Egypt - Day 5: Karnak Temple and Night Train

We took everyone's advice and headed to Karnak Temple EARLY: 7:00AM, when the temple opens. The reason: crowd and heat. There's not a lot of people there that early, at some points, we had the area to ourselves. When 9AM came around, bus loads of tourists poured in - it got so crowded when we left (around 9:30) that you can't even take a picture of a column or statue without a stranger slipping in. It was a brisk 75 degrees when we started with the sun blazing. It was about 90 degrees when we left and the sun felt a lot hotter.



Like the Luxor temple, Karnak temple is a complex of structures built by whoever ruled Egypt at the time. The architecture was mostly Egyptian.

Hieroglyphs:

on walls


deeply engraved in columns (anubis pez dispenser?)

Columns:

Columns and obelisk


Columns with different designs


The "fence" looking wall on top suggests this structure having a 2nd floor at some point


It's HUGE!

Statues

the faces were weathered away


Ram heads + lion bodies

The rest of the day...
After the temple, we got a late check out at the hotel, got a free buffet breakfast (they never gave us a check) and passed out till about 3PM.
It was smoldering outside by the time we're doing checking out. For a late lunch, we ate at a barge that had giant fans that had the mist going.



We hung out at the air conditioned hotel until the sun started setting around 6PM. The heat was getting to me, I think I was maybe starting to catch a cold (good thing I got some Nyquil). We checked the bags with the hotel and hopped into a cab to go to the souk. The Souk was very similar to Kahn el Kalili in Cairo but with less hassle. There was even a stretch of shops where they didn't bother you. It was in this Souk that we figured out their system: If you keep walking, the shop owners won't follow you pass their border, where of course, the next shop own will start homing in on you.

Night train to Cairo
We got to the station at around 11PM (after we got dinner and lounged at the hotel some more). The train was 1.5 hour late and wasn't as nice as the previous sleeping trains we took to get here. It felt like a throwback to the 1970s. The food was even more horrible, good thing we ate at the hotel. Daylight saving kicked in; +1 hour. The nice steward woke us up around 5 as we were near Cairo. The breakfast was the standard fare of bread, more bread and instant coffee. By the time we got to Cairo, we had missed our train to Alexandria by 4 hours (delay, daylight saving, more delay while we were sleeping).

To Alexandria!
We tipped toed around the mass of people praying to get to the tourist info office. We explained our situation to them who then explained it to one of the tourist police officiers. The tourist police then writes a note, told one of his subordinates something and told us to follow the subordinate. We followed him across the station and upstairs to the train station's managers' office (it looked like one of the raggity offices in "The Wire"; papers, desks, dust everywhere). A few interactions later, the station manager wrote and stamped us a form for a ticket correction and the tourist police officer brought us down to the ticket office. The man at the ticket office was furious but eventually gave us a handwritten correction ticket carbon copy (old school!).



With about 10 minutes to spare, we were led back to the tourist info office. The second police officier kindly reminded his boss to ask us to tip him The boss police recited the ticket info that was written in Arabic: platform number six, car number one, seats twenty six, twenty five and give him twenty pounds". The train was about 15 minutes late but we were finally on our way to Alexandria.

full set of Luxor pictures here

Egypt - Day 4 part 2: Luxor at Night

We were way too tired and it was way too hot outside to tour Luxor in the afternoon. We washed up and took a nap. Found a place to have dinner - Amoun. The taxi took us to the building, we asked a government official looking guy in front of a court where it was. He took us to El Hussein instead. The place was empty and food sucked. We later found Amoun, it was on the other side of the building - packed with happy people eating.
After dinner, we decided to walk back to the hotel and catch Luxor temple on the way.


It's a giant temple that the ruling people keep building on top of. There are different layers of different architectural design - Egyptians, Romans, even a mosque built by the ruling Muslims.


Obelisk - similar to the one in front of Central Park (NY) - amazing how the engraving is still so deep and visible.


