Cairo is a massive, sprawling metropolis of some 20 million people and after having learned our lesson from our “rip-off” horse ride tour to Giza, we were totally discouraged in exploring the city on our own, other than making frequent trips to the internet café and excellent Alfa supermarket (they had the whole Hostess line of goodies – Val had her first Twinkie in 4 years!). This time, luck was on our side and we met Tom and Bess, a lovely Australian couple in their twenties, at the internet cafe. We had seen them during our “rip-off” tour to Giza the day before and started talking to them. We quickly felt a little bit better when we found out that we had not been the only tourists scammed. We learned that Tom and Bess were on the same Gecko’s tour as us and with safety in numbers and a renewed confidence in not letting “them” rip us off any longer, we decided to head to Khan El-Khalili, a massive maze of bazaars and to Bab Zuweila, a fort-like wall from where we enjoyed spectacular views over Cairo from the twin minarets. With our confidence level ever-growing, we took a local taxi from the bazaars to the spectacular 12th century Citadel of Salah ad-Din al Ayyub… except the taxi wouldn’t start. Tom and some local shop keeper on the street had to help the cabbie push the vehicle in order it to start. We were all apprehensive riding in the cab, but we made it to the Citadel alright and intact.
That same night, we met with Ramy Adly, our tour leader for the next two weeks. Ramy deserves special mention as both of us previously avoided organized tour groups like the plague. This tour turned out to be one of our best adventures ever. Ramy was simply outstanding in everything he did, from being organized, honest, funny, informative and a genius by upgrading us from a 3-star to a 5-star Nile cruise AND upgrading our rooms from regular to balcony, beach-view rooms in Dahab. We think he would also make a perfect boyfriend for all our single-lady friends in SF and Sydney….you know who you are! We should also mention here that we could not have possibly asked for a better tour group – it felt like travelling with the best of friends and family…special mention to the” Yalla-Banana” Crew: Ramy, Michael, Pam, Cathy, Debra, Tom, Bess and Amelia who made this trip so very enjoyable! We miss you guys already and hope that all of you had a safe trip home or to Greece (we might meet you there Tom & Bess).
That same night, we met with Ramy Adly, our tour leader for the next two weeks. Ramy deserves special mention as both of us previously avoided organized tour groups like the plague. This tour turned out to be one of our best adventures ever. Ramy was simply outstanding in everything he did, from being organized, honest, funny, informative and a genius by upgrading us from a 3-star to a 5-star Nile cruise AND upgrading our rooms from regular to balcony, beach-view rooms in Dahab. We think he would also make a perfect boyfriend for all our single-lady friends in SF and Sydney….you know who you are! We should also mention here that we could not have possibly asked for a better tour group – it felt like travelling with the best of friends and family…special mention to the” Yalla-Banana” Crew: Ramy, Michael, Pam, Cathy, Debra, Tom, Bess and Amelia who made this trip so very enjoyable! We miss you guys already and hope that all of you had a safe trip home or to Greece (we might meet you there Tom & Bess).
Our first activity with the group was a night, sound and light show of the Giza Pyramids….it was alright, but we all expected a bit more. The next morning took us back to the mighty pyramids at Giza where we explored the pyramids and the nearby Sphinx. We then headed to the truly outstanding Egyptian Museum where one of the highlights was the golden mask of King Tutankhamen and his numerous other treasures. In the evening we took the night train to Aswan in the south of Egypt (a 12-hour rattling, full blasting air conditioner adventure).
