Hiking in Egypt

July 6, 2012 By Jillian

Hiking in Egypt’s Sinai desert is more fun than you think. Surely desert hiking requires a bit of preparation, but the Bedoin’s have it down to a science. From small kiosks along the hiking route up Mt. Sinai to a bevy of guides willing to help you from town, they’ve perfected the art of hiking with ease.

Mount Sinai (2285m ) is the most famous and probably most sacred mountain in Egypt. Pilgrims from all over the world converge on the mountain, usually late at night to be on the summit for sunrise. We chose to do the exact opposite, and hike up to the summit for sunset. It turned out to be fantastic, as the sunset reflected on the rocks was a sight to be seen. Read more about our hike up Mt. Sinai.

While we made it up on our own two feet, there are plenty of people who make it to the top and are too tired to come down. Hence this guy trekking up on a camel. Huts along the path provide every kind of nourishment and comfort you can imagine, but still some find the path too difficult to navigate and the Bedoin’s are more than happy to provide transportation up or back.

HIKING IN EGYPT

IF YOU GO: Hiking in Egypt does require a bit of pre-planning, even with the bevy of help from the local Bedoin’s. It is still a desert, so sun protection is a must, as is adequate water. You can imagine how expensive a bottle of water can be at the top of a mountain in the desert. In addition to hiking Mt. Sinai, you can also climb Mt. Catherine (also leaves from St. Catherine), Egypt’s tallest mountain. St. Catherine is easily accessible if you travel to Sharm el Sheikh first, as there are tour buses that leave every day. From Cairo, you will likely have to change transportation in Dahab although there are a few buses direct to St. Catherine every day. We have an independent traveler’s guide to Egypt that you might find valuable if you’re traveling in the area.

Exploring Goreme and Capadoccia

June 27, 2012 By Jillian

Goreme is probably best known as the city from where to explore Capadoccia’s famous rock formations, but there’s actually a lot more to see in and around Goreme than just interesting rock formations. After reading this post, it may be time to look for some last minute flights and go for a long weekend.

The rock is the most unique aspect of the region. Hardened lava, the rock is relatively easy to carve and became the most popular building material in the region. Instead of building up, the local people built in and down. That’s right; they dug into the rock to create expansive cities, monasteries and churches. Monolithic buildings (made from one rock, also called rock hewn) are rather unusual in the world, and there are only a handful of examples of ancient monolithic architecture. We were fortunate enough to see monolithic churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia and in Goreme, Turkey and the city of Petra in Jordan.

The rock hewn churches in Goreme are unique mostly because of the incredible painting and decoration that remains on their walls. They are considered to be some of the best examples of post-iconoclastic Byzantine painting in the world. More than 1,000 churches have been found in the area, some with complete Byzantine wall-paintings, while others, even after restoration are still severely chipped, showing signs of older paintings underneath.

If you go to Goreme:

Take a trip out to see the rock formations or better yet take an air balloon ride at dawn. Then head out to see the underground cities (you can rent a car relatively inexpensively in Goreme or take a tour). The Goreme Open Air Museum, where most of the churches are congregated is a short walk from town. We rented mountain bikes in Goreme and took to the foot paths and canyons in the area, eventually having to hike our bikes out of the canyon in an unpleasant uphill scramble.

The Best Restaurants in Oman

April 20, 2011 By Guest Blogger

If you’re visiting Oman, you’ll have the chance to try a few unusual cuisines. While typical fare is undefined here, the food is influenced by Turkish, Lebanese, Arabic, and Indian styles. Omani’s tend to eat a lot of traditional seafood dishes, as well as curries, Khubz (Omani bread), Porotta and many homemade sweets.

The best restaurants in Oman are in the capital of Muscat. For a great taste of The Middle East, stop in at Al Tanoor, which is located in the elegant Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa. The restaurant offers “characteristic cuisines of the Arabian Gulf region”, which are served up in a fun and traditional Omani atmosphere. Main dishes include Iranian Maahi (fish) Kebab, and a Lebanese Dijaj Mashwi (spicy barbecued chicken) garnished with a garlicky Harra Sauce.

