Podcasts Culture Antics of Earthbound Astronauts
Antics of Earthbound Astronauts

Antics of Earthbound Astronauts

13 episodes

You have just come across the next generation of travel blogging. Following the adventures and exploits of two Aussies as they endeavour to conquer and explore the world one location at a time.

Podcasts

The Reunion Part II - Amman, Jordan to Cairo, Egypt

Published: Nov. 27, 2013, 8:19 p.m.
Duration: N/A \\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n
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\\nThis\\nis The Reunion Part II! Since leaving you at a drool-soaked table at Egypt\\nairport, The Earthbound Astronauts have ventured through ancient Jordan, taken\\na spontaneous detour into the religious epicentre of Israel and were\\nunexpectedly stranded in turbulent Egypt, the very place we were attempting to\\navoid! We hate predictability, so what comes next will not disappoint!
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\\nTo\\nlisten to the Part II podcast click HERE!
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\\nJordan \\u2013 Amman & Petra \\u2013\\nOctober 22nd \\u2013 October 29th
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\\nCasey\\nand I arrived into Amman completely exhausted after our restless night in the\\nCairo airport, so we headed to our prearranged hostel. This particular hostel\\nhad been so highly recommended by a multitude of people online, with all the\\ncomments including how wonderful the proprietor \\u2018Andrew\\u2019 was. The hostel itself\\nwas nothing special, quite rundown and minimalistic, but we did have the\\nopportunity to meet this infamous Andrew, completely validating all the\\npositive comments. We spent our first day in Amman recovering followed by\\ndinner at one of the best restaurants in Amman, the Hashem restaurant. The\\nHashem restaurant purely served the mixed selection of falafel, pita, salad and\\ntwo dips, yet it was easy to understand how it had earned such an outstanding\\nreputation. We now have a new appreciation for falafel and hummus, and the\\nvariety of ways to consume said food, but more about that later. We spent a day\\nexploring the Roman ruins and visiting the ruins of a citadel, which rest above\\nthe remainder of the city. It was intriguing to see the remnants of ancient civilisations\\nthat dated back over three thousand years, whilst tracing the progressive evolution\\nof these civilisations and observing the variations in culture and religious\\nbelief over time. It was here that we started to realise how historically and\\nculturally significant this entire area really was.
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\\nWe\\ndecided we wanted to visit the famed Dead Sea, so Andrew organised \\u2018George\\u2019 to\\ntake us on a day trip to the area. George initially took us to Madaba to see\\nthe oldest known map of the promise land, which was an intricate partially\\npreserved mosaic on the floor of what is now a Catholic church. We then visited\\nMount Nebo, where it is presumed 120-year-old Moses climbed so God could show\\nhim the Promised Land before dying there. The view from the top was truly\\nimpressive allowing us to appreciate all the elaborate rock formations and the\\nDead Sea, which was our next destination. We paid an exuberant price to enter a\\ncomplex with pools and direct access to the beach of the fabled sea. Entering\\nthe water was a surreal experience, as you expect your body to sink as in all\\nother water, but we defiantly stayed buoyant with no effort on our behalves. As\\nwe left the water, we could feel the salt now layered on our bodies, which\\nslowly precipitated into large salt deposits. We observed a direct contrast\\nbetween effortlessly swimming in The Dead Sea and the exhausting swim in the\\npure water of Crater Lake in Banlung, Cambodia. Returning to Amman, after\\nhelping George out by utilising our duty free privileges, we decided it was\\ntime to head to Jordan\\u2019s main attraction, one of the Seven Wonders of the\\nWorld, Petra. We caught the public bus to the town Wadi Mousa, which acts as\\nthe tourist base for people visiting Petra. Andrew had suggest a hotel for us\\nto stay in while in the area, \\u201cThe Valentine Inn\\u201d\\u2026 Luckily, they had a twin\\nroom available even though there were still hearts on our key...
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\\nJust\\nlike Indiana Jones before us, we entered Petra through the ominous entrance, a\\nrelatively small division between two formidable walls of rock. We were humbled\\nby this intimidating stone corridor before the channel opened onto the renowned\\ntreasury, currently the most exquisitely intricate building in Petra. It was\\nunbelievable and almost implausible to conceive that people had built such an\\namazing structure into a rock face. As we continued into Petra there were numerous\\ntombs and other buildings erratically scattered within the surrounding landscape,\\nlinked by hidden staircases leading to what were once possibly prominent areas.\\nAs we\\u2019d decided to spend two days at Petra, we used our first day to explore\\nthe major attractions such as taking the long trek to see the astonishing\\nmonastery (seen in Transformers 2), which rivals the treasury in its grandeur,\\nand used our second day to go off the beaten track and find a great location to\\nwatch sunset. Whilst at Petra, we were completely at the mercy of the sun, so\\nwe tried to track shade at any opportunity. Even when we left the main trail,\\nwe were still coming across the remnants of life in the form of carvings,\\nstairs and buildings. We were, and continue to be, completely in awe of Petra\\nand the amazing artistry the founding civilization had masterfully utilised to create\\nthis former epicentre of trade.
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\\nAfter\\nimmensely enjoying Petra, we headed to Wadi Rum, an arid nature reserve\\napproximately two hours south of Wadi Mousa, where we\\u2019d organised a tour for\\none day and a night. Jumping into the back of a ute, we were chauffeured around\\nthe reserve to various impressive naturally occurring springs and rock\\nformations before we were taken to a Bedouin camp to enjoy the remarkable\\ndesert sunset. Having decided to avoid Egypt due to the enduring civil unrest,\\nwe had intended staying in Jordan for two weeks. However, whilst in Amman, the\\nseed had been planted to visit Israel and Palestine. Catching a taxi from Wadi\\nRum to a town on the Jordanian-Israeli border, Aqaba, where we nervously\\nprepared to cross this precarious border.
