France, Caen, 26 – 29 July 2015

Posted on Friday, 31-July-2015 by Chris Desmond

From Paris I rode to Caen in Normandy. Getting out of the metropolis I used toll freeways to avoid the traffic and then onto secondary roads through the beautiful Normandy countryside. The beautiful turned wet for the last 90 minutes of the ride and I arrived soaking wet on the outside.

This area is where the allied forces of World War II landed on the beaches to start retaking Europe back from the Germans. During the 100 days it took to drive the Germans back, Normandy was flattened with many civilian casualties but this saved the rest of France from a similar fate.

Pegasus Bridge

1st Battalion Fusilier Marine Commando – French troops

Caen Memorial

I spent a day riding around visiting the various D Day beaches and associated museums, memorials and cemeteries.

Bayeux and Caen

 

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France, Paris, 21 – 25 July 2015

Posted on Sunday, 26-July-2015 by Chris Desmond

Versailles – Book your ticket online and get there early, its a favourite destination for Chinese tourists, millions of them, the inside is packed and not much fun, outside is very nice, hire a golf cart to get around its huge.

Sainte-Chapelle

Pompidou Centre – History of Modern Art

Louvre – Book your ticket online and walk straight in or wait in a queue for hours. I would give it a complete miss, again packed with tourists taking pictures of themselves or each other. There are no English translations which doesn’t make sense since 90% of the people in there are foreign tourists and don’t speak French. I could only stand an hour of it before I got out of there hahaha.

Invalides and the Latin Quarter which is a good place to eat

Batobus – Hop on, Hop off boat, Jardine des Plantes – Dilapidated garden with a small zoo, Loius Vuitton Foundation – Quite amazing

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France, Paris, 17 – 20 July 2015

Posted on Tuesday, 21-July-2015 by Chris Desmond

Paris, founded in the 3rd century BC, not much can be said that hasn’t already been said about this city, the worlds top tourist destination, population 12 million. A surprise around every corner and one or two tourists as well. The metro will take you just about anywhere but get used to climbing stairs because escalators are few and far between. A 10 ride ticket costs 14 Euro.

I was last here in 1983 when Paris was clearly a French city, now at times I am not sure what part of the world I’m in and the French have learnt to speak English in the intervening years hahaha.

From Brussels I rode to Paris on the N2 which is not a freeway, it winds through many small towns and villages, takes about an hour longer, hardly any traffic a different pace altogether compared to the freeway.

The first thing I did was to get a Lebara SIM card for my phone, cost E20 for 600 min of talk, 600 sms and 1 GB data valid for a month.

Montparnasse Tower, the best view of Paris

Eiffel Tower

The Pantheon

Arc de Triomphe

Champs-Elysees

Tuileries Park

Montmartre

Notre Dam and a walk through Paris

 

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Belgium, Brussels, 13 – 16 July 2015

Posted on Friday, 17-July-2015 by Chris Desmond

After Beirut I picked up my bike from Spain and rode it to the Netherlands from there I rode to Brussels. I arrived in a drizzle and it continued for 2 days, the sun came out on my last day there. This is Belgium’s largest city with a population of 1.8 million, very cosmopolitan and a centre for International politics, a good place to visit.

 

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Lebanon, Beirut, 17 – 23 May 2015

Posted on Saturday, 23-May-2015 by Chris Desmond

From Aqaba I flew to Beirut via Amman, taxi from the Aqaba city to the airport is JD15, there is a JD15 departure tax when you leave by air and it should be included in the price of your ticket. The flight from Amman to Beirut takes a roundabout route in order to avoid Israel air space and the areas of conflict in Syria.

You get a visa on arrival at Beirut airport and its free, the immigration officer checked every page of my passport and asked me if I had been to Israel, you may be denied entry if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport. Both US dollars and Lebanese pounds are used in Lebanon, ATM’s give you a choice when withdrawing cash. The Lebanese pound is fixed to the US dollar at 15,000:1. The taxi fare from the airport to the city is USD$20 and takes about 20 minutes, taxis do not have meters. On the return journey to the airport at 0400 I booked a taxi through Charlie Taxi’s, you can do this online at charlietaxi.com for local journeys as well, cost was USD$17 including a tip, excellent service.

Beirut was destroyed during the civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990 and parts have  been rebuilt. Women appear to have complete freedom here, it feels more like Europe than the Middle East and just as expensive. Lots of machine guns and barbed wire in the downtown area. Certain areas of Beirut and Lebanon are not tourist friendly, ask the locals before you set out to explore the city.

