sweeti's's profileSweeti's spacePhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
|
June 07 Toy TrainAs a good friend of mine is traveling to Ooty and staying there for a well deserved holiday,i became very interested in the train he talks abt.
( we all need some relaxing time we cant go on working like there is nothing else on this world , do we??) ,
so as u all know India is the train country of the world.. But this beauty is something else They Call it the Toy Train.
It takes 4,5 hrs to cover the 46 km to Udhagamandalam. At this moment there are still 5 stations. So u have an idea...Its not a HST (High speed train) lol.
But the view during the trip is one of a kind. ( as i am told Nature at his best) I hope that when i visit India ( hope soon)that i can buy a ticket to ride with the tsjoek tsjoek train.
I was counting hmmmm when i run i can pass the train???? Yes???  October 23 End of the tripVisit to the dam of Aswan It supports the Electricity for the country.There is a lot of security. Imagine a bomb blast . Whole Egypt would drown the surface for agriculture grew same time.behind the dam. The land aside the nile is very fertile. Green land and when u watch a bit further u see the yellow colour of the desert. Next stop a granite mine with the 42 meter long unfinished obelisk This one was left behind coz of a crack. Then a visit to the temple of Filae domain of the goddess Isis. Tx to Unesco we can admire this beautiful complex. Special thing is that the temple had been moved 150 meter tot the island Aegilka . In the afternoon we sailed with a feloek to an island Ont the way to it we saw a lot of birds. Ohh i forgot We visit also the Nubiers they live in a special way.they are as dark as negros but the face is very european …handsome ppl and awesome beautiful kids. Pic on earlier entry And the camels are walking freely there ..u have to watch out for ur Shoes…(shit)
Abu Simbel Wake up call 3.15 ...Quick shower and a cup of tea. Into to bus for a 2,5 hrs ride. Our Guide Amir was super Coz of him ( the early wake up) we could see the Abu Simbel without any tourist. Tx to Unesco these temples are saved from the flood coz of the dam construction. Stone by Stone it was taken to the top of the rock In which the temples were replaced. The entrance is guarded by 4 enormous statues which representing Ramses II With the lil temple of Hathor on the right site. The negative was that we could not take pics inside. Its same as in museum in Cairo. NO PICS allowed.
And Thursday 16 i had my birthday there on the Nile cruiser. After dinner.the employes stood together in front of the counter and made crazy music and sang And then the manager came to my table and i had to dance with him in front of the whole restaurant..After the Happy Birthday song, cake time..yahoooooooooo. So this time it was not the traditional birthday but one with a special fragrance. Sunday morning back to Cairo and Brussels.  October 22 To Luxor and on the river NileOne hour flight from CAiro to Luxor. The m/s Al Nabilatan cruise boat was waiting for us. The cabins were same as in a hotel. Nice beds TV ( why they have tv in the room ?? Its National Geographic outside on the deck 24 hrs) and a bathroom Not that big but comfortable. The visits Thebe the World of the death .We visited the kings and queens valley .Even now workers are there checking the sand and stones for more hidden treasures. The most remarkable monument of the Egyptian architecture is the temple of Queen Hatsjepoetin in Deir El Bahari..complete chopped out of the mountain.Can u imagine ? The temple is dedicated to Hathor the goddess of joy and love. Impressive a joy for the eye. Colossuses of Memnon presenting King Amenofis III aside his biggest deadtemple.
Tired but fullfilled we enjoyed our lunch. Eventough Egypt is Muslim country we enjoyed a fresh beer. Brand named Sakara --Sakara Beer is only available in one version, which is Sakara Gold. It is well known for its large can.
Ohhh Forgot to mention….we had chicken,,,rice….vegetables..and a wonderful desert.
In the afternoon The temple of Karnak existing from three parts. The large temple of Amon thats linked with the temple of Moet by a sfinx galery en the Sanctum of Montoe.
Late in the evening our cruiser sailes to Esna Edfoe and Kom Ombo.
