Travel Stories – My Inner Peace

El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a path towards oneself, NOT A VACATION

On the 31st of July, I landed back in Bucharest after 23 days off, spent in Portugal and Spain. This year, I guided a small group of ladies, Ritta Muntean from Alba-Iulia and Corina Dumitrescu from Ploiești, who were willing to walk the Portuguese route of El Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It’s the second time I’ve guided people to walk their journeys toward Santiago de Compostela, and it was, once again, a blessing for me to assist them in fulfilling their dream. I, myself, walked twice, alone, on two of the longest routes to Santiago. The first journey was in 2013, when I started my adventure towards myself in France, at Saint Jean-Pied-De-Port. I left Bucharest with a friend, willing to start together and after some days, to split and have each of us our personal experience on one of the most ancient pilgrimage paths in Christian history. And so it was! After a week or so, the path split, and I ended up walking alone for more than 20 days.

The entire walk lasted for 32 days in a row, and I managed to walk 930 kilometers. I learned so many lessons, but the most important was the validation to myself that Camino is NOT a vacation. The second route I went for was the Portuguese one, starting in Lisbon, and walking 936 kilometers in 27 and ½ days. This time, I was completely alone, and I wanted so badly to walk in solitude that on the first evening in the
Albergue de Peregrinos in Alpriate, I met two ladies, Laura and Kris, and the next morning, Will joined the group. And even if we left the Albergue and went our different ways, we kept meeting again and again on the way. I wanted to walk alone, but El Camino kept its mission. To make me understand a new lesson about myself. The lesson of guiding others just by being present there when they needed the most, with a
word, or an experience, or a personal story, towards a hidden part of themselves.

So, after integrating a new layer of Camino’s magic and after seeing people coming and asking me to guide them on this path, I started to organize small groups of people, willing to transform this dream into reality. And I am speaking here about people who, for personal reasons, don’t feel comfortable starting this journey alone. And this is not something bad. It is an act of courage to accept that you need someone nearby to count on when you need to. I know some former pilgrims disapprove of this approach, yet we should remember that every human being has their own trajectory in this life, and something useful for one could be painful for other people and could defeat the purpose in the end. We are social beings, and most of us learn from direct experience with other people. Some of us learn in solitude like I usually do, but it’s a scientifically proven fact that most people need other people to learn and integrate certain lessons they need to reach their next level of evolution. And this is also OK. It doesn’t mean that they will learn less than the others.

In reality, Camino is a sum of lessons to be learned. Some of them will be integrated there, on the way, others will just raise their head from the snow like a snowdrop in spring, under the sun’s rays. Camino is a door towards the hidden parts of your being. It is a light in the dark and may seem like darkness itself on a sunny day of summer when you feel exhausted, hungry, thirsty, or just emotionally overwhelmed by this new reality that your mind cannot cope with in the beginning.

So, for every soul reading this article, and who fancies walking this magic path, when you start planning your journey, while you’re packing, and even while you’re walking during the first days, just repeat to yourself: CAMINO IS NOT A VACATION! CAMINO IS MY WAY TOWARDS MYSELF. It can be easy, or it can be damn hard. But I will walk it because I am doing it for myself. Not for my family, nor for my closest friends, nor for my followers on social media. Because if you are doing it for others, or for being valued by
other people, you will lose YOUR WAY. And it will become more and more difficult.

As some of the ladies I walked with or I just met on the way this year, said, “Family and friends are looking at the pictures, and they are saying Wow! It’s so beautiful!, but they don’t really know how it feels in reality!” And this is the ugly truth! Nobody will understand why you chose to walk hundreds of kilometers in France, Spain, or Portugal, nobody will feel your pain, your tiredness, your despair in some moments. And nobody but another pilgrim you walk with or meet on the way can relate to your story. Because
when you start crying, she or he can support you with compassion, as she or he was in your shoes
as well as a certain point on this path.

So, walk your path for yourself alone, and allow the way to unveil its magic after a while. Camino is pure alchemy! Just believe in yourself, and keep walking! The results will come to you maybe later, but they will for sure reveal their light to those eyes ready to see it.

If you want to learn more about El Camino’s alchemy and my journeys, I invite you to read my book “The Unstoppable Thirst, El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, an Alchemic Path towards your inner self”! You can find it on Amazon here

BUEN CAMINO through your own lives, everyone!

N.B. The article was published first in WEI 4U Digital Magazine here:

What’s left of Memphis, the first capital of Egypt, and the Magic Stepped Pyramid of Djoser

Back to the car, we went directly to Memphis, the first capital of Egypt established when the unification of the Lower Egypt with the Old Kingdom (Upper Egypt) happened around 1300 B.C. What used to be at a certain point one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, is looking now like a poor village. And it makes you wonder how did we came up with this concept we are so proud of… ”humanity evolution”? Each time I enter a place where I am amazed by the details and the greatness of huge structures and temples staying there for centuries and built in such a way that the modern technology is not able to do it, I cannot help it to ask myself ”where is the evolution of human kind?”. Usually, these places are in the middle of poor communities that lack normal living resources, places full of trash and poverty, and you go there staring at these structures and wondering what happened with this civilization and where are its heirs?

I don’t have an answer to this question, but what I can tell you is what you could see in Memphis. There is this historical Open-Air Museum where you can see a huge statue of Ramses II missing both feet, that’s why it is exposed in horizontal position. However, there is a colossus of the same king that was very well preserved and a Sphinx in a better shape than the one from the Giza Plateau weighing 80 tones. Moreover, you can witness different granite statues, coffins and tablets dating from various periods of time. And the cherry on top, there are some alabaster stands inside the museum, where you can buy different small statues. One is Ibrahim’s stand and from the entrance he insisted to go and see his shop. I was in a good mood, so I went, telling him I will not buy anything, but I took a picture of him and his stand to show it to the people reading this story.

What I didn’t know at that time, was the fact the Cairo and its surrounding have better prices then Luxor. So, if you go there, you may want to buy your souvenirs in the Lower Egypt (Northern part of Egypt: Cairo, Alexandria, etc.). We didn’t as we wanted to visit first and think about shopping at the end, and we felt a bit ripped-off by the Luxor’s merchants, even if we bargained a lot.

Open-Air Museum, Ramses II, Memphis, Egypt

We’ve spent literally 10 minutes inside the museum as we had on our agenda to visit the Pyramid of Djoser and the Giza Plateau by the end of the day. So, we went back to the car and headed towards the Saqqara necropolis where the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser was waiting for us. In the car, Esra gave us clear instructions not to speak with anyone offering us a tour of the site as they will ask us for money at the end, and obviously not to buy things from the touristic objectives as the prices are sometimes 10 times higher than usual or even more. And this is just because you are a tourist and you are supposed to have a lot of money with you. I have a funny story about this kind of local behaviors, so stay tuned.

Stepped Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara Necropolis, Egypt

Once we entered the site, we were assaulted by different men trying to act like a guide of the site. They were too invasive for my taste, but we’ve managed to get rid of them. After passing the impressive columns from the entrance, here it is the beautiful Stepped Pyramid of Djoser, a six-stepped structure of 62.5 meters height, built in the 27^th century B.C. as a burial place for the Pharaoh Djoser. The pyramid was restored for 14 years and it looks amazing! It was opened for visitors in March 2020, so to be honest I feel very grateful for choosing this year to visit Egypt and go there. The entire archeological site looks great. We first went to see the surroundings of the pyramid, and to take some pictures.

The opposite side of the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt

We didn’t plan to go inside as we were trying to move fast to arrive in time to the Giza Plateau that day. But, God has always other plans for you, so at a certain point I felt this attraction of seeing what’s inside. And we approached another couple asking a man if we could visit the pyramid inside as well. The man was the husband of a Romanian lady, so we started to talk about the place, about our home country while the man was opening the door for us. The site was supposed to close at 3 pm, and the closing schedule was there, so everyone was rushing us to leave the place as soon as possible, but not this man that open the door of the pyramid for us.

Stepped Pyramid of Djoser inside passage, Saqqara Necropolis, Egypt

We entered this passage more easily to walk in as it was horizontal and very well restored, compared with the one of the Red Pyramid in Dahshur. Here could enter any person as there is no struggle. It is like a walk in the park, but instead of trees and vegetation, you have stones. 😊 This passage leads to a chamber from where you can see 30 meters down another chamber that was closed. actually, when we went around the pyramid, we’ve seen another entrance lower underground but it was closed and the same man opening this side of the pyramid for us told us that is it is closed for visitors. I don’t know why and he never said why, but at a certain point that side of the pyramid was opened as there are various visitors’ pictures online.

Drops of water on the ceiling of the passage

Never mind… I guess that side was not for us, so we enjoyed the upper side of the pyramid and once our visit inside ended, we encountered outside the same rush coming from other people taking care of the necropolis to leave fast as they had to close the site.

Stepped Pyramid of Djoser surroundings, Saqqara Necropolis, Egypt

We went back to the car where Esra was waiting for us to drive us to the Giza Plateau. But before reaching the car, we took some pictures outside the site with the gate, and look what strange thing came out on camera on one of it. I swear we didn’t see any aliens there, nor UFO’s, so… 😊

We arrived quite fast as the Saqqara necropolis is located 30 kilometers south of Cairo, so we arrived at one of the entrances of Giza Plateau before 4:00 PM to have enough time to see the three pyramids. Normal schedule of Giza Plateau is from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, but guess what? We planned our visit to Egypt during Ramadan and we didn’t know that everything in the Lower Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria, etc.) is closing 2 hours before during Ramadan. Here, at the gate of Giza Plateau we understood why the people from the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser was rushing us to leave the place as soon as possible. The strange thing was that our driver, Esra, was not aware of this new schedule, otherwise we would have planned our journey differently.

So, if you are planning to visit Lower Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria and surroundings) during Ramadan, take into account that everything closes 2 hours before the normal schedule. In the Upper Egypt (Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel etc.), there is no such a rule and the schedule of different sites are even more extended until 9:00 PM (Luxor and Kom Ombo Temples). But I will write a more practical article including the schedule hours of all the sites we’ve seen. Meanwhile, you can read some tips and tricks for a great DYI trip in Egypt.

