Introduction

After meeting back in April on my first trip to Egypt and chatting nearly every day via webcam and mic, I decided to go back to Egypt to see Mohab, as boyfriend and girlfriend this time rather than just friends. We needed to see how it would go between us, face to face rather than just over the internet, before starting the immigration process.

Yes, I went alone and a lot of people had problems with that. I knew I would be fine, I had my bodyguard, and I had been there before so knew what I was getting into. It is much easier for me to go there than for him to come here, for one it would cost him what would be equivalent to $8000 for the plane ticket alone (it would be 8000 e.p., but to them a pound is a pound, just like to us a dollar is a dollar), and they need a temporary residence visa (a visitor's visa), just to come here, so yeah, much much easier for me to go there.

We had dubbed this time "two weeks in Heaven", hence the cheesy title for this blog.

It was an awesome trip! We saw and did so much, Egypt is a truly fascinating place.

(The blog in progress)

Clicking on pics will open them up in a new window, larger, so they can be seen more clearly. Clicking on an underlined word will bring up an information page about the item.

Please post comments.... let me know you were here.

Saturday, November 4, 2006

I got up at 6:30 am, showered and got some last minute stuff ready.

I took Willow to Superdog Central, where she would be staying, for 9:00. She didn't seem upset to see me go, and I wasn't upset to leave her, I knew she was in good hands.

I got to mom's for 10:30 as the guys were already working on the apartment (my landlords were redoing my kitchen while I was away), and there was nothing for me to do but get in the way. I spent an hour at mom's and then we left.

We switched cars again in Ajax and made it to the airport for just after 1:00. Check in was easy as there was no one there yet, but the girl gave bad directions and I had a hell of a time finding the gate. Once I found where I was supposed to be the rest was easy. Ironically the gate was number 525 and we were taking off at 5:25.

We boarded the plane and waited. Who was gonna sit beside me? Well, it ended up being this older fellow, 71 he said, he was nice, but very chatty, full of jokes and riddles. I did manage to get about four hours sleep on the plane over, and had lovely conversations with the girls next to us.

Sunday, November 5, 2006

Woke up to a light snack before descent. As the sun rose, the view out the window was spectacular. The Alps!

We landed in Milan and on the way off the plane I mentioned to the others where I was going. The girl in front said that she is from Cairo and is heading there too. So, we stuck together for the transfer and in the duration met three other women going to Cairo. We all hung out for the three hour wait, talking and laughing, it made the time fly.

We boarded the next plane and took off shortly after. This time I was in an isle seat beside a couple from Italy who didn't speak English. I slept a majority of the way only waking when lunch was served, I didn't eat it as just looking at it made my stomach turn, raw salmon on some white stuff, the stale bun they always seem to serve, and some odd balogne-like substance.

The landing in Cairo was very smooth. I got my visa, went through the passport check, and got my luggage, all very smoothly. I said bye to my friends and headed for the door. Mohab was easy to spot, he had the biggest smile I think I have ever seen! We greeted with a big hug and stole a kiss (no kissing in public in Egypt).

We taxied to the hotel and checked in. Right away it was "no in room visits" (all through the journey we had to get seperate rooms as it's uncool for an unmarried couple to share a hotel room, and even uncooler for a mixed couple). I went up to my room for a shower. Mohab called a bit later to see if I was ready and then came up. We hung out in the room for an hour or two.... or three ;-) and then headed for a walk and some dinner (I hadn't eaten in 14 hours). Cairo is like I never left, there is such a feeling in the air, it's such a different world.

We got 'salted pastry' for dinner, which is what we had the day we went to Giza on the first trip. It's 'Egyptian Pizza'. Yummy.

After dinner we took the subway (which is the same as a subway anywhere else really) to the train station to get our tickets for Aswan. There I was approached by one of the Tourism and Antiquities Police asking if I was okay and checking out Mohab and keeping watch until my 'bodyguard' returned to my side. The ticket booth was closed (computers were down) so we headed back to the hotel.

