如履薄冰之埃及行(1.22 - 1.29)：後怕，但不後悔

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A trip to Egypt sounds to many, me included, a must-have in ones lifetime. We originally planned the trip in last May, but gave it up last minute due to work schedule change, so we were really happy to be able to, finally, take off and land in at Cairo airport (CAI) on Jan 22nd.

Blessed as we were, our itinerary of 8-day / 7-night, covering Cairo (2.5 days), Aswan+Abu Simbel (2.5 days) and Luxor (2days, including Kom Ombo and Edfu), by-passed almost all uprising and riot scenes that were to follow right after our Cairo leg of trip is completed. The only nerve-racking moments came when our overnight train from Luxor to Cairo arrived at Giza train station at 5:30am on Saturday, Jan 29t h during the eerie hours of the first curfew law in effect. Despite our repeated calls the previous day and the strong verbal assurance from our Tour company in Cairo that a rep would be waiting for us at the train station, we saw nobody except several tanks and armoured vehicles outside the station! (We later learnt that Egyptian government cut internet and cell phone services overnight, making it impossible to communicate with tour reps and drivers.) Anxiously waited for 30 mins, I saw a private car diver stood sideway and when we approached to him he asked for outragious fares to offer us a ride to the hotel. Without hesitation we immediately hopped on the century-old car, left the army guarded station, drove into unknown dangers of dark, looters filled streets of Cairo. Exactly how we managed to overcome fear and panic and got ourselves to the Airport at 10am (our flight is 1:20pm to Milan) is worth a separate, new chapter of The Exodus (出埃及記).

We were lucky compared to those trapped in Cairo and other cities who have endured much more hardship or completely ruined their lifetime vacation (at the hotel in Garden City, Cairo where we stored our winter jackets and stuff bought in Cairo, a group of young tourists just arrived from China told us they had to get by 1.5 days with only a bag of noodles because all stores/restaurants in the area were closed; at the Airport a small business delegate from Zhejiang showed us riot street photos with images of a burning hotel they took yesterday; another Chinese family told us their bus from Red Sea resort was attacked by a riot gang near Cairo, the young couples mother, likely from Northern countryside, still shaking while waiting for their delayed flight to Beijing), we missed only one scheduled visit to Karnak Temple, in the outskirt of Luxor, it was canceled Friday (Jan 28th) afternoon because of the news that a major road is blocked by demonstrators. And our final 4 hours Exodus journey, eventhough full of thrilling moments, can still be called 有驚無險.

Over all we enjoyed the trip and the photos we took, though not as many because most temples and museums forbid photograhy, appear nice and serve to remind us the unique experiences we had in Egypt.

埃及的古老曆史不用我在此贅述，能夠親眼見見那些幾千年前留下的神廟和法老的物件，就是我們來埃及的目的。至於觀後感，不是對埃及曆史有濃厚興趣的我，也就省了筆墨去感歎。不過要說風土人情，埃及挺讓人失望，覺得比不上莫洛哥，這是埃及作為一個文明古國的可悲之處。還是寫幾個在旅途中遇到的人吧。

Meggie: 來自香港的獨行女俠，跟我們同一天從開羅出發，不同的package，但６天的行程中我們好幾次碰麵。比較沉默寡言，不會普通話，英語帶很重的英國口音。在Aswan的一個Day tour中隻有我們三人組團，閑聊中得知她是在英國出身，受教育，幾年前回香港做事，現在是瑞銀的一名private banker。問她香港金融界前年有無受影響，她說當然，最嚴重時她曾兩次被made redundant。她帶的全球通iPhone，不斷接到同事發來的信息，對及時了解開羅動亂情況有很大幫助。我們上周五在盧克索一家本地餐館品嚐完地道的stuffed pigeons後便分手，我們回開羅她第二天一早飛紅海resort。要沒記錯的話她應該是２月３號飛機離開開羅回香港，不知她是否順利離開。

史帝夫: 美國亞力桑那州人，20幾歲, 生物工程碩士，畢業後選擇high paid美軍在阿富汗的contractor工作. 我們在開羅的一家本地人愛光顧的餐館偶遇. 我們對著猶如天書的menu不知如何下手，隻好比劃著按鄰桌的盤子點了菜。他告訴我們他之所以選擇這份有生命危險的工作主要是因為每年十幾萬的誘人年薪。簽了２年半的合同，才來３個月就出來當背包客, 是個喜歡遊走世界的家夥. 他說他的理想是在家鄉大學城買下４-５套公寓出租給學生，自己則辭掉工作拿著租金周遊世界。真是個敢想敢幹的年輕人。據他說在房市低迷的家鄉６萬美元就可以買下一套公寓，而且他的student loans可以抵掉大部分所得稅，兩年下來在阿富汗攢下的錢還真不難實現他的理想。但願他能如願以償。

來自北京的年輕couple: 俊男liang女，穿著時髦而不豔俗，英語流利，落落大方，一掃以往大陸遊客的土氣和蠻氣，令人眼前一亮。交談中得知，兩人同在北京一家政府涉外機關工作，來埃及是自助遊，因為有中國駐埃及有關單位的關係，加上語言沒問題，玩兒得挺自在，更從關係單位拿到兩張埃及政府認可的記者證，按規定在每個景點可以免費參觀，省了不少門票錢。父母均是留過洋的知識分子，算是早期海歸，兩人小時候也都曾隨父母在國外呆過。上周五結束了Luxor的day tour後，他們還要去紅海resort呆幾天才回開羅。不知道現在情況怎樣了，他們的父母一定會很擔心。

