We made it at last! We stayed with Lorenza outside Milan at Missaglia. Our first real day in Italy was a leisurely lunch that Lorenza made for us that lasted until about 5 PM. We then headed off to Lake Como for a beautiful sunset. Next day we picked up Yukako, Lorenza´s friend and tenant, and headed off to a beautiful, though slightly misdirected at first, mountain drive to meet up with Ilaria in her home town of Sottochiesa (Taleggio). Had another leisurely lunch then a nice short hike up to a medieval town. Picking super small strawberries that pack a burst of flavor and avoiding a big snake. We thought our friend Matt came from the smallest town, but Ilaria´s got him beat at only 200 population. Next day we had a fabulous cold cuts and cheese lunch. Went for the shortest tour ever of Bergamo to meet up with Ilaria one last time and then caught our flight out to Rome.

In our time with Lorenza we got a chance to meet her beautiful horse, Queensy. And her dogs, Sinbad and Jeanie, were our constant companions.

We had a short time in Rome, just about 24 hours. Stayed in Uberto´s apartment, which is only a two minute walk from the Pantheon! It was too bad Uberto was not in town. But Lorenza directed us to good places to have the best coffee and pizza, so we were set. Besides seeing the Pantheon, we got in a few Caravaggio paintings at churches nearby and even stumbled on a free showing of one in a private collection. Hung out at Piazza Farnese for our pizza and the Trevi Fountain for a gelato. Went twice to Tazza D´Oro for cappuccino. We left Italy quite content. I think it was enough to get Eddy hooked, he is now talking about coming back and is constantly saying how beautiful the country is!

We are currently in Vigo, Spain hanging out with our good friend Manuel and his girlfriend Carolina. So far we´ve already had this crazy dinner of shell fish along the coast. We are looking forward to a lazy two weeks here.

Okay, we’ve now got all the Egypt photos up. Enjoy!

Despite Yvonne’s venting the Turks have been really nice to us. Given the limited amount of English spoken in Central Turkey we’re getting by with a lot of smiling, finger pointing, hand gestures and the few Turkish words we’ve picked up. It’s nice walking into a small restaurant and being greeted by an enthutiastic restaurant owner or stroll around a bus station, ask someone how to get to a particular location and have that person personally escort us to the ticket window. Turkey has a similar feeling to Thailand, the locals are extremely friendly and helpful towards foreigners and they don’t expect anything in return - a simple thank you in their language will suffice. This is our second visit to Turkey and we’re reminded why we like it out here, it’s because of the people.
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We’re getting pretty tired of the Turkish food. Breakfast everywhere consists of: bread; feta cheese; olives; sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. Try eating this everyday for the past two weeks. Lunch and dinner is either a Turkish pizza or kabobs.
I cannot wait for our arrival to Milan next week - pasta, proscuitto and red wine baby!
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We’re getting a lot of curious stares out here. At least the Turks smile at us, it’s better than the hard glares we got from the Russians and Burmese. And of course we hear the occasional sound of “Ching Chong” from the mouths of some little smartasses (it’s always when they’re in a large group). But hey they’re kids what am I gonna do hit them (next time I’ll travel with a relative that’s a minor and tell him to beat the shit out of the “Ching Chonger” - just kidding, it’s a joke okay?). Too many dumb kids, being taught (or not being taught) by dumb parents, out there in the world - Christ get over this “Ching Chong” shıt.
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We’re constantly being approached to have our picture taken, I guess many of the folks in Central Turkey haven’t seen an Asian up close and in person. It’s really weird and annoying and after giving in a few times we’ve gotten into the habit of saying no. Now I know how the non-Asian traveling foreigners in China felt, constantly having cameras shoved in their faces. At least the Turks are polite enough to ask for us our permission.
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It’s hot out here, consistent temperature in the 90’s!! It’s astonishing the amount of thick and layered clothing worn out here, in this weather. Especially the women, many seen covered from head to toe and sporting a coat as well!!

