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I'm wondering if anyone would like to share some favorite memories from their trips to Egypt. They don't have to be from "grand" adventures, just something that made you smile or laugh or touched your heart. Or perhaps some touristy thing that you thought was awesome or something you wouldn't have missed for the world. I'd love to hear what you loved about your trip.
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I remember thanking myself for doing so many squats with dumbbells. Really needed the thigh strength to make sure I didn't fall into a latrine hole.
Employee bathrooms in Ataba neighborhood of Cairo don't have toilets in the ordinary sense. Just a hole in the tiled floor. I couldn't wait until we passed a 3 or 4 star hotel that have bathrooms with actual toilet seats and toilet paper you can purchase by the handful.
Thank goodness I carry tissue and anti-bacterial cleanser as a habit. And have plenty experience with camping!
I consider my time in Egypt like the Beavis and Butthead episode Vaya Con Cornholio.
Ahhhh, the things you experience in Cairo! Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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I have a couple very funny memories. My husband and I started listing my experiences, each experience had it's own number and we would simply refer to the number and laugh. Number 6 on the list is the "losing luggage" incident. We took a Super Jet (Grayhound style) bus from Alex to Cairo. It was my husband, his sister, and I going to visit his uncle and do some sight seeing. Well we got to Cairo and we wanted to be let out in Giza. The three of us and another older Egyptian woman. We got out the bus and the bus just took off without giving us our luggage. We jumped into a taxi and had this guy follow the bus all over Cairo at a high rate of speed for about 20 minutes. It was like a car chase you see in a movie. The older woman was just yelling and cussing about the bus driver, I was giggling next to her cuz her yelling was so hilarious! We finally caught up to the bus and stopped it. We got out and my husband, his sister and the lady tore the driver a new @sshole. It was great!! I couldn't stop laughing! I wasn't terribly worried about the luggage because all my important stuff was in my messenger bag. The only thing I really cared about in the luggage was my favorite pair of jeans was in there.
Another funny encounter was with a deaf mute in Alexandria, that is lovingly referred to as "#5 ehhh ehhh??" My husband and I were sitting and talking in Alex by the sea and this guy comes up to us. He starts trying to talk but all he says is ehhh, ehhh. So I nudge my husband and ask him what this guy wants. The guy was trying to get us to give him 1LE for this piece of paper with sign language instructions on it. My husband tried to shoo the guy away but he kept up with the, ehhh ehhh. Then my husband starts ehhh'ing back and telling the guy in his own form of "sign language"...no money, ehh, no money. The guy keeps it up so my husband gives him the money and makes him go away. We just sat there laughing our @sses off over this guy. We weren't trying to be mean we just wanted to be left alone.
Posts: 2735 | From: my desk | Registered: Jul 2005
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Hmmmm, I liked climbing up into one of the pyramids in Giza. Half killed me. My husband told me it was going to be very humid in there. I said *bah* I'm used to Maryland humidity, nothing can touch it. We're here in the middle of the dry desert.
So I started climbing....bent over halfway because you can't stand up the first part of the tunnel....and climbing....and sweating....and breathing very hard....wanting to take a break but not wanting the guide to think I'm a lazy American....and climbing.....the last half of the climb you can stand up....climbing again...
until I reached the tomb.
That had absolutely NOTHING in it!
But I can say I climbed deep into one of the pyramids. Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Snoozin: Hmmmm, I liked climbing up into one of the pyramids in Giza. Half killed me. My husband told me it was going to be very humid in there. I said *bah* I'm used to Maryland humidity, nothing can touch it. We're here in the middle of the dry desert.
So I started climbing....bent over halfway because you can't stand up the first part of the tunnel....and climbing....and sweating....and breathing very hard....wanting to take a break but not wanting the guide to think I'm a lazy American....and climbing.....the last half of the climb you can stand up....climbing again...
until I reached the tomb.
That had absolutely NOTHING in it!
But I can say I climbed deep into one of the pyramids.
Were there any Egyptians besides your husband taking the same trek into the Pyramid?
If there were, how would you describe them or their reactions?
Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Just the guide. And some Asians. There were a bunch of Egyptian men sitting around the entrance, which was about 15 feet up off the ground. In galabeyas. I have no idea why they were just hanging out at the entrance....like guys on a street corner, it was bizarre.
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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I enjoyed my ride on a felucca the night I flew out of Cairo. It was so nice, except for those annoying power boats that are lit up like a carnival ride that are blasting music, they kept passing by. I would have gotten a headache riding one of those boats. I was also very fond of my view from the 10th floor of the Sheraton Montazah in Alex. If I looked straight ahead I was looking at Montazah Gardens and if I looked to the left I had a beautiful view of the Med. Sea, everyday I woke up and felt like I was in a dream.
