EGYPT (PART 2)

Hello! 

As promised, here is part two of Egypt.

CAIRO:

Cairo and I have a love/hate relationship. It is chaotic and beautiful at the same time. There are beautiful government buildings right across the street from some of the slummiest project looking homes you can image! Typical of a government that has suppressed it’s people for 30 years I guess. We had read before we got here that the Egyptians will haggle you on prices for everything , so we were ready for the game, but seriously they were not joking!! From the minute we stepped through customs, we were bombard with people who “assured” us that THEY were the ones that we should trust. – not the other person! It’s like they knew their reputation and used even that as an angle to scam.  EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE we have talked to so far, has told us the same thing!  “You can trust me my friend”, but don’t trust that guy, or don’t trust the cab drivers, don’t trust the hotel concierge, don’t trust the tour guides, don’t talk to anyone on the streets, don’t talk to the street vendors, don’t..don’t…dont’”. IT’S INSANE! To me, all it does it not make me trust ANY of them.

We finally got a driver (and probably paid too much) to take us to our hotel.  By the way, DO NOT EVER rent or drive a car in Cairo, unless you really need to increase your prayer life! The locals are used to it, but they drive pretty fast and close to each other and apparently staying in the lanes is “optional”!  And if you don’t like the lane you are in, you can make a new one in the middle of two others!  And when you are not on a highway someone could pull up next to you on a motorbike with 2 or three other passengers (including babies and toddlers) or someone possibly riding on a camel or donkey!  I made the mistake of grimacing out loud and the driver turned around (while not slowing) to assure me “It was okay”. Wow!! And being a pedestrian is not much better. Remember that game “Frogger”, where the frog has to cross the pond on lily pads without getting smashed? Well Seer is convinced that crossing the street in Egypt was the inspiration for that game!

So we made it by God’s grace to our hotel and the next morning, we got another driver to take us to the Giza Pyramids!  (Of course he told us not to trust anyone once we were inside).  Once we got to the Pyramids, it was UNBELIEVABLE! We are fortunate enough to be there when there were very few tourist so we did not feel rushed through and we got to take pictures pretty close up. (We even got to touch a few of them).  (See pictures on Egypt, Part 1 blog)

The next day we made our way to the Egyptian Museum where all of the goods that were taken from inside the pyramids and tombs were kept.  They have insane security  (men with machine guns) on the outside and inside and once we were inside, we could see why!  There are some amazing artifacts from all over Egypt dating back to the beginning of time!  I am sure everything was worth trillions and trillions of dollars.  As an example, just the 2 coffins of King Tutankhamen (he had three) are there and both are made of pure gold! It was so awesome!  We were told we were not allowed to take any pictures.  At first we obeyed the signs, especially since the guards were walking around with machine guns, but once we realized that people could take pictures on their phones, we decided to take a few. Speaking of that, the place had so few foreigners that day; I guess the Egyptians decided to actually come out. But instead of taking pictures of the artifacts, they were taking pictures of us! Apparently DREADS are the coolest things they have EVER seen!! We have no idea how many people took pictures of us, but there were a few people that actually ASKED us to pose with them. (See photo of Egypt part 1)

But even with the Pyramids, the Nile and the Egyptian Museum, I found Cairo to be a big city that was way too chaotic for me.  And had it not been for our friend Ahmed that we met there, I would have written off Cairo all together. But it was nice to hang out with a local and have 2 meals with him and it made our experience so much more worth it. But if you come here, I would suggest only spending 2 or 3 days there because the rest of the country is beautiful and more relaxing. (If that is what you are looking for)

Seer and the Red Sea

Tajhir Square protest

Seer holding the key of life at Abu Simbel

Michelle with the only other person in the temple with us (the guard)

**UPDATE: Okay Cairo has actually become more endearing to me since I first wrote this.  On the last day we found ourselves at Tajhir Square and it was quite exciting! The Army was there protecting the protesters and invited us to join in.  I was very moved by the situation and loved how welcoming they were to us.  The Revolution has definately united them together and I was touched that they wanted to share that with us.  Everyone was smiling at us and high-fiving us as we were leaving.  It was amazing and I'm glad that we were there at that time. (The protest was basically about the fact that they wanted justice for the money that the last regime took from the country on their departure). They were very peaceful, and very passionate at the same time. That was actually one of the highlights of our time there, so I guess Cairo isn't so bad after all! :-)

