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For the second part of our Thanksgiving holiday, we headed south another four hours to Aswan, which is the southernmost city in Egypt. Nearly everything is located along the Nile and Aswan is no exception, although the river is at its most beautiful state down in there.
We left Luxor early-afternoon on Friday and prepared ourselves for the minibus ride. For security reasons, only two convoys leave Luxor bound for Aswan every day so we caught the three pm one, arriving in Aswan at about six o’clock in the evening. We quickly found a cheap hotel (50 LE total for 4 people) and then went exploring around the city. We found a cheap dinner at a decent Kosheri place (not as good as it is in Cairo, however), before walking along the Corniche and finding a relaxing place to sit, smoke shisha, and just have a good time. We walked a substantial distance along the Nile until we found a decent place overlooking the river. Yet again we had an early night, in anticipation of an early start Saturday.
The night before we had arranged a car to pick us up to take us to Philae, which is an island Temple complex located in the middle of the Nile. For decades, when the Nile would flood its banks, portions of the Temple would be submerged, thus deteriorating the beauty immensely. So during the construction of the Aswan High Dam, they relocated Philae piece-by-piece to higher ground on a nearby island called Agilika. Upon getting there, we realized that despite paying an admission fee, we still had to hire a boat to take us across the Nile. The set price is about 25 pounds or so, but not one of the Nubian boat drivers would budge below 40. So after biting my tongue (since everything in Egypt is about getting as much money as possible from tourists), we sailed to Philae.
The Temple of Isis is the most prominent structure at Philae and consists of several different colonnades of pillars and walkways and inscriptions and the like. They recreated much of the scenery located on Philae when they move the Temple and yet again, words cannot do it justice. Photos work so much better.
After Philae, we went to the Nubian Museum. Since Aswan is the gateway to Africa and the northern tier of the Nubian tribes, interaction between the Nubians and Ancient Egyptians occurred and so a lot of the museum is dedicated to the interaction between the peoples. It was very interesting seeing some of the vast differences, yet quaint similarities between the two cultures that relied so heavily upon the River Nile.
Lunch followed and clearly we were being adventurous that weekend so we decided to order… pigeon. Yes, we ate a pigeon. Very small and kinda tastes like chicken, but it wasn’t what I expected.
We took an hour-long felucca ride along the Nile, enjoying the beauty of the surroundings since the valley down south is so rich with vegetation, yet the desert is so close as well. It was relaxing with weather in the 70s as usual and the breeze made it even better. Just another relaxing day on the Nile.
We rounded up our trip at the Sharia as-Souq, or Market Street, where all we did was spend exorbitant amounts of money that we didn’t really have, but I got presents for some people, so I would consider it a moderate success.
We grabbed some pizza before we left and proceeded to the train station. Our train left Aswan at 5:45pm on Saturday night and we arrived back in Cairo at 7:30am the next morning. So it was nearly a fourteen hour train ride!! But we survived. And I slept for probably eight hours, which is incredible for me.
Overall it was a great weekend. As much as I love my Thanksgiving dinners, I have those every year. Only once am I studying for a semester in Egypt and only once do I get to say that I skipped Turkey Day to see the ruins of one of the greatest civilizations of all time.
…anyways… we are re celebrating Thanksgiving upon my return since both my dad and sister were sick and I wasn’t there. It also gives my mom an excuse to cook a huge festive meal that we can all enjoy and spend great quality time with each other.
Hope everyone is well. I am heading out to Jordan and Israel this upcoming weekend/week since most of my work for classes has slowed down significantly since the ridiculousness that was midterms month. I will be heading to Petra, Amman (hang out with a Fraternity Brother), Jerusalem to see a friend or two, and then back to Eilat, one of my favorite places in all the world.
Upon my return, I will only have two weeks left in Cairo and I have a billion things to do and see and eat. Oh – and finals as well. So the next three weeks will be very busy for me.
Have a great few weeks between holidays!
Thanksgiving this year was rather bittersweet as it was the first time I have ever had Thanksgiving away from home. For the past twenty years, my mom has cooked the most delicious meals and we have always hosted Turkey Day as long as I can remember… I also remember her starting to cook on Monday usually. Throughout the years, however, numbers have risen and fallen, but I have always had the comfort of heading home to Murrysville for Thanksgiving. But this year – as life is – things were a little different.
