Thursday, December 29, 2011

Posts on NewGeek - Jordan and soon India

Seems I haven't been updating here on posts that were posted on NewsGeek so now's a good time as ever to do it. Although we're already in Goa, India now, the NewsGeek posts are a bit behind and this Sunday the second post about Petra was published. There are cool ones coming soon about Mumbai, India and Hampi.

Meanwhile, here's Frognector in Hampi next to the holy feet of... Rama?


Thursday, December 22, 2011

Controlling Colnect from Hampi

Well, I don't write much on this blog and prefer to let you enjoy the pictures. I've recently bought with a hosting provider in Germany. They now replace the setup Colnect had before in the US. Speed should be REALLY improved and, amusingly enough, it's going to cost much less.








So yes, I've managed, with the help of my dear brother Ofer, to setup servers in Germany and make Colnect move to them. All that from an Internet Cafe that has no cafe but rather small gadflies that go directly to one's eyes and can get quite irritating. In addition, considering the kid of one of the operators here that never speaks but always screams horrible. I was sure it's a girl till I saw him without underwear today.

Yesterday we took Frognector for some new shootings in the area. A few of the results are here.

(: Happy Bar-Mitzvah to my beloved nephew Raziel!!! :)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Hampi, India







Currently in Hampi, a small village close to a not-very-interesting city called Hospet in the state of Karnataka in India. Getting here from Mumbai took about 1.5 days from Mumbai as there wasn't any direct train and the train office in Mumbai has misled us to believe there will be a bus taking us from where the train stops to where we need. So it altogether took a train, then rickshaw, then bus, then train again, then waiting for a few hours at the train station, then a short rikshaw, then another bus and when we finally got to the river a short boat ride to cross it. But hey, we made it and reached one of the loveliest places in India.

Our room is pretty basic but has a fantastic view of the river. One of the other guests put a hammock here so that was good :)

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Amman, Jordan



Our time in Amman, capital of Jordan, has been nothing less than fantastic and most of it due to our lovely host Mo(hammed) that is a talented artist currently working as a graphic designer. He is Palestinian that has lived many years in Egypt and his family originally from Tul-Karem. We've had lots of fun talking to him, especially considering the fact he comes from a very different culture to ours. The fact people have different cultures and different customs shouldn't stop them from becoming friends and I'm really glad we got to meet Mo and befriend him.

Jordan is surely more brushed up than Egypt. The food is better and it altogether seems more upscale and somewhat more organized. Perhaps it's just my impression and perhaps there's no real place comparing the two neighboring countries anyway.







At the last hours in Amman, before taking the flight out to India, we met up with Layla. She's a cool Jordanian I've met for a few hours some years ago in London. It's been so much fun hanging out with her and the conversation never stopped for a second. She also showed us a very different side of Amman than the one we've seen walking around the city center with Mo.

In short, we'll be back to further explore Jordan another time. Seems we've scratched the tip of the iceberg and that it's a fascinating country to explore.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Little Petra with Frognector

Instead of visiting the famous Petra, we stayed in a cave with a cool Bedouin guy and many other people (volunteers he had, CouchSurfers he hosted and his relatives).

Below are pictures of "Little Petra" which looks quite similar, but smaller. As we were busy with bonfires and knowing a bit about the locals in the area, we didn't have the time to visit the big and world renowned Petra. It should be amazing and we'll probably visit it some day for 3 days as there's so much to see there.





Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Next flight: Amman, Jordan to Mumbai, India

The vacation in Israel has lasted more than initially planned. It was definitely a good idea to come here, attend 4 festivals, meet friends and family and spend time with loved and important people. But convenience is also how we get stuck doing things that are good but not awesome, so it's time to embark again.

As this time I'm looking for a place where I'd be able to quietly work most of the day, India seems like a fun and remote place to be in. I've previously spent 6 months there and didn't imagine I'd go back anytime soon. It's surely not one of the easiest countries to travel in as many times the local population is way too eager to communicate with any person who doesn't look local. It's fun at first but at times gets quite annoying. Now, however, I know what I'm getting myself into so I'm sure it'll be easier than the first time.







So currently the plan is to leave Israel via land towards Jordan and spent a few days there and head on to Mumbai, India. In India, as the weather should have it, it would probably make sense to head south. How about Hampi? Here are some pictures from the previous time I've been there.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Uman, Ukraine

Although it's been almost a month since I came back to a short vacation in Israel, I've just recently manage to get the time and publish some of my stories from Uman. They can be read in Hebrew here. All my posts on NewsGeek should appear here.

