Day 12 – There’s Two Sides to a Coin

Today was a day of mixed feeling, good and bad coexisting together. I was in Alexandria, exploring a new city, which was great. But I was missing the quiet, relaxing beach scene in Dahab. It was fine to be able to explore on my own (and get lost on my own), set my own pace, and move to the beat of my own drum. But I was missing the good company of Sean and Jamie. I had some very pleasant meals and snacks, looking out over the Mediterranean Sea, absorbed in the peaceful waters. But I also had to catch a taxi to a bus station, ride a bus back to the Cairo airport, and sit and endure hours and hours of travel back to Uganda.

On the last day of my vacation in Egypt, I came away with very … mixed … feelings. But that surely doesn’t define my view of the trip as a whole. That would be just a tad bit more than “mixed feelings,” maybe more like: “It was an incredible experience; I loved my time in Egypt; the people were great; and oh yeah, I LOVE traveling!” Yeah, that would do it justice. But alas, this post is about what I did today, so here we go.

My first stop was Fort Qaitbey. This is a fort at the end of the harbor that was built in the fifteenth century. It was built on top of the ruins of the Pharos, a huge lighthouse that was on the tip of the pier for 17 centuries. Oh yeah, the Pharos was one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. I think the Egyptians knew what they were doing when they built “wondrous” structures. Anyways, the view from the fort was amazing, looking back across the harbor at the many ships in the water and the tall buildings along the shore. I wandered around the fort for a while, taking pictures and marveling at how well-kept the old fort was.

My walk back started with a quick ice cream stop at a local shop with a huge crowd, so I figured it would be good. It was so hot out, and ice cream was the perfect fix. I walked down to the local fish market, which wasn’t necessarily as nice as a place like Pike’s Place in Seattle, but had a very authentic feel to it nonetheless. I meandered through the winding streets of many different shops, getting temporarily lost along the way. But when in doubt, head towards the sea, and navigate from there.

Once I found my bearings again, I went to have lunch at a local seafood place that the guidebook raved about. Oh my word, were they right! I walked into the restaurant, picked my fish out of the ice (sea bass and crab), and they cooked it right away. While I was waiting for the fish, I was brought pita bread and many different types of hummus and accompaniments for the bread. The fish came, and it was delicious! In Uganda, there’s plenty of tilapia, but it’s always fried, served with oily chips, and tastes like, well, fish and chips. And that’s fine, but this seafood beat that way out of the water! The restaurant also had a great atmosphere, with many locals eating there, and sitting at a table looking out over the water.

Although I was more than satisfied when I left the restaurant, I decided to stop at another place on the walk back to my hotel. It was a juice shop – again with great reviews from the Lonely Planet – and served the best mango juice I’ve ever had. It was a bit chunky, but that just made the mango taste even better. I continued alternating from walking along the main strip along the shore and exploring some back alleys a bit away from the water, since there were just so many different markets, shops, and restaurants to see. I sat along the water watching the sun start to set, knowing that it meant my time in Egypt was also ending very soon. I grabbed my stuff from the hotel, hailed a taxi, and sadly, the travel part of the day had begun.

However, the story this time around was much less exciting, and so much more according to plan. The taxi took me to the bus station on the edge of Alexandria, where I purchased a ticket to Cairo and got on the bus right away. The bus took me right to the airport, where I found the check-in terminal (it’s a bit confusing). After waiting for a bit, I checked in, received my boarding passes for the flights all the way back to Entebbe, and then waited some more. The first flight didn’t leave Cairo until 2:30am, but aside from the inconvenient timing, all the flights were smooth. 18 hours after leaving Alexandria, I was back “home” safely in Uganda.

So, that’s my story about Egypt. I hope you enjoyed it, and I’m hoping that writing all this will get me more in the habit of writing about what’s going on here in Uganda. It’s just that I’ve developed such a routine, and life here feels normal, so to me, it’s not this crazy “I’m living in Africa” thing anymore, but instead it’s “I’m working for an NGO, enjoying my job, having fun hanging out with friends, traveling a bit, and oh yeah, I’m living in Africa.” But, I know that many of you would like more frequent updates, so this is me saying I will try. That’s all I can guarantee. Until the next post … peace out!

Day 11 – Alexandria: The Mini-Cairo

My first day in Alexandria was an exploratory day – I just wanted to get to know the city. And my first impression: it seems very similar to Cairo, though on a much smaller scale. Rather than holding a population of 22 million people, there’s “just” 4 million … still a big city. The city as a whole consists of about a 20km stretch along the Mediterranean Sea, though I stayed within a 3km stretch in the central part of the city.

Aside from the noticeable size difference, a lot about the city felt very similar to Cairo. These are a few of the commonalities I observed: lots of people; lots of traffic; lots of local restaurants, but some western ones planted here and there (McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, and Baskin Robbins seem to be the most common throughout Egypt). Both cities have an important body of water – the Nile River going right through the heart of Cairo, and Alexandria built along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. There’s a definite big-city feel to both places – lots going on all the time, even (and especially) late at night. Both cities have some historical places, as well as some very new and modern ones, too. There are some tourist attractions, but also many hidden, local gems. (For this, I’m thankful I had the Lonely Planet guidebook to point out a few for me.) As I spent more time in Alexandria, I learned that it does have a bit of a different feel than Cairo, more of a European influence to it. But all in all, they are both great cities, unique in their own separate ways.

