Heymo's Egypt trip report...or how I survived two weeks in the land of the Pharoh's!
Oct 28th, 2006, 10:27 AM
#22
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We then proceed to Queen Hapshetpsut’s temple. It is as big as I expected- and very hot! No tourist police hassle, but I did have a man expect a tip for pointing out a picture I was already taking! Wish we could have also visited the Valley of the Queens…but we have a full schedule today and time did not allow for that. I am certain I will regret it…
We stop to see the Colossi of Memnon, then on to Luxor Temple. The fact that these temples are plopped right in the middle of a modern city is surreal, like wandering around Philadelphia or Boston and encountering something from colonial times. (only more so, obviously!) It’s not as big as I thought it would be, but is nonetheless impressive with it’s obelisk in front (the other being in front of the Palais de Concorde in Paris…darn those French! Just kidding…) and the statues of Rameses II. Bill and Ahmad get into an interesting discussion of politics and the role of the US in Iraq, while I avoid the topic and take pictures.
Came back to the ship for lunch, then out again to see Karnak Temple. After Abu Simbel, this is the most impressive temple I’ve seen, and Bill’s favorite of the trip other than the pyramids. Can’t remember just how many acres Ahmad said it takes up, but it’s extensive to be sure. We sat at the café and had a cold drink, then headed back to the van.
On the way we saw 3 or 4 children, and I finally thought I would be able to pass out some of the “clicky-pens” and gum we had brought with. But I almost lost a hand and my camera in the process. The children were grabbing at my purse and pockets, and I was getting angrier by the minute. I guess I should have known better.
We stop to see the Colossi of Memnon, then on to Luxor Temple. The fact that these temples are plopped right in the middle of a modern city is surreal, like wandering around Philadelphia or Boston and encountering something from colonial times. (only more so, obviously!) It’s not as big as I thought it would be, but is nonetheless impressive with it’s obelisk in front (the other being in front of the Palais de Concorde in Paris…darn those French! Just kidding…) and the statues of Rameses II. Bill and Ahmad get into an interesting discussion of politics and the role of the US in Iraq, while I avoid the topic and take pictures.
Came back to the ship for lunch, then out again to see Karnak Temple. After Abu Simbel, this is the most impressive temple I’ve seen, and Bill’s favorite of the trip other than the pyramids. Can’t remember just how many acres Ahmad said it takes up, but it’s extensive to be sure. We sat at the café and had a cold drink, then headed back to the van.
On the way we saw 3 or 4 children, and I finally thought I would be able to pass out some of the “clicky-pens” and gum we had brought with. But I almost lost a hand and my camera in the process. The children were grabbing at my purse and pockets, and I was getting angrier by the minute. I guess I should have known better.
Oct 28th, 2006, 10:55 AM
#23
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Having finished our last Egyptian ruin, we are now entering the “Corona vacation” phase of our trip.We have tonight on the boat, then the hot air balloon trip in the morning (4am…UGH!) then back to the boat for the convoy to Hurghada. Throughout the evening I am plagued by waiters begging to marry my daughter, and also for our e-mail address and phone number in the states. I think not…
We have a belly dancing show in the evening after dinner. Neither my husband or I were roped into getting up with her, and frankly speaking she wasn’t very good. I was distracted by the fact that her dress (which was some clingy knit thing that didn’t even remotely look like a belly dancing costume) had holes under each armpit. Was this on purpose? Did she know they were there? It was weird. One of the dutch women got up with the belly dancer, and to all of our surprise she gives her a run for her money. Turns out belly dancing is a hobby of hers, and she was very good. Now I KNOW I’m not getting up there! We said our goodbyes to Ahmad tonight, he would be taking the train back to Aswan before we got back from the hot air balloon.
