Safari Begins – Late Wednesday 25 April early Thursday 26 April
Well tonight it begins… we spent today packing and getting organized. It took me for bloody ever! In the end Wesley had to come and help me rationalise my packing – he told me I wasn’t opening a hospital and therefore didn’t need to take so many bandages :) In the afternoon we spent a few hours on the felucca then came home and we were ready to go.
I was a little nervous. I had to keep reminding myself that I’ve been on a few adventures now, so this one shouldn’t be any scarier. I couldn’t decide if I was more scared coz I was worried about Aidan and Colin or less scared coz I wasn’t going by myself. This is only the second time I’ve set off on adventure not by myself. Normally it’s just me on my own and this time I had two travelling companions – albeit two people who were on their first real adventure…
Anyways, so we leave Ma’adi at 8pm. Wesley had arranged a car and ‘expediator’. The ‘expediator’s’ job is to deal with all the counter people at the airport, avoid the baggage scammers and generally get us checked in and sorted with the minimum amount of fuss.
We were lucky – there was hardly anyone there so we raced through – could have done it easy on our own, but was nice not to have to think about it.
The plane was a little delayed which wouldn’t have been so bad except it was scheduled to leave about 11:30pm and we were all really tired. We didn’t know how long it had been delayed so we couldn’t snooze unless one of us stayed awake and there wasn’t anywhere to really snooze.
We finally boarded around midnight and discovered the flight had one stop on the way to Nairobi – at Khartoum. We were lucky though, for that 3 hour stretch we got to have 3 seats each so I had a little snooze. Aidan couldn’t get comfortable – he was sitting behind me and looked over and couldn’t work out how I’d curled up so I fitted in the 3 seats – I guess I’m just clever and maybe a little flexible!
Unfortunately the next leg we all had to sit together so snoozing wasn’t as easy.
When we got to Nairobi we were a little nervous. We managed to make it though customs with minimal fuss – in fact it was a well oiled machine! And then we went to get some money changed. This is when the ‘adventure’ part of our trip began.
We’d all received the same trip information, all claimed to have read it, but still we managed to get to Nairobi with pre-2000 series US currency. I’d made sure I had the right series for the first batch of currency I’d got, but in all the excitement of trading LE for US from Wesley’s rotators I forgot to check it. Plus the boys hadn’t checked theirs because they got them from the Travelex currency exchange and assumed they’d be ok. We’re not 100% sure what the problem is but all through Kenya and Tanzania they only accept post-2000 series US currency – we assume it’s a forgery issue of some sort. Our problem of course was that here we were with nearly $2000 in US currency and we haven’t even got the $1200 we need for local payment in post-2000 series notes.
The Travelex lady gave us nothing. She had no suggestions, options or helpful advice whatsoever.
So there we were, stood just behind the glass with 50 Nairobian’s just through the glass watching us take out our US currency and review it and count it all up and show off just how wealthy we looked in the land of muggings! – real happy.
Anyway we worked out we had almost enough for the local payments and so we decide to go to an ATM to get some local currency.
I couldn’t get my ATM card to work. I’ve had real trouble with my stupid National ATM card the whole time I’ve been here. I thought part of it was the Egyptian ATMs but I think most of the problem is the stupid National bank! Aidan had a special Travelex card thing and it worked at the ATM so he got some Kenyan currency (shillings).
A few weeks ago I got an email about the BCA saying something had been cancelled coz Derek (the main Mohandiseen BCA man) was in Nairobi and wouldn’t be back for a few weeks to run it. I sent him an email saying I was coming to Nairobi and could he recommend a taxi company for me to arrange an airport transfer. He sent me a bunch of info and then said if I wanted he could arrange a pick up for me. I said YES PLEASE!! So once we got the money thing sorted and went through the customs gate there was a guy with a sign with my name on it J It cost us 1500 shillings (about AUD$30). It was suppose to be 1200 but coz of an issue with the car he said 1500 instead.
I’m not sure what happened but for some reason the transfer man couldn’t get the car he was supposed to so instead he had Derek’s car – a little Rav4. So we piled into the back of that and got taken to the hotel. It took quite a while to get into the city but the driver man said we were right in the middle of peak hour so it was to be expected.
It was still pretty early when we arrived at the hotel so there were a few people checking out. We kinda just piled our stuff up on the bench and waited to check in. I couldn’t find the booking information so I was a bit concerned that we’d have some issue with our rooms but it was fine. The best bit of the check in was that while I was filling in the form I heard a women say to the receptionist that she had a tour meeting at 6pm that night and whereabouts was it? I quickly turned and said are you guys on the Gecko tour and she said yes and I said so were we. We went back to filling in our forms then when we had our room key the women introduced them at Dee and Aubrey. They said they had hired a mini bus and were planning to go to the Elephant orphanage and a few other places and did we want to join them. We had a quick discussion and said yes please.
After dumping our stuff in our room (a triple share), a quick snack and organising our day packs we met them in the lobby. Turns out they’d been in Rwanda helping build a missionary church and they’d arrived in Nairobi yesterday. They’d spent the day before at a nature walk, but the rain had made a few things too muddy to do.
We told them that we were having US currency issues and they said they had planned to go to a money exchanger so we went there with them. We traded USD$300 in old notes and I told the women I was prepared to trade $300 as if it were $280 just to get some post-2000 series US dollars. Once she understood what I meant she agreed to change it. I reckon she kept the USD$20 – pocketed it I bet.
We’d heard of a few things to do in Nairobi – like that the elephant orphanage and the giraffe feeding park but we were happy to go wherever they had planned. Lucky for us they wanted to go to the elephant orphanage and were happy to go to the giraffe feeding park again so we got to do that. The elephant orphanage was SOOOOOO cute. There were all sizes from tiny little babies (still up to the middle of my thigh!) to ones up to my shoulders. They take in orphaned babies, raise them slowing making them more self sufficient and then release them back into the wild.
