FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

TRAVEL PLANS

From the research I was able to do, it appears that my travel plans of taking a ferry from Greece to Egypt have been shot down. I couldn't find any ferries that are taking passengers. The ones I was able to find have either been discontinued (viva le revolution!) or only take cargo. [Note - if anyone knows of a working ferry, I'd much rather take that than fly!! As a special note to Adam, yes, I'd like you to research it for me then go on the voyage for me, take pictures of it then Photoshop me in, k thanks.]

So, it looks like despite my efforts to the contrary, it looks like I might be needing to fly. The plane ticket is going to be about $250 or less to go from Istanbul to Cairo. Though I'd rather go on a ship - I think when it was running it was less ($200) as well.



EGYPT PLANS

As I am following the sage advice of Adam (keep your ears open for possibilities) I was talking to a couple of travelers from the US - Lauren and Kyle. They told me that people in Egypt are going absolutely nuts trying to desperately soak every dollar they can out of 'rich foreign tourists' since a good part of their GNP. Their revolution caused the tourism industry to pretty much collapse overnight. Rather than getting new jobs, I'm told, they just try harder to get the few people there to spend money. I was told stories of not just hustling people but physically attempting to move them into restaurants and such. This didn't sound really good but something else they brought up did.

In a place called Saint Catherine Village, they have a permanent Bedouin camp.

I've seen pictures. It's a little place a bit out in the desert - I've seen pictures.

Now the cheapest lodging they have is 'Camping, shared bath, per person' at EGP 15. That's (at the time of this writing) $2.52. Now, as Adam (my mentor) is fond of pointing out, I am a pussy. Well, by his standards of having people come and hit him with pain sticks in the morning to wake him up after sleeping in a nest of angry vipers.

A step up from that is 'Dorm bed with shared bathroom' - pretty much seems to be regular hostel living at 25 EGP. $4.19.

If I want to get fancy, I can go with 'Single room with fan/heater, shared bathroom' at 55 EGP. That's $9.52.

But, the rooms are not where they seem to make their money - that is on the food. Fortunately, on line they have a menu so I can see exactly how much they charge for meals. And I believe that I was told there is a store close by. I'm not sure on that honestly.

The food is a bit more pricey - a burger and fries is 22 EGP ($3.69). Looking at the total 'breakfast, lunch and dinner' the cost seems to be about 73 EGP ($12.24). Hence I'd probably be spending about $16.43 per day. That is not bad.

I will need to build up my gear a bit if I am to go with their recommended checklist of stuff - especially if I go on any of the treks they have. I'm not sure if I'd be getting a recommended 'three season' sleeping bag though - $100 to $200 for something I don't want to carry around would suck. I also have yet to get any light pants but I am hopeful there are some fat Egyptians wandering around so I can get what they are wearing. I might also go with the gallibaya, sserual and a kafiyah. We'll see.

Honestly, I don't know how long I'll want to spend there. It could be OK for a week or two - or I might try to get through the winter spending under $20 per day and confusing the natives by not doing a lot. Who knows - they may even offer me a job tending camels or something. Who can say.

If I get bored, there is a town not too far away called Dahab.

If anyone has any constructive feedback or ideas on this, I'd like to hear them.



WTF

Oh how the tables have turned. Thanks to Jason M. for this story off of Facebook.