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\\nIsrael & Palestine \\u2013\\nJerusalem \\u2013 October 31st \\u2013 November 3rd
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\\nWe\\nanxiously crossed the border by foot, passing the armed guards on either side.\\nAs we crossed into the Israeli immigration area we were welcomed by what seemed\\nlike endless photos of Bill Clinton\\u2026 We were heavily questioned by immigration\\nofficials about where we\\u2019d been, how and for how long we\\u2019d known each other and\\nour intentions in Israel. After being allowed to enter the country, we walked\\nto the city, allowing us to observe the stark contrast between the small town\\nof Aqaba in Jordan and the heavily westernized city of Eilat, where we saw a\\ndramatic increase in infrastructure and overall wealth. From Eilat we organised\\na bus to Jerusalem, but not before we went to an upmarket shopping centre where\\nCasey purchased an iPad to replace his water damaged iPhone.
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\\nArriving\\ninto Jerusalem was a surreal experience, a city that has consistently been at\\nthe focal point of history and contributed to the evolution of countless religions.\\nThe city was such a blend of culture, with an obvious division demonstrated\\nthrough something as simple as the architecture in differing districts. We had\\norganised to stay at a hostel within the walls of the historical old city, near\\nthe Jaffa Gate. Joining a \\u201cHoly city\\u201d tour we were taken to the main\\nattractions that have importance to the differing faiths. Initially, we were\\ntaken to the Temple Mount, which is now also the location of the building with\\nthe iconic golden dome and adjacent to the Western or \\u2018Wailing\\u2019 Wall. The\\nTemple Mount is only open to tourists for a single hour everyday, and when we\\narrived people had already been waiting for hours. Luckily, our tour group was\\nable to join the line with another tour group, which saw us clearing security\\nwithin the allocated time. We had been in the site no more then ten minutes\\nbefore they started aggressively ushering us out. We had been lucky to visit\\nthis site, but we did feel a twang of guilt for pushing our way into the line\\nand robbing people of this rare opportunity. We later learnt (after\\ncontinuously interrogating our guide) that the Temple Mount was part of the\\narea controlled by Palestine and an \\u2018incident\\u2019 between Israel and Syria at the\\nprecise time we had entered the area partially explained our rapid expulsion.\\nThe presence of police and army members at various points through out the city\\nreally does contribute to the already prominent tension we were feeling.
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\\nAfter\\nvisiting the Temple Mount, we headed to a small portion of the Western Wall\\nwhere we were able to write a \\u2018wish\\u2019 and place it into the cracks of the wall, replicating\\na Jewish practice. The remained of the tour predominately followed the assumed\\nstages of Jesus\\u2019 crucifixion. As we walked the small alleyways, we were shown\\nlocations that coincided with events that were referenced within the Christian New\\nTestament before we reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church,\\nwhich is owned by all the major denominations of Christianity, housed the\\nproposed location of Jesus\\u2019 crucifixion (Golgotha), the place of his anointment\\nand the place of his burial. The people that were there on spiritual\\npilgrimages greatly contributed to the ambience and authenticity of the site.\\nWe then headed to the proposed location of the Last Supper, which, like the\\nmajority of sites in Jerusalem, had been in the possession of, and therefore\\ninfluence by, one of the three main religious groups at one time or another.\\nThe tour was quite overwhelming in a way as were taken to sites that are\\nconsidered sacred to differing people for a multitude of differing reasons.\\nWalking through the four quarters (Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim) of\\nthe old town was really an experience in itself, but it was fantastic to see\\nsuch diversity within the small area. The following day, Casey and I headed up\\nto the Mount of Olives; where in Judaism it is said the prophet will descend\\nand walk to the Temple Mount. Many cemeteries rest on this mountain for this\\nvery reason with their feet facing the summit as we were told, \\u201cpeople don\\u2019t\\nwant to miss the show\\u201d. Other prominent sites that rest on this mountain are\\nthe Garden of Olives, where it is assumed Judas betrayed Jesus, and the tomb of\\nMary, mother of Jesus. We also got an amazing view from the top over the city.
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\\nJerusalem,\\non a whole, was quite an expensive city, which made eating extravagantly\\ndifficult. We found a tiny restaurant next to our hostel that made the most\\namazing falafel sandwiches, so amazing (and cheap) that it became our staple\\nfood whilst in Jerusalem, so much so that we were consuming two on each\\noccasion\\u2026 We were originally so apprehensive when it came to visiting Israel\\nand Jerusalem, yet we were shocked by how Westernized the city was in parts and\\nhow isolated, yet apparent, the ongoing battle for territory really is between\\nthe conflicting sides. As we headed to the bus station to leave Jerusalem and\\nIsrael, we were shocked by the presence of a metal detector at the bus\\ninterchange, yet the large number of 18 to 20 year olds on their military\\nservice arbitrarily walking around with assault rifles seemed to make this somewhat\\nredundant. We headed north to a border crossing we were assured would not be an\\nissue to cross and returned back to Amman where we were catching our flight to\\nEgypt and then Argentina the following day. \\nWe also had the pleasure of seeing Andrew again, who graciously sorted\\nus out with a private room at a discounted price because \\u201cwe were friends\\u201d.
