Ancient Egyptian tombs to be reopened

by Sean McLachlan on


A visit to the pyramids at Giza in Egypt has just become even more interesting with the imminent reopening of six ancient Egyptian tombs nearby.

The tombs have been closed for many years for restoration, including the removal of graffiti left by people who don’t deserve to travel. The tombs are part of the Western Cemetery reserved for minor royalty and high officials of the Fourth Dynasty (c.2613-2494 BC) who were important enough to be buried near the pharaohs they served in life.

One is the tomb of Seshem-Nefer, who had the august title of “overseer of the two seats of the House of Life and keeper of the king’s secrets.” His large is visible in the foreground of this photo courtesy Hannah Pethen.

Other tombs include those of a royal treasurer, high priests and other functionaries. Only one of the tombs is for a member of the royal family — Princess Mersankh, the granddaughter of King Khufu, whose pyramid is the largest in Egypt.

Several of the tombs have brightly painted scenes of daily life, such as hunting and spending time with family, making them a good way to gain insight into the world of ancient Egypt.

Somali National Theatre reopens in Mogadishu

by Sean McLachlan on

Who ever thought going to a play could count as adventure travel? Now it can, because the Somali National Theatre has reopened in Mogadishu, Somalia.

This is the latest sign of growing normalcy in the battered capital. Traffic cops have returned to the streets, the markets are thriving and there are now regular commercial flights to Somalia from Turkey.

The theatre closed in the early ’90s when Somalia spiraled into civil war. With rival clans fighting over every block, going to the theatre wasn’t a big priority. Al-Shabab certainly didn’t try to reopen it during their brief control of Mogadishu. The Islamist terrorist group banned all public entertainment as well as Western music, foreign food aid and bras.

Now Al-Shabab is on the defensive, being attacked on several fronts by the Transitional Federal Government, the African Union, Kenya and Ethiopia. This has allowed a period of relative peace in Mogadishu, although bombings do still occur. Somalis have been quick to rebuild and the theatre is the latest sign of renewed life.

The Somali National Theatre celebrated its reopening by entertaining an audience of about 1,000 with a night of music, drama and comedy. That’s right, comedy. The fact that Somalis are laughing is a good sign. Who knows, perhaps tourism will be next!

As further proof that absolutely everything ends up on YouTube, here’s a clip of a concert at the Somali National Theatre in the 1980s. It’s obviously transferred from an old VHS tape, so the quality isn’t the best, but how often do you get to see something like this?

Travel Smarter 2012: Use CouchSurfing to ditch your hotel addiction

by Sean McLachlan on

Hotels are so passé.

How many times have you visited an exciting destination only to find you’re staying in a generic hotel room completely lacking in local flavor? When I visited Greece last month, I stayed in affordable, centrally located hotels in Athens and Sparta. While they offered good service at a fair price, they could have just as easily been in Los Angeles, London, or Cairo.

CouchSurfing offers a better way. With a bit of online networking you can stay in a local home, and it’s free! CouchSurfing is a social networking site linking up friendly people around the world. Once you’ve created a profile, you can search through profiles in your destination and request to sleep in their spare room or couch. No money changes hands, although guests often bring an inexpensive gift from their home countries or take their host out to dinner. It’s a fun way to make friends and makes traveling a richer and less lonely experience.

As I’ve mentioned before, even though I’ve never actually surfed a couch, CouchSurfing has been hugely helpful to me. When I moved to Santander in northern Spain, the local CouchSurfers threw my wife and I a welcome party and 25 people showed up. Soon we knew the best barrios to get an apartment, where to shop, and they hooked me up with a hiking group. The group for Cantabria is pretty active and in the four months I’ve been here I’ve been to several meetings and met lots of people.More recently, local CouchSurfers gave me a ton of information that helped inform my travel series on Greece. One memorable night, two Athenians showed me around the Exarchia neighborhood. We visited some great bars I probably would have never found on my own and I got insights into the life of an area noted for its activism. The two CouchSurfers showed me a park that had been slated to become an ugly parking garage until the locals took it over and turned it into a garden.

On a more somber note, they also showed me the spot where a fifteen-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot and killed by a policeman during a demonstration in 2008. The cop is serving time for murder and the spot where his victim died is now a shrine and political rallying point. Try getting that sort of information from your hotel’s concierge.

Couches can be found in some surprising places. One Gadling blogger has tried CouchSurfing in Haiti, and while I was in Ethiopia, I met someone who was going to stay with some expats in Somaliland.

CouchSurfing had a big year in 2011 that’s making 2012 the start of a new era for the organization. After having its 501(c)(3) charity status rejected, its owners decided to become a for-profit corporation. Currently, all revenues come from the verification service, in which members donate money in order to have their address verified, thus making them more trustworthy in the eyes of other members. There’s no word yet on how else the new corporation plans to make money. This change has not gone without protest, with many members pointing out that the website and network were built communally for free, and therefore should not be used for profit.

