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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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 Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| bbb0777 wrote: |
I'm a little afraid that Egypt may be: downsides of India, none of the good things, + pyramids. We shall see. Well, if I can get anyone to go with me that is (traveling alone - anywhere, doesn't really appeal to me).
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I LOVED Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula. Supposedly the Goa of... well, forget the comparison, but Dahab and Mt. Sinai were definite highlights of the trip and something a bit different from the run-of-the-mill pyramid/Nile cruise/Luxur path. Snorkeling/SCUBA in the Red Sea is phenomenal. |
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Kurtz
Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:43 am Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
Well, I liked India more. They're equally as dirty. Well, ok, I should note I went through a couple slums in Egypt, while I didn't in India. City centers though were about the same in cleanliness. India probably has more beggars.
The touts in Egypt though were super annoying. The ones I came across in India (other than Varanasi) were pretty tame in comparison. Maybe my experiences in Morocco and Egypt built up my tolerance, Idk.  And AsiaESLbound is right: the touts and scammers in Egypt just seem down and whiny. It's like ok dude, enough with the self-pity crap. The ones in India might be annoying, but they also don't depress the hell out of you.
Runthegauntlet, why were you nervous around Connaught place? I felt quite comfortable there personally. The area around the train station though wasn't so great.
India is more fun. Better food, more places to drink, more variety. I wouldn't mind going back to Egypt but I'd stick to just Cairo and the Red Sea. Rest of it? Hell no. Oh, I should note that a lot of people hate Cairo. I just was there long enough to become comfortable in my area, and confident enough to say f-off to any touts or annoying taxi drivers. Had I been there just a few days or less, I don't think I'd have any interest in ever going back. |
I'm reading the book you mentioned "Baghdad W/out a map", and along with your comments, Egypt and especially Cairo sounds very annoying.
India is whatever you choose it to be, from the shanti shanti of the mountains (ah those were the days, shacked up with a nice Swiss girl in a mountain house), to the frantic mayhem of Rajasthan, it's mind blowing but sometimes spirit crushing too. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:16 am Post subject: |
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| runthegauntlet wrote: |
| bbb0777 wrote: |
I'm a little afraid that Egypt may be: downsides of India, none of the good things, + pyramids. We shall see. Well, if I can get anyone to go with me that is (traveling alone - anywhere, doesn't really appeal to me).
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I LOVED Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula. Supposedly the Goa of... well, forget the comparison, but Dahab and Mt. Sinai were definite highlights of the trip and something a bit different from the run-of-the-mill pyramid/Nile cruise/Luxur path. Snorkeling/SCUBA in the Red Sea is phenomenal. |
Yes, the Red Sea is amazing. And the Pyramids are one of those rare sites in the world that match the hype.
If I were you OP, I'd go to Egypt for the Pyramids, but then move onto Jordan (while stopping in Dahab or another town on the red sea), Israel, and Syria. Israel and Syria are great places to visit. And if you had enough time, do the Cairo to Istanbul trek (or vice versa).
| kurtz wrote: |
| I'm reading the book you mentioned "Baghdad W/out a map", and along with your comments, Egypt and especially Cairo sounds very annoying. |
How are you liking the book? |
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Kurtz
Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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^
I'm enjoying it a lot. I like his wit, and laid back style, and how he makes fun of his journalism career which is kind of funny as he's become very successful now.
Need to get my grubby hands on some qat though, that stuff sounds like fun. |
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bbb0777
Joined: 24 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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| runthegauntlet wrote: |
Dahab and Mt. Sinai. |
You also went into Saudi Arabia? Or did you mean a different mountain? |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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| bbb0777 wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
Dahab and Mt. Sinai. |
You also went into Saudi Arabia? Or did you mean a different mountain? |
The mountain called Mt. Sinai on the SINAI peninsula. |
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bbb0777
Joined: 24 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:09 am Post subject: |
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| runthegauntlet wrote: |
| bbb0777 wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
Dahab and Mt. Sinai. |
You also went into Saudi Arabia? Or did you mean a different mountain? |
The mountain called Mt. Sinai on the SINAI peninsula. |
My mistake, I had always thought Mt. Sinai was actually located on the other side of the red sea, and just had the odd name due to some sort of confusion owing to it's biblical significance.
Awfully fast to do an eye roll though... |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:34 am Post subject: |
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| bbb0777 wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
| bbb0777 wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
Dahab and Mt. Sinai. |
You also went into Saudi Arabia? Or did you mean a different mountain? |
The mountain called Mt. Sinai on the SINAI peninsula. |
My mistake, I had always thought Mt. Sinai was actually located on the other side of the red sea, and just had the odd name due to some sort of confusion owing to it's biblical significance.
Awfully fast to do an eye roll though... |
I tried to keep it in sync with how fast you were to question whether or not I had any clue as to what I was talking about.  |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:40 am Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
| bbb0777 wrote: |
I'm a little afraid that Egypt may be: downsides of India, none of the good things, + pyramids. We shall see. Well, if I can get anyone to go with me that is (traveling alone - anywhere, doesn't really appeal to me).
|
I LOVED Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula. Supposedly the Goa of... well, forget the comparison, but Dahab and Mt. Sinai were definite highlights of the trip and something a bit different from the run-of-the-mill pyramid/Nile cruise/Luxur path. Snorkeling/SCUBA in the Red Sea is phenomenal. |
Yes, the Red Sea is amazing. And the Pyramids are one of those rare sites in the world that match the hype.
