Month Four – recap

Month four on the road…wow. The other day, someone asked me if I was getting homesick. I laughed. :p. Are there some things I miss about home? Absolutely! Am I ready to be back? No way. This trip was originally born of the idea to check off several bucket-list items from my (ever-growing) list. I’m definitely not ready to be back, because I know that there is a ridiculous number of amazing things that I’m planning to see and do in the next ten months…

Places Visited

Egypt

Egypt straddled the months of September and October, so for the first part of this country’s adventures, check out the month three recap here.

Aswan

Aswan got the least amount of time in Egypt. I was there only two days. The Nubian museum is excellent, and the Philae Temple light show was one of my favourites of the four or so I was able to see. Most people who get as far south as Aswan come here to do a day trip to Abu Simbel, but as I would be getting there separately, being in Aswan was a nice place to relax for a few days.

Abu Simbel / Lake Nasser Cruise

While many people come to Egypt with the hope and plan of doing a Nile River cruise, it was recommended to me by my aunt and uncle, who had spent considerable time in Egypt, that a Lake Nasser cruise was infinitely more interesting. Not having done the cruise on the Nile, I have nothing to compare it to, but it was absolutely wonderful.

Lake Nasser was originally a thin strip of Nile, just like the rest of the river. Each year, the Nile would flood. The people depended on this flooding, but some years, it wouldn’t come and drought would plague the country. With the creation of Lake Nasser, the Nile no longer floods; and Egyptians are no longer dependent on this flooding.

The problem was that many temples were built along the Nile; and with the creation of the lake, these temples would be lost. For this reason, a massive undertaking was started to move hundreds of temples that lined the Nile, some as far as hundreds of kilometres from their original position. The most famous of these is Abu Simbel, and its story is definitely one to check out.

Jordan

Wadi Rum

One of the adventures of this part of the trip was the overnight excursion into the desert of Jordan. While it can be done as a day trip, spending the night allows you to see a wonderful sunset and sunrise, and to spend the night in a Bedouin tent.

I don’t even camp in Canada, where I know what can and can’t kill me. It’s another thing completely to camp in Jordan; in the desert.

Thankfully, the camp was cosy and secure, and while it wasn’t something I’d hurry back and do again, it was a great experience.

Petra

One of the seven new wonders of the world, Petra should definitely be visited. I spent two days touring the incredible ancient city of Petra, including a visit to Petra at night (a rather expensive tourist activity…though the experience of walking through the ancient river basin to the Treasury is definitely magical).

For the best experience, you need to get there as early as possible. The gate opens at 6am and if you can make it there, you’ll be rewarded by being one of only a few people on the paths and you’ll arrive at the Treasury and have the place almost to yourself.

Most hotels will offer a breakfast box so you can eat on the go, or eat in the shadow of the treasury while you watch the sunlight slowly brighten the massive walls.

Dead Sea

I spent two days at the Dead Sea and it was absolutely incredible. Two days full of mud masks, body masks, floating in the sea, and enjoying the various pools at my hotel. It was perfectly relaxing and an amazing experience. You really do float standing up!

Jerash

With just one day to explore the ruins of Jerash, it’s easy to do. The early you get there, the better. If you arrive at the opening (8am), you’ll be rewarded with no crowds, very few tours offering various things to buy, and will have great light for your photos. As you leave a few hours later, you’ll find the entrance packed with tourists – much less enjoyable!

Madaba/Amman

On a quick day trip to get to my flight in the evening, I visited the famous Mosaic Churches of Madaba (the most famous being St Georges, which has a mosaic of a map of the Middle East), and then the Amman Citadel. I also managed here to find my favourite meal of the month…see below…

Bahrain

I visit Bahrain on a brief layover. I took a tour with Bahrain City Tours which took me through the massive Al-Fateh grand mosque (which was the first mosque I’ve ever had a tour through, which considerably improved my knowledge of what I was seeing. Everyone who visits the mosque receives the tour, and the guides are incredibly open and informative, and very good about answering questions), the Bahrain Fortress, the Bahrain National Museum, and the Muharraq Souq.

Kuala Lampur

Another layover city stop, I had 22 hours in Kuala Lampur. Unfortunately, it torrentially rained while I was here, and I spent most of the day relaxing indoors. Eventually I braved the rain and managed to make it to the night market, and to the Petronas Towers.

Vietnam

My first foray into South East Asia!

