The Temple of Queen Hatsepshut and Edfu

Our Guide had an interesting true story to tell us.  Back in about 1997 several groups of tourists were attacked here (at Queen Hatshepsut Temple) by forces under the command of Osama bin-Laden.  About 67 people were killed.  Our guide was there with two tourists.  Apparently bin Laden got word that there was to be a group of Israeli tourists visiting the temple and scheduled an attack.  Massad got wind of it and canceled the Israeli tour unbeknownst to the terrorists.  According to Abdul the tourist groups there were Japanese, German and northern European.  Abdul  hid in terror in a cave near the temple with the young man he was touring with.  The young woman who was with them was one of the casualties.  It was a very sad tale , one that Abdul says helps him when he relates it to his tour groups at Hatshepsut.  Apparently that Egyptian queen had quite a story ruling Egypt over the objections of her stepson.  He managed to get rid of her under suspicious circumstances and then worked really hard to destroy her temple and any memory of her!  We then saw the Colossi of Memnon.  I always thought they were huge (at least in pictures) but they did not seem all that colossal in person......

We went to Edfu where we saw the temple of Horus.  Horus is Shelly's favorite Egyptian god and  Abdul was raised near the temple.  He told us how this temple was the one that inspired him to become an Egyptologist!  It was a lovely temple with great carvings!  One word of caution...we were taken to the temple by horse drawn carriage.  Our guide warned us that the drivers (in fact the people in Edfu) could be quite aggressive in a hostile way.  We gave him our tip money for the drivers so we would not have to be involved in the negotiations.  It was a good thing because one of the drivers became quite hostile when he found out he would not get more money out of us!

We are still on the boat at night.  It is so pleasant to sail while you are sleeping in bed.  Nice gentle rocking.

Next the fabulous temples of Abidos and Dendara.

Christine xx

Das Boot! and the Temple of Isis at Philae

Today was the day we boarded our boat.  We had been upgraded to the Dolce Vita.  I had never been on a cruise ship before so was really impressed with this.  Looked a little ghetto to me at first with huge pictures of musicians painted on the sides but the rooms were very nice.  On the agenda for today was the Temple of Isis at Philae, Agha Khan Mauseleum and Elephantin Island as well as a ride on a felucca boat.  I am amazed at all the different modes of transportation we have been on (as well as the many number of ways to flush a toilet...ask Shelly about that!).  We sailed to the Temple of Isis which was very impressive.  I could just imagine how beautiful it was in its day.  Again many of the temples had to be moved when the high dam was built but they are no less impressive in their new locations.  Some new islands were created when the lake filled as mountains were covered with water and only the tops are visible.  Our boat ran out of gas on the way back to the mainland so we were towed in by another boat!  The Mausoleum of Agha Khan was impressive and there was a very romantic love story surrounding it.  Apparently his wife went every morning to the mausoleum after he had died and left a red rose there.  After her death (some 30-40 years later) the caretakers of the mausoleum continued the tradition, leaving two roses to represent the true and eternal love of the couple.  The felucca ride was nice and we took pictures of ourselves putting our hands in the Nile (and then another picture to prove we used hand sanitizer afterward).  There wasn't much wind though so it was slow going.  We went to the Nubian Village on Elephatine Island.  As we disembarked we were met with a herd of the cutest little goats I had ever seen.  It was like they were thinking "oh joy!  more people!"  We walked into the village where the people were very poor...yet very happy people!  We visited a museum of various flora and fauna of the area.  Shelly and I got henna tatoos on our arms (they wear off after 10 or so days).  It was very pleasant sitting on the roof of a house in a quiet village...so peaceful and beautiful as we could look out over the gardens.  We then visited another woman in her home and had tea while visiting with her family.  It was interesting to see the contrast of village life with the more lively city life.  Our guide explained that the people of Nubia were displaced after the high dam was built and Nubia was submerged under the water.  The government moved the people, some to Egypt and some to Darhfur.  Interestingly an entire gold mine was submerged! (We were also told that at one time silver had more value than gold because it was more scarce.)

When we arrived back at the boat we discovered the crew was very gifted at arranging our bath towels to look like a swan!  In fact every night on the boat we were met with a new arrangement! (The funniest one was the monkey hanging from the ceiling!)

We hve decided to go the extra gauntlet and visit two temples not on our itinerary but very worth seeing according to Abdul.  The next couple of days re going to be crazy busy!!!

Christine xx

Abu Simbel and The Camel Incident

After a rather late night flying to Aswan, a beautiful little resort town, we were up bright and early for a flight to Abu Simbel.  There we were privileged to see the Temple of Ramses II and the Temple of his favorite wife, Nefertary.  These two  temples had to be moved back from the Nile River after they built the high dam and created Lake Nasser.  This was to reduce the damage caused by the flooding of the Nile River four months out of the year!  Some very skilled engineers cut each temple into blocks, marked them according to their position, and then re-assembled them on higher ground.  There was already some damage to the structure from the flooding and from a huge earthquake that occurred a couple thousand years ago.  This was the first of our "Indiana Jones" adventures when for severl days we were climbing in and out of tombs and temples.  We truly felt like explorers and even though there had been others before us the feeling was like we had discovered them ourselves.  Unlocking history and secrets from the past was great fun and we frequently overwhelmed our Egyptologist with our questions and observations.  Both temples had beautiful hieroglyphs and even though some had lost their colors others were brilliantly colored and covered in gold!  There were huge statues guarding the way and when you went behind the statues you would find the smaller rooms that were so carefully and beautifully decorated.  The alters!  The carvings!!  The art!!  A miracle they had survived for thousands of years!!  We had to be careful with picture taking as flash from the cameras of thousands of visitors every year is damaging the color on the hieroglyphs so we took what we could and then bought the postcards that went with the temples.  It was a lovely morning and then we caught a flight back to Aswan.

We hd barely knocked the dust off of ourselves when it was time to visit St. Simon Monastery.   I thought I would dress up a little for the occasion and wore a skirt.  We were also visiting a Nubian Village on Elephantin Island and then the Nubian Museum in town.  We took a little boat over to the island where the monastery was and we made another discovery....we were going up the mountain by CAMEL!!!!  We were totally unprepared for this and did not receive any instruction o how to do this.  I wanted to interview the camels and find the cleanest, sweetest one, preferring two humps where I could securely ride in between them but those camels do not live in Egypt (or the Middle East for that matter!).  Camels smell really bad and I wondered why they didn't give them a bath before we got there as we re woman after all AND nurses.  Next thing I know some strong guy has PICKED ME UP and just put me on a camel!!!  Then they whacked her on the bum to make her stand up!  Now sitting on a camel in the process of standing up is a tricky one.  When the camel stands up the front parts you are supposed to lean back.  When she is standing up the hind parts you lean forward.  This is supposed to help you keep from being pitched out of the saddle.  There are no stirrups so no place to put your feet.  If your legs are long enough (mine are not) you can wrap one around the saddle horn or rest your feet at the base of the camel's neck.  Mine were pretty much sticking straight from both sides :( So up the mountain we proceed.  Another thing about camels is they move both legs on one side then both legs on the other.  It is a very jostling sort of ride!  and the saddle sits on top of the hump and it isn't all that comfortable either!  Anyway my handler kept telling me to relax (how can I relax when I constantly feel like I am a moment away from falling off the beast!).  After  a little while I could relax a bit and just move with the camel...well as much as I could when I realized the path was about two feet wide and camel looked about 3-4 feet wide and how were we going to manage this!?!  We made it up to the monastery and it was great to see something from the early Christian church that was an active monastery for almost 1000 years.  We explored and imagined what life there would be like.  Then it was the end of the day and we had to come back down the mountain.......by CAMEL!  Now the camels were tired as they had been hauling people up and down to the monastery all day!  My handler would flick his whip at her and she would trot for a little while then stop.  He did it again and same thing.  He then really gave her a flick and she took off.  I asked him to please not make my camel mad before we got down from the mountain.  My camel was sweet but Shelly's camel growled a lot at her handler.  We had to recover a bit before we could decide it was a good experience!!  Camel definitely was not going to be our preferred mode of travel!  The trip to the Nubian Village was postponed as it was so late but we still went to the Nubian Museum that evening.  I NEVER tired of looking at all of the discoveries and learning the meaning of it all!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Christine xx

