"It's good shit"

Today I got up before sunrise.
Why? Because I wanted to be ready to head out to the pyramids ahead of traffic, tour buses and heat.

I saw the sun rise above Cairo while having breakfast, an amazing sight 32 storeys above ground.

Got a cab-driver that spoke constantly for the 30 or so minutes it took to get to the Giza Plateau. He spoke of the weather, of countries he wished to visit, of me not having any hair(!), of his family, of the traffic, of the pyramids, of Cairo, of ... Like I said, he wasn't silent for a second unless when I answered his questions. Funny fellow though, and he got me there without incidents - traffic is bad, but not worse than Bangalore...

I was early, as planned. I even, out of chance not skill, got in the right line for the tickets for Cheops. Hah! First in line! Woho! Rejoice of the small things in life, yes...
Then over to the next ticket booth to get the entry ticket for the area itself. Of course they are not sold in the same line. One line for each ticket.

Then through security; but why they call it security is beyond me. I went bleeping through the metal detector, the guard just looked lazily at me and when I stopped to be "patted down" he just waved me onwards, slightly irritated that I for a second thought that the beep from the machine would render him to actually do something. Ah well. Out on the plateau I go.

Ok. So. There they are. The pyramids.
It was... Awe striking. Finally. The pyramids. The last of the ancient seven wonders of the world.

Cheops is huge! It is an intimidatingly large pile of stones...
And after gazing at the marvelous amounts of stones for a while I went up the few steps to enter the pyramid.

Most guide books and guides will tell you that "there isn't much to see", "it is over rated", "expensive and dull". I disagree.
OK, so there are no drawings on the walls, no colour, nothing much. But climbing up those stairs towards the burial chamber is well worth the EGP100. The slightly claustrophobic feeling when the tunnel narrows. The feeling of time. The weight of the stone above you. The steep steps through the more open part of the ascension. And then the chamber. Dark and massive. I had to do a little chanting, just to hear the bass-tones reverberate through the stone. I closed my eyes for a while and imagined it thousands of years ago.
And then I remembered: Aleister Crowley spent a night doing rituals in here. And if you are familiar with mr Crowley's rites you can be certain there was sex involved. Oh...my... Did I just touch the wall of where they might have... No no no! Don't complete that thought. Weird man indeed, but I can see the attraction of doing it in an old tomb. That's one purity score few can answer yes to... ;-)

The descent was harder, as you cannot walk upright and will have to keep a look out for people coming the other way, you have a really funny way of getting down again. Good thing I've been doing my workout, it put some strain on the thighs...

Headed out of the pyramid and took a left trun around it. And yes, of course, there they were. The camel owners that want you to "only sit on the camel, no ride". Yeah, right. And the minute you sit down on the camel it will rise up and you are two meters above ground and most people don't jump down from that height.
Not fooling me.

But I did allow his son to take a picture of me _beside_ the camel. The man sat down on the camel and as the boy was taking a picture he asked:
- Do you smoke? *holding up a cigarette*
- No I don't.
- *smug smile* But this is hashish...
- *smile* Still don't smoke.
- *big grin* It is good shit!
...

I gave them some bakeesh and continued towards the other pyramids.

I must say the Sphinx was a little bit of a disappointment. Yes I knew it would be smaller than you think. But still... And they had closed the gates so that you couldn't get up close to it. Ah well. It was still a sight to see.

Pyramids and the Sphinx. My travel is complete...

Yes yes, I have visited the Egyptian Museum as well. Looked at the treasures, the mummies, the gold, the sarcophagus, the statues, the tomb entrances, etc. etc.. I like museums, sure, but I would much rather see the relics in their natural places. It gives me so much more to see them where they belong instead of on display completely out of context...

Now I will rest a while and then I will try to do some shopping. I must find something containing alcohol to bring back home. It is a tradition.

Perhaps it's time to play the lottery?

I arrived at my hotel in Cairo and was greeted with: Welcome. You have been upgraded to the executive floor. Please take the elevator to floor 26 and check-in at the executive reception.

OK. This is pretty standard. Since I'm a gold-card member of the hotel loyalty program I'm used to being upgraded.

