The longest way to travel 100 feet...

When their time in Egypt ended, Pati and Bebee found themselves exiting the shuttle bus between terminals at the Cairo airport. The bus also seems to make various unrelated stops in Cairo but eventually arrived at the international departures terminal. When they got off the bus, Beebee pointed to a sign about 100 feet away that said "International Check-In" and said "I think that's it." At that instant two porters appeared and seized their bags. Since they were used to overly agressive providers of service they went along with it. Egypt is on hard times and they assumed the porters really needed to earn a couple bucks.
The lead porter, who had an official airport uniform on, said "Where are you going?" Pati answered "Etihad international departures." The porter said "Show me your ticket!" that seemed odd but there was a paper sign on the door of the airport stating an admission fee (Pati and Beebee were never charged) so a lot of things seemed odd.
Pati and Beebee produced the ticket and the lead porter said "You are going the wrong way." He and the assistant porter began a rapid retreat with Pati and Beebee's luggage. Pati and Bebee scrambled to follow. They went past dozens of domestic check in gates and turned up a long hallway that didn't lead anywhere.
The lead porter said "Give me you ticket!" Pati said "What?" The porter said "Give me you ticket, I check . You wait here." Pati and Beebee produced the ticket and waited with the assistant porter as the lead porter scampered down the hallway.
When the lead returned he said "Are you in a group?" Pati and Beebee thought this an odd question but answered "No." He said "This way for groups and the line is very long." The long hallway was empty except for Pati, Beebee, and their two porters.
The lead porter said "There is another way with no line but it will cost you twenty." Pati said "Twenty what?" The lead porter answered "Twenty." Pati said "Twenty Egyptian or twenty American?" The porter replied "Twenty." His ability to speak English seemed to have vanished.
Pati had already tipped the porter so he assumed the twenty was some sort of airport fee. He had been to Orlando so he knew any sort of fee was possible. Pati did not have twenty Egyptian (about 60 cents) so he held up twenty American and said "Is this ..." Before he got to say " it," the lead porter ripped the bill from hand and started a rapid retreat. The lead porter had a luggage cart with half the luggage and the second porter was about 50 feet ahead carrying two bags in a near trot. Pati stayed with the lead porter and Beebee trotted after his assistant since she is fond of our luggage.
As they jogged along, the lead porter said "You tip my friend!" Pati said that he had already given the tip for the luggage. He said "You are rich, I am poor, you tip my friend. Obama good." Since they had been so helpful, Pati tipped his friend using Pati's last 50 Egyptian pounds.
When they reached a door with a conveyor belt sticking out of it, the porters literally threw the luggage on the belt and literally ran from sight, probably off to help another traveler.
Pati and Beebee went through the door. Beebee said "This is where we were going in the first place." The line was long and the service proceeded at a glacial pace. Pati said "Do you think we were scammed?" Beebee gave Pati one of her very long looks.
Later, Pati and Beebee wanted a snack. Pati asked if they took Visa or dollars. They said "No, only Egyptian pounds." Since his Egyptian pounds were in the second porter's pocket, he became very angry. As he left without a snack, he saw a sign that said "Public Relations." He went to the desk and said "How can you expect tourists to come to this country if they can't even walk through an airport without being scammed?" Then he described what had happened. They looked at him as if he were the dumbest man in Egypt since Pharoh Akhenaten (Pati thought that too).
Then things got interesting. The man at the public relations counter said "We want tourists to come to Egypt and this should never have happened. Will you help us find this porter?" Since Pati and Beebee still had two hours before their flight, Pati said he would help. The man asked Pati for a description of the porter. Pati, always aware of his surroundings, said "He may have been Egyptian and he wore some kind of uniform." The man behind the desk asked for Beebee to come over and confirm these details.
The man behind the desk then made a call and eight policemen in street clothes, a detective, and a mid-level military officer arrived. They took Pati and Beebee back to the place where they met the porter and started showing Pati and Beebee employees in the various uniforms used at the airport. Pati identified the uniform. Then the officers started bringing individual employees saying "Is this the one?" Pati thought he recognized one but it turned out to be Beebee. Then they brought an employee and Beebee said "That is him!" Every one said "Are you sure?" She said she was. Even though Pati suspected that she might be trying to shift suspicion from herself, he didn't say anything. The police searched the man and found Pati's twenty and the original tip. The police had Pati sign a complaint written in Arabic and gave him back the twenty plus the tip. Pati said he didn't need the tip back but the police said if he didn't take it the porter would go to jail. Pati took the money.
There are good Egyptians and bad Egyptians just like there are good people and bad people everywhere. The good Egyptians want to help and definitely want tourists. They deserve them! The bad ones had better watch their annual performance reviews.

