A brief Stay in the town of Abu Simbel Turning the narrative back to Egypt. Day 5 of my journey. Mohammed my driver is taking me overland from Aswan to Abu Simbel. A journey of many hours. He speaks little English so we can't chat but he stopped driving in the middle of nowhere (this perfectly describes being in the desert) to point at what looked like a very large lake near the horizon. A mirage! A huge one. I remember hearing tales of thirsty ancient travelers being deceived by mirages and losing their lives, dying while trying to reach the water that doesn't exist, always in the distance. We stopped, again in the middle of nowhere, at a shady hut festively decorated with flags of many nations ,a llittle oasis in the desert. This was ... read more

PHARAOHS of Egypt Simplified for Dummies ..... That day I spent at the Pyramids at Gizeh was very intense and made me understand the complexities of ancient Egypt. Even though I had expert guidance through the services of Deluxe Travel (I highly recommend their services to anyone if you are going to Egypt) understanding the Pharaohs was overwhelming. Like being lost in a maze. For me to tell you about the discoveries of my next four days of sightseeing I need to share some basics. Let me me do something about that now. First of all, let this sink in, that Pharaohs ruled for more than three thousand years, dating back an incredible five thousand years. So yes, it's bound to be complicated. They were 31 FAMILY DYNASTIES (generally acknowledged) who produced 170 Pharaohs. They ruled ... read more

Our Bedouin camp at Wadi Rum. October 19th the final adventure. We are leaving the remains of ancient desert nomads behind to join living nomads inhabiting the desert today. From the Nabataeans to the Bedouin. They inhabit Wadi Rum which is also a UNESCO world heritage site. A 'Wadi' is the valley of a dry river hence Petra is in Wadi Musa. The &Rum& part I don't know about! Mind you, many of the men there could be family to Pirates from the Caribbean.... looking little Jack Sparrows, so who knows.......! ? Our driver was funny, fast talking, good natured with a thick accent. He obliged us by making photo stops as we left Petra. The desert landscape continues to impress and stun me. Who knew that barren land could be so varied... rock types and ... read more

PETRA . Long awaited much anticipated. Tuesday October 17th. Today we travel toward one of the main highlights of my entire journey, the ancient Rose red city carved out of rocks by the the Nabataean people. Petra. My mother had enthused me with her rapture over its beauty. Now, post mortem, I carried her portrait so that she could visit the city which she never saw but loved so much. While en route I'd arranged with a driver for us to visit three important tourist spots in Jordan: MADABA with its renowned Byzantine mosaics, Mt NEBO of Moses' Promised Land fame and the DEAD SEA a global phenomenon with water so salt your body floats effortlessly. The driver was part of a transport package I'd negotiated with Solayman of the Wadi Rum Sky Bedouin camp. One ... read more

A salaam! Well Egypt, this is it. Its time to say goodbye. Already! I always knew our romance would be short and sweet, and I was not disappointed. I loved you, I loved your people, I was blown away by your monuments, Antiquity and incredible achievements evident everywhere. I was saddened by your pervasive poverty but heartened by your vibrant spirit evident even among the poorest. Your open faced welcome, friendliness from police to porters, guides to gardeners, hoteliers to housekeepers. Your willingness to be helpful (with or without bakshish). Even your roguish attempts to get away with charging murderously high prices were covered over with such persuasive sweet talk. What's not to love!? I traveled with you on the public ferry crossing the banks of the Nile, your life blood, from East Bank to West ... read more