It's been a busy 10 days taking in all the sites of Egypt. After escaping from the beach, we realized that we still had a lot to see and not a lot of time to see it. But I am now happy to report: the Pyramids: check, the Nile: check, Luxor: check, the Spinx: check, the Treasures of King Tut's tomb: check, and finally, our Indian visas: check.

We started out by catching a train, then a bus to the Sudanese border to see the massive statues of Ramses II that incredibly had to be moved to save them from the flooding caused by the Aswan dam. From there it was up to Luxor(the city, not the hotel in Vegas)with its famous temples and the Valley of the Kings. Unfortunately Yo was sick for a few days in Luxor. We've each been sick once on this trip. The Japanese say that once you've been "baptized" by diarrhea, you will be fine the rest of the trip. I hope so, because I don't want to be "baptized" again. From there it was back up to Cairo. Yesterday we saw the King Tut's treasures at the Egyptian Museum. I remember when they toured the States in the 70's and Steve Martin had a big hit with his King Tut song.
Seeing the rising sun hitting the Pyramids this morning, they looked like they were floating in the sky above the sprawl of Cairo. They are larger and more impressive than I ever imagined, as big as mountains. We were the first ones there this morning, but the tours groups soon descending upon the place. There were groups from all over, but our favorites were the Russians: guys walking around without shirts, girls in bikini tops, short shorts, and high heels trudging through the sand.

In two days we are off to India via Dubai.

-Shawn

Egypt Travel Tidbit:
The distance from the Spinx to the nearest Kentucky Fried Chicken...150 yards.
I highly recommend the 3 piece Pyramid platter.

it's basicly macaroni mixed with rice(served under the macaroni), but comes with crispy deep fried onion, lentil beans and delicious tomato sauce. you put all these in the bowl, mix well and eat. you can find this dish everywhere in egypt. it's cheap(usually $1 for a big bowl), tasty and it fills you up. in egypt, we meet other travelers and exchange favorite kushari place information. i like extra onion on my kushari, the crunchy sweet onion makes this dish even better. and it's very different from other middle eastern food, so we can get a break from felafel, kabab and stuff like that. i'd love to make this dish when we get back. i'm studying many different kushari recipes right now.

yoshimi

The one thing all the major cities in the Middle East(Istanbul, Beirut, Damascus, and Cairo)have in common is horrendous traffic. We're not doing any driving, but we still have to navigate each city on foot. Trying to cross the street feels a lot more risky than the threat from Al Qaeda or Hezbollah. So we've developed certain stategies to help deal with this danger:
1)If you see a walk signal, ignore it, it means nothing and will only confuse you.
2)If you wait for all lanes to be clear before attempting to cross you'll be waiting a long, long time. So you must remember to, "Be Agressive, Be Be Agressive, I Said Be Agressive, Be Be Agressive." Once the lane closest to you clears, inch your way out into the street until the next lane clears, and then the next.
3)An especially vunerable time is when you are coming from or going to the train/bus station because you are less nimble with a huge backpack strapped to you. So think of your backback as a bumper. Always keep it between you and the oncoming traffic, so it can absorb the impact of any collision.
4)Make eye contact with the driver. Stare them down. They are like dogs, the can smell fear.
5)And finally, what we've found to be the most effective technique is the use of blockers. Blockers are locals, trained since birth to deal with this traffic. Always keep a blocker between you and oncoming traffic. It may sound cold, but women with baby strollers and old people with walkers work best because they are slow and garner some sympathy from the aggressive drivers.
Yoshimi has become so good at crossing the street that I have noticed that locals have started to use her as a blocker.
-Shawn

After eight horrible days of beach captivitity, we finally escaped. We left early one morning before Kamal could talk us out of it. We have gone from a beach town of a few hundred people to Cairo, a city of almost 20 million. Cairo is the biggest city in Africa and the Middle East, and if you love big cities(and we do), than you will love the craziness of Cairo. We haven't done any of the tourist things yet, having spent the last two days jumping through all the hoops required to get an Indian visa. India always puts you through this trial of fire before before granting you a visa. We've gone from the Indian Embassy to the Indian Consulate to the Japanese Embassy(twice) and then back to the Indian Consulate. A few more trips to the Consulate last week and a $100 later and we will be the proud owners one Indian visa each.
Most countries give you visas free at the border.
This morning we braved the Cairo subway system during rush hour. It was more crowded than anything I've seen in New York, Tokyo, or Mexico City. The trains would pull in the station, the doors would open, and out would pour the commuters, like a liquid made up of human sized solids. Inside the train our feet barely touched the ground. There was no need to hold on to anything because you are squeezed in so tight it is impossible to fall. And because it is a Muslim country Yo got to ride in the womens only car.
As with most big cities there is great people watching. Tonight we saw a mother feeding her newborn baby a bottle of Coca Cola. I hope it doesn't stunt the future growth of her teeth. And speaking of soda, all cans here have poptops. Remember poptops? I love poptops. We going to try to collect enough to make a necklace.
We are now at the halfway point of our trip. We've been gone three months and it feels like three years. They say time flys when you are having fun, but for us it goes slow when everyday is new, fresh, and also fun.
-Shawn

We are being held captive at a small beach on the Sinai Penninsula in Egypt. We are at a place called Soft Beach Camp run by a wonderful couple, Kamel and his German wife, Christina. Everyday I protest, "Kamel, we are in Egypt. We must see the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Nile, and the temples at Luxor." But he always answers, "Mr. Shawn, my friend, the Pyramids have been there for 5000 years. There is no hurry. Please relax on the beach." We have been here for 5 days and I don't foresee us escaping anytime soon. Luckily there are some really friendly dogs and cats to keep us company. All there is to do all day is sit on the beach, read, and stare across the Red Sea at Saudi Arabia 10 miles away. We are staying in a simple thatched hut with a mattress on the floor, a mosquito net, and a dim light bulb hanging from above. It's only 10 feet from the beach and costs $12 a night including a big breakfast for each of us. There's a guy here from Australia that has been here for over a month. His flight leaves in a few days and this is all he's seen of Egypt. Someone please come rescue us, but I'm warning you, you may have trouble escaping as well.
Shawn