View of the Shopper's Street

Oxford Street nowadays offers good value-for-money for shopping. Primark, though not everyones favourite, has their largest store here and offers real bargains. It does bring a different variety to the normal brands along this largest shopping street in the world.

Obviously one could not resist going to Marks and Spenser - obviously for the biscuits, Topshop and Clarks. But also to avoid those rediculous shops like Selfridges. Other non starters are HMV, Debenhams and House of Frasers. For Bruneian, the Woolworths store along Edgware road is always something they could not resist not visiting if happened to be in London - a nostalgic trip back to bygone student days.

Chocolate Fondue

Hey look at this! Chocolate flowing like a fountain creating a chocolate waterfall. Its best to dip with strawberries or marshmallows.

But first the chocolate has to be heated up in the basin at the bottom to make it into liquid. Then it is transported up to the top of the fountain from where it will flow down. It does look very messy at the end. But worth having a go.

Bicester Village

On the way back to London we passed Oxfordshire and stopped over at a well known shopping outlet called the Bicester Village.

This factory outlet got about 100 stores offering high-end brands more familiar to those living in UK. It was raining and at 10 degC is unusually cold for the month of May.

It tool another hour to drive back to London.

Shakespeare Lived Here

William Shakespeare lived well in the 15th Century in what could be described as a grand house. His father, John Shakespeare was a successful glove maker and so could afford to live somewhat affluently. This house has now been turned into a musem and one could go on a tour with a guide explaining on the details of the house and how people lived in those days.

Much Ado About Nothing

On Sunday we went to Stratfordshire, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. This greatest of English writer was born in the 15th Century in this now famous town in Uk. Stratford-upon-Avon is one of the 20 must visit places in UK. Its nearly 2 hours drive from London along M40 just before reaching Conventry and Birmingham. Unfortunately the weather during the weekend was quite wet and windy. Otherwise it would have been one of the busiest bank holiday weekend in UK.

Back to Shakespeare, I remember I took English Literature as a subject and that covered Shakespeare's work such as A Midsummer Night's dream, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and Macbeth. I flopped.

Sunset

What do you do if you are stuck in your car for 6 hours. Watch the sunset go down as you realise precious time has been wasted on the road. The traffic jam was quite weird. At one section you could ride at 135 km/hr. Then after a few km, the whole traffic stands to a halt.

In Holland the maximum speed on the motorway is 120km/hr. There is another 7% allowance given before you get fined for speeding. So in theory you could go as fast as 128km/hr before you start to flout the law. In France the maximum speed is 130km/hr , meaning you can go as fast as 139km/hr. In Germany, the car floor is the only limit.

Jamming like Bob Marley does best

Another long weekend with the last public holiday before Christmas. We went to London again (macam keMiri saja) because the kids really love to go there again. This time we thought we were smart, leaving early at 3.30 pm on Friday. But what a trip.

We already got stuck before Rotterdam. Apparently lots of people have the same mind as us. Then we got stuck for an hour in Antwerpen before the Kennedy Tunnel (see photo). And lastly a huge delay along the motorway between Gent and Brugge. All in all it took us 6 hours to drive 336 km in what was supposed to take 3.5 hours on a normal day. We reached London at around 11.30 pm UK time.

Brain Drain

It sounds like utter desperation. In Borneo Bull yesterday Bruneian are told not to hesitate seeking employment overseas. This is because of current high unemployment amongst graduates. It does sounds like somebody finally throwing the towel on trying to create enough jobs albeit the country being small and still rich. With unemployment, social impacts are bound to be felt more and more.

So living and travelling in places like UK does bring your mind away from these issues. This is even more if you happen to live near Baker and Spice where you can spend Sunday morning having breakfast while watching the world happily revolve around you.

Brunei Hospitality

Visiting London is always enjoyable. Ask any Bruneian. Our HM just spent the last 2-3 weeks there.

For two nights we were invited for dinner by our cousins who live in Camden and Queens Park just a few miles north of Paddington. Surprisingly those places are quite nice areas to live with plenty of local shops and within travelling distance to Central London. They are also near to Finchley, Willesden and Kilburn. Houses are renting at 2000 pounds per month - pretty expensive. Its worst in Central London where Brunei Embassy pays around 6000 pounds for its staff. On the bright side, government schools are free. In Uk there is no charge for attending both Primary and Secondary schools. Don't get confuse this with public school. In England the term "public school" refers to fee-charging independent schools.

