Yaalla Eskandria! (Let's go to Alexandria!)

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August 6th

I was still half asleep when I said my good bye to my CouchSurfer host Samer, he had to wake up early to go to work. After he left I got ready and having packed my bags the night before, I headed to the train station to meet up with Aanas.

After the Thai CouchSurfer and I finally linked up at the train station we began our first journey in Egypt. The trains in Egypt are pretty nice, nothing as nice as the Euro trains I’ve been on, but the seats are comfortable and the cars air conditioned as well. Unfortunately I didn’t have a seat next to my new friend, but it actually worked out because I was able to get some writing done for the blog.

Three hours later we were in Alexandria and calling another CouchSurfer named Karim, he met us at the train station and then drove us through Alexandria to the Union Hotel. We chatted with him for a bit before he headed back to the train station to pick up another couple CouchSurfers. After getting settled into our hotel room we decided it was time to go explore and find some food. We went in search of a famous restaurant named Mohamed Ahmed, a traditional Egyptian eatery that’s good for the wallet.

While in search of this restaurant we were befriended by an Egyptian named Houda, who would 6 hours later make off with my Mozambican souvenir bag that had my Fujifilm camera and cell phone within it. He helped us find the Mohamed Ahmed place and even played translator for us, ordering us typical food. Afterwards he invited us to a place to have some shisha and drink tea, all the while telling us lie after lie. During our conversation he mentioned it would be a good idea for me to get shaved (I WAS in need of one it had been since before Mozambique that I had shaved). He took us to a barber in the downtown area and I should mention tha he paid most of the taxis, shisha and teas, so we really had no reason to distrust him.

After getting my first barber shave he invited Aanas and I to go have some more shisha on the beach. The idea sounded good to me but Aanas wanted to get back to the hotel and get some rest. So after my Thai friend made that decision, out of precaution I gave him my wallet to take back to the hotel for me. I went off with Houda the Thief and had more tea and shisha with him at various places. After the last place I got a bit sick and when I needed to go outside to get some fresh air he helped me cross the street and get sat down on the wall that separates the city from the Mediterranean. As I sat there with a stomach full of tea and shisha he suggested I could use some lemonade. At this point he left me and took my bag wih him, I never saw him again. I waited forever for him, thinking he might return I couldn’t believe that someone that was so friendly for so long could go two faced and steal from me. I let my guard down not only because of his friendliness but because every Egyptian I had met up until that moment was so nice and genuinely caring and welcoming.

I retraced all he steps I had been that night looking for the s.o.b. but couldn’t find him. I eventually went back to the hotel to get a bit of sleep before waking up early to go to the tourist police.

August 7th

First thing in the morning I headed to the tourist police office around the corner and filed a report. Five minutes later the police had a folder in front of me, a face book of mug shots of known criminals. The first page I opened had the face of the new owner of a nice Fujifilm camera and crappy Nokia cell phone. With the report filed they said it would only be a matter of time before they found him and apprehended him. (As I write this almost 2 months have passed and still no word about the case).

Thankfully I had enough smarts to get my wallet into some safe hands the night before, and after making it back to the hotel I was introduced by Aanas to another Egyptian CouchSurfer from Alexandria named Maha. She was sweet medical student that had just returned from Bulgaria where she was doing research for the UN. She showed us around Alexandria a bit and the three of us took a bus towards Montazah Gardens, near where she lives. Aanas and I went and explored the gardens a bit before going to a café to have some mango juice and shisha while the sunset.

After the sun went down we headed back towards the hotel. On the way there Maha called us and we made plans to meet back up with her at Stanley Bridge. She took us to a place near the library where we could enjoy a good view of the city and the ocean, and have more shisha and tea. It was a good ending to what had been a lame 24 hours in Alexandria, being robbed is no walk in the park, let me tell ya.

Aanas and I headed back to the downtown area after an hour or two at the café, I was eager to go back to the tourist police to see if anything had been done. With no news from them I went back to the hotel and got some sleep.

Hope you like the photos, until next time Pura Vida!
-Avila

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