So, now to my day. I slept in, enjoying the comfort of my king-size bed and my sea-view in my $20/night room. It was amazing! (P.S. For any of you who want to travel in Egypt, you can definitely do it at reasonable prices. It’s getting there that’s the hard part … and why I had to take advantage of being so close!) After a relaxing breakfast at the hotel looking out over the Mediterranean Sea, I took a taxi to the Alexandria National Museum. There was so much history to look at in here. The basement floor gave a review of Pharaonic times in Egypt. It was basically a summary of everything I saw in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The ground floor was focused on Greco-Roman history, filled with lots of statues and artifacts. And the upstairs was concerned with the Coptic and Islamic era, dating from the 800s to within the last century.

After getting museumed-out, I walked down towards the water to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This building had some amazing architecture. It reminded me a lot of the Seattle Public Library. It was a beautiful structure from the outside, worthy of many pictures. It had a very unique-looking roof that had a disk-like shape like the sun. And the inside was beautiful as well, with huge arching ceilings and large open rooms. There were many different levels with so many books, and even the entire bottom floor devoted solely to maps! Plus, there were exhibits, sculptures, and paintings all through the library. And of course, crowds. After being out of the touristy-feeling places for a couple days, I was right back in the thick of it, though not as bad as Cairo or Mt. Sinai.

After my sightseeing was done for the day, I walked along the water back towards central Alexandria. I had some Egyptian pizza, called fiteer, for lunch, and then went to a coffee shop to read and relax. I made a brief stop in at the hotel before heading out for the evening, which consisted of walking along the water, watching the sunset, enjoying a delicious Chinese dinner at a rooftop restaurant, and some amazing cheesecake and a desert shop not far away. While traveling alone may not be the most fun way to see the world, I didn’t have too much to complain about today.

Day 10 – A Whole Lot of Sitting

Today was another travel day, and it was a long one. My bus from Dahab to Cairo left at 9am, and I didn’t get into Cairo until after 6pm. Again, I can’t complain much about the bus ride, especially after living in Uganda for nine months and taking public transportation here. I had plenty of room on the air-conditioned bus to read, sleep, and listen to music watching the desert scenery go by.

I was supposed to arrive at the main bus station in Cairo, which would have made it easy enough to just get on a new bus to Alexandria from the same station. But the bus stopped on the outskirts of town, so the plans had to change. I ended up taking a taxi to the train station, where I figured I could find a train to Alexandria just as easily as a bus. If I could speak and read Arabic, I would have had no problem at all. But, since I don’t, and there were no English signs to be seen, I had to find some English-speaking people to help me out. And I seriously had to make an effort for a while to find someone who could: one, speak English well enough; and two, was willing to help me buy a ticket and find the right platform. Thankfully, I did – there was a dad who was sending his son to Alexandria on the same train, so I was good to go. We waited a bit for the next train to come (trains for Alexandria leave Cairo almost every hour), and we were off.

It actually worked out really well to take the train rather than a bus, because the train station is just on the outside of central downtown Alexandria, whereas the bus station is much further away. I reviewed the map of downtown Alex in the guidebook before the train stopped, put my backpack on, and set off exploring the city in search of some dinner and my hotel. After walking around for a while, I finally came to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. I knew the hotel was along this strip, so it was easy to find. By the time I was up in my room and ready for bed, it was just about midnight, and although I hadn’t really done much today – really, I just sat the entire day – I was ready to sleep. To be honest, I was a little sad to leave Dahab, and a lot sad to leave Sean and Jamie, but I was excited to explore a new city. But rest comes before play!

Day 9 – A Lazy Day at the Beach

Today was, well, a lazy day at the beach. Our hotel didn’t have a nice sandy beach in front of it, so we went in search of a hotel that did. We found the Hilton Resort, which was incredibly beautiful, but they said they were at capacity (even though there were plenty of empty chairs on the beach and by the pool. Oh well, their loss). So we went to the hotel next door and paid a mere $10 to use their pool and beach for the day – such a great deal!

We swam, read, slept, talked, ate, drank, and just relaxed. There’s really not much else to say – that’s what we did. Once we felt like we had our fill of relaxation, we started walking back to our hotel. But not before we saw an amazing sunset over the Sinai mountains. I mean really, walking along the beach, looking out at the Red Sea, watching a beautiful red-orange-pink sunset over the Sinai mountains … not to brag, but can you tell me your Friday night was better?

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed one last good sheesha session before we went out to dinner. And this is when the realization hit me: I haven’t been this relaxed in a long time! I think I felt more relaxed than I can remember feeling (well, maybe not ever, but certainly in a long time). Seriously. We were just sitting on the roof of a restaurant on the shores of the Red Sea, having a drink and smoking a sheesha pipe, and feeling the cool sea breeze in the warm Egypt evening air.

Later on, we walked through the shops in town, searching for some good deals on souvenirs and gifts to bring home. We ate at a restaurant we had walked by the night before that had smelled so good, and it did not disappoint. I had a seafood pizza that was incredible – rich, but delicious. The only bad part about the day was the fact that tomorrow, I would be leaving Dahab. But more importantly, I would be leaving Sean and Jamie. But I didn’t let those sad feelings ruin what turned out to be an amazing, relaxing day at the beach.

