Am I in Paradise?
Well not quite. But Dahab is quite near it, I'm sure. This is our third day in Egypt and it didn't quite go to plan and many things were far removed from paradise. But I am glad we have found a place to call home for at least a night.
We arrived safely in Cairo although I got a bit scared when my luggage didn't go through until the very end. So, with both our backpacks, we bravely exited the airport doors only to find a horde (literally) of taxi drivers all too eager to drive us to downtown Cairo... all this at 4:00 AM in the morning. They jump on the virgin white tourists that look like easy prey. Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for them), we were in no hurry. We had decided to wait till 6:00 AM and take the city bus for 2.5 egyptian pounds each (about $0.50). This was a bit better than the best fare that was offered at 40 egyptian pounds (about $12).
We met up with this American women, also waiting for the city bus. She appeared very frightened. She was part of an organized tour and they had forgotten to pick her up at the airport. So we decided to take the bus together given her hotel was relatively close to ours. We made it to the Egyptian museum and then walked about 10 minutes to our hotel. We dropped off Melanie at hers and then went to visit downtown Egypt.
A few observations about Cairo (for those of you brave enough to venture here!):
1) Cairo is a very very dirty place (keep in mind that I live in London which is also considered
dirty). There was rubble (kind of like a war zone) and garbage everywhere
2) There are millions of people living in a very small area.
3) There are scam artists everywhere. And they prey on white tourists who look prime for the picking. On one particular street we were on, we were harrassed three times within a 100 metre block. There scam is very simple. They start walking next to you and tell you they want to help you find your way. You tell them you are not lost and then they ask you where you are from. They ask where you are staying and your name. And so it goes. You give them no information or else they will hound you. So you keep walking. They try to sell you something or get you into their shop. It doesn't stop until you walk away. They get angry at you and ask you why you are mad. You tell them you just want to be on your way. And so it gets repeated every 15 minutes. Very "taxing". New word I discovered speaking to British tourists also having a similar experience.
Many people visit Cairo in an organized tour group. This is both good and bad. Good because you get less of the scammers in your face (technically, they always find a way!). Bad because you do not experience the real Egypt and meet and speak with Egyptians from Cairo, Nubeans from Aswan or Bedouines from Sinai.
Okay, back to the trip. We visited the Egyptian museum which was great! The history in this country is astounding. We even got to see the mummies (real ones!). Well, we saw the preserved bodies of Seqenenre, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Tuthmosis I, Tuthmosis II, Tuthmosis III, Seti I, Ramses II, Ramses III.The other group was found in the tomb of Amenhotep II, consisting of the mummies of: Amenhotep II, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Merenptah, Seti II, Siptah, Ramses IV, Ramses V, Ramses VI. Quite impressive and well worth the visit!
We decided to leave Cairo after our exhausting day trying to dodge Egyptian scam artists. We really wanted to visit Dahab and Mount Sinai. This was the right decision! Although the bus trip took well over 10 hours and we had to get through 7 passport checks (more on this in a future blog), we eventually made it to our destination. Checking in at 11:30 PM yesterday, we went to sleep and woke up relatively early the next morning to catch the bus to Mount Sinai (where moses was supposedly told the ten commandments by God). Mount Sinai is about 150 km from Dahab and the bus ride took a little over 2 hours. Jess and I climbed the mountain (and yes, it was really tall). It took us 2 hours and it was a grueling climb. After going up the stairs of repentance, I can honestly say both of us repented most of ours sins through that climb! It was worth it all to see the awesome view of the surrounding mountains. It was a really strange sensation to be up there. It was so quiet... almost eerily quiet. You could hear yourself breath. Very spiritual.
We made our way back only to find no way of going back to Dahab (we had read that there were constantly service taxis... a hybrid between a taxi and a bus... and very cheap). So we grabbed a regular taxi and paid 200 egyptian pounds (around $40) to grab a ride back to Dahab. I can honestly say that I was scared. The car was a Russian made car dating back to the before I was born. There were no seatbelts and we were cruising at 90km plus. Did I mention there are no marked lines on some of the roads in Egypt? And that people tend to drive in the middle of the road. Lots of fun but we eventually made it safe and sound.
Jess loves it in Dahab. It is around 25-30 degrees. The water is superb (The Red Sea, right accross from Saudi Arabia). The people are extremely nice (Bedouines are very very friendly people). And the food is very good. So it is kind of like paradise, I guess. But we were hoping to see Luxor and the Valley of the Kings over 2 days which means we need to leave tomorrow night. I will try to push back our flight with Egyptair by 2 days so that we can stay in Dahab an extra few days but we will see if I am successful tomorrow.