If I were you OP, I'd go to Egypt for the Pyramids, but then move onto Jordan (while stopping in Dahab or another town on the red sea), Israel, and Syria. Israel and Syria are great places to visit. And if you had enough time, do the Cairo to Istanbul trek (or vice versa).
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The pyramids at Giza are indeed quite magnificent. I also really liked the Red Pyramid and Bent Pyramid of Dahshur,. My all time favorite 'wonder', though, and one you may have alluded to in mentioning Jordan, is Petra
By far the most incredible place I've ever been so I couldn't second this rec. enough.
That'd be a great trip. You can't enter Israel and then go on to Syria, though. You 'should' be able to enter Israel after Syria, but you'll probably have a line of questioning to answer. |
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bbb0777
Joined: 24 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:44 am Post subject: |
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| runthegauntlet wrote: |
I tried to keep it in sync with how fast you were to question whether or not I had any clue as to what I was talking about. |
Ah, maybe I phrased the question poorly. I meant to ask if you had just maybe made a typo (wrong name), or were lumping in a side trip, etc.
Anyway, now that I know Mt. Sinai is actually in Egypt...maybe that'll be part of any trip there! Some chance I may have never figured that out while researching any potential trip, so displaying my ignorance was completely worth it. |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:39 am Post subject: |
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| bbb0777 wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
I tried to keep it in sync with how fast you were to question whether or not I had any clue as to what I was talking about. |
Ah, maybe I phrased the question poorly. I meant to ask if you had just maybe made a typo (wrong name), or were lumping in a side trip, etc.
Anyway, now that I know Mt. Sinai is actually in Egypt...maybe that'll be part of any trip there! Some chance I may have never figured that out while researching any potential trip, so displaying my ignorance was completely worth it. |
Cool.
The monastery at the bottom is a UNESCO site, one of the oldest monasteries in the world, or something to that affect. You can do a night hike to catch the sunrise in the morning, which is what I did. That seems to be the more popular option. Freezing at night, though, but blazing during the day. Choose your poison, as they say. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:35 am Post subject: |
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| runthegauntlet wrote: |
That'd be a great trip. You can't enter Israel and then go on to Syria, though. You 'should' be able to enter Israel after Syria, but you'll probably have a line of questioning to answer. |
You can go to Israel first, but there is only one way to do it: the Allenby/King Huessin bridge. And you have to tell the Israeli immigration person to not stamp your passport. The Jordanians don't stamp it either. They do at all the other Jordan-Israel crossings though.
If you do it the other way around (Syria first), however, it makes your life a lot easier since you can cross at any point you want. And I'd avoid the Allenby one simply because it takes FOREVER (due to the super high security more than anything else). |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:29 am Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
That'd be a great trip. You can't enter Israel and then go on to Syria, though. You 'should' be able to enter Israel after Syria, but you'll probably have a line of questioning to answer. |
You can go to Israel first, but there is only one way to do it: the Allenby/King Huessin bridge. And you have to tell the Israeli immigration person to not stamp your passport. The Jordanians don't stamp it either. They do at all the other Jordan-Israel crossings though.
If you do it the other way around (Syria first), however, it makes your life a lot easier since you can cross at any point you want. And I'd avoid the Allenby one simply because it takes FOREVER (due to the super high security more than anything else). |
Alright, but I've heard the exact opposite about the Jordanians stamping your passport (as in, they do). So maybe it's just a 'lucky day' thing. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:06 am Post subject: |
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| runthegauntlet wrote: |
| bucheon bum wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
That'd be a great trip. You can't enter Israel and then go on to Syria, though. You 'should' be able to enter Israel after Syria, but you'll probably have a line of questioning to answer. |
You can go to Israel first, but there is only one way to do it: the Allenby/King Huessin bridge. And you have to tell the Israeli immigration person to not stamp your passport. The Jordanians don't stamp it either. They do at all the other Jordan-Israel crossings though.
If you do it the other way around (Syria first), however, it makes your life a lot easier since you can cross at any point you want. And I'd avoid the Allenby one simply because it takes FOREVER (due to the super high security more than anything else). |
Alright, but I've heard the exact opposite about the Jordanians stamping your passport (as in, they do). So maybe it's just a 'lucky day' thing. |
To clarify: the Jordanians DO stamp at every border crossing EXCEPT at the King Huessin bridge. And it has to be more than just a lucky day thing because when you go into Israel that way, your Jordanian visa is still valid, and don't have to pay yet another 10 JD to re-enter Jordan (assuming your original one hasn't expired yet). And also assuming you come back via the King Huessin bridge of course. |
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gay in korea
Joined: 13 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 5:23 am Post subject: |
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sorry I haven't read the whole thing, but going to post.
A big part depends on how long you're going for and if you're traveling alone. Traveling alone in India can be quite daunting. As someone said, you have people grabbing at you from all directions. This is especially true if you're doing the backpacking thing.
If I were to choose between the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids, I would choose the latter. But note carefully, that go to the pyramids on a 'real' tour. If you go from some local you may not actually get within 2 kilometres of the pyramids.
Poverty in India is worse, and you might have to prepare yourself for seeing dead babies (plural). That is still one of the most vivid images of my life 4 years on. The pollution is worse in Cairo, but then you don't have cow shit everywhere in Cairo.
You're going during hot season, which is never fun, so temps wont differ much, and seriously, once they get to 40 C, it all feels the same.
Egypt has many incredibly things to see. So does India. Both can be done cheaply, and you're about equally likely to get screwed in both (high percentage).
Questions, send me a PM. I don't log in often, but i should get the PM notice. |
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