After three successful nights of celebrating the event known as Purim, I am wiped. For our final night we got dressed up again and went to the Florentin area. After visiting a house party we headed out on to the street to mingle with the thousands of people enjoying the once 'cancelled' Florentin street party. Tons of people + music and dancing in the street = awesome.
After exploring a few streets in the area we joined the dozens of people who were wandering around trying to figure out how to get to this after party that someone we know had organized. We eventually found the spot and the search was definitely worth it! We danced for hours and I was shocked when I realized that it was suddenly 5 in the morning.
Its a good thing today is going to be a lazy day because it is currently miserable out. Not like Canada cold miserable, but crazy blowing wind and rain miserable. Its quite the storam acutally. So much for getting groceries today... Happy Purim!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Purim and lots of rain
Last night we put on makeshift costumes, covered ourselves in glitter and make-up and headed out a party at a place called The Block Club. There was a Daft Punk tribute party and (after braving the rain - a lot of rain) we had a ourselves a pretty good time. My new obsession - picture/video - will show how much fun we had and how goofy we looked.
This morning Tam and I had a delicious Arabic brunch with a few members of her family. We then were treated to a tour of old Jaffa. This area, which is just south of where we live in Tel Aviv, is full of history and awesome architecture. The area we visited centers around a monsatery on the sea and has cobble stone walkways and lots of narrow alleys to explore. Jaffa is only about a 20 minute walk down the boardwalk from our place so we'll definitely be heading back there.
This morning Tam and I had a delicious Arabic brunch with a few members of her family. We then were treated to a tour of old Jaffa. This area, which is just south of where we live in Tel Aviv, is full of history and awesome architecture. The area we visited centers around a monsatery on the sea and has cobble stone walkways and lots of narrow alleys to explore. Jaffa is only about a 20 minute walk down the boardwalk from our place so we'll definitely be heading back there.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tid Bits
I got a few more pictures from Tam of Egypt so I made another quick movie of the ones I liked the best - theres some new ones from Cairo, Sinai, and our falucca and scuba adventures. Instead of uploading it to youtube like last time I tried just using blogger to do it, but I feel like theres a quality difference. Notice anything?
We've now been in Tel Aviv for over a week and I am really liking it here. I've said it before, and Ill say it again, we live in a great area. Last night the TAU exchange students met up at our apt for a little get-together before we headed out to a bar in the neighborhood. Its so nice to be able to walk everywhere (even though last night we got a does of the Israeli rain that Tam's Granny warned us about!). I have no idea what the name of the bar we went to is, but we had a great time and danced up a storm. We discovered we're not such big fans of Israeli dance music, but fortunately they played some good 90's beats.
This morning we slept late and then wandered around trying to find a place to go for brunch (for those who dont know, Israel's Fridays are like Canadian Saturdays). After a lot of line-ups and busy cafes we finally decided on Max Brenner's - excellent decision. Apparently they have this place in NYC as well, but the Tel Aviv location is the first one and wow good food. So I think this guy stared out as a chocolate maker and expanded into a restaurant. The food
was delicious and we got waaaay too much. Its not often that I dont clear my plate, but I was definitely not able to here. Heres a picture of the vegetable omelette with all the crazy sides they give you. Theres some cheese-type dip, tuna salad, vegetable salad, yogurt and granola, bread and of course some chocolate spread. Its all served with orange juice and your choice of a variety of coffees of hot chocolates. Delish - and I am still full nearly 6 hours later.
This weekend is purim - which is essentially the Jewish version of Halloween - except with a lot more meaning . I am not clear on the story (I think its a story of the Jews being saved from being exterminated by this evil guy Haman), but I get to dress up, eat hamantashen and make loud noises with these fun gragger noise maker things when someone says this bad guys' (Haman) name. Sounds like a sweet holiday to me. I must comment though that the girls here dress exactly like the ones at home on Halloween - aka skanky. Hey look - theres a slutty cop, a slutty bumblebee and a slutty nurse. sigh. My costume has yet to be determined, but I think its going to involve wings and some glitter. Saweet. Pics to come.
For the purim festivities, we were supposed to be going to big street party in the south part of the city tomorrow night, but its apparently been cancelled because of the weather. Instead, we might head to the port area to check out some of the goings on there. I am sure it will be a good time either way.
We've now been in Tel Aviv for over a week and I am really liking it here. I've said it before, and Ill say it again, we live in a great area. Last night the TAU exchange students met up at our apt for a little get-together before we headed out to a bar in the neighborhood. Its so nice to be able to walk everywhere (even though last night we got a does of the Israeli rain that Tam's Granny warned us about!). I have no idea what the name of the bar we went to is, but we had a great time and danced up a storm. We discovered we're not such big fans of Israeli dance music, but fortunately they played some good 90's beats.
