I had a very eventful last couple days here in Aswan. I will start from the end and work my way back in time.
I just had lunch in a shaabi (Working class alternative to Egypt's slick middle class food, music, etc.. ) little restaurant. I had chicken, a block of macarona bashamel (egyptian baked pasta), moloukhia (egyptian leafy green soup, plain chicken soup, salad and bread all for 7 pounds about US1.25.. and it was really good.. I found this place with my local friend Hamada who took me there two days ago when we first met. he picked me up from my hotel after I had just returned from a long day trip to the temples of Abu Simbl in the south.. the trip left at 4 am the night before for the 3 hour drive.. we arrived at the temple site at 7 am and the sun was high in the sky but dim, a very strange light, it might have to do with being so far south and the time of morning, you could look straight at the disk of the sun without squinting.. as you arrive, you see a large mountain like mound, its the back of the reconstructed Abu Simbl after it was cut into parts and reassembled at a new site away from the rising waters of lake Nasser.. oh and the lake itself is an amazing thing to see.. its enormous (largest man made lake), with islands and a ridiculously rich natural life (massive fish, tones of birds, foxes, Nile crocodiles, etc..).. as you turn around the mound, the the massive faces of the four seated Ramses II statues appear out of the man made mountain... its a really impressive sight.. this is one of those things that I always wanted to see and again cant believe how lucky I am to have seen it in my lifetime along with the hundreds of other monuments that I have seen.. its one of those moments where I can really appreciate how lucky I have been.. aside from the hordes of trashy Italian tourists, it was a great experience. because of the unpractical convoy system (police escort) the buses had to leave at around 9... after another 3 hour drive back towards Aswan, we visited the Aswan High Dam (which does not appear very high when one is standing on top of it, but its a massive structure (18 times more material than the biggest of the three pyramids of giza *thanks lonely planet for this kind of info*) anyway, after that we went to see the temple of Philea (the last pharonic temple to be built.. it was also relocated from a would have been an underwater site because of the Dam project.. today its on an island, reached by boat and its really one of the most beautiful sites I have visited anywhere.
enough of this, more about the exciting part of that day.
I made it back to my hotel and on the way called Hamada to come and meet me.. I met him a week before randomly when I was having a foul and falafel sandwich on the sidewalk in Hurghada as I was waiting my bus... we talked, had a tea and shisha together and I promised to call him when I come to Aswan, which is where he lives.
it was oven hot outside, I mean its difficult to describe how hot it felt except if you imagine heating your oven to about 400-450 then open the oven door and stick your head in there.. it was hot.. we went to have a multi course egyptian lunch at a local place which was yummy, but I did not really fit with my shorts, sun glasses hanging on my collar and a tight tshirt.. however saying SalamuAlikum to the men present was sufficient to let them know that yes I am egyptian.
this reminded me a bit of my experience last year with lotfy in tunisia, the guy who gave me the local life experience for a day.. I had to eat the chicken with my hands and when I finished something more was coming (typical egyptian working class mentality that you should eat until you cant breath) it was delicious non the less.
then we went for a shisha (the plain honey tobacco not the touristy apple flavor, which they would laugh if I asked for that), it was too hot and then we went to visit some of his family.. we took a microbus (local mode of transport for Pt 25) and went to a typical poor working class home, with the unfinished upper floors, ready for expansion upon availability of funds or the need for more space, and with the wonderfully aged and pealing wall paint of two different tones of green and the simple yet comfortable wooden furniture with flower pattern cushions.. the home although small and crowded with I dont know how many family members was full of smiling faces.. I was a bit of an attraction, and they were curious to ask me questions about being egyptian american, and traveling in egypt etc.. they served me a drink made from Doma, a hard bitter fruit from a palm that has the shell of a coconut but is fully dry (resembles wood), it is crushed then mixed with water and sugar in the blender.. it was .. interesting, but a first non the less.
they then served me Shai Mazboot (perfect tea), and finally insisted that I not drink from my bottle of water but rather have some water from the Nile (which they had cooled in a container) although I never thought I would drink directly from the Nile, I was glad I had to.
we then went to his house, to do that we took another micro bus, then went further out of the city across the train tracks where we took another car.. we passed a weapons factory, a chemical factory with yellow smoke coming out of its chimneys, and the streets started to become unpaved.
his home was yet again a typical unfinished construction with the first floor completed with three rooms painted that tone of green upper egyptians love.. I took a shower then was given a summer light galabeyya to wear which was pretty much see through
I gotta run for my train to Alex.. ill finish later
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
black egypt
people (especially from the north) always pair Luxor and Aswan together but there is nothing really in common between the two cities besides that they are egyptian. Luxor is the last frontier of Al Sa3eed (the people of the lower valley, usually mocked in the north for being hard headed if not stupid even (and they are far from that, I am learning so much about how prejudice city folks (alexandria and cairo) are towards people from other parts of the country and personally I am much more fond of upper egyptians, bedouines and siwis than I am of city people who I concider to be diluted, confused, not as interesting, business oriented if not even boring. Aswan is the southern most city in egypt and is the gateway to africa and you can really see it in its people.. although there are many who look typically egyptian from the valley, there is also a great population of nubians, and people whose liniage is african from sudan and even western africa.. with eyes wide apart, and a bigger wider galaba that ranges from solid colors to pin stripped pink, blue or green, these are yet another group of people.. who ever said that egyptians are homogenous!
I just sat on a popular ahwa (coffeeshop) to have a sheesha and tea and the arabic (egyptian and lebanese) music videos playing seem here to be as foreign as western videos. typical videos here playing on one of almost 20 local music channels which are the staple in any egyptian coffee house involve scandalous overly sexualized women dancing and singing in showers or riding in bikinis in slow motion on a horse on the beach with her face partly covered .. they are just not part of the upper egyptian environment even more so than they are from any egyptian city really..
the tables were covered in a wall paper pattern that my family had in the 1970s.. there is an old feel to the south that it maintained, I even told my cab driver tonight that Aswan reminded me of egypt in old black and white films.. surprisingly the recent fashion of girls wearing headcovers with tight pants shared between northern egyptian cities and turkish muslims as well as the gulf never made it here, there are many women dressed as they looked in those old black in white films with no headcovers etc.. its a breath of fresh air for me.. people here are much more straight forward and honest and haven't developed that double face that northern people have. also (and this is regarding men only as i have been mostly interacting with me) sexuality here is far more open and people are not ashamed to ask direct questions and seem to be comfortable with whatever comes their way, for example I have spoken here with men about my sexuality which they respect and seem to have not the slightest problem with, which is something that I would not do up north.
before coming back here to have a sheesha and blog, I was at Nubian House Resturaunt, which was recommended for sunset views over the city. its a nice place on a hill overlooking the islands of the nile and the city but i felt like it was also a tourist trap.. prices were a bit high and they had an "authentic" nubian house that they show you around where you are finally ushered into a souvenir shop.. I had walked there after a visit to the Nubian Museum, which is actually a nice building and a good quality museum, however the collection is unimpressive if not confusing.
I left Luxor this afternoon with a microbus (the local popular mode of transport which costs 25p - less than 5 US cents!) ofcourse the mode of transport takes a route outside the nifty and spiffy city center where tourists meandor, there was a makeshift market among the construction site of a road overpass, and the typical non-aesthetic of exposed brick and concrete sturctures began to take over. the micro bus took me to the edge of town from which I took another to the parking lot of mini buses that connect cities and towns.. a man stopped me with a big smile and shook my hands very firmly, sexual overtones hover around the handshake.. again!.. I went on and finally got on my bus to Aswan.. the road is pretty incredible, the three hour journey is along one of the many canals where I even saw a medium sized crocodile! and kids still swimming in the canals (despite the massive health campaign against such activity). sometimes the road is among lush green fields on both sides and sometimes the rocky desert was on the left side and the lush fields with forests of palm trees were on the right near the river.. the entire journey cost 12 pounds!$2
leaving luxor I realized how much i didnt photograph.. buildings and people.. I am too embaressed to take pictures of strangers in general, so the most impressive part of my experience of egypt on this trip (the people) are totally absent from my pictures.. even the buildings, in such a rich place the extraordinary gets all the attention especially on a first time visit so most of my pictures are of the ancient, however there are gorgous early 20th century buildings that still stand and some are being used or slightly added to, unlike such buildings in both cairo and alexandria which are becoming more obsecured. I wish I photographed these 1920s buildings with there high wooden cielings visible through windows if you look up from the street, some had a very modern take on ancient egyptian aesthetic, others had a very typical european aesthetic while others were typical 1920 modern.. along the way to aswan I saw the train stations built in the 1920s which were identical and consisted of a simple block form with a long horizontal plane creating shade on either sides of the block, the plane concludes on either side in a graceful curve.. there were also white washed villages built into the rock with bright white exteriors, simple cubic forms and nile blue windows and doors, like a tunisian or greek village built into the rock overlooking the nile.. pretty amazing..
in luxor there were also the old winter palace that once belonged to the royal family and is now an expensive hotel.. so much to fill the eyes, one visit can not capture all this, only the basics and the most obvious.
its almost 11 pm and I have booked a trip for Abu Simble leaving at 4am only in a few hours.. AbuSible is the massive Ramsis temple that was cut into sections and move up away from what has become and underwater site due to the rising waters of lake Nasser after building the Aswan High Dam.. I am excited to see it, it is another 3 hour journey south to the edge of Egypt with Sudan.
I just got a call from Mohammed, a man I met on the street in Hurghada who is from Aswan.. he is inviting me to spend the night with him and his family tomorrow.. this should be another special experience.
I just sat on a popular ahwa (coffeeshop) to have a sheesha and tea and the arabic (egyptian and lebanese) music videos playing seem here to be as foreign as western videos. typical videos here playing on one of almost 20 local music channels which are the staple in any egyptian coffee house involve scandalous overly sexualized women dancing and singing in showers or riding in bikinis in slow motion on a horse on the beach with her face partly covered .. they are just not part of the upper egyptian environment even more so than they are from any egyptian city really..
the tables were covered in a wall paper pattern that my family had in the 1970s.. there is an old feel to the south that it maintained, I even told my cab driver tonight that Aswan reminded me of egypt in old black and white films.. surprisingly the recent fashion of girls wearing headcovers with tight pants shared between northern egyptian cities and turkish muslims as well as the gulf never made it here, there are many women dressed as they looked in those old black in white films with no headcovers etc.. its a breath of fresh air for me.. people here are much more straight forward and honest and haven't developed that double face that northern people have. also (and this is regarding men only as i have been mostly interacting with me) sexuality here is far more open and people are not ashamed to ask direct questions and seem to be comfortable with whatever comes their way, for example I have spoken here with men about my sexuality which they respect and seem to have not the slightest problem with, which is something that I would not do up north.
before coming back here to have a sheesha and blog, I was at Nubian House Resturaunt, which was recommended for sunset views over the city. its a nice place on a hill overlooking the islands of the nile and the city but i felt like it was also a tourist trap.. prices were a bit high and they had an "authentic" nubian house that they show you around where you are finally ushered into a souvenir shop.. I had walked there after a visit to the Nubian Museum, which is actually a nice building and a good quality museum, however the collection is unimpressive if not confusing.
I left Luxor this afternoon with a microbus (the local popular mode of transport which costs 25p - less than 5 US cents!) ofcourse the mode of transport takes a route outside the nifty and spiffy city center where tourists meandor, there was a makeshift market among the construction site of a road overpass, and the typical non-aesthetic of exposed brick and concrete sturctures began to take over. the micro bus took me to the edge of town from which I took another to the parking lot of mini buses that connect cities and towns.. a man stopped me with a big smile and shook my hands very firmly, sexual overtones hover around the handshake.. again!.. I went on and finally got on my bus to Aswan.. the road is pretty incredible, the three hour journey is along one of the many canals where I even saw a medium sized crocodile! and kids still swimming in the canals (despite the massive health campaign against such activity). sometimes the road is among lush green fields on both sides and sometimes the rocky desert was on the left side and the lush fields with forests of palm trees were on the right near the river.. the entire journey cost 12 pounds!$2
leaving luxor I realized how much i didnt photograph.. buildings and people.. I am too embaressed to take pictures of strangers in general, so the most impressive part of my experience of egypt on this trip (the people) are totally absent from my pictures.. even the buildings, in such a rich place the extraordinary gets all the attention especially on a first time visit so most of my pictures are of the ancient, however there are gorgous early 20th century buildings that still stand and some are being used or slightly added to, unlike such buildings in both cairo and alexandria which are becoming more obsecured. I wish I photographed these 1920s buildings with there high wooden cielings visible through windows if you look up from the street, some had a very modern take on ancient egyptian aesthetic, others had a very typical european aesthetic while others were typical 1920 modern.. along the way to aswan I saw the train stations built in the 1920s which were identical and consisted of a simple block form with a long horizontal plane creating shade on either sides of the block, the plane concludes on either side in a graceful curve.. there were also white washed villages built into the rock with bright white exteriors, simple cubic forms and nile blue windows and doors, like a tunisian or greek village built into the rock overlooking the nile.. pretty amazing..
in luxor there were also the old winter palace that once belonged to the royal family and is now an expensive hotel.. so much to fill the eyes, one visit can not capture all this, only the basics and the most obvious.
its almost 11 pm and I have booked a trip for Abu Simble leaving at 4am only in a few hours.. AbuSible is the massive Ramsis temple that was cut into sections and move up away from what has become and underwater site due to the rising waters of lake Nasser after building the Aswan High Dam.. I am excited to see it, it is another 3 hour journey south to the edge of Egypt with Sudan.
I just got a call from Mohammed, a man I met on the street in Hurghada who is from Aswan.. he is inviting me to spend the night with him and his family tomorrow.. this should be another special experience.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
adventures happen
wow.. today was a true adventure day.. I started later than I wanted to, around 10:30, left the hotel with my bike and headed to the ferry to cross to the west side of the river where the rich archeological treasures hide beyond the lush green fields. on the ferry, I was again a bit of an object of curiusity as people are not sure if I am a "khawaja" tourist or an egyptian. I was approached by Hamdi, a young handsome man in a galaba and we started a conversation that I can not recall.. when we arrived on the west he invited me for a tea and shisha. he later gave me his number as he offered to take me with his boat to Banana Island. once he uttered the name, my thoughts immediatley went to the gutter, as I thought that the island was a fictional place that is a code for oral sex.. very dirty on my part. but I would find out later if the Banana Island myth is true. our conversation at the coffee shop as usual with egyptian men took a very shamelss turn and revolved around sexual curiosities. I had to leave before the I and the day get hotter, and so my journey on the west began.
biking was so pleasant, the road from the boat goes straight and perpendicular to the river with lush lush flower bushes on the sides only hiding even greener fields behind.. I first came across the village of New Gurna by Hassan Fathy of which only the mosque, theater (closed) and a small strip of shops remain.. I was told that a couple of the houses are still there but if they were, they must have been overshadowed by more recent, typical unfinished concrete & brick building.
the man guarding the door was amazing.. old, wrinkled, dark, and with teeth so yellow they were almost gold in bright sun. he showed me around the mosque with great detail of the construction techniques and the materials, and methods of making the various arches using thread and simple tools.. it was a really special experience to have such a rish guided tour of the building by someone who knows it so well. the mosque is still being used although very lightly. the central courtyard was planted with very lush plants. after the extensive tour, I climbed the steps to the top of the unorthodox minaret for a general view of the area.
back on my bike I was met by the two colossal Memnon statues, the only remains of a great temple. I arrived at the same time as a massive tour bus and when I asked a man to take my picture he replied in a strong british accent "no no, no thanks, yalla" an automatic reaction, then he realized I wasnt selling him anything so he said "sorry, you know how it is.."
I continue up the road for another kilometer before I reached the ticket office. I have been lucky to only pay egyptian prices which are 2 egyptian pounds per site (about 30 US cents) this is compared to tourist prices which cab be fom 40-70 egyptian pounds (typical international prices for such sites)... the man at the ticket suggested a few sites to me and gave me the proper tickets..
off again I went to Madinat Hebu temple... amazing, I have never seen anything like this... I was far more impressed with this temple than I was with Karnak which was overcrowded with tourists and lacking in well preserved reliefs with alot of missing parts of the structure, it is still impressive, but my expectations for Karnak were hight. Here I had no expectations and I was stunned.. this temple is gorgous with lots of rich rich rich reliefs that you can come as close to as you want, entire walls fully intact, amazing chapels where you can wander around alone! it was really impressive. a man at the last hypostyle hall showed me a few "closed or prohibited areas" ofcourse for a small tip... these local men in their colorful galabas and white headdress guard the temples but also act as makeshift guides, they know alot, this is really their culture. he showed me a wall relief in a room that was closed for restoration work where a pharoah is shown with his large erect penis.. he even asked me to take a picture with it with my hands up as if I am grabbing it! (I love Egypt)
it gets better
my next site was an area of ancient workers' tombs, they too had magnficent burial spaces not just the kings and queens. there I saw two tombs, it was blistering hot at this point and I rested a bit.. then I was told that my ticket allows me to see a small temple on the site and I was directed to it.. I walked there, it was a bit removed from the guards, but the gate was locked.. a couple of minutes later a man came with the key to the temple gate.. again it was a very private, one on one affair to experience such a place. the temple had three chaples in the back each with amazing reliefs of the process of death, judgment and rebirth on the other side. again there was a large relief of a pharoah with a large erect penis which the guard could not miss to point out.. he then added that this particular man was known for fucking all the women in some kind of a war situation, I cant remember the details.. then he added "like me... I have to fuck my wife at least 3 to 4 times a day... I have to, I need it!" I was shocked (I really need to loose this shame/embarecement that we are so used to in the west) anyway, the man appreaed to be in good health and was not bad looking either. he was 42 but looked younger and said its because of a hearty diet of meat and eggs (so southern egypt), he also has 4 duaghters and a son. he wanted to marry another woman because his wife sometimes doesn't want to fuck. I love how this type of conversation is so normal here.
the temple could have been visited in 10 mintues but I was there with this man for close to an hour, talking about all sorts of sexual things related to his "strong penis" and his constant need to fuck.. I was very curious, I mean there is this raging man in front of me in this typical southern egyptian dress, in a small dark temple chaple in the middle of the desert alone! its the stuff cheap gay fantacy books are made of and it was my reality.. it gets better.. I was standing close to the man when he was pointing to a relief when my hand brushed what I assumed was his penis.. I confirm that it was, I brushed my hands again... IT WAS... either large or semi erect I am not sure but it got me off! I was not sure what I should do, I saw in my very realistic mental image what I would like to do but I was not sure if I could.. however when I brushed my hand against him again and it was very obvious, he only looked at me and said "as long as you are happy, if there is anything you want to do, let me know!" WOW was that an offer? its too good to be true.. I am not sure.. then I hear the yacking of italian tourists approaching the small temple.. my close encounter with a real desert sex monster was suddenly over!
in complete awe of what just almost happened I sped away on my bike to my next site the Ramesseum (a ramsis dedicated and built temple) then I went on to the famous temple of Hatshepsut... it was a very very hot and dehydrated experience but I can still say that despite the fact that the temple has little of its reliefs today because of ancient graffitti and defacing the face of the queen by her step son after her death, this is an amazing building! it is so modern its really difficult to believe how ancient it is.. it does not follow the typical plan and structure of temles and its very horizontal facade, sturdy square columns and minimal decoration, really it looks like an early modern building.. very impressive to see!
as I am leaving the temple I met Hassan, a little kid (maybe 12) with blonde hair who lives in the local village and he offered to show me the way to two magnificent tombs and so I went. the tombs were great and I will skip the detials but I should say that one had a very cave-like stairway down and amazing scenes of making wine in great detail with the entire ceiling covered with the image of grapes!
the second tomb next door was also very interesting with a very very long plan and a ceiling that rose from the door to about four times that height by the end of the tunnel-like space. this was another special tomb-raiders kind of experience, as the guard set a mirror outside the door to the tomb so that it shines a beam of light into the space.. he later gave me a reflectiv surface that I can use to reflect that beam of light on to any part of the large wall so that I can better see the reliefs (very old world, very special)
I took my bike back and rode from Hatshepsut temple until the ferry back to the east bank all in one single ride with no stops and no water.. I am surprised I did not have a sun stroke today!
I took a much needed shower and went to meet my friend Hamdy whome I met in the morning on the ferry (we had plans to go to banana island)... and so we ment, he no longer wore a galaba, just a typical nike shirt and pants and off we went in his large boat which normally seats about 18 people at least.. he did not bring hash as he promissed earlier but we went down the nile away from luxor in the direction of aswan, passing by all the large 5 star hotels.. meanwhile our conversation was again about sex and a very direct and honest one (i am not used to having such conversations with a seemingly straight guy that I just met that morning.. but here that seems to be normal.. he even said, we egyptians and especially us nubians are very open about sex! I think he meant more the men but I understand what he was saying) he eventually got me to admit that I like myown kind and even asked me what role I prefer and other such questions.. he then said that he would like to try curtain things.. suddenly we arrived at banana island.. its a real place! with banana trees! the boat was moored and we started our walk. he seemed ready to try something new and next thing you know we went off the path and into the banana trees.. he tried something new today.. it was a bit quick and the experience had the feel of a crime and the after feeling of guilt, but its his first time, I shouldnt expect too much.. he was reliefed and I was ready to go home to finish my dinner.
biking was so pleasant, the road from the boat goes straight and perpendicular to the river with lush lush flower bushes on the sides only hiding even greener fields behind.. I first came across the village of New Gurna by Hassan Fathy of which only the mosque, theater (closed) and a small strip of shops remain.. I was told that a couple of the houses are still there but if they were, they must have been overshadowed by more recent, typical unfinished concrete & brick building.
the man guarding the door was amazing.. old, wrinkled, dark, and with teeth so yellow they were almost gold in bright sun. he showed me around the mosque with great detail of the construction techniques and the materials, and methods of making the various arches using thread and simple tools.. it was a really special experience to have such a rish guided tour of the building by someone who knows it so well. the mosque is still being used although very lightly. the central courtyard was planted with very lush plants. after the extensive tour, I climbed the steps to the top of the unorthodox minaret for a general view of the area.
back on my bike I was met by the two colossal Memnon statues, the only remains of a great temple. I arrived at the same time as a massive tour bus and when I asked a man to take my picture he replied in a strong british accent "no no, no thanks, yalla" an automatic reaction, then he realized I wasnt selling him anything so he said "sorry, you know how it is.."
I continue up the road for another kilometer before I reached the ticket office. I have been lucky to only pay egyptian prices which are 2 egyptian pounds per site (about 30 US cents) this is compared to tourist prices which cab be fom 40-70 egyptian pounds (typical international prices for such sites)... the man at the ticket suggested a few sites to me and gave me the proper tickets..
off again I went to Madinat Hebu temple... amazing, I have never seen anything like this... I was far more impressed with this temple than I was with Karnak which was overcrowded with tourists and lacking in well preserved reliefs with alot of missing parts of the structure, it is still impressive, but my expectations for Karnak were hight. Here I had no expectations and I was stunned.. this temple is gorgous with lots of rich rich rich reliefs that you can come as close to as you want, entire walls fully intact, amazing chapels where you can wander around alone! it was really impressive. a man at the last hypostyle hall showed me a few "closed or prohibited areas" ofcourse for a small tip... these local men in their colorful galabas and white headdress guard the temples but also act as makeshift guides, they know alot, this is really their culture. he showed me a wall relief in a room that was closed for restoration work where a pharoah is shown with his large erect penis.. he even asked me to take a picture with it with my hands up as if I am grabbing it! (I love Egypt)
it gets better
my next site was an area of ancient workers' tombs, they too had magnficent burial spaces not just the kings and queens. there I saw two tombs, it was blistering hot at this point and I rested a bit.. then I was told that my ticket allows me to see a small temple on the site and I was directed to it.. I walked there, it was a bit removed from the guards, but the gate was locked.. a couple of minutes later a man came with the key to the temple gate.. again it was a very private, one on one affair to experience such a place. the temple had three chaples in the back each with amazing reliefs of the process of death, judgment and rebirth on the other side. again there was a large relief of a pharoah with a large erect penis which the guard could not miss to point out.. he then added that this particular man was known for fucking all the women in some kind of a war situation, I cant remember the details.. then he added "like me... I have to fuck my wife at least 3 to 4 times a day... I have to, I need it!" I was shocked (I really need to loose this shame/embarecement that we are so used to in the west) anyway, the man appreaed to be in good health and was not bad looking either. he was 42 but looked younger and said its because of a hearty diet of meat and eggs (so southern egypt), he also has 4 duaghters and a son. he wanted to marry another woman because his wife sometimes doesn't want to fuck. I love how this type of conversation is so normal here.
the temple could have been visited in 10 mintues but I was there with this man for close to an hour, talking about all sorts of sexual things related to his "strong penis" and his constant need to fuck.. I was very curious, I mean there is this raging man in front of me in this typical southern egyptian dress, in a small dark temple chaple in the middle of the desert alone! its the stuff cheap gay fantacy books are made of and it was my reality.. it gets better.. I was standing close to the man when he was pointing to a relief when my hand brushed what I assumed was his penis.. I confirm that it was, I brushed my hands again... IT WAS... either large or semi erect I am not sure but it got me off! I was not sure what I should do, I saw in my very realistic mental image what I would like to do but I was not sure if I could.. however when I brushed my hand against him again and it was very obvious, he only looked at me and said "as long as you are happy, if there is anything you want to do, let me know!" WOW was that an offer? its too good to be true.. I am not sure.. then I hear the yacking of italian tourists approaching the small temple.. my close encounter with a real desert sex monster was suddenly over!
in complete awe of what just almost happened I sped away on my bike to my next site the Ramesseum (a ramsis dedicated and built temple) then I went on to the famous temple of Hatshepsut... it was a very very hot and dehydrated experience but I can still say that despite the fact that the temple has little of its reliefs today because of ancient graffitti and defacing the face of the queen by her step son after her death, this is an amazing building! it is so modern its really difficult to believe how ancient it is.. it does not follow the typical plan and structure of temles and its very horizontal facade, sturdy square columns and minimal decoration, really it looks like an early modern building.. very impressive to see!
as I am leaving the temple I met Hassan, a little kid (maybe 12) with blonde hair who lives in the local village and he offered to show me the way to two magnificent tombs and so I went. the tombs were great and I will skip the detials but I should say that one had a very cave-like stairway down and amazing scenes of making wine in great detail with the entire ceiling covered with the image of grapes!
the second tomb next door was also very interesting with a very very long plan and a ceiling that rose from the door to about four times that height by the end of the tunnel-like space. this was another special tomb-raiders kind of experience, as the guard set a mirror outside the door to the tomb so that it shines a beam of light into the space.. he later gave me a reflectiv surface that I can use to reflect that beam of light on to any part of the large wall so that I can better see the reliefs (very old world, very special)
I took my bike back and rode from Hatshepsut temple until the ferry back to the east bank all in one single ride with no stops and no water.. I am surprised I did not have a sun stroke today!
