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Published: October 23rd 2007
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well as usually. I, FINALLY, officially started my semester courses on Sunday and I have a new found appreciation for having class all the time. The past few works have been rather difficult when you are in the middle of the desert with nothing to do. Although I am abroad with the Overseas Student Program for Undergraduates, I have elected to take 4 courses from the Masters Degree Program in Middle Eastern Studies. I promise that I will write an entry at a later date about the progress of my studies and what they specific entail.
Today I have finally at least partially updated my blog and I have an entry about my recent trip to Egypt and Sinai. My friends Ben and Natania and I decided to take a 10 day trip to Egypt during the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot. The vacation was absolutely perfect and the country was amazing in everyway imaginable. The following is an attempt at a brief summary of my travels and I hope you enjoy it.
September 26th Ben, Natania, and I left our dorms (Me'onot Gimel) on the morning of the
26th in order to catch a bus from Beer Sheva (where my school is located) to Eilat in the southern-most part of Israel. The city of Eilat is actually interesting in and of itself as Eilat (Israel) Taba (Egypt) and Aqaba (Jordan) are all right next door to each other and can be seen across the water. Our 3.5 hours bus ride to Eilat was rather exciting and we were fortunate to meet some Israelis who would later assist us in crossing the border into Sinai. Unfortunately, vacationing in Sinai is extremely popular for Israeli's during the holiday of Sukkot and the border crossing process was long and exhausting.
Traveling in the Middle East for me has been quite an education in a personal sense as it has definitely taught me that you can, by no means, plan out everything. In all honesty, you must continually depend on the assistance of others and be more than willing to accept the manner in which services are provided. Crossing into Sinai demands only a passport; however, further travel to Egypt warrants a visa which is rather difficult to obtain once in Sinai at the Taba/Eilat border.
(Visas for travel to
Egypt are usually including in airfare and cost around $15, but we were required to pay $50 for both the visa and the "services" of the companies at the border. Furthermore, we experienced the full bureaucracy of borders as we were charged entry fees more than once simply because our passports had been stamped although we had never left or reentered the country. In addition, for transportation services you are required to pay up front to the owner of the vehicles (who speak English) and then driven to your destination usually by a non-English speaking driver. The problem that we ran into with this was that the owners of the vans told us that our destination was a specific distance away and charged us a larger fee than merited knowing that when we arrived at the destination, the driver would not be able to communicate with us and he would not have the money to return to us for being overcharged. )
We checked into the Sol y Mar Resort in Taba later that afternoon and were pleased to find a beautiful resort near the gorgeous Red Sea. Majority of the guest were European Families staying at the resort
Lunch Break
Here we stopped to eat at the "Popular Restaurant on our way to the White Western Desert~for the quiet, peaceful setting as well as its proximity to Jordan and Israel. Meals were all-inclusive which made our first night of the vacation rather relaxing in lieu of the difficult crossing the border.
September 27th We left the resort early in the morning to obtain our visas (which took almost another 2 hours) and then Ben, Natania, and I took a van from Taba (in Sinai) to Cairo. (At on point during our border crossing experience the man responsible for obtaining our visas refused us service as one of my friends made a comment to him that she did not trust him…not a pleasant experience.) We split the cost of the van with two girls who coincidentally were also traveling from Israel. Naomi (American) and Carolina (Columbian) are currently interning with a NGO in Israel as they are prior college graduates. Our driver was extremely friendly and we made the roughly 8 hour trip in a little over 5 hours. The only down side was that we were fearful for our lives throughout majority of the drive. The driver did not speak any English but shared with us his love for Egyptian music and sang
in Arabic while having us clap and cheer. The down side was that he rather enjoyed speeding and never driving in the assigned lane and well as racing around curves until Naomi would scream. Additionally, he loved to cross into the wrong lane to pass other cars and show us that he was not looking so that we would be able to see what a "great driver" he was. It was entertaining to say the least.
We reached
Cairo after nightfall and were dropped off by the van in what appeared to be a market area. The car was immediately surrounded but 10-15 Egyptian men (mostly taxi drivers) asking us about our destination. Refusing to speak to us women about any important matters concerning where we were going, they only insisted on soliciting us for kisses and to come home with them and marriage proposals and everything else imaginable. Fortunately, Ben's brother Sam is currently studying abroad in Cairo and we were able to get a taxi to his hotel to figure out plans for the next few days. We parted with the girls from the van ride and Natania and I stored our luggage in Sam's hotel (which
In the Desert!
This was one of our many pit-stops during our Jeep excursions. is all male) and we left to meet other students from the American University in Cairo. We spent the remainder of the night with roughly 30 people (both American and Egyptian) in Cairo at a girl's (Krysten) apartment for a social gathering. After leaving Krysten's apartment around 3 to am, we drove with friends from Cairo to Giza to stay at a hotel own by the family of one of the Egyptians (Karim) for the night.
September 28th Natania and I slept from about 4 am to 7 am on the morning on the 28th. Karim's family allowed us to each have private double rooms at the hotel as well as a continental breakfast for free at a beautiful place that overlooked the pyramids. About 45 people meet up on the morning of the 29th to leave with us by bus to the
"White Western Desert." Ben, Natania, and I along with the others traveled about 4.5 hours west of Cairo for a camping trip. Upon arriving we separated into groups of four and got into Toyota Land Cruisers with all of our gear and drove over the sand dunes of the desert. It was an absolutely,
surreal experience. We felt as though we belonged on one of those reality TV shows as we crossed through the deserts of Egypt. Our caravan of jeeps took little excursions throughout our trip and we video tapped many people attempting to role down the sides of the sand dunes. We arrive at our destination in the middle of the desert and our Bedouin guides set up the camp while the hired chef that we brought along began to prepare dinner. The sunset was gorgeous and the food was amazing as we all sat around the fire and listened to music and socialized. Many of us went exploring around what seemed to be the infinite white desert. It is impossible to explain the landscape in words. The best that I can convey is that our surroundings looked as though we were in Antarctica. The ground and all the rock formations around us were completely white and looked as though snow had harden into rock. It was beautiful. We stayed awake for majority of the night and received only a few hours of sleep before sunset.
September 29th I awoke early the next morning just after the sunset
and began to pack my things in preparation for our departure and immediately changed clothes. We had fallen asleep in the freezing cold in our sleeping bags with sweatshirts and awoke to the brutal, desert sun. We ended up spending most of the morning at our camp sight eating breakfast and sun bathing. Around 11 am we returned to our prospective jeeps and traveled around to different areas of the desert where you can observe various types of famous stones. We stopped at one point to view "flower/rose" stones and then went to a cliff designated as a crystalline-like structure. A little after 1pm we returned to the bus and traveled back to Giza to Karim's hotel and then continued onwards back to Cairo. Natania and I checked into our hostel in Cairo (the King Tut Hostel) which was fortunately located two streets away from the hotel where Ben stayed with his brother and the other American University of Cairo males. Natania and I were gracious to be able to sleep and settle into a room for a few days. We explored Cairo that first night with Ben, his brother Sam, and some of our new friends from the trip.
Our dinner consisted of chicken sandwiches, four smoothies each, and koshery which is a dish that has noodles, spices, a red sauce, and chick peas and cost less than the equivalent of 25 cents.
I found the city of Cairo to be a relief. Cairo is in the top 20 most populated cities in the world and has over 15 million people. The streets are absolutely PACKED to a degree unimaginable in the states. There are 3 lanes on the roads and cars travel 5 abreast. I am still amazed that there are not more accidents. People weave in and out of the cars to cross the road at any time and there is no order to anything but everyone that lives there understands and is able to function with the system. I loved being in such an international city surrounding by people every second of the day. It is an enormous contrast to Beer Sheva in Israel which to me, unfortunately, feels as though I am in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, EVER. Cairo is alive at anytime of night…there are small children out with their parents at 1 in morning. Many people complain
about the pollution in the city but I found it tolerable. I loved the fast-pace life and feeling that there was sooo much going on around me. I really hope that I will be able to return to Egypt just to spend an entire week in Cairo as I feel that after only four nights I did not even begin to see the city.
September 30th The King Tut Hostel was very nice, the people were welcoming as well as helpful, and Natania and I found the environment extremely accommodating. The only down side of our stay was that fact that there were millions of mosquitoes that bit us throughout the night. On the morning of the 30th we received our breakfast from the hostel (which consisted every morning of a boiled egg, pita, jelly, and coffee) and then met with Atef (the owner and manager of the hostel) to plan out the remainder of our time in Egypt. We were truly blessed to meet Atef as he assisted us with everything from that moment forward until the day that we left the country. Atef arranged for us to be able to visit Giza, Alexandria, Aswan, Edfu,
Luxor, Hurghanda, and Sharm within the next 6/7 days. He helped us obtain our international student id cards that afforded us numerous beneficial discounts throughout our stay. Furthermore, (for a price of course) he personal setup our itinerary, organized our cruise, all of our drivers, travel guides, and agents to check in on us throughout our stay who assisting us in getting from one place to another. Planning the logistics of our trip as well as getting our id cards and going to the ATM took up most of our day so we spent the 30th relaxing. That evening we briefly went out to eat with some friends and then Natania and I met up with Ben (our friend from Israel) and Jai (an American from the DC area studying in Egypt) to go to the famous Egyptian market Khan el-Khalili.
Khan el-Khalili is very much like a larger, more intense version of the shopping in Old City Jerusalem. You can find everything from clothes, sheets, spices, toys, knifes, souvenirs, dress garments, jewelry, to masks and so much more. The busy, narrow streets can be overwhelming but I absolutely loved the atmosphere. There are people all around you and of
course there is no conception of personal space as there is simply not enough room and too many people trying to buy everything. We stood out in the crowd and were constantly howled at and followed but being very self-aware it did not bother me at all. I was dressed conservatively and attempted to blend in as much as possible. As soon as you say that you are American everyone is quick to greet you and say “America, Welcome!” and the younger males do not hesitate to engage you in a conversation that usually leads to some sort of marriage proposals or love declaration. As Kyle and I had previously done in Jerusalem, Natania and I attempted to perfect our mastery of the art of haggling for prices. In retrospect, we faired rather well.
October 1st The next morning, I awoke early to go to the ATM alone as I felt pretty comfortable walking around the section of Cairo where our hostel was located. The streets are soooo very different during the daytime as it was still Ramadan when we were in Egypt. They were almost completely empty of cars and there were a few businessmen out
walking and I only past two women together on the sidewalk. After I returned, Natania and I ate a quick breakfast and then met our guide/ driver at 8 am to leave for
Sacrum and Giza. Our driver, Solomon, was a kind, older man who showed us pictures of his grandson. He was protective of Natania and I as we made our way around the pyramids, tombs, and sphinx. A camel ride around the pyramids cost 100 pounds each and Solomon negotiated an agreement with the owners of the camels to allow us to take as many pictures as we wanted on the camels with the pyramids in the background for only 5 pounds each. Furthermore, all the photos that appear as if they are fake or photo shopped were taking from a specific area in front of the pyramids that Solomon brought to our attention. After spending all morning at the pyramids, Solomon found us a place to get falafel before returning us to the Egyptian Museum where we spent the remainder of the afternoon. The artifacts in the Museum were fascinating and amazing; I definitely recommend that Museum to anyone visiting Egypt. Natania and I decided, upon leaving
the Museum, that we could find our way back to the hostel on foot. On the way home will asked an older man for directions; he suggested that we check out a local papyrus shop that was having a sale. I brought three (expensive yet beautiful) pieces of artwork that I successfully managed to get for 62% off although the regular sale was only 40% off. We left the store and got slightly turned around but managed to ask the tourist police how to get back to our street. We were exhausted from walking around all day so we took naps upon returning to the hostel and read until dinner. For dinner Natania and I again joined Jai and Ben for chicken sandwiches, seafood, and Egyptian pancakes for desert. (I will attempt to the best of my ability to describe the wonder of Egyptian pancakes. To my knowledge, they consist of baked dough with milk poured on top and then dipped in eggs and rolled in sugar, cream, honey, and syrup. In short they taste delicious and I am sure they have absolutely no nutritional value.) After dinner Natania and I went again to Khan el-Khalil, although this time on
Yes, I'm really that tall..
From a specific distance we were able to take these photos with the help of Solomon. our own, until about 11:30 pm. We met with Atef around midnight to go over our plans once again for the next few days. Natania went to bed while Jai came to pick me up at the hostel so that I did not walk alone at night or get lost on my way to the Odeon Hotel and Restaurant. There I got a change to say goodbye to Ben, Sam, Kristen, Nadim, Hassan, Karim, and Allison and we all made plans to meet up on their visit to Israel.
October 2nd On the 2nd, we woke up at 6:15 am to prepare for a day of tourism in
Alexandria. Natania and I checked out of the King Tut Hostel that morning and stored our bags behind the front desk. We took the 8 am train and arrived in Alexandria around 10 that morning. Our first stop was Tourism Information where we planned out our day and collected maps about the surrounding area as well as information guides about Luxor, Aswan, and Sinai.
Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt with an popular resort area located right on the Mediterranean sea. It was named after Alexander
the Great who founded the city in 331 BC; hence, there are numerous Graeco Roman cultural centers throughout Egypt. We visited the New Alexandria Library first that was inauguration on October 16, 2002. The Old Library was established 2300 years ago and served as a cultural and intellectual complex for scholars and scientist all over the world. After the library, Natania and I made our way up and down the coastline walkway. Along the way to Fort Qaitbey, we passed the Unknown Solider Monument near Tahrir Square, the El-Attareen Mosque, and the Mosque of Abu El-Abbas El-Mursi dedicated to the patron of Alexandria’s fisherman and sailors. On the northern tip of the East harbor, we arrived at Sultan Qaitbey’s Fort that serves as the landmark of Alexandria. This was the original site of Pharos, the ancient lighthouse built in 279 BC. The Fort houses a mosque and the Naval Museum (a little aquarium). Afterwards, we toured the surrounding area and bazaars on the coast.
On our walk back we were followed by a group of teenage boys for about 20- 30 minutes. Upon getting lost we made a friend named Ahmed who was on his way home from school.
He studies security with mechanical and electrical engineering. He walked us to Nabi Daniel street, the Roman Amphitheatre, and the train station. The Amphitheatre is in the Kom Al-Dekka area of Alexandria and consists of 12 rows of semi-circular marble benches. We made it to the train station just in time for the train to take off at 3 pm and head to another station in Alexandria. To our dismay, we found that we were on the wrong train and quickly got off at the Main Station in Alexandria and awaited our 3:30pm train back to Cairo.
Upon our arrival to Cairo we took a taxi back to our hostel and then spent time with Ben and Jai for koshery and smoothies before saying goodbye. We met with Atef and gathered our luggage prior to leaving the King Tut hostel. We left Cairo at 10 pm on the sleeper train and arrived to Aswan around 11 am after our 13-hour ride.
To Be Continued...
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