Well today was very divided, it began well but ended horribly. I left Abassa at around 6:20am and drove almost 4 hours, trough Cairo, to a new town. We drove into a large bird reserve while also contained a fish farm. The fish farm seemed normal but I was impressed that all the ponds used paddle wheels. They were not running but I was assured that they run at night. I followed around a group and was impressed by how well everyone watched the fish. They mentioned that yesterday the fish didn’t eat much food, implying a high level of ammonium, so they reduced the amount of feed for the fish tomorrow.
After a short ride we stopped to see the only waterfall in Egypt, a nice 12 foot fall. It was all artificial and worked by a pump but was still nice. I still love how everyone goes swimming fully dressed, long sleeves and long pants. Most of the women swimming were still wearing head scarves. Then again they weren’t actually swimming, they clung to inner tubes for dear life after the water got 5 feet deep. It was a horribly hot day and I really wanted to go swimming but wasn’t dressed appropriately. Well I guess I was dress socially appropriately but I had no intention of getting my nice clothes wet and dirty.
I discovered I was staying at a hotel, once again feeling bad because it was probably expensive. It is right on the beach of a massive saltwater lake, at least 5 miles wide and many more long. Winter is the tourist season and right now most of the tourist locations are abandoned. It was awkward as I sat in the 30 table cafeteria in the hotel and ate alone. Next at about 2pm I decided to go swimming, I walked down to a very secluded area so I felt fine going in just my shorts. I swam a mile or two up and down the coast seeing many people on their tubes, none more than 100 feet from the beach.
This is the point where my day turned for the worst. I headed up to the room and took a little nap, and discovered the room only has a tiny fan. After I woke up, covered in a fresh layer of mosquito bites, I came down for dinner. I was surprised to find the hotel abandoned, it was about 9pm. (no it is not too late people here eat dinner really late, lunch was at 3pm.) True, I am the only person renting a room but that should mean the service is excellent. After a while I decided to just leave and find food myself. Then I discovered every door is locked, yea what the hell? So I wander around the hotel yelling hello and Salam trying to find anyone to let me out. No luck, I’m getting really hungry now, all I have are bags of skittles. Well eventually I have to climb out a freaking window to get out. After climbing the locked security gate I walked down the road to try and find a restaurant. I found two places that looked promising but when I went in I was pretty much told they don’t serve food. One had a sign with a picture of a dinner plate with food on it.…
Eventually I came to a place where the man took me to a table and gave me a glass of water. I communicated that I wanted to eat fish, I said “Samak” he nodded and said “fish” and made a eating gesture. After sitting there for about 30 minutes I got suspicious, I walked over to investigate. After repeating the message the metaphorical light bulb lit up above his head. I thought to myself, what the hell did you think I meant with I said fish, do you think I wanted to watch them from the deck?!?! After paying far too much money for a damn glass of water and an empty table I stormed off. All that was left was the Egyptian equivalent of an Am/Pm. My dinner consisted of a little bag of Doritos, a bag of skittles, and a water bottle. So now I’m writing this in a very bad mood, oh well. Tonight I hate Egypt and just want to go home and sleep in my own air-conditioned room.
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