Stepped Pyramid of Djoser guardian, Saqqara Necropolis, Egypt

To be continued…

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Dahshur Pyramids or where the Desert speaks from inner out

The thought of finally seeing the pyramids was increasing my blood pressure with each kilometer we were approaching. I was so keen to enter one of these structures, and in the same time, I was analyzing the traffic in and outside Cairo to understand why everyone is advising you not to drive in Egypt. To be honest it is not crazier than the traffic in India, and I was thinking I could get used to it. Afterall, when rules are not respected, you are entitled to do anything because no one could ever blame you, right? 😊 Maybe they could blame your tourist status or the fact that you are a woman, but not the fact that you don’t respect the rules. Long story short, I could drive in Egypt but I didn’t. I had a ”scared” friend with me that preferred not to rent a car without a driver, so here I am, unsatisfied with the fact that I didn’t drove in Egypt. Yet, for long journeys, it was better not to drive as I had the chance to rest and even take a nap. 😊

The sun was up, each minute was making the day hotter and finally, we arrived in Dahshur necropolis. After an hour and a half since leaving the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Esra stopped the car in the parking lot of the Red Pyramid, the third largest Pyramid in Egypt, built between 2575–2551 BC by the Pharaoh Sneferu. I suddenly jumped out of the car just to let my entire being to be mesmerized by this structure. We took some pictures outside, and then we headed towards the entrance. It was the first pyramid we went inside of, and it was impressive. We had to go down backwards for 61 meters on a small passage (0.91 m in height and 1.2 m wide) being careful at each stair we were leaving behind. Otherwise, we could have slip and go down faster. 😊 We’ve been lucky to be the only visitors at that time, otherwise we would have had to make room for other people coming up and down.

The passage was ending up into a large chamber (12 meters high and raising in 11 steps), where the ceiling was full of bats. From that chamber a new short horizontal passage starts ending up on another chamber similar to the first one, where you have to go up on a wooden staircase to reach the third chamber (15 meters high) the burial chamber, as the guard reaching us after a while told us.

We went back climbing on the same passage towards the entrance, we had a new photo session outside and we went back to the car. The first experience was amazing, so I was ready to live the second one.

Outside and On the Red Pyramid, Dahshur, Egypt

One kilometer further there is the Bent Pyramid built by the same Pharaoh around 2600 BC. It is called the Bent Pyramid because it has two different angles of inclination, raising at 54-degree, and after 47 meters changing its angle to 43-degree inclination. Right after we reached the place, a bus full of tourists came and they headed towards the entrance. So, we’ve decided to skip entering this one to avoid being caught on small passages and loose time waiting for the people to pass. Hence, we started to take some pictures outside when a guardian of the site told us we should go around the pyramid where there is another smaller pyramid built for the wife of the Pharaoh. Wikipedia says this ”Satellite Pyramid” was built for the ”Ka” (the souls of the Pharaoh), so I guess people are telling a lot of stories just to make you do some things and to receive a tip for it afterwards.

So, I started to run around the Bent Pyramid enjoying the desert under my feet and feeling free as never before since this SARS-Covid 19 pandemic started. There, I felt as my spirit was coming back to each cell of my body. I was so happy and I wanted just to sit there and enjoy the moment for a while. And I did. Soon after my friend joined me, we took some pictures and we headed back towards the car without visiting the Satellite Pyramid behind the Bent Pyramid. Meanwhile the guard went there and he probably was waiting for us to make some money, but we just saw the small pyramid from outside, and we went back to the car. Yep, I was jumping around happy and full of these magic energies.

Bent Pyramid and Satellite Pyramid, Dahshur, Egypt

The third pyramid you can see in Dahshur is the Black Pyramid, 1.5 kilometers away from the Bent Pyramid. It was built by King Amenemhat III between 2055–1650 BC, but it is not open for tourists. Actually, due to the fact that this pyramid out of stone as the others, but built with mud bricks, its structure it’s not that solid. Moreover, being built near the Nile and in a lower part of the valley, led to sinking problems under the ground, suffering multiple cracks. The consequence of its instability led to the current status of being closed to avoid putting people’s lives at risk. Nevertheless, I took a picture of it from the Bent Pyramid and we greet it from far.

To be continued…

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First steps into Cairo’s habits – Tips and tricks for a great DYI trip

After 2 hours sleep, waking up was not easy, but was necessary as our driver was coming at 9:00 AM to pick us up and start the Egyptian adventure. We went on the roof of the hotel to have breakfast, where there is a beautiful terrace and you can see a nice panorama of Cairo’s downtown. The view was amazing, yet we were in a hurry and we had to wait for more than 30 minutes to have everything cooked on the spot. This way, we found out that due to the pandemic and consequently to the low number of tourists, a lot of hotels are not offering open buffets anymore to avoid wasting food and resources. Hence, they are cooking on the sport only for the people present in the dinning room for breakfast. Not having this information upfront, we ended up waiting for breakfast and making our driver waiting for us for half an hour. The great news: the breakfast was amazing! Falafel, boiled eggs, French fries, vegetables, cheese, bread, butter, jam, and tea. I was so impressed, but unfortunately this amazing breakfast was served only the first day. The bad news: the second and the fourth day we received less food, no Falafel and no vegetables which made me very sad and unhappy.

Once we met our driver, Esra, a nice lady which was recommended to us by a close friend, we headed towards the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Zamalek (Cairo) to buy the Cairo and Luxor Passes. If you have in mind to visit a lot of sites in both Cairo and Luxor, you should definitely buy both of them because you will receive 50% discount from the Luxor Pass which is more expensive. This way you will save a lot of money and, if you go during a crowded period of time, you can also skip the tickets and entry queues. It is very important to know this information, as no local guide or employee from different sites are aware of it even if the Passes were introduced since 2016. For us the Cairo Pass sold for $100 or 90 EUR, taken separately, was not worth it because we didn’t manage to visit everything we had on our itinerary. This is only if you take into account the entrance fees of the sites we’ve managed to see, which would have cost us 73.5 EUR / person vs. 90 EUR / person paid for Cairo Pass. Otherwise, if we would have managed to see everything, the entrance fees were 95.5 EUR / person vs. Cairo Pass 90 EUR / person. However, the big difference is not consistent for Cairo Pass, but for Premium Luxor Pass. Buying both of them saved us 91.5 EUR / person or $111 / person. Hence, the Cairo Pass + Luxor Premium Pass both sold for $200 / person or 180 EUR / person was a wise choice. Moreover, both are valid for 5 days, so if you want to go and visit the same site in different days, you can do it without paying the entrance fee several times.

