The day after our mountain hike in Petra we left for Madaba with a couple of stops in between. The bus trip was just what we needed as we were all exhausted from the day before. I literally couldn't keep my eyes open on the bus. Abraham our tour guide would show us points of interest on the way and I would fall right back to sleep. We have had an incredible trip but it has been whirlwind and a bit exhausting. I can't imagine trying to do this when I am 65.
The big adventure of the day was swimming in the Dead Sea, which is 9 times more salty than the regular ocean water and is the lowest place on earth. It is 465 metres below sea level.
The drive there was quite something because Petra is up in the mountains so coming down to the Dead Sea was like riding on the longest roller coaster in the world with switch backs and hills that seem to go on forever.
Along the way we stopped at the crusaders castle called Kerak Castle. The interesting thing about Kerak castle is it was built as a Christian castle in a predominately Muslim country. It is built far up on the hill and they protected upwards of 16,000 Christians inside at any given time. The king at the time would insist that everyone inside were Christians so to further his intent he gave muslims a choice between converting or being push off the wall of the castle to a most certain and horrible death. To protect the castle they would throw burning oil onto anyone trying to scale the wall.
The castle itself is in outstanding condition considering it was built in 1142 AD.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Petra...OMG!
The Nabataens carved these temples, tombs and home out of the side of the sand stone mountains. These were carved in 400 BC.
The Treasury and the Monestary are incredible to see. The whole area took our breath away.
We spent 10 hours exploring Petra as the city itself covers 265 sq km of area. We hiked up 2 mountains and covered about 20 kms. Our guide loves Petra and took us all through the areas most people never see because of the climbing but as you can see it was worth every step.
I don't have much to add to these pictures, they speak for themselves.
 |
| the first glimpse |
 |
| The treasury |
Inside one of the tombs |
| the trail up the mountain |
on the top of mountain #1
The view point above the monestary |
| The monestary which is 800 moutain stairs up from the valley and worth every step! The people in the door give a good perspective as to how massive this structure is. |
I believe they took whatever was inside but left the true treasure behind.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Aqaba and the Bedouin Sleep over.
Our trip out of Egypt was a long and arduous task. We had to take a ferry from Nuweiba Egypt to Aqaba Jordan. The ferry itself was only 1 1/2 hours but getting on the ferry was the hard part. Our bus arrived at the ferry at 12:30 so that we could get our Jordan visas and clear security. Security, did anything but make us feel secure. Guys with machine guns everywhere all staring at us all the while shouting for us to hurry up, get going, move along. After we cleared through customs we entered the main hall where we were supposed to sit and wait for the ferry. The ferry was scheduled for 2 p.m. departure but in the 14 years our tour guide has been working he has never seen it leave on time. As soon as we entered the main seating area the whole room started staring at us. It was terribly uncomfortable especially for us women. Said knew that this would happen so he bribed the police to allow our bus to come into the terminal in order for us to sit inside of it instead. Good thing because the ferry didn't leave until 5:00. The ferry itself was great, very clean and comfortable. We were sad to say good bye to our guide, Said, but he is not allowed to come to Jordan with us due to visa restrictions.
We arrived in Jordan right on time and were quickly picked up by our guide Abraham, just outside of the ferry. To clear customs in Jordan we walked through 2 doors then put our bags through a scanner, then poof, we were done. It took about 5 minutes to get all 15 of us through.
Jordan is NOTHING like Egypt. It is clean and modern. We all were awestruck by how lovely the town of Aqaba was. The drivers stay in their own lane, no honking or screaming, it was just such a shock. We thought we were in for more of the same but Jordans main industry is tourism and you can tell they are trying hard to make people happy.
We only had the evening in Aqaba then we were off to Wadi Rum to go to the Bedouin camp. The Bedoin people live in these camps year round.
The huts are all made from goat hair. We all had our own hut or we had the option of sleeping outside but frankly it was just too cold out that night to do it. The plan for the day after arriving was to go on a 4 hour desert trek in jeeps. This was so much fun!
We could have just gone for 2 hours but we were told that we would miss some key sights and the 4 hour tour meant we would watch the sun go down in the desert. No one wanted to miss out so we all headed out around 1:00. The scenery in the desert is beathtaking. I never thought the desert could be so beautiful. We drove through sand dunes and raced around each other (there were 3 trucks) and after about 1.5 hours we came around a rock with hieroglyphics carved into it.
These were warning signs and signals that they left for other Bedoins (or Nomads) coming this this area. We stopped only for a minute or two because about 5 minutes drive away we were to stop for tea in another Bedoin camp. These people are have made a living out of serving tea and selling trinkets to tourists. It was all very strange but very cool at the same time. We were served tea made from sage, cardamom and cinnamon. It was delicious and everyone said it reminded them of turkey dinner. The owner of the camp played his rubaba and sang for us.
