It is my 31st birthday and I don't want a party... all I want is to see MORE of Egypt!
We decided to take a day trip to Ismailia and visit the open air military museum. The drive there only took about 3 hours (that includes the ridiculous amount of time we spent at a military checkpoint). They did not understand why a foreigner was so interested in this place. Mohanned tried to explain that I am interested in everything Egypt has to offer. They still didn't get it. The ending results is Mohanned simply said I was crazy and wanted to go to every single point in Egypt. They accepted the "crazy" part and let us pass.
We drove our car slowly onto the ferry (which was FREE!) and waited until all the other cars and people loaded. We were off! We slowly made it across the Suez canal from the Africa side of Ismailia to the Asia side of Ismailia. The difference from one side of the river to the other was amazing. On the African side it was lush with vegetation and people, buildings, animals and color. The Asian side was the vast desert with few passing cars and mainly strict military posts.
After driving a few kilometers we reached our destination. We got out of the car. Egyptian law states that if you are married to an Egyptian then you are an Egyptian yourself when it comes to paying the fees (which are dramatically different prices). We bought our 3 tickets 3 le each and entered. We began our walk up the steep hill and began looking at the military stuff that were placed within the cases.
After moving from the cased items area we got to explore the tanks and trucks that were left behind from the Israeli Army several years before during the Sinai war.
After the tanks and the trucks we went into the bunkers and got a great view from above!
At the top we saw....
After playing in the sand at the top of the barracks we decided to go below and see what we could find and get into!
We decided to take a day trip to Ismailia and visit the open air military museum. The drive there only took about 3 hours (that includes the ridiculous amount of time we spent at a military checkpoint). They did not understand why a foreigner was so interested in this place. Mohanned tried to explain that I am interested in everything Egypt has to offer. They still didn't get it. The ending results is Mohanned simply said I was crazy and wanted to go to every single point in Egypt. They accepted the "crazy" part and let us pass.
We drove our car slowly onto the ferry (which was FREE!) and waited until all the other cars and people loaded. We were off! We slowly made it across the Suez canal from the Africa side of Ismailia to the Asia side of Ismailia. The difference from one side of the river to the other was amazing. On the African side it was lush with vegetation and people, buildings, animals and color. The Asian side was the vast desert with few passing cars and mainly strict military posts.
After driving a few kilometers we reached our destination. We got out of the car. Egyptian law states that if you are married to an Egyptian then you are an Egyptian yourself when it comes to paying the fees (which are dramatically different prices). We bought our 3 tickets 3 le each and entered. We began our walk up the steep hill and began looking at the military stuff that were placed within the cases.
After moving from the cased items area we got to explore the tanks and trucks that were left behind from the Israeli Army several years before during the Sinai war.
After the tanks and the trucks we went into the bunkers and got a great view from above!
At the top we saw....
After playing in the sand at the top of the barracks we decided to go below and see what we could find and get into!
Enough playing it is time to eat!
After crossing over the Suez Canal again I used Google to find a place to eat. When we went in we were the only customers. Most people would get curious about why... me, on the other hand, viewed it as more of a diamond in the rough. The owner waited on us and was extremely nice. The food was great, huge quantities and fresh! This is a place that we decided we will come back to and visit again.
There is a lot in Ismailia that we didn't get to see. It is definitely a city that is overlooked by many Egyptians and foreigners.