This morning we slept late and then wandered around trying to find a place to go for brunch (for those who dont know, Israel's Fridays are like Canadian Saturdays). After a lot of line-ups and busy cafes we finally decided on Max Brenner's - excellent decision. Apparently they have this place in NYC as well, but the Tel Aviv location is the first one and wow good food. So I think this guy stared out as a chocolate maker and expanded into a restaurant. The food
was delicious and we got waaaay too much. Its not often that I dont clear my plate, but I was definitely not able to here. Heres a picture of the vegetable omelette with all the crazy sides they give you. Theres some cheese-type dip, tuna salad, vegetable salad, yogurt and granola, bread and of course some chocolate spread. Its all served with orange juice and your choice of a variety of coffees of hot chocolates. Delish - and I am still full nearly 6 hours later.This weekend is purim - which is essentially the Jewish version of Halloween - except with a lot more meaning . I am not clear on the story (I think its a story of the Jews being saved from being exterminated by this evil guy Haman), but I get to dress up, eat hamantashen and make loud noises with these fun gragger noise maker things when someone says this bad guys' (Haman) name. Sounds like a sweet holiday to me. I must comment though that the girls here dress exactly like the ones at home on Halloween - aka skanky. Hey look - theres a slutty cop, a slutty bumblebee and a slutty nurse. sigh. My costume has yet to be determined, but I think its going to involve wings and some glitter. Saweet. Pics to come.
For the purim festivities, we were supposed to be going to big street party in the south part of the city tomorrow night, but its apparently been cancelled because of the weather. Instead, we might head to the port area to check out some of the goings on there. I am sure it will be a good time either way.
Monday, February 22, 2010
First few days in Tel Aviv
Friday was great becuase we were able to sleep in then head to Carmel Market to get some fresh fruits and vegetables (and the requisite baraka...Im going to get so fat) and check out the arts and crafts market that they have every Tuesday and Friday one street over. Im sure we'll be heading to both of these places many many times. After lunch we made our way to the beach for the first time. Its crazy that we've been here for a few days and live literally two blocks from the beach but had yet to make it down there.
The rest of our weekend was spent with Tams family. I am super fortunate to be here with Tam who has so many kind and generous relatives in and around the city. Friday night we taxi'd up to Herzliya for friday night dinner at her cousin's house. Dinner was great and we stayed over night so we could join them on a picnic to the Carmel mountains the next day. We lucked out yet again with the weather and had an absolutely great day. The mountains are beautiful - with mountain range on one side and a view of the sea on the other. Israel definitely has some pretty impressive and varied landscape for such a small country.
Yesterday we had our first classes. Not too much to comment on them just yet as these were the intro classes, but I htink they will be interesting enough. I will say that they are almost all 1.5 hours in length - which I have determined to be the optimal amount of time for a law class to be (take note Ottawa U) - so no complaints there. Going to two more classes today. I guess I will mention that we have about a 40 minute bus ride to get to class. Not terrible, and likely worth it since living near campus would not be as interesting or convenient for most things as where we live now (although quieter for sure...).
Current temperature: 18°C (brrrrr)
ps. the spell check on this thing doesnt work...and I am too lazy to re-read my posts :)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Egypt Pictures
I decided to take a crack at using this muvee software I have on my laptop to make a video of our pictures from Egypt...hopefully it works! Let me know if its doesnt.
Egypt Roundup
I had a really good time in Egypt but wanted to list some of the pros and cons of the country - at least from my perspective.
Likes:
Food - We got fat in Egypt. There are so many good breads and pastries and fried delicious falafel. On our last day in Dahab we gorged ourselves on amazing crepe-like pancakes smeared in nutella and covered in fruit. Amazing. One of our best meals was likely at the Nubian restaurant in Aswan. The flavors of the food were great - no doubt thanks to those famous Nubian spices. Tam would likely say her favorite thing to eat in Egypt was a loaf of fresh bread she bought from a random bakery in Cairo - shes still raving about it. My favorite is definitely the new teas we've discovered. The two big ones are Nubian hibicus tea (which is delicious hot or cold) and mint tea. Tam also bought a Bedouin tea thats supposed to be good for your stomach.
Weather - Aside from a couple cold days in Cairo, we were super spoiled with the weather. Very dry, hot and sunny.
History - We were pretty templed out by the end of our travels, but theres no denying that the sites and stories from Egypt's past are worth the trip. I think I liked the temples in Luxor the best (Karnak especially) and also the pyramids outside Cairo. We would also recommend guides. The places we went to where we didnt have someone explaining all the incredibly detailed artwork on the walls and things about the structure itself (like who built it, for who and when), we found that we got a lot less out of it.
Mt. Sinai - Despite the donkey taxi drivers that work in St. Katherines, I definitely recommend the hike up Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise. There were tons of people, you can stop at one of the many coffee shacks they've built on the mountain along the way if you get chilly, and the energy and anticipation that is felt at the top of the mountain is pretty cool. If youre going to go, hike up the camel trail and then come down the other side of the mountain using the steps.
Dahab - I really liked Dahab and the red sea. The colour of the water is like what youd expect to see off of a caribean island - the light blue aquamarine colour flanked by dark blue. Really pretty. I also liked the atmosphere in the city. Its so different from the rest of the country,at times, you almost forgot you were in Egypt. We also had some reallly nice food here and met some nice people.
