I like this blog post from the NY Times' Frugal Traveler.
In it, he shares his go-to websites and books and strategies for planning a trip. I'm sure a lot of us already utilize his approaches but it's always good to feel validated.
A hotel booking website that I recently used while traveling in Thailand is http://www.agoda.com/. I think this site is great. We got a great deal on a hotel that we had read about but thought was out of our budget. It saved us over $100 on the nightly rate. More details on Thailand to come.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
rome
i spent 3 days and 3 nights in rome and completely fell for that city. our time there was just long enough to see the major sights (st. peters, sistine chapel, colosseum, spanish steps, trevi fountain, campo di fiori) at a rapid pace but not nearly long enough to explore all the hidden corners and see everything i wanted to see.
i kept thinking about the book Eat, Pray, Love the entire time i was there because i instantly loved the sound of italian (is it just me or does everything sound better in italian?), i didn't go to a single museum (not in rome nor in any other city in italy), ate gelato 2-3 times a day (which is probably why i didn't make it to a single museum) and significantly increased the size of my gut.
going to italy right now sucked because the dollar is so low and the prices of food and lodging are generally pretty high. i guess if you want to deprive yourself of the joys of eating 3 courses at every meal, you can get away with cheap eats but cheap lodging was pretty hard to find.
thoughts on lodging, food, random stuff about rome:
- last february i had made a reservation at a B&B in rome called B&B Maggiore. when we arrived, our host said that the building's exterior was being renovated and he wanted to spare us from dealing with the paint fumes and noises. since our enjoyment was such a priority, they had
booked us a room at a nicer place "around the corner" and arranged for us to be taken there. and, of course, the other place cost more but they would pay the difference. "around the corner" ended up being 20 mins away in the wrong direction. i'm not sure if the whole thing was a scam or not but stay away from B&B Maggiore. we ended up finding a place in the travel book we had - ACCESS Rome - called Hotel Parliment for 130 Euros a night, including breakfast. it was small and lacked amenities but it was spotless and conveniently located with very helpful staff.
- go to the restaurants recommended by my friend ema. he knows me well enough to recommend places that are all about good food, reasonably priced and has lots of charm.
eat lots of gelato everywhere but make sure not to miss the Sardinian honey gelato at Il Gelato di San Crispino (the best gelato i had in italy), which is very close to the Trevi Fountain. Also, the espresso granita with whipped cream at the various cafes (including La Casa del Caffe Tazza d'Oro) is awesome and a strong jolt of caffeine.- the Wallpaper City Guide to rome was a good alternative for people who want to get info on quirky cool things to see and do in big cities and have graduated from the Lonely Planet style of traveling. i'm not knocking the LP and I still use it religiously for certain types of trips - backpacker-style, low-budget traveling - but when i go to places like rome, i need a travel guide that will give me info on the really good places to eat and drink, which don't usually make it into the LP since they don't usually cater to the teva-wearing crowd. in big, cosmopolitan euro cities, LP isn't the best guide for the kind of foodie experience i want.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Rome Drinks and Eats
I'm going to Italy in the not too distant future, so I asked my Milanese friend who has lived in Rome where to go there and here's what he suggested:
Cocktails:
*Freni & Frizioni, Via del Politeama, 4 - 6
Shabby chic bar in Trastevere where people enjoy drinks on a huge terrace. It has been a huge hit for years.
*Salotto 42, Piazza di Pietra 42
Cool bar on one of the nicest square of Rome in front of the Temple of Adriano.
*Bar della Pace, Via della Pace
It's a roman institution. Have a look.
Restaurants:
*Santa Cristina la Quirinale, Via della Cordonata 21-22
Tiny, sweet and very good. Cooking from the south. One of his favorites in Rome
*La Pace del Palato, Via del Teatro Pace, 42a/43
Delicious.
*Enoteca Ferrara, Via del Moro 1
Really high quality food in this winery
*Taverna Trilussa, Via Politeama
One of the real "Roman" restaurants in Rome
*Also have pizza al trancio anywhere. It's awesome.
Thanks, Ema. You're awesome.
Cocktails:
*Freni & Frizioni, Via del Politeama, 4 - 6
Shabby chic bar in Trastevere where people enjoy drinks on a huge terrace. It has been a huge hit for years.
*Salotto 42, Piazza di Pietra 42
Cool bar on one of the nicest square of Rome in front of the Temple of Adriano.
*Bar della Pace, Via della Pace
It's a roman institution. Have a look.
Restaurants:
*Santa Cristina la Quirinale, Via della Cordonata 21-22
Tiny, sweet and very good. Cooking from the south. One of his favorites in Rome
*La Pace del Palato, Via del Teatro Pace, 42a/43
Delicious.
*Enoteca Ferrara, Via del Moro 1
Really high quality food in this winery
*Taverna Trilussa, Via Politeama
One of the real "Roman" restaurants in Rome
*Also have pizza al trancio anywhere. It's awesome.
Thanks, Ema. You're awesome.
Monday, February 4, 2008
oaxaca, mexico - food
the food in oaxaca blew me away. my meals at restaurants ranged from $4, at the low end, to $35ish, at the high end, and while every single meal wasn't great, they were all pretty good. street food, as usual, was what i often ate for lunch and snacks throughout the day because there are such great tortas, tacos and quesadillos being made by little ladies and cheap cafeterias all over the city. for less than $1, i would get a quesadilla the size of my face filled with quesillo (local oaxaqueno cheese), chicken, zucchini blossoms and chile sauce.
here are some of the highlights of my gorging in oaxaca:
1. micheladas (think bloody mary, except with beer instead of vodka) in the zocalo with spiced peanuts with lime. this was a daily ritual around 5pm. you know, something to take the edge off of my rough and stressful day.
2. cafe alex restaurante (diaz ordaz 218 - at the corner of diaz ordaz and trujano). after no time at all, these guys knew me and my order - breakfast combo no. 4: chilaquiles in salsa verde with tasajo (thin cut of steak) and beans, also including tortillas, coffee, juice and a sweet roll, all for the low low price of $4.50. unbelievably good. best chilaquiles i've ever had. EVER! they were spicy. really spicy, which is highly respectable in my book given that i'm talking about breakfast food. just thinking about it makes my mouth water. for some stupid reason, i never made it there for dinner but you shouldn't make that mistake if you go to oaxaca. given how they season their breakfast foods, i'm pretty sure the other dishes they serve would be darn good, too. if this place were anywhere near me in new york, i'd be obese.
3. ceviche man in the 20
de Noviembre market. ceviche made to order with shrimp or fish or octopus (or any desired combo of the foregoing), onions, tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, tomato sauce and lime. yes, i would eat raw fish from a mexican market and i did. it was sublime an
d it was $3. so there. this market has lots of food stalls with good snacks and foods to bring back home, like mole, chocolates, jamaica tea, etc. the mole i bought in the market lasts for up to 6 months in the fridge and i've been really enjoying cooking with it at home. it's flavors are so complex and rich and savory. word of caution: i never had any hassles anywhere in oaxaca but i met a fellow traveler who got pick-pocketed at this market, so be careful with your wallet if you ever go there.4. casa oaxaca (not sure about the address but if you turn right at the top of cinco de mayo you'll se
e it on your right, opposite santo domingo). my friend eva, who lives in mexico city, said this was THE restaurant that i had to go to in oaxaca. i'm glad i took her advice. despite my love of street food and eating on the cheap, i also really like to have a fancy meal at a place like casa oaxaca where the service and the surroundings are wonderful. also, the food was not only delicious, it was artful (check out the four cheeses which come out with bread at the start of the meal). my first meal there was also memorable because it was the first time i ate bugs (intentionally). i had heard that mexicans like chapulines (grasshoppers) but was a little surprised to see them on the menu of this fancy restaurant. i thought of them as something akin to a beer snack, like corn nuts. in fact, they are used in many different ways - yes, fried with spices and eaten like corn nuts as a snack but also ground up into a spice and used to flavor dishes and sauces, which is how they were used at casa oaxaca in the taquitos de jicama rellenos de chapulines cuitlacoche y quesillo,
servidos sobre salsa de miltomate. when i first ordered the taquitos (yes, i only ordered it because it had grasshoppers), i had no idea that my taquito wasn't going to be filled with chapulines as the name suggested, so i ate it hesitantly, expecting a gross-out moment with every bite. but bite after bite consisted of delicious jicama, guacamole, tomatillo, quesillo and even pomegranate but no icky crunchy grasshoppers. i guess my constant inspection of the food and slow eating caused my waiter
servidos sobre salsa de miltomate. when i first ordered the taquitos (yes, i only ordered it because it had grasshoppers), i had no idea that my taquito wasn't going to be filled with chapulines as the name suggested, so i ate it hesitantly, expecting a gross-out moment with every bite. but bite after bite consisted of delicious jicama, guacamole, tomatillo, quesillo and even pomegranate but no icky crunchy grasshoppers. i guess my constant inspection of the food and slow eating caused my waiter
to think i didn't like it because soon enough, he came over to ask if everything was alright. i said it was delicious but i was confused because i couldn't find any grasshoppers in the taquitos. he kinda laughed at me but explained that the grasshoppers are ground finely into a powder and used in the tortilla flour to flavor the tortillas, not whole. ohhhhhh.... the nicest thing was that after i finished my taquitos, my waiter brought me a whole plate of whole grasshoppers so i could try them. how kind. who doesn't want a whole plate of whole grasshoppers to snack on as a palate refresher?! you know what, they're not bad at all. all you taste is the seasoning. 5. restaurant biznaga (garcia vigil 512, near carranza). if this place were in new york, it would be such an annoying scene because it's so damn cool. the restaurant is in an open-air courtyard surrounded by chic boutiques. there's really great photography and art on the walls and good music playing. the vibe is actually really san francisco, more specifically, very soma. and even the food reminded me of cali. biznaga has a huge selection of salads, soups and fish in addition to the meat dishes, which isn't typical. instead of bread or tortillas, they serve sticks of jicama, carrots and watermelon sprinkled with lime juice and chile to nibble on while you wait for your meal. this place must be in some hipster travel guide because, unlike the every other restaurant in oaxaca i ate at, biznaga was full of trendy hipsters wearing designer jeans, uber-big sunglasses, distressed logo t-shirts and pumas or addidas. where did these people come from in oaxaca? despite the hipster brigade, the food is outstanding a
nd worth trying.
6. restaurante hipocampos (ave. hidalgo 507, near tinoco y palacios). SUPERcheap cafeteria. this was my go-to spot for tortas to go or peasant dinner.
7. los danzantes (macedonio alcala 403, right across from santo domingo). overall, the food here is good but not outstanding.
although, i liked the octopus and melon salad so much i went there just to eat that when i wanted a light lunch. this place is a winner in terms of ambience. when you walk in, you feel a little transported but i'm not sure to where. it's a really nice architectural space with canopies of cloth and vines. there's a shallow pool reflecting the light and loungey spaces in addition to the tables. great place for drinks.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
oaxaca, mexico - intro
after taking a bit of a hiatus to sort out my life (which involved moving back to new york!), i'm back.
i spent the latter half of november in oaxaca eating and learning spanish (and in that order, too). oaxaca is the third poorest state in mexico, economically, but is perhaps the richest state, culturally. mexico's population is about 70% mestizo (spanish and indigenous), 20% pure indigenous and 10% pure spanish. in oaxaca, the various indigenous groups comprise about 70% of the population while the mestizos make up about 30% and there's a very tiny population of pure spaniards. the predominance of the indigenous cultures is one of the reasons why oaxaca is so interesting. the languages, foods, costumes and customs are really unique to that area but are also what others identify as quintessentially mexican, e.g., mole, mezcal, hot chocolate with cinnamon.
although i normally like to roam around when i travel, this time i spent the two weeks almost exclusively in Oaxaca City so i could take spanish classes. i left once to go to Huatulco (coastal town on the Pacific) for 3 days and took a couple of day trips outside of the city to check out some ruins and other sites but that's it.
first, a bit about oaxaca - it's chill. it's not the place to go if you looking for glam and glitz. it's the place to go if you want to eat really damn good food, take in mexican culture and chill. the place to be in the city is the zocalo. the zocalo is the heart of the city and was the center of my life, day and night. it's an extension of people's homes and where cultural events and random parades and nonsense can always be found. i loved sitting there and observing other people observing other people doing nothing. that's about the pace of things down there.
i spent the latter half of november in oaxaca eating and learning spanish (and in that order, too). oaxaca is the third poorest state in mexico, economically, but is perhaps the richest state, culturally. mexico's population is about 70% mestizo (spanish and indigenous), 20% pure indigenous and 10% pure spanish. in oaxaca, the various indigenous groups comprise about 70% of the population while the mestizos make up about 30% and there's a very tiny population of pure spaniards. the predominance of the indigenous cultures is one of the reasons why oaxaca is so interesting. the languages, foods, costumes and customs are really unique to that area but are also what others identify as quintessentially mexican, e.g., mole, mezcal, hot chocolate with cinnamon.
although i normally like to roam around when i travel, this time i spent the two weeks almost exclusively in Oaxaca City so i could take spanish classes. i left once to go to Huatulco (coastal town on the Pacific) for 3 days and took a couple of day trips outside of the city to check out some ruins and other sites but that's it.
first, a bit about oaxaca - it's chill. it's not the place to go if you looking for glam and glitz. it's the place to go if you want to eat really damn good food, take in mexican culture and chill. the place to be in the city is the zocalo. the zocalo is the heart of the city and was the center of my life, day and night. it's an extension of people's homes and where cultural events and random parades and nonsense can always be found. i loved sitting there and observing other people observing other people doing nothing. that's about the pace of things down there.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
lost in translation: ouagadougou
i loved Lost in Translation. bill murray's greatness aside, it does a good job of capturing the sense of displacement, boredom and loneliness of business travel in foreign countries.
everyday i go from hotel to office to fancy restaurant for lunch to office to hotel to fancy restaurant for dinner to hotel. go to bed but lie awake unable to sleep for most of the night. getup. begin previous day's routine all over again. Lost in Translation meets Groundhog's Day, that's my life.
this is my second trip to ouaga for work. the novelty of being here wore off towards the end of my first trip, so now i'm counting the days until i get back home. this place isn't beautiful or charming. there aren't touristy sites or big, fun markets. i manage to get around only because i have a driver and a copy of a Rough Guide to West Africa. i really miss having a Lonely Planet right now. the LP is hugely flawed and i think it's been getting progressively worse each year but it's a reliable source of information about weird and quirky places that tickle the writer's fancy as well as the must-see tourist attractions. you can tell a lot about the writers of the Lonely Planet from the random details they focus on and their idiosyncratic writing. not so much with the Rough Guide.
everyday i go from hotel to office to fancy restaurant for lunch to office to hotel to fancy restaurant for dinner to hotel. go to bed but lie awake unable to sleep for most of the night. getup. begin previous day's routine all over again. Lost in Translation meets Groundhog's Day, that's my life.
this is my second trip to ouaga for work. the novelty of being here wore off towards the end of my first trip, so now i'm counting the days until i get back home. this place isn't beautiful or charming. there aren't touristy sites or big, fun markets. i manage to get around only because i have a driver and a copy of a Rough Guide to West Africa. i really miss having a Lonely Planet right now. the LP is hugely flawed and i think it's been getting progressively worse each year but it's a reliable source of information about weird and quirky places that tickle the writer's fancy as well as the must-see tourist attractions. you can tell a lot about the writers of the Lonely Planet from the random details they focus on and their idiosyncratic writing. not so much with the Rough Guide.
Monday, August 6, 2007
adventures in egypt: hurghada
my last week is egypt actually felt like a real vacation - get up, put on bikini, hop on boat and scuba dive. i had nothing to plan or think about other than whether or not i had enough oxygen while staring at beautiful fish. there was a total of 6 of us in hurghada (friends joined us from finland and amsterdam) and we stayed at the Zahabia Hotel & Resort for about 85 euros/person for a week. it wasn't luxurious but it was nice.
hurghada is a resorty town built for tourists but, unlike sharm el-sheikh, it is built for egyptian tourists as well as foreigners, so you can find food that caters to both groups. there are lots of fast food and "international" cuisine restaurants that serve burgers, pizza, spaghetti, etc. and i ended up at a few of those places because my friends had sensitive stomachs and didn't want to go to egyptian places. however, my favorite places were El Mina (for seafood) and Al Masry (for classic egyptian food). El Mina has a few locations in Hurghada but the one i went to (El Nasser Street, across from the post office) is reputed to be the best.
in the LP's Food&Drink section, there's a nondescript reference to hamam (pigeon stuffed with spiced rice) as being extremely popular. thanks to my egyptian dive master, i discovered why. he said that egyptians considered hamam to be "like viagra" and that men often eat this dish for weeks before their weddings. when i asked what happens to women who eat hamam, i got a sheepish shrug. i should have known better than to ask a muslim man what happens to a woman's sex drive but, what can i say, i like to be provocative. as you can imagine, there isn't a lot of meat on a pigeon but hamam is supposed to be made with very young birds whose bones are still soft, and egyptians eat the whole damn thing - bird, stuffing and bones! i tried to eat my little viagra bird bones and all but, i admit, i spit out a few. and to preempt the inevitable question - yes, it tastes like chicken.
in the LP's Food&Drink section, there's a nondescript reference to hamam (pigeon stuffed with spiced rice) as being extremely popular. thanks to my egyptian dive master, i discovered why. he said that egyptians considered hamam to be "like viagra" and that men often eat this dish for weeks before their weddings. when i asked what happens to women who eat hamam, i got a sheepish shrug. i should have known better than to ask a muslim man what happens to a woman's sex drive but, what can i say, i like to be provocative. as you can imagine, there isn't a lot of meat on a pigeon but hamam is supposed to be made with very young birds whose bones are still soft, and egyptians eat the whole damn thing - bird, stuffing and bones! i tried to eat my little viagra bird bones and all but, i admit, i spit out a few. and to preempt the inevitable question - yes, it tastes like chicken.
Friday, July 27, 2007
adventures in egypt: luxor
days 5-8 were spent in luxor. today is day 9 and we're leaving to go to hurghada in a few hours. yay! scuba diving!!!
luxor is a tiny little town. the east bank, which is where most of the hotels are, is the "city". the west bank is mostly ruins and farmland for growing corn, sugar cane and sesame. luxor is a huge tourist destination. it's bit like cambodia's siem reap. there are numerous temples and ruins to visit over a multiple-kilometer radius and it takes about 3-4 days to visit most of them.
what i've been wondering is where does all the money generated by tourism go? there are plenty of hotels, ranging from very nice to decent, and one really nice, small museum, the Luxor Museum. otherwise, this town is a shit hole. and i don't think the crappiness stems from lack of resources. i think it stems from disregard. but by whom? the government? the local community? not sure. something about this place just doesn't feel right to me. none of the income generated by the tourism industry is getting invested back into the town. buildings that appear to have caved-in on themselves or were abandoned in mid-construction are everywhere. power is definitely not reliable. and other than major arteries, roads aren't paved.
this doesn't make sense. on the whole, this town is definitely making money. given the lack of maintenance of most of the ruins, the entry fees for places are high. the hotels employ a lot of people. also, the tourist-prices for everything from a can of soda to the toilet paper at public restroom are ridiculous. i've been to a lot of places but i've never had to haggle as much as i've had to do in egypt. it is such an annoyance not only because every single transaction requires haggling, but because haggling takes longer than usual since the prices that the locals start off with are so absurbly high (e.g., they'll start off at 50 EGP and go down to 5 EGP; just imagine how many rounds this takes). i'm sure that there are other places in the world that are as bad but until i get there, egypt wins my biggest-pain-in-the-ass prize.
