Egypt in December

[David Kilpatrick]

In Islamic Cairo one afternoon as I was walking along a man was sitting on a step with his wife and child. He motioned for me to take their photo. I did and then showed it to them and they all had a big smile on their face. They wanted nothing else.

This happened to me when we were on camels going past a group of men having their end-of-fast meal during Ramadan - sun just set, so not very bright. Two or three of them signalled clearly they wanted me to shoot a pic of their party on the sidewalk with the bread, jugs of water, fruit and stuff. The picture was unusable (camel back at about 1/8th!) but they all smiled and shouted to the camel guy. They were (obviously) observing Muslims but also quite comfortable with a camera, they probably thought they were a good shot for a tourist.

David

[bakubo]

David, it has been a bit surprising seeing the two extremes here with regards to photos. Some people get clearly angry at the sight of a camera and others go out of their way wanting me to take their photo. Children all over the world often want their photo taken, but I have rarely experienced adults who asked me to take their photo. A few times in West Papua New Guinea but nowhere else that I can recall. Happens sometimes here in Egypt though. Of course, I never turn them down. There was a guy on a camel at Giza in full garb who kept asking me to take his photo in front of the pyramid. Naturally, I was sure he wanted something and if I took the photo he would demand money and turn from friendly to angry and aggressive (like most do). He insisted he didn't want anything so I finally took a rather half-hearted photo in the bright contrasty light and prepared for the onslaught as soon as the shutter clicked. He didn't demand anything. Just smiled and said he hoped I got a good photo. He did ask if I wanted to ride a camel (for payment, of course) but when I told him I preferred to walk around he didn't hassle me -- the only one at Giza!

I got back to Dahab from the quick 27 hour trip to Jerusalem and Bethlehem about midnight last night. Although quick I still had the chance to spend some time walking around in old Jerusalem (Wailing Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher -- Golgatha, Tomb of Jesus, etc.) and also walked around some in Bethlehem (Church of the Nativity -- Birthplace of Jesus, manger, etc.). I may go on a 2 day trip to Petra, Jordan tomorrow. Since Dahab is so close I think it's a good opportunity to do both.

[Dusty]

... he didn't hassle me -- the only one at Giza!

I was shooting video at Giza when the horde descended on me. I looked over their wares and pointed to one guy. I told him I was busy shooting and that I would buy his stuff for x price (slightly above what real haggling could get it for) when I was done. He kept me in sight for the next 1/2 hour and when I was done we did our transactions. A very pleasant experience.

Compare that to Luxor, where, at the tomb of Queen Hotcheepsuit (as the guide said it was pronounced). There a young guy was blowing on some massive flute like instrument. I wanted to just look at the thing as he was playing, as my sister is a flutist. He though he had a sale and kept after me all the way to the buss, going from $75 down to $5 even as I told him that I'm not bargaining, I don't want it, I just wanted to look. It would have taken up 1/2 a suitcase!

Dusty

[bakubo]

I just got back to Dahab from a fantastic 2 day trip to Petra, Jordan! Met a young Irish woman named Ann who had just finished 2 years of working in Tanzania and was slowly making her way home to Ireland. Spent much of the first day exploring Petra with her before she left that evening. Also, met a very nice couple from England named Steve and Ruth -- who live in Scotland now. We spent much of the second day together. Petra was awesome!

I'll probably be leaving Dahab in the next couple of days and maybe head back to Cairo or go to Alexandria. I leave Egypt to go back to Japan on 12/26.

[bakubo]

I left Dahab yesterday by bus and 9 hours later in the evening got to Cairo. I still have until 12/26 in Egypt and although after my first 5 days in Cairo I was ready to leave the city I have been looking forward to getting back here for the last couple of days. I don't know if I will stay here the whole time until my flight back to Japan on 12/26, but I might. There is still a lot here that I want to see that I didn't when I first was here a few weeks ago.

I may also try to get up to Alexandria for one night or even just do it on a long day trip. The train is something like 2 hours so being able to just leave my backpack here at the Cairo hotel and not need to find a place to stay in Alexandria looks attractive to me at this point. Especially since my Lonely Planet book's description of Alexandria make it sound just mildly interesting. Although the city has an amazing history the book says most of the evidence of that history is long gone except for what you can find in the museum. Still, I would like to visit even if just for a day.

Dahab was a good place to recharge my batteries, which get quickly depleted in other parts of Egypt. Although I was there a week I also went on a 2 day trip to Petra from there and a 1.5 day trip to Jerusulem/Bethlehem from there so much of the week I was not actually in Dahab.

My wife back in Japan is quite ready to leave there since it is cold and she hates cold weather. I really want to spend at least another week in Tokyo though to see some good friends that I have not seen since the last time I spent an extended time there (3 months) in 2007. I hope she can hold on a bit more. I told her that if she can then we may consider flying down to Thailand from Japan so she can warm up. I am not really ready to head back to the States yet. If we did that then it might give me a chance to go back to Laos for awhile -- I was last there in 1998 using film.

[Birma]

Glad to hear the trip is still going well. "Christmas in Cairo" sounds terribly exotic - either an early Rolling Stones album, or a 50's detective novel

If you make it to Alexandria you should try and re-enact this scene from Ice Cold in Alex http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HKmXYFM ... re=related. You probably don't have to use Carlsberg .

[bakubo]

Glad to hear the trip is still going well. "Christmas in Cairo" sounds terribly exotic - either an early Rolling Stones album, or a 50's detective novel

I have had "Christmas in Tokyo" (several times), "Christmas in Bangkok", and "Christmas in Chiang-mai" too. It could be a whole series of Stones' albums. You know, like the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Road pictures.

If you make it to Alexandria you should try and re-enact this scene from Ice Cold in Alex http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HKmXYFM ... re=related. You probably don't have to use Carlsberg .

Watching that made me really want a cold beer right now. It is night and I got back to the hotel a bit ago and already took a shower. I don't feel like going out again. My water bottle will have to do.

[bakubo]

Well, the 4 weeks in Egypt is coming to an end. Today is my last full day here because I fly back to Japan tomorrow afternoon. Today is also Christmas! Merry Christmas to everyone!

So far I have taken 21gb and about 1800 photos. I expect I will take a few more today as I wander the streets and alleys of Cairo. As expected, I didn't miss not bringing the flash with me. I used the 24mm f2.8 a few times in the evening. Probably if I had brought the 50mm f1.7 it would not have seen any use. The 18-250mm got used the most and the 11-18mm got used from time to time too.

It will take me a bit of time after getting back to Japan to sort through all the photos, go through my 3 levels of selection, prepare them, and then upload to my website. I will let you know when it is done. Yeah, I know Egypt has been done to death, but I will still do all this and put some on my website. I also made a short trip to Petra, Jordan and another to Jerusalem/Bethlehem so I expect to put a few photos from those places on the website too.

I'll get back in Japan just in time for o-shogatsu (New Year's).

By the way, I have been updating my blog regularly while travelling.

[bakubo]

I have updated my website with Egypt, Jordan, and Israel photos and have also started a new thread that has a few samples:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =17&t=3628

[Dusty]

So far I have taken 21gb and about 1800 photos. I expect I will take a few more today as I wander the streets and alleys of Cairo.

In '99 I did a 10 day tour of Jordan, Israel and Egypt and shot 1200 pics. It was all film, and I had to pay for film, developing and printing. That took 3 months! I'd love to do it all again today with digital. I'm sure I'd wear out the old 350 and have to finally go for an 850 or 900. I also have a family now that I'd like to take along, but they're the reason I can no longer afford such things! (They're worth it!)

Dusty

[bakubo]

So far I have taken 21gb and about 1800 photos. I expect I will take a few more today as I wander the streets and alleys of Cairo.

In '99 I did a 10 day tour of Jordan, Israel and Egypt and shot 1200 pics. It was all film, and I had to pay for film, developing and printing. That took 3 months! I'd love to do it all again today with digital. I'm sure I'd wear out the old 350 and have to finally go for an 850 or 900. I also have a family now that I'd like to take along, but they're the reason I can no longer afford such things! (They're worth it!)

When the trip was done I had 1888 photos and 21.7gb.

I know what you mean about film. In 1993 I took 125 rolls of 36 exposure 35mm slide film to Africa for a 10 week camping safari. To save space and weight I removed the film from the boxes and plastic canisters. I had 3 big ziplock plastic freezer bags with all the film stuffed in them. I used 110 rolls. My recollection is that the film + processing cost was about US$1500 (and that was getting a really good price ordering the film and processing envelopes from B&H). That is $1500 in 1993 dollars. That would be about $2250 now. I could get an A850 and the HVL-F20AM flash and still have money left over to buy an extra battery and a couple of CF cards.