After nearly 48 hours of door-to-door travel from Japan, Zanzibar turned out to be a wonderful end to the trip. We stayed at the 16-room Pongwe Beach Hotel on the east side of the island and didn't leave the place once during the time we were there. The resort may have been a bit basic (no a/c and only salt-water), but the staff were friendly, food excellent and setting amazing (so much so that we coined the new adjective "paradyllic" (a combination of paradise and idyllic) to describe it.

We really didn't do much save just enjoying the place, so there isn't too much to write about. Instead, as they say, pictures are worth 1000 words.

Finally, it was quite an experience just getting to the island. It's only a 20 minute flight from Dar es Salaam, and, for the most part, only small 16-seater planes ply the route. On the way out, Nicole and I were the last to board, so I ended up in the co-pilot's seat. I'd had the chance before, but still pretty cool this time around.

If you'd like to see more of Zanzibar or of any other part of our trip, all our photos are now up on MobileMe.

Winding down in Zanzibar remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We're back on the beach (in Zanzibar), in the final days of our trip. Before this - and right after Bali - we spent three days exploring Japan's second-largest city, Osaka.

This wasn't our first time in Japan; we first visited Tokyo and Kyoto in the summer of 2004, and had left with mixed opinions. Tokyo seemed overwhelming, expensive and generally disappointing -- though in retrospect our negative opinion was likely due in part to the fact that it was our last stop on a month-long trip around Asia and we were ready to get back to the States. On the other hand, we really enjoyed Kyoto, and wanted to give Japan another shot on this trip.

We're glad we did, as we both found Osaka to be a perfect mix of "traditional" and "modern" Japan. Plus, the food was great! (Osaka is apparently the food capital of Japan, which is one of the main reasons we wanted to visit.)

We spent the bulk of our first day exploring the Dotonbori section of the city, which is known for having good shopping and great food stalls dishing out Osakan street food specialties like takoyaki, which are little balls of fried dough with octopus inside (hence the title of this post). The stalls were everywhere, although the one pictured below seemed particularly popular. And for good reason - the takoyaki were delicious, if a little overloaded with toppings (an odd combination of mayo, barbeque sauce, and fish flakes).

Dotonbori got especially vibrant as sunset approached. Crowds of young Japanese people dressed in all kinds of crazy get-ups were walking around and checking each other out, which was lots of fun to watch. My favorite were the guys sporting what I could only describe as a kind of cleaned-up Russell Brand look...tight black jeans; tight, unbuttoned shirts; longish, styled-to-look-messy hair; and lots of eye makeup. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to surreptitiously snap a photo.

The neon lights of Dotonbori at night

On the other end of the fashion spectrum, we also walked through the America Mura district of Osaka and got an interesting perspective on how the Japanese view urban, American styling. This mainly consisted of graphic tees with all kinds of odd English phrases, baggy jeans and lots of New York Yankees caps. It was weird and funny at the same time. The photo below almost captures it:

We spent the bulk of our second day visiting the Osaka aquarium, which housed the largest fish tank we've ever seen! (It had whale sharks in it!) We also made a brief stop in one of Osaka's numerous "food theme parks". We had read about another one in Dotonbori, but had been disappointed to find it closed the night before. After wandering around for a bit, we found a stall that specialized in okonomiyaki, another Osakan treat we had read about and wanted to try. Okonomiyaki is sometimes called a Japanese pizza - supposedly because it looks a little like a pizza. I didn't really see the resemblance...in appearance or in taste. It's more like a pancake made with cabbage, shrimp, fish, and other veggies, topped with barbeque sauce (the universal condiment here!), fish flakes, and green onions. We both liked it, but probably won't try to recreate it at home:

We finished the day with a visit to the Shin-Umeda Sky Building, located in the northern part of the city. The building was a sight in itself, and the views from the top were really something:

We ended our time in Osaka with a quick visit to Osaka Castle (pictured above), and then headed back to the airport to go to Tanzania, the last stop on our trip! More on that in the next post...

Goodness gracious, great balls of octopus! remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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In Ubud, we stayed at the Alam Jiwa, a charming little hotel on the outskirts of the town. Not only was it a really great deal (in an area where everything was pretty cheap), but also boasted incredibly friendly staff (though pretty much everyone we met was friendly and outgoing). We took much advantage of their affiliated spa and each had a massage (only $15/hour!) every day we were there.
While not enjoying the spa, we wandered around the town, taking in some of the scenery. Though it rained (hard!) every day we were there, it was only for a little while and actually added to the atmosphere. There was water absolutely everywhere - even little channels running through our hotel - and the sound was actually pretty relaxing.

