SAWASDEE KAA

Another long absence I know... but it was spent in the beautiful, friendly, fantastic... THAILAND. 2 weeks away in this gorgeous country is enough to cure just about anything that ails you.

Except for the bloody long flights to get there and back (17 hour flying time each way) the holiday was magical.

To start the holiday off we spent 3 days in Bangkok... a sprawling city with over 12 mil inhabitants. We went Wat (temple) trawling till we were Wat'ted out... then spent a day at the zoo :) It is a magnificent zoo even though we felt like we were one of the attractions being the only foreigners there. The kids were the best, staring at us with coy little smiles and then the little hands come up and wave so enthusiastically... it was LOVELY.

'View from atop the Golden Mount Wat towards central Bangkok'

The Wat's were spectacular with their incredibly ornate decorations in blue's and green's and red's and GOLD LEAF EVERYWHERE. It is impossible to describe to you just how magical they were and most are under CONSTANT restoration of the murals etc.



The one thing you have to get used to over there is the HUMIDITY... and the fact that you WILL sweat all the time.... even at night.... and just resign yourself to that fact. Luckily water (ice cold water) is readily available around every corner.

From the hustle and bustle of Bangkok we headed down to the island of Koh Pha-Ngang and spent 5 days doing very little of anything. LOVELY.

'Me at the zoo with Henna tattoo aquired in Bangkok'

We stayed at the beautiful OceanView resort on the beach of Hat Khom on the quiet northern end of the island. With sunshine every day and cocktails apleanty I could not have asked for anything more. The snorkeling was phenomenal and spending a few hours in the water every day I ended up getting the back of my legs horribly sunburnt (you just don't realise how hot it gets when you are floating on the surface of the ocean). We also hired scooters for 2 days (my first time at the helm of one of these) and spent our time slowly driving from town to town taking in the beauty of the island and all it's inhabitants

"OUR" Beach

After 5 days we were very sad to be leaving this little peice of paradise... but leave we did to head over to the neighbouring country of Cambodia and to Angkhor. This is also a beautiful country with equaly friendly inhabitants although there is a level of poverty and sadness that reflects everywhere, even in the eyes of the smiling locals.

What a magnificent place Angkhor is... the grandure and the history is astounding. 2 days isn't nearly enough to do this place justice... and if you come make sure to pack in a good pair of walking shoes and are prepared to share the spleandour with the THRONGS of tourist that pass through every day.

'The GRAND Angkhor Wat'

From Cambodia we headed back to Bangkok and one more day, and one last visit to KhoSan Road (the backpackers haven). We had the good fortune of arriving back on the last day of their 3 day new years celbration and the end of the Songkrang (water) Festival. For 3 days straight the streets and lined with people throwing water at each other... with water pistols of all shapes and sizes and buckets and hosepipes and anything else that can hold the liquid. EVERYONE gets involved, including the local law enforcement and no passing person or vehicle is safe. IT WAS FANTASTIC.

This is truely one country (other than my home) that I could see myself living in quite happily, and a holiday I will never forget. Now to get back to planning and budgeting for my visit there next year :)

I have uploaded a sample (well 166) of photos here... this constitutes about 1/4 of the pics taken.

Horribly Overdue Holiday Update - WARNING picture intensive

Try as I might I have simply not been able to trim down my daily journal to a manageable size for here so I am instead simply going to give you a highlights package and keep my daily ramblings to myself.

So here we go.... WARNING: picture intensive

The 6 flights I had to take on my holiday were all less than perfect, due to various reasons and the complete inability to do the online check ins as planned, I ended up in horrible seats each time (and being 5'11" having no leg room on an 8 hour flight is HORRENDOUS). When I left Cape Town the weather was a lovely 29 deg Celsius and landed 21 hours later to a refreshing 8 deg... bbbrrrrrrrrr doesn't even cover it.

