Thoughts on Egypt

Gotta make this a quick one (I always say that, don't I?) .. I'm going to be picked up for a felucca ride in about half an hour, so I'm going to limit this post to just a bit of Cairo and Bahariyya Oasis. Here's a photo of some cool mushroom shaped rocks from the latter. I know it doesn't make sense to post it up here... but I thought it would be more aesthetically pleasing balance out the text/photo ratio of this post.

I got in at Cairo airport about a week ago. One thing I want to point out: EVERY TRAVEL GUIDE EVER LIES. I have chosen to go without a guidebook for Egypt as a byproduct of my exasperation with the Lying Planet Central America.... but did a bit of research both online and in the Rough Guide about Egypt. Everything says that it's possible to get a multiple entry visa in Cairo airport. WRONG! I'm no spring chicken to getting scammed... but honest to God, you can't. First you get a regular entry visa, then you have to go to another building in downtown Cairo to get a re-entry visa.. particularly if heading to Israel. An observation: Going to any bureaucratic institution in Cairo city is a nightmare. I've never been pushed and shoved so much in my life... and I went to public school!

Oh, wait... I'm supposed to be keeping this short. Sorry. My first few days in Egypt included the pyramids, the Egyptian museum, and Khan al Khalili market. I posted pics of these under my "Egypt Photos" tab. All were marvelous... but God, talk about a congregating point for scammers. I think I've hit my limit for "friends" taking me to their "brother's" perfume shops due to the museum being "closed at this time... you can go when they open in half an hour". NO baksheesh! NO BAKSHEESH!

Anyway... I took leave after a few days and headed out to the western desert to see Bahariyya Oasis. I stayed at a place called Sahara Camp, which had a common room that looked like this. Pretty cool, huh? The place was paradise, and it was only 3 bucks a night for my own, two-bedded hut! Sweet.

Through Sahara... I met a Japanese guy named Toshi with whom I ventured into the desert. Most of it was pretty, athough uneventful-- just climbing all over rocks and looking at stuff... but nothing was really ALL that exceptional, until we hit the White Desert. There's a photo or two under the tab, but here's a cool one of the site we stayed at... I would have liked to be somewhere a bit more enclosed since sand kept getting in my eyes, and I had to sleep with my sunglasses on... but the stars were sooo bright. It was pretty cool.

Oh, and here's a photo of a desert fox. They came to visit when we layed down to rest. Cute little buggers, aren't they?

An interesting piece of knowedge for Americans headed to the deserts of Egypt. If you tell the police (who have checkpoints every few miles down the highway) that you're an American, ... they will send a couple of armed guards in the car with you. If you lie about being from another country (in my case, the driver told me to tell them I was from China).. they will hassle you and scream in English while trying to get you to show your passport... and then try to put armed guards in the car with you. Lowering your IQ and faking an accent helps.

I managed to get away armed guard free (hooray for my driver!)... but not without sprouting a white hair or two in the process. I think I would have been better off telling them the truth... but once you start lying, going back makes you look like a douche. It's a slippery slope.

OK, I'm out of time.... for real. Off to Luxor!