Egypt and the Pyramids

I can finally say that I have seen the Pyramids of Giza! Egypt has always been a place I have wanted to visit. When my trip was changed from Egypt to Greece and Italy in grade 12 - I knew that I would visit the Land of the Pharohs at some point in my life.

Arriving in Cairo for the first time is an experience in itself. The parking lot at the airport was a mess. Cars parked 3 deep, people pushing cars out of the way with their cars. It took about 15 minutes to back out of the parking stall.
My first 2 nights were spent in Cairo. I stayed at Brother's Hostel - decent place, located about 15 minutes walk from the Egyptian Museum (which is a must!)

I booked a private guide and driver for my visit to the Pyramids, Sphinx and Sacarra. Definitely pleased with that experience! My guide - Gab - has his degree in Egyptian Historical studies. He knew EVERYTHING! And his English was probably better than mine.

Opinion on Pyramids and Sphinx: a must see! The Sphinx is a lot smaller than expected. The pyramids live up to the stories and pictures. Although, there isn't much besides the structure itself. But to think how the people built such magnificent structures without any of the modern day technology - is quite astonishing!

Quick Fact: The Pyramids were not built by slaves like people think - they were built by the best workers of their trade - free men who worked for the Kings. It was a very respectful job building the tombs of a King.

The next day I spent just about 3 hours in the Egyptian Museum. What a place! The people do know how to jam pack statues, mummies, pottery and other artifacts into a museum. it's almost like when a sarcophagus is found, for example, they transport it to the museum and plop it down where ever tehre is room - and trust me - there are a TON of sarcophagus'!
I left for Aswan that evening. Decided to endulge in a sleeper cabin on the train ride. Was fed dinner and breakfast and had my own cabin with a bed. 15 hours - it was totally worth it!!!

Arrived to the heat in Aswan. Took a felucca ride (small sail boat) down the Nile River, stopping at Philae Temple and a really shitty Nubian museum. Met 2 cool guys from Montreal, Quebec. Had to hit the sack quite early since my tour of Abu Simbel started left at 3am. Abu Simbel was amazing! Quite the site. Met this British couple - Pal and Jaz. Very nice people - turns out that Pal comes to Calgary every once and a while to visit friends. Sounds like we'll go for a drink next time he's in town.
We all went our for dinner that evening (the ppl in the tour group). The first restaurant we stopped at I asked to see both the Arabic menu and the English menu. I asked Jaz to read the prices on the Arabic menu (since she can read some Arabic) and sure enough the prices were DRASTICALLY different! More than double for the same dish. We left there right away. Down the road we ended up eating at this little restaurant for 13 Egyptian Pounds for a 4 course meal. that works out to about $1.50

The following day I embarked on a 2 day Nile boat cruise. Instead of a cruise boat that we are use to, it was a felucca that I spent the next 2 days on. A sail boat with a bunch of pillows. I ate, slept, relaxed on this boat. There were 4 people on the boat with 3 crew members (and the captains girlfriend who slept the entire time).
We sang Nubian music, danced by the fire on the sand, played drums and relaxed for 2 days. Not to mention, I bathed and sawm in the Nile!!

After being on the water - it was nice to see land and drive to Luxor where I visited Luxor Temple and Karnak. Karnak was amazing! Luxor temple - I wasn't that impressed with. The Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens was next. The Valley consisted of tombs built into the ground for kings a well as the family of the kings.

An 18 hour bus ride (overnight) brought me to Dahab where I spent 2 more days. Dahab is on the Red Sea - more of a quiet beach town. Lots of kite surfers and divers. I snorkled in the "Blue Hole", saw some amazing fish and coral. The 2nd say I went out to the White and Colored Canyons. Hiking all day in the heat was quite - enjoyable (as strange as that sounds). Pictures don't do the place justice but it was quite a good experience. I had lunch cooked by Bedouins at an Oasis in the desert. That evening I smoked some Sheesha overlooking the moon on the water.

Today, there was a 9 hour bus ride back to Cairo. I met Mike, an American who has done quite a bit of traveling in the past. He had been to Lebanon and Syria last year. Got some very useful tips from him as well as some comfort about the politial situation in Lebanon. He is writing his thesis about the Lebanese political system.

I'm not lying in my room, listening to the wonderful sound of car horns. It's honestly, non-stop!! There literally isn't 5 seconds that goes by, actually 3 seconds without hearing a horn or numberous horns.

Tomorrow, I will meet George's mum for a walk around the Copitc area in Cairo and some lunch. I'm really lookng forward to that. My flight to Lebanon is at 18:30 Wednesday evening.