A favourite place

Corsica is one of those places, where, if I could, I would visit year on year on year.  It just has everything that I love - beautiful beaches and crystal clear water, hot weather, great food, and is French!  My French is getting rustier by the day, so I always love an opportunity to try it out on unsuspecting locals...

We were incredibly lucky to go to Corsica and stay with good friends who were over in Europe from Australia.  The villa they hired was absolutely gorgeous and in a beautiful location called Porticcio, not far from Ajaccio.  We flew down to Marseilles, then picked up a rental car at the airport and got the ferry across to Ajaccio.  It was pretty nerve-wracking to drive on the wrong side of the road for the first time, but after driving for a week on the hair bend corners of Corsica, with seriously crazy Corsican drivers, I know I'll be fine anywhere!

It was the most relaxing week - we just slept, ate, swam, and then slept, ate and swam some more!  It was so much fun playing with our friends' daughters (two and four years' old) and we also went on two day trips, one to Corte, right up in the mountains in the middle of the island, and the other to Bonifacio, right down the bottom of the island. 

Both were beautiful but Bonifacio was particularly breathtaking - one day when I'm rich and famous I think I could easily have a villa there!  We could pop across to Sardinia for lunch even...  I particularly liked the cemetery right on the tip of the island, as it had lots of little houses almost for each family and was so peaceful and tranquil to walk around. 

The blue, blue waters of Bonifacio

It was also ridiculously hot, over 30 each day and lovely and dry.  My New Zealand tan was topped up nicely!  The memory of that will have to tide me over for quite some time though so I'm glad it was so good...

To see the rest of the photos click here.

 

Jet-setting through Jordan

After Egypt, it was on to Jordan.  I must admit, I had pretty much no expectations of Jordan, as it wasn't really somewhere that I knew much about.  That was probably the best thing that could have happened as I was blown away but pretty much everywhere we visited!

We caught the ferry across from Nuweiba to Aqaba in Jordan - home of the cheapest alcohol in Jordan apparently so we were advised to stock up if necessary!  We were definitely still in a celebratory mood so I think we picked up a bottle of wine or two which we later drank on our last night in the desert.  But first, it was straight to Medaba, where we saw the oldest mosaic map in the world.  It has only partially survived, but it was pretty interesting to see the walled city and how they managed to deal with perspective and depth etc. even at that early stage.

From Medaba we travelled to Mount Nebo, the site of Moses' view of the Holy Land and where he died (apparently).  We were really lucky that we had a very clear day, and you could see Jerusalem in the distance which was pretty cool.  Hopefully we'll get to visit there too one day!

But after Mount Nebo it was the first of the Jordan highlights - the Dead Sea.  I'd heard lots about this from people who'd been before, but nothing prepares you for actually swimming in it.  It's the most bizarre experience and it actually didn't get tiring at all to just bob about like a cork!  I also really liked the Dead Sea full-body mud packs, but was unfortunately a bit too vigorous layering up Adrian's back as he ended up with deep scratches from all the salt deposits...whoops!

Mud larks

The resort from where we accessed the Dead Sea had a full-on water park area too, so after cleaning all the mud off, we spent a ridiculously fun few hours being kids and playing on the hydroslides - not something I thought I'd be doing in Jordan, but excellent nonetheless!

From the Dead Sea we travelled through a sandstorm to get to Petra, the second major highlight.  We stayed literally right in Petra, at the hotel at the information centre, which was amazing as we were really in the middle of things.  Because we got there reasonably late, our first view of Petra was 'by night' which was absolutely breathtaking.  They light literally thousands of candles which illuminate the main path down to the Treasury (called the siq) and then illuminate the beautiful facade of the Treasury itself.  There's lots of haunting music and singing and it was a great introduction to the site.

However, the next day, the full extent of the Rose City revealed itself - it's massive!  We had a fantastic guide in Jordan who was from the aristocracy of Petra and who took us all over the place.  We spent one full day exploring, and then very early the next morning, he took us trekking in the very back routes and paths until we wound up right on top of the Treasury!  Very cool indeed.  I loved all the beautiful swirling colours of the rocks and the sheer audacity of what was done there - it was just quite literally incredible.  I just think we're so lucky that it has survived so well today and I hope the preservation and restoration is such that it remains intact for many more generations to come.

The Rose City!

