From Cairo Chaos to Nile Nirvana 24 Days in Egypt

This may have been one of my best trips. It’s funny how we change over time and our wants and needs change with it. Jamaica is still one of the dopest places I visited because of its people that I connected with and the party atmosphere there. At that time, a party environment was high on my list of things I enjoyed.

Sri Lanka was another amazing trip that I will never forget because of random unexpected things that happened and I was still in party mode as well as exploring and seeing new things, so I was able to do both.

Nowadays partying is less attractive as it was before. It’s just hard to find good parties that cater to what I like and do. I didn’t really party this trip, though I did do some low key party stuff, but mostly it was exploring, seeing, interacting with the environment and its people. 

Let’s get one thing clear. Despite the history and ruins, which are probably a huge reason people go to Egypt, it certainly was mine, I later found other reasons to like Egypt. 

At the top of that list was the people. Yes, I said it. For those of you who ONLY do tourist stuff, you might think I’m wrong. You mind find the people overly aggressive, scammers, and highly annoying, and at times just assholes. Yeah, when I was in downtown Cairo I would find people who I thought genuinely wanted to talk to me only to lure me back to their lair to sell me some stuff I don’t need. Another thing was beggars. Seeing me and seeing only dollar signs I was a prime target for beggars. 

It’s funny, because if I was living in the USA I would be poor, have no time to do this, and never travel. Granted I would have more money than these Egyptian beggars, but by US standards I would be poor. That dynamic is interesting and always over peoples heads who believe we as US Americans are all filthy rich. Anyways…

You go to a mosque and you take your shoes and they say, “No! Put them here.” I say, “Sure! No problem.” I’m thinking maybe it's disrespectful to carry my shoes, so I put them where they say, because I believe I am being respectful. Nope! When you come back for your shoes they expect an offering or tip.

You might see a temple and some dude comes up and starts talking to you giving you information. You think, “WOW! This guy is nice. He’s just sharing information and telling me about this place.” NOPE! They expect a tip.

Sometimes they even play you in ways where it seems you have no choice but to have them guide you around a complex. 

I got lucky the first couple times. One guy saw me shooting and he was a photographer too. So we shared information, and he took me into some “special” rooms, and we talked about photography and he probably usually asks for tips, but because of our similar interests, he maybe thought it better than to ask me for a tip. The second time I went to a temple and the guy was sharing information and didn’t ask for anything. So, I thought the people here were genuinely legit. The 3rd guy took me up to the roof and then asked for a tip. I felt maybe he deserved one since he had to unlock doors and take me to the back. I thought, “maybe I am getting some special treatment.” 

It didn’t take long until it just got really irritating and I would either speak Spanish which didn’t always work as they spoke Spanish too, or I just told them to fuck off, not in those words but aggressively telling them I wasn’t interested.

Some were so aggressive that I said, “fine, but you will get NOTHING! NO TIP!” They agreed, and got pretty angry when I gave them nothing, but they never did anything threatening to me. One guy patted me on the shoulder and looked angry when I told him nope. That was the most physical it got.

Even near the end, I got played a couple more times. I was in Luxor and it was about 1.5 hours until sundown and I went to a ruin that had a bunch of crypts. A guy approached me and made it sound like we needed a guide because there are so many crypts but only some are open to the public. He was honest and said it would cost a fee, so I thanked him for being upfront, BUT I could have and should have told him to fuck off. I agreed because I didn’t know where the crypts were and it was getting late and I wanted to see all of them before it got dark.

You do not need to pay these dudes ANYTHING EVER! If they make you feel you have too. It’s all bullshit. If you don’t mind paying tips, go for it, if you do, ignore them or stand your ground. They are not allowed to do any of that.

Now, again, if you ONLY do tourist stuff, you might generalize all Egyptians like this. However, if you’re a traveler like me, who likes to just wander the streets and go anywhere. (I know not everyone has the ability to do this. I am a tall man.) Usually I am overlooked as someone to rob, but not always. 

Anyways, what made Egypt so great was its people. Stepping into random neighborhoods and meeting regular people was the best part of Egypt. I went to a store where they fix shoes, as my friend needed a repair. We were there for like 45 minutes and we had great conversations with everyone. People getting their shoes fixed and those who worked there and just random passerby's. That 45 minutes was one of my favorite parts of Egypt. This happened in downtown Cairo.

In Siwa Oasis, some random dudes were sitting drinking tea, alcohol, and smoking in Shali Fortress. They holla’ed at me to join them for tea. I was like, “fuck, these dudes are going to charge me for this.” I kept my mouth shut and joined them. It was great! I remember the location and saw them the next day to spend more time with them, since at that time I was out and about. The next time I saw them, I spent more time and did more than just tea.

I was invited to people's homes in Aswan to see their pet crocodiles. I went to random neighborhoods to eat food in whole in the walls, probably no foreigner ever ate at and was treated super good. I had SO MUCH fun interacting with the people, and that is the way I travel. Sure, I want to see tourist attractions, and amazing landscapes, but I also need to get the vibe and feel of a country, city, or place as well. Wandering the streets and interacting with people is a way I do that. Fortunately Egypt is a place where many people speak English and they are very open.

It’s super hard to do this in many places in Asia, but this is not about Asia.

OK, now that I got that out of the way. It all began in Cairo. I have an Egyptian coworker who connected me with his friend Dina, who picked me up at the airport, got me my sim card and well, helped me plan a lot of what I did with fair deals on how to get to various locations. She was a godsend! 

Cairo Unfiltered: Ancient Wonders, Hustlers, and Hidden Corners

 Exploring Cairo’s ancient sites and gritty streets, I soaked in the city’s stunning history and relentless hustle — from quiet mosques and hidden canyons to chaotic bazaars and underwhelming pyramids.

My first day began around noon as it took me a couple hours to eat, get the sim, and drop my things off at the hotel. I arrived around 8am. I was located at the Miami hotel in downtown old Cairo. It was in an old, grimy ass building with an ancient elevator. It was awesome! I loved everything about the building. Old, dilapidated with several stores and a hotel in it. I was off to a great start, and again, that elevator! It could fit like 3 people, had a gate you had to pull aside and push the door to get in. It worked well. 

Since I had Dina with me, I asked if she could drop me off in Islamic Cairo. It was kinda far away by foot, and it was just nice she agreed to do it. Oh, I almost forgot, I am gluten free but I tend to cheat when on vacation. There are stores where you can purchase gluten free bread and other items, but there was also an online store that delivers gluten free breads so that was another godsend from Dina. I will share information about that in my food section. 

The Journey begins:

Dina dropped me off at the landmark city gate known as Bab Al-Futuh. At the time I didn’t know you could climb up the wall. I just took pictures and continued to Al Hakim Mosque. I don’t think I ever entered a mosque until today. I won’t go into physical details as I will make videos of my trip you can see on YouTube. However, I enjoyed photographing this place and its silence until it got crowded. I would recommend visiting this place for its beauty and the fact there are several locations on this strip to explore.

Talking about strips, the strip is Al Moez Ldin Allah Al Fatmi, at least that is what it says on Google Maps. There are places to buy things, people will try to hustle you of course, but it's a pretty lively strip. 

This place was a bit confusing because there were a lot of places to visit, but they cost money. I don’t remember exactly where the ticket booth was, but it's on that strip. Just buy a ticket for everything. I took a screenshot of the map and will share it. I don’t think I hit all these locations, but I hit most of them. It was my first day, sorry I don't have all the details.

The first spot was Al-Hakim Mosque. This was “free.” Dina told me to hold my shoes and when I entered, the guy at the front was friendly and told me I could leave my shoes with them. I said I could hold them, they insisted it was all good, so I said ok. I had about 15 minutes of quiet here and it was nice. I like the architecture and green colors of the cloth, the white of the building, and the fountain. It was peaceful and allowed me to take a lot of photos, then out of nowhere the place burst into people coming out from all angles, which was a little startling, but also cool. This was just more photo opportunities. I have never been in a mosque, so I was captivated. As I went to pick up my shoes, they asked for a tip…..

This was the start of people being friendly and giving information and THEN asking for a tip. SEE, what pisses me off here is not so much the money, but misleading me. If you straight up tell me, “yo, I know a lot about this place, if you would like, for a fee, I will share with you.” But NO! They just walk up to you, talk to you, be friendly, start sharing information, and then ask for money. That is what pisses me off. Be upfront about your hustle. I’m still new so I am not telling people to fuck off yet, and if you read above, the first two guys I met asked for nothing.

At this point I had to backtrack and hit as many places as I could. I even walked back to where Dina dropped me off because it was at that point I realized I could climb up the walls of Bab al-Futuh. The places to explore were all old churches and temples. I had no guide and I realized quick that those who engaged me wanted money, so I have no information to share, but I did enjoy photographing them.

I finally reach Bab al-Futuh and there’s a gate and a redhead Egyptian dude chilling by the gate. No one else was there so I walked in. The redhead said “ticket.” I foolishly showed him and then he told me to follow him. This kid was running game. I didn’t have to show him anything, and I could have ignored him, but at the time, I thought maybe he worked there. Anyways, he showed me around and I got a top view of the Mosque next door which was dope! Got to take some photos from a different angle. I realized around this point I got played and this fucker was going to ask for a tip, so I just spent hella time taking photos and making him wait. Dude got his tip, and I bounced.

Now I backtracked yet again, because I had all this mapped out. My next stop was the Khan el Khalili bazaar. I intended to come, spend time here and take pictures. However, when I got there that quickly changed. Just too much hustling. I had zero interest in buying anything, all I wanted to do was take photos, but realized if I start taking pictures of peoples stands after dissing all the shopkeepers, they would probably run me out or make me buy stuff or pay them for photos. I went through quickly. It was cool, but I just don’t like people all up in my face.

Next stop was Sultan Qansuh Al-Ghuri Complex- I had to cross the street OR take a long detour because the other side was fenced off. Walking across the street in Cairo is scary. Even more scary than Saigon, though at first glance Saigon seems hella scary. The difference was, I felt the Egyptians would just run me over. I saw an opening in the fence. I could make this 1.5 mile detour a 50 meter walk, if I cross the street and hop through that hole in the fence. Well, I’m the type that will do that, despite me getting older and older. It worked out. It wasn’t too bad. 

This area was grimy as hell. Looked ghetto as hell and I won’t lie, I was the only non Egyptian there and I was a bit scared. It looked like a place I’d get robbed in. A man came up to me and befriended me and told me to go to this Mosque. He said it was free. I was like “cool.” He walked me to the door and I entered and he didn’t follow. I was relieved. Same BS with them running game with the shoes. I gave the tip, and the guy who told me about the spot asked if I liked it as I walked out. Being on the street, I didn’t connect the dots yet. He wanted to show me more. I wanted to go to the Al-Azher Mosque, but ok, I'll go with this guy. He took me around into the back alleys that meandered about, probably hoping to confuse me and make me rely on him, but I have a good sense of direction and stay on point when I’m in the streets. He did take me through some dope spots, one in particular where it was this narrow alley where they sold fabric. I didn’t take any pictures, because I felt this area was dangerous, so I kept my stuff away. 

He continued to take me around and then I realized that I was getting further and further away from where I wanted to go and told him, “Yo, thanks, but this isn’t where I want to go.” “He asked me where I wanted to go. I told him, and then I began walking in the direction I thought was correct, which it was. He followed me. When I got back to the street I was familiar with, he asked for a tip. I was pretty pissed off at this point, but not surprised. Gave him a tip only because I thought he might make a bird call and dudes would come out of the cuts and rob me. 

(It turns out this wasn’t a dangerous area.)

At this point I turned on Spanish speaking. Dudes approached me as I hit the mosque, I speak Spanish. “No hablo Ingles. No entiendo ni papas!” The ones that did speak Spanish, I gave them banter for a hot second, then bounced, others I just ignored. When I’m quiet it sometimes means I’m very angry, but obviously I am not trying to fight anyone, especially in another country, so I dip and move. I hit the mosque and try to enjoy myself and take pictures, but I am still heated about the drama.

When that finally ends, I’m approached again, and I just dip and say nothing to anyone. My next spot was Al-Azhar Park. I walk everywhere. Some of you might want to uber or taxi, or in Egypt, download that DiDi app. For me, if it's not too far (under 2 miles) I’ll just walk.

I walk to the park and finally find the entrance. Most parks cost money to enter, most parks charge you extra if you have a camera like mine. (Smartphone cameras are ok for whatever reason.) Security would not let me into the park unless I stored my backpack in one of their lockers. I wanted to film and shoot. Since we couldn’t come to an understanding, I left and began wandering the streets.

Off in the distance was a massive structure. A castle or citadel. I decided to walk over to it. I probably should have DiDi’ed. It was a long walk and on a highway. If you ever go to Egypt and see some random Egyptian dude on a highway or freeway, I was one of them. Little to no sidewalk, I found a dead dog with flies buzzing about. Little did I know I was walking parallel to one of the many City of the Dead locations and fairly near Garbage city. Egyptians driving along thought it was funny to see some foreigner wandering around. Most were looking at me and kind of laughing. One dude on a motorbike even stopped, got off his bike and walked toward me grinning and was like “what are you doing?” I told him, “I’m just wandering the streets, that's what I do, but I’m actually going to that big structure over there,” and pointed. 

It was the Cairo CItadel. We talked for a minute and then he hopped on his bike. When I finally went to the Citadel entrance I realized it closed in 45 minutes and it was big. I was like, “naw, I’m not gonna pay for 45 minutes. This place looks massive!” Harassed by hawkers selling their wares and taxi drivers, I waved them all off. Even got aggressive with a couple. I was now beginning to see that there was no reason to be intimidated by anyone, especially these vendors and taxi drivers. You get a little aggressive and they back off. DiDi time, and back to hotel Miami to rest up and recharge.

Old downtown Cairo at night is hyphy as hell! I mean it's lit! Traffic everywhere, people everywhere. It's popping off! Don’t stay on Talaat Harb street unless you don’t mind lots of noise. 

I didn’t recharge long, before hitting the streets at night. There were restaurants, shisha joints, stores, people, cars, honking, and more. It was extremely lively and while it would have been too much for me, I now live in China. China is aight, more on that later, but I live in Kunshan which is shit. There is nothing there but fields. It's so dead and depressing, I was happy to be around people. 

No one really bothered me on the streets but beggars and even then, it was minimal. I ended up eating some food and then hitting an outdoor spot to smoke some shisha. That was legit, dude took care of me and checked in on my like every 10 minutes. Of course when I left he asked for a tip, but he hooked it up, I gave in. 

It wasn’t late but I’m old and wasn’t sure what to do out here so I decided to sleep early to wake up before sunrise and wander the streets.