4AM came very early this morning. The balloon company took us to the Lotus Hotel, where we were served coffee and a piece of pound cake before driving out to the balloon. Oops, we’re not driving yet; we take a boat to the west bank, then get in vans to the site. We pick up the pilot along the way…good idea! The site is right behind the Ramusseum in a cornfield, and there are about 10 balloons in various stages of inflation when we arrive. We fit 24 people in the balloon, 4 people to a section, and all of us suffer the all-too common vendors hawking trinkets before we take off. We fly NOT over the valley of the King as I anticipated, but towards the Nile and Luxor. It is quite hazy, so the sunrise while pretty is not all that impressive. We fly for about 50 minutes, and the pilot gracefully lands over the sugarcane fields and softly touches down on the empty field of a local farmer. I’m thinking he’s been here before, based on the greeting of the farmer. He says most of the farmers do not like the balloonists (for obvious reasons) but if they land on their farm and damage anything the farmer is compensated. We tip the pilot, get into the vans and head back to the boat. We received certificates stating we had flown in Egypt, and the pilot signed them personally and wrote our name in Arabic on it. I notice that others did not get their certificate signed…I wonder if you tip-you get it signed!
Back to the boat to shower, finish packing and maybe take a nap before Mustafa will come and pick us up for the convoy to Hurghada. He arrives at 1:30, we load up, and he picks up his brother for company before getting into the area for the convoy. This was certainly more of a convoy than the one to Abu Simbel- the police car took the lead and no one can pass them. It’s a 4 hour drive, and I cannot imagine a more lonely stretch of road than this. Thank heavens we have our MP3 players! There seems to be almost a contest among the drivers who can jump in front of who. It seems pointless to me…especially since you can’t pass the slow-moving police car…but maybe it helps keep them awake and makes it a little less boring. Mustafa puts in a tape, and low and behold it’s OLD disco…”New York City Girl”, “We Are Family”, I am dying I am trying so hard not to laugh.
We have a belly dancing show in the evening after dinner. Neither my husband or I were roped into getting up with her, and frankly speaking she wasn’t very good. I was distracted by the fact that her dress (which was some clingy knit thing that didn’t even remotely look like a belly dancing costume) had holes under each armpit. Was this on purpose? Did she know they were there? It was weird. One of the dutch women got up with the belly dancer, and to all of our surprise she gives her a run for her money. Turns out belly dancing is a hobby of hers, and she was very good. Now I KNOW I’m not getting up there! We said our goodbyes to Ahmad tonight, he would be taking the train back to Aswan before we got back from the hot air balloon.
4AM came very early this morning. The balloon company took us to the Lotus Hotel, where we were served coffee and a piece of pound cake before driving out to the balloon. Oops, we’re not driving yet; we take a boat to the west bank, then get in vans to the site. We pick up the pilot along the way…good idea! The site is right behind the Ramusseum in a cornfield, and there are about 10 balloons in various stages of inflation when we arrive. We fit 24 people in the balloon, 4 people to a section, and all of us suffer the all-too common vendors hawking trinkets before we take off. We fly NOT over the valley of the King as I anticipated, but towards the Nile and Luxor. It is quite hazy, so the sunrise while pretty is not all that impressive. We fly for about 50 minutes, and the pilot gracefully lands over the sugarcane fields and softly touches down on the empty field of a local farmer. I’m thinking he’s been here before, based on the greeting of the farmer. He says most of the farmers do not like the balloonists (for obvious reasons) but if they land on their farm and damage anything the farmer is compensated. We tip the pilot, get into the vans and head back to the boat. We received certificates stating we had flown in Egypt, and the pilot signed them personally and wrote our name in Arabic on it. I notice that others did not get their certificate signed…I wonder if you tip-you get it signed!
Back to the boat to shower, finish packing and maybe take a nap before Mustafa will come and pick us up for the convoy to Hurghada. He arrives at 1:30, we load up, and he picks up his brother for company before getting into the area for the convoy. This was certainly more of a convoy than the one to Abu Simbel- the police car took the lead and no one can pass them. It’s a 4 hour drive, and I cannot imagine a more lonely stretch of road than this. Thank heavens we have our MP3 players! There seems to be almost a contest among the drivers who can jump in front of who. It seems pointless to me…especially since you can’t pass the slow-moving police car…but maybe it helps keep them awake and makes it a little less boring. Mustafa puts in a tape, and low and behold it’s OLD disco…”New York City Girl”, “We Are Family”, I am dying I am trying so hard not to laugh.
