After reading this blog entry, you may wish to review the current travel warning I have on visiting Israel. It is, of course, possible to visit Lebanon without going through Israel, but certainly not from this side of the border.
Lebanon from the Israeli border. There was one guard there. Some houses over the fence.
Closer to the Lebanese than to the Israeli capital.
After reading this post, you will perhaps want to review the current travel warning I have on Israel. It is currently not possible to travel to the Palestinian West Bank without going through Israeli authority, ever if one is travelling by land from Jordan.
Bethlehem, the alleged birthplace of Jewish moral leader Jesus, the pretender to the throne of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah.
Bethlehem is only around 30 minutes from central Jerusalem, but since it’s in the Palestinian territories, public transport is not particularly frequent. Taking a taxi there is easy, although you would need to negotiate the price and you will have to have an Arab taxi driver, as Israeli Jews are not typically allowed to enter it (although somehow there are many exceptions, and the intercity buses certainly do pass through Palestinian territories, even when the bus drivers and many of their passengers are Israeli Jews).
The town itself was OK. Quite orderly, not dirty, and very lively. The highlight is of course the Church of the Nativity, and it’s filled with tourists everywhere.
The nativity scene opposite to the church. It was boxing day.
The lost city of Petra is one of the main tourist attractions in Jordan.
It is a city that is basically a collection of temples, with a very nice landscape.
It’s got some plants and is firmly in the desert.
Bought another headgear. Bargained it down from JOD15 to JOD6.
There were a gigantic amount of oriental tourists, although Japanese ones seemed to outnumber the rest.
It has gotten plenty of Roman structures, too.
Interesting rocks.
It’s a pretty big place and there are many routes. But the hike up to the monastery is the main one. It’s around 1.5 hours for me from the entrance to here.
Many people will try to sell you a donkey ride, telling you it’s an hour-long hike. Fake news. It’s around 20 minutes each way.
To get to Petra by bus, you will need to be at the bus station before 6am, and to leave, be there before 3.30pm. It’s around 4 hours each way. They played a promotional short film with His Majesty The King taking an American journalist on a tour around the country.
The only theatre caved into a rock.
The ceiling of the main building of the royal tombs. It’s the only one tourists are allowed in. In the middle, you see the crack created by the major earthquake.
The famous treasury.
Amman, the capital of Jordan, is the seat of His Majesty The King, one of the current monarchs partly educated at Oxford University.
Good views at the citadel. Certainly is worth the 3 Jordanian diners.
The Roman theatre.
If you are visiting Amman, I would advise against going out of this area. It’s safe, but it’s quite dirty (not as dirty as Egypt was) and there’s lots of dust everywhere.
I was quite surprised by the fact that there were plenty of Roman buildings.
A part of the citadel.
The museum.
City walls.
Looking like Greece.
The big flag is where the palace is at.
Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is a metropolitan with its tourist attractions basically all at the centre.
Pollution was pretty bad and so it’s not very clear.
The Coptic Church.
The mosque and the Saladin Citadel.
Some Egyptians asked for a photo with me. That must be how being white feels like.
If it’s a clear day, one would be able to spot the pyramids easily from here. I could see them, but couldn’t really capture them.
The mosque is magnificent.
The hanging church. Not that interesting.
Inside the mosque.
The Egyptian Museum. They closed parts of it.
Aswan is the southern-most city in Egypt with some temples.
One of the nearby temples in this one built by the Greeks who ruled Egypt after the death of gay emperor Alexander the Great.
The Greeks wanted to be accepted by the masses, thus they built everything in Egyptian style.
Some years later, Coptic Christians occupied many of these places.
Abu Simbel, another temple, is one that’s relatively close to the Sudanese border and is another popular attraction around 3-4 hours from Aswan.
Another main activity to do in Aswan is to go on the Nile.
There are two temples in Abu Simbel. Carved into rocks, designed to let the light shine into the sacred room, and later moved up to avoid having them drowned, it’s definitely worth a visit.
The famous statues in Abu Simbel.
A felucca. One can choose to take a cruise or one of these up the river.
This lake was in fact artificial to an extent so Egypt gets enough electricity. It would flood many archaeological sites, so there were large projects to relocate them.
The feluca is a tiny boat that allows around 10 people to sleep on the same surface, and does not have a lavatory or anything.
Most people seemed to have really enjoyed it, but it was hell for me. There were lots of mosquitoes after sunset, it’s quite cold in the mornings, quite hot in the afternoon, one may not shower there, may not have a decent mattress or pillow to sleep on, and the blankets were itchy. Oh, and you eat where you sleep too so it’s scraps everywhere.
It’s also very boring. And the crew smoked.
The High Dam. Definitely can skip this. They built this but they didn’t have the money, so they nationalized the Suez Canal.
The Egyptians warned us of the arrival of the Dark Lord Taylor “Hitlor” Swift.
We had a donkey ride as a part of our tour.
Luxor is the historic capital of ancient Egypt.
There are loads of tombs, and each ticket entitles one to enter three (not including King Tut’s – but King Tut’s actually quite small). Photos inside the tombs cost extra.
And its main attraction is the Valley of the Kings, a collection of tombs, as well as the temple pictured here. (Behind the Valley.)
The temple was reasonably well preserved, but not that big on the inside.
The many people who worked there kept offering to adjust our headgears. They asked for money, of course.
The donkeys were all led by children, who were enthusiastic and very willing to take photos for you.
It’s amazing how the colours have remained after several millennia.
In the city, which was likely the nicest city in Egypt, by the way – all other parts of Egypt seemed worse than the worst parts of Mexico, there was also this temple.
And of course the Nile.
The temple in the city had a Coptic Christian church built on it, which was then destroyed by the Muslims who built a mosque on it. So it’s one of those places that have been continuously a place of worship for thousands of years.
The Arabic dress was a two parters I bought in Abu Simbel. He originally asked for 950LE but I bargained it down to 200.
It was actually very nice. The exterior was a bit long for me, but I’m definitely wearing it as a bathing robe. It’s very comfortable, very convenient, and warmer than expected. There’s a reason why so many still wear it in the Middle East.
A bit farther away from the city is the main temple of the Sun God Ra.
Say you’ll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset babe…
The Romans took many of these.
It was hidden under sand and so it escaped destruction.
It’s probably the best Muslim-majority city I have been.
On my way to Egypt, I had a seven-hour stopover in Istanbul, so I thought I might as well go and see the city.
Turkish Airlines actually offer free tours with meals and transport, but on this particular day, they weren’t going to go to any of the main attractions, and so I decided to go out on my own. It’s not costly anyway.
The city is quite easy to navigate, and most people seemed to speak some English. The metro was very easy to use, and the main tourist attractions were all rather close to each other.
The food was nice, too. I even bought an oriental cushion for me chair.
I was a bit disappointed at Hagia Sophia, considering the fact that it’s usually considered an ancient wonder. Or perhaps it’s just because it’s not that easy getting a good photo/look of it from the ground.
The Blue Mosque, on the other hand, was amazing.
It may not look that good because the weather was pretty bad, but it was amazing in person.
It has also got some European buildings.
And a lot of other mosques look nice.
Something Byzantine.
The Grand Bazaar was a bit uneventful.
The first thing to visit in Egypt was of course a pyramid.
The Giza pyramids are technically not in the Egyptian capital of Cairo (though it’s within its metropolitan area), but the city of Giza, on the west bank of the Nile.
They are three pyramids that are quite close to each other, and in fact quite close to urban areas.
But they weren’t that old – this, the “step pyramid”, is much older at around 5000 years old.
One will find it extremely easy to get a donkey or a camel ride around the areas, and they are in reality keep getting pushed to you.
Near the three pyramids is this statue. Within walking distance of two of the pyramids.
As you can see, one of the three pyramids is a little far.
Where you can see everything.
Going to tourist attractions in Egypt is indeed an extremely irritating activity. You get pestered a lot with loads of vendors and people enticing you to a donkey or a camel ride. They literally push their products to you, drop them, and ask that you buy them.
You can enter one of the great pyramids.
And some would tell you it’s a gift or that the service is free, then ask for money. You wouldn’t necessarily know whether they have overcharged you either, as Egypt is ridiculously cheap. Cheaper than Mexico.
Photos are typically not allowed, at least not without paying extra, inside pyramids and temples.
I was offered to take a photo with the donkey and literally carried up to it, taken somewhere, then was asked to pay 200 Egyptian pounds.
Dug deep to make it more difficult for Angelina Jolie to steal things.
Those camels kept shitting and peeing.
One of them kept pushing me to buy a headdress, and I refused, instead going for someone else who did not annoy me, as an attempt to promote good behaviour.
There are some monuments near the pyramids.
I was taking a selfie and this guy just randomly popped into it. When you experience something like this, be sure to get angry and tell them off, as in the end they will always try to get money from you for unsolicited “services”.
jagged little earth 