Got up to the executive floor. Was greeted with the familiar "Welcome home" (yup, "your home away from home" you know...) and then it started to go wrong.
- We have you booked for two nights at the rate of $X. Would you like to pay now or at check out?
- Huh? It is supposed to be pre-paid.
*receptionist types and clicks and types and clicks*
- No. We have not charged your credit card.
- Is there an internet connection I can use to verify this?
- Yes of course. *shows me to the computer*
*my turn to type and click and type and click*
- Hm. See. Here is the booking.
*shows the reservation and it clearly states "advance payment"*
- Ah. I can see. Let me double check.
*receptionist double checks*
- Sorry sir, but no. According to our system we have not charged your credit card.
- OK. Let me check the credit card company as well.
*checks the online transaction log for one of my cards*
- Hm. Looks as if your right. No transaction has been made. Sorry for the confusion.
- No problem sir, sometimes we are unable to contact the credit card company when you do the booking due to some technical issues.
*clicks and types and clicks and types*
- Again, welcome home sir. Since you are a gold member I have upgraded you to a suite [...].

I kept a straight face. I'd already been upgraded once, I had only booked a "standard room". Now I was being upgraded again, from "Executive room" to "Executive Suite".

I can't complain. I've got a nice lounge area with a comfortable sofa, a table to sit and write at (trying to type up some of the trip so far) and a small balcony with a view of the city.
Sometimes it's great to be me...

But now I'm heading out for some city life and trying to find something to eat.

I just had to...

Yesterday evening, when going for dinner, my whole body stopped and screamed at me: Not another Egypt dinner!

I just couldn't bring myself to eat the local cuisine for another night straight...

I looked around for options, and since I couldn't find any asian restaurants I settled for the Sports Bar close by the hotel. Burger! Meat!

Aaaah. That was delicious. But this is the first time abroad that I've had to fall back to "western style" food. That should tell you a little about what I think of the Egyptian cuisine... Perhaps Cairo will have better tasting food, but here in Hurghada (and in Luxor for that matter) the food is bland. Not much of anything, and if there is any spices at all there is usually just one that gets through. And seasoning a dish with just one spice is like trying to compose a tune using just one note - it just doesn't cut it.

So I had this huge cheesburger with peppers, tabasco, onions, salad and some classic american hamburger dressing. The tastes exploded in my mouth! Mmmm.
Normally a burger is just a burger, not a particularly culinary piece of food. But after a week on the Egyptian diet it tasted like heaven...

A good thing about sports bars is that they have a less strict atmosphere. People start to chat to eachother and you are not alone unless you really really want to.
So I spent the evening in the company of a couple of Russians, Ukrianians and Italians; drinking local beer and talking about absolutely nothing important at all. It was a nice evening.

Today I'm wrapping up the beach life of the vacation, tomorrow morning I head for Cairo. Pyramids and bustling city life...

Sand and speed

Today I went quad-biking in the desert.
Fun, fun, fun!
And oh so hot...

Left the camera at the hotel, didn't want to risk it.
Got to see some amazing desert landscape, and got to drive like a maniac over the soft dunes. I only fliped over once, but don't worry; I didn't injure myself in any way (except for maybe my male ego, if I have such a thing *grin*).

Tomorrow is my last day of relaxation in the sun and sea, I then head up to Cairo for some big city life and pyramid gazing on the last days of my journey.

Now I am in a desperate need of a shower to get the sand out of all the places where there should be no sand...

Luxor - how to see it all in a few hours...

So, let's put that trip into words.

The day started at 04:15 when my alarm and wakeup call started at the exact same second. Wouha! Dizzy and confused I turned of the alarm first then tended to the angrily beeping phone.
Got up and got ready. The tour guide had told me to be fifteen minutes early, "just in case", and I sure didn't want to miss the bus.

So at 4:45 I was waiting outside my hotel. ...at 05:30 the bus showed up. *grmbl*
Well well, I was awake at least. We had a couple of more stops along the way to pick up other people. One of the stops was in Safaga where three young (20-something) Russian girls got on. One of them looked sooooo tired. She dragged herself onto the bus and slumped down in one of the seats, curled into a ball and went blank. Later turned out that she was having a hell of a hangover. Heh. Poor thing, she did not enjoy the scorching sun at mid day... I gave her a couple of Resorb (salt/mineral restorer, useful when lost a lot of water) and two Alvedon (painkiller) later, and at the end of the day she started to look OK. I wouldn't want to have been in her shoes yesterday...

Anyway; while most people seemed to sleep in their seats (yes, there was snoring) I got to see a beautiful sunrise in the desert. Breathtaking. I truly love the deserts.

