Onward Travels...

So we were chilling in Fez, for six weeks, which is a long time for Fez.  Two weeks is probably a prefect amount of time.  My favorite of the medinas of Morocco was probably Essaouira, and two weeks is probably good for that medina too.  We spent a month in Essaouira, but both Fez and Essaouira are excellent places to save money if you live like a Moroccan and not like a European while visiting.  With two and a half odd months in country, our visa was expiring!  Well, technically you don't need a visa to visit, if your stay is under three months as an American citizen.  But the point is the same, we would have to either make a short jot out of the country and come back, akin to a visa run, or leave altogether.

 

Natasha, we make it to Moscow... now what? I dunno Boris!

So we started weighing our options.  We knew in the end that we wanted to visit Asia, and come back around, so that was one option.  Option two was to go on to Egypt.  Option three was to visit India.  Option four was to head to Tunisia which is a short flight away.  The problem with Asia is that in order to stay beyond a month or a few months in a country you have to have a plan and a visa.  In China, you must have a prearranged visa, and you better not overstay.  So we figured if we were going to China, Candice would teach English.

As a backup we would consider one of the other countries in the area where you could visit for a few months, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, etcetera.  In the end, we might visit all the said countries, but the point is we decided on Asia, choice one.  The tickets were a killer, heading to Shanghai first and then onward to Thailand.  Actually, the trip went from Fez to Pisa and Pisa to Budapest via Ryanair, cheap flights and cheap flights.  Budapest to Moscow and Moscow to Shanghai via Aeroflot, Not as bad as it could have been.  Then from Shanghai to Bangkok via Sri Lankan Air, damn good flight, damn good service.


Let's just say that we had jetlag.  The time difference was 9 hours from Fez to Shanghai, and we lost one of those hours on the way to Thailand, then we had to spend the night at the airport in Moscow.  In Moscow, the kids were pleasantly surprised to find that a Baskin Robbins was open at about 3 o'clock in the morning.   So for all you know-it-alls who would never let your kids eat ice cream at 3 AM in the airport in Moscow, what time is that in Boston?  Quick!  I didn't think so.  So we let them each get a scoop, with their own money, since they wanted it right then, instead of waiting till at least 6 or 7 in the morning.  Your money, your rules.  Also, we managed to score a couple cuban cigars, just to taste.  After spending some time in Ybor City, Tampa, I must say there really, really is a difference in taste too.

Everyone eventually drifted off to sleep in Moscow except me and Asari.  Jacob tried to fight hard as well, I think he even made it too.  He was the main lobby for ice cream.  But Asari was awake to be awake and keep me on my toes.  We started naming capitals cities by alphabet and had made our way to about x when a Russian who spoke English fairly well asked if he could sit down.  There was an open seat next to Asari.  We acted like we didn't hear.  Before I could shift to sit in that seat he sat down.  We are both thinking, where will this be going and how do we get off.  He is excited to see Jacob and I am unexcited about this, wondering if I need to send him about his way or get security.  He is also carrying a beer.  I get him to start talking.  He is a soccer player from a military team, apparently.   He has a vacation going to Hurgada.  Apparently he misses his kids, I try to relay that it is good that he misses his kids, but my kids are mine, and to back off.  Slowly he comes to understand.  In the meantime, since he is holding this huge Russian forty ounce, and in an attempt at good will and diplomacy, and since the airport is practically empty, I tell Asari to keep an eye on things as I walk with this guy to get him out of our hair.

I hear Candice slowly waking, and we head out to buy me a beer.  Half way down the walkway, we see one of many vending machines, selling cold beer.  Why I would want a beer at three o'clock in the morning is beyond me, but here I am with one in my hands, trying to mentally convert it into a cappuccino.  In addition, I now have a contact in Moscow, although, I don't know when I will ever use that contact.  When we return, I find Candice and the girls awake and bundled together.  Apparently, some big Russian had stole Leah's sleeping bench.  I was about to get mad, then I thought, it is public space.  I mean, what would you do on the bus?  And he didn't steal it to sleep on, he and his family used it to sit down.  Still, it wouldn't have went down if I was there, but you can't keep every crazy Russian in check at the same time, as one person.  Once I figured that situation out, my newfound Russian friend's flight to Hurgada began boarding.  I encouraged him not to miss it.  He boarded on the way to Egyptian bliss.

