Trip Reports - Jules Vern eat this: Around the World in 14 days

Yes, that's right my fellow world travelers, it's time for another dcstudent adventure. After taking you on a drive from Oklahoma to Washington, D.C. (with two Swedes no less!), and traveling around the Southern Hemisphere (I'm still mad at Qantas for substituting a plane without the Skybeds on that one) it's time to hit the skyways again. :) And, of course if you're going to fly high you have to do it big. Go big or go home, eh? :cool:

Where to? Or, should I say where not to? Actually where to is the better question. I'll be hitting Spain, Egypt, England, Thailand, Laos and Hong Kong on this journey. I'll even have a brief stopover in Canada just to keep things interesting. And...I'll do it all in 14 days.

Fortunately, I'll be esconsed in Business Class for this journey. Thank goodness for that, as sleeping, eating, and bathing is so much better in business. (I mean coach meals are great and all but occasionally I like my food to taste like something.)

I'll be flying on American, Iberia, British Airways, Qantas and Cathay Pacific (well...And Air Asia for one really short hop). I hope to have (well...I can always hope) flight attendants that are exceptional, rather than have it be the exception to have exceptional attendants. Whoa...crazy talk. :p (I do believe I am no longer making sense.)

As an added bonus, I'd like to say hi to Amanda W.'s 2nd grade class in Virginia who will be following me along on this trip. I will not be traveling alone on this one. I'll have with me Flat Stanley. For those of you who are unaware, I will be traveling with a cutout of a human (no not full-size) and take pictures with him as I travel the world. These pictures will be beamed back to Virginia and used in teaching moments. See my trip is educational too! (I wonder if there is a way to take the expenses off my taxes?....Hmm....)

Anywho, the trip itself starts on Valentine's day (with mucho apologies to my fabulous girlfriend who will not be along for the ride on this one), but I'll be posting soon with planning details, or tricks of the trade as I like to call them.

Dcstudent out!

Looking forward to it! Are you in J on the QF A380?

Looking forward to your report!

Flat Stanley accompanied me on my last trip to Berlin!

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv221/MatthewLAX/Mark.jpg

I'll even have a brief stopover in Canada just to keep things interesting.

Definitely sounds like the most interesting part of the trip!:)

Well...today is the day. I'll fly off into the mid-morning and the adventure begins!

I must say I'm looking forward to this trip as the planning took forever. I originally wanted to go: IAD-MAD-CAI-AMM-BKK-HKG-LAX-IAD. But then I hit my first snag! Turns out that although Qantas' tool showed availability of frequent flier tickets for CAI-AMM, AAmerican couldn't see the same inventory. Grr! :rolleyes: I have to say that was something really frustrating...when Qantas or BA would show availability for a flight but AA couldn't access the same inventory. :td: I thought they were all partners?

In the end it didn't matter because even 330 days out RJ showed 0 availability in all classes from AMM-BKK. So...new plan:

IAD-MAD(IB)-CAI(IB)-LHR(BA)-BKK(BA)-HK(Cathay)-LAX(Cathay)-IAD(AA). Booked, ready to go.

But...nope too easy. Iberia changed their schedule to IAD, and they no longer had a Saturday flight. Double Grr. So now....

DCA-JFK(AA)-MAD(IB)-CAI(IB)-LHR(BA)-BKK(Qantas)-HK(Cathay)-NYC(Cathay)-DCA(AA).

Game on.

See you in the Big Apple later today!

You may get a shock on Air Asia. Nice aircraft and friendly staff, but your checked baggage limit is only 15 kilos total. They sock it to you if your bags are overweight.....beware!

My girlfriend was kind of enough to drive me to the airport, and that took about ten minutes from our apartment! Arrival was smooth. Parking was plentiful in the B daily garage at DCA and we headed inside.

AAmerican's Coach Class check-in :p (Which is my class 99.9 percent of the time...in fact I feel like an interloper in the sleek confines of business) was very crowded but only 4 people were in the Priority AAcess line. While my girlfriend went off to get her caffeine fix I waited to check in.

Check in was smooth, efficient and took about 5 minutes. The AAgent was very nice and I was soon back with my girlfriend and we hung out for awhile before I headed to the gate.

The second I got through the TSA checkpoint I looked at the arrivals and departures board. As I knew flight 4776 was leaving from 34, I looked to see what flight was incoming....Aha! Operations has done it again. My flight was still listed as "on time" at 11:55 even though the incoming flight wasn't landing until 11:48. Now I know it's a tiny Regional Jet, but even the foreign carriers can't do an 8 minute turn around. ;)

So I had a bagel and a copy of the Washington Post so I was fine, and gratified when Ops changed the departure to 12:03. A fifteen minute turn-around is far more reasonable! :rolleyes:

American Airlines (Eagle) Flight 4776
DCA-JFK
Scheduled Departure: 11:55AM
Actual Departure: 12:20PM
Scheduled Arrival: 1:10PM
Actual Arrival: 1:20PM

Can't really say too much about this flight. I boarded, noticed that only 1 seat was available when boarding had completed, and then promptly fell asleep right after the safety briefing. I noticed that many more people than usual seemed to be paying attention to the briefing, perhaps due to recent events.

I woke up on touchdown at JFK, and we pulled into one of the 31 gates at the far end of Terminal 8.

Luggage was brought up the elevator thingy but sadly my carry-on was not included. Fortunately it was brought up by hand a short time later and I made my way to the AirTrain.

Check in in Terminal 7 went very smoothly. I was the first person in line for Iberia (check-in didn't even open until 2:30), and I was done very quickly. Then...on to security. At the TSA I got stuck behind a frenchwoman who didn't know any of the rules and held up the line for quite awhile. (Of course, it didn't help that only 2 lines were open even though there is quite a large bank of outgoing internationals in the early evening.)

But now, I'm through and relaxing in the comfortable confines of the BA Terraces Lounge. I must say that although it has the staples: Food, Alcohol, Non-Alcohol, and TV, I am a little disappointed. The food selection is mainly prepackaged foods. There is no cheese or fruit out as of yet (but maybe it gets put out a little later), and the spa and dining facilities are only open to BA passengers. But my yogurt and coke tastes very nice because it is free and I'll just have to enjoy dinner (and wine!) on my way to Spain. :cool:

I'm off to grab a paper and head off to the comfy lounge chairs as they are filling up fast (this is the only lounge for all OneWorld passengers (2 Iberia Flights, 2 Open Skies flights, 3-4 BA flights this evening)!

Catch you on the other side of the pond.

Keep it coming! Love the writing style!

And I can't begrudge the other half at all. ;)

Well, I must give my apologies to the Terraces as just a short time ago fruit, cheese, crackers and tea sandwiches were brought out.

I'd try some but that would require movement. And...well...reclining on a lounge chair while sitting under a skylight and within close proximity to a fountain is just far too nice to interrupt for tea sandwiches. I'll keep to my tea and Financial Times.

Pip, Pip, Cheerio now. :D

I hung out in the Terrace lounge until 5:30pm when they called boarding for my flight. I arrived at the gate to find that coach was in the middle of boarding but they had a separate line for us business plus passengers. This didn´t work that well though as once through the boarding pass check you just ended up stuck in the Jetbridge with everyone else. No matter I was relaxed and ready to go!

Iberia 6250 (All times are local for their respective time zones)
Scheduled Departure 6:00pm
Actual Departure: 5:54pm
Scheduled Arrival: 7:10am
Actual Arrival: 6:58am
Business Load: 19 out of 42

I boarded and sat down in my assigned seat but once the door closed moved and got two seats to myself! I enjoyed the features of the Iberia seats, adjusting it until it felt perfect and then turning on the massage function for some extra pre-takeoff enjoyment. Pre-takeoff beverages of water and juice were offered and I took a water.

We were on an A340-300 so we had three lavs and a self-service bar. All bus. pax. got an amenity kit which was very nice for the flight but contained nothing special worth keeping for after arrival. The AVOD is limited but plenty of choices for a 6-7 hour flight over the pond! I watched WallE through dinner, and then watched the map as we approached Madrid this morning.

Anywho, soon after takeoff our dinners were served. I kept the whole menu (both wine and meal) so will post that when I get home. For an appetizer I had hot bread, veal consomme (soup) and a smoked duck salad. For the Main I had stuffed shell pasta w/king prawns and a creamy pesto sauce. Yum! Only one problem....Those of you who know me know that I eat like a horse (to be truthful more than a horse probably)...and the main had only one shell of pasta and three prawns. Not enough for my very healthy (in size not content ;) ) American diet. I enjoyed water and red wine with my meal.

Immediately after dinner I was given a bottle of water and I indicated that I would like to be woken for breakfast. I then turned my seat into a bed, rolled over on my side and promptly fell asleep by 8:30 eastern time.

Less than four hours later I felt like I was being shaken. Indeed I started to stir (get it? Shaken and stirred? :D I crack myself up! ^ ) and found myself looking at the male attendant who asked me what I would like to drink, and I picked orange juice and tea. He returned first with my drinks and then just a few minutes later he brought my breakfast: A croissant, yoghurt, toast and fresh fruit. The food was good, although again very small portions.

As i was eating I turned my TV back on and saw we were less than an hour from Madrid! I couldn´t believe how fast the flight had gone! I also couldn´t believe that I was going to try to make it with only 3.5 hours of sleep today. Eek!

Seatbelts sign came on when we were about 10-15 minutes out. (An example of another difference between American flag carriers and others that I can´t figure out....Why do American airlines insist on turning the seatbelt sign on so early in the descent compared to foreign carriers?)

We landed, docked at the furthest gate and trekked about 10'15 minutes to passport control.

Next: Morning in Madrid

Ah, yes, I love those 20 minute walks to passport control.

Can't wait for the next segment!

Passport control in Madrid was much more nicer than Passport control in the U.S. (even though I am a US citizen). The agent took my passport, asked me why I was going to Madrid - I said I had a full day before my flight to Cairo. She said to have a good time and stamped my passport.

I then headed to left luggage, another feature that I wished more American Airports had. The price to leave luggage for one day is 3.85Euros, but sadly the ATMs only spit out 20's so off to beg for smaller bills. Having found smaller bills, I returned to left luggage and left my luggage (I know, what a concept :D) As i had to give my passport to the security office to make a copy to be held until I picked up the luggage...he took one look, saw United States, and excliamed "OBAMA!!!!!!." (He was not the first or the last to make such an exclamation since my arrival!)

I then headed to the lowest level to catch the METRO. The connection from the METRO to downtown was not easy. It required two change of lines, but for 2 Euros, I lived. ;) I memorized the map before getting on, that way I would not seem the obvious tourist. I got off at the Banque stop and walked a short way along tree-lined streets to the Prado.

Prado=WOW! This has to be one of the most amazing if NOT THE! most amazing art museum I have ever seen! It's collection of works from all over Europe was quite spectacular. I arrived a little after 9 and encountered no line for paying my 6 Euros and receipt of a ticket. Sadly, those who arrived later had quite a line, for when I left at about noon the line went around the block!

