Change of Plans: Nubia

I arrived to Luxor in the evening, checked in, slept, and the first thing I did the next morning was go to the Valley of the Kings. I realized on the way the cough I had picked up in Cairo was not due just to the pollution, but was a full-fludged cold. I wanted to feel like Indiana Jones, but instead I felt like sitting and watching TV (luckily the next day Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was on, with Arabic subtitles!).

Besides the ancient Egyptian ruins, my guide pointed out where the 1997 Luxor Massacre took place and where terrorists would strike from the reeds. I don't want to make it sound like Egypt is a den of violence and Islamic extremism. There was an uprising in the 1990s, under the guise of Islam, but revolting against the rampant poverty and stifling political atmosphere. Tourists were an easy target, sure to hurt the economy and therefore the government. But the terrorist attacks hurt the Egyptian people disproportionately more than foreigners (in terms of lives lost, and jobs lost due to fewer visitors), and for this reason the locals despise violence and turned against the extremists. 90% of Egyptians are Muslim, and I have personally found Egypt to be a welcoming country, especially so for the Japanese, who flock to Luxor in droves! There are tons of them here, and trust me, it's odd to here so many Egyptians speak Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, etc.


The Valley of the Kings consists of several ancient tombs hidden in a desolate valley. The Pharaohs stopped using Pyramids as their tombs as they were such a prominent target for tomb-robbers, and opted for tombs dug deep into the Earth. Whenever a Pharaoh gained power, he would immediately begin work on his tomb; therefore, the most impressive tombs are from the longest ruling Kings. From the outside, the tombs don't appear to be much, but inside there are incredibly well-preserved murals and heiroglyphs, still bearing a little of the vibrant color they were painted with:

I saw several people I had met while in Cairo again in Luxor, including the Brazilians I had gone to the Pyramids with and a Canadian girl travelling alone named Liana. As we're all going to the same place in the Sinai in the next few days, I got their email and should see them there. Although I'm travelling solo, it's extremely easy to meet people and I already feel like I have friends and connections across this country.

I also visited the Temples of Luxor and Karnak, where I was struck with a small case of the Curse of the Pharaohs (also know as Ramses Revenge). The Temple of Karnak is probably one of the most impressive ancient ruins in Egypt, with huge columns and standing obelisks.

In Luxor I decided to change plans: instead of going to the Red Sea city of Hurghada and catching a ferry to Sharm el-Sheikh, I'd going further south to Nubia and the Pharaonic statues at Abu Simbel, which are just a tad north of Sudan, return to Luxor, and take the overnight bus to the Sinai.

Nubia is located in modern day southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It was the historic southern enemy of Egypt, and the Nubians are darker in color (though not quite black) than the Egyptians. Much of Nubia was flooded with the construction of the Aswan High Dam (see below). The main city of Nubia is Aswan, located along a region where the Nile is hemmed in by the desert and cliff faces. The Nile here is extremely picturesque. Aswan is a place where you can almost feel that you're in Africa and not the Middle East.

From Aswan, I took a 3 hour bus ride south across the Libyan desert in a police convoy to the ruins of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel are these giant statues of the Pharaoh Ramses flanking a cliffside, leading to his tomb inside the mountain. The ruins at Abu Simbel had to be moved in the 1960s due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam, which flooded much of Nubia and created Lake Nasser, the largest artificial lake in the world. The international movement to move these colossal ancient monuments was extremely impressive: all the ruins had to be cut, dissasembled and catalogued, moved, and rebuilt with painstaking precision on higher ground.

Besides Abu Simbel, what really struck me with awe was Lake Nasser itself. It's unbelievably huge! It looks like someone took the ocean and stuck it in the middle of the desert. Abu Simbel is located on a small peninsula from which, in two directions, all you can see is water out to the horizon (and to the south, about 20 miles, is Sudan!). Much of the terrain reminded me of Greece with the desert islands. The photo above shows the view north. Remember, this is in the middle of the desert!

