So, after an odd trip to Cairo (the bus broke down), and no sleep for two days, I am in Tuscany, camping. Cairo was actually quite wonderful on my last day, and I am glad to have had this positive experience of it. In retrospect, I definitely chose the wrong place to stay on my initial arrival, and that tainted my expectations and experience. The last week in Egypt was simply fantastic, and I would even consider going back, though not to the great tourist-as-victim-fest that is the run of ancient sites along the Nile. Glad I saw, them, though. The arrival to Rome was interesting. They had us all wait while they ushered a man out-- a medical emergency, though he looked fine. Then we had to go through some very heavy security before even entering the airport. Rather odd. Later the next day I saw the same guy on the news-- some kind of diplomatic talks in Rome, I think.
Rome was literally wonderful-- as in there are architectural wonders every few feet. Met up with a dance research colleague and had a grand chat and an excellent meal. Now I'm in Pisa, basing myself here for a while in a local campsite. It's a place with a nice feeling to it, and I got a great private tour of the excavation site of the ancient Roman fleet of ships they discovered a few years ago. Just amazing! Tomorrow I'll do a day trip to Lucca. For now I'm happily picnicking on inexpensive but really good cheeses by my tent, and having fun taking pictures. No way to work with or upload them from here, but you'll see them eventually on flickr.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Diving in Dahab
The restaurants here all provide space for divers to lay out their gear to dry or prepare for a dive. This one has hangers in the shade for drysuits so they can dry while you eat lunch and rest between dives.
So, I ran screaming to Dahab to escape the craziness of travel along the Nile. This is the normal reaction, I hear, though usually the destination is out of Egypt. Actually, I flew to Sharm al Sheik which is even worse and then took a bus. Dahab, by contrast to most everywhere else I've been in Egypt, is a wonderful place. Very laid back, fair prices, not much hucksterism, no crowds of people chasing after you 24 hours a day trying to extract all your money, no air pollution. Having found a haven, I didn't want to leave until I had to, which is today. That left me with nearly six days, however. Six days by a beach is way too much relaxing for me, even after The Nile Experience.
I had planned to do some snorkelling, but hit upon a better idea: actual diving, as facilitated by doing a proper internationally certified PADI Open Water Scuba Diver course. That's the third level after a trial dive and basic scuba diving. It's very intense, and there's a lot of studying to do, but after five days I am certified (no jokes, you!) and have done five open water dives down to 18 metres max. The neat thing about learning in this environment is that you do the confined shallow water dives off the beach instead of in a pool. So, the whole time I was in warm water surrounded by fish and coral.
I've seen some amazing things, diving-- all kinds of sea life. The Red Sea is simply amazing. I have no idea what kinds of fish I was looking at, but they were all beautiful. As were the non-fish animals and all the plants. If only I had an underwater housing for my camera. Next camera I will get one for sure.
Heading back to Cairo with tonight's security convoy. (Most long distance bus travel is done this way in Egypt). I'll arrive tomorrow, hopefully locate the music store I want to find, and then head to the airport and Rome.
So, I ran screaming to Dahab to escape the craziness of travel along the Nile. This is the normal reaction, I hear, though usually the destination is out of Egypt. Actually, I flew to Sharm al Sheik which is even worse and then took a bus. Dahab, by contrast to most everywhere else I've been in Egypt, is a wonderful place. Very laid back, fair prices, not much hucksterism, no crowds of people chasing after you 24 hours a day trying to extract all your money, no air pollution. Having found a haven, I didn't want to leave until I had to, which is today. That left me with nearly six days, however. Six days by a beach is way too much relaxing for me, even after The Nile Experience.
I had planned to do some snorkelling, but hit upon a better idea: actual diving, as facilitated by doing a proper internationally certified PADI Open Water Scuba Diver course. That's the third level after a trial dive and basic scuba diving. It's very intense, and there's a lot of studying to do, but after five days I am certified (no jokes, you!) and have done five open water dives down to 18 metres max. The neat thing about learning in this environment is that you do the confined shallow water dives off the beach instead of in a pool. So, the whole time I was in warm water surrounded by fish and coral.
I've seen some amazing things, diving-- all kinds of sea life. The Red Sea is simply amazing. I have no idea what kinds of fish I was looking at, but they were all beautiful. As were the non-fish animals and all the plants. If only I had an underwater housing for my camera. Next camera I will get one for sure.
Heading back to Cairo with tonight's security convoy. (Most long distance bus travel is done this way in Egypt). I'll arrive tomorrow, hopefully locate the music store I want to find, and then head to the airport and Rome.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Fires by the Nile
I figured out one of the sources of all the air pollution along the Nile. Everywhere farmers are burning the stubble from the cane sugar plant harvest. The skies are dark, the air sweet with smoke. West Bank of Luxor, taken from the East Bank.
Sand from the Sahara, and the huge number of old vehicles along the Nile and cheap gas to fuel them, are other factors. Plus a total lack of environmental awareness.
So: adventures along the Nile.
There have certainly been adventures, though they mostly deal with the near-constant attempts of locals to part me from all my money. In Egypt, it seems that everyone is a hustler of some sort. I did meet a few exceptions, but literally only a few. This made the first ten days or so somewhat stressful at times. Mind you, I've seen wonderful things and there will be marvellous tales to tell! The ten-year-old in me is very happy to have been inside the Great Pyramid and to have seen Abu Simbel and explored the Valley of the Dead. I also really liked the older timeless aspects of the culture that come out in many places, and the New Pola hotel in Luxor was a welcome and luxiourious refuge.
Now I'm in Dahab, a laid-back inexpensive place, which is a wonderful contrast. I'm going to hang out here until I've recovered from the stress of life travelling along the Nile. Right now, I'm happy to have dipped my toes in the Red Sea and found a nice little place by the water. There's a cat living here with the most marvellous green eyes and a beautiful marmalade kitten who is very playful.
Sand from the Sahara, and the huge number of old vehicles along the Nile and cheap gas to fuel them, are other factors. Plus a total lack of environmental awareness.
So: adventures along the Nile.
There have certainly been adventures, though they mostly deal with the near-constant attempts of locals to part me from all my money. In Egypt, it seems that everyone is a hustler of some sort. I did meet a few exceptions, but literally only a few. This made the first ten days or so somewhat stressful at times. Mind you, I've seen wonderful things and there will be marvellous tales to tell! The ten-year-old in me is very happy to have been inside the Great Pyramid and to have seen Abu Simbel and explored the Valley of the Dead. I also really liked the older timeless aspects of the culture that come out in many places, and the New Pola hotel in Luxor was a welcome and luxiourious refuge.
Now I'm in Dahab, a laid-back inexpensive place, which is a wonderful contrast. I'm going to hang out here until I've recovered from the stress of life travelling along the Nile. Right now, I'm happy to have dipped my toes in the Red Sea and found a nice little place by the water. There's a cat living here with the most marvellous green eyes and a beautiful marmalade kitten who is very playful.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Entry to Luxor
I love the taxi service in Luxor!!! These caleches are everywhere, and cheap. Very nice way to get around town.
A week in Egypt now, and I have a number of strong impressions. The ancient sites are all that I could wish, and are quite wonderful. The warm weather is great as well, though tempered by the worst air pollution I have ever experienced. Fuel is cheap here, and I think this is a bad thing. Not all traffic is cars, however. Luxor in particular has many horse-drawn carriages, though it is mainly tourists that use these. Still, they are ubiquitous and affordable. You can also rent bikes, though not many do. Yesterday I toured around the temples and tombs of the Valley of the Dead on one, and it was excellent.
Luxor itself has several sides. The Corniche along the Nile would be wonderful except for all the traffic and the endless "hassle" as they call it. You can't walk two feet without being assailed by people who want to sell you things. They are very devious and persistent about it as well. They will follow you across the Nile on a ferry, and around wherever you go. They will give you false directions to try and send you to a shop of theirs, and many other tactics. It never ends, and it definitely sours what would otherwise be a wonderful experience.
Still, I am having a good time, and am staying in a wonderful hotel very cheaply. The campsite I wanted has been taken over by a travelling bazaar for the month, but inexpensive luxury is a reasonable compromise :-)
Off to Aswan tomorrow if I can arrange it. Today: the Valley of Kings.
A week in Egypt now, and I have a number of strong impressions. The ancient sites are all that I could wish, and are quite wonderful. The warm weather is great as well, though tempered by the worst air pollution I have ever experienced. Fuel is cheap here, and I think this is a bad thing. Not all traffic is cars, however. Luxor in particular has many horse-drawn carriages, though it is mainly tourists that use these. Still, they are ubiquitous and affordable. You can also rent bikes, though not many do. Yesterday I toured around the temples and tombs of the Valley of the Dead on one, and it was excellent.
Luxor itself has several sides. The Corniche along the Nile would be wonderful except for all the traffic and the endless "hassle" as they call it. You can't walk two feet without being assailed by people who want to sell you things. They are very devious and persistent about it as well. They will follow you across the Nile on a ferry, and around wherever you go. They will give you false directions to try and send you to a shop of theirs, and many other tactics. It never ends, and it definitely sours what would otherwise be a wonderful experience.
