Continuing on from yesterday's post, we also had a really interesting discussion about the relationship dynamics in Syrian couples. A lot of the wealthy Syrians left Syria not long after the troubles started and moved to Cairo, and many settled in this very same compound.  As we talked, the conversation turned to match-making - the ladies were really wanting to get the daughter of one friend set up with another Syrian friend of the family.  They made a side comment about how Syrian women are treated like queens, so I asked for more details.  Apparently according to Syrian tradition, the women do not work - they take are of the children and the household - but in exchange, the men have to buy them whatever they want.  So during the woo-ing phase, the men shower the women with all kinds of gifts. Any clothes, or shoes or jewellery - whatever your little heart desires, they have to go out and buy.

And once they are married, it is 100% the man's responsibility to take care of all shopping and purchases.  Even groceries.  But it's all the wife's choice - she sends him with a list of "Buy a kilo of oranges, 5 peppers, etc" and he has to get it on his way home.  Same if she needs any dishes, household items, clothing, etc - it's his duty to provide them.

It got me thinking though about how this could be perceived elsewhere, as many of these Syrian refugees are moving abroad.  Seen from the outside, and without that cultural context, it almost looks like the woman is completely submissive to her husband, forbidden from even leaving her home or having any money or purchasing power.   I tried explaining this to the ladies, and they were completely flabbergasted that anyone could ever think that, repeating again that "Syrian women are queens!"  It reminded me a bit of how I used to find so many things in France ridiculous or stupid - until I took the time to find out the 'why' behind them.  I wish there was a way for us all to remember that there is a often good reason behind most things that seem scary/strange/wrong in other cultures.

On another topic, I used a different hotel this time, and they gave me a list of ten rules for using the pool.  The English was a bit spotty, so I wasn't quite sure I was understanding it right - I thought it said women had to wear burkinis - so I asked for clarification, and it turns out it was actually the opposite.  This particular hotel chain - which was Egyptian - has forbidden burkinis in their establishment.  It was only then too that I noticed none of the women were wearing a veil.

I brought this up too with the ladies, and they said it's a change that's come about in the past two years.  Before, women could wear whatever they want to the beach - a bikini, a one-piece, a burkini and no one cared.  But recently, more and more hotel and private beaches/clubs have started forbidding them, and my dear friends were getting rather frustrated by the whole thing because it was limiting the places they could go and have fun, with no logical reason behind it.   I'm sure most of you have heard how much of a fuss the birkini has made in France over the past 12 months, so it was interesting to see a similar tactic being taken in a Muslim country.

More on Egypt

I just got back yesteday from another trip to Egypt.  It was probably the most horrendous return itinerary ever - the two options were either leaving Cairo at 1:30am and landing at CDG at 5:30am or leaving at 4:30am and getting here at 9am.  I ended up going with the 1:30am flight because I figured that even if I took the 4:30 flight, I would have to leave the hotel at 1:30 or 2am anyways to head to the airport, so might as just leave earlier and not spend the extra $$ on a hotel. What would you have done?

Besides that, my trip was great.  Things are going well with our first customer there, and I (and my waistline lol) benefited from their extremely generous hospitality.  Friday is the 'jour de repos' in Egypt (and sometimes Saturday too), so Thursday night, many families gather together for a large meal.  And last night was no exception for my customer and his family, just with a random American in tow.

I can't remember if I mentioned in my post about my last trip, but they appear to only really eat two meals - breakfast and then 'Lunch' around 5:30pm.  So one can start getting pretty hangry by the time late afternoon rolls around.  But having already experienced one of their family feasts, I knew it was worth it to hold out, and I was not disappointed.  We showed up to gigantic table full of slow-cooked beef, duck, chicken, hamburger-stuffed pitas, rice pilaf, stuffed peppers, stuffed zucchini, fried cauliflower, stuffed grape leaves, tomato salad, straight off the grill puff breads, and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.  Anytime any room was made on my plate, it was immediately replaced by a few more spoonfuls of beef or rice or whatever, accompanied by gentle admonishments of "Eat, eat".

Then we moved upstairs to the family room for dessert.  There was chocolate, wafers, a million different types of honey-soaked desserts, oranges and bananas from their own groves, nuts and tea.  Around 20 of us, from ages 1 to 70, sat on the biggest sofa I have ever seen and watched TV and chatted. The patriarch of the family wanted to watch an old sitcom from the 70's, and it was really fascinating to see how the women were dressed - very modern, no headscarf, short skirts, etc - similar to if you've ever seen pictures of Iranian women at that same time.  It made for an interesting contrast to what you see today - women dressed in a modern but still mostly conservative way, with about 50% of them wearing the headscarf in the cities, and 100% of women wearing them in the countryside.  It just made me wonder if women watching those shows today are cogniscent of the difference or if they don't even think about it and it's just like watching an old episode of Three's Company or something like that.

