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Teknicolor

Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA


Joined April 28th 2008

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Cairo to Istanbul: Overland - Mount Sinai

March 16th 2009 04:10
This post is part of the series "Cairo to Istanbul, Overland (with Intrepid)" & the first post can be found here: Really Long Link

Day 2: Mount Sinai and St Catherine's Monastery



We got up very early from Cairo on our way to Mount Sinai & St. Catherine's Monastery, a pleasant 9 hour drive through desert landscape of the Sinai Peninsula. The minibus Intrepid used was modern, clean, air conditioned and spacious, this was the case throughout the tour, but in some cases only because our tour wasn't quite full, if it had been full the minibus on several days would have been downright cramped (one seat per person with bench seats). But most of the time, there was room to spare.

We checked into Daniela Village at the foot of Mount Sinai: Really Long Link

The hot & cold buffet at Daniela Village was extremely cheap (I want to say less than $10) and amayyyyzing. Tabouleh to die for. Hummus that tastes like heaven. Yummy hot dishes with exotic and tasty sauces. Highly recommended, even if you are staying somewhere else. But don't do what I did and tuck in to a big lunch just before climbing the mountain for sunset - big mistake!

Dining Room at Daniela Village
Dining Room at Daniela Village


The rooms at Daniela Village were basic, with air con & recently refurbished bathroom in the ones we were in. The staff were very happy, welcoming and friendly.

From the Dianela Village dining room
View from the Dianela Village dining room


We climbed (2285m.) Mt Sinai after lunch: half way by camel - well worth the cost for the view and experience and conversation with the camel drivers who walk alongside you - and the rest you need to walk. When I say walk, I mean walk/stagger/crawl... and it ain't no walk in the park for a gal used to sea level and allergic to exercise. I had visions of myself skipping up the mountain pausing every so often to admire the view, but I swear I nearly DIED and at least very nearly passed out a couple of times. It was not fun. And the term "steps" in "Steps of Repentance" is very loosely used - sometimes they were more like footholds! Luckily for me we had the best sherpa in the whole wide mountain who took me by the hand and literally dragged me to the Summit for the most breathtaking scene...

Sunset from the peak of Mt Sinai
Sunset from the peak of Mt Sinai


Completely worth the agony to get there. The Summit can be verrrry chilly, especially on sundown - take your layers, gloves, scarf and a beanie! And then, after sunset, we came back down again in the dark, ten torches glowing in a row, surreal and spiritual and kind of dangerous, but worth it with the canopy of stars overhead and chatting amongst the group. The alternative is to go up & back completely on the 3750 "Steps of Repentance", and several crazy people in our group actually did it... and beat us to the peak if you can believe that!

We were so tired when we got back, but thrilled by the day's activities. It felt like we had been on holidays for weeks already. Day 1 was amazing - enough of an experience to be the highlight of any trip. Little did we know we had days of unbelievable highlights in store for us - in the early morning it was onwards to the Sawa Camp on the shore of the Red Sea for the next fantastic experience!

St Catherine's Monastery

This Greek Orthodox Monastery (see abovemost picture) at the foot of Mt Sinai was very crowded with tourists. Worth a look if you are there, this is the oldest working monastery in the world. And it is crazy to see what is claimed to be the descendant bush of the original burning bush in the middle of the monestary, so huge & high it was more like a tree if you ask me. People and pilgrims would reach up to the bush/tree with reverent faces and then almost always yell 'ouch' because it was thorny. Over and over again.. reach/ouch! reach/ouch!... it was great. The fire extinguisher next to the bush was absolutely classic... but not, I don't think, meant to be a joke?!

Nothing else really stands out for me from this monastery, except a couple of really gorgeous doors and great photo opportunities... perhaps because it was so very crowded... but there were some slinky monastery cats hanging out that caught my eye. In fact, now that I think about it everywhere in Egypt there were cats running loose...

Cat at St Catherines
Cat at St Catherines


Now... more about that awesome Red Sea beach camp...
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Cairo to Istanbul: Overland - Cairo

March 11th 2009 10:04
This post is part of the series "Cairo to Istanbul, Overland (with Intrepid)" & the first post can be found here: Really Long Link

Day minus 2 to Day 1: Cairo!!!

At the Pyramids of Giza
At the Pyramids of Giza


Egypt is cheap! We arrived 2 days early ahead of the start of the Intrepid tour to explore the Giza Pyramids, Egyptian Museum, a quick sail on the Nile, and do some shopping.

Keep in mind that most of the Pyramids are quite a ways from Cairo so you will need to plan to travel to them if you want to see a range of sites & pyramids.

