Travel

A Visit to a Sri Lankan Turtle Conservation Project

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Last December when we were in Sri Lanka on vacation, we were able to visit the Coast Guard Turtle Conservation Project near Mirissa Beach.  It was a quick stop as we were traveling along the southern coast of Sri Lanka from Unawatuna to Mirissa.  It was such a cool experience to see such a variety of sea turtles up close.  We got some pretty cool pictures, that we would love to share with you.

Before the pictures though, a little bit more about the Coast Guard Turtle Conservation Project.  The project was launched in September 2012 with the purpose of preserving and raising the awareness of sea turtle conservation.  Apparently there are 8 different kinds of sea turtles, and  Sri Lanka is home to five of the eight species, including: Green Turtles, Leatherbacks, Olive Ridleys, Hawksbills and Loggerheads.  All five types regularly visit the sandy beaches near Mirissa Beach to lay their eggs and build their nests.  Once the eggs are laid, the Coast Guard moves them to a safer area so that predators (especially humans) don’t get their hands on them.  Apparently, over 800 eggs are buried at the site of the hatchery! Once the eggs do hatch, the Coast Guard then releases them back into the sea.  They also house a couple of older sea turtles that have been injured and wouldn’t be able to survive back in the sea.

Here’s a few of my favorite pics:

This is a picture of one of the hatcheries.  They put little signs by each set of eggs to keep them organized.

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Here’s a closer look at the signs in the hatchery.  You can see that it is not uncommon for a sea turtle to lay over 100 eggs at a time!

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Once they hatch, they look like this:

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Here’s another fun picture with the little sea turtle lifting his head out of the water to check us out!  They were so tiny and a ton of fun to watch while they were swimming around.  I could watch them swim around for hours!

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Here is an adult sea turtle who is missing one of this front flappers.

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Another injured adult sea turtle:

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I really like this super close up pic of this turtle!

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Here are a few fun facts that I learned about sea turtles during our visit:

  • Out of every 1,000 eggs that are laid, it’s believed that only 1 of them will grow into a mature, adult sea turtle.
  • Female turtles could lay eggs up to 5 times a season.
  • Adult female turtles are believed to lay their eggs on the same beach where they were hatched when they were a baby.
  • About 80-120 eggs are typically laid on each nest.

We were hoping to do some volunteering with the Conservation Project during our visit, however volunteers were not needed during our time at Mirissa Beach.  It was still super fun place to visit and we highly recommend that people check it out during their next trip to Sri Lanka.  It is an excellent place to witness such amazing sea creatures!

 

VIP Treatment at the Cairo Airport

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Earlier this winter when we decided to go to Egypt for a long weekend, our buddy Adam (who traveled with us) was telling some friends of his that we were heading to Egypt.  As he was talking to his friends about Egypt he soon found out that they used to live there, and still had some great connections in Cairo. They were so excited that we were visiting their home country and offered to help us plan our trip to Cairo!  We were all pretty excited to have some help from people who knew the country so well.  They asked for copies of our passports and flight itineraries, then assured us that everything would be taken care of.  We were so surprised and grateful for their help!  A couple of weeks before our trip, they told us that they would have a driver for us at the Cairo airport, and that everything was taken care of for us . . . . . . . we all thought hmmmmmm . . . . . . I wonder what that means?!?

We all just figured that we would be looking for a guy at the airport holding a clipboard with our name, and that he would give us a ride to our hotel.  We were super excited about it, but then this happened . . . . . .

When we landed in Cairo, I was a bit disappointed when there wasn’t a gate available for the plane to pull into.  Instead, the plane had to park on the runway, and we would be shuttled to the terminal in those cramped busses, like cattle going to the slaughterhouse.  Rachel and I got off the plane first, with our friends Adam & Lauren a few rows back.  We were approaching the bottom of the rickety staircase from the plane, about ready to head towards the bus, when we noticed 3 huge dudes, in black suits and aviator sunglasses standing with their arms crossed, looking all tough.  One of the guys was holding a sign that said, “Adam XXX and friends.”  I thought to myself, holy crap I know Adam XXX and that means I’m one of the “and friends!”  We introduced ourselves to the guys, as they quickly grabbed our bags from us.  Adam and Lauren were soon to follow, and were just as surprised as us, to be greeted on the runway at a major international airport!