Back to the jeeps and we are off for more bopping around in the desert, giggling with delight the whole way. Our mission in the desert was to find a Bedoin cistern so we could see how they manage to get and keep water for months at a time. They carve a well out of the sand stone that is about 8 ft wide and make a series of channels that run down the mountain into the well. These are still used today and there are dozens of them all over the desert in Jordan.
The next thing on the ride was the great sand stone arches naturally carved into the mountain. We all climbed to the top for the photo op. Such an amazing place! We had to make a couple of stops on the way back in order to gather fire wood. Our guide and drivers made a fire and tea for us to watch the sun go down. The whole experience just seemed surreal but this whole trip has felt that way really.
Back at the camp our dinner was just about ready to be served. They had made us lamb, chicken and potatoes, all cooked in the ground like a New Zealand Hangi. We were welcomed into the Bedoin camp where again they played music and sang while we inhaled our dinner. After dinner there was a big bon fire in the middle of camp where they had Arabic music playing. After a little help from our friend Johnnie Walker we all found a little liquid courage we all got up and danced the night away. The whole day was incredible and those perma grins were back on our faces once again. They turned the generator off at 10:30 so it was absolutely pitch black. It was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Oh, I should mention that someone in our group had asked our guide if he ever sees poisonous snakes or scorpions. He said yes, but not at this time of year. It is much too cold for scorpions and snakes. Our friend Cheryl went into the bathroom just before dinner and came out with her camera and said, "What does this look like to you?"
It ran across the floor in front of her when she was on the toilet. This caused much commotion in the camp. I should mention that is an extremely blown up picture of the scorpion, he really was just a baby. Very little in fact. After our guide and one of the Bedoin's killed the scorpion I said to our guide, "don't baby scorpions have mothers?" Too which he added he could not lie. "Yes, but she is probably sleeping"
Another absolutely fabulous day! On to Petra...
We arrived in Jordan right on time and were quickly picked up by our guide Abraham, just outside of the ferry. To clear customs in Jordan we walked through 2 doors then put our bags through a scanner, then poof, we were done. It took about 5 minutes to get all 15 of us through.
Jordan is NOTHING like Egypt. It is clean and modern. We all were awestruck by how lovely the town of Aqaba was. The drivers stay in their own lane, no honking or screaming, it was just such a shock. We thought we were in for more of the same but Jordans main industry is tourism and you can tell they are trying hard to make people happy.
We only had the evening in Aqaba then we were off to Wadi Rum to go to the Bedouin camp. The Bedoin people live in these camps year round.
The huts are all made from goat hair. We all had our own hut or we had the option of sleeping outside but frankly it was just too cold out that night to do it. The plan for the day after arriving was to go on a 4 hour desert trek in jeeps. This was so much fun!
We could have just gone for 2 hours but we were told that we would miss some key sights and the 4 hour tour meant we would watch the sun go down in the desert. No one wanted to miss out so we all headed out around 1:00. The scenery in the desert is beathtaking. I never thought the desert could be so beautiful. We drove through sand dunes and raced around each other (there were 3 trucks) and after about 1.5 hours we came around a rock with hieroglyphics carved into it.
These were warning signs and signals that they left for other Bedoins (or Nomads) coming this this area. We stopped only for a minute or two because about 5 minutes drive away we were to stop for tea in another Bedoin camp. These people are have made a living out of serving tea and selling trinkets to tourists. It was all very strange but very cool at the same time. We were served tea made from sage, cardamom and cinnamon. It was delicious and everyone said it reminded them of turkey dinner. The owner of the camp played his rubaba and sang for us.
Back to the jeeps and we are off for more bopping around in the desert, giggling with delight the whole way. Our mission in the desert was to find a Bedoin cistern so we could see how they manage to get and keep water for months at a time. They carve a well out of the sand stone that is about 8 ft wide and make a series of channels that run down the mountain into the well. These are still used today and there are dozens of them all over the desert in Jordan.
The next thing on the ride was the great sand stone arches naturally carved into the mountain. We all climbed to the top for the photo op. Such an amazing place! We had to make a couple of stops on the way back in order to gather fire wood. Our guide and drivers made a fire and tea for us to watch the sun go down. The whole experience just seemed surreal but this whole trip has felt that way really.
Back at the camp our dinner was just about ready to be served. They had made us lamb, chicken and potatoes, all cooked in the ground like a New Zealand Hangi. We were welcomed into the Bedoin camp where again they played music and sang while we inhaled our dinner. After dinner there was a big bon fire in the middle of camp where they had Arabic music playing. After a little help from our friend Johnnie Walker we all found a little liquid courage we all got up and danced the night away. The whole day was incredible and those perma grins were back on our faces once again. They turned the generator off at 10:30 so it was absolutely pitch black. It was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Oh, I should mention that someone in our group had asked our guide if he ever sees poisonous snakes or scorpions. He said yes, but not at this time of year. It is much too cold for scorpions and snakes. Our friend Cheryl went into the bathroom just before dinner and came out with her camera and said, "What does this look like to you?"
It ran across the floor in front of her when she was on the toilet. This caused much commotion in the camp. I should mention that is an extremely blown up picture of the scorpion, he really was just a baby. Very little in fact. After our guide and one of the Bedoin's killed the scorpion I said to our guide, "don't baby scorpions have mothers?" Too which he added he could not lie. "Yes, but she is probably sleeping"
Another absolutely fabulous day! On to Petra...
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Mohamad Ali Basha, Cairo Market and St Catherine's and Nuweiba
Dec 2- We started off our day just like every other day here is Egypt. We arrived by train from Luxor at 4:30 in the morning after what I would call a very unrestful sleep. The train slammed to a halt more than a dozen times during the night making us wonder if it was actually falling apart. But alas, no, it was just the way the conductor decided to drive that night. In any case, when we arrived in Cairo at 4:30 a.m. to start our next new adventure. We couldn't check into the hotel at that time so we sat in the lobby until it was time to go touring the largest Islamic Mosque in Cairo. The Ali Basha Mosque is beautiful inside and out. It is designed in such a way, with 5 domes in it (one full dome and 4 half domes) that when a service is in process, there are no microphones used.
The acoustics are perfect. We were told that at no time men and women are allowed to pray together. This mosque was used by men. Sometimes they put a curtain up to separate the sexes...it had something to do with forbidden fruit and it would be very difficult to be praying while you are looking at the backside of some woman praying in front of you. They pray 5 times a day and the prayers are said or sung through loud speakers at the appropriate times. The first one is at just before dawn, which coincided with our wake up call this morning!
After seeing the mosque we were set loose on Cairo market. This place is crazy with capital letters. 7000 stalls and each and every one of the owners is vying for your money so to say they are aggressive is an understatement. Only one way to show you and that is through pictures...
The temple is also the base where you can climb Mt Sinai. The climb takes 3 hours up and 1.5 hours down. According to the bible Moses took 40 days and 40 nights to reach the summit. Monks have built a set of stairs to get to the summit but you have to climb for 2 hours before you reach them and there are 750 very irratic steps up from that point.
Our group had the option to climb the mountain but because of Joe's foot we opted out and hung around the pool at the hotel. From the description of the walk, we made the right choice. The 20 year olds were complaining bitterly about the burn of the lactic acid in their quads and how they thought they would pass out from exertion on the stairs. The pool was grand! It was a very strange place though, this big resort in the middle of the desert with absolutely nothing around it but rocks, sand and mountains. Their only business is from the Temple pilgrimages, but I suppose with the amount of people that come here to see just that, they need a place to stay after the 6 hour drive.
In the morning we loaded the bus and headed for Nuweiba. It is only 1.5 hours away which is great. We are staying at a resort called Nakhil Inn on the Red Sea. You must look this place up, it is paradise! http://www.nakhil-inn.com/ Our tour guide told us that this would be the most wonderful place we stayed at our whole trip and he was right. We got our rooms at 11 and were on the beach by 11:15 and we stayed there until the sun went down. They served us lunch and cold beverages on the beach. There is a coral reef 50 meters from the beach which is so shallow you can walk to it. Joe and I went snorkelling and saw so many beautiful fish and coral it was unbelievable. Never mind the beach in Mexico, this is a little piece of
heaven.
Saudi Arabian Mountains in the background
this was our dinner table on the beach
Our last night in Cairo was spent going to bed early. I understand why we had to get up at 4:00 a.m. again but it didn't make it any easier to get up. We had a 6 hour drive to St Catherine's where we were to visit Mt Sinai. There is a monestary there that claims to have the Burning Bush that Moses saw before he climbed the mountain to get the Ten Commandments. The monks that run the monestary only open it for 1 hour per day from 11-12 then it is closed for prayer. This is a hugely holy place where people from all over the world go to pray. We arrived at the Monestary around 10:30 along with the other thousand people wishing to see the temple. It was complete and utter chaos and confusion from the second we got to the parking lot.
The temple is also the base where you can climb Mt Sinai. The climb takes 3 hours up and 1.5 hours down. According to the bible Moses took 40 days and 40 nights to reach the summit. Monks have built a set of stairs to get to the summit but you have to climb for 2 hours before you reach them and there are 750 very irratic steps up from that point.
 |
| Supposedly, this is the Moses' burning bush, I am happy to see it is no longer burning. Notice what is sitting at the base of the tree...we thought this was very ironic! |
Our group had the option to climb the mountain but because of Joe's foot we opted out and hung around the pool at the hotel. From the description of the walk, we made the right choice. The 20 year olds were complaining bitterly about the burn of the lactic acid in their quads and how they thought they would pass out from exertion on the stairs. The pool was grand! It was a very strange place though, this big resort in the middle of the desert with absolutely nothing around it but rocks, sand and mountains. Their only business is from the Temple pilgrimages, but I suppose with the amount of people that come here to see just that, they need a place to stay after the 6 hour drive.
In the morning we loaded the bus and headed for Nuweiba. It is only 1.5 hours away which is great. We are staying at a resort called Nakhil Inn on the Red Sea. You must look this place up, it is paradise! http://www.nakhil-inn.com/ Our tour guide told us that this would be the most wonderful place we stayed at our whole trip and he was right. We got our rooms at 11 and were on the beach by 11:15 and we stayed there until the sun went down. They served us lunch and cold beverages on the beach. There is a coral reef 50 meters from the beach which is so shallow you can walk to it. Joe and I went snorkelling and saw so many beautiful fish and coral it was unbelievable. Never mind the beach in Mexico, this is a little piece of
heaven.
Saudi Arabian Mountains in the background
this was our dinner table on the beachSo that is us finished with Egypt. Tomorrow we take the ferry to Jordan. I can't wait to see what's on the other side!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Fellucas, Donkeys and the Valley of the Kings
Our felluca day started off at 10:00 when we were to all meet in the lobby of the hotel with our bags to transfer on to our boat. We had a short 5 minute bus ride to the dock. Our felluca's were there already and waiting for us. The felluca is an ancient Egyptian sail boat which has been in use since they built the pyramids. The rock for the pyramids were transported by felluca's and they were the main way of travel for thousands of years. We weren't sure what to expect. I had a vision of some rickety wooden vessel barely sea worthy but they felt like the lap of luxury.
the gang on the boat deck
The other half of our group on their felucca
The entire deck of the boat was covered in a big cozy mattress and pillows for us to lounge on. Our trip on our sail boat was all day and then we were sleeping on it at night. The felluca itself does not have any thing on it, like bathrooms, or showers or a kitchen but we had a support boat that sailed down the Nile with us that had all the comforts we needed. It was also where we ate all our meals. The weather here has been perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and a gorgeous 32 degrees celcius, no humidity. I will tell you that we have never been so relaxed in our life as we were sailing down the Nile. We had lunch at 1:00 then around 2:00 they pulled the boats ashore so we could go swimming in the River. We are just outside Aswan which is south of Cairo by about 800 kms. There is a huge dam here in Aswan so the Nile water is very clean and clear here. I would not step even a toe in the water near Cairo but here it was perfect. Only a few of us braved it but some people just couldn't do it. I am just so thrilled to be over my fear of water I just had to jump in. The current is really strong so we stuck very close to shore and were only in for a few minutes. Back on the boat for wine and getting to know the people on our boat. We had to have 2 boats because you can't sleep more that 8 people on one and there are 15 of us. There seems to be a natural separation in our group, the young guys, 20-25 year old then then us, 31-62 years old. The young people are actually quite mature and fun to be around but we seem to have more in common with the other people.
After dinner we sat on the support boat for quite a long time drinking wine and chatting then all of a sudden it started getting chilly so we decided to go to bed. Our tour guide came to our boat and gave us blankets and we started getting settled for the night. It felt like one big ridiculous slumber party for old people, we had a huge giggling fit about it at one point because we have only known each other for 6 days and we are already sharing a room...all 7 of us! It didn't take long to fall asleep and we had an early morning anyway so just as well we went to bed early. Here are a few pictures of the felluca ride...
Camels lounging on the side of the Nile of course
Nile Sunset
The next morning we had to catch a bus to get to Luxor. On the way we stopped at Edfu temple which is the second largest Egyptian temple they have discovered.
Edfu
This is just one of hundreds of drawings at Edfu
The art work speaks for itself. This is the second largest temple in Egypt. But not before we went swimming in the Nile...
We still had a bit of a drive to get to Luxor but when we arrived at our hotel we found a little oasis by the Nile. We arrived around 1 in the afternoon and we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. For Joe and I it looked like sitting on the roof top pool deck, drinking beer under the hot sun, going for a swim then watching the sun set.
