Egypt and Scandinavia (12/23/07-1/7/08)

Itinerary: Egypt and Scandinavia (12/23/07-1/7/08)
12/24/07: Norway (Oslo)
12/25/07: Istanbul layover
12/26/07-1/1/08: Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria, Black-White Desert)
1/1/08-1/3/08: Norway (Oslo)
1/3/08-1/5/08 Sweden (Stockholm)
1/5/08-1/7/08: Norway (Oslo)

work in progress

12/24/07 Monday – arrived into Oslo in the morning – spent day getting over jetlag, hanging out at Edwards and preparing for our Egypt trip.

12/25/07 Headed out Tues morning – arrived into Istanbul for a 6 hour layover – quickly caught a cab to ------ the cab driver had shut off the meter at the last minute, so we were suspicious about the trip, but the local police was able to help us confirm the pricing. With the flight late and the cab ride in, we were left with just over 2 hours to wander around before we needed to head back – so we did a quick walk around of the blue mosque and aya sofia… then wandered into a corner local food joint for some grub and tea. Headed back to airport to hang out – impressed with the design of the airport. Arrived into Cairo – Edward had arranged with the Sheraton for vip service – and since it was already 1am, it was pretty cool to bypass the passport line and get a limo service to the hotel. A bit of a mix up at the hotel as they gave us a “regular” room, and not the “preferred room” with Nile river view. They told us they would get us in the correct room tomorrow.

12/26/07 Wednesday. We got breakfast downstairs and headed to the tourist office in the Sheraton – and noted what we wanted to see – and arranged car service/tour guide for the two days. Since it was nearly noon – we decided spend the afternoon at Giza and see the great pyramids and the sphinx. Our tour guide Ahmed was great – very informative and likeable. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by a papyrus store – the sales person gave us a demonstration on how papyrus paper was made. I bought an astrological and hieroglyphic chart. We enjoyed the hotel vip lounge (sushi, snacks and drinks)… and had dinner in the Japanese restaurant later for dinner.

12/27/07 Thursday. Early breakfast and 9 am tour start time. Ahmed could not make it, so we had a replacement tour guide – young 22 y/o girl just out of university – her English was good enough, and she wasn’t as trustworthy as Ahmed, so that put a damper on things – but she did make up somewhat with her enthusiasm – and I believe it was her first tour. We headed to the older pyramids at Saqqara and Dashur, and stopped by Memphis (the original ancient capital of Egypt) – there wasn’t much to see there, but glad we made the stop. Then back to Cairo for lunch and perfume shop where we tested out a bunch of basic scents that were used as the foundation for so many of the major designer perfumes. The sales person was quite entertaining and informative – Edward bought a 4-perfume box set. We then headed to the Egyptian museum and had a whirlwind tour of the grounds, and the most memorable (and macabre) part was walking through the two mummy rooms. Back at the hotel we crashed out.

12/28/07 Friday. Decided to have an easy day in Cairo. We headed to Islamic Cairo and walked around the markets Khan Khalik and past several mosques – and watched as so many people arrived for their afternoon prayers and chants blasted over loud speakers throughout the area. We headed back to the hotel early as Edward was not feeling well (and I felt pretty exhausted as well from the previous two days) We ordered in and went to bed early for our trip to Alexandria the next day.

12/29/07 Saturday. After breakfast, we caught a cab and headed to the train station. Getting through the line and getting tickets was a pain, as there were no clear signs. We eventually got on a train – probably the slower local one, as it was not very clean and took 3 hours (as opposed to 2.5). It was nice to breath some fresh air when arrived in Alexandria – we headed down to the catacombs and walked around underground, and then on our way back to the center, stopped by a pillar and a funeral procession passed us by. We hit the bay and had lunch at the Sofitel – could tell Edward’s health was sinking again… so we aimed to catch the 3:30p train back to Cairo. We enjoyed the walk down the Corinche (boardwalk) down to the Biblioteca, which was architecturally impressive – and we had just enough time to wander a bit inside and make it to the train station in time – unfortunately all tickets for the day were sold out, so we shot strait down to the bus station and caught the 4p bus to Cairo. The traffic going into Cairo was pretty rough, and it took us bout 5 hours to get back – we ordered room service again and called it a night. Edward decided it was best to take a day of rest the next day as he was starting to run a slight fever – and I decided to make a 1 day journey out to the white desert.

12/30/07 Sunday. I spent the morning negotiating with a cab driver on a rate to the white desert. We finally decided on a rate of 650 pounds ($118). It was a long ride out, but once we got to Bawitti and made a stop in the desert oasis museum with a bunch of clay figures depicting Bedouin life. After lunch in Bawitti, the cab driver then tried to arrange a driver to take me out to the black/white desert for 400-500 pounds, and when I mentioned that I didn’t have more money to spend, he said he could just take me to the black desert and then head back to Cairo. I suspected fleecing, but after consulting with a lady from SF (who was an archeologist living in Cairo, who called her friend to confirm fair rates) – I conceded to paying 800 pounds total ($145) to go all the way to the white desert. We made a stop in the black desert and I climbed to the top of one of the largest mounds in the area. Then we continued driving out to the white desert. Then the lame-ass cab driver starts to complain, saying that his car is not suited to drive out into the desert… then every 10 minutes says that we’re already in the white desert and questions if I’m expecting to go all the way to Farafa (the next desert oasis, which is about 40 km from the north end of the white desert)… and he tries to tell me that the guide book I have is 30 years old and out of date, and the landscape has changed – and bunch of other bullshit that just pissed me off, so I decide to just ignore him and tell him to drive. It was a bit frustrating that even my one attempt to find peace in desert nature was tainted by this annoying cab driver. We eventually made it to the white desert and I was happy. The cab driver tried telling me that I couldn’t walk out into the desert, and that I needed a Bedouin guide, but I really had had enough of entertaining anything he had to say. So I walked out and had a wonderful hour of peace and picture taking… it was so eerily silent that my ears rang – and I watched as the sun slowly began to descend.

We started our 500km (300 mile) drive back to Cairo – it was about 5pm, so I estimate that we’d be back in Cairo by 11p. It was going to be a long ass drive. About 60K from Cairo, we pull to the side of the road. The dumb-ass cab driver did not fill all the way up on gas while at Bawiti (probably to save on gas and get a cheaper rate in Cairo I suspect). Luckily a Haliburton truck pulled up minute later and they tied the taxi to the back of the truck. It was a bit frightening riding in the taxi just 2-3 feet behind the truck. About 5 minutes into the ride, the rope broke and they had to re-tie the vehicles – and I asked to sit up in the truck this time. We got near Cairo and the truck driver decided it was time to leave us. The taxi driver and I caught a shared taxi van to the nearest gas station, and I parked myself at the neighboring KFC while he went to fill a contain of gas to bring to the taxi… He picked me up at around 1am, and I was back at the Sheraton at 1:30am. Edward had stepped out for a short walk – and when he got back, we headed to bed.

12/31 Monday. For our last day, we headed down to Coptic Egypt – and walked around – entered some churches. Edward headed back early, and ended up buying cartouches and walked ‘on the other side of the tracks.’ It was a cool experience walking through this local neighborhood – I took some pictures of some kids playing around, and rode the metro back to the hotel area. Edward and I then just napped and ordered in dinner – we watched new years from the balcony – nothing impressive – no major fireworks or anything…. We headed off for our overnight flight back to Oslo. Two hour layover in Istanbul where we had our Starbucks hangout with Chai tea.

1/1-1/3 Tues-Thurs. Oslo.

1/3-1/5: Thurs-Sat. Stockholm. Thurs, walk around Old City. Fri, walk around Dun

1/5-1/7: Sat-Mon. Oslo. Sat night - Thai food, then movie (shoot ‘em up) in that part of town. Sun – car wash, nice walk around the other part of town.