So, I have four minutes until the internet kicks me off.
Egypt has been wonderful so far. It is an extremely different place, and luckily not nearly as hot as I expected - though the southern part will probably be warmer. The pyramids are amazing. Looking out the window in the morning to the pyramids of Giza is an experience I imagine is difficult to match. Actually climbing down inside a pyramid was an experience as well.
We tried to post pictures, but it isn't working. We will update more later, our session is up.
Dane
Friday, April 11, 2008
Details - details
We have some time this morning before we check out and go to the museum so I thought I might post some more thoughts and details. I think Dane might even try to get a post in.
The drive from the airport was probably one of the most entertaining things we've done so far. In fact any time we drive it is exciting! Some things you should know about driving in Cairo. First, only natives can drive in Cairo. You cannot rent a car here and drive around and trust me, that is a comforting thing! There are no lines in the road, people just drive where ever there is space, sometimes when there isn't even space at all. Our guide said that people would think that lines on the road would be for decoration not obeying. :-) We've seen only two traffic lights and no one heeds them. We've only seen one accident though and it was a simple fender bender that didn't leave any damage. Neither occupant got out of the vehicle and life went on as normal. We've seen a lot of motorcycles and even saw 3 men on 1 bike! There are donkeys pulling carts right next to the automobiles on the road. People drive with their hands resting on their horns. At night headlights are only used to let others know that you are there and you want them to move, then they get turned off again. Of course, this is all in Cairo - I'm sure the driving rules are very different outside of Cairo. I'll let you know. We've only seen 3 women drivers total in the 3 days we've been here. And the cars are so funny! Many have these shag weaves on the dash to protect it from the sun, I've already mentioned the kleenex boxes, many have Coran in the windows but I did see one Jesus flier. CD's are used to hold things to the window - don't ask - I haven't figured it out yet. But I was told that the paint cans are "road blocks for the president." Of course they were....*raised brow*
Another thing about this city - I think he said 2 million people live in Cairo. But it is very poor. I've never seen projects like this before. Much of the city looks like it is in ruins yet people are living in the buildings that you can't tell if they are being demolished or constructed. The "building hair" is rebar, the most expensive part of these structures (if that tells you anything), and they are there so that they can always add another level. Our guide said that many cannot afford to build all at once, so they build one level at a time. Amazing. He also explained the City of the Dead. Again, this is a cemetary where people buried their family in their homes. So there is a room and the husband and wife are buried there. But Cairo is poor and many cannot afford the homes - even the broken down, half finished buildings I talked about above, so people go to live with the Dead. Some people, like our guide, rent out their family's plot for 300 - 400 pounds a month (equivalent to 60 - 80 dollars) for extra income. The City of the Dead is like any other city, he says, with satellites, grocery stores, market, everything.
We went to the Red Pyramid yesterday and that was amazing. No one was there. Other than our group, we saw maybe a couple couples. First we had to pay the guards on the camels then we climbed about 7 flights of steps, maybe more, tipped another man (so we could take pictures even though they weren't allowed), then started down this shaft. Think of a slide with rungs screwed to it. A wooden slide and metal rungs. We all agreed just a slide would be more fun. Anyway, the shaft is maybe 3 feet high and 4 feet wide and we were all crouched over in the most awkward position. There was no air, lots of people, and the smell of urine drenched the place (apparently the guards relieve themselves there - can you believe that?! This is an international monument!!!). If you were nervous about tight spaces, you would have died. We thought we were through the tunnel when we got to the light, but it was only half way. After about 100 yards or so (yes, I meant yards) we were at the bottom of the pyramid - WE WERE INSIDE A PYRAMID!! The urine smell plus no fresh oxygen was enough to bring water to your eyes and burn your nose and mouth. We went in to the two rooms and took some pictures then got out of there. Surprisingly, it was much easier to go up the shaft than down. Still tiring and I definitely earned my beer that I had for lunch.
