Status

Currently I am in Delhi for one day and flying to Leh, India in the region of ladakh tomorrow morning. Plan to spend at least a week there and then work my way down through this region and into the state of Himachal Pradesh - both regions near the Himalayas and mostly Buddhist regions. Not sure what will happen after this but will either venture over to Varanasi or straight up to Nepal. Either way, I'm looking forward to some peace and cooler weather.

What's after India and Nepal - I don't know. But I will say this - the U.S. currency has strengthened against the New Zealand dollar. hmmmm (as I scratching my chin)

The Tout - hear him (or her) roar

Animal or Beast, these people live and breathe "foreigner". We are all marked for obvious reasons but beyond that, they might as well know my blood type for they speak my language and 5 others. oo-la-la to Hola, they greet you based upon your typical look. A little change in hair style, mustache or a new skirt and you've got a new passport.

Although they speak English fluently, they don't seem to understand the word, "no" or more politely, "no, thank you". With any eye contact, you might as well go home since they won't leave your side for the next mile. And I thought Egypt was bad. I even found a write-up of this phenomenom in the Dehli local newspaper calling out the same tricks and annoyances viewed. If you're not prepared, they can drive you to tears and if you're a couple, you better hope your relationship is solid or this will certainly break apart any volatile partnership you had hoped to save by coming on this trip in the first place!

The words vicious, aggresive, selfish and hawk come to mind when I moved around both Mumbai, Mathura and Agra. The worst experience I had was walking from the train station in Mathura to the local tourist information office which, according to the LP, seemed like a usual nearby 10 to 15 minute walk. Myself and my two nice travel associates (too nice for they were ascended upon like how vultures tear apart fresh meat from a carcass) were bombarded nearly to death by a huge host of auto & bicycle rickshaw, horse carriage & taxi drivers all wanting to help us find where we were going and of course, with our transportation there. Feeling a bit ill didn't help matters. I think this experience was intensified by the fact that we were the ONLY foreigners that got off the train at this stop. Poor people had no one else to hope for.

How did these people come to learn this means of survival? Do they actually think I might look at their goods if they are practically pulling at my shirt sleeve before I even arrive at their shop? Do they get any positive reinforcement from this behavior? Ah, this is the question for even mice can learn a behavior that reaps positive rewards! So who rewards them for these actions, I ask? Are we feeding the ducks that aren't flying south for the winter?

I know 3rd world life is rough and these people do what they can to survive but as travelers, we all need to support these people in more positive ways such as donating to useful organizations or better yet, volunteering our time - again the big misnomer, who has time? Around and around we go - time w/o money, money without time. Although i know I can't change the world but I would really ask anyone who reads this to consider a different means to help these people and not give them money in order for them to leave you alone. Any feedback is welcome on this issue. Perhaps someone else more traveled than myself can offer some thoughts or debate on this issue. Thanks.

Welcome to Egypt

Still ringing in my ears is this phrase I heard over and over by Egyptians in the streets, in the stores, in museums and at archaelogical sites - "Welcome to Egypt"! At first when I heard this I thought, what do they want and are they being cynical. I know that's a terrible thought but when you hear this from a stranger in a strange land smiling at you in an unfamiliar way, you think that it must have some other meaning than it's literal content.

Every day people are trying to get your attention. They want to persuade you to come into their store to buy something or see what they have for sale on the street. It's non-stop and takes a while to reach a point of almost not hearing them anymore. Over and over it occurs. Hearing welcome phrases in addition to this feels no different. However after a few days I realized, wait a minute, this is real. They really are welcoming us. They really do appreciate us visiting their country and they are so proud of it!

Another typical custom of Egyptians is an invitation to their family home even upon having just met. Again my first reaction was to decline these offers and continue on with my day. But then I found in my LP (Lonely Planet) a reference to these offers and that if especially offered by a female, to jump on the chance. This is an excellent way to find out what real Egyptian life is all about that you may never experience otherwise.

My overall impression of Egyptians is of emmense respect and admiration. For it seems to me that these behaviors are somewhat lost in the western world unless you come from a small town. I really wish this wasn't so. Fear.

Mumbai, India

I arrived in Mumbai around 9/21. Although my stay is happily a short one, I would like to convey that I have heard Mumbai is not representative of the rest of India. Let's hope so because if this is the case, I'm going home.

