Tired traveller

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 21:47:00 +0000

Singapore day 4, Back to Bangkok day 1

Getting up at 4 am to fly back to Bangkok was very difficult. I didn't end up sleeping much after I said goodbye to Timo and Jacqui. After packing up my stuff, I found a taxi.

Knowing that I was nearly the end of my trip was difficult, but it was going to be nice to get back to Melbourne to relax. I thought I would get to see the famous Singapore airport, but instead I was brought to the lowcost terminal because I was flying with Tiger Airways. I was very lucky when I got to Singapore because they have storage at the airport so I was able to leave my stuff there and go into the city.

I still had some time before I had to meet up with friends of mine so I decided to go to the market. There wasn't too much open because of the festivities so it was a bit of a dissappointment. After walking around for a while I decided to head down to Khao San Road early. I went to a stall to purchase a water gun and right away the sales lady threw water on me and yelled "Happy new year". I think she was happy to be the first one to soak me. As I was walking down the street I ran into Noel, a friend of mine that I wasn't suppose to see till later. We decided to go look for somewhere to get massages, but the shops were closed due to the festivities. Noel and his friend Kai were lucky enough to find a hotel on Khao San Road so we went up there to relax for a bit. I ended up going up to where the rooftop pool is and passing out for a couple of hours. After waking up we went down to KSR and started spraying people down. It was so much fun, to get to hose down every person that you see. They also had this power that they would mix with coloring and throw it all over people, it got messy very quickly! Soon we were hungry so we went to a restaurant to eat, but it was very difficult avoiding getting sprayed while eating. After eating there was a big dance party so we joined in, although I was a bit worried because I had my camera with me, but by some miracle I managed to keep it safe. Later on that night we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up then we went to the pool and relaxed. Soon though it was time for me to go catch my flight back to Melbourne.

I was definitely worried about making it out of the road and to a taxi because things were getting more and more hetic. After saying goodbye to Noel and Kai and bracing my self with my water gun for defense I made it about halfway and stopped for some food when I realized I left my passport back at the hotel in the safe. This meant that I would have to fight my way back and then back again. I was annoyed because I had just showered and cleaned myself up! I managed to make it back and Noel was already at the door holding my passport. I quickly grabbed it and headed back down the street begging people not to spray me. By the time I got to a taxi I was a mess again, but at least I was on my way. Except that my taxi was getting buckets of water thrown at it. When I got the airport I was covered in power, it was a funny sight! After I got my stuff from storage I went to the washroom to clean up. Saying goodbye to Thailand, Asia and the whole trip was hard, but I knew it wasn't going to be the end of my adventures.

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:55:00 +0000

Singapore day 3

After getting up and having breakfast at the hostel we decided to go venture out into the city. We walked though the market where we were the day before and towards downtown taking a lot of pictures a long the way. Then we went to Suntec City mall so we could get a bus tour through the city.

After we purchased our tickets we sat on the rooftop of the bus. The bus tour was fun, but it seemed like they were just poiting out one shopping mall after an another. I was starting to think that Singapore was just one big shopping mall. I did see one interesting place with spiral staircases (picture below) that I thought was beautiful. I would have gone back there, if I had had more time in Singapore. After the bus tour we decided to go to the Marina, we relaxed there for a while before getting some food to eat at a nearby foodmarket. We had some sort of strange shepherds pie looking meal that was made with pancakes meat and onions, we definitely had stinky onion breath after. After the market we walked around for a while, but then the weather got bad so we headed back to the hostel to relax. Later that evening we met up with a Jacqui that we had met at the hostel a couple of nights before and Timo whom I had met in Phuket. Jacqui told us a lot of information about life in Singapore. And apparently she was on the same bus as Nick and I that night we were going to Singapore. Apparently she went over to Malaysia so she could buy some gum, which she gladly shared!

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:16:00 +0000

Singapore day 2

After getting the chance to shower and feeling refreshed for the first time in ages we went down to the lobby of the hostel for some breakfast and spent some time hanging out there with one of the workers and a local girl we met the day before.

They had a guitar there so I played some songs and so did the hostel worker. It was lots of fun and a good way to start off the morning. The only thing was we were on a mission to find our new hostel. We decided to grab a taxi, who managed to get lost. Seriously the hostel was on a main street how do you manage to get lost in such an efficient city? The good thing was that the taxi's run on meters there so you don't have the negotiate except they seem to pretend to get lost often.

After going in the wrong direction for a while we made it to our hostel. It was to early to check in so we left our stuff there and set off on foot. We decided to just walk around and take the city in. Eventually we ended up at a market area, we ate and then visited a buddhist temple. After that we went to visit a Turkish mosque that we had walked passed earlier in the day. When I got there I had to wear this big dress to cover myself up. The good thing about the mosque was that it was nice and cool. There were a lot of men in there just relaxing or praying. After staying there for a while and taking pictures we headed back to the hostel.

Later that night after the rain had passed we headed towards the market area for some food. Then we explored the city at night on foot.

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Kuala Lumpur day 3, Singapore day 1

A random and quick plan was formed to to go Singapore this morning. There was a lot of violence going in Bangkok and I didn't feel safe going back there.
After grabbing some food booking a hostel and getting directions we made our way towards the bus station. When we got there things seemed chaotic, we were looking around trying to figure out how we were going to find out bus. After only about 5 minutes we heard somebody shouting "Singapore" and we ran towards the bus. We paid for our ticket and got on. I'd never been on a bus with seats that you can stretch out for your legs it was great because we had a 5 hour journey ahead of us.

The bus stopped about 3 times on the route so people could grab snacks, toilet, have a smoke. The stops were very short though, just enough time to get what you needed.
When we got to the boarder of Malaysia and Singapore we were instructed to get off the bus so we could go through customs. Although technically we were still in Malaysia I was starting to see the difference right away. Things were becoming cleaner and more upscale. When we exited the boarder we were instructed to get on another bus. This bus was more like a "Disco" bus it had this crazy fancy roof with funky lights, I'd never seen anything like it.

After a short while we were instructed to get off that bus too and go to Customs again, this time we were really in Singapore. From there we had to get onto two local buses, but finally we made it. The journey was long. I have to say I didn't realize going there by bus would require so may transfers. It's definitely someting to keep in mind. Maybe the train would have been a better option?

When we got to Singapore we decided to walk to our hostel instead of taking a taxi since we didn't have any money exchanged yet. Walking to the hostel was extremely difficult in the heat late at night with our heavy bags. The street was a lot further then I expected, it probably took us more then half an hour. Once we found the hostel it was like a sanctuary. After unloading we ventured off to find an ATM so we could get some food to eat. It took a while, but we found one at the gas station then we went to this extremely large eating area which was outside under a tent. The place was full of yummy food, it was a great way to end such a long day.

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:30:00 +0000

Kuala Lumpur day 2

I must have really been feeling exhausted from my travels because I slept in again more then I intended and I had a lot to see and as it was suppose to be my last day in KL before heading back to Bangkok.

My first order of business was to go to the hospital so that I could get my next rabies shot, but as I headed out the door I recognized the English guy that I had eaten with the night before and also the Dutch guy (Nick) who had introduced himself to me previously. As asked them what they were up to, they said they were getting lunch. I was feeling hungry, so instead of going to the hospital I decided to join them.

The English guy was taking us to this fancy mall complex that he had eaten lunch at the previous day. I thought maybe he was leading us to the place I had been to yesterday, but that wasn't the case. I guess Malaysia is full of huge shopping complexes! Outside the mall was this fancy water feature plus giant sunglasses, and we couldn't resist taking some pictures. When we walked into the mall we couldn't believe how fancy it was. I was instantly greeted by a Marc by Marc Jacobs store, I was instantly drawn to it, but I resisted the urge.
We went downstairs to the lower level to where the foodcourt was. This place was huge, they had every restaurant you could imagine. We ended up going for Thai food, but unfortunately the noodles I had were far too spicy so I didn't end up being to keen on them in the end.
After finishing up the English guy (I don't remember his name) had to do other things so Nick and I continued the day together.

We went to see the famous Petronas towers up close, it was a about a 20 minute walk from where we were to the towers, they were amazing up close. We went inside on of the towers, which was like a giant spacey looking shopping mall because I needed to buy some shorts quickly. After exiting the mall, we went to this spot where you could take some really great pictures in front of the towers. I was having some issues with my camera, so we played around for a bit till we got the pictures just right.

After the towers, we went to Chow Kids the children's centre I had been at the day before. This time I managed to find the place again without too much of a problem, but before heading in we went to 7/11 so we could buy some chocolate for the kids. When we went in we signed in and took off our shoes and headed upstairs. As soon as we pulled out the chocolates, the kids started running towards us. The older kids were not around that day so we ended up with some extra chocolates so there was plenty to go around. Some of the little ones ran up to me, recognizing me from the day before. I wanted to keep them all already, it was sad to think that this would be the last time I could see them all. It didn't take long for me to start running around and get sweaty, but I had to keep it a bit more tame this time since I was wearing a strapless dress. The kids started running towards Nick too, they all wanted a turn! After some more running around, we got to talking to some of the ladies that work there and they gave us directions to one of the temples we wanted to visit.

I was happy to see the little ones as I left Chow Kids, but I was a bit saddened that I didn't get to see the older ones one last time mainly Adam, my little English speaker. We headed towards the monorail to get to the temple, it was going to be quite a few stops before we got there. The monorail was crowded, I was feeling tired from the kids so I managed to squish onto a seat while Nick filmed the journey. When we got to the station we had the challenge of finding the place without a decent map. We ended up coming onto this Hindu temple, but it was closed that day so we admired it from the outside, although it left more to be desired because it was under construction. We caught a cab who knew where we needed to go, it was definitely going to be too far to walk, and we had been heading in the opposite direction.

