Some Dim Sum

Natalie and I shared what is a fairly typical sized guest bedroom in Hong Kong friday night (approx. 7x8 feet). Our bed was up against the window, though as we arrived after 10:00, when we went to sleep we could see nothing but darkness. This morning we opened our eyes to what really was a breathtaking view of the East Lamma Channel. 



East Lamma Channel



Our first activity of the day was to head back to Lantau Island to an area right next to the aiport we flew into last night, where we had pre-ordered tickets for a cable car ride that takes you to the Big Buddha statue.  Though we had tickets for 10:15, on the way to the MTR station (subway train) we walked passed an irresistable glowing green beacon that beckoned me, rendering the rest of the group helpless against its hold on me:  Starbucks.  Knowing that there won't be any Starbuck's in the remaing legs of our trip this was too much to pass up.  We grabbed some coffee and breakfast, and unfortunately then realized that food and drink are not allowed on the MTR, so we had to scarf it down quickly (which doesn't work that well oddly enough when your drinking a piping hot venti latte...) and had to toss some leftovers as we were already well behind schedule for getting to the cable car for our scheduled time.

Fortunately, as expected, the time on your ticket doesn't much matter for the ride.  The ride was slightly over 5 kilometers and took us over part of the channel, and over the various peaks and valleys.  The last kilometer or so which you could actually see the Buddha in the distance.  The girls had a great time.  I on the other hand am not that fond of heights, and though the view was phenomenal, couldn't stop thinking about the great expanse between me and some really rocky ground....



Once we arrived at the destination, there was  a long walkway with all sorts of shops.  My brother in-law David was quick to point out the irony of how the road to the big buddha was lined with shops selling trinkets, and even the area directly underneath the statue was filled with souvenirs for sale...which seems in rather stark contrast of Buddha's message of eliminating material posessions and a life of simplicity. 

As we got closer and closer to the base of the Buddha, the clouds began to come in over the nearby peaks, and it began to rain steadily on us.  While we had a bunch of ponchos, we learned an important lesson:  plastics ponchos don't do well to keep you dry in 85 degree rainy weather, since you quickly become soaked from sweat...



The rain seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, so after climbing the stairs to the Buddha, we pretty quickly turned around and headed back to the cable car.  On the ride back to our launch point and while suspended several hundred feet in the air, suddenly the cable car stopped.  Knowing my unease with the entire situation to begin with, everyone of course immediately looked directly at me and began laughing.  After several minutes (hours so it seemed to me) the speaker in the car began crackling.  This continued for several minutes until finally a voice came on and informed us (in 3 different languages) that the signal from the control center was having communication issues with the ride, and that there would be intermittent stops.  Wonderful.  I sat clutching the side of the car, as the rest of the family enjoyed the extended view and of course joked about how many hours we may be up there, much to my emotional distress, while I tried to envision how we could ever possibly be rescued from the car.  (Someone made the wonderful suggestion that perhaps I could use the poncho as a parachute...which I must admit I pondered a bit as a worst case contingency plan....)  Ultimately, after probably an additional 30 minutes (on top of a 20 minute ride) we made it back to the station safely.



After the train ride, we headed to a mall for some shopping and some dim sum for lunch.  We ordered about 15 different dishes, and everybody ate a little bit of just about everything until we were completely stuffed.  Jing, who selected all of the dishes for us, even ordered chicken feet, which we had a long discussion about the night before.  Much to my surprise, Alexandra grabbed a foot and dug right in, even after the warning to be careful to spit out the bones.  Her report after words?  Very good.   While Kalyssa wasn't quite as daring, she did try just about everything else, and gave it a 4 out of 5 stars on the Kalyssa food critic rating system.

After getting back to David and Jing's place our body clock's were screaming at us that they were quite confused and wanted some time to sort it out, so we surrendered and decided to take a nap.  The next item on our itinerary was a stop at the Temple Street market for some shopping.  Around 7:30 David and I woke up and took the dog out for a walk (which is an adventure in itself when you live on the 43rd floor and are 3 blocks from the nearest park.  Ran into an attorney working for a Chicago company, but based out of New York, yet living in Hong Kong, also walking his dog, and talked for a bit. 

After we got back to the Nealis abode, we gathered our belongings, did a quick potty check, and headed out to Temple street. 



Outside Temple Street Night Market



The night market was a typical asian market with stall after stall after stall of assorted jewelery, clothing, religious items for sale and hundreds of shopper perusing the wares.  We made it approximately 3 stalls, when we suddenly heard the question: "Is there a bathroom around here?"..... The knowing glance gets shot from parent to parent, and then to uncle and aunt, (whose reaction leans more towards humor than the parental irritation in the first two glances.)  "Is it going to be quick?" .....Reply:  "No....."   Ugh.  So we ask the first vendor near us if there is a "toilet" (remember in the east, and Europe I believe, that is the polite way to ask) nearby? Reply "ah yes.....exit market that way, and go two blocks that way, and you will find public toilet!" 

We had just gotten here, so a brief walk wasn't too bad, and it was a pleasant if not balmy evening...until David pointed out that the street we needed to walk down to get to the restrooms was the street where they sell...um...well...lets say items to provide entertainment, but not meant for younger people...   And of course this required walking through an extremely narrow walkway between stalls on either side exhibiting their wares.  This was our quickest walk of the weekend, and we bypassed some of our usually crowd navigation courtesy as we tried to squeeze through the walkway as quickly as possible, without a chance for seeing these sights....

