India - Rajasthan and why it sucked!

My return to Rajasthan saw me back in New Delhi. I was so happy to be at a hostel at last and out of the clutches of the crooks that ripped me off. 

However that relief was to be short lived as my experience of India didn't change much. I missed a tour of the spice markets because the tuk tuk driver who told me he knew the way to my pick up point, took me five minutes down the road away from the other tuk tuks, and then decided he didn't know where it was after all and that I had to get out. He didn't charge me and luckily I knew my way back, which is at least something, but I missed my trip as I had to walk back to the hostel to try and get a taxi, by which time it was too late.

*Empty space where spice market pics would have been*

Having been let down I decided to get back out there and do something that wouldn't rely on anyone else, there must be some good people in this country right?! So off I went to get a suit and some shirts made in Connaught Square which was walking distance from my hostel. I managed to find it easily and checked out a number of tailors. There are lots of scams here too as I sadly found out. Some pretend that you're getting a bespoke suit but when you get into the detail it becomes apparent that they are just adjusting an off the rack number. Also there are others who will quote you a price and then say that the material isn't included, despite having discussed the inclusion of the material at length. That was a complete waste of time having trekked half way across town to use their services only to have to go back again to the tailor that actually offered the best deal.

I did however get a good tailor (I think) just off Connaught Square who created a two piece suit and two custom shirts to my designs, for around £90. Turns out that the tailor wasn't that great and didn't make any of the alterations I had asked for. It's really frustrating as it's another example of where I've agreed something and paid for it, only to have the person I'm dealing with not complete his side of the deal. There's just so little integrity, trust or honour in the way they do business here.

I then headed on my way to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. 

The Taj Mahal was amazing, it's massive! The detailed inlay of the marble was astonishing. I felt so small next to it, like I had been shrunken to the size of an action figure. Even thinking about how it was built is mind boggling. I can see why it's one of the seven wonders of the world. Agra Fort and other monuments were cool too, but after the Taj Mahal it was hard to be as amazed by them.

I'm not going to go into every scam I've come across in this country, because it would be an unending post, but I'm pretty sure that the hotel in Agra gave me food poisoning to try and make me stay there longer. I'd heard of this happening, but didn't believe it until now. It just sounded too far fetched and paranoid. I ate a pasta dish from the hotel and within moments felt the effects. Like how hard is it to cook pasta right?! When I was leaving they made this whole deal about me drinking coffee (which has a laxative effect) with them, but when it came they didn't even speak to me, they just made sure I drank it. 

After taking a lot of drugs, I got my train to Jaipur. Again I had paid for a hostel to avoid staying in one of the hotels I'd been booked into by the con men I met at the beginning of my trip (see blog on Kashmir for details). It's a small amount, but it is totally worth it. The hostels have been better than the hotels for sure. By far my favourite of all the Indian hostels I visited was Moustache Jaipur. The staff are really helpful, there's local amenities, there are lots of great board games and the layout is bright, clean and colorful, plus they offer free drinking water which is heaven, or at least feels like it by the time I get here. It's also the first place I get to meet other travelers, which certainly helps lift my mood and stops me feeling as lonely. More over a lot of them had similar experiences to mine and this made me feel a little less victimized and paranoid. Normally I'm fine on my own, but after such a rough time it was nice to be making friends again and enjoying an evening on the rooftop. Seriously if you go to Jaipur you have to stay at Moustache. 

In terms of sight seeing, I did a day at an elephant village which had been recommended to me, as I had heard horror stories from friends about ones in Thailand. Raju who works there obviously cares about the elephants and they are well looked after and they are all bread for the purpose not taken from the wild. The same way people breed horses back home. My elephant was called Rani, meaning queen and I rode her for a small stretch without a harness, which the staff told me was the hardest and something that not many people could do. I'm sure that was flattery though as it was quite easy. We also did some feeding and painting. 

Afterward Raju took me to his mums house for a delicious lunch which I managed to eat some of despite feeling unwell, plus he showed me a few local sites. He offered to show me the Amber Fort, but as it was on my itinerary for the next day I politely declined. When he dropped me off I gave him the money and a good tip as he'd been so good. He didn't even count it, just put it straight into his pocket. I couldn't believe it, I had hoped he would see the tip and not push for more, but to not even check, that was really nice to see.

I also took a tour around the city, which after agreeing a price of 600 rupees, doubled in price because apparently the Amber Fort isn't included in the tour... One of if not the most famous attraction in Jaipur... Not included... Lots of shops where they tried (and failed) to sell me overpriced rubbish were on the tour though... I even had a "reading" from a supposed mystic at one of the jewelry stores which was hilarious, he started off thinking I was Australian... You don't need to be a f*cking mystic to see I'm from England! Then after a few more incorrect readings he said everything would work out for me, to which I almost said "how the f*ck would you know" and then he said there was a stone that would be good for me and you'll never guess but they actually sold jewellery that had it in... He was clearly right everything was working out for me... Jack ass!

In terms of sight seeing, the Amber Fort is immense and very impressive. In the bright sun it almost glows. You could spend your entire day there and not see it all. 

There's a garden (Janta Matra?) with structures and instruments to track the stars and specific constellations which was fascinating. I didn't really understand it all, but it was still very impressive.

The rest of the monuments were a little underwhelming to be honest, though I did get to feed monkeys at the sun temple, where I was also given a bindi. I would have enjoyed that more if it wasn't for the priests wife continually pestering me for gifts and donations after I had already given a donation. Plus she told me there were no monkeys at the temple because they were all sleeping and took a bag of nuts I had brought for them off me. I then walked down the hill to see a ton of very active monkeys.... Luckily I had bought two bags of nuts. It was really annoying to know that not even in a temple are you safe from local people trying to get one over on you.

After Jaipur came Jodhpur. My food poisoning was at that 'hey you don't need to have any energy' stage and doing anything at all meant breaking out in a cold sweat and having to take a little breather, but I wasn't going to be defeated. Off I went to the main fort and planned to head onto the blue colony. The fort was amazing, much in the style of the other forts, but much more ornate. The ticket price included an audio guide which gave me a good reason to stop and hold onto something every time I felt wiped out. I was sure I was going to faint, but I was OK in the end. The museum sections and the beautiful architecture were worth it. I particularly liked the melee weapons section.

Looking down on the city from the top of the fort I expected to see a wash of blue... Sadly not. There were a higher than average number of blue buildings, but they were dotted around. From my understanding of te audio guide this is because the caste that paints their houses blue lives in amongst other castes. The whole caste system sounds terrible to me, but that's the culture and I'm not here to judge. This also shattered my illusion of waking down streets cloaked in blue as far as the eye could see. Given that I was exhausted and the sun was mercilessly hot at 4pm I decided not to go down. It's a shame as I've seen some great photos, but they were obviously taken in just the right place at just the right angle. 

Then on to Jaisalmer to sleep in the desert under the stars!... Originally I had planned to forgo this as my food poisoning was still pretty bad. However after a day spent speaking to a bunch of good friends, my spirits lifted and my stomach felt a lot better too, so I decided to go and sleep under the stars. This was a turning point in my trip. I met a bunch of people, talked about East Asian philosophy and met a new canine friend in the form of Khuta, which just means dog in Hindi. He made me realize that when I get a dog I want to call it Buddy if it's a boy and Kibeth if it's a girl. 

It was a fun trip, the stars were impressive at about 1am as I was slipping in and out of a rather high consciousness. Sadly, because the desert is very small, the sunrise was nothing on the one I saw in the Saharah Desert. 

After a really comfortable two hour camel ride back and an hour in a car, I found some time to go to the fort, which is still inhabited. I feel that this could have been my experience of India as a whole if it hadn't been for the people I met, which is a really sad thing as I have really enjoyed Jaisalmer.

Then I got on a 17 hour train back to Delhi to pick up my suit. That was less fun.

And that was it. I feel like I've done a lot in India and that hopefully as I leave India that the worse is behind me. Next stop Sri Lanka where my mum is going to show me the undiscovered half of my heritage. Plus after that a week in the Maldives with a good friend. Sounds good to me! 

I have to point out that this is my experience and I'm sure there must be a lot of people in India who act with honour, honesty, integrity, kindness, etc, I just didn't meet them. If you're reading this and are angry about the impression I am giving, I can only say that this is my impression based on what I found. If I had found better people I would have written a more complimentary blog. Don't break the mirror because you don't like what you see in it! That solves nothing.