For Indian influence, Mumtaz Mahalhas excellent specialties. Not only that, but it sits upon a hilltop in lovely Qurum Park, with views out over the sea. This restaurant hasa Northern Indian, or Moghul style of cooking, which definitely sets it apart from the other Indian digs in town. There is a good selection of spicy and delicious chicken dishes, such as Murg Angaarey (spicy chicken cuts cooked in garlic) and Chennai Murg Masala (dry chicken spiced with coconut, curry leaves, and pepper). For dessert they serve homemade ice cream, and a variety of Indian sweets.

Next to Albahja Mall, Turkish Palace serves Muscat’s best authentic Turkish cuisine. While the setting isn’t meant for ambiance, the food here certainly compensates for the unimpressive décor. Start your meal with the Greek Salad, which is loaded with feta cheese, and then proceed to one of the more substantial main courses. The Turkish family who owns the places makes a variety of mouth-watering Shawrma, as well as seafood, kebabs, Tikka, hummus and fresh Baba Ghanouj.

Perhaps Oman’s most popular spot is the renowned Al Marjan, which more than once has won the award for Best Restaurant in Muscat. This famous place is located within the Al Bustan Palace Intercontinental Hotel. With its ambiance and sweeping views of the beautiful Al Bustan Bay, this place will have you in its grasp the moment you step through the door. The menu, however, is what keeps people coming back for more. Branding itself as a restaurant of modern European cuisine, Al Marjan offers a selection of Western delicacies. Recommended is the Pan Seared Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras, Carrot and Celeriac Puree, and for dessert a slice of the delightful Chocolate and Raspberry Truffle Cake.

[Editors Note: These all sound delicious! I can imagine the amazing Foodie Friday’s that would come from a visit to Oman!]

Author: Bradley Fink is a UK based travel writer.

Thanks to Bradley for today’s guest post. If you’re interested in guest posting with IShouldLogOff, email us at info [at] ishouldlogoff.com. Thanks!

Budget Report: The Silk Road

October 18, 2010 By Danny

The fabled silk road. We completed Istanbul to China, our last great overland adventure of this trip. Traveling our modified silk road proved to be far more expensive than we thought it would be. Visas ate up a huge amount of our budget (about $10/day between us), but there’s really no way around that. Turkey was every bit as expensive as any place we ever went in Europe. Add to that the transportation challenges we faced and these rather cheap countries ended up being quite expensive. To see our spending for the entire trip visit our RTW budget page or if you’re interested in finding out how to save and budget for a trip around the world, check out our other finance pages.

Country	Days	Food	Lodging	Activity	Trans	Misc*	Daily Avg
MEX & C. AMR.	111	$17.76	$10.33	$23.31	$20.50	$9.96	$79.25
SOUTH AMERICA	135	$15.68	$10.21	$19.71	$31.73	$9.42	$86.75
AFRICA & LEVANT	174	$16.44	$12.09	$39.90	$36.35	$19.84	$124.63
EUROPE	32	$21.93	$6.26	$11.94	$40.22	$9.54	$90.01
Silk Road	50	$16.46	$17.96	$19.50	$29.01	$19.40	$102.33
Turkey	23	$19.22	$16.11	$35.97	$23.95	$7.83	$103.09
Georgia	9	$13.94	$28.56	$5.71	$10.00	$17.77	$75.98
Armenia	5	$13.59	$14.73	$5.97	$7.01	$5.68	$46.98
Uzbekistan	8	$7.19	$16.25	$5.76	$16.97	$53.59	$99.75
Kazakhstan	5	$25.95	$13.30	$4.07	$30.31	$29.43	$103.06

TURKEY: Despite the high price Turkey comes with, we allowed ourselves to have a very nice time there. Springing for a small cruise drove our activity budget up but helped to bring everything else down as the tour was all inclusive. Overnight buses were expensive for transportation but those, combined with couchsurfing in both Istanbul and Trabzon helped to keep lodging down. Actually, hostels in many parts of Turkey were over $30 for the two of us, more than many places in Europe, and we spent most nights in dorm rooms.