Stonehenge

There are many theories regarding how Stonehenge came about. My favourite one is that it is a British conspiracy to build something odd just to attract tourist. What ever it is, archaeologist think that it was built around 3200 BC. I don't really care and don't surprise me a big deal. In Egypt, mega structures were already built as far back as 5000 BC. So this is like building a small garden shed in the backgarden for the ancient Egyptian.

According to Wiki this site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Again another conspiracy to boost tourism.

What's across the Fence

Stonehenge is located at Salisbury. Unfortunately the gate was already closed by the time we reached there at 7.30pm. We were not alone as many others were also dissapointed.

But at least we have been there and seen it. Well ...actually only seeing it behind the fence. At least the 8 kids in our entourage seemed to be enjoying the day trip.

Car Convoy

From Bath, we set off to Salisbury. Its about an hour drive through the country side.

The road goes up and down the many valleys in this part of the world.

The positive side is that the scenery around you looks very beautiful. This is what is better known as the famous English countryside scenery.

Roman Bath

On Saturday, on FA Cup Final day, we drove westwards from London to Bath. The journey took 2 hours. We went for park-and-ride meaning you park your car just outside the city and then take a ride on a bus to go into the city. Its very convenient and save you all the hassle of trying to find parking spot within the city.

Bath is in South West England and is most famous for its Romans baths fed by three hot springs. The Romans built an extensive building complex around the hot springs, this is now Bath's main tourist attraction. The city is also a lively place with the main shopping street lined up by all the famous High Street shops.

Where's the Big Whale

The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums along Cromwell Road in South Kensington. This place is worth a visit for both adult and children alike. And its free!

The museum is home to some 70 million items of life and earth science specimens. Split into 4 zones - the Blue Zone houses the dinasours and mammals, Green Zone for the birds, plants and so on, the Red Zone houses the Earth exhibitions and the Orange Zone for Darwin and wildlife gardens.

We only toured the Red and the Blue. Unfortunately the Big Whale section was closed, apparently the big whale was being washed.

The Prime Minister in the House

From the London Eye, one can directly see the Downing Street, the official residences of the UK Prime Minister (No. 10) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (No. 11).

Downing Street is within a walking distance from the House of Parliment and the ground of the Buckingham Palace is just right at the end of the street.

In the past there were plans to build a more modern building in the Downing Street. Again British being very conservative, the plans never took off.

House of Parliment

From the London Eye, one can easily see and recognise many famous landmarks. Across the River Thames is this building where the two Houses of the UK Parliment (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) are located. The building is actually called the Palace of Westminster.

The complex has been built in bits and pieces stretching back to 10th Century. At one side of the building is the clock tower which houses the famous bell 'Big Ben'.

The World's Biggest Bicycle Spoke

The best place to start viewing London is by going up in one of the 32 capsules of the London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel.

It is currently the largest in the world to be beaten by Singapore in a couple of years time. Each capsule holds about 25 people and takes about 30 minutes to complete a revolution.

It is a gigantic structure, when at the top it easily towers all the building around it.

Titchborne Row

This is the place we stayed, near to Edgware Road and about 100m from Hyde Park. Hotels in London may cost you an arm and a leg, so consider yourself lucky if you happen to have close relatives or families in London. This place is also conveniently located near to many restaurants along Edgware Road and of course within a walking distance to Oxford Street.

London has not changed much, the only difference I noticed is the increase in traffic so driving is not recommended. We parked our car in the basement park and rather used the Tube to travel around during daytime.

London via Euro Tunnel

Its a long 4-days weekend and this time we headed to London. The last time we were there was 9 years ago in 1998. Such a long time ago! At that time we also drove from Holland. The whole car journey took about 7 hours.

It takes about 3.5 hours from The Hague to reach Calais in France before going on the shuttle train into the Channel Tunnel to reach UK. It takes about 35 minutes to cross under the English Channel, costing between 90 to 140 Euro depending on when you book the ticket. The Channel Tunnel is some 50 km long and started to be used in 1994.

Bookworm in the House

This is what happened if there is a bookworm in the house. Fiz been reading all of these in the last 8 months and slowly piling them up. This doesn’t include those books that she borrowed from the school library.

English books can be found in a couple of English bookstores in The Hague. The biggest is the American Bookstore which has a wide selection and also gives 10% discounts for members. There is an even bigger bookshop (can’t remember the name) along Amsterdam main shopping street – Kalverstraat.

