After a rather busy and stressful week at work, my Calgary visitors Glenys, Leanne, Donna and I took off for Dubai last night. We arrived tired and hungry at the hotel at about 1:00 a.m. and went in search of something to eat. Ending up at an all-night convenience store, we grabbed some apples, chips, pretzels, cheese and water and headed back to our room for a picnic. Then we crashed until about 10:00 a.m. Had a really horrible breakfast at our hotel and headed over to catch the Hop On-Hop Off bus – a great way to see any city, in my opinion. Because we had a 4:00 reservation to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building) we were rather rushed through the little bit of touring we did. We went to the Jumierah Souq which is a new, modern market built as a replica of an old souq; but it has very new and modern, upscale shops. It is on a canal that had lovely landscaping and boats going by on which you could get a ride – but we didn’t. We had lunch and did a bit of shopping then had to hop a cab to make it to the Burj Khalifa for our appointed time.
The Burj was amazing! The displays at the beginning that describe the building, how it was built, how it compares to other tall buildings, etc. is very well done. You walk through some corridors with other displays and then you get to the elevators which take you up 124 floors in less than 55 seconds– and a very smooth ride it is. The view from the top is similar to the view from the top of any tall building – once I’m over about 50 stories, it’s just darn high as far as I can tell, and the desert sand permeates the air so the visibility was not crystal clear. It was, however, quite amazing to be in this incredible engineering feat.
Since shopping is the national sport of Dubai, the Burj Khalifa is part of the Dubai Mall which is quite a huge mall with lots of high-end stores, restaurants and hotels. We came down the Burj at about 5:30 and went to find a place to have a drink and some appetizers while we waited to see the dancing fountain show - which was amazing! The water spouts in time to music and they sometimes use colored lights as well. It was so pretty! Because it is Friday and the first day of the Eid holiday, it was incredibly busy . . . families were out in force, as were the tourists. It was wonderful to see such a diversity of people out having a good time.
Dubai - November 13, 2010
An early, but bad start to the day, with Leanne having 3 bad things happen to her – all before 9:00 a.m.! We intended to have breakfast at 8:30 and then get on the first tour bus to see the rest of the city, and stop to spend time at some of the sights along the way. We were right on time when bad thing #1 happened at breakfast. Leanne’s bowl of cereal – milk and all – was knocked out of her hand by her backpack as she went to set it down. Then when we got to the bus stop where we had to change buses to a different line, she could not find her bus ticket (disaster #2); and although she had her receipt they would not let her on the bus without her ticket. We all took a cab back to the hotel (thank goodness cabs are cheap in Dubai). Disaster #3 was that she couldn’t find her ticket at all and had to buy another ticket! With three bad luck events behind us, we went on to tour Dubai! Seeing Ski Dubai, complete with softly falling snow, was quite a trip. Wandering through the Gold Souk and the Spice Souk were also highlights. The city is very big and we saw all the new modern wonders as well as the historical parts. Dubai is divided by a canal and we took a cruise on the canal and ended the day with a night tour of the city. The lights make the city look magical. It is the Vegas of the Middle East in many ways – lots of glitz.
Dubai to Cairo – November 14, 2010
Most of today was spent in transit from Dubai to Cairo – complete with a wait of over an hour for our luggage to appear, after which we managed to find our tour guide outside of the airport among the throngs of people waiting for arrivals. Cairo airport is a lovely, modern airport . . . but that seems to be about where it stops in this city. As we made our way to our hotel we were amazed at the liveliness of the city – everyone was out and about with traffic everywhere – all kinds of vehicles – even saw a motorcycle with five people on it (and, of course, not a helmet among them). People just wander into the streets and incredibly enough, do not get run over. I had heard what is obviously an urban legend about a man from the US who tried to cross the street in Cairo and could not get through the traffic. His solution was to hail a cab that took him down the street, did a U-turn, and dropped him in front of the building he was originally trying to get to, immediately across the street from his starting point. I told our tour guide that story and he got quite a laugh.
