Egypt

Our ferry across the Red Sea from Jordan got us to land pretty late. We had thought we'd be able to get a taxi from there to our destination, Dahab, but as it was around 11:30 at night, none could be found. Luckily there was a bus there heading south, and we negotiated a price to take us to our hotel. Now having had some experience with prices being changed at the last minute we made sure to each ask a couple of times if this price included taking us to our hotel...The bus was loaded with yappy tourists heading south, mainly to Sharm El Sheikh, the mega draw for most tourists. We got to Dahab and the bus conductor told us to get off and transfer to a taxi as the bus could not navigate the small streets of Dahab, and that we should pay the taxi driver more money. It had been a long day and journey, and that probably explains in part why Carina went a little off on the bus guy, telling him we wouldn't pay any more. Don't need to go into any more details...she just got quiet after a bit....and the bus guy ended up paying the taxi driver (as was right!) Our hotel, the Red Sea Relax, was decent, and had been recommended by someone we had met while snorkelling in Zanzibar. We checked in around 2 a.m. and went straight to bed.

Dahab is a very touristy place, consisting of a beach strip of restaurants and shops, and a so-so beach. (Actually not so much beach, but the water was great.) Will likened the strip to the Jersey shore, but then it seems he thinks a few places are like that. Amazingly, it's possible to meet friendly locals every five feet or so, as they eagerly want to engage in cultural exchange. This kind of exchange is where you give them your money and they give you a meal at their restaurant, or some clothing from their shop, or a trip via camel, jeep, boat etc.

Somehow we weren't feeling that friendly all of the time, and so decided we would do some snorkelling as the Red Sea has lots of great reefs. We ended up at one of the famous sites, the Blue Hole, about a half hour away, and had some of the best snorkelling so far--incredible coral and lots of fish. We had made the trip with a group of divers, and by the time we got back, we started talking to the dive shop at our hotel. It didn't hurt that they were having a 2 for 1 special. Plus Carina had injured her achilles tendons a few weeks and was hobbbling a bit, so we figured the course would be a good way to rest her ankles. So...that's how we ended up getting certified as Open Water divers over the next three days. Woo-hoo! We're just happy-go- lucky, foot-loose and fancy-free. (When we heard that India was sending a rocket to the moon, we started thinking about becoming astronauts, but that'll be another trip.) Spending our time taking the course meant we didn't get to see more diving sites, but we were excited to think of including more dives on the rest of the trip so it was worth it. We spent our time studying our manuals and practicing our diving skills, and negotiating the strip to eat dinner at night.

These are the only two pictures we took in Dahab!! Shame on us!!

They're both of a well-known site called the Blue Hole. If you look in one of the shots, you can see the lighter-colored reef that forms the circular, deep "hole." Very nice. You could also ride camels here...wee!

Next stop...Nepal trek!

Well, we’ve been delayed again in writing this blog for a variety of reasons which we’ll get to in future entries. We finally made it to India and are traveling through Varanasi and Agra. We apologize to all those waiting for our entries.

So, Egypt. Well, it started out alright. We flew from Turkey to Cairo and then to Luxor to start our week-long Nile cruise aboard a dahabiya, called the Lazuli, which is a reproduction of a 19th century sailing vessel that has a shallow draft. Kind of swanky, and quieter than the massive, motorized cruise ships carting very white Danish people up and down the river.

The first good bit of news was that because we were there at the beginning of their season, we were the only ones aboard the entire boat (normally holds about 12 passengers). The bad news is that it was 40,000 degrees Kelvin in Egypt during that part of the season. We also got upgraded to a cabin in the stern which had, for want of a better word, a back porch close to the water. Nice.

Basically, we spent each day visiting temples that line the river, like Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Philae. At first, seeing these temples, especially Karnak, proved to be a mind boggling experience, but after awhile, it’s embarrassing to say, we found ourselves getting a little templed-out. Ancient temple? Who cares. One thing we loved was the amount of graffiti on the walls of the temples. Over the centuries, people who visited found the need to write that “they were there,” Napoleon’s Army, a notable example. One of our favorites was one that a Roman with a bone to pick scrawled in one of the temple pillars: “B. Mure stultus est” meaning B. Mure is stupid. Poor guy. Forever known to history as being a dummy.

Sadly, Will, in his obsessive desire to “organize,” deleted the photo card that held most of these pictures. When we reached Aswan, we decided last minute to take the short flight south to see Abu Simbel, Ramses II’s (the rock star of Egypt’s pharaohs) massive temple complex that consists of his own and his wife, Nefertari’s monuments. His is the more impressive of the two, of course. The amazing thing was that when they built the Aswan Dam, Abu Simbel was going to be submerged by a rising Lake Nasser. In the 60s, several nations carved the thing up into blocks and moved it uphill. It lends the site a slightly artificial feel, but it was still impressive.

Aswan was our turning-around point, and we headed back "down" the Nile to Luxor. On the way, Will decided to swim in the river with some of the crew. It was fun for Carina because the crew was underwear-clad. Because Will was already taking massive amounts of anti-bacterials to fight the "Pharoah's Revenge," it was deemed safe. The water was surprisingly refreshing and fast-flowing. Overall, the cruise experience was very pleasant, the crew and guide very friendly, despite the fact that it was Ramadan and they had to fast until sunset.

After staying in Luxor for another couple days, we headed up to Cairo in an overnight train which was fun. And then....CAIRO!!!! Holy s&*t!!!!! CAIRO!!!!! Insane. Too much. Too long. Too hot. Too dusty. We know we're being complain-y here, but it wasn't our favorite place. Perhaps we had been on the road a bit long at that point and maybe would have had a great time with a native Cairene. Walking through town and traffic is a real treat. At the pyramids, Will experienced the final melt down after we were propositioned for the 567th time to buy postcards, ride a camel, see someone's shop, just look at a carpet, ride in a taxi, have a tour of the city, etc.

Unfortunately, we needed to stay there much longer than we would have wanted because we needed to get our visa to India which required four days processing time. Plus, the "Revenge" continued to work its magic on Will, so a lot of time was spent in the safety of hotel rooms. Ahhhh. Silver lining: the best Peking Duck we've had in years. The hell with you, GI system.

More silver linings to follow in our next entry. Our trip to Jordan. Ah, Jordan.