Blogs from Egypt, Africa - page 299

My 13 hour train ride was alright, just a problem with my seat position, right next to the carriage entrance. So EVERY person who walks through it doesn’t close it. It only took 30 minutes for me to move seats. Ramses station was my welcome point for the big city. I always come into town with a few choices to stay without reservation. My first choice was full, my second choice didn’t have change of a 10 Egyptian pound note (10p) and didn’t trust me paying my bill later. My 3rd choice was ok though. Smack bang in the middle of town, The Lilay hostel. By luck there was a Indian guy who knew where the Indian consulate was, he said it was just up the main street 5 minutes walk away. 5 minutes walk in ... read more

It was a pretty welcoming “Hello” from the Egyptian border guards. I could not wipe the smile off my face, this is one of the big places I have wanted to go. Now I am here I need to get to Dahab. Easier said than done! I decide to get a minibus but I have to wait for it to fill up, I spent that hour sitting under a tree next to the border guard hut, once it was full we were off to the police control hut. They wanted 35 Egyptian pounds just to say hello to another bunch of foreigners who will spend lots of money in there country. Another tax they could have stuck on the price of the visa. Once in Dahab it was a short walk to my hotel, the Penguin ... read more

Here I am again at this nice internet cafe with the great view over the red sea. Im very lazy today so i dont wanna write that much. Met up with my friend in Cairo and her family & friends which was so great. After a lot of frustration and rip offs in Cairo i was so happy to meet some lovely and honest people. We spent some great time together. Return from Cairo yesterday, lots of trouble with buses. Bus to dahab due to leave at 7.15, then it appeared to be full, not even baksheesh helped anymore. Ended up buying a dodgy bus ticket to sharm el sheikh, everybody was quite aggressive and I was more than happy to leave Cairo. Nobody really knew where the bus would depart from except that it would ... read more

Yesterday was a very long day and a crazy onel The morning started with a lovely good morning orchestra at 5am doors were banging, cats were fighting violently (agro cats lol), construction works started in front of my window, the muezzin called the believers for the morning prayer (the minaret was right in front of my broken window). Time to get ready and to be honest I was quite emotional (=glad) about leaving this place (=the rubbish hostel with which i had a love-hate relationship) (today I regret that I didnt stay 2 more nights at least) This time the narrow streets of the old city were spookily empty in contrast to my arrival in Jerusalem. I caught a taxi to the Israeli (western) part of Jerusalem and was dropped right in front of the central ... read more

Mum, dad and I flew out of Cyprus headed for Cairo, Egypt. We spent the first day exploring Cairo, we walked along the Nile before heading to the bazaar, so naturally I had to shop for more things! Cairo was pretty full on, there's something like 25 million people in Cairo alone. It is a muslim country and it showed by the way the women dressed, the majority of women wore head scarfs and a lot wore the full chadore. The reaction of the men towards me was also quite different to other places I've been (even Turkey, which is also muslim). My blonde hair and skin seemed to be of interest. So mum and dad were a bit nervous when I decided that I wasn't ready to leave the bazaar when they were and announced ... read more