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Egyptian Traders aka Touts

In Egypt, touts are called "traders" even though the trade is your money for their product or "service." Normally, traders are the "in your face" obnoxious men who thrust postcards, scarves, hats, sunglasses, bookmarks (anything you really don't want) in your face as you attempt to walk briskly toward a temple or other attraction that you really intend to spend money for. It is hard to keep in mind that this selling is their only livelihood and there are far fewer tourists to go around since the revolution.
Since the revolution of 2011 the traders have become even bolder, crowding the entrances of historical sites and creating a gauntlet between the tourist busses and the entrances. They approach everyone and do not take "no" for an answer. "No" is yes and no reply at all is "maybe" and "maybe later" becomes "yes" on the return to the bus ("you promised ..."). They are excellent in singling out the weaker members of the tourist herd (small delicate-looking ladies are a favorite target) and attacking them, draping scarves over their target's shoulders with the apparent philosophy of "you touch it you buy it." Beebee refuses to be a delicate-looking lady and ignores their overtures of "oh you look like a doctor with your glasses" (a common ploy in Cairo).
The day after Pati and Beebee (and the group) visited Karnak temple in Luxor, the guide told them that the traders had gone on strike at Karnak and closed the temple. This seemed incredible. What did it mean to go on strike? To refuse to hastle tourists? That didn't make sense. The only understandable scenario was that the traders blocked the tourists from entering, but that seemed extreme and where were the police in that case? There was no good explanation.
After weeks of trying to ignore traders, Pati and Beebee experienced a new kind of tout on the Nile cruise. These traders were primarily fishermen but also sold merchandise (or more likely the other way around). Traders would bring their boats alongside the Domina Prestige Nile cruise ship and offer their wares to anyone that was visible on the top deck or in windows. These traders were selling shirts. Each shirt was inside a plastic bag that the trader would heave onto the top deck (about 40 feet above water level) toward any passenger that seemed interested. The potential customer was expected to try on the shirt. If the shirt didn't fit (or wasn't wanted in the first place), the passenger would toss the shirt back down to the boat. (Yes, some shirts fell in the water.) If the shirt was wanted, the customer tossed the payment back down in the original plastic bag. (Yes, some money fell into the water.) The traders that accompanied the ship through the locks on the Nile (standing on the locks) also offered table cloths and napkins. It was amusing to watch, because the traders were far below. Then Beebee noticed that, as the water level lowered, the traders were getting much closer to the passengers! But the gates opened, and the traders were quickly left behind.

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Rameses II and Nefertari temples at Abu Simbel

Thursday 28 February 2013

Pati and Beebee visited the temples of of Rameses II and his wife Nefertari at Abu Simbel on Lake Nasser on Thursday. Their day started with a 2:45 am wake up call for a 3:25 am departure from Aswan via bus (they had planned to fly but learned that Egypt Air will resell confirmed seats if someone offers them more money). They traveled with about 20 tourists from England (Pati and Beebee quite like their English traveling companions). They took their pillows and a breakfast packed by the ship.

The bus traveled from their Nile cruise ship to a local meeting point where about 30 busses and smaller vans met to form several armed convoys. It was important to get there early to be in the first convoy, so that the most time could be spent at their destination before starting back with another convoy. Most busses in the convoy get an armed solder to ride with them. Pati and Beebee's bus got to the meeting point early enough to be part of the first convoy, but did not have an armed soldier on their bus. Their bus started as bus #5 of 7 busses, but within about 30 minutes, it had passed the 4 busses ahead of it and sprinted down the road.

The sun came up a few hours later. It rose quickly and was beautiful. The moon, just past full, was high in the Western sky for the whole trip.

The distance between Aswan and Abu Simbel is 300 km and takes 3 hours to drive. The north-south road is almost entirely straight and has a good surface. At the southern border of Egypt with Sudan, the bus turned East toward the Nile, Lake Nasser, and the temples. From the guide's description, it seemed that the bus (and group) was very briefly in Sudan.

At 6 am, the guide awoke the tourists and everyone ate breakfast as the bus travelled the remaining 30 minutes to the temples. The ship had packed enough breakfast food for two meals: 4 sandwiches, an orange (Pati had 2), 2 bananas, cheese, boxed orange juice, potato chips, and a bottle of cold water. In fact, most passengers saved some food for an early lunch.

The air was chilly when they left the bus, and did not warm up for an hour or so. Guides are not allowed to accompany tourists inside these temples, so all the groups from all the busses stood outside (there was plenty of room) shivering a bit and facing the temples while their guides explained what they would find inside, showing them professionally-taken photos.

The two temples are those of Rameses II and of his favorite wife Nefertari. They were preserved from being submerged in Lake Nasser (the largest man-made lake in the world) during the 1960s when the high dam was built by being dismantled into many huge, heavy pieces and re-assembled much higher. The Rameses II temple faces East; on two days of each year the sun reaches to the inside back of the temple to illuminate a statue of him. These days are February 22 (his birthday) and October 22 (his coronation day). Pati and Beebee were in Egypt for the birthday of Rameses II, but were in Cairo instead of Abu Simbel.

Interesting trivia: Rameses II ruled for 67 years and conquered 67 countries, taking a wife from each country (yes, 67 wives). Nefertari, the queen of Nubia (where Abu Simbel is located now), was his favorite wife. He had over 200 children, 97 of them daughters. He married 13 of his daughters; many (over 50) of the children of these unions died young of causes associated with inbreeding.

After an enjoyable 2 hours at the site wandering inside and around the temples by themselves, the group met at 9:45 am to begin the journey back to the ship. This time there was an armed uniformed guard on the bus with a small machine gun. The guard, who looked to be in his early 20s, left the bus at Aswan. As before, the trip was uneventful and they arrived back at fhe ship just after 1 pm, when lunch was served.

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Finally on the Nile

Written Monday 25 Feb 2013
Pati and Beebee are onboard the MS Domina Prestige for their trip on the Nile this week. The ship starts up the Nile (south) at 9:30 tonight. Tomorrow they meet with their group with their tour guide/Egyptologist to get the lowdown. Then the first excursion is sometime in the afternoon.
The group has 26 people plus a business guy plus the guide. Pati and Beebee are the only Americans in the group (probably the only Americans on the ship - maybe in Egypt). The other 24 in the group are British. Pati used a British tour company that he found on the internet, with very good reviews.

There are 72 cabins on this ship, so there are more than 140 passengers. There are other tour groups, each speaking their own country's language: so far German and Japanese have been overheard. Each tour group is seated together. The British group fills 3 tables at meals.

This afternoon Beebee had a leg/foot massage for 100 Egyptian pounds (around $16 US). Pati checked out the "hot tub" but didn't get in because it was icy cold. The swimming pool is cold too.

Pati and Beebee bought the all-inclusive drinks package so that they can get drinks "free" between 11:30 am and 11:30 pm each day. That includes bottled water, soft drinks, tea, coffee, juices, and alcoholic drinks. They have to pay for drinks outside that time, except at meals. Wine is only available at meals. It is VERY important to collect enough bottled water while it is "free," for use in the cabin and on tours. Passengers use bottled water to drink and to brush their teeth and tap water for bathing.

Beebee has sent a bundle of clothes to the laundry (happy happy joy joy) for about $20 US.

Internet access is available in the lobby for 20 Egyptian pounds (less than $3) for 1 hour, but the whole hour is used at once. That means writing all drafts offline and then posting in one marathon session.



Happy side note: Pati first made the round trip plane reservations between Cairo and Luxor using Expedia. However, Beebee became concerned about the short time they would have to switch planes when they got back to Cairo next week, since the first flight is domestic and the next flight is international, using 2 different terminals and having to handle their luggage themselves (not connecting flights). So Pati cancelled the Expedia flights (the agent couldn't figure out how to change just the return flight; her final suggestion was for Pati to change the flight in person after arriving in Luxor) and made the flight reservations directly with EgyptAir. When they got on the Cairo-to-Luxor flight, looking for seats in row 21, they found themselves seated in the second row. First/Business class! Beverages before takeoff! Meal service first! First bus to the terminal upon landing! And the best part - business class cost less through EgyptAir than coach cost through Expedia!

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