www.charafantah.com

the blog is now moved there!

Thanks to Tork from ed3mny.org

So now after i came back, i decided to write this “homage” post explaining every thing you might need to know about camping in Ras Mohammed.

Here’s a summary followed by full details:

• Camping allowed: Yes
• Entrance time: 8:00am to 6:00pm
• Cost: 5LE entrance fee
• No permissions needed (everything done by the rangers at the gate)
• Mobile signal: everywhere
• Electricity: no
• Non salty water: at the gates (not available after 6:00pm)
• Distance from Sharm El Sheikh: 20km
• Toilets: not recommended
• Places to visit: Mangroove channel, Earthquake crack, Yolanda beach (diving), Main beach (snorkeling), Observatory beach (EXCELLENT scenery)
• Recommended Camping time: 3days 2 nights

Before i go, i called the protectorate on these numbers: (069)366-0668/0559 they are available from early in the morning (7:00am) to noon. I asked about permissions and entrance fees and time, they told me that i could enter from sunrise (i asked if 6:00am was ok, they said yes….but in real life it was no )

We arrived early, you’ll know you’re there when you see the huge statues at the gates shown in the picture below, you’ll also be around 20KM away from Sharm. We had to stay until 8:00am for the rangers to come
.

As soon as they came, they were very friendly, they checked our ID’s gave us the tickets, each ticket is 5LE + 5LE for the car. They asked if we will camp, and asked for how many days. They gave us a few information about the place and on where to camp.

We had a map of the protectorate and a GPS device (i’ll put the coordinates soon).

As soon as we entered, we headed to the Visitors center, there was only us there, we met one of the workers, he showed us a 20mins movie about the protectorate in the video room(it was nice, but it seemed rather old and boring).

We then had a glance at the museum in the visitors center, nothing really interesting there, but you’re not going to spend more than 15mins there anyway.

We then headed to the camping area, it’s just next to the laboratories building, it’s guarded by borders guards, they asked the same questions we got asked at the gates and let us in.

There are 3 main places to camp, each separated by a small hill which makes it private. The best one is the one in the middle, the beach is sandy and not full of rocks like the others, it’s nice if you have kids or don’t have your swimming shoes. Though the corals there are not as good the main beach or Yolanda beach, it’s nice if you’re too lazy to go anywhere else while camping.

We chose a place for our tent, unloaded our stuff and left them there. We then headed to the Mangroove channel (المنجروف). It’s nice to see all these trees growing from the salty water, it was a little bit crowded then, there was like 3 buses full of Italian visitors

We then headed to the earthquake crack(شق الزلزال), which is a huge crack in the land that was done by an earthquake, and the water started to flow in the crack.

Right next to it, there is the Magic Bay (الخليج المسحور), the water magically disappear and then reappears later in the same day!!! (i couldn’t see it happen, but a friend of mine did)

We then headed to the Observatory beach, where you climb a small mountain (hill), well, actually you don’t really climb, there are stairs. On the top of it, there is a telescope (?) and there is the MOST AMAZING VIEW YOU COULD EVER SEE. You’d see Aqaba bay and Suez bay at the same time, a lot of yachts, corals, turquoise water and a lot of birds and falcons.

We then tried to snorkel at the main beach, but it was too windy on that day and were cold and tired, so we headed back to the camp.

Here is a list of the stuff you need to bring with you:

• Sleeping bags (very important)
• A tent (to sleep in with the sleeping bag, not REALLY important, but it will help a lot with the ants, bees and flies)
• Swiss Knife (very handy)
• A butane stove (unless you want to eat raw, cold and tasteless food)
  
• Canned food, bread etc (you could also have some BBQ if you have an ice box)
• Ice box (if you have one, not really necessary)
• Water and drinks
• Candles (you could use empty bottles to put the candles in, use the swiss knife to cut them in halves)
• Flash light
• Camera + batteries
• GPS (if you have one)
• Hammock (if you have one )
• Music + book + entertainment stuff (a.k.a Games)
• Wood & coal to make camp fire (there is wood in the protectorate, right after the the camping area entrance, on the left, there is a huge pile of unused stuff, you can take wood from there, but it’s not guaranteed to fulfill all your needs, or to be there when you go )
• Matches & lighter
• Marshmallows (for camp fire )
• Waste bags
• Snorkeling gear (or diving gear)
• Swimming shoes (you don’t want to walk on the rocks\corals with bare foot)
• Insect repellent (OFF!) and insects killer (New Pyrosol, ra7et el zanna )
• First aid kit (didn’t use it, but could be handy)
• Plastic plates, cups, forks etc
• Toilet paper & Tissues
• Binoculars (if you have one)
• Jacket (could be a bit chilli)

You are not allowed to go outside the camping area or use your car after 6:00pm until 8:00am, but you can have a walk on the beach around the camping area.
There is nothing to do at night, except watching the stars, walking on the beach, listening to the waves, sitting around the camp fire, playing games, talking with friends, listening to music, reading a book, eating marshmallows, cooking tea on the camp fire. 

