Liew's Views

…in a time of Revolution (#Jan25)

My Egyptian-Canadian friend, Maged, lives in Cairo, Egypt. With the internet back on, I finally received an email from him assuring me that he is safe. Thank God.

With his permission, I am posting his email so that you can read it and have a feel for what it’s like for some of those on the ground. He is not near Tahrir. He is living in one of many neighbourhoods in Cairo. He is protecting his family, friends, and neighbours the best way he knows how in a city of chaos.

The words below have been minimally edited to reflect one person’s opinion. Please do not take it as anything else.

We’re all living under marshal law with a curfew at 3pm and zero police presence – we just have each other to depend on for security.

We block off our streets and don’t let anyone in after 3pm, and everyone in the neighborhood comes downstairs and patrols the streets looking for outsiders, I’ve been freezing my ass off every night staying up all night guarding my home and my family’s home with makeshift road blocks, handguns and shotguns….we also pray every night that this nightmare ends.

There’s no petrol in the gas stations but the food and water supply seem to be holding up pretty well. I’ve gotten to know everyone in my building and on my street from this vigilante type of self protection that we’ve set up – our situation is not unique. Apparently every single street in Cairo is like this.

Whenever we catch anyone trying to infiltrate our neighbourhood we whistle to each other and fire warning shots in the air. Usually they get scared off.
We wear armbands to tell friends from foes and so far we haven’t had any problems.

We all watch TV or listen to the radio on the street and hope that this shit ends as soon as possible so we can go back to our normal lives. There are tanks and APC’s (armoured personnel carrier) in Korba and Salah Salem, it’s a strange and bewildering sight. There’s still zero police presence on the streets and whenever we see a police car we make the occupants get out of the car and search them. A lot of police cars have been stolen and used by criminals released from prison or those just trying to steal anything they can get their hands on.

We pass the time telling jokes and talk politics. Everyone has an opinion, everyone is divided on who and what should happen, but we all agree that we want this to end.

It’s been days of this chaos with no end in sight, and yet when I walk around my neighborhood seeing the streets filled with people with sticks, knives, and guns protecting their homes, I can’t help but look on in absolute disbelief that this is happening in Cairo, one of the safest cities in the world that changed overnight. I still think its very safe though because everyone is on the streets protecting their homes, but vigilante justice is no way to live.

Anyways, I can’t wait to be back in Toronto and not have to deal with gunshots every night.

Originally from my Tumblr blog

and take the plunge!

Live for every moment.

Halong Bay, Vietnam (2010)

1) The most dangerous thing you can do is walk across a huge intersection or through a roundabout. If you don’t get hit by a motorcycle, bicycle, or car, you’ve won the real life Frogger game you’ve been thrust into.

2) Things here are relatively cheap – from a Western world view. You can stay in a decent hotel for $20-$30 USD a night – and that’s talking mid-range price. A meal with a drink will be $5 average in a regular non-fancy restaurant. A bowl of Pho is $2. You get the point.

3) Halong Bay is a beautiful place – a must-see even if you hate “touristy” places. Be prepared to line-up to see some caves and eat a lot of fried food, the fare of choice for boat-cooks for some reason.

4) The level of harassment to buy things is pretty low compared to other countries (e.g. Egypt). Win!

5) “Line-ups” are just crowds of people invading each others’ personal space so they can be first to get checked-in, to get on a bus, to get on a plane, to annoy people, etc.

6) Everyone’s a millionaire in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Dongs

This post is in response to Alkarim’s comments on Shukran (Thanks).

Q: Were the people friendly to foreigners?
A: Yes, in general they were really nice. Some people just wanted to talk/find out about you and where you were from – out of curiosity. Then there were people who wanted to chat you up so that they could try and sell you something (especially if you were near a bazaar or store-fronts).
I guess I should also mention that some guys could definitely get a bit aggressive if you were a female foreigner…it was actually sort of creepy!

Q: Did they speak English in small towns?
A: A little, but not much. We spent more time in big cities (Cairo, Luxor, Aswan), but when we were in small towns, our guide did most of the talking as English isn’t widely/fluently spoken. Our Bedouin guides and Nubian guides did speak some English – they pick it up from all the tours they are a part of.

Q: Were things expensive?
A: In my opinion, not really. [note: when I was in Egypt, $1 CDN = 5 LE (Egyptian pounds)]
Anything you bought from a market was pretty cheap if you could bargain – and if you were willing to walk away from anything and everything. I bought all my souvenirs for under $20 CDN.
Food-wise, it was pretty cheap if you ate local and avoided the tourist areas. Potential problem: not many locals speak English well…so you might end up being better off in the tourist areas in order to get what you really want. The cheapest meal I ate was 8 LE ($1.60) for shawarma from a take-out place in Cairo. In Khan al-Khalili market, one of the biggest tourist areas in Cairo, you can get the same thing plus some rice & veggies for 90 LE ($18). Okay, so $18 isn’t crazy-expensive for a meal, but when you compare it to what you could’ve had instead (at the cheaper price), it seems a tad pricey (read: rip-off).

Q: Was the night life similar to what we have here?
A: Unfortunately I didn’t get to experience the night life too much, so I can’t really give an accurate description. When we did go out, it was usually to a bar, and that scene is similar to what it’s like in Toronto.
The one time that I experienced a club-like atmosphere was in Dahab, and it was also pretty similar to what we have here – except they like their dance/euro more than I do!
I’ve heard amazing reviews of the Ministry of Sound clubs they have in Egypt. These are located in Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh – which I unfortunately did not have a chance to go to :(
Beach-side clubs…how could they not be great?

Q: Any thoughts on your next destination?
A: Peru (Machu Picchu, specifically). Here’s hoping my plans work out :)

I met a lot of great Egyptians living in Cairo on my trip – and I will never forget the hospitality that I received from them.
When my backpack was temporarily ‘lost’ (but found a day later) and I had no extra clothes to wear, Shahira and Maged came through for me with a bag of clothes and shoes.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I only met Shahira once in Toronto before I went to Cairo? And that I had never met Maged at all before Egypt? I was introduced to them by some friends here in Toronto.
Both of them and their friends took me out for some fantastic late nights in Cairo.

Horseback riding by the pyramids at night was exhilarating – and a little scary because you didn’t really control your horse’s speed…that was the guide’s job and the horses only listen to him!

Felucca’ing on the Nile was relaxing, while the party boat with neon lights and music was a fun and very entertaining experience. The only awkward moment was when they made me get up and attempt bellydancing (I did a really poor job, and a little girl on the same boat put us all to shame!).

What would an Egyptian experience be without coffee and shisha? Well I had a lot of that…I’m pretty sure shisha goes with everything though. i.e. Sushi + Shisha: my most memorable meal was sitting by the Nile at Sequoia and eating some really great sushi (along with some shisha). The sushi there was better than the all-you-can-eat ones here, that’s for sure!

I didn’t get too many days/nights in Cairo, but the ones I did have were definitely not wasted. I don’t think I got much sleep while in Cairo, but it was well worth it!

Thank you: Maged, Shahira, Tony, Andrew, Asem, & friends for showing me around Cairo, entertaining me, feeding me, and driving me around. You are awesome and I will never forget my trip to Egypt – and yes, you can go ahead and take credit for that! :)

And let’s not forget my tour-mates and tour guide, Shady: you guys also made my trip super fun and unforgettable – I will have entertaining stories to tell for a long time. Special thanks to Matilda! For putting up with late room-arrivals or non-arrivals at times, and for checkin’ on me when I was sick.

My trip in one word: Incredible

Locations: St. Catherine (Mt. Sinai) & Dahab

The last leg of my adventure was spent climbing Mount Sinai and relaxing by the Red Sea in Dahab. Gecko’s knew what they were doing when they ended a 3-week tour with a beach visit!

Our group got into St. Catherine in the late afternoon. There isn’t much to do there, and I’m guessing people don’t stick around for much more than the hike up Mount Sinai.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the history of Mt. Sinai (other than the fact that it’s also the name of a Toronto hospital), it’s where Moses received the 10 commandments from God. Unfortunately, the church located at the bottom of Mt. Sinai was closed to the public the day we went, so we didn’t get to see the Burning Bush.

We had to wake up at 2am to climb this mountain in time to reach the top before sunrise. It isn’t really climbing, in the sense that you didn’t need ropes and harnesses, but the foot-trek up was no easy task. If you do this hike, remember that head-torches/lamps are your friends. You want to see where you’re going and know where the edge is. The Bedouin guides and camels know, but you won’t in the darkness.

Here’s where you say “What? Camels on a mountain?”. Well, yes. They are for those who prefer to camel-trek most of the way up. I say most, because you still have to climb about 750 narrow, crowded, uneven steps to the top after the mini camel safari.