When we got a look at the Thean Hou Bhuddist temple we were definitely blown away, it was far more impressive then we expected. Nick and I couldn't wait to explore the whole place! When we got inside the main temple area, we were able to pick this number off a stick in a jar and then read this piece of paper that was suppose to tell you your future. While mine seemed positive enough, Nick's wasn't exactly the same case. After that, we lite some incenses and Nick told me that I was suppose to be centering myself, and letting go of something that was bothering me, essentially being in the moment. After getting zen we explored more of the complex, but then it started raining, I mean pouring! It was loud and thunderous, I was definitely feeling a little scared. We went down to the lower level where they had a gift shop and some restaurants. I saw that they had french toast on the menu, and I couldn't resist some homey food. After eating, we left the building, but we had a hard time finding a taxi. We were told we needed to go down the hill to where the road was. We walked in the rain, by the time we found a taxi we were pretty much soaked. We took the taxi to the hospital, so that I could finally get my rabies shot. When I got there I was told that it was going to cost 450 ringet, which was a lot more expensive then what I had paid in Thailand, but I didn't have much of a choice I needed to get it. The hospital looked okay enough, but definitely not as impressive as the one I had been to in Phuket. The doctor was not going to be back from dinner till 7, so Nick and I decided to do some walking around. When we got back, it wasn't too long until they were ready for me. Nick came in the room with me along with the doctor and a nurse. She inspected my wound and told me that even though it looked bad, that it was healing. I got a bit nervous again when it was time for my shot, but It was fine in the end.
< After the hospital Nick and I walked back to the hostel where we were greeted by one of the employees Mac who noticed by band-aid. I guess the fact that I got bitten by a monkey would always bring in the laughs! We chilled for a while at the hostel then we went out to eat on the way back we managed to find a club that was packed with locals and there was even a concert going on, it was a great way to end the day. div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:53:00 +0000

Phuket day 4, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia day 1

After getting about two hours of sleep, I managed to get up at like 6 am for my flight to Kuala Lumpur.

I was sharing a cab with the German guy that was sleeping in the bed across from me. My stuff was disorganized and all over the place from being out the night before, it was a pain to get everything together quickly and quietly. When I got to the lobby, our taxi was already waiting for us but the guy working at the bar/front desk apparently didn't have access to the key deposit money he had to return to us, so it turned into a big ordeal where he had to call his boss. We ended up waiting for nearly half an hour, I was getting worried if I was even going to make my flight and our taxi driver was getting impatient. Finally we got the key deposit money and were on our way, nearly half asleep and all. When we got to the airport, it was a quick goodbye then a mad dash to the check in counter.

The line up was pretty long and didn't seem to be moving quickly, I was on edge of my feet the whole time as I was at the back of the line and worried that they would stop checking people in for the flight as the time was nearly half an hour to departure. By some miracle, I got checked in, got through passport control and ran over to my gate as they were boarding. I was really impressed with Air Asia, it being the second time that I've flown with them. Everything is super clean and the planes are modern they even emitted this sort of calming scented fume from the roof, which was really cool.

When I got to Kuala Lumpur it was misty and drizzling with rain. From where I stood, the airport looked small, but as i walked further in it opened up to this huge busy complex. I went and got my taxi voucher from the counter and the lady told me I needed to catch it near the Coffee Bean. I couldn't believe it, they have Coffee Bean in Malaysia too, yet we don't even have a single store in Canada? I decided my first order of business was to get some food, and good old reliable McDonalds was calling my name. After eating up, I went to the taxi rank my driver was really nice and giving me tips on the places to visit and telling me about himself.

I was taking in the scenery, the place was just a canopy of palm trees. One of my obsessions in life since I was a kid has been Palm trees (maybe because it symbolized warm climate) and there was definitely no shortage in this country. My taxi had a bit of trouble finding my hostel, but it didn't take him too long to orient himself. I did find it strange that the hostel didn't have a sign, but I guess they were trying to keep that 'homey' at Atmosphere. I was greeted right away by one of the employees (possibly owner?). She had me put my bag down and showed me around the bottom half of the house which consisted of a computer room, lounge, front desk, kitchen and a bathroom/shower combo. I didn't have too much time to spend at the hostel as I needed to go to Chow Kids (An organization for children without parents to care for them) where I was volunteering for the rest of the day and I was already running late. I got some directions from one of the employees on how to catch the monorail and off I went.

It was hot outside, but it was definitely more bearable then Thailand. As I followed the directions I stopped by a 7/11 to get some water and juice. At one point though as I was walking I realized I wasn't going the right away, which annoyed me because I was already sweaty at that point. I was covered from nearly head to toe, I knew that Malaysia was a Muslim country and I didn't want to take any chances, but as it turned out they apparently are not all that strict on dress code as I eventually saw that people seemed to wear whatever they want.

After walking in the right direction I spotted the monorail pretty easily, got my ticket and hopped on. I was proud of myself for managing to jump on public transportation within 20 minutes of arriving downtown KL. I got off at my stop, but from there the directions to the place I needed to go were vague. I ended up stopping in a store and asking for some directions. I walked down the way the girls had indicated, but I could not find the place I was looking for.

I asked about 4 more people and walked a whole lot before a lady finally knew what I was talking about and brought me to the door.

When I walked into Chow Kids, I took off my shoes and signed into their binder. The lady that I had been in touch with told me I could run upstairs and participate in any of the activities the kids were doing. When I got there, I was greeted by several older Malay women, the kids were sitting down watching tv. I didn't know how to interact with them at first, but then a little one came up and seemed to glue herself on me. Then there was another and another, next thing I knew we were all running around the place and the kids were jumping all over me. Everyone wanted their turn, but unfortunately there was just one of me for about 25 of them. After running around for a couple of hours, I decided to go down to the shop and buy the kids some toy and candy. When I got back, the toys and the chocolate were a definite hit, some of the kids were being greedy so I had to learn how to say share in Malay. The hardest part was trying to relate to them that I didn't speak Malay, luckily there was a ten year old boy there named Adam who spoke perfect English and worked as my translator.

I let a couple of the older kids that were there use my ipod, they seemed to be enjoying it.

I ate some lunch with the kids, I'd never eaten with my hands before and they were definitely entertained looking at me.

After a while I went upstairs to meet some of the older kids, although some of them seemed a bit more shy and standoffish. The younger ones followed me upstairs, a lot more play fighting ensued for the next few hours. After feeling completely knackered and in desperate need of a shower, I decided it was time to head back towards the hostel. The kids said goodbye to me Malay style (placing your hand on their forehead) which is a sign of respect. I definitely left knowing that I wanted to come back again, although I wasn't going to miss Adam calling me "Auntie" haha.

When I got off the monorail at my stop, I decided to wander into this mall complex before heading back. I guess I was still on a shopping high from the night market in Thailand. I didn't end up finding too much, but I did buy a strapless summer dress in the end and some flower hair clips. When I got back to the hostel, this bubbly Dutch blond guy came up and introduced himself to me. We said our hellos, and then Mac one of the employees came and showed me around the upper part of the house and to my bed. This was definitely my type of hostel, not too big and with a nice homey atmosphere so everyone could get to know each other. I climbed onto my bed and passed out as soon as I put my head down and woke up 3 hours later.

I went and showered and put on my new dress. I pottered around the Internet for a while before heading back up to the room. I started talking with an English guy that was in a few beds down from me and we then decided to go get some food to eat. We didn't' have to go very far as there was a really cheap Indian restaurant right next door. By the time we finished eating, it was late enough for me and I decided to head back to the hostel and get some proper sleep.

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:01:00 +0000

Phuket day 3

After having such a big day I decided to sleep in, I had not being able to have that luxury too many times during this trip.

I went downstairs in the lobby where they also had a bar/restaurant and ordered breakfast. I took my time eating and checked my email. I arranged with one of the employees Ra to go Bungee jumping. They wouldn't be picking me up for a while so I had ages to kill. The car came around 3 pm to bring me to the Bungee place, that was only about a ten minute drive away. As soon as I got there, they were down to business, I signed my life away and next thing I know I was getting strapped in and tossed into some sort of elevator going up a crane. I gave my camera quickly to a guy I saw around there so that he could take some pictures for me. I was surprised that they never even asked if I wanted pictures, it just seemed like my "jump master" wanted to get it done and over with. When I got to the top, and I fully realized what I had to do the nerves kicked in. As I was saying "No no no no", the jump master pushed me off the ledge. I closed my eyes right away, I could feel the wind rushing past me, I couldn't wait for it to be over. The worst part came towards the end when I was bouncing around, eventually the top of my head hit the water and I knew it was over. I kept my eyes shut, the guys down below and to ask me to open them so I could grab some sort of boey. At the end I got y certificate and a Tshirt, took some pictures and I was driven back to the hostel. Despite having been pushed, I was in an incredibly good mood knowing what I had just done and survived!

I met up with Noel and Kai and the English girls from yesterday for dinner. When I got back to the hostel I still had some time before I was suppose to meet up with them again so I decided to do some exploring around the Patong beach area. Eventually I made it down to the beach just in time to take in the amazing sunset. On the way back to the hostel I walked along the water, it was truly a relaxing experience, it reminded me that sometimes you need to just take things on your own.

When I got back to the hostel I got ready and waited in the lobby for the others. I ended up hanging out with a couple of the employees and an English girl down in the lobby. Then a musical act came on and we all jammed away. Noel was running late because being a nurse he had to attend to one of the girls in the group who had been in the hospital the night before with second degree burns due to the sun. It took a while, but about 5 of us got together for a night out. We headed down Bangla road for some pre drinks, then lots picture taking ensued which involved a lady boy. After we went to this club called Sound, it was really expensive to get in $250 baht, but it was super posh and you got a free drink. We ended up staying there and dancing the night away until the place closed.