In Edfoe we vist a temple 3 centry BC. A masterpiece of Ptolemaisch architecture. We sail for Com Ombo and visit the temple dedicated to 2 gods Fertility God Sobek wth the crocodile head and the left part is of the God of war Haroeris.
We sail to AswanThe Capital of Egyptian Nubie
This is a cute lil boy in Nubie U can see temples and pyramids on my foto album
I made it Wolf.......Tx to u To be continued..................
October 20 CairoFriday we flew with Egyptair to Cairo.A 4 hrs flight.
First step on the Egyptian ground felt awesome...warm and a strange fragrance.
Saterday we visited Memfis the ruines of the capital of the Old Egypt. The albast sfinx with a weight of 80 tons protecting Ramses II colossus.
Sakkarah the most visited necropole from Egypt.
King Djoser was the fist king who ordered to make a stairs pyramid and Imhotep was de architect.
and then the well known 3 pyramids of Gizeh Kheops Khefren and Mykerinos.
these 3 are protected by the sfinx the impressive statue from a lion with a human head.
The Museum of Cairo .
No pics allowed..But as we all know the mask of Tutanchamon. Breathtaking 11 kg of gold.
We stayed 2 hrs.inside...2 hrs.of ohhhhhhhhhhh and aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.
u dont believe ur own eyes.This it EGYPT at his best.
Late in the afternoon we visit the Citadel ....a fort made by Saladin. Inside the fort the Mosque of Mohamed Ali...( Not the box guy Plzzzzzzzzz..) lol
and late in the evening we took the plane to Luxor..
Ready for the Nile cruise...
to be continued..................snoring on the Nile...............
October 08 The MummiesIm ready to meet the mummies of Egypt.
we fly friday to Cairo.....3 days in the largest city of Africa.
then a flight to Luxor ...where we go on board of a Nile cruiser for 7 days.
So
My dear space friends CU after october 21 ..Yahooooooooooooo  Here i goooooooooOctober 03 Sulawesi 3
September 27 Sulawesi 2Sanggale A 20 minutes drive over small, bumpy roads. We arrived in a funeral place in a desolated area. Again..Arun starts to tell.This time its a baby graveyard.. A special baby graveyard....Our mouths wide open.....We only saw trees with strange things on it....Arun starts..... Babies who died before they had one tooth..got a special funeral with the animist ppl. In a jackfruit tree they cut a hole...Putted the baby inside the hole and closed it with some wood and four wooden nails...The tree is not dying ... no the hole is closing again...after some time The ppl believe that the soul of the baby grows with the tree.. i watched the tree , with green leaves to the top reaching the blue sky and i thought YESSS. this is beautiful the tree grows towards the sky...the baby is oke...i got goosbumps.....when u think a bit further this is not such a wierd thing......one with nature....my fav thought... This custom is not used anymore....... Nowadays not so many babies die coz deliviries are now in a polyclinic .Good news of course. Traditional marriage (Toraja) Invitation for a marriage....Ohh it was an arranged one ( which i cant understand) with the acceptance of the village elderly... Such a marriage cost around 2 - 3 million rupiahs...... A lil note.:::Not so many ppl divorce coz that cost a lot of money....(sorry wrong 12 buffalos) So the poor ppl hardly divorce ( short of money) When we arrived a lot of ppl where already there. Ceremony guy showed our places....A lot of kids wore traditional clothes watch the pics Sulawesi 2...Very cute with a lot of make up I think the kids were 7 or 8 and looked like lil women. The bride and groom came She dresses in white Gorgious woman, the groom looked veryyyyyyy young....They went immediatly to the house of the groom...?????During this time a person(father??) speeched a veryyy long time ..When he stopped NO applause.it stayed silent......The