Final Egypt Post

Finishing our time in Egypt.  Yesterday was a long van ride from the desert back to Cairo.  We shared the van with the driver, his brother, his sister and his brother's wife.  The wife wore the full veil.  We weren't sure what to do or say as she sat their in the front seat staring ahead at the beginning of our ride.

Then, she turned around and said hi and told us she was pregnant and not feeling real well.  She moved to the back of the van to relax and we were on our way.  After we got out of town she removed here veil and chatted away with her cousin.

We still haven't figured our the head covering/veil situation.  They range from the very stylish, colorful veil, color coordinated with jeans and a flashy top, all the way to a full black burka type arrangement, some without even a slit for the eyes.

The pregnant gal seemed quite comfortable without the veil on in the car, talking to us, but when we stopped midway for a bathroom break, on went the veil again, and as we approached Cairo, again the veil went back on.

We surmised that since I was a married, older man, that the veil wasn't necessary in the van.  Haven't researched this yet!  Anyway, she was very pleasant, and enjoyed talking to us whether or not the veil was on.  Our prejudices continue to be swept away!

The evening finished with a Nile River Dinner Cruise.  Expected a traditional menu, got a "cruise-style" buffet dinner with loud music, not real pleasant until the Sufi "whirling dervish" showed up!  A lot of neat history here, but the bottom line is this guy whirled non stop for about 20 minutes; quite a show.

He was quite friendly.

 

Three long flights back home.  The real world has reintruded itself.  As we were approaching Heathrow Airport, they announced that if any of us were in India during the recent terrorist activity that law enforcement would be at our gate to interview us.  And, indeed, there was a SWAT team of sorts of 6 men awaiting our arrival.  We were one of the last to leave the plane, none of the passengers were in conversation.

 

We hope you enjoyed reading our Egypt blog.  Our trip was a study in contrasts.  From the crush of 20 million people in Cairo, to the gold artifacts found in the 3000 year old tombs in the Valley of the Kings.  From the hustle of the Red Sea resorts to the solitude and barrenness of the White Desert.

We found the Egyptian people like everyone else on this planet.  Doing the best with what they have, hoping for even a little improvement in the future. Looking out for themselves and their families and appreciating and honoring their neighbors. 

We are currently flying at 36,000 above the Atlantic, preparing to reenter our busy lives.  What was striking throughout the last three weeks were people's comments, both Egyptian and travelers like us, of a hope for a better future.  Worldwide, we fight a diminished expectation for the future. The US economic debacle is indeed affecting people around the world. 

Almost without fail, when we tell people we are from America, we get a thumbs up.  People around the world like Americans, indeed, they want a healthy America.  Their expectations for the future are optimistic.  Their fear and mistrust from the last eight years was palatable.  But, they now share hope.  I hope they, and we won't be disappointed.

Sunday - The Black and White Deserts 2.0

Here is our camp in the White Desert. All shoes were accounted for, but the foxes did go through all our our trash and ate anything that wasn't foil or paper wrapping.  Our left over food that Abubuk placed 10 meters from the camp was licked clean.  They were busy last night.  Breakfast was a traditional Egyptian meal except for a special treat for Gloria and me....Twinkies!  Can't remember the last Twinkie I had, never did try them for breakfast. I do recommend them, (great with coffee!)

We were originally scheduled to go to Farafra Oasis, but Abubuk suggested that we not and check out some of his favorite places in the White Desert that few people see.  OK with us!

 

 

We literally have 100's more pictures of this incredible place.  We won't bore you with any more!  This definitely was the highlight of our trip!

Saturday - The Black and White Deserts

Abubuk picked us up in his Land Rover and we headed west into the desert.  Half our time was spent on the two lane asphalt highway, the other half among the hills and sand dunes.  Kinda a cross between jeeping and "sandmobiling".  Exciting for him, and us, most of the time!  We did go through one little oasis in our morning travels, quite primitive; he stopped to talk to a couple of teenagers, turned out to be his brother and cousin!  This is where Abubuk grew up.