I realize that I have only seen a piece of this large city but straight away I can attest that prices are sky high compared to the rest of the country and the crazy amounts of disgusting things I have smelled and seen are enough for me to, well, I refrain from the rest of this sentence.

The next financial powerhouse of the world, this place has some potholes. Poor people are everywhere here. Begging for food or money or whatever you'll give them. They sleep on the sidewalks, one after the next with sometimes a row of 20 or more side by side curling up next to each other. They sleep anywhere and noise doesn't matter. Yesterday I say a guy sleeping at an 6 street intersection next to the light post and the curb. Constantly looking down stepping over these people, it becomes impossible to walk and look around at the sites sometimes.

This country displays the second country I've seen where the rich are super rich and the poor are poor and there's no in between. You can't tell me there isn't something wrong here.

Today I see sunshine - a welcome to the monsoon seasons end. Flooding is inevitable here.

So far the food has been great but trying to take it easy and not to hit my intestines with curry 24, 7. I'm sure as I venture north and away from large cities, finding anything but Indian food may be more difficult. Dont' get me wrong, I love Indian food but I don't want to become sick of it any time soon. Ummmm, Rogan Josh, marsala, Mango Lassi! Stay tuned for more updates. . .

Aswan, Egypt

This post is way overdue since I visited Aswan about 3 weeks ago. But never the less, it deserves some comments. Ok, backlashing might be more appropriate.

Aswan definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Not because I felt unwelcome. Not because it was boring. No, no, that certainly was not the case. Boring is not a word that comes to mind when I think of Aswan. The weather wasn't primo but instead, primo-hot may explain how I felt at times. But this is also not what I'm talking about. The amount of scaming and talking up a storm of unbelieveable rates is proposterious, to say the least. I think it was the low season since we couldn't hardly walk anywhere without touts foaming at the mouth.

Personally, I may never go back unless it is to see Abu Simbel 3 hours south. Otherwise, Aswan was disappointing.

I do have to say that these people are in need of money and this is their way of making a living. I will say without hesitation - these people don't steal. There are none or next to no theives in Egypt. Instead they take right in front of you and the only way you can hope to rival is by experience and wit. One day Brian and i went to buy two waters which we knew should only cost about EL4 - no more than 5. Dude quoted us EL30! What! I told they guy he was crazy. "no ma'am, I'm not crazy". We walked away. Oh but then the price became 4. Yep folks, people getted robbed right in front of their eyes in the most honest way these people know how. But is it honest?

To us foreigners, this method of marketing and sales is deceitful, true. However, in a third world society that may pull in barely enough to provide for their family, this is all they know. I have to admit, our countries do it too! Lots of companies charge unreasonable rates knowing full well their prices are inflated taking advantage of people who don't know any better OR people who have no other choice but to buy from this vendor. Take movie theatres who charge a price for one cup of pop what I could buy a 12 pack at a grocery store. Car dealers who purposefully charge way more for a car in anticipation of a buyer offering x amount less. It's all a game. We all do it and we are all perpitraitors as well as victims! The only difference is we have fancy signs and methods of advertsing - these people have two hands and vocal chords. It's all relative!

It's been happening since BC and will continue at least until goverments stop being corrupt and display some honesty dispite greed. I won't hold my breathe.

Egyptian Museum

Egypt is spilling over with so much history it is hard to imagine how much time has played a role in her evolution without a point of reference. Over 5,000 yrs of archaelogical finds, symbology, culture, wars, stories, language, and sand which reeks of facts that will blow your mind away. And if that's not enough to interest the easily bored, they are still discovering new sites, new facts and secrets that the pharohs left behind.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/e/eg/egyptian_pyramids.htm

The museum's collection now exceeds 120,000 objects of 31 egyptian dynasties. The current display is certainly not respectfully represented in that, few items are labled (aside from a number code). And of the few that are, only a sample of those describe the object. Without a guide or at the very least, your Lonely Planet bible, you will have no clue what you're looking at especially since no maps of the museum are provided! Some artifacts just lay there and some that are of high value - well, you would never know it from it's display. I've heard talk of them building a new museum. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/06/22/international/i175921D63.DTL
Ok, judging by this article, the talk was true. Yes, still, more artifacts lie in storage- not sure if or when they are rotated.

