Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Chairboy on April 23, 2008, 06:16:01 PM
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Holy cow, just got off the phone. I'm flying to Egypt for two weeks tomorrow! Zero warning, sudden opportunity. This is going to be fantastic.
Time to pack. Sandals, moleskin, bug stuff, gifts for our hosts, clothes... this is going to be a busy night. Plane leaves to Egypt Friday, but the only way to get there in a reasonable amount of time is to leave to NYC tomorrow.
Anyone ever been? I'm heading to Cairo first, I think, then spending time on the Nile.
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Wow! I have a few times, mostly to sinai, you only staying in cairo? or planning on travel? pack a few warm clothes, it gets very cold at night, but it has been warm here in the last few days :) enjoy your travels!
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I'll pack for the evenings, I just got briefed on them. I don't have the details, but we'll be spending some time in Cairo, then going down the Nile to various temples as well as going into the Great Pyramid.
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Are you in the peace core, ministry, or?
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Enjoy! At least maybe you'll have great respect for how many liberties you have here in the US that you take for granted (Judging by your posts)
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27926.htm
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Are you in the peace core, ministry, or?
LOL! (The thought of Chairboy in a ministry)
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No, not peace corp or a ministry, just very, very fortunate. There was a cancellation, someone couldn't make a trip, and the various fares were non-refundable.
I just got a confirmation for my hotel in NY for tomorrow night, and it had this curious item:1 Queen bed/non-smoking free wireless high speed internet coffee maker, iron, hair dryer
I don't know what a wireless high speed internet coffee maker is, but it sounds exciting.
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How exciting! :aok TxDad lived there for a year (before we came here to Texas together). He loved it ~ He said that it was the best assignment he ever had in the military. :) I can't give pointers on where to go though. I'm sure it will be wonderful wherever you end up. :) Have a great time!
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Hmmm...Is anybody else thinking "white slavery?" Be careful, Chairboy.
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don't forget your fishing pole for the Nile.
be safe and have fun.
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My dad got called to fly a private jet to Saudi Arabia.
But first Switzerland, and all the other little countries around Iraq, including right on the border of Iraq (super dangerous)
He was gone for a week, then had to fly right after that for his airline.
Have fun on your trip... and when you see a scarab beetle, be sure to warship RA.
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be sure to warship RA.
He`s probably going by commercial airlines. No ord.
:rofl
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At least maybe you'll have great respect for how many liberties you have here in the US that you take for granted.
Or maybe he'll develop a respect for Egypts amazing monuments and history. Hmmm, tough call.
Methinks a little jealousy is creeping in here.
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Anymore than 2 days in Cairo is a waste - make sure to do the Egyptian museum, and of course Giza - but head south down the Nile to either Aswan (the temple of Horus), or Luxor (Amun Hall)
Tronsky
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Well, congratulations Chair....I'm excited for ya.
I spent most of the summer of '93 in Egypt and Israel, attending the American University in Cairo and the Hebrew University in Israel. We arrived in June, so the night time temperatures weren't bad at all...and I don't remember any problems with bugs. I will recommend that you take a hat....for there's nothing to shade you from the sun, although the outside temperatures should be rather pleasant. Cairo's climate felt much like Arkansas' for the time of year that we were there....just drier. Don't wear any expensive shoes, for the streets in Cairo are filthy.
Crime shouldn't be a problem except for the pickpockets and juvenile scam artists. Because of that, don't try to exchange money anywhere except in your hotel or a bank....cause there's a lot of old, useless currency floating around, and some low-life will try to hood-wink you into a "sweet exchange deal."
Oh, the stories about the pestilential water are no joke. Drink only bottled water, and don't eat any food that has been washed. I caught Pharaoh's revenge, and over the course of a month, although I was eating like a horse, lost twenty pounds. Carry plenty of Lomotil, or something even stronger.
Dress conservatively: you won't completely blend in with the locals, but you'll draw fewer stares if you don't look so much like a tourist.
All of this advice came from frequent visitors to Egypt and Egyptians that we studies with at the Universities.
Oh, and the Pyramids are just big piles of dusty rock. ;) :D
Regards, Shuckins
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Oh, and if you travel to Luxor...travel by train. You'll never regret it. Also, attend the Sound and Light Show at the pyramids and at Luxor. They are experiences that you'll never forget.
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Or maybe he'll develop a respect for Egypts amazing monuments and history. Hmmm, tough call.
Methinks a little jealousy is creeping in here.
I'd rather develop a respect for the amazing history of Belize's reef, but that's just me.
Have fun Chairboy.
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Carry plenty of Lomotil, or something even stronger.
Definitely something stronger. Get your local Doc to quickly call in a prescription for Flagyl, the generic is metronidazole tablets. Not too expensive but it actually works.
You'll thank me for this!
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Don't forget your BattleMech costume to impress the locals ;)
Have a nice and safe trip!
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Thanks guys! No time to get a prescription for anything, looks like I'll be roughing it. ;) I'll be drinking and brushing teeth w/ bottled water, that should help.