Oct 28th, 2006, 11:13 AM
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We stop half way to rest and get some refreshments, pay our $1LE to use the bathroom (I started bringing my travel rolls of Charmin-I HIGHLY recommend these for travel!) and get something cold to drink. Mustafa brings us each a bottle of water and some chips- tomato potato chips for me, and chicken potato chips for Bill. They taste exactly like chicken! There are of course the obligatory hawkers selling scarves and such, and about a half dozen children who positioned themselves at the bottom of the stairs, some holding baby goats for that extra “cute” factor. We consider digging out pens and gum- then decide against it. There are 6 we can see…but don’t know how many others will appear when we start giving things out. We get back in the van and are on our ay. This police car moves faster, and it seems like no time at all we are in Makadi Bay and our hotel.
Makadi Bay is about a half hours drive from Hurghada-looks like we will be spending all our time here at the hotel. Mustafa drops us off at the hotel and we check in. This hotel is enormous, and I think the entire country of Russia is here on vacation! There are more children here than I was expecting. We check in and are taken to our room. It’s very big, with a terrace with views of both the Red Sea and the pool. Twin beds again…I’m starting to feel like Rob and Laura Petrie! We get settled in and head out to explore the hotel. There’s a lot of ground to cover…but I think we’ll be able to find things to do. Our room includes dinner in the Aladdin restaurant, a buffet that would make Las Vegas proud. But the food is marginal at best, and the Russian tourists must be under the impression the food will be taken away from them at any minute, they push and shove and pile and endless heaping on several plates at a time. It’s very bizarre! We may pay the extra 7LE to eat at one of the other restaurants! We head back up to the room to have a drink on our terrace (once again the rum coming in handy for me…Bill is really loving the Stella beer) and head in to bed. We don’t have to be up at a certain time for the first time on the trip-that will be nice!
Up at 7:30 (it figures) go down for breakfast and head down to the beach to scope out some chairs. The towel attendant tells us the Russians come down early in the morning to put towels over chairs then head back to bed…so it takes us a little while to find a spot. The Egyptians don’t seem to like the Russians much- and based on last night’s buffet I can understand why. There’s a nice warm breeze blowing, and it’s quite comfortable. We both put 30 SPF sun block on-don’t want to fry out here. Apparently Russians have never heard of this- I have never seen so many fried people in my whole life! They should rename this place “Cancer Beach”!!!!! Really didn’t do much after being out at the beach, we stay out by the water until sundown, then dinner and maybe the disco. Bill is dying to hear some Russian say WODKA! We’ve got to be up for the snorkel trip at 7, so we turn in early.
Our snorkel trip leaves out of Hurghada, and once we arrive in the city I am SO thankful that we are not staying here. Half the city is dirty, and the other half looks like it has been abandoned with partially constructed buildings strewn all over. As we pull up to the dive shop and the boat I am reminded of the movie “Captain Ron”- the boat is old and they are having a tough time getting it started. The crew consists of 3-pilot, deck hand and a guy with a video camera who constantly has the camera in our faces and is becoming I increasingly more irritating! No one speaks English- and there are several kids running around the boat and parents not paying the slightest bit of attention. UGH!!! Just like being back home with my students! We must have the slowest boat on the Red Sea- it isn’t even creating a wake! WE finally reach Giftun Island, and get tied in to the buoy. We’re wishing we had brought our own equipment- Bill’s mask leaks like a sieve. But we get our gear and get in the water. The coral at this point is badly damaged- no conservation here- But there are glimpses of color, and the fish are quite beautiful. WE try to stay away from the pack of Russians- they are paying absolutely no attention and constantly running into each other. We’re at that spot about an hour- then head to another site.
Makadi Bay is about a half hours drive from Hurghada-looks like we will be spending all our time here at the hotel. Mustafa drops us off at the hotel and we check in. This hotel is enormous, and I think the entire country of Russia is here on vacation! There are more children here than I was expecting. We check in and are taken to our room. It’s very big, with a terrace with views of both the Red Sea and the pool. Twin beds again…I’m starting to feel like Rob and Laura Petrie! We get settled in and head out to explore the hotel. There’s a lot of ground to cover…but I think we’ll be able to find things to do. Our room includes dinner in the Aladdin restaurant, a buffet that would make Las Vegas proud. But the food is marginal at best, and the Russian tourists must be under the impression the food will be taken away from them at any minute, they push and shove and pile and endless heaping on several plates at a time. It’s very bizarre! We may pay the extra 7LE to eat at one of the other restaurants! We head back up to the room to have a drink on our terrace (once again the rum coming in handy for me…Bill is really loving the Stella beer) and head in to bed. We don’t have to be up at a certain time for the first time on the trip-that will be nice!
