Judith, another older female PCV and I left from Entebbe w/o incident. We had a stop in Nairobi and then a short, unannounced stop in Karthoum, Sudan (the ticket said in small print "1 technical stop" - we think they didn't want to scare people by saying they were landing in Sudan). Moment of panic when we went through customs in Egypt and the guy said we had to have a visa (which I had not researched) but you got one at the money changing booth for $15!!! Got our Egyptian Pounds (5.4 to a dollar) and we were met by a taxi sent by the Hostel (nice touch at 11:30 at nite).
Cairo was amazing late at nite - roads were packedl and the streets in downtown were full of shoppers!!! The 9 the next morning a driver met us at the hostel and took us to some of the local sights....cost $15 each for the driver for the day and quite a luxury!!! We went first to Saqqara where the first pyramid was built (2500 B.C.) - the Step Pyramid - and saw a temple and a museum of Imotep (he was a good guy it appears - the king's builder). Saw some statues at Memphis and then went to Giza to see the pyramids. Our driver made it sound like it was a LONG walk to and around the pyramids and took us to "a friend" who rented camels and horses - we chose horses. It turned out he could have driven up to the visitor center and we could have walked around, but the horses were fun. Would have felt like Lawerence of Arabia riding over the sand but the guy who took us was nervous about our riding ability so it was a slow trip. We saw the 3 big pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx - it was amazing to be standing by (and climbing on) the pyramids!!! The Sphinx has seen better days - smaller than I expected and the face is nearly gone. Had a great dinner of kashari near our hotel - rice, hummus, pasta, tomatoes and onions....the restaurant that we went to only serves that one thing in small, medium or large bowls and the place was packed! We walked around the streets - again, just full of people walking or shopping - mainly clothing stores and pastry shops in our neighborhood!
Impressions of Cairo - people are extremely friendly - they stop us and talk if they know English; it's really overwhelming just thinking of being in Cairo. As we drove around outside the main town we saw lots of donkey carts loaded w. great looking vegetables and fruits, lots of trash blown about (unfortunately), lots of unfinished apt. construction, most women have headscarves or burquas, the children are beautiful curly headed children, many smokers, lots of police everywhere (keep the tourists safe and happy), and just a busy, busy, noisy place (20 million in Cairo). It's surprising to see all light skinned people, too!
On the 28th we went in the a.m. to the train station to try to book a seat to Luxor - the sleeping cars were all full as were the sitting car for that nite, but we got seats on the sitting car for the 29th - a bit disappointed at only having one day in Luxor - and we found out later that you can't book a return trip from the Cairo station (all the trains for foreigners run overnite)- just have to take your chances in Luxor (and we have return airline tickets for the 31st so have to come back the night of the 30th!)...a bit nervous. We went to the Egyptian Museum - got there around 11 but decided it was too packed so took a cab to the Citadel, a old fort and huge mosque w. layers and layers of history! Cabs are fairly cheap, but it's a hassle arguing w. the drivers over the fare!
Mosque at the Citadel was just gorgeous! Then we took a cab to Old Cairo and the Coptic Christian area of Cairo - again, impressive building and layers of history! We found out there was a Metro (subway) and took that back to town - it has limited lines, but is great and costs 20 cents! We are discovering a lot as we go along!
On the 29th a.m. we went to McDonalds again - really enjoying the Egg McMuffins. We went early to the Musuem and got right in at 9:00.....rushed up to the Tutankahem exhibit - absolutely breathtaking! The musuem is wonderful, but things are not labeled and there's little information but you have to be impressed. There must be literally hundreds of painted/carved mummy cases! Most of the people were in groups and so moved through quickly...and we avoided them. After that we walked on a bridge over the Nile and went to the Cairo Tower where you can go up and look over the city - it was fun to look around at the places we'd been to.
