Africa / Facts & Trivia / History / Laid-back / Middle East
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 10, 2018 · Last modified January 9, 2018
Probably 90% of the people who go to the Egyptian Museum go there to see the mummies and the most famous mummy of all: King Tut. I got to see both. Photos of everything in the King Tut room is strictly forbidden, however I did get one cool photo that...
Activities / Africa / Bucket List / Facts & Trivia / History / Laid-back / Middle East
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 8, 2018 · Last modified January 5, 2018
After an earlier aborted attempt, I finally got to visit the Egyptian National Museum. First of all, their website is woefully out of date. The admission price had increased from EGP£150 (~US$8.47) to EGP£240 (~US$13.55). That’s only a few cents to Americans but, for some people coming from poorer countries,...
Africa / Dining / Middle East
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 6, 2018 · Last modified January 2, 2018
Just a very short — less than one minute — video showing how close I am to Starbucks and how far I’m willing to walk to visit a locally-owned Egyptian coffee shop instead.
Africa / High Adrenaline / Middle East / Modes of Transport
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 2, 2018
It’s the video everyone has been asking about! While I’ve attempted to capture what traffic is like on a daily basis in Cairo, I don’t think there’s any way that a mere video can really do it justice. Compared to Egyptians, New York City cabbies are like grannies driving in...
I share five observations about traveling/living abroad: Friendliness/Openness Cost of Things Personal Space If you only speak one word of the local language, this one should be it Things are not always what they seem
It’s strange how the mind works. My observations on living overseas for the first time. Despite having visited 17 countries before coming to Egypt (and in fact, Egypt being one of those 17 countries), I’m finding that living in a place is very different from visiting as a tourist. I...
Logistics / Modes of Transport
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published August 14, 2017 · Last modified August 21, 2017
As a frequent traveler, not only do I belong to all the major frequent flyer programs, but I have the apps for each airline. I don’t keep them all on my phone. Rather, I add them when needed and remove them when not. Each time I add an airline app...
Logistics / Modes of Transport
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published August 7, 2017 · Last modified August 21, 2017
It should come as a surprise to no one that, outside of first class, airline seats are pretty cramped. In fact, they’ve been getting closer and closer together for decades now. The reason is simple: economics. The more paying passengers can be crammed into an aircraft, the more the airline...
When traveling, it’s a good idea to keep a supply of wet wipes on hand. Parents who travel with babies or toddlers already know this. Those with older kids may remember it but have since forgotten or think it’s no longer necessary. When needing to clean sticky hands, a dirty...
Whether you travel domestically or internationally, you are going to have documents. Plane tickets, hotel reservations, rental car confirmation, tour itineraries, maps, important numbers… Some of that will be on your smartphone but much of it will be on paper. As you travel, you will accumulate more such papers. One...