Did I Ask For Fries?

Why Gulf Air sucks:

• They let people onboard with crazy amounts of check in baggage.
• They do not stage their boarding by row number, so boarding the flight, and having everyone attempt to fit their gargantuan amounts of luggage in the overhead lockers becomes an absolute disasters.
• The remote control on A’s chair was busted, and had clearly been for some time, given the amount of wear and tear on the faulty buttons compared to other remotes.
• The flight attendants do not respond to pressing the flight attendant button.  I don’t mean they wait 10, 30 or even 60 minutes before responding.  They don’t respond period.
• When you do happen to catch one heading down the aisle and explain your problem, they listen, say they will do something about it and then never return or fix the problem.
• When you catch them 45 minutes later they say they will try again and then never return or fix the problem.
• When you ask why you can’t swap to 2 of the 3 empty seats in the row behind you they say the woman there has been complaining about a sore back.  Am I being unsympathetic in suggesting that a sore back doesn’t need 4 seats on a full flight? Especially considering she was sitting up and only occupying one and a bit chairs. Wouldn’t 2 suffice?
• When you ask another attendant they promise to telex the ground staff at your next stop and arrange a seat change before passengers boarding at that port check-in.  This attendant then never returns.
• 5 hours later when you walk down the back of the plane to use the toilets and see that attendant there they claim that they “could not” send the telex, but won’t explain why, especially given they were the ones they suggesting that’s what they could do in the first place.
• They let someone bring 5L of “holy water” onboard and store said beverage in the overhead lockers despite potential damage to electrical equipment.
• Ground staff at the net port whilst cleaning the aircraft smelt said “holy water”, realised it was some form of strong alcohol (and therefore flammable), was unlabelled and confiscated the 5L container.
• Passenger owning said water chucked a massive wobbly midair when he realised this was missing.  Had a big argument with the new flight attendants who had taken over the plane at the last port and had no clue what was going on.
• Said passenger decided to stash his massive suitcase (that shouldn’t be allowed onboard in the first place, see point one) in the aisle for the rest of the flight.
• Said passenger was informed by the crew that he was blocking the aisles and the plane cannot land until the aisles are clear.
• Said passenger refused to move it.  Lots of shouting ensued.
• Aircrew informed passenger that unless he moved his bag in the next minute he would be arrested on arrival in Sydney and civil action taken against him.
• Said passenger refuses to move his bag.  Starts yelling in a mixture of English and Arabic.
• Flight announcement is made that the plane is unable to land until the aisles are clear, so our descend is on hold for now.
• An Arabic attendant has a big loud argument with said passenger in Arabic.
• Other passengers start yelling at said passenger to move his fricken luggage.
• Arabic attendant finally lugs the suitcase back overhead.

Why Gulf Air ain’t so bad: 

• Plane finally lands without crashing, only an hour late.
• The food is pretty decent, and the icecream they handed out late at night was awesome.

 Awesome though it was, the icecream certainly didn’t make up for the rest of the bollocks.

…although since my previous post was well over 2 week ago, I’m obviously not in Broken Hill anymore.  The 2 weeks I spent there were pretty amazing and really started to open my eyes about rural and remote health issues within Australia, both in Indigenous and non-indigenous communities.  I really liked the town of Broken Hill itself a lot, and definately hope to return someday!

After returning from Broken Hill I had 3 nights in Sydney before buggering off again.  For the past 3 1/2 weeks D and I have been in Egypt.  We’ve pretty mucd done it all: Cairo, Alexandria, Siwa oasis (my fav bit so far), Aswan, Luxor and finally, where we are now, Dahab.  We’ve seen more pyramids, temples, feluccas, deserts and museums than yuou can poke a stick at.

I had fully intended to update this blog well before now, but this is the first time I’ve sat down in front of a computer to do more than send a perfunctory email to my parents telling them that I’m still alive.

We’ve got 6 days or R&R here in Dahab, before we head back to Cairo for a full-on day of souvenir shopping at the Khan-Al Kallili bazaar there (we’ve left all our shopping till then so we don’t have to lug it around with us).

I think we need the rest too.  For the last few days I’ve had a horrible sore throat and fever, and as I type D is back in the hotel room where’s he’s been laid up for the entire day with what seems like a nastier version of the same thing.

We’ve had an awesome time here though.  I love, love love the food here, and am already lamenting how I need to get back into the exercise when I get return.  The skirt I am wearing right now is definately tighter than it was when I left home - too many felafels, tahini, bread and pancakes.  Mmm!!  

Having said that I’m hungry right now, and need to go out in search of a snack, but first, the obligatory photo share!!!

Shali Town, Siwa by night:

Me trying on a Siwan costume on Xmas night:

A felucca on the Nile:

Abu Simbel, amazing, except for all the tourists there!!

D and I onboard a felucca:

Tomorrow morning I’m packing my bags and heading to Broken Hill for a fortnight.  I mean that literally because at the moment clothes are strewn all over my bed, but nothing is yet inside my backpack.

