Oh sweet Paris, how you have smitten my heart. You are the only city I’ve returned to on my many travels around the world with the intention to visit again. And you’ve smitten my husband as well! Thank you, you dear sweet city.

You had us from the start. We got off the Metro to be graced by one of your many wonderful treasures, the Louvre. We didn’t go inside this time, but we were able to peer in through the windows on our way from the Metro station.

As with last time, I had no problem with the Parisian attitude I used to be warned about.  Maybe it’s because I start every interaction with Bonjour and Parle vous anglais? The French love their language and appreciate atleast the attempt and acknowledgment that we are in a nonEnglish speaking country.  Besides, your language is beautiful, people should try to learn a few polite phrases.

Paris, you have so much history, culture and beauty that you put right infront of our faces.   As we walked through Montepart with Alec’s friend Noelwynn, we were graced by the view of and from  Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart), one of the second most known tourist places in Paris (oddly I hadn’t heard of it).   Perched high above the city, we could see the Seine, Notre Dame, the Eiffel tower, many of your beautiful sites. We spent hours walking past landmarks like the Opera House (and one of the most expensive cafe’s in Paris which has a view of the Opera House), Le Moulin Rouge, Parisian Vineyards and the old streets beyond the glamour of Paris with the painters selling their art. I can’t wait to walk through those streets again.

And your passion and life!  What can I say?  The experience of being surrounded by a hundred or so people celebrating a unity with drums, dancing and praise.  I have no idea what it was all about, a Brazilian celebration maybe?  Whatever the reason, being surrounded by the drums, whistles and people made me want to dance and weep with the sheer energy from it.

Last time I had visited your beautiful city, I didn’t go up the towers of Notre Dame.  This time I did.  And continuing with the apparent theme of our honeymoon, winding staircases, we climbed up and up the tower, the staircase getting more and more narrow and the stairs changing from wood to stonework.  Guarding from above are the gargoyles leaning out over the city.

Tucked behind Notre Dame is the Isle of Saint Louis. Here resides another one of your hidden gem’s Paris, Le Flore en L’Isle. Here we had some amazing crepes, fascinating ice cream and sorbet and a wonderful waiter. We were told to seek out this place by Parisians and tourists and it did not fail to impress us with the view of river and the accordion player a short distance away.

Walking in your parks, like Jardin du Luxembourg, makes us want to live here. The statues, the art, the open space of your parks, Alec playing in the leaves trying to catch them falling in the air just reminds us of what it’s like to be alive, and lucky to have the experiences we are having.

We finished our short but full stay in your beautiful city with a glass of champagne (for me) and a Johnny Walker Black (for Alec) at the top of the Concorde Hotel, to watch the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle. Thank you for the wonderful stay. Until next time, au revoir!

I’ve learned a few things over the past few days of traveling.

1. Make sure the car number on the train matches your ticket, not just the bed number. We almost tried to kick a guy out of his bed on our way to Berlin because we had the wrong train car. Oops! My bad, luckily he wasn’t in the bed when we came to claim it.

2. Take atleast one taxi ride in every city you are in. We’ve been walking it or using the subway. Last night coming back from dinner we decided to get a cab. It was a wonderful ride past lit up statues of gigantic sizes and a history I’ve only read about. You also get a good feel for the city as well being the passenger in a taxi…Is it crazy like Shanghai or calm like Berlin?

3.Losing my iPhone is an exercise of panic, self denial and more denial that it is really gone. I still haven’t given up yet and hope it will be found in The Netherlands.

4. You have to be high or blind to have sex with one of the girls in Amsterdam’s red light district. They stand in the windows like Rocky Horror Picture Show mannequin.

5. Cobblestones and rolling suitcases suck. I’m going back to the backpack, I just need to figure out how not feel like a packmule when carrying my DSLR camera and laptop. Yeah I know pack less.

6. Buy the boots in Amsterdam/Haarlem. Luxembourg they are too expensive and Berlin doesn’t have the same sense of style.

