Good day, all:
It is now 9:50 am, local time. I am sitting in a coffee-net on the west bank of the Nile (I can see the reflection of the river behind me flowing northward on my computer screen) in Luxor. We had to get up at 2:00 am this morning to check out of the hotel in Cairo, pack, have breakfast, head to the airport, and fly to Luxor here. On the flight, for some reason they placed me and a few others in first class, while the rest of the crew sat in the coach section!
I hadn't realized that Alexandria is only a two-hour drive from Cairo at the time I booked my Egypt Air flight in June! Just to get to the right terminal within the Cairo airtport cost me US$12 in a cab fare! By the time I arrived at my hotel in Alexandria, it was past 1 am! Somewhat keyed off about the fact that I had missed an entire evening at the airports, I was pleasantly suprised to find the streets in Alexandria PACKED with people, even at that late hour, with all the restaurants and shops still open! Walking on the main strip, I found hordes of people walking about. There were families or groups of friends sitting on the ledges at the beachfront strip, watching traffic and people go by! Vendors were selling seeds and other snacks.
I continued walking along the main strip when I realized that it was past 3 in the morning and there was still neck-to-neck people on the streets. It occurred to me that I had NEVER seen so many people on the street at that hour in ANY location on earth! I continued walking, chatting with locals, and drinking beverages out of cans when I realized that the day had broken! I had coffee and breakfast watching the sun coming up over the Mediterranian!
Egyptians are a VERY friendly people. Everywhere, people approached me, told me about their living conditions, and asked me about mine and the places I have been to! Even at the restaurant where I was dining, the head-waiter sparked up a conversation with me after he realized I had finished my dinner. I found out this 40 something year-old was a middle school teacher by day! This was his second job, and altogether, he earned US$600 per month which was barely enough to support him, his nonworking wife, and their three children!
These are some other interesting facts about Egyptian life as evidenced through Alexandria: a surprisingly high percentage of Muslim females here VOLUNTARILY wear the traditional hijab; in fact, except for the local Christians and foreign women, I found VERY few others who didn't cover their hair. This is particularly noteworthy to me, since I know that in my native Iran if laws permitted, a significant portion of women would do away with the chadors and veils. The mandated hijab issue is one of the main points of contention of the reformists in Iran and many hundreds of thousands there who pour out into the streets demanding change....and to think that the Egyptians are FREE not to cover, and yet they do it anyways...
Also, among males, touching and intimacy is QUITE common and apparent, even more so than in Iran and other Muslim countries that I have visited! Almost ALL pairs of male friends that I saw walking down the strip were doing so arm-in-arm, the way romantic couples do in the western world. Also, males were very agreeable to being photographed, while with Egyptian females (even with non-hijabbed Christians!) this was almost always a NO-N0!
My second and last day in Alexandria was spent touring the city with a taxi and its driver, arranged for me by the hotel. Among the points of interest were The National Museum of Alexandria (where I saw the well-known bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten and other jaw-dropping works of Egytian art), The Catacombos of Kumel-Shukafa (underground moseleum of second century a.d.), The Montazah Garden and Palace (Palace of the last King, Farouq), Bibliotheque alexandria (the ultra-modern library built on government funds and foreign donations), and The Fort of Quaitbay (the amazing citadel built in the 1480's by Sultan Quaitbay).
More later on Cairo and the rest of Egypt!
Please, friends, let me know what you think of the story and pics below so far!
Thanks:)
Cairo Airport, Terminal 3
View from My 7th Floor Hotelroom in Alexandria
Sunset over the Mediterranian
Alexandria at Night
Friends and Family Out at Night
It is now 9:50 am, local time. I am sitting in a coffee-net on the west bank of the Nile (I can see the reflection of the river behind me flowing northward on my computer screen) in Luxor. We had to get up at 2:00 am this morning to check out of the hotel in Cairo, pack, have breakfast, head to the airport, and fly to Luxor here. On the flight, for some reason they placed me and a few others in first class, while the rest of the crew sat in the coach section!
So far, the trip has been good! I arrived at my destination on Wednesday, 23rd of September, after a flight from LAX to Paris, then another from Paris to Cairo, and then yet another from Cairo to Alexandria! As I was sitting at the airport in Cairo waiting for my flight to Alexandria, I read in my Egypt travel-guide book that internal flights were a waste of time...and I thought out loud "now you tell me"! I had arrived into Cairo at 6 pm, and my 10 pm flight didn't take off until 11 something!