I’m lucky enough to be going with a volunteer group doing some Indigenous health checks in some of the communities around BH.  Should be pretty amazing.

Being geographically challenged I looked at a map of NSW today to work out where we are going.  Man it’s a long way away.  We’re driving there as well.  That’s a lot of music to listen to along the way!! 

I may or may not have internet access while I’m away, so if not I will look forward to catching up with the busy world of blogland when I return.  Hopefully I’ll have some cool stories of outback life to share as well!!

A and I just booked flights to Egypt. Is that the smartest thing to do on a Saturday night whilst just a leeeetle tipsy?

We leave in 27 days.

Of those 27 days, there are 2 days until my clinical exams, which last for 2 days.  That leaves 23 days.  16 of which I am going to be in Broken Hill.  That leaves 7 days.  2 days of which I will be in da Gong for my brothers graduation.  The remaining 4 days are split between our departure and me starting uni next year.  After our first 3 days of uni, I move to Orange for 4 months.  I’m sure that’s going to require some organisation.

Planning is so not my middle name.

If I fail this exam, and have to come back early I am *screwed*!!!

We’re heading up to Qld tomorrow morning. I would be more excited about this:

a) if I didn’t have to wake up at 5:30am
b) if it wasn’t forecast to rain every day we are going to be there
c) if I hadn’t just spent the last hour packing.

Still, I’ve taken my snorkelling gear, and I fully intend to be a tennis pro at the end of the next 4 days, rain, hail or shine.

In the meantime, here is proof of life of my fingerless gloves, and of me post-haircut, proving that it is possible for my hair not to look like a birdsnest of curls. Only happens every 6 months when I go to the hairdressers though. It does make me seriously consider getting my hair permanently straightened….maybe in another 6 months!

Wow how fast have the past 2 weeks gone? I used to think 2 weeks was the perfect amount of time for a “quick” break, now I realise it’s just not long enough. 3 should be the absolute minimum I think:

Week number 1 to go away somewhere.
Week number 2 to be at home and do a mixture of bludging and around-the-house chores.
Week number 3 to catch up on uni work.

Now what do I need to do in order to make this the official rule from now on???

In the past 2 weeks I stuck to week number 1 pretty well. Fraser Island was wonderful, and I’ll indulge myself with a few pics here at this point I think….

Yes that is a tent you see in the foreground. In the years we have been together, Dante and I have NEVER gone camping together before, so this was an interesting experience. I must say you really start to appreciate the creature comforts that you take for granted in everyday life such as chilled water to drink, showers and a proper toilet that you don’t have to dig in the ground yourself as well as being able to eat food that isn’t either dried or tinned. It was great fun though, and I’d be keen to do it again once all the mozzie bites heal!!!

The beach looked absolutely gorgeous here, but my only gripe is you can’t swim in it because it’s way too rough and apparently there is heaps of sharks there. I am a real water baby so being that close to the water and only being able to wade it in really frustrated me I have to say!!

I love the contrast between the sand and the sky. Trust me there are a lot more photos where this one came from!!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to love or hate Noosa; in the end I quite enjoyed it. The hustle and bustle was a stark contrast to the remoteness of Fraser Island, but it did feel nice to have creature comforts again!! It was also still way less crowded than any Sydney beach I’ve ever been to!!

A random sunset photo. Can you tell I love sunrises/sets, but is there anyone that can resist them??

A gratuitous piccie of me and the sunset. I think I got a little bit of a tan over the past week, but unfortunately most of it is concentrated on my forehead. I don’t I think am ever gonna be able to get rid of that forehead line now!!!!

…

So that leaves me with one week to do 2 week’s worth of activities: working and bludging. I’ll leave it to your imagination to discern which one I achieved most of!!!

Contrary to what the gaping silence of this page suggests, I haven’t been kidnapped in the jungle of Ecuador. I’ve just come home, and been really really busy with a little thing called uni starting back for the year.

I’ve been back for nearly 2 weeks now, and while it is great to be back, it has taken some adjusting to. I really, really miss Ecuador, it is a country that’s very easy to become enchanted with. “What exactly do you miss?” I hear you ask, well allow me to elucidate.

The top 10 things I miss about Ecuador (in no particular order):

1. The drinking yoghurt - so smooth and creamy and no yucky bits in it……mmm Toni!!
2. Speaking Spanish. I am by no means fluent, but damn it is fun (and frustrating, and embaressing) to talk in another language.
3. Reggaeton music, especially Gasolina.
4. Walking around various cities, towns and villages every day for hours on end.
5. Batidos and jugos…..mmm lovely fruit.
   
6. Saying good morning, good afternoon and goodnight to practically everyone you walk past in the street. Here in Sydney you don’t even make eye contact, let alone say hello.
7. Lots of pig, goat and cow spottings, even in the middle of decent sized cities.
   