Still, I am having a good time, and am staying in a wonderful hotel very cheaply. The campsite I wanted has been taken over by a travelling bazaar for the month, but inexpensive luxury is a reasonable compromise :-)
Off to Aswan tomorrow if I can arrange it. Today: the Valley of Kings.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
A Lesson Learned
I have escaped the clutches of the tour operators! Never wanting to be in their greedy hands I was rather upset to find that no one here will make any simple arrangements for just what you want. Even taxi drivers try to take you on a huge itinerary. That was actually useful once, but only once for me. I wanted a train ticket to Luxor, they were happy to obilige at the hotel. However that quickly became a full itinerary for my full trip all over Egypt with a $1000 price tag. I allowed that I might be interested in a bit of it, but not with all the hotels. They'd be happy to do that, but they could not be persuaded not to charge me for the hotels anyway. Eventually gave up and walked out, feeling much much better already. I might be in a strange land with no idea what would happen next, but I am very happy that way, and totally unhappy having other people make plans for me that I don't want and treating me like a private gold mine.
Things instantly started looking much better, and I began to enjoy Cairo. The cab driver started up an impromptu Arabic lesson as we drove to the train station. He kept the words and grammar coming fast enough that I had to rush to write it all down, but I can massacre several useful phrases now. The train station was noticably empty of foreigners, and everything is in Arabic of course. (The trains that foreigners are allowed to go on at in the morning or at night.) My guidebook led me to platform 11 where I was momentarily stumped by a lack of communication. Everything I've read, and of course the hotel people, said that you can't get tickets yourself, you need an agent who knows the right people to give baksheesh to and can speak Arabic. In practice it was super simple. A tourist policeman asked me where I was going and if I had a ticket, then led me to the right window and ordered it for me. He also translated everything so I would have the train, car, and seat number and the time. It was only LE82, perhaps $15.
Now my trusty knapsack and I are wandering downtown Cairo, hanging out at internet cafes andeating and relaxing. Everyone I've run into has been wonderfully helpful and friendly and almost none of them are trying to sell me anything. The police wanted to know where I was going when I first left the station. Actually, they wanted to know my nationality. Then they were full of useful directions to the metro and Tahrir square and the internet cafes. As I left I heard one (the car had three of them in it) say to the others "Canada OK."
Yesterday's rather expensive hotel-arranged tour included the pyramids, and for me that was a highlight and worth putting up with a lot. I don't recall when I first got interested in the pyramids, but I was quite young. All young boys fall in love with ancient Egypt, I think, and I was no exception. Part of why I'm here now, of course! I'd heard that they only let in 150 people each morning, but it costs LE100 extra, so I guess not too many do it. Also there's probably no time allowed for it on the group tours that most people take. After reading about and imagining the insides of this place for three decades, I was definitely going in! I'm afraid I can't describe it in a way that will be more meaningful than anything else you've read, but I have to say it was a wonderful and worthwhile experience for me.
Now I am waiting for the night train with my little cardboard rectangle of scrawled pen-marks and a flimsy scrap of paper. One of them is my ticket, probably the paper :-) I wish I could upload pictures, but like most places this cafe uses Microsoft Windows and so they are (properly) afraid of security problems around mounting USB drives. Oh for a world of Linux :-) I did get some pictures that I think are good, and I hope they survive the trip, and that I can upload them somewhere along the line.
Things instantly started looking much better, and I began to enjoy Cairo. The cab driver started up an impromptu Arabic lesson as we drove to the train station. He kept the words and grammar coming fast enough that I had to rush to write it all down, but I can massacre several useful phrases now. The train station was noticably empty of foreigners, and everything is in Arabic of course. (The trains that foreigners are allowed to go on at in the morning or at night.) My guidebook led me to platform 11 where I was momentarily stumped by a lack of communication. Everything I've read, and of course the hotel people, said that you can't get tickets yourself, you need an agent who knows the right people to give baksheesh to and can speak Arabic. In practice it was super simple. A tourist policeman asked me where I was going and if I had a ticket, then led me to the right window and ordered it for me. He also translated everything so I would have the train, car, and seat number and the time. It was only LE82, perhaps $15.
Now my trusty knapsack and I are wandering downtown Cairo, hanging out at internet cafes andeating and relaxing. Everyone I've run into has been wonderfully helpful and friendly and almost none of them are trying to sell me anything. The police wanted to know where I was going when I first left the station. Actually, they wanted to know my nationality. Then they were full of useful directions to the metro and Tahrir square and the internet cafes. As I left I heard one (the car had three of them in it) say to the others "Canada OK."