Rice Paddies in Ubud

We also made two visits to the monkey forest where you can get up close with long-tailed macaques (we had to go back as feeding monkeys turns out to be a great way to spend part of your birthday). There were literally hundreds of monkeys in the sanctuary and they were all crazy for the mini-bananas that you can buy from women at the entrance. Its captivating to watch them peel and eat bananas with their little hands and I think we probably would've gone back a third time if we had spent longer in Ubud. Photos don't really do them justice, so I've also included two videos below.

Monkeying around on my birthday

Monkey and Mom

Initially we had planned to only stay in Ubud, but after seeing a report on the new St. Regis Resort in Nusa Dua, we decided it would be an excellent way to spend the night of my birthday and became Nicole's present to me (for anyone considering a trip, there's also some great deals to be had right now). We were certainly glad we decided to split our time as Nusa Dua was a really different. but equally wonderful, part of Bali and the hotel was fantastic too (they were nice enough to let us stay until we had to leave for our 1AM flight). We made sure to take full advantage of the beach and pool and probably spent at least half of our time there just lounging outside and also enjoyed a birthday dinner on the beach. Most of the time, we felt like it was just us, which was probably helped by the small size of the resort, but also by the fact that they're only 50% full right now (maybe that AIG-effect in action?).

Beach at Nusa Dua

Lounging by the Pool

All-in-all a great and laid-back few days!

Four days, three massages, two places, one island... remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• **

Although it was far from relaxing, Jake and I had a great time in Shanghai. The city is very modern and international - it reminded us of Hong Kong and Singapore more so than Beijing - and with the massive construction projects underway in preparation for the 2010 World Expo (which is to be held in Shanghai), even more amazing architecture and innovative city planning schemes are yet to come.

We got a great overview of the city and its continued development at the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, a museum we visited on our first day in the city. The museum had several impressive scale models of Shanghai, but the one shown below really blew us away.

The photo is looking down on the model from the floor above. The model's square footage was larger than than our apartment in San Francisco!

The museum also had some great photos of notable buildings and developments around the city. My favorite was Thames Town, a residential complex modeled after an English manor, complete with a huge grounds decorated with numerous life-size statues of notable Englishmen (Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, Harry Potter...).

We didn't get a chance to visit Thames Town, but we did make it over to Yu Gardens, a picturesque Ming dynasty garden in the Old Town area of Shanghai:

The area surrounding the gardens was also fun to wander around, although it was almost as crowded as the Summer Palace (see our Beijing post)!

Apart from cultural attractions, we spent a considerable amount of time (window) shopping, including at the world's FIRST Barbie flagship store! Jake was kind enough to listen to me reminisce about my own Barbie collection, and even said we could consider allowing our future daughter have a Barbie birthday party like this one:

Although he said no to the idea of building a staircase like this one in our future home:

A stairwell of Barbies...what a sight!

We also made a quick stop at Taikang Road, a complex of little alleyways with boutiques, cafes, and restaurants.

And we made several trips to XinTianDi, an upscale shopping complex that looks like it's straight out of Southern California. It even had a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. (Sorry, we didn't take any photos.)

The most impressive part of Shanghai is the skyline of Pudong, the business district of the city. We had a great view of it from our hotel room, and on our last day we ventured across the river for a closer look. Unfortunately, it started raining as soon as we arrived, but we managed to get a little bit of a tour in the taxi ride back.

View of two of the tallest buildings in Pudong, taken from our taxi.

View of Pudong at night, from our hotel room.

We ended our time in Shanghai with a quick visit with some of Jake's former co-workers (from Gap San Francisco) who are now living in Shanghai. Mike and Sandy have been ex-pats in Shanghai for a few years now, and it was great to hear their stories about living and working in China, especially since it's something we'd like to do someday. We also got a chance to visit the clothing store they just opened. It was amazing to hear that they had gone from concept to completion in about six weeks!

That's about it for Shanghai...stay tuned for Jake's post on our sublime time in Bali!

• **

• The title of this post was inspired by the motto for the 2010 World Expo, "Better city, better life". The World Expo is a big deal for Shanghai. There are posters everywhere, and even a few statues of the Expo's mascot:

This Gumby-like little guy is in the shape of the Chinese character for "people" (pronounced "ren" in Chinese).

