5097
Jun 17 2011: ++++ LIVE TWEETING my attempt to visit to Cairo. Now in PHL, trying to work it out. [view in context] 5098Jun 17 2011: My Egyptian visa, issued during The Troubles, is still valid: http://twitpic.com/3xj4cl←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5099
Jun 17 2011: As a furloughed airline worker, I fly nearly for free. The catch: I can only fly standby, and flights are heavily booked this time of year. 5100
Jun 17 2011: My first option was the simple one: fly free to Athens, then hop a cut-rate airline to Cairo... FOILED when the Athens flight check in full! 5101
Jun 17 2011: Perhaps I should just give up, settle for some lame destination like Paris or Rome. C'est la vie. You win some and lose some. 5102
Jun 17 2011: But wait! There's a flight later tonight to Tel Aviv. No cheap flights to Cairo, but I can get there by LAND across the Sinai Desert! 5103
Jun 17 2011: I've already researched the route: Tel Aviv south to Eilat by bus (5+ hours). Cross the Egypt border at Taba, then bus to Cairo (6 hours). 5104
Jun 17 2011: I intended to use the Taba crossing in January, which is why I have the visa, but a revolution got in the way. Now Egypt *seems* stable. 5105
Jun 17 2011: I get butterflies in my stomach when thinking about crossing the Sinai. Perhaps the most adventurous thing I've done. A little scary! 5106
Jun 17 2011: The total cost of the land journey, Tel Aviv to Cairo: under $100! A lot less than the airfare from Athens to Cairo. 5107
Jun 17 2011: Correction: Tel Aviv to Eilat: 75 Israeli Shekels. Taba to Cairo: 70 Egyptian Pounds. Grand total, including transfers: less than $50! 5108
Jun 17 2011: RT @Toledowni: @BadDalaiLama I guess in that sense you are indeed a yeisayer, a pragmatic-solution, no-no -for-an-answer fella. I would ... 5109
Jun 17 2011: RT @Toledowni: @BadDalaiLama Used to face the "catch" myself. In stand-by flight one's always subject to last-minute "humilliation" (pax ... 5110
Jun 17 2011: I would splurge on a hostel in Eilat, probably this one: http://j.mp/jNrDfd - A functional one I stayed at before. $20/nt (but 2 night min) 5111
Jun 17 2011: Information on the Taba crossing from Israel to Eqypt. http://T.CO/cwHhBbl 5112Jun 17 2011: Eilat is the Israeli Riviera, a tiny beach on the Red Sea sandwiched between Egypt and Jordan. My video from April: http://youtu.be/PxNDhtQzmDM←Our original YouTube video [more] 5113
Jun 17 2011: BUT FIRST... I have to get to Tel Aviv! The flight, 3 hours from now, is 100% full, but I'm counting on no-shows to leave me a seat. 5114
Jun 17 2011: OMG! Maybe throw in a day trip to this place: Petra! http://T.CO/dX74kyU I can't afford a $250 tour, but maybe a $80 taxi. 5115
Jun 17 2011: I have only one request of the aliens: Sterilize the human race until they implement a credible parental licensing program. 5116
Jun 17 2011: RT @dunebat: @BadDalaiLama Or the aliens could implement one themselves. 5117
Jun 17 2011: .@dunebat "Or the aliens could implement one themselves." <== It is not their place to make the policy, only to insist there be one. 5118
Jun 17 2011: Most of the world's problems stem from unrestricted birth. The most ill-equipped have the babies—and far too many of them. 5119
Jun 17 2011: In a totalitarian regime, government can dictate a "one child policy", but in a democracy it is politically impossible. 5120
Jun 17 2011: The aliens, with their advanced technology, should be able to prevent human reproduction, perhaps by disabling sperm or neutralizing libido. 5121
Jun 17 2011: Alien-imposed birth control should be released only when the humans prove they can procreate responsibly. 5122
Jun 17 2011: Alcohol-impaired procreation is the worst! As dangerous as drink driving! Parents must be tested before copulation is allowed to proceed. 5123
Jun 17 2011: Only the aliens can save us from ourselves. Only they can say, "No more babies 'til you take care of the ones you already have." 5124
Jun 17 2011: #### End live one-hour essay: "Alien Birth Control" 5125
Jun 17 2011: Maybe Bin Laden won after all, bankrupting a superpower. $3 TRILLION over 15 years. http://j.mp/iMxBYJ via @brainpicker 5126
Jun 17 2011: Los Angeles is like the Galapagos Islands: filled with bizarre examples of extreme evolution that can't survive anywhere else. 5127
Jun 17 2011: Starting a new political movement: "Protect Gays From Marriage!" Don't fight for a right that makes no rational sense to begin with. 5128
