Blogger is giving me a lot of grief trying to download pictures so I finally gave up and uploaded them to MySpace. That means you'll have to go to my Egypt 08 folder in my pictures on my MySpace page.
Most of you have MySpace accounts, if you don't, you should. You don't have to have an actual profile on MySpace but you will need to create a login so you can view my pictures. It's worth it, trust me.
Here is the link to my MySpace page. Once there, click on the "Pics" link underneath my profile picture. Then you can click on the Egypt 08 folder and all our pictures (that made the cut anyway) are there with captions. Fun.
http://www.myspace.com/CrystalthNinjaChick
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
AMERICA, F&$# YEAH!
We are home in the land of the FREEEEE!!! Free water, free toilet paper, free drumming!
That's all I can post now. It's 12:30am PST but 1:30pm Cairo time so we are all awake and delirious even though we've been up for over 30 hours straight (no sleep on the plane).
Time to take some Tylenol PM then sleep for a day. We will blog more and post some pics tomorrow...today...whenever. :-)
That's all I can post now. It's 12:30am PST but 1:30pm Cairo time so we are all awake and delirious even though we've been up for over 30 hours straight (no sleep on the plane).
Time to take some Tylenol PM then sleep for a day. We will blog more and post some pics tomorrow...today...whenever. :-)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Power of the Pyramids
I'm not sure that words can describe the experience that we had today. I'm getting emotional just recalling it for this blog. I guess I'll just go in order of the day because beyond our pyramid experience it was a fun day.
We woke up and went for a morning camel ride - that was fun! My camel was HUGE but he was sick. We've been calling the stomach/diarrhea sickness most of us have had "adventure safari" because at one of the pharmacies we visited it had a small portable toilet for kids called "Adventure Safari." One of us joked about how we might need that and the name stuck. Anyway, my camel was adventure safaring all over his legs, poor guy. He would not gallop for nothing, which makes sense. It was fun to lazily lank along the sands of Giza. We got some amazing pictures and the Mids are just amazing. I even got to ride a spirited horse for a spell after my camel ride. Then we went to the Giza Plateau for more pictures, then we went to the museum of the solar boat that they found next to the Mids. 5 of them buried all around - looks just like the boat shrines do in the glyphs. Then it was time for our private pyramid time. Seriously, they kicked everyone out of the Great Mid and let us go in for 2 hours of uninterrupted time!
What would you do with 2 hours of private time in the Great Pyramid of Giza?
We climbed to the Queen's Chamber (it's called that but the Queen wasn't really buried there, only the King) and did the power belly dance - it was amazing. Very powerful, very moving to be dancing in the Mid. Then we went to the room with the great stone where the king's mummy was placed. This room, if you can even imagine it, is all granite and only a small 2 foot crawlspace to get to it then it opens in to a large room with a granite sarcofagus (sp?). The sounds in this room bounce right off the walls and the acquostics (again sp?) are like no other - this room cannot be duplicated. So we just started doing what felt natural for us. Some danced, some prayed, some simply sat there. Soon we were all moving and dancing to whatever inspired us and the music, just one simply drum, was amazing! Some of us even got down to the bare bones - it was an experience of a lifetime. Just as we were really getting in to ourselves and the spirits were high - a creepy guard came down asking for more money!! When we almost bit his head off he demanded we hand over the drum. We refused. We had paid a lot of money for our private time and we were told we could sing, dance, whatever. This guy would not leave and all of sudden we were yelling and a lot of negative energy was swirling around us and within us. Some girls were crying, others were yelling at the creepy guard (he wasn't even in uniform) and even though Eric, our drummer, left with the drums to go find our guides and clean this mess up, the guard insisted there were still drums and would not leave. We practically forced him out screaming and yelling. Then we were very startled, sad, and worked up. We decided it was time for the grounding dance, the same one we did in Dendara.
This is more of a stretching, spirtual movement where we mime (if you will) gathering the earth's energy and love and capturing it in our hearts then giving it back to the universe. At one point we make a gesture where we open our hearts to the ____ of the East/West/North/South (we do it in all 4 directions). And each of us got to call out whatever we wanted to open our hearts to and in that granite room it was amazing - we sounded surreal, a thousand voices all calling out names and places and people that we held dear. Very eery but very beautiful. At the end of the grounding dance we end on the floor and someone started drumming on their belly - then we drummed on the floors with our hands, then the walls, then we started omming in with our voices - they can take our drum, they cannot take our voices and bodies! So we started making music with our bodies and the sounds and noises almost seemed to summon the ancients! What I am saying may sound crazy but even Mr. Logic (Dane) himself was mesmerized by the sounds and even ommed in himself. I have to say that was one of the most powerful moments I've ever felt. To have our fun, a simple little drum, taken from us, and then to turn it around into a positive and make our own music was just breathtaking. An experience I will never, ever forget.
I'm out of time. We have a party to go to at the foot of the Sphinx and then it's off to America. I love you, friends and family.
We woke up and went for a morning camel ride - that was fun! My camel was HUGE but he was sick. We've been calling the stomach/diarrhea sickness most of us have had "adventure safari" because at one of the pharmacies we visited it had a small portable toilet for kids called "Adventure Safari." One of us joked about how we might need that and the name stuck. Anyway, my camel was adventure safaring all over his legs, poor guy. He would not gallop for nothing, which makes sense. It was fun to lazily lank along the sands of Giza. We got some amazing pictures and the Mids are just amazing. I even got to ride a spirited horse for a spell after my camel ride. Then we went to the Giza Plateau for more pictures, then we went to the museum of the solar boat that they found next to the Mids. 5 of them buried all around - looks just like the boat shrines do in the glyphs. Then it was time for our private pyramid time. Seriously, they kicked everyone out of the Great Mid and let us go in for 2 hours of uninterrupted time!
What would you do with 2 hours of private time in the Great Pyramid of Giza?
We climbed to the Queen's Chamber (it's called that but the Queen wasn't really buried there, only the King) and did the power belly dance - it was amazing. Very powerful, very moving to be dancing in the Mid. Then we went to the room with the great stone where the king's mummy was placed. This room, if you can even imagine it, is all granite and only a small 2 foot crawlspace to get to it then it opens in to a large room with a granite sarcofagus (sp?). The sounds in this room bounce right off the walls and the acquostics (again sp?) are like no other - this room cannot be duplicated. So we just started doing what felt natural for us. Some danced, some prayed, some simply sat there. Soon we were all moving and dancing to whatever inspired us and the music, just one simply drum, was amazing! Some of us even got down to the bare bones - it was an experience of a lifetime. Just as we were really getting in to ourselves and the spirits were high - a creepy guard came down asking for more money!! When we almost bit his head off he demanded we hand over the drum. We refused. We had paid a lot of money for our private time and we were told we could sing, dance, whatever. This guy would not leave and all of sudden we were yelling and a lot of negative energy was swirling around us and within us. Some girls were crying, others were yelling at the creepy guard (he wasn't even in uniform) and even though Eric, our drummer, left with the drums to go find our guides and clean this mess up, the guard insisted there were still drums and would not leave. We practically forced him out screaming and yelling. Then we were very startled, sad, and worked up. We decided it was time for the grounding dance, the same one we did in Dendara.
This is more of a stretching, spirtual movement where we mime (if you will) gathering the earth's energy and love and capturing it in our hearts then giving it back to the universe. At one point we make a gesture where we open our hearts to the ____ of the East/West/North/South (we do it in all 4 directions). And each of us got to call out whatever we wanted to open our hearts to and in that granite room it was amazing - we sounded surreal, a thousand voices all calling out names and places and people that we held dear. Very eery but very beautiful. At the end of the grounding dance we end on the floor and someone started drumming on their belly - then we drummed on the floors with our hands, then the walls, then we started omming in with our voices - they can take our drum, they cannot take our voices and bodies! So we started making music with our bodies and the sounds and noises almost seemed to summon the ancients! What I am saying may sound crazy but even Mr. Logic (Dane) himself was mesmerized by the sounds and even ommed in himself. I have to say that was one of the most powerful moments I've ever felt. To have our fun, a simple little drum, taken from us, and then to turn it around into a positive and make our own music was just breathtaking. An experience I will never, ever forget.
I'm out of time. We have a party to go to at the foot of the Sphinx and then it's off to America. I love you, friends and family.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Back in Cairo
Well we are back in Cairo after a long, long couple of days traveling. I can't quite remember where I last left off and I have my Temple of Phalie handwritten journal to post later when I can, but for now we thought we'd say hello and that we've survived our trip to Abu Simbel.
So just in the last 24 hours we've gotten off the cruise boat, flown to Abu Simbel, visit the temple there, dinner at a Nubian village house, then back on a plane back to Aswan, then a perfume shop, then back on a plane to Cairo, then an hour long bus ride back to Le Meridian. We are all very, very tired and weary. We have our biggest day tomorrow, waking up at 6:30 (one of our later wake up calls if you can imagine that), then camel riding, private time at the pyramid - meaning NO ONE else will be allowed there, can you believe that! Then free time (pack), then dinner and a show at the Guardian Travel guide's house. Should be loads of fun. We have a 4 am wake up call on Monday to make our 9 am flight. I'm half wondering if we should just try to stay up all night on Sunday. We'll see.
