We took the overnight sleeper train from Aswan back to Cairo today. The ride was even bumpier than the original journey, and smooth breaking was not a skill they taught in Egypt train driving school.
Our time in Aswan ended very nicely with a felucca sail around the Nile for a few hours. Also risked suffering extreme diarrhoea and swam in the dirty Nile water after a wee bit (heh) of peer pressure. It was cold and surprisingly fresh, but hard to keep afloat (fresh water).
Our 'free day' in Cairo was basically an eating tour of Cairo. Yes we did start off at the Al Azhar mosque (the oldest mosque in Cairo); a creepy guy rorted us for 20 Egyptian pounds each for a semi guided tour. He had the audacity to ask for more at the end, and then requested for pens 'for the children'. On top of that, he wanted us to lie about the 20 pounds to his superior. Presumably because a semi guided tour should cost way less!
The rorting continued when we sat down for Egyptian coffees and mango juices at a cafe well known for its interior design (mirrors) and the bazaar merchants that frequent in and out of the cafe with goods to sell. After some nifty trickery and persistence, one Ali Baba selling 'leather' foot stools rorted us with synthetic foot stools at 200 Egyptian pounds (approx $50AUD) for 3 packs. He demonstrated the authenticity of the 'leather' foot stools by lighting a flame over the material (it didn't burn). In retrospect, he was hastily rushing through the marketing and sale process.
At the point of sale, the tricky Ali Baba handed over wrapped packages that contained fake synthetic foot stools. We were wondering why he kept burning his fingers when demonstrating the flame trick. Now we realise it is because he would rather burn his thumb than the dodgy material. To add salt into the wounds, another Ali Baba selling exactly the same foot stools quoted 3 for 100 Egyptian pounds. It was at this point that we declared, as Wayne put it, "War on Egypt". We formed a search party for dodgy Ali Baba and fortuitously, both he and the 2nd Ali Baba walked past the cafe as we were heading out. It was us versus the Ali Babas. The outcome? Extra pack for free (see 4th photo); all non-leather.
We escaped an attempted pick pocketing attempt by a bunch of kids. Their strategy was: distraction and then attack. The cutest kids would come up and act cute, ask your name, dance etc. Once the cute kids secure your attention, the older uglier kids move in from behind and target the backpacks. Luckily we were on dodgy high alert and escaped unscathed.
Now on the bus bound for Mt Sinai - the bus ride will take 7 hours. We left the party half the tour group behind including the ABBA gang (Scots) and the Aussie couple. The Scots were really good value, particularly when we made them spell "Gogol Bordello" (i.e. G-O-G-O).
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