Trip to Cairo

Goodeknight said:

If you'd have waited another month, it could have been an even year between our two posts!

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Dang, I should have waited another month! But you didn't have to wait until 2014 for this reply.

Goodeknight said:

Without Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, I think they have a better shot at stability and peace now. It was crazy to see news footage of protests in Cairo, as Egyptians carried signs with Obama Xed out and the words, "Stop Supporting Terrorists."

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That was scary, for sure. Hopefully things will settle down soon. Tourism is beneficial to Egypt's economy and who wants to go there when a sh!t storm is going on?

I'm itching to go back. My girlfriend & I are considering another trip but she wants no 'Indiana Jonesing' and wishes to spend the whole time at Sharm el-Sheikh for the beautiful beaches we keep hearing about. This would be fun for the snorkelling (& scuba, which I've never done) but I'd much rather go down the Nile to see the Abu Simbel temples and, of course, Luxor.

Have you ever been to any of these places, Goodeknight?

Goodeknight said:

Funny! Yeah, while it's great to see cars and trucks from Indy movies, it's all the better to go to *real* places where adventure actually happens!

And here's another plug -- depending on your starting point, a trip to Egypt might cost less than a trip to Disney. If you don't have to stay at the Hilton, you can get around Egypt pretty cheaply.

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Good point. Things are inexpensive once you're there and taxi fares are peanuts compared to North American/European prices. Getting around Cairo by taxi is cheap & easy!

Cairo Taxi & Fedora Story: One time we got out of a cab and, after it left, I realized that my precious, Panama hat was still in the car! Without saying a word to my friends, I took off to chase it on foot, running like The Six Million Dollar Man. (My friends thought I had vanished into thin air). After a long distance, the situation looked hopeless as the taxi was heading to merge onto a highway but, MIRACULOUSLY, some helpful Egyptian guy on a horse-driven fruit cart, more than a mile up the street, saw me legging it and flagged the driver down since it was the only car on the road. The taxi driver stopped & waited. By the time I caught up, I was drenched in sweat from running in the blazing sun (104° Fahrenheit)...but I got my frickin' hat back!

Here is the hat, earlier that same day, at the Citadel:

Stoo said:

Cairo Taxi & Fedora Story:

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Awesome story! While one branch of Egyptian culture takes very much after the Ferengi (if you catch the Star Trek reference), the vast majority of Egyptians are caring and helpful people. Tourists often give Egyptians a bad rap, because the only Egyptians they've run into are the pesky peddlers outside the pyramids.

Stoo said:

I'm itching to go back. My girlfriend & I are considering another trip but she wants no 'Indiana Jonesing' and wishes to spend the whole time at Sharm el-Sheikh for the beautiful beaches we keep hearing about. This would be fun for the snorkelling (& scuba, which I've never done) but I'd much rather go down the Nile to see the Abu Simbel temples and, of course, Luxor.

Have you ever been to any of these places, Goodeknight?

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Never been to Sharm el-Sheikh, but I know a lot of people who have been, and there's definitely a consensus that it's gorgeous. I did go snorkeling at Dahab and that was great. I've since gotten my scuba license and was able to dive at a premiere spot in South Africa. Loved it. If you manage to get your license before you go, you'd have a chance to dive at one of the world's top dive destinations (at Sharm). But great snorkeling would be an easy alternative.

I have been to Abu Simbel, and it was fantastic. (Incidentally, those places would be "up" the Nile from Cairo.) Abu Simbel's a bit remote, so it was a long haul by bus to get out there. But though it was just about the only thing to see in that neck of the woods it was well worth the day trip. Having nothing around actually adds to the mystique a bit. I'm assuming you know the history of cutting it into bits to move it out of the man made flood zone. One of my professors at AUC was part of one of the teams trying to document all the little monuments before they got covered by Lake Nasser.

Finally, saving the best for last, Luxor is one of my favorite spots on the planet. You really get the feel for classical Egypt there. Pace of life is much slower, in contrast to the hustle and bustle of Cairo. People are friendlier. And across the Nile it's like you stepped back in time a thousand years. Mud brick houses, green fields, donkeys, and date palms. The temples and other monumental structures are absolutely amazing. The fact that many are surrounded by that lush countryside with the slow pace of life just makes it all the better. Add the Valley of the Kings, and I'm about ready to bolt for the door and head to the airport myself!

Here's something to consider -- on one of my trips there, I rented a motorcycle at one of the hotels, took it across the Nile on the ferry, and went tooling around the countryside between Valleys of the Kings and Queens, Tombs of the Nobles, Hatshepsut's temple, Ramasseum, etc. Think you'd really enjoy that.

Another trip, when my wife and I were just dating, we hired a "guide" and some donkeys, and he took us up over and around the hills and paths to the same spots. Another memorable experience.

Goodeknight said:

Awesome story! While one branch of Egyptian culture takes very much after the Ferengi (if you catch the Star Trek reference), the vast majority of Egyptians are caring and helpful people. Tourists often give Egyptians a bad rap, because the only Egyptians they've run into are the pesky peddlers outside the pyramids.

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Glad you enjoyed the story, Goodie, (and I get the Ferengi reference) but I have an even better one about the kindness of the Egyptian people. Something happened one night in Cairo which opened my eyes & heart a great deal and changed me as a person. I really should stop and take the time to write it up properly.

Re. "up" the Nile: Of course, you are correct and I shouldn't have made that mistake. In my head, I was thinking "down south". A great interest of mine is the British Army's ill-fated 1884-85 Nile Expedition to save General Gordon in the Sudan, during which plenty of battles were fought. It's a pipe dream of mine to follow their course "up" the Nile to Khartoum, where it splits into the Blue and White.

That's cool that your prof was involved in documenting the Abu Simbel site before it was relocated (and, yes, you assumed right that I was aware of the move). A most impressive feat of preservation, perhaps even the greatest.

Re. Luxor giving the "feel for classical Egypt". I get what you mean and that's what I want. Seeing a monument on its own is one thing but seeing a whole bunch together in one place evokes the day-to-day life of the ancients. (Visiting Pompeii and Rome's Capitoline Hill gave me goosebumps because of this "feel" and I want the Egyptian version of it.)

Anyway, thanks for elaborating further on your experiences & recommendations. Your descriptions sound idyllic and you are a true adventurer! Driving a motorbike is something else that I've never done. Rode on them many times but never on my own. If your motorbike was an older, noisy one that would've make the adventure even better. Yes?