World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas
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Thursday 25 June 2009
Highlights: The Wimbledon Tennis Championship
Today was the big day. I have wanted to go to Wimbledon since I was 12. Today was a chance to correct that but without a ticket it was always going to be interesting. So I got up at 7 am and headed out via the Tube. I got to the car park around 8 am and the Steward gave me a queue pass saying I was number 7,725, and telling me I should get in today.
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Highlights: Walking Tour “Legal Inns of Courts”, St Pauls Cathedral, 20/20 Cricket Match at The Oval (Surrey Vs Kent)
My first full day in London and I have to say I was feeling great. The air mattress provided a good night’s sleep. After all the workers left for the morning I got busy washing my clothes, the first real clean since I started (obviously underwear had been cleaned!).
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Highlights: British Airways Flight, Dinner at Brixton
Waking up before my alarm I decided to rest my eyes for a few minutes, luckily i didn’t turn off the alarm because 40 minutes later it went off and I was fast asleep! A quick and very convenient train trip back to the Brussels Airport (Melbourne should model Brussels’ in this respect) and I was off to London for the fourth leg of the trip.
I had checked in online on the British Airways flight the night before and due to my status I could select an emergency exit row (more leg room) and given the plane was 100% full I was happy with the seat selection. As this was a short flight I decided to take a power nap. BA actually had breakfast on this flight which turned out to be a ham and cheese roll, while I don’t think it technically qualifies as breakfast it was perfect for me 🙂
After having a friendly chat to the Immigration officer about working for the Australian Government vs the British Government (they weren’t very busy) I was quickly through customs and in the UK. After the transit problem in London 2 weeks ago I was very surprised. I think it helped greatly that I had come from a European port.
Jon have texted and rang me and had provided very clear instructions for getting to his London place. He even arranged for one of his housemates (Lora) to be there when I arrived (they already had the day off but still I was very happy and surprised). Jon managed to get off work early so we went down to Brixton for lunch in a small and very popular pizza place which served a lot of organic food and was very good. Later I met the whole household; James, Lora, Jeanne and together with Jon they will be my housemates for the next 2 weeks. Everyone was welcoming and we have some living discussions about profiling (my experience in Madrid), whether taxation / value add tax should be included in the advertised price, and politics. I was very impressed by everyone, Jeanne and Jon even cooked me dinner, I’m a very luckily man.
Monday 22 June 2009
Highlights: Visiting the Atomium
The transit stop at Madrid turned out to be interesting, first I didn’t correctly fill out the arrivals card and the border control just let me in anyway without me having to fill one in. However at the same time an African was getting the third degree, profiling in action I expect.
The second thing is i got into the airport at 3.30 am local time and it turns out that aside from McDonald’s everything was shut including the Lounge, until 6 am. The few people airside like my slept on the provided chairs.
At 9.30 am I boarded the Iberia flight to Brussels. On arrival at Brussels I was extremely happy to find my bags again waiting for me, thank you Iberia. On Inge’s advice I took off to the city via the airport train and somehow found my hotel, Hotel Bloom which is a very upmarket place. While walking around Brussels I came across the window sex workers, on the train trip I also saw them, but on my walk they were knocking on their windows to get the attention of men while at the same time walking right in front of their window were Muslim women in burqa clothes, a surreal scene.
At around 6.30 pm my good friend Inge arrived from her job and took my on a car ride to the Atomium, created in the 1950s it still looks very futuristic. We had an enjoyable dinner nearby with Inge ordering for me; soon I had some Belgium beers (including a ‘white’ beer), some muscles and waffles with cream, very nice indeed. We started setting plans for Inge’s visit to Australia in October which I’m already looking forward to. After the GPS kept sending us around in circles Inge returned me safely to my hotel, with me promising next time I’ll stay in Belgium for longer so Inge can show me more of this beautiful country. Inge you are a very special person.
Facebook Photos 1, Photos 2
Now that the Egypt part of my journey is over I’ve been thinking about how good it was and what I learnt. This is the biggest culture shock place I’ve visited, which even though I knew this in advance it still opened my eyes a little to the wider world (which is great). Egypt is definitely worth the visit.
My personal highlights included:
– Giza Pyramids
– Sleeping under the stars on the Nile
– Swimming in the Nile (yes lucky I didn’t get sick)
– Going wild on an all-terrain vehicle in the middle of the desert
– Visiting the Luxor Temple at night (magnificent with the lights on)
– Camel and donkey riding (yes there are pictures – I might share them)
– The Citadel Mosque (Mohamed Ali Mosque)
– Swimming – snorkelling in the Red Sea
– Hiking Mt Sinai (in Moses steps) at 1 am in the morning to see a sunrise – difficult but well worth it.
While I enjoyed the experience, there were definitely parts that are hard to take, for example the consistent pushy attention from touts – vendors who saw me as the ’Aussie Teller Machine (ATM). I got caught out at the start but I eventually found that by doing things that would get you in a fight in Australia (ie. being rude) would get me safely away from vendors most of the time.
Luckily I had a fantastic group and we looked after each other most of the time. It was hard however to get used to the consistent police-military checks in what is effectively a dictatorship. Also surprising is how these officials openly request money so you could break the rules i.e. touch displays in museums, photograph in banned places etc. When armed officials ask you for money it’s difficult to say no. On my second last day in Egypt I was looking out at Cairo from the Citadel and because of the smog I could barely see the city, it was so bad my eyes were starting to burn. At that point I knew my great adventure had come to an end and it was time to leave.
In summary I really loved Egypt despite the downsides. I’d recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been to go, it ´s a real eye opener and there is heaps of fun to be had, but you really need a guide to get around the military restrictions. Plus I didn’t get sick so very happy!!!
Nathan's Insights 