Shop ‘Til You Drop

Fiz has been keeping all her shopping receipts and organized them in bundles. She has been doing well with her shopping apparently. This must be a new found hobby amongst teens now days. It is a good sign that teens nowdays are more conversant when it comes to money matter.

Bruneian needs to be prepared for the inevitable when the county’s economy no longer can rely on the exploitation of its current fast dwindling reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Weekend’s news that the Methanol project finally got its financing sorted out is good news. But that still rely on our precious gas reserves. It won’t be a surprise when reality sags in the near future that we did not do enough to prepare for the future. Philippine used to be the most developed economy in Asia but has degenerated to oblivion.

Across the Bridge

This photo was taken while we were in Giethoorn two weekends ago. A draw bridge, a bride that can be retracted to allow boat to pass through, is common sight in Holland. The process can be quick – less than 5 minutes, depending of course how many boats are passing through.

The alternative is to build a short underpass below the canal or river. Again this can be found in many locations here.

Football is a Funny Game

In the old days, we used to call our favourite playground as 'Wembley'. Nowadays that name has disappeared and I struggle to find a nice name for our little practice ground in the backyard.

Watched the two Champions League semis this midweek - what a difference. The first game between Liverpool and Chelsea was all about true passions for the game shown at all levels - the players, the managers and the supporters. The second between AC Milan and Man U was a complete mismatch - with only one team showing the initiative while Man U being lethargic and played like a third-tier league team. Blaming tiredness might be valid but football is all about passion, the appetite to win must be there.

So in three weeks time 2005 final repeats itself - Liverpool vs AC Milan. Who will win?

Changes Stimulate Progress

So the bikes were out and tyres pumped. The kids are having fun with badminton and football in the backyard these days.

The weather has been very dry (a drought some Dutch would described it). Barbeque is banned in parks and outside. There has been no rain for at least a month or two now. Grounds are starting to dry up and crack. But because of the high water level, as The Netherlands is mostly below sea level, trees are still growing and look very healthy. It is green everywhere. A welcome transformation from the bleak grey winter scenery.

The good thing about the four seasons climate is that you continuously see changes in your surrounding. Nature reacts actively to the changing environment. What about us?

The Backyard Transformed

Our backyard has now been transformed thanks to a Romanian. It costs 16 Euro an hour to hire a manual labourer here. He toiled for 3 weeks and spending nearly 15 hours to trim the trees, cut the hedges and clear-up the wood pile and all sort of things that were dumped by previous tennants before. Its now ready for the Spring and the Summer!

Open burning is banned in The Netherlands. So a large green bin is provided by the City for weekly collection of anything organic. But this was not enough to dump the clearings in one go. So I have to something like over 30 large bags sent to the city's dump collection area. Luckily I had a rental car in one of the weekend!

Back to Memory Lane

Finally we reached our destination. Assen is just over 2 hours drive from The Hague. We used to live here in 1996 till 1999 in a nice neighbourhood called Maarsdijk. The street name is called Volmachtendreef. This is our first trip back since then – nearly after 8 years!

Assen has hardly changed except for some works on widening the ring road. Our former house (photo) seems to a bit run-down, heard that most of these rental houses are up for sale. One thing we really missed about Assen is the hopelessly delicious spare ribs. The restaurant is still operating after all these years and sure enough this was our opportunity to take some to take back. There is a Bruneian family in Assen – they graciously hosted us and shared their Spanish holiday experience. My mind is already working overtime on this one!

Venice of the North

After Lelystad we went to Giethoorn, a town in the province of Overijssel also known in the Netherlands as "Venice of the North". This is the place where you can do camping, stay in holiday houses or rent a boat to ride along the many canals. We went for a picnic along one of the canal – menu was nasi, sambal pusu, ayam goreng, and satay!

The kids even brought with them badminton racquets and football. But alas it was quite windy and what was supposed to be a pleasant and warm temperature turn out to be a bit cold to stay too long out there.

Personally this place reminded me of one of my last act when I was working in the Netherlands before. I shot a 3D seismic survey in what is an environmentally sensitive area.

Harvesting the Wind Energy

Last Sunday we went north and passed a small city called Lelystad. Its one hour drive from the Hague. Lelystad, built on reclaimed land, is approximately 5 meters below sea level. The big part of the whole area called the province of Flevoland is surrounded by lots of water – famous ones are the Markermeer and IJsselmeer. Also by woodlands, parks and flat farmland.

This is also the location for the largest number of wind turbines in the Netherlands used for the generation of wind power electricity. In the whole of Netherlands there are now more than 1800 of these wind turbines built mainly onshore but lately also in the offshore. These wind turbines are real awesome structures when seen close.

Springing with Life

Its officially spring. And it has been very hot, unusual to have temperature reaching 29 deg C. Again like all other months recently, this has been the hottest April ever on record.

Flowers are really blooming. Holland's countryside is at its most colourful with tulips laid like giant carpets. The best way to appreciate this is to go to Keukenhof between The Hague and Amsterdam. With 64 acres, it is the world's largest flower garden and has been held for 50 years. Keukenhof is open from the last week of March to mid-May accomodating 700,000 visitors. We spent 3-hours there and that was enough.

The idea for the flower garden was mooted to have a flower exhibit where growers could show off their hybrids which will help Netherlands as it is the world's largest exporter of flowers.

Nile Cruise

Our last night was spent on a 2-hours river cruise on the Nile where we had dinner and some entertainments. First one was an Egyptian belly dance!!! This dancing uses movements in every muscle of the body integrated with the music’s rhythm. The dancer’s goal is to visually communicate to the audience with the emotion and rhythm of the music.

The next one was more of a hypnotic dance, like a Turkish tribal dance where the male dancer keep spinning himself for tens of minutes without getting dizzy at all. At the same time performing all sort of things and making jokes.

The Courtyard

Typical of a Turkish mosque, there is a large courtyard in the Muhammad Ali Mosque measuring 50 by 50 metres with a freestanding building in the centre. This building contains ablution fountains and facilities for washing before entering the mosque. The courtyard is enclosed by covered galleries. We were reminded by our tour guide of a brass clock which was presented by King Louis Philippe of France in 1845. The clock was reciprocated with the obelisk of Luxor now standing in Place de la Concorde in Paris.

The mosque itself was constructed in a square plan. The main floor material used is alabaster or marble – hence it is often referred as The Alabaster Mosque. Muhammad Ali tomb is located inside the mosque.

The City of a Thousand Minarets

Cairo is said to contain more than 2000 mosques. The best way to appreciate this is to go out at night to see the city skyline lighted up with thousands of minarets. The grandeous and often used for showcase to visiting dignitaries is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Design along Turkish lines, it took 18 years to build starting in 1830.

Mohammed Ali, a lieutenant in the Ottoman Empire took Egypt after a brief French rule of Egypt. He intrigued his way to become governor of Egypt as part of Turkish rule but in reality he was the ruler without any challenge from the Sultan in Istanbul. He was famous for killing 500 Mamluks or the local Egyptian leaders after giving a lavish party. It is ironic such a man of barbaric proportion is remembered by the Mosque he built. He was said to keep his horses in a disused Mamluk Mosque nearby.

From Amman to Cairo

We flew from Amman to Cairo on Royal Jordanian Airline. Our last hotel was Soffitel La Sphinx located very close to the Pyramids (see the photo to be convinced). This was our 7th hotel during the trip. Hotel grading in Egypt is meaningless. In Cairo don't ever check-in into any 4-star hotel or lower.

1) Cairo - Hotel Maadi, supposed to be 4-star but looked like 2-star.
2) Aswan - Hotel Isis, nice hotel on the river bank.
3) Luxor - Le Merridien Hotel, excellent, voted as the 6th best hotel in whole Africa
4) Nuweiba - Nuweiba Village Resort, nice and a typical beach hotel.
5) Petra - Grand View Hotel, nice but seems to be overwhelmed coping with full house.
6) Petra - Petra Panaromic Hotel, excellent and good view.
7) Cairo - Soffitel La Sphinx - a typical Soffitel chain - always excellent.

The Bedouin Way

Never realized till now that there are still Bedouins roaming around living in their traditional way in Jordan. These are the Nomadic Arabs, deeply proud of themselves. They live in tents scattered across the highlands, their flock of sheeps grazing like time has never moved. Camels, traditionally associated as Bedouin's best friend, are now often replaced by a Landrover or Toyota 4WD.

We went to a Bedouin camp to try their food - buffet style. The Bedouin oven couldn't be simpler. Simply dig a hole in the sand and burn enough firewood to make glowing coals. Seal the oven containing the meat, cover it with sand and cook for an hour or two. Yummy!

Floating on the Dead Sea

Been-there-done-that experience.

This hyper-saline water provided bouyancy that you simply float on it. It was weird, something that is hard to understand. You can hear squels of surprises from people visiting the place for the first time. We were!