The Cairo Tour

Following Alexandria we did a tour of Cairo, a very lively, very colorful and very NOISY city.  It is an interesting mix of the very modern with the old and the ancient.  We visited the citadel of Saladin and the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali, both impressive structures.  We were allowed to go into the mosque after removing our shoes and covering our heads.  It was prayer time and we observed the men in the central part of the mosque through a very ornate divider.  The art and architecture were amazing and there were interesting light fixtures and stained glass windows.  Our guide spoke to us about the history of Islam and gently touched on current politics without one word of animosity but with an eye toward mutual understanding and respect.  We then traveled to Coptic Cairo to see where the early Christian church took root in Egypt.  There we saw the crypt where it is traditionally held Joseph and Mary with the young Jesus hid after fleeing Pharoah's massacre.  We also saw the Hanging Church ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hanging_Church) and lit a candle there.  We went to the Church of Saint Sergius where bones of some of the religious leaders are still kept.  Afterward we went to the Ben Ezra Jewish Synagogue spending some thoughtful time there.  It was interesting trekking about the very narrow streets of old Cairo and finding out how much stuff one can cram into a tiny space!  We learned to eat good big breakfasts before leaving for the day because it was usually late afternoon when we were starving (and whining to our guide) and wanted food!  The ultimate visit of the day was the Egyptian National Museum!  There we saw all the things from King Tut's tomb that didn't go on national tours and it was truly spectacular!!  There were a bajillion ancient artifacts and the museum had them sorted according to time frame.  It was a stunning display!  We paid a little extra to go see the mummies and we were glad we did.  Ramses the II is how old?!?!?!  Doesn't look a day over 30 ;) !  We also didn't realize that animals were mummified and there were two crocodile mummies!!  Apparently if you were poor a piece of a critter will suffice as your sacrifice so they mummified cats, birds or pieces thereof....or made fakes if you couldn't find any pieces!!  After that very long day we were on a 2215 flight to Aswan to continue our adventure with another early morning flight to catch to Abu Simbel.  We had to leave our very nice guide, Waleed. (In all Shelly and I had seven flights during the entire trip!)  We checked into the Movenpick in Aswan a little after midnight.  Great hotel and a nice bed to fall into!  Tomorrow...Abu Simbel and Aswan.

Christine xx

Alexandria

We were up at the crack of dawn to drive to Alexandria from Cairo which takes about two hours.  I was excited to see the library and the ancient writings.  Of course the library had been destroyed many times (Julius Caesar burned it down and many ancient writings were lost) but some of the writings were still preserved.  When we arrived it was a gorgeous day!  The sea was so beautiful!  I now understand what "Mediterranean blue" looks like.  It is a wonderful color!  The sea was a bit rough as it was very windy.  That did not stop people from gathering and walking along shore.  It felt a bit chilly.  We first went to the Catacombs, another ancient treasure threatened by the water.  I could not believe how many spaces were there for people who had died.  The lower level is underwater but we were able to take the spiral staircase to see the remaining areas.  We then went to see Pompey's Pillar and the Roman Amphitheater, both great places.  We could see the ruins of a Roman bath and there was an active archeological dig and preservation project in process.  At the amphitheater we ran into some school children on  a day trip.  They asked if they could have pictures with us.   Shelly and I said sure and sat among them.  One little boy put his head on my chest and said "I feel like a rockstar!"  It was a fun little extra that had us all smiling!  The remains of the library was a very quiet place.  There was no Dewey Decimal system but I will bet you the scribes and librarians in charge knew where every document was....exactly!  Lunch was at another local eatery where we tried a selection of Egyptian foods.  We then visited THE library at Alexandria!  It is a massive library with many rooms and mini-museums.  There was quite a nice art collection and of course the antiquity writings.  Writings from all over the world are preserved there. It was on to Montazah Royal Gardens afterward!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montaza_Palace While enjoying the garden we came across a gazebo where some teens were having a birthday party.  They invited us for a treat and since it was a birthday we sand Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!  Well we ended up singing it several more times because each person had to get their cell phone video recording of the event!  FUN!  We went to the palace  to see if we could get a picture.  There was a guard there and we asked Waleed if he would ask the guard to have a picture with us.  He doubted he would but the guard said YES!!  World leaders stay at this palace for various conferences so it was nice to get a picture of it.  It is an interesting place.  Another long day and we journeyed home tired but very happy.  The next day is the tour of Cairo.


Christine xx

Egypt...The Excellent Adventure! (Part One)

Well....our plane was an hour late arriving which is excruciating for three people wanting to get the adventure started!!  My traveling companions were Diane Lee, my room mate who was going home for good after the trip, Michelle Arnell (Shelly), an Australian friend who came here the same time I did and then Diane's sister, Karen Hanna from California who joined us later in the evening.  It was a 2.5 hour flight to Cairo but very pleasant.  When we got to Cairo it was very easy to get our visa stamp and clear customs.  It was also very easy to exchange money.  If anyone doubts the power of the dollar let me tell you no matter how badly the dollar may be doing in the markets it is still the most readily accepted currency anywhere!  As we came out of the gate we were met by our travel representative and placed in a mini-van to be taken to our hotel in Giza.  We drove through Cairo which is a very colorful, very busy, very NOISY city  We saw them...we saw the pyramids!  While driving through Cairo to Giza we saw them silhouetted against the sky...black on black and we could still see them.  Our excitement and anticipation mounted as we knew we were going to see them the next day.  We arrived at our hotel, The Sofitel La Sphynx, and saw that we could see the pyramids from the lobby!!!!  We went straight to bed as we had an early morning ahead of us!

The next morning we got up bright and early!  The hotel provided a full breakfast.  We met our guide, Waleed, and off we went!  The pyramids were amazing!  The famous pyramids we saw first.  Now we know the names as well*.  Do you?  We touched them, took pictures, sat on them, climbed down in them (tricky).  We were all just in AWE!! and total WONDER!!!  Waleed saw what came to be known as "that look".  I get sort of dreamy and imaginative, eliminate all the moderness from my vision and try to imagine what it was like when the pyramids were being built, the people who built them, the degree of difficulty, the engineers who designed them, how did they know it would work?, how did they know that a little moisture between the stones would create a suction that would seal them together?  It was absolutely amazing!  We went to The Step pyramid and Titi Pyramid, the Necropolis of Saqqara and the Great Sphynx!  We also saw the Valley temple of King Chefron.  I can only imagine the skill and precision of these people who were so artistic and creative!  We then went to a papyrus shop where they showed us the plant and how it is processed for use. Afterward we had lunch at a local restaurant which was good because we were starving!  Then Waleed took us to a perfume factory (watch out for "Secret of the Desert no. 29".  Then it was to the gold manufacturers where Shelly and I got a cartouche with our names.  We then went to another local eatery where we were drummed in as welcome and a little elder lady was sitting outside making bread.  Bread is a revered food in Egypt and you will get LOTS of it!  Afterward we visited one of the carpet making schools.  I was aloud to work on a carpet!  No wonder those things are so expensive!  They are made by hand and with great precision!  Not easy!!  We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel.  A full and happy day!!  Tomorrow:  Alexandria.

Christine xx

* Cheops, Chefron, Mycerinos or in Egyptian: Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure