Egyptian Train Quick Tips

Wheres the Train!
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Train travel in Egypt can be a special experience. First I will make a short list of suggestions, then I will explain them.

1. Wear Shoes (not sandles/slip-ons)
2. Bring bathroom stuff
3. Lock-up your bag
4. Buy tickets in advance
5. Splurge on your ticket
6. Meals on wheels
7. Trains running on time
8. Tourist trains

Wear Shoes (not sandles/slip-ons)

If you are going on a train for more than 1 hour I would highly suggest that you were actual shoes and not sandles or slip-ons. There are two reasons. One, the less important of the two is you might get your feet stepped on in the crowds. The second and far more important reason is that bathrooms on Egyptian trains are often disgusting and trust me, you don't need someones fecal matter and urine on your feet.

Bring bathroom stuff

Expect to be squatting while in the train and unless you are skilled at the art of squatting on the move you are going to have to touch that disgusting stabilizing bar. Yes, everyone who has ever shat there has done the same. There is generally a chained up water bucket to wash off your behind and there probably won't be soap. Carry soap, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer.

Lock-up your bag

If you are planning on snoozing, resting your eyes, or going to the washroom make sure your bag is locked up. Buying a chain and securing it to the overhead bars is a good method. This is especially important if you are on an overnight train. You don't need people stealing your goods. Don't trust other backpackers implicitly either.

Buy tickets in advance

There are several ways to buy tickets in Egypt. You can go to a travel agent and pay too much, or you can go to the train station and go to the lines and buy your tickets. In Egypt they normally have a line for tourists to buy their tickets, but guides also buy their tickets there and you will find people very pushy. They will walk in front of you and you really need to aggressively push them out of the way or you will never make any forward progress in line. Normally you can buy tickets one or two days in advance without any problem, but holidays and tourist high-season can often lead to full trains. As soon as you know when you want to go somewhere, I suggest you buy your tickets right away.

Splurge on your ticket

Being a budget traveler means saving money. I know that it seems like a great idea to save that extra 3-4 dollars and travel second class, but let me tell you... There is a MAJOR difference between first and second class. If you are traveling for over an hour or two just spend the extra few dollars and you will be a much happier person for it.

Meals on wheels

If you are on long haul trains and you haven't brought food with you (why not?) then you are about to be ripped off. My "average" meal in Egypt would be about 1-2 dollars for a good meal. On the train if you get breakfast with coffee or tea in pre-made plastic container you will be looking at about 5-7 dollars.

Trains running on time

Most of my time waiting at trains stations was caused only because I am always early and over-estimate the time it will take me to arrive at places. Trains in Egypt normally run "on-time" that is to say that they start or arrive within about 15 minutes of their scheduled time. Only once did I have to wait 3.5 hours for a very late train.

Tourist trains

One frustrating things about Egypt is the fact that tourists are only allowed to travel on certain trains, certain buses, and are generally assigned to sit near each other or in the same cabin. I inquired about this at they said it was for security reasons, additional guards are placed on the trains and they take the protection of tourists very seriously as much of the Egyptian economy relies on tourism.

It is possible to buy tickets from neglectful clerks at the ticket counter, but normal trains and buses get searched at security check-points and not only slower but you will be pulled off the train and asked many questions about why you aren't on a "tourist" vehicle. You will probably have several armed guards questioning you.

Adventure Egypt

Egypt was a trip to the senses. I but once you get over the massive traffic and how to cross a street it's pretty tame. Travel is dirt cheap and it's easy to have a good time. There is so much to see historically, so many beaches to drink on and many interesting people to meet.

• Egyptian Train Tips
  
• Chow Egypt, It's been Fun
  
• Cemetery Adventures in Coptic Cairo
  
• Daniel and I are Muslim?
  
• New Cairo Mall
  
• Bedouins and Camel Riding
  
• Yep, I'm a beach bum
  
• Soft Sand Camp
  
• Child All Alone
  
• Drunk on a rooftop with a 30 hour bus ride
  
• I'm in Aswan!
  
• Luxor Temple
  
• Luxor Museum and Karnak Temple
  
• Luxor Internet Cafes
  
• Luxor hotel finding annoyances
  
• From Cairo to Luxor
  
• Cairo City of the Dead
  
• Cairo Modern Art Gallery
  
• Egyptian Museum and Mummies
  
• Camel Riding in Giza
  
• Learning Arabic
  
• I bought a plane ticket to India
  
• Hey, I'm in Africa!
  
• From Istanbul to Cairo
  

Happy Birthday Mom!

