Playing Catchup
If it's Monday this must be China.
It's my birthday and I'm in Kunming. I've spent the day travelling. I woke this morning on on the floor at Singapore airport. I actually slept remarkably well with my earplugs, eye-mask and two blankets borrowed from the plane. Dragged myself groggily up and found my way onto my flight to Bangkok, and then a quick half-hour transfer to Kunming.
The best thing about all this travelling is that I got to visit Thailand - albeit briefly! Got to see the new airport, which only opened 3 days ago and was all shiny and sterile. I think our pilot got lost taxi-ing to our gate though. We did a bit circle. It was very funny.
The worst thing about all this travelling is that my bag didn't like it as much as I did. It's gone AWOL somewhere between Dubai and Kunming. I have to get my tour leader to call the airport for me and chase it up. I have insurance, so in the long run it's not an issue. But short-term it's a fair bit more problematic, I'm 6 weeks in China and have no clothes. And I'm not exactly of a size that can find clothes easily in Asia!
Anyway, I'd like to try and catch you up on some more of my time in Egypt.
If you don't recognise Luxor by it's modern name maybe you'll know it as it's old one - Thebes. Some of the greatest monuments of Egypt are here, the Valley of the Kings - which are all tombs from Middle Egypt - and Karnak Temple, the grandest of them all.
Also here are the 400 (!) cruise ships that ply the Nile from Aswan and disgorge wave after wave of pink, tourist bodies into the temples and tombs. A tsunami of tourists (a new, most suitable, collective noun). What is it about tourists that makes them all waddle instead of walk, yell instead of talk, and take photos and videos instead of interact with anybody?! Do I look like that?
But Luxor is a nice city despite all that goes along with massive tourism. We have dinner the first night at an English restaurant. Seems an odd thing to me; of all the cuisines in the world what could possess somebody to want to open a restaurent celebrating English food? And why would anyone go there? In our case it was cos our group was promised apple pie for desert and some people just can't live with out their steak and chips.
This hasn't been the most informative travelogue, I know. Where are the descriptions of the tombs, the paintings, the quaint observations of local life? Well more is coming I promise, but right now I have to find my tour leader and enlist her in the great 'bec's bag hunt 2006'!
It's my birthday and I'm in Kunming. I've spent the day travelling. I woke this morning on on the floor at Singapore airport. I actually slept remarkably well with my earplugs, eye-mask and two blankets borrowed from the plane. Dragged myself groggily up and found my way onto my flight to Bangkok, and then a quick half-hour transfer to Kunming.
The best thing about all this travelling is that I got to visit Thailand - albeit briefly! Got to see the new airport, which only opened 3 days ago and was all shiny and sterile. I think our pilot got lost taxi-ing to our gate though. We did a bit circle. It was very funny.
The worst thing about all this travelling is that my bag didn't like it as much as I did. It's gone AWOL somewhere between Dubai and Kunming. I have to get my tour leader to call the airport for me and chase it up. I have insurance, so in the long run it's not an issue. But short-term it's a fair bit more problematic, I'm 6 weeks in China and have no clothes. And I'm not exactly of a size that can find clothes easily in Asia!
Anyway, I'd like to try and catch you up on some more of my time in Egypt.
If you don't recognise Luxor by it's modern name maybe you'll know it as it's old one - Thebes. Some of the greatest monuments of Egypt are here, the Valley of the Kings - which are all tombs from Middle Egypt - and Karnak Temple, the grandest of them all.
Also here are the 400 (!) cruise ships that ply the Nile from Aswan and disgorge wave after wave of pink, tourist bodies into the temples and tombs. A tsunami of tourists (a new, most suitable, collective noun). What is it about tourists that makes them all waddle instead of walk, yell instead of talk, and take photos and videos instead of interact with anybody?! Do I look like that?
But Luxor is a nice city despite all that goes along with massive tourism. We have dinner the first night at an English restaurant. Seems an odd thing to me; of all the cuisines in the world what could possess somebody to want to open a restaurent celebrating English food? And why would anyone go there? In our case it was cos our group was promised apple pie for desert and some people just can't live with out their steak and chips.
This hasn't been the most informative travelogue, I know. Where are the descriptions of the tombs, the paintings, the quaint observations of local life? Well more is coming I promise, but right now I have to find my tour leader and enlist her in the great 'bec's bag hunt 2006'!
posted by becsh at 7:03 pm
2 Comments:
Oh poor Bec! Happy birthday! Lost bags! Not a good present. I hope you find them soon or you'll be hitting a tailor shop I suppose for some uh, suits.
So much flying! Hopefully you're um, desensitised to it. Did you get to see or hear much Thai? Did it make you want to detour via Thailand? Well, I hope China is wonderful and exotic and your co-tourers don't suck. xx Speak soon xx
Hi Bec
Hope you got my birthday greetings!
Your travels still sound interesting and very descriptive "a tsunami of tourists indeed".
Best wishes
... #1 arnt
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