Jun 17, 2013 - Egypt

We arrived at the Cairo Airport just past sunset on June 3rd and were met by our driver. His job was to get us to our hotel in one piece, which he did, but at times I was beginning to wonder if we were going to make it at all. Over our many years of traveling we have had some very unique driving and passenger experiences. In Taiwan in the 1960’s they were just coming out of “Pedi cabs” and trying to drive taxis and cars on very primitive roads. The rule of thumb there and then was “Bigger is Boss”. So if you were on a bike, look out for...

May 20, 2013 - Week one: From landing to living

Saying my first week here has been eye opening probably goes without saying, but I'm gonna say it anyways. From the moment I stepped off the plane I was thrown into a whole new world, Toto we aren't in Kansas anymore had never been a truer statement. Getting our visas and luggage was a remotely painless process but as soon as we left the 'safety ' of the airport BAM with the stares and glares and the questioning looks of why were here. Now don't get me wrong the people have been mostly nice and super helpful, but there's still a sense of...

May 13, 2013 - Safaga, Egypt

5/13 Our next port was Safaga, Egypt - our portal to Luxor, Egypt. There was a lot of trash in the city of Safaga, which was also the case in Alexandria. We were told that the company that had the trash contract was fired about two years ago and have not been replaced. Looks it. Again we have a tour run by Alex City Travel. The tour started with a three hour bus ride to the Valley of Kings. In this area there are 63 tombs, only 26 were for kings. Since all the pyramids were getting robbed they decided to hide the tombs in this valley. This...

May 7, 2013 - Alexandria, Egypt

5/7 – 5/11 After three sea days we arrived at the port of Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria is the second largest port on the Mediterranean Sea (first is Marseille, France). In this port we had arranged a two day tour with Alex City Travel. It turns out our tour guide, Hany (who also owns the tour company), has a great deal of experience in the field. In 2009 he was part of the escort for President Obama. He certainly did a good job for our group which included about 40 people on a large bus. The tour started with a quick drive around...

May 3, 2013 - The Great Pyramids of GIZA

What a pleasure to be met at Cairo airport by Amir and John and settled in at the Grand Pyramids Hotel ....AND they have INTERNET in their large foyer area. YAY! An interesting drive from the airport highlighted the City of the Dead – the tombs were originally inhabited by the living displaced by the Sinai wars. The place now has electricity, a post office, shops, schools. Off to the Pyramids’ evening Sound and Light show; returning to run into our Aussie boat friends to share a meal. Bright and early next day for Giza – the pyramids,...

Apr 28, 2013 - Egypt - Nile Cruise - Luxor to Aswan

28 April LUXOR - Arrived 8.10am after missed flights - but that's another story. We'd pre-booked our stay in Egypt from pick-up in Luxor to delivery back to the plane in Cairo. BUT....after a loooong night ...A nap was first thing on the agenda! Our accommodation - Iberotel, on the Nile is central and very pleasant with terrace dining overlooking the pool and the Nile. An afternoon stroll was HOT as HADES! What do they say about mad dogs and Englishmen? A great evening with our guide Mohamad – through and around the streets in a horse...

Apr 20, 2013 - Saturday 20 April

After 4 days in Cairo I can say it is a very interesting city. It is so large and spread out. As little as 15 years ago farms have been relpaced by highrise apartments. There is no government authority for planning any building projects in Cairo. If you pay someone enough money you can vertually do as you please. On Friday I found out that there where shops within walking distance from our hotel. You would have thought the guides would have explained this to us. We met some people who have been staying in the hotel for a few weeks and they...

Apr 18, 2013 - Egypt 15 - 18 April

What a flight. We finally arrived in Cairo after 32 hours since leaving home at 8am on Monday morning. By the time I went to bed on Tuesday I had been awake for 46 hours with approximatley 4 hours sleep in that time. My first impression of Cairo....filthy..old...scary.... On the flight over I was sitting next to an Australian Egyptian who goes home every year to visit family. During our discussions on Egypt he stressed "be careful" so many times it was a bit unnerving. His family live in Alexandria and he wants us to phone him when we...

Jan 13, 2013 - Parte 8 - Dahab!

Saindo de Sharm-el-Sheik partimos para Dahab, a cidade vizinha,q tb fica no litoral do mar vermelho, mas famosa por ser o porto dos mochileiros. De fato, Dahab tem uma energia bem diferente de Sharm. Um lugar mais descontraido, em que “ser” eh mais importante do que “ter”. Aqui nao se ve 5 star hotel, tampouco praias privadas, mas se ve uma orla fantastica cheia de restaurantes, cada um com sua cadeira estirada beira-mar para atrair o cliente. A nossa impressao de Dahab foi a melhor possivel. Assim que chegamos, logo nos identificamos com...

Jan 13, 2013 - Parte 6 - Luxor

Luxor eh demais. Demais em todos os sentidos (positivos e nem tanto). Os comerciantes incomodam demais, os olhares para a Re foram demais, a historia do lugar (antiga Tebas) eh, da mesma forma, demais. Mas vamos por parte. Chegamos em Luxor perto das 8 da noite, em um trem local direto de Aswan. O trem era local MESMO, vimos, ouvimos e sentimos de tudo naquele negocio. Pra comecar, viemos num vagao que era pra ser primeira classe, e acreditem, primeira classe num trem local do egito equivale a uma 10 classe de um trem brasileiro. A sensacao...

Jan 13, 2013 - Parte 7 - Welcome to Red Sea

Saimos de Luxor e fomos para Sharm el Sheik. Foram quase 19 horas de viagem, passamos pelo Canal de Suez, uma area um pouco tensa, com fiscalizacao militar e td, mas valeu a pena. Sharm eh a Las Vegas do Egito.Mas quando digo Las vegas, eh pq eh qiase isso mesmo! Sharm fica na peninsula do Sinai, no litoral do Mar Vermelho, eh um reduto de resorts, onde os europeus vem passar as ferias e fugir do frio da Europa. Um lugar maravilhoso para mergulho e cheio de locais paradisiacos. Restaurntes luxuosos, cafes, resorts, festas e um pouco de...

Jan 6, 2013 - Parte 5 - Hola, Habib!

Nao sei porque exatamente (deve ser minha cor de cuia ou o sorriso aberto e verdadeiro da Re) mas quase sempre escutamos saudacoes das pessoas nas ruas em espanhol. Pode ser um Hola, ou um Como estas?, e sempre somos confundidos como espanhois. Soh depois que percebem que nao respondemos direito, perguntam de onde somos. E depois que falamos, a proxima etapa eh abrir um sorriso e falar: Ba-ra-sil!!! I love Ba-ra-sil! Ronaldo, romario, (ate um bebeto eu ja escutei!). Eh o mundo conhecendo profundamente nossa cultura e tradicoes brasileiras...