on to tanzania

our last day in egypt and we're just killing a couple of hours in the air conditioned internet room before heading to the airport.

we have spent a great last week here. it started with a true travel adventure out to a desert oases on the egyptian/libyian border. we rode the bus over 3 days stopping in Alexandria and Mersa Matrouh on the way. Bus journeys are always a bit painful as they're a bit too cramped for our long legs. In egypt we're also treated to very loud arabic music or kung fu movie, and sometimes we get hours of someone chanting the koran. it seems passengers just bring on tapes and the bus driver plays them. too bad we only had cd's, but i think regardless he might have refused putting on our music :)

The first leg of the journey to alexandria we witnessed a big emotional argument as the bus was oversold and 5 people didn't have tickets. the bus company wanted to get a few people off the bus and told them they'd made other arrangements for them. but the people didn't trust the company so refused to move. so we sat for just over an hour while all the yellng occured. (we got the short version from a guy who spoke english beside us). On the second leg they sold us seats at opposite ends of the bus so i (kathryn) ended up beside a very interesting girl, roudy, who is in 2nd year at university. it's always a treat to meet a local who speaks decent english and can answer all the questions you've been wanting to ask.

arriving at the oases the bus was met by the usual horde of taxi drivers. only this time they were 12 year old boys with donkey carts. it was a very remote town that reminded us a bit of stepping into the wild west. we spent 2 nights - looked about some ruins in town and then did a 4X4 desert excursion that included hunting for fossils and a hot spring dip before watching the sunset from the top of a dune. we threw in some extra fun by rolling down the side of a rather large dune until we were dizzy and laughing like 4 year olds.

we did "2 legs in one" on the return and journeyed back to alexandria for a few nights. and what a travellers dream come true. everywhere on the coast is busy with eyptian tourists and we knew finding a hotel would be a bit of a challenge. we wanted to find somewhere decent to catch up on some sleep before heading to tanzania and its adventures. because we took the stairs instead of waiting for the rickety elevator we got the last room in a great hotel. $32 CDN for a room with a balcony overlooking the mediterranean, air con, english movie channel, normal shower (as opposed to a spout coming out of the wall, and comfy beds. we slept, ate, watched movies and generally just took a break from sightseeing. left feeling refreshed and ready for more travel.

back in cairo we had 24 hours to find a camel ride, the one thing we hadn't done here in egypt yet. we became the cheesy tourists last night as we joined hordes of others riding camels into the desert near the pyramids to watch the sunset. a little terrifying as they do a huge swing movement getting up and down, the camels i mean. kirk looked so comfortable he could have been the guide. i just hung on really tight and after attempting the 'run' once suggested the walking pace was a bit more my speed.

we'll head to the airport in about an hour and off to tanzania. not sure how much internet we'll find there (and we'll be on safari and hikes for days at a time) so might not be able to post for a bit.

we have booked our return to toronto - sept. 27th is the big day. seems like we just left and yet have been gone for ages :)

hope all is well...
k & k

The final hurrah in Egypt

One night in Hurghada was all that was needed. A strange mix of luxury resorts and the usual local flavour. A town where the europeans check in to their resort and don't leave until it's time to fly home. The tourists that do leave are the ones (usually female) looking for a little local action from the fellas. Combine this with a very conservative muslim society and it makes for some strange scenery.

For us it was a stop over point to take the ferry to Dahab, located on the gulf of Aqaba. Also a tourist haven but attracting the backpacker/diving crowd. Very laid back and enough scantily clad tourists that I was able to wear shorts for the first time in weeks. (It's been a little surprising how conservative everywhere since we left China has been, especially for women of course). We spent a few days in Dahab finalizing details for Tanzania and enjoying the R & R. A big diver spot with lots of 'have ya done the blue hole' and 'how many times ya been down'? We did visit the blue hole but with snorkeling gear and it totally rocked. Could see way down, we reckon about 20 feet and lots of different fish.

Another big highlight was climbing mount sinai, where moses is reported to have received the 10 commandments, and St. Catherine monastery. The neat thing was we left Dahab at 11pm...sorry egyptian time meant we actually left at 11:40pm...lol... Arrived at the mountain about 1:15am and started climbing with headlamps. The number of stars was stunning and we were surrounded with desert mountains that we could only partially make out in the darkness. And of course we kept passing the camel touts, hearing a camel bray in the dark is one helluva indescribable sound. We arrived at the top about 4:30am after stopping for a pita bread, peanut butter, and honey break just before the summit. Along with others we rented a mattress and put on all our cold weather gear and snuggled up waiting for sunrise. Just had to wait an hour and a thin red line appeared in the distance. Watching it get brighter and more colourful until the tip of the sun appeared to ooohs and ahhhs all around. The way down was a bit chaotic with tourists and camels all vying for space on the trail. Was a beautiful early morning walk and fun to see where we'd walked up in the dark the night before.