LUXOR

We took a 10-hour train ride down to the middle of the country.  Immediately we can tell it was not as congested as Cairo and a lot more “indigenous”.  They have buggy rides and people dressed more “traditionally” with bizarre markets everywhere. But the best part was The Nile River.  Unlike Cairo, its natural environment with dessert and green shrubs at the same time surrounds the Nile in this region. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before! The river splits the town and so everything has a beautiful river view.  It was gorgeous and somehow fit in my head at what Egypt was supposed to look like!  Our cute hotel was a boutique hotel called “The Nefertiti” and had a beautiful rooftop café where we had breakfast everyday overlooking the Nile and right across from the famous Luxor Temple. 

It was here that we met our friends, Dan and Carla from Canada, who currently live in London.  Once we met them, we immediately clicked with them and spent the entire day with them.  We have met some amazing people on this trip whose stories have blown us away. I have deiced to post about everyone we’ve met along the way in another post because it is too many to list here.  But Dan and Carla get special mention here because they made the rest of our stay in Egypt so much more memorable and they are 2 beautiful people inside and out. I’m sure that we will run into them again in one country or the other!

If you ever get to Egypt, MAKE EVERY EFFORT to experience Luxor because if not, you will miss out on the culture and environment that is truly Egyptian.  We went to the beautiful temples with its amazing hieroglyphics still in tact. And it is here that we first took a felucca ride (small boat) across the Nile and sipped tea and ate falafels and pitas with our friends.  We sailed around till sunset. It was beautiful and quite a cultural experience.  Later on we ate an amazing meal with other friends. Our friends had the regional favorite “Pigeon”, but we weren’t that brave! (They said it was tasty, but not enough meat in case you were wondering)  Then took a horse and carriage ride around the city and got to see the whole bustling town.  (Unfortunatly, our driver was took optimistic about his horses ability and tipped us over.. but that’s another story) Other than that, Luxor was amazing!

 ASWAN

Our friends Carla and Dan went to Aswan a day before us and called us at the Nefertiti Hotel to let us know we SHOULD NOT dismiss coming to Aswan! As much as we loved Luxor, we were debating about staying there for the rest of our time. Boy are we glad that they called, because ASWAN, by far, is THE BEST place to be in Egypt.  Seer loved it so much that he wants to tell you about it. Here is his take on our time there:

Immediately when we first arrived in Aswan we noticed a huge contrast between the East and West bank of the Nile. The East side is a bustling tourist town with cruise ships, Mc Donald’s,  and the normal foray  of tourist traps. The West Bank is a Nubian village, which has an ancient tomb that overlooks it. No tourist trap, no hustle and bustle, and very rustic. Here we stayed at “Bet El Karem “which means “House of hospitality”.  This place was amazing!!! Thank you so much Dan & Carla. (Dan & Carla are the new found friends we met in Luxor who called us from Aswan and told us we would love it).  When we checked into our room we met Abdul, the owner.  Abdul told us that this is now “our” house and invited us to come with him on his boat for a Nile cruise, (no strings attached). Both Dan and I thought this was too good to be true after our experiences in Egypt, but surprisingly enough, it was! We were informed we were now in Nubia!!! Different music, different customs, but the same country. It’s a bit like going to visit the Cajuns in Louisiana, but totally different of course. This is Africa.

We were informed that the Nubian culture is based around the Nile in Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. The culture is very rich in customs and the people are very hospitable. Abdul was a wonderful host who had parties on his roof top restaurant every night. The cast of characters were extremely diverse from the Ambassador of Holland, a music producer for Mohammed Nuir who wrote the new Egyptian revolution song, a Dutch couple who are students driving from Holland to South Africa, and Abdul’s local friends and family. It was wonderful, and the conversations were very educational and intriguing.

As far as the physical beauty, it was pure desert and Nile.  One day at sunset, we rode camels to St Simeon’s monastery. This monastery is about 3 miles in the desert and is 300 years old. It was great.  The sun was setting right when we got there and the moon was rising over the sand mountains as we rode our camels back.  Gorgeous!

