Blogs from Cairo, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 9

How many teens can say they did this? A beautiful sunny day with some GREAT news. I've worked my ass off at school and I certainly deserve a looong vacation! Yes people, it looks like I'm going to spend my long deserved vacation in -not one, not two, but in- THREE countries. I can't wait to make some beautiful pictures and enjoy the weather. Those three countries are Egypt, Israel and Poland. And just when I thought I got a break from all the studing - Yes! You can say whatever you want, but studing is still one thing we, teens, don't do for fun- , my mom told me that we are going to see some intersting places. I'm most exited for Israel. One, because it's the Holy Land (I AM a Christian). The most ... read more

Had the pleasant surprise of meeting up with Ahmed while I was finishing my breakfast at the hotel (which is a hearty falafel meal with bean paste and bread pitas). We set off around 9ish for our first stop: Coptic Cairo. This is down the Nile from where I'm at in Garden City (where all of the embassies are) and is home to the old Christian churches of Cairo. People don't often realize it, but a lot of Egyptians are Christian; after all, this is where Jesus and the Holy Family fled to during Herod's Massacre of the Innocents, and where Moses was found in the reeds. In fact, the beautiful Church of St. Sergius is built over the cave said to have given shelter to the Holy Family while in Egypt. And the Ben Ezra ... read more

I can't believe I'm actually in Africa! Wow! And really, today was extremely laid back and low key. I left Iraklio in the morning, and landed in Athens at around noon, and then waited until 5 to take the hour and a half flight to Cairo. Went very smoothly. And EgyptAir is quite the airline. One of the best I've been on, with great food, very comfortable, spacious seats, and extremely nice attendants. Landing in Cairo was awesome, too, because we literally came down right off the sand. It was like the airport had sprung up from the desert. A driver from the hotel met me at the airport and we began the hour or so drive into the heart of Cairo. It honestly felt like I'd been transported back to Southeast Asia, like in Hanoi ... read more

Well, I finallY did it. I've seen the pyramids while on a vast, mighty camel named most appropriately, Ali Baba. Ali Baba was the strong, silent type and as such I was not able to win his heart or even a passing glance from him, the stubborn old thing. Riding a camel for me felt like what it would be like to ride a giant water balloon, swishing around, damn near falling over when he gets up and down. And of course I loved it. Enough with my brilliant camel story, onto the pyramids of Giza. The pyramids are lined up just outside of town (or vice versa, however you look at it). 3 huge pyramids, 6smaller ones, workers tombs, the sphinx and other pyramid stuff filled the desert landscape. Tourism is extremely slow right now ... read more

My family of 5 just returned from a RCI cruise that stopped at Alexandria. We had booked our tour with Egypt last minute months prior to departure. George, the tour operator was always very quick to answer my many questions and always made me feel that we would be taken very well care of. I even called him prior to leaving to make sure everything was well organized for us. Our ship was in Alexandria from 7am to 10pm. Everything we organized was carried out very nicely. We always felt safe and we were very satisfied with our guide and driver. We met our guide at the scheduled time of 7:30am. He was waiting for us with our name on a board right outside the gangway. He made us feel safe from the first handshake! We ... read more