Amman is in a word monochromatic. The exteriors of all the houses and buildings are covered in the same stone... some of it is smooth, some polished and slight variations in the colours make the city blend in with the surroundings... special permission is needed to add any colour, however the insides are a completely different story. The first highlight was the appearance of SNOW on my first day there, not allot but enough to cover the ground with a light dusting and, of course, to make snowballs (which I did). This was the first time that I had ever experienced snow and I had to go to a desert country to do it.

The next day we headed off to Jerash (Gerasa), which is considered to one of the most well preserved sights of Roman architecture outside of Italy. It was SPECTACULAR... I simply could not fathom the age of the place with most of it being established around the time of Christ. Artifacts have been found here dating back to the Neolithic age indicating that the site has been occupied for around 6 500 years. The oldest buildings and architecture we have in South Africa is from the 17th century. We spent 4 hours wondering the site, breathing in the architecture and enjoying the sounds of a traditional Jordanian band complete with BAGPIPES. Even though the sun was out we were still layered in jerseys and jackets and scarves and hats and gloves.

Food is a big part of life here and boy do they know how to do it... most meals were mezze's with flat bread, you know the kinds... lots of dips and fillers (humus, mutabal, fallafel, haloum) in the middle of the table and everyone just digs in. The local white wine is not much to write about... but the red went down really really well on these cold nights.

We then headed off to Petra once the roads had been cleared enough to make it through the pass. There was about 50-60 cm's of snow in the southern mountain areas and in most parts only enough space on the road for one car... so if you ended face-to-face with another vehicle you prayed it was at a section wide enough to pass or one of you ended up reversing till you found a spot (at times up to 2km's)... in the end we survived the 3 hour journey in tact. Petra is mind blowing, spectacular, breath taking... anyone who ever finds themselves in this part of the world HAS to make a trip to Petra (but budget on at LEAST 2 days to see most of it - and be prepared for lots of walking and hiking).

Winding our way through The Siq (a 1 km path through the mountain) you know that around one of the bends you will see the first view of The Treasury (made famous to the western world by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), and before you know it there it is in all it's massive glory. If you do come here make sure you enter the sight early (around 7AM) as it is quiet and you get to see the glorious pink and orange and red colours in the rocks that fade to grey in the noon day sun.

After taking in the awe of this site we headed off to climb the first of 2 mountains on that day. The 850 steps (taking about an hour to ascend) leads you up to The Monastery. The exhausting trek up ere is almost a required penance and preparation for this meditative place.

Click on the picture and see the person to get an idea of the scale of the place.

We spent about an hour up here feeling like we were on top of the world, before we headed back down and through the 'city' complex heading to our second mountain climb up to the High Place of Sacrifice. All along the main thoroughfare of Petra, now bustling with hundreds of tourist, are many many locals selling wares and each inviting you to join them for some Bedouin tea (which they make a point of telling us is for free). Along with these are the many donkey and camel 'operators' offering to take you to your destination.


After about another 45 min climb we reached the next destination which after all the ornateness below is rather unassuming... a large flat carved area with an alter and surrounded by raised stone seating. Apparently many years ago visitors to Petra would camp up here in summer sleeping under the starts. Following this tradition we lay on the rocks surrounding this one iconic place and had a short snooze soaking up the mid day sun warming the area.

The second day in Petra was spent exploring the low lying temples.. the Urn Tomb... the Royal Tombs... the Amphitheater... and I got to ride a camel.



After all the hiking my feet and legs greatly appreciated the relaxation at the Dead Sea the following day, which also happened to be New Years Eve. We opted for the quieter of the two parties happening at the hotel and ended up spending 4 hours eating a 6 course meal before blasting the new year in with trumpets and rattles and song. 1 January was enjoyed in the most incredible Spa I have ever been to... and one of my resolutions is to spend the 1st of Jan every year in a Spa.




