Egypt in only 4 days!

So it's been quite a while since my last blog post, but I'm hoping this one will make up for the long delay.  As some of you may know, I just went on a 4-day trip to Egypt--you know the country you see in the southwest corner of the Israel map.  I planned this trip just about 3 weeks before going on it, and by planning, I mean I bought cheap plane tickets and looked through a Lonely Planet guide.  I was a bit apprehensive about traveling alone, one because I've done little to no traveling solo and two because Egypt is a Muslim country.  Well, both of my concerns were put to rest when I talked my new friend Ian into traveling with me.  Ian, like me, was lucky enough to take advantage of the amazing hospitality of Robin Sandenburgh--the mom of Signe's best friend.  

Her house is simply gorgeous, and in a part of Cairo called Maadi where a lot of foreign diplomats live. I arrived here around 9:30p.m. from the Cairo airport after only a 1 hour flight from Tel Aviv--so quick!  I met Ian and we were off to watch the soccer game at a place called the Swiss Club, somewhere in Cairo.  I quickly became accustomed to the stares, smiles, and yells from men and the crazy, dirty, congested streets of Cairo.  When we arrived I tried my first Egyptian beer, and tried to soak in the culture--well the culture of everyone not from Egypt.

The next morning, we got moving as quickly as possible and started in the white Land Cruiser first to Saqqara and then on to Dashur.  In Saqqara I saw the amazing Step Pyramid and many many tombs full of hieroglyphics.  After wandering around here, we made the drive to Dashur where I saw the very first pyramid ever built--the Red Pyramid.  We trekked up 125 stairs to the entrance of the tomb where we were greeted by one of many "tour guides" asking for baqsheesh or a tip for doing pretty much nothing but saying "Asalama" (Arabic for "hi!"). 

We went down a very steep passageway and were greeted by three inner-chambers with high triangular ceilings that consisted of a series of pretruding stone levels.  Really amazing.  Driving back to Maadi, I knew that this trip was going to be really fantastic.

After quickly eating a great lunch of organic veggies from the farm Ian is interning for and traditional balaadi bread from the corner market, we quick took the Metro to downtown Cairo to purchase our overnight-sleeper car train tickets to Luxor.  After spending only 680 Egyptian pounds each, about $120 for a roundtrip ticket, we traveled to the Khan al-Khalili market where I ate amazing fatil bread with the greatest layers of spongey dough, sprinkled with powdered sugar and wrapped in old, used computer paper.  

I saw more junk in that market than I knew existed for the cheapest prices one could imagined.  Men asked Ian how many camels he would sell me for and I was lucky to even have one grab my butt--something I was warned about in my guidebook.  All was well though as we made it out of the market and sampled cactus fruit before jumping in a cab and heading home.  

After a fantastic traditional Egyptian dinner and nice sleep, we were headed to Alexandria--a gorgeous city on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.  After a short 3 hour drive, we were greeted with blue waters and tall buildings.  We scoped out a fantastic fish restaurant where you chose your fish from an open ice-packed cooler and instruct the nice Egyptian man how you'd like it cooked.  While waiting, we ate countless amazing salads and balaadi bread-yum! 

The rest of the afternoon we strolled along the sea, Ian went for a swim, and we saw amazing Mosques.  We quickly drove back to Maadi, and in with one hour turn-around time, we were off again.  This time, to catch our train to Luxor.

We got to Giza Station, just Northwest of Maadi and boarded a "deluxe" train to Luxor about 14 hours south of Cairo.  After being served what I think was dinner, we slept in bunk-style beds and were awakened by a knock on our door--"1 hour until we arrive in Luxor."  The sleeper-car was so clutch and we wasted no time at all making the journey.  When we arrived we quickly got our bearings and went straight for Luxor Temple.  Wow.  It was amazing.  Perhaps one of my most favorite parts of the trip was seeing the two rows of sphinxes that start at the entrance to Luxor Temple and reach 3km to the entrance of Karnak Temple.  It was quite the sight to see.  After the Temple, we decided to take the ferry across the Nile River to the East Bank and hire a cab driver to take us around to see the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and Hatshepsut's Temple.  

Although these are typical desinations for any tourist, they did not dissapoint.  The Valley of The Kings was very amazing--seeing all the narrow passage ways utilized to deter grave robbers, the dark and solid stone sarcophagi, and the amazing and colorful hieroglyphics made the long and hot walk up to the Valley completely worth it.  It was especially fantastic when I went to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo the following day and saw the very-well preserved bodies of the some of the kings whose tombs I had walked through.  Hatshepsut's Temple was also stunning as you can obviously see in the picture to the left.  

115 degree heat makes you tired, very tired.  So we decided to sit and rest at a cafe on the East Bank.  It was nice to sit and drink Egyptian beer, while eating more balaadi, greek salad, and dates soaked in sugar syrup from the tree hanging above our heads.  Coincidence or not, we ran into a felucca driver at the restuarant who encouraged us to take a relaxing float on the Nile.  It of course was exactly what we were looking for.  So for about an hour and a half we floated on an old and rickety felucca in the Nile River.  Our driver spoke perfect English and let us nap as we coasted a long.  It was surreal putting my feet in the Nile, and staring at some of the oldest and most amazing historical sites.

Our Luxor trip concluded with a trip to a fantastic bakery on the street where we purchased every bread item possible, including a fantastically hot and slightly sweet spongey bread that had been cooked in a huge black, cast iron pan and brought to us directly from the oven. And I'm sorry, forgot to take a pictures of this.  We also visited a fair-trade store where for the first time I was not hassled to purchase anything.  Don't worry, the 4-year old boy in the park who walked up to us and simply said "Hello baqsheesh" made up for it.  I guess tips are expected for just about anything.

On my last day, I was on my own for the first time.  I decided to brave the Metro from Maadi to downtown Cairo on the Women-Only car and go to see the enormous Egyptian Museum.  I spent 4 hours walking the halls of this museum seeing more jewelry, stone figures, furniture, tombs, mummies, and artwork then I knew how to comprehend.  And to think that the items in the museum were only 1/4 of the museum's total collection.  Highlights were for sure King Tut's special rooms where I saw jewelry ridiculously well-preserved and then of course the Royal Mummies room where I stared at the almost perfect mummies of the some of the Kings dating back thousands of years.  After the musuem, I spent some time on the nearby islands of Zamalek and Gezeira and took a well-bargained for taxi ride to the Citadel of Muhammed Ali.  The stunning view (plus some smog) of the city and the ornate celing inside the mosque was definitely worth it.

To end my journey, we went to the very corny light and sound show at the Giza Pyramids.  I wanted to go so that I could see the Pyramids and of course the Sphinx.  The show I could have done without, but the view of these vast monuments was such a great way to end my trip.  They were amazing, even from a distance and it was so cool to think about all the different people in history who had stood before them.

I will say it one last time, Egypt was amazing! I had the time of my life and hope I did it justice.
~Thanks for reading, and if you want to see more pictures please click here.