Egypt round two

Any normal Saturday in November, I’d sleep in, eventually drag myself into the snow and cold and do boring things like grocery shop before returning home shivering to have a hot bath and warm up. But this particular Saturday I woke up at the crack of dawn to make the three-hour bus ride from the port to the pyramids of Giza!

And then Moses sold me a ride on one of his camels!

This camel ride (a steal at 10 US dollars for twenty minutes), was definitely the highlight of the trip! And if you can believe it, my 90-year-old grandma braved a ride on a beast too!

My escort – a tough kid who demanded double the recommended tip and wouldn’t take no for an answer: “That’s just for my camel. You need to tip me, too!”

And now: Camel, Unplugged. In all its farting, heavy breathing glory.

And there's the Sphinx. And some guys digging for something in front of it.

I love tourists. Especially when they're family.

Those camels would never win a beauty contest but their stench is second to none. Therefore a post-desert stop at a perfumery called the Golden Eagle (another government shop) was welcome.

There were rows upon rows of beautiful crystal bottles of every colour. And we learned interesting facts like: most of the world’s perfume come from essences created in Egypt, which are then shipped to France, where the big perfume-makers mix them with alcohol so they’ll evaporate faster and you’ll have to buy perfume more often. True story.

Right from the source we could buy the essential oils, minus the alcohol, of such fragrances as cK One (essence of “Tut ankh amoun”) or the legendary Chanel No 5 (“Five Secrets”). For the more amorous some so-called “dangerous” scents were available.......“Arabian Night”, which we were told was good for honeymoons; or “Secret of the Desert”, to be used only after midnight – “but be careful, ladies,” warned our slick and entertaining salesman, “as just 3 drops make man like crazy horse!”

“Can you get this stuff in pails?!” someone cracked. (That person later bought a big bottle of each.)

I myself was tempted by “Harem Perfumes”...but then I thought, where would I wear it??

* * *

Lunch was a great experience at this open-air restaurant somewhere in Cairo.

American-style appetizers

Afterward we crossed the Nile to get the National Museum, with the most incredible collection of Egyptian tombs, mummies, jewellery and other artefacts that I will probably ever see in my life. The only downside was that the museum was so packed with tourists it felt like the Yonge and Bloor subway station at rush hour.

Unfortunately the masses also put an end to our plans for a visit to the open-air spice market and bazaar. A few of us were dreaming of brightly-coloured pyramids of exotic saffron, cumin, black pepper...but the Cairo traffic was so bad we hardly moved a block in an hour. I wasn’t completely bored, as the windows of the bus were apparently not tinted enough to prevent men catching glimpses of me and blowing kisses.

Our only chance for shopping turned out to be at a well-equipped rest stop/strip mall outside the city on the way back to the boat. All I wanted was a magnet, and I figured that I was used enough to Egypt by then that I could go off alone for a few minutes.

I stepped into a large convenience-type store and the two men inside were instantly all smiles. As soon as I asked whether they had any magnets, the younger one about my age, with short black hair and fairly bad teeth, somewhat furtively led me down the aisle to the right spot....

He stopped his questions only long enough for compliments. “Where are you from? -- Oh, I LOVE Canada! Your hair is beautiful! What’s your name? -- Your green eyes are incredible!!”
[They’re blue...]

He sidled closer and closer as he said all this, eventually slipping his arm around my waist before finally blurting, “Can I kiss you?!”

Before I had time to react, he’d leaned over and planted a big wet one...on my cheek.

Needless to say, I extracted myself rapidly and not-quite-ran out empty-handed!

I spent the rest of the break sticking close to the others...and thinking that Italian men have nothing on Egyptians. (Actually, for the record, I’ve never been harassed in Italy. Except for that one time on a packed Genova bus in rush hour...when the normal-looking guy next to me suddenly grinned at me weird and I looked down to see something sticking out of his pants...

YIKES!)

On Egypt

First of all, what fantastic news of Mubarak’s resignation after 18 days of protest! Let's hope that Egypt will now be able to successfully transition to a democracy.

first stop

I couldn’t stop myself from shooting photos from the bus as we drove through the streets of Alexandria for the first time.

