(By Annie)
Well. We have been traveling for two days straight. And have another two nights with no hotel. We don't mind being hobos but are starting to look a little weathered. Let's just say I actually am wearing socks with sandals to cover up my grime and well, Rachael just stretches out her feet from time to time and says hello dirt, attach to me.
Rewind to Sunday night. We waited all day Sunday for the train to leave because we had seen all there was to see in Luxor. Even our hotel was finally getting on our nerves. People just get creepy to us after a while and I am sure we have the same effect on them. So, we trekked over to the train station to people watch and wait for our train. And neither disappointed. First, people watching. It continually amazes me how even "Egyptian" potato chips and soda can be worth it for a tourist to stop and click a picture. I also had a witch sit next to me for the better part of three hours. Now, there was no hat or kettle in tow, but I was severely scared, only to Rachael's amusement. She was clearly not carrying all her marbles in the same jar and of course decided the three empty benches were not as cool as our bench. Whatever, I watched my stuff carefully and promised not to be one of those people. BUT, then our train was late and after conferring with Sandy and Mandy the "just friends" stocky gym teachers we realized we indeed had not missed our train it was just late. Three hours late. Now, we have a plane to catch and in the back of our minds getting on the train was mission number one.
Well we achieved that finally, only to have the witch follow us and sit right next to us again. I did a double take, Rachael chuckled, and I am sure we were both cursed as she was kicked off for not having a ticket - surprise. As a result I am sure I will have trains be late for the rest of my non-witch life. But, for better or worse we arrived 11 hours later in Cairo. Side note. Rachael - although an amazing travel partner - does not use transportation to "catch up on the latest." She basically takes 24 seconds to fall asleep and then is out like a light for the next ten hours. But, I digress.
Airtreks confirmed our flights for us and after Rachael was scolded for carrying sewing scissors, and medical scissors, AND shampoo - we hopped on our flight. Personal TVs, packed lunches, cool flight attendants - two thumbs up for Gulf Air. Three hours later we are in the wonderful Island country of Bahrain. Now, if you can honestly tell me where Bahrain is well, then your cool. It took me three hours just to learn how to pronounce it.
Bahrain is in the middle of the middle east flanked by Kuwait and the UAE. The airport is amazing. Wifi of course. We decided to be dorks and see what 50 bucks would buy: Well - it buys a Mocha, an Ice Mocha, two McDonald's SUPER SIZED value meals, Now that's what I call Arabia Volume 11, and the latest edition of the Economist. We are awful consumers, but happier and healthier.
Okay, we are off in a few. See you all in Delhi, India. And by the way our Egypt Travel Guide will be coming your way soon.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Luxor, Karnak, McFlurries
(Miller) We've come, seen, done and tasted Egypt and now, are getting ready to leave the first country on this round the world extravaganza. After hugs goodbye and email exchanged in Dahab, we boarded the 18 hour bus to Luxor. If I could be a professional travel sleeper, I would. No problems here slipping out of consciousness. Because of Ramadan, we stopped for the breaking fast meal and another full out food stop at 1:30am. I was content with just keeping my eyes closed until we got to the final destination but Annie, in her ever-caring manner, lured me off the bus by dangling chips and coke in front of my half-mast eyes. She was worried about blood clots and sore muscles and I must admit it was interesting to observe the late-night meal. As Annie said, it made our ankles swell and we were not the glamorous travelers we usually are after we got off that ride. We hit the hotel at 9 in the morning and after the necessary errands, passed out until the afternoon. I'm not a usual napper but wow, my body just shut down. That night we walked around Luxor proper. The temple was well lit, so we tried to get as many pictures as we could to show the layout.
Speaking of pictures, it's time to make a disclaimer about our photo albums. Since this blog and the albums are just as much for us as anyone else, we're trying to record everything we can. So many of the pics are just going to look like piles of rocks or one more hieroglyphic montage. There really aren't any words I possess to fully convey what we're seeing out here. The scale and antiquity of these places is truly awe-inspiring. Just keep clicking if you get bored...
So, we took a stroll all around the temple which is situated right next to the Nile Corniche and thus got a nice breeze off the water. Luxor, ancient city of Thebes, being what it is, a huge attraction town, attracts people from all over the world. The Egyptians here who work with the tourist crowd are clearly very good at what they do, though it makes a huge difference when someone really leaves the hustle out of a conversation and will just tell it like it is. Horse and buggies are about a popular here as taxis, for tourists. Most local folk take the micro-buses from point A to B. Made a deal with Annie that we could take a Felucca boat down the Nile if we didn't have to get in one of those buggies. There is the Brooke Animal Hospital here and the horses look well taken care of, for the most part but galloping down the asphalt in city traffic just doesn't do it for me. The drivers are pretty aggressive and have no problem following you for awhile until you make the effort to ditch them. Annie has developed a "buggy row" walk and song, it's definitely deterring if anything...
After talking to our hotel guy, Ziggy, we decided that since we only had 1 day to see the West bank, it'd be best to go with a group. Not two ladies who are fans of tours, we had a great time! The original plan was to bike the 60 or so kilometers roundtrip and just take our time at the sites. In hindsight, this may have killed the friendship, or just killed us. Luxor is HOT! It's been a solid 97 and much warmer in the sun. Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, the Temple of Hatshepsut, and the Colossus of Memnon were all amazing. We're not in high travel season so all the crowds were manageable; especially if one was willing to walk around in the noon sun. It made us a little kooky but nothing a coke couldn't fix. The tombs in the valleys were hot, dry and mesmerizing. Thinking about how long ago these were constructed and the world at that time was like walking into a time warp. Because we were with a guide, a lovely lady egyptologist from the University of Cairo, there was really no hassle and we got mini-bused around to each site. If you're going to do a tour, this was the way to go. We were also able to get students discounts, which helped us immensely to stay on budget. The temple of Hatshepsut is something I've been wanting to see for years and to finally go was so awesome! It's a three tiered temple carved out of a hillside by the only female ruler, who at times was even depicted as a man in many statues and drawings. Her stepson destroyed many of her statues when he took over rule but enough remains to get a good sense of the original grandeur.
The next day we walked the few kilometers to Karnak to see the huge temple. After braving the parking lot with no less than 20 exhaust belching busses, we waited until noon, beefed up on our temple knowledge in Lonely Planet and walked down the avenue of Sphinxes. This place is HUGE! Spent a good two hours walking around, taking photos, and people-watching too (our guilty pleasure). Though I'm sure we've been observed a time or two ourselves (how about those pants Carrie?!) Had lunch at a nearby restaurant, and went back to the hotel to regroup until the sun calmed down a little. It was time for Annie to cash-in on her Felucca ride so we went right before sunset and found the captain who'd been really nice and relaxed earlier. His boat the HoneyMoon was already out so he just took his friend's and off we went. What a cool vessel! It's a one sail, one rudder boat that can really get moving with some wind. They let Annie and I take the ropes and we had a great time chatting with his little skipper, Ahmed. As a last night in Luxor treat, we went to McDonalds (i know, i don't even want to hear it) to get McFlurries, which were obscenely expensive but we did run into a Spanish kid who'd been on our tour the day before so we got to catch up in some air-conditioning.
The rooftop bar is where we've been unwinding every night and the owners have been great to us. Knock on wood, we've been so lucky with hostels here, hopefully the trend will continue. We're checking out today and doing one last tour around the city to see the Luxor museum, write some postcards, and do some India planning until we catch our overnight train to Cairo around 9pm. We'll easily kill the morning in Cairo and fly out to India Monday afternoon, with a short layover in Bahrain. There is no possible way we've been able to talk about everything we've done here but hopefully it's been a good window into our world. Keep up the comments, they make us chuckle and remind us of home.
Speaking of pictures, it's time to make a disclaimer about our photo albums. Since this blog and the albums are just as much for us as anyone else, we're trying to record everything we can. So many of the pics are just going to look like piles of rocks or one more hieroglyphic montage. There really aren't any words I possess to fully convey what we're seeing out here. The scale and antiquity of these places is truly awe-inspiring. Just keep clicking if you get bored...
So, we took a stroll all around the temple which is situated right next to the Nile Corniche and thus got a nice breeze off the water. Luxor, ancient city of Thebes, being what it is, a huge attraction town, attracts people from all over the world. The Egyptians here who work with the tourist crowd are clearly very good at what they do, though it makes a huge difference when someone really leaves the hustle out of a conversation and will just tell it like it is. Horse and buggies are about a popular here as taxis, for tourists. Most local folk take the micro-buses from point A to B. Made a deal with Annie that we could take a Felucca boat down the Nile if we didn't have to get in one of those buggies. There is the Brooke Animal Hospital here and the horses look well taken care of, for the most part but galloping down the asphalt in city traffic just doesn't do it for me. The drivers are pretty aggressive and have no problem following you for awhile until you make the effort to ditch them. Annie has developed a "buggy row" walk and song, it's definitely deterring if anything...
After talking to our hotel guy, Ziggy, we decided that since we only had 1 day to see the West bank, it'd be best to go with a group. Not two ladies who are fans of tours, we had a great time! The original plan was to bike the 60 or so kilometers roundtrip and just take our time at the sites. In hindsight, this may have killed the friendship, or just killed us. Luxor is HOT! It's been a solid 97 and much warmer in the sun. Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, the Temple of Hatshepsut, and the Colossus of Memnon were all amazing. We're not in high travel season so all the crowds were manageable; especially if one was willing to walk around in the noon sun. It made us a little kooky but nothing a coke couldn't fix. The tombs in the valleys were hot, dry and mesmerizing. Thinking about how long ago these were constructed and the world at that time was like walking into a time warp. Because we were with a guide, a lovely lady egyptologist from the University of Cairo, there was really no hassle and we got mini-bused around to each site. If you're going to do a tour, this was the way to go. We were also able to get students discounts, which helped us immensely to stay on budget. The temple of Hatshepsut is something I've been wanting to see for years and to finally go was so awesome! It's a three tiered temple carved out of a hillside by the only female ruler, who at times was even depicted as a man in many statues and drawings. Her stepson destroyed many of her statues when he took over rule but enough remains to get a good sense of the original grandeur.
