Made it to Cape Town

I finally made it to Cape Town after 14 hours in the air and a layover in Doha (I had to check a map too). Nonetheless, I added a few pictures from Egypt to show you how beautiful it is.

Puff the Magic Dragon Lives by the Nile

Why was our carriage driver in Edfu high? I mean puffing the magic dragon, enjoying the good grass, getting lifted... you get my point.

One of our stops on the cruise up the Nile from Aswan was in Efdu. One of the couples on our tour group are corporate lawyers from Australia Nick and Simone. Between the four of us sarcasm was was at an all time high. I LOVED it. We were like the kids in the back of the classroom who needed to be separated for making too many jokes.

When we first got to Edfu and got off the boat, we started looking for a small van to take us to the Temple. That was not the case, we were directed to take the smelly touristy carriage that rides around carrying its own poop. Just imagine sitting behind a smelly horse, in the hot desert sun, and with THAT smell hitting you in you in your face. So the four of us crowded into this carriage made for two and we were off. Our driver thought he was Ben Hur because decided to race the other carriages through the streets (No one else was racing him). That should have been our first clue. Then when we got to the temple he crashed it into the side walk. While we were going there he kept on looking back at me, trying to grab my money, asking if we wanted to take a picture with it, and all the while doing a pitiful job holding the reins.

After the visit, the most rationally thinking individuals decided to get back on that carriage to go back to the boat. Three of the four of us smelt the aroma and Nick saw it (he was sitting in the front with him). As we rode away he drank the rest of Nick's soda and threw the can on the temple grounds... so much for keeping the place sacred. We're still alive and that's what counts.

Our last stop on the cruise was in Luxor. To me it was the best city in Egypt because was very peaceful and clean. Luxor was also the hottest of our five stops in Egypt. The temperature was somewhere between heat stroke and please kill me. At night is when the city really lights up.

Yesterday we took our last train ride up to Alexandria. Alex, as they call it there, reminds me of Barcelona. Also, the history is the perfect blend between Egyptian, Roman, and Greek mythology and culture. That part of the trip was very timely given what I saw in Rome and the rest of Egypt. I will be going back to Egypt.

Next stop South Africa.

The Valley of the Kings

Tour guide Mary for the upper part of Egypt.

Beautiful sight...but the official "Shake Down"

Amazing. There are not enough words to describe what I have seen over the past three days. Rome was in ruins, Barcelona had narrow streets, Paris had political riots, London had bad food, and Egypt had the pyramids.


My hike through Europe was me, my bag, and my travel guide. However, I got the official upgrade when I got to Cairo. From the minute we got there we had our own personal travel guide and driver to take us to the different sights. As I flew into Cairo at 2:30 in the morning I could still see the turns of the Nile River from the window of the plane.

The pyramids were the first place Stephanie and I visited. You are drive through the very crowded and hectic streets of Cairo (you think driving in NY is crazy, go to Cairo) all of a sudden the streets get real quite, cars turn into mules pulling carts, and buildings are replaced by farm land that is watered by the Nile. When you see the pyramids and the different tombs you can only be amazed at what the Egyptians had to do in order to build them. So I could not believe that I was actually there. I had to put my hands in the sand to really feel the desert.

The best part about seeing the pyramids was riding a camel around them. That was the official beginning of the shake down. When the 13 year old kid who was taking us around on the camels took our picture and then demanded 50 Egyptian pounds for them. At one point he held our cameras until we pulled out some money, which we did give him. When I say shake down, I mean no matter what you do or where you go in Egypt everyone wants an unreasonable tip. The cab driver wanted a tip for a picture. The man holding the broom at the pyramids asked for a tip because he said hello. Then random people start jumping into your pictures all for, you guessed it, a tip. After awhile very nice hospitality turned into a nuisance. The people are very nice, but expect to pay out of pocket for it.

I must mention our 1950 style of travel from Cairo to Aswan. I mean we had a sleeping car porter who was there to let down our beds and serve food. It was a train fully equipped with arm guards ready to throw down at a moments notice. Even though it was 12 hour ride it only felt like three. Plus, in the morning you can see the Nile River from the train which is lined by the biggest palm trees you will ever see. In Aswan everything is on an island which is only accessible by motor boat or felucca. Sailing on the Nile in a felucca is up there with the camel ride.

It would not be socially responsible of me if I do not acknowledge some of the social conditions of Egypt. While the tourist enjoy first class developed accommodations, still many in Cairo and Aswan can only realize 3rd world conditions. The amount of kids (5-13) who were working and selling things to tourist on the street was shocking. Even the ones working in the carpet industry, which we had visited. For Aswan the tourist make up a huge part of their economy.

There is so much more to tell you, but I have to leave the internet cafe. I'll post more stuff later with picture.

As they say to me in Aswan, bye cousins.....




















This is our Cairo tour guide Rehamm.

Made it to Egypt

I've made it to Egypt. It has only been a few hours, but I have done so much. I met my friend from the law school Stephanie and we've been having an excellent time seeing all of the pyramids. I would write more but we are catching a 12 hour sleeper train to Aswan. When I get better internet connection and more time I will post pictures....there is a lot to talk about and show.

When in Rome...Don't do as Adam

I know it has been a few days since I have posted anything, but Internet access has not been as accessible as before. Nonetheless, I've been in Rome for about 4 days and it has been the hottest (temperature) out of all four cities that I have visited.

When I got to Rome I did all of the touristy things, like go to the Colosseum and the Vatican. One thing I can say is that Rome is probably the most heavily populated American tourist spots in Europe. One thing I hate is that it is overly saturated with tour groups and school kids. I mean you cannot walk five feet without hitting a cluster of fifty people with some extremely perky person at the front holding a colorful umbrella. Then the Vatican, although beautiful, was very crowded. I ran through that place so quickly because the congestion of all the people started to get to me. I did stop at the Sistine Chapel to take in the glorious work of Michelangelo.

My stay in Rome was split between two hostels (just how I planned it out). The first hostel was this trendy place that was geared towards American travelers. The other hostel was some random place I found on the Internet. After I checked out of the first hostel I went looking for the Sunshine Hostel. I started walking in the hot Rome sun looking for this hostel. The area went from a very tourist friendly to this broken down "skid row" type of an area. Who ever knew Rome had a skid row? Nonetheless, by the time I found this hostel it was in a run down building with graffiti all over it (I can't believe that I did it again...I sure can pick em').

So I buzzed the hostel at least three times and no one answered. When I went to the front door of the Sunshine I rang the bell and again no answer. No one would come to the door. I think the place went out of business. I had already walked 30 minutes away from other hostel to walk back. So I was left homeless in Rome.

Next best thing was to start randomly going around to hotels and see if they had any available rooms within my budget....which again is a very low budget. The first hotel turned me down, but the second hotel had one available room. The guy at the front desk, Julio looked at me and said in a very thick Italian accent, "For you 80 euros a night". I told Julio AKA "Jewels" that I could not afford 80 euros a night for a hotel. I told him what my budget was and he affirmed that I would not get that rate anywhere in Rome. He was nice enough to call around to a few places to find me a cheaper place, but no luck. The cheapest he could find was 120 euros a night. He even called the other trendy hostel to see if they had any beds, but they too were completely booked.

So my good friend Julio broke down and said that he has an extra room that they only use in emergencies but the bathroom is outside of the room. So my good friend Julio showed me what looked like the old maid quarters from 60 years ago, but he would give it to me at my quoted rate. I could not complain because I know the going rates for hotels in Rome from my research and I was not going to get a better than that. So we went back to the front deck and before he could swipe my card Julio looks at his book and looks at me and says, "I'll give you a regular room at that rate. I won't put you in that other room". My good friend Julio must have felt some petty on my poor American soul and cut his regular price by more than half to satisfy my weak and pathetic budget. Without Julio I would have been sleeping on skid row.


Just as a side note I almost was deported for making this entry into this blog....or close to it.

While I was sitting in some random Internet cafe around the corner from where I was washing my clothes, the place got raided by the Italian police. They went around and started asking everyone for documentation. It turns out that the law in Italy is that you have to give up documentation (passport) in order to use a public Internet cafe. They passed the law as part of their anti-terrorism efforts. I don't know how it prevents terrorism but they think it does. I think it is worth mentioning that most of the cafes in Rome are run and used by Arab immigrants. They question you as though you were pulled over on the New Jersey Turnpike for driving the speed limit in a nice car. My inner law student wanted to protest, but I remembered that I was not in the US. I don't know what they were saying to the guy working the place, but I can only imagine exactly what was being said. If you ask me the whole shake down was pure harassment.

Therefore, this will be my only post from Italy. I am going to wrap myself up in my American flag and its Bill of Rights and wait to use the Internet in a more free nation.





The outside of the Pantheon. The only structure in Rome that it is not in ruins. I studied this in Classical Art freshman year at Howard.

The inside of the Pantheon.

She wolf with Romulus and Remus. This is one of the few pieces I actually remember talking about in the class. My professor would always tell us what to check out if we were ever in Rome.

One Chicken McNugget Away From Turning into Ronald McDonald

Some of you who know my eating habits really want to know what I've been eating on this trip. Well, as you can guess from the title a whole heck of a lot of Mr. McDonald´s delectable treats. So far I have been to three countries and in all three of them I have managed to stop into McDonald´s at least twice. There is one on almost every block (good ole´globalization). However, they have not mastered the fries like their American counterparts. Spain has come the closest out of the three, but their fries was little to salty. I know because I eat McDonald´s three times a week in DC.

