Egypt 2000, Part 3

I am still in NYC. People here stay awake all night and sleep for much of the
day! And I have been following them, waking up at 11am. I haven't been outside
yet. It's warmer inside!

Anyway, here are the punultimate couple of days of Egypt...


SATURDAY 12 FEBRUARY

A cruise on the Nile was the priority for the day. But all the cruises seemed
to be too expensive for us, though they were still less than 9USD for two. It
had only been four days but already paying 4.50USD for a cruise on the Nile
seemed too much. In London, it costs more to go a few stops on the metro. The
asking price for the sailboat was 30EGP (1 USD = 3.8EGP). The captain asked us
to find others so that we could share the cost. We tried but all the tourists
ignored us!

And so we agreed on 30 and set sail. The wind was good for a nice cruise though
at times I thought we’d topple over. We sailed upstream to Banana Island, so
called for obvious reasons. It also had mandarin plantations. Neat island but
we were soon on our way back to Luxor.

It seems crazy now but for some reason we suspicions about the captain and so I
picked up a stick from the island! Our suspicions grew stronger when we started
putting away the sail even though we were still on the other side. “This is
where he pulls a gun and robs us” Nothing of the sort happened of course! It
was a very pleasant cruise – water, boats, sails and wind are always good
combinations for me. Gave the captain some bananas for a tip.

Back in Luxor, there was a Pharonic temple in the centre of town that we wanted
to visit but the admission price was beyond our means. And besides, we could
see everything from the outside and for photographic purposes it was even
better to be outside. There was another site on the outskirts of town where a
sound and light show was to be held. Took a minibus there, the fare being paid
by a very nice passenger on our behalf, only to find that this was also too
expensive for us. But again we could see a lot from the outside.

Tried to look for an even better lookout point but ended up at a village. The
curious kids soon surrounded us. There were so many of them, all excited too
see us and I was happy to meet them. Took pictures and said I’d send them but I
think I’ve lost the address! Said goodbye and took a minibus to the bus station
for Hurghada. Prayed Zuhr and Asr at a nearby mosque and bought take-away
kushuri for dinner.

Arrived in Hurghada at about 9pm. After some deliberation and bartering went
with one of the hoteliers. Shared the room with a Japanese. 


SUNDAY 13 FEBRUARY

The reason for stopping in Hurghada was to go diving in the Red Sea. The
pervious night we didn’t bother finding out the times so we woke up after the
dive team had left. I was gutted but with hindsight I didn’t have a certificate
and they may not have had anything for a total beginner, anyway.

Tried to go down to a beach but every decent beach had a fat hotel in front of
it so we demanded money. 5USD was too much, especially as we didn’t have much
time. Went to a very good aquarium that had fish of all colours and shapes
imaginable. I’m really looking forward to seeing the photos. As I write this I
am getting a strong urge to dive in the Red Sea. 

Next we walked to the biggest mosque in town. Very pretty but not comparable to
the grandeur and architecture of the ones in Cairo. On the way to another
mosque we stopped for lunch. Falafel with eggs, some of which were given free –
very cheap, very tasty, very nutritious.

Continued on to the mosque and prayed Zuhr and Asr. Walked through a market,
where we bought a fruit called Atafall (in Bengali) and returned to the hostel.
Collected our bags and rushed to take a taxi (it was a minibus but we agreed on
a taxi fare but the driver still stopped to pick up others) to the bus station.
Caught the 5o’clock to Suez.

On the bus there was a middle-aged, but very wily, man who we were very
suspicious of and had to keep an eye on. There were also a couple of young guys
who we had to think twice about too. But one of them in the end said how much
of an honour it was for him to meet me and if I ever wanted anything all I had
to do was ask. It made me feel terrible about my initial thoughts. The
middle-aged man was no trouble either but he might’ve been, I still feel. But
we were just a little too security conscious in the beginning.

But there was trouble on the road – a major crash involving an oil tanker.
Heard rumours that two there were two fatalities. A traffic jam in the desert,
how about that? Just as soon as we’d resigned ourselves to spending the night
in one spot, the bus set off.

Prayed Maghrib and Isha at a service station where the man taking us to the
designated prayer room asked if we were Muslims. It was now Monday the 14th and
we still hadn’t reached Suez.