Date: August 17, 2008
Location: The Atlantic Ocean
Lat: 33° 27.4N Long: 048° 21.50W
Well, we’ve been sailing for a while now. I suppose first things first. My concussion is gone; thankfully I’m feeling a whole lot better. There have been a lot of things happening and unfortunately I’ve forgotten some things.
I suppose one thing I can mention is that we had to stop for fuel at Gibraltar. This was a pretty neat process. We pulled up extremely close to the Rock and I was able to get some absolutely great photos of it. Also, we never actually docked at the port, instead we simply dropped anchor and had a ship come alongside and fill up our tanks. This took awhile but it was a new experience.
After we refueled we headed out into the Atlantic. Since then it has been a lot of work. Pretty much everyone on the ship has been swamped with writing papers. When we’re not writing papers we’re tanning on the deck, so it is not all bad, I guess.
There have been a lot of fun things going on. The Ship’s Crew put on a talent show which was a lot of fun. Usually we just see the crew as a blue uniform that performs services for us. However, it was particularly cool to be able to see their personalities shine forth. This wasn’t too fun for me because of the flashing lights and loud noises still gave me trouble.
We also had a question and answer session with the Ship’s captain and some other staff members. There were a lot of interesting questions. However, there were some absolutely stupid ones. Probably the best was a question on why the ship floats. This sort of caught the captain dumbstruck. He was absolutely hysterical because he answered a lot of questions in a smartass way.
I took the Global Studies final today. I thought it was pretty easy and breezed through it. We have two more finals the day after tomorrow. Looks like it will be more studying and relaxing. Life gets pretty slow on the M/V Explorer when you’re at sea for days.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Jumping Off a 91-Foot Cliff in Croatia: the first 90 feet were great!
Date: August 10, 2008
Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Lat: 42° 40.0N Long: 018° 4.7E
Wow, what a long and strange three days. There’s so much to talk about for this port. The last one has sure been a trip.
I suppose I can add some general observations here. Croatia is an absolutely beautiful place. I don’t know about the interior of the country, but Dubrovnik is a gorgeous town. The buildings are beautiful, there are these white houses built into cliffs with red roofs, it looks a bit like California. There are plenty of winding roads. The Croats are friendly people who aim to please. I would be happy coming back here.
Dubrovnik was a bit different for us as it was our first port with tender boats. This means that the good ship M/V Explorer wasn’t docked at the port. Instead we were anchored in the harbor and had to take 90 person ferry boats to the dock. These were done in on the hour and half hour so one could get ashore pretty easily. However, one would turn into a pumpkin at 0200 because that’s when the boats stopped running so the poor soul would be stranded if they didn’t make the boat. It was never a problem for me, but some of my friends got stranded.
Dubrovnik has a very interesting composition. It is comprised of both an old town, and naturally, a new town. The old town is absolutely gorgeous; it has cobblestone streets and stone buildings. It is all surrounded be a beautiful stone wall. The water is a most beautiful shade of blue.
The new town is also very nice. I didn’t spend much time in it. However, it seems a bit like California with the whitewashed buildings and red tile roofs. Everything is most beautiful here.
We all quickly went ashore with our things to check out our beach house. After a short bus ride we met up with the guy who was running the house. It turns out that our small group was actually part of three larger groups of SASers so it was around 30 people who were ultimately convoying together. We eventually made it to the house; however, there was no beach even close. It turns out that the group would be split into two groups. The guys would be in one house, the girls in the other. This was news to us but we made do. Our house was within the walled city of Dubrovnik, more or less, old town Dubrovnik. I’ve heard the other house had an amazing view overlooking the water.
After we had this settled we put our swim trunks on and we went out to find a beach. We found one that was off the harbor. There wasn’t actually a beach here, just rocks. However, there were some nice 15 feet jumps off the rocks into the water. This was a lot of fun.
After we were done with this, we headed out for some lunch. We found an absolutely delicious pizza place. The pizza’s were Neapolitan style and quite tasty. I had one with cheese and prosciutto, it was very good.
Once we had finished eating we heard that there was an actual beach right outside of the walled city. The beach was real lovely, not least because there were some topless ladies there as well. The water was nice and comfortable in the hot sun. We relaxed here for a while and sampled some of the local beers. This was a most excellent, enjoyable time.
While we were on the beach we heard about a cliff jumping opportunity from some friends. Apparently there were 91 foot tall cliff jumps. The funny thing is that the way to find the jumps was that they were at a bar. The way to find this was that the signs said “Cold Drinks and Great Views.” I decided that the best way to find this was to keep going up and up stairs.
While we were heading to the cliffs I stopped by a bar since some of my friends needed to go to the bathroom. I saw a little bit of the Olympic opening ceremonies. I suppose I should mention that I actually only saw a brief snippet. Apparently, Yao Ming was the flag bearer for China. I feel a bit detached from the Olympics. Pretty much the only way to get updates on the sports is by reading Wikipedia. Oh well, it is part of the Semester at Sea experience I guess.
We eventually found the cliffs. Some other SASers were already there so we felt pretty good about things. There are two possible jumping points, a 45-footer and a 91-footer. Our team unanimously decided to do the 91-footer.
One of my friends jumped first. He said that it hurt but he was fine. This made me feel pretty good since I was up next. I looked over, a bit nervous but I was confident. I then jumped. What happens next is a bit hazy. Apparently after I jumped I was looking down at the water. This therefore caused me to pitch a bit forward. My body hit the water first and then my head impacted the water at a considerable speed. I was knocked unconscious. The bartender at the bar ran down to the 45 foot dive and jumped in after me. They also called an ambulance.
The next thing I remember I was up near the bar area talking to people. Apparently what happened was that when I hit the water I was knocked out and received a concussion. I was then floating face down for a very short time. Swimmers quickly swam to me and dragged me to the landing. From there I regained consciousness and slowly walked up to the bar area. I had friends both in front of me and behind me to make sure I was ok. I managed to walk fine on my own. After all this, they realized that the ambulance probably wasn’t necessary
I apparently bit down hard on my lip, causing it to swell considerably. I was given some ice to suck on to reduce the swelling on my lip. I was still totally dazed at this point. I was led by some of my friends to the buses, which I took back to the landing. I then got on one of the tender boats back to the ship.
One of my friends called up the ship doc from the phone by the purser’s desk. My friend explained what was going on with me and the doctor came in around 35 minutes. Apparently he had just sat down to dinner, plus the tender boats make things difficult too.
He started examining me. I suppose he did all the standard concussion tests. He checked if my pupils dilated and if I could stand straight. He also checked my muscle response and things of that nature. After talking to me he said that I should be ok in a few days with some water and bed rest.
I spent the rest of the day and night on the ship. I drifted in and out of sleep. I also had a considerable neck ache and bruises. It wasn’t my best night of sleep to say the least. I stayed on the ship most of the next day. I grabbed some lunch and called home. I had emailed them earlier telling them about what had befallen me. Clearly they were worried. After letting them know that I wasn’t dead, I decided that I was wasting both my time and money staying on the ship.
I headed back to Dubrovnik despite a considerable headache and a other pains. I purchased a bus ticket and started my quest to reunite with my friends. I had some initial problems. The buses hadn’t come for awhile so I decided to walk to Dubrovnik. I got turned around and decided to take the bus since I knew any bus with a 1 (buses 1, 1A, and 1B) would get me downtown.