The funny thing at the orphanage was that the sign said entry was by ‘donation’ but when we went to pay we were told it was a 300 shilling donation – so basically an entry price, but then 300 shillings is only about AUD$6.
A guy gave the story of what they do and how they raise the elephants. He explained how they make them self sufficient in the wild and how they track them once they are released. It was really interesting and so sad to think that $6 per tourist keeps the place ticking over, but they are operating so close to the bread line. They also had a merchandise stall – Colin bought a t-shirt. There was some cute stuff, but we were light on shillings and usable US currency so we didn’t get too much.
Next stop was the Giraffe feeding park. It was very cool. They gave you handfuls of pellets and the giraffes took them right out of you hands. They have big teeth – I thought I was going to loose a finger, but they knew how to separate the inedible people fingers from the tasty little pellets.
We got a bunch of photos taken feeding the giraffes. They also do a giraffe kiss – that’s where you hold the pellet in your lips and the giraffe takes it off your lips. We declined. One of the staff showed us, Aidan got a good pic and we said, no that’s ok. I learnt a new fact - Giraffes have antiseptic spit. They eat acacia seeds which are spiky. So the spikes cut the mouths of the giraffes but then their antiseptic saliva means they don’t get infected… but even knowing they were antiseptic didn’t make me want to kiss a giraffe!
After the giraffes we went to a place call ‘The Veranda’ for lunch. I had the nicest passionfruit juice in the universe. It was delish!
After lunch we went to a pottery place. They hand make beads and some crockery. It was set up to provide women with paid employment in the area and is now exporting the beads all over the world. It was weird. The women sit at massive tables making beads out of black clay and drinking cups of tea. They must be paid by the bead because they all made different shapes in little piles. Then there were other tables of women glazing them and some other women in charge of the kilns. The beads and pottery were quite expensive but the biggest problem with buying it was that we were about to spend the next 8 days bouncing around on safari.
After this we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and then we met the rest of the tour.
Our guide’s name was Alex – a maasi. The rest of the tour group was a bit of an eclectic group – 8 Aussies Felicity & Sarah, Hugo & Fiona, Matt and us three plus Dee and Aubrey (Canadian) and Heidi (English).
Only Dee, Aubrey, Heidi and us were there to start with because the others were waiting for lost bags. They arrived just as the meeting was breaking up and we discovered that Matt had lost his bags on his way from Jo-berg. He’d gone from Australia to Jo’berg to Nairobi and his bags didn’t follow him. He was remarkably calm. I’d have got back on the plane and gone home… ok I might not have been that bad, but I’d definitely have cried!!
Colin took him to the supermarket (that we’d found earlier) and he bought a sleeping bag. He decided that if his bag didn’t show up by the morning he could get by with very few clothes but he’d need a sleeping bag.
It was good that everyone eventually ended up at the tour meeting because we went and had a drink and then had dinner together. It was a good opportunity to get to know one and other.
We wrapped up pretty early but it was a very nice start to the tour…
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Final Felucca – Wednesday 25 April 2007
Well its almost time… today we head off on Safari but as this is one of the last days I’ll be in Cairo we arranged a felucca ride. Wesley sent out a general email to the usual suspects plus some newer hashers and we ended up with about 15 people. It was really nice.
Darren and Suzie, Simon and Sarah, Mary Fran, Mona, Tony, Glenda, Tom and Val and their daughter Anya and a rotator called Brian from Wesley’s work. Plus of course Bogey – who loves the felucca rides. This was Aidan and Colin’s first felucca ride and the weather was perfect.
We spent a couple of hours on the felucca, stating out about 4pm and going right through to sunset. It was lovely. We sailed up and down the Nile stopping at an island for a toilet break and generally just taking in the relacing scenery.
Aidan, Colin and I fly out tonight for safari so we wrapped up the felucca about 6pm, went home, cleaned up and got picked up for the airport...
Well its almost time… today we head off on Safari but as this is one of the last days I’ll be in Cairo we arranged a felucca ride. Wesley sent out a general email to the usual suspects plus some newer hashers and we ended up with about 15 people. It was really nice.
Darren and Suzie, Simon and Sarah, Mary Fran, Mona, Tony, Glenda, Tom and Val and their daughter Anya and a rotator called Brian from Wesley’s work. Plus of course Bogey – who loves the felucca rides. This was Aidan and Colin’s first felucca ride and the weather was perfect.
We spent a couple of hours on the felucca, stating out about 4pm and going right through to sunset. It was lovely. We sailed up and down the Nile stopping at an island for a toilet break and generally just taking in the relacing scenery.
Aidan, Colin and I fly out tonight for safari so we wrapped up the felucca about 6pm, went home, cleaned up and got picked up for the airport...
Wine & Cheese at Mona's – Tuesday 24 April 2007
Today was my last day at work. Tomorrow is a public holiday and we’re setting off on Safari. Work wrapped up pretty well. We’ve still got a few days left of pilot but its progressing well. I packed up the last of my stuff from the apartment this morning too. I guess this adventure is almost over.
Aidan and Colin spent today at the Pyramids. They went to the Red and Bent pyramids and to the Step pyramid at Saqqara. They also went to the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx.
Tomorrow is a public holiday so Mona decided to have a ‘wine and cheese’ night at her place. She lives at City View which is quite near my office. Luckily we were able to go straight there from work and we still didn’t get there till after 6:30pm. We did dawdle a bit at Carrefour though so we wouldn’t be first there :)
Aidan and Colin came with me to Mona’s and Wesley met us there. It took everyone ages to get there. The traffic was particularly bad and it can take an hour on a good day. I think those coming from Heliopolis took almost 1.5 hours and it took Wesley even longer from Ma’adi.
