Rome - Cairo - Dahab - Sharm El Sheikh - Athens - Mykonos - Paros - Naxos - Santorini

01 - 30 April, 2010

Not sure why, but I'm feeling absolutely crap today. Real lethargic, & so we walked real slow today. Didn't get to do much, but at least the sun was out and it was nice to sit out on the Piazza di Spagna. Where for awhile a group of Spanish guys (looks like a school group) were entertaining the crowd with songs & dances, before the police stopped them. The crown of course "booed" them for that.

Felt better the next day though, & thank goodness for that, because we were flying to Cairo, Egypt! We took the express train to Terminal 3, flew with Egyptair MS792. I was quite surprised that there were a lot of tourists, because the last time I flew to Egypt it was mostly Egyptians. Our flight of course was delayed, but it was only a quick ride anyway.

We had our pick-up waiting for us to take us to Hostel Brothers. Street we're on is very busy! Pretty much the main shopping street in Cairo - Talaart Harb St. But since the hostel is on the 4th floor, it was pretty quite.

The Egyptian Museum was walking distance, so we started of in the morning & spent practically the whole day there. Just like the Louvre in Paris, we checked out every single floor & exhibition in the museum including the Royal Mummy Hall. It's a shame we can't take cameras in here, I would be able to finish a whole 4GB card here, & that's no exaggeration ;)

From day 1 in Cairo, Summer, one of the girls working at the hostel introduced us to Felfela. They have the most amazing chicken shawerma ever! Actually everything we have tried here has been great & the prices are cheap as too.

Finally a day out to the pyramids with our driver & guide Khaled. The guy likes to talk a lot, even if we didn't understand half of what he was saying, we just kept smiling & nodding, very entertaining guy :)

He first took us to Saqqara to see the Step Pyramid of Djoser. The prototype for the pyramids in Giza, & all that followed. Built for 3rd Dynasty King Djoser by his architect & high priest Imhotep in the 27th century BC. Khaled explained the reliefs inside the Tomb of Mereruka, who was the son-in-law of Teti. There's a marsh scene inside with Mereruka hunting among birds, fish, & hippos. Then went inside the Pyramid of Teti (1st king of the 6th Dynasty), it contains the king's well-preserved giant basalt sarcophagus. And the ceiling of the chamber is decorated with stars, & walls inscribed with sections of Pyramid texts. From the outside the pyramid just looks like a mound of stones, so I was surprised when Khaled said it was a pyramid!

We drove passed Memphis on the way to Dahshur. The two Old Kingdom pyramids here were constructed by 4th Dynasty King Snefery (26132589BC) father of Khufu the builder of the Great Pyramid. Here, the Bent Pyramid is considered to by Egypt's first proper pyramid because until this time, pyramids were stepped. King Snefery wasn't happy with this pyramid, & on the 13th year of his reign, he began construction of the northern Red Pyramid. There are two smaller pyramids in the area, but they are badly dilapidated.

Then off to the Giza Plateau. We were able to walk around the pyramids here at our own leisure which was nice for a change. Circled both the Great Pyramid, & the Pyramid of Khafre. And headed down to Khafre's Valley Temple, & the Sphinx. The area also had the boat pits, the queen's pyramids, a number of mastabas, as well as the Pyramid of Menkaure.

When we got back to Cairo, it was time to rest before leaving for our overnight bus to Dahab. We rode with East Delta Lines on the 12:15am bus. Much better than the overnight bus to Edinburgh, only annoying thing was the Arabic music playing the whole trip. There were numerous check points where we had to stop and have our passports & tickets checked. But finally arrived in Dahab at around 9am. Our pick-up wasn't there so we had to barter for a taxi to take us there instead, wasn't long, only about 5 minutes drive away.

Luckily we were already able to check-in at Octopus Garden Resort & even get breakfast. Afterward a quick walk about the area, & off to bed to catch up on a bit of rest. In the afternoon we went for a swim at the resort's pool & also sunbathe. Felt so good to be under the sun again :)

It was like this pretty much the whole stay. Just nice to relax for a change, we've been on the go pretty much since December. The restaurants we were eating at were all by the water, & you can see Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea. It was all cheap & very good food. Some were even offering free starters, desserts, & shisha. Of course we took advantage of that, but always regret after when my stomach is so full...I guess our stomachs have shrunk & aren't used to eating this much anymore.

One of those mornings was spent at the Blue Hole, a popular snorkeling & dive spot. But it was so windy & cold that I only lasted around 10 minutes in the water. I really couldn't stand it anymore. Didn't see as much colours this time around, & there was so much more people so I think even if the water was nice I would not have enjoyed it.

Another bus trip with East Delta Lines around lunch time to Sharm El Sheikh, a quick one only about 2 hrs. Checked-in at Oonas Dive Club Hotel, good location just by the beach & away from all the shops & busy areas. Everything is a lot more expensive here because more Europeans come here for their getaways.

It was the same story here, just relaxing & doing nothing but eating :) Though this time we were swimming at the beach, the water was so clear & beautiful, not to mention the amount of fish that were around the shallow areas. It was better than snorkeling, lots more to see & all free!

On the last night both Joel, & I got sick. But we were able to keep the room until we left at midnight. We used this time to just sleep all day, hoping to get better by the time we get on the bus. East Delta Lines again at 12 midnight to go back to Cairo. We arrived early in the morning, but again were lucky to already be able to check-in. Only spent the night here, so we made sure to get our fill of chicken shawerma for one last time before flying out :)

Left early the next morning for our flight to Athens, Greece. Exchanged our unspent Egyptian Pounds into Euros, & anything left was used to buy junk food...ie. Burger King's onion rings :) Again with Egyptair, flight MS747 & landed at around lunch time.

We took the metro to Monastiraki. At first there was so much room in the carriages, & as we got closer to the city centre, it filled up until we were so squashed in there I was bathing in other people's bad odour...real nasty stuff, but they cleared out at Syndagma which is where the Parliament House is.

Able to recognise the area almost straight away, it all looks the same & our hostel is pretty much just around the corner - AthenStyle. We checked-out the flea markets before I introduced Joel to Savva's chicken souvlaki...mmm mmm still filling & same great taste as before, only 20c more expensive hehehe.

Got up early in the morning, & after breakfast headed to Ancient Agora. It's best to buy the EUR12.00 ticket which gets you into the Acropolis & all the other archeaological sites. Ancient Agora had a huge area to explore, & I don't even think we got to see all of it. We got caught up taking pictures of flowers & weird insects. It was the city's marketplace, administrative center & hub of daily life during the 6th century BC to the 6th century AD. There's also the Stoa of Attalos which has been converted into the Agora Museum. Housing relics from the site.

Then climbed up to the Acropolis, passing Odeon of Herodus Atticus (a theatre which has been restored & is still in use today). When we reached the top, there were so many people just sitting on the steps blocking the way which was really irritating. Same as in 2007, cranes & scaffolding ruin the site. An ongoing process to "preserve" the buildings.

Afterwards we headed down to Keramikos, a cemetery built around the Sacred Way (which is the oldest road in Athens). We saw quite a few tortoises wondering around here, a bit strange, but not as strange as the one I saw on top of a hill hiding in the bushes! They seem to be content just eating the flowers :)

The next day we continued checking out the archaeological sites. First was Hadrian's Library, the Roman, the Roman Forum, Hadrian's Arch & finally my favourite...the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It's the only one that only huge structure I've seen in Greece that doesn't have scaffolding or cranes ruining it :)

Walked up the Hill of The Musses (Filopappou)...on the way up we passed The Prison of Socrates. Supposedly he was held here before he was killed. During the war this "prison" cut into the rock, was used to store all the artifacts from the Archaeological Museum, they sealed it up with a concrete wall placed against the entrance.

I had lack of sleep the night before departing for Mykonos. I kept waking up thinking that we've missed the alarm we set. It happens all the time if we leave early in the morning, & today we were getting picked-up at 6:30am. It was a good thing that we got downstairs at reception early because the driver arrived 30 minutes ahead, & the guy at reception didn't have a clue what he wanted. The only reason I knew was because he was carrying an envelope with our names & the ferry tickets!

We waited at Pireaus Port for about an hour before we were allowed to board. It was Aegean Speed Lines: Speedrunner 3. Stopped Syros, & Tinos before finally arriving at Mykonos around 11am. A representative for the company was waiting for us with the details of our accommodation, & the transfer to the hotel. Stayed at Hermes Mykonos Hotel. Right on the side of the hill, facing Mykonos Town & the sea. It was such a pretty place, with the best views! Joel made me take sunset pictures every night!

The breakfast was great - BUFFET!!! Our stomach satisfied, we went for a long walk reaching almost opposite Agios Georgios. It was nice & sunny today with not a cloud in the sky :) Afterwards we ventured into the labyrinth alleys in town before trying our first mousakka & spicy meatballs in tomato sauce.

The next day we did the same - breakfast, then walk. But this time the opposite direction, & more challenging as there were more hills. We passed the New Port, Agios Stefanos, & up to Agios Sostis before heading back.

On both days, we went into the pool (freezing water) just to say we used it, & then sunbathed. It was good to just kick back & relax again :)

Goodbye Mykonos, for now we are off to Paros. Boarded on Seajet 2 at 10am, it was only a short ride, just under an hour. :) Instead of staying at the main city in Paros called Parika, our accommodation was in Naoussa - a busy fishing town. Again the place we stayed at - Kanales Apartments Paros, had views of the sea :)

There wasn't much things to do in Naoussa, most of the shops still closed even if it says that this place is a busy tourist area. I guess they thrive only in the peak seasons...we came here in the shoulder season which is also good.

We were able to hire bikes, something we weren't able to do in Mykonos. It was a good workout, after a heavy breakfast. Up & down those hills, even if they don't look challenging at all. The sun was also out on full blast! Unfortunately we forgot to time how long it took us to get to Parikia.