Jun 17 2011: Gay couples who cannot marry must take their relationship in small discretionary steps in a process resembling reason. 5129
Jun 17 2011: RT @BlondeDuJour: If a woman is single she assumes, too quickly, that every slight, every misery is related to that fact 5130
Jun 17 2011: The "behavioral immune system" explains much irrational human behavior. http://bit.ly/lBjDmSe 5131
Jun 17 2011: I'm on the Tel Aviv flight. Biggest adventure yet! Probably no tweets til Eilat in 20 hours. 5132
Jun 18 2011: The expedition theme song: "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles. 5133
Jun 18 2011: Trapped at the Tel Aviv airport for a few hours, due to Shabbat. (whole country shuts down!) w/ 2 others http://4sq.com/ks631D 5134Jun 18 2011: Arrival hall, Ben Gurion Airport. http://twitpic.com/5daeln←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5135
Jun 18 2011: Got plenty of time to plot and plan at the Tel Aviv airport (due to Shabbat). Petra is out! Heading straight to Cairo over next 24 hours. 5136
Jun 18 2011: Map of my bus route from Tel Aviv to Cairo, as first dreamt in December. FB photo: http://T.CO/Qwi1ZZo 5137
Jun 18 2011: Just booked my escape route out of Cairo: a short flight to Athens. At $205, it's the most expensive part of the trip. 5138
Jun 18 2011: I'll be splurging on accommodations in Cairo: a private room for $14/night. Hostelworld: http://T.CO/lsl4l8t 5139
Jun 18 2011: RT @BlondeDuJour: It is often years before a woman realizes that men are neither rogues nor rescuers, but just people. 5140Jun 18 2011: From where I sit. Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, waiting for a midnight bus to Eilat. http://twitpic.com/5df84o←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5141Jun 18 2011: Bad Dalai drives a hard bargain! The seller said 30 shekels. I said 20. We settled on 25, and I got this hat! http://twitpic.com/5dfzqs←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5142Jun 18 2011: Boarding my bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat. http://twitpic.com/5dg6v1←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5143
Jun 18 2011: The biggest, ugliest and most fascinating bus station I've visited. Seen way too much of it! (@ Central Bus Station) http://4sq.com/iz1Hh7 5144Jun 18 2011: In my last gasp of free wifi—aboard the bus to Eilat. http://twitpic.com/5dgcdz←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5145
Jun 18 2011: RT @angusbatey: Big hat-tip to @BadDalaiLama for pointing me in the right direction: http://T.CO/94xZpcD" 5146Jun 19 2011: 3am smoking break on the night bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat. http://twitpic.com/5diwm4←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5147Jun 19 2011: About two hours from the southern tip of Israel. iPhone map: http://twitpic.com/5diy8a←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5148Jun 19 2011: At the meeting point of four countries: Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. http://twitpic.com/5dklhh←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5149Jun 19 2011: Danger of Death' But isn't there always? (Eilat, Israel) http://twitpic.com/5dknc0←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5150Jun 19 2011: Arrived in Cairo! Took 40 hours to get here! Here's m view from the window of my $14 private room. Right now! http://twitpic.com/5dw34l←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5151Jun 19 2011: Swimming with the fishes. Eilat, Israel. http://twitpic.com/5e7ai8←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5152
Jun 20 2011: Interviewing a local resident of the Sinai Desert. (in Taba, Egypt, yesterday) FB photo: http://T.CO/sR9wybb 5153
Jun 20 2011: Photos from the Sinai Desert (yesterday). FB album: http://t.co/yTMWYHB 5154Jun 20 2011: A 2-minute tour of my tiny hostel in downtown Cairo http://youtu.be/U-bcrxMlm3w On the 11th floor of a grungy office building near the Nile. ←Our original YouTube video [more] 5155Jun 21 2011: My money shot from the Pyramids of Egypt. http://twitpic.com/5ery1g (You can do amazing things with green screen!) ←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5156Jun 21 2011: The scariest part of a camel ride is the getting down! http://twitpic.com/5esf04←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5157
Jun 21 2011: As a tourist in Egypt you're hassled and hustled at every turn, especially at the Pyramids. It takes a lot of energy to push it away. 5158
