Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Where is M.I.T. anyway?
This kind of question is apparently what a canadian education gets you. Not much. The Canadians on our desert trip actually asked that.
We ventured into the sahara desert camelback, but first busbound, our comrades some terrible canadians, who, like all of their countrymen, kept 'casually' mentioning their nationality. And some absurd girls from MIT. The desert however, was quite amazing, even if camels are not terribly comfortable. Camels in, which were not terribly comfortable, can really feel the hump even through ten inches of blanket. Ran up the dunes to watch the sun set. On top of a giant dune, exhausted, hours into the Sahara desert by camel, sitting and looking at the view, a speck appears and slowly grows closer, becoming an apparent child who reaches the top of the dune. Speaknig no English nor French or even Arabic, she attempts to sell us some home stitched dolls... just when you think you're safe from the hassle... But what a night sleeping under the stars, the sand cool to the touch but still hot underneath... a good sleep and watching the sunrise over. Back via bus to near death in a sudden foggy whiteout through the mountains, perilous blind passes in our minibus around 1000 foot cliffs.
Essaura beautiful, the trip there dramatic with our bus windshield exploding. But the low key feel of the place almost prompted us to stay longer, but moroccan phones were our undoing with their unnecessary complexity. Did the carpet buying thing, quite an ordeal, and have no idea whether we were utterly ripped off or got an amazing deal. Casablanca a bit of a dump, then back through (never again!) port authority bus terminal aka charles degaul airport, and a shitty delta flight (albeit showing national treasure*), and (never again) JFK.
*theres a treasure map on the back of the declaration of independence! Ya heard!
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Marrakesh it hot. Very very hot. A long claustrophobic trainride from Fes as well.
Generally of the opinion that Fes was generally much more charming than here- a prettier medina, less urban feeling, more exotic and mysterious. Apparently Paul Bowles said that if it werent for the djemaa al fna (the big square) Marrakesh would be just like any other big Moroccan city, and I do have to agree. Its got that big crappy 3rd world city vibe to it. People a little more western, women who work, men wearing plenty of fake diesel and other designer knockoffs, and women on motorbikes. Hell, EVERYONE on motorbikes which is really fucking annoying and I feel like I have but a few more days to enjoy having toes which are nearly run over constantly.
The square (Djemaa Al'Fna) is pretty cool, snake charmers, eye-knifers, storytellers, acrobats, magicians, and in the evening tons and tons of rows of food vendors and chefs, a cloud of delicious grill and meat smoke hanging over everything. A great view from the roof terraces. But the people... saw a fight between snake handlers who carry their snakes in big burlap sacks, a bunch went at each other, one picking up the others sack o' serpents and hurling it on the ground with a sickening thump, we hurried off, browsed t shirts only to be told "fuck you" and hustled out of the shop when we expressed uncertainty about being offered a completely different t shirt. Also had the experience of going to a restaurant for ice cream, only to be told we were sitting in the wrong section for ice cream. We moved to the sectino they pointed to, only to be told that we could only order ice cream sundaes there, and had to go to yet another ection for bowls of ice cream. Frustration got the best of us and we just went home, though picked up some phenomenal pastries at the patisserie de prince french bakery. But other folks have been fun, smiling, bought too much stuff already, belts, bags, almost shoes and practicing our haggling skills for a carpet purchase at some point.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Arabic keyboards absolutely suck. About 5 or 6 of the keys are in different places, the rest in the same places making it just generally infuriating to get used to.
Cordoba, Spain to Morocco yesterday- a long long day of traveling. Algeciras, the port town was quit un-charming, the New London of Spain if you will, the boat you couldnt go outside, but intercontinental boat travel was still pretty damn cool in theory and in practice. Border crossing under construction between Ceuta (Spanish Morocco) and Morocco proper, making it look rather wartorn, and refugee camp reminiscent. Few hitches besides making the acommuncations adjustment from broken spanish to broken french, and haggling for a grande taxi to the first town, Tetauean, from which to catch the bus to Chefchauen. Tetauen not the nicest, typically 3rd world bus station full of smoke and stares, neither providing the most welcoming feeling. Found our bus with some "help," in the sea of arabs, berbers, and were the only white folks we saw since the boat. La Ideal voyages motorcoach got us ALMOST to Chefchauen before the bus broke down JUST outside of this mountain town of chouen, the evenings final resting place. A beautiful and dramatic busride with the sunset light on the northern rif atlases mountains. Valleys beautiful and rolling, farms make up patchwork of yellow and green crops, white minarets of the little villages like an oriental version of the classic white steepled vermont valley town. Some helpful and genuinely friendly university students walkeed us the rest of the way into town, through the medina and right to the central Kasbah. Smells are amazing- fresh mint, spices and lamb and of course the omnipresent 3rd world odor of industrial cleaning solvents and diesel fumes. Town medina is all painted blue, comletely feels like a maze- so exotic and the kasbah fortress walls in the center; feels like were in disney world or a movie set, cant believe its real. The blue medina has the romantic effect of feeling like one is walking in the clouds, or perhaps the more earthly sensation of walking around a giant swimming pool, depending on one's mood. Hassle factor not too bad, save an invitation to couscous at the local house /carpet "factory" of some berbers. Interesting historical note that no chrisdtians were allowed here on pain of death until the 20s when spain occupied. Becquse a former spanish colony, all seem speak spanish, and many french which is enough to get by on. Surprised to find that I can understand french amazingly well, though certainly cant speak it a bit.