The next day we walked the few kilometers to Karnak to see the huge temple. After braving the parking lot with no less than 20 exhaust belching busses, we waited until noon, beefed up on our temple knowledge in Lonely Planet and walked down the avenue of Sphinxes. This place is HUGE! Spent a good two hours walking around, taking photos, and people-watching too (our guilty pleasure). Though I'm sure we've been observed a time or two ourselves (how about those pants Carrie?!) Had lunch at a nearby restaurant, and went back to the hotel to regroup until the sun calmed down a little. It was time for Annie to cash-in on her Felucca ride so we went right before sunset and found the captain who'd been really nice and relaxed earlier. His boat the HoneyMoon was already out so he just took his friend's and off we went. What a cool vessel! It's a one sail, one rudder boat that can really get moving with some wind. They let Annie and I take the ropes and we had a great time chatting with his little skipper, Ahmed. As a last night in Luxor treat, we went to McDonalds (i know, i don't even want to hear it) to get McFlurries, which were obscenely expensive but we did run into a Spanish kid who'd been on our tour the day before so we got to catch up in some air-conditioning.
The rooftop bar is where we've been unwinding every night and the owners have been great to us. Knock on wood, we've been so lucky with hostels here, hopefully the trend will continue. We're checking out today and doing one last tour around the city to see the Luxor museum, write some postcards, and do some India planning until we catch our overnight train to Cairo around 9pm. We'll easily kill the morning in Cairo and fly out to India Monday afternoon, with a short layover in Bahrain. There is no possible way we've been able to talk about everything we've done here but hopefully it's been a good window into our world. Keep up the comments, they make us chuckle and remind us of home.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Pilgrimage
(by Annie) Sinai is a place known for its history, geography, and last but certainly not least - religion. Of all the places in Egypt, this was one of the places I was most looking forward to. Growing up Catholic, Mt. Sinai wasn’t just another place on a map it was Moses, the 10 Commandments, and the burning bush. Perhaps seeing Charleston Hesston every year cemented such thoughts as well.
Rachael was a Scuba Star these past couple days. Seriously, I had so much fun simply watching the excitement on her face as she prepared for a dive. Tuesday was her final day and her last two dives. I will of course let her jump in here.
(Miller insert) I’m a certified open water diver! This means I can dive to 18 meters and understand the equipment basics, communication signs as well as the necessary survival skills, should a minor emergency happen. Instructor Harvey was amazing, so patient and so fun too! The worst part was making each other laugh underwater, chuckling and a breathing regulator don’t mix very well. The last dive was absolutely stunning (in no small part due to the fact that my wetsuit finally started to go on easily). A group of 6 of us went to a site called the Islands. It’s about a 5-minute ride from the dive center in a truck and a walk-in from the beach. Getting to the bathwater-warm, waist-high, crystal clear water, we donned out fins and masks and executed the entry Harvey had explained on shore. About 10 meters out, the bottom splits open and there’s a crack to dive through. I followed Harvey and still wasn’t quite sure where I was trying to squeeze my body. A couple turns and the tunnel opened into quite the underwater theatre. There are two main underwater reef islands (hence the name) and we made it out to the second one and around. Once around, a current picked us up and we were able to simply float a few meters off the bottom in a sitting position and drift by the animals and coral. Disneyland has GOT to pick up on a ride like that! When we did an air check and finally surfaced again, I couldn’t believe we’d been down for 50 minutes. There’s so much to absorb while making sure you don’t drown, which gets a little easier every time. All in all, I’m so happy with the way this went. The dives were awesome, the people in the dive center are amazing and I can’t wait to get back to Dahab. Bring on Lake Erie!
(Annie’s back) So after we had Miller’s temporary ID card and scuba certification papers done we waited for our bus to Sinai. The hotels in Dahab get together to offer this service – ride there at 11:00 p.m. and home by 11:00 a.m. You can do the math, which means twelve long hours to drive two hours each way and hike 6 km to the top of Sinai and back again. In the end it saved us an entire day that we would have had to spend finding lodging and food.
We both passed out during the ride there, let’s face it our normal bedtime is 9:00 p.m. maybe 10 if we have had an adventurous night playing pool and bar trivia. Which we did in a bar shaped like a BOAT!! Anyway, I kept on waking up and just seeing buses upon buses passing us, very large tourist buses. When we finally arrived, there was honestly more confusion rather than clarity and the 4,000 plus people that had come to hike as well did not make it any easier. Our Arabic speaking driver finally put us in touch with our English speaking guide, which is mandated by the Egyptian government.
Two things were very clear from the beginning - our guide was in a hurry and my sandals would never ever not smell like camel poop. At first the walk was fine, I really had no trouble going on flat land. And then there were three or four nice Bedouin men asking if I would rather take a camel. The other pilgrims were everywhere and I really felt like I was at an amusement park trying to be the first one to get in line for the newest roller coaster. So, it certainly did not start off as the deeply religious experience I thought it might be.
After about 2 km we did out first rest stop. I simply could not catch my breath nor continue at the pace we were going. The camels were also driving me nuts. We might have actually passed more camels then actual tourists. I actually got nipped on the arm by one of the more ornery ones. It was also Rachael's turn to be a sport. We looked at the clock decided we had plenty of time and we went a lot slower than the rest of our group. We stopped about every 30 minutes for me to rest. About two hours later we reached the plateau of the camel road up Mt. Sinai. This left 700 steps until the summit. Well everyone had finally reached the new roller coaster and going was slow. The sun came up right when we reached the top and it was beautiful. We luckily picked a perch with not a lot of people and just watched the sun rise with the most amazing views.
Obviously, the way down was a lot easier and Rachael took some amazing pictures of the views we had missed during the night trek. We didn't even have to stop once and made it down in about an hour and a half. Laving us enough time for some tea before the monastery of St. Catherine's opened. I absolutely love going into monasteries but again was struck with some of the tourists ruining the moment for me. We herded in at 9:00 and first went into the simplistic church itself. It was lined with beautiful old photos and paintings. Chandeliers spilling out from the ceiling and old small church pews lining the inner hall. I lit several candles and then headed over to the back of the alter and the confessional. Outside the main attraction stood - The Burning Bush. People taking photos under it and stealing a little sliver for home - don't worry Grandma - I got you a little piece.
When we finished the whole group van piled back in the van. We arrived back at our hotel. The dive instructors asked Rachael and I the same question: Did you like it? We couldn't answer that one. But, the second was if it was worth it? That answer was simple - Yes! So, we are pilgrims, now finally in Luxor, Egypt. Our 18 hour bus ride left us with sore backs and ankles the size of grapefruits. Today we will do absolutely nothing except recharge our batteries for the next three days we have in the valley of the kings.
Rachael was a Scuba Star these past couple days. Seriously, I had so much fun simply watching the excitement on her face as she prepared for a dive. Tuesday was her final day and her last two dives. I will of course let her jump in here.
(Miller insert) I’m a certified open water diver! This means I can dive to 18 meters and understand the equipment basics, communication signs as well as the necessary survival skills, should a minor emergency happen. Instructor Harvey was amazing, so patient and so fun too! The worst part was making each other laugh underwater, chuckling and a breathing regulator don’t mix very well. The last dive was absolutely stunning (in no small part due to the fact that my wetsuit finally started to go on easily). A group of 6 of us went to a site called the Islands. It’s about a 5-minute ride from the dive center in a truck and a walk-in from the beach. Getting to the bathwater-warm, waist-high, crystal clear water, we donned out fins and masks and executed the entry Harvey had explained on shore. About 10 meters out, the bottom splits open and there’s a crack to dive through. I followed Harvey and still wasn’t quite sure where I was trying to squeeze my body. A couple turns and the tunnel opened into quite the underwater theatre. There are two main underwater reef islands (hence the name) and we made it out to the second one and around. Once around, a current picked us up and we were able to simply float a few meters off the bottom in a sitting position and drift by the animals and coral. Disneyland has GOT to pick up on a ride like that! When we did an air check and finally surfaced again, I couldn’t believe we’d been down for 50 minutes. There’s so much to absorb while making sure you don’t drown, which gets a little easier every time. All in all, I’m so happy with the way this went. The dives were awesome, the people in the dive center are amazing and I can’t wait to get back to Dahab. Bring on Lake Erie!
(Annie’s back) So after we had Miller’s temporary ID card and scuba certification papers done we waited for our bus to Sinai. The hotels in Dahab get together to offer this service – ride there at 11:00 p.m. and home by 11:00 a.m. You can do the math, which means twelve long hours to drive two hours each way and hike 6 km to the top of Sinai and back again. In the end it saved us an entire day that we would have had to spend finding lodging and food.
We both passed out during the ride there, let’s face it our normal bedtime is 9:00 p.m. maybe 10 if we have had an adventurous night playing pool and bar trivia. Which we did in a bar shaped like a BOAT!! Anyway, I kept on waking up and just seeing buses upon buses passing us, very large tourist buses. When we finally arrived, there was honestly more confusion rather than clarity and the 4,000 plus people that had come to hike as well did not make it any easier. Our Arabic speaking driver finally put us in touch with our English speaking guide, which is mandated by the Egyptian government.
