Still just testing.

Still I personally think its worth it even if it does consume more time and prove a little frustrating at times.  Static pages done, those would be for the most part the pages other than the journal I turned my eye to that little list I have and that I’m constantly trying to get through.

I’ve managed to set up a twitter account and get it working through the control panel of my site.  It proved to be a heck of a lot easier than I though it would be.  It worked first up.  Could have knocked me over with a feather.  I now have 4 followers.  How cool is that?  I think I’m a long way from world domination!

Set up Twitter, check.  Now what’s next?

The gremlins.  Grrr.  I’m wrestling with gremlins in the communications section of the site.  Tis a little frustrating.  I hate it when everything is up and running then something falls over and just plain doesn’t work.  Particularly since I haven’t changed any of the settings, that I know of, that would cause that to happen.  I discovered an issue just over a week ago with the communications system in the control and while half of the problem is resolved the rest is still proving difficult.  Not that I did anything.  I’m thinking that the webhost has done something in response to the support ticket I sent in and not replied to me yet.

When choosing a webhost remember.  Cheap is not always best.

First up we went the the Great Pyramid of Khufu.  I must say its big enough looking at it from a distance.

Up close its even bigger. 

Now while we didn’t have tickets to go inside Khufu the guide managed to get us inside just a little way to have a look, with a little cash paid to the guard on the way out.  Now while we’d paid for a guide I must say while he was very informative he was also really annoying.  I spent a good deal of time trying to ignore him.

Next up we went to a lookout some distance from the Pyramids to see them all grouped together. All I can say about that is stay well away from the camels, they are a major rip off and really not worth it unless you absolutely want a photo of yourself on a camel with the Pyramids in the background.

After the lookout we then went to the Pyramid of Khafre.  Now while the guide did not recommend doing this I had chosen to ignore him and get the ticket anyway.  So Mum and Dad waited up top and I made my way down into the depths of the Pyramid.  The passageway was narrow and finally came out into the burial chamber.  While there isn’t anything left except Kafre’s large granite sarcophagus I think it was worth it to come and see.  If only to put in perspective where some of the things we’d seen at the start of the trip in the Egyptian Museum came from.

Last up for our little tour was the Sphinx.  Now by daylight its not any bigger but I was prepared for it this time!

We walked around looking at the Sphinx and noticed that there was a lot of cleaning up going on and the walk way around the bottom of the Sphinx had been closed off and work being done down there as well.  Then it dawned on us that the US President was due in Cairo tomorrow and was said to be visiting here.  That would explain the big clean up.

That’s about it really.  We returned to the hotel, showered, packed, checked out and headed to the airport to catch the first of the two flights that it would take us to get home.  Overall I liked Egypt, the Temples, Tombs, statues and Pyramids are definitely worth the money it cost to get here.  I also loved the Dahabiyya and highly recommend it to you if you are looking at going to Egypt.  Its well worth the extra cash and much better that the large cruise boats.

We decided to go to the Sound and Light show in the evening, ok so we’d heard it was a little over rated but hey.  We’re in Giza with views of the Pyramids.  How can we not go to the Sound and Light show.  So since we’d decided to do a tour of the Pyramids tomorrow since we have a late checkout and a late flight out of Cairo today we went shopping.  Not much to tell really we hit a number of shops and between us managed to get the things that we wanted to get.

That evening we were picked up for the sound and light show.  After a little altercation over the video camera we had our seats right up the front.  I must say the Sphinx is a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  All right I had heard that it was small but its still a bit of a shock. 

Ok so the photo’s a little blurred since I didn’t have a tripod but I am sure you get the idea…

Seeing the Pyramids and the Sphinx all lit up at night is well worth it.  The commentary or ‘story’ I could have seriously done without but the light show itself was good.  At one point the volume was pumped up to drown out the racket from the call to prayer which was somewhat annoying.

All up it was a good night and we had a ‘night cap’ when we got back to the hotel before heading off to bad.

If you read the entry where we came to Jordan on the Ferry then you have a fair idea of how things went.  The experience was similar.  Wandering around up stairs, then down them.  Going from one office to the next to arrange tickets, departure tax and passport stamps.  I was glad that we got there early to sort it all out.  Much to our surprise the busses to take us to the ferry were pretty much on time although it took a pacing and staring out the windows since none of the announcements were in English, obviously.

Once on the Ferry though.  That was when the delay happened.  We just sat there as time ticked by I was glad of my decision to stay the night at Nuweiba instead of hopping strait on a bus to Cairo.  somehow in the back of my mind I knew this would happen.  What should have taken 1 - 2 hours ended up taking about 5 hours.  Once out of the Ferry, that was a drama in itself due to that really stupid panic over the so called swine flu.  I guess we can thank the media for that one.  Anyway once off we went on the hunt for mum and dad’s passports at the ferry terminal.  Eventually after what had become the standard running around we found the office and they retrieved their passports.

We ended up back at the same place that we’d had dinner at last time we were here right of the beach out at Tarabin.  A lovely little spot, the name of it escapes me right now but when I manage to find the business card I’ll update the journal.  We sat drinking a clod beer watching as the sun disappeared.  It had been a long day.

The path to the vantage point was just past the Palace Tomb so we retraced our path from the day before until we came to the temple.  Dad at that point decided that he wouldn’t do the hike so stayed behind at one of the little stalls and we arranged to meet him there later.

Mum and I headed off for the stairs that started off the climb.  The steps proved to be good in some places but deteriorated badly in others.  Mum did extremely well given her fear of heights and balance issues.  On the way up a guy on his way down stopped to give us encouragement letting us know that we were about 3/4 of the way there and that the climb was worth every moment.  So we continued to wind our way steadily up the cliff.

We paused at one point looking down, or at least I did, to the Theatre way below.  It was quite a good view.

We continued on, at least we tried to.  We spent about 15 minutes or so wandering around looking for the path onwards.  It was described as ‘less obvious dirt path’.  When they said ‘less obvious’ they really were not kidding!  Eventually I spied a guy walking along a little below our current position but obviously coming back from the vantage point.  So we waited and finally discovered the path.  After asking a few questions, then me doing some fast talking to mum who nearly decided to pull out at this point we went on.

The path was easy in places but required some scrambling over rocks right at the end.  Once more I had to talk mum into continuing pointing out she would be disappointed if she went all that way only to pull out when she was moments from the vantage point.  Once again mum bravely went on carefully scrambling down the path I showed her, I’d gone on ahead to find it so knew that it wasn’t far and that it really was worth it.

Eventually we made it to the lookout and it really was worth it, the view down to the Treasury really was amazing.

I even managed to get mum closer to the edge so I could snap a photo of her sitting there.  Not sure she really enjoyed getting that close to the edge but once again she managed.

Of course to get back down we had to scramble over the rocks and head back to the steps that we’d used to get here.  Its a little easier when you know where you’re going.  We made it down to where dad was waiting a little later than we said we’d be mainly due to the delay in finding the ‘less obvious’ path.  I’m really glad we did it though.  It was well after lunch and we decided to head out to one of the little restaurants we’d seen lining the streets between our hotel and the main entrance gate.

That was pretty much it since it was a little late after we finished eating to head back in so we went back to the hotel and started doing that packing thing and arranged for transport to take us back to Aqaba tomorrow so we could catch the ferry back to Egypt.

We walked through the gates up the gravel path.  It would be nice to imagine doing this with us being the only ones here but there is not even the luxury of that.  There are seriously a lot of people here.

The touts are not too bad they leave you alone as soon as you say no or in this case ‘la shukran’.  There are just a heap of them so it gets a little repetitive, selling everything from postcards to carriage rides.

