Adventures in Egypt
Our long weekend in Egypt began bright and early. We woke up before the sun (4:30) to get ready. We left our house at 5:30 and went to Al-Quttranna, a stop along the Desert Highway (one of the 2 main N-S highways) and waited for the tour bus to pick us up. We set up our travel with a tour group in Amman, but they agreed to stop and get us, since it was on the way. It worked out pretty well.
So, we rode to Aqaba (Jordan's sea port on the Red Sea) and went through Jordanian customs, getting our passports signed and all that business before we went to where we would get on the boat. All this was going pretty smoothly. The dock was chaotic, because everyone was trying to get on the boat and no one really knew what was going on (there is a HUGE problem with giving proper directions and organization skills in these parts). But, we got on the boat, eventually. From there we rode to the port in Egypt, across the Red Sea (the boat ride was about 2 hours or so), and got ready to go to Egyptian customs.
It should be known that Egyptian customs is not very efficient. Aside from being pretty run down, no one has any clue what is going on anywhere. It reminded me SO MUCH of the airport in Haiti (where I went in the summer of 2000). It was ridiculously chaotic - people everywhere, pushing and shoving with no regard for order or what other people need to do. Of course, it might have been little bit better if we understood Arabic, but I don't think it would have been of much help. We were about the only people on the tour from Amman (6 charter busses large) that didn't speak Arabic, and the tour people didn't know that we spoke English, so everything that was going on was in Arabic. But still, even the Jordanians that we went with (Dr. Ibrahim and his wife Sophie, some of my parents’ friends here) didn't have a clue what was happening. We found our way through the whole mess of immigration, getting our passports stamped, paying entrance fees, checking luggage, etc. (they didn't open any of our stuff and just glanced at our passports, which is a perk of being American - no one hassles you whatsoever, they just wave you through) and got back on a bus which would take us down the Egyptian coast to our destination, Sharm-el Sheikh.
The bus ride was pretty spectacular. Egypt is a stereotypical desert, as compared to the Jordanian arid desert. The highway from the port wove through this crazy mountainous area. The sandstone walls rose all around us and there were all kinds of igneous intrusions throughout it, making it really unique (yeah, geology). After 3 hours or so driving on our last bus we got to the town, and the hotel that our papers said we were staying at didn't have us on their list... Apparently the tour agency screwed up about 20 peoples' reservations. After at least an hour trying to figure it out, we finally got "reassigned" from the Sunset Hotel to the Tropicana Garden Palms Resort. Needless to say, it was quite the step up. About a dozen other Jordanians on our tour got to go there also.
The resort was "beautiful," with a huge pool, lush grass (in the middle of the fucking desert...) and palm trees, an all inclusive bar and open buffet (if your reservations were inclusive - ours weren't).
As it turns out, Egypt is quite the tourist spot for Europeans - mostly French, German and Italian. Our resort was full of rich Europeans who were "experiencing Egypt." I don't want to be overly negative, but I have alot of problems with resorts and the people who stay there (so I'm going to be...). First off, its obscene to have a resort in the middle of the desert. Its like the people who stay there are in their own little bubble, disconnected from the external world. In a region of the world where water resources are literally life and death for so many people, it just isn't justifiable to waste so much water on growing Kentucky Bluegrass and having a resort with a giant pool and so forth. The waste of water at this resort (and, undoubtedly, the other resorts in the area) was just disgusting. Secondly, the people who stay at resorts like this have no concept for the region where they are staying. The country of Egypt is severely overpopulated and economically depressed. I have no doubt that NONE of the tourists who go to Sharm-el Sheikh would be able to handle living like the majority of Egyptians do. Its just fine with them to go there, spend their thousands of dollars on bullshit souvenirs (in the hundreds of crappy tourist shops that were everywhere) and inclusive, beach-side bars and leave with no regard for the real culture or wellbeing of the Egyptian people. I would have MUCH more preferred to spend the weekend at one of the Jordanian National Parks (which I won't be able to see now, since we're leaving so soon) but I'm sort of at the whim of my family's decisions. Alas, perhaps I'll get a great desert adventure when I come back, ensha'allah.
