Egypt - It All Has to End

For those of you wishing I'd stop sending email updates from Egypt - this is my last. For those of you wanting more - too bad, this is my last.

Day 10: Mount Sinai
This morning we took a bus to St. Catherine's Monastery so that we could see, first hand, the burning bush (which, by the way, was not burning). Unfortunately, every other tourist on the Sinai peninsula had the same plan for the day. The monastery is only open from 9:30 to noon and they really manage to pack people in. After spending a couple hours squeezing our way through the monastery, we began our pilgrimage up Mount Sinai. The climb up took about 2 1/2 hours, the last 30 minutes of which were all stairs (750 steps of repentance). We could have taken 3500 steps of repentance the entire way up, but I just haven't sinned quite that much. In fact, if I get to count both ways, I have quite a few sins to give. When we first reached the top, there were only a couple other tourist around, but within a couple hours the numbers grew. Our intention upon reaching the top was to watch the sunset, however, in order to ensure that the bus didn't leave without us, we left a little early.

Day 11: Islamic Cairo
We returned to Cairo this morning with the intention of exploring Islamic Cairo. I was expecting something out of the movie Aladdin, but instead I was met with trash filled streets and crumbling buildings. Today is Eid al-Adha, also known as the great feast. On this day, sheep are slaughtered and meet is given to the poor. Although, I knew this before returning in Cairo this morning, I didn't expect to find myself in the middle of it. As we wandered the streets we constantly found ourselves face to face with men covered in sheep's blood, and worse, heads, hoofs and skins lying in the streets.

In the afternoon we turned our attention to shopping. It is amazing the prices that people in the bazaar quote. At one point I asked a man the price of a water pipe. He told me it was 175 Egyptian pounds for one, as I was walking away the price kept getting lower until it was 50 for two. I wonder how may tourists go for the first price.

Conclusion:
For two people that only came up with a basic itinerary the day before we left, we really managed to pack it all in. We were able to hit all the places we wanted and do all the things we wanted to do, which we didn't think was possible. Egypt is a country that is has an amazing history mixed with a fascinating culture. The people are friendly and always have a smile on their faces. If you are good at haggling (June is excellent) and don't mind being dirty for a couple of weeks, I highly recommend it. All of the running around the country did takes it toll... I'm exhausted, and our flight doesn't leave until 3 AM. I look forward to sleeping in my own bed, for say 12 to 15 hours.

Egypt - From the Ruins to the Beach

I'm starting to feel like Pigpen from the Peanut's Gang. I take a shower and for about five minutes I feel clean and fresh, but before I know it, I find myself surrounded by a cloud of dust again. As much as I am enjoying my time here, I truly look forward to a shower that "takes".

Day 7: West Bank of Luxor
Today we took a tour of the West Bank of Luxor. The Pharaohs believed that since the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so shall the Pharaohs. As a result, all of the temples on the east are for worship and those on the west celebrate death. Our first stop on the tour was to Valley of the Kings. When the Pharaohs took reign they began to dig their tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The longer they lived, the longer the tomb. I can't decide what surprises me more, that the tombs where discovered at all or that they did not cave in in the last 3000 years. We went inside three tombs and the walls and ceilings were covered with hieroglyphics and paintings that told the story of the dead. Even after three mileniums, the colors were still vibrant. Next we went to Valley of the Queens where, not surprisingly, the wives of the Pharaohs were buried as well as a number of their children. The tombs were not as large or colorful as those of the kings but still amazing.

In the evening, we returned to the temple of Karnak for the sound and light show, which was Disneyland meets ancient Egypt. Although the show was pretty cheesy, seeing the temple all lit up at night was worth the price of admission.

Day 8: Dahab - Day 1
We arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh this morning with plans to take a taxi to the bus station. However this proved more difficult than expected. When we asked the taxi driver to take us to the bus station, he asked ''where to after?'' to which we replied ''Dahab''. Then he tried to convince us that the bus does not leave until late and he could drive us the whole way for a mere 200 Egyptian pounds (the bus is 11 pounds per person) and just to the bus station would be 80. We decided to approach another taxi driver, but routine was identical. Finally the first taxi agreed to take us to the bus for a lot less than originally quoted, but halfway out of the airport he stopped to speak with another taxi driver. After the two conversed back and fourth he explained that the other driver lives in Dahab and could take us the whole way. After we said no to this, he finally agreed and drove us to the station where we almost immediately boarded a bus to Dahab. I wonder how may tourists fall for their stories and spend the money on the taxi?

Dahab is made up of a string of hotels and restraunts lining a beach about 0.5 miles long. Most of the restaurants are right along the beach and instead of the traditional tables and chairs, there are coffee tables surrounded by cusions on the floor. It is quite windy here, not the pleasant sea breeze you might hope for, rather gale force winds. In fact most of the trees have given up on working on good posture and grow at an angle, giving in to the constant beating of the wind.

Day 9: Dahab - Day 2
Today we went exploring under water in the famous coral reefs that make up the Red Sea. Since June is not certified she held hands with the instructor and gracefully swam through the water, not realizing at the time that the poor instructor was doing all the work to combat the currents. All in all I was quite impressed with her lack of nervousness, as I was extremely anxious on my first dive. The reefs were alive with colorful fish and all different types of coral. There was a school of small, silver fish that swam about us a bit and I kept hoping that the would get together making shapes like in Finding Nemo. Maybe they could have pointed out where all the octupi were hiding.