I have officially been here for three months (I left JFK Aug. 25 arriving here early on the 26th so give or take a few hours) and one of the sites I have been most looking forward to is visiting Luxor, which is what four of us decided to do for the holiday weekend (we also went to Aswan, but I had no idea what that was until I got here). To clear up a few common misconceptions: Luxor is the site of the Ancient City of Thebes, which was one of the most important cities of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. On the East Bank of the River Nile, the Temples of Karnak & Luxor, while on the West Bank, the Ancient Necropolis, which is where the Valley of the Kings (& Queens), Hatshepsut Temple, and several other memorials to the Ancient Egyptians. Luxor does not contain the Sphinx or any pyramids of note. The reason I mention this is because the Luxor Resort in Las Vegas shows off huge replicas of a pyramid and a sphinx, neither of which are located there… Anyways… this is going to be an incredibly long post… just warning you.
We left Wednesday night (Nov. 21) at about 10pm on a night-train bound for Luxor. We left from Giza Train Station (near the Pyramids) and since it was Meghan’s birthday at midnight (she was turning 22, old, I know) we brought a celebratory bottle of wine for the train. Now in the winter, the trains to Upper Egypt (which is southern Egypt since the Nile flows northward. It is very confusing) are very packed so we had to sit second class with the people. Not bad for 46 pounds or about $9. During the ten hour train ride I: read an Egypt book, listened to my iPod, twiddled my thumbs, and SLEPT. Yes. Adam Shaffer, the kid who can never, ever sleep on moving transportation, SLEPT. I actually got a good four hours in. We arrived in Luxor, found our Hostel (dirt cheap, like less than $3 a night per person), rented bicycles and headed for the River Nile. The first day we decided to bike to the sites of the Theban Necropolis on the West Bank, which is all the ancient temples and tombs of the rulers of the New Kingdom of Egypt. We took a boat across and biked the few kilometers to the entrance to the Necropolis, which is the Colossi of Memnon. Pretty cool, I must say so myself.
We then found the ticket booth and bought several tickets (since you need a separate ticket for nearly every site. Quite expensive actually). We then hopped into a hired taxi which is just a minibus that drives around taking as many people where they want to go as possible, usually staying on a designated route and people just get on and off as they please. It only costs a dime, so I can’t complain. First, we went to the Temple of Seti I, which I clearly took dozens of photos, not so much realizing I would see thousands more ruins in the next few days. Seti I is believed to be the Pharaoh that took in Moses, while the son of Seti I, Ramses II, is believed to be the most powerful of all the Pharaohs and is also believed to be the “brother” of Moses. Just watch The Prince of Egypt… haha. Clearly words (or really photos can’t truly describe):
Then we took a cab to the Valley of the Kings, which is where most of the major Pharaohs during the New Kingdom have their tombs. Clearly the most famous is King Tutankhamen, or simply King Tut to the rest of the world. He is the boy king who ruled for only a few years, but because he was the last line of his family dynasty, all the family treasures were placed in his tomb. His treasures were discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, who had searched endlessly for Tut’s tomb, but had not discovered it until searching under the tomb of Ramses VI. There is also this big deal about the curse and blah blah blah (read: you should research it on your own).
Now King Tut’s treasures have found their way around the world and they will make it back to the U.S. in 2008 but clearly the reason we went to see Tut was because just three weeks ago, they finally unveiled his demummified remains to the public. His huge solid gold sarcophagus has been on display in his tomb for decades, but they were finally able to show his blackened remains to the public. Obviously no photos were allowed but I did download this off the internet to show you what he looks like. He is very petite (since he was young) and his shriveled-up body is just one of those things that “I am in Egypt, so I might as well see it” type deals.
So Tut was the first tomb we visited in the Valley of the Kings. We also had to pay separately to see him, but the extra $7 is insignificant. We saw three tombs (not as impressive as I would have originally thought) of Pharaohs, and walked around a little before heading out of the Valley.