A more popular move last year was the creation of the CouchSurfing Cultural Exchange Fund, which offers grants for cultural exchanges between refugee groups and their new communities, classroom-based international information exchange and relationship building programs, and cultural understanding between ethnically or racially disparate communities.

CouchSurfing now has more than three million profiles in about 250 countries and territories–not bad for a group that only started in 2003. While you should always keep safety in mind when dealing with strangers, I highly recommend you try it. I’ve had nothing but good experiences.

[flickr image via CaseyDavid]

Five great hikes in Scotland

by Sean McLachlan on

Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. With a varied landscape of lush glens, steep mountains, and rugged coastline, there are plenty of great hikes in Scotland to satisfy any hiker. Here are five of the best.

West Highland Way
One of Scotland’s most popular hikes runs 96 miles from Milngavie to Ft. William. The trail offers a good sampling of many of Scotland’s ecozones including lochs, moors, forests, hills, and mountains. One highlight is the Devil’s Staircase, a rough ridge north of Glen Coe that offers challenging walking, and, if you go off the path, the toughest scrambling in Scotland. Check out the West Highland Way website for more information.

East Highland Way
Scotland’s newest long-distance trail starts at Ft. William and ends 78 miles later at Aviemore. In between, the trail passes three beautiful castles, prehistoric sites, several fine lochs, and a wonderfully remote and abandoned stretch of wilderness. For more information, check out my Gadling series on hiking the East Highland Way. Also check out the East Highland Way website.

Great Glen Way
Another popular hike, the Great Glen Way crosses Scotland from Ft. William to Inverness, a 79 mile route that takes you through a broad stretch of forest, as seen in this photo courtesy Karsten Berlin, and along the length of Lochs Locky, Oich, and Ness. Loch Ness is 23 miles long and the second largest loch in Scotland. Most walkers take nearly two days to walk its length, providing a chance to admire its beautiful scenery and mistake every ripple on its surface for a monster. I’ll probably be doing this hike in September. Stay tuned for a special Gadling series!

%Gallery-150536%North to Cape Wrath
Despite this being an unmarked and unofficial trail, there are two guidebooks dedicated to hiking to the Scottish mainland’s northernmost point — the lighthouse at Cape Wrath. One route starts at Ft. William and is 202 miles; the other starts at Banavie and covers much the same ground, clocking in at 205 miles. Parts of the route are unmarked and even uninhabited, meaning you’ll have to bring a lot of gear. This is not a hike for the inexperienced. On the other hand, you’ll be seeing some of Scotland’s most remote spots. The hardy souls who have done this have told me it was one of the toughest challenges they’ve ever faced, and the most rewarding.

The Clyde Coast Way
If hiking to Cape Wrath is a bit more than you want to tackle, the Clyde Coast Way is a lot shorter and more forgiving. At only 50 miles, it can easily be done in four days and provides plenty of stunning views of Scotland’s southwest coast. As you walk from Ayr to Greenock, you’ll have mountains on one side and distant islands on the other. You’ll pass through several coastal towns, each with their own attractions such as historic churches and, more importantly, pubs. There’s easy access to roads, railway stations, and accommodation throughout, making this a good choice for the beginning hiker who wants plenty of beautiful scenery.

Another great hike worth considering isn’t actually in Scotland, although you can see Scotland from the trail. The Hadrian’s Wall Path follows the length of Hadrian’s Wall from Wallsend 84 miles to Solway Estuary. You’re just on the English side of the border for much of the time and you can visit several Roman forts along the way. You also get bragging rights for having walked across England. Just don’t mention you did it at its narrowest part!

Previously unknown Egyptian pharaoh discovered

by Sean McLachlan on

Egyptologists have made a stunning discovery at the famous temple of Luxor: an inscription naming a previously unknown Egyptian pharaoh.

A French team restoring a temple of Amon Ra found hieroglyphs bearing the name “Nekht In Ra.” The inscription dates to the 17th dynasty, a relatively little-known dynasty from a murky period in Egyptian history.

The mysterious dynasty was the last of the Second Intermediate Period, a time when northern Egypt was ruled by Semitic invaders called the Hyksos and the rest of Egypt had fragmented into various factions. The 17th dynasty dated from around 1585 to 1550 BC and had their capital at Thebes, next to Luxor. Most of the dates of its rulers are not known for certain and in many cases it’s not even known how long they ruled or who was related to whom. Thus the discovery of a “new” pharaoh, while important, doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

It’s unclear just how Nekht In Ra fits into the king list of the ten previously known 17th dynasty pharaohs. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has called for further excavation at the discovery site to find more pieces to the puzzle.

While the 17th dynasty is obscure, it was hugely important to Egyptian history because the last two pharaohs waged war on the Hyksos and eventually defeated them, although both pharaohs appear to have died in battle. The 18th dynasty marked the beginning of the New Kingdom, a flowering of Egyptian culture and power that lasted five centuries.

Several interesting items survive from the 17th dynasty and are now on display. Check out the gallery for a sample.

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Photo of entrance into the Precinct of Amon-Re courtesy Wikimedia Commons.