Wednesday - On to Port Said

 
Another day with a late start, off we go to Port Said. It's about a four hour trip from Cairo to Port Said, Port Fouad though my brother Ezzat and his son Ephraim with tell you that it's about 3 at the most. About 50 km out of Cairo we stopped at a new Hyper-Market A hyper-mall is like a WalMart super store on steroids. I mean this place was huge and you could I think get everything under the sun though I didn't see a lumber yard but then I wasn't looking for that. Unlike super stores in the U.S. there are employees all over the place to help you find things even if they don't speak English. I'm sure they do much better than most Americans would helping a foreigner find things at Fred Meyer.

After the hyper store it was the long haul to Port Said for a party for Nana. Since she is not getting married in her home town she wanted to have a party for the people that would not be able to attend the wedding. We were able to renew some old acquaintances and made some new ones while we were there. Nana's brides maids all lined up and introduced themselves to me and I promptly forgot all of their names except the last young lady. Her name is Maggie and I told her I got that one. The rest of the names were more difficult. The party was fun. We ate, talked, ate, and talked some more and a good time was had by all.

Bonnie and I were both surprised by one young man we met when we were here seven years ago. His name is Ravey. He was just a little kid running around and annoying his brother and now he is in high school and seems to be smart-as-a-whip. He speaks English amazingly well, obviously taking after his brother. He is a very pleasant young man and I look forward to the next time we will see him. I was hoping to see his brother Andrew but it looks like we will miss him. We spent a lot of time together the last time we were in Egypt.

After this party, Bonnie and I went back to the house in Port Fouad. The others went onto another surprise party for Nana. She was really surprised and all had a great time. I spent much of the evening both at the party and when we got back home talking with David Milad Beniameen. We played table soccer for a couple of hours the last time I was here and had a great time. We had a wonderful reunion as well.  He is at University now studying computer science so we have a natural discussion platform.

The weather was cooler by the Mediterranean Sea than in Cairo so we had a nice respite from the heat. Another late night so will sign off for now.

Visas Arrive

 
Our visas for entry to Egypt arrived from the Egyptian Embassy on Saturday. So with plane reservations and visas in hand we are ready to go. We have made reservations in at the Marriot by the marina in Dubai for  the time we will be there. Have yet to make arrangements for any tours we may do while there but we are researching. Using Lonely Planet and Trip Adviser mostly to look for tours and things to do in Dubai. If anyone has any suggestions we would appreciate some insight. More planning to come.
 

Up the River Nile

Seems there is always more to see no matter where you go. There is always a new adventure around the corner. It could be a trip across town to some place you have never been right in your backyard or a place halfway around the world that you would like to see for the first time along with others you would like to visit again.

We are embarking on another trip to Egypt this spring. While the last Egyptian trip was to Cairo and north this time we will go up the Nile and visit Memphis, Aswan, Luxor and places in between. This trip will be very different from others we have done. There will be three people from Alaska, two wonderful Egyptians that seem like brother and sister to us, and on Egyptian guide. It should be quite a fabulous trip. Four and five star hotels are in the offing, overnight train ride, cruising on the Nile, and of course air transport when necessary. Life should be relaxing and very enjoyable of the the short time we will be away. I look forward to a time of little work and much play even if it is for just a short while.

Visas are applied for, tours are paid, anticipation is rising as the time approaches. What a wonderful trip it will be.

Safety Abroad

We are often asked how things were? Did we feel safe? Were we ever threatened? It's kind of complicated. Neither Bonnie or I ever felt threatened while we were in the UK or Egypt. One would expect that in the UK and yet there was a terrorists attack there in the subway not too long ago. I guess we never really thought about it. If there would have been an attack there is not much we could have done about it. And all things considered the odds of being involved in an attack are much smaller than the chance of being severely injured in a car accident in this country.

We never felt threatened or in danger in Egypt either. There were many police and military personnel around with weapons displayed. You kind of get used to that and don't really pay much attention to them unless you want directions some where then you hope that they speak English.

Safety was never an issue for us while we were traveling.

Leaving Sharm March 20

After some leisure time and breakfast it was time to return to Port Faoud. The time here was wonderful because we were with the whole family, Ezzat, Susan, Nardeen, and Ephraim, enjoying the beach and the excellent company. The drive back was just as long as the drive down but somehow didn't seem that way. We took a number of breaks on the way back that we didn't on the way down.

We stopped at a hot spring that ran into the Red Sea. I have no idea what the name of the area was but the water was coming to the surface at the base of a "mountain" and it was hot enough to burn your feet when you stepped in it. There were certainly plenty of people there. When we arrrived there were at least three buses there. All were full of tourists, one had Japanese people, one Canadian, and another from Eastern Europe. All were facinated by the hot springs. Of course they were not comparable to Laird in British Columbia or to Circle Hot Springs or Manley Hot Springs in Alaska but it was an interesting place. There a couple of entrances into the hill where I was told the water comes from but since I didn't have flashlight I didn't venture into the caverns. There was the skeleton of a resort that was begun and then looks like it was abandoned just off the road in this area. Guess the developer ran out of money or decided it wouldn't be viable.

We stopped to stretch or legs and have some tea at the same place we stopped to eat on the way down. The proprietor remembered us and welcomed us with open arms. That's certainly something that would be out of the ordinary in the US but according to our host was not particularly unusual for Egypt.

The Sinai Desert once again seemed opressive. Looking at the rugged mountains and the barren sand and dunes was like looking at a landscape out of a science fiction novel. There was some vegatation between the coastline and mountains but it was sparse. Small shrubs grew on little "piles" of sand. It was hard to determine if the little piles of sand caused the shrubs to take root or the piles were formed when the sand swirled around a shrub that gained a foolhold in the barren landscape. I'm sure someone must have studied that and come to some conclusion but it's interesting to contemplate. As we moved north toward the Suez Canal the wind picked up and was blowing sand across the roadway. It reminded me of a windy winter day in Alaska with snow blowing across the highway it looked exactly the same except for the color. Oh yeah, it was a lot warmer, too.

As we moved north another change took place. The east side of the roadway looked lush and green with orchards, grain fields, and banana plantations. The thing that had changed was the amount of water. The rainfall hadn't increased but the land on the east side of the roadway was irrigated. It's amazing what water can do to the desert. It there was any doubt about what was lacking in the normal landscape all you had to do was look to the west side of the road. There was no irrigation and the desert prevailed.

One of the manmade wonders that is part of the Sinai is the Peace Bridge over the Suez Canal. This bridge was a joint construction effort between the Egyptian government and Japan. The Japanese designed the bridge and constructed the suspension portion of the brige and the Egyptian government contructed the approaches to the suspension bridge. It is a very beautiful structure. Another great feature of the bridge is that after you cross it you only have one hour to go to get to Port Faoud. It was a long drive and a tiring day.

Travel to Sharm el-Sheikh March 18

It seems that time travels much faster than we ever could. As I make this entry it is Sunday the day before we leave for home. It has been a wonderful trip and a wonderful experience. Sharm el-Sheikh is the Riviera of Egypt, the Las Vegas of the United States. Most of the Egyptians we talk with about Sharm are in love with it. It actually was very nice, plush, decadent. For Egyptians it is an escape from their everyday lives. It's very similar for Alaskans as a trip to Vegas to be warm, gamble, and party. I don't think that there is gambling in Sharm though. For me the trip through the Sinai was a very important part of our "escape" to Sharm. Unfortunately the escape took 7 hours by car each way. The people we rode with were fun. Parts of the ride were interesting. Overall it seemed long.

