Off To See The World

I just got the news that my cousin had a big baby boy a couple days ago. Thanks for those who informed me about it! I can’t wait to see him. So here’s my congrats to the new mommy and daddy. And congrats to the the grandparents and great-grandma too!

As we where whipping around the streets today, I couldn’t help but giggle a little. This wasn’t the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last but I thought I’d tell you about it.

I first noticed it in Africa but it’s definitely here too…. the use of helmets on motor bikes. Now, many people don’t wear a helmet at all and some wear actual motorbike helmets but there is a whole lot of people that have to make due with what they have. This includes equestrian helmets, construction helmets, baseball helmets, and other various sports helmets. Some are tied on with shoe laces, others just hanging loosely… it’s probably not that funny to read about but to see on the streets is kind of funny sometimes. At least they attempt to be safe.

Also, in Kenya, at the bank, the security guards all wore helmets…. baseball helmets that is…. and one of the guards who was on a break had put his baton through the earholes of the helmet… I don’t know why I found that humorous at all but I guess I’m just easily amused.

Anyway, I thought I’d share that with you guys…

Well, after spending 3 hours in the LUXURIOUS airport in Dubai, we made our way to India. The flight was uneventful and we landed in Delhi yesterday at about 10am (Dehli time). Turns out that the number of the contact that John got was wrong (or she didn’t understand us when she called and told us that we got the wrong number) so we ended up just catching a cab to some random part of town.

Now, how would I describe the process of catching the cab from the airport…. hmmm… well, in Edmonton, there is usually a line where the cabs line up and you catch the next one in the line…. here, they all jam into a lane (the definition of a lane here is a road that goes one direction and you can cram as many cars into that road so it can be anywhere between 2-8 lanes of traffic). You then pay the person at the counter for where you want to go and he gives you a paid slip with a number on it. This number is actually a licence plate number, so you have to weave your way between these taxis (some of which are moving) in order to match the number on your paper with the number on the car……. not exactly easy considering this place is jam packed with taxis! Regardless, we managed to catch a cab to this random part of town. I had written down the name of a hostel I found online but apparently nobody knew where it was so it was a big circus getting us a place to stay. However, we managed…. as usual to find a place to crash.

Along the way, we bumped into a little tourist travel place and we kind of planned our next 3 weeks here. I’m sure we paid entirely too much because our bartering skills SUCK but we were able to get some planning done. So, for those of you who are interested, we will be going to Amritsar – to see the Golden Temple, Agra – to see the Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Pushkar, Vernasi, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai, and then Colombo.

Today, we explored Delhi… I’m not entirely sure the names of the places we went but we went to a very tall historical tower thing (Qutab Minar – built in 1193), Lotus Temple AKA Bahai House of Worship, red fort…. Unfortunately, many of the monuments, shops, etc. are closed because tomorrow is a big national holiday (Republic Day). There is a big parade tomorrow where thousands of people are supposed to cram the streets….. I’m still on the fence whether I want to be one of those crammed people. Oh we also drove by Jama Masjid… a giant Mosque that was built by Emperor Shah Jahan (the same guy that built the Taj Mahal).

I’ve also developed quite a hatred for car horns. Traffic here is crazy… I think there is more honking than silence at all times. It’s times like this that I really miss Canada and it’s quiet, open space. Siiigghhh.

Ummm, not much else to tell for now… we had some amazing Indian food today… mmmm. Not too spicy. I’m sure we’ll be having a lot more but so far so good.

Maybe we’ll even try to ride on a rickshaw or one of those little 3-wheeled taxi things… maybe… I don’t know how brave we are feeling yet though. We’re still adjusting to the country. We are leaving Dehli tomorrow at sometime to make our way to Amritsar… I’ll let y’all know how that goes and how the Golden Temple is…

Well, our 3 days or so in Dubai have definitely made a dent. I just realized in the last post I put that it was $50/night…. it’s actually $50/night/person… so it was about $100/night for a room at a guesthouse on the outskirts of town… taxi rides cost us over $100 in total… food wasn’t that expensive but things add up. Sigh…

Yesterday, we didn’t do too much… we slept in again… then we booked a desert safari for the afternoon. It was actually pretty fun… we got picked up in a modified SUV and then headed out to the desert. It was a little bit like a rollercoaster going up and down the dunes… pretty scary at some parts. Even though we were out in the middle of the desert, there was still bits of garbage everywhere… just kind of sucks how us humans are everywhere… hehe. Anyway, we drove around until the sun set over the desert… then we stopped at some place where you could ride ATVs and Camels. John whipped around the sand in an ATV and we rode yet another camel. It was pretty cool. We WERE supposed to be able to sandboard down a hill too but get this: It rains like 5 days a year in Dubai and John and I happened to catch 2 of the days…. so the sand was too wet to board on 🙁 . Crappy. Oh well, we had dinner in the dessert in a little tent set up (tourist trap) and then watched a belly dancer… and then headed home. It was pretty cool.

