Wednesday 23 May - Cairo, Egypt

I was pretty much expecting this - waking up in what I would call "South Australia" or "SA"; in other words, "a pretty ordinary state". While we were on the Topdeck bus, a flu-like virus spread and claimed a number of victims. It hit Libe basically when we finished the tour and now it's got me.

(For those Adelaide readers out there - Libe bought a little book in Notting Hill, London, of the 25 things 'you must do' in Australia. One of those is go to Adelaide, called 'the city of festivals' in this book. If you look to the back of this guide, there's a list of the 10 top festivals down under. And - not one of them is in Adelaide!! There's nothing else in the Top 25 in Adelaide, by the way).

As it is, I'm pretty happy to be sitting here, 5:30pm Thursday, typing quietly on this keyboard while Libe has a mid-arvo nanna nap. Wind the clock back a day and a couple of hours and I was shitting myself, watching a near-full water bottle I'd just knocked off our balcony fall to the pool deck a mere six floors below. Luckily for me it missed everyone, but exploded on the tiles on impact, with a few drops getting on people in the vicinity. Anyway, after a few puzzled, probably angry looks up to me looking over the balcony, and a struggle to hear each other, I headed down to the floor deck to explain myself.

One of the blokes that got a little wet was a big bloke, probably of mediterranean descent. Even though I told him it was purely an accident, he still told me that he would have punched me if I'd thrown it, which I thought was a little uncalled for. Then there was some absolute tosser of a rich bloke, who was staying in the exclusive poolside rooms. This bloke was going on to me and the hotel staff that people like me, standing there in a t-shirt, boardies and thongs, shouldn't be allowed into hotels like this (at least half of the hotel's people were middle class people). I felt like absolutely shooting this bloke down and telling him to pull his head in but managed to restrain myself. Please, everyone, if I get to have some financial success in life, never let me carry on like this fruit loop.

It's time like these when you see people who are a little above the normal definition of 'well-off', that you admire those who remain down-to-earth and don't look down their nose at those with less in the bank balance. There's a few partners at PP that come to mind who are great at this and who are fantastic role models (and, I'm going to be brutally honest here, a couple that maybe do the opposite).

Anyway, the big picture is that no-one was hurt and lesson learnt. Move on.

Despite all this, we actually did see some remarkable things today. With a free day in Cairo, we slept in to catch up on the shut-eye that we'd been depriving ourselves on, and settled for a walk across the Nile and through downtown Cairo. Although we walked along streets teeming with people, we could count the number of fellow tourists we passed on one hand.

During the course of our walk, three men tried devious tactics to drag us cash-loaded (and also debt-loaded) tourists into their stores. The first of these joined us walking across the Nile from the corner of the Cairo Sporting Club, telling us how he was studying English at the local American University. After we'd crossed the bridge and spent five minutes chatting, this bloke tried to drag us into his 'sister's art gallery', where he was apparently headed, to give us his email address. We'd said we wait on the corner of the bridge for him to come back with it. Well, clearly he didn't want to give us that but to get access to our spending, as instead of heading to the gallery, he gave us as bad a look as I've seen and walked back over the Bridge.

The remaining two sellers weren't as persistent but still tried to drag us into their stores. Libe & Ryan 3, Cairo's sellers 0.

Speaking of counting things on one hand, I think I can use the other hand, if not the same one, to count how many local men we passed that didn't check Libe out. I also got a few comments that I was a 'very lucky man'. Not sure how Libe didn't manage to get any comments that she was a 'very lucky girl' from the Cairo women, but I best not say this to Libe in case she gets the idea to brag a little.

Downtown Cairo is a madhouse. Cars, broken down cars, taxis, broken down taxis, apartment complexes, people, and shops all create an atmosphere that you've just got to experience in life. This city is certainly more hectic and more impoverished than the most similar city to which we've been on our ventures, Lima.

Crossing the roads was great fun. We simply had to do as the locals did and walk between moving traffic to get across the bitumen. It was like playing Frogger, although in the real life version there's more reliance on the moving cars to dodge the 'frogs'. I did feel briefly that my life might have been danger when one rusty old Toyota ute, overloaded and with four tyres far from fully inflated, swerved at too high a speed and looked like it was about to lose control. Fortunately the driver was skilled enough to regain composure and pass us by safely.

We had plenty of taxis drive up next to us and beep, looking for our patronage, even when the car in front was another 'Fred & Maxy' (rhyming slang) that had just done the exact same thing.

After a big day for the wallet yesterday, it was Coco Pops for tea tonight. We might be the first people staying in the Sheraton in Cairo to have done this.

One of the really amazing experiences here has been listening to the singing (actually, it's more like a wail) that occurs during prayer time. It's almost an eerie feeling listening to this being broadcast over loudspeakers when one of the quintuplet of scheduled prayer times comes during the day. You cannot help but admire the Muslim's dedication to their faith - it's just got to be considered that the overwhelming majority of the followers of this religion are not the radicals or extremists that dominate our media coverage and therefore our perception, but are instead peaceful, accepting, normal people.