We passed by the Djinn blocks and only noticed because we saw the Obelisk Tomb.  I guess that tells you how impressive they were.  Still we looked back at them anyway.

The Siq however is quite impressive.

The Siq

The Siq is about 1.2 km long.  Consisting of a single block that was torn apart by tectonic forces.  The Siq is only about 5m wide but in some points narrows to 2m however the sheer rock wall towers overhead about 200m high.

The colours in the rock walls Swirls, lines and waves of it as you walk through the Siq amazing reds, brown and black changing as the sun changes position.  Then as you wind your way through the Siq you glimpse the Treasury. 

You can not help but stop at that point before going forward to see the rest obscured by the end of the Siq.

The Treasury (Al-Khazneh)

The Treasury is amazing to see.  It doesn’t matter that you’ve undoubtedly seen it before in movies and pictures.  You do not get that let down that seems to come with so many ‘great monuments’ the ‘oh, well I’m glad I saw it but it looks just like it does in the post card effect.’

The Treasury’s massive red rock facade is awe inspiring and incredibly well preserved.  Carved into the rock wall it is 43m high and about 30m wide.

Even the other travellers milling around snapping photo’s, some paying to climb up on the back of a camel to have there photo taken in front of the Treasury couldn’t ruin that moment.

The Street of Facades

We kept walking this time down the street of Facades heading towards the Theatre and the city centre.  There are over 40 tombs and houses built into the rock by the Nabataeans.

You have to keep remembering to watch where you put your feet and not just gaze up and around at the walls.  Not just because you might trip over either since all the donkeys and horses have left little reminders of there presence on the path.  Two boys on donkey’s rode past us calling out as they went ‘you want taxi on the way back?’  It was funny at the time and made us laugh.

Theatre
The theatre quite literally stopped us in our tracks for a bit.  The theatre was built by the Nabataeans over 2000 years ago carved out of the stone enough of it remains today to make you wonder at the 1000’s of people it must of held in its day.

We continued walking through the ancient city, we were definitely getting plenty of exercise today!  The Royal Tombs were up and off to the right as we walked through and we took the time to explore a couple of them although I will say its more the outside of the Tombs that are breathtaking not the interior which are just empty and long since cleaned out.

You mostly have to use your imagination as you wander along Colonnaded Street since there really isn’t a lot left.  By the time we meandered through it we decided it was time to have a break for lunch and a drink.  It wasn’t that hard to find somewhere since little cafe’s had dotted the walk the entire way.  Some of them just offering drinks and souvenirs of course!  Others food as well.  We sat in the shade for a bit and saw the couple from the night before at the ferry station who stopped to talk for a bit.  Its amazing really given how many people are wandering through this place that we ran into them, or I guess that they ran into us!

So after the break we decided to go on the walk to the Monastery.

Monastery (Al-Deir)
The walk to the Monastery is well worth the 800 odd steps in various states of disintegration, some of them good, some not as we wound our way up the path to the Monastery with a steady stream of people going in both directions.  We paused every now and then when we came across some shade on the way up its not like we were in a race with anyone although you would think some were given the pace they tried to set.  That was kind of funny since some of those people were not as fit as they thought they were and we kept passing them, much to the annoyance of some of them I think.  Our pace was slow and steady taking about an hour to get to the end of that particular path.  Still it was worth it.  The Monastery quite took my breath away and it wasn’t just from the climb which if truth be told wasn’t that bad.

There was a drink stall up there which was proving to be a smart business decision by the owner even if he had to cart all his stock up here!  Like just about everyone else we stopped for a drink and stared up at the Monastery.  There was a kid running and jumping around the top of the temple.  Given it stands about 45m off the ground and he didn’t have ropes or any safety gear it caused more than a few people to mutter ‘idiot’ and other less complementary words.  It was obvious that he had done this before and was showing off, still it was a dangerous thing to do.