Unfortunately I happened to take a bus that was going the long way. This resulted in around a 45 minute bus ride. I got to see a lot of small-town Croatia. After this long winding journey I eventually made it to the walled city. I looked all around the walled city and couldn’t find my crew. I then decided to check our apartment. They weren’t there. I then moved to the beach where we started yesterday. Luckily I found my crew and we were reunited. They were all happy to see me and justly concerned about my health. I was really loopy yesterday.
We hung out on the beach for a while and then headed back to the apartment. We got dinner and then returned to relax at our place for a bit. All of my friends started drinking liquor and liter beers; I passed on it because the Doc told me not to, not to mention it already felt like I had a hell of a hangover as is because of the concussion. After channel surfing through Croat TV and coming up empty, we all decided to head out to a beach front club.
This would have been a ton of fun if I hadn’t had a concussion and had been drinking. Unfortunately, neither of those criteria was met. The club was a private hell for me. The flashing lights and pumping noise set my wrecked brain on fire. I mostly hung out on the beach and away from the flashing lights and painfully loud music. After around 4 hours of this torture, I decided to assemble my crew and get us back to our apartment. I was the only one with the key since I was the designated walker and navigator it was up to me to get us moving.
We made it back and piled into the beds. I woke up feeling pretty bad; I suppose strobe lights and loud euro pop techno don’t help the ailing head very much. I handed my key off to a friend of mine, gathered my things and hightailed it out of there. I got a bus back; thankfully it was far more direct this time. I got back to the dock and boarded a tender boat and got back to the M/V Explorer, leaving Europe.
I relaxed onboard the rest of the day, avoiding loud noises and flashing lights. Apparently I’m something of a legend on the ship since most people have heard that someone got knocked out. Even the executive dean’s heard of my problems. Usually when I tell people why my Croatian experience wasn’t the time of my life, they mention that they heard about something like that happening. It makes life interesting and at least I wasn’t seriously hurt.
Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. I sure hope so because we have classes for the next couple of days and then finals. This is not the ideal time for a busted head. Hopefully I’ll be fine soon. The pain comes and goes, I don’t think it will be here for too much longer. I’ll be able to manage, it’s just pain.
Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Lat: 42° 40.0N Long: 018° 4.7E
Wow, what a long and strange three days. There’s so much to talk about for this port. The last one has sure been a trip.
I suppose I can add some general observations here. Croatia is an absolutely beautiful place. I don’t know about the interior of the country, but Dubrovnik is a gorgeous town. The buildings are beautiful, there are these white houses built into cliffs with red roofs, it looks a bit like California. There are plenty of winding roads. The Croats are friendly people who aim to please. I would be happy coming back here.
Dubrovnik was a bit different for us as it was our first port with tender boats. This means that the good ship M/V Explorer wasn’t docked at the port. Instead we were anchored in the harbor and had to take 90 person ferry boats to the dock. These were done in on the hour and half hour so one could get ashore pretty easily. However, one would turn into a pumpkin at 0200 because that’s when the boats stopped running so the poor soul would be stranded if they didn’t make the boat. It was never a problem for me, but some of my friends got stranded.
Dubrovnik has a very interesting composition. It is comprised of both an old town, and naturally, a new town. The old town is absolutely gorgeous; it has cobblestone streets and stone buildings. It is all surrounded be a beautiful stone wall. The water is a most beautiful shade of blue.
The new town is also very nice. I didn’t spend much time in it. However, it seems a bit like California with the whitewashed buildings and red tile roofs. Everything is most beautiful here.
We all quickly went ashore with our things to check out our beach house. After a short bus ride we met up with the guy who was running the house. It turns out that our small group was actually part of three larger groups of SASers so it was around 30 people who were ultimately convoying together. We eventually made it to the house; however, there was no beach even close. It turns out that the group would be split into two groups. The guys would be in one house, the girls in the other. This was news to us but we made do. Our house was within the walled city of Dubrovnik, more or less, old town Dubrovnik. I’ve heard the other house had an amazing view overlooking the water.
After we had this settled we put our swim trunks on and we went out to find a beach. We found one that was off the harbor. There wasn’t actually a beach here, just rocks. However, there were some nice 15 feet jumps off the rocks into the water. This was a lot of fun.
After we were done with this, we headed out for some lunch. We found an absolutely delicious pizza place. The pizza’s were Neapolitan style and quite tasty. I had one with cheese and prosciutto, it was very good.
Once we had finished eating we heard that there was an actual beach right outside of the walled city. The beach was real lovely, not least because there were some topless ladies there as well. The water was nice and comfortable in the hot sun. We relaxed here for a while and sampled some of the local beers. This was a most excellent, enjoyable time.
While we were on the beach we heard about a cliff jumping opportunity from some friends. Apparently there were 91 foot tall cliff jumps. The funny thing is that the way to find the jumps was that they were at a bar. The way to find this was that the signs said “Cold Drinks and Great Views.” I decided that the best way to find this was to keep going up and up stairs.
While we were heading to the cliffs I stopped by a bar since some of my friends needed to go to the bathroom. I saw a little bit of the Olympic opening ceremonies. I suppose I should mention that I actually only saw a brief snippet. Apparently, Yao Ming was the flag bearer for China. I feel a bit detached from the Olympics. Pretty much the only way to get updates on the sports is by reading Wikipedia. Oh well, it is part of the Semester at Sea experience I guess.
We eventually found the cliffs. Some other SASers were already there so we felt pretty good about things. There are two possible jumping points, a 45-footer and a 91-footer. Our team unanimously decided to do the 91-footer.
One of my friends jumped first. He said that it hurt but he was fine. This made me feel pretty good since I was up next. I looked over, a bit nervous but I was confident. I then jumped. What happens next is a bit hazy. Apparently after I jumped I was looking down at the water. This therefore caused me to pitch a bit forward. My body hit the water first and then my head impacted the water at a considerable speed. I was knocked unconscious. The bartender at the bar ran down to the 45 foot dive and jumped in after me. They also called an ambulance.
The next thing I remember I was up near the bar area talking to people. Apparently what happened was that when I hit the water I was knocked out and received a concussion. I was then floating face down for a very short time. Swimmers quickly swam to me and dragged me to the landing. From there I regained consciousness and slowly walked up to the bar area. I had friends both in front of me and behind me to make sure I was ok. I managed to walk fine on my own. After all this, they realized that the ambulance probably wasn’t necessary
I apparently bit down hard on my lip, causing it to swell considerably. I was given some ice to suck on to reduce the swelling on my lip. I was still totally dazed at this point. I was led by some of my friends to the buses, which I took back to the landing. I then got on one of the tender boats back to the ship.
One of my friends called up the ship doc from the phone by the purser’s desk. My friend explained what was going on with me and the doctor came in around 35 minutes. Apparently he had just sat down to dinner, plus the tender boats make things difficult too.
He started examining me. I suppose he did all the standard concussion tests. He checked if my pupils dilated and if I could stand straight. He also checked my muscle response and things of that nature. After talking to me he said that I should be ok in a few days with some water and bed rest.
I spent the rest of the day and night on the ship. I drifted in and out of sleep. I also had a considerable neck ache and bruises. It wasn’t my best night of sleep to say the least. I stayed on the ship most of the next day. I grabbed some lunch and called home. I had emailed them earlier telling them about what had befallen me. Clearly they were worried. After letting them know that I wasn’t dead, I decided that I was wasting both my time and money staying on the ship.
I headed back to Dubrovnik despite a considerable headache and a other pains. I purchased a bus ticket and started my quest to reunite with my friends. I had some initial problems. The buses hadn’t come for awhile so I decided to walk to Dubrovnik. I got turned around and decided to take the bus since I knew any bus with a 1 (buses 1, 1A, and 1B) would get me downtown.
Unfortunately I happened to take a bus that was going the long way. This resulted in around a 45 minute bus ride. I got to see a lot of small-town Croatia. After this long winding journey I eventually made it to the walled city. I looked all around the walled city and couldn’t find my crew. I then decided to check our apartment. They weren’t there. I then moved to the beach where we started yesterday. Luckily I found my crew and we were reunited. They were all happy to see me and justly concerned about my health. I was really loopy yesterday.
We hung out on the beach for a while and then headed back to the apartment. We got dinner and then returned to relax at our place for a bit. All of my friends started drinking liquor and liter beers; I passed on it because the Doc told me not to, not to mention it already felt like I had a hell of a hangover as is because of the concussion. After channel surfing through Croat TV and coming up empty, we all decided to head out to a beach front club.
This would have been a ton of fun if I hadn’t had a concussion and had been drinking. Unfortunately, neither of those criteria was met. The club was a private hell for me. The flashing lights and pumping noise set my wrecked brain on fire. I mostly hung out on the beach and away from the flashing lights and painfully loud music. After around 4 hours of this torture, I decided to assemble my crew and get us back to our apartment. I was the only one with the key since I was the designated walker and navigator it was up to me to get us moving.
We made it back and piled into the beds. I woke up feeling pretty bad; I suppose strobe lights and loud euro pop techno don’t help the ailing head very much. I handed my key off to a friend of mine, gathered my things and hightailed it out of there. I got a bus back; thankfully it was far more direct this time. I got back to the dock and boarded a tender boat and got back to the M/V Explorer, leaving Europe.
I relaxed onboard the rest of the day, avoiding loud noises and flashing lights. Apparently I’m something of a legend on the ship since most people have heard that someone got knocked out. Even the executive dean’s heard of my problems. Usually when I tell people why my Croatian experience wasn’t the time of my life, they mention that they heard about something like that happening. It makes life interesting and at least I wasn’t seriously hurt.
Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. I sure hope so because we have classes for the next couple of days and then finals. This is not the ideal time for a busted head. Hopefully I’ll be fine soon. The pain comes and goes, I don’t think it will be here for too much longer. I’ll be able to manage, it’s just pain.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Greek Islands
Date: August 6, 2008
Location: The Aegean Sea
Lat: 37° 23.15N Long: 023° 38.68E
Well, the Greek Islands are absolutely beautiful. I had to wake up pretty early to make the bus. A friend of mine didn’t have a ticket, but they took his information down and he was welcomed on board, which was nice.
The ship went to three islands, Poros, Hydra, and Aegina. The ferry that took us there was really nice too. They had a bar on board, which I made good use of so I felt excellent throughout the trip. The prices were good too.
However, there was more to this min-booze cruise than booze. The island of Poros was absolutely gorgeous. The island was really rocky and mountainous. There seemed like not much there outside of a marina and some nice little places next to it. The architecture was very pretty. The buildings all seemed white washed so they gleamed in the bright Aegean sun.
After disembarking the ship, a friend and I decided to climb up to the bell tower. This was up on the highest point on the island. We quickly climbed up it and took some excellent photos. Poros was nice, but small. We quickly left after an hour or so on the island.
We were served lunch on the ship. After Italy I have acquired a taste for red wine, so I ordered a mini-bottle of that. It made the food a bit better, which was some beef with a sauce on it. The dessert kind of tasted like a fig newton with strawberry sauce. I didn’t care for it too much and didn’t eat much of it. The odd thing was that there was a type of cream sauce that came with the dish. It wasn’t ice cream since it was warm, yet it wasn’t whipped cream either, it had the consistency of butter. Maybe that was what scared me away.
We then made landfall on the island of Hydra. This was my favorite island by far. We quickly walked to a beach where we proceeded to go swimming. I didn’t have my trunks so I just swam in my boxers. This was a ton of fun. The Mediterranean Basin seems to be very salty; whenever I’ve dried off after swimming I can just brush the salt off me. However, the best part of all this was that there was a cave that went in maybe 20 yards. The roof of the cave was close to where we were standing so we decided to jump off it. This was probably around 20 feet off the surface of the water so it was a nice jump. We did this several times then we high-tailed it back to the ship.
A funny thing about Hydra is that it is entirely car free. The mode of transportation is instead the use of burros. Donkeys transport everything. It’s kind of funny seeing plastic grocery store bags on burros’ saddlebags.
We then moved to Aegina. This was a nice island as well. We headed over to a beach. After some swimming I fell asleep on a lawn chair. I almost missed the boat but my friend woke me up. I thought we left much later than we did. I quickly put on my shoes and we started running. After maybe a ten minute jog, we made it. They were close to pulling in the gangway but we got there in the nick of time. I’m sure glad my friend was on the ball.
After a nice boat ride back we grabbed dinner on the ship. We then headed out to Athens to explore the local night life. We heard that there was a really cool spot that is a huge rock where people go at night and drink wine under the shadow of the Acropolis. We couldn’t find it, but on the bright side, we barely made it back for the last metro. Luckily we didn’t have to spend the money on a taxi cab.
We grabbed gyros at a place near the train station. We then walked back to the MV Explorer and slept. I woke up around noon. I didn’t think going into the city was a good choice as one thing going wrong would make me stuck in Athens and miss the boat. I just grabbed gyros with some friends and watched a bit of the Olympic women’s soccer play, I might not see most of the Olympics, but I saw something.
I headed back to the ship after this and since then I’ve hung out with some friends. Greece was an amazing time; I’d love to come back there. Plans are firming up in Croatia. I’m going to be staying at a beachfront Villa. I might not be getting a lot of culture in Croatia, but I’m going to have an excellent time. It seems like an excellent way to cap off an excellent experience.
Location: The Aegean Sea
Lat: 37° 23.15N Long: 023° 38.68E
Well, the Greek Islands are absolutely beautiful. I had to wake up pretty early to make the bus. A friend of mine didn’t have a ticket, but they took his information down and he was welcomed on board, which was nice.
The ship went to three islands, Poros, Hydra, and Aegina. The ferry that took us there was really nice too. They had a bar on board, which I made good use of so I felt excellent throughout the trip. The prices were good too.
However, there was more to this min-booze cruise than booze. The island of Poros was absolutely gorgeous. The island was really rocky and mountainous. There seemed like not much there outside of a marina and some nice little places next to it. The architecture was very pretty. The buildings all seemed white washed so they gleamed in the bright Aegean sun.
After disembarking the ship, a friend and I decided to climb up to the bell tower. This was up on the highest point on the island. We quickly climbed up it and took some excellent photos. Poros was nice, but small. We quickly left after an hour or so on the island.
We were served lunch on the ship. After Italy I have acquired a taste for red wine, so I ordered a mini-bottle of that. It made the food a bit better, which was some beef with a sauce on it. The dessert kind of tasted like a fig newton with strawberry sauce. I didn’t care for it too much and didn’t eat much of it. The odd thing was that there was a type of cream sauce that came with the dish. It wasn’t ice cream since it was warm, yet it wasn’t whipped cream either, it had the consistency of butter. Maybe that was what scared me away.
We then made landfall on the island of Hydra. This was my favorite island by far. We quickly walked to a beach where we proceeded to go swimming. I didn’t have my trunks so I just swam in my boxers. This was a ton of fun. The Mediterranean Basin seems to be very salty; whenever I’ve dried off after swimming I can just brush the salt off me. However, the best part of all this was that there was a cave that went in maybe 20 yards. The roof of the cave was close to where we were standing so we decided to jump off it. This was probably around 20 feet off the surface of the water so it was a nice jump. We did this several times then we high-tailed it back to the ship.
A funny thing about Hydra is that it is entirely car free. The mode of transportation is instead the use of burros. Donkeys transport everything. It’s kind of funny seeing plastic grocery store bags on burros’ saddlebags.
We then moved to Aegina. This was a nice island as well. We headed over to a beach. After some swimming I fell asleep on a lawn chair. I almost missed the boat but my friend woke me up. I thought we left much later than we did. I quickly put on my shoes and we started running. After maybe a ten minute jog, we made it. They were close to pulling in the gangway but we got there in the nick of time. I’m sure glad my friend was on the ball.
After a nice boat ride back we grabbed dinner on the ship. We then headed out to Athens to explore the local night life. We heard that there was a really cool spot that is a huge rock where people go at night and drink wine under the shadow of the Acropolis. We couldn’t find it, but on the bright side, we barely made it back for the last metro. Luckily we didn’t have to spend the money on a taxi cab.
We grabbed gyros at a place near the train station. We then walked back to the MV Explorer and slept. I woke up around noon. I didn’t think going into the city was a good choice as one thing going wrong would make me stuck in Athens and miss the boat. I just grabbed gyros with some friends and watched a bit of the Olympic women’s soccer play, I might not see most of the Olympics, but I saw something.
I headed back to the ship after this and since then I’ve hung out with some friends. Greece was an amazing time; I’d love to come back there. Plans are firming up in Croatia. I’m going to be staying at a beachfront Villa. I might not be getting a lot of culture in Croatia, but I’m going to have an excellent time. It seems like an excellent way to cap off an excellent experience.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Greece Is Great
Date: August 4, 2008
Location: Piraeus and Athens
Lat: 37° 56.31N Long: 023° 38.09E
Well, we’re finally at Athens. It’s kind of a rush to the head to think we’ve seen Rome, the Pyramids, and the Acropolis all in a two week period. This is truly an amazing experience.
After our ship cleared customs, some friends and I decided to wander around Piraeus. The town is the port of Athens and is thusly very close to the big time. Piraeus has a bit of a small town charm to it. There are a lot of friendly locals here who are willing to help you out if you have questions. Unfortunately, Piraeus is kind of ratty. There were no decaying dogs in the street, but everything was really dusty. However, the people all seem really relaxed.
We spoke with a local after he took a photo for all of us. We asked him about which were the best islands to visit and he gave us some good advice. This was all without asking for any baksheesh, changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, right.
When we had finished up with Piraeus we went back to the ship and grabbed some lunch. After that, a group of friends assembled and we headed to the Acropolis. We were going to take the metro into the city but since we didn’t know where it was, we thought it would be more prudent to take a taxi. This was an experience. We had four guys, including me, two of which were 6’3’’+ all crammed into the backseat where the small girl got the front all to herself. They say chivalry is dead, hah.
It was neat talking to the driver. We drove by a market and he told us we should stay away. Apparently, gypsies are not well liked by the other Greeks. He warned us that they were all pickpockets. It seemed interesting to see racial tensions that are so apart from our own.
We made it to the Acropolis. The annoying thing is that student discounts only work for students of the EU so we get kind of screwed over. We paid our Euro and started the climb up. It’s interesting but the stones on the paths were extremely slick. This led to some of us deciding to slide down the stones like they were ice. After a brisk walk to the top, we made it.
The Acropolis is really incredible. The Parthenon is a sight to behold. The funny thing is that apparently the building was pretty well preserved until the Turks stored some dynamite in the building. Apparently something touched it off and the whole thing exploded, destroying the building to its current state.
There were so many fascinating buildings on the Acropolis. However, the coolest thing was the street views. The Acropolis naturally dominates the entire city. This let us take some excellent photos. I have some really neat ones of my legs dangling off the wall of the Acropolis. It was kind of gusty so it was a bit scary but I didn’t fall, thankfully.
Another neat thing is that they have this huge Greek flag there. One thing is that the Greeks are very proud of their heritage. There are Greek flags everywhere. On a metro ride back to Piraeus today, I started talking to a local man. He was a bit older and spoke quietly. However, he said several times how everything is rooted in Greece, medicine, astronomy, democracy, and on and on. Clearly the people here are proud.
After we had finished on the Acropolis we walked down and descended into the Monastiraki. This is basically the flea market of Athens. There were a ton of neat shops. A lot of it was the ubiquitous tourist crap. However, it was neat getting a view of the city from the streets. We had our first gyros here and they were delicious. The tzatziki sauce was really good, but the topper was certainly the fact that they put French fries into the pita. Taste treats for sure.
Another thing that’s interesting about Europe is that there are no open container laws. One can just walk all over with a beer in hand and no one will give you a second glance. I guess its part of an idea that people are more responsible with alcohol. I don’t know, but it will be different when I’m back in the states and can’t just walk around shopping with a miller lite.
After we were done shopping we went back to the ship. After hanging out for a bit and grabbing dinner, we decided to go back to the Monastiraki. There were a lot of neat bars and things. We had a very large group at first, probably around 30. To be fair, it was more a group of people heading to the metro that all sort of pooled together. The metro is a 20 minute walk so company is always nice.
The metro is really the best way around Athens. If one pays €.80 you can ride for an hour and a half. The fare isn’t based on the distance one travels so one can move easy. We got to the street and started having fun. Someone had a bottle of ouzo so we passed that around. I wasn’t a big fan of it; it tasted like licorice which I don’t like, so the cards were stacked against the drink.
It’s kind of funny. We all sort of split up so I was with a group of around ten. I don’t think I actually went into a single bar. Mostly I just walked around and ordered beer from the street vendors. It cost around €1.40 for a tall Amstel or Heineken. When we got tired to walking around I hitched a cab back with a girl and went to bed.
After waking up the next day, some friends and I decided to hit the Athenian streets. The whole ship isn’t feeling too hot after the Egyptian food. I’m not hit too badly with the runs but some of my friends are, still we all have some symptoms. This made us not feel like walking around too much. We went back to the shops and I got two “football” jerseys, one of the Greek National Team and one for Panathinaikos FC. Panathinaikos FC had a really cool jersey, their color is green and their logo is a shamrock with some Greek writing, it is pretty sweet. Even better is that I got both for a total of €30.
When we got back to the ship we all sort of relaxed. Some friends and I gathered together and got some Greek food. I got a chicken and bacon gyro. It was very good, of course. We also got some baklava at a bakery. This desert was extremely tasty.
After this was over I headed back to the ship. The terminal we are docked at has free internet so I enjoyed that for an hour or two before boarding the ship. After that I played go fish with some people. I didn’t want to go out because I’m going to tour the islands tomorrow and I need to make the bus at 7:35 so it’s another early wake up call. Apparently the Greek islands are beautiful and I can’t wait to get my own perspective on the issue.
Location: Piraeus and Athens
Lat: 37° 56.31N Long: 023° 38.09E
Well, we’re finally at Athens. It’s kind of a rush to the head to think we’ve seen Rome, the Pyramids, and the Acropolis all in a two week period. This is truly an amazing experience.
After our ship cleared customs, some friends and I decided to wander around Piraeus. The town is the port of Athens and is thusly very close to the big time. Piraeus has a bit of a small town charm to it. There are a lot of friendly locals here who are willing to help you out if you have questions. Unfortunately, Piraeus is kind of ratty. There were no decaying dogs in the street, but everything was really dusty. However, the people all seem really relaxed.
We spoke with a local after he took a photo for all of us. We asked him about which were the best islands to visit and he gave us some good advice. This was all without asking for any baksheesh, changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, right.
When we had finished up with Piraeus we went back to the ship and grabbed some lunch. After that, a group of friends assembled and we headed to the Acropolis. We were going to take the metro into the city but since we didn’t know where it was, we thought it would be more prudent to take a taxi. This was an experience. We had four guys, including me, two of which were 6’3’’+ all crammed into the backseat where the small girl got the front all to herself. They say chivalry is dead, hah.
It was neat talking to the driver. We drove by a market and he told us we should stay away. Apparently, gypsies are not well liked by the other Greeks. He warned us that they were all pickpockets. It seemed interesting to see racial tensions that are so apart from our own.
We made it to the Acropolis. The annoying thing is that student discounts only work for students of the EU so we get kind of screwed over. We paid our Euro and started the climb up. It’s interesting but the stones on the paths were extremely slick. This led to some of us deciding to slide down the stones like they were ice. After a brisk walk to the top, we made it.
The Acropolis is really incredible. The Parthenon is a sight to behold. The funny thing is that apparently the building was pretty well preserved until the Turks stored some dynamite in the building. Apparently something touched it off and the whole thing exploded, destroying the building to its current state.
There were so many fascinating buildings on the Acropolis. However, the coolest thing was the street views. The Acropolis naturally dominates the entire city. This let us take some excellent photos. I have some really neat ones of my legs dangling off the wall of the Acropolis. It was kind of gusty so it was a bit scary but I didn’t fall, thankfully.
Another neat thing is that they have this huge Greek flag there. One thing is that the Greeks are very proud of their heritage. There are Greek flags everywhere. On a metro ride back to Piraeus today, I started talking to a local man. He was a bit older and spoke quietly. However, he said several times how everything is rooted in Greece, medicine, astronomy, democracy, and on and on. Clearly the people here are proud.
After we had finished on the Acropolis we walked down and descended into the Monastiraki. This is basically the flea market of Athens. There were a ton of neat shops. A lot of it was the ubiquitous tourist crap. However, it was neat getting a view of the city from the streets. We had our first gyros here and they were delicious. The tzatziki sauce was really good, but the topper was certainly the fact that they put French fries into the pita. Taste treats for sure.
Another thing that’s interesting about Europe is that there are no open container laws. One can just walk all over with a beer in hand and no one will give you a second glance. I guess its part of an idea that people are more responsible with alcohol. I don’t know, but it will be different when I’m back in the states and can’t just walk around shopping with a miller lite.
After we were done shopping we went back to the ship. After hanging out for a bit and grabbing dinner, we decided to go back to the Monastiraki. There were a lot of neat bars and things. We had a very large group at first, probably around 30. To be fair, it was more a group of people heading to the metro that all sort of pooled together. The metro is a 20 minute walk so company is always nice.
The metro is really the best way around Athens. If one pays €.80 you can ride for an hour and a half. The fare isn’t based on the distance one travels so one can move easy. We got to the street and started having fun. Someone had a bottle of ouzo so we passed that around. I wasn’t a big fan of it; it tasted like licorice which I don’t like, so the cards were stacked against the drink.
It’s kind of funny. We all sort of split up so I was with a group of around ten. I don’t think I actually went into a single bar. Mostly I just walked around and ordered beer from the street vendors. It cost around €1.40 for a tall Amstel or Heineken. When we got tired to walking around I hitched a cab back with a girl and went to bed.
After waking up the next day, some friends and I decided to hit the Athenian streets. The whole ship isn’t feeling too hot after the Egyptian food. I’m not hit too badly with the runs but some of my friends are, still we all have some symptoms. This made us not feel like walking around too much. We went back to the shops and I got two “football” jerseys, one of the Greek National Team and one for Panathinaikos FC. Panathinaikos FC had a really cool jersey, their color is green and their logo is a shamrock with some Greek writing, it is pretty sweet. Even better is that I got both for a total of €30.
When we got back to the ship we all sort of relaxed. Some friends and I gathered together and got some Greek food. I got a chicken and bacon gyro. It was very good, of course. We also got some baklava at a bakery. This desert was extremely tasty.
After this was over I headed back to the ship. The terminal we are docked at has free internet so I enjoyed that for an hour or two before boarding the ship. After that I played go fish with some people. I didn’t want to go out because I’m going to tour the islands tomorrow and I need to make the bus at 7:35 so it’s another early wake up call. Apparently the Greek islands are beautiful and I can’t wait to get my own perspective on the issue.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Athens, Here I Come
Date: August 2, 2008
Location: The Aegean Sea
Lat: 36° 18.32N Long: 024° 45.44E
Well, we make landfall at Piraeus, Greece in around 6 hours. I’m certainly excited about it. Athens should be real nice; I hear its nightlife is a lot of fun so that should be good. Baklava and gyros should be quite the taste treat. Also, the Acropolis and all the historical treasures of Greece will be really neat to see; too bad I’d have to go to London to see the best things.
Today was an eventful day on the M/V Explorer. We finally had the Sea Olympics, quite fitting given our destination. The ship’s community is divided into various different seas based on where ones room is situated. I’m in the Caribbean. The community then competes in a large variety of events.
I was drawn into two events today, despite not being signed up in any for today. One of the other members of our sea was already doing too many events so I had to take one off of him. I ended up getting the Iron Chef competition. Unlike the real Iron Chef TV show, where they make some amazing meal with a secret ingredient, we just made put toppings on pizzas.
We were given a large variety of toppings, such as lima beans, peanut butter, chocolate chips, pepperoni, and others. Our team decided to go for an innovative approach of a three course meal. We divided our pizza accordingly with an appetizer, which were mostly vegetables with some soy sauce. The main course had more meat on it. Our desert section was the highlight by far. We put peanut butter on the section with the white chocolate chips on top of it.
The judges came by and gave our pizza favorable ratings. However, we didn’t place, which is a bummer. I later came up and decided to get some snacks at the pool bar. I was then met with a surprise. Our sea was short of contestants for the hot hula hoop contest. I quickly jumped at the chance to help my sea out.
Hot hula hoop pretty much plays out like hot potato. Everyone who’s competing holds hands and passes a hula hoop around while not letting go of the other persons hand. This results in the contestants having to quickly hop through the hoop while a song plays, when the music stops; the person with the hoop is eliminated. I did pretty well here. I got past the first two rounds but I got tagged in the third. I didn’t have a chance as the person in front of me just barely jumped through the hoop when he handed it to me and the music stopped. My fellow sea mate did pretty well, but I don’t think she placed.
It was kind of the story of our Sea at the Sea Olympics. We usually placed around 4th or 5th so we didn’t get any points. This all culminates in the sea that wins the Olympics gets to debark the ship first in Norfolk. The Caribbean ultimately got 5th place out of 8 seas. A respectable showing but I’m sure we’ll do better next time.
When I wasn’t participating in events or cheering our sea on, I worked on writing a paper. We have some downtime now while we’re moving between our last two ports, but after that it’s going to be a paper writing bonanza. I want to get a bit of a leg up on it so I’m not swamped on the slow boat ride back to the USA.
Athens, here I come.
Location: The Aegean Sea
Lat: 36° 18.32N Long: 024° 45.44E
Well, we make landfall at Piraeus, Greece in around 6 hours. I’m certainly excited about it. Athens should be real nice; I hear its nightlife is a lot of fun so that should be good. Baklava and gyros should be quite the taste treat. Also, the Acropolis and all the historical treasures of Greece will be really neat to see; too bad I’d have to go to London to see the best things.
Today was an eventful day on the M/V Explorer. We finally had the Sea Olympics, quite fitting given our destination. The ship’s community is divided into various different seas based on where ones room is situated. I’m in the Caribbean. The community then competes in a large variety of events.
I was drawn into two events today, despite not being signed up in any for today. One of the other members of our sea was already doing too many events so I had to take one off of him. I ended up getting the Iron Chef competition. Unlike the real Iron Chef TV show, where they make some amazing meal with a secret ingredient, we just made put toppings on pizzas.
We were given a large variety of toppings, such as lima beans, peanut butter, chocolate chips, pepperoni, and others. Our team decided to go for an innovative approach of a three course meal. We divided our pizza accordingly with an appetizer, which were mostly vegetables with some soy sauce. The main course had more meat on it. Our desert section was the highlight by far. We put peanut butter on the section with the white chocolate chips on top of it.
The judges came by and gave our pizza favorable ratings. However, we didn’t place, which is a bummer. I later came up and decided to get some snacks at the pool bar. I was then met with a surprise. Our sea was short of contestants for the hot hula hoop contest. I quickly jumped at the chance to help my sea out.
Hot hula hoop pretty much plays out like hot potato. Everyone who’s competing holds hands and passes a hula hoop around while not letting go of the other persons hand. This results in the contestants having to quickly hop through the hoop while a song plays, when the music stops; the person with the hoop is eliminated. I did pretty well here. I got past the first two rounds but I got tagged in the third. I didn’t have a chance as the person in front of me just barely jumped through the hoop when he handed it to me and the music stopped. My fellow sea mate did pretty well, but I don’t think she placed.
It was kind of the story of our Sea at the Sea Olympics. We usually placed around 4th or 5th so we didn’t get any points. This all culminates in the sea that wins the Olympics gets to debark the ship first in Norfolk. The Caribbean ultimately got 5th place out of 8 seas. A respectable showing but I’m sure we’ll do better next time.
When I wasn’t participating in events or cheering our sea on, I worked on writing a paper. We have some downtime now while we’re moving between our last two ports, but after that it’s going to be a paper writing bonanza. I want to get a bit of a leg up on it so I’m not swamped on the slow boat ride back to the USA.
Athens, here I come.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Goodbye, Egypt!!
Date: August 1, 2008
Location: Alexandria and Cairo
Lat: 31° 11.6N Long: 029° 11.6N
Well, we’re finally leaving Egypt and I just want to say, I’m happy. I think one of my problems was that I only saw the people who just sell crap to tourists. Therefore I have a skewed view of the Egyptians. One of the problems is that Egyptians are very friendly and outgoing people. The only problem is figuring out who is being friendly and helpful and who just wants a buck. Usually these people operate the same way so you don’t know if you’re being helpfully led to a place you asked for or if you’re being led to a shop where the guy has family connections so he wants you to buy stuff from his people.
I woke up pretty early to go on the SAS led Classic Cairo trip. Cairo and Alexandria are a good distance from each other so there was plenty of time to catch up on sleep on the three hour bus ride. I drifted in and out of sleep so I was able to see a little of what was going on outside of Alexandria and Cairo. Egypt is an extremely desolate place. Once one leaves the cities its miles and miles of desert. The interesting thing about this is that every so often one sees a walled palace which is an oasis of greenery that looks finer than gold course putting greens. I suppose these are the places where the rich go to get away from the slums.
I guess I have more observations from the bus ride. I have neglected to mention, in the front seat of the bus there was a plainclothes security official wearing a two piece suit. These guys were packing heat, they didn’t show their guns, but by the clip sticking out of the suit they were carrying some type of submachine gun. It seems like everyone has a piece here.
As we approached Cairo we drove through some slums. These were high rises that were typically missing windows and other such basic necessities. The funny thing about these was that it seemed like every one of these things had a forest of satellite dishes on the roof. I guess these people have their priorities.
Our first stop was the Egyptian Museum. This place was absolutely beautiful. I wasn’t allowed to take any photos so I just have my memories. Most of the things were relatively boring, such as clay pots. However, there were some absolutely magnificent items. The huge statues of the pharaohs were really impressive, much more so when one thinks of the time they’ve lasted here.
The trump exhibit of the museum was clearly the treasure from Tutankhamen’s tomb. The Pharaoh’s caskets were quite impressive. The most amazing thing by far was the burial head dress. We’ve seen this thing time and time again in photographs, but it is absolutely mind blowing to see this thing in person. I was stunned by its beauty.
After looking through the museum for a bit we headed out to lunch. The lunch was a buffet style of a wide range of food options. They had some pita bread with a wide variety of sauces to try. They also had a wide variety of other food, such as chicken, beef, and others. It was a real good meal.
Then we went off to the Pyramids. Since our time was rather limited, we only got to go to the Giza Plateau. However, having three large pyramids and the sphinx was quite enough to get my attention. The Pyramids were highly impressive. It’s staggering that something as huge as that could be built so long ago. The Pyramids were ancient when the Romans were around; I can’t imagine having the Washington Monument standing in 6388 AD.
I guess I don’t have too much to say about the Pyramids themselves. They’re huge and impressive. I do have plenty to say about the parasites that surround the Pyramids. Everyone in Egypt is out to hustle you. Everyone wants a buck. Everyone comes with smiles and greetings of friendship, everyone is your brother and everyone is your friend, and everyone wants your money. That’s the thing with Egypt; the friendliness seems so fake, so when a few genuine people try to help you out, you tend to distrust them because of the actions of the multitude.
When we moved from the panoramic spot where one could see all the Pyramids to the base of the Great pyramid, things got from bad to worse. There were a number of vendors at the overlook, but nothing compared to the nightmare at the base.
While I was walking around one vendor ran up to me and threw an Arab headdress onto my head “for free” then he shoved a collection of postcards, two other headdresses, and a collection of three pyramids that had some neat drawings etched on the inside of them. I guess these were kind of cool. He was wearing a Cubs hat too so I guess that was neat. However, the unneat part; nothing is free in this country. Immediately he started demanding for baksheesh, which is Arabic for tipping. I gave the guy ten dollars and walked on my way, despite never actually wanting the things. I guess it wasn’t too bad in the long run because the items weren’t too bad and will be regifted.
However, the bad thing is that the black plastic bag I had from this guy was more or less a bulls-eye. I then got somewhat annoyed at this and decided to return to the bus, having got my fill of standing at the base of the Pyramids. On my way back some Egyptian robber barons with a camel decided to have their way with me. They asked if I wanted to go for a ride and unwisely I accepted, not thinking to negotiate a price ahead of time. I got a variety of awesome photos of me on a camel in front of the Pyramids.
However, they were leading me away from the majority of tourists. I noticed this and didn’t like where we were going but I didn’t think to have them take me back near the Egyptian Tourist Police. So I was gallivanting away from the main group on a camel like Lawrence of Arabia. All good rides come to an end, and unfortunately this one cost me a pretty penny. When they finally set the camel down they expected baksheesh. I, being a good man, decided to reward their efforts with 50 Egyptian Pounds, which is around ten dollars.
However, this wasn’t enough for them, so I opened my wallet again to give them maybe 20 more Egyptian Pounds. This is when they started reaching into my wallet all the while promising to give me change. I was righteously angry about this but didn’t know what to do. I was a bit of a distance away from everyone and I don’t know if these guys were packing knives under their cloaks so I went along with this. Ultimately I lost $22, €5, and £120 Egyptian. They took every bill I had, except for 5 50 Piaster notes. I walked away from this fuming.
