The Dead Sea (Jordan)

Well, we didn't plan on being at the Dead Sea today, but after taking an hour long cab ride for $40 to the Jordan-Palestine border crossing, we discovered that the border was closed early for Jewish holiday. So instead of going all the way back to Amman, we decided to go 20 mins down the road to Amman Beach on the Dead Sea. We purchased day passes to use the beach and facilities of a nice resort and made our way down to salty sea.











I am insisting on posting three photos of me floating in the Dead Sea, because I think if you have never been there, you simply would not believe how freakin' buoyant a person is in that water!!! I couldn't believe it when I first laid back for a float!

Keep in mind, in these photos, I am not supported by or sitting/standing on anything. The buoyancy is ridiculous. It actually makes it hard to "balance" in the water if you're in an upright position, because your entire body is trying to float to the surface, as though you're wearing water wings on all your limbs. You even notice the buoyancy when you are first walking into the water, because lifting your feet for each step is much easier, as the water pushes your feet towards the surface. It's undescribable. Also, I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but the water has a very oily, filmy quality to it.

Here I'm in about 20 ft of water.... not touching the bottom, and not kicking. Just floating. Shoulders above the surface. The only drawback to the Dead Sea is that if you get any of that water in your eyes or mouth, you will not be a happy camper. I intentionally placed just a droplet of it on my tongue, and it tasted like I had pure gasoline in my mouth. A few minutes later, a little bit splashed in my eyes, and it stung like a BITCH. I calmly and blindly started making my way back to the beach where there are hoses, but the friendly lifeguard intercepted me with a bottle of water and doused my eyes clear. Last but not least, I had a tiny little blister/sore on one of my cuticles, and the Dead Sea water stung like rubbing alcohol on the wound. But it was an amazing experience, and apparently the water has natural therapeutic and healing qualities to it!

I had a near-death experience today. There I was, casually strolling around the resort, just minding my own business, trying to take a couple of nice photos, when all of a sudden, I am under direct attack from the absolutely horrific monster bee pictured above. This thing was as big as a golf ball! I assure you I did nothing to provoke it. But alas, those who know me, know that I do not shy away from bees. And as always, I stood my ground against it, completely fearless to the potentially lethal impalement it could have inflincted upon me. Not today, bee.... not today.

Dusk at the resort where we were staying.

Sunset over the Dead Sea, with the mountains of Palestine in the background (and a few people still floating atop the water). Beautiful.

Beirut

We finally made it to Beirut and checked into our hotel after about an hour of driving around looking for it. Unbeknownst to us, the Ramada Hotel here is brand new. The grand opening was literally today.... so the driver didn't know where it was. He was nice, though, and with a little cooperation, we eventually found it and checked into our well-appointed hotel room.





A "RIDIC-U-MOSQUE" near our hotel in Beirut. This one is breathtaking. It's epic.



Yes indeed. It was delicious.

Just smoking in McDonald's. No big deal.

A view of part of the downtown Beirut seaside.

Sunset on the Mediterranean.

Looking down from our tenth-floor room at the entrance to our hotel. We happened to check in just in time for the grand opening of the Ramada, so there was a swanky party going on down there in celebration of the new hotel. A fireworks display ocurred, and the explosions were right in front of our balcony. There was debris from the fireworks hitting us as we stood there. Pretty cool.

Dom felt the urge to bust some dance moves in our hotel room. In this shot he is shaking his ass vigorously in my direction. I'm supposed to be on vacation right now :(

Palmyra

On our last day in Syria, we hired a driver to take us to the town of Palmyra, about 220 km east of Damascus. There they have ancient Greco-Roman ruins dating back to the first century A.D. and a few hundred years thereafter. Palmyra was an important trading post and crossroads for routes to many different Middle Eastern countries in ancient times.



The ruins at Palmyra.



Some fine Greco-Roman window frames.



Yeah guy.



This camel was all up in my grill. His breath stunk.


High above Palmyra, on the higest part of the Citadel. In the background is the desert. In the foreground is Dom debating whether or not to jump over that 4 ft gap. He ended up being a pussy and not doing it.



Looking out over the Syrian desert from the Citadel in Palmyra.

Which way would you go?? Just a short drive to Baghdad. We tried to offer our driver $20 extra to take us to the border, but he wouldn't do it. He did, however, think it would be a good idea to dump Dom out of the car somewhere in Iraq. I concurred.

