To Alexandria and Beyond...

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Up early and on the road, with the comical hope of missing the insane traffic of Cairo. The traffic here makes Dubai seem serene - it's insane. They can fit four cars and a motorcycle abreast in a two lane road and seem to consider traffic lights (and their attendant traffic officers) as decorative. Mayhem to the soundtrack of horns. The driver told us they "Toot and Come On." He laughed every time he said this. Crossing the road was too traumatic to report without extensive therapy first.

We made our way slowly out of the city then zoomed to Alexandria where we admired the Greek influences on the country, caught up on ancient history, and admired even more Ramses II feats and body parts. Ultimately we paced outside the new library, frustrated by the fact that it was closed and that we'd never be able to walk the aisles of what we had been assured was the most complete library in the universe. The town was lovely, especially the boardwalk, bustling with bouncy kids and locals fishing but surprisingly few tourists. Once again the kids were beset by admirers wanting to pose with them for pictures. They (the sisters Harte) believe it's because they're just so darn purty, but I think it's because they have such a kind and gentle mother. Paul thinks it's because their father is handsome. Jury's out.

Next day we spent in town, visiting Old Cairo, Islamic Cairo, the City of the Dead, Coptic Cairo and the Cairo Museum. It was an incredible day. We visited a beautiful mosque (lots of them around); the city's only synagogue; and the exact site where Jesus, Joseph, Mary and Mary M. lived for a while. This fact is proven. Our guide explained the evidence was a cross carved into the stone walls in the basement of St Sergius' Church. This needs further investigation. We were speechless driving in the cemetary, seeing the people living in squallor, protecting family graves in exchange for shelter. The museum was everything you'd expect it to be - gorgeous artifacts including the contents of King Tut's tomb and mummies.

After a thoroughly satisfying day, we humped our stuff onto a sleeper train and headed up to Luxor. We arrived just after 5 am and were met by a guide who took us to the Valley of the Kings to see Tut's mummy, to the Valley of the Queens to see more tombs, the Luxor and Karnak temples, and then lunch. A very long morning. The history is awesome, can only be described with superlatives. Same with the heat. To escape being cooked, our guide took us to a place called Banana Island - aptly named. We meandered there, stuffing our faces like apes, rubbing elbows with locals, trying to figure out how to get those mandarins out of the trees and into our bellies. An unexpected, secret, wonderful couple of hours.

The day in Luxor ended with the sound and light show at the Karnak Temple. A soundtrack with some historical details, some dramatization, and some spotlighting was played over loudspeakers as we were sheppherded through the huge temple. The temple was impressive in the day; at night it was sublime. What added to this was the fact that there was a sudden and vicious sandstorm, blinding us and turning everything yellow. It was great fun - the kids ran around yelling about sore eyes while Paul and I enjoyed the drama of being buffeted by the wind. Our flight out was delayed due to the storm, but ultimately we made it back to Cairo, sand in our ears and between our toes and everywhere else, but happy.

Our final day in Egypt was spent wandering in the markets, not buying Aladdin lamps or water pipes, admiring the creative spiels that got better with every refusal to shell out.

Another trek back to Dubai, a brutal 7 hours slumped on airport seats then off to Greece to start the European leg of our journey home.

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Photos

The Alexandrian Theatre
This Greek amphitheatre had graffiti carved into the seats, no doubt by ancient hoodlums. The acoustics were spectacular.

Comments

[Ruth]

Rationale behind desire for pics
I once again must express my concern for Joshua. He is decidedly absent from mention in the above blog. Have you lost him somewhere along the way?

[CanadianKiwis]

Don't tell CAS...
Of course we haven't lost Precious, Ruth. He fits nicely into Paul's suitcase.