Goodbye Egypt- 5 weeks is ENOUGH!

So after a hectic few days on a felucca I headed back up to Luxor. Where I found out that I got a load of money stolen by my Felucca captain GRRRR. He was not willing to admit anything by the looks of the picture was actually looking for a fight however after 5 days of phone calls and somewhat childish arguments in broken Arabic and scattered English I managed to claim my money back though thanks to my hotel manager who pretended to be the commissioner of the tourist police!

During those 5 days I got alot done, including the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, Deir El Bahri, Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple and Edfu Temple, to name a few. But after a long 5 weeks in Egypt the endless array of temples and monuments becomes nearly as dull as churches in Europe! And so to spice things up a bit I decided to add a bit of life to my latest video (which can be found on the bottom of this page) by running, jumping and just downright scrambling across the ANCIENT buildings, pillars and ruins. Not such an easy task when you have to film it yourself and attempt to get shots without other tourists ‘polluting’ the

film! But it was fun all the same and I’ve got some great feedback for my video thanks guys!

After that I caught the night train from Luxor to Cairo, it should be noted that everything in Egypt runs on “Egypt Time” which basically means that a train scheduled to depart at 11pm will not arrive till after 1130pm . All manner of tourist agencies and even the train ticket offices themselves will tell you that the train is booked out and that no seats are available. But I managed to convince my couchsurfing host to get me a ticket off the black market, trouble with this is you pay twice the price the ticket is worth and get half the value. So after I got on the train I had a long discussion in English with the conductor who couldn’t understand a word I was saying, moral of the story is I managed to get a free upgrade to first class because I blatantly refused to move knowing plain well that all the Egyptian people in this carriage had paid less than half the price I paid!!

Then comes Cairo, after an 11hour ride I stumbled out of the station and made my way to the metro. I gota admit if your a female it’s NOT a wise move to travel on the metro! A squished (and I mean like 2 jars of sardines squeezed into one) hot, humid, and sweaty 40minute ride was to follow standing up the entire way with my backpack begging to be put down, but the floor could not be seen for the mass of shoes!

I finally arrived at my hosts place here in Cairo and they are amazing! A family of 5 working as missionaries in Egypt I couldn’t have asked for a more caring and loving family! So for the first time in WEEKS I had a hot shower, and an actual home cooked meal with cutlery and everything!

The next day was pretty laid back with a trip to the Cairo Museum..... once again it was a churches/monuments thing, and after a quick but detailed look at Tut’s mask I was back on the metro heading home.
The next morning was the day I had been waiting for, for 5 weeks. Today was the day I got to see the pyramids 10th Sept 2008. And WOW this certainly is not a church/monument thing this is a FLIPPING HUGE PILE OF RICKS IN THE DESERT! Haha Such simplicity yet such magnitude, had it not been 50degrees outside I could have sat there and simply stared all day.

Which brings us to today, long since I left Europe have I been CRAVING some western culture and it just so happens that Cairo can offer it! I went to CityStars Mall which far outdoes any shopping complex I have ever been to in any other country! 7 levels of air-conditioned paradise; from 1st class movie cinemas (all in English with leather reclinable chairs and your own personal waiter) to games arcades and all manner of retail shops to the all important food court featuring all the essentials: McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks! Sometimes it’s good just to immerse yourself in what feels like home!

After a lazy afternoon reading my new favorite book “The Shack” I organized my next journey starting tomorrow night I will be visiting 3 countries in a day!

SMILES =]