Once we were all together, the three dudes led us AWAY from the packed busses and the crowds, towards two luxury cars parked on the runway next to the plane.  These weren’t just two  regular cars, they were brand new Jaguars!  Adam and I kind of looked at each other like, “WTF, are these for us?!?!”  We were correct, they were!  Rachel and I hopped into the back seat of one car and Adam and Lauren had their own.  The next thing we know, the driver is hauling ass across the tarmac!

I’m sure the grin on my face was from ear-to-ear. I kept whispering to Rachel, “this is so awesome!”  I didn’t want to talk to loud, so the driver knew that this is how I “always” travel.  We were able to sneak a quick selfie in:

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After a high speed ride around the tarmac, we pulled into a special VIP entrance at the terminal.

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When we walked in, we were the only passengers inside this special area, and it was so fancy and nice inside!  There was a little security checkpoint inside and when we tried putting our bags on the conveyor belt, the worker started laughing at us and told us, “no, no, no.”  We walked through the metal detector (as it was beeping like crazy) and were ushered through to this super fancy terminal area. They even laid out the red carpet for us!

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Then they led us into our own private waiting room!  The room even had a butler, who brought us complimentary food and drinks!

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After we got cozy in our own private hang out area, a worker took all 4 of our passports and said he would be back soon.  He ran off with them and headed to Immigration/Customs to get our visas for us.  We just sat there giggling, enjoying the moment, living the life of the rich and famous!

After about 20 minutes our guy returned with our passports and we were all set to leave the airport.  He walked us through towards an exit, where another driver and a tour guide were waiting for us.  We soon found out that they were “assigned” to us for the next four days!  They would do anything we wanted, at anytime, and take us anywhere.  They had a four day itinerary jam packed with things to do.  All of this was arranged by my buddy Adam’s friend, who’s main focus was to show us a good time and to make sure we enjoyed their home country!

All weekend in Egypt, we just chuckled about the whole experience.  We wondered if we would have the same VIP treatment when we departed Cairo, but we didn’t want to get our hopes up.

The day we left Cairo, my fingers were still crossed that we would get to ride in Jaguars.  When we pulled into the airport, we quickly realized that our driver wasn’t going to the Main Terminal.  I held my breath, and sure enough, we had arrived at the special VIP entrance at the airport!

We were greeted by a butler and led back to our special private waiting room.  We didn’t have to check any of our bags, stand in long lines, check-in, or deal with any of the other hassles of airports.  A worker grabbed our passports and told us he would be back with our boarding passes soon.

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As we were enjoying our morning in the lap of luxury, we soon realized that our plane was departing in 45 minutes, and our guy still hadn’t returned with our passports or boarding passes!  We were getting a little nervous so we double checked the status with another worker, and they said, “no problem, have a seat” as they pointed us back to our room.  Next thing you know . . . . . 30 minutes until departure . . . . . . 15 minutes until departure . . . . .

About 10 minutes before our plane was scheduled to depart, our butler returned without any sense of urgency with our passports and boarding passes.  We were practically freaking out and thought for sure that we were going to miss our flight.  However thankfully, they had two cars waiting for us outside to escort us directly to the plane on the runway again!

After our high speed cruise across the tarmac, we approached the plane and could see all of the other passengers getting off the crowded bus and boarding.  The driver pulled right up to the staircase, but wouldn’t let us out of the car until all of the passengers were on the plane.  As we got out of the car you could just tell that everyone was starring out their window thinking, “are these people rich celebrities or something?”

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Perhaps we gave it away though when we walked past all of the First Class seats on the plane, and cuddled into Coach with all of the other middle class people!

Until this trip, I had no idea that services like this even existed!  It is something that none of us will probably ever experience again, but it sure was fun and makes for some fun stories!

