Cairo

On Sunday I flew to the last stop on my tour of the Middle East, Cairo. The thing that was most striking about Cairo was how third-world it was. For some reason I had always pictured Cairo as a pretty developed place, maybe because of its long and storied history, but that was definitely not the case. Driving down the highway you saw literally hundreds of abandoned high rise buildings that were broken down and dirty, despite the fact that some of them didn't seem very old; there was trash in the streets everywhere and even filling up the waterways at some points in big piles of burning rubbish; and driving was an adventure – people don't really use traffic lanes and use the horn and hand gestures instead of turn signals and regular driving etiquette like you might see in the US or Europe. On the ride in from the airport, which was late at night, we were in a huge traffic jam caused by a bunch of trucks that were serving from lane to lane and generally causing chaos. Each had probably a dozen teenage boys standing in the bed of the truck waving and yelling and seemingly almost falling out at some points. I don't know if this was related to the protests that have been ongoing since the revolution in February, but the general situation of the country was definitely endemic, not just a one-time thing.

Mmmm, burning trash in the river

Slightly overloaded truck

Because of the protests and general unrest in the country I didn't stick to my usual itinerary of exploring the city by walking around the different neighborhoods and experiencing the culture first hand. Instead, my dad and I stuck mainly to the more touristy sites and relied on taxis to get from place to place. Of course, this was still a pretty cheap way to go as hiring a taxi driver for a full day only cost 250 Egyptian pounds (a little over 40 USD). One British guy we met actually said that his IT company has started outsourcing to Egypt instead of India because the labor rates were now cheaper – that was really surprising to me.

On Monday we went to the Citadel, which contains the walled city of Old Cairo in what is now known as Islamic Cairo. It contains a large mosque, a bunch of ruins, and some buildings which have now been converted into a Police Museum and an Egyptian Military Museum. We went through the Military Museum, and thought it was interesting that when we got to the modern history area there were still paintings and exhibits of Mubarak on the walls, even though he was ousted in a revolution a few months ago and is apparently on his death bed awaiting trial. I wonder what they will do with that in the future. After that we headed out to a different hotel in Giza and relaxed for the night.

Cairo at night. Tahrir Square, where all the protests are going on, is actually right behind the big building.

Mosque in the Citadel of Old Cairo

The very smoggy skyline

In the morning, we got up early and set out on a day of pyramids. We first went to the Giza Pyramids, the site of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid (among others) which was just down the street and walked around the site for a couple of hours. The vendors here may have been the most aggressive yet, trying to sell camel/donkey rides, little pyramid sculptures, water and whatever else they could get some money for. Even the guards would try to get you to let them take a picture of you with the pyramids in the background and try to extort a tip from you afterwards. There were even guys standing between the ticket window and the gate that would falsely claim they were the ticket takers to try and take your tickets away from you before you actually got to the entrance. I don't really know how they make money off this – maybe they try to get you to buy it back from them after they've taken it or something – but I didn't want to find out. Again the amount of hassle from the vendors took away from the experience quite a bit, but it was still really cool to see the only remaining "Wonder of the Ancient World". The Sphinx is pretty eroded from both the elements and from opposing armies taking shots at it with their guns, but the pyramids are pretty much at their full height and are massive. It's pretty amazing to think of how these huge structures were built almost 5,000 years ago.

Giza Pyramids

After Giza we went to Saqqara, a site with more Egyptian tombs and the first pyramid ever built, the Step Pyramid of Djoser. While not quite as impressive in terms of size, it was cool to see the "original" pyramid. There were also some cool tombs on the site where you could walk in and see the well-preserved hieroglyphs on the walls. It was actually surprising how they let you walk in the tomb with the 5,000 year-old hieroglyphs while there was nothing protecting them from someone who wanted to touch them or deface them. We also went down the road to Memphis, the site of what I guess was the original city combining both North and South Egypt in the ancient days, and what (at least the Egyptians say) is one of the cradles of civilization. It was a pretty small little site, but it did have the large statue of Ramses II which had originally stood in the city. After that, between the heat, the hassle and all the walking around, we were pyramid-ed out and went back to the hotel. We chilled at the pool the rest of the day, but at night we went back to the Giza Pyramids for the "Sound and Light" show that is projected on the pyramids, Sphinx and tombs. It was pretty cheesy, like the Stone Mountain laser show for you Atlanta folks, but did provide some cool pictures and some background on the pyramids since they whole site didn't even have a museum or tourist office or anything.

Step Pyramid of Djoser

Little sphinx in Memphis

Statue of Ramses II

The "Sound and Light" show

And then today, the trip is ending with a flight back to Amsterdam (where I'm writing this up). Despite the hassles with airport security and with the aggressive vendors everywhere, it was a really awesome trip. One of the reasons I wanted to come to the Middle East was because I had never been and wanted to experience a new culture – and I definitely got an abundance of that. On top of that I got to see some of the biggest "must see" monuments in the world and got to meet up with friends and family while doing it, so all in all I really have nothing to complain about.

