Cairo, Egypt - These boots were made for walking. That's just what they'll do. Or, that's a wrap!

Ornery beast of the desert on the Saqqara Necropolis...

With every camel comes a tout...

The deed is done. I'm going to Bangkok on the 9th. As always with these things, it happened pretty quickly with the tix.

The tix is for 2315 arriving @ 1155.

I suspect there's gonna be another big culture shock when I arrive.

Africa's been a lot of fun. A lot has been written particularly about the bad times but the good experiences have far outweighed them.

But briefly, I'm very happy with the trip so far.

It's been a great challenge.

I'll certainly remember the people I've met along the way.

It's time to move on...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, July 7/07
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Cairo, Egypt - I can see clearly now but there's still obstacles in the way...

Street scene #2 in Alexandria...

Boy #5 in Alexandria...

Inordinate amounts of time in front of the computer.

I've come to the conclusion that whatever decision I make I will miss out on something.

Don't get me wrong. They are all positive options. Probably the most important consideration is the ability to travel again once back home. Ideally I can go home to recharge my psychological batteries then quickly get back on the road.

Damn the year 1994. Yes, 1994!! The travel bug hit me hard.

I could turn into a wasta. [ed. note: a wasta is one who wanders the globe aimlessly for all eternity.]

How bad could that be?

In other news, I picked up my new eyeglasses. Not bad for USD 43.

Now I can see across the street!

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, July 5/07
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Cairo, Egypt - Mr. Dithers strikes again!!!

Boy #4 in Alexandria.

Fruit Dude #2 in Alexandria.

More research today. More confusion. The number of permutations and combinations on air routes is mind boggling.

Finally bought a new pair of eyeglasses. They are of the plastic moimy variety. It's a new look for me. Sally and Richard were nice enough to act as impartial opticians. Looks like you can teach an old dog new tricks.

More internet work tomorrow. Must analyze the Ryanair world. No that's really exciting...

Must make up my mind.

Soon.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, July 4/07
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Cairo, Egypt - You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille...or Pyramids, Pyramids, Pyramids...

What's a visit to Cairo without seeing the Pyramids of Giza? Well, this time I didn't. But, I did dig up some ancient photos (c. 1994 AD). Thanx to Steve for scanning the slides... Yes, back in archaic times I took slide film pix. Yikes. Btw, that's the Pyramid of Khafre in the back and the Great Sphinx in the foreground.

I can't believe the Great Pyramid just received "honourary" status in the "new" 7 wonders of the world. That's kind of a joke. Just my opinion, but other tourist sites like Petra kind of pale in comparison in both physical and spiritual stature. If you haven't done so, put the pyramids on your bucket list now...

Times are a changing on the plateau. I heard rumours that they put a chainlink fence around the pyramids at Giza. There's your modern day asthetic for you... All in hopes of keeping out the touts (eg. extremely annoying camel toting/perfume shop salesmen such as my friend in the picture above). 3 thoughts come to mind: 1) since my first visit in circa 1994 AD, present day tourists have gone soft, if the authorities in the antiquities think they need protection from the touts; 2) if the antiquities office wants to protect the integrity of the site they should first remove the large population of plastic shopping bags clinging to the sides of one of mankind's greatest architectural wonders; 3) the extremely annoying touts are just trying to make a living. Excluding them will just lower the value of the pyramids in the eyes of Egyptians. You have to get the Egyptian peeps behind the project...

I'm very depressed.

3 hours on the net today and nothing done.

A one way ticket to Seoul is 520 Euros. How can Koreans afford to fly home? Vietnam seems to be alot of work. The 'Stans seem a world away. The Asian route seems like a trip in in itself.

To top it off, Couchsurfing seems clique-ish.

I love this predicament.

There are no easy ways out.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, July 2/07
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Cairo, Egypt - Ground Day for the last time...

Midan Talaat Harb at night...

Back in the Big City. It's so different here compared to Dahab. So different. So vibrant. So many people. Nobody cares who you are.

[Ed. note: in retrospect, Dahab was beautiful spot. Despite me ragging on a the touts, I had to put the whole situation in perspective. They were just doing their jobs annoyingly well. They were just trying to put food on the table, taking care of their families...and being as annoying as possible at the same time.]

It's nice to be here (despite getting a dumpy room at the Dahab Hostel).

The bus ride today was pretty horrific. Did the whole trip from Dahab to Cairo in one shot. Long day was made longer by the driver tinkering with the entertainment system. For the last 3 hours he put over the PA a ranting cleric who preached about everything under the sun. I think I heard random words like internet, virus, and attack.

I'm dead tired. Here's the plan for tomorrow: 1) check the AUC bookstore for titles, 2) hit the internet, 3) go buy some glasses.

PS. Sally and Richard were on the same bus... Mo' stayed in Dahab. What a wasta... He owes me money...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, July 1/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Good night, and good luck.

My last meal in Dahab. There's a really cheap Egyptian restaurant around the corner from 7Heaven. Here I'm chowing down on cow ankles. Mmmmm...despite the chunks of fat hanging off the protein... Fish here is cheap as well. Notice the lack of eyeglasses... (photo courtesy of Sally.)

