So many monkeys, so little time...: 2006

I have successfully survived an amazing week long journey through Egypt. Its extremely difficult to put to words what I experienced over the past week but I will give it a go.

The idea of traveling to Egypt was brought up by a friend of mine. Always up for a good travel idea, I kind of latched onto the idea. This particular friend recommended using a tour group called Contiki which specializes in tours for 18-35 year old people. The only downside to going was that my friend wanted to get a large group of people together to go and I wasnt really excited to travel with a bunch of people I didnt know. That being said, I still latched onto the idea of Egypt and tried to find someone else who would like to go with me (as a much smaller, two person group).

MY TRAVEL PARTNER

My travel partner for the trip ended up being Dave Sunshine Hall. I had asked him if he would be interested during a Memorial Day visit and he seemed pretty eager. Dave is the kind of guy that exudes happiness and spontaneity. It was really great traveling with him. We got to connect a little bit but more importantly, were able to have a really great time together. It was really great hanging out with him and a privilege to see an amazing part of the world in his company.

THE CONTIKI GROUP

There were about 19 people in the tour group. Up to this trip, I was always leery of tour groups because I felt that you could go it on your own which saved money and added an element of adventure. I quickly learned that Egypt is NOT a place you can go without some sort of formal tour based on the amount of history but more importantly, lack of infrastructure and general chaos. That being said, I think Im a fan of tour groups its nice going on vacation and having everything planned out for you and busses to take you where you need to go, etc. Contiki put together a really nice package for the Egypt and I wouldnt hesitate recommending them to someone else. I would be hesitant to use them for another trip however because they have a reputation for partying a lot which really isnt my scene. The Egypt trip however, focused on site-seeing and relaxation.

The group itself had some fun people in it. Dave and I connected most with two girls; Michelle from Colorado, and Sara from Montreal. Egypt was Michelles first stop on a 3 month long journey that would take her to China and Australia. She got an amazing deal from her work that essentially gave her a raise and three months off to do it. Im not sure that I would like to travel that long continuously. Sara was on the last leg of a two part journey that began in Greece. Sara was a really cool girl and on a personal note, it was great to meet a girl with qualities that I really liked. Sara is currently studying in France and will become a lawyer in the not-too-distant future. French is her primary language. There were two other folks that we connected with as well, Jaron and his girlfriend from Australia. The rest of the group was fun to interact with although we didnt spend a tremendous amount of time with them; there was a girl from New Zealand, Omar from Trinidad and Tabago, Two sisters from Canada, an Australian guy who owns his own gym and basically travels for 3-6 months at a time every year, a [loud] group from New York, an Australian girl, and another Australian couple.

Our tour guide for the week was Sherif who had a masters degree in Egyptology. He was super cool and laid back and really did a great job. Sherif was the butt of a few jokes because he would always repeat himself over three times and would say Guys, today is a high-light everyday.

THE TOUR:

DAY ONE: ARRIVAL

After a fairly uneventful overnight flight from Newark, we arrived at Romes Airport for a brief layover. Shortly thereafter, we were on our way to Cairo. As we approached Egypt, I was amazed at Cairo from the air as it seemed endless. We arrived in the airport and passed through customs fairly smoothly. Both Dave and I had to go through some hassles getting our visas to get into the country because we were afraid it would be difficult to get one at the airport. For future reference, it wasnt worth the hassle. It seemed that we could get one at the airport without any real delays.

The tour group rep met us right before we entered passport control which was nice. One of my biggest fears about the trip was that we would miss our ride to the hotel. After passing the first of many to come Tourism Police and military with large machine guns, we got our bags and met up with another person who was coming in at the same time (Michelle from Colorado).

We loaded into the van and began our cross town trek to the hotel. The driver, Mohammed (the first of four that we met), gave us a little info on the sites as they passed by. We learned very quickly that almost everyone is named Mohammed in Egypt. As the driver was telling us about the passing sites, I found it difficult to listen because I was enamored with Cairo as we drove through.

Cairo is the veritable definition of chaos with its 20 million people. There were very few (if any) traffic lights at intersections, no stop signs, cars five lanes deep on a three lane road. The honking was ceaseless. Complicating an already ridiculous scene were masses of people walking around, carrying things on their heads or riding on their donkeys (oh yeah).

Once I began to get over the shock of the above scene, I was riveted by the poverty-stricken areas we passed. As you hit the outskirts of Cairo, you enter the area where the poor people reside (to use the word live would be an overstatement). From what I later learned, the poor people in Egypt are a majority and they actually vote. The government sets up a concrete frame structure in the Nile delta. The poor come in and farm the land and literally build their dwellings with brick they scavenge. The dwellings are literally brick cubes. In addition, none of the buildings are finished. As soon as you finish a building, you have to pay taxes on it and the poor cant afford it. So, instead of completing these large, cube dwelling buildings, they lay unfinished with no power, no running water, anything. Its simply amazing. Further adding to this amazing (yet sad) scene is the lack of paved roads in these villages. No roads means no garbage service. The poor simply throw their garbage out onto the dirt streets or into vacant lots. Its unlike anything Ive ever seen.

After we pass that area, we enter Giza which is technically a suburb from Cairo, which is right on the other side of the Nile. As you turn a corner, you are faced with mighty pyramids. Its amazing site the first time you see it, almost unreal. The city goes right up to the pyramids which stand as the gateway to the Sahara Desert. Because we were there in the peak of summer, the city was very hazy and visibility was very limited. Nonetheless, the pyramids stood out above anything else it was amazing.

Just down the road from the pyramids was our hotel, The Oasis Hotel. It was a pretty nice hotel basically a collection of bungalows with a large pool and restaurant. After settling in our room, Dave and I checked out the pool. It was interesting to see Egyptians smoking water pipes everywhere as we swam around.

We met up with our tour group that evening and met Sherif, our guide for the week. We got a basic idea of the highlights that we would be seeing over the next few days and got pretty excited.

DAY 2: GIZA AND CAIRO

We had to get up early pretty much every day of the trip and never got started later than 7:15am. We had to do that for two main reasons: 1) avoid the rest of the tourists and 2) beat the heat.

The stop on our trip was the Pyramids of Giza. This is the reason that most people go to Egypt and its easy to see why. They are monstrous the biggest pyramid, Keops, is made up of over 2 million blocks of stone. To look at and touch something that is over 4000 years old is an amazing experience. Once you experience something like that, all of your future experiences are somehow diminished. Over 8 million people come to see the Pyramids in a year. Because of that, they have to limit the number of people that can go inside and they only allow about 100 people into the largest pyramid in a given day, first come, first serve. Our entire group was fortunate to get there early enough to get tickets to go inside.

As you approach the Pyramid, you see the main entrance about 100 feet off the ground. They only discovered this once hidden entrance after they dug their own by the foot of the Pyramid. As you enter, you walk through a tunnel before you hit the main ascension path. Turning right, you begin to climb up to the tomb. Its a very steep ascent and the walls going up are stepped. It (along with many other things I saw that week) was amazing to think and realize how intelligent the Ancient Egyptians were. The architecture was really amazing. After you climb up the steep path, you enter a small, dark, dank room that was the tomb. There were no inscriptions on the wall or anything there except the empty stone container that once held the casket of the Pharoah.