Firstly I need to wish my Mother Deb a very happy Birthday and I love you. I should be home for your next one! xoxo

Yesterday I decided to give my body a break from my normal diet of spicy hot Indian food and stick to the staples like boiled potatoes, rice, omelets and buttered toast. The only thing that would have brought it all together would have been bacon, which I haven't eaten in months.

Now I had to laugh the other day when I received an extremely funny email from Ralph (Met in Cairo). It was a tale of potties, yes nothing like a poop or fart story to make me laugh... Anyways I'm going to quote you his tale of woe and then comment afterwards....

In Egypt, most places have two different styles of potties. One the European squat and do the number 2 or stand and pee into a hole and have flies come rocketing up towards you or the regular toilet variety where one can at least be safe not to fall into a shitty hole backwards. However the one thing that most toilets here have is the little spout that once done you reach behind and turn on a little faucet and cold water rushes up and sprays your ass sparkling clean. In theory that is.

I swore never to use the hose or the little faucet ass cleaner. Especially the faucet ass cleaner. The reason being not so much the water spraying your ass which can be a messier job in the back end...pun intended, but rather if you happen to turd overtop the spout you get an ass full of turd and heaven forbid if it isn't clean, an ass full of someone else's turds.

Well for the first time in a long time I ran out of toilet paper and dreadfully had to use the faucet and spout. Up came the water, sure enough cleaning my bum but now extremely wet. I know the spout had remnants of someone else's turds on it which it made even the more gross but the problem was what the hell to do now with a wet ass? Still not having any toilet paper I had to pull up my drawers and grin and bear it. So basically had a wet ass till I could get back to the guest house, change my gitch and finally wipe my bum.

Toilet paper or rather tissue packages cost 10 cents a pack here. I now buy at least 2 packs a day off the street kids that sell them lest I happen to unlucky enough to ever be without some sort of sanitary protection again. Lesson learned...shitty way to learn it though.

This potty time story happens to all travelers at some point, but it's always hilarious to hear about when it's someone other than you!

Now as far as the water shooting tube goes... The possibility of someone elses dung on it, that's a major concern of mine also, my suggestion is to turn on the thing and flush it out before you even use the facilities! Thus you can shoot any potentially disgusting items away prior to your butt being above it.

On a unrelated note I did some figuring today and I've been averaging 960 Rs. (26.00 cdn$) a day, this is quite high because travel days and tourist days drive up the average -- on days where I don't go to the sites or travel I would estimate I spend 550 Rs. (15.00 cdn$). I could easily save 150-200 or so a day more but quite frankly I like to check my mail and blog daily and try all sorts of exotic foods I encounter. It makes me happy and what is the point of going on a trip and not enjoying yourself to the fullest?

And finally, I would like to apologize to my Mom for talking about Poop in the same post as her Birthday! Whoops!

Ahhh Samosa

One of my favourite foods to eat is Samosa... and of course it was the very first thing I bought to eat in India.

Yesterday after I woke up I went to the Big Market round the corner and just enjoyed the chaos... It's amazing how the rickshaws and people manage not to collide with everything. I'm trying to learn some basic phrases as per normal and the guide book I have for Hindi isn't valid for the dialect right where I am. The guy at the hotel corrected all my mistakes and I spent about an hour trying to memorize them last night.

It's so busy everywhere you go here, but unlike Egypt, after 11pm it starts to die down... Egypt gets busier through the night. Cows are wandering around as stray animals would in every other country and the touts are out in force.

I got a haircut last night for 20 Rupees (about 52 cents) and it was a great haircut, they dry your hair and shake all the cut hair out of your head so it doesnt make you itchy, they carefully brush all the hair away from your neck and use a stright razor to trim the neck and such.

Fruit is pretty cheap here, but they try to screw tourists all the time... you really need to ask a local and get the real prices before you ever hit the streets :)

My hotel room I mentioned is pretty decent, there isn't too many cockroaches sharing the room with me... I've only killed two so far, but I've seen about a dozen... I sprayed a deet line around the bed and they seem to respect it... LOL.

I slept until noon today because I am still feeling lagged and tired but hopefully by tomorrow I will be back to norml local time.

I talked to my dad on Skype this morning... we are like 12.5 hrs difference or something which is crazy! My mom is down in Birch Bay with my Aunty Wendy at the cabin and wont be back for couple of days.

I'm going to go find some food and maybe take some photos today. Internet is pretty slow here, skype was marginal and uploading photos might be a pain in the ass. I might just hire someone to take the time to upload it for me... You can do stuff like that here... it is a country where you can pay someone to do almost anything you are too lazy to do.

Wait in line at the train station? No thanks, here's some rupees...
Yep, fun fun.

New Delhi has lots of polution, and many people... but it's not as crazy as I thought it would be... I heard from so many people that it would be a big crazy place... maybe I'm just getting used to it.

