Andrea, you ignorant slut. That's how I feel halfway through this trip as I sit on the ship in the Nile waiting to arrive at Luxor. I realize how little I realize our history books taught us about Egypt. Or, could I have forgotten? What was I expecting to see? I really didn't know. But, this country has been a wonderful surprise. I recommend it to everyone. It is everything I hoped it would be and more. Run to your favorite travel agent and book a trip as fast as you can and then run to your doctor, get a typhoid shot and a prescription for mummy tummy and you're set to go (or not go, depending how you read this sentence). I will certainly return to Egypt again. It is a country that values its antiquities and is in a state of constant restoration. In 5 years' time there will be ever so much more to see than we saw on this trip. In fact, we could have seen so much more, but we would have overdosed on one trip. So, what was there that was so fascinating?

What I found was a country comprised of a mysterious mixture of peoples. Ranging from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sudan on the left and Ethopia on the right, the people of Egypt are a charming composite of European to African that seems to merge at times into what we consider as arabic. Further to the north in Alexandria, the city was settled by the French, British, Greeks, Romans, as well as native Egyptians and the folks are quite light and blue eyed and Mediterranean looking. In Cairo, a bit further south, these same folks settled into specific neighborhoods. Further down the Nile, in Luxor (Thebes), the folks become more Egyptian and darker and "traditionally" arabic looking. Even further south, in Aswan, this is the Nubian area, and this extends to Sudan and Ethiopia. The people from this area area very dark and have African features. Considering Moses was found in Cairo, one wonders what he actually looked like.

Now, this isn't really surprising. What's really interesting is that Egyptian civilization gradually lost its coherence under foreign occupation and drew to an end. Its culture disappeared, it seems, not because of inherent contradictions or abuse of the environment nor due to a great natural calamity, because of historical circumstances. It appears that the Greeks were among the earliest invaders around 750 BC when land shortages drove them into Egypt. A certain strata of Egyptians became Hellenized with people learning Greek and taking on Greek names. A couple hundred years later, Alexander the Great subjected Egypt to the invasion by the Persians and Jewish, Greek and Persian immigrants increased. Later on, Romans came into power and Egyptians were converted to Christianity.

How did we find the people? They are lovely, warm and extremely welcoming. There is a very pro-American fervor. It is very pro-Obama. All children are taught English in the schools at a very early age and they love to try it out on you. Once any child sees someone they think may speak English, they will wave and say "hello" and come up to shake your hand, whether alone, in a school group or with their parents. It is encouraged by their parents and teachers. At one museum a group of kindergartners or first graders (perhaps 50 of them) found 5 of us more of an attraction than the wonderful museum and ran up to us to practice their English. Their poor teachers could barely get them back to the real exhibits -- we became the more exciting attractions. The children were always friendly, poised, well behaved and well mannered. Adults, too, were always quick with a hello. Shopkeepers in finer stores were very nice and restaurant service was efficient and well done. Walking down the halls of a hotel, the service personnel always said a cheerful good day. Now, the hawkers at the market were another thing. They were aggressive, but if you chatted with them, you could have some interesting conversations. You could see their letters from relatives in the states or hear about all the different qualities of lemongrass or henna or indigo. If you were up for bargaining, you could often get them down a good amount. I got a scarf down from $65 to $15. I still probably overpaid.

Talking about shopping…now that we are there….I am kind of unimpressed overall. I think I am still under $125 and most of it has been gifts. Many have spent much more. There have been lots of orders of cartouches. These are silver or gold charms with names written in hieroglyphics which you put on necklaces. The gold ones are rather expensive. The silver ones are affordable. Then, there are all sorts of silver or gold charms in Egyptian motifs that folks are buying and putting on bracelets and necklaces. There's also the souvenir ethnic stuff made out of camel bone that is really fun. There were the Cleopatra beaded wigs which we all had to have for a dollar to three---some of us got ripped off for $3. We also had to buy ethnic Nubian or Egyptian outfits for our dress up night. Some folks bought painted papyrus; most of us bought some Egyptian cotton golf shirts with our names in hieroglyphics. I bought some jewelry boxes with mother of pearl in lays. From what I saw in Aswan, they are very cheap and nice. I haven't yet purchases hibiscus tea or saffron. There are supposedly some nice essential oils. So, where do you shop? in Cairo, there is old Cairo. We had absolutely no time to shop there, so I have no advice as to good places. Our driver stopped at one place all purpose store near Old Cairo for us which had a little bit of everything and seemed to have decent quality merchandise now that I have been around for about a week. It had gold and silver jewelry, inlaid pieces, souvenir items, and gemstones--one stop shopping. Prices seemed fair. In Aswan, Abu Simbel and Esna and Edfu, our stop yesterday, shopping was souvenir quality. Now that we are on the ship, there is a decent jewelry shop with some nice things. The museums have had statues and some nice books. Today going through the locks, hawkers were throwing up tablecloths for $3--some were rather pretty--but none of us purchased anything. We were brought to a cotton factory in Aswan and were hoping for a good deal on cotton sheets and towels, considering this is the home of Egyptian cotton. I thought the sheets were more expensive than our department store prices and the towels weren't as nice.Some folks bought some t-shirts. A couple of us got some lovely pashminas. Sadly, most of the pashminas were too long, as is their custom to wrap them around their heads and body, so most were much too long. There are loads of perfume shops, but we didn't go into any until we reached Luxor (and we could have missed that), but we did go into a papyrus factory. Many bought things there. They showed us the plant, which looks like a short palm tree. They make the paper from the stalk, which is sliced and the water is pressed out. The paper is formed by laying it in strips as one would make lasagna. and putting it in a press for 6 days. We also visited an alabaster factory in Luxor. All in all, it is not an exciting shopping mecca. It is a place to take home souvenirs of your trip. However, it didn't stop many of us from dropping a buck here and there.