Hotel Miami was run by some young Egyptian guys. They were all cool. Friendly, helpful and decent English. The main dude looked Mexican and a darker younger version of my brother. I was tripping. It was funny because in Jordan people thought I was Jordanian, and in Palestine, people thought I was Palestinian, but in Egypt I was just a generic white guy, which kinda sucks for me. Not that white guys are necessarily bad. I just don’t see myself as looking all that white, despite most people thinking I am white. Well, I showed them pictures of my brother and sister and mom. They thought my brother was almost always Egyptian looking or just Arab, and my sister, well she looks like a famous dancer and actress from the Egyptian’s Golden age named Naima Akef. While I showed younger pictures of my siblings, EVERY Egyptian said my sister looked like this Naima Akef. That was really cool, I thought. Showing pictures of my mom got Sudan, or Southern Egypt, sometimes other places in Northern Africa. It was fun to share their photos.

The next morning, I got up around 5 and left about 20 minutes before sunrise. I wanted to see and take photos and videos of a couple buildings. Downtown Cairo in the early morning was NICE! Quiet, empty and just very relaxing for me. I loved wandering these streets at this time. No one was bothering me. Just me and a couple rando’s now and then.

Again, there were a couple buildings and complexes that were famous near me so it was time to shoot. First stop was the building that was at the address 33 Sherif Basha. I am not into architecture and can’t relay what type of structures these building styles are, however, as I said, I am making videos and I will have photos online. Next was the Ex-Davis Bryan Building, then the Immobilia building. I continued to the Assicurazioni Generali di Trieste Building. I took a stroll through the Behler Corridor, which led me to the Cinema Radio building. All these locations were close to the Miami hotel. 

After all this, I would visit Wadi Degla Reserve with Dina mid morning. I had to get here via DiDi. This was kind of a crazy drive. The driver wasn’t really sure where to drop me off and kept stopping and saying, “here?” I’m like, “the map doesn’t say here, but you can’t ask me. I don’t know where I am.” So he went off this dusty side road and it kinda looked like run down desert areas of southern California. You know? Wrecked cars and debris along the side of the road, minus graffiti and alien stuff. There were dogs barking, and this dude was gonna drop me off at the beginning of that dusty ass road. Fuck that! Well, I did see the sign for Wadi Delga so I knew I was in the right place. I got off.

I walked around a bit, and went past the entrance. There were some stairs that led to the top of a wall, kinda like a castle wall that gave a good view of the area. Barren, desert. They said this was the Grand Canyon of Cairo on the internet. Y’all putting too much on it. Snapped some pics and came down. The dude that worked there said I needed to pay. I told him I was waiting for someone and bounced.

Now I was out with all the broken down cars and debris. Off in the distance I could see the dogs. I wasn’t going to walk over there. Too many bad experiences with dogs in my life. I waited for about 20 minutes and then Dina arrived, we paid the entrance fee and we were off.

I felt like there wasn’t really a trail. Like if Dina wasn’t there, I probably would have just randomly walked around, but she knew where she was going. Before long my first animal companion joined us. A random dog. This was one cool thing about Egypt, you could get temporary animal companions. This was my first. It just hung out with us and in some circumstances it led the way for us. Dina told me at night these dogs would help hikers stay on the correct paths. I was enjoying the hike, not so much for the views, but for my animal companion. I just thought this concept was so cool. Wadi Delga isn’t bad, but it's no Grand Canyon, to even call it that is disrespectful. What it is, is a cool little canyon that you can camp in, hike, wander around, and get an animal companion or two. It’s legit, but don’t get your hopes up. Some good locations to get some pictures. Most def a good place to go to get away from the hustle of Cairo that's in the backyard. 

Going down the canyon to the base wasn’t  too hard. Another dog joined our party, so now I had two animal companions. It wasn’t crowded. It was quiet and peaceful. Just what I wanted. I enjoyed the hike. If you have the time and want some peace, I would recommend it, but if you don’t have much time there are other places that come first.

Now it was time to head south to Coptic Cairo, where all the Christian churches reside. The good thing about this area was it was all free. Dina dropped me off in Coptic Cairo at the Amr ibn al-As Mosque. This time I would carry my shoes in and hold them. I don’t want to give a tip. They made me feel like I couldn’t, so I gave them my shoes, but in my mind I said no tip this time. I explored the mosque, took pictures and videos, and relaxed. When it was time to go the man said, “tip.” I said, “I didn’t want to give you my shoes. I wanted to carry them. You told me to put them there. I am not giving you a tip.”

He got all defensive and passive aggressive, but I still didn’t tip. I have no problem giving an offering to a mosque. I mean I’m taking photos and all, but be real about it. When I walk in, say, “an offering to the mosque would be a nice gesture.” I would do it at every mosque. It's how they come at me that makes me not want to offer anything.

I had a bit of a walk, it wasn’t too far, but again I like walking the streets. When I arrived I proceeded to hit several locations- Saint George Cemetery, St. George's Church, Fortress of Babylon, Coptic Museum, The Hanging Church, and St. Barbara Church Complex. (Not in this order.) I remember all the churches having their own styles and beauty. Some more than others, and I loved how some of the churches had the perfect lighting for me to shoot. What I remember most are the narrow outdoor alleys that lead to these places and one in particular that was a corridor of books, which was very interesting to me. Begging and tipping was at a minimum, but it was still a tourist spot so it would happen, I gave nothing this day.

Leaving the area was nice as I couldn’t get any DiDi drivers for the price it was offering. I was BSing with the tuk tuk drivers and some police and randos which was fun. This is when I began to realize Egyptians were hella cool. They like banter like me. Some were even telling me the tuk tuk guys were offering expensive prices, but I knew this. I called Dina and she told me to try Uber. Uber had more expensive prices, but someone came to pick me up, and still far cheaper than picking a driver off the street. 

While waiting this one dude kept asking me about Australia. I told him I had never been there. Then he asked where I was from and I told him Frisco, California. Then he asked me how far is Cairo from there. I told him I don’t know because I live in China. He kept asking me and then I started clowning him and the other Egyptians thought it was funny and joined in, but they also explained to him that I wasn’t coming from Cali. His English was not strong. Then he asked how far it was from China. I said 12 hours. He basically wanted to tell me it took 24 hours to reach Cairo from Australia, but it took him like 20 minutes to do so. Again, it was fun, and I was beginning to like Egyptians. It was refreshing to just chop game without someone asking for a tip later. 

The next day my friend arrived. I would get up early again to finish my before sunrise walk around the hood. I proceeded back to the buildings I hit the day before and also went to Mustafa Kamel Square, Church of St. Joseph (I came here in the morning and afternoon. It was closed and dudes told me I couldn’t take pictures of the church.) I went to Talaat Harb Square, the Diplomatic Club, and Tahrir Square. Tahrir square is a major square that is super crowded at night but beautiful early in the morning. However you can’t get too close to the monument, as guards will not allow it. Well, at least not me.

I knew I was going to the Egyptian Museum, so I walked over there to get a feel of the area, which is close to all of these places and I made a stop at the coolest of all the buildings I saw in the area called the Palace of Prince Said Pasha Halim. It was just old and dilapidated and I liked its style. 

By now it was time to head to the Miami, meet my friend and go to the Egyptian Museum. I have a love-hate relationship with tourist areas. Tourist areas are cool and interesting, but the problem is there are too many tourists and they are almost always annoying to me. You would think that girls/women would do their photo ops at Giza or other spectacular places, but no…they have invaded museums too. The amount of girls taking selfies and doing photo ops was pretty embarrassing. It was crowded and it just made me lose focus. We stayed for a while, but I allowed others to affect my mood and it brought me down. Cool museum, but my head wasn’t in it.

The next day we would go to Giza. Or at least that was the plan, but things change. When I told my Egyptian brother look alike about my plans he said why not just book him with a personal tour and he would take us to more places. Originally, we were going to do Giza and then hit the Grand Egyptian Museum. That was the plan, but it changed. I told him previously what I wanted to do and so he said how about this, “Saqqara, Memphis, and Giza for 50 bucks.” I wanted to go to Saqqara, the only Memphis I knew was in Tennessee, and Giza was on the list, but we would miss the museum. Ok, let's do it. We took the tour with my “brother” because he said it was no bull shit. I explained I did not want to be sold anything or go anywhere that did that. I just wanted to hit these locations. It didn’t pan out exactly how I wanted. He said if we didn’t like it, we didn’t have to pay, but obviously I would pay, but I may not give a tip. Oh, and we had to pay for all the entrance fees.

First stop was Saqqara. This pyramid was even more ancient than the ones in Giza and I liked this place so much better than Giza. It just had more interesting things to see, better conditions, less well known, and it wasn’t even crowded. We were off to a great start!

Next was Memphis which was a site that had pieces and artifacts not actually structures. We saw the Ramses, the 2nd statue there and a sphinx which was actually really dope. It was short though, as it was a small site. The next place is when I started to get pissed off and it really hurt because the dude looked like my brother. We went across the street to relax and his boy was there and we ordered some drinks. (Hella expensive) Then my “brother” wanted to take us to his shop and I told him I don’t want to deal with this bullshit. I sucked it up because we still had a full day to go so I kept my mouth shut and we went to the stupid ass store. I’m sure the stuff was cool, but I don’t buy anything, though I did this time because I like scarab beetles and I know my “brother” would get a small commission, so I was looking out for him even though he did me kind of foul. Anyways, we then went to Giza.

I have already gotten some hate for my thoughts on Giza. I have been interested in visiting Egypt ever since Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark. I wanted to be an archaeologist, because of those movies, until I actually took some classes in college and was like, naw. I’m good. Egypt has been on my bucket list as long as Australia. The main reason was the sphinx and the pyramids. Giza was a straight up disappointment. It didn’t have any redeeming qualities about it except for its history and magical powers. First of all it's crowded, with women taking their stupid photos and I guess some men too. 2nd, it’s got hawkers all over, running game and it's annoying. I went on a camel ride. I think it was 20 USD. That was apparently a good deal. Let me know if I got played. 

The pyramids were just unimpressive. I’m going to say it now, it was the least impressive of ALL the ruins I saw in Egypt. I would completely omit Giza knowing what I know now. Saqqara was so much better as was everything else. Even Memphis which merely had artifacts was better. It was basically an outside museum. My “brother” seemed to want to rush us through this whole ordeal, and while I wasn’t even mildly impressed with Giza, I did want to explore. That's just the kid in me. So I told him to wait in the car and we would do our own thing. He was ok with that. 

Now a lot of these sites require multiple tickets to see everything. My “brother” did most of the work and just bought us the main ticket to get in. We went to one spot where a ticket was required that we didn’t have. I was like ok, and bounced. He stopped me and asked for a tip to get in. This was the one time tipping worked in our favor as we got in for cheaper to see the site. Then we wanted to go into one of the pyramids. This was the worst decision of the trip. We needed to buy tickets online. This took forever! I do not recommend buying tickets online. When we finally got the tickets after maybe 30-45 minutes, we descended down a vertical decline where I had to squat the whole time because I’m tall. There was absolutely NOTHING there. All the artifacts were moved to museums. Wasted money, time, and energy to walk down a stupid hole to see nothing. Now, you could argue thousands of years ago people were here and yes, that's pretty cool, but combined with the crowds, hawkers, and time spent getting the ticket, I wasn’t really thinking about that. 

I remember distinctly as I exited I made a comment about how that was lame. And the white dude in front of me turned to look at me and gave me a dirty look. Not sure why white people are usually the only people who do that type of shit. 

My friend wanted to pay for the other pyramid entrance. I was like, “naw, I’m good.” Though I did decide to come back and do it because I know I will never go to Giza again unless it's some special circumstances. It turned out my friend bought the tickets online and it was closed. No refund. Played.

We proceeded to the sphinx. The sphinx was like the Statue of Liberty. It was far smaller than I thought. The sphinx was the highlight, but it was ruined by the tourist atmosphere. Took a few pictures and videos and bounced.

Time to go to the hotel. Nope! My brother decided to take me to some other damn shop. I went, listened to them talk and bought nothing. We got back to the hotel, I did not give a tip. It wasn’t even 5 yet and there was more to do. We DiDi’ed to Zamalek. I wanted to go to the Aquarium Grotto Garden. This park also costs money. I paid the entrance fee and then they wanted to check my backpack. You got it, I can’t enter with my cameras and stuff, but for an extra fee I could. I said no. I asked if I could keep everything in my backpack and just walk around. They said we would be escorted, but it turned out that they didn’t escort us. 

My friend gave the grotto a 1 out of 10. I didn’t think it was that bad. It wasn’t great. It was a small park with man made caves and interesting shaped tiny mountains you could walk up. Within the caves were empty tanks. They didn’t look like they could hold fish, but maybe insects and reptiles and small rodents. Now, I don’t know what they use the money for when you pay the entrance fee, but if they cleaned the place up a bit, actually had reptiles/animals and their descriptions in the tanks, and fixed up the pond, this could be a legit dope spot, but alas it failed to hit the mark. You don’t need to go here. 

Next was the Cairo opera house. This was a nice free spot to check out. There weren’t any performances, but it has a museum which I didn’t enter. I just kind of went here to look at the architecture and see something that was close to the grotto. If you’re in the area, check it out, if not, no biggie unless you’re here for a show.

The final spot of the day was Cairo Tower. This tower offers a full 360 degree view of the city of Cairo. There are two tickets you can buy. The basic, which allows you a ticket and you have to wait, or a more expensive one, but you get in the express line and below the top floor is a restaurant. That ticket holds some money for you to buy food and drinks in their restaurant. If you can afford to come to Egypt, then you should buy the express ticket. We still had to wait about 10-15 minutes in the express line, but better than whatever the other wait would have been. 

A few people go up the elevator, you get off on the restaurant floor or maybe below it, then walk up the steps to the outside. Cairo is big. It's impressive, but it's also got lots of air pollution. The views were great, but air pollution always puts a damper on impressiveness. After taking some photos and walking around we went to the restaurant.

I got some fries and a chocolate milkshake. It was all “free” as my ticket covered the cost. It took a while to get the food and your order. I was waiting too long and had to cast a summon spell to get a waiter to take our order. When it was all said and done, this was a solid place to visit, though I probably would have hated it if I bought the normal ticket. Too touristy, and the line would have been much longer. 

Alexandria Vibes: Catacombs, Coastlines, and Legendary Hospitality

 From exploring ancient catacombs and Roman ruins to savoring fresh seafood by the Mediterranean, Alexandria surprised me with its history, charm, and one unforgettable host who made the trip truly special.

The next day it was time to go to Alexandria. It’s a 3 hour drive north of Cairo. I booked a tour for 30 USD per person to get a ride from Cairo to Alexandria, see several locations and rather than getting dropped off back in Cairo, I requested to be dropped off in Alexandria. I booked through Viator and while my “brother” said I got ripped off and he could have done better. I felt 30 USD to get a ride to Alexandria from Cairo, see 5 locations and get a ride back a pretty good deal. I opted out for a guide, and pre-paid tickets. We just paid for a driver, and I read reviews. Most people's complaints were with drivers driving crazy. I requested a few drivers who got good reviews. Sorry, I forgot his name, but just check the most recent reviews. You’ll see them.