You have to watch out from the ants and insects, they will attack as soon as they smell food and they are very persistent.

Do not worry about seeing flashing lights in the sky, it’s not UFOs, it’s the discotheques in Sharm El Sheikh.

Here is a map of the protectorate from Parks Egypt

It’s a great experience, you have to try it, it’s one of the most amazing places in the world, it’s really fun and you’ll never forget the adventure of camping there.

With nothing but 3 of my friends, sleeping bags and canned food….we’ll see if we’ll survive

Pictures by Anel Van Veelen

Expect new stories to tell when am back

Is that a coincidence?or that’s some kind of subliminal message, implying that It’s always Mubarak and it’s always followed by Gamal Mubarak?

or maybe am too big on the conspiracy theory?

We’ll see …i’ll keep an eye on that from now on that i’ve noticed it

• Post 10 random things about yourself
• Choose 5 people to tag and a reason you chose each person
• Leave them each a comment directing them to your blog so they know they are it
• You can’t tag the person who tagged you (you’ll have to make new friends)
• As a courtesy to the person who tagged you, please let them know when you have posted so they can have the sheer delight and extra work load of reading your answers)

1. I have a lot of DARK secrets that burdens me and want to reveal them to anyone, but I can’t.
2. I can twist one of my fingers 180 degrees.
3. I have a great taste of food and tea, if i could change my work, i would be a food critique or tea taster.
4. I don’t have confidence in my self.
5. I have a great skill of wasting time.
6. I can stay awake for 3 days with not even an hour of sleep, as long as there is something interesting to do to keep me awake.
7. I can watch a movie and forget it’s beginning 15 mins after it ends, by the next day, the whole movie will be like a deja-vu to me. It’s great when you have to re-watch a movie you already saw with a friend again. Or when you’re really bored. But i can never tell you the story of a movie.
8. I always sing when am driving alone. People in other cars think am crazy.
9. I can never say”NO”, if anyone ask to do anything for him\her i’ll do it, even if it will mess up my plans.
10. I never “make” tidy my bed, and probably never will…i don’t see why tidy it up in the morning when i’ll just mess it up again at night

5 persons to tag…hmm, well that’s a bit difficult

Soufi, BabyBlue BabyBlue2, Nousha

Well, i dont know, i don’t really read non-technical blogs much…3 is enough i think

Let me tell you something, driving in Cairo, is like heaven comparing to driving there. first of all, there is no such thing as a “Street” it’s like a myth there… all what’s available is just a road of dust, full of holes.

And if you find anything similar to what we call a “street” it won’t be exactly as we know it.

The amount of speed bumps in any street, is directly proportional with the amount of people living in that village, that’s because (according t my guesses) when a new baby is born, his father build him a bump. زى ما عندنا كدة العقيقة و ندبح عجل…هناك بيبنوا مطب

The total distance traveled from my home in Nasr City, to our relatives is 103KM which should be drove in less than an hour on any normal road.
BUT!!! according to the amount of speed bumps i told you about, i got there in 2 hours 45 mins.

Yes, that’s almost 37Km\Hour, it’s like moving slowly in Salah Salem at 6:00pm on Thursday night. BUT FOR ALMOST 3 HOURS!!!!!

But i can’t really say they’re wrong about that, because in the very small space between 2 bumps, i’ve seen the most crazy and dumbest drivers ever in my life.

If they removed the bumps, i guess the Egyptian population would decrease by 25% in less than a week.

Off course, on my way, i’ve passed through many villages عزب و قرى و نجوع وكل حاجة.
so seeing names like “, كفر شبرا بلومة,,شطانوف,,,كفر أبو طشت,,بهمس”"Shatanof, Kafr Abou Tesht, Bahmas” is very normal .

I was speaking to our relative there, and he told me the origin of some of the names, let’s have a look:

I must also say, that i ate some AMAZING food, stuffed pigeons, vine leaves, ro2a2 and fried ducks حمام و بط و رقاق و ورق عنب

It was nice,,, really nice, apart from the driving part, and the dust everywhere…i had fun

So i decided to take them to a couple of places trying to *impress* them with the Egyptian *civilization*, anyway, since my last year experience with foreigners at the pyramids REALLY sucked, and was very embarrassing, i decided to change the plan a little bit.

We first went to the Egyptian Musuem in Tahrir , it was ok, the tickets are 50 for foreigners and 2LE for Egyptians.
There was no one annoying us, or trying to trick us, or pushing us to buy stuff from him like it was at the pyramids.

We went in, AND….. i was really shocked, i hadn’t been to the museum in like 5 years, i couldn’t really remember if it was like that before or not.