Up at 7:30 (it figures) go down for breakfast and head down to the beach to scope out some chairs. The towel attendant tells us the Russians come down early in the morning to put towels over chairs then head back to bed…so it takes us a little while to find a spot. The Egyptians don’t seem to like the Russians much- and based on last night’s buffet I can understand why. There’s a nice warm breeze blowing, and it’s quite comfortable. We both put 30 SPF sun block on-don’t want to fry out here. Apparently Russians have never heard of this- I have never seen so many fried people in my whole life! They should rename this place “Cancer Beach”!!!!! Really didn’t do much after being out at the beach, we stay out by the water until sundown, then dinner and maybe the disco. Bill is dying to hear some Russian say WODKA! We’ve got to be up for the snorkel trip at 7, so we turn in early.
Our snorkel trip leaves out of Hurghada, and once we arrive in the city I am SO thankful that we are not staying here. Half the city is dirty, and the other half looks like it has been abandoned with partially constructed buildings strewn all over. As we pull up to the dive shop and the boat I am reminded of the movie “Captain Ron”- the boat is old and they are having a tough time getting it started. The crew consists of 3-pilot, deck hand and a guy with a video camera who constantly has the camera in our faces and is becoming I increasingly more irritating! No one speaks English- and there are several kids running around the boat and parents not paying the slightest bit of attention. UGH!!! Just like being back home with my students! We must have the slowest boat on the Red Sea- it isn’t even creating a wake! WE finally reach Giftun Island, and get tied in to the buoy. We’re wishing we had brought our own equipment- Bill’s mask leaks like a sieve. But we get our gear and get in the water. The coral at this point is badly damaged- no conservation here- But there are glimpses of color, and the fish are quite beautiful. WE try to stay away from the pack of Russians- they are paying absolutely no attention and constantly running into each other. We’re at that spot about an hour- then head to another site.
Oct 28th, 2006, 12:06 PM
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Coral here is in better shape. Lots of color, and more clams and sea urchins than I’ve ever seen. It’s deeper here as well, which makes diving down easier. We’re getting ready to get back in the boat and just as I am climbing the ladder Bill tells me to stick my face in the water. What I see is astounding…. the biggest moray eel I have ever seen! It’s just swimming around in the open water-not hiding in a cavern in the coral. It looks like it’s about 5-6 feet long. I was kicking myself for having used all the film on my underwater camera! We think we’re heading to another spot, but instead they take us into shore at Giftun for a rest before heading back. We got an ice cream and sat on the beach for a while before heading back to the boat for the long ride back to shore. Our driver is waiting and we make the journey back to Makadi. I have come to the conclusion that the road rules in Egypt are THERE ARE NO RULES. We are passed on the right AND left side at he same time- all the while being on the wrong side of the road. YIKES!
It’s our wedding anniversary, and we’ve made reservations at the seafood restaurant for the evening. Food is okay- and they sing and dance and make a fuss over our anniversary. Back to the room to pack and get everything ready for the trip back to Cairo, we’re being picked up at 10:30. Have a drink on the terrace for the last time, then head in for bed. All in all if we had it to do over again we would probably have skipped this and spent more time in either Aswan or maybe Luxor- but we can say we snorkeled in the Red Sea…
The company rep arrives in the morning to help us with our bags, and as I get outside I realize our driver for the day is Yasser from our days in Cairo! What a nice surprise, and LONG day this will be for him! It’s a 5 hour drive to Cairo, the convoy leaves out of El Gouna. We stop along the way and Bill and I walk across the street to take a picture of the sign for the Suez Canal. Now we’ve started something, people are getting off of buses and following our lead. We get to see the entrance of the Canal before turning in toward Cairo. We check back in to the same hotel (The Pyramisa) and get a room directly across the hall from our old room! We head down for dinner after settling in, and decide to have a drink in the piano bar (though why they call it a piano bar is a mystery…not a piano in sight!) There’s a lot of activity…apparently there is an engagement party upstairs that is starting to work it’s way downstairs, musicians are gathering in front of the piano bar in anticipation of the party. Last week we had a wedding party in the lobby, now this…it’s a party palace! There’s quite a crowd of people gathered- some party guests, some tourists like us watching the spectacle. And what a spectacle it is…if this is just the engagement party I’d hate to see the wedding! We finish our drinks and head up to bed- they are picking us up at 7 for the drive to Alexandria.
Up at 6:30, grab some breakfast and head down to the lobby to wait for the driver. Unlike some of the drivers on the trip, this one makes no attempt to interact with us at all. Nothing much to see along the way…just more partial construction and a million billboards! Here’s and ideas about all these partial constructions…maybe FINISH one before you start 20 others!!!! We arrive in Alexandria around 10:30 and pick up our guide, Jividan (again, I don’t know how to spell her name) It’s a woman for a change, and head off to our first stop. We’ve chosen a bad day to visit, it is the last day of Ramadan and a holy day; so many things we are supposed to visit are closed. We can only see them from the outside! Alexandria is a much more modern city than I imagined, it reminds me very much of Malta. The Roman amphitheater is the first place we can visit where we can actually go in…There are artifacts here from the ruins of the Pharaoh’s lighthouse that were discovered just offshore. You can dive there and see them underwater…THAT would be cool. The amphitheater is interesting, it has a spot where your voice echoes like no where else at the site. Jividan gives us time to wander and take pictures. Here’s where one of the last two times we had encounters with the tourist police occurred. One of the guards asks us where we are from, then asks us to follow him. He takes us back to the dressing rooms behind the amphitheater where tourists are not allowed- and once again we conclude when the man with the gun asks you to follow him you follow him! I am feverishly searching my purse for a suitable tip when he stops us and offers to take our picture. He poses us, takes off his hat and puts it on my head, and takes a couple pictures. I give him a tip, and just when I think we’re heading back out he unsnaps his gun from the holster. “Oh, my God…I haven’t tipped him enough” is all I can think. But he removes the clip and hands it to me to pose with for yet another picture. If you saw the photo you can see on my face the frightened smile I am wearing. I quickly give him back the gun and we get the heck out of there.
Back to Jividan, and off to Pompeii’s Pillar. On the way we pass through a crowded bazaar- it contains factory seconds sold at reduced prices. As we drive we pass a funeral procession. Men are carrying a wooden stretcher with the body covered in brightly colored cloth, followed by the mourners. It’s sad but beautiful, and I resist the urge to take a picture out of respect. We arrive at Pompeii’s Pillar and Jividan explains the origins of the place. Once again we are left to wander, and once again Bill encounters a guard wanting to give us an off-limits tour. This time we both say we have no money for baksheesh, hoping this will end the situation. But the guard insists he’s not looking for baksheesh, he likes Americans and wants to show us the excavation in progress. I HATE this…He takes us about 7 meters underground to a spot right under the pillar. It’s cool, but I can’t help but feel uncomfortable. WE get out without having to pay- good thing this guy likes Americans! We leave quickly and proceed to the Catacombs. It’s my favorite site today- don’t really know why. We finish up taking pictures at the Qaitbay Fortress, then head to a restaurant called the Fish Market for lunch. Jividan says her goodbyes-she’s heading home to get ready for her family’s feast, and neither of us can blame her. We felt bad she had to work on a holy day. She said this day was okay…the three days of the feast she would not be working.
We finish lunch and get back in the car for the long silent drive back to Cairo. We arrive back around 6:30, and get all of the rest of our gear ready for the flight back home. Our flight is at 3:15 AM, so we are being picked up at midnight. Mostly ate room service and watched TV for the evening, there were sporadic power outages all evening so it made for an interesting last night.