Better City, Better Life!* remains copyright of the author nhilde, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Jake and I have been in China for about a week now, and we are still loving it - although we're getting a little tired of Chinese food! We've spent the past few days in Lijiang, a town located in the Yunnan province in the South West, near Tibet. The old town of Lijiang is incredibly charming, replete with canals, narrow cobbled lanes, traditional Chinese architecture and...costumed local people (the Naxi) singing and dancing all day long. Okay, so it's basically a cultural theme park, catering entirely to tourists (mostly Chinese, although we've spotted a few Westerners here and there), but it works. We've had a great time here and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in catching a glimpse of life in China away from the major cities (and impervious to kitschy souvenir shops and massive crowds of Chinese tourists).

The main attraction in Lijiang is the old city itself. When its not jam-packed with tour groups, it is a beautiful and peaceful town, and we had a great time wandering around and taking it all in. The nearby Black Dragon Pool park was also a delight, with scenic views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and some beautiful stone bridges arching over the lake.

Lijiang during the day

Me and Jake at Black Dragon Pool

Today, we ventured outside of the city and visited the mountain itself, taking the cable car up to Spruce Meadow. Our guide book had said that the meadow provides stunning views of the Jade Dragon glacier, but we couldn't see anything (either due to the clouds our mis-information in Lonely Planet, we're not sure!). The hike around the meadow was still very pretty, if a little bit overpriced.

After Spruce Meadow, we made a brief stop at the Jade Peak Monastery - which boasts the amazing camellia tree pictured below. The best part of the monastery was that it was completely empty, a first for us given that most sights are overflowing with Chinese tourists!

Overall, our time in Lijiang has been wonderful. For me, the highlights have been our beautiful hotel, the Zen Garden; walking around the city in the morning before the busloads of tour groups arrive; and our dinner the first night at the Sakura Cafe on Bar Street. We feasted on delicious Korean food amidst disco lights while listening to American rap music - think Eminem and Dr Dre - that got progressively louder as the night wore on (we think that Sakura Cafe and the restaurant across the canal were battling for who could be the loudest).

Chillin' out at the Sakura Cafe (this photo is for you, D!)

• **

A few other random thoughts on China:

We are celebrities here!

Well, not really, but a surprisingly large number of Chinese people have asked to take pictures with us. We also get a lot of "Hellos" from passersby, who seem to be fascinated by the fact of seeing Westerners in the flesh. It's a little weird - certainly these people have seen Westerners before, right? - but also sort of funny. I particularly like how they tend to link arms with us or put their arms around our shoulders in the photos, as if we are old friends. You have to wonder how they explain these photos to their friends back home...

We know a celebrity!

Again, not really, but almost. Jake's friend and former co-worker at Gap, Jason, did some stock photography photos awhile back (which can be used by advertisers for whatever purpose). We've seen his photo used in ads in San Francisco, and always got a kick out of it. When we arrived in China, Jake joked that we should look out for photos of Jason on ads here...and low and behold, we found one in Lijiang of all places! What a small world, huh?

Jason's daughter Lilly was the flower girl in our wedding!

Wo men hui shuo Zhongwen!
(We can speak Chinese!)

We cannot believe how far we've gotten with our Chinese during our time here. We can pick out words on billboards and store signs, we can order food in restaurants, and we can almost understand people when they try to speak to us (as long as they speak slowly and use the vocabulary of a five-year old). We've been pulling out our Chinese language book to review almost every day, and its all coming together quite well. A lot of Chinese people laugh at us when we speak, but at least they understand us, right?

Lovely Lijiang remains copyright of the author nhilde, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Now on to the activities. The highlight of our time here has, without a doubt, been the Giant Panda Breeding Base outside the city. We spent about two hours there this morning and got to see a whole bunch of the cuddly creatures. They mainly just sit around and eat because bamboo has little nutritional value (they have to eat some 40kg of stems each day just to get their needed caloric intake). Still, it was transfixing to watch them and definitely worth the trip. If we can figure out how to do it, we think we might even need to do a blog poll on Pandas vs. Koalas, but today I think our vote goes to the former. We have a video that we'll share soon, but in the meantime here's a little preview (video is now up below).

We've also taken time to enjoy the Sichuan food that Chengdu is famous for and some of the city's scenic sites. This afternoon we enjoyed a tea in the People's park in the city center and even paid a visit to a unique funhouse located in an abandoned bomb shelter underneath the park - believe us, they might not look like it but the animatronic figures were actually pretty scary.


We're not quite sure what effect they were going for, but I think it worked

Chengdu Diary remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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On Tuesday, jetlag allowed us an early start and we spent most of the morning at the Temple of Heaven, a sprawling complex south of the Forbidden City where the emperors used to pray for good harvests. The site had been painstakingly restored in advance of the Olympics and was truly remarkable, most of all the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a massive structure supported only by 28 wooden pillars.

