埃及式理髮／李明熙
旅程至今，一共理過 3 次髮 —— 第一次在美國，理髮師沒有幫亞洲人剪髮的經驗，每落一剪便問合不合心意，怕弄得不好，結果當然也不好；第 2 次在蘇格蘭，理髮師看似是退役剃羊毛員，整個髮型毫無美感，頭皮亦不好受；今次在埃及，終於遇到一個有風格的理髮師。
晚飯後在樂蜀街頭散步，Kim 突然停下腳步示意我向店內一看，髮型屋內坐著 7 至 8 個十多歲的年青人，其中一個穿著聖日耳門球衣的少年略懂幾句英文，把我叫了進去。我躊躇半秒，打量一下各人的髮型，個個都像足球員，有形有格。門路是對了，我問好價錢便決定賭一舖。
以為能馬上坐下落剪，但原來髮型師只得一位，我本來是排最後一個的，但大家都樂意先做觀眾。坐下後，我簡單說明修剪的要求，這位有幾分似 Game of the Thrones 裡的 Jon Snow 的髮型師先向我遞上香煙，然後自己點一支，在手機找出唯一一首英文歌 Diamonds，駁到我面前的單聲道喇叭，一到副歌他便高聲跟著唱。
我們的交流只有幾個生字 ——「My Friend！」、「Shorter？」、「Good？」、「You like？」。整個理髮過程只是十多分鐘，以為完結時，Jon Snow 掏出剃刀，換上新刀片，噴上酒精消毒，細修髮腳的雜毛。他指指兩鬢，想為我刮一個足球界流行的尖腳「的水」，我點頭示好，但就拒絕塗上威士忌。
可惜我當天剛刮清鬍鬚，不然可以多享受一項服務。但意想不到的是，小時候在公園看到老婆婆的線面手技，年紀輕輕的 Jon Snow 竟然懂。從額頭到頸後、眉間到耳孔，毛髮都被拔得一乾二淨。最後他為我噴上清涼的鬚後水，Jon Snow 一句 Finish，禮成，全套服務收費 20 埃及鎊，折換後只是 9 港元。
Temples along the Nile／Kimberlogic
For a tourist in Egypt, there is no “taking it easy”. It is exhausting just walking down the street. And just forget about trying to enjoy the scenery, because you have to focus on avoiding the touting.
Since our walk along the river in Aswan was not going to be peaceful, we ended up negotiating a short tour to Philae Temple which is on an island in the Nile. The temple is the only thing on this island, and it is magnificent. The UNESCO organisation had to move this temple piece by piece after the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1970s, because the water rose and almost covered the temple completely.
Seeing all of these old temples and tombs was really neat, but not knowing enough history about all of the Egyptian Gods and Dynasties, or being able to decipher hieroglyphics, they all start blending together, unless there is something very unique that makes it stand out.
One of my favourite temples that is unique and sparked my interest was the Temple of Kom Ombo, which locates down the Nile between Aswan and Luxor. This temple was dedicated to the crocodile god. There were many mummified crocodiles on display as well as a crocodile pit, where they used to keep a crocodile, believing it contained the spirit of the god. This temple, like the others, had really cool drawings and hieroglyphics, but the mummified crocodiles made it even more exciting and unique.
We arrived Luxor with only a half day to see the historic sites, and that was actually enough for us. We stayed on the West Bank where most of the sites are, although the city is on the East Bank. We were able to negotiate a taxi for the afternoon for much less than any guide books will tell you. Our first stop was the Valley of Kings.
The Valley of Kings is comprised of so many tombs of different Pharaohs from late in Egyptian history (over 1,000 years after the Great Pyramid was built, but still in BC times). After paying entry to the site, we decided to pay extra to check out the Ramses VI tomb. Although you can enter three tombs with your general admission ticket, it is worth paying to see at least one tomb that costs extra, and we were pleased with our choice. This was the first tomb that we could saw all of the vibrant colours still intact on the walls. Although the sarcophagus and mummy are in museums, it was still really neat to walk down the long hall to the chamber where it once was.
Cameras are not allowed anywhere in The Valley of Kings, not outside and definitely not in the tombs. But, this is Egypt, and everything has a price. The tomb guards ask for a tip and let you take a photo, or you can just wait until they walk away to go and smoke as long as you don’t use flash.
A few tips if you’re thinking about traveling to Egypt:
1) Brush up on some Egyptian history
It will make the sites so much more interesting if you know a little of the backstory.
2) Bargain
Either decide to spend a good deal of money and book tours ahead of time and that will cut down on the amount of harassment you will have to endure, or get ready to bargain hard, be a bit exhausted, but spend very little money. Things are cheap, but you need to work hard to find them and to bargain for them.
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