Beirut Downtown and the Souk

National Museum and Sassine Square, the museum is well done and has collections dating back to the Pharaohs.

Jeita Caves, Byblos and Harissa Tour, I hired a car and driver for the day cost USD$100. The caves are huge and quite spectacular, no photos, Byblos is an ancient site with a Crusader castle, Harissa is on top of the mountain and has a big church and a statue of Mary.

Big Mosque, Rafic Hariri Memorial and Pigeons rock

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Jordan, Wadi Rum and Aqaba, 13 – 16 May 2015

Posted on Saturday, 16-May-2015 by Chris Desmond

Wadi Rum (Valley of Rum), where Lawrence of Arabia used to hang out, desert and sandstone monoliths, a striking place.
I booked a tour out of Petra, cost JD65, plus JD5 entry to the Wadi Rum area, consisting of a shared taxi from Petra to Wadi Rum, tour of the area in a 4wd, 3 meals and a bed to sleep in, leaving the next morning in a shared taxi to Aqaba JD10.
A constant wind blows through the valley coating everything in a fine layer of sand and carving the sandstone into intricate shapes.

Aqaba, located at the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, is Jordan’s only coastal city and seaport. It is a duty free city so there is security getting in and out and the taxi driver got fined for speeding on the way in so there is also law and order. Business and sea side resorts are the main attractions. There are 4 countries within a 20 km radius of this place, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Egypt.

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Jordan, Wadi Musa (Petra), 11 – 12 May 2015

Posted on Tuesday, 12-May-2015 by Chris Desmond

Wadi Musa (altitude 1000 meters) is the name of the town you stay in to visit Petra (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). The best way to get here from Amman is by Jett Bus, it takes 3.5 hrs and costs JD10. The bus leaves Amman at 0630 from the Jett Bus Office in Abdali, it does not leave from the Abdali Bus station. You can reserve a ticket online or by phone and then pay for it when you arrive to catch the bus, you cannot buy the ticket online. The bus has comfortable seats and is air-conditioned but not much leg room, it was only half full. Its worth noting that the bus does not stop at the Wadi Musa Bus station, it keeps going and only stops in the Parking area at the entrance to the Petra site about 2km further on. From there you have to get a taxi to your hotel, cost not more than JD2. The same bus returns to Amman at 1700, so you can visit Petra from Amman and return the same day.

Petra (entry JD50 0r USD$70), established around 300 BC and abandoned in 106 AD. It was the Capital city of the Nabataeans and is Jordan’s most visited tourist attraction.
Go early (0730), the tour busses start turning up at 1000 and it gets packed. Be prepared to walk at least 6-20 km depending on how far you want to go, the interesting bit is the narrow gorge to the iconic Treasury after that it opens up and you get to the Roman theatre and some tombs, about 4 km and then another 4 km to get back to the entrance, that’s as far as I got.

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Jordan, Amman, 07 – 10 May 2015

Posted on Sunday, 10-May-2015 by Chris Desmond

I flew EgyptAir from Luxor to Cairo and then to Amman, Jordan, two short flights. You can buy a Visa on Arrival cost JD40 (USD$57) at the Immigration Counter and pay for it with your credit card right there. I did not know this and withdrew money from an ATM, which I had to do anyway, there is a JD5 (USD$7) ATM fee in Jordan. There are money changers in this area as well. Amman Airport is about 40 km from the city and the taxi fare is Jordanian Dinar JD25 (USD$35) or you can get the Airport bus which is only JD1.50 plus 0.25 per suitcase (according to the airport website) and then a taxi to your hotel. Taxis are fairly cheap and have meters. I now have to advance the time 1 hour, that’s because Egypt is on the same time as Amsterdam, while Jordan is on Middle East time.

Amman, population 4 million, relatively clean, no visible pollution, good roads. The area is very hilly therefore you are always either walking up or down a hill hahaha good exercise. Tourism is one of Jordan’s main sources of income, they do not have any oil.

I bought a SIM card, used the taxi drivers ID to register it as I did not have my passport, Zain network, 3000 Zain min, 60 other min and 60 SMS plus 1GB data for JD10.50 about USD$15.

The Citadel (entry JD2) is on top of a hill and has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, the most notable features are a couple of pillars leftover from the Temple of Hercules, a small museum and the rest is mainly in ruins.

 

Roman Theatre, having seen about 300 of these things scattered all over Europe I did not go in, just took a picture from the street.

Rainbow Street, where its all happening is on top of a hill.

