Egypt Part III

After separating from Danica, and a quick stop (meaning a 12 hour train followed after by a 9 hour bus) in/thru Cairo to retrieve a parcel with some much needed items from home, I finally arrived in beautiful Dahab!

Situated along the shores of The Red Sea with mount Sinai looming in the distance, I had heard from many other travelers how pleasant and easy it was to relax (and get stuck) in Dahab; I could now see why! After three action packed weeks of navigating through the chaos of the rest of Egypt, the laid back vibe and blue waters of the Sea were a welcomed site. With Danica planning to meet back up with me after a couple days, I took advantage of the opportunity to chill out, do little more than eat, walk, read and play on my new iPad (one of the aforementioned 'much needed' items in my parcel picked up in Cairo!) for a couple days! It was very nice but the time I had allocated to touring the Middle East had quickly gone and I was still in Egypt!?!

With my travel buddy back in the same town and a week or so left it was time to ramp up again and map out some activities for the rest of my time in the region. We decided to prioritize our desires to (1) Climb Mt. Sinai (2) Cross the border for a few days to explore Petra in Jordan and (3) Scuba dive in the warm clear waters of the Red Sea. Sinai was first..... and, though demanding some effort on our part to awaken from our restful state, board a minibus at 11pm, reach the base at around 1:30am, hike for three hours in the wee hours of the night/morning, dodge the camels & donkeys on the trail up, and submit yourself to the frigid cold atop the mount.... witnessing the sunrise over the landscape of one of the Holy sites of the world was completely worth it!

Reluctant to leave the relaxation of Dahab number 2 on the priority list was Petra - a quick hop, skip, and jump across The Sea...      

Egypt Part II

Able to dodge Aladins attempts to allow him to arrange our further travels in Egypt and, after witnessing his behavior in response to our resistance, we had one last final straw with him when we caught him in a series of lies regarding his last ditch effort to do us a "favor" and save us a hassle by acquiring train tickets: Wanting to head south to Aswan our pal told us he'd hook it up, to call him after a few hours to confirm he had the tickets, and to take the evening to relax before the late departure overnight train. Anxious to escape his clutches we humored his friendly side, confirmed he had the tickets when we later called (Lie #1), and planned to meet him outside his shop after dinner. Over tea he went on to explain that the train that evening (which before was no problem and he told us over the phone he had the tickets for us for) was now full and that the only way to get on the train was through his "special black-market source" that would charge a "small" commission! This, according to Aladin, was the only way and best priced ticket out of Cairo (Lie #2)... in his mind he was our only hope. Hmmm. Well, we were smart enough to say no, thank him for his help with the jeep safari, and at last part ways to find our own path... until halfway down the street when, with a tap on the shoulder, he was suddenly behind us and ready to negotiate the rock bottom black-market price he quoted us just minutes before! At this point I had had enough and told him straight up that we weren't fools and to basically leave us alone. He got the message and finally Aladin was out of our lives... Well, maybe not just yet...

On our own Danica and I proceeded into the city, down onto the metro, over to the train station, and up to the ticket window to find out what we'd hoped was the real story. Like most things in Egypt, the concept of organization or standing in a line to wait your turn is non existent... After wiggling through a mass of men and, fighting to gain the attention of the clerk behind the window, we discovered that indeed the night train that evening was full but that the next night had seats available for the standard price. We bought them and extended our stay in Cairo till the following day...

Our transport to Aswan started with another jaunt through the metro lines to the train station and being subjected to the chaotic security lines and checkpoints along the way. While waiting for our train we proceeded to watch a local train (which tourists are not allowed to take) pull up
and witness the craziest spectacle of a mass of bodies filling every available square inch of the doorless, windowless, orderliness-less train car... I swear it looked like a prison train and, as it started moving, it did not prevent even more masses of bodies from stuffing their luggage and them selves through the window openings or dangling off the side of the doorways! Madness.

After all the craziness in the countries capital city we were happy to wake up the next day in The Nile Valley and our stop for a few days in the city of Aswan. Located along The Nile, Aswan serves as a starting point for the compulsory police escorted convoy to the temple of Abu Symbol and a popular place to catch a multi day felucca (traditional Egyptian river sailboat) down current towards The Valley of The Kings and the city of Luxor. Here pictures are worth a thousand words and I share the following to convey the shear majesty of the temple:

 A visit to the Temple of Isis on the island of Philae, a traditional Neubian Village on Elephantine island (where Danica got a Henna tattoo), and Lake Nasser (the largest man made lake in the world created to manage the annual flood waters of The Nile) rounded out our site seeing in the area. Though the temples are spectacular, navigating through Egypt is not easy traveling and we looked forward to escaping the dusty dirty streets for a few days of sailing along The Nile...

Our Felucca ride down the Nile started blissfully while docked along the river bank but, as if it was possible for anything to go smoothly in Egypt, the smooth sailing ended when we were stopped by the river police, turned around, and told that we couldn't proceed beyond a certain point because our trusty captain had not properly gone through the procedures to obtain the permit! Instead of sailing down river we tacked back and forth between the police station dock and down stream becoming more intimately acquainted with the certain small stretch of river and similarly more confused about what was transpiring between the police and our crew. It was still nice being on the water and chatting with the small group of travelers aboard but non of us expected to be "stuck" in front of Aswan for 24 hours only to find that our crew was arrested, boat confiscated, and we had to switch onto a smaller vessel with a whole new crew! Ahhh... That's Egypt for you!

After our adventure in denial... I mean, on The Nile... We arrived with new friends bonded together by the experience to the city of Luxor. Known as the hassle capital of the world, you couldn't walk more than a minute without a friendly "Hello my friend, where are you from..." or "Felucca ride? Best price my friend..." or "Carriage? I give you good price... 10 Egyptian Pounds.... Okay 7... 5... 3" or the constant honk, stop, and stare of a driver offering you a "tax" (taxi). Buying anything from a meal to some crackers entailed the negotiation game as well which had continued to be very wearing but, now after a couple weeks in the country, was now almost comical to play. Being from Hawaii and looking "like Egyptian" helped as well :)

With our energy and interest in more ancient ruins fading, Luxor was the place we chose to end our site seeing by paying visit to the burial sites of generations of Pharaohs in the fabled "Valley of The Kings." Taking a short ferry ride across to the West Bank, Danica and I hired some rickety old bikes and peddled our way the 15 kilometers through the desert heat to the valley past the ruins of several other temples, sugarcane fields and alabaster factories. I had little expectations for what the tombs had to offer but was quickly amazed by the quality of the preservation of not only the carved hieroglyphics but, more impressive, the colors of the paint used to adorn the carvings. It is hard to imagine but nearly all the temples and ruins we see in Egypt were at one time colorfully ordained... Though some have structurally survived the sands of time, it is the colors that are often missing and forgotten. In the tombs of The Valley of the Kings you are transported back in time and see the depictions in a state that seems as though they could have been completed just a short time before.

(Unfortunately, photos were strictly prohibited inside the tombs)

Thoroughly "ruined out" it was time for some r & r in one of the worlds best dive sites in Dahab along the coast of The Red Sea....

Egypt Part I

Only one word comes to mind to describe my arrival to Egypt - Chaos! Fresh off a 12 hour overnight bus (which got me back to Istanbul from the southern Med coast in Turkey) I was greeted outside the exit door of the airport with a slew of "friendly" Egyptians clamoring for my attention and competing to have me be a passenger in their taxi. I had heard that traveling around Cairo by public transport was a daunting task but none of my experiences to date had prepared me for the chaos that awaited... My hostel had even mentioned an airport pickup but, without being able to establish a wireless internet connection, I was unable to communicate my arrival time and left to my own devices to get from point A to point B.

My first two hours in Egypt went something like this: Ignore the new guy every ten feet asking where he could take me in his taxi... Locate the unmarked and dodgy looking airport shuttle bus... Board the airport shuttle bus with a mob of Egyptians cramming themselves in... Wait for an arbitrary amount of time for the bus driver to decide to drive when he deemed the bus (standing room only with people clinging to the doors) full and ready to proceed... Enjoy all the senses (sights, sounds, & smells) of standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a bus navigating through the trash filled dusty streets of Cairo... Be clearly aware that you do not yet know a lick of Arabic... Pull up to the bus station outside the airport... Exit the bus in the same manner as boarding with the added obstacle of just as crazy a mob of people trying to squeeze in to enter the bus as the mob of people exiting... Find Bus 111 without knowing a lick of Arabic... Board new bus in what you now realize to be 'the Egyptian way' as previously described above... Hope and pray you are on the right bus going in the right direction... Stare out the window at the sights & sounds of 17 million people trying to coexist in a tightly packed city... Somehow communicate that you want to go to the metro... get dropped off in the middle of the city with no signage guiding you to the supposed metro... Wander around wondering how you allowed this to happen to yourself AGAIN... Find the metro and risk life and limb crossing the street to get to the entrance... Decipher the secret codes required to read anything that in Egypt is remotely meant to aid none Arab speakers find their way... Board and exit metro in 'the Egyptian way'... Pop out onto the street in one of the busiest squares in the city... Ignore the new guy every ten feet (Instead of offering taxis, touts are now shop owners) on the sidewalk offering you a tea to come and look in their shop... And, at last, find your accommodation in the poorly marked building with the strange entrance at street level!!!  Though well into my travels now and, having had my fair share of uncomfortable situations, it is still touching down in Cairo that is without a doubt been the biggest culture shock to date!

