log off and live!
Prague is certainly a magical city but I never expected to hear sea shanty’s in its streets. Sometimes you wander upon the most unexpected things on your journey. We wandered upon a sea shanty concert in downtown prague. Complete with eye patches and bandanas, the groups looked the part and sounded great. I wish we had video taped the concert so you could hear sea shanty’s in Czech and English.
We coughed up some cash to do probably one of the most touristy things in Aswan, Egypt- to see the Philae Temple at night. Although the laser show was cheesy, the temple was breathtaking. And to think it should be underwater. The building of the high dam flooded a good portion of lower Egypt to create Lake Nasser. Several ruins and archaeological sites in Lower Egypt were moved literally piece by piece by UNESCO teams to save them from the fate of Atlantis. The Island of Philae and Temple of Isis are just one of the nearly forty sites relocated throughout Egypt. Although it had partially been underwater during high water since the first Aswan dam was built in the early 20th Century, the temple complex is still in amazing condition.
We took this picture of the “holy of holies” in the main Temple of Isis after the rest of the tour had left.
The twentieth century was a difficult time in Eastern Europe. Besides political repression and difficult economic times, many people suffered as victims under rutheless regimes. Hungary, like its neighbors, was no different. Along the Danube in Budapest is a memorial to the victims of the Arrow Cross regime. Mostly jewish, the victims often dissapeared in the night and were execute on the banks of the Danube. This was one of the most understated and poignant memorials I’ve ever seen.
Hiking through the hills around Banos, Ecuador we heard a noise above us. Two kids hanging out in the trees giggled and hid from us as we looked up. They were minding a herd of sheep along the path. Waving and chatting with them, the kids turned shy and refused to engage us in conversation. Turning to continue our hike, we heard the landing of a berries on the path. As we looked back the kids waved at us, smiling micheviously from their perch. On our return back down the mountain they chatted with us a little more and thankfully we were spared from their berry artillery.
The Beitbridge border between South Africa and Zimbabwe is one of the busiest in the world. Due to the huge influx of refugees from Zimbabwe, the South African government has set up, with the help of several multi-national aid organizations, a refugee camp near the border. Waiting for the rest of our bus to be processed by South African immigration, I headed to the ladies room. Opening the stall door I couldn’t believe my eyes at seeing this sign. Disbelieve turned into horror when I contemplated how dire the economic situation must have been for people to use zimbabwean currency as toilet paper.
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