Although largely sleep deprived, we got our hotel rooms in Aswan, cleaned up and boarded a bus to visit the stunning Temple of Isis at Philae Island. After the temple, we ventured to the Nubian bazaar - a long and colourful street that snakes through the centre of town. This is where Martin paid his first bribe to take a photo of an elderly man smoking a sheesha pipe. That evening we boarded a felucca sailboat, a wooden boat without an engine, and relaxed on the Nile, enjoying great views, wonderful company, Stella beer (not Belgium’s Stella Artois, this is Egypt’s beer), mint tea and biscuits. We were then treated to a Nubian dinner, complete with song and dance. This is where we met some locals of the west bank part of the Nile River. Val wanted to adopt the lovely 18-month old Haleema who loved to dance. Martin fell in love with 5-year old Osama who was after candy. The dinner and the subsequent dance and song provided excellent photo opportunities, the results which we have included in the attached link to Shutterfly (remember you do not need to become a member to view the pics): http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CYtm7Fu5as2a&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar
The following day we were up at 3am and took a police convoy to travel by road to Abu Simbel, one of the most impressive temples ever built and certainly one of Martin’s photographic highlights. We were not sure what was more impressive: the temples themselves, the feat of moving the temples stone by stone from its original location to avoid being flooded by the massive artificial Lake Nasser, or the fact that we were only 45kms (less than 30 miles) from the Sudan border. The temples were fantastic and Martin ended up with over 70 photos in less than two hours. For the most part we all slept on the bus back to Aswan where we boarded our Nile Cruise boat, the Ra II, which we called home for the next three nights. Much to our delight, Ramy and Hassan (another Gecko’s tour leader) managed to upgrade us from a 3-star boat to a 5-star boat – way to go guys!!! This was definitely another highlight of our trip and the buffets made us feel like being back in Vegas – unfortunately, the waistline was not as impressed with us. We tried to exercise it off one night in Aswan, by playing some soccer against Hassan’s tour group, but Martin managed to injure his knee during the 1st half (a reoccurring knee injury, but nothing too serious). Val felt guilty given that we had to climb Mt. Sinai in less than a week and she was the one who encouraged Martin to be a team player and play soccer too. Nevertheless, Team Ramy tied the game with Team Hassan at 3-3 with one less player, since we had no substitute for the highly talented Martin (yes, Martin did insert this part). Good job team!
Cruising along the Nile was a very relaxing experience from the past few busy days and allowed Martin to heal his injury by sitting on the sundeck rather than limping around temples in 40 degree (100 degrees F) heat. We hung-out at the sundeck and watched the locals go about their business on the banks of the Nile. It was really cool to hear all the kids scream and wave hello to us. Even more rewarding were the smiles and the increased yelling and enthusiasm when we waved our hands and said hello to them – it was as if we were celebrities.
Our first stop on the cruise was at Kom Ombo to visit the Temple of Sobek, a Greco-Roman temple overlooking the Nile. At sunset we stopped at Edfu where we explored the lit and well-preserved Temple of Horus, considered one of the finest examples of temple construction. The next day we arrived in Luxor and took a horse-drawn carriage to the massive temple complex at Karnak, built over a period of some 2000 years, and one of the greatest temples ever constructed. In the evening we explored the bazaar in Luxor and relaxed at an outdoor café within the bazaar before retiring to our cabins on the Ra II for the last night.
The following morning we once again rose early as we signed up for a hot air balloon ride – a first for both of us. The sunrise, accentuated by the ever present pollution, made for a fantastic experience. We cruised at a maximum altitude of 500 meters (1500 feet) which allowed us to observe farmers and life below us. After about 50 minutes we landed in a sugar cane field and were greeted by kids who wanted money for taking photos of donkeys and dogs, which of course, they claimed were theirs. They didn’t stop asking until we boarded our van…a 10 minute walk from where we landed.
We were then transported to the Valley of the Kings were we visited several impressive tombs. We completed our visit by 9am for which we were very grateful as the thermometer was already in the mid-30’s or 95 degrees F. What follows will probably be one of the most memorable experiences ever – a donkey ride along Luxor country.
Everyone on the tour, but Ramy, was hesitant riding the donkeys in the middle of traffic. Ramy told us that there is not much direction needed for these donkeys, they knew where to go…yeah, sure. You do become confident and comfortable, shouting out commands to speed-up or go to the left/right, just after 5 minutes of riding the donkeys. We all wanted them to go faster, so we would shout “yalla-yalla,” which means “let’s go, let’s go” but that didn’t make them go any faster. These donkeys have a mind of their own and as much as we didn’t want to believe Ramy, he’s right, the donkeys knew where they were going. What we didn’t like was when they went fast in spurts then suddenly slowed down…”Did we tell you to speed up donkey? What made you do that?” Then Bess shouted out “banana” which made her donkey go faster, so we all followed foot and shouted “banana”, then “yalla-banana”, which made them go slightly faster. The locals probably thought we were out of our minds shouting out “yalla-banana!” but from then on, it became our group’s cheer. We are happy to report that both our donkeys were well behaved and did not cause any accidents or traffic congestions. This also meant that this was the conclusion of our southern Egypt odyssey and that evening we boarded the night train back to Cairo (9 hours of rattling and excessive air conditioning).
Although largely sleep deprived, we got our hotel rooms in Aswan, cleaned up and boarded a bus to visit the stunning Temple of Isis at Philae Island. After the temple, we ventured to the Nubian bazaar - a long and colourful street that snakes through the centre of town. This is where Martin paid his first bribe to take a photo of an elderly man smoking a sheesha pipe. That evening we boarded a felucca sailboat, a wooden boat without an engine, and relaxed on the Nile, enjoying great views, wonderful company, Stella beer (not Belgium’s Stella Artois, this is Egypt’s beer), mint tea and biscuits. We were then treated to a Nubian dinner, complete with song and dance. This is where we met some locals of the west bank part of the Nile River. Val wanted to adopt the lovely 18-month old Haleema who loved to dance. Martin fell in love with 5-year old Osama who was after candy. The dinner and the subsequent dance and song provided excellent photo opportunities, the results which we have included in the attached link to Shutterfly (remember you do not need to become a member to view the pics): http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CYtm7Fu5as2a&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar
The following day we were up at 3am and took a police convoy to travel by road to Abu Simbel, one of the most impressive temples ever built and certainly one of Martin’s photographic highlights. We were not sure what was more impressive: the temples themselves, the feat of moving the temples stone by stone from its original location to avoid being flooded by the massive artificial Lake Nasser, or the fact that we were only 45kms (less than 30 miles) from the Sudan border. The temples were fantastic and Martin ended up with over 70 photos in less than two hours. For the most part we all slept on the bus back to Aswan where we boarded our Nile Cruise boat, the Ra II, which we called home for the next three nights. Much to our delight, Ramy and Hassan (another Gecko’s tour leader) managed to upgrade us from a 3-star boat to a 5-star boat – way to go guys!!! This was definitely another highlight of our trip and the buffets made us feel like being back in Vegas – unfortunately, the waistline was not as impressed with us. We tried to exercise it off one night in Aswan, by playing some soccer against Hassan’s tour group, but Martin managed to injure his knee during the 1st half (a reoccurring knee injury, but nothing too serious). Val felt guilty given that we had to climb Mt. Sinai in less than a week and she was the one who encouraged Martin to be a team player and play soccer too. Nevertheless, Team Ramy tied the game with Team Hassan at 3-3 with one less player, since we had no substitute for the highly talented Martin (yes, Martin did insert this part). Good job team!
Cruising along the Nile was a very relaxing experience from the past few busy days and allowed Martin to heal his injury by sitting on the sundeck rather than limping around temples in 40 degree (100 degrees F) heat. We hung-out at the sundeck and watched the locals go about their business on the banks of the Nile. It was really cool to hear all the kids scream and wave hello to us. Even more rewarding were the smiles and the increased yelling and enthusiasm when we waved our hands and said hello to them – it was as if we were celebrities.
Our first stop on the cruise was at Kom Ombo to visit the Temple of Sobek, a Greco-Roman temple overlooking the Nile. At sunset we stopped at Edfu where we explored the lit and well-preserved Temple of Horus, considered one of the finest examples of temple construction. The next day we arrived in Luxor and took a horse-drawn carriage to the massive temple complex at Karnak, built over a period of some 2000 years, and one of the greatest temples ever constructed. In the evening we explored the bazaar in Luxor and relaxed at an outdoor café within the bazaar before retiring to our cabins on the Ra II for the last night.
The following morning we once again rose early as we signed up for a hot air balloon ride – a first for both of us. The sunrise, accentuated by the ever present pollution, made for a fantastic experience. We cruised at a maximum altitude of 500 meters (1500 feet) which allowed us to observe farmers and life below us. After about 50 minutes we landed in a sugar cane field and were greeted by kids who wanted money for taking photos of donkeys and dogs, which of course, they claimed were theirs. They didn’t stop asking until we boarded our van…a 10 minute walk from where we landed.
We were then transported to the Valley of the Kings were we visited several impressive tombs. We completed our visit by 9am for which we were very grateful as the thermometer was already in the mid-30’s or 95 degrees F. What follows will probably be one of the most memorable experiences ever – a donkey ride along Luxor country.
Everyone on the tour, but Ramy, was hesitant riding the donkeys in the middle of traffic. Ramy told us that there is not much direction needed for these donkeys, they knew where to go…yeah, sure. You do become confident and comfortable, shouting out commands to speed-up or go to the left/right, just after 5 minutes of riding the donkeys. We all wanted them to go faster, so we would shout “yalla-yalla,” which means “let’s go, let’s go” but that didn’t make them go any faster. These donkeys have a mind of their own and as much as we didn’t want to believe Ramy, he’s right, the donkeys knew where they were going. What we didn’t like was when they went fast in spurts then suddenly slowed down…”Did we tell you to speed up donkey? What made you do that?” Then Bess shouted out “banana” which made her donkey go faster, so we all followed foot and shouted “banana”, then “yalla-banana”, which made them go slightly faster. The locals probably thought we were out of our minds shouting out “yalla-banana!” but from then on, it became our group’s cheer. We are happy to report that both our donkeys were well behaved and did not cause any accidents or traffic congestions. This also meant that this was the conclusion of our southern Egypt odyssey and that evening we boarded the night train back to Cairo (9 hours of rattling and excessive air conditioning).
Back in Cairo, we wasted no time and Ramy took us to the awe-inspiring 9th century Mosque of Ibn Tulun and then to the fantastic El Fishawy Café, which reputedly has the best Turkish coffee and mint tea in town; and yes, we can attest to this. Lonely Planet should also mention that the place from which we ordered falafels is probably THE best in the country. Unfortunately, today meant the completion of the Egypt adventure for Pam, Michael, Debra and Amelia, but not before we had a fantastic “last supper” at Deals Restaurant in an upscale neighborhood in Cairo.
After an emotional good-bye the following morning, our shrunken group consisting of Tom, Bess, Cathy and us were on our way to Mt. Sinai. The Sinai Peninsula is an untamed wilderness, with jagged pink granite mountains punching up into clear blue skies. After 7 hours of driving and going through a tunnel under the Suez Canal, we arrived in St. Catherine were we checked into our hostel and then once again wasted no time in starting our hike up Mt. Sinai with our friendly Bedouin guide, Hussein. Thankfully Martin’s knee injury had mostly healed. Climbing the mountain, where Moses is said to have received his Ten Commandments, was not as strenuous as we had assumed, but it was no walk in the park either. The changing light and scenery were truly dramatic and we had plenty of time to enjoy the sunset.
We corrupted Hussein into eating Twix, Pringles, Oreos and other junk food which probably helped him understand why we were always falling behind on the hike up. At one point, Hussein told us that we would have only 20 minutes up to the top, but for this group, make it 30. Anyway, we made it to the top around the 2.5 to 3 hour range. He was an adorable guy, posed with us for a group photo and even proudly carried Martin’s tripod down the mountain. The scramble down in the dark was a bit scary, but we survived to tell the tale.
All would have been fine at the Morgenland Hostel, but after a failing air conditioner and a losing battle of killing an ever growing number of mosquitoes, we surrendered to the fact we would catch little sleep and wake up with several bites the following day. Thanks Debra for providing us with citronella mosquito repellent bracelets. Not sure if they worked effectively as we both got bitten, but interestingly not around our wrist area.
The following morning we were off to Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula and only about 19 kilometers across the Gulf of Aqaba from Saudi Arabia. We enjoyed a bit of snorkeling at a spot called the Blue Hole and spent the rest of the day eating, drinking and of course, the obligatory smoking of sheesha. Dahab is a beautiful, laid back little ocean side town on the Gulf of Aqaba. Our final day was spent sleeping in, shopping for souvenirs, writing postcards, doing laundry and relaxing some more before having a great last dinner at Al Capone’s Restaurant on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba.
The following morning was one of the most emotional days as we had to say goodbye to our friends Cathy, Bess, Tom, and our ever gracious tour leader Ramy. Suffice to say, we are planning a reunion when we return to Australia in February 2010 – Cathy and Ramy, book your flights NOW! We spent the rest of the day depressed, missing our new found friends and running errands.
The following day we were picked up at 10am for a 1 hour drive to Nuweiba from where we caught the ferry to Aqaba, Jordan. We had been warned that the ferry departure can be up to six hours late, or in the worst case, not show up at all. I guess we were lucky as we departed Nuweiba in Egypt at 6pm, when the departure was scheduled for 2:30pm – 3.5 hours late is not all that bad. We made some new friends on the bus ride to Nuweiba and while waiting for the ferry. In particular, we met Jamie, an Australian archeology student doing projects in Jordan. Most impressively, he spoke Arabic very well and we look forward to catching up with him when we are in Amman.
Anyway, does everybody remember Martin’s problems when traveling to new countries? Well, add Jordan to the list. When boarding the ferry in Nuweiba, Egypt, all tourists get priority, i.e. they can board first prior to anyone else. The Jordanian customs official was nice enough, but we don’t think he ever located Liechtenstein and after about 30 minutes of explaining where the country is located (it is between Switzerland and Austria, no, not Australia, Sir), he frustratingly waived Martin through. Thankfully, a Pakistani lady was also questioned as the local crowd grew increasingly frustrated and the angry looks actually started to make Martin nervous as they could not board the vessel until he was let on board.
We finally made it to Aqaba and experienced an interesting taxi ride. Firstly, we thought that once we agree a price, we leave. Nope, there was one more seat left in the cab. Having been delayed for 4 hours on our ferry ride, we were in no mood to wait for a taxi to fill-up. As we started to unload our bags from the trunk, the cab driver finally agreed to leave, but it was not long before he picked up some random guy on the side of the freeway to make an extra buck. He also headed north into town, instead of south to our hostel. Long story short, he spoke no English, we spoke no useful Arabic and so what was supposed to be a 7 km, 10 minute ride, turned into a 45 minute goose chase which, at some point, got us within 5 kilometers of the Saudi Arabian border. When we finally did reach our hostel, he had the nerve to ask for more money. Thankfully the hostel was a nice surprise, clean room and friendly owner (a retired naval officer and former UN delegate who served in Croatia) who made us feel right at home. We liked it so much that we added another day before we set off to explore the many sights of Jordan. Good bye for now and we will update you once we get to Amman, Jordon or to Istanbul, Turkey, the 4th country on our trip around the world.
Masalam,
After an emotional good-bye the following morning, our shrunken group consisting of Tom, Bess, Cathy and us were on our way to Mt. Sinai. The Sinai Peninsula is an untamed wilderness, with jagged pink granite mountains punching up into clear blue skies. After 7 hours of driving and going through a tunnel under the Suez Canal, we arrived in St. Catherine were we checked into our hostel and then once again wasted no time in starting our hike up Mt. Sinai with our friendly Bedouin guide, Hussein. Thankfully Martin’s knee injury had mostly healed. Climbing the mountain, where Moses is said to have received his Ten Commandments, was not as strenuous as we had assumed, but it was no walk in the park either. The changing light and scenery were truly dramatic and we had plenty of time to enjoy the sunset.
