Goodbye Cairo!

We woke up still feeling a bit bitter about the whole situation from the previous two days. We had been getting worked over ever since we walked off that plane and felt completely used. We decided to suck it up anyway and go see some more sights in Cairo while we still had the opportunity. We decided to hit up the Cairo Museum and then get to the bus station so we could buy tickets to Marsa Matruh. We made plans to go to Siwa Oasis via Marsa Matruh because it looked amazing and it was all the way on the other side of Egypt away from Cairo!

The Museum was quite nice although I had some issues right away. I didn’t notice the no camera sign at the entrance and started to snap pictures right away as soon as I walked in the door. A lady called me out as soon as I got the camera out of my bag and told me I had to go back to security to have them hold onto it. Yeah Right! Like I am going to give my Cannon to some sleazy museum guards to “watch” for me while I enjoy the museum. I knew I would probably never see it again if I did that, so after she watched me leave the building ditched off to the side where I was able to fasten the camera string to my jeans button and let the Cannon hang free in my crotch region. I had to walk a little different after that but security never found it when they check me again going back into the museum!

After the museum we stopped at a gas station for some water and snacks. Lindsey got some delicious looking ice cream and red bull. I just got chips. We also found a wonderful little juice stand selling juice for 2EP a glass! We had three. Mango juice and some sweet dark colored juice which was something we saw a lot of local people drinking but I didn’t really care for it all that much. The fresh mango is difficult to compete with.

The Turgoman bus station is attached to a mall which took us a while to find but were glad when we finally did. Unluckily for us, the sun had just gone down by the time we had arrived so all the employees were eating. We had to wait quite a while for someone to come and help us with a bus ticket. The best part was watching a cat on the escalator trying to walk down the stairs going up. He had no idea why he wasn’t moving. Eventually we did end up getting bus tickets for the next day to Marsa Matruh.

After the mall we were feeling a little guilty about the other couch surfers that we had canceled on the night before and decided to call up Khalid (the guy who was supposed to pick us up from the airport) to see if he wanted to meet up for dinner. We called via Skype from the hostel and agreed to meet him at the Hardees near the Sadat Metro station.

He was late but he did end up showing. We were only going to give him 30 min past when he said he was going to show and then we were going to bolt. Amazingly enough he showed up 25 min late. We ended up going to a nice restaurant with him. We were a little disappointed that things cost so much it was delicious food. We got to try pigeon and Koushari for the first time. Both were very good. Khalid told us about his aspirations to travel to the U.S. someday and how difficult it was for him to obtain an American visa. He was an engineer just like us. But unlike us, he had a job. He was actually an amazing person and we were extremely happy to have met up with him. It was unfortunate that he got our arrival dates mixed up but we were happy to have met him. Hopefully we’ll get to see him in the Sates someday.

Khalid gave us a ride to our hostel after eating and then headed off to bed to get ready for trip to Siwa and hopefully a much more fulfilling and joyful experience than the occasion we had in Giza.

I Got Swindled in Giza!

Now, I write about this day separately because it was probably the most memorable of the trip thus far.

We woke up just before ten and made it downstairs to find no Mohammad. We used the receptionists phone to call him and he said he was on his way. He showed around 11am and told us we had to meet up with Mahmud who wanted to do the pyramids as well. We began walking towards Sadat Station where we found a very warn out and tired looking Mahmud waiting for us. He had not slept all night and looked like he was ready to pass out. He said he was fine n still wanted to join us. The guys hailed a cab for us and then we were on our way to Giza.

I couldn’t wait. We were snapping pictures like crazy while we were riding in the cab as soon as I saw the first pyramid. We got dropped off near the entrance and then were escorted by the guys to a perfume shop where they said the owner was going to arrange our tour for us. The price was going to be 125EP for one hour on a camel and 250EP for two hours. This seemed very expensive to us. We were having major second thoughts but the guys assured us that this was standard pricing. We said “screw it” and went with the two hour tour. How often were we going to be in Egypt to see the pyramids anyway? The man said we could pay him when we got back to the shop.

They brought 3 camels around front and two horses. I mounted Mickey Mouse brown, Ramsey got Charlie Brown and Lindsey got BBC. Mohammad and Mahmud took the horses. We skipped the main entrance and were brought around the side to a different gate where there was a guy in a lawn chair at a foldout table. This was security and the ticket collector. This is where things started to get even more fishy for us. He checked our bags and then let us through.

The view was amazing! It almost didn’t seem real to me trekking through the desert on the back of a camel approaching the original wonders of the world, the Great Pyramids. We were brought to a spot somewhat close to the pyramids to get some great panoramic shots. Our tour guide was snapping away for us getting all of the goofy pyramid poses we could think of. Mahmud was not feeling all that well due to lack of sleep but still managed to muster up some smiles for the camera.

 

 

We were then brought to the smallest of the three big pyramids where some man told us we could climb halfway up if we paid him 50EP. I would have done it if he would have said I could have made it all the way to the top but I probably would have gotten shot by security. Ramsey and I exchange some photos posing by one of the smaller pyramids and then we got back on our camels and headed to the front to get some Sphinx photos. Mahmud ended up leading us to the Sphinx after we dismounted our camels. Unfortunately, it was already 3pm at this point and they were beginning to kick people out of the entrance area, so we never got to get right up next to the Sphinx. We were still pretty close though.

This is where things really started turning around for me. Mohammad whispered to me that we should tip the guide but none of us were really happy with the tour. We did get our two hours in but never really had a good feeling the entire time we were out there. Mahmud and Mohammad left before us back to the shop and that was when the guide asked us for money. The little boys who were towing the camels for us were giving us the hungry look which is always hard to turn an eye to. Lindsey gave the boys who were towing around the camels for us 20EP and then we each gave the guide 10EP. He wasn’t happy with this but we weren’t happy either.