This area seems to be a bit more busy, with more stores open. We visited some archaeological sites scattered around the area. Some not even shown on the map, we just happen to pass a sign pointing us to the direction. One of the things on my list to see was Panagia Ekatontapiliani (Church of Our Lady of 100 Doors). I didn't count the doors, but I'm certain that it was well under that. This is one of the most treasured basilicas in the Orthodox faith.

Biked back to the apartments for a quick rest, before heading out to the other direction towards Santa Maria where we had a little picnic by the beach. The bike ride back was the worst, we had to just walk our bikes back up the hill. But at the end of the day when we returned the bikes, we had done at least 50km worth of biking :)

Stayed only a couple of nights in Paros before taking another ferry, this time only half an hour, to the island just across the waters called Naxos. This resort is probably the best we've stayed in so far - Naxos Resort - just a short walk to Saint George Beach. Though we didn't dare go to the beach, or even get into the pool. It was way too cold & windy!

After breakfast we walked to Palatia Sanctuary of Delian Apollo (Portara), a 6th century BC archway that is visible from the port. It's HUGE! The views from it were amazing! Then we went to Metropolis Square (Ancient town of Naxos) & checked out the Mitropolis Museum. This museum is built around an excavation site from a 13th century settlement. Walked up the little alleys to get to the top of the hill where the remains of the Kastro or Venetian Castle sits. One of the structures left there is the Tower of Sanoudos. The central edifice of the castle which was created in 1207 by the Venetian Marco Sanoudo, who at the time created the Duchy of Archipelago. The resort had a gym which we made use of. Thank goodness since we need to get rid of all that buffet breakfast we've been eating!

So there goes our 2 nights in Naxos, & the next island was Santorini. One of my most favourite Greek Islands :) We were booked into Daedalous Hotel, not much of a view except for the garden & pool, but close enough to walk into Fira Town.

On our first full day, we decided to do a half-day excursion to the volcano & hot springs. Walked to the Old Port via the 589 or so steps down a smelly, donkey-poo-covered path. Not only were we dodging the crap, but also the donkeys when they would come up & down the path carrying the lazy tourists.

We took the boat to The National Geological Park of Nea Kameni. An islet made by a volcano. Our guide took us around for about an hour or so pointing out the different craters (which ones were active & those that were dormant). You could even see smoke coming out of the vents. Afterward, we were taken to Palea Kameni where the hot springs were. The boat couldn't get too close to the shore, so we had to jump out into 6m deep FREEZING water & swim 50m to the springs. They really shouldn't call it "hot" springs if it's not going to be hot. It was murky brown water that smelt weird. There were some hot parts but it wasn't continuous, so I was a little disappointed :( Back to the Old Port & we made our way to town up that same zig-zag path ;)

Got ready to go out to dinner. We wanted a restaurant with views of the sunset. I really wanted to go to Oia, but because it's not the peak season yet, not much is open in the area. We settled with Zafora, which turned out to be perfect anyway because we got the best table & the best view...& yes the best food. We made sure before we made a booking that they had mousakka & spicy meatballs in tomato sauce (we've become addicted to these dishes hehehe). After dinner Joel wanted to go for a walk along the caldera. Enjoyed the views for awhile until Joel surprised me with a marriage proposal :) Well if you've been following Facebook, you'd know that I said YES! :) :) :)

After breakfast the next day we took the bus to Pyrgos & trekked up the mountain to Profitis Ilias, & again we forgot to time ourselves. It was overcast & super windy! Walked along the beaten path along the mountain ridge to get to the bottom on the other side, only to climb up another to get to Ancient Thira. Spent some time here taking in the views all around, & reading about the ruins on the summit. Then it was back down the mountain to the black sand beach of Kamari.

We had the morning to do any last minute exploring in Santorini before taking the ferry back to Pireaus (Athens). We walked towards Oia, but only got halfway before we had to turn back. There was even a dog making sure we'd go the right direction. Everytime we'd stop to take a picture, he/she would be waiting around the corner before he/she would move on :)

I dreaded the trip back. It was the slowest, longest, bumpiest ride we had to take. We left Santorini at 4pm, & arrived 8hrs later, I was lying down practically the whole time to make sure that I didn't get motion sickness. We were glad we made an overnight booking at Hotel Delfini just across the port, so we didn't have to take any other transportation so late at night.

We left early in the morning to get back to Athens, & were able to check-in at the same hostel even if it was only 6:30am. We were even upgraded to a private room! Took a nap then did our most favourite thing - laundry...*SIGH* But as soon as we could, we left & walked up Likavitos (Lycabettus Hill), where we took some pictures by Ag. Georgias.

Today is our last full day in Athens, & the first thing we did was go to the Parliament House to watch the amusing, changing of the guards. Love their fur-ball shoes, & funny marches :) Walked through the National Gardens to get to the Panathenaic Stadium (site of the first Modern Olympics in 1896). I hope to come back to Greece again one day, I just love it here & there is still so many places to discover!