I thought these people were dressing up as part of the Forbidden City – as an attraction. Turns out that you can rent traditional garb to wear during your visit.
This is a common thing in Japan also – where men and women will rent kimonos for the day and tour around the city. I tried to think what a Canadian equivalent would be – his and her Mountie uniforms?
A few random shots from our travels around the island.
This bridge was bombed by the Americans during WWII. The remnants reminded me of a Tori gate. I am sure there is some form of irony there.
An old concrete machine gun bunker.
The old Japanese communications building. You are not allowed in, as the back collapsed during a hurricane in 2012.
The memorial to the US 81st Infantry. It was a cemetery but years ago Congress went around the world and brought their war dead back to the US.
The old runway that was so precious to McArthur. If you watch The Pacific (HBO) they show how this area was an open field with all vegetation bombed and burned to the ground. Nature has reclaimed the airfield.
A plaque on a memorial from the Japanese people.
I would agree and let us all hope and pray for those around the world who are suffering through war today.
Part of having a guide is that he takes you into different places (if she is good). Our guide took us out of the city of Kyoto to show us the countryside and the rice fields. It was a 15 minute detour, but worth it.
I didn’t get a shot of their planting machines but they reminded me of a celery planting machine that relatives used on their farms in Canada.
As mentioned, the hydrangeas were in full bloom. Not a white one in view.
This pond is privately owned and once a year the farmer who owned it would drain it and “harvest” the fish.
It is beautiful land. Which reminds me of a random observation on Kyoto. If you do travel there, you will find it a city of contrasts. The city itself is like many Japanese cities, clean but wall to wall people, large drab concrete residential buildings with shops jammed in-between. Rather uninspiring, until you turn a corner and come headlong into Japan’s historic buildings which are beautiful, unique and well crafted.
It seems to me that during their post war rush to modernization, their architects discarded the intricacies and beauty of Japanese style for function, people per square meter, concrete and efficiency. This isn’t a stretch of the imagination as one colleague imparted that when he was a child living in Tokyo, the city was rapidly industrializing and as polluted as Beijing until the government took drastic action (as the country became wealthier and was able to afford it).
Too bad. Even concrete can be beautiful, with some thought. (Above: The entrance to Chion Temple)
It is one of those must go places (they say). A simple bamboo forest where a single stock of bamboo can grow up to 1.3M overnight. Another ‘short’ visit location on our day tour of Kyoto. Our guide drove to the top, we walked down and back (perhaps 300m each way).
Yes, it is beautiful. Serene.
What I found most interesting was not the bamboo but this long, long line of ants walking along the bamboo fence. They went on and on and on .. until near the top of the hill the started to thin out, heading down the fence into the forest.
In this shot you can see them on the posts …
A little clearer .. the march on and on.
Thanks for dropping by.
Off the beaten path is a small temple called the Moss Temple, or Gio-ji. It is lesser known than the famous and Y3,000 larger moss temple. The history of the temple is one of lost love:
A Shirabyoshi dancer Gio was loved by Taira-no-Kiyomori but was jilted when he was enslaved by the beauty of another Shirabyoshi, Hotoke-Gozen. Gio, her sister Ginyo and their mother Toji left Kiyomori and after all they entered a nunnery that was present day Gio-ji. Then, Hotoke-Gozen joined them as she knew that she would be eventually jilted also by heartless Kiyomori. It was when Gio was 21 years old and Hotoke-Gozen was 17. The four women lived here remainder of their life.
Best viewed during a wet period in time (dry seasons see the moss go brown) and down a remote road, the temple makes for interesting viewing.
Walking down the entrance path you are covered by a thick canopy of leaves.
The moss is everywhere, growing on every roof and fence.
Turning the corner you come upon an open area in front of the temple. It was a bit surreal, the glowing greens. Looked like a movie set (I don’t know why, but that is what popped into mind).
If memory serves me, there are 19 different mosses. A few that are quite invasive and needed to be regularly culled back to ensure they do not take over the other mosses. Including this moss that was furry to the touch.
Of course, hydrangea. At least I think it is a hydrangea ….
Rounding the corner there is a cemetery and in the hundreds and hundreds of times Yoshida-san our guide has been here, something he had never seen. A lone monkey.
Sad to say he was injured (bad left hand). He did sit and enjoy eating a few daisies though.
Interesting place. Not busy, serene and the vibrancy of the mosses were visually stunning.