Diving here was a bit of a disaster. I could not achieve the depth of 30m that was required to go on to other more interesting dives. Not only was I bumped off of the Canyon/Blue Hole trip but they recommended that I take the peak buoyancy course. I agreed with them that I needed some kind of refresher but I'm wasn't sure whether I wanted to do the course work here.

I think, for the future, that I need to practice more. You know, keep my diving skills up. It would help if I owned some of the equipment as well (eg. fins and mask at least). But, hauling around SCUBA equipment would be impractical to say the least.

I might be headed to Thailand or the Philippines. I'll do some kind of refresher there.

Otherwise, I'm done with Dahab. What a relief. I planned on 5 days here. I spent 17. It's been a slice.

Heading back to Cairo tomorrow. I might head off to Mt. Sinai instead. That was the original plan. I'll sleep on it. I'm outta here for sure.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 30/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Dahab is 3 fourths underwater...

Photo courtesy of Thais.

I'm so exhausted. I did my checkout dive today. Checkout dives are intended for landlubbers like me who have not dove for many, many, many years.

I went with the cheap option, 7Heaven. Wise or not I was gonna find out first hand. I booked the dive and asked for a manual. That's how rusty I was. I spent the next 4 hours burying myself in the text.

The divemaster, Gefer, was Egyptian. He was okay. We had some communication problems with the hand signals. I figured out something really quick. SCUBA diving is not like riding a bike. I used to be an expert (ok, I was good) at controlling buoyancy. It's a combination between breath and using the flotation jacket. Couldn't do it. Frustrating thing was Gefer achieves it primarily with the jacket. You have to have done it to understand the concepts.

Anyway, for most of the time he was just dragging me around. Felt awful.

My breathing rate was pretty high. Gefer ended up giving me his back up regulator. How embarassing was that? I hope tomorrow is better because I was flopping around like a fish today.

Frustration aside, the Lighthouse Reef was pretty spectacular. Just metres offshore the floor just plunges to 30m. Lots of wildlife, especially them spiny-needle covered puffy fishes.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 29/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Getting a life...then a beer.

More Bedouin girls...That's Amira on the left. She burned me good on a bracelet. I hope she puts the money in her burgeoning college fund. By the way, Amira means "princess" in Arabic. (Photo courtesy of Thais.)

Finally did something about the heat today. Went for a dip down at the lagoon by the Hilton. The Red Sea is pretty damn cold compared to the ambient air temperature. So, I had to enter pretty slowly. Once in it's nice.

Nothing new. Constant Mo' versus Dahab conflicts. I think Mo's been here a smidgen too long. The touts are getting personal with their taunting. For example, he was showing some affection towards a girl in front of the locals. Now the touts are harassing him about it. Public display of such behaviour is risque at best. Strange that they act so childishly towards, to them, a complete stranger. Weird.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 27/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Brazil, Brazil, Brazil!!! (and No Chancy Mr. Dancy)

Fru fru drink on a hot day. (Photo courtesy of my good friend, Thais, the Brazillian.)

48C today? Piece of cake, my friends.

Met a real wanker today while passing time in Adam's Pub. [Ed. note: Although not the most aesthetic place in Dahab, Adam's certainly sells the cheapest beer. It's a favourite place of mine and all my traveling buds. Half a litre of barley sandwich will set you back a buck and change. Just get on the seawall and keep walking northward. Can't miss it.] Kept repeating the fact that he has nothing against immigrants (in his esteemed NZ). At the same time he kept coming up with examples of how the Chinese and Indians have ruined his homeland.

Re: Chinese. BUDDY!!! HHHHELLLOOO!!! I'M SITTING RIGHT ACROSS THE TABLE FROM YOU. I'M RIGHT HERE!!!

I couldn't get a word in edgewise. So, I got the hell out of there...

Got into another heated discussion with Mo' about WWII (I'm no expert but I do know who won, ha!) and the current situation in Germany (wrt very strict anti-hate laws). According to Mo', too strict. Yikes.

Ok, that's it except for wasta's email. He's expressed some interest in doing the 'stans. Exciting prospect.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 24/07
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Dahab, Egypt - I'm losing focus...without my glasses

This is the "Bowling Alley". It stretches along the Dahabian coast for a few kilometres. Seaside restaurants to the left and hotels and souvenir shops to the right...somewhat reminiscent of MacLeod Trail in my hometown Calgary. Touts everywhere (well, not this early in the morning). Only place in the world (so far) where I can negotiate the price of my breakfast.

It's Xmas every night in Dahab (Photo courtesy of Thais)

Okay, three days without my glasses... It's not killing me yet.

It was cooler today. 43 Celsius above zero. It's suppose to hit 48C this weekend. Not much relief overnight. Last night it must have been at least 30C (the humidity made it unbearable).

Not much today. Found peace and quiet down by the "Islands". It's best to stay away from Dahab and the touts down in what I call the Bowling Alley. They, meaning the touts, seem to have gotten under my skin.

One last thing, I found my soapbox today in its original spot. Yah! [ed. note: this not a hyperbole. amazing how the little things make a difference at this point.] Nearly floored me when it made an unlikely reappearance. I was hoping my glasses would be returned as well. That might take a miracle at this point.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 22/07
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