Amazement
This year I will travel to five new countries; Kuwait, Egypt; Bahrain, Dubai and Oman. The power, beauty and the fact that I am privileged enough to have that statement be my reality never fails to amaze me!
The Return From Vacation
Return from vacation!
Good, bad, fantastic, horrible, wonderful or rotten all vacations at some point come to an end. I am after all only a teacher on vacation. I have not figured out a way yet to reach permanent vagabond status, although I feel that might be a noble goal.
Anyways after 21 days of exploring the wonders of Egypt it was time to head home.
When I booked my flights I was so thrilled to be getting a cheap price that I didn’t really think about what flying at these times would actually be like. That maybe an important point to consider the next time I travel!
So I began by journey home blurred eyed as crawled out of the Dahab Plaza Hotel after one last evening of laughter in Dahab. My car to the airport arrived at 2:30 a.m. It was cold outside but by no means Canadian cold but too cold for my beloved flip flops. I slept from Dahab to the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, which might be the nicest airport in the Middle East. I slept the entire plane ride to Cairo and then was jolted into the harsh reality of the Cairo airport!
Like the city of Cairo the airport is just as busy. A mass mess of people pushing, shoving and hustling about. After some helpful, looking for a tip, airport man guided me from the domestic to international terminal I found myself in the line for the flight back to Kuwait. Upon seeing my white skin and blond hair the ticket agent began to shout at me, “ Kuwait, Kuwait, Kuwait. This is the flight for K-U-W-A-I-T!” Now I don’t know why he thought if he spoke louder it would make me understand him but each time he repeated the word Kuwait he raised his voice. I eventually smiled, held up my ticket and said, “ Yes, yes I really do want to go home to Kuwait.” He gasped, the lady beside me laughed and he eventually handed me my ticket.
At each ticket check point the agent either gave me a funny look or said, “ This is the gate for Kuwait. Are you looking for the gate to London?” By the time I got to the finally gate a small part of me wanted to ask if this was the plane for London. Just to see what would happen!
The plane ride home to Kuwait was smooth, customs was quick and painless and my luggage was in a cab driving back to the “Dunes” before you could say Habibi.
Habibi (حَبيبي) is an Arabic word that literally means my beloved (of a male; the female form is habibati, or colloquially habibti), from the adjective habib (beloved). It is commonly also used for friend, darling, and similar endearments.
The Unplanned Adventure
The official tour description: Camel Safari to Ras Abu Gallum At 8:00 a.m. you will leave. You reach the Blue Hole by jeep. There you spend 2 hours snorkeling. Then you take the camel until you arrive in Ras Abu Gallum, where you can go snorkeling. You will have a Bedouin meal and tea in at tent. At about 3:00 p.m. you will leave Ras Abu Gallum by camel back to the Blue Hole. From there you will take a jeep back to Dahab. What actually happened: The tour guide and driver had partied in the mountains the night before. They arrived at 9:00 a.m. looking a little worse for wear. We stopped at the store to get water and snacks. We arrived at the Blue Hole and after a little work convinced the guide that we could snorkel at the Blue Hole for an hour before getting on the camels. There was some camel riding and some walking with camel for about and hour and a half, over crazy terrain with an incredible view. “Hello Saudi Arabia” Ras Abu Gallum was a breath taking underwater experience. The idea of riding a camel for three hours in one day was too much for any western women to handle so we spent the night eating food cooked by the Bedouins and dancing under the stars. We woke up in the morning we went snorkeling again at Ras Abu Gallum, walked the camel back to the Blue Hole, snorkeled some more. The tour ended when we drove the jeep home. I took a long afternoon nap! Sometimes the unplanned is way better then the plan! Even if I tried I don’t think I could adequately explain the sense of pure joy on this adventure. Many times I have wondered if there still exists simple peaceful non-tourist places. Today it took one heck of a camel ride over rocky terrain and mountains but I found such a place in Ras Abu Gallum; clear water, sand for miles, larger than life mountains and only a handful of people. A few Bedouin wooded houses close the shore line faces the mountains of Saudi Arabia that was across the body of water. It was perfect! 