After a break it was time to head back down again and dad looked around and asked where the lift was.  Of course there was no lift we just had to go down the way we came up.  Once down it was time to head out so we retraced our steps out of Petra and back to our hotel.

After getting cleaned up we headed down to the bar to have a few drinks before dinner.  The hotel might have been a little bit more expensive than we’d planned but it certainly was comfortable!

It wouldn’t have been so bad really or so it seemed on paper.  1 - 2 hours on the fast ferry from Nuweiba to Aqaba followed by about a 2 hour drive to Wadi Musa.  Easy right?

Getting the tickets for the fast ferry proved easy and we were at the Nuweiba Port the suggested 2 hours prior to departure.  Now the Port is a shambles.  You walk in the front with rudimentary security screening seemingly found all over Egypt.  Then, unless you’ve been here before and no the drill one wanders around the Port trying to work out where to go next.  We got three sets of directions and after wandering around and sticking our heads in various buildings we finally found where we were supposed to be.

Of course we’d wandered in on the wrong side since we came into the waiting area that you’re meant to sit in after you’ve been through immigration.  No one seemed to mind though.  We then passed through to the other side past the booths that at this stage were still not manned to fill out our immigration cards and get that all important stamp in ones passport.

After a bit of a wait and thumb twiddling a couple of guys showed up and we got said little stamp, no fan fair needed, before going back to the side of the shed we’d originally walked into.

Then the waiting began.  The time for the departure of our ‘Fast Ferry’ came and went.  A couple of cool drinks and a packet of chips latter and we were still there.  Next was the coffee.  That went too with no end of the waiting in sight.

Finally about 5:00 pm, we’d been in town since mid-day and at the Port since 1 pm since it was meant to leave at 3 pm, we were rounded up put on busses and taken to the ferry.

There we all lined up and they proceeded to check our passports before letting us on board the boat.  Now that did not take as long as I had thought it would to start with despite the load of people getting on. One guy in the mess at the Port had obviously done what we had at the immigration hall except he didn’t have a stamp in his passport.  That caused a bit of a fuss and he trudged away with one of the guards. Once on we dumped our bags in a pile with the others then lined up once more.  This time they checked the tickets.  Personally I thought they could have checked those at the same time that they checked our passports.

All up we were on our way Aqaba bound by about 5:30 pm.  Now once the ferry got going that part at least went to schedule, except of course the actual time that we finally hit Aqaba which was about 7 pm.

Now on the Ferry they had collected our passports and told us that they would be stamped and waiting for us at immigration in the Port of Aqaba.  How handy.  How hard could finding the immigration office be?  It would be the first thing we saw, wouldn’t it?

One wouldn’t think that you could even get close to gaining entry to a foreign country and wandering out onto the streets without a passport in hand.  Except that was what we nearly did.  The guards seemed in such a hurry to rush us all out of the building, presumably so they could pack up and go home for the night that it was only me balking at the final baggage security screening seeing the taxi touts on the other side. 

Finally one of the guards understood that most of us did not have a passport so waved us all back the other way.  It was kind of funny all of us wandering around trying to find the immigration office.  Finally an American couple found it down a small, dimly lit corridor with no signs.  It was just one open office door.  Finally we got our passports with the promised little stamp.

Some of us grouped together since we were all trying to get to Aqaba.  Figuring we could negotiate for a cab and compare prices.  We finally got one and by 7:30 pm we were on our way to Wadi Musa.

We finally walked into our hotel about 9:30 pm.  At least we got here even though it is a little later than we’d all thought.

Crystal Mountain

Ok I’ll just say it.  Its a rock.  It may be made of quartz and have a hole through it but its still just a rock.  Maybe I was just a little over it.  Or maybe I just needed coffee.  Still that’s my excuse I wonder what everyone else’s is.

