Country Review: Egypt

We hate that we were there; we love that we went. Egypt’s future is one of uncertainty, which is part of the reason why we chose to go this holiday. There is definite political tension and uneasiness of the unknown among the people. We are so glad we chose to go, but it would take massive incentive to get us to return. It is only weeks later that I can relish and truly appreciate what we saw by regaling tales to our co-workers and students.

Cairo Sights

Egyptian Museum: This was a huge, jam-packed building of everything Egyptian. Though I was really miffed that cameras were not allowed inside, it was really awesome to touch hieroglyphics, compare mummy wrappings and gawk at all the gold. Be forewarned that scam artists hassle visitors before the gate saying it is closed for different reasons in order to detour them to another door with higher priced tickets and a commission for them.

Coptic Cairo: A definite highlight of Cairo. Ironically, Muslims will constantly say Islam is a religion of peace, but after comparing visits to Muslim Cairo and Coptic Cairo, I think they have a lot to learn about peace. Within the gated walls of Coptic Cairo we were given free guided tours of the churches, no hasslers, no scammers; nothing but peace and quiet. The history was incredible and we could truly enjoy it because we weren't constantly interrupted.  

Giza Pyramids: Be prepared for interference by random Egyptians on the way to the site. People will try to stop taxis in order to ask for bribes just to get to the site. They will actually throw themselves onto taxis. Thankfully, we had a no-nonsense taxi driver who gunned it and won every chicken match.

Forget trying to stand and gaze upon the behemoths in quiet solitude. If the camel and horse jockeys aren't chasing you around the pyramids, some worker will take it upon himself to tell foreigners that they are in the wrong spot only to eventually ask for bribes. We actually hid in some of the rubble so we could gawk at the amazing structures. 

The biggest surprise of the Giza pyramids was the Sphinx; it is so small. I imagined this colossal statue, but compared to its surroundings, it is tiny.

Cairo Food

If it hadn't been for couchsurfing we might have starved. We quickly learned that street food is a specialty rather than a normality - restaurants were nearly non-existent. We quickly learned that if we found food, we bought it whether we were hungry or not. What we did find was wonderful and yummy, or as our Chinese students always say, "Delicious."

Cairo Transportation

It is a backpacker's nightmare. Public transportation is a joke. The only way around is by taxis that are manned by inept and corrupt drivers. Expect them to never actually get you where you need/want to go. Also expect to have exact change, because they will pretend you are their first fare and will not be able to give change for even the smallest note. It takes a lot to admit, but if I had to do Cairo again, I would do it on a tour bus.

Cairo Accommodations

We stayed with couchsurfing hosts and it was one of the best aspects to our time in the city. They were knowledgeable, hysterical, entertaining and hospitable. I looked forward to returning to their home every evening.

Luxor Sights

Valley of the Nobles: It was recommended that we visit this site for its non-touristy vibe and unique hieroglyphics. The security is lax, so I actually was able to take pictures and enjoy the tombs.

Valley of the Kings: By luck we hit this site during the tour bus lunch hour. No cameras allowed, many tombs are closed (which is not always depicted on the signs) and the ticket man tried to steal an extra ten Egyptians pounds from us as a bribe (which he eventually chased us down and returned). Nonetheless, we are happy that we chose to see this site and were pleased to know that with the entrance fee we were allowed to visit three tombs.

Karnack Temple: By far one of the best things to see in Egypt. We loved everything about the Karnack.

Luxor Food

Food was in plethora in this tourist hub. One evening, we ate at a fantastic Italian restaurant; I can't remember the name but it was near the Puddle Duck Pub. Another evening, we had a picnic in our hotel room of feta cheese, olives, falafal and pita. This meal is one of my favorite memories of our trip.


Luxor Transportation

For some reason, foreigners are relegated to traveling through Egypt at night. It is absurd, and I quickly remembered that I detest night travel. To get to Luxor we traveled by train. We had an Egyptian purchase our tickets, so we were in second class. If we had purchased them, it would have been triple the cost and we would have been forced into first class (which is no different than second.) It was hell, nonetheless. It was miserable--cold, the florescent lights didn't turn off, the train stopped every thirty minutes, harkers were constantly walking the aisles yelling 'shan....tea.'

The beauty of Luxor is that everything is within walking distance. We love to walk; no hassling. There are kaleeshes (horse drawn buggies) with handlers that will harass, but it was nothing like Cairo. We did take a kaleesh to the Karnack and had a hysterical time when the driver tried to con us out of five British pounds declaring that we were British. We had a good laugh and told him to work on his accent recognition as we paid him five Egyptian pounds.