Massive Columns - the "guardian" shook us down for "bakeesh" for posing shortly after this picture

Different designs of columns:







Luxor picture set

Egypt - Day 4: The Luxor Roundabout

It was pretty dark out and we didn't get to see where we were riding through until the sun came up:


The train arrived crazy early. We thought we were getting good at haggling - talked the taxi down to LE20 from LE40. "We wuz robbed" - the ride was about 4 minutes and probably should have been LE10. We got dropped off at the Old Winter Garden. The front desk at there sent us down to the New Winter Garden (down side stairs then long hall way). Our room was not ready yet (obviously) I asked the clerk to hook us up with a driver to tour around the west bank - he made a few calls and got us one at 8:00AM (it was about 7AM then).
Gim passed out in the lobby when I went to get coffee:


Driving through the countryside:



First stop: Valley of the Kings

Lots of kings were buried here in tombs within this huge valley. The most famous one is Tutankhamen (King Tut) - whose tomb we didn't go to because of the extra cost AND we already saw the content in the museum. The temperature is around 90s to 100 and the sun was blazing by the time we got here.


Entrances were built for tourism. All the tombs are accessed via stair ways like this. Inside the tomb: hot, humid; years and years of built up tourist body odor. Being down there made the outside 100 degree air feel cool.

Here's what it looks like inside:


Funny story: there's a "guardian" sitting inside each level of each tomb. They're there to make sure everything is OK and no one is taking pictures. Me being the rebel that I am took videos. At the second tomb we went to, one of the guardians crept up behind me and snatched my camera. I begged and pleaded to get my camera back. He kept telling me in that if he told the tourist police upstairs/outside, it'll cost LE1000 to get my camera back. After following him in circles walking around, I finally realized that he wanted some money. I slipped a folded LE100 bill in my palm, held it up so he can see it and shook his hand. He was avoiding my hand until the room was cleared. I got my camera back and learned two lessons: don't get caught and bribe your way out.

Second stop: Deir el-Bahri (Temple of Hatshepsut)

Giant temple, massive tourists, blazing sun

Third stop: Alabaster Factory

There are tons of these along the way. The tour guides / drivers get a cut of the sale somehow. The prices are OK and you get a little show of how everything is made. We didn't get much because we knew we can probably get it cheaper at the market in Cairo.

Fourth stop: Colossi of Memnon

Just two gigantic statues here. There's a platform kind of deal where most of the tourists take pictures. There are also stairs going down to where the statues are. Most people didn't bother going down and up to the statues. No I says George! It smelled like dog shit down there.

It was about 12:30-1PM. We got some food and went back to the hotel.

Our room was ready by then and they told us to go through the back door to get to where our room is. So... we got bumped from the poshy victorian style Old Winter Palace to the hotelish New Winter Palace to the motelish Winter Palace Pavillion.
BTW, the place insisted that they didn't get their money from Travelocity.com and didn't believe the printout I showed them saying I did. I reluctantly gave them my credit card and they charged it. The rate they charged me was cheaper than what I paid via Travelocity. I'm still trying to get my money back from Travelocity.

Check out my picture set on Luxor, Egypt

Egypt - Day 3: Day at the Museum + Night on the Train

Egyptian Museum in Cairo - most of the stuff found in the tombs are in here.

Various statues outside. Chock full of tourists.
LE 50 to get in.


Candid shot of the inside. Like most of the sites - no photo.
Lots of statues, coffins, etc. from the various dynasties. It's pretty cool to see how things, especially the designs and material evolved throughout the years.
There were even some Roman inspired ones!

Royal Mummies Exhibit

LE 100 extra to see the mummies. We ran out of cash and had to go to the ATM at the Hilton near the museum to get money. There are about 10 mummies of various Pharaohs in glass cases in a dimly lit room. Most of them had only their heads to shoulders exposed. The rest of the body was wrapped. A few was totally wrapped.
The one I really wanted to see was the pharaoh that was mummified on the battlefield - with a gash on the head and a broken wrist (last in the video)

Sleeping train to Luxor

Train leaves from the Giza station at 8:10PM. After a crazy but fun taxi ride through the city of Giza (which is a lot more modern than Cairo), we arrived at the station. The train was 30 minutes late. A couple of second class train passed by, it looked horrible to be in it: no light, windows open.


