2010.10.7It took us another hour driving from El Akabat to White Desert. It’s dark already but the driver didn’t turn on the light in order to save the battery for the night. The area we were going to camp was far off the road. Although rangers put stones to mark the direction, it was totally dark and I could only see some huge rocks here and there around us. It’s certainly not an issue for our driver – he was driving fast! The guide said that they could remember the direction by the shape of these rocks, but to us, they all looked similar.

We met other tour groups at the camping site. We didn’t camp together but we kept each other in sight. Once we found the pivot spot, the driver and guide started setting up the camp. They put the cushion on the ground, used the jeep as the support to setup two sides of wall with blanket. The car had two batteries to power the light. When the camp was all set, they started cooking – the driver was cooking Egyptian spiced rice and veggi stew, while our guide lit the fire to cook BBQ chicken.

Camp in White Desert

Setup the Fire for BBQ

We were lucky that there were no moon at the night and the only light source was from our camp. I hadn’t seen these many stars for long time, maybe the last time was at inner Mongolian grassland. I could clearly see the milky way and watch stars rising and setting over the horizon. This was the wonder we came here for. At the moment, the only thing I wanted to do was watching them … besides taking pictures. I tried to shoot star trails for several times, but my tripod was not heave enough, so after half-an-hour exposure, the star trails always got derailed. The pictures of the Milky Way were quite successful.

Milky Way

After taking some photos, our dinner was ready. It was the best dinner we had since we came to Egypt. The salt and spices were perfectly balanced in the rice and chickens. It’s not because we were hungry, they were delicious.

Delicious Dinner in the Desert

We had a choice to either sleep in the tent or under the sky. We were not that adventurous so we chose the tent. Our guide and driver did not need the tent, they got used to sleep openly in the desert, the blanket wall was enough for shielding them from the wind. At about midnight, we were woken up by the squeaky sound around the tent – we were visited by fennec foxes. In fact, they had shown up during the dinner. These animals are only a little bigger than cats. They survive in the desert by searching food at night and eating everything that are eatable. There were really not many eatable things here without human visitors.

A Fennec Fox Visited Our Camp

It’s 5am in the morning when I woke up the next day. I forced myself to get up to take more photos. When the dawn broke, we for the first time saw this land and the bizarre rocks shaped by wind erosion.

Silhouette of Rocks in White Desert Half an Hour before Sunrise

Star Trail in White Desert before Sunrise

Other Camps in White Desert

Other Camps in White Desert

Other Camps in White Desert

Sunrise in White Desert

After a quick breakfast, we set off at 6:30am. We stopped at several White Desert’s signature spots. One down side to go with the tour is that you have to follow their schedule not yours. We only had a few minutes to take several snaps at each place. But without the help of the dedicated driver and guide, it is impossible for average travelers to access this spectacular area – we had no idea about this place before we planned the trip. Although this place deserves more promotion, we feel lucky that we could get here before it is spoiled by tourism.

Rabbit

Chicken

Sheeps

Mushroom

White Desert

In Bahariya, we were impressed by a hot spring in the desert, then we were picked up by a minivan back to Cairo.

Hot Spring in Bahariya

We had Hot Dogs at a gas station near Cairo. The roller coaster and other familiar amusement park facilities could be seen afar. It’s a new suburban district and an expensive one according to our guide. We thought about going to Citadel if we had time, but the traffic again was bad and we didn’t have energy to walk another 2 hours anymore. We directly headed to the airport for the flight to Luxor at the night.

A Poster Features Pharaoh in Cairo Airport

2010.10.6When I planed the trip, I struggled on whether we should go to White Desert. We can spend more days in Cairo or Luxor if we don’t take this two-day tour. We finally made the decision to go there because it is relatively less visited by tourists and photo opportunity seems to be excellent. We are glad we made the right choice. It’s certainly one of the highlights of the trip.

Many tour companies provide packages for White Desert tour. We booked the tour with Select Egypt. A minivan picked us up at hotel at 7:30AM. The road out of the city is the same one to Giza. Set the shutter speed to 1/4000s, I could take picture in the car. I was interested in the strange buildings in construction along the highway. Not only they don’t look stable, but the windows are so small.