After leaving the Prado, I wandered around aimlessly, admiring the architecture and having a Coke at a cafe with a sign that said (rough translation) "Speaking about the crisis in this cafe is prohibited!" :p How could I not patronize such a business while on holiday!

I then returned to the METRO, and with another 2 Euro down headed back to the airport and collected my bag.

I didn't have to check in as I had received my boarding pass the night before while in NYC so I headed straight for security. Security in Europe is much more civilized. I did have to limit my liquids, but I got to leave my shoes on! NO germy trays because of shoes! No padding around an airport in my socks! Hip, Hip, Horray!

I passed through security and caught a train to Terminal 4S where I cleared Passport control in a few seconds at most and headed to the VIP Lounge (Sala).

THe VIP lounge was nice. First, it was downright huge. Second, there was never more than 30 people in it even though there were quite a few international flights departing during the same window as mine. Plenty of light food, and a decent drink selection.

I took a shower, collected beverages and then found a comfy chair to wait out the annoucement for boarding.

I left the lounge and went ot the gate where boarding was delayed. Why? Heck if I know. No, announcement was made. And so started the flight I'll call:

Reminding me of domestic flying

Well...we finally boarded and I took my seat in "business class." I don't know that I'd ever pay for this as business class was the same as coach (literally), but a better meal and the middle seat blocked.

Anywho...so we boarded. And we waited. Then the Pilot got on and said we were leaving late due to late boarding, too many carry-ons, and having to search for the bags of a passenger who had not shown up.

Ok...fair enough. But then, at 5:15 (flight scheduled for 4:50 departure, boarded at 4:30pm) the flight attendants congregated in the front galley and made themselves beverages, but the business class passengers were not offered any pre-flight beverages. (Hey, that sounds like American, doesn't it?)

At 5:20 the pilot announces we are being further delayed because Iberia switched our plane from an A320 to an A-319 but filed a flight plan for a A-320 so the control tower was not clearing our flight. (This really can't be the first time a flight was ever switched right?:rolleyes: )

5:45
Still Sitting At The Gate
No Update
No drinks (not even water)


5:48 pushback
6:02 takeoff

Iberia Flight 3734
Scheduled Departure 4:50pm
Actual Departure 5:48PM
Scheduled Arrival 10:00PM
Actual Arrival 10:51PM
Load Factor: 11/14 in Business, Coach was 100%

THe flight (after takeoff) was uneventful. A snack was served at 6:30, along with water and wine. At 7:00, dinner was served. I had a roasted duck salad, chicken with baked potatoes, and cheese and bread. More wine and water.

After dinner was cleared I went to sleep and woke up on final approach. Sorry, I sleep on planes. Can't help it. ;)

We landed and after a long taxi pulled up to a jetbridge in Cairo!!!!

Next posts: Cairo!!

I agree. i love having the opportunity to just lock my luggage in a locker in the airport or railway stations in Europe and pick it up hours or a day later. Probably just the fear of a terrorist attack preventing that from happening in the US.

I agree Superflyer that fear of terror is probably the culprit, but I wish that wouldn't stop airports in the US. In Madrid anything you were putting in storage was checked by security before you were allowed to store it. They could do that in the U.S. It would be nice!

Cairo: Day 1

Summary The most fun day heretofore in my life, really

Just in case you're still reading here is the longhand version! :cool:

February 15th:
After getting off the Iberia flight I headed straight for immigration and customs. First stop was to buy a tourist visa. There are five exchange bureaus just before immigration that will sell a tourist visa for $15US. All you do is pay the money and they give you a sticker that you peel and place inside your passport. Fortunately, the only other flight clearing was Kenya airways and they all seemed to have visas in advance so there was no line and no wait for the tourist visa.

After getting the visa I proceeded to immigration. The immigration officer looked at my picture, looked at my landing card and stamped my passport. No more than 2 minutes. Just past immigration there are ATMs from the Bank of Egypt and HSBC so I took a moment to get some Egyptian Pounds and I headed for customs.

Customs was smooth. The officer checked my passport and let me through. I got outside and it was warm! Chilly, but oh so warm compared to D.C. this time of year! I was quite comfortable with just Khakis and a long sleeve sportshirt. I saw my driver and we headed off into the city.

Driving in and around Cairo is quite the adventure! First, no seatbelts. Second, cars in rather poor shape. Three, no emissions requirements so lots of smog. Four (and most importantly) no driving laws. I have to say that my welcome to Egypt was made way more horrifying by driving 80-100km/h through traffic with no regard to lanes, direction, traffic lights or stop signs. :eek: Did, I mention that many drivers drive without lights at night, and those that do seem to only use their parking lights? :eek:

Well...to be fair driving isn't as bad as walking. Imagine the above, but throw in pedestrians. But, I'm now used to the exhilerating feeling one gets once surviving a walk through the city! I even made it across a 6 lane road today with no incidents as well as an 8 lane road. ^ (I can only write this as I leave Cairo tomorrow so my mother and girlfriend no longer have to worry about my safety while walking.)

Anywho, back to the story....My driver got me to my hotel and I checked in. My hotel is on the 12th floor of what is otherwise an office building. Just riding the elevator is a trip as there are no interior elevator doors. Yes, that's right, you see the shaft as you move. There are exterior doors on each floor that you pull when the elevator arrives at your floor and the closing of the same doors trigger the elevator to move.

I got to the desk and was given my key and a 1.5L bottle of water. My room was spartan but very nice. I had a double bed (amazingly comfortable) and ensuite bathroom as well as a breakfast every morning for $39.00US a night. The room and bathroom were spotless. Also the hotel has a sitting area on the main floor and the roof of the building is a deck for the exclusive use of the hotel guests!!!!!

February 16th: Ha, ha. Just a teaser... The pyramids come next, but they're serving drinks on the roof....Write more later!

Hey dcstudent, do you need another randomly generated report? You aced the last one.:D

A World Away.

I had scheduled a wake-up (which consists of having a hotel staff member knock on your door until you wake-up, as there are no phones or clocks in the rooms) for 7:00am but instead woke at 6:30 on my own. I stumbled out to breakfast, bot entirely sure what time zone or country I was in until I sat down on the patio. As I looked to my right I saw the Cairo tower and the Intercontinental, and to my left I saw a door leading back inside the main of the hotel. :D

Breakfast was served quickly. I was served (no choices here, you get what they serve, oui?) fresh squeezed orange juice, a fresh orange, hot tea, a selection of bread with jams and cheeses and then the weirdest omelet I've ever had. Let me explain, the omelet consisted of heated banana slices wrapped in a pancake topped with fake maple syrup. Yum? :eek:

Well, I ate it all (one is not picky, and since all of the people that work here are related in some way to the couple that owns the hotel I felt more like a guest in a house and felt bad about not eating something) and headed back to my room to freshen up. At 7:30, I was told my Driver had arrived and we headed out.

My driver drove a rather old Volvo, but it seemed in excellent condition. As I have learned is the Cairo custom there were no seatbelts, but at least the front passenger seat had a headrest I could grab hold of if in fear of my life. :)

The driver took me along denile. Get it? I still crack myself up. Anywho, we eventually reached a bridge and he pulled to the side and beckoned me to get out of the car to take pictures. The driver was kind enough to take pictures of me and after a few minutes we were back on the road.

The drive to Dashour was quick and easy. We only had to dodge the occasional other car, BUT after passing Giza we had to dodge donkey and horse drawn carts. Eventually we turned off the paved road onto what seemed to be dirt and went through the village of Dashour. Many times while driving through town I thought the car would get stuck but somehow we made it.

We reached Dashour and it seemed as if my driver knew all of the policemen. Indeed, he did as he had been doing this daily for over 35 years! He took my money for the entry ticket and headed inside. When he returned he gave me my change. The change was incorrect by American standards as it was 2 pounds short. But, I assume the 2 pounds were baksheesh to someone for something.

A quick lesson:

The main pyramid sights are heavily guarded with regular police, tourist police (who generally speak some english) and Army soldiers. It was weird at first but one quickly gets used to it.

Second, Egypt lives on baksheesh, or tips, or as I like to call it - small bribes. If you want to do anything in Egypt you must give baksheesh. Ask a policeman for directions, baksheesh. Use a restroom? Baksheesh. Fortunately, 1 pound or less will do.

Thirdly, the pyramid sites are full of hawkers. They are very aggresive and annoying and will follow you around, even if in a group. They don't take no for an answer until you've said it many times. They'll offer to be your guide, take you on donkey or camel, take your picture, sell you cheap and worthless crap, anything. At Giza and Saqqara especially their presence was overwhelming and detracted from the experience. I really don't know why a country so dependant on foreign tourists would allow their sites to be so unwelcoming!

The pyramid sites (even Giza) are also very dirty. No, I'm not talking about sand content :) but they are just covered with litter. Tons of litter. See my last sentence in the above paragraph for my thoughts on this as well! ;)

Anywho...as we leave the ticket gate we pick up a policeman who is headed to a post near the pyramid (and it never hurts to be nice to policemen). He greets me and gives me the (now usual), OBAMA! We get to the pyramid and my driver drops me off as he'll wait in the car.

Dashour is a little off the beaten track, so many guided tours don't make it a stop. This is good for me as I was literally the only one here. The pyramid was spectacular. It was just so cool to be alone amongst such a monument rising out of the sand. I climbed some 20 steps to the pyramid entrance and showed my ticket to the gentleman at the door, who led the way (he had a flashlight and either the incansdescent lights were not working or he did not turn them on so he could earn baksheesh).

I must say, if you decide to enter Dashour, you'd better be in very good shape. You start by taking 114 steps. Easy, right? No, way. The "steps" are really just metal bolted into the floor to give you some traction. Also, the roof of the walkway is so low that I had to bend over halfway and bend my knees to fit. But, it was all worth it as I got to see many rooms and finally the tomb room. The signs outside the pyramid had clearly stated that there are to be NO ABSOLUTELY NO photos inside. But, as soon as we were inside my "guide" told me to take as many photos as I like. And with that phrase, his stock (in the form of baksheesh) went up. He even took some photos of me inside the pyramid!

THe only bad part about being inside the pyramid, is we had to go back out of it. So we did the reverse and I soon found myself outside. I gave my "guide" 2 Egyptian Pounds and 1 American Dollar (American Souvenir).

My driver than took me around the back of the pyramids where I got to take many photos of the pyramid site, the desert and my driver took some of me. A truly wonderful time.

As we left Dashour we stopped in the town and the driver bought a bag of fresh oranges. These are the freshest, best oranges I had ever seen. He gets back in the car and hands me one. Now, here is my predicament...my hands are dirty, his are dirty, the orange is unwashed, and god only knows how they fertilize etc...them. My sane mind tells me not to eat it. My seasoned traveler mind says what the h*ll. FOr after all, you do not refuse gifts, in Egypt (except when from a hawker that just wants to sell you something). Boy was I glad I took it. It was amazingly delicious. (Later that evening in Cairo I bought more and some strawberries from a streetside vendor.)