8. The gorgeous people dressed in bright colours, especially the ladies in hats, cardiagans, skirts and long socks. That is exactly how I’m going to dress when I’m older.
   
9. The “party buses”, where every ride is an adventure. There might be animals onboard, there may be interesting people to meet, or you might jsut get squished to death. They’re cheap and they’re frequent, and they put Sydney buses to shame. And they show Stephen Seagal movies!
10. The kids that we taught (and all the other cute kids we saw too). Crazy as they are, they were a great bunch. I would love to know what happens to them in the future. It is scary to know that some of the 12 year old girls we taught are going to be married and popping out kids within a year or two!!!
    

So having been to South America twice now, I am still keen to go back for more. Such a big continent, and so many different things to see and do. I’m really keen to do my elective somewhere there in 3rd year, but exactly where, well that’s the million dollar question.

Why is it that some special books/movies/songs/whatever tickles your fancy can just hit you right there, and reduce you to a blubbering mess?

For me, one of the all-time culprits at doing this is Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One. I remember reading it about 10 years ago and crying not far into the book. Today I started it again and was crying by page 4.

Is this just a great book, or is there something wrong with me???

It didn´t help that I started reading it on a bus trip heading towards Ecuador’s main Incan ruins at Ingapirca. Instead of fully appreciating the ruins I was wanting to get back on to the bus home and read more.

Similarly right now I’m so tempted to go back to the hotel and veg out for a few hours reading it, instead of what I should be doing, namely going back, packing, having dinner and then attempting to go out, it being Saturday night and all.

After all I have a 4 hour bus ride and a 4 hour train ride on the cards for tomorrow. If that’s not quality reading time then I don’t know what is!!

Well the latest stop on my journeys has been the village of Villacabamba in the south of Ecuador, close to the Peruvian border. It’s a gorgeous village nested between some lovely Andean mountains, but isn’t high enough altitude to be cold.

Villacabamba is famed for having a ¨Fountain of Youth¨ that allows its residents to live 100 years plus. Some people attribute this to a magical waterfall there, some to the healthy diet it’s people eat. However it seems this is becoming less and less true over recent years, and I think the oldest person there is now around 90. Maybe it has something to do with the Westernisation of their diet.

Regardless, it’s a lovely place to chill out for a few days. The hostel we stayed at was more like a resort: it had a pool, spa, sauna, Turkish baths, badminton and basketball courts, and pool tables. Plus you got your own room with a double bed in it all for US$6 a night including breakfast. What a bargain.

I even did something I never thought I would be enticed to do: go on a 4 hour horse ride. Despite my misgivings it was an awesome day. The horses we had were lovely, which makes a big difference. I’m glad the trek we did was on horseback, because the path was very steep and wouldn’t have been much fun on foot. I’m even gladder that the horses knew what they were doing, and we didn’t really have to guide them too much.

My legs and bum are still a little bit sore though, but no pain no gain huh.

The only thing that marred the entire Villacabamba experience was a couple of conversations we had with people around town about the manager of the hostel that we stayed at. Rumour is that he has raped a few of the tourists staying there, which is an absolutely horrifying thought. Apparently he gave horse tranquilisers to one person and they woke up the next day not really knowing what had gone on.

I have no idea whether this is true or not. He did seem a little bit creepy to me, but I didn’t get a danger vibe from him. I’m torn between wanting to give people benefit of doubt, innocent until proven guilty and all that, and thinking that there must be some kind of basis for these rumours, otherwise they wouldn’t exist.

So while I had a great time there, I don´t necessarily know if I´d recommend that hostel heartilty to any blonde women travelling alone. Just in case.

Wow well what can I say. The Galapagos islands were amazing, and in a lot of ways defy description. Totally unlike any place I have ever seen.

I was really worried that they were going to be disspaointing and not worth the hype, but my fears were unfounded. The wildlife there was just incredible, both above and in the water.

I absolutely adored allthe sea lions, they are just the cutest things ever. So playful with each other, they just lie around cuddling up to one another, then for no apparent reason they will flop over and move on top of another one in the group. Moy lindo!!

And in the water they swim right by you, and mimic thing you do. If you dive down, they´ll copy. It´s an awesome feeling to be that close to nature. Very special.

And not at all over touristy. Pretty much every island is deserted. The main town is Puerto Ayora which is on Sanata Cruz island. Even that is way less hectic and touristy than places like Bali. And despite the number of shops and souvenir stalls, no-one hassles you to buy anything or go to theor restuarnts or anything. Very laid back - I like it!!!

Strangely enough that all feels like so long ago, even though it was only 3 nights ago that I was there.

I´m now in Villacabamaba which is a cool little town in in the Andes, about 2000m altitude, so not too extreme. It´s a very relaxed palce known for its national parks, horse riding and massages, all of which I plan to utilise over the next few days!! Today I have ticked off the horse riding and spa, sauna and swim, tomorrow is walking and massage.

But now, it´s time for dinner!!