Holiay in Sharm el-Sheik, riding in the car
(Americans only use the word vacation, here it's a holiday even in English)
(you don't use el in front of d,s, sh, r, n, t, z oh lots of rules)
(we say sheek in English, but in Arabic is "shake" and said with the throaty, spitty K not the English K...as my teacher would tell you, pretend you're selling potatoes from a donkey cart at the side of the road...work up some spit and GO!
So here's the drive there and back...HERE'S WHAT WE SAW!!
four different herds of WILD camels! I had to hurry back into the car because they were "talking" to me and starting to cross the road. Curious and friendly beasts - AKIDD ANA BAHEB GAMAL AWI!
Truly, I like camels a lot!! It was such a stunning sight, I felt very overwhelmed!
Then, I saw the change in terrain - it was as if I was looking from the side at a topographical map of an ocean, the ruggedness, the sharp cliffs, the slanted lines of rock color and settlement. As we grew closer and closer to Sharm itself, the rock became more varied in color - mostly still remains the dark red. The primary color of pebbles on the beaches at the red sea....is red! next primary color a deep orange then sprinkles of tans and black.
Lots of very old cars and trucks - at this particular gas station, they spoke no English, I had to do all the dealings..since we were in the middle of nowhere, I was quite a "side show" as I brought upon myself 4 extra employees and 2 other tourists (Egyptian ones tho) HA HA! I open my mouth and they all have theirs gaping in awe.
at the blonde woman - definitely Italian, of course. HA!
Stephanie - THANKS! you know, I am Swedish and German!
Why does everyone think Italian? I found out in Sharm - it's the haircut and body style. I was told that Russians keep their hair like mine and their bodies trim like me (what a nice compliment!) but apparently they are rude and so my smile doesn't fit a Russian. I don't wear enough make up or jewelry to be an American. Italians are very friendly and keep bangs still. My English has an Arabic accent when I speak to Egyptians, so they don't hear my American English right away and Americans are the least likely to learn Arabic - so they chose Italian! It was a conversation I had with 4 Egyptians at the resort - interesting conversation really!
I did have a run-in with some Russians, my first and only (hope to be the last eek) and it wasn't pretty. Tho if you know me, you know it doesn't mean I'm saying all Russians are rude ;) Just that the ones who choose to scream in my face and curse and yell and throw their hands up unprovoked...apparently they do this to everyone....so I'm not special WHEW! glad to know it! When Mr. Russian Tattoo got in my face, the security stepped in, I never saw them again. But, I made some Egyptian (tourist) friends after that :)
of course the amazing architecture splattered around...this one was the most shocking, if you could understand how barren the land and sparse the shacks for homes...just this was shocking! beautiful architecture!
I took quite a few photos of just the driving itself to try and help you get a feel for what driving in Egypt is like. So this is a two lane road - and do you see how people pass? you just DO wherever and whenever...and everyone pulls over a bit to make it happen. yep, three cars wide....we did it often! I made a video of Rob driving, it's probably boring in most spots but when you see the guys cross suddenly on foot or the car just stopping or us driving on the dotted line between two semis in their own lanes...you'll see how WEIRD (to us) the driving is here. I likely shall never get car sick in America again ;) Rush hour has a whole new meaning - rush not meaning fast necessarily, but the "rush" of surviving the hour in the car!
and now we're doing it ourselves...
sheep and farmers at gas stations (goats running wild, even one practically climbing a tree, I'd have had to get out to get a pic, it's not a good idea for me to wander aimlessly everywhere here)
camels in the back of trucks on the highway
miles of desert with electric and other towers spinkled all over and lone trees. The lone trees made me really think...about how tho they barely receive the life-sustaining necessities..they still perform their purpose - shade, cleaning the air and beauty. While perhaps with the abundance of support needed, they could do a better job...they do not fail in their task..they still do what is necessary and do it well.
perhaps you wonder..WHAT are the roads like for such a long journey?
the answer is - the smoothest roads we've seen this side of America! HA!
mixed emotions as we departed the 5 hrs across the desert and saw a lot of greenery
and here we are! we actually had to show passports to leave the coast - I have to put in a political plug and say if we spent half the manpower on protecting our borders that Egypt does, we wouldn't need to fight wars on the other side of the globe. You would be shocked at the border protection here - wow! Perhaps some of you would be scared..and some think we should just all get along..but since that won't happen, I vote for border protection! There, said it...back to the fun stuff. I could go on and on now that I live abroad and see what an easy target the US is! Illegal Mexicans stealing jobs are the least of the worries.
McDonald's at every area that resembled civilization on any level - HA! yes we ate at this one twice actually - it's in the town of Sharm itself (said like Charm only w/ a sh sound). We were just outside of Sharm. The Sinai peninsula is the Sinai Governate. Like we live in Maadi but in the Cairo governate. Sorta like territories I guess is the closest way of thinking on it - DEFINITELY not like states tho, think more Canadian.
ships at small harbors along the Suez Canal
we actually crossed UNDER the Suez Canal to get to the peninsula
where did we go? here's a map! Remember, any post, anytime, click on a photo to enlarge! Thanks for enjoying our drive there and back! More on the stay itself later! I am surfing loads of laundry and recovering from food poisoning.
look at the tip of the peninsula, go to the East a bit....I think this map has it spelled sheyk.
If you want more - go ahead and read about Moses....about how God used him and Aaron to lead the Israelites out of slavery....across dry land....and where they wandered for 40 years - THAT is where we were! About a 3 hour drive from Mt Sinai to be precise! We also passed Tahab (spell? pronounce? lol) where they likely crossed into the land of milk and honey. From this Egyptian city, you can see Saudi, Jordan, Israel while standing where the Israelites stood - HOW COOL IS THAT?! :)
