September 26, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

This was a break stop to avoid the killer long flight back to Australia, while we meandered back home.

For long-time readers, you may recall that back in 2013 we went to Guilin in China and met an amazing Sri Lankan couple (Ruwan and Dilani). While chatting they asked if we were planning to visit Sri Lanka (which we were not). So we rejigged our plans, visited Sri Lanka and loved it.

So this stopover was all about catching up with them and breaking an otherwise long flight to get back home.

But first, a quick note about our almost empty flight over to Sri Lanka from Dubai. We have never been on such an empty flight. Business and Premium economy were pretty full, but for us plebs at the back of the plane, we had entire rows to ourselves.

After arriving we were collected our bags and made it through customs and immigration in record time and then had to contest with the taxi drivers and touts. As we arrived late we stayed at an area called Negombo. This is a nice beach spot relatively close to the airport. We planned to stay with Ruwan on the trip but due to the late arrival the first night was here.

After ridiculous offers of cab fares to our accommodation (4500 rupees) we fought a patchy internet connection to order a car from the Pickme app which suggested that 2000 was more reasonable. After the Wi-Fi connection dropped in and out (losing our ride each time) we eventually got ourselves a tuk tuk. This meant we needed to walk (past the Buddha statue), out to the road where we got met by our man.

Negombo

From here a quick ride, with a lovely breeze, over to the seaside town just north of Colombo. Our accommodation was amazing, and less than half the price of what we had been paying in all of our travels through Europe and the Middle East.

The next morning we were up for a walk along the beach before Ruwan came to pick us up for our journey to begin properly. Our first adventure was on the hunt for mud crabs. Jill’s Uncle Terry had posted to try them on my Facebook and Ruwan had seen this so now we were on a mission. After a false start or two (through the local fish markets etc.), we found the local mud crab exporter and shipper at the local piggery (an obvious place to find it). The big thing about the mudcrabs was that in Australia the going rate sits at around $50-60 a kilo and in Sri Lanka it is more like $20.

Colombo

Well, Colombo has certainly grown up a lot since our last visit. When we arrived a decade ago, there were virtually no buildings over about 5 storeys high. During the past decade, China has funded the construction of massive infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka. There are numerous high-rises all around that were not here a decade ago. The most obvious of these is the Lotus Tower.

The lotus tower “Nelum Kuluna” is the tallest skyscraper in the country.

It stands 351.5m tall and cost US $113 million to build. The official blurb tells us that the lotus symbolises purity and represents the country’s flourishing development.

But the lotus is also the symbol of the political party that the President at the time (Mahinda Rajapaksa) hailed from.

Added to the above, the Chinese investment has been spent on building are some massive white elephants (notably the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and Port City). These developments have sent Sri Lanka into a debt crisis. The lunacy of these investments has been publicly described as (I love this one) “monuments to fiscal profligacy”.

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) was assigned 2000 hectares of land with the funding to build it ($190 million) coming from the Chinese government in the form of high interest development loans.

Built during the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa the location of the airport just happened to coincide with where he lived. He also built the Hambantota International Port there (the port has been leased to China on a 99 year lease) and tried to get an international cricket stadium built there too.

The first stage of the airport was completed with projections to serve one million passengers and handle 45,000 metric tonnes of air cargo each year. It opened in 2013 however, due to low demand, all of the international airlines left by 2018. On average now 4 flights per month land in MRIA.

Port City was next in line. It is a 269-hectare ocean reclamation development funded by Chinese direct foreign investment however the project was seen by many to be merely a Chinese debt trap.

When completed, Port City Colombo will have over 5.6 million square meters of built space, boasting the best in design and standards. The development will comprise of 5 different precincts including a Financial District, Central Park Living, Island Living, Marina and the International Island. The loan agreement allowed two Chinese companies to jointly operate the terminal and take a 65% stake in the port for the next 35 years.

When the land was being reclaimed, plane loads of workers were flown in from China, they were housed and fed in on-site accommodation. The only real benefit that was derived for the local people was that the rock and gravel used for the fill were sourced from Sri Lanka.

In addition to the projects above the former President also sought Chinese investment in the financing and construction of ports, power plants, roads and mines. According to Wiki, Sri Lanka’s foreign debt increased US$11.3 billion in 2005 to $56.3 billion in 2020. Foreign debt in 2019 was about 42% of GDP but by 2021 it rose to 119% due to these loans. Sri Lanka has defaulted on these and is unable to make even interest payments on loans. In 2015 surrounded by screams of alleged cronyism and corruption, he lost a bid for a third term.

The mismanagement of Sri Lanka has led to some terrible things being done to its people. We were told of the on the ground impacts that followed from defaulting on the international debts. No vehicle (or any other large imported item) has been brought into the country for the last 3 years, petrol was scarce for months at a time and the community has been saddled with high taxation to pay back the debts that were incurred. In the meantime, the projects that incurred the debts were folly and sit as white elephants.

Anyway, the sad realities dealt with, let’s talk about travelling and exploring this amazing country.

Ruwan had been monitoring our travels up until now and had been observing the sorts of things that we had been doing and seeing. Being the cracking fella that he is, he tried to organise things that were totally different for us to do, while we were in Sri Lanka. The first thing on the agenda was a 5am wakeup so that we could get on the road and head to the Elephant Transit Centre.

The Elephant Transit Centre is a wildlife protection facility in the Udawalawe National Park. On our first trip, we had visited the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage which took care of orphaned elephants. This one was similar but the focus here was about getting them back into the wild. Because of this, there was much less human interaction and, for the most part, all of the elephants were babies.

We missed the morning session and had a few hours to kill so we hung with Ruwan’s handyman (whose sister worked at the centre). We went to his home, walked through the countryside and got to see a taste of real Sri Lankan life. This included the sheer joy that he could share this experience with a couple of foreigners. The hospitality was overwhelming, including the fact that they fed us. The meal was something a little out of left field as we sat by the riverbank and ate an incredibly hot (spicy) porcupine curry.

Yep, you read that right. Porcupine, yet another animal to add to the weird animals that we have eaten list.

The thing that Ruwan has done since we first met was to turn himself into a superstar photographer. Being stuck at home through COVID has prompted him to amuse himself so he has bought a flash camera and a monster lens and has been taking some absolutely amazing wildlife shots. As you can see from his photos below, he has some serious skill and my little phone camera really doesn’t cut it.

I put him in a headlock (metaphorically) and got some photography lessons from him, so my photos may improve. Anyway, the next thing on the list of things that he had organised for us was a safari at the Yala National Park. Moving on from the elephant centre we kept going to our accommodation for the night, Ruwan had us booked into a safari lodge. This involved a really dodgy night roughing it in a tent in the middle of the jungle. I posted the photos on Facebook and everyone questioned my description suggesting that it was more “Glamping” than roughing it. Anyway you can make up your own mind on just how tough we did it.

As you can see from the photos above it was a hardship roughing it in the jungle at a safari lodge (Mahoora).

Yala National Park

The next morning it was up at 5 am where we met our Safari Jeep and headed out for the first entry into the Yala National Park.

Yala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and became a national park in 1938.

Ironically, the park was initially used as a hunting ground for the elite under British rule.

Yala is made up of 130,000 hectares of land which combines a strict nature reserve with a national park. It is divided into 5 blocks (2 of which are accessible to the public) consisting of light forests, scrubs, grasslands, tanks and lagoons. It is home to 44 varieties of mammal and 215 bird species.

Among its more famous residents are the world’s biggest concentration of leopards, elephants, sloth bears, sambars, jackals, spotted deer, peacocks, and crocodiles. Pretty much all of which we got to see (with the exception of the sloth bears).

Of particular interest was an up close and personal experience with a bull elephant. While perched high in our jeep the elephant came out of the jungle and took exception to our presence. So it walked over to the jeep and head butted the car trying to push it over, while we were sitting in the back of it.

While zipping along we got word of a leopard, and turned and chased it. We got lucky and caught the last minute before it disappeared back into the jungle. In case you were wondering…it was a boy leopard.

Tourist Prices

This was a bugbear for me last time we were here in Sri Lanka and it remains one today. Almost everywhere you go in the world, there are two pricing scales, one for the locals and one for the tourists. This we are used to and have come to expect and in some cases even embraced. But Sri Lanka takes this concept too far.