Something of a relief to be out of spain which was bleeding our wallets dry- we ll probably spend less here in eleven days than we did there in two. Seriously.
Sunday, June 5, 2005
Monday, February 28, 2005
Nicaragua 2.05
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
La Playa
The sweltering hole of Rivas was not terrifically impressive. Especially after a multi-hour drive wedged between various nicaraguans, in the 95° heat in a 35 year old schoolbus with no shocks and I really had to take a piss. Fucking guidebooks will make armpit town sound charming.
It was a little dusty, and the power was out in the whole southern part of the country. I wandered around a bit lost, and ultimately had to resort to the humiliating (for both of us I suppose) prospect of taking a cyclo to my hospedaje. I checked in, then after wandering a bit more, decided to move on to San Juan del Sur, near the Costa Rican border. Lovely little beach town on the pacific, and haven{t seen the pacific in ages. Nice dinner, slept well, day on the beach today morning on the beach tomorrow, and back to managua.
Still no holy one GI distress. I continue to live in a constant state of fear.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Pies de Sangre
RIP Uncle Duke...
Another good day, though I've destroyed my feet. It really sucks to be travelling and have your feet be bloodied and blistered, but thats what happens I suppose when you walk miles and miles in just flip flops, my own damn fault for assuming that distances were accurate in guide books. Sigh.
Longass time at the bank, all the multiple levels of beurocracy and different lines to wait in just to change traveler's checks. I think the employment of the country would halve if they cut all unneccessary staff from the government and other institutions. The other people in the bank also all seemed to have lunch bags full of cash, that took forever to count. THousands in both cordobas and US Dollars. Stumbled out into the blinding sun and non-air conditioned world in a daze, only to crash into a soldier/police who was casually tossing his AK-47 from hand to hand. !!!Ay perdon senor!!!
Did make it out to the isletas though, which were quite interesting, lots of wildlife and all, saw the fort that the spanish built to unsuccessfully repel the British pirates. Granada was sacked and burned three times or something ridiculous like that. Only to be surprise attacked again come summer at the merciless hands of the PDP.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Si, con el pastel....
I was bitten by a feral dog today. I also ate ceviche, which was also probably unwise and may lead to trouble.
I tihnk tomorrow I might go get a straightedge shave from the old men in the barbershop. In fact, I might do that even more often than just tomorrow if it really costs 26 cents.
Perhaps too I will get one of those bizarre taxidermied and shellacked crocodiles or giant frogs they seem to sell as one of the only souveniers.
I like this hospedaje very much, its clean, good food, non electric showers (cf guatemala entries), swimming pool, cheap as hell. The people seem to mostly be the trustafarian hippie types up from Costa Rica which is only an hour or two south, but not as offensive as the ones there. Theyve got a tv though, and I just don´t understand why anyone would fly thousands of miles away to a foreign country to lounge about on hammocks and watch american movies on dvd. I suppose thatss because I´m an incorrigible elitist snob.
Thursday, February 17th
Leopoldo Winsor Gutierrez
Last night's cab driver. The ride from my school didn't find me so i ended up getting a ride with the above named gentlemen. We started driving deeper anddeeper into some neighborhood in poptipil, a suburb of managua, and just when I was starting to get nervous he pulls up to what is his house and shows me his dog, wife, Olga, and grandmother. Wife gets in the car and off to Granada we go.
When I tell him I'm from Boston, he's very excited to hear that I'm from the cty of the "campiones mundiales" red sox, and we spend much of the drive discussing baseball, which is more popular than soccer here in nicaragua. He asked me how much my hat cost, which was like $15, which made me then feel horribly guilty about how much I can casually spend for a baseball hat. Also, today I was wearing my hat around and got many congratulations from guys on the street. Amusing. Got to hotel (Oasis- Really very nice and dirt cheap) and they had fucked up my room, so I got a dorm with a bunch of hippies, who were actually not so objectionable, just made me feel really old. Explored the market a little, wasn't terribly exciting, or as exotically bizarre as those in Guatemala, though I did see a guy who had two right hands.
Driving here will be more difficult than I would have anticipated given looking at a map and having seen the relatively decent roads in Guatemala and Costa Rica. They totally suck and we seemed to be going vey slowly, but I also realized at some point that I was unable to determine our speed as the spedometer in the cab was bouncing brokenly between 5 and 20, and we were surely going faster than that at many points.
The music of nicaragua: In the taxi ride I heard:
1. Informer by Canadian Superstar Snow
2. Ice Ice Baby by American Uberstar Vanilla Ice
3. Me So Horny by Controversial First Amendment defenders 2 Live Crew
Was also bitten by a feral dog today. Not as good as a freshwater shark or a live crocodile, but a start...
La Playa
The sweltering hole of Rivas was not terrifically impressive. Especially after a multi-hour drive wedged between various nicaraguans, in the 95° heat in a 35 year old schoolbus with no shocks and I really had to take a piss. Fucking guidebooks will make armpit town sound charming.
It was a little dusty, and the power was out in the whole southern part of the country. I wandered around a bit lost, and ultimately had to resort to the humiliating (for both of us I suppose) prospect of taking a cyclo to my hospedaje. I checked in, then after wandering a bit more, decided to move on to San Juan del Sur, near the Costa Rican border. Lovely little beach town on the pacific, and haven{t seen the pacific in ages. Nice dinner, slept well, day on the beach today morning on the beach tomorrow, and back to managua.
Still no holy one GI distress. I continue to live in a constant state of fear.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Pies de Sangre
RIP Uncle Duke...
Another good day, though I've destroyed my feet. It really sucks to be travelling and have your feet be bloodied and blistered, but thats what happens I suppose when you walk miles and miles in just flip flops, my own damn fault for assuming that distances were accurate in guide books. Sigh.
Longass time at the bank, all the multiple levels of beurocracy and different lines to wait in just to change traveler's checks. I think the employment of the country would halve if they cut all unneccessary staff from the government and other institutions. The other people in the bank also all seemed to have lunch bags full of cash, that took forever to count. THousands in both cordobas and US Dollars. Stumbled out into the blinding sun and non-air conditioned world in a daze, only to crash into a soldier/police who was casually tossing his AK-47 from hand to hand. !!!Ay perdon senor!!!
Did make it out to the isletas though, which were quite interesting, lots of wildlife and all, saw the fort that the spanish built to unsuccessfully repel the British pirates. Granada was sacked and burned three times or something ridiculous like that. Only to be surprise attacked again come summer at the merciless hands of the PDP.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Si, con el pastel....
I was bitten by a feral dog today. I also ate ceviche, which was also probably unwise and may lead to trouble.
I tihnk tomorrow I might go get a straightedge shave from the old men in the barbershop. In fact, I might do that even more often than just tomorrow if it really costs 26 cents.
Perhaps too I will get one of those bizarre taxidermied and shellacked crocodiles or giant frogs they seem to sell as one of the only souveniers.
I like this hospedaje very much, its clean, good food, non electric showers (cf guatemala entries), swimming pool, cheap as hell. The people seem to mostly be the trustafarian hippie types up from Costa Rica which is only an hour or two south, but not as offensive as the ones there. Theyve got a tv though, and I just don´t understand why anyone would fly thousands of miles away to a foreign country to lounge about on hammocks and watch american movies on dvd. I suppose thatss because I´m an incorrigible elitist snob.
Thursday, February 17th
Leopoldo Winsor Gutierrez
Last night's cab driver. The ride from my school didn't find me so i ended up getting a ride with the above named gentlemen. We started driving deeper anddeeper into some neighborhood in poptipil, a suburb of managua, and just when I was starting to get nervous he pulls up to what is his house and shows me his dog, wife, Olga, and grandmother. Wife gets in the car and off to Granada we go.
When I tell him I'm from Boston, he's very excited to hear that I'm from the cty of the "campiones mundiales" red sox, and we spend much of the drive discussing baseball, which is more popular than soccer here in nicaragua. He asked me how much my hat cost, which was like $15, which made me then feel horribly guilty about how much I can casually spend for a baseball hat. Also, today I was wearing my hat around and got many congratulations from guys on the street. Amusing. Got to hotel (Oasis- Really very nice and dirt cheap) and they had fucked up my room, so I got a dorm with a bunch of hippies, who were actually not so objectionable, just made me feel really old. Explored the market a little, wasn't terribly exciting, or as exotically bizarre as those in Guatemala, though I did see a guy who had two right hands.
Driving here will be more difficult than I would have anticipated given looking at a map and having seen the relatively decent roads in Guatemala and Costa Rica. They totally suck and we seemed to be going vey slowly, but I also realized at some point that I was unable to determine our speed as the spedometer in the cab was bouncing brokenly between 5 and 20, and we were surely going faster than that at many points.
The music of nicaragua: In the taxi ride I heard:
1. Informer by Canadian Superstar Snow
2. Ice Ice Baby by American Uberstar Vanilla Ice
3. Me So Horny by Controversial First Amendment defenders 2 Live Crew
Was also bitten by a feral dog today. Not as good as a freshwater shark or a live crocodile, but a start...
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