Now, when I went to Africa I was surprised that it didn't look like what I expected Africa to look like. It looked more like California, until we went to Kruger and saw the wild animals. It was modern and beautiful. Except for the townships and the poverty there, it was clean, lovely, and modern. Not terribly African. Now, when one thinks of the mid-east, you just don't exactly think of Africa, but it is Africa. In fact, it is the Africa you really think of when you think of Africa--bullrushes, sand dunes, vast plains, poverty, old crumbling buildings, OLD things, palm trees, oasis, mirages, vast expanses of desert….I had to smack myself in the head and say, "stupid, Egypt is in Africa. But, you think of it as the top of Africa. It is the Mid-east. If I were to say Ethiopia or the Sudan. We would think Africa, but somehow, I never placed it that close. Why, I don't know. So, it is the mixture of all these cultures that make it ever so exciting a place a to visit. Our text books in school paint such a shallow picture of a country so rich in a multitude of cultures. A culture that I was privileged to peek into. Egypt is a country that is a developing third world country. However, I didn't see much in the way of big business, though I am sure it was there. Our guides told us that independent business people are amongst the wealthiest in the country. What I did notice was a country that seemed to rely on agriculture as its source of sustenance. While it is not known for being a wet country, it does seem to have well developed irrigation systems and rich soil from years of Nile flooding bringing silt to the fields. Interestingly, sugar cane is a key crop in the Luxor area, but it requires substantial watering which is harming the antiquities. The government is negotiating with farmers to move these crops further out from the areas with antiquities. On our final day in Egypt, after the cruise portion of our trip, we had a final afternoon to spend in Cairo. We arrived at the hotel at 2pm and we didn't have enough time to go out to visit any other pyramids nor did we wish to venture 2 hours back into Cairo since we were staying at the airport. We found this rather an upscale condo neighborhood near a very large US type mall. What made the mall differ from ours was the fact that you had to go through an airport like security system before you could enter. Security was everywhere. They even searched bags, so you had to keep your receipts handy. Stores in the mall were quite similar to our stores and, in many cases, even the same. Considering this was a predominantly muslim country, I was surprised at the amount of sexy and garish outfits and jewelry. Food in the supermarket had lovely fresh produce and a wonderful spice section. It had giant barrels of rice. However, most packaged goods were imported. There were very few domestic goods, such as cookies or candies, etc.

I remember being taught all about the pyramids, but I was at a loss when the guides started showing us the many Egyptian temples. To put things into perspective for us, our guides explained that the pyramids were only built during the Old Kingdom. However, they soon found out that these tombs were being raided. So, they needed to find a better solution. Hence, they moved the tombs to caves in the Valley of the Kings during the New Kingdom. While the tombs were for funerary purposes, there were magnificent temples built around the same time for worship. Little in our history books speaks of these temples that are really far superior to the temples of Greece an Rome.

The Cairo area has the pyramids, the Aswan area has the temples, the Luxor area has the cave tombs where many of the pharaohs were found as well as imposing temples that transcended 2000 years. We only spent two days in Cairo and two days in Luxor. You really need much more. I would suggest 5 days in each city in order to see it all and to not burden yourself.

The upper Nile area is decidedly different in culture from the lower Nubian (Aswan) area. The culture is different, the age of the civilization is different, the people look different. There is more than one Egypt and you need to take your time to understand the culture and how civilization began in Ethiopia and came up the Nile and the people evolved over time.

