French Toast

Sharm el Sheikh Marriott, 5:30PM, Sunday

what a ride. we've been here for 3 days and have accomplished more than i expected to the entire time we were in egypt. starting from the beginning...

we had the good fortune of hearing that a friend of a friend of lynn's was going to be in cairo at the same time we were (by the way, the shift key here is mini, therefore i will not capitalize. i love vacation rules.) so, on thursday night, after walking around the city and getting hassled by every person possible, lynn and i awaited the arrival of mark, his father, and his business partner abdul. the three are in egyptian rugs. they have 6 factories in cairo alone, and although mark is american, he travels throughout the middle east and the states dealing in all things rugs. mark and abdul are in their mid-20's; mark's father is a self-proclaimed 48, although i would guess him closer to 60. he is the perfect charicature of an iranian man, complete with big bushy mustache. he was fantastic.

we met the men at our hotel for drinks, and after enjoying their company for a couple of hours agreed to go to a very exclusive locals-only restaurant/hookah bar called sequoia. abdul is apparently very well connected here - he was able to get us in with 5 minutes notice (he knows the owner and called him on his vacation in europe to ensure us a table). he also knows the restaurant manager, so got us the best available table...all of this around 12:30 at night. it's ramadan here during the month of september, which is a muslim holiday. muslim's fast during the day from sun up to sun down - and thus the nightlife is very busy. so - when we got to sequoia it was packed. we ordered food and drinks (amazing egyptian food, including pita, hummus, meat-on-a-stick - obviously the correct term - and fruit juices). no alcohol during ramadan, so we smoked grape flavored hookahs (very common social activity and not at all illegal, mom and dad) and watched from the shores as the nile lazily floated by. lynn and i returned to our hotel around 3am and fell into bed.

the next day, abdul, mark and mr. mirabibi picked us up at 1pm - about 45 minutes after we woke up - and gave us a personal tour of the pyramids. once again, abdul knows everyone and can strike a deal with anyone - so we got in after the pyramids had closed, bought tickets even though they were sold out and not a tourist was to be found anywhere, took pictures, and proceeded to take a 4 hour horse and donkey ride around the pyramids/sphinx and through the streets of giza. we were the only non-egyptian people during our tour. egyptian children are so beautiful - everytime we'd pass, they'd smile their hugest smile and wave 'hello'. anyway, it was a somewhat brutal yet altogether unforgettable experience

after the ride, we headed to dinner at a restaurant called al-azhar, by way of the citadel. once again, abdul had the hookup - we dined with high society egyptians in the most beautiful setting ever - an open air restaurant (really closer to a palance) with a view of the lights from the pyramids, the citadel, 100 mosques, and 1,000 minarets. unbelievable experience - one that i'll remember forever. lynn will too as she happened to be the only blonde our of about 500 people.

we left dinner, toured the park near the restaurant and headed to khan khalili market. unbelievable. we arrived after 11pm and all of cairo seemed to be celebrating in the streets (15+ million people). it was as many non-US markets are: chaotic, frenzied, annoying, beautiful, loud, and hectic - but at the same time, it was somewhat relaxing to be in a sea of people all busily rushing to and from something of vital importance. we stopped at abdul's friend's silver shop, where shop i did...all with the equivalent of a friends and family discount. we went to the best hookah dealer in cairo - once again with discount. and finally, about ready to fall off of our feet, we happened into the oldest cafe in cairo - fasiwah - and had pomegranate juice, mint tea, and grape hookah (abdul's favorite). thus ended the rich-and-famous tour of cairo and our time with the three muskateers.

lynn and i were fully prepared to fall into bed, but we decided we'd seen more of cairo in 30 hours than any non-abduled person could in a week - so we headed to the airport for a 5am flight to sharm. we arrived, delirious, tired and sweaty...but happy. of course happy - we're in one of the most beautiful deserts in the world, on the red sea, preparing for a week plus of relaxation. we are truly blessed and both look at each other about 10 times a day incredulously at just how lucky we are.

we slept until early afternoon and spent the rest of the day deciding our travel plans, finding a dive shop, and wandering the streets of sharm. sharm is more a huge resort made of different hotels than anything - 99% of their revenue comes from tourism and it's clear that, like cairo, the egyptian people will try to sell you anything. the night ended with an empty bar on the beach, some sakkara's (egyptian beer), a mint hookah, and an egyptian band and belly dancer catering to the 3 of us (lynn, me and an egyptian friend of the band) that remained in the bar.

today was also fantastic - we awoke early and headed to the dive shop...lynn so she could finish her cert (loved it which is GREAT to hear because there will be LOTS of diving in our future!) and me to take three boat dives in naama bay. the red sea is absolutely amazing. unbelievably so. i saw blue rays, eels, and a sea turtle (so freakin' cool!). i swam through a school of baracuda, saw about 500 trumpet fish, and heard the little tiny trigger fish (non-lethal) munching on the coral. i met amazing people, had amazing food, and spent 3 peaceful hours under the water. can't beat a day like today.

tomorrow lynn takes her last two cert dives and i get up at 3:30AM to travel to Thistlegorm (http://www.ssthistlegorm.com/) where I'll do two wreck dives, followed by a single dive in Ras Mohhammed National Park on the way back. We plan to dive on Tuesday and Wednesday too, with three more local dives and a final three dives in Ras Mohammed before we head to Dahab for the second portion of our beach journey. We haven't made it to Luxor or Aswan yet but it's still on the list. We may try to head to Israel or Morrocco for a couple of days as well if we have time at the end - no reason not to as they're relatively close and we have the time!

hope you all are doing well - have thought of my real and friend family so much. would love to have each and everyone of you here...although that would make for a crowded hotel room and i'm sure that some of you would hate the 100+ degree heat. send me an email to let me know what i'm missing back home and i'll continue to let you in on our fun. love you guys!

~G