Advertisement
Published: November 6th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Ah, Egypt, where the Nile flows north to Lower Egypt and we headed south upstream. We were confused too. We took a day train from Cairo to Luxor (9 hours for a whopping $6) to get a feel for the Nile Valley landscape. Egypt's geography is comprised of only 4% fertile land--mostly this narrow strip of palm trees and crop fields along the Nile through which the train tracks and the highway run. The remaining 96% is desert, broken by the occasional oasis. From the Nile we could almost always see sand dunes or barren rock in the distance--a reminder of the desolation that dominates the vast majority of the country.
We rode past small villages of mud huts and thatched roofs, where women gathered along the river to wash pots, rugs, and colorful clothes. Every now and then we'd see a farmer kneeling in prayer on a small rug in the middle of his fields. At track crossings, traffic lined up on the dirt roads to wait for the train to pass: children leading livestock, women balancing sacks atop their heads, men in galabayas on bicycles. Quite a change from the crowds, cars, and concrete of Cairo's busy downtown.
It's easy for us, from the relative comfort of our 2nd class seats and Western eyes, to be fascinated by these glimpses of traditional village life. It's much harder to justify the fact that we have the means to travel while they work harder but lack such opportunities. Of course the question of rich vs poor is more complicated than which side of the window you're on...but that's another blog.
On to Luxor, home of the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, and the best homemade lemonade known to man. Since we blew our budget on the latter, the only site we made it to was the beautiful Luxor Temple, which was conveniently and unexpectedly situated in the middle of town. (In truth, we were still pretty worn out from from Cairo, and we heard from other travelers that the other sites were "just okay.") We spent our time exploring the city on foot (as usual) and strategizing intricate escape routes to dodge hagglers.
Luxor is also known as the "hassle capitol" of Egypt. Any foreigner who's walked for ten minutes in Luxor, especially along the Nile-side "corniche," will have been
offered three taxis, six carriage rides, and at least eight felucca trips. Being stingy budget travelers, we said our share of "la, shukran"s. The persistence of some of the merchants is mind-boggling. After watching us turn down four carriage rides, why does the fifth driver think he has a chance?
After three days of this we started becoming cynical. At one point, Randy made a counter-offer to a particularly obnoxious driver: a ride on his back for the equivalent of 20 cents. The driver wasn't amused, but at least his colleagues laughed and left us alone.
But we don't want to give the impression that all Luxor has to offer is tombs and touts. We ate some of the best food we've had on our trip at a tiny street-side cafe around the corner from our hostel. We kicked a soccer ball around at night in dirt alleys with local kids who were so impressed with Jenny's skills that they forgot to ask for "baksheesh" (tips). We spent long afternoons just watching the Nile go by, sipping lemonade.
Our cruise began with lunch on Monday, and for the next three days we stuffed ourselves with three buffet
meals a day, were pampered with a luxurious cabin, and lounged on the sundeck alongside retired Germans and Italians--in other words, we were just as out of place here as in the backstreets of Cairo. Because of the discount (three cheers for the Colonel!) the whole package fit into our budget, and it was a welcome change from the shared bathrooms and sporadic hot water of dingy hostels. We took the time to recharge and plan our next few weeks in Egypt.
The cruise dropped us off in Aswan on the last day of Ramadan, when everyone turns out for a great feast and celebration. The city center park was filled with little girls giggling and little boys playing with toy guns of all shapes and sizes. We discovered that the tiny plastic bullets were actually painful when Jenny got hit twice and Randy once, just passing by. Was it intentional or did we get caught in the crossfire? Only those trigger-happy soldiers-in-training know for sure.
The stinging was mitigated by the fact that restaurants were finally open and serving food. Ramadan was certainly an enlightening cultural experience, but we were glad we could once again feel normal
eating during the day.
After Aswan, we boarded a 24-hour bus/train combo for Dahab. Known as a backpacker's paradise, Dahab is a beach town on the East coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Sounds exciting, but the real question is: what's their lemonade like?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.532s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 20; qc: 99; dbt: 0.4574s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Sheelagh
non-member comment
you did it again!
Another great chapter in your saga! Randy, if one were interested in using some of your photos for the basis of a painting, might one?