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Ancient beauty and Sudanese hospitality

Sudan, The journeySep 19 20130 Comment

When writing this, we are on the road to Ethiopia. The further we get, the greener the surroundings. The ground is more and more convincingly covered in grass and green bushes. Less camels, more cows. Less sand and dust, more mud. As we get closer to the border, the temperature decreases slowly to under 35 degrees for the first time since…well…a long time. The smell changes from dusty with an occasional intermezzo of oil, fried chicken or burning litter to fuller of spices, more humid. It smells like green, like plants, trees and rain. The roads are muddy and red.

The air has turned from sauna-like dry to steambath humid. Which has two downsides: 1) we are sweating just as much as before and 2) my hair has exploded as never before! In combination with driving with the open window (indeed, no airco…), a sort of hair- conehead grew on top of my head. I have no conditioner that’s tough enough for this kind of challenge. Hopefully I’ll get lucky in frizzy-haired Africa. Until that day I’ll be carrying this beehive…

Ancient beauty and hospitality of Sudan

Most of us know Sudan only from the news, mostly in a bad light of conflict, war and refugees. I think we all can still remember the images of the Darfur region, a problem that by the way still hasn’t been solved. I didn’t really know what to expect but a strict Muslim, sandy and hot country in which signs of conflict would be visible. All this turned out to be true, but we also saw some beautiful other sides of Sudan.

Sudan has a few impressing ancient sites with pyramids. We first visited Jebel Barkal and the Meroe pyramids. These are a lot smaller, but still full of grandness because they’re inspired on the impressive arcitecture typical for ancient Egypt. What especially left an impression, was that we could drive with the car right up to those pyramids and setup our camp right beside them. It is difficult to describe the royal feeling we had when watching the sun setting over the red stones while lying in our rooftop tent.

Some pictures from a trip to the camel market (with a real camel toe, hehe):

We also had the opportunity to share some daily rituals of the locals: breakfast in the office. We just happened to be there to get our coolbox fixed and they were so hospitable to invites us. The Sudanese take a tea in the morning (tea = 1/3 sugar, 2/3 tea), some also eat ‘oliebollen’, a dutch sweet pastry that is eaten at New Years Eve. Then around 10 a.m., they eat in the office. All colleagues gather around a large bowl with a mix of beans, egg and bits of falafel. With pieces of delicious white bread they spoon up the beans. Right hand, off course, left is used for spooning other business 🙂

After attacking this delicious breakfast, all men retreat fast and leave the table behind like a animal carcas on which the lions have left no trace of meat.

Police checkpoints: windowdressing or actual sense?

The road from Khartoum to Gonder is filled with police checkpoints, every 20 km we get stopped. We always get pulled out with a typical nonchalant wave of the hand. They check our passports and still ask “Where you from, what is name?” They repeat our names in the way that kids learn new words. We were a bit annoyed by it at first, but later we thought we had figured it out: the asking officers probably can’t read roman writing. A good thing, because our visa has expired 4 days. But upto now, we got through without having to pay for our illegal 4 days.

Also the farther we get, the friendlier the police officers get. “Welcome, my friend” they shout heartily as they shake our hands through the window. No need to see any passports anymore. “This my wife?” they sometimes ask while pointing at me. Every time they asked, I pulled my head scarf a bit tighter. It took us 3 stops – my head scarf almost choking me – before we got that they get the ‘yours’ and ‘mine’ mixed up. I hope this friendliness is a sneak preview of the situation in Ethiopia.

Though we’ve also heard differently. Two Swiss overlanders told about the hundreds of beggars they encountered. They also had many people (not only kids!) throwing stones at them, either because they refused to handout money or sweets, or perhaps just out of boredom, or anger. A pair of deep dents on the side of their car were riding along as silent witnesses. I hope we don’t induce so much stone-throwing because the van has quite a few windows…

Nevertheless, we are really excited about visiting Ethiopia. Let’s see what awaits us on the other side of the border!

Looking back on Egypt: the good, the bad and the ugly

Egypt, The journey, TurmoilSep 07 20130 Comment

It was dark and we were parked in the middle of Aswan city. We had driven for hours from Luxor and hadn’t found a campsite (Yes, we rookie overlanders still have to learn to navigate on coordinates). We checked a few hotels, but they charged such ridiculous prices, as if they don’t realise that the tourist business is dead. Or maybe that’s exactly why they asked 4-star prices for 0-star venues… Anyway we decided to sleep in the car and pulled over on a parking lot in the city center. Since we didn’t know how the Egyptians would react to camping in the city, we kept the rooftop folded and slept on the front seats. It was still hot, about 38 degrees. I felt tired, yet at the same time restless.

In the middle of the night, I dreamed of megaphones. And about people shouting. In my dream footsteps came nearer and voices were close to my head. I thought about Queensday somehow. Then my grogginess faded away and I connected megaphone + people shouting + being in Egypt = trouble. I sat up immediately, looked around and felt a slight panic uprising. We were in the middle of a demonstration! I woke up Conny, thinking that when things got worse, we had to decide quickly together what to do. We laid low, were very quiet and watched the masses walk by. It was a pro Muslim Brotherhood party who declared support to Mursi. With whispering voices, we discussed an emergency exit strategy. Hundreds of people walked by, but nothing happened. When the crowds disappeared around the corner, we both sighed with relieve.

Later, we were impressed by seeing more peaceful demonstrations without any trace of violence. It is remarkable to see that, even with the brainwash-like manner that mass media apply here, these groups refrain from violence. They fight for democracy in their country by using their voices, not weapons.

Still looking back on our time in Egypt, we have mixed feelings about the people. Some things were definitely positive, like these peaceful demonstrations, other experiences left a quite negative impression. Again we speak in general terms here and we certainly don’t mean to offend people.

The Good

Those Egyptians that do not have the tourism sector as main employer, are amazingly involved in other peoples business. They are very helpful when you are in trouble. For example: one day our car got blocked on a parking lot, driver of the vehicle was nowhere to be seen. As we were shouting angrily, a group of men approached and started helping us browsing through all the men-cafes looking for the rogue driver. And when the fool was finally found, we didn’t have to say anything: the group of men surrounded the nonchalant drivers (2 young men of about 20 years) and started yelling an shouting. They were educating the boys in a way not even equaled by stern Surinamese mothers. As we drove off a few minutes later, shouting “Sukran, thank you, sukran!” through the windows, the yelling and educating hadn’t stopped yet.

Very refreshing in comparison to The Netherlands and Germany, where it isn’t accepted to so much as looking at somebody else’s kid when it’s behaving like a ratty little bastard. Having others minding your business can be a blessing.

Egyptians are curious. We were stopped by traffic police regularly. Each time we feared that ‘this would probably the first time’ that we had to pay some cash to prevent them from turning the bus inside out. Once we stop, several people rush towards the bus and try to look through the blinded windows. They always check the papers first, then look inside eagerly. Sometime a young, not so formal guy asks where we are heading. When we say Hollanda, Allemagne, Sudan, South Africa, they look excited. Without their superior noticing, off course. Never did we have to pay any money to get through. We seem to be the exception though, we’ve spoken to other overlanders who had to pay the police several times. I like to think that it’s the simplicity of the bus that helps, but I guess we’ll never know.

The Bad

Obviously we know that the tourist business is almost non-existent and there are families to feed, but no need to start cheating and lying. Like: buying a two-way train ticket. When we were ready to take the train back, they said “No, train finish at 11 a.m., no service, you walk. Everyday finish at 11.” Off course the guy who sold us that ticket had bailed out already, the sneaky bastard. hisHfriends, chilling next to his ticket counter (there is always some posse of guys lingering around and doing nothing) had a very bold excuse: “his sister just died, had to go home.” Seriously?!

Or small things like a guy selling me two items for 9 pounds each. When I waited for my change, he said “20!” with a big smile. When I demanded my 2 pounds back, he gave me 1 back at first, but when I persisted, I got the second as well. But he was annoyed and pushed me away from his stand.

For me it’s not about the 2 pounds, it’s about principle. Quite the contrast with the “Welcome, welcome to Egypt!” that many people offer us on the street.