So since I have time, I'll blog in brief about the Isis Temple. First of all, I looked amazing. I wore a white temple looking dress with a white head scarf and my weave. Except I couldn't for the life of me get my weave to snap in place so it kept falling out. And it wouldn't just fall out, it would jetison across the sidewalk, land with the biggest thud so everyone would turn and look and stare at the fluff on the temple floor. Nice, Crystal. I still looked good and pulled it off with the classic "My WEAVE!" cry. Anyway - Walid (not Wah-Lid) made sure to go over the temple in detail, not leaving one thing out. He gave us the grand tour (for me he said) and then gave us extra free time so I could do whatever it was that I wanted to do. So Delilah, knowing what Isis means to me, directed a dance of honor in the temple halls. We all did the same movements in the sunlight with the Spring flowers and Nile waters as back drop - amazing. After the dance we went to the waters edge on a lookout about 20 feet above the water. There was a pile of dried white flowers (prayer time just started) in the corner that I picked up and playfully threw over my head and let blow away in the wind. It ended up being a beautiful gesture and got the attention of not only my group but the tourists on the waters below. I could hear their gasps of amazement from all the way up top where I was. So I decided I would be like a goddess for just a minute and dance with my shimmering golden veil for them. It was amazing. And Delilah just smiled at me - it was beautiful. After people took pictures and moved on, I stayed in my perch. Walid and the guides from our travel group stayed behind in a corner a ways away to stay watch though. Anyway, I decided on the fly that my tribute to my daughter would be to take a handful of dried flowers, make a prayer for her (and especially tell her how much I miss her and wish she was with me on this trip), and release the flowers to the wind. Then I shed a few tears, quieted down and rejoined the group. It was absolutely perfect. Later that night we visited the Temple again (which really is an amazing structure) for the sound and light show. I got to dip my hands in the Nile and be on my island once more. Delilah stayed with me most of the trip and even held my hand for a moment during the show. I thought that was very sweet mostly because until that moment I never really knew what Delilah thought of me. Now I know for certain. It was great moment for us and for me.
We can't download pictures. We just tried but it was giving us grief. We may try again in a minute after we look at comments and such.
Love you guys! We really, really, really miss home!! We are going to F*#$ up a pizza and cheeseburger and fries and Starbucks and all sorts of other stuff when we get home! And cuddle our cats, and bother our friends, and relish our bed and bathroom.
So just in the last 24 hours we've gotten off the cruise boat, flown to Abu Simbel, visit the temple there, dinner at a Nubian village house, then back on a plane back to Aswan, then a perfume shop, then back on a plane to Cairo, then an hour long bus ride back to Le Meridian. We are all very, very tired and weary. We have our biggest day tomorrow, waking up at 6:30 (one of our later wake up calls if you can imagine that), then camel riding, private time at the pyramid - meaning NO ONE else will be allowed there, can you believe that! Then free time (pack), then dinner and a show at the Guardian Travel guide's house. Should be loads of fun. We have a 4 am wake up call on Monday to make our 9 am flight. I'm half wondering if we should just try to stay up all night on Sunday. We'll see.
So since I have time, I'll blog in brief about the Isis Temple. First of all, I looked amazing. I wore a white temple looking dress with a white head scarf and my weave. Except I couldn't for the life of me get my weave to snap in place so it kept falling out. And it wouldn't just fall out, it would jetison across the sidewalk, land with the biggest thud so everyone would turn and look and stare at the fluff on the temple floor. Nice, Crystal. I still looked good and pulled it off with the classic "My WEAVE!" cry. Anyway - Walid (not Wah-Lid) made sure to go over the temple in detail, not leaving one thing out. He gave us the grand tour (for me he said) and then gave us extra free time so I could do whatever it was that I wanted to do. So Delilah, knowing what Isis means to me, directed a dance of honor in the temple halls. We all did the same movements in the sunlight with the Spring flowers and Nile waters as back drop - amazing. After the dance we went to the waters edge on a lookout about 20 feet above the water. There was a pile of dried white flowers (prayer time just started) in the corner that I picked up and playfully threw over my head and let blow away in the wind. It ended up being a beautiful gesture and got the attention of not only my group but the tourists on the waters below. I could hear their gasps of amazement from all the way up top where I was. So I decided I would be like a goddess for just a minute and dance with my shimmering golden veil for them. It was amazing. And Delilah just smiled at me - it was beautiful. After people took pictures and moved on, I stayed in my perch. Walid and the guides from our travel group stayed behind in a corner a ways away to stay watch though. Anyway, I decided on the fly that my tribute to my daughter would be to take a handful of dried flowers, make a prayer for her (and especially tell her how much I miss her and wish she was with me on this trip), and release the flowers to the wind. Then I shed a few tears, quieted down and rejoined the group. It was absolutely perfect. Later that night we visited the Temple again (which really is an amazing structure) for the sound and light show. I got to dip my hands in the Nile and be on my island once more. Delilah stayed with me most of the trip and even held my hand for a moment during the show. I thought that was very sweet mostly because until that moment I never really knew what Delilah thought of me. Now I know for certain. It was great moment for us and for me.
We can't download pictures. We just tried but it was giving us grief. We may try again in a minute after we look at comments and such.
Love you guys! We really, really, really miss home!! We are going to F*#$ up a pizza and cheeseburger and fries and Starbucks and all sorts of other stuff when we get home! And cuddle our cats, and bother our friends, and relish our bed and bathroom.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Brought to You by the Nile
I'm writing right now on a laptop in our cabin while we sail South on the Nile. We have our balcony deck door open and are breathing in the wonderful African air and enjoying another restful day at river.
We visited the Temple of Edfu this morning which was built for the god Horus. Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. I can tell anyone who cares what the stories are or I will blog later, but now we are on a strict 30 min time limit.
Yesterday we rested and napped and then got dressed up for a dance performance. After dinner we sailed for a while, we even went under a bridge that was so low that I could touch the underside of it while SITTING on the sundeck! We had to duck to make sure we wouldn't get offed by the bridge. We went to bed early, we were tired from doing nothing all day.
Right now we are sailing to Kom Obo or something like that - the crocodile temple! We will visit that for a few hours then have tea, dinner, then a galabaya party. The galabaya is the long tee shirt thing that Egyptians wear. Dane bought two! I have a gold and black one that I bought that's beautiful.
Tomorrow is my Isis day and I cannot wait. It will be amazing. Then we have a Nubian party in the village then Friday we check out and fly to Abu Simbel.
And now a message from Dane....
Howdy folks. This has been an awesome vacation so far. I had always thought that tours sounded kinda cheesey, but this type of a tour - with a bunch of people you at least sorta know, is great. Everything is high class. Everything and everyone is extremely nice. The concept that we are blogging from the Nile is just wild to me. Viva technology I suppose. The river is HUGE! It doesn't feel like a river when you are on it. It is simply too massive. Also, this place is hot. Hot hot HOT! For once Crystal is comfortable, but I am pretty sure I am going to return as one big freckle. In short, this has already far exceeded my expectations. There really is too much to talk about in this short time, but just thinking about the places we have been and how old they are astounds me. Truly amazing.
Dane Out!
A donkey just brayed at us. So we are going to try to upload one picture now, but we aren't promising anything. We love to read the comments and still miss everyone very much.
I'll try to post tomorrow night but probably won't be able to post again till Saturday or Sunday. I can't believe this trip is closer to over. Feels like we just got here. :-(
We visited the Temple of Edfu this morning which was built for the god Horus. Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. I can tell anyone who cares what the stories are or I will blog later, but now we are on a strict 30 min time limit.
Yesterday we rested and napped and then got dressed up for a dance performance. After dinner we sailed for a while, we even went under a bridge that was so low that I could touch the underside of it while SITTING on the sundeck! We had to duck to make sure we wouldn't get offed by the bridge. We went to bed early, we were tired from doing nothing all day.
Right now we are sailing to Kom Obo or something like that - the crocodile temple! We will visit that for a few hours then have tea, dinner, then a galabaya party. The galabaya is the long tee shirt thing that Egyptians wear. Dane bought two! I have a gold and black one that I bought that's beautiful.
Tomorrow is my Isis day and I cannot wait. It will be amazing. Then we have a Nubian party in the village then Friday we check out and fly to Abu Simbel.
And now a message from Dane....
Howdy folks. This has been an awesome vacation so far. I had always thought that tours sounded kinda cheesey, but this type of a tour - with a bunch of people you at least sorta know, is great. Everything is high class. Everything and everyone is extremely nice. The concept that we are blogging from the Nile is just wild to me. Viva technology I suppose. The river is HUGE! It doesn't feel like a river when you are on it. It is simply too massive. Also, this place is hot. Hot hot HOT! For once Crystal is comfortable, but I am pretty sure I am going to return as one big freckle. In short, this has already far exceeded my expectations. There really is too much to talk about in this short time, but just thinking about the places we have been and how old they are astounds me. Truly amazing.
Dane Out!
A donkey just brayed at us. So we are going to try to upload one picture now, but we aren't promising anything. We love to read the comments and still miss everyone very much.
I'll try to post tomorrow night but probably won't be able to post again till Saturday or Sunday. I can't believe this trip is closer to over. Feels like we just got here. :-(
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
AWESOME!!!!
So yesterday we visited Karnak and Luxor temple. They were right in town so it was nice not to be on a bus all day like we were for Abydos and Dendara. We had a good time and decided that the Egyptians used cookie cutters for the glyphs, though our guide, who I didn't realize is a reknowned archaeologist and Egyptologist - he was there when they CAT scanned King Tut! Anyway - he says there were no cookie cutters. I told him I disagree. Actually I'm very infatuated with this guy Wah-lid (pronounced waa-leed). He has not said "I don't know" to one single question anyone has asked. He's so full of knowledge and nice and funny. Great guy. So we went to the temples and had fun. Very relaxing.
Then we visited the papyrus shop and saw a demonstration on how they made it. Then I saw this breathtaking painting. It had gold paint and was HUGE - like 4 or 5 feet long and at least 3 feet wide. I was drawn to it like a moth to flame. I can't describe what its pull was - it was just a temple afterall. Then the guy told me it was the Temple of Phalie - Isis's temple. I get teary eyed just retelling the story now. In that moment I knew I needed to have it no matter what the cost. Lets just say it wasn't cheap. The shop, which was ironically named Isis Papyrus, immediately identified me as a high roller and brought out drinks and lavished gifts on me. They let me take 700 pounds (I think that's about $150 US dollars) worth of papyrus paintings for free. The painting is amazing. After all that we were done spending for the day. And week. And month. :-/
We checked in to the cruise at about 4 and had a late lunch then watched the sunset by the pool on the deck. It was nice to dip in the water. The boats here are all docked together right next to each other. Ours is really nice. The bathroom shower has over 5 water spouts that spray at hip, chest, and head level plus a detachable head. The rooms are amazing, the food is delicious, and the staff are very nice (and cute). Egyptian men are just plain gorgeous. That's all there is to it. We got all dressed up for dinner and then watched a show - a male bellydancer that I'm going to marry. He was like 6'5 and build like a horse. He spun around like a dervish (Google it) for 15 minutes straight!! And then spun a skirt thing over his head, it was awesome. Then we watched a female bellydancer that was not that great. She looked bored and was chewing gum during her performance. Nice.
After dinner we danced for a bit and snuck our vodka and rum in "water" bottles and got tanked. We stayed out on the top deck till 3 am begging Wah-Lid to tell us more Egyptian stories - we were like a bunch of kids. TELL US MORE!! THEN WHAT HAPPENED!! OMG!! Victoria broke a canvas chair when she sat in it, which is funny because she's not heavy at all. Very beautiful. As she says, she split it from bow to stern. Hee-haw-larious. We got Wah-Lid to cut loose and drink a lemonade. Those crazy Arabs. We actually had a great, great time.
Today we shoved off (we were actually docked all night) at 7 am so that's when I woke up all hungover. I went to the sundeck to cook my hangover away. Spent all morning in the pool, watching the Nile float by. We have been ported for the past 3 hours waiting for our turn to pass the lock. It's great because vendors come up on little dingy boats and literally throw items on the boat at you and get you to buy their wares. You try stuff on and then throw it back and say "No way!" Then they throw something else at you. We really got our haggle on today - great practice! ***We interrupt this story to tell you that What Child is This - yes, the Cmas song, is playing overhead in the ship*** Dane and I had a lot of fun with our vendor Ali and ended up getting a male and female Egyptian garby thing, two Nefertiti towels, and a flying carpet (I wish) for too much money. But we haggled him down. We felt it was a fair price for what we got. We've spent so much money on this trip, OMG. We are going to be sooooo broke.
So today is really a day of rest. No plans, no activities, just rest. Lunch is in 20 minutes then I may take a nap then we will have tea, then a bellydance show (our group) then cocktail hour, then dinner, then party. I think tomorrow is Edfu then the next day is the Temple of Phalie. I could be way off on that though. I really have no idea what day it is.
This trip has been so nice. Everything has far surpassed our expectations and we have had nothing but first class accommodations, top notch service, and the best of the best with everything. I would recommend Guardian Travel to anyone and everyone.
Well that's about it for now. Again, sorry we can't post pictures put I can once back in the States. I will do a whole picture essay. We miss everyone. Wish you guys could see what we are seeing. It truly is an enchanted land.
Then we visited the papyrus shop and saw a demonstration on how they made it. Then I saw this breathtaking painting. It had gold paint and was HUGE - like 4 or 5 feet long and at least 3 feet wide. I was drawn to it like a moth to flame. I can't describe what its pull was - it was just a temple afterall. Then the guy told me it was the Temple of Phalie - Isis's temple. I get teary eyed just retelling the story now. In that moment I knew I needed to have it no matter what the cost. Lets just say it wasn't cheap. The shop, which was ironically named Isis Papyrus, immediately identified me as a high roller and brought out drinks and lavished gifts on me. They let me take 700 pounds (I think that's about $150 US dollars) worth of papyrus paintings for free. The painting is amazing. After all that we were done spending for the day. And week. And month. :-/
We checked in to the cruise at about 4 and had a late lunch then watched the sunset by the pool on the deck. It was nice to dip in the water. The boats here are all docked together right next to each other. Ours is really nice. The bathroom shower has over 5 water spouts that spray at hip, chest, and head level plus a detachable head. The rooms are amazing, the food is delicious, and the staff are very nice (and cute). Egyptian men are just plain gorgeous. That's all there is to it. We got all dressed up for dinner and then watched a show - a male bellydancer that I'm going to marry. He was like 6'5 and build like a horse. He spun around like a dervish (Google it) for 15 minutes straight!! And then spun a skirt thing over his head, it was awesome. Then we watched a female bellydancer that was not that great. She looked bored and was chewing gum during her performance. Nice.
After dinner we danced for a bit and snuck our vodka and rum in "water" bottles and got tanked. We stayed out on the top deck till 3 am begging Wah-Lid to tell us more Egyptian stories - we were like a bunch of kids. TELL US MORE!! THEN WHAT HAPPENED!! OMG!! Victoria broke a canvas chair when she sat in it, which is funny because she's not heavy at all. Very beautiful. As she says, she split it from bow to stern. Hee-haw-larious. We got Wah-Lid to cut loose and drink a lemonade. Those crazy Arabs. We actually had a great, great time.
Today we shoved off (we were actually docked all night) at 7 am so that's when I woke up all hungover. I went to the sundeck to cook my hangover away. Spent all morning in the pool, watching the Nile float by. We have been ported for the past 3 hours waiting for our turn to pass the lock. It's great because vendors come up on little dingy boats and literally throw items on the boat at you and get you to buy their wares. You try stuff on and then throw it back and say "No way!" Then they throw something else at you. We really got our haggle on today - great practice! ***We interrupt this story to tell you that What Child is This - yes, the Cmas song, is playing overhead in the ship*** Dane and I had a lot of fun with our vendor Ali and ended up getting a male and female Egyptian garby thing, two Nefertiti towels, and a flying carpet (I wish) for too much money. But we haggled him down. We felt it was a fair price for what we got. We've spent so much money on this trip, OMG. We are going to be sooooo broke.
So today is really a day of rest. No plans, no activities, just rest. Lunch is in 20 minutes then I may take a nap then we will have tea, then a bellydance show (our group) then cocktail hour, then dinner, then party. I think tomorrow is Edfu then the next day is the Temple of Phalie. I could be way off on that though. I really have no idea what day it is.
This trip has been so nice. Everything has far surpassed our expectations and we have had nothing but first class accommodations, top notch service, and the best of the best with everything. I would recommend Guardian Travel to anyone and everyone.
Well that's about it for now. Again, sorry we can't post pictures put I can once back in the States. I will do a whole picture essay. We miss everyone. Wish you guys could see what we are seeing. It truly is an enchanted land.
All Quiet on the Western Front
So its been a week now since dane and crystal left for Egypt and from what I heir, everything is going great over there. Back at the house everything is going good too. There was a shift change this weekend for the cats, heather and mark came by and stayed with them over the weekend. I’m back with them now and I have to say iv had a lot of fun taking care of them this last week and am looking forward to staying here more. The cats are great and full of energy and they are just so cute! They are all eating well playing nice and staying out of trouble. Well for the most part anyway, willy is fairly mischievous. He likes to play and cuddle all the time. Well there will be more to come.
All quiet on the western front.
Jake
P.S.
To dane and crystal we all love you and miss you and hope you have a fantastic time.
All quiet on the western front.
Jake
P.S.
To dane and crystal we all love you and miss you and hope you have a fantastic time.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Nile Cruise
Quick post to use up my remaining 3 minutes before we leave for Karnack and Luxor temple.
Thank you Sarah for the wonderful comment and well wishes. It is amazing here - I hope to have the chance to post more details on the boat, we'll see. :-)
My dad is doing well. He had minimal damage and he is expect to make a full recovery. No more McDelivery for him though. :-) I talked to both my parents last night and my dad's biggest concern seemed to be that I was going to turn Muslim. I'm kidding. That was not even on his radar. He was joking with me and it was a great conversation. Mom is doing well too. Kudos to her for getting Dad to the hospital in enough time to act.