Next: Saqqara

(I'll be editing this post throughout the day....I'm in London and my flight just got delayed from 9:45pm to 1:45AM (and it's only 2pm now) so I have plenty of time to catch up. But first, time to grab some grub!)

So, it seems that Flyertalk enjoys logging me off and deleting what I've written if I write for too long so I'll make separate shorter posts....

My driver next took me to Saqqara. The drive from Dashour was about 20 minutes and was just as harrowing as I've come to expect! The contrast of poor to wealthy in Egypt was quite striking as near where I stayed you have the embassies, nice homes and five star hotels and here I was seeing horse and donkey drawn carts. The horses and donkeys looked very malnourished, and the cattle looked like skin on bones. It was very saddening.

Anywho, we arrive Saqqara and again pay baksheesh to the entrance guard who lets us do something (unclear what) and then buy the ticket. After buying the ticket I decided I would like to take an "Egyptian Cadillac" (also known as a donkey) around the tombs and the step pyramid. I negotiated a price of £E150 and off we went. The tombs were very interesting and, again, for baksheesh I was allowed to take pictures inside. The guards were quite unashamed at offering photos, and then holding out their hands in expectation.

Next stop was the step pyramid. The step pyramid was built in layers (hence steps). Tourists are not allowed inside but you can wander about the outside and it was quite a marvel to behold. My final stop was a restroom, which consisted of a trailer with rudimentary urinals. A man came in as I was relieving myself of some of the 1.5L of water I had had so far and shoved toilet paper at me. I refused the paper and I was leaving the trailer he asked for £E1. I refused and we had a brief shouting match. Sorry but I will not pay to urinate in what is basically a hole 2 feet above the ground, especially after the man ran in during my business and stared at me. No way, Jose. :td:

I then returned to the donkey and the man led me back a ways towards the parking lot. When we got to the end he said I owed him £E300. I said "no, we agreed on £E150. He again insisted on £E300 (about 50$US) and I said "no, and now you're only getting £E100 for trying to cheat me. When he started to yell even louder I pointed at the nearest tourist police officer (who happened to be the one my driver paid baksheesh to), and when he started ambling towards us the donkey driver took the £E100 I had offered.

(After all it's just like contract law at home, right? I offered £E150, he rescinded and wanted £E300, I offered £E100 and he took it. ;) )

In all seriousness, being ripped off is kind of infuriating and does not add to the pleasure of a journey. I really think the Egyptian Government should do something to regulate the price as well as the persons who can offer these services at the pyramid complexes.

Whoo, took a quick break from writing this report to grab a glass of wine. I think it will help the layover go much faster.....

On the way to Giza my driver stopped at a Papyrus shop. He told me this was just for my "education" and I didn't have to buy anything. (Right) Fortunately, I was warned about this sort of thing. I knew my driver would get a cut of anything I purchased and that is why he took me here. I did get to learn how to make art from papyrus which was actually really cool, and I got to try out my own handiwork (crappy to say the least). I did see a couple of pieces I liked and decided to buy them, negotiating a 20% discount from the listed price. I found it quite funny when the person following me around the store told me these were one of a kind as I had seen the same exact pieces at a bazaar in the main square. But the other shop I had seen had these at twice the price of the listed price at this shop, so it turned out alright.

My driver next headed for Giza. He asked me if I would like to ride a camel or a horse around the pyramids, and indeed I did. The Giza pyramids and other sites cover a huge area of ground and I was already feeling my muscles from the walking and climbing at Dashour and Saqqara. My only request was that he bring me to a place that treats it's animals right as I had seen quite a few malnourished camels, donkeys and horses at Saqqara, many of whom had sores and I refused to support that kind of treatment.

To be continued.

My driver told me not to worry and brought me to the stable that he said was the best in all of Giza. (I didn't believe him at first assuming he took me to the place that gave him the best kickback, but it turned out well. ^ ) The stable had many horses outside and all seemed to be in good shape. I asked the gentleman from the stable to show me the stable and the horses inside were being bathed and had tons of food and water so this place looked good to me.

The stable man led me back to the entrance and offered me a choice of three tours: A short tour (Just the 3 big pyramids and the Sphynx) for $75US. The medium tour (short plus all of the small pyramids) for $110US. And the long tour (medium plus tombs an excavation site and learning to ride a horse in the desert) for $150US. I went for the $110 tour and for $5 bought an Arab headdress as it was getting extremely windy. The gentleman left me for a minute and came back saying "I talked to big boss and we want to make you very very happy so we give you long tour-no extra charge." :rolleyes:

As an aside, sandstorms are horrible. When the wind was at its highest I couldn't see anything and sand got into every pocket of my shirt and pants and even penetrated my pants and underwear. It was everywhere and quite uncomfortable, it felt like being stung by many small pellets.

Anywho, I was introduced to my guide Mohummad (who rode a separate horse) and we headed out. First we went to the top of a big hill to get pictures of all the pyramids and myself. Then we visited a smaller pyramid which he had me climb and took pictures when I reached the top. After visiting a couple more small pyramids he took me in the desert and I learned how to trot and gallop in a desert. At the time it seemed really, really cool!!!! :D But now, I realize it was rather risky as the only thing protecting my head was a piece of cloth. Oh, well!

Next we went to the Pyramids. I knew I was going to enter one of the small ones, but was surprised when Mohummad's phone rang, he spoke for a moment and turned to me: "That was the big boss and he wants to make you very happy so he is getting you into the big pyramid." ;) This speaking to the "big boss" was gettingh funny, like an old mob movie! :D

So went to the big pyramid where my driver was waiting with a ticket. Now, only 300 tickets are sold each day. 150 in the morning and 150 in the afternoon so I was sure they had run out. What I was not sure was whether this outfit buys them when the ticket office opens, or pays baksheesh to be issued a ticket "under the table." Either way, didn't matter, I was in!

The big pyramid WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! First was over 200 stairs up, again hunched over with knees bent. Then a very tiny passageway and suddenly I was in the tomb room. So cool!!!! Sadly, I don't have any pictures as they were serious about no pictures in this tomb but still very cool.

I had to go out the same way I came up and passed a family from the US (caught their accents). I was ashamed by them as they did everything you weren't supposed to do. Their teenage daughter was wearing a tank top (showing lots of cleavage), sandals and short shorts. Mom, was also wearing shorts and a t-shirt and dad was wearing a big fanny pack, shorts, nikes and a t-shirt. No respect given to the local culture.

You will see Egyptian women ini everything from conservative western wear to abayas but not what this girl was wearing. Men too wear long shirts, long pants and nice shoes. Grr...

Back to the story...

When I exited the pyramid my knees were weak, literally. In fact, my muscles still hurt today, 2 days after the fact! Fortunately, Muhummad was at the exit with my trusty steed and we headed off to the Sphinx stopping along the way for a snack and history lesson at the tombs for the pyramid builders (who were killed upon finishing the tomb both to keep the tomb secret and to serve the Pharoah in the 2nd life).

The Sphinx was...well..actually a bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong, it was still amazing but not as nice as I expected. There has been alot of erosion of the face and also birds were nesting all over the face. But still, very neat to see in person!

After the Sphinx Muhummad and I returned to the stables.

I really think this tour was well worth the price. I got an english speaking guide and a horse for 3.5 hours. Additionally, the price included all baksheesh (and there was alot from what I could see) and the entrance fees which alone would have run me about 180-300£E, or $30-50US. :eek:

After the Giza tour my driver took me back to my hotel where I took a short nap before heading out in search of dinner.

Next post: Dinner + 2/17

I decided to wander in search of dinner and found an amazing take-out place called Falfella. For £E8.5 I had a shwarma. But this was unlike any shwarma I had ever tasted before. It came with 3 different kinds of noodles, plus a spicy sauce (so spicy I couldn't find anything to make the spice level dissipate) and meat from the round spinner thingy. An absolutely huge portion which totally filled me up and only cost about $1.5US! After dinner I played dodge the cars and headed back to my hotel.

2/17

Today I wanted to see something different. A more quiet side of Cairo. I already decided not to visit the Egyptian Museum as I had heard the crowds are horrible and to be honest it didn't interest me. Sure, the collection would be alot better than the Egyptian (traveling) exhibits I have seen in Philly, D.C. and Montreal, but in the end I felt it would be spending £E100 plus hours to just see more of the same.

So my first stop? The Egyptian National Railways Museum. To get there I had to first walk to the Metro (about 10 minutes) and then take the Metro 3 stops. Cairo's Metro is cheap, £E3 to anywhere, and surprisingly clean compared to the rest of the city. I memorized the map before heading out and soon found myself on the way to the Mubarek station, home of the Ramses Railroad Station.

The railroad station was a destination in itself. The engines and rolling stock currently in use were much, much older than me and of a type I had never seen before. Also, as I was watching a crowded commuter train pulled in and only the first two cars could fit on the platform. Everyone else started jumping off the train and ran over two tracks to the nearest wall (about 2 ft high) and climbed up. It was a very odd sight for me. I wanted to take a picture but the number of police and soldiers at the station dissuaded me from trying.

I eventually found the train museum which was located by track 1. I was the only person other than staff inside at my arrival at 9, and the only one inside when I left a little after 10. But it was soooo worth it. I paid £E10 for admission and £E8 for the english guide to the museum. A staff member who was fluent in English (and I assumed to be the director) was so excited than an American (GO OBAmA!!) had visited the museum that I was led on a personal tour. Sadly the museum had fallen out of shape with many damaged exhibits, but was still quite wonderful with many examples of old rolling stock and engines, maps, advertisements, etc...Even though, again, no pictures were allowed the director encouraged me to take many pictures and then refused my baksheesh! ^^^^

Next I took the Metro back down to Coptic Cairo. Coptic Cairo was quite a respite compared to the rest of the city. It was tree lined and very quiet. Coptic Cairo is a walled city within a city much like Old Jerusalem. I first visited the hanging church, next the Greek Orthodox church, St. George? The church was amazingly gorgeous, and the grounds were just as nice as the church. Shaded by old growth trees, there were many benches and two very well fed cats guarded the entrance to the cafe.

I next visited St. Barbra church and the Ezra synagogue. There was a metal detector at the synogogue but when I set it off I was sent through without a handcheck.

After Coptic Cairo I set off for my hotel. A quick lunch on the roof and I decided to head for Al-Anzar park, the only public park in all of Cairo. I asked the owner of my hotel how much a cab should cost and he told me £E15. With that knowledge I went outside and hailed a cab. In Cairo you prenegotiate your destination and fare. He agreed to take me to the park and for the £E15.

The only problem turned out to be he had no clue where the park was (or, he just didn't want to actually take me there because for a public park it is nearly impossible for the public to reach) so he leaves me infront of the Anzar mosque, about a mile walk from the gates to the park. :td: It got even worse when he showed me the meter (I saw he had turned it on and assumed that the following would happen), and told me I owed him £E130 (keep in mind I only paid £E200 for my car and driver for a whole day to see the pyramids). He didn't speak English but I raised my voice, gesticulated wildly and kept saying £E15. Finally, a tourist police office noticed something amiss and walked on over. I explained the enitre situation (including being dropped off at the wrong place) to the police officer who asked me to get out of the cab and proceeded to scream at the driver for a couple of minutes. The officer than turned to me and said to give the cabbie £E10. So I did. Serves him right. :mad:

But, I still had to get to the park. The policeman escorted me partway there and then pointed at another policeman across the 7 lane road. (I gave the first policement some baksheesh for his troubles.) I made it across all 7 lanes and the second police officer walked with me all the way to the gates of the park!!!! ("Go Obama!!!!)

The park was well worth the effort. It was gorgeous with views of the entire city and the citadel. Veyr green with tons of fountains, palms and exotic trees. I also got to see many young couples on dates. It was much like in the US but no hand holding or other PDAs (and some of the women were wearing full burkhas). I was very cautious when taking photos as everyone in the park stared at me when I walked by, and indeed, I was the only foreigner there.

After leaving the park I decided to walk the 3 miles or so back to my hotel. I have a good sense of direction so I figured I could do it and if I did get lost I could just hail a cab and have it take me to the Nile Hilton, a mere 10 minute walk from my hotel. Walking in Cairo is an adventure. Between people, motorbikes, cars, trucks, police it is a true adventure. Not to mention the fumes! They must not have any emissions rules here as even many of the cars belched thick exhaust. But sure enough, I made it back to my hotel in about an hour and got to see parts of Cairo that most tourists probably never notice!

Next: Dinner, and Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye. ;)

But first, I'm going upstairs to grab myself dinner and another glass of wine. Only 7.75 hours left in my layover!

I had to go out the same way I came up and passed a family from the US (caught their accents). I was ashamed by them as they did everything you weren't supposed to do. Their teenage daughter was wearing a tank top (showing lots of cleavage), sandals and short shorts. Mom, was also wearing shorts and a t-shirt and dad was wearing a big fanny pack, shorts, nikes and a t-shirt. No respect given to the local culture.

You will see Egyptian women in everything from conservative western wear to abayas but not what this girl was wearing. Men too wear long shirts, long pants and nice shoes. Grr...



I cannot comment directly on Egypt as I have never been there. That said, I can and have commented on cultural sensitivity in this report that is being written concurrently with yours.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/918885-sindo-2009-quite-bit-beyond.html

specifically portions of posts 2, 4 and 6.

I applaud you for understanding that cultural sensitivity is important and for your comments concerning the missteps of others.

A comment about bribes. I believe that paying bribes especially unsolicited ones (otherwise known as tipping) gives a wrong impression of the traveler and raises expectations as to the actions of those who follow you. Please be extremely circumspect in dealing with these situations. Often the refusal to pay may bring you much greater respect than acceding to the demands. Otherwise you may viewed as a soft touch and an obvious tourist rather than someone conversant with the culture. It depends upon the culture. BTW: have you seen Egyptians paying obvious baksheesh?

My view is better to be viewed as a foreigner with knowledge about what is acceptable than a tourist.

A comment in respect to FT losing your posts before they are posted. Write them in a word processing program that allows you to save, then cut and paste them into your report. Be sure to use "Preview Post" to be sure everything is correct including that all links work and embeded pictures load Then post.

Please keep it coming.

Hi opushomes ! Thanks for your comments. I agree completely with you on cultural mores. I try to research the local clothing before going abroad so I can "fit" as well as possible (at least when not carrying my camera bag!). It felt weird to be touring the desert in a pair of black Ecco shoes, khakis and a long sleeve shirt, but it helped me fit. At times when I wasn't carrying a camera bag people would talk to me in Arabic! (Too bad I don't know any.) Not to mention the long pants and shirt help prevent sunburn and insect bites.

I do wonder how many camels this family got offered for their daughter. :-)
No joke either. While waiting to board my flight from CAI to LHR today I sat next to a blonde young lady and her husband (from NZ). He was ribbing her that the egyptians kept offering camels to him in exchange for her even though she was obviously taken!

As for baksheesh. Sadly, I did see some Egyptians paying it at the main tourist traps: Basically the pyramids. Either I saw my driver (Saqqara) do it, or my guide (Giza) do it, or I saw other Egyptians doing it. It seems to be as much a system for paying the local people who work at these sites and get paid extremely little by the government. Such as in Giza: I pay my guide, who then pays each police officer we pass. It's weird, but seemingly necessary if you really want to do anything.

That said, I only tipped the police officers at Al-Anzar because they really helped me out and went out of their way to do so. Inside the park I did not give tips as I did not witness any Egyptians doing so.

I agree with you, that in general, baksheesh does set a bad precedent. But there are just some things that are unavailable to you if you don't participate in the scheme.

Cairo is a weird place. But, now I'm in London and ready to continue to Asia, a continent I am much more familiar with.

Well...at 2200 Qantas finally found the time to send their own agent to the lounge. This may only be due to the fact that a couple passengers were being...um...not so overly nice to the BA agents who were simply telling people to talk to the Qantas agent, who were located landside. :rolleyes:

People are really getting frustrated over the long delay. Some passengers, who got to the lounge after dinner was over, are extremely angry that they won't get food until about 2:45AM (London time) onboard (according to the agent). Others are mad about the lack of an agent to change plans, connections, etc...as there were other flights to Sydney.

For me, the biggest disappointment is that even though they knew or should have known of the delay at noon (as the flight would not have left BKK yet to head to LHR and it's about an 11.5 hour flight) the boards HAVE STILL NOT BEEN CHANGED. We're on time at 21:45 according to the BAA boards and its now after 2200. If I had been informed of the delay before a kind BA agent told me I could've taken the HEX into LON instead of spending 13+ hours in the lounge.

Don't get me wrong. I'm now on a first name basis with the lounge staff and they are "fab." I've been well fed and watered. There are tons of computers, charging stations, plenty of seating no 2 levels. 3 self-service bars, one made to order food area. I've taken a shower, shampoo, shave. Brushed my teeth. All things considered its not that bad. But I still would've rather seen LON!

I really feel terrible for you.. There was a post on the QF boards early this AM advising a significant delay in QF 2....

I really feel terrible for you.. There was a post on the QF boards early this AM advising a significant delay in QF 2....

Thanks RTW4. I finally got my chance to berate :p (not really) the Qantas rep (they only sent one to deal with all the bus/first class pax). He said the incoming was delayed because the original plane went mechanical and they had to switch it out....In Sydney....So they definitely knew it was going to be late when I got to LHR, but decided not to update their website or the airport boards. Now, I know planes can sometimes make up time, but 4 hours?

I asked him about taxi vouchers because I'll miss the last public transit option to my hotel in the BKK area at this rate. He told me he knew nothing of what they would do on arrival and I would have to talk to ground staff in BKK. Considering this is a mech. delay you think he'd have more answers and stop trying to pass the buck. :mad:

Anywho, where was I (with apologies for bad typing as I've now been up for 22 straight hours)? Oh yes, last night in Cairo. I went to McDonald's for dinner. I know, go all the way to Cairo and eat at McD's? Normally this is not my style but I saw it as I was on my way to find a place to eat at and they had different items on their menu than the McD's at home so I figured I'd try it.

It was amazing! If more McDonald's were like this one I'd actually eat there. First, someone actually opened the door for me (on the way in and out). Then when I ordered (sandwich, fries, coke, apple pie, caramel ice cream) the young lady got the manager. I was afraid I had done something wrong but he came to tell me that they didn't have any of my sandwiches ready, would I like something else or prefer to wait? I said I'll wait and he asked me to find a seat. Indeed, a few minutes later someone brought me my sandwich, fries and coke. I was in the upstairs seating area which was spotless. One runner took trays from departing guests while another immediately cleaned tables. A third checked the men's room after each and every use! It's a five star McDonalds! As I was finishing up my sandwich and fries someone brought me my apple pie. As I was finishing off the apple pie the same person brought me my sundae! Craziness!!!! A three course meal at Micky Dees!

As I was leaving the manager stopped me to ask how his shop compared to those in America. I told him it was 100% better and explained why. He must've relayed my comments to his staff because some of them clapped and a couple cheered. The manager then escorted me outside and told me that I had made him very, very proud because he takes real pride in the condition of his restaurant. If only more American McDs did what he did sales would grow exponentially (McD's in question is on Sharif Street right near the main branch of the National Bank)!

After dinner I headed back to the hotel for my last night. It was to be an early morning, and as I am now finding a late night!

I'm really enjoying reading your report, very insightful.
Keep it coming and good luck on the rest of your journey!

Thanks for the detailed description about Cairo.
Valuable information to take note of for when i do my first visit to egypt.

It was amazing! If more McDonald's were like this one I'd actually eat there. First, someone actually opened the door for me (on the way in and out). Then when I ordered (sandwich, fries, coke, apple pie, caramel ice cream) the young lady got the manager. I was afraid I had done something wrong but he came to tell me that they didn't have any of my sandwiches ready, would I like something else or prefer to wait? I said I'll wait and he asked me to find a seat. Indeed, a few minutes later someone brought me my sandwich, fries and coke. I was in the upstairs seating area which was spotless. One runner took trays from departing guests while another immediately cleaned tables. A third checked the men's room after each and every use! It's a five star McDonalds! As I was finishing up my sandwich and fries someone brought me my apple pie. As I was finishing off the apple pie the same person brought me my sundae! Craziness!!!! A three course meal at Micky Dees!


I had the exact same experience at McD's in Asian countries. I think folks over there still think McDonalds as a novelty instead of a fast food chain because the chain is still relatively young in these countries. The best thing about these chains is that they have sandwiches and burgers made with local ingredients or style! I miss the Mc Aloo Tikki Burger you get in Indian McDonalds (burger with a spicy potato pancake instead of a beef patty)

Not too much has happened since my last report, so here goes.

Reversing to leaving Cairo....

A driver picked me up at my hotel at 5:30AM and took me to the Cairo airport. We got there a bit after 6 and security had just opened. A person checked my passport and I had to put my luggage through x-ray just to reach the ticket counters. Check-in was quick and easy and exit immigration was a complete breeze!

After immigration I went to the VIP lounge. It sucked. Badly. The non-smoking VIP lounge had seats for maybe 15 people. The food and drink selections were poor at best. (Tea or coffee, no sodas or juices.) The seating was really something too. I don't think the lounge has been updated since the 50's.

So considering how wonderful the lounge was I headed off to the main seating area for all passengers. The seats were actually more comfortable there! About an hour before my flight they herded all of us to the gate which required passing another security check after which we were locked in the waiting area for the gate with no access to a bathroom. Weird.

