hey big spender
i'm finding it hard to reconcile my time in egypt with my usual voraciously miserly backpacker existence, a fact that i have to admit i'm finding more curious then disquieting. part of it is the nature of our accommodation; it's very hard to walk out of, or ask to be taken to, a plush hotel whilst still arguing 'no money, no money', regardless of how scruffy you (well vicki, i am of course immaculate as always) look. the fact that we aren't in a traveller's ghetto also means that general things that i used to take for granted, such as lunch for $1 or under, are simply not close at hand. the food issue however transcends our choice of accommodation: if you want to avoid eating kebabs, and beef, you simply have to spend a bit more, wherever you are. i love middle eastern food, but tagines or any other slightly more interesting dishes are remarkably thin on the ground. the thing which becomes painfully evident fairly rapidly is that budget places only serve kebabs or falafels. in india or south east asia you can find curry, stir fries, or burgers by the roadside; sadly it's only really proper restaurants who offer any culinary variety here. i am excited by my forthcoming trip to mcdonalds though... mcarabia koftas, chicken big macs, one trip may not be enough.all this is offset by the bargain we got to get here, a deal which is in no small part attributable to islamic terrorists and their penchant for blowing people up, those funsters. unfortunately i've not bought my 'bomb the maldives please osama' tshirt yet because, as with everything, when one hand gives the other takes away. as a consequence of these incendiary zealots, it's now impossible to travel down the nile valley unless you are in a convoy of foreigner packed buses and vans: the sun addled, but gun toting, soldiers look like they couldn't shoot their way out of pitta bread but you still have to have them around, winking for baksheesh, smoking cigarettes in your face and generally providing little reassurance at all. the upshot of this is that jumping on pick ups or service taxis for pennies is impossible, as you'll just get turfed out at the first checkpoint and bundled onto a tourist bus that will then trundle along in the next convoy. i could probably blag it, but it wouldn't really be fair on a driver if he got caught with me in the back. it's also harder to pass as a local with a (loud) white girl in tow.
it was therefore in such a convoy that we made our way to aswan, and another such diesel belching procession in which we set off for abu simbel at 4am the following morning. as anyone knows, i am happy to get up ridiculous o'clock to catch a secluded sunrise: to do so and then arrive with a horde of other tourists running around, taking photoes, and generally making me want to punch them, is incredibly frustrating however, particularly after a three hour churn through the desert in a hot, dusty, minivan. abu simbel itself was spectacular enough: the statues of ramses are huge, so well done there. the whole experience however felt a little empty, more a box to be ticked than a genuine spectacle. the fact that the temple had been moved following the construction of the aswan dam, and built 200m from its original site, complete with fake facades and souvenir stands, accentuated this feeling further.
that therefore was abu simbel: worth doing, but only just. safely back in luxor now and planning to take it easy before karnak and cairo later in the week.
posted by bicrom @ 10:52 am
<< Home