For the afternoon, we headed to the Forbidden City on the subway. The former imperial palace is truly massive - covering nearly 180 acres - which probably helps to absorb the massive crowds. Though the entire place is impressive (and would've certainly been a nice place to hole up as emperor), we most enjoyed the leafy gardens at the rear of the palace and the unique museum of imperial clocks (probably because these were furthest from the crowds), featuring timepieces from around the world from the 18th and 19th centuries.

This is just the gate to get to the actual entrance!

We ended the day on a high note at the Yonghe (Lama) Temple, one of the most important Buddhist monasteries in the world that features an 18m tall statue of Buddha carved from a single piece of wood (in case you had any doubt, the certificate from the Guinness folks is below).

Yesterday, we made the requisite trip out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu - a section that had inspired Bill Clinton to proclaim "The Great Wall here is very beautiful, very grand, more beautiful and grander than what I imagined" during his 1998 visit. I think we both felt this captured our feelings and we were inspired enough to make the steep climb up the western end of the section (that's Nicole carefully descending).

Too bad that Nicole left her sunglasses in California

On the way back into town we stopped by the Olympic Village - still buzzing with activity and visitors - before ending at the Summer Palace - an imperial getaway in the northwest of the city for those times when the royals felt too closed in by their city-center palace. This definitely ranked towards the top of our list in Beijing given the scenic setting. The only downside was the huge crowds in the central areas. You could almost sense that out of the 1.3 billion people in China, a not insignificant portion had decided to visit the Summer Palace. At least they were able to stick together with their groups thanks to an ingenious color-coded hat scheme (though they might want to consider using some colors other than red and white).


Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace

White Hats

Red Hats

White-Red Hats

More White Hats

More Red Hats

All-in-all, we had a fantastic time in Beijing and only wish we could've stayed longer (I'm not sure if travel writers and guides who recommend only 2-3 days in the city have actually been to Beijing). I last visited in 1998 (this was Nicole's first time) and the change from then is simply astonishing. The area we stayed in - XiCheng - looked more like Singapore than the Beijing of my memories. Furthermore, everything was new - from the airport to the roads (in better shape than any in the US or UK) to subway trains and lines. Maybe, this is partly a post-Olympic halo, but I don't think so.

Finally, even though Nicole will pick up on our first day in Chengdu in her next post, I thought I'd close by listing the contents of the "emergency kit" in our hotel here.

Band-Aids
Johnson & Johnson Tampons
3 Durex Quality Condoms
King Refreshing Drink
Swashes Sanitary Wet Tissues
One-time use underpants (M&F)

By "emergency" I think they must mean some sort of hyperactive sexual escapade, but maybe I'm just reading into things.

For those of you who have read this far, you can also find full Beijing pictures (currently uploading) on MobileMe

Great City, Great Wall remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Tonight, it all starts again as we depart for China!

Halfway round remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Here's my recap of Buenos Aires, part 2.

Museums

BA has a wide range of museums, and we managed to hit quite a few of them. Although we are not numismatics, we greatly enjoyed our foray into Argentina's tumultuous monetary history at the Central Bank's Museo Numismatico. Here's an interesting fact: since the 1970s until today, the Argentine currency has lost 13 zeros (i.e. 1 Argentine Peso today would be equivalent to 10,000,000,000,000 Argentine pesos back then)!

The Argentine Central Bank

We also visited the Museu de Armas, where we saw lots of guns, swords, and dioramas of various wars in Argentine history...


Museo de Armas

A gas mask...for a horse! (Also at the Museo de Armas)

...And the Fragata Sarmiento, a naval training ship that made 37 (long!) voyages all over the world.

Jake at the helm (carrying my purse)

The Fragata herself.

Art-wise, we really enjoyed the contemporary Argentine artists featured at the new Museo Fortabat in Puerto Madero and the world-famous MALBA in Palermo.

Malbec / Meat

Speaking of MALBA...we have made a concerted effort to get our fill of Argentina's delectable and affordable wines, particularly Malbec. To ensure maximum enjoyment of the wine, we have also injested large quantities of Argentine beef at an assortment of the city's parrillas (which can loosely be translated into "steakhouses", or maybe "grills"). I didn't believe it until I tasted it myself, but I can now say with absolute certainty that Argentine beef is the best in the world. It was so tender that you could almost cut it with a fork, and it was more flavorful than any steak I've ever tasted. YUM!