One thing that is difficult for me is dealing with all the people in my face, both at the monuments and at the bazaar. At the Step Pyramid these guys spirited Dane away on a donkey before we could even say no. In the end we got a bunch of good pictures with us on donkeys by the pyramid but I had to make a scene to get them to leave us alone. Dane gave them the equivilent of $20 but they said $20 each and I walked away then they actually blocked Dane from getting to me. Dane was trying to be firm but polite and they would not let up. So I did what anyone would have done to attract attention and the alert the Tourist Police. I started screaming at Dane. "Get over here NOW, DANE!!!" Dane didn't miss a beat - he pushed the guys out of the way and got over to me and we were left alone...for 3 minutes. If that actually. Then this other guy lead us around the tombs and showed us the heiroglyphs - but the thing is they expect to be tipped. So not only did we pay to go on the tour, paid for the tickets, now we are paying to look at stuff that we can look at for free. Grrr. Then the bazaar - OMG - I straight walked out of the bazaar screaming and cussing that if ANYONE SAID ONE MORE *BLEEPING* WORD TO ME I WOULD BACK HAND THEM. I was hoping to get some sanity, and by sanity I mean beer, but it was a dry market. Other gals in our group said that they were taken in to the backs of shops and up to the 2nd level and farther and farther away from the streets and then they tried to upsale them, sell them male Egyptian prostitutes (Egyptian men very long, very powerful they say), and anything else - marriage proposals, job offers. I was like "Wow, no one asked me that." Weird, must have been my intimating good looks. :-P Actually it was Dane. All they said to us as we past was "Lucky man, lucky man."
We may try shopping again today. We'll see. We are going to the museum and then tonight is the NIGHTTRAIN! We have about 20 minutes left, so Dane is going to try to post some pictures and maybe blurb about that.
We assume everything is going well since we haven't gotten any emergency calls or comments on the blog. Someone tell my cats I miss them!
The drive from the airport was probably one of the most entertaining things we've done so far. In fact any time we drive it is exciting! Some things you should know about driving in Cairo. First, only natives can drive in Cairo. You cannot rent a car here and drive around and trust me, that is a comforting thing! There are no lines in the road, people just drive where ever there is space, sometimes when there isn't even space at all. Our guide said that people would think that lines on the road would be for decoration not obeying. :-) We've seen only two traffic lights and no one heeds them. We've only seen one accident though and it was a simple fender bender that didn't leave any damage. Neither occupant got out of the vehicle and life went on as normal. We've seen a lot of motorcycles and even saw 3 men on 1 bike! There are donkeys pulling carts right next to the automobiles on the road. People drive with their hands resting on their horns. At night headlights are only used to let others know that you are there and you want them to move, then they get turned off again. Of course, this is all in Cairo - I'm sure the driving rules are very different outside of Cairo. I'll let you know. We've only seen 3 women drivers total in the 3 days we've been here. And the cars are so funny! Many have these shag weaves on the dash to protect it from the sun, I've already mentioned the kleenex boxes, many have Coran in the windows but I did see one Jesus flier. CD's are used to hold things to the window - don't ask - I haven't figured it out yet. But I was told that the paint cans are "road blocks for the president." Of course they were....*raised brow*
Another thing about this city - I think he said 2 million people live in Cairo. But it is very poor. I've never seen projects like this before. Much of the city looks like it is in ruins yet people are living in the buildings that you can't tell if they are being demolished or constructed. The "building hair" is rebar, the most expensive part of these structures (if that tells you anything), and they are there so that they can always add another level. Our guide said that many cannot afford to build all at once, so they build one level at a time. Amazing. He also explained the City of the Dead. Again, this is a cemetary where people buried their family in their homes. So there is a room and the husband and wife are buried there. But Cairo is poor and many cannot afford the homes - even the broken down, half finished buildings I talked about above, so people go to live with the Dead. Some people, like our guide, rent out their family's plot for 300 - 400 pounds a month (equivalent to 60 - 80 dollars) for extra income. The City of the Dead is like any other city, he says, with satellites, grocery stores, market, everything.