Tips & Tricks
When someone comes up to you and says, "You look lost, can I help?" and they seem genuine and friendly and you REALLY REALLY think they are genuine despite what you have heard, and you REALLY REALLY think this isn't a sales pitch... stop, slap yourself, and tell them "No thank you." smile, break eye contact, and keep walking, pretending that you can't hear them calling after you.

Try to always know where you are going and if you need to consult your map, do so discretely and politely dismiss anyone who tries to help. I'm pretty savvy but these guys are AMAZING at sucking you in with social engineering. If you enter into any kind of conversation, they will find out where you are from & say, "Oh, I have a cousin in Sydney!" and then bring out photos and before you know it they have guided you into their shop, telling you that they have just become an uncle and you MUST celebrate with them, it's a tradition... and then before you know it, you have merchandise all over your lap... and then it's all over and they will appear insulted that you aren't buying anything!

Of course, if that's the kind of experience you are after, go along with it at least once and then dismiss everyone thereafter. Unless they are leading you down a dark alley...

Pyramids of Giza
I was expecting the pyramids to feel touristy and maybe even a bit cheesy, but they were literally awe inspiring. To stand at the foot of something that was old when Christ was a baby is bigger than you, literally and metaphysically. We came by taxi and somehow jagged it so that we got there in between tour busses and we were almost alone while we explored, as you can kind of see from the photos. At sunset it got really busy and then they kicked everyone out, which was weird.

The Pyramids and the Sphinx
The Pyramids and the Sphinx


I used the Lonely Planet guide, which was very handy: it even predicted the upsell by the taxi driver on the way to the pyramids "You want camel?" and when we didn't quite understand, stopping, picking a random someone up who 'had better english' (?) who also wanted to sell us a camel ride… or donkey ride… or any ride as we discovered when we figured out what he was saying. A few firm and polite "No thank you"s in Arabic and he was dropped off again on the side of the road a few kilometers from where the taxi driver first picked him up. They were very pleasant though, probably because we were firm but polite. We found out later that another person on our tour had the same thing happen but he accepted and he got completely ripped off for his camel (jem-mel) ride, if I recall correctly he paid something like the equivalent of over $140 AUD for a whip around the pyramids. Crazy! But as I said to my friend, if he was happy to pay it and had a good time, they were happy to take his money and give him a good time, then it's all good... he will never forget his expensive tour around the pyramids and the grin on the tour guide's face.

I would bring some loose change for tips, even the guards at the pyramids get in on it. I knew what was happening from my lonely planet guide but you don't really want to say "No" to a guy with a machine gun when he offers to take your photo... and then proceeds to put out his hand. You just laugh and give him some money and consider it part of the experience. If you get there between buses they will let you climb on the pyramids, but I didn't feel comfortable with that (they are just so WORN) so even though he tried to make us pay to climb into one, we didn't. I was quite happy to stand by them and walk around them. I also bought 3 scarabs (dung beetles) from a guy at the base of the pyramids and (over)paid $5 for the three ceramic blue bugs worth no more than 50 cents (with holes in them to thread a necklace). I totally loved his thick accented "You remind me of my daughter... so beautiful" .. "and these three beetles are your family" (placing them in my hand one by one) "this one is you..." (places the middle sized one in my hand) "this one is your husband..." (presses the bigger one into my hand) "...and this one is your little baby that you will have..." (and puts the teeny tiny one in my hand). I mean, how could I not buy them? And who minds being so charmingly ripped off? Just a quick note, people tend to complain no matter what you pay them. You have to know what something is worth, overpay slightly (that's just my opinion) and then just walk away from their protests. The protests tend to be halfhearted when you have overpaid anyway, so you will get to understand the concept after a while. I quite like the idea once you get used to it. Sometimes if someone just smiles and walks away somewhat fast you know you REALLY overpaid, ha ha.
The Giza Pyramids rise directly out of a suburb. It's crazy! You're going through streets thick with traffic and dirt, and all of a sudden the city drops away and there they are buffered up to shops and houses… and beyond them is sand and desert stretching as far as the eye can see. It's quite a shock to stand on the edge of a city and see these monolithic creations. I recommend spending the taxi ride to see these, and even the super expensive coke (really, I think it was $8) sitting at the base of them looking back over the Sphinx & pyramids. Lovely!

