My Holiday!

[chillamacgilla73]

Enjoy ya trip P&K. I have wanted to go to the middle east after reading Danzigers Travels about 10 years ago. It's about this English fella(Well up himself) that walks for 18 months along the silk route during the early 80's (Turkey to China).

I have a good friend who has travelled extensively through the middle east(1-2years backpacking) and he has nothing but praise for the place. He said Iran was his favourite country in the Gulf and felt much safer and welcome there than he does in OZ!

Go and have some fun and find out if the propaganda we are currently fed by dubya and Johnny has any weight!

Flame Suit activated.

 

[peas_and_corn]

yeah, heaps of what is said about the middle east is really fabricated, and I can understand what you friend says about Iran. Despite its image, it is quite a good country to go to, and it's one country that I look forward to going to in a later expidition.

 

[vlbaby]

why why why?
why in gods name would you want to put yourself in danger like that for a holiday? There's plenty of great places in the world to see that dont involve having to strategically losing your passport, carrying a canadian flag so your mistaken as a yank, and planing an appropriate visitng order so that you dont get rejected at the gate by a hostile country.
As for the misrepresentation that occurs about countries like iran etc, i'm sure a lot of it is crap, but i'm also sure a substantial amount is truthful.
IMO i wouldnt go anywhere near the middle east for all the beer in germany.

vl.

 

[nonicman]

Hope you have a good time P&K. Only been to one Gulf country, Bahrain for a short stay during their summer. Has to be one of the safest and fascinating places we've been to. No problems walking down back streets in the middle of the night. Friendly and helpful locals, and there are a lot of Aussies in the middle east, most who we meet in transit as they were either going or returning back to Oz from Lebanon, Syria, Iran etc...
Christopher Kremmers "The Carpet Wars" is also a great travel book. Kremmer goes from country to country exploring the carpet trade. We're organising another trip that will include the middle east though not sure where yet.

Look forward to hearing about your experiences.

 

[peas_and_corn]

why why why?
why in gods name would you want to put yourself in danger like that for a holiday? There's plenty of great places in the world to see that dont involve having to strategically losing your passport, carrying a canadian flag so your mistaken as a yank, and planing an appropriate visitng order so that you dont get rejected at the gate by a hostile country.
As for the misrepresentation that occurs about countries like iran etc, i'm sure a lot of it is crap, but i'm also sure a substantial amount is truthful.
IMO i wouldnt go anywhere near the middle east for all the beer in germany.

vl.

[post="98606"][/post]​

lol, that's been the most common response I get. There are a lot of reasons which I won't go into right now (as I cant find the email I sent out explaining them).


I hope to come back with some interesting stories! there is a Palestinian election on january the 15th(?) and I'll leave as Israel is gearing up for their election- always something happening!

 

[Stickler]

I lived in Israel for about 6 months - a few years ago before the war started up again. Go swim in The Dead Sea and spend a couple of days in The Old City if you are still able to do these things. They were by far my highlights. Learn some local lingo.

Happy trails.

 

[peas_and_corn]

yeah, I'm certainly going to see those sites, would be silly to miss em!

When were you in Israel? Which war are you referring to- 1967, 1975, Al-Aqsa intifada (which, I keep telling people, is an uprising, not a war)

 

[peas_and_corn]

OK, this is my last visit to the forum before my trip! I'll see you all again next year, hope you all have a fun NYE!

 

[ruserious]

just my 2 bobs p&k,

i left Oz in '89 for a 12 mth trip, got home in Dec'96.

i visited a lot of places and had been around the globe by 25.

i just want to say that it's the old cliche of 'good and bad in everyone', regardless of where you go.

it all comes down to common sense, in some of the more remote places you either become a novelty, or a pain in the arse to the local tough guy who resents your presence.

learn to read people, and act accordingly, this is normally not a problem in the 'tourist strip', but if you wander off the beaten path, it's relevant.

Enjoy and Learn, you'll come back a different bloke.

btw, if your travel plans change, as often they do, and Turkey and Cyprus are on your list, Cyprus first then Turkey. (Stamp).

:beer:
ruserious

 

[peas_and_corn]

thanks for the advice!

Anyway, better post about the beer here. It's plentiful; I got a card which at one bar that gets me 10 imperial pints for somewhere between $40 and $50; which is pretty good.

Here are my notes about the beer-

Maccabee beer- wheat beer, straw colour. nice aroma, not too overbearing but it's there. Nicest wheat beer I've tasted, with a lingering aftertaste. Refershing but not bland, nice on a hot day over a light meal.

Goldstar premium- the word premium was the warning here. A little too heavy and hard to drink for my liking. However, after the wheat beer it's hard to blame me for having a lower opinion of this one. Disappointing.

