Bike in progress

Rami picked me up late morning and we headed off to the traffic police where the paperwork was sorted, then had to go for an interview at the FBI where they basically asked me why I was staying in Egypt and then let me go.

Apparently I now have to wait 3 weeks for a response from the UK as to whether I’m a bad’un.

Stayed at Rami’s for a beer then headed back to the apartment.  Not feeling particularly on top of the world at the moment, as I’m not sleeping until the early hours of the morning.

I’ve been getting up late (due to sleeping late) and spending the day in the apartment, but on Friday night just as I’d got into bed, Amgad knocked so he came around for a tea and a chat.

We arranged to meet the next night to get some ceiling fans, so after he finished work I went out with him and we did acquire 3 fans for me, 1 for him, and a bathroom vanity light apiece. We then spent a couple of hours waiting for his sofa to arrive (which it didn’t) before I headed off to bed.

Sunday morning was spent waiting for the electrician, who didn’t materialise, so I went off to watch Liverpool vs. Sunderland (3-0) in Papas Bar.  While i was there Amgad called and told me the electrician had arrived, so I headed back after the match.

Spent an hour in Amgad’s while Emad wired up his fans, then he declared he was too tired and would could back tomorrow at 2pm.  I threatened to kill him if he didn’t come.

Another sleepless night, dropped off at 6 and woke at 11:30, so had a bath and then Emad arrived as promised and spent 2 hours putting the fans up in the apartment.  Sorted!

Good to be back

I had breakfast in the hotel and took a cab to the El Gouna bus station to get my ticket.  As it was only 15 minutes until departure I didn’t bother with a visit to the museum and boarded the but for the 7 hour trip back to Hurghada.

Pretty uneventful, but I finally got home, dropped in to say hi to Amgad then popped over to the new fish restaurant across the road, King Fish, where i had a seafood meal.

 

Off to bed and slept like a baby.

Up early and spent the day tidying the apartment a bit.  Sardines for lunch, then Amgad brought me some duck breast and mashi for dinner.

 

 

Downloaded the latest series of Mock The Week and stayed up until 5am watching it.  Slept in until 12:30 when Debs skyped me.

 

 

Went to Rami’s and Alain turned up, so we chatted for a bit and then went and had some food.  Rami arrived and we went up to Aquascope, a submarine company, where they had a bit of business and wanted to introduce me to the owner, so we had an impromtu business meeting.  Nice view ;)

Back to the apartment and it’s a quiet night for me before attempting to register my bike again tomorrow.

Cairo

If you can avoid crossing a street in Cairo, do so.  It’s not safe.  It’s more than not safe, it’s downright deadly.  5 lanes of traffic (on a 3 lane highway) jostling for position bumper to bumper. 

If you really do need to cross the road, you need to think like them, crossing the road slowly, letting a car pass then slipping behind it to the side of the next car.  If you see a gap, run for it!

That said, the traffic doesn’t actually move that fast.  If you decide to take a taxi somewhere, pack some essentials: water, future wife, nappies for the kids you’ll have while in the taxi – the usual stuff.  Going anywhere can take a while.

I went to the Great Pyramid of Giza today and was conned into a horse ride through the desert after an hour’s taxi crawl. I got him down from 300 to 150 but still felt a bit hassled. 

That said, Hassan, the young lad who accompanied me, once I’d changed horses from the mad arab white I was originally given, was very nice.

 

We trotted through some local villages where many lads on horseback were mucking about and generally having a good time. 

Into the desert and a quick trip up to the top of a dune to take some pics, then back into the local town.

I grabbed a taxi and had him take me to one of the big hotels where I knew I’d be able to watch the Liverpool – Manure match.  After an hour he dropped me at the Grand Hyatt and boy did I feel underdressed walking in there.  I was directed downstairs to the cafeteria where the staff kindly put the game on for me.