I was really ticked off that I got taken advantage of like this. It filled me with a great, great distrust of Egyptian hospitality. However, there were two good offshoots from this, I got some really excellent photos and I didn’t have to pay for trash souvenirs as a method to get rid of my Egyptian Pounds. Unfortunately, it pretty much ruined my Pyramid experience. Everyone takes their lumps here and there. I got swindled, but I won’t let it happen again. I’ll do better next time.
We then went down to see the Sphinx. Given my great dislike of everything Egyptian, at the time, I didn’t exactly enjoy the experience. The guide gave us a ticket to let us get a side view of the Sphinx. I tried to find the entrance to this. I had some problems finding it so I sort of went around the far end. I started to turn the corner and discovered an Egyptian who was willing to help me. He started leading me towards a fence where lots of people were on the other side of the fence. This immediately set my alarms off at full tilt so I turned around and high tailed it to the bus. I ignored his shouts begging me to comeback. Maybe he was being friendly and helpful, I doubt it, and he was probably out for baksheesh. Dan Tison doesn’t get swindled by Egyptians twice in the same day.
After the Sphinx, we headed back to Alexandria. I was looking forward to getting back to the ship. Not just for its ice cold air, but also the lack of people hassling you. I made it back and took a shower and laid down for a bit. I decided that I was done with Egypt and decided to stay on the ship for the rest of my time in the Port.
I ran into a friend at dinner and over eating where we swapped experiences. He managed to talk me into heading back out into the town with him. We agreed that I would be on his tab since I had no money. We quickly assembled a group of ten, him, another guy, seven other ladies, and me. We made it through the three circles of landsharks circling off the gangway.
We headed out around 2100. This is conveniently the time of the call for prayer. This was really neat to hear and it was something I certainly hoped to experience. Another thing, the ladies in burkahs are still very bizarre to me. It just seems so odd to be a prisoner because of your body. One only gets to see out of these two small eye slits. When they’re wearing sunglasses they could just as easily be Cousin It, the hairy, formless thing, from the Adams Family. Clearly we are in a very foreign environment.
After this an Egyptian guy leached onto us. He took us to the Bazaar, which wasn’t exactly where we wanted to go. The Bazaars are pretty crazy at night. Everyone is out, selling all kinds of things, there were tons of intestines for sale, also skinned rabbits, and other things. There was also a variety of other things for sale.
We tried to lose this guy a few times. However, we weren’t successful as each time we’d reverse course or take a sudden turn he’d stick to us like glue. Eventually we just told him goodbye like four times straight and he left. Surprisingly he didn’t ask for any baksheesh. He was just being friendly, too bad those thieves at the Pyramids ruined my view Egyptian hospitality.
We eventually found a hookah bar. Hookah is a Middle Eastern water pipe that one smokes flavored tobacco through. It has gained steady popularity in the States. One can usually see at least two or three of these going in a given night around the Purdue dorms. The neat thing about this hookah bar was that it was in an alley, between two shops. We asked a local where one was so we found it. The hookah was real nice and got us all a little light headed. It was kind of funny being the only white people in this hookah bar surrounded by middle aged Egyptians playing dominos. Our whole group enjoyed this for around an hour and a half or so. This only cost us six dollars, so it was a steal compared to what it would be in America.
After this we decided to find an actual bar. This is extremely hard as drinking is not a part of the Egyptian culture. We did find a bar. The girls decided to try to find some sort of local Egyptian style drink. Due to the language barrier, they had no luck but Egyptian Vodka and Mango juice. A few of the other people decided to go with the Authentic Egyptian Stella beer. The beers were surprisingly good. They tasted kind of like Miller Lite. The guys and I decided to do a shot of this Egyptian Vodka. Instead of just a normal shot, we probably got around 2.5 shots in a normal glass. We decided that we’d only be in Egypt once and took it down the hatch in one swoop. After another round of beers, we decided to head back to the ship. Drinks for 10 people probably cost us around 20 dollars, which is what one person would drink in a night at the bars in the states.
The next day I woke up and decided to stay in. I had seen all of Alexandria that I had wanted and a lot of parts that I didn’t. Also, I had no money and thought getting more would be a waste of resources. Instead I spent the day working on one of the papers that are due after we’re done visiting ports. I don’t regret my decision at all.
I don’t intend to return to Egypt. I liked my time, the people are friendly. However, their friendship mostly seems to be a facade to get money. I guess I had a bad experience. I saw the Pyramids, they were awesome, and I think I saw what’s good in Egypt. I guess it wouldn’t be easy to be a civilization that peaked 4500 years ago. Egypt doesn’t seem to have much going for it today. They don’t have oil. They’ve lost pretty much every war they’ve fought in lately. However, they do have the Aswan Dam, which has elicited tons of controversy, and a Glorious past that occurred 4500 years ago. The Pyramids are amazing and awe inspiring, however, when one is done craning their necks down at those lofty, manmade mountains, they are greeted with wolves in sheeps' clothing living in a decrepit, poorly maintained land that’s falling apart.
Location: Alexandria and Cairo
Lat: 31° 11.6N Long: 029° 11.6N
Well, we’re finally leaving Egypt and I just want to say, I’m happy. I think one of my problems was that I only saw the people who just sell crap to tourists. Therefore I have a skewed view of the Egyptians. One of the problems is that Egyptians are very friendly and outgoing people. The only problem is figuring out who is being friendly and helpful and who just wants a buck. Usually these people operate the same way so you don’t know if you’re being helpfully led to a place you asked for or if you’re being led to a shop where the guy has family connections so he wants you to buy stuff from his people.
I woke up pretty early to go on the SAS led Classic Cairo trip. Cairo and Alexandria are a good distance from each other so there was plenty of time to catch up on sleep on the three hour bus ride. I drifted in and out of sleep so I was able to see a little of what was going on outside of Alexandria and Cairo. Egypt is an extremely desolate place. Once one leaves the cities its miles and miles of desert. The interesting thing about this is that every so often one sees a walled palace which is an oasis of greenery that looks finer than gold course putting greens. I suppose these are the places where the rich go to get away from the slums.
I guess I have more observations from the bus ride. I have neglected to mention, in the front seat of the bus there was a plainclothes security official wearing a two piece suit. These guys were packing heat, they didn’t show their guns, but by the clip sticking out of the suit they were carrying some type of submachine gun. It seems like everyone has a piece here.
As we approached Cairo we drove through some slums. These were high rises that were typically missing windows and other such basic necessities. The funny thing about these was that it seemed like every one of these things had a forest of satellite dishes on the roof. I guess these people have their priorities.
Our first stop was the Egyptian Museum. This place was absolutely beautiful. I wasn’t allowed to take any photos so I just have my memories. Most of the things were relatively boring, such as clay pots. However, there were some absolutely magnificent items. The huge statues of the pharaohs were really impressive, much more so when one thinks of the time they’ve lasted here.
The trump exhibit of the museum was clearly the treasure from Tutankhamen’s tomb. The Pharaoh’s caskets were quite impressive. The most amazing thing by far was the burial head dress. We’ve seen this thing time and time again in photographs, but it is absolutely mind blowing to see this thing in person. I was stunned by its beauty.
After looking through the museum for a bit we headed out to lunch. The lunch was a buffet style of a wide range of food options. They had some pita bread with a wide variety of sauces to try. They also had a wide variety of other food, such as chicken, beef, and others. It was a real good meal.
Then we went off to the Pyramids. Since our time was rather limited, we only got to go to the Giza Plateau. However, having three large pyramids and the sphinx was quite enough to get my attention. The Pyramids were highly impressive. It’s staggering that something as huge as that could be built so long ago. The Pyramids were ancient when the Romans were around; I can’t imagine having the Washington Monument standing in 6388 AD.