A few hours later and we boarded our much better flight to Shanghai.  Although the food was indeed awful  the people were much cleaner and no drinking was allowed on the flight.  The flight from Budapest to Moscow was a few hours, the one to Shanghai from Moscow was nine hours.  So you can imagine what it would have been like to be on a plane with a bunch of drunk smelly people all that time.  However, since this was a larger plane on a longer flight, I assume they considered that when making it a non drinking flight.  The only problem was the food.  I had requested vegetarian food, but it had been denied along with our advanced seating request.  But I blame that on the ticket aggregator, you really do get what you pay for.  Let's just say that the salmon they brought out in the salmon salad looked like someone had chewed it and spit it in the middle of the poor wilted lettuce.  We should have brought more snacks, nine hours is an incredibly long time to share an orange and a few nuts.

Finally, Ice Cream

So after a few hours of aeroflot, we landed in the land of heavenly street food.  Well that is true of both Shanghai and Bangkok.  In Bangkok on the street wonderful Thai food for the equivalent of a dollar.  In Shanghai, even less.  The food fresh, heated on a wok right before your eyes.  No meat, no problems.  Even with the meat, probably no problems.  Blended mango juice, starfruit juice, dragon fruit juice, coconut water, all one dollar or less.  But back to Shanghai.  We stayed our two days in Shanghai out near the airport, so we didn't really do Shanghai big, we will do that in the future.  The area we stayed in was still pretty populous, and we had all these Asians looking at us like we just came in from the moon.  I guess for them we did.  However, everyone was friendly, cool, and easy going.  No one at our hotel accepted any kind of tips for anything, big shock after Morocco.  No one was impatient and there was a general good vibe for such a huge international city.  In addition, I experienced absolutely no racial problems while I was in Shanghai.  I have read some people saying that China can be funny, and while I was only there for a few days, I experienced none of that.  Most service people seemed to understand some English, but once again if they do not, they are apologetic and even might blush.  I understand four Chinese words, but it is important to know how to say at least, thank you, right?

Asari stayed awake the whole time

Thinking of Ice Cream!

  

So we are now in Thailand for the month, we are moving on to Malaysia for the next month and from there maybe Bali or Goa.  Who can tell?  I guess we might base that one on where we want to be to ring in the 2012 event.  Whether you believe it or not, it should be a good reason for a nice party, no?  Next time, we find out if I really am the tallest man in Bangkok!

Pad Thai

Moscow

While China was not what I expected, Russia kinda was. The flight from Budapest to Moscow was not the most pleasant. The flight attendants were a little bit mean and the men on the plane were smelly, even more so than you would find in Morocco, oddly enough. One guy in front of me almost made me pass out every time he raised his arms or shifted in his seat. The guy behind us wasn't much better, but luckily we were able to adjust the air vents to block his smell from drifting up to our seats. To make matters even worse, the food was absolutely horrid. Probably the worst airplane meals we've ever had the displeasure of tasting. 

As we arrived to Moscow, we were shuttled to an area for transit passengers after our carry on bags were scanned again and passports scrutinized. It was after midnight when we arrived so the food choices were limited.  One interesting thing to note was the huge cans of beer that could be bought from the vending machines very cheaply. 

We were in for a long layover so we tried to get comfortable. A woman in the transit passenger lounge told us that if we ventured out into the main lobby, we would find seats in which we could really stretch out and catch a good nap. We wandered into the airport, but all we could find was these bench seats that looked harder and more uncomfortable than the ones in the lounge that we had just left. The only advantage to these was that they did not have armrest on them, therefore you could conceivably lay down if you wanted to. 

It was pretty empty that time of the morning, so we had as many seats as we wanted. We brought four benches together and tried to get comfortable. The boys didn't want to lay down, they were looking at the hard benches very skeptically, eventually CJ relented and went to sleep while Jacob reluctantly curled up in the corner of a seat and sleep took over. As I drifted in and out of sleep, I heard more people begin to fill up the lobby area. 

Soon I heard a man arguing in Russian. I looked over groggily in the general direction of the voice, and I saw a man taking Leah's bags off of the seat and shooing her away so that he and his family could sit down. Leah was fast asleep when he began his diatribe, so she hadn't a clue as to what was going on. I told her to get her bags and come sit down next to me. Orlando had gone walking with a new found friend on his way to Hurghada who was a little drunk and scared to fly. I had looked the man up and down, he was sweaty, beefy and tattooed. Not someone whom I wanted to confront. So I kept my mouth shut and just had her and Asari move closer to me.

Being somewhat wide awake after that encounter, we watched the hours tick away while waiting to board our flight to Shanghai.  The Baskin Robbins counter was right next to us. Jacob did his best Jedi Mind Trick impression and ended up with some ice cream, along with the rest of the kids. That served to cheer them up a bit.  Another hour or so, and the gate from which our flight was leaving was finally on the board. That being set, we drifted closer to the area to try and find seats closer to the gate. 

Three tiny greasy, garlicky and overpriced roasted potatoes later, we were on our way to Shanghai. And not a moment too soon.