We continued into the Black Desert.   Something hard to describe.  Many millennia ago, this was a very active volcanic area, 100's of cinder cones dotted the landscape.  And there was volcanic ejecta everywhere.  Small lava pebbles and stones.  But, what is so interesting is that subsequent to the volcanic activity, the sand had blown in and everything was layered with sand as well.  Quite a juxtaposition to have the black of the lava and the tan of the fine sand everywhere.  Hopeful the pictures can give you and idea what we saw.

As we were jeeping about we suddenly came upon a Land Rover with two guides and a couple camped at the base of a sand dune.  Turned out this is Fueli, Abubuk's buddy.  Fueli had forgot the pita bread so he had phoned Abubuk to bring some out to him.  Abubuk found them easily, indeed Abubuk said he has never gotten lost out here and new both the Black and White Desert well.  The couple was from Belgium, very nice to talk to.  This was their fourth trip to Egypt, they "winter here" in the desert  for 4 weeks and just move about camping.  "Too rainy in Belgium this time of year".

For lunch, we stopped at another small oasis, with a government well and pump.  A small "cafe" where they served us our routine fare of pita with different dips, vegetables and that great feta cheese.  Met a gal their from Sweden.  She had just finished a week of lecturing in Cairo, and was out for the day with a guide.

As we continued our off road adventure, we gained a bit of elevation, until we came upon a vista that took our breath away.  It was like a Monument Valley view, except instead of huge sandstone columns, these were made out of chalk!  Hundreds of  feet in height.  Again, I don't know if the picture will do it justice.  Really an incredible sight.  We then went careening down the sand dune descending into the White Desert.

The White desert is composed of millions of chalk columns scattered all about the desert, with sand amongst them.  Again, through the eons this was at one time a huge ocean, it evaporated leaving the chalk and the sand.  Truly otherworldly.

 

 

Evening was dinner then sitting around the fire.  This was a truly Egyptian meal.  Abubuk build a small fire, then with his cooking grate started a pot of rice and in another pot he put in his veges and his chicken.  Cooked them all up and chased it with fanta with bananas for desert.  Once of our best meals since we have been here.  But it wasn't over. 

Now, next to the fire, we started with tea time. Quite a ritual with two pots of water.  One for the leaves and sugar, (lots of sugar), the other for diluting and cleaning the little glasses.  They are similar to shot glasses but a bit larger. (No Starbucks sleeves here).  Once Abubuk deemed it worthy of sharing, in other words was it sweet enough, he, with flourish poured our cups.  Whoa, strong and sweet! 

Once that was finished, he added a bunch of mint to the steeping pot and more sugar, to prepare tea number II.  Same ritual.  Oh, in the meantime he has wrapped up sweet potatoes in foil and they were cooking in the fire as well.  So, the mint tea, again strong and sweet.  Final desert was the sweet potatoes.  They were great!

After all of this with a moonless night and a million stars, time for bed. We established a perimeter to keep the foxes at bay. We had already seen one by our suitcases.  They are notorious for taking one shoe.  We settled in for the night.  A pad, our sleep sheets and 4 camel blankets on top of us.  We stayed warm, but the camel blankets were so heavy, it was hard to move!  We slept well.

Friday - Bahariya Oasis

Leisurely breakfast by Mohammed. At 8AM, the appointed time, I found him in the reception alcove asleep in front of the TV, must have been watching American movies all night long.  I didn't wake him, we ended up having breakfast a bit after 9AM.

Abubuc and a buddy picked us up around 10AM for our morning tour of the tombs and mummies.  A bit backwoodsy with the excavations.  Not the same amount of government money is available here as in Luxor or Cairo.  A Bedouin hangs out in front of a sight, gives you a tour, all in Egyptian with lots of pointing, then hold out his hand for a tip.  Since we had already paid our fee to see the sights, the expected tip is routine but is getting a bit monotonous.  We give each one 2 Egyptian pounds, about 40 cents.  They seem satisfied.

No pictures are allowed and none really needed to be taken.  These were Phaoronic tombs, reused by the Romans.  Indeed, when the Romans did the mummification, they were a bit sloppy, not much work has been done beneath the wrappings, apparently the mummification process wasn't  real good, and not much left.

In the afternoon, we hit the "Roman Baths".  Again, not quite what they are labeled.  The government has sunk numerous wells to around 900 meters to extract the naturally hot water.  They go deeper, it is hotter, more shallow and it is cooler.  Pumps send it into irrigation pipes for the farmers.  The Romans did used the hot springs, but not as we do today.