So, with this trip, we were able to go back about 5000 years into history and try to fathom where we all came from. After this trip, I can even believe Mary and Joseph may have been really dark and may even have been black. I got so mixed up with all the temples and art I was seeing and couldn't keep them straight as they were intermingled amongst one another. So here are the highlights, so you can see why I was so excited with what we saw. We saw some pretty old stuff!! You can skip this if you really don't care, but it does put things into perspective.
â–ª Early Dynastic Period ran from about 3050-2663 BC,
⁃ Unification of Egypt under one king
⁃ Papyrus
⁃ Boats with oars on the Nile
â–ª Old Kingdom (Dynasties III-VI through 2195 BC ),
⁃ Pyramid building
⁃ Great Sphinx at Giza
⁃ Memphis (Cairo) settled
⁃ Hieroglyphics created
â–ª Intermediate Period (Dynasties VIII-X through 2160 BC)
⁃ Note: Not much current sites remain in the major cities today as the main capital was moved to an inland city
â–ª Middle Kingdom (Dynasties ( XI and XII through 1650 BC)
⁃ Thebes gains in importance (Luxor)
⁃ Art from Luxor
⁃ Interest in Nubia
â–ª Second Intermediate Period (through 1550 BC)
⁃ Scarabs become popular
⁃ The dung people is both male and female and reproduces; it also rolls up in a ball; Egyptians took this as the sun; therefore, it was giving life and represented life and became an important symbol for life and the sun
⁃ Asians invade
â–ª New Kingdom (through 1064 BC)
⁃ Valley of the Kings: Dead buried in tombs instead of Pyramids
⁃ Much artwork that we know today
⁃ Pharaonic period at its peak
⁃ Voluminous literary output
⁃ Great sculpture
â–ª Third Intermediate Period (through 656 BC)
â–ª Saite Period (through 525 BC)
⁃ Assyrian conquest of Egypt
⁃ Persian conquest
â–ª Persian and Macedonian rule (through 332 BC)
⁃ Egypt part of Persian empire
⁃ Immigration of Jews, Greeks, Persians
⁃ Aramaic language in use
⁃ Invasion of Alexander the great.
⁃ Alexander the Great ended the dynastic period and this began the Macedonian Phase.
⁃ Alexandria becomes the capital
â–ª Ptolemaic Period (through 30 BC)
⁃ the Ptolemaic period began in 305 to 30 BC in which a succession of Hellenistic rulers took over, which ended with Anthony and Cleopatra.
Three dynasties which do not speak Egyptian, except for Cleopatra, begin.
â–ª Roman Period (through 395 AD)
⁃ Christianity comes to Egypt
⁃ Last hieroglyphic inscription
â–ª Byzantine Period (through 640 AD)
⁃ Egypt becomes Christian
â–ª Arab rule (after 640 AD)
⁃ Islam replaces Coptic Christianity as the majority religion

You have to really understand these regimes and historical highlights to fully comprehend the art and temples and put them into context, otherwise, while magnificent, you really get a bit confused as to who did what and when it occurred. What is interesting to see is how the Egyptian pyramids evolved into the grecian and roman temples we see in in Athens and Greece, embodying hieroglyphic symbols and adornments into what we think of as Greek and / or Roman Temples. The stories of their way of life and of the building of the temples or pyramids are fully spelled out allowing us today to be voyeur of their everyday lives. It is remarkable how much has been preserved from 3000-5000 years ago. These temples were once brightly colored in primary colors and some of these colors are still visible after all of these years due to the fact that they have been covered by sand and preserved by mother nature.

What I also found amazing is the amount of rescue, investigation and restoration that has been made available to Egypt by many countries around the world. In return, Egypt has bestowed many of the wonderful works of art that we have in our museums and public areas as thanks. Paris' obelisk is one such thank you gift. Many of the temples in our US museums are others. Unfortunately, there was unethical opportunism in which "archaeologists" removed antiquities with the use of a battering ram or dynamite! Some mummies were unwrapped with such speed that they just rotted away. Today, there is a great deal of work going on to preserve the antiquities and it was continuously on going as we toured the sites. Some activities we saw or heard of were:
â–ª Clearing villages from nearby temples such as Luxor and Edfu
â–ª Closing pyramids to tourists for restoration and cleaning
â–ª Rotating pyramid openings to tourists
â–ª Cleaning the painted ceilings of soot
â–ª Moving shrines and temples, such as Abu Simbel, to protect them from flooding
â–ª Total body imaging using CT or CAT scans, radiology, Xrays, or DNA investigation


While I was struck by the beauty of the artifacts, the cities are far from beautiful, but I really liked them, nevertheless. They have not been restored nor modernized and I was surprised by the level of dirt and trash. However, I was not repulsed. There was no bad odor in the air. CAIRO: Traffic was everywhere and while there were lanes, cars ran amok of them. Busses, cars and donkey carts all vied for their spaces. Four lane highways became seven lane highways. Traffic lights. None. I have never seen worse traffic. But, rarely a horn or a cross word. Folks waved, leaned out of windows and talked. There was a slow pace to the cities. They sat in the shops and smoked the water pipes. Who knows what was in them? I wish I had whatever it was to take home.

Folks walked on the street, some in eastern dress and some in Muslim garb. Those in Eastern dress were most likely Coptic (Egyptian) Christian. Clothes hung out of many windows, giving rise to the idea that dryers aren't in many homes. I didn't see many nice apartments in Cairo, but I was told that those along both sides of the Nile are quite expensive. In fact, the condos next to the Four Seasons sells up to $7Million US. Hmmm. Appearances on the outside can be deceiving.

Day 1: March 20 at 5 am

Boy, the city noise is quite loud in our room on the 12th floor of the Four Seasons and I am kind of sorry we didn't get one of the quieter Nile view rooms. Now I am up, so thought I would jot down all my notes while I had time and was WIDE awake.

Doug and I decided to eat a quick bite at a local Italian place in town before the limo picked us up for the airport at seven pm. Our flight was to leave at 10: 45pm, so that meant no dinner until close to midnight, so we knew we'd be a bit hungry if we waited and, after all, it was airline food and an American airline at that. We had never flown an American airline overseas, so this would be an experience for us. It was a good thing we left at seven, as the traffic to Kennedy was pretty bad and the normally 75 minute trip took 90 minutes. Delta reserves a special terminal for First, Business and Medallion passengers, Terminal two, and lets the riff raff, travel through terminal three. Terminal two was pretty empty when we arrived and we zipped through both baggage check in and security rather quickly. Most of the terminal shops were closed and there was a rather longish walk to the Delta Sky Club. Not much food was served there except cheese, nuts…packaged hummus and drinks, but it was comfortable and we met up with Susan, who would be joining us on our trip. We boarded rather promptly and also saw two other traveling companions, Frank and Carla on board the flight. There was no first class on this jet, only business and economy, and the business configuration was old school…recliner seats…no flat bed. When the seats reclined fully, they reclined into your legs and I have little legs. There was no room to store things, the TV was tiny and the plane was really cold. However, food was good and service, excellent. I watched the ending of a movie I never got to see and watched another I wanted to see and got some sleep. The ten hours flew by and all in all, it was a comfortable flight. Before we knew it, the reality of Egypt was upon us, with the pilot pointing out the pyramids of Giza below us…one large one, one smaller one, and three really small ones (in comparison), all sitting at the edge of a densely populated city in a real desert, not like the ones in the US, but total sand. He circled the pyramids for us and pointed out the Nile. We were really here. We landed at a very modern airport, but there were no gateways. Stairways pulled up to both the front and rear doors and busses pulled up to take us to the terminals. As we looked out the window, we saw a sign, that said "Ker and Downey." It looked like we wouldn't be taking the public transportation. As we walked down the stairs, our bags were taken and we waited for all five of us to deplane and we entered our private bus and were whisked away to a private terminal area. It wasn't as warm as we thought it would be and it was quite windy. Our passports were taken and we were led to a lovely, private lounge--ah, so much nicer than standing in long custom lines--and asked what beverages we would like? Susan and I asked for the WC and were led to one next door and then the fun began. I decided to flush. I stood up and pressed the lever beside the tank (where American levers are). Whoosh…out shot a huge, forceful stream upwards of cold water directly at the closed stall door. It was more forceful than any shower I have ever had seen. I couldn't figure out how to turn it off and the stall was flooding. The WC lady screamed open the door. Now to do that, more than my feet would have to get wet. I would have to get in front of the door and the water to open it. I did and got totally soaked. The water was so powerful, it shot across the room at hit the mirror and flooded almost the entire bathroom. The woman ran in and turned off the water. Susan, was sitting in her stall, terrified, afraid to flush her toilet, not knowing what would happen. The woman told us that it just had the European push knob on the top. Susan breathed a sign of relief and came out and we both broke out in hysterics…especially when she saw me. I was a sight…totally soaked along with the bathroom. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had pressed this knob sitting on the toilet. My bottom would have been power washed and I would have been ejected into the door. Well, I walked sheepishly and soaking wet back into the lounge, Susan still laughing. Doug looked at me quizzically, wondering why I took a shower with my clothes on. Frank and Carla looked oddly at me as they really didn't know me well wondering why I washed my hair and with my clothes on. What a beginning!! We waited comfortably, me dripping a bit, and the gentleman came back with our luggage and took us took to our bus and tour guide, Hossam, for our 45 minute ride to Giza. All the women were handed bouquets of flowers. Talk about being treated well.

Now the tour began as well…we learned that one side of the Nile is Cairo and the other Giza. He explained to us that there are really two class systems in Cairo, one wealthy and one poor, with not much of a middle class. Hossam pointed out million dollar villas belonging to those making about 15K per month and 2K apartments of one room for those making 60 per month. There's a flat tax in Egypt of 22 percent, but that doesn't cover any medical expenses or education. Hence, most of that is out of pocket. The wealthy send there children to private education and the poor to public schools where classes have one teacher for 75 children and book supplies only cover ten dollars per annum per student. All medical insurance is private and ranges from sixty to two hundred per month. We pulled up to the hotel, the Four Seasons Residences, across from the Cairo Zoo, and were seated and served fresh strawberry juice while our room keys were being issued. Each turn of the hotel is filled with exquisite flower arrangements that took our breath away and the lobby was quite gentile with a large stained glass window, beautiful crystal chandelier and pianist. We were glad to get up to our rooms to freshen up before rejoining one another for dinner. Our room was quite large. Opening the door, we went down a long corridor, with loads of closet space and a wet bar before entering the bedroom. The bedroom had a wall of floor to ceiling windows which opened to a balcony overlooking the city and zoo. In the distance, we could see the two pyramids we circled earlier. It felt so good getting out of those cold wet clothes and getting into a hot bath! We then went back downstairs for dinner. In the lobby, we met all sorts of former and now current traveling companions…several had been there a couple of days already and we caught up. Some were having dinner at the Thai restaurant, another at an Italian restaurant and we decided on Lebanese. We had a marvelous dinner of all sorts of interesting and tasty dishes and then wandered off to the fancy attached mall…which is open until 2 am…to see what was there. I made my first purchase of the trip. Don't get too excited--just a tweezer. The mall has all sorts of extremely high end stores, such as Ferragamo. We walked around and then, we all said our goodnights. It really got cold here tonight. I was certainly glad I brought a warm jacket. The internet here is very expensive…25 per day, so will not be using it and will be posting my journal notes whenever I have a connection on the trip. I am suffering from jet lag and slept well until about 3 and then fitfully until 5. Doug is snoring away like a champ. I will probably crash pretty badly later today and it's now time to get up and get ready for our first day of touring of Cairo.

Day 2-3: March 23 Midnight

We have been ever so busy for the past 24 hours that I haven't had time to sit and relax at all to write anything. In fact, on March 21, we started touring at 8:30am and didn't return to our rooms until 11:45pm (with a brief time to clean up from 5:15 to 7pm) and on the the 22nd, we left at 9am and didn't return to the room until around 10pm, and never had a chance to clean up. As jam packed as these days were, they weren't near enough to see all that there was to see in Cairo. One really could spend a week alone just at the Egyptian Museum. It's a city we have fully enjoyed and the two days just haven't done it justice. The food is delicious, the people are wonderful, there is a tremendous amount of history to see and we have been graced with gorgeous weather in the 70's with blue skies. Last week was over 100--so we have been ever so lucky. The Four Seasons hotel First Residence is lovely. Service levels are very high as is security. A security guard travels with us everywhere. They pack very big guns but are ever so sweet, watching out for us, keeping beggars and hawkers away and even negotiating deals for us.

The breakfasts at the hotel are just about the largest and best that I have ever had at any hotel. The usual freshly made omelets, pancakes, breads, etc…but…there are freshly made blintzes, crepes, eggs benedict, meats, fish, salads, local yogurts, fresh squeezed strawberry juice, smoothies, tables of all sorts of exotic fresh fruits, halavah, and it goes on and on. Our group is broken in two…the easy group and the die hards. One group does the highlights and takes it easy and the other group goes on and on. You can switch back and forth on a daily basis as you choose. Day 1 most folks chose the die hard group. Day 2, most folks chose the highlights group. Doug and I chose the die hard group both days.

Day 1 was the Old Kingdom day. We visited the pyramids around Cairo. It is interesting how riding from Cairo you leave the densely populated city then hit fairly densely populated suburbs with farms that are very green. The earth is almost black. Farmers ride donkeys pulling carts in and out of cars and women walk across the roads with oxen. Farmers walk down main streets with herds of sheep. Dates, cotton, and vegetables are normal farm staples. The date palms are tall and dense and form forests on top of green pastures. Canals run along the roads. All of a sudden the pastures and forests stop abruptly and you hit a large sand desert and the pyramids begin. There are about 110 known pyramids in Egypt today and a number around Cairo. They are broken into Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom. By the time you got to new Kingdom, most of the dynasties were burying royalty in caves and not in pyramids. There were 30 dynasties in Egypt, ranging from around 3000bc to 330bc. The oldest pyramids in the Cairo area are from the Old Kingdom and are from the 3rd-5th dynasties and are around 4500 years old. The earliest pyramids were mad out of mud bricks. However, the famous architect, Imhotep, built the first stone (limestone) pyramid in Egypt and it was called Saqqara or the step pyramid of Djoser. This was our first visit. It is a vast complex in various stages of renovation/dilapidation and the first royal burials date back to King Djoser (2700BC). This complex was the cemetery for the ancient capital of Memphis and houses multiple pyramids and buildings…that of King TiTi, the Mastaba tomb of Ti, burial shafts, throne rooms, courtyards. The tombs are not safe for entry and there is, instead, a museum where one can watch a movie of the interior and discovery of the site. From there, we went to the open air museum that houses what is left of Memphis. This was the first name for lower Egypt and had at one time about 6K inhabitants. After ten 18th dynasty, it declined with the rise of Thebes (Luxor) and Alexandria) and after 641 was largely abandoned. Currently, many of the city's remains are within a modern day neighborhood and are from the New Kingdom, with the most impressive being the 33 foot Colossus of Ramses and a giant alabaster sphinx. From here, we were treated to an absolutely wonderful lunch at my namesake restaurant, Andrea Restaurant, which specializes, in grilled chicken on a spit. We ate al fresco and started our meal off with some salads, meat balls, stuffed grape leaves, french fries and then were served half a roasted chicken. Dessert was the sweetest melon I have ever had. Then, it was off again to visit more pyramids, this time the Great Pyramids of Giza, a 6 pyramid complex which also houses the famous great sphinx. There is the huge Pyramid of Cheops which is the oldest and largest pyramid, constructed in the 4th dynasty, 2551BC. This was the tallest manmade structure for 3800 years. The second largest pyramid was that of Khafre, who was the successor of Cheops. The smallest was that of Menkaure (2620BC) who was the son of Cheops. There was also a special museum which displayed one the the solar boats that was discovered in 1954, It was a cedar boat that would take the Pharaoh to the afterlife. 20 years were spent reconstructing the boat and it has just been put on display. It is so well preserved, that even the ropes, instruments, oars, and poles are intact. Then, around the smaller pyramid, there are three smaller pyramids, all serving lesser members of the royal family. While some of us visited the boats, others took advantage to ride the camels. Hawkers and camel vendors were everywhere and loads of folks took advantage of riding up into the desert. After visiting the pyramids, we had one final stop around the bend…the sphinx. It was smaller than in pictures and less impressive. With hawkers everywhere and fences surrounding it and hoards of people, it was somewhat of a letdown. Our highlight was all of the woman bartering for cleopatra headdresses for our dress up night on the ship (we paid $6 and much to our chagrin, found out the next day, we could have had them for under $1 at the bazaar!!!) The day was rather windy and we were covered in sand and we felt like we all had swallowed tons of sand. Sand was in our mouths, our hair, our shoes, just everywhere. We couldn't wait to get home and clean up. When we got back to the hotel, we all ran up to our rooms to shower or bathe and clean up for our dinner party at an Egyptian home. At 7 we all met in the lobby and boarded the bus for a very long ride to the suburbs. We found ourselves at an extremely elegant and large villa on about 5 acres replete with tennis court and pool and gorgeous gardens and as charming a host as Ngaire and Ken. We spent the evening being wined and dined before saying our goodbyes, stumbling onto the bus and snoring soundly before even arriving at the hotel. Most of us had a very good night's sleep!!

