Egypt Travelogue

November 18, 2003 - 12:25 am - 20 C & Clear - Luxor, Egypt

(Tony) We have arrived in Egypt! After flying into the Cairo airport at 12:30 am, we slept for a few hours and went out to see what Cairo is all about. Let me tell you, after being in Barcelona for a week, Cairo was intimidating at first, for several reasons.

The langauge is the first huge hurdle to get over - Arabic is unlike any of the other countries we have visited, this language is completely different than english, both written and verbal. A second hurdle to overcome is the sheer number of people. I have heard estimates of the population of Ciaro from 15-20 million, and another 1-2 million that commute everyday from the surrounding areas. This causes the streets and sidewalks to be overrun with people for much of the day and night (particularly in Ramadan!). A final hurdle to overcome in order to get comfortable in Cairo is the pollution. It is terrible! Cairo is a fairly dirty city - not in the sense that garbage is everywhere, but lots of grime and smog. I have heard that breathing the air in Cairo for one day is equivalent to smoking 30 cigarettes!

The high population in Cairo causes an obvious issue - traffic. You've heard me ramble about traffic in other countries, but other countries traffic was nothing compared to Cairo. There's no third lane, traffic has evolved to the point where there are infinite lanes, all going in either direction! Pedestrians, horse drawn carts, cabs, trucks of all sizes and buses all mix together and take on a "fluid" state. No one seems too worried about who has the right of way, just that everything keeps moving. It's interesting crossing the road, as you can't wait for a complete break in traffic, only a break in the lane in front of you. In this manner, you can move across the road even in heavy traffic. It is unnerving to say the least.

We did manage a visit to the Canadian Consulate our first day, and upon seeing the flag and the name of the building, the strageness of the city was lessened. After spending some time in Cairo, we have adapted to most things, and although we definitely wouldn't pass for locals, we feel a lot more comfortable.

The second day in Cairo we took a tour of the Pyramids of Giza. I want to descibe the whole thing in full detail, but I know that my words cannot describe it adequately (but here it goes). The day started with a trip to the ancient capital of Memphis, where there are numerous ruins. The capital of Egypt has moved around over it's history, and Memphis was one of the most important ones, but this caused it to be destroyed when the country was taken over by other empires. The hightlight of Memphis is a giant statue of the pharaoh Ramses II, carved from limestone, with amazing detail. This statue was sitting in a bog for many years, and water eroded the back and sides. That aside, the state of preservation was remarkable. Our guide told us that Egypt expects rain only once every 4 years, so ruins are typically very well preserved.

One important thing to note about the ruins in Egypt is that they are covered in hieroglyphics. All important structures (statues, tombs, temples...) told a story, and this story was in hieroglyphics. To the untrained eye, such as myself, they appear as a very interesting mixture of symbols of animals and objects, but to someone like our tour guide (tour guides are all Eygptologists, taking 4 years of school) the story unfolds.

After visiting Memphis, we headed to the step pyramid at Saqqara. We found out that this is not a pyramid, but a series of mastabas (burial chambers or tombs), made out of large limestone blocks, piled one on top of another to a total height of about 60 m. This was a very impressive structure, especially since it dates back from about 2600 BC!

Soon after visiting the step pyramid, and a large mastaba covered in hieroglyphics, we headed to Giza. I had thought that the step pyramid would prepare us for the Pyramids of Giza, but I'm not sure that anything could! When we first approached the main pyramid, it was hard to keep your eyes off!

The Pyramids of Giza consist of 3 large pyramids, 3 small pyramids, and the sphinx as well. We walked around the largest pyramid, and were able to enter the 3rd largest one. It was an incredible standing beside the only remaining ancient wonder of the world, but it was even more incredible being in one!

More pyramid facts that we learned: the tallest pyramid was built by Cheops and stands 137 m tall, a pyramid is built for one person only (thus the small pyramids - the Queens of the Kings that built the large pyramids), the angle of the pyramids is 42-43 degrees, and the limestone used to build the pyramids was mined on the other side of the Nile.

The blocks that make up the Pyramids are huge! In most pictures that I have ever seen, the pyramid is large, and it is tough to get a sense of scale. While standing at the base, the blocks are roughly chest tall. As you pan your eyes to the top, the blocks seem to get smaller and smaller, until they are no longer individually distinguishable.

It's getting late, so I'm off, but I will fill in some more detail on the Pyramids as soon as possible!