I am not a complete gastronomic bore. Every place I've gone I've tried something different. The food in London was not good. It taste sort of like the back of an old man´s heel (whatever that taste like, but I´m sure London does a great job licking so many heels so their food can taste just as bad). The best food in Paris I found in the open markets right below Notre Dame. I loved walking through there and it was in my budget. Plus, I really enjoyed the crepes and the pastries. Before I left I made sure that I filled up on as much wine as possible like it was going out of style. I was about one glass away from not making it Barcelona.


These are the people I hung out with on the last night in Paris. Most of them were traveling strays like myself, and half of them were Canadian. I was the lone American. They're the reason why waking up for my flight was so hard.

Right now I am in Barcelona and the weather is absolutely great. The first thing that I eat when I got here was paella, which is my favorite dish. I will eat it again tonight and tomorrow until it gets old (which it wont).

The best area to stay in Barcelona is right next to Las Ramblas which is the main strip. That is where all the stores, street performers, and night spots are located. However, that's not where I´m staying. I am a couple of blocks away from it in an abandon building off of a dark ally. The room is nice, but the location is all wrong. Looking at a map it seemed like the best place to stay, but I was mistaken. The streets are narrow and when you go down the side streets you have to hold your nose every couple of feet because of some unspeakable putrid smell.

Here are some pictures from Barcelona.

This is the outside of my hostel. They couldn't even pull together enough money to put up a real sign. Some random guy on the street had to help me find it.

Earth, Wind and Fire or French Revolution

Let me get the boring stuff out of the way first. I went to the Louvre yesterday to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Afterwords I traveled out to Versailles to see the Palace and the Garden. All were very nice and took some great pictures.

I thought that would have been my whole day, but it gets better. When I was walking back from visiting Versailles, I noticed everyone in the bars huddled around the TVs watching the news. I thought to myself, "Wow, the French really make an event out of watching the news." I got to my hostel their TV was turned to the news too which displayed a count down like on New Year's Eve.

At about 14 seconds I turned and asked the guy at the front desk what was going on. He quickly hushed me and informed me that they were about to announce the new president of France. Then the a guy's picture emerged, Nicolas Sarkozy won and half of Paris erupted into cheers. But not everyone in Paris was happy. I asked the guy at the front desk was this a good or bad thing. He responded and I quote, "No. He is like Bush. This is a bad day for France."

There was young lady from Texas, Katherine, who was in the lobby watching the events too. She has been living in France for the past year and is fluent in french. I asked her if she could explain the difference between the guy and the woman, Royal, of the socialist party. She compared Royal to Hillary Clinton and Sarkozy to a short version of Bush. Currently France has reached a fork in the road with whether to be a society that integrates with other cultures or preserve their French heritage. (I'll let you guess who is on which side). There has been an influx of immigrants from previous French colonies in Northern Africa. Plus, their unemployment rate has reached 8%.

Enough with political facts I just needed to set the scene. While Katherine and I were watching the news we saw that there was a victory party going on in the center of Paris. So we decided to find the victory party (We don't party with losers). They had a full out concert in the center of Paris with over 10,000 people. As walked up to the concert, I began to hear Earth, Wind and Fire performing. Sorry, it was not them but a French imitation group singing all American songs in English and just as good as the American performers. The concert was excellent and FREE.

So after we left the victory concert we went back to the hostel. Near the hostel there was a mob of people marching in protest. When I went into the lobby of hostel there was a guy from Ireland named James in and he was just as curious as me to see were the crowed was going. At that point we decided to go join the French Revolution. However, by the time we walked outside everyone was gone. So we started to walk around the streets behind the hostel and eventually came upon a peaceful group of protestors walking around with this tacky piece of blown up plastic. We walked with them until there bad idea of a float deflated and they had no more duck to save it from its many holes.

As we left the peaceful group and walked back to the hostel we notice an angry mob across the street from us and only one block from our hostel. As we walked by them on the opposite side of the street, they began to hurl bottles at riot police who were lined up in their full riot gear. Before we knew it tear gas cans were being shot into the crowd. One of the cans got kicked over near James and I spraying tear gas in our direction. At that point we thought it was a good idea to run.

When I got back to the hostel I went to my room with the three old women. They had saw the whole thing from our room. As we looked out of our window we could see the police attacking the Revolution outside the front door of our hostel. We had to close our windows because the tear gas started to come into our room. The riot police was able to quickly move the crowd away from our building.

One thing I can say is that I learned so much about French politics. Tomorrow I'll be on my way to Barcelona.