RUSHED TO THE THAI EMERGENCY ROOM

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:50:00 +0000

Phi Phi islands day 1, Phuket day 2

I had to get up early, I was going to be picked up for a day tour of the Kho Phi Phi islands.

I heard Timo getting up before me, we both thought we might be on the same bus, or same tour but we were not sure. Timo's tour was including 3 days on Phi Phi, so he was checking out of the hostel that morning. I got up and went downstairs, but I didn't see Timo anywhere. I decided to run to the ATM to get some money before the tour, but as I headed back I noticed my bus was already there waiting for me. I figured Timo had been picked up early, we had made plans to meet up during Songran in Bangkok anyway. My bus was full of older Italian men, I could tell they were making comments about all the women as we were driving along, but they referred to me as Bella, so I knew that was a good sign. Two other girls my age came on the bus, I was relieved not to be alone and stuck with all these older men. Right away the girls didn't seem impressed as they could tell the men were continuing to make nasty comments in Italian. They dropped us off at this dock full of people getting on different boats for different tours. We were given our bus number and 15 minutes or so to go to the bathroom or get whatever food or snacks we wanted.

The girls that had gotten in the bus after me tried to get out of our boat tour not wanting to be with the rowdy Italians, but in the end they stuck it out. As we got on the boat, there was a divide between buses. Our bus sat on one side of the boat, while I guess another bus sat on the other. The girls, which turned out to be Canadians brought beer and the Italians shared some of the food they had and things went form being tense to pleasant. Next thing you know, we were all having a merry time, despite the extreme bumpiness of the trip. By the time we reached Kho Phi Phi (The island "The beach" was filmed on) everyone was friendly with each other. After going to Kho Phi Phi, we stopped by this place called Monkey beach, I was out of the boat for about 2 minutes taking pictures when three monkeys came at me. As I turned around to run off, one of them bit me hard on the back of the leg. I was in total shock, I went back on the bat and inspected the damage, the wound was huge and throbbing. I couldn't help but be annoyed that our guides had not given us any food to give them and that they were just free to run onto people. I had to remind myself that it was Thailand, and that safety rules were not strict. After everyone got on the boat, we stopped by a place where we could go snorkeling, but I wasn't in the mood after my bite I was feeling ill and decided to sit it out. Our next stop would be an island where we would be having our buffet lunch. My spirits were lifting, I didn't want to let the bite get to me. The lunch buffet was great, they had a bit of everything, and the other Canadian girls refilled on booze. After the lunch buffet we headed to our last stop, this really pretty island where we could lounge and go snorkeling. By that time I was over my monkey bite and went snorkeling with Kim and Brooke.

When I got back to the hostel, my room was filled with entire new cast members, a couple of Americans, a Japanese guy and a German. I talked to the German guy for a while, his accent sounded like Arnold Swarchenegger so it was hard to contain my laughter. I went downstairs to speak to one of the employees about what I should do about my money bite. He told me to go visit the Chemist around the corner. I went to see the Chemist to ask her if she thought I was okay, she cleaned my wound and told me I had to go to the Emergency room right away to get some shots. I asked her if it was necessary, but she stressed it and hailed a motorbike taxi for me. At that point I was more scared about going on the motorbike for the first time then my actual wound. The ride wasn't as scary as I thought and it only cost 40 baht. I was really impressed as soon as I walked in the emergency room, everything was super clean, and the employees wore cute little nurse outfits. I had to fill out some paper work so that I could get a hospital card, and then I was brought to a room where they had hospital beds and nurses. She told me that she would be giving me one shot for rabies and another shot for tetanus. I had not had a shot in a while so I was feeling a bit nervous, the nurse seemed to think that was funny because she started to giggle and told the others I was scared (I'm assuming) in Thai.

After that was over I was told I needed to wait by the chemist window so that I could get some antibiotics and also the schedule I would be on for the rest of my shots. I spoke to this Australian lady who was there with her son who had gotten knocked off a jet ski and broken his arm, let's just say he was lucky to escape just with that.

Once I got my stuff and was all paid up, I managed to find another motorbike taxi to take me back to the hostel. The only bad part was that this guy was skinny so holding on to him felt a lot less secure then my last driver. As I pulled up to the hostel I noticed a group of people sitting around the front having a chat, I went up to the hostel employee Ra and told him what had happened at the Chemist and the Emergency room. One of the guys that was in the group of people talking invited me to come out to dinner with them. I went up to my room and got changed, before we headed out to find a restaurant. Most of the girls in the group were English, the guy was Philippino-Australian (Noel) and the girl (Kai) he was travelling with was from the Philippines. We found an Egyptian restaurant to eat at, it was kind of cool to be back there, it was the first time I had really thought of Cairo since I had left because I had been so immersed in Thai culture. After dinner We headed back to the hostel while Noel and I decided to go to the market. After the market, Noel and I went to the bar that Timo and I had been the night before except the band that was on wasn't nearly as good. After that bar we went to another one where some Thai girls were playing this game where you had to try to hammer the nail in wood with the least swings possible. Noel and I gave it a go, but we were not very good at it in comparison to the locals. While we were at the bar a very young (maybe 2 years old) Thai girl came in to try and sell us some flowers, I couldn't believe she was up doing this in a bar at 1 in the morning. It didn't take long for one of the employees to pick her up and put her outside, it was definitely a heartbreaking scene.

GREAT DAY IN PHUKET, PING PONG SHOWS AND ALL

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Bangkok day 4, Phuket day 1

I had to get up around 5:30 am, I had an early flight to Phuket and it was going to take about an hour by taxi to get to the airport.

I decided to eat some breakfast at the hostel again, they were also nice enough to hail me a taxi who agreed to put his meter on.

This taxi driver was definitely less entertaining then the first guy I had coming in to Bangkok, but I'm going to assuming that he didn't speak any English. The best part about getting up this early though is taking in the sunrise, it was truly amazing. I caught my flight to Phuket without a problem, when I arrived at the airport I was instantly being surrounded by workers asking me where I was going and staying. I managed to dodge most of them, then this lady convinced me to take a mini bus to my hostel for $150 baht, which I knew was a reasonable price. I was really impressed as soon gas I walked into my hostel, it was quite stylish, I knew I would have a comfortable stay. The Australian owner greeted me straight away, and gave me information on the ins and outs of Bangkok. I wasn't allowed to check into my room yet, so I went to the bathroom to freshen up. I decided my first order of duty was to check out the beach which was near by. I found a chair with an umbrella to lounge in near the water. Unfortunately what I didn't know was that I had to pay 100 baht for it. I stayed there for a couple of hours taking in the beautiful scenery of phuket and it's island/surf culture. On the way back to my hostel to check in, I stopped by a bazaar located at the bottom of one of their American style malls, but there was nothing impressive there, especially after going to the night market in Bangkok. When I got to my hostel I was able to check into my room, the space was huge, and it had some sort of a terrace adjoined to it. I was sitting in bed sorting through my stuff when one of the Thai employees brought in this German guy who was checking in and would be sleeping in the bed above me. We walked for a while, and then I invited him to get some food and check out the beach. Timo had not had any Padthai yet, so we both went and ordered some, but I have to say I still prefer street food to restaurant food. After eating we went to check out the beach, we managed to get away with using the lounge chairs for a while as they were removing them soon since it was close to sunset. We swam for a while, and during that time I managed to lose the bracelet that was given to me by my Bazaar stalker in Cairo. It wasn't anything special, but it definitely a funny reminder. After a swim, we were accosted by one of the flower selling Thai kids, she grabbed my face and started to kiss me on the cheek. I didn't buy any flowers, but I gave her a bit of change and set her on her way. Timo and I sat on the beach and watched the sunset, but the best part was is that you can order drinks right on the beach and they bring them right to you. We sat around till after dark, then this Thai guy came up to us asking if we wanted to release this sort of air balloon for goodluck. At first we refused, but then we thought, why not? After some more drinks, we headed back to the hostel to clean up, I was pretty much covered in sand. After we got ready we headed back on the town we stopped by this bar that had a great Thai band playing some classics. Then we walked down infamous Bangla street looking for our next bar, I definitely noticed a lot of Thai girls dancing around the pole dressed like school girls. We got stopped in the middle of this street telling us we could get a free peak to a ping pong show. We must have been feeling brave because we thought "why not?". The building looked really nice from the outside, as far as Phuket was concerned and had a big "Erotica" sign lit in red on it. We walked in and took our seats, there were about 10 topless thai girls dancing around poles. It was definitely strange and a bit uncomfortable at first, but our first round of drinks was enough to get over it. We were starting to wonder when the show was actually going to begin, but then three Thai girls cam out and started 'getting it on' in some sort of fake menage a trois. After that an older Thai lady came out she did more then just the ping pong show, there was some fish, frogs, darts, whistles, cigarettes involved among other things. We left after she was done her act and headed to McDonalds for some quick food. Timo told me that the drinks he got us cost 1000 baht, I couldn't believe it, I guess that's how they get you with the free peak.

I ordered some cheese fries at McDonalds, I'd never seen them there before so I wanted to give them a go. They were not amazing, but definitely tasty enough for a late night out. After we wandered around the beach for a while before finding another bar to go to. This one was a really flash outdoor bar on the beach. It was super fancy, maybe one of the nicest outdoor bars I had ever been to. On the way back to the hostel we decided to take a different route, which ended up getting us sort of lost, but we found our way back eventually.

