5/31 The journey to Egypt and Jordan started around midnight in Uganda. I had to take a midnight taxi to the airport since my flight left at the lovely time of 4:30 a.m. It was honestly a bit unsettling taking a taxi in the middle of the night (the ride takes about two hours) in a foreign and frankly not so stable country, especially when you factor in the numerous (I stopped counting at around eight) checkpoints we had to go through. And then when I got to the airport I learned my flight was delayed over two hours... I was a bit peeved because I was so tired...and soon realized I was going to miss my connecting flight to Luxor from Cairo. Errr. So I was not off to a good start, but my mood was still good (I had just experienced an amazing adventure and I am truly thankful that I get to do the things I do...even if that means being stuck at random airports.). But I quickly realized I was going to have a rough week when I finally arrived in Luxor. Being a single female traveler in these parts is just not easy. You are constantly hassled or had...and you know it...and there is nothing you can do about it. I know I am generalizing, but nearly all of the men I encountered here today have been horrible to me. So after a very long day of traveling and a fear of being harassed, I secluded myself in my hotel.
6/1 Day to explore Luxor. Went on a tour of the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, etc. and frankly I was underwhelmed. Maybe coming here directly from East Africa was not a good move... But I must admit the River Nile is a damn cool river. The guys are still jerkfaces. LEAVE ME ALONE! NO, I DO NOT WANT AN EGYPTIAN HUSBAND! Even dudes in a funeral procession harrassed me. Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.
6/2 I headed for Cairo today. It is not much better than Luxor. Out of the likely hundreds of people I have interacted with these past couple days, mostly men since frankly this is the Middle East, the vast majority have honestly been scum. I have never been to place that I painfully do not like as much as Egypt. Egypt is lucky it has the pyramids and such because there really is no other reason to come here... After I got to Cairo, I went to the Egyptian History Museum. It has a lot of cool stuff, but at this point I am over it. And no going out once it is dark out of fear of being persistently bothered.
6/3 Today was my explore Cairo day. There was security everywhere because Obama is coming to town tomorrow. I went to the pyramids (best part of Egypt so far) and had a guy (he actually was extremely nice, but I also created an elaborate story that I recently married a spy-like guy who would severely hurt another man if anything happened to me and thus I think he realized he needed to stay in line) drive me around Cairo to see the sights from the safety of a car. Cairo is a loud city. LOTS of horns. And I think I am sort of getting used to being had because there is nothing I can do about it. And my driver guy recommended I eat koshary. So I did and it was rather delicious. But of course I got it to go and then ate it in my hotel room.
6/4 Off to Jordan...and out of Egypt! Yalla! The drive to the airport was interesting due to the immense amount of security for Obama's arrival. And it was quite cool to see United States of America planes at the airport. Air Force One was parked right next to the building I was in (but you could not see it very well since it was sort of hidden away). I am staying in Madaba for my first night in Jordan. The hotel I am staying at is so pleasant and the owners are extremely helpful. They hooked me up with transportation for my entire trip. In the afternoon after I arrived I went to Mt. Nebo (where Moses saw the promised land) and the Dead Sea (you float crazy well and it is so good for your skin and body...and it is the lowest place in the world). But what is with all the pictures of King Abdullah and the Jordanian flags all over the place AND all the old Mercedes cars? Quite amusing.
6/5 My driver buddy drove me to Petra today with a couple cool stops along the way to check out some great views, see true Bedouin life and play in the castle at Karak (one of the coolest I have ever been to and I had the whole place basically to myself). We also lunched at a restaurant across the street from a mosque and thus I finally was able to observe a Friday service (something I have never been able to do in Doha due to all the barriers, fences, etc.). Today was my first good day since I left Africa. Very little hassling...except sort of for the hotel reception kid in Petra ("We have a lot in common. I go to university, you work at a university. Do you want to smoke shisha later?").
6/6 My last day of my big trip... I am rather sad, but somewhat relieved too since my time this past week, especially in Egypt, has been stressful. But Petra was amazing! It is an ancient city built into rocks and is just beautiful. I walked so much (well over six hours in the hot sun) and thus kind of zoned out on the drive back to Madaba (but my driver friend at this point knew I really liked ice cream and thus we stopped a couple times for me to get some).
6/7 Back to Doha I go! I flew Etihad Airlines via Abu Dhabi. Nice airline and nice airport (but it sort of smelled like nail polish remover). Looking forward to a great shower, a big comfy bed and a washer and dryer. But what a great few weeks! Really. I will never ever forget this trip! Now it is back to reality...
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