7. Hanging out at the Berlin Zoo while killing time before checking in is great. As long as you don’t get the girly man drink that is 3% alcohol and green.

8. Shopping with your husband is as much fun as shopping with your boyfriend. Alec and I checked out the KaDeWe (ka-day-vay) store in Berlin. It’s 7 levels owned by one company. And there are sections dedicated to one thing. Kim there is a whole big section on cheese. You would have loved it. I walked around in it twice inhaling all the aroma of cheese and milk.

9. Some countries have interesting traditions. Spendings Saturdays in an air conditioned mall is an American one. Eating raw herring is one from the Netherlands.
Penny, a friend I met in Gabon, met at us the train station to take us on a drive to the beach and to have our time with new herring. Raw herring actually, and honestly it wasn’t half bad, especially between two pieces of bread with raw onions and pickels. How’s that for a honeymoon kiss with that breath! (there are pictures but they are on the other camera… I swear!)

10. I realized we often live in a world of two dimensions and limited understanding about time travel. Amsterdam is another city with canals and old architecture. The layered dimensions of the buildings, one infront of the other, others back behind, is a real treat in our seemingly two dimension world of “this high and this wide”. Standing on a street and looking up and seeing this depth is just a treat for the eyes. And when it sinks in on how old something can really be, it’s mind blowing. It didn’t really sink in until we got to Berlin. yeah it’s an old city that has “recently” been rebuilt due to the war.

11. It’s less tiring knowing what language you can butcher while visiting a country. Luxembourg proved difficult to know what language I should try to butcher. Should it be French, German or their traditional language of Letzebuergesch? Eventually I just apologized with sputtering English and asked for something off the menu by pointing.

12. Reading a book that has a storyline that takes place in the 80’s to early 2000 in Afghanistan can mess up your sense of time and place while on vacation. I’m currently reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hossenini. He wrote “The Kite Runner”. Such a good, I can’t put it down!

I would like to leave you with two final pictures.

Part one of our honeymoon is over. New York was a fabulous way to start it all off. We stayed at the Moderne which was only a few blocks off Broadway and Times Square.

 We checked out Times Square (which is even more impressive at night than during the day, think Vegas with so many lights and people).

We walked through a portion of Central Park on our way to the Guggenheim. Unfortunately, only two floors were open but it was neat to still go inside and see art I have only heard about like Monet and Picasso.

On our way to Greenwich, I chatted with two ladies about Slash and his sexy hair (well I just wanted to agree and make conversation) and I spoke with a young boy, planting the seed in his mind that Snape might not be as evil as he seems and he just might be a good guy trying to protect Harry.

Greenwich and Chelsea resulted in Alec getting a few looks. Luckily as his new wife, it wasn’t women I had to beat off him, just a few cute New Yorker boys.

While wandering in the area, we discovered the H Line quite by accident and strolled along there for a while taking in the gorgeous sun and scenery. The H Line consists of raised tracks which were to be ripped out but the local communities decided to rehabilitate the area, well it turned out quite well.

In the midst of all our walking, we opted for a 90 minute boat ride on a boat called The Mahattan. I found a deal for a 90 minute ride with a free glass of champagne, beer or wine for $18 on Goldstar.com. (this works for a lot of cities). What a great way to see the city skyline. We rode under the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. We got a fabulous view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and enjoyed a couple glasses of New York Sparkling Wine and local beer.

Other points of excitement included the MTV Music Awards (which we tried to detour around due to the chaos of teenie boppers screaming at each introduction of some famous person Alec had no idea of), waiting for Barak Obama to show up outside of the Federal Hall (which Alec just informed me is where George Washington was inaugurated), swinging by Grand Central Station (and then seeing it again in the movie on the plane).

And oddly what, for me, was a nice pleasant surprise of realizing my favourite camera equipment provider, B & H, was actually located in New York City, and where I proceeded to spend a few precious dollars on a camera bag with integrated laptop bag, a new wide angle lens, a filter and a new battery. It was like going to Santa’s workshop and seeing how he got all those toys out and delivered all over the world. That store is a machine! There is someone available to answer questions every few feet. And you don’t have to carry any of your purchases until after you purchased them. You decide what you want, a work order is placed and somewhere in the back there is some guy who looks up the product, places it in a green bin and that green bin ends up behind the check out counter. Bloody awesome.

So in short, our trip to New York was quite fun. We had a bagel and Papaya King hot dog. We rode the subway and visited the World Trade Towers Memorial area. I even left an account of where I was when the towers were hit.

Next up is Bruges, which we ended up extending our trip a day longer there due to the generous hospitality of Frederik’s uncle and aunt.

Until next time …

Corinne

A Precious Human Life

China reminded me that everything is not as it seems. I think I expected a country that was censored and shorted on the basic rights I get to experience every day. But instead I found capitalism, a citizen’s freedom to speak their mind more or less and a country hurtling into the role of a superpower. Oh yes and blue sky. Granted, there are things still a bit wonky by our standards. Such as the Chinese government’s take on what happened in Tiananmen Square and the price point difference between hitting a citizen with your car and hitting a peasant or farmer; a citizen’s family gets paid more money. When traveling to another country, I’ve grown accustomed to questioning not judging because there is always more going on than what we see.

I never planned on going to China, but when Monique offered it up last spring, I was overjoyed to have a friend to travel with. Instead of going it on our own, as there was no way I was going to learn Mandarin to get around, we joined up with a group of travelers put together by GAP Adventures. And what a group it turned out to be: Jason, a Torontonian, with an impeccable eye to see the beauty around him and the vocabulary to go with it. “Gorgy” and “So beautiful I could weep” don’t capture the complete being of Jason, but our common love for the back streets of Shanghai and Yichang will always be ingrained in my soul. Jens and Frank were the German couple in the group. Not really a couple, just a couple of Germans who liked to torment me by speaking German infront me, knowing full well that I wanted to know what they were saying. Jens, with his infectious smile, liked to take portrait photographs, especially those of us eating. It became one of our favourite pastimes, followed closely by accidentally dumping water on each other. He and I would constantly being trying to take the artsy photos with our DSLR’s and Monique would be right there with her point and click. As for Frank, at first he started most mornings sullen and quiet, but turned into a smart ass as the day progressed, eyes flashing with mischief. One morning we were surprised to be greeted my a smiling Frank, who we found out, found coffee. That day we had a full day of smart ass Frank, and we liked it. Yun and Rich were the official couple of the group. Married and from Boston, I found their paring to be fun. We learnt that Yun (rhymes with fun), had a odd fascination with horror flicks. The glint she’d get in her eye when talking about her favourites or wielding a rusty sword over her head, told us what she could be capable of on a Halloween night with enough fake blood. Rich was a total sport and gave us many laughs. From his toothy grin to his dance number on stage at the Acrobat show, he always seemed to be in a good mood. And last but not least was Monique, my other half on this trip. Monique was game to walk through the back streets of Shanghai with me and get lost and un-lost and lost again. Somehow we always made our way home. She, thinking I planned it that way, and I just curious as to what was beyond that corner. Our seven-some was led by our ever faithful George, a local to Xi’an, who graciously opened his door to show us his new apartment where he and his new wife now lived. He helped me get airline tickets to Shanghai, when I realized on our last day of the trip, I was indeed not leaving from Beijing but Shanghai the next day. My time and enlightenment in China was enhanced by this company I kept for those 16 days, and I will forever be grateful for the new friends I have made and the old friendship I have deepened.

We visited 9 destinations in our 14 days together. Between the big cities of Shanghai and Beijing, we bonded over a 3 day boat ride on the Yangtze River, complete with karaoke; we were serenaded on the canals of the Venice of the East in Zhouzhuang; we were impressed by the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an; played some Ma-jong in Pingyao; in Yichang we got lost in the markets and loved it; were awed by the Grottoes and Buddhas just outside of Datong; we were English teachers on the overnight train; and enjoyed another piece of history, tramping our way on part of the Great Wall, and a great experience it all was.

