The Next Trip

For those of you that have never used the site http://www.tripadvisor.com I strongly advise you to check it out. I have found it to be an incredible asset when travelling, everything from weekend B&B's to our upcoming trip to Central Europe. The value is in the contributions from other travellers. I have finally taken some time to contribute myself, it feels good when other travellers find your contributions useful and contact you directly.
Another cool addition to this and our next blog, is this Slideshow gadget which you can configure to show images from your PicasaWeb site, which is awesome.
I will probably not be blogging much more about Egypt, but please come check out my next big adventure with Courtney: http://martyandcourtneyineurope.blogspot.com/

The Food of Egypt

Many people have asked me about the food in Egypt, so I will share our experience with that. Again, since there is no water purification, we just drank bottled water, which depending on how well you haggle you can get anywhere between $1 for a small bottle [NY prices] down to $1 for 2 big (1 litre) bottles [nailed that deal in Edfu]. Also it is recommended not to eat the lettuce (I guess since it is mostly water in content.

The first day we ate at the hotel in Cairo, outside. I jumped right into the local cuisine and ordered something like the 'Egyptian Sandwich' or something with a corny name. It was essentially a local meat sausage in a pita with fries. Washed that down with a Stella beer (note: in Egypt they mostly served Stella, Sakara, and Heineken, the Stella is their own Stella, not the version here in the states, and these were your basic pilsners).

Our next eating experience was the buffet of the cruise ship, which was horrible. Every meal they would have a beef, chicken and fish option. Along with a potato, soups, and an array of veggies. One day I got pretty sick, but nothing too serious.

Luckily they had Heinz Hot Sauce (which is money). I got to a point where I would just get some rice, different beans and veggies and some pita bread and smother it with hot sauce. Chased this with a Stella or water. I think it made Ed happy, that I joined him in his vegetarian ways for a couple of days :)

In the Aswan airport (heading back to Cairo), they did have a Sbarro's Pizza, which was not too bad (but was crazy expensive...I think like $7 for a slice. In Cairo we did all go out as a group to an outdoor restaurant (Andrea) which was excellent, the best food we had in Egypt. Chicken grilled over charcoal, homemade pita, and your usual Mediterranean sides (hummus, etc).

There is a big gap between the rich and poor in Egypt, I saw people peddling pita/meat sandwiches in Cairo rush hour traffic (to cars). The people seem to eat a lot of bread.

Pyramids & Camels

The last day of the trip was definitely one of the best. Seeing the Pyramids in Giza was unbelievable. It is mind boggling these massive structures were built nearly 5000 years ago. We also had the opportunity to ride camels near the pyramids which was fun and definitely a good photo oppt. We got back into JFK at about 3:30pm EDT today, and it is great to be home. Overall, just an amazing trip. I will be blogging little tidbits and highlights this weekend after I decompress. But I did add my pics from the last day on the Picasa web site.

http://picasaweb.google.com/martysupple

Back on the Grid

We just got back into Cairo, we have spent the last 3 days on the cruise down (up) the Nile river. We started the cruise in Luxor, then cruised south (which is actually upstream - against the current) to Edfu then Aswan. We visited the Tombs in Valley of the Kings in Luxor, where King Tut, many Pharos from the Ramses line of rulers, and others have their tombs.

I will be blogging each days activities in more detail as I get more time. We are right near the Pyramids of Giza, tomorrow morning we get up at 6:45am, have breakfast, then a full day of visiting the Pyramids, most likely grab a camel ride, and get nutty in Cairo. We will be back at the hotel at 6pm-ish (Cairo time). We then depart early morning Thursday.

The trip has been amazing, each day and each site better than the one before. There was a point in Luxor where we all felt that we did not need to see any more Temples...but then when we saw Edfu temple we were blown away. The horse and buggy ride through downtown Edfu was awesome.

I am posting a bunch of pics and videos now, with more to come. I will also be posting more details about the sites we have visited and our experiences.

BTW, we are getting along fine as travel partners :)

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/martysupple

In Cairo

The flight was smooth, we got in about 12:10pm Cairo time. Getting through customs was not bad at all, the airport was fairly nice. It seems that they are building a new airport to replace the existing in fact.

We took a 15 minute bus ride to our hotel from the airport with the Gate 1 travel folks. We have not really socialized with any of them much; a mixed group. I sat down next to an Indian woman from Boston, that had traveled to Morocco with Gate 1 (everyone raves about Gate 1 btw).

When we got to the hotel (see lobby below) we got our room keys from our tour guide. The hotel is very nice (resort-like).

We spent some time out by the pool getting a late lunch / early dinner (I got the Arabic Sandwich, some unknown meat product, which was spicy and good).

After I took a dip in the pool, we decided to head out to see the area outside/around the hotel. There is so much traffic and no street/traffic signals, it is mayhem. We were able to cross the street (very scary)..then tried to find some shops, but this particular area is SEEDY. There were some automotive repair shops and some shady looking tea/hookah cafes (or whatever they are called here...tea shops). Young dudes, tokin the hookah, drinking tea, and playing dominos.

We decided to turn back pretty quickly as the two roads we ventured down, we felt like eyes were upon us, we stood out. So, to play it safe we came back to the hotel bar out by the pool. Luckily we leave this hotel tomorrow morning, we have a 6:45am flight down to Luxor, a full day of sight seeing, then we get on our Nile cruise. Since we are all tired from traveling here, it will probably be an early night. I am going to go meet Ed downstairs now, as there is a wedding at the hotel...got to see this (and free entertainment...can't beat that).

Check out the photos so far at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/martysupple/CairoDay1

No Fumar

You wanna do what to my whom? There is no way I am going to pick up on this Arabic writing. Looks like a tattoo I saw on a girls lower back in Hoboken, NJ last night at a bar.

Fly Like an Egyptian

Wow, I have never seen so much security for a flight. Luckily with my caucasian style, I rolled by. But I saw some brothers from another mother getting the inquisition. 'What do you do for a living?' 'What do you do with your free time?' Man I thought I was on the Egyptian dating game. Well the three Long Island hombres are in their seats waiting for liftoff. Say a prayer for us, we will be afloat for the next 11 hours. Rock on.