• Magnificent Petra

    Magnificent Petra

    At long last, I made it to Petra. Petra is a place that’s intrigued me since before I even knew its name – since I first saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as a […]

  • A Different World

    A Different World

    Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to announce that this post officially marks the first time in almost two years that I’m actually writing about the country I’m in! Welcome, at long last, to Cambodia 😀

  • An Average Night Out

    An Average Night Out

    The following is not actually a single narrative of one continuous evening, but a composite of many. It’s written as a representative summary of my average night out in Kyoto. Nothing is exaggerated. It’s Saturday […]

  • Into the Lion's Den

    Into the Lion’s Den

    How many of you have heard the name “Transdniestr?” Not too many, I’m guessing. Transdniester – also known as Pridnestrovie in Russian – is a small rogue nation occupying a narrow strip of land along […]

  • The Mega Trip Part 9 (The Great Wall)

    The Mega Trip Part 9 (The Great Wall)

    With the land-based portion of my adventure through China nearly over, I realized that I was still missing a significant piece of what I wanted to see before returning to Japan. Kung Fu. So, after […]

  • Mostar

    Mostar

    Although I’d suspect that most people have never even heard the name “Mostar,” a relatively small town in the Herzegovina region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, it turned to be one of the most intriguing places I’ve ever […]

I was last seen 5 months ago in Los Angeles, .

The Pyramids

 Egypt, Public  20 Responses »
May 252008
 
Spectacular. Spectacular.

It’s done. The Pyramids of Egypt, the only Wonder of the Ancient World that still stands, can be scratched off my To-Do list.

So how did they measure up?

They were magnificent. How the hell they managed to build those things so many thousands of years ago is way beyond my understanding.

Wait a minute…you mean that’s it? That’s almost the same size as many of the artifacts in the Egyptian Museum! Wait a minute…you mean that’s it? That’s almost the same size as many of the artifacts in the Egyptian Museum!

The Sphinx on the other hand was a slight let-down: I thought it would be much bigger. Apparently it was, originally – centuries and centuries of sun, sand, and wind have worn it down to a fraction of its original size.
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Egypt Thoughts

 Egypt, Public  16 Responses »
May 252008
 
Impressive balance. Impressive balance.

Traveling is so much easier now than it was just a few years ago. Virtually every crappy hostel has WiFi, making it easy to stay in touch and plan your next moves (even if it is sometimes a hassle to get things up and running – most places seem not to know their own WEP passwords for some reason 😛 ).

It was nice not having to lug around my laptop in Brazil, relying only on my phone for emails and the like. But I think I’ll go back to bringing a computer on all future trips. It just makes things so much easier.
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A Local Neighborhood

 Egypt, Public  No Responses »
May 232008
 
The Citadel. The Citadel.

After spending an hour or so exploring the Citadel and its surrounding areas, Mike and I were approached on the street by a friendly Egyptian with a perfect American accent claiming to be a History teacher. We chatted while waiting for our chance to dash across a busy street, and in doing so, he mentioned that there was a cool mosque right on his way home if we’d like to walk with him. Sure, sounds good!
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Cairo Observations

 Egypt, Public  2 Responses »
May 232008
 
Kindof reminds me of a Tokyo subway. Kindof reminds me of a Tokyo subway.

Pardon the crappy writing. I haven’t really slept in a couple days now and am quite exhausted.

The Nile The Nile

It was very interesting to learn from Mahmoud, an Egyption friend of mine, just how taboo the mere concept of Israel is throughout the Middle East.

Egypt and Jordan are two of the only countries that will allow someone with an Israeli stamp in their passport to visit (i.e. for having ever been to Israel, I’m no longer able to visit Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq, and pretty much any other country in the area you can think of). But even though I am allowed to come to Egypt, and Egyptians are technically allowed to go to Israel, no one does. It would be too problematic. The Egyptian government either wouldn’t let them come back, or would keep an eye on them for the remainder of their days – treating them like a traitor or a spy. Mahmoud could drive from his home to Tel Aviv in a matter of hours, and has always wanted to try out the nightlife in Eilat, but was warned time and time against it.

Kind of crazy.
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Mahmoud

 Egypt, Public  2 Responses »
May 232008
 

After concluding a walk-through of the Egyptian Museum and taking a quick stroll up the bank of the Nile, Mike and I returned to our Cairo hostel to wait for Mahmoud. Mahmoud is another traveling, working-out, partying programmer who Peder and I spent some time with towards the end of our stay in Kyoto. He lived there for six months on a short-term work contract, and just happened to move back to his home in Cairo four days before my arrival. Talk about perfect timing.

I always love experiencing a foreign country with a true local. It offers so much more insight and depth than you can get any other way – even tourguides, who are paid to give you the “inside look,” never do as good a job in my experience as a local friend. And Mahmoud was just about the best host one could imagine. Continue reading »

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