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June 9
Day 29
Contiki Day 20
Cairo,
EGYPT
Day 29
Contiki Day 20
Cairo,
EGYPT
:D
Click the pic to view all photos for this entry.
Click the pic to view all photos for this entry.
Culture Shock
The Journey...
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~*OPTIONAL*~ Nile Cruise & Dinner
$45.00 USD
$45.00 USD
My alarm went off at 10:00am this morning. It felt great to sleep in. It still hadn’t hit me that we were about to board a flight for Cairo. I had my duffle bag packed with six days worth of clothing, plus some extra room for souvenirs. If there was one country where I would allow myself to go crazy buying souvenirs, it was going to be Egypt.
The 26 of us going to Egypt gathered in the lobby of the hotel to wait for Ryan and Amos to get back. They had driven the other group to the ferry to take them to Mykonos. Ryan was coming with us to Egypt, but after dropping us off at the airport, Amos was parking the coach in a security parking lot in Athens and then taking the next ferry to join the Mykonos people.
Ryan’s duties in Egypt were going to be a little different. As he had never been to Egypt either, he was still going to be there to help organize things for us, but the majority of our tour was going to be conducted by a local tour guide. Ryan, for the most part, was going to become one of us - a tourist.
When Amos got back we boarded the coach and drove to the Athens airport. After saying goodbye to Amos, we stood in an alphabetical order line to get our boarding passes. The airport was really nice inside. It seemed to be very new. It sort of reminded me of the brand new Terminal 1 at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, although not quite as big. Athens seems to be a central port for flight access to Africa and the Middle East, so there were lots of different people here from around the world.
We went through the security area and Chris bought a new camera to replace the one Aaron ruined when he threw him in the pool in Corfu. Some people bought some duty-free stuff and then we went and waited at our boarding gate. We were all really excited. I had never seen everyone this pumped up before. Being on tour had become to feel like regular life for us, so this felt like we were going on a holiday. A holiday within a holiday I guess.
We boarded Egypt Air flight 748 and took our seats. We got our first small taste of culture shock when we boarded the jet. For the most part, it looked like every other Air Bus jet I’ve been on, but the music they were playing over the speakers was something different. It was Arabic style chimey music. It reminded me of flying carpets and scimitars. It was so strange to think that we were going to a place where this sort of music was normal. It was so completely different than western culture.
The 26 of us going to Egypt gathered in the lobby of the hotel to wait for Ryan and Amos to get back. They had driven the other group to the ferry to take them to Mykonos. Ryan was coming with us to Egypt, but after dropping us off at the airport, Amos was parking the coach in a security parking lot in Athens and then taking the next ferry to join the Mykonos people.
Ryan’s duties in Egypt were going to be a little different. As he had never been to Egypt either, he was still going to be there to help organize things for us, but the majority of our tour was going to be conducted by a local tour guide. Ryan, for the most part, was going to become one of us - a tourist.
When Amos got back we boarded the coach and drove to the Athens airport. After saying goodbye to Amos, we stood in an alphabetical order line to get our boarding passes. The airport was really nice inside. It seemed to be very new. It sort of reminded me of the brand new Terminal 1 at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, although not quite as big. Athens seems to be a central port for flight access to Africa and the Middle East, so there were lots of different people here from around the world.
We went through the security area and Chris bought a new camera to replace the one Aaron ruined when he threw him in the pool in Corfu. Some people bought some duty-free stuff and then we went and waited at our boarding gate. We were all really excited. I had never seen everyone this pumped up before. Being on tour had become to feel like regular life for us, so this felt like we were going on a holiday. A holiday within a holiday I guess.
We boarded Egypt Air flight 748 and took our seats. We got our first small taste of culture shock when we boarded the jet. For the most part, it looked like every other Air Bus jet I’ve been on, but the music they were playing over the speakers was something different. It was Arabic style chimey music. It reminded me of flying carpets and scimitars. It was so strange to think that we were going to a place where this sort of music was normal. It was so completely different than western culture.
Our air line attendant was also quite a character. He kept on eyeing up our ladies and hit on them quite a few times during the flight. He gave them all extra mints and basically ignored the female Egyptian passengers. That’s another thing that surprised me a little - Egyptian women. The ones on our flight weren’t as covered-up as I thought they would be. Most were wearing regular dresses that went down to their ankles. Their heads and faces weren’t covered either. During my time in Egypt, I would see a few women that were completely covered from head to toe, but we would later learn that it was only by personal choice. For the most part, women were free to dress as they wanted. Some would choose strictly follow their religion and cover up, while others dressed what would be considered normal by western culture. Egypt is a purely democratic country, so the government isn’t allowed to impose strict rules like other more corrupt Islamic states. I think Egypt is a great example of what the more corrupt countries can work towards being like. Although there is still a great deal of poverty present, it proved to be a prosperous, peaceful country filled with great people and a safe environment.
