learnt heaps about diving, and I definitely want to try it again. And, even though I didn't succeed at it, I’m happy to know that at least I tried, which is better than not doing it at all and regretting it.

Some thoughts on Egypt:

- Egypt is very cheap! You can easily live on less than 5 British pounds a day! In fact you never see any coins because the currency is so poor (but they do exist somewhere)

- Oil is cheaper than water! (1 litre of each would cost about 7-10 British pence)

- Kushary is an Egyptian staple of rice, noodles, beans and onions mixed together, with tomato and chill sauce on top. It's very cheap (20 British pence), quite filling and delicious, and less likely to make you sick. Basically I lived off the stuff.

- Hustlers and touts can be quite aggressive and unpleasant here. There is a lot of lying and broken promises with what is offered and you actually receive, and more than once I’ve made the point of complaining quite vocally! And then they expect a tip! People here are also less hospitable than their neighbours. However, I was told by a local who thought the same way that sadly enough, Egypt never used to be like this. 20 years ago it used to be quite pleasant, friendly, like the other Arab nations. But tourism and money has changed the people to what they are like today. I sincerely hope that, as tourism increases in the ever developing Arab nations. that it will not go the same way.

There's more I can say about Egypt, but I’m out of time, and you're probably asleep reading this by now.
So, tomorrow I head of to Jordan, and I’m considering going into Israel instead of flying directly to Turkey...shall keep you posted...

James leaves England for another long travel stint

Well, here I go again! After 4 months working in Bristol I’m finally off again for a 7 month stint around the edge of Europe, first heading for Egypt, then Jordan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia (hopefully), Finland, Norway, then back to the UK for England, Scotland, Ireland, North Wales and then finally head back home at the end of November this year.

Anyway, some more places I visited around England and Wales in the last month...


THE BRECON BEACONS, WALES

Decided to spend a weekend at the Brecon Beacons national park in Wales, as Wales is known for it's beautiful countryside and I felt that seeing I’m so close to Wales (Bristol is at the border between them), I should at least check it out..

So, a few hours of buses and trains and rugby heading welsh later, and I found myself at the edge of a road in the middle of the Brecon Beacons, near the foot of Pen y Fan mountain, the tallest mountain in South Wales. I was not alone however, having encountered a slightly crazy old welsh man who walked up the mountain every week! Anyway, we decided to go through the more difficult route because I thought it would be more fun. Silly me for thinking that though, because it was quite a struggle climbing the treeless rocky alien like terrain while playing the role of the old man's psychologist (he reckons the welsh discriminate against him because he's welsh. huh? exactly).

Anyway, finally made it to the top to witness amazing views of valleys, lakes and rippled mountainsides. I could also barely see the start of Brecon, the town I was planning to walk to from the mountain top.

So, farewelled my crazy friend, and headed down the trail in the direction of the town.

After a while the trail disappeared and I was lost alone in the mountain valley, surrounded by sheep (there are more sheep than people in Wales it is said). Still, a beautiful tranquil place to be lost, with the reds, yellows, greens and browns of the trees and grass plains that the sheep were also enjoying in the late afternoon sunshine. But I figured as long as I keep heading straight and keep sight of the farmhouses scattered about the place I would be ok. Eventually I made it back to the main road and entered the town of Brecon just after sunset. Phew!

After that I was absolutely knackered, but decided that I would go out for one beer then go to bed.

Several beers and hours later and I was amongst new friends in a nightclub dancing till 2am (when the club closed). My poor feet!

The next day I went to visit Hay on Wye, which is a small pretty town, but with not too much to do except explore it's world famous second hand book stores (seems to be more of these than cafes and restaurants). A great place to get cheap second hand books on almost every topic!

My weekend in Wales over, I was lucky to get a lift back home with Cheryl (the school librarian), who was on her way home from visiting her parents in Aberystwyth on the west coast of Wales. She invited me to spend a weekend with her up there to show me the beautiful coast and beaches but never happened due to bad timing and poor weather. So the West coast of Wales will have to wait till October/November when I will be back travelling in the UK...


THE TOURIST BECOMING THE TOUR GUIDE

During the Easter weekend, I had a mate Tim come to visit and do some sight seeing (an Aussie workmate from where I worked back at home, also doing the work and travel thing).

We went to visit Wells, with it's huge beautiful cathedral with unique scissor arches holding the place up. Then we visited Glastonbury, where the smell of incense and joints overpowered you in this hippy town famous for having King Arthur’s gravesite, the holy grail, and the Glastonbury festival. So naturally the place is filled with new age mystical stuff.

The next day, John offered us free tickets to see the FIFA qualifying soccer match between Austria and Wales in Cardiff with him. How could we refuse? The football stadium was quite impressive, but the game was a disappointment (score was 2-0, Austria won, only Tim was happy as he was supporting his Austrian girlfriend, but kept quiet in the crowd of disappointed welsh, especially after the first time Austria scored Tim yelled victoriously "yes" then realised everyone looking at him in stunned silence.)

Next day, I took Tim to Bath where we admired the predominantly yellow architecture, the glorious Bath Abbey, and entertained ourselves watching the street performers (Tim got dragged in one performance and was forced to wear a pink tutu and assist the crazy performer - as you do). I also introduced Tim to the English Sunday Roast (roast meat and vegies with gravy and a Yorkshire pudding - which kind of bland pastry which seems pointless - what's wrong with bread?) and the joys of chilling out in an outdoor cafe while people watching.


FAREWELL TO OL' ENGLAND FOREVER?

It's quite sad leaving my life here in Bristol for I know I will not be coming back here again to work and live like I have been doing - my 2 year working holiday visa is soon to expire, and you can't renew it. Unless of course I marry someone in the UK or work full time for several years - none of which look desirable to me at this point in time! But you'll never know...

I must say, I have no idea how I’d ever get back to real life. Just coming back from Morocco for two more weeks work and already I can't wait to leave again and explore some relatively untouristed area of the world! Perhaps I’m just spoiled...

James’ Eye Opening Experience in Morocco

Casablanca - Marrakesh - Atlas Ranges - Aii Benhadou - Quarazate - Vallee des Roses - Doges Gorge - Todra Gorge - Tinehir - Merzourga Sand Dunes (Sahara Desert) -Cascades D'Ouzoud - Fez - Meknes - Volublis - Rabat


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GO TO THE LINK BELOW FOR PHOTOS OF ME IN MOROCCO

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOW7Jk2bsnDh4

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Salaam!

I have just come back from a two week Easter break in Morocco, unshaven, a little sunburnt, a few mosquito bites, and missing my luggage, which just got luckily couriered to me last night by the airline. I've also come back feeling a little more enlightened, having had a wild hectic but very educational and eye opening experience in Morocco amongst one of the most friendliest hospitable nations on Earth. I've been an invited guest to many a local people's homes, rode a camel in the Sahara desert sand dunes at sunrise, slept under the stars to the sounds of drums, singing and sizzling brochettes, sampled delicious local dishes like tajine and couscous, lost myself in the chaos of the medieval souks with it's exotic spices, carpets, friends and villains, admired intricately decorated mosques and Islamic architecture, and traversed through spectacular desert oasises, striking mountain ranges and surreal alien landscapes..

Not bad for my first venture into African territory.


CULTURE SHOCK ON ARRIVAL

Arrived in Casablanca airport after midnight, to be immediately confronted by several shifty looking characters as soon as I stepped outside searching in vain for the bus to the centre, which as it turned out had already left. The shifty characters were actually trying to be friendly, directing me to the Grand Taxis on the end of the street. Already, things were not as they appeared or as I was brought up to believe in the western world.

Grand Taxis are wonderful things. More comfortable and faster than other public transport, they will usually go between cities at a fixed rate, which you would share the cost with 6 other people, which can also work out to be cheaper too! I managed to find a friendly German couple to join me, who chose to pay my share of the Grand Taxi as well. So far so good.

But the night wasn't over yet. I was dropped off around 2am in front of the hotel I had attempted to book over the phone earlier that day (in my terrible French), and was worried when the hotel appeared locked up and closed. I rung the bell hoping for a response. In the meantime, an old Moroccan walking the street decided to come over to chat to me. Which is probably fine if you a) understand their culture of talking to total strangers (which I hadn't), and b) if you weren't alone in the middle of a dodgy looking empty street at 2 in the morning (which I was). Luckily, the door suddenly opened and a sleepy looking guy let me in the hotel (he was sleeping on the floor of the reception).

