You know me...I was thinking of something fun to do for day 100 in China, but I just lost track of time. Too bad for me it slipped my mind as I was actually in Cairo on China Day 100.
On the 22nd of November all of the foreign teachers headed out of Pingxiang to Hong Kong. Sadly, our 8 hour over-night train ride to Guangzhou was spent on seats and not in beds as we had hoped. In then took us an additional 6 hours to get into Hong Kong and to our hostel. The hostel was a nightmare with both of the reservations we had made being wrong and the hostel not willing to do anything really about it.
All the drama aside, we spent 3 nights in HK doing what there was to do. The weather was slightly miserable but we enjoyed being in a big city where we could blend into the crowd and not have people stare at us as we walked down the street. Victoria Peak was really the only touristy thing we did (other than shop) because of the weather and because everyone else had already been to HK before. I did get to eat some sushi, guacamole, and some German beer however. On the last night in town we meet a cool guy who lives in HK which worked out to my advantage. Everyone else had to leave Sunday morning to head back home, and I would have been left alone in the city with my suitcases and a day to kill as my flight didn't leave until midnight on Sunday. Herman turned out to be a great host and was kind enough to spend the day with me so I wouldn't have to wander alone. He even took me to the airport!
I flew 8 hours from Hong Kong to Doha, Qatar and was put in a hotel free of charge for my 6 hour layover. There were some other people on my flight that ended up going to the same hotel. I randomly ended up rooming with a girl from Pingxiang who left there 10 years ago and now lives in Guangzhou. Such a small world! She really didn't believe that I lived here (Pingxiang) - yes, the joke is on me. Leaving the airport got me a stamp in my passport so that was cool, but I am not really sure its other purpose. It was morning and we had some time to kill and the Chinese people were all excited to see some news tower in Doha so we spent some time trying to find it. We soon gave up and everyone else went back to the hotel. I wandered around by myself for almost 2 hours just to see what I could see - not much where I was at.No worries as were were soon back on the plane for the 3 hour flight to Cairo.
Here is where the story changes a bit. I was in Egypt for 2 weeks. We all know I can be quite verbose so I won't bore you with details of all of the things that we did and saw.
The brief recap is the part that was supposed to be educational, the conference, was a huge let down. We didn't spend much time learning about Egyptian education in any aspect. We went to a lot of boring and worthless meetings as well.
The sightseeing and the cruise on the Nile however were amazing. I wish I could have spent the wasted week seeing more of what I missed while in boring meetings. Here is some of what I can tell you.
20 million people live in Cairo and Giza which are really just considered Cairo unless you live in Giza and really care. I think all 20 million people own cars and drive them at the same time. It was like Pingxiang before there were lanes, crosswalks, signals, and police to enforce the rules BUT they have all of those things and people just drive as they see fit. Police and armed security are everywhere. There were guys with hugemongous guns to greet me getting off the plane and I think I almost fainted. Tourists get special treatment - read: we couldn't go anywhere without some security of some sort and when in large groups we had to take a bus even if we were only going 2 blocks.
The merchants are too aggressive and annoying in most touristy places and it ruins some of the awe and wonder of seeing these amazing things. The people are friendly and the people in our tour serving as guides and helpers spoke great English. Some also spoke 4 other languages, but let's not embarrass ourselves.
In Cairo we saw the Great Pyramids (of course) in a totally UNnatural me event, I missed the bus to go with the group but ended up with a handsome Egyptian tour guide of my own, so that was okay. We didn't do the same viewing the others did as I had already paid the huge ticket fee and didn't want to pay it again...for 2 people. I saw the Sphinx too as it's right in front of the pyramids. We visited the Egyptian Museum which looks like a giant store room for Egyptian treasures. The Royal Mummies exhibit was open so that was the highlight.
The day before the cruise we headed 3 hours north to Alexandria. There we visited the Alexandria National Museum, the Catacombs of Kom El Shugafa, the Roman Ampitheathre, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Qait Bay Fortress, and the Mediterranean. While some parts were cleaner and less crowded than Cairo, the beach was filthy and the rush hour traffic was unbearable.
For the cruise, we took a short flight to Aswan and started from there the next day. During the day we toured around Aswan, visiting the Aswan High Damn, Philae Temple (which had to be moved to a different island after the Island of Philae was submerged due to the damn), and the Unfinished Obelisk in the granite quarries they used for building the pyramids. Last we took a Felucca ride down the Nile back to our boat. We then cruised to Kom Ombo and visited the temple of the god Sobek. Then more cruising to Edfu while we donned traditional Egyptian costumes and danced with the staff.
Day 3 we saw the Edfu Temple (largest and most completely preserved) before cruising to Esna. The Esna Temple which was dug out from about 9m of muck and is also very well preserved. Then we continued cruising to Luxor.
The 4th day started with a trip to the Valley of the Kings. You can only see 3 tombs for each entry so I saw Ramses I, IV, and IX. For an extra fee some of us went to see King Tut's tomb which was AMESOME as they now have his ACTUAL mummy out for viewing. Some people didn't think it was worth the $20...maybe they'll see Tut next time they're in Egypt. In the Valley of the Queens we saw a tomb that was for...I want to say Ramses children...some 50 of them. We then stopped by the Hatshepsut Temple and paid a little homage to Egypt's only female pharaoh. The colors preserved there were pretty amazing. A quick photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon and we were rushed back onto the boat for our lunch before heading back out to the east bank of Luxor. The Temple of Luxor was absolutely huge and amazing and the Karnak Temple had an amazing Hypostyle Hall of 134 pillars. I will apologize now for my lack of adjectives to describe these temples in more detail, but there really aren't one's good enough. Look at my pictures, then go there yourself.
The next day we all flew back to Cairo where I spent I more day with a new Egyptian friend before heading back to China and reality.
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