My friend Sara Kras and her husband went on an amazing journey this fall, circling the world with stops in the Middle East, India, China and the Pacific. I think you will enjoy reading the reports of her adventures! Sara is a children’s book author with books about animals and world cultures and geography. Find out more at www.saralouisekras.com .Around the world in 50 days seems impossible. But here we are, half way around in India! I’m so glad I’ve been taking notes because you forget all the wonderful small incidents that happen.
In England one of my favorite moments was next to the National Museum where I found a small church. I walked inside the chapel which had a domed, white ceiling with golden chandeliers hanging down. A small orchestra was practicing The Four Seasons by Vivaldi for the evening show. Several people were sitting in the chapel enjoying the free show and I was one of them. It was totally magical.
We stayed at the St James Hotel and Club which is close to just about everything. The hotel was a very cute, boutique hotel, but our room was quite small. It overlooked a typical old-fashion courtyard where a small outdoor restaurant had been set up.
We arrived in Cairo, Egypt three days later. Even though we landed at 5:00pm, it took us two hours to get to our hotel. The traffic in Cairo is atrocious. Four lanes on the freeway become five and sometimes six. Everyone is honking their horn and hardly anyone is moving. Granted this was rush hour traffic. But our entire stay in Cairo was spent fighting the traffic. It was difficult to get to all the sites because of this issue.
We stayed at Mena House and were immediately upgraded to a one-bedroom suite because of my 50th birthday. I was given the option to have a room in the new garden wing or the palace wing. Even though the rooms are dated in the palace wing, the view of the pyramids is simply amazing. You feel as though you could literally reach out and touch them! I spent many hours on our two balconies staring at these ancient wonders.
While in Cairo we visited the great pyramids and rode a camel. I only recommend this if you, the tourist, understand that the camel drivers will try to get more money from you. We did not realize that our tour guide had already paid for the camels and my husband gave them too much money. Our guide called the tourist police and they tracked down the camel drivers and got the money back from them. It was a hassle at the time, but actually quite comical later. Joe had to go into a little wooden hut and was surrounded by all of these Arab men, some police, our guide, and one of them we called the “Fat Man”. He was in charge of all the camel drivers and was negotiating the deal.
I also climbed up inside the Great pyramid. I do not recommend this. The slated walkway goes up about 90 degrees with wooden slates as steps. The first set of stairs went up about three stories. You also have to bend over as you walk as the ceiling is too low. Needless to say, I made it up the first set up stairs but refused to go any further. The next set of stairs went another three stories at least. My legs were totally shaking once we emerged.
We also saw the Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square (where the protest took place), the subway system, Ali Mosque on the hill (the most amazing view of Cairo), a local market before the tourist market and an ancient neighborhood mosque in the local market. The local market was divided into product sections: one section had all kitchenware, another fabrics, and another spices etc. Donkey carts loaded down with goods squeezed through narrow alleyways. Men pushing carts filled with lumber stopped traffic. I was able to buy some very soft Egyptian cotton scarves which the local women wear. It was really a scene and a little bit frightening as we were the only tourist there.
We then flew to Luxor and stayed at the Steigenberger Hotel. The rooms were similar to a Holiday Inn, but the views were amazing. We faced the Nile River and were able to watch the hot air balloons take off in the morning at 6:00am. While in Luxor, which means many palaces, we visited the amazing Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. These are temples that are featured in a James Bond movie. The tall pillars are filled from top to bottom with hieroglyphs. A long walkway between the two temples is being restored. This original walkway was lined with sculptures of a lion body and ram head which is one of the representations of Amon-Ra, the main god.
We also saw Hatshepsut Temple, which seemed like a lot of walking with not much reward and Habu Temple, which had hieroglyphs still painted with original colors. It was very beautiful.
We also visited an alabaster factory (a usual tourist trap). I, of course, bought a couple of pieces. I then went to use the bathroom. While in there the handle broke and the door would not unlock. One of the boys in the shop had to climb a one story wall and jumped into the bathroom with me and began to use a crow bar to tear the door apart. Our guide rammed the door with his shoulder and the door busted through on the other side. It was very funny. When we left, the owner of the shop ran out to our car and gave me a very ugly necklace and asked me to forget about it. The necklace is now called the “forget about it necklace.” I wore it for the rest of the day.
The next day we saw the Valley of the Kings, which is pretty amazing, but it has a dearth of information. I would have loved to see display panels interpreting the hieroglyphs.
In Luxor we boarded the beautiful Dahabiya Lara. We were the only passengers on board, so were given the master suite which had a sliding door and private balcony to sit and watch as we floated down the Nile River. There was a crew of about ten men. The manager on board was a British woman. She took care of everything. Taking a cruise on the Dahabiya was like stepping back in time. It’s a “gentleman’s houseboat”.
One thing I must mention about Egypt or any Arab country, take ear plugs. The Muslim clerics call all Muslims to prayer starting at 5:00am in the morning, then three other times during the day. This is done via loud speaker (usually blown out and distorted) attached to a minaret. All the minaret callers start at different times so it is not a coordinated song, but rather a disjointed cacophony. When the donkeys start joining in with loud braying, it really becomes a mess.
