Aswan pt 2

My favorite part of the trip was going to visit the His Highness the Aga Khan 3’s Mausoleum in Aswan. This post is a rather personal one. The mausoleum is private for the family and followers of the Aga Khan, known as the Aga Khanis or the Ismailis. (For more information about the Aga Khan or Ismailis please check out http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=104628)
I remember when looking into this trip I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough spare time to go and see this site and to go pay my respect. Even though I was never alive when Aga Khan 3 was a leader it was something that I always wanted to do and something, which many followers will do. Most Ismaili I know would feel that Egypt is not completely seen if they had not gone to visit the mausoleum.

The overall experience was pretty memorable, from getting the initial details sorted to see the mausoleum back in Canada. Then telling my tour guide that I needed to make sure we had spare time to go see it and getting this incredibly shocked and interested reaction (mostly because he did not know anyone who had been inside of it). Even finding the felucca guy who was suppose to take me there was an interesting experience. I pretty much ended up jumping into a random guy’s felucca (who I found out later on was actually was the right guy). I remember thinking that this stranger might just be kidnapping me. It was a nice relief when the guy started talking about he’s experience working for the Aga Khan and telling us about meeting the family. It really felt as though an uncle of yours was telling you about a grandparent you have heard so much about but never had the chance to meet.

In order to get up to the Mausoleum one would have to walk up stairs. or take the ramp up. This was the first and only place in Egypt where I saw ramps for disabled people. It was a nice feeling that even the disabled would be able to access this place, as most of Egypt is completely inaccessible for them. I ended up going there midday; it was a hot day, and I had to be completely covered, including a scarf, which I have never worn before. The walk up was rather tiring, mostly because of the heat, but the old felucca man who took me up seemed to have no troubles. Once I got inside there was a Quran reader reciting Fatihah (the prayer you say when someone dies). I sat and prayed. This is by far the most peaceful experience ever! No matter what thoughts I had in my mind, no matter what else was happening around me I was in complete peace. I have tried to meditate before and I’ve tried to attain peace but this was something really special.

Once the actual prayer was done, I was asked to write my name into the guest book they had at the place. It was pretty cool because I got to flip around and see other people who have come to that place. There were people from all over the world but definitely a lot of Canadians! The coolest part is that when the Aga Khan himself or his family comes they have also signed the book. It was nice to see their signatures and to have my name in the same book as theirs. When making the trek back down the felucca guy showed us that they were building a house so when the current Aga Khan would come visit he would have he’s own place. Currently they were building he’s swimming pool. The thing that got me in the end was that these workers who took me there and who read the Quran and who were maintaining and working to build the house were not Ismailis. Yet, they created the environment where I felt the most religious and the most spiritual satisfaction.

Aswan

A common question I got upon getting back was would I go back there. Usually I try to plan trips so that if I were to never go there again that I would be fully satisfied with my experience. The one place I would consider trying to revisit is Aswan. This city is located right along the Nile, in order to get to the other side and to some of the middle island you need to take a sailboat (felucca) or motor boat. It’s a pretty fun experience getting to ride these, very relaxing and comforting. I personally love sailing so this was an awesome bonus to the trip. Some of the activities included:

--Unfinished obelisk which was unfinished because it cracked while trying to make it not because they were too lazy to finish it.
--Noubian Village, where the local Africans lived, it was pretty interesting to see how they were treated and how their houses were. The village was crazy complicated, I doubt they ever got mail as it was impossible to navigate, and it was all pretty run down. Our group was lucky enough to go eat at one of the local’s houses and I discovered that they eat Daal (aka Dar aka lentil soup Indian style).

The Markets in Aswan are pretty lively, they were pretty safe… though you can get some over pushy salesmen’s trying to selling you something. Overall, the market experience was pretty fun. They always asked where I was from, and when I replied Canada… the prices of things seem to start at the 200 pound level…. And then I switched and started saying India … they seemed to start at the 50 pounds?? Good ol supply and demand economics right there. Some of my favorite lines from the vendors were (v= vendor, a = Alissa):

V = No Hassle…as they were hassling you to buy something (I’m pretty sure they had no idea what hassle ment).