We only have two days left in Egypt before returning to our real lives. I think that I'm going to miss all of the sounds. Islamic chanting is broadcast over speakers to the city many times a day, the constant sound of music playing, cellphones ringing, horns honking and roosters crowing (I thought they were only supposed to do this at dawn, but someone forgot to inform the Egyptian roosters of this). Not to mention all of the street vendors calling out as you walk by, "come look at my shop" and "no price for looking".

Egypt - Ruins, Ruins and More Ruins

We continued our harried pace so that once we get to the red sea we will be ready to sit on the beach and relax... for at least an hour then I'll need shade.

Day 5: Abu Simbel

We woke up early (really, really early) this morning so that we could take a 3 hour bus ride to the Sun Temple of Ramses II and the Hathor Temple of Queen Nefertari at Abu Simbel. I really thought the pyramids were impressive until we rounded the bend at Abu Simbel and came upon four colossel statues of Ramses II carved into the mountain side. Upon seeing the statues I began to question my earlier theory that mummies continue to shrink. Now I believe that Ramses might have had something of a inferiority complex, similar to Lord Farquaad in the movie Shrek. In order to compensate (or maybe overcompensate) he erected large statues of himself all up and down the country. Whatever the reason, I've never seen anything quite as amazing as this temple. One of the most fascinating aspects (and this might just be the engineer in me) is that the entire temple was cut into pieces and moved up 250 feet where it was put back together in order to prevent it from being lost underwater due to the building of a new dam in the 1960's. After about two hours we got back in the bus for three hours to return to Aswan to go to Philae and see the temple of Isis. Similar to the temples at Abu Simbel, the original island of Philae is now under water and all of the ruins were moved to their current location after the building of the dam. We did go see the dam as well, but what is there to say, it looked like a dam.

Day 6: Luxor
We took the train to Luxor in the evening of Day 5 and were greeted by every hotelier in the city offering us the best place to stay in the city. In the morning we walked to the Luxor Temple and saw, if you can believe it, ruins. And even more surprising, large statues of Ramses II. At the front of the temple is the Avenue of Sphinxes, which at one point in time ran 3 km to the temple of Karnak which happened to be our next destination. We took a horse drawn carriage to Karnak and on the way saw that they were still uncovering sphinxes along the avenue. In Karnak, we saw the tallest obelisk (think Washington Monument) in all of Eqypt. It was built by one of the few women that ruled ancient Egypt, Queen Hatshepsut. Not that surprisingly, there were a number of large statues of Ramses II. There was also a statue of a large scarab on an alter. It is said that if you walk around it once, you will get good luck, twice and you will get married, seven times and you will get pregnant. June and I decided to walk around 4 times.

Coming soon, Valley of the Kings, the Red Sea and Mt. Sinai..

Egypt - 4 Days 4 Cities

Happy New Year!! June and I are having quite an adventure and I've listed a few highlights below. I'll try to send some pictures soon.

Day 1: Amsterdam
I arrived in Amsterdam and spent about an hour waiting in the airport for June's flight to arrive. As soon as she did, we headed off into the city center for some french fries (it's what everyone eats there) and some wandering. It was raining outside and although both June and I packed ponchos, neither of us thought to bring them on the one day we would most likely need them. After wandering the streets for a bit we headed over to the Anne Frank Museum. It was both fascinating and depressing to walk through the same space that 8 people hid out in so successfully for so long, just not quite long enough. After the museum, we decided to take the canal tour. As it turned out, neither of us had the energy to stay awake long enough to learn much of anything.

Day 2: Cairo & Giza
It turns out that the JW Marriott Cairo is no where near Cairo. In fact, it cost us more to take a taxi to the city center than it costs to stay one night in the hotel. I guess we should have done a little more research before heading off. After making it to town, we stowed our luggage at the hostel that would be home for the next night and went in search of a taxi to take us to the Pyramids in Giza. However, just after hailing a cab, a friendly local insisted on showing us the way via bus. Once on the bus we questioned if it was the best idea, but in the end it turned out to be one of the highlights. We were able to get a feel for everyday life in Cairo and all of the locals were very friendly and helpful and made sure that we didn't miss our stop. It wasn't until I finally set eyes on the Sphinx that it hit me that I was in Egypt. The whole sight of the Pyramids and Sphinx were awe inspiring. After a few hours and a camel ride later, we headed back to town to the Egyptian Museum so that we could see the mummies before closing. I found the mummies to be both fascinating and disturbing. I was surprised by how small all the Pharaohs were, but maybe you continue to shrink with age after death.

Day 3: Alexandria
We woke up early and took the morning train to Alexandria. Upon arriving we took a taxi through the crowded streets to the Catacombs and Pompey's Pillar. The Catacombs were discovered about 100 years ago when a poor donkey made the ultimate sacrifice. He mistakenly stopped in the wrong spot and fell about 30 meters to the main chamber of the catacombs. As interesting as that was, the highlight of the day was walking through the streets and being greeted by all the people. Children followed us for blocks and posing for pictures. In the market, nearly everyone stopped to say "Hallo". I'm not sure that I have met a friendlier bunch. Eventually we took a taxi to the corniche (waterfront) and had a spectacular lunch overlooking the Mediterranean.

Day 4: Aswan
Aswan is quite a contrast from Alexandria. Where in Alexandria, the people are friendly and quick to smile, in Aswan, they only seem to smile if they are trying to sell you something. In Aswan the word "No" is merely the start of a negotiation. At one point June and I were surrounded by a taxi driver, a carriage driver and a felucca captain all trying there best to sell us on their service. Although we said no repeatedly, it wasn't until we were a block away that they realized we meant it. We did have a nice afternoon sailing the Nile on a felucca, stopping off at a couple islands.

Tomorrow, the adventure continues...