"My Y2K New Year" a Egypt Travel Page by brewjohnson

As the end of the millenium approached, a good buddy of mine began to make plans for a trip to round out the millenium. We bantered around a few ideas: Paris, Sydney, Cape Town, Rio, London, and many more, but when it came down to it, he thought there would be no better place to be on New Year's Eve 2000 than the Great Pyramids. I had been to Egypt a couple of years back and could not have agreed more with him. So, we got a few friends together and set up this trip. We had a great time, and I hope you enjoy my quick descriptions of our comings and goings of our two and a half weeks in the Middle East.

The Wadi Rum is the former stomping ground of Lawrence of Arabia, both the real Lawrence and the film version played by Peter O'Toole. It is some of the most striking desert landscape you can find anywhere in the world.

The Wadi Rum was an incredible stop. These pictures really don't do it justice. I really recommend watching Lawrence of Arabia, the cinemotoghraphy in that film allows you to see the grandeur of the place better than my photos, but I definitely recommend making a stop here if you are in this part of the world. Standing in the desert, dwarfed on either side by huge rocks and cliffs jutting into the sky is a humbling experience and should not be missed.

After a day in the Wadi Rum, we made our way to Petra. If you haven't heard or seen pictures of Petra, you are missing out. By far, it was the highlight of my trip (both times of been there). This is another one of those places that I could never get tired of visiting. One of the most amazing things about Petra is that it was undiscovered for hundreds of years until a Swiss traveller tricked some Bedouin into taking him to this lost city. It is an amazing sight-an entire city, large amphitheater and all, carved into pink rock cliffs. To get into the park, you have to walk through the seik (a sliver of a canyon over a mile long), and when you get to the end of the seik, viola! The Treasury of Petra is staring you in the face!

There is probably no monument or archaeological sight on earth that is more awe inspiring than the Treasury and other mounuments of Petra. It is absolutely remarkable. You could literally spend days and not see all of the sights that Petra has to offer. It is a wonderful place to be sure. One of the nice things about Petra is that unlike other very touristy spots in the Middle East (ie. the Pyramids), you can still feel like you're alone, or close to it. No vendors hassle you and demand that you but their wares. It is truly a great place. If you have the opportunity to go there, do it soon, because nobody knows how long Petra will remain the way it is, but it is magical while it does.

While we were reluctant to leave Petra, we had other places to be. We hit the Dead Sea (an interesting experience to say the least), spent a great night in Amman, and then made our way back to Israel, where we visited Masada, Bethlehem, and Tel Aviv before making our way back to the states. Needless to say, it was an excellent way to finish up the 20th century and an even better way to begin the 21st. I hope you enjoy my rambling about my trip, and if you want any more information on these different places, please visit my Egypt and Jordan pages. Talk to you later!

Our first stop was Israel. We actually only had one full day in Israel before flying to Cairo (we were going to spend a few days in Israel before we flew home), so we decided to spend it in Jerusalem. I doubt anyone could disagree that no matter how they feel about the political problems and unrest in Israel, it is one of the most interesting places in the world. Jerusalem is one of the reasons why it is so interesting. This city is the heart of such controversy. Jews, Muslims and Christians all consider it one of the holiest cities in the world. After passing through Jaffa gate, we made our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where the tomb of Jesus Christ is located), the Dome of the Rock (where Mohammed ascended to the heavens), the Wailing Wall (one of the holiest places for the Jewish faith), and saw many other historical landmarks. While all of these things were interesting to see, what I enjoyed most about the city was seeing scenes like the one in the pciture; muslim women sitting in front of a doorway with a star of David. All over the city, I saw signs of the different religions and cultures living side by side peacefully, and it gave hope that some day they will be able to iron out their differences.

Our next stop was Cairo. We arrived a few days before New Year's so we could take in some of the sights before celebrating the turn of the millenium. Cairo is an unbelievable city with amazing amount of history. You could spend days wandering through the Kahn-el-Kahlili markets or walking through the maze-like streets of Islamic Cairo. Like I said, I'd been to Egypt a few years before, but when my friends wanted to go see the pyramids as soon as we got there, I had no objections. I've heard some people say the pyramids are overated...I think they're crazy. I could go back a hundred times. After all, what could be more fun than 6 guys riding camels in the desert while looking at some of the most amazing structures ever built.

After spending some time walking the byways of the Cairo markets, I was ready for a change of pace. I needed to get away from the honking and congestions of the city streets, so I headed for an out of the way spot...the Birquash camel markets. These are Cairo's main camel market. Camel traders from the Sudan make their way up the 40 day camel trail to a spot around Aswan and then ship their camels by train up to the markets in Cairo. I had heard it was not your typical tourist spot, so I knew I needed to check it out. The drive to the markets alone was worth the trip. It was the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for most of our trip. This meant that it was almost impossible to get food during the day because the Egyptians are devout Muslims who fast from sunrise to sunset. While that could be a bit of a problem, it also made for some unique experiences. On my drive to the market, I passed through a small village during prayer time and almost 1000 people were in the streets stopping traffic, facing Mecca, praying (I hope you can see in the attached picture).

After passing through some other interesting villages and farmland in the countryside, I was beginning to get worried when my driver, who didn't speek English kept stopping to ask for directions after making wrong turns. I wasn't sure if we were on the right track until we began to come across camel trains like the one in the picture above.

The camel markets were unbelievable. I have a great time walking around a normal market in Egypt. But when you're surrounded by angry men arguing over the price of camels, you really feel like you're in a different country. What was great about the whole thing is that while I was walking around (I was the only tourist there at the time), nobody even took a second look at me. They simply went about their business of shouting and shaking their hands in the air at what I presumed were heated negotiations over the price of the camels. This was an experience I will never forget, and I recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of an adventure to activities that the average tourist would miss.

After spending a long and tiring day driving to the coast city of Alexandria, we decided to spend a relaxing day in Cairo before heading for the pyramids for the big New Year's event by Jean-Michelle Jarre. This "relaxing" day consisted primarily of finding libations for the evening and watching the New Year's celebrations on CNN in our hotel room. The trip to the pyramids was one of the most eventful 3 hours of our entire time their. We hitched rides, hung from the back bumpers of buses and did anything we could to make our trip go quicker, and when we finally arrived we weren't disappointed. The fireworks alone were worth the price of admission, but add to that the performances and the fact that this was all taking place in fron of the Pyramids...it is something I will never forget!!!

After our raucous night at the pyramids, we hopped on an Egypt Air flight to Sharm-el-Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula. Sharm and Na'ama Bay are definite tourist destinations. Located on the Red Sea, the resorts and good weather draw people from all over Europe. We went mainly for the diving (which is some of the world's best), but didn't mind the nightlife which we hadn't been able to enjoy in Cairo due to Ramadan. If you are a diver, I highly recommend Sharm and Ras Mohammed national park. About an hour from Sharm is a town called Dahab. Dahab has excellent diving as well, and is more of a budget traveller's destination. The Sinai Peninsula is one of the most rugged places on earth, and is home to many Bedouin. I'll never get over the sight of Bedouin men riding their camels up the beach between the resorts and the emerald waters of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba.

After several days of diving, we hopped on the ferry from Nuweiba to Aqaba, Jordan. From their, after taking a quick pic with the late King Hussein and his son King Abdullah, we were off to the Wadi Rum.