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Published: August 19th 2007
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Port Adibya
Night from the ship. Port Adibya, Egypt I got lost somewhere after the Red Sea…. But I love getting lost, really. It’s so much fun to find your way back, that you seem to forget that you were actually lost. Or as my dad used to say “we’re not lost, we’re just taking a detour”.
So, here it is 8 months since my return (sheesh, I hadn’t realized it’s been so long! I’m a slacker!) and I’m already planning my next travel adventure. If all goes as planned, I’ll be in Peru next summer with the ProWorld program. But that is nothing compared to many of my friends from SAS that have already been adventuring to England, Ireland, New Zealand, Turkey, and Spain, and I’m sure many others that I haven’t heard about yet. As cliché as it sounds, it is so very true that once you travel you can’t stop.
Since everyone and their dogs have been egging me to go on and finish my blog already, here I am! Finishing my blog already!
The Red Sea, pretty sure that’s where I left you hanging…
So the Arabian Sea and Red Sea was all fun and joy! Besides the school and the working, we had lots
Boat on the Nile
This was the boat that we rented on the Nile, with all the pretty lights. Cairo, Egypt of fun events such as the Sea’Lympics. Each hallway of cabins was divided up into Seas that competed against eachother in an Olympic-type competition, hence the name. I was the student captain of the Yellow Sea. I didn’t actually lead the team, I was on the planning committee and helped out at Sea Meetings relaying information to my Sea. We ended up getting 9th place. Out of 10 teams. But it was still very exciting and so much fun to see all the events (such as a hot dog eating contest, a scavenger hunt, various relays, synchronized swimming, and a team talent show as the finale) that we had planed in action. And the winning Sea got a special party, which the planning committee was invited to attend.
Halloween was a blast, people get so creative when they don’t have too much to dress up in. It was the most ingenious group of costumes I had seen, we had a Schwedegon Pagoda, a “bride left at the alter”, garbage, impersonations of teachers and staff, a student ID card, a peacock, and so many more. I was a rogue wave, and Sarah was me.
Egypt
We rolled into Port Adibya
Pyramids
Wonderful view from the Pizza Hut across the street. Giza, Egypt a little behind schedule, around 11 pm I believe. We were all pretty excited to dock, coming from 10 straight days at sea. We left early next day on the free shuttle to Cairo. I actually slept wayyy in and damn near missed the shuttle. I packed super fast and forgot my wallet with all my money and my camera, and ran off the ship and jumped on the buss. A few of us girls decided to take on Cairo ourselves, first stopping at the Egyptian National Museum. They x-rayed the bags we didn’t check outside to make sure we didn’t bring in cameras or explosives. I didn’t have to check my camera, because I had forgotten it on the ship. Or so I though. So I made a fool out of myself claiming that I didn’t have my camera, only for the security guard to pull it out and prove me wrong. But all in all, I was happy because I now could take pictures of Egypt!
We then headed out to find a hostel to stay in and met a man that helped us find one if we came and checked out his friends’ perfume shop, which was
Camel
The camel I rode. I think his name was Mickey Mouse or something... Giza, Egypt very nice and a wee expensive. After we finished perfume shopping and getting a room at this hostel for a reasonable price, he helped us get a taxi to Giza to check out the pyramids before meeting up with some more people. We decided to check out the Sound and Light show on the pyramids that night, but didn’t want to spend the few bucks each to watch it in Spanish (we missed the English showing). Instead we went across the street to the Pizza Hut and got rooftop seating with a perfect view of the pyramids and enjoyed the show with a pizza. The next day we headed back to the pyramids to ride camels and take pictures and all that jazz, and again we got help from a man who helped us get a taxi (and accompanied us) back to Giza. He suggested someone he knew for the camel ride, and after a very confusing explanation of the tour we were going to do, we set out in the desert by camels. The trip itself went just dandy, until the end. Right before we got back (while we were still up on the camels, and those things are
The Classic Shot
Myself and the Great Pyramid. Giza, Egypt high) he reminded us how much we owed him for the tour, but it ended up being a much higher price than we settled on before hand. Audra, being the firey-tempered girl she is, refused to pay the extra $4 and jumped off the camel yelling and shouting at the tour guide and she decided to walk the rest of the way. It was deserved, really, but still it was intense.
After that, we met back up with our friends in Cairo and rented out a boat to cruise around the Nile for a few hours that evening. The boats that were lined up along the shores were long and were eccentrically decorated with bright lights. We had a great time dancing and boating along the great Nile river, and we actually got pulled over by the river-police for sitting on the front of the boat (even though the driver said it was alright, he took the blame). That night, a few of us found our way to the Cairo Jazz Club for some great live music and dancing for those who danced. The entire group shared the room that night, 9 people on 4 beds, but it was ridiculously
Row Row Row Your Boat
Off the shore of the Mediterranean. Alexandria, Egypt cheap.
Most of the group left to travel independently to Cairo, but myself and 2 other people stayed in Cairo for the day exploring the Islamic Cairo and Coptic Cairo areas and visiting the mosques and cathedrals. Walking along smaller roads out of the tourist areas, you definitely got to see a different side of Cairo. People (especially children) loved to talk to you, welcoming you to Egypt and saying what they could in English. You got to see how the people actually lived, passing by small markets and furniture stores where things are actually made on-site.
After some pretty hectic last minute arrangements, we got a taxi-bus with some other SASers back to the ship just in time. Because it was optional to independent travel to Alexandria or to travel through the Suez Canal, there were no classes for the next 2 days so we just got to hang out and play on the ship. The end of the Red Sea before we got to the canal was gorgeous and had great weather. The ship actually passed through the canal at like 4am, so I missed it.
Alexandria turned out to be a more talkative city, and
New Friends
A few guys we met and hung out with for the evening. Alexandria, Egypt nicer in general, than Cairo. Kids our age would come up to us just to talk and hang out with us. A few guys took us to the most amazing restaurant ever, Fuul Mohammed Ahmed, which we found in our travel book and turned out to be a small local place with great food and super dooper cheap (too much food for 3 people for less than $11usd). We went back the next day and took Sarah, and the waiter gave us a bunch of extra things because he remembered us. Alexandria was a great place to just walk and explore without having much of an agenda, even though we did get pretty dang lost one day. We walked nearly the length of the city along the bay one day and found a great coffee shop, and visited the famous Alexandria Library. And it rained. In Egypt. In the desert land. And it was a big enough storm to keep the ship from leaving the port for a day.
Egypt was the first country I did completely independently, without any SAS trips. Our great plans were altered as we went along, and that is one of the great things
3...2...1... Soaked
These ladies got DRENCHED the second after this picture was taken. I showed it to them, none of us speaking the other's language, but I suppose getting hit by a wave is universally funny. about not having a set-in-stone agenda, room for change.
Don’t worry, there’s more to come! 3 more countries from this trip. And we have much more traveling ahead of us.
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