I hope that wasn't boring. I'm back in Luxor now, waiting to catch an overnight bus north to the Sinai. From there, it's off to Jordan and Israel!

Up The Nile

I took the day train from Cairo to Luxor, so that I could see the farmfields and smaller towns of the Nile River Valley. It was a long ride (10 hours, as long as my flight from SF to London) and I was the only non-Egyptian on the train. Looking out the window at times was like looking back three thousand years--palm trees, farmers working their fields, donkeys and camels carrying crops, the desert visible in the distance. All the women wore burqas. It was definitely interesting passing through towns my guidebook describes as hotbeds of Islamic resistance in the 1980s and 1990s.

But what struck me most was the visible presence of Coptic Christianity. Each town and city had many mosques, but most if not all had at least one prominent church with crosses sticking up into the sky. Additionally, an Egyptian lady sitting close to me on the train had a large cross hanging from her bracelet--a very obvio0us display of her faith in this Muslim country. I saw many copts worshipping on a Friday in Cairo in Greek-looking churchs as the call to prayer blared in the background. I don't want to speculate on the state of religious freedom in Egypt, but it appears at least Christianity is widely accepted.

"If you haven't noticed, this is a police state... "

That's what I said to a fellow traveler I met at my hostel, when he started asking me about the Egyptian government.

You see the police everywhere. At every street corner, along the roads, around public buildings and tourist destinations, and placed randomly elsewhere, always dressed in black with moustaches and AK-47s. And to be honest, I have very mixed feeling about them. If I were to every get in any sort of trouble, they would be the ones I seek. If I need directions in a tourist area, I look for the police to ask (they aren't touts, for sure). They have always been nice to me, and I know they keep a lid on a small but passionate and potentially violent Muslim extremist minority here (ever heard of the Muslim Brotherhood?). Yet on the other hand, I know that they quash legitimate dissent and free speech, are corrupt, unfair, and reviled by many of the locals. Even the army doesn't like the police.

I can only wonder what happens when Hosni Mubarak passes away. Will his son have his ability to keep an iron fist on the country? Or could we see another "Islamic Revolution" a la 1979? And should I be writing this as I sit in Cairo...

(google images seems to have a number of images of him conveniently blocked out, I can't find a copy of my favorite poster of him hanging near my hostel where he looks like a badass with sunglasses and a gun... I posted the closest thing at the top)

The most useful third language in Cairo is...

Spanish. Not French, or German, or Italian. Español. Every Egyptian who speaks English also speaks Spanish, or is "learning" it (meaning they speak it better than I do). Many shops advertise, "Se habla Español" (and do not do the same with other languages). There are tons of Argentinians here (and Brazilians, but hey, it's South America) and Spanish people. A group of South Americans adopted me into their pyramid tour and I explored ancient Egypt with them. A group of Mexicans is sitting front of my as I type. I've used my Spanish more in Egypt than I have at home...

Cairo: Sensory Overload

If there were any one sound that defines Cairo, it is the car horn. The traffic here is absolutely crazy. When I was picked up from the airport, my cab driver, smoking a cigarette and talking to me, accelerated up to 70 mph (not on a freeway) until we started approaching another car... then he placed the flat of his hand against the horn, held it there, and did not start breaking/stop accelerating until we were 15 feet behind the other car. Mind you, the car in front of us did nothing. So we swerved into the other lane (cutting off another car) and proceeded to drive in between the two lanes and in out of traffic, horn blaring (the cab driver was kind enough to point out one of President/Dictator Mubarak's houses to me). Red lights are merely suggestions when no other traffic is coming. Lane markers are casually disregarded. If you drive correctly onto a one way road and a donkey cart is going the wrong way and about to run into you, as they say in Egypt, "No problem!"