And sadly, tomorrow will be my last day in Amsterdam. I'll spend the day packing up and wrapping up loose ends, and then it's back to the US for Pi Reunion weekend in Vegas and a weeklong road trip through some national parks in the western US. While my European time will be done by then, I'll probably throw some updates up here since it's all pretty much part of my trip home anyways.

Istanbul

Due to a flight delay I arrived in Istanbul Thursday night around midnight. A combination of the time, the exhaustion from traveling and my run-ins with airport security had me opting to go straight to bed once I got in, but in the morning I got up fairly early and met up with Lauren, another US BCGer that's been working in Stockholm the past year. Becky was arriving later that day, so we decided to pass the time doing a boat tour of the Bosphorous, the body of water (it's not a river, a strait maybe?) that runs through Istanbul dividing the European and Asian sides. We made our way to the old city, where we hopped on the boat and made the 1.5 hour journey up to the town of Anadolu Kavagi where the Bosphorous opens up into the Black Sea. The boat ride had a bunch of really cool views of the city as well as the mansions, palaces and other buildings lining the water. When we got to Anadolu Kavagi, which is a really tiny town - maybe less than a thousand people, we hiked up to the old fort/castle, which had a good view of the sea, and then back down to the town to get some fish for lunch. We were hoping to find some lokma, little balls of fried dough that are supposed to be traditional Turkish treats, but apparently they only sell them on the weekends (?). After about an hour there, we made the trip back to the city, and got some of the highly-recommended chocolate baklava and lemonade-and-mint at the Four Seasons while waiting for Becky to get in.

the North side of Istanbul from the water

View of the Black Sea from the castle

One of the little fishing villages North of Istanbul

Once Becky got in we regrouped and then went up to the Bebek area for dinner - but before going to dinner we made a stop at the Starbucks. We had heard from multiple people that this was "the most beautiful Starbucks in the world", and they may very well be right. It's right on the water with 3 levels and an outdoor patio extending out towards all the boats docked in the Bosphorous. The place we went to for dinner had a similarly awesome location, which made for a really cool setting for my first real meal in Istanbul. After dinner and some drinks we headed across the street to a hookah place (they call it nargile) to hang out for a while before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we got started early for a big day of sightseeing. We went to the old city and first saw the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. They were both really huge and both really intricate on the inside. The Blue Mosque is still a functioning mosque so we saw some people praying while we were walking around, but the Hagia Sophia is just a museum / tourist attraction now. It was amazing to think that such a large building was built 1500 years ago and that 1000 years later when they went to build the Blue Mosque to symbolize the strength of the Ottoman Empire they basically just made one that was the same size. They both also had some lighting inside that made the atmosphere really cool. After that and some lunch we walked through the city to the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. The Grand Bazaar was, according to what someone said, the first indoor mall - it's basically an indoor souk or market with a bunch of small stalls selling jewelry, touristy trinkets, food, etc. Becky and I found a place inside to grab some Turkish coffee. It's basically an unfiltered espresso, and by unfiltered I mean the coffee grounds and sediment are a sludge in the bottom of the cup when you drink enough of it. It was a little weird at first, but I think it grew on both of us. The Spice Market was pretty similar to the Grand Bazaar actually, except that it was outside and it had more food being sold. We took the chance to buy some Turkish Delights, some lokma (which we finally found) and some other goodies before leaving. Then, since we had some time before dinner we decided to try out a Turkish bath. It was quite an interesting experience - the girls' and guys' baths were separate, and you essentially end up getting a sauna, a body wash, a massage (from a big old Turkish guy), an exfoliating scrub, and some tea when you're all done. It was a little strange at first, but after it was all done I was quite refreshed.

Blue Mosque

Prayer area inside

Hagia Sophia

Grand Bazaar

Spice Market

That night we went to Reina, which is like a cafe-restaurant-bar-club complex right on the Bosphorous. We had heard about this place from a few different people as well and it didn't disappoint. We had dinner at the restaurant on the water, and had a view of one of the bridges over the Bosphorous which was lit up with some pretty cool lights at night. Then, gradually, the place morphed into a club with tons of people coming in and, obviously, still the same cool surroundings.

Reina

The next day was our last day there, so we made a short trip into the city to get lunch, see the Topkapi Palace and then went to the airport. All in all, I think Istanbul was one of my favorite cities that I've been to and one of the few where I've felt like I didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to in the time that I was there. Most cities I wouldn't mind spending more time there, but here I felt like there were chunks of the city that I didn't get to see or experience (also probably because Istanbul is pretty huge). Regardless it was a great weekend. At the airport it was on to Cairo, which I'll update on later!