November 16, 2003 - 9:34 pm - 19 C & Clear - Luxor, Egypt

(Krista) Happy Rammadan! Rammadan has been a blessing for us, even though we haven't exactly been following the sunrise to sunset fast as the Muslims have. Because food is relatively inaccessible through the day, we have been eating breakfast in our hotels every morning (more about that later), and then following up with a dinner after sunset. Having two meals a day has really helped us recover from the all-you-can-eat buffets that litter Barcelona's main streets.

Before arriving here, we knew Rammadan would be in full swing, and we were a little apprehensive about travelling during the month-long holiday. Guidebooks and websites were saying how restaurants would likely be closed throughout the day, and other services (retail, travel or cultural) would likely have shortened, if not broken and sporadic hours. Well, all of the former facts are true, however despite this, it is easy to get around. The things we have had to become accustomed to (we did learn the hard way), is that one cannot access a banking or travel service after 3:00pm a night, one can only eat ?in a restaurant between 3pm and 4:30pm, and 6:00pm to 11:00pm, one must expect museums and tour groups to close/end around 3:00pm as well. The reason why 3:00pm is so significant, is that everybody is anxious to get home to eat, or prepare to eat, starting at 3pm, and thus closures occur and restaurants open their doors for the mass hordes of people jamming through their doors for take out. The fast is broken at 5:00pm everyday with "breakfast" as the locals say. This is why between 4:30 and 6:00pm, it is very hard to get food, as establishments are dedicating their rations and energies to fasters.

Breaking the fast is a very monmumental thing for Muslims. One can just feel the community spirit in the air at 5pm every night. Mosques' loudspeakers ring out chanting, cap guns (or the like) spark the air with their loud bangs, and the streets are empty except for the people sitting eating their first meal of the day. Groups of taxi (or tax) drivers will sit on mats on street sides eating out of take out containers, or bank security guards and janitors alike will settle in the lobby of a bank for their "ishta". The entire staff of a hotel will break for 1/2 hour to eat their meal together. The best sight I have witnessed is the mats, long tables and dozens of chairs that are set up in the middle of the street (any street, busy or not) to seat enough people for breakfast. After they have eaten, many return to their normal work, or sit around smoking "sheesha" out of the ubiquitous water pipes (complete with regular, apple, strawberry flavoured tobacco).

Egypt has been a major culture shock for both me and Tony. This is the only country that I have visited where I wanted to turn around and fly away the day I landed. I was so itimidated by Muslim culture, and suffering from so many misunderstandings, that I was afraid to walk down the street (crossing it is a different story....). One of the major issues I was suffering from was that most (95% or so) of women wear headscarfs that cover their hair and necks (only a few wear ones that cover all but their eyes). This left me feeling very naked walking down the street of downtown Cairo on my very first day. I felt that all were staring at me, as apparently some Muslims have the impression that all Western women are "easy" and likened to prostitutes (thanks Hollywood). To make it all worse, while walking down a main street in Cairo, only hours after we had arrived, an old woman approached me, said something very terse in Arabic, and hit me in the left boob with her purse. She then proceeded to scream something out so loud all heads turned, once I was ten feet away from her. This did not go over so well with my pride, nor my courage.

To add fire to this initial shock of standing out like a sore thumb (pardon the poor metaphor), one has to deal with the touts, and sort out the genuinely friendly people from those who are nice with alterior motives of selling you something. This makes travelling here a wild roller coaster of emotions and reactions; from absolute joy of being welcomed to Egypt ("Welcome to Egypt", or "Welcome to Luxor") by men young and old, to absolute disgust when you are lured into a travel agency by a very diplomatic Egyptian claiming he once lived in Canada and wants to talk to you more. To explain further, when walking around the cities in Egypt, you'd be very hard pressed to not be approached by someone every fifteen minutes at least; once they have done this, the next step is to determine their genuity before responding. Some are very easy, for example in Cairo, we had men welcoming Tony to Egypt, and lightly touching his shoulder as a kind gesture. Our hotel operator even walked down the hall with his arm around Tony's shoulder to represent his respect and friendship (By the way, men holding hands is NOT an uncommon site in this country). Walking down the side streets in Luxor, or main streets in Cairo, most children and men pass with a kind hello, or "Welcome to Luxor", or "Where you from?". These are easy. The harder ones come from seemingly friendly gestures - and I hate to admit it - that come from grown men, and usually from the main streets in Luxor, or the main squares in Cairo (Midan Tahrir is the ultimate). One of the famed tricks of the trade to lour tourists to shops or travel agencies is this: first help the helpless tourist across the suicidal road. Once on the other side, in a very friendly manner, welcome them to Egypt, and then ask where they are from. Say something to identify with their nationality, then ask them where they are going either at that moment or the next day. Once you have figured out their motives, tell them to come to your shop to see the tours or to help them make the most of their trip. If they refuse, just tell them it will be only a few moments, while continuing to gesture them towards your establishment. Continue doing this until the tourist has said "No Thank You" countless times and simply walked away. This type of act happened to Tony and I a number of times, with one being even more sly and was actually successful in louring us in.