all of that said (and i'm sure that tourists who stay within the confines of their plush hotels and/or have had to pay only one fat tourist-price for their package tour have a very different impression of luxor and egypt), i still think luxor is worth a visit. during the last few days, i went to the Luxor Temple (definitely go during the day and night), Karnak, Luxor Museum, Mummification Museum (a bit of a rip-off), Temple of Seti I, Valley of the Kings (where you can see the tomb of Tutankhamun, aka King Tut), Deir al-Bahri (mortuary of Hatshepsut, the woman who ruled as both a female queen and as a male pharoah, who has been recently getting a lot of press (photo shown)), Ramesseum,
Deir al-Medina (tombs of commoners and a Ptolemaic temple) and Medina Habu. There are plenty of other places to visit but i've reached ruins-overload and decided to stop rather than force any more history down my throat. it's an amazing collection of sights densely clustered within the outskirts of one little town.
as for food, El Zaeem is good for egyptian food. you can eat in (they have good A/C!) or get take out. Oasis is a really cute place i went to for dessert (crepes) and a drink and i think it'd be a great option for non-egyptian fare. go there if you're craving good service and a mellow atmosphere with your meal (because you're not going to find that in most egyptian places).
luxor is a tiny little town. the east bank, which is where most of the hotels are, is the "city". the west bank is mostly ruins and farmland for growing corn, sugar cane and sesame. luxor is a huge tourist destination. it's bit like cambodia's siem reap. there are numerous temples and ruins to visit over a multiple-kilometer radius and it takes about 3-4 days to visit most of them.
what i've been wondering is where does all the money generated by tourism go? there are plenty of hotels, ranging from very nice to decent, and one really nice, small museum, the Luxor Museum. otherwise, this town is a shit hole. and i don't think the crappiness stems from lack of resources. i think it stems from disregard. but by whom? the government? the local community? not sure. something about this place just doesn't feel right to me. none of the income generated by the tourism industry is getting invested back into the town. buildings that appear to have caved-in on themselves or were abandoned in mid-construction are everywhere. power is definitely not reliable. and other than major arteries, roads aren't paved.
this doesn't make sense. on the whole, this town is definitely making money. given the lack of maintenance of most of the ruins, the entry fees for places are high. the hotels employ a lot of people. also, the tourist-prices for everything from a can of soda to the toilet paper at public restroom are ridiculous. i've been to a lot of places but i've never had to haggle as much as i've had to do in egypt. it is such an annoyance not only because every single transaction requires haggling, but because haggling takes longer than usual since the prices that the locals start off with are so absurbly high (e.g., they'll start off at 50 EGP and go down to 5 EGP; just imagine how many rounds this takes). i'm sure that there are other places in the world that are as bad but until i get there, egypt wins my biggest-pain-in-the-ass prize.
all of that said (and i'm sure that tourists who stay within the confines of their plush hotels and/or have had to pay only one fat tourist-price for their package tour have a very different impression of luxor and egypt), i still think luxor is worth a visit. during the last few days, i went to the Luxor Temple (definitely go during the day and night), Karnak, Luxor Museum, Mummification Museum (a bit of a rip-off), Temple of Seti I, Valley of the Kings (where you can see the tomb of Tutankhamun, aka King Tut), Deir al-Bahri (mortuary of Hatshepsut, the woman who ruled as both a female queen and as a male pharoah, who has been recently getting a lot of press (photo shown)), Ramesseum,
Deir al-Medina (tombs of commoners and a Ptolemaic temple) and Medina Habu. There are plenty of other places to visit but i've reached ruins-overload and decided to stop rather than force any more history down my throat. it's an amazing collection of sights densely clustered within the outskirts of one little town.as for food, El Zaeem is good for egyptian food. you can eat in (they have good A/C!) or get take out. Oasis is a really cute place i went to for dessert (crepes) and a drink and i think it'd be a great option for non-egyptian fare. go there if you're craving good service and a mellow atmosphere with your meal (because you're not going to find that in most egyptian places).
Thursday, July 26, 2007
adventures in egypt: giza
day 4 - giza at last!
after stopping briefly for a tour of a mosque in the City of the Dead, which was built to be a city of tombs but has become a city of squatters, we were off to the pyramids at Giza.
papichulo and i got on a pair of camels, which were walked by one guy and kicked along by another guy on a horse from the town of Giza all the way to the outer perimeter of the pyramids area. they wanted us to experience the grand effect of riding to the pyramids from the desert. this sounds more fun than it was. i've always wanted to ride camels in the desert near the pyramids but i have to admit that those smelly beasts are not fun to ride. my inner thighs have been hurting for the last 4 days. perhaps a 10 minute camel rental near the pyramids for a photo op would have been better.
there are 3 big pyramids at Giza but only is called the "Great Pyramid". it was surreal to be there and think about h
ow old those structures were and how incredibly massive they were. you can enter the 2 largest pyramids but for some weird reason our guides kept telling us that the Great Pyramid was not worth visiting because it was identical to the Secondary Pyramid and much more expensive. if you're ever there and anyone tells you this, don't believe. it's total nonsense. the Great Pyramid is much more impressive inside than the other.
