Only had time for a few.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tnpflyer20/PICT0017.jpg
That's me camel. I like to call him Cammy.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tnpflyer20/PICT0023.jpg
One of the larger 'step' pyramids.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tnpflyer20/PICT0034.jpg
Then Abu Simbal. Don't mind the blury spot on the bottom right. That's my finger.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Khan el-Khalili (had to google the spelling) (Day 3 Part 2)
Khan el-Khalili still can't even spell it. Definately one of the most annoying stops I made on this trip. Basically a whole bunch of people with really bad english trying to convince you to come into their shop so that they can rip you off. We literally had a guy say "How can I take your money today?". They might get a bit more business if they understood that most American people consider it rue to follow other people nagging em to buy something. And you can't really browse easily because as soon as you even look at something they take it to be a sign of you wanting it and they are on you like flies on s***. Me and my father only bought one thing and that was a Chessboard. The guy was originally trying to sell it for 650 LE (Egyptian Pounds), about $118.
Yeah right. It has a decent looking board and cool Egyptian God style pieces, but it ain't worth near that much. My dad was pretty sure to try for around 50-60% of original price, that was what he had done 15 years ago the last time he was here. We got it down to 50% but when we asked our tour guide how much he thought it was worth he said about 25% of original. So we got ripped off of about $30. After that I had some crappy pizza and we went back to our hotel.
Yeah right. It has a decent looking board and cool Egyptian God style pieces, but it ain't worth near that much. My dad was pretty sure to try for around 50-60% of original price, that was what he had done 15 years ago the last time he was here. We got it down to 50% but when we asked our tour guide how much he thought it was worth he said about 25% of original. So we got ripped off of about $30. After that I had some crappy pizza and we went back to our hotel.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Yay for steady internet. (Day 3 Part 1)
This day was relatively uninteresting for the most part.
There are two things I don't really love doing when going to a different place. One is museums, and the other is shopping. So what did we do? Both.
Our first stop was the Egyptian Museum. It was impressive just by the sheer number of artifacts they had all lined up next to each other. They literally ran out of room to place things, so they are begining construction of a new Museum. Our guide said it was going to cost around 500 million dollars to build it. Maybe then it would be more enjoyable. But at present it is overstuffed and over crowded. King Tuts artifacts were still amazing. But that just about sums up my visit there.
There are two things I don't really love doing when going to a different place. One is museums, and the other is shopping. So what did we do? Both.
Our first stop was the Egyptian Museum. It was impressive just by the sheer number of artifacts they had all lined up next to each other. They literally ran out of room to place things, so they are begining construction of a new Museum. Our guide said it was going to cost around 500 million dollars to build it. Maybe then it would be more enjoyable. But at present it is overstuffed and over crowded. King Tuts artifacts were still amazing. But that just about sums up my visit there.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Woooo finally time for a update. (Day two cont.)
Where was I? Ah yes, the Pyramids.
It was really amazing how they were able to construct such large structures so long ago with only the use of human beings. The degree of precision is also quite amazing.
After first arriving there we continued on and arrived at a small hill overlooking the three pyramids. There, we rented two camels (my dad was too heavy for all three of us to fit on one... just kidding) and took an infuriating slow trip in a straight line toward the smalles pyramid. I was hoping to atleast circle one of them, not just get increasingly closer. That just about sums up my visit of the pyramids. Next we went to the Sphynx which was quite a bit smaller than I thought but still pretty large. There isn't much to explain about this particular visit. They don't really let you get close enough to take a good photo of someone next to it. After that we just made a number of small stops to different shops before returning to our hotel (we were still ridiculously jet lagged).
It was really amazing how they were able to construct such large structures so long ago with only the use of human beings. The degree of precision is also quite amazing.
After first arriving there we continued on and arrived at a small hill overlooking the three pyramids. There, we rented two camels (my dad was too heavy for all three of us to fit on one... just kidding) and took an infuriating slow trip in a straight line toward the smalles pyramid. I was hoping to atleast circle one of them, not just get increasingly closer. That just about sums up my visit of the pyramids. Next we went to the Sphynx which was quite a bit smaller than I thought but still pretty large. There isn't much to explain about this particular visit. They don't really let you get close enough to take a good photo of someone next to it. After that we just made a number of small stops to different shops before returning to our hotel (we were still ridiculously jet lagged).
Monday, March 31, 2008
Short story/update
So I am at my hotel in Jordan at the moment but I only have about half an hour of internet time. Not nearly enough to upload any photos or anything, but enough time to make a short entry.
I think the most amusing/horrifying thing that I saw was... Traffic. No kidding. I will do my best to describe what it is like. The first thing you will notice right off the bat (and this in Jordan too) is that traffic lanes are a suggestion. I don't even think any of my drivers made an effort to stay in one lane. Heck half the time we were half way into the oncoming traffics side of the road. This is justified by the fact that half the time you will be driving along on a two land street, and have about five lanes of traffic driving right beside you (it's very scary). And the second most interesting thing is the constant honking that ensues. In America you honk if someone cuts you off or if they almost hit you. In Egypt you honk if you want to switch lanes, you honk if you see a pedestrian, and you honk if you see a car in general.... Yeah, lots of honking.
I don't mean to offend Egypt but it's ruins and tombs are just about all it has going for it. With 22 million people driving around polution takes a whole new meaning. The smog is difficult to see through, and it makes the overall city seem... dirty. The Pyramids and such were amazing but the city will quickly get on anyone's nerves. More on this later, or when I get back (whichever happens first).
I should be on more when I get to Israel because I SHOULD have access to a laptop.
Later Guys.
I think the most amusing/horrifying thing that I saw was... Traffic. No kidding. I will do my best to describe what it is like. The first thing you will notice right off the bat (and this in Jordan too) is that traffic lanes are a suggestion. I don't even think any of my drivers made an effort to stay in one lane. Heck half the time we were half way into the oncoming traffics side of the road. This is justified by the fact that half the time you will be driving along on a two land street, and have about five lanes of traffic driving right beside you (it's very scary). And the second most interesting thing is the constant honking that ensues. In America you honk if someone cuts you off or if they almost hit you. In Egypt you honk if you want to switch lanes, you honk if you see a pedestrian, and you honk if you see a car in general.... Yeah, lots of honking.
I don't mean to offend Egypt but it's ruins and tombs are just about all it has going for it. With 22 million people driving around polution takes a whole new meaning. The smog is difficult to see through, and it makes the overall city seem... dirty. The Pyramids and such were amazing but the city will quickly get on anyone's nerves. More on this later, or when I get back (whichever happens first).
I should be on more when I get to Israel because I SHOULD have access to a laptop.
Later Guys.
Friday, March 28, 2008
First update: Week 1
Finally found the time, the energy and the internet cafe neccesary to make this post. The keys on this keyboard stick like crazy so please pardon any typos.
Unfortunately I have limited time before my train back to Cairo leaves. So this will be an extremely short post on what I did my first two days.
The first one is relativaly easy to describe:
Air Plane
See? Easy.
Second day was a bit more productive.
Second day (part 1):
PYRAMIDS!
So after ariving in the middle of the night and staying in a wonderful 5 star hotel, I woke up to find my self staring out the window and seeing a rather large pyramid wondering how I didn't see it before. I mean. It was only a quarter of a mile away from my hotel. Luckily it was this day that we chose to go visit the Pyramids of Giza. Any other day and it would have been too smoggy for any good photos.
Because of lack of time and lack of speedy upload I can only give you one image at this time:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tnpflyer20/PICT0010.jpg
Gotta go. See ya later.
Unfortunately I have limited time before my train back to Cairo leaves. So this will be an extremely short post on what I did my first two days.
The first one is relativaly easy to describe:
Air Plane
See? Easy.
Second day was a bit more productive.
Second day (part 1):
PYRAMIDS!
So after ariving in the middle of the night and staying in a wonderful 5 star hotel, I woke up to find my self staring out the window and seeing a rather large pyramid wondering how I didn't see it before. I mean. It was only a quarter of a mile away from my hotel. Luckily it was this day that we chose to go visit the Pyramids of Giza. Any other day and it would have been too smoggy for any good photos.
Because of lack of time and lack of speedy upload I can only give you one image at this time:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tnpflyer20/PICT0010.jpg
Gotta go. See ya later.
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