Here are some pictures not published on NewsGeek.

The first would be funny for people who know Hebrew. If you're not accustomed with Cyrillic alphabet the first letter has the sound of Z and the third the sound of N.



This picture is of me in Bianska Stiavnica with some lazy lizards.



The jeep you see stuck in this picture was our ride to Krakow, Poland. It was a good ride till that last part. Oh well :)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Odessa, Ukraine

So yes, it's easier to be lazy than to actually write proper blog posts. You know the deal, it's either putting more time into living your life or to documenting it... But here's a short one which I hope will be to your likings and will lighten up the new year. Yes, it's the Jewish near year in two days for those of you thinking I'm so out of time. We were now in Odessa, Ukraine and the reason is a cool guy I've met about 1.5 years ago in Egypt. We met him on the first or second day of the Egyptian experience and hung with him till the last day. HOWEVER, seems Odessa has things to offer on it's own accord. For one, it's a port city. Not that it's of any real importance to me but I liked the picture below.
It's quite well developed and has an interesting night life we managed to only scratch in the two nights there. Seems a lot of about-to-get-married couples go to the city centers to have their pictures taken in the exact same places. Some can afford to rent a bigger car that may or may not contain a swimming pool.
Although some people can afford to spend, seems the municipality cannot always find enough money to keep the roads in top condition.
Seems Odessa has quite a few sister cities and one of them is in Israel. Personally, I never understood the sister cities project. Simply taking random cities, deciding they're similar for some benign reasons such as "we both have building and people in our city" and then just publishing it everywhere. There's gotta be some logic behind it. Perhaps it's about managing to spend tax payers money on sending municipality employees on vacations abroad. Any one to shed light on that?
And last for here but not least, a huge 5 New Sheqel coin at the harbor. Interesting artifact, but cannot fit in a standard wallet. Why is it there?
This has been a post saying so little about our time in Odessa, the night train to Odessa from L'viv, the border crossing from Poland or anything else such as what similarities I have found between Ukraine and India. Perhaps another time when I'm more energetic. Peace, love and Shana Tova :)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine

This isn't a random list of countries but rather the countries I've managed to be in during the last week. I will write more, and there is a lot more to write, but for now here's a picture from the table Colnect had at the Sberatel collector's fair in Prague.
Real updates soon... I hope :)

Monday, August 29, 2011

Ferry Supermarket

Here are a few pictures I forgot to include in the previous post about the ferry.



The first one above is of a supermarket inside the ferry and the next indicate the ferry has 7 floors (decks) and carries some truck on it. Quite a big and impressive ferry, at least in standards I was previously used to. A tad amusing is that I didn't really know we'd be taking a ferry till the morning we started hitch hiking. Dana didn't know until a few minutes before. The element of surprise ;)



Sunday, August 28, 2011

Copenhagen to Berlin

Hitch hiking is often a lot of fun as you can see:


Actually, it's more fun because of the really cool people you often get to meet while on the road. Admittedly, it can be frustrating when you find yourself stranded for too long somewhere but so far, I've had some wonderful experiences hitch hiking.

The picture above is from the ferry we took while hitch hiking somewhere between Copenhagen, Denmark and Berlin, Germany. We asked a truck driver at a gas station if he could take us and he agreed. We so met an interesting and wonderful person who eventually even hosted us at his house where he lives with his soon-to-give-birth girlfriend and dog. The night had some fantastic lightning storms as well. Such a great entrance to Germany :)


Monday, August 22, 2011

Third Post on NewsGeek - Tent Protest in Iceland

The third post I've written on NewsGeek (in Hebrew) has been published. You are welcome to read it and comment about it. After the second post was made, it seems like there might be a weekly column for me there. You are thereby welcome to subscribe to my feed on NewsGeek.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Dynjandi Waterfall in Westfjords

The Westfjords (they prefer west and fjords in one word) of Iceland are a remarkably beautiful area, very sparsely populated. You're welcome to check more factual information by searching for it yourself but know that in the tourist guide they write

"With only 7400 inhabitants in the area, each person has around 1,2 km2 of personal space"

This is a picture of the tent we've pitched in the camping area close to the fall.


On this one, you can see me trying to get some work done using mobile Internet.


But let's get on with it and see some pictures from the falls themselves