Black Desert

We headed off down the road again this time with a small stop at the Black Desert.  We got out of the car dutifully, took a few snaps then piled back in the car to keep going.  It is a stark contrast from the White Desert there’s not a lot to do there.  Still like the White Desert its good to see if you’re in the area.

We made it to a little cafe and stopped for a coffee.  We were there for a while.  The family who runs it made us a cake and then gave us tea as well to drink with it.  There small little son started playing the drum.  He was surprisingly good.  So was the cake.  The first fresh cooked cake we’d had in ages (there’s usually some included on the breakfast table but its always stale) was lovely.  We tried to pay them for it but the family would only accept money for the coffee that we’d originally ordered.

In a way that strange little stop with that family made that trip.  It certainly ranks as one of the highlights and was a nice way to end our Desert Safari.

We piled into the car and not long after ended up in Bahariya Oasis.  The end of our Safari we said good bye to our guide and changed cars this time to take us to Giza.

Giza and the End (of sorts)

So we arrived at the Le Meridian Pyramids view hotel in Giza where Katty and Lou are staying for the last few nights.  We all went in and had a farewell drink together before Mum, Dad and I went back out the the car and headed into Central Cairo.

We booked our tickets to take us to Nuweiba the next day before crashing at our hotel, somewhat down the scale in comparison but it is a good budget hotel unlike the one in Siwa!

If your heading to Cairo and need a good budget hotel give the Hotel Select a go.  Good value, comfortable beds and pillows, hot water, friendly helpful staff and they do not try to rip you off.

That night we spent a few hours in a coffee shop, ate a little before heading back to our hotel and bed.

Now on the map it says in brackets and small print (paved road in poor condition).  I’d say there not kidding.  Now the start from Siwa is a perfectly serviceable road with a few pot holes and in between a good gravel road.  It starts going down hill from there.  While not as bad as I expected it really isn’t a very good road.

Not much to say about the day other than we had to change tires, twice.  On the first flat the driver discovered that his car had the wrong type of jack which did not help matters at all.  Dad couldn’t help himself and went to assist.  Just as well he did I think otherwise I have the feeling that we’d have been there a lot longer than we were.

Lou, Katty, Mum and I stamped our names into the sand with our feet to kill a little time.  Lou and Katty started up choreographing the ‘Great Western Desert Shirt Dance’ or some such thing in the middle of the road.  I really wish I’d had the video out at that point since it was quite funny watching them.  Unfortunately it was in the car which was in the process of having its tire changed so you’ll have to imagine it.

We arrived in Bawiti (in the Bahaiya Oasis) just after lunch time and sat down in a small cafe and had a beer while waiting for our driver and car to come back.  We also dashed across to the hotel across the road in ones and two’s to use the toilet.

Late in the day we headed off once more, driving through the Black Desert to reach the White Desert although thankfully the road was in better condition and we didn’t get another flat.

The White Desert

We finally arrived at the White Desert and drove slowly in to find our camping spot for the night.  While not what I thought it would be it is quite spectacular.  We arrived in our camp to find the sun well and truly setting over the desert and we set up camp with little day light left to spare.

We encountered the white fox that night.  The animals come close enough to take food from your hand before scampering off out of the light to eat there prize.

That night we slept out under the stars on mats and in sleeping bags, except of the occasional mouthfuls of sand if you faced the wrong way it was a nice way to sleep in the desert.

While it is true as the reviews have suggested that the place is clean and the water is hot that is about the only decent thing about the place.  While it might have once been a good budget hotel it can not make that claim any longer.

The prices have gone up significantly.  Now we wore that thinking it was half our fault.  We booked a room in advance before arriving in Siwa due to the time we would be arriving and the number of people we have in our group.  When the price was quoted on the phone and agreed to we though it was for the whole stay.  It turned out to be per night.  Even for two nights we though it was higher than it should be but not really too bad.  Per night it was a rip off.