All the Jordan photos are up. I will have to get my second wind before I can upload Egypt. Enjoy for now… Jordan

Sometımes there ıs just no amount of consıderatıon enough to satısfy a bus load of 20 people. Prıme example follows:

Yesterday we were stıll ın the town of Sıvas goıng out on a day trıp to Dıvrıgı to see Turkey’s least vısıted Unesco sıte, accordıng to the LP. A mosque and mental health buıldıng of consıderable age, can’t recall how old. The trıp out was fıne, we actually concluded that ıt had been a great day when waıtıng for our mınıbus to take us back to Sıvas. 3 hours to get to a very small town wıth only thıs mosque, mental health buıldıng, a ruıned castle and mosque at the top of the lıttle hıll. Spent a peaceful hour sıttıng at thıs deserted mosque at the top of the hıll overlookıng an ınlet rıver to the Euphrates. Congratulated ourselves on a decısıon well made to make the effort to spend the tıme here.

On the mınıbus over I was glad we got a seat next to an operable wındow. I hate to sound the spoıled westerner, but I am not used to beıng overheated all the tıme. If left to the locals all the wındows would remaıned closed and 20 hot bodıes wıth no ventılatıon other than the half opened two front wındows ıs just not enough. So I blıssfully sat next to my open wındow the entıre 3 hour rıde to Dıvrıgı. I was aware though that maybe I was makıng those behınd me possıbly uncomfortable. So on the rıde back we got the back seats wıth the operable wındow. Wıth no one behınd us, I thought the coast would be clear for another blıssful 3 hour rıde back wıth ventılatıon.

Oh so wrong! 15 mınutes ınto rıde, I start to drıft off wıth the wınd barely ın my haır, sınce the open wındow was slıghtly behınd me. When I felt movement next to me and the guy sıttıng next to Eddy ıs tryıng to reach over Eddy to close MY wındow! I couldn’t belıeve that thıs open wındow was actually a problem. I looked up to see people 2 rows up from me apparently complaınıng ın Turkısh and hand gestures that the noıse from the open wındow was annoyıng them. What the F***! Anyway, beıng the mıld manner Asıan that I am, I conceded by closıng half the wındow. Now the wınd ısn’t even tıcklıng my haır. Stıll the complaınts contınued, wıth more hand gestures and menacıng glares. The guy next to us was tryıng to explaın to them that I was very hot. I mean even the bıggest complaıners obvıously were hot enough to take off theır jackets. Thıs persısted for another 50 KM and I resısted wıth all my wıll the peer pressure, ıt seems lıke no one else on the bus mınds sıttıng ın heat for 3 hours unneccessarıly. Then the major pıt stop the bıggest of the whıners actually came over to the wındow to get me to close ıt, stıll gesturıng towards hıs ears. Mıraculously, Eddy had brand new ear plugs, so I ran over to the man’s wıfe to offer my solutıon to both our ılls. She then gestured that ıt was not the ear, he apparently ıs havıng NECK problems! What? Wınd… Neck… Where’s the connectıon? Wrap a scarve around your neck then!

I got back on the bus steamıng. There ıs no pleasıng thıs crowd. Then the wıfe came to the wındow to plead her husbands case, kındly grabbıng my arm for emphasıs. I dıdn’t have the heart to resıst further. Fıne I am younger and wıll just have to lıve wıth the heat for another 100 KM. So I sucked ıt up and just leaned as close to the wındow as possıble so as not to get bumped ın the head at every turn and bump on the road. There seems to be a slıght, very slıght breeze from the wındow cracks. How pathetıc ıs thıs? I actually began to be fıne but then Eddy chuckles and told me they were stıll lookıng back to see ıf I had opened the wındow on the sly. When they realızed I hadn’t they actually ınsısted even the front wındows be closed! Thıs ıs the hıgh 90’s ıf not 100 degrees F (30’s ın C). It was no fun, because now the lıttle breeze at the wındow cracks were suffocated by the front wındow closure. The sun was fınally comıng down and the glass of the wındow was cool so I leaned as much of my back on ıt as possıble and just focused on the few cool parts of my body. Quıte content I now swıtched my focus on hopıng to annoy everyone else by makıng faces at the kıd ın the front of the bus. There by encouragıng hıs babblıngs that were obvıously annoyıng everyone else on the bus. Call me petty, but I was quıte pleased wıth my lıttle revenge.

