Summer of Fun: Egypt Part 2

Read Part 1 here, and the beginning of my Summer of Fun through Greece here.

20 - 22 May

The next few days all passed in a similar fashion. I was exhausted, unable to eat, unable to retain food. After the first sleepless night on the cruise ship, I attempted to be up and ready at 3am to go to Abu Simbal, one of the optional extra excursions (and quite expensive) These twin temples were carved out of the mountain for Ramesses II and his queen, Nefertari and then relocated in the 60's to stop them from being submerged by water.

My body was still aching and I felt dreadful - my lovely [and organised!] roommate let me use her thermometer - a fever. My allergy to paracetamol then reared its head, and I vowed to make sure I travel with Aspirin henceforth. I vowed to travel with a lot of things henceforth [namely bandaids, rehydrating sachets and imodium), as a result of this sickness.

I had heard so much about the temples but, disappointed, I decided I was in no state to go. I stayed behind on the boat and tried to rest. In the morning I asked the reception of the cruise ship if they had any aspirin and if not, where I could find some. They were quite willing to just let me wander out on my own in search of a chemist. Shortly after, the new Travel Talk guide arrived on board, and he kindly walked with me to find some medication. 

Without going into detail, the drugs to settle my belly did not work. I tried to eat, but I couldn't. I spent one morning by the freezing cold pool wondering how on earth they made it so icy when it was in the sun all day, wasn't deep, and was in the middle of 40+C temperatures. Most of the time I spent in bed.

The Thursday I tried to visit the Edfu temple. I thought I was feeling a little better; we caught a horse and carriage to the site and the sunshine perked me up a little. However, once there I could not stand for longer than a few minutes and had to sit down on the dusty floor. When we were given free time to roam, I made my way back to the shelter, where I purchased a white Egyptian shirt with the help of the guide Michael who made sure I wasn't being ripped off. On the way back to the boat, I was unwell all over a poor mans shop. He gave me a lemonade for free as lemon is good for upset bellies, which I accepted gratefully but in hindsight should have given him some money.

I was disappointed I was unable to party it up on the boat - it would have been good fun despite our small crew, but I was in no state. Thursday afternoon, as I lay in bed sound asleep, I was jarringly awoken by the phone ringing. 

"Hello Sasha! This is Ayman! From Reception! Can you come out into the reception? May I add you on Facebook?"

Huh? What? What's happening? I mumbled something incoherent and went back to bed.

Thursday night, we watched the boat descend through the lock; right down to ground height. Here men on the side of the road would throw their wares over the side of the ship to try to get you to purchase them. Shirts fly up, shirts fly down. 

Up here on the top deck, I was cornered again by the boy Ayman from reception who had my name from my passport, and had indeed added me on Facebook. It all clicked, what the conversation that afternoon on the phone had been about. In my disgusting state, I was being wooed by the boy on the front desk. I couldn't believe it. I stood chatting with him for a short while, promising to return later and being the horrible person I am, never did. I went to bed.

Friday afternoon we were reforming with the main group who had been on the felucca. In hindsight (and also at the time), I can not be more thankful that I was on the cruise ship and not on that felucca. Small mercies! When I boarded the coach, there was a spare seat up the front next to another poor lady who was unwell. "I do warn you, I will probably vomit," she said. "Oh do not worry," I replied, "do you have a spare plastic bag?"

Before rejoining the group that morning, I had approached Michael, the guide on board the ship. "I don't think I can catch the eight hour coach back to Cairo," I said. "Is there any way I can fly?"

Michael was instantly on the phone to Sam, and together they organised a flight for me; 1st class would have cost about £200 inc transfers, and would have left at 6pm that day. Economy, coming in at £80, would be leaving at midnight. I had initially chosen first class, but the one remaining seat sold out and so they booked the other flight for me. I was extremely grateful. 

On the bus, we visited another famous site, the name of which escapes me, and Bec and I decided we were far too unwell to traverse it. We sat (or lay down) in the relative air-conditioning inside the main building and discussed our various maladies. After what felt like an age, the tour returned and Sam came up to me. He had organised a driver to the Luxor resort, where I could stay in the lobby until it was 11pm, whereupon I would be picked up and driven to the airport.

