Tour Egypt

Day one of the tour takes us to the first ever pyramid in Sakkara and the great pyramids and sphynx in Giza. The pyramids are incredible. It is believed by many that the tomb of King Cheops still remains in the great pyramid and the one ‘discovered’ is a fake. Unfortunately there are many hustlers and sellers at the pyramids. Steve was approached by a large arab man who said “I have a gift for you” and Steve kept saying “no money, no money” and the guy kept saying “its a gift, welcome to egypt” etc... So the arab pulls a white cloth/headband out of his bag. He puts it on Steve and its like an arabian head cover for the desert. His sidekick puts a scarf around my head and we pose for a photo with the arab. The arab proceeds to take Steves sunglasses off to show him his reflection, and then puts them on himself. The guy shakes Steve’s hand and tries to walk away- but Steve doesn’t let go of his hand. He takes his glasses back. At this point the Arabs side kick is trying to put the same thing on me and I insist no (remember the do not engage rule) so the guy puts it in my hand. I am trying to get to Steve but he is blocking me. I’m getting mad and calling to Steve “nothing is free!” The guy blocking me starts saying “Its a gift, low price, its a gift, low price”. Scammers! Steve isn’t buying from the arab so his buddy thinks I will?! I am mad now. I have been saying no and trying to return the rag in the bag but he puts his hands up and says “its a gift, low price.” GRR!! I see the big arab getting too close to Steve as he flicks his chest pocket, nobody touches my hubby. I feel that this is all getting too aggressive. Thats it. I drop the bag at my guys feet and push my way to Steve. I pull the rag off Steve’s head, stuff it in the Arabs shoulder bag, take Steve by the arm and drag him away. The arab yells “you lucky man!” Relentless!!! They just don’t give up! Steve was a little mad at me because he didn’t get his free hat. I had to explain through my clenched teeth that NOTHING IS FREE HERE and how his buddy was trying to make me pay for the rags! Besides, he agreed he would never wear it again anyway. I was actually getting nervous with it all- there are many tourist police around but I have a feeling these scammers can disappear before we can get help. Other people come up to us with crystal pyramids, postcards, and jewelery. I am getting impatient because I just want to see the pyramids! One woman is following us and won’t leave, I lose it and yell “just leave us alone!” I felt bad after- I don’t usually yell at complete strangers. I felt like crying. Steve took me to a quieter corner of the pyramid so we could get some photo’s. I have developed my technique of “veering left”. When people start walking to us I just veer extreme left. I think its an obvious signal to stay away from me and it gives me space so I can keep walking...it doesn’t always work. We all made it back to the van and shared out various hustler stories. Our guide is Wyall- he explains that the hustlers have a scam that goes like this: they offer a price, say “5 egyptian pounds” so you go to pay your five pounds and they say “no no, I said 5 hundred pounds” and once you’ve engaged, good luck getting away. Wyall advises that we ask him what the prices should be before we buy stuff and he will give us an idea of a fair price. We went to a view point to see the pyramids from some distance. We are warned not to snap photos of the camels nearby or the hustlers will demand large sums of money. I am only interested in the pyramids anyway. They are something else! Finally we go see the Sphynx, which is much smaller than I imagined! My camera dies so we borrow a battery from one of the Aussies to snap a couple shots. We are being harassed there too, so I don’t care that we leave after only a few minutes. We stop at a market to get dinner and breaky for our overnight train ride to Aswan. We return to the hotel to shower and I charge the camera battery. We head to the train station. A third class train is pulling out of the station- locals are jumping on as it moves, there are people stuffed between the cars and on the back. A second class train pulls in. Its a gong show. The train is packed, the sides appear to be covered in various liquids that have been thrown out the windows, its really gross. There is obviously no AC so the windows are opened as far as they go- maybe six inches, The windows are too dirty to really see in there so we only see arms hanging out the windows and peering eyes. I am relieved that tourists are not allowed to ride second or third class. The train pulls away and people jump on to fill the spaces between cars...