:)

Still working on it, but there are a few photos of Amman for now… Look in the photo gallery.

Turkey, our last frontier, well, not really. It is essentially the last country we will visit where we know no one and have a major language barrier. We spent an afternoon in Istanbul due to our long layover there before heading onward to Ankara, Turkey’s capital. Istanbul being fairly westernized in it’s own way, gave us a false sense of security. Ankara was an eye opener. Landed, got on the Havas shuttle bus to the city center, all no problem. Then we were told to get off the bus while I was completely passed out and still in Egypt “everyone is out to get something” mode. The LP said we would first be dropped off at the main bus station then the Havas main station in town, which is where we wanted to be. So this being the first stop, I wanted to clarify that we were actually in the city center. Didn’t want to get screwed with a huge cab bill. Then a nice lady tried to help us translate, which actually confused things further, but in the end it turns out they now stop at the city center first then the bus station. Okay onward with the taxi, a 5 second ride later we were at our hotel, all part of the cheaper way to travel plan at 11 PM in a strange city. 1 kilometer walk in broad daylight is fine, but really don’t want to be wondering around that late in the evening. Hotel staff spoke no english, and it did not improve with the morning staff. Walked around Ankara to see the sites and The DaVinci Code. We had to minimize our speech to “toilet” and “thank you”. Anything else we said would be lost and confused.

(BTW, that movie watching experience is a complete waste of time if you’ve read the book, since there was not much the movie could show us that we could not imagine from the fairly descriptive text. But then on the other hand, if you are part of the rare breed that hasn’t read the book, you can just watch the movie and not feel like you’ve missed out on much.)

We spent an hour in the huge bus station to figure out the variety of bus companies and their destinations (there is something like 75 counters). We got our tickets onward to Goreme (Cappadocia) for the next day and we were very excited to be well on our way. The conversations at each bus counter were basic, our destination city, “how much?” and “time?”. If they got that much we were estactic. This is the capital of Turkey! We were getting some flashbacks of Beijing.

The bus system though is super efficient and organized. While waiting for our bus, we watched the entire bus station clear out and another entire fleet file in for the next departure time. This happens about every half hour. There are as many bus gates as there are counters that service them. All the buses are big AC tour buses, so quite comfortable. Still nothing will compare to the ride from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

We switched to the service bus, a connecting minibus, at Nevsehir to go to Goreme. The vast expanse of the fairy chimneys here is just breathtaking. It has been well worth the wait and the effort to come here. We joined a couple of tours to see all the major sites, it’s the most economical and time efficient way to see the area. All the cave dwellings and valleys here have kept us quite busy for the last couple of days. Today we rented a car to try to see some of the more far off sites that the tour companies don’t go to. Unfortunately, the car we rented only got as far as Kaymakli, one of the underground cities, before we realized the steering is shot. So we only saw Kaymakli and turned back. By then Eddy was quite tired of the cave dwellings anyway, since he knocked his head several times on the low ceilings in our short visit there. Got our rental cost back and most of the gas money. So that was fine. BTW, here in Cappadocia, since it does cater to tourism, there is a lot more english spoken and understood.

In a couple of days we head out to Mt. Nemrut and Harran (beehive houses, just north of the Syrian border). We’ve joined a 3 day tour for this because the timing of the buses to these places would make it impossible for us to do on our own in such a short amount of time.

