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Published: October 19th 2007
aswan dam
this dam was built to give power to most of Egypt as well as stop the nile from flooding every year. it is both a curse and a blessing for egyptiansYet another long one! 6 days worth of travelling, touring and incredible experiences...prepare yourself!
Bus and Flight to Aswan
The flight was set to leave Cairo airport at 5am, so we had the school van schedualed to pick us up at our usual spots at 345am!!! I was anxious about the trip and I managed just over one hour of sleep the night before, so that was fun! We waited at the stop for about 20 minutes and when no bus came, we called the others and decided we better catch a cab quick if we wanted to get to the airport. So we walked to a bigger street to try to find a cab..this was all done in the dark because street lamps are very random around here, no rhyme or reason for where they are. Suddenly a dog comes out from the sidestreets and barks at us!! I barely contain my screams of terror..not a fan of random, stray dogs at all! Luckily this one wags his tail and follows us for awhile, im not happy, but Joanna, being the dog person that she is is quite delighted by our new friend. As we round another corner, we hear
aswan dam
view from the dam the barking of what sounded like 10 dogs..being pitchblack out...I wasn't sure. The came closer and it was in reality only about 6 angry dogs barking ferociously!!!! Thankfully they are barking at the dog that is with us, and not us, however we change our direction in a feeble attempt to avoid the dogs. They are now following behind us, barking still, I am FREAKED!! I am speed walking, forcing myself not to break out into a full on run..meanwhile dog love joanna is also scared..but for the "poor" dog because its lookin like hes gonna get gang beat by these dogs...Always the practical one, I say.."ok lets just worry about ourselves and get the heck outta here". Soon after a cab arrives, who denies our request to go out to the airport, and then luckily another cab who says yes...we didn't even barter a price beforehand because we just wanted to get outta the dark streets of Maadi.
We arrive at the airport, thankfully the cab driver speaks enough english to ask us where we are flying to so that we can get to the correct terminal...We eventually meet up with the rest of the group, who were already
in the terminal getting swindled by egyptian "helpers" all over the place, who are offering to "help" for a fee. We arrive only 15 minutes before the flight is about to leave!!!
I rush the counter and get checked in, however when the rest of the group approaches and tries to do one big checkin, the guys says that its much too late and they will have to wait for the next plane!!!!! Luckily, a lil bartering and arguing and 6 of the 7 people are allowed to board. Collette (the principal) will wait for the next plane, which we find out is only 30 minutes later.
Now keep in mind I was the first one to check in..however, when we get on the plane, a few of the girls end up in business class, and peter and mo get to sit together and me.....I go to my seat and there's someone in it. I ask if I can see his ticket, and he says that the number printed on my ticket is not an 8 but a 6...hmm ok still not sure of that one but to be fair it was hard to tell.. so I move back
Philae temple
this temple was on philae island, but would flood every year and so they moved it, brick by brick up to higher ground to rows to 6...someone in this seat as well. So I get the attention of the flight attendant and try to explain my issue. He looks at my ticket, checks the ticket of the Spanish lady ( who is seated beside her husband) and she flips on him...no idea what was said but basically "Hell no Im not moving, move this girl somewhere else Im sitting with my husband and Im wearing waaaaay to much makeup to be treated this way....and besides there is someone sitting in my seat..look! see?" possibly not word for word what she said, but the point being that there was someone in her seat so she just moved over to my seat....so what does the attendant do? he moves on to that seat and says excuse me can I see your ticket...the man shows him the ticket and it is apparent that he is in the wrong seat, however, he has the same predicament..someone is in his seat... this whole thing happens one more time until I finally stop him and tell him that I will just wait until everyone has found a seat and then Ill just sit wherever is open...so finally after the
Philae temple
inside the temple. The guide speaks and we snap pics... entire plane has settled into their seats, there is one seat beside a greek couple at the very, very back of the plane, in the aisle seat..no sooner do I sit down and the bevy cart comes by. Being 5am, I was pretty excited for a cup of coffee, as was the lady in the window seat, who dumped her coffee on me as she went to get it from the stewardess...wow!!! welcome to egypt!