As the trip went along the guide came walking through the bus to introduce himself and tell us about the sights to come, he started talking Russian to me. I looked like a living questionmark and asked him to repeat in English...

"Why are you on a tour with Russians? You live in Russia? Study Russian?"
None of the above. He was very helpful and friendly, came over every now and then throughout the trip and repeated some of what he had told the others over the speakers earlier. Nice man, at some times during the day it was like having a personal guide. Yes, I tipped him good.

Enough of the busride...
We started with the temples at Karnak - Temple of Amun and of Mut.
Woh... Impressive.
You feel small and humle as you walk in through what is left of the gigantic walls. The size of everything is huge. I don't think the Egyptians at that time understood the concept of small or plain... Everything is in symmetry, everything is full of details everything is large. Unlike Angkor the Egyptian ruins still carry some of the paint on the stones. You can see some of the colours that must have been sparkling at the time.

I cannot help but compare the wonder and size of it with Angkor. And I have to say that Angkor feels larger. The temple of Amun is supposed to be the largest religious building ever made, but in my mind Angkor Wat feels grander. Perhaps it is the courtyards of Angkor Wat that tricks me into this, for the temple itself is probably smaller. Anyways, back to Egypt...

I was standing in the alley of pillars looking down at the main temple area, and I felt the wings of history. It is fantastic to be able to travel to these places, to see the remains of the greatest societies of time. What a sight this must have been back then...

Walked around for about half an hour after the tour, taking photos and soaking up history. Two of the Russians from the trip came over and wanted me to help take their picture while having the avenue of sphinxes in the background. We got to talking and it turned out they wokred in a circus. Cool. The man had a wild, thick mustache with curls. He looked like something out of an old Russian novel...

Back to stone and temples.
Luxor Temple. I can see why most people visit this temple in the evening. It has a spectacular light setting. During the day, it fades in comparsion to the Temple of Amun. Never the less it is an amazing building. These huge slabs of stone turned in to something more than just dead weight. How many lifes were spilled to achive these wonders? How many bodies broken? All to satisfy the greed of a ruler, in the name of a god... But they are wonderful, regardless of reason and price, wonderful.

Of course the bus had to stop by some tourist-trap shops as well. There were two stops along the way: one an alabaster shop and one a papyrus shop. I know that they live of this, I know that tourism is their main income, but I still cannot bring myself to buy this stuff... I thought this "krims-krams" (lacking the english word here, please enlighten me if you know it) was something that went out of fashion with our parents' generation. Who puts this on their shelfs/walls at home today? Not me at least...

After a lunch (first time I've had lunch since I got here, breakfast and dinner is more than enough in a hot climate) we went on a short Nile cruise; taking us from the east side to the west side of the river. And now time for some tombs...

I like the word "tomb". It feels so...chilling, intimidating and doomsdayish. :-)
But it really isn't. At least not when the tombs are lit and put in order for tourists to walk easily in... I would have given anything to be part of that first team of historians/adventurers who opened the first tomb (Tutankhamun's, smallest and least impressive of them all, but still - it was the first and it was full of riches, which is why it is so widely known). The excitement, the adrenalin, the anxiety, the fear of the unknown... Aaah...

We started the tour of the west bank with Deir al-Bahir - the (memorial) temple of Hatshepsut. What a sight! I cannot describe this in words... The 300m high limestone cliffs that acts as a backdrop to this temple makes it absolutely awe inspiring. The scorching heat of the early afternoon sun and the climb up the stairs sure helped in taking my breath away, but the sight...

After Deir al-Bahir it was time for the Valley of the Kings and some tombs.
The tombs are spectacular! The carvings and paintings, the sarcophagus (not ramaining in all of them, but in some) the closeness to it all. The wight of the stone cliff above can almost be felt as you descend down the corridior. The tombs are well lit now, probably taking away some of their mysitque. In here the colours of on the walls are still present, the writings are better preserved than those in the open air temples. You start to get a feel for the vivid colours that once must have been the everyday of the old Egyptian society, such a contrast to the beige desert...

Walked around a few of the tombs (three: Ramses IV, Ramses IX, Ramses VI). The one of Tutankhamun was closed, otherwise I'd have visited it, regardless of how "small and insignificant" (according to our guide) it/he was.

I would have liked more time to walk around the Valley of Kings, but unfortunately I had to stick to the group in order to catch the ride home.