THE BANGKOK NIGHT MARKET

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:06:00 +0000

Bangkok day 3

I decided to have a nice leisurely breakfast at the hostel as they had their own cafe in the lobby. I felt fresh, clean and relaxed, but it didn't take long for me to feel nasty and sweaty again as soon as I walked out the doors.

Today's first mission was to go to the golden mountain which isn't far from the hostel. After about 15 minutes of walking I was at the edge of the 'mountain'. I was worried about the amount of steps it would take to get up, but it wasn't too bad. The view was amazing, and everything was beautifully decorated. When I got to the top, there were many people praying to Buddha, then you could go up some more steps to get a great view of the city.

After getting back down from the golden mountain, I got a bit lost making my way out but instead ended up finding some sort of temple that had these impressive giant buddah statue. After visiting that I hailed a cap to get to the dock so I could take the boat to Wat Arun.

Wat Arun was absolutely beautiful and impressive in detail. Again I had to rent a skirt because my shorts were not allowed. I climbed the steps to the top of Wat Arun, but the way back was the scary part as it felt like a vertical drop. By the time I made it to the bottom I was ready to call it quits, I was hot and sweaty. I wandered around the grounds for a while before taking the boat back to the other side. I hailed a cab back to Khao San Road, I walked around there for a bit before heading back to the hostel. I was meeting up with the English girls and the American guy to go to the night market. When I got into the room, this Australian guy had checked in and was sleeping above me, so I invited him to come with us as well to the market.

When we got downstairs to the cafe/lobby area, the American guy was no where to be seen. We waited for him for about half an hour before deciding to depart for the night market.

The night market was truly impressive, they literally sold everything your heart desired. They even had a section for young designers where you could buy one of a kind pieces.

After wandering around for several hours we decided to get something to eat which consisted of lots of noodles and Padthai.

Because of the time of the night we had a hard time getting a taxi to take us back to the hostel from the market for a reasonable price. Finally we decided to squeeze all four of us and our shopping into a tuk tuk, it was quite an experience!

THAILAND IS ONE GIANT SAUNA

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:48:00 +0000

Bangkok day 2

Today I was ready to see all the temples I had heard so much about, I knew they were within walking distance from the hostel so I set off on foot. I went down to the 7/11 first to get some orange juice, I figured I'd find some food on the way. It was like a sauna outside, humidity was apparently 100% I started walking for about 25 minutes, when I was beginning to realize I wasn't going in the right direction which meant another 25 minutes walk back in the heat. I had to stop a lot to drink some water and regroup, the heat was draining all my energy.

As I was getting on the right path to get to the temples, I was being followed by a Thai man who kept asking me questions. Of course he tried to scam me, but in my nearly faint and fragile state I wasn't having any off it. I told him that I knew he was trying to scam me and that I knew everything was open and that I didn't need his help. After getting a few more directions from a local I finally found the Grand Palace. By the time I made it there I was to the point of exhaustion, but then I saw an eatery I recognized called "Au bon pain". I headed in there and got some water, a soda and a croissant for a ridiculous price, but it was worth it for the air conditioning. After resting up for about an hour, I headed to the Grand Palace, I was told that I needed to go and pay a deposit to get a shirt and a skirt because you were not allowed in with a tank top and shorts. I paid my deposit and then I ran into this Australian girl who was having trouble tying up her skirt. She had just gotten to Thailand that day, and we decided to stick together. We "ohhhh and ahhh" over how beautiful everything was at the grand palace, Karen stated to get really tired which was understandable after having such a long flight. I convinced her to come visit one more temple with me, which was near by. Near by was more like a 15 minute walk to Wat Pho. This was the temple that had the huge reclining golden Buddha.

After Wat Pho, we headed to Khao San Road so we could get some food to eat. I ended up getting some Padthai on the go while Karen settled on an Indian restaurant near by. After Karen and I split up, because she had to take a boat across the river back to her hostel.

I wandered around the KSR area for a while, I even went to a department store so I could get a new blow dryer. When I got back to the hostel, it was time to get ready to meet up with the English girls as we were meeting with the American guy who had checked out earlier that day to go to a cheaper hostel. We showered, ate and got dressed, but by that point we were running late. When we got to KSR we thought there was no way we would find him, but sure enough there he was already with booze. We went to a bar and had some drinks there, then we moved onto a dance club. After a while at the dance club me and the girls decided to call it a night and we made plans to meet up with the American guy the next day.

As we walked back to our hostel, the protests were in full swing, there were big screens and crowds of people in red t-shirts. They had created a tent city, they were living there and on the street, they even had portable toilets. It was definitely daunting walking through all that, but things were still relatively peaceful.

SO WHAT IF THEY STOLE YOUR IPHONE

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:08:00 +0000

Somewhere over Asia day 1, Bangkok, Thailand, day 1

When I checked in for my flight to Bangkok, I forgot to ask for a window seat, so instead I got stuck in the dreaded aisle seat for 8 hours. I checked my messages on my iphone before putting it in my backpack and sliding it under the seat in front of me for take off.

The whole flight was uncomfortable, the Thai guy next to me must have tried every possible position to get comfortable, eventually he settled on my shoulder. When we were about 2 hours from landing, I went to check my bag for my phone and I found it missing. I emptied out my bag several times and checked under the seats, but it was no where to be found. I didn't really think it was any of the guys next to me, but I could not figure out what happened to it. Finally I alerted a stewardess of what happened, her first reaction was "you should watch you stuff" I informed her that I had not left my seat the entire flight! I started to get upset, I even called over for the manager whom said that this was unusual. I told her that somebody on the flight had stolen my phone while I was sleeping. She said they would search the flight after everybody disembarked. I was upset and distraught the rest of the way to Bangkok. The workers on the right were not being helpful and were being unfriendly. When the plane landed, I never saw the manager again or the cops that she said would meet me at the door. I pleaded with one of the workers to help me, but he told me this was not his problem. With that I gave up, the cleaners were on the plane and I was the last one to exit. I knew I wasn't going to see my iphone again, Egypt just had to screw me over one last time. (Later I found out that the person who had my phone was harassing my contacts and trying to scam me)

Part of me was so annoyed that I just wanted to give up and buy a flight home back to Melbourne, but I decided to be brave a soldier on. The airport was impressive, definitely handsdown the nicest airport I had ever been in. The line up for customs was very long, but even the offices greeted you with a smile and tropical shirts.

I was definitely feeling nervous about being in Asia for the first time, but I tried to keep myself busy by calculating my next move which was to find a taxi. I got down to the taxi area of the airport, the lady taking the orders said that my driver could not take me to my hostel because of protests in that area. I asked her what she expected me to do, but finally the driver took me anyway. He said I needed to pay 1600 baht! I knew this was bullshit, and that I should not be paying more then 300-400 bath. When I told him this he said that he needed to take the long way there (which was bull) because of he protests so we agreed on 600 bath. The driver put on some really cheesy songs like Air supply, Bee gees, and kung foo fighting and was singing along to it, it was hilarious.

He told me he couldn't turn onto the street the hostel was on but that I had to get off at the top end of Khao San Road and grab a Tuk tuk. I had been warned against Tuk tuks and was definitely scared to be getting on one just as I arrived, but I didn't have a choice.

I got off and found a Tuk tuk driver easily, of course he tried to rip me off, but I negotiated. The street was packed with people in red T-shirts, it looked like there was some sort of race going on or festival, but I later found out it was the protesters.

It only took about 5 minutes to get to my hostel on the Tuk tuk, the ride was quick but not as scary as I thought and he didn't make any unnecessary stops to the famous 'jewel shops'. The hostel was a "boutique hostel" I was glad to have chosen it. After everything that had happened on the flight, I needed somewhere to relax with air conditioning. I crashed on my bed for a while, and then went to take a shower. Then I ran into this American guy who was staying in my room and I told him what had happened to me on the plane and that I was looking for an Internet cafe. He offered to walk me to one, so I went there and after he took me to Khao San Road. I was blown away, it was buzzing and so alive, tones and food and shopping! We both got some Padthai, then headed back to the hostel to rest some more. When I got back to the hostel we both crashed, and went to sleep. Then a couple of English girls that were staying in the room also came in, so I chatted with them for a while. We went down to this stall run by a local around the corner where I bought this spicy noodle soup, for 40 cents, they were the best noodles I had ever had. Yum!

RELAXING DAY IN CAIRO

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:35:00 +0000

Cairo day 6

I slept in, by the time I got breakfast at the hostel was pretty much over. My plan for the day was to walk around Cairo and head towards the nile, maybe stop by the bazaar again.

As I was getting ready to leave I was stopped by one of the older hostel employees, this 50 year old egyptian man. He seemed to be bound and determined to take me out that day, I turned him down gently as I tried to leave the hostel, but he followed me. Finally I agreed, but I assured him we were only friends and that I wasn't interested. First he took me to a restaurant that was very popular with all the tourists he paid for my meal and the taxi there. We walked a lot, but it mostly revolved around his love life, his kids who are in Alexandria and how he was a retired bank manager and now was hoping to open his own hostel.

After eating we went to do a nile cruise, after the nile cruise we headed towards his very modern area which was where the opera building was and a museum. First we sat down for a drink which was necessary in the +40 degree heat. We visited the opera building and then the museum. The museum was truly impressive, definitely in the top that I've ever visited.

After the museum I headed back to the hostel, I was being picked up by a driver to take me to the airport. I thought I would be in a 'limo' car, but instead I ended up in an old black and white taxi. The ride wasn't as bad as I thought, his car was obviously holding up. I have to say I wasn't impressed with the way the airport was set up, all the food was in the middle and the gates were really far away which meant you had to walk ages either way. And also you had to wait on the ground outside the gate, nobody was allowed to enter until just before the flight. This was my final annoyance with Cairo, in the end I definitely left Egypt with mixed feelings.

