Out of Africa, or The Nile is a River in Egypt

Our time in Dahab came to a close the day after we returned from Mount Sinai. We got into a fight with management over money while checking out, then we planted ourselves in Johannes and Adrienne's room for most of the day while Snow recuperated from some stomach ailment (with the help of a German stomach remedy called Kohl, which is made basically of coal. It worked, which goes to show that that German engineering we hear so much about isn't limited to their cars).

Snow was feeling better in time for dinner, so we met up with Peter, Johannes, Adrienne, and Ben at a restaurant on the beach before we got on the midnight bus back to Cairo with German Tour Guide Peter. It was here that Peter generously extended the offer to stay at his flat for our last night in Egypt, figuring that if Snow was still sick, she might be better off at a night apartment than in a hostel. Not ones to turn down free accommodations for a night, we accepted. The dinner was great, and we all exchanged email address before saying our goodbyes. We travelling hillbilly style back to the bus station, then boarded the bus with Peter. Nine hours later, we were back in Cairo, and all the chaos thereof. Once we were back in a crazy cab, it almost felt like we were back home.

Speaking of home, Peter's flat was absolutley beautiful. It was a huge living space, even for three people, with a great kitching and chandeliers for a far as the eye can see. Definitely much better than a hostel. Peter, generous German that he is, cooked us breakfast, which he didn't even partake in, before dozing off to recover from the overnight bus ride. Snow napped for a bit too, while Sumon got to meet one of Peter's flatmates, Christian, who is also German, and also very accommodating.

Once Snow was up and about, we decided to see more of Cairo. Christian and Peter helped us figure out the Cairo metro (subway), and we went out to Coptic Cairo, the district that houses much of Cairo's Christian and Jewish community. We visited the Coptic Museum and the Hanging Church. What was truly remarkable about Coptic Cairo is how quiet and peaceful it is. There really isn't any psychotic traffic, and we can actually hear birds chirping! From there, we took another subway ride back to the middle of Cairo so we can take a felucca ride on The Nile. A felucca is a small Egyptian sailboat that provides a very relaxing ride. It was a great way to see more of the city.

After an hour on the felucca, we walked around Cairo to do some souvenir shopping. While we were out, we decided to pick up some desserts for Peter and Christian so as to thank them for their generosity. We found a bakery that was recommended by Lonely Planet. The bakery was...you guessed it, utter chaos (it wouldn't be Cairo if it wasn't)! We had no idea how to order anything, and nobody who worked there was helping us at all. We ran into a Canadian couple who was having the same problem. There was no line, it seemed like a complete free-for-all. We eventually figured it out, though. We're supposed to pay first, and then we can pick out as many items as we wanted up to the value of what we paid. If that confused you, be glad you weren't actually in the place.

We came back to the apartment and simply hung out with Peter while we shared our future plans with each other. Peter's studying infectious diseases in various parts of the world. We're pretty sure that one day, we're going to see him on CNN as the guy who cured TB and AIDS in the same week.

The following afternoon, we were off. Our time in Egypt had ended, and it was time to move on to new adventures. We said goodbye to Peter and Christian, and boarded our flight to India, by way of Bahrain.

Coming up: India, plus the rest of our pictures from Egypt (strap in, we've still got a ton of them left).