On The Nile Again...Just can't wait to get on the Nile again

What a difference a day makes! We left Cairo via sleeper train and arrived in Aswan ~620 miles away on Sunday morning, 8:05am. Gone are the days of traffic and garbage in Cairo city, which we traded in for quiet streets and beautiful landscapes across the countryside.

Oh, and don’t ask me why I was excited about the sleeper train for weeks leading up to this trip. It was cramped, loud, and sleep-less. I wound up being on the floor most of the night because the door between the cabins was loose and made noise. Arg. Tired. Either way, we arrived in Aswan (which means “Trade” or “Market”), the last city in Egypt before the country’s boarder with Sudan. It feels much more like Africa here in Aswan since it is hotter and the people have darker skin. For better or worse, Aswan is the same as Cairo in that there are so many vendors trying to sell you something, but I am getting used to the cash/bargaining culture here.

Once we arrived in Aswan, we immediately took a bus ride to the Aswan High Dam. On our way to the High Dam, we crossed the Old English Dam that had been raised numerous times in the past. Going to the High Dam was very exciting for me after learning about dam infrastructure in Sustainable Infrastructure and dam engineering in Environmental Geotechniques, both taught by Professor Ghaly. The Aswan High Dam took 10 years to construct it (1960-1970) and was paid for by nationalizing the Suez Canal and financial assistance from the USSR. The dam is the largest earth and stone dam in the world. It has a factor of safety value against failure of 6, which is very high for a dam. A factor of safety of 1 is the critical safety value and 4 is the normal safety value for an earth and stone dam. The water in the Mediterranean Sea would rise approximately 1 meter if the dam failed, enough to cover many Mediterranean cities. The core of the dam contains low permeable clay with bentonite to ensure that it doesn’t fail. It produces ~1500 megawatts of power, less than 10% of Egypt’s power need. Problems with the dam include it not having a fish ladder (so there are a lot of fish and crocodiles on one side of the dam) and not having a silt gate (denying farmers necessary fertile silt).

We then took a motorboat to Philae Temple on an island in the Nile where elephants were trained for the army. There were many instances of graffiti on this temple and was moved between 1980 and 1985 to its current location because of flooding on the Nile due to the High Dam. It was a beautiful site surrounded by the Nile. Next we went to the unfinished obelisk which shows how the granite was cut for the pyramids. The Nile River used to flood up to the location of this site for easy transport via boat. From there, we went to a Nubian restaurant, which even though I have been having stomach problems, is my favorite restaurant so far. I had chicken (surprise, surprise) with tomato sauce that was cooked in a small bowl. It tasted like chicken catachatorrie. After lunch, we took a boat back to shore to catch another boat that took us to our 5-star hotel on an island in the Nile River. Ghaly gave us 30 minuets from the time of checking into the hotel to get ready for our next excursion to the Nubian Village. While many people complained about having to rush through their showers and not getting an opportunity to rest, many still ventured out on a boat ride to the Nubian Village. It was a nice rural marketplace-type town and we went to a place where people (not me) smoked hookah and got Henna Tatoos. I did, however, hold a baby crocodile (picture to come in later blog—stay tuned). I haggled for an item I have been looking to buy (I can’t disclose what it is because it will ruin the surprise since it is a gift for my parents). The item was originally 80 Egyptian pounds and I got it for 40. We had to buy our own dinner tonight; a bunch of us ate at an Italian place in the hotel and I got pizza for ~$5 USD—dirt cheap.

A beautiful hotel. A fantastic view of the Nile. Get to sleep late, right? No way…I’m waking up at 2:15am to hop on a bus to Abu Simbel to see the great Temple of Ramses the second and Queen Nefertari. Maybe I wont go to sleep for the second night in a row.

Once again, not sure how the internet is going to be over the next few days, so stay tuned! Tons of pictures and stories to come!

Hello Egypt!

Good early morning from Cairo, Egypt (Dec 2)! After approximately 11 ½ hours, 9230 km (5735 miles), and a 22 degree F change in temperature (55 F to 77 F), I, along with 41 other Union Dutch(wo)men as well as Union Engineering Professor Ashraf Ghaly, have made it to Egypt for the 2010 Union College Egypt Mini Term.

After arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport at 3pm EST (and stopping before hand to get one last NY delicacy—a pastrami and corned beef sandwich on Rye from Woodrow Kosher Deli), I boarded the EgyptAir Boeing 777 “A HUGE IRONBIRD” for the 6:30pm direct flight to Cairo (flight# 986 MS). My original seat was 26H, an aisle seat near the front of the plane, however, Melanie found me and told me there were unoccupied rows in the back of the aircraft. Melanie and I had the entire middle section of row 52. This allowed us space to relax during the flight, which was really great. I had the aisle seat, 52G. Of course, JFK airport didn’t disappoint; we waited on the tarmac (which is a misnomer, runways are made of concrete—not tar or macadam pavement, but that’s for another Professor Ghaly class) for a good hour before taking off at 7:34pm EST.

I have to say, I was more than a tad nervous about the takeoff from JFK. I had never been on an airplane so big before and it was pretty intimidating looking at it from the gate. And yes, Mom, that same plane flew over the Subway Sub Shop—it was the only EgyptAir aircraft I could see and it arrived soon after you observed it flying over Queens. I was somewhat relieved to find a personal screen on the back of each seat to watch movies and tv shows and play games while on the airplane. I distracted myself during the takeoff (which happened to be very smooth) by watching on of my favorite shows—“How I Met Your Mother.”

Cairo Airport and the construction
in the New Cairo area

I passed the time by reading Moneyball on my new Kindle I got for Chanukah from Melanie, watching Inception, playing Solitaire, and taking Dramamine to fall asleep (which really didn’t work-I probably only slept for an hour). We finally reached Cairo at 1:17pm local time (6:17am EST). The Cairo Airport Company was pretty quiet, but it took time to get a visa to put in our Passports. It is a sticker that costs ~$15 USD and is very cool looking. I ate two meals on the plane: chicken for dinner (decent) and apple pancakes for breakfast (pretty good). Better than I expected for airplane food.

My porch 

My hotel room in Cairo! 

“December?” I asked myself as I left the terminal. It was hot and hazy—typical for the desert. The airport apparently is located in the “New Cairo” section of they city. It was originally planned to serve a poor population, however, it has become more of a higher-class suburban area. There is construction in every direction you look—it is really amazing how many cranes, bulldozers, and lifts there are. Buildings in Egypt are mostly made out of concrete (no wonder Professor Ghaly loves concrete) because there isn’t any forests to harvest lumber from so they use the abundant stone. I was very impressed by the new hotel under construction next to the airport; it is going to be huge.

After resting for a little at the hotel in Cairo (my room has a porch that leads out to a grassy area and the shower pressure is great!), our group went on a Nile River Dinner Cruise. It had belly dancing (not impressed) and tantric? dancing. The buffet (I had decent chicken and bad mashed potatoes—no Yukon Golds at all) was nothing special and I was pretty tired (it felt like morning even though it was night time). The most exciting part of the night was probably the ride back to the hotel when there was newly-weds in the car ahead of our bus. Professor Ghaly said they were doing something called “Zaffa.” This is a traditional Egyptian wedding celebration where the couple blocks the road to get people to notice them. Cars honk, flash their lights, and block the road in celebration of the new marriage.

The what I think was tantric dancing
during the Nile River Cruise

Some interesting things I’ve heard/noticed about Egypt:

According to Professor Ghaly, 80 Million people live in Egypt. 95% of the population lives in the Nile River Valley. Additionally, he says that the population increases by a million every eight months.

Gasoline is ~$1.50/gallon in Egypt (1.7 Egyptian pounds/liter), however, as we drove from the airport to the hotel, I saw plenty of Shell and OiLibia Stations but none of the signs displayed the prices. It turns out that the government subsidizes the prices—so all stations have the same priced fuel. 

There are few traffic lights in the city of Cairo. No roundabouts either. Instead they converted the 2-way streets to 1-way streets. Drivers seem to disregard the marked lanes (if any) as I have seen up to 3 cars in the width of one lane. Basically, it is utter chaos.

Melanie and I lit Chanukah candles with prayers and everything (gelt!). Probably we are two of the few people in Egypt to do that tonight. I guess a “Miracle Happened Sort Close to Here”?

Tomorrow I head to the Giza Pyramids and hopefully will ride a camel! I’ll write it here for all ya to read! Any questions? Feel free to ask and I’ll get back to you! Enjoy!