So Long, Farewell, Aufwiedersehen, Adeui!

So folks, it looks like this is the end. I left the UK,



Bye bye Brian

And am now in the air above Germany. See?




Wave hi to Germany!

I have a layover in Frankfurt and then an 11 hour flight to Sea-Tac. My family will be there waiting for me and I'm pretty excited to see them :D And I'm sure the tv crews, marching bands, screaming crowds with posters and probably the president will be there to greet me back into the states. Try and restrain yourselves please.

Anyways, thanks for following me along on this adventure of mine. I sure had fun. It goes a lot deeper than that too but this is the internet, after all, and I'm not going to get all sentimental on you- you don't want to hear it and I don't want to say it!

I was trying to think of a good way to end this blog. Perhaps a witty comment or some deep, profound fact of life I learned along the way? Then I thought of something a random Saudi guy said to me while we were waiting in Cairo airport.

We were chatting. He studies medicine in Russia and I told him about this trip and all the places I've gone, all the people I've met, all the things I've seen, all the experiences I've had. He exclaimed, "So you've been to pretty much everywhere, haven't you?"

"No," I replied, "But it's on the list."

Bath

I'm quite glad that I got out and did a bit more of the UK rather than only Luton and London. Bath was a rather charming city. And guess what was in Bath? That's right- baths!

Roman baths to be correct. They come ip natually from the ground, are good for you and have 41 different minerals. You can even drink it! And in my opinion, all 41 of them taste disgusting.



I could only take a few sips. Blech! But I feel much healthier now... ;P

Bath was also a home to the writer Jane Austin (Mr. Darcy! *swoon*). Two of her books were based in Bath.

I saw where she used to live and went into the Jane Austin center. It had some lovely information about her and her characters.












An English bonnet and parasol to match my London shirt, South African jeans, Egyptian shoes, and Malian handbag. I AM American!

I later took a walking tour and saw churches and monuments and parks and old things.







The best part for me was this:



This was above some of the door ways of homes. Back in the day, you put this on your house if you had fire insurance with a certain fire brigade. Because if your house was burning, the brigade would only put it out if you had insurance of the means to pay them. If not they would come, but not do anything. Can you imagine that?! Crazy!


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Stonehenge

How were the gigantic stones moved and erected in an age with primitive tools? Why did people make the pilgrimage from the far corners of Europe? What was it built for? An astronomical calendar? Pagen ritual ceremonies?

With Stonehenge, nobody knows for certain. And that's half the fun.

Going there you make up your own conclusions. Or you can be like me and let it stay a mystery! It was interesting to hear all the theories though.












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London

But Hello London (again). Even though I've had layovers in London, passed through London in November at the beginning of my trip and a few days ago en route to Northern Ireland, this is the first time I was actually IN London!

My first full day Anna (not me sillies, Anna from the Trans) and I went on a Red Bus tour through the major sights and not so major ones too. That's what I like- the big ones are obvious and you can find them on any map or guide book. But little lesser known places are nice to have a guide for. Like down this street is where Margaret Thatcher (the milk snatcher) lives:




A guard was standing in her door way




The tube! This is how I get around London. Buy an oyster card and you're set.




There are so many man-and-horse statues, commemorating one fight or another. This boy on his rocking horse conveys the lighter and more innocent side of life.

And then of course I did the biggies:




Buckingham Palace








House of Parliment and Big Ben Clock Tower




Did you know Big Ben is not the clock or tower but the bell inside?




Westminster Abbey

The Tower of London:







I was lead on a tour by a "Beefeater"

Saw the moat where diseases started because the waste and animal carcasses would be thrown in there. If I was royalty, I wouldn't want to live here!

I also saw:



Pictures were not allowed inside but Oh. My. Goodness. Everything was shiny and sparkly and beautiful. Silverware, plates, punch bowls, robes, swords, rings and crowns. Puuuurty! I love me some sparklies.

I hopped around for a couple days visiting museums like the Science Museum and the Museum of London. I got my face scanned and drawn by a robotic arm in the science museum. And saw and experienced what it would be like to be in the Royal Red Arrow fleet.








Me!





And my personal favorite... THE LION KING!