It is hard to say that Cairo is a likable city, but it is interesting. Nothing but chaos. A Mexican I met said it's Mexico City on crack. The pollution here is incredible, my California lungs feel like they have a cold only after three days. Every Egyptian smokes. Parts of the city are extremely run-down (I saw goats grazing on a nearby roof from on top of a minaret, pigeons for sale as dinner, heaps of trash on fire next to the highway, and car exhaust that turns the air black) while others parts of the city have clean 8-story shopping malls filled with locals purchasing designer jeans and nice sweaters. In fact, everyone here wears sweaters, all day long. No shirts, always sweaters at midday when it's 80 degrees outside. No Egyptian sweats.

As an American, I've encountered absolutely no problems. Obviously touts don't care about your nationality when they're trying to sell you goods, but the few locals I've met have been exceptionally kind and generous even though they know I'm American (I talked to three unaccompanied young Egyptian women with headscarves who were frankly very cute [thinking the entire time this could be a mistake] and they were just so friendly and happy to be talking to me). I travelled to the Pyramids at Giza and Saqqara (on a side-note, Giza is one of the most run-down parts of the city I know, the tourists ferried around on air-conditioned buses must be shocked!) with two Brazilians, and I would almost say the Brazilians were treated worse than I was. I felt perfectly safe walking down bazaars filled with colorful locals (not the tourist bazaars) with an Estonian I met. Honestly, no one here gives me a second look, and to produce a huge smile all it takes is a "Sala'amu Alaikum" out of my mouth. Oh, and there's nothing like 30 Egyptian school children, on a field trip to a mosque, crowding around you to practice their English.

The thing to do at night is to crowd onto the street, walk around and window shop. So I have lied, I did wander around Cairo at night... surrounded by thousands of well-dressed Egyptians who barely noticed my presence! It's nice waking up in the middle of the night with the munchies, knowing that I can throw on my jeans and my sweater (glad I brought it), and know where to go to walk outside to the crazy city and get some cheap falafel!

All in all, Cairo is not to be liked... it is to be experienced. And if must be experienced from a vehicle, experience it not from a bus, but from a taxi blaring Arabic pop down dodgy roads at cooly unsafe speeds.

Arriving in London

My flight took off on time from SF, and I flew right over the north shore of Lake Tahoe and I got some great photos I will post when I get back. I won't post daily updates, but this was a very busy first day in London so I thought I'd share:

• Landed in perfectly clear sunny skies. Saw all the construction for the 2012 Olympics.
  
• Landed at Heathrow at the same time as another flight from straight from Tehran, so I went through UK customs the only American surrounded by dozens of Iranians. I've never seen so many passports that say "Islamic Republic of Iran."
  
• Promptly met an Israeli traveler and a Polish traveler on the tube going from the airport toward central London. We all decided to go to the London Eye (giant futuristic slick ferris wheel thing). Were buying rounds of beer within 4 hours of landing, and I introduced them to Sierra Nevada (which the first pub we walked to in London happeded to sell!).
• Had a few too many drinks with said new-found friends, said goodbye and left them to find my hostel. Realized I didn't pack directions.
• Wandered aimlessly in London until I found my hostel, and now checked in and ready to sleep from jet-lag...

Leaving today

My flight is scheduled to depart at 5:55 pm today from San Francisco. I fly 10 hours non-stop to London, where I will stay until Thursday when I catch a flight to Cairo.
















I hope it doesn't look like this when I leave! It looks a little foggy this morning...

I'm packing everything into one carry-on size backpack and a money belt:

• 6 shirts
• 1 pair of jeans (not practical in hot weather, but that's what the locals wear)
• 1 pair of shorts
• 1 pair of swim-trunks
• 1 pair of basketball shorts (for hiking, and doubles nicely as sleepwear)
• 6 pairs of underwear & socks
• 1 sweatshirt
• toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, deodorant, chapstick, shampoo, sunscreen
  
• 1 travel towel
  
• shower sandals
  
• moneybelt with documents, passport
• anti-diarrheal medication
• camera
  
• an undisclosed amount of money hidden in more than one place...