Arrival in Cairo!!!

I'm finally in Cairo. It took about 17 hours door-to-door, but I made it here and I'm severely jet-lagged. I flew Lufthansa, which was generally a good airline, but my one big complaint is that they don't have personal TV's for every seat. How can a transcontinental trip not have personal TVs?!?! It's like the only European Carrier that doesn't have them.

It took 7 hours to fly to Frankfurt, 2 hours in Frankfurt and then another 4 hours to Cairo. Arrival in Cairo was crazy. We were over the Mediterranean for a bit and then a big land mass suddenly appears and we started our decent. As we entered, you could see desert as far as possible in all directions except for the gigantic city of Cairo. Cairo, looked amazing from above. All the buildlings look very similar and they are the same color, the organization of the city is very chaotic.

When I got off the plane, I felt the heat almost immediately. It didn't help that I am carrying around a big-ass backpack as well. Luckily, I had purchased a transfer to my hotel, so the guy from my tour company shoved me in front of people through customs to get out of the airport quickly.

Cairo is crazy! I heard the driving here is insane, but this is nuts. Drivers will drive straight into a crowd of people as they scatter and miraculously miss killing anyone. Every time I cross the street, I feel like I'm playing a game of frogger, drivers don't stop!!! When you're in a car, there are guys on the street who are pushing their business (much like the guys in NYC), but instead of trying to hand you a flyer, they fling their business cards into the open windows!!!!

Currently, we are staying in the Dokkai section of Cairo, it seems to be a posher neighborhood since all the embassies are here. We even have a cute balcony overlooking the city. The Nile is about a 10 minute walk from the hotel, and it's absolutely amazing to see it. But, before I get the grand tour of Cairo, I will first head to the beaches of Sinai. Tomorrow, we are off to Mt. Sinai to see the suppossed birthplace of the 10 Commandments!!

Syria Cancelled!!!!

Hey Everyone from Cairo. Pictures will be up soon.

The bar exam is now over, however I may have to take it again in February :(
The night before the NJ Bar exam, I found out that my tour in Syria was cancelled due to the war. Unfortuantely, this severely hindered the general plan for the trip. So, now, I'm just winging it. Preliminary plans include Egypt and Jordan, flying to Turkey and then I have a month unplanned. I'm thinking about doing a lot of Turkey. I'm also thinking about adding Greece and maybe Romania (I kinda wanna see Transylvania). Has anyone been to these locales and could give me advice?

Egyptian Visa!!! and Middle East Worries

I got my Egyptian Visa yesterday. It was a really easy process. You head over to the Consulate, give them the form and your passport and the next day they give you back the passport with your visa in it.

The consulate wasn't as luxurious as I had expected. It was in a cramped tiny office on 2nd Ave.

I'm worried about the Israel-Lebanon situation. I've decided NOT to go to Lebanon. :( I called the State Department and my Insurance Company and both recommended not to go, my insurance company even stated that they woudln't pay for anything that happens in Lebanon, even an evacuation. This would qualify as an act of war, rather than an act of terrorism and therefore would not be covered.

Oh well..... I guess I won't be able to see the Paris of the Middle East (this time).

Syrian Visa!!!!

The Syrian Embassy finally sent my passport back, and they granted me a visa!! (yay!) They asked for 2 photographs of me, what the hell did they need them for? I was expecting my picture to be on the visa. Anyway, the next stop for my passport is the Egyptian Consulate, where I hear the visa process only takes a day or so.



A little off topic (maybe), but for those of you taking the NY Bar exam anytime in the near future, here's a picture of what to expect:

Yes, thousands upon thousands of people in a sea of desks. They say they're going to wall off big areas and make rooms so it's not going to be quite as daunting, but ugh! Just going to the bathroom became a huge hassle. Oh well, 2 days after the real exam, I'm off to Africa!!!

Trip Status: Passport and Visas

Even a well-seasoned traveller like myself hates the stupid paperwork and nitty gritty I have to go through before leaving the country. Last week, I finally got my passport back from the Passport Agency, who had it for 4 weeks! I had to have more pages sewn in since all my passport pages were full.

Now the Syrian Embassy in Washington has my passport - and I'm patiently waiting for them to grant me a tourist visa. Once, I used a visa agency to help me get my Russian Visa, it was denied by the Russian embassy and 3 counsulates before it was finally approved and I got it back 2 days before I left the country!

I'm hoping to spend under $7,000 for the entire 2-month trek. I've already spent about $1400 on the plane tickets and another $3,000 on the 3 different organized tours I'm going on. That leaves about $2,500 for me when I'm abroad. I'm told the region is very cheap once I get there, and I really hope that's true.

Other problems for such a long trip are managing finances while I'm away. I had to make sure to do auto-pay for all my credit card bills. I'm also trying to sublet my bedroom while I'm away to help finance the trip and minimize expenses .... if you know anyone who needs a furnished place for August and September, pass on my information :)

My First Blog Post Ever

I've Never blogged before, but I figured there's a first time for everything. A few friends told me that it might be a good idea to blog some of my travels since I travel so much, so here goes:

First, a little about me. I'm 24, and just graduated New York Law School last month. I'm studying for the NY and NJ bar which is on July 25, 26, and 27. To celebrate this huge milestone in my life, after I take the bar, I've decided to backpack through the Middle East for 2 months. Some of it will be on organized tours, and some of it will be independent travel.

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to travel. I've been to 31 countries on 4 continents and I still feel like I haven't seen enough. That picture that you see up above is actually from this past April in Masaya, Nicaragua. Here's a map of places I've lived and visited.