Our train arrives. The AC’d cabin is spacious, our chairs are reclineable, there are only tourists on board. We eat our snack dinner. We have really started to notice the chemical/preservative flavor in foods- our roomies called it ‘chemical bombs’. We have been eating mostly fresh breads and not much refrigerated or packaged stuff. We took a few bites of our cake and it was too chemically. The pretzels were nasty too. We each had an apple and hot dog bun for dinner. The train ride was uneventful but uncomfortable - we both tossed and turned.
We checked into our Awan hotel, showered, and were off to see the High damn of Aswan. We are stopped and inspected at a road check before accessing the damn. Its one of the largest in the world and spans nearly 4km. Although its long, it is only 111m high. Many people were displaced when this damn was built and over ten temples/ancient monuments were relocated. The damn controls water flow on the Nile but produces only ten percent of Egypts power. The international bank wouldn’t fund the damn (as it was displacing people so it would make them look bad) so the Soviets stepped in. There is a monument on the damn signifying the friendship between Egyptians and the Soviets...when all the ancient sites had to be moved before lake Nasr filled up the Egyptian government refused to fund the endeavor! So, UNESCO and western nations piled resources to save the sites! Later, when we saw these places I found it strange that the rest of the world paid to save these monuments and today Egypt is undoubtedly reaping the benefits. Scammers.
Our next stop was the Temple of Philae located on an Island. It was beautiful, peaceful and secluded. We wandered in the quiet. We stopped by an ancient rock quarry to see the unfinished obelisk and then returned to the hotel. We took a boat at sunset to a Nubian village for dinner. Nubians consider crocodiles to be a symbol of good luck, so low and behold there was a young crocodile in the house- caged of course. One of the hosts took the croc out so we could each hold it. The first girl held it with out incident, then it was my turn. I was instructed to put my hands where the host had his hands- one on the body and the other around the neck and head. The croc was mad, and squirming, so when the host let go it thrashed and I freaked and let go of the head- apparently thats not a good idea. I was screaming and everyone took cover- I jumped back but I didn’t let go of the tail part- I didn’t know if the croc was going to swing around and bite me. It felt like one of those toy snakes where you hold the tail and the body slithers around. I wanted to drop it but I didn’t want to lose this families lucky pet. The host grabbed the neck and I let go and ran around shaking my hands and basically freaking out. The croc was just a little one (maybe 2 ft) but powerful! I try again. This time I hold further up the body and I clamp down on its ugly little head. I get my picture and give it back. I thoroughly scrubbed my hands after so I don’t contract salmonella or some reptile disease. Steve doesn’t even go near it- he hates reptiles. Dinner was delicious and we sailed back down the Nile to our hotel. But we only sleep a few hours, wake up call is at 0300hrs. We are heading to Abu Simbel and the “convoy” leaves at 0400hrs. Convoy? Yup. Convoy. I ask Wyall about the convoy, he sorta beats around the bush and says its for safety but more so to control the speed on the highway. Yeah right. I call bull shit on that. I asked if any other places needed convoys and he said “they used to, since ’97, but most of them are no longer deemed necessary”. No one in the group seems to show any concern. Apparently I’m the only one in the group aware of the attacks on tourists and because this excursion is optional I would like some details. I whispered to Steve “97 is when they killed all those tourists” we wait for the others to scatter and I press for more details. Wyall describes the disaster of 97 to us- where he was, its effects, and what has been done for safety. There is still a threat in Egypt, but the radicals “don’t have any weapons.” Wow, thats just great. We take the excursion. At 0400 we are lined up with dozens of other tour vans and busses. All vehicles are inspected. The convoy is led with armed guards and no one drives with their lights on. I don’t know if no lights is just how they roll here...but seemed strange considering it was dark out! The drive is 3 hours, I doze on and off but don’t really sleep. We arrive to Abu Simbel. This place is fabulous! We enter the temples, there are signs saying “no photos” but Steve and I sneak a couple flash-less shots. Its incredibly hot at this place even early in the morning, so we quickly tour then join an early convoy back to Aswan. The drive back was the worst ever. Our