It was in Lyceum theatre








Anna and I went to see this and it was perfect. The singing, the music, the costumes. Everything was enchanting. And I loved seeing the similarities between the dancing I saw in Africa and the dances they did here. I smiled through everything (except where Mufasa died :().

And Hakuna Matata (what a wonderful phrase!) was said all over the East Coast. It's funny, I never thought of it as being a phrase people actually said, I thought it was more like a touristy thing. But it is just normal there. And words like Simba, Nala, Timone, Pumba, Mufasa all mean something in Swahili. Asanti Sana, squashed banana!


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Belfast

After the wonders of Tesco, I had a nice time in Belfast before I flew back to London.

We went into city hall. I love all the old stone architecture. We went out to lunch in the mall and at the top of the building was a look out over the city. Really cool!








The leaning tower of Belfast. Was built on river bed and is now tilting!

Did you know the Titanic was built in Belfast? After wandering a bit, we went and saw the dry dock where it was constructed and the pump house that made it possible.


They just celebrated the centennial since the Titanic launched.




The dry dock.

Throughout the whole thing I couldn't get Celien Dion's My Heart Will Go On song out of my head. Never let go Jack!

After this, it was time to go to the airport :(. More goodbyes.

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TESCO!

This deserves a post all on it's own.

On my last day we went into the heart of Belfast.

But first stop was......... TESCO! Now for all you people who don't know what Tesco is, don't worry, I was once like you. Tesco is pretty much the Walmart of the UK. And on the Trans, the whole truck was stocked with Tesco Value Brand food. Things like baked beans, peaches, spaghetti, tinned hot dogs, muesli and peanut butter, for those times we were so remote we couldn't even buy food. I got on the trip and was like "What's Tesco?" and people were like "You don't know what Tesco is?!?!?"

So I've been using Tesco stuff for so long and when I got in the store, I basically watched the past 10 months flash before my eyes. Plus, that was the first major supermarket I've been in for a long, long time. It had so many things! It was Amazing! I even took photos. Jenny put up with me as I embarrassed myself.

I raced around searching for the sweet corn and peaches and baked beans.








Baked beans. Which for the record I actually never ate.



Tinned peaches which I DID eat and loved!



Ah, memories...




A bit bigger than your average African market.

I ended up buying real (not tinned) peaches and chocolate. I'm keeping the Tesco label as a memento. I should be getting paid for all this promotion!

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By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea!

I was met at the train station by Jenny and her sister. They took me to Strangford, a town little south east of Belfast. It was absolutely lovely! Their house had a view of the sea and the country side was gorgeous.




The Strangford ferry

That first night I had my first authentic English chips (no fish for me and Jenny and Isobel are vegetarians- perfect!), and went in the next door neighbors castle. Yes, that's right, they have a CASTLE in their front yard. Pretty cool, no? I caught Jenny up on the last quarter of the trip and we reminisced.

The next day, we went swimming in the sea. Mind you, the last body of water I swam in was about 85 degrees F. The Irish sea was probably about 40 F. I lasted about 10 minutes.


Swimming!


That day we went sailing too. Jenny's dad Joe has sailed all over the world. I steered. It was windy and choppy but even with the waves trying to leap over the boat, it was okay cause we went FAST. Weeeeeeeeee!




The boat's name was In Sh'Allah (in Arabic, "God Willing") This was a common saying I heard a lot in Sudan and Egypt basically saying yes or I hope so.




Lots of cooking went on too. We had veggie pie, potato gratin, tomato cheese pie, grilled asparagus with ciabatta and feta cheese, strawberry cheese cake and peanut butter brownies. Soooo good too!


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Going... Going...Gone.

From Dahab, I took a transfer through the desert from my hostel to Sharm El Sheik Airport. I had an hour flight to Cairo and a nine hour layover there. Ugh. The plane was delayed too. From there I got my flight to London, took the tube from Heathrow to King's Cross station and walked the rest of the way to my hostel (which used to be an old court house). Phew!

As I was flying out of Cairo, I watched the continent of Africa slide beneath my window and it was going, going.... Gone. Just like that. That was my life for 9 1/2 months. Bye bye. And now I just sound a bit depressing. All I mean is, that, that whole experience, was BIG. And I was sad to be leaving it. However, I'm sure I'll get back to somewhere in Africa again.