Next, we went to Hatshepsut’s Temple, which is an incredible temple carved into the rocky side of a mountain near the Valley of the Kings. Hatshepsut was the only female Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and she ruled but was deposed by her son. Long story short, she created a great monument which was one of my favorite sights in all of Egypt. I learned about this in my art history class and this (along with Tut) were sights people from home were eager for me to see. It consists of three levels of colonnades, culminating with a temple at the top, all carved into a mountain. Unfortunately, a decade ago, a massacre happened at this Temple with sixty-two tourists being killed, but security was rather impressive here.
Above is Hatshepsut; notice the belly with the Pharaonic likeness. I learned in Art History that they distinguished her from the rest simply by adding a belly to show her femininity. Usually Pharaohs were shown with flawless bodies, even if it showed no representation of what they actually looked like.
After that we walked through the desert and we ended up at the Ramesseum, which is the memorial temple of Ramses II, probably the most powerful Pharaoh. Portions of this temple are completely intact, while others are in complete ruins. We were ushered up a huge wall to overlook the area, and we saw a gigantic statue of Ramses II that had fallen over. Pieces (including his feet, crown and hands were everywhere), but the most impressive part was the huge remain of his upper torso and head.
Then we visited a few more tombs of nobles and another Temple before biking back to the River Nile. At sunset, we found a cool restaurant with amazing views of the Nile, the Luxor Temple and the desert beyond. We splurged a bit since it was Thanksgiving and settled on a combo platter of Shwerma and chicken (with rice and cheese & cauliflower), but first they brought us a huge salad plate with tons of fresh vegetables, followed by bread and salad dips, then our main course, culminating in an amazing dessert of a unique cake with whipped cream and fresh fruit. A great dinner and a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving, although we had a few bicycle malfunctions and a few issues with the locals (who hound you at every turn: Felucca? boat ride? Taxi? Food? And then they are rather rude about asking for bakshish, or tips. But I had a good Thanksgiving. Nothing like my Mom’s dinner, but for the circumstances, it was decent.
*Since the Jews were most of the slaves during this period, this is where they lived. So, yes, Moses was here.
The next day we woke up rather early since we had two big sites left to see in Luxor: The Luxor Temple and the Temple of Karnak. Both were temples where Egyptian gods were worshiped, although Luxor Temple is much smaller, but still quite elegant. An Avenue of the Sphinxes used to line the path between the two temples (which are 3 kilometers apart). But only about fifty of the sphinxes actually remain and they open the plaza in front of Luxor Temple. Clearly we took ridiculous photos with them.
We then proceeded to enter the Luxor Temple, which is located directly on the Corniche along the River Nile. This Temple seemed huge (until we went to Karnak) and we saw it at night on Thanksgiving. At the front, a massive First Pylon is still relatively intact with one of two original obelisks (tall, pointy objects that look like Washington Monument) also in great shape. Like other columns, pillars, and obelisks in Egypt, the other obelisk from Luxor Temple was stolen; Napoleon took it and it now stands in the Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris (I actually have seen it). Inside there is a mosque (clearly post-Ancient Egypt), although there are also massive statues of Ramses II. Further back, there are smaller chambers, several more columns and more and more ruins. Very cool, and just one of the massive complexes that dominated Ramses II long rule as Pharaoh.
This is a wall carving of Ramses, his wife, and his Brother. Some dispute it, but most agree it is Moses.
We made it through Luxor Temple in about forty-five minutes and decided on our flexible, yet still rather limited-time schedule, that we would take a carriage ride to Karnak Temple, which is about 3km away. After bargaining (which is a skill I have nicely perfected), we were off. Our driver was incredibly friendly and we spoke a lot about Egypt, the United States, Luxor and other things. After about fifteen minutes or so, we found our way to the ticket booth as we stared down this massive Temple complex. Karnak is a grouping of temples, chapels, pylons, obelisks, etc, but was the most important of all the worship places for the Theban Ancient Egyptians. I am incredibly glad that we saw this last of all the temples in Luxor because it is by far the most impressive and we spent a couple hours gawking at the sheer size of the entire complex. So instead of describing exactly what we saw (mainly because I can’t remember what everything was named), a photo journey will make all of our lives much easier.