Thus, survived the first night unscathed with a bit of a culture shock - and to think this was only Casablanca, the most modern international city in Morocco! How would I react to the rest of the country?


SOME THINGS ON MOROCCO

- Moroccans are amazing linguists. Although their main languages are Arabic and French, they often also know Berber, English, Spanish, Portuguese and German!

- Moroccans are the most hospitable friendly nation I have encounted to date. They will talk to and invite random strangers into their homes or a cafe for tea. Moroccans tend to see westerners as "cold". One Moroccan recounted a story of a friend he had who was contracted to work in Finland. Last time his friend called home, he sounded upset, saying that he was lonely and sad because no one wanted to talk to him and were immediately suspicious when he tried to talk to them.

- Most cities in Morocco consist of two parts: The Medina and the Ville Nouvelle.

The Ancient Medieval Medina is a mud brick walled enclosure of souks selling practically everything, twisting alleyways, poor residential areas and kids running around, usually playing soccer. The people are generally very poor, but also very happy, having everything they need right in the medina - friends, family, enough to eat and a few meagre possessions. Most may never escape their simple honest life but they live quite happily.

Walking through the medinas can be pretty daunting if you're not used to the hustlers and touts trying to persistently and sometimes forcefully offering their services as a tour guide or dragging you into shops, hotels and restaurants so they can earn commission. You do learn to be more tolerant and sympathetic though when you hear that these people only survive by doing so.

The Ville Nouvelle is the modern French influenced area of the city with cafes, upmarket hotels and restaurants, amid shabby broken down art deco and art nouveau buildings.

- Everyone seems fascinated with my Asian eyes and my origins because I am exotic and beautiful to them. The amount of attention I get from the Moroccans, I sometimes feel like a celebrity. Kids would run past me while I’m sitting in a cafe, stop, run back, stop, and just stare at me curiously. Then they would continue on their way.

- Wherever I was, Moroccans would smile at me and shout out joyously "Japan", "Jacki Chan", or "Bruce Lee". In fact, a standard conversation would go like this:

"Japan!"
"No, I’m from Australia."
"Ah. kangaroo! But you look like Japan?"
"My parents are from Vietnam/china."
"Ah. Vietnam. Very strong. Kick America out!"
"Thankyou, I think."
"Welcome to Morocco. You are very welcome!"

After this they would invite me to have tea with them, or try to drag me into their shops...

- It takes a while to realise that even if they succeed in dragging you into their shops, they will assume you will be able to buy something, regardless of excuse! An example of one experience:

"Please, come in, have a look, I have beautiful carpets!"
"Sorry, but I have no money"
"It's ok, just to look, no problem, you like, you buy, cheap price"
"OK, but I really don't have any money"
"Here, sit down, we have many carpets"
"Look, what is the cheapest carpet you have"
"We have big and small carpets"
"Yes, but how much do they cost?"
"They can be 600dh-1000dh..."
"Well I only have 100dh on me." (this was true)
pause. sad sigh.
"Ok, thankyou, I wish you good holiday!"

I sure felt guilty about it, but what could I do?


CASABLANCA

Casablanca is a large sized city with a very international flavour, and a small intimate medina by the beach. Casablanca also has the monumental Mosque Hassan II, the third largest mosque in the world with the tallest minaret tower, perched on the edge of a cliff. A truly inspired building, built recently and still incomplete, this mosque would list highly on my 10 ten buildings of the world, amongst the Taj Mahaj and St Peters Basilica. The interior has to be seen to be believed, every square inch decorated with vibrant reds, gold, wood and plaster carved Islamic designs and extravagant crystal chandeliers.

It was in a (literally) "hole in the wall eatery" in the medina that I had my first taste of Tajine, one of their many staples (couscous and brochettes (kebabs) being other kinds). Tajine is basically a casserole, cut up meat with cut up vegetables surrounding it, mixed with spices and sauce and covered and left to stew over a charcoal stove. Eaten by scooping up the food with bread, it is absolutely delicious. Another variation is Kefta, which is meatballs with eggs. Yum.