Alright let’s talk about the camels! For those of you who have not ridden a camel, and let me tell you I was not eager to be one of those camel riding people, it can be an effective means of transportations over big and little rocks, over boulders and up and down steep hills. A camel, who has walked a path many times, sort of puts himself on auto camel and seems to just know how to find the quickest and best way to walk to any destination. Camel take off and landing taking a little getting used to but once you know what to expect it really isn’t that different from climbing on and off a horse. So having ridden three different camels from Ras Abu Gallum I am by no means any type of camel expert but I feel comfortable saying that the key to a successful camel ride is how the seat or saddle is packed. Lots of cushions and a strong saddle handles to hold on to and you are good to enjoy you ride for at least the first hour. Stay turned for more on the adventure to Ras Abu Gallum…
Dahab!
One way to describe Dahab might be to call it the Middle East version of Key West. Although I’d have to say Dahab is way more interesting than Key West! Beautifully nestled on the Gulf of Aqaba, the colourful shops, unique restaurants, dive and shore excursion places paint a perfect picture along the coast line.
Like Key West larger than life personalities stand outside their shops looking to engage, entice and entertain the customer and their wallets. All during the day the tourists walk along the beach front in different layers of swim wear and wet suits.
In the morning Dahab wakes up slowly. Cleaners toss buckets of water out and with brooms scrub the cobble stoned street. Unlike the hustle and bustle of Cairo car horns are replaced by the sounds of waves crashing against the shore. The early morning divers smile and slowly wheel tanks to their boats and early morning dive destinations. Gradually shop keppers open their store windows, drink their first turkish coffee of the day, pray for happy customers and good sales.
Mid-day in Dahab is filled with laughter and stroes from the night before. Late breakfast runs into early lunch as the beach chairs that cover the coast line quickly fill up. The clothes are peeled off an for a couple miles of shorefront the sun gods and sun goddess soak up the rays.
The waves and techno continue to roll in. The morning divers return and peel off their wet suits for a while and enjoy lunch. The afternoon sun starts to fade and evening plans start to be made. I’d tell you about Dahab at night but I really have yet to experience the coastline at night. Adventures to Bedouin Villages and sleeping in the mountains under the stars have been my style thus far and that is a whole other story. (Yes, coming soon 
)
Dahab enjoys large numbers of tourists. It is world-renowned for its windsurfing. Reliable winds provide superb flat-water conditions inside Dahab’s sand spit. Further away from shore, wavy conditions couple with strong winds to provide formidable conditions for keen windsurfers. SCUBA diving and snorkelling are also popular activities with many reefs immediately adjacent to waterfront hotels. The nearby Blue Hole and Canyon are internationally famous dive spots. Land based activities include camel, horse, jeep and quad biketrips. Mount Sinai is a two hours drive, with Saint Catherine’s Monastery being a popular tourist destination.
Historically, most visitors to Dahab have been backpackers travelling independently and staying in hostels in the Masbet area. In recent years, development of hotels in the Medina area has facilitated the arrival of a wider range of tourists, many of whom visit Dahab specifically to partake in the windsurfing, diving and other activities.The word Dahab is Arabic for gold and is possibly a reference to the geographic locality; gold washed down from the desert mountains may have accumulated on the alluvial flood plain where the town was built. The name may also be a reference to the colour of the sands to the south of the town itself. Some locals attribute the name to the colour of the sky, just after sunset.
Searching for Egyptian Buried Treasure
“They painted the tomb to make it look so good! They knew we were coming!”
-Fantastically Funny Coupon Girl From Australia –
Traveling in Egypt I am constantly amazed by the fact that on a daily basis I am living a piece of history. Visiting the Valley of Kings I watched countless men hunting and un-covering the next great tomb. It is thought that only 30 percent of the tombs, temples and treasures have actually been discovered. That buried deep under the sand lies Kingdoms, Kings and countless hidden worlds. It amazing to think that in this day of discovery, from space exploration to underwater adventures so much history is hiding under the sand.
The tour director or Egyptologist the on our trip not only had a vast amount of knowledge of the past and present of Egypt but he was also a patient teacher. Answering my countless questions he helped me to understand the time consuming process of how these hidden treasures are unearthed.
When the archeologist come to a mountain or piece of land they wish to explore they have hired labor work in the hot sun to remove, by hand, the outer cover of rock and dirt. When they arrive at hard rock they make a grid, to ensure they check each part of the rock. They then drill 3 holes in each section. Depending on how soft the rock is these holes are anywhere between one and seven meters deep. In these holes they put sensors and x-ray type machines. If they discover something hollow they then begin to start digging.