One important and most recent discovery is the tomb of Tutankhamun (King Tut) found in 1922 by British archaelogists. Of this discovery, they found Tutankhamun's funerary mask of solid gold (11kg) along with many other treasures and artifacts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun
It was the culmination of months of work; at last the coffin of the young king was revealed, covered in linen shrouds. Howard Carter:
“... and as the last was removed a gasp of wonderment escaped our lips, so gorgeous was the sight that met our eye: a golden effigy of the young boy king, of most magnificent workmanship, filled the whole of the interior of the sarcophagus.

This was the lid of a wonderful coffin in the form of the young king, some seven feet in length, resting upon a low bier in the form of a lion, and no doubt the outermost in a series of coffins, nested one within the other, enclosing the mortal remains of the king. Clasping the body of this magnificent monument were two winged goddesses, Isis and Neith, wrought in rich gold work upon gesso, as brilliant as the day the coffin was made. While this decoration was rendered in fine bas-relief, the head and hands of the king were in the round, in massive gold of the finest sculpture, surpassing anything we could have imagined. The hands, crossed over the breast, held the royal emblems - the Crook and the Flail - encrusted with deep blue faience. The face and features were wrought in sheet gold. The eyes were of aragonite and obsidian, the eyebrow and eyelids inlaid with lapis lazuli. There was a touch of realism, for while the rest of this coffin, covered with feathered ornament, was of brilliant gold, that of the bare face and hands seemed different, the gold of the flesh being of different alloy, thus conveying an impression of the grayness of death. Upon the forehead of this recumbent figure of the king were two emblems delicately worked in brilliant inlay - the Cobra and the Vulture - symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt, but perhaps the most touching, in its human simplicity, was the tiny wreath of flowers around these symbols, as it pleased us to think, the last farewell offering of the widowed girl queen to her husband, the youthful representative of the "Two Kingdoms.”

Mother Earth versus the Pharohs

Something odd occurs in Egypt (perhaps the entire Middle East) and maybe someone can clue me in.

Egyptians are extremely proud of their country. Some tell me they would never adopt another country, even if they could. "I love my country; it is beautiful." They all seem very happy and proud. Proud of their people, the Muslims, culture, food, their history, their diverse land, everything! So very very proud. Even more delighted when you speak or try to speak their language. They love it! They also seem very fond of their history through the Pharohs. Who wouldn't? They amount of history here is so deep and immense - it's difficult to define without an Egyptologist's aid. There are so many ruins, artifacts, hierogliphics, symbology, meaning of life, interpretation, etc. To understand it all would take months maybe years of study! So much to behold. They must have had so much to tell.

But why, I ask, why is there so much trash. It lay in the streets, in gulleys at the pyramids, in the Nile, - almost everywhere. It's terrible. What's worse about it is seeing them throw trash out with no regard for the Earth - for the people - and at the very least, out of respect for their beautiful land. Are they not proud of that? Or is this another custom I'm not aware of? Either way, it saddens me to see it since I find it the most disappointing sight of all. It is difficult to understand this piece about the Egyptians and all I can find is sadness for the children who grow up amongst it.

Customary

I'd read enough before-hand to hopefully prepare myself for almost any kind of behavior from the Middle East. Misconceptions still came up.

On day one I experienced the smooch kiss, whistle, the "hiss", hey hey hey, "beautiful", and various other calls. Here it goes, I thought to myself. No problem. As long as they don't grab me, I'm cool.

Days go by as my friend and I explore Cairo. Suddenly, there it was - the "smooch" sound again. I look over but it's not at me! It's one man trying to get the attention of another male friend across the street - WOW, I thought! That's great. That makes more sense to me - it's not because I am necessarily a blonde tourist as much as it is a normal custom they follow. They don't waive. This is their sound - their way of expressing themselves and it has nothing to do with me.

Now I think to myself, how many people are offended and have no idea. Some may even go home telling all their friends about how terribly they were treated.

Egyptian Food

Both myself and Brian have found it difficult to find a good place to eat in Cairo. One of our first dinners ended up costing us EL40/each, (EL = Egyptian Pound), ($1 = EL5.7 approx.). We knew there was better food out there at a far better price. It took us both a while but I believe now we can find good sit-down places with decent food all for about EL10 - 30 depending upon how many cokes you buy. Yes, a can of pop sometimes ends up costing just as much if not more than the meal itself!

