Ranting about Albert

After having returned from a long trip where I didn't have access to all the foods I can normally have, I made a quick trip to Albert Heijn to pick up a few things. They had no blueberries, so that ruined my hopes of blueberry pancakes. The lettuce was dismal. They were out of real orange juice, so I had to settle for concentrate. And they were out of something else I was looking for. Then, the checkout lines reached almost to the back of the store. They have big signs saying how if there are more than three people waiting they will open another register. What they actually mean is that if more than three people are waiting, they will just have to wait, because they certainly aren't going to be bothered to open any extra lines. I want to find out who this Albert Heijn is and then kill him.

Jordan, Day 5: Amman & Jerash

Took a quick tour of Amman, but it's such a young city that there isn't much to see aside from the well preserved roman theatre.


The better part of the day was the trip to Jerash to see the ancient roman city. It was really impressive and quite large to be in such a good condition. I'm really glad I went to visit it. The hippolyte and theatre were both in excellent condition, but I don't understand why they had bagpipers.



After dinner, a late flight home from the clean and orderly Amman airport, what a difference from Cairo.

The pics from Amman are here.

The pics from Jarash are here.

Jordan, Day 4: Dead Sea

Another long day of driving to various places around Jordan, starting with the castle at karak. Unfortunately, it was a bit hazy, so there wasn't much view. Then to the Dead Sea, which apparently you can't get to a decent part of unless you got to a hotel and pay an exorbitant amount of money. For this, you get basic changing rooms, communal showers, and a few plastic beach chairs. What beach there is is not very soft and the water itself doesn't look very appealing. The bottom is icky with some rocks and then deep mud that you sink up to your knees in. But, like they say, you do become ridiculously buoyant and float with most of your body out of the water. So now I can say I've been in the Dead Sea, woo who.

Jordan, Day 3: Petra

Petra is far larger than I had imagined. It's not just the one temple or two that you recall from Indiana Jones, but a whole city carved into the rocks. Much of it today is in ruins, but it is still an amazing place.

The narrow canyons that everything is built in is as impressive as the buildings themselves, if not more so. There are vendors around, but they were much friendlier and less aggressive than those in Egypt. The site is reasonably clean too. Seeing all of Petra in its entirity would probably take two long days, but we were able to see the most important bits in one grueling day. I'd rate Petra as the favorite part of my trip.

Pics are here.

Jordan, Day 2: The road to Petra

Visited the old crusader castle at Shubak. While the castle is just ruins today, the location is excellent, with dramatic views over the surrounding valleys. The brown hills mixing with green vegetation and crisp blue skies were very scenic.


From there, to Little Petra, which is far less visited that the main part of Petra. It's just like you imagine it to be; a narrow slit valley with buildings carved into the rocks. The landscape is otherworldly and amazing.


Shubak pics are here.

Jordan, Day 1: Lawrence of Arabia

The day started with a quick tour around Aqaba harbour and fort. It was possible to see the much larger city of Eliat, Israel off in the distance. From there it was off to Wadi Rum to spend the day/night with the bedouins. We went for an offroad tour of the desert. It was quite a long tour, unfortunately it was in the back of an open Toyota Hilux in the middle of a sandstorm. Bouncing around, getting sand in your face, your teeth, everywhere, little visibility; I thought it was fun, great, and miserable all together. The others, however, did not share my level of enthusiasm. True, it would have been nice to have clearer weather. The desert and the rocks were really beautiful to see in those rare moments when you could see. Then, back to the camp for a lazy afternoon and a nice dinner. Sleeping in the tent was better than the felucca, but not by much. The cots were a bit uncomfortable, especially the pillows which felt like sandbags. Eventually, I left to sleep outside for a while, which was a really great thing. There were more starts that you could possibly imagine and it was beautiful.

Pics from around Aqaba are here.

Egypt, Day 11: A long goodbye to Egypt

Day 10 was a lazy day on the beach in Nuweiba, with a little snorkling in the warm water by the colorful coral.