Now in Cairo, one of the few times that I’m actually glad to be in a large city. The touts and vendors throughout the rest of Egypt are extremely pushy and aggressive! They’re not too bad in Cairo, the folks in Cairo understand what no means. My biggest complaint about Egypt is the concept of Baksheesh out here. Baksheesh basicially translates into “tips for services rendered.” The Egyptian wants Baksheesh for everything.- i.e the restaurant worker that opens the restroom door, the elevator man taking you down to your floor (even though I can push the damn button myself!), you get the idea… It’s ridiculous!! But we’re not one’s to give in so easily - Baksheesh only if you earn it, not expect it.
Off to Turkey tomorrow.

Long day getting to Jordan.
Jeffrey’s Bay to Port Elizabeth, 1 hour drive.
P.E. to Johannesburg, 1 1/2 hr. flight. (4 hour layover in Jo’burg)
Johannesburg to Dubai, 8 hour flight. (9 hour layover in Dubai!)
Dubai to Amman, 4 hour flight.
We met up with our friend Morlene at Dubai airport. Morlene flew in from Hong Kong. Yvonne’s mom flew into Amman the next day.
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Although the majority of it’s citizens are Muslim, Jordan is officially a secular country, the country is not ruled under Islamic law. Women in Jordan have the right and privilege to vote and drive. The legal age to get married is 18 years old - the age is much younger in other Middle Eastern countries.
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There were several things that impressed me about Jordan. I did not see a single homeless person on the streets. The country for the most part is very clean, not too much litter scattered around (except for cigarettes butts). Clean public toilets i.e. restaurants etc… and the people were friendly and helpful - so nice to be in a country where people will help you out and not expect anything in return.
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We saw several historial sites in Jordan, most notably - Mt. Nebo (this is where Moses saw the “promised land”, Moses also died near Mt. Nebo), the Dead Sea and of course the famous ruins of Petra (very impressive we’ll post photos time permitting).
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Now we’re in Egypt and it’s been a rather frustrating trip for all of four of us. I promised myself I won’t get into a long exhausting rant about this place. To be brief, there’s always a “catch”, you get nickeled and dime for everything little thing out here. But I must say the sites we’ve seen so far have been quite impressive, it’s getting to these places that’s the frustrating part.
I’m glad that Morlene and Yvonne’s mom has been traveling with us, having additional company helps diffuse alot of tension and frustration.

A year ago on Monday we started our journey, we celebrated with a traditional South African stew (potjiekos) that Lindie cooked for us. The stew was made with ostrich neck meat and various veggies, dessert was a dish called “thirsty” pudding, mmmm delicious!!
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Last weekend we (Barry, myself and Yvonne) dropped off Lindie’s visiting brother at Port Elizabeth airport, Port Elizabeth is an hour’s drive from Jeffrey’s Bay. After we dropped of Lindie’s Brother, we spent the day checking out Port Elizabeth. Turns out there was a Mexican navy sailboat docked at Port Elizabeth. Visitors were allowed on the ship, so we climbed aboard this beautiful old sailboat and roamed around the deck. It was so nice to hear traditonal Mexican music on the overhead speaker and listening to the Mexican naval crew speaking Spanish. We could also smell Mexican food being cooked in the Galley - I know that smell of fresh tortillas and caldo de rez a mile away!! It made the three of us (hey three amigos) miss a bit of home, since these are sites, sounds and smells so familiar to us back home in L.A. Oh man what torture, I’m missing good Mexican food big time.
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Yesterday morning we dropped off Nino (the recently adopted stray minature pincher and the Bross’ new addition to the family) at the vets office to have his balls removed. When we found Nino we noticed he only had one nut hanging. We brought Nino to the vet last week for a checkup, necessary vaccinations and also pointed out the one nut to the vet. The vet informed us that one of Nino’s nuts is lodged inside his stomach and recommended neutering him, otherwise his lodged nut might someday get cancerous.
We picked up Nino after his surgery and he wasn’t talking (barking, yelping ,whining you know dog speak) to us - who could blame the poor fella, he wakes up and finds his balls and libedo gone. Sorry Nino it was for your own good, someday you’ll thank us. Well today Nino seems much happier we’re on speaking terms again.
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Tomorrow off to Amman, Jordan.