I guess I don’t have too much to say about the Pyramids themselves. They’re huge and impressive. I do have plenty to say about the parasites that surround the Pyramids. Everyone in Egypt is out to hustle you. Everyone wants a buck. Everyone comes with smiles and greetings of friendship, everyone is your brother and everyone is your friend, and everyone wants your money. That’s the thing with Egypt; the friendliness seems so fake, so when a few genuine people try to help you out, you tend to distrust them because of the actions of the multitude.
When we moved from the panoramic spot where one could see all the Pyramids to the base of the Great pyramid, things got from bad to worse. There were a number of vendors at the overlook, but nothing compared to the nightmare at the base.
While I was walking around one vendor ran up to me and threw an Arab headdress onto my head “for free” then he shoved a collection of postcards, two other headdresses, and a collection of three pyramids that had some neat drawings etched on the inside of them. I guess these were kind of cool. He was wearing a Cubs hat too so I guess that was neat. However, the unneat part; nothing is free in this country. Immediately he started demanding for baksheesh, which is Arabic for tipping. I gave the guy ten dollars and walked on my way, despite never actually wanting the things. I guess it wasn’t too bad in the long run because the items weren’t too bad and will be regifted.
However, the bad thing is that the black plastic bag I had from this guy was more or less a bulls-eye. I then got somewhat annoyed at this and decided to return to the bus, having got my fill of standing at the base of the Pyramids. On my way back some Egyptian robber barons with a camel decided to have their way with me. They asked if I wanted to go for a ride and unwisely I accepted, not thinking to negotiate a price ahead of time. I got a variety of awesome photos of me on a camel in front of the Pyramids.
However, they were leading me away from the majority of tourists. I noticed this and didn’t like where we were going but I didn’t think to have them take me back near the Egyptian Tourist Police. So I was gallivanting away from the main group on a camel like Lawrence of Arabia. All good rides come to an end, and unfortunately this one cost me a pretty penny. When they finally set the camel down they expected baksheesh. I, being a good man, decided to reward their efforts with 50 Egyptian Pounds, which is around ten dollars.
However, this wasn’t enough for them, so I opened my wallet again to give them maybe 20 more Egyptian Pounds. This is when they started reaching into my wallet all the while promising to give me change. I was righteously angry about this but didn’t know what to do. I was a bit of a distance away from everyone and I don’t know if these guys were packing knives under their cloaks so I went along with this. Ultimately I lost $22, €5, and £120 Egyptian. They took every bill I had, except for 5 50 Piaster notes. I walked away from this fuming.
I was really ticked off that I got taken advantage of like this. It filled me with a great, great distrust of Egyptian hospitality. However, there were two good offshoots from this, I got some really excellent photos and I didn’t have to pay for trash souvenirs as a method to get rid of my Egyptian Pounds. Unfortunately, it pretty much ruined my Pyramid experience. Everyone takes their lumps here and there. I got swindled, but I won’t let it happen again. I’ll do better next time.
We then went down to see the Sphinx. Given my great dislike of everything Egyptian, at the time, I didn’t exactly enjoy the experience. The guide gave us a ticket to let us get a side view of the Sphinx. I tried to find the entrance to this. I had some problems finding it so I sort of went around the far end. I started to turn the corner and discovered an Egyptian who was willing to help me. He started leading me towards a fence where lots of people were on the other side of the fence. This immediately set my alarms off at full tilt so I turned around and high tailed it to the bus. I ignored his shouts begging me to comeback. Maybe he was being friendly and helpful, I doubt it, and he was probably out for baksheesh. Dan Tison doesn’t get swindled by Egyptians twice in the same day.
After the Sphinx, we headed back to Alexandria. I was looking forward to getting back to the ship. Not just for its ice cold air, but also the lack of people hassling you. I made it back and took a shower and laid down for a bit. I decided that I was done with Egypt and decided to stay on the ship for the rest of my time in the Port.
I ran into a friend at dinner and over eating where we swapped experiences. He managed to talk me into heading back out into the town with him. We agreed that I would be on his tab since I had no money. We quickly assembled a group of ten, him, another guy, seven other ladies, and me. We made it through the three circles of landsharks circling off the gangway.
We headed out around 2100. This is conveniently the time of the call for prayer. This was really neat to hear and it was something I certainly hoped to experience. Another thing, the ladies in burkahs are still very bizarre to me. It just seems so odd to be a prisoner because of your body. One only gets to see out of these two small eye slits. When they’re wearing sunglasses they could just as easily be Cousin It, the hairy, formless thing, from the Adams Family. Clearly we are in a very foreign environment.
After this an Egyptian guy leached onto us. He took us to the Bazaar, which wasn’t exactly where we wanted to go. The Bazaars are pretty crazy at night. Everyone is out, selling all kinds of things, there were tons of intestines for sale, also skinned rabbits, and other things. There was also a variety of other things for sale.
We tried to lose this guy a few times. However, we weren’t successful as each time we’d reverse course or take a sudden turn he’d stick to us like glue. Eventually we just told him goodbye like four times straight and he left. Surprisingly he didn’t ask for any baksheesh. He was just being friendly, too bad those thieves at the Pyramids ruined my view Egyptian hospitality.
We eventually found a hookah bar. Hookah is a Middle Eastern water pipe that one smokes flavored tobacco through. It has gained steady popularity in the States. One can usually see at least two or three of these going in a given night around the Purdue dorms. The neat thing about this hookah bar was that it was in an alley, between two shops. We asked a local where one was so we found it. The hookah was real nice and got us all a little light headed. It was kind of funny being the only white people in this hookah bar surrounded by middle aged Egyptians playing dominos. Our whole group enjoyed this for around an hour and a half or so. This only cost us six dollars, so it was a steal compared to what it would be in America.
After this we decided to find an actual bar. This is extremely hard as drinking is not a part of the Egyptian culture. We did find a bar. The girls decided to try to find some sort of local Egyptian style drink. Due to the language barrier, they had no luck but Egyptian Vodka and Mango juice. A few of the other people decided to go with the Authentic Egyptian Stella beer. The beers were surprisingly good. They tasted kind of like Miller Lite. The guys and I decided to do a shot of this Egyptian Vodka. Instead of just a normal shot, we probably got around 2.5 shots in a normal glass. We decided that we’d only be in Egypt once and took it down the hatch in one swoop. After another round of beers, we decided to head back to the ship. Drinks for 10 people probably cost us around 20 dollars, which is what one person would drink in a night at the bars in the states.
The next day I woke up and decided to stay in. I had seen all of Alexandria that I had wanted and a lot of parts that I didn’t. Also, I had no money and thought getting more would be a waste of resources. Instead I spent the day working on one of the papers that are due after we’re done visiting ports. I don’t regret my decision at all.
I don’t intend to return to Egypt. I liked my time, the people are friendly. However, their friendship mostly seems to be a facade to get money. I guess I had a bad experience. I saw the Pyramids, they were awesome, and I think I saw what’s good in Egypt. I guess it wouldn’t be easy to be a civilization that peaked 4500 years ago. Egypt doesn’t seem to have much going for it today. They don’t have oil. They’ve lost pretty much every war they’ve fought in lately. However, they do have the Aswan Dam, which has elicited tons of controversy, and a Glorious past that occurred 4500 years ago. The Pyramids are amazing and awe inspiring, however, when one is done craning their necks down at those lofty, manmade mountains, they are greeted with wolves in sheeps' clothing living in a decrepit, poorly maintained land that’s falling apart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)