If there is anyone who has summoned the patience to keep reading this blog, then you are probably wondering if perhaps I died in Egypt...the answer is obviously no, however, my lack of updating this blog for so long would perhaps indicate otherwise. How do I sum up two jam-packed weeks into a brief blog post though? How do I explain in words the wonder of the pyramids or the chaos of Cairo or the beautiful colours of the Red Sea? In sum, I can't do those sights and experiences proper justice. I can however, recommend that you all go to Egypt if you possibly can. Can't afford it? Don't have time? Both of those thoughts crossed my mind too, but I just did it anyhow. Don't dream, do.
As mentioned previously, Ilya and I had been discussing a trip to Egypt for awhile, but really only made the decision to go 2 days before our plane departed. Thus, we had only 2 days to furiously study the Lonely Planet guide and try to sort out an itinerary. Let me first say that getting there was my biggest challenge...I have forever feared EgyptAir as the scariest major airline in the world (I'm not sure why or when I actually decided this). As luck would have it, EgyptAir was also our only reasonably priced option for getting to Egypt. It took pills and prayers to force myself onto that flight, but I will now say that EgyptAir is a decent way to fly. We arrived in Cairo very early on a Friday morning (5:30am to be exact). We had booked a mid-range hotel who arranged a driver to pick us up from the airport. Many people will tell you that Cairo is not worth spending any time in, but I would have to disagree. If you get over the fact that every car ride is a near-death experience and that the city is blanketed in a dense layer of smog, you will find that the city is quite charming. We wasted no time on our first day in Cairo. By 9am, we had already set off to see the pyramids at Giza. I was quite shocked to discover that the pyramids are literally on the edge of the city. Buildings end and sand begins, with the pyramids not even a km away. We toured the pyramids with awe and excitement, climbing down into their hidden tombs and riding camels out into the desert to get a view of all of them. We also saw the Sphinx (which I already knew was much smaller and less awe-inspiring than we are often led to believe) and toured an apothecary shop, where we were coerced into buying essences. In the evening, I phoned up a local Rotaract Club president (who I had contacted before we left South Africa) who had agreed to show us around the city. Mohammed picked us up at our hotel and took us out to the Khan al-Khalili (the city's main market) and the Coptic quarter. The city was alive with festivity at night as we happened to be visiting during the holy month of Ramadan and after the sun goes down, everyone is out to celebrate and break fast. The streets were all brightly decorated with the traditional fanoos lanterns. Mohammed took us out to share in an Egyptian Ramadan break fast and introduced us to fool (stewed bean substance on flatbread). It was an incredible cultural experience. The following day, we were joined by Mohammed once again, as well as some other local Rotaract Club members, who escorted us to the Egyptian Museum. The highlight of the museum was most certainly the King Tut exhibit, where we saw the very famous mask and sarcophagi.
The next leg of our journey took us south to the city of Aswan via a sleeper train. In Aswan we stayed at a budget hotel (note: budget = no toilet paper) and visited local sites such as the Unfinished Obelisk (super boring), the High Dam, the Aswan Dam and the Isle Temple of Philae (gorgeous). As a sidenote, the priciest part of Egypt is undoubtedly the entrance fees to see the tourist sites. Apart from that, the next biggest threat to one's budget is the local custom of bakshish (or baksheesh), which refers to the required tipping of EVERYONE for EVERYTHING. We thoroughly enjoyed the night life once again and observing all of the Ramadan festivities as we walked along the Nile at night. Our second morning in Aswan, we awoke at 3am to catch a bus to Abu Simbel (40 km north of the Sudan border). The bus ride was soooo long, but the temples in Abu Simbel were incredible and had spectacular statues guarding their entrances. Later that day, upon our return to Aswan, we boarded a felucca (a small Egyptian sailboat) for a 3 day Nile cruise. The boat was very small...we shared a cushioned area of about 4 meters by 3 meters with our Nubian captain and cook, as well as a young Icelandic couple. The cruise was incredible! We just cruised the Nile, read and pondered life for 3 days. For meals our cook prepared us such local delights as babaganoush and camel, and to sleep we tied up the boat on shore each night. The only difficult part of the experience was bathroom breaks, as there was no toilet on board the boat! While cruising, we got to swim in the Nile (braving all of the warnings of bilharzia...I got tested when I got back to South Africa and I do not have the parasite) and visit a very poor Nubian village (which reminded me a lot of the poverty in Niger).
After our cruise down the Nile, we ended up taking a bus up to Luxor, where we spent a couple of days enjoying the wonders of the Valley of the Kings (23 tombs), Valley of the Queens, and Hatshepsut's Temple (made me feel like I was in Indiana Jones). From there, we decided to take an internal flight up to the Sinai Penninsula rather than brave an excruciatingly long bus ride that would have cost almost the same amount. I stupidly attempted that 45 min flight without any pills and paid the price. Ilya fell asleep while I sat in my seat with my fingernails dug deeply into the armrests and every muscle in my body tense.
Arriving in Sharm el-Sheik was like entering into a completely different world. Our dirty old desert trekking clothing was seriously out of place in this lively resort town. The taxis were 15 years newer than any other city we'd been to! Our hotel was laid out like a resort that you would see in Cuba, with a large pool, bars, discotheque, and shops. We were not on the beach, but a short drive to it. When we arrived at the beach for a day of lounging, I couldn't believe my eyes...the water was the most spectacular turquoise colour and the beach was packed out with European tourists (we were the only North Americans that anyone had seemed to come across...this is due to the terrorist attacks that occurred a couple of years ago in this town). We spent a whole day swimming in the Red Sea and investigating the beautiful fish that swam in the reefs below. At night, we took a short cab ride into Na'ama Bay, which is like Vegas. Long streets are filled with thousands upon thousands of people and lining those streets are restaurants, cafes, bars, and stores. We spent each night here, sitting in cafes and smoking shisha (hookah). On our second day in Sharm, we went on a snorkelling trip. Talk about living the high life! We boarded a yacht with several other tourists and enjoyed a fantastic day of yachting along the Red Sea coast, stopping a number of times to jump in and snorkel along the reefs. This is one of the best locations in the world for scuba diving by the way, although we are not certified divers, so we stuck to snorkelling instead.
After a few glorious days doing the resort thing in Sharm, we headed further east to Dahab, which is also on the Red Sea coast, but which is more favourable to young independent travellers, as it has a sort of bohemian charm to it. From Dahab, we took a trip to Mount Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God. We arrived at the mountain late at night and began a 3 hour ascent with hundreds of other pilgrims and tourists at about 1am. That climb was the most brutal experience I have ever had!!! By the end of it, I was literally having my dead-weight ass dragged up steep rock steps by our Bedouin guide! The summit was absolutely freezing and we waited for an hour and a half before the sun rose, but when it did, it was an incredibly breath-taking experience. The sunrise shone out over miles of mountain peaks, lighting up the colours of the rocks. So beautiful. My excitement ended however, when I realized that there was a brutal climb down ahead of us. We took a different way down, which consisted of very steep stone steps. The descent wasn't nearly as bad as the ascent though! At the bottom of the mountain we arrived at St. Catherine's Monastery - the oldest functional monastery and the site of the Burning Bush (in which God revealed himself to Moses). Back in Dahab we entertained ourselves with a desert ATV adventure and more relaxing days by the beach.
We opted to take a bus from Dahab back to Cairo. The bus ride was very very long, but not completely intolerable. I was sad to leave Sinai, but happy to be back in the hustle and bustle of Cairo. On our last night there, various local Rotaract Clubs arranged a special meeting for us. At that meeting we made lots of new friends and Ilya gave a brief presentation on Rotary's Ambassadorial Scholarship while I gave a presentation on the UWO Rotaract Club. The hospitality and warmness of the people in Egypt was exemplified by this group of young adults. They made us feel so welcome and so comfortable in a foreign country and their hospitality truly is unmatched anywhere else that I have ever visited. I would honestly return to Egypt just for the richness of its people and not for any of the tourist sites.
All in all, the trip was phenomenal. It was impulsive and nothing was planned in advance, but it was a fun way to do it. You can literally go to Egypt and shell out major cash and see all the sites and stay in 5 star hotels and fly from city to city, but "roughing it" here and there truly does let you see so much more of Egypt and its culture and its people. Each part of the country is so incredibly different...from the big-city people in Cairo, to the rural Nubian villages to the Bedouin people who live in the mountainous Sinai region, the country is so rich in culture. If anyone wants to check out pictures, I have attached links to my 4 online albums below (warning: there are a lot!!)...
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2226394&l=1ecb4&id=58000997
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2226400&l=d37ef&id=58000997
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2226404&l=a8d53&id=58000997
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2226483&l=02f70&id=58000997
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment