Travel Bugs

We can’t talk about Egypt without talking about the Pyramids. The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the ancient wonders of the world and the only one still standing. Seeing the three main pyramids from our hotel window was something special and I did a timelapse of the sunrise from the comfort of my room. Actually visiting the pyramids and walking around them was a less comfortable experience, though.

The gusty wind blew sand in our eyes and I was thankful for the kerchief I had tied around my neck, cowgirl style. We walked a bit and Callum warned me of all the touts that would try and tell me or sell me things. For him, the last time he was in Egypt thirteen years ago, he was one of the only tourists as it was during their revolution. He got pestered every minute by desperate people wanting to sell him things or take him on tours. Despite the chillier weather in December, there were hundreds of tourists and we were not as conspicuous as I first thought.

We walked around a bit and I marveled that we were actually there, the pyramids! Wow! There they were! We got approached by a few people selling camel rides and finally I suggested we just do it. We negotiated for a camel ride out to the best viewpoint of the pyramids, about a 10 minute ride away—really not that far. We paid 700EGP and gave a 100 tip, so about $25 AUD for both of us. This ride was hampered by the fact I dropped my lens cap, which I spotted from atop my camel and retrieved by our camel wrangler. Then, a few minutes later, I lost it again and we searched for it everywhere. The guy even went on his horse to backtrack our route, asking others if they had seen it. To no avail. I accepted its loss. I tried to enjoy the ride, but my camera was bouncing around heavily against my chest, my scarf wasn’t behaving, my kerchief wasn’t covering my nose adequately, and my camel started to trot at an alarming pace to catch up with Callum’s. The wind whipped my hair into my face and I couldn’t remove it as my hands were firmly on either saddle handle (one in front, one behind) so as not to fall off. It wasn’t that glamorous and it wasn’t that fun. I tried to get a picture or two of Callum with my phone, but that was all I could manage. I did find my lens cap though! It was stuck under my leg in a way that I couldn’t see at first.

We stopped at a great view and the guy took some photos of us, but he didn’t really frame them that well, and I didn’t get a single photo of me on the camel, which is what I had envisioned: me on a camel, a glamourous head scarf gently blowing in the wind, the camel facing the camera, the pyramids in the background, but also in focus somehow…..I was imagining Instagram, but Reality was winning. The photos posted below are truly the best pictures we got from this experience. They have all been edited to adjust horizon line, shadows, and other imperfections.

The guy wanted to head back the way we came, but we were feeling rushed. I hadn’t taken all the pictures I wanted to yet, so Callum just paid him, and we said we’d walk back. We stayed on that little crest of a hill and tried to enjoy the view. The wind and sand made it difficult.

Eventually we trudged up further to find the one and only restaurant near by. They were fully booked but we could sit at the bar and have a drink. I was windswept and tired, disappointed and overwhelmed. I was not really experiencing the pyramids the way I thought I would get to. The pictures certainly look a lot better than the feelings felt on the day!

We decided to take our time walking to the Sphinx and just deal with the wind and sand. As we walked, there were pockets of time where the wind died down momentarily. I could lift my camera to snap a picture or two without fear of sandblasting the lens. We got right up close to one of the pyramids so I could say I touched it.

We walked down to the Sphinx which was crawling with people. We then found a restaurant with a rooftop dining area and enjoyed the view while eating our Christmas Day lunch. It calmed us down and cheered us up to eat a nice meal and listen to some very chill music—so chill, we almost fell asleep.

From lunch we did a bit of shopping for souvenirs, and then managed to walk back to our hotel. We had a lot of time to kill since we were technically checked out but our bus didn’t depart until 1030pm. The bus was by far the most economical option to get to our next destination: Luxor, about 650kms south. Luxor can be reached by plane or train, a private driver, or, overnight bus. The first three are pricey for long-term travellers like us, so we chose the latter.

When we finally got on the bus, we were disappointed to see it was not a regular night-time tourist bus, but a normal passenger bus (with an upstairs, where we were seated) with hardly any room. Before we had even moved, a family sat behind us where the young son proceeded to spew his guts out into a plastic bag his mother held for him. I thought “Oh geez, we haven’t even started driving yet”. I wondered what the 10 hour drive would be like if he was puking while we were parked. Thankfully there were no other incidents, but the mother kept kicking my seat all night long. I think she was pissed that I had reclined in order to get some rest. I didn’t care and tried to get comfortable.

It was long and tiring journey, stopping every 2-2.5 hours or so for a pit stop at disgusting roadside “toilets” one or two of which are absolutely unmentionable. I will refrain from mentioning them further.

We rolled into Luxor at around 8am and I was never so thankful to see a dirty little town in my life—it meant we could get off the bus. We were met by a driver who took our bags and drove us to the riverbank, where another guy was waiting for us to escort us onto a boat. From there we crossed the Nile to the westbank where we were staying at a guesthouse. We were met by another guy who helped to carry our bags to the guesthouse.

The walk from the boat to the guesthouse was only about five minutes, and when we stepped foot onto Ibrahim’s property, we felt relief. Sunlight was gleaming off the clean white tiles, a welcoming seating area was free for us to rest, and breakfast and coffee were supplied almost instantly. We were exhausted and wanted to sleep but had to wait for our room to be ready. In the interim Ibrahim put us in a trance with his dulcet tones and promises, taking the reins of our travel plans, and creating an itinerary for us for the next four or five days. We hypnotically agreed to everything and handed him many bills, comforted by his assurances and compliments. Our room became available by 9am which was wonderful. We were able to rest at last. We didn’t even mind the twin bed situation—we were both excited to get some proper sleep.

We took things easy that first day. We slept for a long time and then found some lunch nearby. We went back to our place to rest a bit and watched part of “The Mummy” (one of Callum’s favourite movies and an appropriate choice given where we were.) We had a sail in a felucca on the Nile, but since there was no wind, we sort of just floated and had tea, eventually getting rowed back by the captain. We found dinner nearby and had an early night.