It's been a very long time since we've updated our blog due to bad computers and a busy schedule. We apologize and this update will be in point form once again. If you wish to here more details on a specific something-something email us and we'll get back to you asap.
In the past 2 weeks we've...
- successfully found a hard to get gorge in the mountains of lebanon
- walked through the cedar reserve in Bcharre, Lebanon
- Returned to Syria and visited the water wheels in Hama
- been given another free tour ( an english speaking local took us in his friend's taxi around hama and bought us desserts)
- seen the ruins of Palmyra, Syria
- Returned to Damascus to experience amazing foods, hammams (turkish baths) and straight razor experiences for the boys
-Visited the city of Amman (not that interesting)
-Got held at the Israeli border for 6 hours and were interogated three times each
-Saw all of the amazing sites in Jerusalem, and stayed on a roof in the old city
-Walked to Bethlehem from Jerusalem
-Saw the pope's entourage, but the pope took forever to show up so we left and didn't see him
-Went back to Amman (still kinda boring)
We are now in Wadi Musa and just spent a day at petra and are totally pooped from hiking and climbing around the surrounding areas. The plan for the next few days is to spend another day in petra, visit the dead sea, then spend a day and a night in the desert in Wadi Rum. After that we're off to Egypt! Only two weeks left of our trip and its coming to an end quickly. We're gettingt excited to see you all and we hope that we can still stay in contact for the next while. We always love to hear from you.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
And Then There Were Three
Hello Everyone,
It's been a while since we posted, because the computers here are either useless or expensive to use. About two weeks ago Anneke and I had some time to kill in Syria before we met up with Nick in Beirut. So we decided to go check out a monastery called Marmousa monastery. We were going to only stay for a night or two but we ended up staying for a week. Accomidation and food there are totally free just as long as you help out a bit. To pull our weight anneke and I did dishes, weeded the garden greeted guests, and milked goats. During our freetime we read and explored the sourrounding mountains. We had a very nice week. After returning to Damascus we became very sick. I vomited twice and we were both not......solid. We spent the majority of the day on the roof of the al-rabie hotel (where we slept) making runs to the washroom. Thankfully the next day we were totally fine. We then made our way to Beirut where we met up with Nick Gamble. We spent the last two days with him exploring beirut and chilling on the beach. Yesterday we went to Sobra which is a Palestinian Refugee camp in the south of Beirut. It was really neat to walk through. Its a very poor part of town, but we still managed to get invited to someone's house for tea and nargele, which never ceases to amaze me. We also visited the Jeita Grotto and Jounigh where we took a gondola up a small mountain and had a fantastic view. Tommorow we Leave Beirut and Head to Bcharee where we are planning to hike up the Quornet as-sawan, which is the highest mountain in Lebanon. We very excited for the rest of our trip with Nick and can't wait to see all of the other amazing things that the middle east has to offer.
It's been a while since we posted, because the computers here are either useless or expensive to use. About two weeks ago Anneke and I had some time to kill in Syria before we met up with Nick in Beirut. So we decided to go check out a monastery called Marmousa monastery. We were going to only stay for a night or two but we ended up staying for a week. Accomidation and food there are totally free just as long as you help out a bit. To pull our weight anneke and I did dishes, weeded the garden greeted guests, and milked goats. During our freetime we read and explored the sourrounding mountains. We had a very nice week. After returning to Damascus we became very sick. I vomited twice and we were both not......solid. We spent the majority of the day on the roof of the al-rabie hotel (where we slept) making runs to the washroom. Thankfully the next day we were totally fine. We then made our way to Beirut where we met up with Nick Gamble. We spent the last two days with him exploring beirut and chilling on the beach. Yesterday we went to Sobra which is a Palestinian Refugee camp in the south of Beirut. It was really neat to walk through. Its a very poor part of town, but we still managed to get invited to someone's house for tea and nargele, which never ceases to amaze me. We also visited the Jeita Grotto and Jounigh where we took a gondola up a small mountain and had a fantastic view. Tommorow we Leave Beirut and Head to Bcharee where we are planning to hike up the Quornet as-sawan, which is the highest mountain in Lebanon. We very excited for the rest of our trip with Nick and can't wait to see all of the other amazing things that the middle east has to offer.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Never a dull day in Syria...