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\\nEgypt \\u2013 Cairo \\u2013 November 4th \\u2013 November 6th
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\\nAs\\nwe were attempting to avoid entering Egypt, we had booked a flight to Cairo on\\nthe day of our flight from Cairo to Argentina. To avoid paying for an Egyptian\\nvisa to enter the country just to pick up our bags and check-in once more when\\nwe arrived in Cairo, we arrange to have our bags directly placed on our next\\nflight. All smooth and seemingly easy... As we arrived into Cairo, we were\\nferried off to a room or \\u2018holding area\\u2019 used for transit passengers, having our\\npassports confiscated. Feeling like were captives in this highly secured room,\\nwe waited for three hours to be presented with our connecting boarding passes,\\nyet, we were ignored. Eventually, a man approached Casey and started asking\\nabout our visa receipt number. As Casey had travelled to Argentina before,\\nwhere he had paid a reciprocity fee at the border, we were convinced that a\\nprearranged payment was unnecessary. This situation continued, as we thought this\\nseemingly less-then-official airport employee was taking us for a ride, before\\nthe man escorted Casey to the Qatar Airways desk. Casey then returned to the\\ntransit lounge, shockingly accompanied by our luggage. Unbeknown to us both, as\\nof July, this fee must be paid online before departure to Argentina. They had\\nrefused to let us board the plane because we had not paid the fee, a fee that\\ncan be paid within minutes. I was also erroneously denied using my EU passport\\nthat doesn\\u2019t require a fee payment; we had been officially rejected from\\nboarding the flight.
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\\nWe\\nwere escorted back to the original terminal, Qatar Airways washing their hands\\nof us, after what was quite appalling handling of the situation on their\\nbehalves. Unfortunately, the blame rests solely with us, yet I do not hesitate\\nto partially condemn the airline for their disorganization and lack of\\nknowledge and assistance in what should have been a recoverable situation. Being\\ntold we could pay to return to Jordan or enter Egypt, we, still in shock from\\nour shattered reality, reluctantly decided to stay in Cairo. Our presumption of\\nbeing in South America within 48-hours had been crushed in the space of\\nminutes. We had arrived into Cairo on the day of the Morsi trial, so tanks and\\nother armoured vehicles littered the streets. We had found a hotel, which, like\\nmany of the tourist-centric businesses, was feeling the effect of numerous governments\\ncondemning travel to this politically unstable country. We had to determine our\\nnext move.
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\\nAs\\nwe were in Egypt, we figured that we should at least try to see the sights we\\ncould in the short time we were here. Fortunately, Casey had made a friend who\\nlived in Cairo whilst on his course in Germany, Naggar. Naggar came to meet us,\\nacting as our more then capable guide through Cairo, organising a cruise on the\\ninfamous Nile River, taking us to an authentic Egyptian restaurant before taking\\nus to a hotel where we could look over the city by night. Telling Naggar we had\\ndecided to visit the Pyramids of Giza seemed to fill him with slight concern\\nand he decided to escort us there the following day, which we were more then\\ngrateful, yet perplexed by his concern.
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\\nWe\\nfought through the incomprehensible Cairo traffic before we started approaching\\nthe ancient pyramids. The final approach to the pyramids was one of the most\\nstressful situations we\\u2019d been involved in thus far. As we drove, people\\nstarted to approach the car trying to secure employment as a tour guide. We\\ninitially experienced a man being denied by Naggar, yet he desperately\\ncontinued to run next to the car as traffic progressed before he collided with\\na turning bus. We then came to an area where people were trying to jump in\\nfront of the car to the shock of Naggar, who was evasively able to avoid them.\\nWe arrived at the pyramids where Naggar secured our tickets and a guide, who\\nwas employed purely to prevent unwanted advances. The pyramids and sphinx were\\nformidably standing before us, and it was more then obvious why the pyramids were\\nconsidered an ancient wonder and also an honoury member of the current Seven\\nWonders of the World. Yet, it was hard to fully enjoy the experience, as we\\nwere the only tourists present, we were continuously harassed by people wanting\\nmoney. Having Naggar with us to both drive and organise everything for us was\\namazing. We now know why he hesitated when we told him about our plans to visit\\nthe pyramids solo, and I think even he was shocked by the conditions we\\nencountered. We are incredibly grateful he was willing to accompany us during\\nour time in Egypt. The entire experience of visiting the pyramids really did\\nreiterate the pressure the entire country has been feeling during this\\nincredibly turbulent time, unfortunately it was evident that the country was\\nstruggling.
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\\nThe\\nmain question we had to answer was, \\u2018What do we do next?\\u2019. Do we pay for a new\\nticket to Argentina? Do we choose a new destination? And if so, where? This\\ndebate continued as we frantically searched Skyscanner for the cheapest\\ndestination that would partially coincide with our already booked flights. I\\u2019m\\nsad to say to all our diehard fans out that there that Casey and I chose\\ndiffering destinations. The Earthbound Astronauts are splitting once more! I\\nhad found an incredibly cheap ticket to Toronto, Canada, so thought I would go\\non a journey to find a polar bear. Casey, thought completely outside of the\\nbox, and decided to head to Tanzania where he\\u2019d organised a work away! Planning\\nto meet up in the US in about a month, we said our goodbyes and farewelled each\\nother once more. We truly are unpredictably earthbound after all. Keep posted.
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Listed in: Culture

The Reunion Part I - Geneva, Switzerland to Casablanca, Morocco

Published: Nov. 17, 2013, 8:12 p.m.
Duration: N/A \\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n
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\\nAfter three\\ncontrasting months apart, The Earthbound Astronauts have finally reunited! We\\u2019ve\\nonly been on the road for five weeks, yet we\\u2019ve had the pleasure of traversing\\nthrough eight distinctly different countries. It\\u2019s been an adventure-filled\\nreunion, so this is only Part I of our unpredictable voyage. Don\\u2019t blink or\\nyou\\u2019ll miss it!
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\\nTo listen to\\nthe Part I podcast click HERE!
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\\nSwitzerland \\u2013 Geneva \\u2013 September 30th\\n\\u2013 October 1st
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\\nAfter being\\napart for three months, we were both enthusiastic to start the next phase of\\nour journey. Meeting in Geneva was convenient for us both as Casey had been\\ntravelling with his parents in Switzerland, and Geneva was only a short two-hour\\ntrain ride away from Lyon, where I had been stationed for the previous two\\nmonths. We jubilantly met at a prearranged hostel both invigorated by the\\nunknown of the coming months. Casey was excited to be no longer travelling\\nsolo, whilst I was ecstatic to be on the move once more. Wanting to celebrate\\nour once again formidable duo, we ventured into Geneva to enjoy a meal. Having\\nbeen forewarned of the exuberant pricing in Switzerland still did not prepare us\\nfor the blatant extortion encountered! Unfortunately for us, pricing was\\nrelative to the heightened salaries received in Switzerland, those with heavy\\nfinancial restraints, such as ourselves, were reduced to the common European\\ntravellers meal: a baguette, cheese, salami and a lukewarm beer.
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\\nMeeting\\nCasey\\u2019s parents at The European Organisation for Nuclear Research or \\u2018CERN\\u2019 was\\na very exciting occasion. We were able to join them both for a tour of CERN and\\nfind out about the enormous subterranean particle accelerator and the recently\\nconfirmed Higgs Boson, a concept that is still outside my scientific grasp. It\\nwas a great event to share with Casey\\u2019s dad, David, as he has a great passion\\nfor physics, and this facility is at the forefront of research in this area. As\\nwe sadly farwelled both Aleysha and David, it marked the true beginning of our journey.
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\\nA combination\\nof rejuvenating motivation along with Casey\\u2019s resent success hitchhiking,\\nspurred us on an adventure to hitchhike from Geneva, Switzerland to Barcelona,\\nSpain. Catching public transport to the Swiss-French border, garnished with our\\npacks, we climbed a small fence leading to the highway, casually strolled\\nacross the border checkpoint, placed our packs down for but a second, barely\\nhaving time to lift the iconic hitchhiker thumb and a car pulled up. Knowing\\nthe broad direction we wanted to head in, AKA west, the driver asked us where\\nwe\\u2019d like to go, we said Lyon (a large city in the general direction of\\nBarcelona), when he said he wasn\\u2019t going in that direction we naively insisted\\nthat any ride was a good ride, even one that smelt so strongly of cheese\\u2026 We\\nhad a great time chatting to our new Hungarian friend about his new life in France;\\nhowever, it soon became apparent that we were not heading in the direction we\\u2019d\\ninitially intended. We ended up in Chamonix, a small town in the shadow of\\nEurope\\u2019s tallest mountain, Mont Blanc. Surrounded by snow-capped peaks,\\nluscious forests and typical French buildings, this charming town is what\\ndreams are made of. Contemplating our new situation, we separately had the same\\nidea of travelling into Italy. Astonished at our already distorted plan (a\\nhabit we cannot seem to break), we changed our tact and now waited on a highway,\\nnot so far away from the Italian border, waiting for our next willing lift.
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\\nItaly \\u2013 Genoa & Cinque Terra \\u2013\\nOctober 2nd \\u2013 October 5th
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\\nWe were eventually\\npicked up by a really nice Italian-speaking Albanian, who was kind enough to\\ndrive us past his own small town to Aosta, a town with a main train station. We\\ndrove through an incredible part of Italy, with valleys dotted with various\\ncastles and villages, which seemed to be untouched by the progressive\\nmodernization witnessed in larger cities. Unfortunately, our new friend was\\nunable to speak English, but this gave Casey an opportunity to put his freshly\\npracticed Italian to use. He was incredibly hospitable; he even bought us a\\nbeer and refused to let us pay for it! From the train station we headed to\\nGenoa, a port town, where we would enquire about a ferry to Spain.
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\\nWe arrived\\ninto Genoa at night with no organised accommodation. Not believing this to be a\\nproblem, we were turned away from numerous hotels and hostels either due to\\nunavailability or extravagant prices. We swallowed our pride and stayed at the\\ncheapest we could find, even though it was considerably more then we were\\nexpecting to pay. When enquiring as to why there was such a shortage of\\naccommodation, we found out it was due to the famed Genoa annual boat show.\\nWhat would a trip to Genoa be without going to the fabled boat show! It was\\namazing to see the yachts that were on show. Casey and I definitely didn\\u2019t\\nquite fit the part when it came to prospective cliental, yet we boarded some of\\nthe more modest yachts and were still able to dream about potential future\\ntravel opportunities.