I'm signing off for now. Let me know if you have any questions about my trip in the comments section or by e-mail.
We arrived safely in Cairo although I got a bit scared when my luggage didn't go through until the very end. So, with both our backpacks, we bravely exited the airport doors only to find a horde (literally) of taxi drivers all too eager to drive us to downtown Cairo... all this at 4:00 AM in the morning. They jump on the virgin white tourists that look like easy prey. Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for them), we were in no hurry. We had decided to wait till 6:00 AM and take the city bus for 2.5 egyptian pounds each (about $0.50). This was a bit better than the best fare that was offered at 40 egyptian pounds (about $12).
We met up with this American women, also waiting for the city bus. She appeared very frightened. She was part of an organized tour and they had forgotten to pick her up at the airport. So we decided to take the bus together given her hotel was relatively close to ours. We made it to the Egyptian museum and then walked about 10 minutes to our hotel. We dropped off Melanie at hers and then went to visit downtown Egypt.
A few observations about Cairo (for those of you brave enough to venture here!):
1) Cairo is a very very dirty place (keep in mind that I live in London which is also considered
dirty). There was rubble (kind of like a war zone) and garbage everywhere
2) There are millions of people living in a very small area.
3) There are scam artists everywhere. And they prey on white tourists who look prime for the picking. On one particular street we were on, we were harrassed three times within a 100 metre block. There scam is very simple. They start walking next to you and tell you they want to help you find your way. You tell them you are not lost and then they ask you where you are from. They ask where you are staying and your name. And so it goes. You give them no information or else they will hound you. So you keep walking. They try to sell you something or get you into their shop. It doesn't stop until you walk away. They get angry at you and ask you why you are mad. You tell them you just want to be on your way. And so it gets repeated every 15 minutes. Very "taxing". New word I discovered speaking to British tourists also having a similar experience.
Many people visit Cairo in an organized tour group. This is both good and bad. Good because you get less of the scammers in your face (technically, they always find a way!). Bad because you do not experience the real Egypt and meet and speak with Egyptians from Cairo, Nubeans from Aswan or Bedouines from Sinai.
Okay, back to the trip. We visited the Egyptian museum which was great! The history in this country is astounding. We even got to see the mummies (real ones!). Well, we saw the preserved bodies of Seqenenre, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Tuthmosis I, Tuthmosis II, Tuthmosis III, Seti I, Ramses II, Ramses III.The other group was found in the tomb of Amenhotep II, consisting of the mummies of: Amenhotep II, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Merenptah, Seti II, Siptah, Ramses IV, Ramses V, Ramses VI. Quite impressive and well worth the visit!
We decided to leave Cairo after our exhausting day trying to dodge Egyptian scam artists. We really wanted to visit Dahab and Mount Sinai. This was the right decision! Although the bus trip took well over 10 hours and we had to get through 7 passport checks (more on this in a future blog), we eventually made it to our destination. Checking in at 11:30 PM yesterday, we went to sleep and woke up relatively early the next morning to catch the bus to Mount Sinai (where moses was supposedly told the ten commandments by God). Mount Sinai is about 150 km from Dahab and the bus ride took a little over 2 hours. Jess and I climbed the mountain (and yes, it was really tall). It took us 2 hours and it was a grueling climb. After going up the stairs of repentance, I can honestly say both of us repented most of ours sins through that climb! It was worth it all to see the awesome view of the surrounding mountains. It was a really strange sensation to be up there. It was so quiet... almost eerily quiet. You could hear yourself breath. Very spiritual.
We made our way back only to find no way of going back to Dahab (we had read that there were constantly service taxis... a hybrid between a taxi and a bus... and very cheap). So we grabbed a regular taxi and paid 200 egyptian pounds (around $40) to grab a ride back to Dahab. I can honestly say that I was scared. The car was a Russian made car dating back to the before I was born. There were no seatbelts and we were cruising at 90km plus. Did I mention there are no marked lines on some of the roads in Egypt? And that people tend to drive in the middle of the road. Lots of fun but we eventually made it safe and sound.
Jess loves it in Dahab. It is around 25-30 degrees. The water is superb (The Red Sea, right accross from Saudi Arabia). The people are extremely nice (Bedouines are very very friendly people). And the food is very good. So it is kind of like paradise, I guess. But we were hoping to see Luxor and the Valley of the Kings over 2 days which means we need to leave tomorrow night. I will try to push back our flight with Egyptair by 2 days so that we can stay in Dahab an extra few days but we will see if I am successful tomorrow.
I'm signing off for now. Let me know if you have any questions about my trip in the comments section or by e-mail.
posted by Serge LeVert-Chiasson at
10:46 AM
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