Aswan, Egypt

Even though we felt refreshed after our night on the sleeping train, Kelly and I weren’t quite prepared for the in-your-face, tourism centered feel of Aswan. Unlike Alexandria there are loads of tourists in Aswan and many of the locals make their livelihood from selling felucca (boat) rides on the Nile, pashminas, spices or tour packages. We made it to our hostel, Hotel Keylany, unloaded our luggage and set out to explore Aswan.

Our first stop was the Tombs of the Nobles which involved hiring a felucca to take us across to the West Bank of the Nile. Once there, we had to climb a very long series of stairs carved in the rock and covered in sand.

At the top, our Nubian guides unlocked several tombs for us. The tombs are carved out of the stone and were once filled with the remains of former rulers and nobles. Now, almost all of their mummies can be found in museums all over the world, but one room was still filled with baskets of bones.

It was very surreal to be able to be close enough to touch the drawings and carvings that have been there for thousands of years. We were also surprised that our so-called “tour guides” were just some random locals from a nearby village who split the baksheesh (tips) for giving tours amongst themselves.

Yesterday afternoon was spent exploring the city and the Aswan souk, said to be the second best souk in Egypt, after Cairo. We picked up a few more pashminas and debated the pros and cons of consenting to marriage with an Egyptian man. Six million camels is quite a dowry and was almost an offer we couldn’t refuse!

Dinner was at Aswan Moon, a restaurant that is literally a boat floating on the Nile. We were slightly disappointed by the watery lentil soup and the bland fare, but we did finally get to try Umm Ali, an Arabian dessert we’ve been hearing loads about but hadn’t actually gotten to try yet. It was also a bit of a disappointment but we haven’t given up on it yet, considering nothing we had to eat there was that great – I guess this place is popular due to location!

We long night sleep which was abruptly halted by a cold shower – our water heater in our room wasn’t working! Luckily breakfast was so delicious we almost forgot about it – crepes, toast, honey, tea, fresh juice and fruit! We packed up our suitcases and headed out in search of a felucca to hire for the afternoon.

We didn’t have to search long as we were literally accosted by a felucca captain less than five steps from our hostel. We negotiated a reasonable 25 Egyptian pounds ($4) an hour rate and spent the afternoon sunning ourselves as our sailboat floated gently down the Nile. Due to poor [no] wind conditions on the return trip, we stayed out a bit longer than intended and had to scrap plans to visit Elephantine Island. It was okay though, an extra hour relaxing on the felucca was nothing to complain about!

When our boat docked, we opted to Al-Madena restaurant for lunch, instead of taking our felucca captain’s offer for a traditional Nubian lunch in his home. Kelly finally got up the nerve to try pigeon - it came served whole and stuffed with rice and she managed to get about three bites of duck-like but gamey meat out of the bird before she cut her losses and focused on finishing the rest of my cucumber salad.

We returned to the souk after lunch and did some serious spice shopping, picking up some of the best spices Egypt has to offer (according to our salesclerk).

On the way back from the souk, we stopped back at our hostel for the sole purpose of going to the bathroom – from what we can tell, it’s the only place in Aswan that has a toilet with a bowl and a real toilet seat! It’s funny how this trip is making us appreciate those little porcelain luxuries!

Next we trekked up to (our rather paid a cab driver to drive us) to the Nubian House Restaurant out in boonies of Aswan. We were expecting a delicious, traditional Nubian dinner but were disappointed with oily soup and bland okra casserole – needless to say, our opinions of the food in Aswan aren’t very high! In addition, we had to wait almost an hour to get our food which made us nervous because we had a train to Luxor to catch tonight.

Overall, we’re definitely glad we came to Aswan. Despite the hassling of tourists and the disappointing food, it is very pretty and it was fun to catch a glimpse of the Nubian culture here. The souk was my favorite thus far and the felucca ride was a perfect way to spend a relaxing sunny afternoon. It’s getting harder and harder to even believe that back at home there are mounds of snow on the ground and people can’t walk around in sandals in the middle of winter!

Now, we’re on a train to Luxor and we’ve got just a week left of our fabulous adventure. It’s hard to believe two weeks have gone by already, but we definitely miss our friends and family back at home.

Alexandria, Egypt Part II

Kelly and I finished up our last night in Alexandria with dinner at one of the best seafood places in town, The Fish Market. Before we even had a chance to order, our table was filled with enough mezze (Arabian appetizers) to feed us for days!


To select entrees, there was no menu. You had to go to the freezer and pick it out yourself, specifying how much you wanted by weight. Luckily the chefs were friendly and helpful and we had fun hamming it up for the camera with them!




After dinner, a group of gentlemen sitting near us sent over a round of Egyptian beer. They introduced themselves and we learned they were dentists on holiday from Greece. It was fun talking to them about their impressions of Egypt and also to hear a bit about life in Greece.


Yesterday we took a carriage (Hantoor) ride along the corniche from our hotel to one of the largest mosques in the city. The mosque was very ornate and we had to take off our shoes and cover our heads to go inside. There is a separate section for women apart from the main mosque and were were surprised to learn that photography is allowed and even encouraged.


From the mosque, we walked to Fort Qatibey, which looks almost like a sand castle sitting on the edge of the corniche.







We had to catch a train yesterday evening to Cairo in order to catch our sleeper train to Aswan. The sleeper car was very basic - two bunk beds and a sink - but much better than sitting upright in a chair for the fourteen hour ride! Dinner and breakfast were included, but inedible so we ate granola bars and some of the multitude of nuts and dried fruit that Kelly impulsively purchased in Doha (7 pounds of trail mix anyone?).


As we were rolling in to Aswan, some little boys caught our attention outside the train. They made motions of a camera with their hands and it was clear they are used to incoming tourists taking pictures of them.

Alexandria, Egypt Part I

Our whirlwind tour of Egypt has begun! Kelly and I arrived in Alexandria yesterday afternoon and jumped right in to the hustle and bustle that is this crazy city!

Even the airport is crazy! Going through passport control, we handed our passports to the agent and they were slid down a shoot and we were instructed to wait with a group of other travelers. Not knowing what to expect, we were shocked when the whole group's passports were handed to one traveler in a stack and he was appointed the task of giving them out to everyone! Needless to say, we were very relieved when we retrieved our passports! At baggage claim, the craziest things came off the plane: bedspreads, big garbage bags, a cooler, and even a jug of water:



After a death defying cab ride (seriously, we almost died....twice!) we arrived at the lovely Hotel Union, right on the Mediterranean. Kelly and I have a private room with a sea view...it's gorgeous!


We spent the evening wandering the city, marveling at the insane traffic and the fact that the drivers don't use headlights - unless they are flashing them at pedestrians - and that they use their horns very liberally. There are no crosswalks, so pedestrians literally hurl themselves into traffic and the cars just swerve and honk to avoid them. Imagine this crossing eight lanes of traffic!!

Here's a picture of the outside of the newly built Biblioteca Alexandria:


We had dinner at a little restaurant called Mohammed Amed and our entire meal for two which consisted of Foul (Egyptian fava beans) with fried egg, two salads, two bowls of lentil soup, pita bread, bottled water, fried cheese (an Egyptian specialty) and dessert for only four dollars!! That's about what we'd been paying for bottled water at restaurants before this. Plus, it was delicious!

Alexandria at night is a bit like a carnival. Everyone is out on the streets and there are bright lights everywhere. The shops are open late and cars are whizzing by narrowly missing pedestrians. It's quite a sight to see!


We were both tired, so we got a good night's sleep so we could get up early and start our second day in Alexandria.


This morning we headed to the train station to book our sleeper car to Aswan for tomorrow night. We were dismayed to find out the trains had been canceled until further notice but luckily a very helpful travel guide helped us to book a train to Cairo tomorrow afternoon so we could take an overnight train from Cairo to Aswan. We even got a VIP behind the desk tour of the ticket desk:



The sleeper car from Cairo to Awan is $60 and puts Kelly and I in a private cabin and includes dinner and breakfast for the 14 hour trip. We were told the fare couldn't be paid in Egyptian pounds! We had to go to the money exchange office and exchange our pounds for dollars to pay for a train ticket in Egypt! Bizzare! Luckily everything worked out and we'll (hopefully) be on a train to Aswan tomorrow afternoon!

We checked out the Roman amphitheater near the train station:


Next we hailed a cab to the Catacombes, a series of tombs underneath Alexandria that was unearthed when a donkey fell through the ground many years ago! No cameras were allowed inside, so you'll have to visit yourself! We hired a guide for $5 and he gave us a very in depth tour with all the history and explanations of the designs and areas inside the Catacombes.

Pompey's pillar, one of the famous sites associated with Alexandria was extra fun because we befriended a policeman at the Catacombes who met us there and got us free, VIP entry. No admittance fee and we got access to the parts that no tourists are allowed to see!



Lunch was at a hole-in-the-wall pizza place, where it was made to order right in front of us. Greasy, cheap and delicious!



Tonight for dinner we're going to have fresh seafood at one of the best spots in Alexandria. Given the 6:1 exchange rate, it's nice to be in a place where we can afford to splurge a little!

I can't even describe how Kelly and I are being treated here. Every where we walk, people stop what they are doing and watch us. The children come up to us on the streets and stare at us. When I smile at them they get really excited. I was really surprised at how much of a novelty we are, but apparently not that many American tourists make it here. They are definitely missing out and I recommend this city highly! Keep in mind though, nobody speaks English and all the signs are in Arabic! Other than that, people have been going out of there way to accommodate us and we are enjoying the attention!

Doha, Qatar!

After an hour flight we arrived in Doha, Qatar Wednesday morning. We finally got to see Ariane's apartment and the city she's been living in for the past six months. Ariane's friends arranged an SUV trip to the dessert for us, complete with cook-out, fire, and dune bashing. Dune bashing involves taking an SUV at full speed up and down the dunes - it's like a real-life roller coaster ride. It was thrilling and scary at the same time.


The desert is freezing at night!
Thursday Kelly and I walked along the Cornish, the road that boarders the Gulf. It was a 4.5 mile walk total, which felt great as we haven't been able to walk that much so far. In Ariane's words, the motto here seems to be, "we don't even walk across the street, we drive!" The Cornish is beautiful and has a very wide promenade that was full of Qataris enjoying the warm afternoon weather.
There are some beautiful new buildings in Doha:


It seems like for every one building completed there are two more being put up. Cranes dot the skyline:
I am not sure what this street sign says, but clearly it's had enough!



Doha is the pearl of the gulf:


We met Ariane at the old souk after she was done with work and spent the evening browsing spices, nuts, pashminas, perfume and more. We also each ordered necklaces that have our name in Arabic to be custom made.


For dinner, Kelly & Ariane stopped at a shwarma place to get some Arab fast food. Shwarma is basically like a gyro - lamb or chicken meat wrapped in a pita with sauce and onions. It was cheap and supposedly delicious!

Unfortunately for Kelly, it seems that she may have gotten a side of salmonella with her shwarma. She spent all last night doubled up over the toilet with an awful case of food poisoning. Today she spent most of the day in bed and wasn't able to keep even water down until almost lunch time. Kelly still has no appetite, but her energy is returning and I think she'll be back to full health tomorrow.

Also, I have a few extra pictures of our living arrangements in Dubai. Eight people in one bedroom with three twin beds!


Tomorrow morning we leave for the last leg of our journey - Egypt!! We fly into Alexandria and from there Aswan, Luxor, and Cairo!

Dubai, Part III

We had a relaxing day today, spending all day at the beach. We even made some new friends, a few boys from Lebanon who now live in Dubai. Ariane played soccer with them and Kelly refereed from the comfort of her lounge chair. Needless to say, they were also okay to look at!





We stopped at the grocery store for a cheap lunch and saw this sign, warning Muslims away from the pork products section:



Happy New Year!!! After getting back from Medinat Jumeira, we hung out with the boys we are staying with for a bit and got ourselves all good-looking for a fabulous VIP night out at Club Peppermint.



We had a table and bottle service reserved in advance, so when we arrived we were whisked past the long line of people outside the club and let in the velvet rope VIP entrance. Would you expect anything less?

The club itself is housed in a hotel, as is common for most clubs in Dubai, because it's easier for hotels to get liquor licenses. The club had a DJ and party favors for us, including fun masks:


Pretend the 2 in 2008 isn't backwards:





We danced the night away and had a blast ringing in the New Year!

Tonight we had a dinner reservation at the 7 star Burj Al Arab, the most luxurious hotel in the world. We got all dressed up and indulged in an all-you-can-eat buffet (very Arab). There was so much food I couldn't even manage to try everything!








Trust me, I didn't clean my plate each time!

We also explored the hotel, something you can only do if you have a dinner reservation or are a guest of the hotel. We had to be checked off at the entrance just to gain admittance!







Right now we're hanging out with all of our new friends in the flat enjoying the remainder of our time together. We're leaving on a plane tomorrow to Qatar for the second leg of our journey!