Walk like an Egyptian

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So.. what does walking like an Egyptian really feel like? Well, first of all, it means closing your eyes and running really fast when you cross the street, hoping not to get hit. The drivers are crazy here, makes California drivers look sane.

After arriving at 2am in the morning and looking for my driver, I made it back to the hotel. I fell asleep about 3am, but slept til 1pm. Finally got up and about and ventured out into the bazaars. I never turned on the road, so that a) I wouldn't have to cross one and b) so I wouldn't get lost. The city is pretty amazing actually, 20 million people in such a tight area, makes LA/OC look sprawling. I met with my tour yesterday, only 6 of us. 3 Aussies, 2 Kiwis and myself. Our tour guide is an Egyptian named Esam, hey knows 5 languages fluently and loves his job. Its an amazing feat considering both his parents are illiterate. Hes a big diver too, which will help me out when I'm at the red sea. He took us around the city a little and we had dinner at this place, we ordered way too much food and after almost seeing Sam throw up when she realized she was eatting liver (we had a mixed plate of meat and a mixed plate of stuffed vegitables) we were all pretty much done with dinner (most of it was pretty good).

Today we headed over to the pyramids of Giza, we did go in the second pyramid, it was really tight and closterphobic, but we made it in, it was a big empty room and headed out. The pyramids are sooo amazing, its hard to describe. Plus there a ton of kids (and adults) trying to hawc souvineirs and post cards. Also, guys on camels telling you to take pictures of them, and then asking for money. We walked over to the sphynix, some of it under scaffolding, but otherwise, still an amazing site.

After the pyramids, we headed to the Egyptian Museum. The first floor was mostly sarcophogases and statues, the real treasure was the second floor, completely dedicated to King Tut. Amazing stuff, I know I heard people were disappointed with the King Tut exhibit when it was in LA, and I can only imagine, because I can't think of what was missing from the museum and to be able to understand how much stuff was really found. In between the pyramids and the museum, we stopped at an "egyptian fast food" place. It was pretty good, a falafel and coke for less than $2.

We are now at an internet cafe, 50 cents and hour and then to a fruit market. Tonight we are on a 13 hour train ride to Aswan, so we need some snacks to get us through. Really enjoying my time here, even though it is close to 100 deg, we run into air conditioned places as often as possible.

Til next time (prolly Luxor)..

~Dave

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