Dislikes:
Poverty - At least 90% of Egypt is poor. Ive never been somewhere with this much poverty, and its very disconcerting. The country is filthy and because of it people dont seem to care if they throw garbage on the ground. The cleanest place we saw was the main street in Luxor - but this is probably also one of the most touristy places in Egypt. We were at one bus station and we saw a guy standing 2 feet from a garbage can and he still dropped a big wad of trash right onto the ground. Frustrating. Our guide explained it by saying that its hard to get people to change their old ways.
Money Issues - Everything to do with money is super annoying in Egypt. First, tipping. I dont mean at restaurants and whatnot (although people need to be carefull because often the service charge is included on the bill), but rather for guides and drivers etc. We are happy to tip when its earned, but in Egypt its expected and they remind you about that allll the time. Even the jerkoff of a taxi driver who drove us from St. Katherines to Dahab cheerfullyreminded us to tip him. No dice pal.
Second, in our first couple of days in Cairo our guide always said that in Egypt you get what you pay for. What he neglected to mention was that you have to pay for everything. Need to pee? One pound (and dont forget to tip the person who is ripping off two squares of toilet paper for you...if there is toilet paper that is). Taking a bus ride? Buy your ticket (OK) but dont forget to bring change because if you want to bring your bags with you that will cost extra when you go to board.
Finally, bank machines. Argh. If youre planning to go to Egypt either bring travellers checks, exchange enough cash before you leave or map out every HSBC bank in the cities in Egypt where youre planning to travel because they are the only ones that will work with your Canadian debit card.
Hassling - We figured that while traveling in Egypt we'd run into some issues as women - and this was definitely true. I didnt ever feel unsafe, but after being followed and photographed and videotaped and feeling like I needed to wear even baggier clothes and even groped in one instance, I got pretty bothered.
Littlest Hobo Hell - Anyone who knows me knows that I love animals and generally need to say hi to every one I see. Some people also know that stray dogs and sad looking animals upset me. This is a big problem in Egypt because there are stray dogs and cats, sad looking camels and donkeys, and goats with deformities and broken limbs all over the place. I realize that the people are not very well off, but it doesnt stop it from bothering me.
Im sure theres more...but these were the highs and lows I can think of right now. More to come on Tel Aviv soon...
Current location: Tel Aviv
Temperature: 24°C
Likes:
Food - We got fat in Egypt. There are so many good breads and pastries and fried delicious falafel. On our last day in Dahab we gorged ourselves on amazing crepe-like pancakes smeared in nutella and covered in fruit. Amazing. One of our best meals was likely at the Nubian restaurant in Aswan. The flavors of the food were great - no doubt thanks to those famous Nubian spices. Tam would likely say her favorite thing to eat in Egypt was a loaf of fresh bread she bought from a random bakery in Cairo - shes still raving about it. My favorite is definitely the new teas we've discovered. The two big ones are Nubian hibicus tea (which is delicious hot or cold) and mint tea. Tam also bought a Bedouin tea thats supposed to be good for your stomach.
Weather - Aside from a couple cold days in Cairo, we were super spoiled with the weather. Very dry, hot and sunny.
History - We were pretty templed out by the end of our travels, but theres no denying that the sites and stories from Egypt's past are worth the trip. I think I liked the temples in Luxor the best (Karnak especially) and also the pyramids outside Cairo. We would also recommend guides. The places we went to where we didnt have someone explaining all the incredibly detailed artwork on the walls and things about the structure itself (like who built it, for who and when), we found that we got a lot less out of it.
Mt. Sinai - Despite the donkey taxi drivers that work in St. Katherines, I definitely recommend the hike up Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise. There were tons of people, you can stop at one of the many coffee shacks they've built on the mountain along the way if you get chilly, and the energy and anticipation that is felt at the top of the mountain is pretty cool. If youre going to go, hike up the camel trail and then come down the other side of the mountain using the steps.
Dahab - I really liked Dahab and the red sea. The colour of the water is like what youd expect to see off of a caribean island - the light blue aquamarine colour flanked by dark blue. Really pretty. I also liked the atmosphere in the city. Its so different from the rest of the country,at times, you almost forgot you were in Egypt. We also had some reallly nice food here and met some nice people.
Dislikes:
Poverty - At least 90% of Egypt is poor. Ive never been somewhere with this much poverty, and its very disconcerting. The country is filthy and because of it people dont seem to care if they throw garbage on the ground. The cleanest place we saw was the main street in Luxor - but this is probably also one of the most touristy places in Egypt. We were at one bus station and we saw a guy standing 2 feet from a garbage can and he still dropped a big wad of trash right onto the ground. Frustrating. Our guide explained it by saying that its hard to get people to change their old ways.
Money Issues - Everything to do with money is super annoying in Egypt. First, tipping. I dont mean at restaurants and whatnot (although people need to be carefull because often the service charge is included on the bill), but rather for guides and drivers etc. We are happy to tip when its earned, but in Egypt its expected and they remind you about that allll the time. Even the jerkoff of a taxi driver who drove us from St. Katherines to Dahab cheerfullyreminded us to tip him. No dice pal.