GETTING UP CLOSE WITH THE ROYAL MUMMIES

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:29:00 +0000

Cairo day 5

I was on my own today, it was a bit worried going to brave crazy Cairo on my own for the first time. I got some directions from the hostel employees on how to get to the Cairo museum.

I ventured out and started long the right path, but once I started to look confused it didn't take long for a couple of Egyptians to start to follow me around. I managed to shake one guy off, but then another one followed. I decided I would take my chance and ask him for directions anyway, but instead he managed to trick me in to following him to his fathers shop. I felt stupid for falling for it, but it didn't take me long to sniff it out and walk away. Eventually I found the museum in the distance, but again that wasn't without being followed. After some hesitation and looking around I managed to cross the street. The Cairo museum was huge, there was so much packed in there, it was hard to take in. The rooms I enjoyed the most were the animal mummies and the royal mummies, which you have to pay extra for.

After the museum, and some negotiating I caught a cab to the bazaar so I could do some shopping I really wanted to buy a mini shisha. At the bazaar, of course I encountered the usual annoying and rude comments by the sellers, but this time I wasn't afraid to dish it right back. It didn't take long for me to start getting followed again. This man kept calling me Habibi and following me around all the stalls. He didn't seem dangerous and he was around my age so I didn't kick up too much of a fuss even though it got annoying after about an hour. At one point I didn't see very many tourists anymore around the bazaar and it was starting to get dark out, so I managed to find a taxi to get back to the hostel. Unfortunately my stalker decided to jump in the same cab as me. At one point he tried to sit next to me in the back of the cab, but I kicked him out into traffic. It felt like some crazy scene out of the movies, but it had to be done.

When I got back to the hostel I got some food down at the GAD restaurant around the corner. I went back up to the common room to eat and shared some of my leftovers with some of the hostel workers. Afterwards I decided to go out exploring, it was loud, crazy and crowded as usual. I went in and out of a lot of shops, but Egyptian fashion didn't really appeal to me, a lot of the clothes looked like it belonged in the early 90s.

The rooftop of my hostel

BEAUTIFUL MODERN ALEXANDRIA

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:36:00 +0000

Cairo day 4, Alexandria day 1

5:30 am wake up call, I had to be ready for 6 for our tour of Alexandria. It was going to take 3 hours to drive there.

We had a different driver that day then we did to the Pyramids and on the city tour. This guy was a really nice and more talkative, maybe because he spoke better English. As soon as we got in the car we had some of the breakfast the hostel had packed for us and passed out. About halfway to Alexandria we stopped by this very modern complex that had a Chilis restaurant and Coffee Bean. I knew Egypt was modern, but to see these big American chains there that we didn't even have in Canada was a bit of a shock. We all got coffees and continued on. You could see the difference right away as we were pulling into Alexandria, it was clean, modern, beautiful and almost sleek. This was such a far cry from dirty crazy Cairo, you would swear you were seeing a mirage. We stopped by the Mediterranean sea for a bit, then our driver took us to our first attraction. It was some kind of old Roman amphitheater, we decided to just look at it from the outside instead of paying money to get in.
Then we stopped by their version of the Catacombs. It was definitely creepy being inside there, but thank God they had removed all the dead bodies. After that our driver took us to this place where they had this giant old pillar, again instead of paying we decided we could just see it from the outside. After going to the pillar, we went to the citadel by the sea. The citadel was definitely worth every cent, the whole area was beautiful. The only problem is there were a lot of annoying school kids around who kept harassing us.
After the citadel we out for lunch at this buffet place that our taxi driver recommended. I thought it was really expensive and not really worth it.
Then we went to the Alexandria library, I have to say this is the most impressive modern library I have ever been in! There is also a mini museum inside it! The drive back to Cairo took something like 5 hours, and I was in and out of sleep the whole way back.

When I got back to the hostel, I met up with Mitch. I guess there group was leaving later that night for the red sea and they had checked out of their room. I let him put his stuff in my room, the two English girls that were there before had just left to catch their train to Aswan. Mitch and I chatted while we waited for the others to come back from the market, we were starving and just about to give up when they showed up. Next thing I knew everyone had dumped their stuff in my room and we were all taking turns with the one shower. That night we were all bound and determined to find a 'normal' restaurant to eat at, something quit, clean and a little more European. As we were walking down the street, we ran into this woman from New Zealand and her daughter. She was very nice and chatty and told us how she was married to an Egyptian and has been living in Cairo for 20 years. She also recommended a restaurant that had just opened around the corner. We found the place pretty easily, and it was just as she described, we were all breathing a sigh of relief. The food was great and so was the service! Time was getting on and they guys were getting worried about missing their bus that was picking them up at the hostel. We rushed back, but in the end everything was fine, I guess the bus was running late so we killed time in the common room. That's when we saw the English girls, apparently they had not been allowed to board their train to Aswan for whatever reason and had a horrible journey on the metro there and back. They had to spend another night at the hostel and then catch their train the next morning. The bus to the red sea came around about two hours later then it was originally suppose to come, we all said our goodbyes then I headed to bed.

RIDING CAMELS TO THE PYRAMIDS

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:03:00 +0000

Cairo day 3

I was cleary still out of it when I got up the next morning, I needed more sleep but I had to be ready for 9 am for our trip to the Pyramids. Rolling out of bed was excrutiating, I ended up going straight to the bathroom I was still getting sick.

Somehow I managed to get ready and meet up with Lars and Stephanie. I felt bad telling them I was sick and had a massive hangover on the day we were going to the Pyramids. We left the hostel and got in the car with our driver and our tour guide.

We decided to the the tour and reverse and stop in Memphis first and then end it at the Pyramids. I was feeling sick the whole way to Memphis, the road was bumpy and the driver was going extremely fast. When we got to the front gate I had to take a time out thinking I was going to be ill again, but it passed. We walked around and saw a lot of statues, but the highlights were the mini spinx and the giant statue of Ramses II

After memphis we went to Saqqara to see the first ever pyramid ever built. The scenery in Saqqara was amazing and the sky was such a great shade of blue.

After Saqqara, we stopped by for lunch, it was a bit expensive but they served us a lot of food.

Finally it was time for the main event, we were off to the Pyramids. Our guide was trying to explain to us about the artifacts and history, but I had a hard time understanding her through her accent, me, Lars and Stephanie agreed that she was kind of useless in the end.

When we got the pyramids we were brought to the 'Camel guy' where we would be negotiating prices. After a lot of going back and forth we decided on a price, we knew we were paying a bit too much, but it wasn't a complete rip off at the same time.

Stephanie and I got on the Camels, but Lars had to ride a horse until they were able to bring him his own camel. My camel was called Hassan and Stephanie's was Mickey. At first we were nervous being on the camels, but after about 15 minutes we got use to riding them. The area near the Pyramids was full of trash and there seemed to be some clubs around playing loud music including "Sexy bitch" by David Guetta.

I was a bit concerned on the way up to the Pyramids because my camera battery was low, I forgot to charge it the night before, considering my condition. I was annoyed with myself, you get to do this once in a lifetime and you bring a nearly dead battery?! When we got to the Pyramids they let us off the camel, it was really scary when the camel went to kneel down! We took a lot of pictures, and the guides took some great ones for us. It does seem like everyone in Egypt knows how to work a camera, I guess they are use to all the tourists.

Then we went up to this point where you could see the Pyramids in Panorama form, they all perfectly line up. More picture taking ensued! After the Pyramids we headed to see the famous spinx. There were lots of tourists there, everyone trying to take pictures and kids selling stuff or trying to take pictures for you for money. The whole thing was a little chaotic, we didn't have much time there as they were closing. We did have a giggle at some of the female Russian tourists as they seemed to dress really inapprorpiately in a muslim country. (short shorts, cleavage revealing dresses).

When I got back to the "Camel place" the man whom we had booked the tour demanded an extra 30 Egyptian pounds from me saying that I wasn't allowed to use my student card and that I had needed an ISIC card. I informed him that I did have an ISIC card and that if that's what he needed specifically then he should have said it in the first place. This ended up ended up turning into an altercation between him and I. I had, had an amazing time until that point, but of course the locals there being the way some of them are, had to bring their rudeness along. In the end he let the 30 Egyptian pounds slide and we enjoyed some tea on his rooftop

When we got back to the hostel, I made plans with Lars and Stephanie to go on the Alexandria tour the next morning. It was a 6 am wake up call, so I needed to make sure I got my sleep.

Negotiating the camels

THERE ARE DRUGS IN THIS, I KNOW IT!

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:54:00 +0000

Cairo, Egypt day 2

I got up early because I had to be ready for the city tour. I went down to the 'common room' for breakfast. It was full of people, I was pleasantly surprised. As it turns out, there is another floor to the hostel. I ended up meeting this Belgian guy who was in Egypt with a bunch of his friends. He invited me and the German couple to come to the pyramids with them that day as they had a mini bus. I had already made a commitment to do the city tour and Lars and Stephanie, so I stuck to my word.

Our driver showed up on time, in his 'limo car' and we headed off towards our first stop the Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque. We had to go through security surrounded by a bunch of school kids before entering. But really security seemed nearly none existent. We were greeted by an amazing view of the city. The mosque was amazing inside and out, it took my breath away. After the mosque we headed towards Coptic Cairo, which is the Christian side. We visited a lot of churches! After Coptic Cairo we went to eat lunch, visited some more mosques and then went to the Bazaar. The Egyptians were following us around and screaming a lot of unnecessary comments at us. I thought Morocco was bad, but it's childsplay in comparison to the behaviour of people here in Egypt.

When I got back to the hostel, I had to switch to the dorm room with two other English girls. I went down to GAD to get some food and ended up running into the Belgian guy that I had met that morning and the American guy he was also travelling with called Mitch. We went back to the hostel and ate our food. Afterwards, We ended up catching up with the rest of Guillaume's friends and the English girls. We all went to the ATM because everyone seemed to need money. Then we decided that we wanted to go to a dance club, but nobody knew where to go and it seemed impossible to find. We ended up buying some alcohol and everyone seemed keen on this brand called "Sakara" which is 10% alcohol. We went back to the hostel and sat around the common room drinking, everyone was playing around with the kissing application on my iphone. Next thing I knew, I started to feel really sick, I went to the bathroom and vomited. I'd never felt this drunk in my whole life and I had only had two beers. My mind was spinning, it felt like I was on some sort of crazy drugs. Guillaume's friend Amandine came to the bathroom to help me out, then they put me to bed. At one point the boys came in their drunkenness trying to wake me up, but the others put a stop to it. Luckily I had enough good sense to set my alarm as I was going to the Pyramids the next morning!

THIS IS MY HOSTEL? HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN HERE?

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:06:00 +0000

Back to Athens day 2, Cairo, Egypt day 1

I got up and packed up my things and left my backpack down at the lobby. I was going to head to the post office before taking the train to the airport. Luckily the girl working at the front desk gave me some pretty good directions to the post office, except it was a lot further away then I expected. It was impossible to miss though, keeping that it was right next to Starbucks.

When I got in the place was full and there was seating everywhere, I was a bit confused as to how the system worked, but then I figured out that you simply had to take a number and wait your turn. However, it got even more complicated as there were two different kinds of tickets for different mail delivery and it was in Greek. After asking around and getting my confusion sorted out I sat on the ground and packaged my things up while I waited my turn. It seemed to take ages, and I was watching the time slipping away. I needed to send this stuff back to Australia as my backpack was becoming impossibly heavy. After some more shuffling around I finally made it out of the post office, I got some quick food on the way to the hostel and then got on the train towards the airport. The only problem was the train ended early (this seems to be a frequent problem in Athens!) so I had to wait about half an hour for the next train connecting to the airport. I was getting really worried about missing my flight, but I managed to check in. Then when I was going through security they everyone seemed to be giving me different directions as to the quickest way to get to my gate and saying "if I made it". Finally one of the girls got a hold of me, told me to ignore them and pointed me in the right direction. The annoying thing was, I had to go through passport control ahead of time and the lineup was moving excruciatingly slow. In the end I made it to my gate, and on my flight to Cairo!

I was getting nervous, going to Cairo on my own, most would say I was crazy, but I had done my research and I felt I was prepared. When I got off the plane in Cairo I lined up at the customs , but when I finally got to the front I was told I needed to go to the office to buy a visa to enter the country. Luckily with the conversion free, it only ended up costing me $15. After I got my visa, I went back in line and got through without a problem. I was expecting things to be hectic as I had read so much about the craziness of Cairo airport, but things seemed pretty calm and in order. I was impressed with the airport, it was stunning, but I didn't expect any less either. Now I had to figure out how I was going to get out of there, I knew choosing the right cab and not getting scammed was essential. After some wandering around, asking questions and being shuffled for what seemed like ages, I finally found a "limo taxi" (which is just a regular car and not a shitbox) for 80 Egyptian pounds. I knew it was still probably a bit more then I should pay, but it wasn't a rip off. Unfortunately my taxi driver didn't speak English, but he knew where he was going. As we exited the airport, I was asked to sign some sort of guest book, it was strange, but cool! The sun was setting and I was taking in Cairo and some of it's huge statues that lined the highway. My taxi driver was trying to ask me questions and communicate with me. He was pointing out some statues, and trying to tell me when to take pictures. Then we stopped by a food shop along the way and he brought me some food, unexpected but nice! As we were pulling up to my hostel, suddenly I felt overwhelmed and scared everything was crazy, loud and chaotic! There were people everywhere, I felt instantly lost in the chaos.

I got out of the taxi and found my way towards my hostel entrance. I knew it would be sketchy from what I'd previously read, but it was much worse then I expected. The 'elevator' didn't work so I started to make my way up by foot. I kept going up and up, the building looked disgusting, trash everywhere, broken windows, cats walking around and screeching! When I finally made it to the hostel I was relieved, it was like an oasis compared to the rest of the place. The 'Guest relations manager' apologized for the faulty elevator and asked me to sit down. He and the other man working the front desk chatted to me and were quite friendly. I was a bit down about the place though, wishing I had picked another hostel, it seemed quiet there, and a little boring.

I had booked a dorm room, but I guess it was full that night so I got my own private room. I dumped my bag and sprawled out on the bed. I cursed myself for picking his hostel, was anybody fun actually staying there? I thought of checking out the next day and going elsewhere.

Not long after I had made myself a bit more comfortable, I was summoned to the lobby by the manager to join this German couple because he would be telling us about Cairo and the tours they had to offer at the hostel. I had my guard up instantly, I knew this was all a sales tactic and I didn't like being pressured. The manager didn't like that I knew a bit too much about this and and his attitude with me got more and more annoying. In the end I had agreed to do the City tour with the German couple the next day. As it turns out the more people that go, the cheaper it is. After the negotiations were done, The German couple Lars and Stephanie decided to go out to eat and invited me along. We went to GAD around the corner, which is a really famous restaurant in Cairo that sells every North American / Middle Eastern junk food you can imagine. We got our food and walked around Cairo as we ate. I was relieved to be with them, especially when it came to crossing the street, it's definitely an acquired skill there. The honking and the traffic was insane, I'd never seen anything like it before.

I got back to the hostel and went to bed, surprisingly the honking didn't keep me from falling asleep.

Creepy window displays

ANOTHER 8 HOUR FERRY RIDE & THE RETURN OF SUNEET

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:51:00 +0000

Santorini day 4, Back to Athens day 1

I had to be ready early for my ferry, not to mention there was a time change so I was about to lose an hour of sleep.

George the owner from the hotel was going to be driving me back to the old port. I think he got confused with the time because he brought me to the ferry over an hour early although I didn't realize this for the longest time. It was dark out, and freezing cold the ferry was there already, but we were not allowed to boared. The only people there was me and another old lady. I was confused, we would be the only ones boarding from Santorini on this massive ferry? Plus I needed to go to the ticket office, but it was not open yet. I thought how can this be? Then one of the workers said, the ferry wasn't leaving for over an hour, I realized that I didn't have the right time. I went to a coffee place near by and sat around. The time went by a little quicker, then I noticed the ticket office was open so I went to get my ticket. I helped the old lady with her bags that had been waiting outside with me earlier, and in return she gave me some cookies. I was relieved to finally be on the ferry back to Athens, although I would miss Santorini dearly. I was passed out nearly the entire way back to Athens, I didn't even hear the port stops in Naxos and Paros.

When we pulled into Athens, it took me a bit to get co-ordinated to find the metro station. I was heading back to the same hostel I had stayed my first night in Athens. The metro ride was definitely entertaining as I was sitting across from German guy who was telling me about his previous marriages and wanted to make me his next wife and take me to Germany. I smiled and kindly refused! The metro line terminated early and we had to switch onto a bus to get us to the next station. When I was switching I was followed by a man who insisted on showing me the way, even though I already knew where I was going. It took a while for me to throw him off , but finally got the message. I exited back on lively Monastiraki square, there seemed to be a lot more going on then I previously remembered. I made my way back to the hostel without a problem, and checked in. The American girl at the front desk remembered me from my previous stay so that was nice. I went into my room which was full of about 5 older European men. It was a bit intimidating, but I wasn't planning on spending much time in there.
I went up to the rooftop bar at the hostel, lucky for me the sun was just setting so I was able to capture some amazing pictures. There wasn't anybody there so I chatted with the bartender for a while.

After that my first order of business was to find the Temple of Zeus. It didn't look too hard to find on the map so off I went on foot. It didn't take to long for me to get confused, I ended up circling around for ages, but then by some miracle I found it. Unfortunately it was closed on a Sunday, but the good news is I could still get a great view of it and pictures from outside the gate.

Then I wandered around Plaka and got some food to eat. When I got back to the hostel, I wandered back up to the bar and had some drinks with the bartender and two other hostel workers. They invited me to come out to this club with them, I was tired, but I agreed on account that it was my last night in Greece.

We met up down in the lobby and walked over the club, the only problem was that the place was empty besides the club workers and us. We smoked and had some free drinks and danced around a bit because the DJ was playing some great sets. Then some more of the workers from the hostel turned up including the bartender. We all had a bit of a dance, but then split soon after that, it was clear that nobody else was going to turn up. On the way back to the hostel I heard somebody calling my name. I couldn't think of who would know my name in Athens let along at 2 in the morning! It turns out it was none other then Suneet! I couldn't believe our luck! Turns out she had taken the 3 pm ferry back to Athens so they had just gotten into the city not long ago. She was out looking for a specific club, but the place was closed. A lot of stuff was closed because it was nearing Easter. We were so happy and giddy to run into each other, that we decided to eat some crepes at this little restaurant and chatted for about 2 hours. Next thing I knew it was around 4 am, and I was walking Suneet back towards her hotel.

BECOMING PART OF AN INDIAN FAMILY & CLIMBING VOLCANOS

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:02:00 +0000

Santorini day 3

I got up later then I intended so I had to rush out of my hotel room. I didn't have time for a leisurely breakfast at Mama's because I had my Volcano tour at 11 am. I decided to just stop for some food along the way, which turned out to be average.

