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2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"

a travel blog by Kennyboy12

This trip is pretty much one month, 4 countries, no plans.
I'll be visiting: Thailand, India, Egypt & Japan.

---
Trip turned out to be ~

THAILAND
--------
Bangkok
Damnoen Saduak

INDIA
------
Kolkata
Varanasi
New Delhi
Agra

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
--------------------
Dubai (Overnight stop. 25 hours in the airport...)

QATAR
-----
Doha (another 7 hours in this airport after leaving Dubai.)

EGYPT
-----
Cairo
Baharyia Oasis
Luxor

UZBEKISTAN
----------
Tashkent (60 min in this country!)

SOUTH KOREA
-----------
Seoul (3 hours in this airport.)

JAPAN
------
Misawa
Tokyo
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Day 17 - Best day ever - (7/4/2009)

Cairo, Egypt

So yesterday morning I paid 120 Egyptian pounds which was like 21 U.S. dollars or so for a private driver to a few main areas outside of Cairo. Later that day the manager of my hotel said there will be another couple joining me and asked if that would be ok. I said ya no problem so he cut my price in half so j only paid 60 Egyptian pounds. And so this morning I woke up had a simple but wonderful breakfast and met the other two who would be joining me on this journey. Their names were Ronni and Val. Ok so Ronni looked up what we paid for and found out that people pay quite a few hundred bucks for a tour lime the one we had for only like 10USD. omg I can't even begin to explain how awesome we ha it today. So first of all we had a driver the whole time who would wait for us at each stop. He drove us to saqqara where the very fort pyramid ever built is (the step pyramid), ancient Memphis and finally to the pyramids. So we had to pay the entrance fee but the what we saved in having this driver was just amazing. Now after two stops, an ancient graveyard and the sackara pyramid we were getting hungry so he brought us to a friend of his. (this was prolly planned case later they sold us a camel ride) well we arrived at the frieds houseD saw his horses the we had lunch, for free. After lunch our new host explained the layout of the pyramids and was trying to sell us a guided horse or camel tour. In the end we decided to take the camel tour around the pyramids. It was 190 pounds and the host let us pay him when we got back, he actually had a good vibe about him overall. Now the camel ride tonthe pyramids... This part was sketch cause we enters the whole area in a back way and every security officer that approached us.... Our guide would hand his a little cash and we would be on our way. It was pretty badass cause there was NO ONE else out there. No one at all just Ronny, Val, me and out two kid guide. We got a panoramic shot of the three main pyramids the we rode right up to the base of the pyramids I climbed up several feet and had my picture taken. Actually we all took a lot of pictures. It was incredable.so far we've been riding around fir an hour and a half and now we head down to the sphinx. This is where all the tourist were. We get off our camels and visit the sphinx the head back to the house and to our driver. There was some money issues that was kind of annoying but not worth mentioning cause overall all three of us were so happy we did this. I must say it was quite the deal. After this it was like 4pm and we went back to the hotel. I mentioned I'm thinking of taking the oasis trip with my hot and mentioned what I knew. We three talked about the possible trip and try decided to try and make it also. We decided to have dinner together later that day so we'd talk about it then and see how things will work out. Before dinner our driver took my to Islamic Cairo, just a quick drive through so I could take some pictures. We got back to the hotel and 30 min later around 6:15pm Ronny, Val and I went out to eat. We decided to go on the oasis trip, and together make our way to Luxor to spend a night or two there then we'd part our ways since I was heading to Sinai and theybwere heading more south. After dinner we head to a bar for a couple drinks and sheesha. We each had three beers but the waiter tried to say we each had four... Long story short I got out of my seat and argued wkththe waiter till be dropped the price. We didn't tip. We got back to the hotel and tried to purchase three tickets to luxur but the sight was trippin out. So we'll do that tomorrow. All in all, today I made a couple good friends, got an unheard of deal for touring the outskirts of cairo, climbed a pyramid, paid of the police, rode a camel, took some great pictures of Islamic Cairo, smoked sheesha, drunkenly foughtt a waiter, and now about to go to bed. Tomorrow I sleep in and later Ronny, Val and I head to Coptic Cairo. Egypt is amazing. I love of so much I just wish I could have writtinf about my day a letter better. Hopefully you still get the feeling of how amazing today was. ash I love it.
K.
Goodnight :)

permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 4, 2009 from Cairo, Egypt
from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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Qasr al Farafirah, Egypt



permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 6, 2009 from Qasr al Farafirah, Egypt
from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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Days 18, 19 & 20 - Yupp- (7/5-7/2009)