British Airways 175
CAI-LHR
Scheduled Departure: 08:50
Actual Departure: 08:50
Scheduled Arrival: 12:10
Actual Arrival: 11:55

The flight was fine. I liked the beds but they weren't made in such a way that one could comfortably lie on ones side. I stayed awake through breakfast (oddest breakfast I'd ever had, corn flakes, fresh fruit, chicken biryani) and slept until final approach to LHR.

I think I'll try not to think about my LHR experience anymore. ;)

When QF2 finally did take off at 2:15AM I just changed into my pajamas and went straight asleep. I woke up with about 3 hours of flight time remaining meaning I got 8 full hours of sleep! So my vote goes to the skybed! :D

Upon waking I got a tea, orange juice and fresh fruit plate. Then breakfast was served, pretty standard stuff really.

We landed about 8pm, no queue at immigration and customs and I was quickly outside waiting for the Airport Express bus (150baht vs. 400baht for a taxi) to my hotel.

Next: One night in Bangkok :D

I was looking forward to hearing about your trip, and maybe it's just me, but I'm finding it extremely difficult to follow the progress of events. You seem to jump around quite a bit in your posts. Sometimes following chronological order and sometimes according to where you happen to be writing the posts. Odd; I would think one or the other method might create better coherence. The lack of photos detracts as well unfortunately from the overall quality of your report.

I may be jaded but I cringe when I read comments such as yours regarding the other American tourists in Egypt. Mostly I find them presumptive and bordering on elitism. My view is that at least these people are attempting to visit new and interesting places which is a good thing. I don't think you can expect complete cultural sensitivity in places such as this. These are highly trafficked tourist venues and the locals are dependent and appreciative of the revenue it brings. If there are truly issues with what passes for acceptable wear then the local authorities should take it upon themselves to bar entry unless suitably attired. As they do in Italy at certain religious sites. Or as in Indonesia as they do at many temples. Or as they do at many mosques around the world.

Is there anyway to cut all the "anywhos" out of your posts? Quite distracting. These are just gentle comments I hope you don't find them off putting.

February 19th

Having arrived in Bangkok, I paid my 150Baht and headed to the curb toawait the AE4 bus which would bring me to Victory Monument, a short and easy walk (or so I thought) from my hotel, the All Seasons Siam (formerly Ibis).

The signs at the airport say the bus circles every 30 minutes, but I guess I was unlucky as i waited 45. After I had boarded a young lady, Cara (19 from the UK) boarded and told me she was headed to the New Century and the bus employees told her I was headed into the same direction and to follow me. I told her that I was more than willing, but it was kind of like the blind leading the blind and I couldn't guarantee anything. :eek:

30 minutes later we arrived Victory Monument. Being night, there were tons of people out and evidently the area around the Monument turns into a street market at night making it hard to navigate. Eventually Cara and I were surrounded by a number of Thais who all started to point in different directions. I again used my superior super hero map skills to notice that we needed to turn right where the skyrail turns left and we went at it that way eventually ending up at our respective hotels.

I really liked the All Seasons. Originally an Ibis, everything in the hotel (and the signs outside) are still "Ibis." Guess the rebranding is just starting. $40 a night, the room had few frills but was spotless with a king size bed. I checked in and went to sleep straight away.

2/20

I woke up at 6:30AM and headed downstairs for the buffet breakfast. Although I could've eaten much cheaper on the street, I felt that 200baht (about $6.00) was reasonable for all I could eat. I had the usual; fruit, yoghurt, but also the unusual - fried chicken in peanut sauce.

After breakfast I headed out into the stifling humidity and to theVictory Monument SkyRail station. For 25baht each way I took the skyrail to the Lumphini Park. Before I get to the park let me just say the skyrail is very easy to navigate as all signs and announcements are in english and thai. It is air conditioned which is a real plus in my mind since at 7:30 in the morning the humidity was already bordering on the unbearable!

Lumphini park is free and sits in the center-ish of Bangkok. It was a nice respite from the heat with a lake and plenty of trees. I caught people running and playing sports and was amazed, if only because just walking from the skyrail to the park caused me to sweat through my shirt and feel like I was going to die. Well, I exaggerate...but it was darn hot. :)

After the park I returned to the hotel and then took a cab 400baht back to the airport to catch my Air Asia flight.

Air Asia was exactly as advertised. It got me from point A (Bangkok) to point B (Udon Thani) quickly, and cheaply ($30US round trip). Was it comfortable? Absolutely not. :) Even with my carry-on above me my knees were still positioned at just about my chest level. But this being only an hour flight, and being only $30, made it worthwhile.

The Udon Thoni airport is one of the smallest I've ever been to. It only had one gate. I was staying at the Charoensri Grand Hotel and they had a free shuttle pick me up at the airport along with two other guests who came in on myflight. A short 20 minute drive and we were at the hotel.

The hotel was very nice. Marble foyer with huge chandeliers and a very large koi pond. My room, a king "delux," was huge with a marble bath. All this and a breakfast for about $30US. THe hotel is connected to the Charoensri complex which may put Tysons to shame. The Complex has 5 levels of shops and a huge multiplex and a huge bowling alley/kareoke parlor. I took full advantage of the bowling and bowled two games which cost 240baht($7) for the games and a pepsi and shoe rental! The female employees at the bowling alley took quite an interest in me, which kind of creeped me out actually (Udon Thoni being a local capital of the sex tourism trade). I mean, I only bowled 109 and 124. :D

After bowling I headed to Bella Italia, an italian place in the same complex and had a ham and mushroom pizza (really good actually) for 280baht. My final trip of the evening was to a 7-11 about 5 minutes walk from the hotel for some gatorade as one of the side effects of the malaria medication (or that and/or bad food) had taken a toll on me today.



Next: Off to Laos

February 21st was crazy so I'm saving this post for when I have more time. :)

This was my man spa day. :D The owner of my hotel told me upon check-in that very little happens on Sundays in Vientiane so I decided to make it a spa day. He recommended the Papaya Spa (which I believe he owns or at least has a stake in) but I blanched at the prices which were 210,000 for a massage (about $27), and 170,000 (almost $20) for a foot massage. Now, granted, these prices were still cheap for the US but very very expensive for Lao.

So on Saturday evening I took a walk and found a spa that was crowded with both foreigners and locals called the White Orchid Spa, near the fountain. They only charged 50,000 for an hour massage, 50,000 for an hour foot massage, and 70,000 for an hour facial. :D Sign Me Up!!!!! :cool:

After eating breakfast overlooking the Mekong, I headed to the spa. I was not disappointed. The Lao massage was very interesting. At first I thought the masseuse was trying to kill me pulling and pushing on my muscles and limbs with all of her weight, but then I realized I quickly melted. Kind of cool! ^:)

The facial was very nice also, the first time I had had one of these! Also, the foot massage was very necessary after all of the walking I had been doing! I left there a very happy camper and only $20 some dollars lighter!

My next stop was lunch at the Scandinavian Bakery right around the corner. I had a cinnamon roll and tea for only 14,000baht or a little over $1.

After lunch I headed to the Lao National Museum. There isn't much to see here, but I did enjoy the collection of antique firearms and the captions on the Vietnam War Pictures such as, "The Imperialist Americans Tricked Some Laos Into Helping Them," or "Army Corn Cracking Factory Number 6 Works Heroically To Win Against The Invaders." (I didn't realize we lost the war due to our inability to crack corn, but I can see why such an embarassment wouldn't make it in the US History Books. :D:p )

After the museum I had a quick dinner from a street vendor, returned to the hotel and turned in by 8pm.

I am finding that the heat combined with all of my walking makes me tired very early. I am averaging 8-12 hours of sleep a night and drinking 4-5 litres of water a day. If this is the dry "cooler" season, I'd hate to see what the high season is like. I have salt stains from the sweat on my clothes!

I woke up at 7am to the sounds of some dogs fighting. Vientiane is much like Santiago, Chile in that they have many stray dogs running lose around the town. No worries though as I had planned to be up by 7:30 as the bus to Nong Khai left at 9:30am.

I had breakfast overlooking the Mekong again, and then checked out of my room. I hailed a tuk-tuk for 10,000kip and headed off to Talat Sao where I bought a ticket for another 15,000kip. The buses back to Thailand are reserved seats and air con. As I had an hour to wait I headed across the street to the Talat Sao mall where I bought a Pepsi and sat in the airconditioning.

As an aside,it seems Pepsi must be bottled in Laos and Coke is not. In Vientiane you can get Pepsi absolutely everywhere but Coke is only available at the more expensive restaurants and hotels geared to foreigners. Quite a shame as I own Coke stock and hate to support that other brand. ;)

I boarded the bus and it headed out full and right on time. There were a number of Lao's on the bus who were headed for Thailand to go shopping and I was one of 3 foreigners.

We arrived Nong Khai about an hour after leaving Vientiane and after clearing both Lao and Thai immigration. Nong Khai was a world away from Vientiane even though they only sit about 22km apart. Nong Khai had tons of cars, businesses and even the sidewalks were in good shape. Also, instead of a sandy potholed road Nong Khai has a very nice riverfront promenade with shops and restaurants.

I checked in at my hotel the Pantawee (another Lonely Planet disappointment...I swear they did not actually visit Laos or Thailand based on the incorrect information, closed businesses, wrong prices, etc...). From the putside it looks good but the internet in my room stopped working, the power went out twice randomly, the TV was fuzzy and black and white, and there were tons, tons of bugs. Oh, did I mention the shower didn't work?

But no matter, I found all that out later. In the meantime I found the Mut-Mee guesthouse which is sheltered right by the river. I was invited in by the thatched roof and opensided huts under huge trees which overlooked the river, and stayed for lunch and company of a Computer Scientist from Portland and a Computational Biology professor from Georgetown University that actually lives in Nong Khai. All hopes of touring ended and I spent the entire afternoon here.

When it came time for dinner I hit the night markets. Basically all these stands take over every available piece of sidewalk and some of the road as well! It is insane! I had the most amazing Pat Thai that I have ever had! A woman makes it feverishly as a huge crowd gathers to order. The portions are huge and, WOW! Guess how much it cost. No, really, guess. Nope. Try lower. Nope, still lower. 25baht! Less than $1 for the biggest meal I had had in Thailand!

Made sleeping fitfully in the Pantawee more palatable. :(

Next: Back to Bangkok and a Sweet Upgrade!

Dcstudent, those of us following along at work love catching up with you via your report. It feels like you're sitting here telling us about your travels, which is nice since, well, we miss you! Also, I think since you got 3 hours of spa pampering for $30, and you told us about it as we sit here at work, you are karmacally bound to give all of us a foot massage when you get back. Just to prove that we've been following along: You've made 5 references to your girlfriend, you've made 49 airport references that us casual travelers don't understand, and you've used 63 emoticons so far. Ha!

dcstudent, in spite of your proclivities I just had to tell you how much I enjoy your posts. (Even looked up some of your other contributions.) I've wanted to do an RTW and have the FF miles to do so, but not the months I assumed it would take. Maybe I should just go! Keep up the good work--you're an inspiration.