Exiting the Pyramid, we walked around a bit. Surrounding the Pyramids (and essentially every site in Egypt, ancient or not) were Tourism Police. Decked out in white with black armbands, they were everywhere and Im not sure what their actual role was. I did notice quickly that they all had guns. One of the main warnings that you get from your tour guide in Egypt is trust no one. Pretty much everyone is out to get your money, what they call bakshish which is essentially tipping. If you arent careful, they will withhold your camera if they took your picture until you tip them or something of the like. I initially thought that the tourism police wouldnt be like that but I quickly learned otherwise. This one guy told me to come stand in a certain spot and said he would take this great picture of me putting my finger on the tip of the pyramid. I gladly gave him my camera and he took the picture. I was fortunate in that he gave me back my camera before he asked for some bakshish. It was lesson learned however in that you really couldnt trust anyone, including the police.

As we walked about the great Pyramid, it was really difficult to comprehend where we were and that we were actually standing in front of the last remaining ancient wonder of the world. We moved on to the second pyramid, Kephren. This is a smaller pyramid built by the son of Keops. Keops still has some of its limestone covering near the top which gives you a sense for how the pyramid looked before the limestone wore away. The third pyramid, Mykerinus, is the smallest of the three and was built by the son of Kephren.

All around the Pyramids, there are men riding around on camels trying to get your attention, trying to sell you things, and to get you to take a picture of them, all before demanding some bakshish. We were all aware of what they were trying to do fortunately, but I was still amazed at their persistence. They really wouldnt leave you alone and acted like you were their best friend in the world. In the end, they were only trying to get some money off you (which is a theme that was repeated throughout the week). It was hard ignoring them or being rude to them to get them off your back but I got more comfortable doing that as the day and week went on.

After spending some quality time at the Pyramids, we loaded in the bus and headed to a nice spot where you could see the three Pyramids and take some pictures on camels. Passing on that opportunity (talk about a tourist trap), we headed down to the Sphinx. The Sphinx was fairly deteriorated but amazing nonetheless. When you stand looking at the Sphinx with Pyramids behind them, its simply amazing. The Sphinx was initially a mountain. When they were building Kephren, the Pharaoh was not please that there was a mountain blocking the view of his Pyramids. He instructed his slaves to either destroy the mountain or make something out of it. They turned the mountain into the Sphinx. Half man, half lion, the Sphinx depicts the intelligence of man combined with the might of the lion. It was typical in Ancient Egypt to turn Pharaohs into sphinxes.

Next to the Sphinx was the mummification chamber. Essentially all of the Great Pyramids have a mummification chamber close to the Pyramid with a long path leading from the chamber into the tomb.

After the Sphinx, we loaded back onto the bus and headed to the Egyptian Museum in the heart of downtown Cairo. The Museum was built by the British in the early 1900s. The Egyptian government has broken ground on the Grand Egyptian Musuem which is about to be built over the course of five years in the desert near the Pyramids. When complete, it will be the largest and most advanced museum in the world. The Egyptian Museum has an amazing amount of artifacts. It houses the first known painting ever made the painting is of geese. Throughout the whole week, there were an amazing amount of firsts that we would see.

The high-light of the museum was without a doubt, the King Tut display. Before going to Egypt, I was under the impression that King Tut was famous because he was an amazing Pharaoh. This wasnt really the reason he was famous it was because that this tomb is the only tomb that we discovered with all of his treasure in it. King Tut actually died very young at 19 years of age. For a long time, they believed that he was murdered but have recently come to learn that he died from falling off of his chariot.

King Tut has played a critical role in modern day Egypt because his treasures have toured the world as a marketing campaign to raise awareness of Ancient Egyptian culture and the need for funding to preserve that priceless artifacts that have been and continue to be discovered.

King Tuts treasures were amazing beds, chariots, jewelry, and of course, the famous mask. It was simply amazing to look at. You see it in almost every high school history text book but it is a different thing when you see it in person. Its so precise and brilliantly crafted. I could have stood there and looked at it for hours (and not just because that was the only room that was air conditioned).

What was also interesting about King Tuts treasures was that you could get a glimpse of how the ancient Egyptians went about burying their leaders. Obviously everyone knows about mummification but that is just one part of it. Egyptians believed that they need to be buried with everything that they would want in the afterlife to make it pleasant. They went so far as to have things made (i.e. chariots, pots, gold, etc.) solely for the afterlife; things that would never be used while they were living.

King Tut was buried in a sarcophagus which was placed in another sarcophagus which in turn was placed in another sarcophagus. This was found inside a box (not a small box, about the size of ¼ of a room), which was placed inside another box which was placed inside another box. All three boxes and the two outer sarcophagi were in the museum. The outer box that held everything was huge and took up the size of a large bedroom. The sarcophagus that held King Tuts mummy was still residing in his Tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

After the museum, we headed back towards Giza to a Bedouin House. A Bedouin is essentially a desert dweller. Most of the people that we saw riding around on camels were Bedouins. The family that lived there, as it turns out, is fairly well off mainly due to their business. They own a farm in the Nile delta that cultivates flowers to create fragrance extracts. They are one of two businesses in the world that provide all of the base extracts to all of the perfume and cologne manufacturers. You could tell this person any perfume or cologne and he would be able to bring you the oil extract that created it. The Bedouins are also well known for their hospitality. When we entered the house, we were escorted into a large room with plush red seating and walls that had shelves covering them with mirrors and hundreds of little glass bottles. The head of the house greeted us and offered us all drinks. After some enjoying some great Egyptian tea, he proceeded to tell us about his business and brought in a large sampling of his fragrances. Of course, no one in Egypt is hospitable without trying to sell you something. At the end of the sampling, he made them all available for purchase.

Once we were through with the demonstration, we all headed to the roof of the house to catch the sun starting to set over the Pyramids. Before the sun actually did set, we had to leave to go catch the night train to Aswan. Upon arriving at the train station, we were consumed with chaos. The station was essentially a large platform and there were people everywhere. The trains that passed through were both amazing and scary. The trains themselves seemed very old and not safe. In addition to that, the commuter trains were full of people; so full in fact that people were literally hanging out the side doors as they passed by. It was reminiscent of Schindlers list and the train that was taking the Jews to a concentration camp it was that packed. That scene made me a little anxious to see what our train would look like.

My fears were alleviated when we boarded our train which was much better than the previous trains we saw (although it still wasnt up to European standards). After a night of hanging out with some folks in our cabin and fairly terrible meal (with the exception of the rice), we tried to get some sleep but that proved to be a very unsuccessful venture.

DAY 3: ASWAN

The following morning, we safely arrived in Aswan. Shortly after our arrival, a bunch of cell phones started to ring from some worried parents. We found at the very early in the morning, two commuter trains had collided killing mostly everyone on board near Cairo. (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/21/egypt.traincrash/index.html). It was a bit scary knowing that we werent very far from the scene of the accident.

Aswan is in southern Egypt which means that its hot. Most of our sightseeing had to be done early before the heat got to be unbearable. The culture in Aswan is slightly different than Cairo. It seemed to be more laid back and the people had darker skin (because of the Nubian African influence on the area). More people also wore long cloaks because it kept them cooler. The whole town shuts down for siesta everyday from about 1pm to 6pm. After 6, businesses open back up until midnight or so.

Our first stop in Aswan was the granite quarry and the unfinished obelisk. Aswan is famous for its granite quarries and it is where the granite that covered one of the Giza pyramids came from. Its amazing to think that in ancient times, Egyptians actually mined the granite and transported it all the way up to Giza. It took us over 12 hours to get there by train, a luxury which the Ancient Egyptians didnt even come close to having. All of the granite that they mined was placed on rafts and floated up the Nile to Giza.

In the middle of the quarry is a large obelisk. Most of the obelisks in the world today reside in Europe (mainly Rome) but they were all manufactured in Aswan. I never really appreciated an obelisk until I saw what it took to make one. All obelisks are carved out of solid rock, granite. They were made in ancient times with very little tools many people have to carve the obelisk out of the granite and then polish it smooth before it could get engraved. The obelisk would then be rolled (literally) onto a raft at the foot of the quarry where it would wait for the Nile to flood before it could be sent off.

The unfinished obelisk was supposed to be for Hatshesput (pronounced like Hot Chicken Soup), the only woman Pharaoh in Ancient Egyptian history. She became Pharaoh after deciding that her husband was too weak to rule and kicked him out. Not much is known about her because her husband eventually came back and went to extraordinary efforts to destroy everything she made. She had planned to make the biggest obelisk ever and that is the obelisk that still sits in its granite bed today. More than ¾ of the way through its making, the obelisk cracked rendering it useless. The project was abandoned and the obelisk remains today. After that point, no one tried to make such a large obelisk for fear that it would crack.

After the quarry, we headed towards the High Dam. Before you get there, you pass over another dam which was built by the British in 1900. The Egyptians were under British protection (i.e. a colony) until they revolted in 1952. After they gained their freedom, their first project was to build the Aswan High Dam. Before the dam, the Nile would flood every year significantly flood. This flood would destroy farmers crops, ancient temples, houses, everything. The dam was built to help control the Nile and created the largest man made lake in the world instead of flooding the cities along the Nile, lets flood the desert where no one lives. Another side benefit is that the dam prevents crocodiles and hippos from swimming up river and into the cities. It also prevents through traffic from sailing all the way up the Nile (there is no lock system on the High Dam that allows ships to pass. It was the first major project that Egyptians undertook with their new found freedom. Of course, building the largest dam in the world is a daunting task so they enlisted the help of the Russians. As a symbol of their friendship, the Egyptians built a huge structure in the shape of a Lotus Flower which stands at the entrance to the dam.

I must say that I was disappointed with the dam. While its impressive because of what it accomplishes, its not really much to look at and its certainly nothing like the Hoover Dam (or what you would imagine a dam to look like).

After our brief stop at the dam, it was time for us to head to our cruise ship where we would spend the next three days sailing up the Nile. The ship was actually a pleasant surprise. It was a fairly large cruise ship that had four floors. The tope three floors were rooms with the ground level being a lobby, store, and restaurant. The top deck of the ship was a party deck with a bar, lounge chairs and a pool. We boarded the ship for lunch but wouldnt set sail until the next day. We had some free time in the afternoon to catch a nap and swim a bit.

After some needed relaxation time which Dave and I wisely chose to nap during, the group got together for a sail up the Nile on a Felucca which is a large sail boat with one gigantic sail. As we slowly moved up the Nile, we spotted about five children in very small homemade boats. As soon as they saw us coming, they paddled furiously with two boards and latched on to the side of our boat. The boy that got to us first grabbed onto a rope attached to our boat and began serenading us with some timeless hits as The Macarena, Juan Palameda (sp?), and Mambo Number 5. After he finished his repertoire, he repeated it, over and over and over again until someone tipped him.

After sailing for about half an hour, we reached our destination on the other side of the Nile: the beginning of the Sahara Desert. Sherif told us that we all had to take our shoes off and go walk on the sand or a little bit. The hot was so freaking hot but that was soon overcome by the rocks you had to walk over. Dave and I decided to climb up the the top of a large hill with a couple of other folks from our group. From the top, you could see all of Aswan on the other side of the Nile. Behind was desert as far as the eye could see. It was a really cool scene. I took a picture of my footprints and filled up my water bottle with sand before heading back towards the boat. As we were walking back down the hill, Sara and I decided that instead of walking, we really wanted to roll down the hill [of sand]. After rolling for a good couple of minutes, I was so dizzy that I literally couldnt stand up. Despite the fact that I was wiping sand off of myself for the entire sail back to the boat, it was well worth it.

As we were cruising back, I had pulled my camera out to take a really cool picture of another felucca with a tomb as a backdrop. As I went to take the picture, I noticed that the back of my camera had popped open, exposing all of the film underneath. I was pretty upset about losing the pictures I had taken in the desert but as it turned out, most of them were salvaged because Canons roll film back into the canister, protecting your film from exposure.

We reconvened for dinner back on the cruise boat which was surprisingly good. All of our meals on the boat were buffet style and freshly made. After dinner, we all got together and headed out to the Aswan Bazaar/Market which would prove to be an experience unlike any other. All of the girls were strongly advised to find a husband for the night because the Egyptian men, especially in the marketplace, didnt have a lot of shame. The market was a narrow alleyway that extended for quite a while. The street underneath was cobblestone and shops lined both sides. As soon as you stepped into the bazaar, you were accosted by a multitude of people trying to get your attention. The standard routine went something like this:

Hello! Hello sir! Where you from? Australia, GDay Mate? You come and look in my shop. It is free to look I pay you to come look. Everything is five Egyptian pound. Ooooo, pretty lady, you have beautiful eyes. You a very lucky man to have such a nice lady. I give you ten thousand camel for her, I divorce my wife.

This scene was repeated over and over with three to five people trying to get your attention at the same time. In order to ward them off, we all tried speaking in different languages (brokenly) but we found that the Egyptians were fairly fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, and German. Some men were so bold as to come up and grab your arm and try to pull you into their store.

We had all joked that whenever someone would come up to us and we wanted them to leave us alone, we would simply yell KELLY CLARKSON at them really fast (a la 40 Year Old Virgin). At one point, we tried it a couple of times and it actually worked they were so befuddled that they walked away. I had even convinced (at least it seemed) one guy that Sara was actually Kelly Clarkson. He seemed to know who Kelly was and tried to get her to marry him. I dont think he was really serious or at least any more or less serious than the other guys that accosted us that night.

One guy tried to tell me that he would pay me to come look inside his shop so I decided to see if there was any truth to that statement. I asked how much he would pay me and he eventually agreed to pay me one Eyptian pound to come and look for one minute. He stopped short though when I asked for the money before I stepped into his shop he just started laughing.

The market was really a seen of chaos and unlike anything Id ever seen before. It was so fast paced and interesting to see with the variety of fabrics hanging and spices everywhere.

DAY 4: ABU SIMBEL, KOM OMBO, CRUISING

After a very early start, we were on our way to the Aswan airport for our optional excursion to Abu Simbel which is about 30 miles from the Sudanese border. Abu Simbel is a temple that the never-shy Ramses II had carved out of a mountain. Back in the 1960s Abu Simbel was in danger of being destroyed by the construction of the Aswan Dam as it was directly in the flood plain. UNESCO workers and a variety of different countries came up with a plan to save Abu Simbel by literally moving it to a higher location. The mountain was disassembled piece by piece and moved.

Upon arriving in Abu Simbel, you are struck by its colossal size its really an amazing thing to look at, especially when you consider how old it is. There are two temples, one for Ramses II and the second for his wife, Nefertari. During ancient times, Egypt was divided into North and South and many Pharaohs before Ramses II had tried to conquer the Nubian people living in the area that Abu Simbel occupied. Ramses II was smarter than your average Pharaoh (and older he lived to be over 90 years old which was twice the average life expectancy of an Ancient Egyptian) and instead of trying to conquer the Nubian people, he simply declared them as Egyptians. Egyptian settlers began to intermingle and settle the area and as a sign of good will, Ramses II took a Nubian wife.

Inside Abu Simbel is three rooms. The main chamber has about six large statues that serve as columns. On the outer perimeter of the room are large hieroglyphics and paintings. One shows Ramses II riding a chariot while using his bow and arrow. This is part of an animated scene with multiple poses. The second chamber is similar to the first but smaller. Off to the side on this room are two smaller chambers, one on each side. The inner room is a small cove with four statues. Twice a year, when the sun rises, the sun shines directly on the face of the statue of Ramses II. When the temple was moved, the date changed by one or two days. One of the four statues is the god of darkness. His face is the only of the statues that are never lit by the sun throughout the course of the year.

Abu Simbel was really one of the highlights of the trip. Its shear magnitude and complexity is really amazing. What really made the experience great with Abu Simbel and really every temple we visited, was that you could walk right up and touch anything, including the hieroglyphics.

After the return flight, we boarded our ship and began our cruise. Boating up the Nile is really amazing because you get to see a whole different world. Between the major cities, farmers spend their day working with the land so you would see people with hand carts carrying plants, cows grazing along the river, kids swimming in the Nile. These scenes interspersed with the Sahara Desert, mountains, and palm trees were really amazing.

Later in the afternoon, we arrived at the Temple of Kom Ombo. This temple was dedicated to two gods the crocodile god Sorek and the falcon god Horus. All of Ancient Eyptian culture was heavily influenced by their environment, namely, the sun and the Nile. The crocodile was a significant predator and the one half of the temple was built to sacrifice things to the crocodile in order to appease it. They had two mummified crocodiles that served at an altar. They also had a crocodile trap that would catch crocs when the Nile flooded. The Pharaoh would have a private chamber where he would go speak to the gods (which was really the high priest hiding underground).

In Kom Ombo, we learned about the Ptolemeic dynasty. After the Pharaohs, there came a line of fifteen kings that were seen as the successors to the Pharaohs. The last of the line was a queen Cleopatra. She married Marc Anthony to protect her land and people from Roman conquest. She, as with all royalty before her, was the keeper of Ancient Egyptian religion; an intercessor between the people and the gods. When she died, so did the ancient Egyptian religion. It was amazing to me that with the death of one person, an entire religion that thrived for thousands and thousands of years could disappear in an instant. Whats worse, after Cleopatras death, the Egyptians would not rule themselves again until 1952, when they revolted against the British.

The ruins of Kom Ombo were not very complete due to Nile flooding, earthquakes, and bandits. This temple, like others we saw, were also used as Churches at points in their history. Temples were mainly meant for high priests and Pharaohs and the common people typically didnt get to go inside. Along the back wall, there is a little square among the carvings that has a pair of eyes and ears around it. This is where the common people could come and pray to the gods. They would stand in line for a long time just to get a chance to speak to the gods. All along the wall where these people waited in line was graffiti and carvings that were used as game boards. Also of note in Kom Ombo is the first registered calendar in the world that is carved in a wall inside the temple.

One of the most powerful moments of the trip for me was in Kom Ombo. We arrived there at a good time because we were the only group there. I was walking around by myself trying to take everything in and the Islamic prayer was being called out over the city. It was really amazing.

That night, we had our Egyptian party on the boat which meant we had to find a costume. Between the temple and boat was a little row of shops and Dave and I were able to find matching outfits, not before haggling them down from 300 L.E. to 55 L.E. for our costumes.

The Egyptian party was ok. The crew on the ship had a little dance party and we played some games. Dave and I got picked for pretty much all the games which was funny. The first game had us trying to knock a ball to the other side of the dance floor with a ball of aluminum foil tied around our waste dangling down between our legs. I was terrible at it and it was quite embarrassing because you had to squat in this awkward pose to even attempt hitting the ball. Needless to say, I lost. The next game had girls trying to make mummies out of us with toilet paper. Michelle was trying to cover me but failed miserably. Sarah, on the other hand was very successful with Dave and ended up winning the competition.

DAY 5: EDFU, LUXOR TEMPLE, BELLY DANCER

Early that morning we all went to visit Edfu Temple. It was similar to KomOmbo in that it had a heavy Roman influence. Edfu was my least favorite temple in that there wasnt really anything special to it that would make it stand out with the exception that it was the best preserved temple. It was dedicated to the falcon god and had a large retaining wall on the outside. The wall itself was fairly impressive simply because of its size. We learned that most temples had such a wall but were destroyed, much like everything else, because of the Nile Flooding.

Of note in the Edfu Temple is a large wall that traverses the one side. It had inscriptions and large pictures on it. Sherif told us that it was the first opera. Every year, they would sing about the story of the gods. The story basically went like this: there was the main god, Amon Ra. He was killed by the god of the underworld, chopped up, and thrown into the Nile (which is why it was so fertile). Ras son, Horus (the falcon god) basically avenged his father and brought him back to life.

The Edfu Temple was pretty hot and crowded so nobody wanted to hang around too long. We all headed back to the boat where we spent most of the day relaxing and hanging out in the pool. One interesting thing we learned on the boat is the Egyptians love hot tea. In fact, they have tea time everyday despite the tremendous heat. Hot tea, they claim, is actually better for you in the heat because it helps regulate your body. It was actually quite nice drinking hot tea on a sun deck in on hundred degree weather.

The wait staff of the boat were pretty humorous. Most of the afternoon was spent hanging around the pool on the top deck. One of the wait staff had a habit of pushing girls in the pool (they had bathing suits on) when they were sitting on the side with their feet in. We hatched a plan to turn the tables a bit and got a bunch of the people together to throw him it, waiter outfit and all. We took his cell phone and wallet out but didnt take off his watch or his lighter, which ended up being casualties of the mission. Feeling bad, we all chipped in some money so he could go and get replacements. This same waiter also came over to us earlier in the day and had a pill in his hand. In very broken English, he asked us what the pill was for. Giving it to us, we realized it was an Immodium AD. Trying to explain that the pill was for diarrhea politely to someone who doesnt speak your language is an interesting feat. We tried to explain it and I think he got it. Trying to be funny, he seemed disappointed that it wasnt Viagra (which the Egyptian people seem to have a strange obsession with). Later on, we found a guidebook that had some basic translations in it and wouldnt you know it, it had the Arabic word for diarrhea in it. We called the waiter back over and showed him the Arabic word and he started cracking up it was pretty funny.

