DOWN THE NILE FOR 3 DAYS (in a felucca)

The sunset cruise was very relaxing, and after some haggling/negotiations.... I hire the boat (built to handle up to 8 people) for next 3 days ... just me and the captain ..... to sail towards Luxor (we wont get all the way to Luxor .... about 5 day cruise by sail-boat....but we have an understanding that he will get me past half way there, and I’ll catch bus the rest of the way).

Ahmed is a Nubian (local tribesman), and informs me that its his cousin’s wedding tomorrow night ... and on our trip, we will dock in his village for the night, and attend the wedding (ie. I’m invited) ... should be interesting!!!

Obviously will be off-line next few days .... enjoying an amazing experience!!!

Ohhh... and here is the weather forecast:

FELUCCA SUNSET CRUISE

Hiring a felucca in Aswan is easy .... at every steps there is someone trying to sell you a felucca trip (like horse/camel rides at the pyramids) ..... but on my way back to the hotel room, I spot one flying an Aussie flag (I treat this as a sign that this is the boat for me), and the captain was asleep (afternoon nap) inside it .. so I stroll down, wake him up, and start talking to him.

Having a conversation in Egypt is part of life, I literally talk to dozens of strangers/locals everyday, they all want to practice their English, and learn about where I come from..... that is the nature of the Egyptians ... and they are friendly, open, and extremely welcoming ..... off course, usually they want to sell you something, but after establishing that I’m not interested in their goods (tell them I’m a poor student, works everytime), they are still interested in a conversation (be it brief, or an extended one).

So I chat with Ahmed (the captain), and after 15 minutes or so ... arrange a price for a sunset cruise around the bay (A$10).... I have ulterior motives here ... as I want to see how I like travelling in a felucca, and if I can do 2-3 nights travelling, sleeping, living and cooking on a primitive sail boat (not to mention that there are no toilets).... it really is the closest/traditional way to sailing the Nile.... and Ahmed assures me .... I will see everything there is to see!!!

(BTW - as we travel around Elephantine island, Ahmed tells me that the tribe there has too many chiefs ... see prior posting)

ASWAN

So here is my dilemma.....I’m in Cairo ... and there are no cruises down the Nile available!! (they all are between Aswan and Luxor, approx 1000km south).
My preferred landing point would be Aswan, so that over next week I can start heading back north back to Cairo, but the only airline that operated direct connections here is EgyptAir, and their website does not allow bookings less than 48hrs in advance.....Through Expedia/Orbitz/etc I cannot find any flights for following day ..... but I know that on Sundays there are following flights (8:00, 8:30, 12:30, some evening)... and I definitely not up for a 15hr train ride!!

Surprising thing happens Sunday morning .....I wake up at 6:30am ... surprising because I did not get to bet till 1am, and usually wake up around noon.... after quick shower (no time for shave) ... pack my bag, and race to the airport, to try to get on one of the morning flights ... and I do ... the 8:30am one, despite going to the wrong terminal, and having to haggle over taxi fare between T1 and T3 (if there is anything I learned over last few weeks is that if you really want something to happen, its doable, and all up to you ).

So here I am ... landing in Aswan at 10:30am (after another epic battle/haggle with the taxi driver over fare)
Along the river there are literally dozens of large Cruise ships, and as I start to enquire about getting a room to Luxor, I discover that its only 2 day cruise there, and that booking it is just too hard (and way expensive)!!! ....So after a few attempts, I put it into the too hard basket, and get a hotel room for the day (that part is very easy in Egypt).

During the day, I make it to traditional village on Elephantine Island .... where I meet a man who introduces himself as the tribes chief...... we walk around, talk, and he invites me into his house for tea (Egyptian tradition).... I really enjoyed the experience ... although I suspect that this may be one of those villages where everyone is a chief.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH THE ROCKS

Spent the day around the pyramids of Giza.
After a few hours walking around, I met Ali (camel driver), and after starting a chat, decided I liked the guy, and hired him and Moses (my camel), to cruise around the sites .... bumpy ride ... but well worth it.
By end of the day, I finished off at the Sphynx, and sat there for few hours observing the tourists, and thinking about life ... and how lucky I am to so freely be doing all this travelling.
Once again, started talking with all the kids (hawking trinkets/cards/etc) .. and they were fascinated I was from Australia.... off course had to establish that I had no money first .. and after that, they were really cool, and just wanted to hang around, talk English, and have their photos taken.

WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

Crossing the road in Cairo is an adventure ... there are no rules (traffic is crazy) and if there were, no one pays attention.
As on random local described it .... crossing the road is to “Walk like an egyptian” ... close your eyes, walk across, and then once on the other side, open your eyes again.....Scary ... but it sort of makes sense .... cross like you own the road, and magically all the cars swerve to miss you (only just)

SUNSET OVER GIZA PYRAMIDS

So I make it to the pyramids at 6pm .. and nobody told me that they are only opened to the public from 8am – 4pm. ... and the whole area is fenced off ... and I thought that they were in an opened desert.... just as well I didn’t go for the sunset this morning!!!!

Not to worry, I can see them within a few kms, and they are amazing...... I find out that there is a light/sound show at 8:30pm for the tourists, so decided to just sit there and admire something that has been around for 5000 years (a small sand storm passed through, which added another element to the experience ... compare the first 2 photos).

As I sit there, at corner of some Souvenir shop, I get hassled by various men trying to entice me for a horse/camel/donkey/goat ride around the pyramids ... not that I’m really interested ... Im quite happy just being here .... and staring at the pyramid-filled-horizon.....Anyway, they soon leave me alone (when I tell them I am a poor student).

What happens next is one of these amazing things that happen when you travel!!
A young boy (looks about 11) approaches me trying to sell postcards (you know, the book of 10 that are all joined together).
He asks A$0.50, and I can see that they are of poor quality .. so I tell him that I’m not interested ... but he sits down besides me, and we start talking.....At this stage, he knows that there is no sale with me ..... but we strike up a conversation for over an hour. The boy (named Islam) is 16, and wise beyond his years (he has been selling the cards for 9 years, and he supports his family), and tells me that he has everything he needs (from his business selling cards), and that does not want to be a rich man, as he sees that wealth, makes people unhappy.

Now one thing that you need to understand is that when I travel through poor countries (third-world), I usually try to dress down, and not look like a tourist .... it just makes life easier when locals think you are poor, as they don’t hassle you for money.

So after an hour or so conversation with Islam, he offers me the cards for free, telling me that he know I don’t have much money (or maybe he called me POOR ... my dress-down-look must be working), and that the cards are a present from him. On a side note, once we began talking, I was always going to buy the cards from him, and gave him the A$0.50 he was originally asking.... I really liked this kid, and it was one of these amazing travelling moments, and a conversation one rarely has with a young kid.

As I left for the light show, I gave him a big hug, knowing I’ll see him again tomorrow, during the day (he works out front of the KFC near the gate) ... I know he likes pizza, so may take him and his street-kid friends to Pizza Hut (located above the KFC) .... treat them .

Tomorrow ... back in the morning .. and getting up close and personal with all the rocks (ie. Pyramids and the Sphynx)

BTW - Light show was very impressive, but hard to capture on the camera (takes bad night shots, and the specs you see below are reflections from sand in the air)

CAIRO

Plane landed just after 1am, and in this part of the world, custom/immigration doesn’t really care about anything other than you paying US$15 to get your visa/stamp.

Since I had a great flight (in business class) I was all rested, and ready to go, hoping to get to the pyramids for sunrise, I was in no hurry anywhere (plus couldn’t be bothered haggling with the taxi hawkers out front), so decided to catch the public bus into downtown Cairo (with the locals ... ie. I was only white guy).

I bought a copy of Lonely Planet with me, so I knew what area I was going to.... and by the time I made it downtown .... it was around 3:30am.
Cairo is one amazing city, and even at 4am, there is a constant live energy here.... and I wandered/meandered around the streets just absorbing the atmosphere (still not tired)

Finding a hotel here is one of the easiest experiences I ever had at 4am in the morning (read Warsaw experience a week ago!!!!) ... and by 5am, I decided that pulling another all-nighter would throw my body-clock out (again) and that a sleep was a much better alternative.

After waking up early afternoon, I decided to wonder around the city, and slowly make my way to the pyramids for sunset......I have to say, what I have seen so far surprised me again (just like Turkey did in 2006) ... the everyday people here are extremely courteous, friendly, and in no way try to take advantage of you as a tourist... the city has an amazing atmosphere, and a relaxed way to life (don’t get me wrong, traffic is crazy, and they love to use the horn, and turn 3 lane roads into 5 lanes of juggling musical-chairs).

On a brighter note, Egypt is a Muslim country, where alcohol is rarely consumed/available in public ... so my liver will have 10 days to recover from the excesses of Eastern Europe and London)

So far Egypt is one of the cheapest destinations I have been to since Thailand/Vietnam (in Jan 2006), and by current experience, one could easily travel through on A$20-25 per day.

• Accommodation - A$15 per night
• Coffee – A$0.40
• Bottle water - A$0.30
• Fresh Squeezed OJ – A$0.40
• Bus (Airport – city center, 30 minutes) - A$0.10
• Taxi (20km/ Half hour) - A$5
• Litre petrol - A$0.40
• Train (Cairo – Luxor, 12 hrs) - A$12

My only disappointment is that I cannot do Nile cruises from Cairo .... and need to get south to Luxor/Aswan, where there are many boats doing 3-4 day cruises between the 2 cities... so in next few days, Im probably going to head south (probably Aswan, by plane ... dont think I want to do a 15 hour overnight train, regardless of how cheap it is), and then start making my way up north back to Cairo, where I have my flight back to for London.

On a brighter note, Egypt is a Muslim country, where alcohol is rarely consumed/available in public ... so my liver will have 10 days to recover from the excesses of Eastern Europe and London.

BEGINNING TO LIKEY BA

Got upgraded to Business on route to Cairo ....again, this time from Economy ... on 747 that means a full bed-pod (yes .. had a little sleepy) ..... this time however I looked like a bum (khaki shorts, flip-flops, tank top, only smalll backpack .. its 40 degrees in Egypt .. what do u expect) ..... so from my earlier post (http://okbyebye.blogspot.com/2009/04/back-to-la.html) ...."looking like business" has nothing to do with it... just my frequency of travel ... menu: lobster (real, not that imitation crap) in mango, tiger prawn in coconut sauce ... seriously delicious ... already ate a late "goodbye/see-u-later" lunch with Sully (my fav, Earl’s Court Masala Zone) ... but had to eat again ... who knows when I get next decent meal (in Egypt).
Im only a few flights from getting my Qantas Gold Status ... so will be interesting

EGYPT @ 2AM

So I’m about to head to Heathrow for my trip to Egypt, and by my calculations I’ll be getting out of the airport approx 2AM…… thinking of heading straight to the pyramids (which will probably take few hours to sort out, and get ripped of in the process)… and waiting for the sunrise (looked up on internet: 5:55AM) … might be an amazing way to stat this little adventure.

May be off-line until I get back to UK (10 days time) …. So will update when I can

‘BREAKING THE SEAL’ IN EASTERN EUROPE

As we travelled from Helsinki to Poland, the thing I found most irritating is the:

• Lack of public toilets
• Huge line ups for ones that exist
• They charge for use of (FLAT FEE - regardless if you're going in for a No1 or No2 ... that is hardly fair, dont you think)

With the large amount of beer we drank, being directly correlated to the need for using the loos … it became quite an expensive exercise (costs ranged from A10cents – A60 cents) per use … so do the sums …. And make sure you calculate that in the budget when planning to travel to these parts of the world.
In this part of the world … breaking the seal (or having the first piss), is truly a potentially expensive event.

I must admit, as we headed south (into Poland), the toilets were more plentiful, and better ….

KRAKOW

Krakow is one of my favorite cities in the world …. However the time we were there it rained for 3 days straight .. so we didn’t really do too much touristy shots, nor take any great photos.
We did book a day trip to Aushwitz, so Damian could see this historical place (I already posted photos on http://okbyebye.blogspot.com/2006/07/oswiecim.html )

WHAT, SULLY OFF THE GROG ?

After month travelling, Damian is officially off the grog, with a stomach bug… (that means I’m only down to few beers a day , as part of my moral support) ….. Not sure what it came from, as we have been eating much the same foods, often sharing plates, to try the Polish cuisine.
I have to give him credit…. He is usually very set in his eating habits (doesn’t eat pork, which is somewhat of a problem, as Polaks love their pork dishes), and has been surprisingly adventurous in trying new things….. I feel partially responsible (for his gastro), making him try all the dishes ….after all, its part of the trip ….and I figure what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger!!!

So far on list of things consumed:

• Soups, soups, and more soups (I try one at least daily, figure it a great way to try flavors from every region, Damian swore it was not a meal, and will never to try … he did, and actually enjoyed)
• Various Herring dishes (all over this trip)
• Steak Tartar (in Warszawa, voted by us as best dish of the trip)
• Smoked Pigs ears (Latvia)
• Bigos (cabbage with bacon)
• Polish potatoe pancakes (breakfast)
• Pierogi with sweet cheese, and with blackberries
• Zapiekanka (bruchetta like toasted bread take-away kiosk)
  

Things on list to go:

• Golonka (Pigs foot in beer sauce)
• Czernina (Ducks blood soup)
• Pork Ribs (must have on trip to this part of world)

WROCLAW

On way to Krakow …. and stopped over for few days…. Last time I was here, it was raining, and did not get to explore a lot of the town.
It is a pretty town, with second largest Old Town Square in Europe (after Krakow) …. And a quirky thing …. Over 50 random gnomes scattered all over the city … just need to keep eye on them … as they are in places you don’t expect.