The call-to-prayer was going off as we returned to the shop but the vibe was even more tense upon our return. The man who we organized the tour with gave us some free Pepsi and tried to sell us some perfume before asking for our money. We didn’t feel right paying that much and Mohammad and Mahmud were looking down at the floor, almost ashamed, the entire time. We payed anyhow and got out of there.

The guys hailed another taxi for us back to our hostel. We dropped them of along the way and Mohammad told us to be sure not to pay the man more than 15EP. The Cairo cabbies will always charge you more than what you bargained for but we learned it is easy to just leave the agreed amount and walk away no matter how pissed off they get.

We made it back to the hostel and everything just clicked. WE’VE BEEN SCREWED! From the boat rides to the pyramids those guys had been working us over big time! The worst part was that we had had a conversation with our hostel manager the night before and he told us straight up that we shouldn’t pay more than 60EP per hour for a camel. We all somehow went into brain-dead mode when we were with those weasels. We were mainly embarrassed because of what had happened. There was nothing we could do at that point but keep our tails between our legs. We had trusted those damn couchsurfers and ended up getting raped. We immediately called the other two couchsurfers we were supposed to stay with and canceled telling them what had happened. We felt bad turning them down on account of other people’s actions but we couldn’t trust anyone at that point. We had paid $50 each for that trip instead of the $25 we could have spent for even more. We didn’t even get to go into the pyramids!

We spent the rest of the night planning our trip out of Cairo to other parts of Egypt and decided to leave as soon as possible the next day. We made one more trip out of the hostel to get some crappy chicken shwarmas for way too much which gave us all the more reason to go back to the hostel and go to bed to dream that the whole day never happened.

Out of Europe and into Egypt!

Thanks to Lindsey’s persistent searches on the web we managed to find airfare to Cairo for only $190. We had to catch a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Frankfurt Hahn in Germany and then had to take a bus from Hahn to Koln-Bohn train station and then a metro to the airport. We got to the airport around 3 am and had nearly 16 hours before our flight left. We found a perfect place to lie down and sleep and surprisingly I slept really well. it was light when we woke up and spent the day in the airport writing and reading with a few stops at the Burger King in between.

We arrived in Cairo around 2 am. I wish we would have had a day flight because it would have been cool to see Giza from the air. Unfortunately I couldn’t make out any pyramids in the darkness. We had to purchase our visa with Egyptian pounds which we did not have so we were running back in forth in airport trying to get cash for our visas. They cost us 85 Egyptian Pounds (EP). We were supposed to be staying with a guy named Khalid whom Ramsey had spoken with via couch surfing and reside with him at his parents place for a few days. We waited till 4am with the airport manager but he never showed. It was our own fault that we never wrote down his mobile number so we could call once we got in. He said he would pick us up at 2am on September 12th. We realized he probably got confused with the time and date and thought that we meant the night of the 13th.

The airport manager told us that he would provide us a concierge from the airport to a hostel he recommended that was cheap at in the city center. He charged us 85EP for the ride and when we got to the Nubian hostel they charged us 250EP. We were skeptical but were too dumb to realize we were getting worked over big time. The ride should have only cost us 30EP and when we decided to stay another night the hostel manager said that the rates for 3 people was only 90EP. I was furious. I didn’t want to stay at the Nubian after that but Lindsey and Ramsey insisted that we did stay. They thought it was entirely the airport manager’s fault but The Nubian was in on the deal as well.

The room we had was decent. It had three beds and its own bathroom. Checkout was at 10am but considering we didn’t even get there till 5am they made an exception for us. We rolled out of bed around 12pm and had a free breakfast consisting bread, cheese, jam and tea. We weren’t sure if we were going to stay at the hostel another night so we had them hold onto our bags while we went for a walk around the city.

We made our way through several side streets and found the Cairo University. We sat on a patch of grass in the road median for a while to rest and discuss our plans for the next few days. We decided to contact the other couch surfers we were supposed to stay with and see if we could stay with them. We had used the wireless at the Nubian to call Mohammad who said he would meet up with us this night around 8pm. It was Ramadan so everybody was fasting and nobody was active until the sun went down. We agreed to meet him at the hostel and then left to walk again to watch the sun go down.

We made our way to the river past the Cairo museum to where the river boats were docked up. We were surprised by all the huge hotels in the area. We even went in one just to see how much it cost and to hang out in the lobby for a bit. While we were watching the sunset by the river one of the riverboat captains came up to try and offer us a cheap boat ride. We had no trust in Egyptian people at this point so we declined, but it was past 6pm at this point and he had to eat anyway. He invited us to come join him and the other captains for some traditional Egyptian Ramadan food consisting of khubz (bread), foul, mixed cooked vegetables, and tabbouleh. It was our first dinner in Egypt and definitely one of the best. He even offered us a boat ride for 6EP a piece after that. He told us that to get a motor boat for an hour cost us 120EP and a felucca was 90EP/hour. We thought that it was well worth it so we gave him the 6EP each and got on the boat.

After the boat ride we went back to the Nubian to wait for Mohammad and his friends. Luckily they were right on time. He brought his brother and his best friend Mahmud. They asked what we wanted to do but we didn’t really know because we had never been to Cairo. He suggested going back to the river for a boat ride and then maybe going to Old Cairo to see where the guys lived. We didn’t really care for going back to the river but they insisted it was way better at night with all of the light s and music. This is where our naivety really set in.