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\\nDetermining\\nthat we had a few days before we were going to board the ferry to Barcelona, we\\nheaded to Cinque Terre, a portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. Cinque Terre\\nconsists of five distinctively unique villages, all vibrantly coloured. Each\\nvillage sits in a small cove, with the buildings carefully teetering on the\\nsharp slope of the surrounding tumultuous terrain. It was beautiful to see\\nthese still lively villages in an incredibly well preserved and prosperous\\nstate. Returning to Genoa after a fleeting visit, we boarded the 20-hour ferry\\nacross the Mediterranean to Barcelona.
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\\nSpain \\u2013 Barcelona, Tarragona &\\nGranada \\u2013 October 6th \\u2013 12th
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\\nAs we arrived\\ninto Barcelona it was obvious that the city was going to live up to it\\u2019s\\nimpressive reputation as a culturally rich and vivacious city. Every street or\\nsmall alley was bustling with life, a combination of luminescent light,\\nerratically scattered boutiques and restaurants, and people eager to enjoy the temperate\\nambience. Having discovered that a friend from home, Sam, was going to be in\\nBarcelona at the same time, we decided to meet. As Sammy had been in Barcelona\\nfor about a week before we arrived, he acted as our pseudo-tour guide,\\nattempting to enlighten us about Gaudi, a famous architect whose eccentric and\\nimaginative buildings have become icons of Barcelona. Shamefully, Casey and I were\\nunaware of Gaudi before our arrival and were naively curious about this \\u2018Gaudi\\u2019\\ncharacter people continually referred to as if it was common knowledge. As a\\ntrio, we trekked up to Montju\\xefc Castle, where we are able to see the\\nincredible immensity of Barcelona and it\\u2019s surrounding satellite towns.
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\\nEven though\\nBarcelona is well known for pickpockets and petty crime, we had no issues. The\\nonly act of theft that we experienced was due to a lapse in our concentration, forgetting\\nto ask the price of mediocre paninis in what seemed like a legitimate panini business,\\nwhich resulted in blatant daylight robbery! This was a sore moment for us both,\\nespecially when we sent Sam into the same shop a day later to enquire about the\\nprice, to find out there had been a significant price reduction\\u2026 Having enjoyed\\nour time with Sammy thus far, we invited him to join us through the remained of\\nSpain and into Morocco. Even though there had been a slight \\u2018salting of game\\u2019\\nwhilst we partook in the infamous Catalan nightlife, Sam whimsically decided to\\njoined us.
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\\nWe headed to the\\nhistorical beach town, Tarragona, to see Margherita, a friend of Casey\\u2019s from\\nhis exchange to Italy eight years earlier. Tarragona is primarily a student\\ntown and Margherita, who was there on the Erasmus study exchange program, was\\nkind enough to accommodate us for the night and expose us to the energetic\\nnightlife of an Erasmus student on exchange. This was but a brief visit to\\nTarragona as we were eager to arrive in Morocco. Finding it difficult to plan a\\ndirect route to a port town where we could board a ferry headed for Tangiers,\\nwe organised an overnight train to Granada through Valencia, where we had the pleasure\\nof waiting until the early hours of the morning for our connecting train.
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\\nArriving in\\nGranada with no idea about the city, we walked around attempting to find\\naccommodation, which, again, was quite an ordeal. Eventually, we found a nice\\npension run by a very friendly elderly non-English-speaking lady we fondly\\nnicknamed \\u2018Nonna\\u2019. The room was barely big enough for one person, let alone\\nthree, and this was before Sammy decided to covert the room into a Chinese\\nlaundry. Granada was quite an old town, and we had arrived (unbeknown to us) on\\nNational Day. This explained the lack of accommodation and the continuous\\nparades consisting of marching bands and officials garnished with lavish medals\\nand medallions. Granada was the point where we started to notice influences\\nfrom North Africa. The main area of Granada was full of exotic stalls selling\\nspices, clothes and various other memorabilia. Again, we were only in Granada\\nfor a night as we were attempting to arrive in a port town the following day\\nand make our way to Morocco. We awoke the following morning marginally later\\nthen anticipated, which raised the anxiety levels slightly. Whose fault this\\nwas is an ongoing argument\\u2026 However, we were able to board a train to Algeciras\\nwhere we boarded a late, and somewhat delayed, ferry headed to Tangiers,\\nMorocco. After about three and a half months we fondly said goodbye to Europe\\nand were excited for the next stage of our journey, North Africa and the Middle\\nEast.
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\\nMorocco \\u2013 Tangiers, Fes, Marrakech\\n& Casablanca \\u2013 October 13th \\u2013 October 21st