Our driver showed up at 6am. Off to a great start. Our driver spoke some English, great. He was a safe driver. Excellent! Things were going great. About half way we stopped at a rest stop. It was a little plaza with a couple establishments. We went to Coffee Time. I ordered my usual hot chocolate. I don’t drink coffee. I decided to hit a what we would call a corner store or liquor store in the States to buy some snacks and did my ears deceive me? No, they were playing Luniz, “I Got 5 On It!” To hear some Yuk and Numskull in some random rest stop in Egypt was pretty epic! I was in a good mood and of course had to chop game with the kid working at the counter. Turned out he liked that Bay Area sound and I was more than happy to lace him with more game. We finished our drinks and proceeded to Alexandria.

Now, I wanted to scuba dive here because there are ruins from a world's past, but reading reviews it seemed like most of the artifacts have been taken and the cost to dive here was too much for little to nothing to see in terms of ruins. 

Our first stop was the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa. We got here early, paid the entrance fee and not only did it have areas above ground and artifacts to see, but the catacombs were multi-floored as you descend down a spiral staircase into the depths of the earth. It wasn’t a maze, but this semi-labyrinthian catacomb was fun to explore with its many rooms and artifacts. Worth the visit. Our driver was waiting for us. 

Our next stop was the Roman Theater. I really enjoyed this spot as well. It was a small area nestled right in the city. It’s kind of funny. A lot of ruins in Egypt are nestled right in the cities. The Roman theater did not disappoint with its many Romanesque columns, bath house, a fairly maintained living area, plus more to explore. Romanesque columns always do the job for me, however the one thing that was lacking was no statues or depictions of Greco Roman wrestling. I would have loved to have seen a statue of Greco Roman wrestlers manhandling each other. Again, this was worth the visit and I began to think about how all of these places I never heard of- Memphis, Saqqara, the Catacombs, the theater were all far better than Giza in my opinion.

Our next step was the Qaitbay Citadel. This was right on the Mediterranean coast, and the beauty of Alexandria was becoming very apparent to me, not to mention blue clear skies. While the citadel was the least impressive place thus far in Alexandria, but better than Giza, it was still fun exploring its various floors and rooms and its beautiful coast line.

Our next stop was the Sidi Morsi Abu al-Abbas Mosque. This was close to the citadel. I actually didn’t go inside. I looked inside but I was having such a great time, I didn’t want the day to get ruined with someone asking for tips for my shoes, and the other reason was I was more impressed with the outside and surrounding area and spent all my time photographing the area.

By this time, I still liked our driver, but he seemed to be rushing us a bit. Like he just wanted to be done and head home. Which was kind of weird because we moved quickly. No guides, no bs, in and out, filming and photographing. I guess, I did take up some time with that, but it wasn’t like we were lagging or anything. It wasn’t even noon yet and my friend was hungry. I didn’t care. I go on survival mode when I travel and I just adapt. The driver said that he knew a spot that would give us a fish, salad and rice for 15 USD. So 30 total. I knew that was a rip off. I have traveled enough to know this. I was like, “Yo, what about a cheaper place. Local food.” He started talking about how the oil was bad and we might get sick and he didn’t know any spots around here. By this time I was in contact with the owner of Panda House, where we would be staying tonight. We still had one more stop to go called the Alexandria Bibliotheca. I was trying to give a time to Hatem over at Panda House and told my friend to be patient. We can do better with food.

The driver took us to the bibliotheca, which was along the coast and well, this was probably the pimpiest library I ever been to. We paid the entrance fee and it had various museums, and a kid section. The only issue was everything cost money. I somehow managed to go to one of the museums for free. For some reason no one checked me when I walked in. I couldn’t get into the other museum without paying so I opted out. I accidentally stumbled upon the children's section and was banned from that area too. Then I went to the main library. It was massive, clean, and from an architectural standpoint impressive imo. Everything about it was amazing as I thought of my public library back home in San Francisco or even the downtown main library. This was just a piece of art in many ways. After taking a bunch of pictures we left.

I don’t think it was even noon time by the time we finished. All the driver had to do now was drop us off along the north shore of Alexandria to Panda House. We bid him farewell, gave him a tip, and went to Panda House which was an apartment in a large complex on the 10th floor overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The main reason why I got the spot. 40 bucks a night, excellent, EXCELLENT location and the place was clean and nice too. The guard was like a 15 year old kid who was actually really cool and helpful. 

By this time we were hungry and Hatem arrived soon after we got into the apartment. I don’t want to go over hotels, places we stayed, descriptions so much in this blog as I will be posting photos, videos, and specific locations on my website but Hatem the owner of Panda House was such an amazing…no legendary host he gets a section on this blog. Hatem welcomed us in. His English was solid and he knew we were hungry. He took us to the small fish market about 2 blocks away, where we selected a large fish, 10 shrimp and some squid. It would take 40 minutes to cook, so we went to the beach in front of his place. It cost money to enter, and he paid the fee for us. We got the little table, chairs and umbrella. Stuff I never do, but I made an exception and we started talking to Hatem. He’s a pharmacist and he and his sister own the apartment. We just started with small talk. 

After about 30 minutes we went back to the fish market to pick up our food. For all that seafood it cost 2-300 Egyptian Pounds, about 5-6 USD. Our damn driver wanted to take us to a place to eat fish, salad, and rice for 30 USD. We got 1 fat fish, 10 shrimp, and a few squid and rice for 6 USD. We went back to the beach, but before we hit a corner store. Hatem bought us drinks. 

Hatem left us when we began to eat, and the food was amazing. Now, the Egyptians who run game aren’t the hardest lifeforms on the block. If you get annoyed by these dudes scamming you, oh then you won’t be ready for the cats. The minute we started eating our seafood, this one cat came over and pestered us the whole time. His little homey came too, but he wasn’t as bad. But woah this cat would not give up, I had to toss him several times and he kept coming back. Digging his nails in my leg, jumping, trying to get food. I almost had to catch a case on this cat.

When we finished, just  like that the cats were gone. Hatem came soon after that and asked what we would like to do. I said I wanted some shisha. He replied, “I know just the spot.” He took us to a local spot where we must have hung out for a couple hours just talking and sharing and learning about Alexandria and Egypt. 

While I really enjoyed Panda House both inside and for its location, what made Panda House stand out was Hatem. I’ve had great hosts in the past. I remember having a host in Romania and he brought out some special stock liquor for me and my dad at 10am and got us drunk and we talked to him all day. I’ve had other awesome hosts, but Hatem not only took care of us but he also gave us his time and time can't be replaced. Hatem was by far the best host I ever had and that is why he gets a section here. I wish I was known for my travels, because I’d love to return his kindness in the way of clients for his apartment, but alas, I am a nobody blogger traveler. 

On the way to Panda house I saw the Witcher Cafe. That's right Geralt of Rivia. I was like I have to go there. After spending time with Hatem and relaxing at Panda House we had a fun time trying to get across the strip with cars whizzing by and motorbikes and in many cases they had no lights so they were hard to see, just to cross the street. When we finally did, we got a DiDi to drive us to the Witcher cafe. It was ok. The name caught my attention. The fries and hot chocolate were fine. Nothing special. It had some artwork from the show. I didn’t regret coming here.

Siwa Oasis: Desert Labyrinths, Hot Springs & Wild Rides with Achmed

 After a long drive from Alexandria, Siwa revealed its magic through labyrinthine forts, icy salt lakes, desert jeep safaris, and unforgettable moments with Achmed, my wild tuk-tuk guide and local connector.

The next day I got up early to go to the Montaza Palace. This place sucked. We paid to virtually do nothing but walk. Everything was closed or we weren’t allowed to enter. Maybe the highlights open up later, I don’t know, but a complete waste of time and money. I couldn't even see Montaza Aida beach. Some dude wouldn’t let me go and then he began escorting me somewhere and I translated that I am leaving, and you’re taking me in the opposite direction. He didn’t stop me, but I had no idea what the hell was going on there. Hard pass, worse than Giza and the Grotto.

I mentioned I had a coworker here in China from Cairo, who hooked me up with his friend and well, we set up a WhatsApp group and I got a lot of my traveling taken care of ahead of time. Today we were going to Siwa Oasis which is about a 7 hour drive more or less from Alexandria. We hired a private driver, and I worked out a deal for him to take us to one last stop in Alexandria before we left: Pompey's Pillar. It took a while to find it, my Google Map directions were wrong, which is quite common with Google Maps, so the driver had to ask questions. We finally got to the pillar, yet again in the middle of the city, it was a small piece of land. I thought it was going to be just one Romanesque column, but it turned out there was quite a bit more to explore here. I forgot to mention tourists. I know I am one, but I dislike tourists especially the ones that are usually women, Asian, young, who take 30 minutes or more at a spot to do the lamest poses imaginable. Well, that was Pompei’s Pillar, but, if you walk around a bit and go to the less popular areas you can find peace. That's the thing, these types of tourists are only here to show others that they've been to these places. Rarely do they care about anything else, so if it's not popular, you don’t have to worry. I like to explore places in their entirety. 

Now Alexandria was done, and I was hoping to stop here again before I left, but now it was time to drive 7ish hours to Siwa Oasis. 

We probably should have left at night since it was a long drive, but I wanted to see the land while driving. Also, if we did leave at night, the minute we left the van, we would have to start our adventure in Siwa. No rest. 

The drive initially was nice. At times I could see the sea and I was able to see buildings and architecture. While I don’t know much about architecture, I still like to see styles and how a country is laid out. Eventually it got boring and flat. Straight desert with nothing interesting. We did stop at a place to relax for a minute,  buy some snacks, and bathroom break. As usual, I’m using my time talking and engaging people. We left and continued on. We did go through a couple checkpoints. Hand over your passports and it's all good.

We were still in the van as the sun set. It was the most beautiful sunset since my trip to Mojave National Preserve in southern California a little over a year ago. Strong reds, oranges, and fluffy clouds! Damn I was in the car! I would have loved to have been at the right place for this. 

We didn’t arrive to Abdo Caffour House until night. This place was recommended by my coworker. Dope spot but a bit out of the way. We had dinner, and I was able to get gluten free which is always a plus. Afterwards, I hopped into the natural hot spring they have on the property. We are talking upper 30s lower 40s in temperature C. Damn, writing this brings back memories of that spring. Then I went to sleep.

I had your basic town tour that most if not all people do. The house connected us with Achmed who rolled around on a tuk tuk, I didn’t know they had tuk tuks out here. Achmed spoke some English, which was a bonus. The roads aren’t the best in Siwa, so expect a wild ride especially if you rolln’ with Achmed. He be mashing down roads. I thought it was funny, but sometimes it was a bit much. 

Our first spot was the mountain Gabal Dakrur. Now, everything is about perspective here. It was more like a rocky hill to me. Sam from Nepal probably would have called it a big rock, but I certainly would not call this a mountain. We didn’t climb it but there were ruins along the side of it and we had some time to explore. I went up a tower and wandered about taking photos.

 The next spot was Cleopatra’s Spring. This is a famous spring along the road, surrounded by shops and cafes. We stopped and went to the 2nd floor of the cafe (first one on the left if you come the way we came,) not sure of the direction, where I bought drinks for our party. Achmed recommended a special concoction called Siwi juice, a local delight. It has coffee and I don’t drink coffee, so I only drank it once while there, but it was pretty good. We didn’t jump into the spring, just relaxed and took pictures.

 We then tuk tuked to the Temple of Umm Ubayd. He stopped in front of his boy who was selling silks. Dude did not try to sell anything. As a matter of fact he even agreed to allow me to photograph him and I purchased nothing. The ruins themselves were small. Despite my age, I was a hit with the ladies. As many Egyptians, male, female, young and old wanted to talk to me and take pictures with me. This time a young lady wanted a photo with me. It’s funny, but it does feel good. 

We proceeded to Amon Temple. Now it was getting crowded. It was Amon temple, but I was just trying to get in and out. As I mentioned many times, crowds ruin anything for me. Definitely go though. 

The final spot was Gebel al-Mawta, Death Mountain or Mountain of the Dead. This wasn’t in fact a mountain in my opinion. To me it was a rocky hill, but it was interesting. This place had many underground tombs for the dead. However, only 3 still had some interesting engravings and carvings within. Regardless, the whole place was interesting to explore. You can get some good views of the area and see all the areas we visited previously from a distance. I ended up talking to some kid and her mom and they just happened to live in Shanghai, which wasn’t far from where I lived. Good conversations. The kid was funny. 

I told Achmed to drop us off at Shali Fortress in the heart of Siwa and asked if he could pick us up and take us back to the House at a specific time. WhatsApp's were exchanged; the deal was set. Shali Fortress to me, was one of the coolest man-made places to explore during the whole trip. I couldn’t wrap my head around what Shali fortress was. I didn’t research it and still haven’t and sometimes maybe that's a plus as I can make guesses. From its name it may have been a fortress at one point, there were high points, and several towers. However, some people made it their homes or places of work, so maybe it was just a community of living spaces. What it felt like most to me was a labyrinthian maze, where I got lost a couple times. Meandering through this area was a delight. The best part was, it was a pretty big place, so yes, there were crowded areas with tourists and then there were areas where there was no one. 

My first task was to make it up to the high point near me. I got lost a couple times, but eventually found it. While there were tourists here, it wasn’t that crowded. When I made it to the top I had a nice view of the area and realized the fortress was a lot bigger than I once thought. On the other side of the fortress was a large rock on high with a mosque bordering the fortress near the rock. That whole west side looked empty and I wanted to climb that rock. Time to go. 

I exited the fortress and walked on the street to the mosque and lost sight of my friend. By the time I got to the mosque, I called my friend and gave the coordinates of where I was at and where I was going. A dude in the mosque came out because I was talking too loud and looked pretty pissed. I retreated to the back and explored.

This side of the fortress was in shambles but it was empty, and I loved it. I was the only person on this side and I proceeded up the rock. I kinda went around in circles and would find ways to move up. I did some light weight rock scrambling, but made it to the top. Again, the view was impressive, a different perspective and now I knew where the sun would set. If I wanted to get the sunset and have the fortress in the foreground I would have to go to the other side where the tourists are. This would not be the spot to shoot. Always got to scout. I posted up here for a minute and relaxed.

Going down was fairly easy, but rock scrambling down is harder for me than up. I decided to explore this side of the fortress. Again, empty, except for me, dilapidated, but just my vibe. I expected some stray dogs or dudes to come out of some spot to harass me, but nothing. Just me and the ruins. I loved this!

Reuniting with my friend, we went back to the “tourist” part of the fortress and came upon some lads chillin in the shade. They invited us for tea. My “Spidey senses” were tingling and I was thinking to myself, “Do I ignore or join them and then expect them to charge me?” I decided to join them. I made it clear I could only hang out for a few minutes, but they were cool. English conversation was ok, and they were genuine. They wanted us to have tea with them. I left feeling good and told them I would find them again and spend more time.

There was one more thing to do today. It was time to catch the sunset at Fatnas island. It wasn’t a long drive but not short, maybe 30-40 minutes to get there. You will eventually reach Siwa Lake. When you get there make sure your driver or however you get there, you take the left path and continue all the way down a few minutes more. You can get off at the beginning but there are trees, and it will block the sunset. Go to the end and catch a spot to post. We stopped and it was pretty empty when we got there so we took an outdoor 2nd level spot with no obstructions. It was comfortable, Arabic style- pillows, carpets, etc. We just relaxed and watched the sunset. I might have even taken a nap and had drinks.