I was still in such a daze that I was having trouble finding the location for the volcano tour. By the time I got to the top I was already huffing and puffing. Once I got there as it turns out I had to buy a ticket to go on the cable car so I could get down to the old port. While I was waiting for the cable car I ran into this Indian family who were also going on the tour. I started to chat with the daughter Suneet who was my age, she was there with her brother, his friend and her parents. Her mother immediately sort of adopted me into the family and told me to get in the cable car with "the kids"!

The cable car ride was cool, I'd never been in one before! Once we got down the boat for the tour was already there and full of people. I sat with Suneet and we continued to talk on the way to the Volcano. The view was amazing on the way so we all took a lot of pictures. When we got to the volcano the water was all sorts of shades of blue and green. We got out of the boat and paid the entrance fee. Suneet's parents stayed behind, so I started to walk with her, her brother and his friend. The walk was difficult, I definitely should have worn better shoes. Suneet was the one with the real problems as her sandal broke. I guess her mom was feeling fit enough because next thing I knew she was next to us trying to fix Suneet's Sandal and giving her an ear full for not wearing appropriate footwear. Suneet decided to continue on with one sandal and one sock, it was hilarious. At one point she could no longer go on so her mother and I continued on and chatted along the way, which was more like a quiz, but I found it entertaining. We met with Suneet as we headed back down the volcano towards the boat. On the way back to the island, we stopped by this area which was suppose to have hot mineral water, I went down to the bathroom on the boat to change into my swimsuit. Changing proved to be a challenge because the door wouldn't lock so it ended up eating into most of my swim time.
By the time I made it out a lot of people had already gotten to where the hot mineral water was. I got down in the water, but I was afraid to swim out on my own so I went back in the boat.

When we got back to Santorini, the tour guides gave us the option of going back up to Fira on the cable car or riding a donkey for 5 Euro. Going with this new adventurous vibe I seem to have been on, I decided to ride the donkey and Suneet followed suit.

We had to wait ages for the donkey's to come back down, maybe like half an hour. Some people were getting grumpy and wanting their money back, but eventually things started moving along and everyone got their donkey. I felt bad for the donkeys, they looked overworked and some were injured. Suneet got a big donkey to ride and mine was a small one. For a while both our Donkeys were keeping up with each other, but then mine started to stop for a poo and then he started to lag behind. One of the 'donkey mangers' came and was trying to move mine along, but eventually he just quit and I had to go on a new donkey. When we got to the top Suneet and I petted some of the donkeys and took pictures with them. After that we met up with her parents, her brother and his friend. We stopped by some shops in Fira on the way back to their hotel. They were going to see the sunset in Oia, so I gave some directions to the bus station.

After we split up, but I had Suneet's number so that we could possibly catch up later for some drinks. I went back to my hotel to clean up, and then I headed to Mama's restaurant for some more of their amazing spaghetti. I had the same lovely waiter from the day before, he even stopped and sat at my table to chat with me, it was great. After eating I decided to get on the bus to head of to Perissa, the red beach, but unfortunately I had just missed the bus and the next one would be after dark. Luckily I ended up running into Suneet's family as they were waiting for the bus to Oia. Suneet's mom asked me to come along and join them for dinner. I had just eaten, but I accepted the offer to come along. I wanted to get some better quality pictures with my dslr camera now that it was working again (turns out the memory was full!).
The only problem was Suneet had refused to go, apparently in some sort of tiff with her parentals and working on some of her university studies back at the hotel. Her parents asked me to try and convince her to go, I called her up and asked her to come back, saying that we would have a great time the two of us. I was worried she would miss the bus, it took a lot of co-ordinating (giving her directions to find the station), but she finally made it, just on time.

When we got to Oia, we went to a small Souflaki place and ate there, then Suneet and I decided to take in the sunset away from the crowd. We took a lot of pictures, and ran up and down exploring the place. Unfortunately though, it turns out the bus comes to pick up everyone earlier on a Saturday so we ended up in a big rush to try and get back to her family and the station. They kept calling us on the phone as we were trying to make it over there. Unfortunately a lady gave us bad directions so we ended up making a huge unnecessary loop, we only just made it in time, the bus driver was about to leave without us. Suneet's mother was furious and started to yell at us on the bus, I felt like I was her daughter too, which was funny. She calmed down about halfway through the bus ride, and we started talking about other things. When we got back to Fira, Suneet and I made plans to meet up at 10 pm so that we could go out on the town.

I went back to the hotel and got all my stuff packed up as I had a 7 am ferry, the next morning back to Athens.
I left my hotel and went to sit by the bus station to wait for Suneet, they had these torches with flames lit up all long the area, I didn't know what it was about, but it looked amazing. I kept waiting for Suneet, and tried to call her with no answer. by 10:30 I figured she must have forgotten and went to bed, I decided to go to this local Souflaki place to kill some time before I was suppose to meet up with Giovanni, my Italian stalker from the day before.

When I went inside Lucky's Souflaki, I ran into Suneets brother and his friend. I asked them what happened to her and that I had been waiting out there. They told me they were on there way back to the hotel and would let me know what was up. I ordered my souflaki and sat at the counter and ate. Next thing I know the owner Lucky started to chat me up, telling me how famous he was around these parts. Then all of a sudden a big glass of beer is in front of me, "on the house" apparently. By the time I reached the end of my beer another had already appeared. Then one of Lucky's friends came in with a big bottle of Ouzo. Lucky poured us some shots, then more and more and more. I kept telling him to stop, but he kept insisting on more shots. Next thing I knew, i was already drunk and taking pictures with all his friends. Lots of laughs were had, but then I had to leave them as it was nearing midnight. I also got a call from Suneet's brother letting me know that she had fallen asleep.

I went to Giovanni's work in downtown Fira, he was finishing up so I went to wait for him at the bar. I ran into some of his friends there, some Albanian guys. We chatted it up, then Giovanni came and we all had drinks. Then Giovanni and I went exploring the caldera at night. There's definitely something mystical about the place after dark especially with the torches lit all around.

GETTING STALKED IN SANTORINI

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:48:00 +0000

Santorini day 2

After having such a restful sleep, I got up the next day got dressed and showered. As I exited my room I was greeted by George, he inside on giving me some food and orange juice.

After downing the chocolate croissant, I headed out the door. I went back down to the view point on the caldera I had explored the night before, I wanted to take some pictures in the daylight. After doing that I decided to find the bus station so that I could check out Kamari, the famous volcanic black beach. The bus ride was simple and straight forward and only cost a 1.25 Euro.

Being that it was late March, there were not many people around the area, or the beach. The sand was more like pebbles and it was hard on the feet. I sat around for a while listening to music, then I went to go explore the area. It seemed like most of the people in Santorini were workers, getting the place ready for the busy season. After that I decided to take the bus back into town, I thought I might have a long wait on my hands, but it came around pretty quickly.

When I got back to Fira I was starving, I spotted a restaurant by the bus station. I thought it might be a little fancy for lunch by myself, but the menu was reasonably priced. Everyone at "Mama's" was so nice including the waiter, he told me about his travels to Canada and how in Santorini everyone works 7 days a week a and long hours, but they also get 4 months off a year, so it's a good trade off! As I was leaving Mama invited me back for breakfast and enticed me with some free hot chocolate!

I decided to go roaming around the Caldera, thinking maybe I could walk the 2-3 hours to Oia to catch the sunset, but I couldn't determine what was the exact route so I didn't stray to far. I got to take some amazing pictures, I just was completely blown away. I'd never seen anywhere so beautiful, I felt like everything needed to be torn down and rebuilt to look like Santorini. This is the way to live, you don't need much space as long as you make it beautiful and your own. After walking and taking pictures for quite a while I ran out of scenery and ended up towards an area that looked a bit more desolate and decided to walk back to the bus station so that I could go to Oia to catch the sunset, it's the most famous thing to do in Santorini.

As I boarded the bus, this guy came and sat next to me and started chatting me up. He told me that he was Italian, but that he lived and worked in Santorini. I asked him why he was going to see the sunset if he lived here already he told me he just felt like taking it in. I thought it was nice to have someone to hangout with, so I didn't mind him, but I was a bit suspicious at the same time. When we got to Oia, we walked around town taking pictures, everything was perched so high it was incredible. I felt like dancing around the place, it was magical. When the sun started to go down Giovanni and I headed to the other side where everyone was crowding for the main event. Instead of watching it with the crowed we found a spot high above where all the houses were and took it in from there, it was amazing. My disappointment though was that I was having trouble with my dslr camera and instead I had to use my regular point and shoot.

After taking in the sunset, the bus wasn't coming for a while so we went to get cappuccinos. Giovanni was though it was mediocre, but of course he would being Italian and all. When we got back to town, Giovanni offered to show me where the camera store so that I could get my dslr looked at, but the man couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. We then decided to go for dinner, it was kind of fun to hang out with a local who knew his way around. At dinner Giovanni admitted to me that he had seen me on the street going to the bus station and decided to follow me to Oia. I was in shock, my friend turned out to be a stalker! He did pay for my meal, so I figured he couldn't be a complete Greek. Then we went out for coffee, and afterwards he took me to this bar called Murphy's that he use to work at and of course he seemed to know everyone in the vicinity. After some drinks, I headed back to my hotel to crash some more, the next day was going to be full on as I was doing to the Volcano tour.

My stalker!

OMG I'M IN HEAVEN, OK SANTORINI

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:57:00 +0000

Athens day 3, Santorini day 1

I managed to get up with my alarm even though I had not had much sleep. Looking at the time still, I knew I would have to hurry up if I was going to make this ferry.