At the second stage of this process, if they find a tomb, they start to dig a trench around the outside wall. Finally, and this process is that hardest part, they start to look for a way into the tomb. It is a little bit like solving a puzzle under the ground. You don’t know where the tomb or the door starts or ends.
“Rushing Through History”
As I watched some ugly tourists in the Valley of the Kings sometimes pushing, complaining and sometimes speaking very loudly I wondered what would the kings think of people rushing past their stories, their works of art or their history. It is amazing that in amongst this Disneyland like experience for trams, lines and photos for sale the treasure hunters continue to dig for an ancient civilization under ground.
They move dirt, rocks as the tourists move up and down into the tombs. They dig up history as we look up to the hieroglyphs. They basically move a piece of the mountain as we move along to the next tomb.
These men are the under appreciated angels who are rescuing another world. Hopefully one that will properly appreciated!
A Funny!
The Aswan people say that because of the currents the Nile water is the cleanest near Aswan. Went we went to the Nubian Village someone said, “if you drink the water in Aswan you must come back to Aswan. If the tourist drinks the water they will never come back to Egypt!”
At The Airport! From Cairo to Sharm El Shek!
There are a ton of great travel stories from our Egypt adventure that will be written soon. Most likely as I hang out and watch the waves roll in Dahab. Right now this is just a little status update. I am at Cairo airport waiting for my flight to Sharm El Shek.
Bring on the sun, sand and surf! I have seen enough pyramids and temples so it is time for a change of scenery!
Wish you were on your way to the beach with me!
Horns…
In Egypt we don’t drive cars, we don’t drive vans, we don’t drive trucks, we drive horns!
-Horns the Music of Egypt-
A Day Of Pyramids and More!
Where to begin, where to begin!
So our day of excursions was incredible today. We started by traveling to the Great Pyramids of Giza! Seeing the pyramids in the daylight is a whole other experience. My mother says that in the daylight they look taller and much more rugged. I am sure she is not describing my father but is in fact talking about the seventh wonder of the world the Pyramids of Giza!
We arrived to the Pyramids, bought our tickets to go actually go inside the second pyramid and left our cameras on the bus. We left our cameras on the bus because you are not allowed to take pictures inside the pyramid. I don’t really believe this is to preserve such a historic monument but more because if people saw photos of inside they would not make the crazy miner like climb down into the burial chamber. However it was a once in life time thing and we all climbed down and then up and then back down and then back up and out. We saw the sarcophagus in the middle part of the climb!
Outside we walked around, took lots of photos, climbed the outside of the pyramids. The official tourist police even helped us climb in areas that we restricted, for a small fee. Gotta love when you bribe the police for good pictures! The Sphinx was cool and will have to do a little more research on the power of the Sphinx.
We headed off to Memphis to see the statues of Ramess and then we went to see the oldest pyramids at Sakkara. We also have become much better hagglers and my mom and Aunt Mary can now dismiss a determined vendor in Arabic. Halas, La Shukran Momma O!
In the evening we went to see Beit al-Harrai House, an 18th-century mansion. We listened to the musicians warm up their autoharps before the concert. We were shown a “secret” door from a compartment in a wall. This lead to a great evening view on the roof top. We also saw a lathe but aren’t sure what century it was from.
We ended with Dinner at Johnny Carrinos on the banks of the Nile. For all you Kuwait readers the Egyptian version of Johnny’s has bread just as good!
We are not sure about internet access the next couple of days as tomorrow night we are boarding our sleeper train to Aswan and then on our Wednesday our heading onto our Nile Cruise for three days! We will keep you posted when we can!
Ladies from Egypt saying goodnight to all!
Notes from Egypt!
Being that Egypt is now the second country in the Middle East that I have been to I find my observations are now filled with some comparisons. First of all the driving in both countries, Kuwait and Egypt, is well a little zany. However in Cairo it is so wild that at most major intersections where they have traffic lights they also have places real live police officers. Why you ask? Due to the fact that a majority of the drivers here simply ignore all the traffic lights. So the government solution to try to keep some sort of traffic order is lots and lots of traffic police!
Now I knew people in Kuwait enjoyed using their horn but the people in Egypt, while it is like the are constantly talking to other drivers with their horns. If you close your eyes in Cairo and simply listen to the sounds of the city you here the musical beeping of a variety of horns. From big loud truck horns to high pitched cab horns to these cars that have horns that start loud and then fad away. Five times a day the sound of the horns is drowned out by the call to prayer. When you come to the city the constant horn sound is a little shocking but as you adjust to the culture you can hear the rhythm in the horn section.