that evening i decided to go eatery hopping around the ghetto hood near the hotel for dinner. the first place i tried was the International Public Meal Kushari, which serves only kushari. i had no idea what kushari was, so i just sat down and prayed it wasn't brains (which has been on a few menus here). instead of providing a menu, the waiter just yelled, "2 pounds?! 3 pounds?!" initially, i thought, "pounds of food?" but as light bulb went on (duh...cost!), i yelled back "2 pounds!" within minutes, he brought me a bowl containing a mixture of rice, macaroni, spaghetti noodles and vermicelli with layers of lentils and fried onions on top. the atkins nightmare. on the side, there's a small bowl of heavily spiced tomato sauce. i watched how other people ate their kushari before digging in and copied - pour tomato sauce over the mixture, add hot sauce and vinegar from the bottles on the table, mix everything together, then eat! all this for 2 EGP. that's about 35 cents. after kushari, i went across the street to Akher Sa'a f
or falafel, which is called ta'amiyya in egypt. for 1.75 EGP i got tourshy, pickles, and a pita filled with a falafel patty the size of a small hamburger, shredded cucumbers and carrots, tomatoes and tahini. i like the large-sized patties a lot more than the little balls because there's less deep fried surface area and more moist chick pea. i finished off my neighborhood food tour at the awha across the street from the hotel to have shai na'na, mint tea.
after stopping briefly for a tour of a mosque in the City of the Dead, which was built to be a city of tombs but has become a city of squatters, we were off to the pyramids at Giza.
papichulo and i got on a pair of camels, which were walked by one guy and kicked along by another guy on a horse from the town of Giza all the way to the outer perimeter of the pyramids area. they wanted us to experience the grand effect of riding to the pyramids from the desert. this sounds more fun than it was. i've always wanted to ride camels in the desert near the pyramids but i have to admit that those smelly beasts are not fun to ride. my inner thighs have been hurting for the last 4 days. perhaps a 10 minute camel rental near the pyramids for a photo op would have been better.
there are 3 big pyramids at Giza but only is called the "Great Pyramid". it was surreal to be there and think about h
ow old those structures were and how incredibly massive they were. you can enter the 2 largest pyramids but for some weird reason our guides kept telling us that the Great Pyramid was not worth visiting because it was identical to the Secondary Pyramid and much more expensive. if you're ever there and anyone tells you this, don't believe. it's total nonsense. the Great Pyramid is much more impressive inside than the other.that evening i decided to go eatery hopping around the ghetto hood near the hotel for dinner. the first place i tried was the International Public Meal Kushari, which serves only kushari. i had no idea what kushari was, so i just sat down and prayed it wasn't brains (which has been on a few menus here). instead of providing a menu, the waiter just yelled, "2 pounds?! 3 pounds?!" initially, i thought, "pounds of food?" but as light bulb went on (duh...cost!), i yelled back "2 pounds!" within minutes, he brought me a bowl containing a mixture of rice, macaroni, spaghetti noodles and vermicelli with layers of lentils and fried onions on top. the atkins nightmare. on the side, there's a small bowl of heavily spiced tomato sauce. i watched how other people ate their kushari before digging in and copied - pour tomato sauce over the mixture, add hot sauce and vinegar from the bottles on the table, mix everything together, then eat! all this for 2 EGP. that's about 35 cents. after kushari, i went across the street to Akher Sa'a f
or falafel, which is called ta'amiyya in egypt. for 1.75 EGP i got tourshy, pickles, and a pita filled with a falafel patty the size of a small hamburger, shredded cucumbers and carrots, tomatoes and tahini. i like the large-sized patties a lot more than the little balls because there's less deep fried surface area and more moist chick pea. i finished off my neighborhood food tour at the awha across the street from the hotel to have shai na'na, mint tea.
adventures in egypt: cairo religious day
day 3 was what we deemed our religious day.
we took the metro to Coptic Cairo in the morning. from what i've been able to piece together, "Coptic" is what you call egyptian christians. coptic cairo is a walled, fortress-like area that contains a museum, several churches and a synagogue (Ben Ezra Synagogue)! the story is that the christians needed money so they sold an old church to the jews. this is funny to me.
after walking the street
s that mary, joseph and baby jesus walked, we went to islamic cairo. the Al-Azhar Mosque is beautiful and peaceful, as all houses of worship are, but this place is also a learning center that attracts islam scholars from all over. in addition to locals, i saw many southeast asians there.
the mosque is across the street from the labrynth of streets and vendors known as Khan Al-Khalili, which is a huge bazaar. i normally LOVE bazaars and flea markets because you can find really cool and wacky stuff or, in asia, great knock-offs for cheap prices. so it's significant that i really hated this place. this is nothing but a huge tourist trap. most of the stuff for sale is total crap.
there are a number of ahwas (cafes) in Khan Al-Khalili where you can smoke sheesha and drink tea and other tasty beverages (i really like limoon - fresh lemonad
e - and karkadai - a hibiscus drink). the most famous one is El Fishawy, which i thought would have become a cheesey touristy spot by now but is suprisingly cool. somehow, despite the busloads of tourists that come here, the locals also hang here, too. once the mid-day sun has passed and the breeze is blowing, it is such a great spot to relax. i think my favorite thing about egypt, other than the big sites, is the ahwa culture. men (some women, but mostly men) gather for hours in awhas to chat, drink, smoke, read, etc. no one ever rushes you to leave. i like places where people go to doing nothing but chill for as long as they want.