Bye Bye Egypt

Wheres the Train!
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Well this is my last night in Egypt. I have to say that I'm ready to go now...

The Indian Rupee is 37.44 to the Canadian Dollar, and it's time to see something new.

I didn't mention this yesterday, I forgot... I was in Coptic Cairo area and I went to a house where Jesus used to live... it's been converted in to a Church now, but it's kind of cool.

I'm going to be looking to stay in the Paharganj area of New Delhi when I arrive, but I don't know too much more than that :)

No long post, tired, need to pack and Mustafa (hostel owner of hostel) is really annoying me. He's the kind of person who just screws anyone who seems to look like a newbie and it pisses me off. I went out of my way to warn someone and it torqued him... PRICELESS.

Cairo Cemetery

Cairo Cemetary
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Yesterday another Canadian arrived at the hostel named Ralph. He is from The Pas in Northern Manitoba and is really cool shit. He's quite the traveller and has been to so many of the places I'll be headed in the future. We get on pretty well because he used to work in the IT Industry also so we are big geeks, add beer and shwarma and it makes for some good times.

Ralph is part of a project which photographs war head stones at commonwealth cemeteries which at first seemed a bit odd, but sounds quite interesting when you start to look at the different websites:

www.cwgc.org
www.southafricanwargraves.org

Last night he and I pissed it up at the hostel and drank way too much beer... I have to say that I have felt better in the morning, but not nearly as bad as this young american fellow who wanted to keep up with a couple of canadians - tee-hee.

Today he was out to photograph the Cairo War Memorial Cemetery in the Coptic area of Cairo so I decided to tag along. It's really quite a sight to see, the cemetery is in a not-so-nice street but soon as you walk in the gates its manicured and in just beautiful shape. The gardeners were amazingly friendly and it was just really nice to see.

The highlight of the day wasn't just seeing the war graves though, as I was waiting for Ralph I saw some really interesting headstones with statues and various other decorations.... I started to look at some of them when out of the blue I stumbled on a Masonic headstone... I was pretty excited because Egypt is pretty much a modern day freemason dead-zone since the Suez crisis in 1957ish.

I won't speak too deeply on the subject on this blog, but on my masonic blog I'll be putting the pictures of the headstones up. Tonight I'm heading down to Islamic Cairo (old area) and will have some fun bargining for stuff for no reason!

SoftSand Camp

SoftSand Camp
Originally uploaded by kden604.

So this is my home for the next day or three...

Hut number one at SoftSand Camp in Neweba, Egypt.

The staff is so friendly and really keen to help you in any way possible. Everyone will no your name within minutes of arrival and there isn't anything they won't do to help you out.

It's 15 Egyptian Pounds per night, roughly $3 Canadian...

They have really great food cooked fresh, lots of open air huts to relax and smoke sheesha or drink beer... Chairs to sit or lay on down along the water, hammocks, snorkles, and anything else they can find to make your stay more comfortable.

Last night we sat and drank beer at one of the open air huts and had a wonderful served meal.... The food is probably where the bulk of their income comes from, a beautiful rice and veggie dish for 10 pounds ($2) or great chicken breast stew potatoe thing for about $6... Doesn't sound like much but for egypt that is expensive food =)

I also highly recommend waking up in the morning and laying on a hammock, watching some bedouin walk by with camels and drink a fresh cold fruit drink from the bar....

Neweba is a tiny town, really tiny. There isn't a lot of tourists, there isn't a lot of locals... there is a lot of goats and camels LOL.

Ok I am heading back to the beach, I just bought some sandles last night and some shorts and local style chilling out shirts for the beach.

OH... This is an unconfirmed rumour at this point, but I think my parents bought a new house (apartment). I got a comment on my blog yesterday that said "guess who is moving" from them.... Too funny eh?

So did you know your parents moved? Yeah Yeah they left a comment on my blog. hah... Priceless, I'm so glad they didn't e-mail that to me, because the comment made me laugh this morning!

Egyptian Child

Egyptian Child
Originally uploaded by kden604.

So I blogged about these kids we met in the Desert between Suez and Neweba...

This is the little girl, the picture is kind of dark, I should have turned around and had the sun at my back but I wasn't thinking.

As you can see the sand here is just hard packed and full of garbage and oil. She and her brother had no shoes and really disgustingly dirty clothing on.

This is not very uncommon to see in Egypt, the cities are quite bad and generally the children really harass tourists, but here they were very quiet and kept away until we called them over.

It's sort of messed up because generally if you give them pens or trinkets then they will get used to bugging tourists for stuff. But we gave them food only so I think it is a good idea, they ran off to this cement block by the road and ate all the bread and cheese we gave them.

Sweet Picture

Commander Ken
Originally uploaded by kden604.

This picture is too cool... The downward look, low brim hat and huge-ass temple behind me... Sweet.

The picture was taken down in Abu Simbel temple near the Sudanese border in Egypt. It's right on Lake Nasser. I know I mentioned before how beautiful the temple is... but seriously it's really the best I've seen in Egypt.

The outside is impressive, but inside it's fantastic. But again no photos in any temples or museums in Egypt.

My beard isn't quite as big as the statue, but I'm working on it =)

Going to do a few posts today, because I have a few pictures I would like to share...

Aswan, Egypt

Luxor Temple
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Need to make this one really quick.

Headed down to Aswan, Egypt this morning... our 0700 train didn't arrive until 0930... We are taking a tour tomorrow down to Abu Simba (Spelling is wrong, Will correct later) near the Sudan Border and below the tropic of Cancer. We leave at 0330 HRS... Ouch.

I shaved and have a goti again LOL.

Uhm what else... Tomorrow when we get back from the tour we (Don, Daniel, Myself) are taking a bus to Suez and then to Dahab (which means "Gold") and will chill on the beach for a day or two, then head to Mt Sinai... then to Suez for a day, then MAYBE Alexandria... then Cairo and India!

Tomorrow will involved LOTS of buses... 3 hrs to near sudan border, 3 back, then 12 to Suez and 4 to Dahab.. ouch... but time lines are getting shorter and Don needs to be in Amman by the 25th evening or something.

GTG, beer store opening soon...

Aswan is a major drug city btw... I've been offered drugs about 20 times from half the sailboat guys...

Time to Go!

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple
Originally uploaded by kden604.

This morning I headed down to the Luxor temple around 8:45am or so... It was a beautiful morning and still quite cool. The Luxor temple is right in the heart of the city of Luxor, and just across the main road from the Nile.

It's much smaller than the Temple of Karnak and much less grand but it is still a really beautiful site. The only problem with going very early is all the workers at the temple site bug you constantly to take their picture (for a price).

I spent about an hour or so just wandering around the site, I can't spend hours and hours in most sites everything just starts looking the same after a while anyway.

I think I am pretty much done with Luxor now, there are trains starting at 0700 tomorrow to head to Aswan and I think that would be a good place to head for a day or two. I only have 11 days left in Egypt so I need to actually plan a little bit now.

I'm seriously considering climbing up Mt Sinai which isn't really a climb, it's more like a big walk up a hill. It's supposed to take about 2 hours or so to hike up... but I think it might be cool to stand in the same spot where God was supposed to have handed down the 10 commandments to Moses.

Last night I spent a couple hours sorting pictures online and I also dropped some money on my skype account so I could make some phone calls. I talked to my parents for well over an hour and it cost me under $2 Canadian... Not too shabby.

The quality started to get poor near the end of our conversation because the internet cafe got busier and the connection at most internet cafes is not anywhere near that of the average home DSL line in North America.

Daniel and Don are supposed to be in Luxor today too, I am not sure if they headed back to Cairo after the Oasis or if they did a big loop to the south. If they left from Cairo then they should be here at either 10am or 12am depending on the train they caught.

Anyways, not too much going, my cold is almost gone... No hard breathing and coughing all morning like the last few days.

Luxor Museum and Karnak

Karnak Temple
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Today was a really great day so far!

I started the morning not coughing (too much)... my lungs are getting much better... I bought some anti-biotics the other day and it seems to be clearing up the problem pretty good.

One thing I really like about Egypt is the ability to self-administer normally over the counter drugs. I e-mailed a buddy of mine in the medical field and asked him what a good anti-biotic would be for such and such symptoms.... and you walk to the store, show the money and boom there you go... no prescriptions... and reasonably priced in original manufacturers boxes.

Anyways LOL...

I went to the Luxor Museum this morning and they had some really fantastic artifacts. I have to say that I probably enjoyed this museum more than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was beautifully layed out and not too cluttered. The writeups were in Arabic and English and were generally very informative. There are two Mummies on display here at no additional cost and there is also some really neat stone working tools and design tools.... Beautiful Sculptures!

After that I walked along the Nile towards Karnak temple, it's lined with trees and the shade is welcomed in the heat. From Luxor Museum to Karnak Temple is perhaps a 20 minute walk at a decent pace.

Karnak Temple is a seriously impressive site... Its hard to describe just how big everything around you really is. The pillars in the temple are probably 4-5 stories tall and everything else too is just amazing.

Rows upon rows of carved creatures and statues are in the Karnak temple and its a picture takers paradise. The only down side is the massive crowds of tourists. Most of them seem to be Russian LOL.

