Egypt

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This blog is way late!!! let's see if I can remember the details of our 14 days in Egypt.

Our flight got into Cairo pretty late, which is always the worst time to land in a city. We were warmly welcomed into our first African country by dozens of loud, pushy touts wanting to help us get to our hotel. We finally found a cabbie to take us in his rickety ol' black and white 50's style cab. Our hotel, the The Carlton, with it's tall ceilings, dark wood paneling, marble floors, and dim lighting, was extremely reminiscent of the Addams Family house. To top it off, the whole cast had been hired to work the hotel. Uncle Fester was behind the reception desk, Lurch worked the barely functioning elevator, and Cousin It (he was really hairy) served us our first Egyptian meal at the upstairs restaurant.

The next day, we decided to really take the Pepsi challenge by taking a local bus to see the Pyramids at Giza. Getting a bus in Cairo involves 1st, finding where, and more importantly, which side of the road, the bus you want is leaving from. There are no signs, you just have to ask, and English is not widely spoken. Step 2, get ready to hustle cause when your bus comes, there is no time to wait! Egyptians really gotta go go go! Basically, every time a bus rolls in, the assistant will lean out of the window and shout the destination of his bus, or make some cute hand single (our signal was a triangle made with thumbs and index fingers in the shape of a pyramid..get it?) the door flies open, people stumble out, and you try and jump in, but the bus never actually stops! Superhero style! Once on the bus, you just have to guess the price. You hand the assistant your Egyption pounds, and he either accepts, with a nod, or get ready to argue. I think we overpaid, but oh well.

We literally rolled into Giza, and were immediately awed as we looked up and out at the amazing pyramids you always see in pictures, but never really believe exist. We proceeded to take a gazillion pictures, and got swayed into a brief camel ride with a friendly camel, whose special tourist name was Charlie Brown (cute), and his smiley cameler. We also made instant friends with a group of students on a field trip from Alexandria who were all very eager to practice their English and shake our hands. The Sphinx was a little depressing to see first hand. It was really a lot smaller than you imagine, and seems to be eroding more and more each second.

That night we ate a phenomenal Egyptian dinner at Felafela. The lentil soup was buttery delicious and served with a wedge of lime that gave it a surprising zing. The falafel app. came stuffed with minced meat...strangely good, and the main courses of chicken and lamb kabob were great.

The next day, after barely making a 6:15 bus (major communication problems with the cabbie), we headed Southeast to backpackers heaven, Dahab, located in the Sinai Peninsula. Dahab is a great place to chill out, which is exactly what we did. The coast is lined with a concrete boardwalk that goes on for about 2 miles, which is lined with loungey restaurants where you can sit around all day and soak up the rays. I (Ana) spent 3 days upgrading my scuba certification...I am now an open water diver! Dave spent his time playing lots of tabla and enjoying our sea-side hotel. We also went on an open water dive together and saw some really beautiful coral and sea-life.

From Dahab, we decided to organize a 2 night journey into the Sinai desert. Our tour was arranged and executed by a really great Egyptian fellow named Meena, and Osama, who was a guide-in-training, although we thought he was just as good as a full-fledged guide. We were picked up early on the first day and traveled to St. Catherine's Monastery, home of the burning bush, which I'm happy to report is alive and well. After lunch, we hooked up with our Bedouin guide and prepared for our hike up Mt. Sinai. We started the hike at around 4:30 so we could make it up to the top in time for the sunset. The hike itself was pretty stunning. The mountain range turned a brilliant copper color as the sun started to set. The last 200 meters up proved to be a bit challenging due to strong winds. Dave got smacked by a large wooden crate that was launched his way by a big gust of wind...did that happen to Moses too? Anyhow, we finally made it to the top of the Mountain, and it was COLD! and beautiful. The last 5 minutes of sunlight gifted us with brilliant golden light, that was especially amazing as it shinned on tiny church sitting up there.