Our dinner at La Brigada, in San Telmo

Manifestations

Not much to say here, except that the Argentines seem to rival the French in sheer number of strikes/protests/general disruptions to daily life. During our short stay in the city, we saw major strike action by the hotel and restaurant workers' union and the bank workers' union, and several other gatherings by anarchists, anti-communists, and veterans. And I think this is just par for the course...

Bank workers' strike

Museums, Manifestations, Malbec...and Meat! remains copyright of the author nhilde, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The weekend pretty much consisted of us repeating portions of our Friday walk - with a good deal more success as things were actually open. On Saturday we visited the Casa Rosada (the Argentine Presidential Palace as featured in both Madonna's film Evita and real-life Argentine history), the exceptional National Fine Arts Museum, and the BA Design Centre. Most interesting about the Casa Rosada is that fact that you could just wander into the building - probably a while since this was last true about either the White House or most European presidential residences.

Some say that the pink color came from cow's blood - a common paint additive at the time

Is that an obelisk or are you just happy to see me? El Centro on the weekend.

We spent yesterday enjoying the street markets of San Telmo - one of BA's main Sunday attractions. We also had a chance to visit a restored 19th century house in the neighborhood where they'd discovered remains of 16th century life below. Its now been excellently restored and can even be rented out for events (for those of you looking for a place for your next Bar Mitzvah or Family Reunion, you can find more info here).


Interesting display of posters and... gloves.

That brings me to our other primary activity here - eating! We've enjoyed both traditional Argentine Parillas (those meat and malbec places of Gaucho lore) and more modern eateries too. The highlight so far was probably last night at La Vineria de Gualterio Bolivar where we enjoyed a 10 course tasting menu with wine pairings at an Argentina bargain price. The head chef Alejandro Diglio formerly worked under Ferran Adria at El Bulli in Spain and has infused touches of molecular gastronomy in his menu. Though everything was delightful, the following dishes really stood out:
Grilled Bread with Egg Yolk & Truffles, served with a chicken-leg reduction (Pan/Heuvo/Trufe)
Lamb Loin and Scallops served with sweet potato puree (mar y montaña, cordero-vieyras)
Ribeye with Malbec reduction and radish ratatouille (Ojo de Bife)
Rabbit with Apple jelly and foam (Conejo/Manzana Verde)
Two amazing desserts, one featuring a "dirt" of chocolate mousse

May Day & Gourmet in BA remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We just got back from spending four days on the most isolated inhabited island in the world, Easter Island (or Rapa Nui, the name used by the indigenous people who first settled there in the 5th or 6th Century). Although the island was beautiful and the history is fascinating, Jake and I both left with mixed feelings about the place.

First, though, a little history about the island. (Note that this is a grossly oversimplified version of what has happened over the past 1500 years.) The original settlers of Easter Island came from Polynesia, most likely the Marquesas Islands. The journey apparently took 120 days, with no stops on land! Once they arrived, they decided to stay (I wouldn't have wanted to turn around and go back home either). Over time, the people started to construct the moai - or "giant head statues" in layman's terms - for which the island is best known. The statues were meant to represent important ancestors and were thought to protect the community from evil. All of the moai pointed inland, towards the villages.

One of the moai at Tahai (and the only one on the island currently with eyes!)

Me with a moai head at Rano Raraku, the quarry where all the statues were carved.

The society reached its peak somewhere around 1500 or 1600. Unfortunately, some of the Rapa Nui's practices - such as chopping down trees to transport the moai, and slash-and-burn agricultural techniques - were unsustainable, and eventually led to food shortages and limited natural resources. Faced with starvation and no way to leave the island (all of the trees were gone), villages began to fight amongst themselves. And the best way to bring down a neighboring village was... to knock down their moai! By the mid-1700s, when Captain James Cook first reached Easter Island, all but one of the moai had been knocked down. (The ones that are currently standing have all been restored by various archaeologists from around the world. Good thing too, because the "destroyed moai" - the ones that are still knocked down - are pretty boring to look at.)

The largest restored set of moai, at Tongariki. The Japanese paid for the restoration of these statues. PS: check out the cruise ship!

...And some "destroyed moai". Not so interesting...

The statue-building cult slowly died out and was replaced by the Birdman cult, which is worth a quick mention. Each spring, the Rapa Nui people would gather at the ceremonial village of Orongo to determine who would be the leader for the next year. Men who were in the running for the role would compete in a race down the cliffs of the island and through one mile of shark-infested waters, to a small islet off the coast. They would wait there for the sooty tern (a type of bird) to lay their eggs. The first man to return to Orongo village with an unbroken egg would be the winner and the leader for the next year. Now that's meritocracy!

Petroglyphs in Orongo village

Okay, I know I'm droning on but I really loved learning all this stuff. One last thing - in the 1800s, ships from Peru came to the island and took about 1,000 people - a quarter of the population - as slaves. Several years later, the Peruvians succumbed to global pressure to return the people, but only 15 survived the ship ride back. Those 15 brought smallpox with them, and nearly wiped out the Rapa Nui population (which fell to about 120 people in the late 1800s). The oral tradition and knowledge about the island largely died with these people, which is why there is still so much mystery surrounding Easter Island.

Today, the island's population is slightly less than 5,000 (with about as many horses and stray dogs). The people seem to identify themselves more as Polynesians than Chileans, although that is slowly changing over time, particularly as more and more Chileans move there.

Now, for the lowdown on our impressions of the island. Overall, we had a good time there, but the isolation got to us a little bit. We kept thinking that we were in the Twilight Zone or on the island in "Lost", and we both had completely irrational thoughts about never being able to leave! That wouldn't have been entirely bad, as the island's natural beauty is just as breathtaking as the moai statues scattered throughout the terrain. Some definite highlights were the amazing volcanic crater near Orongo village:

...the beautiful beach at Anakena, where the royals lived in ancient times:

...and the dramatic coastline of the island:

Our hotel was also very nice, if a little too "rustic" for our tastes (read: no hot water, ants everywhere, and very low ceilings). Luckily, our room had a little kitchenette, so Jake was able to cook some of our meals.

The low point of the trip was our last day, when it rained for most of the day. We had booked in for a full day tour of the island, but returned to our hotel drenched and defeated by mid-afternoon. Luckily, we were able to drown our sorrows in some of the island's finest Cristal, available at $1500 a pop!

$1500 Chilean pesos, that is. Or, around US$3.

Getting away from it all remains copyright of the author nhilde, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We took advantage of San Cristobal Hill again yesterday morning (it helps that its just behind our hotel) for a little run/hike. It was great until we met up with a group of 8 stray dogs who decided to join us for the descent and started fighting with each other on the way down. We couldn't shake them and finally had to jump into a cab to cover the final 200 meters to the hotel and lose them.
Yesterday afternoon was the highlight of our time here as we had the opportunity to visit La Moneda - the presidential palace. Tours are actually free and available to anyone and we were lucky enough to have a private one. At the end, we even got a gift from the state of Chile - a book of the excellent sculpture collections that are in the palace courtyards (maybe this was where our $260 in entry fees went). After the palace, we were finally able to change those crazy tickets of ours into e-tickets (we had to wait until we had 16 flights or less left), and will hopefully be problem-free for the balance of our travels.

Yes, la Moneda does mean money in Spanish and the place used to be a mint

Today we wandered through the bohemian neighborhood of Bella Vista, ending at La Chascona (the wild-haired woman) - one of Pablo Neruda's houses.

This isn't the Neruda house, but we thought it still looked neat

All in all, it's been a nice break in our trip here and in summary:
Pros: Weather, people, "livable"-feel, La Moneda
Cons: Smog, limited attractions, Those damn dogs!

In case you were itching for more, our Santiago photos are now up on MobileMe.

We don't expect to have internet in Easter Island, but Nicole will post a nice big update when we get a chance

Chillaxin' in Chile remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Staying connected in the air remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We then enjoyed a nice walk across the city before heading back to the airport, happening across the interesting scene below in the Plaza Mayor.

We weren't sure whether they were one act or two...

Unfortunately, our past tribulations with Madrid Barajas Airport once again reared their head (despite having taken pains on the trip to specifically avoid flying Iberia). Upon arriving at LAN checkin, we were told they no longer accepted paper tickets and moreover suspected the legitimacy of ours, insisting that tickets normally have computer-style printing and barcodes on them. In fairness, that's usually a pretty safe assumption.
Took 2.5 hours of waiting for them to get clearance from the head office in Chile, but we were finally cleared to travel. Another 30 minutes to get through security and we were finally on our way.
On the plus side, we had the pleasure of waking up to this gorgeous sunrise over the Andes this morning and arrived to excellent weather in Santiago (though a not-so-pleasant $130 "reciprocity" entry fee for US citizens).