For our day on the West Bank we hired a taxi for the day. There are many options, bartering is a must and we got our driver for 80 Egyptian pounds.

Luxor Accommodations

We stayed in the El Luxor, not to be confused with The Luxor which was in the process of being demolished (Side story: The guidebooks tell you to beware of scammers who will tell you that your hotel is closed/being renovated/being torn down just to take you to another hotel where they get commission. We ignored all taxi/kaleeshe drivers on the way to our hotel. Many times we stopped to ask for directions from the locals. Once we arrived at our destination, we learned that The Luxor was indeed being demolished. The trouble was that we were not staying at The Luxor.) We got a wonderful deal through hotels.com, the rooms were clean (and had a bathtub!), the staff was nice, there was a pool and breakfast was included.

Dahab Sites

St. Catherine's Monastery/Mt. Sinai: It was a potential to-do before we went to Egypt. We aren't disappointed that we went, but as with most things in Egypt, it didn't go as expected. We loved what we saw of the monastery, but was saddened at how little of the monastery we actually got to see. It felt like a quick run through, only to marched up the mountain. The climb up Mt. Sinai is complete with camel jockeys following you and constantly saying, "Seven kilometers...long walk....ride my camel."

Our sightseeing was finished at 4:30pm; our van didn't return for us until 7:30pm. We had been told we would be back in Dahab by 2-3pm. We had eaten only breakfast, which was long gone by 7:30pm. Our hotel arranged the journey and upon their inquiry about the trip, we informed them of our frustration and recommended that they change who they use. 

Dahab Food

There were plenty of food options. Our best Egyptian meal was here, on the outskirts of town. It was super cheap, flavorful and filling. Thanks to non-existent tourism, we were able to eat at a waterfront Bedouin restaurant for super cheap. I loved the wood burning pits situated around the tables. The restaurant attached to our hotel, Sir Winston Pub, was a great source of cheap burgers and fries. We did a few picnics as well thanks to the local grocery store.


Dahab Transportation

We walked everywhere, which wasn't far considering everyday I practically ran to the beach and stayed.

Dahab Accomadations

Dahab Dorms: We originally booked for one night but ended up staying five nights. It was hostel; our room was actually a living suite with three bedrooms attached. Due to low tourist numbers, we ended up having the entire suite to ourselves the entire week. The hotel has beachfront property, complete with lounge chairs and cushions. The staff was top notch and extremely helpful in coordinating trips and even our taxi ride to the Sharm airport.

Other Thoughts

Egyptian Air was our airline to and from Egypt and they were exceptional. We wish most of our flights were with them as the aircraft was top notch, the staff was professional yet fun and the food was tasty.

Buses are the way to travel in Egypt. Cheap and clean; leaps and bounds better than a train.

One of the funniest things I saw was fully burka-clad women in the market holding up sexy lingerie and/or skimpy dresses, trying to decide whether the piece would fit them. It was hysterical.

Egyptian women are extremely stylish with their scarves. Fully clad or not, the detail they put into matching their clothes with headscarves was commendable. They were beautiful and I wanted to purchase tons of scarves because of their modeling. 

Travel by Numbers

We have returned to our adopted motherland. Our trip back into China was one of the smoothest parts of our entire journey; so much so that I commented to Zach that it felt as if China was opening her arms and saying, "Come, rest and welcome home!" Our bags aren't fully unpacked, laundry is piled knee deep (which includes a couple of sunscreen-plyed beach towels) and the spring semester starts in four days.

Though there is an adjustment in returning to normalcy,  I am excited to be back (especially to use my washing machine again.) Over the next couple of days, between planning classes and remembering Chinese words, I hope to do a series of reflections from our six weeks of mayhem and happiness. It has been fun to already begin reminiscing with Zach, as well as regaling tales to our co-workers. As part of our reflections (especially since Zach is a numbers man) we broke down our trip into numbers. The things one does when stuck on a bus for hours.

Miles traveled (city to city): 13,743
Hours on a bus: 101 (four days)
Hours on a train: 12
Hours on a plane: 26.5
Hours in a hired taxi: 3
Hours on a boat: 4
Number of couchsurfing homes: 4
Number of hotels: 9
Number of used sunscreen bottles: 2
Number of protest: 4
Number of new paintings: 2
Number of call to prayer we heard: 50
Number of Starbucks visited: 2
Number of new soccer jerseys: 2
Nights sleeping in a full bed: 19
Nights sleeping in twin beds: 19

Life of a Beach Bum

After weeks of extreme globetrotting, we have taken to Koh Tao like a barnacle to the bottom of a boat. Our days consist of sleeping, reading, eating and beach. Nothing more, nothing less. It is amazing.