Egypt Through the Eyes of Mitch’s iPhone

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The other day I was going through the pictures on my iPhone, reminiscing about the memories of the last few months, when I realized . . . . . I have some pretty crazy photos on here that people would like to see!  So here are a few from our trip to Egypt last February:

  • The main reason we decided to travel to Egypt was to see the Pyramids.  For some reason I assumed that they would be located out in the middle of the desert, but boy was I wrong!  The city of Cairo/Giza is basically built right around them.  I was surprised when we were driving down the road to check-in to our hotel, and BOOM . . . . there were the Pyramids!
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  • We even had a view of the Pyramids from the pool at our hotel!
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  • Cairo isn’t one of the nicest/cleanest cities we’ve ever been to.  Here is a view of one of the freeways in the city.  *Notice the garbage along the center median and the amount of sand along the emergency lane.
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  • One of my favorite things to do when we travel is to buy food from street vendors.  In Cairo you could find just about any type of fruit or vegetable being sold alongside any street.  We bought some of these bananas from a guy on a bicycle and they were DELICIOUS!
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  • Cairo isn’t a very rich city, so one of my favorite things to see were the different types of transportation.  Here I was able to snap a picture of a tuk tuk (like we saw in Sri Lanka) and also a donkey pulling a wagon down the street.
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  • This guy was nearly breaking the speed limit with his 2 donkeys!
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  • We also saw horses pulling wagons.  This one was right in the middle of the city, with tons of speeding cars going by.  The engine size for this wagon is 1-horsepower (insert charity laugh here, for my lame joke!)
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  • When you did see a vehicle, chances were that it was overloaded with either goods (or even people).  By looking at this picture, I would assume that this little truck is slightly overweight . . . .
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  • Even when the trucks got bigger, they still seem to find a way to overload them!
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  • One day my buddy Adam and I ventured out to the desert to visit some secluded ruins.  I love this picture, with the lush palm trees going right in the middle of nowhere.
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  • Inside one of the ruins we found these awesome hieroglyphics.  They were so precise with such outstanding detail.
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  • It’s kind of hard to see in this photo, but it is a zoomed out view of the hieroglyphics in the previous picture!  The walls of the ruins were completely covered in them!  Every single image was as precise as the one next to it.  It was incredible to view such large areas of them, it must have taken them years to accomplish!
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  • We also saw lots of graphics like this one.  This one was about 6 feet tall, and right outside the exterior door of one of the ruins.
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Sometimes I wish I had our big fancy camera along to capture high quality images, however sometimes the images you are able to capture in a moment’s notice with your iPhone, are just as special and memorable.

 

 

Sneak Peek: Our Adventures in Jordan

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We had a blast last week during our Spring Break trip to Jordan.  It was a week jam packed of adventures, memories, and laughter that we will never forget.  Here is a little insight into our trip: When we proposed the idea to my parents of taking a trip to Jordan, I think one of the first things they said was, “where is Jordan?”  Many people, especially Westerners, haven’t even heard of it before.  If you look closely at the map, it is a little country tucked in between Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.  It was never really high on our list of “Countries To See,”  until we moved here to the Middle East.  So many of our friends here have been, and highly recommended it!

Map courtesy of google.com

Here is a little bit of a closer view.  The capital of Jordan is Amman, in the northern part of the country.  A majority of the population lives along the west side of the country, from Amman south towards the Red Sea.

Map courtesy of google.com

Jordan is a Muslim country, however it is not as conservative as Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.  Also, unlike their neighbors, Jordan has no significant petroleum resources of its own, so it is not as wealthy as some of the other Middle Eastern countries.  Their country relies heavily on tourism, which has taken a major hit the last few years because of what we call the “CNN Effect.”  Everyone in North America who turns on their favorite cable TV news channel, will hear nothing but negative things about the Middle East and the instability because of the emergence of ISIS.  I will be clear, not one time did I ever feel unsafe in Jordan!  It is a beautiful country and everyone was so friendly!

Map courtesy of google.com

Based on our research, we decided that renting a car was going to be our best bet for our trip.  We had so many places that we wanted to visit, and relying on public transportation and timelines was not going to work for us.  We read online that the driving in Jordan can be scary, however I would consider it super calm based on what we encounter on a daily basis in Kuwait! Below is a map of the route we took.  We flew into the capital city of Amman, then headed south towards the Dead Sea.  After one night there, we continued south along the Israeli border to the resort town of Aqaba, located on the Red Sea.  We spent two nights there, before we started our trek north to the Wadi Rum Desert for two nights of camping.  We then headed to Jordan’s crown jewel . . . . . Petra!  We spent two nights in this ancient city exploring one of the 7 wonders of the world, before we headed back to Amman to fly out.