bride and groom came out of the house...Really special with traditional clothes...very beautiful. After this.... a guy started to sell parts of meat for the highest bidder.....this was a bit yekki...we saw parts of pigs pass our eyes.After this the bride and groom got blessings and we had to start eating..Kinda same as with the funeral .. With our group we sang a song for the newly weds .... Long will they live ...... The guests and family looked happy with our performance...... Taking pics and giving some toy for the kids ( i had always a backbag filled with me) we said goodbye and went to the hotel an experience richer..... U know friends i got some money .to do some good works ...I wanted to support a school in Toraja land. With the help of Arun and our tourleader (Luc) we found a school that needed a lot of things...so up to a shop... In this area things are very cheap so we bought a lot of school things...and also 3 strong footballs... Everything in boxes....into the bus with the help of all our friends.... I remember the faces of the ppl who stood on the other till .....eyes wide open.......they must have thought ... what are they up to.? the shop was a bit empty after we left.....hahahahh so here we go....arrived at the school in Rantepao.Tana Toraja..(see pics) The Ceo was not yet there but a vice CEO welcomed us and how she smiled when she saw all the schoolstuff ..Than the CEO came and i told him how i came to the idea to help a school....and he was so happy and gratefulll He told us the government gives the building but the teachers have to take care of all the other schoolstuff.. after shaking hands and taking pics we went outside ....all the kids where there .I wanted a pic of me with all those beautiful boys and girls.....and we played football for a short while (we had to test the footballs .I did really good if i may say so..(brag brag) but they did not know i played football for a lot of years .. We had to say goodbye here....i wanted to stay ... ( some tears inside ) but i knew we had to go further with the trip Coz this schoolvisit was extra........not planned Just to help me .... with this project (Thx Arun and Luc and all our friends) Those smiling kids faces made my day.... I stop this now Sulawesi 3 will follow.......... September 24 SulawesiSulawesi
We said goodbye to Harry our guide. He was a very professional one We learned a lot from him.THX Harry...U were great.
Slama pagi = good morning....We fly from Bali (Denpassar) to Sulawesi (Makkasar) One hour flight. When u are used to fly 12 hours... a flight of one hour is going up and coming down....haha....
We arrive in Makkasar The bus we have to use this first day is a bit old and very uncomfortable We had to take the bags also in the bus and our backseats ( 4 seats for us alone, we used to have ) are now taken by a lot of suitcases. Cry cry.Here we meet our new guide, Arun and driver Rachman..Later on I will tell u what a perfect driver he was..!!!! Supurb ..
But no bad feelings.....abt the old old old bus.....
The first part of the long trip is a very disconsolate landscape. So... for an hour i see the inside of my eyes..........WAKE UP
Arun starts to tell....(he speaks perfect dutch BTW) We were in the area of Buginese. They live in pile houses (dwelling) .The ground floor used to be the place for animals, But nowadays its more used as garage for the car...First floor... rooms çkitchen and sleeping area.Under the roof the stock of rice and family jewels like the kris (typical waepon)
Its very hot here Life must be hard...Hopefully the airco of our old bus is not gonna quit service...
But he....Next stop
Most of the people are fishermen ...They dry the fish and salt it...It takes 4 days ...and than the fish is eady for consumption.....The sight of these things was not inviting to try this out....
Back in our old bus and we started to climb the mountains... This was breathtaking .....its a whole different area as the south of Sulawesi..Green .........Its still a jungle where wild pigs live,,..and a lot of snakes ( which i can handle , see the pics) In this area the quality of our busdriver ir proven,....We even had to go out of the bus for safety and had to walk a while.(Imagine the bus would go down the hilll brbrbrbr.No hard road just some sand and rocks....Rachman managed to get the bus in one piece ..........to a place where the road was still there and we could get into the bus again.... Late in the night we arrived in our hotel where lovely guys and girls were inviting us for a relaxing neckmassage,,,,wow this was heavenly....Those magic hands ....Than... A shower..a dinner and a good night sleep ................ We came in Toraja land The Torajas are the original habitants of Sulawesi. The Torajas kept their own rituals..Funerals are very important They bury their dead in graves cut in a rock...Im memory of the dead and to scare desecrationers (hope this is the right word) they put wooden dolls (Tau Tau)on a kind of balcony before the grave....Nowadays they still bury their dead this way. When a prominent person dies they offer several water buffalos Their soul has to accompany the dead person...This religion ( not right word) is called animism..... We had the opportunity to visit a funeral We were invited ...In the middle of the forest.....This experience i never forget.. It was like a docu of National geographic....and i was in the middle of it....That my eyes saw this...wow. We had to walk some time before we came to the place.....it was a square area ...surrounded by how they call it temporary houses a lot of ppl were there i think 200 maybe more ... and for us was a special area we could sit down..on the left side there was the tower with the body of the deceased..in a red cylinder .....In the middle of the place was a lot of meat ... with stomach content and flies on it... A lot of pigs and buffalos were killed for this funeral ..This was strange for us....The meat is distributed among the ppl there..... The invited families give food and meat .......we gave 3 packs of cigarettes....(My God those guys smoke)... The village eldery speeched and said welcome to us....after that they started to eat we had to join.... They put meat in a bamboo and put this over a fire...Well its not that bad.....This funeral ceremony can last for 5 days....so we said goodbye ......coz we dont have so many free time haha... This afternoon the corps of the deceased went to the family grave......Now we go back to the bus.....talking talking wow...this was something we probably never see again...... I will write in a next entry abt our adventures......coz otherwise this is gonnna be a longgggggggggggggg entry Watch my pics OKe U C the funeral..... September 21 BaliBali
With a 30 minute boat trip we say goodbye to Java and Hello to Bali.The boat was a driving working place.. We had to climb over cement...wood...
Workers were painting parts of the boat...sooooo We had to move carefulll ...... our clothes......
Normally when a boat has to be repared.. its in a dock ....but in Bali they just let the boat do his job.....bringing ppl from one island to the other. after some moving left right we came on deck.....
All of a sudden ... before the boat started to leave a young guy jumped of the boat .....and others jumped into the water from the quayside.
they all wore very big flippers....Ppl started to throw money coins into the water and those guys catched or dived behind the coins.
and putted the money in their mouth....Never saw something like this before. I had to throw some money too of course.....U had to see this wow.....!!!!!! Engine started .....and after half an hour Bali came insight.....We met our new guide His name was Harry He spoke perfect dutch He told us that the Bromo vulcano in Java had errupted ( the one i wrote abt in former entry)and that it was now forbidden territory....Lucky us...
Bali is a Hindu island 3.500.000 habitants.and they offer more in open aire..... even more than in India.
I wanna write here some words a friend putted on paper....after ... he was in the swimmingpool and watched a girl offer in de small temple aside the pool. Here goes his lil poem (Thx Eric Ur great poet)
I swim alone in the pool when a Balinese girl offers for Shiva.A moment of intimicy....I nestle in a corner of the pool and watch.
She puts flowers and light some incense. Than she prayers.while her left hand hold the incense ...she holds her right arm right up and moves her wrist and let her fingers move slowly from left to right. She does this several times.Than she leaves while the smell of incense dozed me with every breaststroke..I dont believe i swim faster than before..but this intimit experience shimmers....
The south of Bali is rich but the north is blessed with a beautiful nature. We had a nature walk of 4 hours in Pura Taman Ayun ...which i enjoyed a lot....i love to walk in the silence .......one with nature....aside small pads...waterfalls ...hhmmmmmm
After this we visited Ulun DAtu temple there was an offer procession going on ..very impressive....
Near the temple we visited our guide Harry's friend .... he owns 2 pytons..40 kg, 15 years old..length 5 - 6 meter Such an animal needs 1 chicken a day.....so i first asked if Mr. Snake had his food for the day before i sat down and caressed him ..(See pic in foto album Bali)
Balinese dance.
The way the dancers train is very hard..Very strict..We had the opportunity to visit a sunday dance school for kids.
Balinese dancers turn their fingers backwards. The basic education takes 2 years..
Ricefields.... This is Bali at his best ........The most beautiful green terraces
In Bali there are still 9 royal familys.Some parts of the palaces are open for tourists...We visited Puri Agung Peliatan..The pincess had died 2 months ago and we were allowed to see her, and take pics...Of respect i will not put this in my foto album.