India - Kashmir and being ripped off

So I have to start this off with a bit of a disclaimer. My views of India have been completely biased due to a bunch of charlatans who ripped me off and sold me a grossly overpriced two week tour when I was too tired to think straight. They really took advantage of me and ruined a part of my trip that I had been looking forward to for, well basically my whole life. I'm not going to go into it, but you can see the vid of my feelings that night on YouTube. 

Also feel free to comment something along the lines of 'I'm so sorry to hear that, I hope you're OK', 'the same thing happened to me and it sucks' or 'that's terrible I hope they rot, chin up the rest of your trip will be amazing'. Anyone giving smug advice like 'oh you should always...', '... You need to be careful...' or 'when I was in XX I did...' will be un-friended immediately. I know the advice, but if you've never flown four flights over 24 hours to end up in a foreign town with no idea how to get back, with no access to the Internet trying to make a decision while the only person who can get you back home is shouting at you, then you don't know what it was like, or know how hard it is to put your advice to work.

It started when the information office at the train station and a few others said I had to register with the local government to let them know I was in the area. Perfectly reasonable I thought, I'd done this in Cameroon too. So off I went. 

The local government official was also able to "help" tourists looking to book trips. Given that I had been told to come here by a legitimate source, I thought that this guy was trust worthy. So when he offered to look into trains I thought why not. I'd heard from friends that trains could be tricky and here was a government official who could help. 

He soon told me that the trains were all booked between New Delhi and Agra for the next week due to school holidays. It was only later that I remembered that there is a special allocation for tourists, so the holidays would have minimal impact on a seat for me. 

Tired and confused he then put me on a trip to Kashmir, which looked great from the pictures. The only thing was, he claimed, that they had cheap tickets for the day only as the airline I would have to take had given them a 50% discount due to poor sales. I did want to go to my hostel, but after a lengthy conversation he twisted my mind and I agreed to go. Later I would find out that in five minutes I could find a plane for the same "sale" price. However the dye had been cast and I was on my way. Then they said that the owners son was also going on the same plane and before I knew what was happening I had become his accompanying adult. To say that flight was stressful is a massive understatement. Thankfully nothing went wrong and the boy was picked up by his brother as we got off the plane.

After that I was trapped in Kashmir and all I wanted to do was sleep. My guide said we would go for dinner and before I knew it I was sitting in front of another tour operator who was shoving bits of paper in my face and shouting at me. Eventually, knowing that I had no choice, as I was very firmly in the trap and having not slept in over 24 hours, I agreed to more bookings that would cover the rest of my trip. 

At this point I well and truly hated India. I tried to be open minded. After all I'd paid so much (I'm not going into numbers), I should bloody well enjoy it. 

The first three days were in Kashmir on a "luxury" river boat. If I hadn't been ripped off I wouldn't have minded that the Internet I was promised kept failing, or that the electricity went out, or the pervasive smell of stagnant water that went down into my throat, but rather shrugged it off as part o the experience, however I HAD been ripped off...

Day one was full of mediocre experiences. I went with a guide on a paddle boat cruise around the local area, which wasn't full of lotuses as described, but rather a stagnant lake covered in algae due, apparently, to the high water levels... The locals had known this for some time and kept saying that the tourist information guys wouldn't have known, to which I replied, 'well they should, it's their job!'. Also the guide didn't seem to know anything throughout the trip and then asked me to take photos of him... Yep.

After that we went to a few gardens, a mosque and a pokey temple. Again I would have been a bit more wide eyed if I wasn't still thinking about how much I had been cheated, plus seeing that the entry fees were around nine pence or much lower. However I was trying to keep an open mind and found three positives, the Himalayas in the background were pretty cool, the tulip garden, which is only open in April (I hope that's not a lie too) was impressive and the air wasn't polluted... That's it though.

The third day we set off to K2 the world's second largest mountain, we were to have a day's hike and a trip on the world's highest gondola, which later turned out to be a cable car. 

That was a bust too. We SAW K2 from another mountain and my hike turned out to be less than 1km long. I took a picture of the start of the hike from the end. Also the clothing and walking shoes that were promised were a myth, yet another lie I was told on this trip. 