Or the fact that the car got broken into at customs. In our own naive stupidity, we still left some valuables in the car. The damage: Connies sneakers, my running shoes, two little gas cookers, two LED lamps (ouch, difficult to replace) and all our cutlery. And a bunch of other stuff we never thought they would steal: dish washing liquid, tempos, toilet paper and olive oil.

The Ugly

Or that the hotel guys ‘forget’ to register you as visitors to be able to put tax into his own pocket. With the result that 15 police officers visit us in the hotel, many of them carrying very big rifles and looking angry, demanding to see your passports “at once!”.

Or that you walk downstairs in the hotel and you find the breakfast dude sleeping on a couch in the dining room. No problem per se, apart from the fact that his left hand was in his pants. Upon taking a closer look, he was actually holding his whole package down there. Gross! These are the morning treats you can do without!
He was woken by his colleague to get bread. No hand washing off course. The only thing that crossed our minds was ‘when he comes back holding anything in that left hand, we are definitely skipping breakfast.’

So apart from personal hygiene and trying to trick tourists in paying too much, which are minor things, we are in the end really irritated by the Egyptians. How they treat foreigners and the way they undertake their business: hang around and do nothing and sometimes try to make money in a dishonest way. What we don’t understand is when you are not willing to pay their overpriced offers, some prefer not to sell instead of closing the deal at normal price. How can they afford these choices, when they haven’t developed alternatives to tourism yet and the streets are empty?

However, we are both people determined to see the as much good in others as possible, so we will do our best to focus on the positive memories that we have of Egypt. It would help if we don’t get robbed in the harbour again or ripped off by our customs Sjacheraar…

Fingers crossed how Egypt will wave us goodbye tomorrow!

10 survival tips for travelling through Egypt

Egypt, How to, The journey, Tips & tricks, Top 10Sep 03 20130 Comment

1. Drive as if you never learned to drive

Imagine yourself being on an average road. Every 500 meters there are either large holes in the asphalt, or speed bumps that force you to hit your breaks like a madman. On this road, there is no rule that says anything about a speed limit. On this road, people drive at the speed that they want in the lane that they like. Cars use no lights. Trucks are loaded so nonchalantly, that often sand, stones or cement leaks on the road before you. Total loss trucks and cars laying upside down beside the road. See the picture? Then you know that you are in Egypt. The Egyptions break every traffic rule that we know in Germany/The Netherlands. 3 lanes? The Egyptians squeeze into 4 or 5. Passing is on every side, not only over left. Nobody uses their rear view mirrors (many cars don’t have any). Turning is not indicated, and when then only by sticking your arm out the window. Traffic lights are only a suggestion and stop-signs do not exist. So how to survive on the road? Just surrender to this crazy road etiquette, don’t forget to honk loudly when you pass to make your presence known and you’ll be fine!
2. Negotiate like you are broke

The number one sport in Egypt, even more popular than soccer, is bargaining. They love it. In fact we have seen it with such young children, that it must be a genetic thing. They always open boldly with a ridiculous amount. It is amazing how their faces look so stoic while asking at least 5 times the price they charge locals. It’s fascinating actually. Don’t let it annoy you, but just put on your boxing gloves and have your round of sports. Enjoy the game! Throw in some personal details, ask about kids, and most importantly: look convincingly uninterested in the product and take your time. Works wonders!
3. Pay for 1,5 liter water only 3 Egyptian pounds

Wherever, whenever, doesn’t matter what brand you have in hand, cold water costs 3 Pounds (30 eurocents). Don’t listen to excuses of bold salesmen: ‘lady, but this is extra cold!’ Or ‘mister, 3 was yesterday, today is 4.’ Detail: water is more expensive than diesel, so it pays off to fight for your 3 pounds! And if it doesn’t work out, you can always turn to the public water facilities…
4. Start every encounter with “We’re not buying, and no ‘just looking’ either.”

