Don't Stop Believing

Friday, 25 January 2013

Egypt

Our time in Egypt was full of excitement and whirlwind adventures. We arrived in Cairo in the late evening after a gruelling 36 hour journey from Eastern Europe. As we meandered our way through the various custom desks, bought visas and collected our luggage, our weary eyes searched the arrivals lounge for our driver. We were greeted by a smiling man who spoke only a few basic words of English. As we exited the airport the warm desert air refreshed our senses and the deafening traffic noise aroused our somnolent heads. I immediately felt more alive and the bufferflies of excitement began to flutter in my belly. This country felt familiar to me. It reminded me of India. Rickshaws speeding past us on every side with drivers continuously honking attempting to force the steady road block of traffic to inch forward. Men screamed from the sides of the road advertising there baked goods for purchase or snickers that were for sale. Girls walked by hand in hand, some with head coverings others showing their natural hair, giggling and eating ice cream. I sat back, took off my flip flops pulling my feet onto the side, and stared out the window attempting to commit this unknown but familiar land to memory.

With only six days in our pocket to explore Egypt Liam and I made the most of every day we had. We spent two days in the Sahara desert, camping under the stars, cooking our meals over an open fire and riding the jeep through the white desert, black desert and various oasis. A complete day was devoted to exploring the various pyramids. First off, we conquored the area of Giza where we rode a camel around the Pyramid of Khunfu and kissed the Sphinx. Then we went to the ancient Step Pyramid of Djsoer which is the world's oldest substantial monumental structure to be built of finished stone. Finally, we went inside the Snofru's Red Pyramid which was scorching hot even in the middle of the Egyptian winter. We took a evening cruise down the Nile river, the longest river in the world, while eating delicious food and watching local dance. Somewhere in there we spent a day exploring the streets of Cairo, eating local ice cream, drinking tea at street vendors, tasting the local cuisine and embracing the various stares and comments from locals. Before we departed from Egypt we made a quick tour of the Egyptian Museum and bought some souviners to decorate our non-exisant home. Below are some photos from our whirlwind adventure in Egypt.

The camp we did our desert safari with

Preparing to leave

White Desert National Park. Our first stop on the two day desert safari journey

Liam in the White Desert National Park.

In the Black Desert. On top of one of the highest peaks.

Mushroom pose. White Desert.

Watching our first sunset in the desert.

So beautiful!

Setting up camp in the desert.

Cooking our meal over an open fire.
BBQ chicken, spicy vegetables, sweet rice & bananas.

Packing up camp after a cold sleep under the desert sky.

The chicken and the egg.

Pano view of the White Desert just before sunset.

Our second sunset in the desert. Even more beautiful than the first.

It's pyramid time!

Inside the pyramid.

Liam and I outside one of the pyramids in the Saqqara area.

Outside the famous step pyramid in Saqqara area.

Exploring the tombs!

Inside the tomb above.

At the pyramids of Giza.

Riding a camel around the pyramids.

Liam and I with the six Giza pyramids behind us.

Feeding our hungry camel

New Years Eve in Cairo, Egypt with new friends.

Liam and I going for a cruise down the Nile River. Longest river in the world.

Brushing up on our Egyptian history at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Checking out the protests in tahrir square in Cairo.
Looked pretty civilized to us.

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Serbia, Bosnia & Macedonia

The Former Republic of Yugoslavia

These three countries, which use to belong to one big country, intrigued me the most out of all those we visited in Eastern Europe.

For a region travelled so little by foreigners and even less by neighbouring locals (since the civil war) its amazing how quickly you find yourself becoming intrigued by the past, present and future of this former Yugoslavia.

The buildings are old, grey and are completely unappealing to the eye however, there is something unique about the history within this region that forces you to pull back the outer layer and look beneath.

Probably the most unique thing about this region is that the most recent civil world occurred within this region, as well as, a tear provoking genocide.

Our time within these three fascinating countries was spent piecing together the events of the break up of Yugoslavia and the how the civil war came to be. We spent at least a solid day in each country, or more, visiting museums or photography exhibitions trying to piece it all together. It was a very valuable experience to have the chance to travel throughout each of these three countries and see the perspective from each newly founded nationality. We were also blessed with the gift of making new friends and meeting old friends upon each stop, which allowed us to ask important questions to fill in the blanks in our knowledge of this regions history and compile more.

We had the pleasure of skiing in Sarajevo, attending the Women's European Hand Ball Championships in Belgrade and hiking to the highest cross in the world in Skopje. We once again stuffed our faces with local cuisine and local pints of beer at every stop. As Christmas fast approached we made our way to Macedonia to connect with some travel friends of Liam's, Toshe and Marija, whom we got to spend Christmas with.

Liam and I arrived in Macedonia just before Christmas completely unaware that our friends, whom we had come to spend Christmas with, were actually Orthodox Christians and therefore celebrate Christmas on alternate days. Nevertheless, they welcomed us with open arms and made our Christmas away from home extremely special. The two of them combined spent almost every spare moment they had away from work with us. Whether it was visiting local pubs for stomach wrenching rakia, inviting us into their family home for a feast fit for kings, or coming by to relax with us over a movie. They ensured they we never felt home sick during this special time of year and showed us a level of kindness we will remember forever.

See you again one day Toshe and Marija, hopefully sooner than later

Much love L & L

Serbia