Travels in real time, other things in down time.
These past 40 days, I’ve seen places I’ve dreamed of since childhood, with a partner I could never have dreamed of at the time, while reconnecting with fantastic friends from various stages of the latter half of my life. I fully recognize that most people don’t get to do all, if any, of those things, especially not in the context of leaving home and travelling for 40 days. I’ve thrown out the word “blessed” a few times on this blog, but it definitely seems like the most appropriate.
Great little moment of patriotism.
Ten hours of functional driving, and now I’m at point B.
I don’t know that I would ever have sought out Fredericton as a tourist destination on my own. That said, as a place to be for a friends wedding on a long weekend, it was surprisingly nice.
So here’s a picture of the Fredericton Legislature, which is really the only historic thing we did or saw today. … More
…the radio played the theme to “The Neverending Story”, which 35 days in, almost seems appropriate, even though the end is in sight.
Cairo, we love you, but could this at least be easy?
For the “Rick and Morty” fans out here, the Citadel reminded me of the episode where an Evil Rick was kidnapping Mortys and using their inferior brainwaves to hide his superior brainwaves. I know Daina is a great photographer, and I consider myself a pretty good one, but here, it’s drowned out by all the bad photography that surrounds you. Part of that bad photography was pictures of us.
At this point, we’ve been in Alexandria for only a few hours, and the place looks like it’s crumbling in on itself, but somehow, that adds to its charms.
We got off of the Go Bus in “downtown” Hurghada, did a rough negotiation for a cab (first guy wanted 100 LE each, we found a guy for 30 LE total), and now we’re at an all-inclusive resort in Egypt.
I know, not what you would expect.
“Your friend is rich enough to pay 300 LE for photos but doesn’t have enough to tip guards?”
So this is where the perspective piece comes in.
When the place you’re visiting has been considered one of the hottest places on Earth, it’s good to be able to get going early and avoid the heat.
I don’t know what other spectacular sights Egypt will present, but this experience may become the thing that defines it.
We arrived at Abu Simbel at 6:45 am and, already, the sun was baking the ground, coming in at what felt like the mid-thirties. There’s zero shade outside, and you immediately sweat as you pass over a hill to see the temple. You can understand why you wouldn’t be there midday, as it would just be too damn hot.
If you’re obviously not from here, you have a good chance of getting offered something, from a felucca to a horse ride to, today, hashish (which got an immediate no in the shortest of terms).
As I start to type this, I can’t shake Anthony Jeselnik’s epic “Thoughts and Prayers” rant out of my head. … More
So apparently the price of water and gas is too high in La Paz and people have decided to rise … More
So I don’t know if it was a misread computer statement, somebody’s neglectfulness or whatever the deal may be, but … More
Okay, first thing’s first – we’re going to Arica tomorrow! Kanoo Tours came through with an earlier bus and I’ve … More
Well, Bolivia’s most significant archeological site doesn’t really match up to any of the ones we saw in Peru. Kind … More
This is a crazy city! La Paz may not be the best “crash course” for those experiencing South America for … More
Okay, so not much to report today as it was mostly a transit day. But we did have one boat … More
Up early again today! At least we had a good sleep-in day yesterday, which has made a difference in terms … More
When deciding if I was going to go to Chornobyl… Well, I’m going to stop myself there and drop … More
Anyway, one sleep and a billion wedding pictures did nothing to change my belief that Lviv is just unbelievable. I can’t remember the last city I came to where I was just totally amazed by the architecture, the atmosphere, everything.
…apparently, the best way to get around the city is to wear impossible stilettos and, shockingly, never fall flat on your face.