After our decent, which seemed ALOT longer than our journey up, we were driven to our sleeping accommodations for the night, the home of a Bedouin family. Big Mama, our Bedouin matriarch, was first to greet us. She was big, and the mama, or grandmama, of most of the people residing in the house. The house was a series of corrugated metal sheets leaning against wooden poles, and covered with a thatched roof....surprisingly quaint! Big Mama immediately offered us tea, which is always served extremely sweet, and proceeded to ask Meena questions about us....like if we were married, and where our kids were. Then, we ate dinner; chicken, rice and veggies cooked Bedouin style, which is basically chicken in a tomato based stew. Pretty darn tasty, especially after our 5 hour hike up and down Sinai! After dinner, we made our beds, which were really thin mattresses layed on the dirt. Our blankets were heavy and had a strange smell, which I later learned to be camel sweat. In the morning, Dave and I took our poos with everyone else, right out in the open desert in front of the house. Those who shit together stay together! Then, Big Mama started cooking us our Bedouin breakfast bread, which looked like a giant pizza dough that she threw over the back side of a round bottom wok, placed over the fire, and waited until the dough puffed and crisped. It was pretty plain tasting, but good with the eggs and beans that Meena and Osama cooked for us.

After breakfast, our Bedouin cameler had our 2 camels loaded and ready to go. 1st stop: to see the mysterious prehistoric structures known as Nawamis. Nawamis are circular structures made of slabs of sandstone. They are about 2 meters high and about 3 meters in diameter. Meena told us the ancients used to use them as camouflaged dwellings and as burial chambers, and that they are the oldest standing structures in the world, dating 5000-6000 years back. After Nawamis, we rode our camels for another hour or so before we stopped for lunch. While Osama and our Cameler cooked us lunch, Meena took us for a great hike up the Matamir mountains. The wind and rain has made really beautiful formations out of the sandstone mountains. After our hike, we had our first meal out in the open desert, and it was a hot one! Our Bedouin guide was able to whip up a fire in a matter of minutes, and cooked us meatballs, vegetables, and Bedouin fire-bread. He would make the dough with flour and water, roll it into a circular disk, and then bury it under the coals of the fire. After a couple of pats and about 3 minutes, he used a stick to uncover the bread, which was now a crusty gray color from all the coals. Most people wouldn't dream of putting this so called "bread" into their mouths...but after a good beating on a nearby sandstone rock, and some scrapes and scratches from a stick, the bread actually regained an edible color. We ate it. Every now and then you'd taste a bit of coal, dirt, or other earth matter, but what the heck.

After lunch, we walked and walked and then walked some more. Poor Dave, the saddle on his camel didn't allow much breathing room for his family jewels, so he had to walk with the men. I on the other hand, had a great time riding high on my camel. Camel riding actually works otherwise unnoticed lower back muscles, which started to ache. The rocking and rolling of the camel stride really put me in quite a meditative state too, which was the ideal state to be in with the soft desert scenery and windy soundtrack.

Finally, we reached our camp sight. Our Bedouin guide immediately started collecting sticks for the fire, while Osama, Meena, and I set up our tent. Dave took it easy and provided us with some great tunes on the guitar. That night, we had Bedouin Spaghetti (Spaghetouin), and more fire-bread. Dave and I went to bed immediately after dinner, we were so tired! It was cold that night, even under 3 huge camel-sweat-soaked blankets, but beautiful nonetheless, surrounded by sand, under the stars.

Next day, after some campfire eggs and more fire bread, we headed out for the "frozen dinosaur", which was a sand-stone mountain that resembled a T-Rex taking a nap. After a brief climb into the dino's eye, we headed off to the Great Dune...which was anywhere between 700-800 meters in height depending on that day's wind. Climbing the dune was a challenge with every sandy step, but eventually we reached the top and witnessed some spectacular desert views. The long walk home came next, which took about 4 hours. Our van was waiting for us at the finish line, and we were whisked back to our lovely hotel in Dahab.

One of our guides, Osama, invited us to smoke some Sheesha with him the next day. It was really fun to sit in a local Sheesha bar (I was the only woman) with our new Egyptian friend. Dave and Osama started talking about peace and religion. Turns out, we all want the same thing: peace and a meaningful life.

We headed back to Cairo a few days later, and went to the Museum. The mummies where creepy as expected, and the tombs were exquisite.

We really liked Egypt. Egyptian people are very nice.

Current scrabble score: Ana 5 - David 5....it's all tied up!

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Photos

Nawamis
Ana got in some meditation time...look inside!

Ana, Elliot and Jason go diving
It's amazing what scuba gear can do for the figure!

Ana's compostion
I like the way I sectioned 3 areas in this desert pic