Day 1 was so exhausting for most, that few joined us for the full blown tour today, March 22. It began with a walking tour of Old Cairo. We visited an area where Church, Synagogue and Mosque sit side by side. In fact, at one time, before Israel became a state, over 300 synagogues exhausted in Egypt. School children were everywhere and enjoyed practicing their English on us, saying hello and posing for pictures for us. In fact, one even asked me what I was doing later. They were adorable. It is always fun to watch folks go through their tasks of daily living and the old sections of town were vibrant and alive. We stopped at a jewelry store and we woman picked up some trinkets. I bought some gifts. Then, we went to lunch. Lunch today was in the bazaar and was good, but not as good as yesterday, starting with salads and lentil soup and then meats, which were a bit dry. We wandered through the stalls on the way back to the bus, before heading to the magnificent Egyptian Museum home to the mummies, King Tut's relics, etc. Then, it was back to the Sphinx and the great pyramids. It was now empty and reserved just for us and much more impressive. Chairs were set up for us and a sound and light show began. As the sun set behind the pyramids and camels crossed the desert, it was truly magical. But, it wasn't over yet. Now, it was off to dinner aboard a private yacht down the Nile. We all boarded the bus to the yacht and then went up to the top deck to get dinner while watching the Nile activity. Finally, it was back to the hotel by 10 pm. Tomorrow, we can sleep in a bit. We don't have to leave until 11 for the airport. Off to Aswan for another adventure.

Post note: Cairo is a city that needs about 3 days. You can do the city in a day. You need about two days to see the all of the pyramids.


Aswan: Movenpick: March 24-25

While Cairo is in Upper Egypt, Aswan is in lower Egypt and is in an area call Nubia. The folks here look quite different from the folks in Cairo. They are quite black and much more African looking than Mediterranean in appearance. Aswan is a rather sleepy town and a key port for the many boats sailing up the Nile. I was excited to see the market in town and it was colorful, but quite a disappointment. Junk, junk and more junk. It was a pleasant way to knock off an afternoon and it was fun hearing Doug called a "lucky man" and "Casanova" as he escorted three women around town. The shopkeepers were pleasant and fun to talk with, but we didn't buy a single item during our hotel stay in Aswan.

The Aswan Movenpick Hotel was supposedly the nicest 5 star hotel since the Cataract hotel is under construction. It is on its own island called Elephantine Island, which you get to via a short 5 minute boat ride. The setting of the hotel is lovely, sitting in the middle of the Nile. The hotel has two parts, a main hotel and a wing, each with rooms rather similar to one another. I can best characterize the rooms as Marriott Courtyard or Hampton Inn. They all included a nice balcony overlooking the lovely view. Breakfast and Buffet dinner were included. Food was unexceptional.

We arrived late in the day, having had a lazy morning in Cairo. We hopped a motorized boat ride for a peaceful boat cruise around the Nile before settling in for dinner. The next day we had a very early morning to Abu Simbel. This is the site of two rock cut temples located about one half hour plane ride or 4 hour drive east of Aswan. They were discovered in the early 1800's and dedicated to Amun Ra, Ra Horakhty, Ptah, and Ramses II. One temple is dedicated to Ramses and the other to his wife, Nefertari. When the new Aswan dam was built, the temples would have been flooded by Lake Nesser. As part of a worldwide UNESCO effort, both temples were brought intact to higher grounds in order to preserve them in the 1960s. Overlooking the lake, the cavernous temples are filled with giant carvings that are extremely well preserved, dating back to 1279-1213 BC.

Our days in Aswan were filled with all sorts of touristy galavanting from going into the bazaar, the granite yard, the Aswan dam, visiting the the wonderful Nubian Museum, second only to Cairo's Egyptian Museum, visiting a papyrus factory, the cotton factory, faluca rides (sailboat), picnics, visiting a coptic church, and henna painting. Finally, we boarded the boat for our journey down the Nile.

TEMPLE: Isis at Philae

While in Aswan, we visited a very unusual temple called the Temple of Isis at Philae. The original island site of Philae of the temple were transferred during the 1970s in order to save it from Lake Nesser. Therefore, in order to reach it, we all had to take a boat to an island. It is hard to believe that this is a fairly new temple, only dating to around 380 BC. The complex incorporates a temple to a Nubian god in a rare incorporation of Egyptian Nubian architecture. This temple seems to have survived well into the Christian era due to hieroglyphic indications and was not abandoned until 525 BC

Note: As we traveled to and from sites in Aswan on boats, the boatman were there to sell necklaces and bracelets from $1-$8 and we ladies had a lot of fun on the journeys.