Egyptian Museum

It freaked me out that everyone TOUCHES everything despite the signs up everywhere and despite everything being thousands of years old...! And the guards never say a thing. While I was very shocked but you just gotta get over it because everyone does it, even the guides were putting their hands all over the statues, etc. It was particularly funny to see Egyptian Guides touching the artifacts when they were touring Americans, stiff-backed and tight lipped... who were obviously uncomfortable but didn't want to say anything. I totally related to them and wanted to swat people's hands away! After going through the Middle East further I understood the attitude a little better - there are statues and ancient buildings and mosaics EVERYWHERE out in the rain rotting away with animals and people running all over them, or people living in them, unkempt and very much normal to see in every town. I'm guessing that when you see that kind of thing on a daily basis you lose a little respect for things being treated with kid gloves, when you have one almost the same in your back yard or your neighbour's back yard... perhaps forgetting how unique and fragile it is.

The museum was really worth going to, but very poorly signposted as to what is what, what age it is, what it means, etc (I believe that is so the guides can stay in business). It's not worth going unless you have a second source of information: I'd recommend buying the Lonely Planet guide which has a written tour telling you what various exhibits are, or, if you have the money getting a reputable (and I emphasise reputable) guide. One of the most amusing things was if you stayed by one statue for a while you would hear different guides describing it as someone entirely different. It was hysterical.

Felucca on the Nile

We just wandered up and down the Nile (the Felucca drivers yell out prices at you) and stopped when someone yelled out a price that was close to reasonable, then haggled him down (check your guidebook for current pricing & exchange rates). The driver stopped in the middle of the river and insisted on payment. Don't give payment unless you feel you have already gotten your money's worth, they might just turn around and drop you right off. We only wanted half an hour anyway to see the sunset, get a feel for it and get going shopping again.

Markets & Souks

We went to several markets and souks, the best of which was the Old Market Khan el-Khalili - dating back to the 1300's - for all kinds of stuff: food (stopped for lunch at a great pancake type place), clothes, pashmina, carpets, trinkets, and anything else you could think of! The markets are usually divided into sections: copper, silver, gold, cloth, food, spices, sweets, etc. The market can be overwhelming, but just ensure you have your wallet tucked away in a place it can't be pinched, then relax and enjoy the craziness. You will be harassed and yelled at as you walk around. Expect it, appear confident, be polite but don't engage people unneccessarily, don't let your eyes get too big, and if you see something you like remember you will probably see it ten more times. Get a feel for price as you go, remember to haggle, and get off the main drag if you want to bring down the price a bit, and make sure you use even just a little Arabic, a few numbers, yes, no, thank-you etc - it will help with prices. You might want to come back a few times to this market, it's huge!

Onwards to Mount Sinai next...
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Cairo to Istanbul: Overland with Intrepid

March 3rd 2009 01:35
Intrepid are a great low-impact small group adventure operator. There are a maximum of 12 people in each group, with an experienced tour guide and emphasis on interacting with the locals and getting a real feel for the culture. This was my first experience with a tour company and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't like the idea of touring, it seems to me as though you are just putting yet another artificial layer between you and the country you are visiting, like looking at it through plexi-glass or something. I guess Intrepid is the kind of company that attracts like-minded (non tour group type) open minded people who really want to experience travel rather than observe a country from a distance, so it was great. We had a fab time.

Cairo to Istanbul with Intrepid

The Routing

The value for money on this tour was SO great. I have to admit that - plexiglass aside - I love my upscale hotels at the end of the day (four or five stars, thanks!) but had to compromise on this tour. Intrepid's philosophy is to support local businesses so the accommodations were dated and basic but clean; no chain hotels, some were simply servicable while others could even be described as charming. There was really only one night where I thought "I don't want to sleep on that bed" but even then it was the best hotel in that particular town (Palmyra), so what are you going to do? You have to adjust your expectations and ease up if you want to see these remote places the way they should be seen.

I'll post a blow-by-blow, day-by-day account of our amazing trip over the next few days: Cairo to Istanbul. Fasten your seatbelt, here we go!
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Canada USA via China fr $1199 plus $562!!!!

September 23rd 2008 03:08
Sandgropers look away now, this one is only for readers from Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Canberra & Hobart.

The land of the tied-for-first* cutest animal on the planet, the Panda (don't even TRY to argue with me), brings us today's thooper thpeshal. Fly Air China to Canada or the USA with a stopover in Shanghai or Beijing


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BALI PRICE WAR - fr $276 inc flights/accom - now's the time to nab a bargain!!!

September 23rd 2008 03:06
Virgin has just started flying to Bali and the airlines are taking it to each other.

Holiday Planet (only 500 flight/accom packages at these prices, get in quick


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STOP PRESS: Sizzling Bali Bargain - get it while it's hot!!!!!