The ride home was uneventful. I watched the sun set over the desert cliffs as we drove back, and thought of ancient times. Came back to the hotel at around 10pm, tired but happy and full of new impressions.

Woke up early today, did a short workout, had some breakfast and is now digesting yesterday's trip. I will spend most of the day just relaxing and letting the thoughts wander free, formeb by the impressions of ancient ruins.

Short update

Back from Luxor.
Saw the temples at Karnak, the Luxor Temple, and a bunch of tombs at The Valley of the Kings.

It was scorching hot. I consumed around 5 liters of water, and I'm still working on re-hydrating myself (light headache, dry lips, light dizziness)... *downs another bottle of water*

The guide did speak Russian, all others spoke Russian. I did not...
My Russian vocabulary is limited to "da, niet, nastarovije, da svedanya, spasiba" (or how ever it is transcribed). You get quite far on that. :-)
But anyways, the guide did some "speed walkthrough" in english while we walked between the temples/tombs and I did some quick reading in the Lonely Planet on each temple/tomb we approached.

Oh. And I must still say that I enjoy traveling with Russians when abroad. They are so...not Swedish...

But sleep is cathing up with me and I really need a shower before I fall flat on the bed and everything turns dark. I'll post some more tomorrow or so.

Evening for you is not evening for me

Tried to buy some stamps yesterday, but the bookshop was out of stamps and the owner told me to "come back tomorrow evening".

Evening for me has arrived, so I went over there at about 19:30.
He just smiled as I entered and said "I told you come back in evening".

I had to inquire as to when 'evening' was for him - "Ten thirty".

Ehm. Ok. That is a bit later than evening for me, late evening or even night. Ah well. I have to go to bed early tonight (have a trip to Luxor tomorrow, have to be on a bus at 05:00) so I guess I'll have to postpone getting stamps for a couple of days.

Otherwise not much to report on today's activities. More sun, more realxing, more reading, more working out, more warm salty water, more of everything...

Tomorrow will probably be post-less as the Luxor-trip will take the entire day and I'll probably be too tired to post when I get back to the hotel.

Now time for kebab!

Day 2

Today felt easier. The heat didn't feel as bad as yesterday, but the thermometer showed roughly the same figure as yesterday (yes, I am looking at the figures for the correct city today ;-P ). Means I am slowly adapting to the climate. I also spent more time in the sun during morning and afternoon.

Found the hotel gym today. Not much of a gym though... "Due to renovations we have moved the gym to...". Ah. And the temporary place for the gym is approximately one third of the original room, but still with all the equipment - crowded...

The bike was OK, not great but not the worst I've used, and the treadmill was not too badly worn. The guy at the gym "reception" (it's a chair for now, I guess normally he has a desk) looked surprised to see anyone turn up at 06:30 (that's when they open, I had been up for half an hour by then and breakfast isn't served un till 06:30 either) and he also had to run and get water and towels since none of that was in place... Friendly fellow, but he tried to talk to me while I was biking, which meant it was not so much a conversation as a monologue on his part. Well well, he stopped after a while and left, I prefer working out to music not conversation...

Has spent most of the day reading up on Luxor, and Valley of the Kings. Went to a market near by to try to find some "genuine Egyptian stuff". Hm. Well. I guess I'll have to visit more markets, didn't find much of interest and no I didn't find any strange liqour to bring back home (believe me, you don't want me to bring the local wine!). Perhaps I'll just settle for some weird looking spices later on.

The sun is setting and I'm wrapping this day up. Going for dinner soon and perhaps a drink down at the marina after that. I think I've reached "vacation mode" now, stress and high tempo purged from the system, so tomorrow I'll be ready to start filling the days with more activity.

Day 1

Spent most of the day in the shade, reading and winding down.

Turns out I checked the temperature for the wrong city. I thought it was around 30°C in the shade; turned out it was close to 40°C! Wouha... No wonder I felt warm...

I've done my first tasting of the local food and wine tonight. It was... Interesting.
I had some fish dish which can best be described as:
1. Drag a net through the water.
2. Pick up whatever gets stuck in the net.
3. Chop the ingredients from "2" in to small pieces so that it is impossible to tell what it actually is.
4. Add seasoning.
5. Fry.
6. Mix with rice and vegetables, and serve with some yoghurt and bread.

