28. July 2001 11:11
by Rene Pallesen
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28. July 2001 10:52
by Rene Pallesen
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I initially made plans to explore Burma and then make my way across the border into western China at Burma's only border crossing up north. I had not made any definite plans wanted to play it by ear... but in the end my trip consisted of Thailand, Cambodia and restricted areas to Burma.
I was away for a total of 5 weeks and must admit that parts of my trip really frustrated me - there were many restrictions in Burma and being in Bangkok at times stressed me because of all the tourists and crowds. I really only went to Cambodia to see the magnificent Angkor Wat - actually I really did enjoy being there. I think my most enjoyable part of the trip was the days I had climbing on the secluded areas of Krabi.
28. July 2001 10:51
by Rene Pallesen
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28. July 2001 10:50
by Rene Pallesen
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Whilst I was up north, I watched a rather interesting game of volleyball.
I have never seen such dexterity and agility amongst the players!
It was amazing to see how flexible these guys were.
28. July 2001 10:50
by Rene Pallesen
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There is a monastry on Mt Popa - a hill located 50km away from Bagan.
When I was there, it was a cloudy day.
I ran into a woman selling petrified wood - quite silly really, considering the place was covered with it.
They must think tourists are stupid! *laugh* I managed to pick up a couple of small pieces to take back with me.
As you can see, there are stacks of them around.
And no... this is not a tombstone.
This is actually a road sign.
You would be surprised how big some of these pieces are - this piece below was actually about a metre long and 40cm wide.
Actually what I found interesting were the toilets in Burma.
My girlfriend tells me that squatting over a toilet is quite common in Asia.
In many of the city areas, they would have toilets as we know them, and they would also have a carved hole in the ground, on which either side, one places their feet on.
Toilets in the rural area are more crude than that - a hole leading into a gaping pit.
However, what I found interesting about these toilets were that recycled running water was used to wash away any excrement. The water is first used for washing one self and then used in the toilets.
As there were a few toilet cubicles a row, sometimes you would see the excrement from a toilet uphill go beneath you! *laugh*
Very clever and environmental system, I think!
Trying to grab a snooze... *smile*
Like Schweddagon, most of this is real gold as well.
And yes, there is a monkey sitting near my head.
If you click to the next page, you will see that I have taken a series of photos of the monkeys.
28. July 2001 10:49
by Rene Pallesen
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I saw the most interesting puppet show, known as the “Mandalay Marionettes”
There were 2 or 3 puppeteers out the front, with a live band of musicians.
Unfortunately, it was more of a show for the tourists, rather than the locals.
It cost 1,000 chats or US$2 per show.
28. July 2001 10:49
by Rene Pallesen
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I decided take a 20-hour train-ride to Myitkyinã *laugh* it took 20-hours to get there by train because there was only one track.
It was definitely faster to run next to the train than to travel in it!
We had to wait for the oncoming train to return before we could travel north.
At one point, we crossed a bridge that was so rickety that I thought it would collapse any moment!
Locals working in the rice fields.
Locals using water-buffaloes to plough rice fields.
The train travelled along the Jrrawaddy River.
It would have been nice if I was able to travel to Mandalay via a riverboat down the Jrrawaddy River.
It was amazing to find out that people live “on” these lakes, by building houses on stilts.
This sort of housing is quite common in many parts of Asia, especially areas where monsoons quite frequently flood an area.
It is also very environmentally-sound, I think, and hurts the land less.
Most of the houses are made of wood.
Myitkyinã is pretty dismal in rain!
There is a huge drug problem in Burma, especially through the crossings into China.
I have scanned a copy of a recent newspaper article about this problem in Burma.
28. July 2001 10:48
by Rene Pallesen
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When I initially arrived in Yangon / Rangoon, I wanted to fly up Bhamo - one of the bigger towns north of Burma. I also considered exploring Myitkyinã - a town further north of Bhamo.