Around the palace were workers busy to make everything ready for the funeral ceremony which is sept 24...The name of the princess was Tiokorda Istri Rai. 158 men will carry de big tower...with her corps .This s an honour.for the men ..The fire brigade will keep the men wet during the cortege,coz its hot...Its a walk of 3 kilometers.
Ppl told us CNN is gonna be there for this special event...
After this visit we drove to the seaside and visited the Mengwi temple
The seatemple. A beautiful view......... the Indian ocean ....wow....Nature...religion an ppl united.
Its late now....evening .... dark .... up to the hotel for shower and diner..coz 2 mo...
flight to Sulawesi......................next island...........
(Sorry I did not add pics in foto album of Bali.....I will do that as soon as possible )
September 17 IndonesiaIndonesia suffers from a lack of tourists after Bombing in Bali and the tsunami in Banda Atceh and the eartquake...
I will write abt this holiday in 3 parts ..Java....Bali.....Sulawesi.....
Java
After 1,5 days travel we arrived in Yogyakarta. Tired ..very tired But also very excited to see this beautiful part of Indonesia..The most impressive thing in Yogyakarta were the thousands ... No million motorbikes on the road.Most bikers are students...20% of the population is student. Its the easiest way to get from point 1 to 2....
During the day we visited the Borobodur the biggest Buddhist temple in the world i wrote already abt him in former entry.( UNESCO)
The temple has nine floors The temple was discoverd by Sir Thomas Raffles in 1811 (Also founder of Singapore)The Borobodur was covered by trees...sand........It took a lot of years before this beautiful temple rose out of his dirt.
The guys with souvenirs( around the temple) were literally glued on us.....They had nothing else to do probably. than trying to sell us things which we did of course....This holiday i bought....bought bought.....U know when u try not to watch their eyes they leave....Ppl say.
But that doesnot work with me....hahaha
Bromo and Panenjakan and his people
Early rise.... alarm went off around 3.30 AM....We stayed in a hotel nearby the Bromo and Panenjakan....
Panenjakan is 2.700 meter level ..From that place we could see the sunrise....THis is the most beautiful sunrise a ever saw. (See the pics in my album) . with the vulcano Semeru (3700Mtr) still active aside It was like some one used a compressor to let the smoke out of his belly...Every 15 minutes...... Here we also met the Tenger people....They are not that kind.if a may say so..
But they must be hardened by the hard life around the Bromo vulcano....First we had to take 248 steps and after that with a horse to the top of the crater..What we saw there was unic...Never saw this before....This day was a day of celebration for the Tenger people.(once a year and We were that lucky to be there)
They believe they have to give gifts to the vulcano to keep him quiet...In former days they even offered babies what i cant imagine....and living animals..During the trip upstairs a guy sold me a boucqet of flowers ....i had to throw them in the crater....On the edge of the crater were a lot of people with nets to catch the gifts...Its was a kind of game for them a thought afterwards. ....On the way back down we met a lot of walking people They came from miles around to visit once a year this spectacle.
Lil note....The day after we visited the Bromo .... he errupted..... (Strange feeling though we were there......Imagine...!!!!!
In Yogya I met for the first time Joan...She is a dutch woman and lives already 15 years with her husband ( Java man) ...I had small contact with here through mails after the earthquake...She is a social woman and she helps ppl to rebuild the houses again....(government does not help......Like everywhere)
So I gave her a part of the money i had... to help her.....(See pics)
And of course during the trips a had a lot of kids around me ......( my backbag filled with toy and candy every day....This was fun...
Sept 8 ... leaving for Bali with a boat........(on the boat was a lot of wind....(Probs with my wide skirt) .wait for the next entry.......Im going to bed now....Jet lag ..Im bit sleepy now....
July 23 Amazing love story This morning read something real interestingstory in my newspaper.
Its abt Anna Trzebinski , fashion designer,who had a great carier.
Her mariage was not working like she wanted. so she searched for some rest in the wilderness of Kenia.During some expeditions she met the ten years younger man Lemarti.He was a member of the Samburu tribe. When she was some days on the road with the expedition the guide was getting her attention. He had a great attraction to her. He showed strenght and enormous pride. She felt safe with him around.