Day 8 – Diving the Red Sea

Today was great! I got to scuba dive in the Red Sea not once, but twice. Our hotel had a dive shop, so it was convenient and easy to just go through them. And the prices were hard to beat! I had to do a refresher dive first, since it had been more than six months since my last dive. It had actually been a year and a half since my last dive, so I was thankful I had to do this, as it gave me a chance to remember everything again. The dive wasn’t just a basic little test, though that’s how it started. Once we showed we could do everything (clear our mask, establish buoyancy, clear the regulator, etc.) we went down to about 50 feet and saw tons of fish and coral. I couldn’t tell you the names of the fish we saw, but they were so colorful, and there were so many! So my “refresher dive” turned out to be just as good as a real dive.

After going back to the hotel for a lunch break, we went back out to another site called Blue Hole. This place was unbelievable. There’s an archway deep underwater that we can see (but far too deep to go down to), and again so many fish and coral. The one thing that made this diving stand out is the amazing visibility, even 70-80 feet under water. It was so clear! It made it easy to see so much, but at times made it hard to watch my depth, because if you’re not careful, you can ascend maybe 20 feet without knowing it, because everything is so clear. Overall, it was an incredible experience to dive in the Red Sea, since it is one of the more popular places in the world to dive, especially for Europeans.

While I was diving, Sean and Jamie were out snorkeling, so we both had great days in the water. We capped it all off with a delicious seafood dinner at one of the many restaurants along the water, enjoying the ambience of the music and many customers at the restaurant, combined with the crash of the waves behind us. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Day 7 – The Mountain of Moses and the Red Sea

2am wake-up calls aren’t something you want very often, but in this case, it was met with eager anticipation. Sean, Jamie, and I were about to set off to climb Mt. Sinai. We followed a guide from our camp along a road for a while, and then finally started off on a trail upwards. Hiking in the middle of the night meant two things: one, it was pitch black, so we had flashlights; and two, it stayed cool throughout the hike, because being in the middle of the desert, we sure didn’t want to climb the mountain in the middle of the day.

Maybe the best part about the whole hike was that we were alone on the trail. The monastery I mentioned yesterday is the starting point for just about everyone else. There are two trails up the mountain that originate at St. Katherine’s Monastery, and all the people on tours start their hike there. Initially, we didn’t fully understand how important it was to take a back route, but when we were almost at the top, it made perfect sense. Our back trail met up with the main trails very close to the top – maybe another 20 minutes to go. As the trails met, what we saw down the mountain blew my mind. We were watching a snake-like line of lights slowly moving up the mountain. For the last little bit of the hike, we got to know what that would have been like. It was basically a single-file line up the trail to the top. When we saw this, we were incredibly thankful that we were able to take the back route with our guide. And even when maybe we should have stayed on the trail towards the top, we followed our guide off the path to get by a lot of the crowd.

There were already plenty of people on top when we arrived, but luckily we were able to find a great spot to be able to watch the sunrise. Oh yeah, other than avoiding the heat, most people climb Mt. Sinai in the middle of the night to watch the magnificent sunrise. It was beautiful! From the top, you can see for miles and miles, and there are simply mountains all around. It would have been the perfect place for some quiet reflection …

But, because there were so many people climbing the mountain, it was nuts at the top. A huge crowd, everyone taking pictures, and some groups much louder than they needed to be. And on the way up, there are Bedouin merchants selling everything from coffee and tea to Snickers bars to blankets and mattresses. It was crazy! But I guess it makes sense, with how popular the mountain has become.

Aside from the crazy crowds, it was very cool to be up there to watch the sunrise. It’s such a historic mountain (though I’m not sure anyone can prove that the mountain we climbed is actually Mt. Sinai – there’s so many other peaks in the area that are almost the same height, and the look of the landscape doesn’t change much as far as I could see). And even if it wasn’t, it was a great hike, offering breathtaking views (and pictures) from the top. So all in all, it was definitely a good stop.

We hiked back down to our camp, had some breakfast, and then went back to the monastery. This was supposed to be a really cool place, though we felt like it was a bit overrated. After packing up, we took a taxi for another couple hours to Dahab, a backpackers’ beach town right on the Gulf of Aqaba of the Red Sea. The drive through the desert was very hot, but it was cool to just be out in the middle of nowhere. At one point, our Muslim driver stopped the car to go pray under a bridge with a couple other drivers, and we used the time to take some pictures and video of being in the middle of a desert. It’s a pretty cool feeling. But leaving the desert for the beach was not exactly a disappointment.

The Red Sea is beautiful. Our hotel was right along the water, though it was rocky shores in front of it. (We had to find other hotels to find a beach and a pool.) We could see the mountains of Saudi Arabia on the other side of the Gulf, and it didn’t look too far away. And the town of Dahab was great. It’s full of hotels, restaurants, and dive shops, and things were relatively cheap. After having lunch at our hotel restaurant, which was right on the water, we meandered along the coastline exploring the area. The restaurant is completely open-air, and the roof is set up with cushions in little sitting areas, perfect for relaxation. So we sat up there for a while, as Sean and I shared another sheesha, and then found a quick dinner for local food (kushari this time, not shawarma). To cap off the night, I had a pleasant stroll through town, in search of some ice cream, but also just looking at the shops as I went by. The pestering shop owners didn’t even bother me a bit – after conquering the Khan-al-Khalili market in Cairo, this was nothing. And since I had been up for about 20 hours now, my body was ready to lie down and sleep.

