WORST:
Okay, let’s get the top 5 worst out of the way first:
(5) Cairo
To put it lightly, Cairo isn’t exactly a resort spot. I could elaborate, but this picture is a good enough representation of the city:
A typical street in Cairo
(4) Traffic
Traffic in Cairo made I-94 in Chicago look like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(3) Water
Simply put-you shouldn’t drink the water. This includes avoiding all salads and fresh fruits because they might have been washed in the tap water. I even brushed my teeth with bottled water. It paid off-me no get sick!
(2) Egyptian Antiquities Authority
OK, just about anyone who has dealt seriously with Egyptian antiquities has a problem with Egypt’s entire approach to them. A few highlights are (1) Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid from the 4th Dynasty that the EAA is spending money to completely reface with new brick. In other words, they are ruining a 4,600 piece of human history. Preserving something ancient is one thing, but rebuilding it is totally another. The project was underway while we were there:
Secondly, at several of the sites, like the Cairo Museum, workman’s tombs at Deir el-medina, Valley of the Kings, and all the pyramids (even those where there is no paint left on the walls), and others, you aren’t allowed to bring your camera in or take photography of any kind. OK-bring me my soapbox. Ahem, first of all-the reason most of these sites are protected from photography, as far as I can tell, is because they want to sell the pictures and make money off of them. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any high resolution digital pictures for sale on site-which is what I want. Many of my friends brought cameras into tombs at the Valley of the Kings or pyramids and sneakily took pictures anyway.
Also, from what I understand-there is no evidence that photography of any sort or kind (including flash photography) destroys antiquities. Everyone, please go back and read that sentence again. I am perennially frustrated that I can’t take pictures of, for example, an inscription on a piece of rock, because of the absurd claim that my flash might destroy it. To quote White Goodman of Dodgeball (make sure to read in your Ben Stiller voice), "This is pure poppycock!" White, you are correct! This is why the curator of the British Museum has lifted the ban on flash photography. That’s right, you can run through the British Museum like I did in August, taking pictures of whatever you want, even using flash (90% of the time I don’t use flash anyway). It was great! I stood in front of an Assyrian inscription for an hour taking careful pictures of it for my buddy with no problems at all. Then I ran through the rest of the museum like a monkey and took pictures of whatever else I could in the time I had. This open approach allows people to take home a part of the antiquities with them to use them for teaching, study, or whatever. I also believe if people were allowed to take pictures, they would take less than you think. Thumbs up to the Brits; thumbs way down to the EAA. Shame, shame, shame on you! I’m not really concerned about Flem and Earl getting their picture together next to a monument they’ll forget the moment they end their trip; I’m concerned about taking quality pictures of whatever I can use to help people understand the world of the Bible and for personal study. Any time I’m prevented from doing this for a reason that doesn’t make sense, it bothers me.
Lastly, the EAA visited us while we were at a site in the Nile Delta (Tell el-Yehudiya). The site is unmarked and unkept. Thousands of people pass it every day without any knowledge of how important it was in Egyptian history. There are no signs, no brochures with historical information, no bathrooms, or even merchants trying to sell stuff. Yet within 40 minutes of us being there, the EAA showed up with the police and kicked us off because we didn’t pay to be there. Considering the state of the country, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say there are better ways they could be using their time.