All in all I would say we enjoyed our trip very much. The sights were amazing-everything I always dreamed they would be. The people are warm and friendly for the most part. But I had no idea there was so much abject poverty. And the constant assault for tips was oppressive. If we had to do it over again, these are the things we’d change or definitely keep:
1. Spend either one day less in Cairo, or visit other things beside the Citadel and Old Cairo.
2. The camel market is a MUST…very cool.
3. Visit an oasis…we were kicking ourselves we didn’t schedule this!
4. Spend at least 2-3 days in Aswan. Even if we just hung out at the Old Cataract- it was more relaxing than Hurghada.
5. Speaking of Hurghada- we would leave it out completely. We have resorts like it here in the states.
6. Maybe stay an extra day in Luxor to visit the Valley of the Queens and definitely buy another ticket to see more tombs at Valley of the Kings!
7. Maybe a day or 2 in Alexandria- diving the ruins would have been cool!
I hope I wasn’t too long-winded about the trip…it was two weeks I will never forget! Next year...Machu Picchu!
It’s our wedding anniversary, and we’ve made reservations at the seafood restaurant for the evening. Food is okay- and they sing and dance and make a fuss over our anniversary. Back to the room to pack and get everything ready for the trip back to Cairo, we’re being picked up at 10:30. Have a drink on the terrace for the last time, then head in for bed. All in all if we had it to do over again we would probably have skipped this and spent more time in either Aswan or maybe Luxor- but we can say we snorkeled in the Red Sea…
The company rep arrives in the morning to help us with our bags, and as I get outside I realize our driver for the day is Yasser from our days in Cairo! What a nice surprise, and LONG day this will be for him! It’s a 5 hour drive to Cairo, the convoy leaves out of El Gouna. We stop along the way and Bill and I walk across the street to take a picture of the sign for the Suez Canal. Now we’ve started something, people are getting off of buses and following our lead. We get to see the entrance of the Canal before turning in toward Cairo. We check back in to the same hotel (The Pyramisa) and get a room directly across the hall from our old room! We head down for dinner after settling in, and decide to have a drink in the piano bar (though why they call it a piano bar is a mystery…not a piano in sight!) There’s a lot of activity…apparently there is an engagement party upstairs that is starting to work it’s way downstairs, musicians are gathering in front of the piano bar in anticipation of the party. Last week we had a wedding party in the lobby, now this…it’s a party palace! There’s quite a crowd of people gathered- some party guests, some tourists like us watching the spectacle. And what a spectacle it is…if this is just the engagement party I’d hate to see the wedding! We finish our drinks and head up to bed- they are picking us up at 7 for the drive to Alexandria.
Up at 6:30, grab some breakfast and head down to the lobby to wait for the driver. Unlike some of the drivers on the trip, this one makes no attempt to interact with us at all. Nothing much to see along the way…just more partial construction and a million billboards! Here’s and ideas about all these partial constructions…maybe FINISH one before you start 20 others!!!! We arrive in Alexandria around 10:30 and pick up our guide, Jividan (again, I don’t know how to spell her name) It’s a woman for a change, and head off to our first stop. We’ve chosen a bad day to visit, it is the last day of Ramadan and a holy day; so many things we are supposed to visit are closed. We can only see them from the outside! Alexandria is a much more modern city than I imagined, it reminds me very much of Malta. The Roman amphitheater is the first place we can visit where we can actually go in…There are artifacts here from the ruins of the Pharaoh’s lighthouse that were discovered just offshore. You can dive there and see them underwater…THAT would be cool. The amphitheater is interesting, it has a spot where your voice echoes like no where else at the site. Jividan gives us time to wander and take pictures. Here’s where one of the last two times we had encounters with the tourist police occurred. One of the guards asks us where we are from, then asks us to follow him. He takes us back to the dressing rooms behind the amphitheater where tourists are not allowed- and once again we conclude when the man with the gun asks you to follow him you follow him! I am feverishly searching my purse for a suitable tip when he stops us and offers to take our picture. He poses us, takes off his hat and puts it on my head, and takes a couple pictures. I give him a tip, and just when I think we’re heading back out he unsnaps his gun from the holster. “Oh, my God…I haven’t tipped him enough” is all I can think. But he removes the clip and hands it to me to pose with for yet another picture. If you saw the photo you can see on my face the frightened smile I am wearing. I quickly give him back the gun and we get the heck out of there.