we took the metro to Coptic Cairo in the morning. from what i've been able to piece together, "Coptic" is what you call egyptian christians. coptic cairo is a walled, fortress-like area that contains a museum, several churches and a synagogue (Ben Ezra Synagogue)! the story is that the christians needed money so they sold an old church to the jews. this is funny to me.
after walking the street
s that mary, joseph and baby jesus walked, we went to islamic cairo. the Al-Azhar Mosque is beautiful and peaceful, as all houses of worship are, but this place is also a learning center that attracts islam scholars from all over. in addition to locals, i saw many southeast asians there.the mosque is across the street from the labrynth of streets and vendors known as Khan Al-Khalili, which is a huge bazaar. i normally LOVE bazaars and flea markets because you can find really cool and wacky stuff or, in asia, great knock-offs for cheap prices. so it's significant that i really hated this place. this is nothing but a huge tourist trap. most of the stuff for sale is total crap.
there are a number of ahwas (cafes) in Khan Al-Khalili where you can smoke sheesha and drink tea and other tasty beverages (i really like limoon - fresh lemonad
e - and karkadai - a hibiscus drink). the most famous one is El Fishawy, which i thought would have become a cheesey touristy spot by now but is suprisingly cool. somehow, despite the busloads of tourists that come here, the locals also hang here, too. once the mid-day sun has passed and the breeze is blowing, it is such a great spot to relax. i think my favorite thing about egypt, other than the big sites, is the ahwa culture. men (some women, but mostly men) gather for hours in awhas to chat, drink, smoke, read, etc. no one ever rushes you to leave. i like places where people go to doing nothing but chill for as long as they want.
adventures in egypt: south of cairo
on day 2, papichulo and i went to the ruins at saqqara (or sakkara), dahshur and memphis. saqqara and dahshur provide good background knowledge of how the egyptian tomb-building evolved from low, trapedoidal stone-shaped tombs (mastabas) to the great pyramids at Giza. memphis is essentially an open-air museum with stone sculptures. it's entirely skippable. hotel windsor provided a mini-van driver to take us to all three sites and back for $15/person. this is slightly more than what the LP states as the usual price but well worth it.
at saqqara, you can see mastabas and the Step Pyramid, egypt's and the world's first stone monument. the Step Pyramid is a pre-pyramid pyramid. back in 2650 b.c., Imhotep had gotten the idea to keep building layers on top of the mastaba into the classic pyramid shape but he hadn't figured out the stone configuration yet. later, with the Bent Pyramid at dahs
hur, they started experimenting a bit, so the incline of the sides of the pyramids suddenly drops mid-way up. wacky experiment when you consider the scale of that project. finally, the egyptians got it right with the Red Pyramid at dahshur, the world's oldest "true pyramid".
if you're ever at saqqara and want to have lunch nearby, check out Restaurant Pharous (i think that's how it's spelled). it immediately outside the gate to the site. this has been one of my favorite meals in egypt and the decor of this place is really charming. tables with umbrellas are set out in a large green yard dotted with palm trees. it feels like an oasis. we got the mixed grill (kofta, chicken and veggies) which came with yogurt & cucumber, baba ghanouj, tomato & cucumber salad, sauteed potatoes, dolmades (except a highly spice rice mixture is stuffed into a pepper, zucchini and tomato instead of grape leaves), and rice. delicious. the mixed grill for 2 people cost 120 EGP (about $21).
at saqqara, you can see mastabas and the Step Pyramid, egypt's and the world's first stone monument. the Step Pyramid is a pre-pyramid pyramid. back in 2650 b.c., Imhotep had gotten the idea to keep building layers on top of the mastaba into the classic pyramid shape but he hadn't figured out the stone configuration yet. later, with the Bent Pyramid at dahs
hur, they started experimenting a bit, so the incline of the sides of the pyramids suddenly drops mid-way up. wacky experiment when you consider the scale of that project. finally, the egyptians got it right with the Red Pyramid at dahshur, the world's oldest "true pyramid".if you're ever at saqqara and want to have lunch nearby, check out Restaurant Pharous (i think that's how it's spelled). it immediately outside the gate to the site. this has been one of my favorite meals in egypt and the decor of this place is really charming. tables with umbrellas are set out in a large green yard dotted with palm trees. it feels like an oasis. we got the mixed grill (kofta, chicken and veggies) which came with yogurt & cucumber, baba ghanouj, tomato & cucumber salad, sauteed potatoes, dolmades (except a highly spice rice mixture is stuffed into a pepper, zucchini and tomato instead of grape leaves), and rice. delicious. the mixed grill for 2 people cost 120 EGP (about $21).
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
ouagadouou
in case you didn't know, ouagadougou is the capital city of burkina faso and a really fun word to say over and over. if you're down with burkina faso, you call it "ouaga".
i was there a few weeks ago and stayed at the hotel mercure silmande, which is probably one of the most expensive places to stay in ouaga but don't assume that expensive means luxurious. the amenities at an average best western are probably nicer than the silmande's but the staff was nice and a fashion show was held there (where miss burkina faso and miss sahel would be in attendance). business travel to ouaga is amazingly similar to business travel anywhere else in that i spent the majority of my time in conference rooms talking about work. when i did break free, i had a few decent meals and found another mask to add to my collection.
if you see something cool you want to buy on the street, negotiate and buy it. i went to the Village Artisanal, which is one of two state-run textile and crafts markets and found the selection to be worse than what i saw on the street. since the state takes a 10% commission on all sales made in the market, few vendors want to sell there.
here are a few places you shouldn't miss if you ever make it to ouagadougou:
- Espace Gondwana - Bar, Restaurant, Galerie: i had dinner here and was completely enchanted by this place from the minute i stepped into its garden. the food is quite good by any standard (mostly french and moroccan-esque) but the vibe is gondwana's true asset. in addition to its interior dining room, there is a courtyard/garden with low stools and tables that could also function as daybeds. you eat by candlelight, under starlight and sitting next to trees. if i had been with a boy instead of 3 co-workers, it would have been wicked, wicked romantic. gondwana is decorated with paintings, sculptures, masks and other interesting artifacts and EVERYTHING you see is on sale. i wouldn't recommend buying anything there because it's overpriced but it is a good place to get an idea for what you'd like to buy elsewhere.
- Le Coq Bleu: this is considered to be one of the best french restaurants in ouaga. i considered it to be OK but i think that's probably very good by ouaga standards. it was fancy and full of expats and visitors. the capitaine (a local fish) was good here.
- the makeshift bars across the street from the airport: the night i left i
was informed by my burkinabe counterpart that the locals engage in a ritual before flights and that i must carry out the tradition. burkinabe go to the airport early, check-in and then go drink beers and eat brochette across the street ("across the street" means the row of tented tables on the street directly front of the airport's parking lot). what could i do? across the street i went. initially, i was a bit reluctant to eat the brochette, which are pieces of street meat skewered onto twigs (not exaggerating), grilled and served with a mustard sauce and seasoned salt. i was about to get on a plane and the possibility of spending the entire flight in a microscopic bathroom did pass through my mind. but i threw some seasoned salt over my shoulder, drank burkinabe beer and ate the brochette. know what?! brochette is great. really, really great. the street meat turned out to be pieces of beef and beef sausage. both were savory and delicious and the mustard sauce and spicy seasoned salt added another layer of flavor. these were ideal beer snacks and the next time i'm in burkina, i'll be looking for them everywhere. street food is the best.
i was there a few weeks ago and stayed at the hotel mercure silmande, which is probably one of the most expensive places to stay in ouaga but don't assume that expensive means luxurious. the amenities at an average best western are probably nicer than the silmande's but the staff was nice and a fashion show was held there (where miss burkina faso and miss sahel would be in attendance). business travel to ouaga is amazingly similar to business travel anywhere else in that i spent the majority of my time in conference rooms talking about work. when i did break free, i had a few decent meals and found another mask to add to my collection.
if you see something cool you want to buy on the street, negotiate and buy it. i went to the Village Artisanal, which is one of two state-run textile and crafts markets and found the selection to be worse than what i saw on the street. since the state takes a 10% commission on all sales made in the market, few vendors want to sell there.
here are a few places you shouldn't miss if you ever make it to ouagadougou:
- Espace Gondwana - Bar, Restaurant, Galerie: i had dinner here and was completely enchanted by this place from the minute i stepped into its garden. the food is quite good by any standard (mostly french and moroccan-esque) but the vibe is gondwana's true asset. in addition to its interior dining room, there is a courtyard/garden with low stools and tables that could also function as daybeds. you eat by candlelight, under starlight and sitting next to trees. if i had been with a boy instead of 3 co-workers, it would have been wicked, wicked romantic. gondwana is decorated with paintings, sculptures, masks and other interesting artifacts and EVERYTHING you see is on sale. i wouldn't recommend buying anything there because it's overpriced but it is a good place to get an idea for what you'd like to buy elsewhere.
- Le Coq Bleu: this is considered to be one of the best french restaurants in ouaga. i considered it to be OK but i think that's probably very good by ouaga standards. it was fancy and full of expats and visitors. the capitaine (a local fish) was good here.
- the makeshift bars across the street from the airport: the night i left i
was informed by my burkinabe counterpart that the locals engage in a ritual before flights and that i must carry out the tradition. burkinabe go to the airport early, check-in and then go drink beers and eat brochette across the street ("across the street" means the row of tented tables on the street directly front of the airport's parking lot). what could i do? across the street i went. initially, i was a bit reluctant to eat the brochette, which are pieces of street meat skewered onto twigs (not exaggerating), grilled and served with a mustard sauce and seasoned salt. i was about to get on a plane and the possibility of spending the entire flight in a microscopic bathroom did pass through my mind. but i threw some seasoned salt over my shoulder, drank burkinabe beer and ate the brochette. know what?! brochette is great. really, really great. the street meat turned out to be pieces of beef and beef sausage. both were savory and delicious and the mustard sauce and spicy seasoned salt added another layer of flavor. these were ideal beer snacks and the next time i'm in burkina, i'll be looking for them everywhere. street food is the best.
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