Today, we spent a hell of a lot of money on taxis. First, we went to see Sports City… little did we know, Sports City at this exact time, looks similar to our desert safari… yeah, they haven’t really built much there yet. It’s supposed to be complete sometime in 2008… damn. So then, after driving way the heck over there, we headed back to media city… which the driver failed to tell us, is a block of commercial buildings where companies have offices…. really nothing to see. SOOOO, we finally got him to drop us off in some rich residential area. We basically just walked around taking pictures of the crazy buildings… then walked to the beach and saw a bit of one of the palm islands… it’s not so cool from ground level. Then we went to that big 7* hotel (Burj Al Arab)… there’s a lot of security around it and you can’t actually go in but we got some pics from the outside. Yeah… we also so the indoor ski hill and went to the mall of emirates again to walk around. Being broke kind of sucks here.

Basically, without money, there is nothing to do here… but with money, you can do anything you could imagine.

We fly out to Dehli tomorrow morning at 5am… see you in India

Well, we are in Dubai now. We found a hostel.. that’s right… a hostel on the edge of the city for $50/night. Not cheap to stay here at all… and it’s actually a guest house…. but it is fantastic. This place is like a mansion and the couple here rents out their rooms to people. So, after arriving at 5am this morning, we checked-in and took a nap until noon or so.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Mall of Emirates or something like that… it’s pretty much just like West Edmonton Mall except it has a lot more high end shops. Seeing as how we just came from Africa, seeing all this name brand stuff, vain people, flashy bling, and nice cars makes me a little sick. This whole place is run by people with too much money. I won’t knock it completely though… the buildings here are beautiful and the architecture is definitely different here. Everything has it’s own kind of character. I caught a glimpse of the 7-star hotel on the way to the mall too… it’s very impressive… we will probably go for a closer look tomorrow.

Anyway, not much to report on… there’s really no culture here other than that of rich people and their need to spend money on expensive things. I think our 4 days here will end up costing more than we spent in Africa for months (minus the safari and climb). Oh well, at least it’s a short stop. I’ll let you know how our day of exploring and our desert safari go later. Bye!

Our last couple days have been expensive but pretty damn sweet too! Yesterday, we went to the Elephant Orphanage, the Giraffe Center, and some Nature place… and, and ,and… get this… we got to pet baby elephants, we got to pet/feed/kiss giraffes, AND we got to pet a cheetah!!!!! That’s right, John and I pet a real, live cheetah! It was pretty sweet. We also got within inches of feeding Lions… their growls/roars really do go right to the bone… it was scary even though they were behind bars. I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to be that close again… unless it’s the last time I ever see a lion.

After our eventful day of animal petting, we headed off to dinner with another Canadian couple and an Aussie that we met here. For those of you who don’t know, I am vegetarian… and we went to a place called Carnivore. You can only imagine what they serve there… and boy did they ever serve a lot of meat there. There is a giant bbq pit in the middle of the restaurant where they are grilling what seems like hundreds of kilograms of meat… everything from simple beef and pork, to pieces of crocodile and ostrich. This place was huge… and there was no menu (with the exception of me… they actually had quite a good vegetarian menu).

Basically, meat-eaters got soup to start with, then a potato and some salad, and then people with large skewers and sharp knives came around to the tables asking if you wanted a slice of whatever was on their sword. It would be the equivalent on watching someone come around with the whole donair meat on a sword to your table. They literally had whole turkeys and legs of lamb skewered through these swords. It was really a sight to see. John downed quite a bit of meat… the funny thing is, when your table is absolutely stuffed, you take down this little flag at your table to surrender and they will stop bringing meat around. Then you get a free delicious dessert and coffee. As for me, the vegetarian meal was surprisingly delicious! We both pretty much fell into food coma when we got back to the hotel.

Well, I guess today marks the last day of our stay in Africa. We will be catching a flight to Dubai tonight. I must say, I am actually very sad to leave Africa. I really do enjoy it here. Nairobi is a little expensive and city-like but everywhere else we’ve been has been pretty awesome. For those of you who are waiting for pics of flickr, sorry, there hasn’t been anywhere I could load them. I think the earliest I can get more pics on there is in HK… so February 17th or so.