Unfortunately, we lost, so I took a cab (another half hour) back to the hotel where I changed and headed down to the basement bar for a refreshing Stella and here I sit now updating my blog.

Later on…

During the football I was surrounded by a dozen kids, all staring at me and calling Mr Lee.  I moved away, to take some photos, and they followed like they were attached to me by a string.

On of the football players came over and asked me if I was a scout for an English team.

After the game we headed back across the cemetery to Ahmed’s home, followed by the kids yelling “y’Lee” all the way back.

We sat in his house while a multitude of visitors came by to see me, his sister again and her husband, his brother and various uncles and children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The house finally cleared about 11pm at which time Sameya, Ahmed’s gorgeous wife, brought in another huge tray of food.  Ahmed explained that we had to wait for all the guests to leave before eating otherwise they would be obliged to feed them also.

We finished the food and had a shay, then off to bed.  I finally dropped off about 1am.

I was awoken a few ties in the night by the ducks on the roof having a fit and by local time-dyslexic cockerels crowing away, then my alarm went off at 6am.

Up and showered, Ahmed and I bid goodbye to his mother and little Sameya (his niece) and walked into the village where we caught a tuk tuk to Abu Hamed where we bought breakfast (flatbread and foul) and boarded the train to Cairo.

Ahmed disembarked at the stop before Cairo and I continued on for 10 minutes.

Getting off the train at Cairo, I left the station and found myself in a bustle of taxis and traffic.  I picked a direction and random and started walking, looking for a hotel where I could get onto the internet to find another hotel in which to stay.

After 15 minutes I grabbed a cab and asked him to take me to Giza.  He asked “why Giza” – I replied “why not?” and told him that I wanted a hotel.  “Which hotel?”. “Any hotel”.

He took me to one in Sphinx square where I went to the desk and they asked for US$100 so I promptly left and he took me to the Amoun hotel where I’m now sat in the basement restaurant and bar with a beer, having paid 410 LE for 2 nights.

Trains, Planes and …

I boarded the coach for Sharqiya at midnight, having booked my ticket early and so having the seat behind the driver.

The journey was pretty uneventful, with a stop halfway after about 3 hours at a roadside cafe/shop.

Expecting to get fleeced, as the tourists generally do on their trip from the airport, I abstained from buying anything but then realised that I needed a bottle of water as I’d had a headache for most of the journey.  I grabbed a bottle fro the fridge then enquired “b’cam da?” – how much is this?  “Itneen w’nuss” came the reply – 2.50 LE.  Ok, this was the same sort of place but it wasn’t for tourists and the bottle of water had cost me 30p.

We passed dozens of huge holiday resorts on the Red Sea – I have no idea which areas we passed through, but Zafira seems to ring a bell.  I wondered who stayed at these resorts as it’s not a part of Egypt that is accessible directly from the UK.

We entered the outskirts of Cairo just after dawn and dropped off a few people, then passed by the national football stadium.

Another 2 hours as we entered Sharqiya, a large, sprawling town which was fairly quiet at 7am in the morning.  After seven and a half hours travelling I finally alighted at the MCV bus station in Zagaig and collected my bags.

I called Ahmed and five minutes later he came strolling down the street.  We grabbed a red and white taxi that looked as though it had just been rescued from a scrapyard and took a five minute ride into the centre of Zagazig.  There we transferred to a microbus and had a 20 minute journey to Abu Hamed.  Another change, this time into a tuk tuk and off we went to Ahmed’s village, Nazlett, El’Azeyzee.  It’s a small farming community out on the East Delta and is surrounded by fields of crops.

At Ahmed’s I was then treated to a huge breakfast of bread, foul and some kind of vegetable stew.  Luckily I’d mentioned to Ahmed when I met him in Sharm that I’m unable to eat large quantities.

A cup of shay (tea), and it was off to bed about 9am for a coupe of hours sleep.

I awoke around 2pm and showered (cold water!).  Ahmed’s younger brother, Ali, is working in Sharm and his wife and daughter had given up their part of the home for me to stay in!

