The Disclaimer The following is a personal journal written by me for my family and friends and anyone who wishes to share in the experience of my trip through the Wonders of Egypt. Any errors, misspellings, incorrect names etc are the sole responsibility of the author. I welcome any additions, corrections or further input and experiences that anyone might wish to add, but in the end this is a personal recollection of my own experiences. I hope you enjoy the work. I look forward to your comments and can always be reached by e-mail at pfarina@bex.net If you ever plan on being in Toledo Oh, drop me a line and maybe we can enjoy a meal or at least a drink. Good Health and Good Travels to all. ... read more

Thursday April 29, 2010 We get our wakeup call at 7 this morning but Rick was already up and showered by then. Today is departure day from the Miriam and we prepare to leave at 8:00 AM for the Luxor airport and our 1 hour flight to Cairo. It was hard to say good bye to our floating hotel but off we were for the ride to the airport. We boarded our charter flight along with 2 other tour groups at 10 AM soon we were winging through clear skies to the heart of Cairo. We are staying in Cairo at the 5 star hotel Ramses by Hilton, but we are told our rooms will not be ready until after 2 PM. Not one to sit and wait Mohammed has some visits planned for us. First ... read more

April 27, 2010 Today is the first actual vacation day as today is a day of leisure for some of us. Of our family of 22, nine went to Abu Simbel on an optional excursion ($269). They flew out this morning at 7 AM and are planning to return by 2 PM where we will sail to Kom Ombo. So since Rick was a little under the weather last night we both slept in and missed breakfast! I was up at 9 AM and spent a great morning blogging and labeling the photos and sending them online. Rick slept until noon and readied himself by lunch at 1 PM Our day was very pleasant. I sat with some fellow travelers, swapped stories and just enjoyed a very quiet day aboard ship. Our vacation and travels are ... read more

Galabaya Night It is now 6: PM and time to don our Egyptian galabaya and join the dinner festivities. As you may recall we were each to obtain our own galabaya. Rick purchased a simple one piece gray and white one from the boat. I chose Ahmed who supplied me with a royal galabaya. It is of while linen with deep red designs along each edge. So the ends of the sleeves and outlining the neck opening are all in red embroidery. Over this is a half coat in white and red embroidery. Very stylish. My head piece is also of linen and is a pink, white and black check. I don the outfit and actually feel it looks good. I soon learn something women have learn and many men have not, you cannot simply walk ... read more

The Valley of the Kings. You all have heard of this most famous burial spot in the entire world. Here we have the underground tombs of some unknown number of Pharaohs, Queens, Priests, Artists and workers of the ancient world. It is also the burial spot for King Tutankhamen, the boy king, son of Akhenaton and step son of Nefertiti. Our departure at 7 was preceded by the usual breakfast buffet. It seems that our terminal traveler, The Aussie with the runs Graham, is feeling better and will try to join us. Aloma unfortunately is still without her clothes and due to a domestic squabble we lost one other lady, June, who was too embarrassed to join us. I do not know actually what happened here only that over some wine someone said something to someone ... read more