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Published: October 11th 2011
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So, I have survived a riot!! OK, I have slept through a riot... I received a text from mum the other morning asking if I was alright because she had heard about the riots in Cairo. I turned on the news, and surely enough, 25 people had been killed in mass rioting in the centre of Cairo- the coptic area. I was in the coptic area the day before, so that was pretty cool!!
Yesterday we did the 'main attractions'- started the day at the Egyptian Museum, then after lunch we headed to the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Due to my complete lack of knowledge of egyptian history, I'm pretty sure our guide (Walleed) appreciated my commentary (although I'm not sure the rest of our tour group did). We had lunch at Alezba- a place on the way to the pyramids. It. Was. Amazing. Koftas, Falafel, Babaganousch (there's no spell check in this word application. Don't hate me) and more. Then it was pyramid time. And time to be hassled by everyone selling everything. It was pretty warm here yesterday (above 35), so standing in the sun for 30 minutes while Walleed explained the pyramids was a stretch
for everyone- I'm pretty sure we felt better every time a camel walked through our (15 person) group asking if we wanted a camel ride. I'm sorry Walleed- the amount of chambers in a pyramid is fascinating- but camels are big furry animals. They win. The pyramids were amazing- I found it surreal to be standing exactly where I knew Australian soldiers had been in WW1. We went down into one of the tombs, but it was quite plain inside. Then we went to the sphinx- it was pretty sphinxy. Not as big as I thought it would be, but there was still plenty of time for photos.
We then made our way to the train station, after time-wasting in a coffee shop. The train was meant to arrive at 2000, but that's 2000 Egyptian time. It arrived at 2030, which we were all pleasantly surprised by. What we weren't surprised by was the fact that we were sitting in the station for another 2 hours, because the train's engine had died (I'm pretty sure that's the correct term). Probably from the heat. So, as lovely as our airconditioned, brightly lit chariots were when the power was on, the
train suddenly felt like a prison. No windows were open except 1 tiny one at the end of the hallway- the same windows which were slowly fogging up and are therefore now covered in many smiley faces, care of Sarah. We watched them through the window while they tried to bring in and attach the new engine. Just quietly, we probably could have made it out of the station in about 15 minutes if they were actually doing anything. But apparently reading the newspaper and smoking get the job done- who would have thought?! The power eventually came back on- an inevitably happy ending. Until it was dinner time- the dinner had been sitting on the hot train as long as we had, and it consisted of rice, chicken, an unpeeled unwashed apple and soggy french fries. I didn't eat.
So now I have woken up, and the train is hurtling along- no less than a bullet train! (I lie, but I thought I'd inject some enthusiasm in here!). We just stopped at a station, and through the crack in the blinds I could see armed soldiers everywhere- rifles not only at the ready, but being used
to push people back from the train. We're moving again now.
Now that I have come to the end, I would like to share with you a grievance. My bag (affectionately called Mama Cass) is too heavy for her handles- and this is very concerning!! At the airport, she only weighed 24 kg, but now I've added in extra wires etc for the camera, my netbook, charger and hard drive and my fleece jacket. Last night when Walleed was helping me move her, her top handle broke. The shoulder straps are ok, but she needs to lose some weight- some clothes are gone, my jellybeans have been distributed throughout the group (sorry mum!!) and one of my books has been discarded (although I was tempted to keep it as part of my Bear Grylls survival kit as a fire starter). Any other ideas on what I can discard, throw them in the comment section and post please!! My sleeping bag and sports shoes are adorning Mama Cass's front, as they hardly fit her anymore. (I am now sitting in our Aswan hotel- beautiful city by the way- down a pair of jeans, my pair of hiking pants and a couple of tops. Unfortunately the heavy stuff I need to keep for Ethiopia. grrr)
Today we can do a camel ride or go to some dam, somewhere, for some important reason. Again, big and furry animals win. We're also hanging out with a Nubian tribe this arvo- and I think they're cooking us dinner. Tomorrow there's an option to go to Abu Simbel, which is apparently great, but it includes a 0315 wake up (on a holiday!) and is quite expensive. I'm still not sure if I'll be doing it.
Anyhow, this has been lovely- we should do it again sometime, no?
Until my next post.
xoxo
P.S. I'm trying to upload photos, but it isn't working yet! try again later, sorry!
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Caroline
non-member comment
Hi
Hahaha sounds like a great start to your trip! Egypt has always sounded like a challenging place to travel but the main thing is you escape without any limbs missing. So you won't want to know about the salted popcorn macaroons we just ate courtesy of Anna if you're hungry then?! Hope all goes swimmingly and the camels continue to entertain you. Take care x