We went to the Red Pyramid yesterday and that was amazing. No one was there. Other than our group, we saw maybe a couple couples. First we had to pay the guards on the camels then we climbed about 7 flights of steps, maybe more, tipped another man (so we could take pictures even though they weren't allowed), then started down this shaft. Think of a slide with rungs screwed to it. A wooden slide and metal rungs. We all agreed just a slide would be more fun. Anyway, the shaft is maybe 3 feet high and 4 feet wide and we were all crouched over in the most awkward position. There was no air, lots of people, and the smell of urine drenched the place (apparently the guards relieve themselves there - can you believe that?! This is an international monument!!!). If you were nervous about tight spaces, you would have died. We thought we were through the tunnel when we got to the light, but it was only half way. After about 100 yards or so (yes, I meant yards) we were at the bottom of the pyramid - WE WERE INSIDE A PYRAMID!! The urine smell plus no fresh oxygen was enough to bring water to your eyes and burn your nose and mouth. We went in to the two rooms and took some pictures then got out of there. Surprisingly, it was much easier to go up the shaft than down. Still tiring and I definitely earned my beer that I had for lunch.
One thing that is difficult for me is dealing with all the people in my face, both at the monuments and at the bazaar. At the Step Pyramid these guys spirited Dane away on a donkey before we could even say no. In the end we got a bunch of good pictures with us on donkeys by the pyramid but I had to make a scene to get them to leave us alone. Dane gave them the equivilent of $20 but they said $20 each and I walked away then they actually blocked Dane from getting to me. Dane was trying to be firm but polite and they would not let up. So I did what anyone would have done to attract attention and the alert the Tourist Police. I started screaming at Dane. "Get over here NOW, DANE!!!" Dane didn't miss a beat - he pushed the guys out of the way and got over to me and we were left alone...for 3 minutes. If that actually. Then this other guy lead us around the tombs and showed us the heiroglyphs - but the thing is they expect to be tipped. So not only did we pay to go on the tour, paid for the tickets, now we are paying to look at stuff that we can look at for free. Grrr. Then the bazaar - OMG - I straight walked out of the bazaar screaming and cussing that if ANYONE SAID ONE MORE *BLEEPING* WORD TO ME I WOULD BACK HAND THEM. I was hoping to get some sanity, and by sanity I mean beer, but it was a dry market. Other gals in our group said that they were taken in to the backs of shops and up to the 2nd level and farther and farther away from the streets and then they tried to upsale them, sell them male Egyptian prostitutes (Egyptian men very long, very powerful they say), and anything else - marriage proposals, job offers. I was like "Wow, no one asked me that." Weird, must have been my intimating good looks. :-P Actually it was Dane. All they said to us as we past was "Lucky man, lucky man."
We may try shopping again today. We'll see. We are going to the museum and then tonight is the NIGHTTRAIN! We have about 20 minutes left, so Dane is going to try to post some pictures and maybe blurb about that.
We assume everything is going well since we haven't gotten any emergency calls or comments on the blog. Someone tell my cats I miss them!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
What a Day!
Today we drove to Saquaara and Dasher. I only have 7 min left of internet so I will short form what we did today.
Visited the Step Pyramid. Dane rode a donkey. We went inside a tomb and saw ancient Egyptian pictures of frogs and bookkeepers on the walls. We went INSIDE the Red Pyramid - that will have to be another post. We ate a fabulous Oriental lunch. We went shopping at the big bazaar and I got overstimulated at all the people who were TOTALLY in our faces. I finally had to leave and smoke hookah for the rest of the afternoon.
We sat next to one of the biggest Muslim mosques and it was beautiful and then when it was prayer time and the voices came on over the loudspeakers - enough to bring tears to your eyes it was so divine.
Now we are going to go to dinner. We make go to a hafla and then nightclub tonight. Not sure. We are all very tired from the day's excursions.
HG - I got you a pink hip scarf for the parade. :-)
We hope everyone is doing well. We miss you guys and the cats. This has been an amazing experience. I can't wait to post all the pictures - I've never seen a place like this before.
Love you!
