louiseinlimbo

I have to admit that this country was not on my ‘must visit’ list, but having decided to visit Albania before a return visit to the UK in July, it seemed to make sense to also visit the neighbouring countries. I’d heard that North Macedonia – or at least its capital, Skopje – was a strange, rather ‘fake’ place, and could quickly see why it provokes that response.  Situated in an earthquake zone, large parts of it (apparently some 80% of the buildings) were destroyed in a huge earthquake in 1963.  Some of the subsequent re-building was in the modernist, or ‘brutalist’ style, together with plenty of pre-fabricated apartment buildings erected hastily to house those made homeless by the earthquake.  The picture above shows the brutalist Central Post Office and Telecommunications building. But then in 2010, the government launched ‘Skopje 2014’ – a big, expensive, and pretty controversial, project to add some grandeur to the city.  Apparently, more than 120 buildings...

The reason I was in Egypt was actually to take a flight from Cairo to Seiyun, in Yemen, with a tour group. It’s not a country you can visit as an individual, but visas are granted to tour groups meeting specified criteria, so I’d signed up for a tour – a week in mainland south Yemen, followed by a week on the island of Socotra.  Then earlier this year, trouble broke out in Yemen, between the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (based in the more northerly part of the country…) and the Saudi-backed and internationally-recognised Presidential Leadership Council (the government), with the former rapidly taking over significant parts of the country but then being pushed back, with the main results being their expulsion from the Leadership Council and the withdrawal of their UAE support.  Thankfully this was all over before my trip was due to take place, so I could still go to ‘southern’ Yemen, but the withdrawal of the UAE included the cancellation of their weekly ...

Siwa was not actually a place I had heard of until a room-mate in Thailand heard that I was travelling next to Egypt, and told me, “You have to go to Siwa Oasis!”, and having looked the place up online I decided that I would do so.  Only 50km from the Libya border, it is a town of the Berbers, where the local language (Siwi) is still dominant.  It reminded me in some ways of northern Mali, with the ancient mosque (dating from 1203) constructed in a very similar style to those in Timbuktu.  In an oasis some 25 metres below sea level, it apparently has more than 300,000 palm trees and 70,000 olive trees – but these are nourished by spring-water (via streams), not by rainfall, which is rare.  However in 1926 there were three days of rain, and most of the town existing at that point was badly damaged, as the buildings were made from large chunks of salt mixed with rock and plastered with local clay. The ruins are still there in the centre of town (with newer buildings ar...

My time with the cats finally came to an end and I took a long overnight bus trip to the city of Alexandria, having decided to see those corners of the country I’d previously missed (as well as the new Grand Egyptian Museum).  Alexandria was really interesting, with so much of the country’s ancient history (founded by Alexander the Great, succeeded by the Pharaohs, Romans, Mamluks, Ottomans, French – even the Brits, for a short period) having left its mark here – in the case of the Romans, allowing me to combine my interest in viewing historical remnants with that of birdwatching, when I saw this swamphen amongst the Roman mosaics remaining in the city! It was fun travelling around too.  I did a lot of walking as the city is stretched out along the Mediterranean coast, but also enjoyed travelling in the 12-seater white minivans which you can flag down and take to most places for just ten Egyptian pounds (the equivalent of 14p in British terms).  Oh yes! …talking of which ...

So, here I am (in Dahab, in the Sinai peninsula) volunteering with cats again - to save money (as my accommodation at the cat shelter is free) so as to help finance the expensive guided tours I have booked for later this year, but also because I do like cats!  Although I have to admit that there are times, with cats fighting to be the one sitting on my lap, or helping themselves to my food (who knew that some cats will chew through a plastic bag in order to eat a bread roll!) that I ask myself whether it is worth it.  Not helped that much by the weather - sunny and dry, yes, but with lots of wind, so strong today that although it is currently 21°C it 'feels like' 16°C.  Maybe it was silly to sign up for just over six weeks of this; I should be like the other volunteers, mostly passing through for just two weeks, which would be much easier.  The owner of the cat sanctuary has let me off the usual €1-per-day contribution to costs, given the length of my visit, but...

Whilst I've very much enjoyed my time in Chiang Mai, I felt that I should also visit a couple of other places in the area.  Firstly the hippy village of Pai, although when I asked a fellow traveller what to expect of the place, he asked whether I was going "for the nature or for the drugs"!  & for sure, smoking weed is a big part of the culture there (I took one drag of someone's joint in my eight days there, it's not really my thing as I prefer to be fully present in all these places).  It really is a hippy place, and whilst there are some nice countryside sights (such as Pai canyon to the right here), it is almost worth visiting just to gawp at the hippy culture in the same way as you might for ancient cultures.  So many of the people there - both those originally from the West and a fair number of the locals - look quite distinctive, with their waist-length dreadlocks, their piercings and their extensive tattoos, including many on their faces. But one reaso...