Mohamed: 旅館服務生，20歲出頭，學Egyptology的，大學畢業後邊打工邊進修tour guide program。據他講兩年進修的學費很貴，要１萬８千多，在埃及這可不是一個小數目，可見進導遊這行門檻不低。小夥子很熱情，我們２９號上午在旅館找去機場的出租車遇困難，多虧了他的幫助。希望這次埃及革命不會為他日後找工作造成不良影響。

Busy streets outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Tahrir Square, the epic center of the revolt, the night before

Oldest pyramid (2600 BC) in Saqqara

Laid-down statue of King Ramses II in Memphis

Great (Khufu) Pyramids of Giza

Sphinx with pyramid in the background

Cairo's 800+ year-old Citadel

inside its mosque

Cairo's Coptic church, there is 1/4 Christian population in Egypt, hard to believe at first glance

Philae temple in Aswan

揚帆尼羅河near Aswan

Nubian village near Aswan

Police guarded tourist convoy to Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel temple

Kom Ombo temple

Edfu temple

Luxor temple

Sunset on the bank of the Nile river in Luxor

Stuffed Pigeon, my favorite Egyptian food

Jan 29 5:30am at Giza train station

one of our Exodus planes, seeing it from CAI depature hall was a big relief

Below is a summary of the whole trip (it was booked through the hotel we stayed in Cairo, and customized according to our needs. Thanks to Hany, the owner):

8 Days / 7 nights

Highlights of the Tour:

- Dinner Cruise with Show Dancing

- Pyramids Sphinx, Saqqara and Memphis

- Egyptian Museum, Citadel and Islamic Coptic Cairo

- Aswan High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk & the Philae Temple

- Private tour to Abu Simble

- Esna and Edfu Temples

- Temple of Kom Ombo

- Luxor & Karnack Temples

- Valley of the Kings and Queens

- Temple of Hatshepsut

Detailed Itinerary

Day 22 Jan: Arrive CairoDinner Cruise

Arrival at Cairo International Airport

Meet and assist by Representative

Transfer by Coach / Bus to the Hotel

At 19:30 night you will enjoy the dinner in the 5*star Cruise Boat with bellySufi Dancer

For two hour sallying trip on the River Nile-finish at 21:30

Back and overnight at Hotel

Day 23 Jan: Giza Tour

Wake up and breakfast at Hotel

Full day tour to the Pyramids Sphinx, Saqqara and Memphis

Overnight at Hotel

Day 24 Jan: City TourSleeping Train

Wake up and breakfast at Hotel

Full day tour to the Egyptian Museum, Citadel and Islamic Coptic Cairo

Transfer to Giza station to catch the sleeping train to Aswan

Day 25 Jan: Arrive Aswan

Meet and assist by Representative

Check in Hotel

Visit the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple

In the Evening you will enjoy the Local Felucca trip for one hour around Kitchener and Elephantine IslandsBack to the Hotel

Day 26 Jan: Abu SimbleAswan

Wake up and breakfast at Hotel

Private car At 11:00 am to visit Abu Simble

Visit Abu Simble Temple

Back to Aswan

Over night at Hotel

Day 27 Jan: Kom Ombo & EdfuLuxor

Wake up and breakfast at Hotel

Private car to Edfu

Visit the Temple of Horus in Edfu

Drive to Kom Ombo

Visit of the Temple of Kom Ombo

Arrive Luxor check in at Hotel

Day 28 Jan: EastWest Bank of LuxorSleeping train

Wake up and breakfast at Hotel

Visit of the East Bank Luxor & Karnack Temples

Visit of the West Bank (Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon)

Transfer to Luxor station to catch sleeping train back to Cairo

Day 29 Jan: Depart Cairo

Meet and assist by Representative in Giza station

Transfer by Coach / Bus to the Hotel

RefreshTransfer back to the air port

Tour Includes

1. Accommodation in Cairo

2. Accommodation in Aswan and Luxor Hotel.

3. All Tours transportation with A/C Bus and English speaking guide.

4. Two way sleeping train tickets with private sleeping cabin.

5. Dinner Cruise tickets

6. All pick updrop off - ToFrom the stationair port

Tour Excludes

1.Entrance fees

2.Tip

As you can see the itinerary is quite exhaustive without sacrificing a reasonably leisure pace. There are pros and cons with it still:

Pros:

--flexible, catered for individuals need and enough free time to explore near the hotels (often in downtown area)

--all tours are provided with English speaking guides. This makes visiting historic sites an easy task for people not very versed of Egyptology

--the two overnight trains make it possible to visit more places in less number of days. The quality of the sleeper train is not as good as we expected though(we took a similar one 4 years ago in Spain, its much better)

Cons:

--day tours often accompanied by shopping stops which is annoying (although LD seems to have enjoyed at least one or two shops as she bought a dozen bottles of the so-called Royal Perfumes of thousand-year-old recipe)

--not enough times in the Egyptian Museum and Abu Simble Temple. The latter was inevitable as every tour group (small or big) has to choose one of the two daily departures of policed convoy (either 3am or 10am) from Aswan, the journey took 3 hours each way and only 1.5 hour left for seeing the temple.

--small group tours (we had a private car and a guide in 4 out of 7 day tours, the rest with smaller groups of <10 people) mean you have to pay more tips to guides and drivers, some of whom even demanded tips outrightly

--using not well established tour companies also means some untrustworthy promises, such as what we encountered upon arrival at Giza train station that very morning. The groups of 30+ Japanese retirees and of 20+ American younsters were met with their big buses and transported safely, whereas dozens belonging to smaller groups were suffering dearly and left on their own during critical moments.

Thanks for viewing, Happy Chinese New Year!