My Lonely Planet guide indicated that the only border crossing into China was to the east of Bhamo. My initial plans to Burma also included exploration of western China. However, I was disappointed by the military turning me back, despite the fact that my Lonely Planet guide said I could cross into China at Ruili.
I decided instead to fly to Mandalay, not only because it was cheap to do so, but it saved me a 20-hour bus ride there from Yangon.
I heard about a song for sailors.
“To be a real sailor, the sailor would have to have been to Mandalay way upriver”
I quite liked Mandalay.
The photo below, is of Mandalay Hill.
During World War II (20 March 1945), the British and the Japanese fought one another to gain control of the position on this hill.
The photo to the left is taken from the hill itself facing east - as you can see, it has an aerial view of the whole city, and puts any oncoming enemies at a disadvantage. Control of Mandalay was important during the war, as the soldiers were able to set up artillery and attack anyone approaching the fortress.
This hill was of big strategic importance.
The building you see near the shrine is a monument to the British regiment who managed to take control of this hill from the Japanese.
At the eastern part of the delta, a lot of logging takes place. There was a train line built that used to cart all the trees/wood for export to Thailand.
The moat around the fortress is man-made.
Although man-made, comes from the local river.
The original fortress was burnt to the ground.
The whole fortress covered an area of 2.5 x 2.5 km
The design of Mandalay was quite colonial, and surprisingly, most of the streets were at 90º to one another.
Overall, I found Mandalay the most expensive city to travel to in Burma.
No matter what one does in Mandalay, be it explore Mandalay Hill or the city itself, the locals always had “special” foreigner prices. It really annoyed me.
I tried to use local currency as much as possible. However, FEC (Foreign Exchange Currency) was more valuable and worth more to the locals. FEC is also used in China, and one tries to use local currency as much as possible. Any item you buy has 2 prices - and obviously it is cheaper to use local currency than to use FEC.
I must admit, even Mandalay Hill was not that nice for the price I paid to explore it. It was also expensive just to go into the fortress.
Surprisingly, I could not find maps of the area that was not more that 40 years old.
28. July 2001 10:47
by Rene Pallesen
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Our first sightseeing trip after arriving in Egypt
was the Citadel and the Mohammed Ali Mosque. The Citadel was once
the home of the royal family until 1870, then the military took over
this joint until the 1970s. It is still used occasionally by the military
but mostly opened to visitors although certain sections are closed
off to them.
Neither did our guide tell us much about the Citadel,
nor give us the opportunity to explore. So most of the photos here
are of the Mohammed Ali Mosque sitting on the Citadel.
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The mosque is famous for its alabaster corridors,
columns and floors. Alabaster is a cheaper form of marble that seems
to be slightly more porous and does not have the smoothness or coolness
of normal marble.
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Adam, our guide sat everyone down in one corner of
the mosque like school kids, and gave everyone some sort of history
lesson about Islam and marriage.
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The interior of the mosque was magnificent, with globes
of light hanging in multiple rings from the ceiling. In the far right
corner, there is a gilded green and gold staircase that leads to some
sort of pulpit.
Local women were allowed into this mosque, but clad from head to foot.
Female tourists were provided with a green abaayas if they
were sleeveless or wearing shorts.
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During Adam's chat about Islam and its history, René
asked for more information about the Citadel, and was rudely scolded
for not listening.
Adam did not give any more information about the Citadel for the rest
of the trip...
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Left: In another corner of the mosque was an
enclosure containing the marble sarcophagi and burial place of the
mosque's namesake - Mohammed Ali.
Right: The ceiling was also quite beautiful, but I could not
use the camera flash and it was a little dark. In each "corner"
of the dome were large arabic inscriptions in gold
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Cairo has a brown haze over the city. The buildings
are made of mud bricks.
Dirty-white and grey are the only other colours one can see.
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Apparently there is a number 7 written above one of
the doors of the Citadel. History says Napoleon and his troops numbered
each of the entrances around the Citadel as he could not understand
the local language.