Looking over the Treasury

We also had one of the best meals I have ever had in my entire life (and that is no exaggeration).  It was a "mansaf" which is a traditional Jordanian dish made with lamb that's been cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yoghurt.  We had ours served on rice.  I cannot recall the last time I wanted to eat something so much that when my stomach was absolutely full to bursting, I was still trying to shovel it in!  The tangy yoghurt flavour was just so delicious, I seriously am going to have to learn how to make it...

From Petra it was into Wadi Rum (also known as the Valley of the Moon), and the last part of our visit to Jordan.  We were incredibly lucky that our night there was the last night before the first rains of the season, which were extremely welcome for the locals, but not so much for the tourists that night who wanted a night out under the  stars!  Our trip into the desert camp was really fun, with our 4x4s racing each other through the desert and up and over sand dunes with total abandon.  I'll have to see if I can dig out some of the videos because they show just how bumpy the ride was!  Our dinner was cooked in an earth oven, kind of like a hangi, and was really pretty good.  My favourite part though was all the singing and dancing in the camp, a great celebratory atmosphere and hilarious when Adrian and I were "married" - that would have been a lot cheaper than the real thing!

 

 

 

Waiting for the sunset in Wadi Rum

All in all, Jordan was an amazing experience, helped most definitely by our excellent guide (who works with On the Go, I'm so sorry I can't remember his name) and some pretty magical places.  I highly recommend it!

To see all the other photos click here.

Kuala Lumpur and Penang

On the way back to London after the most brilliant summer in New Zealand (I know I'm skipping over several months worth of stuff - photos from Jordan etc. are coming!), I stopped over for a week in Malaysia.  Discovering the joy of the stopover has been delightful as it means an horrendous experience of staying awake for over 24 hours (I struggle to sleep on planes) is broken down into infinitely manageable 12-14 hour stretches.

I also love Malaysian food, so it was a bit of a no-brainer to organise a few days there.  Despite the pull of Borneo, I thought that a week would be best spent staying in the Western Peninsula (I'll get to the jungle sometime though!).  I had three nights each in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Kuala Lumpur was interesting, but it was pretty hot and humid, so that always makes things tough, and I was by myself (although met lots of nice people at my hostel), so those two things combined weren't the best.  The highlight of KL actually was a walk I took north of the city with a guide called 'Happy' who was all about connecting with nature and taking time to smell the roses etc.  We walked up this river, crossing it several times, and eventually got to a waterfall where we swam and jumped off rocks etc., it was great fun!  He took me to some delicious places for food too - it's always good to be with a local. 

 I also really liked a visit I took to the Batu Caves, which is this really interesting temple just north of the city, where you walked up a whole lot of steps beside a massive statue, then into this natural cave formation.  The monkeys there were so cheeky!  I actually saw one steal a bottle of water right out of a woman's bag, screw the lid off, then drink it.  They certainly know what they're doing...

Penang was a bit of a slower pace, and I spent most of my time wandering around the historical centre (Georgetown) with some other people from my hostel there who were really nice too (although everyone else was on these massive trips through Asia and couldn't believe I was only there for a few days!).  I loved the food in Penang, lots of delicious noodle soups and things which were so yum.  I also made my own pewter bowl at the Royal Selangor factory which was pretty cool and swam in the sea in Asia for the first time - it was like swimming in a bath it was so warm!  Again though, it was super hot in Penang - so lots of ice-cream to help cool down was definitely in order...

The rest of the photos are here!

Be unstoppable!

I have to admit, I had been dreading the Blenheim Triathlon.  I signed up to it about nine months ago, and it was one of those things that was just so far away, you didn't really feel like it would ever actually happen.  And while I did a fair bit of training in New Zealand, once I got back to the UK and life intervened (having to find a new house and a cold being the two main time suckers), it was really hard to prioritise going for a run when you had nowhere to live!

But the day dawned, thankfully bright and sunny, and it was off to Blenheim to put the wheels in motion (sorry for the pun).  I was definitely very nervous and didn't have any idea how it would all go, but it was actually really fun!  I am so surprised how much I enjoyed it, particularly compared to a marathon or a half marathon which is such a slog, this was actually something I could imagine doing again.  Obviously it would be nice to have done more training and feel completely prepared, but I achieved all my goals (the most important being not stopping on the run) and finished in less than two hours, at 1 hour 52 minutes.  I am super, super happy with that time as I was aiming for about 2 hours 30 minutes, so to do it in less than two hours is great.  Now I guess I aim for less than 1 hour 45 minutes next time!  (She says in the after-glow of a fun event).