 

[peas_and_corn]

anyway, I'm posting my emails that I send out to people in my email address book. Here's the first, which I sent on the 28th..

Things are interesting here right now, my camera is on the fritz, so right now
I'm working out whether it's the camera or whether the 5 times my bag was x
rayed did something to the batteries. Security in the airport was crazy; before
going onto el al, I was interrogated- 'why are you coming here? what do you
want to do? what do you want to see?', then x rayed, then had my papers looked
at again, x rayed again, had my hand luggage x rayed and looked through, my
jumper x rayed, and then finally let on the plane. I was also asked for the
combination for the lock on my luggage, because security WILL look through it.
When I got my bag at the airport it was all messed up, as was sans lock. I
bought a new one.

Food here is expensive (I paid $12 for a large big mac meal today); but that
seems to be mostly cooked and processed foods- probably due to the fact it has
to be imported. However, beer is cheap and plentiful- at one bar I bought a
card that entitles me to 10 imperial pints of beer- whatever is on tap (and
there are quite a few). It cost me $45. There's a nice israeli wheat beer
called maccabee, and I enjoyed having that one. Met several nice people at the
bars I have been to so far, which is good.

But it hasn't been all drinking. I have been lost in Tel Aviv several times, but
seen some pretty amazing sights. Did a bit of shopping but found few good
souvenirs so far. But, I am in Tel Aviv; I am sure I will find some worthy
souvenirs when I get to Jerusalem.

 

[peas_and_corn]

The two last instalments in my adventures...

Anyway, I am now in Jerusalem, spending my first night here now. Yesterday I
spent quite a while at old Jaffa; and that was tiring stuff. The 2.5km walk
felt a lot longer on the way back than it did on the way there; especially
since I walked a few ks while at Old Jaffa as well. In the week I spent at Tel
Aviv I think I walked about 5ks a day; maybe more. Anyway, away from the
walking, I've seen some nice sights and will be going to see the dome of the
rock and the temple mount tomorrow (conveniently located right next to each
other).

Today I didn't do much, I just caught a bus from the 6th floor of the bus
terminal (strange stuff- they use ramps), where I went through yet more
security. When I went in, I walked past several army blokes in their greens
carrying semi automatic rifles. Strange country, this one.

Hmm... overall I didn't do a huge amount in the week I spent in Tel Aviv; I
mostly explored the city, and relaxed, which is very important. Ahh, the joys
of not having to be somewhere in x minutes.

Thanks heaps for your words of encouragement, Liam! "Rhys was just over tonight,
and we had a drink to your memory. Seems like we were a bit premature
though." Wait a few weeks before starting the mourning!

Anyway, I'm going to get going, I am staying at a hostel that is dug out of a
rock, and there is cable here. Nice and relaxing start to my journey through
Jerusalem.





Tonight is the last night I am spending in Jerusalem. It was great here; all
five nights have been heaps of fun; even though this place has no real night
life to talk about. Not only have I seen great sights, but I have met some
amazing people in the Hostel I am staying at, and that makes it all the much
better.

Here at the Citadel Hostel, I met some people who were here to do photography,
and they were from the US (mostly Hawaii, which, they reminded me, was much
nicer than here). Through them I met other people who were hanging out with
them, and together we had a good time.

The highlight of Jerusalem was today, when we all went to see the Al Aqsa mosque
and the Dome of the Rock (of course, the place named after the world's most
charismatic wrestler). After the security (which is really necessary there) we
walked around, and looked at everything. Sadly we couldn't go in as we weren't
Muslim (the effect of Sharon visiting Al Aqsa starting the 2001 Al Aqsa
intifada influenced this decision); which was a shame because I was told that
the interior of the Dome was to be better than the Christian cathedrals of
Europe. Oh well... Anyway, the history was so dense, you could feel it around
you; it was amazing to witness.

I also went to the site (inside a church) that Jesus was apparently buried. I
don't buy that personally, but I guess I am just a very cynical man.

My gripes are two-

1- Every street and store looks the same. The streets are made (apparently) from
the very stones that were used in Jesus' time and were excavated in an
archeological expidition in the 70s. However, it makes getting lost in the maze
of streets very easy.

2- The owners of the stores are very annoying.

However, overall it was a very good place to go.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to go to Jordan; that is if I can work out where to catch
a bus that takes me to the northern gate. From there it's to the capital, where
I will spend a few days, then Petra, then probably the dead sea. From there I
will go to the Israeli side of the dead sea and work out where to go from there
(I am not all that sure right now; maybe Bethlehem, maybe I'll go somewhere
before then).

Now that I'm close enough to 1/4 of the way through of my trip, I must say that
it's been worth it so far. Getting away from everything not only had given me
time to relax but time to reflect on everything.

Anyway, I hope everything's going well on your side of the world!