Second, in our first couple of days in Cairo our guide always said that in Egypt you get what you pay for. What he neglected to mention was that you have to pay for everything. Need to pee? One pound (and dont forget to tip the person who is ripping off two squares of toilet paper for you...if there is toilet paper that is). Taking a bus ride? Buy your ticket (OK) but dont forget to bring change because if you want to bring your bags with you that will cost extra when you go to board.
Finally, bank machines. Argh. If youre planning to go to Egypt either bring travellers checks, exchange enough cash before you leave or map out every HSBC bank in the cities in Egypt where youre planning to travel because they are the only ones that will work with your Canadian debit card.
Hassling - We figured that while traveling in Egypt we'd run into some issues as women - and this was definitely true. I didnt ever feel unsafe, but after being followed and photographed and videotaped and feeling like I needed to wear even baggier clothes and even groped in one instance, I got pretty bothered.
Littlest Hobo Hell - Anyone who knows me knows that I love animals and generally need to say hi to every one I see. Some people also know that stray dogs and sad looking animals upset me. This is a big problem in Egypt because there are stray dogs and cats, sad looking camels and donkeys, and goats with deformities and broken limbs all over the place. I realize that the people are not very well off, but it doesnt stop it from bothering me.
Im sure theres more...but these were the highs and lows I can think of right now. More to come on Tel Aviv soon...
Current location: Tel Aviv
Temperature: 24°C
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Diving and Sunshine
Sadly, our trip to Egypt is over. Its been a tiring trip (especiall considering how short it was) but I think a good one overall. Tam and I have been discussing our likes and dislikes about Egypt and maybe Ill try posting those tomorrow.
We're currently in an internet cafe at the bus station in Eilat waiting to head back up to Tel Aviv. The last couple of days in Dahab were great though. The weather was absolutely pefect and it was totally relaxing. We both went diving - which I can only describe as amazing. I definitely belong in the water. We barely had to go 10 meters from the shore in Dahab's main bay and we found ourselves swimming along a beautiful coral reef covered crazy in colours and beautiful fish. We did two dives - one to learn the basic skills and one where we actually got to go deeper and see what it was really like to scuba dive. Unfortunatley, because of my head cold, I was only able to make it down to around 9 meters ( I think Tam made it to 12) but I was still able to see everything I wanted. I will definitely be going diving again.
Our next day and both evenings in Dahab were spent eating and lounging - either by the pool at our really nice hotel or on cushions smoking sheehsa right beside the ocean. Sound nice? It was. We're defiintely heading back to Tel Aviv with more colour in our cheeks (and some mosquito bites!).
So now we head back to Tel Aviv where we meet our new roommate and have orientation tomorrow morning. We're excited to get back and meet new people and explore the city (hopefully we'll feel better about the noisy apt after a couple of days of getting used to it). We'll definitely be happy not to have to take anymore long bus trips.
Next post from Tel Aviv... (where apparently its equally hot an sunny...yesssssss).
We're currently in an internet cafe at the bus station in Eilat waiting to head back up to Tel Aviv. The last couple of days in Dahab were great though. The weather was absolutely pefect and it was totally relaxing. We both went diving - which I can only describe as amazing. I definitely belong in the water. We barely had to go 10 meters from the shore in Dahab's main bay and we found ourselves swimming along a beautiful coral reef covered crazy in colours and beautiful fish. We did two dives - one to learn the basic skills and one where we actually got to go deeper and see what it was really like to scuba dive. Unfortunatley, because of my head cold, I was only able to make it down to around 9 meters ( I think Tam made it to 12) but I was still able to see everything I wanted. I will definitely be going diving again.
Our next day and both evenings in Dahab were spent eating and lounging - either by the pool at our really nice hotel or on cushions smoking sheehsa right beside the ocean. Sound nice? It was. We're defiintely heading back to Tel Aviv with more colour in our cheeks (and some mosquito bites!).
So now we head back to Tel Aviv where we meet our new roommate and have orientation tomorrow morning. We're excited to get back and meet new people and explore the city (hopefully we'll feel better about the noisy apt after a couple of days of getting used to it). We'll definitely be happy not to have to take anymore long bus trips.
Next post from Tel Aviv... (where apparently its equally hot an sunny...yesssssss).
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Gulf of Aqaba...
Exhausted...but happy.
Our last stop in Egypt is Dahab - a sleepy little diving town on the red sea Its beautiful here and we spent the afternoon researching dive shops and exploring the board walk. We've set up two dives for tomorrow - really excited!!
Borrowing someone's laptop on the beach right now. Currently sitting on a cushion eating delicious baba ganough and preparing to play some backgamon. Tonight will be an early night because we travelled for 24 hours from Luxor to to get ´to St. Katherines (Tam's official verdict is that all Egyptian trains suck...but I definitely recomment the sleeper train over first class) and then were up at 1:30 am to climb Mt Sinai - which was totally worth it! The weather was perfect for the hike and the sunrise was great. Somehow Tam and I managed to squeeze our way into one of the most perfect spots for the event.There were tons of people on the mountain and when the sun came up many were singing and praying. Totally sureal experience. Its crazy that we arrived in St Katherines in complete darkness, hiked up the mountain with hundreds of people with just flashlights in complete darkeness and then when the sun comes up you realize youre in this huge mountain range that goes on for miles. We could look down and see the path that wed used to snake our way up the mountain (before getting to the summit using 750 steps). For the trip back down we took a different path - 3650 stone steps put in place by the local Bedouins. A really great experience and definitely recommended.
