The Grand Adventure - Back to Africa!!!

[Christian P.]

Hate:

-Sights. Everything around the sights. They build a mosque in the middle of the Luxor temple. Come on.

And when they did good with the pyramids, they lost their sense somewhere along the way.

There is a major string of unfinished buildings dotting the Red Sea coast. The entire coast. Literally hundreds of them. Apparently the gouvernement handed over free land under the condition that the developers build on it within 2 years. They build the structure just to grab the title and are sitting on it.

-Tourists everywhere. Packaged in big tour buses.
Like this women from California who asked us in which country she was right now or these russians all snorkeling in the same spot. You can even notice the cameraman in the back on the rock filming them as part of the special "tour".

-Diving/Snorkeling in Dahab. Diving with a bunch of tourists in speedo. Coral is melting away as everyone stepping on it.

-Kitesurfind in Dahab. Over a period of 9 days, only one day had proper wind. Apparently unusual for the season.

-Egyptians. They are so relax they put their trash everywhere.

And they will come up with anything to make a buck.

Egyptian driver: You like Egyptian bana?
Marc: What?
Egyptian driver: You want Egyptian baanaa?
Marc: Do I want what?
Egyptian driver: You like Egyptian banaana?
Marc: Egyptian banana? I did not know Egypt has its own kind of banana.
Egyptian driver: Yes, pointing down below in his pant. You like it?
Marc finally realizing: Not really. I think I'll pass for tonight.

Or the harrassing vendors who overcharge on everything.

Me: I want airtime for 10 pounds. Handing over 20 pounds.
Vendors: Here it is. Give me one pound. Holding a 10 pound bill of change in one hand and the airtime card in the other.
Me: Why one pound?
Vendor: It's 11 pound.
Me: It says 10 pounds on the card and I asked for a 10 pounds airtime.
Vendor: You owe me 1 pound.
Me: Listen, I don't have time for this right now, grabbing both the 10 pounds bill and the airtime card from his hands.
And then walking away as he is yelling something in Arabic.

This is an everyday situation.

-Road conditions. In some place, they poured down fresh bitumen over several kilometers but they never finished the pavement. Nice coating under the truck.

I guess I could go on forever...visit at own risk and expenses...



next stop Jordan.

 

[bobDog]

Looks like Nebraska.....but a little taller....LOL:coffeedrink:

 

[Christian P.]

Jordan!!!

After Egypt, Jordan was quite a nice experience. Everything works, it's clean and people are extremely friendly.

The border crossing was rather straightforward. The "fast" ferry between Egypt and Jordan that is supposed to take 1.5 hour did take over 8 hours and costs me another $300US...but we finally made it.

My friend Marc is now gone - he had to go back to Montreal to take care of some business and he is heading into Iran. I travelled through Jordan with an American guy (Ben) that I had met in Egypt.

First stop was the Wadi Rum desert - a beautiful sight!

The Bedouins trust their Land Cruiser

Next was Petra. I had big expectations but it lived up to it.
Actually, Petra is one of the major highlights of this trip.

From Petra we headed to Amman where I could appreciate the local version of "Pimp my ride" - they love their old Benz there.

For those of you who wants to experience the Middle East, I would suggest Jordan over Egypt.

After Amman, it was time for Syria.

 

[Christian P.]

Syria

Well, it is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words so here you go.

This is pretty much what I will remember of Syria.

I lost my newly found copilot at the border - he did not have his visa for Syria and it was not possible to get one the same day so he headed back into Israel.

I only drove a few days through the country but I cannot say that I have been impressed. I thought that Egypt was pretty bad with their trash everywhere but it was nothing compared to Syria.

Fortunately there is always a "jewel in the rough" somewhere.
Old Damascus is one of the most magical place I have been in my life. It's a complete labyrinth of small alleys which makes you step back in time about 200 years.

All the building are original and in various state of degradation or restauration.

Aleppo was also another extremely interesting discovery.
The covered market is absolutely unbelievable - apparently it's been in operation for hundreds of years.

Too bad the rest of the country is not like this. Back on the road to Turkey.

Even the border crossing is full of garbage. No kidding.

How come you never see the real side and only the "postcard" pictures of a country? I have some ideas...

The weather has also changed dramatically since I have entered Syria.
It is gray, rainy and clowdy.

 

[bobDog]

So the garbage thing is just accepted as normal or do they feel its wrong but can't seem to do anything about it?:Wow1:

 

[Christian P.]

Turkey...

I am now in Turkey and I saw snow for the first time!

Sadly, things are going to go really fast from now on. It is quite a change from the Sudanese desert. In some ways, I already miss Africa - the Southern part of it.

I am currently in Istambul, leaving tomorrow for Greece.
Istambul is amazing and I really wish I could spend more time here - especially in the summer.

Then I'll take the ferry to Italy to visit a friend in Roma. From there up to see other friends in Chamonix and Paris.

Then it's up to London on the 28th to meet my girlfriend and party with some friends for the final "end of the journey" celebration!!!!

There are a lot of surprises coming after - but nothing will be revealed for a while...

 

[bobDog]

Well 'Asta la Pasta" till then.....post up now and then for us loyal followers....eh?

 

[Scott Brady]

Incredible images and story. How has the 70 series treated you on the adventure?

 

[trailsurfer]

Thanks again for the great photo's and trip report. Fantastic.

 

[Christian P.]

Incredible images and story. How has the 70 series treated you on the adventure?

as you would expect...flawlessly.

 

[Christian P.]

I am now in Greece about to board the ferry to Italy.

From what I have seen in Greece I will really need to come back here!!!

Funny fact...I did not have one single puncture the entire trip through Africa and I got 2 today. One tire disintegrated on the freeway (in a tunnel!!) early this morning and I ran over a steel wire later today.

 

[bobDog]

I am now in Greece about to board the ferry to Italy.

From what I have seen in Greece I will really need to come back here!!!

Funny fact...I did not have one single puncture the entire trip through Africa and I got 2 today. One tire disintegrated on the freeway (in a tunnel!!) early this morning and I ran over a steel wire later today.

LOL wouldn't u know it.....African just says puncture, but no its Greece!:sombrero:

 

[bobDog]

O check out Sven's report on http://www.xxxpedition.com on their trip to Greece:victory:

 

[bobDog]

I am now in Greece about to board the ferry to Italy.

From what I have seen in Greece I will really need to come back here!!!

Funny fact...I did not have one single puncture the entire trip through Africa and I got 2 today. One tire disintegrated on the freeway (in a tunnel!!) early this morning and I ran over a steel wire later today.

Every time I go thru the Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado, USA (1.2 miles I think) I think what a lousy place to get a flat:sombrero:!

 

[Christian P.]

Well this is it. It's over. I can't believe it.

I have reached London on Nov 27th, 2009.

That's about 35000 km, 23 countries and 198 days later after I landed in Cape Town last May. I was initially not planning on driving all the way up but one thing leads to another...and there I am now in Paris near Le Musee du Louvres writing what will possibly be the last "official" entry for this trip.

The last portion of this adventure was rather fast but noneless very interesting.

I passed first through Greece where I had my first flat on the journey.
It happened on the Autobahn in a tunnel...what a wonderful place.
With big trucks speeding behind me, I had to keep driving until I could pull over.
This is the result. Don't think I will try to get it fixed.

I must admit I did not see much of Greece as I was hurrying to meet my friends in Italy (Rome) the next weekend. But the little I saw made me want to come back very soon.

As you can imagine, it is getting cold and rainy in Europe...and there aren't many tourists right now...