It was in a cafe in the old medina where I met Hamid and Jino, locals who I spent an afternoon with chatting over "Moroccan whisky", (mint tea), their national drink, tea served very sweet with at least 4 lumps of sugar. Served with the mint directly soaking in the glass itself, or within a silver teapot, which is ceremonially poured into a glass from very high up like a waterfall to create froth, as this indicates the tea is well made.

They invited me for drinks in their house in the medina that night. The house they lived in is essentially a room 2x3m in size, enough to fit two narrow beds, a coffee table, and a chest of drawers with a radio blaring out 80's and 90's ballads from Bryan Adams, Sting and so on... the toilet, around the corner near the front door, is basically a concrete hole in the floor.

Much discussion was had on the politics and war. Moroccans are very open minded and accepting of other cultures and beliefs, as here, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Arabs, Berbers etc all live in relative harmony and peace with one another. They believe that education is very important to distinguish between what is good and bad, and that war is particularly bad because it leads to the destruction of cultures, history and lives. They believe that America's interference in the middle east causes political and economical instability so in the end they are forced to buy weapons and protection from America (because they aren't allowed to make weapons themselves), in return more control and access to their oil supplies. Regardless of whether this is true or not, it seems many people in the Arab nations would feel happier if America would stop interfering and left them all alone.


MARRAKESH

Marrakesh is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco (Fez, Rabat and Meknes being the others). Predominantly red in colour, Marrakesh is quite a large atmospheric place with an enormous medina which I got completely lost in. It took me once two hours through purposely twisting lanes (designed to confuse and disorientate attackers, or these days, tourists) to find my way to the main Djemaa el Fna square where people would gather to watch snake charmers, sword swallowers, acrobats, singers, dancers, watersellers in red costumes laden with gold cups and a waterbag, musicians and even monkeys perform. At night numerous tables laden with different foods (even boiled snails in soup) are cooked right in the square where you just sit on a bench next to a table and choose what you want to eat.

All this under the shadow of the beautiful Koutubia minaret - Marrakech is definitely the most atmospheric place to be in Morocco, especially when you get to sleep on the roof terrace overlooking the square under the stars as I did, though waking up to the sound of their call to prayer from the minarets at 5am is not that wonderful.

The call to prayer which they do at least 5 times a day following Muslim protocol, is quite a sound to hear and an unique experience. Loud chanting and singing over humming and mumbling prayers in the background coming from a loud speaker is impressive enough. Hearing it coming from every minaret in the city by different people transforms the city to a cacophony of chanting and song.

Haggling is an art form in these parts, and takes lots of practise to not get ripped off. I got ripped off buying a pair of sandals for 250dh (it was worth about 100dh, the seller asked for 500dh). But I think I did well buying Moroccan spice, managing to bargain 500gm for 50dh. I was wondering why the seller seemed unhappy Until I saw how much 500gms was (a helluva lot), and I changed it for 200gm for 30dh. (BTW $1AUD is 6dh, 1euro is 10dh, �1BP is 16dh)


THE HIGH ATLAS AND THE SAHARA DESERT

I decided on the spur of the moment to do a 3 day tour through the high Atlas mountains to the Sahara desert... Normally I don't like tours because you are rushed through everything and most of it involves alot of travelling on a bus. But I couldn't pass on the opportunity to go to the places I’ve only read about.

So there I was, with 3 Aussies, 4 kiwis, a lovely Moroccan couple on their honeymoon, 2 German girls and a Japanese guy, all sitting in the minibus, bags tied to the roof, monies paid, waiting for the tour to start. Suddenly, some old Moroccan guy got into the front seat with no introduction or explanation, and drove off with us. Could have been a kidnapper for all we knew, since no one thought about questioning him at all until an hour into the drive when we took the initiative to ask.

We finally worked out that we had no tour guide, just the driver who could only knew French and Arabic, which none of us could speak (except the Moroccans couple, but they couldn't speak English either)! All the driver did was just drive us to places and mumble "photo" (meaning get out and take photos), or point to his watch and signal when to return to the bus, then magically disappear, only to reappear when we had to leave.

We were first driven from Marrakesh to the Tizi n'Test Road mountain pass, where the views from up high in the red, black and brown Atlas mountains were spectacular to behold, some peaked with snow. We soon reached Ait Benhaddou, the first of many kasbahs (fortified mud castles) we were to see. Ait Benhaddou was an impressive kasbah situated at the foot of the hill, the walls coming up the slope to a ruined tower at the top of the hill. The labyrinth of twisting lanes, flat roofed mud brick houses and patterns carved into the walls quite characteristic of the Berber regions we found ourselves in.

Berbers are the native inhabitants of Morocco until they were joined by the Arabs, Jews, French and Spanish people. "Berber" however is only the name used by outsiders (some speculate as a historical derogatory term, i.e "barbarians", others believe it's due to the old name of the North African area they come from i.e "Barbary").

The real name of the people (in Morocco anyway) is "Amazigh", split into three dialects based on regions: "Tarifit" from the north, "Tamazight" from the center, and "Tachelhit" from the south.

Lunch was had at Ouarzazate, a place where many films such as Gladiator was filmed. In fact, many places featuring desert or representing Egypt is often filmed here because it is cheaper. We all decided to break from the itinery and spend some time in the town's medina and were all invited to a carpet shop where they demonstrated how they made the carpets using vertical looms and hand tools, and then we were shown many carpets, to which we were told "if you find a place in your heart for this, you will also find a place in your house, and also in your budget". Nice.

Would have liked to have bought one as they weren't badly priced compared to other places, but then what will I do lugging a Moroccan carpet around Europe for the next 7 months with me?

Driving along the vallee des roses was next, beautiful lush green oasises fed by an underground river, lined within valleys and canyons of red and black rock pinnacles and mountainsides, with many opportunities to stop and take photos and take in the beauty and serenity of the little mud brick villages scattered amongst the oasises. It's amazing to see oasises and life in such a desolate area mostly surrounded by harsh dry mountain and empty tundra terrain.

We stopped at a hotel by the Dades Gorge, where we passed the night listening to our Berber hosts playing their drums and telling stories and riddles over tea and candles - as was done before TV came about. Speaking of which, the only sign of modernity in these parts is the sight of satellite dishes on the roofs of the mud houses! It is sad to see traditional ways being lost as remote places such as these become more modernised. At the same time it is naive to believe they will stay the same forever. As such, it makes me more determined to visit places like this all over the world quickly before they are lost in the depths of time.

The next day, we went to Tinehir, an oasis town known for it's palmeries. We walked through alfalfa fields amongst villagers tending to their crops, into the old medina where we were given yet another carpet demonstration. It's fascinating to watch the time and effort it takes to make a carpet, and we were also taught the symbolism
behind the carpet patterns...

Then it was off to the Sahara desert...

We were driven through occasional sandstorms on a road that was quickly eroding, until we found ourselves in a field of nothing but little rocks as far as the eye can see, except in front of us, where the sand dunes rose out in the middle of nowhere signalling the start of the Sahara desert.

We got to a base in Merzourga at the edge of the desert, where we were shown to the camels sitting waiting for us. Camels are funny, although they can be temperamental, they always seem to look like they're smiling. Which I guess makes them unpredictable cause you never know what they're thinking. Anyway, received an old greasy blanket which I was to throw over the saddle and sit on. Later I was to find out that was the blanket I was to sleep under. Not for the faint hearted.

Anyway, we all got on our camels, and lead by a nomadic Berber desert guide, we rode through the sand dunes in one long caravan, each camel tied to the one in front or behind. Though at one point a renegade camel in the middle managed to break free from the caravan and tried to walk off! Not sure how it did that.

We rode on, stopping to witness the sun set over the sand dunes, though the weather was a little cloudy so it wasn't perfect, but we were hoping the sunrise would be clearer and better.

So, we arrived at a little nomadic camp between a couple of large sand dunes where we were to sleep in a big but well made nomadic tent - a few carpets, string, sticks and pegs holding the whole thing together. Some of us then tried to climb one of the sand dunes. They are alot bigger than they appear, and the top is alot further than you think. Something that seems like 10 meters away actually turns out to be 100 and so on. By the time we reached the top completely exhausted (Walking up a sand dune also is a killer on the legs!), night had fallen completely and it was pitch dark, except the stars that lit up the sky spectacularly and the tiny lamps of the campsite far below. It was incredibly windy on the top, with sand being blown everywhere all over you!

Back at camp, covered in sand, we enjoyed another meal of tajine, fruit, and then sat around in a circle while we entertained ourselves with drumming, singing, dancing, and smoking fruit from a shish? pipe (never found out the name of those pipe things).

Next morning we woke up before dawn and got back on the camels, in time to catch the first rays of sunrise turning the wind formed ripples in the sand turning from blue to red to finally yellow. We could also see some bird life flying about, and also the tracks of a desert fox that must have been out hunting in the night. We rode to the point where we could see the border to Algeria, which is currently closed due to conflicts down south in the western Sahara (Apparently, Algeria wants to take the land from the Moroccans so they have a closer and more direct oil line pipe straight to a port on the Atlantic ocean for shipping to the US and beyond).

And that was it. The rest of the day was the long arduous drive back to Marrakech, where we wished each other farewell and I went to sleep on the roof again.


LEARNING ABOUT ISLAM AT THE CASCADES D'OUZOUD

It was on the bus ride (and Grand Taxi since no bus goes to the Cascades) that I met Mohyiddine, Abdullah and Elhoucine, teachers from Agadir on holiday, visiting an old friend and cafe owner at the cascades. They invited me to join them.

The Cascades D'Ouzoud is the largest waterfall in northern Africa. Different to other waterfalls, it starts out wide as 7 little waterfalls, ending up joining up at the bottom as one large cascade of water, where rainbows and rock pools are abundant. Near the top, trees are full of Barbary apes swinging all over the place. At the bottom lie the rock pools and a tiny Berber village. Halfway down the middle sit hotels and cafes, where I was introduced to Azil, owner of a cafe with the best view of the cascades. It was here that we were provided with free lunch and drinks while everyone caught up, and later that afternoon, after exploring the cascades, we all went up for more talking over food and drinks when all the tourists had left.

It was here that we discussed many things, and I learnt alot about the Islam faith. It really does get a bad reputation; the religion is quite beautiful really. They have 5 pillars to attain in the Islamic faith. These are:
1. You must accept Allah is the one God and Muhammed is his Last Prophet.
2. You must pray 5 times a day, waking up, lunchtime, midafternoon, sunset, and before bed.
3. If you can do so, you must use at least 2% of your wealth to help the less fortunate.
4. If you can do so, fast the Ramadan (30 days, consisting of no food or other pleasures, only water, from sunrise to sunset.)
5. If you can do so, you must visit Mecca (in Saudi Arabia)

I was also taught about the steps involved when you reach Mecca. But this email is too long as it is to go into it.

They invited me to stay with them, 4 of us in a room designed for 2, but very cheap because the hotel owner knew Azil, and gave it to us "friend price". I offered to pay but they all refused, saying that "you can't put a price on friendship, you are our friend and guest and we welcome you".

Next morning, a quick breakfast of Them (hot milk from the Them plant) and Malawi (crepes), and I farewelled my friends and headed up the long bus ride to Fez...


FEZ

Fez is also a very large town with a very big medina. Blue is it's colour, though there are many more references to Green, which is the colour of Islam, with green roof tiles on white and yellow walls. The medina is actually 3 medinas in one hence it's great size; the Fes el Djedid (new medina), the Fes el bali (old medina), and the area between joining the two, with a large gate called Bab Boujeloud, where I stayed in a hotel (terrace) nearby overlooking it. Nice.

The new medina basically contains the royal palace and gardens, but it is the old medina, at the bottom of a valley enclosed within huge mud brick walls that most of the life of the medina is contained. Visited the Kairaouine Mosque, regarded as the holiest place in Morocco (never found out why, and couldn't go in since non-Muslims generally can't go into any mosque in Morocco, - with a few exceptions like the one in Casablanca). Beautiful Islamic designs adorn the 16 entrances into the mosque allowing people to enter and exit
from all sides during calls to prayer.

Also visited the Bou Inania Medersa, which is one of many old Islamic colleges centred around a beautiful courtyard with small fountain, and rooms on the floor above. The walls being adorned with plaster and wood carvings, the wood joints a testimony to expert carpentry.

Visited the tanneries, which are huge pots filled with different dyes etc that skins are soaked into and then left to
dry on the roofs. The smell and the sight of people bustling about amongst it is unbelievable.

Outside the walls of Fez are a huge number of white tombstones high up on the hill. From here you could see beautiful views over the old medina as the sun sets.

Even in the backwards country like Morocco I can't seem to get away from doing IT stuff. One night I went to help set up a printer (in French) for a very grateful cafe owner.


MEKNES

Meknes, less chaotic, less frequented by tourists, another imperial city (green being its colour), and probably my favourite city in Morocco because of it's very laid back atmosphere and souks where you can walk around without being chased after by shop owners trying to drag you into their shops. Quite a nice medieval atmosphere, where you can witness people making clothes, metal and wood work in little workshops along the main street.

Visited the Dar Jamai palace with it's collection of carpets and tapestries amid beautiful rooms. Here I met Ben, a Christian Chinese American from LA, who seemed to be quite knowledgeable about history and religion for an accountant. We went to visit the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, who was the founder of Morocco. Apparently only Muslims are allowed in, but the guard in front allowed us in as long as we took off our shoes. So we were lucky to see the grave and admire the beautifully decorated interior of the Mausoleum, which is more impressive than the outside.

We then chilled out watching people walk past in the main Place el Hedim while Ben explained the main differences between the religions. I learnt that the Jews and Muslims are actually half brothers, both being sons of Abraham. The difference is that each believe they are the "chosen people". Also, Jews believe in Chapter 1 (Old Testament), Christians in Chapter 1 and 2 (New Testament and Jesus being son of God), and Muslims believe in Chapter 1, 2, and 3 (Jesus just being another prophet, Muhammad being the Last Prophet carrying the final rules God had sent down for us to study so we can learn to be good and thus pass his exam (i.e go to heaven, failure means hell). They also explained that there is much fighting between them because the religions are so close, much as brothers or loved ones fight. They refrain from drinking alcohol to remain pure, and most women (younger and single women usually don't) cover up so men don't think impure thoughts.

Of course, there are also the fundamentalist Muslim groups that they all frown upon (just as there are fundamentalist Christian groups) that are of an oppressive and violent nature. What is important is to realise that they do not represent the true Islamic faith, where they praise God for giving them life and existence, are good to one another, and want to be truly good so they can go to heaven.

Next day we headed to Volublis via Grand Taxi (no direct buses that way) with another guy from Hong Kong called Wing who was at the hostel with me.

Volublis is a very well preserved roman ruin, on top of a hill, famous for it's mosaics, location for Martin Scorseses film "Last Temptation of Christ". We didn't have a guide but I've seen enough roman and Greek ruins to identify which buildings and ruins were what. The mosaics were quite impressive, though alot of it was fading out due to the elements.


RABAT

Left for Rabat the next day. Rabat, the fourth imperial city (colour being white), despite being the capital of morocco, was by far the most laid back city I had encountered. Consisting of a small medina which is almost too civilised that it's souks felt more of a small European market, but also a large ville nouvelle full of government and military buildings which you had to be careful not to take photos of. There are three main attractions in Rabat however.

- Chellah is an old ruined area within medina walls outside the city, overgrown with wildflowers and trees filled with storks nesting on the top, one stork nesting on the top of a minaret of a ruined mosque. A very picturesque and peaceful place, many locals go with their families to picnic, play music, make wreaths of wildflowers and play soccer.

- The incomplete Muhammad V mosque and mausoleum in the city is quite a sight to see. With beautiful gardens filled with fountains, a half built stunted but gigantic minaret which would have been the biggest in the world if it was completed, concrete pillars in the area where the mosque would have been built around making the mosque quite picturesque. The mausoleum was equally beautiful (designed by a Vietnamese architect), where the former king (Muhammad V) lies in amazingly detailed Islamic designs of gold, red carpets and tiled patterns, protected by friendly costumed guards.

- The Kasbah Oudaia, also just outside the city walls overlooking the beach. Here, you would find the Bab Oudaia gate, which is apparently one of the most beautiful gates in the Islamic world, though I can't work out why for the life of me. Inside, white washed walls with blue paint reminiscent of a Mediterranean island village leading to beautiful views of the beach and the ocean, with huge Atlantic ocean waves crashing against the Kasbah and the rocky pier below...


AND NOW BACK IN BRISTOL

And that was it! Was sad to leave, but I hope that I will have to opportunity to go back one day.

Soon, I'll head off again to Egypt and beyond for a 7 month stint around the borders of Europe...

Till next time,
A bientot!