It is hard to travel to the country, where you have been already and you might even guess, what is awaiting for you. When once around visited pyramids and Luxor temples the beduins and money-greedy policemen try to cheat you on every possible corner, and the shop keepers in Aswan demand to take off your pants while looking at the scarves (logical, no?), then you have a feeling that nothing good is awaiting for you. And if you have just arrived from the country, where people remind you of angles, the forecast is sad, because the contrast can be to difficult to bear. Especially, that this is the last African country, and you want some nice memories from it as well. But simple traveling rehabilitated some countries like Laos and China, so we just guess that some nice things might await for us too. Especially, that our attire is getting more and more scruffy.
The ferry Sudan – Egypt
Egipte. | In Egypt.
About the formalities we have already talked in the previous article. But in fact, the majority of time the ferry spends going on the waves of Nile river on the Egyptian side. So far, the Nile is not (as the other parts) surrounded by green shores, but the everlasting silent desert. The waters of Nile is cleaner than Mississippi’s and darker than Amazons, and that makes the water the nicest from them 3.
The ship is a pot of Sudanese and Egyptians as the main soup with some white peppers – mainly traveling from South Africa all the way to the North. After the sunset the ship becomes one big mosque, where the men face the east and kneel down to pray. The women sit a bit further away, and you will never see them praying in public (apart from the mosque of course).
It got dark, and the stars covered the sky. There is always a pleasure to watch them, in the desert you are or on the deck. There is a rumour on the ship, soon we will be able to see the temple of Abu Simble. Truth indeed, very soon we are able to see the only temple in Egypt on this journey. In fact, in the darkness when they are lit, they look so much more mysterious than when you stand next to them. Maybe because you only have so much time as the ship passes by, or maybe darkness makes it look very mysterious – sitting four Pharaohs, one of them headless.
Dykumos ilgais keliais! | In the desert!
The next day we are in Egypt. We don’t even have a huge wish to get out of the ship, and the officers don’t help us by not giving back our passports. They seem to need time to check something out, and we wait almost the same time as those who transported their vehicles. We perhaps look as complicated as the car or mopeds.
Maybe some would call it a bit too much, but such annoying behavious with tourist along the Nile, is seriously gets on the nerves. We have to escape from all those we dont need a taxi. lets go the taxi is there we dont need one, but why, lets go, back off, but why. After the revolution, Egypt has lost almost 90% of tourists, so every single case now is the price of gold.
While going away from such places, there is a question on the mind. But dont they feel some sort of identity crisis. They have to sell they have no identity with. Some pagans built some building long time ago, but they have no attachment to that, so they are not proud of it or anything. The temples there are like cows, whom you can milk eternally. They would feel so much culturally closer to the random paintings on some buildings of the warriors on the arabic horses, those who conquered the territory.
Kalijanas | Waterpipe.
In Egypt the female part of the crew needs to change the personality, because the attention is overwhelming, and we are not talking about the compliments, but the attempts to touch or sometimes kiss. The behaviour should be reserved to – dont laugh, to look into the eyes, the best – dont talk at all. You can cite the dialogue between Karolis and the slave of testosterone like that;
Testosterone slave; can I kiss her?
Karolis: No way,
T.S. But why not
K. I said no.
T.S. Once?
K. We are married (you have got to say something to finish it off)
T.S. Im not asking to do anything with that (shows to his organ), to kiss only.
K. I said no.
We were about to get off, but he seemed to improve, stop and apologize. Until the black clouds darkened his mind again. You can only guess, that we got off without being the best friends.
But where does it come from, this optimism and resistance? Maybe some white women helped to form this image? Everyone has heard of the white men sex tourism in South East Asia, but it seems the female counterpart has its paradise in Egypt. Elderly women buy male prostitutes. Some years ago, I have met a guy, who had a so called relationship like that, but he couldnt finish, if he wanted to. The western female blackmailed him, and he wouldnt even be able to tell the police, as apparently the police is on the tourist side. Always.
Kalnai. | Mountains.
And maybe the western female attire so different from the local one may provoke the easy going image too. The local women cover here not only hair but often the face too, just leaving two holes for the eyes. You never know hen-egg effect here. Whether the women hide from them because they are so testosterone driven or whether they are like that because the female all covered, and anything uncovered excites them a lot. But what about Sudan then? They are just so different…
The mountain castles
Even the green Nile sides give us a chance to breath again, but we turn ourselves straight towards the Red sea, to the deserts, maybe we will find the peace there?
All of a sudden we found ourselves left in the middle of the desert (the beauty of hitchhiking) without food or water whatsoever. The heat from the desert hits us again, so how long we will be able to stay here. But soon the goodness from the people (we are away from the touristy areas) reveals itself in full bounty. There are no more clay pots or tanks of water as elsewhere, but the drivers just give us water and juice abundantly, and one was so helpful and great, that he stopped and couldn’t even move further until he gave us all his water, snacks and even some money, until we got into one car who drove us straight to the sea through the desert.
The desert mountains looked naked and treeless. They were like gigantic sand castles, built by someone and left here for eternity. The driver put on some music, where Arabic melody without any instrument lured us into the state of meditation. The mountains and the music completely enslaved us into the state of melting.
The Red Sea wilderness and urbanisation
Raudonoji jūra. | Red sea.
The Red Sea tempts surely not only us, but dosens and dosens of other tourists, who come here to spent time in pink castles and marshmellow resorts. Mainly, from Rusia, Poland, Lithuania, but of course from Germany and other countries. But Russians here are abundant, so no wonder why so many locals know Russian language, and you can see Masha supermarket or the Sasha coiffeure to make them feel attracted and like at home.
We also went to see to the beach, to see whether there is anything spectacular that we cannot find in the wilderness. It was even sad to see it, and we thought that perhaps staying near the lake in the homeland would give so much more pleasure than here. But the tastes differ, so each to its own. But we reach and appreciate the windy wild beach where there were no people, and you have your thoughts wandering on the red mountains and emerald green sea.
Port Said – the smell of Europe
Karolis.
The more north we went, the better people became. After our wild time near the Red sea and night at the Suez, we finally reach our most northern african point, Port Said. Europe smells in here – the home architecture, despite being built by British, reminds of Spain or Italy, and the climate is so pleasant.
Port Said, like Cairo or other big cities, felt the revolution the most. Still now people complain, that after the revolution Cairo is unmanageable now, and some even asked how we had courage to come because many dont.
Felafeliai. | Felafel.
In Egypt like in Sudan or Ethiopia, we are spoiled by food. We eat with full mouths falafels and deep fried eggplants, and each time we the food time is a pleasurable ritual, and not only necessity.
Few days in the hospitable, mild colours and luring tastes city Port Said do not feel like a good reward after making it from Zambia to Egypt. Egyptians though ask, whether we are not afraid to go to Turkey – is revolution out there they say. It seems we are about to circle the world. The only stage left is Europe – but Europe is home to us, isnt it?