The restrooms were passable (at least the report I got about the womens were....the men's room left something to be desired... We then navigated back to the main market and continued our shopping.  At 11:00pm, the market began closing and we headed to the restaurant located at a central intersection, and sat down for some beer and some seafood.  All the girls continued their adventerous streak, and everyone enjoyed some oyster omellete which came back with unanimous favorable reports, fried calamari, clams, and prawns (in shell with head.)  Kalyssa enjoyed the oyster omelette the best, but Alexandra preferred the escallop (clam with garlic), and both even experimented with the in shell prawns.  After another great meal, we all headed back to Bel-Air in cyberport to go back to sleep.

Prawns on Temple Street

Planes, Trams, and Automobiles...

Thursday morning came a little too quickly for me, as the excitement of actually getting started on our journey battled with the intense exhaustion of having only 2 hours of sleep left me as a shaky mumbling mess for the morning.  For some reason it kept running through my head that this is how the Deadliest Catch guys (as I'm an avid fan of that show) do it---busy working all day, 2 hours of almost-sleep, and then back in action (as if somehow packing a suitcase can somehow be compared to battling sub-zero temperatures and battling the Bering Sea...).  Though everything was packed except Toothbrushes and the like it still took us awhile to get us all moving, and the house ready to leave. 

10 minutes earlier than expected at about 7:30 the doorbell rang and our taxi was there.  He mentioned he tried calling the phone number I gave him to let him know that he was there, and it wasn't working (I guess its not a good idea to try to recite personal information at 4:00am for things like calling a cab...).  After a last minute scramble, we all left, and jumped in the cab with all our luggage.  As we backed out of the driveway, we went through the obligatory barrage of "did you remember this?"... "oh wait, what about that....?"  All answers were affirmative. ....until two blocks a way "Wait, stop.... I forgot my phone." (Natalie).  The cab driver, who appeared to have some of our anxiety now rubbing of on him quickly hit the brakes, and prepared to u-turn....at which point Natalie said "Wait...nevermind....Found it!"  So we continued.

 

Lunch at Chili's-O'Hare

The rest of the morning was as uneventful as could be expected, which is always good when embarking on air travel.  The girls were excited to get to Chicago, as my mother (who lives 2 miles from O'Hare) had offerred to come meet us for lunch at the airport.  We had a quick lunch at Chili's, which resulted in a surprising emotional goodbye (specifically from Kalyssa) as we then said goodbye and made it to our gate. 

I beleive this was the first time I've every departed from the international terminal at O'Hare (and I must say I'm unimpressed-great way to show off the city to the newcomer Chicago...).  Stepping off of the airport tram into Terminal 5, it was clear the trip was beginning, as you go from 95% Americans speaking mostly English, to what seemed like 95% foreigners speaking mostly other languages.  German, French, Spanish, and others all mingling together into a cacaphony of language...broken only by the occasionaly employee of the city of Chicago barking out orders to straighten the line, and to form 3 lines to the gate, in typical Chicago City Employee Customer Service fashion...

 

Our 14 and a half hour Cathay Pacific flight unfortunately was delayed a little over an hour.   Finally we boarded, and the airline was nice enough to parade us all through First class....then Business class...then through the curtains to the coach area.  Still much nicer than a typical domestic flight, but clearly looked like we'd be pretty cozy for awhile.  Once we boarded, and the entire plan went through the process of trying to swap seats to get everyone in their respective party together (of which we also successfully participated), we pulled away from the gate....and proceeded to wait on the tarmac another hour....before finally taking off two hours late.

Our intention was to sleep for the first half, to shift us towards Hong Kong time.  And after the dinner (which included complimentary wine, I was very pleased to find out!) we tried to do this.  Unfortunately, our body clocks prevailed, and it wasn't until the backhalf of the flight that most of us truly got restful sleep. 

When we finally got to Hong Kong and made our way through immigrations and customs, there awaiting was the familiar face of Natalie's brother David.  There is a strange emotional pang when travelling this distance to a foreign land and see a familiar face, and this time it was Natalie's turn to become emotional.  David had a taxi waiting for us, and we jumped in for the 30 minute drive from Lantau Island to the southern edge of Hong Kong Island.  As we got into the cab, the girls all wondered why Uncle David was getting in the driver side, followed by the mental vertigo, as the all realized the steering wheel was on the other side.  Though they had known that would be the case, there is still always that feeling of mental disorientation when you first see that.

View from David's Balcony

Once we arrived at David and Jing's apartment, we enjoyed some Cantonese takeout and some homemade Crocodile soup that David made (which was very good!)  After a couple after dinner drinks (some sort of armenian brandy) we turned in for bed to try and get some sleep for a busy day ahead of us on Saturday.



Dinner at David and Jing's



Homemade Crocodile Soup

Planning is Done....Time for Doing

Its been about 6 months since we initially decided that we were actually going to go ahead and make this trip, and the day is finally here. At 10:30 this morning we take off on our first series of flights to Hong Kong (via Chicago).  At this point, I'd estimate I've probably put in a good 300-400 hours of planning, researching, arranging, etc. for this trip.  I tend to be very OCD about things like this, and like to make sure that I've got a plan for everything we're going to do throughout our travels.  The last thing we want to do on a once in a lifetime trip such as this and end up wasting 4 hours in some exotic locale to researching and indecision (often exacerbated by a poor internet connections).  So to prepare, I wanted to ensure that we had an outline of activities including all of our points of connection and ensured that the planned routes of sightseeing have a good chance of being navigable in the time planned, even if we don't end up following it exactly.  So being the numbers guy I am, here's the ultimate outcome of all this work:

• 4 travelers
• 27 days
• 5 countries (8 if you count layovers)
• 13 flights
• ~60 hours of flight time 
• 11 different lodging accommodations (13 if you count the two places that we'll be at one night, and return on a later night
• 6 suitcases  
• A 21 page itinerary of travel and activities.

Does this Count as Packing Light?