Two things were very clear from the beginning - our guide was in a hurry and my sandals would never ever not smell like camel poop. At first the walk was fine, I really had no trouble going on flat land. And then there were three or four nice Bedouin men asking if I would rather take a camel. The other pilgrims were everywhere and I really felt like I was at an amusement park trying to be the first one to get in line for the newest roller coaster. So, it certainly did not start off as the deeply religious experience I thought it might be.
After about 2 km we did out first rest stop. I simply could not catch my breath nor continue at the pace we were going. The camels were also driving me nuts. We might have actually passed more camels then actual tourists. I actually got nipped on the arm by one of the more ornery ones. It was also Rachael's turn to be a sport. We looked at the clock decided we had plenty of time and we went a lot slower than the rest of our group. We stopped about every 30 minutes for me to rest. About two hours later we reached the plateau of the camel road up Mt. Sinai. This left 700 steps until the summit. Well everyone had finally reached the new roller coaster and going was slow. The sun came up right when we reached the top and it was beautiful. We luckily picked a perch with not a lot of people and just watched the sun rise with the most amazing views.
Obviously, the way down was a lot easier and Rachael took some amazing pictures of the views we had missed during the night trek. We didn't even have to stop once and made it down in about an hour and a half. Laving us enough time for some tea before the monastery of St. Catherine's opened. I absolutely love going into monasteries but again was struck with some of the tourists ruining the moment for me. We herded in at 9:00 and first went into the simplistic church itself. It was lined with beautiful old photos and paintings. Chandeliers spilling out from the ceiling and old small church pews lining the inner hall. I lit several candles and then headed over to the back of the alter and the confessional. Outside the main attraction stood - The Burning Bush. People taking photos under it and stealing a little sliver for home - don't worry Grandma - I got you a little piece.
When we finished the whole group van piled back in the van. We arrived back at our hotel. The dive instructors asked Rachael and I the same question: Did you like it? We couldn't answer that one. But, the second was if it was worth it? That answer was simple - Yes! So, we are pilgrims, now finally in Luxor, Egypt. Our 18 hour bus ride left us with sore backs and ankles the size of grapefruits. Today we will do absolutely nothing except recharge our batteries for the next three days we have in the valley of the kings.
Monday, September 22, 2008
SCUBA – Self-Contained Underwater BAD ASS!
(by Miller) The power of persuasion in usually something I can resist, especially when it involves spending my own money. Annie and I planned on snorkeling and budgeted it in but once we got here, scuba instructor Mohamed and the fantastically hospitable owner Samir convinced us to take an intro course, or a “discovery dive”. I’ve always wanted to scuba dive and learning on the Red Sea rather than Lake Erie has a definite appeal. Also, the price of the course was great compared to back in the states. We decided to take a dive and as Annie said, before we knew it, we were signing our lives away and squeezing into wetsuits that, according to the laws of physics, should not have fit. Mohamed already had a diver for the day so another instructor was called out. This scrappy South African guy in a rugby shirt shows up and introduces himself as Harvey. I don’t things could have gotten much better at this point. After a brief chat about breathing underwater and not freaking out, we geared up and headed down to a launch point called the Lighthouse. Since this strip is just one big dive site, there are divers of all levels everywhere, which was nice and made us feel less self-conscious about not knowing what we were doing and wearing lycra while not knowing it.
We took some time to practice with our masks and using the regulator, which is hard to trust at first. Breathing underwater is not a mammalian reflex! The dry, compressed air is also really harsh on the lungs, and you loose about a liter of water an hour from breathing it. Annie and I had different goals for the day so Harvey took me out for a toot around the reef first and that was it. I was practically screaming through my regulator at all the amazing sites; which made Harvey laugh and then I laughed and our masks flooded. We got to the turn around point and he gave me the “SLOW DOWN!” sign as I’d just been motoring along, I felt like I couldn’t possibly take it all in. Said “what’s up” to a few barracuda and headed back. In all, I think it was about half an hour long and we saw so much! Lionfish, clown fish, a stone fish and something lying on the bottom called the crocodile fish, which looks exactly like its namesake. We surfaced and all I could say was “oh my gawd!” It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done and truly was surreal. The colors are 100x brighter and even if there are other divers around it’s still your experience as everyone’s perception is different and since you can’t talk, it eliminates all the tourist chatter.
We headed back and spent the afternoon at the dive shop, which is right by our room, talking with people and looking at pictures. I couldn’t get it out of my head that this was something I needed to pursue and after looking at our schedule for a while and re-arranging we decided there was ample time for me to get my PADI (professional assoc of diving instructors) open water certification. Sunday through Tuesday I’ll be getting one on one certified with Harvey, who has really proven to be a great guy who knows his stuff (like the cheap eats in town). This is going to take until Tuesday when I take the final exam and “graduation dive”.
Annie has been such a good sport, blogging for us and she’s going to snorkel and bike around Dahab today in search of bus tickets. No luck with an elevator operator internship as of now. Tuesday night we’re heading to St. Catharine’s monastery to hike up Mt. Sinai, the place where Moses allegedly received those good ‘ol 10 commandments and heading back here to get a 4pm bus to Luxor where we can end Egypt right with our homies, the Pharaohs. As a nice surprise, our Peace Corps friend is in country so we’re going to meet up for a bit before we fly out on the 29th. Off to dive, life is good. Miss everyone at home but the comments are hilarious! Are these paragraphs working for you Lyle?
(Annie's Note: I would just like to tell everyone that I am posting this message from a sea side restaurant's wifi connection. Development here we come.)
We took some time to practice with our masks and using the regulator, which is hard to trust at first. Breathing underwater is not a mammalian reflex! The dry, compressed air is also really harsh on the lungs, and you loose about a liter of water an hour from breathing it. Annie and I had different goals for the day so Harvey took me out for a toot around the reef first and that was it. I was practically screaming through my regulator at all the amazing sites; which made Harvey laugh and then I laughed and our masks flooded. We got to the turn around point and he gave me the “SLOW DOWN!” sign as I’d just been motoring along, I felt like I couldn’t possibly take it all in. Said “what’s up” to a few barracuda and headed back. In all, I think it was about half an hour long and we saw so much! Lionfish, clown fish, a stone fish and something lying on the bottom called the crocodile fish, which looks exactly like its namesake. We surfaced and all I could say was “oh my gawd!” It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done and truly was surreal. The colors are 100x brighter and even if there are other divers around it’s still your experience as everyone’s perception is different and since you can’t talk, it eliminates all the tourist chatter.
We headed back and spent the afternoon at the dive shop, which is right by our room, talking with people and looking at pictures. I couldn’t get it out of my head that this was something I needed to pursue and after looking at our schedule for a while and re-arranging we decided there was ample time for me to get my PADI (professional assoc of diving instructors) open water certification. Sunday through Tuesday I’ll be getting one on one certified with Harvey, who has really proven to be a great guy who knows his stuff (like the cheap eats in town). This is going to take until Tuesday when I take the final exam and “graduation dive”.
Annie has been such a good sport, blogging for us and she’s going to snorkel and bike around Dahab today in search of bus tickets. No luck with an elevator operator internship as of now. Tuesday night we’re heading to St. Catharine’s monastery to hike up Mt. Sinai, the place where Moses allegedly received those good ‘ol 10 commandments and heading back here to get a 4pm bus to Luxor where we can end Egypt right with our homies, the Pharaohs. As a nice surprise, our Peace Corps friend is in country so we’re going to meet up for a bit before we fly out on the 29th. Off to dive, life is good. Miss everyone at home but the comments are hilarious! Are these paragraphs working for you Lyle?
(Annie's Note: I would just like to tell everyone that I am posting this message from a sea side restaurant's wifi connection. Development here we come.)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
We are travelers on vacation
(by Annie) Those of you who are loyal facebook supporters will notice that Rachael has changed her profession to world traveler. Sure, it might be a bit of a joke, but there is always an element of work to traveling. Dahab, which means “gold” in Arabic, is the traveler’s vacation. There is absolutely nothing work-like in this amazing man made holiday resort.
I have seen, stayed, and even lived on beaches, but this is something completely different. If it wasn’t for the scuba community who knows what form Dahab would take, who knows what it even looked like five years prior.
Since we arrived at night we were looking forward to seeing the sea and the boardwalk in daytime. Well at 7a.m. there was not a soul to see. Apparently we had missed the memo that nobody gets up until almost 11 a.m. So, we took a calming waltz down to one of the farthest restaurants and had some breakfast. Now, I guess I should explain there is literally restaurant after dive shop, after hotel that just continues until the towering hillsides come into the shores.
After our breakfast we went into town to look for food and supplies. It is always cheaper to find water, fruit, and even Pepsi away from the tourist places. About ten minutes later we were in the Egyptian part of Dahab and loaded up on supplies. We always think that the bread, water, and fruit we buy will last us days. That hasn’t happened yet, oh well. We took a random side street and found ourselves back on the Dahab strip to see one of the more famous diving and snorkeling spots – the Eel Garden. Guess what that area is famous for?
We made our way back to the hotel and struck up a conversation with Mohamed – who was our hotel’s dive master. A Jordanian Venezuelan navy brat made scuba sound awesome. Rachael needed no convincing and in the end I guess I didn’t either. Before I knew it I was signing my life away and trying on wet suits. After a quick orientation we were in the water for our beginner dive. I have never really fallen in love with snorkeling and frankly spending time in any body of water that is not a pool scares me. But, I gave it the college try. It was very apparent that Rachael’s level and mine were very different. So, Arvie “Harvey” our instructor took her for a go around the coral reef and then he took me for a spin in shallower water.
