Egypt (Part tree)

EGYPT!

EGYPT (Cairo,Giza,Dahab)

Where was I? Oh right, end of day two in Egypt, back at the Amarante Pyramids Hotel (as the only guests) and a bit sick. Well for the sake of the blog I'll skip the contents of Monday night (you don't want to know the bloody details, they're gross) and skip to Tuesday morning i.e. THE GREAT PYRAMIDS! I'll preface the post with a bunch of pictures then explain...ready? Go!


Our mode of transportation around the pyramids (it was cheaper than a camel)...



The graves of the slaves...i.e my ancestors hanging out in the shadow of their lifes' work!




It's really small...not!





Well this first batch of pictures needs no explanation, one of the great wonders of the world, the Great Pyramids took 30 years to build and were built by aliens. No not really, just a bunch of Jews with back problems.

So Ben and I take a cab to the pyramids after a sketchy walk down the street (we could've walked to the pyramids but I was being stared at- not having a head covering and all), a man jumps in our cab mid-ride and tells us about his camels. Not really having a choice, Ben and I end up in a random alleyway away from the tourists and guided by this man. Long story short we got the hell out of there and found our amazing guide Mosam- see picture below!

Okay, now I know what you're all thinking...what about the sphinx? Well without further adeiu (what does that even mean?) I present, the Sphinx!




Believe it or not the Sphinx is SMALL (compared to the pyramids), we were able to walk around the temple of the Sphinx and actually get pretty close. Little known fact, the Sphinx was created from one giant stone, then detailed with bricks (unlike the pyramids which were built brick by brick). According to our guide the Sphinx has the head of a woman, the face of a man and the body of a lion because it is smart,beautiful and strong.

Mosaam, our guide, took us to his friend's lotus flower factory/store and a papyrus "museum" where we learned to make papyrus paper- heres a picture!





After the pyramids we did a bit of shopping. Here are some pictures from the Arab markets we walked by...


Once shopping was completed we relaxed at the hotel before dinner (hibachi in Egypt- TOTAL TOURIST MOMENT #14). Then went to bed.

Breakfast in the morning was great, we missed our bus to the border so we hopped on the next one heading to Sharm El Sheik which wasn't the best idea but turned out great because we ended up taking another bus to DAHAB! Which means paradise in Egyptian, well maybe not. But this is where we stayed our lsat night- it's in Sinai (as in Moses took the ten commandments on Mount...)

It was absolutley breathtaking and amazing, these pictures don't do the place justice...





We ended our trip in paradise and that's all that matters. We're safe, we're fine, we're happy.. The End...until the next one!

Egypt (Part Shteim)

EGYPT!

EGYPT (Cairo,Giza,Dahab)

Monday morning (March the 9th) we awoke to the idea of traveling to Egypt.

The idea that has been spoken of and visualized but never realized until it came into being the morning of March 9th.

Ben and I took a cab over to the Egyptian Embassy from our hostel in Eilat (here's us in front of the Embassy)

After a long and drawn out ordeal about passport photos (we had to go back and forth three times until we finally got our photos taken) our Visa was approved and we were off the the border! A 15 shekel taxi ride later Ben and I arrived at the Israeli/Egyptian border (in Eilat) and walked through like a slave returning as a free man (woman) to his homeland. I don't know what that analogy was trying to say, I just wanted to recognize that I haven't been to Egypt and my ancestors were slaves there...so yeah.

We get through the border without trouble (it was painless!) and find that the next bus to Cairo doesn't leave for 4 hours. Going along with our plan Ben and I grab a cab and for $50 each and take the 8 hour tour to Cairo. Our driver was fast and I was so sick I slept the whole way! We stopped at one roadside cafe but there was no way I was going to use this toilet...

Here is a photo from our window at the Sara Inn Hostel (I highly recommend this hostel to anyone planning to stay in Cairo, it was safe and clean and everyone spoke English).


The bathroom, on the other hand was another story. If you ever want to hear the Egyptian bathroom story, just get me a little tipsy and I'll re-enact the whole situation...(In a nutshell: the shower was stuck and I had to find an alternative source of water to bathe myself in....

When we arrived in Cairo alive (I'm still now sure how because there are absolutely no traffic laws AT ALL!) Ben and I settled in our room then decided to take a walk around the city.

At this point I was still feeling a bit sick and was not hungry at all, but hell, I was in Cairo and there was nothingstopping me but myhself. The city is strangely similar to downtown NYC. Lots of hustle and bustle and lots of electronic shops!

We came upon this really neat alleyway full of hookah bars and littlerestaurants but the smell was a bit too nauseating toactually sit and eat. Eventuallythe two of us agreed to eat at a nearby small French restaurant(TOTAL TOURIST MOMENT #1- eating at a French Restaurant in Egypt). I ordered Lentil soup but kept tasting Egypt so I just ate the crackers. Ben liked the chicken. We were so pooped we went to bed after dinner. When we woke up there was a movie being filmed outside our window! Look!


(Below) This is the Egypt museum, we went here on our second day in the morning.



Unfortunately no cameras were allowed inside the museum so all I have are shots of the outside. Thanks to my International Student Identification card I received a 50% discount at the museum so I only paid 30 pounds (around $6)Here are two of the shots I took outside...




Inside the museum was sooo intense, there were so many artifacts even the Egyptians didn't know what to do with them. I swear Ben and I wondered into a corridor where objects weren't unwrapped yet! The highlights of the museum included seeing KING TUT and all of his after worldly possessions (even his tomb had a tomb) and his wife's jewelry. The mummy section cost 60 Egyptian pounds (around 12 US dollars) to get in so I didn't see any Royal mummys, just their mummified pets and some lower level not as important mummys. (but it was still awesome!)