This trip was initially my idea, and Natalie was somewhat overwhelmed with the idea, so the vast majority of all the travel specifics I put together (she however arranged all the caretaking of the issues at home while we are gone).  As fits with all the various personalities in our household, both Natalie and Allie have some pretty significant apprehension around being ripped out of the comfort zone that they've spent their lives in.  Kalyssa, always the adventurous one, though trying to play it cool for the last several weeks, has lost the ability to pretend shes not excited and has been pretty giddy the last few days.  Nonetheless, the pressure's now on.  The roller coaster is nearing the top of the hill.  The harness is on tight, and I couldn't get out if I wanted to. I know once I stop hearing the clickety clack of the failsafe behind the wheels, that the ride is going full speed ahead whether or not I'm ready.  I just have to hope the engineer that designed it knew what he was doing...but oh wait that's me...

Here's where I start to second guess all of the plans... spend the first hour of sleep retracing all the steps to ensure I didn't miss some important item in the planning as my consciousness fades.  Do we have transportation? What if I have us sightseeing somewhere but didn't plan for the luggage to be checked into the hotel....What if I reserved an activity on the wrong day....My last trip was easy.  I was alone for most of it, and could easily play it by ear if I needed to.  This time I've gotta make sure its tight. 

All 4 of us spent the last 6 hours doing our final packing, and making sure the house is set.  The goal for all of us was to stay awake until 3 to try and start getting the body clock shifted.  Kalyssa was the most eager to take on this challenge.  She helped out with odds and ends, and ended up in front of the TV, getting up every 20 minutes or so as if to show us she's still awake and keep her blood moving.  By about 12:30, all she could manage was a half smile and a thumbs up from the couch, to say I'm still here.  By 1:15, the TV was entertaining nothing more than the back of her head as she slipped into sleep.  Natalie, usually the first to fall asleep in any situation, kept going hard we got everything packed, and she laid down and started to drift about 1:30pm. I grabbed her and pleaded for her help in finishing up the rest of the house, and she crawled back out of her slumber and did.  About 2:00 we got everything in order, and she quickly checked out.  Allthewhile, Allie sat in her room zombie like, sneering at anyone that walked in, saying "i hate travelling....why do we have to travel... I hate travelling...." but still cognizant that if she didn't start to adjust her schedule the next several days would be that much tougher.  at about 2:00 she was in her bed, but still attempting to occupy her time on her computer.  I ever the night owl, still can't go to bed. because I keep thinking of all the things I can't remember if I forgot.....  a couple more tasks....then I'll hit the bed.  only for  a couple hours or so though, then its time to wake up and hope all goes smooth over the next 27 days....

A Family Field Trip Around the World: You're Going Where?

On May 24th, 2012, Natalie, Alexandra, Kalyssa, and I will embark on a 3 and a half week trip around the world, stopping in

• Hong Kong
• Cambodia
• Phnom Penh
• Takeo
• Siem Reap
• India
• New Delhi
• Agra
• Mumbai
• Mauritius
• Namibia
• Windhoek
• Swakopmund
• Sesriem
• Okaukuejo

"So why not Europe or something like that?"  Here's a question I've gotten several dozen times over the last several months (the majority of which coming from my wife).  Why such "off-the-beaten-path" locations for the family "vacation?"

America's an exceptional country.  236 years ago, our founders laid the foundation for a system of government that was able to fully harness human ingenuity and the entrepreneurial spirit. The result is more than 2 centuries of phenomenal growth and prosperity enabling us to grow into the economic superpower we are today.  The downside is that with this success and the size and location of our country, one can live their entire life with the false impression that American culture is the only "normal" culture, and the inability to identify with people in other cultures.  When 9/11 occurred we were glued to the TV because we saw our fellow Americans in such a perilous situation.  But how many people felt the same way when they saw the Mumbai terrorist attacks on 26/11? I think for many, the natural reaction is "hmm crazy stuff over there" and then we continue on with our day without a second thought.  We don't have the empathy that we do for those that we relate to in the culture that we're used to.

I know I certainly had that perception of tragic events in other countries.  9/11 opened my eyes a little to a view of how situations in the rest of the world can impact us here. Still however, when I saw human suffering in other parts of the world, it may as well have been occurring on a different planet.  It only took 2 and half weeks of travelling to some areas that were extremely different culturally than where I was from to change all that.  It takes only a very little amount of time meeting and talking to people in other countries to realize, no matter what they look like, no matter what they sound like, no matter what they dress like, there's a lot more we have in common than that on which we differ. The attacks on Mumbai in 2008 were the first major world event after I returned where suddenly, it wasn't a "3rd world country" on the other side of the world, it may as well have been my friends and neighbors that I saw on the TV.

I view the world entirely differently now than I did prior to my trip.  My hope is that through this trip, it will be the same eye-opening experience for my girls, that it will change the lens through which they view the rest of their lives---that they realize that when one of us suffers in this world, we all suffer.  And when one person in this world triumphs, we all triumph.  Regardless of the continent upon which they sit.  On this trip, we will be visting some of the most amazing testaments to beauty and human inginuity, and we will be visiting sites of some of the worst chapters of human history.  I expect this trip, will be physically, and emotionally exhausting for all of us, and will be something that we will each still talk about when we are 80 years old.

So how did we pick each of these locations?  Most important was security.  Each place we are visiting is generally safer than the US when it comes to violent and petty crime, and has no civil unrest (or if there is it is isolated far from where we are visiting).  Secondly, since we are visiting many countries, I wanted to minimize difficulty of communication (as this makes the planning much easier by elminating the potential of adverse situations that could arise).

