My Egypt Trip

[speedfreak68]

I got to school at McPherson College in Kansas and recently took a class trip to Egypt. It was amasing!! We spent 3 days in Cairo and the rest of the trip was spent on a cruise ship going down the Nile...or up the Nile depending on how you look at it. We went to the Piramids  in Cairo then we flew to luxor and we boarded on the ship we stopped at some temples along the nile such as Edfu, Komombo, and Aswan. If anyone has a chance i would highly recomend taking a trip to Egypt. I took like eight hundred and some pics and posted them up on my photobucket thingy. Heres the link http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll141/speedfreak_68/EGYPT/   They are in no particular order because I was having some issues with my comp when i loaded them.
I would also like to thank 71charger_fan for helping me prepair for the trip.
Thanks for lookin.
Martin

[71charger_fan]

You don't have to live in Cairo for very long before it just becomes where you live and you forget all the really cool stuff that's just outside your door. Instead you find you focus on the traffic and the pollution. It's nice to see it through the eyes of someone that's never before been here to kind of start appreciating it again. Glad you had a good trip; sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up.

Terry

[speedfreak68]

We asked while we were there to go by the embassy just so we could see what it looked like and our tour guide said that we wouldn't be able to get close to it. I was amazed by the way all of the tourist police were armed with an ak and also with a side pistol. We had a goverment body guard with us the whole time we were there and he had 2 auto pistols that had clips that would stick out of the back of his suit coat. After we had left I wished that we would have arranged a meeting. I plan to go back sometime just because it was that awesome there. But thanks again for all of the help.

[PocketThunder]

We asked while we were there to go by the embassy just so we could see what it looked like and our tour guide said that we wouldn't be able to get close to it. I was amazed by the way all of the tourist police were armed with an ak and also with a side pistol. We had a goverment body guard with us the whole time we were there and he had 2 auto pistols that had clips that would stick out of the back of his suit coat. After we had left I wished that we would have arranged a meeting. I plan to go back sometime just because it was that awesome there. But thanks again for all of the help.

Thats what i was just wondering.  how SAFE is it to be there as an American tourist?   

[71charger_fan]

Honestly, in Greater Cairo and at the major tourist sites, I feel I'm safer than in any American city. I have no qualms about walking anywhere, at any time. When we went to St. Catherine's to climb Mt. Sinai, we had to take heavily armed security. After a while, you develop a sense for the security guys. If they seem on edge, I move on. If they seem relaxed, I'm relaxed. When they're on edge, it's almost always because some government big shot is coming. That'll turn a 10 block area into a gridlocked mess in half a heartbeat.

On a funny note, somebody told me the other day that the Arabic words for "furnished apartment" are a euphemism for a prostitute in Cairo. One of the guys told us that a taxi driver told him he could get him a furnished apartment if he wanted. When it became obvious he thought the driver was referring to a place to live, the driver finally had to blurt it out.

You could have walked up to the embassy, but, unless you've pre-arranged it, or have an embassy badge, you're not getting close in a vehicle. The U.S. Embassy and the UK Embassy are diagonally across an intersection from each other, so security is very tight. It's just a block back from the river.

[speedfreak68]

Oh ya, everyone there seemed to love Americans there. One family even invited some of us in for tea with them but we didn't go because of the whole water deal.  We were all very comfortable everywhere we went with the people, the only problem was some people in our group had problems with the vendors and their agressiveness.

[bakerhillpins]

Sounds like a cool trip. I have always wanted to go to Egypt and check out all of the sights/history. I got hooked on that stuff when I was young and was floored by the art. Anyhow, I doubt I will ever go as I just don't see any point in walking around with a bulls eye on my back. It's probably not that big a deal but I suppose when I get older and have less to lose out on I will probably go. By then I figure - Who the hell will want to kidnap a broke old American geezer anyhow. 

Got any pics? (And just when I thought I would finally be able to use the "This thread is worthless without pics" smiley it's no longer available?  )


Bryan

[Shakey]

Great photos!

I'd love to visit Egypt one day.

Sounds and looks as though you had a great time.  Very cool experience indeed - lucky you!

[Charger_Fan]

You know...I'm glad it was not me. I'm just fine with my feet planted right here, thank you. If I want to see Egypt, I'll turn on PBS or something.

[speedfreak68]

Sounds like a cool trip. I have always wanted to go to Egypt and check out all of the sights/history. I got hooked on that stuff when I was young and was floored by the art. Anyhow, I doubt I will ever go as I just don't see any point in walking around with a bulls eye on my back. It's probably not that big a deal but I suppose when I get older and have less to lose out on I will probably go. By then I figure - Who the hell will want to kidnap a broke old American geezer anyhow. 

Got any pics? (And just when I thought I would finally be able to use the "This thread is worthless without pics" smiley it's no longer available?  )


Bryan

There are pics in the link lol

[71charger_fan]

What's the water deal? Cairo water is safe to drink. The embassy periodically takes samples from around the city and tests them. It's been years since anything's been found to worry about. There've been far more problems here with the bottled water. I'd rather drink Cairo water for a year than Baltimore water for a weekend. However, I don't even want to touch the water in the Nile, but I see people swim in it. Gross.

[bakerhillpins]

There are pics in the link lol

Oh well, so much for my attention span these days. I suppose a good dose of humility is good for me right now.   

Thanks for sharing!

[speedfreak68]

What's the water deal? Cairo water is safe to drink. The embassy periodically takes samples from around the city and tests them. It's been years since anything's been found to worry about. There've been far more problems here with the bottled water. I'd rather drink Cairo water for a year than Baltimore water for a weekend. However, I don't even want to touch the water in the Nile, but I see people swim in it. Gross.

We were told not to drink the water because there was a good chance to get sick if we did. Idk if it was something in the past that was just carried on or something. When we were on the cruse ship and going down the nile, I think it was at komombo, there was a sugar refinery that was dumping the used water out into the nile. Also by the way the irrigation canals there looked I would definetly not go into the nile. 

[71charger_fan]

No way in hell I'd drink the tap water on a Nile cruise ship. I hope you didn't take any unwrapped toothpicks from the little cups of them that are on so many restaurant tables here. Egyptians have a bad habit of using them and putting them back. I have to leave this place in six months. I'm really going to miss it. I don't miss Maryland at all.

[speedfreak68]

  No....No toothpicks for me...lol

[Silver R/T]

sounds like fun, some pics would be nice

[speedfreak68]

sounds like fun, some pics would be nice

Check the link at the beginning lol 

[bakerhillpins]

sounds like fun, some pics would be nice

Check the link at the beginning lol 

At least Im not the only one who glossed right over that link! 

[vancamp]

cool pics, would like to go myself someday

[speedfreak68]

Thanks, I would definetly recommend it. It was unforgettable!!

[71charger_fan]

Somebody told our Egyptian shuttle driver that the English word for people that stand in the road and don't get out of the way is shithead. Oh what fun we're having on the ride into work now.

[speedfreak68]

The night we got there a soccer game had just gotten over and people were everywhere, just walking out infront of the bus, the driver would have been saying that alot. haha