With bleary eyes and heavy hearts, we waved goodbye to Egypt today to begin the long trek home to our lives, roles, and adult responsibilities. Camel-sore, an incessant cough beginning to develop, I could tell by the time we hit the Cairo morning traffic that this would not be a fun journey. Honestly, the traffic wasn't so bad, and we had our old friend Ahab (i.e., The Captain) there to help us through any challenges the Cairo airport might throw at us. But, with two alarmingly short international layovers and fear of Egypt time causing delays, to quote Star Wars, I had "a bad feeling about this."
Our first hurdle was early, at the ticketing counter for Turkish Airlines, which was quite closed when we arrived, a line already snaking its way around the vinyl belt maze in front of the empty counters. We were the only group of the morning shuttle gang that was taking Turkish Air that morning, so we stood alone while everyone else worked their way through first-stage security. Half an hour later, the line finally got moving. I thought it was crazy that they'd booked the shuttle four hours before our departure time of 10:00, but now I could see why.
Once we finally got through security and said goodbye to Ahab and our luggage, we headed to our gate, which was...not open. Again, we were too early. Another half-hour wait, then through the gate security checkpoint. At this point, Egypt time went into effect, and our flight, which never strayed from the status "on time", didn't start boarding until half an hour after our scheduled departure time. By the time we arrived in Istanbul, we had one hour to get through another security line and all the way across the Istanbul airport to our connecting flight to Seattle.
Istanbul Airport is beautiful, but by Atum, it is *vast*. I have never been in a larger airport, and we really had to hoof it to get to our flight. Every time I thought we were nearing our goal, we'd turn a corner and boom, another mile-long corridor to traverse. By the time we got near our gate, the flight board was flashing "last call," though plenty of people were waiting in line when we arrived for yet another security inspection of our bags. I was coughing up a lung and wheezing and nauseated from exertion by now (I would discover later that this was due to contracting acute bronchitis somewhere along the way) -- it was not a great way to start a twelve-hour flight.
After choking down an unsatisfactory meal of mac-and-cheese (my own fault), I took a sleep aid and had a restless eight-hour nap, trying to find a comfortable position for my camel-bruised posterior. By the time we arrived in Seattle, I'd slipped into that other world of jet lag and exhaustion where nothing feels real.
The rest of the journey home progresses without incident, aside from an ironic near-accident in the taxi on the interstate back to Sacramento. I will spare you those details.
It's time to summarize this trip.
As I said at the start of this adventure, cruises aren't really my thing. I don't tend to have much in common with the cruise crowd, and I don't like events that I consider 'forced fun.' I tend to find that cruises often go to the worst possible locations, so filled with tourists as to be uninspiring, and so tainted by the cruise routes themselves as to be pastiches of their original paradises. I have to say, though, even as a fairly seasoned traveler, I was very intimidated by the idea of going to Egypt due to its reputation for taking advantage of tourists, for the undrinkable tap water, the inhospitality to people of my own, and my husband's orientation, and a perceived lack of the conveniences that I've grown so accustomed to in all of the "English-friendly" places I've got to in the past.
This was another one of those "check your expectations" sort of moments, and precisely the reason travel is important. Were our experiences filtered through the lens of the tour, the cruise, and our delightful Egyptologist who made sure we were focused on the 'right' things? Of course they were! I am under no presumptions that we saw one-tenth of the 'real Egypt' that modern-day Egyptians experience every day. While we did get some understanding of the country's current socio-economic state, we were there to revel mostly in Egypt's rich past as the cradle of civilization and not to bear some sort of Western witness to its modern problems.
All of the native Egyptian people we met on the cruise and the hotel staff were friendly and personal with us. Walid, our Egyptologist, became a friend along the way. He was honest about Egypt's difficulties as well as its pride. He was ebullient and excited by our understanding and interest in the things that also bring him joy: his country and his life's work. We saw students being students, kids being kids, and hard workers hustling their trades. We saw people just trying to get along in less-than-ideal socio-economic situations, like everywhere else.
There were parts of the journey that made me uncomfortable. The trash problem facing Cairo is a real issue, and the massive, invasive city projects sometimes make the place seem more like a war zone than a functioning city. The levels of poverty are high. But within all of that muddle is the will of a tough people who might just be able to figure it out.
I loved this trip. The efforts through the centuries by the whole world to unearth and preserve the history of a land that represents so many of the 'firsts' in human history have been really awe-inspiring to see. Every temple, tomb, and ancient wonder we witnessed had its own mind-boggling story. I got to touch the sands of the Sahara and put my fingers in the Nile. I got to see places that dwarf the entire history of my country by millennia that are still standing to this day. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair! Indeed, Ozymandius, indeed.
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| The Bus One gang in our only picture together |
I'm very grateful for having had the opportunity to see such a beautiful land and experience a culture so far from my own experience. Thanks to my fellow bus one partners, my awesome travel companions Steph, Rob, Carrie, and Gordon, and a special thanks to my lovely husband Sean for sharing this adventure with me. It won't be one I'm soon to forget. With that, I'll sign off this travelogue once again. Until our next adventure!
Thank you, readers, for going along with me during this once-in-a-lifetime journey, and keep traveling!
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