Post by daveshn on Nov 4, 2007 5:08:02 GMT -6
I'm not going to make any grieving jokes, just going to give you the low-down on what I've done.
I docked in Alexandria and immediately high-tailed it to Cairo where I spent the night at the sketchiest of hotels. Seriously, I slept in all of my clothes, sprayed the entire room with bug spray, had to step on a few cockroaches, and decided to sleep above the covers. Yeah, it was that bad. If you are wondering why I stayed there, it's for the greatest experience I've had so far, seeing the Giza Pyramids at sunrise.
It was amazing, breath-taking, and exciting. I have some amazing videos that I'll be uploading when I get home. It's been the most beautiful sight on this whole trip.
I spent all of my second day at the Giza Pyramids until they closed around 4:00 pm. The Sphinx wasn't all that great compared to the pyramids, but it was grand in its own way. If you guys ever go, make sure to go at sunrise and stay there as long as you can. The positions of the moon and sun compared to the pyramids makes for wonderful views. One thing you need to take along though is a cloth to cover your mouth with when you are in a cab. The air quality is awful, but it is better around the pyramids.
Horses are the best way to travel around the desert that surrounds the pyramids, camels are too uncomfortable. Be sure to get a price of 20 Egyptian Pounds per hour, any more and they are trying to rip you off because 20 is supposed to be the official price.
While at the pyramids, I got the wonderful panoramic view and the "All nine pyramids" shot. Both are well worth the time it takes to get to the hills that you need to climb.
The only part of the pyramids that isn't worth it is going in them. Everything has been cleared out and you have to go up a long, narrow tunnel to a room that is literally completely empty. Also, the way in and the way out are the same way, so you only have half the room to go through. To make it worse, no cameras. Not that there's anything in there that's picture worthy.
After I left Giza, I headed for Luxor on an overnight sleeping train. Don't take them. They are always late, as I found out the hard way; they make no reparations; the bathrooms are awful; and first-class in normal trains are cheaper, quieter, and more comfortable.
When I got to Luxor, it was straight to the Valley of the Kings. The VotK is where many great pharaohs were buried. All of the Ramseses were buried there and a lot of others that I'm not going to try to spell. You aren't supposed to be able to take pictures or videos of the insides of the tombes, but, with a little bribery (which, fyi, is called "bacsheesh") and if you are the only one in the tomb at the time, you can get all the pictures you want. I even got to crawl into Ramses VII's empty sarcophagus and got it on video.
The only exception is Tutuncommon. I know I'm not spelling it correctly, but I don't have my guide book with me, the Internet is slow, and Firefox doesn't have the correct spelling in the spell check. There is a way, though, that I figured out after wards.
1. Have two cameras with you.
2. Hide both in seperate areas of your beg
3. Let them "catch" your first camera
4. Go in and start clicking away with your second camera when you get deep enough
Once I had my fun with bribery at the VotK, I went to the Luxor Museum where they have the mummy of Ramses I and another, unidentified pharaoh on display. They don't let you take pictures, so I had to sneak a few with the camera still in my fanny pack. They didn't come out too well.
I spent the night in Luxor in a half-way decent hotel and then headed to Al-Balyana which is where Abydos is located and within Abydos lies the Temple of Osiris. I would have traveled to Abydos the night before, but the crime rate there is so high that the police don't allow tourists to enter Al-Balyana at night.
Anyway, the Temple of Osiris is submerged for the most part but the parts that aren't are quite remarkable. They still have the hieroglyphs in them that describe what one goes through to enter the world of the after life after they die. While I was there, I met a woman named Nancy who is actually from my hometown and has lived in Egypt for 15 years. She told me about what the temple was like before it got submerged and how she's traveled all over the world as well and how to get the most out of a visit to a country. Most of it was stuff I knew, but hearing her stories was incredible. I got some on video.
Nancy told me how the water in the Temple of Osiris is completely potable and that it's supposed to contain healing properties. She also said that it's the algae at the bottom that gives it a green tint. Well, we each filled up a water bottle and took a few drinks. I don't feel any more healed, but it was enjoyable to drink the water of Osiris.
I left Al-Balyana and was hurried onto a train to Cairo by a police officer and didn't get a chance to buy a ticket. I thought a free train ride to Cairo, but had to buy a ticket midway through. I also had to look around for a seat because everyone else's ticket had a designated seat and mine was some cheap pseudo-ticket without a seat. I ended up finding one and spent the remainder of the 5-hour ride trying to sleep amid babies crying and cell phones going off.
When I got back to Cairo, I got a cab ride back to Alexandria for 150 Egyptian Pounds (around $30) and it only took close to four hours.
If you guys do come to Egypt, know that there are two prices for everything. The Egyptian price and the tourist price. Guess which is higher. Also, no cab ride within a city should cost more than 10 E.P. and no bottle of water should cost more than 2 E.P.
