Ff kijken of ik het nog een beetje uit mijn hoofd weet.Je hals bedekken, het gaat er meer om dat je niet in een topje rond loopt waar je een spleet (om het zo maar even te zeggen) in ziet zitten en dat ze er net niet uit floppen.
. Het hoeft ook niet hoor, kijk als jij lekker bruin wilt worden, kun je rustig een topje en korte broek aan doen, maar reken absoluut maar op genoeg aandacht, mannen die naar je kijken,e meevragen naar huis, je aanraken o.i.d. Ze zullen er ook heus niks van zeggen , zo van: hè zou je je niet eens fatsoenlijk aankleden. Maar enigzins respect mag er toch wel zijn lijkt mij. Dus gewoon een wijd t-shirt of mouwloos t-shirt kun je aan trekken, maar geen naveltruitje met daaronder een push up en een korte broek waar je string ook nog boven uit komt. 
Hun cultuur is anders en hun vrouwen lopen er echt nooit zo bij. Ik zelf heb ook in een korte broek gelopen/gefietst van net boven de knie en een mouwloos t-shirt. Op weg naar de Valley of the Kings, hebben ze 2x een kamelen aangeboden (:)) ) was wel als grapje bedoelt. Werd ik 2x uitgenodigd bij iemand thuis, bood er iemand mij aan om me thuis te brengen, vond iemand het nodig om zijn hand op mijn schouder te leggen terwijl ik aan het fietsen was, werd ik diverse keren nageroepen en dan heb ik het nog niet eens gehad om de tientallen blikken die ik toegestaard kreeg. En zo bijzonder zie ik er nou ook weer niet uit. Overigs kunnen de dames ook behoorlijk obsceen zijn. Mijn vriend waar ik mee was, werd ook een keer in Aswan nagefloten en gestaard. En hij had gewoon een erg wijd t-shirt en een wijde korte tot over de knie broek aan.
Moet er tevens wel even bij zeggen, dat ook al kleed je netjes met een lang tshirt en broek je ook wel deze opmerkingen krijgt, maar echt in minder maten. Je hoeft ook niet bang te zijn dat ze je half verkrachte o.i.d, want dat doen ze echt niet .Diefstal is daar ook zeldzaam, maar de mannen (en dames) kunnen daar gewoon zo reageren, wellicht ook gewoon als grapje of i.d. Ze hebben daar vreemde humor. Maar daar mag je zelf achter komen.
(In je hurghada resort kun je volgens mij wel gewoon in bikini rond lopen, aangezien dat allemaal van het/bij hotel is) Maar de meeste plaatsen gewoon, Cairo is wel meer westers en daar lopen ook gewoon Egyptische vrouwen zonder hoofddoek of nikaab. In de woestijn (van Komombo richtinh Edfu/Luxor) zul je echt wel vrouwen zien lopen die echt compleet in het zwart zijn. Dit is wat minder in Cairo, en Luxor is imo meer toeristisch maar toch heb je daar meer vrouwen die nog helemaal (behalve het gezicht) bedekt zijn.
Toen we in Aswan op bezoek waren op een schooltje, liep er net een klas schoolmeisjes voorbij, die vonden mijn broek helemaal te gek.
zo`n Washed en used broek. Ow ja kleingeld, tja je zou het gwk kunnen proberen. Bij de bank krijg je volgens mij alleen maar zo groot mogelijk (wij kregen 50 pond briefjes mee) tenzij je er denk ik om vraat of het zo klein mogelijk is. Muntgeld is er wel in Egypte, maar het is zeer onwaarschijnlijk dat een toerist dat te zien krijgt, het briefgeld gaat tot aan 25 piaster (iets van €0,05). Ze accepteren er ook dollars en tegenwoordig, omdat hij nu zo sterk staat euro`s. Ik heb bij de piramides een buste van toet gekocht in Dollars, let wel op het omrekenen.
Ik vergeet vast nog een hoop wat ik eerst wel had getypt, dus ik kwoot hier een stukje reisverslag(is wel in het Engels) en is helaas niet helemaal compleet wegens tijdgebrek heb ik het nog niet aan kunnen vullen.
Cairo
Helemaal links Mustaf en met het blonde haar onze toerguide, wie getrouwd is met een Egyptenaar en toen zwanger was van een tweeling
Day 2-28 Dec 02
Museum.