Walked back over the river, had lunch and decided to ride the Metro to the northern end of the line - cheap way to see the city outskirts! On the way back we took the "women's car" - only women allowed! On our way back to the hotel we decided to check out Egypt Air from Luxor to Cairo and were able to book a flight for the morning of the 31st for only $77 so we fly back! We went back to the hostel where we'd left our bags for the day and the guy there was able to arrange a hotel and driver for us in Luxor - also pretty inexpensive and nice to know we will be back to get our flight on the 31st (and a nite of sleep and a shower between the nite on the train and the nite on the plane).
Part II: Continuing the saga after our return from Luxor . On Tuesday nite we walked to the Metro station at 9:00 to travel to the train station - 5 of us from the hostel - 3 Americans, 2 Germans. The train left nearly on time and we had a compartment w. 6 seats (another guy from Spain)....better than I thought. Slept on the floor and seats. Got to Luxor (420 miles south) at 8 a.m. - fun to watch the scenery after sunrise from the train - lots of vegetables growing on the land by the Nile. There was a man in Luxor waiting for us w. a sign (YEA)...took us to a very nice hotel right in the middle of town - had our own bath, hot water showers AND a TV - my standards of "really nice" are low these days. We met our guide and driver and took off by 8:30 for the Valley of the Kings....it's across the river from the town of Luxor in a desolate area of limestone cliffs. The kings of the Middle Kingdom built their tombs there - nothing above ground except fabulous rock formations (tops of hills have a pyramidal shape which is one of the reasons the area was chosen). For our ticket we could go into 3 tombs....you go down into the chambers - it's a bit spooky for the claustrophobic but there are beautiful carvings on the walls and some artifacts (tho' most have been stolen or are in the museum). Unfortunately you can't take pictures even of the scenery.
Then we went on to the Temple of Queen Hutshipsut - it was totally rebuilt from original stone. An impressive building and story of the queen who was discredited in death by her stepson. We decided to skip the Valley of the Queens - had to do Luxor in one day. We were lucky to have the driver and guide - really moved things along since some things are on the West side of the Nile and some on the East. Our guide was interesting, but sometimes we longed for time to just walk around and stare!!!
By noon we were back on the East Bank and went to the Temple of Karnak (actually he started it and they kept adding on for 2000 years)....it was absolutely fabulous - enormous and so full of history.....columns, arches, buildings, statues....after we let the guide go we just sat and tried to take it in!!! Pictures won't do it justice.
Had a very late lunch at a local restaurant - lamb stew and rice; Walked around and through the huge bazaar - everyone wants you to buy!!!! Went to the hotel for a shower and some TV and an early bedtime (had been wearing the same clothes for 3 days - hygiene is slipping, too).
This a.m. (New Year's Eve) a driver came to the hotel to take us to the airport (the guy at the Australian Hostel set it all up for us - I don't know how they do it but it's great)....BUT, when we got to the ticket counter we found out that when the "kid" at Egypt Air wrote out our tickets he put Jan. 31 instead of Dec. 31 and I didn't check.....when will I learn to check and re-check? Fortunately there are lots of flights of tour groups and we were only 2 people w/o luggage so we got on a 10 a.m. flight and back to Cairo in lots of time. Went to a great public park in town and had lunch overlooking the Citadel - walked back to the hotel through an older area of town and through a huge bazaar area - some local and some tourist stuff!! Sensory overload!!!
So, that's it - don't think it's all sunk in yet - but will someday. Judith was a good traveling companion - we both go to bed early and get up early; we traveled "on the cheap" but when we needed to we spent some money to get things done (actually, our guides were so cheap by American standards we were amazed!). Australian Hostel staff was great in arranging things for us and letting us "camp" here when we were inbetween. For an "unplanned trip" - not my usual obsessiveness - it went really well!! Back to Kampala tomorrow a.m. (Jan. 1, 2010) at 9 a.m. and then on to Nkokonjeru! Hope to get a few pictures out soon and will send Gail a CD when I can.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE - Best wishes for a wonderful year in 2010! I'm excited that it's my "coming home year"..... Thanks again for all your support - could not have done it w/o you all!!!
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