The Backpacker Magazine

7/26/2019 The Backpacker Magazine

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EDITOR

Yours truly,

Editor-in-Chief &FounderLeena ElDeeb

Dear Readers,

S note,

ts June, the delirious season has arrived with its impatience to enjoya breakout. Youve probably just nished nals, the kids have justgone on vacation, or if youre one of the misfortunate workingdom, I

wont lie to you; June would just mean that youll lower the temperature ofyour AC in the oce. Well, lets look at the bright side; that means youremaking money.

In the rst issue of this magazine Id like to take the opportunity to raisethis question, why do we travel? Is it a thirst for a one-way ticket toa sweet escape, is it a hunger for diversity, or is it a hunger for merechange?

At this time of the year, especially for the working sector, its a time ofdownright boredom. Weve reached the heart of the year 2016, and sofar were sick of it. This is when the thought of travel hovers louder andlouder over our crammed heads.

This is not a tourism magazine, this is a magazine of travel and travelers.We oer you a collection of travel ideas and inspirational stories blend-ed with history and culture, not forgetting budget details and handyhacks.

I want to point out one thing before this note comes to an end; we likedto combine several countries into a couple of articles (Where should yougo on your honeymoon & Watch what you gesture) as to give you anidea. Later issues will hold more depth into one country at a time.

If youre stuck at work in June, I truly hope this issue really brings out theBackpacker in you, and helps you get over your oce misery. If not, Ihope this issue inspires an outstanding trip with someone special.

Have a brilliant summer!

SPOtLIGHT

LOVE

BIRDS

FAMILY

Travel

Pocket

SOLO

NEWSgermany resumesdirect flights to sharm

el-sheikh

US Hotels arewelcome in cuba

THE BATTLE OF TRAVEL

kHOD 3ENWANY

HIKE ON

OMAR SAMRA: Q & A

Tourism after thespring

EGYPT IN 52 WEEKS

WHERE SHOULD YOU

GO ON YOUR HONEY-

MOON?

THE STORY OF LOVE

LOCKS

#FOLLOWMETO WHER-

EVER OUR LOVE TAKES

US

AIESEC; what to ex-

pect vs. what to not

TRUSTING CAMPERS

A CHILD WHOTRAVELS

TAKE THE KIDS TO PERU

SO YOU THINK YOUCAN PACK?

WATCH OUT FORPICKPOCKETS

DINE IN LIKE ANITALIANO

MOVIE REVIEW: WILD

WATCH WHAT YOUGESTURE

The IndianExperience

From valentina,Argentina,with love

Going solo:Cuba

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june, 20164 june, 2016 5

Germany resumes direct flightsto Sharm El-Sheikh

US Hotels are now Welcome in Cuba

he German Ministry of Transport has decidedto resume direct ights from Germany to the

Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, after re-moving a ban on checked luggage to the townsairport, the Egyptian ministry of foreign aairs an-nounced on Wednesday, 11th of May.

This decision came after the Federal Aviation Of-ce ocially informed all German tour operatorswith the said decision in preparation for ight re-sumption to and from Sharm El-Sheikh Airport, theministrys statement reads.

The ban on ights had been there since Novem-ber 2015 and was implemented in response tothe explosion of a Russian airplane over the SinaiPeninsula in late October, for which the IslamicState group claimed responsibility.

In the past six months, the Egyptian embassy inBerlin, in coordination with relevant state bodies

in both countries, including the ministries of inte-rior, tourism and civil aviation, has made eortsto receive direct ights from Germany to SharmEl-Sheikh once again, said the statement.

One of the beaches of the Egyptian resortSharm El-Sheikh.

tamford, Starwood Hotels& Resorts Worldwide, be-came the rst U.S.-based

hotel company to enter Cubain nearly 60 years.

US hotels were not welcomeuntil a month ago, in responseto president Barack Obamasvisit to Cuba, being the rst USpresident to visit the communistisland since the breakdown be-

tween both nations in1959.

Later this year, Starwood Ho-tels and Resorts is expected tobegin managing two Havanahotels, one near the citys Capi-tolio building and another nearthe business district. Marriott In-ternational is reported to be indiscussions with Cuban ocialsabout running or developinghotels on the island.

The two countries have movedtowards normalizing relationsafter a breakdown following the1959 communist revolution ledby former Cuban President FidelCastro.

Successive US government havetried to oust the Cuban lead-ership, most notably during theCIA-backed Bay of Pigs inva-sion of 1961.

A Cuban woman hangs the ags of cuba and the unitedstates as to welcome the new cooperations between thetwo countries.

solois

brought

to

you

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hree photographers ew to India, and came backwith three completely dierent perspectives of the

land of spices, reected onto three photo albums. lastDecember, Butheina Shalan, Ayman Gamal and AhmedHayman gathered in Photopia, a photographers hubin the heart of Heliopolis, Cairo, to showcase theirphotography, discuss their observations and sharetheir stories.

The Stare versus the Sadhu glare

Youll nd people whowould stare at youfor 10 minutes, for a

photographer this isg reat .

As a girl solo traveler,Shalan started her talkdiscussing the awkwardsituations any girl travelingalone in India could face.

Indians are very curiouspeople, starts Butheina.The stare is somethinguniversally known aboutIndians, they dont do it

out of rudeness, as supposed to many cultures. Theyjust stare out of curiosity.

But when it comes to the Sadhu glare, its a dierentstory. The Sadhu glare is observant, not only curious.Sadhus are saints of various sects, men and sometimeswomen, who have left their homes to concentrate onthe physical and spiritual disciplines and also hermits,magicians and fortunetellers. The term comes from theSanskrit, the ancient Indian language, for accomplishand can refer to any religious, ascetic or holy man.

Throughout the year, you can nd Sadhus in largenumbers in sacred cities such as Varanasi (Benares)and Harid war. Their costume andornaments dier according to their sect,

but usually youll nd them in orange oryellow robes.

Pushkar

Its a place that gathers all Indians from dierentprovinces. In Sanskrit, Pushkar means the blue lotus, andthe reason behind this name dates back to legendarystories about Gods and lords. Even though severalwere destroyed during Muslim conquests, Pushkar stillembraces many temples. Its a place for pilgrimage ofmany sects in the Indian religions.

At the Pushkar Lake, Ayman stood snapping shots ofthe assembled varieties of Hindus, taking baths in the

Its a land of wide contrasts in colors and culture; its aphotographers sweet harbor.

The Indian Experience

june, 20165

holy waters of the Lake. Its not allowed to take photosin the Lake area for the holiness of the place, but Aymanknew exactly how to overcome this. When the ocer

came to tell him to refrain from taking photos, he kepttalking to him and succeeded to get him carried awaywith the conversation while Ayman carried on snapping

more shots.

Beggars, gypsies and the Untouchables

Indias populace is divided in an eccentric way.The photographers tell us that theyre all living inpeace with each other; even the snakes slitherbetween the people without harming anyone.

Beggars dwell without being bullied o neither by thepolice nor by the locals. Butheina says Sadhus andbeggars would take peanuts as a substitute for rupees yes, apparently Sadhus dwell asking for money too,but they claim it is for charity.Dont be fooled by their exotic looks, gypsies will neveroer their services for free, and just a mere pose to acamera counts as a service to them.

Ayman made a decision, the entire trip will be reectedin black and white photographs, its a country ofcontradiction, he explained. Indians have long believedthat a primordial being has existed at the beginning ofthe evolution, and from this beings organs the Indianpopulation has been born.

From the mouth came the Brahmans, preachers andteachers in the Hindu society. From the arms came theKshatriyas, government and military. From the thighscame the Varsiyas, farmers, merchants and businessmen.And nally, from that beings feet came the Sudras, thelaborers. Brahmans, Kshtariyas, Varsiyas and Sudras arecalled varnas, every varna has its own set of values,customs and lifestyles. Below these four varnas comesthe Achuta, the Untouchables.

The Untouchables are a discriminated sect of the Hindusociety, usually for four reasons.

.1 Fishermen, hunters or anyone who takes a life for alife.

.2 Pagans.

.3 Anyone who deals with human waist for work.

.4 Anyone who eats beef.

Blending in

Being a shy female introvert; if you cant stop

someone for a photo, just sit and observe.That was Butheinas advice.

Every photographers character revealed through hisor her stories. Ayman was a photographer on a mission;before he ies to India he made sure his gear wascomplete. Butheina was a dreamy wanderer; her photosare very random.

Whereas, Ahmed Hayman, the third photographer

experiencing India had a dierent philosophy, whichwas blending in. Hayman wore a jilbab and turbanthroughout his entire stay, he even talked like them,imitated their made-popular-by-media English dialectand sometimes pretended to be a beggar in experimentand actually made some money.

Blending in was Haymans way of getting to know theculture, or in that case the many cultures of India.

India is a world on its own, oating in its own bubble,isolated from all the norms and modernized humansystems. Its an experience of no replica. The group ewto Morocco a few months ago; we are at the edges ofour seats for the stories and photos theyll y back with.

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june, 20167

Working as a senior feature writersince 2012, in a renowned life-style magazine based in Cairo,Primo made it a habit to travelto dierent parts of Egypt on asomewhat weekly basis and es-tablish friendships out of the lo-cals.

The rst time Primo arrived atEgypt was in the Eid right afterthe revolution, 2012. I had neverbeen to the Middle East at that

time, the only Arab city Ive visit-ed before Cairo was Marakesh inMorocco, and it was such a calmcity, unlike Cairo. She arrived at9 pm and was scared to her gutsfrom all the chaos and mess in theneighborhood of the cheap hos-tel she was staying at. She was onvacation, leaving work in Rome,she decided to stay for 40 daysin Cairo to learn the Arabic lan-guage. But later she felt like homeand she decided to stay.

Traveling lets all barriers down,says Primo, forcing you to get in-volved with those we used to callstrangers and recognize yourselfin them as a whole and thatis what you fall in love with; sheadds, that invisible, beating andbreathing bond that binds us alltogether, that force that explainswhy we understand each oth-er without the need for commonwords.

From Valentina,Argentina,with LoveAn Argentinian journalist crosses the pacifc to arrive at Egypt, and stay.

alentina Primo, a travel blog-

ger, has been a nomad forsix years now. She packed

her bag, and left her hometown,Crdoba in Argentina, for an un-known journey.

In 2010, she left Argentina forPeace Studies in Roma Tre Uni-versity, which is literally the thirduniversity in Rome, Italy.

In the six years since I decided topack my life in a suitcase, I havelived in 14 dierent houses andshared my home with 31 dierentpeople, and I wouldn't change itfor the world Because travelingchanged my life, it forced me toface fear, to trust people with myeyes shut, to open my heart andsee things devoid of conventions,

and bring my innermost self out-

side.

Primo started her travel blogMi vida en una valija - My lifein a suitcasein 2014, under themotto: building bridges that canteach us to appreciate othercultures rather than fear them.

V

Going Solo:Cubats an island hugged by the Atlantic Ocean fromthe east, the Caribbean from the south and the

Mexican gulf from the west. The word Cuba literallymeans barrel in Spanish.

Things to do; mainstream & non

The word Cuba is synonymous to two words: CheGuevara and Beach.

Go to Old Havana, take a walk around the Old Squareand have dinner at Plaza de la Catedral.

Or, you could go eccentric and trot on a horseback inTrinidad. Go pay Kcho art studio a visit in El Romerillo,young Cubans are enjoying their rst free WiFi in thecountry. The latter is a great way to nd good talk andvaluable insight about their current situation.

The Cubans

The people of Cuba are generally happy people;they learn to overcome their miseries driven by politics.Theyre generous, and because their economy mostlydepends on tourism theyre exceptionally veryhospitable.

Cuba embraces avery interesting multi-ethnic community. Youwill nd a majority ofRoman Catholics, a fewthousand Jews and youmay even come acrossother cult religions.

Tips from other travellers

Grant Anderson says, on a personal level I particularlyenjoyed the horse riding at Trinidad. I had never riddenbefore but the horses are so calm that I quickly gainedcondence. We had a guide to ourselves and for thelow cost this seemed far better than joining a tour with8 or 10people.

While Louis Tuhato encourages us to couch surf withone of the Cuban families, our host families were verynice, they prepared great breakfast despite the factsthat foods are not easily available in Cuba. The familyin Vinales made lovely sandwich for breakfast, while thefamily in Havana cooked lobster for dinner.

Bring any medications you might need, as thesewere hard to nd. Even in the hot spots with locallypurchased Internet cards access was iy. Be preparedto be unconnected, says Christie Moody.

History & Background

After Columbus arrival, Cuba fell into Spanishs grip.The Spanish were bedazzled by Cubas gold mines, sothey enslaved the natives to excavate the gold. Laterthe Brits took Cuba from the Spanish, but then theyexchanged it with Florida, so Cuba fell under Spainsmonarchy once again. The Cubans didnt stop rebellinguntil they regained their independence in 1902.

However, Cuba was never stable. The years followingthe year of independence watched the revolutionarygovernments practice corruption. So the Cubans rose inrebellion again, this time against their fellow countrymen.And ever since the revolutions toppling of the regime, inthe early sixties, Cuba has been ruled by the communistparty which is now causing so much misery to thetwenty-rst century Cuban populace.

Cuba is beautiful. Its a great place for a solo,getaway vacation.

Cuba is rich in culture and revolutionary heritage;a solo traveler will never get bored.

8june, 2016

A Cuban rides in Trindad.


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amel, from Syria, had everything set, all his three bagspacked. His wife and son were ready too. Tomorrow

theyll take the microbus before the break of dawn, fromthe 6th of October city to Alexandria.

Welcome to Alexandria, lads.The director leads the batch to a room they call takh-zeen, which is Arabic for storage. The room must be fulluntil they move to the beach.

They are at the shore, where are the boats? he won-dered aloud. The smuggler laughed, Why, you thinkyoure taking a Titanic? The rubber boats were waitinga long distance from the Alexandrian shore. The queueof refugees had to walk quickly in the water to hop onthe boat and save a spot for their family members. So,

to Kamels bad luck, that meant he had to let go of hisluggage to the cold waters, manage to keep up with hisfamily and make sure they didnt leave anyone behind.

Sadly, this story told by Sima Diab - a photojournalistwho has worked with refugees - has been the case withhundreds of thousands of refugees in Egypt, not only Syr-ians; youll nd Sudanese, Africans and sometimes evenEgyptians. Two years ago, smugglers took from $1,500 to$ 2,000 for each illegal traveler.

Statistics

In 2015 one in every 122 humans is now either a refu -gee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum stated theUN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Accordingto the UNHCRs research, if this were t he population of acountry, it would be the worlds 24th biggest.

We are witnessing a paradigm change, an unchecked

slide into an era in which the scale of global forced dis-placement as well as the response required is now clearlydwarng anything seen before, said UN High Commis-sioner for Refugees, Antnio Guterres, in a Press Release.

Europe has up to 51 percent of refugees, mostly from Syr-ia and Ukraine. While the MENA region embraces only 19percent. Syrias ongoing war has alone made the MiddleEast the worlds largest producer and host of refugees.

It displaced 7.6 million people internally, and 3.88 millionpeople were forced to cross borders to seek refuge inneighboring countries and beyond. Two other major ref-ugee producers in the Middle East are Iraq and Libya.

These people did more travel than you ever will.

june, 20169

The grass is always greener in Europe

Hashem, also fromSyria, couldnt be-lieve that he hadarrived to a sweethaven. He crossedtoo many borders tobe able to live thismoment; from Egyptto Italy and from It-aly to Sweden, the most welcoming European countryto refugees, side by side with Germany. He managed toget his papers along with his wife and kids, who will befollowing him the following week.

Syrian refugees population in Egypt has dropped from350,000 to 120,000in one year. Diab ex-plained that Syrianrefugees in specicrisk their lives to leavetheir refuge in the Mid-dle East for another in

Europe for several rea-sons. One reason is for

their kids education, second is for their work, Ive seenarchitects who refused to settle for a building worker po-sition. In their mindset Europeans would give them a jobthat would t their degrees. Another reason that pushesSyrians to resort to the European harbor, is peer pres-sure, everyone in their families have done it, why wouldntthey follow?

Especially for someone who lived in both Europe andthe Middle East their whole life, how the people weretreated in Europe made me sick. Diab expressed. Therewere some pictures I couldnt take, because I was crying.Especially that I could understand what the refugees

were saying from cries to their beloved ones left behind,to the sobs of a mother on her arrested child.

Locals in the destinations to which refugees were head-ing were the ones making the dierence; they were theones who help not the governments. Diab witnessed thiseverywhere, be it Middle East or Europe. When Italiansknew there were refugees at the train station they rushedto help them out, Egyptians were always helpful to ndjobs and shelter and in Jordan, Jordanians and Pales-tinians were very helpful at providing the refugees withfood and medicine.

Due to political and ethnic conicts, a family of ve fromDarfur, Sudan, took refuge in Egypt then crossed the bor-der to Libya and from there they traveled to the UnitedKingdom. However, only three arrived; the father and sonwere caught by the Egyptian authorities and are cur-rently spending their time in jail, among other refugeesbehind bars from dierent nationalities.

But these Sudanesekids would not giveup to depression,

they were extreme-ly talented at whatthey do; drawing.They drew comicsand caricaturesthat would speak forthem and retell theirstories of discrimina-tion and displacement.

Travel in the case of refugees is a battle, a necessityand a mean to survive. Without travel, they are strandedbetween bullets and missiles, nonetheless, with travel theyare still stranded, but between racism, procedures, andbureaucracy.

Refugees & migrants arriving by sea in Europe, Jan - June 2015. Source: Governments and UNHCR

10june, 2016

Sima Diab.

Hashem in Sweden.


7/23

ona Mounir was talking to her friend, Layaal, theother day about starting an initiative encour-aging women to travel and to help each other

out to come around diculties like nances, family wor-ries, security and so on and so forth.

Omneya Seif, a stranger to Mounir at that time, postedon a Facebook group called 7ad ye3raf which trans-lates to does anyone know, that shes thinking of start-ing this initiative called Khod 3enwany which translatesto take my address and that she couldnt implementit alone. Mounir read the post by coincidence, got intouch with Seif and created Khod 3enwany; a Face-book group that assembles around 4K Egyptian women,enthusiastic about travel.

Inspiration

Seif is a 33-year-old projectmanagement analyst at Quin-

tiles in Bratislava; a US clinicaltrials pharmaceutical company.She traveled two years ago toBudapest, and found her soulmate, a Slovakian gentleman towhom shes married and settledwith in the Slovakian capital.

Ive always had this problem oftraveling alone, my parents arevery conservative and religious.They never allowed it until one thing happened, Seif tellsus, I went through a very rough break up with my ex-Fi-ance, my parents felt bad for me, so they let me y toSingapore and I couldnt get enough of traveling eversince. This motive of sharing a common struggle with the

majority of the female population in Egypt encouragedSeif to start this initiative.

Mounir on theother hand hada dierent mo-tive. Shes a20-year-old col-lege freshman,studying Mediaand Sociologyin London. Monatravels alone ona regular basis,and she neverhad a problem with her parents unlike the majority ofher gender in Egypt. That is what triggered me to startKhod 3enwany; I want to help and encourage wom-en to go through the travel experience, and enjoy theprivileges and opportunities that come with it. Mounir

explained.

All alone in Kenya, at the age of 14, Mounir attend-ed high school in a boarding school that assembled abroad diversity of human beings. The culture shock thathit Mona petried her, it took her a month to be able toadapt. Coexistence was a new thing to the 14-year-oldMona, When I returned to Egypt I felt like I grew up toomuch, people my age were too immature for the stand-ards the Kenyan experience made me live up to.

What they oer

Khod 3enwany is basically a pro bono couch-surngnetworking service. Mounir lives in London, Seif in Brati-

An idea oated in two minds of two strangers one night; a circleof Egyptian women who live abroad, ready to be hosts to fellow

Egyptian women travelers, Khod 3enwany!

A couch-surfing network

for & by Egyptian women

Seif with her husbandin Verona, Italy

Mounir in Palestine

june, 201611

slava and theyre trying to connect with other Egyptianwomen abroad to widen their network.

There are many cheap places to stay at in Europe,good deals and oers that only locals know about, saysSeif, Khod 3enwany is supposed to provide a locals in-sight to the women planning to travel.

Governments seem to master leading tourists into spend-ing half their travel budget on transportation alone;Mona says that by the help of locals, travelers can mini-mize their spending on transportation drastically.

Seif argued that having the initiative be only for Egyp-tians strengthens the trust the women have for one an-other, very minimal cultural and background dierences,they know what fears and expectations they have incommon. She also added that the thought of havingsomeone at the destination youre traveling to, who isboth Egyptian and female makes travel seem so mucheasier and perhaps less intimidating to the parents.

First Khod 3enwany experience

A girl was traveling with her father to London, she wasstaying in the capital for only two days then she wasying o to somewhere else. She met up with Mounir whohelped them around the city of fog.

They wanted to hop onto a tour bus which was goingto cost them 30 to tour them all around the city, but

instead, we hopped onto a regular bus for 1 each,with my Oyster card. Furthermore, Mounir explained howLondon in particular takes advantage of the oblivionof tourists, they make it seem that there is no alternative,that the tourist has no other option than spending allwhat hes got on a cab from the airport to the hotel forexample.

The rst experience was not bad, says Mounir, but itwasnt what they expected. The girl was traveling with herfather, not exactly the audience they were anticipating.This was unfortunately the solitary experience with Khod3enwany, there seems to be something that makes thetravel enthusiasts take a step back when everything elseseems to work out perfectly.

Women slacking for no identied reason

Women keep ooding Khod 3enwanys timeline with ques-tions, comments etcetera etcetera, and it turns out theyare not serious enough. I personally take the questionsasked very seriously, it really strikes me when I nd thatthese questions are just blabber without any intention ofreal commitment, Seif was signicantly expressive aboutthat aspect, I mean, we have lives too.

Mounir and Seif have completely dierent groups offriends, but both of them realize that this is a very com -mon trait. They still dont know the reason behind it, evenif the nances are worked out, the parents are totallyokay, the women freeze at the last step which is actuallybooking the tickets, the hotel and applying for the visa.

We talked to dierent Egyptian women, from dierentbackgrounds to be able to nd a reason behind this.Well, Id consider it depending on my budget... to mecouch-surng is a low budget go, says Aya Zahran, acollege senior from Cairo. I would ditch couch-surngbecause there are services like AirBnB and hotels; espe-

cially that I prefer privacy to myself.

Whereas, Aliaa Ezz, a college junor from Cairo said shedlove that and would denitely do it, it would be morecomfortable living with an Egyptian woman whos beenin that country and knows more about it and would beless lonely. I wouldnt be in a new country, all alone, notknowing anything.Future

Mounir and Seif are not going to give up easily, or ever.Theyre still working on collecting contacts from aroundthe world to build up a database and start a website.

Theyre also considering making guide-videos to make iteasier on travel enthusiasts, encourage them and pushthem to not go lazy on their passion. A lot of rst timersdont know how to nd their guides to apply for a visa,Mounir pointed out, listing down the steps clearly shouldinvest big time in encouraging them.

Annas Friends

This is not the rstnetwork of its kind.Dating back to Feb-

ruary 16, 2013, fromthe heart of England,a similar initiative hitthe roads, AnnasFriends. Its an inter-national communityof women for women.Their websites saysthat they are pas-sionate about trave-ling, friendships, andtaking a stand forwomens rights; to-gether we can enrichour lives and those of other women around the globe.

Mona Mounir (Middle) and her friend NairaGhanem (Right) took Bassant Salem (Left) on atour around London.

june, 2016 12


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adventure travell ,

Adventure travel entrepeneurs and enthusiasts talk to us about theirpassion for adventure and how it changed them

he circle of adventure travelers in the Middle Eaststarted very minute, now theyre slowly growing andtheir insight is spreading with the great help of the

social media uprising.

People think that traveling is all about going to capitalcities to shop and see the major sightseeing monuments.There is so much more to traveling than that. Gazefsfounder, Yasmine ElRashidy, said. Gazef is a travel enter-prise specialized in adventure travel, the name is Arabicfor take the risk.

However, misconceptions never cease to exist. Manybelieve that adventure traveling requires a lot of mon-ey, but this is entirely untrue, says Omar Samra, the rstEgyptian to climb Mount Everest, and surely the pioneerof adventure travel in the Middle East.

Theres a lot of things that you can do with minimalbudget and theres a lot of things that you can do withminimal experience and physical preparation. Samra isalso the founder and CEO of another travel enterprisespecialized in adventure travel called Wild Guanaba-na.

Where do we stand?

ElRashidy is hopeful about the future; she says that ad-venture travel is widely spreading especially among the

younger generations.

The revolutionary culture has invested in this change,she believes, people have become braver in the sensethat they feel that there are no boundaries that couldrestrain them. They feel more empowered and more will-ing to explore more.

Samra highlighted that the women travelers communityhas been signicantly growing, especially in a place likeSaudi, its the only market where we have women trave-ling more than men.

Adventure travel has been rising in popularity since thepast couple of years, travel troupes have made it a

ritual to go to hiking in St Catherine, Sinai, for exam-ple every winter to enjoy the snow. However things gettragic sometimes due to lack of security measures. El-Rashidy advises that theres one aspect that travelerswould need to pay attention to, which is taking the rightsafety precautions especially if they are doing adven-ture travel.

Benets of adventure travel

Science sides with adventure travel; many discoveriesand studies have proven a number of health problemsto be resolved by adventure travel.

Gazef hikers in Torrent de Pareis, Spain. ViaGazefs FB page.

june, 201613

Getting dirty strengthens your immune system, makingyou healthier.

Doctors now prescribe people with heart disorders,obesity and attention decit to go to parks forwalks; adventure travel takes park-walks to a wholenew level.

Hiking will keep you mentally sharp and will keep de-laying Alzheimers.

Life is full of uncertainties; adventure travel bringsyou face-to-face with surprize situations (and some-times theyre bad surprizes) that you have to copewith.

It will give you a chance to live another life for awhile and make you visualize how it will be like if youlive in this place and be part of its people.

Adventure travel feeds your dreams and builds yourcondence.

Alia Eissa is a 22-year-old architecture student. She hadbeen trying to x a trip with her friends with no luck, soshe decided to go solo.

One day she was walking around campus and stoppedat a booth for AIESEC (go to page 32 for more aboutAIESEC) and applied for an exchange program.

I received a random e-mail about a project in a placeIve never heard about before; I couldnt even pro-nounce the name correctly in the beginning. She typedin Mauritius in the Google search and found it interestand that was it, she decided shell go for it.

It was a really nice experience, it was so dierent thanmy normal type of vacations, and it was a big step out

of my comfort zone;going somewherewhere I know no one.Also traveling foralmost two monthswithout any of myfriends even thoughI do nothing withoutthem.