The Sinai is an amazing place. It is the place Moses wandered with the Jewish people for more than forty years and then because of his sins for the rest of his life. A very dry mountainous desert that actually was able to support millions of people with the help of God. The Sinai is a land of extremes. Temperatures get to 120 F during the summer and as low at 20 F in the winter with snow on the desert mountains. With less than an inch of precipitation annually it is one of the driest regions in the world. It is only populated on the edges near the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.

From the tourism standpoint this coast is one of the most spectacular diving areas in the world. Unfortunately neither my wife or I dive or snorkel. We had a great time here regardless because of the people we were with. Our stay in Sharm was very nice. We did go for a short ride in a "glass bottom" boat that had a small well to accommodate about two people to take pictures of the reef and the life around the reef. This may not have been the best choice but it was the one made. We enjoyed the ride and had a good time. Pictures for this trip will be included in multiple albums on Picasa but they may not be uploaded until Wednesday after we arrive at home.

Alexandria March 14

Along with the library on March 14 we went to King Faruk's castle. He died in 1952 shortly after Egypt got it formal independence from the UK. The castle does not look like a castle in the mid evil sense of the word or a castle that would expect to see in the British Isles. It is quite handsome and the grounds are stunning. I'm sure they would be even better in the summer or at least when the weather is a little warmer. This building is still used by the current president of Egypt Mohamed Hosni Mubarak as a retreat house similar to the US President's Camp David. There is a quite extensive park around the castle and castle grounds that I would assume is closed when Mubarak is in residence.

The Castle is right on the White Sea (Mediterranean Sea for non-Egyptians). The sea was angry this day, not too angry though. It was quite cool 55 F with a north wind blowing off the sea. The wind was very wicked. Once you get chilled on a windy, overcast day you stay chilled until you get into some heated shelter.

I was also struck with the Mummy's Revenge the afternoon of the 14th and through the next day which made the sight seeing and traveling difficult at best. But I did not let is stop our journey.

Al Qahira, March 13

On Friday Nardeen, Ezzat, Bonnie, and Don "jumped" in the car for a trip to Cairo and Alexandria. The trip is about 2.5 hours from Port Faoud to Cairo, about 200 kilometers. The trip starts with a ferry ride across the Suez Canal. Most trips from Port Faoud start that way because it's basically an island in the Suez Canal. The canal has an entry and exit channels on the north end. This was an addition to the original canal design and Port Faoud is on the created island.

The destination for today is Al Qahira the Egyptian name for Cairo. Cairo's city population is about 6.7 million with 17.3 million in the surrounding area (Wikipedia). It's the largest city on the continent of Africa and the city proper is the 15th largest in the world. The trip goes through the fertile farmland of the Nile river valley with many communities "sprouting" up along the roadside to take advantage of the proximity to the northern end of the Suez Canal and Cairo. The major attraction along the way between Port Said/Port Faoud and Cairo is the Mubarak Peace Bridge. This beautiful structure was built with the cooperation of Japan who did the major engineering work and the construction of the center span of the bridge. The bridge spans the Suez Canal and connects the western mainland with the Sinai Peninsula without having ferry traffic in the middle of the canal. Unfortunately the pictures do not do justice to the bridge.

The first sign the you are getting close to Cairo is the increase in traffic. The traffic is staggering in this city. There seems to be little or no traffic control. It resembles organized chaos if there is such a thing. Unfortunately photos from the ground do nothing to show what I'm talking about. You really have to experience this traffic to believe that it could be so chaotic. 17 million people use a lot of cars, buses, taxis and trucks. They all seem to be on the streets at the same time and yet the side streets are completely parked full. Where all of the vehicles go and come from is a mystery. One of the highest points is Cairo is the Citadel. It sits atop a hill and has panoramic views of all areas of the city. There are structures that people live in as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately I neglected to take any pictures of the outside before we entered and really had no good vantage point to shot from when we left. The link to an appropriate place on the web will have to do the job. In some places even as the upper floors of a building are falling down people are still living in the lower floors. It is an amazing city.