Back to Amman for a one night stopover and then cross the border to Damascus, Syria. Now this is a city of conundrums... one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, old and run down except for the odd new hotel, and then there is the old city with it's narrow streets lined with little shops and restaurants surrounding one of the oldest biggest Mosques. Inside the buildings is some of the most ornate tile work and mosaics and embellished ceilings in golds and blues and reds.

And at night thousand of people line the streets. The place only livens up around lunch time but then it says open till 3 or 4 AM This is the place where people come to see and be seen. It is also so the only place that I would have felt more comfortable if I had a man accompanying me (and it takes a lot for me to admit that). The woman here generally go out in large groups or with a male family member... and being a head taller than most of the locals didn't help me blend in all that much. 2 Days here shopping my little heart out meant that the taxi drivers gave me very odd looks with they saw me with suitcase, backpack and a wrapped painting, but laden with gifts we headed back to Amman for the last 2 days of my 2 week holiday.

This doesn't do the place near enough justice... it was all spectacular, breathtaking and have given me memories to last a lifetime.

I have loaded 188 of the over 600 photos taken, here.... so please enjoy.

Words that I learnt while there (and please excuse the spelling... I have spelt them phonetically as you would pronounce them... more or less).
Thank you = Shoukran
response to that is Afwan
Hello = Marhaba... or the more traditional Salam Molekom (to which you respond Malekom Salam)
Goodbye = Masalama
No problem = Mishmushkala (love this one)
Right (directional) = Yameen
Left = Shmal
I also learned to count from 1 to 10 and to recognise Arabic numerals... well strictly speaking Indian... the entire Western world has adopted the true Arabic numerals (1,2,3 etc) here instead they use the Indian version.... OF COURSE.

Man there is just soooooo much more I would love to tell but fear I will bore you all to tears... you'll just have to go and experience it all yourself.

New Years Abroad

Up to now I have not mentioned my planned holiday to Jordan at the end of the year as it has been on-again-off-again planning. I started planning this holiday a few months ago and no sooner had I got some details together and the Israel-Lebanon 'thing' started. So I decided to hold off all plans until things settled down again. That happened and planning resumed only to hear the same day that the American embassy in Damascus was attacked. So on came the breaks once more.

HOWEVER, things have been very quiet, for a few weeks now at least, and I have decided to throw what little caution I had to the wind and go for it. It is not everyday that an opportunity like this presents itself and I am going to take it.

A very close friend of mine, one that I have known since high school days, is currently teaching in Amman, and I will be staying and traveling with her. She has worked in a few places already (including Japan and Casablanca) and has always said that I must come and and stay with her, but until now I have not actually taken her up on this. This will also be my first long holiday away from the kids (they will be staying with their father for 2 weeks) - excluding a 5 day business trip to Copenhagen last year.

Here are the plans so far.

Leave Cape Town on the morning of 26 December, aboard the ONLY airline that flies to that area of the world out of Cape Town (all other are ex- Johannesburg). After a 13 hour flight I will be overnighting in Doha (Saudi) and hopefully will be able to see some of that city before departing for Amman at noon the next day for a 2 hour flight to Jordan.

Then, spend a day and a half in Amman before traveling to Petra. A 2 day pass will give us ample time to walk the sites (possibly some horse / donkey riding) and take in the history of the place.

From Petra, travel up to the Dead Sea, and see in the New Year - I still cannot believe we are only 2 months away fro 2007 (I have only just got used to it being 2006). Spend my first day of 2007 soaking up the salt water and mud and shedding all the stress of the previous year gearing up for the new one.

Then a quick boarder crossing into Syria and up to Damascus (one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world) - oh the history, the culture, the art, the silver and of course the leather. I am going to be in shopping heaven. Giving ourselves about two and a half days to 'do' Damascus before heading back to Amman for my last day or two.

I then await the pleasure of the 15 hours in a confined space for the return flight. At least this time it will only be a 2 hour stopover before the long haul to Cape Town.

I AM SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED I cannot contain it any more.