The streets were certainly a lot quieter than they are now, but that doesn’t mean they were quiet. Our guide told us as a result of many men drinking strong Egyptian coffee all day long, not a lot of them sleep at night and the streets are full of people until the early hours of the morning.

don't leave Egypt without it...or something

We only figured out afterward that our stop here was government-mandated (every foreign tourist group must visit one). As were the machine-gun-armed guards on all of our buses. 

that's our guard...

Other stops our first day in Egypt included the Alexandrian catacombs, ancient tombs deep underground; the brand-new Biblioteca (the ancient library was one of the wonders of the world);...and dinner...here! 

not really Italian...

After that most of the group retired to their rooms on board ship (seeing as how most of them were over 60 at least)...and the remaining young ones, that is five or six of us, went out to discover the real city without guards, guides, buses or any of that other nonsense.

Most fascinating: the night market!

identify the animal parts...

raw slabs of something (you can't really see the blood dripping onto the street)

how old is that scale, do you think?

pigeons, delicious pigeons!

another Egyptian delicacy

As a blonde woman my experience in the city was especially adventurous. I wouldn’t have believed it beforehand, but I was literally the centre of attention wherever I went. Men stared, grinned widely at me and struck up conversations whenever they could. I’m sure I could have had at least a dozen husbands if I’d given any of them a chance.

All the attention was unnerving at first -- never before had I ever wished for a headscarf!-- but after a while I got used to it and even started to enjoy it. It’s not every day you turn heads like a celebrity!

something else that turned heads - us foreigners', at least: preparations for the big feast of Eid, including cows being led home

 

most adorable little girl ever

The only regret of the night was something we didn’t do. Heading back to the ship, we were chatting enthusiastically about a wedding we’d passed at a mosque near the port. It looked like a great party: tons of people (of all ages), fireworks, dancing, singing and what looked like lots of food inside.

Someone said, “Y’know, they saw us and tried to talk to us. I think they wanted to invite us to the party!”

We all looked at each other. 

I can’t explain why, but we ended up deciding not to go back.

Dumb!

Lesson learned: when in Egypt, don’t not do anything which you might regret not doing later.

Jerusalem

first look at the storied city

one of the entrances to the city, sealed a few hundred years after Christ

the temple wall where it is said Satan tempted Christ to throw himself off

the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Centre for Near Eastern Studies

Our day in Jerusalem was a whirlwind tour of some of the top religious sites in the world: not just the city itself, but the Garden of Gethsemane, the Wailing Wall, the Upper Room (where it is said that Jesus had His last meal with His disciples) and the Garden Tomb.

We also had lunch at the "falafel nazi"'s place. "Two dollars for drink, one dollar for tip!" he yelled at each of us on our way out.

Falafel lunch here. I don't know why it's called a Chinese restaurant either!

in the Garden of Gethsemane with my dad, aunt and grandma

We spent some time here in meditation, testimony-sharing and hymn-singing. And the inevitable picture-taking. After snapping a photo of one older lady, I complimented her on how young she looked, to which she quipped, "That's because there's a 2,000-year-old tree behind me!"

separate entrances to the Western Wall Piazza

I like rule #4

young soldiers, men and women, were everywhere

 

the Wailing Wall is to the left

fence separating the men's side from the women's

I was surprised to feel a beautiful spirit at the Wall. I was surrounded by women of all ages and backgrounds reading scriptures, watching their children, praying, nursing babies, or sitting in respectful silence. There was a feeling of reverence, especially as many carefully walked backwards away from the Wall, never turning their backs on it.

on the way to the Upper Room

ascending the stairs to the same place

the view from the open area on top of the building that once housed the Room

As our guide walked us through the events that took place at the Upper Room, we heard the call to prayer begin sounding throughout the city. The call is not exactly an upbeat, catchy tune. We heard it from every direction. I couldn't shake the feeling that the whole city was wailing. While it is obviously an aspect of the Muslim faith, facing the Jewish experience and history, it was as if the eternal mourning of the city had temporarily risen up from the depths.

(women's prayer section)

There was actually a curtain across the middle of the tomb, dividing it in half.

my feet never made it, but I still felt pretty blessed