Last Destination

It was the best bus stop ever.

With a full moon above, stars flecking the pre-dawn sky, waves lapping against the shore and empty lounge chairs awaiting sitters, our three hour layover between bus and boat was paradise. We had planned a grueling 24 hours of travel to reach our last vacation stop.

Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea was my reading selection during this part of the journey. Though tired and a bit incoherent, I found it appropriate for Jules Verne to have written:

At six o’clock it became suddenly daylight, with that rapidity peculiar to tropical regions, which know neither dawn nor twilight. The solar rays pierced the curtain of clouds piled upon the eastern horizon, and the radiant orb rose rapidly. I saw land distinctly, with a few trees scattered here and there.

Koh Tao, here we come.

Tale of a Psycho, Hammer Wielding Moto Driver

At its core, it was probably a simple lost-in-translation misunderstanding. Though reason and logic usually prevail, it didn't today and we seemed to have hired the moto driver from hell.

Life in Chau Doc is relatively slow paced and there isn’t a lot of things to see or do besides sit at a street side café and watch thousands of motos zoom by. We opted for an afternoon outing to Sam Mountain; mountain being the loose term as in one of the flattest regions, this mound of dirt isn’t too tall. However, we had read that it did offer amazing views and a few cool pagodas around its base. We bartered for motos and off we went.

Two hours later we feared for our lives. Gone were the happy sentiments of seeing miles upon miles of lush green rice fields from such a vantage point. Gone were the giggles about a plastered T-Rex. Instead we had stalking moto drivers who kept demanding we give them more money. They spoke no English, and we spoke no Vietnamese. Sadly, it is typical around the world for moto drivers to quickly “forget” that they have been paid. We thought it was one of those. We did our typical firm nos and kept walking down the mountain. They did not relent. One was loud but not forceful; the second driver became our bane.

He would not stop. He tried to grab Zach’s bag. He tried to grab me. He even rode ahead on his bike to grab a hammer from a shop and stood in the street. However, once the shop owner saw that he was planning on assaulting foreigners he quickly grabbed the hammer and ran. The guy rode ahead telling all motos not to take our fare. He kept trying to provoke Zach into a punching fight, but I kept myself between them, even giving him a few slaps and elbow stabs of my own. He tried to drive his moto into us, attempting to separate us. I had to keep grabbing Zach by the arm to keep walking as it was a mob mentality and the guy was beyond reasonable. Nobody was helping.

Finally after an hour of harassment and doing everything we could to get away from the guy, a Vietnamese guy on a bike rounded on our stalker, blocked his path and was giving him one hell of a lecture by the sounds that wafted to us as we kept walking. We are forever grateful for his intervention.

Approximately a kilometer down the road we hailed a taxi. Our adrenaline was high, we were upset, we were scared and we were in no mood to continue our Chau Doc explorations. Even though we ventured out for dinner, we were ever vigilant looking for the orange moto with the driver from hell.

Floating Market

Granted the Floating Market was a measly fifteen minutes of the entire six hour boat tour, but it was worth it. There is something special about starting a day on water, pre-sunrise.

There is something unique about ordering a coffee from a floating barista.

There is something disturbing about the number of plastic bags that can be found in one river. 

It is exhilarating to putter along tributaries, smile and wave at residents.

It is fun to eat Nutella and baguettes for breakfast.

It is hysterical to attempt to bridge the language gap between passengers and captain.

It is energizing to say, “I am glad we did that.”

It is spectacular to take an afternoon nap.

The Fifth Number Nine

One of my pet peeves in China is when trying to explain something or ask for help, Chinese will flail their arms and bellow “no English!” without even attempting to try to understand the situation. It is extremely annoying and frustrating as we know most don’t speak English, but gesturing and pointing to a map or something written in the native language is not that hard. I can now say that Vietnam falls into the category, as well. After the awesome hospitality of Thailand and Cambodia, I felt frustrated in Vietnam for their lack of friendliness.

We were on a simple quest, armed with a scrap of paper with an address. Unbeknownst to us, there would be four number nine residences prior to the actual number nine residence we were searching for. In this hunt we encountered some folks who were actually willing to look at the piece of the paper, but more times than not locals would try to deter us from looking into an alleyway or at addresses. Some were downright rude. Thankfully persistence paid off, so by late afternoon we had stumbled upon the one we were looking for and surprised Joel’s mom and her family.

After the initial shock of having two foreigners show up at their door, we had a great time chatting and catching up. It was so fun to see her in her element alongside her sister. They were a riot together, telling stories of their childhood. We didn’t stay long, but they wooed Zach by giving him a parting gift of a type of homemade shortbread stick which he had been devouring our entire visit.