Yesterday's rather expensive hotel-arranged tour included the pyramids, and for me that was a highlight and worth putting up with a lot. I don't recall when I first got interested in the pyramids, but I was quite young. All young boys fall in love with ancient Egypt, I think, and I was no exception. Part of why I'm here now, of course! I'd heard that they only let in 150 people each morning, but it costs LE100 extra, so I guess not too many do it. Also there's probably no time allowed for it on the group tours that most people take. After reading about and imagining the insides of this place for three decades, I was definitely going in! I'm afraid I can't describe it in a way that will be more meaningful than anything else you've read, but I have to say it was a wonderful and worthwhile experience for me.
Now I am waiting for the night train with my little cardboard rectangle of scrawled pen-marks and a flimsy scrap of paper. One of them is my ticket, probably the paper :-) I wish I could upload pictures, but like most places this cafe uses Microsoft Windows and so they are (properly) afraid of security problems around mounting USB drives. Oh for a world of Linux :-) I did get some pictures that I think are good, and I hope they survive the trip, and that I can upload them somewhere along the line.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Cairo Traffic
No time to blog, but here's a quick note:
Cairo is kinda crazy, but lots of fun. I know some people won't believe me, but RAGSN take note: there is a city with much worse and crazier traffic than either KL or PP: It's Cairo.
The trip so far in a nutshell: London for two days: had grand time-- met a friend I had lost track of by wandering aimlessly following intuition that I was going somewhere I should be. (Hi Gemma! Thanks for the pint, BTW my turn next time.) Went to Greenwich and loved it. That was a RAGSN moment for sure, though I managed to leave the flag in the hotel.
Met an SJ neighbour on the tube to the airport. BA lost my luggage-- wandered Rome for a day tired, cold, and scruffy (no shaver in my carryon-- the one and only time I did that ironically). Had fun anyway-- it's Italy!
Night flight to Cairo, day exploring old parts of Cairo and the museum. King Tut had some lot of stuff! Visited a huge market at night, and also my first time in a mosque.
The old, and "real"? part of Cairo was the best for me. Reminiscent of Siem Reap with traffic from Kuala Lumpur added in and lots more people. Donkey carts everywhere, mostly laden down with onions or garlic, or something that looked like that. Cats everywhere too-- little things. I saw hand carts made out of hardwood, and many other things that are essentially medieval, which I love. Watching and horses donkeys compete with cars in three lanes of weaving aggressive traffic made me worry for a moment, but there's a system and while it seems dangerous, everyone seems to know what's going on and I only saw one major accident.
No donkeys in that one. Did see someone nearly run over by a horse and cart, but by far the most dangerous part of traffic here appears to be the air pollution, which I am finding a bit hard on me, at least.
Tomorrow an escape from the city to see nearby ancient sites, and maybe I'll have more travel plans sorted out. I don't want to plan, but it seems necessary here. I'm looking forward to some point when I can just hang out for while. Perhaps Dahab will be like that.
Cairo is kinda crazy, but lots of fun. I know some people won't believe me, but RAGSN take note: there is a city with much worse and crazier traffic than either KL or PP: It's Cairo.
The trip so far in a nutshell: London for two days: had grand time-- met a friend I had lost track of by wandering aimlessly following intuition that I was going somewhere I should be. (Hi Gemma! Thanks for the pint, BTW my turn next time.) Went to Greenwich and loved it. That was a RAGSN moment for sure, though I managed to leave the flag in the hotel.
Met an SJ neighbour on the tube to the airport. BA lost my luggage-- wandered Rome for a day tired, cold, and scruffy (no shaver in my carryon-- the one and only time I did that ironically). Had fun anyway-- it's Italy!
Night flight to Cairo, day exploring old parts of Cairo and the museum. King Tut had some lot of stuff! Visited a huge market at night, and also my first time in a mosque.
The old, and "real"? part of Cairo was the best for me. Reminiscent of Siem Reap with traffic from Kuala Lumpur added in and lots more people. Donkey carts everywhere, mostly laden down with onions or garlic, or something that looked like that. Cats everywhere too-- little things. I saw hand carts made out of hardwood, and many other things that are essentially medieval, which I love. Watching and horses donkeys compete with cars in three lanes of weaving aggressive traffic made me worry for a moment, but there's a system and while it seems dangerous, everyone seems to know what's going on and I only saw one major accident.
No donkeys in that one. Did see someone nearly run over by a horse and cart, but by far the most dangerous part of traffic here appears to be the air pollution, which I am finding a bit hard on me, at least.
Tomorrow an escape from the city to see nearby ancient sites, and maybe I'll have more travel plans sorted out. I don't want to plan, but it seems necessary here. I'm looking forward to some point when I can just hang out for while. Perhaps Dahab will be like that.
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