When I first arrived in Kuwait a wise man told me that I would soon adjust to the differences in the Middle East. When he told me this I was pretty sure I must have thought he was wrong that this would never be the case. As usual he was right. There are so many things that I didn’t even realize I had adjusted to until I listen to people who were new to the country ask questions about.
It is very interesting how coming here has also helped to improve my Arabic and bring on a new found desire to learn more arabic words. Ahhh the wonders of vacation!
Hope where ever you are this holiday season your vacation opens your eyes to something new!
The Stages of Travel
The Stages of Travel
The Idea or Dream to Travel
Pre-Planning
Booking Tickets Followed by the Euphoric High of My Goodness We Are Going!
Packing (Which often includes laundry)
Pure Anticipation
Airport Dread
Airport
Plane with drink in hand
Arrival
Customs
Luggage Found
Joy
Bliss
Adventure
Shopping
More Adventure
Laughter
Locals
Still More Adventure
Departure Sadness
Airport
Plane With Two Drinks in Hand (especially if you are returning to a dry country)
Customs
Making Your Way Home
Un-Packing
Sharing Stories
Getting Photos Printed
Real Life
The Idea or Dream to Travel
And the stages start all over again!
Right now I am in packing and an pure anticipation.
My Mom and Aunt are already on the plane with drink in hand!
One day till Egypt!
A change is as good as a rest
It has been said that a change is as good as a rest. With 11 teaching days or two weeks till Christmas Break that is my motto! It really does seem absolutely surreal that Christmas Break is only days away!!!! I can’t believe that once break arrives I will then soon be taking a cab to the airport, boarding a plane and then flying to Egypt.
I remember the first time I saw the leaning tower of Pisa. I kept saying over and over again how shocked and how lucky I was to actually be here. You see these things on TV, you hear other people talking about them but for you to actually be there, well that is something else.
I live in Kuwait. I still have to say that out loud to remind me it is true. If you’d asked me a year ago if I never ever thought I’d be saying I live in Kuwait I’d have told you that you were crazy. Kuwait wasn’t a place I ever dreamed of going however here I am, living and sometimes living large in the desert.
Now if you’d asked me in I dreamed of going to Egypt…..Cairo… the pyramids. Well that is a whole other story. Of course I have and Inshallah I will be there shortly!
A Night At The Movies
Like all good travelers who live in a foreign country I have a list of things I want to do before I leave. I know right now it feels like I have a lot of time here but the list is long and seems to grow longer every day. I feel if at times if I am not focused on being a tourist where I live I could find myself getting a customs stamp out of the country and not have seen and fully experienced Kuwait.
As well the positive adventures of living somewhere exotic are a great way to make the life challenges of living in a foreign country seem a lot less important. So after getting a land phone for one night, figuring out my phone number and having it work for two hours I knew that it was time to pull out the fun things to do in Kuwait List.
At Christmas I am going to Egypt, so when I saw the advertisement for an IMAX 3-D movie about mummies and Egypt I new one day, In Shalliah, I would get there.
At night the entrance into the science center is breathtaking. There are rows, upon rows of palm trees that are beautiful lighted. As you arrive at the first security check point you find yourself in a giant paved circle. The circle is outlined with an amazing waterfall. As the water rushes down the mist gentle cools you face and the sound of bubbling water always soothes my soul.
Our driver took us to the main entrance and as we got out of the car and walked up the large grand entrance way we suddenly felt as if we were arriving onto a red carpet. We looked around for paparitize to take our pictures, as somehow in all the excitiment forgotten our cameras. We linked arms and walked and happily walked into the movies!
It has been years since I have seen any type of 3-D movie. In fact I think the last time might have been when I was 8 and we went to Disneyland. To me, the 3-D technology has come a long way since then. It was brilliant to see the pyramids, desert and cities of Egypt come to life literally inches from your face.
The images of this movie alone made it worth seeing however the educational, discovery aspect of how mummies of the past can unlock medical mysteries of the future made us want to see more. We sat in the theatre, watched all the credits and wished for a part two!
Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Christine Oastler is a freelance travel writer, teacher and artist, currently living in Mahboula, Kuwait. Born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Christine obtained her Bachelor of Arts at Trent University and her Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. Currently traveling around the Middle East she finds herself riding the odd camel and embracing a new culture!