EligibilityThere are no eligi-bility requirements,according to bothfounders. Like afore-mentioned, Samrasays that you dontneed to be physical-ly t to be qualied

for adventure travel.

Any age is ideal;traveling is an eyeopener and you nev-er know at any ageyou an get inspired.Some authors madetheir top sellers at 90years of age. Trave-ling is the same. Your eyes will never stop seeing beautyand your mind will never ll up with too many memories.At the end of the day its about what you get out oftraveling, says Gazefs founder.

Eissa taking an adventurein Mauritius.

Life is full of uncertainties; adventure travelbrings you face-to-face with surprize situa-tions (and sometimes theyre bad situations)that you have to cope with.

Wild Guanabanas adventurers push a 4x4 vehicle since its tires has been stuck in thesand, during an adventure in Fayoum, Cairo. Via Wild Guanabanas FB page.

june, 2016 14


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The man who climbed

hy do you travel?There is usually no rational reason for why people

are passionate about a certain thing . You cantry to intellectualize it, rationalize it and give reasons,but its usually because theres something deep insidethat tells you to travel. And if you dont do it, youfeel that something is missing. But if I had to give it aproper reason, I would probably say that Im attractedto being in out in the nature, also meeting people from

dierent scopes of life; but nonetheless, travel is muchmore than that.

What are the misconceptions people haveon traveling?Im going to talk about adventure travel, becausethats really my eld. The misconceptions on AdventureTravel is usually that it costs a lot of money, requires alot of experience or requires an individual to have ahigh tness level; all t hese assumptions are false. Thereare dierent types of adventure travel, some couldcost a lot of money, but there are a lot a lot ofthings that you can do with a very small budget, andtheres a lot of things to do with a minimal experienceand no physical preparation.

He is the rst Egyptian and the youngest Arab to reach the cli ofMount Everest, Asia. Hes the founder and CEO of the travel enter-prise, Wild Guanabana, specialized in adventure travel. He talks to

the Backpacker about the travel culture in the region.

Samra, holds the Egyptian ag on top ofMount Everest.

Has the perception of travel changed over

time?The perception of travel in general is somewhat the same,I think. People in Egypt anyway, and maybe across the

region, arent necessarily very creative with where they go.Its just a few tried and tested destinations that peopletend to go to all the time, at least thats how it is when you

Short Bio.:

Name: Omar Samra

Age: 37

Graduated with a bachelor in Economicsand minor in Business Administration, Samrawas an employee in the banking feld inLondon, before he started his journey as amountaineer and got inspired to abandonthe corporate world and start his career inthe travel industry.

Lives between Cairo & Dubai.

june, 201615

look at tour operators and travel agencies they keepselling the same destinations over and over again.

What about adventure travel?If were talking about adventure travel, obviously therehas been a huge dierence. We started this companyin 2009, there was no one interested, it was still niche,now its still niche but its become a bit more mainstream.Its no longer such an alien concept for someone to goon an adventure trip, and the trend is increasing. Aspeople look to get more out of their vacation, so itsnot just about going to a place, or like picking a boxand shopping or whatever, its more about immersingyourself in the people and the places that you go. Sodenitely well see a change in adoption, theres muchmore adoption and again because theres a generalrise of tness and alternative ways of getting t andhealth and this and that. Also, if people start to adoptthese kinds of lifestyles, theyre going to start thinkingthat now that Im tter, that I can move better and doall of these things, how can I enjoy and make use of thisnew lifestyle? They would want to combine it with travel.They wouldnt want to go to a city and go sightseeing,

theyd want to do something; so it s more of moving fromsightseeing to exploringthis site being seen

Whats the dierence between a tourist anda traveller?I dont know what the dictionary denition says, but atourist to me is somebody who is just going to consumewhatever they give them, so for instance Im a traveldestination, Im Dubai, so Id give you the fountain,Burj Khalifa, and thats how Im going to promote thedestination and thats what you re going to do when yougo to Dubai. A traveler might go to all of these things,since these are must-dos and he might not come backto this place again, but hell also try and get o the

beat and pattern, hes going to try and talk to people,get tips and he wont be afraid to get lost.

As a pioneer in the adventure travelingamong the Middle East & North Africa, howdo you nd the new phenomenon diusingthrough the community?Its growing at a healthy rate, its not growingexponentially, I think theres going to be another sortof point in the future where things are going to startreally gathering a lot of pace, reach a critical mass ofadoption. But so far, compared to seven years ago whenwe rst started, adventure travel is denitely attractingway more people; there are more companies workingin the same sector, there are other companies aroundit providing more services serving that industry, whetherits a company selling equipment or things that aid thetravel industry.

Has travel changed after the revolution?Since the revolution there has been sort of a changein the mentality; a bit of a can-do kind of attitude.

People have adopted the philosophy of life is just anopportunity to gain experiences and learn through thethings that youre doing, rather than doing the same oldthings that the previous generations have been doing.And so adventure travel or this kind of travel benets alot from that, as people are trying to also get to knowthemselves better and explore their abilities and whatthey can do.

Fun fact: In late 2013, Samra won a competition among2million participants to represent Egypt on a commercialspace mission in 2016. If things go as planned, Omarwould become the rst Egyptian in space.

Also..

Samra is the rst Egyptian and one of40 people to accomplish the Explorers

Grand Slam; which includes:

Completing the 7 Summits challenge in2013, climbing the highest mountain on all7 continents.

Skiing to both north and south poles.

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tourism after the SpringThe Middle East lives heavily on tourism, a sector heavily disturbed bywhat is known by the Arab Spring.

The term Arab Spring wascoined by Marc Lynch of theForeign Policy, in an article in ear-

ly 2011. Lynch used it to describethe series of mass protests, rebellionsand the sudden awakening of po-litical awareness among the masses,inuenced by Social Media.

We had a heart-to-heart talk withsome tourist guides from Cairo. Theycan recall the few days before the 25Jan revolution. It was an economical

utopia, as they described. All hotelsin almost all tourist destinations allover Egypt were fully booked monthsin advance. Two years later, thecountry was completely deserted.

The Arab Spring hasnt only struckEgypt. A research paper by Ali Saidand others for the Institute of WestAsian Studies, under the title TheChallenges of Tourism in the Coun-tries of the Arab Spring Revolutionsstates that the tourism sector in theArab world witnessed a signicantdecline after more than a year ofthe Arab Spring outbursts, becauseof the insecurity and political dis-turbances. The paper identied the

countries mostly aected to be Tuni-sia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Libya, aswell as Morocco, Jordan and Leb-anon.

One of the tourist guides, SamarRashed, said that after 30 June2013, some tourists were very ag-gressively expressive about theirstances against the ouster of Mo-hamed Morsy, the rst presidentelected after 25 Jan who was thenoverthrown by the armed forces led

by Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in responseto protests, who later became pres-ident. After the revolution, the tour-ist guides have all met at least onesocialist foreigner who asked themabout their wages and whether theywork elsewhere or not.

During Morsys rule, some touristsstarted to show up, Azza Demerdash,another tourist guide, said. But theywere far less sophisticated than thetroupes that visited before 25 Jan;these were mostly from the lower so-cioeconomic classes.

With the decline of the Egyptiancurrency against the US dollar, the

country has never felt a thirst fortourism like it does now. No matterhow much Egyptians help tourism byvisiting Luxor and Aswan and SharmEl-Sheikh, it still doesnt compare tothe necessity of the exchange of thehard currency. Rashed said.

Surprisingly, in spite of the adverseeects referred to, we nd a numberof Arab countries in the region havebeneted positively from the courseof events, where the growth of the

tourism sector increased to varyingclear degrees. Such countries in-clude the United Arab Emirates Qa-tar and some other Gulf countries.However, that growth does not meanthey are free of problems; some ser-vices in these countries are failing toaccommodate those great waves ofunexpected arrivals of tourists, ac-cording to the research.

Tourism activities increased world-wide after the Spring; recordsshowed that there was a transferof tourists from the Middle East andNorth Africa to Central and EasternEurope, Southern Mediterranean andEast Asia.

The growth rates of tourism around the world in 2011-2012:

Source: aforementioned research paper and Statista

june, 201617

Eorts to x things

Several misfortunate events occurredlast year, to further contribute in thedecline. One major event was the ex-plosion of the Russian plane aboveSinai killing all 224 passengers. Theother event in Tunisia was a massshooting targeted at people at thebeach, killing 38.

Despite the eorts and verve of theEgyptian ministry of foreign aairs toovercome this conict and the othersthat followed, the ministry was heavilycriticized.

If I can use one word to describe[the responses of ministry foreign af-fairs], it would be reactive; it doesnot seek to create a solid uniformpolicy just reacts to situations or in-cidents said Nahla Mesbah, a Politi-cal Science academic.

I nd their performance extremelyweak especially in the face of suchdisastrous incidents. They use a de-fensive approach instead of pre-senting a proactive image. While theidea of waiting for investigations is

acceptable, there is never a mentionof how we are working so that suchincidents would not be repeated.There is also no outreach to familymembers of people aected in dis-asters as we see from other coun-tries.

Citizens could be of a great help ifthey show respect to the tourists andenable [them] to enjoy touristic siteswith complete freedom and privacy,said the Political Science professor,Hoda Awad.

In fact, this was one of the key el-ements the tourist guides discussedduring our talk. They shared storiesabout how kids were frightenedwhen a street vendor would invadetheir personal space at the pyramidsin Giza, then theyd have to calm the

kids down and explain to them thatthe vendor means no harm.

It would be a good idea actual-ly if we could come up with a sortof campaign to spread awarenesson how to treat tourists. One of thetourist guides suggested.

The guides said that one major meth-od they use to attract more foreign-ers to visit Egypt is word-of-mouth. Ithas always worked, said Demerdash.Id keep in touch with the tourists Iveguided, then encourage her subtlyto share her stories and experiencewith her friends so they could as wellvisit later.

A similar campaign started by vari-ous sectors, individuals and groupsto promote Egyptian tourism andbring it backto the lead bysharing photosand stories us-ing this hashtag:#ThisIsEgypt.

The Egyptian

authorities evencontracted withan advertisingagency andthey managedto hang bill-boards in keysites abroad, like this photo fromTimes Square, New York, USA.

Political unrest in the region since 2010

It all started in Tunisia, on the 18th of December, when

hundreds of angry Tunisians took to the st reets chanting,The people want to bring down the regime, the chantthat resonated and echoed in several part s of the Arabworld.

Mainly, it was Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain whowere vigorously aected by Tunisias rebellion. Egyptianstook to the streets on the 25th of January, overthrowingthe regime along with Mubarak, the Egyptian presidentat that time who ru led for three decades.

A day after the Egyptian revolution, Syrians took to thestreets calling for the stepping-down of Bashaar al-As-sad, the still-in-oce Syrian president, and his regime.

In Yemen, rebellion started a day after that, 27th of

January. A rebellion that overthrew Ali Saleh, who laterteamed up with al-Houtheyeen, a militia based in thedeserts of Yemen and an enemy to all Gulf states.

Coinciding with Valentines Day, Bahrainis erupted in re-bellion on the 14th of February; a rebellion driven byallegedly discriminated citizens of the Shiite sect.

Later, on the 17th of February, the Libyans followedtheir fellow Egyptian comrades footsteps and rebelledagainst Gadha, the late president at that time.

Outcomes of the ve years of political unrest in the re-gion are still in eect. So far, six governments have beenoverthrown, two of them in Egypt. The International com-munity estimated that more than 384,255 people havedied, more than 80% of them are Syrians; as a result ofthe Syrian civil war, which is not the only civil war theSpring gave birth to, Libya and Iraq too have beengoing through civil wars.

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june, 2016 21

egypt in 52 weeksA travel group takes a journey around Egypt in 52 weeks, which

makes up a year.

t was the rst Friday of February 2014, when Ka -rim Morcos called a friend of his randomly to go tothe Citadel out of boredom and to Morcoss surprise

they had fun. At this point we decided to make it everyweekend to visit a new place.

On a personal level, Morcos decided to make thesetrips weekly until he had covered all of Egypt in oneyear - which makes 52 weeks, and that is where thename comes from.

As the biggest travel community in Egypt, according tothe 25-year-old, we oer knowledge to youth, spirit toexplore and nd the truly hidden gems of Egypt.

Moreover, the group sends tour guides over with thetraveling youth. Egypt52s tour guides are not typical,by-the-book tour guides. Theyre young people whotraveled around Egypt before; the tour guides and t hetravelers share the same kind of language and there-fore makes it easier for both parties to communicateand also digest new information.

Egypt52 works via social media; every time they havea trip planned, they post its details and day-by-dayagendas on Facebook and Instagram. Interested trav-elers should contact Egypt52 to book their place onthe voyage.

Morcos is a GUCian who graduated in 2013. Hes cur -rently the chief executive of Gondola Events.

Gondola Events is a new event management agencythat I started with two other friends of mine. Egypt52 isone of the four programs oered. The programs mainlytarget schools and universities, to oer trips all overEgypt to help young generations discover and knowtheir country better and on a much deeper level thanthey already are aware of.Morcos takes a sele with the

travel troupe in Fayoum.

june, 201619

love birds is brought to you by:


12/23

Where should you go onyour honeymoon?

raveling with your lover, and especially as a new-ly wed, is extremely special. However, rushing thepicking-out could turn your dream honeymoon to a

nightmare. Before you settle on a place, you need to takea few things into consideration. Is the destination suitablefor a honeymoon, is it suitable for you as a couple, is itsuitable for your taste as an individual, does it matchboth your interestsetc.

Since its out rst issue, weve compiled this giant list toget you started; dividing some of the best honeymoondestinations into six categories to make it easier for youto choose.

Introverts

Whether both of you are introverts or just one of you is,traveling to loud cities with extremely nosey locals willprobably cause you both so much agony. What youneed is a place where the locals respect your personalspace and privacy. And most denitely, you dont wantto be jammed with other tourists like youre going on aschool trip.

Its a given, the Nordic region is an introverts haven. Ifyoure big on adventure travel and would love to enjoynatures greenery with your beloved, Finland and NewZealand are our recommendations.

New Zealand

Picking a honeymoon spot is no easy task;well try and help you sort out your plans with your loved ones.

If you fancy the urban life, how about you go cyclingdown the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark togeth-er? Its known to be one of the most bike-friendlycountries in the world. Ride together to the old port,Nyhavn, to see the pallet of old colorful houses, thenlater in the afternoon lounge by the canal and listento jazz, and maybe dance a little to the rhythm whilethe sun sets.

Beach? That would be Costa Rica and Vietnam.Other than being introvert-friendly, Vietnam is famousfor its turquoise beaches. Costa Rica is literally therich coast, it is famous for its Caribbean coastline.

Finland

Vietnam

june, 201620

Belgium

Belgium

Costa Rica

Greece

Extroverts

But if youre an outgo-ing, easygoing, socia-ble couple who travelto meet new peopleaside from new places then these are the places youwant to honeymoon at.

Youre most likely to pick up an intense chat with a fel-

low traveler at Bruges, Belgium. Or laugh your lungs outwith a bunch of Irish lads in Dublin.

Whats better than catching a festival in your honey-moon? Every fullmoon night in Koh Phangan, Thailand,

they throw a street festival u nder the dark Thai sky. In thePort of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, a carnival is thrownevery Monday and Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday,the rst day of Lent in Western Christianity. At the otherside of the world, in Uttar Pradesh, India, the celebrationof Holi or also called celebration of colors takes placebetween the end of February and mid March.

Go classy

Youre a sophisticated couple. You want to dine inand out with class and elegance, then matching thisinterest with your honeymoon destination would bepossibly the best idea.When we think of classiness, one word pops in ourminds: Paris. The city of sass and class wouldvemade it to this section, but were trying our best tobreak the clich.

Ireland

Thailand

Antwerp, Belgium isa lovely alternativeto Paris. Its the sec-ond largest city inBelgium, embroideredwith castles and roy-al architecture. Youllwalk the streets as alady and lord in theancient times, arms in

arms.

Or you can imagineyourself as a Greek kingand queen, on top of aSantorini building, plan-ning your next war.

India

Trinidand + Tobago

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Mexico

France

Germany

A similar setting to Santorini is miles away, Valle de Gua-dalupe, Mexico.

And of course, Milano lItaliano, a couple could strut theMilano streets like fashionistas, with her heels so strongand his shoes so sleek. Or pretend youre an artisan cou-ple, with a web of thoughts so bohemian; youre almosthigh on euphoria.

Go underground

For those of you rebellious couples, you dont want natureand beaches well you might want them, who wouldntlike a dip in the beach, but you possibly want more depthto your honeymoon. Anyway, all of t he bellow destinationswork nicely as a blend of reckless, beach and parties.

Cuba has been going through a revolution since forever.They still cant get rid of the au thoritarian regime, but theregime cant get rid of the rebels either. Take the risk, visitHavana and take a stroll in the Plaza de la Revolucin,now the base of the government and home of protestsand rallies at the same time. Talk with the people,

Or you can visit the activist societies incities like the Latin Quarter in Paris,which embraces student ac-tivism. You can have chitchatswith some students and evenjoin their protests. Paris is always inthe frontline of student-run rallies.

Another type of underground, goto Neuklln [SAY: Noy-kuln] in Berlin,

the greatest of immigrant societies in Europe.Neuklln is home for people from 160 coun -tries, no kidding.

Party Animals

Well, honeymoons should be all about partying withyour babe, isnt that right? Well, we have eight plac-es for you to pick out from.

Europe- Fly to Amsterdam, where the par- meets thety. Watch a movie at the 1920s themed theatersand show up at the Red Light District for one hellof a night to remember. Fly south to Rome. Dont missa mouthwatering dish, then hit the dance oor andlose it! Or land in Stockholm for classy bars in the

North, and louder laid-back partying in the South.

Sweden

Italy

Cuba

june, 201622

Japan

France

Russia

India

The Americas- Hop on a long ight to the new world,

and from there, party in Vegas baby! Want to partyLatino? Take a plane to Latin America, go samba andparty by the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Or twistand turn in tango and jazz in Buenos Aires, Argentina!

Asia- Want a dif-ferent taste ofparty? Go FarEast. ApparentlyHong Kong turnsinto a huge partyhouse at night, itsnot limited to thepubs and bars, theparty continues tothe streets andmarkets. Bangkok isanother option; itsfamous for pubswith magnicentbreathtaking nighturban views.

Remember to stay sober though, you need your fullmemory-storing capabilities for this crazy one-in-a-life-time nightlife experience.

Book nerds

Finally, we arrive at my personal favorite stop books!

If you want to get lost in books and bookish events, thenyouve got two stops: New York and Washington DC forStrand bookstore and Politics & Prose, respectively.

If you dig Russian lit, then St Petersburg is your haven.

Are you traveling in January? Then speak no more andbook a ight to Jaipur, India! The Jaipur Literature Fes-tival is the largest literature festival in the world thatattracts both authors and readers around the globe.

Are you a hopeless romantic for vintage libraries andbookstores? Paris, Paris, Paris! The homeland of theShakespeare & co. the one destination all bookwormshave on their bucket lists. Not to forget the bouquinistes,or the used-book sellers by the riversides. Paris is all inall a great city for fanatical classic bookworms.

See? Honeymoons are not all Hawaii, Bali andMalaysia truly Asia... Theres more to it than t hat.Just give it more thought and eort in planning,and its going to be lovely.

Netherlands

Italy

USA

Brazil

Argentina

Thailand

USA

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t dates back to the early nineteen hundreds, when aSerbian schoolmistress, Nada fell in love with an o-cer called Relja, and eventually got engaged. World

War I erupted, and so Relja took o to Greece, wherehe met Corfu, a Greek woman, and later forgot aboutNada. Poor Nada fell into a deep despair, her brokenheart never healed and the g rief killed her, literally.

In reaction to this melancholic tale, young women ofthe Vrnjaka Banja, the city where Nada lived, were soscared theyd meet Nadas sad fate. They wanted toprotect their relationships. So they wrote their namesalong with the names of their loved ones on pad-locks, and clamped them onto the railings of the MostLjubaviBridge, Serbian for the Bridge of Love, where

Several cities around the world hold bridges with stories of love and cherished memories sealed in padlocks hugging the railings.

New York CityIn 2013, a group of locksport enthusiastsorganized to remove locks from BrooklynBridge. Locksport is a sport of crackinglocks open without their keys.

Florence

5,500 love locks were removed from Ponte Vecchio Bridge,because, as per the authorities, the padlocks both posean aesthetic problem as well as scratch and dent the met-al of the bridge.

Dublin

Padlocks both on the Hapenny Bridge and onthe Millenium Bridge were removed by the citycouncil in early 2012, for almost the same rea-sons; the padlocks were criticized for being aneyesore on the public.

Paris

In May 2010, the Parisian authoritiesannounced their intention to removeall padlocks hung on Pont des Artsand Pont de l Archevch bridges. Theauthorities explained their purpose bystating, They [padlocks] raise prob-lems for the preservation of our archi-tectural heritage.Some Americans living in Paris started acampaign called No Love Locks calling for the removal ofthe locks in Paris; the campaign received great media at-tention. Allegedly, due to the tremendous amount of pad-locks hung on both bridges, they were at risk of collapsing.And accordingly, the city of love was l ove-locks-free.

june, 201624

The Story of Love & LocksNada and Rejla used to meet.

Later in the early 2000s the love padlock ritual spreadin the rest of Europe. In 2006, Romes Ponte Milvio Bridgereceived many love padlock hugs in result to the book IWant You by the Italian author Federico Moccia, whichwas turned into a movie the following year.

Today, love padlock ritual dispersed in cities acrossthe three worlds, from the farthest east in Mount Huang(China) to the farthest west in New York (USA). Howev -er, many authorities and governments have decided toraid the ritual and ban hanging padlocks. Some con-sidered it vandalism; others considered it as a plagueon the their legacy.

But nevertheless, even if fewer, there are cities that not only approve of but also embrace love locks:

Cologne

Deutsche Bahn, the bridge op-erators threatened to have thelocks removed from the Hohen-zollern Bridge. But the peoplewont let them; they relented inthe end in the face of the pub-lic opposition.

Scotland

Mark Your Spot is a charity ini-tiative that encouraged touristsand locals to mark their spots byclamping their love locks ontothe Forth Road Bridge. This ini-tiative raised 10,300 for alocal lifeboat service.

Toowoomba

The Australian city has been em-bracing love locks at Picnic Point,a heritage-listed tourist attrac-

tion featuring a park and anoverview at the top of theGreat Dividing Range.

Algiers

In September 2013, ovepadlocks decorated abridge that was oncecalled Suicide Bridgein Telemly. Some young-sters came one night andbrought tools to take them

down. The other day, anIslamic preacher showed up in a video claiming that Islamforbids love padlocks a newly termed reason for removinglove padlocks.

Babel

In the city ofHilla, Babelprovince, anIraqi journalistpioneered ataxing a lovepadlock as asymbol to his love for his beloved to a bridgethat overlooked Euphrates, in winter 2014. Thestate wasnt very pleased, for aestheticismreasons as well. But the journalists move trig-gered many fellow Iraqis to hang their pad-locks too.

Love locks are not restricted to bridges, theyre also hung on trees, like in Beuliea Palace House in the UnitedKingdom, and the purpose-built iron trees on a bridge across t he Vodootvodny Canal in Moscow.

Love lock culture might seem eerie and superstitious to some middle eastern communities, but they it still

exists although, on a ver y minimal level.

june, 2016 25


15/23

#FollowMeTo whereverurad Osman took his then-girlfriend and hopped on a plane that ew them to snippets of heaven.Natalia Zakharova is an outgoing Russian journalist who likes to observe and capture the memo-

ries with her soul, unlike her now-husband, who preferred to capture them with his phones lens.

In 2011, love has taken the Russian couple to Barcelona, Spain. Every time he stopped to snap a picture,Natalias impatience kicks in but she moves along. Until this one time; she couldnt take it and s tubbornlypulled his hand. While his other hand was busy capturing the moment; Natalia giving him her back, pullinghis hand leading him to a beautiful view in an all-espaol daytime

Posting the series of photos on Instagram, captioning them with the hashtag #FollowMeTo drove Osmansfollowers crazy. The number of his followers skyrocketed to almost 4 million as I write. This hashtag beinghis trademark, Osman later decided to switch from phone camera to a proper DSLR to have a wider eldof view.

One photographer follows his heart around and shares hisjourney with the world.

Nataliasimpatience

inspired#FollowMeTo.

-Murad told themedia.

june, 201626

our love takes usHes a thirty-something photographerbased in Moscow, originally a civilengineer graduate from ImperialCollege London. Later, in 2011, hemade a career shift and started hisvery own production house, HypeProduction.

Four years later, the famous lovers crossed two milestones in their lives. They got marriedand got their book published by Skyhorse Publishing under the title Follow Me To: AJourney Around the World Through the Eyes of Two Ordinary Travelers.

june, 2016 27

scan to

watch the

exclusive

interview

with the

couple:


16/23

IESEC changed my life started the AIESEC(Misr International University branch, Cairo)

president, Donya Tarek. Before she joined AIESEC,she had no idea what she was doing. She hadstage fright; she couldnt even pull o a presenta-tion for college.

But after she got introduced to AIESEC, everythingchanged. She was put responsible for the market-

ing, event planning and recruitment. Tarek learnedto become more independent and think for herself.

AIESEC originally stood for Association interna-tionale des tudiants en sciences conomiqueset commerciales, which is French for InternationalAssociation of Students in Economic and Com-mercial Sciences because it was once specicallydesigned for Economic and Commercial Sciencemajors, now its not major specic.

The Birth

AIESEC was founded in 1948, by an ocial in Stock-holm School of Economics, Bertil Hedberg, along

with a group of students, Jaroslav Zich from Czech-oslovakia, Jean Choplin from France and StanislasCallens from Belgium. Primarily, their aim was to ex-pand the understanding of a nation by expandingthe understanding of the individuals, changing theworld one person at a time.

What AIESEC did in Europe was no revolution. Theculture dated back to 1938, when representatives

from schools across the continent used to exchangeinformation about dierent programs and schoolsthat specialized in business and economics. Stu-dents were already carrying out internships in othercountries, but on their own. This however stoppedat the start of World War II.

Today AIESEC brings together 127 countries andterritories. It oers on an annual rate over 27,500leadership positions, 500 leadership conferencesto its membership of over 100,000 students. It ispresent in over 2,400 universities, and grants over27,500 students and recent graduates the op-portunity of an internship or even a fulltime postabroad.

AIESEC is a leading student exchange organization; Donya Tarektells us all about it.

AIESEC; what to expect VS.

june, 201628

what to notAIESEC did not only change Tarek, it also changedher father. I was never allowed to spend the nightelsewhere without parental supervision, or even stayout past 12 am. Now, all these barriers vanished.

Plot Twist

However, the AIESEC experience of some applicants

was not as owery. We talked to a random selec-tion of applicants; the lack of organization was acommon factor - be it at the application phase orat the travel phase.

Rawan Ziad, an architect juniorchose a project in China; she was

supposed to be teaching Englishfor a month and the organizerssaid they would oer accommo-

dation, a double room and food ata school, but when I got there, therewas no school, no kids, nothing.

Ziads story doesnt stop at this point; in -stead of teaching she was given a job

of giving out yers as promotion to theschool to get kids to sign up. The pro-ject said the working hours would be

from 7AM to 5PM and that Ziad wouldhave a day o every week, but that didnthappen either.

There were no dorms, the project organizers wouldjust pick a Chinese girl that was there and tell herthat shed have to take Ziad home with her for thenight. So every day Id have to take all my bagswith me because I didnt know where I was going toend up that night. Ziad didnt give up to this chaos,she left o with a Russian friend who was also therethrough AIESEC, and spent the stay sightseeing andadventuring in China.

Aya Aly, a journalism senior had a similar problem.She applied for a project in Moscow, Russia. Theproject was not the same as the one she appliedfor, we mostly did nothing. Most of the AIESEC repsin Moscow couldnt speak in English so it was reallyhard to communicate, Aly added.

She tried to solve this problem by reaching out toAIESEC members in Egypt, and when that failed shecontacted high ranks in AIESEC Egypt, but also withno luck.

There was also a very peculiar problem; all thegirls who asked for one-gender rooms went to ndout theyre mixed.

However, she never regretted this experience, somewent back home, and some others like Aly justignored AIESEC and enjoyed the countr y. This wasAlys second time with AIESEC, she said that the rsttime was far o better.

Despite of the hassle she found in China, Ziad alsosays she doesnt regret it. It was still a new expe-rience; something I got passed and would like togo somewhere else thats new. In the end, I got afriend out of this bad experience, and got to gosightseeing, which I wouldnt have had the time forif I kept working with those people.

Welcome to Moscow

They woke us up at 5AM to give out yers for the

whole day and wed go to dierent towns every-day and sometimes wed go to 3 towns a dayand we could only leave when they said whichwas at 9 -10PM. Ziad told us.

june, 2016 29


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other of two and expecting a third, SaraKashef says that, the maturity level of the kid,

distance and means of travel, in-room supervision,proper segregation; these are all factors thatwould aect my decision. Depends on the overallbehavior of the child, if hes not well behaved Iwont let him go.

Parents need to plant the love of discovery andadventure in their children, says Yasmine ElRashidy,Gazefs CEO and founder; Gazef is a campersgroup specialized in adventure travel. They shouldalways keep pushing them to discover and extendtheir boundaries. They should never make themafraid of traveling and new experiences.

Campers should exert an eort tomake the parents rest assured;

ElRashidy says, we present themwith all the info they need, we

take high safety precautionsin everything we do. A local

guide and a certied Gazef Chaperone alwaysaccompany the group. We take very good care ofeveryone. We look at the smallest detail down to ifa child is allergic to something.

Whereas Wild Guanabanas Omar Samra, the rstEgyptian to climb Mount Everest, says that one wayto convince the parents to go with them. If the tripis going to require the kids to travel alone, you justhave to be very detailed, in terms of explainingeverything thats going to happen, all the securitymeasures and precautions you have taken, Samra

added. He also shares statistics of previous tripsWild Guanabana has done, proving that theyvegone on so much trips without going throughtragic incidents. Just getting them tounderstand what is it really that the kidsare going to be embarking on.

What to ask when picking a troupe:

Inji Hafed, a head teacher in GreenValley School, a school famous for itscreatively well-planned educationalcamps and eld trips, gives parents alist of things to ask when registering their childin a camp.

Parents should ask for reachable contacts; thereshould be a specic time to receive phone calls.

Eating times is another aspect parentsshould worry about. Hafed also pointedthat campers should provide parents withthe day-to-day program

The weather forecast should be accuratelyresearched to know what kind of clothes theyshould pack.

Hafed added, to reinforcecredibility, campers shouldalso provide the parents withinformation and backgroundof instructors, whether theyrelocals or foreigners.

Trusting CampersTo let your child travel with a group of specialized campers takescourage and true passion.M

june, 201630

A child who travelsThere are many benets to travel especially for children; benets

only travel can produce.

Life is not aboutthe destinationits about the

journey.

hildren who are familiar withtravel at a very young age

will be familiar with many sortsof things. They will know how to lookout for themselves, requiring minimalassistance.

You arent the center of the uni-verse, is one lesson they learn. Theyimmerse themselves in stories aboutother people; their souls almost

depart from their bodies and hov-er over other bodies and places.Thats when they learn that every-thing they do isnt about them; theylearn benevolence.

In travel, plans rarely work; some-thing always comes up. A child whotravels will learn that things dont al-ways turn out the way they planned,sometimes they learn it the harderway. Therefore they learn how tomove on and be content with whatthey have rather than what they donot.

When a child travels, they try newthings. Trying new things exposesthem to dierent scopes of reality,

which therefore builds a good da-tabase that gives them condence.

Reading a map is an essential skill;children who learn how to readmaps are slowly learning their roadto independence. Asking for direc-tions marks you as a tourist, AKA: aneasy target for a con artist.

Everything related to travel requirespatience, starting with booking thetickets, applying for the visa andshopping for supplies.

Part of learning about a dierentculture includes getting to know itshistory. History is all around us whentraveling. A local is so used to it heusually doesnt see it; it gets a trav-eller to notice the subtle historicalelements hidden within the architec-ture and culture.

A child who travels will graduallylearn that life is not about the desti-nation its about the journey. Learn-ing this philosophy at a young agewill save the child a lot of disap-pointments and will help them ma-ture.

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ts like entering a fairytale. Everything about Peru is veryexotic in the fairytale kind of way. The South Americanrepublic is located at the far west of the continent, its

side bordered by the Pacic Ocean from the west. Thedominant mother tongue is Spanish.

The reason why Peru with the kids is a good idea isbecause of the nature glorifying the republics existence.The blend of the remnants of the ancient Peruviancivilization and the scenery is just magnicent.

Another reason is that most kids in the Middle Eastnowadays are very aware of European and American

cultures from the media and westernized schools. Peruenjoys a very dierent culture; it s a multi-ethnic communityjust like its neighboring countries in South America, wherepeople from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities liveside-by-side.

This will broaden your kids horizons at a very young ageand will help them deal and act upon dierences with anopen mind later on.

Traveling with kids is a challenge, but in the end its all about thejourney and the journey depends on the destination.

I

Welcome to the Capital: Lima

If theres going to be any rul es for traveling, never miss thecaptial will denitely be one of them.

You must not leave Lima without visiting these four places:Stir the wheel towards a spiritual ride blended with art;

june, 2016

the Cathedral of Lima is famous for its beautifulwood work.

Take a tour around 3000 years of Peruvian art inthe Museo de Art de Lima. Travelers have estimatedthat it would take you a couple of hours to absorb30 centuries worth of art. You can even downloadtheir mobile app to show you around using the mu-seums free WiFi. The museum oers free entrance onThursday after 3 PM and all of Friday. The regularprice of the ticket is PEN 30, which makes around

USD 9.

Souvenirs? That means Artesanias Las Pallas. Its aprivate house and store. The owner has been col-lecting unusual artisinal objects all her life, and thedisplays and interior are as interesting as the ob-jetcs.

You cant leave Lima without tasting the Peruvianchocolatier and getting a chance to make someyourself! Head to Choco Museu and try some oftheir tea and some good to God chocolate. Somenice fellow will tell you the brief history of cacaoand then teach you how to make chocolate paste.

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Lake Titicaca

Row your boat gently down the stream of LakeTiticaca; boost the teamwork between your familymembers.

Things you must do in Peru

Machu Picchu

Spend a day here; get lost in the lost city of Incas.Climb the Rocky Mountains, stop for fruits andsandwiches, the mountains are beautiful and the viewfrom above is incredible.

Cordillera Blanca

Walk between the green valleys and watch the cloudsas they oat above.

Things to know before you go

You have to keep in mind that Peru is con-sidered a third world underdevelopedcountry; the level of cleanliness is generallynot up to royal standards. Always keep san-itizers and wet wipes in your bags.

Hikes will expose you to too much sun; youllneed sunscreen with a high SPF. You will also

meet ies and possibly mosquitos every-where; an insect repellent spray would bea good idea.

When commuting from one place to the oth-er travel by Economicobus, the low-budgetPeruvian public transportation; other thansaving money, it will bringyou all in direct contact with the real Peru-vian life. You will see the vendors enteringthe bus to sell stu; you will listen to thepopular music as the driver plays a songfrom the folklore.

The best time to travel to Peru: From May through October is known to

be the driest season in Peru. The highest travel seasons, when Peru is

packed with tourists, are July and Au-gust.

From June to September, in the highlands,

days are clear and often spectacularlysunny, with chilly or downright cold nights,especially at high elevations. For trek-king in the mountains, including the IncaTrail, these are by far the best months.

The best thing about Peru is that its allinclusive, youll nd culture, nature andmore than one adventure!

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34

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN PACK

Theres another very important matter thatneeds to be studied; the kind of bag youshould buy. But that needs a whole article,which youll nd in the next issue.

acking your luggage is one of the rst steps tomake your trip easier before traveling. So it needs

full concentration and careful planning and organi-zation.

SPACE

Roll - dont fold. Rolling your t-shirts and blouses in-stead of folding them saves so much space in yourbag. Always remember to travel with a bag one-thirdempty; you never know what you will travel back with.

Pack bubble wrap. Chances are youll always needbubble wrap when packing souvenir mugs, delicategifts and others; it saves a lot of space rather thankeeping the items in their boxes. Dont count on ndingbubble wrap wherever youre going.

Stu underwear, charging cords and socks into mugs,cups, shoes to save space in your luggage.

When you scatter so many small items all over yourluggage, it will gradually consume so much space.Fitting these items in little sacks would keep the spaceunder control. Pack extra sacks for laundry.

Instead of putting your footwear in a dierent bag,wrap them up with a disposable plastic shower cap;this will also save space and protect your cleanclothes from getting contaminated with the lth on thefootwears sole.

Make traveling with luggage easier

Before you hop on to your ight or any means oftransportation, you are going to leave your belong-ings to the unknown for sometime. So you dont knowwhat kind of misfortunate coincidences and situationsyour luggage will go through in your absence. Havingthe insider of your luggage lined with water-resistantelements and garments will save you a lot of worry.

You will need a shoe-in. Travel requires l ots of walking,especially that youll probably get lost most of thetime. Therefore having a shoe-in will help you take oyour shoe and free your swollen foot.

Heres a very helpful trick that will save you so mucheort when going to the airport and when draggingyour trolley on your way to your stay destination. Packheavier items closest to the wheels, which are almostalways at the bottom of your bag.

For easily wrinkled items, theres a plastic bag trick.Spread a plastic bag on your bed, and then spreadyour garment on the plastic bag. Fold or roll the gar-ment like you would normally do without the plasticbag and place it in the bag.

Pack a collapsible laundry bag to air your dirty laun-dry in your room; this will help you organize your be-longings. When the day of departure from your triparrives, youll know the clean clothes from the uncleanand things will be easier when packing.

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Watch out for PickpocketsTraveling puts you in confrontation with many risks, theft is one of them.

If youre a tourist, you are an easy-target.

e a traveler, not a tourist. Try not to attract atten-tion, dont fuss a lot with maps and brochures, and

blend in with the locals.

Know your rights

Before you go to a country, make sure you know yourrights as a civilian on this foreign land. Dont underesti-mate the power of the information; it could save you somuch misery.

Keep a little cash with you

Its better to leave most of your cash in the safe of theplace youre staying at. Dont dwell around with all thecash you brought with you. You could keep little cashfor maybe ice cream or some other expenses and havea credit card with you, because if - God forbid - yougot pickpocketed youd be able to retrieve the cashyou have on your credit card.

Photocopies of important documents

Keep photocopies of key documents, like your passport,rail pass, car rental voucheretc. And leave the origi-nals at the place youre staying at, that way youll avoidthe risk of having your original documents pickpocketedand in result spend the rest of your trip trying to retrieveor replace them.

Leave the luxury

As much as its tempting, luxurious items make you a veryeasy target even for the most amateur pickpocket. Justleave what you can leave at home, and travel with theleast posh things.

Back up your digital photos

If youre traveling with a digital camera, make it a hab-it to upload them somewhere or have them saved onyour laptop every night before you go to bed. I knowit would hurt you badly if you get your camera stolen,but it would kill you to have all the memories capturedstolen along with it.

Secure your bagEither with your luggage or your cross or belt bag, se-curing it with a lock is always a clever idea. Anytimeyoure inattentive to your belongings, the lock will doits job.

Dont get distracted

Sometimes thieves would stage ghts to distract youfrom your belongings. They would pretend theyre curs-ing at someone and then maybe throw a couple of stsin the others jaw, gathering some other locals blendedwith a handful of tourists you among them. Dont fall forit, dont get distracted.

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Dine in Like anItaliano

Pizzas & pastas are great, but thats not the onlycuisine Italians are good at.

Ingredients:orthisnon-alcoholicMarsalasubstitute:

1/4cupofwhitegrapejuice

1tablespoonvanillaextract

2tablespoonsofsherryvinegar

1/4-cup all-purpose our for coating

1/2-teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves -pounded 1/4 inch thick

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2-cup Marsala wine,

1/4 cup cooking sherry

n this issue well melt your hearts (along with ours) with this magnicent Chicken Marsalarecipe, whichserves four people and takes around 30 minutes to be ready.

june, 201636

In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the our, salt, pepper and oregano.

Coat chicken pieces in our mixture.

In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat.

Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown.

Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry.

Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Directions:

Ingredients:4 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/8 cup grated Romano cheese

1/2-cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 clove garlic, minced

2 sprigs fresh par sley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1-tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Coat a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.

Place tomato slices close together in prepared

baking dish.

Sprinkle with cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley,

salt, pepper, and oregano.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until

cheese is lightly toasted.

Directions:

A good side dish would work great with this hotstu. So weve brought you Baked TomatoesOregano.The recipe serves four people tooand takes around 35 minutes to be ready.

TIP: Aluminum foil can be u sed to keep food moist,cook it evenly, and make cleanup easier.

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38

This Issue's Movie Review:

WILDheryl is a wreck. Shes a damaged thirty-somethingwoman, who walked out of a failed marriage and

took o for a long hike near the Mexican borders.

Our hero here seems to juggle an ongoing dilemma insideher head throughout her hike, she keeps telling herselfyou can quit anytime, but she doesnt. Her memories ofher mother seem to keep her going, refusing to fail hermothers hope in her as a human being.

Before the hike, Cheryl hated herself. The hike brought herto peace with herself, completely isolated from peopleand routine. She reads poetry and turns the pagesof ashbacks. She reects events and people she met,things shes done.

Wild is about healing the emotional damage(s) throughself-discovery. Self-discovery doesnt happen overnight,it takes courage, eort and time. The movie is packedwith symbolism; Cheryl has been walking around with a

backpack more than half her length, which of coursecauses her back pain. When she stops at Kennedy

Meadows the cook starts ltering what she needs andwhat she doesnt to save her the strain. Cheryl learns howto let go of things she doesnt need, she additionallycomments, I dont know what I was thinking when shepacked a saw.

Awards:

Witherspoon won best actress forthis lm in the Dallas-Fort WorthFilm Critics Association Awards in2014and Iowa Film Critics Awardsin 2015.

While Valle won bestbreakthrough director in theHollywood Film Awards in 2014.

Powerfully moving and emotionally resonant, Wild nds director Jean-Marc Valle and star Reese Witherspoon working at the peak of their

respective powers. Rotten Tomatoes

june, 2016

scan to watch

the trailer:

39

Watch What You

Gesture1. Thumbs up

hile its universally acknowledgedthat a thumb up is an en-

couraging gesture that impliesthat youre doing well or thateverythings alright, some parts ofthe Middle East consider it oensive.

2. Come here

The curled nger that gestures to come here orget closer is normally interchanged between hu-mans in the west. Whereas in some parts of Asia thegesture is so rude it could get you arrested; itsonly used for beckoning dogs.

3. Rock on

While the Rock on sign is universallyknown to be a sign used by rock

music enthusiasts and others to sig-nal rocking on, in Latin countries its adierent story. In Argentina, Brazil, Co-lumbia, Cuba, Spain, Italy and Portugalthis sign means to tell a man that hes so oblivioushe doesnt know his wife is cheating on him.

4. Three-fngered OK

When Richard Nixon visited Bra-zil in the fties and ashed a

three-ngered OK sign at the Brazilian crowd hewas met with a roar of boos.

However in Greece and Turkey, if youre a guy andashed the three-ngered OK sign it would meanyoure gay.

5. The V Sign

Its a sign for peace or victory, be-came popular when used by Amer-ican protestors marching againstthe war on Vietnam. However in theUK, Australia and South Africa when making the Vsign with the back of your hand facing the otherperson, its very oensive.

6. Looking at your watch

While it may be an innocent move to many cul -tures, in the Middle East looking at your watch inthe middle of a conversation is very rude.

7. Fingers crossed

Its originated from the pagan sym-bols that mean to ward o evil. So ifyou were in an ultra religious culture,

What seems friendly at home could mean otherwise at another end ofthe world.

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june, 2016 4340

this gesture would be most likely frowned upon. In Vietnam, however, they resemble crossed ngers tothe lady privates. So, as sexist as this might sound, ashing crossed ngers at someone would be veryinsulting to the Vietnamese.

8. Pointing a fnger

Pointing a nger at a stranger is no big deal in some places. However, in the MiddleEast for example, its like youre telling the person at the other end to get ready fora disciplinary lecture.

9. Finger snap

A nger snap is usually done to signal hurr y or something similar. But in parts of the Far East, snappingngers close to someones face is considered very rude.

10. The wait sign

The wait sign often means, wait. But in Italy, the wait sign means what the heck do you want now?

They say Italy is the land of 250 hand gestures. Well seeabout that in the next issue.

june, 2016

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