Colin and I started our anti-malaria pills today. Aidan doesn’t start his til tomorrow because he’s on different ones. I think the pills have made me a little woozy. I only had half a glass of wine and I was feeling light headed. I’m a bit concerned that I might not react well to the pills and not be able to take them while I’m away. I guess I’ll give it a day or so and see
Mona’s was good. Loads of people were there - the usual suspects, plus a few extras. Simon and Sarah were there, Simon leaves for India in a few days. Sarah is staying around for another couple of weeks – at least until the Rugby Club ball. Jan & Brian were there too. Today was their 25th wedding anniversary. Last night they went out for dinner to celebrate and went to the Heliopolis BCA for a quiet drink. A quiet drink turned into a huge night with copious amounts of wine. They were more than a little hung over today :)
It was a really nice night.
Today was my last day at work. Tomorrow is a public holiday and we’re setting off on Safari. Work wrapped up pretty well. We’ve still got a few days left of pilot but its progressing well. I packed up the last of my stuff from the apartment this morning too. I guess this adventure is almost over.
Aidan and Colin spent today at the Pyramids. They went to the Red and Bent pyramids and to the Step pyramid at Saqqara. They also went to the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx.
Tomorrow is a public holiday so Mona decided to have a ‘wine and cheese’ night at her place. She lives at City View which is quite near my office. Luckily we were able to go straight there from work and we still didn’t get there till after 6:30pm. We did dawdle a bit at Carrefour though so we wouldn’t be first there :)
Aidan and Colin came with me to Mona’s and Wesley met us there. It took everyone ages to get there. The traffic was particularly bad and it can take an hour on a good day. I think those coming from Heliopolis took almost 1.5 hours and it took Wesley even longer from Ma’adi.
Colin and I started our anti-malaria pills today. Aidan doesn’t start his til tomorrow because he’s on different ones. I think the pills have made me a little woozy. I only had half a glass of wine and I was feeling light headed. I’m a bit concerned that I might not react well to the pills and not be able to take them while I’m away. I guess I’ll give it a day or so and see
Mona’s was good. Loads of people were there - the usual suspects, plus a few extras. Simon and Sarah were there, Simon leaves for India in a few days. Sarah is staying around for another couple of weeks – at least until the Rugby Club ball. Jan & Brian were there too. Today was their 25th wedding anniversary. Last night they went out for dinner to celebrate and went to the Heliopolis BCA for a quiet drink. A quiet drink turned into a huge night with copious amounts of wine. They were more than a little hung over today :)
It was a really nice night.
Dinner Party – Monday 23 April 2007
Today was my second last day at work. We’re progressing through the pilot. I can’t tell for sure how it’s going because it’s all in Arabic, but Maha assures me it’s all going fine.
The boys spent the day at the museum and then they went to Hard Rock for lunch. They enjoyed the museum – they couldn’t believe how much like an old warehouse it is. They were stunned that you could just touch the 5000 year old monuments!
I decided that we shouldn’t get take out or go out for dinner every night they boys were here – we could all probably use some vegetables – so I cooked dinner. Since I was cooking for the four of us anyway, we invited Chris too and Paul (one of the rotators at Wesley’s work).
It was a fairly basic dinner – we had jacket potatoes (finished off on the bbq) with capsicum, mushrooms and cheese, plus steamed broccoli and beans and beautiful steaks. It was so yummy.
When I was preparing it Wesley came in and said I shouldn’t be doing it myself and called the boys in and got them helping. We had Chris pealing garlic, Aidan cutting broccoli and Colin scrubbing potatoes and Wesley dealt with the marinating the steaks. By the time Paul arrived it was all sorted and we sat down to eat.
It was a really nice night. We ate dinner then just sat around chatting. I love a casual dinner party :)
Today was my second last day at work. We’re progressing through the pilot. I can’t tell for sure how it’s going because it’s all in Arabic, but Maha assures me it’s all going fine.
The boys spent the day at the museum and then they went to Hard Rock for lunch. They enjoyed the museum – they couldn’t believe how much like an old warehouse it is. They were stunned that you could just touch the 5000 year old monuments!
I decided that we shouldn’t get take out or go out for dinner every night they boys were here – we could all probably use some vegetables – so I cooked dinner. Since I was cooking for the four of us anyway, we invited Chris too and Paul (one of the rotators at Wesley’s work).
It was a fairly basic dinner – we had jacket potatoes (finished off on the bbq) with capsicum, mushrooms and cheese, plus steamed broccoli and beans and beautiful steaks. It was so yummy.
When I was preparing it Wesley came in and said I shouldn’t be doing it myself and called the boys in and got them helping. We had Chris pealing garlic, Aidan cutting broccoli and Colin scrubbing potatoes and Wesley dealt with the marinating the steaks. By the time Paul arrived it was all sorted and we sat down to eat.
It was a really nice night. We ate dinner then just sat around chatting. I love a casual dinner party :)
Traditional Team Dinner – Sunday 22 April 2007
As thank you to Chris and I, and as celebration for all the work the team’s done, Ahmed (developer in our team) had his wife, sister and mother cook a fantastic feast for us all.
We finished work about 6pm and drove COMPLETELY across town. It took nearly 1½ hours to drive to Ahmed’s house – I felt so queasy. I think it was a combination of it being hot and me being tired. Normally I’m so useless in the car, but for some reason I’ve only felt off a couple of times here despite the crazy traffic and then it’s only been late at night.
So we get to Ahmed’s house a bit after 7:30pm. His family had laid on the enormous spread – they had an 8-10 seater table and it was filled with food. There wasn’t even enough room for us to put our plates down.
Most of the team was there. Noha didn’t come because her fiancé doesn’t finish work until 9:30pm and it was ‘inappropriate’ for her to come without an escort. Maha came, apparently because she’s already married it was OK… or at least she made it OK.
Chris and I just couldn’t get over the volume of food. Admittedly they were catering for four extra people who didn’t come, but still there was way too much food. I think they’d been cooking for three days in preparation! Ahmed mum doesn’t really speak English but when Chris and I were talking about how great the food was Maha assured us she understood enough to get the gist. Maha also told her in Arabic that it was lovely.
I was so tired. All I wanted to do was go to bed but they’d gone to so much trouble that we had to stay and try all the foods.
The boys spent today in Alex. I arranged a tour for them and they went to the major attraction – Pompey’s Pillar, the Roman Amphitheatre, the Alexandria Library etc. They had a really nice day, but it’s a long drive there and back so they were pretty shattered by the time they got home. Wesley had lent Aidan his mobile so they had a way to contact us but he accidentally left it in the tour bus. I got a text from my driver man saying Aidan had left his phone in the car and that the tour driver was going to drop it off. So luckily I texted Aidan’s Australia phone to let him know it had been found but meanwhile Wesley had been ringing and ringing to check on them and they weren’t answering. Wesley was at a Hash committee meeting and had left a key for the boys but coz they had no phone we had no way of knowing whether they’d made it home ok.
I got home about 11pm. Aidan was asleep but Colin said they’d found the key and had just had some toast for dinner as they were still full from the crazy seafood lunch they’d had in Alex.
All in all a big food day. Chris and I had stuffed ourselves on Ahmed’s families feast and the boys pigged out on Alexandrian seafood and Wesley got his fill at the committee meeting!
As thank you to Chris and I, and as celebration for all the work the team’s done, Ahmed (developer in our team) had his wife, sister and mother cook a fantastic feast for us all.
We finished work about 6pm and drove COMPLETELY across town. It took nearly 1½ hours to drive to Ahmed’s house – I felt so queasy. I think it was a combination of it being hot and me being tired. Normally I’m so useless in the car, but for some reason I’ve only felt off a couple of times here despite the crazy traffic and then it’s only been late at night.
So we get to Ahmed’s house a bit after 7:30pm. His family had laid on the enormous spread – they had an 8-10 seater table and it was filled with food. There wasn’t even enough room for us to put our plates down.
Most of the team was there. Noha didn’t come because her fiancé doesn’t finish work until 9:30pm and it was ‘inappropriate’ for her to come without an escort. Maha came, apparently because she’s already married it was OK… or at least she made it OK.
Chris and I just couldn’t get over the volume of food. Admittedly they were catering for four extra people who didn’t come, but still there was way too much food. I think they’d been cooking for three days in preparation! Ahmed mum doesn’t really speak English but when Chris and I were talking about how great the food was Maha assured us she understood enough to get the gist. Maha also told her in Arabic that it was lovely.
I was so tired. All I wanted to do was go to bed but they’d gone to so much trouble that we had to stay and try all the foods.
The boys spent today in Alex. I arranged a tour for them and they went to the major attraction – Pompey’s Pillar, the Roman Amphitheatre, the Alexandria Library etc. They had a really nice day, but it’s a long drive there and back so they were pretty shattered by the time they got home. Wesley had lent Aidan his mobile so they had a way to contact us but he accidentally left it in the tour bus. I got a text from my driver man saying Aidan had left his phone in the car and that the tour driver was going to drop it off. So luckily I texted Aidan’s Australia phone to let him know it had been found but meanwhile Wesley had been ringing and ringing to check on them and they weren’t answering. Wesley was at a Hash committee meeting and had left a key for the boys but coz they had no phone we had no way of knowing whether they’d made it home ok.
I got home about 11pm. Aidan was asleep but Colin said they’d found the key and had just had some toast for dinner as they were still full from the crazy seafood lunch they’d had in Alex.
All in all a big food day. Chris and I had stuffed ourselves on Ahmed’s families feast and the boys pigged out on Alexandrian seafood and Wesley got his fill at the committee meeting!
Monday, June 04, 2007
Islamic Cairo & Khan Al-Khalili – Saturday 21 April 2007
Today Chris and I took the boys around Khan Al-Khalili and then to Islamic Cairo.
I was originally going to go with them to Alex but I wanted to go to Khan Al-Khalili to get some more tunic style tops to take on safari and to wear in upper Egypt.
We picked Chris up from Mohandiseen (Wesley didn’t want to come so Chris, Colin, Aidan and I went with Sharif driving) then went to Khan Al-Khalili. We walked around for a while but didn’t buy much. I got 2 tunic type tops. The first one was ridiculously expensive and the second one was really cheap. Guess it kinda evened out. Aidan and Colin bought some small trickets and Chris got a Sheesha pipe – just a small one.
I was looking for a backgammon set. I’d originally planned to get a chess set but decided backgammon was more Egyptian so went looking for one of them. They were quite expensive and when we ran into Ahmed (driver man) he said he could get me one much cheaper from some where else. So he’s going to find me one and when I get back I will pay him for it.
Ahmed also showed us to Beit e-Suhaymi. It’s a traditional style family mansion. You walk through a tunnel into a beautiful courtyard. The walls on one side of the courtyard (on the second level) are wooden, but really finely woven wood – like fine lattice work. Apparently back in the day a family would bring their son to meet the father of the potential bride. The boy would be stood in the courtyard and the prospective bride (and no doubt her sisters, mother etc) would all be up on the second level looking through the lattice. They could see the guys downstairs but the guys couldn’t see them.