Getting to Dahab was a bit of a disaster. I definitely yelled at some Egyptians today. I think Ive finally reached my haggling breaking point. The amount they were trying to change us to get here was outrageous and at one point one guy even lied to get us into his cab so we'd miss the opportunity to get a cheaper ride with someone else. Its a well coordinated operation among the drivers (using cell phones and stalking tactics)to take the travellers for as much money as possible. We finally ended up with a ride we were semi happy with and just gave up. When we got here I told the driver he had better go and get some tip money from his buddies - because he wasnt getting from us. Yeah...I probably needed a nap at that point.
Anyway, we made it and its exactly like wed hoped it would be. For the next two days we plan to do some diving, hang out on the beach (smoke some sheesha hehe) and meet some of the people staying in Dahab (this will likely also entail participating in some of the nightlife...something we've definitely been missing).
Location: Dahab
Temperature at 6 pm: 24
Our last stop in Egypt is Dahab - a sleepy little diving town on the red sea Its beautiful here and we spent the afternoon researching dive shops and exploring the board walk. We've set up two dives for tomorrow - really excited!!
Borrowing someone's laptop on the beach right now. Currently sitting on a cushion eating delicious baba ganough and preparing to play some backgamon. Tonight will be an early night because we travelled for 24 hours from Luxor to to get ´to St. Katherines (Tam's official verdict is that all Egyptian trains suck...but I definitely recomment the sleeper train over first class) and then were up at 1:30 am to climb Mt Sinai - which was totally worth it! The weather was perfect for the hike and the sunrise was great. Somehow Tam and I managed to squeeze our way into one of the most perfect spots for the event.There were tons of people on the mountain and when the sun came up many were singing and praying. Totally sureal experience. Its crazy that we arrived in St Katherines in complete darkness, hiked up the mountain with hundreds of people with just flashlights in complete darkeness and then when the sun comes up you realize youre in this huge mountain range that goes on for miles. We could look down and see the path that wed used to snake our way up the mountain (before getting to the summit using 750 steps). For the trip back down we took a different path - 3650 stone steps put in place by the local Bedouins. A really great experience and definitely recommended.
Getting to Dahab was a bit of a disaster. I definitely yelled at some Egyptians today. I think Ive finally reached my haggling breaking point. The amount they were trying to change us to get here was outrageous and at one point one guy even lied to get us into his cab so we'd miss the opportunity to get a cheaper ride with someone else. Its a well coordinated operation among the drivers (using cell phones and stalking tactics)to take the travellers for as much money as possible. We finally ended up with a ride we were semi happy with and just gave up. When we got here I told the driver he had better go and get some tip money from his buddies - because he wasnt getting from us. Yeah...I probably needed a nap at that point.
Anyway, we made it and its exactly like wed hoped it would be. For the next two days we plan to do some diving, hang out on the beach (smoke some sheesha hehe) and meet some of the people staying in Dahab (this will likely also entail participating in some of the nightlife...something we've definitely been missing).
Location: Dahab
Temperature at 6 pm: 24
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Back on a train...
We're killing a little time before we board a train back to Cairo. As I mentioned before, we're taking the sleeper train (fingers crossed that we get some sleep) back up north and then catch a bus tomorrow morning to St. Katherines. Once we get there we drop off our big bags, get refreshed and pump ourselves up to climb Mt. Sinai. We start at like 2 am and are supposed to be at the summit for sunrise. Our legs are tired just from walking around today (plus Ive got a head cold...booo) so hopefully we'll make it. ha. After we climb we get on another bus and head to Dahab. There we are going to lay on the beach and try and do some diving in the Red Sea - which is supposed to be amazing. We've heard really good things about both Sinai and Dahab so we're really looking forward to it. Will also be a nice change from temples and tombs.
Today, after checking out the Luxor museum, we explored the amazing temples on the East bank in Luxor - Karmak and Luxor temples. Karmak temple has been my favorite site so far. Its huuuuge and so many of the stories and figuers we've heard about over the last few days have all come together and built things here in onor of the god Amun. Its too hard to describe, but its very impressive. Luxor temple was smaller but had some goood statues made by Ramses II and a frescoe painted by Christians inside. Joining the two temples is Sphinx Avenue, which is a long line of sphinxes - great site.
The only bad thing about today and our trip really is that we've been harassed alot by Egyptians. Not like the pople selling things - but regular men and younger people who want to talk to us and take our picture. Most of the time its ok, but today one man followed us around and creeped us out. At one point a group of men was either videoing or photographing us and out guide had to tell them to stop. Made us feel pretty uncomfortable and I personally (even though I am dressed modestly) ended up walking around a lot of the afternoon with my arms across my chest. Hopefully Dahab will be better!
Location: Luxor (about to board a train to Cairo)
Temperature: 29 °C
Today, after checking out the Luxor museum, we explored the amazing temples on the East bank in Luxor - Karmak and Luxor temples. Karmak temple has been my favorite site so far. Its huuuuge and so many of the stories and figuers we've heard about over the last few days have all come together and built things here in onor of the god Amun. Its too hard to describe, but its very impressive. Luxor temple was smaller but had some goood statues made by Ramses II and a frescoe painted by Christians inside. Joining the two temples is Sphinx Avenue, which is a long line of sphinxes - great site.
The only bad thing about today and our trip really is that we've been harassed alot by Egyptians. Not like the pople selling things - but regular men and younger people who want to talk to us and take our picture. Most of the time its ok, but today one man followed us around and creeped us out. At one point a group of men was either videoing or photographing us and out guide had to tell them to stop. Made us feel pretty uncomfortable and I personally (even though I am dressed modestly) ended up walking around a lot of the afternoon with my arms across my chest. Hopefully Dahab will be better!
Location: Luxor (about to board a train to Cairo)
Temperature: 29 °C
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
No hassle, No hassle
In Luxor now. Really like it here...aside from the fact that we can barely walk a block without being hassled to take a carriage ride. Its a funny place. They put up signs in their shops and know that you dont want to be bothere, but approach you and bother you by telling you how they wont hassle you. We're getting pretty good at ignoring them though. The tactic is to either not say anything at all or say thanks or I am not interested in Arabic (which I know how to say but have no idea how to type) and they might leave you alone. The second they hear that you speak english or are from Canada they have a ton of one liners and are really good at getting you to at least stop and talk to them. Its all fun though.
As for what we've seen and done for the last few days...
We left Aswan a couple days ago by felucca. This was actually a great experience - and we didnt die from the cold. There was 12 of us on the boat - 4 Americans, 2 Aussies, 1 Irishman, 2 Koreans, one Brit and then three crew members. We got on at about 1 and layed in the sun on cushions, had some good food and were able to meet some nice people. Acutally meeting people was probably the best part. Since Tam and I have been spoiled and have tours by ourselves we have not had a chance to meet other people traveling around Egypt and hear their stories. So it was really nice to hear where others had been and where they are going. We actually hope to meet up with a couple of them in St Katherines when we climb mount Sinai in a couple days.
After spending the night on the felucca - which got cold but not unbearably cold - we had a great breakfast. Kind of like french toast but made with pita bread and served with jams. Definitely one of my favorite things we've eaten so far. We then got off, said so long to the people who would be spending another day and night on the boat and headed north to the temples Komombo and Edfu.
By midafternoon we had arrived in Luxor - a nice and clean city - definitly as a result of it being so touristy. We spent the afternoon wandering around and finding somewhere good to eat. This morning we went to see Egypt's prized tourist attractions - the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's Temple.
Valley of the Kings - After the pyramids, this is what people come to Egypt to see (as the crowds can attest). The valley is filled with 63 tombs (the famous one being of course that of Kig Tut - the only one that has been found with anything in it). We saw three tombs, that of Tutmoses III, Ramses I and of a King and Queen who cant remember. They are all really different, but equally interesting. The most facinating part is that these tombs were all madein the time of the New Kingdom - whereas mos of the pyramids were from the old kingdom. Its seems as though these guys got laz and instead of taking the time to biold themselves a whole pyramid they were smart and found a mountain that really looks like a pyramid and put their tombs in it. That was they still had access to the sky and sun but saved themselves some time and effort.
Hatshepsut's Temple - This was something that I really liked. Ever since the museum in Cairo, Tam and I have been pretty fond of Queen Hatshepsut. This is because she was a badass and declared herself the daughter of one of the most powerful gods of the day, stole the crown from her step-son/nephew and declared herself King of Egypt. She ruled for 18 years. Heck yes. Her temple was to honor her after her death and its beautifully placed on the other side of the mountain from the valley of the kings. Unfortunately, once she died and her step-son/nephew took over he defaced her temple, but its still very commanding and impressive.
Tonight we're going to find somewhere fun to eat and have some tea that we have grown to love. Tomorrow we see the Luxor museum, Lucor temple and Karnak temple then take the sleeper train back to Cairo(note: the sleeper train - NOT the first class train we took to get here. See this earlier post for more on that.). We then take a 7 hour bus ride (ugh) to St Katherine's to climb Mt Sinai for sunrise (wooo).
Oh yeah...today after lunch we layed by the pool on the roof of our hotel and read and worked on our tans. Life is rough!
Location: Luxor (East Bank)
Current Temperature: 26 °C at 6pm...tomorrow's forecast 30°C :)
As for what we've seen and done for the last few days...
We left Aswan a couple days ago by felucca. This was actually a great experience - and we didnt die from the cold. There was 12 of us on the boat - 4 Americans, 2 Aussies, 1 Irishman, 2 Koreans, one Brit and then three crew members. We got on at about 1 and layed in the sun on cushions, had some good food and were able to meet some nice people. Acutally meeting people was probably the best part. Since Tam and I have been spoiled and have tours by ourselves we have not had a chance to meet other people traveling around Egypt and hear their stories. So it was really nice to hear where others had been and where they are going. We actually hope to meet up with a couple of them in St Katherines when we climb mount Sinai in a couple days.