Our Ship The Salencia: March 26-28, our cruise down the Nile

The ship was an utter delight. Service was excellent and the food was quite good. It was quietly elegant. Our room was decorated in old fashioned, grandma decor, but it was a good size with a nice couch and seating area, cocktail table, plenty of closet space, storage, and even a make up mirror. We had a queen size bed that was comfortable as well. My only complaint was the bathroom. Thank goodness that there were two of them. I would best describe them at sit and shower rooms, being so small, you could conduct all your business from one spot. Service was excellent. The boat glided with ease down the Nile and, for two of the days, we traveled during the day, enjoying the lovely scenery. You could either go from Luxor to Aswan or Aswan to Luxor. The advantage to Aswan to Cairo is more days on the ship. The advantage to Luxor to Cairo is you can start in Cairo, spend time there, fly to Luxor, spend time there and stay in a large city in what seemed to be really nice hotels, get on the ship, go to Aswan, spend a couple of days there and go to Abu Simbel from there and fly back to Cairo. It really depends what is important to you and how you want to travel. We had an extra treat. Our tour group of 27 had the ship ALL TO OURSELVES. We had two Egyptologists who traveled with us from Day 1 in Cairo to our final day in Cairo (10 Days) and even another guide who did all sorts of arrangements for us….such as paying off policemen who gave us a hard time. We were treated like royalty. We never lifted a finger. Bags were collected and carried for us, boarded passed picked up, visas prepared. We really had to do nothing for ourselves except follow orders. As with any land trip encompassing a lot of miles, there were lots of planes, busses, trams, hotels as well as our boat. But, it all ran very, very smoothly.

DAY 1

TEMPLE: Esna

We walked right out of the ship to this beautiful temple. The morning found us at the west bank of the Nile where we were at a very old temple dating to 1479-1425 BC, the Temple of Khnum. So, this temple came from the Dynastic phase…I guess around the Middle Kingdom. There were originally four other temples, but only this one now remains. What was amazing was that the colors on this temple were still visible and the engravings were still so well defined. Additionally, you could see how the temple was built by interlocking stones one on top of the other. Once placed, the workman then carved the intricate hieroglyphic stories into the stones and painted the temple. It is hard to contemplate how old these things we are seeing are. In fact, this town is so old it has remains dating back to 13000 BC, with Paleolithic sickles and grinding stones have been found and dated to this time. Now we had some fun bartering with the shop keepers. I bartered right up to the door for a Nubian scarf for myself and another woman … he wanted $65 each… I got two for $30. He had argued that they were so much because they were hand made by Nubian women. I found the label once in the cabin…" Made in Pakistan."

We cruised all day long along the Nile, enjoying a leisurely day until around 4:30 when we arrived at our final stop for the night.

TEMPLE: Edfu

Now, we jump way ahead to the Ptolemaic period pre-Cleopatra. …about 246-51 BC to see the Temple of Horus. The earliest historical evidence in this region is around 2980 BC, however. The main site is huge and imposing and includes a settlement an funerary remains. Most of the site still remains unexcavated. After serving as a temple, people moved into the temple and lived in it as housing. Sadly, if you look up at the ceilings they are dark with char. We were told that further up the Nile, other temples have been restored and the brightly covered paint can now be seen. The halls are immense and seem to go on forever. It is so well preserved since sand covered most of the temple for years. Homes currently sit atop most of the unexcavated ruins.

The evening brought a dress up dinner where we all became Egyptian for an evening. (I went as a Pakistani…remember the scarf?). After dinner, we danced, had party games…dressing our husbands up with toilet paper as mummies (the Egyptian toilet paper sure breaks a lot), then the guys had to tie a rope around their waists and use a hanging potato to hit another potato over a goal line….we had a form of musical chairs, then we danced like Egyptians….till the wee hours of 10:30.


DAY 2: Luxor

Today has been a day at sea, watching the lives on shore, wondering what these folks actually do for a living. Ox graze at the Nile banks, barker throw tablecloths up on our ship, fisherman fish for something in the brush. We never see folks going across the river by boat. Palms and giant reeds dot the lush countryside backs by high sand dunes. It is ultimate relaxation. We sit by the pool, playing cards, reading, chatting, writing on the computer, taking photos, or gazing off into our private thoughts.

â–ª TEMPLE: Luxor
⁃ Arriving at about 3:30 in Luxor today, everyone piled onto the bus to be taken to Luxor, one of the two major temples in Luxor. This temple was almost across the street from our ship and was founded in the reign of Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC) and augmented by successive pharaohs, including Ramses II and Alexander the Great.. What makes it so unique is that it has been preserved due to years of high sand drifts, so high, that a Muslim Mosque was built on top of part of it. Toward the other side of it, there is a Roman church dating to the later years. Hence, three separate religions set in one area. What is also interesting is that they are in the process of trying to relocate businesses and homes through the downtown in an effort to reconstruct the original road that connected Luxor with Karnak Temple. Currently, there is an impressive row of lions that line the street. It has a myriad of courtyards, hieroglyphic renderings, pylons, obelisks, impressive statues of Ramses. The primary function of this temple was a s a setting for a festival in which the cult statue of the god Amun was carried annually along the avenue of sphinxes leading from the temple of Amun at Karnak to Luxor. Some of the paint still remains on the walls, but most has been covered by bat guano and cooking soot. It is amazing that how much of their lives has been recorded on these walls and it is fascinating to walk through walls and look at inscriptions that are over 3000 years old and so beautifully preserved.