They did last time and continue to do so to this day. Originally the open gouging of tourists was confined to the tourist sights run by the government but now this has grown to be common practice throughout the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.

I guess that this was a little more evident this time around as we were travelling with locals everywhere we went. On our original visit I was complaining that our Sigiriya trip would cost a local 40 rupees to get in but would cost us 3900 and Polonnaruwa was 50 for a local and 3250 for the foreigner.

So our accommodation cost was organised by Ruwan (he got it for 7,000 but the cheapest we could do online was 12,000) this translates to the difference between $35 and $60 for the night’s accommodation. We had the BBQ dinner at the safari lodge and the cost for Ruwan and Dilani was 700 rupees ($3.50) while the price for us was $US22 (7,100 rupees). We sat at the same table and ate the same food. Below is a list of some of these differences that you may be subjected to.

Item	Local Price	Foreigner Price
Sigiriya	100	9,700
Polonnaruwa	free	8,100
Lotus Tower	500	6,500
Yala National Park	970	14,000
Udawalawe National Park	150	9500
Elephant Transit Centre	115	1900

Sri Lankan Food

Sri Lankan food is amazing and made even better because Dilani was a spectacularly good cook. The range and variety of local foods was fantastic (albeit that she toned the spiciness level down for Jill). Mudcrabs, prawns, dahl, veggies, curries, string hoppers, accompaniments. Really how could anybody ever complain at feasting on a wide variety of yummy food every night.

The last stop that we made was at a local stall on the side of the road where we got fresh curds with treacle (or local honey in our case). Eaten in a clay pot with a banana leaf shard as our spoon.

Once again we have visited and loved Sri Lanka. We are already talking about when we can come back. Add to that the proximity to the Maldives, this may become a regular holiday run.

UAE

Dubai

September 19, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Dubai is thought to have been established in the 18th century as a fishing village, however ceramics dating back to the 3rd and 4th century, have been found in the area. In 1822, a British naval surveyor noted that Dubai was populated with a thousand people living in an oval-shaped town surrounded by a mud wall, scattered with goats and camels.

Dubai is a constitutional monarchy that has been ruled by the Al Maktoum family since 1833. In 1901 it was established as a free port with no taxation on imports or exports and also gave merchants parcels of land and guarantees of protection and tolerance. In the 1950s an airport was built on the salt flats and the first hotel sprung up in 1959. And in 1966 oil was discovered which prompted a construction boom that brought an influx of foreign workers, boosting the population by 300% in 7 years.

But they knew that the oil reserve was limited when oil revenue started to flow in 1969 one of the first projects was to establish deep water free port.

This was the first of a heap of projects designed to create a modern trading infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.

After many conflicts in the Middle East Dubai kept its focus on free trade and tourism. but it was not until after the Gulf War that this started to be realised.

In the 1980s and 1990’s the city took a strategic decision to become a leading international tourism destination. This stalled for a while with all of the conflict in the Middle East but after the Gulf War, everything really took off. With massive investment in advanced infrastructure and the completion of incredible projects with unmatched speed and scale, the city has become one of the most futuristic cities in the world.

It has quickly become a city with the world’s tallest building, richest horse race, tallest choreographed fountains, largest man-made island, most luxurious seven-star hotel and the most visited mall. It has the second most five star hotels (behind London). And ours was one of them. And importantly, we scored yet another room upgrade.

Dubai has been a centre for regional and international trade since the early 20th century, but oil only made up 1% of Dubai’s GDP. Its economy now relies on revenues from trade, tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. The real estate boom has seen some of the most fantastic marina and land reclamation developments ever conceived. So much so it needed a google earth capture to show it properly.

Most importantly, I got to catch up with yet another old rugby buddy (Dave) who had set up camp with his wife (Emma) and kids in Dubai.

Getting their take on life in Dubai was truly fascinating.

Our evening involved a fantastic catch-up over some of the most expensive beers that we have had since being in Iceland. We had dodged the booze throughout the Middle East until now because the pricing was ridiculous. But a couple with an old mate seemed obligatory.

The transport system is huge (however mostly still for vehicles). That said, there is a metro system in place for the downtown area and a bus system connecting the major hubs. We used the Metro to head to the Dubai Mall and Burj Kalifa and found out a few interesting things in our travels.

The Metro is largely used by the lower paid workers:

these tend to be mainly South Asian or African
their jobs tend to be more physical in nature
their jobs tend to be more exposed to the elements

These factors combine violently (particularly in an Olfactory sense) especially in combined spaces. As cool, cheap and air conditioned as the Metro is, there is another price that needs to be paid.

The fun thing about the metro is that you go past the car yard section of town. So from perched high on your train you get to look down on more supercars than you can count as you whizz past.

But in the grand scheme of things, Dubai is a city of roads, traffic jams and skyscrapers.

The real estate boom has led to the construction of some of the tallest skyscrapers and the largest building projects in the world. Some of these include:

But of course, the big show in town is the Burj Khalifa. This is the worlds tallest building. It is an 830m-tall (163 storey) skyscraper that dominates a skyline that is filled with skyscrapers.

According to Guinness World Records. It takes 2,909 stairs to get to level 160, and ladders are used for the last three floors

We did get a recommendation (thanks KAT) to have the afternoon tea on the 152nd floor of the Burj Khalifa. He did warn that it was expensive, so we looked into it. For Jill and I to have tea and tiny cakes with a window seat towards the top of the Burj Khalifa would have set us back $571 Australian. We passed.

At the bottom of the building is the Dubai Fountain. This is the world’s tallest performing fountain. At around 275 meters long the fountain sits on a lake of 30 acres (Burj Lake) and at the appropriate times it performs to a selection of different melodies (from classical to contemporary Arabic and world music). The fountain has five circles (of varying sizes), two arcs (with powerful water nozzles), over 6,600 lights and 25 colour projectors. When operational, the fountain has over 80,000 litres of water in the air at any given moment.

The fountain starts going off at 6 pm and goes off at 30-minute intervals from then through until around 11 pm.

Once the sun goes down the Burj Khalifa chimes in on the 15-minute mark with a bit of a light show of its own just to add to the spectacle. As I’m sure you can imagine, this place is a favourite for the Instagram crowd.

The Burj Al Arab is the world’s only 7-star hotel. It has been built on its own artificial island off the coast.

Interestingly, the cheaper room prices start at a little over $220 a night.

But on closer inspection, the price to simply have a tour and look around (when not staying there) started at over $100 Aussie a head ($170 with a glass of bubbles) and there was an option to have a cappuccino with gold sprinkled on it (cos you need that). Needless to say 7 star luxury does not gel with our backpacker budget and we did not make it here. We did see it several times (through the smog) as we travelled around, but did not enter the building itself.

The beach area is nice, and importantly it is free. Unlike Europe, there was no exorbitant prices for daybeds, no obscene pricing for food and drinks just an accessible outdoor space for people to enjoy. And the vast majority of the people who were there enjoying the beach were Russian. In fact the majority of the people at our hotel, on the streets, and in the restaurants were all Russian. Clearly, there has been a mass exodus of people fleeing the war and setting up camp in Dubai.

I must admit the camel rides up and down the beach did throw us a little. One thing that stood out was Ain Dubai (a big Ferris Wheel thing). It joined a bunch of cities with such structures but being Dubai it had to be bigger than all that had gone before it. Opened in 2021, it operated for 5 months before it was closed for enhancement work. It has been closed ever since (no real explanation).

The Dubai Mall is the world’s largest shopping mall, complete with indoor go karts, cinemas, Olympic sized ice skating rink, Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, trampolining, haunted house, a 150 million year old dinosaur skeleton, and even the National Opera House. Oh there is a shop or two in there too (more than 1200 actually). But my favourite bit of all was the air conditioning.

The Museum of the Future is a stunning building that we flew past on the metro. The museum aims to give an insight as to some possible futures based on imagination, innovation and progress, thereby offering visitors a “glimpse into the limitless possibilities that lie ahead”.

We read the reviews and while the building looked awesome, the experience allegedly fell short, so we passed.

After catching up with Dave and Emma we tried to hop the Metro back to our hotel, but at 10:30 it was too late. The metro had shut down and been locked up. The place was full and bodies were everywhere, but the only cheap transport option had been removed. So we hopped a car to take us back. This blew our price out dramatically and more importantly put us in contact with dodgy transport drivers and shonks. The metro ride was 8 AED each, a ride share would have been 70 AED and the shonk that we got tried to charge us 150 AED. After some choice words (form both Jill and I) he got 100 (mainly because I only had 50’s and he was not going to give any change).

Transport operators, the world over, are typically terrible and are the source of the most rip-offs, and scams of tourists. Having to deal with these has been one of our biggest frustrations and has consistently left us with a sour taste in our mouths. This sort of thing has dramatically tainted our overall views of several cities and countries and is a big factor in whether or not we would ever return.

Look Dubai was not for us, but we did still see the attraction that it could hold. For the same money that you would pay for accommodation (modest) in Europe, you get lavish accommodation here. The beaches are better and the shopping is as good if not better. The sights are amazing (if you like modern urban landscapes) and the attractions are world class.

From a barren desert in the early 1990’s the city has come an incredibly long way and is unrecognisable. It is a perfect example of what can be achieved if you turn your mind (and open your wallet) to something. So the real question is what could seriously be next for a city like Dubai.

Obviously, it is the Downtown Circle.

The Downtown Circle project will seek to establish ” a sustainable and self-sufficient vertical urbanism.” I have no idea what that means but what is proposed is to build a 5-storey high, 550 meter tall mega structure to encircle the Burj Kalifa. The circle will have a three-kilometre circumference and will be composed of two main rings, which are held together by a continuous green belt – the “Skypark”.

The Skypark has been designed to act as a green lung, seeking to replenish the air with oxygen and intends to incorporate a series of activities and research centres. A fleet of suspended peripheral tram-like pods (hanging underneath) have been designed to transport passengers from one node to another in the Downtown circle. The projection is that this will come to pass by around 2040.

So in a very Las Vegas fake kind of way, Dubai has it all. I certainly don’t want to bag the place because it has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, those things (like super shopping malls) are not the sort of things that Jill and I tend to want to seek out.

Oman

September 18, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Oman (officially the Sultanate of Oman) sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia and the UAE (west) and Yemen (southwest), while sharing maritime borders with Iran and Pakistan.

It has a population of a bit under 5.5 million.

The Rub’ al Khali or the Empty Quarter is the desert portion of Oman but also encompasses parts of the UAE, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It is 1,000 kilometres long, and 500 kilometres wide and has sand dunes with heights of up to 250 metres

Our early research had us a little more excited about Oman as at first glance there seemed to be plenty to see and do. We were a little terrified coming into it as our Aussie dollar exchange rate came in at 25 cents. This meant that one of their real was worth $4 for us. Jill put us right in the heart of tourist land.

Our hotel room was not a shadow on our one from Abu Dhabi. It was the width of a bed and this was the door.

As I am a touch taller than Jill, I sconned myself on this door (and others around the hotel) on several occasions.

One of these has given me a gash to the head, concussion and likely brain damage.

The seaside area of Mutrah was to be our home for the next few days. Sadly the room paled in comparison with the luxury that we had in Abu Dhabi but the location was fantastic. Looking straight out of our window we had direct views of (and about a 300 m walk to) the Mutrah Fort.

At the bottom of our hill (250m), we were on the Mutrah Corniche. This is a 3km long promenade along the waterfront, which of course is lined with cafes, restaurants, and markets. You have views of the Oman Port and harbour (including the Sultans Yacht) and the Hajar Mountains with its Portuguese watchtowers on the other side.

Our first task was getting up at 6 am and walking along the Corniche to the fish market and dhow harbour before breakfast. Even the dodgy, smelly fish market was impressive. Stainless steel troughs. mosaic tiled walls and of course the freshest of fish that you could find.

As finding food in the Middle East had proven a touch challenging at times we have taken to getting breakfast included in our hotel. And so far, Oman is winning.

After our breakfast, we climbed the hill, paid our admission and hit the fort. Now this was a first. There was nobody there. We had the entire fort to ourselves for about 30 minutes. We roamed and explored and took our photographs with absolutely nobody else to contend with. When we were finished and were walking out the door, we passed the baton to two German guys who then also had it to themselves. Hitting the bottom though a group of about 10 arrived, so their solitude would have been short lived.

Having finished at the fort we hopped the local bus for a 4-5km ride to the National Museum of Oman.

Along the way you see a bizarre space ship looking thing on the right.

Apparently to celebrate the 20th National Day of Oman in 1990 this monumental incense burner was built on top of a prominent hill at Riyam Park.

Getting off the bus was a bit of a catch all as within a short walk of where the bus drops you off, you have the Museum, the Al Alam Palace (the official palace of the sultan), two Portuguese forts of Al Jalali and Al Mirani and some major government buildings.

But the Museum was first.

The palace was the next obvious place to head as it was only a few hundred meters away in a straight line. But it was also in full sun with no shade and no respite.

The next was the forts, which were basically each side of the palace. Unlike the Mutrah Fort, these were unable to be entered and climbed upon. But they were kind of big enough and obvious enough to get some nice photos.

At this point we had melted. While the actual temperature of Oman is lower than places like Saudi Arabi, the humidity raises the “feels like” factor considerably. While walking around at 1:30 in the afternoon we got our own personal record when we hit the “feels like” temperature of 52 degrees centigrade. We were cooked.

The last stop before running away to hide from the heat was the Muscat Gate Museum.

Having got our gate photos we grabbed drinks (melting) and were waiting the 5 minutes for the bus to arrive. At this point a taxi pulled up and beeped (a common thing-touting for business). But this guy already had a customer. He was already being paid and was going past the Souk (our get off point) and took us for free – just to save us waiting in the sun. Now that was a first.

So after hiding through the afternoon (after showers and attempts to wash the sweat from clothing) we waited for early evening and made our way down the hill to the Mutrah Souk. This is one of the oldest markets in Oman and was right on our doorstep. We had briefly wandered through during the afternoon but it is the evening when the Souk really takes off.

The next day, another amazing breakfast and on a bus back towards town to see the things we had passed on our way in. Stop number one, the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. It was officially opened in 2001 and has become Oman’s most important spiritual site. It was closed on the Sunday that we tried to visit. While we did not get to enter the mosque we still had access to wander the grounds outside and get some happy snaps. The mosque was built to hold 20,000 worshippers and is home to the world’s biggest 1-piece handmade Iranian carpet and the second-largest chandelier in the world.

Directly opposite the grand mosque is the Omani Parliament building. It was built in 2013 and sits on more than 100,000 square metres. It has more than 5 km of facade and the centrepiece is a 64 m clock tower (the highest in Oman) with each of the clocks having a 4.8 metre diameter. The building is known locally as the Majlis Oman.

According to the blurb the Parliament building has been equipped with a range of well-paced spotlights, with modern LED technology and underground lighting fixtures. This means that at night the whole 38-metre high wall is illuminated with a controlled washing effect over almost all of the surface.

The Royal Opera House area which is an event in itself. The building is imposing and our first glimpse of it was in the taxi on the way in (mosque and parliament too), which prompted us to get back here a few days later. It isn’t just the opera house but more of an entire precinct for the arts and cultural pursuits. It is regularly used and has the capacity for 1,000-seat concert and opera theatre. But with 15,000+ square metres, over six levels with three basement floors, it can easily change its configuration to cater to most events.

So Oman is our favourite so far. It is authentic. It has actively resisted the current trend (looking at you UAE) of advancement at all costs and has maintained those things that make it special. There are tons of forts all over the country and deserts and oases worthy of exploring.

UAE

Abu Dhabi

September 13, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Abu Dhabi is both a city and an Emirate and is situated on an island in the Persian Gulf. The annual rainfall for the area is less than 2 inches. The majority of the city is on the island but most of the residents live in suburban districts on the mainland. The city is connected by bridges to the rest of the country.

The Al-Mafraq bridge is a multi-layer interchange bridge and it has 27 lanes which allow roughly 25,000 automobiles to move per hour.

The city was planned in the late 1960’s by a Japanese architect for an expected population of 40,000 (now around 1.5 million). Abu Dhabi has a 2030 plan that seeks to build numerous skyscrapers. It has a number already built and more under construction. There are also, many other skyscrapers over 150 m either proposed or already approved for construction.

