Advertisement
Published: August 6th 2007
I thought about starting a blogging page rather the the mass emails. if you want to read this stuff cool...you can check out the link at any time, but i figured this was i wouldn't have to send out a shit load of emails.....just read on if you please.
So things kicked off one week ago. I flew out of mpls to amsterdam to meet up with my Brother, his friend Dominic, and my Cuban friend Andros, who managed to get out of Cuba (first time ever), and temporary relocate to Barcelona.
Originally, the plan was Mpls to Cairo, with a 12 hour layover in the central of sin and debauchery, Amsterdam. I opted to extend my stay there for a few days, in hopes to take in a bit of "culture."
Let me tell you - I TOOK in a shit load of "culture." In typical Ducth fashion, one can buy little pieces of culture, one gram at a time. This method alllowed us all to sample all the various forms of Ducth culture. At times i felt that i may be indulging a bit much in Ducth Culture, but when in Rome.....do as the Romans do.
Having visited th Dam 10 years ago, it was nice to revisit it with Amsterdam virgins. Colin, Dominic, and the Cuban seemd to enjoying themselves at all hours of the day...or night.
Aside from the typical " amsterdam culture," we were able to do a few things that got us out into the world. We rented bikes one afternoon for a self guided tour of the Dam - these had to be the most rickety, peices of shit with two wheels. The city itself is Bike central, with seperate paths for Bikes everywhere throughout the city. It was a bit sketchy from time to time, as you'd find yourself sharing a path with a train, car, pedestrian....similtaniously.
One thing that did get to me after awhile was the amount of tourist there, specifically Americans. Its not that i am completly anti american, but flying 4000 miles to see some jerk off frat boy from Indiana wasn't exactly what i had in mind. I am such a travel snob at times, i know.
Moving forward.
I caught the night flight out of Amsterdam to Cairo. I really didn't know what to expect being my first trip to the middle east (technically North Africa i know, but it feels WAY more like the middle east then Africa). Latley i have had this fasicantion with the middle east and Muslim culture. I hoped that Cairo would a be a nice "fix" for this fascination.
I didn't get in until the wee hours of the morning, and finally arrived at the hotel at about 4AM. Amsterdam had taken its toll on me, and I used the next 12 hours to catch up on some sleep.
The next day i took an afternoon stroll, to check the city a bit. I had been warned about the traffic in Cairo, but i assured people that if i could deal with Bangkok, i could handle Cairo. bangkok, as i found out is a different kind of chaos... a more of a controlled chaos. Cairo is a fuckin lawless, anything goes kind of place (in the streets). Cars run lights....people cross where ever they please. The idea of lanes in the road is a completly foreign concept. Although the roads have dotted lines for traffic, i dont think i have been in a car that stayed between them for more then 5 seconds at a time. Constantly weaving in and out, cutting people (and Cops) off when it seemed convienant. Its like my take on NYC taxi drivers, i assumed they all knew what they were doing and i just sat back, and assured myself that getting from point A to point B wouldn't be a problem. so far so good.....knock on wood.
later that evening i continue the city stroll. I was standing in front of a bakery at one point when an old Egyptian man said that "that my freind, is the most dangerous place in all of Cairo." I was puzzled by this. Was it a front for some extremist Islamic fundamentalists, a weapons dealer, drugs maybe? no, not at all...it was a place that made the best cakes, and made the fattest of people he explained. His name was Sam, a 65 year old high school teacher. we talked for a bit, then i asked where i could buy a beer (Muslim countries aren't the easiest when it comes to finding booze). we took a walk and continued to talk. I Got the beer, went to a small coffee shop to enjoy the beverage while my freind had a cup of tea. We also shared a Sheesha, which is a middle eastern water pipe used to smoke flavored tabacco. We smoked away and sipped our drinks in the back alley of some dodgy Cairo street.
we talked for hours. In typical form, i had a million questions for him. His english was good, and he was nice enough so i just let them flow. From there he took me to old Islamic Cairo - before going there he suggested that i get a (cant remember the name) traditional Muslim garmet (you know the ones....long one peice, usually white). he stopped the Cab, made a quick trip, and came back with my very own garmet. He even managed to ask what my favorite color before going. at the time i wondered why he'd asked this, but when he came back with the Garmet, it all made sense. Wearing the garmet around the old part of the city was a good idea....I was amazed at how much i fit it. He said that people will know that you are a westerner, but they'll think you live here rather then a tourist.
from there we visited a freind of his, smoked a little Hash in his apartment, and called it an evenig around 2 AM. I would've stayed longer, but i had a date with the Pyramids of Giza the following morning.
I had my own personal guide the next morining, a great guy named Akmed. An Egyptian, who'd lived in the west for a few years and spoke perfect english. He invited me to ask him anything that came to mind. We stayed mostly on the topic of politics, religion, and culture. It was incredibly informative, well worth the money, and i was still in a car, and hadn't seen a single stone of a pyramid.
The pyramids themselves were pretty impressive. Big and Old, what else can you say. What was also impressive was Akmed's knowledge of them, and the history. he know everything, down to the deminisions...all from memory. In Egypt, you have to go to college, and be tested to work as a guide. he must have passed with flying colors.
In Giza, i rode a camel, which isn't its all cracked up to be. Slow, smelly, and uncomfortable. oh, and its HOT AS ALL HELL.
After the Pyramid sessions, i returned to the Luna Hotel, and hit up a nap. The sun and camels really took it out of me.
Had a pretty mello night last night. just some reading and alittle whiskey. I am reading this book "a Small Corner of Hell." I have had this obsesion with reading about the atrocities of the world. The Author is a Russian journelist named Anna (cant remmeber last name). she covered the wars in Chechnya, speaking out against the Russian goverment. A year a go she was murdered outside of her apartment in moscow. tragic story.
I am telling this for a reason because as i was sitting reading the book, and sipping some tea this afternoon, i met a nice guy from Australia. he told me he was a freelance jourlnist, who was taking time off to have a 3 month holiday from the world, while traveling around it.
He said that he wrote mostly about middle eastern conflict, mostly about grumsome things that are happening in this world of ours. This, as we know was right up my alley.....Darfur, Gaza, Chechnya, Burma, Iraq, N Korea. I asked him if he'd read a "Small Corner of Hell." he told me that he hadn't but he actually knew the Author, before she was murdered in Moscow last year. Small world. I might be seeing him again in Dahab, which is my next stop, tomorrow...the Red Sea.
until then rock out.
-d.
ps. this thing doesn't have spell check, so just deal. at this point you should be able to figure what i am trying to say
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.042s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jon Quirt
non-member comment
That's my boy!