Cairo – November 15, 2010 and to Aswan overnight
Our day started with a visit to the Egyptian Museum. The crowds were crushing, but our guide ensured we saw all the major antiquities, including the mask of King Tutankhamen. After seeing so many photos, it was so amazing to see it in person. Our guide was a trained Egyptologist who was able to give us a great overview and more information than I will ever remember. Tour guides in Egypt have been to school for three years training to have jobs as tour guides. We spent about 2 ½ hours at the museum and, afterwards visited a great shop where I got myself a gold kartouche necklace (a kartouche is an oblong shape on which a peron’s name is engraved in hierglyphics). Then off we went to lunch and then to the Pyramids, Sphynx (our tour guide said “sphynxis”) and a camel ride. I can honestly say I never in a million years thought I would find myself at the Pyramids – I had to pinch myself. The four of us rode camels (my camel’s name was Mickey Mouse) out to the desert where we had many photos taken with the Pyramids in the background. We next visited a papyrus shop where we saw a demonstration of papyrus being made and saw many beautiful pictures painted on papyrus.
Me leaning on one of theGreat Pyramids
Me on Mickey Mouse w/Great Pyramids in background
After this full day we were off to the train station to take a sleeper train to Aswan. Our drive through the streets of Cairo and Giza was unbelievable. I thought I had seen crazy traffic in Doha and Sri Lanka, but those were nothing compared to Cairo! In the streets of Cairo, along with cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles and vans, you will find horse or donkey drawn carts, and people (mostly young men) riding camels and horses! Everyone is all over the place, too . . . staying in your lane is a completely foreign concept.
Because it was the day before Eid, our guide was fasting. At the stroke of 5:00 she was able to eat. We were in a shop at the time and one of the clerks ran out and brought in some shwarma for those who had been fasting. In preparation for the sacrifice of an animal and feast to follow that is part of the Eid Al Adha celebrations, we saw many cattle and sheep in the sidewalk markets and butcher shops and in trucks on their way to the markets for families to buy for their sacrificial offering.
We waited in the Giza train station for our train to Aswan. It felt like we were in a movie – it was just like those scenes in an Indiana Jones movie. There were people everywhere; it was dirty and littered with garbage; you definitely would not want to use the public toilets there. As the trained pulled in we found our way to our sleeper car and our two rooms which were very tiny making it difficult to get our big suitcases in the space. Soon we were off and shortly after our dinner was served in our room. It was much like a reeeeally bad airline meal. That was about 10:30 p.m. and after dinner, the porter came and made up our beds. The railbed was pretty rough so sleep did not come easily. All in all, if I slept 2 hours it would be a generous guess. The toilets on the train were pretty bad, too.
Me showing off our sink in our sleeper unit on the train
The porter after making upour bunks - isn't he cute?
Tuesday, November 16 - Aswan
Our porter saw that we were up and about, and brought us breakfast. We watched Egypt roll by as the rail line runs pretty much right along the Nile. It is called the Fertile Delta and we saw miles and miles of healthy looking crops. Most of the houses were pretty decrepit looking, but almost all of them had satellite dishes on the roof!
On arrival in Aswan we couldn’t find our guide, but that wasn’t surprising given that we had been given 3 different arrival times for our train; and when we did find our guide he told us that he had been given a completely different arrival time. Ahh, Egypt!
Once we found him we were off on a tour of Aswan, including the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Philae. All were interesting, but the Temple of Philae was just amazing to see – it was built as a monument to Isis, the goddess of love and beauty.
After our touring, we headed to our hotel which is on an island, necessitating a boat ride on the Nile River. Feluccas were sailing up and down and they looked so lovely.
