An Afternoon in Aswan

July 21-22

We had initially intended to leave Alexandria 2 days earlier, but the exodus of Egyptians back to their families for Ramadan prevented that from happening.

We had booked 2 first-class tickets from Alexandria to Aswan, Egypt's southernmost major city. Things got off to a bad start when our train failed to arrive until 2 hours after it's scheduled departure. Thankfully, an Egyptian-Canadian professor from UBC helped us figure out when our train had finally arrived and we boarded our train for the 18-19 hour journey.

My seat was rather pleasant despite the cabin being kept at a frigid 15 degrees Celsius: I assume to maintain the train and passengers' rancid odours at a manageable intensity. I mean, come on, this is first class!

I was rather pleased that for the entirety of the trip, I was able to doze in and out of sleep, making this tedious journey that much more tolerable.

Josh on the other hand was not so fortunate. His seat was next to a door that was opened and closed at least 5 times per minute. He had to listen to a group of teenage stowaways sing and clap for hours deliberately trying to infuriate a man trying to calm his infant daughter, sitting next to him. This would not be so terrible except for the human excrement and urine oozing from the vent from the bathroom car in front of ours, requiring Josh to actively keep his feet up to avoid his shoes stewing in the septic carpet at his feet. Keep in mind he did this for 12 hours!

Ah Egyptian first class, the envy of the Middle East!

Needless to say, we (mostly Josh) were happy to get off of that infernal train. Upon walking down the platform, we saw our Australian friend, Onur, stepping off the same train. He spoke of a magical hotel with a rooftop pool and we decided to check it out with him.

When we arrived with eager grins, they misleadingly assured us that they did in fact have a pool, just that it currently didn't have any water in it. Since we were already far enough from the other hotels, we decided to stay there with that empty pool full of broken dreams.

That evening we did a sunset fellucia ride and enjoyed the tranquility of the Nile and the illuminated, sloping dunes of this ancient waterway's west bank.

We then woke up at 2:45 (that same night) to board yet another bus to drive close to 300km to view Ramses II's masterpiece: the temple complex of Abu Simbel. We were given a mere hour-and-a-half to explore the temple's namesake and the accompanying temple of Hathor, before boarding that same bus for the return 300km trek to Aswan.

To add insult to injury, a mere 2 hours after our arrival in Aswan, we boarded a 3-hour train ride to Luxor. Thankfully, after that final leg, we could settle into our hotel beds and enjoy some well-deserved, reasonably air-conditioned, horizontal sleep, without the fear of a cesspool forming at our feet.

Now that was some first-class sleep!

Extreme Alexandria

July 16-20

Our bus-ride along the desert highway was uneventful, except for the comical and inexplicable water obstructing Josh's view from his window. Once at the bus station, we haggled with cab drivers until one agreed to treat us fairly, angering the other drivers who had colluded to rip us off.

We were let off at Saad Zaghloul Square and quickly oriented ourselves towards our hotel, the 'Swiss/Suez' Canal hotel. I'm not sure on the actual name because both are pronounced the same with an Egyptian accent and seem to be used interchangeably. 

After our first of many meals of ful and falafel at Alexandria's famous Mohamed Ahmed restaurant, my friend Ahmed, who I had met on my last adventure, came to meet up with Josh and I. We caught up over many cups of tea and far too much shisha.

Since Ahmed's cycling club (http://www.cycle-egypt.com/) had no upcoming events, I thought it would be fun to rent some bikes for the day and have Ahmed show us around.

Little did we know what Ahmed had in store for us the following day.

Ahmed met us for breakfast and we made our way to the bike shop. We chose our one-speed mountain bikes with star-spangled handle-bars and assured that the breaks worked properly.

From that point on, we were cycling through the streets of Alex in full-on traffic. We were weaving through bumper to bumper traffic, dodging pedestrians and passing donkeys and horses. We were swerving to miss buses, microbuses and even a tram or two pulling over to pick up passengers. At several points we were even cycling towards oncoming traffic in the middle of the street! This would all be rather terrifying if it weren't so exhilarating!

Ahmed estimated that we must have travelled between 38-40 km on this death-race-like-course. Any cardiorespiratory benefits clearly negated by the copious amount of vehicle exhaust inhaled and dust accumulated in our lungs. The only breaks we took were to make sure everyone had made it through each leg of this urban obstacle course...and once for mango juice.

Not very badass I know, but damn delightful!

We finished our ride with an extended circuit on the corniche. 

After we dropped off our bikes, my legs were like jelly, my shirt soaked in sweat, my legs caked in dust, and adrenaline still surging through my system, but it was worth it.

Definitely worth it!

Everything we did after that in Alex seemed rather pedestrian by comparison, no pun intended!

The following day, Josh and I attempted to go to the Greco-roman tombs known as Kom Al Shoqqafa, after enjoying the air-conditioning and impressive views at Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

The tombs date from the first two centuries A.D. and are apparently quite impressive, but a power failure extinguished our chances to visit the interior. An ambitious Chilean family invited us along with them, using a surprisingly bright cell phone screen to light the way, but they gave up rather quickly and we followed suit.

That night we met up with Ahmed for a tremendous seafood feast and followed it up with more tea and shisha.

Our final day in Alex was spent sleeping in, and visiting Fort Qaitbay. Fort Qaitbay was built in the 15th century and stands at the same location as the former ancient wonder of the world, the Lighthouse of Pharos, once stood.

Even though Alexandria straddles the Mediterranean and has had an intimate relationship with the sea since it's founding thousands of years ago, I still contend that the best way to see it is on a bicycle and I have my friend Ahmed to thank for that!

Cairo, My How You Have Changed

July 12th-15th
When planning a trip to the Middle East: political turmoil, revolution, war and the middle of summer are rarely the elements people look for. We, on the other hand were in the midst of all of them.

Our arrival was welcomed by the familiar cacophony of car horns, endless traffic and utter chaos which I've come to associate with Cairo. All of this compounded by terrible pollution amplifying the already sweltering heat to unfathomable levels.

We arrived at our hostel, The Australian Hostel, and settled in for our first of many Arabian nights.

The air conditioner in our room and the absence of a call to prayer allowed me to sleep quite well, all the while I'm sure the Imam could be screaming into a megaphone directly into Josh's ear and he could still sleep through it, so I was not too worried about him!

After breakfast, we made our way to the Egyptian Museum. In order to get there, we had to go through Tahrir Square, the infamous epicenter of the Egyptian Revolution. There was a man screaming into a microphone in front of a handful of supporters waving over-sized Egyptian flags, and many vendors selling Guy Faulkes masks, but nothing more revolutionary than that.

Once at the museum, rather than the throngs of white people in front of the entrance, we walked in virtually alone. The museum itself had kept its unorganized, hastily-put-together charm, but there was no one there! In the three hours we were there, we saw maybe a handful of Westerners. Cairo as a whole was barren of white, Tilly-hat-wearing Caucasians. Great for us, bad for the Egyptian economy.

Because of this lack of tourists, we were the primary target, nearly always hassled or approached to buy something or take a tour, and even occasionally told about the hardships in post revolutionary Egypt.

The following day we tagged along with a friend we had met, Onur, from Australia, for a tour of Egypt's antiquities: the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid in Dashur; and the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saquarra. (For historical info read my previous post http://www.trvlscars.blogspot.ca/2011/08/magdis-cairo-and-egypts-icons.html).

 We also visited Memphis, the former Pharaonic capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Little is left from it's former glory, but there is a gigantic statue of Ramses II making the visit worth the price of admission.

On our way back, we stopped off at the Citadel of Saladin, which comprises 3 mosques and a military museum.

 

We briefly toured the mosque of Muhammad Ali (not the boxer) and snapped some pics of some of the weaponry used on, or captured from, Egypt's former enemies.

The citadel also provided some pretty impressive views of this sprawling metropolis.

On our third day, Josh and I visited the Pyramids of Giza. Still as impressive as the first time I saw them, only ten times as hot! To reach the panoramic viewpoint, it took plenty of breaks in the slivers of shade from the pyramids, and sips of hot water from our formerly cool water bottles.

 Even at arguably the most recognizable monument on earth, the majority of the tourists present were locals.


Hardly the Egypt I remember.

Throughout our time in Cairo, we heard a few stories and lamentations about the education system under Mubarak and the hope for a better future under Mursi.

For the 15000-16000 tour guides and the other millions indirectly funded by Egypt's tourism industry, the future currently looks bleak. It will take time for westerners to reaffirm Egypt as a safe destination for their holidays, and even longer for Egypt to reach political stability and democracy.

For the sake of Egypt's people and economy, I just hope it happens sooner than later.

Here We Go Again!

"I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on earth, then I ask myself the same question"

- Harun Yahya

Although I never researched the context of the above quote, I still find it is a rather fitting introduction to this installment of Travel Scars.

While my previous trip was initiated by the World Cup of soccer in South Africa, this current voyage came purely from desire and opportunity.

My trip starts off in the country where my last one left off, that being Egypt. A lot has happened since I was there a mere year-and-a-half ago: a revolution, the election of their first democratically elected president, and the dissolution of the parliament by the very group the revolution set out to remove from power.

The political climate isn't the only thing that has changed since my last trip. My new partner in crime is Joshua Bridges. A friend whose personality compliments my own, and our dynamic will surely lead to some incredible experiences and possibly hilarious situations.

The premise of our trip is simple: there is no plan. No definite time frame; no determined route or destinations; and most importantly, no limitations whatsoever.

What we do know, however, is that we plan on spending a few months in the Middle East and then making our way to the Far East. Other than that vague outline, spontaneity and impulse will be our guide.

So once again, I invite you all to follow Josh and my adventure throughout the Middle East, Asia, and beyond, in all it's candid and unplanned glory!

I hope you enjoy it!

First stop: Cairo.