After Karnak, we grabbed a cab back to the Luxor Temple and got a quick bite to eat. After a day and a half in Luxor, we decided to head to Aswan, which is the southernmost important city in Egypt. It sits at the base of the Aswan High Dam, which keeps the Nile River from flooding. Aswan is the starting point for heading into Africa and is considered the entrance to Africa. The Nubian people (Eastern & Northern Sudan, Southern Egypt) populate much of Aswan and the Sudanese border is only a couple hours away by car. But the last part of the trip is for another blog post. Too many photos and things I did in Luxor, so I am going to split it up.
I will leave you with two final photos of Luxor: one is a bazaar named after our wonderful President and the second is just a shot of the River Nile in Luxor, which was called Thebes for the Ancient Egyptians.
Following the misery of midterms last week – I did well, don’t worry – we decided it was a great idea to head out to the Western Desert of Egypt. This desert, located 5-6 hours west of Cairo, is just a portion of the massive Sahara Desert that basically occupies all of northern Africa. Since it is midterm time, we all couldn’t really afford (both financially and time-wise) to head out for more than one night, so we arranged to head out quite early Thursday AM.
It all started out November 1 (right!?!?!) at 6:00am. I had been out the previous Halloween night, so I accidentally forgot to pack. As 6am rolls around I just grab the first articles of clothes I can find, toss them into my backpack and run downstairs, ignoring security telling me I need to fill out a vacation form. So by the time the bus arrives and Katie decides to come downstairs, we’re off, although we had to stop at the ATM.
Finally, at about 11:00am, we arrive at an oasis in the middle of the desert where we will take a 4×4 into the Western desert.
So for the next day or so, we traveled around the Sahara, first stopping in the Black Desert, which is black because of ancient volcanic ash in the middle of the desert. We stopped for lunch in a small oasis and had decent food, followed by a journey into the White Desert, which should be a natural wonder of the world. Most of the rock structures were created by dense rocks on top as the sand wore away the bases, creating busts of sorts that resemble so many different creatures. It also kinda looks like the Arctic or Antarctica because everything is so white.
We spent the night in the desert. Our guide cooked us a phenomenal meal – BBQ Chicken, rice, and a spicy stew – which was one of the better meals I have had in all of Egypt. We sat around and talked about everything before sleeping under the stars. Just like at Mt. Sinai, there is no light pollution so every part of the sky is littered with stars. Seeing far away galaxies and tons of shooting stars made the experience even cooler.
So overall, it was quite the experience, that, as usual, photos can’t truly do it justice. But at least I can try… check out the whole album on my Picasa Photo Albums.
Oh, and on a final note, in the mad rush of Thursday AM, I forgot sneakers. So I was basically stuck with flip-flops all weekend. However, on a surprising note, the sand of the Sahara wasn’t that hot at all!
Venturing to the second-largest city in Egypt seemed like a logical thing to do at one point or another. Who from New York doesn’t want to see what LA or Chicago is like? So, five AUC students residing in a city of sixteen million decided this past weekend to travel to Alexandria, a city of 4 or 5 million, hugging the northern coast of Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea.
All week we contemplated purchasing advanced train tickets but we never quite got around to it… so Thursday AM, after a quick Metro ride to Ramses Train Station, we learned that not only the 12:00 and 13:10 trains were sold out, but the slightly more expensive – if you can call $8 one way expensive – French Bullet train at 14:00 was also sold out. The next train to leave was at 15:00 (3pm) so we reluctantly agreed to that (it was 10:30 in the morning), which also required us to sit second class. After walking around the neighborhood, grabbing a dirt cheap shwarma (3.50 LE, or about 65 cents), and sitting for a few hours in a coffee shop, we finally boarded Wagon Number 12 bound for El-Iskandreea (Alexandria, be’el Arabia). For second class (and paying less than 5 bucks one way), the Egyptian train was actually rather nice. I had a bigger seat, it reclined more, and I had about twice as much legroom as I did on my 8-hour Alitalia flight from the States, combined with the fact that I brought my pillow (I rarely leave Cairo without it) and the ride was a little over two hours, it was a nice way to travel. It was no TGV (the super-fast bullet trains in France), with its luxurious cabins and comfy chairs and tables, but it also didn’t come with the 80+ Euro price tag that some of those trains come with. Anyways…
So we left Cairo at 3pm, arriving in Alexandria a little after five. Meanwhile, the sun was setting and Iftar (the meal after sundown during Ramadan) was commencing upon our arrival. We immediately walked to the Corniche (walk along the Mediterranean) to catch a few quick pictures before finding accommodations. This is the second voyage here that we have gone without reservations, finding a very cute hotel called Hotel Crillon within walking distance of much of Alexandria. Squeezing five into a room wasn’t bad (Meghan in her sleeping bag, Carrie in her own bed, and the three guys, Dudestrong of course, pushed the other two beds together and slept horizontally across the beds for extra comfort). The hotel was very homey; very personal touches were added throughout making it feel like a B&B, with nice molding features and ultra-high ceilings. Oh and I forgot the best part (minus the orange cockroaches – we only saw one)… THE VIEW. We were directly across the street from the Mediterranean and had two French doors that opened overlooking the beautiful sea. 
So after checking into our hotel and setting in, it was time for dinner. With its close proximity to the Mediterranean (read: on the Mediterranean), clearly we needed to get seafood for dinner. After a bit of wondering, we stumbled upon the Fish Market on the Western Cove, I do believe. As we sat down, they brought several small side salad dishes for us to enjoy as appetizers (the best was clearly a garlic yogurt dip, with the close second: hummus, and a third: a mystery red dip). We then proceeded to walk up to the fish counter and select whichever fish we wanted. Carrie and I split a Silver Bream which was great grilled; yet again, our dinner was enjoyed along the water. After dinner, we bought sweets and pastries from a patisserie located within the same restaurant complex. And to conclude our evening, we sat in a cafe across the street from the Med, smoking shisha, and drinking tea and Turkish coffee, an all too typical, but still enjoyable ending to the day.
The one major issue involving getting a waterfront hotel with a balcony (sans a fan or air conditioning) is the noise. We had our French doors open for the Mediterranean breeze, which was helpful, but since the busy Corniche was right below us, the sounds of cars honking and the hoofs of the horse-drawn carriages never quite seemed to dissipate. I got quite a bit of sleep, despite my friends saying they didn’t. And the highlight of our night: prior to going to sleep, we saw one of our good friends, the orange cockroach. They’re a rather harmless little being (except when they are scrambling at you); we only saw one in the bathroom and none (hopefully) crawled across Meghan as she slept in her sleeping bag. (See a photo in album).
We awoke early to ensure maximum time to explore Alexandria. Since it is Ramadan, most touristy places close early. We first went to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which is the new Library of Alexandria. In the time of antiquity, the Royal Library of Alexandria was the largest library in the world and eventually the collection was lost, so they built a new, sleek, modern looking building to house a new collection, complete with ancient manuscripts and artifacts from centuries ago. 
Inside, we explored a few galleries and checked out the collection, but we only had two hours, since the library was only open from 10am until noon. Following a quick trip the Library, we went to the Catacombs of Kom El-Shuqafa, a burial city where the influences of the Greeks & Romans also blend with the Ancient Egyptians, but since they didn’t allow cameras in, were were unable to take photos of the beauty. Two primary levels of catacombs were located under Alexandria (the lowest one had flooded) and so we explored the underground burial site. After that, we walked to a ruins site of Pompey’s Pillar, located southwest of downtown. Here, certain aspects of many different cultures are evident with the Greek column, Roman baths, and Egyptian sphinxes.
Breezing through this site, we walked to the Roman Amphitheatre located near the train station, but the maps in our books were rather deceiving, so we took a cab the quite-short distance it was to the Roman Theatre. We performed a little, sang a little, played a little, learned a little, and got to experience the point in the amphitheatre where the speaker stands and the complexity of the architecture allows for the voice to echo and reflect back (kinda creepy the first time you do it). It reminds me of the place in the rotunda where you can whisper and hear someone else across the room whisper too. We decided upon an early dinner at a Greek restaurant, with yet another view of the Mediterranean from across the Corniche. After splurging – $11 divided by 5 people – on a bottle of white wine, we sat and relaxed and took the moment in. What a very long day of doing all the tourist things in Alexandria. We ended up taking an 8:00pm train back to Cairo where we sat first class (very very very chilly); I actually preferred second class and arrived home a little before 11:00pm. We came back and crashed and promised to return to Alexandria to see the library more in-depth and take the street-tram around the city… when it isn’t Ramadan and everything closes so early!
