Ok, last time you heard from me I had checked into skank pit number two and was waiting for Roni to arrive. After my post (and buying toilet paper) I returned to the hotel and they moved me into our double room that, believe it or not, was even worse than the four bed room that they let me sleep in upon arrival. It was filthy! The blankets were rank, the sheets were dirty and don't get me started on the doorless bathroom. I put on a bunch of clothes to stay warm, slipped into my silk sleep sack and sat awake reading and killing bugs until Roni arrived at 3:00 am. Thank god she was equally grossed out so we stayed awake talking and waited for the sun to rise so we could escape. As soon as the sun was up we hightailed it out of there to a nice little place on a rooftop not too far away where they fed us a lovely breakfast while we waited for our room to be checked out of and cleaned. Needless to say the day was pretty much a wash. By the time we checked in, showered and napped it was late afternoon. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local falafel restaurant. When you're traveling everyone wants to know where you're from and after this dining experience I may need to start lying. Once the waiter/owner found out that I was American, out came our order of babaganoush with USA written in ketchup across the entire plate! We tried to eat around it which didn't work so I kindly gave him the thumbs down and got a replacement without ketchup. We tried to find something to do in Cairo that night but most things that we were interested in doing weren't happening on Monday night so in a desperate search for beer ended up at the Hilton. You can't really get beer or cocktails anywhere except at the large hotels that cater to tourists so we had four beers and cheese/curry fries and felt a little better about Cairo than we did earlier. The next morning we were on the 7:30 bus to Siwa Oasis via the Mediterranean town of Marsa Matrouh (too far north for good beach weather in January). We just barely met our connecting bus to Siwa; thankfully it left late and I pleaded with the driver to let me go to the bathroom before it took off, he conceded and we were on our way. Around 5:00 we pulled into the desert oasis of Siwa to a heard of young boys with donkey carts vying for our business in a friendly/aggressive way. We finally settled on the young boy who managed to get our luggage released from the side of the bus that wasn't open. A quick, bumpy ride down the dirt road and we arrived at the Shali Lodge, heaven. It is a beautiful authentic mud-brick hotel, where might I add we didn't have a reservation but were welcomed with open arms. They only had a room with one bed for the first night so we took it and moved rooms in the morning to one with two beds. It was really beautiful with archways, lanterns and white fluffy duvets, luxury living for around $34/night each (bit of a splurge but definitely worth it). We were greeted with mint tea on the roof with Yusuf and Henna (can't remember his real name but he kept wanting us to go have his wife paint our hands with henna for a fee of course). We headed downstairs to the dining area with a roaring fire made by Ali and cushions on the floor where we had an excellent dinner. Siwa is really a dry town, not a beer in site and no Hilton to run to in case of emergency. At dinner we met Fabrice, a fun loving, free spirited guy who is a dancer with the Forsythe Dance Company in Frankfurt and made plans with him the next day to go on a desert excursion. It was excellent! We went racing through the desert with our driver and guide and went dune diving in the 4 x 4 down the face of sand dunes that were 50 meters high! We also visited the extraordinary hot spring and cold fresh water lake at Bir Wahed, and hunted for ocean fossils (we found in tack sand dollars!) keep in mind this is all in the middle of one of the Great Sand Seas 120 km from the Libyan border. We had dinner in the desert and then rushed back to the hotel so Fabrice could catch the overnight bus back to Cairo. The next day we hung around Siwa and met up with a Yugoslavian woman who has purchased several rooms in the old 13th century mud-brick Shali and is restoring it to it's original condition. Along with her new Shali home she has purchased the only Albino donkey in Siwa (his name is Ame) and she cuddles him and walks him like most people would their dog. That afternoon we hooked up with Abu and his donkey Duty for the 6 km ride out to Fatnas Spring for sunset and an apple sheesha. The next day Roni and I walked to the Temple of the Oracle built in the 6th century BC which Alexander the Great consulted during the 26th dynasty. From there is was a quick stop at the Temple of Umm Ubayd and onto Cleopatra's Bath where we had lunch and tried to play Jenga with their warped wooden blocks and swatted off the swarms of flies. We bought our bus tickets for the overnight bus the next night and then headed back to Shali Lodge for dinner where we met the very intelligent and funny Alex, another great guy who is originally from Hong Kong but spoke to us in English with a thick Irish accent, of course Roni noticed right away. Alex had been sent to boarding school in Northern Ireland and finished his language studies there (he speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Russian, Arabic and who knows how many more languages) and was traveling to continue his study of Arabic. The next day we planned to just roam around town, purchase a few little trinkets and kill time till our 8:00 overnight bus back to Cairo. We went back to one store where we had met Taha (local Egyptian guy who has lived just about everywhere and loved singing Lady in Red and Hotel California) to take him up on his offer of "hospitality" which means to join him for a cup of tea and for Roni to purchase her "long life" scarf and ring. We did just that and ended up going back out to Cleopatra's Bath in Taha's car to meet up with his uncle and some friends for a coffee. On the way back to town we stopped by their farm where he picked us some delicious dates and the most amazingly fragrant lemons I've ever smelled. After that we met up with Alex and had dinner and then he went to the bus station with us to see us off, although he said it was to make sure we really left. I would be amiss if I didn't mention that Ali (the excellent fire builder) had made me the most generous offer of becoming his second wife. Shockingly, I turned him down. He still thinks that I'll regret my decision and be back soon. It was a long, cold overnight bus ride back to Cairo where we were dropped off right next to our old friend the Hilton. We ducked in, used the restroom, had a quick breakfast and then took off for the next bus station (again right around the corner from the Hilton, thanks for the convenient location Paris) to buy tickets for the bus to Dahab where I am now. Dahab is about and hour north of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula and Red Sea. We arrived to gorgeous weather, came into town, had a beer and dinner and then went looking for a hotel. Well, it apparently hasn't rained in Dahab for around four years...that night was the exception. We walked the streets like drowned rats and finally settled at the New Sphinx Hotel who's best feature is that is has Channel 2, my favorite channel from Morocco. We tucked ourselves in and woke up in the morning to a flooded room! It had rained all night and since they rarely get rain I don't think some places (like the luxurious Sphinx) are built for it. It's been a bit overcast for the past couple of days but we finally got sun today and we soaked it in. Dahab doesn't have the beaches of Sharm, it's more rocky and not as over developed, but still a little too touristy/tacky for our taste. Although there are some really charming little cafe/restaurants along the seaside and beer is available everywhere so it's ok in my book. Did I mention there are cats everywhere! Let's just say Roni isn't so found of them and they can smell it a mile away. They were snuggled up to her and her shrimp dinner last night and it was hysterical. Tonight we are going to try to find a cat free zone so she can eat in peace. We're going to chill here for a few days and probably go to St. Katherine's Monastery and Mt. Sinai before heading back to Cairo and doing the pyramid circuit, etc. That's it for now. Peace out...Jan
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