Egypt

Egypt - I expect the very name conjures up romantic images of camels, deserts & ancient monuments, as it did to us before we went.

Unfortunately, although the Pyramids, Sphinx, Karnak, etc were interesting we felt Egypt was the pits. We had been warned that Cairo was very polluted and that was certainly the case, but the rest of the country was about as bad. It was quite the filthiest country I have ever visited and that does not refer to the ever present dust that one expects to find in a predominately desert country.

Rubbish was everywhere, even built into the banks of some canals and pushed down the banks of the Nile. The attitude to litter seemed to be, if you empty a packet of food or cigarettes in the car, just chuck the rubbish out the window. If you have household rubbish in a bag, leave it in an empty allotment nearby, or sweep it down an embankment. If you use a tissue on the street, just dump it in the gutter or on the pavement. The people in the tourist areas were greedy, grasping pests, service was poor & the food was pretty ordinary too - not a patch on Thailand or Turkey (see my earlier articles).

It was very obvious that graft was a way of life, with those at the top of the food chain getting the biggest slice of the action, so everyone was keen to fight their way up the ladder.

Tourists were at the very bottom of the food chain and aggressively targeted.

The star system of grading hotels & tourist boats reflected either a very low standard compared to the rest of the world, or that stars could be purchased, probably both. We stayed in a 5 star hotel, which would probably rate 3.5 star elsewhere & only 2 for service. The Nile cruise boat was graded 5 star and although it would again probably rate 3.5 star, I would grade it a bit more for the fact that the toilet was, thankfully, near the bed! The 3 day cruise itself from Luxor to Aswan was OK, but nothing to write home about.

The name of the game throughout was RIPOFF; eg at the Egyptian Museum which you paid to enter, you had to pay extra to get into the section containing the mummies of the kings. A sign at the museum of Alexandria said it all: 'Foreigners LE35 , Foreign Students LE20, Egyptians LE2, Egyptian Students LE1'. In other tours we have taken in India & Turkey, the tour guide doubled as the tour leader as well. It was obvious that in Egypt the system was set up to ensure extraction of tips to the maximum number of people with a tour leader & then guides at every location visited.

General comments on the tour organised through a company I will not bother to name are:

- The Al Kalili market/bazaar was nowhere near as good as the one in Istanbul we had just visited, or that in Tehran that I visited in 1968 & we were constantly pestered, which put us off completely. Egyptians just do not have the pleasant way of enticing tourists to part with their cash that the Thais have.

- The Citadel museum was a joke with most of the interesting bits closed off.

- The tour didn't cover the Step Pyramid & museum, which I did on my own later & which I found most interesting. But avoid Memphis which is usually part of that option in a tour, where the only interesting thing was the great statue of Ramses II which was certainly not worth the LE35 entry fee (rip off).

- We did an overnight train trip from Cairo to Luxor (& returned the same way) on which we were advised dinner & breakfast would be served as part of the so called first class service. Don't use the train! If you must do it, make sure you take adequate food with you as that served on the train is inedible, (which our tour leader admitted when we caught him buying his own rations at a nearby stall!)

- The optional Nubian Dinner of the tour suddenly increased from the advertised LE40 because we had to pay the driver to take us from the out of the way hotel we were dumped in to the river, then the boat trip, then the tour of the village, then tips on top. Also, we were too far out of the town to visit the Nubian museum without paying for a taxi. Another rip off!

- Because my partner was sick we visited the Gayer-Anderson museum in Cairo on our own after the tour, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for us. It contained some lovely items & was a time capsule of a bygone era in an old style house no longer existing in any areas we saw in Cairo, to that city's detriment.

- One of the things I look forward to on any trip to foreign destinations is experiencing the food of the country. In Egypt the food was pretty awful, especially after Turkey. The bread was generally stale, choice & flavour were poor. One of the best meals we had was at the Nubian village with freshly baked bread & home cooked servings of vegetables and meat.

- Naturally, the tour leader did not refund us the cost of entry to places that were included in the price of the tour, but which we had missed because of sickness.

We were both sick on the trip, my partner quite badly, despite taking every precaution. This was the first time either of us have been sick on any of our trips in Europe, India or the Far East and we were not alone - all our tour group were either sick or feeling off at one time or the other.

My advice to anyone contemplating a trip to Egypt to see the ancient monuments is to visit your local library, borrow a book & DVD & enjoy them in the comfort of your own home.

If you must visit the country, make sure you allow plenty of extra cash for the ripoffs you will encounter, ensure you have plenty of medication with you for stomach upsets, and make sure your travel insurance has good accident and health cover!

Also, research where you want to go thoroughly, plan the shortest & quickest route between points & be very careful what you eat, so you are in & out of the country in the shortest possible time. That way you may avoid being pestered too much & getting too sick, (although I wouldn't bet on the last)

Infonomad: Hobbies

Infonomad: Hobbies

Turkey

Turkey - Turkey & Egypt have always fascinated me, so I decided to combine the two, since they are only an hour's flying time away from each other. I also had the advantage of a Turkish acquaintance who was able to give me some tips on what to do in Istanbul and a website to check out - www.turkeytravelplanner.com - which I found useful & informative.

