September 25-26: Sharm to Cairo

After rinsing off the salt water - I had to check out, and was trying to leave my bag at the reception when a friend of the hotel guy came over and offered me a ride with his friends on a glass-bottomed boat. It was amazing. Gorgeous corals, beautiful fish, blue water, and a nice breeze.

I had gotten to know the host and his friend pretty well, and I didn't really feel like paying for a ride to the train station, so I agreed to go see old Sharm by night. Also, my train wasn't leaving until 3am, so it worked out. We went and toured the markets, saw some beautiful waterfalls, visited a shisha place, etc. It was nice to get out of the tourist area for a bit. However, there are pros and cons. At the restaurant, they wanted to treat a lady right, so they hosed down (literally) the bathroom so that I could use it. As I was leaving, I noticed the wall only went 3/4 of the way up, and above it, was a gorgeous clear view of the Sinai mountains. :)

The bus was good - comfortable - and of course with some funny experiences. ex: there was an adorable little 2 year old ahead of me who would not stop crying. His parents popped him up over the seat and he stopped crying, and started looking at me googly like I was an alien.... All in all, the bus ride was about 7 or 8 hours... putting me in Cairo about 8 hours before I had planned to be there because I couldn't find a guide and so couldn't climb Sinai. C'est la vie, n'est-ce pas?

I was dropped at the side of the road in Cairo. Those of you who have seen Italy or Morocco with me? Nothing compared to Cairo. Finally, I found a nice couple who spoke some English and could point me in the right direction. Eventually, I found the metro, rode it to my stop... and realized that I needed to call my host, but was in a smaller part of town (think suburb) where public phones are harder to find. One of the controls at the metro came over to help me though, and eventually my ride came to meet me.

In the meantime, I got to people-watch for a while. Everyone is very excited to meet an American... especially one who knows a solid 5 words in Arabic. :) The general mode of transportation here is the microbus which is basically a 15 person taxi that leaves once it is full - or overfull. Sometimes, they have no doors, so you'll see people just standing on the running boards holding on. These cost on average 12 U.S. cents per ride... or maybe 40 cents if you have to go to the other side of town. Also, the people are incredibly friendly. Some have other motives, but for the most part, everyone wants to practice their English, help me, or get to know what's going on. It's been quite overwhelming due to the size of the city, the slight language barrier, the heat (ha), and the very different culture... BUT, it has been wonderful. :)

The thing I'm having the hardest thing getting used to? There aren't many public trash bins, and I can't for the life of me just throw my stuff on the ground (They have people who come and sweep it up and take it away every day) so I may or may not have a bag full of trash that I'm just waiting to find a place for. Silly American.