Hanoi

Hanoi was an intense introduction to Vietnam, but it was worth it because after my time there, I felt very comfortable getting myself around the traffic of the rest of Vietnam, and even into the rest of my time in Asia.

I spent three days visiting temples, wandering through the night market, and eating street food.

Time well spent!

HaLong Bay

After my time in Hanoi, I had a three-day, two-night trip out to Halong Bay. I booked the long trip because it got out to Lanha and Batulong Bay, both quieter and cleaner versions of the overly-touristy Halong Bay.

While the bay was certainly beautiful, I’m not sure it quite deserves the hype around it. I feel like a day or two would have been plenty to have experienced it, and tours were likely to be cheaper if bought in Hanoi, or on Cat Ba Island. That being said, probably worth it to see once.

Hue

I took the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue, with the sole reason being to check out the somewhat (in)famous Abandoned Waterpark (Thuy Tien Lake). It takes about twenty minutes to reach it from Hue. If you go through the main entrance, you’ll have to bribe the guard 20,000VD to get in, or you can go through a fence around the back, but your cab driver is unlikely to be willing to take you there, and it’s a much farther walk to the dragon, the main sight of the park.

After getting through the entrance, you have to walk about 15 minutes through the forest before emerging in the main entrance of the park.

Tourism is being found here, and while you won’t see crowds, you’ll probably not be the only one there, and there are a few sellers offering water and beer, for rather steep prices.

While tourists do climb up the dragon to get to the viewpoint, it’s unlikely to be permitted much longer, due to recent accidents, and the lack of maintenance being done (this is very much an abandoned waterpark, and technically, people are not allowed to be there. Use your best judgment to what should and should not be done…)

Danang

I did a quick stop of two nights in Danang to see the Golden Hands Bridge (within the Sun Hills Amusement Park), and the Dragon Bridge that shoots fire and water on Saturday and Sunday evenings at 21:00. The show only lasts about 6 minutes and doesn’t repeat, so make sure you’ve got a good spot to watch from.

Hoi An

I was in Hoi An for the end of a beautiful Lantern Festival. I thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the old town, drinking coffee, eating street food and watching endless paper lanterns float down the river.

Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon

Last (and least, coincidentally…) was my two days in Ho Chi Minh City. I liked this the least of all of my Vietnam adventures. It just felt like any other big city, and with the exception of the language, I could have been in any large city in the world. It seemed full of expats, and was definitely the most expensive city I was in during my time in the country.

Budgeting

This month, thanks to the majority of the month being spent in Vietnam; home of the 3$ hostel and 1$ street food, was delightfully inexpensive. It was my least expensive month so far, having spent 1283.68$

Accomodation: 495.91$ – mostly hostels, though I saved accomodation in a few places with overnight flights and trains.

Long Distance Travel: 202.24$ – several overnight trains throughout Vietnam.

Food (restaurant): 100.63$ – an impressively small amount, considering I ate out just about every meal this month…

Food (grocery store): 49.50$ – I guess I had a few fridges here and there :p

Local Transport: (bus, metro, Uber) 38.15$ – a bit of Grab use in Vietnam, but mostly in Malaysia and Bahrain.

Entertainment: 282.33$ – darn you, Sunworld and my Bahrain City tour…plus some museums and temples, and the Jordan pass.

Miscellaneous: (laundry, walking tour tips, and VISAS etc) – 114.92 – visas were expensive this month, with Vietnam, Malaysia, and Jordan all requiring payment (Jordan’s was through the Jordan pass…)

Favourites

Favourite Meal: falafel in Amman, Jordan. Specifically, Al Quds Falafel on Rainbow Street. The small family-run business dishes up the cheapest, and best, meal in Amman, and doesn’t charge you for being a foreigner! Eat it nearby, because you’ll definitely want to go back for a second!

Favourite Tourist Experience:

It seems like there were so many this month…but I think I have to go with floating in the Dead Sea. It was a sensation unlike anything I’ve ever experienced; just totally relaxing and soothing. The floating, combined with the two days of bliss at my hotel there were a definite favourite this month.

What I Read:

Magic Bus: on the hippie trail from Istanbul to India by Rory Maclean was an unexpected but really enjoyable read. He returns to the ‘Hippie Trail’ that ran overland through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal, obtaining interviews with westerns still living where they found their enlightenment in the ’60s, and with locals who saw it happen. The book is full of short stories from every angle, and is both funny, and wistful in its memories of the time period.

And that concludes month four on the road!