Scuba diving is like a passport into a completely different world. The amazingly beautiful colors of the coral combined with fishes and eels only told in storybooks. I never thought the process of breathing would be so tiring. The compressed air makes it a little more laborious and by the time our 30 minute swim was done, I was fairly exhausted. Did I actually scuba dive, no, but I was a kick ass snorkeling scuba diver who now has a partner in crime who LOVES scuba.
We love Dahab, the beer and sheesha are the icing on the cake. Plus, we have discovered a restaurant that has free humus. Dinner anyone? We are travelers on vacation. Life is hard, 9 days down and 96 to go.
I have seen, stayed, and even lived on beaches, but this is something completely different. If it wasn’t for the scuba community who knows what form Dahab would take, who knows what it even looked like five years prior.
Since we arrived at night we were looking forward to seeing the sea and the boardwalk in daytime. Well at 7a.m. there was not a soul to see. Apparently we had missed the memo that nobody gets up until almost 11 a.m. So, we took a calming waltz down to one of the farthest restaurants and had some breakfast. Now, I guess I should explain there is literally restaurant after dive shop, after hotel that just continues until the towering hillsides come into the shores.
After our breakfast we went into town to look for food and supplies. It is always cheaper to find water, fruit, and even Pepsi away from the tourist places. About ten minutes later we were in the Egyptian part of Dahab and loaded up on supplies. We always think that the bread, water, and fruit we buy will last us days. That hasn’t happened yet, oh well. We took a random side street and found ourselves back on the Dahab strip to see one of the more famous diving and snorkeling spots – the Eel Garden. Guess what that area is famous for?
We made our way back to the hotel and struck up a conversation with Mohamed – who was our hotel’s dive master. A Jordanian Venezuelan navy brat made scuba sound awesome. Rachael needed no convincing and in the end I guess I didn’t either. Before I knew it I was signing my life away and trying on wet suits. After a quick orientation we were in the water for our beginner dive. I have never really fallen in love with snorkeling and frankly spending time in any body of water that is not a pool scares me. But, I gave it the college try. It was very apparent that Rachael’s level and mine were very different. So, Arvie “Harvey” our instructor took her for a go around the coral reef and then he took me for a spin in shallower water.
Scuba diving is like a passport into a completely different world. The amazingly beautiful colors of the coral combined with fishes and eels only told in storybooks. I never thought the process of breathing would be so tiring. The compressed air makes it a little more laborious and by the time our 30 minute swim was done, I was fairly exhausted. Did I actually scuba dive, no, but I was a kick ass snorkeling scuba diver who now has a partner in crime who LOVES scuba.
We love Dahab, the beer and sheesha are the icing on the cake. Plus, we have discovered a restaurant that has free humus. Dinner anyone? We are travelers on vacation. Life is hard, 9 days down and 96 to go.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Dahab- paradise and getting there
(by Miller) We came back from Alex and really thought we’d follow our game plan to go to Luxor on the night train. Nightmare number one but really, if this is the worst it gets…we’re doing just fine. The train station is whack and after two attempts over two days for both first and second class tickets we decided that maybe our plans needed to change, as we couldn’t stare into the ticket booth and plead with Mr. Soul-less any longer. This has been the only major snag in being here during Ramadan. It’s nearing the end and it was explained that more people are traveling to be with their families. Whatever, as a result, we ended up going to Suez and then down and around the Sinai Peninsula to Dahab. Both trips are by bus so Annie was a little more than depressed, but she bucked up and put on a smile for the ride.
Anyone remember the Suez crisis? Two wars, one in 1967 and one in 1973 leveled a good portion of the area and the government has been rebuilding it since. The result is hundreds of cookie-cutter 4-story apartment buildings. Annie summed it up pretty well when she said, “Well, they needed to put the people somewhere and quick.” Suez is divided into two sections, Suez itself, and Port Tawfiq. We took a taxi from the bus stop, which in the middle of nowhere. Lonely Planet only listed two budget hotels and the sun was setting fast. It goes down around 6:15 here! Quickly found the Arafat hotel and had the passport photocopy conversation yet again with the innkeeper. The man then asked us for a tip for showing us our door after we hauled our own packs up 6 more flights of stairs (are we ever going to find a ground floor hotel?) The picture doesn’t do the room justice and the balcony was lovely, complete with lounge furniture. Didn’t feel as safe walking around as I did in Cairo and people weren’t as friendly, I guess it’s a typical port town. Headed out to dinner and walked down to the water and back. There were so many ships around and people picnic-ing in the grassy areas, breaking the fast. A restaurant called Alf-Lila had been written up for cheap, good food, I think we’re in agreement that it has passed its prime. The first floor was abandoned and we had to cross over a small stream of sewer water flowing through the doorway. On the third floor, we grabbed a table overlooking the street and canal, there were plenty available as we were the only clients. A guy sat us down and soon after we saw him walk out of the restaurant down the street to a little convenient store. Not a good sign. He made it back in about 15 minutes and had a box with sodas and water in it. When we asked what they had to eat, he had one option, a frozen pizza probably spoiled a few times over. Thanks sir, we paid for the water and left hungrier than ever but appreciative of the ridiculousness of the situation. Found a meat griller and split a HUGE plate of chicken with humus and veggie salad for about $3 each.
Full and sleepy, we walked back to the hotel, seeing much more activity than before. Woke up early the next morning and figured out the micro-buses into town for 25 piastres, about 4 cents. Didn’t really feel the need to hang around Suez, not much to see and we were excited to move on to Dahab. Our bus left at 11am and was scheduled to arrive 5 hours later. Unintentionally fasted all day but on the up side, we didn’t need any bathroom breaks. Rolled into Dahab by 7pm and were met at the bus station by two guys in a pick-up flaunting a business card saying they were from 7th Heaven hotel, where we’d planned on staying. Really? You guys are REALLY from the hotel? They assured us and we realized we didn’t have that many options as the normal swarm of taxis at bus arrival was lacking. Strapped passports and cash to our bodies and hopped in the bed of the truck. Miraculously, we arrived no problem and the guys really WERE from the hotel, Allah be praised. Annie gave me the “I told you so” look and we checked-in. The small, shared bathroom cabin we booked wasn’t ready so they gave us a bigger, personal room for the same price. Good business guys!
Everyone had been telling us we’re going to LOVE Dahab (means gold in Arabic). It’s the beach town where daily life is being on a professional vacation, Florida keys comes to mind. Once we checked in and walked out to the strip, we saw why. For about 2 kilometers along the coast of the gulf of Dahab, there is restaurant after restaurant, boutique after boutique of tourist paradise. Normally this would have made my skin crawl but the tchachkie atmosphere is overshadowed by the surrounding view of desert mountains and clearly visible Saudi Arabia 40 kilometers across the gulf.
Sat down to a not very good dinner. We’ve decided that “when in Rome” is really the best policy as Annie’s baked potato was almost raw but the humus was damn good. Had a new beer, Sakara, delicious and more flavorful than Stella, and usually comparable in price. By dinner’s end it was bedtime.
More Dahab adventures to come. We are here on the Sinai Peninsula until Wednesday. Did we snorkel or scuba? Did Annie get elevator certification? Will this man made paradise ever get old? Find out on the next installment of BWB.
Anyone remember the Suez crisis? Two wars, one in 1967 and one in 1973 leveled a good portion of the area and the government has been rebuilding it since. The result is hundreds of cookie-cutter 4-story apartment buildings. Annie summed it up pretty well when she said, “Well, they needed to put the people somewhere and quick.” Suez is divided into two sections, Suez itself, and Port Tawfiq. We took a taxi from the bus stop, which in the middle of nowhere. Lonely Planet only listed two budget hotels and the sun was setting fast. It goes down around 6:15 here! Quickly found the Arafat hotel and had the passport photocopy conversation yet again with the innkeeper. The man then asked us for a tip for showing us our door after we hauled our own packs up 6 more flights of stairs (are we ever going to find a ground floor hotel?) The picture doesn’t do the room justice and the balcony was lovely, complete with lounge furniture. Didn’t feel as safe walking around as I did in Cairo and people weren’t as friendly, I guess it’s a typical port town. Headed out to dinner and walked down to the water and back. There were so many ships around and people picnic-ing in the grassy areas, breaking the fast. A restaurant called Alf-Lila had been written up for cheap, good food, I think we’re in agreement that it has passed its prime. The first floor was abandoned and we had to cross over a small stream of sewer water flowing through the doorway. On the third floor, we grabbed a table overlooking the street and canal, there were plenty available as we were the only clients. A guy sat us down and soon after we saw him walk out of the restaurant down the street to a little convenient store. Not a good sign. He made it back in about 15 minutes and had a box with sodas and water in it. When we asked what they had to eat, he had one option, a frozen pizza probably spoiled a few times over. Thanks sir, we paid for the water and left hungrier than ever but appreciative of the ridiculousness of the situation. Found a meat griller and split a HUGE plate of chicken with humus and veggie salad for about $3 each.
Full and sleepy, we walked back to the hotel, seeing much more activity than before. Woke up early the next morning and figured out the micro-buses into town for 25 piastres, about 4 cents. Didn’t really feel the need to hang around Suez, not much to see and we were excited to move on to Dahab. Our bus left at 11am and was scheduled to arrive 5 hours later. Unintentionally fasted all day but on the up side, we didn’t need any bathroom breaks. Rolled into Dahab by 7pm and were met at the bus station by two guys in a pick-up flaunting a business card saying they were from 7th Heaven hotel, where we’d planned on staying. Really? You guys are REALLY from the hotel? They assured us and we realized we didn’t have that many options as the normal swarm of taxis at bus arrival was lacking. Strapped passports and cash to our bodies and hopped in the bed of the truck. Miraculously, we arrived no problem and the guys really WERE from the hotel, Allah be praised. Annie gave me the “I told you so” look and we checked-in. The small, shared bathroom cabin we booked wasn’t ready so they gave us a bigger, personal room for the same price. Good business guys!