• Hong Kong was easy: Natalie's brother and his wife lives there, and its an obvious stopover to Southeast Asia.
• Cambodia and Angkor Wat was a destinaton that Natalie and I had discussed an interest in visting quite a while back.
• India was a given.  The Taj Mahal is about the most fantastic building I could ever imagine seeing.  Additionally, the culture and environment of daily life there is so entirely different than it is in the US, it becomes an excellent second reference point between which all other culture's and societies begin to make more sense.

Aside from these countries, I made a list of the countries that had no, or very limited security issues, gave the list to the girls to look through the coutnries, and asked them to do some online research to see which ones they wanted to visit.

Kalyssa had a blast with this and though she had about 8 countries she wanted to go to, Mauritius quickly rose to the top.

Alexandra wasn't as enthusiastic but ultimately became very interested in Chile or Belize.  Unfortunately, with the way the rest of the trip was laying out, time (not to mention money) made South America very difficult to get to. (But I PROMISE that we will visit one of these, perhaps for graduation.....). 

• Namibia became our final choice, as their tourism website (http://www.namibiatourism.com.na/) boasted phenomenal landscapes and sceneries, and would allow us a taste of mainland Africa.  What sealed the deal was when we learned that 50% of Namibians are Lutheran (due to the influx of Germans in the 1800s)--- since we are Lutheran.

As I did on my last trip, I will be updating this blog daily, to the extent possible, with pictures, and stories of everything we're doing during the trip.  I welcome you to use this blog to join us and share our learnings with us!

Special thanks to:

for great service in organizing this trip!

Epilogue

Almost 3 weeks after leaving Chicago in front of an impending snow storm, and I sit sipping espresso in Zurich, watching the sun rise over the Swiss countryside, my final flight back home only 5 hours away. Arriving here on Swiss airlines, the attendants spoke both English and Swiss/German, alternating passenger by passenger. Most of the time when they saw me, they spoke Swiss. I found this rather warming. I am 25% Swiss. While I have more Irish in me than swiss, My grandmother who helped my mother raise me is 100% Swiss. I never thought of having much Swiss culture in my upbringing, as she as well was born in the US. However, walking through the airport, there was something very familiar to the souvenirs that they have here. Being greeted in Swiss instead of English, furthered a strange ,foreign feeling of "home." I am still dissapointed about not getting out and seeing this country as I'm sure it is quite beautiful as well. Unforutnatley the logistics were just too difficult.

I never set up a counter on my blog, so I have no idea if many are reading it, or the few that have commented and emailed me about it. Even with those, I don't know if anyone reads it or just looks at the pictures. Regardless, it has certainly helped me personally. First I have found that my memory works strangely. I can't seem to remember things, unless I have a catalyst to bring on the memory. Ask me what I did yesterday, and I usually stare blankly. Provide one reference point, and I can talk for hours. This has provided me a way to help solidify my memories. Also, I have found that it is very easy to get lonely when you are away from the people that you know and love for so long, and don't have anyone to converse with regularly. I find myself craving conversations with people on the streets, and at times was close to just picking a person to talk to. I'm reminding myself of strange old men on park benches. Its strange how the human being requires communication.

As I sat and read over my blog, it brought back a lot of the emotions that I experienced each day on this trip. I've heard people say that travelling and seeing provides much better education than any text book. I guarantee you this is true. I feel I've learned more over the past 3 weeks than I did through 15 years of education. I've been able to reach out and break bread with people in culture's and lands that were just a strange shape and name on a map. I've seen the uniformity of the human race, its needs, desires, and interests, but also seen the wide and varying conditions under which we live. A starker contrast could hardly have occurred, from the indian child pointing at her grumbling stomach asking for food for her and her brother, to the arabian housewife shopping the elite stores in Dubai, and several countries at various points between.

In each of these areas, I was amazed at how closely tied we all are. American politics being an odd common thread. And I must say an unfortunate item to be used to be a representation of our country, as our politicians and political process (while I do believe its probably the best in the world) is so ripe with inefficiencies, and silliness. I was a little embarassed that I knew very little about the governments of most of the places I visited, in fact could only name the leader of Oman-none of the other ones. They however are all watching the elections as close, if not closer than the average american. In some cases, as the Iranian I met in the Dubai spice souq, because it may directly effect his home land.

Being as large and as wealthy of a country as we are, I guess it makes sense that more people know us, than we know of them. But it does seem we as a society should be more in tune with what's going on around us. 9/11 showed us that conditions and events in lands that we may never have heard of on the other side of the globe can iimpact us in our very homes and offices.

Communication, whether the internet, or the media has certainly put even the most remote place very accessible. There was something very surreal when Rashid in Al-Hazm, sitting on the desert floor in Oman pulled out his cell phone, and within a few seconds, was calling my American phone. Likewise, when I found that I traversed a market in Delhi, and then found that a random friend on myspace had parents that were artists, and used to often have a stall there. The internet has made the world so accessible its amazing.

The world is a big, beautiful place. I think the world population is up to 5 or 6 billion people. Many of them very wonderful people, each one with years and years of life experience and knowledge to share. I only ran across a handful of them, but this has certainly been life-changing.

I am so gracious for the opportunity to do this. More than anything for Natalie, who forcefully encouraged me to take as much time as possible for this once in a lifetime opportunity. I cannot thank her enough, and truly wish I had her by my side the whole time to experience it as well.

If there is anyone else that has made it through all my memoirs that I have left here on this message board, I thank you for taking the time to share them and read them, and I hoped it provided some benefit to you as well.

But for now, this is Ryan, signing off of my trip. See you back home.

-Ryan

February 16, 2008 2:25am (CST)

A Friday in Dubai

The middle east follows a different weekly schedule than the western world. The work week is generally Saturday through Wednesday, and the weekend is Thursday and Friday. Thursday is actually somewhat of a mix, as some businesses are open to better match the timing of their western partners. Nonetheless, Friday is the holy day in the middle east. In the morning, almost everything is closed until 1:00pm, which is after everyone has gone to the mosque.

