the blue horizon

Upon arriving in luxor we were taken to the princes hotel. This was expected as even before I left my hotel in Aswan they were pushing it, on the way to the felucca from my hotel, then on the felucca, then on the bus and now in Luxor. They were cheap and probably were probably quite good but on principal alone i insisted they take me to my hotel of choice like they said they would. Two others were in the same position and it took some argument to finally get moving. Two of the people there even claimed to be from our chosen hotels (what are the odds of two different hotel owners being in the same hotel let alone the same two we wanted to go to) and that they were fully booked. The hotel i was staying at had great views over Luxor temple and the avenues of the sphinxes. It would have had great views over the Nile and the west bank as well but a thick smog blanketed over everything. The sun even had a hard time shining through and you could easily see the outline if you looked at it. ...

From Aswan I took a 2 night felucca trip north up the Nile. The felucca was pretty basic. Just a sail and a deck. Me and the 8 people i was sharing it with just read, talked or slept. The Nile itself was a little underwhelming and I would rate it a distant second to the Murray. Sure the Nile is longer and wider but there is really nothing to it. The scenery along its banks is nothing special, theres no wildlife to speak of and I wouldn't dream of swimming in it. Give me a weekend house boat trip down the Murray with your mates any day. The highlights, of which there were few, were stops at the temples in Kom Ombo and Edfu.

From Dahab I caught an overnight bus to Luxor. It took 17 hours and is something that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. From Luxor I caught a train. It was brilliant. Cheap, air conditioned, what I would call business class seats (never seen them so wouldn't know) and it followed the Nile all the way to Aswan. I booked into my hotel and got a few hours sleep before traveling another 3 hours to Abu Simuel with the police convoy. This left Aswan at 4 in the morning and contained 64 buses. Which was a bit of a joke as when we got their we were there with 1000 or so other people crowed around the site. The site itself consisted of two temples which were once carved into the face of a cliff but with the completion of the High Dam were taken down and reconstructed into purpose built mountains. I think because of this it all seemed a little fake to me and I wasn't as impressed as I may have been otherwise. The trip back took us past the high dam which also wasn't as impressive a...

I caught the first bus from Wadi Musa to Aqaba. I was planning on getting on the ferry to Nuweiba straight from the bus but I thought I would give Aqaba a chance. I probably shouldn't have. It was pleasant enough but there wasn't really a lot to do in town but walk around wishing it wasn't son windy and cold. I arrived at the ferry terminal the next morning to be told that there might not be a boat that day. This concerned me as there wasn't a scheduled service the next day so I would have to spend another two nights in town that I could have easily skipped. I waited an hour and was told that there was a boat. Phew! I got my ticket and waited, and waited and waited. This was broken by a large crowd congregating around a film crew. Turns out there were filming an Egyptian soap opera at the terminal and it biggest star was in scene. I regret that I still have no idea who it was but I have his photo. And then I waited. Nuweiba was just what i had come to expect of Egypt f...

After spending about 4 hours with my knees to my chest, listening to extremely loud extremely bad music and inhaling the second hand smoke of a minibus fall of chain smoking Arabs I was beginning to hope that this indeed was a 'Wonder of the modern world' as the tourist office and all the banners around the country would have you believe. As we approached Wadi Musa and you could see over town to the mountains behind it and you began to think that just maybe it could be. I would have to find out in the morning. The siq is a 1.5km long canyon formed by tectonics rather than erosion. I'm not sure if nature intended it but it made for one effective suspense builder. Around every corner my heart would beat that little bit faster in anticipation of what was to come. Finally it did, 'The Treasury (of Indian Jones fame) peered through the gap and I couldn't help but stand, mouth ajar in awe at what stood before me. If the Holy grail did exist you could believe that it was...

From Damascus I traveled south to Bosra. Famous for it old ruins but really nothing special. A lot of the ruins have been converted into housing by the locals and the town resembled a (will insert word here when i think of it). From here I caught a minibus to Deraa where the real fun started. At the bus station i caught a cab to get across the border. But we didn't go to the border, we went to a shop where they proceeded to stock the boot with soft drinks. Then they started something reminiscent of getting booze into the falls festival. Off came the interior panels and in went dozens of small black packages. Oh shit. By this time we had another passenger who saw the look of dread on my face. He said there was nothing to worry about. We were smuggling smokes into Jordan. We passed the Syria side with little trouble. Probably something to do with small handful of notes (and for some reason coffee beans) that went to anyone we passed wearing a uniform. The Jordan side a few kms away...

In a minor triumph over evil I managed to pay less than 200 SP's for a Taxi. I know it sounds hard to believe but its true. I got off the bus from Palmyra with a Dutch bloke I met in Hama. A Taxi driver 'claimed us' and took us to his taxi. The issue price was raised by us and he said 350. We both just laughed. How about you turn on the meter. The meter says 350 was the reply. Well why don't you turn it on and we will find out. No, no 300. We went back to the taxi drivers crowed around the bus and basically yelled out that we would go with anyone who used there meter. No Response. Touche. Eventually we settled for 100. Still not perfect but better than the standard I had being paying and certainly better than 350. Damascus is a beautiful city and it was even better given that I once again felt the heat of the sun on my back. It was the usual suspects as sights went. Old wall, souq, mosque, church, but it was nice walking around under the sun in one of the oldest capita...

The bus dropped me off 2km the wrong side of town. The usually scrap over my bag ensued but this time I won and stormed off before any taxi drivers could kidnap me. After this the hotel touts tried there luck. Just say la shukran and keep walking. Then it was the kids. They worked in packs. While one was begging for money pretending (very poorly) to be sick, another was reaching in to your pockets while another was trying to unzip your bags. This continued until i got to my hotel and the owner chased them off. Ancient Palmyra must have once been a spectacular city but after an earthquake a 1000 years ago all that remain are a few temples and quite a few columns. If this was anywhere else it would be packed with tourists. But as it is there were only a few dozen other people around. For every one tourist there must have been ten locals trying to sell posts cards or tours or camel rides or taxi's or just asking for money. The youngest of the postcard salesman must not have been a da...

Yesterday was one of days that I think I will always look back on with a nostalgia that makes you wish you were still traveling . Years from now some one will ask me about my trip to Syria the 'Axis of evil'. Its ok. They don't know any better. I would tell them when out walking one day exploring the streets of Hama, taking in the sites, the old churches, the old town, the water wheels, pretending that the river wasn't worse than a Torrens algal bloom, that I was invited over by a mother and her two daughters who were having a picnic. One of the more interesting conversation i've had for a while went on for the best part of five hours. Interesting because until then I hadn't had eye contact from a member of the opposite sex in a month let alone been spoken to. Even more interesting is that this conversation lasted so long given that they didn't speak a word of English and I didn't speak a word of Arabic. Dyslexic signing would be the best way to describ...