I AM COMING HOME!!!!

i was on the bus yesterday, heading to cairo from the western desert villages, and the bus went past the great pyramids of giza. i sat in the bus looking out the dirty window at these wonders that just a month ago i was so excited to see. and so many pictures ran through my head. of so many things that i have seem and heard and smelled and felt here. so many images....madness! and through all of this, as i looked at the pyramids that now seemed like a normal sight to me....i knew that i was ready to go home. 2 months away is enough this time. i got a nice hotel room in cairo and e mailed my daughter meg, who, as per normal, got my tickets all changed and done. (she is such a blessing) so i fly out in about 12 hours and i will be joining the rest of the vancouverites in bitching about the the weather!!

see yah!

THE MUD BRICK VILLAGES

it was a wonderful experience to wander through the village and wander through time. it feels like no one lives there and then you hear a baby crying and you know that this is still home to many.
to us it looks uninhabitable. but to them it is what they have always known. i notice that in the desert and in many parts of this country people work slow and steady. they are resting at least as often as they are working, dividing their day, keeping their strength.
i can understand how they cant believe the pace that we generaly move at! it seems as bizzarre to them as theirs does to us. but of course we all have our ways and the joy of travelling is seeing and understanding 'their' ways.
nameste

THE MAN IN BLACK IS MY NEW FRIEND SAM. HE SHOWED ME ALL AROUND THE VILLAGES...and all he wants in return is to marry my daughter!!

Just had to catch the bumble bee in action!

some of the faces of people who live in the old desert villages....beautiful, friendly people

seriously, one of the cleaner unisex public bathrooms!!

SWEETLY SINGS THE DONKEY..my ass! i suprised this guy and he went NUTS! look at his face...ah, what an awful sound!!

this is a lovely family that i met who live in the 300 year old mud brick village!

I AM NOT IN CAIRO!

HI, THE PICTURES BELOW WERE ALL TAKEN FROM THE TRAIN. I LEFT LUXOR AT 930 AM AND AFTER A LONG TRIP AND HAVING A LARGE ROCK HIT MY TRAIN WINDOW (WHICH ONLY HAS ONE PANE BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN HIT BEFORE), THAT WAS VERY SCARY BUT IT DIDNT BREAK. KIDS THROW ROCKS AT TRAIN WHEN THEY GO BY, I SAW IT DONE IN VIETNAM TOO.

ANY WAYS I ARRIVED IN ASYUT, KINDA THINKING THAT I MIGHT TRY TO FIND THE ORPHANAGE...OR MAYBE JUST TAKING A BUS ON AS I REALLY DIDNT WANT TO BE IN ANOTHER BIG EGYPTIAN CITY.

AS IT WAS I WASNT GIVEN A CHOICE.

AS SOON AS I GOT OFF THE TRAIN I GOT A POLICE ESCORT TO THE BUS. WHICH IS JUST A SHORT WALK.

THEY DONT WELCOME TOURIST IN THAT TOWN...HAHA. PLUS I GUESS BECAUSE OF THE BOMB IN CAIRO IT IS EVEN WORSE RIGHT NOW.

SO I TOLD THE POLICE THAT I WANTED TO GO TO DAKHLA. AND THE BUS SAYS THAT I CAN ONLY GET A TICKET TO AL-KHARGA (WHICH IS THE OASIS TOWN BEFORE WHERE I WANTED TO GO). SO FINE.

I GET MY TICKET AND THE POLICE MAN IS STILL WITH ME. I BUY MYSELF A COKE AND ONE FOR HIM. HE TOOK THE COKE BUT WHEN I OFFERED HIM MONEY (WHICH YOU GIVE TO EVERYONE HERE!!), HE REFUSED THE MONEY, I COULD BRIBE HIM WITH COLD DRINKS BUT THAT WAS THE LIMIT!!

SO I GOT TO THE NEXT TOWN AND THEN I TOLD THE TAXI THAT I WANTED TO COME TO DAKHLA, SO I WAS TAKEN TO A MICO BUS. THEY ARE THE NIGHTMARE OF NIGHTMARES!

THE WHOLE POINT OF THE MICO BUS, IS TO SQUEEZE AS MANY PEOPLE IN AS YOU CAN AND THEN DRIVE AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

SO I TOOK A SEAT BY THE WALL SO I WASNT AS SQUISHED. THERE WERE 15 OF US IN THERE.

NEXT TO ME WAS A HANDSOME YOUNG MAN, WHO IS A FRENCH TEACHER HERE. AND NEXT TO HIM WAS AN OLD CRAZY MAN. HE SHOWED HIS MADNESS RIGHT AWAY IN TALKING TO HIMSELF, I DONT KNOW WHAT HE SAID BUT HE MADE PEOPLE LAUGH AT HIM ALOT.

THE CRAZY MAN AND I WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DIDNT HAVE CELL PHONES.
THE BUS WAS ALIVE WITH PERSONALZED CELL PHONE RINGS AND MEN TALKING REALLY LOUND ON THEIR PHONES.

WE HAD TO STOP A FEW POLICE CHECKS AND THEY ONLY CARED ABOUT ME. SO I KEPT HEARING THE DRIVER AND THE PEOPLE SAY "CANADAY....CANADAY!!" THEN EVERYONE WOULD LOOK AT ME..HOW FUN!

FUN TRIP!!
I GOT MET AT THE BUS HERE BY SAM. HE HAS THE HOTEL ANWAR WHERE I AM STAYING. YOU WILL HEAR MORE ABOUT HIM WHEN I POST THE NEW PICTURES.
NAMESTE

pics taken from the train from LUXOR to ASYUR egypt.

v

THIS IS KARIM, MY NICE DRIVER TODAY. WE WENT TO THE TRAIN STATION FOR MY TICKET, THEN THROUGH THE MARKET.