Amazing Egypt !

So few years ago, I finally got around to seeing the amazing Great Pyramids and Sphynx, after 2 weeks in Egypt. , I mean i've seen these things on TV but being here was just unreal, and we were almost humbled by The Pyramids-their over whelming size and age. Hand made... just crazy To get to Giza, I grabbed a taxi and sat for an hour or so in bumper to bumper traffic. "No A/C," the driver explained, "but OK, I roll window down, fresh air come in." Fresh air indeed, the exhaust fumes were wonderful. As I approached the pyramids through Giza (which is a rather modern, Westernized neighborhood), I spotted the Pyramid of Khufu first, rising majestically above the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise attached to the Giza Mall. And let me tell you, the urban sprawl has really pushed its limits here.
The pyramids are situated on the Giza Plateau, around which shops and high-rise apartments have invaded like an urban fungus. Once I finally got through security and entered the complex, I got my first good unimpeded look at the pyramids. I'm sure you've heard that pictures do not do the Giza Pyramids justice. Well, they don't. But I took plenty of pictures anyway. It was actually quite a pleasant visit; the temperature dipped down to a high of about 43 deg C today (heat index 49), which is rather balmy to say the least for late summer in the Sahara. Plus there was really no one there, so the normally-ubiquitous beggars and vendors and all-purpose hasslers had retreated a bit.
I walked around the complex a bit and watched people climb up the pyramids past the well-armed yet indifferent security guards and the signs that said 'NO CLIMBING' in at least six languages. However, the problem with the photos I took was that it's hard enough to get a frame of reference when you're seeing these massive edifices with your own eyes, let alone when you're looking at a two-dimensional photo. Nonetheless, the pictures taken from the base of the pyramids show a slightly better angle. I thought the Sphinx was cooler simply for aesthetic reasons. Even though the pyramids at Giza are astonishing to see and the only remaining ancient wonder of the world, they're essentially piles of rocks. From an engineering and logistical standpoint, the pyramids are far more incredible. But something about the Sphinx was more intriguing, more pleasing to the eyes. Especially the view of the front of the Sphinx with the pyramids in the background indeed awesome! I got a taxi back to Zamalek from a very nice man named Ali who keeps a book that he asks his passengers to sign. He had signatures from tourists from America, all over Europe, Korea, China, Japan, Australia, and one from Iceland. He gave me a pretty sharp-looking business card and said I could hire him privately any day I wanted to drive a little farther down to Memphis and Saqqara. Up at the crack of dawn today at 3.00 am for the drive down to Abu Simbel in the little bus that could. I had another armed escort however this time there were heaps of buses heading out. I started in the middle of the convey but were soon passed by almost everyone. Another breakfast box broke the drive and we arrived at the new resting place of Ramses II and his favorite wife Nefertari. The guide here was good but after while I were longing to have Adel back. The temple structure of Ramses II was absolutely incredible and it was hard to believe that it had been moved as it looked as if it had been resting there for centuries. It is hard to get an appreciation for the size of the statues both the four colossi that guard the entrance and the 8 “smaller” ones inside until you are standing underneath them. The colours and scenes inside the temple are quite remarkable.It is hard to imagine the impact that temples like this would have had on the general populace when they were constructed. Now it is easy to see how these monuments that can still awe me in their weathered state who today are surrounded by modern marvels and access to information must have convinced ancient Egyptians that their kings were indeed gods. The smaller of the two temples that Ramses II dedicated to his favorite wife show not only how much he loved her but also how much he loved himself as there are more statues and hieroglyphs of him than her. After walking around the two temples for a couple of hours I made it to the visitor center where you can read about the huge task of relocating the temple from its original position whilst battling the rising waters of lake Nasser. On the bus ride back to Aswan I saw a massive mirage where it looked like the whole dessert had turned into a lake with the mountains being small islands. We had just time to have a quick shower and then it was off for my felucca trip down the Nile. I had forgotten how nice it is to be on the water in a traditional felluca sailing boat. We sailed for about 2 hours before pulling up to the bank so that I could have a swim. I were a bit skeptical but captain of traditional felluca sailing boat assured that the Nile was flowing too fast where I had stopped for there to be any problems swimming so in I jumped. Hehehe!
After my swim we sailed down river a bit more until I got to my mooring place for the night. After the gang plank was rolled out and my toilet rocks were pointed out I headed into an Nubian village to the Chief's house for dinner. I had a lovely dinner on the roof of the Chief's house whilst I were entertained by his youngest son and other members of the family
Huraghada on the Red Sea was my next stop, nice to be finally near water of some type. Although the 'Friendship Village' Hotel is something I would prefer to forget, it's good to remember 'you get what you pay for' and I had paid for! All in all, Egypt comes recommended. Do this once in your lifetime. And I believe this country has to be done through any local good friends.Expect everything to be totally different to how it is at home, standards/ service/ food/ religion/ climate. Another one of my top 5 favorite things I have experienced in Egypt.

Dubai, the City of Gold

Aaah, Dubai, the unfinished city. Flying into Dubai showed a myriad of oil pipelines criss-crossing the sand and sea, and hidden away in the hazy mist was the city - concealed as it was all you could see of it was the tops of the many sky scrapers and an abundance of cranes, busy building even more sky scrapers. Stepping off the plane was a little like stepping into a sauna - I had expected it to be a dry heat out here, but it's in fact very humid (the average humidity in September is 85%, according to one website); so humid, in fact, that my sunglasses actually steamed up when I put them on (not terribly useful)!
When I first landed in Dubai, from cold Iraq - on my way to Kuwait - I arrived around 10:30 at night. I figured, since it was late at night it would be cool outside. I had always understood that the desert regions are very very hot during the day time and rather cool at night. So, when the plane landed I threw on my leather jacket and got ready to deplane. Then the door opened on the jet. Geesh. It was in the low 30s and sweat starting forming almost instantly. That jacket was quickly packed away and never saw the light of day in Kuwait or Dubai...I doubt it will see any action in India either. Actually I find that Kuwait was hot. Dubai felt hotter...thanks to the humidity. I'm not sure why there isn't the same humidity in Kuwait since they are both located on the Arabian Gulf. I probably should have paid more attention in science classes. For whatever reason, Kuwait has a very dry heat and Dubai is a very humid heat. In the middle of the day it was almost unbearable to be outside...thankfully people in the air conditioning business seem to be having record sales in the UAE. Go Big or Go Home seems to be a motto taken to heart in Dubai. The number of large-scale projects going on is mind-boggling. Projects under construction or recently completed include Burj Dubai, which will be - by far - the worlds tallest structure, four man-made islands that are all visible from space, including one that is shaped like the world, the only 7-star hotel on the planet (which I did NOT stay in), as well as a ski hill (in a Mall of the Emirates) and many other projects all happening, it seems, at the same time. A sign I passed seemed to sum up Dubai for me - "Now Open, the worlds largest ACE hardware store!"
The next morning I braved the public transport system and caught a bus to the centre of town called Deira. It is in Deira where the Gold and Spice Souks are found. I wandered through the Gold Souk, ducking into shops when I got too hot, I trying jewelry on as an excuse to stay there and cool down. Inside the proprietors give you cold drinks which is a great way to keep hydrated for free! Outside I were hassled a fair bit by guys trying to sell copy watches. This bought memories of Asia flooding back. After I had seen enough bling to sink a ship we continued on to the Spice Souk. It was here, I realised that most of the city shuts down for a few hours after lunch when the temperature is at its hottest. There were people lying around, seeking shade and having a snooze before they had to start work again at 4.30PM.
In Dubai it seems that every other road is under construction or being expanded and the public bus system is horrid. A large metro is currently under construction as, it seems, is the entire city. I took a public bus once but the system is not reliable (over an hour late, very slow - and packed) but found that taxis are, thankfully, very affordable and are the only reliable spread out.
Due to the rapid development and 'modernization' of the city, there are only a few historic structures left in Dubai. All these historic buildings are used for tourist reasons which is likely the only reason they are still standing. Dubai Museum is located in the old Al-Fahidi Fort and is thought to be the oldest structure in the Emirate, being built around 1800 to defend the town of Dubai. Dubai Museum had some great displays on the history of the region and life as it existed for people who lived in the area in times past. Heritage village was mostly closed when I visited but it looked like it was just a bunch of shops set up for tourists in a historic-looking building. I don't think I missed too much there.
Despite a big push towards all things modern...one of the best experiences in Dubai cost virtually nothing and is very traditional. The Abras (or water taxis) go across Dubai Creek for only 1 dirham, or about $0.33. They only go when they are filled with people and cross the creek in five to ten minutes, depending on the route. They where a great, cheap, fast way to cross and see the creek area...with traffic congestion a similar trip by car can take over an hour in rush hour. I'm not sure what will happen to the Abras when the new metro system opens up in a couple years though.

My memory of the garden beauties

There was a time in my life when beauty meant something special to me. I guess that would have been when I was about fourteen years old.

I would get up every morning at the school hostel, make my bed just like the little soldier that I had become and then I would get into one of the two straight lines and march to breakfast with the other twenty or thirty boys who also lived in my dormitory.

After breakfast one Saturday morning I returned to the dormitory and saw the house supervisor chasing the beautiful monarch butterflies who lived by the hundreds in the azalea bushes strewn around the school hostel.

I carefully watched as he caught these beautiful creatures, one after the other, and then took them from the net and then stuck straight pins through their head and wings, pinning them onto a heavy cardboard sheet.
How cruel it was to kill something of such beauty. I had walked many times out into the bushes, all by myself, just so the butterflies could land on my head, face and hands so I could look at them up close.

When the telephone rang the house supervisor laid the large cardboard paper down on the back cement step and went inside to answer the phone. I walked up to the cardboard and looked at the one butterfly who he had just pinned to the large paper. It was still moving about so I reached down and touched it on the wing causing one of the pins to fall out. It started flying around and around trying to get away but it was still pinned by the one wing with the other straight pin. Finally it's wing broke off and the butterfly fell to the ground and just quivered.

I picked up the torn wing and the butterfly and I spat on it's wing and tried to get it to stick back on so it could fly away and be free before the house supervisor came back. But it would not stay on him.

The next thing I knew the house supervisor came walking back out of the back door by the garbage room and started yelling at me. I told him that I did not do anything but he did not believe me. He picked up the cardboard paper and started hitting me on the top of the head. There were all kinds of butterfly pieces going everywhere. He threw the cardboard down on the ground and told me to pick it up and put it in the garbage can inside the back room of the dormitory and then he left.

I sat there in the dirt, by that big old tree, for the longest time trying to fit all the butterfly pieces back together so I could bury them whole, but it was too hard to do. So I prayed for them and then I put them in an old torn up shoe box and I buried them in the bottom of the fort that I had built in the ground, out by the large bamboos, near the roses bushes.

Every year when the butterflies would return to the school hostel and try to land on me I would try and shoo them away because they did not know that the school hostel was a bad place to live and a very bad place to die.