Visited the Step Pyramid. Dane rode a donkey. We went inside a tomb and saw ancient Egyptian pictures of frogs and bookkeepers on the walls. We went INSIDE the Red Pyramid - that will have to be another post. We ate a fabulous Oriental lunch. We went shopping at the big bazaar and I got overstimulated at all the people who were TOTALLY in our faces. I finally had to leave and smoke hookah for the rest of the afternoon.
We sat next to one of the biggest Muslim mosques and it was beautiful and then when it was prayer time and the voices came on over the loudspeakers - enough to bring tears to your eyes it was so divine.
Now we are going to go to dinner. We make go to a hafla and then nightclub tonight. Not sure. We are all very tired from the day's excursions.
HG - I got you a pink hip scarf for the parade. :-)
We hope everyone is doing well. We miss you guys and the cats. This has been an amazing experience. I can't wait to post all the pictures - I've never seen a place like this before.
Love you!
We are here!
Hello everyone! I only have 5 minutes before our tour to Dashur and Saquaara so I'll make this quick. Our flights were long but wonderful - we even got a kit on Egypt Air that had a toothbrush/paste, socks, and an eyecover - way cool. Didn't get much sleep even with the Ambien but oh well.
Our hotel is amazing - beautiful. The food is so good, I've never had hummus this tasty before. The city is also amazing. Too much to write in one 3 min post but I'll note the things we noted:
1. 85% of cars have kleenex boxes in the front dash. Of that, 20% are bejeweled and dazzled.
2. There is some sort of game or something where they have paint cans stacked up in a pyramid as if you are about to throw a bean bag at them and win a prize.
3. The tops of buildings have hair. Or at least they didn't cut the rebar off - they all look like they are in construction. Those buildings that do have roofs have a million satellites on them.
4. The Fuzz are out in force and carry AK-47's.
5. Driving is crazier than Mexico.
We took a nap once we got to the hotel yesterday, then ate dinner, then sat in the hookah bar and watched the soccer championships till 10. Went to bed and then was up by 5:30 - silly jet lag. We just ate breakfast and its time to go on our tour.
Ciao!
PS - Slug bug: gold, red, orange, turqoise, blue, and white. BYAAHH!!
Our hotel is amazing - beautiful. The food is so good, I've never had hummus this tasty before. The city is also amazing. Too much to write in one 3 min post but I'll note the things we noted:
1. 85% of cars have kleenex boxes in the front dash. Of that, 20% are bejeweled and dazzled.
2. There is some sort of game or something where they have paint cans stacked up in a pyramid as if you are about to throw a bean bag at them and win a prize.
3. The tops of buildings have hair. Or at least they didn't cut the rebar off - they all look like they are in construction. Those buildings that do have roofs have a million satellites on them.
4. The Fuzz are out in force and carry AK-47's.
5. Driving is crazier than Mexico.
We took a nap once we got to the hotel yesterday, then ate dinner, then sat in the hookah bar and watched the soccer championships till 10. Went to bed and then was up by 5:30 - silly jet lag. We just ate breakfast and its time to go on our tour.
Ciao!
PS - Slug bug: gold, red, orange, turqoise, blue, and white. BYAAHH!!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
House/Catsitter Change
Jacob G. will now be taking care of our home in our absence. He will also be updating this blog.
Monday, April 7, 2008
This is it!
So I've finished packing and preparing for Egypt. I only have the bank and some random "get pretty" tasks left to do.
I'm nervous about monthend though. After working to the point of delerium this weekend I discovered that my statements are whack. *frown* I will go in to work extra early tomorrow with hopes that I can find the error and fix the problem all with enough time to review the financials with Jim before I leave at noon. Come hell or high water, I MUST LEAVE AT NOON!!
After a day of errands, I will go to my spinning class, eat some dinner and slip away to sleepland before waking up at 4 am on Tuesday morning to leave.
I'm very excited and nervous and already tired from the adventures I know I'll have. Thank you to everyone who has helped out - your efforts will be rewarded!
Till next time!