That's me in the back, (the white guy) and Abubuk smiling on the right.  Soon after this picture was taken, he rinsed his hands and head, and did his 3PM prayers to Allah.

Our afternoon tour included the British Outpost on the highest bit of land in the oasis.  They used this as a lookout during WWII.  Rommel and his gang were out and about here. (See the movie "Patton" for details!)

Abubuk was a bit stressed tonight.  Turns out he had checked a French gal in today, but she wasn't to be found this evening.  She had told some people she was changing hotels, but they hadn't tracked her down yet.  No foul play, but we did find out that the "tourist police" (their real name), do keep track of all of us every night. 

One cultural note.  These oasis people love their Chinese motorcycles.  They really decorate them too.  Here is one with a fair amount of "bling".  Haven't got a good picture of one that is really decorated up.

This, however, is a more typical mode of transportation.

Off to the White Desert tomorrow and a night of camping.

Thursday - Thanksgiving in Egypt

A four hour van ride to the Bahariya Oasis. Traveled through absolutely desolate desert.  There are a five major oasis in the Egypt's 1.2 million square mile Western Desert, and they have been inhabited periodically since Pharonic times.

Their primary development was during the Roman times.  And, indeed, not too many years ago, they stumbled on a Roman Necrotorium that contained 10,000 mummies!

Gloria and I are the only ones in our "motel".  Definitely 1-star.  Mohammed is our host, his favorite things in the whole world are American movies!?  Especially Mission Impossible.  He was wearing a Disneyland straw hat and had on a Mafia tee-shirt.  Hmm.

This is the classic "shower-toilet combo".  No, you don't take a shower while you are on the toilet, but it does save some room.  Unfortunately, the toilet seat, and floor are always wet!

Abubuck is our driver and guide the next few days.  Young guy 26 with two young kids. He picked us up at 7PM tonight to take us to dinner.  His favorite restaurant in town, maybe the only restaurant!  Locals only, but very pleasant.  Really, only choice for the menu.  Salad, soup, rice, chicken or meat, beans.  Gloria went vege, I sampled the chicken.  All very good, I think the chicken was very fresh.  Cost, including a bottle of water was $4 per person.  Abubuck just finished a friend's 4 day wedding celebration, so he didn't eat, he just sat at our table and talked to us.  He is very attentive.

This picture is a classic.  Not sure what it means, but one I had to get.

 

Was does "LOCAL HANDCRAFT" really mean??

Wednesday - Bus ride back to Cairo

Not much going on today, another 9 hour bus ride to Cairo.  I am actually writing this on the bus.  Pretty comfortable, fortunately nobody is in the seat in front of me, if they were, with the seat laid back, I would have the top of their head in my face.  I may get lucky for the rest of the trip. (evening update: that didn't last long, and I did have his head in my face for 7 hours) Some of you have wondered how I do this blog. For those of who aren't skip this next section!

I did take my little laptop with me on this trip and I use the program "Windows Live Writer".  It allows me to write the entries and insert photos wherever I am and stores them for later uploading.  Usually that is in the hotel room each night.

Most hotels have WiFi access now.  Not always in the room, but usually in the lobby.  If a hotel doesn't, we can usually find an Internet cafe that has WiFi.  For the price of a drink or a sandwich, we can hop online to upload the blog, download our email, and check the news. (Rain in Twain Harte!)

As we have met a lot of people on this trip, many are traveling by themselves. Some for many months.  One thing that helps them is they are all "connected" with home.  All have their cell phones with the appropriate card, and all "instant message" family. 

Got into the hotel tonight, yes another 9 hours on the bus.  6:30AM is our van pickup to the western desert.  Heard it is quite primitive, you may not hear from us for 4 days.

Yes, I admit it, I miss Starbucks.

Tuesday - Scuba Diving

Met our scuba guide this morning, Ali, he was quite insistent that we needed to do a check-out dive, since we had no log book to prove we had dived in the last 6 months, (it has been two years),

Both Gloria and I have been diving for more than 30 years with around a hundred dives each under out belts, but he wasn't going to be talked out of it.