Mohammad managed to get a boat for 150EP, He told us that it was more expensive at night and that we had to each pay 30EP per person. We didn’t even put the two and two together that we already knew the boat was 120EP total and that 30EP*6 people does not add up to 150. However, we kept smiles on our face and air in our heads and walked onto the boat. The ride lasted about an hour. It brought us up and down the Nile river where we all stupidly danced for each other. It was one of the most awkward hours of my life.

Afterward, we agreed to go with the guys to Old Cairo to hang out with their friends and see the mosque and hanging church. He informed us that there were going to be hundreds of thousands of people there on the 13th to pray for the Ramadan holy day. Next, we went to a little cafe near his home to meet more of his friends an smoke sheesha (hookah). His friends were pretty funny people and got a kick out of talking in English with them. Mahmud left to go get his car that had been getting fixed at the shop. After a couple rounds of sheesha, it was time for their which they invited us to attend. Keep in mind that it is Ramadan. This dinner took place at 4am. We were so tired but didn’t want to be rude so we ate with them. The food was very good. We had falafel, tabbouleh, and foul. This was the second time we had eaten foul which is basically a combination of pinto beans, garlic, olive oil, and some tomato. Mahmud warned us that it was so good that it would make you forget your name. Lastly, we sat and had some Pepsi and tried a round at dominoes until the call-to-prayer announced that the sun was coming up and it was time to begin fasting again.

Mohammad and his friend Hassan went with us back to our hostel in a minibus since we did not know exactly where we were. It was a kind gesture on their part. Mohammad had asked us earlier if we had seen the pyramids which we had not. He offered to takes there tomorrow so we could get “a very good deal on camel rides” and also have a little guidance. That sounded perfect to us! He said he would return at 10am to share a taxi with us to Giza. It was now 5am and we had very little time to sleep so we went straight to bed.

Workaway on Cronkshaw Fold Farm, Rossendale

The bus ride went by rather fast for me but transportation usually does when I am glued to the iPod. We stopped one time for a bathroom break at some little convenient store/ restaurant. T was pretty expensive though. I bought water and a bag of chips. One thing I hate about England is that it is so expensive. We really had to be counting our pennies during our time here.

We made it to the bus station n Manchester on time to see a long haired, mustached smiley man waiting for us. I had no idea what to expect but Mac did not look at all liked what I had imagined him to be. He had some trouble getting his parking slip for us to the leave the parking lot but managed. Rossendale is 20 minutes northwest of Manchester. Mac showed us where he had grown up and where his father used to live on our way out of the city. When it came to talking about what we would be doing for our month with him and Joy, he couldn’t really answer. He said “My wife’s the farmer. I’m an engineer”. He was just as curious as we were. He told us a little bit about a physics trail that Joy wanted to develop and a wind turbine that they wanted reconstructed.

We rolled up the long driveway of Cronkshaw Fold to a beautiful farm house and a wonderful view of the valley. There sheep dog Pip was pretty excited to see some new company. The place was gorgeous. They had a veggie plot at the bottom of the hill with a few poly-tunnels full of fresh herbs and vegetables. We would be spending a lot of time down there. There were also two calfs, chickens, many sheep, ducks, geese, rabbits, chinchillas, a horse named Bonnie, and goats. It was a fully functioning farm. Their property was beautiful. They even had a pond out back with trout and giant perch in it.

Joy was a treat right from the start. She greeted us with open arms and a warm dinner. She had so much energy and a very strong presence. She was definitely the boss of the house (sorry Mac). She had been running educational visits for children at her farm for many years. Mac was a computer engineer who developed computer chips on silicon wafers.

They had a daughter named Dorothy that was doing a workaway as well. That is the reason why Joy got involved with workaway. Dorothy convinced her to take in some weary travelers while she was away in Croatia working. Joy put us in Dorothy’s room which was the best accommodations we had had the entire workaway experience. There were solid walls, a leak-proof roof, a shower, three beds, and electricity! Ireland was good but this seemed like the Ritz to us. We felt at home right away.

Joy explained to us that we would be doing several jobs during our stay at Cronkshaw which mainly included rock wall fixing, wind turbine construction, and development on a physics trail. We were excited. We were going to be able to exercise our engineering skills. Something we probably haven’t done since college (no offense Cessna). We were excited. I put myself on fishing duty to rid the McCarthy pond of the pesty perch that were taking over.

There was Mike and Anne, who were two of the nicest people we had met during our entire trip. They were in charge of the garden at Cronkshaw and were so much fun to talk with and work with. Mike and Anne had lived all over including Saudi Arabia and India. Mike was in technical sales and a chemist which gave him opportunities to travel all over the world for work. They even invited us over to their house for Indian food one night which was so good. The front yard was the nicest on the block as well. Their company will be one of my most favorite memories of this trip.

One night Joy suggested we go to the pub with the neighbor girls. Ramsey decided to sport the mustache that night which left an impression they would never forget. They had two rinds with them as well. Amy was fresh out of college with a bachelor’s in Architecture and Hannah was in med school. We had great time with them although it was a little annoying that the boyfriend of one of the other girls wanted to talk about wars all night long.

During our days off with Mac and Joy they took us to a few different locations to see some of the sights in northwestern England. We made trips to Skipton, Black Pool, and Settle. We went to an art show one day in Skipton where I was able to get some unique gifts for the family. This is also where the movie “Calendar Girls” is based in. I love the field trips that we took. We always had fun with our walks and educational visits. The best was when we went to check out a sheep exhibit in Settle that Joy was excited about but were presented with a history of the local football team when we arrived. It was a bit of a letdown but it was funny. Black Pool was a pretty tacky but fun little town. It was like Coney Island but had double decker trolleys and a small Eiffel tower looking structure.