But trust me, IT SUCKED! everything is dirty, no good lighting at all, i could barely see anything, all the description and writing is bad and non informative.

All the antiquities showed are in a VERY poor condition, the place is very crowded and VERY unorganized, there are even statues thrown on the floor and covered under the dust.

There is no way you’d understand anything from the explanation written on items unless you rent a private tour guide.

Long story short, they were really bored and un-interested in everything they saw, i felt the same too….well maybe except for the Tutankhamen mask and the mummies room (which costs 100LE for foreigners extra)

So we left, and headed to the Citadel of Saladin, they wouldn’t let us park there, so we left the car in Azhar park, and took a taxi to the citadel. I must say the view is really amazing from up there.

As soon as we got in, some photographer tried to convince them that the *tour* starts from his shop and wanted to take pictures of them in Pharaonic cloths. Luckily i spoke a couple of words in arabic, and the guy left us alone.

We had to take a long walk until we got inside, and there was nothing much to see, except the architect of the Muhammed Ali mosque , which is amazingly excellent.

We took a tour around the place, we entered the police museum and the Qasr Al jawhara museum, I must say they both sucked, nothing interesting at all, everything in a VERY poor condition, the place smelled and the rooms with jewelry and interesting stuff were closed.

We left, took a taxi back to Al Azhar park, we had dinner in Trianon up on the hill. We really enjoyed that dinner, it was excellent, the weather was great, the food is more than perfect.

So, until when we will not take care of our history and our tourism industry

Will we ever treat the tourists in a good way?

Will we ever take care of our monuments and provide a good environment\place to show them?

i must say, that if i was a tourist visiting Egypt who is willing to know about the Egyptian history, i wouldn’t probably come to Egypt, i think I’ll go to the British Museum. Or just go to another country that takes care of their history and provide a good environment for tourists.

But! i had a lot of fun that day, it was nice after all that time in Saudi arabia, i had to do something like that, even with all the negative things i saw, there is room for improvements (i have high hopes for the new Egyptian Museum being built now on the Cairo-Alex desert road)

It’s been a long time since my last post, there are A LOT of things that happened here is a brief of what has been going on lately:

• I came back from Saudi Arabia, in one piece, no more problems.
• I took a week off of work
• I went to visit Egyptian monuments, to refresh my memory and clear all the remains of the Saudi experience.
• I went to the country side for one day.
• I went to Sokhna for a day. (The amount of food eaten on that day, is enough to feed 10 Ethiopians families for a week)

I came back from Saudi after midnight, i haven’t told my parents am coming back, because i had an all-day meeting in a few hours, my parents would go crazy if just leave them after all this time in Saudi.

Luckily, they were staying in out other apartment in Shorouk, so i went home and had some sleep, went to the annual meeting, it was held in Fairmont (Sheraton Heliopolis), it was nice, but as usual, some minor bad luck.

I decided to leave early and missed Dolly Shahine, i would really love to put a picture here to show you what i have missed (specially that I JUST CAME BACK FROM SAUDI #@$*& ARABIA), but i can’t because it would be indecent

Just to give you an idea….imagine a beach in Marina…she was wearing exactly the same things worn on beaches….except there was no beach, no sea and nobody else was wearing anything *NEAR* what she was wearing, beside everyone was just STARING at her..eh…ehm…ma3aleina   (in case you want photos, check facebook )

This comes from Ellas Devil through TheViewFromHer

“OK so this is the deal, this is a really easy meme with minimal typing from you. Simply copy and paste the list below into your blog and bold the things you have done in your lifetime and that is it. There’s no need to explain any of your answers and it’ll not take you very long so go on…. give it a go.”

HAVE YOU EVER?

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped.

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

Read more

14. Seen the Northern Lights

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten my own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne

24. Given more than I could afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as I possibly could

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking.

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about my life, even for just a moment

39. Had two hard drives for my computer (heh….5)

40. Visited all 50 states

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk. (and stoned)

42. Had amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched wild whales

45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe

47. Taken a road-trip.

48. Gone rock climbing.

49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach.

50. Gone sky diving.

51. Visited Ireland.

52. Been heartbroken longer then I was actually in love with the person.

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them. (di 3alam mara7etsh ma7alat koshari w kebda abl keda?)

54. Visited Japan.

55. Milked a cow.

56. Alphabetized my CDs. (and never will!!!)

57. Pretended to be a superhero.

58. Sung karaoke.

59. Lounged around in bed all day.

60. Posed nude in front of strangers. (i call that been gay?)

61. Gone scuba diving.

62. Kissed in the rain.

63. Played in the mud.

64. Played in the rain.

65. Gone to a drive-in theater.

66. Visited the Great Wall of China.

67. Started a business.

68. Fallen in love with someone and not had my heart broken.

69. Toured ancient sites.

70. Taken a martial arts class.

71. Played D&D for more than six hours straight.

72. Gotten married.

73. Been in a movie.

74. Crashed a party.

75. Gotten divorced.

76. Gone without food for 5 days.

77. Made cookies from scratch.

78. Won first prize in a costume contest.

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice.