Strange-looking Buildings near Cairo

When we reached Cairo’s suburban area, normal residential buildings started showing up.

New Residential Buildings in Cairo Suburban

For the whole 4-hour drive from Cairo to Bahariya, we were the only passengers on this air-conditioned minivan. After about one hour on the way, we entered the Western Desert. The road condition was very good. From time to time, we saw these huge tires used as road signs.

Huge Tire as Road Mark

After two hours, we stopped at the resting area. The store served Egyptian tea and snacks.

Rest Area between Cairo and Bahariya

Rest Area between Cairo and Bahariya

We continued on for another 2 hours. After passing several small oases, we finally arrived in Bahariya. The main settlement of Bahariya is a small village. We were dropped at a small hotel and waited to be transfered to a 4×4 jeep to White Desert.

Small Hotel in Bahariya Where We Transfered to a 4x4

Small Hotel in Bahariya Where We Transfered to a 4x4

Our jeep arrived at 1PM. Every tour group has one guide and one driver. Our guide has served in peace corps in Sudan. He is young, speaking good English and quite knowledgeable on many things. In fact, he is very modern compared with other Egyptians we met before. On the contrary, our driver is a senior, which means he’s very experienced and familiar with the area.

Before having lunch, we first stopped at a huge sand dune, the black desert area and a spring in the desert. The black desert is quite unique in that the whole area is covered by the small black stones, from the ground to the volcano-shaped hills. Although the area is not totally in black color, the wildness of the vast uninhabitable region did evoke some unearthly feelings.

Huge Sand Dune

Black Desert

Black Desert

Black Desert

Spring in the Desert

We had our lunch at a resting area in El Heiz Oasis. The place was built just for serving the organized tour groups. While the outside was dry and hot, grass mat and palm leaves provided the shade that made inside unbelievably cool. The food was ‘lavish’ considering it’s in the middle of the desert. We didn’t have many, especially the fresh tomatoes. We worried about the food safety but I now think we worried too much.

The Resting Area for Lunch

Lunch

On our way to Farafra direction, we started seeing more sand dunes. This is the east border of the Sahara.

East Border of the Sahara

After that, we stopped at a place with crystal formation of stones.

Crystal Formation of Stones

We were in fact behind the schedule, partly because we left Cairo half an hour late, partly because I always took a little more time at every place to for pictures. It turned out to be a good thing. It’s 5PM already and the Sun goes down at 6:30PM. There was no chance we could reach the White Desert before sunset. So we took more time in El Akabat area and observed a wonderful sunset. We hiked down from a sand hill, what presented in front of us was a valley with huge standing boulders. The Sun on the horizon lighted up these boulders and painted them with the amazing golden color. We started seeing the white stone formation on the ground. After the Sun dropped below the horizon, the color of the sky became more subtle. It transited gradually from blue to purple color. It’s much better than the sound and light show at any temple.

El Akabat

El Akabat

El Akabat

El Akabat

We learnt why 4×4 Jeep is critical in this area, the sand is deep and offers very little traction. One car actually got stuck in the sand. Our driver and guide had to perform a rescue session.

Cairo’s morning.

Cairo\'s Morning

Cairo, whose official name is Al-Qahira and called by Egyptians as Masr, is a city with unparalleled history in terms of length and variety. A journey through Cairo is a virtual time travel: from Saqqara, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Old Coptic Cairo and Heliopolis, to Al-Azhar, Citadel, Fatimid Cairo, Khan al-Khalili and more recent Zamalek district and Cairo Tower. It also provides a life-time photo opportunity that occurs on each step in these places.

Unlike many people think, although it is somewhat chaotic, Cairo is a very safe city, even for western travelers. There are many tourists, including females who travel alone, walking on the street during the night. They may attract attentions or even verbal harassments, but that’s just the way it is. Taxi drivers never turn on their meters, but as long as you negotiate the price beforehand, they are generally dependable too.

The Police Patrols the Giza Plateau

But our impressions of Cairo are not all good. First and foremost is the traffic. If you think driving in New York or Beijing is hard, welcome to Cairo! Maybe because the gas is so cheap, 0.6 USD/gallon=0.9 LE /liter, the streets are crowded with cars everywhere. Driving in the lane is the least thing you should worry about. You’re suppose to race the car not drive it. The traffic can be totally jammed at any time, so it always takes longer than you thought to get where you want to go.

Another thing that often frustrates us is the “baksheesh” culture – money is asked for everything. Some people are sitting in front of temples waiting for you to take pictures; others show you some places you might skip; the tour guide can suggest you to follow him to smell the essence of flowers; even polices may ask you for baksheesh after showing you directions. Egyptians are generally very hospitable. It’s common that people try to start talking to you on the street, asking “where are you from?” or “你好”. But, it is very hard for us to tell if it’s simple hospitality or just try to get you to buy something.

2010.10.5In the morning, we felt we hadn’t seen the Pyramids enough, so we decided to go to Giza again. Learnt the lesson from yesterday, we set off at 7AM. It took us more than an hour because of the traffic jam, but we were still earlier than those tour buses. We entered Giza Plateau from the entrance near Sphinx. There were only one small group there, we got at least 20-minute time of our own to take pictures and appreciate her majesty.

The Sphinx and the Great Pyramid

Valley Temple of Khafre in front of the Sphinx

We didn’t go to the place with panorama view, but we did get chance to take pictures with a camel.

Camel Rides

Camel for Photo

The inside of the Great Pyramid only opens at afternoon. We couldn’t wait that long. Had we seen the documentary about how pyramids were build, the chambers, pathways and possible internal ramps, we probably would make a different decision, but our plan for the afternoon was to to see Islamic Cairo. The first stop was the area around Khan al-Khalili. It’s so coincident that the taxi driver to took us there was the same one who took us to Giza in the first day.

Just next to Khan al-Khalili, Mosque of al-Azhar is one of the oldest mosque of the city and the highest authority of Islamic study. My wife had to wear scarf to get in. Mosques have more restrictions on what to wear for women – all the body parts have to be covered.

Entrance of Mosque of al-Azhar

Mosque of al-Azhar

Mosque of al-Azhar

Mosque of al-Azhar

The world famous Khan al-Khalili bazaar contains only a handful alleys. They are so narrow that the goods placed outside the stores, clothes, carpet, brass, spices and souvenirs, almost block the pathway.

Brass on Sale in Khan al-Khalili

Leaving Khan al-Khalili behind, Fatimid Cairo is like a living museum of medieval architecture. It has many mosques and palaces that were originally built in Fatimid dynasty, but reconstructed by later dynasties. Wandering around its narrow streets, I was particularly amazed by those intriguing and delicate carvings on the wall and window. Arabic inscriptions also become part of decoration of buildings as they are always engraved in such artistic styles.

Madrassa of Sultan Barquq, Islamic Cairo

Islamic Cairo

Islamic Cairo

Islamic Cairo

Islamic Cairo

Islamic Cairo

Islamic Cairo

We spent about 2 hour in Islamic Cairo. After that, we made a right decision not to eat McDonalds but went to Al-Azhar Park and had a lunch at Citadel View Restaurant. Al-Azhar Park makes a distinct contrast to its surroundings – it’s like a small oasis among all the gray tones. The restaurant is quite high-end with nice food, good service, and especially, wonderful view. In the front, you can clearly see the Citadel erecting on top of the highland; at the back, it provides panoramic views of Islamic Cairo.

Bread at Citadel View Restaurant in Al-Azhar Park

Citadel Overlook from Citadel View Restaurant in Al-Azhar Park

Islamic Cairo Panorama from Citadel View Restaurant in Al-Azhar Park

When we arrived at Mosque of Ibn Tulun, the sun was already low in the sky. There was only one tour group there and they soon left. The inner courtyard were all empty, I felt I was looking at a Star Wars scene. The spiral minaret can be accessed from outer courtyard. You can reach the very top with an easy climb, rewarded by an excellent view of the city.

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

City View from the Spiral Minaret at Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Again, it’s too late to enter Citadel. It’s a regret because this was our last day in Cairo.