Love you guys - more later.
Thank you Sarah for the wonderful comment and well wishes. It is amazing here - I hope to have the chance to post more details on the boat, we'll see. :-)
My dad is doing well. He had minimal damage and he is expect to make a full recovery. No more McDelivery for him though. :-) I talked to both my parents last night and my dad's biggest concern seemed to be that I was going to turn Muslim. I'm kidding. That was not even on his radar. He was joking with me and it was a great conversation. Mom is doing well too. Kudos to her for getting Dad to the hospital in enough time to act.
Love you guys - more later.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
What a Day!
So a lot has happened since I posted the Details blog. This post will be long indeed but I have a whole hour to bust it out. After I last blogged we ate and went to the Egyptian Museum. It was very exciting there. We saw a few mummies - one was even 10,000 years old all curled/rolled up in the fetal position in a basket, one that was tiny but still had a good looking face, we saw animal mummies! Like horses, crocodiles (even a baby one that looked like a squiggly), cats, dogs, and the like. We visited the King Tut room - WOW! His tomb was absolutely amazing. They have it all undone like those Russian dolls that fit inside the other and they are in glass cases so you can see in but when you step away you can see the reflection of the one that goes inside it appear to be inside it! We saw a scribe statue with crystal eyes that are still shiny and follow you across the room. It was a great time.
After the museum we went to the train station. Mind you, this is the first time we've really been in a public place. This trip has been first class tourist city the whole was from the hotels to buses to transports - everything. The tourist police must escort us everywhere and they must know where you are at all times in order to keep you safe. Anyway, we were with the locals now. I had to use the restroom as I couldn't wait the TWO HOURS till our train got there. I must have been dehydrated and a little ill from the local bacteria because I was soooo sick. But let me tell you, this "bathroom" was a hole in the ground. I've heard of places like that but have never seen or used one. Let me tell you, I hope to never do that again. I was in my nice slacks and top (looking nice for the museum) and I finally decided to take my pants off in order to pee. There was still an accident and I was very anxious. That combined with my already sick innards left me reeling. It was all I could do to keep everything under control till the train got there. I even called my mom I was so sick and needed to hear a comforting voice. The others danced till the train came and that was cool. The locals gathered around us and clapped and made noises - they really liked the show. Finally the train came and I made a bee-line for the bathroom and stayed there all night. No dinner, no sleep, just....Pros - At least Dane didn't have to hear any of my illness pass. Cons - toilets on trains in Egypt don't have plumbing. Just a shute that you step on to release the waste. It was a bad night people. I've never been sick like this before. Poor Dane took care of me though and some friends on the tour with my group are nurses so they gave me drugs and a pedialite type drink. The train guy even gave me "special tea" that helped. He was really concerned about me. I'm sure all Dane wanted to do was party with the others in the club car but he stayed with me and watched the city slip by.
By the time we got to Luxor I knew there was no way I'd be able to make the day's excursions. I was dirty, tired, weak, still sick, hadn't eaten, and just plain miserable. We were able to get me in to the hotel earlier than our check in time and I slept. All day. From 10am till Dane got home at 5pm, then we were supposed to go to dinner but said screw it and kept on sleeping. We would have slept till about 6am but I got a call from my mom at 1:30am notifying me that my dad had had a heart attack. As I was dying myself Mom stopped me and said Dad was okay and explained the situation (he's still in the hospital and will remain till at least Mon) and then let me talk to him. I am very, very, very grateful that my father is okay and I got to speak with him. I am still very nervous but keeping in touch. In light of this, I have turned my phone on and ask that people only call or text me if it is an emergency as phone calls are $2/min and texts (each way - we confirmed) are 50 cents/each.
Back to Egypt. After the phone call and the fact that I had slept almost 14 hours I was too worked up to sleep. I went out on the patio and looked at the beautiful mosque. All the mosques here have green and white lights on them so at night they are all lit up - on the nile train it was amazing looking out and seeing all the mosques in the towns. Very surreal. There was a gecko on the porch with me. By 4am it was prayer time - beautiful to hear the call to prayer. I got some answers about that - I guess there are exact prayer times and if you can't meet those times then you save them for when you can. The idea behind the prayer times is that it keeps you closer to God. If you know you have to talk to him in 2 hours, you are less likely to sin. I thought that was very interesting. I pondered many other things during these hours on the porch and while I ironed all my clothes (I needed something to do and that needed to be done) so I thought about Egypt and what I had seen. I'll share: there is trash everywhere here it seems. Trash, trash, trash. In the irrigation waters, on the streets, even on/near the monuments. Very sad. It takes away from the beauty so much. There are a lot of donkies. They seem to be a very popular mode of transportation here and they are cute. But skinny. :-( The berkas women wear are absolutely beautiful - always pressed clean and starched, some with decoration, some entire matching outfits. Not all are black, some are very alive with color. The scarecrows here look Arabic. They wear turbins too. I thought that was funny. The kids wave at you, people are friendly. They like the tourists. I thought about the night before, I forgot to mention our hafla at the pool and the guy who fell in trying to take pictures of us. The hafla will actually be a memory of this place that will stick with me forever. I danced with a veil most the night, but to be dancing in Egypt next to the pyramids on a warm Spring evening is a memory that will be hard to beat. Afterwards we went to the hookah bar and smoked till we were so tired we could have slept on the pillows we sat on.
This morning was an early wake up call (I was already up with my thoughts) and we drove over 3 hours to Abydos. We visited Seti's temple there and it was amazing. I'm not lying to you, I have the pictures - there were heiroglyphs of a helicopter, submarine, and airplane! PROOF THAT ALIENS BUILT ALL THIS!! No one knows what those glyphs are or why they are there and they do not show up anywhere else in the temple or Egypt for that matter but it is clear as day when you look at it. It's a helicopter. Then they also make fat jokes, I'm serious. They had a skinny princess and a fat princess glyph and the story said that the bull donkey had to carry the fat one, but it didn't depict it - thus a joke and not reality. Those crazy ancient Egyptians. :-) There was also a hedgehog in the glyphs. Very cute. And a real live but dead bat in the temple. In the Isis/Osiris room.
After Abydos we drove 3 hours to Dendara to visit the Hathor Temple. This temple had atmosphere to it. And at the risk of sounding ridiculous (but the joy of not caring because this is my journal) I had certain uncanny feelings in this temple. Ones that I will mostly keep to myself but very intense, wonderful sensations. We did a grounding dance in one of the rooms and it entertained the guards and other visitors. We even danced in the main hallways with the large columns! I was given another veil to play with and danced away - it was exhilirating to dance in the halls that so many Egyptians did so long ago. One British guide was all "Those CRAZY Americans and their CRAZY ideas!" Whateve - he's just jealous that he's not leading a troupe of beautiful women dressed majestically! I have to say that I'm glad I found "majestic items". Wait till you see the pictures of me and our group in the temples. Beautiful. But Boobs McGee (me) had to wrap my wrap around my chest just so I wouldn't offend the locals and get arrested for indecent exposure. Let's see - oh, we went in to the crypt of the temple - totally cool - we had to contort our bodies and limbo just to get in there but we did and it was awesome. The colors on the glyphs in the crypt were more vivid. Oh - I will say one thing that I thought was very sad. I asked our guide why the faces of the glyphs eroded first over the rest and he said it was not erosion, it was from the Christians who did not agree with the Egyptian gods that came in and destroyed. Then he pointed to the burnt ceilings. I thought that was very sad. By 4:15 we were back in our convoy to head back to Luxor. Oh yeah - in order for us to go out to Abydos and Dendara we had to travel as a convoy with about 50 other vehicles. Otherwise tourists can't go. Weird, huh.
So that is just about it - the minute we got back to the hotel I stopped in to blog before dinner. As it is now I'll have about 10 minutes to wash up and head back down for dinner. Not sure what we'll do tonight other than shower and relax. We have a 7:30 wake up call tomorrow then we head to the Karnack and Luxor temples. Then we check in to the Nile cruise - I'm so looking forward to that. Everyone says it's really nice and if it is anything like the accommodations we've had so far, then it will be awesome!
Thank you everyone for sending me your addresses, wishing us well, making comments (especially the picture comment Tiffany, we'll try that as soon as we can), and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We really, really miss you guys. I love traveling but I really miss America when I'm away. I take for granted so much that is there. Traveling always puts it in to perspective.
Dane says hello and there are no slug bugs in Luxor or the surrounding areas. He's resting upstairs now. I'll try to pop online tomorrow morning with the 15 min I have left. Love you guys!
PS - McDonalds has McDelivery out here!! Can you believe that!! They delivery your Big Mac!!! Thank God we don't have McDelivery at home. I'd really be one of the fatties that they Egyptians glyphed about - I'd need a bull donkey to carry me around!