We corrupted Hussein into eating Twix, Pringles, Oreos and other junk food which probably helped him understand why we were always falling behind on the hike up. At one point, Hussein told us that we would have only 20 minutes up to the top, but for this group, make it 30. Anyway, we made it to the top around the 2.5 to 3 hour range. He was an adorable guy, posed with us for a group photo and even proudly carried Martin’s tripod down the mountain. The scramble down in the dark was a bit scary, but we survived to tell the tale.
All would have been fine at the Morgenland Hostel, but after a failing air conditioner and a losing battle of killing an ever growing number of mosquitoes, we surrendered to the fact we would catch little sleep and wake up with several bites the following day. Thanks Debra for providing us with citronella mosquito repellent bracelets. Not sure if they worked effectively as we both got bitten, but interestingly not around our wrist area.The following morning we were off to Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula and only about 19 kilometers across the Gulf of Aqaba from Saudi Arabia. We enjoyed a bit of snorkeling at a spot called the Blue Hole and spent the rest of the day eating, drinking and of course, the obligatory smoking of sheesha. Dahab is a beautiful, laid back little ocean side town on the Gulf of Aqaba. Our final day was spent sleeping in, shopping for souvenirs, writing postcards, doing laundry and relaxing some more before having a great last dinner at Al Capone’s Restaurant on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba.
The following morning was one of the most emotional days as we had to say goodbye to our friends Cathy, Bess, Tom, and our ever gracious tour leader Ramy. Suffice to say, we are planning a reunion when we return to Australia in February 2010 – Cathy and Ramy, book your flights NOW! We spent the rest of the day depressed, missing our new found friends and running errands.
The following day we were picked up at 10am for a 1 hour drive to Nuweiba from where we caught the ferry to Aqaba, Jordan. We had been warned that the ferry departure can be up to six hours late, or in the worst case, not show up at all. I guess we were lucky as we departed Nuweiba in Egypt at 6pm, when the departure was scheduled for 2:30pm – 3.5 hours late is not all that bad. We made some new friends on the bus ride to Nuweiba and while waiting for the ferry. In particular, we met Jamie, an Australian archeology student doing projects in Jordan. Most impressively, he spoke Arabic very well and we look forward to catching up with him when we are in Amman.
Anyway, does everybody remember Martin’s problems when traveling to new countries? Well, add Jordan to the list. When boarding the ferry in Nuweiba, Egypt, all tourists get priority, i.e. they can board first prior to anyone else. The Jordanian customs official was nice enough, but we don’t think he ever located Liechtenstein and after about 30 minutes of explaining where the country is located (it is between Switzerland and Austria, no, not Australia, Sir), he frustratingly waived Martin through. Thankfully, a Pakistani lady was also questioned as the local crowd grew increasingly frustrated and the angry looks actually started to make Martin nervous as they could not board the vessel until he was let on board.
We finally made it to Aqaba and experienced an interesting taxi ride. Firstly, we thought that once we agree a price, we leave. Nope, there was one more seat left in the cab. Having been delayed for 4 hours on our ferry ride, we were in no mood to wait for a taxi to fill-up. As we started to unload our bags from the trunk, the cab driver finally agreed to leave, but it was not long before he picked up some random guy on the side of the freeway to make an extra buck. He also headed north into town, instead of south to our hostel. Long story short, he spoke no English, we spoke no useful Arabic and so what was supposed to be a 7 km, 10 minute ride, turned into a 45 minute goose chase which, at some point, got us within 5 kilometers of the Saudi Arabian border. When we finally did reach our hostel, he had the nerve to ask for more money. Thankfully the hostel was a nice surprise, clean room and friendly owner (a retired naval officer and former UN delegate who served in Croatia) who made us feel right at home. We liked it so much that we added another day before we set off to explore the many sights of Jordan. Good bye for now and we will update you once we get to Amman, Jordon or to Istanbul, Turkey, the 4th country on our trip around the world.
Masalam,
Martin & Val
P.S. - Please let us know if you are having a difficult time viewing our pics on Shutterfly and if so, can you recommend another website where we can load our pictures for next time. Shokran (thanks)!
