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Touring runners hoof it through Egypt
By RICK and CINDY OWENS © St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2001 Editor's note: This is the second in a series of reports of what is expected to be a one-year, backpacking journey around the world by a Clearwater couple. Their goal is to raise $5,000 in support of World Runners International, a U.S.-based, non-profit organization providing health-care assistance to African countries. * * *
We awoke our first morning at an inexpensive hotel in central Cairo to see a mass of traffic, people and food stalls lining the streets. Buses belching exhaust, donkeys drawing wagons loaded with vegetables and cars with horns blasting all compete for the roadway. After three days of sightseeing -- including, of course, the pyramids in nearby Giza -- we have become proficient at darting between traffic. Distances between cars are measured in centimeters, not inches. Through it all the Egyptians, for the most part, remain calm and unperturbed. They are outgoing, frequently calling to us, "Welcome, welcome! Where are you from?" Our answers of "the U.S.A.," and "Florida" were popular. We hit the backpacker circuit: A train to Luxor, to visit the spectacular Valley of the Kings, and then a bus to Aswan, to see the High Dam. Completed by the Russians in 1971, the dam now controls the annual flooding of the Nile and contributes a major portion of Egypt's electricity. Dahab, located on the Red Sea in the Sinai desert, has become a mecca to backpackers and budget travelers. Through a combination of train, bus and ferry, we make the two-day journey. The village of Dahab proves to be a throwback to the 1960s -- a combination of Haight-Ashbury and Baja, Mexico. The village was originally a Bedouin camp visited for centuries by nomads. Today, simple bungalows have been erected on the primitive foundations, affording inexpensive lodging. With a Brit and a Dutch couple we met on the way to Dahab, we bargain for lodging at Camp Moon of Sinai, one of many camps along the beach. By European standards, Egypt is cheap -- and Dahab is even cheaper. Cindy and I are pleased to get a room with a bath and hot water for 15 Egyptian pounds, about $4, per night. The beach is serviced by a single dirt road lined with restaurants featuring colorful cushions and rugs, and views overlooking the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia to the East. Cars are scarce here; donkey-drawn carts, camels and horses constitute most of the traffic. Our time is spent lounging and reading in the sun, smoking shishas (the common water pipes) and enjoying a wide range of inexpensive food: Fresh fish, lamb kebabs, salads and baked macaroni dishes are available for less than $2. We celebrate Christmas with our new English and Danish friends, as well as assorted Irish and South American tourists. The beach is festive; restaurants are decorated with tinsel, cloth ribbons -- virtually anything red and green to signify the holiday. Our Christmas dinner is grilled barracuda, lamb kebabs, grilled potatoes, macaroni bechamel (oven-baked pasta covered with meat, mashed potatoes and spices) and caramel raisin cakes covered with a sour cream yogurt frosting. On New Year's Day we visit St. Katherine's monastery, the purported site of the Bible's Burning Bush. A letter is displayed in the monastery that is said to be from the prophet Mohammed and displaying his palm print. In the afternoon we climb 7,500-foot Mount Sinai, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments. Mount Sinai has a spiritual presence, and the view from the summit is breathtaking. After two days' recovery from the climb, we are finally able to walk again, so we set out for a Bedouin camp to the north, near the Israeli border. The first leg of the journey is by truck to a scuba-diving site, the Blue Hole. Here the road ends. The sea is surrounded by shallow coral reefs and quickly drops to a depth of 300 feet. Much of the coral has been damaged by careless swimmers, but we learn that huge stretches of virgin beach are now protected from development. The next segment of the trip is a two-hour journey by camel along the rugged coastline to the Bedouin camp. Camels' feet are large pads, and they prove to be sure-footed: Numerous times we cringe as our steeds negotiate rocks and boulders that serve as the trail. Thus far in our months-long journey, the Egyptians have been the friendliest people we have encountered. Next stop: India. * * * When not traversing the globe, Rick and Cindy Owens make their home in Clearwater.
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From the Times Travel page
From the AP |
The second segment of our round-the-world plane ticket was from Paris to Cairo.