Great report! Keep it coming! Now, I have a hankering to visit Cairo!

I thoroughly enjoy reading your reports and look for new ones every day. Hope the rest of your trip is safe!

I woke up very early, maybe about 5am to the sounds of motorbikes running in the alley right behind my ground level room. I turned on the lights and watched as various bugs of unknown origin and species scatter. I can imagine their little voices, "It's the God of Light, quick to the trenches!" :D

I gave the bugs a minute to hide and then proceeded to get up and dress for the day. Because of the condition of the shower I skipped it and decided that would be my first item of business when I arrived Bangkok later.

At 6am I went for the breakfast buffet which was included in the room rate. This was the absolutely worst breakfast I have ever had. The omelet was an omelet in name only. Frankly, they may as well have given me raw eggs. There were no juices available so in the end my breakfast consisted of toast and coffee.

Immediately after breakfast I checked out and hired a tuk-tuk to the bus station for 20baht.

The bus station led to another Lonely Planet disappointment. The guide said "Ordinary" buses (no air-con) ran every 30 minutes for 40baht, but did not mention that air-con buses run every hour, also for 40 baht. They also did not mention that since Udon is a crossroads almost every bus that leaves Nong Khai passes through Udon and will sell you a ticket to Udon for 40 baht. Fortunately, I had already stopped believing in Lonely Planet and took the 7am air-con bus to Udon.

I boarded the bus, reclined the seat (only about 10 people on the bus) and slept for the duration of the ride. After arriving Udon I walked back to the Charoensri Grand hotel and left my bags before finding an internet cafe while waiting for the shops to open at 11am.

When the mall opened I made my entrance determined to buy a couple of t-shirts as it was so bloody humid that I am just wrecking the 4 shirts I packed. Fortunately, Robinsons (a big department store) was having a clearence sale and I got a few polos for only 380baht total! After leaving Robinsons I ate lunch in the food court very cheaply (35baht).

My next stop was definitely my Udon highlight. I had asked at the Charoensri hotel where the best salon in town was as I desparately needed a haircut. They told me the A1 salon inside the Mall. I went and was accepted for a cut immediately. Let me just say now, that if American salons are as nice as this one I will no longer begrudge American women for spending (what I think) are egregious sums for their hair apppointments.

First, one Thai girl took me to the back where she shampooed my hair, basically giving my head and scalp a massage in the process. Then I was led to the front where a female stylist started to cut my hair. Her command of english was ok, and she couldn't understand what I asked for so I told her to just make me look good. She said she would turn me into an "Asian Tom Cruise" :p;)^

So she cut my hair, a process that took quite awhile as she only used scissiors and I have quite a bit of thick brown hair. After she was done cutting a third Thai girl took me back to the shampoo room and proceeded to shampoo and condition my hair. ^ After that, a fourth thai girl took me back up front and styled my hair. She asked me if I had a Thai Girlfriend. I said that I did not, but that I had a lovely American Girlfriend that I was very very fond of. :) The Thai girl said that my American Girlfriend must be very lucky. When I asked why, she replied: "Because you have a kind heart and beautiful eyes." (Well, I already knew that. -As you can see I'm incredibly modest too! :D)

Finally, the 2nd girl came back to me and along with the fourth girl made sure I looked perfect and sent me on my way nearly 3 hours after I had first entered the shop. My total.....400baht, + I parceled out 100baht or so worth of tips. So, basically I just paid $16 for the best hair related experience of my life. AT HOME, i pay my barber $17 (incld. tip) for just a haircut. Would I be just crazy if I flew to Udon every time I needed it cut? ;)

Anywho, after the cut I hired a tuk-tuk for 100baht to take me out to the airport which is seemingly placed in the middle of farm fields some distance from Udon proper. Check-in was smooth and I paid 250baht extra to be given a better seat (1C on a 737) which would allow me room to stretch my legs, that were cramping again.

The Air Asia flight was again smooth, on time and 100% full. Air Asia really does a quality job. You are only allowed one carry-on piece and no personal item (so basically ladies only carried their purses for example) so boarding was extremely quick. Now, Air Asia charges an arm and leg for luggage in generally and a hefty sum for luggage over 15kg (about 30pds) so I imagine that's how they make alot of dough. You are also not allowed to bring on your own food and drink so they can sell it to you on board. Again, probably quite a money maker. But, in the end, for a one hour flight I appreciated just paying practically nothing for the ticket and then being allowed to choose to pay more for anything extra than transport from point A to point B.

We landed early at BKK but there was a slight problem. We parked at an international gate which I realized as soon as we taxied into a spot inbetween a B747 and an A340. I couldn't imagine they use those too often domestically. ;) As such, our earliness was negated by our having to go downstairs, outside and onto buses that brought us back to the domestic side of the airport. Our luggage followed another 30 minutes later. :(

I had already decided not to do the bus again as it just took too long but taxi services from BKK are quite a racket. The official taxi service quoted me 1200baht to my hotel. Bah! For that I'll just take the bus! I went outsideof baggage claim and the gypsy services offered 900baht. Bah again! But then I had an idea! @:-) (And for those of my colleagues, friends and family that are now cringing.....Sometimes my ideas work out....:p) Taxis from downtown charge about 300-400baht to come to the airport but then go back empty. I assumed they would like a fare. So i went up two levels to departures and caught a taxi that had just dropped someone off. I had to bargain a little as I evidently wasn't the first with this idea but we eventually settled on a price of 400baht to bring me to my hotel.

I was staying at the Sukhumvit Grand. This used to be a Sofitel but now is not although it is still managed by Accor. THIS HOTEL WAS FRICKIN AmAZING!!!!!! First, it is right off Sukhumvit so close to everything. Second, all staff bowed (men), gave a slight bow (women) or clicked their heels and saluted (security outside) when you passed. How cool is that! Plus I got a free upgrade (no clue why) to a sweet suite! When i arrived I handed my passport to the reception and they led me to the premier lounge. I was brought three drinks and tea. After a few minutes a young lady came back with my passport and credit card and told me I was ready to go to my room and handed me my key. I headed upstairs and found I had a HUGE SUITE!!!!!!I had 5 rooms! I had a huge living room, even bigger bedroom, dressing room, kitchenette and bath with separate shower and sink facilities. It was so big there were only 9 rooms on my floor. And, I had used a prepaid internet rate so I was only paying $94 a night for this!!!!!!

Anywho, after playing with all of the buttons (including separate climate control for the bedroom and living room) I headed downstairs in order to seek dinner. In the lobby I ran into some blokes from Western Europe who worked in the Middle East and come to Bangkok every 2 months or so to relax. They invited me along and I decided I might as well wander with people who know what they are doing and perhaps learn about the scene here as well. First we had dinner at an amazing Moroccan place. Then they brought me to a bar so I could see lady-boys first hand. Then we started hitting various establishments as they were in search for suitable company. They told me that usually for about 500-1500baht of drinks at the bar and another 400-500baht to release the girl from the bar for the evening you could have a quality, clean girl for the evening. I did the math and realized you got an entire night with a girl for only about $50-65US. That is absolutely disgusting. I really would like to see a sociological study to findout what makes these girls do this, selling themselves for so little (and who knows what they actually make as evidently the customers pay the bar, not the girl. It really creeps me out, both from a womens rights point of view and a germaphobe point of view. Ick, just writing about it still makes me cringe.

The bars had an interesting dynamic. No sooned than we were seated our party was surrounded by young women all wanting to know more about us. I always made it clear early that I was spoken for and was not interested but they were fine with the four others and would start flirting shamelessly. The Thai girls were always very respectful when I would tell them I have someone at home and would leave me alone without a second thought or glance. It was just really surreal.

Over the course of the evening I had about 4-5 glasses of wine (in case you are wondering even the bar prices aren't too bad, dinner and all the wine and my part of an hour of pool only ran me about $60US), and then excused myself once the Europeans started getting serious about their pursuit. They poked a bit of fun at me but they knew I was quite seriously attached at home and would not be participating. (I decided not to tell them that I found what they were doing to be gross...it wouldn't have mattered a wit and then men were quite nice to me showing me around Sukhumvit so let them do what they want) I had taken a card from the hotel so I easily hailed a cab and was soon under the very cozy covers.

2/25

This was the day I decided I needed to own 7-11 stock. They are as common in Bangkok as Starbucks are in US cities and that worked out very well for me today. (Just for an example there were 4 7-11s in just a 2 block radius of my hotel, 2 McD's and 1 Starbucks).

I woke a little late, about 8:30am and spoke with my girlfriend back in the states by phone for around 1/2 hour. It always feels weird when I am in Asia speaking with someone in the States who is 12 hours apart.

After hanging up I took a good long shower and then headed out for breakfast. Refusing to pay the 650baht for the hotel breakfast I went to the McD's on the corner and paid 50baht for a sausage McMuffin and then went to 7-11 and paid 22baht for 250ml of fresh-squeezed orange juice. (7-11's in Bangkok are like those in Japan, not the US. They are spotless and serve fresh food in addition to cold drinks and sundries. Every one I went into was very crowded.)

I ate quickly and then headed to the skytrain which I took to the end of the line before trekking to the Grand Palace. It was during this walk that I cursed the Bangkok tourist maps as they were most certainly not to scale. Estimating a 20 minute mile, I walked 3 miles from the end of the BTS to the Grand Palace (and the map distance was about 2 inches). The walk was worth it though as i got to walk past the extremely ostentatious democracy monument.

The grand Palace was quite a sight (350baht entrance fee). It was a huge complex with many individual buildings. All of the buildings were guilded with very nice artwork and architectual style both inside and outside. I don't really know how to explain it but when I post pictures (after my return home) you'll see.

After the Grand Palace I trekked to Dusit. At first I got lost but eventually I found an intersection on my map and straighened it all out. Again, the tourist map's lack of scale was killing me (both figuratively and literally) as it took me nearly two hours to walk between them. At one point I stopped in at a cobbler for a shoe shine and asked him how far to Dusit and he told me another 2km! Fortunately, there were plenty of 7-11s where i could buy 7-11 brand purified water (1.5L for 15baht, or less than $.50) and gatorade (250ml for 25baht, about $.75) quite cheaply.

Eventually I reached Dusit, and went into the Zoo. The Zoo was very nice and the enclosures were built in such a way that you could basically touch the animals if you wished (but I didn't). At one point they have a petting zoo that you can pay an extra 20-100baht for and I did pay to feed an elephant by hand!!!! but declined to pay to handle a skunk. (Who the heck wants to pay to handle a skunk? :eek:) The Zoo was also very nice as it had many waterways and was shaded throughout making for a relaxing break. Oh, and I stopped at the 7-11 in the zoo (yeah the only food options were 7-11 and a KFC) for an ice cream.

After the Zoo I walked to the Victory Monument Skyrail station. This walk only took me 40 minutes. On the way I glimpsed another Palace Complex as well as Parliament and many hospitals and medical schools.

Once reaching the skyrail I took it back to my hotel where I showered and collapsed on the bed to relax and watch some TV. I also ate some fruit and drank some water which was place on a table with complements from the hotel while i was out! (Just in case you were wondering I drank 3 bottles of gatorade and nearly 6 litres of water during the day).

After feeling some semblency of normal again I headed for the skytrain and out to the Tesco Lotus to buy a new toothbrush and some toiletries for the final leg of my trip. The Tesco was just like a Super Wal-Mart but better. It was huge and extremely clean with a very helpful staff. And, dirt cheap. A gel pen cost me 20baht, a 1.5 litre bottle of coke was 20baht, a bad of cashews was 35baht. Toothbrush was 9baht. Amazing! Additionally, it has two floors of a food court and small shops before you enter the main Tesco store. Since I was already hungry I had dinner in the food court 100baht and desert at Dairy Queen before hitting the skytrain and going back to my hotel, where I collapsed into bed by 9pm.

Today was a rather lazy day. I woke up on my own around 8am and headed back to McDonalds to grab a sandwich and 7-11 to grab a fresh orange juice. The matter is I don't see how the hotel's egg sandwich will be any different than McDonalds or the fresh orange juice any better just because I am paying 650baht for it!

After eating breakfast and watching CNN International where I heard about yet another incident involving an airliner, I started to organize my things. Around 9:30am I just was getting bored and checked out. Check-out was extremely smooth and by the time I was finished they had a cab waiting for me outside.

This cabbie was much more honest than my last. My fare came to 270baht including tolls this time even though the distance was similar! (The other cabbie never gave me the toll receipts so I had no clue what the tolls were, this gentleman did.)

I went in and found that there was not a queue for check-in. I was asked if I would like to be confirmed (complimentary) for an earlier flight since I had arrived so early but I declined as I wanted a chance to catch up on e-mails.

Immigration was quick with no queues there either and I headed to the lounge which was after imiigration but before security. The lounge was small and poorly equipped by my expectations of Cathay. Just a hadful of computers, a small drink selection and even less food. No matter, a computer was free and that was all I needed. At 3:45pm they called boarding for my flight and I walked to gate E6.

Cathay Pacific 712 BKK-HKG
Scheduled Departure: 4:25pm
Actual Departure: 4:40pm
Scheduled Arrival: 8:00pm
Actual Arrival: 8:11pm
Business Load: 90%

The flight was fine except for the ogre sitting next to me. He talked very loudly on his cell until the door closed. I knew he was from New York. I knew where he worked, what he made in the "good times" and how he was against salary caps for finance people. (I don't know, I think they're fine. I mean who really needs to be making multiple millions of dollars a year? It just encourages short term risk-taking to build bonuses not long term health and growth....And heck, if they can't find people to work for under 1mil a year they can offer me a job for much less. Surely I can bankrupt a company just as well as one of these uber brilliant and fabulously wealthy people can...:p)

But it got worse once the door closed. He never put his phone in flight mode, I know because he received a call during takeoff and was sending messages until we were into our climb a bit. But what was even worse was his lack of respect for other people. I don't know if the best MBA (yeah I know where he went to school too) schools teach people to think anyone else is a lower lifeform or whether he just became this way but he treated the cabin crew with utter disrespect.

He never looked one of them in the eye. If one of them would ask him a question, he would wait until they asked two or three times before he would respond and then only with a curt wave of the hand as if he was too busy to be interrupted by such peons. When he did say yes to something he still did not say please or thank you or make eye contact at any point. At one point he buzzed the attendants to ask for a Herald Tribune. When the attendant came back with no Tribune but about 10 other papers and offered him one, apologizing that they did not have the Herald he responded, "I said I wanted the Herald, if I wanted another paper I would have asked for it." -Again, without making eye contact or even looking up from his phone. (Which rang again on fianl approach.)

It must be great fun working for this fellow.:rolleyes:

Anywho, the attendants treated me very well and I even got into a good conversation with one of them. The food was nothing special. A non-descript chicken dish and a smoked salmon salad with a chocolate desert. Only two entree choices (chicken or fish), nothing else to choose from.

We landed in Hong Kong and there was no queue at immigration. This surprised me as I'd read horror stories about HKG immigration for foreigners but I breezed right through in less than 5 minutes.

After that it was to the Vigor shuttle service which was included in my room rate of about $60US at the Evergreen Hotel. I got to the hotel about an hour later and after checking in went over to the 7-11 next door to get a water, and a slurpee. Buy, do I have sticker shock in Hong Kong after Bangkok. The 1.5litre bottle of water that cost me $.50-.75 in BKK now costs $2.00US. THe slurpee which was less than 20oz was $1.25US. Eek! :eek:

(As an aside, I am at an cafe having a tea at the moment and the tea was $20HKD, or almost $3.00US. FOR TEA. HOT WATER and A TEABAG! $3.00US.)

Anywho, after 7-11 I went back to my hotel and straight to bed. I have to say the Evergreen was an absolutely fine hotel. Small, with just a storefront entrance but perfectly serviceable. Just one lift, and it only went to the 3rd floor (and my room was on the top floor), but with no big bags it wasn't a problem. The room was small and cramped but absolutely spotless with everything in working order. Free wireless throughout the hotel and a computer room open 24/7 with free highspeed internet at about 8pcs.

I'll probably make one last report tonight before my flight to New York and then wrap it all up and fill in the 21st as soon as I'm back in Washington. Hard to believe this adventure is almost over!

I woke up today at about 5:30am, and checked out at 6:30am, leaving my luggage for the day at the front desk.

I walked directly to the subway and bought a ticket to go to Central station, only three stations away (and on the same line) as I had been. The trains come quick and before long I was standing in a park staring at a huge sheet of fog. Being the eternal optimist I walked to the Victoria Peak Tram station anyways and paid HK$33 for my round trip ticket.

The tram is amazing. I had been on trams in Wellington (NZ) but this was the steepest tram I had ever been on. It actually went through a cloud which was really cool. We reached the top and I wandered around the peak taking pictures, but sadly, none of the amazing view that one is supposed to have from Victoria Peak.

Around 9am I took the tram back down and headed for the rail again going one stop to the Admiralty station. At Admiralty I bought a ticket for Ocean Park and paid for round trip bus fare to the park. Ocean Park was spectacular. It sits at both the bottom of a mountain and the top of another and the two parts are connected by cable cars which skirt the South China Sea. This Park is half theme park (two roller coasters and a bunch of other rides) and half educational (coral reef, panda, aviary, jellyfish exhibits).

I started with the rides. Being early there were no queues and I got to ride both roller coasters with no waits and once being the only one on it. The roller coasters were rather tame but still great fun! :) I also rode this neat contraption which has you spinning parallel to the ground, but then lists up and you are spinning perpendicular to the ground. Quite dizzying! I also did the log flume, flying swings and a couple others.

After hitting the rides I hit the educational stuff. Pretty much standard fare but the jellyfish exhibit (over 1000 jellyfish on display) was fantastic! ^^ They used colored lights, mirrors and sound to really disorient you and make you think you were actually walking in the water surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of jellyfish. Cool! :cool:

I also hit the Panda Exhibit. Unlike the one at the National Zoo in Washington, DC this one was indoors and it looks like Ocean Park has three Pandas. One was busily eating but two were playing with each other. I guess one of them got tired of the audience however as she/he came right up to the window (just a pane of glass separates visitors from the pandas) turned around and pooped. Right in front of everyone. Really quite funny. :D

As another note, the cable cars that take one between the two parts of the park are really quite an engineering marvel. They are built into the side of a mountain and give wonderful views out over the South China Sea. For that matter the whole park has amazing views, and the track for one of the coasters even goes over the Sea at one point!

After Ocean Park i went back to Victoria Peak and tried it again. Wow! What a view without fog. It really was spectacular looking out over Hong Kong and the Harbour!

After my second jaunt around the Peak I went back to my hotel picked up my luggage and headed to Avenue of the Stars to watch the 8pm light and sound show. At 8pm every night here they play music and lights on about 40 buildings across the Harbour are correographed with said music. Now we're not talking any lights either. Some had colored spots, others had geometric shapes, some had rainbows, etc...Really quite neat!

After the show I took the MRT (subway) to the Kowloon station where I would catch the airport express train. The airport express train is great as it runs every 12 minutes only takes 24 to get to the airport and costs only 90HKD (about $13US). Even better since i was flying business I got to check in at a counter at the Kowloon Station and proceeded straight to security and immigration when I arrived HKG.

Immigration looked long as there were only about three agents working the foreign passport line, but I was waved over to one of the lines for residents or diplomats (I'm not sure which) that was empty and was processed through in a matter of seconds.

I'm not in the Cathay Lounge at Gate 2 and must say I should have gone to the other lounge even though my flight leaves from Gate 3. Three of Cathays after midnight departures are leaving from Gates 1,2,3 and it is getting quite crowded here. Also part of the lounge is closed off for renovation which is not helping the situation. One of the closures is the Long Bar. Not a huge problem as I got some wine from the Short Bar but it does make the Short Bar very crowded.

But I've had a shower, some noodles with wontons, juice, wine, coke and will soon sit down with a paper while waiting the call for boarding. According to the agent at check-in business is 100% full this evening. Wonder how many will deplane in Vancouver and how many will continue to NYC?

I will not be traveling alone on this one. I'll have with me Flat Stanley.

...and another one. The French version of Flat Stanley (Clément Aplati) went to the UAE with me.

The Lao massage was very interesting. At first I thought the masseuse was trying to kill me pulling and pushing on my muscles and limbs with all of her weight...

Really entertaining report--thank you for taking the time. I had a massage like this in Bangkok--I was convinced the masseuse had gone to some sort of muay thai school of massage, but oddly enough I did feel very good after it was all over.

I agree Superflyer that fear of terror is probably the culprit, but I wish that wouldn't stop airports in the US. In Madrid anything you were putting in storage was checked by security before you were allowed to store it. They could do that in the U.S. It would be nice!

There are still a few luggage storage facilities at US airports. I recently used the terminal 1 facility (on the lower arrivals level) at JFK during a 7 hour layover on TPA-JFK-CDG. As mentioned in a previous post, the attendant inspected my bag fairly thoroughly and then stored it for me. I picked it up after a quick trip into Manhattan and life was good!

I was looking forward to hearing about your trip, and maybe it's just me, but I'm finding it extremely difficult to follow the progress of events. You seem to jump around quite a bit in your posts. Sometimes following chronological order and sometimes according to where you happen to be writing the posts. Odd; I would think one or the other method might create better coherence. The lack of photos detracts as well unfortunately from the overall quality of your report.