Posts: 333 | From: USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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I know that if I will ever get into that pyramid, it'll have to be without my in-laws knowledge.
My husband claims that he actually has been inside that very same pyramid, but he could be talking sh*t. I have a feeling he's a little too superstitous to go into the pharoahs tomb.
Growing up in Alex before he moved back to Shebin he knew people who built their homes over cattomb shafts and all sorts of bad things happened to these families. Again he claims that he crawled through these cattombs in Alex, but again the stories he tells really describes superstitous belief systems.
Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Madame Mohamed- Thanks for sharing. Your stories brought a smile to my face imagining them. It's great that you've written them down and will always have a reference to those times.
Snoozin- Did you like the pyramid/s in general? I can't decide if I'm that excited about visiting them or not. Of course if I'm all the way over there I might as well, but it seems there's so many other things to do while in Egypt.
Posts: 1283 | From: Cairo | Registered: Feb 2006
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My worst memory was trying to buy a train ticket from Luxor to Cairo. It took one hour, an italian woman customer who spoke arabic, and telling the guy on the counter how wonderful, how gorgeous he looked!! He was a dog..........Eventually after getting the ticket (at huge loss to my finances!!) and arranging to meet the woman the following night she directed me to the 'right car' she said she was 2 cars behind, and she would get me off the train in Cairo. I could not believe the state of the car!! my seat was number 36 and I spent 5 minutes gesturing at a man to get off my seat. Then the inspector came and grabbed his collar and threw the bewildered man out of my seat. I sat down thinking 'how in the name of god will I survive the smell of this carriage on the long trip, I put my magazine on the seat because it was so filthy my clothes would have stuck to it and sat down. Then I heard someone screaming my name...........It was the Italian woman , she leapt on and dragged me off the seat as it was about to leave. The crazy Italian had put me on the wrong train ( the local train ). So off I got and waited a few minutes for the right one, boarded what was a bit cleaner train and sat down. I promised myself I would not drink so I would not use the toilet but near Assyut I could wait no more, so tried to find the toilet. It was easy to find!! It was the door with the water running out of it. I opened the door it had a 2 inch piece of wood along the bottom which was designed to keep the water IN!! but making a 2 inch depth of water on the floor. I had flip flops on!! I was dying for a wee' so hitched my long skirt out the water and done the business, pulled up my underwear, sorted my skirt and turned round to flush the toilet. Seeing a button I pushed it and a fountain of water squirted OUT!! of the toilet onto my face!!! and down my clothes!! (realised then it was a built in shatafa!!) I screamed fell backward and slipped in the water soaking myself from head to foot. I then realised why the floor was so wet!! I returned to my seat soaked and cursing and thanking God I had only done a wee'.!!!! Thankfully I had a change of clothes with me and loads of wet wipes!!! Beware the overnight train to Cairo!! LOL Posts: 1500 | Registered: Dec 2005
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About going inside the pyramid...I'm claustrophobian (don't know the spelling), well, actually, I didn't know it before entering this damn pyramid...I was with some friends, we were all happy about this visit. But inside...my God, it was so small, and there were two ways in this very small tunnel, on the right, people climibng, on the left, people leaving, or rather, falling...It's my bad luck, because there were a group of women who fainted this very moment I entered, so me, I was looking at the small tunnel where I was, starting to feel panicked, and then, I saw all these women faiting because of the heat I think...I felt really bad, my head was turning, turning, I couldn't breathe...So I left the pyramid, my heart was beating like crazy...Since this day, I have known that small spaces are definitely not for me. I try to fight against it, but I feel it's getting worse and worse. Like, I can't take the lift anymore...
Posts: 531 | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:Originally posted by LovedOne: Snoozin- Did you like the pyramid/s in general? I can't decide if I'm that excited about visiting them or not. Of course if I'm all the way over there I might as well, but it seems there's so many other things to do while in Egypt.
Eh! I was happy I went, but they were a bit anticlimatic. Part of it is we see those images in the media all our lives...but I found that the pyramids seemed so much bigger in real life and that was cool to see. I've heard other people experience the opposite reaction, too. I liked the Egyptian museum and the Citadel a lot more, personally.
My coworker went to Egypt over Christmas with his mother, and went to upper Egypt. He said Luxor is so much cooler than Cairo to explore....
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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Every time we go to Alex I love to walk the promenade at sundown. It is a lovely sight over the Mediterranean with all the boats and the last visitors on the beach, all the other families strawling, the colours of the sky changing, the quick sinking down of the sun, nothing like where I live! It can be improved by taking a horsecarry, but then it is over a lot sooner too!:-) And you miss out on the corn and sweets they sell every few steps!:-)
I also love the bus from Alex to Heliopolis. Driving us through the rural landscape, Gizeh with pyramids, through the night, the lights of the countryside, the lights of the city and all the people on the streets or in the bus.