We arrive at Aswan airport safely, and although we were all sure that not all of our bags would arrive, nor Collette on the next flight..after about 45 mins of waitiing, the whole group and all of our bags miraculously were loaded onto our transport van.
First stop, the High Dam. This was pretty neat, some mountainous areas in the distance that looked very Canadian West Coastish...a very long dam and rather unimpressive power station that provides the electrical power to most of Cairo!!!
I think we went to the ship after this...not really sure but regardless...
I have to admit that I have gotten into the habit of lowering my expectations significantly, so that I am not disappointed when things don't work out. So
the lobby of the boat
yes our boat had a lobby!! so retro at this point, I really am expecting a large felucca with a motor and wooden plank beds below deck. However, I was greatly surprised...our ship Miss Esadora was spectacular!!! A very mod, 60's inspired lobby with 2 floors of cabins, a bottom floor dining room, and an outdoor top deck with pool, lounge chairs and covered bar.. The bedroom windows opened right up and you could look out onto the nile (when the boat wasnt parked beside another ship at the docks anyway) Mom, Bernard and Uncle Brad you should be very excited to hear that you will be on the exact same boat with the same amazing crew that we were! All the other tourists on the ship were Italian, which was kinda weird, but all the workers on the ship were Egyptian and spoke good english.
After we checked out the boat and had a bite to eat we checked out a few of the temples in Aswan. Philae Temple and Komo Ombo Temple. Both temples were very huge, impressive and really pointless for me to describe in writing or show you in pictures because there is just no way to explain the feeling of standing infront of
esadora life
check out that view these massive structures that have been around for so long.
A word on the buffets on this ship..yes I know I just wrote about the temples in one sentence and will likely describe the food in at least two...this really shouldnt surprise you 😊 Anyway, the all-inclusive buffett food was pretty awesome, a different theme every night for dinner, a chef who cooks personal omlettes for breakfast and a never ending supply of pastries, treats and fruit with every meal. THe only downfall was the outrageously expensive price of alcohol!!! We paid almost 30 pounds for a Stella beer, which is about double the price we normally pay for the better Sakara beer ( both taste similar to corona..mom you will love it!) Good news is...30 pounds is about 6 dollars!!!
In the evening, we walked to the souk to test out our bartering skills. WOW! I have never heard so many one-liners...
hey beautiful eyes, beautiful...how many camel for you? (side note I was offered anywehre from 3.5 camels up to 5 million)
alllo lady..Engleesh? Canada? Canada Dry!Canada Dry never die!!! (Ginger ale used to be a popular drink here)
HEY Ali Baba!!! 6 wives!!! Lucky Man!!!! (peter,
Esadora life
the rooftop view from our boat one of the teachers, was the only male in the group of 7)
They just attack you from both sides, tryin to get you to buy their scarves and galabayas...We all bought many things and we didn't get too ripped off..haha or so we think..Peter bought a pair of sandals and then when he got home, realized they were not both the same size...I tried to buy some really beautiful white leather sandals, but every pair fit differently and I just couldnt find a pair that was perfect..
There are also some charming little boys wandering around trying to sell you bookmarks with the heiroglyphics on them.. We met one in particular who chatted with us for awhile, he spoke very good english and was very charming, I got my pic with him! So cute, he gave me a lovely "cadeau" of 2 bookmarks..he insisted..that I take the presents but then wants money afterward, i likely gave him too much money because he then gave me a couple more bookmarks after I paid! Whenver you leave with a free gift..you have paid too much!
The boat sailed that evening to Edfu and early in the morning we were off to
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heres our little pool..its much smaller than you think...most of the pool is about 30 cms deep and just the rectangle in the middle is deep enough to swim in..but it was so hot and just a dip was lovely the Temple of Horus..one of the most well preservd temples in Egypt. Lots of columns, wall gravings...etc.
After visiting the temple, we got to spend most of the beautiful, sunny day lounging on the roof of the boat, sippin drinks and swimmin in the pool. There was a Galabaya scam that night disguised as a galabaya party planned for all the guests. Everyone was supposed to wear one of the traditional Egyptian long shirts/gowns and come drink and dance at the boat's bar. I had looked for a galabaya at the souk the night before, but I didn't find one, so I borrowed a loose flowing shirt from Melissa because I refused to buy a galabaya just for the party. Thank goodness that we went to this event though because it was a night I will never ever ever forget. So far on the cruise, we had been the only ones in the bar before or after dinner....It was fun, we were gettin pretty chummy with the staff and having a great time with the place all to ourselves, but we wondered where were the italians...well tonight we figured it out..they were boozing in their cabins with their own drinks
because they emerged that night swathed in colourful galabayas and a cloud of alcohol! and wow did they dance...we of course joined in and had a blast dancing up a storm and playing various mixer games. The evidence has been labelled top secret, but lets just say that there was a giant stick, some potatoes on a string, and a few sweaty, and seriously impaired older italian men, as well as some belly dancing that provided more than enough entertainment for the Canadian crew.
That night we sailed to Luxor for our last two days on the ship. THis was our marathon day we saw so much on this hot, hot day, that I have trouble distinguishing which temple was which. We saw the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Deir el Bahary and Colossei of Memnon, and Karnak Temple...all before going back to the ship for lunch. The valley of the Kings was pretty unreal, but as with all of the tombs, no cameras are permitted inside in order to protect the paint. Up to this point, all the temples, regardless of how well preserved, have been impressive merely in their sheer size and structure, but the tombs
esadora life
the canadian crew on the italian boat have all their wall decorations and ingravings in full colour. It is sooooooo incredible and indescribable (which means you MUST come and see them yourself..and visit me 😊
After a quick lunch, we went to the last stop on our tour the Luxor temple. Las Vegas has nothin on this temple!! Luxor temple is right along the side of one of the major roads in Luxor, and also right along the nile...we could not get over how something this huge and impressive was just part of the day to day scenery for so many people! We were at Luxor on the holiday of Eid (end of Ramada) so there were many, many Egyptians checkin out their own temples, which was very cool! although it meant we had left the tourist bubble that we had been floating in for the past few days, so during our tour, we felt a bit like part of the statues and exhibits due to the long and frequent stares..not to mention the creep taking pictures of us with his cellphone....so keep your eyes open for a pic on the internet of a tacky tourist in all her glory!!!
Our last night on the Esadora
*sniff *sniff...we were very very sad because the boat had been so amazing. However, there was one last schedualed event at the bar, a whirling dervish dancer and then a belly dancer..I hadn't actually had a chance to see either types of performances so I was pretty excited...and then disappointed 😞 see there I go getting my hopes up again! The whirling dervish is a man who kinda looks like a spanish flamenco dancer with high horse riding boots and two large skirts on. The basic idea basic idea behind a whilring dervish is that he in in constant spinning motion and twirling the skirts all around on his head etc..but this one did a few little moves and then just sorta laid down on his back while spinning the skirts in the air, over his head. This went on for about 5 minutes, then a few more twirls here and there, and then OLE! he was done. Next up was the bellydancer girl..who our tour guide said was a "very beautiful lady, very beautiful dancer" She was terrible!!! Her outfit didnt fit her properly, her dance moves were amateur and she actually tripped over her skirt and fell flat
tourist leah
i actually got yelled at in arabic for standing on here! woops! on her but!!! I felt soooo bad for her!! luckily the performance was only 2 songs, so it was over quickly. On the lighter side, the music for both the dervish and the dancer was excellent, 3 guys beating the drums and playing the electric piano..
It was our principal's birthday the morning that we checked out of the boat, so we arranged with the wait staff to have cake and champagne on the top deck in the morning before we left...so we surprised her and sang happy birthday 3 times..english, then arabic version of the english song, then traditional arabic version...it was very fun!!
We wandered around until 11 when our van took us to the Pyramisa Hotel where we were supposed to be booked in for the next 2 nights..yes SUPPOSED to be. Our guide informed us that our voucher was for the pyramisa hotel in Aswan, not Luxor!!!! Typical..but mafish mashkella..no problem! we went and hung out at the pool for a few hours until some rooms were ready for us and then it was fine. The lobby area of the hotel ironically reminded me of Las Vegas, lots of mirrors and gold all over, with an
esadora life
this is the view from our cabin on board...you could open the windows right up, it was awesome open louge/bar area and lots and lots of tourist shops. Should have been smoke and mirrors..when we got into our actual room, we were not so impressed..maybe we were just spoiled after Esadora, but cheezy decor, tiny, crappy beds and some of the rooms had a spectacular view of...piles and piles of rubble!!!! oh the extremes of Egypt. Luckily the pool was fantastic and we spent as much time as possible by the pool or exploring Luxor.