At a certain point, all the men moved into one room to smoke shisha, and the ladies who were wearing headscarves took them off, and we turned on some music.  The youngest daughter had been learning how to belly dance off of YouTube, so all of us - from the little girls to the grandma - lined up in a row while she tried to teach us some moves. It was hilarious and touching and one of those really surreal, but extremely human, moments that are a big part of the 'Why' I keep doing what I'm doing.

Afterwards, the (Indonesian) nannies put the kids to bed, and us ladies sat around drinking tea and talking.  They asked all kinds of questions about life as a woman in France and the US - do most women work?  At what age do they get married?  What is childcare like?  Do the kids go to private schools? What happens after you get married?  How do you furnish your home?  Do the men help out?

I should explain too that these women are all college-educated, at Western Universities, typically the American or British University of Cairo.  They have degrees in interior design, pharmaceuticals, history, and marketing. They speak excellent English and are well-traveled.  All of them got married while they were in University.  Most of them have never worked though because they got pregnant immediately after marriage and are stay-at-home moms. The entire family lives in the same guarded, fancy compound, in brand-new and astonishingly beautiful homes that are cared for by maids (who also help out with a lot of the cooking).  They drive shiny new BMWs and SUVs, and have drivers for when they don't feel like driving.  It's certainly a life far-removed from your average Egyptian, but my little peak into their world has been fascinating.


(More tomorrow on my continued discussions with these ladies)

Discover Egypt

I mentioned in a previous post that I was feeling slightly nervous about having to travel to Egypt alone for work. C & I had gone on a cruise down the Nile back in 2010 and loved the scenery and the history, but not the constant harassment. And obviously now things have changed with the current political context and all the unrest going on in various parts of the world...let's just say I wasn't feeling super reassured about driving out into the desert with some men I had just met.  But I also very strongly feel that continuing to travel and learn about other cultures is what will bring us all together in the end, so off I went. 

I had three full days of work planned, and had left a fourth day free "just in case".  Things usually don't go as planned in developing nations.  Meetings get pushed back or rescheduled, the car breaks down, etc, so you always have to leave a bit of wiggle room in your itinerary.

Sunset on the Nile

This time however, things went smoothly and I found myself with a free day before flying home. I had looked at the possibility of getting a private guide before leaving, but they all wanted horrendous amounts of money, so I figured if I did end up having time for touristy stuff, either my client or the hotel could recommend someone cheaper (and hopefully trustworthy).

I had booked a room at a small hotel just across from the Pyramids for my last night, figuring if nothing else, I could at least see them from afar before I left.  I lucked out and got a room with this view:

Don't look down. ;)

Luckily however, when our future customer realized I'd be staying an extra, he offered to help organize someone to show me around.  In the end, he ended up having his wife take a day off of work to give me a private tour, along with his sister, their driver and a body guard so we'd be tranquil while looking around.  

I know, right??

So they picked me up at my hotel and we drove down the block to the entrance.  The first thing that surprised me was how empty the whole site was. Granted, it was the middle of the week, but there were literally more vendors than tourists. The only other tourists I saw the whole time there was a small group of Chinese.

 

And because there were no tourists, everything was being sold at rock-bottom prices.  I didn't really have a strong desire to ride another camel, but it was over 100°F and the guy was offering 5€ for one hour, so why not?

  

As it turned out, the two women accompanying me had never been inside the Pyramids, so when they asked if I wanted to go in - Um Yes! - they sent the driver off to buy tickets and in we went.

  

It was pretty incredible, and totally fulfilled one of my childhood dreams.  We crawled through crazy tunnels:

And climbed up hella long flights of stairs:

It was magical and amazing and every other adjective I can think of right now. It was an experience that was so much more than I ever could have imagined or hoped for thanks to my gracious hosts.

Then it was off to the Egyptian Museum - which is currently across town, but an absolutely gigantic new museum is being built right nearby the Pyramids.  That thing is going to be amazing once it's open!

The current one is fairly run-down, but it also contains some pretty amazing artifacts, many of which you can get right up close and personal to. The mummy room was also neat and definitely worth the extra entry fee.

I really enjoyed my time in Egypt, and I am looking forward to going back in a few months. The people I met were all so kind and generous, and they are really wanting the tourists to come back. I heard so many sad stories of people barely making ends meet now due to no foreigners coming. For instance, the guy who picked me up at the airport used to own a whole cruise boat with hundreds of employees and guides, three homes, etc, and spoke English, French and Flemish fluently. But he lost it all after the Arab Spring and now had no choice but to earn what he could as a taxi driver.

I definitely felt safe there - compared to most of the other countries I travel to, most people barely blinked an eye at me, even though I'm sure I stuck out like a sore thumb given the lack of tourists.  If you're wondering, most women wore a head scarf, but I felt no pressure to wear one, even in the countryside*.

Prices were low - my hotel right across from the Pyramids cost $50 a night including breakfast, and both food and other tourist attractions also offered rock bottom prices (especially if you negotiate).  The water was clean and the restaurant hygiene was top-quality, at least in the restaurants we ate at.


All in all, I think now is a good time to visit Eypt, though if it's your first time, I would still probably recommend going with an organized tour, or at least hiring a guide.  Things are not very well sign-marked and you'll probably enjoy your time more if you've got someone to show you the ropes.  It's also not always super clear online, but you can buy a visa on arrival at the major airports - it costs $25 and they prefer if you pay in USD (cash). I also heard that a few of the tourist ports have waived the visa fee if you are just staying within their resort areas - Sharm El Sheik, etc.

*In case anyone was curious, as far as clothes went, most women were wearing long-sleeve tops and full-length pants or skirts.  I didn't think I could handle full-on winter clothes since I'm not used to the heat, so I packed long skirts, cropped pants and three-quarter length cotton tops and felt just fine.  I think as long as you're not wearing tank-tops or booty shorts (outside of the beach resort areas anyways), it would be fine.  And also, pack comfortable walking shoes that you don't mind getting dirty - pretty much everything is gravel or sand, and beige colored shoes would fare much better than black or white ones.

I've been struggling with what to write about Egypt. What to say about a country of so many contradictions? One minute, I'm sitting there in awe of the the Karnak Temple:comparing it to Carnac France:I mean, at the time when the Egyptians where building these incredible architectural structures, the neo-Bretons were sticking rocks in the ground.

But on the other hand, here we are several thousand years later, and there are still people living like this in Egypt:It just blows my mind - that there were so many ancient societies really - that were so advanced for their time, and nowadays many of those same societies are some of the poorest in the world. So what happened? How did they go from being the most advanced to the least?

The pratical side of Egypt

I'm not even sure where to begin - but I think I'll start with an overview of the logistics side of it in case anyone else is interested in going.

Price breakdown:

• Airfare+visits*+transfers+7 nights on a 5 star boat w/full board (no drinks) cost us 499€ each (purchased via Expedia.fr). The same deal was going for as high as 769€ during the school vacation or on other websites.
  
• There were several optional excursions, including Abou Simbel for 90€ extra, a visit to a Nubian village for 20€, a 1 hour camel ride for 15€ and a 2 hour carriage ride of Luxor for 20€. We did the Nubian village and the camel ride.
  
• We only drank water while on the boat, buying a 1L bottle at lunch and dinner, which came to about 20€ for the week. (Note: Coffee, tea & juice were included as part of the breakfast at no extra cost). Our table mates however were Bretons and drank copious amounts of alcohol at every meal, so they walked away with a drink bill of a couple hundred euros per couple at the end of the week. Which is fine if that's what you want to spend your money on - just don't forget to include it in your budget!
  
• Total for everything: 545€ each (+ about 50€ spending money)
  

(*Included visits: Edfu Temple, Kom Ombo Temple, Karnak Temple, Hatshepsout Temple, the Valley of the Kings, the Assouan Dam and a ride in a traditional Egyptian sail boat.)

General tips:

• It pays to shop around - prices for our some cruise varied by over 200€ according to the website. We found the best deals on promovacances.com and Expedia.com, especially for the 5 star boats.
  
• Read the fine print - make sure you know what is included (ie. pension complète does not usually include drinks, some excursions cost extra, etc)
• If you know the name of the boat, it's also a good idea to google it and see what comes up on the various forums out there. It'll give you an idea of what to expect.
• A 5-star Egyptian boat is not the same as a 5 star boat in Europe or the US - it probably corresponds to about 3 stars here. Our boat was pretty decent overall, but the bathrooms were extremely tiny (think: Paris hotel small).
  
• Bring earplugs just in case- there are inevitably rooms that are close to the motor and are thus very noisy. When we booked, we included a little line in the comments box asking for a room on the upper deck if possible, and we actually ended up getting upgraded to a suite on the top floor. Our room had great views the entire trip and was silent as could be. Whether this was just by chance or because we asked for it, we'll never know - but it is definitely worth a try!
  
• Drinks on the boat were pretty expensive - about 8€ for a cocktail and 20€ for a bottle of wine. Water was about 1,25€ for a 1L bottle.
• We were lucky and our boat had a private docking quay everywhere we went, but that's not the case for most boats. Most end up docking next to other boats, so you could end up having to cross through several other boats before getting to land. The average ones had maybe 3 or 4 together, but we did see one with 8 boats attached!
• I thought most people would speak French, but there were actually more that spoke English instead. I still tended to speak French with people if possible though, because the Egyptians think the French are cheap and thus the starting negotiation prices are lower.
  
• Don't bother getting Egyptian money - we did, and pretty much everyone refused our big bills. Bring 1 or 2€ coins instead, everyone wants them and they are great bargaining tools.
• If you go with a group, your guide will bring you to several different stores "at the request of someone in the group" - usually a perfume store, a jewelry store and a papyrus store. It's okay to buy here, but just know that prices are a bit higher and your guide will get a nice kickback from everything that's sold during the visit.
• For big purchases (jewelry, sculptures, etc), they take credit cards - just don't let the card out of your sight during the payment process!
• Speaking of big purchases, you have to haggle prices on EVERYTHING. If they quote you a price, automatically divide it at least by 50% and then counteroffer. Negotiations can take ages, and if things aren't going the way you like, just move on - there will be someone else with the exact same wares farther along down the line. In fact, if you're looking for something specific, it's a good idea to just do some light haggling in a few stores first before actually buying, just to get an idea of what the true price range is.
• Prices will also depend on how naive you look - an elderly French couple on our boat paid 40€ for an outfit that another couple paid 6€ for. At the exact same place. And the elderly couple had thought they'd gotten a good deal, since the vendor had originally started at 80€!!
  
• Clothes-wise - avoid skirts, shorts and revealing tops. Cropped pants are okay, and so are tank tops, but you may want to cover your arms/chest with a scarf when walking in a public place.
• Bring snacks with for the plane and for the excursions, as well as small water bottle for the day trips. Our room had a fridge, which was nice since we could keep stuff cold.
• Internet cafes are popping up every now, and some boats even have one PC available for use. Prices are still high though, expect to pay 5-6€ per hour for the privilege.
  

Things to watch out for:

• When getting change back, make sure to double check - some vendors will try to substitute 1 pound coins for Euro coins because they look very similar (but 1€=7 E£, so it's not a mistake you want to make).
  
• Along the same lines - if you do have both Euros and Egyptian pounds - watch carefully if you hand them a 20€ note. A woman in our group got conned this way - she gave him the bill, looked down quick at the change to make sure he hadn't cheated her using the scheme above, and by the time she looked back up, he'd swapped it with a 20£ note, which looks very similar. He then insisted she'd made a mistake and had given him 20£ instead of 20€, so she took the 20£ note back and gave him 20€ instead. Meaning she'd just given him 40€ instead of 20€.
• There will also be people in the streets wanting to exchange euros coins for euro notes - I was really suspicious of this at first, but then we learned that it's because the Egyptian banks won't exchange euro coins for Egyptian citizens - they will only take Euro notes. So the vendors are constantly looking for people who need change. A lot of people in our group broke their bills this way and I think it's a good method to do so as long as you're aware of the two common scams above.
  
• Only buy water from your hotel or boat - many of the street vendors refill used bottles with tap water and then reseal them, and it's not always safe for tourists to drink.
• Everybody gets kick backs here - from the taxi driver to your tour guide - so the less middle-men you can deal with the better, as it will only raise your prices. Example: We paid 55€ for our visa plus "service charges", but when we got to the airport, we found out the visa really only cost about 12€ ($15) - and that our guide had pocketed the other 40+ euros. But everyone gets their cut of something, and expect to have to tip a lot as well, from the doorman to the person who cleans your rooms.
  
• Avoid taking taxis or carriage rides for roundtrips if possible - they will quote you one price and then actually charge you double or triple to take you home. Others will offer to take you to the Souk and then will really take you to their family's store, and will drive off and leave you if you refuse to buy anything. It can get pretty cutthroat at times and several couples in our group got scammed this way.

Overall, I'm really glad we took the time to talk to others who'd been and to do some research online - it helped us have a better idea of what to expect and what traps to avoid. I also feel like it helped us get the most value for our money - I don't know about you guys, but I think that 550€ for an 8-day, 7 night vacation including food & visits is a pretty good deal.

If you speak French, I'd also recommend checking out the report that the French show "Enquête Exclusive" did a on Egypt back in February - the first 20 minutes or so talk about the Nile cruises. It might be on their website as well, but I found it on YouTube a few weeks ago by searching for the title "Egypt: la face cachée d'un rêve". It's a bit dramatic and over-exaggerated, but still gives a fairly realistic idea of what it was like.

I think that about sums up the practical side of things - but if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask away:

2 days left in Egypt

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile