Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Thailand was a really awesome place to go. The people hassled you on the street, but not nearly as bad as Egypt so Jordan and I were pretty comfortable. We started our tour in Bangkok, but went directly to Kanchanaburi. We stayed in a great little guest house, no a/c, but big deal. We went to the Tiger Temple the first day, a sanctioned off area by monks to heal tigers that can't make it in the wild. Got to get some cool pics, love them tigers. We also checked out the Allied War Cemetary, as well as Hellfire Pass, where POW's and Asian slave labourers worked on the Burma-Thailand Railway during WW2 under horrific conditions. As Jordan and I talked about, it was neat to get a different perspective on WW2 history seeing as our education predominantly focuses on the war in Europe, not so much the Pacific. We also headed out to Erawan Falls, a 7 tiered waterfall heaven where we got to swim with the fish (who bite at you, and although it doesn't hurt, I skinned my knee falling on a rock trying to kick them away). That was refreshing considering we did nothing but sweat in Thailand.

Pics:

1) Me and one of the tigers

2) The Allied War Cemetary, mostly Australians

3) Hellfire Pass

4) Me at Erawan Falls

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai ended up being a pretty big disappointment. We ended up staying in Sharjah, which is a town outside of Dubai. Long story short, it wasn't really fit for backpackers on a budget like us. Cabs were relatively inexpensive, but you pretty much had to take them everywhere to get around. We didn't really even get into the city center properly, because we bussed to Dubai then attempted walking like we always do. We got nowhere. We did a desert safari though, which was also relatively disappointing. The 'dune bashing' was pretty good, but everything else kind of lacked. We tried sand boarding (sounds way better than it is), rode a camel in a circle, had a bbq, and watched Jordan dance with a belly dancer (he always gets picked, ask me to see the video when I get home). The highlight actually ended up being the snowboarding we did. That's right, boarding in the desert! We went to the Emirates Mall, and went to Ski Dubai, the indoor resort. Awesome to get out of plus 30-35 weather and get some nice solid below zero feeling. We had a blast, it was well worth it (the snowboarding I mean). I think Dubai is a place I will go back to, but not as a backpacker. Retired with money, that's how you do Dubai.

Pics:

1) My model shot in the desert

2) Haven't shaved since September, got a haircut since July

3) Jordan and the belly dancer

4) My gold medal performance

5) J and I at Ski Dubai

Alexandria, Egypt

Pics:

1) Jordan and I enjoying a serious read at the Alexandria library

2) Me being quite studious at the lecture hall at the Roman ampitheatre

3) Our crab feast

Alexandria turned out to be a good choice. It was an optional excursion at the end of our tour, and we ended up feasting on the Mediterranean! Great seafood, nice city with a history (founded by Alexander the Great), and we even went to the historic library to have a peek.

Luxor, Egypt

Luxor was a true highlight of Egypt. The most impressive temple, Karnak was found here, we took a hot air balloon ride, went off course, and almost were in the middle of a child riot, and we got to ride donkeys!!! Of course we can't forget about the Valley of the Kings, where tomb after tomb are buried within. Spectacular, no photos allowed though :( Great place to go though, no doubt about that.

Pics:

1) Example of the original colour still intact at Karnak

2) Hugging the column

3) The rams at the entrance of Karnak

4) Jordan, Kerryn (Australia) and I on the hot air balloon

5) Jordan ridin' Earl

6) An ass on an ass

The felucca on the Nile

The beauty of the tour we chose, was that we got to take a felucca boat down the Nile for three days. We had a Nubian crew (village inhabiting people from Southern Egypt) to guide us from Aswan to Edfu, where we caught a bus up to Luxor. The food was simple (or so they told us), but it turned out we were feasting for 3 meals a day. I was very impressed with what they could do in the 'kitchen' of this small sailboat-like boat. Day one was great, we had some beers, enjoyed some sunshine, and the boat is designed so you can't do anything (it's one gigantic matress). Day 2 however, I fell sick. I don't remember much of the day, but as Sue and Kim described it (one of the couples on the tour), I was sleeping all day in different patches of shade. Day 3 I was back on my feet, and enjoyed the rest of our cruise. We kept seeing gigantic cruise ships (5 star type of things), but I thought about it and realized how illegitimate that would be. You don't want to be on a cruise ship on the Nile, you want to be stinky (no showers), #1 and 2 behind trees, and just relaxing. I thought it was great (even though I got sick)

Pics:

1) Our Nubian crew (Captain Fox second from left) and our tour guide Khaled (far right)

2) "Quarantined Quarter" (we were the sickies of the felucca ride, all Canadians) :(

3) The felucca

4) Swimming in the Nile

Aswan, Egypt (including Abu Simbel and Philae)

Ok, so I'll get pics up soon. I burnt a picture cd yesterday, but I'm at a different net cafe where I can't use cds, so I'll have to upload another time. Anyway, after Cairo we took a night train to Aswan. Aswan was a nicer city in my opinion. Had a great bazaar where you get harrassed like nobodies business, but it was a dry town (no booze...although, 6 or 7 of us took horse carriages one night to the 4 star hotel and had a few beers at their bar). Didn't spend too much time in Aswan itself, but we took day trips (via tourist police convoy) to Philae Temple (beautiful temple on an island) and the world famous Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel has the most amazing exterior of any of the temples we visited. The inside isn't too shabby either.

Pics:

1) Philae Temple

2) Our hosts at a Nubian village (they cooked for us and had us into their homes!)

3) This was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time

4) Me at Abu Simbel

5) Abu Simbel

6) Abu Simbel (no photos inside of this one)

Cairo (and Giza), Egypt

Cairo...what to say. 18 million people. The horn is the most important device in an automobile, even more so than the brakes. This city is insane. People everywhere, trying to sell you things (mostly papyrus), noise pollution, and of course a haze above the city that puts even London to shame. It was quite the culture shock (considering I've only really been to Western European countries of yet), but an experience I'll never forget. The Pyramids of Giza were absolutely spectacular. Jordan and I even got to climb up on the largest pyramid off to the one side. The Sphinx, although smaller than expected, was still an architectural wonder so to speak. Amazing what people were capable of doing so long ago. Egypt is full of history, and it was a pleasure to come and check this country out.

Pics:

1) One of the nine Pyramids of Giza, of course one of the 3 largest too (coming soon)

2) Me on the largest pyramid (coming soon)

3) Walk Like an Egyptian (coming soon)

4) The Sphinx

5) My head as the Sphinx

6) Cairo from our hotel roof