September 19th 2008 15:53


$344 return including tax?! Jetstar you sexy beast, luring me in with your wiley fares


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5 nites in BALI for $649 inc flights, accoms, breakkie!!!!

September 19th 2008 10:59
This is such a super speshal that I made up a crimp to go along with this post:

Zippadedoo, *jump left


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Apple / Mac issue with blogging on Orble

July 15th 2008 04:55
I seem to get stuck in an endless loop when I try to upload photos in a blog posting on my home computers (a macbook & iMac). Orble chucks a fruit - it gets in an endless loop and doesn't display clickable buttons when going through the upload wizard.

Whereas no probs whatsoever on my work computer, a PC


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New York New York from $1799 return TAXES INCLUDED! PERTH to NY fr $1099!!!!

July 9th 2008 05:46
Link to $1799 sale: Really Long Link

UPDATE: $1099 HOLIDAY PLANET NY RETURN FROM PERTH:
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Vancouver Canada from $1699 RETURN, taxes included!!!

July 8th 2008 04:33
Vancouver. On a clear day, the most beautiful city in the world, IMHO. And from $1699 return, an absolute bargain. I lived there for a year earlier this decade and can't recommend it enough for a getaway, no matter the season. I just love the fact that you can be anywhere in the city and look up and BAM! get hit in the eye by a gorgeous view, be it mountain or bay.

The native Vancouverites claim that you can swim in the morning and ski in the afternoon, but that's only if you don't mind freezing your whatevers off. Still, a gorgeous city with something for everyone. Don’t miss Stanley Park and Granville Island. I lived at Kitsilano Beach (Kitts), which is also a must-do (really nice sea glass if you're into that kind of thing


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Recent Comments

Comment by Teknicolor
on Apple / Mac issue with blogging on Orble

July 17th 2008 02:36


Adventure Found
the sensual explorer
being green
Happy Trails
Apparently, because we have such brand spanking new macs, there is no FireFox for them as yet. So I am stuck....!

Bup-bow!

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Comment by Teknicolor
on Apple / Mac issue with blogging on Orble

July 15th 2008 05:29


Adventure Found
the sensual explorer
being green
Happy Trails
I'm using the default browser - Safari. I'll see if DH has downloaded firefox and see how it goes.

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Comment by Teknicolor
on Uploading images from mac

July 9th 2008 15:48


Adventure Found
the sensual explorer
being green
Happy Trails
yep, exactomondo. I should have read your post before creating my own. Not mac friendly.

Aside from the image thing, I also find it misbehaves with links intermittently, especially when modifying a post.

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Comment by Teknicolor
on Submit a Posting Image

June 17th 2008 14:36


Adventure Found
the sensual explorer
being green
Happy Trails
Yeah, I have a macbook and I have a feeling that Orble image upload doesn't speak very well with macs. I just get in an endless loop... I choose and upload my image, it thinks & looks like it is doing something.... then it goes back to a blank upload dialog. V frustrating. Nothing to do with the file, coz I can upload from my work PC just fine. Think it's more a mac issue.

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Comment by Teknicolor
on GM Canola Is Not Godzilla

May 13th 2008 14:07


Adventure Found
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being green
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Either way, whether good or bad, as a consumer I'd just like the choice to not eat GM foods if I wanted to, but I am not given that choice as foods are not labelled. Many products with canola (and soy) in them are GM but not described as such. I'd also like to be able to support now "niche" farmers who choose not to use GM modified crops.

Makes me wonder about all the sick little bees in the Northern Hemisphere, are they getting sore tum tums from snacking on GM crops, which made them more susceptable to the virus that killed 'em in masses last year?

I'm open to GM being all things good, but would like to see more testing and certainly labelling so I can stay away until I'm happy about it.

I have read in particular about certain proteins in GM soy plants causing ill effects (read: death) in tests in mice. While that's simply one test, in the meatime of a total verdict I'd just like the choice.

Bring on the labelling, that's all I say!

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Comment by Teknicolor
on 10 brilliant ways to piss people off

May 13th 2008 13:55


Adventure Found
the sensual explorer
being green
Happy Trails
What about naming your dog "DeeFer"?

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Comment by Teknicolor
on Deborah Kerr Tribute – The Sydney Film Festival 2008

May 13th 2008 13:47


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*sigh* ... An affair to remember...

Isn't she gorgeous?

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Comment by Teknicolor
on Best Flights: One of my fave vendors for the Quickcheap

April 30th 2008 03:26


Adventure Found
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Love the suggestion, thanks Morgan. I'll have to suss it out and maybe do a posting highlighting webjet.

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