My favorite pastime
I recently spent three weeks in Egypt and Jordan. We flew into Cairo out of Kiev and arrived about two in the morning. I had a friend I was meeting but needed to pass through customs first. You have to buy a visa at the border for 15 USD and it is far from organized. They have a group of windows and no organization so everyone goes to the customers officers and is then sent back to the windows. What should have been a five minute process ran over an hour. It was my first taste of the middle east and I would see it repeated many times while in Egypt.
Our friend who is from Cairo met us outside customs. He is the Couchsurfing Ambassador for Cairo and was a close friend of our friend. He had driven 30 Kilometers to the airport at three in the morning to pick us up and help us find an accommodation. Over the course of the next few days he would call to check on us, take time off work to show us around and organize meeting with friends. He refused at every turn to let us pay.
Cairo at Night
Park in Cairo
When you are in Egypt there is a strange morality. If someone is your friend they will do the most amazing things for you and expect nothing in return. If they are not your friend the culture reinforces the idea that it is acceptable to take advantage. They have a very good understanding of the western sense of obligation. Dozens of times a day people will try and engage you in any sort of conversation in order to make you feel that they are your “friend” the moment you accept even the simplest of human contact the sale begins.
An example. We went to Alexandria for a day. We where met by another couchsurfer who was recommended to us by our friend in Cairo. As he a friend of a friend he comes under the “take care of the guests and ask nothing in return” idea. He took the day off work to show us around Alexandria. At one point we entered a small cafe for some Tea. When we completed the tea and paid the waiter tired to give our friend some of the money back. Our friend has to explain “no these are my friends” and it took some time to convince the waiter that he should not be paid. The idea was as a native he had brought foreigners and thus must receive a kickback. The culture of this is so strong that an 8 hour bus ride will become fourteen simply because the driver will stop every two hours and wait at a cafe doing nothing until someone on the bus buys a soda or water so he can get his kickback.
Old cafe meets new technology
Library at Alexandria
I understand it is difficult to have 80 million people living along one river. The sad part is the same friend who was showing us Alexandria without expecting anything in return could not accompany us to a museum. Egypt has these tourist police who are supposed to keep the tourist safe from the con artists. If they see an Egyptian with a group of tourists he can be fined or even arrested. We had to enter the museum separately and then if the Tourist Police came around pretend we did not know our friend.
We went and saw the pyramids of course. Our friend gave us very strict instruction to avoid the con artists who control the whole area. He told us which metro to take, exactly what to pay for the cab and to go directly to the official gate and speak with no on till inside.
Cross dressers palace
We did as instructed. We met a cab driver who agreed to our price and terms. Just as we are about to pull away a gy comes up and asks if he can join as he is going to the same place. He gets in and immediately starts the con that by this time we had seen a dozen times. It starts with where are you from. Regardless of answer he will have a relative from there and will immediately produce a photo he will try and hand you. If you accept you will never get rid of him.
We at first politely refused and as he became pushier and pushier was bascially told him to f&ck off we had no interest in his “help” to see the pyramids. Suddenly the car simply stops and the driver announces the engine has failed we will have to leave. We get out and as we try and hail another cab the second guy keeps speaking to them in Arabic at which point they drive away. On threat of violence we finally get rid of the guy.
We then start trying to negotiate another cab ride. None of the cabs will even bargain at the price we have been told which seems strange. We call our friend who after speaking with a passerby informs us the cab driver has driven us 20 kilometers the wrong direction. I assume the scam is he is supposed to dump us there and the second guy who was to be our great friend now having shared his family experiences would then “help” us to get back.
Coolest thrones in middle of nowhere
We finally negotiate another cab. We can see the pyramids in the distance but every kilometer he pulls over and another guy tries to get into the car. We physcially have to restrain the people from getting in. Finally he takes us to a dead end where an entire group starts to go into their sales pitch. What we learn is that the system is so corrupt if the taxi driver does not stop for these guys they will not allow him to drop off passengers killing his livelihood.
Finally after much shouting a few death threats and the more useful I am not paying you if you don’t take me to the gates we arrive. There are about 5 attempts to keep us from buying a ticket before we finally make it past the official gates. At this point we are simply asked every two minutes to take a camel. So at least the general annoyance is replaced with the official annoyance. I cannot stress how difficult it is to get away from the people trying to take your money in Egypt. There are four or five more equally ridiculous instances which I will spare you.
What no tongue?
Olga and I at the Sphinx
My point is that Egypt has some exceedingly good people. The friends we where introduced to where excellent, intelligent open minded and generous. Much of the rest sucked. I have never felt more European in the 50 or so countries I visited than in Egypt.
We spent some time in Sinai. Its still Egypt but a little more relaxed. We spent a week at a nice backpacker retreat in Dahab. Its a diving paradise with endless small Turkish style cafes on the Red sea. They had internet and amazing milkshakes. While there we befriended a number of fellow travelers and by the time we left for Jordan we had a small entourage of eight. We traveled together across the Red Sea from the peninsula to Jordan.
Me on mount Sinai
Dahab laptop camp
Jordan is an amazing breath of fresh air after Egypt. The Jordanian currency is stronger than the British pound. Its an expensive country but it is an honorable one. People keep their word, they are civilized and they are interesting.
We spent three days in Wadi Rhum the holy desert. Its a vast beautiful place full of Bedouins, massive rock formations and gentle canyons. We stayed in a Bedouin camp drinking tea and eating food from the fires. During the day we rock climbed and toured. Its a beautiful relaxing piece of nature.
Sweet sheesha in the desert
I will call you gus
From Wadi Rhum we traveled to Petra. We stayed with a guy who had been born and up until ten years old had been raised in the caves of Petra. We visited the amazing temples and attended a candle light evening. I pointed out that had stolen the tradition of the Luminaries from New Mexico and after a few drinks they admitted it was correct. The cave dwellers had been moved out of Petra about ten years ago and lived in a nearby town. They have all the normal issues of dislocated native peoples. They where friendly and giving but had a tendency to wild bouts of drinking with extreme personality changes. We ended up getting to know them maybe a little better than one would have hoped.
In Petra
Transformers
Petra armory a night
From Petra we visited the dead sea. Its pretty much the same thing as the Great Salt Lake in Utah. We could see Israel on the far shore. One of my realizations is that the middle east, from a global stand-point, sucks. I am not surprised that many of the modern religions came from this place. Its too hot and there is too little water and the people mostly unpleasant. In general I have to say with a few exceptions the folks there deserve each other. Anyone with sense would pack up and move to a better climate, preferably sans their cultural and religious beliefs. Sorry if I offend but its the least attractive culture I have seen. Even the Mormons are more fun.
We ended the trip in Amman. Its a nice relatively modern city with good food and nice places. We spent time with friends and said our goodbyes. Leaving Amman airport is a thoroughly modern experience. I was glad to touch down in Kiev. The middle east is one of those books that is not so much a good read, as goo to have read. I checked off a few boxes from my have to see card but I doubt I will be back. With fairness there are some lovely, decent, kind humans and I hope to see them again. Preferably in Europe.
The “Gang” in Amman Jordan
We don’t need no chains here.
Max literally in de-Nile
My ass is killing me.
My very hot travel companion
Like my room
