ATM where are you?

Our transition from Thailand to Egypt came as a shock to both of us. Our flight came to a rough and bumpy stop in Doha, Qatar for a three hour layover before continuing on to Alexandria. The landscape was so unbelievably different that we could have been on another planet. Sand as far as the eye could see and the sky was a blue that faded into a dusty brown as it got closer to the horizon. As we stepped out of the terminal to board our next flight we were heat by an intense wall of heat.

The flight to Alexandria was uneventful but the airport that awaited us as we left the plane was not what we were expecting. A large UN helicopter was sitting on the runway accompanied by a few fighter planes of various ages. The terminal was tiny and looked like it hadn't been repainted or cleaned up for decades. The scene inside was one of chaos since lining up in an orderly fashion is just not what Egyptians do. We waited patiently and made it to the official who took our passports and then directed us to a small kiosk across the airport to purchase our tourist visas. We brought the visa stickers back to the official who put them in our passport and then we headed to the one rickety luggage turn-style to see if Ryan's bag had arrived. Luckily it had and the only stop we had left before exiting the airport was to talk to customs. The customs area consisted of two tables, one with a group of Egyptian men arguing very loudly over a large piece of metal that one of them was trying to leave with. We were asked what we had in the bag to which we replied 'clothes' and then we headed out.

The air was hot and dry and we could hear the melodic and exotic call to prayer in the background. There was a row of Egyptians waiting outside the airport for friends and loved ones to arrive so we, being the only obvious foreigners on the plane, caused quite a few funny looks and blatent stares. After sitting down for a moment and trying to regroup we set out to try to get a taxi.

At this point we had spent most of our cash. Before we left Bangkok we didn't take any more out. We thought that the airport in Doha would have an ATM, unfortunately both the ATM's at the airport were out of service. Not knowing the state of the Alexandria airport we mistakenly thought that there would be an ATM there, but there was not. So as we tried to get a taxi to our hotel we had $10 US and $5 Canadian and a little bit of Thai baht. This was not looking good. We found a taxi and luckily for us he wanted $15 US to take us to our hotel. After talking to him for a bit we convinced him to take five of the amount in Canadian dollars. So much for that five that I had been saving to buy a timmies when we got back, but at least it came in handy.

The drive to our hotel was like something out of a movie. It was dusk and it is Ramadan which means that everyone can finally start to eat, drink and smoke after fasting all day. There were people all over the sides of the road but hardly any cars. Young men and boys were standing on the curbs passing juice in disposable cups to people in cars passing by and at one point our taxi driver stopped and grabbed one. We sped through the streets in a old car that was missing windows and door handles, quickly passing apartment blocks that were beyond run down, some with gapping holes in them. There were bonfires on the side of the road and we had brief moments where we wondered if we were actually going to make it to the hotel.

Finally the Mediterranean Sea came into view and we knew that we were on the right track. I have never been so happy to smell that salty air as we turned into the hotel parking lot. The bellboy came and got our bags and in true Egyptian fashion, ran them through the metal detector. Our turn through the metal detector came next. Once we checked in we headed up to our room and crashed for the night.

Alexandria didn't get much better as the days went by. The view of the sea from our balcony was amazing and the staff at the hotel were very friendly but we just didn't feel comfortable there. Our train ride to Cairo couldn't come soon enough for us. The concierge at the hotel helped us to book two first class tickets on the twelve o'clock train and also arranged a taxi to the station. Getting to the train station was easy, making sure that we got on the right train was the tricky part. The numbers on the train and the announcements are all in Arabic but thankfully a nice man made sure that we got on the correct train, although in true Egyptian style he asked for some baksheesh (a tip) in return.

Cairo has been amazing so far. We were picked up from the train station by a driver that worked for the hotel. He was very proud of his city and boasted that Barack Obama had been here to see the pyramids. The hotel is a five star with an amazing pool (I already have a sun-burned forehead), an excellent breakfast buffet, and a bedouin tent area where you can smoke flavoured sheesha (the apple flavour is very tasty). You can see the tip of one of the pyramids from our hotel room!

Yesterday we went to the amazing and overwhelming Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. Unfortunately but understandably we were not allowed to take pictures inside and I don't think I will be able to adequately describe the treasures that they hold in that building but they will forever be etched in my memory. The section on King Tut was our favorite. They had his death mask which was 11kg of solid gold inlaid with lapis lazuli, cornelian, gems and colored glass. The 71" long solid gold sarcophagus was equally as impressive, the detail was astounding. Seeing the mummy room was also an intense experience. They have the recently identified Queen Hatsheput on display and because I have read to much about her I was really moved by being able to come face to face with one of, if not the, most successful female Pharaoh ever.

For more photos of Alexandria and Cairo click here...

Skytrain to Paragon

We have had alot of fun in Bangkok while waiting for Ryan's kidney stone to pass (and I am happy to report that the stone has passed as confirmed by the follow up doctor's appointment today). We love hoping on the skytrain and heading to Siam Paragon because there is so much to do there and we've had some interesting experiences.

Siam Paragon is only two stops away on the skytrain so it doesn't take to long to get there but the train is usually very crowded to the point where we are barely getting all our appendages into the car before the doors close and we're whisked away.

The mall is attached to a few other malls which makes it seem like you could walk through area after area for days, eating and shopping to your hearts content without ever going outside. We've gotten lost more than once during our wandering. Most of the stores located there are definitly out of a meer mortal's price range and include Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, Jimmy Choo... The jewellery store section is amazing and we also really enjoyed window shopping at the Lotus and Maserati dealerships.

In the basement is the largest aquarium center in southeast Asia, and I've heard that it's also the largest in the southern hemisphere. It was a little expensive to get in but included in the admission price was a glass bottom boat ride, a ticket to the 4D show and the cutest mini photo of us with a sea scape green screened in behind us. There were animals there that we've never seen before anywhere including water rats (really cute) and a whole section on unclassified fish from the deep ocean that were incased in creepy red colored globes.

Last night we headed back to go see what a Thai movie experience would be like. We were hoping to go see Transformers in IMAX but due to a scheduling error we ended up seeing Inglourious Basterds instead. Neither the theatre nor the movie dissapointed. The seats were huge, comfy and reclined nicely. There was assigned seating and you have to pay more depending on where in the theatre you want to sit.

A couple very interesting events happened on the same night as our movie outing. We were outside of the mall just after eating dinner, but before the movie, when we were escorted down the sidewalk away from the road by an official security military type. Then we noticed that the traffic was all blocked and no one was being allowed to go anywhere near the road. Soon after we saw the largest military motorcade we've ever seen. A line of very nice BMW's with flashing lights came down the road and stopped at one of the entrances to the mall. From the way the Thai's in the area were behaving (removing their hats and not minding the delay) we figured out that this must be the royal Thai family. We got a small peak in the back of one of the cars but it was fairly tinted. Our suspicions were confirmed when we went back into the mall to find an area closed off from onlookers with a sign saying there was a royal function in progress. We tried to get a better view but loitering was not being looked kindly upon so we headed up to our movie.

After the movie we had another run in with celebrities. The movie let out so late that the mall was closed. We tried to head to the escalators to leave but were bombarded with a large group of teenage Thai fangirls coming straight at us. They had surrounded the South Korean boy band, Xing and were following them around in quite the pack. During the rush to the elevators that ensued I was almost stampeded and crushed into a sign trying to get out of their way! Ryan bumped into one of the boy band members and I don't think he will ever wash that shoulder again (kidding!).

For more photos of Thailand click here...

Thailand Rocks!

The problem started a little over a month ago while we were on the train to Hanoi in Vietnam. Ryan woke up with severe cramping in his back but since the bunks on the train aren't all that comfortable he thought that he had slept funny and that the pain would go away. Unfortunately by the time we got to our hotel the pain had only grown more intense. The worst part was that since we had arrived so early in the morning (4am) our hotel room wasn't even ready yet so Ryan had to hang out in the lobby and wander the streets of Hanoi while enduring really bad kidney cramps.

Ryan has had kidney stones before and it wasn't long before he determined that he was having the same pain as last time. When we went to the doctor in Canada they just gave him pain killers and sent him home to pass the stones by himself. We figured since we knew what it was that we would try to just let them pass and not worry about going to the doctor. The idea of going to the hospital in Vietnam was not very appealing anyway.

Fast forward to a week ago when we were in Chiang Rai. The pain still had not gone away. There were good days and bad days but the bad days were becoming the more frequent of the two. One day the pain became unbearable and we decided that a trip to the hospital was in order. We knew that there was one close by as we had passed it many times on our way to the night market on our bicycles. Unfortunately none of the English speaking staff was on hand at the hotel at the time of our emergency but they knew the word 'hospital'. The hotel that we were staying at was a ways out of town and no tuk tuks ever came down that far so the staff grabbed their scooters and we hopped on the back for the trip.

We raced down the road and made it to the hospital but when we entered the emergency room the nurse told us that there were no doctors there at the moment, they were all in a meeting and that we should go to the main hospital further into town. No problem, we all got back on the scooters and raced away again.

At the main Chiang Rai hospital, Ryan was immediately put on a stretcher and taken into the emergency. We became instant celebrities due to being the only foreigners in the place at the time. Ryan was poked and prodded in some very unpleasant places (I won't go into detail), sent for an x-ray and saw a specialist. The staff from our hotel waited patiently with us the entire time and helped guide us to the different departments that Ryan required. One of them even took his urine sample to the lab for us! We left the hospital with Ryan feeling slightly better and some medication to take but his pain soon returned as bad as it was before.

Our flight to Bangkok was the next day so we made the decision to get to the hospital here as soon as possible once we arrived so that these kidney stones could be taken care of once and for all. Luckily for us our hotel is right across the street from Bumrungrad International, the largest private hospital in south-east Asia. After speaking to the doctor in emergency and having an ultrasound done it was decided that Ryan should stay overnight so that they could keep him hydrated with IV fluids. I ran back to the hotel to pack him an overnight bag and call our travel insurance company while Ryan picked his room (you get a choice from 4 bed shared room all the way through to a royal suite, we went with a 2 bed room) and settled in.

The hospital was absolutely amazing. It felt more like a 5 star hotel than a medical facility and Ryan received amazing treatment the entire time he was there. The specialist came and saw him the day after he was admitted and set up a follow up appointment with us. He was discharged with a gift bag of medications and told that if he has any pain or complications to come back as soon as possible. Since then he has been keeping himself as hydrated as possible, staying away from cola beverages and waiting for the stone (which Ryan has named Scrapie) to pass. He has felt better in the last few days than he has in a long time and now all we can do is wait.

Night out with Family

After a couple amazing dinners at our hotel our hosts decided to take us out in the family station wagon for a night on the town. The whole family piled into the car with us in the back seat and we headed to a roadside vendor/restaurant to have an amazing meal. The owner and father of the family ordered for us and while we sat down to eat we tried to overcome our language barrier as much as possible and chat. When we tried to pay for dinner he insisted that it was his treat. Our night did not stop there.

We left the restaurant and strolled down the street a little ways until we came to a dessert place where we ate yummy little snacks made from taro and egg. Then we walked to the amazingly beautiful clock tower and while we waited for the show to start, the owner and his wife bought us warm soy milk which was very tasty.

We had no idea that there was a clock tower like this in the middle of town. At 8 and 9pm every night there is a light and music show that is spectacular. We sipped our warm milk and enjoyed the show. Afterwards we were dropped off at the night market and told just to give them a call whenever we were ready and they would come pick us up. It was an amazing night and we really felt like part of the family.

The next day I got a little over ambitious and decided that we should bike all the way to the hot springs which are about 25km away. I figured that it would be a long way and that we would be tired by the time that we got there but I hadn't counted on all the hills. After we made it about 15km I was totally pooped out. I knew that even if I made it all the way there that there would be no guarantee that I would ever be able to pedal back. As soon as we made the decision to turn back it started raining. At first it was a lovely little drizzle but soon it was a downpour and we needed to find some shelter before becoming completely soaked. There was a little bike/small engine repair shack on the side of the road so we pulled in and the owner did not mind us hanging out under his roof for a while until the rain died down. Unfortunately after the rain the roads were really wet and by the time we got back to the hotel we had strips of water and gunk up our backsides and of course I had a white shirt on.

We are getting very comfortable riding around town on the bikes. We can make it to the night market and back no problem, we just avoid making right hand turns as much as possible. Traffic is usually light and they are so used to having bikes and scooters on the road here. We've also biked to the Hilltribe Museum in town which is a small but very informative place which has displays on farming techniques, costumes, traditions and the history of the opium trade. After going to the museum we've decided against going on a hilltribe tour because it seems to do more harm then good to their culture and way of life.

More photos of Chiang Rai...