That's all for now. I hope I can write more when I get to Turkey.
I docked in Alexandria and immediately high-tailed it to Cairo where I spent the night at the sketchiest of hotels. Seriously, I slept in all of my clothes, sprayed the entire room with bug spray, had to step on a few cockroaches, and decided to sleep above the covers. Yeah, it was that bad. If you are wondering why I stayed there, it's for the greatest experience I've had so far, seeing the Giza Pyramids at sunrise.
It was amazing, breath-taking, and exciting. I have some amazing videos that I'll be uploading when I get home. It's been the most beautiful sight on this whole trip.
I spent all of my second day at the Giza Pyramids until they closed around 4:00 pm. The Sphinx wasn't all that great compared to the pyramids, but it was grand in its own way. If you guys ever go, make sure to go at sunrise and stay there as long as you can. The positions of the moon and sun compared to the pyramids makes for wonderful views. One thing you need to take along though is a cloth to cover your mouth with when you are in a cab. The air quality is awful, but it is better around the pyramids.
Horses are the best way to travel around the desert that surrounds the pyramids, camels are too uncomfortable. Be sure to get a price of 20 Egyptian Pounds per hour, any more and they are trying to rip you off because 20 is supposed to be the official price.
While at the pyramids, I got the wonderful panoramic view and the "All nine pyramids" shot. Both are well worth the time it takes to get to the hills that you need to climb.
The only part of the pyramids that isn't worth it is going in them. Everything has been cleared out and you have to go up a long, narrow tunnel to a room that is literally completely empty. Also, the way in and the way out are the same way, so you only have half the room to go through. To make it worse, no cameras. Not that there's anything in there that's picture worthy.
After I left Giza, I headed for Luxor on an overnight sleeping train. Don't take them. They are always late, as I found out the hard way; they make no reparations; the bathrooms are awful; and first-class in normal trains are cheaper, quieter, and more comfortable.
When I got to Luxor, it was straight to the Valley of the Kings. The VotK is where many great pharaohs were buried. All of the Ramseses were buried there and a lot of others that I'm not going to try to spell. You aren't supposed to be able to take pictures or videos of the insides of the tombes, but, with a little bribery (which, fyi, is called "bacsheesh") and if you are the only one in the tomb at the time, you can get all the pictures you want. I even got to crawl into Ramses VII's empty sarcophagus and got it on video.
The only exception is Tutuncommon. I know I'm not spelling it correctly, but I don't have my guide book with me, the Internet is slow, and Firefox doesn't have the correct spelling in the spell check. There is a way, though, that I figured out after wards.
1. Have two cameras with you.
2. Hide both in seperate areas of your beg
3. Let them "catch" your first camera
4. Go in and start clicking away with your second camera when you get deep enough
Once I had my fun with bribery at the VotK, I went to the Luxor Museum where they have the mummy of Ramses I and another, unidentified pharaoh on display. They don't let you take pictures, so I had to sneak a few with the camera still in my fanny pack. They didn't come out too well.
I spent the night in Luxor in a half-way decent hotel and then headed to Al-Balyana which is where Abydos is located and within Abydos lies the Temple of Osiris. I would have traveled to Abydos the night before, but the crime rate there is so high that the police don't allow tourists to enter Al-Balyana at night.
Anyway, the Temple of Osiris is submerged for the most part but the parts that aren't are quite remarkable. They still have the hieroglyphs in them that describe what one goes through to enter the world of the after life after they die. While I was there, I met a woman named Nancy who is actually from my hometown and has lived in Egypt for 15 years. She told me about what the temple was like before it got submerged and how she's traveled all over the world as well and how to get the most out of a visit to a country. Most of it was stuff I knew, but hearing her stories was incredible. I got some on video.
Nancy told me how the water in the Temple of Osiris is completely potable and that it's supposed to contain healing properties. She also said that it's the algae at the bottom that gives it a green tint. Well, we each filled up a water bottle and took a few drinks. I don't feel any more healed, but it was enjoyable to drink the water of Osiris.
I left Al-Balyana and was hurried onto a train to Cairo by a police officer and didn't get a chance to buy a ticket. I thought a free train ride to Cairo, but had to buy a ticket midway through. I also had to look around for a seat because everyone else's ticket had a designated seat and mine was some cheap pseudo-ticket without a seat. I ended up finding one and spent the remainder of the 5-hour ride trying to sleep amid babies crying and cell phones going off.
When I got back to Cairo, I got a cab ride back to Alexandria for 150 Egyptian Pounds (around $30) and it only took close to four hours.
If you guys do come to Egypt, know that there are two prices for everything. The Egyptian price and the tourist price. Guess which is higher. Also, no cab ride within a city should cost more than 10 E.P. and no bottle of water should cost more than 2 E.P.
That's all for now. I hope I can write more when I get to Turkey.