There are many museums inside the Citadel of Cairo but unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures so I have none. Many of the military things in the museums are amazing and if you are into that kind of stuff you should definitely take in the Citadel while you are in Cairo.

There are also two mosques in the Citadel. They are amazing inside and out and I do have a few pics of them that will be up on my photo site in Google. Since Egypt's population is about 90% Muslim you can imagine that there are many mosques in the country but you have no real idea until you are there seeing the minarets shooting skyward like a forest of giant redwoods. That is an amazing thing as well.

Much of the rest of the population of Egypt is Christian and they have many beautiful and huge churches as well. I am always amazed at the pageantry that is display in the churches of the "Old World". We went to a church in Cairo called the Church on the Mountain by the general Christian population. It seats over 15,000 people. I don't know where transport for all of those people would park but it is an amazing place. It's really a composition of a number of churches. We were able to get into 5 of them on this day and they were all very different.

Port Said, Egypt March 12

This day was a pretty leisurely day. We toured two churches and went to a monument in Port Said. We also went to a wonderful little park in Port Faoud called Elmontaza.

The churches were very beautiful and all I could think of was how much it would cost to maintain them. The ceilings in general in all of the churches and mosques we have been in are spectacular.

The monument, Elmasala, honors the people who died during the construction of the Suez Canal. It has relief sculptures around the base of the history of the canal. The steps lead up to the obelisk that was erected to their memory with the Egyptian Eagle on the from of the structure. I'm sure it is much better looking when the fountain and reflecting pools have water in them. It was still very nice.

The park for me was the highlight of the day. We had a nice relaxing stroll and the spring flowering shrubs were beginning to bloom. Families were enjoying the mild weather with picnic lunches and athletic games. And of course there were little children that are always a joy for both Bonnie and I to watch. Elmontaza commemorates one of the battles between Egypt, France, and England for Egypt to gain and retain control of the Suez Canal. This is an interesting story by itself and would be interesting to compare the Egyptian, French, and British versions of the "liberation" of the canal. All-in-all a very pleasant and relaxing day.

Cell Phone

Thought about having a phone available while we are in Egypt. Would probably get a prepaid one to use while we are there. The big question is do we get one here or do we wait and get one in Egypt? I've been trying to do the research on the web but haven't come to any conclusive decisions. Some sites say get one before you leave. Buy a SIM card for Egypt and buy prepaid minutes. The logic behind this is that you will have the phone to use in the US when you return home. This just raises another question of would I really use the phone once I get home. I don't hardly use a cell phone now. We could just leave the phone in Egypt with our host family when we leave and they could use up the minutes and then dispose of the phone. I have no idea what to do and time is growing short. At least a few sites stated it would be cheaper to get one there and I'm inclined to agree. Nearly everything seems to be cheaper there than here. Will keep you posted on this topic as we travel around.

Thinking about this though has convinced me that when we travel in the US and Canada we should have a prepaid phone with us to use so we can call folks when necessary and can be contacted easily. Maybe when we get back we will just get a cell for each of us and be done with it. Who knows?

Egyptian Pounds

The Egyptian pounds we ordered came in on Thursday last week. Bonnie picked it up on Friday. We requested all five pound notes but it didn't come that way. I think out of the 150 pounds we got 8 five pounders and the rest were larger. Now the biggest problem I have with this exchange is that the bank charged us a five dollars "service" fee for the Egyptian pounds. The whole transaction was only for $35 dollars that that equates to between 15-20%. Pretty stiff penalty for trying to be a good citizen. I realize that banks are in business to make money but this is just a little ridiculous I think. If they are going to charge that much they should have a minimum purchase amount even on foriegn currency. Of course this is just my opinion for what it's worth. I guess we should have taken the advice of a couple of seasoned travellers to take US dollars and exchange them when we get to the destination. We won't be so foolish again. Time grows short, less than three weeks.

Weather

Seems the weather in London is going to require much different clothing than in Egypt. It has been cold there by English standards and though temperatures are slowly rising it's difficult to know what to pack. Obviously we are going to have to take clothing similar to what we wear in Alaska in March. Layers is probably the best way to go. Footwear is going to be a problem. Seems like it may be wet and sloppy in London and I'm sure it will be relatively dry in Egypt. Don't plan to take much winter or rainy day footwear. If we need it when we get to the UK we will just have to buy it. We will take an umbrella or two though, maybe. Depends on how much space we have to pack them. That may be another thing that we purchase when we arrive if need be.

The weather in Cairo is another matter. The temperatures are in the 70 F range but sometimes getting to the 30's F in the evening. Again layers will do the job. With a much dryer climate though footwear will be less of a problem. Time is growing short, less than three weeks until we begin the journey. There is still much, much more to do in preparation to our departure. Hope we are able to get it all done.

Ordered Money Today

Went to the bank today and got 50 GBP for the trip. Thought is best to have some local currency in our pocket since we were going to arrive on a Saturday and likely the banks would not be open. I will check the exchange rate online before I close this update and let you know how badly we got ripped off by Well's Fargo. The exchange rate they gave us was 1.5445 dollars per pound. So 50 GBP was $77.23. The exchange rate listed on the web is $1.4823. So Well's Fargo charged an extra $.06 and the sign said they were buying GBP for $1.42. Looks like they take a 3% commission on all exchanges. Of course if I were changing a million dollars I would probably have gotten a better rate. But, alas, just after a little pocket change.

As suspected they didn't have any Egyptian pounds so they had to be ordered. I requested 150 EP in 5 pound notes but they said they wouldn't guarantee the denominations of the notes but would request 5 pound notes. They are supposed to be in Anchorage in 7-10 business days. That would make it the end of next week. That should be plenty of time. Obviously I don't know the rate for those notes yet. It's a pay when they come in kind of thing. I would guess it will be around $30 US, probably a little less. It really seems like we should have more than that but we are supposed to be picked up at the airport. There are always ATMs where we can get cash.

Must remember to contact the credit card companies and the credit union about our travelling so they don't cancel the cards. Probably should do that a week before we go.

Invitation to Lunch

We received an invitation to have lunch with a family in Cairo while we are there. Three years ago there was an exchange student here that was from Egypt that we got very close to. She spent many wonderful hours with our family and she has invited us to have lunch with her and her family while we are in the country. This would be wonderful for us and we hope that it can be arranged. If there is no time in the scheduled trips to Cairo we will just have to put a special trip in to just spend some time with the Abdelaziz family. Each day I get more excited about going.

Health Care Providers

So it turns out that our heath care provider has 237 preferred providers in the United Kingdom (UK) and 58 in Egypt. I actually find this quite incredible. These providers include hospitals, clinics, and individual physicians. Since we are going to spend all of our time in the UK in London I just checked out the availability there and came up with 64 preferred providers. In Egypt 45 of the 58 are in Cairo. There are 4 in Alexandria where we will be spending a couple of days. There are none in Port Said where we will be staying most of the time.

The health care provider provides an international website to get the information from and there a surprising number of countries listed. They also list collect numbers in the USA you can call if you are not able to find suitable care at the listed facilities. The collect numbers are not listed on the plan "card" that we carry so you should make note of that before you go. If you will have access to the internet while you are traveling you should be able to access the health care provider's website for additional information.

The site does say that in the event of an emergency get treatment and then call them to get authorization. If it's not an emergency call them first regardless of the circumstance if possible. There are claim forms available from our provider for international claims. You may have to pay all or part of the treatment up front depending on the arrangements with the facililty and the insurance provider. This is something you will have to take care of yourself because most plans will have their own particulars. Ours looks pretty good but won't know for sure until we have to use it and hopefully after the trip is done we still won't know how good it is.

Good luck with this part of the trip.