The last day started well with a leisurely morning and a nice breakfast. The rest of the day was a total 3rd world disaster. We had to arrive at the port by 11am for a ferry that wouldn't leave until 3pm-ish, which should have been our first warning. There was no organisation, no clear direction. We just sat in the hot waiting hall for hours on end. There were plenty of air conditioners, but none were turned on. There were also lots of flies and the worst toilets on Earth. Then, suddenly, everyone jumped up and clambered out the door onto some decrepit old buses that took us to the ferry. All the luggage has to be thrown in big trailers, then you queue up in the bottom of the ferry. We eventually make our way inside, but our guide does not. He is held at the passport control on some paperwork issue and is sent off. Fortunately, we had a guide in Jordan who would meet us. Once inside the ferry, everything was different. It was nice, clean, comfortable, cool, and mostly orderly. The only problem was that they forget to give us our visas, which caused a bit of delay on the arrival in Jordan. At the arrivals hall in Jordan, they tow up the trailers of luggage and everyone swarms them and digs through to find their bags. We'd put all ours together and along a side, so we got through it pretty quickly. Then off to the hotel in Aqaba, a nice, modern city that was everything that Egypt should have been.

Egypt, Day 9: Mt. Sinai

You'll notice that Day 8 went unmentioned. Not much of note happened. We slept in for a change and then went to visit the Muhammad Ali mosque, which was nice to see. Then to the bazaar, which consisted of the same old crap and the same old hard sells.

Next up, a long bus ride to the Sinai. The road between Cairo and the Suez canal is heavily militarized, with a string of bases running the whole way. Lots of artillery, self-propelled artillery, a few tanks, and several air defence units. The trip was a constant string of checkpoints. At each checkpoint, our driver would hand over a newspaper. I guess not many people go out that way from Cairo, so it seems recent news from the city is appreciated. We crossed the Suez canal, but there weren't any good views of it.

In the late afternoon, we arrived at St. Catherine's monastery at the base of Mt. Sinai and began hiking to the top.

Camel vendors aside, it was a nice walk through the hills until the last part, which is 700 steep steps. But, I made it to the top just in time for the sunset. Then we rushed back down to get dinner, stopping to help a dutch couple who were attempting to make their way using only a glowstick. The time at the monastery was probably my favorite in Egypt. The people were honest, fair prices, no hassles, and good food. It was really quite pleasant.


Pics from the Sinai are here.

Egypt, Day 7: Valley of the Kings

The trip to the Valley of the Kings was hours upon hours spent in blistering heat on the back of a donkey, doing what could have been done in minutes in an air conditioned bus. My legs could touch the ground while riding. Poor donkey, poor me. Then we hiked from the top of the ridge down into the Valley of the Kings and went inside a few tombs.

We went inside a few of the tombs and they were very elaborate and colorful, although rather hot. The extra heat and humidity from thousands of tourists going through is probably not good for the preservation.

From the Valley of the Kings, we hiked back to the donkeys and then rode down to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, which was very large, but not as intricate as many of the other temples we'd seen.

Then, another uncomfortable night on the train back to Cairo. Fortunately, I was not assaulted by the ladder for the bed, unlike some people.

Pics from around Luxor are here.

Egypt, Day 6: Luxor

Another haphazard convoy ride from where the felucca let us off to Luxor. Stopped at Kom Ombo and Edfu temples along the way. In the first town we visited, the police were dragging hasslers away by the scruff of the neck. That was nice, I liked that town. Once in Luxor, we went to see Karnak temple, which is absolutely huge. It was heavily under reconstruction, but full of columns and statues.

As always happens, a local tried to point out something obvious to us so he could ask for a tip. This time, he led us into an off limits area. As we're standing there, I spotted the police coming towards us. Suddenly, the guy wanted to go. I moved slowly, stayed in plain sight and handed him a tip. The cop arrived just as I walked away and started yelling at the guy. 1EGP well spent; score one for the good guys.

Egypt, Day 5: Felucca Misery

A whole day and night spent on a felucca, and not much point to it all really. No particularly interesting scenery or stops at cool places along the way. We had the opportunity to answer the call of nature in the great outdoors. The only nice thing was spending the afternoon playing games. When we stopped for the night, it was within sight of our destination. That just seemed strange. A few more minutes of sailing and we could have spent the night in a hotel or on one of the nice cruise ships instead of the hard deck of the boat. My back hurt for a while after that. And then, there was the food. It was cooked in the fresh, pure waters straight from the Nile. Needless to say, I didn't eat much. And extra special thanks to the dutch group who paid for exclusive rights to the toilets instead of sharing them as I understood to be the custom.

Egypt, Day 4: Abu Simbel

Today started off with a 4am convoy to Abu Simbel. It was the most hapless convoy in history. No clear police escort vehicles (though police in the buses), no headlights, tailgaiting, passing, basically driving like Egyptians. Still other traffic on roads and lots of check points that didn't seem to do anything. But, the temples were definitely worth it. They were huge and full of hieroglyphics and statues.