This was a brilliant plan. My luggage went with the bus, and they would be arriving into Cairo a couple of hours ahead of me. I stayed in the Luxor resort, browsing the internet until it was sunset. I wandered out onto the balcony and watched the beautiful sunset over the Nile, with a cup of calming lemon-infused tea to try to hydrate me a little. While I was sitting out here, a gentleman and his son sat near me, also enjoying the sunset. We started chatting; they were British and the father had been living in Egypt on-off for 15 years. It was a fascinating and entertaining chat, I learnt quite a bit about Egyptian life and it was a lovely way to pass the time while I waited for my plane. They eventually left to grab some dinner, I attempted to eat - again with no luck, before napping on a sofa inside. 

Sunset over the Nile was quite spectacular.

Come 11pm, I was driven to the airport, shown through without a hitch, and it was a relatively uneventful flight. Bishu met me on the other side again - he seemed very concerned about my welfare. He insisted we stop at another chemist and he kindly purchased for me some new drugs and some snacks. I arrived back at the resort about 2.30am; luckily Emma my roommate was still awake, and I collapsed into bed.

23 May

This was the last official day of the tour. We rose early and our first stop was the Cairo museum. Earlier, I had purchased an ID card which would allow me half price access into [Europe's] major monuments. Looking at the card, it is the dodgiest piece of ID I have ever seen, and when I tried to visit the website, it failed. None-the-less, the photo was taken on the first day of the tour. I wryly showed the picture to those around me and the fat face staring out from the card was markedly different to the sunken face I now possessed. "At least I'll look good in my bikini now," I joked.

I looked about as good as I felt.

The museum was not air-conditioned. Bec and I struggled. Luckily, the tour provided headphones, so Bec and I could find a place to sit but could still hear the description of the artefact, and then make our way over to have a quick peek at it before desperately seeking out somewhere else to sit.

At lunch time, Sam lamented that if I had been on the felucca, he would have given me a remedy that would have made me better instantly! I was not convinced, but over lunch I did try his remedy. I don't know if it was the new drugs, or Sam's wonder concoction, but that afternoon I did start to feel a little more alive. The trick? A tablespoon of cumin in a glass of water. Curry taste repeated on me for the rest of the day as a result, but I do believe it helped.

This afternoon we visited the Hanging Church and a mosque, where all of the ladies had to cover up, head to toe and hair covered, with a bright green gown. Next up, the markets. With a combination of the drugs and cumin taking affect, and the adrenaline, Roxie and I traversed the markets quite well (as exhausting as they were) and haggled our way to some great and cheap purchases. Back when I visited India, I found haggling to be one of the most painful, aggravating experiences. Now, I understand how to do it, and find the challenge quite fun. All you need to do is: know roughly what you want to pay for something. Then, whatever they offer you - quarter it. Quarter it, and then work your way up to your price. If they don't want to agree with your price, walk away. Somewhere else will likely have the same wares.

That evening, dinner and drinks provided a great example of the Great Egyptian Confusion.

"May I have a gin and tonic." Goes away. 10 minutes later, returns. 

"Sorry, we don't have any tonic." "Ok, may I have a vodka and lemonade." 

Goes away. 10 minutes later, returns "Sorry, we don't have any vodka." "Ok, what do you have?" 

Goes away. 

FUCK.

Roughly 2 hours later, we had all the food and drink we had required, and I ate almost a full pizza. It was amazing. Saturday night - this was my first meal since Tuesday lunch time. It felt good to eat.

I hit the hay early.

24 May

4.30am. Emma's alarm goes off. "Come on, we have to get up!" she says. I laugh, as I was already awake, and said "I'm not leaving - I'm staying in Egypt until tomorrow!" She apologised profusely, as in her sleepy state she forgot that I wasn't heading off to Jordan for another tour. I bid her adieu and hoped we could meet again some day. I returned to sleep.

I spent most of Sunday by the pool, splashing around, relaxing and eating. In the evening, I joined a couple of sisters to see the Pyramids light show. It had been told that if you climbed to the top level of the KFC, you could watch the light show - with a better view - for free (or for the cost of a meal). So this is exactly what we did. We haggled a taxi driver who waited for us so we would have a drive home. The light show was kitsch but pretty, and after an hour or so we were ready to leave. On the return to the resort, we saw a boy casually riding a camel, as the driver took us through side and back streets giving us a completely different perspective on the city.

Pyramids and Sphinx at night

I had one more sleep left in Egypt before I was to be flying to Italy via Athens the next morning. That in itself was a debacle, but that's a story for the next instalment…

xx

Silver lining? The bikini had it's debut!

Farewell Egypt, you still have one curly one
left to throw at me...

Summer of Fun: Egypt Part 1

Egypt 16 May - 25 May

Foreword

"What was Egypt like? Was it safe? It looks incredible! I don't think I could do it though…"

If I had a penny for the amount of times I heard this when I returned…I'd have about 10 quid. Which is still quite a few times to be asked the same series of questions.

Egypt was amazing.

It was safe, although I did get food poisoning.

I've already said it was amazing.

Of course you could! Do a tour…

How did I come to be in Egypt? The same way a lot of my best decisions are made: I was drunk. 

I went to the Travel Talk brochure launch way back in October 2014 as I had already decided I would do a Croatia sailing tour. While there, I downed a large cider and stood chatting, becoming more and more convinced that Egypt is a place I need to go. £179 for 9 days? Only a £10 deposit, right? I've spent more on less, I thought to myself, and whacked down my tenner.

I had originally booked to go on the Felucca Odyssey tour but after researching exactly what a felucca was, I decided that I would be unable to do it. A felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailing boat, the clincher being no shower or toilet on board. For someone with my belly issues, I wasn't game to risk that, and so just on the day of the deadline I switched to the Jewels of the Nile tour, which swapped the felucca for a cruise ship. And so it begins.

Read part one of my Summer of Fun: Greece.

16 May

Extremely out of character, I slept almost the whole flight. The scent of dinner woke me up. As a result, I was pretty rattled when I landed and when I was roughly halfway through customs I saw a Travel Talk sign, held by Bishu. He raced me through the rest of the process; getting my visa, propelling me over here, propelling me over there, chatting briskly with this security guard, leading me at a quickened pace through customs before we burst into the hot night air. We chatted away on the drive about all sorts of things. My ankles were eaten by mosquitos by the time we reached the resort (yes, you read correctly, resort) and I checked in, having arrived a night early.

The tour wasn't to start until the night of the 16th so I spent the day gently meeting my tour mates, my roommate Emma and lazing by the pool. At one point, a few of the girls and I covered up as much as we could bear to in the heat and walked down the street to get some water and snacks. What ensued was honking, whistling, more honking, honking from the other side of the highway, cars slowing down, yelling and more honking. I assume our ankles showing was quite the sight. At the hole-in-the-wall store, I discovered POP, little ice-cream balls that were to become my new favourite thing ever. 

After our induction, we all piled into the bus to head to dinner. I was extremely hangry and joined the queue before the rest of my table. Later that evening, our entertainment was a beautiful belly dancer and two men dancing the tanoura, a traditional Egyptian men's dance that involves spinning, and a lot of it. The belly dancer dragged Zoe and myself up onto the stage, where I attempted to wiggle between fits of laughter. Zoe had the moves! Meanwhile I wiggle about as much as a ruler. This was followed by a short statured man who took to the stage in a spinning skirt for the tanoura dance. He was then replaced by a gentleman who appeared to be the "proper" dancer - this all seemed a little contrived and awkward as we weren't comfortable laughing at the little man.

Either way, the man began to spin. And spin. And spin. In my position at the corner of the stage, he continuous toyed with me - pretending to throw something in my direction to make me jump, or moving behind me so I couldn't see him. 

Spinning around like a top

Round of applause, and that drew day one to a close. We had an early night as there was a big day on the morrow.

17 May

First up on this stiflingly hot day: the oldest pyramid in Egypt, the step pyramid built by King Zoser in 2700BC. Let that sink in for a second. 27th century BC. That's 5 thousand years ago. The pyramid was largely under construction and it was not long before we were back on the bus and making our way to the pyramids everyone knows: the world famous pyramids of Giza, build for Cehops, Chephren and Mycrenos. 

The urban sprawl has extended almost to the base of the Great Pyramid, which stands 139m tall. Originally, all three of the pyramids had been covered in limestone. This would have caused the pyramids to glow and sparkle white across the golden barren dessert. However, over the course of the years, much of this fell down, and a lot was also used for other ancient constructions. Only the tip of the Middle pyramid remains. 

The pyramids now can be seen as giant building blocks, each one standing almost as tall as I am. There are many theories of how the rocks came to be in place: aliens or slave labour being the most popular. Our guide, Sam, explained that in the low seasons, there was a significant amount of unemployment and so the pharaoh paid for his subjects to help build the enormous structures. Willing participants work much better than slaves!  

There are also a great number of theories as to the stones were placed there, some of which are similar to that at Stonehenge. To move the rocks, a small amount of water was poured onto the sand in front of a pulley system. This prevented the rock from piling into the sand and allowed it to glide with more ease across the now more rigid surface. Finally, how do each rocks fit into place? Many rocks were quarried from the same area, and so the rocks were able to fit back in next to their brothers and sisters once reassembled.

The Middle Pyramid, with limestone tip, seen through the building
blocks of the Great Pyramid

Utterly fascinating! I spent some time climbing up the giant rock steps, before haggling (poorly) with a local for a couple of headdresses with Smita. We were about to board our camel and I had to look the part! The camel was to take us from the middle pyramid to the smaller, third pyramid. I scurried on top, and tried to organise my belongings in my hands before suddenly I was pitched forward.

I screamed. I was pitched backwards. I screamed some more. The camel had chosen exactly that moment, when both my hands were full, to stand up. Not having any stirrups, I had to rely on my incredible thigh strength to keep me on the humpy beast.

The camel ride lasted about half an hour, during which time I squealed an awful lot. My hands shaking, I took a few terrible selflies before gaining confidence that I wouldn't drop my phone (that seemed to be my primary concern, not falling off). I looked around and spotted others with stirrups - I continued to clasp with my knees and thighs. We stopped with the perfect view of the pyramids behind us and I tentatively passed my phone to the child who had been leading our group of 2. He took a series of slightly askew photos before finally handing my phone back to me. 

We continued on a short distance before it was time to dismount.

"Lean forward," he said. I leant forward. the camels back legs dropped.

"Now lean back."

I held on tight and leaned back as the camels front legs dropped. We were now resting on the ground so I swung my legs over, quickly scurrying away from the boy who was demanding more tips despite us already having paid a tip.

What an experience, what a ride! 

Our next stop was a quick peek at the Sphinx, before the long, long drive to Hurghada. We arrived late at night and Emma and I decided we wouldn't go to the foam party at the resort. Ok, we will go for a short walk around the resort and have a peek at the foam party, but we won't go in.

Nek minute, we're shoes off, free-poured vodka in hand, dancing it up in a giant pool of foam.

The music and lighting were excellent, the drinks strong. The foam came pouring out of a funnel in the middle of the room and it was all encompassing. We were soaked and slippery. The detergent stung my eyes, and I took the foam as an opportunity to half wash the clothes I was wearing. We danced and slipped and slid and before long, tt was time to break the seal, so I jumped out of the foam pool. Straight onto a shard of glass.

Fuck, I said. Ouch. I hobbled my way to a couch and inspected the damage. A large, approx 1/2 inch long shard had lodged not upwards, but across under the surface of the ball of my right foot. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it. Kaisha had also jumped out and, sitting beside me, I pushed the shard upwards while she dug around with her fingernails until she could grab and extract it. 

Less than ideal. I sat there with a napkin pressed to my foot, trying to stem the flow of blood. A waiter approached me, looking concerned. He glanced at my foot and said, "Do you want another drink?" I was confused, as I thought my bleeding foot was rather obvious. "No, could I have a bandaid please?" He left and returned with a napkin. Close enough, I guess.

This concluded the night for me. I put my shoes on and with Kaisha I hobbled my back to the room, stopping for a quick dip in the forbidden pool. When I took off my shoe, the inside and my sock was red with blood, and I cleaned it best I could. Water to hydrate, then bed.

