Random Egypt Notes

While they don't believe in neutering animals (against religion);
At least they believe in caring for them.

This is completely random compilation of stuff that didn’t fit in the other posts.   Most of it I wrote as we went along, some of it I wrote on the way home.  I do not guarantee any flow or coherence to this.  Consider yourself forewarned.

Egypt has been an adventure.  Some things so jaw-droppingly increadible as to be surreal.  My brain struggles to comprehend the reality of how long ago some of what we got to see was created.   In Cleopatra's time, they had Egyptologists studying Ancient Egypt.   She lived closer to the invention of bitcoin than the building of the pyramids.  And yet - they had lives and families and stories and histories; useful rulers and atrocious ones.  Taxes.  Has there ever been a time without taxes?!?!  So many relatable components from so extremely long ago.   And so much of it has survived - the colours are strikingly vibrant in some of the places - our paints don't last a decade?!?!   lol admittedly more variety of weather, but still.  

Now admittedly I'm not sure I need to go back to Cairo.  I'm glad I did; it was 100% worth the experience.  But it's not really something I need to experience again.   It's not often I'm ready to leave before the trip is over, but for Cario I have no need to stay.  Cairo has an orangy/brown haze over it - combination of sand and pollution that is not ideal.   I'm a nature / water person - for me, this will never be quite the right fit.   I mean - I guess there was *some* water -  walking down the street in Cairo, you’d be regularly dripped on by water dropping off AC units many stories above you onto the sidewalk ;-P

I’m disappointed we didn’t get to go to the Red Sea to dive as it’s supposed to be some of the best in the world.   Ah well - another trip :).  Chris really wants to go to Petra in Jordan too, so maybe someday we’ll combine the two.

Regarding culture - other than at the airport, our experience was pretty neutral.  In most places there were few to no women working (Cairo Bazaar being a notable exception), and - of course - the men weren’t about to talk to me.   Even though we were primarily in tourist locations - where they’re used to women expecting to be treated as equals and maybe, even, *gasp* paying for things! - I was always very aware of the subtle lines between the genders and the fact that, were I on my own, esp not speaking the language, I could have significant difficulties.  

Similarly, the culture being wrapped entirely around religion.  The calls to prayer 5 x / day are…. A little much.  And the absolute flood of men pouring into the mosque.  And yes, men.  The women are theoretically invited - as long as they stay in their own section and women and men don’t look at each other - but the reality is the streets were full of men on their way to pray and rarely ever a woman to be seen.  Apparently any mosque is acceptable (this from our guide as he was on his way to one) - anybody can attend any mosque, whichever is close to where you happen to be at prayer time.   But for me, who got married on a beach, and pretty firmly believes in a separation of religion and law, any culture that blends the two I would struggle to thrive in.   No matter which religion they choose.

Egypt is theoretically a democracy.  In reality, very much a military dictatorship.  We got the same drinking-the-kool-aid type spiels from guides here that we did in Cuba.  Fascinating but mildly disturbing. I particularly struggled with the (male) guide who went on and on about how much women enjoy wearing the full burka or - more commonly here - the niqab - when they go out in public because it gives them anonymity and safety.   There was so much wrong with that I wouldn’t have known where to start unpacking it if I wanted to.  But I was on vacation, not there to debate human rights and political freedoms, so I bit my tongue.  But I’m pretty sure some of you may have heard my eyes roll from home.  Suffice to say, human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections are all rather fictional concepts here. 

Security theatre was a thing that got old fast. The metal detectors and scanners pretty well everywhere we went are a bit excessive.  And often more than one set in airports.   We’re talking entrance to every museum, every historic site, the hotel, the cruise ship (they didn’t enforce this one, but it was there), etc.  And it really is theatre, because as often as not the security people are paying literally zero attention to it.  Sometimes not even looking in the general direction of the machine.

Now on the positive side - lemon mint drinks!!!   These were awesome.  Chris found them first.  Every one was different, and yet all of them were good.  Why are they not a thing at home?

We had an incredible 5 star experience here which has made for consistently wonderful days.  I am extremely glad this isn’t a country we tried to navigate on our own though.  The constant haggling/negotiating for everything and randomly changing prices and processes, extra fees, and - as a woman - being less than human, were all things I found disturbing and frustrating.    This experience has very much made me appreciate more than ever how lucky I’ve been to grow up in Canada.  Glad to have come, but also will be glad to be home where equal rights are a thing and you generally pay the price on the sticker.

Highly recommend visiting in summer.  It’s hot, but worth it.   And for those used to high humidity - it’s legitimately a dry heat and that makes a significant difference.  Your technology however, will disagree.  My phone has been having real problems w the heat.

The tourist sell and tipping culture are horrible here; the closest I’ve seen is Jamaica, and I’ve found this worse.  We’ve been somewhat protected by it from our guides but still insane.  And had to budget a few hundred extra for guides/drivers/etc.  Which they absolutely earned but I would’ve appreciated if they’d just priced the tour appropriately and not needed that.

I had one young person follow me trying to sell something who rotated through about 8 languages trying to get my attention, and of the ones I know enough to understand - he was using them correctly.  Now I’ve no idea if he speaks any more of them than that one line but still to be that multilingual and his primary profession is hawking tourist junk (and it really was objectively junk) is extremely sad and worrisome about the society.  Chris had one who followed us for several blocks in Cairo trying to convince him to buy flowers.  Would not go away.   Otherwise though we’ve been mostly able to ignore them, and most are at the tourist stops not so much where we’ve wandered around town.   And it's everywhere - you can't go to the washroom without somebody trying to turn on a tap for you or hand you paper towel (out of the standard holder you could access yourself) and demanding a tip for it.   Extremely uncomfortable at times.

Most of the country seems to be a Coke place, which has been wonderful.  Note that the restaurants, cafes, hotels, etc do not differentiate - it’s all “cola” to them.  May the odds be ever in your favour.   From a food perspective - I'm an extremely picky eater and I never had trouble finding things I'd eat (and actually enjoy); however, I also basically lived off the Egyptian version of pepto bismol for the trip since my digestive system was not even vaguely ready for the change.   We stuck to bottled water (as recommended) and didn't eat any street meat.  But likely all those various drinks were made with tap water, and we didn't really clue into that till we were almost at the end of the trip.  It was not serious, it did not impact my ability to enjoy any part of the trip, just a mild inconvenience.

Garbage is everywhere.  Less so in Luxor, but both Aswan and Cairo, as well as large amounts of it floating in the Nile was less ideal.  Smoking is also still very much a thing - I’m still shocked every time I see an ashtray on a table in a restaurant.  Fortunately we haven’t had many smoking around us, and none indoors, but the odour lingers.

As does perfume - there is perfume everywhere here.  Even being sprayed around the museum.

I will say though - in the ancient sites, I never ceased to be amused by hieroglyphs that resemble modern emojis - some things are constant in life ;)

So overall — Egypt - fascinating place to visit, especially if you spring for a high-end tour; not somewhere I’d want to live.