Regarding the photos, most are mine, but I’ve included photos from Yun, Rich, Frank and Monique, and I mentioned where the photos are theirs. I can’t take all the credit for some of these great shots and moments in time.

I could go on for pages about my trip, but instead let’s just get some dinner sometime. Maybe even Chinese!

-Corinne

Show me the China Photos!

We got a Chinese massage the other night in Yichang. What I can say is it was memorable. After 10 minutes in a bubble rolling around on water, which occurred earlier in the day, don’t worry I have photos, I was in desperate need for a little TLC. TLC isn’t exactly what I got, but I did get worked. First off, massage in China can be a gamble. Most parlors we walked past, had scantily clad women in short short skirts with heavy makeup looking utterly bored. Apparently prostitution isn’t too lucrative of a business but it is legal. Street drugs, however, are not and are punishable by death. Our guide, George, searched out a legit massage establishment and was quite excited to embark on this excursion with us. We three girls, Yun, Monique and I and Jason were led to a room in the far back of the building, the rest went to another establishment, legitament as well I was told. They must have strict labour laws stating attendents can’t be taller than 5 feet because we all had to duck due to the ceilings getting smaller and smaller like a Willy Wonka house.

Eventually we were led to a room where 3×3 recline bed/chairs were lined up. There was a tv infront of us (where we watched Beverly Hills Cop 2 in Mandarine/Cantonese which should have been a sign for a non-relaxing massage) and there were stools for the attendents to sit upon. We were stripped only of our shoes and socks and pants rolled up. Our foot soaking included a neck massage. Mine needed it after the whiplashes of falling on my butt over and over in the bubble. I’m sure the somersaults didn’t help either. The neck massage was, let’s just say, quite forceful and strong. Those girls may be small, but they have the grip of lions. This was just a prelude of what was to come. Our feet! Here is where I realized singing a soprano note is translatable into any language as “Holy shit that hurts!” … so is lamaze breathing as well. We have been on our feet alot. ALOT! And the depth these girls were getting to on our feet, let’s just say I think my bones moved. We all tried to cope as best we could. These girls really seemed to know what they were doing so we trusted them with our pain. Each followed the same synchronized pattern so we knew what was going to happen next, which didn’t really make us more prepared for it.

After our feet were thoroughly beaten into submission, came the fuel and fire. Yes fire. A little box at their feet included a glass cup, fuel and a small torch. The torch was dunked into the fuel and lit. By our feet, it was then rolled around in the small jar to absorb the oxygen and then quickly placed on our feet. Fire cupping, is an acupressure technique used to relieve stagnation. And since, through reflexology, the foot is connected to the rest of the body, it’s supposed to relieve things like the common cold, bronchitis and upper respitory issues. Maybe this worked, however for us it was just really cool and finally not painful. Once the attendents got solid suction on our feet, they wrapped them up and let us sit for a few minutes.

When they returned and performed miming to tell us to flip around, we got our backs and legs worked on. The highlight was definitely the reflexology on the feet, but the encore performance was just as memorable. I’ve never had my skin rolled before, and I’m not sure if I want to have it rolled again, but it was something to experience for sure, as is the theme of this post. Skin rolling is taking the skin between one’s fingers and rolling it out in a pinching motion. Doesn’t it sound relaxing?!

So yes the massage was interesting. And since I get alot of the same run of the mill massages it was a really neat experience to have a Chinese massage. Will I seek it out again? I can’t say never, but it won’t be a first option… maybe if I need my feet bones realigned again.

The past few days have also included seeing the terracotta warriors (all except one had been destroyed and reconstructed), the three gorge dam, a cycle along Xi-an city wall (about 14k and very very bumpy), an interlude at a disco club, the Chinese Opera without all the opera, and a 14 hour train trip that flew by, due mostly to helping a young girl, Jessica, read her 7 page speech about China. Which is where we found out “rural” and “billion” are very hard for her to say and funny for us to hear.