After the museum we went to the train station. Mind you, this is the first time we've really been in a public place. This trip has been first class tourist city the whole was from the hotels to buses to transports - everything. The tourist police must escort us everywhere and they must know where you are at all times in order to keep you safe. Anyway, we were with the locals now. I had to use the restroom as I couldn't wait the TWO HOURS till our train got there. I must have been dehydrated and a little ill from the local bacteria because I was soooo sick. But let me tell you, this "bathroom" was a hole in the ground. I've heard of places like that but have never seen or used one. Let me tell you, I hope to never do that again. I was in my nice slacks and top (looking nice for the museum) and I finally decided to take my pants off in order to pee. There was still an accident and I was very anxious. That combined with my already sick innards left me reeling. It was all I could do to keep everything under control till the train got there. I even called my mom I was so sick and needed to hear a comforting voice. The others danced till the train came and that was cool. The locals gathered around us and clapped and made noises - they really liked the show. Finally the train came and I made a bee-line for the bathroom and stayed there all night. No dinner, no sleep, just....Pros - At least Dane didn't have to hear any of my illness pass. Cons - toilets on trains in Egypt don't have plumbing. Just a shute that you step on to release the waste. It was a bad night people. I've never been sick like this before. Poor Dane took care of me though and some friends on the tour with my group are nurses so they gave me drugs and a pedialite type drink. The train guy even gave me "special tea" that helped. He was really concerned about me. I'm sure all Dane wanted to do was party with the others in the club car but he stayed with me and watched the city slip by.
By the time we got to Luxor I knew there was no way I'd be able to make the day's excursions. I was dirty, tired, weak, still sick, hadn't eaten, and just plain miserable. We were able to get me in to the hotel earlier than our check in time and I slept. All day. From 10am till Dane got home at 5pm, then we were supposed to go to dinner but said screw it and kept on sleeping. We would have slept till about 6am but I got a call from my mom at 1:30am notifying me that my dad had had a heart attack. As I was dying myself Mom stopped me and said Dad was okay and explained the situation (he's still in the hospital and will remain till at least Mon) and then let me talk to him. I am very, very, very grateful that my father is okay and I got to speak with him. I am still very nervous but keeping in touch. In light of this, I have turned my phone on and ask that people only call or text me if it is an emergency as phone calls are $2/min and texts (each way - we confirmed) are 50 cents/each.
Back to Egypt. After the phone call and the fact that I had slept almost 14 hours I was too worked up to sleep. I went out on the patio and looked at the beautiful mosque. All the mosques here have green and white lights on them so at night they are all lit up - on the nile train it was amazing looking out and seeing all the mosques in the towns. Very surreal. There was a gecko on the porch with me. By 4am it was prayer time - beautiful to hear the call to prayer. I got some answers about that - I guess there are exact prayer times and if you can't meet those times then you save them for when you can. The idea behind the prayer times is that it keeps you closer to God. If you know you have to talk to him in 2 hours, you are less likely to sin. I thought that was very interesting. I pondered many other things during these hours on the porch and while I ironed all my clothes (I needed something to do and that needed to be done) so I thought about Egypt and what I had seen. I'll share: there is trash everywhere here it seems. Trash, trash, trash. In the irrigation waters, on the streets, even on/near the monuments. Very sad. It takes away from the beauty so much. There are a lot of donkies. They seem to be a very popular mode of transportation here and they are cute. But skinny. :-( The berkas women wear are absolutely beautiful - always pressed clean and starched, some with decoration, some entire matching outfits. Not all are black, some are very alive with color. The scarecrows here look Arabic. They wear turbins too. I thought that was funny. The kids wave at you, people are friendly. They like the tourists. I thought about the night before, I forgot to mention our hafla at the pool and the guy who fell in trying to take pictures of us. The hafla will actually be a memory of this place that will stick with me forever. I danced with a veil most the night, but to be dancing in Egypt next to the pyramids on a warm Spring evening is a memory that will be hard to beat. Afterwards we went to the hookah bar and smoked till we were so tired we could have slept on the pillows we sat on.
This morning was an early wake up call (I was already up with my thoughts) and we drove over 3 hours to Abydos. We visited Seti's temple there and it was amazing. I'm not lying to you, I have the pictures - there were heiroglyphs of a helicopter, submarine, and airplane! PROOF THAT ALIENS BUILT ALL THIS!! No one knows what those glyphs are or why they are there and they do not show up anywhere else in the temple or Egypt for that matter but it is clear as day when you look at it. It's a helicopter. Then they also make fat jokes, I'm serious. They had a skinny princess and a fat princess glyph and the story said that the bull donkey had to carry the fat one, but it didn't depict it - thus a joke and not reality. Those crazy ancient Egyptians. :-) There was also a hedgehog in the glyphs. Very cute. And a real live but dead bat in the temple. In the Isis/Osiris room.
After Abydos we drove 3 hours to Dendara to visit the Hathor Temple. This temple had atmosphere to it. And at the risk of sounding ridiculous (but the joy of not caring because this is my journal) I had certain uncanny feelings in this temple. Ones that I will mostly keep to myself but very intense, wonderful sensations. We did a grounding dance in one of the rooms and it entertained the guards and other visitors. We even danced in the main hallways with the large columns! I was given another veil to play with and danced away - it was exhilirating to dance in the halls that so many Egyptians did so long ago. One British guide was all "Those CRAZY Americans and their CRAZY ideas!" Whateve - he's just jealous that he's not leading a troupe of beautiful women dressed majestically! I have to say that I'm glad I found "majestic items". Wait till you see the pictures of me and our group in the temples. Beautiful. But Boobs McGee (me) had to wrap my wrap around my chest just so I wouldn't offend the locals and get arrested for indecent exposure. Let's see - oh, we went in to the crypt of the temple - totally cool - we had to contort our bodies and limbo just to get in there but we did and it was awesome. The colors on the glyphs in the crypt were more vivid. Oh - I will say one thing that I thought was very sad. I asked our guide why the faces of the glyphs eroded first over the rest and he said it was not erosion, it was from the Christians who did not agree with the Egyptian gods that came in and destroyed. Then he pointed to the burnt ceilings. I thought that was very sad. By 4:15 we were back in our convoy to head back to Luxor. Oh yeah - in order for us to go out to Abydos and Dendara we had to travel as a convoy with about 50 other vehicles. Otherwise tourists can't go. Weird, huh.
So that is just about it - the minute we got back to the hotel I stopped in to blog before dinner. As it is now I'll have about 10 minutes to wash up and head back down for dinner. Not sure what we'll do tonight other than shower and relax. We have a 7:30 wake up call tomorrow then we head to the Karnack and Luxor temples. Then we check in to the Nile cruise - I'm so looking forward to that. Everyone says it's really nice and if it is anything like the accommodations we've had so far, then it will be awesome!
Thank you everyone for sending me your addresses, wishing us well, making comments (especially the picture comment Tiffany, we'll try that as soon as we can), and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We really, really miss you guys. I love traveling but I really miss America when I'm away. I take for granted so much that is there. Traveling always puts it in to perspective.
Dane says hello and there are no slug bugs in Luxor or the surrounding areas. He's resting upstairs now. I'll try to pop online tomorrow morning with the 15 min I have left. Love you guys!
PS - McDonalds has McDelivery out here!! Can you believe that!! They delivery your Big Mac!!! Thank God we don't have McDelivery at home. I'd really be one of the fatties that they Egyptians glyphed about - I'd need a bull donkey to carry me around!
Friday, April 11, 2008
I have less than 4 minutes!
So, I have four minutes until the internet kicks me off.
Egypt has been wonderful so far. It is an extremely different place, and luckily not nearly as hot as I expected - though the southern part will probably be warmer. The pyramids are amazing. Looking out the window in the morning to the pyramids of Giza is an experience I imagine is difficult to match. Actually climbing down inside a pyramid was an experience as well.
We tried to post pictures, but it isn't working. We will update more later, our session is up.
Dane
Egypt has been wonderful so far. It is an extremely different place, and luckily not nearly as hot as I expected - though the southern part will probably be warmer. The pyramids are amazing. Looking out the window in the morning to the pyramids of Giza is an experience I imagine is difficult to match. Actually climbing down inside a pyramid was an experience as well.
We tried to post pictures, but it isn't working. We will update more later, our session is up.
Dane
Details - details
We have some time this morning before we check out and go to the museum so I thought I might post some more thoughts and details. I think Dane might even try to get a post in.
The drive from the airport was probably one of the most entertaining things we've done so far. In fact any time we drive it is exciting! Some things you should know about driving in Cairo. First, only natives can drive in Cairo. You cannot rent a car here and drive around and trust me, that is a comforting thing! There are no lines in the road, people just drive where ever there is space, sometimes when there isn't even space at all. Our guide said that people would think that lines on the road would be for decoration not obeying. :-) We've seen only two traffic lights and no one heeds them. We've only seen one accident though and it was a simple fender bender that didn't leave any damage. Neither occupant got out of the vehicle and life went on as normal. We've seen a lot of motorcycles and even saw 3 men on 1 bike! There are donkeys pulling carts right next to the automobiles on the road. People drive with their hands resting on their horns. At night headlights are only used to let others know that you are there and you want them to move, then they get turned off again. Of course, this is all in Cairo - I'm sure the driving rules are very different outside of Cairo. I'll let you know. We've only seen 3 women drivers total in the 3 days we've been here. And the cars are so funny! Many have these shag weaves on the dash to protect it from the sun, I've already mentioned the kleenex boxes, many have Coran in the windows but I did see one Jesus flier. CD's are used to hold things to the window - don't ask - I haven't figured it out yet. But I was told that the paint cans are "road blocks for the president." Of course they were....*raised brow*
Another thing about this city - I think he said 2 million people live in Cairo. But it is very poor. I've never seen projects like this before. Much of the city looks like it is in ruins yet people are living in the buildings that you can't tell if they are being demolished or constructed. The "building hair" is rebar, the most expensive part of these structures (if that tells you anything), and they are there so that they can always add another level. Our guide said that many cannot afford to build all at once, so they build one level at a time. Amazing. He also explained the City of the Dead. Again, this is a cemetary where people buried their family in their homes. So there is a room and the husband and wife are buried there. But Cairo is poor and many cannot afford the homes - even the broken down, half finished buildings I talked about above, so people go to live with the Dead. Some people, like our guide, rent out their family's plot for 300 - 400 pounds a month (equivalent to 60 - 80 dollars) for extra income. The City of the Dead is like any other city, he says, with satellites, grocery stores, market, everything.
We went to the Red Pyramid yesterday and that was amazing. No one was there. Other than our group, we saw maybe a couple couples. First we had to pay the guards on the camels then we climbed about 7 flights of steps, maybe more, tipped another man (so we could take pictures even though they weren't allowed), then started down this shaft. Think of a slide with rungs screwed to it. A wooden slide and metal rungs. We all agreed just a slide would be more fun. Anyway, the shaft is maybe 3 feet high and 4 feet wide and we were all crouched over in the most awkward position. There was no air, lots of people, and the smell of urine drenched the place (apparently the guards relieve themselves there - can you believe that?! This is an international monument!!!). If you were nervous about tight spaces, you would have died. We thought we were through the tunnel when we got to the light, but it was only half way. After about 100 yards or so (yes, I meant yards) we were at the bottom of the pyramid - WE WERE INSIDE A PYRAMID!! The urine smell plus no fresh oxygen was enough to bring water to your eyes and burn your nose and mouth. We went in to the two rooms and took some pictures then got out of there. Surprisingly, it was much easier to go up the shaft than down. Still tiring and I definitely earned my beer that I had for lunch.
One thing that is difficult for me is dealing with all the people in my face, both at the monuments and at the bazaar. At the Step Pyramid these guys spirited Dane away on a donkey before we could even say no. In the end we got a bunch of good pictures with us on donkeys by the pyramid but I had to make a scene to get them to leave us alone. Dane gave them the equivilent of $20 but they said $20 each and I walked away then they actually blocked Dane from getting to me. Dane was trying to be firm but polite and they would not let up. So I did what anyone would have done to attract attention and the alert the Tourist Police. I started screaming at Dane. "Get over here NOW, DANE!!!" Dane didn't miss a beat - he pushed the guys out of the way and got over to me and we were left alone...for 3 minutes. If that actually. Then this other guy lead us around the tombs and showed us the heiroglyphs - but the thing is they expect to be tipped. So not only did we pay to go on the tour, paid for the tickets, now we are paying to look at stuff that we can look at for free. Grrr. Then the bazaar - OMG - I straight walked out of the bazaar screaming and cussing that if ANYONE SAID ONE MORE *BLEEPING* WORD TO ME I WOULD BACK HAND THEM. I was hoping to get some sanity, and by sanity I mean beer, but it was a dry market. Other gals in our group said that they were taken in to the backs of shops and up to the 2nd level and farther and farther away from the streets and then they tried to upsale them, sell them male Egyptian prostitutes (Egyptian men very long, very powerful they say), and anything else - marriage proposals, job offers. I was like "Wow, no one asked me that." Weird, must have been my intimating good looks. :-P Actually it was Dane. All they said to us as we past was "Lucky man, lucky man."
We may try shopping again today. We'll see. We are going to the museum and then tonight is the NIGHTTRAIN! We have about 20 minutes left, so Dane is going to try to post some pictures and maybe blurb about that.
We assume everything is going well since we haven't gotten any emergency calls or comments on the blog. Someone tell my cats I miss them!
The drive from the airport was probably one of the most entertaining things we've done so far. In fact any time we drive it is exciting! Some things you should know about driving in Cairo. First, only natives can drive in Cairo. You cannot rent a car here and drive around and trust me, that is a comforting thing! There are no lines in the road, people just drive where ever there is space, sometimes when there isn't even space at all. Our guide said that people would think that lines on the road would be for decoration not obeying. :-) We've seen only two traffic lights and no one heeds them. We've only seen one accident though and it was a simple fender bender that didn't leave any damage. Neither occupant got out of the vehicle and life went on as normal. We've seen a lot of motorcycles and even saw 3 men on 1 bike! There are donkeys pulling carts right next to the automobiles on the road. People drive with their hands resting on their horns. At night headlights are only used to let others know that you are there and you want them to move, then they get turned off again. Of course, this is all in Cairo - I'm sure the driving rules are very different outside of Cairo. I'll let you know. We've only seen 3 women drivers total in the 3 days we've been here. And the cars are so funny! Many have these shag weaves on the dash to protect it from the sun, I've already mentioned the kleenex boxes, many have Coran in the windows but I did see one Jesus flier. CD's are used to hold things to the window - don't ask - I haven't figured it out yet. But I was told that the paint cans are "road blocks for the president." Of course they were....*raised brow*
Another thing about this city - I think he said 2 million people live in Cairo. But it is very poor. I've never seen projects like this before. Much of the city looks like it is in ruins yet people are living in the buildings that you can't tell if they are being demolished or constructed. The "building hair" is rebar, the most expensive part of these structures (if that tells you anything), and they are there so that they can always add another level. Our guide said that many cannot afford to build all at once, so they build one level at a time. Amazing. He also explained the City of the Dead. Again, this is a cemetary where people buried their family in their homes. So there is a room and the husband and wife are buried there. But Cairo is poor and many cannot afford the homes - even the broken down, half finished buildings I talked about above, so people go to live with the Dead. Some people, like our guide, rent out their family's plot for 300 - 400 pounds a month (equivalent to 60 - 80 dollars) for extra income. The City of the Dead is like any other city, he says, with satellites, grocery stores, market, everything.
We went to the Red Pyramid yesterday and that was amazing. No one was there. Other than our group, we saw maybe a couple couples. First we had to pay the guards on the camels then we climbed about 7 flights of steps, maybe more, tipped another man (so we could take pictures even though they weren't allowed), then started down this shaft. Think of a slide with rungs screwed to it. A wooden slide and metal rungs. We all agreed just a slide would be more fun. Anyway, the shaft is maybe 3 feet high and 4 feet wide and we were all crouched over in the most awkward position. There was no air, lots of people, and the smell of urine drenched the place (apparently the guards relieve themselves there - can you believe that?! This is an international monument!!!). If you were nervous about tight spaces, you would have died. We thought we were through the tunnel when we got to the light, but it was only half way. After about 100 yards or so (yes, I meant yards) we were at the bottom of the pyramid - WE WERE INSIDE A PYRAMID!! The urine smell plus no fresh oxygen was enough to bring water to your eyes and burn your nose and mouth. We went in to the two rooms and took some pictures then got out of there. Surprisingly, it was much easier to go up the shaft than down. Still tiring and I definitely earned my beer that I had for lunch.
One thing that is difficult for me is dealing with all the people in my face, both at the monuments and at the bazaar. At the Step Pyramid these guys spirited Dane away on a donkey before we could even say no. In the end we got a bunch of good pictures with us on donkeys by the pyramid but I had to make a scene to get them to leave us alone. Dane gave them the equivilent of $20 but they said $20 each and I walked away then they actually blocked Dane from getting to me. Dane was trying to be firm but polite and they would not let up. So I did what anyone would have done to attract attention and the alert the Tourist Police. I started screaming at Dane. "Get over here NOW, DANE!!!" Dane didn't miss a beat - he pushed the guys out of the way and got over to me and we were left alone...for 3 minutes. If that actually. Then this other guy lead us around the tombs and showed us the heiroglyphs - but the thing is they expect to be tipped. So not only did we pay to go on the tour, paid for the tickets, now we are paying to look at stuff that we can look at for free. Grrr. Then the bazaar - OMG - I straight walked out of the bazaar screaming and cussing that if ANYONE SAID ONE MORE *BLEEPING* WORD TO ME I WOULD BACK HAND THEM. I was hoping to get some sanity, and by sanity I mean beer, but it was a dry market. Other gals in our group said that they were taken in to the backs of shops and up to the 2nd level and farther and farther away from the streets and then they tried to upsale them, sell them male Egyptian prostitutes (Egyptian men very long, very powerful they say), and anything else - marriage proposals, job offers. I was like "Wow, no one asked me that." Weird, must have been my intimating good looks. :-P Actually it was Dane. All they said to us as we past was "Lucky man, lucky man."
We may try shopping again today. We'll see. We are going to the museum and then tonight is the NIGHTTRAIN! We have about 20 minutes left, so Dane is going to try to post some pictures and maybe blurb about that.