 

We also made a fieldtrip to Manchester one morning so Lindsey and I could get our injections for India and meet up with John, one of Lindsey old flight instructors. We took the bus from Helmshore to Manchester early in the morning. It was raining out but Joy was nice enough to lend me Mac’s bi green raincoat. The shot I had to get was a combination Hep B/ Typhoid fever injection. I had no problems at all but Lindsey freaked out at the sight of the needle. She started screaming and crying when the nurse was going to poke her. I didn’t know what to do. She eventually settled enough to get it over with. We met John at the doctor’s office and then went to breakfast with him. He is a pilot for Delta and was on a yearlong furlough travelling the world catching nearly free flights anywhere he could. We went to the textile, air and space museum with him and stopped in the courthouse to see if we could sit in on a case. We did and Lindsey began laughing uncontrollably. The defendant’s support got very mad at this outbreak which started right as the judge was delivering the sentence. Lindsey left and we followed as soon as court was adjourned. The defendant’s brother said “I’ll remember your face to John” and then we left. We took refuge inside the library after we left which was a pretty amazing top. There cathedral-like hallways and rooms containing texts that were hundreds of years old. It even had one of the oldest pieces of the Old Testament in a glass case.

I got to check out one of the local trains with Mac one day when we went to the Tesco grocery store to get some things for joy and beer for myself. Fresh Strongbow! Another bonus of being in England. The Strongbow was delicious along with many other ales and lagers. I will never forget the trips we took to the White Horse for a couple pints. There was a beer festival there that Mac went to one night and drank way too much. He was so hung-over the next day and Joy knew it. She put him to work too; making him saw wood in the barn. The bonus was that Joy took us down to the White Horse the next day to half some beer ourselves. When we arrived we were greeted by free beer. All of the left over kegs from the beerfest were being pumped away for free so it was not put to waste. There was many strange brews including cod ale that was not all that good but there were some tasty delights thrown in the mix. It was amazing how many free pints we got. It was great stop as well because I got to meet some friends of Joy’s who offered a free Jujitsu lesson if I ever inclined on learning a few moves. They taught a couple times a week at a local school.

By the time we were nearing the end of our visit we had put up most of a new stone wall for the plot, put new gravel entries into their goat field and chicken coop, developed a pulley system and potential/ kinetic energy system for the physics trail, and constructed the wind turbine. I managed to pull well over 40 perch out of the pond for Joy, helped Ross spray the sheep for fly strike, move wire bails, and performed several other farm jobs.

The M.V.P.’s of Cronkshaw were Ross, Matt, Cia, Jill, Ralph, and Phil. Cia and Phil were the ones who operated the children’s day visits to the farm. They performed all sorts of activities with the kids from building teepees, to playing games with them. Jill came on Mondays and mornings that children were attending to make fresh scones and cupcakes. She was an amazing baker. It was always a treat to get the leftovers from the day. Ralph was a jack of all trades. He came only a couple of times but directed us in how we could make the stone wall better and taught us how to build a gravel entryway on a field with a slope. He was a very smart man and very good fun to work with. He also has a son who had travelled the world at a very young age and is now a photographer. We had the opportunity of seeing a book that e had made with pictures around Helmshore. I was impressed. Ross was the Cronkshaw shepherd. He had a heart of gold when the sheep were behaving. He was always in a good mood until the day I had to help him mark and spray sheep in the pouring rain .I never heard so many profanities thrown into a single sentence before. It was hard to hold back my laughter while we were trying to contain a dozen sheep in a collapsing sheep pin. We eventually got it done though. Matt was helping out a couple days a week to earn some pocket money. He was 15 but very active. He played the drums as well which I thought was pretty cool. He was very well mannered and a little shy. Other faces around the farm included Bob the bee keeper who was having problems with queen bees dying and hostile takeovers by wasps. There was also the milk man who brought the best milk I had ever had. I got to try milk straight from the cow, so thick but oh so good.

Leaving the farm was difficult for us but we had to keep our volunteer stays to one month minimums. We had a wonderful last evening which was intended for only a farewell drinks and turned into a small going away party. Sensei was there who I was able to thank for the Jujitsu lesson. He taught me a few defensive moves that will help in any given “misunderstanding”. We’ll see if he’s right. After we were all much too tuned up for our own good we drove back and made a noisy return home. Lindsey managed to knock over an entire rack of clothes and Ramsey got to projectile vomit for the first and “last time”. We were in pretty rough condition when we woke up the next morning but managed to be ready to go to the airport for our evening flight to Germany on Ryanair. Thank you Joy and Mac for everything! Farewell England… hello Germany… sleep… hello CAIRO!

Lollygagging in London with Brandon Love

We got off the plain all dreary eyed and still covered with day old egg and two week old stench. We gathered our bags and ourselves at the baggage claim and then went off to find an ATM machine and a bus. Brandon had written to us that he was staying at the Smart Hyde Park View hostel. We figured we could just ride the bus into the city center and hoof our way there, asking directions along the way. We found a bus from Luton to the city. It was about an hour to London from the London Luton airport.

We were dropped in the center of the city with no clue as to which direction we needed to be walking in. we looked at a few tunnel maps along our way to get a general idea of which direction we needed to be headed in and continued to walk. Once we were past Hyde Park and in the Notting Hill district we knew that we were way off. We were hungry and very tired. We had been walking for over an hour already and had no clue where we needed to turn off for the Smart Hyde Park View hostel. We asked a few people who pointed us back in the direction we had came from. We took off our packs for a little bit for a well deserved break but continued onward to find our destination. We were excited to see Bandon again as well.