Back to Jividan, and off to Pompeii’s Pillar. On the way we pass through a crowded bazaar- it contains factory seconds sold at reduced prices. As we drive we pass a funeral procession. Men are carrying a wooden stretcher with the body covered in brightly colored cloth, followed by the mourners. It’s sad but beautiful, and I resist the urge to take a picture out of respect. We arrive at Pompeii’s Pillar and Jividan explains the origins of the place. Once again we are left to wander, and once again Bill encounters a guard wanting to give us an off-limits tour. This time we both say we have no money for baksheesh, hoping this will end the situation. But the guard insists he’s not looking for baksheesh, he likes Americans and wants to show us the excavation in progress. I HATE this…He takes us about 7 meters underground to a spot right under the pillar. It’s cool, but I can’t help but feel uncomfortable. WE get out without having to pay- good thing this guy likes Americans! We leave quickly and proceed to the Catacombs. It’s my favorite site today- don’t really know why. We finish up taking pictures at the Qaitbay Fortress, then head to a restaurant called the Fish Market for lunch. Jividan says her goodbyes-she’s heading home to get ready for her family’s feast, and neither of us can blame her. We felt bad she had to work on a holy day. She said this day was okay…the three days of the feast she would not be working.
We finish lunch and get back in the car for the long silent drive back to Cairo. We arrive back around 6:30, and get all of the rest of our gear ready for the flight back home. Our flight is at 3:15 AM, so we are being picked up at midnight. Mostly ate room service and watched TV for the evening, there were sporadic power outages all evening so it made for an interesting last night.
All in all I would say we enjoyed our trip very much. The sights were amazing-everything I always dreamed they would be. The people are warm and friendly for the most part. But I had no idea there was so much abject poverty. And the constant assault for tips was oppressive. If we had to do it over again, these are the things we’d change or definitely keep:
1. Spend either one day less in Cairo, or visit other things beside the Citadel and Old Cairo.
2. The camel market is a MUST…very cool.
3. Visit an oasis…we were kicking ourselves we didn’t schedule this!
4. Spend at least 2-3 days in Aswan. Even if we just hung out at the Old Cataract- it was more relaxing than Hurghada.
5. Speaking of Hurghada- we would leave it out completely. We have resorts like it here in the states.
6. Maybe stay an extra day in Luxor to visit the Valley of the Queens and definitely buy another ticket to see more tombs at Valley of the Kings!
7. Maybe a day or 2 in Alexandria- diving the ruins would have been cool!
I hope I wasn’t too long-winded about the trip…it was two weeks I will never forget! Next year...Machu Picchu!
Oct 28th, 2006, 02:18 PM
#26
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Thanks for a great report. I agree on the camel market at Birqash. I have also been to the camel market outside Riyadh, and that's also interesting (and no tourists). I will be in the United Arab Emirates at the end of November, and I think there's a pretty large camel market there too.
But, the best camel market, and one that I haven't visited, is the market in Pushkar, India.
I have been to Machu Pichu and I should have spent an extra night -- I flew in and out by helicopter, spending six or so hours at Machu Pichu, but I would have preferred another day. I don't think the helicopters are currently running.
Michael
But, the best camel market, and one that I haven't visited, is the market in Pushkar, India.
I have been to Machu Pichu and I should have spent an extra night -- I flew in and out by helicopter, spending six or so hours at Machu Pichu, but I would have preferred another day. I don't think the helicopters are currently running.
Michael
Oct 29th, 2006, 02:51 AM
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Nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks the camel market is interesting. Even the ride there and back was fascinating, we drove through one little village and actually saw them slaughter a pig right in the middle of the road. Extreme-yes, but this is what their life is like every day.
Glad you liked the post. Need to start my planning for Peru, I don't want to go on a group tour so it make a little more research than I thought...
Glad you liked the post. Need to start my planning for Peru, I don't want to go on a group tour so it make a little more research than I thought...
Oct 29th, 2006, 07:33 AM
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heymo,
Did you book your hotels yourself or through an agency? If so, which one and would you use them again?
Sounds like you had a guide most days. Possible to do without guide?
We're thinking of spending the night at Abu Simbel so we're not so rushed. Seems like such a long ways to go for only a short while there.