After meeting the rest of our group last night we woke up this morning at 8:30 am. Remi went for a shower. After break fast in the Indiana hotel we went with a guide to the Egyptian museum. It was very crowed in the square, even for this time of year. Also at the ticket office there was a long queue, but our guide, Mustafa got our tickets the “Egyptian” way, that means sneaking in front of the line (Every time). (We would learn more about this later during the trip). Mustafa guided us very well (hearable or not), and showed us a lot of things, not everything in the museum. That is also not possible, ‘cause if you would look at every item for 1 minute it would take you 9 months ‘till you’ve seen it all. After a general tour we went to the tut ankh amon room. This is a special section in the museum, where all his things, found in his grave are shown. And he has a lot of things. Sometimes we just had to stand in line to see an item.
Miriam, our connection with our travel agency said that the crowd was not normal for this time of year. There were a lot of guards and also a lot of people who wanted to sell something. These sellers were of course outside of the museum. Basically they sell everything, from books to yellow-by-the-sun card, from (fake) papyrus to very ugly scarabee’s. This fake “papyrus” is really made of banana leafs and this “dies out” after a while. But let’s get back to Tut. There was a special room for his coffin ad the mask and the jewelry what was fond between his bandage’s. Although it’s forbidden to take flash photo’s, a lot of people did it. It’s forbidden to flash ‘cause this is bad for the colours of things. If you want to take your camera with you, you have to pay 10 pounds. If you don’t pay, you have to leave it at a desk. This is perfectly save and afterwards you can get it back with the little card with your number on it. They check your bags several times, so there no point of putting your camera on the bottom of your bag. If you want to take your filmcamera with you it’s 100 pounds. We left our camera and 1 photo camera (Sammie’s) at the desk and took 1 camera (Remi’s) with us.
Of course we also went in to the mummy room. You have to pay separately for this mummy room and believe it or not, this is more expensive then the museum itself. No photographing or filming in this room, also no talking. In the mummy room lays Seqenenre, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I and his wife, Tuthmosis I, Tuthmosis II, Ramses II, Ramseses and 2 women who still have their hair. After the mummy room we had a little time of ourselves and we just looked around.
De drie piramides
Giza plateau.
Before going to the Giza Plateau we went for a big lunch near the pyramids in Abouzeid restaurant. It was a lot and we could choice between fish, chicken and Kebab. I had the chicken, there was some spicy rice with it. We also got some Esmalach, that tasted very nice. After the dinner our driver Achmed drove us to the streets of Cairo and we went to the Pyramids. Wow, what else can I say about that. You can see pyramids from far far away but still they’re so big. And when your walking it just gets bigger and more beautiful. Each pyramid has 3 smaller one’s. For there wife, presumably . And next to Cheops, the biggest ad oldest one are 2 huge holes for boats. One of these boats is recovered and has it’s one museum next to the pyramid, this is a very ugly building and I just don’t get it that they build it there! Also on the Giza plateau there are a lot of “sellers”. Even little children came with something. I strongly advise you to go there with a guide, not only do they protect you from those sellers and other money-wanters, they also get your ticket very quick. One boy for our group, was put on some sort of cloth and another man putted down a camel. If it was not for Mustafa the boy would have probably been put on the camel for a ride or photo. If you like it or not, once you made a picture or you’ve been on the camel you have to pay. As it was our first day, you don’t expect these things, the parents of the boy were a little dazzled, which i can imagine.
Unfortunately we were kind of late and as they only allow 120 people per day inside the Cheops pyramid, we couldn’t go inside that one. So we took the pyramid of Chephren, the son of Cheops. we didn’t got to see the big gallery, but we went in to very small corridor. This is a very good experience for your upper legs, or not, you decide. You first have to walk down a stairs and down all bend over, you can’t walk straight up. I’m glad that it was winter ‘cause it was so damp and worm, hot in there, I can’t imagine how that must feel like in the summer. If your claustrophobic I advise you not to go inside! After the big boat (pay to go inside) we went to the panoramic view. From this point you can see all the 3 pyramids and the 3 smaller one’s from Menkaure. Originally the pyramid of Menkaure should have became the biggest on, but by a unknown cause they never finish the outside layers. Of course it was also crowded, but if you “wurm” your way in, you can make beautiful picture’s without people on it. A occasional bus or car is not avoidable, but that’s it. The sphinx came next and was also very crowded. People were standing inline and because it was closing at 4pm, we were there at 3:15 pm, those Arabs went on shouting Quick, hurry, no time. Or maybe that’s just common. “How come I feel like a tourist?” Taking photo’s and filming is allowed and again with some shuffling you can get in front, but do stop in time or else you fall in the big hole where the sphinx is laid in. If you turn around you can see a very beautiful oases.
De woestijn in per kameel
Visiting Charly Brown.
After the pyramids we went on a camel, we went with a man, and his family, named Charly Brown. I have no idea if this is his real name, but it’s a funny name specially if you see him. We went into the dessert and again new had an amazing view on the pyramids. In the distance they were announcing the praying of 5 pm. You can here this announcement trough the whole of Cairo and in the dessert. It was so quiet in the dessert, it was really amazing. After seeing a beautiful sunset we went with Charly to his shop. He also sells, next to camel and horse riding, perfume and real papyrus with beautiful drawings. We also visited his home and that was amazing. His wife gave us some home made tea, which was very sweet and hot but delicious. His house is completely different then what we are used too. It’s small but it really seems that they are happy there and why not?!.
In het vliegtuig naar Aswan, Timo, ik zei de gek, Remi
Leaving for Aswan.
A taxi took us from Charly’s house to Gizeh Square and from there we went in to the little streets of Cairo. Again this is very different then that of the Netherlands. Very small streets and little shops everywhere. After an hour or so, we took a cab to go to the hotel, as we still had to fly to Aswan that night. This cap almost crashed, when the driver took a very small u turn to fast. I may have mentioned it before but traffic in Cairo is Chaos, but really funny to see how it is al solved by honking and driving from left to right. At 11 pm we went to Cairo airport, we also had a stop in Luxor, and then we finally landed in Aswan. At 3:30 pm we were in the hotel. Time to get some sleep.
Aswan
Day 3-29 Dec 02
Unfinished Obelisk.
A long morning off, so we could get some sleep. We went to bed at 4am and they started praying at 5, and as our hotel was near the mosque, we didn't get much sleep. There was also a darn chicken that went on all night! At 1 PM we went to the obelisk, the unfinished one that is near Awan. There was a huge crack in it, this happened while they where still working with it. So they just left it.
The high dam.
The High Dam is 1km high and holds a lake of 500 by 200 KM. The dam was build so that the Egyptians can control the water flow of the Nile. Twice a year the Nile would overflow and gives new food supplies to the ground. The Egyptians then could build their crops. But it was never curtain how much the Nile would give. Thousands of people had to leave their houses, for this project. 2 monuments had to be replaced or else they would be flooded. Philae temple is one of them. Because of the High dam the Egyptians can control the Nile, but more and more cons of the Dam are showing now.
Philae tempel
Philae Island
This temple has been used far after the birth of Christ. Originally the temple was build for Isis. But also the Romans and other religious used the temple for a church. The only way of getting there is by boat. There are lot's of boats willing to bring you there, but make sure you discus about the price first. On the old and real Philae Island the temple was flooded for 10 months a year, this was because of the old dam. With the building of the High dam the island would be completely flooded. A rescue attempt was made and the temple was transported brick by brick to another Island. If you drive over the Old dam, you can already see the island with the temple on it, but it’s still 7 km before we got there. When you’re on the island, the top of the real Philae Island can still be seen. Getting there by boat is quit an adventure. Again a lot of people want to sell a lot of things and you can choice between bigger and smaller (private) boats. 1 tip if you ever go there, don’t buy water it’s very expensive and definitely not worth it. 25 Pounds for a big bottle, that’s 5 Euro for 1 liter of water! After strolling around on the island we went back to the hotel and we went for dinner in the Aswan Moon, this is a restaurant and for a change it’s a boat! I had tomato soup, a margarita (pizza), very small but very delicious, especially the small piece of plastic in it was very tasteful. Ow well, at least I didn’t choke on it! As dessert I had a creme caramel, which was also very nice, but the bottom was burned. After this nice meal we went back to the hotel for a (very) short night, and this time the chicken had nothing to do with it.
Abu Simbel and back to Aswan
4 beelden Ramses, zo`n 25 meter hoog. Rechts ligt de nefertete tempel, ook een bezoek waard!
Day 4-30 Dec 02
The two temples
It would all be worth it. The wake up call was at 3:15 AM. Whoa!! Stretch stretch. Today we would go to Abu Simbel. We went with a mini van in a convoy. This convoy left at 4:30. It supposed to, but it eventually left an hour later. Nothing to worry about! That’s just the way it is. It was a 3 and a half-hour trip getting there.
The real adventure started when we bought our tickets, or in an attempt to. It was really crowded and there was no real queue in front of the ticket office. Some people went before their turn. Some other people got mad by this and a, sorry to say, Dutch “lady” went (almost) crazy. She yelled at the man who was going before his turn and stole his tickets as the man at the office was passing them. Another thing, I like to add was that I now know how sardines in a can must feel. As we were a cluttered to get and I seriously could not lift my arms and if one person was bending to the right, we all had to bend to the right. Somehow the “lady” managed to lift her arms and, first she yelled again to the man in Dutch, like he would know what she was saying! Duh!! Suddenly she jumped on the man's back and she was hitting him on his head as she was playing drums. It was really funny to see, but we where also a little embarrassed by the fact the “lady” was Dutch. After a couple of more fights and steeling tickets we got in front of the ticket office and we bought our tickets.
We walked to the security check, as many times before during our stay in Egypt. The bags go through a scanner and people walk through a metal detector, which bleeps and alarms all the time, but this is never a problem. At Philae island the man asked: Are you carrying a gun? Nope, I said. Ok, go on! I Really didn’t carry a gun, but if I was an Egyptian myself, I probably had to open my bag.
But let’s get back to Abu Simbel. Finally we walked over to the temples of Ramses II and his wife Nefertari, or Neferteti how it is also spelled sometimes. It was really amazing how incredible huge those statues are! The second statue (out of four) is incomplete, his head is lying on the ground in front of the statue. On the walls on the inside are many hieroglyphs to see and it tells stories about the different wars Ramses’ army won. In the temple of Nefertari you could see how she was honoured and the God Hator. The temple is the only one ever build for a pharaoh’s wife. What also is special, is that the wife and the pharaoh are the same height. Both temples were moved up about 60 meters for the construction of the High Dam and Lake Nasser.
After taking a lot of pictures and walking around these temples for 2 hours, we went back to the “white mini van behind the building”. We saw about a hundred of those, but after a while and just in time, we fond the right one. The convoy is only in the morning, so if you miss this one, you have to wait a whole day, and we could afford missing a whole day, we had al lot of other things to see. We drove back for 3 and a half-hours back on a long straight road through the dessert, which was very boring I can tell you that! We got back at the St. George Orchida hotel at 1:30 PM. After we’d freshened up al little, we went to elephantine island, which lies in the middle of the Nile.
Rosaly twijfelt wat te eten.( Mohammed zn huis)
Elephantine island
There is no bridge going to the island, so the only way to get on the island is by felucca. The island is not very big, about 1 km wide, with two Nubian villages grown to one. We visited a school and learned how to count to 10 in Arabic. Via a boat, we went on shore on the west side of the Nile. Here we went to the St. Simeons Monastery. This was about 15 minutes from being closed for the day, so we got a quick tour trough the monastery. To get to the monastery you have two options, the first is also the quickest, and in my opinion the best one, is by camel. The camel ride is very expensive (LE 25=€/$ 6), in comparison with the time you’re on the camels (20 min), but it saves you from a long steep climb upwards trough the sand. If you have all the day in Aswan, you can go on foot to the monastery. The walk is free, so is the monastery. There are guides at the monastery, and as they do the job for free, it’s a good suggestion to give them a fee. When we got back on the camels to the boat, we had a little trouble with the payment of the camels. Our tour guide, Mohammed already paid for the camels, with a tip of course. This was given to one man, but the persons who went up with us to the monastery didn’t know this. So they asked for money, also after telling them that we’d already paid didn’t help much. It didn’t got out of hand, but for us it was confusing. Again, it showed that a tour guide is helpful. We just walked away and tomorrow it’s all forgiven and forgotten. Mohammed, who showed us around on the school and helped with the camels, was kind enough to show us his house and let us eat there, which was delicious. After the meal we took the felucca back east shore to go to the hotel. This would be our last night in the hotel, as tomorrow we go on the felucca all day to sail to Kom Ombo (Kawm Umbu). We packed all our stuff after that; we went to a Nubian Party on the roof.
Sailing to Kom Ombo
Klaar voor vertrek
Day 5-31 Dec 02
Getting up early is something we?re quite used to by now. Breakfast at 8 am and we were supposed to leave at 9 pm, but Remi had to get some cash at an ATM first. While he was searching for an ATM to work, a young guy approached him and asked if he wanted a cup of tea or smoke some grass. Then he wanted to show him to the bank, but that didn?t work either. He wanted to change his ?5 bill for LE 20 + 5 tip, but Remi didn?t have any money. (Remember, going to the bank!?) The man already found out that Remi was Dutch, so he kept saying ?Allemachtig Prachtig?. Finally, Remi could continue walking, which was still pretty far. On his way back the guy was there again, waiting for him. Now, he wanted to change his hat for Remi?s and offered to come to his house to drink tea and smoke grass. Remi kept saying ?No, thank you? With a final ?Happy new year? he left Remi alone and Remi went back to the hotel, where the rest of the group was waiting for him. A taxi took us to our felucca; this was only a short ride. The baggage was taken aboard and soon we were sailing on the Nile. This was very relaxing and so almost everybody fell asleep shortly. After lunch, consisting of bread, jam, fried eggs and salad, we played kart games, we talked and we slept. It was quite a problem to go to the bathroom, as there wasn?t any on the boat. We had to wait for a stop and there were only three stops that day. It was so funny to see everybody run of the boat to pie as quickly as possible! Especially Remi the first time, as he had to go all morning and was afraid to say it.
We had dinner, consisting of bread, mussaka, macaroni, tuna salad and jummy mini burgers, around 6 pm. When we finished eating, we all watch the stars. They shined so bright; it was unbelievable to see the numerous stars that filed up the sky. We also sang songs together; there was a great cosy atmosphere on the boat. Around 9 pm, we went on shore to stay there for the night. We talked until 11. Normally a felucca has to stop sailing when it gets dark; this is because the bigger boats, the cruise ships, can?t see us that good (a felucca doesn?t carry light). However, today, the unbelievable thing happened, there was no wind on the Nile during a great length of the day. As we had a tight schedule the next day, there was no other way then to sail in the dark. At 11 pm we decided to make 2003 a little earlier, cause some of us were exhausted, and we had to get up very early the next day. Ruben even did a new year?s dive, by falling of the boat. (He was all right, only a little scared)
At night everyone was asleep, except for Remi and Sammie. In the small town of Kom Ombo, not far away on the other side of the Nile, the cars and boats honked their horns, which was pretty funny. Again, we wished each other happy new year and about 10 minutes later, we fell asleep as well.
Kom Ombo-Edfu-Luxor
Day 6-1 Jan 03
We woke up the next morning around 6:30, by Mohammed (another one) who said ?last toilet visit before we leave? or something like that. I can?t recall it anymore. Again, everyone jumped off the boat to pie. We sailed the last few minutes to Kom Ombo where we got off the felucca.
Right away, we visited the temple of Kom Ombo where the god of the crocodiles and the god of the Falcons (Anubis and Horus) were honoured. There were three crocodile mummies. (Nowadays, there are no more crocodiles in the Nile up north from the Aswan Dam.) The temple complex was quite large and really nice. The two temples are actually one big temple, but everything was built double. Now, the only thing reminding that is the entrance. When we got out of the temple, Remi really needed to go to the bathroom (again?!?!). A guy pointed out where it was and afterwards he showed Remi where to wash his hands and turned on the water. (You?ll find these persons almost on every toilet, in a restaurant or caf?/bar. You don?t have give them money, but it?s nice of you if you do. Mostly these persons are the poorest around) As Remi is a real gentleman, and bad with saving his money in a good place, he thought: ?I should give him a tip.? He wanted to give him a bill of 50 piasters (?/$ 0,10); he took this bill out of his pocket and gave it to him. Later on, he found out it wasn?t a 50 piaster bill, but a 50 pound bill, which is $/? 10,-. Hahahaha! Well, it was the guy?s lucky day!
Uitzicht vanuit de auto op weg naar Luxor
A mini van took us in a convoy to Luxor. After one hour, we had a stop in Edfu, where we visited the temple of Horus. This temple is dedicated to Horus, because it was said that on this place Horus revenged the death of his father Osiris. Seth killed Osiris, as I explained before. It was the second biggest temple after Luxor temple. After visiting the big temple we went to the little bazaar, next to it. This was an adventure itself. There is only one road to the temple, so all the tourists are caught in a ?net?. You have to cross this bazaar; there is no other way. There is a man overseeing this bazaar, thank god he did! They weren?t aggressive, let?s just call it; eager to sell! If you want to buy a dress in or from Egypt, here is the best place to do. There were some pretty dresses hanging here and far more beautiful then anywhere else in Egypt. Edfu is still a little Nubian, and they use lot?s of colour is their clothes.
Time to go to Luxor, city of the ancient. Luxor is about two hours away from Edfu, the view amazing so you won?t be bored. We passed some places where they were excavating the place, a mountain I wanted a picture from but every time I tried that there where some trees infront of it. Somewhere in the middle of our trip from Edfu to Luxor we crossed the borders of the provinces. This meant a stop for us, and changing of guards for the convoy. At this stop, (in the middle of the road=middle of nowhere) you can buy bags, t-shirts and other nice stuff. You can also use the toilet here. Funny thing here is, that on the top of a small peak are the words Happy Travel!! On the other side (going from Luxor to Edfu) is also a text on the peak. I?m not going to tell you what that says, but it?s funny!
Soon we saw donkey?s pulling a small car with piles of sugar candy, and I mean piles!! We where almost in Luxor. Our hotel was on the Westbank, the city itself is on the Eastbank. There are ferry?s and private boats who are happily to take you across, the owners then. This costs about LE 1. The ferry?s take you longer to get there, as they wait till they?re full. The private boats are quicker (and more difficult to ignore the owners), but can be an adventure to climb up the boat. I?m not going to advise you which one you should take, both are fine. Just one tip, if you take the ferry, give a one pound note or else watch you?re change. We found that out on the first time we went with the ferry. We only had a LE5, for two persons that means LE 2 cost to cross. So first this guy gave us only LE1 back. So we were looking at each other, thinking ?what was the price again?. So, Remi said to the man that he gave us to little. So, the man looked at us and probably was thinking: ?Darn? So he gave us another E.pound note back. ?Huh, that?s this to little?, I see you thinking. We noticed that too, so Remi again said, ?It?s to little?. So the guy gave us another note. So we went on the boat thinking ha, we can`t be fooled!!!? Telling it to the other group members. Suddenly Remi started to laugh looking at the note, and it turned out that it was 50 piaster note he?d giving. So we paid LE2,50 for the two of use to cross. That?s only $/€ 0,10, we were again tricked. (third time, remember). When are we going to learn!!! We went out to diner, and watched Luxor temple bathing in the light. After that, slzzzzzzz
en dat was het, de ? behoren eigenlijk komma`s te zijn, maar op de een op andere manier heeft de nieuwe Vt versie daar allemaal ? van gemaakt.
Nog een paar fotos
Het verkeer in cairo moet je echt eens mee maken.
En zo dicht ligt de Cairo op de piramides.
En zo groot zijn de stenen,
De nefertete tempel op abu simbel.
Binnenin de tempel van Ramses II
Beide tempels
Ga eens even lekker zitten bij de tempels van Abu simpel, tussen de bomen op het bankje en geniet gewoon even lekker van het uitzicht. Hèèrlijk.
Want dit is je uitzicht op de heen en terug weg. Overigs probeerde mijn vriend hier dus het `water` te fotograferen, het lijkt water maar dat is gewoon door de hitte, maar je ziet het dus niet op de foto terug.
Op bezoek in het schooltje, tot 10 geleerd te tellen.
Feest
Als je in luxor bent en je gaat/mag op eigen manier nar de valley dan kom je dit hotel beslist tegen. Het ligt nl. aan de overbank, waar de bootjes en boten aanmeren. Leuk, vriendelijk hotel waar ze nog al eens een grapje kunnen uithalen met je dekgoed.
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