Our to-do list for the next two days included: Bannana island, the Luxor souk, mumification museum and the luxor museum
We hit Banana island first, where we took a felucca over and got to see a ton of banana plants and of course eat a bunch of baof banannas. We were picked up at our hotel...on the nile! but there was not enough wind to go against the current of the nile, so we joined a caravan of feluccas who were all being pulled by a big stinky motor boat up the river. We had timed our trip so that we could watch the sun set as we sailed back to luxor to visit the souk. However, the lack of wind and proper paddles, had us roped up to Ali's (the felucca owner) motor boat to guide us back to shore. We learned so much about Luxor and the surrounding area from Ali, he was so intelligent and well spoken. We encouraged Ali that he should become a tour guide and do land tours as well, but we were pretty disheartened when he told us that it was impossible for him because of his family and background, you had to be of a certain class and of certain connections to do that sort of thing..his father was as sailor and now so is he. We brought him up to the cafe afterwards to continue our chats over a beer, well a mango juice for him!
Next up was another evening at the souk. One thing I haven't mentioned yet, is what i was wearing....I was quickly running out of clothes that didnt smell like dirty soccer socks, so I decided to wear my Ahli jersey that I had bought in the Aswan souk. The jersey is of the Egyptian team that i saw play at Cairo Stadium. It is the jersey of# 8 Baracat the most popular player because of his talent and modesty. Anyway, I think I could have worn a mini skirt and a lace bra and gotten less attention from everyone because it was unreal... People were yelling AHLI!! AHLI!!! BARACAT!!! at me all over the place...funny enough baracat sounds similar to buttercup..so at first we werent sure what was going on....but once I figured it out, I had some great chats about football with random shop owers all over. I must say though it was really a cool experience because it was a different kind of attention than I usually get, there was alot less..hey lady nice eyes how bout we get married and alot more...hey GOOD TASTE GIRL!!! they were very impressed that i had actually seen a game and knew who Ahli and Baracat were....I think it helped my barteriing even! hahah
Our last day in Luxor we skipped out on the Luxor museum because it was pretty expensive and we had heard it was not really worth it. So we saw the mumification museum, which was small but pretty neat. We got to see some of the tools they used to pull the brains out the nose and a few mumified animals and a couple decorated coffins. We ran into Ali again and we sat down to have another juice with him and he offered to sail us up to Crocodile island to go see some monkeys, camels, crocodiles and donkeys...Joanna and I were pretty excited...REALLY??? MONKEYS!!!! By the time he told us that the island was actually a Movenpick resort ( MOvenpick is THE best icecream ever known to man from switzerland) and the 20 pound entrance fee was redeemable for its worth in icecream after touring the island, we were ready to move there! As the pics show, the animals were all caged in a tiny zoo and it was not at all what we had expected..but we did get to pet the camel and the ice cream was delicious, so all in all a worthwhile activity.
We squeezed in a little more pool time that morning before we left for the airport and arrived home that afternoon. As usual the party never ends because Collette had us signed up for the Canadian Embassy Pub night in Garden City, so we attended that last night and met a few other canadian teachers and a surprising amount of non-canadians...we ended up going with some of them to the Nile Hilton in Zamalek. This was an outdoor bar at the VERY VERY top of the hotel, overlooking the nile. They played arabic music mixed in with the marcarena and a few other classic cheezy dance songs and the Canadians were very very happy.
All in all an amazing vacation!! The best part being that I dont have to go back to school until Sunday, so i have a few days to so some prep work and get things settled at home. I am trying to calm down the travelling until christmas so that I save some money, so the blogs might be a lil less frequent and exciting, although you never know...everything here seems to be an adventure!
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SISTER
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I ALREADY SENT YOU AN EMAIL SAYING MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU... THIS MSG IS... DID YOU GET TO SEE MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????