The next morning we were all excited as it was Donkey Day and Valley of the Kings. I had this idea in my head that we would be riding the donkeys into the valley but no no, I was wrong. We actually rode the donkeys through the town, in between traffic, crazy drivers, random people that step out into the street and other donkey drivers pulling carts. Well let me tell you from the second we saw the donkeys we started to laugh. Just like with the camels, as soon as Joe stepped up to go near his animal, the donkey showed it's scary teeth, stomped and brayed like crazy. I howled! I was so happy when they gave me Casper, the friendly donkey, who didn't really have much drive left in him. He was just happy to take his time through the ridiculous traffic. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing! Joe galloped most of the way and got to the meeting place well ahead of most of the rest of us. I bet you didn't think of him as a cowboy did ya?!
Ali baba and Joe
Casper and I
We had a short bus ride to the Valley of the Kings which really was one of the things I was most looking forward to on this whole trip. I would like to be able to say we took thousands of pictures but sadly, we weren't even allowed to bring our cameras off the bus. The reason for this is very simple. Everytime someone takes a picture it destroys the colours of the paintings in the tombs. They have lost brilliance over the years so now they are really trying hard to protect them. In the valley, they have discovered 62 tombs but they know for a fact that there are still more because they found King Ramses 1,2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 but not 8. There is no reason why his tomb wouldn't be there so they are still excavating. I do have a picture of that (at Edfu actually) but it is all done the same way...by hand, no tools other than hammers and chisels.
Our ticket allowed us to go into 3 tombs but we had to pay an extra 100 Egyptian pounds each to see King Tut. (that works out to be about $18 btw)
We went to see Ramses 2, Ramses 9, and King Thutmoses 3
Kings Ramses 2&9 were quite incredible (and I suggest google images if you want to see what we saw) but King Thutmoses' tomb was unbelievable. His tomb was about 85 steps up a mountain then around 110 steps down inside the moutain. There were carvings and drawings on all the walls and ceilings on th way down. The pictures were still extraordinarily brilliant because there is no way you can get natural light down that far. But the most amazing thing was his tomb is still down in there. A solid granite tomb complete with lid (the mummy is in the Egyptian museum for safe keeping). Some might say "Big deal, it is a tomb after all" but the amazing part is the tomb is bigger than the opening into the grave. They have no idea how they got the solid granite tomb into the mountain. I had to crouch in 2 places to get down the steps so you can imagine how tight the space is! I just wish I could show you pictures.
the gang on the boat deck
The other half of our group on their feluccaThe entire deck of the boat was covered in a big cozy mattress and pillows for us to lounge on. Our trip on our sail boat was all day and then we were sleeping on it at night. The felluca itself does not have any thing on it, like bathrooms, or showers or a kitchen but we had a support boat that sailed down the Nile with us that had all the comforts we needed. It was also where we ate all our meals. The weather here has been perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and a gorgeous 32 degrees celcius, no humidity. I will tell you that we have never been so relaxed in our life as we were sailing down the Nile. We had lunch at 1:00 then around 2:00 they pulled the boats ashore so we could go swimming in the River. We are just outside Aswan which is south of Cairo by about 800 kms. There is a huge dam here in Aswan so the Nile water is very clean and clear here. I would not step even a toe in the water near Cairo but here it was perfect. Only a few of us braved it but some people just couldn't do it. I am just so thrilled to be over my fear of water I just had to jump in. The current is really strong so we stuck very close to shore and were only in for a few minutes. Back on the boat for wine and getting to know the people on our boat. We had to have 2 boats because you can't sleep more that 8 people on one and there are 15 of us. There seems to be a natural separation in our group, the young guys, 20-25 year old then then us, 31-62 years old. The young people are actually quite mature and fun to be around but we seem to have more in common with the other people.
After dinner we sat on the support boat for quite a long time drinking wine and chatting then all of a sudden it started getting chilly so we decided to go to bed. Our tour guide came to our boat and gave us blankets and we started getting settled for the night. It felt like one big ridiculous slumber party for old people, we had a huge giggling fit about it at one point because we have only known each other for 6 days and we are already sharing a room...all 7 of us! It didn't take long to fall asleep and we had an early morning anyway so just as well we went to bed early. Here are a few pictures of the felluca ride...
Camels lounging on the side of the Nile of course |
| The support boat where we ate, drank and showered |
Nile SunsetThe next morning we had to catch a bus to get to Luxor. On the way we stopped at Edfu temple which is the second largest Egyptian temple they have discovered.
Edfu
This is just one of hundreds of drawings at EdfuThe art work speaks for itself. This is the second largest temple in Egypt. But not before we went swimming in the Nile...
We still had a bit of a drive to get to Luxor but when we arrived at our hotel we found a little oasis by the Nile. We arrived around 1 in the afternoon and we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. For Joe and I it looked like sitting on the roof top pool deck, drinking beer under the hot sun, going for a swim then watching the sun set.
 |
| the view from our rooftop balcony. |
The next morning we were all excited as it was Donkey Day and Valley of the Kings. I had this idea in my head that we would be riding the donkeys into the valley but no no, I was wrong. We actually rode the donkeys through the town, in between traffic, crazy drivers, random people that step out into the street and other donkey drivers pulling carts. Well let me tell you from the second we saw the donkeys we started to laugh. Just like with the camels, as soon as Joe stepped up to go near his animal, the donkey showed it's scary teeth, stomped and brayed like crazy. I howled! I was so happy when they gave me Casper, the friendly donkey, who didn't really have much drive left in him. He was just happy to take his time through the ridiculous traffic. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing! Joe galloped most of the way and got to the meeting place well ahead of most of the rest of us. I bet you didn't think of him as a cowboy did ya?!
Ali baba and Joe
Casper and IWe had a short bus ride to the Valley of the Kings which really was one of the things I was most looking forward to on this whole trip. I would like to be able to say we took thousands of pictures but sadly, we weren't even allowed to bring our cameras off the bus. The reason for this is very simple. Everytime someone takes a picture it destroys the colours of the paintings in the tombs. They have lost brilliance over the years so now they are really trying hard to protect them. In the valley, they have discovered 62 tombs but they know for a fact that there are still more because they found King Ramses 1,2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 but not 8. There is no reason why his tomb wouldn't be there so they are still excavating. I do have a picture of that (at Edfu actually) but it is all done the same way...by hand, no tools other than hammers and chisels.
Our ticket allowed us to go into 3 tombs but we had to pay an extra 100 Egyptian pounds each to see King Tut. (that works out to be about $18 btw)
We went to see Ramses 2, Ramses 9, and King Thutmoses 3
Kings Ramses 2&9 were quite incredible (and I suggest google images if you want to see what we saw) but King Thutmoses' tomb was unbelievable. His tomb was about 85 steps up a mountain then around 110 steps down inside the moutain. There were carvings and drawings on all the walls and ceilings on th way down. The pictures were still extraordinarily brilliant because there is no way you can get natural light down that far. But the most amazing thing was his tomb is still down in there. A solid granite tomb complete with lid (the mummy is in the Egyptian museum for safe keeping). Some might say "Big deal, it is a tomb after all" but the amazing part is the tomb is bigger than the opening into the grave. They have no idea how they got the solid granite tomb into the mountain. I had to crouch in 2 places to get down the steps so you can imagine how tight the space is! I just wish I could show you pictures.
I have so many pictures that I could load them all night, unfortunately I have a slow connection and this post has literally taken a couple of hours to get pictures to load. I will have more when we get to a better connection hopefully. Next stop, back to Cairo to go to the largest market in Egypt then to St Catherine's Temple and Mount Sinai. I am positive that I am still dreaming this whole thing up!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Aswan
I have to apologize for my last post. There are so many spelling mistakes, typo's and repeat of pictures, it's ridiculous but the only place to sit and use the internet is in the hotel lobby which is bustling with people coming and going so it has been hard for me to not to be distracted.
I forgot to mention, that today, which is Nov 28th, is the assembly house elections here in Egypt. This has ramped up the energy all over the country. We are lucky to be out of Cairo, because there often is violence during election time. We are told that we will see fighting the street today, but they will be fighting with each other, not with tourists. OOOOOooooKay, this should be interesting.
So our day yesterday started off when we got off our train in Aswan.
This is the home town of our tour guide so he knows everything there is to know about it and it seems everyone in the town knows him too!
We checked into our hotel and went up to the roof top terrace to look at the view.
The Nile river is across the road. For some reason this seems mystical to me, some place I only dreamed about but here it is, right there! We had some free time this morning to explore the town so Joe and I and a couple of the woman in the group went for turkish coffee. None of this whimpy espresso coffee they give you in Italy, no no, we are talking coffee thick like mud! It is the size of an espresso but the last 1/4 cup is literally mud. The tradition is that when you are finished your coffee you flip the cup upside down then someone will come along and read your fortune from the sludge.
After coffee we went to see the market. The first stop was the spice stall.
OMG, I have died and gone to cooking heaven. Baskets and baskets of ever spice you can think of. At one point the stall owner took my hand and added 5 spices crushing them with his fingers before dropping them. He told me to smell them. It was like the most rich curry aroma that you can imagine. There are vendors of spice in every other stall.
The vendors all come into the street to convince you to come to their stall.
