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Published: March 9th 2007
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CAIRO As one might expect, like most tourists in Egypt we were thrilled to visit the pyramids! We began our trip with a couple of days in Cairo which were composed of day trips to Saqqara (the oldest of pyramids which they say served as the basis for all pyramid construction methods), Memphis and the Giza Plateau. No, Elvis never lived in Egypt....this place is much older. Amazing as they were, the number of tourists was overwhelming and there was always someone new at every doorway demanding a payment. We particularly enjoyed going to the extra exhibit that housed a solar boat that had been buried in the sand over 1500 years ago. Whe dug up it was reconstructed piece by piece using only the original techniques and materials that ancient Egyptians used. It is speculated that these boats were used, but others say they merely served as symbolic tributes to the pharoahs passing safely into paradise in the afterlife.
After death and mumification, the pharoahs spirit reached the gates of the afterlife and his destiny was put to a vote by the gods. If it was a draw their hearts was weighed on a scale against the feather
of truth. If the heart is heavier than the feather, than they cannot pass on to paradise because this implies they were a no-good dirty rotten scoundrel. The feather of truth never lies. This concept, along with many others regarding Egyptian life and beliefs, is captured on hieroglyphs that have been imprinted and handpainted on papyrus paper - which is the oldest and strongest form of paper around. There are millions of replicas available for purchase in stores and from vendors on the streets! For a depiction of the scene described above see the photo of the papyrus that we bought in Cairo.
*We also did our obligatory carpet stop to check out the quality and style of carpets here in comparison to those we saw in India, Turkey and Morocco. The silk carpets seem to be of lesser quality, by in large, but Egypt seems to have a broader selection of naturally-died carpets. Think Pottery Barn indoor/outdoor carpets with a bit more design. :*)
No visit to Cairo is complete without a day at the Egyptian Museum! Many artifacts were taken away for preservation in other parts of the world (the Egyptians like to reference Napoleonic France
in this scenario). However, much was left in place and the museum is packed full of centuries of history. It is bulging so full, in fact, that random hieroglyphic stones, statues and artifacts are packed in corners without labels or organized with any rhyme or reason. We heard from a young archaeologist that there are plans to build a larger museum, and it´s quite overdue. While at the museum we took a tour of the Royal Mummies Hall, which houses dozens of well-preserved royalty - many of the Ramsees family line. People sure were shorter back then, but then again your body can shink a bit with thousands of years as a dried out prune.
And of course, we were intrigued by the treasures on display from the tomb of King Tut....very impressive. It was thrilling to see his chariots, weapons, food supplies for the afterlife and especially the mask. Sure beats the Discovery Channel.
Baharriya Oasis, the White & Black Deserts Well, after a day at the museum, we decided a trip in the great outdoors was required. Do you ever find yourself wondering what the Sahara desert is like? Well, we have, so we took
a quick overnight tour out into the desert. We arranged this quick jaunt into the desert through our hostel. Surprisingly, the Egyptian government was a tad concerned for our safety. When we arrived, the border guards decided that we needed a government escort to accompany us on the camping adventure for our own safety because we are American citizens. Alyssa was a bit nervous about the semi-automatic machine gun dangling from the young gentleman´s waist belt. The delay at the tourist police office was well worth the excellent company we received from Said, who happened to communicate better sign language and English than our driver, Moji! He also wrote a gracious and kind letter to us in our notebook in Arabic, which we later had translated by a tour agent. Nice fella!
We moved quickly through the Oasis and out into the desert, first stop: Crystal Mountain. Yep, just like the ski resort in Washington State, except in a barren desert...with no snow of any kind. This place is literally a mountain composed entirely of the earth´s shiny crystals! From there we passed the black desert to make it to the white desert by sunset, near where we would
spend our night under the stars. Our driver and Said set up camp and all seemed pretty relaxing, but then suddenly the wind picked up and we found ourselves in a sand storm. As you can imagine, wind+sand= bad. All four of us climbed into the back of the truck, which was already full of camping supplies. The driver hoisted the gas can in with us and cooked a meal of chicken and rice. Entertaining to say the least. Oh, and he put a table in there, too. Can you believe it all fit? Well, finally the wind eased and we opened up the back door to find we had an additional dinner guest. A small white desert fox was lingering around hoping for us to share our meal. Scott caught a photo of him right before he left!
ASWAN & LUXOR A couple of bus, taxi and a 15 hour train ride later and we arrived in Aswan. We had heard that the visit to Abu Simbel was mandatory, despite the long distance and short visiting hours that the tour providers allow you to stay. So we started off our trip south by joining the caravan of
tourist busses (which the locals presume makes tourists safer, you know, as a nice group target) for a morning trip from Aswan. We concur - it was absolutely worth it! The temples were actually moved here from another location that was to be flooded with the building of the high dam. UNESCO fronted a huge bill and moved Abul Simbel as well as Philae Temple out of harms way. The wall paintings, statues and hieroglyphs are all well preserved here, and the sheer enormity of the temple facades warranted the visit. The location of Abu Simbel is on the edge of Lake Nassar, where one can stand on the edge and ponder the plight of the Sudanese across the other side of the water. One local informed me that the there is an open border, allowing them to move freely across without visa or question. I wonder how many refugees Egypt is taking in at the moment, if allowing any at all?
After our trip to Abu Simbel, we visited Philae Temple and the Temple of Hathor in Aswan. Then we hopped onto a large Nile cruising boat and embarked on a 3 day trip up the river with
stops at Edfu Temple, Kom Ombu. Finally our time aboard ended in Luxor, where we visited Luxor Temple, Karnak, Hatshepsut Temple, and both the Valley of the Kings and Queens.
The selection of food in Egypt was fairly limited so we decided to hunt down the local McDonalds...yes, we know...this is often labeled a failure to emerse yourself completely in the local culture. However, after Scott´s three day experience with food poisoning, local faire was out of the question. Besides...in Egypt they have the McArabia sandwich!
At the end of touring Luxor, we took a 12 hour train to Cairo, where we were to leave early the next morning. We got in a quick visit to Coptic Cairo. The museum and a few small churches were really interesting and gave us perspective into yet another religious sect.
Next on the trip, we stopped in Barcelona for two days and a night on our way to Brazil for Carnaval!
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