But anyways, wah wah wah. I was in LONDON! And not Luton this time, but actual London. I had half the day to chill and then the next morning I headed up to Belfast to visit Jenny who left the trip in Nairobi.

I took a train to Chester and another to Holyhead, which is in Wales. Then I took a ferry across the Irish Sea to Dublin in Ireland. Then a transfer (in which I sat on the top of the double decker bus) then another train from Dublin to Belfast in Northern Ireland.




Here it goes

I'm sorry. Yes, this is a "mirror photo". But I had the top all to myself and the best way to illustrate that with me still in the picture was with this handy dandy mirror. At least I'm not making a duck face, doing a ridiculous pose or making the peace sign!:


And see that wee backpack and the hand bag? That's all I had with me. I have learned to travel light!


It sounds complicated, especially when I could have just gotten a flight (like I did on my way back) but it was a great way to see some English, Welsh, Irish and N. Irish country side. And, folks, they weren't lying. There ARE lots of fluffy sheep grazing on grassy rolling hills.

And some beautiful scenery.








I also saw a platform 31 and 3/4. An Irish Harry Potter?




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Dahab

So my trip didn't really end when I left Cairo. Or else I would be at home typing this. But I'm not.

You see, originally, the truck was supposed to go to Dahab, a town in East Sinai, but because of fighting and kidnappings, we couldn't pass through.




See just to the right of the center? Dahab! When I looked over the water, I could see Saudi Arabia.

But I really wanted to go to Dahab so after the trip ended, I went there on my own. I wasn't by myself for too long though. Sharlene, Steve, Kate and people from the other truck came eventually. But now I was not connected to any group or company, just me.

Dahab is known most for it's diving. The most famous is the Blue Hole, a hole 427 feet deep surrounded by coral and all sorts of marine life. It is the world's most dangerous dive site, not because it is particularly dangerous, well kinda, but the site has had more deaths than any other dive site in the world. And I went there for only my 6th dive! Hehehe :) But it was SPECTACULAR.

I also dived at a place called the lighthouse and saw an octopus (octopi?) dual. Two males were fighting over a female. The way they camouflaged was unreal. I also saw two turtles.

Another dive was the Canyon. I went deep into a crevice an earthquake made an explored that. Then I went above and played I the bubbles floating up from the ground from the divers below!

Dahab at twilight



I loved Dahab. I stayed at Bishbishi's, a great hotel with super friendly people. Dahab had a lovely walk along the water with nice places to get a drink or a bite to eat. And a yummy Thai place- although it was another place I had to say more goodbyes. I flew out to London after dinner. I didn't want to leave. But of all the places to leave to, London isn't doing to bad ;).



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Cairo

Now with no truck, we pulled up in a bus in front of our hotel in Cairo. Carrying all my luggage up to my room was a challenge but I did it in one go!

To give you an idea of the sorting that went on to make my stuff carry-able, here is a picture of my big packing day:



Scary!

But I got it down to this:



One big backpack, one little backpack and my hand bag. Not bad for ten months, eh?

Cairo is the biggest city in Africa with about 18 million people. It was interesting comparing it with how it, and it's people, were when I was there before and after the revolution.

I went to the sound and light show at the pyramids. The sphinx was the narrator!







The next day was my last full day with the group :'(. But it was good! We went to the Egyptian museum, had lunch at a perfume shop and went to the pyramids and the sphinx.




It's always surprising how close to the city they are.




The girls- walking like egyptians!









We had a goodbye dinner and party. Speeches were made, glasses were clinked, awards were even given. It was the Overlandee Awards! There was "Most Likely to Steal an African Child", "Best Overall Overlander", "Most Seat Hogging", "Most Inappropriate But Generally Enjoyed Touching"...




We ate at a Chinese restuant of all places.




The lovely award presenters



Kids, you're ALL winners!















Most Positive Overlander- Baby! (Me!)

That night, the goodbyes began. And they continued into the morning and then afternoon. I'm not going to get all emotional on you though, promise. Then, the next day on the 26th, I flew out of Cairo. THE END.










Just kidding! To be continued...


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