From Dahab we returned via bus to Cairo. The usual 9 hours to go 400km (although more like 250km as the crow flies). We returned to the same hostel we'd stayed at before in Cairo and the familiarity was a nice reprieve from the usual hectic arrival into a new city. We stayed one day in Cairo organizing our tanzania travel and then ventured off on the bus again. This time we're headed west into a desert oases. It's about 18 hours round trip on the bus and we've decided to take 3 days to get there. The bus rides are never dull but often a bit draining so we like to break it up a bit. Tomorrow we do the final bus leg into the Siwa Oases where we'll spend 2 nights and then return to Cairo via Alexandria.

And then it's off to Tanzania for a safari and to climb mount kiliminjaro. And of course a few days on the beach to recover from all this travel!!!

hope all is well in your worlds...
k & k

egypt - where all it takes is a little baksheesh

ahhhh the serenity of Frankfurt. we spent 3 days eating, sleeping, and doing odd jobs like laundry and buying film. walked along the rheine, saw a movie (the wedding crashers), and spent a night at a jazz club.

rested, rejuvenated, and clean we got back on the road and headed to egypt. our first few days were spent in cairo figuring out how it all works in this country. we were pleasantly surprised to find the touts average one per 2 blocks which is significantly less than in previous countries. combined with the fact there are sidewalks it makes it very easy to walk about town. the biggest challenge is the constant battle with the money. there's one price for everything and it's 'whatever we can get out of these tourists'. even the smallest of transactions like buying a bottle of water is a negotiation. and the constant baksheesh - the term refers to a tip and everyone wants a piece - is trying at times. the guy who tells you to take your shoes off at a mosque, the security guard collecting tickets into a tomb, at one point our taxi driver paid off a security guard at the side of the road. no idea what service he rendered but he got his take.

the cairo museum was first rate and our first glimpse of ancient egyptian history. the dates with each exhibit indicated how old it all was but we both found it didn't really impact us until we got to the pyramids and the reality of all this being built thousands of years BC truly sank in. spent an awesome day at the pyramids - scorching hot and desert all around us as we wandered around and climbed down into one of the tombs. a hot steep descent down a makeshift ladder into an airless tomb meant we didn't stay long before climbing back out. after visiting the Giza pyramids (the most popular ones) we drove to dahshur about 20km down the road. a tour bus was just leaving and by the time we climbed down to the bottom we were the only ones there which made it very peaceful and just a little spooky.

also spent a day in islamic cairo in a couple of mosques and wandering through the market. in the main mosque we climbed the minaret and had a view of the whole city. walking down an alley way we found a smaller mosque that we ducked into and found it much nicer with its stained glass and hanging lanterns. by this time we were a little savvier so when the guy at the door told us to pay the entrance fee we refused until he could produce a ticket. not surprisingly there was no ticket and he was just some guy working his territory. we agreed on some baksheesh on the way out and walked in. spent another day in the old coptic area to visit the fortress town of babylon, where the holy family is thought to have taken refuge.

saw one of the best live performances of all time. a troupe of whirling dervishes were in town and performing at the citadel. loud music played on ancient instruments and then the dervish comes onstage in his colourful skirts. he twirled for 1/2 hour without stopping and the skirts are moved around and he sort of dances to the music all while twirling.

signed up for the one week tour up and down the nile. usually we travel independantly but we decided a week of 'scooby doo' travel and following the pink umbrella sounded kinda nice. the overnight train from cairo to aswan was the usual sleepless night in cramped quarters. arriving in aswan we had a couple of days and for sightseeing. highlight was getting up at 3am to join the convoy of vehicles going to the sun temple of abu simbel and the neighbouring temple of nefereti. best baksheesh story yet - i'm in the bathroom and kirk is waiting just down the road by the curb. standing there waiting and a military officer comes up to him and says 'give me a pound' and keeps repeating it until kirk walks away.

we decided to take a cruise down the nile instead of the local felucca boat. traded adventure for comfort and very happy we did as the cruise was so much fun. very relaxing as we drifted down the nile watching it all roll by. amazing to see the greenery right on the shores of the nile and then just brown desert as far as the eye can see. docked in town on the last night we got off the boat to find some reasonably priced beverages. bought egyptian gin which takes suspiciously like rye. mixed with a little coke or 7-up it kinda smells like turpentine and tastes like generic moonshine. our last night we sat on deck sipping our cheap drinks and overlooking the nile.

have now spent a couple days in luxor. yesterday we visited the valley of the kings and went in a few of the tombs. was the first time we'd seen hieroglyphics with the original paintwork still intact. didn't go in king tut's tomb as it was a hefty extra charge and our guide said was not as nice as the others since it had been prepared so quickly. just kicking about town today sorting out our next leg to tanzania. tomorrow we head up the coast to hurghada where we hope to find some beach time and snorkelling.

until next time...

k & k