A visit to the pyramids

The last thing we expected on our trip to the pyramids was to be freezing cold and practically alone. Winter is usually peak season for Egyptian tourism, but since the revolution all the most popular tourist sites are pretty much dead zones. Which was great for us, but not so great for the Egyptians.

A rare view of the Pyramids at Giza (without people)

The main pyramid at Giza

Sandstorm at the Sphinx

While I can appreciate the sheer majesty of the pyramids, their age, their size and their history – something about the experience was a little underwhelming. I think the fact that where once the glorious and majestic Nile once ran in front of the pyramids has now been replaced with a sprawling urban mass. In fact one of the best views of the pyramids can now be seen from the Pizza Hut building, which is just depressing. Couple this with the fact that the recent (actually not so recent if you account for Mubarak’s entire reign oh and the entire period of colonialism) troubles this country has experienced has only amplified the desperation of its people. Everywhere you go, and I mean everywhere, in any major tourist site you will be hassled. It’s relentless and arbitrary and beyond annoying. All the guidebooks tell you to beware of the hassling but the level has increased so much that it’s almost hostile.

It’s a tragedy what has happened to this country. We saw practically no police the entire duration of our trip – in fact the whole country had a wild west feeling to it. In major tourist attractions like the Egyptian Museum in Cairo the toilets were dirty and largely unclean without toilet paper. Unpaid staff were buying tissues with their own money and trying to earn some money by selling these to toilet goers for tips. And the museum wasn’t cheap. The place just reeked of corruption and greed. And a country once gloried for its advanced sanitation and hygiene programs is now almost one giant toilet bowl. Dirty, uncared for and desolate.

I heard that a lot of Egypt’s treasures now live in the museums and squares of other countries around the world, and originally this angered me. How neo-colonialist and paternalistic I thought. But when I visited Egypt and saw the way in which some of their sites were (not) cared for I had to be thankful that at least some of the historic relics will survive.

Egypt has such potential but it is a ravaged country. Ravaged by greed and corruption and blinkered religious fervour. And they largely have the West to thank for it – first through colonialism and then through their support of one of the most slimey despots of our time – Mubarak.

How to spend 3 quiet days in Cairo

Everything you read about Cairo tells you it will be loud and busy, with crazy amounts of traffic. Not so when we arrived. We had three of the quietest days you could imagine in Cairo. Here’s how:

Day 1: We arrived on the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday – it’s a holiday – everything was closed.

Day 2: It’s the second anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution. Shops remained closed for fear of violence – people stayed off the streets (apart from the protestors).

Day 3: The court announced the result of a politically charged court case, involving the football massacre of 2011. Shops remain closed and people stay inside for fear of violence. Luckily there wasn’t any in Cairo as they were happy with the result. There were major protests and deaths in Port Said however.

Luckily Cairo was calm over these three days, and as a result it was actually the perfect time to cruise the streets, enjoying the city without the usual barrage of traffic, noise and touts!

Why you should visit Soweto

OK I realise it’s been a long time between posts, put it down to lack of adequate net access coupled with an extended bout of holiday laziness. The longer it went on the harder it was to just ‘do’. So the next few posts may be random and out of any particular order. But for today, I’ve decided to start back with Soweto…

Yes, this is the kind of sign that people saw during Apartheid. Charming isn’t it?

Soweto is a place that’s pretty much synonymous with the Apartheid struggle in South Africa, the Soweto uprising was there and it is the birthplace of the ANC. It’s where the students rose up against the powers that were and refused to be taught in Afrikaans – the language of the oppressor. They paid with blood for their uprising but they were the events that shone a light on their plight.

We stayed in Orlando West, Soweto, which is where notable ANC members – Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Bishop Desmond Tutu (along with many others) all lived.