We were both sleepwalking by then. Once we got to the hotel we went straight to bed snuggled up nice and tight. It was the coziest sleep I'd had in a while.

Monday, November 6, 2006

We woke up fairly early. Mohab had a shower and then headed for the train station while I stayed back and had my shower.

Once he returned we went for breakfast then headed for the Canadian Embassy. I waited there for more than 1/2 hour to ask a quick question about temporary work visas. Didn't really get much of an answer either.

After the embassy we went back to the hotel to pack up and check out, then headed for the family.

When we first got there it was just his mom. She is soooo cute! We had lunch (soup, salad, chicken, homemade pizza, kobiba, and meatballs, plus a lot of other food on the table that wasn't even touched). I had cold hibiscus tea to drink as well. We stayed there for a bit, had mango juice, cookies, more herb tea, but no dinner because I still wasn't able to eat after all the food from lunch!

At 8:00 we left for the train. Mohab's older brother Mohamed (Mido), drove us to the train station. The train left at 9:00. We got first class and it's still icky. I had to pee and the bathroom is so gross, the floor is wet, and let's not mention the seat! So, here's me squatting, holding my pants forward with one hand, clinging to a handle on the wall with the other (kleenex between my hand and the handle), holding my breath, actually not caring if I peed on the floor, I just wanted out! After that I went and sat back down swearing not to pee again until Aswan.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

After a stinky 15 hour train trip we finally made it to Aswan.

We got to the hotel (Marhaba Palace (welcome)) and checked in immediately (it was noon). I got a suite for $60 CDN a night! We went upstairs and finally got to pee, took a shower, and then headed out for food. We had a traditional Egyptian meal (stuffed pigeon with all the fixin's - tahini, bread, salad, eggplant dip, aubergines, rice).

After lunch we went to the Nubian Museum.

After that we headed to Philae for the sound and light show at the temple of Isis. It was amazing!

Then we did some food shopping and came back tot he hotel to eat. We went to bed fairly early (around 11:30).

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

We woke up at around 9:00, got ready and headed out for a busy day. We missed breakfast at the hotel, I thought it was served until 11:00 (like in Canada), but it was only until 10:00. So, we went to a little shop around the corner ("Happy Meal" Mohab called it).

After breakfast we went to the High Dam and got quite a few amazing pictures of the Nile and Lake Nasser.

Then we went and saw the Unfinished Obelisk. It is truly astonishing how these things were built, carved from the stone in one piece then lifted to where they had to go. This one was left unfinished because it developed a large crack. Around the site you can also see the marks of where other things were carved from the stone.

Then we took a tour on a little sailboat (a Felucca). They took us past The Tombs of the Nobles (which we can see from the hotel balcony), and around Elephantine Island to Kitchener's Island. We got off there and strolled for a bit.

After Kitchener's Island we went for dinner at a Nubian Restaurant then took a boat back to the shore and walked back to the hotel. We stayed at the hotel for a bit, checked e-mail and such, then headed out again.


We went to the train station to get our tickets to Luxor, then went for a walk. We were approached by yet another horse drawn carriage driver, but finally one with a healthy looking horse, so we took a ride. Then we did a bit of shopping, and headed back to the hotel again for the night.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

We packed up and left the hotel.

We took the icky train to Luxor. It took over three hours. I saw my first squat toilet at the train station, but turned and ran instead of using it.

There were beautiful views from the train, grass and palm trees with the Nile behind them.

We got to Luxor at 5:00 p.m. We had made reservations at a hotel, but were stopped outside the station by a man offering us a deal at New Pola, the hotel we were originally going to book, so we went to check it out. It was nice, but when we got to the lobby we were asked to sit down. I asked Mohab what was going on and he said that the man had to talk to the general manager as to whether or not we could stay there. I laughed and said "let's go" no one's going to tell me whether or not I can pay them to stay there. The whole mentality about unwed couples being together, but even though we are renting two rooms, it is still bad because he is Egyptian and I am a foreigner. So, we headed to Gaddis to check in. Same issue. The guy at the desk put up a stink and called the GM. He said no, that we couldn't stay there. So, I asked to talk to the GM. We went up to his office and explained that there is a misunderstanding. He said that they had had an incident with a tour guide and a visitor and it is the policy of the owner not to allow Egyptians and foreigners of the opposite sex to stay in the same hotel. We explained that we are asking for separate rooms, etc, it still didn't work. However, he did call around to other hotels to try to find us one. We finally got rooms at The Royal House, which is a fairly nice place. They even put us on the same floor! However, "no in room visits".