It was time to grub and my coworker recommended this spot called Abdu. It was crowded. The food was good, but my coworker was raving about it. It wasn’t all that. I finished my meal but it wasn't gluten free, but I did have my gluten free bread. It would soon be time to meet Achmed, and right on schedule he materialized like a phantom. It was now clear that I would have Achmed be my driver. Originally, I was going to bike a lot of these spots, but due to time, I decided to pay the extra cash to maximize time. Money can be replaced, time cannot. The ride back felt super long and because it was dark it was a roller coaster of a ride as Achmed was driving and hitting potholes, bumps, and the ride back in itself was an adventure. Again, it was fun, funny, but at times kind of annoying. I wonder how often Achmed needs to fix his tuk tuk. I mean the suspension on his ride has to be taking some serious critical damage! Finally back at the House, it was time to, yes you got that right…..HOT SPRING time! After long days of walking, a hot spring is a diamond. 

I got up early because I wanted to catch the sunrise from the “mountain” Gabal Dakrur. It was actually close to where we were staying. I went alone and made it to the corner of the intersection outside the House. Immediately a gang of dogs started barking. This isn’t anything new for me, but it was still dark. It was like 5am, I didn’t have a flashlight, just my iPhone. I couldn’t see these lil mutha fuckas and they were barking and there had to be like 5 to 10 of them. I am tired of fighting stray dogs; I don’t want that in my life anymore. I turned heel and retreated back to the room. I can’t see them, I had no weapons, I don’t know the exact count. That was a wrap!

But, that didn’t matter! Today Achmed would pick us up and take us to the Salt lake and then after we would go on a desert Jeep Safari. The ritual goes, for those who immerse themselves within the salt lakes, afterwards one must bathe in the magical waters of Cleopatra's Spring. 

The Salt lake isn’t as glamorous as it looks when youtubers share their trip here. Watch my very unpopular videos for the real deal, because that's all I deal in. This does not mean you should not go, they are amazing, but they mine salt here. There's one big lake and then you get these smaller pools and ponds of various sizes. There are machines and tractors in some of the areas, so it's best to find a spot that's quiet. 

The gate was closed when we got there. Achmed talked to some dudes and they said it was closed today. I was bummed, but that didn’t stop Achmed, he was on a mission, and this is when I realized I made the right choice in hiring this dude. He took another path and drove about 10 minutes and then this fool went straight off road. I’ve been off roading in a 4 WD car and it was difficult. I don’t know how his tuk tuk was able to handle this. He hit the cuts and then we stopped at these two rather larger pools of salt water. I didn’t get what you see on reels and stuff, the personalized tub sized ones. Nonetheless, the point is to wade in the waters and no one was there anyway. Everyone said the waters were really cold. I was dreading this, but cold and heat are different for everyone. When I entered I was like, this ain’t that cold. I just went right in. Like the Dead Sea, you are so buoyant it's just a pretty weird feeling, almost uncomfortable at first. Just relax, don’t get any water in your eyes and enjoy. That's what I did. Then I took a bunch of pictures and we left.

On the way back, Achmed was trying to let people know the place was closed. Lots of tour buses were coming now. Achmed did his automobile speech and sign language. Some got it, some didn't. I’m so glad we didn’t book a tour! We headed straight for Cleopatra's Spring to complete the ritual and when we got there, there were many tourists. I didn’t care, I just jumped right in. The spring was nice, but not as hot as the House’s spring. I liked the House spring. We ordered some drinks and went back to the room. 

A little late but the jeep finally arrived. It was a tour, but I never did a jeep safari tour. In our car there were two others but we had a few jeeps in our group. A lot of these tours need your passports 24 hours in advance. Just FYI. The ride to the desert was fun. Dude was mashn’ through the sand dunes, skidding out, going up and down sand hills. Dude kinda pissed me off when he peeled out and hella sand got all over us. We made some stops to take pictures, for girls to do their stupid photos, and to chill, but this was ok because it wasn’t interfering in what I wanted to do.

We eventually stopped at this oasis in the middle of the desert. It was crowded! Hella jeeps and people. Mostly Egyptians. I walked around, but then they started playing music and I had to check it out. The Egyptians were getting hyphy. I was just going stupid do do dumb, and they tried teaching me some of their dances. I had a great time as I was attracting a lot of attention and talking with people. People wanted to take photos with me and share culture. Our guide was a bit pissed off because we only had 15 minutes there and because of me I went way over the 15 minutes. They were looking for me as I was holding up everyone, but this is one reason why I don’t like tours. If I could have, I would have partied with the Egyptians the whole time. When we left, we watched the sunset, had tea, and some of the tourists were sand boarding. It was a good day.

Back at the House, I decided to go with some of the others to see the stars. I thought it would be a good time to shoot stars, but the fire and smoke ruined the shots and there weren't really any good foregrounds so I just sat with the group and drank tea and ate snacks. The stars were out though, it was nice, just not for photos. I left early because it was getting late and I needed to…you guessed it! HOT SPRING TIME! I got back to the House around midnight and took a dip in the spring. It would be the last night.

The next day, I didn’t get up early and had breakfast. Oh, there can be lots of flies in Egypt. I spent my summers in Mexico in the 80s. Didn’t bother me much, but I can see people tripping off this. Now we would climb the “mountain” Gabal Dakrur. All the sunsets and sunrises were decent except for the first sunset when we were driving there! Man, I wish I could have had that sunset another day! Broad daylight, no mutts, let's go.

There are two rock outcroppings. In the center is a sand dune. I was told to go to the left rock. There would be a flat platform. Go there and look for a path. Well, before I even got there another pack of dogs came out of the cuts and started intimidating me. I didn’t have any weapons. I also don’t want to deal with a pack of dogs. I left.

Well, some dude on a truck saw me coming down and pantomimed stuff to me. When we got back to the street we translated, and he asked if I wanted help to get up there. I told him about the dogs. He said don’t worry. Of course I had to ask him if this was free or would it cost me? He said free. I agreed. This dude had sandals and a robe, probably early 20s and we began the walk up the dunes. We saw a dog but it did nothing, later more dogs appeared and they were even barking at him. He just started throwing rocks at them and they scattered. The climb was short, but it had some difficult spots to climb. I was happy he was with us. Even though he didn’t ask for a tip, I was gonna give him one. The view was pretty impressive, and sunrise worthy, but that was not possible anymore. When we came down, one of the women who stayed at the  House was walking alone and we talked for a minute and began exploring together and we came upon some rooms embedded in the rock. A perfect smoke cut. We parted ways after, as she wanted to explore more and my friend and I needed to pack and get ready to leave that night, but first we would go back to Shali Fortress.

When we got back to the road, I told dude I’d give him some money. I exposed my wallet and he saw “a lot” of money. Which wasn’t even a lot. Maybe for him. I gave him a tip. He was pissed off because I didn’t give him more. I didn’t give a fuck, he said for free, I gave him some money…fuck off now. You lost my respect. Dude was cool up until that point. I am still glad he came though.

Back at the House, fully packed, I talked to one of the employees. She was Italian but working at the house and learning Arabic. She knew I liked deserts and she laced me with some game. She told me to visit the Black and White deserts. They were about 4 hours away by car from Cairo. I never heard of these deserts. I didn’t want to spoil the suspense, but I googled them and looked at a couple images. I didn’t see enough pictures to ruin it, but I saw enough to pique my interest. If I can make it work, I will. This trip already has way too much going on. There was barely any rest. 

Achmed came through as usual, and we headed back to Shali Fortress, but first he took us to the salt cave. I had no idea what to expect. I thought it was a cave. It was like someone's house that had a bunch of rooms with salt in it and you basically just lay in it for 15 minutes. It's kinda like acupuncture without the needles. Lights dim, quiet, and buried into salt from the chest down. When in Siwa, I guess. Today I would catch the sunset with the fortress in the foreground, but I had hours to kill. Instead of wandering Shali fortress I decided to wander the streets bordering the fortress. The kids were super nice and curious and adults asked what I was doing and that I should visit the fortress. I told them I have already wandered it pretty extensively and I wanted to wander the streets and see and meet people. One of the guys decided to show me around, for free. It was a good experience. I love hitting the streets.

I did decide to go back into the fortress and wander some areas I actually didn’t check out, and I also wanted to go back to that cut where I had tea with those dudes. Well, the leader was there with some new homies and when I saw him I was like, “Yoooo! I’m back!!! Let's hit that tea!” They welcomed us immediately. This time I stayed for like a half hour. We drank tea, he broke out the hash, and the drank, Couldn’t turn it down. We chopped game and relaxed. Good experience. 

I went to the  museum afterwards, but it was closed. It was time to eat and we stopped by Albabenshal, but it was more than I wanted to pay. We wandered for a bit and we were going to eat at the restaurant where the guy have me directions to the museum, but then I found Muhra.  Muhra was I guess a restaurant and a hostel in one. They had some tents set up. There was only a Japanese dude there. I didn’t see any employees, but I noticed fish and didn’t see fish anywhere else around town. Siwa does have lakes, so they must have fish, right? When someone appeared, we were able to look at the fish and ask questions. We ordered the fish and the whole meal was legit and not super expensive; what was concerning me was the amount of time to prepare the meal. I could not miss the sunset. It took a long time to get our meal. I ate quickly and jumped right back into the fortress and went to the first, touristy highpoint. There were like 6 other people on top, but overall, it wasn’t too crowded. I had space to set up. This was the 2nd best sunset in Siwa. Not even close as good as the one when we were in the van, but far better than any of the other ones. I got lucky. I’m not an AI photographer, nor do I take pictures of awesome sunsets and put them into an awesome foreground or other image. I shoot as is. I edit in post, but try to keep it as real as possible, just like my writing, and my videos. Too much fake shit is the reason why I do this now because I was misled so many times and I want to keep it real with y'all at least from my perspective. 

Siwa was a wrap! Had to hit up Achmed and return back to the House to meet our driver and drive all the way back to Cairo. Achmed came through as usual. I miss that guy. He was really cool. I felt he was honest, and I got his WhatsApp. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel and I’ll be more than happy to share contacts with any of you. We got our last bumpy ass ride back to the House and waited for our driver. When he arrived, we loaded up and bounced. We left at night this time to arrive early in the morning in Cairo. The sleep in the van was pretty horrible.

Cairo Real Talk: Garbage City, City of the Dead, and Pyramids from the Rooftop

 Back in Cairo, I dove into the gritty and the grand — from the stinky yet fascinating Garbage City and the eerie City of the Dead to rooftop views of the pyramids. Dodged sketchy tours, battled confusing hotel locations, and finally hit the Grand Egyptian Museum, where ancient magic meets modern design. Not all smooth, but always real.

We arrived in Cairo early morning and decided to head back to Hotel Miami, because while I was a bit bitter about how things went, things were still cool and I asked my “brother” if we could leave our things at the spot and we had plans to go to Garbage City and CIty of the Dead. This would be a tour for 50 bucks. I was all in. I really wanted to see these places. We had to get it all done that day, because early the next day  we were flying to Luxor. 

We headed to Garbage City first and it turned out to be fairly close to that highway I was wandering my first day in Cairo. I could have found it alone. Now, my “brother” was telling me this place was dangerous. Dina didn’t tell me it was dangerous, but she made it clear she would not take me there. People often wonder about my fascination with going to ghettos. It’s not so much a fascination. I like to see different ghettos around the world. I was born and raised in “The Aves” AKA the Richmond district in San Francisco. Your basic middle class neighborhood consisting mainly of Asians and Russians, at least when I was growing up. It's a bit more diverse now with some Latinos and Blacks now. However, I was a street dancer when I got older and to learn these dances I had to go to the hoods of Frisco and Oakland. So I would be in East Oakland, West Oakland, TL, Fillmoe. HP. When I lived in Mexico with my uncle, aunt, and cousins, I was in the hood. So while not straight hood, I have experienced a lot of hood life, so I like to see how people get down in other countries in the hood. Upon driving through Garbage City, there were lots of vehicles with tons of garbage. The smell was bad, but other than that there was nothing scary about this place like places back home or in Mexico. I’m not saying it's not dangerous, but it didn’t give that impression to me. 

Our first stop was the St. Simon Monastery. This was high on my list. I saw some photos, and it was like a church embedded within the stone? I had to check it out. It did not disappoint. I was highly impressed with this location. It was a bit crowded, but all in all a good spot to photograph, and to talk to high school kids who were friendly and wanted to talk to me. My “brother” showed me some cool spots to shoot. He tried to get us into this one spot, but we got in trouble. There were a couple of complexes to explore here. The main one which is pretty obvious on the left-hand side if you’re coming in, and then one at the end. You head down this slight decline and come to another church. Lots of statues and words embedded within the stone, and to the right if you’re going in you get a view of Garbage city and a view of El Seed’s mural. 

After the monastery, we hit a recycling plant. It was raunchy. The smell was incredibly bad. It didn’t smell as bad as my friend who was doing the Pacific Crest trail. We picked him up in Lake Tahoe and we got a hotel. That was probably the worst smell I ever experienced, but this was bad. I wanted to wander the streets and take pictures, but my “brother” didn’t want to spend time here. I was kind of pissed because I wanted to wander the streets. That's what I do. I’ve been robbed before, had guns and knives pulled on me, been beat up and jumped. These things happen. But this didn’t happen. 

Next, we went to the City of the Dead. To my understanding there are many cities of the dead. They are just places with crypts and poor people took up residence in some of these places. Again, supposedly dangerous, maybe so. This was kind of funny, because it was parallel to the highway I was walking down on my first day. I was like, “That place looks dope! I think I’ll wander there, but the citadel caught my attention first.” Also, I am pretty scared to cross streets in Egypt unless I have to. We hit the Dead City and it was pretty empty, and we only stayed there for like 20 minutes. 30 minutes max. I paid 50 USD to go to two places that were super close to the hotel, and it wasn’t even 11 am yet. I paid the same guy 50 bucks to go to Saqqara, Memphis, Giza, and more, and it was the whole day. 

I felt robbed of my money. I was pretty pissed off at this point, but still respectful because my things were in the hotel and at least that was free. When we left he said we can and should go to the Citadel. In my mind I was like, “cool, this will make up for the time. I mean 50 bucks for a couple hours? C’mon!” But nope, he said for an extra fee. For 20 bucks he would take us there. I was like, “naw, I’m good. Take me back to the tele.” At that point I was pretty pissed off. I felt betrayed. He made all this talk about this and that, and in the end he was kinda phony. I still like the hotel and I think they are legit in terms of location, price, and everything else, but in terms of tours, I would do your own research and see what kind of deals you can get. I was going to stay another night there, but decided not to. When we got back to the hotel, he asked for a tip, but I didn’t give him anything. I was like, “Naw, peace!”

I do all my hotel hunting on booking.com. Not sure if it's great, but it works for me and I’ve used it so much I get a lot of deals. I booked a spot near the pyramids. I actually got this spot just for the pyramids. On the rooftop restaurant you get a view of them. I wanted a different perspective. 