I leaped out of bed and gathered my things and headed out the door to the metro. When I got to the metro I would have to switch again onto another line to take me to the port
. The only problem was, the line ended up terminating early, I knew I didn't have time to wait for another train to come, so I hopped in a taxi.

The Metro is Athens is like a mini museum

I argued with him about the price, but I was in such a hurry I settled on 10 euro. When I got to the port, the taxi driver fessed up, and said he would only charge me 7 euro, I let him keep an extra Euro for being honest with me. I grabbed my backpack and ran to where Blue star Ferries was stationed. I had never done this before and I wasn't sure what the procedure was. It already looked like they were all loaded up, and people seemed to have these tags that the agent was scanning. I was confused as I only had a paper ticket that I had printed online. I asked for some assistance, but the guy was being a jerk to me and making fun of me and lecturing me for being so late. This was the last thing I needed, who did he think he was? My ticket ended up coming through just in time and I was allowed to board. When I got to my seat, the guy started in on me again calling my name saying how next time I need to be on time. I just ignored him, and carried on, in the end I was relieved that I wouldn't have to wait for the 3 pm overnight ferry.

The boat right was long, but relaxing, I'd never been on a ferry so big, so fancy and with so much service, they even have their own fast food restaurant. The Ferry stopped in Naxos and Paros, it was nice to take in the view.

Finally after 8 hours we made it to Santorini, The boat started to make this singing noise, I guess it symbolises that it's docking and opening up the 'doors'. Everybody was crowded at the front, ready for their first view of Santorini.

When I got off the ferry I realized I had not really looked into what the mode of transportation was on the island and how I was suppose to get to my hotel. (I couldn't get a hostel because they are all closed this time of the year). I didn't have anything to fear though because I found a taxi, and for 12 Euro, I figured it wasn't too much damage. I ended up having to share the cab with this other lady, I wasn't too bothered though as I had read previously that this was standard practice in a lot of countries. When I got to my hotel, there was a note on the door of the office saying that he was away, so I couldn't check in. I waited around for a while hoping to spot someone who could help, but finally I decided to put my bag down and go exploring.

From the research I had done, I already knew that I was in Fira, which is the main town in Santorini. I stopped at a corner store to get something to drink and some cookies to snack on. I managed to kill quite a bit of time. When I got back to the hotel the owner George was there, he kept apologizing and asking why I didn't call the number on the door. I explained to him that it said "for emergencies" and that I didn't think this was one. He also gave me information about Santorini and the things to do around the island. It was so nice to have a room to myself, to have tv, my own shower and toilet! I sprawled out and relaxed and watched television, but most of the channels were in Greek. After I decided to head out, I found a really nice Internet cafe that served food, so I took advantage of both. Then I walked further into Fira, I was blown away by the beauty of it, I couldn't believe where I was. It was definitely a dream come true!

BLAST FROM THE PAST, ATHENS STYLE

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:19:00 +0000

Athens day 2

I got up a little late then I planned, but I managed to meet up with the others for breakfast. I was really impressed with the food at the hostel. Normally hostel breakfasts are so plan, but they actually had eggs here, that definitely helped to put an extra spring in my step.

The first mission was to find my new hostel so I could dump my backpack and we could carry on with the day. I let Nate lead the way, it was draining carrying my stuff in the heat of the sun, but I managed. On the way there we also stopped to take a peak at the site of Ancient Agora, you needed a ticket to get in, but you could pretty much see everything clearly from the outside.

After dropping off my bag, we headed straight to the acropolis. Turns out if your a student in Europe as Julia was, you don't even have to pay anything to get it. It wasn't that expensive for me and Nate anyway, about 6 Euro got you tickets for everything. We started walking up and taking in the view, we knew it was only going to get better, but we couldn't stop taking pictures, it was all breathtaking. It took us about half an hour to get to the very top. You could see all of Athens around you, it was amazing and overwhelming!

After we were done, we headed back down in another direction, but there wasn't much to see besides olive trees. Then me and Julia got accosted by a man selling fake sunglasses, we had them in our hands after bargaining to 5 euro, but before we could pay him the man ran off. Turns out there were cops in the vicinity. We thought he wouldn't come back and here we were with his sunglasses without having paid him. Just when we thought we had seen the last of hi, he popped up again, and we paid him.

Next up was the acropolis museum, talk about ultra sleek and modern! There's so much to see you don't even know where to start. The only downside is that you are not allowed taking pictures.

After the museum, we headed towards sygmata square, which was all decorated because it was going to be Greek day tomorrow. Nate had a restaurant recommended to him by a friend so we decided to look for it, unfortunately it was closed, but we found another place. It was quite posh, but it was quiet and we enjoyed our meal. After eating, I went back to my hostel we made plans to meet back up at their hostel for a night out. I went back to my hostel, relaxed a bit and took in the view from the balcony. Then I decided to look around the shops in the Plaka area which was near by. I ended up getting an authentic pair of Greek style sandals, they were expensive, but I still think worth the price for Greek Leather. Next thing I knew it was time to meet up with the others. I decided it was easier to catch the metro there then to walk, you can't argue when it only cost 50 cents if you are a student, just make sure that you are prepared to get checked by security. I made it to the hostel and I found Julia and Nate on the rooftop bar. We ended drinking and hanging out there and talking to the Aussie bartender named chase. He was only 19 and had been in Greece for two weeks and managed to score a job at the hostel, he was definitely living the dream. We ended up chatting up with a few other American guys that were on Vacation, but going to school in Cairo and we decided to go out to dinner at together. We went back to the Souflaki place we had gone to the day before and ate up a storm.

After eating we headed to a bar and drank there, then another bar then finally we found a place with locals playing greek music. At that point I was started to fall asleep and decided to head in, I had a 7 am boat to Santorini the day after. They walked to to my Taxi and we said our goodbyes. My Taxi driver was Albanian, but his name was Costas as he says he's now a Christian. He had all these lights in his car and called it a "taxi club", it was the funniest thing ever.

I got to my room, and crashed, I was only going to get 2 hours of sleep.

DOING IT GREEK STYLE

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:33:00 +0000

Wroclaw day 3, Athens, Greece day 1

I got up around 9 am, packed up my things. I was hungry for breakfast, but I knew it was going to be a mission finding something decent to eat out where we were. We found this sort of strip mall, but all there seemed to be were bakeries.

Anna got something to eat, but I decided to wait until I got to the airport. We walked back to the 'motel' I got my bag and we got in a taxi to the airport.

I had plenty of time so I went on the second level to get some food while Anna got some sort of frozen drink. I got some Gnocchi, one of my favorites!

Anna ended up chatting for about an hour, then I walked her to her bus stop and said goodbye. I checked in and got to my arrival gate, except my Munich flight was delayed by half an hour. I started to be concerned because my connection was tight enough as it was.

I boarded my flight to Munich and when I landed it was time for the mad dash to my gate for my flight to Athens. A bunch of us bolted across the terminal, I got to the gate panting. When I realized I made the Lufthansa flight, I was certain that there was no way my luggage was going to make it on with such a tight connection.

When I landed in Athens to my surprise my bag was sitting there on the carousel. How on earth did they manage that?! I didn't ask myself anymore questions and just focused on finding out where I needed to catch the metro to my hostel. I found it without too much of a problem, got my ticket and hopped on. So far so good!

I had a map with me so I started to follow all the stops, getting use to seeing the Greek alphabet, the people taking it all in. I was really impressed with how modern everything looked, I guess there was a huge overhaul of the transportation system when they hostel the Olympics. It took about 45 minutes to get to the centre of town, I got off at the square and was overwhelmed! I could see the Acropolis lit up right behind me, the people swirling around, the restaurants, the excavations, the music, everything was so Greek! I found my hostel easily, it was probably the quickest and easiest hostel I had found so far on my trip.

The only problem when I went to check in, they didn't have a record of me, apparently I had messed up the dates for my booking. Luckily they had a room for me to stay that night which I would have to my own, but the next they they were booked full and I had to find another place to crash. I dumped my stuff off in the room, but I was eager to see the rooftop bar with a view I had heard so much about. The view was definitely worth going up the 6 flights of stairs!

While I was taking pictures, I ended up meeting these two Americans that were cousins. We chatted up then decided to go down for dinner. I ordered chicken souflaki which was absolutely amazing! I was taking everything in, the streets were bustling, I'd finally made it to Greece! The Atmosphere reminded me a lot of Morocco.

After dinner we made plans to meet up early the next morning to go sight seeing.

BRESLAU (WROCLAW) = BEAUTIFUL EASTERN EUROPE

noreply@blogger.com (travelwithjen) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:13:00 +0000

Wroclaw day 2
We got up around 8 am, and got ready to head out the city. We stopped by a little kiosk near the tram stop to get some tickets and some water. I was really interested to take the tram, I'm always intrigued by the transportation system in cities, it really feels like you are among the people.

Anna and I got on the tram, it was very old, but I guess it got the job done. We had to stand because there were no seats available.

We got off in the centre of town, I was looking around taking it all it. It was a nice sunny day, it reminded me of other European cities I've been in, just more worn down. A lot had happened hear, that much was clear. We found our way to Salt square and went for breakfast. After breakfast we visited some of the sights to see in Wroclaw including the University, some churches, city hall and other squares. Then we went over a bridge to the other side, and visited some more amazing churches. There was definitely something about the city I couldn't describe, there was just something so different about it. It looked like something you would imagine in some sort of a very old picture book. We headed to Tumski bridge, where people that believe their love will last forever put locks on it. It was my favorite thing that I had seen in Wroclaw, I loved it so much, it was beautiful.

After we finished in that area we went over to where Magic fountain and the Japanese gardens were suppose to be. The only problem is that everything was closed this time of the year. We continued to walk around town, then stopped at KFC for some quick food lol!