18 May

I had decided to go snorkelling this morning in the Red Sea, which in hindsight probably wasn't one of my better decisions. My sliced up foot was now rather sore and, with the cut being on the ball of my foot, made walking rather difficult (especially when it was filling with gritty sand). I also had some difficulty with the snorkel and putting my face under the water - every time I had a panic attack and I can't quite fathom what was going on as I snorkelled a lot while I was in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. I think it may have been the fact the water was a little rough. Either way, it was a beautiful day, the ocean and the glass bottom boat were fascinating - we saw a lot of fishies and even more wiggly jellyfish…

We were back on the road again. This afternoon we visited a perfumery which made "flower essence" perfumes. I was a little skeptical that it was another front of a business like they do in India, and I'm still reasonably convinced it was, but never-the-less the perfumes smelt divine and I bought myself one as I do not own any perfume. Now I can casually say, "Oh this? I bought this in Egypt, it's made out of flower essence…" 

On the road again, now to Luxor. I took myself off to bed reasonably early as I had a 3am start the next day.

So many pretty bottles!

19 May

Today was the day I was looking forward to the most. Today I was going to be going up up up in a hot air balloon. About twenty of us departed with sleepy eyes across the river on a cute little ferry where they gave us tea, before piling into a big basket. My hands were shaking, and my fear of heights was at the forefront. I prepared myself for the take off when…

Nothing.

No jolt, no lurch, just a gentle, slow ascent into the stratosphere.  It was calm and peaceful, despite the occasional burst of flames into the basket.

Pretty pleased with myself and holding on tight

The view was beautiful. On the left, desert. We could see the Valley of the Kings from here. Beneath us was fertile green farm land. To our right, the Nile and the rising sun, and on the other banks the city could be seen in the morning light. Three very distinct landscapes all in one view - breathtaking. A few other hot air balloons ascended into the sky, silhouetted against the sunrise.

After some time floating up and down and over the river, it was time to land. We landed very suddenly in a farm yard in a tiny patch of un-cultivated land - I'm still impressed the hot air balloon operator could navigate so perfectly! - and waited for the hot air balloon crew to find us to let us out of the basket. While we waited, the man's family and many children came out to look at us, at this odd spectacle of people emerging from a basket in their backyard.

Desert, green and city

It was a beautiful start to what was going to be a long and uncomfortable day. We returned to the resort for breakfast before setting out to see the Colossi of Memnon, two giant seated statues that have sat there for 3400 years. Today was hot. Very hot, and I was quite glad to get back on the bus again.

Our next stop was the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs were buried in elaborate tombs during the 16th-11th century BC. The most notable pharaohs found here were King Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. No photos could be taken, but it was a privilege to be able to descent under the ground and see the magnificent tombs. 

The walls, for thousands of years, have remained largely untouched and bright coloured paint adorned the hundreds of hieroglyphics that covered every single available space on the wall. The ceilings were painted too, often dark blue with twinkling stars, or elaborate works of art that told the circle of life.  The colour captured my attention - I had only ever seen hieroglyphics carved into the stone, but we learned that in ancient times they were all brightly painted. It was amazing to see it in colour here as it would have looked thousands of years prior. 

I was flagging by lunch time, but before we ate, we visited the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut - a temple I would have paid more attention to had I been feeling better. She was the first female pharaoh but as women were not allowed to rule, she was acknowledge as a king. As a result, her statues depict her female face on a male body. Kudos to girl power! At her temple I nearly blacked out from the heat and lack of food and water, and was extremely pleased when it was time for lunch.

Lunch was delicious but it turned out to be my downfall. By the mid-afternoon, my whole body ached and my skin was sore to touch. That night I was to be sleeping on the cruise ship set to sail for the next 3 days. I was feeling very, very bad but decided to still head out to the Nubian family dinner, one of the optional extras. Again, hindsight dictates that I should not have gone as I continued to decline; I could not eat any of the delicious food they prepared, although I have a bit of a cuddle with a baby crocodile.

My next few days I was even more thankful to be on the cruise ship, and I progressively became thinner and weaker.

To be continued - read Part 2 here.

xx