Here are the positives and negatives of Egypt:
Positives:
- Alexandria was full of culture, it felt like walking into a completely different world. A world back in the 50's. I will put some pictures of the culture on Facebook if I ever get around to it. Yes, I'm lazy. And just tired!
- In Alexandria we stayed at the Hilton, which was in the middle of a large strip mall. The Hilton was gorgeous and the men left towel-sculpted alligators, swans and hearts on our beds. It was so romantic!
- We got to walk around a lot in Alexandria, and the food was SUPER cheap.
- We found a petting zoo on the drive from Alex to Cairo, and there were cool flamingos!
- Cairo has the great pyramids and the sphinx. 'Nuff said.
- Gorgeous blue skies.
- Beautiful weather...it was over 30C every day that we were there.
- We met a nice guy in Cairo who helped us cross the street (Egyptian style...much like the game Frogger) and all he wanted in return was for us to buy stuff from his shop. Done and done. He then proceeded to walk us to McDonalds, 15 minutes away.
- We got to ride the metro! In an all-girl car! For 18 cents!
- We saw mummies :)
- We went on a Felucca (sailboat) ride on the Nile We ate bananas which were picked right off the banana trees!
- Banana Island felt like big world on Super Mario 3. Level 4. It was awesome.
- We went on a hot air balloon ride!
- We saw the tombs of some great kings and princes and queens of ancient Egypt. Incredible.
- We did a LOT of shopping...for very low prices.
- Our last meal in Luxor was at a place called Dean's Bistro - run by an English man who took our order IN ENGLISH and didn't mess anything up! He even helped create a birthday surprise for Melissa.
- It made me appreciate Kuwait. Anything that makes me appreciate Kuwait is great in my books ;)
- Khaled, our driver through the Valley of the Kings and Queens. He was awesome. Hilarious and knowledgeable, and really nice.
- Got your turkey! There was a lot of hysteria at the Kuwait airport at 1am upon arrival.
Negatives:
- Cairo is dirty. Luxor is dirty. Both with sand and disgusting men. Now I understand why Jesus had to wash the disciples feet...my feet looked tanned every night. Until I washed them.
- The Baksheesh (tips). No one helps you out just to be nice. Everything is "give me a tip, i expect a tip"...we became very adept at saying NO and doing it ourselves.
- The men. They treated us like dirt, like objects. "Are you single? I am single? Hey baby, hey baby, Hey pretty lady! I've been looking for you all my life! Psssst sssspppttt ttppppsssttt...why you no listen to me!" oh the hissing. Melissa threatened to remove a guy's scrotum. He deserved it.
- The 5 star hotel we stayed at in Luxor was more like a 3 star. It was...crapville. And smokey. Fortunately, Egypt is not a dry country. Amaretto makes the hotel much prettier ;)
- Oh, the smoking. Everywhere. I can't think of a positive for this.
- The screaming baby on the flight back home! Right behind me! Kicking my seat! I turned my Mp3 player up super loud so i could drown out the kid. My own little dreamworld.
- Everyone trying to sell us stuff - everywhere - for ridiculous prices. By the end, we just stopped caring. And we became super bargainers. The trick is to walk away...
- Dirty, dirty men. If i ever return to Egypt, I will go with a big, strong, tall man. Super big. Super strong. With intimidating dark sunglasses. Mouwhahaha
Ah, Egypt. You and your crazy ways. I got the chance to take a million pictures, as did everyone else...currently our photo count is up to 4,000...at least!! Imagine organizing those...
We're ready for our next adventure, in approximately 70 days. :D Italy and France, here we come!
Check out a few pictures on my Flickr account - the link on the right. I will eventually put some up on Facebook, and I'll send you the links when that happens. 4000 pictures is a lot to go through...
