Leaving Cairo

Time to get out of this hectic city although fascinating city. We went to the Pyramids again, again getting in for free but this time with beautiful blue skies as a back drop so some lovely photos (but I've not sorted them out on the net yet.) Had good times in Safari Hostel, famous Japanese hostel with great communal dinners. A birthday Party there for a friend of ours a few days ago saw us a wee bit tipsy and full of tasty home cooked Japanese grub. Wandering the alleyways of the older parts of town is a delight, today I got myself a light cotton headscarf, needed for the deserts to come.
So, Our first stop will be the Bahariya Oasis (click on the map for Egyptian Geography) We will head around the Oasis' in the Western Desert, hopefully camping amid the dunes and enjoying the peace and quite, a far cry from the horns and shouting of Cairo. Today we got our Visas for the Sudan so once we've seen the ancient delights of Luxor and Aswan (and fought off the milions trying to sell us plastic sphinxes) we can get a boat there. Should be an adventure, hell of a remote place, but those who have been there have universally loved it for its welcoming people and beautiful spaces. Weve done some travelling, but 'the Sudan' has a ring to it that marks it out as something else I think, hell there isnt even a Lovely Planet guide book for it! (and yes they have a few wars, but nothing anywhere near were we'll be going, honest! Good info has been recieved, so we are confident its a good place to be going)
More wandering for us, peas to y'all!

Pyramids & Passport Photos

Loads of posts from Cairo as internet is VALUE (although still not as good as Buenos Aires which rules the internet cafe world) Once we wonder south into Africa postings may get sparse, so Ill get a load in whilst we can. So, we saw the Pyramids. Oh yes they are big, but it wasnt the best weather, no blue sky back drops as you can see so we'll have to go back another day when clearer. The picture shows me climbing one of the hefty graves, if you look closely (siting down, furthest left with brown Tshirt, click on picture to enlarge). You're not supposed to climb them, but then you are also supposed to pay to get in, which we decided we'd avoid by sneaking in. Given the state of the place (rubbish strewn all around) I dont think they deserve the cash. Better in my pocket. Instead I spent the cash on 32 passport photos which I will need for all the visas I have to sort out this week (Sudan, Ethiopia, and Extending Egypt) Just in case you wondered what I looked like these days, here's the picture.

Cairo Post Scrum

Todays entertainment revolved around trying to retrieve a parcel from the Egyptian postal squid, so that I might hear wonderful musics contained within on an MD from Gregor thats coming here via Tokyo. Subway there has us Rugbying to get on and off, and the retrieval got well Byzantine. Had to Dash back to the hotel, retrieve my MD player so I could give them a shot listening to it so that they could satisfy themselves it didnt contain any seditious material. What exactly it might countain baffled and vexed me, and when I returned puffed from the chase, they listened for aproximately 3 seconds."Music" the verdict. The other 3 hours on the disk could have been a detailed description of Egypt's latest stealth camel bomber for all they knew. Still, got the music, which is fab, and, well, we might as well get used to this type of Boorockracey. Sods.
Heres me, on our balcony (Egyptian museum MUMMIES next to head), happy with the music and also the breath freshning paper things made in JAPAN.

Cairo

Today I smoked a doobie at the top of this minaret, close to Allah.
Later I had one in a Catholic Graveyard so our Maria wouldnt feel left out.
Been in the mother of the world now for 3 nights. Its one of those big city, folk flying everywhere types of places. Headbutted by History at every turn, I shaved my head and had a cut-throat shave for a dollar. Dahab was a great break within a wander. Red Sea relaxation. So many rainbow fish nipping about bellow the waves, so many camels sauntering above the shore. If you ever fancy a winter sunshine holiday from the hostile climbs of northern europe, you could do alot worse. Just dont pay the first prices, cuz everything is negotiation.

Red Sea Sinking Death Boat

Dont worry, we werent on it!
Were in Dahab, which is lovely and warm, finally Tshirt Weather!