We flew over the Mediterranean Sea and watched as the continent of Africa began to roll in under us. It looked completely different than seeing North America or Europe from the sky. Most of Northern Africa is comprised of the Sahara Desert, so everything beneath us as far as the eye could see was a sandy brown. As we began our descent into Cairo, even the buildings were tan & brown colors. The only color we saw was a long strip of green running North to South - the Nile River.
We flew over the Mediterranean Sea and watched as the continent of Africa began to roll in under us. It looked completely different than seeing North America or Europe from the sky. Most of Northern Africa is comprised of the Sahara Desert, so everything beneath us as far as the eye could see was a sandy brown. As we began our descent into Cairo, even the buildings were tan & brown colors. The only color we saw was a long strip of green running North to South - the Nile River.
As we landed in the Cairo Airport I thought my head was going to explode with excitement. I looked around to see my tour mates in much the same situation. Everyone’s faces were glued to the windows and we couldn’t wait to get off the jet and explore. As we disembarked I got my first breath of Africa. Even the air was different - very dry. On top of that it was extremely hot outside. Probably around 40°.
We entered the air port and before going through customs we hit the duty-free liquor store. I bought a 40oz bottle of Baccardi white rum for $15.00 USD! At home that would almost be double the price.
We went through customs which was quick and painless. Before leaving Canada, I had to send my passport away to the Egyptian and Turkish embassies to get tourist visas for the two countries. At customs they filled out my visa and gave me a stamp in my passport. I was really excited about that since so far I hadn’t been getting a lot of stamps within the European Union.
On the other side of security, our tour guide for Cairo, Muhammad, was waiting to greet us. He took us to a currency exchange in the airport and we traded some of our US Dollars for Egyptian Pounds. The Pounds weren’t exactly the cleanest money in the world, in fact, it looked as though it had been used as toilet paper. A real change from the nice crisp Euros we had gotten used to spending.
As we left the airport we walked under a sign that said “Cairo Airport Welcomes You To Egypt”. I still couldn’t believe I was finally here.
We entered the air port and before going through customs we hit the duty-free liquor store. I bought a 40oz bottle of Baccardi white rum for $15.00 USD! At home that would almost be double the price.
We went through customs which was quick and painless. Before leaving Canada, I had to send my passport away to the Egyptian and Turkish embassies to get tourist visas for the two countries. At customs they filled out my visa and gave me a stamp in my passport. I was really excited about that since so far I hadn’t been getting a lot of stamps within the European Union.
On the other side of security, our tour guide for Cairo, Muhammad, was waiting to greet us. He took us to a currency exchange in the airport and we traded some of our US Dollars for Egyptian Pounds. The Pounds weren’t exactly the cleanest money in the world, in fact, it looked as though it had been used as toilet paper. A real change from the nice crisp Euros we had gotten used to spending.
As we left the airport we walked under a sign that said “Cairo Airport Welcomes You To Egypt”. I still couldn’t believe I was finally here.
We left the airport and Muhammad introduced us to Amos’s Egyptian doppelganger - our coach driver, Alibaba. The coach, although it didn’t have the Contiki logos all over it, was exactly the same as our regular one. The nice thing was that there would only be 27 of us riding it, which meant that we would have two seats all to ourselves. That was a real treat.
I wanted to get the best view I could while driving through Cairo, so I sat at the very front with Ryan and Tiana during the drive to our hotel. It was strange to have Ryan sitting in the passenger seats. In Europe he was always in a special seat located right beside the front door. Muhammad was in that seat right now and he gave us some information about the city during the drive. He said that we’d see a mosque every couple blocks. He was right. They were everywhere. The traffic was also completely insane. I didn’t think anything could get any worse than Greece, but this was about 100x worse. Utter chaos. There didn’t seem to be any rules to the road, so everyone just drove wherever they wanted. I was very impressed with Alibaba’s skill at maneuvering the coach through this madness. He could quite possibly be as legendary as Amos.
This drive was where the real culture chock started to set in. Everything was different. Everything! The streets, the people, the cars, the buildings - it was like being in a whole new world. Some people were wearing turbans and robes while others were wearing jeans and t-shirts. Most of the buildings looked very run down and were fairly colorless. The biggest shock was that everything was utterly chaotic. I didn’t know how people could life in such madness, but I suppose for them this is normal. On day 1 of the tour, Ryan told us a great phrase to live by: “It’s not wrong, it’s different”. I had a feeling I would have to remind myself of that a few times over the next week.