Everyone had been telling us we’re going to LOVE Dahab (means gold in Arabic). It’s the beach town where daily life is being on a professional vacation, Florida keys comes to mind. Once we checked in and walked out to the strip, we saw why. For about 2 kilometers along the coast of the gulf of Dahab, there is restaurant after restaurant, boutique after boutique of tourist paradise. Normally this would have made my skin crawl but the tchachkie atmosphere is overshadowed by the surrounding view of desert mountains and clearly visible Saudi Arabia 40 kilometers across the gulf.
Sat down to a not very good dinner. We’ve decided that “when in Rome” is really the best policy as Annie’s baked potato was almost raw but the humus was damn good. Had a new beer, Sakara, delicious and more flavorful than Stella, and usually comparable in price. By dinner’s end it was bedtime.
More Dahab adventures to come. We are here on the Sinai Peninsula until Wednesday. Did we snorkel or scuba? Did Annie get elevator certification? Will this man made paradise ever get old? Find out on the next installment of BWB.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
What goes up, must come down
(by Annie) Well, we have adopted a new slogan for the trip, really we should make t-shirts. "If this is the worst it gets, well then we will be fine." In the grand scheme of things the day did not go that badly. We woke up in Alexandria, motivated, and even gave a big high five to the inn keeper. We will call him an inn keeper cause his job was sleeping in the inn and listening to what I told him to do. Passport? No! Passport? No! Hey, we are two gargantuan women and that moves mountains.
I digress, with a side note. George was a name we made up for our elevator man. Who again, like his title, was an elevator man who spent his entire day riding up and down for tips. I might try that in Milwaukee when we get back.
Okay, back to this awesomely interesting post. We headed over to the Alexandria tram and rode that to the train station. I might even like trams more than trains if that is possible. We might was well have walked, but something about chugga chugga cho cho makes me smile.
Our train was on time, ridiculously on time, to leave - but not on arrival. That was the problem, we missed our deadline for handing in our passports to receive Indian Visas. Well, Rachael, begged with a "Please." Like picture Miller in front of a ticket window clapping her hands together and bending her knees like a school girl and pouting to say please, well it worked. We can go there tomorrow and get them in one day instead, whew. First semi-major crisis averted. Then, we went home to the Sara Inn Hostel, chilled, and prepared for what we thought would be an easy process of buying a train ticket to Luxor.
I really cannot describe what happened we were shuffled to and fro, not really knowing where we were going or why. Rachael took the lead on this and definitely had to use her Rugby player stature to push through to each window we approached. Finally, no tickets, "come back", with no guarantee. Ahh, no!
So, we left the train sad and dejected. I was depressed. But, then in a sex and the city moment we linked arms, and said "hey if this is the worst it gets we will be fine." And then, in true American fashion we chowed down Egyptian fast food and made fun of each other. Only to meet an Egyptian who finally explained to me what "Walk Like an Egyptian" really meant.
We are fine, actually more than fine. We have changed our schedule around to see Sinai first and then Luxor. It will give us more beach time and even a little more quality time with the Valley of our Hommies - The Kings.
So, tomorrow, Visas, and then off to the Suez Canal.
No matter the day, we came and conquered - well the metro at least - 5 days down and 98 to go.
I digress, with a side note. George was a name we made up for our elevator man. Who again, like his title, was an elevator man who spent his entire day riding up and down for tips. I might try that in Milwaukee when we get back.
Okay, back to this awesomely interesting post. We headed over to the Alexandria tram and rode that to the train station. I might even like trams more than trains if that is possible. We might was well have walked, but something about chugga chugga cho cho makes me smile.
Our train was on time, ridiculously on time, to leave - but not on arrival. That was the problem, we missed our deadline for handing in our passports to receive Indian Visas. Well, Rachael, begged with a "Please." Like picture Miller in front of a ticket window clapping her hands together and bending her knees like a school girl and pouting to say please, well it worked. We can go there tomorrow and get them in one day instead, whew. First semi-major crisis averted. Then, we went home to the Sara Inn Hostel, chilled, and prepared for what we thought would be an easy process of buying a train ticket to Luxor.
I really cannot describe what happened we were shuffled to and fro, not really knowing where we were going or why. Rachael took the lead on this and definitely had to use her Rugby player stature to push through to each window we approached. Finally, no tickets, "come back", with no guarantee. Ahh, no!
So, we left the train sad and dejected. I was depressed. But, then in a sex and the city moment we linked arms, and said "hey if this is the worst it gets we will be fine." And then, in true American fashion we chowed down Egyptian fast food and made fun of each other. Only to meet an Egyptian who finally explained to me what "Walk Like an Egyptian" really meant.
We are fine, actually more than fine. We have changed our schedule around to see Sinai first and then Luxor. It will give us more beach time and even a little more quality time with the Valley of our Hommies - The Kings.
So, tomorrow, Visas, and then off to the Suez Canal.
No matter the day, we came and conquered - well the metro at least - 5 days down and 98 to go.
Alexandria in 12 hours
(by Miller) Talk about your hit and run. Because we need to get our Indian visas cleared and don’t want to travel any further than a few hours away without our passports, we needed to rearrange our schedule a bit and cut the 2 days planned in Alexandria down to one. This was a difficult decision as this is the town I’d been most excited to see, ancient metropolis, trading post of the old world; Alexander the Great, Constance Cavafy, and many others whose names haunt history and the classics. After a lovely night out in Cairo with one of the hostel guys (which involved a drink whose name I can’t remember but is made of hot sweet condensed milk, mixed with peanuts and sliced grapes, yum!), we got up right after the call to prayer and were out the door of Sara Inn by 6:05. No time for breakfast and it wasn’t that grave as I’d splurged on a few kilos of plums, peaches, and bananas. Oh vitamins! We didn’t even eat until Alex though as we felt a little guilty breaking out the buffet at the train station when no one else was indulging. Thinking we’d catch the 6:30am 2nd class train both the guidebook and the hostel guys told us was possible, we didn’t even bother with the metro and grabbed a taxi for 10 lbs. Walking into Ramses II train station was a throwback to what we imagine the 1940’s stations to be. It seemed to be the quickest and easiest way to go from point A to point B, and besides, Annie LOVES trains. None of the 2nd class ticket booth workers spoke enough English to explain that because we’re foreigners, we weren’t actually allowed to buy 2nd class. I was a bit fatigued and ready to acquiesce to their claims that we needed to buy a more expensive first class but Annie had no problem hunting down one of the tourism authorities to kindly explain that we had permission. He asked for a pen in return, which really was no problem, but wasn’t the song and dance from Annie enough?
The only snag was that there wasn’t a 6:30 train at all…that they would acknowledge (we did see a train pull out about that time headed towards Alex). The next best thing was an 8:15 that took 2 and ½ hours, about the estimated time. This meant considerably less time able to be spent at the Bibliotheque, a huge library/museum/art gallery completed in 2002 in remembrance of the ancient version which burned down long ago.
So, with our cheaper, hard earned 2nd class tickets, we people watched until our train arrived. The incoming cars had people bolting out of them and running towards the street. Don’t know if they were late for prayer or work but definitely could not wait for a complete stop. We boarded a few minutes early and were completely happy with what we paid for! All the cars are air-conditioned (which was a tad too cold), and the seats reclined farther down than any plane I’ve been on. Read up on where to go after we got out and promptly took a nap. Waking up an hour or so before destination, we saw people working their fields, hanging out laundry, and other passing trains, whose rails were tucked very snuggly next to ours.
Arriving at Misr train Station was déjà vu as it is the exact model of Ramses II in Cairo; this was great, as we already knew where to go to purchase return tickets for tomorrow, which we did today(tuesday). Lesson learned: buy all train tickets directly from the station, in advance, especially if one does not speak the national language. We walked out and around parallel to the street we needed to find and realizing it was already noon and things close early, decided to cut our losses and get a taxi for another 10 lbs. This sounds exorbitant but really, it’s $2 well spent to avoid lost time at an exhibit. Found the hotel we’d wanted, the Hyde Park Hotel. Lonely Planet claims it isn’t placed near enough the Mediterranean to fully appreciate the ocean breeze and view. I don’t know what room that person stayed in but any closer and we’d be sleeping in scuba gear. It’s located on the 8th floor so once again, took the opportunity to get some cardio in. The rooms are great and the view from the huge bay window overlooks the main drag and, of course, the sea. It’s situated next to a beautiful mosque with a huge minaret that’s lit up at night.
Took a stroll to find the Bibliotheque before it closed and found it with one hour left. Hurried to check our bags as nothing but money and a notebook is allowed in and tried to blow through everything as quickly as possible while taking in the building’s grandeur. The structure really is amazing, especially the main library part. It’s 4 tiers of book stacks terraced down a hill. The ceiling is sky-lit and lofted and each bookshelf is softly illuminated. Confirming the fact that we must be huge dorks to get this emotional about a library, we took off to wander the room and see the display of old printing presses, cataloguing the evolution of the process. In the basement, there was a ceramics show, and in the library itself were two rooms, one on the history of Alexandria, and one in tribute to the Egyptian film maker SHADI ABDEL SALAM. Both were so well presented and we hope the new Egyptian Museum that’s slated to be opened in 2013 will follow suit. It was sad to leave as a whole day could easily be spent there, especially if taking in a planetarium show or one of the concerts programmed throughout the month. We did manage to get up into the children’s section too where Annie took notes for her Boys and Girls club back home. I couldn’t help but think of the library in Guinagourou and how it’s progressing (it’s already seems so long ago!).
Across the street is the Corniche, the walk that snakes along the coast. Sat in a park and watched a man snorkel out to net some fish and then get swarmed with cats when he came back to shore. Alexandria has a big city feel with a beach town undertone. Things are more relaxed here but traffic is still insane.
Now, this blog is called Boozers without Borders right? Even though it’s Ramadan, and beer is harder to find and comparatively more expensive in Egypt, we decided to embrace the laissez-faire attitude and spend a lazy afternoon in a restaurant. Walked to find a recommended and slightly cachet-ed spot called “Elite” and had our first (and second) Stella. After having our table moved to a back room in order to avoid flaunting our blatant Ramadan rebellion, I ordered a Greek salad with AWESOME fresh feta and Annie had a garden salad; though this was really all about the beer. It had a rather generic taste; slightly similar to the Beninoise we’re accustomed to in Benin. That’s not to say we won’t be sampling it again as it is, in fact, the beer of Egypt.
We’ve been wearing the same clothes for days, since we arrived, so it was time for laundry in the hotel sink. Had a little sit-down when full on jet lag compounded with our early morning kicked us hard and we were down for the count until 7 when the fast breaking prayer resonated through our room. All the streets outside our room were closed down and hundreds of people, men apart from women, were praying, going through the prostrations. Incredible to see en masse and we indulged in a bit of guilty-feeling voyeurism from our 8th floor window.
Not wanted to spend our only night in Alex in a hotel room, we headed out to walk the strip. Annie rightly compared it to Michigan Ave in Chicago during Christmas time. People were out in droves! We encountered no other foreigners and had a great time window-shopping; my favorites were the ice cream shops and the bakeries full of sweets. Stopped off to get some coffee and tea and had the chance to people watch, which just isn’t getting old. Families were out, mom and the kids drank sodas while dad smoked his sheesha (a water pipe with flavored tobacco). The atmosphere was jovial though by 10:30 it was time for bed.
Our hotel had been heckling us all day to give them our passports to make photocopies. Knowing people who’ve been victims of identity theft, one even ending up in a Yemen prison, we were slightly reluctant to hand them over. They offered to call the police to register the passports but we said no, it’s really no problem and kept smiling. A few Arabic words (which we butcher terribly) and lots of teeth will go a long way here. No use getting angry as the communication level doesn’t allow for tantrum throwing.
4 days down and 99 left to go. We’re headed back to Cairo on the 8am train (2nd class again folks!) Fingers crossed all goes well at the embassy.
The only snag was that there wasn’t a 6:30 train at all…that they would acknowledge (we did see a train pull out about that time headed towards Alex). The next best thing was an 8:15 that took 2 and ½ hours, about the estimated time. This meant considerably less time able to be spent at the Bibliotheque, a huge library/museum/art gallery completed in 2002 in remembrance of the ancient version which burned down long ago.
So, with our cheaper, hard earned 2nd class tickets, we people watched until our train arrived. The incoming cars had people bolting out of them and running towards the street. Don’t know if they were late for prayer or work but definitely could not wait for a complete stop. We boarded a few minutes early and were completely happy with what we paid for! All the cars are air-conditioned (which was a tad too cold), and the seats reclined farther down than any plane I’ve been on. Read up on where to go after we got out and promptly took a nap. Waking up an hour or so before destination, we saw people working their fields, hanging out laundry, and other passing trains, whose rails were tucked very snuggly next to ours.
Arriving at Misr train Station was déjà vu as it is the exact model of Ramses II in Cairo; this was great, as we already knew where to go to purchase return tickets for tomorrow, which we did today(tuesday). Lesson learned: buy all train tickets directly from the station, in advance, especially if one does not speak the national language. We walked out and around parallel to the street we needed to find and realizing it was already noon and things close early, decided to cut our losses and get a taxi for another 10 lbs. This sounds exorbitant but really, it’s $2 well spent to avoid lost time at an exhibit. Found the hotel we’d wanted, the Hyde Park Hotel. Lonely Planet claims it isn’t placed near enough the Mediterranean to fully appreciate the ocean breeze and view. I don’t know what room that person stayed in but any closer and we’d be sleeping in scuba gear. It’s located on the 8th floor so once again, took the opportunity to get some cardio in. The rooms are great and the view from the huge bay window overlooks the main drag and, of course, the sea. It’s situated next to a beautiful mosque with a huge minaret that’s lit up at night.
Took a stroll to find the Bibliotheque before it closed and found it with one hour left. Hurried to check our bags as nothing but money and a notebook is allowed in and tried to blow through everything as quickly as possible while taking in the building’s grandeur. The structure really is amazing, especially the main library part. It’s 4 tiers of book stacks terraced down a hill. The ceiling is sky-lit and lofted and each bookshelf is softly illuminated. Confirming the fact that we must be huge dorks to get this emotional about a library, we took off to wander the room and see the display of old printing presses, cataloguing the evolution of the process. In the basement, there was a ceramics show, and in the library itself were two rooms, one on the history of Alexandria, and one in tribute to the Egyptian film maker SHADI ABDEL SALAM. Both were so well presented and we hope the new Egyptian Museum that’s slated to be opened in 2013 will follow suit. It was sad to leave as a whole day could easily be spent there, especially if taking in a planetarium show or one of the concerts programmed throughout the month. We did manage to get up into the children’s section too where Annie took notes for her Boys and Girls club back home. I couldn’t help but think of the library in Guinagourou and how it’s progressing (it’s already seems so long ago!).
Across the street is the Corniche, the walk that snakes along the coast. Sat in a park and watched a man snorkel out to net some fish and then get swarmed with cats when he came back to shore. Alexandria has a big city feel with a beach town undertone. Things are more relaxed here but traffic is still insane.
Now, this blog is called Boozers without Borders right? Even though it’s Ramadan, and beer is harder to find and comparatively more expensive in Egypt, we decided to embrace the laissez-faire attitude and spend a lazy afternoon in a restaurant. Walked to find a recommended and slightly cachet-ed spot called “Elite” and had our first (and second) Stella. After having our table moved to a back room in order to avoid flaunting our blatant Ramadan rebellion, I ordered a Greek salad with AWESOME fresh feta and Annie had a garden salad; though this was really all about the beer. It had a rather generic taste; slightly similar to the Beninoise we’re accustomed to in Benin. That’s not to say we won’t be sampling it again as it is, in fact, the beer of Egypt.
We’ve been wearing the same clothes for days, since we arrived, so it was time for laundry in the hotel sink. Had a little sit-down when full on jet lag compounded with our early morning kicked us hard and we were down for the count until 7 when the fast breaking prayer resonated through our room. All the streets outside our room were closed down and hundreds of people, men apart from women, were praying, going through the prostrations. Incredible to see en masse and we indulged in a bit of guilty-feeling voyeurism from our 8th floor window.
Not wanted to spend our only night in Alex in a hotel room, we headed out to walk the strip. Annie rightly compared it to Michigan Ave in Chicago during Christmas time. People were out in droves! We encountered no other foreigners and had a great time window-shopping; my favorites were the ice cream shops and the bakeries full of sweets. Stopped off to get some coffee and tea and had the chance to people watch, which just isn’t getting old. Families were out, mom and the kids drank sodas while dad smoked his sheesha (a water pipe with flavored tobacco). The atmosphere was jovial though by 10:30 it was time for bed.
Our hotel had been heckling us all day to give them our passports to make photocopies. Knowing people who’ve been victims of identity theft, one even ending up in a Yemen prison, we were slightly reluctant to hand them over. They offered to call the police to register the passports but we said no, it’s really no problem and kept smiling. A few Arabic words (which we butcher terribly) and lots of teeth will go a long way here. No use getting angry as the communication level doesn’t allow for tantrum throwing.
4 days down and 99 left to go. We’re headed back to Cairo on the 8am train (2nd class again folks!) Fingers crossed all goes well at the embassy.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Pyramids, The Sphinx, and Mummies...oh my!
(by Annie) I feel like a character from a storybook right now. I am sitting next to the window of our seventh floor hotel feeling the wind gusts from the Nile River. I could make many stupid analogies or corny phrases to sum it up. But, instead I’ll just say we are here, we are doing it, and this trip rocks.
Today was a day filled with what the outside world sees and thinks of Egypt – Pyramids, The Sphinx, and Mummies…oh my. We got up fairly early – around 6:30 and had a wonderful breakfast received wonderful directions and skipped off into the streets of Cairo again. The difference of Cairo at 7:15 and later in the day is remarkable. I guess the closest comparison would be how a college town gets in the summer. Perhaps some of that is due to the fasting of Ramadan, and perhaps it’s also just that so many people must first get to Cairo.
We hopped on the metro – well organized, easily navigated, and cheap ($0.25) – and then grabbed a taxi to the Giza Pyramids. Here we were dodging in and out of traffic madly, seeing signs indicating we were indeed going the right way. All the sudden, bam, pyramids amidst the hustle and bustle of Cairo erupted a wonder of the world. We fairly easily received tickets opting only to see the outsides and not the inside. It was hot enough and frankly I have been in my own crawl space enough to have an idea of what it feels like. We spent a good hour taking pictures and climbing the peaks and valleys. Cairo is obviously an oasis in the dessert and the pyramids aptly sit on the top of one of the largest hills overlooking all of Cairo. In between taking in the scenes we just sat in the shade and made fun of the other tourists. I know, I know, we too are tourists, but I still maintain that we are totally cooler than some half naked German asking if the pyramids really are ancient. Enough said.