GEORGIA and ARMENIA: Both of these countries are quite cheap and represent a great value while traveling there. The biggest difference between the two with regard to our budget was that we were able to couchsurf while in Yerevan, Armenia and didn’t buy the same amount of Soviet era souvenirs in Armenia (Misc. Budget) that we purchased in Georgia. Both countries use alternative (read: cheap and dangerous) fuels for cars meaning that transportation is surprisingly cheap and spending time hiking is always easy on the budget. Our biggest expense in the whole region was our lodging in Tbilisi, Georgia.

UZBEKISTAN: The country itself is one of the cheapest we’ve been to. There were always just enough choices for lodging to keep prices below the $20 mark for a night and food and transportation were both quite inexpensive. The obvious big budget item were our visas, costing us nearly $200 each. Had we stayed a couple of days longer and moved a touch slower our numbers here would look quite different but as it was we didn’t move particularly fast. We’d been told by several people that a week would be plenty of time to see the sights and that was quite accurate. Spending additional time in the countryside with locals is difficult on account of government restrictions.

KAZAKHSTAN: The home of Borat is not so poor after all. There is a natural resources bonanza taking this country by storm and many of its cities are quite pricey. That being said, we really only used Kazakhstan as a transit country for getting into and out of Uzbekistan and our lack of lingering pushed our cost per day up quite a bit. With two overnight trains and one night couchsurfing, we only paid to sleep 2 of our 5 nights, but this meant our transport was quite expensive. Food was the big shocker here, but like I said, it’s not such a cheap place. The multi-entry visa cost us $60 each, plus shipping fees, accounted nearly all of our miscellaneous spending for the country.

NOTE: Our flight over the Caspian Sea, from Armenia to Kazakhstan, are not applied to any single country, instead that cost is only included in the transportation totals for the Silk Road leg of the trip.

Foodie Friday: Drinking Yogurt Milk

September 24, 2010 By Danny

The first time I tried the stuff was a few weeks before we landed in Turkey. We were going to a Persian restaurant in Florida with some friends and the waiter suggested we try some of the Iranian doogh, flavored with mint, on the house. The cup that was poured for three of us try ultimately made it around the table of 12 with no one willing to try more than a sip.

Then we got to Turkey, managed to couchsurf in Istanbul, and it was served again and again and again. Down the hatch it went each time. I grew to like the stuff, Jillian, not so much.

The Turkish version, ayran, is the word you might have heard of before. All over Turkey it was served to us with meaty dishes. On its own, I still think the stuff is aweful, but with a nice plate of spicy kebab it is a perfect match. It is served on menus basically anywhere the Ottoman Empire went and according to some sources, McDonald’s even includes it on its standard menu in the region.

The beverage is a simple mix of yogurt, water, and usually a bit of salt. Then it might be flavored with a variety of other things such as minced cucumber, chopped mint leaves or even garlic. Often it is served out of a pitcher but it is so popular that it comes bottled in the store alongside cans of coca-cola. Sometimes it is even foamy to help you with your stylish milk mustache.

We drank it for the last time for sometime to come (the next likely chance will be the Indian version called lassi) while in Yerevan as we ate more traditional food than we could shake a stick at. Our Couchsurfing hosts made sure we had a chance to try everything imaginable and this included the local style of aryan, called tahn, with cucumber mixed inside. The flavors in the meat dishes that went along with the drink were strong and spicy and my aryan went down without a problem…Jillian however, opted for the juice.

If you try it, take a bite of your meat first, then start to drink the ayran…it is a bit of an acquired taste.