Having hopped off the plane we were aiming for our hotel. To get there using a taxi would have been 170, the Uber was 130 and the bus was 8. So the bus it was and we got delivered about 250 meters from our hotel. Upon arrival, we found out that the room that we had booked was fully sold out. So they chose to upgrade us to a suite. And what a lovely suite it was too. No more grotty backpacking for us. We were on the 16th floor of a 19 story, hotel with multiple rooms, a laundry, a kitchenette and just generally an incredibly lovely place to be.

As we drove in on the bus we drove past possibly the most colossal building that we had ever seen. This was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. So the next morning it was back on the bus to check this out properly.

The mosque was started in 1996 and more than 3,000 workers and 38 contracting companies worked over the next decade to build the mosque. It was designed to last and the materials chosen in its construction reflect this. These materials include marble, stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals, and ceramics. Overall it covers over 2.2 hectares and can safely hold 41,000 people. It is the largest mosque in the UAE and the third largest in the world.

We have been to some pretty amazing places over the years and this one is right up there with the best of them. the manicured gardens coupled with the quality of workmanship, inlaid marble, gemstones the whole thing just reminded me of a modern day Taj Mahal, but bigger. Oh and based on the photos above, can you tell the difference between Jill’s phone and mine.

Qasr Al Wasan is the presidential palace of the United Arab Emirates. It was built in 2017 and opened to the public in 2019. It is primarily used for official purposes like hosting foreign leaders and for meetings of the country’s supreme council and federal cabinet.

Yas Island is a purely commercial enterprise here in Abu Dhabi aimed entirely at the tourism market. It is a 25 km² island and one of the largest tourism projects in Abu Dhabi. It is most famous for the Marina Circuit that has held the Formula One Grand Prix since 2009.

But beyond the racing, the Island hosts numerous 5 star hotels, golf course, high end residential developments a huge water park and a Warner bros theme park. Entirely manufactured Yas Island was named the world’s leading tourism project in 2009.

Ferrari World is a mostly indoors theme park based on the famous car brand. It has the world’s fastest roller coaster (Formula Rossa) and the ability (if you meet the criteria) to do fast laps in a Ferrari.

Oh and obviously someone from Abu Dhabi had been to Las Vegas. The ground in certain areas of the city was littered with the business cards of the local hookers.

Something that I first saw in Las Vegas back in the 1990’s (and still occurs today).

Well Abu Dhabi has learned and embraced this too.

Abu Dhabi was ok. Our hotel was fantastic, and the things that we saw were good but most of the tourist things on offer (theme parks and shopping malls) were not really to our tastes. The architecture is amazing and everywhere you look when you are driving around you see fantastic buildings on monumental scales. The city has certainly come a long way from its fishing and pearl diving roots.

Qatar

September 11, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Qatar occupies a peninsula of land (100km wide and 200 km long) that juts into the Arabian Gulf. Since its independence from Britain in 1971, Qatar has emerged as one of the world’s most important producers of oil and gas.

It shares a southern land border with Saudi Arabia and maritime borders with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. Qatar includes several islands the largest of which are, Halul, Shraouh and Al-Asshat.

Before we get into the Doha post a special mention has to go out to the Flynas Airline. This is a Saudi budget airline that actually have their seats set at reasonable distances apart. Jill and I got on the plane and actually had legroom (something that Qantas had done away with decades ago). This was only a short flight (about an hour) but that little bit of extra space made it very comfortable and pleasant.

We were not in business and did not pay extra, they just had their seats set at reasonable intervals. So much so that I had about 3-4 inches of space between my knees and the seat in front. It even meant that when that person reclined, there were no issues. And all of this from a budget airline. Take note Qantas, one or two less rows of seats in a plane greatly increases comfort and customer satisfaction.

Doha

We had transited here once before on our way to Greece, but never made it out of the airport (but we did enjoy the platinum lounge) and got to take some happy snaps around the airport. This time we got off and got to experience the friendliest and most helpful airport (possibly) on the planet. Granted it is not as efficient as places like Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, but it is much more friendly and welcoming.

We were approached (which is all too commonplace at foreign airports) as soon as we had cleared customs and hit the outer terminal. But this time it was not by a tout, a taxi driver or a sim card seller. It was by a paid information officer. He wanted nothing, other than to help us with the smooth transition towards what we wanted. In our case, this was to find the metro and buy tickets to take us to our hotel. He was one of many, was super friendly and super helpful.

The metro was stunning, clean, air-conditioned, cheap, easy to decipher and a pleasure to ride on. I immediately loved Doha. Hopping off the Metro we were still a way from our hotel so we then hopped an Uber to take us the rest of the way. This too was clean, cheap and efficient. Doha was such a refreshing change after Saudi Arabia.

It was hot, seriously hot. We had lost 5 degrees in actual heat (from 44 to 39) but had picked up 60% more humidity. This has the effect of increasing the (feels like) component of the weather.

Souq Waqif ( سوق واقف) is the old marketplace in Doha – dating back to the late 19th to early 20th centuries. It is the Middle Eastern experience that we had been hoping for from the beginning. It is a traditional market selling garments, spices, handicrafts, and souvenirs. It is also full of (overpriced) cafes, restaurants and shisha lounges.

We came early in the afternoon – before it had really opened – so got to experience it before the true bedlam set in (typically around 5 pm). Stunning buildings with narrow alleys and the sights and smells of spices were all amazing. We of course were spotted as tourists and drew the throng of touts offering sightseeing trips.

Fanar Mosque towers above the area of the Souq Waqif and the Corniche. It is unique due to its spiral design. Until 2009 it was the largest mosque in the country but still remains the tallest.

It performs as a mosque and also as the Qatar Islamic Culture Center.

The Corniche is one of Doha’s most iconic attractions. It is basically a seven kilometer stretch of waterfront promenade. It has a crescent shaped walkway around Doha Bay and offers the best views of the skyline (if you can see through the smog). We walked along the Corniche for a while but the almost 40 degree, high humidity day precluded doing the full stretch (obviously).

Dhow Harbour is the area that offers the best views of the city (smog permitting). The thing that we weren’t expecting was the abundance of Dhows. Dhows are the traditional Arabian wooden boats that have been used in the region for centuries. Originally they were used in the fishing and pearl diving industries, but today they are almost solely used for nighttime dinner cruises for tourists.

Our research identified an amazing space ship looking building that ended up being the National Museum of Qatar. So the metro once again got a run for our happy snaps and then an Uber home as it was getting seriously hot by now.

The next thing that I wanted to see was the Pearl. It is one of the largest real-estate developments in the Middle East that sits on 4 square kilometers of reclaimed land. Once fully completed it was expected to create over 32 kilometers of new coastline and increase housing for up to 45,000 residents. We got off the free transfer bus from the metro in the qanat quarter which is a Venice-like community complete with an extensive canal system, pedestrian friendly squares. piazzas and beachfront townhouses.

While we looked at the Qanat quarter we did get to drive past the numerous high-end residential towers and malls that make up the rest of the Pearl Island development. To get a real idea I had to grab one of their promo aerial shots from the tourist website.

Museum of Islamic Art is at one end of the Corniche and obviously holds a collection of historical Islamic Art.

Katara Towers is a seriously bizarre circular style building looking a bit like pincers. It was allegedly inspired by the national emblem of Qatar, which features traditional scimitar swords. I grabbed the first photo from the tourist website just to show the difference that the smog makes in real life.

The Torch is a hotel that stands 300 meters tall beside the Khalifa International Stadium. It was built for the Asian Games in 2006.

Zig Zag Towers is an apartment building in the West Bay Lagoon area. They are the highest and largest residential zig-zag twin towers in the world.

It is also connected to the Lagoona shopping mall. The idea of major shopping malls has been huge throughout the middle east so far. As two people who hate shopping malls our only real entries have been to hide from the extreme heat at times.

Qatar was lovely. We were here at the worst time of year for weather purposes, but if we had picked our timing better, I am certain that we would love this place. The food was great, the people welcoming. The only detraction was the air quality.

Saudi Arabia

September 10, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula and is most famous for its oil and the fact that 85+% of the population worship the ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam.

Because of this there are some fairly strict rules in place, particularly when it comes to dress standards. Local laws require both men and women to dress modestly covering shoulders and knees in public. They should also avoid tight-fitting clothing or clothes with rude language or images.

Most men still tend to wear the traditional Saudi Arabian dress (Thobe) on a daily basis.

This is a long flowing (mainly white) robe and a ghutra (a white or red and white checked headdress, held in place by a double black cord known as an iqal.

For me it meant in extreme heat I had to wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt the whole time.

Since 2019, it is no longer mandatory for female travellers to wear the traditional robe or abaya (a loose-fitting, long robe that covers the entire body save for the face, hands, and feet) and veil. This eased the pressure on Jill to fully cover up (although she had already bought the scarf just in case).

Saudi Arabia is bordered by the Red Sea (west), Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait (north), the Persian Gulf, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (east), Yemen (south), and Oman (southeast). It has the third most valuable natural resource reserves in the world (petroleum and natural gas) making it one of the top twenty economies in the world.

The country is home to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. Mecca is 70 km inland from the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 with a population of around 1.5 million.

The first thing that strikes you about the place is (obviously) the heat. We got off our plane in Riyadh at 3 am to be greeted by 31 degrees. Jill had arranged with the hotel for a driver to pick us up which took away any potential airport drama (specifically the money exchange and taxis) in the middle of the night.

The second thing to hit you is that at that time of the morning the place is busy. Not just the airport, but the whole place. I guess as a symptom of debilitating heat during the day the work pattern has shifted and the evening and early morning hours are where stuff gets done.

Given our early arrival off the flight and 3:45 arrival at the hotel it took another 45 minutes to wind down before we could sleep. We set an alarm for a few hours later so we could get up for breakfast, and then went back to sleep. Avoiding the heat of the day at all costs (in reality everything is quiet during the heat) we hid in our room until after dark before heading out for dinner.

Stepping out of our hotel at 7:15 pm we were punched in the face with a 38 degree hot wind. Clearly, our decision to avoid the afternoon heat had been a good one. A check of temperatures later on when we got home showed that 46 was on the cards but the wind (breeze) kept it down to 44.

Riyadh

Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia and is the main financial hub. It sits on a desert plateau in the centre of the country and is home to almost 7.7 million people. The physical layout was designed and structured to be uniform with 2km x 2km city blocks running along a north/south and east/west axis. Within this grid are more than 4,000 mosques and numerous busy (air-conditioned) shopping centres.

The next thing that hits you is the sheer size of everything. All the roads from the airport to town were a minimum of 3 lanes and up to 8 in parts. Add to this the buildings that you drive past that are all very large and imposing.

Our hotel choice was almost perfect. It was the little cheapie (comparatively) on Olaya Street, directly across the road from the Kingdom Centre (RHS of this picture).

The Kingdom Center is one of the city’s major tourist icons.

It is a 99-storey skyscraper that was built in 2002 making it the tallest building in the country. As you would expect, it has been surpassed several times since then. The building features a 300 meter high sky bridge that connects the 2 towers. And of course, of an evening the lights cycle through a range of colours changing the appearance every 20 seconds or so.

Once you have paid your entrance fee there are two lifts needed to get to the bridge. The first will take you to the 77th floor, and then another to the 99th. Arriving at the 99th floor you immediately come out onto the skybridge with amazing views north and south. And if you are super keen you can lean over and get a photo looking down.

Dinner at the Kingdom Centre was a failure (something that became commonplace in our time in Saudi Arabia) and ended up being an overpriced, bland meal from a shopping centre food court. In fact all of the meals that we had in Saudi Arabia were fails, with the exception of the hotel breakfasts.

We had high hopes for the food but each attempt failed. It was virtually impossible to find a restaurant (other than chain store junk food). Maybe home cooking is the go, maybe we were just in the wrong spot. But our culinary exposure in Saudi Arabia was less than stellar.

The next day we once again hid from the heat of the day, not venturing out until 5 pm. As we walked out of the air-conditioned hotel we were once again hit with 41 degrees while we waited for our Uber to take us to the historical Deira district. The aim of the journey was to visit the Masmak Fort and its museum.

The fort was built in 1865 and is made almost entirely out of wood, straw and mud. The fort is made up of six distinct parts: the gate, the mosque, the majlis (sitting room), the well, the towers and the courtyard.

Just like the building opposite us, after dark they light up the fort in a rotating set of colours too.

Along the way, you do pass some fairly interesting buildings and architecture. Some of these include the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, the National museum, the Al Murabba Palace Museum, and the Al Rajhi Grand mosque. But these tend to all look and feel the same. They are all 2-5 storey, yellowish, sandstone blocks (which seem to be pretty much everywhere in town.

Who would have thought that in the middle of a desert, there would be sand, sandstone and yellow-coloured buildings? The broad, flat, low profile of the buildings probably relates mainly on the base (sand) that they are built upon. This is all very logical and sensible, but in terms of visual appeal, it is all very much the same.

The amazing thing to us was the traffic. With 3-8 lanes of traffic available everywhere, it was almost always in gridlock.

It took us about 40 minutes to travel the 12 km to the fort and about the same to get back. The next day (while hiding from the heat and looking out the window) it was considerably worse (and this was Sunday afternoon).

The car is king here, there is virtually no such thing as public transport (but there is a plan). The “King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport” is underway to develop and deliver a public transport network (metro and buses) that will eventually move 3.6 million passengers daily. The finished product is supposed to have: 6 metro lines (with 84 stations), 180 bus routes (with 2860 stops and 842 buses).

But, today there are no metro lines and only 24 of the proposed 180 bus routes are in operation. There is no cycling (that we have seen) and in the heat, the pedestrian traffic is virtually non-existent. So you drive, take an Uber or taxi or stay put. An all of this in a city of over 7 and a half million people.

Needless to say, this level of automobile use comes with a pollution issue. The place is shrouded in a constant haze. This was a real surprise to me, as I expected clear desert skies and not a constant smog film. This obviously wreaks havoc on our photographs.

At the other end of our little strip of road you will find the Faisaliyah Tower. This and the Kingdom Centre kind of bookend this strip of Riyadh. I have seen them described as the bottle opener (Kingdom Centre) and the Pointy one.

Faisaliyah Tower (also called the star dome) is at the other end of the strip and was the first high-rise built in Saudi Arabia.

The round bit at the top is a three storey, fine dining, restaurant called “The Globe” that offers 360 degree views of the city.

As you would expect, the Globe is one of the most sought-after restaurants in Riyadh, with a price tag to match. The website dictates a minimum consumption of SAR 288 (about $120 aussie) per person. This doesn’t seem ridiculously steep, but when you look at the menu, finding something that cheap may be a challenge. The cheapest tasting menu starts at $170 and the 7 course kicks in at $320, each.

For what is on offer the numbers are not crazy, but sadly they were outside of our budget (photos from their Facebook page).

The edge of the world is the name of the 1,131 m height cliff that lies about 100 km from Riyadh. It sits at the end of the 800 km Tuwaik Mountain range. Given its distance from town, the expense of tours, the warnings about remoteness and the major hike required to get here we did not even entertain going.

The one thing that absolutely disgusted me was the attitude of the Saudis (predominately the men). There was an overwhelming sense of arrogance and entitlement that the rules did not apply to them. We were treated fantastically at every interaction. But we witnessed some of the most atrocious behaviour and treatment of others that we had ever seen.

Example 1: While leaving the country we were waiting in the airport line to check in and get our boarding passes when a 13 (ish) year old Saudi boy was verbally abusing, talking down to and berating a porter (non-Saudi adult). This immediately rubbed me up the wrong way and if he had tried talking to me that way the would have received quite the attitude adjustment.

Example 2: On the plane, we were seated in row 2 directly behind business class. One person was in row 1 (who had clearly paid extra) but the Saudi man (about 50) opposite us berated and was rude to the flight attendants because he was not allowed to sit there. When she explained that the other guy had paid for the privilege this was not a good enough answer and pointed to his outfit and claimed that this should override the lack of paying for the business class seat.

Example 3: On the next flight we were further back the plane when a Saudi Male (about 25) reclined his seat while still at the gate. The flight attendant asked him to put his seat back up and he objected. She pushed the button and sat him upright. As soon as she turned he reclined. She saw this and sat him upright again. This pattern recurred a further 12+ times until she finally just gave up.

Example 4: On every one of these flights, after the don’t use your phones announcement Saudis (both male and female) kept talking on their phones right through the takeoff and landings.

Saudi Arabia itself was okay, but for the most part, we were unable (or unwilling) to get out and about to see the sights due to the heat and poor transportation system. So this meant that much of our time here was spent waiting around the hotel room for a time that was suitable to go out and explore.

In reality, this is probably our failure in not resetting our travel patterns appropriately. The people were lovely to us, but had an overwhelming demeanor that the rules just did not apply to them. While we can now say that we have been and spent some time here, I probably would not put this on the comeback list.

Albania

September 7, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Albania is a nation that shares land borders with Montenegro (northwest), Kosovo (northeast), North Macedonia (east) and Greece (south). There is evidence of habitation in the area since the Neolithic era (around 7000 BCE).

The Albania of today provides universal health care and free education (primary and secondary) to its citizens.

Tirana

Well, this one surprised us. We looked online at the local tourist attractions and the list looked pretty lean. Our time was short but given the list of things to see it had a fair bit of downtime in there too. Once we arrived and started looking we saw much more than we had bargained for.

Add to this that it was listed as a developing country, our experience was very different. It had many of the baselines for a developed nation (footpaths and lighting etc) that we had been missing in many of the last six countries we had been in. Granted, the traffic was a nightmare and the sewerage at times questionable but for the most part this place is extremely civilised and pleasant.

So the main thing on the tourist schedule for Tirana is Skanderbeg Square. This is the main central square in the heart of town. At one end is the National Historical Museum and at the opposite side is the statue of Gjergj Skanderbeg.

This is the third time we had run into Skanderbeg having also seen his statues in Skopje and Pristina.

According to the history books, Skanderbeg’s led a 10,000 strong army that waged war in Ottoman territory. For 25 years, (between 1443 and 1468) they kept winning against consistently larger and better-supplied Ottoman forces.

A war memorial dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo War is present in Skanderbeg Square along with a series of photographs depicting those missing from the conflict.

There is much construction still going on in the city and the thing that is enthusing me is that they are not building boring concrete and glass cubes. The Architects have been to work and are putting together something that may end up being an interesting cityscape.

While there was not huge amounts to see and do, we liked Tirana and would happily come back. Getting around was easy and cheap and the people were mainly friendly. Albania would make for a nice base to launch longer European forays (daytips etc) while not killing the budget.

Tirana represented the end of this phase of our European adventure. We now start heading back to Australia (briefly) but we are doing it the slow way with several stops in the Middle East, Sri Lanka (again) and then into Brisbane via Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.

Montenegro

September 3, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Montenegro is a small country of a bit over 600,000. It is bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina (northwest), Serbia (northeast), Kosovo (east), Albania (southeast), and Croatia and the Adriatic Sea (about 300km) to the southwest.

Podgorica (Подгорица)

Podgorica is the country’s capital and its largest city with about a third (200,000) of the nations population. It is at the crossroads of several historically important routes, near six different rivers (Zeta, Morača, Cijevna, Ribnica, Sitnica and Mareza) close to the Adriatic Sea and on fertile lowlands with a favourable climate. With all of this going for it, as you can imagine, every man and his dog fought over control of the place over the centuries.

Our introduction was brief and a tad onerous. Firstly we came in at a bit after midnight to be greeted by 31 degrees after a 7 hour bus ride that was less than fun. Thankfully our hotel was only 250 meters away and had both cold beer and air conditioning. Also of benefit was that the list of things to see and do in Podgorica was pretty short. There was the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, the Millennium Bridge and Independence square. And that was pretty much it.

So the next day it was 37 degrees and we were off again on what was to be a snappy 2 hour bus ride to the coastal town of Kotor. Sadly this too was an adventure.

After having a 100% full bus (so full in fact that the spotty-faced bus organiser had to stand), we then stopped along the way and picked up a further 8 local people.

They had to pay less than a quarter of what we had paid but being full they also had to stand. In the aisles thereby reducing airflow and adding more bodies, heat and odour to an already uncomfortable bus.

From here we then stopped a few times to pick up and drop off random parcels along the route. This included being parked on the side of the road for 10 minutes waiting for the recipient of one of the parcels to turn up because he was not where he should be. This period was accentuated by sardines for people sweating and dripping in the aisles and on the seats. So after about 50 minutes into our planned 2 hour ride we had travelled around 20 kilometres, in 37 degree heat, and then (go figure) the bus broke down.

At this point, all of the local interlopers who got on the bus and were standing went into rants at the bus driver (as if it was his fault) pushing him and yelling at him. In the meantime the spotty faced organiser (who was the only one who could speak English) ran and hid (imparting absolutely no knowledge of what was going on to the rest of us). After several phone calls by the bus driver we were all offloaded onto the side of the road.

I eventually managed to get furry head (can you tell I am a fan) in a headlock who advised that more busses were on the way to pick us up.

Many of our fellow passengers got the shits and hailed down cars and negotiated lifts.

After about 40 minutes a half-full bus arrived and all of the interlopers (who didn’t have luggage) rushed to the bus taking all the available seats. Some people tried to jam their luggage underneath and then board but by then all the seats were taken by the interlopers and they had to climb under the bus and retrieve their bags. And the rest of us waited.

At least with the ones that scarpered and the interlopers gone, there may be room for us when the bus finally gets here. So after another 40 minutes and almost an hour and a half in the heat, with us sitting by the side of the road, with no shade, our replacement bus arrived and the rest ran swimmingly.

Kotor

After the drama above we found our accommodation (a unit on the 4th floor with no lift) stripped off our sweaty gear, did a load of washing and had well needed and welcome showers. Once the air conditioning did its thing we were ready to head out grab some dinner and see the town.

Kotor is a medieval fortified town that sits on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast with an incredibly pleasant looking harbour. The medieval Old Town of Kotor sits mostly at sea level, on a triangle of land bordered by the sea, a river, and a steep mountain on the third side. In many respects, it is similar to, but much smaller than, Dubrovnik. Something that I haven’t mentioned is that throughout much of this fires had been raging in Greece and the air was getting increasingly smoky and hazy. As Kotor is in a bit of a bowl between valleys the smoke got in but struggled to get out, as did the heat.

And this place is as touristy as all get out.

The main feature of Kotor is the fortified old town with three main entrance gates. The north gate or the River Gate (representing the symbol of beating back the Turkish fleet in the 16th century) was our first entry. As you head through the gates you find yourself in the main square of town facing directly at the Kotor Cathedral or the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon was built on the site of a previous church that was originally put in place in 809, however the current version dates to 1166. A series of earthquakes in the region have variously damaged it over the years.

It was late(ish), hot and we were of ill humour after the day that was, so we found a restaurant on the main square, ordered a cold beer and examined the menu. The prices in Touristville have certainly gone up on what we had been paying the last few weeks. But the food was good and sitting with the cool beer eased the tensions of the day.

On the evening walk home we took some night shots and crashed ready for the heat that was to follow tomorrow.

The next morning saw us entering the Old Town through the south or Gurdic gate. It was built in the 10th century and importantly, was the closest one to where we were staying. Heavily fortified with a wooden drawbridge and a moat (of sorts), it was a pretty cool way to enter the Old Town. The moat was actually the Gurdic Spring. The gate and bastion protect this vital connection to the rest of the world.

The bastion protects a wooden drawbridge with a heavily fortified passage. It was constructed in 1470 and was an essential part of the city’s defensive structure.

From here a set of stairs took you up onto the ramparts and gave you access to wandering along the ancient city walls. Which we took great pleasure in doing. When we climbed the stairs to the ramparts there was an Instagrammer getting photos on one of the outcrops. Having looked at everything and taken our photos they were still perched in the same spot, taking more shots. So Jill walked to the top of the outcrop (right next to her) and took her photos, this action created some very snooty faces.

While wandering the ramparts we hit the western Sea Gate, originating from 1555 (during the Venetian reign). From here we could see the masses of tour groups that were loading up ready to enter the Old Town area.

Having reached the end of the walls we descended the stairs and entered Old Town proper. It really is quite small and is probably only about 3-4 blocks deep before you hit the cliff face and the hike up to the fortress (more about that later). Once in you are greeted by the usual mix of shops cafe’s restaurants and old churches.

The unusual thing in Kotor is an unexplainable attraction to cats. There are hundreds of stray cats all over the place. They are very well looked after by locals and visitors, but they are everywhere. Add to this the abundance of cat stores celebrating their existence through merchandise and of course a cat museum.