I didn’t see that much of it because I was talking to Ahmed trying to fix the Alex trip we had planned for Sunday. Ahmed assumed I was going to, but it is just going to be Aidan and Colin. This made the prices change and caused all sorts of dramas. I’m sure I told Ahmed exactly what I wanted – even wrote it down – typed it too… still confusion. Ahmed’s English is so good I think it’s just a planning and lack of attention to details issue. Very frustrating though.
That all sorted we got back in the car and went to Bab Zuweila. This is the only remaining southern gate of the old medieval city of Al-Qahira. They used to do executions in front of the gate.
We climbed to the top of one of the towers in the gate. It was quite a ways and very close quarters in a spiral staircase. At one point it was completely pitch black. The view from the top was weird. You’d expect to see the city laid out before your eyes given we were right in the middle and about 6 stories up. What we didn’t expect to see was that the rooves of all the buildings as far as the eye could see were COVERED in rubbish. It was like looking out at a rubbish tip with the occasional bit of brickwork identifying where one building left off and the next began. It was appalling – just rubbish everywhere. It couldn’t have all ‘blown’ up there from the street. Some of it, or maybe even most of it must have been deliberately chucked onto the roof – either onto the roof of your neighbour or onto your own roof. It was gross.
We were starting to get pretty tired but we decided to see the last thing on our list – the Citadel of Ibn Tulun. It Cairo’s oldest, intact, functioning Islamic monument. We went in and had to get little slippers put over our shoes so we could walk around inside the mosque. We took some nice pictures and walked around. It was really quiet. A group of four Spanish tourists were also looking around and other than that we were it.
Aidan wanted to get a cartouche of his name – it’s a pendant for a necklace with your name spelt out in hieroglyphics. He got silver with the hieroglyphics in gold. It’s going to look really good. He ordered it today and Sharif (driver man) will go pick it up tomorrow.
By now we were pretty buggered so we just headed home. We decided to go out for dinner to a place called Grand Café. It’s right on the Nile and serves mains but also a load of Egyptian dips and finger food etc.
Chris joined us for dinner and he and Colin both had Sheesha. Sheesha are traditional water pipes used to smoke fragrant tobacco. They both ordered apple (the most popular). It doesn’t smell as bad as normal smoke, but I’m still not a fan.
It was a really nice night though. We ordered a range of dips, ta’amiyya (felafels) etc and a pizza just sitting round watching the Nile go by.
Today Chris and I took the boys around Khan Al-Khalili and then to Islamic Cairo.
I was originally going to go with them to Alex but I wanted to go to Khan Al-Khalili to get some more tunic style tops to take on safari and to wear in upper Egypt.
We picked Chris up from Mohandiseen (Wesley didn’t want to come so Chris, Colin, Aidan and I went with Sharif driving) then went to Khan Al-Khalili. We walked around for a while but didn’t buy much. I got 2 tunic type tops. The first one was ridiculously expensive and the second one was really cheap. Guess it kinda evened out. Aidan and Colin bought some small trickets and Chris got a Sheesha pipe – just a small one.
I was looking for a backgammon set. I’d originally planned to get a chess set but decided backgammon was more Egyptian so went looking for one of them. They were quite expensive and when we ran into Ahmed (driver man) he said he could get me one much cheaper from some where else. So he’s going to find me one and when I get back I will pay him for it.
Ahmed also showed us to Beit e-Suhaymi. It’s a traditional style family mansion. You walk through a tunnel into a beautiful courtyard. The walls on one side of the courtyard (on the second level) are wooden, but really finely woven wood – like fine lattice work. Apparently back in the day a family would bring their son to meet the father of the potential bride. The boy would be stood in the courtyard and the prospective bride (and no doubt her sisters, mother etc) would all be up on the second level looking through the lattice. They could see the guys downstairs but the guys couldn’t see them.
I didn’t see that much of it because I was talking to Ahmed trying to fix the Alex trip we had planned for Sunday. Ahmed assumed I was going to, but it is just going to be Aidan and Colin. This made the prices change and caused all sorts of dramas. I’m sure I told Ahmed exactly what I wanted – even wrote it down – typed it too… still confusion. Ahmed’s English is so good I think it’s just a planning and lack of attention to details issue. Very frustrating though.
That all sorted we got back in the car and went to Bab Zuweila. This is the only remaining southern gate of the old medieval city of Al-Qahira. They used to do executions in front of the gate.
We climbed to the top of one of the towers in the gate. It was quite a ways and very close quarters in a spiral staircase. At one point it was completely pitch black. The view from the top was weird. You’d expect to see the city laid out before your eyes given we were right in the middle and about 6 stories up. What we didn’t expect to see was that the rooves of all the buildings as far as the eye could see were COVERED in rubbish. It was like looking out at a rubbish tip with the occasional bit of brickwork identifying where one building left off and the next began. It was appalling – just rubbish everywhere. It couldn’t have all ‘blown’ up there from the street. Some of it, or maybe even most of it must have been deliberately chucked onto the roof – either onto the roof of your neighbour or onto your own roof. It was gross.
We were starting to get pretty tired but we decided to see the last thing on our list – the Citadel of Ibn Tulun. It Cairo’s oldest, intact, functioning Islamic monument. We went in and had to get little slippers put over our shoes so we could walk around inside the mosque. We took some nice pictures and walked around. It was really quiet. A group of four Spanish tourists were also looking around and other than that we were it.
Aidan wanted to get a cartouche of his name – it’s a pendant for a necklace with your name spelt out in hieroglyphics. He got silver with the hieroglyphics in gold. It’s going to look really good. He ordered it today and Sharif (driver man) will go pick it up tomorrow.
By now we were pretty buggered so we just headed home. We decided to go out for dinner to a place called Grand Café. It’s right on the Nile and serves mains but also a load of Egyptian dips and finger food etc.
Chris joined us for dinner and he and Colin both had Sheesha. Sheesha are traditional water pipes used to smoke fragrant tobacco. They both ordered apple (the most popular). It doesn’t smell as bad as normal smoke, but I’m still not a fan.
It was a really nice night though. We ordered a range of dips, ta’amiyya (felafels) etc and a pizza just sitting round watching the Nile go by.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Hashing with the Boys – Friday 20 April 2007
This morning we went to breakfast and while we were eating Wesley keep asking Aidan and Colin questions. He was asking things like how old, ever been married, any kids blah blah blah. It was mostly just ‘small talk’ questions.
Then we walked back to our place and got ready to go to the Hash. Normally we pick up Mary Fran and maybe one other person coz we have Bogey in the truck too. Wesley forgot to arrange alternative transport for Mary Fran so we had Aidan, Colin and Mary Fran in the back and Bogey laying on top of a box in the cargo area. Luckily it wasn’t too far to go.
We got to the hash and it was a gorgeous day. It was more hiking than walking but it was great. It was funny to see Aidan and Colin seeing the desert for the first time. I’d forgotten what it was like to walk into that nothingness and have sand and beige rocks as far as the eye could see.
So the walks all fun and we make it back to the circle and Wesley is introducing the newbies. There must have been about 15 brand new hashers including Aidan and Colin. Some were from other Hashes but most were brand newbies. Aidan and Colin were in the middle of the semi circle and as Wesley went around he skipped them and went to the next people. I thought he might say more about them but wasn’t sure what he was going to say.
Turns out all his ‘innocent’ small talk questions this morning were really pumping them for material for the introduction. He started out with this is a friend of the song frau – he’s 34, has a 13 year old son, is single and travelling the world for the next 12 months. He also made some crack about him being a computer dork and must have more money than sense if he can afford to go round the world.
Then he moved to Aidan. He was introduced as the 32 year old brother of the song frau. He’s single, also a computer dork and a 4th level wizard. Or something stupid like that. It was hilarious. I took loads of photos but not many good ones because I had mine and Aidan’s drinks in my hands and his camera etc. The boys were laughing and they said Wesley has too good a memory :)
After the circle we went back to our place and got cleaned up and went to the On-On. It took us a fair while to get organised coz we were fiddling around so we didn’t get to the Dragon House until nearly 8pm. We had some food then went with the others to Rugby Club for a drink. We should have just gone home. We knew we wouldn’t end up staying long and there was a 30le per person cover charge coz there was a jazz band playing. We didn’t even make it through one drink each. The boys were asleep on their feet and Wesley and I were quite tired coz we’d had broken sleep last night getting up when Colin arrived. We were home by 11pm and asleep by 11:05pm I think.
However, despite being tired I think the boys had a really nice time at the hash. We were lucky because it was a good trail and a nice day so it went well.
This morning we went to breakfast and while we were eating Wesley keep asking Aidan and Colin questions. He was asking things like how old, ever been married, any kids blah blah blah. It was mostly just ‘small talk’ questions.
Then we walked back to our place and got ready to go to the Hash. Normally we pick up Mary Fran and maybe one other person coz we have Bogey in the truck too. Wesley forgot to arrange alternative transport for Mary Fran so we had Aidan, Colin and Mary Fran in the back and Bogey laying on top of a box in the cargo area. Luckily it wasn’t too far to go.
We got to the hash and it was a gorgeous day. It was more hiking than walking but it was great. It was funny to see Aidan and Colin seeing the desert for the first time. I’d forgotten what it was like to walk into that nothingness and have sand and beige rocks as far as the eye could see.
So the walks all fun and we make it back to the circle and Wesley is introducing the newbies. There must have been about 15 brand new hashers including Aidan and Colin. Some were from other Hashes but most were brand newbies. Aidan and Colin were in the middle of the semi circle and as Wesley went around he skipped them and went to the next people. I thought he might say more about them but wasn’t sure what he was going to say.
Turns out all his ‘innocent’ small talk questions this morning were really pumping them for material for the introduction. He started out with this is a friend of the song frau – he’s 34, has a 13 year old son, is single and travelling the world for the next 12 months. He also made some crack about him being a computer dork and must have more money than sense if he can afford to go round the world.
Then he moved to Aidan. He was introduced as the 32 year old brother of the song frau. He’s single, also a computer dork and a 4th level wizard. Or something stupid like that. It was hilarious. I took loads of photos but not many good ones because I had mine and Aidan’s drinks in my hands and his camera etc. The boys were laughing and they said Wesley has too good a memory :)
After the circle we went back to our place and got cleaned up and went to the On-On. It took us a fair while to get organised coz we were fiddling around so we didn’t get to the Dragon House until nearly 8pm. We had some food then went with the others to Rugby Club for a drink. We should have just gone home. We knew we wouldn’t end up staying long and there was a 30le per person cover charge coz there was a jazz band playing. We didn’t even make it through one drink each. The boys were asleep on their feet and Wesley and I were quite tired coz we’d had broken sleep last night getting up when Colin arrived. We were home by 11pm and asleep by 11:05pm I think.
However, despite being tired I think the boys had a really nice time at the hash. We were lucky because it was a good trail and a nice day so it went well.
The Boys Arrive – Thursday 19 April 2007
Well work is almost over, only a few days to go. This afternoon Chris and I left work at 4pm to race to the airport to pick up Aidan. Originally I’d planned for him to be met at the airport and driven to Ma’adi – but that’s when I thought he was arriving at 7pm. When I re-read the itinerary I discovered he was arriving at 5pm so we went to pick him up.
That was dumb, should have just sent a car. We got to the airport about 5:30pm which I thought would be ok because it takes a bit of time getting through customs etc. He didn’t get through until nearly 7pm! Chris was suppose to be in Ma’adi by 6pm to meet Leeann so instead we had to drop him at the Canadian Embassy coz they were going to the embassy’s monthly drinks. That took FOREVER.
Aidan and I finally got to Ma’adi about 8:30pm. He was so tired. He hadn’t slept at all the whole way here - so he was going about 40 hours with no sleep. We ordered some dinner and then he went to bed. About an hour later we decided we’d be better off going to bed and then getting up when Colin arrived. So we slept for a couple of hours and then my phone rang about 1am. We got up and I went down to meet him. He was fairly awake so Wesley made him a drink (almost half and half rum to coke!) after three of these he was fairly trashed and went to bed.
They are coming to the Hash with us on Friday – see how they like the desert :)
Well work is almost over, only a few days to go. This afternoon Chris and I left work at 4pm to race to the airport to pick up Aidan. Originally I’d planned for him to be met at the airport and driven to Ma’adi – but that’s when I thought he was arriving at 7pm. When I re-read the itinerary I discovered he was arriving at 5pm so we went to pick him up.
That was dumb, should have just sent a car. We got to the airport about 5:30pm which I thought would be ok because it takes a bit of time getting through customs etc. He didn’t get through until nearly 7pm! Chris was suppose to be in Ma’adi by 6pm to meet Leeann so instead we had to drop him at the Canadian Embassy coz they were going to the embassy’s monthly drinks. That took FOREVER.
Aidan and I finally got to Ma’adi about 8:30pm. He was so tired. He hadn’t slept at all the whole way here - so he was going about 40 hours with no sleep. We ordered some dinner and then he went to bed. About an hour later we decided we’d be better off going to bed and then getting up when Colin arrived. So we slept for a couple of hours and then my phone rang about 1am. We got up and I went down to meet him. He was fairly awake so Wesley made him a drink (almost half and half rum to coke!) after three of these he was fairly trashed and went to bed.
They are coming to the Hash with us on Friday – see how they like the desert :)
Last Hare and the On On – Friday 13 April 2007
Today was my last Hare for the Cairo Hash. Of course as usual the weather was shocking – I haven’t had good Hare weather yet!
Darren and Kim set the run at about 730am. Wesley and I went out about 1pm and laid the walk trail. The weather was fine when we all set out for the Hash, but as we went along it got worse and worse. It got really cold and then it started to rain. Not heavy rain, but cold rain blowing in from the side. My trousers were soaked all on the left hand side and it was so cold. When we started out one guy and his son (his son has down syndrome) were trailing a long way behind so we had to wait for ages at the first check. Wesley explained a shortcut to him so they could get back faster. By the time the rest of us were rounding the second check it was getting bitterly cold so Wesley kinda created our own shortcut and we led everyone back a bit faster. I don’t think anyone was too disappointed to be heading back earlier.
A few weeks ago Wesley got some Cairo Hash beach towels made and he had about 5 with him today. They are 100Le each and he sold them all in about 10 minutes. Emily and Carol bought one as soon as we got back and had them wrapped around their shoulders like blankets. It was actually a really good sales mechanism :)
We were having the on-on at our place tonight and our plan had been to race straight home and make sure everything was ready. But one thing after another meant we were in the last group to leave and we were following Toby and he made a wrong turn so it took us ages to get out to the road. The only saving grace was that Val’s car got a flat tyre and so nearly everyone stopped as they went through to make sure everything was ok. By the time we got there it was practically done so we just kept on going and got home ahead of most people.
Wesley had got Suhear (the maid) to come by and make sure the place was tidy and set up for the party so we only had to get home, shower ourselves and Bogey and we were sorted. We brought Toby home with us coz h lives too far away to go home to clean up. People started arriving about 10 minutes are we were ready so that timed nicely.
It was an awesome on-on if I do say so myself. We were hosting it so we were a bit nervous that either no one would show or that people would be board. I kept assuring Wesley that it’d be fine, people would stand around, chat and drink the beer keg dry.
There were about 50 people there and I think the last ones left about 1am. I’d put all Wesley’s music on his laptop and he’s connected it to speaker so we had a jukebox. Unfortunately I hadn’t had time to transfer my music onto his machine so he didn’t have too many party songs to choose from. To start with it didn’t matter coz it was just on softly in the background, but after a while people wanted to dance and turned up the music so I was trying to put on music we could dance too. After an hour of people asking for songs that weren’t on his machine but were on mine upstairs I decided to run upstairs and fill my flash drive with more music. I did this about 3 times and got a couple 80s albums and The Beatles, Queen etc and put them on and people were going off their heads! Dancing, singing all over the lounge room. It was so much fun.
Poor Bogey was exhausted. She’d laid the trail with us, then done the hash and all she wanted to do was go to bed but with all the people there she couldn’t. We’d shut our bedroom door so she couldn’t even go get into her bed to escape the people. Plus every time she laid down someone would pat her. She followed me upstairs every time I went to get more music and stood there looking at our bedroom door as if saying ‘Aren’t we going to bed yet!’
It was an awesome night, some people got quite drunk but for the most part people were just having some fun. One crazy girl spent the whole night sitting on the couch not talking to anyone. She’s like it all the time. She comes to hash and doesn’t talk to people. I can’t decide if she’s shy, snobby or just not sure how to act amongst all these westerners. After a bit of coxing Tom got her up to dance and she seemed to enjoy herself much more then.
We’re arranged for food to be catered and a keg of beer from a place called Max’s that we go for dinner on Thursday nights. It cost 2000le and included food for 40 people and 40lts of Heineken beer in a keg (plus a man to pour the beer). We charged people 30le each, the hash kicks in 300le for people having the on-on at their house and Darren was kind enough to get 500le from his work so we almost broke even. Some people brought wine too and some brought their own beers. Plus they were drinking some of the spirits in our liquor cabinet and we used an extra case of Saqqara. Still it didn’t cost us too much for such a huge party.