The hotel was fine, but there was some drama. The booking.com address was wrong and I realized it when we were in the DiDi taxi. I wasn’t able to explain it well enough to the driver and he took us somewhere nearby, but still way too far to walk with luggage. And where he dropped us off was in a horrible location because it was hard for cars to get into. I was pissed off because I was losing time. I had to google map and figure out the location and then call a DiDi and as I said, it was in a shitty location so it took some time. We got there and I let them know that their address was faulty and that I lost a lot of time trying to find the place. I also contacted them, and Dina also called them and nothing. They apologized and agreed to discount any food we got, which was a nice gesture. I had lunch on the roof and finally got to see the pyramids from a different perspective. Now, I’ll say this. Knowing what I know now about Giza, seeing the pyramids from this interesting perspective would have been good enough. I don’t need to see Giza up close. Save money, time, and annoyance. 

We also visited the Grand Egyptian Museum. This was a state of the art museum, and opened to the public a couple years ago. The architecture was amazing. I loved the whole set up of the place, the building, the ancient, magical artifacts. Not everything was open, but we wanted to do this when we first went to Giza, but it didn’t happen. We managed to make it work here despite the issues earlier that day. If you like museums that have some of the best artifacts around in a state of the art facility, then this is the spot to check out!

Luxor Hustles, Ruins, and Rollercoaster Rides: My Real Egypt Experience

 From dodging hustlers and battling crowds to discovering hidden temple gems and surviving chaotic bike rides, Luxor was a wild mix of history, hassle, and unexpected moments.

We had to get up hella early to hit the airport. Dina was a godsend. She came through and picked us up and dropped us off. Hopped on the plane and headed to Luxor early in the morning. At Luxor you have the taxi drivers trying to hustle and they are aggressive. I talked a dude down to 10 USD, but then I contacted the hotel who got me a driver as I thought it would be cheaper. When we got to the hotel, it turned out that the guy who picked us up charged like 9.50 USD. So I guess I brought the other guy down well. At this point I was being a saviano when dealing with these hustlahs. 

We booked at Abeer Guest House. It was on a narrow road in the cuts and certainly did not look like a hotel. The owner is an Irish man named Austin. I straight up told him that doesn’t sound very Irish. He agreed. This was a nice spot, but to get to the top where all the action is, requires climbing a bunch of steps. He is making some huge changes in the coming months, so there should be an elevator and hot top soon. Anyways, we talked for a bit and he shared his knowledge with me about what to do first and how to maximize our time. We only had 2 full days and it was already almost 8 am. 

Today we would go to Luxor temple and Karnak and then explore, wander, whatever. This was on the east bank. In Luxor, dudes on horse carriages are going to harass you. If you are walking to Luxor from the hotel and the Nile river is across the street parallel to you, then you will not reach the entrance. You have to go down the block and then make a left and you will find the entrance. I made the mistake to continue down and realized I would have to walk back the way I came or walk a long way around. I decided to take a carriage because I was already wasting time.

I will mention this in more detail, all these spots hate on people who have mics, cameras, and gear. It’s why I could never live in Egypt. At the entrance, the lady saw my mic and told me I couldn't bring my mic. I told her I’d put it away. She said I had to let her hold on to it. I already paid, and time was wasting. I said fine. I’m  going to fast forward, just for this part. When we left Luxor the exit was in a different area, so I had to go to the entrance, get my mic, then walk back INTO Luxor temple to exit. I could have basically just taken my mic and put it on and walked around the temple with no hassle. Their rules make no sense. Smart phones have video, camera, and mics, no problem. My shit? Issues, but you can just sneak everything in fairly easy or just situations like this where you can bring it in anyway. Makes no sense, wastes time, and is just outright irritating. Anyways…

Luxor temple was amazing and it wasn’t that crowded. I spent quite a bit of time here as there were less crowds, I tend to be more engaged and happy with where I am. Luxor was a mere 10 minute walk from my hotel and a must see.

During our time in Luxor temple my friend researched a temple called Dendera Temple of Hathor. This was an hour away from Luxor. I texted the guest house we were staying at and he set me up with some fellahs who would drive us there. We planned to go to Karnak first and then be picked up from there. We took a taxi to Karnak, and the kid had the Ghostbusters ride. It was sick, but the kid was annoying as hell, just running game the whole time and I kept telling him no. He just kept saying the same shit over and over and I wanted to choke him out. 

Karnak would have been amazing, if it wasn’t so fucking crowded. It actually was amazing, but the crowds ruined it for me. There were pockets that had less crowds, and it was nice to see archaeologists and workers on site, which made me think of Indiana Jones. I tend to write less when I'm in a spot where I lose interest due to crowds. Karnak is amazing though, and a must visit! Just try to avoid the crowds.

We were picked up out front of Karnak and made our way to Dendera. Dendera was far less crowded, and I am going to keep it short and sweet. As a whole, Dendera was the best ruins I saw in all of Egypt. While some other ruins might have had cooler statues or other things, the Temple of Hathor as a whole was amazing. It was super clean as in the engravings, hieroglyphics and everything else were well maintained. It wasn’t a huge complex, but big enough to keep you busy with different sections and areas. Lot’s to explore here. I don’t know if this place is popular or well known, but it was an unexpected gem that is a must see if you are in the Luxor area. If you don’t have time, you make time. I’ve seen a lot of ruins. This place is an easy top 5 ruin I’ve seen in my life, could even place it in top 3. 

Returning to Luxor we were dropped off at the train station. We were going to take a train to Aswan the next night. The tour guy we got hooked up with offered us a price of 70 or 80 USD to Aswan. I told him I would text him if I wanted it. We waited in one line, told to go to another line, we waited in what we thought was that line and told to go in another line. Finally got to talk to the clerk. It turned out we would lose 12 dollars if we took the car, if you add a train and taxi to the hotel. Fuck it, Ill pay the extra 12 USD and get a private car. I texted dude and it was settled.

We kicked it at the rooftop with my Irish homey and had a great time. I even drank a beer which I rarely do. I forgot to mention we also booked a hot air balloon ride on the west bank. The plan was to get up early, get a ride to the west bank via tour. Hop on the balloon, get dropped off at the bike shop, rent bikes and hit as many ruins on the west bank as possible. I couldn’t spend too much time partying that night. I went to my room and crashed.

The next day we got picked up and it turned out 1 hour earlier than I was told. I got up early anyway, but I still had to be quick. This was a full tour with people from various countries, mainly Asian countries. We hit the Nile, went on the boat to cross and hopped on another van to the hot air balloon sight. I have never been on a hot air balloon, nor have I seen one up close. Now I am seeing dozens being inflated, deflated, taking off, landing, and in the air. It was pretty amazing to me. I was excited, until they told me I couldn’t use my Osmo 3 or my camera, but I could use my smartphone. 

We were prepping, the guide was telling us the rules and how to be safe, because I always thought hot air balloons were for a few people, but these platforms fit like 20. Then some dude tells me our flight was cancelled. Then he tells everyone. There were 3 hot air balloons that were cancelled. Everyone else got to fly. The Chinese were pissed off. I was pissed off at them, because no amount of complaining was going to change the outcome, and now their complaining was interfering with my time and time is important to me. Everyone got a refund. I was bummed, but also was pissed off when I was told I couldn’t use my gear. That was the 2nd major point for this. Experiencing something new was the first. Apparently going on a hot air balloon in Egypt is supposed to be one of the cheapest places or the cheapest place to do this in the world. I probably can’t afford to do it in another country. I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford it back home in the USA. I had an amazing time in Egypt, but I also want to explore places I have never been to, so I don’t know the next time I will visit Egypt. 

It was funny, I wasn’t too bummed about it. I mean I was, but I was also like, ok, move on to the next. This Chinese family was going nuts and complaining and all this shit. I was telling dudes, I need to go and y’all need to drop me off at the bike shop, to rent a bike. Which they did. It was still early, but we were leaving today and there was a lot to see and a lot of ground to cover. 

Bike shop charged 300 Egyptian pounds for the day. That was until 5pm. I don’t know if that was a deal or not. I probably could have brought it down, but we already lost time so I didn’t barter. We got the bikes and the beginning was scary. I don’t ride bikes or motorbikes. I only ride bikes in places with few to no cars. The beginning of the trip had lots of cars and in places where “might make right” or “bigger you are the more power you have,” I am extremely uncomfortable. I also almost never ride bikes. After a few minutes it thins out and is a lot more comfortable, except for the occasional truck. 

Ok, this is how I would have done it, if I knew better, and I did it ALMOST like this. Also, there are LOTS of sites. I only had a day. On the right you will see Colossi of Memnon. I did this last, but there's no point in paying for this. It's outdoors and small. You can just take pictures and you’re still fairly close on the outside. You can see everything for free pretty much. 

You are going to make your way to the Temple D’Amon (Medinet Habou). You will hit a small dirt road and at that entrance you can buy tickets. This is the only place to buy tickets for certain places to my knowledge. Unless you do it online, but online can be complicated and annoying. I explained that in Giza. So Valley of the Kings you buy at Valley of the Kings. Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut you buy there. However, D’Amon, Tombs of the Nobles (this has multiple tombs and tickets), and Mortuary Temple of Seti I, you all get here. There might be more, but these were the ones on my list. (We chose not to do Valley of the Queens, because an Egyptian girl the night before on the rooftop told me reasons not to. I forget them now, but it made sense at the time.) I am saying this here, because I did not know this. I thought every site would have a ticket counter. Don’t be a me, but there is still online. Also, I kinda went off on this dude trying to sell me stuff. I don’t know why. But he just kept asking me to buy shit and I kinda snapped and went off on him. He cowered away, but I don’t like doing this to people, but everyone has a boiling point. 

From the ticket counter to Temple D’Amon, it was about a 5-10 minute bike ride. I got there first and some dude came up to me as I was looking for a place to park and chain my bike. He offered to watch the bike. I was like no. Then he said well sometimes people pop your tires. This got me thinking, because I’m from Frisco. When you go to a questionable neighborhood and some crackhead or homeless person rolls up on you and says that, you need to heed their warning, because sometimes you are paying them so that they aren’t the ones to do that to you. My friend wasn’t having none of that. Fuck that. We just moved our bikes closer to the temple and chained them. 

This temple wasn’t too crowded, it also wasn’t too big. I never thought I was going to say this, but I was also starting to get bored of ruins. I can’t believe I just wrote that. I absolutely love ruins, even newer ruins, like the house of Jack London that burned down at the state park in California which isn’t even that old. But, I was starting to get bored. I think it was the combination of tourist areas and scammers, and just seeing so many ruins, it just started hitting me. The site was dope though. Nothing stood out for me, but with the exception of Giza, all are worth a visit.

We left, no popped tires, nothing taken. We mobbed to the next spot: Tombs of the Nobles. Well, they don’t have tickets. So we couldn’t go. I figured it's fairly close to the ticket booth, so we can do this at the end, but this would mean we would have to omit the mortuary of Seti I since it was the farthest away. Get all your tickets when you can! Don’t be a me! 

We decided to go to the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. You buy tickets here. This place was amazing and also just lame. It was crowded, but they also had these large golf carts taking tourists the 200 yards to the site. Sorry, if you have physical disabilities, can't walk, ok i get it, but I’m not into that. That's lame as hell. And before you crucify me, I have lupus. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. You don’t see me complaining riding a bike, walking for hours when I should be driven everywhere. A lot of people with my condition can’t even get out of bed. So, I have little sympathy. The worst part is we for the most part look healthy but we are far from it. But hey, maybe every person there also had an autoimmune disease. I didn’t think of that at the time, but I doubt it. 

Anyways, this site was a lot different from other ruins I saw and well, I got excited again, for a minute. It was just too crowded. Dudes trying to run game. I haven’t looked at the footage yet, but at this one part where you can’t enter, a “worker” asked for my Osmo and was like, "I'll film this for you.” I said, “naw, I’m good.” He kept pestering me. “I said, “No, I won’t give you a tip so no point.” he said, “no problem.” I said, “ok, you said it. No tip.” I gave him my Osmo and he started filming and again, I haven’t seen the footage yet but he was all into it. He looked better than me. Then he handed me my Osmo. I thanked him. He said, “tip!” I replied, “Nope. I ain’t playing with y’all anymore! No means no!” He threw a punch as I turned around, and then it turned into a pat on my shoulder. I turned and he looked a bit angry. I just gave him a mean mug and walked off.

Apparently my friend found 2 other sites you could explore here, but there was no evidence of it. We walked back to the entrance. I wasn’t going to go on that fucking cart, I can still walk for now. We asked a police officer near the entrance. I figured he wouldn’t ask for a tip, and he did not. He wasn’t able to help us though and he summoned some other dude who did help us. He was great. I think, part of some other tour, a guide maybe. We went back to the ticket line and bought two more tickets and he showed us where to go. Almost thought we would get away with it, but he asked for a tip. At least he was helpful. He showed us where to go and no one was there. Everyone was only interested in the main attraction, as usual.

We descended and began to explore. It wasn’t long before a guy appeared and asked for our tickets and then he asked us to follow him. Again, none of these dudes need to do this. Tell them to fuck off, unless you want to give them a tip for information you probably can Google. He took us to two tombs. This was cool because we had to crawl through some tight spaces and saw some interesting things. There were areas of complete darkness and pits where if you don’t turn a light on or you’re not paying attention and you fall, that's it. Game over for you. They are deep. It wasn’t amazing, but it was near empty. There was a Chinese dude there as well, so just us three with the dude. I guess in this case, you would want a guide. No need to fall into a pit.

Finally, it was time for Valley of the Kings. This was a longer bike ride. It took close to an hour maybe. Riding along, store owners yelling at us to come over. I finally hit a left and it was straight desert. No more annoyances, until we got to the Valley of the Kings. It became apparent that there was no way we would be able to visit Seti and I was even hesitating about the Heroes Tombs. It was crowded here and they got their little bazaar set up. I’m just striking. I had no time for this. We got our tickets and proceeded. There are a bunch of tombs and you have to buy multiple tickets for this place. My friend investigated online what tombs to see. We saw KV11, Rameses III, KV16, Ramses I, KV6, Ramses IX, and the best one KV9, Ramses V and VI. There was a King Tut one and that would have been on my list if I made it. Now, if you don’t have a ticket, but you’re already in, the men at the tomb entrances will let you in for a tip. I didn’t know how it worked. I figured you could go into all of them, but you can’t. Then the man said I could go in for a tip. I was sick of tips, so I bounced.

Time to go, but first a rest. My friend was tired. I don’t like resting. I like to keep moving. My friend bought the only ticket for the Tombs of Heroes. This was also multiple tickets. However there was a problem and we couldn’t fix it. I argued to go to the ticket people. My friend waited in line then gave up saying that they probably couldn’t help anyway. I mentioned various times that we shouldn’t do it online. We should have just went back to the booth since it wasn’t far and bought the tickets. Whatever, it was done. More money lost. Before leaving these two dudes were trying to hustle me to buy some shirts. At this point I was just kinda talking shit. They didn’t really like it. I didn’t really care. I rode off. My friend was pissed and left me behind. 