The third gate is the quietest of the town’s gates is on the north side, along the Skurda River. A narrow stone bridge connects the gate with the other side of the river. It was built in 1540 in the Renaissance style leaving the main defence on that side as the moat-like river.

One of the biggest symbols of Kotor is the San Giovanni Fortress. It is situated high above the city walls of Kotor’s Old Town and has been perched up there since around the 6th century. During the peak season, you have to pay €8 per person to gain entry to the path.

This has at times been described as the “great wall of Kotor”. It is long (about 4.5 kilometres) and includes a climb of around 1400 stairs (each way) from the old town. Sitting 260 meters above sea level the fortress got its name from the old church that was on the top of the fortress. The wall thickness ranges from 2-12 meters.

On the way to the fortress, the first stop is the church Our Lady of Health. The cult of Our Lady of Health relates to the plague epidemic that killed many people in the Middle Ages.

Cruise ship traffic has been steadily increasing with Kotor listed among the five most visited ports in the western Mediterranean last year.

The other ports included Dubrovnik, Rhodes, Mykonos and Venice.

Thankfully only mid-sized ships or smaller seem to be able to get in.

Budva

Budva was next, it is a small town of just under 20,000 on the Adriatic Sea. Set on the Budva Riviera it is the center of Montenegrin tourism and is known for its well-preserved medieval walled city, beaches and nightlife. The town itself is 2,500 years old, making it one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic coast.

Located in the most prominent part of the Old Town, the Citadel was built in the 15th century. The old town includes the remains of St. Mary’s Church, terraced gates, several squares, and a building of the former army barracks.

The Greeks were the first to colonise the area in the 4th century BC when an Emporium was established on the site of Budva. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans took over. Then in the 6th century, it became part of the Byzantine Empire then the Slavs and Avars (850ish) had a crack. And then the Venetians had it for about 400 years.

The Old Town is tiny compared to those we have been to and anything that was once genuine has been replaced by tourist shops or boutique clothing stores. That said, the old buildings are ok and the people watching is very entertaining.

Once again Jill had fun with an Instagrammer. The blonde in the photo on the right had been standing on the stairs taking photos for at least 5 minutes while others patiently waited.

So Jill decided that she had had enough and went and stood behind her (for way longer than normal) ruining her shot. The woman glared and Jill cared not one bit.

As you can probably tell, by now we have had enough of Instagrammers. Our issue is not with Instagrammers per se, it is the attitude that the rest of the world should change their actions to accommodate them. We are respectful and stay back allowing them to get their photographs. But if you are still standing and monopolising the same spot for an extended period, then you will get one or other of us standing in your way ruining your shot.

Anyway, back to Budva, the place is pretty small and it is virtually 100% set up for the tourist trade. It is trying hard to cash in on the tourism dollar and its proximity to Dubrovnik means that it is getting its fair share of day trippers.

The beaches are the type that Aussies hate, the ones where you have to pay to go on it. This inherently offends my sensibilities. The fact that you can be excluded from a public space just does not sit well with me. The prices for hiring a sunbed were exorbitant. And if you did pay the huge price, you could not bring your own food or drink onto the beach and were basically a captive to the big resorts. Oh, and there was very little sand, just the pebbles and rocks. And of course there were the Instagrammers.

The waterfront area was lovely, but again, it had been developed in a manner that was solely for the tourists. It was full of boats offering day trips, cafes and restaurants. Interestingly here, while the prices were higher than elsewhere they were not silly (unlike the beaches). You could still get a meal, in a lovely environment, without breaking the bank.

Budvar was nice, in a very touristy kind of way. It was more expensive than where we had been lately, but not so ridiculous that it was unreasonable. We were glad that we came towards the back end of the tourist season as in mid-season I could imagine it would be like Dubrovnik.

Kosovo

Kossovo

August 31, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Kosovo lies landlocked in the centre of the Balkans, With a population under 2 million. It is bordered by Serbia (north and east), North Macedonia (southeast), Albania (southwest), and Montenegro to the west.

Its capital and largest city is Pristina.

In about 1950 the Serbian/Albanian population mix in Kosovo was about 50/50, today it is 5/95. Kosovo is the newest country, having declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. The day of that declaration it unveiled the newborn monument. At the unveiling the monument was signed by the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo, followed by 150,000 citizens celebrating their independence.

By the time we had arrived the shine and gloss may have worn off the idea of being a sovereign nation for some. Somebody had come in late at night and moved the letters around so that it now read No New BR with the words broken republic printed an the letters.

The earliest historians can trace back evidence of settlement in Kosovo to the stone age. There are indications that cave dwellings might have existed, such as Radivojce Cave (Drin River), Grnčar Cave (near Viti) municipality and the Dema and Karamakaz Caves near Peja.

The strategic position of the nation coupled with the abundant natural resources has made the area favorable for the development of human settlements throughout history. There are hundreds of archaeological sites identified throughout Kosovo.

Pristina

Pristina is the capital and it is a safe and easy place to travel in and around. There are not a lot of attractions and activities to see and enjoy but the ones they have are ok. The public transportation is frequent, cheap and reliable with majority of buses air conditioned.

As we came in fairly late in the afternoon and there was not too much to see and do in town we decided to cool off in our hotel before heading out to dinner. We picked a local Italian joint nearby. This was our first introduction to just how cheap this place was. I ordered a pasta and a small (22cm) pepperoni pizza while Jill just had a Margarita pizza. And these were washed down by two beers each. Total bill was 13.80 euros which is $23.17 aussie. $23 for two pizzas, 4 beers and a pasta. That is just crazy.

The next morning we were up, breakfasted and on the bus to town to see the sights. The bus fare was 50 cents for a one way or 80 cents for a 24 hour ticket for as many trips as you wanted. We rode the bus getting off on Bill Clinton Boulevard near the statue of Bill Clinton. This was done to thank former U.S. President for his help during their struggle with the government of Yugoslavia.

From here we wandered up the hill towards the Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa. It was opened in 2010 on the anniversary of her death. This is about the 4th country in a row that is claiming a great affinity to Mother Teresa. She was born in Skopje (hence their claim) of Kosovar/Albanian descent (that’s them covered) but she took off at 18 and was never seen again in this part of the world. So the attempts to claim her throughout the Balkans seems a bit of mystery.

From here, the road was blocked off for a festival leading its way down to the park and the incredibly odd and controversial National Library of Pristina. The current building began in 1982 and consists of a total 99 domes of different sizes and is entirely covered in a metal fishing net. It has been described by many as the ugliest building in the world.

After this you find yourself at a long pedestrian mall, full of the usual shops, businesses, statues, restaurants and cafes. Nothing really to see and tourism hasn’t really kicked in yet. But it is neat and attractive and a pleasant place to stroll.

Following the end of the Kosovo conflict in 1999 and no longer under Serbian rule, Kosovo Albanians in 2001 erected a monument within the centre of Pristina to Skanderbeg. He was a medieval Albanian who fought against Ottoman forces in the 1400’s.

HEROINAT is a statue opposite the Newborn statue that depicts the face of a typical Albanian woman using 20,000 pins.

Each pin represents a woman raped during the Kosovo War from 1998 to 1999. The pins are at different heights, creating a portrait in relief.

That pretty much did it for Pristina. There were a few mosques around the traps, the odd statue and a church. We did find one local beer and managed to sample another couple of new ones but they were from elsewhere.

North Macedonia

August 27, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

North Macedonia is a landlocked country of a little under 2 million in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Kosovo (northwest), Serbia (north), Bulgaria (east), Greece (south) and Albania to the west.

The thing I could not wrap my head around was why North Macedonia when there was no south, east or west Macedonia. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that the ancient civilisation of Macedonia occupied an area that include areas of Macedonia and northern Greece and Bulgaria. While Bulgaria could deal with this, Greece took another 15 years to finally come to the party.

Skopje

Skopje (pronounced Scorpia) is the capital and largest city that houses a quarter of the country’s population. It only became the capital of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991 when the nation declared independence after spending centuries under the rule of the Roman, Byzantine, Serbian, and Ottoman Empires and Yugoslavia.

By way of background, the city of Skopje was pretty much levelled by an earthquake in 1963 which took out about 80% of the city and killed over a thousand people.