2010.10.4When you are first time in Cairo, the first thing you want to do is – to see the pyramids.

We left the hotel at 8AM. On our way to Giza, one man who just jumped into our car at the traffic light and started asking us to take the pyramid tour with him. He spoke very good English and were good at talking by telling us travel tips, local customs together with his sales pitch. However, he wasted us at least half an hour by taking us to his village near Giza. What we learnt is, we should made up our mind early, stick to the plan and be firm to refuse any distraction.

Pyramids, Sphinx, Giza Plateau, Pharaoah’s Tomb, merely mentioning these names can get us excited, now we stand beside them. Somehow, we didn’t feel the mysteriousness anymore. However, we were still awed by their sheer size, and thinking how old they are even made me “confused”. “Have they really been standing there for five thousand years?” Five thousand years ago, Egyptian could already build these enormous structures with this level of accuracy. Amazing, overwhelming, and …, confusing!

The Great Pyramid

The Great Pyramid

For a while, we couldn’t find the Sphinx, then we saw a round-shaped structure at the distance. That must be it. It’s the Sphinx’ back of the head.

The Sphinx‘ back of the head

The Sphinx and Pyramid of Menkaure

We left Giza Plateau at about noon. After a short break at the hotel, we went to the Egyptian Museum. It’s not in my original plan, but it seemed to be a good destination after talking to Hotel’s personnel. We hired a guide for a 2-hour tour. For first-time visitors who are not familiar with Egyptology, a guide can be really helpful to lead you through more than 120,000 items in display and let you focus on the most interesting pieces, but sometimes the guide just halfheartedly recited what he had to say.

The Egyptian Museum

Street view outside the Egyptian Museum

Our next stop was Coptic Cairo. Coptic Cairo is a district where many Christian churches are located at. It’s also called Old Cairo because it is where the city was found when Egypt was a predominantly Christian country. We didn’t get into the district because the ticket office closes at 4PM everyday. Had we visited Coptic Cairo first, we would still have time to see the museum, because we would be able to get to the museum before 4PM and the museum closes at 6PM.

Coptic Cairo

Coptic Cairo

Coptic Cairo

2010.10.2~3In hindsight, the trip plan was a bit aggressive – in total we flew 13 times in 16 days. We went to two continents, camped in the desert, strolled along the Nile River and lodged on the clifftop by the Aegean Sea. Maybe the only thing I wanted to see but had to skip is Meteora in Greece. Other than that, we felt pleased and, in fact, honored to see all the wonders in these two countries of the longest human history and the greatest civilizations.

The trip started on Oct. 2nd. We left San Francisco at noon. It’s Lufthansa Airline but operated by United. Because it’s an international flight. United “generously” provided one meal and one snack on the 10-hour flight. There were 5-hour connection time at Frankfurt so we had a lunch in the airport. The food was nice, but the exchange rate was outrageous, €1 = $1.68.

Frankfurt Airport

Lunch at Frankfurt Airport

Lunch at Frankfurt Airport

When we arrived in Cairo, it’s already Sunday night. Before we stepped out of the airport, we already started experiencing Egyptian’s “hospitality”. A man in the official(?) airport booth offered us the price of 150 Egyptian pounds to the hotel, which should only cost 50 pounds. Out of the airport, we were approached by a young man who claimed he had a taxi. With no white or black taxi in sight, we decided to go with him. We ended up paying him more because he told us an extra 10-pound was needed to use the toll road, which he didn’t take. Any way, it’s late night and we arrived in hotel safely.

The hotel we stay is Safir Hotel at Zamalek. Zamalek is an island in the Nile River. Many foreign embassies resides in this district. It’s a quieter area but by no means up-scale. We got a smaller room in a suite, but we did have a nice view of the Nile.

Overlook the Nile River from the Hotel Room

The best feature of the hotel is its pool. It’s an open area by the river, which offers breezy atmosphere that make you think the tumultuous Cairo is a different world. Every Sunday night, live music is played with traditional instruments, such as Oud.

Live Music in Safir Hotel at Zamalek