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05.09.07 - singapore
it’s been already a month since we celebrated the swiss national day together with brö’s working mates. we started with raclette and cheese fondue under the palmtrees next to the swimmingpool (after an obligational tropical cloudburst of course) and enjoyed cool tiger beer with an original cervelat sausage from the swiss butcher! we settled (for the first time since four years for more than 1 month in a row!) in a four-bedroom-flat on the 17th floor. we are very well equipped: view over the chinese garden and the metro station, five airconditionings, internet, tv, music sound system, washing machine, blender, the kitchen starter-set of ikea and an excessively filled fridge. nothing is missing - no wonder, as shopping is the favorite hobby of the singaporeans - and as always, we do as the locals do ;-). apart from that, patrizia is busy managing the household and looking after brö when he comes back from work. housekeeping, working, going out, sightseeing and relaxing. travellers life? not really, but for once it’s something different. okay lah, dear friends, hear you soon again.
15.07.07 - dahab (egypt)
before cycling down to the red sea we decided to sidestep into the desert. we roamed through the fascinating desert landscape of wadi rum with a guided jeep and by camel. we spent the nights under the open sky and counted the shooting stars which dropped from the magnificent firmament. it was simply gorgeous! next, we buzzed down to aqaba, but the jordan port town didn’t knock us down. impulsively, we decided to catch the ferry heading into egypt. we’ve been spending already a week in the totally relaxed town of dahab, and we enjoy it so much here. leisuring in the huge cosy cushions, diving and snorkelling, marvelling at the amazing underwater world with all the coloured fishes, of which some landed on our plates for dinner ;-) in one of the pretty restaurants along the seashore. the obligational shisha (waterpipe) and the cool stella beer could not be missing. what can one desire more than that? it’s just superb! it’s still tremendously hot here and we buried our idea to cycle through oman ("the state of desert") into the glowing sand. we’ve got a better idea...
more about the stopover singapore...29.06.07 - petra (jordan)
gosh, it’s unimaginably hot here! since we’ve crossed the border to jordan the temperatures are rising constantly and hover meanwhile between fourty and fifty degrees celsius - and there’s hardly an area protected from the powerful sunlight :-P the kingsroad is winding through a high level plateau of the dry but wonderful landscape of jordan. even if the head wind is hot, we appreciate the slight "cooling". "high level plateau" doesn’t necessarily mean that the road is even... here it’s like being on a roller coaster and we feel like bathed in sweat. on the other hand, to splash in the dead sea was very reposing - it was fun gliding with smoothly flowing movements while reading the newspaper! currently we are in petra and it’s absolutely stunning here. the pink ancient city built by the nabataeans is enchanting and we can’t stop wandering around through narrow gorges, climbing up the surrounding hills and the two thousand old steps cut into the sandstone. we often meet bedouins on our way - drinking tea with them it’s repeatedly a remarkable experience. now, we long for "refreshing" water, and hope to find it at the red sea. hopefully we won’t just float on the surface but also have the chance to dive into the world under water.
29.05.07 - damascus (syria)
"welcome to syria!", that’s the sentence we hear here nonstop, together with continually wild waving and an invitaiton to have some tea. if we wanted to stop for every invitation we would certainly still be at the first town after the border. meanwhile, we cycled through half of syria (unluckily with a broken rim...) and have reached the "jewel of the orient" - damascus. this marvelous city has totally enchanted our senses from the very first beginning. we like it so much here that we may stay longer than expected. the people here are incredibly cordial and helpful, apart from the disrespectful motorized drivers, we feel very welcome. we even get slowly used to the great heat. though, patrizia almost melts away while wearing the robe as outer covering which is compulsory (for female tourists) if one wants to visit a mosque. but luckily we find fruit juice seller all over the city - how refeshing! what else? we stroll through the streets of the city which are filled with life, paff some tasty apple-shisha (waterpipe), drink some aromatic cardamom-flavored coffee and watch inexhaustibly the colorful arabic bustle. we are enjoying ourselves very much!
07.05.07 - sanliurfa (turkey)
turkey was absolutely fantastic! we enjoyed our journey in this country a lot and we are very happy that this managed to arouse again our desire to travel, which somehow was not the case in greece. after starting in istanbul, we’ve been heading south, traversing western anatolia. away from the touristic places, we experienced daily the openheartedness of the locals. even if we didn’t speak their language, with hands and feets and a friendly smile, we always understood each other while slurping a luscious çay (turkish tea). we reached antalya after cycling along the coast - still it was too chilly to swim but at least we could inaugurate our sandals. next stop was cappadocia which was absolutely great and really worthwile. now we are in sanliurfa where the life has already an unmistakable arabic vibe. from here it’s only a few kilometers to the border - tomorrow we’ll have to say good bye to turkey, with all the charming habitants. "as salam alaikum, syria" - we are coming! p.s.: thanks to the hard-working brownies at home and to the highly "efficient" post delivery of turkey, our equipment is almost back to "normal" - cool! :-)
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