While laws are still very Islamic based, prohibiting anything anti-Islam from entering the country, and harsh laws against converting a muslim to another religion, it has become tolerant of other religions and does allow them to practice. Oman is similar in this regard. I imagine Dubai in particular liberalized itself due to its reliance on a huge expat labor force from non-muslim countries.

I thought it would be great to attend a Christian worship service in a non-Christian country on my trip, and in Dubai everything fell into place to do so. I found a 3 different Christian churches-two nondenominational and one Catholic. (No Lutheran churches though….) I attended a service at Holy Trinity in Deira, only a 10 minute drive from my hotel. It was a sizeable church, that seems to have all sorts of things going on. There were probably 400-500 people in the courtyard, but only 200-300 in the service I went into. The style was similar the traditional Lutheran services I grew up in. Liturgical, and organ driven. Attendees were a mix of various ethnicities. I saw Indians, Africans, Anglos, Phillipinos and various other races. It was however, heavier on the Indian side, perhaps 50-60%.

The one thing that truly amazed me, was the volume of the singing. Now perhaps this is due to my Lutheran background, but I’m used to hymns being “sung” where just about all you hear is organ, and the occasional group “ssss” when an s is sung. Not here. Loud. Very loud. It seemed like the congregation was singing with all of their lung power. And its not that the hymns were exceptionally peppy hymns, they weren’t. On top of that, whether it was simply the very poor acoustics, or a poor organist, it seemed liked the music and lyrics weren’t always in sync, but yet the congregation kept the song together on their own. It was a very nice experience worshipping with people of the same faith but living in a vastly different world and environment, especially as it comes to how their religion is viewed once they walk out the church doors.

I believe there was a reception somewhere after the service that I really would have liked to attend, but I needed to rush back to my hotel and check out before noon. I requested an extension, but they said they were very busy today and needed the room quickly.

I didn’t take any pictures of the church, as I felt a little awkward doing that, so if your interested in anything more about it their website is http://www.holytrinitychurchdubai.org/.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the rest of my day. I had my free ticket to ride the dhow, which would take up an hour. I figured I’d get something to eat, and perhaps wander the gold souk, and then head over to the wharf.

I wandered the area by my hotel, walking past a restaurant that I walked past once before. The front windows are open, and their grill is right by the window, and it always smelled very good. It was a very local looking restaurant, didn’t at all seem to be trying to attract tourists, (not to mention the section of Deira where my hotel is really didn’t have much of anything for tourists besides the hotel. The street had two types of store fronts: cell phone dealers, and very dingy internet cafes. About 65% cell phones, and 35% internet. And at least 100 total shops between the two types.) The restaurant was Iranian: Layaly Tehran Restaurant. I’ve never had Iranian food, but it smelled darn good, so I went in, and asked if they had English menus. The guy said no problem, and asked me to take a seat. I sat down, and he came over and recited what they had to offer. I chose a chicken curry plate, with white rice.

My Lunch Stop

The meal was introduced with a salad just like the Omani one I had in Nizwa. Some sort of stiff, somewhat bitter lettuce (maybe even more of a cabbage…) carrots, and halves of small limes to use as dressing. The chicken and rice was very good. My only complaint (and this is my issue-not the restaurant) is the chunks of chicken were cooked on the bone, so I had to work around those. I’m sure this complaint is no surprise to those who have eaten with me on a few occasions.

Next I went to the Gold Souk, where supposedly you can get the best prices on gold anywhere. I was honestly shopped out, but thought I had to at least look. Apparently it is also a good place to get knock-off purses, watches, bags, and sunglasses. About every 5 feet, someone would approach and whisper, “Rolex watches, coach purses, designer sunglasses.

Gold Souq

I ignored 10 of them or so, but then I heard one hawker say sunglasses. Now I had just misplaced my new sunglasses (near as I can figure I dropped then in a taxi yesterday night-(perhaps related to the multitude of Valentine’s-Day-By-Yourself shots at Long’s Bar), so my ear’s perked up, and he quickly said follow me. Suddenly, I was out of the crowded souq, and being ushered down an empty alley for a couple blocks. Then it was into an open doorway that led to a dark staircase. My guide apologized for the lights not working. Then we climbed a stair case a couple floors. Then we went down a hallway and rang a doorbell. Someone answered the door. The next thing I remember is a door opening, and behind it were thousands of watches, purses, sunglasses, diesel bags, covering every square inch of every wall, a small couch to sit on, a small desk, and a video monitor showing a picture of the hallway outside. I liked very little of what I saw, except for one pair of sunglasses….that maybe I own now….

Window full of Gold

After the gold souq, I meandered through the spice souq. This was useless to me as I don't cook. One merchant with a traditional long muslim beard tried to pull me into his stall, but I told him as such. We got to talking, and he asked if I was german. I told him I was American, and his face lit up, and he exclaimed how happy he was to meet me. As we talked more, he mentioned that he is from Iran. He told me I should go see his country, I said I'd like to, but I didn't think it was safe for me. He agreed. He said he really looked forward to the day when the US and Iran could be friends again. I agreed.

Spice Souq

After this, I continued on a long walk to the dhow wharf. It was about 4:30, and the next boat was at 5:30. I got their at 5, and they ushered me on and embarked right away (still confused on the timing). Very nice, one hour audio guided tour of Dubai creek. And a little more info on the buildings and boats there. Pleasant surprise, once they left the dock, they began serving beer! Score.

Dhows on Dubai Creek

After this trip, I only had a few hours until I thought I should pick up my bags from the hotel and head to the airport, as I knew it would be mobbed.