I hadn't realized that Alexandria is only a two-hour drive from Cairo at the time I booked my Egypt Air flight in June! Just to get to the right terminal within the Cairo airtport cost me US$12 in a cab fare! By the time I arrived at my hotel in Alexandria, it was past 1 am! Somewhat keyed off about the fact that I had missed an entire evening at the airports, I was pleasantly suprised to find the streets in Alexandria PACKED with people, even at that late hour, with all the restaurants and shops still open! Walking on the main strip, I found hordes of people walking about. There were families or groups of friends sitting on the ledges at the beachfront strip, watching traffic and people go by! Vendors were selling seeds and other snacks.
The most memorable thing I witnessed that night was the screeching sound of a car's brakes, then it hitting a man on the street, the man being thrown, and crowds running to the injured man from every which direction. The injured man (who was concious) was carried off to a car, and then transferred to an arriving ambulance. Egypt, like my native Iran, has haphazard traffic regulations. Lanes, cross-walk sections, and other directions painted on the roads are largely ignored, as drivers and pedestrians alike set their own courses!
I continued walking along the main strip when I realized that it was past 3 in the morning and there was still neck-to-neck people on the streets. It occurred to me that I had NEVER seen so many people on the street at that hour in ANY location on earth! I continued walking, chatting with locals, and drinking beverages out of cans when I realized that the day had broken! I had coffee and breakfast watching the sun coming up over the Mediterranian!
I didn't get up until mid-afternoon that Thursday. When I did, all I felt I had energy for was to go sit by the hotel's poolside, where they served me a nice cup of tea. After dozing off for some time, I got up and used the hotel's spa facilities, watched the sun set, and then headed for the famous Alexandria's Fish Market, where I enjoyed a sumptuous seafood dinner.
Egyptians are a VERY friendly people. Everywhere, people approached me, told me about their living conditions, and asked me about mine and the places I have been to! Even at the restaurant where I was dining, the head-waiter sparked up a conversation with me after he realized I had finished my dinner. I found out this 40 something year-old was a middle school teacher by day! This was his second job, and altogether, he earned US$600 per month which was barely enough to support him, his nonworking wife, and their three children!
Alexandria, affectionately referred to as "Alex" by locals, has a very temporate climate. It is known to be the only place in Egypt where one might ever require a jacket (I thought I was going to need one during my nightly excursions)! It is a very old city; Alexander the Great made it his capital while he was here! Little of its rich history is apparent today, as a good chunk has slid off into the sea (scuba tours are available to go see the underwater ruins)! The remainder has withered through time and invasions, so that all one sees at the first glance is an overpopulated, over-built seaside city! Alexandria's shape is like a thin, long rectangle along the Mediterranian.
These are some other interesting facts about Egyptian life as evidenced through Alexandria: a surprisingly high percentage of Muslim females here VOLUNTARILY wear the traditional hijab; in fact, except for the local Christians and foreign women, I found VERY few others who didn't cover their hair. This is particularly noteworthy to me, since I know that in my native Iran if laws permitted, a significant portion of women would do away with the chadors and veils. The mandated hijab issue is one of the main points of contention of the reformists in Iran and many hundreds of thousands there who pour out into the streets demanding change....and to think that the Egyptians are FREE not to cover, and yet they do it anyways...
Also, among males, touching and intimacy is QUITE common and apparent, even more so than in Iran and other Muslim countries that I have visited! Almost ALL pairs of male friends that I saw walking down the strip were doing so arm-in-arm, the way romantic couples do in the western world. Also, males were very agreeable to being photographed, while with Egyptian females (even with non-hijabbed Christians!) this was almost always a NO-N0!
My second and last day in Alexandria was spent touring the city with a taxi and its driver, arranged for me by the hotel. Among the points of interest were The National Museum of Alexandria (where I saw the well-known bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten and other jaw-dropping works of Egytian art), The Catacombos of Kumel-Shukafa (underground moseleum of second century a.d.), The Montazah Garden and Palace (Palace of the last King, Farouq), Bibliotheque alexandria (the ultra-modern library built on government funds and foreign donations), and The Fort of Quaitbay (the amazing citadel built in the 1480's by Sultan Quaitbay).
The taxi dropped me off at the train station to catch the 4 pm train to Cairo (even though I had paid for the return flight, so many people thought flying was a waste of time that I decided to forego the money and go the train route!).
More later on Cairo and the rest of Egypt!
Please, friends, let me know what you think of the story and pics below so far!
Thanks:)
Cairo Airport, Terminal 3
Sunset over the Mediterranian
Friends and Family Out at Night
Palestine Hoteland Garden in Alexandria, and Bust of Akhenaten at the Alex. National Museum (Bottom)