Travel agents in downtown Cairo are not the only ones to watch for. Here in Luxor, a town dependent largely on a once-thriving, and now fiercely slumping tourism, has a large supply and demand problem. A large supply of tour agencies, "caleche" drivers, stores catering to tourists, and taxi drivers, with very little demand. Because of this, walking around is very difficult and uncomfortable with dozens of touts (I really have yet to hear a woman tout by the way), approaching you on the street to buy something. Some use the "where you from?" trick to get your eye contact or get you speaking, then pounce on you with sales. Others simply force their services or products in your face; caleche (horse-drawn carriage) drivers cutting you off to get you to stop, souvenir shop owners jumping in front of you. These touts are relentless, never accepting a "No Thank You", or even a firm ignore. Caleche drivers and taxi drivers are the most prevalent, and persistent. Some will yell at you ("Hello", or our favourite, "Tax") from two streets away! Luckily saying no to a caleche driver is easy as some are very abusive of their horses, thus I want none of that economy. Another piss off, which happens to all tourists in every country, is the "tourist price" and the "local price". Here in Luxor, it is so obvious it is almost humourous. In Cairo, prices are posted, and some taxicabs even metred, thus making purchases a little fairer. Here in Luxor, less fair, but once you suck up the rip-off and pay the price, the sales people are sooooo nice to you and usually give you a kick back (such as an extra falafel or an extra juice).

All of that said, I love this country. The genuine people are sooo friendly and having children walk by saying "Hello" reveals a joy in me uncomparable to any I have ever felt. Further our hotel operators have been tremendously accomodating, offering us a welcome drink of tea or karkade (a Egyptian drink), and serving their Egyptian breakfasts with so much gentleness and kindness, it is hard not to offer them gifts upon departure. For anyone planning on coming to Egypt, the Luna Hotel in Cairo and the Little Garden Hotel in Luxor are very hospitable, clean, and serve great Egyptian breakfasts. I could go on forever about either hotel, but Tony is waiting for the computer.

Before I sign-off, I must give a quick intro to Egyptian breakfasts. Tea, bread (usually pita), and an egg is accompanied by the main dish, called "fuul", mashed fava beans in a spice and garlic mixture that leaves your appetite satisfied for hours. At the Luna Hotel especially, the breakfast is monstrous and is accompanied by the two tastiest falafels ever.

I know I have promised to get pics up on the site....Please forgive me, as our computers in Barcelona did not allow me to upload any (very smart administrators at EasyEverything), and the internet here in Egypt is very slow dialup (worse than Chetwynd, believe it or not). I am getting anxious, but I (and you) will have to wait until London.

November 20, 2003 - 4:35 pm - 28 C & Clear - Aswan, Egypt

(Tony) After taking a 2 night cruise on the Nile from Luxor, we have arrived in Aswan. There are a couple of things to do here, namely going to Abu Simbel (a temple relatively close to the Sudan border) and checking out the Aswan dam. It should be nice and relaxing, before we head back to Cairo.

The two night cruise was a nice rest. It involved very little thinking about where we were going to stay and where we were going to eat (this normally preoccupies a lot of our time). The way that we joined the boat was interesting and fun. There are numerous cruise boats moored at Luxor 4-5 deep (these boats are not the behemoth ones that travel the Carribean, they are a lot smaller). We just went on board and asked how much a trip to Aswan is. This way we also were able to see what the boats looked like inside, and we picked the boat we liked (as it was beautiful inside and relatively cheap). It made for an interesting afternoon touring boats. The room we had was great and it was definitely worth the money.

It was amazing travelling up the Nile, with lush greenery on both sides. Not so far from the river, the green vegetation abruptly turned to sand, and dunes and small hills could be seen. It was quite a contrast, and provided the reason that 95% of Egypts population lives in 4% of the area of Egypt!

