Burn Baby Burn

Hi everyone

There is all sorts of interesting street traffic here in Egypt. Try to imagine cars, public buses, greyhound-style buses, motorcycles (never helmets), donkeys pulling carts, people riding donkeys, people riding camels, bicycles made into flatbed carts, horse-drawn carriages, pedestrians, beggars... all swarming the street at once. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to anything, and yet there is. Most of the time it seems to work. Although, while in Cairo we DID see a pretty bad car crash, and when our taxi took us to our hotel he nonchalantly smashed off someone's side mirror (obviously it was their own fault since everyone else on that extremely narrow street had their mirrors pulled in).

Everyone here is driven by money, money, money. The tourist industry is big and everyone's in on it. When we have long bus rides we make occasional stops at public washrooms and coffee shops to give everyone a break, and there are always beggars, toilet attendants, and sometimes there's even entertainment - like the muslim women who paraded around donkeys with baby goats balancing on their backs (I didn't pay to take a photo of that, but if it was a goat on a donkey on a CAMEL then that I would have paid to see!) or the guy who um, shall we say, kinda made all kissy-face with his camel. Ew. Still trying to forget about that one - maybe passing it on to you will help. :P

I kind of think it's a shame that many Arab men can be a little smarmy. While I generally just (inwardly or outwardly) roll my eyes, when you are by yourself or clearly outnumbed it can feel a little uncomfortable. We have gotten a few offers of marriage and some have loudly declared their single status in order to lure us away to their den of Egyptian love. A guy got right in my face and asked, "how many goats for you?" As usual, you pretty much don't react, pretend you don't understand them, and don't make eye contact. Our tour leader Mudi is very helpful and he tells them all to back off if they give us any hassle, but that's only if they don't realize that he's with us; they don't mess with their own. Anyways, I think it's kind of a shame because it makes me reluctant to have real conversations with the people here, even when in totally different, friendly and respectful settings because I start worrying about what their motives are or what they are thinking. I don't really feel free to be myself.

Anyways. Our last night in Luxor we had a tour of the city in horse-drawn carriages and we ended up at the Luxor Temple which looks amazing all lit up at night. Posted a photo of it on FB so you can see. It is an amazing place and I can't really describe the feeling that you get from being there -- I want to touch everything (but I don't) with wonderment and I can't believe that kings and queens walked there and people 5000 years ago carved those stones and made those monuments. What are people going to be looking at 5000 years from now?

There is precious little to do in Hurghadab, unless you want to PAY to go to the beach. That's right, all the beachfront belongs to hotels, and our hotel was not on the beach. The Egypt guidebook describes Hurghadab as a tourist-mess, and that's about right. It was not terribly impressive. We only had one night there, so we just did some walking around, relaxed, recharged and spent a night out at the local bar. It was pretty fun - great live band, good company and amusing cheesy ninja show with a dude walking on glass and stepping on knives, etc.

Upon our arrival in Dahab, we were taken to a resort village (called the "Happy Life Village") which for most people is basically an all-inclusive getup with awesome beachfront, 3 pools, swim-up bars, several restaurants (our breakfast was eaten in one that was built like a boat) and desert mountain views all around. It definitely feels a little luxurious; we're not complaining.

Yesterday evening we went out on the town and went ATVing/Quad-ing in the desert hills. It was awesome! I had the luck and misfortune of being the leader of our little pack; lucky because I had very little dirt and dust in my face like everyone behind me did, and misfortunate because the ATV leader-guy was sitting behind me yapping in my ear the whole time so I knew where to go. And he kept telling me to slow down so that we didn't lose the others in the group -- sheesh! I got up to 90km on the road but only 50km on the sand & rocks. It was SO MUCH FUN.

After that we went to an amazing seafood restaurant right on the water (they are all right on the water in Dahab) and they had these things called Mango Thickshakes - I drank all of mine before my meal ever arrived. Yum yum! We got to bed pretty late and were up again this morning to go snorkeling. We snorkeled around an amazing coral reef just off the coast - it was filled with life and colour, totally amazing. Purple fishes, orange fishes, striped fishes, mini jellyfishes, corals and rocks and life teeming everywhere- if only I had an underwater camera. Oh, and despite my best intentions and preparations, I burnt myself quite nicely today - all over my back. I guess it was only a matter of time.

For those that asked, yes I am feeling a little homesick. We are lucky to be busy most of the time though, so I am trying not to dwell on it.

The next few days we are off to climb Mount Sinai and I think I will be off the internet-radar again for a few days (okay, Mom??) but hopefully I will have lots to tell you when I get back online. Soon we will be back in Cairo to finish up our tour and shortly after we'll be heading to Morocco!

Hope all is well and you guys are surviving the heat!
xo
Elaan