 

Lots more photos here, so have a look!

A most magnificent sunrise

After a seriously long and unfun bus ride from Cairo to Dahab (we had to go all the way around the Sinai peninsula instead of straight across because of some previous tourist-related unrest a few months earlier), we finally made it to the sea! It was just heaven being in Dahab and I could totally understand why people would just go straight there for a holiday in the sun.

We stayed in a huge hotel complex a bit out of the main town which had a few big pools and a pretty amazing buffet breakfast. We got into a bit of trouble playing a game of waterpolo at one point when an errant ball knocked over someone’s glass (who, to be fair, was sitting in a seat directly behind the goal), but after much apologising things were fine (we hope!).

It was so lovely to be able to swim when it was so hot, and one of the days we went out to Dahab’s famous Blue Hole which is a massive sinkhole 130m deep. We only snorkelled, but it was seriously incredible. Sadly, the photos we took with the underwater camera led to its demise (the Red Sea was a bit salty), but I think the sight of this merman is worth it!

Merman

Fishies!

We also had so much fun racing in open topped jeeps there and back—Dahab is much less developed than its neighbour Sharm-el-Sheikh which is only about 30 minutes drive south, so it felt like a much better place to cut loose and have some fun.

One of the things that Adrian and I had wanted to do the whole trip was the walk up Mt Sinai to see the sunrise. Having been told at the outset of the trip that it was most definitely off limits, the plans slowly changed to the point that we were told that if we went (with another independent tour company) that we just weren’t to let our guide know! So that was the plan. We assembled at about 10pm in central Dahab, all rugged up and ready to go. With our small group of fellow tourists, we then drove for 30 minutes towards the centre of the peninsula where we waited for another 30 or so minutes for all the rest of the buses heading up that night to go in convoy. We travelled in convoy most places in Egypt, but this was quite full on with machine-gun armed guards and everything. Apparently there are normally way more groups, but only religious groups and independents like us were going at that point (October 2012) so numbers were apparently 90% down on usual.

After another two hours we reached the base of the mountain, then were assigned a guide and started walking up. There are two ways up: the sandy path which is a series of switchbacks up the mountain, or 3000 steps straight up. We took the path! Near the top the two converge and everyone walks the 750 final steps straight up. They were some pretty massive steps and I’m very glad I had a decent torch! Some people in our group didn’t have a torch and I think they found it quite tough even with the rest of us helping them out where we could.

On the way up they had lots of tea stops and our guide stopped at each one so we could partake if so desired. Apparently this is quite different from several years ago when Mum and Granny went, when they didn’t exist at all. I guess everything gets more and more commercialised... And then we were up! It took just under two hours if I remember correctly. Up at the top we found a possie, took some great photos of the stars, and then rugged up with all our warm gear (wool socks, down jacket, down sleeping bags etc.) and settled down for a short sleep. I think we were one of the few groups of people not praying the entire night, so when Adrian woke me up only 40 minutes later we were worried that we’d missed the sunrise! But even though it was definitely lighter, we had about 30 minutes to watch until it actually rose.

And what a sunrise! We had a Russian Orthodox group chanting behind us which was actually pretty magical and suited the occasion perfectly. Adrian reckoned that the sun came up so fast he felt temporarily dizzy with the rotation of the earth, but I think it was just because he was nervous about his imminent proposal... Of course I said yes—how could I say anything but in such an amazing place! The sunrise coming up over the layers of mountains was just stunning and will make for an amazing memory we’ll never forget.

Yes!

Stunning sunrise

Once the sun came up it was amazing how hot it got so quickly. Walking back down we quickly shed all our warm layers, although had to wear sarong skirts to be able to go into St Catherine’s monastery to see the legendary burning bush (well, a descendent of the original I guess!). Another dusty and long journey later, we made it back to Dahab where we got to share the exciting news with everyone (thanks for the bubbles Pip and Bastiaan!) as well as have a well-earned nap.

And that was Egypt! Incredibly memorable and definitely a travel highlight. Next stop, Jordan...

Making our way back up the Nile

It’s about time that I finished the blogs telling you all about Egypt.  Especially since it was about seven months ago!  I can’t believe how time is flying...

