Travel Stories | Expat Life
I hope you wrote in pencil.
If you’re a planner, like myself, the best part of living in the UAE is the ever-changing school calendar. We were directed to not book any flights prior to July 9th. So I didn’t.
Revision.
Now apparently we are permitted to leave July 8th. So I am.
Quick(ish) phone call and a few extra dollars later… I’m coming home a day early on July 8th… just in time to attend my cousin’s wedding!
See you soon!
xo, jill
That was fast.
xo, jill
The soukiest souk.
After our little cruise around the River Nile, we headed to Khan Al Khalili. Khan Al Khalili is a giant souk (or market or bazaar, your choice!). Vendors of all kinds line the edges of the streets where it is a pedestrian only zone.
All types of products are on display ranging from tacky pyramid souvenirs to items your typical Egyptian would be out to purchase. Plenty of men abound so single (and married) ladies beware… unless you like that sort of thing. (That sort of thing being marriage proposals…Molly loves it!)
I later read that this souk is known as one of the best in the Middle East. I’m not flat out disagreeing… but wondering if maybe we explored a less-amazing corner of the market?
We shopped until I dropped (not too hard) and had dinner in one of the restaurants. Highlights of the meal include Hannah breaking a plate with an untouched serving of food still on it, the cute stray cats visiting us, and the selection of “Pizza Taune” on the menu. For the record, I would have ordered you, Taune… but I wasn’t sure if you were vegetarian. Hee…
xo, jill
Ha. Totally.
After our visit to the Giza pyramids, our taxi driver took us on another ridiculous errand. This stop was at a perfume shop. Being fairly obvious that we had no interest in buying essential oils, the salesman decided to not waste our time (or his). We were released and off to see the pyramid at Saqqara.
We opted to just take a few photos from the road and head back to our hostel. Of course, we had to fend off our driver’s offers to take us to a nice place for lunch. “This restaurant… it is very nice!”
By this time… we were ready for a nap.
Waking up, we were ready again for a bit of adventure. We walked down to the water and chartered a felucca for a ride down the River Nile. Whoa…
Hello, longest river in the world.
Our captain was a man of few words (of the English variety) so our ride was relaxing despite passing several party boats.
Our captain also quickly passed off his steering duties to Molly… who in my opinion was the one who deserved the tip!
xo, jill
The longest cat nap ever.
Just a quick trot over from the pyramids lies the Sphinx. Our guide was gracious enough to let us dismount our camels and approach the half cat half woman with the rest of the tourists.
I was surprised to see that the Sphinx isn’t as big as I imagined. I mean, next to the pyramids she’s actually… small.
To the grand disappointment of the all Egyptian men, this was the only kissing we did in Egypt.
Again, Molly’s post has a bit more historical information!
xo, jill