80. Gotten a tattoo.

81. Rafted the Snake River.

82. Been on a television news program.

83. Received flowers for no reason.

84. Performed on stage.

85. Been to Las Vegas.

86. Recorded music.

87. Eaten shark.

88. Had a one-night stand.

89. Gone to Thailand.

90. Bought a house.

91. Been in a combat zone.

92. Buried one of my parents.

93. Been on a cruise ship.

94. Spoken more than one language fluently.

95. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show.

96. Raised children.

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour.

98. Created and named my own constellation of stars.

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country.

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over.

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge.

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when I knew someone was looking. (yes, that crazy guy on 6 October bridge was me)

103. Had plastic surgery.

104. Survived an illness that I shouldn’t have survived.

105. Written articles for a large publication.

106. Lost over 100 pounds.

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback.

108. Piloted an airplane.

109. Petted a stingray.

110. Broken someone’s heart.

111. Helped an animal give birth.

112. Won money on a T.V. game show. (i never win…check previous posts)

113. Broken a bone.

114. Gone on an African photo safari.

115. Had a body part of mine below the neck pierced.

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol.

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild.

118. Ridden a horse.

119. Had major surgery.

120. Had a snake as a pet.

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours.

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states.

124. Visited all 7 continents.

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days.

126. Eaten kangaroo.

127. Eaten sushi.

128. Had my picture in the newspaper.

129. Changed someone’s mind about something I care deeply about.

130. Gone back to school.

131. Para sailed.

132. Petted a cockroach.

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes.

134. Read The Iliad.

135. Selected one “important” author who I missed in school, and read.

136. Killed and prepared and animal for eating.

137. Skipped all my school reunions.

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language.

139. Been elected to public office.

140. Written my own computer language.

141. Thought to myself that I’m living my dream.

142. Had to put someone I love into hospice care.

143. Built my own PC from parts. (many others, probably yours too, ungrateful )

144. Sold my own artwork to someone who didn’t know me.

145. Had a booth at a street fair.

146: Dyed my hair.

147: Been a DJ.

148: Shaved my head.

149: Caused a car accident.

150: Saved someone’s life.

Main two buildings in Riyadh, Al Mamlaka (at the back) and Al Faisalyah (the one we got robbed at )
There are no other high buildings, most buildings are less than 5 floors.

Al Saraya Turkish restaurant in Talatiny Al Olaya St. ثلاثين العليا
No comment many countries would get offended if i commented on that one

On my first days in Riyadh, i thought that tamwenat is a brand name for a chain of super markets….
Then i discovered that a supermarket is caled tamwenat here
Its very common here, they are eveywhere.

El 7′eyata el regaleya IT IS EVERYWHERE this is where they make the galabeyas and the shema3′
هنا بيفصلوا الجلاليب و الشماغ و الحاجات دى……مع أن الجلاليب كلها بيضاء…بس فى 100 نوع قماش و 100 نوع ياقة و 100 نوع جيب و زراير و حركات.
بس فى الأخربرضو, كله جلاليب

The worlds largest Plasma TV Panasonic 103 inch (HOLY CRAP!!! CAN YOU IMAGE THAT!)
And the price tag says: 270,000SR (yes, thats almost 72,000USD and 400,000EGP)
أكبر تليفزيون فى العالم ب 400,000 ألف جنيه بس,,,يا بلاش!!!! كنت حجيب 2, بس للأسف مفيش مكان فى الشنطة

Al Tahleya St. something like gam3et el dowal st in egypt its where all the youth gather and go out, a lot of shops etc…..except you don’t see anyone walking in the streets (that’s how it is in KSA) and you don’t see any females (damn it! i haven’t seen a girl for LOOOONGGG time now)

Me and Osama in Dr. Cafe, few minutes after this picture, we were thrown out, because prayer time came and they had to close.

The only thing you can do in Saudi Arabia, EATTTTTTT
i think i gained like 6-7 more kilo during my stay here. the pic was taken at Chilli’s

It was a slaughter, thats what remains from the chocolate fudge with ice cream (yummmmyyyyyyy)

Me and Rami, stuck in the elevator

At the Faisaleyah mall, it says Single men are not allowed. You can’t enter the mall on weekends if you’re a single man, families only!!!!!! (holy crap)!!
ممنوع دخول العزاب!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Juice center!!! no comment
مركز عصير!!!! و كمان ماما نوره؟

أبح!!! كان فى حاجات تانية مش لذيذة,,بس قولت بلاش فضايح عالنت