It was a bit laborious, but we satisfied him in our skill and knowledge, and had a relatively good dive.  Didn't go real deep, which was just as well since this was the only cloudy day since we have been in Egypt.

We did return at 4PM for our afternoon dive with a French guide.  It was fun just listening to her!  Felt like we were in "Ratatouille". (Thank you spell checker!).  Another shallow dive, around 50 feet, but some rather incredible coral gardens.  A good dive.  Now we can say that we have dived the Red Sea.

I have already talked about the economy a bit.  With the world economy in the dumper and the Iraq War, people are traveling a lot less, especially in the Middle East.  Gloria and I guessed that about one third of the buildings in town are either abandoned or they are partially built.

When we eat out once a day, if it is a "fancier" restaurant, and for every breakfast at our hotel, we are the only people eating.  ALL of the shops selling souvenirs are empty, some off the main track never see a shopper, I don't know how these people can even stay in business. And, this is the high season, I can't imagine what it is like in the summer when it hits 120 degrees!  Dinner was at a fancier restaurant, about $13 for the two of us.  It included, a large Greek salad, (their feta is almost as good as you find in Greece, spreads like butter!), lentil soup, a medium vege pizza, and one fanta.  And sure enough we were the only ones there except for the dog.

Almost 100% of the people here are from Europe, primarily southern Europe, (Italians are huge here) and eastern Europe, (numerous restaurants, and dive shops with only Russian signs).

Monday - St. Catherine's Monastery

As I mentioned yesterday, this is an oldie.  The problem with this visit was, again, the crush of people, it was absolutely impossible to move in the monastery, and indeed only two parts were open.  The  Basilica of the Transfiguration, with no photos, and a very grumpy looking Coptic Orthodox Christian priest sitting there glaring at you.  On our way through the Basilica, we were showed  a door from the 4th century.

The other accessible area was the "burning bush" remnant.  Tradition states that is straggly bush originated from Moses' burning bush encounter with God.   Again, a crush of people, none who spoke English all pushing and shoving to see and touch the bush.

A couple of notes on St. Catherine.  She was one of the most popular early Christian saints.  Born into a wealthy Alexandrian family in the early 4th century.  She was tortured for her beliefs, first spun on a spiked wheel, then beheaded. 

She did get the last "laugh" though. On her last "spin" the wheel fell apart killing all of her torturers. The 2nd string torturers cut her head off.

 

On a whole different note, the maids enjoy "bed art" here in Egypt.  Here are two of their latest creations from our towels!

This is a Daffy Duck pillow with two swans

We think this is a cross between a crocodile and a scorpion, with two swan escorts

Monday - Mt. Sinai

As promised, our taxi was here at 11PM last night for our trip to Mr. Sinai and St. Katherine's Monastery.  Six or so checkpoints and a couple of passport checks later, we arrive at our destination around 2AM, then a climb until 4:30AM.  Very cold, hundreds, if not a thousand plus people and at least  100 plus camels on the path to the summit.  The camels were everywhere as "sag wagons" for those who couldn't make it to the summit.

 

The last part of the trek was 750 steps.  Wouldn't have been to bad except for the crush of people in front of you and behind you.  As you neared the summit you could look into the valley behind you and think you were seeing Interstate 5 on the Grapevine; a steady line of flashlights.

 

That is the dust and camel poop we breathed for 2 and a half hours!

Once you get to the top, it is an hour and a half wait for sunrise.  So you rent a pad and camel blanket for $2 each, huddle up so you don't freeze, and try to catch a little sleep.

But the sunrise was spectacular!

We descended a different way then we went up.  We went down the "Steps of Repentance", 3,750 steps assembled by one monk many centuries ago as his penance to his faith.

Desolation beyond imagination.

Sunday - Snorkeling and leaving for Mt. Sinai

Hey, a day off!  Got up late this morning, (8AM for us), had a leisurely breakfast downstairs, then went out to the "Lagoona" for a couple of hours of relaxing and snorkeling.

Also entertainment.  This is THE place for windsurfing and kite surfing.  We have complained of the wind the last few days, not everybody does.  We counted over 75 windsurfers and probably 15 kitesurfers.

And it was windy.  We snorkeled around the point of the lagoon, dodging windsurfers.  The first 100 yards the water was about 3 feet deep, coral pretty close to your chest, then it dropped off endlessly.  A nice place to snorkel. Clear visibility, lots of healthy coral and many fish of all sizes.