There was a creekside café that served a wide selection of tropical (although nonalcoholic of course) drinks. They also had a wide array of sheesha selections. I had yet to try this, but they are all over the place, and my guide book says it is part of the Dubai experience, so what the heck. For those no in the “know” a sheesha is essentially what I grew up knowing in slang as a “bong” (only secondhand of course). They put all sorts of flavored tobacco in it, and you sit there and puff on it for quite a while. The pipes that they bring, look just like the one Sammy Davis Jr. had I the Alice and Wonderland live action movie 20 years ago or so.

I chose Strawberry. Definitely interesting. This is actually the first time I’ve every smoked anything meant to be inhaled (I’ve always smoked cigars though…) So it felt rather naughty.

I think this was the first time in the last 3 weeks that I just sat and did nothing. I watched the boats pass on the creek. I watched the people pass on the sidewalk, and I enjoyed my sheesha. At about 8:00, I decided I better pick up my bags and head to the airport.

Dubai: Build it Bigger

My plan for Dubai, was much less organized than what I had for Oman. The only items I had on my list were to go on a site seeing bus, and to attend a Christian church on Friday. Friday is the holy day in the middle east (Thursday-Friday is generally considered the weekend) and there are a handful of Christian churches.

Anyway, so for today the first thing I did, was get my bus Ticket. There is a British organization called the Big Bus Company. They have 3 such services, one in London, one in Philadelphia, and one in Dubai. Roughly $45, and you get a 24 hour, all day, hop- on-hop-off pass. If you stay on, the entire route is about 4 hours, and is narrated in English. It takes you through all the different parts of Dubai: Bur Dubai, Deira, and Jumeira, and runs every 20-30 minutes. So you can get off at a site you like, walk around, and jump on the next one only a few minutes later, picking up where you left off.

Dubai Big Bus

The closest bus stop to me was about a mile or so away, so I began walking. My hotel is in Deira, which is the east half of Dubai. Deira is separated from the rest of Dubai by the Dubai Creek, which connects to the Persian gulf. This area has some souks and generally has a bit more of a middle eastern urban feel to it. A lot of small store fronts lining the streets.

The first thing I noticed in walking around, is you don’t have the same clear sets of different ethnic groups as you did Oman. In Oman, you had the locals, who all wore the same thing. In Muscat and Muttrah they made up about 60% of the people you saw. Elswhere, they were about 95% of the people you saw. Then you had the expat lower level workers, who also for the most part seemed to wear similar clothes (to each other, not to the Omanis). They all wore single colored jump suits. Then you had the European tourists, that dressed, well, like European tourists. Here, there are dozens of different nationalities, and just as many different languages being spoken. My Arabic isn’t coming in near as handy, as with many of the people I’ve had to talk to for on reason or another, few of them clearly spoke Arabic.

Once I got to the bus stop, I purchased my ticket, and jumped on. They took us along the creek and showed us the loading docs for all the dhows (wooden boats) that do all of the local shipping.

Dhows Along Dubai Creek

(For trips just in and around the persian gulf.) Lining the streets were palettes and crates and piles of goods. Refrigerators, flat screen TVs, spices, etc. These will sit here stockpiled, sometimes for weeks waiting for their trip to their next destination. However, there is virtually no security to prevent it from being stolen, besides the strict laws of the country, and the culture here that prevents it. Amazing. Try that along the Chicago river and see how long all these types of goods would last.

Cargo along Dubai Creek

As we got further along the Dubai Creek, we entered into one of Dubai’s many commercial districts. Tall glass covered sky skyscrapers lined the shores, including the Marriot, which has the worlds longest unsupported walkway between two buildings.

Marriott Hotel and Walkway

Bank of Dubai Building

We crossed the creek leaving Deira for Bur Dubai (which means old Dubai) in the distance, we could see the primary commercial district on the horizon: Sheik Zayed Road. The sky line in this direction (really all directions) is ever changing. However, for the last few years this section has been growing straight up. What is already becoming Dubai’s number one recognized landmark (working quickly to beat out the Burj Al Arab, or the World) is what will be the world’s largest structure, and the world’s largest building. Burj Dubai. (Burj means tower).

Sillhouette of Sheik Zayed Road

This building is currently approaching 160 floors. It has not been released exactly how tall the plans are to make it (to prevent competition from exceeding) and it is being built so that additional floors could be added at a later date in case a competing building dares grow taller. As a comparison, the Sears Tower has 112 floors (give or take a couple). So quite a bit bigger! Intrestingly though, it was designed by Chicago's Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. The same company that built the Sears Tower.

We then approached a stop where I figured I’d find lunch and walk around a bit: Wafi Place. At first glance its your typical shopping mall, until you start to pay attention to the stores. Mont Blanc, Tiffany, Verace, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Bugatti, Pierre Cardin…. 100s of stores, and just about all were at this caliber. I’ve never seen so many stores that I would never step foot in, packed in one single location. No souvenirs to be purchased here.

Wafi Place

While on my way I happened past two Starbucks, and picked up some needed caffeine. I found a separate area that had a bunch of restaurants, however, between the elaborate building, and the obvious caliber of clientele, I was pretty worried what the price would be, so I returned to a small café in the mall, and ate there. I will say they had the best burger I’ve had in some time (even going back to BEFORE India.) They also had some pretty yummy fruit smoothies. What this country doesn’t do with alcohol, they have done a pretty good job of making up for in fruit drinks (although sneaking a little rum in them would make them absolutely fabulous.

After a short amount of time, I jumped back on the bus. From this spot, the bus took us along Jumeirah beach. We rode past the new “World” development. This is where you can purchase your own man-made island for anywhere between $15 million- $60 million. Don’t forget to include the cost of the required helicopter or boat, because there are no roads out to the islands.

We continued onward until we reached the Burj Al Arab. This is the world’s tallest hotel, and the only existing 7 star hotel located on a man made island. It has two helipads on the top. This hotel is a recommended stop even if your not staying there (rooms are $2000/night +), just to see the lobby, and you can have a drink at the bar. Unfortunately, they told us on the bus that you need a reservation 2 days before hand, or they won’t even let you in. Hmmm…cross that off my list…

Burj al Arab (picture is deceiving, it is quite far in the distance)

Next stop, Mall of the Emirates. I believe this is now the world’s largest shopping mall. Connected to it is an indoor ski slope, in case you get the urge to go snow skiing while walking around the desert.

Indoor Ski Slope at Mall of the Emirates

We continued onward, and headed for Sheikh Zayed Road. This is a 16 lane expressway that runs the length of Dubai, and continues to Abu Dhabi. (although I’m pretty sure it is not that wide the whole way.) Driving down this road, on the right you could see a growing figure looming in the distance as we approached the main commercial stretch. Burj Dubai.

Burj Dubai

If you haven’t noticed, there is definitely a theme throughout Dubai. Be the biggest, be the best. Money and materialism seem to be running amuck in this place. The tremendous buildings are amazing, but even more surprising is how many are currently under construction. There have to be at least as many sky scrapers under construction as are fully built.

Several New Highrises Under Construction (Sheik Zayed Road)

Unlike Oman, this city has grown up since the invention of cars, and is very much a planned city. And the plan for the city is to make it huge. While they have planned the roads to handle lots of traffic, there is still quite a bit of congestion. They are currently in development of a rail system to cover the metro area, which may help.

Heading down Sheik Zayed Road is an interesting drive, as once you get into the heart of it, all of the skyscrapers, are set in a perfectly straight line on either side of the road. The façade of each building perfectly even with all the ones next to it. You end up in this long corridor of 16 lane highway, with these monstrous buildings towering over you on either side.

My bus trip ended at the City Center mall. This was more geared towards the average shopper, and was completely mobbed. Most of the locals here, appeared to be dressed in western style clothing. After only a few minutes, I decided to look for an exit and get a taxi back to the hotel. While looking, I saw a line that said taxi queue.

Beginning of Taxi Line

Behind it was a line that streteched as far as the eye could see. It would be quite awhile before I got my taxi. I walked and walked and walked until I got to the end of the line, and got in it. An hour later, I got to the sign I first saw, and the line heads out the door. Well, not quite. There is another section of line that went down the length of a long hallway and back. After another hour of waiting, I finally got my taxi. All in all, the wait was well over 2 hours.

Second Half of Taxi Line

While in line, I had a lot of time to figure out what I wanted to do for dinner. My guidebook strongly recommended a Moroccan restaurant, called Marrakech on Sheik Zayed Road, with live Moroccan music. This sounded fabulous. Due to the location, I was a little worried about my clothes (I was in jeans) but figured I could find a back up if need be. I had the driver drop me off at the Shangri-La hotel, where the restaurant was located, and found my way in. When I got to the podium at the door, the women said they had nothing available. Ughh. All night I asked? She said maybe at 11:30. (It was currently 8:00. She said it was possible something maybe would open up. I asked about the prices and if I was dressed appropriately, and she offered the menu. On top “Valentine’s Day Menu.” Whoops, that’s right. Today’s Valentine’s Day, and I’m trying to get into a very nice restaurant. Not gonna happen. On top of that, the fact that today’s menu only had dinner for two listed, I gave up, and decided to move onward. Now depressed that I’m spending Valentine’s Day alone. At this point, I needed someone to hold my hand, and I thought a good beer would do fine. My guide book also mentioned a bar in the same area called Long’s Bar, so I looked for that. This ended up being much harder than I thought, and I spent quite a bit of time walking up and down the street looking for it. I eventually gave up and decided to pick something else, but then immediately found it. I went in had a beer, a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, and took advantage of the 2 for 1 Valentine’s Day shots, (the names of which I won’t repeat here)

I then headed back to my hotel and spent a couple hours talking to my Valentine over instant messenger.

I am truly amazed at the amount of development here. We saw an entire skyscraper office park with 20 buildings under construction, each that I think were going to be 60-80 stories high. I can’t imagine that there is that much demand here for commercial and residential space to warrant everything going up. It seems like instead of finding the equilibrium between supply and demand here, they just continue to supply, but yet it continues to create more demand.

On a personal note, I just got an IM from Natalie, that Kalyssa broke her toe yesterday bowling. She dropped the ball on it. She is back home and everything is fine though.

Final Day of Exploring Oman

Tuesday night when I checked into my hotel, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the lobby and the room looked, as this hotel was less expensive than the one in Ruwi/Muscat. The Ruwi Hotel wasn’t bad, although the carpet could have used some shampooing.

I sat and typed out the text for my blog and went over my plans for the next day, and about 1:00am turned in. I peeled back the cover to do my final check to make sure the bed sheets looked clean. I quickly found a body hair, which led to another, and another, and another. Gross. I decided to pull back the comforter and lay on top of the sheets, but there was a big ball of long hair. Grosser! So I threw back on all my clothes, and slept on top of all the blankets.

Elevator Lobby at Hotel Safari-seemed nice enough

The next morning, I went in the bathroom to get ready, when I turned on the water, only a trickle came out and that quickly diminished to nothing. The water was turned off! I had used it the night before with no problem, but now there was none. Great. I guess I’m not showering today, good thing I was planning on trekking through abandoned villages.

