Egypt & Dubai - February 26 - March 3, 2008

I've always wanted to see the pyramids and sphinx. I thought that I would only get to see it when I make a trip to Israel, which is ... I don't know when (soon I hope!). Well, it happened sooner that I thought.

Day 1 (Feb 26)

DUBAI Airport

We left KLIA just past midnight and flew into Dubai, where our transit time was 5 LONG hours. It didn't seem long and as you can see from the picture above, the airport is like a shopping mall. (Yipee!!!)

We arrived at the airport at 3am and the shops were still opened. First thing we did was to buy water. Then we went to .... oh no... I can't remember the name of the place ... anyway, we went there for a drink. Of course our very main purpose was to have a decent place to sit because the "public" seats were all taken by other people who came earlier. We saw many people sleeping at certain corners (on the floor, mind you!).

We practically hogged this eating place. We bought some very expensive drinks. I had ice bleanded mango juice, which I think, resulted in my having to go to the toilet many times later.

Alexandria, EGYPT

It felt weird, travelling for so long and it was still Feb 26th. We arrived at Alexandria Airport (a military airport, I was told) at 11.30am. No pictures of the airport because it was not allowed. We were forewarned just before we landed. I didn't want to risk not having to see the pyramids, so I obediently kept my cameras (yes, cameraS .. I brought two) in my bag.

The air was chilly when we went out of the airport. Great weather! I saw some people putting on their jackets but I was enjoying the cool air too much to put on mine.

We went to The Athineos (sounded Greek to me) for a good lunch. The buffet spread was on one side. There was a table with carbonated drinks right in the middle of the room. Rajen took one bottle and was later told that he needed to pay 15L.E. for it. (!!!) That's about RM10 for one bottle of Coke. So expensive. And we thought it comes with the buffet. First lesson learnt in Egypt: Don't assume everything comes free with the buffet.

I had to go to the restroom and asked for directions. A lady was there handing out tissues. This is certainly different. Why can't they just put the tissues in the restrooms? Why need someone there to hand it out? Later, I realised that we are expected to "pay" for it. I didn't know, so I didn't pay. And of course, they were too polite to ask. Second lesson : You gotta pay to enter the washroom - even if it's at the restaurant you just had your meal at.

We finally get to see a historic site. Once again, no cameras allowed. (What's this with no cameras here and there? I'm begining to think that lugging 2 cameras around is simply not worth my energy). Okay, you get to see the pics up there. No, I didn't curi-curi take those (except for pics 1 & 4 when we were still in the coach). I got it from the Internet. :-)

This place is basically where they bury the dead. I can't believe I'm actually doing this - going to a gravesite. But this is no ordinary gravesite. It's how they bury the deceased that made the visit interesting.

Pics :-

1 - The entrance, where the police would check our bags for camera or weapons or explosives.

2- The dining place (!!!). I find this hard to believe. When they have finished the burying , they would gather here for a meal and talk abt the deceased. And once a year, they would gather here for a meal and remember that person. Creepy!.

3 - This is where they bury the dead. Not sure if they have wooden coffins to slide it in or maybe they place the body there, just like that. I'm really glad there were no skeletons lying about. The place was already giving me the creeps with the low lighting and cold surroundings.

4 - Some sculptures outside, on the compound.

5 & 6 - At the entrance of one of the buildings. Can't remember the significance of it.

The Abu el-Abbas el-Mursi Mosque (top left) is huge. It's the only mosque in Egypt where the men and ladies are separated by a divider(bottom left). The men enters through the main entrance while the ladies, by the side entrance. No shoes are allowed.

Nearby this mosques were 4-5 other beautiful mosques (top right).

I regreted not bringing down my jacket from the coach. The wind was very strong and it felt like it was about 10C. Thankfully, Sam (our local tour guide) managed to get the tickets quickly for us to enter the building.

The library is humongous. The biggest I've ever seen in my entire life. There was so much space. The high ceilings were specially designed so that natural light flows into the building without the glare of the sunlight.

Next, we went to the Montazah palace and gardens. It was about 8pm and we were so tired and hungry. Most of us were sleeping when we reached the gardens. I managed to open my eyes for all of 10 seconds just to see some buildings. Sam asked us if we wanted to go down for any photo taking. No response. We were fast asleep, after all it was 2am in Malaysia and we've had a pretty long day.

Day 2 (Feb 27)

Thank God for good sleep. We were so refreshed the next morning and were chatting a lot. Sam noticed our exuberance and cracked some jokes.

The Castle of Qaitbay was very impressive. I love the ancient feel of the columns and archways. It's so big, I almost got lost in it. It was like walking in a maze.

