AI lies. We all know this. If we are being charitable, it hallucinates or tries too hard just to give an answer, any answer…
And this, it turns out, can be an issue when using it to plan travel. I have been trying to plot a route from Sliema to Ggantija on Gozo using public transport. It's not that I didn't get an answer, it's that I get a different answer every time, regardless of whether it is the same or a different AI. On checking, some of these routes clearly don't exist, or are not running currently.
Amazing that we have come to rely on them so quickly.
So issue number one is the false route. Issue number two is the phantom bus. I have discovered that this is a not uncommon occurrence: a bus will be expected, you can track it on the Tallinja app and it will gradually get closer until it gets stuck at, say, 3 minutes away and then poof! it evaporates, and you have to wait for the next scheduled one. Where do they go?
So it is against this backdrop of lying AI and the phantom bus that I am up ridiculously early to start my journey. The early start turns out to be wise as it is more than 4 hours after I leave the hotel that I reach my destination, a mere 16 or 17 miles away. Of course this involves multiple buses and a ferry, but still.
To compound the matter, I decide to walk the last mile and a half rather than wait for a bus connection.
Big mistake.
Apart from misjudging the temperature, I have failed to realize that I needed to negotiate a winding uphill road which was somewhat parsimonious with the pavement.
As I pass a shrine, I start to wonder whether there will one day be a shrine to the Foolish Traveller who thought he could walk paths unwalkable. If so, I would like to be styled St. Bozo of Gozo
To be fair, the views are great, so there is that.
Was it worth it? Of course. Ggantija is (apparently and I'm not sure that I believe this) the oldest free standing building in the world. That “free standing" sounds like a weasel clause to me. Regardless, it is 5600 years old, give or take.
It is an impressive sight. Some of the stones are huge and put me in mind of the Valley Temple near the Sphinx. There seems no logical reason to use stones this big (other than to show that you can) which is probably why the legends say that it was built by giants - hence the name.
Here is my attempt to get ancient and modern religions in one shot. It looked better in my mind. You had to be there!
The temple building period in Malta seems to have lasted for 3000 years or so - a period of seemingly great peace and prosperity, as indicated by the lack of any weapons or defensively built settlements, together with the corpulent nature of the human figurines from the time. Then about 2500 BC the temple builders vanished from Malta and no one seems to know why. Bronze Age folk turning up with their new fangled weapons could have something to do with it…
Leaving Ggantija I consider visiting the Xaghra Stone Circle as it is nearby, but Google tells me that it is permanently closed. That's that then.
I wonder about exploring Gozo further, but the buses here don't seem too regular and it as still at least 3 hours back. Ultimately it turned out to be about 8 hours to see one attraction. Now that is dedication! Although I suppose relative to my multi-state detour in the US, it was a lightweight outing.
Anyway, I figure that this earns me a late lunch and a cold beer and so leap off the bus at an opportune point before, much refreshed, wending my way back across Sliema to the hotel.
I don't know whether it was the couple of pints, but I can't help finding signs amusing.
I'm sure that these are meant to be ghosts for Halloween, but they put me in mind of certain reproductive gametes and would put me right off any ice cream .
I wonder whether this shop sells the scary spirits bottles that I spotted on my first day…
… and this has to be the worst advert for Hammerite ever!