There's a photo of myself & Libe counting some Egyptian currency in out apartment. A lot of the currency, particularly the smaller denominations, is really worn and tattered, so much so that (1) I haven't seen an equivalent anywhere elsewhere, and (2) I doubt it would be accepted as legal tender in any other country. In fact, I'd back Dad to be able to print up some dollar bills that would have more chance than these to change hands (don't laugh - I remember how successful he's been with footy tickets).

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Thursday 24 May - Cairo to Luxor, Egypt

We're supposed to be on holiday. However I'm tipping we would have had less early starts if we were back smashing chargeables at PP. A 7:30 flight this morning so up early to check in to an Egypt Air flight to Luxor.

You may have heard of Luxor before. It was once called Thebes. Australians may know of it from the classic INXS song, "Listen Like Thebes".

Driving through the Cairo streets at 6am in the morning on the way to the airport showed a different side to the city. The lack of traffic on the roads was a little surprising; it's almost as if the city doesn't come out until 7am, when they all hit the streets as one big traffic jam. I believe the reason for the shortage of people was due to prayer times.

Cairo airport was a bit of a schemozzle really. Security, as with the rest of the city, is pretty much just a token gesture. No bags are individually weighed: they are all just thrown on the conveyor belt. No ID checks performed. Metal detectors are set off but little to no investigation is made of the reason. And you get the feeling that your bag could very easily head in the wrong direction, although the fact that Egypt Air has a monopoly over the domestic market and thus there's not a massive amount of flights departing makes it less likely.

Luxor is a very different place to Cairo. Whereas Cairo is a huge, crowded city, Luxor is more like a Geelong or smaller. Its population is dependent on the Nile for its survival and thus all live within a few kilometres of the water, and the majority within one. Our hotel, the Sonasta St. George, was again a luxury accomodation, well and truly above the standards that we've been used to since leaving the US at the end of March.

Having just dropped our bags at the hotel and kept moving, attempting to get today's sightseeing done by the time the day reached its hottest point, we headed off to the Karnak Temple with our guide Salwa. The Temple was once the construction playground of the kings & pharoahs in Egypt's greatest dynasties, thus the statues, pillars and walls were the finest built in their time. Although many of these items have not been able to withstand the test of time, many of them still exist in a condition either near their original state, or in a good enough to be enjoyed and to be considered as to how they would appear in their heyday.

In particular, the huge pillars of the Great Hypostyle Hall make you wonder how ancient buildings techniques were able to result in the erection of such tall, heavy things, particularly given the artwork (e.g. hieroglyphics) that have been delicately carved into them.

After this it was off to the smaller Luxor Temple, around which the present day city has been built. The Temple was similar in splendour but on a much smaller scale. In their prime, a 3 km long avenue of sphinxes joined the Karnak to the Luxor Temples, the relics of which can be seen outside both temples, and at a few spots in between.

It was back to the hotel to escape the afternoon heat and to do a little blogging. In the early evening, as the sun went down behind the desert mountains on the other (western) side of we headed back to the Karnak Temple for a night sound-and-light show, taking us through the building and history of the Temple and the region.

Not surprising, today was a clear, hot day in Luxor. 'Not surprising' particularly given the fact that the last time it rained here was 5 years ago, and then it was only for 10 minutes. In fact, we can't recall seeing a cloud in the sky since arriving here. Somehow I don't think being a meteorologist here would be a hard job.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Friday 25 May - Luxor, Egypt

Libe woke with a cold today - that means both us will have noses running like Kenyan marathon runners. I'm guessing also that the desert dust won't have help. There seems to be a higher than usual proportion of people here coughing and spluttering.

Surprise, surprise, no cloud in the sky when we left the hotel at 7am to fill the morning doing the tourist things. By 8am it was already in the mid 30s with a scorching sun, and there were plenty of tourists drenched in sweat.

The photos I've taken driving around the local roads will show just how dry it is here. Put it simply, all of Egypt that is south of Cairo (as Luxor is) is only suitable for civilisation because of the Nile. North of the capital it is a little more hospitable as the river splits into the delta (ie. into a number of rivers) before they hit the Mediterraien Sea. However Luxor and its surrounding communities are certainly in desert country.

The first stop was Dier al Bahari, or the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. This structure is in as good a condition as any other ancient Egyptian relic in the country, although much recent restoration work has been required.

From there it was off to the nearby Valley of the Kings. The dynasties of Egyptian kings & pharoahs that preceded those that are buried in the Valley, were those that had built pyramids for their tombs. However, these pyramids had been raided by tomb robbers, and the precious goods that were meant to accompany the deceased into their afterlife were stolen. The later dynasties, having learnt from their predecessors' mistakes, were buried here in the this very non-descript places. Unfortunately their plans did not come to fruition and their possessions were stolen, for which historians believe was due corrupt guards and officials. The tombs in the valley were not discovered until a donkey put his foot in a pot hole early in the 20th century. Since then, many tombs have been discovered, with more expected to be found. Perhaps the most famous of them, the tomb of Tutankhamen, evaded the treasure-seeking grave robbers and thus remained intact until discovered in the modern age.

Anyway, we had a look at 3 of the tombs (this is what your 70 egyptian pound ticket allows you), and on the advice of Salwa had a look at the burial sites of Ramses I, III and IV. There is nothing in the tombs apart from the hieroglyphics on the walls; that, combined with the structure of the tombs, is what you're there to see. They were hot and humid inside but well worth a look; a huge amount of effort was placed into ensure all corridors and chambers were decorated to the hilt.

The nearby Tombs of the Workers were decorated with slightly less fanfare, and their artwork depicted the life of the common ancient Egyptian, rather than the god-like lives that were used in for the kings & pharoahs.

After a couple of hours back at the hotel for a bit of R&R, we decided to fly solo and head for a walk around the city itself. Now out of all the sightseeing, touristy-stuff we've done in Egypt (and around the rest of the world for that matter), I still think walking through city streets, away from the tourist areas, are the best parts of the trips. It was no exception here in Luxor. I've got a heap of pictures from the markets, which start off in the more tourist-orientated areas, where, as you can see, we were hassled by most shopkeepers to come into their stores, by males of all . ages. After a few hundred metres however, the markets cross a road and turn into the local markets. Instead of a brick pavement, the path turns into dust. Rubbish is everywhere. Animals roam between the stalls, being led by thin men wearing tattered, dirty clothes. Kids dart around, playing with their next door neighbours. A number of stores have underdeterminable skinned animals hanging out the front, covered with flies, their meat gradually being cut off and sold to local women. Cheap, basic clothing is sold in probably every second store. And then, when we nearly reach the end of the markets, Islamic prayers are broadcast via loudspeaker throughout the city, dominating the sound.

I can't put into words the feeling of walking through these places - it's as good a life experience as you can get in my (humble) opinion.

Having tea on the balcony of the hotel, we were able to get some cracking photos of the sun setting over the Nile, some of our best work behind the lens to date.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Saturday 26 May - Luxor to Cairo, Egypt

Our tour effectively finished this morning with our return flight to Cairo. We've got one more night here and then it's off to HK.

We're both still 'Barry Attling' with a cold. I've got 'Gwen Stefani' (no doubt!) that we'll improve, hopefully during the time we spend in Honkers (although it does suffer from a big air pollution problem). I'll have my last Pavarotti (tenor, read 'a tenner', as in ten dollar note) that I'll still have this cold in a years time though. As Libe will attest to, I'm forever blowing my nose.

Lost most of the day in transit with a 9:30 flight, and a transfer back to the Cairo Sheraton. Managed to be allocated a 'junior' suite for our sole night here on this visit, which consisted of two large rooms, both of which would easily be a decent room in their own right, and a decent balcony where I was able to hook into someone's wireless internet (god bless 'em). Both Libe & I agreed that this place was big enough to be turned into a one-bedroom apartment. We would only use one of the rooms anyway.

The only real thing we did today, particularly with Libe not feeling 100% (as mentioned before in this column she gets more ill than me), was to grab a taxi for 30 Egyptian pounds to the Khan al Khalili markets. This equated to about AU $6.50 - in Oz this probably would have cost between AU $20 and $30 itself. Taxis do have meters here but they're not used in commercial reality - you have to haggle with the driver before getting in and agree to a price at which you hand your safety over to him.

The markets were no less as great an experience than those in Luxor yesterday. The sights, smells and sounds make you feel as alive as you ever will. For the first ten minutes or so a young local man walked us through the less tourist orientated area of 'the Khan' - not that there was any area that was really 'tourist orientated' anyway. For most of the time that we were being led around by him we were fairly suspicious of what his motivation was, and where he was taking us, despite he insisted that he was an English student and wanted no money, but instead was merely practising his English. As it turns out, it appeared as though he was genuine (a first for Egypt to date).

The true markets themselves is one long, major dirt-covered laneway, surrounded by many smaller alleys. The intoxicating smell of fresh spices dominated the area. Libe managed to buy herself a ridgy-didge Egyptian womens shirt for about AU $9 (there's a photo on the Picasa site of Libe wearing it), and an Alabaster candle holder for about the same, which were being flogged at other places for 2 to 3 times as much.

All of the stores, which are all run by men, which is consistent with almost all other businesses here, appear to sit on the ground floor of the shop owner's residence. Hence I'm sure we walked past a number of families who spend their week here together, with the children unlikely to be receiving schooling and the wife unlikely to have employment. The sellers here, although very eager to pass a comment to the passing tourist, especially Libe, were certainly not as aggressive as those in Luxor in trying to drag you into their store.

Back to the hotel to have a quiet feed in its Italian restaurant. As usual, we've loading up on bottled water here at about AU $2 each. The Egypt water is heavily chlorinated and thus not pleasant tasting, although I've swallowed enough pool water over the years for my body to be acclimatised to it.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42