There are thousands of stalls. Because Joe was walking down the street with 3 woman the stall men would yell out to him "You must be a rich man if you can afford 3 wives" Others would say" Hey you must be a virile man to have 3 woman!" The further down the street we went the bigger his ego got. But according to Muslim law, a man is allowed 4 wives so the running joke is he needs to find one more before he goes back to the market.
When we got back to the hotel it was quite hot (around 28 degress so Joe and I went to the pool for a swim. We quickly had to get changed as we had to catch a boat to go down the Nile to our next destination.
The ride on the Nile was peaceful and beauiful. At one point 2 little boys paddled up in their home made boat with with thin little boards they used for paddles. The driver of the boat usually slows down when he sees them so they can catch a ride. When they pulled up beside us they began singing in several different languages, little songs on the hopes that the people in the boat will give them money. Our tour guide told us he wished his father had built him a boat when he was that age because he would be rich by now if he had. The kids by the way couldn't have been older than 6 or 7.
Can you imagine sending your kid down the Nile River in a boat that leaks when he was 6 years old???
The river at this end is very clean and blue. The closer you get to Cairo the dirtier it gets. There is a huge dam just before Aswan so the water in the Nile is probably the most clean here. That said, I am still not swimming in it or drinking it.
Our boat ride took us past monestaries and temples, and the hotel where Murder on the Nile was filmed.
The final stop was a big desert sand dune. We were told to walk up the dune and our camels would be waiting at the top for us. This wasn't just a little ride around a field on a camel kind of trip, this was a get on the camel and ride for almost an hour through the desert kind of trip.
I don't know if any of you have ridden a camel but they are really tall and most of them are quite ornary. Anyway the camel kneels down, you climb on and hope and pray you don't fall off. It is a long way down. Some people were given a camel and a rope to ride like a horse and others were led by a man holding the reins and walking either in front or behind. I was led by a man but Joe, Mr Indian Jones Camel rider was given his camel and set free. I have never laughed so hard than during that hour. Camels are not comfortable to ride and the guys were complaining profusely about how "crushed their manhood was getting" by being on the camel. I would like to say, it wasn't comfortable for woman either but the men said it was torturous. We rode for about an hour through the desert. By this time it was about 30 degrees and there was no way you could drink anything as we were all holding on to our camels with a death grip for fear of falling off. I was ecstatic for the experience and just as happy when it was time to get off. One woman, Cheryl, had a camel that she named Muffin the race camel.
It ran the whole time. She was bouncing like a wild woman on a crazed animal, but I must add she was unbelievably composed during her desert version of the Indy 500. Our smiles lit up the desert yesterday and every time we think about it, we laugh aloud.
We left our camels in the desert and transfered to the back of a pickup truck to be transported to a Nubian village where we were to have a traditional dinner with a family. The ride through the village was fun in itself, if for no other reason than we were riding in the back of a pickup truck.
I haven't done that since I was a kid riding in Uncle Gilbert's truck on the way to Dairy Queen. Sorry, I digress.
A Nubian family can have huge homes because up until recently land was free so they would build a house as big as they want. Saeed has a friend who has a house that is almost 2 acres for just the three of them. Dinner was much like what we had at the restaurant last night but the highlight for me was seeing the kids playing with their father.
They had gone out to the desert and picked up only the most pretty rocks (these were desert rocks that weren't pretty at all) to show him. He in turn oogled over every one saying this one was prettier than the last one and the kids would giggle with delight. I could not contain myself, the whole thing was just so touching. When we finished eating we were asked if anyone in the group wanted to get a henna tattoo. The daughter of the man who owns the house will paint a tattoo for you for 20 Egyptian pounds, or about $3.60 Cdn. A couple of people in the group got it done and it was amazing how quick they artist was
. We thanked our host and said good bye to the kids, (we never saw the women, they were doing all of the work of course) then we were off again to catch our boat back down the Nile for a short but beautiful ride down the Nile at night. We climbed back in the pick up truck and drove for about 30 minutes through the village. There were children lining the streets yelling Hello and waving madly as we drove by. These kids are taught from an early age that tourist mean money so smile and wave, they were all so cute but it also made me realize what a hard life they must have. We arrived back at the hotel about 8 o'clock. We have to get up early in the morning to head to Abu Sempel which we have to have a police escort to get to it.
I will tell you that 3 a.m. wake up call came as quite a shock but it was okay because the hotel had hot coffee waiting for us as well as a box breakfast. It seems that the universal breakfast food here is croissants and jam. Just for the record if I never see another white bun/croissant I will be fine and dandy with that.
We boarded the bus then drove to the convoy meeting spot. All the buses go together and they all come home together like I said with a police escort. I asked our guide why we needed the escort and he gave me some "pc" answer about tourists safety was Egypt's priority. I don't know the reason but we saw a lot of oil wells and drilling going on and perhaps that had something to do with it, but I don't think I will ever know for sure.