We eventually found our destination and luckily they had rooms available. Brandon had mentioned that they would possibly be full if we didn’t show up before 10am. There was nobody there when we showed up besides the woman at the front desk. She showed the three of us to our room on the top floor. We were sharing a dorm with 5 other people. I felt sorry for them considering how back we probably stunk. We stripped down right away and jumped in to the shower.

Brandon wasn’t anywhere to be found so we went for a walk to find some food. We had passed a pizza place that advertised an all you can eat buffet. We had salad and our fair share of pizza and then headed back to wait for Brandon’s arrival. There was internet at hostel which was a bonus so we were able to Skype and email. We contacted the McCarthy’s to let them know we were in London and that we would be coming to Rossendale tomorrow. There was also plenty of new pop and rap songs playing in the social area on a big flat screen TV that I had never heard before. I got caught up watching for a bit and then noticed Brandon walking down the street back to the hostel. I ran out and threw a giant hug on him. He looked so different. He got a haircut, new jeans, and had a goatee. Not to mention, he was clean! Something that was very rare for us these days.

He told us a bit about his last week in Normandy and London. It sounded like he had an amazing time. I am still jealous that he got to see Normandy beach. I can’t imagine. We walked with him through Hyde Park and decided we would go to Piccadilly to see what all of the hype was about. It was like a time square with a giant fountain to loiter at. I wish we would have had more time in London to learn more about the history of the city but we were on too tight of a schedule. We took a metro train to the parliament building to see the river attractions and Big Ben. It was an amazing sight at night. There was a giant Ferris wheel you could have taken to get a good view of the city but being that we have all turned into cheapskates that was out of the question. We popped a squat right next to some Dali statues and chatted for a while before Brandon had to part with us to go to the airport. He had to catch a flight to Paris late that night. We took the metro back to the hostel and said farewell to Brandon for the last time. It was a strange feeling to think that we would not be seeing him again but he was determined to get back home and start working again. He will be missed dearly.

We went to bed right after Brandon left for his flight. In the morning we decided to try and make it to the Tower Bridge before we had to leave for Rossendale. There was a megabus that we reserved seat for at 2 pm which would take us to Manchester where the McCarthy’s agreed to meet us. There was enough time for a quick jaunt to see the Tower Bridge with a stop to watch the changing of the guard along the way. The changing o the guard was madness. It was the largest gathering of tourists I had seen yet. I am glad I went and experienced it but it was pretty anti-climactic. After that we headed on the metro for the Tower Bridge where we walked half way across and then realized that we only had about an hour to get back to the hostel and get our bags and then get our butts to the bus station.

With just our luck, the train we were on had some sort of mechanical difficulties and we had to get off and wait for another one to come along. The seconds ticked by like minutes. We thought for sure we would be late. Once we got to Bayswater we all took off on a dead sprint. Ramsey and Lindy got stuck behind due to Lindsey’s ticket getting jammed into the exit machine. I ran ahead and gathered all of the bags. By the time I got the front desk girl to help get the bags out of the storage room and into the lobby, Ramsey and Lindsey were there ready to go. We ran back to the metro to catch a train near the bus station and then ran to the bus station. It was 10 minutes passed when we were supposed to depart but luckily our bus was still sitting there. The bus driver had informed us that he had already given our seats away and wasn’t sure if there were any more available. We couldn’t believe it! Luckily he made room for us and we were on our way to Manchester on schedule. We were lucky that we didn’t have to make Mac wait for us for several hours. It would not have been a good impression on our hosts who we would e staying with for the next month.

In Ireland and on the Road (August 2nd - 12th, 2009)

After a small rendezvous with Brandon in the morning I was headed northwest once again to meet back up with Lindsey and Ramsey. It was sad to say goodbye to Brandon but I knew we would be seeing him again. I wish he would have accompanied us during our Hitch hiking adventure but he was on his own schedule now.

I arrived in Sligo around 4pm at the main bus station without a clue as to what my next step should be. So I did what any lost, cold, and foreign soul would do and headed to the nearest pub four a fresh pint of stout. I thought that I could possibly strike up a conversation with the right kind of people and maybe score a couch somewhere. It was a cozy little pub with a few very obvious regulars inside who were all watching the selection of the European and American woman’s golf teams. Kind of strange I thought. I got to talking with the bar tender who was taking a collection of lottery tickets from some gentlemen. Apparently the bar has a raffle-like lotto every Sunday.

Although the conversation was good, I did seem to be making any new best friends and I didn’t have the cash to stick around and get pissed with the locals so I moved on to find a hostel. The first one I came across was the Railway Hostel. There was nobody at reception. Only a locked door and a cubby containing a map to the White House Hostel. I had to lug my pack across town which fortunately for me was not all that immense. The hostel was right next to the river and was asking for 17 Euros a night. It was pricier than I had hoped for but it was beginning to rain at this point and I was in no mood for sporting soaked attire.

I met a few people who were staying at the hostel as well from all over Europe. Due to my lack of note taking and poor memory for new names I cannot tell exactly who they were but I can tell you where they were from. There was a woman from Spain who had been biking from Southern to Northern Ireland over a period of two weeks, there was a guy my age from Holland who had been hitching up the west coast, there were two college guys from France ho were biking/ hitching up the west coast, and there was a couple from Spain also. We all sat and had a small chat in the social area while we ate our makeshift dinners consisting of tuna, frozen pizza, bread, and fruit. We all went out once it got dark to watch a trad session that the Spanish woman had seen a sign for earlier.

After witnessing the talent that Raphoe had to offer it is tough to compare other trad sessions but this one was still pretty good. It was three sisters (or cousins, or even maybe friends?) singing and playing instruments together. One was on the keyboard, one on the flute, and one on the accordion. Our crew sat and watched and enjoyed several pints together. I got to talking with the French guys about their trip and education in France. They were also engines. They were just on holiday and thought that Ireland would be the perfect place to get away for a while. I couldn’t have agreed more.