Outside at Sakhumzi restaurant, Soweto

When we mentioned to my friends and family in South Africa we were staying in Soweto, we were met with warnings and pleas to ‘be careful’. But the truth is we felt safer there than many other places in South Africa. There were no high fences, no begging, no feeling of insecurity – everyone was relaxed. Of course, one must be careful everywhere, but Orlando West is very safe and very welcoming for tourists. There are loads of B&Bs and a few great restaurants, as well as the Nelson Mandela museum (his old house converted) and the Hector Peterson museum (the youngest person to be shot by police during the student uprising against Afrikaans). We even got to go inside Walter Sisulu’s house, which is well and truly off the tourist map, and that’s because we dared to walk around the streets and chat to people – and one of those people happened to be a relative of Walter’s who showed us around.

Famous image by Sam Nzima of Hector Pieterson just after he was shot by South African police who opened fire on unarmed protestors in 1976. The photo spread through global news networks and became a symbol of the brutality of Apartheid.

The Soweto we saw was welcoming and vibrant – a far cry from it’s dangerous past. I only wish some of the people who talk about how dangerous townships are would take the time to challenge some of their beliefs. They’d be surprised. Or perhaps they don’t want to be?

Drinking at a shebeen

A couple of dancers on the street in Soweto

Local life

The best thing about Soweto is being able to talk to the people who live there everyday and dispel the myths that surround it. Someone wise once said the truth will set us free…

Here’s a hippo!

Hey here are some pics of a hippo we saw in Guadalajara zoo.

Living la vida Mexicana

Mexicans are big on family, public displays of affection (PDAs), food and noise of any kind as long as it’s loud – mariachis, car stereos, annoying whistle things vendors sell in plazas to kids who proceed to use them incessantly, church bells (that seem to go off randomly at any time of day or night in a ‘hey it’s 2am why don’t we ring the church bells’ kind of way) and people who honk their horns for, oh any reason really, and again it doesn’t matter if it’s 3am and people are sleeping. These things and more are all part of the Mexican way of life it seems. They like it fast, they like it loud, and they’re not too concerned whether other people like it or not.

Mariachis serenading us at dinner – whether we liked it or not! (For the record, we did.)

Walk down to a plaza in any Mexican town, at any time of the day or night and chances are you’ll see parents sitting on benches eating street food while the kids are running around the plaza playing with each other, or throwing those weird things that light up in the air or blowing on annoying horns.

You’ll see lovers entwined in passionate embraces and the awkwardness of a first or second date. You’ll see food stalls and you’ll hear music – could be some mariachis, could be a shop front blaring out Mexican music at completely inappropriate levels to apparently ‘attract’ customers. Maybe it’s a pharmacy blasting out techno while someone dressed up as the fat chemist character the chain is known for rave dances out front, or maybe it’s a father playing the according while his son dressed up in the best cowboy suit ever, yells out trying to harmonise with his dad while holding onto a Coke bottle. Whatever it is – crazy, annoying, hilarious – it’s Mexican life.

Mariachis serenading us at dinner – whether we liked it or not! (For the record, we did.)

A family hanging out together eating street food in Tlaquepaque’s main square.

Dancing pharmacist of Farmacia Similares who is usually accompanied by loud techno music. I’m positive this is a sales strategy more Australian pharmacies need to employ!

Father and son team busking to anyone who’d listen. The little boy was AMAZING, such a little character – he’d give that Honey Boo Boo chick a run for her money

A week in Tlaquepaque

Tlaquepaque is an artisan’s town in Guadalajara. Actually, it’s more like a suburb of Guadalajara that feels like a mini town – sort of like Yarraville or Williamstown in Melbourne. Interestingly, it’s mainly Mexican tourists who visit here. Not many gringos here at all, which was fine by us. Some friends from Melbourne were living in Tlaquepaque and studying Spanish, so that combined with the town’s overwhelming charms fuelled our decision to stay there for the week.

Andrew hanging out with some of the locals on Calle independencia in Tlaquepaque

We were lucky enough to find an apartment online for $165 USD/week in the Plaza de Artesanias. It was a massive studio with a separate kitchen and bathroom, tastefully decorated with beautiful Mexican pieces.

The main plaza in Tlaquepaque was always teeming with people at night

The food in Tlaquepaque was amazing, particularly the street food. There was everything from grilled corn on a stick, to baked potatoes with corn, broccoli, cheese and sour cream, to hot dogs (nice ones). And of course there were the usual taco stand offerings of tacos with meat and chicken, gorditas (fried maize bread stuffed with whatever you like), empanadas (fried tortillas filled with whatever you like), and our favourite thing ever – the churro-like (didn’t get its ‘proper’ name but am guessing it’s a churro) dessert we went hunting for most nights. Think freshly deep fried churro cut in half, filled with caramel and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar – oh yes!

Churro with caramel, cinnamon and sugar

We had a brilliant place a couple of doors down selling Tortas Ahogado (literally meat or prawn rolls drowned in a tasty sauce).

Tortas Ahogado

The fact that I haven’t put on 5kgs is a miracle!

Welcome to Mascota

We visited the delightful little town of Mascota en route to Puerta Vallarta. It’s a small town about 2.5 hours from Guadalajara, where streets are cobbled and men still ride around on donkeys because they need to.

It’s definitely not a tourist hub which is part of its charm. Although, that is slowly but surely changing thanks to its prime position on the improved road to Puerta Vallarta.

There’s not much to see in the way of ‘tourist’ sites but there are a couple of small extinct volcanoes close by, a nice lagoon not too far away and some other places that the man at the tourist centre at the town’s entrance will tell you about, after he’s tried to sell you his rompope (an eggnogg-like local alcoholic drink that comes in different flavours – we bought one that’s kind of like Bailey’s).

We hired some bikes and rode to the volcano, so we could climb it. But that proved difficult as Mascota is 1268m above sea level, which meant the ride uphill was challenging on our gear-less bikes but also because there was no discernible path up the volcano. We attempted to climb through a local landowner’s corn fields but it seems that intrepid explorers we are not. However, we did get to meet some lovely locals who agreed to mind our bikes while we attempted the climb and that was pretty great.

Bike riding around Mascota

But if biking isn’t your thing then it’s a beautiful town to just roam around and explore on foot.

Mascota Life

Wander the streets and see if you can see a man on a donkey, or a cowboy-hatted man riding the streets on horseback . Grab a bite at any of the local restaurants and check out the temple ruins in the middle of town or the park by the river on the outskirts. Or just pop down to the main plaza and do what the locals do, sit and chat or even better just sit and contemplate. I think these guys have got the right idea …

A man on a donkey

Some local bike riders

Andrew enjoying Mascota plaza life

Mascota locals hanging out in the plaza

Another Mascota local taking it all in at the plaza

A couple of Mascota locals taking a nap at the plaza

Signs, signifiers and graffiti

It is with special thanks to Ferdinand de Saussure’s theory of semiotics, and C.S. Peirce’s theory that a sign is “something that stands for something, to someone in some capacity” that we share these signs of significance encountered during our travels, with you.

Either that or we thought they were just pretty amusing.

You decide …

Hey what? A Bitch Party? Feminists were lining up around the block for this one …

Some graffiti in San Cristobal de las Casas – the leopard/tiger has broken a machine gun in two. And of course, someone drew a penis on it – because that is always hilarious.

What I don’t understand is why they didn’t just use Google translate?

How can we not love this?

Thanks Mexico!

I love that Mexicans think that ham, chicken and tuna are part of a vegetarian meal

I just love Rumi, that’s why …

Eating in Mexico

I love Mexican food. Or at least I used to – before I had to eat some version of it every day. The street food in Mexico is excellent – fresh and cheap, but after two weeks we have been crying out for some variety. And some vegetables. And maybe even a vegetarian meal without cheese.

Here are some of the highlight meals we’ve had so far …

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Snorkelling in cenotes

One of the most incredible water experiences I’ve had so far has been snorkelling in some of the cenotes in Tulum. A cenote is ‘a deep natural pit or sinkhole, characteristic of Mexico, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that expose groundwater underneath’ according to Wikipedia. This part of Mexico has more than half of the world’s longest underwater caves – all of the cenotes connect up through the underground river system.

The Grand Cenote was by far the most spectacular, with turquoise blue water flowing through an amazing cave surrounded by lush green garden. There’s not much point in me saying any more about it, as the pictures say it better  …

PS 24 Sep – We’ve just added in some shots from the Maya Cenote just outside of Chichen Itza – amazing!

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