That evening, we arrived at our final destination: Luxor. We all piled into horse and buggy carriages for a brief ride over to the Luxor Temple. Luxor was probably my favorite Egyptian town. It didnt have the chaos of Cairo but seemed more alive than Aswan. Luxor was recently declared a national park (or at least the Egyptian equivalent) and the government has been investing a lot of money to make it a very people friendly town with the way they are laying it out. It seems as though the project to transform Luxor will take a very long time but there is a tremendous amount of potential there.

Luxor Temple is two miles down the road from Karnak Temple, which is the largest Egyptian Temple. Connecting the two temples is an ancient avenue that is lined with Sphinxes. They recently discovered this avenue actually connected the two temples. Luxor, like everything else in Egypt, was a victim of the flooding Nile. Every year, the flooding would deposit dirt on top of the ruins to the point that people wouldnt realize what was under the dirt. Not realizing the significance of the area, they built houses and mosques. Having discovered this road, the government is trying to re-open it but that would require moving mosques and tearing down houses. It is strictly forbidden in Islam to tear down a Mosque so with recent technological advancements, they can actually move the entire building without breaking the rules. Most of the houses that block this avenue have Sphinx statues in their basements and bedrooms. Inside the Luxor Temple, there is actually a Mosque built on top of the temple!

We visited the temple at night because it was well lit. It was really cool being able to walk through the temple on a cool night in peace and quiet. Luxor Temple was dedicated to Amon Ras wife. Karnak Temple was Ras temple and every year, they would have a celebration and take the statue of Ra and walk it down the avenue of the Sphinxes to visit his wifes temple.

Back on the boat, a belly dancer was arranged for the evenings entertainment. I was pretty excited about it because I had never really seen a belly dancer before. Before she came on, there was a guy who performed a traditional religious dance which was really interesting. The guy wore a basic tan outfit with a large skirt that was comprised of different color fabrics. The dance was basically this guy spinning around in a circle, non-stop for about 5-10 minutes. While spinning, he was arranging these circular discs in different positions. After that, he did various things with his skirt which was attached in two layers. The different colors made it look really cool as he spun. Once he was complete, the belly dancer came out. If Im being honest, and I am, she wasnt a good belly dancer, nor was she attractive. I could have easily gotten over the attractiveness issue if she had some talent to back it up but nope. She was also overweight, which is fine, but not when you are a belly dancer. The highlight of the whole event was when Dave got pulled up to dance with her.

DAY 6: VALLEY OF THE KINGS, KARNAK TEMPLE, CAMEL RIDE

Once again, we had an early start to the day as the bus headed over to the Valley of the Kings. About half of the group got up extra early (4am) to do a hot air balloon sunset ride. We met up with them at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings and Queens which is marked by two deteriorated statues. Along the road, you see huts built onto the side of the mountain which have been there since before tombs were discovered in the mountain. It was discovered over time that those houses are actually on tombs themselves and there are plans in the works to figure out how to displace them.

Initially, all of the Pharaohs built pyramids as their tombs. There are over 70 pyramids in Egypt today. As time went on and the empire went through some rough times, pyramids became a very clear target for grave robbers. Pharaohs saw this and decided that instead of building visible tombs and monuments to escort them into the next life, they would build hidden tombs dug into the side of a mountain. Thus, we have the Valley of the Kings today with about 66 tombs that have been discovered and more waiting. All of the tombs were carved out of limestone into the mountain. The entrances were sealed and hidden from view. Years ago, there was a freak rain storm in the desert that flooded a lot of the tombs closing them forever which is unfortunate. One of the tombs that was closed was that of Ramses II. His tomb, based on the drawing on a sign in front of it was amazing because he had burial chambers for all of his children. Lets just say that he had a lot of children and had to keep expanding his tomb to hold them all its almost three stories deep of rooms.

The first two tombs that we visited were of Ramses IV and Ramses III respectively. What was amazing about this tombs was how well they have been preserved. Every square inch of the tomb is covered in hieroglyphics and they are all painted with some vibrant colors. Every tombs ceiling is painted black with white asterisks that represent stars. The detail that the Ancient Egyptians went to constantly amazed me.

The last tomb that we visited was Thutmes III, who also happened to be Hatshepsuts husband. Sherif referred to his tomb as the Indiana Jones tomb because of the natural booby traps in it. You had to climb up a steep flight of stairs just to get to the entrance. One there, there is a series of steps that begins to descend into the tomb. At the exact point where the sunlight ends and darkness begins to prevail, the steps turn into a smooth slide that the unsuspecting tomb robber would fall down. At the end of this slide is a large granite slab that the robber would hit his head on and probably die. In the event that he lived, there was another series of stairs that eventually turned into another slide. This slide ended at the edge of a large pit. The pit had two purposes, the first being to trap robbers, but the second, and more important purpose, was to act as a retention for any water that would enter the tomb. Because of that, the tomb below has been kept in its original form with no degradation. If the robber was clever enough to survive the water pit, they would find themselves in an empty tomb. What they wouldnt realize is that it was a fake tomb designed to throw them off the trail. The real tomb was actually below that one and could be accessed by a trap door in the far corner of the room.

One of the interesting characteristics about the tombs is that there was really no master plan in place as to where the tombs would be built. As such, there are numerous instances where they were building the tombs and would run right into a previously established tomb. Since they couldnt desecrate tombs, they simply stopped their digging and started digging to the side to go around the other tomb. Another interesting story relates to the mummies inside the tombs, most of which were not found in the tombs themselves. When a grave robber would discover a tomb and leave the mummy, the governor of Luxor (who was entrusted with the security of the tombs), would go and retrieve the mummy. So it wouldnt get stolen, he hid a lot of the mummies in a crevice in the mountain. These mummies werent discovered until fairly recently when a farmer was chasing a lost sheep who happened to stumble on the mummies.

Our ticket allowed us access to only three tombs (the ones we visited seemed to be the only ones that were open). Most of us purchased an extra ticket to visit King Tuts tomb. Since King Tut died so early, they didnt have time to make him a proper tomb. It is widely believed that they used someone elses tomb and modified it in a hurry. It really isnt much to look at because of that. What was amazing about it was that his casket was still in the tomb with his mummy inside.

After the viewing King Tuts tomb, we headed over to the Valley of the Queens which is right on the other side of the mountain. The predominant object there is Hapshepsuts temple which was rebuilt after her husband destroyed it. Its a very large temple with a couple of different levels. At the pinnacle of the temple is a passageway that cuts through the mountain and goes all the way through to the Valley of the Kings. There was a local there who helped point out some great picture shots for me (for a small tip, of course).