V= come in and see… everything is for free (haha nothing is ever free)

V= where are you from?
A= Canada
V= Canada dry (I guess they only really knew Canada that way… though I couldn’t ever find any Canada dry when I wanted it)

V= where are you from?
A: India
V= Amitabh Bachan!!! (yes that’s right… everyone in the world knows Amitabh. I even found one vendor who could name me a bunch of hindi actors. Some even knew Ki Hal Hai)

Sleeper Trains

Before this trip I had never really been on a train. Sure I’ve been on the Vomit Comet (TTC) and the C train and such but never on a real train. This was something I was pretty excited to experience. The train station in Giza was pretty decent. Reminded me a lot of what trains stations look like in Bollywood movies. It was nice that my tour guide warned us about the bathroom facilities so that we all went before getting there. But I was pleasantly surprised. The cabin sizes were pretty decent, though I wouldn’t bring too much luggage. The food was meh, the same as airplane food. It was actually more fun to hang out with everyone as you could chill in each others cabins. It was nice to also see the country side from the train. It looked like most countryside’s… fields, grass, rocks, water, mud.

The hardest part of this style of transport however was that you couldn’t use the bathroom while at stops. From what I figured is that the bathroom went straight on the tracks. Also there were large windows where it seemed the people outside could easily take a look at you doing your business .. I couldn’t remember when boarding the train if you could really see inside that much but it was definitely awkward. After getting up in the morning I definitely needed to use the facilities but it seemed that we were at this one stop forever! Word to anyone going on trains there… go often and when you can… Otherwise this was a pretty awesome experience, I definitely recommend it! There is even a party car….

Alexandria

The European influence on Egypt can be seen best in this city. Alexandria is the Okanagan or Wasaka to Canada. Its where Egyptians go for their beach vacations. The atmosphere here is much more clean, relaxed, fresh environment. The salt water provide a nice environment change to the sands. The two funny stories at this destination include being kicked out of Alexandria Library and following local’s to cross the roads. I call that follow the leader… I was trying to cross a super busy street without much success. Then I saw a couple of local women, covered in their Jihabs starting to cross the road. So I followed them weaving through traffic so closely that they could feel us brushing up against them. Just as I got to the end I could hear them make a comment in Arabic which I can only assume meant, stupid tourist what are they doing….

We checked out Alexandria Library, which is an amazing modern architectural design. It includes a planetarium dome and a library area in the shape of a pyramid, made of glass with each panel resembling eyelids. There were section tourist galleries and exhibits so once I was done with that I decided to walk down to the main library study areas. After browsing around for a while I found a mathematics section. Yes, I found some of my university textbooks, which I dreaded so much in that library. It was an interesting discovery, something that after the fact doesn’t shock me but at the time definitely caught my attention. I mean between the rows of Egyptian history books in multiple languages there was a mathematics section with classical algebra. I guess it just emphases the value of education in Egypt, especially since they had the first university in the world. I’m sure by now you’re all impatiently wondering how I got kicked out. Well after exploring the books area I went to the elevators and decided to go to the top to see the view. So I went in the elevators. They had no security around them and the elevator spoke out the floor you chose in the best English I heard in Egypt. So once I got to the top, I got off and notice that all around me where secured conference rooms and private offices. I looked down and notice that the security guard was telling me to come down, and then this man came out of one of the glass conference rooms and told me I must be lost and that I should leave... before I caused too much troubles I decide I should leave.

Giza and the Pyramids

Egypt’s main tourist catch is undoubtedly the pyramids. Even now, architects and engineers argue about the creation and the ability of such “primitive” humans to build such amazing structures. The actual pyramids are pretty impressive however for me it’s the questions on how they were built that interested me more. How is it that a population of about 30 000 ancient Egyptians, could be so organized, so smart, so strong, so willing to build such amazing things??? While visiting the pyramids I was luckily enough to go on a camel ride taking me around the pyramids and letting me ponder the various questions. This is probably the thing I enjoyed the second most while at this site.

The thing I enjoyed most at the pyramids: We had some free time to check out the pyramids, boat museum and just do whatever we wanted. I was happy to leave the group and just walk around the pyramids. I went to the non-tourist area where there were the work men, the camels being feed and a bunch of little kids. I noticed a group of girls off to one corner kicking around a “ball”. This "ball" was really just a bunch of cloth tied together. As I walked around to observe the environment, I positioned myself near this soccer game. Shortly after standing and watching one of the girls kicked me the ball and I ended up kicking the ball around with them. It was quite the experience to be able to interact with Egyptians on a non-tourist level. I happened to wear one of my soccer Jersey’s and when I told them I needed to leave (by waving goodbye) they all wanted to take pictures with me. It was a pretty amazing experience and one that proves that sports are an international language, and international way of bonding.

After the soccer match we drove down to see the Sphinx. It was pretty nice. The view of the sphinx with the pyramids in the background made for some great pictures. However after my soccer experience the sphinx didn’t seem too exciting… maybe it was just because it was hot and I was out of breath.

Cairo

Cairo is the city of chaotic peace. You may be wondering what the hell I’m talking about but for those of you who have been can probably agree with me. Upon landing in Cairo the entry way for me to Egypt I had to first buy my visa off a shady dude. What I mean by this is that there were random guys and guys in stores who would sell you entry Visa and you could bargain for the price. Coming from Canada is this my first huge shock. The second was as I get out of the airport I notice that the white lane marking on the road mean nothing. Everyone in Cairo drives like you would in Mario Cart. The shoulder of the roads are considered lanes and there are very few traffic light but rather the honk and go system. This makes it a great mission as a pedestrian to cross crazy busy roads. Did I mention that the population of Cario is the same as all of Canada’s population (30 Million or so)?? In Egypt they do not believe in movers…. if you need to move your 14” tube tv… you just carry it on your head without any hands while trying to weave and walk through traffic. Yes that is a true story. So this is the chaos.

Now for the peace, this is a little harder to explain and I doubt I will do it justice with my words. Outside on the roads you can hear constant honking, there is crazy amount of pollution, making it both hard to see and breath. There are people everywhere. Somehow the architects have been able to block out this chaos in the local mosques and Al-Azhar Park (among other places). Picture yourself weaving through traffic, trying to breath through heavy smog, all you hear is noise and honking. Then step 300 meters into Al- Azhar park. The only sounds you hear are the water fountains and birds chirping. You smell, grass and flowers. Where did all the chaos go? There are no high walls, no bubble domes, it is not higher or lower than the craziness outside. All that surrounds you is peace.

For me this is the best part of Egypt. Sure they have Pyramids, tons of tombs, shoreline, the Nile…etc. But for me this is the real gem of Egypt.

http://www.alazharpark.com/historical.htm

Its been a while...

Sorry for not posting for a while. I have had many adventures, travels, achievements and sorrow over the last month and a half. Unfortunately I find blogs don’t do the justice for the happy times but are used mostly for the hard times. Maybe its because its too hard to sit down and write when your smiling. Why interrupt a perfect moment for a picture or words. I will post my travel thoughts later in the summer once all my travels are done.

Right now I just wanted to post some words, (so I can fully have my mind focused on my dream), inspired by a song whose meaning I seem to understand too well… A word of advise to all… Actions and inactions are always greater than words. Like in basketball, don’t follow the ball, the head or the shoulders of an opponent, because one can move that too easily to mean anything follow the torso movement… it’s the one thing u can’t fake….

I feel so dumb right now
Waiting around for
You to apologize
For the year of pain
And deceit

But, don’t tell me you’re sorry cuz you’re not
Don’t tell me you did nothing wrong
You really had me going
What a show it was
Very entertaining

A year full of this re-run
Everything is great
Everyone is happy
You really had me going
You’re so ugly when you Lie
I hope your done your fun

Consumed in all your doom
I am worth more, so
Don't bring me down
the puzzle undone
I will find a way, so
The sun will smile my way
Don't you bring me down

PS: Prairies What????
PPS: CAN A what??? CANADA!!!! Go CANADA GO!!!!!!