Walk Like an Egyptian

After a 45min flight from Luxor and leaving behind the most miserable and unprofessional guide one could have, we landed in Sharm El Sheikh.

Stayed (4) nights at the Intercontinental in Sharm El Sheikh ("SES"). Hotels are included in our tour, however as a side note, 5* Hotels are cheap cheap cheap in SES. SES is a diving and snorkeling hangout and its clientele is primarily Russian. They understand tourism here, no tippy elbow - just lots of laughs and shisha pipes. The main attraction of Sharm El Sheikh is the Ras Mohammed National Park. It occupies one of the world's most extraordinary settings: a slender, dramatically arid peninsula at the very southernmost tip of the Sinai, rising to a dramatic promontory that looks out over some of the most gloriously rich coral reefs that you will ever see. The Ras Mohammed peninsula marks the nexus of the shallow Gulf of Suez and the deep intercontinental chasm of the Gulf of Aqaba, itself a small portion of the Great Rift Valley that stretches deep into Africa. Declared a park in 1983, Ras Mohammed contains within its modest area an astounding variety of life, ranging from the gazelles of its northern desert area to the brilliant orange coral groupers of its skirting reefs. We spent (1) full day on a snorkelling excursion which was awesome, clear water, loads of fish, turtles and beautiful coral. Did another excursion to the Monastery of St. Catherine. We had planned to hike up the 3,750+ steps of Moses Mountain the night before to watch the sunset but good old travelers diarrhea came-a- calling - actually may have been a blessing!!!!

It seems that driving in most places other than at home is a terrifying experience. If the speed limit is 40km/h they drive 100km/h - get the point. The drive to the Monastery was (3)hrs and we were very luck to get a really nice driver who took our safety seriously. A week before on the same road (24) people perished in a head on collision. Not soon after we had just finished talking about it we came across a truck that had done several flips before throwing the driver out the windshield onto the hard rocky desert - just a reminder how dangerous driving really is here. Luckily he had no passengers.

No doubt speed can be fun, but only when you are behind the wheel and have complete control of your destiny….

From Sharm El Sheik we caught a 45min flight to Cairo where we stayed (4) nights at the Grand Hyatt. Ah what a treat, this was 5* service all the way, a great location on the Nile and amazing restaurants. Cairo fits the theme of the rest of Egypt - primitive & dirty. Other than the highways and a few main roads in the city, donkey taxis, dirt roads and filth is the norm. Cairo was a huge disappointment and by no means is it a city that shows any modern advances of the 20th or 21st century other than the 5* Hotels. As was the case in all the previous places we visited in Egypt, the amount of security in Cairo is extremely high. Before entering the main entrance to the hotel, the vechiles are stopped and searched for bombs by a dog and a dude carrying a mirror to view the under carriage of the vechile. Having passed that test, you then have to go through a metal detector before entering the hotel as well as put your purse or any other type of bag through a security machine. There are tourist police everywhere on the streets, although for the most part the biggest threat is not being bombed or robbed but rather being run offer by a crazy driver. "Walk like an Egyptian" - certaintly could apply to many countries, however we did our best to Walk and Run like an Egyptian when heading into the city centre.

The people of Cairo are extremely friendly and usually the first words out of their mouth are "You have to walk like an Egyptian". When walking around the city everyone is keen on asking where you are from and after 10+ guesses (England, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, USA.....) we give in a say "Canada" - what follows is "Ah Canada Dry, you drink and you never Die!!" This is certaintly funny, given that there is no Canada Dry to be had in Egypt!

Did a day excursion to Alexandria to see the fortress and the new library. Alexandria is much more modern that Cairo. What appears so obvious to us is that corruption is rampant every where. One need to look no further than the Cairo museum and other tourist attractions that receive entrance fees by the truck loads everyday, yet the buildings and washrooms are falling down, old, and just dam right disgusting (exception is the spanking new library in Alexandria). Isabel's theory for the past (4) months has been, if you pay an entrance fee the washrooms will be of the western type, clean and have toilet paper - Nope not Egypt.

Our last day in Cairo was spent seeing the sights that are "Egypt" per the tourist brouchures. We visited the pyramids, Memphis and the Sphinx. All these sights are certaintly magnificient and live up to their hype. Did the tacky tourist thing and hopped on for a camel ride - always good for a laugh or two. Won't bore you with facts, but needless to say all were worth the visit to Egypt, but we think Abu Simbel was the most impressive. After a day of sightseeing we returned to the pyramids and Sphinx to see the light and sound show - certaintly well worth it. The pyramids at night are great.

Well that's it from Egypt....now on to London for a brief stay and some catching up with E&Y alumni before flying back to the continent of Africa for a safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa............

---

---