For Luxor you have 2 options:

Standard Luxor Pass sold for $100 or 90 EUR which includes all the sites in Luxor area, including Luxor East and West Banks, Luxor and Karnak Temples, except for the Tombs of Seti I, Tutankhamun and Nefertari.
Premium Luxor Pass sold for $200 or 180 EUR which includes all the sites in Luxor area, including Luxor East and West Banks, Luxor and Karnak Temples, plus the Tombs of Seti I, Tutankhamun and Nefertari.

To be honest, if you see these three tombs that are more expensive and for which you have to pay a separate ticket if you don’t have the Luxor Premium Pass, it is like seeing all the other tombs from the Valley of the Kings and from the Valley of the Queens. Most of them are very similar, but in a less good shape than these three. But we will be talking more about Luxor sites in a separate article dedicated to this magic place.

So, if you decide to buy the passes, you should have 2 passport pictures with you and USD or EUR in new banknotes. If the money is not in a very good shape, they will reject it. The lady from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said that the Egyptian National Bank is not accepting old banknotes, so take care of this aspect upfront. Another thing you should take into account, is the rhythm some tasks are performed in Egypt. We’ve spent more than 30 minutes for these passes and we waited just 5 minutes at the beginning, because the lady there had to finish the service for the previous person. So, if you are used with fast tasks performance, forget about it in Egypt, otherwise you will get very frustrated. And, if the lady helping you with the passes will ask you to sit, you better do it from the beginning, otherwise her tone will become more and more inquisitive. 😊

Once you have the passes, you’re free to go and visit all the sites you want in Cairo and Luxor (for Premium Pass), but take a good care of them. As I said before, the employees of the sites are not all aware of the existence of these passes, especially in Cairo, so they will look strangely at it, analyze it, ask a superior if it’s ok to let you pass based on it, and they will not treat that piece of paper kindly. Being written in ink, at a certain point the ink may fade away, so be very careful. In the Valley of the Queens in Luxor we had a strange situation with a guy from the entrance. He didn’t want to give us back the passes without paying him. We refused to give him more money and, at a certain point, while we were trying to explain him that we don’t have to pay anything, I tried to take back the passes, but he didn’t let them go easily. Hence, I had to pry it loose and, in the process, due to this man resistance, a small part of my picture was damaged. All this happened in front of two policemen sitting there and smiling while we were trying to take back our passes. So, be careful and try not to give your pass to everyone asking to see it. It is better to show it from your own hand, but it is not always possible as some of them will insist to take it and study it or ask for a superior permission. So, if you see any abuse, just insist to take it back explaining in every way that you don’t have to pay anything as the passes are granting you free passage in all the areas from Cairo and Luxor (only the Premium Pass covers everything).

Back to our first day… Esra was waiting for us in the car to come back from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Cairo with our passes, ready to start the journey. And finally, around 11:00 AM we headed towards the Saqqara Pyramids.

Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Zamalek (Cairo)

To be continued…

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Traveling to Egypt in time of pandemic

Traveling to Egypt in time of pandemic

Egypt, a country full of contradictions and fight for money, received us on April 14^th of 2021, a period still under the shadow of the SARS-Covid19 pandemic. The funny thing is that here, the story of this disease we are talking about for more than a year now, seems to be nothing more than a strange shadow bringing official safety rules, but not affecting the day-to-day life of usual people. Yes, you have to wear a mask especially inside official places, in Uber or in closed areas. In reality, only the first two categories are respecting these rules. There are a lot of closed areas, even inside the common areas of the hotels, where you can get rid of the mask and nobody will notice. However, in certain hotels the staff is using masks, but for the guests the masks are not mandatory. Today, after a week since this adventure began, I feel like living in another dimension. Our suitcase is full of unused masks that are only bothering me when I move them from a place to another.

But let’s start from the beginning of this DIY trip.

We landed in Cairo at 2:30 am on April 14^th after a 2 hours and 45 minutes flight. The flight was comfortable, the new process of the safety measures was much easier than expected, just the airport was so empty that gave me a strange feeling of a deserted area.

I must say that this was my first flight after one year and 5 months since I was in Jordan. Soon after, the restriction of SARS-Covid19 pandemic started to be implemented, and that changed completely my plans.

After landing in Cairo, in the airport we paid $25 for getting the visa that is bought from the Egyptian Bank office where one can usually go for exchanging the money, which we did at first without knowing that at the same office we should have paid for the visa as well. The visa in Cairo is a nice sticky paper, that the airport policeman is applying on your passport. Looks nice and clean and colorful. But before arriving at passport control, we had to introduce our personal data in the emigration form, this time received in English. In the airplane we had received one in Arabic, impossible to read, hence to fill in. Once we arrived at the passport control office, we had to give them the sticky visa paper, the negative RT-PCR test, the passport and the emigration form. Everything there was super-fast, so we went to get our luggage and then to buy a local SIM card to have internet access everywhere. That was a smart move, as we travelled a lot and it was really useful especially when we had to bargain for certain services.

The best deal for the SIM cards is sold by Orange at $10 and includes 18GB of data and 2000 minutes for national calls, which proved to be helpful as we travelled a lot and we had to hire different cars with different drivers and calling them was the best way of communication since not everyone has mobile data active on their phone.