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\\nThe\\nferry across the Strait of Gibraltar was a swift yet symbolic passage from one\\ncontinent to the next. As we left the Tangiers port terminal we were asked if\\nwe wanted buses or taxis into the city. However, we had done some research\\nearlier and determined that a reasonable hostel was within walking distance and\\nrefused all offers. We started walking down a highway parallel to the port for\\nwhat seemed like an immense distance before we started to question our\\nwhereabouts. It turned out that we had arrived into the second port of Tangiers,\\napproximately 50 kilometres from the actual city. We swallowed our pride and\\nreturned to the port to enquire about catching a bus to the amusement of a\\ncollection of drivers that had offered us lifts earlier. It was nearing\\nmidnight as we arrived in Tangiers so we decided to stay in a quite reasonably\\npriced four-star spa resort hotel. This luxury was quite a change from the\\naccommodation we were accustomed. We had not intended on spending much time in\\nTangiers as we\\u2019d heard it was predominately a port town where Moroccans head to\\nindulge themselves in taboo or illegal activities, so we decided to head to\\nFes.
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\\nBoarding\\nthe train to Fes was an experience in itself. We boarded an already crowded\\ntrain with our large bags, the only remaining space was located next to the\\nrancid bathroom at the end of the carriage, and this was filling fast. As we\\ngathered in this confined space, we realised that standing for six hours in the\\nsweltering heat was going to present us with another \\u2018unique\\u2019 experience.\\nObviously realising that the train was at capacity, they decided to add some\\nadditional carriages, and we were luckily able to secure a compartment before\\nit too become obscenely crowded. Fes turned out to be what we imagined an\\nincredibly authentic Moroccan city would be like. We had booked a hostel within\\nthe medina, the old town enclosed within a medieval fortification.
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\\nWithin\\nthe medina, buildings were all constructed using the same yellowish clay into\\nsimple rectangular structures arbitrarily mounted upon one another. The small\\nstreets and alleyways were almost impossible to navigate as they unpredictably\\nwound around and through buildings with smaller capillary streets branching of\\ninto small squares or to other indistinguishable locations. It turned out the\\ntrain had been so crowded because people were returning home for an Islamic\\nholiday, which became evident by the heightened activity within the medina. We were\\nwitness to donkeys hauling peculiar products into the labyrinth of the medina,\\nsheep being delivered to a multitude of butchers and continuously directed to\\nillusive tanneries. Seeing a sheep being delivered on the back of a donkey is\\nan unusual sight at the best of times. Fes was also an interesting location as\\nSam and I were unlucky enough to encounter bed bugs, our first and incredibly\\nunpleasant encounter with these brutal parasites. Casey was smugly impressed he\\navoided these macroscopic terrors, yet a few days later, to Sam and my\\nenjoyment, a few bites did appear.
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\\nAfter\\nwe\\u2019d visited Fes, we headed to Marrakech, much more of a tourist-centric city,\\nwhich did partially subtract from the appeal; however, the city was still an\\namazing spectacle. The highlight of Marrakech is a large market place that has\\nnumerous performances, snake charmers, orange juice stalls and restaurants. At\\nnight, the market was flooded by lights and truly came to life as people\\nbustled between all the interesting performances, most of which seemed to\\ninvolve men dressed as women\\u2026 I, unfortunately, was slightly unwell during our\\ntime in Marrakech and didn\\u2019t have the pleasure of visiting some ancient tombs\\nand a castle, but Casey and Sam visited the sights and raved about the\\nintricacies and the impressive atmosphere of the structures.
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\\nPreparing\\nto leave Morocco, we headed to Casablanca where Casey and I were going to catch\\nour flight to Jordan and Sam was going to fly to Paris. Casablanca seemed like\\na very plain city, so we were glad we had not afforded it too much of our limited\\ntime. We headed to the Casablanca airport, said our goodbyes to Sam who we\\u2019d\\ngreatly enjoyed travelling with for just over two weeks, and boarded our plan\\nto Amman, Jordan. We did get to enjoy a stopover night in Cairo airport that\\nresulted in us both passing out at a table just outside of our boarding gate\\nwhile we waited for a flight to Tunisia to board. An interesting image: Two\\nwesterners sleeping quite ungracefully at a table as a large group of Tunisians\\nboard their flight, many of them impressively carrying their possessions on\\ntheir head\\u2026
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\\nAnd\\nthat is the end of The Reunion Part I! It is difficult to believe that this all\\nhappened within the space of three weeks. I\\u2019ll leave you with a quote by Ernest\\nHemingway that has helped me keep things in perspective, \\u201cNever mistake motion for action\\u201d. As we continue to travel I reflect\\nupon everything we have done and everything we hope to do both while travelling\\nand beyond. The Reunion Part II is only a few days away, so keep your eyes open\\nand as always, keep posted.
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The long awaited podcast!