After spending the night on the felucca - which got cold but not unbearably cold - we had a great breakfast. Kind of like french toast but made with pita bread and served with jams. Definitely one of my favorite things we've eaten so far. We then got off, said so long to the people who would be spending another day and night on the boat and headed north to the temples Komombo and Edfu.
By midafternoon we had arrived in Luxor - a nice and clean city - definitly as a result of it being so touristy. We spent the afternoon wandering around and finding somewhere good to eat. This morning we went to see Egypt's prized tourist attractions - the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's Temple.
Valley of the Kings - After the pyramids, this is what people come to Egypt to see (as the crowds can attest). The valley is filled with 63 tombs (the famous one being of course that of Kig Tut - the only one that has been found with anything in it). We saw three tombs, that of Tutmoses III, Ramses I and of a King and Queen who cant remember. They are all really different, but equally interesting. The most facinating part is that these tombs were all madein the time of the New Kingdom - whereas mos of the pyramids were from the old kingdom. Its seems as though these guys got laz and instead of taking the time to biold themselves a whole pyramid they were smart and found a mountain that really looks like a pyramid and put their tombs in it. That was they still had access to the sky and sun but saved themselves some time and effort.
Hatshepsut's Temple - This was something that I really liked. Ever since the museum in Cairo, Tam and I have been pretty fond of Queen Hatshepsut. This is because she was a badass and declared herself the daughter of one of the most powerful gods of the day, stole the crown from her step-son/nephew and declared herself King of Egypt. She ruled for 18 years. Heck yes. Her temple was to honor her after her death and its beautifully placed on the other side of the mountain from the valley of the kings. Unfortunately, once she died and her step-son/nephew took over he defaced her temple, but its still very commanding and impressive.
Tonight we're going to find somewhere fun to eat and have some tea that we have grown to love. Tomorrow we see the Luxor museum, Lucor temple and Karnak temple then take the sleeper train back to Cairo(note: the sleeper train - NOT the first class train we took to get here. See this earlier post for more on that.). We then take a 7 hour bus ride (ugh) to St Katherine's to climb Mt Sinai for sunrise (wooo).
Oh yeah...today after lunch we layed by the pool on the roof of our hotel and read and worked on our tans. Life is rough!
Location: Luxor (East Bank)
Current Temperature: 26 °C at 6pm...tomorrow's forecast 30°C :)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Bartering Champs!
OK...first...this post was clearly not meant to happen. First the computer shut off and then once I had finished it the second time I lost it again. So heres a lazy-I-am-so-not-happy-right-now version...
We bartered like champs in the Aswan market for dried hibiscus flowers for tea - Awesome.
Were able to wear t-shirts for the first time today - Amazing.
Nubians have really good spices and make deicious food.
Ramses II loves himself and his wife, Nefertari, and made some really awesome temples at Abu Simbel. You have to take a convoy through the desert to get there - even more important you have to wake up at 2:45 am - yes, 2:45 am - to meet that convoy.
Turns out camels are really tall and not Tam's favorite animal. Riding them is pretty fun if you're me - not so much your Tam and your guy keeps hitting the camel and you think youre going to fall off.
Banks in Egypt hate Canadian cards - stick with HSBC and youll be happy.
Tomorrow we get to sleep in and then head to the market to barter for some more stuff - fun. Then at noon we head out to get on a felucca for the night. We're a little worried about this since it gets pretty cold at night and we are huge wusses. Hopefully we dont freeze. The felucca heads back up north toward Luxor and some pretty cool looking temples and the valley of the kings. Should be sweet.
Location: Aswan
Temp: 17 °C
We bartered like champs in the Aswan market for dried hibiscus flowers for tea - Awesome.
Were able to wear t-shirts for the first time today - Amazing.
Nubians have really good spices and make deicious food.
Ramses II loves himself and his wife, Nefertari, and made some really awesome temples at Abu Simbel. You have to take a convoy through the desert to get there - even more important you have to wake up at 2:45 am - yes, 2:45 am - to meet that convoy.
Turns out camels are really tall and not Tam's favorite animal. Riding them is pretty fun if you're me - not so much your Tam and your guy keeps hitting the camel and you think youre going to fall off.
Banks in Egypt hate Canadian cards - stick with HSBC and youll be happy.
Tomorrow we get to sleep in and then head to the market to barter for some more stuff - fun. Then at noon we head out to get on a felucca for the night. We're a little worried about this since it gets pretty cold at night and we are huge wusses. Hopefully we dont freeze. The felucca heads back up north toward Luxor and some pretty cool looking temples and the valley of the kings. Should be sweet.
Location: Aswan
Temp: 17 °C
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Lesson Learned: Always take the sleeper train....