Speaking about technology, you should know that WhatsApp video and audio calls are banned, Zoom and Skype are not working at all in Egypt, only Facebook and Google meet allows you to make or join video calls.

So, once the tech part was done, we headed outside the airport where the driver from our hotel was waiting for us. We booked a hotel in Cairo downtown that had the airport pick-up offered as a free service. Not all the hotels in Cairo are offering this free service, so I guess we’ve just been lucky. We arrived at the hotel at 4:30 am. You should know that all the above processes in the airport will take you one hour more or less. That’s what it took us in the middle of the night when only our flight was scheduled. So, I guess when the airport is crowded, you should take more time into account.

Once we checked in, our contact guy from the hotel started to explain to us some options we could have for our journey, and some services he could offer. We took none, and we went further with our plan. We already had an agreement with a local lady we knew via a close friend traveling in Egypt a month before us, so we went to sleep for a couple of hours to be ready to meet her in the morning and start our adventure with Saqqara Pyramids. But this is the story for the next article.

To be continued…

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Floating into the strange water of the Dead Sea

Leaving behind the beautiful Kerak Castle, we headed directly towards the Dead Sea. You cannot visit Jordan without having the experience of the Dead Sea. And I’m saying this because you may imagine how would it be to float in such a salty water, but it’s nothing like being there and experiencing it.

So, when we were sure of being able to visit the Kerak Castle that afternoon, we booked a room to Ramada Hotel near the Dead Sea, to sleep there and be ready for a sunrise at the Dead Sea. The way back down from Kerak Castle was quite challenging once the sun went down, because it was a pretty damaged road with so many curves and sometime with so little visibility. However, the car we’ve rented in Aqaba was pretty new and strong, and we had no issues.

Once back on the highway, everything seemed easy to manage till a certain point when Waze was showing us a strange route to take to reach Ramada. So, we ended up in a improvised road, sandy and full of holes and quite risky. This put me in the position of taking the car out backwards moving easily to avoid the holes and the bushes. Once out, we drove back to the highway and forced Waze to find another route which it did. A small way, built especially to reach Ramada in the middle of nowhere (literally!).

So, from our tips and tricks list, I would say this is an important one. Don’t let yourself misled by any driving navigator! Stay on the asphalted road while you are trying to reach Dead Sea Ramada Hotel. The other way will also bring you to the same point, but you will probably ruin the car. 😊

We managed to arrive at the Dead Sea Ramada Hotel arround 20:30, we’ve cheked in and had dinner on the balcony of our room. We had in mind to go to the Dead Sea and take a swim that evening, but that was not possible. Being a frontier point, you are not allowed there after sunset, and especially not by yourself. There are people in charge from the hotel to watch over you. To reach the beach, there is a hotel shuttle going back and forth every 30 minutes starting 7:00 am.

So, for that night we just enjoyed the dinner, the view, the hot wind outside, the hot shower, and then a deadly sleep to be in line with the Dead Sea we were waiting to see early next morning.

Wake up at 6:00 am and ready for the beach. We had to wait for 15-20 minutes for the suttle bus to drive us there, as everyone was moving so slow at that time. Once we’ve reached the beach, it was like being in the middle of nowhere again. That was the private beach of the Ramada Resort. Everything was so quiet, that gave us the sesation of being out of time and space there.

Then, the most suprising thing happened. Trying to swim into the Dead Sea, is quite a challenge. I was looking at my friend trying to keep his balance into the water and most of all, trying to respect the rules. Yes, there are specific rules for the Dead Sea like the one saying: „First take a sitting position, and then lay on your back!”. This is not a natural position your body takes when entering the water.

Briefly, at the begining it’s kind of a mindset change. Then becomes something you may really love and it’s hard to leave behind. For me, it was an amazing experince I really loved to have and I will repeat it for sure during my trip in Israel I am planning to have this year. So, being there, you must try the local mud! It gives you a strange and nice feeling in the same time.

Plus, the time in the Dead Sea seems like a healing and infinit time. The consistency of the water it’s felt on a deeper level of your body and you can really find diffrent ways to play with it. Not spashing the water as it is forbidden due to the fact that you should not ingest it or touching your eyes with. Once you are out, you feel like a prikcle, I guess. 😊

At 9:30 am we went back to the hotel for a shower, we checked out, and left this amazing place with such a big sorrow we didn’t planned for at least two days here. It really is a quiet place, where you can spend some time relaxing and experincing the magic water of the Dead Sea. And when I say magic, it is not a figure of spech! It is a reality that you cannot experince in any other place on Earth!

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.

Check out the begining of the Jordanian adventure here:

PETRA, the City of the Magic Fire (1st part)

Following Jesus Chist footprints to Jordan River

How I baptized myself in the Jordan River

Once we left the Dead Sea, we started to drive towards the Mount Nebo, where Moses is supposed to be buried. We had planned that day to visit Mount Nebo, Madaba and Jesus Christ Baptism Site. While driving to Mount Nebo, my inner voice was calling me towards the Baptism Site first. So, after driving for half an hour, I stopped the car and recalculate the route towards the Baptism Site, practically driving back for 10 minutes.

Another 15-20 minutes drive and we arrive. After parking the car, we found out that there is a shuttle bus driving us directly to the place, and moreover, each shuttle bus has a tour guide. I must confess I thought this was a visit one can do by himself, but in reality, they have everything under control including the tour guides due to the fact that the Baptism Site is essentially at the border with Israel and it’s a military area.