The afternoon was pool time and time to catch up on the myriad of reading material we brought.

This is the view of the pool  A 5 star view for a 3 star hotel!  Our first shower was confusing.  Couldn't get the soap to lather up. Just attributed it to very hard water.  Next shower, I actually opened my mouth to see what was going on and discovered it was salt water!  Not sea salt concentration, but definitely salty, hence no lather.  Now we know why there are always a couple of packets of "Pert" shampoo in the bathroom, that is what we use for soap, it does lather.

Tonight we leave at 11pm for the beginning of our assault on "Moses Mountain", or Mt. Sinai.  After a 2 hour bus ride and a 2 hour hike, we arrive on the summit for sunrise.  On our way back tomorrow morning, we visit St. Catherine's Monastery, which they began building in 527AD, and is thought to be the oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery in the world.

Saturday - Camel Trek and Snorkeling in the Red Sea

Another early taxi pickup to the camel staging area. We mounted our camels for an hour and a half ride on the coast to an excellent snorkeling area.

Ibrahim and his brother Achmed were our camel tenders as we rolled back and forth for several miles.  Camels are unique in that unlike horses or dogs, the two left legs move together, then the two right.  Hence the term "ships of the desert" because they sway back and forth like ships.  Also, their feet are like flattened toilet bowl plungers, great for walking on the sand or pebbles.

 

The camels were quite well behaved, Gloria's talked more than mine but they got up and lay down on command.  Quite a ride when they are doing so, you really need to hang on so you neither flip over their head or go sailing over their tail.

This is a view of the "village" where we stopped to snorkel and have tea.  About 20 people live here, Ibraham, Achmed, his 4 sisters and his parents, and about 12 more.  20 total.  They have electricity, but they have to bring all their water in by truck.  The mountains in the background are on the other side of the Gulf of Akaba, in Saudi Arabia.

Oh, so you don't think they are too backward, Ibraham has two cell phones, he was talking on them half the time we were trekking.

Snorkeling was excellent, went twice.  About 60 foot visibility, we are looking forward to the SCUBA in a few days.

Friday - The bus to Dahab

Not a really newsy day today.  Took a bus from Cairo to Dahab, it was a 7 hour bus ride that 9 hours.  Went through over a dozen checkpoints, and had our passports checked at least 6 times.  Unfortunately, terrorists have hit the Sinai resorts three times in the last 4 years, so everybody is a little edge.  Fortunately, they always hit the resorts on a holiday.  There aren't any in the next few days.

The above road sign, (besides the security concerns), are why we don't rent a car and drive out here.

This is the typical view in the Sinai Peninsula, very dry, nothing grows here.  No wonder the Israelites were so grumpy during there 40 years of wondering about.

After arriving in Dahab, we walked around a bit, checked out the Lonely Planet Guidebook and settled on this restaurant.  You choose which sea creature you would like to consume, they then cook it for you.  We chose the Sea Bass.  Here it is.

Along with the fish was soup, salad, pita bread, two dips, rice, (and bones).  Good meal.  Tomorrow is snorkeling and the camel ride.

Thursday - Cairo Museum

First of all, this is going to be a fairly short blog.  Photos are outlawed in the museum, indeed they did a fairly thorough metal detector and pat down of everyone who walks in the door.  If you have a camera, it has to be checked, similar to to a coat check.  If you are found with a camera, they either keep it or have you delete your entire card.  Needless to say, there were no cameras inside the museum.

The museum was built in the late 1800's and is similar to the British Museum in London.  It is huge! (and full of people). Fortunately, Ibraham was our guide so he took us to certain areas of the museum with a thorough explanation of each.  Without that your eyes would glaze over at the volume of artifacts, (120,000) at last count.

The are currently building a new museum out by the Giza Pyramids that is much larger and much more user friendly.  Many of the exhibits have no explanation in Arabic or English.  Indeed, they have another 150,000 artifacts in the basement, not on display.

