San Jose Journal : Peevees' Big Adventure - Cairo, Giza, and Luxor

Cairo is a dirty, busy, loud, and confusing city. The people are somewhat pushy to say the least. They have more scams than you can count on all your limbs. But still, they seem genuine when they say "welcome to Egypt!". Back to the scam aspect: it all started when our luggage changed hands three times, each for a little "bak-sheesh" (tip), until it arrived in our 65 EGP (a little over $10) cab to the center of town. It was a hair-raising ride: 2 am, no headlights, no turn signals, and no seatbelts to be found anywhere! By the time we got to our hotel, we looked like we'd just been through a food processor (and we won't mention that we soiled ourselves!). So, when he said "here is your hotel" we handed over the 100 EGP note, only to receive 15 in change. Suddenly, his English language skills plummeted as we tried to make him understand advanced concepts such as 'rip-off', 'con', 'scam', and 'Allah frowns on this behavior'. At this hour, however, we were just too tired to pursue it any further. Sleep was priority one.

So off we went to sleep in our "luxurious" room that Lisa had cleverly found online (Expedia, believe it or not). It was basic, but not bad for $50. Next morning, Lisa woke up feeling pretty nasty with yet another cold. So I headed out to pick up some cold medicine. As I headed out to the street, the receptionist chased after me asking could I please come inside. Then he informed me that the first night was indeed going to cost $50 but subsequent nights would be $70 (an amount that would be almost enough to book a suite at the Sheraton). I said some things to him in my mother tongue, but somehow I think he got the gist, because he went pale and told me to please speak with the man sitting to my left. I think this man may have been the owner, as after failing in a second attempt to perpetrate this scam, he gave in and honored our original price. Nice, huh?

So off I went, on a quick trip to the pharmacy. I decided to look for the American University Bookstore, which was supposed to have a great selection of tour books. On the way, who should I meet but a "friendly Egyptian man, wanting to help me find my way". Travel note: whenever you encounter a "friendly Egyptian man, wanting to help me find my way", RUN! This is the beginning of scam #213a. Anyway, it worked, as follows. The bookstore is right over here, follow me. So I did. It so happens that the route to the bookstore runs right past his uncle's perfume store and wouldn't I like to stop in for some tea?

Being new at this (and without Lisa to instill street sense), I said: "sure". Well, $20 and 50 minutes later, I had just invested in some rare egyptian plant essence oils. I later learned that these rare oils shops are more common than Starbucks in Manhattan.
I take some solace in the fact that the Eucalyptus oil I bought was indeed a potent remedy and cleared Lisa's stuffed nose faster than a sand blaster. I arrived home 2 hours later, Lisa somewhat distraught. I thought she was out cold, but she was out WITH a cold. Looking for me. Never mind, we caught up.

Not two seconds after we met, another "friendly Egyptian man" came up to us. It's funny because his "uncle in the states" is living in the same city, and has the same first and last names! Where do they dig this stuff up? He had a different product to sell: papyrus. We were smart this time, though: we didn't buy the $10 papyrus. We bought a $50 tour instead. Hah!

So the next day we met our tourguide, who was very nice, and headed to Giza. We arrived there and were introduced to a "friendly Egyptian man" who rents camels and horses to ease the strenuous walk amongst the pyramids. We went for it. It was actually a lot of fun, but the ride on the camel made horseback riding seem like a Rolls Royce. We saw the inside of the second biggest pyramid and saw the burial chamber. It was really amazing. I laid down in the tomb and had a hallucination of plaid fabric whirling around my head. Go figure. Pyramid power, or just too much mint tea? Who knows?

Interestingly enough, there was another "friendly Egyptian man" inside the pyramid, who performed the valuable service of pointing us in the direction we were already heading in exchange for more bak-sheesh. We also got to see the Sphinx. For a description, just see the photos, and Go There. There's really no description that will do justice.

The town of Giza is a bit dreary, especially in light of the fact that it's right next to the last remaining of the original Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Tall concrete buildings, thick exhaust, loud horns. Ugh... It's unfortunate the Egyptians don't seem to value what they have here. It's basically boiled down to a checkbox on the tourist map and they just make money. But Luxor was another story.

We took an overnight train down (about 8 hrs) and immediately realized we'd like it more than Cairo. Quiet and mellow, but beautiful, with lots of interesting temples scattered throughout. The first day, we concentrated on the East Bank, and saw the Luxor Temple and the Temple at Karnak. We would have seen the West Bank first, but Mubarek was coming to town to entertain Condoleeza so the streets were jammed. Anyway, both of these temples were absolutely spectacular. The scale alone was enough to knock you down, but these people really made beautiful creations on this massive scale.

It was important to use your imagination at times, as 3000 years had taken its toll in many places. See the pictures! Go there!!

The next day. West Bank.
This was even more impressive, by some accounts. This is where all the great kings and queens of early Egypt were buried (in the "Valley of the Kings" and the "Valley of the Queens". See the photos. Go there! NOW!

That night, we had to pick up some airline tickets in town. Here we had our first brush with greatness. There were about 8 Big Black SUVs outside the hotel in front of the travel agency. Suddenly, Condoleeza Rice Herself stepped out, not 100 ft away. See the (slightly blurry. sorry! Lisa had to work fast.) photos. From the side, she is so thin she's hard to see. Probably to make a smaller target. She looked about as happy as someone who'd just had an iron dropped on her foot from 20 ft. Guess things didn't go so well with Hosni. Oh well...

We also went to Karnak by Night, which was really fun, if a bit corny. Recommended, nonetheless, as it gives a good ovoeorview of their history and does a great job with the lights, highlighting the great ruins.

Travel Journal:

Peevees' Big Adventure - Cairo, Giza, and Luxor

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