Another highlight was that I also got to swim in the Nile finally because the Nubians know the clean beaches and places to swim, Then we capped off our time there by going to Abu Simbel, which has the coolest temples in Egypt. Even more incredible was the fact we had the whole temple to ourselves. This is a temple that usually has 7000 visitors a day! We got to stroll through there after our guide explained everything and take our sweet time and absorb it all in. (Michelle even sang a song) We are coming back for sure.

HURGHADA

We decided to take a local luxury bus to the coast on our way back up to Cairo, instead of the train. There are some amazing beach towns on the coast of the Red Sea.  So we chose Hurghada as our stop. This town is pretty modern and as with all the towns on the coast is very scenic but pretty “homogenized” for Egypt.   The things that make Egypt so unique is lost in this Americanized version..  The best part was the Red Sea!! Wow!! The water is one of the most incredible blue/green colors I have ever seen! It is also very clear and the temperature was warm. What’s also interesting is that the water is full of minerals so it is pretty dense and made floating pretty easy. There were no waves so it was perfect for snorkeling all year long. We didn’t get a chance to arrange to go snorkeling so we just relaxed on the beach and went for a spa treatment instead. 

This is a must see if you come to Egypt, but don’t make it your only destination if you want to see the “real” Egypt.  It is pretty nice, but it is not very ‘ethnic’ and you will miss out on their awesome culture all together.  And if not, you might as well go to Florida and save your money!

Next we are off to Ethiopia! (In Sha Allah*)

*In Sha Allah (spelled phonetically) This is a saying that they use when parting ways or making promises.  If we say “See You Later”, then they will say “Inshaalla,” which is translated to mean, “God Willing”.  Meaning if God allows it, it will be.  We thought that was kinda cool and put into perspective that every day is a gift we should not take for granted.

Have a blessed day everyone! (because tomorrow is not promised)

XX,

Michelle and Seer

Travel Tip #14: Haggling or negotiating prices for almost everything is part of their culture in this region.  It can either be EXCITING or EXHAUSTING depending on your frame of mind.  Basically, just keep in mind that they really DO want to sell to you and are not being difficult, but this is their “bread and butter”! (Or pita and hummus depending on the way you want to look at it) 

Once we realized the game, we had to learn to have fun with it.  Here is the game in a nutshell:

1. You ask what the price is for something. This step will be repeated by you a minimum of about 3-4 times and will NOT be answered until they have first listed the “value” of whatever it is you want.
2. They will quote you are RIDICULOUSLY high price, with a straight face!
3. You will go along with it unsuspectedly because you haven’t done any research, which is what they are banking on. (NOT RECOMMENDED)
4. Since you have done some research (which could only consist of looking in a guidebook or by asking your hotel in advance).  You can then tell them the price you are willing to pay.  It is suggested that you quote a little bit lower than you are willing to pay to give room for negotiation.
5. Once you have done that, they will act completely INSULTED by your suggested price, no matter what it is! They will again tell you the value of what you want, but then after a beat or two will say ”because they like you” or “because you are their ‘friend/brother/sister/cousin/a Rasta’, they will give you a discount which will be a little bit lower than the price they originally quoted in Step #1.
6. At this point you can either start to walk away and politely decline or come up a bit on your original price.  
7. They will act like you have twisted their arm and/or wrestled them to the ground for that price and then agree to it. Or they may repeat Step #5 again. At which point, you repeat Step #6.
8. After coming up with a price in the middle, you take your goods, shake hands with a smile and go on your merry way!!
9.  CAUTION: If you have decided that you are no longer interested in something, this is where it can get complicated. Be aware that you will be followed at this point for anywhere between a few feet to a few yards and they will start yelling out various prices and quantities to change your mind. At this point, you have to be either very firm in your “NO THANK YOU” - no matter how much of a jerk it makes you feel. But if you DO change your mind, you can give in and agree to their new price.  Lots of times, this new deal will be to your advantage but should not be used as a “tactic” to swindle them out of a few cents. After all, this is their pita and hummus!

Here are some pictures:

Sunrise on the Nile