The positives were that the mountains were stunning. Walking in the snow in a T-shirt because it was so hot was amazing. The views were spectacular too. The snow beamed in the bright sunlight, but didn't melt, well at least not visibly. The cable car was fun too. I'd never been in one before, at least I don't think so, not one of the little ones.

Due to the short walk, I'm not calling it a hike, we were back well before time. So I had the ability to double check some of my facts, well for five minutes before the internet mysteriously crashed again... Some luxury hotel this is... I managed to sneakily check whether my requested hostel in New Delhi was available, which it was. So now I'm writing this waiting for the salesman, a Mr Bashir from the Centre Point Hotel, to arrive so I can confront him... It's tense. I doubt I'll get any money back, but at least I'll be able to get rid of some of my anger and he may even think twice before ruining someone else's trip, though I doubt it. I'm sure he's pretty happy with himself. 

So I just had the stand off with Mr Bashir and he knew exactly what he had done. He told me to go F*ck myself and threatened to hold onto my tickets plus throw me into the river. I said that it was quite clear he had screwed me and asked him how he could sleep at night when he knew he had taken advantage of people and ruined their dream vacations. I didn't bend or break and I threw out my English resolve. 

I was full of rage when it was all over, but then the strangest thing happened. I read an email from my mum (who as the saying goes, really does know best) and I realised that I was better than him. Yes he had harmed me, but why should I care about it, he's no more than a mosquito. A simple creature that is governed by greed. I am someone that people go to for advice. In the past 24 hours two people have said that I have inspired them and that they trust and want my opinion.

I've been brought up to be honest, good and generous. To do the right thing not for profit or praise, but because it is quite simply right. He may have profited today, but he has to live the rest of his greedy, seedy life and for that I feel sorry for him. As for me, adventures await. 

... UPDATE ...

So the plot thickens. I was just about to leave my hotel when an associate of Mr Bashir's comes to my room. He wants to make everything better and ensure I don't go to the Delhi office and complain.

He asks me what happened and I explain. He apologises and asks me what I want. I tell him that I want to the money I was overcharged back. He says that isn't going to happen as a lot of it cannot be refunded. He offers to see if I can get the money back for the hotels. 

This is where Mr Bashir will be caught on his lies. He told me the hotels cost between £15 and £16 per night. For 13 nights that's just under £200, which is pretty much how much he over charged me by. I explained this to the associate and said that I needed to leave to get my plane. If Mr Bashir wanted to reimburse me he could get the driver in Delhi to give me the money. Either way I'm going to make a complaint, I never said that I wouldn't. Giving me the money or at least some of it won't make up for ruining the last three days, duping me or threatening to throw me into a river. 

The offer came back as 5,000 IRP and use of the hotels that I don't want. I've said that this isn't good enough and the associate (I'm calling him that as I don't know his name) said to call him back in 5-10 minutes. I'm not going to as I want them to sweat. I'll probably end up settling for the 5,000 IRP (£52 approx) but we'll see.

In the end I didn't take it... Too much pride.

Eilat and Petra, Jordan

So with the debacle in Tel Aviv, I had an extra week in Israel. What. To. Do...

While it would have been tempting to spend a week indulging in drinking, social media and drawing, I decided to take the opportunity to visit Petra in Jordan. This turned out to be one of the best and worst decisions of my trip.

I made my way to Eilat, the closest crossing point into Jordan, where I spent a few days. Basically it's a resort beach town that has no cultural value, but great weather and a beach.  Think 'Only Fools and Horses-on-sea'. Great for guilt free sunbathing with cocktails.

The crossing to Jordan was just bizarre. We arrived early in the morning and there were still a lot of people there. I'm glad we had a guide as the process was confusing, I'm sure I could have muddled through, but it would have been tedious at best. There was one stop for leaving Israel (fine) then you went through duty free (weird) to get to the next stop to enter Jordan (OK) and then there was another stop for who only knows what? I still have no idea... There's a joke here about it being hard to get into Jordan and a certain glamour model, but we're not going to go
There...

I made friends on the bus with a couple of English girls, as well as Dariela, a Mexican living in Pheonix and her mother Yolanda who would prove to be my saviours later on.

We all got to the Petra site and wow! You can easily see why it's one of the seven wonders of the world. I'm not sure which specific aspect won it the accolade, but man, before you even get to the buildings you're already blown away.