Published: Nov. 3, 2013, 5:41 p.m.
Duration: N/A

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Almaty, Kazakhstan to Istanbul, Turkey

Published: July 10, 2013, 3:33 p.m.
Duration: N/A

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Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Almaty, Kazakhstan

Published: June 2, 2013, 11:35 a.m.
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Vientiane, Laos to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Published: May 13, 2013, 5:42 a.m.
Duration: N/A

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Vientiane, Laos

Published: March 27, 2013, 7:02 p.m.
Duration: N/A

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Published: March 7, 2013, 10:38 a.m.
Duration: N/A

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Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Published: Feb. 25, 2013, 1:24 p.m.
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\\nWe are officially\\ntempled-out after exploring the temples of Angkor Wat and Vietnam is lingering\\nin our sights.
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\\nTo listen to the\\npodcast click HERE!
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\\n15th, 16th\\n& 17th Feb
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\\nWe apologise for the\\ntime between posts, but it is purely due to the few days after our last post\\nnot warranting any real report. Unfortunately, we had our first run in with\\nsuspected food poisoning. We were too fearful to leave the room in Siem Reap and\\nwere living off a bare trickle of food, including tiny croissants, cheese\\nbiscuits and wagon wheel like biscuits called \\u201cchoco pies\\u201d. This resulted in\\nthe Choco pie incident of 2013\\u2026\\u2026 Even so, we were still in pretty high spirits\\nand did enjoy the time relaxing (if you can call it that) even though the guilt\\nof being so close yet so far to the temples was occasionally evident. In a way,\\nwe were lucky that we were both impeded by this illness at the same time.\\nSharing such a small room with a bathroom that seemed to amplify everything,\\nhas definitely cemented our friendship pretty solidly, unlike our bowel\\nmovements. Needing a reason to test our health, we felt it was necessary to\\nvisit \\u201cPub Street\\u201d for a few drinks.
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\\n18th Feb
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\\nAfter feeling up to\\nthe challenge, Casey decided to ride west of Siem Reap to visit some small\\ntemples that are older then the temples at Angkor, yet due to their size, don\\u2019t\\nreceive the same level of relevance of the larger, newer temples. Unfortunately\\nfor Casey, the tickets to the temples were not sold in this general direction,\\nso the ride towards the temples was partially in vain even though he did get to\\nenjoy an introduction to the Cambodian countryside. I, however, still not\\nfeeling up to the task of endeavouring too far from the safety of the\\nroom/bathroom, stayed behind.
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\\n19th Feb
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\\nWe both seemed to\\nhave recovered and decided to venture out towards the north-eastern temples,\\nand following the suggestions of the Lonely Planet guide, would see the older,\\nsmaller temples first and leave the awe inspiring Angkor temples for the final\\nday. After jumping on bikes and enthusiastically stopping off at every temple\\naround the circuit and enjoying the individuality of each, the temples slowly\\nstarted to morph into one, signaling an end to the day. After agreeing to meet\\na friend that we had made in Battambang on \\u201cPub Street\\u201d that night, we again\\nventured out in to Siem Reap for a well-deserved Angkor beer.
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\\n20th Feb
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\\nThe day had finally\\narrived! We were going to visit the Lonely Planet acclaimed eight wonder of the\\nworld! Angkor Wat definitely deserved this title. The sheer size of the moat\\nthat surrounded the temple of Angkor Wat was mesmerizing, as was the land\\nbridge that was in place allowing tourists to cross the threshold. Obviously\\nweathered through age, it was incredible to think about what these temples had\\nbeen through on both a cultural and political level, and you couldn\\u2019t help\\nwondering what the marvelous structures would say about the folly of man.\\nUnfortunately, restorations were occurring at the entrance to Angkor Wat, which\\nplayed a very spoiling role in the majority of the photos that were taken.\\nHowever, we continued to traverse the highly preserved temples admiring the\\nintricacies of even the smallest detail. We, unknowingly, had worn singlets and\\nshorts that did not cover our shoulders or knees. This almost obvious point\\nnow, was the reason we were not allowed into the main temple. This prompted us\\nto leave Angkor Wat at this point vowing that we would return to complete this\\npilgrimage we had charged upon ourselves. With a slight loss of spirit we\\ncontinued onto the Bayon temple complex, which was a wonder in it\\u2019s own right. After\\nwatching sunset from this temple, we rode our bikes back to our hotel past the\\nmonkey-laden grounds and ruins that speckled the heavy foliage along our route.\\nLooking forward to a dish I had seen in a menu the night before, a Khmer curry,\\nCasey and I decided to spend a little more on dinner ($3.50 each) and try this\\ndish that proved to be the most enjoyable we\\u2019d had in Cambodia thus far.\\nFinding out that the bus to Kampong Cham City (Our next destination, designated\\nthe \\u201cGateway to the North\\u201d by Lonely Planet) left at 7.15am the next morning, we\\ndecided to spend an additional night (taking us to the morning of the 22nd) so\\nwe could go back to Angkor Wat at sunrise and finish what we\\u2019d started.
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\\n21st Feb
