cairo, aswan, luxor, cairo

so, a lot has happened in the past week.  my apologies for not updating, but the wordpress site was not working in cairo.

after dahab, i took a long bus around the southern tip of sinai towards cairo.  it took forever and it was a very uncomfortable ride.  i found a hotel and checked in.  then, first stop, the pyramids of giza.  i decided that i wanted to be a tourist, so i took the camel package.  expensive.  got ripped off.  it was worth it.  cairo is such a huge city.  busy.  polluted.  crazy.  but, i liked it.  the pyramids are located outside of cairo in the giza district, which is a little bit more impoverished.  the pyramids are gorgeous and quite impressive.  i have a hard time fathoming how old they are.

afterwards, took the bus back to the city and met some friendly egyptians.  interesting conversation.  the egyptian dialect is very difficult for me to understand.  i made due though.  later on that evening, i booked a tour to the south.  i considered staying in cairo and hanging out, but decided to do the tourist thing.  the next day, i went to the citadel, an impressive structure, visited old cairo, khan al khalili market, then went to the egyptian museum to take a gander at some mummies.  we were rushed a little, but i got to see a few things.  the egyptian museum was the highlight.  there is just so much to see, and the mummies are impressive.  thousands of years and you can still see hair.

cairo is like new york…on cocaine.  people are everywhere.  smog floats above the roof tops.  the traffic is terrible.  it isn’t as pretty, but it has a beautiful quality to it, especially when the sun is setting and you look out over the city with mosques and churches rising in the background.  very nice.  that evening, i caught the train, after one failed attempt, to aswan in the south.  it took 14 freaking hours.  ridiculous.  then, after relaxing and showering, i went to the high dam and phillae temple.  the high dam was a rip off, but the phillae temple was very nice.  it was located on an island in the nile.  after the tours, i took a little boat ride to a nubian village.  we swam, saw an interesting plant that recoiled when touched, held a crocodile, and ate some delicious kosheri.

the next morning, at 3 a.m., i took the bus to abu simbel, which is like 3 hours south of aswan.  it was an impressive temple with lake nasser in the background, but the bus ride there was terrible, especially at that early in the morning.  that afternoon, i hopped on the local falucca, a.k.a egyptian sailboat, and cruised the nile.  this was my favorite part.  i just sat on the side of the boat and enjoyed the sun, wind, and water with green palm trees on the banks and the sandy desert in the background.  very enjoyable after traveling so much.  i ended up being the only one on the boat because the others canceled.  i was a little disappointed by this, but it turned out alright.  i had a good time singing disney songs and bob marley with my new nubian friends.  let’s just say it was an interesting day and a half on the falucca.  we didn’t sail much the next day.  they said the wind was too strong, but i think they were being lazy, but no worries.  i hung out on the nile.

the next day, caught a bus to kom ombo and edfu to see some temples, and finally to luxor.  i didn’t enjoy luxor as much.  it was so touristi and i got hassled by the locals so much.  everyone is wanting to sell you something, even if you are not in the mood to buy.  this day and the next day, i visited a bunch of temples, including the luxor temple which is supposed to be half the size of manhattan, valley of the kings and queens.  the tombs underneath the mountains were really interesting.  at the valley of the kings, you could only visit three tombs, but i managed to visit four.  i bit off a portion of the ticket to hide the fact that i had been to three.  clever parker.  at the end of the day, i was worn out.  i can only visit archeological sites for so long until i am completely bored and khalas.  visiting all the temples is expensive too.  every place has an admission ticket and everyone wants a tip.  khalas.  that night, i hung out with some friends and then caught the 10 hr train back to cairo.

broke my camera in cairo.  i was careless and it fell.  it is still working, but the shutter won’t close.  damn it.  saw saqqara though, the oldest pyramid.  fascinating.  afterwards, relaxed, packed, and went out to eat with a friend.  we waited a long time to be served, but the lamp chops were amazing.  i guess that it is what i get for being blonde.  ha, ha.

cairo airport.  what a mess.  i won’t even go there.  i eventually made it through and i am not in berlin.  went swimming at a lake and took a nap on the beach.  it is so quiet here, which is quite a contrast to cairo.  i will miss the middle east, but it is nice to have a break.  hope this is a sufficient update.