Sunset over the desert highway in Syria. Next stop: the Lebanese border. We had our driver drop us off right at the border, and we walked across into Lebabnon to find a taxi to Beirut. I will definitely be returning to Syria. It is an amazing country and our time there was too short.

Damascus - Part II

The covered markets - or "Souks" - of Old Damascus. You can buy anything from fresh herbs and spices, nuts, jewelry and collectibles, to clothing, textiles, toys, and fresh fruit and veggies.



The exit from the covered market, featuring ancient Greco-Roman strucutres. Heading into the heart of Old Damascus.....



A random mosque in central Damascus. I simply love the domes and towers of the mosques. They're spectacular.



Just taking a little cat nap. Damascus was like stray cat central. They were everywhere. Dom wanted to adopt them all.




The courtyard inside the al-Ummayad mosque in Old Damascus. Definitely the largest and most beautiful mosque I have ever set foot in.... not that I have set foot in too many mosques... but still....



Inside the al-Ummayad mosque. Amazing.

OH YEAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!! SEXY!!!

The salad I prepared for our dinner, made from fresh produce purchased at the markets in Old Damascus earlier that day. I had toss that thing for a while, but that's okay, because I love to toss the salad.

Damascus - Part I

After a quick flight on the wonderful Egypt Air, we arrived in Damascus, Syria. The owner of our hostel sent a car to pick us up from the airport, and after we got dropped off at our hostel, he took us for a little tour of the surrounding area, to help us orientate ourselves. Our hostel accomodations were great. We actually were staying in our own one bedroom apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom, and a balcony that looked up at the mountain south of Damascus.



Kicking back for some light reading after a long day.



The view from our balcony of the mountain in southern Damascus (the name escapes me right now). There is a mosque near the top, which apparently is at the site where Cain, of Biblical notoriety, slaughtered his brother Abel. Or was it the other way around? But you get what I'm saying...

The mountain view by night... beautiful.

The al-Ummayad mosque in Old Damascus.

After wandering around Old Damascus for a while, Dom and I stopped at a local bar for some refreshments and a little game of backgammon. This was my first time playing the game, and Dom destroyed me. The bar we were at was located in the Christian quarter of Old Damascus, so they had BEEEEER!!!!! (The beer was awful though, and they put ice cubes in our mugs...)

Back in Cairo / Miscellaneous

Nick (left) and Nathan (right).... two "dodgy" Aussies that we did a lot of traveling with. Very cool guys. This photo was snapped after a late night out in Cairo, featuring many beers and much sheesha. They taught us about "putting in Gary" and we taught them about "slaughtering bitches".




Me and Haitham, the trusty owner of Canadian Hostel in Cairo. Super nice guy.... and a travel agent as well. He arranged all our tranportation and sightseeing in Egypt. Also, he's a big Celine Dion fan.



DomTron doing some sit-ups in his underwear at the hostel in Cairo. Why is he wearing his hat? Why does he do anything that he does????




The bustling streets of Cairo at about 1:30 in the morning. Post-Ramadan celebrations!!



Dom and our favourite shwarma guy from the Kazaz restaurant in Cairo. True, the shwarma may have wreaked havoc on our gastro-intestinal system, but it was worth it baby!!!

There is a spectacular view of KFC from the Pyramids at Giza.

Actual menu item: The McArabia

Luxor

Day 2 in Luxor. On the first day, we visited the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple, but unfortunately my camera died, so I have nothing photographic to show for it. They were spectacular, though. The Karnak Temple is the largest temple I have ever seen. Anyway, moving along, Day 2 featured a trip to the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, and The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.




The Valley of the Kings, containing many tombs of Pharaoh's and other peoples of nobility. Unfortunately, photography was prohibited inside the tombs. The tombs are nestled in a valley between majestic desert mountains -- the most prominent of which is pyramid shaped (shown above), hence the reason why the Egyptians chose the location. They really had a hard-on for pyramids.



The mountainside temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Not too much to see inside, but a cool site nonetheless.

This was one of the greatest sites I saw in all of Egypt. At first I thought that it must be some kind of World of Warcraft reference.... but alas, Wikipedia tells me that the Thistlegorm is a shipwreck in the Red Sea. Regardless, sweet shirt and sweet ass.

More from the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut... or as one Arab laughingly called her "Queen Hotchickensoup"

We stopped for a quick photo-op at these statues, located near the Valley of the Kings and Queens, but I do not recall the name of the site, nor its historical significance. I guess I wasn't taking my Ritalin that day.

"SHEUND".