Well, we’ve been in Africa for about 2 months now and I must say, I love it here. Everything from the ladies who roast corn and fry fish over a little fire on the side of the street, to the public buses that make you lose a couple years off your life when you ride them. It’s also made me realize how much unnecessary crap I own at home (although, I won’t lie… even after I return home, I don’t think I will be getting rid of my dvd collection or anything like that… call me a materialistic, vain, selfish pig… I like my movies… hehe). I do think I will be different when I return though… I can’t really put my finger on it, but I feel like a different person. Maybe I’m just being corny again.

Anyway, Arusha was good… we just hung out with our new friend Alphonce (he was our guide the first time we went through Tanzania). He showed us the local sights, food, and what not. Ugali is the local dish… reminds me a bit of Enjera in the sense that you eat it with your hands but it is much more difficult to eat. John indulged in a couple other African dishes that I didn’t get to try too… 1. A whole chicken – bbq’ed on a fire. The live chickens that are to be bbq’ed are actually in a cage right accross from the bbq… kinda cruel. 2. A leg of goat – bbq’ed over a fire as well… but you can imagine how big a plate a leg of goat is…. man that was a lot of meat. We also tried a bit of Konyagi (a local alcohol…kind of like gin… yuck). We really didn’t do too much other than relax in Arusha. I am getting pretty good with my kiswahili though.

Now, we are in Nairobi. I can’t say I like Nairobi as much as the other places we’ve been. It seems a little like any other big city. Tomorrow, we are going to the elephant orphanage and the giraffe center. I’m so pumped! You get to pet the animals and stuff…. sure beats petting goats at the petting zoo in Edmonton. And tonight, I think we are going to a restaurant called “Carnivores”… hmmmm… I wonder what they serve there? I hope they at least have something I can eat. I think John wants to try a little bit of everything…. Eland, Wildabeast, Croc, gazelle, zebra… you name it… apparently you can get it there. Hopefully we remember to take lots of pics.

Ummm, I think that’s all for now. Our next stop after Nairobi is Dubai so I’m guessing it will be very different. I’ll keep y’all posted.

Ok, so I said I would give a more detailed acccount of our climb so here goes nothing…

Day 1 – The Dik Dik
Day 1 was actually a nothing day… we were picked up by Jonas, our tour guy and taken to the Dik Dik resort. This place was like a 5-star resort tucked into the hills near Arusha… it was immaculate. They gave us orange juice in wine glasses when we arrived and then sent us to our room… which, man… it was to die for. The bed was sleeping on a cloud and it was our first hot shower in almost a month. We felt like royalty. We had the most amazing lunch, sorted our mountain gear and then relaxed until dinner.

Dinner… wow, dinner was a 4 course meal… starter, soup, the most amazing main dish and a dessert that made you forget about all your life’s worries. And, to top it all off, dinner is included with your stay at the Dik Dik. Wooooo! When we returned to the room, we found out that somebody comes while you are at dinner to prepare your bed for sleeping (puts up the mosquito net, fluffs the pillows, etc.). Royalty, I tell you.

Day 2 – Head of Rongai Trail
Day 2 was for “acclimatizing”… I put that in quotes because John and I were actually at 2500m for the 3 weeks in Ethiopia and the trail head is lower than that so we didn’t actually need to stop there for the night. We stayed at another pretty nice place called the snowcap resort. The drive up to this point was pretty long so it was almost dinner by the time we got there. We pretty much just chilled, ate dinner and then went to bed in preparation for the first real day of climbing. Our guides have been really quiet so it’s been kind of awkward. We were pretty much isolated from everyone else…. really weird… maybe we stunk.

Day 3 – First Real Hiking Day
Today, we set up early in the morning. When we got to the actual trail head, our entourage weighed our bags and gear before we set out. It wasn’t until today that I realized how big our entourage was. For the 2 of us, there were 10 people! 7 porters, a cook, an assistant guide, and our main guide. It seemed like quite a production to get us up the mountain but I guess that’s how it’s done.

This first day was pretty short… about 3 hours and John and I were feeling great. We reached camp around noon and our entourage had already set everything up. The view was amazing, to one side, we could see Mawenzi Peak, and on the other side, you could see the top of Kilimanjaro (Kibo). I think we lucked out because we were told it had been raining for the past 3 weeks but we hadn’t seen any since we started our climb. We hung out around camp all day… I practiced my Swahili with some of our entourage and John read Don Quixote. Lunch and Dinner were great but still a bit awkward because we are always set out to a side to eat by ourselves. I kind of wish we could eat as a group so it wouldn’t be so awkward.

At night, we went to bed pretty early because it got dark fast… but we overheard some other Canadians (who we met along the way and were staying at the same site) talking about the stars. Wow, when I got out of the tent to see what the commotion was about….. WOW…. and I mean… WOWOWOW. Not only were there no city lights… we were 2700m high and near the equator… I can’t even explain what I saw. There were so many more stars than I could see at home… I mean, Orion’s belt was hidden amongst a plethora of stars I’ve never seen before. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sky felt like it was so close to us… man. I hope you get a chance to see it someday.

Day 4 – Camp 2
Today was a long day… we hiked about 5 hours before stopping at a cave for lunch. The hike wasn’t steep so it wasn’t that bad but the sun was really bearing down and frying the heck out of us. We took our sweet ass time too (“Pole Pole”=slowly slowly) so the sun really took it’s tole. Again, it was a really sunny day (no rain, yay!) so we couldn’t complain.

Lunch at the cave gave us a bit of a break before we headed on our way again. It was about another 2-3 hours to get to our camp. The porters, of course, had gotten there long before us to set up camp so everything was ready when we got there. These porters are amazing. They carry like 20kg on their heads/backs and they practically jog up this mountain. They could leave an hour later than us and arrive there 3 hours before us… simply amazing.

The night was pretty uneventful… the Canadians who were at our first camp were at this camp too so we chatted a little before dinner. Then we had our isolated meal and went to bed. It was hard to socialize with our guides because they were so quiet. I guess they just don’t like us…. hehe.

Day 5 – Camping Under Mawenzi Peak
Today was a much shorter day… we only hiked 4-5 hours but it was a little steeper this time. I finally learned to put on a long sleeve so my arms didn’t get fried as much but it may be too late… my arms are a light shade of dark red/purple. We went over quite a few ridges today… and as we peaked on each ridge, we hoped we were almost there. The days were starting to wear us down a little bit…

When we finally arrived, our crew was there to greet us. We didn’t have any effects of mountain/altitude sickness so we were feeling really confident about the climb. We were actually a bit tired but I didn’t want to sleep before dinner… bad idea. Our guide then told us that we would be taking a hike to “acclimatize” a little… I was in no mood to hike… my legs were tired and I just wanted to chill… but noooooo… we went on a hike. I’ll have to admit it was worth it though… Again, there were no clouds in the sky so the view was amazing. We could see both peaks clearly… and all the terrain in between. It was beautiful… and on the way down, there was this one little spot on the base of the Mawenzi peak that had it’s own little micro-climate. It was nice and green… lush… it was pretty cool… but I was ready to get back to camp. We had our isolated dinner and then hit the sack.

Day 6 – School Hut
School Hut is the name of the camp that we stayed at. There is a small hut up there… not that we stayed in huts. I guess I should mention that we have been staying in a tent the whole way so we are extra lucky that there has been no rain. Today’s hike was actually pretty flat because it was pretty much crossing the ridge from Mawenzi to Kibo… it’s kind of desert-like but man, it’s quite exhilarating getting closer and closer to Kibo. We were over 4000m now and still feeling awesome. The sun was shining, no clouds in the sky, and it was the perfect temperature. John and I must have really good Karma or something right now because it couldn’t have been more perfect.

The day was long… we got to our lunch spot pretty tired. I had lost my appetite a little so I didn’t eat much and then it was time to get to the school hut. From our lunch spot, our camp looked pretty close…. but daaaaammmmnnn, that was a long hike. It took us another 3 hours to get to the camp. It was pretty high up (we were in the snow). I, at this point had a small headache and John’s chest was a little tight. Nothing big though. We decided not to take the Diamox until it was absolutely necessary. As we sat down for dinner (5pm), our guide told us the exciting news that we would start hiking at 11:30pm…. that’s right… in the pitch black darkness (this is so we summit around dawn to see the sun rise).

So, we took a short nap (or tried to) and then we bundled up to set off.

Day 7 – Summit Day
So, midnight… we are climbing in the dark… it’s cold and snowy. Our guides are decked out in winter clothing too. Surprisingly, it’s not that cold. The hike is tough today though… we are tired, John’s chest hurts, I’m a little nauseous, and we haven’t eaten much. Each step is quite draining and my mountain sickness is getting worse. “Pole pole”… step, step, step, baaaaarrrrffffff. Yeah, I tossed my cookies… 6 times to be exact. The first few times wasn’t bad but as we got closer and closer to Gillman’s Peak, I was wretching pretty hard. At one point, I didn’t think I would make it. I even asked for my diamox but our guide failed to tell us that we couldn’t take it after a certain altitude…grrr. So, I plugged on… a little angry but still determined. 6am… I summit Gillman’s point… WOOOOO. The view is unbelievable… the sun is just coming up behind Mawenzi peak, we are on top of the clouds and surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery. Damn.