Day 6 – Into the Desert

It’s a short post today – mostly a travel day. Our plan for the day: to leave the hustle-and-bustle of Cairo we had grown accustomed to for the peace and calm of the Sinai desert. As I mentioned in the previous post, it was about an 8-hour bus ride from Cairo to the town of Saint Katreen (St. Katherine). This small town is significant because it is located at the base of Mt. Sinai. There is a monastery – St. Katherine’s Monastery – at the bottom of the mountain that has become a common tourist stop after scaling the mountain. There really aren’t many other places in the world that are so historically significant to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s a common stop for tours in Egypt. But, you’ll hear much more about Mt. Sinai in tomorrow’s post …

The bus ride was actually very pleasant. It was an air-conditioned bus and the roads were very smooth, which was a nice change from the typical Ugandan buses and roads. On the ride, I did a combination of reading, sleeping, listening to music, and looking out the window as we traveled away from civilization and into the middle of nowhere.

We stayed at a place called the Desert Fox Camp. It’s a little Bedouin camp run by, well, Bedouins. The main sitting and eating area is just a bunch of cushions on the ground under a “tent” made of blankets held up by wooden poles. It really was pretty authentic. Maybe not quite as remote as some Bedouin who live in obscure mountain areas, but we were okay with that. After a delicious dinner and some talking around the campfire, we hit the sack, for we knew that the start of our next day was only hours away …

Day 5 – Churches, Mosques, and … Shopping?

Our last day in Cairo was a good one. We started off the day by taking the metro down to what is known as Coptic Cairo. Here, there are a number of old Coptic churches from centuries ago, which all have varying reasons for being important. There’s not much to do here, but we walked around for a while, taking plenty of pictures. The insides of the churches were beautiful, with old paintings lining the walls. And there were some very impressive mosaics of colored rocks on the various walls outside. There was a large Greek Orthodox cemetery that we walked through, with many large, beautiful tombs. But alas, you can only walk around taking pictures of old buildings in one spot for so long, so we left after a while.

The following day, we needed to take a bus from Cairo to the Sinai Peninsula, and we were told to reserve our tickets the day before, which seemed easy enough. On the map, the bus station looked fairly close to one of the metro stops, so we got off and started walking. Half an hour later, with absolutely no luck, we were lost and had no idea even where we were on the map. Luckily, we found a taxi driver who would take us there. On our way, we realized that we walked right under the sign for the bus station (facing the other way, though). Oh well, who doesn’t like getting lost in a big city, right? So we bought our tickets ($8 for an 8-hour bus ride from Cairo to Sinai!) and then took a taxi to the area known as Islamic Cairo.

It’s a bit of a funny name, since the majority of Cairo is Islamic, but it’s because there is such a high density of mosques and minarets in the area. After another quick lunch of shawarma (it’s just so good!), we started exploring the area. One of the main attractions is the Al-Azhar Mosque, which was built during the 10^th century. We of course had to take our shoes off, and Jamie had to cover up a bit, but we were allowed inside to look around and take pictures. It truly is a beautiful building. There’s a number of outer prayer rooms, which all open up to a huge middle area that is wide open. There’s white tile on the ground, cream-colored walls all around, and carpets scattered throughout the area. It’s just an incredibly peaceful place to sit and rest and think.

The other popular place to visit in Islamic Cairo is the Khan-al-Khalili market. This is a massive market, where trade has occurred since the 14^th century. There’s gold, silver, amazing-smelling spices, and of course plenty of “tourist” trinkets and gifts. It really reminded me of the Old City in Jerusalem – winding roads and alleys, vibrant colors and smells, and the “smooth-talking” shop owners who tell you: “I’ll show you something you’ve never seen before!” Seriously. I think I had at least five different merchants in a five minute stretch offer to show me something that I’d never seen before.

If you like this sort of thing, it’s a great place to just walk through and visit the different shops. Most of the stuff didn’t interest me much, but it was great to just get lost walking around through all these shops. The cool thing is that it’s not just a tourist place, but the locals go there to shop as well. I bought a few things – after much bartering – but really just enjoyed walking and people-watching. After shopping for a while, we found another mosque that was offering “free” tours (we gave a small tip at the end). We were taken up to the top of the minaret, which gave us a great view of the city. I was up there just as dusk was coming, so it was cool to see the sunset, hear the call to prayer, hear the honking horns below, and see all the people walking around.

The one “must-see” place in the Khan market we had heard about is a 24-hour coffee shop called Fishawi’s. Apparently, it’s been open constantly for over 200 years. I guess this is as good a time as any to describe what a sheesha pipe is (if you don’t know). It’s become a part of the new Egyptian culture, as there are coffee shops called “ahwas” all over Egypt, with coffee, mint tea, and sheesha the most popular items. Sheesha is a water pipe that filters tobacco. It’s certainly not like smoking a cigarette, and it’s not exactly like smoking a cigar. It’s sort of similar to a hookah. You have the choice of flavored tobacco, from apple to strawberry to mango (I think mango was the best). Hot coals are put on top, and when you take a puff, the smoke gets filtered through the water, so it doesn’t have a strong tobacco taste, but instead has a smooth fruity flavor to it. Anyways, it’s kind of a lot to explain in writing, but it was a fun cultural thing to try out. And this coffeehouse that hasn’t closed for two centuries was a great place to try it.

