Macedonia and Kosovo

With a population of around 2 million, and not much to offer besides the huge Lake Ohhhhhhhhhhhrid, Macedonia was nonetheless a very fun visit. From there we rented a car (more smoothly than in Greece incidentally, and for much much cheaper) and used it as a base camp from which to run up and visit newly born Kosovo (though with the way Serbia is behaving it's sort of a half-birth thus far).

Unfortunately the computer here in Moscow (we're about 3 weeks behind on pictures) won't let me upload any more pictures, so this is all for now.

Dubrovnikking and Greece Pictures

So we have successfully been to Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, and are currently in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where we are spending 2 days in a kind of break from our constant car trip. Needless to say the 5 previously mentioned countries have absolutely stunning countryside. The road trip across Albania was one of the most incredible mountainsides I have ever ascended, and the narrowness of the roads and the igloo shaped bunkers all over the place only added to the adrenaline rush of feeling like you were on top of the world.

Dubrovnik is absolutely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to.

However, the picture updates are behind the actual trip, so I'm backtracking to recount Greece.

First, we arrived in Athens at 6 AM on the morning of June 8. We were unable to check into our hostel until noon, so we spent the morning completely exhausted and therefore slaphappy wandering around the Parthenon:

After which, we went and took a nap and awaited the arrival of our cousin Cole, who showed up for an evening exploring the ancient ruins.

The next morning we took our newly rented car (a tiny little deal, we had to stack 2 of our bags in between Heber & Ryan in the back, and Ryan kept hitting his head. It was one of those times I'm glad to be shorter than average. Also glad that I was navigator, which meant permanent shotgun status.

We drove up through the beautiful Grecian countryside to a little town called Kalambaka, in the shadows of some monasteries built into very sheer cliffs. The whole area is called Meteora. The morning of the 10th was spent exploring the monasteries and hiking around, then we got a guide to take us rock climbing. Not a bad place for Heber & I to do our first rock climbing.

After which we headed north to Thessaloniki, which was kind of unimpressive.

On the evening of the 11th we jumped on the train up to Macedonia.....

And as usual, the obligatory celebration of the artwork which is Heber's hair.

Leg 1 Pictures: Egypt

So here are some of the pictures from Leg 1 of the Cannonballz World Tour 2008. It started with Heber going to Abu Simbel with Mike Christensen. (I had to remain in Cairo to take care of th Russian visa).

I then flew down and met them for this sweet overnight sailing trip on the Nile:
















After which we visited Karnak Temple. I wasn't quite so reverent.




Followed by some lounge time and snorkeling on the Red Sea.







And then the Pyramids and Cairo.








And then we shaved Heber & I's head. For Heber we left this gorgeous rat tail. The razor gave out about 80% of the way through my haircut, which meant at the Pyramids I had random tufts of hair sticking out, but then I went to my barber and got it fixed.

Just to update everyone, we made it safely through Greece after seeing some amazing stuff. Highlights included Athens, rock climbing in Meteora, and some amazing drives through the Parnassos national park and the mountains around it. Yesterday we took a train from Thessaloniki and have now officially begun the road trip portion of the trip. We got to Skopje, Macedonia last night, and will be running up to Kosovo this morning, after which we will return to Macedonia and spend the night on Lake Ohrid, and then off to Albania and then Montenegro on Friday.

Stories & pics to come!!!

Curtis

So the Cannonballzzz World Tour 2008 is officially underway. Heber arrived in Cairo a little over a week ago, after which we did a quick tour of Egypt. First we went to Aswan, followed by an overnight sailing on the Nile on a felucca. We then continued downstream to Luxor where we visited the temples and the Valley of the Kings. After which we flew to Sharm el-Sheikh and spent 3 days lounging on the beach and snorkeling amongst the fishies.

We then did 2 days in Cairo, and I finally visited the Pyramids. I had successfully avoided that circus for an entire year and 3 days. However, my last day in Cairo we went.

Now we are in Athens. After a flight that left Cairo at 3:45 AM and landed in Athens at 5:45 AM, we came to our hostel (The Easy Hostel) and dropped our bags off. They wouldn't let us check in so Ryan, Heber, and I wandered about in a daze and went to the Parthenon and the Acropolis. We then went back and took naps while waiting for cousin Cole to show up. Now the 4 of us are ready to rock Greece. Tomorrow we will be heading north and doing some rock climbing at Meteora, after which we will be heading to Thessalonika.

Pictures coming soon....

Trilingual Bilateral Cultural Exchange Part 3

So while I might have mastered the labyrinth which was the Russian embassy in Cairo, I failed to give myself adequate time to conquer the Chinese one. In spite of gathering all the documents which their website said was necessary (including bank statements, proof of enrollment at the university, hotel reservations, and $130), here were the excuses offered for not even considering my visa application:

First visit: my bank statement was not actually from the bank, but printed off the computer (apparently the fact that all statements are now sent via the internet doesn't matter to China).

RESPONSE: Dig up older original bank statement.

Second visit: my current bank statement off the internet in combination with an original older bank statement doesn't work either: they need ALL my bank statements, original, from the last 6 months.

RESPONSE: Have father overnight said bank statements to my roommate Michael who was coming out to visit. Michael brings statements, which I deliver to my travel agent, who assures me that this time, the third time, is the charm.

Third visit: They inform me that I will have to extend my EGYPTIAN residency visa, which is good until the end of June, in order to qualify to receive a CHINESE visa. They could have informed me of this 3 weeks ago on attempt number 1, or told me from the start that I needed an Egyptian residency visa valid for at least 2 months in order to qualify for a visa application. You'd think my agent would have known these things. She did not get paid for anything, needless to say.