It was raining on our way back but it was of no bother. We all went to bed around Midnight. We had to be up and out by 9am. I woke at about 8:30am and was still able to be packed and showered by the time the managers were on my case to get out. I chatted with the Dutch guy for a little bit about his plans and informed me about Benbulben Mountain just north of Sligo. He was going to trek it and keep going north afterwards. I decided that he had a good idea and wanted to ascend the great Benbulben as well. This also was a good opportunity for me to test my hitching thumb. I asked the hostel receptionist how to get to the main road and then wandered down the road hoping to have ascended and descended Benbulben before meeting up with Lindsey and Ramsey at 7pm.

My first lift was from a man in a Lexus heading to the golf course to meet up with his brother. It only took about 5 minutes of sticking my thumb out before he stopped. I couldn’t believe it. He had some great stories to share about golfing and when he used to thumb rides when he was a kid. He said you don’t see so many people doing it now-a-days. I liked this man quite a bit. He dropped me off at the small dirt road that led to the trail that led to the base of the mountain and then was off to the links.

I found the trail that I had heard about from my previous two acquaintances and the Dutch boy. It was a narrow rocky trail that led to a locked gate. I was told to just jump the gate and try not to be seen until I get to the other side of the field and over the barbwire fence. Apparently the man who owned the field didn’t like people walking in his field but that was the easiest way to begin ones ascent to the top. It wasn’t much of an ascent though. The mountain was only 526 meters tall. But it had a shear face at the north end of the mountain where you could sit and stare almost straight down to near sea level. It was a great hike. There no other people on my way up. It was just me and several dozens of sheep. I made it to the north face of the mountain and popped a squat right on a small grassy ledge with my feet hanging over the edge.

I lingered long enough to eat my orange and apple and then stood up to leave just as some other trekkers were approaching. They snapped a couple pictures for me. There were four of them. Three guys and a girl. Two of them were from the U.K. and two from Ireland just enjoying a road trip during their holiday. I didn’t chat long. I still had to hitch a ride back into Sligo before 7pm.

I made my way back to the road picking some wild blackberries and raspberries long the way. I stood for nearly twenty minutes at the same spot where the golfer dropped me off but had no luck with a ride. There was a ton of traffic too! I walked about a mile down the road and finally was able to catch a ride with an elderly man who wasn’t much for conversation. He was a little nervous I think about picking up a hitch hiker. He dropped me off at a red light and didn’t even say goodbye. The red light was only two blocks from the hostel so it wasn’t so bad.

I ended up getting back a lot earlier than I thought I would. It was only 3:30pm. I talked with the guy at the reception for a while. He was just working during the summer before he had to go back to his real job. He was nice enough to let me use the internet wile I waited for 7pm to approach. Unfortunately his boss showed up and kicked me out since I wasn’t staying a second night. What a prick! They still let me keep my bag there though. I wondered off to find a grocery store to kill time and to get some food for the guys so we had something to eat that night.

Sligo - Strandhill

• I watched Ramsey and Lindsey walk up to the closed McD’s and they spot me coming down the road. Said they ha two awesome rides from Dunfanaghy to Sligo including a tour from an older couple on a holiday. We didn’t linger too long though. We decided Strandhill was the place we needed to be.

• We got our first ride from a mother and daughter in black van right as we were going to split up to try and find separate rides. Three people with backpacks is a lot of space, luckily we were off to a good start.

• The Mother and daughter told us that they charge for camping but we could probably walk past the campgrounds and just pitch a tent wherever we pleased. We walk past the campgrounds and pitched the tent between a couple of hills so we could stay out of sight.

• We went for a stroll down the beach and then ate a dinner of sandwiches and cookies which I bought from the grocery store earlier. There was a country western style band playing in town so we went to the pub to watch and get some fresh Guinness. We met a couple German bike tour guides who had some time off. They give bike rides all along the west coast during the summer. They were our age and had been doing the tours for a couple summers.

Strandhill - Killala - Ballina - Lacken

• Woke up to a sunny sky and wrote on the beach for a while Linds washed up. Got the tent taken down and then went to Bell Vista for soup and sandwiches and used internet. We went to the Spar station to get some snacks or the road and began thumbing for the day.

• First ride was from a Surfer guy in black station wagon. Gave us some tips for applying for working holiday visas in Australia. He had done it the year before and was going to be moving there with his Aussie girlfriend. Dropped us off at a busy intersection in some small town.

• Second ride was from David the flower van driver with a stutter. I thought we were going to ride in the back but we all crammed into the front. I sat on Ramsey’s lap. He dropped us off on the side of the road where he had to turn off to make his delivery.

• Third ride was from a 21 year old guy in a Volvo. He told us that we needed to go to Lacken beach. He said it was very beautiful there and very remote. He picked up flowers for his girlfriend on our way. It was their anniversary but he said they are not married. He then took us through his hometown of Killala where we picked up lunch meat from Spar station. We then passed Betsy’s bar, the only pub/restaurant within several km from Lacken (rated with ½ star).

• We pitched a tent on a piece of land near the water and got yelled at by the land owner. I don’t know how he saw us but he said he didn’t allow camping in fear that people would leave their garbage behind. We sat on the beach for an hour till sunset and then got the group motivated to pitch the tent on the cliff face where our last ride had dropped us off. It was a much better view from there. I pooped in the man’s field and then went to bed.

Lacken - Castlebar - West Port

• We were informed by a couple of early beach goers that we would have better luck finding rides if we walked down the beach and across the bay before the tide came in. We quickly got a move on but ended up having to ford a river of sea water to get to the road on the other side of the bay. We saw no cars at all but as we were drying off our feet a car stopped where we were sitting.