Another huge lunch followed, various kinds of mashi (stuffed vegetables) and a whole chicken stuffed with rice was on the menu this time.

Ahmed and I ate alone, served by the women of the household.

There are five kids running around, from Ali’s 6 month old daughter Rahhma, to Mohammed’s four, Ahmed the three month old son of Ahmed’s older brother Mohammed (still with me?) and his other three children.

Ahmed then took me for a walk to the next village (about 2 miles) across the crop-filled fields.  The weather’s a bit on the chilly side at the moment, around 16-20°C, but it’s pleasant enough for a walk in the countryside.

In the next village we sat and had tea with more of Ahmed’s family (his sister’s side I think).

We then trekked back across the fields to his village.

 

We met a few people along the way, most of whom seemed to be related to Ahmed in some way – either aunts, uncles cousins, sister’s-husband’s-sisters or some such.

 

Back the his house it was time for more food, after meeting Achmed (who I had met in Sharm El Sheik and another friend – Mohammed I think).  We then spent the evening with a packed room (just the blokes of course) trying to sort out Ahmed’s PC.

Then we went off to Abu Hamed in a tuk tuk, 4 of us!  Probably the scariest trip of my life i the dark on uneven roads with an overloaded tuk tuk and no lights.  Ahmed picked up his motorbike and I rode pillion back to his house.

I eventually managed to crawl into bed around 12:30 and slept in until 12:30, when I was woken by Ahmed for … yes, some food.

After lunch we spent a few hours working on his PC while various people came and went, his brother Mohammed included.

Ahmed then drove me into Abu Hamed and we clambered across the train tracks to catch a train from the wrong side!  Hauling ourselves up into the carriage we found seats and enjoyed the journey to Zagazig, people occasionally jumping off when they decided they wanted to get off (yes, from a moving train).  Various hawkers plied their wares up and down the train, watches, tea, baseball caps – it’s not just the tourists in the tourist cities that have to put up with this – it’s the culture!

In Zagazig we looked in a few computer shops but didn’t find anything suitable, so we then met Ahmed and another mate  in the centre.  Bought a pair of shoes for 39 LE and went to a coffee shop for a bit.  We walked back to the station with them and caught a microbus to Abu Hamed where we went for kofta, kebab and liver.  The takeaway food here is out of this world!

We then went to a computer store in Abu Hamed where Ahmed had his sister send his computer in a tuk tuk.  They said it would take half an hour so we went, on his bike, so his sister’s house and had a cup of tea.  The houses are generally kept very bare, apart from a rug and some cushions to sit on, or maybe a sofa.  The hospitality is second to none.

Back to the computer store where we were sat until 1am, then a ride back on Ahmed’s bike with me holding 2 bags of shopping and a desktop PC on my lap, Ahmed refusing to use his lights on the bike and deciding to take a back route.  Interesting!

Ahmed then decided to have me install all his favourite apps on the PC so I dragged myself off to bed about 2:30am.

Slept in until 12:00 when Ahmed woke me up – he was off to prayer (Friday) so I had a shower and started this blog.

When he got back we ate again – chicken, rice and a soup – really good.  Then off to the hospital where Ahmed used to work “with crazy people” he said.

 

The mental health hospital was a bit of a sorry sight.  Inmates were hanging at the bars of the windows and shouting to each other.  The staff were lovely though, even though their office definitely needed a woman’s touch.

We walked around the grounds for a while then headed off for Ahmed to play football.

 

Took some video and photos, now back at the house, sat with the family and having tea while Achmed waits for me to download antivirus for his pc.

Hurghada Traffic

Well, as it seems that merely documenting my life out here in Egypt is going to become tedious for the reader, I’ve decided to write my opinions and impressions down, when I have anything to say that is.

Let’s start with the roads here.  It’s a bit disconcerting when flying through the streets in a taxi at night to find a cyclist with no lights on riding down the wrong way of the dual carriageway towards you.