I wanted to get the best view I could while driving through Cairo, so I sat at the very front with Ryan and Tiana during the drive to our hotel. It was strange to have Ryan sitting in the passenger seats. In Europe he was always in a special seat located right beside the front door. Muhammad was in that seat right now and he gave us some information about the city during the drive. He said that we’d see a mosque every couple blocks. He was right. They were everywhere. The traffic was also completely insane. I didn’t think anything could get any worse than Greece, but this was about 100x worse. Utter chaos. There didn’t seem to be any rules to the road, so everyone just drove wherever they wanted. I was very impressed with Alibaba’s skill at maneuvering the coach through this madness. He could quite possibly be as legendary as Amos.
This drive was where the real culture chock started to set in. Everything was different. Everything! The streets, the people, the cars, the buildings - it was like being in a whole new world. Some people were wearing turbans and robes while others were wearing jeans and t-shirts. Most of the buildings looked very run down and were fairly colorless. The biggest shock was that everything was utterly chaotic. I didn’t know how people could life in such madness, but I suppose for them this is normal. On day 1 of the tour, Ryan told us a great phrase to live by: “It’s not wrong, it’s different”. I had a feeling I would have to remind myself of that a few times over the next week.
After about 45 minutes of driving we arrived at our hotel. We were all pretty nervous of our surroundings at this point, so as soon as we stepped foot off the coach we quickly went inside the hotel as if it was some sort of sanctuary. We were thrown into the culture head first and were all a little overwhelmed. I wasn’t worried, though. I knew we’d adjust soon.
Our hotel was an older building, but the rooms were pretty nice. After being greeted by the hotel staff with a glass of hibiscus juice, we were shown to our rooms. Chris was my new roommate for the next week. All our rooms were located at the fourth floor, and after settling in Tiana came to my room and said she had to show me something our her window. I went to the window and looked outside. On the roof of the building next to us was something so random that I thought I was seeing imaginary things. The roof was littered with garbage and in the midst of it were goats and sheep eating it. We were in the middle of the largest city in Africa and there were farm animals on the roof tops. Now I had seen everything. It was just plain weird.
We had an hour before we had to leave the hotel for our next optional. I was so excited that I couldn’t seem to sit still. I was in Cairo, Egypt. I didn’t want to just sit in a hotel when there was so much to see outside the hotel’s front door. Nobody seemed interested in going outside to walk around, so I built up a bit of courage and went out on my own.
I didn’t have any idea where I was or what was in the area, so I just started casually strolling down the street. I was a little nervous at first, but my anxiety started to go away when I saw that this chaotic atmosphere was nothing more than a lot of people going about their business. Nobody looked at me strangely, or even acknowledged my presence. I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting. This was my first time being in a place where I was the minority. Not only visibly, but religiously as well. The Islamic people weren’t the monsters that television and movies sometimes make them out to be (althrough I wasn't expecting them to be). They were just everyday people leading their normal lives. I started to really appreciate where I was and what I was seeing. This walk helped me get over my initial culture shock and it made it easier to observe my surroundings. As I walked down the street I noticed a lot of shops selling automotive parts and tools. Our hotel must have been located in a commercial industrial area. I saw a group of Egyptian girls walking around in jeans and t-shirts and nobody looked at them disrespectfully. I only walked around for about twenty minutes, but in that time a lot of stereotypes that I believed to be true were debunked. This place was definitely very different, but I liked it. Reasons like this, discovering and seeing a new culture, are the core reasons why I love to travel. I knew that being here was going to be a life-altering experience.
Our hotel was an older building, but the rooms were pretty nice. After being greeted by the hotel staff with a glass of hibiscus juice, we were shown to our rooms. Chris was my new roommate for the next week. All our rooms were located at the fourth floor, and after settling in Tiana came to my room and said she had to show me something our her window. I went to the window and looked outside. On the roof of the building next to us was something so random that I thought I was seeing imaginary things. The roof was littered with garbage and in the midst of it were goats and sheep eating it. We were in the middle of the largest city in Africa and there were farm animals on the roof tops. Now I had seen everything. It was just plain weird.
We had an hour before we had to leave the hotel for our next optional. I was so excited that I couldn’t seem to sit still. I was in Cairo, Egypt. I didn’t want to just sit in a hotel when there was so much to see outside the hotel’s front door. Nobody seemed interested in going outside to walk around, so I built up a bit of courage and went out on my own.