After our visit to Luxor, several of us decided to go to a perfume factory, which supposedly had the finest of essences in the world. Here, they verbally explained the process, let us smell the essences (which were pretty strong) and then tried to hit us up for a sale. While I still felt like an ignorant slut, I didn't feel like smelling like one, so we all said "no thank you." From there, there was a sound and light show at Karnak. We decided to pass this up and go and visit the Luxor Museum instead. This museum was a one hour, modern museum containing wonderful artifacts, containing 3000 year old pottery, sculpture, King Tut's shoes (he had very big feet), his shroud, etc. The 8 folks who went on to the sound and light show enjoyed it immensely, so a great day was had by all. Dinner was a buffet, consisting of a myriad of things ranging from a beef kabob to roast turkey. After dinner, we were treated to a show consisting of a belly dancer and a whirling dervish. What a day. Well, tomorrow will be an early one. We have to leave by 8AM!!

Day 3:


â–ª Valley of the Queens:
⁃ We met at 8 am for an early start to the cemetery of the royal wives and sons of the New Kingdom pharaohs located on the west bank of the Nile. Our half hour ride took us first past hot air balloons floating across the Nile, then landing near the Valley of the Kings. We then passed mud huts, taking us back in time as camels and donkeys were hitched to the rails and family members worked the fields. Once we reached the site, we had to negotiate all the other tour busses. Although the site includes the tombs of the 17th and 18th Dynasty royal family, most of the 18th Dynasty rulers' wives were buried in the Valley of the Kings with their spouses. Upon arrival, we were faced with a large sandstone wall with a large facia built into the rock. The tomb of Nefertari, the principle wife of Ramses II (1279 BC) was accessible for us to walk around and view the external site.

Once we completed our visit, we stopped to by an alabaster factory to learn about the alabaster manufacture in the valley. There are three types of alabaster…white, brown and green and to discover real alabaster, you need to shine a light through it. The prices were high and time was short and it was a struggle to negotiate, but we bought a few small items.

â–ª Valley of the Kings:
⁃ We then moved on to the Valley of the Kings. This is the real piece de resistance of the entire trip--not the pyramids. There are 62 tombs here and this is where most of the New Kingdom pharaohs, e.g., Tutankamen, have been found. It had become dreadfully hot and we took a tram to the entrance. With one's ticket you are allowed 3 tomb entrances. Additionally, some tombs have separate fees, such as King Tut, with a $20 fee. You could really spend days and days here. Each of the tombs is a series of rock corridors and chambers , sloping downwards into the cliffs. The earlier tombs consisted of bent axis corridor leading down to a burial chamber which was at first oval and later square. King Tut's tomb was probably intended to be for a private individual since it is so unlike anyone other royal chamber. It is tiny and unadorned. You walk down a long corridor and enter a small room. To your right is the large sarcophagus where Tut was found. This small room was where all his treasures were found. In this same small room is his fully preserved body. The importance of Tut was that it was one of the only tombs that remained intact and unplundered and has given us a good indication of the riches that were robbed from the other tombs over the centuries. Ramses tomb was deep and decorated ornately 3000 years later. It was hot. The air inside the tombs was poor quality. Many of us had headaches. But, it didn't matter. It was a glorious morning. I wish I could return again and see more.

We returned for lunch about 1:30 and had a short while to eat, freshen up, and get rid of our headaches before heading off on our final adventure.

â–ª TEMPLE: Karnak
⁃ At 3:30, we all met to take us to our final historical site in Cairo. Karnak is a huge complex of buildings constructed in the Middle Kingdom until the Roman Period over a period of 2000 years. It is a huge complex of buildings that is still under a state of construction The principle temple is dedicated to Amun Ra and consists of a huge hall of columns, a lake, obelisks, many impressive statues, and colored frescoes. It is considered the largest and best preserved temple of the New Kingdom and its reliefs and inscriptions incorporate valuable epigraphic data concerning the political and religious activities over these years in Egypt. Unfortunately, much of the Theban settlement lies underneath modern Luxor, rendering it largely inaccessible to archaeologists.

We returned to the hotel and freshened up for dinner, marveling at how wonderful this trip was. Everything ran ever so smoothly, thanks to our travel agent. Additionally, all 27 of us got along ever so well. We ranged from 37 to 87 and clicked like best friends. We headed off to our gala dinner, enjoying one another's company for one final night on the ship. Then, we went up to pack. Tomorrow, we all have a flight back to Cairo. Thirteen of us will continue on to Jordan, but the other 14 will leave us and return home.

March 29: Today, we all left the ship at 9am and left for the Luxor airport. We waited at the airport for our delayed flight until 11:30 and finally arrived back in Cairo at the hotel at 2pm. After our mall sojourn, we finally have settled into the very modern Fairmont Towers hotel for the night before leaving for Amman, Jordan tomorrow for the next leg of our journey with half the group gone. We will miss our traveling companions but look forward to continuing on to new adventures.

It feels great having a very large room again, replete with BATHTUB. I can't wait to jump back into a tub after not having one for the past 4 days!!!