After we settled in we went and got some dinner, pizza, but way better than home pizza.

We went back to the hotel and watched a movie and went to sleep.... in the same room. ;-p

Friday, November 10, 2006

Busy day!

We got up fairly early and were out the door by 10:00.

Our first stop was Luxor Temple. We spent some time there walking around and taking photos and such.

We started walking toward Karnak Temple and on the way went into the Mummification Museum which really wasn't all that exciting. Just some pictorials demonstrating the beliefs of the afterlife and how and why mummification was done, as well as some mummies and artifacts found in tombs.

We had a 'light' lunch (fries, salad, tahini, bread, eggplant dip) overlooking the Nile.

We then headed to Karnak Temple. We had a moment of perfect timing when I said "This seems like an awefully long two kilometers" and Mohab just happened to look down a side street at the same time and there it was.

We spent a long time there, Karnak Temple is amazing and has a lot of 'biggest' things.

After the temple we headed to the Luxor Museum. That was nice. There are quite a few statues there from digs at the temples and Valley of the Kings, all really preserved and in good condition.

We had Kabob and kofta for dinner along with spagetti and salad (salad here is always cucumber and tomato).

We took a horse cart back to the hotel, they are more money, but nicer than a taxi. The horses here are in much better condition than in Aswan, but Luxor has the Brooks Animal Hospital which regulates their treatment. It's nice to see fat, happy horses.

I walked into my room after the long day and had to laugh my head off, on my bed was a swan with my extra pair of sunglasses on it.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Very busy day!

Out the door again by 10:00. We walked down to the ferry dock and crossed the Nile for 1 e.p. each. On the ferry we met up with a taxi driver who gave us the whole day for 120 e.p.

Our first stop was The Valley of the Queens. We went into all of the open tombs. Queen Nefertari's tomb is by special request for tour groups only and you have to get a special certificate from the government which costs 20,000 e.p.! Oh, and you're still not allowed to take pictures.

Our next stop was Hatshepsut's Temple. It's huge! Cut from the limestone directly out of the mountain. I started to feel my skin fry by this time, it's very hot out in the open desert.

Then we drove through the mountain to The Valley of the Kings. You are only allowed three tombs for 70 e.p. Tut's tomb is an extra 80 e.p.! We went into Ramses I, Ramses IV, and Ramses IX. Took pics around the valley. I was shocked to see that KV64, the new one that was discovered in February is closed up again.

Our next stop was Medinet Habu. The temple is farther from the main sites and less popular, but it's incredible! Paint is still on most of the walls.

I'm lucky to have Mohab on this trip, I've been able to do things other tourists can't. A guard at Habu let us into a room that is blocked off, and I was allowed to take pics in some of the tombs, which is strictly forbidden.

Our next stop was The Collosi of Memnon. They are huge! 6o feet high statues.

Then we ferried back across the Nile and had dinner, Koshari and rice pudding, which only cost us 8 e.p.

We came back to the hotel for showers and a nap and slept through the night.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Bad news, the landlord of the apartment we were going to rent for the last week gave it away, how professional. So, we figured out a new plan, we are going to go back to Cairo for two days, one night, and then head to Dahab in South Sinai on the Red Sea for a few days of R&R.

We went a bit into the country and saw some cool 'way of life' sights.

Then we went to a new temple that is way off the beaten path. They discovered it in the 30's and are still trying to piece it back together. It is not much of a tourist destination so we were the only ones there and got led around by the guys that work there and then had tea with them.
According to legend, this is the spot where Moses was put into the Nile.

