Doctors Without Jobs World Tour

Boston: the adventure continues

2007-11-28T14:37:00.001+01:00

I have just accepted a job (gasp) in Boston, and we will head there mid-January. It's not quite as adventurous as some of the places we've been, but we are both looking forward to this next stage in our lives.

Update 09/2009: Jerome is now an Assistant Professor at University of New Brunswick, Saint John: Click here.

The End

2007-11-22T16:03:00.000+01:00

We are back home in Canada, hiding out at my parents' house in Hammond River (pop. 500). After the hustle and bustle of the last few countries we were in, this place is eerily quiet. And damn cold too. But it's good to be home as well -- we have been enjoying drinking water from the tap, and seeing our friends and cats.

We had a wonderful trip, and it's hard to believe it's over. Surprisingly, we never got really tired (except for a couple times when we were sick) and we enjoyed every minute.

After all the travelling we did, we look back and know the best times were spent with our friends: the ones we knew before and whose houses we invaded, and the ones we met along the way who travelled with us, took us out for dinner, and welcomed us to their countries.

So, a big thanks to: Andrea, Rodney and Julianne in Halifax; Aunt Clare, Uncle Tim, and Paul and Annmarie and the kids in England; Natasha, Franck, Bader, and Abid in London; Mikiya and Anne in Berlin; Rick and Jessica in Italy; Baris, Emre, Emre's grandma and Haider in Turkey; Walid, Mohsen, Ali, and Said and his family in Syria; Saseen and Ghada in Beirut; Kate and Andy in the desert, on a cruise ship, in India, or wherever we were together; and the countless others who helped or rescued us when we looked lost, confused, hungry or in need of a walking stick to beat off marauding monkeys. Our finest memories are with all of you.

This journey is over, but we are still doctors without jobs, so stay tuned to find out where we end up next! Hopefully we will know within the next few weeks.

Awards and distinctions

2007-11-21T16:34:00.000+01:00

After six months on the road, visiting some of the greatest cities and sites on the planet, we self-administered a survey and are ready to hand-out a few awards and distinctions. We only visited 11 of the roughly 200 countries in the world, and our answers are highly subjective!

1. Favourite sites

Taj Mahal, India
Wadi Rum, Jordan
Golden Temple, India
Crac des Chevaliers and Saladin's castles, Syria
Haghia Sofia, Turkey
Pyramids, Egypt
Jodphur Fort, India
Cappadocia, Turkey

2. Favourite cities

Istanbul, Turkey
Beirut, Lebanon
Damascus, Syria
London, UK
Cairo, Egypt
Florence, Italy

3. Favourite Beaches

Railay, Thailand
Bodrum, Turkey
Kabak, Turkey
Bamboo Bay, Ko Lanta, Thailand

4. Most useful travel items

unlocked mobile phone
universal sink plug

5. Ideal day of eating

Breakfast: Turkish (olives, cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, boiled eggs, bread, apricot jam).
Lunch: Napoli pizza or Chang Mai noodle soup and mango sticky rice
Dinner: Peshwari Afghan lamb kebabs and Dal makhani.
Dessert: Glouchestershire cheese plate or Turkish baclava and puddings.
Night snack: Syrian chicken shawarma, from Medan St. in Damascus.

6. Best style and fashion

Men: London, England.
Women: anywhere in Italy.

7. Funniest moment

Caroline: watching Jerome get his second nerdy bowl cut/reverse mullet/military buzz by a Syrian barber in two weeks due to serious communication breakdown. He just went in for a beard trim.
Jerome: religious Islamic song editing for the US market in a Russian cosmetics office in Damascus. Click here for full story.

8. Favourite mode of transport

Caroline: Movenpick Radamis II Five-Star Nile Cruiser
Jerome: Mr. India, the best camel on the Pakistan-India border

9. Favourite markets

Aleppo souq, Syria
Urfa souq, Turkey

10. Favourite museums

Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep, Turkey
German National History Museum, Berlin
Borghese Gallery, Rome

11. Favourite hotels

Baron Hotel, Aleppo, Syria
Windsor Hotel, Cairo, Egypt
Elif Star, Goreme, Turkey
Shahi Palace, Jaisalmer, India
Seventh Heaven, Pushkar, India
Sultan's Inn, Istanbul, Turkey

12. Favourite drinks

Blackberry juice in Damascus
Lemon juice in Egypt
BEER in Germany
Coconut shakes in Thailand
Masala chai on the train in India
Ayran in Turkey

13. Favourite shisha cafes

Kurdish militia tea house on Edgeware road in London
Erenler Chai Bahcesi Tea Garden, bazaar district, Istanbul

14. Best baclava in the world

Karakoy Gulluoglu, Karakoy district, Istanbul, Turkey

15. Next destinations

Cuba, Greece, Iran, Venezuela, China, Cape Breton Island

Packing

2007-11-20T05:32:00.000+01:00

In case anyone is plannning their own around-the-world adventure, here is a list of everything we packed or picked-up along the way (excluding souvenirs). I think we packed really well, so maybe this list can help your preparations.

Beaches

2007-11-18T11:40:00.000+01:00

We spent the last 10 days in southern Thailand, first at Raileh Beach and then on the island of Ko Lanta. Even on this "backpacker" island, most of the beaches are overcrowded with resorts. Fortunately we found a really laid-back beach with excellent food at Bamboo Bay. We had a lot of fun sleeping in thatch bungalows on the beach, swimming in emerald green waters, and frollicking in the sun.

Our bartender at Bamboo Bay gave us his recipe for Pina Coladas, so get ready to party Saint John!

Nick's Pina Colada (Bamboo Bay, Ko Lanta, Thailand)

2 shots pineapple juice
1 shot coconut milk
1/2 shot whole milk
1/2 lime squeezed
1 shot syrup
1/2 shot malibu
1 shot dark rum
1/2 shot white rum

directions:
- shake with ice
- serve with slice of orange

Island living

2007-11-14T08:20:00.000+01:00

We're currently hanging out on the island of Ko Lanta in Thailand. We've been here a week. Very nice and good food, but I have to admit, at times we've actually been, well, kind of bored.
Have we lost the ability to relax after running around for so long? No doubt this will be rectified when we get back to Hammond River, New Brunswick in a short time.

Sukothai

2007-11-02T12:30:00.000+01:00

Here are a few pics of the old ruins in Sukothai. We rented bikes for two days and visited lots of temples and buddha statues.

Chiang Mai

2007-11-02T12:28:00.000+01:00

We also took a bit of time out from eating and cooking to go visit some temples in Chiang Mai...

And to go for a trek in the jungle. I have to admit I'm excited to get back to hiking in Canada where we don't need a guide, and can choose our own companions so that they don't include a racist British expat and Germans with unsuitable shoes (not shown).

Our Favourite Activity

2007-11-02T12:23:00.000+01:00

It has now been about 5 months since Jerome and I have cooked or washed dishes. But we have been eating a lot of good food. We haven't mentioned food much on our blog, but eating on this trip, as in Toronto, has been our favourite activity. After Bangkok, we headed up to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand, and let food completely take over the next four days. We did two days of cooking courses at Baan Thai, and hopefully will be able to reproduce some of the dishes at home. By the way, does anyone know where to buy galangal or kaffir lime leaves in Saint John?!

There is food everywhere in Thailand. And it all looks so good!

Jerome eating one of his favourite meals in the world: Chiang Mai (kao soi) noodles, with a coconut shake. Total cost: $1.60.

My favourite Thai food: mango sticky rice.

Cooking class:

The results don't even look too bad. Especially when paired with a Singha beer!

Elephants

2007-10-30T15:04:00.000+01:00

A few days ago we visited the Elephant Conservation Centre near Lampang, in northern Thailand. This unique facility promotes the role of the Asian elephant in 'ecotourism' and provides free medical treatment and care for sick elephants from all over Thailand. The plight of Asian elephants is becoming a national concern. Many domesticated animals are treated poorly, and destruction of forests and ivory-trade poaching are placing the wild elephant population in increasing jeopardy. With only 2,000 remaining in the wild in Thailand, the Asian elephant is now classified as an endangered species. At the Conservation Centre we learned that working elephants -- in the forest industry, for example -- typically have a career of about 50 years, and that Thai law requires that elephants be retired and released into the wild at age 61. The elephants can live up to 80 years, and are handled by father-son teams, who see to an animal over the coarse of its life. We fed the elephants bananas and sugar cain, and were amazed at their dry, leathery skin. Inbreeding has become a problem due to low numbers of male elephants, so artificial insemination is now being used to avoid birth defects. The baby elephant pictured below is one of the first born by this method.

This might look like affection between elephants, but the one on the right is trying to steal bananas from the mouth of the other!

Bangkok Temple Tour

2007-10-25T09:34:00.000+02:00

On our first day in Bangkok we visited the Grand Palace and other significant temples in the city centre.

The Khmer-influenced temple of Wat Arun.

A golden chedi at Bangkok's Grand Palace.

At the Grand Palace.

Reclining 42-metre long golden Buddha, at Wat Pho temple complex.

An example of Northern Thai design at Bangkok's Grand Palace.

Farewell to India

2007-10-22T11:55:00.001+02:00

India made such an impression on us that we feel she requires some parting comments.

We thought we were fairly hardened travellers before we arrived in India. After all, we'd lived/studied in China and Lebanon, and just made our way through the Middle East. But we were not prepared!

When I was in China during the summer of 1999, I remember going to a backpackers' restaurant in Xi'an that had guestbooks where various travellers had written their thanks, or impressions, or notes to other travellers. Many people were complaing about something... the buses, or taxi drivers, or getting sick, or spitting on the street.... One person had written "You should all stop your bitching. China is the goddamn Ritz compared to India." And now I know for sure: China is the goddamn Ritz.

The India we saw is rough, poor and very unequal. In a country where the minimum wage is somewhere around $2 per day, tourists are an easy source of income and the hassle factor is very high. I will never again take a paved sidewalk in a major city for granted. After two bad samosas in Agra, both Jerome and I can also testify that it is possibly one of the worst places in the world to get food poisoning. And just when you feel things are looking up, you step in a cow patty.

But in India we also saw some of the most wonderful things of our trip. People were very nice and helpful. The food was wonderful (minus those Agra samosas). And until India, nothing almost moved us to tears as did the Taj Mahal.

We were only able to visit a tiny corner of this country, and were barely able to scratch the surface of India, and I'm sure we'll be back.

Last Pictures of India

2007-10-22T11:35:00.000+02:00

The "Blue City" of Jodhpur, view from the fort.

Jodphur Fort. View from Saji Sanwri Guesthouse.

Jain Temple in Jaisalmer Fort.

Camel Safari in the desert near India-Pakistan border.

Jerome and Mr. India, the best camel in Jaisalmer.

Bangkok Arrival

2007-10-22T10:44:00.000+02:00

We arrived in Thailand early this morning and headed for that mecca of the western tourist: Khao San Road. But having long ago decided we had outgrown our true backpacker days (other than our love of banana pancakes and the fact we do carry backpacks), we're in the strip's only self-procraimed "boutique" hotel (it has a hair dryer!).

We've been touring Rajasthan for the last 10 days, mostly on dial-up internet, hence the lack of posts. We'll try and put a few pictures up of our activities.

More fun in Udaipur

2007-10-12T15:09:00.000+02:00

We are really enjoying our time here. Today we took a four-hour horse ride through the fields, hills, villages and streams around Udaipur. We even saw a 5-foot long bright blue snake!

(Caroline's side note for the horsey set: these are Marwari horses, check out the ears!)

View of City Palace of Udaipur from our hotel balconey.

Reunited

2007-10-11T14:25:00.000+02:00

A few days ago we met up with our Australian doubles, who we had travelled with in Jordan and Egypt, as well as their friend Andrea from Germany. We spent an evening in Choki Dhani, a mock Rajasthani village where middle-class Indians go for elephant rides, magic shows, and a guy who dances on nails, not to mention the boy on a pole (see entry below). Here we are having dinner (this is also the only known photo of Jerome in a turban):

Udaipur

2007-10-11T13:45:00.001+02:00

Today in Udaipur we took an excellent cooking course with Sushma at Hotel Krishna Niwas, where we learned how to prepare garam masala, masala chai, homemade paneer, butter masala gravy, dal, chapatis, and stuffed parantha. In the afternoon we visited the city palace overlooking the lake that makes this town famous.

Chapati lessons. The first person who writes a comment under this post wins a free Indian meal cooked by Jerome!

One of Udaipur's main streets decked-out in silver tinsel.

Autorickshaws are a very cheap way of getting around the cities in India.

Images of India

2007-10-11T13:30:00.000+02:00

We have seen all the incredible images that are conjured-up in the great novels of India: elephants, camels, colourful saris, lush green gardens, snow-capped mountains, wretched slums, beggers on wheels, overflowing trains and buses, snake charmers, piles and piles of suitcases for a single traveller, aggressive monkeys, and now this:

This young lad gave a spell-binding performance of acrobatics and spin atop this 20-foot bamboo poll.

A Pushkar monkey, moments before he leapt in my direction and sent me running.

Taj Mahal in Agra

2007-10-02T08:16:00.000+02:00

We were totally floored by the beauty and elegance of the Taj Mahal. It is by far the most impressive building I have ever seen. Every time I looked up I was shocked. The inlaid marble is incredible, and appears 3D in some places. The Taj Mahal definitely belongs on the list of the 7 Wonders!

The Punjab

2007-10-02T07:36:00.000+02:00

We just spent two interesting days in Amritsar, the capital of the Punjab region, and home to the Golden Temple of the Sihks. Everyday approximately 40,000 pilgrams visit the temple and get fed there too. Despite the crowds, the temple-complex was very pleasant and we met many really nice people who wanted to shake our hands and take our picture.

While in Amritsar, we also hired a taxi to take us to the Indian-Pakistan border, where everynight thousands of citizens from both countries gather to cheer on their soldiers and to taunt the other side as the gates are closed and the flags lowered. Way too much nationalism for my liking, but fun and interesting nonetheless!

Bangkok-bound

2007-09-28T17:05:00.000+02:00

Well, you voted and we responded. We've got a ticket to Bangkok for late October.

It helped that all the Delhi-Hong Kong flights were sold out.

Buildings

2007-09-27T16:31:00.000+02:00

Al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo. Built by the Fatimid Dynasty, 970 AD.

View from minaret. Al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo.

Burj Al-Arab (the Arab Tower), the world's only 7-star hotel in Dubai. There was so much humidity, and we were on a bus, so I couldn't get a better picture. The hotel is designed to resemble a sailboat. Rooms are $5,000 per night.

More buildings in Dubai.

Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, India. A fine example of Mughal architecture, 1592 AD.

McLeod Ganj

2007-09-27T12:48:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we arrived in McLeod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile. The travellers here appear to be a curious mix of young western hippy-types, Indian tourists, and Tibetan pilgrims. I'm not quite sure where we fit in, but I suppose into the hippy category! Jerome says "NOT".

This morning we visited the temple, where lots of monks and pilgrims were praying.

The main statue of Buddha, with food offerings of McVities biscuits and other goodies:

Monks on lunch break:

Hotels 2: Naggar

2007-09-27T12:44:00.000+02:00

Finally it all came together (see post below) and we got hot water, good food, and a nice view, all in the Hotel Ragini in Naggar!

Jerome relaxes again, while admiring yet another nice view.

Hotels 1: Manali

2007-09-27T12:14:00.000+02:00

I've never understood the fascination that some people have for hotels, and how much they are willing to spend on a bed to sleep in for the night. Really, isn't one Quality Inn just like any other? Of course, people like me stay at Quality Inns. Unless we're backpacking around the world in which case we stay where the Lonely Planet guidebook recommends.

Along the way, we've had some winners (Elif Star in Turkey and the Windsor Hotel in Cairo come to mind), and some losers (Safwan Hotel in Lattakia, Syria, where entering the bathroom was enough to make me gag).

In Manali, the Lonely Planet recommendation was the Sunshine Guest House. An old British Raj house, it was full of character. Jerome lit a fire in our room for the evening, and by day we sat on the veranda, admiring the view down the Kullu Valley while drinking gin and tonics. All this for only $8 a night!

The Sunshine Guest House from the gardens:

Relaxing on the veranda, British style.

The view, with some snow capped peaks in the distance.

However, we have a pretty consistent record of rarely achieving clean sheets, 24-hour hot water, and natural sunlight in the same hotel room. In this case, the sheets and pillows also appeared to be left over from the Raj era. Thank goodness for those sleeping sacks!

hill station location update

2007-09-25T17:36:00.000+02:00

We spent three nights in Shimla, then took a local bus for 10 hours, which in fact rode more like a tractor without suspension and necessitated us both taking our first Gravols of the trip, to get to Manali. Manali was full of Israeli backpackers and drugs. It is also famous as an adventure travel launching point. After 3.5 months of travel, we are too lazy for adventure. We left Manali after two nights and moved for two nights to the pretty village of nearby Naggar. I'll post some photos when we get off Naggar's dial-up internet!

Please Vote

2007-09-23T17:33:00.000+02:00

Hey avid readers -- we need help deciding where to go next. After India we only have 4-5 weeks left of traveling, and we want to use our time wisely. Right now we are debating between China (a very interesting place to visit) and Thailand (a very relaxing and beautiful place to visit). Please cast your vote on the now 'poll' application on the right hand side of our blog and, if you have time, give us your reasons in the comments section below this post. Thanks!

Head for the hills

2007-09-19T14:27:00.000+02:00

After Cairo, Dubai, and Delhi all in a row, we needed to take it down a notch! So we made like the Delhiites (or like those British back in the day) when they want to escape the city, and headed for the hills. Shimla was the summer capital of the British Raj, and much of the architecture feels very British.

We (and a lot of cockroaches) took an overnight sleeper train to Kalka, where we changed to the very pleasant Shimla toy train. Another six hours and 96 km we were up in the clouds.

Is this England?

No, too many monkeys... They are everywhere in Shimla and they want your bag/food/glasses. A friendly local man got us some sticks for protection.

Delhi tour

2007-09-19T13:33:00.001+02:00

We had three days in Delhi (one more than anticipated because we got on the wrong train Monday morning... I swear, it was the station's fault and we weren't just being stupid!). We spent much of the time eating dosas and trying to decide where to go next. On Sunday, we hired a car and a driver and did the super tour of the sites. We also let our guard down after three months of sucessfully avoiding forced shopping expeditions and were taken to an "art gallery famous in all of India" (aka, souvenir shop). A select few other places we visited:

The Raj Ghat. This black marble slab marks the place where Gandhi was cremated.

The Ba'hai Lotus Temple. Almost every western tourist we have seen in India looks really really dirty and haggard! This is only day 3 for us, so stay tuned.

The Qubt Minar tower, built circa 1200.

Later that evening, we treated ourselves to a meal at Bukhara in the Sheraton (not our hotel!), on the recommendation of my cousin's husband Paul, who's been to Delhi several times. Jerome declared the Peshawari lamb to be the tastiest piece of meat to ever cross his lips.

In India

2007-09-15T17:29:00.000+02:00

We arrived in Delhi yesterday morning. It is pretty much just as I expected -- madness, broken by pockets of serenity. And the food is great!! There are also a lot of trees and greenery here after the Middle East. Today we saw our first real rain in two months.

Dubailand

2007-09-12T22:41:00.000+02:00

We are in Dubai and it is crazy: a shoppers paradise, a building bonanza, a jumbo suburb on steriods, a hyper commodity world, a 5-star hotel explosion, a capitalist oasis in the desert, a sink for surplus petro-dollars, an architect's wet dream, a heaven on earth where lots of money seems to beget even more money. Incredible skyscrapers are going up everywhere and there are more malls than you can count. It makes you want to shop...or to go snowboarding in the indoor ski-resort in the Mall of the Emirates.

For background, read THIS.

Damascus catch-up: The Omayyad Mosque

2007-09-11T13:49:00.000+02:00

A must see in Damascus is the Omayyad mosque, built by the Omayyad Caliph in 705 when Damascus was capital of the Arab Islamic empire. The mosque took ten years and eleven million gold dinars to build, and became an architectural model for hundreds of mosques throughout the world. The mosque has a large prayer hall and an enormous courtyard. The interior walls are covered with mosaic panels, made of coloured and gilded glass, portraying scenes from nature. The dome is greyish-blue, and is celebrated for its magnificence. The prayer hall contains a domed shrine venerated by both Christians and Muslims, the tomb of St. John the Baptist.

All the women in the mosque were having a good laugh at Caroline.

Turkey catch-up

2007-09-11T13:30:00.001+02:00

Here are some pictures from our last days in Turkey, over a month ago.

In the south-east of the country is Mt. Nemrut, the centre of Antioch of biblical times. At the top of the mountain are these giant stone statues of the king, the gods, and other people.

The stone heads used to rest on top of these pedestals at the top of the mountain.

The famous site in the city of Urfa where the prophet Abraham did something with fish (can someone refresh our memory on how this story went?). There were tonnes of tourists here from Iran, feeding the very fat fish which still swim in these ponds.

Beehive houses in Harran, a small dusty town near the Syrian border, which is probably the second longest inhabited settlement in the world after Damascus.

At our last stop in Antep, we stumbled across an amazing museum of mosaics from the floors of the old Roman city of Zeugma. The city and its mosaics were going to be flooded by the Ataturk dam, but fortunately they were rescued and collected in the very impressive museum. This mosaic is the most famous and is called The Gypsy Girl.

baksheesh: egypt not all pyramids and roses

2007-09-11T13:08:00.000+02:00

As I raise my camera to take a picture of Queen Hatshepsut's son suckling from a sacred cow at her temple in Luxor, a temple employee sidles up to me...
Man: "That is a cow."
Caroline: "Yes, thanks. I know."
Man: "Baksheesh now."

"Baksheesh" is part of getting around Egypt. It is a tip (or sometimes a bribe!) for services rendered. These can be anything, from having a door opened to being given directions. At first, we were getting pretty irritated at the constant demands for baksheesh, particularly since we were never carrying around the right change. However, after 2 weeks in Egypt, learning to hoard small bills like there's no tomorrow, and realizing that every other Egyptian is also a baksheesh target, we're settling into the swing of things. Now, when we anticipate someone is going to impose their help, we run away, or say "no guide", or if we actually want to have our elbows held by an 11-year-old while walking down a ramp, we'll slip him some cash.

Only a fraction of our Egyptian baksheesh experiences:

Yesterday, we actually saw a man rush to close a door in a museum so that he could open it for us!
In the tomb of Ramses III in the Valley of the Kings, the tomb attendant fanned tourists with a square of cardboard. "Hot. Fan. Baksheesh."
We took a felucca ride with Mohammad and his two teenage friends in Aswan. Pleasant conversation ensues... Jerome asks: Are you the owner of the boat? Mohammad: No, the captain. Good captain. Baksheesh later. Jerome: Uh, ok. Mohammad: Do you want some hash?
Security is quite high in Egypt for tourists due to several terrorist attacks in the last two decades. The tourist police are on duty at many hotels and attractions. I can only assume they aren't paid very well.... After booking ourselves on a Nile Cruise, one tourist police guy outside declared "Give me five money. Baksheesh." In this case we refused. What, for letting us walk by you? Give me a break! The next day we noticed he was cruising down the Nile with us, an AK-47 assault rifle slung over his shoulder. Another tourist police officer at the Red Pyramid near Cairo kept trying to force his camel into the field-of-view of our friend Andy's camera in order to demand his baksheesh. I don't feel very safe in this country.

Finally, two days ago our bad baksheesh karma came back to haunt us. We got a tour of the beautiful Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo from the caretaker and muezzin, Said.

Oh, crap. Our smallest bill is enough for a night in a (cheap) hotel room! We had to baksheesh the guy for every baksheesh we had avoided for the whole trip. He still asked for more. "For Ramadan." Sure. On the upside, Jerome was snatched aside and had the entire call to prayer sung just for him!

Giza again

2007-09-11T13:07:00.001+02:00

We couldn't nick the golden mask at the museum (see below), but we can steal a few pictures taken of us by our Australian travel buddies.

This is the largest of all the pyramids.

Travel buddies thrilled just after finding a lucky horseshoe in the sand at Giza!

Face to Face With King Tut

2007-09-10T19:19:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we had an experience that summed up one side of things in Egypt. We were in the National Museum in Cairo, viewing the iconic mask of "King Tut" -- the big and bright gold one, which is on every advertisement of Egypt -- when all of a sudden four guys in plainclothes approached the display case, heaved up the glass barrier, and grabbed out the mask! The Italians in the room made a tsunami-like movement towards the four guys either to figure out what was going on or to touch the mask themselves, which some of them seemed to accomplish. The guys holding the mask, now accompanied by one guy in some kind of uniform, responded by making their way quickly to another corner of the room and then put down the mask on another display case. At this point, we still had no idea what was going on, and by the looks of things thought that a heist was in the works. That wasn't the case however. Apparently the staff at the museum wanted to repair the glass exhibit case and decided that they should do so in the middle of the day and without clearing the room, taking precautions with the solid gold mask, and sending in more muscle than a few small and disheveled guys in jeans and T-shirts. When we figured out the situation, we decided to join in on the fun, and made our own rush for the mask and managed to see it face to face, without a glass barrier, for about 10 minutes.

Ancient Wonders Still Really Cool

2007-09-08T18:16:00.000+02:00

Caroline at the Step Pyramid in Saqara, the very first pyramid and the oldest human-created structure in the world.

At the Sphynx and Great Pyramids in Giza.

"Look how big it is, and how straight the lines are!"

Caroline unknowingly providing perspective for the picture.

A few pictures from Aswan and Luxor

2007-09-06T12:56:00.000+02:00

Temple of Philae, Aswan

Temple of Philae, Aswan

Big pharoah statue at the Temple of Karnak, Luxor.

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Exploring the hugeness of the 134 columns in the Temple of Karnak, Luxor.

Taking it up a notch or 5

2007-09-06T12:35:00.000+02:00

From the Sinai we took a very fun and terrifying speed boat across the Suez Gulf and then caught a terrible 10 hour bus ride to Aswan in the far south of the country. Our plan was to take a sail boat up the Nile to Luxor but when we saw the dodginess of the "faluccas" we let our Australian friends talk us into a 5 star cruise on a Movenpick boat. We stuffed ourselves on the buffet for three days and saw a number of great Egyptian temples, with tonnes of hieraglyphs and columns. Roman and Greek architecture was clearly based upon and inspired by Egyptian design. The area around the Nile is very green and lush, and contrasts starkly to the barren deserts which surround the narrow strips of life along the river.

The Pyramid Adventure Begins

2007-08-30T08:36:00.000+02:00

Today we leave the tourist enclave of Dahab -- where we enjoyed fresh fruit juices for $1 by the Red Sea for four days -- for Aswan in southern Egypt to begin our adventures through the sites of ancient Egypt. We are traveling with our Australian friends who host a much better blog here.

When we get to Aswan we will try to find a boat to take us up the Nile to Luxor.

Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan

2007-08-27T20:21:00.000+02:00

The Treasury, Petra, Jordan, made famous in the last few scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and now an official "wonder of the world."

An evening shot of The Treasury.

Caroline on one of the massive dunes in Wadi Rum.

Tired and dirty at sunset, Wadi Rum.

Hello, Goodbye Jordan

2007-08-27T19:55:00.000+02:00

We just arrived in Egypt after three nights in Jordan. The first two were spent at Petra, home to the famous Nabatean ruins, and the last one at Wadi Rum, an incredible desert nature reserve where Bedouin lived until very recently. At the reserve, we hired a guide, Salim, who drove us around the massive sand dunes and fed us at one of his camps. We slept under the full moon in the desert, and this morning took the ferry across the Red Sea to Egypt. Now we are in Dahab, a divers' hangout that once was very laid back but that now is overdeveloped and not very chill at all. We're tired right now, so maybe our first impressions will change after a day of snorkelling tomorrow. We met some really nice Australians who seem to be our alter egos: they have travelled the same route as us, and are pretty much going to the same places over the new few months. Besides being tired from our trip today, everything is going well and we're excited to leave for Dubai and India in mid-September.

chillin in beirut

2007-08-27T19:06:00.000+02:00

No really... it's true the mention of Beirut never conjured the feeling of relaxation in my mind, but it does now that I've been there! We stayed at Jerome's friend Saseen's house for five nights... hanging around, doing laundry, shopping, going out in the evenings, and sleeping in. It was pretty chill after the relative chaos of Aleppo and Damascus. And some hotels we've had lately leave something to be desired (note, always ask for clean sheets as it's not assumed you care! Okay, I have to admit we've been paying $20/night), so it felt great to be in a real home again.

I spent a lot of time at home with Arse the cat. Don't be jealous Minou, I'll be back eventually!!

Out on the town with Saseen.

Sometimes we even walked around town:

At the American University of Beirut. If you have two physicist + political scientist jobs open up, we're available!

On the way to our favourite restaurant Le Chef, where we ate three times because of my addiction to their chick peas and garlic dish.

Jordan

2007-08-25T20:47:00.001+02:00

After chilling in Beirut for five days, we arrived yesterday for our whirlwind tour of Jordan. Beirut was great. Wonderful food, good nightlife, beautiful location, lots going on... definitely one of our favourite stops so far! Today we visited Petra, recently voted as one of the "new" 7 wonders of the world. Maybe some pictures later - technical difficulties right now.

In Beirut

2007-08-20T10:08:00.000+02:00

We arrived in Beirut yesterday afternoon by taxi from Damascus and are staying in the family home of one of my friends, Saseen. Last night we went for Lebanese food and Arak, a Lebanese alcohol similar to Raki or Ouzo. We will be here for 3 more nights and then head to Petra in Jordan.

Last Night in Damascus

2007-08-20T09:47:00.000+02:00

Our last night in Damascus was the most random ever. We were supposed to go to our friend Said's house for a supper of stuffed zucchinis made by his wife. When we met, however, he said we needed to do something else first. We said OK and followed him to a fancy office in some nearby shopping district. The office was the executive room for some Syrian wholesale makeup company, but the man at the office also produces and publishes Arab music CDs. Apparently our friend Said, who is an English teacher, was helping some Islamic singer-songwriter (who doesn't know a word of English) with an English song on his upcoming album for the American market. Our job was to (1) listen to the song to point out grammar and pronunciation problems; (2) edit the English liner notes in the CD booklet; and (3) assure them that they didn't need to write an apology for the musician's English in the CD booklet. So, before our fantastic supper of stuffed zucchinis we hung out in a bling bling exec office, drinking coffee, listening to and editing some cheesy religious song by a guy who speaks no English but whose album heads to America for release this week! The weirdest and most random things happen in Damascus. You have to visit here.

Krac des Chevaliers

2007-08-16T17:40:00.000+02:00

Then we were off on yet another minibus ride with switch-back turns to see what must be one of the most impressive castles in the world: Krac des Chevaliers, built by the Crusaders and defended successfully for hundreds of years. This is the view from our hotel window.

Aleppo

2007-08-16T17:16:00.000+02:00

Our first stop in Syria was Aleppo. Due to more lack of planning on our part ("want to go to Syria tomorrow?", "Sure, why not?"), we couldn't find a cheap hotel. (BTW, cheap in Syria means really really cheap. A three hour bus ride is $1.50!) However, this kind of worked out as we were forced to blow some cash and stay in the Baron Hotel, which had a tonne of character. Agatha Christie used to stay here with her archaeologist husband, and it was here she wrote the first half of Murder on the Orient Express. The place was right out of the 1930s and also had the most ancient hotel staff we had ever met.

We took a trip outside of Aleppo, to see the ruins of the Basilica of St. Simon, built around a column from which he preached for 40 years. Now it looks a bit like a boulder.

We also really liked the markets in Aleppo (souqs), which were full of smells and vendors selling everything.

Our vote for friendliest country

2007-08-16T16:52:00.000+02:00

Last week in Lattakia, a nice city on the coast, we were adopted by a shopkeeper named Ali who took us out for dinner. His taxi driver friend gave us a 3-hour tour to a Crusader castle and didn't want any money. We talked to several students on the street for an hour. And that was just one day! Since we arrived in Syria over a week ago, about 200 people have said "welcome." Taxi and minibus drivers have bought us coffee and juice.

Syria is also one of the safest countries in the world for travelling. Basically the only chance of hostage-taking is being removed somewhere by a local to drink tea or coffee. We arrived in Damascus yesterday, and after 20 minutes met a friendly English teacher named Saeed, who took us to his apartment for some ping pong, tea, coffee, and shawarma.

Jerome gets his ping pong ass kicked.

Syria update

2007-08-16T16:44:00.000+02:00

We're in Damascus now. Internet connection is unreliable (I think we might be on dial-up -- and it doesn't help that the electricity is shut down for two hours every day!). But I'll try and post a few things we've been up to since we arrived.

In Syria

2007-08-10T13:33:00.000+02:00

We are now in Syria! After Capadochia we took a long bus ride to Mt. Nemrut and saw the famous face statues at the top (pics to come) and then went to Urfa, where Abraham was allegedly born and turned something into fish. Near Urfa we also saw the beehive houses of Harran. From there we went to Antep, home to an amazing museum with mosaics from the Roman city of Zeugam. Then we crossed the border into Syria. Now we are in Halab (Alleppo). There is a very good citadel and souq (market) here, and today we saw the basillica where Saint Simon sat on a column for 40 years. It was a great site, but Saint Simon seemed to have been a bit weird. Apparently the game 'Simon says' comes from him. Tomorrow we are of toLAttakia where we plan to see Saladin's castle.

Ihlara Valley 1

2007-08-04T17:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we hired a guide to take us through the Ihlara Valley, a small Grand Canyon-like valley in Cappadocia. Our guide, Gaye, was from Middle Earth Travel, a good company that designs treks and hikes for small groups of independent travellers -- so no big bus groups and no trips to some uncle's carpet shop. We were the only ones on the tour! We had a great time and highly recommend this guide company to other travellers.

The 6-hour trek through the Valley was spectacular: lots of trees and flowers, a cool stream at the bottom, and steep canyon walls with hundreds of churches and caves carved high-up into the rock. Some of the churches have interesting frescoes.

We ended the day with a swim in a volcanic crater turned lake.

Here are some pics, which unfortunatly do not do justice to the real scenery:

This fresco is from an iconoclastic period in which images of Christ and other biblical characters were considered not cool. So they used the infinity symbol instead.

This fresco depicts the Three Wise Men but in Dervish dress!

Ihlara Valley pics 2

2007-08-04T16:38:00.000+02:00

More pictures from our hike:

Cappadocia

2007-08-02T15:58:00.001+02:00

We are in a really cool place: Goreme in the region of Cappadocia. It is hard to describe the area, it is like nowhere else. Valleys full of these "fairy chimneys" formed out of volcanic ash and erosion. For almost 3000 years people have been carving out caves and building whole cities in and under the rock. There are also tonnes of early Christian cave churches with very interesting frescoes. Today we went to an old Hittite and Roman underground city which had more than 2000 rooms! We are staying in an incredible hotel called Elif Star, where our room is a cave! See pıcs at: http://www.elifstar.com/

Yesterday we went hiking in a valley and saw a lot of these...

PS - you may notice a new haircut in the picture above. The buzz happened after a barber gave me a bowl-cut and then a reverse mullet afterwhich I had to beg for a full shave.

Books

2007-07-31T13:58:00.000+02:00

After a few years of thesis research and writing we have finally found the time to read novels. So far on the trip we have really enjoyed:

Amin Malouf, Leo the African, a great novel about the Arab and Muslim world between the time of the fall of Granada to the Ottoman expansion. We also read and enjoyed Samarkand by the same author (this one is about Persia at the time of the Seljuk and Mongol empıres). The writer has an impressive understanding of Middle East history.

Yashar Kemel, Memed My Hawk, an exciting novel about peasant revolts at the time of the transitıon to agrarian capıtalısm in southern Turkey. The author does a great job of taking up the issue of polıtıcal leadershıp through the actıvities of the main character, Memed.

Goats

2007-07-30T19:01:00.000+02:00

Today we went kayaking to see an old Lycian city that slid into the sea during an earthquake. I ended up taking only a few pictures, and somehow they were all of goats. Here some goats pose with the kayaks, before making a beeline for our backpack to investigate a bag of pretzels.

Tomorrow we take an overnight bus to central Turkey.

Adventures with Baris the Fine

2007-07-29T16:43:00.000+02:00

Last week we hung out with my friend Baris from Toronto, originally from Istanbul. We went to Ephesus, the best preserved and one of the most important ancient Roman cities. Then we became beach bums at Akyaka, a chill beach town on the southern coast known for its Ottoman architecture. We had a good time swimming, so we decıded to go to the infamous Bodrum peninsula, which attracts about a million European tourists a summer, and stayed at another friends beach house. Baris played a lot of Civ 4 on his laptop when we werent at the beach. I gave him bad advice to attack the Germans and, after losing the battled his ranking dropped to Baris the Fine. As a host and a guide, though, he was Baris the Great!

Baris the Fine.

The famous library facade in Ephesus.

When in Ephesus, drink Efes beer.

Bodrum Sumer House Pool Jumping Contest between Jerome and Baris.

Ode to Turkish buses

2007-07-29T16:23:00.001+02:00

We had to mention the bus services at least once. At Istanbul alone there are 150 bus companies all leaving from the station, going everywhere and anywhere. On most buses, there is a complementary tea and coffee service, and snacks!

The roads are a different story... although they are well-maintained (at least in western Turkey where we've been), there are a distinct lack of guard-rails and hard shoulders present at the many sharp corners with 300 foot drops onto rocks and the sea.

Kabak

2007-07-29T16:22:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone. We spent the last few days hanging out in Kabak, a really neat and unspoilt spot (a bit rare) on the southern coast. We stayed in tree houses nestled between three big mountains surrounding an emerald green beach. Very few people, lile maybe 50 in the whole area. I read and finished the new Harry Potter. We swam a lot. In the evenings we stretched out on cushıoned platforms, drank tea, and watched the moon. We met some friendly Turkish lefties, hippies and yoga types and managed to survive the knuckle-whitening bus trip along the mountain coast to the site. Kabak was great and we highly recommend it. Sorry for the non-rotated pics but I cant figure out this computer.

The tree houses.

One of the platforms.

Bergama

2007-07-29T16:10:00.000+02:00

We spent on night in a city called Bergama, and visited the Acropolis on top of a huge hill. Most of the good stuff now sits in a museum in Berlin.

Assos

2007-07-29T16:02:00.000+02:00

After Bozcaada, we headed off for two nights in a pretty village beside some ruins. Aristotle lived here for a few years.

Jerome as a column.

Lost

2007-07-29T15:50:00.000+02:00

Today: in a seaside place called Kas, on the Mediterranean. It is hot here, as it has been for days and days. Can't wait for Syria...

Today we lost both our Lonely Planet (left on a bus) and my sunglasses (left on a beach). This success has only been approximated by our departure from Tuscany, where two pairs of underwear and my only long-sleeved shirt (never worn) were sent out to be washed with the sheets.

On the Med

2007-07-29T15:45:00.000+02:00

We're back. Sorry for disappointing our legions of loyal fans (Mum + Dad + Dawn... ?) but we've been sans internet for the last 2 whole weeks as we made our way down the coast of Turkey. No, this isn't the last place on Earth to get internet cafes, we just were staying in a few small places and also at a friend of a friend's summer house, with no internet. Here are a few updates of the places we've been.

stay tuned

2007-07-16T18:42:00.000+02:00

we have seen a lot of hot styles in different cities and have been noting them down to share on this blog. stay tuned. the next post i promise.

Bozcaada

2007-07-16T18:11:00.000+02:00

We're on a small Turkish island (pop 2500) called Bozcaada in the Aegean. Most tourists here are Turkish. Spent the last 2 days at the beach and we leave tomorrow. I haven't been in the Sun so much since I became a school nerd, circa 1988. Now I have what even might be considered a tan, well... in Ireland perhaps.

(Pleasantly) stuck in Istanbul

2007-07-13T12:12:00.000+02:00

Due to our lack of planning and full buses and hotels, we are in Istanbul for 2 extra nights. We leave tomorrow. Here are some of our latest shots.

A visit to the big Ottoman Palace: home to the Sultan for centuries.

A popular activity is fishing off the Galata Bridge.

We took a boat up the Bosphorus yesterday as far as the Black Sea (the Ukraine is somewhere back there).

A little piece of Jerome's home town (Altona) in the form of an Istanbul doner stand.

Our nice little hotel

2007-07-13T12:01:00.001+02:00

We're staying in a nice hotel in Istanbul, the Sultan's Inn, with great views. Here's the Blue Mosque from our breakfast terrace.

And here is the view the other direction.... out to the sea.

And our bed with a canopy!

Turkey

2007-07-11T14:10:00.000+02:00

We are liking Istanbul very much. Our hotel is fantastic, and so are the sites in the city. There is a fantastic night life here: everyone goes out on the town after work in the evening. The parks are jammed pack with families and teenagers hanging out and eating street food. There are some incredible pedestrian-only streets with tonnes of shopping and restaurants. The food is very good, and our friend Baris from Toronto has been a great tour guide. We will be sad to leave here on Friday, but the beaches and mountains of the Medeterrannean are calling! First stop will be a Turkish island just down the coast from Istanbul.

Having just complained about digital camera tourism...Here we are!

2007-07-11T13:45:00.000+02:00

In Naples, Italy, with Mt. Vesuvius in background.

Jerome at the Marx and Engels monument in Berlin. The whole monument is very interesting, but can't fit into a single shot.

Holocaust Memorial, Berlin. You get lost in the aisles between the stacks of concrete coffins.

The Rosa Luxemburg memorial in Berlin, under the bridge where she was murdered. Monthly Review Press has a new collection of her writings that I highly recommend. If the German revolution had succeeded after WW1, maybe fascism and Nazism would not have emerged and (probably) neither would have Stalinism in Russia.

Our hotel/villa in Tuscany. An old convent cum winery cum tobacco farm cum villa. Very nice for chilling in the Tuscan countryside.

Photo issue

2007-07-11T13:20:00.001+02:00

We have really slowed down the picture taking, because of all the annoying habits of digital camera tourists. At almost every site we have visited there have been thousands of tourists and tourist groups rushing through the sites, blindly taking photos without stopping to think about or experience the object being photographed. Rome was the worst for this, especially at all the Catholic sites. The situation is more chill in Istanbul, but the digital camera tourists are still here, flashing away, creating a spectacle of a spectacle.

Clothing Fatigue

2007-07-08T12:09:00.000+02:00

I've been wearing the same three T-shirts for four weeks and it's finally starting to get to me. We'd better go shopping soon, and not just for tea sets and backgammon boards!

Various Pics

2007-07-08T12:02:00.001+02:00

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Jerome's Birthday Supper in Istanbul -- great fish and seafood at Cinaralti!

Cooking class in Tuscany!

Duomo, Milan (had to take this shot angle to avoid scaffolding).

Best pizza in the world, with Rick the laser physicist in Napoli, Italy.

2007-07-07T14:22:00.000+02:00

We are in Istanbul, having a very good time. We have a great hotel, wıth a roof-top terrace wıth views of the Blue Mosque and sea. The breakfast is fantastic, a buffet of olives, cheeses, yoghurts, Turkish breads, watermelon, fresh cherry jam, eggs and other great things for which we do not have names. Last night we walked around the parks and squares near the hotel and today we went to the gigantic Old Bazaar in which you can buy just about anything. We wıll try to post more pictures from Tuscany and Turkey in a few days. Tonight is my 30th birthday so we are going to a restaurant recommended by our friend Baris, who arrives tomorrow.

Off to Turkey

2007-07-04T17:30:00.000+02:00

On Thursday we wrap up our time in Italy with a quick visit to Florence and Milan before catching a flight to Istanbul. We spent the last four days in Tuscany, biking around, reading, visiting medieval towns, and enjoying the wine and food. Earlier we were in Naples, eating the best pizza on the planet and trying to avoid being killed by the crazy couples on scooters on the sidewalks. More updates and a few pics when we get to Turkey and find an internet cafe.

Rome: some pictures

2007-06-29T10:48:00.000+02:00

The usual Roman shots:

The Forum

Yesterday we went to St. Peter's, and tried to avoid the swarming crowds of digital cameras. This photo is only a small sampling (<0.00000001%) of the tourists in Rome right now.

Yummy cannoli! I'm in heaven! And it made up for the microwaved pasta TV dinner at some place nearby... our first rip-off of the trip. But all the other restaurants have been fantastic!

Rome

2007-06-28T15:43:00.000+02:00

I think I have a food crush on buffalo mozzerella. We arrive in Rome 2 days ago and are busy negotiating the crowds (note, next time come in October!) and eating pasta.

Monument, 1949 - Part 1

2007-06-24T22:21:00.001+02:00

Today we visited a monument worthy of the name: the massive memorial for the Soviet victory over the Nazi regime in 1945. This design was huge!

Monument, 1949 - Part 2

2007-06-24T22:09:00.000+02:00

More pictures of the monument:

The street as history

2007-06-24T22:01:00.001+02:00

The history of this city is present in the streets. Our friends happen to live on Karl Marx Street!

Too much time looking at maps

2007-06-24T21:59:00.001+02:00

The Jewish Museum

2007-06-23T18:59:00.001+02:00

Today we visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It chronicled the experiences of Jews in Europe from the time of the Roman empire to the present. The exhibit did a very good job of weaving together issues of class, culture, religion, nation, economics, and gender. The museum structure was designed by Daniel Libeskind, the same architect who designed the new addition to the ROM in Toronto. Libeskind dubbed the design 'Between the Lines,' a title which reflects the tensions of German-Jewish history. The building takes the shape of two zig-zagging lines, which intersect at various points in the form of wide, empty voids and criss-crossing pedestrian pathways. In taking this form, the design contributes to the history of Jews in Germany being told inside.

Potsdam: Sanssouci Park

2007-06-22T19:46:00.000+02:00

Today we wanted to get out of the city, so after a breakfast of weisswurst (white sausage) and pretzels provided by Mikiya, we took the train to Potsdam, where there is a very large park and several old castles and palaces. We spent the day walking amongst the trees, enjoying the fresh air, and avoiding crowds.

German History Museum

2007-06-21T20:02:00.000+02:00

This museum was great and highly recommended if anyone comes to Berlin! But I spent too much time on the Reformation and we were chased out by staff at closing having only reached about 1935. Of course, a lot more happened in Germany after that... Jerome particularly liked the stuff on the German labour and communist movements. Below is a painting of a Marxist propagandist talking to the workers while some 'agents of the state' (police) look on in the background.

And here is one of a workers' strike, apparently an early example of 'socialist art':

Berlin

2007-06-21T12:29:00.001+02:00

After some of the worst turbulence ever, and an aborted landing on an Easyjet flight, we thankfully arrived in Berlin on Tuesday. We are here for the next week, staying with our friends Mikiya and Anne. Yesterday we visited some of the tourist attractions pictured below, and sampled some local beer and sausages, including the 'currywurst,' a local delicacy consisting of sausage, curry powder, and ketchup!

The Reichstag

'The philosophers have interpreted the world; the point is to change it.'

-- Karl Marx, 11th Thesis on Feuerbach

This famous quote by Marx is located in the front hall of Humbolt University in downtown Berlin. The whole display is powerful: it is anti-fascist because the quote is written on marble taken from Hitler's bunker; and it suggests that the whole point of education is to change the world.

Jerome and Mikiya at the Concert Hall and one of many downtown squares.

The Brandenburg Gate

Shisha Cafe in London with Bader

2007-06-19T00:01:00.000+02:00

Today we went to the British Museum, saw the loot of Empire, and then met up with Bader, a friend from Toronto, for shisha and tea at an Iraqi cafe.

How Jerk Chicken Should Be Prepared

2007-06-17T10:34:00.000+02:00

After walking along the Thames we found this incredible outdoor jerk chicken rack. Caroline ate a whole bird.

Tower of London

2007-06-17T10:33:00.000+02:00

We're staying in London with our friends, Franck and Natasha. They took us on a Thames river walk to see a few sites, including the Tower of London, Big Ben, Parliament, and Tower Bridge. We also caught an organ recital at Westminster Abbey, where we also saw the graves of Charles Darwin and Caroline's favourite physicist, Isaac Newton. Caroline's great-great-great-great-great uncle is buried somewhere in the Abbey, but we couldn't find him.

The Cotswolds

2007-06-14T20:00:00.000+02:00

We arrived in England and are having a great time. We've been staying with Caroline's cousins in Fairford in the Cotswolds, a beautiful area known for its rolling hills, stone houses, walled-in fields, quaint villages, church spires, pubs, narrow roads, medieval forests and movie stars such as Kate Moss and Elizabeth Hurley who happen to live down the road from us!

Today we had a drive around the countryside, ate lunch in a small-town pub, and checked out a few old churches. Tomorrow we're off to Oxford for some site-seeing and to meet a few friends from Toronto. On Saturday we ride to London for the remainder of our time in England.

Now that we're here, the travel bug is really taking hold of us, and we're excited to carry on. More soon -- and maybe some pictures -- when we get to London.

Halifax Airport

2007-06-12T13:14:00.000+02:00

Here we go! Check out our small bags Mum!

Packing

2007-06-12T03:16:00.000+02:00

In case anyone is planning their own around-the-world adventure, here is a list of everything we brought with us, or purchased along the way (excluding souvenirs, which we mostly mailed home). Keep in mind that many of our choices were dictated by geography and time of year: it is always hot in almost every country we visited. We found the site Independent Traveller useful for getting organized and for suggesting some handy items we hadn't thought of originally.

JEROME

1. Luggage

1 MEC 60L backpack
1 MEC day pack

2. Clothes

1 wool socks
2 light socks
1 hiking socks
1 light fleece jacket
1 cotton pants
2 linen pants
1 shorts
1 swimming suit
4 hankerchiefs
1 long-sleeve button-up shirt
1 T-shirt
1 polo shirt
2 undershirts
3 short-sleeve button-up shirts (2 linen, 1 cotton)
1 belt
5 underpants (lost one along the way)
1 hat
1 extra prescription glasses
1 prescription sunglasses
1 pair hiking shoes
1 pair sandal Birkenstocks
1 pair plastic flip flops
1 watch

3. Toilettries (items replenished along the way)

1 medium size bag
1 toothpaste
1 cream shaving lotion
1 small shampoo
1 razor (3 blades)
1 toothbrush
1 toothbrush cover
1 deoderant
2 small bottles hand sanatizer
1 plastic soap container
1 bar soap
1 floss
1 lip balm
1 nail clippers

4. Wish list (should have brought...)

1 light sweater
MP3 player

CAROLINE

1. Luggage

1 MEC 48L backpack
1 MEC shoulder bag

2. Clothes

4 pairs socks
1 fleece jacket
3 skirts
2 linen pants
1 shorts
1 summer pyjamas
2 swimming suits
1 long-sleeve button-up shirt
1 cardigan
5 T-shirts
3 bras
3 sleeveless shirts
8 pairs underwear (lost three along the way)
1 hat
1 pair hiking shoes
1 pair sandal Birkenstocks
1 pair plastic flip flops
1 watch
1 glasses
1 sunglasses

3. Toilettries

1 toilettries bag
1 toothpaste
1 2-in-1 shampoo
1 small conditioner
330 ml SPF30 sunblock (all used and replaced as we went!)
120 ml Oil of Olay SPF15 face cream
70 ml hand cream
3 disposable razors
1 toothbrush
1 toothbrush cover
1 deoderant
1 plastic soap container
1 bar soap
1 floss
1 lip gloss
"ladies" supplies
10 hair elastics
nightguard for teeth grinding
180 pairs daily disposable contact lenses

4. Wish list (should have brought...)

1 long linen skirt

SHARED ITEMS

1. First Aid (some items were included in a MEC Plus first aid kit)

36 wet wipes
16 Benadryl tabs (anti-histamine)
12 immodium
8 gravol pills (motion sickness)
Malarone antimalarials (6 week supply)
10 Exlax tablets
2 prescriptions Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic)
tension bandage
first aid tape
20 bandaids
moleskin
Polysporin anti-septic tube (small)
4 anti-septic wipes
5 gauze pads
Advil (ibuprofen, not enough!)
Pepto tablets (antacid, not enough!)
Halls
gauze bandage
tweezers

2. Accessories

2 sandwich-sized tupperware containers for storing accessories
2 MEC silk sleeping sacks
2 travel towels
mosquito spray
1 mini-umbrella
ziplock bags (various sizes)
2 journals
2 pens
1 camera
2 camera batteries
1 unlocked mobile phone
1 keychain compass
2 LED pen lights
2 small combination locks for bags
adaptors (various)
1 phone recharger
1 universal sink plug
1 suction cup laundry line
1 sewing kit
1 Swiss army knife
2 ear plugs
2 phone batteries
Tide laundry soap in small plastic container
1 USB camera cable
1 travel alarm clock

3. Guide books (mainly purchased along the way)

Turkey Lonely Planet (very good)
Middle East Let's Go (horrible)
Egypt Lonely Planet (good enough)
India Lonely Planet (OK)
Thailand Lonely Planet (OK but has many mistakes)

4. Other

$300 USD emergency cash (didn't use much, as there are ATMs everywhere)
2 novels
passports
mini photo album with pics of our friends and family for lonely moments
spare passport photos
photocopies of essential documents + vaccination records
Visa, AMEX, and Mastercard credit cards
ATM cards for both Plus and Cirrus (IMPORTANT!)
ISIC Card
Drivers' Licenses
Health Insurance

*** each pack weighed around 11 kg, with room for souvenirs

First Stop Halifax

2007-06-08T16:00:00.001+02:00

On Sunday we're heading to Halifax to catch our first flight to London. We plan to see some friends, eat some fish, and go to MEC one last time for socks. And to hopefully find the newest album by Amelia Curran, which as far as Jerome can tell is only available in Halifax. We leave for London on Tuesday night and will post an update from the Cotswolds in a few days. Can't wait for tea time.