Not bad. Not bad at all. But I haven't got a clue what seafood was actually in that dish.
The wine was... Not that good. Too sweet and fruity and too warm. But what can you expect from a wine called "Pharaoh"...

On my way back to my suite (it feels nice saying that, taste it - suite, suite, suite), I stopped by the concierge and checked how to get to Luxor. Turned out it wasn't that easy if it was just going to be me; but I'm always prepared for a little adventure! The tour agency available from the hotel is booked solid with... Wait for it... Wait for it... Russian guided tours. I was welcome to join in on one of their tours, but if I wanted an English speaking guide I had to pay extra.

Tsss... Of course I want to join in! And no I do not need a guide who speaks English. And no I do not know a single sentence in Russian. :-D
I have my Lonely Planet (the one on Egypt, in hardcopy), Wikitravel, Wikipedia, Theban Mapping Project and two days to read up on the Luxor area. It will be just fine. As long as I can walk around they area, seeing the temples and take some photos I'll be fine, the only thing I need for others to provide is the bus ride there and back again.

I leave for Luxor on Monday morning, it was the first available slot, which means that I have two more days of relaxation prior to actually doing some sightseeing.

Now it is time for bed. Tomorrow I'll inspect the gym and hopefully there is a good bike...

Arrived

All flights were uneventful, which is a good thing when it comes to flights.

Arrived at my hotel around 01:00 local time. Checked-in and got upgraded to a suite. Oh. Nice. Just one thing though: it feels a little overkill to have two bedrooms and a lounge area for just one person... But it sure is nice having two balconies. And the welcome basket was good, a huge plate of fruits.

Funny thing though; even if the suite clearly is designed for 3-4 people, and there are four of each type of towels in the bathroom - there is only one bathrobe. Hmm...

Anyways. Today is the first day of sun and warmth. I slept in, so I got to a late breakfast and missed out on the morning sun, which is a bit nicer to start with.

So. Now, midday - it is hot. Hot, hot, hot. Guess it will take a couple of days getting used to. I'll try to spend as much time outside as possible, avoiding the air con, but I'll keep to the shade today. Which is easier said than done when the sun is high in the sky and there is no roof on the balconies...

I'll spend the rest of the day reading, hydrating, planning the trips to Luxor and Cairo, hydrading some more, reading, hydrating some more and hopefully I'll be ready for some sunshine tomorrow morning. Two days to get used to the heat, then off to see the sights!

Stop-over #1

I'm at Vienna airport. The first stop-over on my journey south.
I had enough time to go out through security and enjoy a cup of coffee just outside the airport, thus actually spending time in Austria instead of in "Airport Land".

Airport Land is a strange country. It is the same, yet different, all over the globe. Every instance of the country is slightly different from all the others, yet they feel familiar and you can always find a bathroom within reach, a cup of coffee and alcoholic beverages regardless of what time it is. Why is it that so many that travels drink alcohol while waiting for their next flight? I prefer to stay sober through out my journeys. Not even a glass of wine to go with the food during the flights. I run on water and power-bars when traveling... Ouch. That sounded so "health freaky". I'm not that guy, I just do not like in-flight food and anything else but water will dehydrate you even more when in the recirculated air...

Ah well. I digress. Just a short update to let you all know that I have started the journey and that the first flight got me to Vienna on time and without incidents.

See you later.

Ready to go

The bag is packed. Everything is accounted for. Taxi is booked to the train-station.
Now all I have to do is wait for tomorrow to arrive and then spend all day on flights or in airports.

Since I fly regular I have two stop-overs: first in Vienna for three hours, then in Cairo for two. And as I will have to be a couple of hours early to the first flight as well, I will spend more hours in airports this trip than in the air. Bummer. Ah well, it will most certainly be worth it. Perhaps I'll update enroute tomorrow. Otherwise I'll drop a note when I've settled in.

A new title on a new time

The blog changes its name and time zone.
What used to be A holiday in Cambodia is now Walk like an Egyptian.

The reason of course being that I will visit Egypt this summer. A short vacation among stacked stones, carved stones, painted stones, crushed stones, ... Eh. Well. Desert and stones will probably be a lot on the agenda.

Anyways...
I leave on the 30^th of July and will be away for twelve days. I have not carved the travel plan in stone (ha ha) yet, but I plan to at least visit the Valley of Kings and the pyramids of Giza. Everything else is to be considered a bonus.

Be seeing you!