The dinner they served us was horrible. Dried, over cooked, etc. They had a notice telling us that there's belly dancing at the Club Cart after dinner. We went after dinner - no dancer. Big surprise. Got myself a Johnny Black. The guy poured me 3 cap full. LE 50 for 3 caps. When I ordered a second one, the same guy insisted on pouring for me again, telling the bartender who came later to step aside. I think he made a mistake pouring so little the first time and had to continue the charade.

The steward woke us up around 4:30AM for a breakfast of bread, bread and bread (3 different kinds) with jam, butter and cheese.
The train arrived at Luxor at around 6:30AM.


Check out my picture set on Cairo, Egypt

Egypt - Part 10: Packing List

To Pack: 10 shirts 10 boxers 10 pairs of socks 3 pairs of pants 2 button downs (1 linen) 3 tank tops 1 light jacket 1 hat 1 pair of sunglasses 1 belt 1 swimming trunks 1 pair of shorts 1 flash light 1 leatherman tool 1 neck pillow 1 pair of flip flops 1 pair of sanuks 1 pair of sneakers Added: knee brace extra wallet deodorant face wash lotion headphones q tips student ID

Tech: Nintendo DS SLR (big camera) S750 (small camera) camera 1 charger camera 2 charger tripod phone phone charger Archos 404 Archos charger Power adapters ipod ipod charger usb cable memory cards Misc: bug spray journal pen lotion book (Caesar) medicine (thanks Amy!) vitamins nasal spray money passport

Egypt - Part 7: Random Not In The Books Questions

The guidebooks tell you a lot but I always have random questions that they never answer.
Once again, Sarah picked up the slacks:
Her replies in blue.

any pointers in haggling is also appreciated. i may have gotten rusty.

As I was saying, offer half of what they suggest. They'll make all kinds of sounds like what you said is so outrageously low that they can't even believe their ears. Act nonchalant, no matter how badly you want it, keep a straight poker face and say nothing. After approximately 10-15 seconds, the bartering will begin. They'll offer something close to what their original offer was, and you can say something like, "Yeah, well..I don't really like it anyway." Start to find problems with it. It's scratched. It looks too old. It's plastic. I saw one down the road for only ___ pounds. Things like that. You can come up on your price obviously, but take it slow. It's a cultural thing - they're not used to someone just walking in and buying something without haggling. There's a certain amount of respect that you gain by following the process. Not that that matters.

big OH! what should i be wearing?

Long pants and t-shirts are fine. Tank tops - NO. Shorts - NO. You'll see other people wearing them, but it's highly frowned upon. If you're traveling with a woman, make sure her legs are covered at all times. T-shirts are okay for her, but long sleeved shirts are better. No need to cover her head - they accept that Westerners don't do that.

Depending on where you're staying and what you're doing, you might actually get cold from time to time because of the A/C. Bring a light jacket or sweatshirt of some kind you can wear around your waist. (Sorry - if you're at the beach - especially El Gouna - then you'll be fine wearing shorts, tank tops, swim suits, etc.)

are sneakers ok to hike around these places or should i wear some kind of boots to keep the sand out? (i imagine it to be sand everywhere)

Sneakers are fine. Anything that's comfy. It will only be sandy by the pyramids and in the Valley of the Kings. And the beach.

are jeans too hot? khakis? linen?

Totally up to you. Any are fine, but jeans will be really hot. Taxis aren't air-conditioned, so you'll sweat your butt off. Literally. I think they have a new company that's operating there now that has nicer taxis, so maybe you'll luck out. But be prepared to lose some water weight!

thanks again!

No problem - let me know if you have more questions. I'll be more than happy to help if I can. We had a lot of visitors while we lived there, and each time it was a trying experience for them when they went out on their own. Just be prepared to be hassled quite a bit. It wasn't uncommon for children to follow us for BLOCKS AND BLOCKS or even grab my hair or attach themselves to my leg and not let go. The poverty there is high and rampant. Most people live on less than $25 a month. They see foreigners and they equate them with dollar signs.