Egyptians have a talent to start their business with a casual conversation, often opening the game with the very uncreative “where you from?” Because you don’t want to be rude, you put your pawn forward by saying your country. And before you know it, the seller bothers you for 15 minutes with his offers. At best, the eager beaver accepts your ‘no’ and looks for business elsewhere. Most likely, you are called the worst names and asked to f***** leave the country. Saying ‘no’ loud & clearly as soon as possible keeps them relatively friendly.
5. Eat in town, not on the highway

Sandwich falafel with baba ghanoug in a village: 15 eurocent.
Sandwich falafel with baba ghanoug in the city: 25 eurocent.
Sandwich falafel with baba ghanoug in a truckers cafe: 1,50 euro.
6. No camels, cars or kids on your pictures

Tourists are scarce, so the Egyptians have us tourists on their radar and a little voice in their head that says ‘squeeze every possible pound from their pockets.’ And what if don’t buy anything from you (thanks to the skills you required under point 4)? Just shove your camel, car or kid in front of their camera. And when they press that button, it means cash because they just ‘hired’ your property as photomodel. And that costs “one pound, madam.”
7. Go see the Pyramids and Luxor when the country is in conflict

Travel agencies are on no-risk policies, tourists are scared and bail out, flights are cancelled. Visiting Egyptian heritage moves to the bottom of many bucket lists. Which means that the sights are empty! Always wanted to have Japanese-free pictures of the Luxor temple? Always dreamt of hearing your voice echoing inside the great Cheops pyramid? Then go now, guaranteed a once in a lifetime experience.
8. Ask prices before ordering food

Okay you have probably done some bargaining upto now. And a basic rule is off course not to give away your position. And when the food already is in your stomach, your bargaining position is pretty weak. Then again you still have the possibility to walk away after paying what you think it was worth, but we Europeans don’t like to be rude. So to prevent the feeling of being kicked in the stomach when hearing the ridiculous price for your below average Shawarma, check the prices first.
9. Drive only during the day, no nightcrawling

As mentioned under point 1, driving on Egyptian roads can be a hazardous business. When cars approach at night, they keep their lights out until they’re close and then flash their ‘big light’ once. So when you are blinded and can’t see a damn thing for 10 seconds, you know a car just passed. And off course then you hit those 2 giant holes in the road, seriously jeopordizing your car’s suspension and tires. So if your love your car and your life, use that god-given sunlight!
10. Accept that everything takes longer than you think

It is remarkable how often god is present when the Egyptians have to deliver something on time. “Car is shipped tommorrow, inshallah.”. “Will talk for you Wednesday, inshallah”. “No more baksjiesj today, inshallah.” Just accept the fact that Monday means Wednesday, ‘maybe later’ means ‘no’ and ‘I fix it now’ means ‘maybe I’ll try later today. Inshallah’. Take your time, sit back, have some tea and you’ll be fine.

How to reach consensus in the different Egyptian points of view?

Egypt, Insights, The Netherlands, TurmoilAug 28 20130 Comment

During the long days of waiting for the car and the customs hassle, we had the opportunity to speak to a few Egyptians from Alexandria and Cairo. We were eager to meet some locals, to learn about their views on the situation. We had many questions, like how the messages in the news are regarded, how people see the Muslim Brotherhood party and Morsi, how the role of the army is perceived and how they see their own role in the conflict.

From the news, newspapers and talking to people, there are roughly four angles to be distinguished. Off course what we write here is a personal reflection of what we saw and learned during our short time here and is not a full account of the situation here.

One group consists of people against Morsi. Their main arguments are that he didn’t deliver what he promised in 2011 and he introduced laws that gave disproportional power to the MB party. They also believe that the army is supporting the people in bringing and keeping peace in the country. It seems that people might have ‘forgotten’ about the role that the army played in escalating the situation and using violence on a large scale. Or they justify it by saying it is in the benefit of the people. The message that the MB are terrorists and ‘may turn into radical Muslims or jihad warriors’, resonates with them.

We met Ahmed, an Egyptian born and raised here, now owner of a restaurant in Philadelphia. Ahmed is mainly against MB and against violence. When we asked him why he was in Egypt, he replied ‘well, to demonstrate, off course. To support the people in the revolution’. Ahmed seemed to be broad minded, as he told us that he had many friends that were MB. ‘But’, he added, ‘the MB party has the potential to turn into fanatics or terrorists that will force us to live more conservatively and hinder economic growth. We should stop that.’ So what Ahmed describes is not the condemnation of the acts done by the MB today, but what they might become in the future.

