The Balkan Yankee

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
This video just makes me happy…

Loading the Car, originally uploaded by garth walker.

We just returned from our two week trip to Egypt where we met up with Jordan to explore Cairo, and the Sinai peninsula. It was great seeing and exploring a new country with an old friend. We spent the first few days sight-seeing in Cairo, and visiting the pyramids at GIza, Saqqara, and Dashur. Our ambitious attempt to see the pyramids at sunrise backfired with shady horse back riders who wanted cash up front to take us to the pyramids without tickets, but we managed to be the first visitors to Dashur to see the Red Pyramid and the Bent pyramid in the distance.

After Cairo we took a bus to Dahab on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba in Sinai. Dahab was a bit crowded and perhaps too touristy for our tastes, but the reefs were astounding, filled coral and tropical fish of every variety. From Dahab, we traveled to St. Katherine where we did a two day trek with Bedouins through the mountains above the town and monastary. We decided not to climb Mt. Sinai itself which is often crowded, but our trek took us to another high peak with great views. Next, we relaxed for three days in some beach bungalows in the quiet city of Nuweiba, which was a bustling tourist town filled with Israelis just a couple years ago. The recent terrorist bombings targeting tourists in nearby Taba have left this resort town empty now as well. It was a welcome chance for us to have the beach almost entirely to ourselves though. After that it was back to Cairo for a final day of haggling in the Cairo markets for gifts, and a late night/early morning flight.

Overall it was a great trip. The endless confrontations with scam artists and appeals for baksheesh made it frustrating at times, for sure. Jordan’s experience helped a lot, and we managed to sidestep any disasters. I’ll finish by offering a few tips for anyone planning a trip to Egypt in the future:

1) Never ever pay for anything up front. Never. It may be tempting or convenient to do so, or you may trust the person offering you services, but be diligent and pay after, or just move on.

2) It may be beneficial to take on an alter-ego, perhaps that of the citizen of a poor or little known country, like Bulgaria, if you are from a rich or imperialistic super power. You are never given a price quote with first telling where you are from. Americans don’t get the best deals. When a passport is later required, it’s always fun explaining the discrepancy as well.

3) Yes, there are buses, and there are bus stations. Especially at St. Katherine the entire town seems to be in on the scam of telling tourists that there are no buses in or out of town. Extreme patience will pay off, and save you from a 200 £ taxi ride.

Boyana and I will be in Egypt for two weeks starting this Sunday for an adventurous reunion with old friend and traveler extraordinaire, Jordan. Expectations include Pyramid gawking, Camel racing, and the avoidance of scorpions, Red Sea Pirates, and dehydration.

Pictures will follow our return to Sofia, but for exciting play-by-play action, follow me on twitter or check updates in the sidebar.

I’m back in Sofia after Spending Christmas in ???????? (Kurdzhali) with Boyana’s family. I had a great time learning some of Bulgaria’s holiday traditions. A shiny silver coin made its way into my bread on Christmas Eve which means (I’m told) that I’m sure to make lots of money in the coming year. For that, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief.

We took some pictures there, and I’ll save the rest of the stories until they get uploaded to flickr.

I’ve just gotten back home from a long week away which started on Wednesday with a trip to Belgrade, Serbia to see Tool perform at the Hala Pionir (Pioneer’s Hall). It was an awesome show, and the treat of the evening for me was seeing the perform Flood, which someone already threw up on youtube, and my friend Giorgi who went to the concert with me showed me this morning:

We drove there and back in one evening, and didn’t really have time to do any sight seeing, but my first impressions were that Belgrade is a beautiful metropolitan city, yet still feels quite small and friendly. With little more than 10 years since American bombing in the capital ended, the economy seemed to be thriving, but there were still chilling reminders of wars destructive force, like a pair of burned out office buildings with gaping holes in their sides 4 stories up. I’m looking forward to an opportunity to return and explore the city some more.