Nov 5. Jordan to India

Today is a long day of travel with a 5-6 hr flight. I saw some BBC news yesterday with the HORRIBLE air condition in New Delhi & sort of dread that. But we understand that the RS office monitoring it & will make changes in travel if need be. I heard today that the air is a bit better. Mask time!. I’m hoping that where Taj Mahal region is better air.

UPDATE:  it is now November 6 and we are in New Delhi. We landed late last night after a 5+ hour flight. At the airport we were greeted with flower leis and drummers marching us to our bus  and it created a welcoming & festive atmosphere. It’s very different from the Arabic countries. We checked into our hotel— the Oberoi. OMG it’s for sure 5 star!!  I’ve never seen a hotel this over the top!  I can’t enumerate all of its amenities here, but if you want to, you could check their website. Wow!

We were very delayed getting to the hotel because there was a huge protest going on in the streets that delayed us almost an hour. In addition we were late getting through the airport, getting our luggage etc. So by the time we got to the hotel it was almost 11 o’clock. We had not yet had dinner. And the restaurant up on the rooftop---outdoors in this bad air!  They had a most fantastic array of Indian foods. The level of service and the quality of the food was beyond belief. I wish Roger could have eaten this!!
It is now the next morning and we are in our bus to drive four hours to the Taj Mahal. I'll write about today in another post. 

Nov 4 Petra

 We keep learning new things every minute. We learned that Petra is the name of the archaeological find and that the word Petra was given by the Greeks. Makes sense since it’s the name for rock. The Arabic name is something I can’t pronounce. But Petra is what everyone knows it by. The town next to the archaeological site is called Wadi Musa.  That means valley of Moses. Interesting! This morning we went to see Petra. I had watched videos and read a fair amount about Petra and was very excited to see it. It was fantastic! I have taken a lot of pictures, but I had to remind myself to watch the experience around me and not get caught up in photography!  After walking close to 2 miles, we reached what is known as the treasury. That is the most famous picture of Petra. Amazing feat to build it. The Nebeteans built it as burial sites & monuments.  The city where they lived next to it was completely destroyed by earthquakes so those are not remaining.  Even before reaching the treasury, we saw burial places, other carvings, and the water system that they had developed. They diverted water when the floods came into  this area or else they would never have been able to live here, as  there is very limited water present in natural Springs.
I was disappointed we didn't see more of Petra, due to limited time.  I'd enjoy seeing this again.

 I have finally learned how to add pictures easily--- I have to write the blog on my phone and not my iPad. So here are a few from today.

Nov 3 Cairo to Jordan

We left our hotel early to drive to airport. The traffic was super horrible!  Took way longer than they expected. En route, we were surrounded by mile after mile of half built or half torn down apartment buildings. When we asked, our guide tried to tell us that the reason was that people thought that it was  a good investment to start to build a building and even if they couldn’t afford to finish is, they could finish it later. Well that made zero sense.  Ca ca. We had many of our own theories ...

Cairo seemed to be a great big slum. Garbage —tons— everywhere. Pollution was unbelievable. I don’t regret going there to see pyramids but wouldn’t return.

Flight to Jordan was less than an hour. Just time for a quick snack. Wish I’d eaten more because lunch was hours away.
After landing, a very odd thing happened.  RS (Road Scholar) had sent a young man from the US to be a  professional photographer to capture the travelers on the first trip ( before us) and us —-on these maiden trips on private planes. “Andy” was with us for several days & we were getting to know him. But upon landing, the authorities denied him entry to Jordan with his photo & video equipment!!  We all waited on our bus while they tried to sort it out. A resolution was not forthcoming so our guides said he would stay at the airport while some folks figured it out. Later we learned that he was being allowed in —-sans all equipment except for a camera! Crazy!  We will catch up with him inPetra.

We were the taken to Wadi Rum— a valley I the desert that has been the location for filming many movies:  Lawrence ofArabia, the Martian, a StarWars movie,etc.  the area is referred to as valley of the moon because it looks like the moon!  We had lunch at a camp then in groups of5-6 we got in the back of little pick up trucks that had seats and we toured the valley for about 2 hours. Landscapes were gorgeous. Stopped at a Bedouin camp where they had kitsch for sale. Amusing.

At the moment I’m on  the2 hour bus ride to Wadi Musa and Petra & since there is wi fi I thought I’d see if I could get on— and you can see that I did!  I’m happy to get this done as often there just isn’t time.

Tomorrow we see Petra. I’m thrilled to have air I can breathe here!

Nov 1-2 UK to Egypt

Oct 31, Halloween,  was our visit at Stonehenge. I think it was my fourth or fifth time there. The weather was really really cold but thankfully there was no rain. The New museum at Stonehenge was very well done! We also went to Avebury, where there were additional stones. I had never heard of the place and it was interesting to see how it was similar and different to Stonehenge.It was Halloween but we hardly knew it. We only saw a few children in costumes.In the morning we are boarding our airplane for the first Time to fly from the UK to Egypt.

Nov 1 we boarded OUR plane for the first time.  Here are some highlights:
—We had our own private terminal for security screening & awaiting flight.  Just us!  (And the ladies who served us tea, coffee, etc.  ). It really felt like we were in a whole different class. We found our our plane has been rented by such people as The Rolling Stones & Guns & Roses.  Crazy!
—First view of plane:  it has “Road Scholar “ painted on it!!
—Inside, they have a map of our trip on the wall.
—Our seats are beautiful!  Feels like a private jet.  There’s a socializing area, bar, etc.
—We have a chef on board!!  At meals we get a specially made menu with 2 choices for each course; a real gourmet meal! And extensive beverage menu.
—The on board entertainment options weren’t really working.  I expect they’ll fix it later.
My voice sounds husky whenever I’ve been outside.
As we flew over Austria I had a great view of the snow capped Alps.  I felt like that’s  when  I said farewell to Europe & all things familiar, ready to embark on all things new!

Our hotel in Giza has a view of 2 pyramids! The air quality if horrible & My lungs quickly felt like they did when we had the bad California fires. My voice sounds husky whenever I’ve been outside.But the hotel rooms are very nice.

As I am writing this, it is now November 2. I had a ton of trouble getting onto my blog, but it just occurred to me that I need to use chrome instead of Safari. Now it works!. I will try to get caught up.

Today we visited the pyramids, the sphinx, and the Egypt museum. Nothing can describe the amazing experience of seeing how huge the pyramids are and realizing how old they are. Today was a big holiday here, the birthday of the prophet Muhammad. So our guide said there were way more people here than usual. It was an exhausting day but very worthwhile.
I’m writing fast so there may be goofs. I’ll try to add pix either now or later.

London Oct 30 day 2

I had an excellent night’s sleep and felt ready to be on local time.  Since our breakfasts will be in the hotel the next 2 days, I ventured out to a funky neighborhood cafe for eggs & latte.  My travel friend Merle arrived later this morning, and we had the day free, so we walked to the Victoria & Albert Museum.  Didn't stay too long, but enjoyed what we saw—and we got in some walking—about 2.5 miles.  (Yesterday I got in 4.5 miles!).
At 5pm the whole group convened for an orientation & dinner.  There are 46 in our group.  We learned that the first group who took this trip (and returned home a couple days ago) had 45 in their group.  They said they loved the plane—-it’s well appointed, and has a bar and socializing area—-and they had a terrific trip.  (Though we doubt we’d have been told if there were any bad things that happened!  We agreed that it’s good the first group went first—to work out any kinks in this itinerary!)
We met our 2 guides—-Chris(tine) and Kevin.  Very interesting people—both British.  And we chatted with a number of our co-travelers.  But everyone was pretty tired as they’d arrived today.
We take off early tomorrow for Stonehenge and Avebury Stone Circle.
It was another very chilly day here, but happily not rainy!
And we’re off!  :-)

London Oct 29. Day 1

I arrived this morning after a pretty fast flight from SF. Steve Wozniak was on my flight!  Shortly after I arrived at my hotel about noon, our family friends from England met me and spent the day with me.First we had a pub lunch ( fun) then we walked to Harrods. People watching there is so fun!  We had some afternoon tea— which I needed to keep going —then went to the museum of natural history. My hotel is in Kensington , so there’s lots to see nearby. It was surprisingly cold here.
We parted company about 6:00 pm. I’m having a beer at the hotel, planning to turn in Very early!
Tomorrow my travel buddy Merle arrives and tomorrow evening the group convenes.
It’s very exciting to be here and to contemplate the trip that will follow! Here is us at the museum today —( I’m writing jet lagged & fast here so excuse any typos!  )  

Itinerary Oct-Nov 2019

My previous posting in September gave the overview & background about my trip.  Here is the day-by-day itinerary.  Each post gives slightly different info.

As always, I will post when I have time and internet access.  It might not be daily!  I hope I’ll be able to write while on our plane.  We’ll see. . .

ITINERARY OCT-NOV 2019

DATES

Oct 28             Depart SFO

Oct 29             Arrive London in morning.  Spend day with David & Jenny

Oct 30             Free time on my own until 5 pm when group first convenes

Oct 31             Motorcoach to Stonehenge & Avebury. (This is the only site I’ve already seen)

                        Halloween night on our own in London!

Nov. 1             Board “our” plane & fly to Cairo.  Lecture on Egypt.

Nov 2              The Pyramids, Solar Boat Museum, Sphinx, Antiquities Museum

Nov 3              Fly to Jordon.  Visit Wadi Rum & Valley of the Moon. Hotel in Petra

Nov 4              Lecture on the Bedouin people/culture.  Walking tour of Petra.

Nov 5              Fly to New Delhi

Nov 6              Visit Taj Mahal & Agra Fort.  Visit local market.

Nov 7              Visit Old Delhi, including mosque Jama Masjid.  Visit Sikh temple.

Nov 8              Fly to Shijaziashuang airport, China (near Beijing). Coach to hotel in Beijing.

Nov 9              Great Wall of China & Temple of Heaven. Later, visit Tiananmen Square Beijing.

Nov 10            Forbidden City.  Lunch at home of local families.  Fly to Xi’an (Chinese plane)

Nov 11            Xi’an International Studies University for lecture & visit Terra Cotta Warriors.

Nov 12            Fly to Shijaziashuang airport, then board our plane to fly to Cambodia.  Evening dance performance

Nov 13            Pre-dawn visit to see sunrise at Angkor Wat.  Visit Angkor Thom (Buddhist) . Visit Banteay Srei, Hindu temple.

Nov 14            Visit Ta Prohm, (“Jungle Temple”).  Fly to Myanmar.  Fly to Bagan (Burmese plane

Nov 15            Visit Bagan temples & pagaods.  Irrawaddy River cruise.   

Nov 16            Visit Kuthodaw Pagoda, Golden Palace.  Fly to Oman.

Nov 17            Visit Muscat, Grand Mosque, Al Alam Palace, Mutrah Soukmarketplace.  Lecture on Omani culture.  Dinner cruise

Nov18             Fly to London.

Nov 19            Fly London to SFO.  Then sleep for a month!! ;-)