I hired a taxi for a tour of the Dead Sea area cost JD50 plus a JD5 tip, we left at 0830 and returned at 1430, 6 hours. Sites visited Madaba, Mt.Nebo, Dead Sea and Bethany.

Greek Orthodox Church, Madaba (entry JD1), famous for its mosaics.

 

Mount Nebo (entry JD1), Moses is buried somewhere around here.

Dead Sea, 350m below sea level, took some pictures from a viewpoint and moved on, apparently to go for a swim you have to use a private beach which costs JD20.

 

Bethany (entry JD12), where Jesus was thought to have been baptised by John. The Jordan river has changed course in the last 2000 years and the original baptism site is about 300m east of where the river currently flows. This site covers a large area, a minibus takes you to a certain point and after that it’s a 500m walk to the original Baptism site and then another 300m to the Jordan river. The river itself is not very wide and Israel is on the other side which looks well developed for tourism, with many pilgrims taking a dip in the water.

Jordan Museum (entry JD5), this is a new museum, modern and well laid out, focusing on the Nabataean Culture.

 

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Egypt, Luxor, 03 – 06 May 2015

Posted on Wednesday, 6-May-2015 by Chris Desmond

I travelled by train from Aswan to Luxor, a guy from the hotel bought my ticket, cost LE50 for 1st class Air-conditioned. There were 3 other foreigners in my compartment and I met someone who got on and bought a ticket on the train. Its better to have a ticket before you get on, then you have an assigned seat number and don’t have to move around because you are sitting in someone else’s seat.

Luxor Temple (entry LE60), this temple is in the heart of the town. The woman selling tickets gave me LE20 change for a 100 and said “no change” so I asked to see and she showed me some notes, one of them was a 50 so I took the 50 and gave her a 10. These people are government employees. More tourists here than in Cairo and Aswan where there were practically none.

Karnak Temple (entry LE80), about 2.7km up the road from the Luxor temple, an avenue used to connect them once upon a time. Huge complex most of it still in ruins. Taxi fare between the two is LE10.

Nile cruise

Valley of the Kings (entry LE100 for 3 tombs), I hired a car and driver cost LE130. Situated on the west bank of the Nile (Luxor and Karnak temples are on the East bank), these tombs are spread over a large area and there are hundreds of them, only about 8 are open to the public, no photos allowed but baksheesh is the answer.

Hatshepsut Temple (entry LE50)

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Egypt, Aswan, 01 – 03 May 2015

Posted on Sunday, 3-May-2015 by Chris Desmond

I flew from Cairo to Aswan by EgyptAir, USD$68 and 1.5 hours booked through the EgyptAir website, taxi from my hotel near Tahrir Square to the Airport cost LE70. The alterative is a night sleeper train that takes 12 hours and costs $120. They will not sell a foreigner a ticket for any of the day trains (too dangerous) but apparently you can get a local person to buy one for you. Taxi from Aswan airport to the town is about LE75.

I hired a car and driver for a tour of Aswan, cost LE300 for half a day, everything here is more expensive than Cairo.

Aswan Dam (entry LE30), completed in 1971, the reservoir is 500km long and covers an area of 6,000 square km, extending into Sudan.

Philae Temple (entry LE60 + LE85 for boat hire), is on an island and was also relocated.

Unfinished Obelisk (entry LE40), intended to be the biggest, abandoned because it cracked, gives you an insight into how they were constructed.

Nile Cruise, Kitchener Island or Aswan Botanical Gardens (entry E20), created by an Englishman and donated to the City, you can hire a boat for LE70 per hour to visit the Island.

The main reason for coming to Aswan is to visit the Abu Simbel Temple complex situated 280 km south of Aswan near the border with Sudan. These two temples were moved here from another location which is now underwater as a result of the Aswan Dam being built, the dismantling and reconstruction is an amazing feat in itself.
You have to travel to this place in a convoy, the first convoy is for Public vehicles, buses etc, this is the big convoy, leaves at 0400, takes 3 hours to get there, you get 2 hours to look around and then 3 hours back. The second convoy which is for Private vehicles leaves at 1100 and returns at 1900. I hired a car and driver for USD$110 and went in the second convoy which turned out to be my car and one other minibus with Chinese tourists. We were the lead car so I had a policeman with a machinegun in the back seat, he slept most of the way and as we were travelling at 120 kph the minivan could not keep up and arrived about 20 minutes after us so it was not much of a convoy hahaha.

No photos allowed inside the Temples until you tip the guy LE25

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