After the pyramids we took our same route home and found a lovely hole in the wall place to have some heavenly humus, veggies, and chicken. Perhaps this has been the only real chore. Little mini-restaurants do not abound and there is not a makeshift restaurant with a bench to sit on under every shady tree. Oh Benin, how we miss you.
We paid and then went off to the Egyptian Museum. It’s a wonderfully outdated museum. I know an oxymoran, but that is the simplest way to describe it. There was Egyptian artifact after artifact, you could even see the tons of storage they had. Just too small a space or a museum that maybe just simply needs to have a yard sale. Hey, there are other museums, right? I loved looking at the ancient manuscripts, the statues, and even the mummies. Pretty much the Egyptians figured out how to do it all and proudly displayed it for all to see. Good news is hopefully by 2013 a HUGE 500 million dollar museum will be built near the pyramids. Allowing more space and greater care to be given to some of worlds most precious treasures. Good Luck, Egypt.
After a long day, we came back, put our feet up and then grabbed dinner. We ate fruit and liver sandwiches, wonderful, only made better that we had them on the roof of our hotel.
Pictures are up, enjoy, and we have three days down and 100 left to go. Tomorrow we are off to Alexandria and then back down to Cairo.
Today was a day filled with what the outside world sees and thinks of Egypt – Pyramids, The Sphinx, and Mummies…oh my. We got up fairly early – around 6:30 and had a wonderful breakfast received wonderful directions and skipped off into the streets of Cairo again. The difference of Cairo at 7:15 and later in the day is remarkable. I guess the closest comparison would be how a college town gets in the summer. Perhaps some of that is due to the fasting of Ramadan, and perhaps it’s also just that so many people must first get to Cairo.
We hopped on the metro – well organized, easily navigated, and cheap ($0.25) – and then grabbed a taxi to the Giza Pyramids. Here we were dodging in and out of traffic madly, seeing signs indicating we were indeed going the right way. All the sudden, bam, pyramids amidst the hustle and bustle of Cairo erupted a wonder of the world. We fairly easily received tickets opting only to see the outsides and not the inside. It was hot enough and frankly I have been in my own crawl space enough to have an idea of what it feels like. We spent a good hour taking pictures and climbing the peaks and valleys. Cairo is obviously an oasis in the dessert and the pyramids aptly sit on the top of one of the largest hills overlooking all of Cairo. In between taking in the scenes we just sat in the shade and made fun of the other tourists. I know, I know, we too are tourists, but I still maintain that we are totally cooler than some half naked German asking if the pyramids really are ancient. Enough said.
After the pyramids we took our same route home and found a lovely hole in the wall place to have some heavenly humus, veggies, and chicken. Perhaps this has been the only real chore. Little mini-restaurants do not abound and there is not a makeshift restaurant with a bench to sit on under every shady tree. Oh Benin, how we miss you.
We paid and then went off to the Egyptian Museum. It’s a wonderfully outdated museum. I know an oxymoran, but that is the simplest way to describe it. There was Egyptian artifact after artifact, you could even see the tons of storage they had. Just too small a space or a museum that maybe just simply needs to have a yard sale. Hey, there are other museums, right? I loved looking at the ancient manuscripts, the statues, and even the mummies. Pretty much the Egyptians figured out how to do it all and proudly displayed it for all to see. Good news is hopefully by 2013 a HUGE 500 million dollar museum will be built near the pyramids. Allowing more space and greater care to be given to some of worlds most precious treasures. Good Luck, Egypt.
After a long day, we came back, put our feet up and then grabbed dinner. We ate fruit and liver sandwiches, wonderful, only made better that we had them on the roof of our hotel.
Pictures are up, enjoy, and we have three days down and 100 left to go. Tomorrow we are off to Alexandria and then back down to Cairo.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
ANNNNNNNNNd we're here!
(by Miller) Annie landed in Cairo at 1:05am. Did she take a nap as expected? No! That girl made friends with everyone in the airport and somehow secured me a visa...without any paperwork and it was the usual $15 USD price....I guess that's what can happen when you linger around in the wee hours of the morning in Cairo. The guys kept making fun of her saying she really didn't have a friend coming but just didn't want to pay for a night in a hotel, though that's not a totally insane assumption, nor are we above that. I spent an entire day at the Accra airport as I had absolutely nothing to do that wouldn't involve serious risk of not making my 10:30 pm flight. Did some excellent people watching and enjoyed a last few castle milk stouts. Finally, boarding was called around 7 and I headed to the gate, no problem. Annie meanwhile, was spending a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam, seeing the sights; riverboats, Dam Square, the Sex museum (which is interesting, I don't care what anyone says) We've started a Picasa Photo album but who knows when we'll figure out how to hook it to the blog...anyways. I landed around 6:15 and after a huge bear hug, she handed me the visa, customs glued it in, upside-down, and we shared a taxi to the hotel with some Australian guy who let the driver rip him off 5 lbs. (a US dollar is trading right now at about 5.4 Egyptian lbs. so we're working on a 5-1 ratio), without a fight. Thankfully, Benin has equipped us with the bargaining skills of a gypsy and we had no problem, even paid him in USD as we hadn't exchanged any pounds yet.
Our hotel, the Sara Inn Hostel, was supposed to pick us up but we didn't see anyone so we just showed up at an abandoned looking building. After hiking up and down 5 flights of stairs, we saw a sign that said "Sara Inn, 7th floor" -awesome. Training for Nepal right? Hiked all the way back up, were greeted by the super nice reception guy, Ahmad, and he let us check in a full 5 hours early as it was only 7:15 by this point (and starting tomorrow we get free lentil and tea breakfast!). Cairo is a great looking city. People may say it's dirty but hey, it's a city. The people were a little aggressive off the plane, trying to get us in their own taxi but really, minimal problems. There are some beautiful buildings here and lots of narrow alleyways to wander down...or speed your car through. Traffic lives up to its reputation of madness on wheels and it's been our crossing policy to stand behind someone from around here and hustle after them as fast as we can. There are government crossing guards (i'm sure they have a more impressive title than that) and they're effective most of the time. After unloading our packs in the dorm and checking our emails on the FREE WiFi, we headed out to do some errands.
Changing money, applying for Indian visas, and eating. The Indian Embassy initially said "no international visas", then asked us what nationality and "American" was the magic word. These are some pricey visas! About $75 and the most expensive of the trip. We can't go drop off our passports for processing until Wednesday so it's going to cut a day off our Alexandria trip, not too grave as we've got some flex time to play with if we need to go back. Things open late here, possibly due to Ramadan, so at 9:15 when we walked out of the embassy, people were just rolling up their storefronts. Found a money change place, the rates are pretty much the same everywhere, not like the black market in Benin where it's far more lucrative to go to the Nigerians on the street corner. Changed enough to hopefully last us the majority of the Egypt stay and went in search of a food smelling hole in the wall we'd seen earlier. Found it and after the guy sat us down and we asked what there was to eat, he said 5,6,or 7 lbs. Meaning the price, so clearly there was only one option on the menu. Fine by us, we'll take the 6lb plate. He brought us each a heaping plate of steaming rice and macaroni with fresh tomato sauce, with spice, lemon oil, and spiced salt on the table. Don't have any idea what it's called, even after we asked him a few times. Must find food like this again! It was incredible, and Annie couldn't even finish. That's ok, they have doggy bags in Cairo! Now the environmental ramifications can't be great but man, it was nice to not feel guilty about leaving a half eaten dish, and have a snack for later!
After lunch, we headed to see the Museum of Modern Art, to get there we had to cross the Nile. Yup, DA Nile, took some pics, dodged more traffic, and walked the bridge that was book-ended by huge lion statues. We eventually found the MoMA, in the same complex as the Cairo Opera house, and classical music was piped throughout. It's a free museum, with all Egyptian artists. Really impressive and a shame we don't read Arabic as all the titles were written in it. All the same we saw a huge range of mediums, oil, charcoal, ink, clay, film, all pretty cool. Spent an hour or so and closed it down at 1:30. Things close early, also probably due to Ramadan, but we'd saved the markets for the end of the day which never stop. Walked back to the hostel and washed our faces and feet of grime. Annie caved in to a nap and after big intentions of doing a little planning, I too, passed out with Lonely Planet on my face. We woke up around 4 and decided to head back out. We'd slept during the hottest couple of hours so it was probably for the best. Took a taxi to Old Cairo, the market called Khan al-Kalili, in the old Islamic section. As we were walking out, people were setting up huge tables in preparation of the nightly fast breaking meal. Food was starting to cook and it smelled amazing, like lamb kebobs!
The taxi took us to the market and lo-we'd found the other tourists! Earlier, we'd seen bus after big-ass tourist bus lining the banks of the Nile, millions of old folks in big hats and bad shorts were boarding a boat with a live band playing. Never, never,never we promised ourselves. We understand the security of a tour like that but wow, it just didn't look like any fun. The crowd in Old Cairo was a bit younger and all the more fleshier. I felt scandalous wearing capri pants and a t-shirt. Women's knees kept staring us down as did their jiggling cleavage. What makes that ok? The women here in Egypt are beautiful, also always modestly covered, most with the hijab headscarf. RIght or wrong by anyone's count, that doesn't really matter for us, it's the way it is here and it just makes things so much easier to respect it rather than charge in with our breasts all high and mighty - literally. We walked down a strip of wares hawkers, so much stuff! Hookah pipes (called sheesha), belly dancing outfits, tshirts and other tourist stuff, clothing, scarves, and perfume and spice shops which smelled so good we were lured into our fair share. You can get perfume mixed and buy your own little glass bottle. Annie and I grabbed scarves in case we visit a mosque or two and sat down to some turkish coffee and mint tea. Bought fresh pita off a little boy's head for 5lbs and walked back to the hotel. The desk guy had changed and it was an older man, Asim, who is a sweat-heart! He read our palms, eerily on target and we talked about the oasis (a literal desert watering hole) he grew up in. We showered and are headed to bed shortly.
Tomorrow brings our first real encounter with public transportation, the pyramids of Giza, and the Sphynx. We kept saying all day, "I can't believe we're actually doing this!" What started as a drunken rant and poking pins into a map has flowered into reality. 2 days down, 103 to go and we're just picking up steam.
Our hotel, the Sara Inn Hostel, was supposed to pick us up but we didn't see anyone so we just showed up at an abandoned looking building. After hiking up and down 5 flights of stairs, we saw a sign that said "Sara Inn, 7th floor" -awesome. Training for Nepal right? Hiked all the way back up, were greeted by the super nice reception guy, Ahmad, and he let us check in a full 5 hours early as it was only 7:15 by this point (and starting tomorrow we get free lentil and tea breakfast!). Cairo is a great looking city. People may say it's dirty but hey, it's a city. The people were a little aggressive off the plane, trying to get us in their own taxi but really, minimal problems. There are some beautiful buildings here and lots of narrow alleyways to wander down...or speed your car through. Traffic lives up to its reputation of madness on wheels and it's been our crossing policy to stand behind someone from around here and hustle after them as fast as we can. There are government crossing guards (i'm sure they have a more impressive title than that) and they're effective most of the time. After unloading our packs in the dorm and checking our emails on the FREE WiFi, we headed out to do some errands.
Changing money, applying for Indian visas, and eating. The Indian Embassy initially said "no international visas", then asked us what nationality and "American" was the magic word. These are some pricey visas! About $75 and the most expensive of the trip. We can't go drop off our passports for processing until Wednesday so it's going to cut a day off our Alexandria trip, not too grave as we've got some flex time to play with if we need to go back. Things open late here, possibly due to Ramadan, so at 9:15 when we walked out of the embassy, people were just rolling up their storefronts. Found a money change place, the rates are pretty much the same everywhere, not like the black market in Benin where it's far more lucrative to go to the Nigerians on the street corner. Changed enough to hopefully last us the majority of the Egypt stay and went in search of a food smelling hole in the wall we'd seen earlier. Found it and after the guy sat us down and we asked what there was to eat, he said 5,6,or 7 lbs. Meaning the price, so clearly there was only one option on the menu. Fine by us, we'll take the 6lb plate. He brought us each a heaping plate of steaming rice and macaroni with fresh tomato sauce, with spice, lemon oil, and spiced salt on the table. Don't have any idea what it's called, even after we asked him a few times. Must find food like this again! It was incredible, and Annie couldn't even finish. That's ok, they have doggy bags in Cairo! Now the environmental ramifications can't be great but man, it was nice to not feel guilty about leaving a half eaten dish, and have a snack for later!
After lunch, we headed to see the Museum of Modern Art, to get there we had to cross the Nile. Yup, DA Nile, took some pics, dodged more traffic, and walked the bridge that was book-ended by huge lion statues. We eventually found the MoMA, in the same complex as the Cairo Opera house, and classical music was piped throughout. It's a free museum, with all Egyptian artists. Really impressive and a shame we don't read Arabic as all the titles were written in it. All the same we saw a huge range of mediums, oil, charcoal, ink, clay, film, all pretty cool. Spent an hour or so and closed it down at 1:30. Things close early, also probably due to Ramadan, but we'd saved the markets for the end of the day which never stop. Walked back to the hostel and washed our faces and feet of grime. Annie caved in to a nap and after big intentions of doing a little planning, I too, passed out with Lonely Planet on my face. We woke up around 4 and decided to head back out. We'd slept during the hottest couple of hours so it was probably for the best. Took a taxi to Old Cairo, the market called Khan al-Kalili, in the old Islamic section. As we were walking out, people were setting up huge tables in preparation of the nightly fast breaking meal. Food was starting to cook and it smelled amazing, like lamb kebobs!
The taxi took us to the market and lo-we'd found the other tourists! Earlier, we'd seen bus after big-ass tourist bus lining the banks of the Nile, millions of old folks in big hats and bad shorts were boarding a boat with a live band playing. Never, never,never we promised ourselves. We understand the security of a tour like that but wow, it just didn't look like any fun. The crowd in Old Cairo was a bit younger and all the more fleshier. I felt scandalous wearing capri pants and a t-shirt. Women's knees kept staring us down as did their jiggling cleavage. What makes that ok? The women here in Egypt are beautiful, also always modestly covered, most with the hijab headscarf. RIght or wrong by anyone's count, that doesn't really matter for us, it's the way it is here and it just makes things so much easier to respect it rather than charge in with our breasts all high and mighty - literally. We walked down a strip of wares hawkers, so much stuff! Hookah pipes (called sheesha), belly dancing outfits, tshirts and other tourist stuff, clothing, scarves, and perfume and spice shops which smelled so good we were lured into our fair share. You can get perfume mixed and buy your own little glass bottle. Annie and I grabbed scarves in case we visit a mosque or two and sat down to some turkish coffee and mint tea. Bought fresh pita off a little boy's head for 5lbs and walked back to the hotel. The desk guy had changed and it was an older man, Asim, who is a sweat-heart! He read our palms, eerily on target and we talked about the oasis (a literal desert watering hole) he grew up in. We showered and are headed to bed shortly.
Tomorrow brings our first real encounter with public transportation, the pyramids of Giza, and the Sphynx. We kept saying all day, "I can't believe we're actually doing this!" What started as a drunken rant and poking pins into a map has flowered into reality. 2 days down, 103 to go and we're just picking up steam.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
and so it begins
Ok, still not in egypt but have had a lovely time since leaving Cotonou. Annie left today and has a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam until flying into Cairo at 1am and will promptly find my gate and pass out with a sign saying wake me at 6am until I get there, inshallah (god willing). here's a quick rundown on what has gone on thus far. I, Rachael Miller, am a returned peace corps volunteer (RPCV)!!! As of September 11, I signed my papers, handed back my moto helmet and left the bureau in Cotonou. That week was full of report writing, meetings, and general running around, compounded with last minute trip stuff like getting visas for Togo and Ghana. Oddly, there were no snags and paperwork cleared smoothly. Things also went well at the banks where I had to cash my Peace Corps checks, I LOVE when things work! So, armed with my passport full of documentation, cash in pocket, and clean intestines, I caught a taxi to the border. I guess the stars were perfectly aligned because I had to go Cotonou to Togo border; border to Lome (Togolese capital), Lome to Ghana border, border to Accra (Ghanaian capital). I never waited more than 10 minutes for my car to leave and didn't have to kill anyone over a price discussion. Upon arrival in Accra, where I vacationed last year, I caught a taxi to the OSU district to try and find the Salvation Army where we stayed last time. After checking out other hotel rates, upwards of $20 a night, I was REALLY trying to find the hostel, which is $6 a bed and much more my style; no running water and other dirty travelers. Walked myself all around for at least 45 minutes and just as the skin was tearing off my feet, sweet victory! Snagged the last bed in a dorm and passed out for an hour or so. There were a ton of other folks around but decided to head out for a solo dinner, also in search of a large Castle Milk Stout, quite possibly the best beer in West Africa. Walked the strip for awhile, found a nice open air bar with bumping music (which would deter unwanted conversation), ordered a plate of ocean fish and banku (the Ghanaian akassa but more sour and stickier), and had a lovely date with my Stout. Some kid did try and sit to chat as the social sharks are wont to do in the tourist areas. Said twice I just couldn't hear him and didn't want to talk and spaced out as he continued to sit at my table and stare...at me. Oh Benin, how you've hardened my soul. Walked home, which took me about and hour as I got slightly turned around in the back roads but never felt in danger. Accra is a large capital city with it's fair share of crime but I really do feel safe here, more so than in Cotonou where I've never had a problem either. Met two roomies back at the ranch, German and Swiss ladies who were super nice and chatty. They're in Ghana for a few months doing a mini-Peace Corps-esque thing. The door opened and low and behold, Peace Corps Benin folk! Two psl-20-ers on their way back to Benin. It was pretty funny as it really confused the other two roommates. We all passed out early and had a lazy morning of packing and re-packing. Annie and I decided to take packs the size of book bags in the hopes of avoiding checking luggage. So far so good and it has forced me to shed about a third of my load already. I have no idea how Annie is bringing her hiking boots along, I'm hoping I'll be able to find a used pair in Nepal to wear for the trek and then give away. Ounces equal pounds, pounds equal pain! Still trying to adapt to the thought that I am not going back to Guinagourou and don't really need to consume as many croissants and cups of coffee as possible because, for the most part, those things will be accessible from now on. As are internet hook-up, electricity and running water. Bizarre. I'm off to find a kente cloth that will double as a scarf in colder climates and savor another Stout or two before I get on the plane around 10 tonight. Also going to visit the Koala supermarket to grab some snacks for Annie and I as we will be traveling in the land of Ramadan and rather than eat at the expensive tourist spots( allegedly, the only food joints open during the day during the fast), we're hoping to get fresh foods from the market and do it on the cheap. Looking forward to the 4am call to prayer and the sunset breaking of fast.
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