All very relaxing and nice.
I like exploring Alex with all its museums and sites, the newly renovated library, the shops, the Zoo, the transportation, the unexpected friendlyness. Egyptian newspapers (when in an European language that is!:-) to be bought at nearby stations.
Being a foreigner and a woman there is this policeman near our flat that always comes up to grab my arm and help me cross the street waving all traffic to stand still!:-) A chat with some young girl at MacDonald about her life and mine. The connection one easily makes going with children. My son 'translating' for me in shops!:-) Sitting on the beach in a longchair with coffee and a magazine in the midst of extended Egyptian families, in the midst of my Egyptian family.
The beautifull churches and their services on friday!:-) My giggling Egyptian aunts and nieces. The proud nephews and uncles showing me their land. My SIL taking me for a strawl to the lands, singing Egyptian childrensongs for me to learn in the dark. Having a cornroast at the roof with the entire family.
Looking over the small village from our balcony there seeing a church and a mosque against the coloured sky, the green, green pastures around the village with the sound of heavy horning traffic in the distance, and sheeps, cows, donkeys coming in with their shepherds in galabiya's at sundown below my balcony. As in ancient times.
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Demiana- Your post makes me want to be in Egypt now!! You have a way of making it sound so heavenly. Thanks
Tooti- Great story! Glad to hear you made it through the trip ok, even if soaking wet for a bit.
Posts: 1283 | From: Cairo | Registered: Feb 2006
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Demiana, that was a lovely account too. Loved one................you are in for the thrill of your life. Just accept people for what they are in as much as you will see extreme poverty, and a hugely different culture, but the people are so so so friendly, and entertaining. You will love it I am sure. Posts: 1500 | Registered: Dec 2005
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One of my first and many unforgetable memories of Egypt:
I just arrived with my Egyptian guest family at the hotel complex at Abu Sultan close to the Suez Canal. It was my day off and so I decided to get some tan. Unfortunately everyone was starring at me since the room/appartments were only rented by Egyptians. So I decided to get away from the hotel beach and find more relaxation at a nearby beach. Anyway, I stayed there for hours. It was amazing, I've never seen palms before in my life, it was a whole different world than Germany, so beautiful and peaceful. Then came couple of little Egyptian children and women dressed in galabiyas walking along the beach. The kids were looking for shells and so I joined them. The women started talking to me but I couldn't understand anything. They invited me on a nearby field to have some food with them. Sounds adventurous, doesn't it? I went along and they treated me like a VIP. I mean they brought all the covers they could get to make it as comfortable as possible for me and one woman put a cover around me - because the husbands came also to eat. It was so nice of these people to invite me, they were really poor and yet they shared and treated a stranger with all that respect. They made baladi bread, I watched them doing in a little oven, it was incredible. One of the woman was pregnant and showed me with her fingers that it would be her sixth child.
This is one incredible story, one of my earliest memories I have of Egypt and the Egyptians. Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
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My hubby and I are in our late years ( miuddle age ), and I have walking difficulties, but we decided to have 2 weeks in Egypt. We had a trip on the nile for 1 week,fantastic but the walking was unbelievable-we saw everything they had to offer in the form of excursions, pyramids, aswan dam etc. I might have felt tired but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Even thogh I'm afraid of water I even went on one of those feluca jobbies, and enjoyed myself tremendously. After our week on the nile we had a week in Luxor at the Sheridon hotel, marvellous, we went into town as often as possible, viewed the museum and local sites. This holiday was one of the best in my life that we have taken, I'd recomend it to anybody.
Posts: 3 | From: Hartlepool | Registered: Feb 2006
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when i was at the valley of the monkeys (right next to the valley of the kings in luxor) i was sooo happy to be in a quiet place with few tourists and few soldiers to watch over me (like at tell el amarna)..the taxi driver and soldier waited for me while i wandered off alone..i hiked up and aroound the area and was feeling quite gazelle like when i slipped and fell sooo hard on a big rock right on my butt...then slid down the hill a few yards...ouch..standing up and walking back down the canyon to the taxi was a humbling and hilarious experience..i had the biggest bruise on my butt for three weeks!hahahaha..wouldn't have traded that experience for the world..it was so beautiful and quiet there alone...in the lifeless canyon...
-------------------- life life long, for it is short...pandora Posts: 98 | From: california | Registered: Feb 2006
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my seat was number 36 and I spent 5 minutes gesturing at a man to get off my seat. Then the inspector came and grabbed his collar and threw the bewildered man out of my seat. 
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