Likewise with a donkey-drawn cart, three wheeler motorbike, in fact the side of the road on which to drive seems to be pretty much optional if you’re not in a car; even then some still take it into their own hands if the next turning point is too far away.

Taxi drivers love to reverse down the dual carriageway at you, in their quest to save 2 minutes on their travels.

When a car pulls out of a side street, looking for other traffic is something that is only done by us foreigners.  They expect any traffic already on the main road to stop/swerve so that they can continue unimpeded.

A neat feature of the traffic lights here is a counter either in red or green depending on the colour of the light, telling you when the light will next change.  Most drivers use this facility as intended, some just ignore the lights completely.

On a more mundane note, I finally managed to get myself a sofa and I’m off to Sharqiya tonight to stay with Ahmed and his family for a couple of days.  I’ll take in a day ot two in Cairo whilst there.

Wasted Day

Not quite sure what I’ve been up to over the past few days, mostly meeting Ashraf and other peeps and talking about the business.  Definitely nothing that interesting.

I seem to spend a lot of time arranging to meet people then sitting around waiting for them to turn up.

Amgad dropped some business cards round for me earlier and I gave him his cat back, it keeps jumping across the balconies and into my apartment.

Went shopping at Senzo Mall yesterday and bought some more kitchen equipment.

Very hot at the moment, 33°C/91°F during the day, so I’m in need of some fans.  Hopefully I’ll get some tonight.

Work starts to pay

Sunday, went down to Rami’s in the afternoon to do some work on the site, add content etc.

While there, Rami introduced me to Michael, a dentist, who was interested in seeing the site so I showed it to him.

He wanted to advertise on the site so I arranged to go around to his surgery on Monday and take some photos.

Yes, I’ve already had the comments of “Yum” and “I wouldn’t mind in my mouth”.

Stopped of at Shahrazad for one which turned into a few before coming home, as I had my laptop on me and kept thinking of “one more thing to do”.

After a bit of a lie in, bathed, shaved and caffeine’d up, I grabbed a cab to The Church, as Dr Mike’s dental surgery is opposite.  Grabbed a coffee in the coffee shop across the road while the sun was beating me with 30 degrees of loveliness! Popped up and took some photos of him, his surgery etc, then a cab back to the apartment where I loaded up the photos and added the information to the website.  300 LE in pocket (I gave it to him for half price and will receive discounted dental treatment ;))

Down to Rami’s in the evening to show my face, it was his birthday so I managed to procure a Zippo lighter for him.  A few drinks and after arranging to meet Alan, manager of the Sindbad group, headed home to bed.

Tuesday morning saw me up early as Rami had offered to take me to the visa office.  Ashraf had called me at 4:30 to say he was coming back, which he’d told me yesterday, so I set my alarm for 7am.

The snooze button is a wonderful thing and at 8am Ashraf called to tell me he was in Shahrazad. I got up, had a coffee, got my stuff together for the visa and headed down where I found him already on the beer.

I had a couple of coffees, lots of water and the odd mango juice while waiting for Rami (called at 9am as requested, he came at 9am Egyptian time – 11am ;) then headed off to the visa office.

Rami charmed the woman behind the desk and in no time we were being told “come back in an hour”.

I accompanied Rami as he stopped off here and there, doing favours for friends on the way back to Joli Pub, where I consumed another litre of water before we headed back to the visa office.  Within 5 minutes I was presented with my passport complete with a 12 month visa and 6 month multiple-entry visa :) Result!

Headed back to Rami’s house which is a gorgeous villa entertaining fantastic views, then back on to Joli Pub.

No sign of Ashraf, had a beer then headed home to get some food, meet Amgad to give him my business card graphic and see what had happened to Ashraf.

Back in the apartment, he was sleeping so I cooked myself veal chops with mash, peas and gravy.  Just as I was sitting down to eat he woke up, poured a glass of wine, washed and then went off to Joli Pub.

