Hey everyone...happy Passover, Easter, (Any Religious Holiday I Missed)...
Coming back from a really long trip always puts things into perspective...especially seeing parts of the world that are quite different than good old London...so...in my nascent attempts at being a burgeoning travel writer, and inspired by recent Bill Bryson addiction, I will attempt to sum up my two week middle east jaunt to the best of my abilities...so...get ready to laugh and read on...
EGYPT
First things first...Travel in the Middle East is NOT EASY...coming from a Euro-Star mind set and trans-European trains, the shocking lack of travel options in the Middle East is amazing...You would think getting from Israel to Egypt to see the Pyramids would be a piece of cake...well...not quite...
Borders, lack of infrastructure, and basically nutty people all around make travel next to impossible. Options include crazy long bus rides (After my Thai experience, no more long bus rides), no trains what so ever between countries because they all hate each other and can't cooperate across borders, or planes. Now...I know what you are thinking...Planes right? Easy...well that is what I thought. Well...an buying a ticket on Ari Egypt is A LOT easier thought than done...NO INTERNET...right? Only way is through an Egyptian travel agent...prices are NUTS...and the plane was from 1967...I was praying the whole way...This nice little introduction leads me to Egypt...
What a country...luckily I had been to Bangkok earlier this year which nicely prepared me for Cairo...Cairo has 17 Million People...YEP...17 MILLION!!! They live on top of each other, in every nook and cranny...no open space exists...and the air is SO polluted that I am sure I lost at least 1 year of life in 3 days just breathing...
Upon arrival...I knew things would be funny...I just had to adjust...VERY QUICKLY...
Here is a quick primer on Egypt...
1. You will be ripped off at every corner, opportunity, and exchange...get used to it
2. Bargain for EVERYTHING...start of at the lowest number possible and go up from there...Example - Cab to the pyramids...
"How Much"- Ed
"100 pounds" - Taxi Driver
"5 pounds" - Ed
"75 pounds" - Taxi Driver
REPEAT for 5 Minutes
FINAL FAIR - 20 pounds
It's crazy---but becomes kind of endearing at some point...the people are nice in their own weird way...and you leave the country glad that you saw it...but in no rush to return...
Highlights - Well...the pyramids rocked my world...I have been a mummy fan since I was a kid...seeing them up close...just crazy. They are so big and so impressive to behold...I barley noticed the 500 people asking if I wanted to buy a tour, post card, souvenir, camel ride, horse ride, or any other imaginable thing that could be sold...
Climbing inside the great pyramid all the way to the tomb is really something to witness...they whole time I thought it was going to collapse on me...shockingly it did not...but for the first time in my life, I met a friendly group of pagan idol worshipers that were inside the pyramid for 8 hours and refused to leave...yep...the world is one nutty place...
The rest of Cairo left something to be desired as said before...we explored, got lost, and rode around in cabs from 1950...no joke...ate a lot of hummus...had Egyptian coffee...smoked some sheesha...Basically became Egyptians for a while...even had a real Egyptian breakfast from an small, authentic little street shop...noodles, lentils, hot sauce, and a few other things I could not quite name...It was delicious...
A couple things I have to share though...Me and my buddies bought Kafiyas...those are the Arab headdresses that people wear...we wore them for the whole day and it was crazy...Also...they LOVE belly dancers in Egypt...I saw one in person and it was a blast...this woman shook in ways that I did not think were possible, all in front a 50 people eating and drinking...
It was fun...the city is nuts...the camels were great...and I won't be back any time soon...
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