I think the adrenalin was renewed at that point because I felt great. We took some photos and then decided to continue onto Uhuru peak (5895m). Our guide said it was only 1.5kms away… but daaaaammmmnnnn… that was the longest 1.5kms I’ve ever experienced. We walked along the most beautiful ridge flanked by glaciers and fresh snow in the crater….
3 hours later… we summited!! I heaved a few more times but it was so worth it… to be able to say I conquered this mountain naturally is just so…. like… yeah… damn. I can’t wait to frame my certificate and print some of these pictures. For all you out there reading this blog… this is something you should try and do.

Anyway, we summited around 8:20am… so there was plenty of time to go down. We hiked back down to Gillman’s point…the sun was out with full force now and it was starting to get really intense up there. At Gilman’s point, we decided to take the “Canadian Way” down the mountain (we had run into that group of Canadians from before)… that’s right, we slid down half the mountain on our butts!! It was soooooooooo fun. We could get going pretty fast of some parts but the sun was so hot that it was melting the snow just enough so it wasn’t too too fast. It was super fun and super fast to get back to Kibo camp.

However, when we got to Kibo camp, we found out that we weren’t sleeping there… we were to hike another 3 hours to get to Rombo camp. Siiiiggghhh. That was a long 3 hours and I got burnt more because I wasn’t totally prepared to hike more today.

When we finally reached Rombo, we relaxed for a bit… John slept… I couldn’t really sleep even after hiking like 17 hours…. weird. We had our last dinner (where the guide awkwardly mentioned tipping) and then hit the sack.

Day 8 – The Descent
Well, this morning was super awkward… our guide lined everyone in our Entourage up and told us to tip them one by one. It was really awkward and the people didn’t seem too happy… we thought maybe we tipped too little but we found out later that we tipped more than most people did. The worst part was, the guide told us that we didn’t tip him enough and he made the hike down quite unpleasant. He pretty much made me run down that mountain… telling me to keep up with him. That ass… haha. Either way, we made it down pretty quick and got our certificates at the bottom.

We had a drink with our crew and then headed back to the Dik Dik with a few of them. There, we had more drinks to celebrate and then that was it… our journey was done.

I guess as a reward, we got one more night at the Dik Dik… wooo!

Day 9 – Doesn’t Really Count
Day 9 doesn’t really count because it was just Jonas picking us up from the hotel and taking us into Arusha…

And that is the end of our Kilimanjaro Journey… hope y’all enjoyed that.

Ok, before I go into making posts about our climb on Kilimanjaro, I wanted to write a little bit more about our time in Ethiopia. I feel that the posts I made really didn’t do the stay we had there justice.

Ethiopia was a really….. what’s the word…. “different” place. First of all, they go by a whole different calendar… they are about 7 years behind the calendar we use so they will be celebrating the millenium this September. That, and they go by a different clock too so everything is like 6 hours ahead or something like that. Either way, we seemed to figure things out and they stay was amazing. Oh, and the affection of Ethiopians is crazy… they are such a loving culture… I think it softened me up quite a bit being there… heh heh.

I can’t help but to think about the children every so often and wonder how they are doing. In three weeks, we really got to know a lot of them and it was heart-wrenching to leave. It’s funny though, I didn’t call home for the duration of the time out there because I didn’t have a phone but one of the kids in one of our classes had a phone and decided to test out my phone number… little did he know, there is a big time difference between Ethiopia and Edmonton so my bro got a nice surprise at 2am. oops. Then my mom sends me and email asking me why I haven’t called when some poor kid in Ethiopia can call… heh heh… guess you had to be there.

Annnyyyway, before we left, a lot of kids gave us small gifts, letters, and photos and even today, I looked back at some and it almost brought a tear to my eye. I can’t help but think about how this whole trip has and will change(d) my life. Just thought I’d throw that out there… siiiggghhhh…

So, from the sounds of the title, you can probably guess the outcome of our climb… HOWEVER, there is something that makes us even better…

First of all, I have to apologize to my uncle and other family members who through all the trouble to get us Diamox for our climb. John and I are SUPER proud to say that we did the climb naturally! That’s right, we made it to the top without any drugs. I did however, puke about 6 times before making it to the top and John had some chest pains but we are freakin’ amazing… haha. We didn’t meet anyone going up or down the mountain who did it without the use of Diamox. People thought we were crazy going up but we didn’t realize why until it was too late to take the drugs… but will-power is a strong thing.

I don’t have a lot of internet time right now but I will post a detailed account of our climb within a few days. WOOOOO!!!!