When we balked at the price the owner brought out the ‘oh but you booked and I’ve turned away people who could have used those rooms so you’ll have to pay for the rooms if you go.’  Thinking the fault was at least half ours and that he was right if he’d turned away people then we did have to pay for at least the night.  So we stayed.

The problem we discovered on checking in was that he’d lied.  Not that surprising in this part of the world I guess.  The place was empty besides us, and no wonder given what they are charging.  He’d used the ‘oh but I turned others away’ line to make us stay.

This morning when we checked out and asked what we owed the staff member behind the desk checked what rooms we’d been in and gave us a price.  Now it was less than the original price we’d been given so we double checked.  We were told that was the price.  So we paid what was asked of us and left.  We were somewhat happier with the price asked.  While still higher than we’d expected for the place it was closer to what we’d expect to pay.

While we were out in the desert on the start of the Safari our guide / driver’s mobile started ringing (at least when we were on the top of the dunes).  The guide handed it to Lou and that’s when the abuse over the phone started. 

To cut a long story short the owner had managed to track us down.  Siwa is not really that big and was demanding more money.  Claiming that the staff didn’t know the ‘new special price’ he’d set which some how translated to being our fault.

To put it bluntly the man is a liar and a rip off merchant, stay elsewhere in the Oasis.  The Keylany is certainly not worth the hassle and what ever you do if you get stuck having to stay there make sure that no one there has your mobile number.

4WD Safari - Day 1 - The Great Sand Sea
We headed off in our 4WD into the Great Sand Sea, or at least into its outskirts.  Our driver really couldn’t speak much English, although since we do not speak much Arabic I guess that’s about even.  He’s got a little of the kamikaze in him though and turned out to be lots of fun.

He’d bolt up to the top of a deceptively mild looking dune then stop suddenly on the top shaking his head and making a ‘tisking’ sound looking at us all to make sure we had a good look at the somewhat large and steep drop, then plunge down the side of the dune.  It was a load of fun.  Or I thought so.  Lou was fine by the end of the day although I think Katherine really didn’t like it one bit.

At one point we stopped at the top of a dune to get a look at the surrounding area.  Katty started jumping down the dune then running back up.  She was grinning like a cheshire cat.  She then convince me that I should join her.  Since the others just stood there shaking there heads, I sighed and figured that I had best jump down the dune with her.  I thought it might tire her out a little anyway.  Now don’t tell her I said so but it was fun, at least a little…

Later in the day we also stopped at a couple of Oasis.  One hot and one cold spring.  We spent some time dangling our feat in the water but decided against the swimming part, mainly due to the not wearing bathers thing but also due to some others who were bathing going an interesting copper colour.

At the cold spring there was a whole group of young rowdy people there destroying the peace so it perhaps was not as nice as it could have been.

We ended up making camp out in the dunes putting up our tents for the night and going off to our own pursuits for a time.  Katty went to climb a dune and sit to watch the sunset.  Dad and Mum were reading for a bit.  I put some music on at Lou’s suggestion, something mellow as seemed to suit where we were.  It turned out to be a nice night lying on the blanket after dinner looking up at the stars in the Northern Sky.

Katty and Lou started a game ‘Name that Constellation’  it was a laugh and I eventually joined in.  Among the suggested names was ‘The Laptop’, ‘The Pram’, ‘The Arrow’, ‘The Pyramid’ ....

Still this coffee shop has a great sign ‘Life’s too short for bad coffee’.  They have real coffee, imported Italian beans and a coffee machine.  Unfortunately they were still closed when we went past so while the others went shopping, Lou and I tried to find an internet that would work.  That proved a little problematic and after the third internet shop we gave up. 

We walked past the coffee shop again to see it was still closed so decided to price the safari that we wanted to do.  We went to about 4 different places, it took the better part of the morning with one break for breakfast and coffee and fill the others in with our progress.  After that we went to one final place that we ended up being happy with so we’ll see how it goes.

This afternoon we negotiated with two of the taxi’s to take us around to some of the local things to see.  Now when I say taxi scrub out the image of a car from your mind and replace it with a donkey pulling a little cart complete with cover and seats with the words ‘Siwa Taxi’ written on the side of the cart.

In Siwa the donkey and cart are more frequent than cars and the mournful sounding bray comes from the streets instead of car horns which makes a pleasant change.

Negotiations done we headed out for our mini expedition.

Tombs of Jabel El Mawta

The Tombs of Jabel El Mawta, which means Mountain of the Dead, was our first stop.  It reminds me of a smaller version of the Tombs of the Nobles in Luxor.  We scrambled around going down into some of the small tombs that were opened for us by one of the guards.  There was also a great view of the Oasis and surrounds which made the trip worthwhile in itself.

The tombs were also used by local villagers as shelter during WWII when the Italians bombed the oasis.

Temple of the Oracle

Next was the Temple of the Oracle built in the 6th century BC and dedicated to Amun.  The Oracle was one of the most revered in the Mediterranean and it is said that rulers either travelled widely to consult with the Oracle or fearing the Oracle tried to destroy it.  It was also said that Alexander the Great came to consult with the Oracle in 331 BC and was declared to be a ‘son of the god’.

While not well preserved the Temple of the Oracle is still a sight to see with spectacular views of the surrounding Oasis.

Temple of Umm Ubayd

There really isn’t much of the Temple of Umm Ubayd left since a governor in 1896 blew up the temple to provide stones to build a mosque and the police building.  To say that there isn’t much left is an understatement.  There is one wall.

Still the Temple of Umm Ubayd was once connected to the Temple of the Oracle by a causeway and used during oracle rituals.

Cleopatra’s Bath

On the way back we stopped off at Cleopatra’s Bath (or the Spring of Cleopatra).  It was a little different that what I’d imagined.  I thought it would look a little like a large pond.  Instead it looked like a large open well with bubbles feeding from the bottom.

We decided not to go for a swim.  Swimming being slightly problematic since we’d have to go fully clothed meaning money, passports etc would have got soaked too and clothes taken ages to dry.  We watched a boy play in the spring, jumping from the top into the spring over, and over again.

Then it was time to head back to town being the end of our mini excursion.

We relaxed for a little then headed out once more to see what remains of the Fortress of Shali.

Fortress of Shali

In the centre of town are the remains of the 13th century Fortress of Shali.  Although not much remains of the Fortress today since 3 days of rain in 1926 achieved what armies, invaders, generals and rulers failed to do.  Still what remains of the Fortress of Shali today manages to dominate and catch the eye.

We climbed up the trail and into the accessible part of the fortress winding our way up to a lookout.  Its such a shame that the fortress was destroyed by rain although there are hopes that some restoration might occur.  I guess whether that happens or not remains to be seen. Still it would be worth coming back out this way to have a look if they ever did succeed.

That was the end of our day in Siwa

When the breeze comes in the evening its cool, straight of the Mediterranean.  I’m figuring that tonight that will not be the case, Siwa being an Oasis in the Great Sand Sea.  I think we’re all looking forward to seeing it.

Anyway onto yesterday.

We didn’t rush this morning but still wandered out of the door, after breakfast about 9:30 am.  First stop was the office for the bus company that does the run to Siwa to purchase tickets for the next day.  That done we negotiated with a couple of taxi’s to take us to Catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa.

Catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa

After a slight detour with some of us ending up at Pompey’s Pillar before getting the driver sorted out and going to the Catacombs to meet up with the others we entered the grounds of the Catacombs.  Once again no photo’s are allowed inside the Catacombs.

I must admit that I really wasn’t looking forward to the Catacombs, kind of being over temples and tombs for the time being.  Still it was something to see.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Catacombs. 

Its said that they were rediscovered by a donkey who fell through the ground in the 1900’s.  I kind of feel sorry for the donkey, its a long was for the poor thing to fall!