We had dinner and were off to bed because we had to be up very early for our trip to Abu Simbel.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - Aswan to Abu Simbel
Just how early did we have to be up? Try 2:00 a.m.!!!! I think Glenys, Leanne and Donna will never want to travel with me again!! We had to be ready to leave the hotel at 3:00 in order to join the convoy of buses and vans across the desert to Abu Simbel. It is required that travel be done in convoys for safety reasons – in case anyone has a breakdown. It is hilarious to see all the vehicles jockeying for position on the highway; passing each other and driving into what would be oncoming traffic if there were any. Apparently, at certain times all the traffic is only going to Abu Simbel, and later in the day it is all going back to Aswan, so the drivers all race along the highway.
Abu Simbel is the site of two Egyptian temples – the first was built by Ramses II and the second he built for his wife Queen Neferatari. Both were situated about 55 meters below where they are presently located, but were moved when the High Dam was built and flooded the area. It is unbelievable to think of how the temples had to be cut, marked, moved and put back together again – quite a puzzle. There are two days of the year, February 22nd and October 22nd the rising sun streams right into the temple and shines directly on the figure of Ramses. Ra, the Sun God was so important to the ancient Egyptians; seeking Ra’s protection was very important. I found both temples to be so beautiful. The carving and painting on the interiors of the temples is so well preserved, it’s incredible.
It is a 3 hour drive from Aswan to Abu Simbel. We got there around 7:00 a.m., toured the site for a couple of hours and then headed back to Aswan, arriving at about noon. Now it is nap-time by the pool!
Thursday, November 18 - Aswan to Luxor
Drove by van to Luxor - about a 3 hour drive which was hair-raising because our driver did not go under about 130-140 kpm - and that was on a two-lane country road! The road follows the Nile River and all along the way we saw farmers working their fields, mostly by hand. We saw only 2-3 pieces of farm machinery; farming in Egypt is very manual labour-intensive. There were lots of donkey-drawn carts pulling loads of crops. It was exactly like all the photos you have seen in National Geographic.
When we arrived in Luxor we met our guide who took us first to the Valley of the Kings. There are over 50 tombs of pharoahs that have been found there, including that of King Tut. We visited three of the tombs - each one a little different in the number of chambers and art work. The Egyptians of this period felt that they needed all their belongings and riches to be put in the tomb to take with them to the after life, thus the many chambers. It was an extremely hot day, so I was glad we didn't do more tombs - I think I got the idea from the three we visited. We then went on to the Valley of the Queens where the wive of the pharoahs were buried.
The 4 queens at the Valley of the Queens
After lunch we saw the Temple of Karnak, the Luxor Temple and did some shopping (of course) before we headed to the train station to board our train back to Cairo. We actually tried to change to a flight, but were not successful. When we originally booked, the train sounded like an adventure. It was that, indeed . . . once; but twice was just stupidity! Anyway, we again took the sleeper train, although it wasn't as long a trip since Luxor is 3 hours closer to Cairo than Aswan.
Friday, November 19 - Cairo and Alexandria
We arrived in Cairo at 5:00 a.m., found our driver who took us to the hotel to freshen up. We were the joined by the same guide we had for our day in Cairo, and we took off for Alexandria - another 3-hour drive. Alexandria is on the Mediterranean and it is a huge and busy city. We visited the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa which was used from the 2nd to the 4th centuries AD and, interestingly was found when a donkey fell into an access shaft. Then we visited a coloseum that was discovered in a residential area, and has since been excavated, resulting in the discovery of some amazing artifacts. I truly think wherever you walk in Egypt, you are likely walking right on top of some incredible antiquities!
We then visited the Citadel of Qaitbay which is the site of the first lighthouse and was used to protect the city from crusaders and other attackers. It is now a lovely park and was certainly bustling with people since we were there on Friday (the Muslim holy day). After that we visited the palace of King Farouk (ruled until 1950-something), which is still used as a summer home by the Egyptian President, and for visiting dignitaries.
We then drove back to Cairo where we spent a quiet evening packing since we had to board our flights early the next day - me to Doha; Glenys, Leanne and Donna to Jordan. I certainly am glad to have had such great company to travel and share this adventure with. We saw the highlights of all major cities/sites from the far northern end to the far southern end of the Nile, and it was fabulous to see it all.