Year passed by. Anna went back to Kenia to visit him.There was romance in the air from the first minute. She was afraid to start a relationship with him coz they had such a different background. He never left his Samburu tribe, he couldn't read or write.And she was a woman of the world.
It became more difficult each time to separate. So she left her country UK for Nairobi.
Time later they got married, a wedding that lasted 5 days.She was accepted by his tribe.
She is now enjoying her new start of life, with only the most important basic things that ppl need ,love and to be loved.
July 20 CroatiaSome years ago we visited Croatia again. We used to go there for several times before the civil war.At that time it was still called Yugolavia. Serbes and Croatian ppl lived together but there was always some tension between them. The hotel we used to go to was totaly destroyed. Strange to see, there was grass growing on the balconies.We went inside the ruin, it was like in the movie "the day after".It was hallucinating.
Than thinking how many ppl died in such a usseless war.
The uniqueness of Croatia lies in its diversity. Situated between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea( By the way Very Salty the Adriatic sea when U go under water U have to drink something fresh afterwards), Croatia provides visitors with the opportunity to ski in the winter and swim during the summer, all within driving distance. Croatia has more than thousand islands and reefs, it is the most beautiful coast of the Mediterranean, Thats my opinion.
There are many national parks We visited Plitvicka Jezera, with beautiful waterfalls.Croatia boasts the largest number of developed settlements in south east Europ.
Dubrovnik is a national heritage Protected by Unesco.We stayed in Cavtat. 5 km down.
The Croatian ppl survived the war. Like in every war there are no winners.
They are all victims.Serbes and Croatians.
We stayed on the border with Montenegro. In the evening after short walk went for a drink.Went in a bar.
Then we met a girl who used to serve tables in our hotel we just to go, she remembered us, in the evening we always talked with the ppl who worked in the hotel Was like big family. It was always during world or european football championship we stayed there, so we watched tv with them and did always prognostications with the guys.But when u won this prognostication u had to pay a drink for everyone.
The girl was so glad she met us again, so after her work we talked abt the tragedy that she had gone through.Really heartbreaking.I still can see her face.
Had a trip to the Neretva valley, very special surroundings. we went with a boat to some place for a picnic.
On the boat they served national booz called slivovic.Bottles were empty when we arrived to the picnic place.
See pics. I will add 2 morrow.
Everyone happy Next day everyone headache. LOL
And a very dry troath.
Croatian coast is really worth visiting.Beautiful ppl, and very nice food and most of all u feel good when ur there. Try it.
Click pic to enlarge
July 13 TunesiaTunesia Vacation
This vacation is already some years ago.
We landed in Monastir airport. It was very hot. First thing that came up to me when we drove to Sousse was
Whats going on here. Its one great building area. Everywhere stones, wood, all kind of building things U cant imagine.
It was one great big mess. Really Haven''t seen something like this before.
But later on I got used to this sight. It's normal there. They say.........
Its a very poor country. Outside our hotel there was always a kid with some goats waiting for guests of hotel to give some money.
Was great contrast. In and out hotel.
We did some traveling in the country Just daily trips. U can see on my photo blog.Some water well for the animals. In the middle of nowhere was some pottery shop with the possibility to see how things were made.
Very interesting, knowledge goes from father to son.
We had an awesome trip with an old original wooden boat. Had a BBQ on board. Just eating with hands.
Afterwards did some dive into the water to cool off.
Tunesia is a very strong Muslim country. U feel this every moment when ur out of the hotel.On the inside of hotel door was a warning for ladies to wear covered clothing when u went out of hotel. Was a bit strange
expercience.In the evening there was no possibility for going out. Just spending the nights in hotel bar, with only Tunesian man No women.
U know I respect every religion, But if i may say so its not my way of live.Im not gonna visit this country again.
|
After the wedding and the school we went on....to Pare Pare the second important city and harbour in South Sulawesi...
Watch the pics Sulawesi 3 and 4 PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!! |
|