The reddy-orange sandstone is lined with differing colours from mineral compounds, which tower above you. I stood there in awe as I saw the rock undulating in waves created by water erosion, the sun coming down in beams as it reached through the canopy of sandstone created by the jutting strata above. It's like another world. 

We walked past smaller settlements carved into the rock as we approached the main event for our tour. The tomb, which appeared in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. You approach it in the same way as they do in the film. The rock giving high up glimpses of the structure before you come out of the canyon to see it in all its glory. It's amazing, the workmanship, the scale and the preservation are mind blowing... The latter was certainly appreciated after being in Cairo. 

The guide gave us a lot of history and detail on the building. It is an ecumenical tomb of sorts with depictions from all the current religions of the time to help the interred reach heaven. It also bears motifs relating to the seven days of the week and the 12 months and the 365 days of the year. There's tonnes more, but this is my blog not Wikipedia. The last factoid I'll leave you is that the third column from the left was replaced in the 20th century and its the only one that's slightly wonky... Face... Palm...

The guide also told us that there's a much more impressive building further into the complex, but that we wouldn't have time to see it. From the picture he showed us, it makes what I saw seem like a security hut outside of Buckingham Palace! This news was a bit gutting.

We ambled into an amphitheater where the complex opened up to reveal a huge number of impressive buildings. Some of us went off to explore and saw an amazing building which we could walk into and look around. The colours of the rock were really impressive and as well as the size. I couldn't get over how they had created these rooms without any cave ins. They clearly had a huge amount of knowledge working with the stone. Dariela and I also met Sereena.

Sereena is a Jordanian teenager with an infectious smile who approached us in a cherry, confident manner that completely disabled my 'no I don't want any' auto-response. She politely explained that she was on a mission to make people smile and handed Dariela and I cards which said 'free smiles will change the world' and explained her plan on the back. We took a quick photo, swapped Instagram details and then she was on her way leaving us both smiling - mission success I think. I have to say I'm really impressed with her, what a brilliant young woman! I hope and believe she will change the world and I wish her every luck in doing so.

So that was the good bit...

Then comes the really rough part! Forty-five minutes of being interrogate by Israeli border police resulting in a missed ride to my hostel. I'm not going to go into it on here, but there's a perfectly good rant to watch on my vid below.

I was relieved to be out of immigration, but the whole experience had left me at a really low point, so very far from all the people who love and support me. That's the hardest part of what I'm doing, when things get tough you're on your own, you can't just chat to your mum or get a hug from a friend, you can't just have a stress drink with someone and forget about it. Or so I thought..

My saviours Dariela and Yolanda proved to be brilliant friends as they messaged me immediately and took me out for dinner and drinks. They even came to my hostel to collect me. They really are such excellent people and I count myself very lucky to have met them. I hope to meet up with State-side!

That was pretty much it. I spent time on the beach in Eilat, met a cool guy called Nathan who I shared a room with and went back to Tel Aviv, where I got a private operatic recital from Omrea and Filippo - clips in the vid. Check it out, it's very impressive. There were also cuddles and licks from the pooch.

So that's it. Next stop India! Please do comment and share. Plus visit my YouTube page and subscribe. I'm not doing any of this to be Internet famous, but six subscribers on YouTube is pitiful haha. 

Something to celebrate six months of travelling

So if I've done my maths correctly, today marks six months of my travels. It's been amazing, not without its hard times, but all in all, amazing.

One little life goal that I've been working on while on my trip has been to memorise the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet and by golly I've done it. I've done it to camera in the vid below and there are a couple of bits that need tightening, but im 99% there. 

Here's to six more months... Now what to memorise next?

Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

So I had been told great things about Israel and had been looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about. Would it be all it's cracked up to be and in just seven days, would I be able to experience enough to know?

I was in a pretty chipper mood on arrival, despite the security guards at Jordan taking my compasses. I mean who did they think I am, some sort of MacGuiver super spy? If I was so skilled in assasinary (?) that I could hijack a plane with a pair of compasses, I wouldn't need to fly economy!

Anyway, despite arriving without my compasses, I was ready to enjoy Israel and was impressed from the get go. It was just so efficient, I could have been fooled into thinking the place was run by Germans (I know, such a stereotype). 

