Saddle sore in Cairo

Tony and I had a marathon day yesterday encompassing several different major ancient Egyptian sites around the Giza area.  We had organized the trip the night before, a story in itself...so here goes: On Saturday we sat down for after-dinner tea and communal sheesha with two fellow hostellers (both Aussies) at a local shop not far from the hostel.  As four Westerners you certainly draw a fair amount of attention from seemingly every Egyptian on the street, attempting to sell you on just about anything under the sun, but usually some guided tour around the Cairo area.  One Egyptian next to us started chatting about how he understands how we get sick of getting touted at every possible moment, and his command of English was also substantially better than most.  Cliche as it sounds, his name was Aladdin.  As it turns out, he's an Arabic teacher back in the States (Marquette University in Wisconsin), is part owner of the sheesha bar we were sitting at, and is home for his daughter's wedding.  Aladdin was also a pretty damn good salesman, because by the end of a long conversation with lots of laughs and some free rounds of tea, we had committed to his friend as our taxi for our Sunday.  Just how things work here in Egypt. 

The day started at the relatively obscure pyramids of Dashur, which for my part was one of the hihglights of the trip.  A bit off the beaten path (hired taxi or tour is really the only way to get there), we were able to enjoy these two pyramids with less than 20 other people around, quite amazing compared to the thousands that descend upon the more well-known Giza complex daily about 15 miles away.  Also while deep inside the Dashur pyramids the lighting system decided to fail for several minutes--quite an eerie feeling and fortunately Tony's trusty lighter showed the way.  The ruins of Memphis and Saqqara were also impressive in their own right, but the Giza plateau earned it's reputation and stole the show.  I rode a camel and Tony a horse for some amazing views of the Pyramids and spent an hour or two sipping tea in the desert at a Bedouin camp.  We then made our way back into Giza and watched the sunset over a local rooftop. We also caught the beginning of the sound and light show conducted every night with the Sphinx himself as the MC.

Today has been a relatively relaxing day, with a second failed attempt at acquiring the package at the post office.  We're a bit saddle sore from our time at Giza (and as someone who has ridden horses a few times before, I can assure you a camel ride is substantially less pleasant) but looking forward to a short foray into the white and black deserts of the Western Oases tomorrow for an overnight trip.  We plan to be back in the Cario area Wednesday afternoon.

Football in the Alley

Our overnight train ride was far superior to our overnight bus ride.  In fact, we arrived in Cairo with enough energy to actually head out and see some sites.  We decided to take it slow and go to the Egyptian Museum, only a ten minute walk from the hostel.  The museum is huge and loaded with artifacts.  Unfortunately, the information provided on the placards is less than adequate.  The Tutankamun exhibit was stunning, though, and the extra $20 to see the mummies was worth it.  The animal mummy exhibit was interesting too.  Who knew they  would mummify their favorite dogs and cats too.

Today we went to the post office to retrieve our laptop.  Whammy!  No laptop.  I'm disappointed, but can't say I'm surprised.  Things actually seemed pretty efficient in there, though, so it wasn't totally disheartening.  Alas, though, pictures will have to wait.  Afterwards we braved the excellent Cairo metro system to check out the Coptic (ancient Christian) section Cairo.  Eh, it was ok.  Then we went to Khan El Khalili, the giant warren of alleys that makes the market of Cairo.  We explored the vendors selling bunnies, watched a chicken get slaughtered, and tried not to buy too many t-shirts.  When one man started a conversation with us we asked him if he could point us in the direction of a felaffel stand.  He grabbed us by the arm and led us down a few alleyways to a little cart where we got foul and frenchfry sandwiches for less than a dollar.  Next, when he asked if we were thirsty he took us down another series of allies to a drink stand.  While watching some young kids playing Playstation2 on an old TV in the alley he asked if we wanted to play.  Without further ado they dug out more controllers and fired up another TV.  Ahmed and I played a hard-fought game and ended regulation time tied at one point each.  Shortly, a large crowd of youth was watching and rousing cheers of USA and Egypt erupted at each big play.  Unfortunately I was bested in overtime, succumbing to the superior skills of Ahmed and lost three to one.