Next we head north for some more great adventures, but probably no more massages… but you never know.

I have been here for 4 days and feel like I know quite a bit of Shanghai. I spent my first two days wandering the streets not really paying attention to the direction I was going which was ok because there are AMAZING buildings here and I hear that Beijing is even more impressive. For those of you who warned me about Shanghai weather, it was sunny and blue for the first two days. Now it’s overcast but we’re leaving today so no worries there.

So far China reminds me of South America. That is the back streets of Shanghai. Granted everywhere there are large shiney buildings. Some gaudy like the Pearl Tower, others impressive like the Jin Mao building with 88 floors. But it’s the back streets where the locals live, those who don’t live in the skyscraper apartments. Their laundry hangs from the windows. Plumbing is attached to the outside of the building. Little children running around with their bottoms out for the world to see. There is what we would call poverty but I think I’ve gotten used to seeing people not live as I do and knowing the difference between real poverty and the hunger behind it. I’m sure I can learn more. Granted, people living in these homes tucked away could use more, but they looked happy sitting out on the chairs in the alley ways watching their children play and laughing at me walking by, getting lost in the maze and passing them numerous times.

I understand why GAP requires insurance when traveling. There are the streets of Rome where drivers are impatient and ready to bump into you. And the traffic of Cairo with it’s haze and many many vehicles going somewhere not so fast. But here in Shanghai, it’s a different sort of controlled chaos. Adding to the cars are scooters, motorcycles, bicyclists and pedestrains all on the streets. Everyone is aware as they move in this finely orchestrated dance. Streets lights mean nothing unless you are in the more fancy districts. Sidewalks are places where not pedestrians walk but where concrete and bricks are unloaded. And through all this, I haven’t seen one vehicle puff out black smoke from their exhaust. Sitting in this internet cafe right now is doing more bad for my lungs with the smokers near by than walking along the streets. Some vehicles are so quiet. I don’t know if they are electric or just coasting without the engine on. It’s quite an amazing thing. Actually what is amazing is I haven’t been bumped into yet as I take charge and step out into oncoming traffic. They’ll dodge me, it’s what they know.

This year I head to China with a good friend Monique.  China was her idea and she kindly asked if I’d like to join her.  During the past few years, I have traveled mostly alone so it’s great to have someone else to get excited with.  She and I will meet in Shanghai and join up with GAP Adventures and do the Highlights of China tour.  I worked with GAP before on my trip to Peru back in 2002 and really liked how they did things.  Small groups (this time I think we have 7 people including us), local guides and the freedom to explore on our own.

Before Monique mentioned it, I honestly had no interest in going to China.  I guess Asia has always been a little further on my list but I have no particular reason why.  Maybe gorillas and jungles seem more appealing at this point.  But after some research and reading, I am now quite excited about seeing China, her culture and her people in the country of origin and not just Chinatown in San Francisco. 

China is very particular about their visas as I have found.  As I was between statuses of an H1-B and a Green Card, I wasn’t sure of the paperwork I needed to bring to the Visa office in San Francisco.  Also I was warned/advised to have all my accommodations determined before hand.  Since my first couple days were in flux as to where I was going to stay, I didn’t have anything booked for that period.  However I did bring my passport, my tour confirmation, my flight confirmation, a passport photo and my application form.  I got up at 6am to hop aboard Caltrain for a 40 minute ride north to the city.  From there I walked another 40 minutes to the Chinese embassy.   Here I waited another 40 minutes in line before the doors opened to allow people inside.  There were about 30 people ahead of me already.  Once inside I received a number and waited.  This part was easy.   I just watched a scrolling screen in English and Chinese characters notifying people things they probably already should have known before they had gotten there.  Within minutes, it was my turn.  It was only 9.15 but the lady behind the glass seemed to already have had a long day.  Her microphone kept cutting out so I couldn’t understand what she was saying, as was mine and she was not happy at all about the paperwork I provided.  Eventually with much reluctance and arguing, she turned me away.  I needed more paperwork.

My second visit to the consulate was less dramatic.  Again the train ride and walk but I dropped off my paperwork relatively easier than last time.  I had booked a hotel so that was covered and I brought my Adjustment of Status paperwork which after some coddling, they allowed.

Four days later, I picked up my visa.  While waiting in line there was a man directly in front of me who seemed to think there were imaginary ducks overhead.  He would fart loudly to the left of me and wander to the right looking in the sky and around, possibly thinking this distraction would cover up the fact he farted quite loudly.  Luckily it didn’t smell.  But he did do this 2-3 times.  I would have waited a day line with this guy compared to the next companion I had in my line inside to pick up the visa and passport.  This “amazing guy” often said amazing… to the point it could be a drinking game.  He was nice, but I felt like he had just been released from jail and hadn’t been around people in a long long time.  He was teaching in Korea for two years (maybe North from his exclamations of how amazing our country is with our freedom and choices) and was planning on teaching in China next.  I told him I was an Engineer and he proceeded to go off about how Engineers are closed minded people who cannot change.  His father was an Engineer.  I see daddy issues.  He eventually chilled out on another topic talking about how important it was to be positive and not hold grudges to then go off again about Engineers and how they are necessary for running shoes, because he likes his running shoes, but he wished they would loosen up.  He was actually swearing at this point.  It was a little awkward and I had momentary lost the humour of the situation, so I told him to not worry and that I wouldn’t take what he was saying personally.  After all I work with computers and not actually engineer real things. ….. Then we talked about computers and how he doesn’t get them but he uses them.  Once that window opened up for me to get my paperwork and run, I thanked him quickly for something then rushed to the window, almost reaching through to hug the lady on the other side.

So that’s the start to my China trip.  Oh, I am bringing US Dollars to China, so I shouldn’t have the same start as I did in Egypt where I was waiting for money from my friend.

I’ll try to keep in contact via Multiply and Facebook but I heard these might be blocked in China so I’ll see what I can do.  If you sign up as my friend on Multiply, you’ll get automatically notified when I do a blog post.  Otherwise you can wait until I get back.

再见    –  zài jiàn    –   Goodbye!

Alec and I spent two weeks up in Canada visiting some of my old stomping grounds. We spent a few days in each Banff, Lake Louise and Calgary. We camped mostly, only staying in a hotel in Calgary (the Westin thanks to Hotwire’s great deals). We spent over half of our days hiking in Banff National Park, which was great. In all we checked out Takkakaw Falls, Plain of 6 Glaciers, Peyto Lake, Larch Valley through to Sentinel Pass, Athabasca Glacier on the Columbia Icefield, Johnston Canyon, Spray River Circuit and Sulfur Mountain.

The thing about going home which is hard, is a lot of things change. People get older and new people live in the places where nothing once was. However, this time around it seemed like time stood still. There were still tourists who are taking photos of street signs and The Fudgery was still pimping out their fudge… mmm fudge.

We had Caesars every day, trying to find the best one (Truffle Pigs in Field).
We sought out real Canadian food (apparently it’s wild game like bison).
I even reconsidered moving back to Calgary after a beautiful day at Prince’s Island Park.
Then I was reminded by a friend on how cold it got in the winter and how everything looked dirty when the snow thaws. We got to enjoy true Canadian spirit unless you are that mean lady who took our spot at Two Jack Campground or the bored-but-too-busy-chatting-to-be-of-service girls who work at TD Square in Calgary.

To finish it off, we spent time with my family at the end of the trip at my nephew’s wedding (those photos are coming)

I hope to add more info about the hikes, but since I’m heading on another trip in two weeks, we’ll see what’s really possible. For now, this is what you get. Enjoy! We did.

Show me the photos!

Ok so I’m in London at the Travelzoo UK office and Chris offered me a job… again.  Poor guy never gives up.   Some day I might say yes.