What seems to make Karnak Temple special for tourists is the fact you can walk amongst almost everything... you are inside the temple walls and you are "there".... if you took out all the other tourists and imagined for a second you would literally feel like you were in the New Kingdom at this colossal temple.

I meant to come back to an Internet Cafe last night, but I decided to pack it in early because of my chest cold. But I did go out around sunset and snap a few amazing photos along the Nile. The colours are just so intense here that I cant help but snap picture after picture of the sunsets. Perhaps one day I'll get my butt up early and see what a sun-rise looks like!

Oh, I need to include one more thing...

I got an e-mail from Daniel, the Edmonton Guy from Cairo... He wants me to tell everyone how cool he is... especially all the women that read this blog.... LOL He and Don are on their way down to Luxor on tonights train and will arrive tomorrow sometime.

Luxor Internet Cafes

Mummification Temple
Originally uploaded by kden604.

I know the last post was a little bit longer, but I forgot to mention a couple things...

Internet prices vary quite a bit here in Luxor and the speed does too. You will find cafes up and down television street for 5 egyptian pounds per hour, but there is a far better place, that has much better computers and a good connection that is open 24 hours a day just around the corner from Everest Hostel... The name of the cafe is "Key Net" and it costs 2 EP per hour.

The stores around luxor are much worse for screwing with tourists, all of them will try to get that extra few pounds. Even the simple corner store will do 2.50 pounds for water instead of the standard 1.50. You won't get them down to 1.50 but be happy with 2. It is a smaller town and some things are more expensive here, but generally you will pay "close" (within a pound) of cairo prices.

The best deals you will get is probably for the hotels. The cost of single rooms here is much cheaper than cairo... for the same cost of a dorm room in cairo you can get your own single room here in Luxor with breakfast.

--

On a really unrelated note, I'm buzzing off this little post at about 80-90 words per minute and I have two kids in the cafe next to me who seem to be just amazed by my touch typing skills. I'm glad they are good for something :) LOL

Leaving Cairo

Modern Art
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Tonight I will be leaving Cairo by train and heading down to Luxor area along the Nile valley. From Luxor I will probably do a one or two day trip down to Aswan and then head north again along the red sea towards Suez and the Sinai. Like most of my trip I have no set plans at all.

I mentioned another Canadian before named Daniel from Edmonton who has headed off to one of the Oasis in the White desert and he and Don (American from Cali) will probably meet up again with me in a few days in Luxor. Don is heading back to the states earlier than we are both leaving so Dan and I will possibly go to the Suez/Sinai region together.

I picked up my passport this morning from the Indian Embassy office with my big paper visa stamp. It takes up one whole page, what's with that? It's good for a six month period, but 3 months stay in country, single entry. The total cost was 270 Egyptian Pounds or about 56 canadian dollars.

I can't believe how cheap train travel is here... I splurged and bought a first class ticket... after student discount it cost a whopping 54 Pounds... or about 11-12 dollars... Ouch! I'm leaving about 1020pm from Ramsies II Railway Station which is a short metro ride from Midan Talaat Harb...

I'm so happy about the visa stuff, everything is calm in the world of Ken. Except for my damn return of contributions money which has yet to be delivered to my bank account. I heard there is a backlog because there is lots of releases and such this year... but still it's annoying, nothing I can do, the government is always slow...

Last night I drank some Stella beers and watch some horrible old movies on the TV. Stella beer costs 5 EP for 1 500ml can... about 1.08$ a can... pretty cheap =)

Other than that, not too much going on... just going to wait for a train today basically.

City of the Dead

City of the Dead
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Today was one giant walk around Cairo. There was another Canadian that came in to the hostel last night, he is from Edmonton and his name is Daniel. Cool guy so we decided to go check out the town together today.

We started off by heading to the Old Cairo, I had already been before, but it is a really cool place and the weather was nice so I thought there might be some picture opportunities.

After wandering around and eating some Koshry we headed to the City of the Dead... Sounds spooky eh? Well it is, it's Creepy man. Let me tell you a tale...

Once, many years ago there was a cemetary North of Cairo... The city was much smaller back then and grand mosuleums were constructed to house the dead. After many years Cairo grew and grew... the urab sprawl surrounded the cemetary... The city continued to grow and housing became difficult to get. But wait, what is this PLOT (teehee) of land here?

Yes, this North Cairo Cemetary is now occupied by some people... Commonly referred to now as the City of the Dead. There are some areas that aren't too bad, but there are other areas with no electricity, roofs, and are really now slums and shanty-towns.

If you walk in this area, it might be best to go with a friend as quite often people don't take kindly to visitors... especially ones with cameras in hand. Raw sewage and trash will be your guide to the more rough areas.

