Upper Egypt - The Train

Over the next few posts I'll share about our Spring Break trip to Upper Egypt. We took the overnight train about 14 hours south to Aswan then a cruise ship north to Luxor, then another overnight train back to Cairo. Here are some pictures from the train to and from Upper (southern) Egypt. We had adjoining cabins. It was fun, although sleep was kind of difficult!

Out the window:

Alexandria - Montazah

The Gardens of Montazah is an area that belonged to the last king of Egypt. It is a park area on a prime piece of land right on the sea. There are summer cottages and a Hilton resort on the property as well as a presidential palace. Michelle and I wandered around, avoiding the guys in the red car trying to give us a ride, managing to understand from the guards that no, we cannot go into the presidential palace, and so on. It was hot. We finally found a place to sit and read in the shade.

The entrance to Montazah:
The Presidential Palace:The guard zoomed in on:The fence surrounding the palace:The palace gardens behind the fence:Some views from our resting spot:

Cairo - Khan al Khalili

We went to the Khan al Khalili (those kh letters are pronounced in the back of the throat). This is supposedly the most ancient continually-running market in the world. We had some hassles, but it was a noisy, smelly experience that every visitor to Cairo needs.

At one point, I was buying something for Jeff. He was standing next to me listening to me discuss the price in Arabic. The vendor asked if Jeff is my fiance, and I answered affirmatively. He then proceeded to tell me that I should marry him, not Jeff. I looked at him, and said, "Eh da?! Howa henna, delawati! Inta magnun!" which translates to "What is this?! He's here, right now! You're crazy!" All his buddies standing around got a good laugh at that.

Spices! Loofahs!

Random market scenes.

Alexandria - Streets and Sea

Here are some final pictures from Alexandria of the street and the sea. We spent quite a lot of time simply walking up and down the Corniche and watching the sea and the people.

This man was at the park outside the train station. He was feeding the cats like I've seen people feed pigeons and ducks.
Street scenes:

The night market:Scenes along the corniche:

Alexandria - The Shoe Shine Incident

During our evening in Alex, I wanted to see the sunset over the Mediterranean. As Michelle and I strolled the Corniche, we decided to stop in at a cafe with sidewalk seating. This was our view.
We ordered drinks (banana "juice" for Michelle and Turkish coffee for me) and prepared to take a rest and enjoy the view.

What we didn't count on was our seating's accessibility to people on the street. We turned down two guys selling rugs and guys selling watches. One of the watch guys came back and told us he is a Christian from Sudan and needs to eat tonight and any little amount will help him. I gave him two pounds. A lady walked up to us and simply held out her hand. I gave her a pound just so she wouldn't keep standing there.

And then came the shoe shine guy.

He looks harmless enough, but he was a pain in the rear. Since I was wearing black leather shoes that really needed a shine, I agreed to let him do my shoes. This is something I only see men doing on the street (getting their shoes shined and doing the shining), and I figured being a tourist let me do things I wouldn't normally do. He was trying to chat with us, saying how wonderful America is and I don't know what else. I couldn't really understand him. He let Michelle take a picture.

After stopping him from forcing Michelle's sandals off her feet, I asked him how much I owed him. I know this is cheap - it's done everywhere and all the men have their shoes shined. I figured a couple pounds. "Twenty!" he said. Yeah, right. I gave him five. He complained and I said that five is plenty. Then he asked for a dollar because he allowed Michelle to take a picture. I gave him another pound and he finally left. My shoes looked great, but it was a hassle and kind of ruined our pleasant moment.

According to my Egyptian host, a shoe shine normally costs 1 pound.

Alexandria - The Citidel

Michelle and I spent two days in Alexandria. It was fun, although I have to say that the experience of Egypt with Michelle is quite different for me. I don't get nearly the attention and catcalls that she does!

This post has pictures at and around the Citidel:
A nice family we met. I asked for their picture, as Michelle wanted a picture of the niqab:Outside the Citidel:View from the top of the Citidel. The flat thing just left of the middle is the library:

Arrived Safely #1

Michelle has arrived safely! I rode a public bus to the airport, and after telling the man next to me to keep his hands to himself, I managed to arrive without incident. Unfortunately, Michelle had already arrived and called me. I felt bad for not being there before she got there, but it was okay. Michelle's the definition of flexibility.

She brought me Skittles, and cashews, and a CD full of pictures from Portland, among other things. It's really great to have a friend from home here.

Spring Break has begun!! (Well, almost. One more class to go.)