(1) Baksheesh
Baksheesh is the Arabic word for ‘tip,’ (quite a different substance than the “hasheesh” which I was offered numerous times on the trip) and everywhere we went, people were constantly asking for it. Baksheesh to use the dirty bathrooms, baksheesh to get directions, baksheesh to answer a question, baksheesh to (insert any action here). A frequent move of the “baksheeshers” is to grab your bag as you exit the train, “help” you carry it, and then charge you for the privilege. There were also people at the bottom of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings who would use their flashlight to point out different things that were painted on the wall (although no flash photography was permitted, they could point at stuff with their flashlights-go figure). So, as you’re standing there trying to take in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, you’ve got a guy pointing at stuff and saying, “Here’s a lion,” “Here’s an eye,” “Here’s a camel.” I asked them to stop, but they just kept going on and on. Of course, that conversation ended with a request for baksheesh as repayment for their helpful “explanation” of the tomb. As a lovely addition to the “baksheeshers,” everywhere we went in the Valley of the Kings, we were assaulted by merchants wanting to pawn stuff off to us. More than a few of us left that site angry, and at the time I felt like they ruined my experience there. Another example of “spontaneous baksheeshing” occurred when people would see my camera, puff out their chest really big, and tell me to take a picture. Of course every time I refused, knowing the call for baksheesh was eminent. This probably happened to me 5 times throughout the trip. Also, a group of kids stopped me in Luxor and were very excited at the prospect of taking pictures with my camera. I was hesitant, since I was alone and worried they might try to steal it, but eventually I caved and let them. I figured using a fancy camera would have been enough for them, but when we were all done, they wanted-you guessed it-baksheesh.
Let me simply say this, if you come to Egypt, get what the Jews call some Hutzpah. Learn the art of completely ignoring people and saying ‘no’ without feeling badly. If you don’t, you’ll end up in a 5 minute conversation every time you use the bathroom. If you hear the word “baksheesh”-run.
The kids who wanted baksheesh after using my camera. I think I'm the most excited for this picture
BEST:
OK, enough being negative! Now on to the top five best things about my Egypt trip!
(5) Karnak Temple
We saw a lot of Egyptian temples (and pyramids) from many different periods, but to me, none of it compared to the pillared room at the Karnak Temple. Standing at modern Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile, this temple was built during the Egyptian New Kingdom Period by several Pharaohs. Its mammoth size shows why we refer to this kingdom as an empire. The pillared room alone has over 150, 200 ft. pillars, and looking up at them you feel like an infant (I almost caught myself saying, “What is this-a temple for ants?!”). There is nothing like this anywhere in Israel, from any period, and it really puts in perspective what the “empire” of David and Solomon would have been like by comparison. I remember standing in awe and wondering at the manpower it took to build something like this. If you’re in Egypt, you have to go-it is simply incredible. Pictures won't do it justice, but here are a couple:
(4) Sleeper Train
As a part of our constant movement to save time, we rode a sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan and back. Until about two weeks ago, I had no idea sleeper trains existed. What? You can sleep and travel at the same time-on a train?! Yes, yes you can! I thought it was the coolest thing through the whole experience. They pack you into a 3’ x 6’ room with two chairs where they feed you dinner (similar to an airplane dinner-pictured below). Then when you’re ready to sleep, they fold down the beds for you, and you can fall asleep to the clankity-clank of the train running all night. There is a lounge where Egyptian Arabs smoke and talk the night away; I sat in there for a while just for the ambiance. Also, the bathroom is interesting. The toilet is an open hole, so you are literally peeing on the train tracks while you try to keep your balance-almost a full contact sport! All in all, the sleeper train definitely created a new category for travel in my mind, although I wouldn’t want to ride it every night! I haven’t read it, but I hear the sleeper train is the main setting in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (her husband was an archaeologist in Mesopotamia, so most of her books have a Near Eastern flavor). I suppose you can check that out for more if you like.
(3) Nubians
While we were in Aswan, as far south as we would get to Sudan, we took a boat across the Nile to a Nubian village. Nubians are African peoples, descendants of whom show up in ancient Egyptian literature as enemies of Egypt. Here, a Nubian family welcomed us in to their mudbrick hut, gave us tea, and let us hold their pet crocodiles. Their little kids know Arabic, Nubian, French, Spanish, and German. These kids are sitting a mudbrick hut in Africa speaking 5 languages. I live in America and can’t even speak two-I am a joke. Also, they brought in the village musician who entertained us for a while. He picked one of us at a time and incorporated our names into his song. While he sang your song, he expected you to dance to it; definitely an interesting experience. The family was wonderful, and they were happy to meet us.