We left the museum after an hour and a half. Mainly because it was too stimulating. We were literally drunk with knowledge and overstimulation. To let our brains take a breather, we decided to take a stroll down the NILE RIVER here are some pictures from that walk...



By the way I was walking like an Egyptian right before this picture but Ben refused to take a picture of me :(


During our walk along the Nile (to the Hard Rock Cafe) Ben and I came upon the Cairo Opera House-it was a beautiful area and the city was hosting a film festival...Here is the crew setting up the festival and a neat piece of artwork in the centre...


Soon after we came upon the opera house my wallet started tingling. I realized I'd been in another country for more than 48 hours and I had yet to buy anything touristy or tacky. It was an emergency we attempted to solve by asking every friendly looking passerby where we could find the nearest market or baazar...we were met with limited response. The one good piece of advice we recieved was to wait for Giza to shop for "those" kinds of items. Well we did and it was worth it...

After I gave up on my mission to find a good shopping post, Ben and I wandered over to the Four Seasons Hotel where the Hard Rock Cafe was located. (TOTAL TOURISTY MOMENT #2). Don't get mad at us, we planned to eat there are part of our total tourist theme. Besides, I had a 10% discount withmy International Student Identity Card!

I don't think the food at Hard Rock and my stomach agreed because five minutes after my last bite of "Joe Perry's Rock Your World Quesidillas", I was spending the next hour rocking and rolling in pain. Long story short, we high tailed it out of Cairo and over to our 5 star hotel in Giza.
(A short 20 minute cab ride)





And that's the end of day two in Egypt...I will blog the rest tonite!

PART ONE (Eilat)

EILAT!

OKAY- for anyone who was worried (or happened to call the Egyptian Consolate), Ben and I are fine. In fact, there was never anything wrong. We are safe and the trip was amazing.

Now from the beginning...

Last Friday (March 6) the group of volunteers and I left for the southern tip of Israel, we were planning to stay in a beautiful coastal town called Eilat. It's very famous in Israel for it's beauty and the fact that it's right on the RED sea (not Dead Sea, the one Moses parted)...instead of driving straight from Geva (in the north) to Eilat (in the south) we split up the trip into mini trips.

From Geva we stopped for breakfast at a Bedouin village, if you'd like to know more about bedoiun culture...umm google it I guess. It was fun, but I knew all about it from Birthright and really just wanted to get to the water.



After breakfast we hiked EN AVEDAT, this really cool canyon in the Negev (south Israel) ...







After the hike we ate lunch in a park and got on the bus again...by the time we got to Eilast it was just in time for sunset and we were able to watch the sun go down from a point where one could see Jordon, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It was breathtaking. I feel so lukcy to be here and to have these experiences.



Once we arrived at our beautiful hostel we had a dinner Geva style and then walked the boardwalk. The town was very tourist-y and VERY western. I bought a hat for the next day when we went...

SNORKELING!

The next morning (HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!) we went to the Israeli Sea World (sorta). Much smaller and much more hebrew! We went to this shake'em'up ride about whales and visited the underwater viewing tank..thing. Needless to say it was a beautiiful day and the fish were swimming and I couldn't wait to jump in the water!




After the aquarium we settled down on the beach and had a BBQ, I don't think I had a very good reaction to the chicken (the volunteers cooked), actually I KNOW I didn't have a good reaction (I won't go into detail).

The beach was beautful and snorkeling at the Red Sea was amazing. I didn't get too close to the fish but I was close enough to almost touch a fin! And I found Nemo!

That night I still wasn't feeling too hot but managed to walk to the shopping mall with everyone else anyway, I didn't buy anything but the mall felt like anytown USA, one really wouldn;t know they were in Israel unless they went to the food court (ALL SCHWARMA ALL THE TIME!)

Instead of going out to the bars and pubs with everyone else I stayed back with some people and played Kings (thanks Josh!) but didn't drink. I headed to bed early feeling sick :(

On the morning of March 8th everyone got in the Baccara bus and went off to climb Massada and swim in the dead sea, Ben and I however, had other plans...

TO BE CONTINUED...

OH YEAH, I HAVE A BLOG!

ANI YODEH!

It's been so long since I've posted, almost a week. Sad to say, nothing much has happened. The rain has finally let up, thank goodness too, I think I've seen every movie I ever wanted to see and every movie I've never wanted to. One night we watched gladiator and dressed up...see picture below.


Other than that I've been meod (very) busy playing ASSASSINS! In short the game is played like mafia...everyone is given a target (another player), your goal is to get your target killed by sticking a sticker to their body. The only rules are you can't play indoors or while at work.

As of today I'm the only girl remaining!

Tomorrow we leave for Eiliat and then Monday EGYPT! Ben and I booked a room at a five star hotel (he insisted on paying for both nights...I paid for the 8 dollar hostel). I will obviously update the blog upon our return with tons of pictures and comments and stories and maybe, just maybe, a video or two.

Just a side note, word to the wise whatever, DO NOT USE THE NEW YORK CITY KIBBUTZ PROGRAM CENTER...I REPEAT DO NOT USE THE NEW YORK CITY KIBBUTZ PROGRAM CENTER...IT IS A SCAM THEY TAKE YOUR MONEY AND KEEP IT. SIMPLY FLY TO ISRAEL AND GO TO THE REAL KIBBUTZ PROGRAM CENTER IN TEL AVIV. TRUST ME, I AM NOT THE FIRST TO FALL PREY TO THEIR SCAMS!

I also posted a bad review on google, so if you google them a bad review will pop up!