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14. November 2004 12:53
by Rene Pallesen
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Khefren, Khafre's son, did not
seem to have the same desire to outbuild his father.
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His pyramid is not as tall as Khafre's
pyramid, but looks so because it stands on higher ground. |
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Each of these blocks of granite came
to about shoulder height on the average man
- they were about one cubic metre each in size. |
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The few people who tried to climb up
the pyramid were called down by security guards patrolling the area.
We noticed the granite blocks further up the pyramid seemed smaller.
The quality of the workmanship worsened as the pyramids neared completion
and smaller blocks were used. |
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Just imagine - these pyramids would
have once glinted in the sunlight like diamonds in the desert. Kefren's
pyramid was once covered with a smooth and shiny layer of limestone.
Unfortunately, most of the limestone has been stripped off, used in
mosques and palaces. Only a small portion remains at the tip of Khefren's
pyramid. |
14. November 2004 12:45
by Rene Pallesen
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We did not have a lot of opportunities to explore
the city of Cairo. Our hotel was located on the other side of the
Nile from downtown Cairo, so there was not a lot happening.
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In Cairo, we noticed a lot of large carcasses hanging
along the streets outside the butcher shops. Most of the shops and
restaurants were closed due to Ramadan, but Sunday heralded the last
day of Ramadan, so many were preparing for the final feast.
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We tried in vain to find a restaurant for the family
to eat dinner, but no such luck. However, we did try to stop for some
beers at a small café along the Nile - no beers because it
was still Ramadan till that night, so we settled for some softdrink
and hot potato chips.
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The city of Cairo looks hazy and grey, with all the
buildings a muddy colour.
It was nice to sit by the Nile.
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The view from our Hotel Pyramisa at sundown.
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14. November 2004 11:13
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Bedstemor's 85 års fødselsdag
( 13 - 20 Nov 2004 ) |
Oversættelse Freddy Pallesen
© 2004 |
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Det gamle Ægyptens historier og legender
har længe markeret sig gennem film som "Kleopatra",
"Mumien" og begejstret os kvinder med Omar Sharifs optræden
i "Lawrence of Arabia" og "Doctor Zhivago og senere i
tegnefilm som "The Prince of Egypt". Der er en vis mystik
omkring mellemøsten skildret for os i en meget ung alder, når
vi hørte godnathistorier som "Ali Baba og de 40 røvere"
eller "Sinbad Søfareren" - de fleste af os har en drøm
om at se pyramiderne.
Jeg var meget heldig at få muligheden
for 20 år siden sammen med mine forældre at komme til Ægypten,
men som 10 årig er der ikke så meget et barn kan huske.
Men dette år samles Familien Pallesen igen engang for "Matriarkens"
85 års fødselsdag. Det er tradition for familien at samles
og rejse til et eksotisk land - tidligere har det været Tunesien,
Marokko, Tyrkiet og Gambia - og nu for Bedstemors ønske om at
se Ægyptens pyramider, som hendes mand så for 50 år
siden.
Bedstemors tre børn, seks børnebørn
(Nikolai kunne ikke komme med), fire oldebørn og respektive ægtefæller,
alle tog sammen til det magiske Ægypten. Det er efterår
med varme dage og kølige nætter - en kontrast til den kommende
vinter i Danmark.
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Lørdag 13. November 2004
Afrejse til Ægypten
Vores familie måtte af sted kl. 3.30
for at nå flyet kl. 6.55; 4½ time senere ankom vi til Cairo
lufthavn. Jeg har en svag hukommelse om en meget varm lufthavn med komplet
kaos, med mennesker, der skubber for at få deres kufferter igennem,
råbende gennem en masse larm. Nu fandt vi en næsten ren
og ikke tætpakket lufthavn.Vi mødte AP-Travels repræsentant,
som tog os til Hotel Pyramissa, hvor vi tilsyneladende blev glemt i
Pianobaren, til en af os fik den lyse ide, at bede om vores værelsesnøgler.
Vores familie deltes om en toværelses
suite med et stort fællesrum. Vores første eftermiddag
blev brugt til en spadseretur rundt i kvarteret for evt. at finde et
sted for familien at spise. Vores hotel lå på den anden
side af floden i forhold til centrum, så der var ikke meget at
se på sammen med, at mange butikker var lukket p.g.a. Ramadanen,
den Islamiske fasteperiode fra daggry til solnedgang. Søndag
var sidste dag i Ramadanen, så mange var i gang med at forberede
den sidste faste.
Sluttelig spiste familien til aften i hotellets
"Orientel" restaurant i Ægyptisk stil. Vi regnede med
at få ordentlig Ægyptisk mad, men blev skuffede over at
få lunkent mad. Risen var meget tør, lammekødet
var meget småt og maden var en blandet fornøjelse. Til
vores overraskelse, efter vores kommentarer, fik vi serveret ekstra
tallerkner med lokal Ægyptisk frugt så som friske dadler
og duava. Til vores morskab smagte alle Ægyptiske vine ens, uanset
mærke. Der var masser af Ægyptisk øl og selvfølgelig
levede danskerne op til deres drikkeevner og Bedstemor gav maden til
alle.
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Søndag 14. november 2004
Første nat sov vi ikke så
godt - at sove i en fremmed seng kombineret med koranbøn fra
en nærliggende moske gav os ikke ligefrem en fredfyldt søvn.
Imidlertid var vi alle tidlig oppe for at mødes i Bedstemors
værelse for at overraske hende med danske fødselsdagssange
til flimmer med danske flag og små gaver. Denne familie overrasker
fødselaren og alle synger unisont denne meget søde fødselsdagssang.
Citadellet Muhammad Ali Moskeen
 Vores
første besøg gjaldt Citadellet. Det er byens fort og husede
engang den kongelige familie og skønt det meste af komplekset
er åben for besøgende, besidder militæret stadig
en del, som er lukket område. Det tager en halv dag at komme gennem
hele Citadellet, hvilket vi ikke havde mulighed for. I stedet tilbragte
vi vores tid i Muhammed Ali moskeen.
<== Der er en fantastisk panorama over
byen fra den Vestlige terrasse - fantastisk at Cairo ikke et bygget
af ens mudderfarvede stenbygninger. Det mest bemærkelsesværdige
ved Cairo er imidlertid mangelen på farver og farverne stemmer
overens med ørkenens farver.
 Vores
guide Adam/Mohammed gav os en ringe indsigt i funktionen eller historien
af Citadellet, og i stedet pladserede gruppen i hjørnet i hjørnet
af Muhammed Ali moskeen som en gruppe skolebørn, og gav en lektion
om Islamisk lov og sædvane.
Da René vovede sig til at spørge
om mere om Citadellet, blev han skældt ud for at afbryde og fik
besked på at lytte. Vi fik aldrig muligheden for at finde 7-tallet
Napoleons tropper hade malet over port for at undgå de uvante
arabiske navne, eller det halvrunde tårn, da vores guide simpelthen
ikke vidste, hvor de var.
I den tid havde jeg muligheden for at spadsere
lidt for mig selv og gå i moskeens skønne alabaster arkader.
Den himmelhvælvede centrale bederum var et glimmer af hundrede
af lys, der hang i koncentriske cirkler. På loftet var der arabiske
inskriptioner i guld. Kvinder skulle være anstændig klædt
og kunne ikke bære ærmeløse trøjer eller korte
shorts eller skørter. I et hjørne af rummet lå sarkofaget
med Muhhamed Ali - grundlægger af moskeen og Albanisk handelsmand,
grundlægger af dynastiet, som herskede til revolutionen i 1952.
Cairo Ægyptisk Museet
Jeg
huske turen rundt i dette mus |