Holy crap, we’re in Egypt
Thursday, September 27th, 2007While walking to the internet cafe here in Aswan, there was a chicken flopping around on the ground because a lady apparently had just cut it’s throat. And there was a puddle of blood. Nice.
It is surreal to be here. There is such a huge difference between the locals and tourists – all the local women wear the headscarf and most wear the long robes, and I’d say most of the men wear long robes too. It’s almost like there’s no point in trying to fit in. The pasty white tourists stick out like so many sore thumbs.
I love when the touts don’t know what language to speak to Jim. He’s started speaking Spanish to them and it throws some of them off.
So the travel here was pretty uneventful, which is good. We first flew to Amman, Jordan and had a 3 hour layover. I delighted in using the free wi-fi at the airport Starbucks on Jim’s PSP.
Our hotel in Aswan is the Keylany Hotel. The web reviews raved about it, but it is very basic with a tiny bathroom. It’s ok though. How can you complain for $15 per night? The guys at the front desk are nice.
There are Nubians in this area, and I’m not even sure what that means yet, but you see and hear the word a lot.
We walked through the souk (bazaar) and it was pretty standard. Every local man we passed asked us to either look in his shop, ride a felucca (boat) or take a tour. But they seem to, for the most part, have a good sense of humor about it. It is annoying, but most of them will take NO for an answer.
We’ve also seen people riding donkeys in the street or using them to pull carts. There are also lots of guys with extremely thin horses pulling carriages for tourists to ride. Isn’t it crazy that just a few hours ago I was in New York and now I am on the other side of the world? It’s bizarre.
We booked a tour that leaves tomorrow at 4am for Abu Simbel. We will get back around 3pm. It’s going to be a long, full day.
My first impression of the Egyptians is a good one, and I am so happy for that. They remind me of the Turks, who have a playfulness and twinkle in their eye. Our cab driver to our hotel pointed out all the landmarks to us, the guys at our hotels were nice, and even the touts are sometimes funny. I am glad it has been this way so far.
So, in a nutshell, we haven’t seen anything yet. That will be tomorrow.
Kelly