I always struggle to float but here I could sleep or even read book while floating without fearing of getting drown. The kids and me floated on the water but only for a short while as the salty water starts to make our bodies itchy and uncomfortable. We needed a good shower and scrubbing to remove the coat of salts on our body.

Pampering at the Dead Sea Spa

Most people come to the Dead Sea to pamper themselves in a seashore spa. We went to the well known Dead Sea Spa which has more focus on medical treatment, with an in-house dermatologist. We had mud application which cost US$30 per person.

The mud is black in colour and contains various minerals at high concentration levels like calcium, magnesium, iodine, bromine which are good for allergies, improve skin and so on. The black mud used in the spa extracted from the Dead Sea was applied hot to the skin. After the whole body is applied, you are then wrapped up in plastic and covered fully with blanket. The whole body felt very hot and seems like the skins are reacting to some sort of drastic acid reaction. It felt like ages even though it was only for 25 minutes. A good shower to clear up the mud was a much needed relief.

The Promised Land from atop Mount Nebo

It took us 3 hours to reach the Dead Sea from Petra. On the way, we stopped at Madaba and Mount Nebo, holy sites for Christian pilgrimage. Mount Nebo is a mountain in Western Jordan where the Dead Sea and the West Bank can be seen on a clear day.

Mount Nebo is where the Prophet Musa according to Christian's bible was given a view of the promised land that God was giving to the Hebrews. Pope John Paul II visited the site during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The land is amazingly fertile and green. Up the mountain it was quite cool and breezy with thick clouds clambering not too far above.

Petra Panorama Hotel

This beautiful hotel is built at the top of the mountain which surround the northern side of the valley of Wadi Musa where Petra Rose-red city is located. The lobby is located at top floor followed by 11 storeys of hotel rooms going down the cliff. So it was quite awkward when using the lift -going down from the lobby rather than going up!

The hotel location offers wonderful view of the mountains where on a clear day one could see a white building on top of one of the mountain. This is mountain of Nabi Harun or Jebel Harun in Arabic. On the summit is a white shrine said to cover the grave of Nabi Harun.

Wadi Rum Panorama

Wadi Rum is now one of Jordan's important tourist destinations. This isolated area offers lots of activities such as camel trekking, rock climbing amongst the massive rock formations, 4WD scrambling, camping and so on. You can spend a few hours or afew days.

This shot was taken at the back of our 4WD. The weather was cool but later on we were hit by a mild sand storm. We also enjoyed a Bedouin-style lunch.

Dune Bashing in Wadi Rum

Jordan's far south belongs to the desert and Bedouin. Wadi Rum is where the desert opening up an enchanting moon-like landscapes like those in the Starwars movies. It was made famous by the Lawrence of Arabia film. Many of the spectacular scenery are reachable only by 4WD.

We went on a dune bashing, also known as desert safari, using 4WD to explore sand dunes. This was the most memorable part of the whole trip for the children. We looked for the steepest dune and raced up and down on it on the 4WD. Dangerous but really exhillarating. We spent a total of 2-hours doing excursion across the vast Wadi.

Petra Rose-red City

If you only go to one place in Jordan, make it Petra located at Wadi Musa half way to the South of Jordan. It took us 3 hours to reach from the port town of Aqaba. Petra means rock in Greek, home to 20 thousands Nabataean, a nomadic tribe, whose dwellings, temples and tombs were chiselled and bored out of rock face.

This city existed as early as 100 B.C. and was ran over by Roman and Muslim invaders before being abandoned completely. The main attraction (photo) called the treasury is tucked away in a confined space and only come on sight after navigating through a narrow and winding canyon. The view is awesome, something that we always see only on photos and books.

By the beach at Nuweiba Village

A much needed rest after the long journey from Luxor. This location is not as charming and busy as the famous Sharm El-Sheik to the south but has a direct ferry connection to Aqaba in Jordan. Located at the Northwestern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, this body of water does not seem as big as on the map. The Gulf of Aqaba and Gulf of Suez to the west form like two fingers sticking out from the Red Sea.

There are lots of new hotels and resorts being constructed. The water is gentle here, one can see the land of Saudi and Jordan across the water. We spent the night here and met some locals selling all sort of beautifully handcrafted necklaces and traditional jewelleries.

Crossing the Sinai

Definitely the lowlight of the trip was crossing the Sinai Peninsular from Cairo on the way to Jordan. After an 11-hours train ride from Luxor, we were transferred on to a bus ride which took us another 9 hours before reaching Nuweiba Village on the coast of Gulf of Aqaba.

The bus journey took us through the Suez Canal and passing thorough the deserted plain of historic Sinai. There's hardly anyone living here, Sinai was captured by Israel in 1973 war and was only handed back in 1982. There are still a lot of security check points along the way where security personnel repeatedly board the bus to check on passengers. This photo was taken midway in Sinai in our only stop!

Karnak Temple

This is located within Luxor town itself - a few minutes drive from the hotel. The complex is the most important place of worship in ancient Egypt and measures a total of 1.2 sq km in area.

The biggest temple is the Temple of Amon-Ra, reflecting ancient Egypt belief in the Solar devine. The entrance is a made up of a majestic avenue of ram-headed sphinxes. Inside the main hall are rows of decorated large pillars, 134 in total! There are a few obelisks or solid single pillars inside the temple. The obelisks are single cut granite piece up to 40 m tall and weigh up to 1000 tons.

Temple of Hatshepsut

This is one of the most famous structure associated with Egypt but for the wrong reason. It was the site of the 1997 terrorist attack where up to 60 people were killed. The after effect was drastic as Egypt's tourism industry collapsed totally and took years to recover.

The Temple is partly rock-cut and partly free-standing structure is one of the finest monument of ancient Egypt. Its very difficult to imagine that this monumental and beautiful structure was built thousands of years ago (1515 B.C.) for Queen Hatshepsut. This was the period of great Egyptian empire over entire known world.

Valley of the Kings

Next stop was Luxor. There are so many things to see here - the area often described as the world's largest open-air museum. Unfortunately the two days have been very hot so we could not stand too long under the sun.

The Valley of the Kings is a place of death - a final resting place for ancient Egyptian royalty. The tombs are cut tunnel-fashion into the cliffs that border the valley. Inside the simple rock-cut tombs consist of a single chamber. We went into two of the tombs - Ramses VII and Ramses IV. The photo shows the decorated burial chamber inside the tomb of Ramses IV. Many of the paintings however has deteriorated because of the humidity brought by countless visitors into the Tomb.

Longest Train Ride

It took us 13 hours by train to reach Aswan from Cairo covering a distance of just over 900km. Aswan is the southernmost city in Egypt and where the great Aswan dam is located. It is magically beautiful here.

The old Aswan dam was completed by the British in 1902. The High dam was later built with the help of Russians and completed in 1971. It doubles Egypt's power supply and increases cultivable land by 30%. It also created an artificial lake the size of Brunei.

Amongst the things to do here is going on a ride on felucca or traditional canvas-sailed boat. The river is at its most picturesque in Aswan as you see the Nile flows around palm studded islands and high desert sands in the background.

Alexandria in 332 B.C.

Cairo is very dusty and crowded. Its a city of some 15 millions. Not a place to stay even for a few days. The second day we went to Alexandria, a 3-hours drive to the North towards the coast of the Mideterranean. Founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., the city is a much needed respite for Cairo inhabitants for fresh air and easier life.

This photo is of Fort Qaitbey built by Mamluk Sultan Qaitbey in 1480. Its a huge structure located at strategic location to defend Alexandria from enemies coming from the sea. The other great thing to see in Alexandria is the Momtazah Palace and Gardens built by one of the last Egyptian Khedive or Turkish King in the 1910's for a summer retreat from hot Cairo. Khedive started when Egypt was under the Ottoman Empire under the command of Muhammad Ali in 1800's. He declared himself ruler of Egypt, taking the title Khedive.

At the foot of the Pyramids

Just came back from 12 days of a whirlwind tour of Egypt and Jordan. First stop was the Pyramid complex at Giza - one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World.

The Pyramids are very big and very old. This extraordinary funerary complex is nearly 5,000 years old built by the Egyptian Pharoahs! The biggest one is made up of 2.5 millions stone blocks each weighing at least 2 tons. A layer of granite blocks used to provide the outer casing but these have been taken away leaving the stone blocks being slowly damaged by the desert wind. We didn't dare to go inside but most of the treasures are now kept in the Egyptian Museum - that was the itenary for the afternoon.

Cloggies

Something that you can’t resist to buy as a tourist, the Dutch clogs are available in many shops here. They are associated with the Netherlands as part of the touristic Holland image, where they are seen as a form of national dress. Because of this, Dutch people are sometimes called cloggies or clog-wearers.

In Dutch, clogs are known as klompen and traditional clogs were made out of wood. But nowadays they are hardly worn except probably for few oldies in some villagers.