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Published: June 28th 2005
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All Wrapped up
Mummy "j" during game night on the Nile Cruise. Tell King Tut “I want my Mummy” …words from a song the kids learned in school years ago. Since we’re in Egypt, the land of Pyramids, Tombs and MUMMIES, wanting our “mummy” is precisely how we find ourselves feeling. Egypt has a way of making even the toughest among us feel like a child. Standing at the feet of a vast temple, thousands of years old, with awe inspiring artwork carved into it’s facade is akin to a child’s wide-eyed wonder on Christmas morning. While the travel challenges of Egypt remind us of being a kid in the back seat of the car whining “Are we there yet?”
From the moment of our arrival we realized things in Egypt were going to be more challenging than the previous 4 months of our journey. When entering the country we needed to buy our visas. "A" had to plead with the Egyptian Banker to take Egyptian pounds. "A" asked the teller, “We are in Egypt aren‘t we?” to which he only shrugged his shoulders. They insisted on US dollars. Since we have been traveling for quite a while we don’t carry much US money, but withdraw local currency from ATM’s in
Moses Scene
The pharaonic Village re-enacting the scene of Moses being found by Pharaoh's daughter. each country. After 4 exchange windows "A" finally convinced a teller to take their OWN currency. Following this strange experience we made our way through customs and began to look for transportation to our hotel. We were immediately surrounded by persistent drivers all offering us a ride. Doug, an Australian friend from our previous tour (a pilot and seasoned traveler) happened to be on the same flight so we decided to share a ride. We explained to the people at the transportation desk that Doug was staying at a Novotel hotel near the airport and our Conrad hotel was downtown (a 40 minute drive). They assured us that Doug could be dropped of first and then we would go on to the Conrad. Sounds simple, right? NOT…after 20 minutes, we began to get nervous about Doug getting dropped off, since his hotel was supposed to be very near the airport. Doug asked the driver “Are you taking me to the Novotel?” That’s when we all realized that the driver could speak absolutely NO English! To make a long story short, poor Doug got a “free ride” into town and back to his hotel near the airport. Oh, and did we
Nile River
The view from the Old Cataract Hotel mention this was all after midnight and the traffic was still like rush hour in Orlando, Florida! Are we there yet?
Just a little more whining before we tell you the good part. Egypt is not for the faint of heart or stomach! When taking to the roads in Cairo, it‘s best for the faint of heart to close your eyes! The drivers in Egypt are fearless. There seem to be no stoplights, (at least we haven seem one) the lines of traffic aren’t actual lines but more like guidelines. Sometimes there are 2 lanes, sometimes 4 or more… whatever they can fit seems to be fine, including carts pulled by mules, horse drawl carriages and gutsy pedestrians. The most important part on an Egyptian car seems to be the horn. As for the faint of stomach…yuk! Tummy troubles ARE a part of travel in Egypt. Of our tour of 11 people everyone (except "a" and the guide) has had stomach problems. Having an upset stomach in Egypt’s overwhelming heat is not fun! We won’t go into too much detail there…but our advice is to bring plenty of gastric medication! Thank goodness for "A"’s dad (he’s a doctor) and
the medicine he suggested we bring. It has saved the day and made it possible to hang in there on our tour. Okay, enough whining, you get the point!
On to the childlike wonder we have all felt when seeing the beauty of Egypt. We had a few days in Cairo before our tour began so we did a few things on our own. One evening we went to the sound & light show at the Great Pyramids. It was remarkable to see the pyramids against the starry sky and hear the ancient stories about the Pharaohs who had them built. We visited the Pharaonic Village where actors re-enact scenes of ancient Egyptian life. Not all of our time was spent on history and culture, we took in a movie (Batman begins) at a new mall in Cairo called City Stars.
We met our tour of 10 (4 Aussies, 2 British and us) and our Egyptian tour guide Abdu to take a flight to Aswan where we stayed one night at the beautiful Old Cataract Hotel. The 100 year old Hotel was used by many of Egypt’s past kings as a vacation palace. The view from our terrace
Philae Temple
Our sail boat took us to to the temple that was moved after the high dam flooded the original site. was like sometime out of movie. It overlooked the Nile River and ancient ruins with the Sahara Desert in the distance. While in Aswan we saw the unfinished obelisk, the high dam and took a felucca (sail boat) ride to Philae Temple. Abdu, a fluent English speaker, was a wealth of information on the history of Egypt. He is friendly and outgoing with a twinkle in his eyes. We can tell he loves sharing the wonder of Egypt with us.
Our Nile cruise was a wonderful experience. Sailing along on our ship (the Tower) watching the scenes of life on the Nile and the dry desert seem to be the best way to go. The activities on board included Egyptian dress dinner, games and a belly dancing show. We stopped in Kom Ombo to visit the temple of Sobek. Abdu told us how fortunate we were to be here when the crowds are small. It was an educational visit but very hot and we were all happy to return to our cool cabins for a rest. We docked at Edfu and took a horse-drawn carriage ride to the Temple of Horus dedicated to the falcon headed god. It was
Nile Cruise
The girls on the deck of the Tower late afternoon so the unbelievable heat was radiating from all of the stone of the temple. Abdu checked and told us it was 103 degrees. Still it was worth being uncomfortable for a while to see and hear the history of the temple. Then back to the ship for a cool shower…ahhhh
During our Nile cruise we also visited the Valley of the Kings on a very hot day… it is the desert after all. It’s the burial place of the pharaohs of the 18th , 19th and 20th dynasties. We entered 3 of the tombs to see the detailed paintings of Egyptian life covering the walls and the burial chambers. You can still see the colors of the paint after more than 4 thousand years. (Wish we could buy some at the Home Depot) Next we went to the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut it is a very interesting and beautiful place. The story of Hatshepsut tells us she was the only woman in Egypt’s history to be a pharaoh. She was married to Tuthmosis II and at his death decided she should become the pharaoh. Her step son Tuthmosis III was very unhappy with this and some
Temple of Sobek
"A" and "J" trying not to look hot...you insert joke here. believe may have had her killed. No one is sure, but we did learn that he had her image removed from every place he could by having it chiseled off.
In Luxor we stayed at the Winter Palace Hotel and saw the impressive ruins of Karnak and Luxor Temples. Karnak’s Temple of Amun is the world’s largest columned temple. We attended the sound and light show to hear the history of ancient Thebes on a balmy, starry night. At Luxor temple we marveled at the obelisk and colossal statues.
Our next journal will about returning to Cairo for a camel ride to the Pyramids, the Egyptian Museum and Sakkara.
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Mary Beth
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The Bond Girls
Cleopatra has nothing on these Bond Girls. You all look like you're really enjoying this Bonding experience. The girls are growing up before our eyes. Thank you for sharing your journey.