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Published: September 15th 2008
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Learning about Isalm
Covering up out of respect but also for Ray to look like Aunt Jemima! We arrived in Egypt from a night on the airplane and were immediately hit with the extreme heat...hot and tired we went to the ATM, which decided to eat Dave's card! Frustrated, the girls headed into Cairo for a long sleep, while Dave waited for his sister, Ray to arrive. The next day David and Ray went on a search for the HSBC that had his card, going to the wrong one, meant that on her first day of vacation Ray toured banks with her brother (nice sis, eh?). That night, card found, we went to do the very egyptian thing of going to the cinema and watching Kung Fu Panda!!!
The next day, our Intrepid tour began. We booked it so we wouldn't have to think about where we were staying and what we were gonna do....we knew that wasn't going to be a problem when the intro meeting lasted forever, our tour leader, Esam, sure liked to talk. . When it was finally done we headed to Islamic Cairo to check out a world famous mosque and market. At Al Azar mosque, besides looking at the beautiful structure, a local guide explained about Islam culture and traditions. During
it we got to witness prayer time, finally a real connection to the sounds that had woken us up each morning at 5am. It was interesting to get an insiders look at being a muslim, especially a woman's, though there were moments when I felt we were getting the sugar coated version. From the mosque we walked to Khan Al Khailli, a big market filled with everything you could ever want from Egypt. After some shopping we ate Egyptian pizza, which is good in any country in my opinion!! That night we went to a show of Sufi dancing. It was very different, it was a mixture of singing, instruments and dancing. I usually find traditional dancing shows to be boring (I know I am very cultural) but this one was exciting, I mean a man turned for over an hour, but it we all found it to be way too long!
The following day, the day everyone going to Egypt waits for, our trip to Giza! We went early in the morning to be able to enjoy the pyramids before it got to hot and they were incredible. They were just as amazing as I expected, the only
disappointing thing was that they have built right up to the edge of the pyramids so it is not in the middle of the desert like i imagined. We braved the heat and climbed down the second period, which held a tomb, but hard to enjoy because it was soo hot. After enjoying the pyramids we headed over to the Sphinx, which was actually alot closer to the pyramids then we expected. It was really cool up close but a bit hard to enjoy because of the amount of people on tours hovering around. After GIza we had a delicious local dish and went to the Egyptian Museum. The amount of stuff perserved in the museum was shocking and there were some truly incredible artifacts, such as death mask and mummies. But they were also trying to make the museum feel old school with no air conditioning, so we only lasted a couple hours before having to leave. That night we took the overnight train, in pairs we had luxurious rooms and were served dinner in them! Quite a fancy experience compared to our train rides in China!
The next morning we got to have a little nap, and
were then picked up by a boat and taken on a little cruise on the Nile. On the boat we enjoyed a traditional Nubian lunch made by our guide JJ. As we cruised around Elephantine Island, a Nubian elder explained to us the history of the arean. After we were brought to JJ's house to see his wedding photos and learn more about Nubian traditions. He was very hospitable but we probably could have done without the 300 photos! When our visit with JJ was finished we went to the Sahara desert for a camel ride. Feeling a little weary from our last time on the camels we were all a little apprenhensive. So when Sophie got a camel with no guide she naturally started to feel nervous. As the rest of us start to walk calmly towards the sunset, soph's camel went the other way and when she tried to take control of it, it went wild turning and thankfully for Soph's strong legs she held on! Exteremely stressful for her but hilarious to watch, she did bravely get on a new camel and finish the ride. It was surreal to be on the Sahara but camels are definately
not the most comfortable animals, and bar getting stuck in the desert I hope to never ride one again!
In the middle of the night we got up to go to Abu Simel. Unsure whether anything was worth getting up at 3 am, we joined a convoy to take us on the three hour trip. Groggy and a bit grumpy we headed towards the statues, which in one word were unbelievable! It is hard to explain how powerful of a presence they had. From a far their beauty was obvious but up close the detail on them was incredible. We walked around for an hour or so before heading to the Philae Temple, a beautiful structure on an island in the Nile, and both were well worth getting up for! Though when we headed back to Aswan, we slept till the next morning!
Dave here. After such intense sight seeing we were all too happy to board our felucca, a traditional Nile sailboat, for a day and night of cruising on the Nile. The dack of the boat was essentially one giant bed, so we spent the day lounging around chatting and relaxing. We stopped for a quick
dip in the Nile and Ray, who hadn't brought her swimsuit, got a little wetter than she expected to when the boat shifted as she jumped off, meaning she landed in three feet of water rathe than six inches. Oh, how we laughed! Meals were prepared on board ship by our Nubian crew, and when we tied up the boat for the night they treated us to traditional music and dancing around a fire. Amy even made a new friend, a donkey that lived on a nearby farm that, according to her, looked just like Eddie Murphy in Shrek!
The next day we were up with the sun, had breakfast on the felucca and headed to Luxor. That afternoon we went to the Temple of Karnak, a huge, very intricately decorated temple, which housed a hall of gigantic pillars that featured in a James Bond film. That night we went to dinner with our tour group and then walked to see Luxor Temple at night. The light made it seem like something straight out of a movie! It was beautiful!
On our last day of our organized tour we went to the west bank of Luxor. We drove
Twirlling for hours
This man literaly spinned for more than an hour! to see the Colossi of Mmenmon and then on to the Valley of the Kings. We visited the tombs of three pharoahs, luckily only one of which involved climbing up and down little, unbearably hot tunnels. But the inhospitable conditions were worth it, as the tombs were beautifully decorated and still had a lot of their original color left. Amy and Sophie even visited the tomb of Tutankahmun, which is still very well preserved and vividly colored.
After a full day of tomb-raiding, we headed back to Luxor to take the night train back to Cairo, where we hit the markets for yet more shopping! We said our goodbyes to our group, and headed off for a few days in Alexandria! We eventually found a hotel and set out to see the sights. Although still looking like it needed a good clean, like all Egyptian cities we visited, it was really nice being by the see. We visited the beach (a bit surreal as everyone was covered up), the fort, and the very impressive library. An enjoyable little break.
We arrived back in Cairo and met up with Natalie, who lives across the road from Amy and would
The pyramids
Just as beautiful as you would expect be joining us for our South African adventure. It was also Amy's birthday, but we had a quiet day as we got ready to leave late that night , which, after bidding Ray farewell, we duly did. On to South Africa!
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