Cairo, Egypt

So I went back to re-read what I had written about on my last blog, and all I can say is...wtf..haha. Maybe I did have 4...They were pretty big bottles too. I think one bottle was about two.
ok on to what I've been up to the past few days.
this is what's been up.
-07.05.2009-
Today everyone slept in since yesterday was quite the day. Val came and woke me up around 11:00am to tell me that Ronny had gotten really sick so they had to pass on going to the oasis. Later that afternoon Ronny was resting so Val and I headed out to get our plane tickets to Luxor. After walking around trying to find a place that accepted credit cards, we found a place that was too cheap to pass up and so we paid with the cash we had left. So now we have three tickets to
Luxor for the 8th. After getting the tickets Val and I went out to get some dinner which was really good, but the waiter tried charging us for two fish dishes... I only had one.. What is up with Egypt trying to charge us for more then we actually got... ANYWAYS, after that Val needed to get some crackers and pop for Ronny the she and I went to a little outdoor cafe and had some sheesha and chatted. That was pretty much that whole day.
-07.06.2009-
This morning I woke up around 6:30am, the hotel brought my breakfast to my room :) and I packed up to head out on my oasis tour. I left my bag and backpack with Ronny and Val and check out so I wouldn't have to pay for a room I wasn't using (don't worry, I grabbed all my plane tickets and valuables before leaving my bags with strangers). then the hotel driver brought me to the bus station and helped me on my way. In Bahariya my guide met me and and also the 4 others in my group. Four Japanese guys, and one Malaysian guy who joined us last minute. So now us 6 are eating a lunch and soon meet up with a couple from Argentina and off we all go in two jeeps to the black desert. This place was wicked awesome, and we all climbed this huuge mountain to take a photo of the land. After the Black Desert we stopped at a few photo op places and then stopped at a sand dune to mess around and take more pictures and yea. Next we went to Crystal Mountain which is exactly what it's name implies... It was like one giant crystal crystals were everywhere! Then we made it to the white desert and yes it was totally white. We stopped here and took more pictures and messed around then about 30 min further into this part of the desert our jeeps stopped and our two drivers and cook set up camp. The camp was badass. They used the two jeeps as walls making a corner, and set up carpets on posts and rope then hung a couple lights from a rope above it, and made fire. They then put down blankets and mats and two tables and began cooking up a delicious meal. All of us just walked around and took pictures and pretty much just chilled and gazed at the out of this world land that was all around us. After dark dinner was ready so we ate egytpian soup, a vegetable salad, rice, a chicken breast, and egyptian bread and another type of soup. About 20 min into dinner little coyotes started to walk up so we tossed some chicken for them and took a lot of pictures. After dinner we all found a place on the sand to sleep. Our guides handed out a thin mattress and a few blankets and so I pretty much fell asleep in the middle of the desert, 200 miles away from Cairo, listening to deathcab for cutie, under the stars, with a full moon, and absolute silence (I didn't use my blanket cause it wasn't the slightest bit cold.)
-07.07.2009-
This morning, around 6:30am we all woke up, our cook made breakfast, hard boiled eggs and Egyptian bread with jam and cheese and we raced back to the village to catch our bus back to Cairo which is when i realized i lost my glasses back at the hotel where we all met up.... The Asians and I parted ways with the couple from Argentina, and made it back to Cairo where we were let off at the wrong bus station. At this station the Japanese guys and I parted ways with the Malaysian dude and made our way back to the correct part of Cairo where then we parted our ways and I found my way back to my hotel. Then i had the hotel manager call the oasis hotel and ask for my glasses so hopefully someone will bring it with them when they head back to Cairo... I hope... So now I've been chillin' in my room and ready to leave Cairo for Luxor. Oh I also realized my bank fucked up again and started adding and removing money without any notifications...and so now I have roughly 100 dollars less than i expected... dammit... well I may have to skip Mount Sinai... fuck.
Ok well my hour is almost up for internet so i gotta go!
byee.

permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 7, 2009 from Cairo, Egypt
from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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Day 21

Luxor, Egypt

So today Ronny, Val and I LEAVE CAIRO.
We arrived in Luxor around 7:00pm and so far it's been waay better than Cairo.
Not much really happened today but I did lose my iPhone at the airport....
When i went through seccurity I put my wallet and stuff (like my iPhone) in the mesh pocket of my bag but after security i grabbed everything but my phone.... then i CHECKED that bag cause i could only have one carry one... so now im at the gate freaking out and tell the ticket agent about my situation and he kinda blows me off but i didn't lay off untill he started to do something. He took my name, made some calls, then walked off. After about 30 min of waiting at the gate and freaking out he finally comes back from with my phone in his hand. omg i was so relieved...
oh, also this morning i got a message from the front desk of my hotel saying they found my glasses! so i asked if they could bring it back to the hotel whenever sometime before July 14 and email me when it gets there so i hope they pull through. omg i can't beliefe im forgetting stuff left and right bah.
I'm leaving out a lot of details about today because this computer is hella slow and not keeping up with my typing and its just wasting my time and im getting really annoyed with this crappy machine so im going to end this blog here.
byee

permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 8, 2009 from Luxor, Egypt
from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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Al Ghardaqah, Egypt



permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 10, 2009 from Al Ghardaqah, Egypt
from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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As Suways, Egypt



permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 11, 2009 from As Suways, Egypt
from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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Day 22, 23 & 24 - RETURN OF MY GLASSES - 7/9-11/2009

Cairo, Egypt

Ok, so what have I been up to these past few days...?
I can't really recall what exactly happened on which days but here is a synopsis of the three.
Ronny, Vall and I hired a driver to take us to the west bank in Luxor to see the temples. We went to four and during this time met the funniest guy ever. He wanted to show us a mummy but apparently it was a secret and behind the fence so he was all hush hush. we followed him not expecting to tip him anything but lone behold there was a body behind this wall. Anyways, we continued to follow chef as he called himself and with his broken, very broken, English, he told us the history of the temple. Apparently there was a man named Ramon who "cut" everything. You had to have been there to know how funny this was. It was soo funny that after he was finished with his little tour we decided to tip him. Then he wanted a pen for one of his kids (this is when we noticed everyone wanting a pen from us...) we three walked around luxor in search for a pool and we found one on the roof of a hotel. it only cost us 25 pounds each but it was worth it. after the pool and a stella, we went out to eat at The Taste of India. wait, the Taste of India was the very first night we were there and the West Bank tour and the pool was the second day, the evening of the second day July 9th, we decided to hit up an Irish pub... This place was ridiculous, hecka funny, but still retarded. So the only beers they had were the three Egyptian beers, Stella, Sakara, another type of Stella, and a Luxor something beer. They had Guinness on tap, but no Guinness... So that on top of an all Egyptian crew, and DJ who was was always off beat did not make for a good time. after a couple beers we left and went to another place which had a stronger beer. when finished we walked back to our hotel where i played soccer out front in the street with some random kids. the next morning , July 10th, we went out to explore the East Bank of luxor, the side we were staying on. We walked around and saw the Luxor Temple and then looked for tour guides that could give the best deal on a cruise to Aswan for Ronny and Vall. Before all that actually I tried to get a train ticket that evening back to Cairo because i called my hotel back there and they said THEY HAD MY GLASSES!!! So yea, i had to get back ASAP. I still can't believe my glasses traveled 200 miles back to me! at the train station all tickets were sold and i would have to wait till the morning of the next day to purchase the 10pm train tickets to cairo... no good, so i went back to my hotel and they easily got me my bus tickets and a driver to get me to the bus station. I Left Ronny and Val in Luxor at 6:00pm and by 7:00pm I was on a bus back to Cairo. 12 HOURS later I arrive in Cairo and hurry back to the hotel where my glasses were waiting for me :) they didn't have any vacant rooms so i hung out in the reception area for 5 hours, until someone check out which was around 11:30, and I got my room. So its July 11th, and I'm just relaxing and waiting for my flight tomorrow.
Egypt has so much to offer and i've missed out on so much i really do need to come back.