I finally figured out how to add photos to my blog… but all the photos (about 65 in all) have been uploaded to Picasa… have a great weekend!
In Egypt, the Muslim day of rest is Friday, so here, weekends run Friday & Saturday, with classes meeting from Sunday thru Thursday. A bit confusing? I know. I still wake up with the “what’s the date, day, time, place I am in look” every single day generally, even though I have now been here for three weeks. Since I have modified my schedule enough to only have Monday/Wednesday classes, theoretically I have four day weekends, every single weekend. Well this past weekend we decided to go to Mount Sinai & Dahab for quite an adventure (and all the photos have now been uploaded online… see left).
A little background first, however; Mt. Sinai is on the Sinai peninsula (in Asia but still in Egypt), but was taken over by the Israelis during the Six-Day Way in 1967 until peace was signed in 1979, so the area is heavily fortified with tons of security checkpoints, still reflecting the past and anticipating the future since Sinai is seen as an easy point of entry into Egypt. The bus ride from Cairo to Sinai (via the Suez Canal) is about seven hours, with an additional 1.5 hour ride to Dahab on the eastern coast on the Red Sea.
Thursday AM, we (Carrie, Meghan and I) were off, with a backpack and bag a piece, and no reservations beyond the 11am bus ride to Mt. Sinai. We decided to leave a day ahead of everyone and go to Dahab for the day instead of taking a seven hour bus ride, spending about 18 hours at Mt. Sinai and immediately returning. The bus ride to Mt. Sinai was very interesting; an older model bus with tons of people just getting on and off at their own leisure. Our bus driver was slightly crazy (would yell at basically everyone, except tourists, saying either they didn’t pay enough or they hadn’t properly checked their bags) and he also had quite a lead-foot. On the bus, I had several good conversations with locals. One man, Ahmed, was from the area and had decent English. He was coming from Cairo; he taught math locally and was obsessed with calculus (differential equations) which is amazing because most Americans don’t understand calculus, let alone Egyptians. Anyways… I also met a gentlemen, never quite caught his name, who got on the bus randomly, and also left the bus randomly. He spoke decent English as well and decided the bus ride was a perfect place to roll up joints of Hashish. I was offered some; and declined, thankfully because despite his good natured-attitude, I couldn’t help wonder what his intentions were.
We arrived at Sinai at 6pm, the three of us and one more tourist. Upon arrival, since it was iftar or the feast dinner, the town was rather deserted. Deserted as in, no noise whatsoever, no shops open, no people around, rather creepy since we didn’t have hotel or bus reservations anywhere. We managed to find a minibus driver and hired him to take us to Dahab through the mountains of the Sinai desert. Several cigarettes and checkpoints later, we arrived in Dahab, an old Bedouin village turned backpackers paradise snuggled beautifully between the Sinai mountains and the Red Sea, across the Gulf of Aqaba from Saudi Arabia. After finding the little camp we wanted to stay at (affectionately called Alaska Camp in the desert) we walked along the water to get some dinner. The food was great at an Egyptian take on Italian food called Portofino, but the best part was sitting on the beach, with the waves crashing 2 meters from our feet on the sand. Following dinner, we sat in another restaurant on the water, smoking shisha and enjoying fantastic milkshakes, talking about issues in the Middle East and genuinely enjoying each other’s company. What a day, what a day.
Waking up late in our nice air conditioned hotel for about $6 was nice the next morning. Even better was sneaking onto the private resort beach down-shore. Dahab in Arabic means “Golden” so the sand at Dahab was golden. After walking along the beach for a little, we stumbled upon one of the best beaches I have ever seen. The water was the bluest I have ever witnessed and with the backdrop of sand and mountains, it was also the prettiest. We laid around for a bit, going in the water, and generally being in awe of windsurfers who were taking advantage of the strong winds to play around in the cove. Carrie, Meghan and I walked over to inquire about the windsurfing, only to learn that: A) You can’t just do it for one hour; B) Courses were taught in 5 days with students not even getting into the water until day 3; and C) It was over 100 Euro just for a one-day package. Scrap that. We decided to walk back up to town and find a cool place to eat and just relax.