On the road, once we got onto the main road a small gang of kids on their bikes started following me. They were cool, but at the same time light weight fucking with me. Which kinda pissed me off. I was humoring them, trying to have fun and be cool, but some of them would suddenly stop in front of me, almost knocking me off my bike, or bike too close to me and try to run me off. One kid asked where I was from and he said, “Fuck USA!” I didn’t say anything back to these kids, but I began giving them looks like I wanted to beat the shit out of them. They toned down a bit after that. They rode with me for a while, more so, because I made a wrong turn. I almost went back to the Mortuary we visited with the carts. At the end of the day, they’re kids, but also, I don’t like riding bikes, and I am not good at riding bikes, and when I feel like you are trying to cause me harm, I kind of want to cause you harm. But again, they were kids. I thought it better to keep my cool then step up to them. I eventually rode out of their territory and they waved goodbye. Even the kid who said fuck USA, apologized and said it’s an amazing country. 

So, we ended up going back to the ticket booth anyway. My friend should have just listened to me. Well, the issue was actually the internet signal. The man at the booth gave us his wifi and we got the tickets. If we did that at Valley of the Kings we could have saved about 20 minutes. The sun was beginning to set and we still had a 10 minute ride over. We got there quickly and parked our bikes. Some dude approached us and spoke in a way that made it sound like we needed this guy to take us around. He also mentioned there are many tombs and he will help us locate them. He did mention ahead of time that he would ask for a fee. I actually respected that. He was upfront. I agreed to pay him as I had no idea where the tombs were, it was getting late, and we had to take a car over the Aswan that night. We followed him and we had four tombs to check out. He would leave and we would descend the tombs alone and then another guy would materialize out of nowhere, to share information. I started fucking with this guy. I am not sure if I am going to share it on YouTube, but I was just trying to be as annoying as possible to them, I don’t think it worked. This move hella irritates Americans though. Gave fucker a tip. Went to the next spot, gave the other fucker a tip. I’m seeing this old white dude walking alone doing his thing and I'm thinking, this guy is way cooler than me. He just came in here and told everyone to fuck off. No more tips! Ever! We hit two more spots and no more tips. The Tombs of Heroes was good and there are many tombs here. Too many to see in one day. But again, at this point I was just ruined out. I never thought it would happen, but it did. 

My original plan was to explore Cairo, see Giza, go to Siwa Oasis, and the Sinai desert. That was the trip. Then my friend wanted to come and complicated everything and wanted to do all this tourist shit. I wanted to do a long desert trek in Sinai for almost 2 weeks and just wander the deserts and sleep under the stars. Things change. I don’t regret anything from this trip, except for maybe Giza. There was just too much going on and barely any breaks to just chill. When I mean chill, I don’t mean relax, but wander the streets aimlessly, exploring, meeting people, my type of travel.

We still had some light and we wanted to walk around. Our guide said we could and would take us to a really good spot to watch the sunset. You guessed it…for an extra fee. I just told him to bounce. I thanked him and told him we can figure it out ourselves. When it was all done we hopped on our bikes and bounced.

Getting back was easy until it wasn’t. As more cars appeared I felt more uncomfortable, but survived the ordeal. The bike shop owner was tripping because there was a tear in one of my bills. So he went off on how it's not acceptable and blah blah blah and wanted another bill. At first I was like I was given that bill, what's the issue? He continued on about how for Egyptians it’s hard for them to exchange it, but we would have no problem. I didn’t want to hear anymore and exchanged the bill. I waited for my friend and now we had to deal with the boat ride back to the east bank. At this point I’m hella irritated. I’m just tired of the constant fucking hustle. I said no to everyone. Then I saw some Egyptians. I told the boat people, “you see them? Those Egyptians? I want to ride with them. I want that playah price. I want that Egyptian price.” I don’t know if how I said it made it work, or my face or what, but they were like OK. I paid like 20 Egyptian pounds to cross the river. It was great. You might think I’m pissed at Egyptians, but I’m not, because the second you’re around the everyday ones, it's all good. The captain of the boat was a pretty sexy 40s-50s year old man. He spoke some English. I was like, “Damn, you are a good-looking man!” He replied, “I have two wives.” I said, “I am not surprised.” We talked for a bit, then I started talking to a much older man who was a teacher and spoke a few languages. All I wanted was to be around the locals. It was great! I loved it!

After we got off, I caught a pretty dope sunset and took pictures. We were near Luxor temple. My friend wanted to eat Mc. Donalds. I had no more gluten free bread, so fine. Let’s do it. This Mc. Donalds was dope because you had a great view of the temple on the upper floors. My friend wanted to do what I hate most: shop. I decided to be near and take photos. The owner of the shop was super cool. A big ole Egyptian dude. I saw a pimpy ass picture of some guy in the shop and asked who that was. He told me it was his dad who passed away a few years back. I told him his dad looked like a good man. He was now running the shop. He told me to relax because I kept moving around and taking photos. He got me a seat and asked me what kind of tea I wanted. At first I said I was good. (Obviously because I knew where this was going.) He was insistent, and he got me tea for a shop next door and did not charge anything. That made me more at ease. 

Darkness hit; we decided to head back to the hotel, but first I would detour through town to the hotel and had a great time meeting locals and taking pictures of the streets. I would have loved to have spent more time just wandering the streets of Luxor, but I didn’t have the time. 

After saying my goodbyes to the Irish owner, we hopped in the ride and headed to Aswan. There were hella check points and it seemed the driver and the dudes at the checkpoints were always arguing. I finally got the nerve to say out loud, “Yo, why are you always arguing with these guys?” I never figured it out. It might have been a dangerous road at night, which it did feel like. There was another road that took longer and I guess we were supposed to be on that road. I’m not really sure. I texted the owner of the tourist agency who was driving me. He answered some of my questions but ignored others. I texted the owner of the hotel I was at and couldn’t get a good answer from him either. He answered what he could, but didn’t know it all.

 Aswan Vibes, Crocs, and Hustle: The Real Nubian Experience

 From lively street parties and pet crocodiles to frustrating scams at Philae and chill local beaches, Aswan brought colorful energy and unforgettable moments—plus a heavy dose of hustle.

When we got to Aswan it was popping. There was music in the streets, parties, I don’t know, it looked hyphy. This is a Nubian place. Hella black folk, so I wasn’t surprised to see soul and music. I was digging it already. When we got near our hotel the roads were pretty bad. I mean we had to maneuver hella slowly. The hotel was right in the center of a market, which was both good and bad. It was vibrant with color, noise, and action, but would be annoying with hustlers. The colors really stood out here. I really liked where we were. Just vibrantly colored houses and murals. I was really feeling it here. Our hotel was owned by brothers and their whole family worked the joint, including extended family. The place was colorful. After dropping off the bags, I needed to explore for a bit. We were going to Abu Simbel the next day and that was a 4 hour drive, but I heard that if you leave around 8-9am in a private car, you will get there when it's less crowded as most of the tour buses leave by the time you get there. It was 60 USD for a 4 hour round trip drive there. More expensive than a tour bus, but not that much more. The marketplace was lively and fun, I kinda ignored most people, but it was funny when people were trying to sell me spices. I would look them in the eye and say, “C’mon, do I look like someone who buys spices or even knows about them?” They couldn’t argue. Good times.

The next day we had a fat breakfast and met up with the owner's boy who was a young Nubian probably early to mid 20s. We hopped in his ride and it was fun. Dude hit cuts, and went off road a bit. I was like, “Yo! What are you doing?” He told me he was taking a shortcut, and it was trips like this that were most memorable. I couldn’t argue. He drove fast and passed a lot of cars on these two-lane highways. Made me uncomfortable at times. It turned out this youngster liked 90’s hip hop. A huge fan of Tu Pac, Biggie, Snoop, and a bunch of other rappers from my generation. I told him I was gonna lace him with some Bay Area and Frisco rap. I also told him I would play some Pac songs that he never heard of. While I couldn’t sync my iPhone to his system, I still got to play my music via iPhone which wasn’t horrible. I told him about when Pac use to live in Marin City and fucked with a lot of Bay cats. I played a song for him with 5150, one of my favorite rap groups from the Bay. They are from the Marin CIty projects, right when you pass the Golden Gate Bridge and pass through the Robin Williams tunnel. I played Got to Surive, with Young Lay, Ray Luv, Mac Mall, and Pac on the final verse. He loved it. I played RBL Posse, E40, and more. He was diggn’ what I was playing. 

We eventually reached Abu Simbel. I had no idea it was around this big ass lake called lake Nasser. Abul Simbel was mildly crowded. Not too bad, but enough to strike a nerve. But again, different from a lot of the other ruins, so I was reinspired to explore once again. It consisted of two temples and it's actually quite small. It didn’t take too long to explore it in and out. 

We got back to Aswan probably in much less than 4 hours. He was mash’n. It was still daylight and I got to explore some of the area. I wanted to take so many pictures of people because of the bright houses and colorful clothes that the women wore, but many were not ok with it, or wanted money. I did get a chance to explore and well, if I return to Egypt Aswan is a place I would return to. I just liked the vibe and while there were lots of hawkers, it wasn’t as bad. We had a seafood dinner that was nice and made plans previously to rent a car the next day with the tourist agency that drove us from Luxor to Aswan. More on that later. 

So, it turns out everyone out here has pet crocodiles. I was chill’n with the owner and he was talking about it. I was like naw. He said let's go. He took me to his boy's spot and dude had a small crocodile he was holding. I even petted it. Then he had a big ass crocodile and an area he made for him. It was wild. I went to other people's houses too and it seemed everyone had a large one and a baby one. There's a spot beyond the Aswan high dam where they grab their crocodiles, I was told. 

The next day I had a tour with the previous agency from Luxor. There was drama. I am not going to get into it here but let's just say both the company and I were at fault. Moving forward I will try to make sure I am as clear as possible and discuss every detail to make sure I know what I’m getting. But the owner of the house helped resolve the issue, and for that he gets my respect. I did end up getting the tour way cheaper than it was supposed to be. From 40 USD to 20. I kind of won in the end, but there was a lot of drama. I don’t think this tour agency is bad. If I didn’t have a falling out like this with them, I would use them again if I return. We both made some bad moves. I can’t blame it all on them. With that said…

The first stop was the Aswan high dam. Uhhh….I actually didn’t want to go here. Wasn’t part of what I had planned, but whatever. It’s a dam. I was there for like 15 minutes. Lots of tourists. I don’t know, it’s a dam. It’s cool, I guess.

The 2nd stop would be the end of all scamming bull shit. This was the last ruins I would visit on the trip. Again, can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was glad. I actually got tired of looking at ancient history. I saw lots and lots of ruins in a short period of time. Maybe if I knew more about Egyptian history, I would have been excited the whole time, but I was burnt out on ruins. Hate to say it, because I love visiting them, but I’m just being honest.

These ruins were on an island and fairly close to Aswan called Philae temple. This was a cluster fuck and probably some of the grimiest hustling that happened while there. So, we are at the harbor trying to get a boat and they are charging a shit ton to go 5 minutes. Making lame ass arguments that it takes a lot of gas. We linked up with another group: A few Chinese people to lower the cost. These mutha fuckas, not the Chinese, but the dudes at the harbor were telling us we couldn’t go with other people. Who the fuck are you to tell us who we can or can't go with? This shit took a long minute to handle, but eventually we got our way and I’m assuming we got a decent deal. This shit was the most irritating bullshit. You just have to stand your ground and be hella aggressive. You’ll eventually get a deal, but it could take a while.

Philae was crowded. I was burnt out. It’s a dope place! Island ruins. The ruins were tight, but I was just done with it all. Despite the bullshit, if you’re in Aswan you should go. We spent like an hour and a half there, linked up with the Chinese and bounced. Driver drove us back, and we paid him. This was our last day, as we were flying back to Cairo. I asked the owner of the spot about visiting the unfinished Obelisk, a cemetery, a mausoleum, and a monastery. I am not naming them because it didn’t happen. He said the best way to see these was to take a boat across the Nile. So we went over there and I was just fed up with the hustle when we got there, so I just told them all to fuck off. I wasn’t going to pay what they asked and I didn't want to argue for 20 minutes. We decided to wander the streets, and I’m glad we did. We ended up finding a little beach area with locals. There was a gate, but it was slightly ajar. We walked in and there were families there and a little beach. There was music and people eating and when we entered no one was tripping, so we walked right in. The kids were great, they wanted me to take pictures of them. I was nervous, because I thought either they or their parents would demand money. Nope, no one said anything. The kids were super fun and kind. This is what I’m talking about. Egyptians in general are super cool, super friendly, super nice, when you’re around the everyday ones doing their own thing.

We said bye to the children and continued on, we walked all the way down the road until it became sand dunes. In the distance there was a larger beach. This was a dope little find. The negative was there were a lot of camels, so lots of shit, but once you get out of the sandy camel shit area, it's nice. If I had more time I would have relaxed.

Now, it was time to head back, as our ride would be coming to take us to the airport. I wish I had more time. So as we were leaving, the owner introduced me to his cousin. We started chopping it up. The owner was like, “this dude is always high” about his cousin. I was like, “Wsup? You got herb?” He was like, “you blaze?” I replied, “Hell yeah!” He told me to wait and he would get some and roll one up, but the driver was waiting. I was like, “Damn!” I really want to go back to Aswan. If I do, since I got all the tourist shit out of the way, I would go mainly to just kick it with folks and hang out.

 Sinai Desert Trek & Red Sea Dives: Stars, Camels, and Unexpected Friendships

 From a starry desert breakdown to vibrant dives in Dahab and a 5-day Bedouin trek with camels, Sinai was all about nature, challenging hikes, epic views, and bonding with cool new friends.

The flight back was easy. My coworker was visiting Egypt at the time, so he picked us up and took us to our hotel. Not only that but he picked us up, bought us lunch, and took us to buy supplies and snacks before our flight to Sinai. Egyptian friends are extremely helpful and want to make sure you are well taken care of. My coworker is like one of the nicest guys I ever met. And he is genuinely nice.

Everything was fine at the airport until they told us that our flight was cancelled. Not sure why, but they transferred us to another airline. The good news was we still got there, what sucked was we had to go through all the checkpoints again, and we were driven to another terminal. No special treatment. I would have liked to pass all the checkpoints and go straight to the airplane, and/or 1st class seats for their mistake. It was a short flight anyway. We arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh. Our driver picked us up and began the hour or so drive to Dahab. About 40 minutes in our car broke down. This would usually suck, but we were in the middle of the desert and the stars were out that night and it was beautiful, so I didn’t have a problem with this. About 20 minutes later another car arrived and we headed to Dehab.

When we got there, it was cracking. We were dropped off at our spot and the surrounding area was flooded with foreigners and visiting Egyptians. It was a very different feel from the rest of Egypt. Our spot was a dive spot. We were gonna scuba dive the Red Sea the next day. We dropped off our stuff and hit the streets for food. Nearby there was a restaurant called Red Cat. It had gluten free pizza. I didn’t need to look elsewhere. I hadn’t eaten gluten free in a while, and I didn’t want my negative effects to get worse. The pizza was good, the place lively, so we decided to explore. We walked along the beach where there were beautiful displays of seafood in shaved ice that attracted passerby's, and other shops. I saw this restaurant called Friends. It had this huge lobster, and I was like, maybe sometime during our stay, it will be one of those days to break some bread. People here were friendly and easy to talk to. The Egyptians at least. The foreigners at my hotel were aight, but I had to engage them, but I like talking to people, which makes no sense why I live in Asia. 

I wanted to come to Sinai because I wanted to trek some of the Sinai Desert. Originally, I wanted to do a 10-day trek, but got reduced to 5 days, because of my friend. The next day we would do two dives and then have a briefing about the trek. Getting up early the next day I had a gluten free breakfast, and we were across the street from the beach, so we had a good view. We headed to the dive shop and got set up. As much as I love scuba diving it had been 4 years. I had to take a mini test, and I think we did basic dives because of it, not that I did badly on the tests, but it was just a long time. I was a bit bitter because I don’t have housing for my main camera and gear really for photography and recording. Earlier I bought a GoPro Hero 12 as I wanted something small and easy to at least get some footage. I made a plan now that I shouldn’t mix scuba diving with regular trips. I should only scuba dive liveaboards or trips I plan to only scuba dive in. I just have too much gear to carry around if I include scuba diving during a normal trip. My friend never dove the Red Sea so I had to be flexible. Last time I dove the Red Sea I was in Eilat, Isreal and my boy and I planned a dive out there. 

We dove the Lighthouse and it was off the beach, kinda right by our hotel. I am more into boat dives. This spot was a spot for beginners and those getting certified. So fairly crowded. The first dive was great because I love scuba diving and it's been 4 years, however overall it wasn’t that impressive. After the first dive, the diving instructor told me I haven’t forgotten anything and I dove well.  The 2nd dive was much better in terms of coral, but no interesting sea life. I saw some lionfish, a couple eels. Overall due to it being a long time, I just loved getting into the water and diving. If I’m to compare to other dives I've done, they were decent dives.

Later that afternoon it was time for our briefing where we met a couple from Lithuania. Upon first inspection they looked pretty generic. Just an older white couple who sounded Russian. BUT never judge books by their covers. They were nice, we were briefed and then off. I didn’t expect to talk to them much even though it would be just us.

It was time for a bomb ass seafood dinner. We went back to Friends restaurant. I bought a fat ass lobster, red snapper, shrimp, and squid. When the food arrived, it looked like a lot, but we killed it. I thought we would have leftovers. Every once in a while, I will spend more money than I want. I hate spending money and don’t see a need to spend more if I can get it for less. Why spend 60 USD when I can eat for 5? I hella ain't rich. I can travel, but I don’t buy clothes, I don’t drink or spend money on things I don’t need, unless it's photography related stuff. My dad convinced me to spoil myself sometimes, so now I do, but it's rare. The food was great.

The next day it was time for Sinai. We hopped the van at the meeting spot and went off. It turned out the Lithuanian couple would only be with us for the first day. Not even overnight. This made me happy. I don’t want to be with other people. Our bedouin guide was a man named Fraig. He would lead us into the desert. Our first stop was a bedouin encampment where a few families lived. They knew we were coming as the women and children had all their wares set up. The women did not want to be photographed, but everyone else was fine with it. As a result I bought bracelets from the children. There were camels, and even pictographs nearby from hundreds if not thousands of years ago. The kids were cool, and one of the kids got caught on a barbed wire fence. He was stuck and laughing along with the other kids. The Lithuanian man freed him. Funny times. 

We hopped on a 4x4 truck and headed out into the desert. I began talking to the couple and it became apparent they were pretty damn cool. I was beginning to feel them. See, I judge people, and I know I have a problem, but I always remain open. I might think, “these people are lame as hell,” but I will never use those judgements to cloud my vision and thoughts. We were hitting it off well. He was sharing a bunch of movies I should watch from the past. They all sounded dope.

 Our first stop was a small little canyon we would walk through, which eventually turned into a slot canyon, which was real fun. I am fairly new to slot canyons, as my first experience with them was in Zion National Park a few years back. I may have done a few slot canyons in the past, but at that time I probably didn’t care that much. There was a time when I was more interested in city life and superficial shit.

After that we drove to another location called the Double Canyon. Fraig told me I shouldn’t bring my backpack with all my gear as there were very narrow places and it would be difficult. I told him I’ll be fine. I should have listened to him. This canyon was dope, and it sucked. I have mentioned that despite seeing a lot of nature, doing treks, and all that, I don’t actually like hiking. I don’t mind walking for hours, if I have my gear.  This damn slot canyon had areas you had to climb up. I don’t like rock scrambling, and I certainly don’t like light weight mountain climbing. There were several areas to climb up, and this didn't interest me especially when I got my Osmo and camera on hand. I’m not looking for this type of shit. Fraig was right too, there were some very narrow spots and I had to navigate around them in creative ways.

Everything was semi ok until we got to a point where we had a drop and had to climb down. It was impossible to climb down with a backpack. I had to throw my backpack down a 20-30 ft drop. I almost turned back, but for some reason, since it was narrow, I was hoping my bag would kinda slide down. It didn’t. Maybe some of the impact was prevented but it dropped down and I have thousands of dollars worth of equipment and I just bought a new camera and the Osmo. I was fucking pissed off. Getting down was not easy for me either, because I don’t do this type of shit. When I finally did get down, I started walking. I didn’t want to check my bag. One, I wanted to have that feeling that maybe all my gear was ok. I didn’t want to open my bag and see everything broken, which would have made me flip out. Two, there were too many surprises on this hike and I didn’t want to take things out and put them back in. Once I felt there would be no more surprises I opened my pack. Nothing looked broken. I took my Osmo out and it worked. I still felt that it might stop working. The rest of my gear looked ok, but I was too scared to check my camera and lenses. 

When we got back, I began checking everything. Thank whoever greater power is out there, as everything seemed ok. The Lithuanian couple would be leaving soon by truck. We would stay and begin our trek through the desert with Fraig as our guide, and the young Yousef a 16 year old Bedouin with his two camels and dog.

By this time I found out that the Lithuanian couple were hella into electronic music like me. They were definitely hardcore party people in their young age like me. They did drugs, and smoked weed and the woman was a professional photographer. I was hella jealous because that's what I want to be! Judge people, fine, but don’t act on those judgements. I got their contact and they would still be in Dehab when we got back. 

I always thought hanging out with younger people was cooler than older people, but lately it's the reverse. I don’t know, young people seem so lame now. Meeting older people who end up being super cool, is my new go to. I’m going to start looking for older people to hang out with on my journeys and stop messing with youngsters. They are usually just too lame and on some other shit, even though they think they hella cool, but again, I will not let my judgement cloud me, even when dealing with youngsters. Judge but remain open. 

Now the party was a dog, two foreigners, 2 Bedouins, and 2 camels. This was 5 days of desert trekking. This was my favorite part of the trip. There's something beautiful about not having to worry or think about anything other than the moment you’re in. Work, my life in general, none of that mattered. Food, walking, and keeping warm were the main things I thought about those days. It was easy hiking, nothing strenuous. There was some rock scrambling, but it wasn't bad. The days consisted of breakfast and Bedouin tea, packing our gear, hiking, lunch, rest, hike, set camp, dinner, and sleeping under the stars. Repeat. The landscapes and vistas were amazing. Aside from the regular tasks, I took lots of photos and videos. I almost lost my party a couple times due to spending too much time doing my own thing. This was so therapeutic for me. The downsides where nights were cold and well, I have lupus and sleeping on the ground sucks for me. I would love to trek more and sleep under the stars, but it’s tough and I have to tough it out and deal with the pain. Also, taking shits outside. We had soups, and Egyptian food every day. Yousef would make the bread from scratch and bury it in the ashes of the fire and dirt and when it was ready, we’d eat it. I avoided it, but on occasion I ate some. We had a small solid team.

There weren’t many animals, and we didn’t meet any other people during the walks. I saw a kangaroo rat, which was awesome because I remember doing an informational text on them in elementary school, and I was super excited to finally see one in real life. I saw some birds, and a couple lizards.

The last evening we climbed up a small mountain and got to overlook the Oasis we would be staying at for our last night. When we arrived, that was the first time I saw some people. Bedouin women selling their wares. I went out to explore and take pictures. Sleeping was great because we actually had cushions and protection from wind this time, even though we still slept outside for the most part.

The next day we would bid our guides farewell, and take a van to Mt. Sinai, but before that our guide showed us pictographs from thousands of years ago on a rock by the road. The van was waiting when we got there and it was time to do one more hike, but it would be more touristy. It was about an hour away to our next location. 

Below the mountain was St. Catherine's Monastery. Not only is the well where Moses met his wife here, but also the burning bush. The chapel was amazing, but we could not take pictures of it. It was crowded and because of that, I wanted to get in and out. I learned about Moses from Saturday school and our guide was sharing details as well. We didn’t need to stay much longer. There was a picture of the monastery from above that I liked. He told me where I could go to get the same shot, so I went off alone to take some photos. 

Then came time to climb Mt. Sinai, the mountain that Moses climbed to receive the 10 Commandments from God. Our guide seemed a bit serious or maybe it was the sound of his voice. I couldn’t tell which. He made it sound like it was a challenging hike. Even our Bedouin guide mentioned it. As usual, I just go. I passed up everyone on the trail. No breaks, I forgot to bring water and while there were many rest stops and shops along the way, I am not going to pay ridiculous prices for water or anything else. I just trekked it all the way up. The hardest part was the end with the steps, but even that was pretty easy. I don’t know how long it took me, but it didn’t take too long, and I wasn’t that tired.

The top was really nice. It had a small chapel there and some OG selling stuff, but he knew I wasn’t going to buy anything, so he was just smoking. I liked the top of this place because it had buildings, low walls, and steps. Most mountains I climb are super windy, no protection from wind and can be a bit scary as there is no protection from falling to your death. This made me feel very safe and comfortable. My friend came up 45 minutes or so later. By that time, I was done filming and taking photos. I spent about an hour and half up there. It was empty. Many people come here for the sunrise. That wasn’t in our plan, so we just arrived in the early afternoon.

Coming down is always harder for me. I slip, slide, misstep, whatever. I’m slow going down, I also take lots of pictures on the way down. I had to run to catch up to my friend and guide. People were looking at me weird as I did that. I guess they look at me the way I look at people who use camels or golf carts to go places. Before I knew it, it was done and it was back to Dehab.

It’s a really nice drive, because while Sinai is a desert, it's very beautiful and pleasing to the eye, with its canyons, dunes, and rock formations, so it's nice to just look out the window on a drive. When we got back we went back to our diver hotel and ate at a burger joint. We decided to meet the Lithuanians after dinner. They had a much nicer place than us and not only that, but homey had some doobies. Ohhh Weee! The owner of his place hooked him up. I was like lets just chill, blaze, and drink tea here. No one said no. We decided to play a game where each person would play music. I never played this game before, but it was a good way to get a feel for the people I’m with. The Lithuanians played some pretty good electro and some interesting music as well from their country and some old school. I was digging it. I shared a lot of my music which they really liked as well. The doob was hitting just right and well, I don’t blaze where I currently live, so it's been months. It felt so good to be took. We stayed for a while, but eventually left around 1 am. We agreed to meet again before we left back to Cairo.

The next day we had sushi which was aight. I was feeling it. Then we met up again for tea. Homey offered me a joint, but I turned it down because I would have gotten all paranoid at the airport. We said our goodbyes, and to this day still talk. At some point our paths will cross again!

Everything worked out. The van came on time, flight was fine, and I had booking.com taxi service pick us up. My friend would be leaving early tomorrow morning, but I would be leaving early to go to the Black and White Desert. I made it a reality. I still had 3 days left in Egypt. It would be a tease, but I’d be able to see it. 

Exploring Egypt’s Black & White Deserts: Volcanic Stones, Alien Landscapes & Desert Camping

 A private 2-day tour took me through Egypt’s Black Desert’s basalt volcanoes and the surreal white rock formations of the White Desert. Despite some tourist annoyances and my high expectations, the landscapes blew me away — rivaling Utah’s wildest parks — capped off by desert camping, warm springs, and even sandboarding.

The next day Dina came to pick us up. She brought me gluten free bread, I left my big suitcase with her, said my goodbyes and waited for my driver. My driver came about ten minutes later and it was a 4 hour drive to our destination, Bahariya, where my guide would be. This would be a 2 day 1 night private tour. I didn’t want to do a group tour and be with people doing selfies and shit. I wouldn’t say I had it personally tailored for me. I don’t think my guide made it that different than if he was with others, but he did stop where I asked and if I said wait, I want to go here he did. I paid way more than I wanted. I had to pay 250 usd. It can be much cheaper with a group, but I wanted private. If my pictures turned out as good as I hoped, it would be worth it. He was gonna charge me 300, but I said no. We agreed on 250. I did go for 200 but he wouldn’t. 

When I got to Bahariya they served me up a fat meal of some of my favorite Egyptian food and now I had my gluten free bread. Again, I'll go over food and details on locations in their specific sections of my website. 

Then it was off to the Black Desert. I’m not gonna lie. While I liked the Black Desert, I thought the sand was black. It turns out there are hella dead volcanoes in this desert and the stone is black basalt. So it gives the appearance of a black desert in certain areas. The sand itself looks like any normal sand you’d see anywhere else. I was a little disappointed, but it still was beautiful and amazing. We stopped off at this grave sight that a foreigner was buried in. More on that in my video. Then he took me to a location that had a lot of black basalt stone and he said I could take pictures and we can go, or I can walk around. Of course I’m gonna explore, I love to wander and walk anywhere. To me the black desert looked cooler from afar. Seeing myriad volcanoes in the distance, midnight black in color. It would have made for great drone shots and landscapes, unfortunately drones are illegal in Egypt, unless you got money. I would have loved to have flown my drone here. We hung out a bit and then headed toward the White Desert.

So far, and I’ve only been to a few deserts or sand dunes in my life, the most notable ones are Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Southern Utah, and the Kelso Dunes in the Mojave National Preserve in southern California. The Black Desert has become my favorite, thus far.

Our first stop was Crystal Mountain. Here the rocks had crystals embedded into the stone. My guide mentioned that the main area wasn’t as good, as many tourists collect the stones and kind of ruin it, kind of like Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California. He took me further out to a more pristine area that I enjoyed wandering. What I like is that my guide didn’t pressure me. He let me do my thing and was patient. He told me to collect some crystals to take home. I said no, but he convinced me to take some.

The next spot was Al Aqabat. We drove on the sand dunes to reach this spot. He told me to close my eyes and he drove a couple minutes and then told me to open them. I was amazed. It was a beautiful landscape of sand dunes, and stone pillars and rocks stretching hundreds of feet into the air. It wasn’t that crowded. There were about 10 people there. He told me to take my time and he pointed to a location below on where to meet him. This was an amazing location. I absolutely loved it, nothing could ruin this moment, or could it? 

Now, growing up I looked at Americans as the worst tourists. My family is from Mexico and my whole life I had to hear Americans complain about Mexico. “Why can’t you flush toilet paper down the toilet?” “Why is it dirty?” “Why are there so many flies?” etc..etc.. Just annoying irritating lame shit. Once I moved to Asia, Americans no longer were the worst imo. The Chinese have to be the worst and Indians and Russians are pretty fucking bad too. Not all of them, but the bad ones are fucking annoying. Anyways, some Chinese man decided to yell the whole time when he arrived. He had some kids and just kept yelling nonstop while I am trying to enjoy the nice quietness of the desert. I honestly wanted to KO him, but he was far away from me, yet I could hear his yelling loud and clear. He was also in my photos, when I was trying to get the landscape with no people. I guess I can change it in post, but regardless, dude was annoying as fuck and kind of deserved a beating. When he bounced it was nice to enjoy the quiet desert. When I was done, I hopped in the van and we drove to a couple caves to check out and then it was off to the White Desert. We were in the White Desert National Park, but we weren’t at the White Desert itself yet.

Ok. I was a little disappointed that the sand wasn’t white. I also thought the White Desert would have sand white in color. That is what I was expecting. In actuality the white rocks are composed of either white calcium, quartz crystals, or limestone. The sand itself looked like normal sand you’d see in most deserts. There were parts that looked like snow, but what made the White Desert otherworldly were the oddly shaped rocks that reminded me of Goblin Valley State Park in Southern Utah. I have mentioned Utah twice in this, if you are interested in Utah, I have a few videos on these locations. 

Ok, there are two places that have blown my mind and to tell you the truth I am super jaded, and nothing really impresses me anymore. I know there are things out there that will impress me, and I have mentioned places in this blog that have amazed and impressed me, and they did, but…..There are only two places I have been to that have really blown my mind, that is Southern Utah and scuba diving in Indonesia. Southern Utah’s landscape changes so much and it goes from epically beautiful but in a mundane way, like Zion National Park. Zion is fucking amazing, but its believable. Then there are places like Bryce Canyon National Park and Goblin Valley State Park that are other worldly. They could be fantasy settings or places on other planets. Those were otherworldly impressive and beautiful to me. 

Scuba diving Indonesia was amazing because of the pristine setting. You wouldn’t even think coral is dying. I have been to places where the coral is dead. I have seen places in Mexico that had coral when I was a kid and now it's all gone. Indonesia was thriving. The visibility, the underwater setting of vast reefs of different types, and myriad sea life ranging from Manta rays, to black tip reef sharks, all sorts of eels, and octopi, and more was just a mind fuck to me. I haven’t seen anything as amazing as those two areas, and I’ve seen quite a bit.

The White Desert was otherworldly to me. It was very similar to Goblin Valley in terms of its rock shapes and formations, only there were less and they were white in color. Both the White Desert and Black Desert are the most amazing deserts I have seen with my own eyes, and are impressive enough to be in a place such as Southern Utah. Bryce Canyon, Goblin Valley, and a couple other parks I’ve been to are still tighter than these deserts imo, but these two deserts can be compared with Southern Utah. They are impressive enough that they could be there.

With that said, two days and a night was not sufficient time for these deserts. It was a tease and I would recommend anyone to see these amazing deserts, even if you have to pay more like I did. It's amazing. You know what…I guess I could add Galapagos Islands as well. Landscape wise, no, but animal wise, yes.

When we finished the white desert, we went to his camp. His cousin had the fire set and was waiting for us. This was a little higher end than Sinai. They had a tent set up that was large and comfy for dinner. We BBQ’ed chicken, had rice, veggies, and Pepsi, and of course tea. They set up my tent and because of that, it wasn’t too cold. It was like normal camping. Breakfast was also good but basic. Eggs, some Egyptian food and juice.

When we were ready to go he took me to this spring. I thought it was a natural spring and maybe it was but it was by solar panels and there was a shed where the water was coming from. I thought it would be an oasis as he mentioned spring. It was in the desert. He said we could bathe in it, but I did not bring my trunks. He was washing his hands and face, so I followed suit. The water was very warm and nice. After that, we went sand boarding. I wasn’t really interested, but I decided to try it. It’s fun, but if you wax it too much it’s so sleek it's hard to stay on. As we were driving back to Bahariya, I asked to stop one last time in the Black Desert since we were basically in it. He did, and before I knew it, we were back. The other driver was waiting and we were off to Cairo.

Cairo Chaos and Last Day Adventures — Lost, Found, and Real Local Vibes

 Stranded without wifi and navigating old Cairo solo, I found unexpected warmth in a hole-in-the-wall eatery and explored mummies, mosques, and museums on my last day in Egypt.

There's little to no Wi-Fi in the desert. I was so impressed with Hatem and Panda House in Alexandria that I made a night reservation with him, because he shared some local locations I wanted to check out. I was done with tours. I just wanted to spend my last days hitting the streets, being among locals and shooting photos. On the way to the Black and White Desert I made an error and it turned out that I could only stay 1 night in Alexandria, so I messaged Hatem to let him know. He had no problem. I was relieved. He may have lost money because of me. I felt bad. Driving back, I had no Wi-Fi. We did our pit stop and still no Wi-Fi. Now, I’m stressed because I thought my SIM card was done. We hit the outskirts of Cairo. I tried again, nothing. It wasn’t working. I had no access to Wi-Fi. The driver didn’t speak English, and I couldn’t tell him there was a change of plans as I was going to be dropped off at the bus station. I sent Hatem a bunch of messages and pictures to prove the fact that I had no Wi-Fi. Somehow the driver understood my sign language about the bus station, eventually.  When I was dropped off at the bus station, I was hoping there would be free Wi-Fi. There was none. People were asking me if I wanted tickets and I was getting pissed off. I’m lost, alone, thank goodness Dina had most of my stuff, but I still had bags to carry. I had to wander the streets, but with bags I couldn’t enjoy it. 

I’m good at directions and landmarks and I knew I was in downtown old Cairo. I began to walk and after some time realized I was near my old stomping ground. I would go to hotel Miami. I wasn’t going to go inside the hotel itself, because then I would feel beholden to stay there if I ask to use their Wi-Fi. I was hoping if I was on the ground floor I could use it. Nope. I went to Mc. Donalds. It didn’t work, but they had it. I went to Burger King. They didn’t have it. I went to another Mc. Donalds, they didn’t have Wi-Fi. Finally, after a while I found a cafe that did have Wi-Fi. I was hella pissed off at this point. Alexandria was ruined. It’s a 4-hour bus ride from Cairo and it was around 5pm. If I went, I wouldn't arrive at Panda House until probably after 10pm and I would have to bus back 4 hours to Cairo the next day. 

Once I had Wi-Fi, Hatem got all my messages. I still feel bad that I had to cancel, but he was ok with it. Another reason why he is legendary! He could have had someone else book those days. I cost him money. Then I got a hold of Dina and she called the phone company and got some more Wi-Fi for me. I was too tired to find a place to eat, so I went to the nearby Mickey D’s to eat a burger and found a hotel near the airport. I left and summoned a DiDi. For some reason hella people were begging me for money during this whole time. I was pretty damn rude to these people. Not the first few people, but after the 4th I just didn’t have time for their problems. I had my own that I had to deal with and they were just fucking my mood up and I didn’t care about their sob stories, nor believe they are actually telling the truth, especially if you dress better than me. 

DiDi came, drove to the tele and relaxed. I wish I had a joint.

The next day was my last day. While there were a couple places I had on my list that I didn’t visit, I didn’t really want to be in Cairo really. I got up early and headed to the Rawda Island Nilometer. This was used to measure the water of the Nile. I saw pictures of the inside and it intrigued me. Getting there by DiDi was a bit difficult, some roads were closed and my driver got confused. I just told him to drop me off and I'd find it. I had to ask for some directions, but I did find it.

When I got to the entrance there was no one there. I saw 3 men and 1 woman sitting on a bench beyond. I walked beyond the entrance and told them I wanted a ticket. They just looked at me and told me to get it online. That kind of pissed me off. I mean four workers too lazy to just take my money. So I had to go back to the entrance and scan the QR code. Luckily for me it didn’t take that long. When I went back, they weren’t ready. The woman lazily turned on her phone or whatever she used to check my ticket. It took like 5 minutes and I was even more irritated. I mean, I could have just given them cash and it would have taken 10 seconds. It was done. 

I began my walk. What was nice about this place is its along the Nile with a nice view. I walked the grounds which were clean despite some reviews saying the place was dirty. There was also a palace, but it was closed. I took in the views of the Nile and then headed over to the Nilometer. One of those lazy ass dudes opened the building for me. And get this, this mutha fucka asked me for a tip. I lost it then and said, “Yo, I paid for my ticket to see the Nilometer, why the fuck would I give you a tip for something I already paid for?” He said, like, “Ok, no problem.” I got in there and began taking photos. A couple minutes later a pair of women came in to dust the place. It was dusty as hell and I feel that jackass maybe told them to clean while I was in there because I was taking pictures to fuck with me for not giving him a tip. I can’t confirm, but that's my feeling. I didn’t bother the women, I just continued taking pictures.

I loved the architecture of the place. It was quite amazing, but I couldn’t explore its depths. I just had to stay on the main floor. I bid the women farewell, did not say anything to the jackasses by the entrance and decided to find some food. There was a walking bridge nearby that crossed the Nile. I took it and asked some young ladies for food options. They were super nice but were tourists of the area so couldn’t help. 

Once on the other side I began asking people and getting some directions, but communication was difficult. It wasn’t in a tourist spot. I then asked this one dude and he just told me to follow him. Everyday Egyptians are cool as fuck. I wasn’t worried when I walked into some grimy looking neighborhood with him. We walked a ways and we hit a corner hole in the wall restaurant. He pointed and I thanked him. I went up to the restaurant. It wasn’t really an eating restaurant, as there were only two small tables, but there were lots of people there. I was like this must be the joint! I showed them photos of gluten free Egyptian food I like and they just nodded and smiled. They cleaned one of the tables and had me sit down. Everyone was looking at me. I felt like I was probably the first foreigner that ever been here. Before long, everyone was talking to me. Kids, young adults, adults, and old people. Everyone was super friendly. I showed them what I wanted to eat and I got a positive reaction from the locals. I asked the waiter how much it cost, but he didn’t tell me. This worried me, but I just relaxed and talked with the locals. I told them I had my own bread and wouldn’t need there's.

The food came and I began to grub out. The check was 70 Egyptian pounds. That was the price I wanted to hear. When I was done, they invited me into the kitchen and took photos with everyone, shot videos. I’ll most def share this experience on YouTube. I normally don’t film people in my videos because people tend to act different on camera as opposed to off camera and a lot of conversations I have with people I am not trying to share to the world, but in this case language was a barrier and it was just fun and genuine so I am ok to share this experience.

Afterwards, I did what I’m best at; wandering the streets. I just hit the neighborhood and started shooting. It was great. No one begging, no asking for tips, just everyday people going about their business. I loved it. I ended up finding a small street market selling food and wandered through it. I wasn’t even taking photos at this point. I just wanted to enjoy the moment and my last day in Egypt which was turning out to be real good. I eventually ended up on some bigger street and decided to go to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Dina recommended this place to me because of the mummies. Time for a DiDi.

The museum was nice. When I entered it had its own theme song and everything. The mummies were amazing. I thought to myself they are very well preserved. Some still had nice sets of teeth. I have never seen mummies this well preserved. There were other elements of the museum, but the main take away was the mummies and I’ll leave it at that. If you are deciding to go here and the mummies are a permanent attraction, then yes go. If they aren’t around, I’d pass. 

The museum is connected to a park and lake, but for some reason security won’t allow you to go to the park via the museum. I hit the streets using Google Maps and ended up walking on the highway. The police stopped me and told me to go back.

I decided to leave and called a DiDi and I was off to my last destination before meeting Dina, as we had plans to eat Mexican food for dinner. 

The Cairo Citadel has a few museums and two mosques. I had no idea what I would find inside. I was kind of done with museums at this point though and I was tired of taking off my shoes, so I skipped the first mosque and headed to the museum on the right which was a war museum. It had a lot inside and outside. Planes, tanks, missiles, and inside various uniforms, weapons, history, and more. I am not heavily into modern war, and was kind of burnt out on museums. I didn’t think the Cairo Citadel was a museum but a huge citadel that you could explore. I did explore the whole war museum, but I rushed it a bit. The next stop was the police museum and I thought this was going to suck. There were some cells, which were grimy. I don’t really care about looking at cells or prisons. I don’t want to ever go to prison. 

However, the museum turned out to be pretty cool. They had a room with some notorious criminals and killers and I read their stories. It was far smaller than the war one, so it was fast, and I actually liked it quite a bit.

The next stop was one of the mosques and I’m glad I went to both of them, especially the first one I entered because it was beautiful. I spent quite a bit of time taking pictures. Of course this was a tourist attraction so it loses a bit for that. Exiting, I was hawked by hawkers trying to sell me wares, they failed their diplomacy or maybe bluff check. I saw some dogs chasing and cornering cats. One of the cats was trapped but safe on a pillar with the dogs barking at it. I didn’t even know dogs still chase and attack acts. In the U.S. they all seem like homies now. I went to the last mosque which was also nice, and soon it would be time to meet Dina.

Most of Egypt was pretty grimy; old, dilapidated, and if I saw these places in the U.S., I would think they were hella ghetto and dangerous, but that's usually not the case abroad, though it can be. New Cairo was the rich part of Cairo and that's where I would meet Dina for Mexican. I got there early and was going to wander but I couldn’t enter the mall because of my camera and the neighborhoods were gated, so it was super lame. I ended up sitting on the side of the street and playing games on my phone and watching the MAGA movement transpire over the internet. I don’t envy my fellow Americans, and I live in China at the moment. When Dina finally came, I put my gear in her car. Thank goodness this wasn’t San Francisco or I would have got bipped fashow. For those who don’t know what bipp’n is, is getting your car broken into and all your stuff taken while you’re not there. Frisco was/is (it has gotten a lot better) notorious for that.

The Mexican food was meh. I don’t know, I always like to try Mexican food in countries I visit. I finished my meal, but I’ve liked Mexican food in Asia better. I actually thought the Mexican food might be good here, but it’s just one restaurant. Dina took me to a supermarket to buy junk food as I would just spend the night watching movies and eating junk food in my hotel. 

Next day Dina came through to pick me up and deposited me at the airport and that's a wrap.

Egypt is an amazing place I think everyone should visit if they are able. I know a few women who went and went alone. I do not envy their experiences. I would imagine that it was like mine only adding men proposing to you, hitting on you, and making you feel uncomfortable. I am not a feminist, or even close to one, but the hawkers and tippers pissed me off enough, and I know y’all would experience worse. So, on behalf of men, I apologize. It’s still doable and even probably better to go with male friends. I wouldn’t recommend women doing what I do, because I get lost in cities and wander anywhere, but I did see many solo women on this trip. 

This blog is more about my thoughts and feelings and what you won’t see on my videos and photos. If you are interested in the visuals check out my photos and videos. If you are interested in the food and locations, check out those sections on my website.

Peace and keep being curious!