The day was growing hotter but before we could check into our swanky five star hotel, we had another stop to make, Karnak Temple. Karnak Temple is back in Luxor (on the other side of the Nile from the Valley) and is two miles down the avenue of Sphinxes from the Luxor Temple. Karnak had grown steadily throughout the Ancient Egyptian time period with each Pharaoh adding on during his reign. Karnak was the main temple of worship and this was obvious by its size and complexity.

Karnak was an amazing temple. I had two main issues, the first being that the group was pretty templed-out. Weve seen enough and heard enough that anything at that point was the same as what we saw. This compounded with the heat. The sun became fairly unbearable and when coupled with the complacency of the group, everyone was a bit itchy to get some rest (especially considering we were all up so early).

Taking that out, Karnak was pretty cool. The most impressive part of Karnak was the Hypostyle Room that contained 136 columns, each huge and fully engraved. No picture could do that room justice because of its size. It was amazing walking through the columns. The temple itself was huge and we really didnt have enough time there to comprehend everything that was around us. We hit as many highlights as we could but we werent able to do the temple justice. That compounded with the general state of ruin that has befallen the temple. In retrospect, I would have liked to have spent more time there just to even grasp the layout of the whole temple and the significance of each of the areas.

Also of note in the temple was a carving of the fertility god, which is always amusing given the fact that he has a large penis sticking out of him. This particular carving gave the god a face that was painted black prompting Dave to make the comment Once you go black, you never go back.

There was a pretty cool carving that was essentially a tally of what each Pharaoh brought to sacrifice to the gods. There was a large statue of a scarab that was supposed to grant you a wish if you walked around it seven times. This was across from the worlds first swimming pool that was used for religious purposes. It was refreshed every year by the flooding Nile. Another interesting site was at the entrance. Egyptians used mud ramps to build the large outer walls of the temple and the original mud ramp was still partially there.

Again, Karnak was really huge and we didnt get to see half of the temple. Most of it was in a pretty bad state because of the Nile flooding and ignorant archaeologists. It would have been amazing to see it in all of its glory, fully constructed.

Exhausted, we all headed to the Hotel Meridien which was to be our home for the evening. Dave went to take a nap and I headed down to the pool with some other folks. Its amazing how much more expensive things were inside the hotel versus outside (like $3 for a bottle of water compared to $1 and $2 per [small] scoop of ice cream). After getting waterlogged, I headed up and napped for a bit. We all met back in the lobby to head to the other side of the Nile for a camel ride.

We loaded onto a motor boat and chugged across the Nile. Once on the other side, we unloaded onto shore at the entrance of a village where there were a herd of camels and a couple of horses waiting for us. Camels are very funny creatures. They seem slow and they look amusing. At random times, they would make really random noises. They are covered with flies and lash marks from their owners. They are also very mopey creatures and seem to need some motivation to get going.

After I got on the camel (which was lying on the ground), the camel stood up. I had to hold on for dear life because camels do not stand up gracefully. They stand up on their front legs first so when you are on top of one, your whole body lurches back and if you arent holding on and leaning forward, youll fall right off. Riding a camel is an awkward process and fairly uncomfortable. The awkwardness and difficulty greatly increase when the camel starts to run. You need to hold on for dear life to make sure that you dont bounce off the quasi-saddle. The difficulty and awkwardness is overcome however by the realization that you are riding a camel in Egypt which is pretty cool.

An adolescent guided each camel and my guide was Mustafah, a 17 year old Egyptian. Mustafah seemed liked a good kid and did his best to point out everything that was going on around me. Riding the camel through a village was amazing its hard to comprehend how these people live and how different it is from my life here in the States. Even now, the fact that I own a laptop and a home made of brick with a porch and a paved street in front of me all of these things would be so foreign to them. Through our journey into the village, there was an old woman standing in a doorway and I tried to take her picture. Upon seeing me hold my camera up, she yelled at me, ran inside, and slammed her door. At the end of the ride, we had to tip our guides. Sherif told us all to bring ten Egyptian pounds which is what I did. When I gave it to Mustafah (who really was a great guide), he looked at me and said it was too small. Part of me was surprised at the nerve he had to say that directly to me and another part of me felt really bad, especially because he did a good job. Regardless, I stuck with the ten pounds and later found out that everyone who tipped ten pounds got the same reaction but there were a few who tipped twenty which seemed to satisfy their guides. Oh well.

After the ride, we all gathered on the porch of a house in the village and had some homemade Egyptian bread and tea. It was amazing sitting there because we were actually sitting on their beds because they all sleep outside at night. It was a surreal scene altogether. To add to the experience, as we were sitting sipping our tea, this large herd of sheep ran by us guided by a woman from the village. Dave and I just looked at each other and started laughing. The sheep were followed by a donkey that decided to make some classic noises, adding to the amusement.

After our tea and bread, we headed back to the boat to go over the Nile back into Luxor. The boat ride back across the Nile was amazing because it was night by this point. We climbed onto the roof of the boat and watched the Luxor skyline pass us by, spotted with lit temples here and there. It was really cool.

Before turning in for the night, we had some folks over on the balcony for some wine and cigars.

DAY 7: CAIRO, KHAN AL-KALILI BAZAAR, PYRAMID LIGHT AND SOUND SHOW

After yet another early morning, we headed to the Luxor airport and boarded our 9am flight back to Cairo. An hour later, we were on our bus heading toward Cairos Khan Al-Kalili Bazaar, the oldest bazaar in the world. When we arrived, Sherif told us that the entire bazaar was in this one city block. I was initially disappointed because I thought it would be very small but as is turns out, its a really big block with a TON of back alleyways - its very easy to get lost.

The Cairo bazaar was much more civilized than the Aswan bazaar and the people werent nearly as bold. There certainly was still the same amount of dealing, haggling, and even flirting however. My main goal in the bazaar was to get a couple of statues. I headed into this shop and began talking to the guy. Its so hard to negotiate when you dont really have a baseline as to what their costs are. The guy took a statue off the shelf and told me it was one of the good ones. A lot of the statues that you find over there are made of a fairly fragile material and then painted to look like wood. The statue he took down was made of solid wood and he proved it to me by banging it on the table. I asked how much and of course, he told me 200 L.E. for it. I said no way and started to walk away. He called me back and we started to dance. I ended up offering 50 L.E. each for three statues. He acted all offended and tried to sell me the lower quality statues for that amount. I refused, he refused and I threatened to walk away. He pulled out an interesting line that I actually bought into in my moment of weakness. He said No, I really want to make this work so I can open my books for the day. You are my first customer and I want to open my books. I would later learn that this is a tactic because I heard that from almost every shop I went into. Regardless, I got the statues for the price I named. The guy told me that I did pretty good but I still think I should have paid less.

Later in the day, Dave was in a store trying to buy Dan Lin a jambea. The guy who was in the store spoke really good English and started talking to me. He asked me where I was from and I told him. He scrunched his face up and said AhhhGeorge W. Bush and gave me a thumbs down. I laughed and he asked what party I affiliated myself with. I laughed again and said Republican if I had to pick one. He frowned again and replied I tell you what young man, I give your friend very good price on his drum if you promise me to vote Democrat in your next election. We all laughed.