The hallmark of the museum is King Tutankhamun tomb contents. As I believe I mentioned earlier, it was discovered intact, with very little disturbance in 3,500 years.  It actually took four years just to catalogue and empty the tomb in the 1920's.  The death mask is the most famous, and it is a spectacular in real life as in photos.  Also, the inner most sarcophagus is of solid gold, 253 pounds! The tomb contained over 1,400 artifacts.

The rest of the museum contained countless statues, jewelry, and mummies.  A couple of interesting foot notes.  When the Romans showed up on the seen about 200BC, they also mummified many who died.  But there twist on the process was to have the likeness of the individual painted on wood and bound to the face portion of the mummy.  So, they have discovered many mummies with faces on them!  These were primarily Roman citizens that had moved there, and their likenesses were as modern as you would see in the mirror.

Also, they discovered in a nobleman's tomb, many dioramas of normal Egyptian life some 4000 years ago.  They included a horse auction, spinning wool for fabric, scenes of sailing ships, home life, cooking, etc.  Each diorama was about 3 by 2 feet, the figures were about 6-8 inches tall.  All in perfect condition.

Much more to tell, but we did buy a couple of books for you to look at!

Thursday - Mosque - Church - Synagogue

After a relatively painless 11 hr. overnight train ride from Luxor, we arrived back in Cairo for one day to see the sights and hit the Cairo Museum.

Our guide today is Ibraham.  Tall guy, about 6'4", found out he used to be on the country's basketball team.  In year's past he studied in Germany, and knows English, German, Spanish and Arabic.  Very smart guy, really knows his history and is a devote Muslim.  So much so that he carries his prayer beads with him in the taxi, similar to rosary beads and has a flat spot on his forehead from his daily prayers.

First was the Citadel, home to Egypt's rulers for over 700 years.  Building was begun by Saladin in 1176.  It includes mosques, museums and battlements (vital during the Crusades).  However, it is dominated by the 19th century mosque of Mohammed Ali, (not the boxer). An interesting story is that he modeled it along lines of the great imperial Ottoman mosques of the day.  France offered to donate a large clock for the mosque if Ali would give him one of the Egyptian obelisks from the Luxor temple.  He agreed but to the country's despair since it was delivered in 1849 the clock has never worked and nobody, French or Egyptian, has bothered to fix it!

Much of it is constructed out of alabaster.  I thought only small perfume bottles were made out of alabaster.

Gloria did get busted when we went into the mosque,  her tee shirt and capris did not past muster with the ladies at the entrance, so they draped her in this special robe.  Interesting, there were only two other women at that time, out of several hundred that were similarly draped.

After the mosque we moved on to the Coptic Christian (Hanging)church.  Tradition tells us that this church was built where "The Holy Family", Joseph, Mary and Jesus, spent time when they traveled to Egypt.

Indeed, tradition states that this is the washbasin that they used.  History here is a bit fuzzy.  This church was built in the 4th century, then rebuilt in the 11th century.  It is called "hanging" because it was built on top of the Water Gate of the old Roman fortress. (There is glass in the floor so you can see how far above the ground you are).

Beautiful stained glass throughout the church.

Finally, we spent a few minutes in the Jewish Synagogue by the citadel.  Ibraham knew the rabbi there, they were quite good friends.

So, to finish this blog, I must report on my questioning of Ibraham concerning what the Koran says about non-Muslims.  When I asked him if indeed the Koran states that it is the Muslims right and responsibility to kill all non-Muslims, he seemed quite upset.  Not at me, but the notion.  First, he blamed all of this on the media after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.  He suggested I read the Koran itself, (one can get it on Amazon for less than $10) to see what Mohammed had to say.

First of all, he said that Allah told Mohammed that Muslims should never try to convert others to Islam if they weren't interested, ("not even your uncle").  And he also stated that Mohammed said in the Koran that people of all faiths, including Christians and Jews, (Koran was written around 500AD) should be respected and loved.

He went on to say that Muslims are to kill no one, especially women and children, and the only time they are to take someone else's life is in battle, when you look your enemy in the eye.

So, there you have it from a devoted Muslim.  Frankly, all I have heard about Islam is from either the media, or from a Christian spokesperson, I have not read the Koran myself. One has to question conclusions that may have been based on Koranic scripture taken out of context.  I am only the messenger here, but I do respect Ibraham's perspective.  He concluded by saying that it is all people's responsibility to love others, since God first loved us.