I had a fair bit of work to do for ATC so I sat doing that until Amgad woke up around 7:30, when we headed over to Joli Pub to meet Ashraf, as Amgad had found him an apartment.

We looked at that apartment and 3 others but none were good enough for Ashraf.  Back to Joli Pub and first Alan and then Rami took him to see other apartments.  Still not good enough.  Rami and the other guys were getting very pissed off with Ashraf.

I demonstrated www.abouthurghada.com to Alan and he was very enthusiastic and gave me the numbers the Thomas Cook contact and also that of the marketing manager for Sindbad group.

I stayed with Ashraf until about 11:30 then headed home to bed.

Into my apartment to find that Amgad’s cat Rita was back on my balcony and no sign of Amgad, so she spent the night on my bed.

No sign of Ashraf this morning, cat’s still here though.

Coffee and eggy bread are the order of the day I think.

Relaxation

Went the beach at El Geisum on Friday, it being the Sabbath here and all.  Spent the day relaxing and read The Prophecy, pretty good book – finished it in one sitting.

Had a short swim, some lunch and mild sunburn.

Saturday I went to the Aquarium to take some photos for the owner who’s having a new brochure done by the guys at Papas.   Took some really nice shots.

Decided to go out in the evening so after a bath and an online karaoke session with Corinne I took a taxi to Hard Rock and had a couple of beers and some nachos, then went to the Dutch Bar at 10:30.  It was totally empty so I finished my beer and caught a cab to Papas.

Met Marcus in there and passed my number on to him, potential business there I think.  It was Luca’s karaoke night so I sat with a beer or three and watched it all go on.

The taxi drivers outside their marina were up to their usual tricks, 30 LE for a taxi to Dahar!  A local asked me if I wanted to share a taxi to split the cost, but just then a microbus pulled up so we go into that and I was dropped off outside Shahrazad at 1:30 where I had another beer, probably shouldn’t have.

Finished my beer and headed back home to bed.

Up this morning with a bad tum, probably the jalapenos on the nachos – I do love them but it’s unrequited.

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Headache gone, situation normal

Awoke without a headache this morning but that was only the start of it…

Decided to get out and sort out my visa extension.  Got all the bits together then caught a taxi to the passport office. Waited 30 minutes then presented my papers at the window and was told “bukra” – tomorrow!

Oh well, took a cab to the Government Shop to find a sofa bed. Met a lovely couple in there, Debra and Wahid.  Sorted out what I wanted, went to the bank to get the money and when I came back they were just closing up for 4 hours.  Again, “bukra”.

Wandered through Dahar downtown and bought myself a duvet and some spices, then caught a cab back home and returned Ashraf’s call.  He’s currently in Alexandria with a client, but the client needs their website sorting, so he’s passing that onto me.  It’ll be peanuts, but all adds to the portfolio.

Amgad also called, wanting a price on a website for a friend of his.

Currently reading “Infidel”, an autobiography of a Somali woman.  It provides a deep insight into how Islam is perceived and practised in different countries.  Some of it is quite horrific.

No bike

Can;t get my bike registered until I have a visa for more than 6 months.

Can’t get the visa until my current one runs out.

Ergo, no bike for a while.

Was going to the passport office with Amgad yesterday but I guess he was busy on his last day off work – also had a blinding headache so spent the day indoors and set up the router so that all my laptops can now connect to the internet from anywhere in the apartment.

Internet went off in the afternoon so I went down to the internet cafe last night to report it. Turns out I need to pay bang on the first of the month otherwise they’ll cut me off.  I was having my haircut in the barber’s next door when the owner of the net cafe came in so I paid him and bingo, internet was back on. Still no satellite though.

Spent today working on the website, http://www.abouthurghada.com, added security to the admin pages and added a “directions/map” feature to the database.

It’s afternoon now so I may take a wander down to Shaharazade with the laptop and get some more content onto it.