So, I struggled to get past my culture-shock and class consciousness, and tried to accept being surrounded by the European upper-class (since I was just as "bad" as them for being there myself) and look at the good side of things. I got to try two Egyptian beers, which was cool. And I got to snorkel at the beach for 15L.E. (about $5). And I got to see lots of pretty European girls in their bikinis. So, there were positive things about the trip.
We had all day Friday and Saturday to hang out on the public beach, relax and get a little bit sunburned. And then we began the arduous trek back on Sunday morning (Happy May Day / Labor Day!). The trip back was less than desirable. More of the same ridiculous chaos. Egyptian customs was HORRIBLE. It is really hard to explain the experience, aside from saying that it was not relaxing. After waiting in a giant, dirty room with a few hundred other tired, sweaty travelers (mostly Egyptians and Jordanians) we made our way to the boat, where we again had to fight our way through a crowd just to get on in one piece (people don't understand that if they have a ticket, they WILL GET A SEAT, so they push and struggle like there's no tomorrow). On the boat they took our passports, which was disconcerting. It is generally a rule of thumb that when you are traveling internationally you should NEVER let someone have your passport. But, if you are going to get anything done it is nearly impossible to follow the rules. We DID get them back, humd-lil'lah, but it would have been SO EASY to lose. We met a French couple that told us that the Jordanian police "misplaced" their passports – sympathy was shared.
We finally made it back to Mu’tah at 10:30pm, 12 hours after leaving Sharm-el Sheikh. There were some nice parts of the trip, but in general I wish that I had been able to do something else, like go solo camping in the Jordan Valley for the weekend. C’est la vie. Tomorrow morning we’re going on a 2 day excursion to Wadi Rum and Petra. It is probably going to be my favorite “tourist” excursion from our trip here, even though it will be pretty short and crammed in right near the end. We’re camping in Wadi Rum. As my dad said, we’ll probably have better traveling conditions and worse living conditions. No problem (mish mushkilah). Time is flying. It is hard to believe that we’re leaving in two weeks. It feels just like it probably feels for most of you, finishing up the semester with lots of things to get done.
I finished making the mix tapes. They’re totally kick ass. I think everyone is going to like them. Oh, and I’m not going to expand the previous post with pictures or anything. If you want to hear any stories or see the pictures ask me some day and I’ll show you.
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So, we rode to Aqaba (Jordan's sea port on the Red Sea) and went through Jordanian customs, getting our passports signed and all that business before we went to where we would get on the boat. All this was going pretty smoothly. The dock was chaotic, because everyone was trying to get on the boat and no one really knew what was going on (there is a HUGE problem with giving proper directions and organization skills in these parts). But, we got on the boat, eventually. From there we rode to the port in Egypt, across the Red Sea (the boat ride was about 2 hours or so), and got ready to go to Egyptian customs.
It should be known that Egyptian customs is not very efficient. Aside from being pretty run down, no one has any clue what is going on anywhere. It reminded me SO MUCH of the airport in Haiti (where I went in the summer of 2000). It was ridiculously chaotic - people everywhere, pushing and shoving with no regard for order or what other people need to do. Of course, it might have been little bit better if we understood Arabic, but I don't think it would have been of much help. We were about the only people on the tour from Amman (6 charter busses large) that didn't speak Arabic, and the tour people didn't know that we spoke English, so everything that was going on was in Arabic. But still, even the Jordanians that we went with (Dr. Ibrahim and his wife Sophie, some of my parents’ friends here) didn't have a clue what was happening. We found our way through the whole mess of immigration, getting our passports stamped, paying entrance fees, checking luggage, etc. (they didn't open any of our stuff and just glanced at our passports, which is a perk of being American - no one hassles you whatsoever, they just wave you through) and got back on a bus which would take us down the Egyptian coast to our destination, Sharm-el Sheikh.
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The bus ride was pretty spectacular. Egypt is a stereotypical desert, as compared to the Jordanian arid desert. The highway from the port wove through this crazy mountainous area. The sandstone walls rose all around us and there were all kinds of igneous intrusions throughout it, making it really unique (yeah, geology). After 3 hours or so driving on our last bus we got to the town, and the hotel that our papers said we were staying at didn't have us on their list... Apparently the tour agency screwed up about 20 peoples' reservations. After at least an hour trying to figure it out, we finally got "reassigned" from the Sunset Hotel to the Tropicana Garden Palms Resort. Needless to say, it was quite the step up. About a dozen other Jordanians on our tour got to go there also.
|
|
|
The resort was "beautiful," with a huge pool, lush grass (in the middle of the fucking desert...) and palm trees, an all inclusive bar and open buffet (if your reservations were inclusive - ours weren't).
As it turns out, Egypt is quite the tourist spot for Europeans - mostly French, German and Italian. Our resort was full of rich Europeans who were "experiencing Egypt." I don't want to be overly negative, but I have alot of problems with resorts and the people who stay there (so I'm going to be...). First off, its obscene to have a resort in the middle of the desert. Its like the people who stay there are in their own little bubble, disconnected from the external world. In a region of the world where water resources are literally life and death for so many people, it just isn't justifiable to waste so much water on growing Kentucky Bluegrass and having a resort with a giant pool and so forth. The waste of water at this resort (and, undoubtedly, the other resorts in the area) was just disgusting. Secondly, the people who stay at resorts like this have no concept for the region where they are staying. The country of Egypt is severely overpopulated and economically depressed. I have no doubt that NONE of the tourists who go to Sharm-el Sheikh would be able to handle living like the majority of Egyptians do. Its just fine with them to go there, spend their thousands of dollars on bullshit souvenirs (in the hundreds of crappy tourist shops that were everywhere) and inclusive, beach-side bars and leave with no regard for the real culture or wellbeing of the Egyptian people. I would have MUCH more preferred to spend the weekend at one of the Jordanian National Parks (which I won't be able to see now, since we're leaving so soon) but I'm sort of at the whim of my family's decisions. Alas, perhaps I'll get a great desert adventure when I come back, ensha'allah.
So, I struggled to get past my culture-shock and class consciousness, and tried to accept being surrounded by the European upper-class (since I was just as "bad" as them for being there myself) and look at the good side of things. I got to try two Egyptian beers, which was cool. And I got to snorkel at the beach for 15L.E. (about $5). And I got to see lots of pretty European girls in their bikinis. So, there were positive things about the trip.
|
|
|
We had all day Friday and Saturday to hang out on the public beach, relax and get a little bit sunburned. And then we began the arduous trek back on Sunday morning (Happy May Day / Labor Day!). The trip back was less than desirable. More of the same ridiculous chaos. Egyptian customs was HORRIBLE. It is really hard to explain the experience, aside from saying that it was not relaxing. After waiting in a giant, dirty room with a few hundred other tired, sweaty travelers (mostly Egyptians and Jordanians) we made our way to the boat, where we again had to fight our way through a crowd just to get on in one piece (people don't understand that if they have a ticket, they WILL GET A SEAT, so they push and struggle like there's no tomorrow). On the boat they took our passports, which was disconcerting. It is generally a rule of thumb that when you are traveling internationally you should NEVER let someone have your passport. But, if you are going to get anything done it is nearly impossible to follow the rules. We DID get them back, humd-lil'lah, but it would have been SO EASY to lose. We met a French couple that told us that the Jordanian police "misplaced" their passports – sympathy was shared.
|
|
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We finally made it back to Mu’tah at 10:30pm, 12 hours after leaving Sharm-el Sheikh. There were some nice parts of the trip, but in general I wish that I had been able to do something else, like go solo camping in the Jordan Valley for the weekend. C’est la vie. Tomorrow morning we’re going on a 2 day excursion to Wadi Rum and Petra. It is probably going to be my favorite “tourist” excursion from our trip here, even though it will be pretty short and crammed in right near the end. We’re camping in Wadi Rum. As my dad said, we’ll probably have better traveling conditions and worse living conditions. No problem (mish mushkilah). Time is flying. It is hard to believe that we’re leaving in two weeks. It feels just like it probably feels for most of you, finishing up the semester with lots of things to get done.
I finished making the mix tapes. They’re totally kick ass. I think everyone is going to like them. Oh, and I’m not going to expand the previous post with pictures or anything. If you want to hear any stories or see the pictures ask me some day and I’ll show you.
posted by Aaron Berdanier at 5:38 PM Permalink