The bazaar was amazing and I wish I had more time (and a map!) to explore it. So many items were all over the place and really cool stuff brass and silver plates and bowls, genie lamps, lanterns; really amazing. Of course, with the drum and other souvenirs, Dave and I were worried about our luggage requirements so we (and by we, I mean Dave) had to purchase a cheap bag. I still had some money burning a hole in my pocket so I wanted to find some other trinkets. I found an obelisk and a set of three pyramids made out of granite. The shop guy was pretty young, I would guess just a little older than me. He saw me looking at the obelisk and came up to me and said:

Hello, this is 45 L.E. but I see that you are a student so I will give you the no bullshit rate of 35 L.E.

I laughed and said no. He asked how much and I told him I wanted the whole set for 30 L.E. He looked at me incredulously and shooshed me away with his hand. I laughed again and he said 30 for just the obelisk. I said no and he told me to get the f*%! out of there while walking back into his store. So I walked away and met up with the group. I strategically kept walking by his shop and he kept yelling out prices to me which were too high. I kept shaking my head and he eventually starting getting down into my price range. I took out 30 L.E. and said this could be yours right now. He angrily took out a bag and started throwing the merchandise in there. He said, youre f%$!@.. ridiculous but a good bargainer. Dont ever come back here I never want to see you again. I said ok and laughed. He smiled and shook my hand and said You know Im just f%$..$! with you right?

After the bazaar, we headed back and checked into the Oasis Hotel once again. Dave, Sara, and Michelle had this obsession with finding an Internet Café so we all decided to take the Hotel Shuttle into Cairo and have a little adventure. While they were in the Café, I decided to ramble around a bit. I ended up walking through a fairly large public bus station which was a bit frightening because you had TONS of Egyptians walking everywhere staring at you and people coming up to you trying to get your attention to somehow get money off of you. After I successfully navigated that, I ended up walking across a bridge that traversed the Nile (from Cairo over to Giza). Along the Nile are a lot of cruise boats that dont ever move that hold restaurants and night clubs. The baot nearest the bridge had a Chilis restaurant and the boat next to that one was the TGI Fridays boat. It was a bit sad knowing you couldnt escape all of the American chains. At least they didnt have any WalMarts.

I headed back and met up with the folks at the Café. While they were finishing up, there was a cat that took a liking to me and kept rubbing up against my leg. Now, when Im in foreign countries, I make it a rule to stay away from most wild animals, especially cats and dogs. The cat kept rubbing against my leg which I allowed for the time being. Then it wanted to play and I drew the line. When it realized I wasnt palying back, it jumped up and bit me in the leg. I think it was a playful bite and it didnt penetrate any skin but still I got bit by a cat in Egypt! There was a girl sitting in the corner reading the Koran and laughing at me. I wasnt really amused.

That evening, we were getting ready to head over to the Pyramids but before doing that, we corporately decided that we needed to smoke a water pipe so Dave, Sara, and I split one. We had been watching a ton of people smoke them throughout the week and it looked fairly easy as they would exhale ridiculous amounts of smoke. When we tried, it was a spectacle to say the least. First, we couldnt get any smoke out of it. When we finally did, you had to suck so hard that you had no choice but to inhale. Well, being the avid smoker that I am, I broke out into a ridiculous cough every time. There was a table of Arabic women next to us and they just started laughing every time.

We headed off to the light and sound show and while I expected it to be touristy, I had high hopes. Upon arriving, we found some good seats at an elevated restaurant area. The show started off with a band of poorly costumed Egyptians playing the musical instruments of the Ancients yes, thats right, bagpipes. I knew from that moment on I was in trouble. I entered with the expectation that there would be lights on the pyramids with classical music playing. Instead, there was a narrative the basically took you through the history of the world voiced by some British guy (why are they always British?). Starting off, it was ok because it was dramatic and hey, youre at the Pyramids. But once they started talking Napoleon, they had lost me. I would still do it again because, as I said, its the Pyramids, and the venue offers an amazing view of all three Pyramids and the Sphinx. I think sitting there was the first time it actually hit me where I was and I began to understand the awesome majesty and history of the structures still standing before me.

DAY 8: SAQQARA, CITADEL, MOSQUES, MORE CAIRO

We got another early start and headed over to see the Step Pyramid over in Saqqara. As we drove to the site, you really got a good glimpse of some of the poverty stricken/farming areas. Women working, men sleeping outside it was like a whole different world. We also passed by fields of palm trees that were abundantly yielding dates it was amazing.

Upon arriving, we headed into a tomb that belonged to the Governor of the area. It was a bit boring because we were tombed out to a certain degree. After that, we headed over to a mound of dirt that was once a pyramid the Titi Pyramid. Amazingly, there was a very elaborate tomb underneath in really great condition.

After getting warmed up with those, we arrived at the Step Pyramid. The Step Pyramid was built by Imhotep. Imhotep was regarded as the worlds first architect and actually accomplished some amazing things. He built the Step Pyramid for Pharaoh Djoser which is the first time someone figured out how to make a large structure that was taller than six feet. He used the step concept and bolstered the structure with log/tree trunk supports. He went further and invented the column as a support structure. On top of all this, he was a physician (just a hobby). He really was an amazing, brilliant man. Two thousand years after his death, he was actually elevated to god status as the god of medicine and healing.

Another of Imhoteps accomplishments was the first condo development. Imhotep was responsible for building the homes of the Pharaoh and rich people in Memphis. Whats more, he was smart enough to know that his homes wouldnt last down there because the Nile would flood and destroy everything. Having a strong desire for people understand his accomplishments thousands and thousands of years after his death, he actually built replicas near the Step Pyramid. Amazing stuff.

After some funny pictures, we headed back into Cairo for some lessons on Islam. Our first stop was the Citadel. They way Cairo is situated makes it very difficult to invade. The Nile Delta from the North is difficult and confusing to navigate. The same is true from the Nile coming from the South in addition to being dangerous. From the west, they are guarded by the worlds largest desert and a mountain range blocks them from the east. The only point of entry is over the Sinai peninsula and this is where they built a large citadel to protect the city. Atop the citadel sits a giant mosque where the King (who was from Turkey ironically) lived. The mosque is the typical picture you see whenever someone shows something from Cairo. It was grand in stature and quite impressive. Mosques in general are elaborate in their architecture but not much in terms of decoration. As you enter the citadel, there is a large courtyard with a structure in the middle that has personal fountains for the faithful to wash themselves with before prayer. We all had to take our shoes off and the girls had to wear these large green cloaks to cover up their scandalous shoulders. Looming over the courtyard is a green clock tower that looks really old. We learned that it was a gift from France in exchange for an obelisk the Egyptians gave them. The clock tower, in true French fashion, has never worked, not for a single day or hour since they received it.

The mosque is essentially one big room. In the corner is a tomb of the king who lived there. The rest of the room is open with lights hanging down. The far wall faces Mecca and that is the direction in which everyone prays. There is a stair well off to the right side where the priest goes up and preaches a sermon and leads prayer. Muslims pray five separate times in one day. They have to go through a fairly elaborate cleansing ritual prior to each prayer (thus the fountain).

After the main citadel, we headed to another older mosque. It was similar in layout to the citadel mosque but much older. There was nothing in particular of note here other than when we were leaving, there was a priest who was talking to some other tourists and he called out a prayer into this recess in the wall and it echoes everywhere which was really cool.

After the second mosque, our tour was officially over. We all headed back to the bus and decided to eat at a local restaurant. I must say, I was impressed overall with the atmosphere of the restaurants we ate at. They were full of wooden ceilings with fairly elaborate designs. This particular restaurant had tables made of brass. The food was pretty standard all week. On the cruise boboat, our meals consisted of veal with various sides. The restaurants had four courses, the first course being bread (like a pita) with lots of spreads, especially babaganoush. This was followed by a serving of filalfel. The main course was always some sort of kabob (minus the stick) beef and chicken. There were two types of beef the first was the standard beef you get on a kabob in the States and the second was a ground beef type contraption. These were always served with a side of french fries.

After lunch, the bus headed back to the hotel but some of us had the option of staying down town. Dave, Michelle, Sara, and I elected to walk around and try to catch the hotel shuttle back in a few hours. It was actually an interesting experience walking around the downtown Cairo area because it isnt a place where tourists usually hang out. Because of that, a lot of people seemed to stare at us more. There was one creepy guy who looked at the girls we were with and gave me thumbs up on three different occasions. It was definitely creepy.

Sara was studying to be a law student and had a desire to go into an Egyptian Courthouse. It happened that the Egyptian High Court was right down the street from where we were walking so after a stop at McDonalds to get some milkshakes, we headed there. The building is fairly boxy from the outside and would probably fit well in Washington D.C. Upon entering, you walk into a large foyer area with domed ceilings which were actually pretty cool. As we walked in, there was an older gentleman who kept staring at us. He finally walked up to us and asked what we were looking for. We replied that we were just looking and his look got even stranger and said this is the High Court Building as if we were lost. It was rather amusing. After we saw a lot people with machine guns walking around and Dave started asking what room people got their hands chopped off in, we decided to move on.

We made it back to the shuttle after a brief visit to the Ramses Hilton Mall and yet another McDonalds to get McFlurries (the first McDonalds didnt have McFlurry capabilities despite having them on their menu).

The evening was wrapped up with a farewell dinner with everyone. We got to sit with Sherif which was pretty cool. As he talked and told us about his job, I was really amazed at what he did. Everything I saw that week was amazing to me but over time, I could imagine how it would become mundane and lose all of the special-ness it deserves. Sherif does this week in and week out with little to no variation. I admire for having that much passion for what he does to keep with it. You basically have to sacrifice everything family, friends, home, community because you are never home for more than a day or two at a time.

DAY 9: DEPARTURE, MILAN

The time had finally come for us to say goodbye to Egypt. One week is the right amount of time to spend there. You are fairly exhausted and tired from everything and ready to get home to your own bed. Our flight was the first of the groups to leave. I wasnt really excited about the 4am flight out of Cairo but I figured that the airport wouldnt be very crowded and was excited about the long layover we would have in Milan.

We had a shuttle pick us up at 1am to take us to the airport so we tried to catch a nap before leaving. Upon arrival at Cairo airport, I was floored. The place was jam packed and like a zoo at 2am. Ive been through a few airports, including some of the busiest in the world. Never have I seen anything like this. As I mentioned, the Egyptians scan you before you are even allowed to enter the airport so there was this mob of people who were trying to get in. The Contiki helper who was there was trying to get us to cut in front of people in line (people who had enough luggage to last them a lifetime in a remote jungle). He looked at me and said sometimes, you have to break the rules while cutting in front of someone (literally lifting my luggage over theirs). I laughed and replied, I didnt think you had any rules in Egypt to which he laughed.

The prior night, Dave and I had realized that we didnt need the extra luggage we purchased in the bazaar and were able to fit everything into our bags. The problem that presented was that it put our bags over the weight limit for the airline. I argued with the agent and told him that it didnt make sense to me that they allowed two bags for a total of 46kg but they wouldnt allow one bag at 26kg. After some arguing, he relented and let us go without paying the extra $50 it would have cost us. We fared much better than an African gentlemen next to us who for some reason had 6 large white boxes that the airline refused to take.

We finally got through the chaos (which took us over an hour) and were on our way to Milan. After arriving in the airport, we took the Malpensa Express downtown. We had no maps or general direction so we tried to figure out things on our own. Milan was a bit of a disappointment for me. It was definitely Italian but it really wasnt much compared to Sienna and Rome. But I must say that it was refreshing being able to sit in a piazza drinking a glass of wine and eating some much needed and missed gelato.

Dave and I tried to find the fashion district but were fairly unsuccessful in that venture. We did see Dolce and Gabbana but since it was Sunday, it (like many other things) were closed. We did go into a Zaras and Dave bought two dress shirts and I bought a fairly inexpensive sweater (just to say I bought some clothing in Milan).

We headed back to the train and got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. The flight back wasnt one of my favorites (but still not the worst). It started off with a husband and wife arguing in front of us and trying to switch some seats with some very annoyed gay guys. Throughout the flight, I was trying to sleep but the woman in front of me kept opening her window shade blinding me with light as the sun was directly out our windows. It got to the point where I was ready to tell her that there were clouds and only clouds out there there was NO need to continue to check every ten minutes that the clouds were out there. That coupled with the general state of loud, very loud Italians made it an uncomfortable flight.

We finally arrived back in rainy New Jersey completing our three cities, three continents, one day journey.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Egypt really was amazing. A 23 page summary cant do it justice. Pictures attempt to do it justice but a lot is lost in those as well. Im so glad that I did it. I learned a lot and enjoyed seeing a corner of the world that not many folks get to see. It was so great traveling with Dave and simply relaxing. It was great to get away from work and realize half way through the week that you werent thinking about work at all.

Egypt is a land of antiquity. Its getting harder and harder to be amazed about things I see but Egypt certainly did the trick. I would recommend it to anyone (except a single female traveling by herself). I had no fears for my safety (at least because I was American). It was wild seeing a country so different from my own and so influenced by a religion. Im convinced that Islam is the only thing that really keeps Egypt (and for that matter, the Middle East) from falling into complete anarchy. At the same time, I cant help but wonder if Islam held Egypt back from being a greater country than it is. When you look at the amazing intelligence and ingenuity the Egyptians had, you cant help but wonder what went wrong? Why are they not superpowers in the world today? What happened to that intelligence and ingenuity?

As for me, Egypt has certainly kept the travel bug alive. I stop and think about the places I visited and an amazed at the things Ive been privileged enough to see that so few other people get to experience in their entire lifetime yet alone in 26 years. I traveled across two oceans, sat at the Sydney Opera House, stood in the mighty Coliseum in Rome, pondered Stonehenge, marveled and the Great Pyramids, walked in the Sahara, swam off the shores of Hawaii, and climbed the Eiffel Tower. Im privileged and blessed to be able to do these things. Whats next? Im not sure. Ive got a list going and Im really and truly excited to see what my next adventure is going to be.

So many monkeys, so little time...

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Mexico - Worst trip EVER!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Viva Mexico!

Saturday, September 9, 2006

Egyptian High-lights (It's a long one!)

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