How to cross the road – close your eyes and walk.
Our bus travel from Israel took around 12 hours – fun! But we opted to go a direct bus (with a tour company) instead of figuring out how to split the travel in the two countries. I felt sick for the first couple of hours as the road was windy and the driver was…confident. As we got closer to Cairo, driving became artwork. Everyone manoeuvres in and out of traffic with sometimes only a couple of metres between each vehicle, and some of them are trucks! We managed to arrive with everything in tact, including our nerves.
The first day we were there we joined in the 50-year celebrations of YWAM with the crew from around the area. It was really cool to be a part of it and everyone was really welcoming. It was good to see how God was moving in these countries and hear the many testimonies that were told of healings and people coming to know Jesus. A shame there was not enough time to hear them all – we would probably have needed another week and still not got through them all – God is working all the time. We heard Loren and Darlene speak which hit Dan and I in different and many ways, which we need to process further.
We then spent another 3 days in downtown Cairo. Walking around Cairo is…interesting. So many different smells (pee and rubbish) and sights wherever you go. The traffic is pretty crazy and basically bumper to bumper. The roads go everywhere and even if you had a map I reckon you’d find it hard driving around. We decided to walk everywhere and caught the metro a couple of times, which is a nice one. Yeah, so the Egyptian way for pedestrian crossing is madness and it is a prerequisite to trust the drivers COMPLETELY. On the first night, I gathered up this immense trust and it got me across, a bit scary because you get sandwiched between the cars, buses and trucks. They basically beep at anything! This is truly a city that never sleeps! I tell you, after being in these Arab countries my nerves are beginning to get used to the beeping I just ignore them now – which I’ll need to ditch pretty soon. I used to hate it when people used their horns in Australia, I found it a sign of impatience and anger. Some do it for notification of danger, but then it quickly turns to anger.
So while in downtown Cairo we hung out with Sunni, who we’d met at the celebrations. We visited the biggest market and saw some awesome stuff; went to an oasis in the middle of Cairo, a really lush and green park; saw a Muslim temple for tourists (with the request of money to help the orphans…I believe him); visited the Coptic Museum which was awesome, and I’m not big on museums; walked through the city of the dead – tombs from long ago that are being converted into houses with people living in them. These tombs aren’t just coffins, these are full-on structures…why not?; drank icy Strawberry juice off the street using communal cups…hmmm; and just walked around the streets tasting the food Cairo had to offer. Falaffel! Soooo good and glad they have it here. I had it for breakfast even! Their bread here is not as good as other countries though. We caught up with the Egypt Ultimate team (they all say “Hi” Rick and that you should move back) but unfortunately were unable to play as the American College closed for the summer and were doing “maintenance” on the fields. So we went and ate Yemen food with three cool people, they were so friendly. That’s what I have found with the Egyptians, they are willing to change their plans and just hang out with you, so cool. There are some crafty fellows, but you get that in most cities. The Egyptians are clever, especially those with tourist shops. I got talked into buying some oil perfume and it was an okay price for me, but maybe a better price for him. These guys are big on the first customer of the day being good luck for the rest of it – but I think they tell that to all their customers. They also ask you for gifts if they give you something to try or smell, pretty up front. They’ve bought in a new taxi service, which have meters installed. The older cars (mostly black with some white) don’t have a meter. You need to barter with these guys in the beginning and ensure you use the words “Egyptian Pounds” and maybe even write the amount down somewhere. Some people have been caught where the drive changed the price at the end (or used another currency) and they make a scene until you pay. We stayed clear of them unless we were with an Egyptian. Oh how I wish we could download new languages! I know it can be done, but it’s certainly “marshalaah” (God-willing). NOTHING is impossible with Him! I have heard stories where languages have been spoken without knowing the language at all – too cool.
We also visited a place called “trash city” – which I think is a Western term. We got to the nearest metro station and were stumped on how to get there. We asked a couple of people but then I felt we shouldn’t be asking where “trash city” was because it didn’t feel…respectful. Past the city is St Simeon’s Monastery and so we queried about that. We came across this guy who is a Coptic Christian which I believe was a divine appointment) and he led us to a taxi, we invited him to come with us and he accepted – and it was his only day off work! It was awesome. So, “trash city” is where they take all the rubbish and they sort it out for recycling – but people live there too. There are three main churches and all are cut into caves. The story goes that St Simeon the tanner prayed with all the saints and God split the mountainside in half as proof He was real. There are really awesome carvings in the hillside, which I was only able to get a few photos of as my camera battery died :o( It doesn’t seem foreigners visit there as we were swarmed by kids and their families to chat and take photos with us. We saw the sunset over the rooftops and watched as people sorted the rubbish with the light they still had left. Then we went to a Coptic church service in Arabic. It was really cool.
The On-the-Go Tour
The first day of the tour we saw pyramids, pyramids, pyramids and a sphinx. It was hot! Dan went for a camel ride around the pyramids, while I opted for the air conditioning of the bus. We spent 18 hours on a train travelling from Cairo to Aswan in the seater train which had huge seats, some of us got sleep. It was interesting seeing the different people on the tour, some fresh into travel and others not. Amazing what you can get used to when you travel for so long…like lack of showering and other conveniences.
We hit Aswan and went out and to see the Nile dam and a temple that we had to take a motorboat to get to. This day I felt ill, I was getting stomach cramps every now and then. I think it was getting used to drinking the tap water, and I’d had some leftover chicken from a table. Others got it pretty bad during the tour, so I was blessed it didn’t last too long and it didn’t interrupt any other functions…ahem.
From Aswan we split into 3 teams and took felucca’s (sailing boats) down the Nile. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, it was cool on the water and we were protected by shade the whole time. Our job was to lay back on the matresses and enjoy the scenery. The first night we slept close by a Nubian family home and they cooked us dinner. The sleep wasn’t too bad, it was windy which kept the mozzies away.
The next morning we were unable to leave until after lunch as there was too much wind for the sail. It’s interesting, when sailing down the Nile the current goes from South the North, and the wind from North to South, so you have to criss-cross sail. Once the wind died down we tied all 3 felucca’s together and just floated down, we hit a bridge going down because of ill-timed steering, but all was good. We then got a lift with a motorboat to the beach we were going to spend the night at. A few of us needed to go to the toilet (an anticipated feeling in Egypt because you never know what you’re in for) and we did on the motorboat. It was a squat toilet at the back of the boat, in the open, which barely covered your lower back, in the open for all to see. It was an…experience.
We stopped at a beach area and had a “bon fire.” At about 3am there was a small fire in the front cabin of our felucca. The dude sleeping in there freaked out and one of the other captains burnt his hand pretty bad while putting it out. Exciting times.
We travelled by bus to see another two temples then arrived in Luxor. The hotels we’ve been staying at are 5-star (Egytptian 5-star) hotels and they’ve been pretty nice. It was a nice ending to the Middle Eastern journey. We got up early the next day to visit the Valley of the Kings and Queens and then another temple in the arvo. The valleys were pretty big in that there are many tombs there. They stopped building the pyramids for tombs because they were raided by the tomb robbers, so they went underground – so impressive and so much work, for a dead body. A lot of colour is still vivid after 3,000 or more years. By the end of the touristy things on the tour, I was a tired of hearing about Ancient Egypt. I began feeling sorry for these guys because they worshipped gods who didn’t exist and had an incorrect view of the “afterlife,” taking treasures with you? No physical thing here on earth is relevant after you die, sorry. We were told that when the people gathered around outside the temple (they weren’t allowed in) it was the priest who would be the voice of the god – such deception.
We arrived to our flash hotel in Dahab after an 18 hour bus ride where the seats didn’t stay reclined. We got swollen ankles after all that travel. The designer of the hotel (Mercure) definitely had fun with this one. We went snorkelling in the Blue Hole (Red Sea) which was AMAZING! God has an awesome sense of humor and such creativity, it was truly beautiful. We saw a turtle cruising past us and amazing colours in fish! I spent a lot longer in the water that I expected. The Red Sea is the next saltiest after the Dead Sea, so it was caked in our hair – such an amazing experience and I was truly grateful and thankful to God for designing such beauty and for those who went before us, who kept it alive for us to see.
We left late on Monday night to climb Mount Sinai. I did a bit of research in Exodus and Moses climbed this thing like 7 times and 2 of those he spent 40 days/nights up there…madness! Then I learnt that the Bedouins live and walk up there almost daily, and you have to have a guide with you at all times. These guys are machines. Some parts were truly a mission, especially the 770 steps at the end. It was worth it to see the beautiful sunrise in the morning.
It was an early start to catch the 7 hour bus back to Cairo. A lot of travelling between deserts in Egypt. We visited a perfumery in Cairo (and bought more) then went to the Khan el-Khalili markets (to get my last dose of hassle and bargaining) with our tour guide from the first leg of the tour, Romany (the best!). Then it was time to fly out the next morning which was kinda weird as we hadn’t flown for a while. I was really excited. I have enjoyed my time in the Middle East (some of it has been hard because of culture shock...then the continuous shock) but I knew it was time to depart.
It was a strange feeling to be walking around Heathrow and seeing all the shops I knew while I was living in Harpenden, to see the English Pound sign. We walked past a picture of London on the wall, saw fixed prices in the shops – ahhh, was able to flush toilet paper down the toilet (the simple things in life), and hear English – everywhere.
Then it was off to Montreal where we gain 7 hours of our life back…
Liz
xoxo
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