So, after that interesting experience Daniel and I walked to the Citadel in Cario. It's now a police museum (it sucks bad) and the National War or Military Museum. The museum is very nice inside, however 3/4 of the exibits were closed for renovations... Absolute crap because what is the point of paying to see locked doors everywhere. I was a little upset about the fact they sell you a ticket to an almost entirely closed museum... Luckily with the student card they cost was minimal, only 20 Egyptian Pounds...

After this we were both tired as heck and headed back to the hostel (by taxi). It seems Daniel lost his student card too, so I helped him get a new one... *cough*

Now I've been chilling at the internet cafe, updating my blog, and just adding labels to some of my old posts... My body is soooo tired. Tomorrow I HOPE will be a very good day, and the Indian Embassy will be giving me a visa sticker or stamp to enter their country. I'll be a little upset if something went wrong or they want to make me wait some more. But we will see, no point in worrying about it now.

Will let you know how things turn out tomorrow.

Another Cairo Day

Cairo Tower
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Today started off a little slower than normal... I slept in until 830am which is normally the time I have already ate breakfast and am out the door...

I went for a really long walk up and down the nile for about 8 km each way and stopped at the Opera House area to see some of the sights.

The Opera is a very beautiful area with well manicured gardens and landscaping. I went to the Modern Art Gallery and spent about 45 minutes or an hour wandering around that. I'm not really big in to art, in fact generally speaking it does nothing for me... but I do like sculptures quite a bit... There was quite a few scuptures and some were really neat... I don't know squat about art, I don't stand there and contemplate what this or that is... but if it looks cool and it does something for me, then I am happy.

About halfway through my walk I sat down in the shade to relax and drink some water... When suddenly out of the blue two taxi cabs smash in to each other, one spins around and the others front end is almost half normal size. I was pretty surprised about how the whole thing unfolded, the taxi drivers were right out yelling and cursing each other... both of them had customers, one was fine and leaning agains the car and the other was still sitting in the seat holding his head, which he probably hit during the abrupt stop.

The traffic police finally got him to get out of the car and sat him on the park bench and gave him some water, the cabbies continued to curse each other and then everyone got on to their cell phones and started yelling in to them.

I didn't stick around too long, but it seemed very unorganized, there wasn't any clean-up crew, tow truck, police (other than traffic police, which are every block and are basically the stop and go lights of the city), or ambulance...

On the way back to the Hostel I was harrassed by this one annoying kid about 14 or 15... first he asked me for money, then he grabbed my shirt on the sleeve and started pulling on it... so I yelled "LA" (NO) at him... and he didn't go away... So then Piss off... but still he kept on... I cocked my arm as-if to punch him in the head and he finally ran off... it's not very often you get really bad beggers but sometimes they can get a bit carried away... That said, in most touristy areas of Cairo they have tourism police which do a couple things... one they make sure that the tourists are behaving and two, they stop people from harassing the tourists...

I decided to calculate how much I spent today and this is how it breaks down:

25 EP - Hostel (with Breakfast)
3 EP - 2 x 1.5 L of water
7 EP - 1 Hr 30 min on Internet Cafe
3 EP - 3 x Tea
5 EP - Modern Art Gallery
2 EP - Tip to Baggage Guy at Gallery
40 EP - KFC 6 Piece (LOL, cravings, wonderful cravings)

Total Cost for the day: 85 EP ($18.48 Canadian)

It's probably closer to $18 because I always use 4.6 EP for 1 CDN but the official rate today is 4.87... I think when I used the bank machine my rate was 4.8 that day.

Well that is pretty much my day... I racked out around 3 pm for a couple of hours because I was beat from all the walking... it's 8:30ish in the evening now and I'm going to drink my 3 teas (that I already accounted for in the budget) down at the local hang-out.

Cairo Sunset

Cairo Sunset
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Today was a very busy day... Where should I start?

There is this crazy German woman with a broken leg staying at the hostel... From what I gather she didn't have a job in Germany, but she gets two more years of Welfare money so she is out boogying around the middle east and asia on the governments tab... She is a real wacko and I don't care for the fact she is abusing the welfare system... even if it isn't my country.

She also said our room stunk, so she opened the window during the night, which does two things... one - it gets very chilly and two - it gets very loud from the mass amount of cars in the square below...

ANYWAYS... she ranted at breakfast for about 20 minutes and I'm glad I left because I had just about enough of her. You meet some strange and interesting people in hostels... she falls in the strange category.

So I was heading to the Egyptian Museum this morning around 9am when I hear my name being yelled... this is odd, because only about 2 people in the country know my name. It's Walid the Egyptian guy I've been hanging around with... He got really wasted the night before clubbing and never went to sleep... he was sober when I saw him this morning but he came over and gave the big handshake hug which is customary among friends here. Just one of those random moments that happen to me, rather amusing.

So... Again, I continue walking to the Egyptian Museum... Sadly you are not allowed to take your camera inside the building which is a real shame. There is not a great deal of things I would like to take a picture of... but certainly 30 out of the 100,000 or so items would have made beautiful shots.

The museum is bitter-sweet I would say, it's got so much fabulous stuff, which really makes it amazing... but it's also got so much fabulous stuff that its packed and every room has item after item next to each other... it's difficult to appreciate one single item because its next to 30 more just like it...

The animal mummies were pretty crazy and the King Tuts gold mask and coffin were just fabulous... it's hard to put in to words how magnificent and extremely detailed the craftsmenship on everything really is.

I paid the extra money to see the Royal Mummies also and I have to say it creeped me out a little bit. When you look at their faces and bodies it just seems like it shouldn't be something on display. I think I have a moral problem with the mummies on display... Something along the lines of respecting the wishes of the dead....

These are basically my thoughts on the subject.... If I were dead and I said I want such and such done with my body and it wasn't dead then I would think my family would be pretty pissed off. Or if you believe in the after-life or "whatever" then perhaps your soul wouldnt be at peace...

SO... These are kings of the ancient world, who build monuments to their own glory, put themselves in tombs with all their goodies to help them in their after-life... Their bodies were mummified to keep their body in good shape so they could "re-animate" or whatever in the after-life....

NOW... You have taken their bodies, unwrapped/rewrapped, scanned, removed from their coffins, removed from their burial place, separated them from their items they wished to be buried with and put them on display for tourists to see and giggle and gawk at.

I believe there is a reason for scientific historical studies and such... but I think its wrong to have them displayed in glass cases the way they are...

Anyways, enough of my ranting on the mummies, I really thought it would be cool... and I was amazed seeing them, but I just feel that it isn't respectful... Ok done seriously.

After I got back to the hostel I met up with this French dude and we headed to Old Cairo... it's full of Bazaars and Mosques and old city walls.... it's a really fantastic area... On one gross muddy street you can see horses, donkeys, mules, pigeons (for sale), bunnies (for sale), and chopped up animals and anything else you could really ever want to eat or buy... It's a crazy world but it's a lot of fun...

I'm absolutely amazed by the things people balance on their heads... I saw this one guy RIDING A BIKE with a 8 foot table covered in pastries and breads.... perfectly level and just riding along... it's freaking so cool... I wonder how they do it... what if it's windy? LOL

Today was cool and it just got better as the sunset happened... I was walking along the Nile and this stunning red and orange sky with cityscape background occured... just beautiful..

I uploaded a bunch of photos, got some nice emails and MSN'd my parents this evening.... and ate some really spicy Koshry... Good day all around.

Camel Riders!

Camel Riders!
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Wow, What a day!

I left for Giza this morning around 9 AM from Midan Talaat Harb and took the Metro to the Gize Metro Station (1 E Pound)... From there I took a mini-bus to Giza... To hail a minibus from the main road you put your arm out and yell out the destination... in the Giza Pyramids area you yell "Hiram!"

On the bus with me were a couple of really friendly Brits... His name is Andrew (Andy) and I feel bad but her name illudes me at the moment! I know it starts with a V... I'm sorry!

We headed to these stables outside the Giza gates and negoiated a tour for 160 EPounds per person... or about 30 canadian dollars. You could get a horse or a camel... this was quite a good deal because it included the entry fee (50 EP) and one pyramid entry (25 EP)....

Andrew and I got camels which was cool, it's a bit of a pain in the ass when they are walking on pavement... seriously its not a soft ride, but after they hit the sand its a much smoother ride.

We went to the lookout spot, the only spot in which you can see all nine pyramids in one picture... just beautiful, despite the haze. Then it was head to the middle pyramid... We dismounted and headed inside! It's this really small tunnel and you are bending over to about waist height while walking up and down very steep ramps... it's not too easy. It gets REALLY hot inside. It's very cool to be inside a pyramid, but to be honest there is nothing at all inside except a small room (maybe 4 meters by 2)... Everything is gone to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and around the world.

After that we headed back to our camels and headed to the Sphinx and snap more pictures then head back to the Stables... Now this is where the problem starts. The guide with us was trying to rush a little and he said that we couldn't get up to such and such area with the camels... Anyways we head back to the stables and talk to the owner...

The owner promised us that we could go all the way around all pyramids, go in to the second, go to the lookout point, and to the sphinx... We complained to him about the guide and he made good and got us three horses and we headed back in to the dunes.