Old Cataract sounds delightful.
Great job!
Did you book your hotels yourself or through an agency? If so, which one and would you use them again?
Sounds like you had a guide most days. Possible to do without guide?
We're thinking of spending the night at Abu Simbel so we're not so rushed. Seems like such a long ways to go for only a short while there.
Old Cataract sounds delightful.
Great job!
Oct 29th, 2006, 08:09 AM
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Kopp- We booked our entire trip through a tour company based out of Cairo, GAT tours. They are private tours, and they will customize your itinerary to include whatever you want. I would absolutely use them again, and if so ask for Marian, she was wonderful! We did have a guide with us for most of the trip, he was even traveling with us on the boat. www.gattours.com
Honestly, I didn't see anywhere you could stay near Abu Simbel, and frankly speaking we were there for 3 hours and I didn't feel rushed at all.
I think you could go without a guide, but even with my fairly extensive knowledge of Egyptology I was glad to have a guide with us, if nothing more than we were left alone by so-called "Local guides" approaching people left and right as we walked around. (I am not a "tour" type traveler, I like being more independent)
Old Cataract is a MUST!!!!!
Honestly, I didn't see anywhere you could stay near Abu Simbel, and frankly speaking we were there for 3 hours and I didn't feel rushed at all.
I think you could go without a guide, but even with my fairly extensive knowledge of Egyptology I was glad to have a guide with us, if nothing more than we were left alone by so-called "Local guides" approaching people left and right as we walked around. (I am not a "tour" type traveler, I like being more independent)
Old Cataract is a MUST!!!!!
Oct 29th, 2006, 12:25 PM
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Thanks heymo, I'll check them out.
We don't like tours either. Being retired, we have more time available than tours generally allow. And I know that when I look up their itineraries and it's an hour here and an hour there, well, that just wouldn't work for us. So maybe these guys will be a bit more flexible.
We don't like tours either. Being retired, we have more time available than tours generally allow. And I know that when I look up their itineraries and it's an hour here and an hour there, well, that just wouldn't work for us. So maybe these guys will be a bit more flexible.
Oct 29th, 2006, 12:46 PM
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They were very flexible. They have sample itineraries on their website, but since it's just you and the driver and guide, the'll pretty much go wherever you want to go. The camel market is a perfect example...I asked about that two days before we left, and they worked it into the schedule.
When are you thinking about going?
When are you thinking about going?
Oct 29th, 2006, 02:28 PM
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Heymo,
Great trip report, interesting to see your impressions about Egypt, and I'll have to agree with you about Hurghada, too many Russians! The hawkers are bad, I'll agree, and I bet they're even worse to tourists (somehow they can always tell who's a visitor and who's a resident). Glad you had a good time and got to see some of the ancient sites, maybe next time you can do an oasis tour ;-) I just got back from an amazing Eid break in Siwa, highly recommended!
Laura
Great trip report, interesting to see your impressions about Egypt, and I'll have to agree with you about Hurghada, too many Russians! The hawkers are bad, I'll agree, and I bet they're even worse to tourists (somehow they can always tell who's a visitor and who's a resident). Glad you had a good time and got to see some of the ancient sites, maybe next time you can do an oasis tour ;-) I just got back from an amazing Eid break in Siwa, highly recommended!
Laura
Oct 30th, 2006, 05:34 AM
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Thanks for letting me know I didn't drone on and on (as I do sometimes in real life!)...two weeks is a lot to recap, and I wanted to make sure I included things that were both good and bad for anyone planning a trip.
Oct 30th, 2006, 12:56 PM
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huladolphin, I'll mention this to you because I know you're into diving...did you know you can dive the ruins in Alexandria of the Pharaoh's Lighthouse? When we visited the Roman amphitheater they have some of the relics they have already recovered, and our guide told us it's possible to dive there. Thought you might be interested...I know we wish we had known beforehand!
Oct 31st, 2006, 11:54 AM
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Sure, Dory, we were on the Monte Carlo cruise ship. Web site is here...http://www.sakkaragroup.com/nileCruiseDetails9.htm
It was nice, though we wish there would have been more people who spoke English!
It was nice, though we wish there would have been more people who spoke English!