Then to Aswan High Dam, which I've always heard about, but was quite disappointed when I saw it, not that large or interesting. Then to another temple by boat. This time the boat broke down halfway and we needed a tow. Transport around here doesn't seem that safe or reliable. But, again, the temples were great. Large columns, ornate hieroglyphs and a look that resembled greek.


Last stop was a perfume factory. Given my dislike of perfumes, having all sorts of scents thrown at me was not my idea of fun. Nobody really seemed interested, but we still had to sit through the sales pitch. Fortunately it ended.

Tomorrow, all day and all night on a felucca.

Pics from around Aswan and Abu Simbel are here.

Egypt, Day 3: Aswan

Sleeping in the train was not great, the bed was short, narrow, the car was bouncy and there were plenting of rattles and bangs. The toilet emptied directly out onto the tracks. Arrival into Aswan, trash and used needles lining the tracks. The one resounding thing everywhere in Egypt is the trash. Trash in the street, in the desert, on rooftops, everywhere. Just makes you wonder if people have any respect for their surroundings. Aswan is browner and hillier than Cairo, and I liked it a lot more. Less crowded and a more relaxed pace made it an easier place to be. The hotel turned out to be nicer too. Took a brief feluca (sail boat) and then a long camel ride to an old monastery and mausoleum. My camel was very scrawny and I thought it was going to collapse under me. Still working on mastering the art of camel driving. Then to some botanical gardens that weren't very colorful, but full of people hassling you to buy things you don't want. I was getting very annoyed, someone's going to get hurt before too long.

Egypt, Day 2: A lesson in being ripped off

The night before ended with the tour jerking around with prices, making somethings more expensive and some things that were part of the itinerary into options. The hotel then shorts me on change for a bottle of water. First thing, off to the pyramids, which are right on the edge of the city.

Quite an opposition, bustling city at the gates on one side, vast desert on the other. Seeing the pyramids was really cool, you can't believe they are still there after all these years. Also saw the sphinx, which was quite impressive too.

The view of the Sphinx with the pyramids in the background is quite amazing. Then, the downside. Both sites are teeming with souvenir sellers, people offering to take your picture, camel drivers offering rides. Lots and lots of people after your money and not being afraid to ask. And if someone thinks they deserve a tip for doing nothing, they aren't ashamed to tell you. This really killed the ambiance and everyone was a little happy to leave it. Plus, it's really hard to tip when you never get small bills. I think this is part of the plan. I compensate by seldom tipping. Next was a papyrus "museum" (store) where we all bought some paintings. Dancing Nomad is my hero for her tenacious negotiation skills. The guys were really happy to see her leave the store. From there, to an even more questionable carpet "school", which had a sales pitch that no one was interested in. Last stop was the Egyptian Museum, easily the best part of the day. Lots of interesting, although jumbled stuff, and no one hassling you. Then off to the train station and into the tiny compartment of the overnight sleeper to Aswan.

Cairo pics are here.

Egypt, Day 1: Cairo

You land in Cairo airport into a scene of total chaos. No signs or anything to tell you where to go or what to do, so I join the line of people looking like they are going through passport control. It is the slowest line ever. Fortunately, I get a text from Dancing Nomad telling me to buy stamps for my passport first at the bank. Otherwise, I would have had to stand through the line twice. You come out of customs into a deeper set of chaos. People asking you if you want drivers, porters, to change your money, etc. Thankfully, Dancing Nomad had used her spare hour to arrange taxi for us. While the guy inside looked official, I'm not sure the taxi was. We emerge from the terminal into a scene of even more chaos. It was sprinkling and the roads had turned to grease. People were queing, shouting, trying to figure out what to do. We got into our prearranged car and drove off. Driving in Egypt is an experience. People don't use headlights at night, they just flash them on and off occasionally to make sure nothing is out in front of them. Lanes are meaningless. Cars just go wherever, inches apart, weaving and honking the whole way. It was madness that made driving in Russia seem almost civil. The other passengers were getting really concerned about the safety of all this, fortunately I've got a higher tolerance for these things and tried to carry on a chat with the driver. We had no real close calls and made it safely to the hotel.

Photos later.