The cruise moved slowly, and made a couple of stops for us to get out and check out some ruins. As well, we stopped for several hours to go through locks at the old dam. This stop was particularly interesting, as a certain type of salesmen sail the waters where the ships wait for their turn to pass through the locks. There are usually two men to a small rowboat, and they pull up along side the cruise ships and sell a variety of clothes - scarves, pants, shirts and scarves. The salesmen yell up to the tourists on the deck what they are selling and how much. When a tourist is interested in something, the salesman stuffs it in a plastic bad and throws it up to the deck! As I said before, the cruise ships aren't behemoths, but they are still big, and the deck is three stories above the water level. This makes for a little mayhem when a shirt in a plastic bad ends up on an unsuspecting persons lap! After some loud and excited haggling, the tourist may decide to throw the item back down to the salesmen. Needless to say, tourists don't have great aim! If the tourist decides to buy, the salesman throws up another item in a plastic bag for the tourist to put the money into and throw back down. The funniest things are the salesmens animated and lively sales techniques, and the way they balance themselves on the front of the boat, which teeters constantly. Even more hilarious is watching these guys at a different cruise ship, as there can be up to 8 different row boats vying for the attention of the tourists above. This results in a barrage of plastic bags being lobbed up to the cruise ship and back to the rowboats!

As I said above, we are now in Aswan, and tomorrow will be taking a tour out to Abu Simbel. To avoid the heat of the afternoon (there is 3 hours of driving each way), the tour leaves at 3:30 am. Yikes! An interesting note is that to get out to Abu Simbel, a touist must join the caravan of vehicles heading out under the protection of an armed escort. This is a a result of events that occurred in 1997 when, in two separate attacks, terrorists killed about 70 people (not only tourists, locals as well). These attacks crippled the tourism industry, and the government responded by putting more policemen throughout the country, as well as limiting when tourists could travel, and where they could travel to. There are policemen everywhere in Eygpt, and even when they are not around, Egypt feels safer than most countries we've visited. It's strange to walk through a crowded market and not worry about pickpockets!

Tomorrow we are off to Abu SImbel, and on the 22nd, we head back to Cairo!

November 28, 2003 - 5:00 pm - 21 C & Scattered Clouds - Cairo, Egypt

(Tony) It's been 8 days since the last update, and so much has happened! First of all, we did go to Abu Simbel and then headed back to Cairo (more on that later). In Cairo, we tryed to change some flights to the following itinerary - Cairo to London on November 26 and London to Delhi, India on Dec 3. This plan would be foiled, as the flights to Delhi were full until Decemeber 19! We went through a number of iterations and we came up with the following itinerary - Cairo to London on Novemeber 29, London to Rome, Italy on December 7, Rome to London on December 13, London to Glasgow, Scotland on December 14, Glasgow to London on December 17, London to Delhi on December 19. Wow! The flights to Rome and Glasgow were purchased through Ryanair for an amazingly low price!

It was fun to be able to add some destinations to our itinerary, but the flight to India is really a pivotal point in our trip. By delaying it for two weeks, we have had to make some sacrifices. Our time in Nepal and SE Asia will be reduced and we will not see Hong Kong at all. With the current political situation in Nepal, we do not know if we will be able to do a trek, so that decision was straightforward (not easy, as it is one country that both Krista and I would love to spend a month in!).

With the itinerary changes out of the way, I can get on to telling you about what we've been up to. On the 21st, were in Aswan and we woke up at 2:45 am to catch the tour to Abu Simbel. There was a 3 hour drive through the desert just to get there! Abu Simbel is currently located on the shore of Lake Nasser (the lake formed by the High Dam), and the entire temple was cut into blocks and moved by a project led by UNESCO from 1964 to 1968. If this project had not been completed, Abu Simbel would currently be underwater! It is a very good that it was moved, as it is spectacular! The site consists of 2 temples - the main one dedicated to Ramses II and the smaller one to his wife, Nefertari. The temple was originally located at the side of the Nile to demonstrate how powerful Ramses II was to people coming into Egypt (and to instill fear!). The main temple features 4 huge statues of Ramses II that are 67 feet tall, in which he is seated and smiling. In the original site, these statues were carved out of a hillside, and the hill has been reconstructed at the new site! Inside the temple, there are progressively smaller rooms that lead to the sanctuary. There are highly detailed and colourful scenes and hieroglyphs on all walls in the temple. One of the biggest draws of this site is the level of preservation of the scenes and hieroglyphs. It is amazing! The ancient Egyptians had several ways of displaying a scene or a hieroglyph - a bas-relief where the carving would come out of the wall, a normal carving into the wall, and simply painting on the wall. Abu Simbel scenes are carved into the wall and painted as well. It is amazing to me that such complex and detailed scenes were made 3000 years ago!