Worth a visit.
This is a very interesting post to write as it elicits mixed feelings.
Part of living in a different culture is that never ending quest to understand, learn and to grow while trying not to use your own cultural biases to judge. After all, perception is reality.
As I have often joked with friends back home, living in Japan is like living on Mars. It is just so fascinatingly different.
The Japanese think differently than North Americans, and different than Canadians. How can it not be the case? Canada is a country of every culture (Asian, European, African) where Japan is comprised of 98.5% Japanese and non-existent immigration. Canada is a country with only a few hundred years of history while Japan is one of the world’s oldest societies, with 3,000 years of history and a clear isolationist bent where foreigners were killed on sight until the late 1800s. Canadians are individuals, in a society where they cut their lives out of the unconquered wilderness with an understanding that merit leads to fortune while Japan is about the group good, where the notion of paying a high performer more than others in the team is at odds with their values.
At a very fundamental level, culture, history, education and values, Japan is different than most other countries in the world and the Geisha is one of those cases.
Prior to leaving for Kyoto, we watched Memoirs of a Geisha and I could not help but find it disturbing on many levels. Obviously the selling of young girls into a brothel and a Geisha house was disturbing as were many of the scenes, but this type of abuse is unfortunately, common around the world.
The uniquely Japanese part that was disturbing was the whole notion of the Geisha. Reading broadly, the information was varied. Prostitution is disputed and the truth hard to determine; in this post it is clearly stated it does not happen yet another quote says that in 1929 3/4 of geisha were prostitutes. While there is an elegance to the appearance of a Geisha, the information on “what a Geisha is” left us wondering about the profession … Noble undertaking or a veneer hiding a seedy underside of sex for sale?
Nothing made us wonder more than this question: what does it mean that this profession is funded by older business men, where the Geisha’s sole purpose is to entertain them every evening? I find the feminism assertions hard to swallow and cannot think that it is good for marriages.
It is with those questions in mind that we did something that is not common for a gaijin.
We booked a dinner in a wonderful restaurant with a room by the garden, a Geisha and an English interpreter to learn.
We were not disappointed.
After our first temple we headed to Nishiki market. A cab dropped us off at one entrance and we started down this very long covered walkway past hundreds of interesting stalls.
Uniquely Japanese is a good way to describe it; pottery, restaurants, fish markets, vegetable stands and everything in-between.
Lots and lots of pickled choices. The Japanese love to pickle things.
I believe this is grilled eel. Had I not just eaten, I would have grabbed some. Love grilled eel.
The young lady at the stand tried to sell me one of these .. only a couple hundred yen. Look closely, it is a small octopus with a quail egg stuffed where the head use to be. I regret not trying it. Had to chuckle at the little cartoon ad guy saying “It will eat” … not sure what that means.
At some point in the near future, our family will be buying special chopsticks. As of right now, we use them frequently but haven’t made the “special” purchase yet. Perhaps metallic is in order?
This fellow was making the circular Japanese cakes. They are delicious.
And last, check out this flower stall. My Uncle Frank would have loved the colors .. I know I did. So vibrant.
Thanks for dropping by.
After checking into the Westin our first stop (after a big Japanese lunch) was this hall, home to 1001 life-sized wooden statues of Kannon, goddess of mercy.
Like many of the temples, they offered souvenirs and in this case, an important question.
The temple itself is amazing (but as you can see – no pictures allowed).
It is the home to a ritual where Buddhist priests touch people’s heads with a sacred willow to cure headaches and popular for an annual archery (long bow) contest that started hundreds and hundreds of years ago. As you can see by the length of the building, there is lots of room for the 1001 carvings in this 800 year old building. I wish I would have been allowed to shoot the carvings, the detail was jaw-dropping.
Surrounded by other shrines and beautiful gardens, it was a great first stop on our Kyoto tour.
Good start.
Koshin is described as a folk faith in Japan with Taoist origins:
The main Kōshin belief that survived from an original complex faith, is the concept that three worms, called Sanshi (三尸), live in everyone’s body. The Sanshi keep track of the good deeds and particularly the bad deeds of the person they inhabit. On the night called Kōshin-Machi (which happens each 60 days), while the person sleeps, the Sanshis leave the body and go to Ten-Tei(天帝), the Heavenly god, to report about the deeds of that person.
Ten-Tei will then decide to punish bad people, making them ill, shortening their lifetime and in extreme cases putting an end to their lives. Believers of Kōshin will try to live a life without bad deeds, but those who have reason to fear will try to stay awake during Kōshin nights, as the only way to prevent the Sanshi from leaving the body and reporting to Ten-Tei.
Which (of course) lead to festivals every 60 days where people attempted to stay up for the entire day to stop the worms from leaving their bodies.
Below is a very old, traditional Koshin shrine near our home.
This faith is also affiliated with the 3 monkeys (seen in the middle bottom):
Three monkeys covering eyes, mouth and ears with their hands are the best known symbols of Kōshin faith. They are Mizaru (not see), Iwazaru (not say) and Kikazaru (not hear). It is not very clear why the three monkeys became part of Kōshin belief, but is assumed that it is because like the monkeys, the Sanshis and Ten-Tei are not to see, hear, or tell the bad deeds of a person.
Statues of Shōmen-Kongō with the three monkeys have existed in temples and shrines since the Edo era. Sometimes carved stones called Kōshin-tō were placed around a dwelling for protection. Such stones can present diverse forms, from having only Chinese characters (kanji) to including a depiction of Shōmen- Kongō with one, two or three monkeys.
So many layers to Japan’s complex history, hidden from the Gaijin.
Near our apartment is a small temple of significance, a temple dedicated to the dragon and the harvest, Hiroo Inari Jinja.
Located on a side street near Hiroo station, tucked under hundred year old trees.
The courtyard houses the temple building and several smaller shrines.
Including the chozuya, for purifying yourself before entering the shrine.
I liked this request outside the temple …
As mentioned, it is a dragon temple. Etched into the wooden roof is the most magnificent dragon. Step to a different side and the entire picture changes.
It is said that Inari (the god of harvests) was invoked as the guardian deity of the Shogun�fs villa, Azabu Fujimi Goten, during the Genroku period (1688-1703). It was formerly called Fujimi Inari or Chitose-dera Inari. The dragon drawn on seven consecutive panels on the main hall�fs ceiling is the final Japanese-style painting of the great master Takahashi Yuichi. Three towers dedicated to the repose of the souls of the departed (Minato City Cultural Assets) stand by a stone moat and the three monkeys (�gSee no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil�h) are carved on the front.
And more dragons carved into the entrance.
Amazing to find out what is tucked around a corner. A city full of hidden treasures.
The American government set up in one of Tokyo’s oldest temples, Zenpuku-ji temple, after the signing of the first commerce agreement in 1859.
They have a monument set up for Townsend Harris who played a pivotal role in Japanese – US relationships. Our guide Lilly provided colour to his life. While he did great things for the countries, he did it while ruining the life of a poor Japanese woman. She was a serving girl and in love with a carpenter (as the story goes), but Townsend wanted her for himself. Forced by the Japanese government to spend time with Townsend (either to improve relations between the countries or as a spy), she was forced to become his mistress only to be discarded when he left Japan;
She was labelled a “Toujin” (mistress of a foreigner), though she was not a mistress like “Chocho-san“.
Becoming a mistress of Western men was regarded as shame and Kichi was despised as “Toujin”. The disdain and prejudice of the society disturbed her seriously and she gradually indulged in alcohol. She could not live a peaceful family life with her beloved Tsurumatsu. She ruined a restaurant presented by a sympathetic patron and could not run a hair salon in Shimoda due to the disdain of local people. In her 40s, Kichi became homeless and killed herself by jumping into the Inouzawa River.
Toujin Okichi became a heroin of popular novels and her stories were staged many times. Though the truth still remains a mystery, her story was interpreted in various ways and exploited as a tourist attraction.
Read more here. The relationships was also incorrectly romanticized in a John Wayne movie.
As with all shrines, a cemetery accompanies it. Right beside the shrine is the grave of Fukuzawa Yukichi, the man on the 10,000 Y note ($100).
Fukuzawa Yukichi (福澤 諭吉?, January 10, 1835 – February 3, 1901) was a Japanese author, Enlightenment writer, teacher, translator, entrepreneurand journalist who founded Keio-Gijuku University, the newspaper Jiji-Shinpo and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. His ideas about government and social institutions made a lasting impression on a rapidly changing Japan during the Meiji Era. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern Japan. He is called a Japanese Voltaire.
It is also home to the oldest ginko tree in Tokyo with a girth of 10m and estimated age of 800+ years.
As one would expect, the cemetery is well tended with people decorating the statues and leaving behind flowers, offerings and other remembrances to honour the departed.
An interesting tour. Thanks for dropping by.
Rich families would keep their valuables in a building like this.
Away from the main house, lacking windows, big metal locked doors and often behind the gates.
One would think it was a good plan. The problem? Thieved learned that in the soft Japanese soil it is easy to dig your way in.
In the Azabu-Juban there is a small spring, bubbling away. This little spring has saved thousands of lives during earthquakes, fires and bombings. Such an innocuous site .. responsible for so many.
On a recent tour, near this street we heard all about Juzo Itami.
Standing at the bottom of the building where he “committed suicide”, we heard the story about how this Japanese film maker made fun of the establishment and organized crime:
On May 22, 1992, six days after the release of his anti-yakuza satire Minbō no Onna, Itami was attacked, beaten, and slashed on the face by five members of the Goto-gumi, a Shizuoka-based yakuza clan, who were angry at Itami’s film’s portrayal of yakuza members as craven, dishonorable bullies. This attack led to a government crackdown on the yakuza. His subsequent stay in a hospital inspired his next film Daibyonin, a grim satire on the Japanese health system.
Looking down the alley, our guide explained his “death”:
He purportedly committed suicide on December 20, 1997[1] in Tokyo, by leaping from the roof of the building where his office was located, after a sex scandal he was allegedly involved in was picked up by the press. The suicide letter he reportedly left behind denied any involvement in such an affair.
Many consider his death suspicious. Citing unnamed sources, Jake Adelstein of Yomiuri Shimbun, who wrote a number of articles dealing with Japanese yakuza, directly accused Goto of murder. Adelstein stated that, according to his sources in the Japanese underworld, Juzo Itami was planning a new movie about Goto’s yakuza faction and its relationship with the religious groupSōka Gakkai and that “A gang of five of his people grabbed Itami and made him jump off a rooftop at gunpoint. That’s how he committed suicide.” According to Adelstein, Itami had said that his wife was aware of his alleged affair and that Itami’s purported suicide note was typed on a word processor.[2] At the time, the police treated it as a possible homicide. Itami’s surviving family have never publicly commented on the circumstances surrounding his death.
We continued walking. I love the way that Japanese streets are filled with people’s pots filled with flowers and bushes. They may not have a yard, but they are trying.
In some cases, the grasses are overgrowing. An oddity in Japan. Why would someone leave their motorcycle like that? (even if it is broken).
Passing this shop I looked in, there was barely any room to move … He/she is certainly not pressing any clothes.
As we turned a corner our guide explained that the area we were in used to be a slum in Tokyo. The locals were cleaning it up and banding together, trying to stop developers who were buying up the buildings with a goal of tearing it all down and putting up high rises.
Down a stairwell was a tiny little statue, dedicated to a site where something happened .. at some point in history. Perhaps someone fell down the stairs and died, or an incident happened here. That history is lost to us gaijin, but it was amazing to see the statue hidden between the buildings.
And in every Tokyo cement crack, something is trying to grow.
Loved that this guy was out there drumming up some business in front of his store.
Now that is initiative.
How would you like to be the poor unfortunate souls living next to this monstrosity with it’s medieval flair?
Called a “love hotel” these feeders of the unseemly Japanese underbelly are quite common.
A love hotel is a type of short-stay hotel found around the world operated primarily for the purpose of allowing couples privacy for sexual activities. The name originates from “Hotel Love” in Osaka which was built in 1968 and had a rotating sign.
This one is for the more “adventurous”. We were walking past it on a tour and I could not help but notice the nice grandmotherly woman on the other side of the street standing in her door.
How would you like to look at this every day? (it is in quite a nice neighbourhood). Supposedly there is a movement afoot to eject them.
Is the name some form of play on words?
The discrete front entrance.
Last shot. I wondered, is the new BMW a client or the owner?
There are a surprising number of abandoned buildings in Tokyo. On a recent tour we were told that this happens when something “bad” happens in a building. People find out and do not want to live there.
In this case, something bad happened about 10 years ago … and no one has lived there since, except the every expanding vines.
My last. A beautiful shoreline.
The pink caught my eye.
The stairs lead to … ?
A wonderful trip.
It was a clear night and interesting to watch the full moon rise.
We are moving offices in a few months. The great view of Mt. Fuji will be replaced by a different view.
Fortunately, Fuji-san finally came out and I happened to have my camera (Configuration: Canon 5D Mark III, 50mm f/1.2, shot handheld HDR).
The rest of the view. At the bottom is a huge cemetery. I need to get there.
If you look into the background, you will notice that Tokyo is ringed by mountains.
I will miss the sunsets ……
The sun is here.
A few strong climbing roses.
On a different tangent, they have the oddest names for hair salons in Tokyo. I have yet to figure out how these two words relate to cutting hair (smile).
Once the cherry and plum blossoms are gone, the Japanese cities explode with Azaleas. They are everywhere. 5 shots from around town via my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 50mm f/1.2.
High on an embassy wall.
After the rain.
In the middle of the country, in a little town with a name I did not know. Just another town along the road and another breathtaking temple, built by locals over hundreds of years. Famous? No. Breathtaking? Yes.
A lot of the gates had lions. I wonder why?
The owner of this scooter was no where to be seen. Because it was about to rain again … hard.
This shot gives you a sense of this rural Balinese village temple. It is huge and multi-sectioned .. and yes, about to rain.
Deity carvings were everywhere.
And many of the carvings were decorated.
The intricacies of this door are remarkable.
It was the entrance on this kori agung gate (roofed) with a candi bentar gate beside it (right).
And the detail across the temple caught the eye at every turn.
They had not gotten out all of the decorations yet, but were starting.
Truly amazing. So much care and beauty .. in a remote location. One of a thousand temples, that will never be famous.
Glad we stopped. And thanks for stopping by.
A few days before we had arrived at the Elephant Safari Park, a baby was born. She was shy.
I had to wait around for 5 minutes before she finally sneaked out for a few minutes from her mother’s protective care. She walked with a wobble (smile).
Took one look and trotted back to her mom.
The elephant has the most beautiful eyes.
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There is a soul piercing intelligence peering back, as you stare deep into their eyes.
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Beautiful.
On the wall of a building at the D-Day museum was an advertisement for Batterie de Maisy and on a whim we decided to head away from Omaha beach in search of the battery that was promised to be no more than ‘5 minutes drive’.
A windy road takes you along the coast, where we passed a host of breathtaking buildings. One being Le Chateau de St. Pierre du Mont, a castle converted into a bed and breakfast on the Normandy coast. It simply rises out of the road as you head along the coast. I would have loved to have spent a night there, had we known it existed …. via:
St. Pierre-du-Mont Castle, locally known as Château de St. Pierre-du-Mont or more simply as Château St. Pierre, stands near the village of Saint Pierre-du-Mont, north west of the city of Bayeux in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in France.
St. Pierre-du-Mont Castle dates back to the 16th century. Its entrance gate, flanked on the right by a machicolated defensive tower, is typical of the fortified gates which guarded Norman manors at the end of the 16th century. The upper part of that tower once housed a dovecote, which was a symbol of nobility until the Revolution.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the estate belonged to Francois du Mesnil. His family, like many noble families of that time, followed the reformed religion. Shortly after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) they returned to Catholicism.
At the end of the 18th century St. Pierre-du-Mont Castle passed through marriage to the De Frotté family. One member of this family, who was a Marquis, was a prefect during the first half of the 19th century.
I always wonder what life was like when places like this were built. Peasants working for a rich family, building away, living off of the whims of the Lord and their family. We live in much better times, no matter how beautiful the building is.
The nice thing about having your car, you can stop where you want. We continued down the road.
If you look at this large pointy thing, sitting by a bridge in London, what would you think it is?
Your choices:
a) Over priced art the the city of London commissioned to make the city look ‘deep’.
b) A monument to mothers everywhere who have spent centuries yelling out ‘Don’t run with pointy things in your hands!’
c) A monument to medieval England and some rather unpleasant goings-on.
d) A giant sun dial.
The answer is a AND c. It is a spike meant to commemorate the location where traitors heads would be left on a pike to rot. Charming.
Tower bridge, however, is charming. Everyone thinks this is London Bridge, it is not.
After the pyramids and the surrounding areas, including a quick view of the pyramid of the son Khafre, we jumped in the car and headed to a plateau called ‘the panorama’ – for obvious reasons.
The individuals provide a sense of magnitude ….
We drove here for a specific purpose, a camel ride. The cost was 50 L.E. each (£10 or $20USD). It lasts for 20 minutes and gives you a great view of the pyramids. Plus, riding a camel is pretty cool. What is amazing about these camels is the noise, they bellow and grunt at a volume that can be a bit startling.
While looking through the pictures I noticed that a twister formed and crossed the picture frames in about 10 seconds while the guide was taking our family photo. The first picture shows it starting, the second shows it over my right shoulder (hard to see). By my estimate, it is 200M high – as it is much higher than the pyramid …. cool.
The camel camp.
Our last stop (and it was getting time .. the 40 degrees was starting to take a toll) was the Great Sphinx. The history of the Sphinx is interesting. Many of the Egyptian statues were defaced over time by men, the ultimate insult being the removal of the nose. The head of the Sphinx was used for target practice for Napoleon’s cannons:
The one-metre-wide nose on the face is missing. Some legends claim that the nose was broken off by a cannon ball fired by Napoléon’s soldiers and that it still survives, as do diverse variants indicting British troops, Mamluks, and others. However, sketches of the Sphinx by Dane Frederick Lewis Norden made in 1737 and published in 1755 illustrate the Sphinx without a nose. The Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi, writing in the fifteenth century, attributes the vandalism to Muhammad Sa’im al-Dahr, a Sufi fanatic from the khanqahof Sa’id al-Su’ada. In 1378, upon finding the Egyptian peasants making offerings to the Sphinx in the hope of increasing their harvest, Sa’im al-Dahr was so outraged that he destroyed the nose, and was hanged for vandalism. Al-Maqrizi describes the Sphinx as the “Nile talisman” on which the locals believed the cycle of inundation depended.
In addition to the lost nose, a ceremonial pharaonic beard is thought to have been attached, although this may have been added in later periods after the original construction. Egyptologist Rainer Stadelmann has posited that the rounded divine beard may not have existed in the Old or Middle Kingdoms, only being conceived of in the New Kingdom to identify the Sphinx with the god Horemakhet (citation needed-see ref.11&12). This may also relate to the later fashion of pharaohs, which was to wear a plaited beard of authority—a false beard (chin straps are actually visible on some statues), since Egyptian culture mandated that men be clean shaven. Pieces of this beard are today kept in the British Museum and the Egyptian Museum.
The last removal of sand was 1926 as the desert keeps covering up the Sphinx. The most natural state of the Sphinx is the body covered with only the head showing. Restoration continues ….
I wonder who is buried in the tomb beside the Sphinx?
The next day we went to the Egyptian museum, but they won’t let you take pictures and are really tight on security. The benefit of the tour guide became apparent again as he took us from exhibit to exhibit. The most interesting were:
Of course, I may have snuck in a picture or two (without aiming so I would not draw attention):
A great start – but only the start.
I have talked with many people about how my transition from Canada to the UK changed my view in many ways. The first change being my definition of old. In Canada I thought that our house was old – a 110 year old Victorian. When I came to the UK that changed dramatically as one of my first experiences in a pub was The Bull in Sonning built in the 1400s.
Over the last few weeks our family went on an 11 day trip to Egypt which changed my definition of old and expanded this simple Canadian’s view of the world dramatically.
The trip had 3 stages, a few days in Cairo (pyramids), a few days in Luxor (temples & tombs) and then 6 days on the beach in Sharm el-Sheikh relaxing. Over the week as I dig through the videos and pictures I will blog on each adventure, but thought to start with my impressions of Egypt:
1. Safety: It was one of the first things that came up in conversation – is it safe? You have the terrorists who are from the region, the 1997 Luxor massacre of tourists and a lot of poverty which leads to crime as people do what they can to survive.
The first thing you notice when you land in Egypt is the armed presence. The military is not as prevalent as in other counties (most notable in Cuba) but the police are everywhere and heavily armed (the below was a common sight).
Guards at the pyramids (They must have been hot, it was 40C that day).
The end verdict? It is safe, probably one of the safest in the region. But you also need to be smart.
2. The people: The second thing that we noticed was how the people treated us. In all of our travels, the Egyptian people are the most tourist friendly we have ever encountered. In many of the conversations we had, there seemed to be a genuine appreciation of the tourist and the economy that they have created within Egypt. It has taken Egypt a long time to recover their tourist business and it is clear, they are working hard to protect it.
If you read the Luxor massacre story, the most interesting thing is that the Islamic terrorists turned the Egyptian public opinion against them after the event – and it is clear that the Egyptian government has used that opportunity to rebuild the tourism business and create an air of safety.
In conversation and in the newspaper, public opinion against the Islamic terrorists and the negative impact that they have had on the view of Muslims was a hot topic. After all, the Islamic law is that if you have a guest come to you (even if he is your enemy), you must shelter him.
Which brings up another topic – family. Both of our tour guides still lived with their extended family. One lived on the bottom floor of the house with his mother and sister (his dad had passed away). His brother lived with his wife on the second floor and the third floor was where they kept the pig and chickens. The family ties remain very strong in Egypt, I would imagine in part due to economic reasons and in part due to culture (the concept of the village bonding together to help each other).
3. BIG TIP – our tour guide: One brilliant thing that we did on the trip was pre-book all of our tourist events with a local company. Instead of doing the ‘mass tour’ thing where you get on a bus with you and 50 of your closest friends, we booked a private tour guide, driver and private car (usually a minivan). Four days and personalized airport pickup and delivery cost us about £550 for the trip. This made ALL the difference. The tour guide personalized every single outing (when we wanted to start, where we went) and helped us avoid the crowds and do things that others would not have done. For example, when in Luxor the guide said ‘We need to start at 730 am to beat the heat and crowds’. No thanks, we did not come on vacation to get up early. So, we started at 830 am. We did hit a hot time of the day but just took it slower and had more breaks in the shade … which the guide accommodated without issue.
The second biggest benefit was the experience at each site. Unlike the tour groups where the ‘pack’ listened with little interaction because of the unwieldy size, our tours were a dialogue where we asked questions, discussed and gained real insight. Turns out that to be a certified Egyptian tour guide you need to go through 3 years of University training on history, hieroglyphics, etc. They were VERY knowledgeable.
I cannot recommend this route highly enough, we did it through Carrier. Worth every single penny on a tour of a lifetime – it made the trip.
4. Side topic – the police: One last note on the police. In a conversation with our guide, he talked about the police and how the people respect them deeply. However, corruption does happen for one simple reason – income. These guys make nothing. To put it all into perspective, an Egyptian dentist makes $63 per month on average. So the tour guides were constantly tipping the police with one simple point – you can call it corruption but they called it doing the right thing. They provide a valuable service and are not adequately taken care of so the tour guides do what they can.
5. The hot topics in Egypt: Each day I read the Egyptian Gazette. It was a fascinating insight into the culture and what is going on in Egypt. It was also an interesting study in cultural differences. In the western world we are worried about housing prices and the stock market. In Egypt, the big election topic is the wheat and bread shortage. It definitely puts life into perspective – many people in Egypt are still at the survival stage. While I was there, a few interesting articles that caught my attention:
- Dentists demand higher pay: the starting monthly salary for a dentist is $23USD per month.
- Donkey butcher caught red handed:From their web site: Are we heading towards a total moral disaster? The other day a butcher was found selling dead donkeys to restaurants and individual consumers after chopping them into minced meat, adding spices to hide the rotten smell. (We only ate at places recommended by our guide!)
- Bread crisis highlights income gap: More than 20 percent of Egypt’s 76M live below the poverty line according to the UN. In the markets, unsubsidised bread sells for more than 10X the subsidized price (sub $0.01 USD) and clashes began to break out due to long lines and waits (One man was killed in a fight). This quote was particularly poignant: ‘Our life has become miserable’ said one worker … he said he and his coworkers can’t afford unsubsidised bread ‘or any food to eat with it’. The army had been called in to distribute bread and use their bakeries to improve bread output.
6. Infrastructure: This is a country of polarity. On one hand you have magnificent hotels and areas of strong infrastructure development (business communications capability, office buildings, modern shops) and then down the street you have abject poverty and feel like you are driving through 1820 where the people are riding donkeys, are without sewage and living in dilapidated apartment buildings. In no other place is this more obvious than in Cairo – a city of 27M with a huge gap between the haves and have nots. On our way to the pyramids, we drove through a poor part of town and it really did look like the 1800s. A few pictures below …
An open ditch in the city.
A view of the apartments from the highway.
An alley in the slum.
On the ‘other side’ of the Nile.
The clash of old and new, the 700 year old Cairo aqueduct through old Cairo bordered by the slum.
The mode of transport for many in a city of 27M.
It is a different world, so far away from how we live today in our clean homes, with Internet, lots of food, stores around us and 5 computers. A world away … be thankful. I also ran through a lot of cash in tips – I tipped everyone, frequently. It is the least we can do.
Michael Weening: a few pictures 