Easter Weekend, Day 5

Today started out with an early start to get out of Andorra before the crowds of departing vacationers hit the road. First stop was Montsegur, another castle on the top of a rock. It came strongly recommended by french colleagues This time, the walk up was considerably more daunting.

After a long muddy climb, I reached the top to find out there wasn't much there. According to the history, a number of people were burned at the stake when the castle was defeated. I think there may be a few more people burning at the stake...

Next stop from there was the museum for prehistoric art. One of the things the region is famous for is the cave paintings left by ancient man thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, these caves are now largely closed to the public or have admission by reservation only. So, I did the next best thing and went to the museum down the road from the caves. They had long explanations about people living in the caves and their art. There were also full scale reproductions of the cave art. One thing I did learn was that the paintings seen on public tours of the caves are no longer visible. They have either all be destroyed by overvisitation or have been recreated. So, no big loss in missing the caves.

The final stop was the grotte du mas d'azil. A cave so big you could put a road through it, and somebody did.

There is a tour that goes through some of the cave, but i recommend skipping it. The guide would walk a while, stop, tell us to look around for 5 min, talk for 15 min (about spears or old bones), ask questions, then give 5 more minutes to look around before starting the whole cycle over again. It was so boring that I actually waited until no one was looking and then ran away back to the entrance.

The final notable thing from the trip was that I spotted 2 A380s at the airport in Toulouse.

Easter Sunday: I become an esquiador

Day 4 was devoted entirely to skiing in Andorra at the Grandvalira ski area. The spanish word for skier is esquiador. I think that's a much cooler word, sounds kinda like matador. Just after buying my lift pass, a guy along the street asked me to help him get his car unstuck. He was strangely insistant that his gf could not drive the car while he pushed because she didn't have a license. I don't think unsticking a car really counts as driving. Anyhow, he was on an upslope, on ice, with summer tires, so it was a pretty much hopeless case. And it's really hard to try to explain in french that you shouldn't just floor it and spin the wheels. Finally, a local got behind the wheel and a couple of other guys came along and we pushed and pushed and got him out. So, good deed done for the day. The weather was really nice for skiing, though a little warm. Bright sunshine all day long and just above freezing. The snow quality wasn't the greatest, but there wasn't any ice or bare spots. In the morning, the snow was kinda frozen, and by the afternoon it was getting really soft and lumpy. It was hard (for me) to go fast because of the inconsistency of the softening snow. Like any ski resort, prices were outrageous. I must have spent 15euro on powerade for the day. But, I think I'm not really up to a full day of skiing. After about two runs, my legs started feeling tired. They got better, but by the time of the last few runs of the day I was pretty beat. Ended the day with sore muscles and an early bed time.

Day 3: Castles in the sky

Day 3 started off with a visit to the chateau in Carcassonne (it was closed by the time I arrived the evening before). The opening time was later than it was listed online, so I did the short tour instead of the long. The short really isn't all that worth it, so I guess if you have the time, go for the long. Next stop was the Fort de Salses, an impressive looking fort near the coast. Lots of towers and moats. Didn't go in, unfortunately, because I arrived just as their mid-day closing started, so I had to skip the inside because I didn't want to wait 2 hours for them to reopen.


Next stop was Chateau Queribus, one of the Cathare castles. It's perched waay up on top of a little rock with a really nice view of the area in all directions. From there, the next stop was Chateau Peyrepertuse, an even more massive castle perched even more precariously on a peak. Peyrepertuse is just ruins now, but it must have been a really imposing site in its time.


Of course, more really good roads. There don't seem to be any fast & easy ways of getting from place to place in this part of the world, and I'm lucky if I manage more than 60km in an hour. Today, the roads were narrower and more croweded, so most of the time it was slow going. Note to the french, please don't drive down the center of the road unless you know nothing is coming. It's so annoying to be on the right verge going around a blind corner and come across someone taking up most of your half of the road.

From there, it was on to Andorra. Climbing up the mountains through France, I could see snow in the ditches, and see snowy peaks ahead. The interesting thing on the drive up into Andorra, was the sheer volume of traffic coming the other way (ski resorts had just closed) and the fact that there were dozens of fender benders in what seemed to be miles of stationary traffic. I don't understand how they could manage that. The cause of the backup, I think, was customs checks on the French side of the border. What happened to the european common market? The next thing I noticed was just how steep Pas de la Casa (where I stayed) is. It's mainly just a bunch of zigzag streets going up a cliff. Too bad parking was at the bottom and my hotel at the top. The town seems to be not that interesting, just like any ski town, lots of ski shops, bars, skiiers wandering blindly across streets. The final interesting thing I noticed on arrival, was that this seemed to be the town of the walking wounded. Everyone I saw was either limping or on crutches. What's up with that? Is this a sign that the snow is really treacherous? We'll find out.


Pics from the Cathares region are here.

Easter Weekend: Pt 2

Day 2 started off with a visit to the arena in Nimes. It looks very similar to the colosseum in Rome, but a little shorter and smaller in diameter. However, it appears to be much more intact than its larger cousin. Then to the roman temple just down the street. This was very impressive from the outisde as most of the columns appear intact. Inside, however, nothing is original and it has been converted and reconverted to various uses over the years. My advice is to take a picture and move on.


Next stop was another cave, Grotte des Demoiselles. This cave was similar in style to Aven Armand, but with a lower density of stalactites/stalagmites. It was a much larger cave though (at least the portion that the tour covered) and definitely interesting. This part of France seems to be ground zero for caves, and there are too many caves to even attempt to visit on one trip.

Then, off to the Cirque de Navacelles. This is a circular valley with a glacial kame in the middle. It is a huge place and bears a resemblance to a meteor crater (except for the giant kame in the middle). Very scenic location and well worth visiting. Tying all these together were still more awesome roads. The route into and out of the cirque were very exciting, but due to the higher traffic and tendency of drivers not to keep right, it's necessary to keep fairly slow.


From there, it was off to Carcassonne, the ancient walled city with a game named after it. The old city is up on a hilltop and is quite a large and imposing site. Double rings of turreted walls give it an impregnable look. Inside, though, it is a giant knot of tourists and tourist shops selling all sorts of knicknacks and trinkets. Definitely go visit, but get in, take your pictures, and get out. And stop to have some cassoulet, it's tasty.


Pics from Carcassonne are here.

Easter in Languedoc: Pt 1

The first thing that happened when I arrived in France, was that the girl at the rental car counter complimented me on my french (for trying as much for goodness). That was really nice and got things started off on the right foot.

Day 1 started off really early because I had way more things listed than time to hit. Started off by stopping in Albi and visiting the cathedral. It really does look like a castle on the outside, but the inside is very ornate. The next stop was to the Millau Viaduc. This is the highest road bridge in the world and is about 300m above the valley at it's highest point. When you crest the hill and see this massive structure come into view, it is really impressive. It's a massive, but elegant structure and definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.


After that, it was off to the Chaos de Montpellier. This is a park that is filled with really unusal rock formations. The guidebook points out several formations and says they look like this or look like that. I can never see it, but I'm really glad I stopped off to see it. Walking through the forest and rocks, you really have a hard time believing that you are in France. To me, it looks a lot like some parts of NM. Every few feet there was some kind of fun angle to try to take pictures from. Definitely worth it.


Next stop was Aven Armand, one of the most famous caves in France. You start by taking a funicular way down underground. The cave is a big room (the size of Notre Dame according to the guide), filled with the densest collection of stalagmites that I've ever seen. There was a fair amount of color too, mostly hues of yellow. Oddly, there were hardly any stalactites.

Tying all these stops together, was a drive through the Tarn Gorge, which is a bit like the french equivalent of the Grand Canyon. It's a deep river valley with lots of picturesque villages, farms, bridges, and cliffs. The driving route around the Cevennes park through the gorges to the various sites is amazing. The views are awesome. The roads are awesome. Lots of narrow, twisty roads with plenty of switchbacks. The roads would climb up one valley and descend down into the next. It's really fun as long as you don't have big hangups about needing guardrails or things. You do need caution, because if you screw up, the only thing that will stop you is the valley floor several hundred feet below. The drive alone made this trip worthwhile. The only drawback is that there are very few places to pull off and take pictures.


Pics from the Cevennes area are here.

Keukenhof revisted

Since the flowers at Keukenhof will probably have peaked before I get another chance, I decided to go spend the day at the Keukenhof looking at flowers. It was probably only about 25% blooming; quite a big difference from last year when everything was blooming when I was there. The fields, however, were much better this year, and were quite impressive to see. This time I also went into the pavilions (I skipped them last year thinking they couldn't be as good as the outside) and was quite impressed by the flowers. They had some really giant tulips in there and flowers of every shape and color imaginable.



The rest of the pics are here. I managed to get most of them all slanty. I'm losing my touch.