We assume everything is going well since we haven't gotten any emergency calls or comments on the blog. Someone tell my cats I miss them!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
What a Day!
Today we drove to Saquaara and Dasher. I only have 7 min left of internet so I will short form what we did today.
Visited the Step Pyramid. Dane rode a donkey. We went inside a tomb and saw ancient Egyptian pictures of frogs and bookkeepers on the walls. We went INSIDE the Red Pyramid - that will have to be another post. We ate a fabulous Oriental lunch. We went shopping at the big bazaar and I got overstimulated at all the people who were TOTALLY in our faces. I finally had to leave and smoke hookah for the rest of the afternoon.
We sat next to one of the biggest Muslim mosques and it was beautiful and then when it was prayer time and the voices came on over the loudspeakers - enough to bring tears to your eyes it was so divine.
Now we are going to go to dinner. We make go to a hafla and then nightclub tonight. Not sure. We are all very tired from the day's excursions.
HG - I got you a pink hip scarf for the parade. :-)
We hope everyone is doing well. We miss you guys and the cats. This has been an amazing experience. I can't wait to post all the pictures - I've never seen a place like this before.
Love you!
Visited the Step Pyramid. Dane rode a donkey. We went inside a tomb and saw ancient Egyptian pictures of frogs and bookkeepers on the walls. We went INSIDE the Red Pyramid - that will have to be another post. We ate a fabulous Oriental lunch. We went shopping at the big bazaar and I got overstimulated at all the people who were TOTALLY in our faces. I finally had to leave and smoke hookah for the rest of the afternoon.
We sat next to one of the biggest Muslim mosques and it was beautiful and then when it was prayer time and the voices came on over the loudspeakers - enough to bring tears to your eyes it was so divine.
Now we are going to go to dinner. We make go to a hafla and then nightclub tonight. Not sure. We are all very tired from the day's excursions.
HG - I got you a pink hip scarf for the parade. :-)
We hope everyone is doing well. We miss you guys and the cats. This has been an amazing experience. I can't wait to post all the pictures - I've never seen a place like this before.
Love you!
We are here!
Hello everyone! I only have 5 minutes before our tour to Dashur and Saquaara so I'll make this quick. Our flights were long but wonderful - we even got a kit on Egypt Air that had a toothbrush/paste, socks, and an eyecover - way cool. Didn't get much sleep even with the Ambien but oh well.
Our hotel is amazing - beautiful. The food is so good, I've never had hummus this tasty before. The city is also amazing. Too much to write in one 3 min post but I'll note the things we noted:
1. 85% of cars have kleenex boxes in the front dash. Of that, 20% are bejeweled and dazzled.
2. There is some sort of game or something where they have paint cans stacked up in a pyramid as if you are about to throw a bean bag at them and win a prize.
3. The tops of buildings have hair. Or at least they didn't cut the rebar off - they all look like they are in construction. Those buildings that do have roofs have a million satellites on them.
4. The Fuzz are out in force and carry AK-47's.
5. Driving is crazier than Mexico.
We took a nap once we got to the hotel yesterday, then ate dinner, then sat in the hookah bar and watched the soccer championships till 10. Went to bed and then was up by 5:30 - silly jet lag. We just ate breakfast and its time to go on our tour.
Ciao!
PS - Slug bug: gold, red, orange, turqoise, blue, and white. BYAAHH!!
Our hotel is amazing - beautiful. The food is so good, I've never had hummus this tasty before. The city is also amazing. Too much to write in one 3 min post but I'll note the things we noted:
1. 85% of cars have kleenex boxes in the front dash. Of that, 20% are bejeweled and dazzled.
2. There is some sort of game or something where they have paint cans stacked up in a pyramid as if you are about to throw a bean bag at them and win a prize.
3. The tops of buildings have hair. Or at least they didn't cut the rebar off - they all look like they are in construction. Those buildings that do have roofs have a million satellites on them.
4. The Fuzz are out in force and carry AK-47's.
5. Driving is crazier than Mexico.
We took a nap once we got to the hotel yesterday, then ate dinner, then sat in the hookah bar and watched the soccer championships till 10. Went to bed and then was up by 5:30 - silly jet lag. We just ate breakfast and its time to go on our tour.
Ciao!
PS - Slug bug: gold, red, orange, turqoise, blue, and white. BYAAHH!!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
House/Catsitter Change
Jacob G. will now be taking care of our home in our absence. He will also be updating this blog.
Monday, April 7, 2008
This is it!
So I've finished packing and preparing for Egypt. I only have the bank and some random "get pretty" tasks left to do.
I'm nervous about monthend though. After working to the point of delerium this weekend I discovered that my statements are whack. *frown* I will go in to work extra early tomorrow with hopes that I can find the error and fix the problem all with enough time to review the financials with Jim before I leave at noon. Come hell or high water, I MUST LEAVE AT NOON!!
After a day of errands, I will go to my spinning class, eat some dinner and slip away to sleepland before waking up at 4 am on Tuesday morning to leave.
I'm very excited and nervous and already tired from the adventures I know I'll have. Thank you to everyone who has helped out - your efforts will be rewarded!
Till next time!
I'm nervous about monthend though. After working to the point of delerium this weekend I discovered that my statements are whack. *frown* I will go in to work extra early tomorrow with hopes that I can find the error and fix the problem all with enough time to review the financials with Jim before I leave at noon. Come hell or high water, I MUST LEAVE AT NOON!!
After a day of errands, I will go to my spinning class, eat some dinner and slip away to sleepland before waking up at 4 am on Tuesday morning to leave.
I'm very excited and nervous and already tired from the adventures I know I'll have. Thank you to everyone who has helped out - your efforts will be rewarded!
Till next time!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Final Countdown!
Egypt is less than a week away and I find that I'm getting nervous. I'm worried that I won't get everything done, I won't pack the right things, I won't have anything "majestic" to wear....
It's all needless worry for the most part as I'm meeting my deadlines and though I have a tight schedule the next week, if I can stick to it then I will have plenty of time to prepare.
I've gotten all our financial aspects in order and just need to go to the bank to get our cash.
I've purchased all the household items Nick may need to care for the cats while we are away. I've also purchased most of the items we'll need on the trip save some disposable cameras, a transformer/adapter, and a few other misc. items.
I have not been successful in finding anything ancient Egyptian looking so I'll just have to pack the clothes I already have. I hope it will suffice, but I honestly don't know what to expect on this trip. I'll bring plenty of expedition clothes, evening attire, and maybe some fun costume type stuff.
I have all of my documents copied, printed, and prepared - including a set to leave with Nick and one to take in my carry-on bag.
I need to finish up my book review and team assignment for school including video-taping my portion of the presentations, scheduled for this Saturday.
I finished up the 990 and need to shift my focus to closing the month of March in 7 days. Should be cake barring unforseen circumstances. Even so, I told Jim, my boss, that I would have March "materially" closed by next Monday.
I plan to use Tues and Thurs as homework nights, Wed as a workout night and playtime (trivia night at the Roo), and the weekend to catch up on work, packing, and anything else that might need my attention.
Monday will be spent tying up loose ends including packing, the bank, shaving, wax/pedicure, tanning, workout, and massage. I should be in bed by 9:30 this time next week ready for our 4 am wake up call. We will have a towncar pick us up just before 5 to take us to the airport.
So, all in all, I'm about as prepared as I can be except the looming task of packing which will just have to unfold as I'm ready for that job.
I will make an effort to make one more post to this blog before our departure to make sure everything is on the up and up.
It's all needless worry for the most part as I'm meeting my deadlines and though I have a tight schedule the next week, if I can stick to it then I will have plenty of time to prepare.
I've gotten all our financial aspects in order and just need to go to the bank to get our cash.
I've purchased all the household items Nick may need to care for the cats while we are away. I've also purchased most of the items we'll need on the trip save some disposable cameras, a transformer/adapter, and a few other misc. items.
I have not been successful in finding anything ancient Egyptian looking so I'll just have to pack the clothes I already have. I hope it will suffice, but I honestly don't know what to expect on this trip. I'll bring plenty of expedition clothes, evening attire, and maybe some fun costume type stuff.
I have all of my documents copied, printed, and prepared - including a set to leave with Nick and one to take in my carry-on bag.
I need to finish up my book review and team assignment for school including video-taping my portion of the presentations, scheduled for this Saturday.
I finished up the 990 and need to shift my focus to closing the month of March in 7 days. Should be cake barring unforseen circumstances. Even so, I told Jim, my boss, that I would have March "materially" closed by next Monday.
I plan to use Tues and Thurs as homework nights, Wed as a workout night and playtime (trivia night at the Roo), and the weekend to catch up on work, packing, and anything else that might need my attention.
Monday will be spent tying up loose ends including packing, the bank, shaving, wax/pedicure, tanning, workout, and massage. I should be in bed by 9:30 this time next week ready for our 4 am wake up call. We will have a towncar pick us up just before 5 to take us to the airport.
So, all in all, I'm about as prepared as I can be except the looming task of packing which will just have to unfold as I'm ready for that job.
I will make an effort to make one more post to this blog before our departure to make sure everything is on the up and up.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Emergency Phone Numbers
Here are the emergency phone numbers of the GuardianTravel office in Cairo andthe cell phone of the tour manager:
Guardian Travel Egypt (from the US) : 011-202-3740-4747 OR 011-202-3387-6394
Ratiba’s Egypt cell phone (from the US ):011-201-2215-9323
Guardian Travel Egypt (from the US) : 011-202-3740-4747 OR 011-202-3387-6394
Ratiba’s Egypt cell phone (from the US ):011-201-2215-9323
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Meet Nick B.
Indeed - Nick B. has been kind enough to offer his services of house and cat-sitting while Dane and I are away on holiday. We felt that it would make the most sense for Nick to be our sole point of contact rather than trying to phone several people in different time zones at who knows what hour of the day or night. We brainstormed options for Nick reaching others who might be interested in our travel status and decided a blog would be the best way to non-intrusively distribute information. People could check on us as their time allows without sharing personal information such as email addresses or phone numbers. Great idea!
As Nick mentioned, he will be updating this blog when Dane and I cannot. There are internet cafes in Egypt so Dane and I will make a point to pop in and update as time allows. We will be calling Nick at least once every few days, if not every day. Nick will update the blog as we speak with him so friends and family know that we are okay and have not turned in to mummies.
Any special requests for Egypt, questions or gifts should be posted here - we'd love to go to Egypt with a mission. :-)
As Nick mentioned, he will be updating this blog when Dane and I cannot. There are internet cafes in Egypt so Dane and I will make a point to pop in and update as time allows. We will be calling Nick at least once every few days, if not every day. Nick will update the blog as we speak with him so friends and family know that we are okay and have not turned in to mummies.
Any special requests for Egypt, questions or gifts should be posted here - we'd love to go to Egypt with a mission. :-)
Trying this out
Okay, I am just doing this post to try and see how I handle this before crystal is out of town and I can't do anything to help me. So anyway I will be the guy that is putting the info of the trip up on here when they can't themselves so I will chat with you later.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Itinerary - UPDATED 3/27
The Egypt trip is quickly approaching! Less than 2 weeks away (OMG!) I will post an itinerary including the names of the hotels we are staying at in the event someone needs to reach us. Also, you can check out the websites to see what kind of accomodations and such we will have. Pretty cool stuff!
For a full, itinerary per Delilah, please follow this link:
http://www.delilahs-belly-dance-retreat.com/EgyptTour_packet.pdf
Tuesday, April 8th - leave SEA at 7:00am on Delta flight 30 arrive at JFK at 3:35pm. Leave JFK at 6:30pm on Egypt Air MS 986 arrive at Cairo at noon on 4/9.
Wednesday, April 9th - we will be staying at Le Meridian till 4/11. Today we relax, take in the sights, go shopping, drink some beer, get used to the time change.
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1807
Thursday, April 10th - today we visit Saqqara and Dahsur. We will visit the Bent and Red Pyramids today and possibly see the Sound & Light show in the evening. Lots of fun!
Friday, April 11th - we will spend the day at the Egyptian Museum and then take a night train to Luxor. Very mysterious! In fact, so mysterious - I don't even have a link.
Saturday, April 12th - arrive in Luxor, visit the Valley of the Kings & Queens. Today we check in to our next hotel, Sonesta, which we will be staying at till 4/14.
http://www.sonesta.com/Luxor/index.cfm?fa=guestrooms.home
Sunday, April 13th - Visit Abydos and Dendara. We will be visiting the Hathor Temple and some other ruins.
Monday, April 14th - check out of Sonesta and on to our Nile cruise, MS Nile Dolphin, which will be our home till 4/18. We will visit Karnak and the Temple of Sekmet in the morning before boarding our ship for a nice 4 day cruise down the Nile.
http://www.niledolphin.com/
Tuesday, April 15th - sail to Edfu. I understand that Edfu might be a sketchy town but should be a lot of fun! A beautiful temple there at least.
Wednesday, April 16th - sail to Kom-Ombo. Enjoy a disco on the cruise. Can't wait for that!
Thursday, April 17th - visit the Temple of Isis (my favorite day). Today we take a felucca ride to the Isles of Phalie and visit the Temple of Isis.
A felucca
Temple of Isis
Friday, April 18th - fly to Abu Simbel on Egypt Air flight 249 (leaving Aswan at 11:50 am, arriving at Abu at 12:35 pm) and see the monuments there. We are very close to the Sudan border at this point. Tonight we stay at Nefertari Hotel Abu Simbel for just one night.
http://www.hotelclub.net/hotel.reservations/Nefertari_Hotel_Abu_Simbel.htm#
Saturday, April 19th - fly back to Cairo via Aswan on flights 246 (leaving Abu at 7:50 am, arriving Aswan at 8:35 am) and 250 (leaving Aswan at 2:30 pm, arriving Cairo at 3:55 pm). Shop and rest today. We will check back in to Le Meridian (the hotel we stayed at in Cairo on 4/8 - 4/11) and stay there for the remainder of the trip. Possibly go to Khan el Khalili, which I think is a Muslim temple, though I could be way off base on that.
Sunday, April 20th - visit the Pyramids of Giza, Sphinx, and plateau during a full moon! We have paid for private time so this should be a very special way to end our Egypt trip. We'll partake in camel rides, see the light show, and have a blast!
Monday, April 21st - fly home from Cairo via Egypt Air flight 985 leaving at 9:15 am arriving at JFK at 3:15 pm. Hopefully everything is as planned, in which case we will fly home from JFK via Delta Airlines flight 89 leaving JFK at 7:15pm and arriving at SEA at 10:35pm.
I will update with details as they come in. Stay tuned!
PS - you may note that I have set the time for this blog for Cairo time just for fun. :-)
For a full, itinerary per Delilah, please follow this link:
http://www.delilahs-belly-dance-retreat.com/EgyptTour_packet.pdf
Tuesday, April 8th - leave SEA at 7:00am on Delta flight 30 arrive at JFK at 3:35pm. Leave JFK at 6:30pm on Egypt Air MS 986 arrive at Cairo at noon on 4/9.
Wednesday, April 9th - we will be staying at Le Meridian till 4/11. Today we relax, take in the sights, go shopping, drink some beer, get used to the time change.
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1807
Thursday, April 10th - today we visit Saqqara and Dahsur. We will visit the Bent and Red Pyramids today and possibly see the Sound & Light show in the evening. Lots of fun!
Friday, April 11th - we will spend the day at the Egyptian Museum and then take a night train to Luxor. Very mysterious! In fact, so mysterious - I don't even have a link.
Saturday, April 12th - arrive in Luxor, visit the Valley of the Kings & Queens. Today we check in to our next hotel, Sonesta, which we will be staying at till 4/14.
http://www.sonesta.com/Luxor/index.cfm?fa=guestrooms.home
Sunday, April 13th - Visit Abydos and Dendara. We will be visiting the Hathor Temple and some other ruins.
Monday, April 14th - check out of Sonesta and on to our Nile cruise, MS Nile Dolphin, which will be our home till 4/18. We will visit Karnak and the Temple of Sekmet in the morning before boarding our ship for a nice 4 day cruise down the Nile.
http://www.niledolphin.com/
Tuesday, April 15th - sail to Edfu. I understand that Edfu might be a sketchy town but should be a lot of fun! A beautiful temple there at least.
Wednesday, April 16th - sail to Kom-Ombo. Enjoy a disco on the cruise. Can't wait for that!
Thursday, April 17th - visit the Temple of Isis (my favorite day). Today we take a felucca ride to the Isles of Phalie and visit the Temple of Isis.
A felucca
Temple of Isis
Friday, April 18th - fly to Abu Simbel on Egypt Air flight 249 (leaving Aswan at 11:50 am, arriving at Abu at 12:35 pm) and see the monuments there. We are very close to the Sudan border at this point. Tonight we stay at Nefertari Hotel Abu Simbel for just one night.
http://www.hotelclub.net/hotel.reservations/Nefertari_Hotel_Abu_Simbel.htm#
Saturday, April 19th - fly back to Cairo via Aswan on flights 246 (leaving Abu at 7:50 am, arriving Aswan at 8:35 am) and 250 (leaving Aswan at 2:30 pm, arriving Cairo at 3:55 pm). Shop and rest today. We will check back in to Le Meridian (the hotel we stayed at in Cairo on 4/8 - 4/11) and stay there for the remainder of the trip. Possibly go to Khan el Khalili, which I think is a Muslim temple, though I could be way off base on that.
Sunday, April 20th - visit the Pyramids of Giza, Sphinx, and plateau during a full moon! We have paid for private time so this should be a very special way to end our Egypt trip. We'll partake in camel rides, see the light show, and have a blast!
Monday, April 21st - fly home from Cairo via Egypt Air flight 985 leaving at 9:15 am arriving at JFK at 3:15 pm. Hopefully everything is as planned, in which case we will fly home from JFK via Delta Airlines flight 89 leaving JFK at 7:15pm and arriving at SEA at 10:35pm.
I will update with details as they come in. Stay tuned!
PS - you may note that I have set the time for this blog for Cairo time just for fun. :-)
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