So, having already the tickets payed online, we went directly to the shuttle bus. Essentially, you should expect to jump in a minivan with kind of a poor conditions inside: no air conditioning, damaged chairs and other local aspects you will understand once you will get there. But, it’s the only way to reach the Baptism Site, so not the place to act like a diva. 😊

Baptism Site Museum, Jordan River — Baptism Site Museum, Book of Greetings, Jordan

After other 5-10 minutes’ drive, we arrive at the gate of the Baptism Site. We started by seeing a museum and then we went towards the Jordan river and afterwards to the place where Jesus was baptized. Jordan river used to be bigger 2000 years ago, so now the place is inland far from the current Jordan river. However, the guide explained us that during spring time, the water comes out from the soil in that area as well, like a small water spring.

The tour guide was actually an amazing man! We talked about religion and beliefs and I asked him how does it feel to be Muslim and have a job in a Christian place of worship? And after the experience in the Mosque in Aqaba I was surprised to here that he doesn’t consider this activity as a job, but as his mission in this life. And then he added that the Muslim people believe in all the prophets, including Jesus and the Quran mentions Virgin Mary 40 time while the Bible is mentioning her less than the Quran. And we continued to walk and talk about the fact that there is only one God, and just the name is different in different beliefs.

After a short walk we arrived at the Greek Orthodox Saint John the Baptist Church, quite close to the Jordan river. We went inside and I found out that if I am already baptized in a church by a priest, I can enter the Jordan river and baptize myself in its water as well. So, the guide was very kind and he gave me a special made white dress to use for this ritual, even if we didn’t had cash with us. However, I gave him 14 JOD, the price of the dress, once we got back to the car.

Here I am, doing something I was imagined to do since I was a kid: to enter the Jordan river and to be baptized in its water as Jesus was. Strange childhood dream, one may say, but I was fascinated by this idea for so many years. It is useful to say here that being baptized as a Christian Orthodox, on 6^th of January we are celebrating Jesus Baptism right when the Catholics are celebration the Epiphany. And each year, the priests are visiting the people’s houses and blessing them using holy water and singing a song about Jesus Baptism in the Jordan water. So, this was one of the songs of my childhood and I always asked myself how it was for Jesus to be baptized in the Jordan river as an adult.

Maybe it sounds strange, but I must confess it was one of the most powerful gestures I did for myself, based on a childish idea I was fantasizing on when I used to be a kid. So, I entered the Jordan river, I disconnected from the outside world and I baptized myself in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. 😊

After leaving that holy place, I felt like having a new superpower or something. I was so happy and I had an epiphany! I was so grateful to myself for listening that inner voice asking me to turn the car and drive back to see this place first. Not doing so, I was probably meeting another tour guide with different views about world beliefs, have other discussions, and probably never found out I can enter and baptize myself in the Jordan river. And, the funny thing was that the place was full of people before changing my clothes. Then, when I approached the river everyone left and I had my ritual in peace and without being disturbed by people taking pictures or talking around.

Today is 6^th of January, the Jesus Baptism Day for the Christian Orthodox Church, and I am remembering this story and writing it down as a symbol of this holy day, and as a symbol of the holiness that lives in each of us. We are a projection of a higher consciousness we call God, and we have everything we need to become the masterpiece of our life.

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.

Check out the begining of the Jordanian adventure here:

PETRA, the City of the Magic Fire (1st part)

Kerak Castle, a visit inspired by „Kingdom of Heaven” movie

After four days in Aqaba, enjoying the Red Sea, we rented a car and started to drive back to Amman. We had a lot of objectives on our map, mostly castles, and we manged to see only the most important of them. So, our first objective was Kerak Castle, an old Crusader forteress oppened in 1142 to oversee the commercial roads between Jerusalem, Damascus, Mecca and Egypt.

From Aqaba we took the highway following the western part of the country, near the border with Israel. It’s the fastest way to reach Kerak (Al-Karak), 250 km drive away, and we needed to be fast to be able to see the castle before 16:00 when the visiting hours were ending. So, we left Aqaba at 12:00, stopped for lunch on the highway and then driving to Kerak.

To reach Kerak, you have to drive for almost an hour outside the highway up on the mountain. So, small damaged roads with endless curves are waiting for you. If you have a bad stomach, think twice before doing this part. :p

However, once up on the mountain, in the middle of the castle ruins, you are in the right position to thank God you took the journey. You can see everything from up there, Al Karak city below and the roads looking like a small part of Transfăgărășan road in Romania. Basically, you have a 360 degree view of the horizon! And if you happen to be there close to the sunset, the view it’s breathtaking.

The place has a good energy and you may feel like staying for a while. So, if you have a day, just enjoy the castle and also the city.

I am fascinated about old castles, hence for me it was a blessing being there and walking inside the rooms preserved after so many centuries, and imagine how everything used to look like at that time. Even if most of them where built as strategic points of defense, I still find them fascinating.

But why Kerak Castle?

Well, I am a huge fan of the famous movie „Kingdom of Heaven”. One of the most important battles of that time was in this area between Saladin, the frist sultan of Syria and Egypt and the conqurer of the Kingdom of Jerusalim from the Christian’s commands, and Raynald of Châtillon, prince of Antioch. Even if the movie was not shot there, I wanted to see the place and step into the energetic footprints of the people fighting for a „kingdom of conciousness” they understood at that time it’s made by stones and buildings.

In fact, if we are looking at the root cause of the current wars we are facing today, we can easily see we are not that far from them. We are fighting in diffrent countries for material things like land and properties, in the name of the same God that we, as human beings, understood He promised us a material kingdom. And if we look at Kerak Castle or other points of defence in history, we can understand what will be left from today’s wars. Only ruins and a history painted by the ones in a powerful position.