Petra

So, after some time in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem it was off to Jordan. I had met up with my dad in Tel Aviv, and we took a flight to Eilat, Israel and crossed the border to Aqaba, Jordan on foot. The border was interesting, walking across felt like you were walking through the DMZ (and I guess maybe it was a demilitarized zone) - you go through immigration and exit the gate from the Israeli side, walk across about 100 meters of barren desert by yourself, and then enter the gate into Jordan and go through their immigration. It felt kinda weird.

Once in Aqaba we just chilled at the hotel for the day. There isn't much to Aqaba, it's basically just a dinky (and seemingly poor) little town with a few 5-star hotels on the beach, so we kept mainly to the beach and just went into town for some meals and things. The beach also wasn't the greatest in the world and it was a little rocky, but the view was pretty great. I had always pictured the area just being flat desert sands, but it was actually really mountainous and the mountains ran right up to the beach, leaving just a little space for the city.

Aqaba

The huge Jordanian flag at night

The next day, we set out early on our trek to Petra. It was about a 2 hour drive from Aqaba, and I had decided to rent a car and drive myself to save some money and be able to go on our own timeframe. Acquiring the rental car turned out to be a bit of an adventure (apparently the term reservation is used very loosely there), but we were able to get one the night before and leave the hotel at around 6:45am. After the 2 hour drive on the Desert Highway and through the mountains we made it to Petra and started the hike into the park.

The beginning of the park starts downhill through some small ruins (with, of course, dozens of people accosting you to buy trinkets or camel rides, etc) and eventually you come to the Siq, a 2km long narrow canyon that snakes its way towards Petra. The walls have basins dug out of them to allow water to flow toward the city and there are also some ruins and monuments along the way. The winding pathway and the patterns of colors in the rock made it a pretty cool walk. Then, when you come out of the Siq it opens up to the Treasury, which is the huge facade carved out of rock that is the typical image of Petra (and also in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). I had obviously seen the pictures before, but it was pretty breathtaking in person. We continued on to see many of the other tombs and ruins (and get accosted by more vendors...) and decided to make the hike up to the Monastery, which is another Treasury-like building but on the top of a mountain. It was a rough hike in the heat, but the Monastery and the views from the top were pretty awesome. We also talked to the Jordanian guy that camped out with his little shop at the precipice, which was interesting.

The Siq

The Treasury

Dad by some ruins

The Monastery

It was a pretty awesome and pretty unique daytrip. After seeing most of Petra we headed back to Aqaba and spent the rest of the day and the next morning at the beach, and then I made the trip back across the border to Eilat for my flight out. It was supposed to be an uneventful day travelling back to Tel Aviv and then on to Istanbul, but Israeli airport security had another idea about that... In the Eilat airport when I went up to passport control the kid took my passport and gave it to his superior, who gave it to her superior, and then another guy came in to ask me some questions. I thought it was going to be the usual "where are you from", "where are you going" and "did you pack your own bags" stuff, but it turned out to be a three hour interrogation by three different people, ending in me getting all the stuff thrown out of my bags and x-rayed and me having to get down to my shirt and shorts and get patted down and searched. They basically asked me a bunch of pretty simple questions about where I had traveled previously, where I was going on my trip and some personal questions, but they asked them all in a really aggressive manner and repeated them over and over and over. Then, they made me check all my bags and wouldn't even let me get my book out so I had something to do on the flight. It was really frustrating, but they let me out just in time to get my flight (helpful travel tip - never get to the airport early in Israel. According to other people who have gone through the same thing they always just hold you until just before your flight leaves no matter how long it is) so I thought it was all over after that... and then I got to Tel Aviv, went to the other terminal to get my flight to Istanbul, started going through security and the exact same thing happened all over again (even though it had been all of an hour since I got out of the last one). This time, they even said my iPod had an "indication" so they had to check it. I wasn't checking any bags, so instead they packed it with bubble wrap in a 16in x 24in x 8 in box to send by itself. Pretty ridiculous (and how many thousands of iPods go through an airport in a day with nothing happening...?) Man I was pissed. Not only did I have to go through all of this twice over, but because I had planned to eat at the airport in Eilat I hadn't had a meal since like 24 hours before. Thankfully, they didn't keep me the full 5 hours until my flight left this time, which gave me enough time to get some food and calm down from all the hassle.

I'm usually pretty lucky with my air travel, as some of my coworkers could attest to, but that was definitely not the case this day. Luckily, it was on to a great weekend in Istanbul to make up for it... more on that later!