I didn’t have any idea where I was or what was in the area, so I just started casually strolling down the street. I was a little nervous at first, but my anxiety started to go away when I saw that this chaotic atmosphere was nothing more than a lot of people going about their business. Nobody looked at me strangely, or even acknowledged my presence. I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting. This was my first time being in a place where I was the minority. Not only visibly, but religiously as well. The Islamic people weren’t the monsters that television and movies sometimes make them out to be (althrough I wasn't expecting them to be). They were just everyday people leading their normal lives. I started to really appreciate where I was and what I was seeing. This walk helped me get over my initial culture shock and it made it easier to observe my surroundings. As I walked down the street I noticed a lot of shops selling automotive parts and tools. Our hotel must have been located in a commercial industrial area. I saw a group of Egyptian girls walking around in jeans and t-shirts and nobody looked at them disrespectfully. I only walked around for about twenty minutes, but in that time a lot of stereotypes that I believed to be true were debunked. This place was definitely very different, but I liked it. Reasons like this, discovering and seeing a new culture, are the core reasons why I love to travel. I knew that being here was going to be a life-altering experience.
After my walk I went back to the hotel and we boarded the coach for this evening’s optional - a cruise and dinner on the Nile River.
Alibaba drove us to a dock on the Nile and we got a look at our dinner cruise boat. It was a beautiful new boat called the Nile Crystal. I was amazed that we, young people on a Contiki tour, would be having dinner on such a spectacular ship. They even had red carpets laid out for us at the entrance.
We boarded the Nile Crystal and the inside was as amazing as the outside. It had a large dining area with gourmet buffets set up with heaps of food and desserts. There was also a front deck where we all hung out and took photos until dinner was ready.
We boarded the Nile Crystal and the inside was as amazing as the outside. It had a large dining area with gourmet buffets set up with heaps of food and desserts. There was also a front deck where we all hung out and took photos until dinner was ready.
As we began our cruise down the largest river in Africa, there was an array of entertainment to watch as we ate. There was a live band with a belly dancer, traditional Egyptian dancers, and other performers. One guy came out dressed in this sort of dress-like thing and spun around in circles for about twenty minutes straight doing all sorts of tricks with his strange costume. I had never seen anything like it before. There was a photographer going around taking pictures of us that we could buy later in the evening. I bought a picture of Chris and I with the spinning guy.
After dinner we went back out on the front deck and took pictures of Cairo in the evening. We sailed through the city center area where there were lots of tall buildings all lit up. It was a phenomenal ride. The views of the city were completely amazing.
After dinner we went back out on the front deck and took pictures of Cairo in the evening. We sailed through the city center area where there were lots of tall buildings all lit up. It was a phenomenal ride. The views of the city were completely amazing.
After dinner we drove back to the hotel and got to see more of the city at night. We drove through a shopping district with all sorts of different clothing stores. I think some of the girls would have loved to have gone shopping, but I think they were too nervous to go out on their own.
In Egypt, it was expected that women didn’t walk in public without a with a male escort. It wasn’t a law, just a custom. The same rule went for tourists. Out of the 27 of us there were only six guys - myself, Kansas Chris, Luke, Blair, John and tour manager Ryan. Blair was with his girlfriend Suzanne, and Ryan spent a lot of time with our tour guides organizing stuff, so during our time here, Chris, Luke, John and I sometimes found ourselves spread pretty thin trying to escort our girls around - especially at the markets in Aswan, but I’ll explain more on that later.
Back at the hotel we had an early night. Paula had to use the shower in mine & Chris’s room since her’s had no water pressure. Tonight I had to remember to brush my teeth with bottled water. Unlike the tap water in Europe, Egypt’s water wasn’t safe to drink. We also had to be cautious of what we ate. No salads or soup - basically anything that could have un-boiled tap water in it.
I went to bed around midnight tonight. I wanted to make sure I could get as much rest as possible since the next five days were going to be action packed. Each day we’d be doing something that we would remember for the rest of our lives. Tomorrow were going to see the pyramids and I was so excited that I almost couldn’t sleep.
In Egypt, it was expected that women didn’t walk in public without a with a male escort. It wasn’t a law, just a custom. The same rule went for tourists. Out of the 27 of us there were only six guys - myself, Kansas Chris, Luke, Blair, John and tour manager Ryan. Blair was with his girlfriend Suzanne, and Ryan spent a lot of time with our tour guides organizing stuff, so during our time here, Chris, Luke, John and I sometimes found ourselves spread pretty thin trying to escort our girls around - especially at the markets in Aswan, but I’ll explain more on that later.
Back at the hotel we had an early night. Paula had to use the shower in mine & Chris’s room since her’s had no water pressure. Tonight I had to remember to brush my teeth with bottled water. Unlike the tap water in Europe, Egypt’s water wasn’t safe to drink. We also had to be cautious of what we ate. No salads or soup - basically anything that could have un-boiled tap water in it.
I went to bed around midnight tonight. I wanted to make sure I could get as much rest as possible since the next five days were going to be action packed. Each day we’d be doing something that we would remember for the rest of our lives. Tomorrow were going to see the pyramids and I was so excited that I almost couldn’t sleep.
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