After an hour of battling the hundreds (if not thousands) of other tourists, it was time to head back to Aswan! On the way back we did stop briefly at the High Dam, which was huge! The Dam is so large that it doesn't even seem man made! In British Columbia, Canada, we have the WAC Bennet Dam, which has a single two-lane road running on the top of it. The High Dam has several lanes, as well as a turnaround that the huge tour busses can use on the top of it! The lake that the Dam has made is called Lake Nasser, and looks more like an ocean (I have been told that Lake Nasser is the lake with the second highest volume in the world.

We have gleaned a little insight into the issues with the Dam, and one of the most interesting is the fact that the Dam blocks the yearly flood that used to occur. Every year, rains in Ethiopia cause a surge in the Nile, and this causes floods in Egypt. Historically, this was a good thing as with the flood came nutrient rich silt. Now that the Dam is in place, the silt is building up behind it, and the soil in Egypt is not getting a recharge of nutrients that farmers have relied on for thousands of years. Interesting...

The day after our trip to Abu Simbel, we visited another interesting site - the unfinished obelisk (or the "uncompleted obelisk" as the sign said!). This was truly remarkable, as we gained access to a quarry that was used by the ancient Egyptians. The quarry contains an obelisk that was under construction until a flaw was found in the rock, and the obelisk was abandoned. In it's state of partial construction, one can see how the obelisks were constructed. A horizontal obelisk (at a slight angle) was cut out of the rock - the one face forming the top of the horizontal obelisk was smoothed straight, and then a 3 foot wide trench was cut on either side forming 2 other side faces. Then trenches were dug underneath the obelisk, freeing the obelisk from the rock. The unfinished obelisk had 3 sides well formed before construction halted. We even were able to walk down through one of the trenches (not a part of the standard tour). The coolest part of the place was seeing how the ancient Egyptians split rock - they cut several small rectangular holes in a straight line, filled the holes with wood, and poured water in to expand the wood. This is basically the same technique used at Machu Picchu! I mean, the people who built Machu Picchu used the same technique as the ancient Egyptians!

On November 22 we took a night train back to Cairo from Aswan. After being in Luxor and Aswan, we realized how good we had it in Cairo. The people of Luxor and Aswan are much more focussed on getting money from tourists than the people of Cairo (I didn't think that was possible!). One thing that really made our stay in Cairo great was the Luna Hotel. It felt as much like a second home as a hotel can feel. At 16 USD/night for a double room with bathroom and a delicious Egyption breakfast, and a very friendly and helpful staff, it was more than worth the money!

When we arrived in Cairo, we went to the British Airways office, and that was when we made the changes to our itinerary that I outlined above. This gave us a little more time in Cairo than we had expected, so we decided to do 2 things - take a trip into the Western Desert and go to the sound and light show at the Pyramids. I will detail these in my next update.

Before I go, I have a not so brief on Ramadan. The fast for Ramadan has been one constant during our trip to Egypt. The fast ended on November 25th, and was followed up with 3 days of intense celebration. Ramadan has added a very interesting viewpoint on this trip, and it was definitely positive. During the fast, it was somewhat difficult (but not impossible) to find food, and most places closed early. Offsetting this was the fact that the aggressive touts were tired by the afternoon, so one could roam around without being bothered too much.

If the effect of Ramadan fasting on the city was described as an upset to the overall system (and I feel that is an adequate description), then the 3 day celebration after the fast could be described as complete chaos! The scene on the street outside our hotel (one of the main streets in downtown Cairo) was unbelievable! People filled the sidewalks, and spilled out onto the 4 lane street, filling almost all lanes. Vehicles trying to make their way through honked almost continuously to get people out of the way. Even walking the distance of a city block was no small feat! This level of activity continued well into the night, and on the final night, did not slow down until 6 or 7 am! People in Cairo know how to celebrate, that's for sure! Although we did lose some sleep, I really feel that we witnessed a society that was in the throes of celebration - even the taxi drivers did not seem angry over the insanity of the traffic. The whole scene would have been scary if this feeling of celebration was not present.

We're off to get some food - something I need to talk about in an update as well. It's worth coming to Egypt for the amazing fresh juices, by the way.