We did just that and found a fantastic Persian restaurant, another “on the beach” restaurant but this one, you just sat on the ground, relaxing with pillows, enjoying the breeze and the views. Following our meal, we relaxed; we smoked some shisha and I learned how to play Backgammon. Three hours later, we decided to go for a camel ride, but since the camels weren’t there we were swayed into horseback riding to get the camels. After bargaining, we got the price to an acceptable level and took it. But we never got the camels. One hour later, and slightly upset, we only paid the guy half of what we originally proposed and called it a day by ordering margaritas at a rooftop bar overlooking the Red Sea. All of our meals were enjoyed at restaurants hugging the water. What a beautiful day… only to be trumped by the hike up Mt. Sinai.
After taking a “personal taxi” with an Egyptian and his Swedish wife back to Mt. Sinai, we met an unfortunate roadblock (literally). At the base of the mountain is a security checkpoint where the tourist police basically force a guide (for 50 LE) upon you. Despite our other group of friends managing to slip past the barrier without a guide, we argued for fifteen minutes with the police before finally giving in and accepting our guide. Upon arrival at St. Katherine’s Monastery five minutes past the checkpoint, we realized that we didn’t need a guide…. or so we thought. Once settled in (with our bags in storage since we weren’t shelling out $55 American dollars for a room), we decided to get an early start on the hike up one of the most important religious mountains in the world. Oh wait – we can’t get past another checkpoint without a guide – so we had to find another guide who was willing to take us up the mountain. (We eventually realized the only reason we needed a guide and a security guard was because we were American. Yes! I love being a tourist!)
We hiked. And we hiked. And we hiked some more. Six kilometers up the camel path until we reached the final 750 steps up to the summit. By steps, I don’t mean steps by American standards. I mean rock steps; saying they were uneven was an understatement. The hike, until that point, wasn’t awful. We stopped a few times, but when we reached the steps, it became grueling. By that point, you are almost at the summit, but camels cannot go any further, so to reach the top you must climb the steps. They were quite intense and by seeing the fortitude and determination of the elders (including monks, nuns and other clergymen), I began to realize how important this journey really was.
After passing say ten stands selling everything from Coca and water, to renting blankets and mattresses, we made it! The summit was a lot smaller than I imagined. In my hiking glory days (aka my travels in Israel in January), when we reached the top, there was always tons of space to roam around and take in the natural beauty, but at the top of Mt. Sinai, there is a tiny Greek Orthodox church, a few rock-carved terraces, and that is about it. I’d say enough room maybe to hold one-hundred people comfortably, but instead there were a few hundred more. We arrived at about 3:30am and got maybe one hour of sleep under the most beautiful sky I have ever seen.
Hundreds upon hundreds of stars (I can’t even describe the beauty), tons of shooting stars and a few AUC students lying on the ground on the top of Mt. Sinai enjoying one of the important sites in religious history (for those of you unaware, Mt. Sinai is where G-d spoke to Moses and he received the 10 Commandments) sure was a sight to be seen. Since there was no light pollution, you could see so many stars and other stars in distant galaxies, which just added to the awe of the experience. At about 5am, when dawn starting showing itself, we all huddled together under a few blankets on a rock, hanging over the edge of the mountain and we finally began to see the beauty of the surrounding mountains. We were perched high above the rest of Sinai, able to see the horizon over Saudi Arabia as we eagerly awaited the pending sunrise. For me, it was even more intense, seeing the sunrise at Mt. Sinai on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Quite possibly the most incredible thing I have ever done. I said a few blessings in Hebrew (as I took photos) of the sun rising behind the mountains and finally showing itself to the hundreds of people making the pilgrimage. The feeling was so inspirational; seeing the sunrise from Mt. Sinai, the same point that Moses did when he received the commandments from G-d, was second only to touching the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Up bright and early again today for a quick taxi ride into Midan Tahrir. As usual we wait an hour until everyone is ready to leave and we head to the Great Pyramids of Giza. A little background, first however, thanks to our lovely tourguide lady, Emin (I believe). The Great Pyramids were built on the Giza Plateau by the Ancient Egyptians, outside of their major city, Memphis, but now Cairo (the present capital of 20 million people, city proper) has expanded immensely that the urban sprawl has reached the desert of the Giza Plateau.