We took the horses across some of the dunes and went around the pyramids, back to the sphinx and then headed to the boat museum next to the great pyramid. After that we dumped the horses and guide and said we would walk from this point forward.

We spent about two hours wandering around which was wonderful and snapped some great photographs. The boat museum is really quite cool, there was a boat buried next to the pyramid and perfectly preserved. It's been reconstructed and its really quite a sight.... Imagine looking at a boat that was actually made 4000+ years ago... perfect!

So after some more pictures we headed back to Cairo by Metro.... A REALLY wonderful day...

Learning Arabic

Today was really cool... Besides getting all my travel stuff sorted or in the works I've been learning some Arabic...

I know now how to read the numbers from 0 to 9 in arabic... I can't speak or hear (understand) them, but I know what they look like and can look at a price and not have to ask... Sometimes I screw up with 0 because its quite literally a dot.

What I did was write out the numbers from my guide book and then I sat down and watched cars drive by... Why you might ask? It's sort of like flash cards on license plates... After about 30-40 minutes I now can read the number quickly off a moving car which I think is a pretty good acomplishment.

Also I've been using the following phrases... forgive me if the spelling is wrong for the english characters but it might be more phonetic than correct... BUT... here we go...

Salam Alikam - Formal Muslim Greeting
Marhaba - Hi
Aywa - Yes
La - No
Shukran - Thanks
'Assif - Sorry
Bikam? - How much?
Arkhas - Cheaper
Affon - Not at all (in response to thank you)

Also I have been trying some foods...

Koshry - Lental, Noodles, Onion, Rice (2-3 Egyptian Pounds)
It's excellent and very filling food...

Full - Beans (0.50-0.75 Egyptian Pounds)
Tamayaa - Falafel (0.50-0.75 Egyptian Pounds)
Shay - Tea
Kahawa (Say Kawhoah) - Coffee

Also I managed to get a real legit International Youth Travel Card (Student Card) from the ISTC Office. If you are under 27 (You cannot BE 27) and "Misplaced" your real student card like me, then you might be able to get your hands on one.

But Ken, Why would I want this card?

Well for 75.50 Egyptian Pounds it is your key to 50% discount at ALL government run sites and museums across the country and is often aceptable in many other countries as a form of student ID =)

As I mentioned before the cost in Cairo to do "most" of the sites is roughly 400 Egyptian Pounds... Perhaps a little more if you go to smaller things also... so you are saving 50%.... That is just in Cairo you will be quickly recovering the 75.50 it cost to purchase it. Even if you only used it in Cairo it would be saving you money after about half the major attractions or rather would have paid for itself and then some.

It takes only 5 minutes to get the ISTC Card if you have your own photograph (passport type) which I happened to have gotten this morning because of my Visa stuff at the Indian Embassy.

I would really like to thank Walid for all his help and advice... I bought him some Koshry and Kahawa to say thanks =)

Hey, I am in Africa!

Cute Bugger
Originally uploaded by kden604.

I just realized this last night, normally I make a big deal of it.... I'm officially in Africa! woo hooo!

If you are wondering why I'm using pictures of all the stray animals, I haven't taken any pictures in Egypt yet.

It's not even funny how cheap things are here... Let's give you some examples...

1 Egyptian Pound is $0.22 Canadian Dollars....

My dinner last night cost 3.75 EP, my tea cost 0.50 EP, my Hostel room including breakfast costs a whopping 25 EP ($5.44 CDN)...

I calculated the entry fees on all the major attractions in Cairo area and it is about 360-400 EP, or roughly 75-85 Dollars Canadian... It seems like so much when you are dealing in EP but it's really not all that much to see the pyramids and museums.

People are real scammers to tourists here, I was wandering around and I started speaking to a local for a bit... he bought me a tea and bread thing which for him cost 2 EP for both of us... but he got in a big shouting match with the owner because the owner wanted to charge the "forgeiner" rate which would have been 2 EP each basically. The bread things are 2 for 1 EP for a local... but they will try to get 1 for 1EP from all tourists, if not more.

Water too, they will try to get 2-3 EP per 1.5 L from tourists... but I went with the guy I met and paid 2 1.5 L bottles for 3 EP. Kind of makes you angry that they do it so obviously.

Yesterday I thought Internet was kind of expensive until I worked out what it really costs... it's 4-5 EP an hour.... or $1.08 CDN / HR which is cheaper than anywhere I've been so far. Or damned close to it.

Ok done with this post, I need to get some passport photos done for the Indian Embassy. I just printed off some banking information here so now I need to get some photo copies of things and I'll be set.

Buh-bye.