This included most of the neoclassical buildings in the central part of Skopje. When they rebuilt they did so quickly and with ugly modern buildings. After independence the former Macedonian government implemented a program of redevelopment (Skopje 2014) aimed to make the city more attractive to tourists. The program has been the most controversial issue in recent Macedonian politics and the most divisive question among the citizens of Skopje.

The plan involved the construction of around 20 buildings (colleges, museums and government buildings) and the erection of over 40 monuments and countless statues. By the end over 100 sculptures, 34 monuments, 27 buildings, 6 garages, 5 squares, and 1 triumphal gate, were built. Add to this numerous other things like fountains, small squares, and candelabra, while at the same time12 parks and green corners had been ruined (the local’s view).

It was originally costed and claimed to be worth 80 million euro but ended up reaching nearly 640 million.

Overlooking the entire city is the Millennium Cross. It is a 66-meter tall cross, built on top Vodno Mountain. It can be seen from almost everywhere in town.

It was built in 2002 to commemorate 2,000 years of Christianity in Macedonia.

It is not very attractive and is basically just a massive scaffold with lights stuck on it perched on top of the hill.

Skopje Statues

So as part of the redevelopment, there was a push to build statues (and rewrite a bit of Macedonian history along the way). When it comes to how many statues there are in Skopje, nobody really knows, it’s thought they built 136 in a 5 year period. If there’s one thing that is certain is that they are everywhere. They are on every street corner and in every square and at times it seems like there are more statues than people.

The decision to spend so much money on statues infuriated a lot of the local residents as they felt the money would have been better spent on infrastructure, say building a metro or tram system. But the Macedonian government wanted to make a statement. They wanted to announce themselves on the world stage.

Not only did the project reduce green space by over half, it reinterpreted history based and glorified some dubious personalities from the history, while perpetuating a false history or mythology, and neglecting or twisting facts proven through scientific methods.

Background set, we arrived mid afternoon on the bus from Bulgaria and were met by our accommodation dude. Our accommodation was a (40 euro a night) two-bedroom apartment, a short walk to the heart of town and close to all of the attractions.

It had everything that you would need and importantly for us, it had a washing machine. So our first order of business was to attend to the domestic basics. This was simple in Asia as washing services were about a dollar a kilo and the shops were everywhere. In America and Canada, laundromats were pretty common, but in Europe, we had been paying big money for really poor washing services (with the exception of Germany when we stole my cousin’s machine). Honestly, apart from an awesome washing experience in Greece (Paros), mostly our clothes have been coming back to us unclean and in worse states than we submitted them.

Once that was done, we had to arrange our bus ticket out of here a few days later. As we have kept going east, we have long since left behind the luxury of trains. So too have we left behind much of the efficiency of online booking and often even the use of card payment. So we physically walked (back) to the bus station and went to the window to buy our ticket (in cash). On the up side, as we have moved easterly the prices have been steadily dropping. So our trip to Pristina (Kosovo) was only going to cost both of us $30.

With all of that dealt with it was time to go exploring. Oh my god, I am in love with this place already. Our first introduction was to find our way to the water and take in the bridges.

From where we were the first bridge we came across was the Mother Theresa Bridge. A vehicle bridge near the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, with some very cool lanterns and lights.

It was built in 1963 after the earthquake but was revamped in 2011 with the addition of new railings (painted in gold) with decorative candelabras.

Next in line was the Bridge of Art which is a pedestrian bridge that features statues of noted Macedonian artists and musicians.

The bridge includes 29 sculptures, with 14 at each side and one in the centre.

Next was the Bridge of Civilisations (formerly the Eye Bridge), this one has more statue representations of historic figures whose life’s work has left a mark on this region.

As you do the walk along the river there are a couple of fixed buildings shaped to look like boats. One was derelict while the other seemed to be operating as a cafe or restaurant.

The stone bridge (also known as the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II Bridge – as it was built under his patronage) is an old (built between 1451 and 1469) pedestrian bridge built on 10 arches that span across the Vardar river connecting Square Macedonia and the Old Bazaar area. It dates back to the the Ottoman period and is considered a symbol of Skopje and is the main element of the coat of arms of the city.

The Lion Bridge (Goce Delchev) is the last of the bridges in the main part of town. It is another vehicle bridge. Unsurprisingly, it has very large lion statues on it.

The lion sculptures stand five metres in tall and weigh five tons each.

Macedonia Square is the centrepiece of the new city. It is the biggest in North Macedonia taking up almost two hectares right in the heart of town. While the grand plan was to pull more tourists to town, the square and waterfront is a perfect conduit to achieve this. Apart from the sculptures there are places to shop, restaurants to eat and cafes to have a drink in the square. Sadly they have also included multiple casinos and gambling establishments.

The centrepiece of the of the square is a a giant statue titled ‘The Great Warrior’ which is so very overtly a statue of Alexander the Great but the name was changed to avoid conflict with Greece over history. Standing at 22 metres, or eight storeys high, the statue dwarfs its surroundings.

Porta Macedonia is a memorial arch leading to the main square that was built in 2012.

The arch is 21 meters tall and is dedicated to 20 years of Macedonian independence. Its outer surface is covered in 193 m² of marble carvings that depict scenes from the history of Macedonia.

We broke one of our major rules and had dinner in the heart of the tourist area. In fact, we did it on the main square, overlooking the Alexander the Great statue. Usually, this rule is in force due to extortionate prices and poor quality. We have been smashed before by extortionate pricing, (notably in places like Milan, Paris and Rome) hence the rule. The rule typically extends to include airports, bus and train stations too.

But in this case, we were astounded. The food was amazing and the cost was very manageable, in fact, cheap even.

The next morning we were up early to do the rest of the tourist hop (as the projected temperature was again in the high 30s). On the first day we did not cross the river but merely wandered along it and checked out the square. This is when we got most of the statue photos and where we got to take in the buildings along the riverfront.

So the first major stop was at the Opera and Ballet house with an absolutely bizarre set of statues and Greek columns outside of a chunky Russian styled block, with an angular chunk behind it, next to a round lump that is the opera house. The whole thing was totally out there and a little difficult to understand.

The Archeology Museum sits at the end of the Art Bridge. Inside you can see about 7,000 historical artifacts from the Ancient, Medieval and Ottoman Periods.

On the opposite side of the stone bridge, you find another huge statue. In fact, at 28.5 meters tall it is bigger than the Alexander the Great Statue in the main square. This one is of Philip of Macedon (who was Alexander the Great’s father), however, it is officially the Founder of Heraclea Statue (name change to avoid conflict with Greece). It is a 3 tier number with Philip at the top.

Carsija is the Old Skopje Bazaar dates back to the twelfth century and is over the Stone Bridge on the left side of Vardar. This is the old part of the city where the original narrow cobblestone streets take you past inns, baths, mosques and tombs from the Ottoman era. Sadly, much like the new bit this too is being corrupted and much of the old world charm is being lost to commercial uniformity.

Kale Fortress sits on the highest point in the (old) city overlooking the river. The first fortress was built in the 6th century AD and is believed to have been further developed during the 10th and 11th centuries. Interestingly, it is totally free. As was everything else we had seen through the two days of exploring.

Add to the Old Town area the buildings, the mosque, the carvings, and the fountains. There really is a ton to see here. Very little of it is real or authentic, but there is a lot of it.

On the way out of Old Town we came across something that I thought had died out decades ago. A dude running the 3 card scam.

Jill tried to get a photo but he got really pissed. Thankfully her super zoom on the phone allowed her to get far enough away to catch a couple of shots, but he was very keen not to be photographed doing his thing.

Mother Teresa House was built in her memory, there are many photographs and belongings about her childhood and life that started in Skopje in 1910.

The Church of St. Constantine and Helena is a 30-metre tall church covered in white travertine limestone. It was meant to have been built on the main square but in the name of religious equity, it had to be moved to off square so as not to offend the country’s large Albanian Muslim minority.

This post has been huge and has been hard work. This place has so much to see and do that it really needed all of this space and I am certain that I have undercooked the writeup entirely. Yes, it is mostly all new and yes it is largely manufactured and at least a little fake, but long story short, I loved this place. It had a great feel about it, was cheap as chips and is somewhere you could easily spend a relaxing month just pottering about or day-tripping to nearby places.

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