It’s about a 3 hour climb to the top (average) and there are rest-stops along the way so you can stock up on water and snacks if you need to. It’s pretty chilly at night, so I recommend layering. But if you’re still cold, you can rent a blanket and buy tea or hot chocolate when you get nearer to the top.

So how’s the view?A M A Z I N G. Cloudless sky. Bright rising sun. Mountain surroundings. A light breeze. Peacefulness. A climb well worth it!

The sun eventually warms you up before you have to make your way back down – which is a good thing because you need your muscles to warm up and work properly for the downward trek. We had two options – go back the way we came – which involved some steps and then ramps…or go down another way which consisted of 3750 steps (aka the Steps of Repentance…apparently the more dangerous way). Well, the 3 Canadians, me included, decided to take the steps…and we were rewarded with awesome mountain-side views and glimpses of little churches and man-made arches along the way.

After our very exhausting climb, our group went on to Dahab to soak up some sun and have some fun [yes, the rhyme was necessary! :)]

Dahab consisted of swimming, ATVing, snorkeling, and drinking the best Mojitos I have ever tasted. No joke! If you’re ever there, there’s a bar called Mojito…and yes, it does have the best mojitos! Oh and this is where Cherry-Mint shisha/sheesha was introduced to me at Tree Bar…delicious.

Snorkeling and scuba diving in the Red Sea is really popular, especially in the area we went to: the Blue Hole. It was my first time snorkeling, and it was def a good first-time experience. I only wish I had an underwater camera to show you how colourful the fishes were!

I guess I should mention that the beach portion wasn’t the greatest…Unfortunately, Dahab doesn’t have the white sandy beaches that everyone loves so much. They have pretty rocky beaches so I didn’t go near the ocean as I didn’t think my flip-flops would cut it!

After 3 nights in Dahab, we spent about 7 hours on a bus to get to Cairo and spent a final night together as a group.

We temporarily got off the felucca at Kom Ombo to visit a temple known as a “mirror” temple for its symmetrical architecture: one side of the building perfectly reflects the other. Facing the temple (1st pic below), you will notice that the left side looks similar to the right – it’s the same on the inside.

This temple is dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile-headed god, and to Horus as well. There used to be crocodiles in these parts so Ancient Egyptians prayed to Sobek to protect them from these predators. Kom Ombo was also a place of healing where everyone went to receive treatment from the priests & priestesses – it served as a hospital.
There are engraved images of what is thought to be the first representation of medical instruments for performing surgery including scalpels, forceps, scissors and medicine bottles.

After our Temple of Kom Ombo visit, we had our last nite on the felucca. In the morning we were driven to Luxor where we boarded an overnight train to Cairo.
Note: if you ever plan to take an overnight train in Egypt, bring a sleeping bag. It gets frigid!

Once back in Cairo, two girls and I decided to fill our day with a visit to the Egyptian Museum and a trip to the Khan el-Khalili market.

Egyptian Museum highlights included King Tutankhamun’s very large and magnificent jewelry collection and the other artifacts that were buried with him in his tomb. We also had the chance to see some real mummies – kind of creepy, but fascinating. On some of them, you could clearly see facial features. I’ll have to admit that the Egyptian museum lacked in the labeling department, so I had no idea what I was looking at some of the time. Hopefully the new Egyptian Museum (being built to house the artifacts that didn’t all fit in the 1st museum) will have everything labelled.

Khan el-Khalili is a major souk/market in the Islamic district of Cairo. The bazaar district is one of Cairo’s main attractions for tourists. Expect to see the typical souvenir stores, food stands, and coffee shops when you go.

My Khan el-Khalili adventure was interesting because we got lost and ended up on the side where local Egyptians shopped.
The side we were aiming to explore has your typical tourist souvenirs (papyrus, toy camels, scarves), more-expensive-than-usual prices at restaurants, and touts who never leave you alone. Where we were, there were undergarments, rugs, and things that you wouldn’t normally buy as a tourist.
After wandering through maze-like alleyways, a really nice mosque tour guide pointed us in the right direction and we, so to say, got “un-lost”. Without his help, I’d still probably be in that maze.

That night, some people from our tour group were leaving so we had a goodbye dinner on a Nile cruise boat where there was bellydancing entertainment and a whirling dervish.

What’s a whirling dervish, you ask?

This isn’t my video, but I figured it would do the job in showing you what a whirling dervish does….spin, spin, and spin…with objects too! I have no idea how they can spin for so long and how they keep their balance, so I’m going to have to attribute it to talent.