House on-ons are lots of fun coz people stay longer and mingle more, but they can be a lot of friggin around. The 30le door charge is a bugger because you actually have to ask everyone for the money. That’s why at the Christmas one I was ‘door bitch’ so Mary Fran wouldn’t have to be. Cathy offered to do it for me tonight but by then I’d done half the people and I decided it was probably easier to just finish it off myself.
Nearly everyone was dancing at some point. Even Wesley danced and he hates to dance – I was dancing with Carol and Jim and he came up behind me and spun me round – it was great fun. I couldn’t believe how people went off when I put the Beatles on. I guess most people there were 35 to 40 plus a few 40+ so they were all loving the 80s music but then everyone knew the words to the Beatles songs.
All in all a great night. I think everyone enjoyed themselves – they seemed to with all the drinking, dancing and laughing!
Today was my last Hare for the Cairo Hash. Of course as usual the weather was shocking – I haven’t had good Hare weather yet!
Darren and Kim set the run at about 730am. Wesley and I went out about 1pm and laid the walk trail. The weather was fine when we all set out for the Hash, but as we went along it got worse and worse. It got really cold and then it started to rain. Not heavy rain, but cold rain blowing in from the side. My trousers were soaked all on the left hand side and it was so cold. When we started out one guy and his son (his son has down syndrome) were trailing a long way behind so we had to wait for ages at the first check. Wesley explained a shortcut to him so they could get back faster. By the time the rest of us were rounding the second check it was getting bitterly cold so Wesley kinda created our own shortcut and we led everyone back a bit faster. I don’t think anyone was too disappointed to be heading back earlier.
A few weeks ago Wesley got some Cairo Hash beach towels made and he had about 5 with him today. They are 100Le each and he sold them all in about 10 minutes. Emily and Carol bought one as soon as we got back and had them wrapped around their shoulders like blankets. It was actually a really good sales mechanism :)
We were having the on-on at our place tonight and our plan had been to race straight home and make sure everything was ready. But one thing after another meant we were in the last group to leave and we were following Toby and he made a wrong turn so it took us ages to get out to the road. The only saving grace was that Val’s car got a flat tyre and so nearly everyone stopped as they went through to make sure everything was ok. By the time we got there it was practically done so we just kept on going and got home ahead of most people.
Wesley had got Suhear (the maid) to come by and make sure the place was tidy and set up for the party so we only had to get home, shower ourselves and Bogey and we were sorted. We brought Toby home with us coz h lives too far away to go home to clean up. People started arriving about 10 minutes are we were ready so that timed nicely.
It was an awesome on-on if I do say so myself. We were hosting it so we were a bit nervous that either no one would show or that people would be board. I kept assuring Wesley that it’d be fine, people would stand around, chat and drink the beer keg dry.
There were about 50 people there and I think the last ones left about 1am. I’d put all Wesley’s music on his laptop and he’s connected it to speaker so we had a jukebox. Unfortunately I hadn’t had time to transfer my music onto his machine so he didn’t have too many party songs to choose from. To start with it didn’t matter coz it was just on softly in the background, but after a while people wanted to dance and turned up the music so I was trying to put on music we could dance too. After an hour of people asking for songs that weren’t on his machine but were on mine upstairs I decided to run upstairs and fill my flash drive with more music. I did this about 3 times and got a couple 80s albums and The Beatles, Queen etc and put them on and people were going off their heads! Dancing, singing all over the lounge room. It was so much fun.
Poor Bogey was exhausted. She’d laid the trail with us, then done the hash and all she wanted to do was go to bed but with all the people there she couldn’t. We’d shut our bedroom door so she couldn’t even go get into her bed to escape the people. Plus every time she laid down someone would pat her. She followed me upstairs every time I went to get more music and stood there looking at our bedroom door as if saying ‘Aren’t we going to bed yet!’
It was an awesome night, some people got quite drunk but for the most part people were just having some fun. One crazy girl spent the whole night sitting on the couch not talking to anyone. She’s like it all the time. She comes to hash and doesn’t talk to people. I can’t decide if she’s shy, snobby or just not sure how to act amongst all these westerners. After a bit of coxing Tom got her up to dance and she seemed to enjoy herself much more then.
We’re arranged for food to be catered and a keg of beer from a place called Max’s that we go for dinner on Thursday nights. It cost 2000le and included food for 40 people and 40lts of Heineken beer in a keg (plus a man to pour the beer). We charged people 30le each, the hash kicks in 300le for people having the on-on at their house and Darren was kind enough to get 500le from his work so we almost broke even. Some people brought wine too and some brought their own beers. Plus they were drinking some of the spirits in our liquor cabinet and we used an extra case of Saqqara. Still it didn’t cost us too much for such a huge party.
House on-ons are lots of fun coz people stay longer and mingle more, but they can be a lot of friggin around. The 30le door charge is a bugger because you actually have to ask everyone for the money. That’s why at the Christmas one I was ‘door bitch’ so Mary Fran wouldn’t have to be. Cathy offered to do it for me tonight but by then I’d done half the people and I decided it was probably easier to just finish it off myself.
Nearly everyone was dancing at some point. Even Wesley danced and he hates to dance – I was dancing with Carol and Jim and he came up behind me and spun me round – it was great fun. I couldn’t believe how people went off when I put the Beatles on. I guess most people there were 35 to 40 plus a few 40+ so they were all loving the 80s music but then everyone knew the words to the Beatles songs.
All in all a great night. I think everyone enjoyed themselves – they seemed to with all the drinking, dancing and laughing!
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