If you don't hire a taxi for a full day and just try to brave it, then find out from the hotel personnel how much it should cost to get to your destination. The taxis are very strange there. People just know how much it costs to go from Point A to Point B. No one discusses price before getting in the car (despite what the travel guides might say), and you certainly don't discuss it when you get there. You just know how much it is, get out of the car and give the money to the driver THROUGH THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW once you're completely out of the car. I know it sounds weird, but if you do it that way, the driver will assume that you know what you're doing. That's the Egyptian way. It can be a real bitch, so it's probably easier to just hire someone to drive you around for the day, wait for you, answer your questions, etc.

Like I said, let me know if you've got any more questions!

Sarah

Egypt - Part 6: Itinerary Feedback

I hustled to get my itinerary down so I can get some feedback from Sarah.
After flipping through the guidebook about 9000 times, I nailed down the wheres and whens.

Sarah's replies in blue, to my first itinerary*...

day 1 - cairo: arrive around 11 - museum, night market, walk around

This is a good plan. Will he have a car waiting for him at the airport? It's INSANE if he doesn't, and it's enough to make a visitor want to turn right around and get back on the plane. Also, when he comes through customs, he will need to go to one of the little booths and get TWO STAMPS before his passport can be processed. No one will tell him - it's as if they want to torture tourists. But you have to go pay for these stamps (try to use Egyptian Pounds if he's got them), and then you go wait in the line. It was normal for us to spend an hour to an hour and a half just to get to baggage claim. Cairo is the epitome of disorganization.

day 2 - cairo: pyramids, camels (i plan to smoke a cuban while riding a camel)

Definitely do the camel ride and definitely smoke the cuban! You can get them all over, but any nice hotel is a sure bet. Beware at the pyramids that he should try to get there as early as possible. I think they open up around 7:15 or 7:30am? Something like that. The lines get long, and often times there's a guy at the front of each pyramid trying to charge money. The only fee you have to pay is when you go through the main gate. Enjoy the view of Pizza Hut and McDonalds at the bottom of the Sphynx.

day 3 - cairo: (not sure what), night train to luxor

This would be the day to do whatever you haven't managed to do yet. Traffic can be bad, so things take a little longer. There are lots of lines, and the exhaustion level can be really high. Don't feel bad if you just want to head to the Four Seasons and down a few martinis.

As far as the train goes, buy First Class tickets, but don't be surprised when it's less than what you hoped for. You should be able to get tickets for less than $15 a piece, and the ride takes about 9 hours.

day 4 - luxor: valley of the kings

Get up early. There are boats that leave regularly, and once you get to the other side of the river you'll need to hire a car/driver to drive you to the actually valley. They'll be all over harrassing you to no end. Act as if you know what you're doing, even if you don't. People will seriously try to charge you massive amounts of money for next to nothing. There are other sites around there as well (The Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut (sp??)). When you're in the Valley of the Kings, pay the extra money to go down into the different chambers. They have package deals for this (you'll see what I mean when you get there). It's definitely worth it. There are some really cool ones.

day 5 - luxor: (not sure what)

Karnak Temple is what you want to do on this day. Or night. I only went there at night and did this huge light show tour. It was really cool - not just looking, but in temperature as well. It's a short taxi ride down the road from Luxor. There are also lots of restaurants and little bars in this city.

day 6 - hurghada: early bus to hurghada or other beach city along red sea coast, do water stuff?

The bus to Hurghada is crowded and dirty and smelly - I took it actually the opposite way (Hurghada to Luxor). But it's cheap and gets you there, as long as you don't mind the random Egyptian falling asleep and drooling on your shoulder. Hurghada itself is a crappy little seaside town that's full of nasty, sweaty Germans and tons of Russians on vacation package getaways. That's the downside. The upside is that there's some decent snorkeling, tons of bars with cheap beer and a lot more English spoken. Hotels are pretty cheap, but nothing to write home about. If you're looking for something a bit more remote, there are a ton of other spots on the coast to visit. Let me know if you are interested, and I'll give you some names. These places won't have anywhere to go out to - maybe a restaurant or two, but you'll have a beach to yourself and lots of privacy.