Cairo, EGYPT

Out itinerary showed that shopping time at the Khan Khalili Bazaar was from 2pm - 6.30pm, but we only arrived there abt 5pm. Feeling disappointed at the very short time given to plunk some $$$ into the Egyptian economy, we negotiated with Sam to extend it to 6.45pm - which he did.

My first impression of Khan Khalili Bazaar (something like Petaling Street) was not good. Many people came close and asked us to buy stuff from them. Here was what I heard ....

"Apa Khabar?"
"You look like an Egyptian. 100% Egyptian"
"Harga Gila"
"100% discount"

One funny conversation :-

Egyptian to Rajen : "Are you Egyptian?"
Rajen : "No, Malaysian"
Egyptian to Palani : "Are you Malaysian?"
Palani : "No, Egyptian"


We were told to bargain as low as we can. E.g. :- If they quote us 100L.E., we bargain downwards to 30L.E. They will say, "no, no" and raise it to 60L.E. We pretend to be angry & walk away. They call us back and we agree at 45-50L.E.

We aren't good at bargaining, so for some souvenirs which they first quoted us at 525L.E., we ended up paying them 280L.E. We wanted some other stuff and they asked us to wait. We waited a long time and finally they gave us something else. (!!!)

Two of our friends had a traumatic experience. They couldn't come to an agreement for the price of a certain thing and wanted to leave. The shopowner took hold of their hands, pulled them in and wanted to close the door. Thank God someone (from our group) saw what happened and got them out.

Another group related that instead of them getting angry and walking away, the Egyptian shopowner was angry and didn't want to sell the souvenirs to them. This is hilarious.

Day 3 (Feb 28)

We went to the Papyrus Institute after breakfast. This lady demonstrated how the papyrus paper is made. The fake ones were made from the banana stems. Speaking of that, I must've bought lots of the fake papyrus (banana stems!) the day before cause it was cheap. The real papyrus is really costly. One 5" X 7" piece cost us 20L.E. (RM13). Most of the pictures printed (or painted?) on it were of pharaonic figures like Tutankhamun & Cleopetra and scenes of the afterlife.

The open air museum of Memphis - no, we didn't fly to Tennessee. We were still in Egypt.

Anyway, it's interesting that they had so many statues and stone carvings out in the open. I couldn't get a chance to take many pictures because we were pressed for time.

This place is about 45 minutes from where we were staying. This site is dominated by the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, which goes back to 2700 BC. It is one of the oldest stone structures in the world. Sakkara is also the site of many tombs from the 1st & 2nd Dynasties. Most are made out of mud bricks, but some tombs are made of limestone and decorated with daily life scenes.



Okay ... now I gotta contain my enthusiasm. This is what I flew all these miles for. The Pyramids of Giza. Really magnificent. Huge. Look at the stones. I wonder how the Egyptians (or slaves from a foreign land?) carry one of these.

According to Sam, one pyramid like this takes 30 years to build. And these were built as tombs for Kings and Queens during the time when they reign. There are more than 93 pyramids in Egypt but the ones in Giza (pics above) are the most famous.

We got a chance to ride on the camel. I was terrified and was sure that I might drop down dead. I could feel my heart pumping so fast and each time the camel moves, my heart moved too. I didn't dare look down. With all the food that went into me the past few days, I wasn't even sure if the camel could carry me accross the open area to one of the pyramids where the rest of the people (who were either cowards or didn't dare risk getting fleas onto them) waited.

When I looked down, all I could see were the 4 scrawny legs of the camel. The ride at first was wobbly. I hung on tight (hehe! with both my thighs pressing against the camel's body) and wished for the ride to be over (even before it began!). After a while, I sorta got used to it and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

The Sphinx .... Ah! I just stared in awe when I see "the whole scene". It was like as if the Sphinx was guarding the pyramids behind him.

Right across this beautiful scene was a KFC restaurant. I bet many people go there to enjoy the view. Hmmm.... I wonder how much that piece of property is worth...?

Euch! Don't remind me of my visit here. The intoxicating smell of different perfumes caused me to almost puke (really!). I almost died in there. Nevertheless, I stayed through the entire talk cause I didn't feel safe outside the building. We ended up buying some perfume, err.. frankincense (remedy for 'flu) , orange blossom (aromatherapy) and sandalwood (for backaches and pains)


The Nile dinner cuise was something different. We had buffet. Food was good (no wonder I put on so much weight!! Food was "always" good) and there was a folk show and a belly dancer. The men were practically drooling when the belly dancer came on stage. I danced with her a little mainly because I was "forced" to do so. I was innocently taking pictures of Patrick dancing with her when someone pulled me to the stage. Ah! No choice!

After the shows were over, many of us (er.. not me. I was busy taking pictures) danced.



Day 4 (Feb 29)

This mosque, which is in the compound of an ancient walled fortress, is now a tourist spot. I like the dome-like ceilings with the beautiful prints and there were lots of lights in there.

A group of young girls came up to Rajen and spoke to him. They seemed happy to meet and have a conversation with tourists.








Another creepy place. The Egyptian Museum. Once again, we were not allowed to bring in our cameras. Most of the pics above were taken from the Internet.

We went into the Royal Mummy Room. I was so takut! I hid behind Rajen and he has to look at the mummies first before telling me if I can take a look or not. I think of all 13 mummies, I only saw 10 or 11 .. which is not bad, for a person who doesn't even want to see fresh dead bodies at a funeral service.

But I was really spooked after that.

We went to the Tutankhamun galleries where most of it was in tact. We saw the boy-king's stunning, solid gold death mask at the centre of the room and his gold plated nestled coffins.

Despite this rare chance of seeing so many antiquities, when we had to leave, I was relieved to be out of the building.



Because Viji specifically wanted us to get her a kartush, we told Sam and he arranged for a special visit to this place. We bought 2 kartushes (one for me and one for Viji) and some other stones.

DUBAI

Day 5 (Mar 1)

Today, we had breakfast, went to Cairo airport, had a second breakfast on the plane, played some games, watch a movie, had lunch(on the plane), arrived at Dubai airport, and had dinner. Basically, it was eating and traveling. The worst way to lose weight.

We met with Rajen's sister, Sarah and her family after dinner. They brought us around but I was too tired. I fell asleep in the car. Imagine ME falling asleep when I could take lots of pictures.

I managed to find the energy to get out of the car and into their apartment at the hotel. When we got back to our hotel, I slept like a log!



Day 6 (Mar 2)

Places that we went:-

1 - We passed by the Jumeirah Mosque (didn't stop, though)

2 - Sheikh Saeed's mansion- we weren't supposed to take any pictures, so guess where I got that pic?

3 - Palm Jumeirah. Only managed to get onto the "trunk" fo the palm because the rest were off limits and under construction.

The highlight of the tour in Dubai? Burj Al Arab. We heard many stories about this hotel and we're finally seeing it with our own eyes. It's beautiful. Guards were placed at one end of the bridge, making sure no one (who has no business in the hotel) crosses over. We were allowed to go through because we were going to have lunch there.



Once inside, I couldn't resist taking lots of pictures. The place reeks of opulence. One would feel rich just walking into this hotel. I was told that to get into this hotel (for fun or just to look at the interior), we need to pay USD100. Ridiculous, right? But then again, we don't want many people crowding this hotel, do we? I think the main reason for charging that amount is to make sure that the place is not crowded. It also gives the place a higher sense of security.



More pictures of the hotel. Everything looks and feels rich.

The buffet spread was awesome. I was stuffed. I love bread, and even that, I only managed to eat 2 (very different & yummy) buns. I wanted to eat more but my stomach can't fit in any more. Moreoever, the seams of my once loose pants were about to burst.

We went to the Spice & Gold souks. Didn't really get anything cause I was not interested. One lady actually bought RM18K worth of gold (!!!)

We did, however, managed to get some t-shirts and scarves at a shop in between the gold and spice markets. We call it the T-shirt souk.

After having dinner at the Chinese Restaurant in Sea View Hotel, we went to the Mall of the Emirates ...... the biggest mall in the UAE. It has more than 400 shops AND an indoor ski park called "Ski Dubai". I would've loved to go in there to ski (as I've never skied before) but we were on a time budget. This mall closes at midnight but some of the shops closed at 10.30pm.

We met with Sarah and her family and had a drink at one of the restaurants.

I didn't really explore much. No time. Only went to Borders bookshop(bought some books and souvenir magnets), a computer shop and Ski Dubai.

Here's Sarah and her family.

Day 7 (Mar 3)

Our little vacation has come to an end. We left for the airport early in the morning. All flights were delayed because it was foggy. We were two hours delayed... but it was okay for me. I went shopping :-)

The flight seemed long. I managed to watch one whole show of "Enchanted" and then played some games.

We arrived at KLIA at 11.30pm, tired, but happy to be home.

Conclusion

Egypt - past (lots of history)

Dubai - present & future

Even though Dubai is a very modern, clean and safe city, I prefer Egypt (despite its very old, run-down and ancient buildings, dirty surroundings and unsafe feeling) because it's really very rich in culture and heritage. Our guides in Egypt were great - Sam, Kiko and Hussein (who's actually from another coach but made time to be friendly towards us).