That’s a parallel that we saw in Turkey at people critical of Erdogan: they worry about more conservatism he might execute in the future. And while fearing the future, they overlook his successes today and the fact that none of the things they fear, have actually happened. A Turkish-German student stated it clearly to us: ‘I’m against him, because we fear that we can’t go out like this (without headscarf, short dress) anymore. He is conservative, so that might get the overhand one day.’

Another group is not per se pro Morsi, but pro Democracy. They say that the Egyptians should give Morsi time deliver his results, because he was democratically elected and this process, this agreement that Egyptians have made with each other, should be respected. They argue that when the president fails to deliver, the democratic system should be used to change this. Problem is, there are essentials missing in this system: there is no parliament, no adequate platform for debate, not yet a thorough understanding everywhere of what democracy is.

We must understand that the Egyptians may not be used to building their opinions and using debate as the Western world is. Mubarak ruled for 30 years, the army is powerful and acts independently, elections were installed quick & dirty. Do people understand that it means compromising, condemning violence and acceptance of the consequences of majority voices (or re-elect)?

We saw a piece on television on an German-Egyptian who in 2011 went into the country with a campaign bus, explaining to people in the country side with pictures and theater plays what democracy actually means. It reminded me a lot of human aid workers that explain the relation between condoms and HIV in small African villages who hear about safe sex for the first time.

Alaa, an English teacher we met from Alexandria, is supporter of this view. He asks himself the question ‘how democracy can function if the people elect somebody, and then change their minds after some time.’ He wasn’t happy about the military stepping in so soon, but knows that most people feel that the army acts in their best interest. As apposed to Ahmed, he wasn’t so convinced that the MB are terrorists. ‘Many friends of mine are MB, they strive for the same things as we do.’ Alaa had different things on his mind, though. Being a teacher, he depends on a stable and paying government and worried about job security. That’s why he accepted a job in Oman. Because of that and, saying it with a big smile, ‘because he also had some debts to pay off.’ Because I was laughing affectionately about his openness and the picture of him fleeing the country while being chased by angry men on these typical Egyptian flip-flops, I didn’t hear the ‘…debts that I want to pay off here.’ When we told him in return that we were on such a tight budget that we had such big breakfasts so that we could skip lunch and only pay for dinner, he had his share of laughter. We understood each other and had a jolly afternoon.

A third group is against turmoil and pro-economy. It’s likely we find these people working in tourism and depend mainly on confidence that Western tourists as well as investors have in Egypt. For example, tourism at the Red Sea has sunk to 15% of 2011 levels and in this region, where 40% of the families depend on good business. Sugran, an art student from Cairo we met today, said that the quietness around the pyramids was definitely a problem. But she ‘counted on the military to force a dialog between leaders or come up with a solution themselves.’

The fourth group is the army, a powerful, independently acting player. We don’t know much about their point of view. We met a Colonel in a men-café, but somehow we were a bit reluctant to ask him the same questions as the others. So that point of view is still to be discovered more.

So what do the Egyptians really want? Because from these dialogs, it is difficult to find the common grounds. Is it that they all want democracy? Seems not. It it the sentiment against the MB, or against terrorism, as the mass media connects these terms nowadays? But pro-what then?

Ahmed explained that many Egyptians return to their country to participate in the revolution, as some call it. They make a sign, holding 4 fingers up, the thumb folded. This is the sign pronounced as rabia, or four in Arabic. This word was in the name of the square on which the first large impeachment demonstrations were held (and the first people got killed). We saw some young people making the sign on the airport of Alexandria. It is not per se literally meant, but rather symbolic that you sympathize with the demonstrators. But on which side exactly, or on what the solution could be, the sign remains silent.

Boredom and the Art of Waiting

Egypt, The journeyAug 27 20130 Comment

I wouldn’t think it would happen so soon, but tonight we are hit by a good old portion of boredom. .Why? We are in Alexandria now, have been here for 5 days now. We are waiting. For custom clearance of the car. The car that has been sitting in the harbour for 3 days. Days are short because people leave at 14:30 to get home in time for the curfew (what, you live 500 miles away or something?!), so our hussle guy needs more of them.