The ride was a long 3 hours thru nothing but the Sahara desert. The sun rising on the desert was spectacular.
Abu Sempel is the place where Ramses 2 built the temple for himself and one for his wife. It was jaw dropping. In the 1960's the government decided to dam the river but the flood waters would have covered over the temples so in 1964, they painstakingly took the temple apart and moved it to higher ground. The amazing part is you cannot tell where one part was moved from inside. It is seamless. No pictures allowed inside the temple unfortunately but the outside speaks for itself...
After we left the temple we got back on the bus for the long journey home. All of us fell asleep because of our early start but by noon the temperature outside had reached 30 degrees and because we are in the desert, the mirages started to appear. Our tour guide woke us up so we could see a real mirage. These pictures are a bit blurry because we were still on the bus driving 130 kms/hr but you get the idea. There is no water in this picture, there is nothing but sand!
And that wraps up Aswan. Tomorrow we board our felluca to sail down the Nile and sleep under the stars on the deck of the boat. It's rough, but somebody has to do it!
I forgot to mention, that today, which is Nov 28th, is the assembly house elections here in Egypt. This has ramped up the energy all over the country. We are lucky to be out of Cairo, because there often is violence during election time. We are told that we will see fighting the street today, but they will be fighting with each other, not with tourists. OOOOOooooKay, this should be interesting.
So our day yesterday started off when we got off our train in Aswan.
This is the home town of our tour guide so he knows everything there is to know about it and it seems everyone in the town knows him too!
We checked into our hotel and went up to the roof top terrace to look at the view.
After coffee we went to see the market. The first stop was the spice stall.
The vendors all come into the street to convince you to come to their stall.
When we got back to the hotel it was quite hot (around 28 degress so Joe and I went to the pool for a swim. We quickly had to get changed as we had to catch a boat to go down the Nile to our next destination.
The ride on the Nile was peaceful and beauiful. At one point 2 little boys paddled up in their home made boat with with thin little boards they used for paddles. The driver of the boat usually slows down when he sees them so they can catch a ride. When they pulled up beside us they began singing in several different languages, little songs on the hopes that the people in the boat will give them money. Our tour guide told us he wished his father had built him a boat when he was that age because he would be rich by now if he had. The kids by the way couldn't have been older than 6 or 7.
The river at this end is very clean and blue. The closer you get to Cairo the dirtier it gets. There is a huge dam just before Aswan so the water in the Nile is probably the most clean here. That said, I am still not swimming in it or drinking it.
Our boat ride took us past monestaries and temples, and the hotel where Murder on the Nile was filmed.
The final stop was a big desert sand dune. We were told to walk up the dune and our camels would be waiting at the top for us. This wasn't just a little ride around a field on a camel kind of trip, this was a get on the camel and ride for almost an hour through the desert kind of trip.
 |
| This is Cheryl, she started at the back of the group and beat us all by 15 minutes. She is still in agony today! |
We left our camels in the desert and transfered to the back of a pickup truck to be transported to a Nubian village where we were to have a traditional dinner with a family. The ride through the village was fun in itself, if for no other reason than we were riding in the back of a pickup truck.
A Nubian family can have huge homes because up until recently land was free so they would build a house as big as they want. Saeed has a friend who has a house that is almost 2 acres for just the three of them. Dinner was much like what we had at the restaurant last night but the highlight for me was seeing the kids playing with their father.
 |
| Joe standing beside our dinner table in the Nubian house |
I will tell you that 3 a.m. wake up call came as quite a shock but it was okay because the hotel had hot coffee waiting for us as well as a box breakfast. It seems that the universal breakfast food here is croissants and jam. Just for the record if I never see another white bun/croissant I will be fine and dandy with that.
We boarded the bus then drove to the convoy meeting spot. All the buses go together and they all come home together like I said with a police escort. I asked our guide why we needed the escort and he gave me some "pc" answer about tourists safety was Egypt's priority. I don't know the reason but we saw a lot of oil wells and drilling going on and perhaps that had something to do with it, but I don't think I will ever know for sure.
The ride was a long 3 hours thru nothing but the Sahara desert. The sun rising on the desert was spectacular.
Abu Sempel is the place where Ramses 2 built the temple for himself and one for his wife. It was jaw dropping. In the 1960's the government decided to dam the river but the flood waters would have covered over the temples so in 1964, they painstakingly took the temple apart and moved it to higher ground. The amazing part is you cannot tell where one part was moved from inside. It is seamless. No pictures allowed inside the temple unfortunately but the outside speaks for itself...
 |
| This is a long distant zoom shot inside the temple |
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