After some time in the local internet café (since my hotel also did not have high speed internet), I hit the Nizwa souk to pick up the obligatory silver Omani Khanjar. Nizwa souk was much smaller than Muttrah, but organized by what you are purchasing. Most of the souk is actually set aside for food. There was a Meat Souk, Fish Souk, Fruits and Vegetables Souk, Goat Market, and Date (the fruit, not the relationship, although that would be neat) Souk. I think these are busier on the weekends, as they were pretty quite today. (The goat souk was empty when I went by.)

Nizwa Souk

The first archeological site I planned to see was the Nizwa fort, which is right in the middle of the city. This fort was very deceptive from the outside. Nestled in the middle of the city with many modern buildings around, it and the souk wrapped right around the bottom of it, its difficult to

Living Room in Nizwa Fort

truly sense the size. Once inside however, upon exploring the various rooms it seemed to go on forever. Each meeting room, lounge, bedroom was much larger than any I had seen in the other forts. I estimated there were 30 rooms in the fort, but on my way out I checked the map and there were actually more than 60! Trekking up and down the stairs from area to area was exhausting, especially the long climb to the top of the main fortress tower.

Tower of Nizwa Fort

Signs on the walls highlighted many of the ingenious defense aspects of the tower, including trapdoors in the stairwell that would be opened in case the enemy breached the tower, that would send them plummeting to their death. Carefully placed “death holes” in the floors of the upper levels, just over doorways in the lower levels, where boiling date honey would be poured on attackers if they made it that far. Many and various interesting ways to kill your attacking enemy!

Hallway in Nizwa Fort

Another amazing aspect about Nizwa fort was the multitude of enormous grasshoppers all over the place. These things were 3-4 inches long. Later while driving, one hit my windshield. It was like hitting a small bird.

Nizwa, from on top of the fort

From this fort, I set out to see another fort. The Bahla fort. This is the oldest fort in Oman, and is registered with UNESCO as a world heritage site. My guide book said that in 2006 it was undergoing massive restoration and was closed. That is still the case today. It looks like they have made quite a bit of progress, but still have quite a ways to go on this massive structure. There were workers working on it as I wandered around it. According to my guidebook, this fort was built around 1000 B.C. (I have seen conflicting reports thought that dated it at 1000 years younger though. Nonetheless this thing is old! All I could do is walk around it, and explore some of the ruined homes near by.

Bahla Fort-Oldest Fort in Oman

I do have to mention, while I don’t know anything about fort restoration, and perhaps there isn’t any better option, but I don’t necessarily like they way Oman has restored these. In order to protect and strengthen them, it appears they have encased all the walls in concrete. This gives all the walls a flat concrete look. In the few spots where they have exposed the original walls, they looked like bricks/stones, as you would expect. But on the whole, the forts look like they are only 50 years old, because of the style of the restoration.

Following this I headed out to Wadi Ghul. This is at the foot of a Wadi that has an old ruined Cliffside village, and a new modern village across the wadi. To get to the village required a long drive into a gorge in the jebels. I then needed to turn off the main road onto a gravel road that took me to the bottom of the wadi. And drove on the washed out stones until I got to the point that I was worried about getting stuck. Now I was about 50 feet below the Cliffside villiage and had to find my way up. At the bottom was a lush garden with lots of trees for shade,

Garden in Wadi Ghul

and a running falaj to keep everything moist. The way up to the villiage was actually pretty simple, but my book made it confusing. So I ended up climbing up a steep rock embankment to end on a plateau partly up the cliff, with no where else to go. I found my way back down, and ran into some of the village children selling embroidered key chains. I bought two, on the condition they tell me how to get up to the old village, which they did.

Old Villiage of Ghul

The village itself was quite remarkable. Walls were large pieces of stone, (instead of the mud brick in so many of the other areas. The stone was interesting. It was red and black. And I stepped on a piece, and it shifted, and rang for 5 seconds. I thought there was a piece of metal under it. (The sound was like dropping a crow bar.) I picked it up and looked, but it was the rock that rang out. (Does that make this Iron ore or something like it?) There was a long main street that meandered in between the various houses, and I even found some two story houses. All with quite the view of the wadi far below.

Inside a Home in old Ghul

My last ruin for the day was the village of Tanuf. This one had an interesting story along with it. Forty years ago, Sultan Taimur (the current Sultan’s father, but not nearly as good natured---the current Sultan, Qaboos ousted his father in a pieceful coup, along with some western

Ruined Building in Tanuf (sorry for the camera strap)

assistance, which sparked the beginning of dramatic progress in Oman after centuries of war and oppression.) had some sort of an uprising against him started by someone from the village, so he ordered the city be bombed, which it was quite extensively. Interestingly, while I was there, a bulldozer was clearing a strip right through the middle of the old village apparently for a street to be laid.

Ruins at Tanuf

After another exhausting day, I had to head the almost 200 kilometers back to the Muscat-Seeb airport, and get ready for my flight to Dubai. On the way there though I stopped at a local hypermarket (Think of a cross between a Super Target and a miniature Westfield shopping center.) to do some more souvenir shopping.

My flight was at 12:30 am, which got me into the Dubai airport about 1:45. It was an absolute madhouse!!! Thousands of people everywhere. Eventually I made it out. My hotel was not far, but unfortunately my cab driver hadn’t heard of it and didn’t know exactly where it was, so he had to ask for directions a couple times, and call the hotel to find it.

Decent place. Nice clean sheets which is a definite plus! They even smelled clean. This was the hotel I was worried about as I booked in a pinch, (my first choice was damaged in the extensive flooding that occurred here 1 month ago) and it had mixed reviews. Seems to be catering to Russian tourists for some reason, but it is nice.

Its now Thursday morning in Dubai, and I’m exhausted after only a 4 and a half hours sleep, but am heading out to see the town.