Alexandria is an interesting city at first sight, but really, if you don’t have any business or family here, it’s not worth a visit.

What doesn’t help, is that we have chosen to save Connies luxury hotel points for worse (read: broke) times or in case of emergencies. So we left the Hilton, said goodbye to that beautiful suite with stunning military road block view, and checked into a hotel that might star in a horror movie. The bathroom actually looks a bit like that in the movie Saw. Toilet paper was an extra I had to ask for and we definitely got downgraded to the ‘non-luxury’ floor.

Hehe and sometimes we smell a bit Nargileh from the men beneath us coming through the window, since we are directly over a men-only cafe.

It is the real Egyption style, I guess. Now for us luxury-lovers the real travelling begins!

Today we waited 5 hours at customs with all our bags because we expected that we’d nail the paperwork, but without success. No but seriously, we need to get that car tomorrow or we will get mad here. We can’t handle another day with emission gas cocktails, plastig bags-filled ocean and being denied access to some cafes and even taxis. I’m actually playing minesweeper here, you guys…

Tommorrow will be the day that we are on the road again! Hopefully… 🙂

Behind mass media: the real Egyptian daily life

Egypt, The car, The journey, TurmoilAug 25 20130 Comment

It was 2 a.m., airport Alexandria. when we got out of the plane, the humid air hit us like we walked into a thick blanket. We knew that the curfew was until sunrise, so would it be possible for us to leave the airport? We were feeling a bit nervous but also curious how the situation would be. The taxi driver that approached us, said “driving you to the city? No problem! Curfew, yes, but you have passports Germany. No problem!” And with 160 km/h he drove us to Alexandria city center. During the trip nothing but emptiness, apart from an isolated settlement here and there and two military posts. No checkups whatsoever. In the city, boys used the quietness on the street for a few games of street soccer. Women in burqa sitting before their houses. It was a picture that can be seen in any other city.

The next few days we had our car business to arrange: go to the shipper, get a customs broker (the sjacheraar type again), get all the administration in place, go to immigration and get Egyption license plates.
Being in the city showed us that the daily lives of the Egyptians mostly go by as before the conflicts. Of course most fighting and violence does not take place in Alexandria, but still there are very little signs that this is a country in conflict. People stroll along the beach, go to work, sit in cafes smoking nargileh, enjoy time with friends. There is petrol available at gas stations. Public transportation, bread and water is available and cheap.

The curfew isn’t that strict as we thought. The first night, as we were having a bite to eat on the street, we rushed home at 6:50 p.m. There were still many people on the street, so the question rose ‘how are these people going to be home on time?!’ We learned that the majority is at home, but there are still some people allowed on the street. The few cars that drive around are allowed on the street, but are being checked at checkpoints. No ghost town situations here.

This in sharp contract to what mass media are telling us in Europe as well as in the Egyptian media. I am not saying that the messages that are told in the European media are biased, but definitely only show a narrow selection of what goes on in this country, a selection with images of violence, terrorism and policital chess playing. The other side, the quiet and safe side, is left out.
Also here in Egypt there is populists media in abundance. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) are consistently being displayed as terrorists, the military as altruistic protectors of the people. For example Nile TV carries the banner ‘Egypt Fights Terrorists’. They only show the most violent images, but don’t mention source, place or date. It is a constant flow of loaded accusations to the MB party. They indicate people with weapons in red circles on the screen, saying that this these are MB terrorists. The anti-MB sentiments grow stronger, and some men with beards are even shaving it off, even if they are not actively participating in the conflict.

It is heartbreaking to hear stories from people working in the tourist sector around Gizeh, the Red Sea and Luxor. 40% of the families in those regions depend on tourism and have hardly any alternatives. Tourism rates have dropped to about 15% of pre-conflict levels.
We have met several local people from Alexandria and Cairo, who convinced us that it is safe to go to the touristic areas. So we have decided to go to Gizeh after all and see the pyramids with the upside: it is completely empty and we’ll practically be the only visitors there!

In the next blog we’ll share some interesting insights we got from talking to some locals. We are happy and relieved though, to be able to write to you that we are safe & sound here. We won’t take any uninformed decisions to make sure that is stays that way!