So, if you're wondering what constitutes Egyptian food, here it goes:

--falafel = (Middle Eastern balls of spiced ground chickpeas which are deep-fried and served in pita bread with a yogurt- or tahini-based sauce.
--Koshari =(yum, yum but gives you the toots - it's small pieces of spaggheti, macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, with tomatoe sauce, dried onions and perhaps dried oregano
--boudi dashi = ground meat balls served with tomatoe sauce - order with rice
--baba ganoush = primarily made of eggplant and a sesame paste called tahini
--tahnini sauce = A creamy paste made from hulled (roasted or unroasted) ground sesame seeds
--kofta = Minced meat or vegetable balls in batter, deep-fried, and then cooked in curry sauce. However, I have not seen it served with the latter.
--beef or chicken shawarma = cuisine dish of fine ribbons of spicy lamb meat, similar to Greek gyros.

I really like the koshari which is usually around EL3. Other dishes range from EL5 - 20 depending upon day or night time rates. Very cheap to the dollar.

I believe this hits the highlights. We both have had no problem with the food and have even been eating the fresh vegitables. Water here seems to be treated with chlorine although I have not taken to drinking it.

Pastries are nice and we found a nearby bakery that makes homemade small pizzas that we eat for breakfast.

The highlight of all of this is the juice. Who would know that in the middle of all this brown desert would lie street upon street of fresh juice venders. They are these tiny little shop-oasis's with baskets of fruit hanging on the outside. They take raw fruit, grind it up and pour it in a glass straight up. They are my favorite piece of Cairo (aside from the hieroglyphes, sp?). Mango is by far the best but they also have other crazy flavors like carrot, guava, tamarind, and sugar cane which was also tasty. They're so good and they cost at most, EL2!

No meal is complete without Sheesha. Introducing the Arabian Smoking pipe. This smoking pipe is the typical smoking object in the Arabian tradition. Tobacco comes with a variety of fruit flavors like Apple, Strawberry, Banana, Grape, and many more! My favorite is cantelope.

The food is good here and full of protein and complex carbs. Mint tea is also a favorite with the people and I don't find many Egyptians drinking liquour. They seem pretty relaxed if not, a little lazy. Not a bad way to live if you think about it.

Cairo - my first impression and thoughts

As my plane made it's decent into Cairo, I viewed a land different to anything I have ever seen. This place makes Lisbon look like a tropical paradise. With the Nile cutting through thick brown desert, buildings stand ever covered with layer upon layer of desert-colored soot clinging to anything that has a surface. Although I haven't visited the pyramids yet, from the air they stand tall with a sense of freedom about them. I could also see that they appeared rough and neglected. I wish there was a way to restore them to how they may have looked some 4,500 years ago. What a sight to see as you fly in. I left green and now am brown.

This is my fifth day in Cairo and so far my visit has been great. It is everything I imagined and more. I must admit I expected difficulties with the people and their behaviors. On the contrary everyone thus far has been nice and friendly. Of course you have your touts and a few beggers but it is manageable – at least so far in the downtown area. This opinion is not without the occasional smooch-kiss sound, 'hey, where are you from', 'come here', 'lucky man' to my friend, etc. These come with the territory. If you talk to these people, they are very friendly and are just interested in what you're all about. Although they lack any tact or appropriateness, I accept them for who they are since they don't know any better.

Driving here is mad. Forget lanes, forget respect, forget cooperation. It's all about position and inches matter. Some intersections remind me where I25 meets I225 with the Bellview exit before TRex. Imagine that place with no use of lanes, a lot of honking at nothing and with 20 times the amount of traffic. No, it is even worse. To cross any street you must cross with force, as explained to me by our hostel guy. Daunting to me but a normal every day occurrence to my friend Brian having come from the East. I'll adjust.

My best traffic sight was seeing a young boy on a bike carrying a very large metal sheet (maybe 5 by 2.5 feet) of breads on top of his head while riding in traffic. I also witnessed a wooden ladder balanced on another guys head while riding his bike – both hand on the handle bars.

Quite a culture shock to come here for me especially from the beautiful country of Austria. I have been more tired and warn down after each day. Hoping that I will adjust soon. This place is amazing and thus, more stories will arise.