we visited cairo(2 days), luxor(1 day), and sharm el sheikh(3 days).
cairo and luxor: cairo reminded me of 'an old photograph' in the sense that there was a yellow haze over the city from the sand in the air, similar to the yellow hue of 'an old photograph'..many of the cars were about 20 yrs old?? and there was ridiculous traffic..needless to say the little white dashes that might have been used to designate hmm..lanes? were unimportant here...the cars on the road were literally like herded cattle...anyway, after checking into our '5*' hotel
BUT it was H'EXTRA HOT in luxor, i mean just dry ass heat...and of course, i'm weak, and couldn't manage the heat. my cheapie shades did their best to shield the sun, but i couldn't really lift my head too high b/c i couldn't see, my eyes were burnin probably because of a combination of sun/sand particles aimed directly at my face..i desperately had to remove my contacts b/c like i said, my eyes were burning..so, the chauffeur and tour guide stop off at a hotel so i can remove my contacts (at this point i'm kinda relieved/upset i can't see)...then we go to lunch and our tour guide thought he had this grand idea that would cure me.. ICE.
he suggested i take ice cubes and place them over my eyes and *poof* no more pain?!? weell, that egyptian home remedy worked temporarily, and so mr.tour guide says, "just wait, i have the perfect thing..i understand your problem." and i'm thinking, "uh, no you don't , do you understand i'm blind right now and am frustrated? uuhh no." so, the tour guide calls his brother to meet up with us and bring the 'perfect thing' to cure me. uMM, DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE SHOWS UP WITH? some got damn VISINE ppl?! i'm like Visine? that's what i've been waiting for all this time? Visine? i'm like, "no you did not bring me visine as if it is some secret that Visine 'gets the red out!' duuh, i've seen the commercial..i'm american, right? aaanyway, i can't really knock the man, cuz he was trying to help?1? but the point is, i thought he would've brought me something simple/ home remedy-ish..once again, needless to say, i was 'blind' in luxor and then blind for 2 of the 3 days that we were in sharm el sheikh..basically my eyes just needed a rest - they were strained...anyway, our beach resort in sharm was great =) (i'm near-sighted so i could actually see where we were staying.lol) if it's one thing the egyptians do best, it's service.. and our resort was gr8 - no complaints! in sharm el sheikh, we smoked shisha, ATV riding in the desert, met some bedouin children, went on a little yellow submarine- hehe, and swam and drank daiquiris on the beach. =) anyway, the photos are a few snapshots of my trip...we of course brought home some over-priced souvenirs, as well as ones we bargained well for.
sidenote: didn't really notice too much women out during the day, and if they were out, they were damn sure completely covered up- with only their eyes revealed. it was a good experience to see a little glimpse of life in a predominantly muslim atmosphere.
i liked egypt- i would definitely go back--(with friends of course)..DESPITE the: heat, diarrhoea from day 1, the beggars, tipping every damn person in sight, the great hospitality (mainly b/c of the tourist-dependent economy), muslim men offering camels in exchange for marriage, ummm..and the tricky businessmen (can't really knock their hustle), and just because the egyptians are a nice people...and the men are GORGEOUS! but i am not converting to islam...
shukran! egypt for adding a few words to my previously non-existent arabic vocabulary: shukran(thank you), habibi(my love), and 'base busa' (pastry w/ honey) yum!
-peace.