You gain access to the Catacombs by a spiral staircase taking you underground.  While underground it was just as well that we had a torch since the power kept flicking on and off while we were down there, it was a little on the dark side when the lights went out.  The Catacombs in there day housed about 300 corpses.

In the main tomb the funerary iconography decorating the walls is a strange fusion of Greek, Roman and Egyptian beliefs.  The rest of the periphery tombs, hole after hole in the walls and into the ground were unadorned or at least did not survive to this day.

After the Catacombs we walked down the road to Pompey’s Pillar, I guess that was the added bonus of having being at fist dropped of at the wrong place.  We at least knew how to get there and it wasn’t far from the Catacombs.

Pompey’s Pillar & The Serapeum

Ok I’ll admit there really isn’t much here.  Still I liked it for some reason.  Perhaps one of the reasons was because there were only a handful of us wandering around.

There is the Pillar that is about 2.7 meters at its base and two small sphinxes.  The remains of the Serapeum are a few scattered and fallen pillars.  A few trenches have been dug showing what was once the walls and the remains of a roman bath.

Off to one side are some steps leading down underground corridor with many holes in the wall.  One of the men here at the temple advised it is the remains of the ‘daughter library’ to the Great Library of Alexandria.

This was once one of the most important intellectual and religious centres in the Mediterranean until 391 AD the Christians in their campaign against Pagans destroyed the Serapeum and its Library.

Getting back to the Corniche was a little problematic since the driver of the taxi kept trying to get more money out of us even though we’d set the price before getting in.  He also tried to take us to the wrong place then wanted more money to take us where we wanted to go to.  We kind of indicated that he wasn’t getting any money at all until we got to where we negotiated to go to.  He certainly wasn’t getting any extra given his behaviour.

We finally ended up in the correct area and got out of the taxi.  He was insistent on getting more money and didn’t want to take just the price agreed.  I waited until we were all out then threw the money on the front seat walking away in the opposite direction.

Bibliotheca Alexandria

After lunch we wandered up to get a closer look at the New Bibliotheca Alexandria that we’d seen glowing across the harbour the night before.  It was a good walk to walk off lunch anyway.

Not much to report really since we really didn’t feel like paying to get into the library no matter how spectacular the building looks from outside.  We contented ourselves with just looking at it before heading back along the Corniche.

Along the way we stopped a a juice bar and settled down to drink what has to be one of the best juices I’ve ever had.  The locals would pull in cars out front and the waiter would go over take there order then bring them a mug of fresh juice.  When they’d finished the drivers would place the mugs on the roof for collection.  It brings a whole new concept to the idea of drive through.

We missed the Fort since it closed just as we’d arrived, probably because of the juice stop but I certainly do no regret stopping for juice though.  We wandered past the stalls along the waterfront on the way back and for once we could look without being hassled by the stall owners.  It was kind of refreshing.

Lou as a result brought two dancing camels.  I kid you not.

Still on the bus (22 May 2009)

So I’m still on the bus some three hours later.  Its about an 8 hour trip to Siwa so at least this killed some time.

I had a slight break due to a fight breaking out on the bus.  A young hot head yelling at the driver and his cohort.  Unfortunately since I’m in the front row the young idiots hand swung and hit me on the arm while he was struggling with the driver and some of the other men.  I put up one hand as a shield closed the laptop and squished myself even further into the corner, Lou one row back from me was doing the same and copped a couple of elbows and mum on the other side was almost on top of dad.  More of the men on the bus jumped up to pull him off the driver.

One of the men ended up nearly on top of me, although I think that was more to put himself between me and the fight.  Another did the same in front of Lou, no mean feat given the size of the bus isle.  Still it ended just as quickly as it started, the idiot went back to his seat, the driver and cohort went back to there’s and the bus started trundling off down the road once more towards Siwa.

Hopefully that will be the last fight for the trip.