As I see it, the only way out from all the ancient patterns we are repeating over and over again is by rasing our level of counciousness, which will take us out of this reality to build the Kingdom of Heaven as it should be: a kingdom of counciousness embodied in human beings led by their inner voice of their true nature manifested as kindness and compassion for their own phisical manifestaion and for all the other beings around.

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.

Check out the begining of the Jordanian adventure here:

PETRA, the City of the Magic Fire (1st part)

Aqaba, the city of narrow-minded views showing openness in a Mosque

Leaving Wadi Rum Desert is like leaving behind a treasure that belongs to your Soul. The good news is that I felt like taking with me the taste of the silent sand full of divine grace. And that feeling is so full of meanings and powerful understanding that fuels your body with the curiosity of the new adventure waiting to be lived in Aqaba.

So, we left Wadi Rum with a jeep taking us into the village, and from there we took a cab (25 JOD for 2 people) to Aqaba. This city is not present in the usual organized trips, but was one of my dreams seeing this place. This is the Jordanian seaside, and after so many dry days in Petra and Wadi Rum, taking a swim in the Red Sea, was the best thing to do. The sea in the Aqaba bay is quite calm, salty, and good for swimming. The two bothering things here are the laud music on the boats transporting people in different points of the bay and the fact that the local men are literally staring at the foreign ladies that are daring to go for a swim to the public beach. They have this custom to sit on the beach or in the coffee shops with a beach view, smoking shisha (narghile), drinking tea or coffee and looking at the foreign ladies on the beach.

That’s why the government arrange for a private beach in a 5 starts resort where you can go from the hotel directly paying 11 JOD / person which included the transportation with a hop on hop off bus, plus the entrance fee in the resort. Everything is 5 stars, and you can also book a room and spend some days in there. Is 10 km away from the city, just that is in the middle of nowhere so you feel like closed in there if you don’t have a car to go to the city. And another disadvantage would be the fact that the sea is not that still and calm as in Aqaba bay. Nevertheless, if you want to spend a day there, it’s a good choice as it’s really quiet and deserted.

The city of Aqaba it’s an ordinary city. Big, full of people that are less open-minded than the people in the northern part of Jordan, even less open-minded that the people in Petra or Wadi Rum. Initially I thought it was because of the fact that there are not too many tourists in this city. Then I’ve noticed a lot of foreign people, so there is another reason behind, I was not able to discover yet.

However, there were some nice experiences we had in this place. First of all, the accommodation. We booked a double room for 4 nights at Taj Hotel 3*, and we ended up receiving an upgrade to a suite within the same price (122 EUR / 4 nights / 2 people). And this was not just for us! I must confess that before booking the room, I was reading the reviews and more people were saying the same thing. So, basically, I decided to book this hotel hoping for the same treat. And it proved to be real! 😊 Now, you should not expect a 5* suite, however, having two rooms, a living room and a small kitchen like in an aparthotel, was more than what we’ve expected. Honestly, I think it’s a marketing trick, it’s actually their way of making you choosing this hotel that is up on the hill, not next to the beach as the others. However, if you enjoy a 5 minutes’ walk to the beach, it’s a very good choice and quality for money. We’ve met a Romanian couple on the second day. They booked a 2-3* hotel near the beach for one night, and they told us it was awful. So, I say better uphill, in a suite! 😊

Then, the nicest part of this city was the food. Even if it was very hard to find restaurants serving vegetarian dishes as most of the restaurants and fast foods are selling only dishes with meat, we finally found this place, Al-Tazaj, with an exquisite falafel, and excellent sea food, and we suddenly became their loyal customers. We even took some falafel sandwiches with us when we rented the car to drive back to Amman and visit some other places on the way back.

Another nice thing to see in here is the Aqaba Castle. We were there 15 minutes before the closing hour (4 pm), and we did a quick tour. Then, the man in charge of the Castle came to us and offered us a private tour inside and up on some of the parts of the Castle that were closed. It was a great experience and we enjoyed a lot his way of showing us where to sit to have the best pictures of the place.

If you have a look at the small details around, Aqaba had a great positive aspect to be remembered here: the labels with the real prices of the products in the shops and supermarkets. In Wadi Musa, there were less honest people telling you the real price of the products, moreover the prices were even 3 times bigger than in Aqaba. So, not feeling “rubbed” at each corner was a big plus of this city!

Now, a strange thing happened when we tried to rent a car. We went several times at Avis rent a car office asking for a car and they continuously told us no car was available for the day we were planning to leave. Moreover, they asked us to pay 35 to 50 JOD extra-charge for taking the car in Aqaba and leaving it in Amman. So, I decided to check this on the internet. And I managed to book a car via Ryanair app from the same Avis office without paying any extra-fee for leaving the car in Amman. Briefly, when in Jordan, you may want to book things on different sites and apps than dealing with local people even if they are employed by big international companies. The good news was that again I booked for an small car (Kia Picanto) and I received an almost new big car (Kia Celina), so we were so comfortable driving back and visiting around different places on the way back to Amman.

Going back to the less open-minded people, we faced that again when I tried to visit a mosque. During the last day of our staying in Aqaba, we went to see the mosque we were passing by each day when we were going downhill to the beach. And once I entered the courtyard of the mosque, the men started to fight each other to get me out of there. Some were saying that it was not a problem for me to visit the mosque, others were completely against the idea, and others were trying to make me pay 20 JOD for a hijab (a long skirt plus a scarf to cover my head). At a certain point, when I was about to leave the place, a man came and he was completely willing to help me entering the mosque. So, he asked his wife to give me her hijab and a scarf to cover my head and I was invited inside the mosque.