We had dinner, I had fish and chips and he had chicken tagen, it came with two salads, extra fries, we both got rice, once again a table full of food. We did some shopping, and headed back to Cairo.

Monday, November 13, 2006

The train ride wasn't as bad as the first one, of course it was only 10 hours and not 15.

We checked back into New Garden Palace where we spent the first night.

We spent the day shopping and went to his place for dinner.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

After checking out of the hotel we headed to Mohab's. We spent a couple of hours there, finishing up the laundry and packing up for Dahab.

We headed to Giza in the afternoon. We took the subway and the whole way there I was getting so many stares and glares that it was driving me nuts.

We were told at the gate that they only allow a couple hundred people into the Great Pyramid per day and it was late in the day so we may not get a chance. We figured we would try anyway. There were about five tickets left when we got to the booth. *whew* So, off we went climbing up the steps of the Great Pyramid!

The first few steps up and in are like walking through a cave, then you hit the chute, it's like torture walking up a ramp hunched over double. By the time we reached the Grand Gallery we were soaked. The Gallery is amazing! Every stone is perfectly cut, to think of this engineering being accomplished 5000 years ago. From the Gallery there is more bending which leads into the King's Chamber. I counted 20 regular steps across and 10 wide, the height had to be at least the length. Standing to one side was the sarcophagus, lidless and broken. Every stone along the walls was carved to perfection, not to mention huge! All the corners were right angles. Just absolutely amazing!

Poor Mohab had one of the janitor guys bothering him the whole time about how they used Genie's to make the pyramids. Here I am gaping around and ignoring everything, and here's him being followed everywhere by a janitor mumblng on about Genies.

By this time it was time to leave, we descended all the ramps and went through the torture again, dude following and mumbling the whole time, making it even more torturous.

We left and took some pics outside. Some young girls (about 10-years-old) came up and asked my name and where from and if they could have a picture with me.

We walked around until closing time and as we were leaving we had about 50 kids following (must have been a school outing or something) us and asking my name, etc, holding hands, touching my hair, one girl even took off her necklace and gave it to me. Just before leaving I turned and waved, what a sight, all these kids following and waving. I now know what it would feel like to be a celebrity.

We had dinner at Pizza Hut across the road and watched the sunset over the pyramids. Then went back to Mohab's for a bit, had a late dinner and headed for the bus station.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

During the night we changed buses twice and had our I.D.'s checked four times.

We made it to Dahab at around 9:30 am. We had the same old problems with hotels, so we met up with a friend of Mido's who works at a restaurant and waited there, on the beach, for things to get solved.

It was during this time that Mohab asked for a big kiss, and transferred something hard into my mouth (WTF), t'was a ring!

(For everyone who's asked so far, it's a multi-faceted Aquamarine, it changes colour from nearly clear to dark purple, and sparkles all different colours - reminds me of Christmas, or a purple opal)

We went and checked into the hotel, finally getting to stay in the same room, had showers, and headed out for a walk.

We had dinner at a seafood restaraunt and it was amazing sitting beside the sea where your meal is caught.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Spent the day relaxing and swimming.

In the evening we hung out and played backgammon, went for a walk, and played some pool. Just a nice day of R&R after all the hectic days travelling.

Friday, November 17, 2006

We checked out of the hotel and hung out at Star chatting and playing backgammon.

Later we went for a sunset horseback ride on the beach (yet another dream realized). I rode an awesome mare, she was the horse belonging to the guide, they didn't have enough horses so he gave me his seeing that I had some experience. We trotted a lot, which was uncomfortable for Mohab seeing that he didn't know how to post, so, I chalked up my guts and urged Natasha into a canter, his horse followed. After we stopped I looked over and saw the biggest smile on Mohab's face, it was the first time he'd ever really cantered and he loved it! These horses were so much better cared for, and better trained, than the ones we rode at Giza on the last trip.

We got back to the restaurant and hung out for a bit, we talked to a girl from Australia for a while. I met the most wonderful 'wild' pup.

We caught the bus back to Cairo at 7:30 pm.