Turkey in April is cold, so be prepared! I didn't know what to expect visually, but was quite surprised and disappointed in the modern architecture, which consisted of undistinguished residential tenament blocks. Many of these were unfinished or unoccupied, reflecting the financial downturn. I was also surprised at the amount of litter around in various places, which somewhat detracted from the wonderful scenery in places. We had booked a 2 week tour through Neon and can definately recommend them. The guide and driver were both great. (The guide is freelance & can be contacted on consultmir@yahoo.com if anyone would prefer to tailor an individual trip.) Naturally, we did not see more than some highlights of the western part of the country. Another tour concentrated on the eastern areas & we may take that another time. The Turks initially struck me as being a rather reserved race, but we found them to be most helpful and friendly when approached for assistance or directions and they were not pushy or intrusive.

We covered the usual Istanbul sights of which the Topkapi Palace is the standout, particularly the exhibits in the former mint. The Blue Mosque was impressive but the Grand Bazaar was very touristy & not a patch on the one I visited in Teheran in 1968. After the tour we did a Bosphorus trip on the state ferry, but would have been better not taking a return ticket or going to the end stop which has nothing apart from a good view at the top of the hill & a nice restaurant there, not enough to fill the several hours' wait for the trip back. Instead, we should have taken a single ticket, got off at Sariyer, the stop before, had a look around and a meal, then taken the bus back.

Gallipoli was moving; the lime cascades at Permukkale fascinating; Antalya on the Mediterranean coast enabled us to thaw out a bit & go on a short boat trip around the harbour & coastline; the Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia were interesting, but we spent too much time in that region before going to Ankara, where Ataturk's Mausoleum was a real highlight. It contained some wonderful exhibits and one of the best dioramas I have ever seen covering the Gallipoli and Independence campaigns, with some fascinating history of how the Allies were defeated and driven out of the country. (Naturally, the British in particular don't dwell on any of this when they teach history in their schools & I expect the same applies to the French!) The Anatolian Civilizations Museum was also most interesting & I felt that the tour did not allow enough time for those final two items.

We had two days to ourselves after the tour to wander around Istanbul & visit places that were not included in the tour, like the Cistern, before we left for Cairo.

Finally, FOOD! The food in Turkey is great, particularly the sweets, so be prepared to put on weight, or take it off after your trip. The Turks have a very sweet tooth, but the sugar in their sweets is masked to some extent by the nuts they use in baklava etc. They also like their lunches and most stops on the trip were set up for a full meal instead of a snack.

Travel

Well, I've been off the air for some time because my partner & I have been on an extended holiday to destinations that have beckoned for quite some years, namely Turkey and Egypt.

We decided to go via Thailand, as one of my mates is married to a Thai & lives and works in Phuket. We always enjoy seeing him & his family, and he & I manage a few games of golf on various courses as well, whilst my partner relaxes on the beach, having Thai massages & shopping!

I'll treat all our destinations separately in my blog to keep them simple and short (relatively), as not everyone will be interested in all of them & they were all very different.

Thailand - We love the country & probably the main reason for that is its people, who are so friendly & eager to help without being pushy or intrusive. Of course, it also helps that the exchange rate means that a good time can be had eating out, shopping & enjoying a Thai massage!

We spent a few days last year in Chang Mai in the north, which was cooler but still green & tropical. It is a former capital in a scenic area, quite close to the Burmese border on one side & North Vietnam & Laos on the other. We will return there to explore further. Also last year we went to Kanchanburi to see the Death Railway & Bridge on the River Kwae. Whilst the Railway and cemetery were very moving and the stay in the boatel moored on the banks of the river was relaxing, we found the area quite arid compared to Chang Mai and considerably less scenic.

Our stay this time was in Patong, the major tourist area of Phuket, which has completely recovered from the tsunami. It is brash, with plenty of shopping and nightlife and a crowded beach, although quieter beaches close by, one of which we stayed at. However, if it is shopping you are principally interested in, go to Bangkok instead, as it is cheaper and there is plenty of nightlife and things of interest there too.

Phuket has several world class golf courses, my main interest, most of them carved out of old tin mining areas resulting in large water hazards with steep, deep sides in many cases! Blue Canyon and the Lakes are two adjoining courses near the airport, exclusive with residential facilities attached. Laguna is halfway between the airport and Patong, is flatter and is part of a resort complex. Country Club is near Patong and has 27 holes. Loch Palm is also near Patong and has a second course next to it completed only a couple of years ago, Red Mountain, which I think is the best course of the lot, very scenic and although all these courses are challenging, this is probably the most challenging, with the advantage that if you are not having a good day, you can relax and enjoy the views! There is another course, Mission Hills, which I have not played. Prices vary, but are not cheap by Aussie standards and there are caddy fees and tips on top. I have heard that courses in Pattaya are cheaper, so that will be on the agenda for the ruture.