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Last week was my last week at work before business school (!), and now it's been on to a two week vacation in the Middle East! I've never been to the Middle East before, so I am incredibly excited about seeing something new. The first stop was Tel Aviv, where I spent 4 nights, and while there I also made a fill day trip to Jerusalem, which is just a 30-40 minute car ride away.

Tel Aviv isn't a place with lots of huge sights to see, but it's a very cool town nonetheless. I was expecting a more metropolitan city, but I actually liken it more to Miami. It's a beach city with miles of beaches right near downtown (and is incredibly hot and humid as well), but it's also quite big with a lot of business, culture, nightlife, etc. The first couple days I was there I basically just wandered around, got a better feel for the town, tried some falafel and hummus, checked out the beach and experienced the culture. One highlight was visiting Old Yaffe, the old town where the city started near the port, and also the port where Jonah supposedly set sail before getting swallowed by a whale. The second night there I also met up for some drinks with some fellow new HBS students that I'll be in class with in just over a month.

The next day I took a shared taxi (for only like 6 bucks!) to Jerusalem to check it out. I basically walked through the city just a little, spending the majority of my time in the Old City where most of the religious landmarks are. The first thing I visited was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the spot where Jesus was supposed to be crucified, buried and resurrected. Next I went to the Western Wall, which is the western wall of the Temple Mount, the temple(s) that were built by Solomon, his ancestors, and eventually Herod, and one of the holiest places in the world for Jews. Then it was to the Dome of the Rock - the Islamic mosque which stands on top of where the aforementioned Temple Mount used to stand, and also on top of what is supposed to be the Foundation Stone, a stone where the inner room of the Temple and the Ark of the Covenant used to be located. According to Wikipedia it is the holiest site in Judaism, and Jewish tradition views it as the spiritual junction of heaven and Earth. Three of the holiest places of three different religions all crammed into a space less than a kilometer from each other. It was weird to stand there and think about the countless people that had died in wars trying to take control of the place where I was just standing and taking pictures.

Outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Inside

Western (Wailing) Wall

Dome of the Rock

Shops in the Old City

One thing that was kind of disappointing was the number of touristy shops lining all of the streets in the Old City. It was basically like all of the souks in Marrakech lining all of the small pedestrian streets, except the vendors were (slightly...) less aggressive. Kind of took away some of the charm. Regardless, it was still a pretty incredible day trip, seeing so many sights that are so important religiously, culturally and historically.

That night my dad flew in from Atlanta to join me for Petra and Cairo, so we grabbed some dinner and the next morning it was off on a flight to Eilat, Israel and a border crossing to Aqaba, Jordan. More on that later!

Broken bike :(

Sadly, as my last days in Amsterdam were approaching and as I was planning to sell my bike, it promptly broke. And it didn't just break, the left crank arm (the piece of metal that connects the pedal to the bottom bracket of the bike) actually sheared off. I was crossing an intersection and needed to step on it as the light was changing, but instead of getting some extra speed I looked back and saw a piece of my bike lying in the intersection. Oh well...

Venice

Last weekend I went to Venice - I had already been to Venice before, but it's a really cool city, it was Becky's birthday and she had never been before, so I was glad to go back. It was crazy hot, but the sun and humidity was kind of a nice break from the rain and relatively cold temperatures that have been in Amsterdam and Hamburg lately.

On Friday night Becky's flight was delayed (it was her birthday, they couldn't have accounted for that!?), so we didn't leave the airport for our hotel til around 1am. After a taxi to the island and then a cool nighttime water taxi ride through the city we finally made it to the hotel and crashed immediately. Saturday was much more eventful though as we went for a run along the lagoon in the morning, had some delicious pasta for lunch, roamed around the city quite a bit in the afternoon, hit up a wine bar and had a really cool dinner on the water right near San Marco square in the evening, and had a drink at the speakeasy-looking bar in our hotel while a big wedding was going on there at night.

view from the hotel

San Marco, with the Campanile and Basilica

Ponte di Rialto

Venice was much like I remembered it from 3 years ago - very warm, quite a lot of tourists, but also incredibly unique and a definite must-see. A city that doesn't have any cars is unique enough, but the mix of canals and narrow alleyways that make up the city's structure you can't really find anywhere else. The city is basically some islands of buildings clumped together in no particular arrangement with crooked alleys and canals connecting everything and a large square with a church in it every so often to open the space up a little bit. There's also a really strange mix of old, very genuine Venetians and obviously foreign tourists - with nothing in between. No businessmen, no expats living there, just true Italians and blatant tourists.

I also got a new faster lens for my camera, which I had to test out a bit.

Becky and bokeh

So Sunday we did a little more eating, a little more seeing the city, and then it was off to the airport (on a ferry straight from the square to the airport, no cars involved!). It was a nice relaxing weekend, which was much appreciated.

San Marco from the water

Next, it's my last week of work, then two weeks of vacation in the Middle East!