Okay to continue from the last post since I had to hurriedly sign off last night.  Basically this guy gropes me for a second or two, (yes not the first time in my life), I was surprised which is probably why I was shocked and ran.  So this camera guy joins me on my walk to kill time because I don’t feel like being set up to buy something at a designated store.   We have a nice conversation and he insists on buying me a soda.   Yeah I don’t drink pop regularly but he insisted and you get tired of drinking water all the time. So that was the first kind deed, him joining me on my walk and wanting nothing in return.  Often new friends want to sell you something, cheap, good deal… etc etc.

We return to the bus except the bus isn’t there anymore.  We’re only 2 minutes late (I swear!) and they’ve left.  Thankfully the guides are still around and the other people on a tour were taken to something, no idea where, but they eventually came back.  I wasn’t worried. I still had two guides and a camera guy.  Full house.  (I’m a bit tired so if I don’t make sense just stop reading, wake up at 4am, get on two flights in two different countries and try reading this again, if the room is moving and you are not, you’re there).  While waiting for the bus to return, we hung out and chatted politics.  Basically the lesser guide (assistant, russian interpretor?? not sure) asked me straight out what the US and Canada thought of the Egypt.  As I mentioned in the last post I said I don’t think most people see Egypt as a part of the evil Middle East… it’s all Pyramids and tombs.  We talked some more and then got onto the subject of massage (thankfully no one thinks of happy endings here so it was one less thing I needed to explain).  That was the second nice thing was just to talk to this man honestly about how the world is outside of our little bubble.  We talked about the sincerity of the Egyptian people. I have always felt welcome and was welcomed where I went.  talking with him reminded me of all the excellent moments I had here in Egypt and how the people treated me.   If I ignored a street vendor, he still welcomed me.  If I needed to use some stranger’s phone they offered it no problem.  Sure I had to make sure I wasn’t being cheated or swindled, but it is a 3rd world country after all.  Which takes me to my final moment.

I’m in the bus with the rest of the group later on and we’re waiting for the guides to bring back more water.  This girl is outside my window begging for money for food.  She’s about 11. This has already happened a few other times and I’m always hesitant in giving money because it can sometimes start a floodgate and a bunch of other kids come.  It’s a catch because who can you help?  I’m always at struggle with this wherever I go and I haven’t come up with an answer other than if I have food I give it.  So that’s what I did. I had an extra Mojo Bar  and handed it to her through the window and made the international eat symbol with my hands and mouth.  She took it, said thank you and walked away.  A few minutes later she came back and tapped on the window.  She was holding up something that she was trying to sell.  The bus moved ahead a few metres and stopped to create some distance between her and the bus.  I guess the driver thought she was trying to sell something.  She came up to the window again and I decided to open it.  She handed me a bracelet and said it was a present and then walked away.  That did it.

What I didn’t mention is gropey guy before he made his mood, handed me a scarab cut from stone and told me it would bring good luck. Then he copped a feel.  When we were walking back to the bus that was no longer there, I saw him on the corner, whistled and threw his scarab back to him.  I didn’t want anything from him.  This bracelet the girl gave me, had a scarab on it as well.  And it’s way more treasured.

So yes, I made it to London and have already printed my boarding pass for tomorrow. The fight from Sharm was 40 minutes late this morning which made a huge rush in Cairo in getting my bags from baggage claim, paying a man 20 Egyptian pounds for the peace of mind for him to carry my bags up stairs and show me where to check in for my flight to London.  Yes if I would have known where to go and if my flight wasn’t leaving in 45 minutes I would have thought it a waste of money but he was an angel at that moment.  While waiting in line for my boarding pass and to check my luggage, the attendants called out “London!” so I was bumped up quickly in the queue.  From there a couple more scans, immigration and passport checks and I was on the bus to the plane.  Quite eventful start and end to this trip, thankfully the middle was calm (relatively speaking).

My plan for the next few days is to start posting some pics, not all of them although I have been able to narrow down quite a few.   I’ll try remember enough to explain what’s going on in each set as well.

Take care and see you soon!

Cheers, Corinne