We are in Syria and its been amazing so far! We spent the first little bit in Aleppo and had an interesting time. We visited the Citadel, the crazy-maze-like souqs and the mosque. Aleppo, being one of the most conservative places resulted in a lot of unwelcoming looks from the women. That has been the hardest part for me as a woman (especially in the mosque) because i feel as if im intruding or being offensive to the women. Even dressing modestly (pants, long sleeve and scarf) i felt out of place. I wasn't allowed into the women's part of the mosque. Cory's experience was quite different. When he entered the men's part, he was able to sit back and watch everything go by. He watched people interect with one another, reading the Quran and he even had the chance to see the muslim men pray after the call to prayer.
We are currently in Damascus and the old city is outstanding!! Cory and I get about 2 choclate-croissents everyday, shwarma or manoushie or falafal everyday and we found a new love.... corn-on-the-cob corn in a dish with a mix of spices!! yummmmm...
Travelling allows us to meet so many different people. Our first night in we met two french guys. We got to know one another and spent 2 days exploring the old city and visiting a hammam (turkish bath). We not only meet fellow travellers but local people too. The other day we were invited for tea to an elder local mans house. Long story short, the 4 min walk to his house (this is what he told us) turned into a 3 hour tour of antique shops, a lunch of camel, a sock factory, the burial site of the old president, a bakery shop (twice) and a friends house, not even making it for tea to his house in the end.
We will we spend one more night in Damascus and then we head to Marmousa (sp?) to put in some community work at a monastary. They house you for working so we'll do that for a couple days, go to Lebanon, and pick up nick!! hooray!
We are currently in Damascus and the old city is outstanding!! Cory and I get about 2 choclate-croissents everyday, shwarma or manoushie or falafal everyday and we found a new love.... corn-on-the-cob corn in a dish with a mix of spices!! yummmmm...
Travelling allows us to meet so many different people. Our first night in we met two french guys. We got to know one another and spent 2 days exploring the old city and visiting a hammam (turkish bath). We not only meet fellow travellers but local people too. The other day we were invited for tea to an elder local mans house. Long story short, the 4 min walk to his house (this is what he told us) turned into a 3 hour tour of antique shops, a lunch of camel, a sock factory, the burial site of the old president, a bakery shop (twice) and a friends house, not even making it for tea to his house in the end.
We will we spend one more night in Damascus and then we head to Marmousa (sp?) to put in some community work at a monastary. They house you for working so we'll do that for a couple days, go to Lebanon, and pick up nick!! hooray!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tourkey
Hello everyone,
Anneke and I just had a fantastic time in Turkey. When we were in Istanbul we realized how expensive it was so we decided to make a made dash for the border before we ran out of money. We did some research and discovered that the cheapest and fastest way to get through turkey while still seeing things was the three day tour through epheses and Cappadocia. Both were absolutely beautiful. As much as we are not really tour people we tried to make the best out of it. We learned alot and met some really fantastic people. We also noticed how hard it would be to see cappadocia on our own because it is so big. We had plenty of free time to explore on our own, which was also really nice. One evening we were wondering around Selcuk and we ran into a man who introduced him self to us. We sat down with him and made small talk. After a while he walk away for a seconded, picked of a dirty plastic cup from the ground near by, poored some turkish wine into it and offered it to us. We both politely sipped from the cup once and said thank you. Once we finished chatting we went on our way. We were both slightly concerned for our immune systems but it's been about 4 days now and we're ok. We have really had the opportunity to experience middle eastern hospitality at it's best and we are very greatful for it. We are very excited that we still have a month and a half here. It's about 16 days until we meet up with nick gamble in beirut, which is also very exciting. We have alot to look forward to.
Anneke and I are on our own now and have just arrived in Aleppo today. The border crossing only took one hour. We already tell all of the differences between Turkey and Syria. First of all there is alot more arabic it's also alot dustier and smokier. We just spend our afternoon wandering around the souqes and exploring the old city. We will probably only spend two nights here before we head to Damascus.
Anneke and I just had a fantastic time in Turkey. When we were in Istanbul we realized how expensive it was so we decided to make a made dash for the border before we ran out of money. We did some research and discovered that the cheapest and fastest way to get through turkey while still seeing things was the three day tour through epheses and Cappadocia. Both were absolutely beautiful. As much as we are not really tour people we tried to make the best out of it. We learned alot and met some really fantastic people. We also noticed how hard it would be to see cappadocia on our own because it is so big. We had plenty of free time to explore on our own, which was also really nice. One evening we were wondering around Selcuk and we ran into a man who introduced him self to us. We sat down with him and made small talk. After a while he walk away for a seconded, picked of a dirty plastic cup from the ground near by, poored some turkish wine into it and offered it to us. We both politely sipped from the cup once and said thank you. Once we finished chatting we went on our way. We were both slightly concerned for our immune systems but it's been about 4 days now and we're ok. We have really had the opportunity to experience middle eastern hospitality at it's best and we are very greatful for it. We are very excited that we still have a month and a half here. It's about 16 days until we meet up with nick gamble in beirut, which is also very exciting. We have alot to look forward to.
Anneke and I are on our own now and have just arrived in Aleppo today. The border crossing only took one hour. We already tell all of the differences between Turkey and Syria. First of all there is alot more arabic it's also alot dustier and smokier. We just spend our afternoon wandering around the souqes and exploring the old city. We will probably only spend two nights here before we head to Damascus.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Greetings from Turkey
hello everyone,
We've arrived in Istanbul this morning and the first things we noticed were that it's alot colder, alot more expensive, and there's alot more people with moustaches. But as we've spent the day here we've noticed how genuinly hospitible and friendly Turkish people are. Everyone goes above and beyond to make sure you feel comfortable. Today at the internet cafe the owner came and gave us tea because he noticed that we were cold. And a carpet shop owner invited us into his shop just to show us how carpets are made even though we told him we couldn't afford carpets.
Our hotel is also about a two minute walk from the blue mosque and the Aya Sofia. And it just so happend that two stunt bikers had two huge ramps set up infront of the Aya Sofia today and were doing crazy tricks so we got some neat pictures of people doing supermans infront of the Aya Sofia. Also though we miss South east asia we already feel at home here in Turkey so we're pretty excited to see what the rest of the Middle east has in store. We're excited to be here and we're also excited when we get emails from you so keep them coming. We hope all is well in Winnipeg and all of you who have exams aren't stressing too much. Have a good week and we'de love to hear from all of you.
We've arrived in Istanbul this morning and the first things we noticed were that it's alot colder, alot more expensive, and there's alot more people with moustaches. But as we've spent the day here we've noticed how genuinly hospitible and friendly Turkish people are. Everyone goes above and beyond to make sure you feel comfortable. Today at the internet cafe the owner came and gave us tea because he noticed that we were cold. And a carpet shop owner invited us into his shop just to show us how carpets are made even though we told him we couldn't afford carpets.
Our hotel is also about a two minute walk from the blue mosque and the Aya Sofia. And it just so happend that two stunt bikers had two huge ramps set up infront of the Aya Sofia today and were doing crazy tricks so we got some neat pictures of people doing supermans infront of the Aya Sofia. Also though we miss South east asia we already feel at home here in Turkey so we're pretty excited to see what the rest of the Middle east has in store. We're excited to be here and we're also excited when we get emails from you so keep them coming. We hope all is well in Winnipeg and all of you who have exams aren't stressing too much. Have a good week and we'de love to hear from all of you.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Back in Bangkok
Hello everyone,
Anneke and I are now back in Thailand for about a week before we head off to Turkey. Since we've last updated we've done sooo much so instead of writing an incredably long email we thought we could make a list of everything we've done in the past week or so. If any of you wish for us to elaborate on any of the things we've done drop us an email.
In the past week or so we've...
-Been to Ha Long Bay and taken a 4 hour boat tour around it
-had an abundace of sea food
-met kyle weibe in hanoi
-tried a pipe that they have there called a yukai
-motor biked around hanoi
-visited the fine arts museum
-ate rooster testicles
-visited the dead preserved body of the vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh
-visited the prison where john mcain was taken taken prisoner in the Vietnam war
-seen a water puppet show
-had a mini LAN (local area network) party
-tried 17 cent beer (that was actually pretty tasty), which is the world cheapest beer
-went to a place called Ninh Binh where we paddled down a river with rice fields on either side and huge beautiful rock formations in the distance (known as tam coc)
-motor biked around tam coc and checked out the beautiful near by village (where we came two inches from hitting a chicken on the motor bike)
-went back to hanoi and flew to Bangkok
Now that we have a week in thailand we're planning to maybe go a few hours north and maybe spend a few days on the gulf of Thailand. We're currently staying on Khao San road, which we've discovered is super touristy. We discovered a McDonalds and I am seriously considering buying a samurai pork burger. So if you find yourself wanting to know more about any of the above drop Anneke or myself an email. We miss you all and hope to hear from you.
Anneke and I are now back in Thailand for about a week before we head off to Turkey. Since we've last updated we've done sooo much so instead of writing an incredably long email we thought we could make a list of everything we've done in the past week or so. If any of you wish for us to elaborate on any of the things we've done drop us an email.
In the past week or so we've...
-Been to Ha Long Bay and taken a 4 hour boat tour around it
-had an abundace of sea food
-met kyle weibe in hanoi
-tried a pipe that they have there called a yukai
-motor biked around hanoi
-visited the fine arts museum
-ate rooster testicles
-visited the dead preserved body of the vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh
-visited the prison where john mcain was taken taken prisoner in the Vietnam war
-seen a water puppet show
-had a mini LAN (local area network) party
-tried 17 cent beer (that was actually pretty tasty), which is the world cheapest beer
-went to a place called Ninh Binh where we paddled down a river with rice fields on either side and huge beautiful rock formations in the distance (known as tam coc)
-motor biked around tam coc and checked out the beautiful near by village (where we came two inches from hitting a chicken on the motor bike)
-went back to hanoi and flew to Bangkok
Now that we have a week in thailand we're planning to maybe go a few hours north and maybe spend a few days on the gulf of Thailand. We're currently staying on Khao San road, which we've discovered is super touristy. We discovered a McDonalds and I am seriously considering buying a samurai pork burger. So if you find yourself wanting to know more about any of the above drop Anneke or myself an email. We miss you all and hope to hear from you.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
In and Around Vietnam
Greetings!
Cory and I are currently in Hoi An, an ancient town off the coast of the South China Sea. Our time spent in Ho Chi Min City was very pleasant and we got our fair share of city life. During our stay we managed to visit the War Remnents Mueseum. It was a big eye opener and made for a depressing, yet learning experience. Apparently the 'Vietnam War' was one of the only wars that allowed freedom of press so there were many visual displays. We also had the chance to check out the 'Hong Kong' market which was a 4-story building with anything from food to house ware to clothing. Every square inch was jam-packed with goods and it became quite cholsterphobic! If Cory and I were big shoppers we would have spent more then 25 minutes in the building!
From Ho Chi Min City we decided to take a flight which we thought was going to Dha Nang, an hour away from Hoi An. After taking off, recieving a beverage and coming back down to land, our 35 minute flight landed us in a beach town called Nha Trang. It ended up being a 12 hour bus ride from Hoi An. Confused at how this happened, we quickly fell in love with this little town. Our hotel was literally a 2 minute walk from the 7km beach and art, palm trees, tiled-sidewalks and grass made up a beautiful boardwalk along the sand. Here we spent countlesss hours on the beach, played in the undertoe of the massive waves, enjoyed sea food and went snorkelling! For me it was my first time viewing the underwater world and it was abosolutely amazing!! There was so much colour and places to explore. Everywhere we swam there was either a neat fish to catch eye or a new arrangment of coral. Unfortunately it was the coldest it had been on our trip that day so it was easy to get goose bumps. For you Winnipegers the 'coldest' was mid twenties with wind and clouds.
After Nha Trang we caught a 12 hr night bus out to Hoi An. The excitment of this double decker 'bed bus' wore off quite quickly when we got the move on. Cory mentioned he caught air a couple times and the continious bumps served for a great headache. We arrived in Hoi An at 7:30am and after a quick bite to eat we biked around the town for an hour or so and had a very long nap.
When we caught up on sleep we had the chance to experience the beauty of Hoi An. The colours and buildings in this little town remind us a lot like the buildings in the countryside of Greece ( i know that niether of us have actually been to greece so technically it can't really remind us of it but you'd understand if you saw the buildings). Everything looks so artistic and its hard not to take a good picture. There are hundreds of little clothing shops that will custome-make anything you want and if we weren't budget travelling for another 2 and half months we definately would have taken advantage of this oppotunity (or at least I would have). We ended up purchasing custome made "adidas" high tops for about 35 dollars each. Exciting!
Today we are taking another night bus (we are hoping for a smoother ride) to Hanoi. In Northren Vietnam we are hoping to spend time in Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Sapa. We have decided that we aren't going to Laos because our time in Southeast Asia is running short. There are so many amazing places and to rush them wouldn't be fair. We feel that Vietnam deserves more time, and it also gives us and excuse to come back and visit Laos.
We've heard that Winnipeg is warming up and were happy for you all back home! We miss you and love to hear from you!
Cory and I are currently in Hoi An, an ancient town off the coast of the South China Sea. Our time spent in Ho Chi Min City was very pleasant and we got our fair share of city life. During our stay we managed to visit the War Remnents Mueseum. It was a big eye opener and made for a depressing, yet learning experience. Apparently the 'Vietnam War' was one of the only wars that allowed freedom of press so there were many visual displays. We also had the chance to check out the 'Hong Kong' market which was a 4-story building with anything from food to house ware to clothing. Every square inch was jam-packed with goods and it became quite cholsterphobic! If Cory and I were big shoppers we would have spent more then 25 minutes in the building!
From Ho Chi Min City we decided to take a flight which we thought was going to Dha Nang, an hour away from Hoi An. After taking off, recieving a beverage and coming back down to land, our 35 minute flight landed us in a beach town called Nha Trang. It ended up being a 12 hour bus ride from Hoi An. Confused at how this happened, we quickly fell in love with this little town. Our hotel was literally a 2 minute walk from the 7km beach and art, palm trees, tiled-sidewalks and grass made up a beautiful boardwalk along the sand. Here we spent countlesss hours on the beach, played in the undertoe of the massive waves, enjoyed sea food and went snorkelling! For me it was my first time viewing the underwater world and it was abosolutely amazing!! There was so much colour and places to explore. Everywhere we swam there was either a neat fish to catch eye or a new arrangment of coral. Unfortunately it was the coldest it had been on our trip that day so it was easy to get goose bumps. For you Winnipegers the 'coldest' was mid twenties with wind and clouds.
After Nha Trang we caught a 12 hr night bus out to Hoi An. The excitment of this double decker 'bed bus' wore off quite quickly when we got the move on. Cory mentioned he caught air a couple times and the continious bumps served for a great headache. We arrived in Hoi An at 7:30am and after a quick bite to eat we biked around the town for an hour or so and had a very long nap.
When we caught up on sleep we had the chance to experience the beauty of Hoi An. The colours and buildings in this little town remind us a lot like the buildings in the countryside of Greece ( i know that niether of us have actually been to greece so technically it can't really remind us of it but you'd understand if you saw the buildings). Everything looks so artistic and its hard not to take a good picture. There are hundreds of little clothing shops that will custome-make anything you want and if we weren't budget travelling for another 2 and half months we definately would have taken advantage of this oppotunity (or at least I would have). We ended up purchasing custome made "adidas" high tops for about 35 dollars each. Exciting!
Today we are taking another night bus (we are hoping for a smoother ride) to Hanoi. In Northren Vietnam we are hoping to spend time in Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Sapa. We have decided that we aren't going to Laos because our time in Southeast Asia is running short. There are so many amazing places and to rush them wouldn't be fair. We feel that Vietnam deserves more time, and it also gives us and excuse to come back and visit Laos.
We've heard that Winnipeg is warming up and were happy for you all back home! We miss you and love to hear from you!
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