Map courtesy of google.com

Our first stop in Jordan was at the Dead Sea.  Here are a couple of fun facts about the Dead Sea, courtesy of wikipedia.com:

  • The surface and shores of the Dead Sea are 1,407 feet BELOW sea level, making it Earth’s lowest elevation on land.
  • It is 997 feet deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.
  • In 2011 the salinity was measured at 34.2%, making it one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water.  It is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean.
  • Its high levels of salinity make for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name: the Dead Sea.

The cool thing about the high levels of salt, is that you float on the surface!  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a sinker, I cannot swim nor float!  So I thought it was super cool when I walked in, and just started bobbing on the surface of the water.  Here is a picture of me standing like a pencil, and just floating there without any effort.  It was a super cool experience, that I recommend to everyone.

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Me standing upright, FLOATING in the Dead Sea.

Before we headed to our next destination, we stopped at the site along the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized by John 2,000 years ago.  For so many years it was a lost site, until recently it was discovered, authenticated, and now visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world.

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Rachel and I at the baptism site of Jesus.

After our time around the area of the Dead Sea, we headed south to Aqaba.  We drove along the Israeli border for about 3 hours until we reached our destination.  Aqaba is located on the point of the “right fork” of the Red Sea.  We stayed in a beautiful resort area called Tala Bay.  I highly recommend this place!  We rented a condo on the beach, and had  a relaxing couple of days.

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After a few relaxing days at the beach, it was time to kick our vacation into high gear.  We headed north to the Wadi Rum Desert, where we witnessed some of the most incredible views I have ever seen!  It is a fairly flat desert with red sand, and gigantic rock formations scattered around hundreds of square miles.  We spent a day and a half cruising around the desert and hiking through some slot canyons, to a natural water spring, and to the top of a few arches.  We had a great time camping in the desert and playing in one of the coolest “sand boxes” in the world!

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A picture I snapped during one of our hikes. It is a good view of how flat the desert ground is, yet huge mountains protruding from the ground.

The last stop on our adventure through Jordan was at Petra, which is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.  We spent two nights there and a day and a half hiking and exploring this ancient city, that dates back to as early as 300 BC.  The first day there, we did the Petra by Night tour, where you could hike the path in, which was lit by hundreds of candle luminaries.  The next day, we spent about 8 hours hiking around and visiting the tombs, caves, and of course the infamous Treasury and Monastery.  Petra was my favorite part of the trip!  It is absolutely incredible how they were able to carve such magnificent structures into the sides of mountains.  It is estimated that approximately 20,000 people lived in this ancient city at one time. Petra This is just a quick peek into our Jordanian adventures.  We have lots of photos and memories that we will share with everyone soon.  I definitely recommend everyone to add Jordan to your list of “Countries to Visit.”

Sri Lankan Traffic Jams

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Wherever you live, chances are that you probably deal with traffic congestion on a weekly basis.  I HATE traffic jams!  For me, I’m not sure if there are many other things in life that are much worse.  I’ve been driving for 15 years, and still have to practice my yoga breathing and play relaxation music while sitting in a jam, to prevent my blood pressure from exploding!

When we were in Sri Lanka a couple of months ago, they definitely had their share traffic jams.  Although it was a different kind of congestion, one that I haven’t really experienced before. . . . . . . . ANIMALS on the road!  I was able to snap a few pics of what I call, “The Sri Lankan Traffic Jam!” I would say about 80% of the vehicles in Sri Lanka are Tuk-Tuks.  A majority of the roads around villages are just dirt roads, however they are starting to get some freeways around the country. IMG_5026 A lot of the traffic jams were caused by little fellas like this guy, a random cow just walking down the highway all by himself.  At least this guy was smart enough to stay on the shoulder! IMG_1933   Here is another guy just strolling around by himself causing some traffic issues.  He was super horny! IMG_1934 Sometimes there was just one cow in the road . . . . . IMG_1947 but sometimes there would be a ton of them! IMG_1948 You could honk and honk, but they weren’t going to move!  They got to determine what the speed limit was. IMG_5143         The cows also enjoyed walking along the country’s new freeway system!   IMG_1984 It wasn’t just cows that would create traffic jams in Sri Lanka.  Sometimes it was these big ass lizards!!! Including the tail, this one was like 4-5 feet long. IMG_5034     We also ran into some wild boars!  These guys were lucky enough to find some garbage on the side of the road for lunch. IMG_5146 Have I mentioned the MONKEYS yet?!?  This big guy ran across the road right in front of us. IMG_5157 We also ran into a lot of flooded roads, IMG_5139   and mud pits! IMG_1954 This guy tried going around a huge mud pit, but didn’t fair to well trying to cut through the grass. IMG_1955 Of course the biggest cause of a Sri Lankan Traffic Jam is when a huge elephant is walking down the middle of the road towards you!!!!!!!!!!!! IMG_1962

The Camel Ride from Hell

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**Warning this post is going to contain lots of fucking vulgar language.  Like . . . . . tons!  So to my mom, “I’m sorry.”  The events listed below were a traumatic experience for my friends and I, and swearing is the only way to effectively describe it.  We still laugh uncontrollably when we reminisce about this camel riding experience in Egypt.  Now, let’s fucking begin! (oh shit, there’s another curse word).

Before our recent trip to Egypt, I was reading online that you could take a camel ride through the desert around the Pyramids.  I thought to myself, “cool, what an awesome experience!”  Unfortunately our experience wasn’t awesome. Now that it’s over, it makes for a funny story though.

After a long day exploring around the Pyramids, which Rachel talked about HERE, we headed towards a viewing point.  This vantage point provided some awesome views of the pyramids.  We were able to take a few good pics with our friends Adam & Lauren there.

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It also provided a nice backdrop for Adam to take some great “jumping” pictures.  You know, the same ones that all of the super cheesy tourists take!

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After we snapped some pics, it was time to board our camels to take a stroll through the desert.  As we headed towards our camels, Rachel made it clear that she was not interested in riding another one, especially after her experience in Dubai (refresh your memory by reading about it HERE).  She hates the mistreatment of animals for the benefit of tourists.

As we were walking towards our camels, I’ll never forget Adam saying, “I hope I get Angry Arnold” with a laughter in his voice.  Famous.  Last.  Words.

We were all pretty excited as we hopped on our camels.

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Once we were all up on our camels, they tied them together in a line.  Lauren was first, I was next, then Adam was in the back.  We were led through the desert by an 18 year old kid, who was holding onto Lauren’s camel with one hand and a whip in his other.  Rachel hopped back in our minivan and drove back to the Pyramids, where we had planned to meet her in about 30 minutes.

If you have never been on a camel, it is actually pretty tricky to ride.  There isn’t a saddle to put your feet in to help balance, and it’s a really bumpy, uncomfortable ride.  However when you took a look around, and realized that you were in the middle of the desert, on camels, heading towards the Great Pyramids, you realize that this is a pretty sweet experience!

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Our camel ride was off to a great start!  We even stopped about half way and had our camel guy take a few pics for us!

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It was at this half-way point when things started to go sour with our ride.  Before our camel guy took our pictures, he wanted to line them up just perfectly with the Pyramids in the background.  In order to accomplish this, much to our disgust, he began whipping the crap out of them until they were just perfect.  We all looked at each other with wide eyes, and gave the look of, “what the hell is this guy doing!”  The camels did not appreciate the whipping either, and were making goofy sounds and started acting strange.  We immediately interjected, because we couldn’t handle witnessing this abuse any longer!

After a few pictures, we resumed our trek towards the Pyramids.  Suddenly I noticed that Adam’s camel was biting the thick-burlap blanket on MY camel!  I’m sure he was getting a little piece of my camel’s skin each time too, because I could tell my camel was starting to get pissed off.

Here’s Adam’s camel: Angry Arnold which started all of the ruckus!

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After my camel was bitten a few times in the ass, he had a major meltdown!  Out of nowhere, he put his head down, leaned forward, and bit Lauren’s camel right in the thigh!  AND DIDN’T LET GO!!!!!!!!!

LET THE CHAOS ENSUE!

  • Lauren’s camel begin moaning and making some of the most awful sounds I’ve ever heard come from a living creature.
  • I started yelling at my camel and kicking him in the neck so he would let go of Lauren’s camel’s leg
  • Lauren’s camel started to kneel down in pain, spin around, and looked like he was going to toss Lauren off.
  • Then, the camel guy started whipping the crap out of HER camel for not standing up, even though MINE was still biting hers!
  • All of a sudden I heard Lauren yell, “OWW!”
  • Adam and I started yelling to Lauren, “get down, jump, get the hell out of there!”  I think we both knew that she was about to get bucked off and go flying through the air at any second.
  • The camel dude finally realized that my camel was the one being the asshole, and started whipping my camel, so he would let go.
  • Lauren took a leap of faith and jumped off her camel.  I think she started running away before her feet even hit the ground!
  • Adam immediately jumped off his camel to check on Lauren.  Keep in mind that the top of a camel’s back is 7 feet off the ground!  He was flying through the air like a ninja warrior!
  • My camel finally let go, and all three of these ugly creatures were just standing there in the middle of the desert.  I was the only one still on their camel.  Lauren’s had blood gushing down his leg!
  • The camel guy, in broken english, kept saying, “it’s ok, get on” to Lauren and Adam.  They basically told the guy to get bent, and that there was no way that they were getting back on.
  • That’s when I decided, “fuck this,” I’m outta here!  I asked the guy as politely as possible to please let me down.  After pleading a few times, I quickly realized that he wasn’t going to let me down.  Then Adam, being the great friend that he is, marched over and repeatedly told the guy to, “get him the fuck down!”  The guy didn’t know much english, so Adam was nice of enough to say it multiple times, in a louder voice, and pointing his finger!  It was a little dose of Good Cop/Bad Cop.  Soon I realized the guy was not going to get me down, so like Adam did earlier . . . . I busted out my own ninja move and jumped off my own 7 foot tall camel!

All of this happened in less than a minute, but it was like slow motion.  As soon as I jumped off, we all decided to abandon our camel ride experience, and just start walking away.  So the three of us began trekking through the desert towards where we were going to meet up with Rachel.  We laughed the whole way back, reminiscing about what we were now calling our “near death experience.”

Rachel soon saw us walking over the horizon and greeted us with a, “What the heck happened?  Where are the camels?”  I just smiled at her and said, “you were right!”

**Remember when Lauren yelled, “OWW!” when she was on her camel?  It’s because she got whacked in the back with the camel dude’s whip!!!  She had a pretty wicked bruise to remind us of our “near death experience!”

Pyramids

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We went to Egypt a few weeks with one purpose: see the pyramids.

Mission Accomplished. IMG_5718We went to the pyramids on our first full day in Cairo and my first impression was “whoa, these things are huge!”  I realize that I could have looked up the fact that they are 456 feet tall but honestly I probably still would have been surprised at how big they were. IMG_5682I tend to take pessimists approach when I am traveling to famous destinations, I think things such as “I bet Machu Picchu won’t even be that impressive” (it was) or “the fjords of Norway won’t be as beautiful in person as they are in pictures” (they were) and in this case “I bet the pyramids won’t look that big in real life.” (they did) I have a bit of a fear of giving a destination more credit than it deserves before I get there, and then being disappointed once I arrive. As a way to combat my fear of being let down, I bad talk the travel destination in the months leading up to a trip. Irrational? Probably.  Am I going to stop doing this?  Nope. IMG_5653 We roamed around the pyramids for a bit before we decided we wanted to go inside the first pyramid to visit the tomb of King Khufu.  We weren’t really prepared for what the climb inside the pyramid would entail.  We started walking through a small tunnel on the path up into the pyramid.  IMG_5649

As the tunnel ascended it also narrowed, till it was just wider than our shoulders.  The narrower the tunnel became the more the roof dropped in on us.  Before we knew it we were hunched over, essentially climbing through the pyramid on our hands and knees.  It was hot inside the pyramid, it was dark, and you were surrounded by stone just above your head, and to your left and right.  As the tunnel hit its smallest point we came face to face with a group of people on their way down, trying to exit the pyramid.  We would press our bodies against one side of the stone tunnel as the people on their way down would press against the other side and carefully slide past one another, becoming awfully familiar with each person as they passed our way.  All of a sudden our progress stopped.  IMG_5626 Lauren had been our fearless leader the entire trek up into the pyramid and she had stopped in her tracks.  All I was able to see from my crouched position was Adam’s tushy.  Lauren was unable to continue on her path as a gentleman coming down through the tunnel began to feel the anxiety that comes along with being in a hot and very small space.  Unfortunately, the only path up was through this man.  We all held our squatted positions waiting for him to gain enough composure to continue on his way.  The longer we held our position waiting for him the louder the voices in my head were telling me to turn around and run for the fresh air.  After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was probably less than a minute, the man slowly continued on his trek down and out of the pyramid.  We quickly snuck past him, and scurried as fast as we could the remaining climb into the tomb, and thankful for the tall ceilings and the wide open spaces that met us once we arrived. IMG_5713Of course, any day where you can spend a ridiculous amount of time taking jumping photos is a success.  

Sneak Peek: Pic from Egypt

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Today we received a message from one of our most loyal fans, from New Brunswick, Canada asking, “where are the pics from Egypt?”  We have been super busy this week, and just finally got them downloaded from our camera to our computer this weekend.  We are still in the process of finishing up some blog posts to share a few stories from our trip, but in the meantime I thought I would give everyone a little sneak peak of whats to come . . . . .

The pyramids were incredible, huge, and an engineering feat that I will never understand.  Here is a group pic with our friends Adam & Lauren, in front of a few of the pyramids.

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The Pyramids were HUGE! Take a look at the cars in the background to get an idea of their size.

 

We also visited the Great Sphinx during our trip.  Again . . . . . . . . super cool!

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These ruins are about 4,500 years old!

 

This little punk ass camel caused a LOT of drama during our ride through the desert!  There was swearing, people flying off camels, bruising, yelling, pleading, whips, and blood.  Everyone survived, so we can laugh about it now!  I think you will enjoy this story . . . . . coming soon!

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We called this camel “Angry Arnold” and he was a jerk.

The last pic of this special edition: Sneak Peek, is probably the most memorable story from our trip to Egypt, and one that I will never forget.  It was taken from the backseat of a luxury car, as we were rushed across the runway at the Cairo Airport, to board our plane back to Kuwait.  You will never believe what led to this ride!!!!

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We should have been on that bus with all of the other passengers, but instead . . . . we were in the backseat of a luxury car!

 

I apologize for all of the “cliffhangers” I’ve provided you!  Hopefully this week, we will have some time to fill you in on all of the details from these pictures, as well as more photos.  Until then . . . . . I ‘Might As Well’ go to bed now.

Good night New Brunswick!!!   🙂

 

 

 

Sri Lanka Through the Eyes of Mitch’s iPhone

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I was going through the pictures on my iPhone the other day, and found a few candid shots I took while we were in Sri Lanka. They are nothing special, just a few little tidbits I captured during our trip. Enjoy!

This is called a tuk tuk.  There are millions of these little micro-tricycles all around Sri Lanka. Since gas is so expensive, they are the most popular form of transportation in the country (2nd is a moped). They operate on a little 50cc engine and get good gas mileage. We rode these all over place and they are super cheap! A 5 minute ride would cost about $0.50.  The fun thing about them . . . . each one is personally decorated by the owner! There was a variety of colors, advertisements, posters, sound systems, etc. I would always pick the “coolest” looking one before we would hop in with the driver.

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Check out all the chrome man!

In Sri Lanka, they drive on the left hand side of the road.  It is always a little weird getting used to at first, but luckily we didn’t do the driving.

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The view from the back seat of a tuk tuk.

This was the sound system in one of the tuk tuks we rode in.  The driver was about 20 years old, and OBSESSED with Tupac! He decorated his entire tuk tuk in memory of him. There were posters, paintings, stickers, and all kinds of other stuff. Being Mr. Obvious that I am, I asked him, “Do you Tupac?” He smiled and responded, “You like?” After I nodded “yes,” he pumped up the sound system and we listened to “California Love” bumping through the speakers for the rest of our ride!

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Rachel jammin’ out to 2Pac!

This was the main road through the town of Unawatuna.  It is about the width of an alley back in the States. When a car would come down the street, everyone would have to pack to one side of the street so that it could pass. This is also a good view of all the tuk tuks lined along the roads.

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Beep Beep

Here is a cool panorama picture I took at Jungle Beach.  It is located on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, about a 15 minute tuk tuk ride from Unawatuna.  You have to hike down a dirt path for about 15 minutes to reach the beach.  It was a super nice beach, and very quiet compared to Unawatuna Beach.

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Jungle Beach

This sign was posted outside a small surfer bar in Unawatuna called Koha Surf Cafe & Lounge.  It was one of my favorite places, because they didn’t have any tables to sit at. Instead you took your shoes off, and climbed into like a king sized bed. There tons of cushions and pillows, and you just made yourself comfy there. A super hippy place, just how I like it!  I took advantage of the “free smiles” but didn’t want a hug.

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Free hugs & free smiles!

