July 4: Happy Birthday, America!! Seeing Egypt from a felucca on the Nile is just horrible. The cool breeze that fills the sail of your felucca as your expert Captain perfectly trims the sails, the exquisitely prepared traditional meals (in the absence of everything but a hot burner, no less) and the gorgeous scenery flowing by as you head north of Aswan downriver, are just stressful;-) Seriously, don't come to Egypt without having this experience. This does include sleeping on deck, exposed to the elements with the other members of your party, digging your own bathroom, etc. - so [View Full Entry]

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July 3: Giant Statues, Anyone?? Boarded a 3:30am van for a pre-dawn caravan across the Sahara to Abu Simbel. Everything is better here before dawn - the absence of Level 6 HHI somehow made the experience of viewing statues 4,000 years old a pleasant experience, as well as educational. The temple of Philae was next - nothing short of unbelievable - its main purpose to worship the goddess isis. HHI: a solid Level 6. Had to browbeat the boat Captain for a decent round trip fare to and from the island. Tried to charge us five times what the trip should [View Full Entry]

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July 2: Happy Birthday, DeVandolyn!! Arrived in Aswan via overnight train from Cairo. Ahmed, our tour guide, volunteered to drive the train because "Even I could drive better than this . Although the stops were tough, the service was impeccable and various members of our group were exhilarated to find that the drink menu included !beer!. Steady non-alcohol diet, as a result of limited availability will not suit standards of our Irish friends. The Aussie's in the group are barely surviving on a steady diet of water, sprint and mango juice. The cleanliness [View Full Entry]

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June 26: Marriage survives packing June 27: To Be...or Not To Be Left only pen, not for distribution, with check-in desk...good thing we had a boxful of useless others packed underneath the plane! First trip expenditure included new pen at Hudson Book's for $4.50. At least it depicted good sites to visit while in Chicago... Next time we're there, we'll have to check those out. Flight from Chicago to NYC delayed 90 minutes. Ran to catch connection only to find door closed. Tears and sympathy worked: door opened. We managed to get on board for two separated seat [View Full Entry]

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