Efficiency was evident everywhere, even before I got out of the airport. At passport control, they no longer stamp passports to avoid travelers having issues getting into other countries, everything is clearly laid out, queues are well controlled and tourist information is easily available. This all helped me in my bleary eyed state as I was directed to the shuttle, which dropped me off just by my hostel. 

Arriving in Jerusalem at the Abraham Hostel (www.abrahamhostels.com) which was amazing, I dropped off my things and headed out to the local market. Mahane Yehuda is a food market by day selling pretty much everything under the sun, but by night it takes on a different vibe. The shutters are pulled down to display a wealth of amazing street art, most of which is religious, or reflects the contents of the stall. 

As I wandered down the corridors covered with religious figures, fish and cheese, I found a thriving midnight scene with people enjoying drinks and food to the sound of dance, old school jazz and traditional music pumping out of the many eateries and bars that were still open. The walkways were taken over by tables, chairs and shisha pipes to form courtyards where people gathered to let off steam on a Tuesday night, that's right, it's a Tuesday and the place is alive, but civilized. There are no groups of vulgar lads, no packs of high heels and big mouths, just a multicultural, mixed group talking and whiling the night away. I'm instantly impressed and already wishing I had more time here. The chicken shish and bottle of beer I had for dinner only reinforced my instantaneous love of this city.

On a side note, I noticed that there are some really attractive people here. All large blue eyes and flowing dark hair, or tight blonde curls and statuesque features. By this point I'm already considering a permanent move!

Despite the relatively late night,  I must have hit the hay at 1am, I get up early full of energy for the day ahead. I booked a trip to the Dead Sea, but have a few hours before my pick up, so I take the opportunity to look around the area. There's a nice mix of shops selling bags, glasses and materials where I'm situated in Davidka Square, which acts as a central point for the downtown area, where the bus and tram lines intersect. I notice how clean everything is and that there are a fair number of people around for 9am.

After a nice stroll I get back and join the group for the Dead Sea trip. There are two things to experience here 1) the sensation of not sinking, which is very odd. The water here is so thick that you feel like a plastic bottle, having that same level of buoyancy. That if someone were to push you under you would shoot straight back up again and into the air. 2) the mud, I got in warily as I had heard that the water was bad for your eyes. It was a weird experience feeling lighter than I should, but also sinking up to my mid-calf in the squelchy mud. But that didn't stop me as I covered myself head to toe. This left me looking like a black and white minstrel, so accidentally a bit racist :S. Getting all the mud off also proves to be a challenge, so be warned. The rest of the day was spent drawing in the common room and getting an early night ahead of my busiest day. 

The next morning I woke up ready to join a guided tour of Jerusalem which I did for free with the Sandeman tour group (www.newjerusalemtours.com). Our guide Itay was brilliant - see a link to his tours at the end of this post. He made the whole experience engaging - funny at times, but sticking to the facts at the appropriate places. The old city in particular was amazing and full of history as one would expect. It was nice to see the historic site so well preserved after being in Egypt. 

It was impossible not to look around in awe as you learned about the Christian, Armenian, Muslim and Jewish quarters and even the Protestant church. I won't go into all the details, but as you can imagine it was a lot of arguing, warring and so on... The one thing that really surprised me was that the church of sepulchra where Christ is supposedly burried is privately owned by different religious groups, all except the tomb itself which everyone agreed should not be owned.

Itay also encouraged us to get to know the group and I met some great guys (Hi Chris, Steve, Ayelet and Cecilia) who I had lunch with afterward, which Steve paid for without our knowing (thanks again Steve). Chris and I then headed off to the holocaust museum navigating the tram and bus system, which was very simple.

One tip, if you want to ask for directions to the holocaust museum, make sure the person you are speaking to speaks your language. I asked a woman at the bus stop this question and she looked at me aghast and just said "holocaust" like I was some rando at the bus stop who wanted to have a chit chat about genocide... Things looked like they were going to get complicated quickly. Thankfully Chris had the Hebrew name of the museum on his phone and we managed to get the directions.

Now I knew the holocaust museum was going to be emotionally taxing, especially having already been to the apartheid museum in Johannesburg, but I still wasn't prepared for what I was about to see. Horror does not even begin to describe it. 

We started in the children's hall or rememberance. The mirrored walkway turns a small number of lights into an infinite constellation, each glimmer representing a lost child. There are images of children projected here too, giving a face to a minute number of those lights. It sucks you in, you feel as though you are floating in space, in infinite silence, a stark contrast to the laughing, crying and shouting you expect from children. It's hard to describe. I think anyone who has read the Old Kingsom trilogy by Garth Nix will instantly find extra meaning in what they are seeing, but I won't go into detail as I don't want to spoil the books for anyone. They are brilliant. 

We then moved onto the main building via a few smaller exhibits. Upon entering you see that the architecture tells the story in itself with its long triangular corridor which gets narrower as it gets to the middle. It's cold grey walls giving you a sense of oppression, claustrophobia and hopelessness, as though you are caught in a trap. 

The rooms show images, news reports, documents and artifacts in a chronological order. Along the way, as you zig-zag from one room to the next via the main corridor, you find interviews from survivors. This is by far the most harrowing aspect and I'm not ashamed to say that I was close to tears a few times. I don't know how anyone couldn't be when hearing someone recount the day their parents were taken to the concentration camps while they hid in a cupboard, or of watching people being lined up naked by a trench and being shot, only to be moved to line up after them to face the same fate. There are no words to explain the feeling. The museum ends with the hall of rememberance, a domed, circular room covered in photos of just a fraction of those who died at the hands of the Nazis. This is when I lost it and started to well up. After that I couldn't even speak, I was too moved, too emotionally drained.

I went back to the hostel, met up with Itay and ended up getting very drunk very quickly after such a roller coaster of a day. I think it's what I needed.

The next day was tough and I wasn't in the best state to take the bus to Tel Aviv.

Having wasted the morning, I made my way to the central bus station. It was another sunny day and an easy walk along the wide, open main street. Getting the bus was straight forward... Remember what I was saying about efficiency. I was lucky to bump into Greg a bunk mate at the hostel on the bus.

Greg helped me find where I was going and I found my accommodation easily enough. Now Tel Aviv was my first experience of couch surfing and it was amazing.

Leading up to my visit I had been in contact with my host Filippo via couchsurfing.com and he had agreed to host me for three days - this became longer, but we'll come onto that. 

Filippo is an Italian-Jew educated in the UK, so he speaks English fluently. Currently he is studying Opera at university and is an amazing and thoughtful guy. He welcomed me into his very bohemian house and introduced me to his flat mates. Omrea, a percussionist, Nicoletta a waitress, Bertan the only non Italian, who studies piano performance and his honourary flat mate Antonella. There was also one last flat mate, Pamina Filippo's dog who is a ball of cuteness, smiles and energy wrapped in a fetching bow tie. The house was so welcoming and invited me into their little family with open arms, it was really a very special experience that I am truly grateful for.

The visit started with a bang as I arrived in the middle of a house party, mainly situated on the building's awesome balcony where people were chatting to the sound of classical music. So back on the booze I went. The party wrapped up fairly early which was nice after the night before and so I staggered off to bed. This was a perfect indication of what the house is like, it's a really communal space with everyone being welcome to come and join the fun.

Over the next few days I explored the city. The highlights for me were the beach which is dotted with interesting promenades and outdoor gyms, much like Las Palmas. There's also a dog beach where Antonella and I spent an afternoon with Pamina. I learned that Pamina isn't the worlds greatest fetcher. In fact she would grab the toy then shake it out of her mouth and lose it. 

The old town, Jaffa, is stunning and I romed it's cobbled streets looking at the yellow stone buildings with Pamina at my side. The ampitheatre at the top of the town has amazing views, but my favourite part has to be the small doc with it's small cafes and shops. 

Near the old town are also markets focusing on jewelry, materials and furniture. The latter is very impressive and I am already planning a return visit for when I buy a house. 

I also enjoyed the famous Tel Aviv night life. Unfortunately this involved me getting so drunk that I lost my bag, which I had forgotten to take my passport out of... This was upsetting, but I am proud to say that I didn't stress about it and via the embassy, the bag and contents came back to me. I won't go into details as I'm still a bit embarrassed, but I was so happy to get the bag back. However this was after missing my flight to India, which I rebooked for a week later. Thankfully Filippo said I could stay at his - what a champ!!

This then gave me time to join Filippo at a freestyle class called 5 Rythms (http://www.mc5.co.il/en/) . It's a freestyle dance class using music representing five  different rythms from relaxed to utter chaos. It's all very un-English, but I threw aside my cynicism and self consciousness and just went for it and I have to say I loved it. It was like raving without the regular intoxicants, because everyone was open to it and doing their own thing. It was freeing and two hours later I was pouring with perspiration and fearing the blisters that had already appeared on my soles. Worth it though! Totally worth it! If you're in Tel Aviv and want to try something different then I suggest you do it!

The extra week also allowed me to head to Eliat and where I have booked to cross the boarder to Petra in Jordan. That's still to come as I'm on the bus there as I type this. 

So was it all it was cracked up to be? Definitely and more. Did I have enough time to make a decision yes, but I've still only scratched the surface, so I just can't tell by how much it exceeded my expectations.

Things I've learnt:

I knew that Israelis had to do military service, but I didn't realise they could do jobs like working as tour guides, playing in the army band, etc. though they all have to do basic training which sounds like hell.

The addresses have the street name which normally doesn't have road or street at the end and then the number after e.g. Shenkin 57

Things I liked:

It's really efficient.

In Tel Aviv there are lots of people with dogs, but there's very little mess. 

Tel Aviv is very liberal and axel a lot of different people

The people I stayed with were AMAZING!! 

Favourite food: 

There's loads of great vegan food, but my favourite was Shakshuka, eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce.

Favourite sight: 

Pamina's smiley face of course. Also amazing things to be found at the craft market held on Tuesdays and Fridays by the food market at the intersection of Alenby and Shenkin. Plus the after hours nightlife in Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem

If you want a tour of Jerusalem hit up Itay, he's brilliant and definitely one of te best guides I've had ever! Plus he's a genuine local! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293983-d7811043-Reviews-Jerusalem_Experts-Jerusalem_Jerusalem_District.html

Bonus day in Egypt

I want to start this unexpected post off with a question: What is good customer service? 

Well I think there are two types. The first is going above and beyond to make an experience better than expected, which is rare. The second is harder and that is to correct something that has gone wrong and turn it into a positive experience. The latter is where my hotel, the Bluebird Hotel in Cairo has excelled.

For one reason and another my hotel shuttle to the airport did not make it on time. We won't dwell on that, as it was really out of their control and they did everything they could. 

Exhausted and rather tired, I arrived back at the hotel by taxi. I was kinda chill about the whole thing as I knew it would all get sorted and I knew that being stressed wouldn't turn the plane around. However I didn't want to let on that Iwasn't  really angry as stuff still needed sorting. As such I had my faux anger on when Ibrahim, the hotel owner, saw me back in reception. 

It was all for nothing, as Ibrahim apologized profusely and swept into action. He took me straight to the airline's offices across town (as I had been advised by the check in staff) and paid for my new ticket. On our way Ibrahim pointed out the Swiss Embassy, which was covered in some amazing street art. Now you might be thinking "that's the least they could do, I would t use the term excelled." And you'd be right.

After the flight was sorted, Ibrahim took me to his favourite Egyptian restaurant for lunch. I had a half duck with rice, a lemon soup and salad. It was all nom and more than I had expected. 

By now it must have been clear that I was totally fine about the whole thing, but that didn't stop Ibrahim taking me to have some Egyptian shisha with his friends. We went to a back alley coffee shop set amongst some of the downtown area's taller buildings. I say alley, it felt more like a courtyard where Egyptians from all types of backgrounds spent the evening chatting and playing backgammon, or at least a game that uses the same board and pieces, I still have no idea how it's played! There were also a lot of kitties. Being here really made me see a different aspect of the culture in Cairo that is a bit more real, for want of a better more insightful term. I even bought a shisha pipe from a friend of Ibrahim's, which I'm having shipped home. I am very excited about using it when I get home.

So, that I think counts as excelling at customer service. Yes our best laid plans went awry, que sera sera, I had an amazing time that ended up being the best day I had in Egypt. So if you are ever looking for a genuine experience of Cairo's downtown on a budget, check out the Bluebird hotel and say hi from me!