These little rigs were all over the streets and highways in Sri Lanka! they basically took the front end of a large garden tiller, put bigger tires on it, and attached a homemade trailer to ride around in.  I think they did it because it is so much cheaper to operate that little gas engine, rather than buying a pickup truck.

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Weirdest invention ever!

I know it’s 2015, and there is free wifi virtually EVERYWHERE . . . . . however I still get pumped when a place offers it.  I usually keep my excitement to myself.  However one night when we were looking for a place to chill at, I blurted out, “let’s go here, there’s free wifi!”  Rachel and our friends gave me a look of, “really dude? You get that excited over free wifi?”  Of course, from that point forward, it became the joke of our trip every time we saw another sign advertising free wifi!

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Woohoo, free wi-fi!

One of our favorite things about Sri Lanka was all of the fresh seafood!  Just about everyday for dinner, one of us was enjoying a plate full of fresh (and cheap) seafood.  All along the southern coast of the country, you would see these little fish stands on the side of the road.  The fisherman would literally park their boat on the beach, and unload their daily catch at their stand.

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My favorite was the fresh tuna!

During our time in Unawatuna, we had a chef come to our chalet to make us breakfast.  Everyday he said we were going to have sausage.  We quickly realized that the word “sausage” in Sri Lanka was not the greasy, fatty, pork that we so desired.  Instead it was a grilled Oscar Meyer hot dog that tasted like it was grilled the night before, then microwaved before breakfast.  Yuck!

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WAIT!!!! That’s a hotdog, not sausage!

There was so many fruit stands along the roadways too!  There were so many different kinds of exotic fresh fruit you could buy for a couple of nickels.  Our favorites were the mangos, papaya, bananas, coconuts, passion fruit, and pineapple.

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There was so much fresh fruit!

Our favorite place in Unawatuna was the Kingfisher Hotel & Restaurant.  They had the best food, best service, and was just a super nice place.  One night we were all sitting on the beach for dinner, when Rachel excused herself to the bathroom.  Moments later she returned with a look of disblief on her face!  She stumbled for the proper words to describe what she had just encountered . . . . a dog in the women’s bathroom!  Apparently, she opened the door and started walking into the dark bathroom when she heard a dog growling. She JUMPED back, turned my iPhone’s flashlight on, and realized there was a dog snuggling up to the toilet!  So she did what any tourist would do . . . . SHE TOOK A PICTURE!  (then used the men’s restroom).

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That dog must have had too many Lion Lagers the night before. He was snuggled up to the toilet all night!

Say What’s Up on WhatsApp!

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Like many people around the world . . . . . I would be lost without my iPhone!  It goes with me everywhere!  To work, out to dinner, for a walk down the beach, and even into the bathroom. (admit it people, we all do it!!!)

I like the iPhone, because it is literally like a Swiss Army Knife.  It has so many tools, that I use all of the time.  It is especially helpful when you move to a new country like Kuwait, because you find yourself using it for much more than just making phone calls and sending text messages.  I find myself using it for things like capturing pictures of something crazy I see on the side of the road, or converting the price of an object from Kuwaiti Dinar to American Dollars, calling our family back home on FaceTime, converting the daily temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit, and even using the GPS on the map app to find your way around.

However my favorite thing about my iPhone is the app called WhatsApp! It is an app that allows you to send text messages to anyone around the world for free!  You can use it if you are connected to wifi or off your data plan.  You can send pictures, send group messages, and now you can even send voice recorded messages.

It is free to download, and you can find it in the App Store.  Just search “WhatsApp Messenger.”  Here’s what the icon looks like:

 

Once you have it downloaded, your contact list is based off of the contacts you already have in your phone. You just have to add the Country Code to it. Here is the list of International Country Codes.  In the U.S. it is +1 and in Kuwait it is +965.

Download it today and send us an email at themightaswellers@gmail.com and we will send you our Kuwaiti cell phone numbers.  Then we will be able to send text messages back and forth for free!  I figure it is probably best if you email us, rather than posting our phone numbers on here for the entire world to see!

The only downside to WhatsApp is that you have to be sure to put your phone on silent every night.  Otherwise when your buddies are watching the big football game in the U.S. and start trash talking you over text messages, it doesn’t wake you up at 3am because of the time change!

Don’t forget . . . .  send us an email at themightaswellers@gmail.com so we can connect on WhatsApp!