Jun 21 2011: Forget "Walk Like an Egyptian". If you can "Bargain Like an Egyptian" you have a real skill. 5159
Jun 21 2011: There is a sporting event on TV and all of Cairo is watching. Out my window I hear simultaneous whoops and groans from the whole city. 5160
Jun 21 2011: It's not terribly hot in Cairo. I have A/C in my room but haven't used it. Just leave the window open and listen to the city. 5161Jun 21 2011: My camel driver, 13 years old. http://twitpic.com/5evfwn←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5162
Jun 21 2011: Some random photos from Cairo, taken today. (This was my recovery day, and I didn't venture far.) FB album: http://t.co/il4P0D7 5163
Jun 21 2011: My hostel is on the 11th floor of a downtown Cairo building. The elevator is out, so it's up and down this stairwell: http://j.mp/mDt6nf 5164
Jun 21 2011: Egyptian commerce is filled with innocent mistakes, like a merchant "forgetting" to give your change back when you buy something. 5165
Jun 21 2011: @laurenahayes You can't always be "insanely great". There is also an art to doing things just well enough and moving on. That's triage. 5166
Jun 21 2011: Never get too close to dysfunctional people. Maintain a firewall between you and them so their dysfunction doesn't become yours. 5167
Jun 22 2011: I updated the Taba, Egypt, page on WikiTravel to reflect my experience there: http://wikitravel.org/en/Taba 5168Jun 22 2011: This is where I'm headed today. Old Cairo. Looks like a maze! http://twitpic.com/5f3weo←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5169Jun 22 2011: Video Postcard: Interviewing a camel named Moses at the Great Pyramids. Not a lot to say, this one. http://youtu.be/59oW6Awy27w (40 seconds) ←Our original YouTube video [more] 5170
Jun 22 2011: RT @CrankyPappy: Even when life hands you lemons, you have to actually get off your ass and make the lemonade, knucklehead. 5171
Jun 22 2011: "A home without books is a body without soul."—Cicero <== Dear Cis, can you translate that into internet terms? What is a "book"? 5172
Jun 22 2011: Histrionic Personality Disorder—aka "a drama queen". DSM: http://j.mp/jmuBcz Treatable? Not if you're in love with one! Just get away fast! 5173
Jun 22 2011: RT @YourAuntLola: Sweetie, the important thing to remember about Life is: you never get there 5174
Jun 22 2011: New AssSaver™ iPhone app warns you "Don't post that, dummy!" at appropriate times. 5175Jun 22 2011: It is refreshing to find an English language menu in Cairo, but two of the items are a little disturbing. http://twitpic.com/5fcpiq←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5176
Jun 22 2011: Cairo, with 14 million cars, doesn't seem to have a single working traffic light. Kinda amazing traffic moves at all! 5177
Jun 22 2011: RT @TheBosha: I support Marriage Equality for gays but as a divorced heterosexual man I can tell you there's no such thing. 5178
Jun 23 2011: RT @xtinewu: Life Advice RT @runnersworld "In the first half of the race, don't be an idiot. In the second half, don't be a wimp." http: ... 5179
Jun 23 2011: One advantage of visiting Egypt is you're bound to lose weight. Kindly bacteria will visit your digestive system and liquify the contents. 5180Jun 23 2011: At the Great Pyramids yesterday. Any erotic implications are unintended. http://twitpic.com/5fill5 More photos on FB: http://j.mp/ji7ZUx←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5181
Jun 23 2011: FB albums from this trip: The Great Pyramids: http://j.mp/ji7ZUx Urban Cairo http://j.mp/leD3TS Taba and the Sinai Desert http://j.mp/iivAT9 5182
Jun 23 2011: After 4 days in Cairo, it is a pleasure to get back to the stability, cleanliness, safety and prosperity... of Greece! 5183
Jun 23 2011: Seriously, there is nothing visible on the surface of Athens to suggest the country is in crisis. 5184Jun 23 2011: View of the Acropolis from the same hostel I stayed at a month ago. (Pella Inn) http://twitpic.com/5fr2wh←Live photo from the road! [location|more] 5185
Jun 23 2011: Paranoia is the delusion that the world really cares. 5186
Jun 24 2011: The usual penalty for mistakes in life is some form of imprisonment. 5187
Jun 24 2011: @female_masrya Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed my stay in Cairo! 5188Jun 25 2011: An American Pyramid. Right now! Toto, I don't think we're in Egypt anymore! http://twitpic.com/5gpvea←Live photo from the road! [location|more] [view in context]
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