I sat there quietly thanking God for the presence of this man, and praying for a more understandable and peaceful world. After finishing my pray, I went outside to give them back the hijab and the scarf, and he started to explain me that we all have the same God, just that some people are seeing these things differently and I should understand and forgive them. And we agreed that we are all the sons of the same God, just the way we call God may be different like Allah, and the perspective may change from a mind to another. I thanked him for his way of seeing things and for his willingness to put an end to that fight, and I left the mosque full of hope that men, one day, will stop fighting for and in the name of God.

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.

Check out the begining of the Jordanian adventure here:

PETRA, the City of the Magic Fire (1st part)

Wadi Rum – The Desert is quiet, yet the Desert speaks!

On Top of The World – Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan

During these three days in Petra my body was burning, my inner peace was nowhere to find and I felt like dying for few times. My only window towards myself was opened only inside the Prophet Aaron’s tomb where I was able to meditate for half an hour. It was a real blessing and I am sure it was actually our ticket back safe into the car where my fever came back again.

Tough night, but I managed to sleep and that was a real help. The interesting thing when I woke up was to notice the fever was completely gone. So, luggage done and jump into a taxi towards Wadi Rum Desert where we booked a jeep tour and a night in a camp in the middle of the desert.

I was a bit dizzy in the taxi, I admit, but once I stepped into the desert, I was completely a new person. We took a jeep tour and started visiting the most important things Wadi Rum has for tourists’ eye.

Desert Wadi Rum — *Wadi Rum Desert*, Jordan

We started with Lawrence Spring, where two Jordanians asked me nicely to take some pictures with me. I was surprised even if I’m already used to this kind of requests when I am traveling in countries where my skin color looks so interesting for the locals and they are asking me to take pictures with me like with a movie star or something. So, my surprise was not coming from the request, but from the fact that after three days of fever, my look was not that great, and for a second I asked myself “why in the Gods name would you like a picture with someone looking like me?!” But looking at the guy and seeing how nervous he was, I felt my heart melting and I said to myself “if you see something that worth being immortalized, so be it!”. And we laughed and they were trying afterwards to catch a camel for me from the free ones around, and I guess that was the Desert way of saying “Welcome to my world!”

After this unexpected experience, we went and hiked the Sand Dunes. And there I was back again in touch with myself and God! On top of that Dune, I was able to do my first quiet, profound and relaxed meditation under the full light of the Sun bathing my body and my Soul. For Christians like myself, it was actually the celebration day of the two Archangels MikaEL and GabriEL, under which power and blessings I surrendered my entire being.

Desert Wadi Rum Meditation — *Wadi Rum Desert*, Jordan – Sand Dunes

Once back in the jeep, I felt like having a new body and the certainty of a complete healing was installed in every cell. Then we headed to a canyon where one can see the Anfishih nabatin Inscriptions 200 B.C. old left by ancient trade caravans.

After getting into the heart of this canyon where one may find it a bit uncomfortable to keep his own balance while stepping on wet rocks trying not to slip and fall into the water, we went to Um Froth Rock Arch. Climbing that rock it’s more like climbing a wall. It’s not easy to climb, nor to get down afterwards, but it’s worth all the effort and the queue you have to wait patiently as it is one way only and the path is so tight only one person can pass at a time. Once you are up, it’s amazing! You have this mixed feeling like being on top of the world despite the fact that the arch is only 15 meters high, but you are up there, looking down at all that people ready to take a picture of you, and the small path is giving you the sensation that you can fall anytime. In fact, is just that monkey brain scared as Hell seeing itself out of its comfort zone. 😊

After these experiences full of adrenaline, we went to a nice place where we were able to take some panoramic pictures of Wadi Rum desert and spot the line between the red and white desert.

It’s amazing to sit in the red sand, play with it and feel like home!

And moreover, 300 meters away set a small camp, and witness a majestic Sunset while drinking Bedouin tea. Words are not enough to describe the feeling, so I advise you to go there and have this experience.

Once the Sun was down, we went to the camp for the night, we had Bedouin tea again, we had dinner and then we decided to walk for a while into the desert and just listen. And I think if God has a voice, that is the voice of the desert!

After this walk, I laid down on a bench to watch the stars. I have never seen so many stars not once in my trips in different parts of the world. And I felt like my body was melting down and becoming one with the sky, one with the stars, one with the entire universe. This was my second door of the day into a profound meditation where I felt like finding an equilibrium between all 5 elements and integrate it. And there it was again, that healing state coming from a new layer and embodying into this human being.

And after three days of fever, my body was not burning anymore, was kind of freezing for a bit. So, we headed towards our tent with a view over the desert and the sky, and I was finally being able to fall asleep watching the stars and the Moon shining over the quiet sleepy desert.

I woke up several times that night, just to watch the Moon and the stars as I was always dreaming of, and then fall asleep again with a big smile on my face.

And if you spend a night in the desert, you cannot miss the sunrise! So, we woke up at 5:00 am and we went out to witness how the Sun is touching the mighty Desert. We climbed the rock that was behind our camp, and there, after consuming that strong feeling of joy for the present moment, I set on the edge of the cliff, I closed my eyes and I felt like falling into another dimension. There, on that cliff, I reached another layer of my own being, and I understood my profound connection with this world, and the meaning of the burning days in Petra.

That’s why I’m saying… As much as quiet the Desert seems, the Desert actually speaks!

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.

Chek out the begining of the Jordanian story here!

PETRA, the City of the Magic Fire (1st part)

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