We just arrived in Aswan in Southern Egypt and are waiting for our hotel room to be ready. We took the overnight train from Cairo....interesting. I think combined, Tam and I have about 4 hours of sleep from last night. Feeling surprisingly good though. The weather is warmer here and we have a good tour of some temples set up for this afternoon. We're in Aswan for a total of 2 nights, but one of them - tonight - doesnt really count because we are leaving to go to Abu Simbel at 3 am. Should be a really interesting tour. After that we're going on a tour of a Nubian village - which our guide assures us (a million percent) will be the best tour we go on in Egypt. Will report back on that one.
Yesterday - in Cairo - we spent the morning touring a 15th century mosque, an old Coptic church and a synagogue. Then in the afternoon, we saw the much talked about Cairo museum. You would need days to see everything in that place. Fortunately for us, our guide in Cairo was an Egyptologist and he knew the most interesting things to see in the museum and was able to give us really thorough explanations. Tam and I can now tell you differences between statues of living and dead kings and the differences between the statues from the three kingdoms (old, middle and new). A highlight for me was lunch (haha shocking) where we had Egyptian falafels - which are made with fava beans instead of chickpeas. Delicious.
Alright time to get freshened up, grab some food and head to Philae Temple and the surrounding sites.
Location: Aswan Egypt
Currnet Temperature: Sunny and 16 °C
Yesterday - in Cairo - we spent the morning touring a 15th century mosque, an old Coptic church and a synagogue. Then in the afternoon, we saw the much talked about Cairo museum. You would need days to see everything in that place. Fortunately for us, our guide in Cairo was an Egyptologist and he knew the most interesting things to see in the museum and was able to give us really thorough explanations. Tam and I can now tell you differences between statues of living and dead kings and the differences between the statues from the three kingdoms (old, middle and new). A highlight for me was lunch (haha shocking) where we had Egyptian falafels - which are made with fava beans instead of chickpeas. Delicious.
Alright time to get freshened up, grab some food and head to Philae Temple and the surrounding sites.
Location: Aswan Egypt
Currnet Temperature: Sunny and 16 °C
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
First night and the trip to Cairo...
So we spent the first night in our apt. And the verdict is mixed. The location is awesome. We can seen the sea from our balcony and we're close to some good shops and a neat market. We're really in the middle if the action. However, being in the middle of it all means its noisy. And its even noisier giving the honking and yelling that goes on at all hours. Definitely will take some getting used to.
Met our landlords. Nice and interesting people. Run the pub that is right below our apt (shockingly we cant hear the pub at all). Apparently - at least according to our landlord - its the only place in Tel Aviv where you can get cider. Lucky me. We tried it out last night and its was good stuff - made even better by the fact that we get to drink and eat for half price!
Today we got to Cairo. The day started off a bit rough becuase Tam was not feeling the greatest. But its gotten better! We have not seen much of the city yet, but did have quite the experience on the drive from the ariport to our hotel. The driving is crazy. Picture fours lanes of traffic but theres actually six crs and a motor bike squished in there. They are all constantly honking and theres no traffic singals to be seen. People have to run in between cars because theres no crosswalks. Took a video I will post when I get a chance. Nuts.
Looking forward to Egypt! Even though its a little bit colder at night than we thought (current temp...a balmy 13 degrees).
Met our landlords. Nice and interesting people. Run the pub that is right below our apt (shockingly we cant hear the pub at all). Apparently - at least according to our landlord - its the only place in Tel Aviv where you can get cider. Lucky me. We tried it out last night and its was good stuff - made even better by the fact that we get to drink and eat for half price!
Today we got to Cairo. The day started off a bit rough becuase Tam was not feeling the greatest. But its gotten better! We have not seen much of the city yet, but did have quite the experience on the drive from the ariport to our hotel. The driving is crazy. Picture fours lanes of traffic but theres actually six crs and a motor bike squished in there. They are all constantly honking and theres no traffic singals to be seen. People have to run in between cars because theres no crosswalks. Took a video I will post when I get a chance. Nuts.
Looking forward to Egypt! Even though its a little bit colder at night than we thought (current temp...a balmy 13 degrees).
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
On Our Way!
This blog is a bit of an experiment for me. It fees kind of narcissistic to write about yourself and things youre doing and expect people to give a darn...but here goes...
Its been a busy couple of weeks but its nearly time to head to the airport. Our bags are packed and we are contemplating how we're going to convince the airline to let us on with our severely overweight luggage.
The plan for the next couple of weeks is as follows:
We'll get to Tel Aviv tomorrow afternoon and get set up at our aparment (the apartment that is two blocks away from the beach...). We spend the night there and get ready to head to Cairo the next afternoon. We'll then be spending two weeks touring around Egypt! Details, pictures and daily weather updates to come...
So long cold Canada. Looking forward to the next three months!
Its been a busy couple of weeks but its nearly time to head to the airport. Our bags are packed and we are contemplating how we're going to convince the airline to let us on with our severely overweight luggage.
The plan for the next couple of weeks is as follows:
We'll get to Tel Aviv tomorrow afternoon and get set up at our aparment (the apartment that is two blocks away from the beach...). We spend the night there and get ready to head to Cairo the next afternoon. We'll then be spending two weeks touring around Egypt! Details, pictures and daily weather updates to come...
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