In the next few days we will visit the Giza complex, encompassing the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and Saqqara, and we will also take an overnight tour to visit the white and black deserts and their oases.  

End of an Era

I wanted to dedicate a blog to thank all of our faithful readers and ad clickers.  As of today, when our "AdSense" account was terminated due to suspicious activity we had already made $60.  I don't think we will get to keep any of that unless my appeal is successful.  Thanks again, though, for all of your hard work.  I will let you know if our account is reinstated. 

Crocodiles and Bananas

Hello back home, and around the world.  I hear the weather in New England is starting to feel like spring.  Congratulations.  I am writing from Luxor, Egypt.  Today we visited some of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the Funary Temple of Queen Hatshopset, and the Collossi of Memnon.  In the afternoon we spent a liesurely three hours cruising the Nile on a Felluca.  Napping on the leeward side of a Felluca is probably the best therapy in the world, besides riding a Harley.  It was almost enough for us to scrap our plans for the Great Pyramids and do a multi-day trip to Aswan by boat.  Alas, our prudence got the better of us and we booked a ticket on the overnight train tomorrow to Cairo.  Before we depart we will visit Karnak and Luxor temples.  In Cairo we are hoping to pick up our waiting netbook, and we will be able to upload some long-awaited photos.  I have only taken about 900 so far, so it should be a pretty quick process.  I think we are both looking forward to punching the tourist tickets in Cairo and leaving the Middle-East behind.  It has been great, but there is so much to see, and we had a limited time.  It has felt more like a tour than a leisurely globe-trotting backpacking trip.  Hopefully Turkey, and the rest of Europe will let us ease into things a little more, and have a little more relaxation and living in the moment.  

Who wants a busride?

Well, another quickie from Dahab.  We've been here for some time now, and we are ready to move on.  Tomorrow we are taking a bus from Dahab to Luxor.  Apparently it takes 15 to 20 hours.  Should be exciting.  On a personal note, I had my first near-miss with "mummy tummy", the name given to GI maladies contracted in Egypt.  Luckily, I think my self-proclaimed iron stomach was able to fight it off before it became much of a show-stopper.  So that's it for now.  Our next entry should be from Luxor, after visitng Karnak and or the Valley of the Kings.

Summit of Sinai

We were greeted with an amazing sunrise at the top of Mt. Sinai this morning.  This site occupies a holy place for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as it is believed to be the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.  The hike started at about 1 am, and with a couple breaks for Bedouin tea along the way, we made the summit by about 4:30 am and had plenty of time to enjoy the view.  A waning but still bright moon helped light the way and allowed us to dodge the dozens of camels lining the path.  At the base of the climb sits St. Catherine's Monastery, we could walk the exterior grounds but unfortunately the interior is closed until Tuesday since it is Easter weekend.  But after a basically sleepless light, we were just as happy to return to Dahab around 10:30 am and take it easy.  It's been a long night so we'll probably get back to Dahab's main attraction, loafing on the Red Sea.

Free and Easy

That's the way of life here in Dahab, Egypt.  Maybe not free, exactly, but pretty darn cheap.  We got here Wednesday evening after a five hour busride from Jerusalem to Eilat, a border crossing, and a 165kph taxi ride to Dahab (about 100mph for those who need it).  Since then we have been doing some hanging out, some snorkeling, and some sunning.  Pretty tough life.  Tonight we are making an after-dark ascent of Mt. Sinai to watch the sun rise.  In the morning we will climb down and visit St. Catherine's monastery, home of the burning bush.  Not much happening, so not much to report.  Next stop will most likely be Luxor and Karnak and the Valley of the Kings (and Queens I suppose).

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