Egypt....Ahhh. So complicated. Honestly, we are happy to be out of it. There were good times though. Our favorite
part of Egypt was the desert. The tiny oasis of Siwa surrounded by the Great Sand Sea was the most relaxing few days we had in Egypt; there were hardly any hassles or hustlers, and the sexual harassment level was low compared to the rest of Egypt. We spent an afternoon 4x4ing through gigantic sand dunes at top speed, holding on to the sides of the truck and praying to g-d that we weren't going to die. We stopped on a particularly steep dune and took turns "sandboarding" down the side. Sand seems soft but when you fall off of a sandboard at any speed it is amazing how fast it transforms into cement. On New Years eve we went out into the desert and had a truly magical night. There traditional singers next to a massive fire pit, sheesha, a huge buffet of amazing food, a cozy Bedouin tent, glittering lamps, all under the desert stars. We have posted a video of this below. The other nice part of our trip was in Luxor where we met Izzy and Adam, a fun couple with whom we shared a few evenings, complaining about how difficult and exhausting travelling in Egypt is. For example, we never really figured out the train situation. Actually, it was challenging to figure out anything other than simply not to trust a single person. Every single thing we tried to do had at least two contradictory instructions or directions. When you finally got your hands on train ticket you would then be faced with the ridiculously complicated task of discovering the proper platform. A person would say "at platform 8" then we would walk to platform 8 where a person would say "what are you doing here? It's at platform 11" and so on...It was like being in wonderland. Sheer frustration caused us to limit our activities because it was too stressful to do anything in a day. The other "annoying" part of Egypt was the constant sexual harrassment. Whistles, catcalls, kissing faces, winks, yelling "your husband is a very lucky man!" grabbing and the constant staring. My butt was grabbed by two little boys and Izzy had a man bike up to her while she was riding a bike and grab her boob. (She pushed him away and he fell off his bike.) We tried to just ignore it, but sometimes both John and I were ready to punch people, or yell obscenities at them. But we didn't.... we just let our anger simmer away and are now getting to vent in this blog. To be fair, Egypt was a truly unique and worthwhile experience. Yes, it was challenging, but definitely holds some of the wonders of the world.
Anyway, that's Egypt, or at least a quick overview of the highs and a small, small glimpse of the lows. We are so happy to be back in Happy Thailand! In our first hour we were eating pad thai, drinking a delicious banana shake and were getting a Thai massage (ouch!). Our stress is melting off in the sun and the sand, although I (Megan) might still need some of that therapy where you scream into pillows. Is that still a viable form of therapy?
Until next time!
 |
| The site where Alexander the Great consulted the Oracle of Siwa |
 |
| The Great Sand Sea was once the bottom of a sea of water. |
 |
| Life clinging to the edge of the hotsprings |
 |
| Dune jumping! |
 |
| Yes, Megan can levitate... |
 |
| After nearly 3,500 years, some Egyptian ruins still display incredible colour |
 |
| Wandering the immensity of Karnak |
 |
| Sailing the Nile |
 |
| Mustafa getting down |
 |
| Mustafa in a quiet millisecond |
One last note. On our last night we took a boat out on the Nile. To our surprise our crew was a 6 year old named "Captain Cook" or Mustafa, our first mate an 11 year old named Ferris and our true captain was 17 year old Mohammed. Captain Cook was a crazy guy and spent most of the boatride dancing and entertaining us. He was a great dancer, he had a crazy amount of confidence and no inhibitions. He could do all the belly dancing moves that we associate with women. I lent him my Ipod and turned it to Knaan, he was able to totally get down to the hip hop. He's the little guy in the pictures.