So, we'll fly to Cairo, then visit the step pyramid at Sakkara, designed by Imhotep, main architect to King Djoser (who I'm pretty sure was the villain in Ghostbusters. We'll spend a day on the Giza plateau, visiting the Sphinx and more plus the Khan el Khalili Bazaar.
We'll also be going to Aswan & Philae, then we'll cruise up the Nile to Km Ombo, then to Luxor. We'll visit the tombs of the pharaohs and I'll spend time in the Luxor market.
Then the Karnak temple complex, then we head to Dendera and then the temp at Abydos (my Stargate SG-1 experience should come in handy). Then back to the Luxor Temple. We'll fly back to Cairo and visit the Egyptian Museum, then, and this is terribly terribly cool, into the King's Chamber at the Great Pyramid.
A day of horseback riding and shopping later, then it'll be time to head back on the 10th.
It still doesn't feel real, can't wait to share photos and experiences.
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Pictures & AARs indeed..
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Have your doc call it in to a pharmacy near your NYC hotel. Ain't no thing, not hard to do.
You will likely wish you had metronidazole.
At the very least, see if you can get someone to translate the following into Egyptian Arabic and type it out on a piece of paper.
"Please, for the love of Allah, help me find a doctor that will give me a prescription for metronidazole!"
:)
Have fun Chair! Sounds like a great time! (If you had a pocket full of metronidazole! ;) )
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Shalom! I'm about to board the EgyptAir flight in a few minutes, thought I'd drop in and say hiya! The arabic isn't fully sticking yet, but I've got a 10 hour flight to master it between watching season 3 of Arrested Development. How hard could it be? ;)
Had an interesting cab drive this morning with a Syrian christian, he was helping me with some of the pronunciation quirks. I didn't mention the recent Syria-in-the-news item because the rest was too fascinating, but I did have an interesting walk from Cross Way Blvd to JFK's airtran terminal C this morning. There are an astonishing number of dead birds alongside the New York freeways...
I'll take a bunch of pictures and put up a picture album as soon as I can. Go ahead and don't invade Egypt for the next couple weeks, I don't know how good my trip insurance is. :D
Shukran & Cheers!
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Very interesting thread to read. I will get a many Egypt assignments within near future
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bet he forgot his fishing pole for the Nile.
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Very cool. Beats the hell out of the trip to Atlantic City I just got back from :)
Charon
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By the way Chair....it's pronounced 'shuk-run'. Had a lady on our trip who pronounced it 'shook-RAN' with a heavy country accent. She was a constant source of embarassment to the group. We called her "Big Momma" and her sidekick "Cyclops", but that's another story.
The correct response to 'shuk-run' is 'eff-whan'. I never did know the correct spelling....just picked it up from friendly Egyptians on the street.
Regards, Shuckins
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salem alikum chairboy
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bet he forgot his fishing pole for the Nile.
Do you not know what lives in the Nile???
(http://www.no-pest.com/NileCroc.jpg)
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Or this
http://www.african-angler.co.uk/tim_nile_perch.jpg
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Do you not know what lives in the Nile???
(http://www.no-pest.com/NileCroc.jpg)
yes and?
maybe he needs a new belt, or briefcase or something. besides they say the tail makes for good eating.
they say Nile perch makes good eating too.
fishing is a worldwide activity, has been since before recorded history.
sports fishing for fun is very enjoyable. catch and release or give to the local fishermen to supplement incomes or feed their families.
if you are really scared of a crocodile, pay a local Croc hunter to be your bodyguard against them nasty, mean, old crocs.
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well, by the time I have made this reply.....he's in Egypt.
Personally.....I'd be kind of freaked about having to travel to a completely alien culture on 24 hrs notice.
Egypt ain't Kansas, Toto.
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I'm here, and for the first time in three days, I have internet access! This trip has been amazing.
I flew into Cairo, got in around noon, then we drove out to the Mena House to check in. This hotel is right next to (as in RIGHT next to) the pyramid complex at Giza. That night, we walked from the Mena House through a village to a restaurant, about 20 minutes each way of concentrated Egypt to get us acclimated. The people are incredibly friendly, and my arabic is getting better.
We went to Shakkara the next day and actually went all the way into the step pyramid, the oldest of the pyramids. We stayed until after dark with special dispensation, and it was fascinating to hear the call to prayer as we came up out of the pyramid, drifting across the desert.
Yesterday we got into the Giza complex before dawn with special permission and watched the sun come up while sitting on the burial complex in front of the second pyramid. We then spent an hour or so at the Sphinx, actually touching it and getting up close and personal. The roman-period restoration and the original construction is very striking.
Last night, we got onto a train at the El Giza station in Cairo and took sleeper cars across the country to Aswan, where we arrived this morning. I'm at the Movenpick hotel on an island across from Aswan at the moment. We'll be sailing to a temple in a couple hours.
I'll have pictures up soon, this is astonishingly great!
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BTW, the train ride last night was excellent, we had the club car to ourselves practically and had a huge party. There was... belly dancing involved. This morning, several of the women in the party told me I won. ;)
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(http://hallert.net/images/BensRiddle.jpg)