So, after relaxing with our sheesha and tea, we walked back towards downtown Cairo, and decided to take another felucca ride out on the Nile, this time at night. Sunset is pretty hard to beat, but seeing Cairo at night is pretty cool, too. After our ride, we had a delicious dinner at a Lebanese restaurant, and then strolled back to the hotel, enjoying our last night in Cairo. It was a busy three days, and I felt like I was able to see plenty of Cairo – or at least as much as you can expect to see in only a few days. I was excited about the next part of the trip, but thoroughly enjoyed my time in Cairo, so was a bit sad to leave. Sure, maybe 22 million people in one city is too much for you, but if you ever get the chance to go to Cairo, please don’t pass it up.

Day 4 - Old & New: All in Cairo

Living in Uganda for the better part of a year, I’ve become accustomed to being very hot and just dealing with it. More often than not you can find a fan, some shade, or even just a nice cool breeze. The temperature in Cairo was hot, but not unbearable by any means. Until we walked into the Egyptian Museum. This is a large two-story building with no A/C. And way too many people. So for about three hours while we were looking around in the museum, I was constantly dripping with sweat. Just what you want to be doing inside a museum, right? But, aside from the heat, the museum was pretty cool.

One thing I can say about it: there was lots of OLD stuff in there. The amazing thing is that most of it has just been discovered in the last 100 years or so. Even in the last 10 years, there’s been some big archaeological discoveries that have made media headlines. One of the little exhibits we saw was of artifacts that were found earlier this year! So the museum will continue to change and evolve as more and more Egyptian history is discovered below the rubble of the earth.

Because they are constantly unearthing new Egyptian artifacts, the museum is packed full to the brim with statues, jewelry, tombs, mummies, and so much more. Sean noted to me that it almost feels like a garage sale in there – the walls are completely lined with stuff, and most of it is unlabeled, so you have to guess the significance of it on your own. Some things were labeled, though, which enabled us to learn a bit about the Pharaonic culture. And there were signs giving brief histories of each “period” of Egyptian history. But there were so many different kingdoms and dynasties and kings and pharaohs that it was just too much to grasp.

After walking through the museum, I came away with a few observations about the historical Egyptian culture. First off, the Egyptian people must have loved the pharaohs, or maybe the pharaohs were just really insecure. There were so many HUGE statues and monuments made for them. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that some Egyptian kings were likened to gods, but if it were me, I think it’d be a bit weird to have a huge statue of myself sitting outside my house. Second, they surely didn’t have the kind of unemployment problems we have today in the States. With all the stone work that was done, from pyramids to statues to other smaller monuments, I’m guessing there would have been plenty of work for the Egyptian men. Third, the Egyptians were incredibly artistically talented people. The precision of the designs on the stone carvings is unbelievable, especially when you consider the archaic tools they used. Lastly, the old Egyptian culture was infatuated with gods, but not so much with God. They had very interesting beliefs about the afterlife, which is the primary reason they had such beautifully decorated sarcophagi and filled their tombs with relics and artifacts.

After getting our fill of the museum (and when we just couldn’t bear the heat and dripping sweat anymore), we made our way back to the hotel, stopping for a quick lunch at one of the local places for some more shawarma and falafel. After a shower and a nap, we walked down to the Nile River, which runs right through the middle of Cairo. We knew of a place we could go to take a felucca (sailboat) out on the river, and it certainly did not disappoint. We waited for a while for the time to pass, so we were out on the water right as the sun was setting. It was beautiful! And so peaceful! I was amazed that in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world, I could be on a sailboat watching a sunset feeling the cool evening breeze, almost forgetting that there were about 22 million people around me! It was great.

But after seeing the history of Egypt and enjoying the beauty of Cairo, we changed the pace a bit. We took a taxi out to a huge mall on the outskirts of Cairo called CityStars Mall. It reminded me of Pacific Place mall in downtown Seattle. It was seven stories tall, with a movie theater on the top floor, and more North American stores and restaurants than I had seen in a long time. We went there with the purpose of seeing the movie “Inception.” Great movie. Makes you think. I want to watch it again. That’s all I’m gonna say. And of course, since it was right there in front of us, we gave in to the temptation of American mall food to finish off the night. I had a Big Mac and fries, and topped it off with a Cinnabon. Stop judging – it’s been a while.

Day 3 – One Less Item on the Bucket List: Pyramids … Check!

Now that I was actually in Cairo, I could start doing, you know, the things you do when you’re in Cairo. And if you ask anyone who’s ever been here, that means one thing in particular: seeing the Pyramids of Giza. So that was the first thing Sean, Jamie, and I were going to check off our list. The manager at our hotel set up a taxi driver to take us around for the day, so we set out around 8am to try to beat the crowds.

Everybody knows about the Great Pyramids, the last remaining of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, but not as many people visit the “other” pyramids just south of there. So that’s exactly what we did. First we went to Saqqara to see the Step Pyramid of Zoser, which is believed to be the oldest pyramid in the world. It has five different levels, each going up a step at a time – hence the name. It was cool to see this, because of how old it was, but it certainly wasn’t overwhelming in stature or looks. There were some cool temples and ruins around the area, too, and an informative little museum about the origins of pyramid-building.

We then went to Dahshur, the site of the first true pyramid. (The Step Pyramid is older, but it doesn’t have the same features – mostly the smooth outer layer – that we have come to recognize on pyramids.) This thing was huge – 105 meters tall! And it was built at a 43 degree angle, which may not sound like much, but when you’re standing at the bottom – or climbing up its steps – it’s pretty steep. Not to mention the fact of being one of the laborers actually building it. We were able to go inside this pyramid, which was super-cool. We followed a small passage down to the bottom of the middle of the pyramid, where it opened up into three different huge rooms. The ceilings were probably 40 or 50 feet high, which I definitely was not expecting. The passage down was certainly not one for people that are claustrophobic, but I loved it! It was just fun to crawl down into a pyramid and know that there used to be tons of old relics and yes, mummies, down there.

Having received our first dose of pyramids, we headed to Giza to see the big ones. On our way, we stopped at a small local place to grab a quick lunch. We had heard about the amazing Egyptian street food, so we were excited to try some. The dish we had is called ‘kushari,’ and essentially it’s just like leftovers put together. It consists of rice, noodles, and lentils, with some sauce. It sounds basic – which it is – but it’s so good! And so cheap! Before we left, we bought some freshly made pita bread – again, amazing! After our carbo-load lunch, we were off to Giza.

We didn’t have a guide for either of the first pyramid sites, which was nice to have the freedom to just walk around and take pictures at our own leisure, though there was undoubtedly an educational piece missing (which was an acceptable sacrifice). But at Giza, we decided it’d be better to use a guide, because there was so much more to see. So our taxi driver took us to a man he knew, who offered us a pretty good package deal that included all the entrance fees, a guide, and a camel ride. So yes, I’ve done the stereotypical “ride a camel in Egypt in front of the Pyramids” thing. And it was sweet!

There were two camels and one horse, so we rotated between the three of us throughout the next couple hours. And as cool as might be to experience riding a camel, I will gladly say that I prefer horses. Much more comfortable to ride, if you know what I mean.

We first rode up to a “mountain” – which was really just a bigger sand dune than most of the others in the area – which gave us a great view for pictures of the Pyramids. It’s kind of a bizarre spot, because looking one way, you just see barren desert with a few other pyramids in the background, and the other way you see the outskirts of Cairo. We could see the Giza Pyramids from a bridge in the middle of Cairo, but now in Giza, we could see endless amounts of sand. It’s just kind of interesting.

After getting some good pictures, we rode down much closer to the pyramids, which really gives you that feeling of awe when you’re standing right in front of them. Again, these things are massive structures, and it’s incredible when you think about the logistics of building them. Especially with the kind of “technology” they used back then (i.e. manpower).

After getting our fill of the pyramids, we moved on to the Sphinx. This was cool to see, but I was a bit underwhelmed by it. I think it almost looks better in pictures than it actually does in person, which is pretty rare. It’s not nearly as big as I thought it would be, and definitely has not stood the test of time as well as the pyramids. But still, cool to see it.

After the Sphinx, we had a long ride back to the horse/camel stables, by which point we were hot, tired, sweaty, and ready to be out of the sun. Luckily, there was a papyrus museum just around the corner, and that’s where our little guided tour ended. It was air-conditioned, they brought us cold drinks, and showed us how the original papyrus sheets were made. It was a really cool process to watch, and much simpler than I assumed. There were some awesome paintings on papyrus on display in the shop, but to no one’s surprise, they were the opposite of cheap. So, we left the store, got in our taxi, and rode back to the hotel.

For a nightcap, after showering, resting, and drinking lots of water, we walked through Cairo in search of dinner. We had heard that there was Oktoberfest going on at the Marriott hotel (Oktoberfest in Cairo? I know, right), so we made our way there to check it out. And although it might not have been as authentic as actually being in Germany, there was plenty of delicious German food – not to mention the “authentic” German music – to make you feel like you weren’t in Cairo anymore. So after a long day out in the sun, we ate to our heart’s content, and enjoyed the evening atmosphere. It’s not exactly the type of night you’d expect after a day of visiting the Pyramids, but it worked for us. After another pleasant stroll back to our hotel, we were ready for a good night’s sleep.

Day 2 - The Pyramids are in Cairo, not Khartoum, Right?

The wake-up call came at 9am. There was breakfast waiting for us on the first floor. I had been asleep for maybe two hours, and two very off-and-on hours of sleep at that. I was borrowing a backpack (a big backpacking backpack) from a friend, so I was able to fit everything in there and only have one bag with me while in Egypt. That meant that I just had a couple books, my iPod, my phone, and a deck of cards with me (I like cargo shorts). When I was back in Entebbe – which seems like forever ago – I figured it was just seven hours of traveling, so I was fine without a carry-on. It also meant that I only had shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops. This was fine because of the heat, but I think a bit disrespectful to the surrounding Muslim culture to show my legs. I was literally the only person not wearing pants or an ankle-length dress of the entire group!

After a quick sink-shower, I went down to breakfast. After four cups of coffee and some food, I was feeling alright. Though an interesting conversation about how what’s going on in Darfur is not genocide, and that 50 African countries say so, got me down a bit. But that’s a conversation for another time. Over the past ten hours, we had never received any real message directly from the airline as to what was actually going on, so now, of course, people wanted some real answers. Over the course of the next couple hours, we discovered that the mysterious spare part needed to fix the plane was coming via overland travel, and I have absolutely no idea how long it takes to drive from Addis Ababa to Khartoum, but I’m guessing it’s not a quick drive. We were told to be ready to leave the hotel at 1:30pm to go back to the airport. Luckily, there was football on (I mean soccer … oh man, if there was American football on I would have been so much happier), and I had a book, so I was just fine waiting. And earlier we had heard rumors that we wouldn’t be able to fly out until the next morning, so waiting a few extra hours but leaving today became a much better option. It’s all about what lens you look through, right? Anyways, I prefer a cup that’s half-full – it makes life more enjoyable. So we waited.

At 1pm, we loaded into the buses to go back to the airport, which really means we didn’t leave the hotel until almost 2. Then, our bus driver got lost on the way to the airport. (Again, really? It’s a ten-minute drive to one of the busiest places in your city, and you get lost?) Aside from the little detour, it was interesting to see the Sudanese city. I liken it to Cancun – not the touristy strip – but the actual city of Cancun. The streets are decent though dirty, lined with dilapidated buildings, some that look like construction began and simply never finished. But there are occasional nice-looking buildings mixed in there, too.

If you’ve ever wondered how cattle feel when they’re herded around aimlessly, I can tell you now. Aside from the foreboding feeling of imminent death, I think I could pretty well tell you what goes on inside a cow’s mind. After all the “herding” we’d endured so far, the optimistic news that the plane was fixed gave me some hopeful thoughts. But oh, was I wrong! We entered the airport and went to find our passports, but the man from a few hours before couldn’t be found. Eventually, we tracked him down and got our passports back. We bypassed immigration – which was a bummer, because now I have no proof that I was actually in Sudan for a night. We went through security, arriving at our gate expecting to leave fairly soon. Instead, we ended up waiting in the airport for another three hours before things finally got figured out (I say “figured out” very loosely here). The airline thought the plane was fixed, but they had to wait for Sudanese authorities to approve it, and waiting on the Sudanese government just isn’t something you want to do very often. So eventually an engineer came and checked the plane. Whatever was actually wrong with it, we never found out.

But there was now another complication. Assuming our flight made it to Cairo the night before, it was supposed to be back in Khartoum in the morning to fly people to Addis. So we met people that had been at the airport since 4am, and they were somehow supposed to get to Addis using our plane that we needed to get to Cairo. So what’s the quick and easy fix? Combine the flights. Or take us to Cairo first, and come back to pick up the other group. But again, this challenge proved very difficult for Ethiopian Airlines and the Sudanese airport staff, so the delay was extended even more. Eventually, they figured there were enough seats for everyone, so we all got onto the plane. I do feel bad for the passengers that had to fly to Cairo and then back to Addis, but at this point – 6pm is when we finally took off – I was ready to get to Cairo. I had already lost a full day of my vacation, I had only slept for two hours since the previous morning, and I hadn’t eaten anything since nine in the morning.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I was still smiling. At this point, it was more comical and ridiculous than anything else. The situation was completely out of my control, so either I could get upset, or just go with the flow and be amused by the inept decision-making by the airlines. And you can’t not laugh at a bald, fat Arab man yelling in Arabic at the top of his lungs to any staff that would listen, but to no avail. So anyways, 24 hours after leaving Uganda, I was FINALLY going to Egypt!

The flight landed around 8:30pm at an airport the likes of which I had not seen in a long time. There was McDonald’s, Starbucks, Cinnabon, etc. Of course at this point, I had no desire to be at an airport any longer than I had to, so maybe I’d indulge in some North American airport food on my way back. I walked around for a bit, found a taxi driver who would give me a reasonable price to downtown, and I was off. After some busy traffic and crazy driving, I found myself in the heart of downtown Cairo at our cheap, but decent, hotel. Luckily, Sean and Jamie were there and just about to head out, so it was much easier to find them than I had anticipated! After I dropped off my stuff, we went out to a local place close to the hotel filled with Egyptian people that served some delicious shawarma and falafel.

It was midnight by the time I finally fell asleep, and I was exhausted. Obviously, everything hadn’t gone to plan – in fact, almost nothing had. But I was in Cairo, safe, healthy, and all together in one piece. I was ready to start my vacation!

Day 1 - The Twists and Turns of Travel

The day started off normal enough. I woke up early, finished packing, cleaned my house, and tied up a few loose ends with work stuff. We left Masaka just after 11am, giving me plenty of time to be at the airport the requested “3 hours” before departure (which, by the way, is still WAY too early) for my 6:15pm flight. Jeff and Shannon, another couple living and working here, said they thought I was cutting it close. I told them I had more than enough time. They countered with the possibility of getting a flat tire on the way up, or any number of other unpredictable things that seem bound to happen on Ugandan roads. I hadn’t even considered that, so I felt lucky to be at the airport with plenty of time to spare. So far, so good.

Waiting at the airport was boring, but it was fine. It gave me time to read up in the Lonely Planet guidebook about Cairo. The first flight was average. Of course it was a bit delayed, but what plane isn’t these days? My first stop was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (I guess I should preface all of this by saying I was on a different flight than Sean and Jamie. In fact, I flew out of Entebbe ten hours before they did – which left me with the prospect of waiting at the Cairo airport for a long time. But that didn’t happen. Suffice it to say, they beat me to Cairo.)

Once we landed in Addis, I went to the gate to get my new boarding pass for the second portion of the trip. But to my unpleasant surprise, although I had a confirmed reservation, I didn’t have a seat on the plane. They overbooked the flight – as many airlines do – so I had to wait to see if other passengers didn’t arrive. Initially, this wasn’t a huge deal to me – I had time to kill, so I would just take the next flight to Cairo. The problem, though, was that the next flight wasn’t until the following evening! So now I was looking face to face with the prospect of staying in Ethiopia for a day by myself (which wouldn’t have been horrible, just not preferable), missing out on a day in Cairo, and not knowing how I was going to get in touch with Sean and Jamie. I sat nervously waiting in the terminal, watching loads of people board the plane that I desperately needed to be on. Finally, when only I and three standby passengers were left, and the plane was ready to take off, they gave me a boarding pass and let me go. Praise the Lord! I was going to Cairo! … But not yet.

There was one more stopover in Khartoum, Sudan. But this was just a quick stop – drop a few people off, re-fuel, then get back in the air. We didn’t even have to get off the plane. But of course, this didn’t end up being a quick, routine stop. The fueling seemed to take an extremely long time. Then we heard there was a flat tire (of course, on the plane rather than the car!). But that seemed like an easy enough fix, so we waited. About an hour later, still waiting, some passengers were starting to get very impatient. After plenty of arguing and yelling, we were allowed to get off the plane. So we waited inside the airport, a slight improvement to sitting on the plane. It took them the better part of two hours to finally bring us some food and water, which helped people to calm down a bit. But now it was 4am, and we had been waiting for them to re-fuel and fix a flat tire for four hours … really? A flat tire? Come on … But apparently they didn’t have the right parts at the airport, so we had to wait for another plane to come from Addis Ababa. Ok, we’re in for the long haul!

So at around 5am, they took our passports, gave us “boarding passes” for identification (though they were blank), got us into buses, and took us to a hotel in town. After even more waiting, we paired up and were given rooms. So we finally got to sleep, at least for a couple hours. (To find out what happens next, please see “Day 2” tomorrow.)

An interesting side note to this unpredictable travel fiasco is the various people on the plane with as many different stories. I couldn’t help but think a little bit about “Lost,” though I knew this was not nearly as bad. The demographic on the flight was about as diverse a mix as you could have. There were Americans, Europeans, and many different African, Middle Eastern, and Asian nationalities represented. I’ll just detail a few of the people I talked to during this time. There was a guy from New Jersey, who is married to an Ethiopian-American girl in the States, but they came to Ethiopia to have the cultural wedding here. They were accompanied by nine other Americans and were planning on traveling in Cairo for a few days before they all go home. There was a diplomat from the Somali government – the Communications Director. He was a young, very nice man who gave me some insight on what’s really going on in Mogadishu. We also had a very interesting conversation about what Muslims believe (or at least what he believes) about Jesus. There was a pair of Kenyan cousins who were starting their studies in Cairo. A couple middle-aged British women were finishing part of their Africa tour. And a group of Arab businessmen that just happened to be leading the charge against the airlines.

And of course there are so many more stories to be told. I think if I had the time and desire to do so, I could write a great book about this whole experience. All these different people. All their different stories. The reasons they’re traveling. What they were doing before they got on this ill-fated plane. What they should be doing now, rather than sitting at a random hotel in Khartoum. Not to mention the ridiculous circumstances setting up this whole situation.

So in summary … A word of caution: never book a flight with Ethiopian Airlines. A word of hope: I am okay, since I eventually made it to Cairo and back to Entebbe. And a final observation: traveling is unpredictable, and it helps to have an attitude of patience and contentment, so that little disturbances don’t become huge problems. So, with all of that said, I wait.

EGYPT: Setting the Scene

In a redemptive effort to revive my blog, I am going to post entries describing my recent trip to Egypt. I just returned two days ago, and starting with today, each successive day there will be a new post of my trip. It will almost be like it’s happening right now. So, the background …

There’s a couple named Sean and Jamie Davis who have been working at the Kibaale Community Centre for the past two years. Their term here is up, so they are heading back home to Vancouver, B.C. They have some awesome travel plans along the way – including Morocco, France, and England – but it all starts in Egypt. And I get to tag along! We will be traveling together for almost the whole trip, until I leave them for the last couple days. I wasn’t really ever planning on going to Egypt, but this opportunity was just way too good to pass up.

This is the first “real” vacation I’ve taken that I’ve fully paid for myself. And by “vacation,” I mean a trip that lasts at least a week and includes a flight. (I realize that most vacations don’t qualify under this definition, but it makes my point for now.) So it’s been fun and exciting to research and plan the trip together with Sean and Jamie. I won’t tell you all the details now – that’s what you’ll read about in the coming days. But the trip will include four days in Cairo, and early-morning climb of Mt. Sinai, three days on the beach in Dahab, and a couple days in Alexandria. It’s going to be a packed trip, but should still offer plenty of opportunity to relax and enjoy my time off.

Without further ado …