The Good (and the bad) in Madrid remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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After our adventures in Petra, we were ready for some relaxation, and Wadi Rum (one of Jordan's most picturesque deserts, located about one hour south of Petra) was just the place for it. We arrived at our camp in early afternoon. (For those of you balking at the fact that Jake and I went camping, don't worry: the tents had beds and there was indoor plumbing!) It was a cool place, made even cooler by the fact that we had the whole place to ourselves for the night. After sitting around and enjoying the views for a few hours, we had a late lunch and then headed out in Talat's jeep for an off-road tour of the region.

Our camp in Wadi Rum

Even though April is high season here, we only encountered two or three other cars during our three-hour drive, which made the experience even more special. Jake's pictures don't quite capture just how quiet, beautiful, and surreal Wadi Rum really is, but they should give you some idea:

In addition to enjoying the meditative beauty of the desert, we also goofed around a little with Talat and Sami (our driver). Here's a few of my favorite pictures from the day:

We ended the trip by drinking some tea and watching the sunset atop some particularly red sand dunes in the middle of nowhere.

Back at the camp, we feasted on fresh local lamb and arabic salad with Talat and Sami, and spent the rest of the night relaxing around the camp fire and looking for shooting stars. The beds in our tent were very comfortable, although we would have slept better if it weren't for the howling of the wild dogs and the incessant "shrieking" of a local camel.

Yesterday, Sami drove us through Wadi Araba (another desert!) to the Dead Sea and on to Amman.

The shores of the Dead Sea - that white stuff is salt!

After four days of Middle Eastern buffet food, we were craving something a little different, and eventually settled on the Benihana at our hotel. Teppanyaki never tasted so good!

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A few final observations on Jordan:

- Bedouin tea: The Bedouins (the local people that live in the desert in Southern Jordan) love to drink tea, and boy do they like it sweet. When Talat makes tea, he adds about two-and-a-half HANDFULS of sugar to a small pot! It tastes good, but I think I developed a few cavities and an increased risk of Type II diabetes over the past few days. Talat told us that his father drinks about forty cups of the stuff every day; he must be on a constant sugar high!

Talat making Bedouin tea

- Camels: We've learned a lot about camels during our time in Jordan (and Dubai). They are really tall, they can run almost as fast as a horse, their "bark" is one of the most obnoxious noises ever known to man, and apparently they mate sitting down (although voyeurs would struggle to witness this because camels are very shy and don't like to "be romantic" in front of an audience). I'll miss the camels...but luckily for me, Jake does a pretty decent camel impression! (PS: I wanted to post a funny camel video that we made in Petra here, but we don´t have the bandwidth to upload it right now. It will be posted soon though, so look out for it!)

Another day, another desert remains copyright of the author nhilde, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our two days here have been action-packed. We've been especially lucky to have an incredible guide named Talat. Not only has he helped us understand the history of the site and taken us off the beaten path, but has also provided great insight into modern Jordanian culture. Last night, we even had the privilege of joining him for what I'm sure will rank as our best meal in Jordan at his family home (5 or 6 of his 11 brothers and sisters and some of their own families were also there!).
We've spent a total of 20 hours at the site over the past two days and have really had a chance to cover a lot of ground. Yesterday began with a walk down the Siq (gorge) to the Treasury (if you don't know Petra, you might still recognize it from Indiana Jones). The structure is truly spectacular and remarkably well-preserved, owing to the fact that its actually inset into the cliff face and therefore protected from the elements. The treasury, like almost all other structures in Petra, is actually a tomb - built to ensure that the Nabateans would live comfortably during the afterlife.

The afternoon was mainly spent hiking up to the "Monastery" - another tomb in the mountains above the site that also featured a very unique scenic view.


In case you're wondering, it wasn't really...

Today, Talat led us off-piste in the mountains around Petra and we enjoyed a mid-morning Tea on the cliffs above the Treasury. It was really something to look down at the groups gathered below, though we tried to keep as far away from the edge as possible. After lunch, we discovered a path leading up the other side of the canyon and ended up with an incredible vantage point on the other side of the structure (yes, that's us mugging for the camera with the Treasury below).
All-in-all, an active couple of days in Petra that have left us in need for a warm soak and a bit of rest - hopefully a lie-in tomorrow should be just what the doctor ordered!

Yes, those are people (well) below

We couldn't resist

We'll be going off the grid in the desert tomorrow, but stay tuned for Nicole's dispatch on our last few days in Jordan.

NB: If you're looking for an excellent guide in Jordan, Talat can be reached at talatpetra@hotmail.com or through his travel agency www.seejordantours.com.

When in Petra... remains copyright of the author jkirsch, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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On Wednesday, we spent the morning driving 4x4 dune buggies in the desert. Jake did the driving, and I documented the experience - a video will be posted later so stay tuned!

We spent the afternoon exploring the Bastakiya quarter of Bur Dubai, which showcases the traditional architecture of the area:

We also saw Hindi Lane and the Bur Dubai souq, and took a quick walk through the Dubai Museum. The best part of the afternoon was lunch at a little Indian hole in the wall (see the picture below). There was no menu and the waiter's English was pretty limited, but the food was plentiful and delicious, and at 27 dirhams ($8), it was a real bargain!

On Thursday, we attempted to take a taxi to the Madinat Jumeirah, one of the fancy beach hotels for which Dubai is known. Unfortunately, our cab driver didn't quite know where he was going, and dropped us off at the other end of Jumeirah beach. We thought we could walk the rest of the way...until we realized that the beach is about 6 miles long! About one mile in, we gave up and sought refuge in the Mercato mall, where we spent $50 on sandwiches and juice at Paul (it would have only cost about 15 British pounds in London!). A short cab ride later, we finally reached the Madinat Jumeirah, and got some great photos of the world-famous Burj al-Arab hotel (the only seven-star hotel in the world!):

Short on funds, we took the bus back to our hotel. At 2 dirhams ($0.50) each, it was significantly cheaper than the $12 cab ride there. Jake was a little cramped at the back of the bus, but I was very comfortable up front in the "women's only" section!

Thursday night was perhaps the highlight of our time in Dubai. We took an abra (little wooden boat) across the Dubai Creek to Deira, and walked through the souqs. The Gold Souq was particularly happening that night. Afterwards, we stopped for dinner at a little shwarma place right outside of the markets and feasted on shwarma, juice and falafel. All in all, a great night!

Dubai, A City of Extremes remains copyright of the author nhilde, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Anyway, here's a (not so short) recap of our first few days in Cape Town. Needless to say, it's been a great start to the trip!

Day One: After quickly dropping our stuff off at our hotel (an African Villa, which we highly recommend), we took a taxi over to Table Mountain and rode the cable car to the top. The views from the peak are spectacular, as you can see from Jake's pics:

After Table Mountain, we went over to the V&A Waterfront to pick up the tickets for the rest of our trip. A brief word on these tickets: when researching round-the-world tickets, Jake discovered that they were significantly cheaper if you started out in South Africa. We thus bought our tickets with Cape Town as the starting point. However, because we are flying more than 16 segments, we had to purchase paper tickets, which needed to be picked up from the ticketing agency in Cape Town upon our arrival. As it turns out, the ticketing agency here does not have the capability to print paper tickets, so a very kind and patient lady named Cindy hand-wrote all 20 segments of our tickets. Check out a photo of the tickets below - I'm curious to see the reactions of the airport check-in people when we hand these over!

Thursday night we went to Jardine, which was delicious. Our one "fancy" meal in Cape Town, and it was worth every penny.

Day Two: On Friday we spent the morning walking around the center of Cape Town, including a visit to the Slave Lodge, which is a fascinating museum about the slave trade in South Africa. The museum is housed in the building where the slaves of the Dutch East India Trading Company lived in the 18th Century. In addition to learning more about the slave trade in SA, we also saw an interesting exhibit on Steven Biko, a political activist that was beaten to death by the police in the 70s. Jake and I recently watched Cry Freedom, which tells the story of Biko's relationship with white journalist Donald Woods. The exhibit added depth to what we had learned from the film and made us both want to watch it again!

Friday afternoon was spent touring Robben Island, the location of the prison where Nelson Mandela and many other political activists were jailed during the latter part of the Apartheid regime. The tour is really fantastic; in addition to driving around the island, you are given a tour of the jail by an ex-political prisoner who served time there. It was a great experience and we both learned a lot.

Day Three: Today (Saturday) we took it a little bit easier (although not much!). We spent the first half of the day on a tour of the townships surrounding Cape Town, including Langa, Guguletu and Khayalitsha. It was another great experience from which I took away a very different perspective on the townships. Although many people living there are very poor, others live in quite nice houses (our guide called them "the Beverly Hills Houses") with indoor plumbing, electricity, satellite television...and some people even own brand new BMWs! There are also a surprisingly large number of hair salons (at least one on every block!) and some very, very cute kids. Some of Jake's pics are below:

After the township tour, we spent the rest of the day relaxing and then drove over to Camps Bay for dinner and drinks. The water at the beach was freezing (like California!), but the sunset was beautiful and our dinner was delicious.

That's it for now! Stay tuned for Jake's recap on the rest of our time in Cape Town in a few days!

Cape Town is like California! remains copyright of the author nhilde, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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