Sheik Steve - Giza
Sheik Steve - Giza
Left Minneapolis at 1 PM for Atlanta on a MD80. We are slightly delayed into Atlanta because of rain.I board KLM 747 for Amsterdam, a 6.5 hour flight. We leave at 7:45 PM EDT.
We arrive in Schiphol at 6:30 AM, they had just gone off of summer-time hours so I get an extra hour in Amsterdam. After customs I take the train to downtown Amsterdam. It is still very early downtown and nothing is open. So I just wonder about until 9 AM when the first canal boat runs. After the canal cruise I go and visit the Maritime museum which opens at 12 PM. After going through the museum I went on board the sailing ship they had. I next walked to Ann Frankhuis and took the tour there. After that I went to the Rijksmuseum and later to the Vincent Van Gogh musuem. I return to the airport in heavy rain. My flight to Cairo left at 8 PM.
Pyramids - Giza
Steve on Horse - Giza
Flying into Cairo about 2 AM we pass over the Nile Delta, it is very pretty with all of the lights below. We arrive at 2:30 AM and I purchase my Visa stamp for $15. After Immigration and Custom's the hassle begins with someone claiming to be from the tourist department trying to sell me an expensive tour, I decline and also decline the expensive cab he has. I find a cab for 35LE to take me downtown to the Lotus hotel. The room with bath and air goes for 65LE or about $21. At about 9 AM I awake and had breakfast which consisted of a row and jelly, anything else is extra. The hotel manager signs me up for a tour of Giza, Sacara, and Memphis for 60LE and an extra 10LE to go inside the Pyramids in Giza. At Giza I rent a guide and horse and ride off into the desert to the Pyramids. There are several Pyramids and the Sphinx, I got off the horse and went inside one of the Pyramids. It is very hot here and inside it is no better. some German man faints outside. The hawkers and pan handlers are busy trying to sell there wares. The Pyramids at Giza are just outside the populated area of Cairo, the pollution is very bad. The Sphinx is very small compared to the Pyramids. My tour lasted 1.5 hours. and my driver is waiting for me. Next we go to Saqqara which is south of Giza. There are also Pyramids here although smaller, I guide from to museum leads me through the temple part which has sustained damage through the centuries. I take a spiral staircase town several hundred feet to see 3 tombs. Many Hieroglyphs and murals on the walls. Next my driver takes me to Memphis and the statue of Rames II. After that we stop at a Papyrus store and a Carpet factory. I return to the hotel and I go and exchange $100 for Egyptian Pounds. I am still short on cash and I am looking to get a cash advance from my Visa card. I found a cash machine at the Hilton hotel, but I am unable to get any money from it.
Mohammed Ali Mosque - Cairo
This morning I sign up for a city tour and also had the hotel get my train tickets for Aswan. The City tour is 5 stops, first stop the Citadel which occupies high ground in Cairo, it is a fort with a commanding view of the city, piticulary Old Cairo. Inside is the Mohammed Ali Mosque which I took a quick look inside. Also located here is the Police museum which I toured with various exhibits including firearms, Assassin's ect. Close by is the Military museum which was closed so I looked at the outdoor exhibit of Russian made planes and captured Israeli tanks. Next my driver took me to stop 2 the Coptic museum. Coptic is the Egyptian Christian church of which about 10% of the people belong. The museum is relatively small but had some fine art work. Just outside the church is the ruins of Babylon the ancient Roman Fortification. Stop 3 on my tour was in Islamic Cairo. We stopped at the Mosque of Sultan Hasan and the Al Rafa'i Mosque. Stop 4 was a stop at the bazaar, Wrong just an expensive jewelry store. Stop 5 was at the Pharonic village on the Giza side. It is situated on some islands in the Nile and is recreated village showing ancient living in Egypt. it was very interesting. We started the tour on a small boat and we passed several displays and demonstrations. The tour then went on shore and we visited a recreated village and we saw how common people and Nobel people lived. I than bought the optional King Tutankhamen tour which is a recreation of his tomb and belongings. I returned to the hotel and I then went to the American Embassy and visited the library. Later I had dinner at Kentucky fried chicken. I return to the hotel. outside the hotel on the street there are many armed soldiers. I counted 12 of them in 1/2 block by my hotel, they do not allow pictures to be taken. That evening I take the metro to and from Rames train station, the metro is in stark contrast with the rest of Cairo, it is clean fast and efficient. Women have the first 2 cars on the train. Outside, Cairo is polluted, dirty, garbage all over and starved cats and dogs run the streets. After returning to the hotel I listen to my radio and Radio Soule Korea, Radio Bangkok, Voice of Russia, and Radio Japan.
I bought another night at the hotel so I have somewhere to stay, My train to Aswan does not leave until 10 PM. I walked about 1 mile to the Cairo Tower and I paid 12LE for a ticket and 10LE for Video to go to the top. It is 9 AM and the sky is very polluted. I am unable to see the Pyramids or the Nile Delta. I returned to the hotel and I then walked to Egyptian Museum. Admission is 10LE, camera no flash is an extra 10LE and Video is 100LE. I go with regular admission of 10LE which I feel is a real bargain. The museum has an incredible amount of Ancient Egyptian artifacts, many coffins, statues ect. King Tutankhmen display is on the 2nd floor. every thing is gold guilded, it is just incredible. I paid an extra 30LE to visit the mummy room and it was very interesting, they had about 10 mummies all in special climate controlled cases. Rames II was one of the coffins. I returned to the hotel. Each time I go out and return I take a shower, forget hot water just use cold. And then I change underwear because the old stuff is soaking wet. I went out shopping and bought some perfume. I found a 67 GTO about 1 block from the hotel, it had pieces from about 3 cars on it. You do not see many American cars here, a few buicks and some jeeps. I return to hotel. At 9 PM I am ready to go to train station 2 ladies from New Jersey are also going to train station so we ride to train station together for 6LE. We find the 1st class car with very large and comparable seats, our ticket also includes Dinner.
Aswan High Dam
Watched 1950 movie on overhead TV, very boring. They played movies until 3 AM and they left the lights on all night. We pass Luxor about 8 AM and continue toward Aswan, there is much rail construction going on. There is also much housing construction going on between Luxor and Aswan. From the train looking out 1 side you see the Nile valley, very green, from the other side of the train you see desert with many houses. I arrive in Aswan at 12:00 and I try and find the Nubian Oasis hotel. I am unable to find that hotel so I settle on the Bob Marley hotel for 15LE this is a dump. Being short on time I bought 2 tours from the hotel. first I went to the Old Dam (British) and then we stopped to let 2 people off at the Philae Temple, next we continue to High Dam. The High Dam or Aswan Dam is so huge it is difficult to gage, it is 4 km across. We stop in the middle to look around and then returned the way we came. It is very hot in the desert here, my watch say's it is 124F. We stop at the Unfinished Obelisk on the way back to the hotel. After about 10 min. I go out for the Felucca tour (Sail Boat) to Elephantinie Island. There is is not enough wind and we are unable to make it. I am unhappy that we are just floating and not getting anywhere, my guide is afraid he will not do business with the hotel if I say anything. We when we get on shore I take the ferry to the Island and I then walk to the Aswan Museum. At the museum I see the excavations being done, and the Nileometer that measures the floods. This is so old that when the Romans came they restored it and relabel it in metric. The height of the floods is incredible, perhaps over 25 feet. With the dam there is no more flooding, so they now have to rely fertilizer. I than toured the small museum on Nubian Culture. After the museum a man claiming to be sheriff of the village sells me a tour of the village for 10LE which was interesting, I returned to the hotel after getting lost for a while. At the hotel there was this young gal with a tee shirt and no bra with shorts with the back ripped out and nothing underneath, the hotel staff was very interested and they told me she was an American, this would unacceptable clothing anywhere but in Egypt it is very out of place. All of women I meet on the trip were harassed constantly even if they traveled in pairs or with men. They would touch them, stare at them, the staff would bother them in their hotel rooms ect. Back at hotel I turned on the haywired air conditioner and try to sleep on the very hard bed.
Statue at Karnak Temple
Oblisk at Karnak Temple
I get up at 5 AM for the 5:40 train to Luxor. However Daylight savings time ended that night so I am an hour early for the train so I wait until 5 AM to buy a 2nd class ticket to Luxor 12LE. I meet a couple going to Luxor also, She is from New Zealand and he is from Grand Marais. The train in slow and it takes till 12:00 to reach Luxor. Someone from the Saint Mina Hotel accost us at the train station, we decide to check out the hotel anyway and it is close to the train station and is pretty nice so we decide to stay for 2 nights at 15LE per night. After checking in and showering I go out with Tim to see the Temples, Vennesa is sick and stays at the hotel. It is very hot here as well 113F, and I start having Diarrhea also. We visit the Luxor temple, much of which is in ruins. We then took a cab to the Karnak temple, very impressive with 143 columns and many statues. We take cab back to hotel at 6 PM, I go out on the street for something to eat and bought a meat pie which was good, it was filled with rice, vegetables, and some meat. While in Egypt I eat very little but I buy lots of bottled water, about 3-4 litters a day. have Diarrhea all night long and I take a shower every couple of hours to cool down, the air conditioner is not very good.
I am feeling better this morning. Tim and Venessa are sleeping in until 10 AM and I want to start early and beat the heat. I walk to the Nile to find the ferry, everyone wants to sell me a tour. I find the ferry and there is a small tour group from MISL on board and of course they try and sell me a tour also. Well since they have an air-conditioned van and the guide speaks good English I decide to take their tour for 90 LE. We have a father and son from Kansas (they can stand the heat) and 2 2 guys from Korea. First we stop at Thebes and the Memnon Colossi Statues of Amenhotep III, these statues have been disfigured at some time. Next we stop at the Valley of the Queens and we visit 3 chambers. Including the tomb of Amonherkhepeshef, the tomb of Nefertari was closed due to restoration, she was Rames II favorite wife (he had 43 wifes) It is very hot already 113F. Next we stop at the Hatsheput Temple and we see many murals carved on the walls. Next we stop at a store for a coke and perhaps buy some carvings. We continue to the Valley of the Kings, it is getting hotter 124F. We tour 3 tombs here, they are very impressive. We tour the tombs of Rames III, Tutankhamen, and Seti II. The tomb of Rames III has many impressive murals and an Plexiglas enclosure is used to isolate the tourist from the walls. The tomb of Tutankhamen is small and has very little murals but it does have his gold guilded coffin there. The last tomb of Seti II is very deep and it wears you out. The Pharaohs first used the Pyramids for barial but the robbers were able to break-in. Next they dug tombs and sealed the entrance, the robbers were still able to break-in, all except Tutankhamen which was found intact about 1911. Finally the Pharaohs had tombs built with no treasure inside and they just put a wooded door on the tomb, these tombs however still had murals carved and painted on the wall. The Pharaohs had a dedicated community of artist who only built tombs, the longer the pharoe lived the longer and more elaborate the tomb became, when the pharoe died he was sealed in and work was started on the next. We meet an archeologist Dr. Weeks who had just discovered an secret passage leading to 50 rooms. We return to the ferry and my hotel room. I am very tired. Later I go shopping and buy a brass plate, I have to be careful with my money so when I ask the price he say's 85LE I just walk away, he say's how much I pay and I say 20LE. He keeps trying and I cant spend a lot so finally I buy it for 25LE. Egyptians are funny they want to extract the maximum they can from you but they want you to be happy also. At 10:45 I get together with Tim and Vennesa and we go to the train station for the train to Cairo. At 11:32 the train arrives and we get on board. Some one has my seat but his ticket is correct, so I find another, someone claims that one, so I get bounced again. Finally I find a seat but in the mean time I had lost my ticket. The conductor say's I will have to buy another 51LE He comes back later and I have found my ticket.
We than take the metro to Sadat Station close to the Hotel Ismalia. Which Tim had said was good and cheap, they had no single rooms they took me to the Sun Hotel where Tim and Vennesa were staying. For 20LE I get a single room with no air. I go over to the Egyptian Musuem to buy more postcards. I return to the hotel. The Hotel is full of student types and they have a TV for people to watch. The hotel is is on the 9th floor behind the Coke sign, there is a good breeze here. I rest.
I sleep until 2:30 AM and then check out and I get a cab to the Airport for 25LE. Everything went fine at the airport, check in, passport, and security went fine. Our plane leaves at 5 AM. I am still sick so I rest. We arrive in Amsterdam and I have a 2 hour layover so I go stop at first aid and he gives me some pills to control Diarrhea. I board our flight to Atlanta, 8.5 hours. They show Batman Forever Movie on the screen. Arriving at Atlanta .5 hours late I still have 1 hour to catch my flight to Minneapolis. I arrive in Minneapolis at about 7 PM and my sister gives me a ride home.
steven_t_engelhardt