• Got a ride from two lady friends on holiday to the main road in their tiny red car with fishing poles poking my legs. I am shocked we even fit inside.

• Were picked up by a mother and daughter right away. They told us we looked pitiful and confused so they decided to help us out. They went out of their way and dropped us off at a McD’s in Castlebar. We ate euro saver burgers and ice cream. Linds and Ramsey picked up groceries at Tesco while I watched the bags.

• We got our next lift from a stinky man in a station wagon to West Port. I’m sure we didn’t smell all that great either.

• Used the internet cafe for a couple hours and then walked to the Quay where they were tearing down fair rides. We pitched our tent next to some campervans and then ate our sammies and jelly doughnuts from Tesco.

Crough Patrick back to Westport

• We ate the rest of our doughnuts for breakfast. Lindsey and Ramsey washed their hair and then we packed up to start our hike to the Reek. We ate at a small pub after walking for a while. Lindsey and I had steak sandwiches while Ramsey enjoyed a soup. We walked a few kilometers further past the pub and got picked up by a husband and wife who took us to the base of the mountain.

• They had lockers at the lodge at the base of the mountain but we didn’t want to pay and the lockers were not big enough for our stuff. We threw our bags in a bush behind the lodge and began our ascent to the top. Ramsey and I were at a much faster pace than Linds and made it to the top within a couple hours. Linds followed us up a while after and got emotional we had gone ahead. I felt really bad. She forgave us. We saw St. Patrick’s grave and fed a couple mountain goats that were very interested in us and our oranges. The view was amazing until a giant cloud came and rained down on us. Took cover in a stinky bathroom for a short while. Walked down the mountain and accidentally hit a little girl with a loose rock. I felt bad. She cried a lot but there were no wounds.

• Got our bags back at the base and caught a ride back to west port in a van of a construction worker. I road in back which had an overpowering smell of petrol while Linds and Ramsey road up front. He dropped us off at the road to Clifden. He said there was a music festival going on so there should be a lot of traffic.

• Tried until dark to get a lift out of West Port but had no luck at all. Ended up walking back to the Quay and pitched the tent once again. We missed the music festival as well. Lindsey and Ramsey had fish and chips while I was too bitter to eat. Went back to the tent and slept.


West Port - Leenanne - Clifden

• Went to the Centra for breakfast and groceries. Got a pound cake and some fruit. We made it to the edge of West Port and sat at a gas station for a while. Lindsey bought spaghetti in a can and crackers which looked really gross. Passed up a guy with his sons because we couldn’t fit.

• A women in a black VW who had seen us the day before decided she would give us a ride. She felt bad that we were still standing there. She was from Germany. She drove us to a small town called Leenanne, a very small and beautiful town in a valley. We ate at a restaurant there that jipped us on our food. Paid almost 3 bucks for 6 onion rings.

• It was raining when we left the restaurant but luckily a French couple stopped right away and picked us up. They were on holiday from Bordeaux, France and were going to Clifden which is exactly where we wanted to go. The woman had been the states before and spoke very good English. Her husband didn’t speak English very well. It was his first time driving on the left side of the road.

• After getting to Clifden we went to the grocery store to get some food. I bought sammies, cheesecake, and Jameson and Lindsey got beer. Lindsey got directions to a location we wanted to be heading in but we decided to not walk anymore due to the rain. We knocked on the door of a woman with a nice looking backyard. She was Asian and didn’t speak English very well but after we showed her our tent she knew what we wanted to do and said it was alright.

 

 

Clifden - Galway t- Ballyvaughn - Cliffs of Moher

• It was raining when we woke up. We cleaned up and rolled up the tent. We Walked to the Lidl for some tasty treats. Lindsey discovered some new nutella like chocolate spread that was really good. We were right next to the highway so we didn’t have to walk far for a lift. We got picked up right away by a middle aged woman in a ford. She thought we were crazy for hitching. She dropped us off at a small roadside gas station.

• Next, we got picked up by a woman with her daughter in her hatchback. We managed to get all of our stuff in. She was a helicopter pilot before but was burnt by a bad business partner in the past. She wanted to do police chases. She dropped us off at a roundabout outside of Galway.

• Had lunch of PB and J and then perused the map to figure out where we were. As we looked a woman pulled over and began to clear out her boot. She was a crazy looking woman but we got in anyway. She was a little creepy joking about who was gonna kill who first. She dropped us off at the N67 and N18 intersection

• Our next lift was from a Polish guy on his way to a gig. He was drinking wine on the way and had ACDC cranked up. He had his equipment in the back and was heading to play a gig in some small town. Got dropped off near Ballyvaughn.

• Linds hit up the gas station and then a guy walking his little white terrier of some sorts told us he would pick us up after he got in his car but we had to still thumb. His dogs name was Jake and loved sitting on my lap. He played us crazy techno music but wasn’t too keen on it. Took us the long way to Ballyvaughn.

• We got stuck in Ballyvaughn for a while. We walked towards the harbor and tried hitching there for a bit but nobody wanted anything to do with us. We walked back the other direction and sat across from the gas station. Ramsey got us cardboard to write Cliffs of Moher on and another to write Lisdoonvarna.

• Got a lift from a guy with some naked chick emblems on his rear windows. He was going to a pub near Lisdoonvarna and said he would bring us all the way to the cliffs if he didn’t meet anyone interesting and we were still thumbing. There was some singles festival going on in the days to come in this town.

• We walked to a T junction. The midges were thick so I sprayed us all down with bug spray. It took forever for someone to pick us up. A mother with her son who had driven by earlier came back and picked us up. Her kids convinced her to. She was a nice woman driving a Honda CR-V and brought us all the way to the cliffs.