Okay, so I’d last left it at our farewell to the felucca.  While it was very sad to have to leave, there were many more highlights in store so it was onwards and upwards to Kom Ombo temple, the site of the world’s first calendar.  It was pretty cool how it was quite recognisably a calendar, albeit based around seasons and planting etc. rather than just days like we have now.  Having checked out the mummified crocodiles (!) in the small museum also on site it was then time to head towards the Temple of Horus in Edfu.  Horus, the hawk god, is one of my favourite Egyptian gods because he’s so easily recognisable with his peaked nose (well, hawk I guess) and elaborate headgear.  

Excited to be at the Temple of Horus in Edfu

 

Adrian doesn’t have particularly fond memories of this temple as he was propositioned by a rather crusty old man who was hanging around checking out the hot young men.  While the rest of us thought it was quite funny, I think Adrian might have a few mental scars yet to heal...  The interior of the temple was quite amazing, with room upon room of hieroglyphics.  When the Christians found the temple, they scratched out the figures (especially their faces) because (I’m guessing) they were ‘false idols’.  But quite a lot of the figures were buried under layers of sand that had drifted into the temple so it’s quite cool to be able to see some that are still intact.

After an overnight in Luxor where we wandered around town and checked out the beautifully lit Luxor Temple, the next day it was time to see the Valley of the Kings!  Having heard so much about the valley we had very high hopes and it didn’t disappoint.  You’re not able to take photos so there’s no visual evidence, but the colours of the paintings inside the tombs were just spectacular.  It was also really cool to be able to see how the painting process was carried out, with two draft layers in red and black outline before the final, full colour, painting was applied.  Basically the more inexperienced workers would do the drafts, with the higher up (and actually paid) workers doing the final versions.

After the Valley of the Kings it was onwards to Hatshepsut (rhymes with ketchup) Temple.  The colours here were also stunning and quite amazing given the temple’s exposed situation set into a cliff face.  Dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut it’s formed of three tiers of columns, making it really striking.  Later that day we visited Karnak Temple which had a hall of columns (134 in all) which you could wander amongst and see all the different types of hieroglyphics.  It was really neat to see the different styles, with some deeply cut into the stone while others were raised and more 3D.

Being mummies at Hatshepsut Temple (Adrian's a man hence crossed arms, I'm a lady hence straight arms)

Peek-a-boo at Karnak Temple!

After another night in a sleeper train it was back up to Cairo where we visited the Egyptian Museum.  Again, no photos inside, although I was desperately tempted as the treasures from Tutankhamen’s tomb were just amazing.  And it’s not even the stuff they think was the most elaborate!  It’s pretty cool that at least one tomb’s treasures survived though so we have an inkling about what it was all like.  Seeing the detail on the sculptures, including the beautiful jewellery was just stunning.  They're actually building a brand new museum called the Grand Egyptian Museum, much closer to the pyramids, so it would be cool to go back in 10 years to see what that's all like when it's finished.

We then had an afternoon free so we went exploring out into urban Cairo to do some shopping at a fair trade store I’d heard about, and then managed to get hopelessly lost in the markets before miraculously finding another member of our group who pointed us in the right direction.  Basically, instead of going to the touristy side of Khan-al-Khalili, we went to the locals area which is a total maze and quite bewildering!  Luckily we made it back though and didn’t miss the bus...

Next stop, Dahab!

Platinum!

One of the things I do when I'm not doing my actual PhD research (which probably occurs more often than it should), is form part of my research institute's 'Green Impact' team.

Green Impact is an environmental accreditation and awards scheme run by the UK's National Union of Students and involves over 100 unions across the UK.  Our team at the Grantham Research Institute was awarded gold for the 2011-12 year, but we were determined to work harder and come top and get the platinum level.  However, only one department per university can be awarded platinum and LSE's Estates team had won it every previous year, so we had a lot of work to do!

However, throwing our dignity away, we did all sorts of things like silly videos about recycling and not wasting water (too embarrassing to be published here I'm afraid), donning trackpants and gloves and spending time gardening and pulling weeds as part of a community engagement project, and a running and pedometer challenge to reduce our energy footprint.

And it worked!  We won platinum and beat Estates, and also won the award for best energy saving idea.  That was my idea for a challenge to inspire people to turn off their computer monitors overnight, and so we now have a £30 voucher for a local vegetarian restaurant to spend - yum!

So, a bit of a skite, but it's really rewarding to get recognition for all our hard work.

Grantham's Green Impact team with the LSE School Secretary

Melting Malaysia

Just a quick update to say hello from swelteringly hot Kuala Lumpur (you know it is legitimately hot when even locals tell you they're finding it tough to deal with)!

It was 35ºC yesterday and today with only the occasional breath of wind to help cool things down.  Fortunately the hostel is air conditioned which makes it a good respite when it all gets a bit much. 

I had this delicious beef ball soup (which comes with noodles with a soy, mince and vege combo on top) for dinner last night and have also had the best freshly squeezed watermelon juice, which I ordered not knowing what it was, just pointing to something that looked good on another table - the hunch paid off! 

I'm either off to Melaka tomorrow or up north to do some walking/rafting - we'll see how the budget's looking before I decide... Travelling alone makes you very efficient with your time - I've already seen Chinatown, Little India, Petronas Towers, the base of KL Tower, the National Museum, the Islamic Arts Museum, the Central Market, lots of temples and mosques, as well as the Batu Caves! And I'm only on day 2! 

So stay tuned for more adventures...

Rekindle

I've just come across this beautiful video introducing Rekindle, which is an amazing social enterprise based in Christchurch using salvaged wood from the earthquake to make the most gorgeous furniture.

rekindle - waste wood into furniture from Dollarmixbag / Ash Robinson on Vimeo.

It is well worth watching the full video as it tells a truly inspiring story about the types of people and ideas that I think should be encouraged throughout our community.

And, if you'd like to support Rekindle you can either (if you're Christchurch-based) let them know about any wood available for salvage, or buy a piece of their furniture.  If I wasn't a poor student I definitely would!  Their website is at www.rekindle.org.nz. 

Abu Simbel and cruisin' the Nile

One of the optional extras on our trip was a visit to Abu Simbel.  Having had it highly recommended to us by people who'd already been to Egypt (thanks Pam!) we decided to go have a look and it definitely did not disappoint.

A 3am start was followed by a long convoy bus ride down from Aswan to the site.  Abu Simbel, which is only about 50km or so from the border with Sudan in the south, is the name for two temples constructed by Ramesses II in in the 13th Century BC and then moved, in their entirety, in the 1960s to save them being flooded by the Nile as a result of the construction of the Aswan Dam.

As well as being absolutely amazing to look at inside and out, these temples (one for Ramesses II himself and the other for his wife, Nefertari) are amazing feats of engineering.  And I'm talking here about their original, and relocated, construction!  Just thinking about the size of each component part and how they were constructed, then moved, piece-by-piece (they moved this entire mountain!) was quite awe inspiring.

They're situated right on the banks of the Nile (much better than underneath it) and have an amazing atmosphere.  I took a video but unfortunately the strong wind makes it pretty impossible to make out what I'm saying, so you'll just have to make do with this one from the BBC:



After the long trip back to Aswan we boarded our felucca for a few days sailing up the Nile.  I have to say that while I wasn't really expecting much, this was a major highlight of the trip.  Although in hindsight, realising that it was all about lazing around and doing nothing in the sun, how could it not be a highlight!

It was just so relaxing and peaceful to be gracefully swooping down the Nile without a care in the world, apart from whether to read or have a bit of snooze!  It was also really cool to actually go swimming in the Nile and realise how clean it was - it was clear to beyond our toes even.  And lots of fun to jump in and be towed behind the felucca on a rope.

All our meals were cooked on board our felucca (called 'Butterfly') by our crew and we got to try all sorts of things like fresh dates and other goodies.  Unfortunately the food didn't agree with some of us (although I was fine - absolutely could not believe I didn't get sick in Egypt despite eating everything under the sun including dodgy street kebabs; it was an absolute miracle) so my extensive collection of diarrhoea tablets and rehydration sachets came in very handy.  Considering the toilet was the bushes at the side of the river I'm very pleased it wasn't me!

We also had a couple of fun nights up on the banks of the river playing a long game of charades which, while starting between a couple of us as a way to pass the time ended up involving nearly the entire tour group, as well as another night hanging out by a fire, dancing and toasting marshmallows.

I was pretty devastated to have to leave, but there were more temples to see and hieroglyphics to read!  Onwards to Luxor...