The four questions I'm going to miss the most are...

  • Taxi?

  • chariot?

  • felucca?

  • pen?


    • The Phrases I'm going to miss are...
  • Nice/Lovely Tatoo (said to Val every two seconds)

  • Very cheap price just 5 pounds!

  • "Where you from?" [America] "OH, OBAMA!" [yeaaa...] "TAXI?" [no] "Why not!? Very good price!" [like free?? NO] "OBAMA!"

  • Walk like an Egyptian!


    • Well looking back I really enjoyed Egypt, not necessarily the random kid who ran up, hugged my waste and then kissed my belly, or the waiters trying to charged us for more than we ordered, or the high prices given to tourists, or the lack of ability Egyptians have for standing in a line... But I'm going to miss all the taxi, chariot and felucca drivers I messed with, playing soccer with the kids, all the friendly people, how the average Egyptian smiles like 20 times more than the average Indian, and how somehow, anything i lose ends up back in my possession!
    It's now 9:20pm my last night in Egypt and I'm going to bed.
    Tomorrow is my birthday :) and if everything goes smoothly..God I hope everything goes smoothly, I'll be spending it in Egypt, Uzbekistan, South Korea, and Japan.

    Byee


    permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 11, 2009 from Cairo, Egypt
    from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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    Tashkent, Uzbekistan



    permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 12, 2009 from Tashkent, Uzbekistan
    from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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    Day 26 - Cake walk - (7/13/2009)

    Seoul, South Korea

    So it's now July 13, and I am now in Seoul, South Korea!
    So, July 12, which is still going on for everyone back home, I woke up at 7:30am and my hotel had a taxi waiting for me. I got to the airport around 8:30am and waited outside of the first line of security before the ticket counters. When the security opened and I got there, they asked for a passport so I pulled out my little black notebook first because it was in the way and the frickin security guy at the metal detector grabbed it while it was still in my hand thinking it was my passport. Ok so by now I'm like hell no this already happened once coming into Egypt I really don't want to go through this again so I tighten my gripas he's trying to rip it from my hands and rip it from his hands saying "NO!" and I slowly pull out my passport and hand it to him like a civilized person. Now the part that made me laugh was at the Korean air ticketing counter where I check in was the same man who was at the gate for my flight from Cairo to Luxor and who got my cellphone back from the cargo of the plane. Haha so I approach the desk and he asked if I've lost my phone again, I said nope but I did lose my glasses. He laughed and asked if I enjoyed Egypt and of course I did so I says yes because everything I lose you guys find a way of getting it back to me. Good times. During this I meet this older lady who is also using a staff ticket. She works for Air Canada and lives in Tokyo so we were doing the same route an so we got out seats together. Oh yea we got our seats right away which was awesome! 5 hours later we land in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and deboard for about an hour. We all reboard and a few others and 6 hours later we all land here in Seoul, South Korea!
    That lady and I went straight to the transfer desk for Korean Air and GOT SEATS RIGHT AWAY! Then we found me a Starbucks and a place to buy a spoon. Now I'm waiting at the gate and the lady is out shopping. Let's just hope the Japanese rail system is as easy as all this has been :)
    Byee!

    permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 13, 2009 from Seoul, South Korea
    from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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    Narita, Japan



    permalink written by  Kennyboy12 on July 13, 2009 from Narita, Japan
    from the travel blog: 2009 - Kenny Baldridge - "No Reservations"
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