We traveled through the Esna lock which was very interesting. But then we spent the night in Esna, which was not interesting but loud and extremely annoying. We were there on Thursday night, a very popular wedding night. All the brides wanted their photos taken down by the docks where the dahabiyas dock. So trucks with loud, blown-out speakers drove by. Some parked and yelled and screamed until about 11:00pm. Esna should be avoided on Thursdays, Tuesdays, and Sundays as these are the popular wedding days. I believe there were eight weddings going on the night we were there.
The next day we glided slowly down the Nile in the cool of the morning. Papyrus lined the river bank and beyond it was a lovely bucolic scene. Men in long dresses waved as our boat sailed by.
Once we reached Edfu, we got a horse and carriage to the temple. Most of the horses were in a deplorable state. Their hip bones and ribs poked out. The horse and carriage drivers are in line to take the next tourist. I refused to get on the carriage selected for us as the horse looked completely starved. I selected a later carriage with a healthy horse. This caused quite an argument between the booking agent and our guide, but eventually they gave us the carriage I selected. I gave the driver a very nice tip and motioned for him to feed his horse. When we emerged from the temple, he was feeding his horse fresh green grass.
The next day we proceeded to Kom Ombo. Because of the revolution, we practically had the temples to ourselves. It was really amazing as, I believe, before the revolution the temples could be as packed as Disneyland.
The next night we docked outside of Aswan near a herd of sheep. In the morning, the shepherd took the sheep somewhere to graze and in the evening, he brought them back. One evening, he was carrying a newly-born black lamb.
While in Aswan we flew to Abu Simbel. This temple was quite small, but very interesting. Ramses II basically was sending a message to anyone entering Egyptian territory “Don’t mess with me or I will mess you up!” The temple was filled with battle scenes and huge statues of himself.
A side note: if you want to shop in Egypt, you have to bargain. When given a price cut it down to ¼ of the price and go up from there. Joe asked how much a mask was and was told 350 Egyptian pounds. I got it down to 120 Egyptian pounds with something else thrown in. However I stared the bargaining at 50 Egyptian pounds.
While in Aswan we visited the Philae Temple, the new Sofitel Cataract Hotel, and a large Coptic Church. Our guide had trouble at the Coptic Church as the day before there was a Coptic protest in Cairo and about 25 people were killed and over 200 injured.
Later that night, we had a special dinner on the banks of the river. The staff played drums and sang for us. Even though the dahabiya is not as modern as a cruise boat, it is the only way to see the Nile. Our room was air-conditioned, but the water and electricity was run by a generator. The generator was turned off every night at around 11:00pm and turned on in the morning at around 7:00am. Because of the plumbing, you cannot put toilet paper in the toilet, but rather in a trash can. Our room was cleaned every day and amazing towel “sculptures” were created on our bed. These comprised of cobras, a camel with a rider, and even the Nile River with our dahabiya floating down. Our house man was very talented. Also, the service and food were amazing.
The next morning we flew to Cairo and caught our flight to Amman, Jordan. While waiting to board, several severely injured men were loaded onto the plane. I asked what had happened to them and was told they had been fighting in Libya against Gaddafi. One injured man in front of me showed me videos on his cell phone of a person being beaten by Gaddafi’s soldiers. He was very animated about what happened, but unfortunately, I could hardly understand anything he said.
Once we arrived, we were picked up at the airport and driven to Petra and stayed at the Movenpick. This hotel is very modern and literally steps away from the entrance. We went to Petra at 7:00 am and arranged for a horse and carriage to carry Joe’s camera equipment. Many tourists took pictures of us as we rode through the narrow canyons to Petra. The Treasury was just like the Indian Jones movie. I hiked with our guide all around the area while Joe stayed behind to take photos. I thought it was pretty funny when a boy riding a donkey said taxi̧ basically asking if I wanted a ride.
After Petra we had to go back to the airport for our flight to Delhi. We left on the Desert Highway. Half the way to Madaba, the traffic completely stopped as there was a protest on the highway. Our driver had to cross a gravel area and headed back towards King’s Highway, a much longer route. We stopped at a Bedouin rest stop called “Sunshine” which had pit toilets (totally gross). We drank tea and looked at the amazing view of Wadi Mujib.
We were able to see the famous tiles and the ancient Coptic Church in Madaba, but it was getting close to our flight time. While trying to leave Madaba, the King’s Highway was also blocked off by a rope and a tractor. There was a protest immediately in front of our car. Some of the men with guns. I have to admit I was really scared. We were lucky as within about 15 minutes the rope was dropped and we were able to get the heck out of there.
Overall, the two countries we visited have very few tourists (for obvious reasons). The Middle East seems to be a big fat mess right now. But I do consider ourselves to be lucky as we had many of these amazing treasures all to ourselves and we are still here to tell the tale.
We have since visited Jaipur, India where we have ridden elephants, rubbed shoulders with snake charmers, and tromped through glittering palaces. We just returned from the Taj Mahal this evening. But India is a completely different tale to tell.
(Look for Sara's report on India next week.)