• We enjoyed the scenery on the way to the top of the cliffs and pitched a tent not too far from the guard tower. Climbed the stone wall and stood on the edge of the cliff for a while. Saw some kids coming back from a drunken walk and said hello and then pitched the tent after they were gone. Had our dinner and went to sleep.

Cliffs of Moher - Lahench - Limerick - Killarney

• We woke overhearing people asking “is someone really camping there”. We rolled up our tent and went to the café for breakfast. They also had wireless internet there

• We caught a ride by two women, a woman who worked at the cliffs and her visiting friend. They took us to see a well that is said to contain an eel that will bring you luck if you see it. They dropped us off in Lahinch at their house.

• Caught a ride from a man who was coming from his brother’s bachelor’s party. He was on his way to Dublin and said he could drop us off in Limerick. Went to a giant Tesco to get food for the road. Tuna, Peanut butter, cookies, water, apples and sandwich materials. At sandwiches by the entrance.

• Got picked up by a young guy who took us a short distance into the actual city of Limerick and then waited for a long time before our next ride. We even laid in the grass for a while. Got a couple of middle fingers thrown at us during the wait.

• Finally got picked up by a guy in a minivan who had passed us once before. He was the nicest guy we had ridden with thus far. He went 100km out of his way to bring us to Killarney. I couldn’t believe it. He was a stone mason and had a couple kids, a wife, and an ex-wife. He told us all about child support, his weed usage, gypsies, and the economy in Ireland.

• Met a girl from California in a B.K. lounge that spent nearly 45 minutes in the bathroom and pretended to be on the phone when she left. Found a football pitch and set up camp.

 

 

Killarney - Cork - Waterford

• Happy Birthday Ramsey! Walked back into town after tearing down camp. Ate breakfast t a café that had free Wi-Fi. We walked through town, found the road towards cork and started thumbing for the day.

• A Mercedes stopped and we thought it was just turning around but it actually stopped for us! The driver was a young Indian Doctor heading to Cork to work the night shift. He was just visiting his girlfriend. Dropped us off in the middle of the highway outside of Cork.

• Started walking to get out of the middle of 70mph traffic but a green Jaguar stopped to give us a lift. The driver’s name was Jeff, a professional golfer on his way to Dublin. He could tell we were hungry and gave us some sodas and candy bars. He told us about Cobh as we drove by, the Titanic’s last port of call before heading to America. He offered to take us all the way to Dublin but we figured it would be better to stay in Waterford an leave in the morning. Jeff brought us to McDonalds and told me I had a 10 euro spending limit on any meal I wanted. It was like Christmas. I got a double quarter pounder w/cheese meal, supersized of course. It was one of the nicest gestures anyone had done for us. He even circled around Waterford a few times to make sure we found a good camping spot.

• We went through the woods up on a hill to get to an abandoned hotel with a big grassy area in front of it. From the hill we had a great view of the entire city. We threw our bags in the brush under a tree so nobody would see and then were going to explore the abandoned hotel but an alarm went off as soon as we got within 20 yards of the entrance which informed us that the police have been contacted and were on their way. It was only a scare. No cops ever came. We went into town to a small pub for Ramsey’s birthday celebration. We also went to some discotech place and then a bar across the street that had a live band that was amazing. They had an amazing Purple Rain/ Wonderwall conversion in one song. Couldn’t believe it. After a few pints, went back to the hill and pitched our tent in the dark and went to sleep.

 

 

Waterford - Tramore - Waterford - Dublin

• No clouds today and a lot of heat. Decided to go to the nearest beach which was in Tramore. It was 5 euro for a bus there. Tramore was like a huge amusement park next to the ocean. We hung out for a bit. Lindsey and Ramsey made sign on cardboard to try and sell our tent but had no bites. We missed the bus we wanted to take back to Waterford so we got back later than we hoped.

• Walk a ways out of Waterford and get a lift from Polish guy who speaks very little English. Says he’ll drop us off in Kilkenny. We declined right away because we hoping for a direct ride to Dublin but he came back and offered again so we obliged. He ended up dropping us off in a place that had very little traffic. Thanks chief.

• Got a lift from a kid who had just finished his finals and got dropped off in an even smaller town. He said we could catch a bus there but we had no money and there was no ATM. Decided to keep going even though it was almost dark.

• Got a lift from a man driving his son home from football practice in his taxi van. He dropped us off at a bus station in the next town. We decided to keep going. We knew the bus was leaving at 12am so we figured we could catch it later down the road if we had to.

• Got a lift from a guy who was on his way home. He dropped us off in the next town by a gas station and told us we would have no problem getting a lift even though it was dark. We waited for about 15 minutes and then the first egg came flying in hitting Ramsey in the leg. There were kids who were driving around celebrating their end of testing and though it would be fun to egg the hitchhikers. We ended up walking down the road to the bus stop where we got to witness a bar brawl, a man locking himself in the boot of his car and getting hit point blank with egg by the sneaky kids. Girls across the street saw the whole thing and came to help us clean up as it began to rain and informed us the bus wouldn’t be showing up until 3am. They invited us in for tea until we had to go. The bus showed at 3:15am with only 5 seats open and we had to pay 17 euro to go the last 70km. We were pissed.

• Got to the airport and ate a little snack while Lindsey slept. Cleaned up a little more but still had egg everywhere. We got through security for our Ryanair flight to London Luton at 7am and were onboard by 8am. I usually can’t sleep on flights but considering I had not slept in 24 hours, was stinky from egg, and had nobody willing to sit next to me, I had no problems falling asleep.