(2) Bedouin
My first interaction with Bedouin came on our second day in Egypt. After taking a boat across the Nile, we met up with a group of them, each one with his camel. They helped our entire group onto their camels and walked us across a part of the desert to a monastery and back. This was so flippin’ cool. I now think camels are awesome; what a bizarre animal. If you haven’t ridden one, you need to. The only downside was my guy wanted baksheesh after the ride. Go figure.
Me with my camel (it's an Avila jersey shirt, if you're wondering)
On one of the last days of our trip, we all piled into about 6 Land Cruisers driven by Arab Bedouin and tore into the Sinai desert. We off-roaded for about an hour through the desert sand until we arrived at the base of a mountain in-literally-the middle of nowhere. After a quick hike, we found evidence of ancient Egyptian mining activity and a temple to Hathor, the goddess of mining (among other things). It was in this obscure place that the alphabet was first invented (as far as we know) if you can believe it! I remember thinking afterward “Are you freaking kidding me that I was riding with a fleet of Bedouin Jeep drivers into the Sinai desert to find a New Kingdom Egyptian Temple?! Unreal.”
After the climb down the mountain and another Jeep ride, we arrived at a Bedouin tent (made of goat hair) where we had an awesome meal and tea afterward. Sitting under the stars in the Sinai desert reminded me of camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was a return to the simple life, the way things ought to be-a communal meal and singing/storytelling around the fire. The Bedouin are also the closest analogy we have for the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) who were also semi-nomadic desert dwellers. If you have the chance to hang out with Bedouin-do it! They rock.
Arab Bedouin making us tea
(1) Sinai at sunrise
On the last day of our trip, we woke up at 2:30am (after going to bed at around 10:30) and climbed the traditional site of Mt. Sinai by moonlight. It was cold, and I had Bon Iver in my earbuds most of the way. I will never forget being halfway up the mountain and looking down in the valley below. One time when I stopped to star gaze, I could see the Bedouin fires blazing away in caves on the other side.
Every so often, there was a tent where you could buy a hot drink or some goodies and rest a bit. I was excited because I had been told there was coffee at these stations. When I asked for coffee, the shopkeeper informed me that they had Nescafe. I want to clear up a common misconception here, so permit me just one moment-Nescafe is not coffee!! Coffee is a drink made with beans that are grown, picked, specially roasted, and ground, before the drink is even brewed. Nescafe is powder that dissolves into hot water-and it tastes disgusting. Please, please, don’t call it coffee! I’m proud to say I’ve only had one sip of it this whole semester which I promptly spit into the garbage where it belongs. I’m a human being, for crying out loud-with dignity!! So, I had a hot chocolate as I sat with my group at the last stop before the final climb to the peak.
We arrived on top just before the sun crested over the mountains in front of us at about 6:30. It was very cold; I had a long sleeve T-shirt, two hoodies, and gloves on as we waited for the sun to come up. After we watched the sunrise, our group gathered together to read several passages of Scripture and talk about the significance of the giving of the Law. Where the actual spot of Mt. Sinai is, no one will ever know, but it was powerful to stand in the tradition of Moses at Jebel Musa. The site is a major pilgrim spot, and there are several hotels nearby, so it’s easily accessible. If this is something you’re interested in doing, it’s worth it.
Of course, this was the cap to our 8 day trip in Egypt, which meant that if you got sick, the most likely place to leave evidence of it was on the rocky paths up Mt. Sinai. The group from our school that went to Egypt last year told us so many horror stories about their stomachs taking vengeance on them during their climb. So I wasn’t really looking forward to it. But, the more I look back on my hike up the mountain, the more I think I enjoyed it. I wasn’t sick or cold while I was hiking, and there was such an epicness to everything that made it almost larger than life. All that to say, I cannot imagine a better way to end the trip.
Thanks for reading! All feedback is greatly appreciated! I will try to keep you posted on my experiences as I am able.
An excellent read. Want to visit there again after reading this.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff Chan. Pictures, HD vids, words, all rolled into one - if more of my friends did this after they did cool things, life would be awesomer.
ReplyDeleteBJC