Tired, sweaty, and hungry, I was now smack dabb in the real Middle East and in yet another, albeit extremely, foreign place. Finally arriving to my hostel I was greeted by the familiar face of my German friend Danica (whom I had originally met while in Positano, Italy, crossed paths with again in Greece, and had planned to meet up with when discovering we'd both be traveling in and around Egypt at the same time) and happy to shower and grab a bite to eat.

Upon arriving in a new place its best to take your first day or so to simply get your bearings and recover from the fatigue of traveling. After spending my first new day in Egypt regaining some sanity in the confines of our hostel and, after "talking story" (discussing for you non Hawaiians) with Danica, her Canadian friend Rob, and an American dude named Dominic, Danica and I  sketched out a rough plan and route to travel around Egypt. Our first goal was to get out of Cairo and head west - into the middle of the desert for a jeep safari and camping adventure in the picturesque White and Black deserts surrounding the Baharyia Oasis. And, Dominic had 'just the guy' to help us sort out how to get there...    

Dominic had traveled Egypt quite extensively several years before and iterated to us what we heard from other travelers and were quickly learning ourselves... Everyone in Egypt wants, can, and will try to sell you something! Though traveling independently, Egypt is also quite large and getting places takes traveling long distances and coordination. Because there are no set itineraries or prices in Egypt (anything you want can be arranged) and, because of the vast network of security (armed police and check points throughout and along the roads), traveling independently in this case meant first negotiating where you wanted to go and what you wanted to do.  The trick was finding an Egyptian we could trust and whom could arrange for us a desert safari at a fair price (fair being the key word here!)...

I first met Aladin inside his papyrus shop opposite a shisha bar down a narrow city street. With Dominic's recommendation and, after Rob & Danica enjoyed a successfully arranged and reasonably priced day trip/camel ride to the pyramids, we turned to Aladin for help. Over Egyptian tea we got acquainted with one another and came to an agreement on the cost/plan for a three day/two night excursion into the desert wilderness. And, to enhance our adventure even more Aladin told us he'd like to join us! It sounded great... A trusted Egyptian along for the ride sharing with us the REAL Egypt.  

Setting off we left the craziness of Cairo behind and bussed out to the Oasis. A few hours later we were greeted in Baharyia by Wagdi (our local driver), invited to an authentic meal in his mudbrick house, and geared up the jeep for our drive into the desertscape. Well, long story short, suffice it to say that everything about the safari was amazing except for our "pal" Aladin! Starting out friendly enough Aladin throughout the few days became excessively abusive towards Wagdi, strange in his questioning of our future travel plans in Egypt, controlling in our discussions around the campfire, and pushy about trying to "help" us arrange the next leg of our trip while we were yet trying to enjoy the present. His presence aside, the desertscape was impressive: the outerworldy shapes in the White desert, mountains of the Black desert, shooting star filled night sky, visitation by a fox in the night, simple but tasty traditional foods, and watching camel trains go by!

Back towards Cairo it was my turn to see the pyramids of Giza and The Great Sphinx before Danica and I hoped to board a train towards The Nile Valley. In Egyptian fashion Aladin brought me to his friends teahouse just outside the gate before accompanying Danica back to the city. Immediately after Aladin and Danica left it was apparent Aladin had something up his sleeve and the shop owner slowly but firmly attempted to help me arrange a couple hour tour/camel ride in and around the pyramids... All I wanted was to walk through the gate and walk around on my own. After getting really fed up with all the tricks and touts I fought my way to the ticket counter and inside just in time to enjoy the last hour of daylight and sunset over these colossal structures!

A taxi back to Cairo revealed Aladin had one more trick up his sleeve... But by now we were onto him and aware of what it was going to take to navigate through Egypt...

Walk like an Egyptian

No time to write about Egypt yet... but, here's a preview for you of photos of my adventures so far...!

Turkish Delight!

Europe collides with Asia where the modern West clashes with the traditions of the East in the land of kababs, hamams, and muslim culture!  I almost skipped Turkey because of the desire to rendezvous with some friends during their trip to Israel... the prospect of exploring the Holy Land with friends from home sounded great but it would have cut my time short in Greece and forced me to skip Turkey all together. When their schedule changed, the impact on my timeframe didn't make sense, and, Turkey was back on my list of destinations!

After a little bit of convincing (sweet talking) I was able to have my scheduled flight from Athens to Tel Aviv redirected to Istanbul and landed into another completely foreign world and the biggest culture shock to-date; I certainly was not in Kansas anymore!

After a couple days of walking the city streets, seeing the sights (The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cisterns, etc.), and partaking in some local cultural practices (i.e., Hamam - traditional Turkish Bath) I found my bearings in this predominately Muslim world and sketched out a gameplan to head to some of the more natural wonders in the south of the country. A good first homebase for exploring what the south of the country had to offer was the city of Fethiye and I set off on a 12 hour overnight bus...

The plan as to spend a few days around the town and then arranging to board a Gulet (traditional Turkish sail boat) and sail along the coast of the Turkish Riviera for several days. Unfortunately, as they say... 'life is what happens when you are busy making other plans'... and the last Gulet of the season had sailed the day before my arrival! Darn. I was still in Fethiye and happy to be out of the city. I concluded to proceed with my jaunt along the coast overland after spending a few days as planned around the area.

A few days turned into another night and another night and before you knew it I ended up staying for a week! I became friends with the staff and the few other guests staying at V-Go Hostel and enjoyed the amazing food prepared by the cook (Ramazon), trekking amongst the ruins (abandoned City of Kayakoy) in the mountains near by, taking a day cruise to the "12 islands" off the coast, exploring the tombs carved into the rock face of the mountain above, and getting absorbed in an Islamic community.

Sometime between my 3rd and 4th day I was given a turkish name by Ramazon ("Menten"), ate in the back with the rest of the staff and offered an invitation to sail as part of the crew on a sail boat down the coast to attend a Turkish wedding! It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up and one of those times when you realize that plans aren't always all they are cracked up to be :) Along with some other guests, we boarded the magnificent yacht and motored down the coast. Our small group consisted of Silvia from Spain, Hannah & Rory, Paul, and Maddy/Angus/Amy/Elyse all from Australia along with the boat crew of Captain Orhan, the joke loving Amat, and quiet vodka drinking Murat.

Paul and I had the pleasure of assisting with making lunch dowwn in the gally during a particularly topsy turby portion of the voyage and somehow survived boiling water and cutting vegetables while getting tossed to and fro. We set anchor for the night in a beautiful cove and awoke the next morning for a quick dip in the majesty of the Mediterranean. By the time we reached the town for the wedding festivities we had all bonded as friends and were sad to leave the confines of your home on the water. Arriving on land though we were greeted as honored guests and got (what felt like) the turkish version of the "red carpet treatment" complete with food and smiles!

Wedding are a big deal in Turkey and it is customary to invite the whole town (traditionally by delivering, of all things, a pair of socks to each household!). The wedding festivities included a feast complete with tons of amazing food dishes, a pre-ceremony party where the men and women separate to drink and dance at their own respective parties, as much Raki (Turkish Spirit that tastes like licorice and is about 50% alcohol) as you could drink, a bon fire, crazy music, and fireworks. They also have a tradition of firing off rounds from their revolvers into the night sky while dancing drunk around the bon fire... that was an experience that you don't soon forget!  I had arrived to Fethiye as a guest and left as part of the family :)

Parting ways with the V-Go crew (Orhan, Sinan and Sesar), Rory & Hannah and Paul and I traveled together to the beach and the treehouses of Olympos! As if time in Turkey couldn't get any better we were suddenly in another amazing landscape set amongst ancient Roman ruins, staying at a place offering some of the best meals I've had, and enjoying each others company as we spent a couple lazy days recovering from all the wedding fun. Now the off-season, we enjoyed evenings sitting around the campfire and talking with the few other guests with Mt. Olympos (from where the Olympic games gain their name) looming in the distance... including the familiar faces of a Canadian family. But, where did I see them before? We got to talking and I realized I had read their blog (http://4intheworld.blogspot.com/) about their Around the World Trip several months before! It got even stranger when they told me they had also read mine! How ironic.

A couple days later and who comes strolling don the path? Three Aussie girls I was bunked up with during my time weeks before in Athens! You realize just howw small the world is when, of all the places one could be, and times they could be there, you rendezvous with others in such a way!  Turkey was simply, as the name of the local sweet is called, a DELIGHT! 

I was no longer in the western world... and it was time to dive even deeper into the East... to the land of the Pharaohs and meeting up with another fellow world vagabond.  Ancient Egypt as next...