driver was a maniac. He was following the van in front of us close enough to not see the bumper. Thankfully we had seat belts and even more thankfully we never crashed. I don’t understand the driving. Wyall and most of the group was sleeping and I thought for sure we were toast. The driver would tailgate kitty corner to the van in front of us, sometimes he would drive up beside the van and they would exchange gestures and laugh. Other cars zoomed by and he would pull in behind the van. I should have said something...I told Wyall when we were safely off the maniac mobile that the driver was psycho and reckless- some of the others who saw the driving also complained. In Aswan our group was split in two. Four members were leaving to cruise the Nile on a small ship while the rest of us were sailing on a felucca. The felucca was spacious. With only five of us on board, a captain, his mate, and Wyall, we had plenty of space to lounge. The deck was one big mattress shaded with a sheet- we could not stand upright. Our bags were stored in a crawl space under the deck. We drifted down the nile for 22km. No washroom on board so when you had to wee you just told the captain and he pulled over. There were too many people on shore for me to ever feel comfortable enough to go, and when we did get to shore more people seemed to appear out of nowhere. We finally stopped for the night, the mate prepared us a delicious dinner, then we went on land for some nubian music and a bonfire. The classic dancing around the fire got under way. No wood to burn in the desert so dead palm leaves were used. The leaves produced an intoxicating smoke but it was all fun. We returned to the Felucca and slept on the deck. We were given blankets but they weren’t necessary with the heat- Egypt doesn’t really cool off. We slept soundly while the mosquitoes feasted.
We had a little breakfast on the felucca and were then headed to Luxor. This would be our hottest day in Egypt. In the 48 degree heat we visited Kom Ombo and Edfu temples. On the east bank of Luxor we visited the massive Karnak temple, here we could see some interesting hieroglyphics. Steve was occupied by an ancient calendar dating 4000 years. It was the first discovered and the calendar we use today is based on it. I liked the carvings depicting ancient surgical tools. After this stop we were too darn hot and visited the Luxor temple from the comfort of the air conditioned van. I can’t explain the heat of this day! We were sweating profusely, just like in spin class, minus the exertion. The wind was hot and it was torture when it blew. We couldn’t sit on anything- even in the shade the stone was burning hot. Wyall explained that people are allowed to go home from work if the temperature reaches 50 degrees, so at 48 they stop gaging it :-) I told Wyall how our school closed at -40 degrees and that was shocking for him...This hot day also happened to be Canada Day! We went to an Irish pub to play pool and rehydrate. The next day we toured the west bank of Luxor which included the Valley of the Kings and Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple. We started the day early to avoid the intense heat but even at 0800hrs the Valley of the Kings was HOT! This valley was chosen for its dry climate and hidden location. We were permitted to enter three tombs. We were amazed at the condition of the paintings and hieroglyphics in them! The colors were beautiful. All the temples in Egypt were originally painted but the weather and time has taken its toll. To see the colors and work in the tombs still remaining after 3000 years was super neat! I mentioned earlier how no pictures are permitted in the tombs. Other than the “no photo’s” sign there is no warning of what will happen to you if you break the rule...Wyall explained if you get caught your camera is taken away and you have to pay to get it back from the guard (no set fee, its a bribe). Then the perpetrator is usually marched to the tourism police where they charge you 50 egyptian pounds per photo and erase them off your camera! If you bribe the guard enough you can avoid the police action. Steve and I decided it wasn’t worth sneaking any photos in any more tombs. Our group was busy admiring a tomb when it happens- a flash goes off! We all give eachother the ‘oh shit balls’ look and rush to see who broke the rule. We saw a european woman and her man...an egyptian security guard was running to her. He basically lunged for her camera. She bent over to hide the camera, he was reaching over her shoulder trying to snatch it from her hands. She was yelling “its my camera and my photo!” The struggle continued and her man tried to block the guard too. The guard isn’t wearing a traditional uniform, he is in a blouse robe that reaches the floor and a white turban so I don’t know if the couple knew he was a guard. After a few minutes we started to leave but they were still fighting- the guard was yelling for back up, as we walked by I told the man he has to pay... I found the physical aspect of this episode surprising. If a guard did that to me I know Steve would jump in and help me-probably kick some ass! We left the scene and went to a tomb higher up in the rocks. We had to climb a large stair case into a crevasse and then climb down into the tomb. It was sweltering in this tomb. After a few minutes my legs were too wobbly and the thick hot air was barely breathable. I had to leave- by the time I climbed out I was drenched and sweat was running down my face, arms, legs...the air outside felt better. Its amazing how the heat penetrates the rocks and the rocks retain the heat- that tomb was like an oven. The Hatshepsut Temple was incredible too! But holy moly the heat!!! We did a quick visit and bailed. Hahaha! I look back at my photos and wonder why I didn’t take more, but then I remember that unbearable heat. You breath in and feel the hot air in your lungs. There aren’t hustlers in the perimeter of the sites in the south which is a relief. But from the exit to the parking lot you have to push through a gauntlet of people shoving things in your face to buy. I have concluded that these people go to the same hustler school because they all use the same lines! They always ask “where you from?” we either ignore them (which makes me feel rude) or we say Canada- they all reply “Oh, Canada Dry!” and then “welcome to Alaska.” Everywhere they said this. Steve finally has enough and would say “you don’t even have Canada dry here anymore.” Sometimes we just say “no english” so then they try spanish. The men really like Steves beard and compliment him endlessly. They also inform him “you lucky man” because he has me- and I agree and rub it in how lucky he is :) And then they ask “how many camels?”
Later in the afternoon we drive 3 hours to the city of Hurgada located on the Red Sea. We go out for a seafood dinner and are soon in bed. The next morning we board a large ship and head out for a day of snorkeling and swimming. The water is beautiful- deep shades of blue, turqoise, and green. The water is clear and we see many fish among the coral. We have the next day to do as we please...we opt to sleep in! Later we all decide to hit up the Hard Rock Cafe. Wyall flags us a cab and tells us it will cost between 15-20 pounds each way. No problem, we can manage an unescorted outing. Steve and I pound back a plate of nachos and they were soooo good! We should’ve stopped at the nachos, but no, we share a brownie with icecream and we are so bloated and full we just want to go back to sleep. We have to get back to the hotel. The cafe is a little out of the way so some time passes before a cab appears. Steve tells him where we are going and says ’20 pounds’. We all pile in. The cabbie drives 130km/hr at one point. His meter is ticking away- in piasters, which are cents. We make it to the hotel after a few wrong turns. The meter says 896 piasters. We all get out and Steve is left to pay the tab. Now, 896 piasters is equal to almost 9 pounds, but the cabbie says “896 pounds.” Steve says “No, its in piaster” the cabbie argues and says “your friend said you pay in straight egyptian” whatever that means...so Steve says “no, you get 10 pounds” and the cabbie didn’t move or say anything, Steve knows it should cost 15-20 but he wants to scam this scammer. Steve finally threw 20 pounds over the seat and got out. Imagine paying $200 CAN for a 10 minute cab ride!!!
We leave Hurgada at midnight and drive to Cairo. We arrive at 0700 and have a nap before heading to the museum. We saw the goodies from King Tut’s tomb- the only one in the Valley of the Kings discovered to be completely intact. It was incredible! King Tut’s mask is unbelievably beautiful. Some estimate it to be the single most valuable item in the world. We see more really ancient stuff and some mummies of the animal and human kind. We also see a copy of the rosetta stone. For some reason the original is in the British museum. We also visited the old city of Cairo and saw the area in which Mary, Joseph, and Jesus hung out for 2 years while hiding from King Harod. We finished the day at a bazaar- nothing like a big hassle in the heat!
Overall, we enjoyed our time in Egypt but have decided its a “been there done that” kind of place. We found it to be a constant hassle, I couldn’t handle the people anymore- we cannot recall meeting one single nice genuine person in Egypt. Sorry, but from what we experienced there are too many scammers who constantly stare and hustle- women are not equal. I won’t even write some of the comments that I heard...At this point in time I am not interested in ever going back. Ever.