I may be jaded but I cringe when I read comments such as yours regarding the other American tourists in Egypt. Mostly I find them presumptive and bordering on elitism. My view is that at least these people are attempting to visit new and interesting places which is a good thing. I don't think you can expect complete cultural sensitivity in places such as this. These are highly trafficked tourist venues and the locals are dependent and appreciative of the revenue it brings. If there are truly issues with what passes for acceptable wear then the local authorities should take it upon themselves to bar entry unless suitably attired. As they do in Italy at certain religious sites. Or as in Indonesia as they do at many temples. Or as they do at many mosques around the world.

Is there anyway to cut all the "anywhos" out of your posts? Quite distracting. These are just gentle comments I hope you don't find them off putting.

On the flip side to this, I am really enjoying your TR DCStudent. I find your style to be quite unique and I think your perspective on local culture, and even your objections to certain things you see are very interesting. Please keep up the great report and thanks for taking the time to write it.

BTW - I like the anywho's!

CX 888 HKG-JFK (with a stop in YYZ)
Scheduled Departure: 00:55 (HKG Time)
Actual Departure: 00:53
Scheduled Arrival: 05:50 (Eastern Time, Same Day)
Actual Arrival: 5:45

This flight was rather uneventful but was makred by the wonderful premium service the Cathay is so well known for. Immediately upon takeoff i went to sleep and prior to takeoff I had instructed a flight attendant to please not wake me for dinner but to wake me 4-5 hours into the flight (so I would be up for 8 hours or so and then sleep from YYZ-NYC to get with the timing). The flight attendant followed my instructions to a T and I found myself being gently woken 4.25 hours in!

After waking I had an orange juice, coke, fruit plate and Haagen Dazz. If only my mother or girlfriend had been with me to watch what I eat! ;) I then watched movies until we arrived Vancouver and due to a stupid Homeland Security Department rule those of us continuing on had to leave the plane with all of our luggage and be locked inside a very small transit lounge.

This rule where we must get off and take our luggage so the plane can be checked is so dumb. 1st, since we don't go through security to reboard if something is in a pass. bag, it will still be in the pass. bag when they reboard. Second, if the cleaning or catering crew wants to plant something on the plane they have many of other ways to do it rather than tamper with passengers luggage. Third, since we were all required to have transit visas (or ability to enter) Canada to be booked on this flight what does locking us up prevent? Every passenger boarding in Canada could go to the same shops and food post-security that we were locked away from. Finally, when we reboard we can still tell who the Air Marshalls are since the plane was emptied and somehow a couple of people managed to board ahead of the transit passengers. :rolleyes:

We took back off from Vancouver and I had a full meal before falling back asleep. I woke up as we were on final approach for JFK. We landed just prior to 5:45 but could not be let off the aircraft until 6am because there were no customs and immigration officers on duty. I was the first to immigration and customs and was in and out in less than 5 minutes.

My American Airlines flight to DCA was unevenful and 100% full. On time, glass of Coke, the usual!

Now that I'm home I'll make a few final posts. I'll summarize the good, the bad and the ugly and then post menus from all of my flights.

Thanks for following me on my journey!

Great report dcstudent, I look forward to seeing some of the sumptuous menus on your trip.

Well, people thought my friend and I are mad trying to plan out to pack a go-around-Europe trip in 3 weeks. Now I present to you the man who took on the world in 14 days. :p We are a frightening bunch, aren't we?! :D

Makes me want to go on one of these very soon!!! Oh to be a student now instead of 20 years ago....

Can't wait to see the pics....what travel books did you find the most helpful, obviously not Lonely Planet, or websites?

Don't forget the 21st!

What a wonderful journey. It brings back so many memories. I backpacked around the world almost 30 years ago. I can hardly believe I am saying that - 30 yrs ago. It seems like yesterday. I visited many of the places you write about, and so I loved your travel tale.

It makes me yearn to travel like that again. Mr. Brit and I have decided that once the girls are through college (not for a while yet!), we will don backpacks and set off on a round-the-world trip again.

In the meantime, I will live vicariously through trip reports!

Great post! Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Also have enjoyed your previous posts. Reminded me of my jaunt around Asia last fall on honeymoon with Mrs. Northy -- we hit a lot of Air Asia flights too, as that saved us a considerable sum. Also took the Air Asia UTH - BKK flight after coming out of Laos overland, as it saved us more than $150 each versus flying out of Vientiane. We were fortunate to get out of Bangkok just before the protesters took over the airport for two weeks!

Definitely sounds like the most interesting part of the trip!:)

i resemble that remark!

So, it seems that Flyertalk enjoys logging me off and deleting what I've written if I write for too long so I'll make separate shorter posts....

My driver next took me to Saqqara. The drive from Dashour was about 20 minutes and was just as harrowing as I've come to expect! The contrast of poor to wealthy in Egypt was quite striking as near where I stayed you have the embassies, nice homes and five star hotels and here I was seeing horse and donkey drawn carts. The horses and donkeys looked very malnourished, and the cattle looked like skin on bones. It was very saddening.

Anywho, we arrive Saqqara and again pay baksheesh to the entrance guard who lets us do something (unclear what) and then buy the ticket. After buying the ticket I decided I would like to take an "Egyptian Cadillac" (also known as a donkey) around the tombs and the step pyramid. I negotiated a price of £E150 and off we went. The tombs were very interesting and, again, for baksheesh I was allowed to take pictures inside. The guards were quite unashamed at offering photos, and then holding out their hands in expectation.

Next stop was the step pyramid. The step pyramid was built in layers (hence steps). Tourists are not allowed inside but you can wander about the outside and it was quite a marvel to behold. My final stop was a restroom, which consisted of a trailer with rudimentary urinals. A man came in as I was relieving myself of some of the 1.5L of water I had had so far and shoved toilet paper at me. I refused the paper and I was leaving the trailer he asked for £E1. I refused and we had a brief shouting match. Sorry but I will not pay to urinate in what is basically a hole 2 feet above the ground, especially after the man ran in during my business and stared at me. No way, Jose. :td:

I then returned to the donkey and the man led me back a ways towards the parking lot. When we got to the end he said I owed him £E300. I said "no, we agreed on £E150. He again insisted on £E300 (about 50$US) and I said "no, and now you're only getting £E100 for trying to cheat me. When he started to yell even louder I pointed at the nearest tourist police officer (who happened to be the one my driver paid baksheesh to), and when he started ambling towards us the donkey driver took the £E100 I had offered.

(After all it's just like contract law at home, right? I offered £E150, he rescinded and wanted £E300, I offered £E100 and he took it. ;) )

In all seriousness, being ripped off is kind of infuriating and does not add to the pleasure of a journey. I really think the Egyptian Government should do something to regulate the price as well as the persons who can offer these services at the pyramid complexes.

Whoo, took a quick break from writing this report to grab a glass of wine. I think it will help the layover go much faster.....

On the way to Giza my driver stopped at a Papyrus shop. He told me this was just for my "education" and I didn't have to buy anything. (Right) Fortunately, I was warned about this sort of thing. I knew my driver would get a cut of anything I purchased and that is why he took me here. I did get to learn how to make art from papyrus which was actually really cool, and I got to try out my own handiwork (crappy to say the least). I did see a couple of pieces I liked and decided to buy them, negotiating a 20% discount from the listed price. I found it quite funny when the person following me around the store told me these were one of a kind as I had seen the same exact pieces at a bazaar in the main square. But the other shop I had seen had these at twice the price of the listed price at this shop, so it turned out alright.

My driver next headed for Giza. He asked me if I would like to ride a camel or a horse around the pyramids, and indeed I did. The Giza pyramids and other sites cover a huge area of ground and I was already feeling my muscles from the walking and climbing at Dashour and Saqqara. My only request was that he bring me to a place that treats it's animals right as I had seen quite a few malnourished camels, donkeys and horses at Saqqara, many of whom had sores and I refused to support that kind of treatment.

To be continued.

Wow. I absolutely loved all of your posts from your time in Egypt, but this one stands out to me - its fantastic and i thank you for it. Ive just returned from a trip which included parts of the middle east, and, like you i found Egypt to be something of a mixed bag. The constant pressure for baksheesh and the harassment from those who prey on tourists definately put a negative tinge on the trip, although i sense you handled it much better than my family did. We are of indian origin so we're pretty adept at looking out for ourselves, but we still felt quite disgusted nonetheless.

I noticed at Saqqara your driver took your money and purchased your tickets for you. I, too noticed this trend with our tour guide in Cairo - she would take our money, purchase whatever we wanted for us (insisting that everywhere we stopped was 'not for tourists') and give us 'change' which i have now pretty much accepted was doctored by a tip for her (for services which werent even required in the first place!). This REALLY annoyed me and im suprised (but very glad) that you didnt let it affect your experience.

And as for the papyrus shops, perfume shops and jewelry shops that guides inevitably steer you to - what a rip off. The papyrus place especially, they wanted LE130 for a small papyrus and LE10 for each name we wanted written on it. Later that evening the hotel was selling exactly the same papyrus for LE1, over 99% less, as per my terrible mathematics. Astounding.
The real joke was that all of the places with ridiculously inflated prices were under the control of the Egyptian government, so the very people who should be working toward a more secure tourist environment were infact behind the exploitation of the people they should be assisting. Hmm, only in Egypt.

The sights in and around Cairo truly are incredible, the Saqqara, Giza Pyramids and Sphinx are just awe inspiring and make the whole trip worthwhile. To me, its a pity that such an amazing place needs to be associated in travelers' minds with the unpleasant experiences that invariably come with any venture to Egypt.

One again thanks for the report, i have loved reading it thus far, and look forward to finishing it soon.

Cheers,
aD :-)

Cathay Pacific 712 BKK-HKG
Scheduled Departure: 4:25pm
Actual Departure: 4:40pm
Scheduled Arrival: 8:00pm
Actual Arrival: 8:11pm
Business Load: 90%

The flight was fine except for the ogre sitting next to me. He talked very loudly on his cell until the door closed. I knew he was from New York. I knew where he worked, what he made in the "good times" and how he was against salary caps for finance people. (I don't know, I think they're fine. I mean who really needs to be making multiple millions of dollars a year? It just encourages short term risk-taking to build bonuses not long term health and growth....And heck, if they can't find people to work for under 1mil a year they can offer me a job for much less. Surely I can bankrupt a company just as well as one of these uber brilliant and fabulously wealthy people can...:p)

But it got worse once the door closed. He never put his phone in flight mode, I know because he received a call during takeoff and was sending messages until we were into our climb a bit. But what was even worse was his lack of respect for other people. I don't know if the best MBA (yeah I know where he went to school too) schools teach people to think anyone else is a lower lifeform or whether he just became this way but he treated the cabin crew with utter disrespect.


Sounds like the guy, from a major firm in NY, who was in the BA lounge with us @ JFK a couple weeks prior to your experience, and flew CX F to HKG. He was really unhappy about the salary caps on that day as well...

I love your trip reports, dcstudent, and I was wondering - since you seem to hop into a lot of countries that might have language difficulties. What languages do you speak?

So are you still on your whirlwind tour? or has it been completed?

Excellent read thus far and look forward to reading more :D

zz :)