So we are driving along and all of a sudden, there they are, rising above the ever-present smog. We drive around them and eventually come to a lookout point from the west where all we can see is the three pyramids. Looking from the west (which most of photos are), the Great Pyramid of Giza was the pyramid for the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, who first perfected this style of pyramid (over 2 million blocks of limestone, covered by a casing). His was the largest, and was known simply as the Great Pyramid of Giza and for 4,000 years, was the tallest man-made structure on Earth until 1300. Law forbid building larger than Khufu’s, but his son tried. Next to it (to the south) was the second largest pyramid, built by his son Khafre, who wanted to outshine his father, so he built his on an elevated platform (which is why it looks bigger when compared to the others). Khafre’s Pyramid still has a bit of limestone casing at the top, which distinguishes itself from the other two. Finally, Khafre’s son, Menkaure built his pyramid to the south of that and those are the three great Pyramids that comprise the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Following a quick glance from the observation point, we drove around to the Great Sphinx, which is a half-man, half-lion and acts as a guardian to the Giza Plateau and the pyramids in which the tombs are housed. We hung out there for a little, took some photos before heading off to lunch. The Great Sphinx is one of the largest and oldest statues and when it was originally discovered, it was covered in sand and has since been restored to some degree (minus the iconic nose, of course). Following Giza, we went to lunch and eventually went to Saqqara, about 20km south of Giza to another area of pyramids. There we went into a burial temple and saw hieroglyphics and wall paintings and went into a small pyramid where we saw the burial chamber. After that, we went to the Stepped Pyramid of Zoser, the first successful pyramid and toured around that tomb area. We ended up climbing a rock feature that had an AMAZING panoramic view, stretching from the Great Pyramids of Giza all the way to Cairo and everything in between including the fertile Nile River valley.
Despite it being 99 degrees all day, today was one of the most inspirational experiences I have ever had. Actually seeing the Pyramids is completely different than reading about them online or viewing them in books; seeing the strength of man, nearly 5,000 years ago and the monuments they were able to leave for thousands of years is a true testament to what we can do. I hope they stand for another 5,000 years so that people like me (and hopefully you) can enjoy them and appreciate them.
**I updated all of my photos from the weekend. You can find the link on the left-side of the blog. I changed it around a little, so if you bookmarked it, you can re-bookmark it because this is the definite site**
So, unlike American University in DC, we didn’t have orientation leaders (sorry O-Staff) but they did however take us to the Red Sea.
Fridays in Cairo are like Shabbat in Brooklyn: there are only a few cars out, the city is eerily quiet and the pollution briefly lifts (seriously). Friday is the Islamic day of rest so we were able to make it through Cairo relatively quickly (and painlessly since I didn’t almost lose an arm, like usual). We boarded ten buses bound for Ein Sukhna, which is a little less than two hours east of Cairo on the Red Sea. After arriving, CRAZY LADY TOMADER gave us a few quick sessions before we skipped out to the beach before lunch.
For two days, we all sat out on lounge chairs, under the sun or in the crystal blue waters of the Red Sea. The food was a much needed upgrade from Cairo food, despite having to pay 8 LE for water at every single meal, or having a busperson remove our plates from right under our forks. It was quite hot (still in the upper 90’s, lower 100’s) and sunny all weekend (we did see one cloud) but we managed, realizing our friends were wasting away in classrooms across America. And now after a long weeekend at the beach, I am glad to be back in Cairo; the craziness of bazaars, or the taxi drivers who have no idea what a red-light is, to the moderately priced bottles of water and the crazy amounts of traffic, my melancholy was erased as soon as we entered back into the most ridiculous city in the entire world.
For all you orientation planners out there, take the kids to the beach. I worked as an orientation leader all summer, and I loved it, but taking the kids to Rehoboth Beach (or Ro-he-both, or whatever) wouldn’t be that bad of an idea (despite our A+ feelings about the scene). Taking them anywhere, for that matter, isn’t that bad of an idea. It’s about the bonding, not about the information. I think the only thing I learned this weekend was how much inefficient AUC really is, but in reality, I already knew that.