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\\nAfter hearing Casey\\u2019s\\nalarm go off at both 5am and 5.30am and observing Casey consider getting up\\nboth times and then returning to the fetal position, I was provoked to wake him\\nup knowing I wouldn\\u2019t hear the end of his disappointment if we had missed his\\nbig opportunity for a photo shoot. We again hired bikes and raced to Angkor\\nWat, where we both got briefly separated as I took a slightly different turn,\\nhowever, we both got there and got to enjoy a rather overcast sunrise. Of\\ncourse we now had our shoulders and knees covered, determined to enter the\\ntemple that we had been denied entry the day before. The temple didn\\u2019t open\\nuntil 7.40am so we decided to source ourselves some breakfast. Seeing a man selling\\nbread, we decided to buy two incredibly fresh bread rolls and two coconut buns.\\nNot such an interesting fact, but the comments we got from two locals must have\\nbeen one of the highlights of our trip thus far. The first man said, \\u201cHello\\nsir, you want water, another bread?\\u201d (It was yet to occur to us that this man\\ndid not sell bread) and then a woman that shouted, \\u201cHello Mr big bread!\\u201d before\\nentering into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. This made our day and\\ndefinitely gave us something to raise our spirits even though we were both\\nexhausted from the early wake up. We finally had an opportunity to see the\\ntemple, which definitely reinforced the beauty of this almost mythical site.
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\\nOne thing had crossed\\nmy mind over the last few days was where was the tree that Angelina Jolie was\\nin front of in Tomb Raider. Unbeknown to us both, we had missed one temple! Ta\\nProhm was the temple that we had been imagining this whole time, a temple that\\nhad almost been lost in forest. This temple was beautiful and it was obvious\\nwhy it was so iconic. Obviously this fact was known by about half of the\\ntourist in Siem Reap, who were there in droves. Otherwise this place was truly\\nmagical, it was incredible to see the roots of trees intertwined with the\\ntemple structure, which had been so physically altered that each seemed\\nsymbiotic of the other. Feeling like we had finally seen every temple in the\\nSiem Reap area, we called it a day and triumphantly returned to the hotel where\\nwe recuperated from our early morning and prepared for the journey we would\\nundertake the following day. It would be sad to leave the hotel we had grown so\\naccustom to, yet it was time to leave the room that hadn\\u2019t been cleaned since\\nour arrival and was harbouring our filth. We\\u2019d also left a lasting impression with\\nthe hotel staff\\u2026\\u2026
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\\n22nd Feb
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\\nAgain, sleeping past\\nthe alarm, we were late to leave our hotel and reached the bus with a comment\\nfrom the bus driver saying, \\u201cCome on, the party\\u2019s over!\\u201d Feeling a little\\nguilty, we said our goodbyes to Siem Reap and prepared for our arrival in\\nKampong Cham City. After about a 7 hour journey we arrived in a town that was\\nour first destination by the Mekong. It was completely empty and without much\\nattraction, which was reflected by the single paragraph dedicated to the town\\nin the Lonely Planet. We decided to go north the next day, which we were told\\nleft at noon.
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\\n23rd Feb
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\\nWaking up leisurely\\nat 9.30am and leaving the hotel room at 10.20am, we decided to go and book our\\nbus trip and then have a quiet breakfast before we boarded the bus for 8 hours.\\nWhen we arrived at the bus company we were quite shocked to realize that the\\nbus arrived at 10.30, which was, at the time, two minutes away. Running back to\\nthe hotel, paying and then running fully loaded with our packs and other items,\\nwhich we lacked time to pack, we arrived at the bus stop and waited for a bus\\nthat was luckily 10 minutes late. The bus was very nice, enjoying the Cambodian\\ncountryside as we headed northeast to Ban Lung. Exiting the bus at a very\\nbizarre bus stop a few kilometres from town, we, with some friends we had made,\\ncontinued to walk down the main street until we eventually approached the\\ncentre where we found accommodation in a nice guesthouse.
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\\n24th Feb
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\\nFinding out there\\nreally wasn\\u2019t much to do in Ban Lung either, except to see a large volcanic\\ncrater lake called Boeng Yeak Laom. We set out to this lake with the two\\nfriends we had made the night before by foot (it was about 6km). It felt quite\\nrewarding when we reached the lake and were able to enter the beautifully clean\\nand refreshing water whilst marveling at the incredible formation of this\\ncrater. Casey decided to run back to the hotel from the lake as I returned with\\nour evidently unfit friends, who really struggled with the elevated slopes\\nreturning us to the main road that returned us to town. We then organised a 6am\\nbus to Phnom Penh, which is going to be our final destination of Cambodia\\nbefore we progress into Vietnam.
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\\n25th Feb
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\\nThe bus to Phnom Penh\\nmust have been the most enduring so far. Not only was the bus not properly\\nair-conditioned, but we both felt that they were employing some form of torture\\nin the form of a Cambodian comical singing duo or Cambodian soap operas that\\ninvolve someone either getting run over every few minutes or love triangles. We\\nhave, however, arrived in Phnom Penh in high spirits. It is completely\\ndifferent to any other Cambodian town we have visited and definitely has a high\\ndegree of western influence. We were elated to know that the room we booked\\nactually included an air conditioner, a luxury usually declined due to the high\\nprice mark up of the room. And that brings us up to now. We officially feel we\\nhave seen enough temples to do us for a while and we are ready to leave\\nCambodia and experience a slightly different country. In saying that, we still\\nhave found the Cambodian people incredibly friendly and have definitely enjoyed\\nour time here. We will spend the next day exploring Phnom Penh and seeing what\\nit has to offer in contrast with the other Cambodian towns.
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\\nWe\\u2019ll be in touch\\nsoon. Our love goes out to our family and friends, please let us know how new\\njobs and moves are going via Facebook, you\\u2019re all never far from our thoughts.
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\\nKeep posted.
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Listed in: Culture

Koh Samet to Siem Reap, Cambodia - Valentine's Day

Published: Feb. 15, 2013, 5:02 a.m.
Duration: N/A

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Bangkok to Koh Samet

Published: Feb. 8, 2013, 12:49 p.m.
Duration: N/A

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Take Off! @ Melbourne Airport

Published: Feb. 5, 2013, 2:56 a.m.
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The Beginning - T minus 1 month!

Published: Jan. 6, 2013, 9:37 p.m.
Duration: N/A

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