Just north of Hurghada about 45 minutes (I think) is El Gouna. It's a cute little town with some nicer, more western places to eat and hang out. It's where our mom worked, and I would definitely recommend it for a day or two. You can hang out on relatively uncrowded beaches, but there's still a bit of life going on - a nice compromise. There are boats that you can take out for the day or 1/2 day for snorkeling or diving. We did a day long snorkeling trip for about $75 per person, and it was incredible.

day 7 - hurghada: relax then afternoon bus to cairo or alexendria

These bus trips generally take around 6-7 hours, depending on which one you're on. They're nicer than the other kind. You'll have more room and maybe even be lucky enough to watch a ridiculously long Egyptian movie. If you're thinking of doing the Alex segment, then try to take a bus straight there.

day 8 - alexendria: day trip

Alex is a neat town - it's pretty-ish and definitely the most modern. The library there is worth seeing - it's new and modern, but it's on the same site and the original, famous one that was destroyed. There's some good seafood joints right along the boardwalk area, and there are some decent bars around. It's fun for about a day, so if you arrive the night before, that should be good. Take the afternoon train/bus back to Cairo, treat yourself to a night out on the town

day 9 - fly out of cairo (11am)

is this a good itinerary? nothing is solid except the flight in and out of cairo.
im totally open to suggestions.

Definitely a good itinerary! It can get stressful finding things out. Most signs are only in Arabic, and you end up acting out or miming a lot of things. The people there speak very aggressively to one another (or so it seems). It's just their way. They're very non-violent actually, but it looks like things are about to erupt all the time. They're just loud/close-talkers. The prices for most in stores are not set in stone. Usually the shop-keeper will ask you what you want to pay for it. I always hated that because I never really knew what the going price was. Don't answer them. Let them dictate a price, and then cut it in half NO MATTER HOW LOW IT MIGHT SEEM TO YOU.


*After reading this, gim was quick to let me know that I added an extra day. We're not leaving on a Friday night like I had hope to because there simply weren't any flights out. Revision to come.

Egypt Part 4 - Advice From Annie's Mom

More solid advice...

“This one is from my mom. She lived there for a few months, but has visited many times. She's very spiritual and into the temples and gods - if you want more info on that let me know, I can ask.... but I don't know where to start. "Many suggestions to make, but wonder if he has plans to cruise the Nile, or wants to explore the country stem to stern? I highly recommend taking the overnight trip from Cairo to Luxor with a sleeping car. Luxor is a MUST, and going by train gives you a wonderful experience, getting you there safely and in a town where you can walk or take a calish (horse drawn buggy) everywhere you want to go. Shopping wise it's the only Egyptian town that sells those wonderful, beautiful woven blankets. So don't search for them in Cairo, they all come from Luxor. I also encourage him to get out his bargaining skills. We must know how to negotiate with an Arab. If he needs help in that area I'll be happy to tell him my technique. Alexandria is also a must, being just a 2 hour bus ride from Cairo. The city doubles in volume in the summer, and really comes alive. When is he going? If it's prior to summer, many specials exist, but the town and harbour are truly worth the day trip. The museum there is also great." My sister obviously knows quite a bit more about the nightlife and ins-and-outs of it. She lived there for 3 years, and like I said, didn't enjoy the people very much. If you have any questions though, let me know. My mom and sis have been all over the world and know the value of getting inside info - they are happy to answer any questions! Hope this helps!

Luxor and Alexandria - check!

Egypt - Part 3: Advice from Sarah (Annie's Sister)

It turns out my friend Annie's sister, Sarah, spent 3 years working in Cairo.
No guidebook can beat solid advice from someone who's lived there (especially because of stuff like this).

“Oh Jesus - tell him to get his money back!! hahaha

Do you know where he'll be?

If he's in Cairo, here are some spots:

• Khan el Khalili - supposedly the world's oldest souk (shopping bazaar). Prepare to be hassled and ripped off, although there are tons of cool things to buy. HAGGLE HARD.
• City of the Dead - mind-blowingly huge area of graveyards
• the Citadel - this area is really beautiful, and it overlooks the city. On a good day he might have about 20 feet of visibility.
• Falucca ride on the Nile - these are sailboats that take people out on the Nile. Pack some beers, food, whatever and prepare to pay about $5 a person. Again, haggle. The boats are generally rented on an hourly basis, and they hold up to about 20 people comfortably.
• Sequoia - restaurant/bar in Zamalek (area I used to live in). It's on the northern-most tip of the island and has bar-none the best shisha anywhere I've ever tasted in the world. As of two years ago it was quite the Egyptian trendy spot - dress a little nicer.
• Egyptian Museum - this place has some of the coolest crap ever, and it's hard to believe that it's housed in such a shitty manner. King Tut is in here. Totally worth it. I think it costs about $10 to get in.
• the Pyramids (of course) - they're about a 20-25 minute drive south of Cairo. Your friend will have a better time if he hires a driver for a day (or more, depending on how many days he's planning on being in Cairo). Otherwise he'll be harrassed to no end. Taxis there don't have meters, no one speaks English and it can get really intimidating for someone who doesn' t know how much it actually costs to get around. Definitely have the hotel hook him up with a car service or a taxi driver that will work for him and only him for the duration. Prepare to pay about $30-40 a day (although he can no doubt get it for cheaper if he wants to haggle).
• At the pyramids, expect to be mobbed by Egyptians trying to put things in your hand and then refuse to take them back (unless you give them money for them). They will pull on you, follow you around incessantly, constantly asking for 'bakshish" - a tip, trying to give you directions, act as if they want to pose for a picture with you and then NEVER leave you alone (until you pay them).
• Drinking - there are some bars here and there, and there are a few late-night prostitution places that taxi drivers will know about. Basically it's a very strict Muslim country, and alcohol is forbidden for Muslims. So..that being said, bars are for either the wealthy Christian Egyptians or the foreigners. Big hotels are stocked full, and Zamalek (the island in the middle of the Nile) has several bars:
• Bars/restaurants in Zamalek: La Bodega - this is a nicer, upscale restaurant in an old building. I loved going here. It's not for the backpacker type - definitely a little nicer, but it's a great getaway from Cairo. Good service, outstanding food (not Egyptian). There's also a good bar that's just about a block away from here called Deals. Anyone at the restaurant will know where it is. About five or six blocks from there is another pub called Pub 28. It's loud and smokey, but a great place to get wasted. There's also a place called the Sand Bar (might be harder to find, and it might not be open anymore) as well as the place I mentioned before - Sequoia.

BEST ADVICE - ignore the people. There are some great Egyptians out there, but the ones that he is most likely to encounter will by trying their hardest to rip him off in some way or another. I know it sounds extreme, but believe me....I have been all over the world, and I've never seen anything as bad as this. It's a real shame because there are some absolutely incredible things to see in this country. The people certainly take a lot away from that.

If he goes down south to Luxor and the surrounding areas, then he should be prepared for all of the above, but at a higher price. It's hotter down south, so try to do any tours either early in the morning or in the late afternoon/evening. There are lots of night-tours and stuff like that. It's just too damn hot during the day. I was fine because I was climatized, but Keri get heat stroke. hahaha.

If I think of any more cool stuff I'll let you know. Depending on how long he's going to be there, there are even more side trips he can do: the White Dessert, going to the coast, up north to Alexandria, etc. Forward this on to him, and if he's got any questions let me know. Honestly, there are so many fucked up things about visiting there that the more information he's got, the better off he'll be. It's definitely high-stress travel.

Later!

S

Egypt - Part 2: Where else?

Part 2: Where else?

It's a 12 hour plane ride to Egypt. It's not often we go to another continent. We should go somewhere else! Right? What's around Egypt? Out comes the trusty Google Map.




Possible locations:
Morocco - Monique just came back from Marrakesh and said it was fun. That's close to Egypt right? No.. not really. It's on the other side of Africa. Go New York education system Geography!!!

Dubai - Way too expensive.

Jerusalem - This was doable. It's close, there's a bunch of stuff to see there... the holy sites, the dead sea (I really wanted to float in it - heavy salt content in water makes people float). Unfortunately, Israel is really hard to get to from Egypt. Sure we can fly there, but Egypt Air and El Al only fly there twice a week (Mondays, Fridays) and it costs about $400 for a ONE way. Bus rides are about 15 hours - you have to get off at the border, go through custom and go on another bus on the other side.

Conclusion:
Let's just stick with Egypt. We'll go to the other cities mentioned in the guide books:
Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria and maybe a city along the Red Sea coast.