Dispatch #2: Farewell to Egypt

Hello again. Mary and I are about to leave Egypt and move on to our next stop – Athens and the Greek Islands. However, I would like to take this time to share some of our final thoughts on this wonderful country and to update you on our experiences since our last dispatch.

We have been quite busy since sending our last email. On Friday, August 23rd, we traveled with Mary’s cousin Beth’s family up to their villa on the Mediterranean. This trip, we only had six people in a big, roomy, air-conditioned Suburban (and were treated to a free sample ice cream bar breakfast at one of the toll booths). Their villa is steps away from the beach and the view of the bright blue and turquoise sea is stunning. We spent two days eating well, laying on the beach, riding the big and unpredictable waves and spending some good quality time with Beth’s family. It wasn’t exactly how I pictured our time in Egypt, but I’ll take it.

We decided to split with Beth’s family and take a day trip on our own to Alexandria, which is about an hour and a half east of their villa. To travel to Alexandria, we had to experience a new form of transportation – the minibus. The minibus is the preferred method of transportation for the lower and middle classes in Egypt. All you have to do is stand on the side of a busy highway, raise your arm when a white van approaches, hop in while it is still rolling, push the guy sitting on the end of one of the rows over, sit down, and close the door before the forward momentum of the van pushes you off balance. All this fun and it only cost 3.50 LE a piece (about $1.40 combined fare) for the hour and a half ride to Alexandria. We strolled along the Corniche in Alexandria, which curves along the bay and is lined with old European-style buildings, and through the shop-filled side streets. After getting our fill of Alexandria, we took the train back to Cairo to start preparing for our Nile Cruise.

The day between Alexandria and the start of our cruise we went into Coptic Cairo, the oldest part of modern Cairo where some beautiful old Coptic churches are surrounded by castle-like walls. It is a fascinating little pocket of Christianity in an Islam-dominated world.

We began our Nile Cruise last Tuesday in Aswan in southern Egypt. We arrived at the ship quite early and other than an older couple we saw, we were the only ones on board. We decided to check out the city and found a souq (or marketplace) where vendors were selling a dizzying array of plastic pharaoh heads and other cheap tourist junk, as well as spices, food and other supplies that the local inhabitants need for everyday life. Our senses were definitely massaged at the Aswan bazaar. After a lengthy haggling session I convinced one of the vendors to sell me a dress for 25 LE (actually it is a galabaya – the traditional Egyptian men’s attire that all of the camel jockeys wear - cool). We returned to the ship for lunch and to meet our fellow travelers. When we sat down for lunch, there were only six other people with us, but we figured that others would be joining us a bit later. We were wrong. There were only 10 of us on a cruise ship with 40 double cabins! The crew outnumbered the passengers by a good 2.5 to 1 ratio. Needless to say, the service was outstanding. Our fellow travelers included a retired American couple (ages 69 and 71) from Colorado named BJ and Ivo (BJ was the woman), a honeymooning Italian/Brazilian couple named David and Gabriella, a pair of Indian brothers named Dr. Moto and Dr. Moto’s brother (also known as the “Indian Couple” to our tour guide), and a couple of Chinese students named Steve and Holly (I would guess that they used aliases). It was an interesting group and considering that it was so small, it was quite worldly (there were people from 4 continents).

We got to know all of them quite well during our second night on the ship, when we had a Galabaya Party (I was prepared). It was as crazy as a bash with a retired couple, two middle-aged Indian men and a conservative Chinese couple could be. There was dancing, a belly dancing contest (in which Mary was just edged out for second place by the 69-year-old BJ), a “Strongest Man Contest” (let’s just say that it involved a potato swinging on the end of a string dangling down between my legs) and a dancing version of “Spoons” (in which Mary and I used our experience in the card version of the game to dominate the others and I was able to pull out the victory in a close final match). There were some belly-busting laughs for all. And might I add that Mary will tell you that I looked quite fetching in my brand new light blue galabaya/dress.

Our cruise took us from Aswan down the Nile (which means we were traveling North) to Luxor. We visited several ancient temples in Aswan, Komombo, Edfu, Esna and in Luxor, each with its own unique and special characteristics and stories. Leading the way was our excellent guide, Abdul, who had a miraculous ability to balance a white scarf on the top of his head and tell us about the hieroglyphics at the same time. The scenery during our cruise was stunning. Often times as we sailed, one side of the Nile was lush and green with dense palm tree forests while the other side was barren desert right up to the water. The highlights of the cruise (although all were great) came in our final stop, Luxor, which is home to the Valleys of the Kings and Queens (where tombs of the kings and queens during the Middle Kingdom period were placed), Luxor Temple and the Temples at Karnak. The vibrant color and intricate detail of the paintings in the tombs and the sheer enormity of the temples were amazing. We will take so many wonderful memories away from our Nile Cruise.

When we returned from our cruise, we received some terrible news – that my uncle and godfather, Greg, passed away. Greg was an amazing person, who taught me so much about how life should be lived. He was born with an abnormal heart, but overcame his physical limitations to impact many lives as a radio personality, writer, community arts director and friend. He was one of the biggest supporters of our trip and, in fact, one of the last things he said to us was, “Can I go with you?” Well, we now get to share the world with Greg and have him keep an eye on us as we move around the globe. We will miss him dearly.

We spent Sunday dealing with Greg’s loss and planning the next part of our journey. On Monday we spent a few hours wandering around the maze of shop-lined streets and alleys that make up the Khan el-Khalili bazaar in Cairo. It is THE place to go if you want to find bargains in Egypt, but first you have to be good at bargaining. Given that we have so little room in our backpacks the way it is, we were constrained from buying anything that we couldn’t wear on our heads or hold in our mouths.

Yesterday, we made a return trip to the Pyramids, where we had our own little funeral for Greg (he now has his name scraped on the middle Pyramid – at least until it rains again). We also went to the top of the Cairo Tower to view the city from the top of the smog and watch the sunset. We were treated to a spectacular view of this enormous city (we’ve heard it is the second largest in the world!) with the Pyramids way off in the distance.

We have decided to make our first major change to the itinerary: we are adding Turkey after Greece and pushing Italy until after our stop in Munich for Oktoberfest. We have heard great things about Turkey and don’t want to pass up on the opportunity. We will only be a short ferry ride away from some of the Greek Islands. We can’t wait!

Our time in Egypt has been amazing. We have walked among ancient ruins, learned about a civilization far ahead of its time, observed a different way of life than that to which we are accustomed and shared some very enjoyable time with Beth and her family. We have definitely grown in our short time here (and I don’t just mean around the waist). Beth and Mohammed and the boys have been excellent hosts, and I am sure our experience here would not have been nearly as wonderful without them.

So, we are off. Next stop: Athens and the Greek Islands.

Take care. Love, Matt (and Mary)