I'm nervous about monthend though. After working to the point of delerium this weekend I discovered that my statements are whack. *frown* I will go in to work extra early tomorrow with hopes that I can find the error and fix the problem all with enough time to review the financials with Jim before I leave at noon. Come hell or high water, I MUST LEAVE AT NOON!!
After a day of errands, I will go to my spinning class, eat some dinner and slip away to sleepland before waking up at 4 am on Tuesday morning to leave.
I'm very excited and nervous and already tired from the adventures I know I'll have. Thank you to everyone who has helped out - your efforts will be rewarded!
Till next time!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Final Countdown!
Egypt is less than a week away and I find that I'm getting nervous. I'm worried that I won't get everything done, I won't pack the right things, I won't have anything "majestic" to wear....
It's all needless worry for the most part as I'm meeting my deadlines and though I have a tight schedule the next week, if I can stick to it then I will have plenty of time to prepare.
I've gotten all our financial aspects in order and just need to go to the bank to get our cash.
I've purchased all the household items Nick may need to care for the cats while we are away. I've also purchased most of the items we'll need on the trip save some disposable cameras, a transformer/adapter, and a few other misc. items.
I have not been successful in finding anything ancient Egyptian looking so I'll just have to pack the clothes I already have. I hope it will suffice, but I honestly don't know what to expect on this trip. I'll bring plenty of expedition clothes, evening attire, and maybe some fun costume type stuff.
I have all of my documents copied, printed, and prepared - including a set to leave with Nick and one to take in my carry-on bag.
I need to finish up my book review and team assignment for school including video-taping my portion of the presentations, scheduled for this Saturday.
I finished up the 990 and need to shift my focus to closing the month of March in 7 days. Should be cake barring unforseen circumstances. Even so, I told Jim, my boss, that I would have March "materially" closed by next Monday.
I plan to use Tues and Thurs as homework nights, Wed as a workout night and playtime (trivia night at the Roo), and the weekend to catch up on work, packing, and anything else that might need my attention.
Monday will be spent tying up loose ends including packing, the bank, shaving, wax/pedicure, tanning, workout, and massage. I should be in bed by 9:30 this time next week ready for our 4 am wake up call. We will have a towncar pick us up just before 5 to take us to the airport.
So, all in all, I'm about as prepared as I can be except the looming task of packing which will just have to unfold as I'm ready for that job.
I will make an effort to make one more post to this blog before our departure to make sure everything is on the up and up.
It's all needless worry for the most part as I'm meeting my deadlines and though I have a tight schedule the next week, if I can stick to it then I will have plenty of time to prepare.
I've gotten all our financial aspects in order and just need to go to the bank to get our cash.
I've purchased all the household items Nick may need to care for the cats while we are away. I've also purchased most of the items we'll need on the trip save some disposable cameras, a transformer/adapter, and a few other misc. items.
I have not been successful in finding anything ancient Egyptian looking so I'll just have to pack the clothes I already have. I hope it will suffice, but I honestly don't know what to expect on this trip. I'll bring plenty of expedition clothes, evening attire, and maybe some fun costume type stuff.
I have all of my documents copied, printed, and prepared - including a set to leave with Nick and one to take in my carry-on bag.
I need to finish up my book review and team assignment for school including video-taping my portion of the presentations, scheduled for this Saturday.
I finished up the 990 and need to shift my focus to closing the month of March in 7 days. Should be cake barring unforseen circumstances. Even so, I told Jim, my boss, that I would have March "materially" closed by next Monday.
I plan to use Tues and Thurs as homework nights, Wed as a workout night and playtime (trivia night at the Roo), and the weekend to catch up on work, packing, and anything else that might need my attention.
Monday will be spent tying up loose ends including packing, the bank, shaving, wax/pedicure, tanning, workout, and massage. I should be in bed by 9:30 this time next week ready for our 4 am wake up call. We will have a towncar pick us up just before 5 to take us to the airport.
So, all in all, I'm about as prepared as I can be except the looming task of packing which will just have to unfold as I'm ready for that job.
I will make an effort to make one more post to this blog before our departure to make sure everything is on the up and up.
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