I took a much needed shower and went to meet my friend Hamdy whome I met in the morning on the ferry (we had plans to go to banana island)... and so we ment, he no longer wore a galaba, just a typical nike shirt and pants and off we went in his large boat which normally seats about 18 people at least.. he did not bring hash as he promissed earlier but we went down the nile away from luxor in the direction of aswan, passing by all the large 5 star hotels.. meanwhile our conversation was again about sex and a very direct and honest one (i am not used to having such conversations with a seemingly straight guy that I just met that morning.. but here that seems to be normal.. he even said, we egyptians and especially us nubians are very open about sex! I think he meant more the men but I understand what he was saying) he eventually got me to admit that I like myown kind and even asked me what role I prefer and other such questions.. he then said that he would like to try curtain things.. suddenly we arrived at banana island.. its a real place! with banana trees! the boat was moored and we started our walk. he seemed ready to try something new and next thing you know we went off the path and into the banana trees.. he tried something new today.. it was a bit quick and the experience had the feel of a crime and the after feeling of guilt, but its his first time, I shouldnt expect too much.. he was reliefed and I was ready to go home to finish my dinner.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
midnight on the roof
sipping a cold Stella and smoking a shisha on the roof top of my hotel overlooking the temple of Luxor with the Nile a couple hundred feet away and the cliffs of the west in the distance.. my view only interrupted by a few apartment buildings and a 19th century minaret.. 'One more time' by the Cure comes on, followed by 'One Brief moment' by Natacha Atlas and "Bleed the Orchid' by the Smashing pumpkins and then 'How to Disappear Completely' by Radio head, I can't help but feel sad and nostalgic... I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, just the collection of people I have met in the last couple of weeks but particularly in Dahab.. again I prove to myself that I am simply in love with love itself.. I'm not sure if the romance is in me or if it is in this place.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
prelude to Dahab
now that my sense of adventure is back, because I dont know where I am staying tonight or how I'm getting there.. I am a little nervous.. I liked the chilled out comfort of being in Dahab for days.. anyways.. let me tell you about Dahab >>>>>
first of all I took the long bus from Ismailia after friday prayers... the journey was long with a few stops along the edge of sinai down to sharm and back up the other side to Dahab.. it took close to 8 hours.
the landscape is stark but the road brings with it traffic, and lots of trash.. I was offended by the amount of trash on the sides of the road, mainly plastic bottles and soda cans.. (since I arrived in Egypt, I immidiatley noticed that plastic bottles are a problem here as people consume bottled water in massive amounts and hardly dispose of them properly -- recycling exists but its done in the most backwards way, people dispose of all their trash together, then some poorly paid person goes through it later at another site to separate plastics, glass and aluminum which can be sold for recycling -- anyway, right infront of my eyes, on the bus the guy infront of me, after finishing his bottle of water, simply opened the window and threw out his empty bottle in a plastic bag into the high way!!!!) I was disgusted.
the checkpoints in sinai are a massive pain in the ass.. more so for egyptians, tourists are supposed to feel more secure, which egyptian workers from the valley have to constantly display their ID and explain where they work, etc..
tourist areas in general but sinai specifically bring out identity issues for me.. because I am egyptian, but I am also a tourist carrying an american passport.. the issue comes up all the time when paying for entry fees to protected sites for example or when looking for a hotel room.
when I arrived in Dahab finally at 10 pm, I went to a hotel that was recommended by lonely planet and the receptionist said they were full.. I moved on and reached penguine village which also looked appealing and the receptionist said it was full.. I couldnt believe everything was full! there were three girls ready to head back to cairo and awaiting their bus near the reception and we struck conversation.. one of them happens to be from NY.. and even from NYU! so we hit it off.. later as it was exposed to the receptionist that I carry another citizenship other than egyptian, a room suddenley became available!
there is much more to tell, it gets much better from here. gotta run for the bus, I have no idea where I am going!! Al-Qusair here I come.
first of all I took the long bus from Ismailia after friday prayers... the journey was long with a few stops along the edge of sinai down to sharm and back up the other side to Dahab.. it took close to 8 hours.
the landscape is stark but the road brings with it traffic, and lots of trash.. I was offended by the amount of trash on the sides of the road, mainly plastic bottles and soda cans.. (since I arrived in Egypt, I immidiatley noticed that plastic bottles are a problem here as people consume bottled water in massive amounts and hardly dispose of them properly -- recycling exists but its done in the most backwards way, people dispose of all their trash together, then some poorly paid person goes through it later at another site to separate plastics, glass and aluminum which can be sold for recycling -- anyway, right infront of my eyes, on the bus the guy infront of me, after finishing his bottle of water, simply opened the window and threw out his empty bottle in a plastic bag into the high way!!!!) I was disgusted.
the checkpoints in sinai are a massive pain in the ass.. more so for egyptians, tourists are supposed to feel more secure, which egyptian workers from the valley have to constantly display their ID and explain where they work, etc..
tourist areas in general but sinai specifically bring out identity issues for me.. because I am egyptian, but I am also a tourist carrying an american passport.. the issue comes up all the time when paying for entry fees to protected sites for example or when looking for a hotel room.
when I arrived in Dahab finally at 10 pm, I went to a hotel that was recommended by lonely planet and the receptionist said they were full.. I moved on and reached penguine village which also looked appealing and the receptionist said it was full.. I couldnt believe everything was full! there were three girls ready to head back to cairo and awaiting their bus near the reception and we struck conversation.. one of them happens to be from NY.. and even from NYU! so we hit it off.. later as it was exposed to the receptionist that I carry another citizenship other than egyptian, a room suddenley became available!
there is much more to tell, it gets much better from here. gotta run for the bus, I have no idea where I am going!! Al-Qusair here I come.
waking up
I arrived in Hurgada a couple of hours ago and it just hit me, I feel like I just woke up from a long dream. life in Dahab has an dream-like feeling to it, that was intensified by leaving it for this busy big city. I had my last lunch in dahab, took the bus to sharm el sheik from which I took a high-speed ferry to Hurgada (a two hour trip rather than the 8 hours by bus)... once I got here, its not what I expected it to be at all.. I knew that I didnt want to stay here, but I have to come here to move on from sinai to the south of eygpt// I have heard from tourists in Dahab about hurgada's 700 room hotels and 11 pool resorts (which I havent tried to see, I just wanted to figure out what I am doing) but behind all the glitz on the sea is a pretty big typical egyptian city with half-finished concrete buildings, microbuses, car horns, shops everywhere.. the usual.. I really dont like it here.. its not my kind of place. this is my first chance in a month to really sit down and blog.. I have to wait for a bus leaving at 1 am (in two hours) for Al-Qusair, a city that I never knew existed until two days ago..
I dont like the way people do business in this big cities especially if there is tourism... everyone is at risk of being ripped off.. especially by taxi drivers.. I already overpaid so much money just on taxis...
strange to see myself overpaying for a taxi when I see people from the hordes of russians here taking the micro-buses which cost less than one pound!
I already miss Dahab, its gorgous! and I felt really comfortable, met great people, hooked up with hot guys including a 20 year-old Bedouin... the staff at the penguine village were amazing, flirtatous and super friendly.. its a different egypt from Alexandria and Cairo.. its the egypt I usually talk about even before I actually found it. I really dislike the people in the cities, and I am falling in love even more with the people of the desert.. just like last year in Siwa, this year the people of Sinai are becomin my obsession.
Here, just after I arrived and my attept to find a cheap room here to spend the night failed, I returned to the bus station to inquire about the Qusair bus.. then got a Foul&Falafel dinner and was inspired to eat on a sidewalk one block from the busy station area... I sat next to a man in a gray galaba...as I was eating he asked me "you dont look like you are from here" to which I replied "I'm from Alexandria" as I always reply to that question when in Egypt. we started talking.. I dont remember what the conversation was about but it was more or less about life in egypt, here in Hurgada and where he is from ASWAN! I was excited to meet an Aswani before going there.. I had a good feeling talking to him, so I invited him for a tea and shisha... very nice man, he promises to be my guide in Aswan!
I dont like the way people do business in this big cities especially if there is tourism... everyone is at risk of being ripped off.. especially by taxi drivers.. I already overpaid so much money just on taxis...
strange to see myself overpaying for a taxi when I see people from the hordes of russians here taking the micro-buses which cost less than one pound!
I already miss Dahab, its gorgous! and I felt really comfortable, met great people, hooked up with hot guys including a 20 year-old Bedouin... the staff at the penguine village were amazing, flirtatous and super friendly.. its a different egypt from Alexandria and Cairo.. its the egypt I usually talk about even before I actually found it. I really dislike the people in the cities, and I am falling in love even more with the people of the desert.. just like last year in Siwa, this year the people of Sinai are becomin my obsession.
Here, just after I arrived and my attept to find a cheap room here to spend the night failed, I returned to the bus station to inquire about the Qusair bus.. then got a Foul&Falafel dinner and was inspired to eat on a sidewalk one block from the busy station area... I sat next to a man in a gray galaba...as I was eating he asked me "you dont look like you are from here" to which I replied "I'm from Alexandria" as I always reply to that question when in Egypt. we started talking.. I dont remember what the conversation was about but it was more or less about life in egypt, here in Hurgada and where he is from ASWAN! I was excited to meet an Aswani before going there.. I had a good feeling talking to him, so I invited him for a tea and shisha... very nice man, he promises to be my guide in Aswan!
Friday, August 10, 2007
red sea and Dahab sand
for the first time since I arrived in Dahab a week ago, I was sitting today alone at the usual beach-side bar with bedoine pillows, palms piercing the wooden roof of the simple shelter and I had the first real opportunity to look at the surrounding scene. the curtain of light haze and sand that has been concealing the other side of the red sea has been lifted, the wind was calm and the view of the pink mountains of saudi arabia was clear. the sun was setting, and I was having a cold stella in one hand, a shisha in another, my headphones playing Yo La Tengo wearing a green shirt against the yellow and blue pillows watching the sea turn red.
this is the one of the most beautiful places I've yet to see, the rough mountains appearing to be massive flat cut-outs arranged one after the other, the basic elements of blue sea, clear air, bright sun, minimal vegitation... its austere, striking..
this is the one of the most beautiful places I've yet to see, the rough mountains appearing to be massive flat cut-outs arranged one after the other, the basic elements of blue sea, clear air, bright sun, minimal vegitation... its austere, striking..
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