Home

Originally posted June 16, 2004

Now that I am back in the states, people ask me if I am sad to be back after such an incredible year. No, I’m not sad to be back because returning to the point from where you started gives you perspective. I am in a position now where I can take these experiences and run with them. I am looking forward to W&M life in the fall, as mundane as it may be. Then after this year another chapter in my life will be closed: undergraduate studies. My dad asked me this morning at 6:20am before he took me to work, what I might be thinking about doing after college. He has the right to be the first to ask the question, but NOT at 6:20am.

I guess I want what every person who spends a year abroad wants: to go back and travel as freely as before. I want to go to India, China, Kenya, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Nepal, Alaska, Russia and everywhere in between. I want to retire at 25 with a house in St. Malo on the beach, with another in Provence where I will paint and play piano until I get tired of it, then I will go and read in an olive tree grove with endless sunlight. Sure it’s slightly less than realistic, but a girl can dream can’t she?

I read back over previous journal entries and I wonder if I’m reading something that I actually lived. It seems very far away even though I’ve only been home for a short time. Both times I have returned from semesters, I have fallen so easily back into the regular pattern of life here that everything that happened over the past 8 months seems like a dream. But then I look at the pictures and remember the stories and I know it’s real.

I have been going over to old friend’s houses, trying new restaurants, putting my new navy blue room together, attending concerts, working a lot, and going out occasionally. Being 21 is nice now that I appreciate alcohol more. Clint has prom this Friday, I met his girlfriend (GASP!), and he graduates on the 16th. Someone else has been doing a little growing up, it seems. It’s hard to think of him going off to college, and my parents at home with no kids to look after.

He is yet another strong piece of evidence of the changes that take place in one’s absence. Home is never quite the same as I left it, every time I come back. Being here I have started to face some of the issues I left behind, and it’s hard. But I also see differences in how I’m handling them now and how they affect me. Maybe there’s hope for me yet. I think France taught me some incredible life lessons, and it was a milestone year in so many ways. So Mom and Dad, your girl has returned home a little older, a little wiser, with broader perspectives, and ready to face whatever comes her way.

Thanks for reading, everyone. To be able to share my experiences and reactions with you all and receive your own has been one of the most valuable and important components of this year. I have enjoyed writing about this journey so much I am almost bitter it's over. I don't feel like life here will supply much fodder for an interesting journal, but if something comes along and I'm inspired, perhaps I will update. Even if this is the last entry, I'd like to stay in touch with everyone, so please don't hesitate to write. I am pretty good about responding usually. So thanks again, I hope this finds you well, and I hope to hear from everyone soon.

Unda Da Sea

Originally posted June 1, 2004. 

All our itinerary said on our last day was “free day at the beach” and we knew that we wanted to dive. I am already certified thanks to the W&M kinesiology credit requirement which I filled with a scuba class freshman year.  Ben was looking forward to his first experience with open water diving.

Submersion. 

     We had already signed up for the course when we were at the hotel Sunday night, so things were all prepared; we just had to show up.  I was doing a refresher course since I haven’t been diving since Spring Break 2002, and this was combined with my brother’s “Discover Scuba Diving Course”.  We watched two movies, then Ben had to get checked out by a doctor because he had asthma ten years ago, then we went on our first dive.  Our instructor, Frank, a stocky man from Holland who liked to tell jokes about blondes and women, was our instructor.  We had to do some refresher skills and I was having problems establishing my buoyancy and remembering all the procedures.  Ben did fine and was quickly in control of his equipment and his underwater movement.

Colorful reef. 

      The first dive was good for getting back into the swing of things and then towards the end when we got to the reef I had finally gotten neutral buoyancy in the water and really started looking around.  It was so colorful and the reef was absolutely teeming with life.  We saw a Lion fish, the poisonous kind, parrot fish, clown fish, an Eagle ray, a conch, and many other kinds of beautiful, tropical marine life. The 45 minutes were over so quickly, I felt like it had only been five when we finished.

Bro and Sis diving. 

      We got back out of the water on the beach (the reef is only about 50 feet off shore, around 1pm.  We rinsed off and then got lunch at the hotel restaurant. We had another dive from the beach that afternoon but this time we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. Frank guided us out to the reef again and then let us swim as we pleased.  I had the underwater camera with us and we were exploring to our heart’s content. He showed us how to “moonwalk” underwater which is a pretty accurate description. You take off your fins and jump off the ocean floor and then you just kind of float weightlessly and then you exhale you come back down again.  Since you are at neutral buoyancy, you just float in the water, rising and falling slowly when you inhale or exhale respectively.  We were hovering over the reef and enjoying the wildlife and again time passed so quickly, the hour passed before we knew it.  The water was so clear, much better than diving in Key Largo and even that was incredible.  The colors of the coral were surreal.  It was like we were in Finding Nemo.

Nemo!

     After our last dive we sat on the beach relaxing and soaking in our last few moments by the Red Sea.  We went back to the room, watched a movie, then went back to the Egyptian restaurant at our hotel, and feasted one last time for less than twenty dollars total.  I had cinnamon tea to end my meal.  It was only ground cinnamon in boiled water, but I added a little milk and sugar and it was amazing!  We have eaten eastern food here everyday and I haven’t ever gotten sick of it.  I could eat hommus and baba ganoush every day of my life.

Ray

     The next morning we had until 12pm to enjoy the incredible breakfast buffet one last time, then we had to suffer through that awful bus ride again.  The horn on this bus, I can’t even describe how loud it was.  And Egyptian drivers use their horns incessantly: when passing, when behind, when slightly peeved, when saying hello, and even just for the heck of it when no one else is on the road.  I had visions of getting a gun and shooting the knob for the horn off the handle.  I was so fed up.  On top of that we were subjected to even more awful Arabic movies and blaring eastern wailing on the stereo so basically it was 6 hours of constant grating noise.  I was SO glad it was over.  We then had about 6 more hours until our flight at 2am.  We went to an internet café, then ate at a hotel near the airport, and then we slept until it was time to board the flight.  We were so tired from our hard day of traveling; I am still in awe that we made it that far.  We managed to get a little sleep on the flight.

     We arrived in Paris around 6am, got off the plane, dragged ourselves to our hotel who thankfully let us check in super early, then I went for my “goodbye run part 1” to all my favorite sights in Paris: Parc Monceau, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Boulevard Haussman, Opera Garnier, and some little streets in between.  Then I went out to get a nice breakfast for us while Ben rested a little bit more. After we had recharged a little bit we went out to try and sell back my phone which turned out to be a fruitless 3-hour endeavor.  Then we abandoned that idea and went to see the catacombs.  The line was about 2 hours long so we bagged that, went out to La Defense to see the big Arch (of Real World Paris fame) and by then I was so tired and hungry that we went and found a sushi place at 6pm.  This hour for dinner is absolutely unheard of in Paris and the guys who ran the place were staring and I apologized for coming in so early.  They were cool about it though and served us.  Then we went back to the hotel and I was asleep by 9pm.  The next day I woke up early, completed the “goodbye run part 2” passing my favorites sites on the east side and left bank of Paris this time, and then went back to the hotel to get my stuff and head to the airport for my definitive departure from Europe.

     I went with a heavy heart, but also with excitement at returning to everything I know.  I got to the airport (on time!) checked my baggage, and walked to my gate.  I heard American accents floating around the waiting area and I thought about the isolation from the French language I would soon be entering.  Fortunately, I sat next to a young French chef on the way home and he and I kept up lively commentary on the in-flight movies.  He amused me by trying to pronounce the names of towns in Pennsylvania and New York like Poughkeepsie.  So I landed, got my bags, went through customs and they questioned me about the mustard I brought back and then I walked through those doors and into America.  I was greeted by a towering blonde guy with a goatee who claimed he was my younger brother, and my parents.   They whisked me off in our Volvo station wagon and back to the house where I live sometimes, into a room that wasn’t mine.

     It’s good to be back here under the constant hum of the cicada infestation, with these gigantic trees and the familiarity of the roads.  Everything is so easy when you come home, you adjust immediately and it’s hard to think you ever left.  I was going through my pictures last night and I still find it unbelievable that I went some of the places that I did.  The year seems kind of like a dream now that it is behind me, and I am looking forward to see how my experiences play out later in life.  Until then I guess I’ll just have to keep discovering what’s around me.  I’m sure there’s some interesting stuff in America somewhere.

Desert Silence

Originally posted May 24, 2004

On the 17th I woke up pretty early to go on my first run of the trip along a winding desert road. It was still cool but very, very dry. I enjoyed looking out in to the nothingness beyond the town. I got back to the room, packed an overnight bag for Sinai, went down to enjoy the most incredible breakfast buffet of all time, and then we set off into the desert.

Mt. Sinai

We took a 4x4 to get there because part of the road (yes there is only one road) is being fixed. It wasn’t the most comfortable ride but driving through the desert was worth it. The emptiness of the landscape is incredible. As we neared St. Catherine’s, another town that survives on tourism, we saw the mountains surrounding the monastery and were explained why this is acknowledged as the area where Moses and the Israelites in Exodus got lost for 40 years, and the mountain is the one where Moses met God. We arrived at our hotel, not the nicest of our lodgings but still a good place to lay one's head, and got checked in. Then we acceded to our guide's suggestion of “cooking something” for lunch. So we drive to this Bedouin camp about 5 minutes from our hotel, bring groceries and give them to a Bedouin who then takes them into the kitchen and commenced cooking lunch. We sat around a very low table on cushions and rugs underneath a shelter of straw until it was ready, two hours later. We sipped tea and talked about movies and various other things to pass the time. When lunch was finally ready we were pretty hungry and everything smelled incredible. We started off with the classic salads: tahina, and marinated cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots. Then we had a light lentil soup which is also traditional, then they brought out the main course, a tray of beef roasted in spices and marinade with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, onions, and parsley, served with a bowl of basmati rice. It was delicious. The brown pita bread was also wonderful, served fresh from the oven.

Ben having a snooze at the Bedouin camp

     We sat around on our cushions a little longer waiting for the food to digest before we started our trek up Mount Sinai. We arrived at the camp at 12:30pm and didn’t leave until 3:30pm. We had a great time just talking with our guide and getting to know him a little better. Then it was time to start climbing so we could watch the sun set on the mountain.

Sinai scenery

We arrived at the monastery and walked to the base of Mt. Sinai which is also a Bedouin camp. Our guide bargained with the camel owners for a few minutes and then Ben and I mounted up and started the trek. Riding a camel is very uneven. You have to learn to fall into their rhythm and sit correctly in the saddle. They were very obedient and docile though mine was a whiner and was always groaning. I enjoyed watching their feet because they are squishy and spread out into the sand, not like regular feet. The first thing that came to mind was those squish balls filled with silicon gel that were so popular a long time ago. This is what their feet looked like in the sand. It was nice to be able to sit and enjoy the scenery while the camels carried us 2/3rds of the way up. Mount Sinai just kept getting closer and closer. I couldn’t believe I was going to stand and walk where Moses walked. We rode camels up to the bottom of a 700-step staircase that leads to the top. The camels cannot go any further than this so we said goodbye and started the climb. It took about 25 minutes and we passed Elijah’s oasis (the spot where he hid when God walked by him) which was pretty incredible too. Prince of Egypt was on in our hotel room today and we were looking at the animated scenery thinking “yeah, that looks about right…”. We reached the top and looked out on the surrounding mountains. Sinai is different from all of them because it has a flat top and is encircled by the others so that it is hidden from view until you are right in front of it. The flat top has not been explained by scientists other than they say there must have been an extraordinary pressure exerted on it at one point in time to make it so different from all the rest. *

Riding camels up the mountain

My camel

Climbing the stairs up to the top

After we had looked around and rested a little, taken it all in, we started the climb back down the steps. In the waning light the mountains of red granite seemed to glow, casting their color into the atmosphere and tinting everything a hazy rose. We passed the bottom of the steps and continued on the foot path picking up rocks with plant fossils in them and enjoying the scenery, trying to imagine what it must have been like in Moses’ time.

Elijah's Oasis

Sinai Sunset

I was glad we did the sunset because there were only 6 other people on the mountain, not including the Bedouins who try to sell you stuff every 50 meters. Apparently at sunrise there are many, many more people and it’s crowded. When we were there, if you stopped walking and crunching the rocks under your feet, all you could hear was the light breeze. That’s it. It was totally silent. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a place so wholly without background noise. No wonder the Desert Fathers retreated into places like this. There is nothing to distract you.

Narrow steps up - Red Granite Path

Mohammad, Ben and I at the top of the mountain

We hiked back down the footpath and reached the bottom just as night fell. We were pretty tired and we walked back to the jeep, grateful for the short lift back to the hotel. We met a little later for dinner at the hotel, again with our guide, and then I retired for the night while Ben and Mohammed stayed up to shoot a little pool. I didn’t even hear him come back to the room later, I was out cold. In the course of the night I managed to gain precisely 23 new mosquito bites on my face, neck, and legs. I spent the whole next day yearning for a remedy to stop the itching but I didn’t get it until that night.

The next morning we woke up, got breakfast at a buffet that paled in comparison to the others we have had, and then headed to St. Catherine’s monastery to see the chapel that houses Moses’s burning bush and also one of the oldest working monasteries in the world. It has survived the crusades, numerous political and religious conquests and has gained the protection of many figures ranging from Napoleon to the prophet Mohammed. It houses and extensive collection of ancient icons, dating back to the 6th century. There is a room that you see from behind iron bars that holds the bones of all the monks and bishops that have ever lived and worked there; piles of skulls, arms, legs and ribs, in a storage room.

St. Catherine's Monastery 

Obviously, viewing of the burning bush is not allowed, but there is a bush of the same type outside which you can look at. It is always green, year-round, even in the desert. It has been tested in other areas nearby but will only grow in this one spot. It was really interesting to see and hear about the history of the monastery too. They used to build a tower and stack every floor one on top of the other, then had the entrance above ground so as to protect from attackers. They built another tower to be able to get into the main one, with a drawbridge to be closed against enemies.

We wandered through the museums and around the monastery a little bit more, trying to comprehend the scope of its history and its importance, but really only succeeding in becoming more awestruck. After we left the monastery we drove a little while on asphalt, then we suddenly turned off the road and started plowing through sand.

Rock of Inscriptions

We were headed towards the Rock of Inscriptions which is a rock where travelers have been leaving names, directions and their mark since the time of Moses. The earliest marks are from the people of the Exodus. It was amazing to see. The silence in that part of the desert was even deeper than in Sinai. There seemed to be no other life around for miles and miles. It was the deepest and most profound silence I think I have ever “heard”. When the wind picks up a little it seems to whisper of the past and the many travelers who have stood where I was standing.

Seaside dining

We drove in the sand a little further to get a view of a real desert oasis, the El Wadi oasis. We were told that only the head of the Bedouin tribe may live at the Oasis and he controls it, passing it down to his eldest son when he dies. After the foray into the desert, we got back onto the asphalt and drove to Naweid, where we stopped at an open air restaurant directly on the beach and had a fantastic lunch listening to the ocean, watching the crystal blue waves lap at the shore, and camels pass by. We started the lunch off with a glass of fruit juice that had five different layers of color, each being a different fruit pulp. There was strawberry, peach, melon, mango and guava. It was as thick as a milkshake and tasted divine. I took a picture of the glass because it was so pretty. Lunch was a buffet with grilled chicken and fish and a salad bar to die for. We were very happy at the end of it and the owner told us to take our tea underneath the straw shelter on some cushions right on the ocean. It was an idyllic afternoon. We were sad to leave.

Beautiful fruit juice. 

But leave we did. We headed back to Sharm El Sheik and I felt drowsy the whole time but never slept as it was very hot and very bumpy. We arrived at the hotel, went to get some cash, then crashed in our rooms to watch a movie. After a restorative two hours in air conditioning, we headed down to dinner at the Italian restaurant in our hotel, then met Mohammed who had promised to show me where to buy this specific cloth I had seen and liked very much. We went to about 4 places before I found the perfect design and bought a big square of it. It’s just blue and white but has an intricate woven-looking pattern in it and I think it will go quite well in my freshly painted navy blue room when I go home.

Chatting seaside with Mohammad. 

Our guide has gone above and beyond the call of duty numerous times here. When I lost my CDs he went to the bus station to look for them. He makes sure we find everything we want and negotiates fair prices for us. He picked us up in his own car on his own time to show us the markets where I wanted to buy some fabric. We met his wife and baby girl too. It is really amazing how personal this tour is.

Everything is tailor made for us. We only have two nights left. Tomorrow we are doing an all-day diving trip which I am really looking forward too. But it’s also our last full day in Egypt. Thursday night we leave, very very late at night. It’s hard to believe it’s all coming to a close and that I will be home on Saturday. I still have two days left to enjoy.

*God's presence?

Lap of Luxury : Sharm El Sheikh

Originally posted May 24, 2004

 We arose before the sun had risen in Cairo and dragged ourselves down to breakfast where our faithful tour leader, Ahmed, was waiting for us.  He encouraged our lethargic bodies to get into the van, got us on the bus headed for Sharm El Sheik, and waved goodbye.  We won’t see him again until the last day of our tour.

     We were on the bus for six hours, driving through the beautiful Sinai desert landscape bordered by the sapphire Gulf of Suez. To pass the time, we watched the driver’s selection of a bad movie that starred and Arabian pop idol who supposedly worked for an ad agency and then was discovered and hit it big.  Then we watched possibly the worst American movie I have ever seen.  It’s called "American Tigers” and it stars a handful of former Ultimate Fighting Champions.  The whole movie is just ridiculous.  Hell’s Angels and ex- soldiers on death row are given big guns and sent, under the command of your typical hard nosed, foul-mouthed, veteran Sergeant Major, to fight a renegade ex-officer who’s trying to start a militant revolution.  Yeah, so the six hours passed pretty slowly.  We were really glad to get off the bus.

     We were met by our tour organizer for this leg and he took us the most impressive hotel yet.  With something like 6 on-site restaurants, two pools, a private beach, a spa, a dive center, and the best movie channel offerings ever, the Ghazala hotel is number one for the trip in my book.  But we’ll see how the breakfast buffet compares.

     We checked in, put away our stuff, our guide oriented us a little around the hotel because it’s so big you really need one to find your way around.  Then we went upstairs, changed and hit the beach.  The water is crystal clear and it seems like there is no point where you cannot see the bottom.  There are lots of jellyfish but they don’t sting.  Ben got an hour long massage while I just laid out on the comfortable beach chairs a little longer, then retreated inside when the sun went down.  We met back up in the room before dinner where I discovered that my CDs had been left on the bus.  We called our tour guy to see if there was anything he could do, but to no avail.  They were swiped and I’m out 25 of my favorite CDs.  It’s like there’s a hole in my heart.

     There’s too much left to do and see to let it get me down though.  Many of them can be replaced. We had a fantastic dinner at the Eastern restaurant at the hotel and then we walked along the lively boardwalk enjoying the perfect weather.  The only weird thing was that everyone kept assuming we were married.  And then when we quickly told them the real situation, they jokingly asked Ben how many camels he would want in exchange for me. Verrrry funny.  Sharm El Sheik only exists because it has great diving and great beaches.  It’s a total resort town and therefore is more expensive than some other places, but we’re still enjoying getting pampered.

Alexandria: City on the Sea

We finished our tour in Luxor with a nice relaxing dip in the pool before our overnight train back to Cairo.  I actually slept pretty well on the train and we arrived in Cairo around 6:15 am and got immediately back on the road in a van with Galal and our driver, headed for Alexandria.  Three hours later we arrived in the beautiful, deliciously cool city on the Mediterranean Sea.  The water shone with those surreal shades of blue that make you wonder if you’re in a postcard or not, and though the traffic was even more insane than in Cairo, I liked the feel of the place immediately.

Galal started us out at the Greco-Roman museum, because despite being a really cool, laid back guy, he is obsessed with museums.  He got really excited when I told him we had visited the Nubian Museum in Aswan saying “Oh, this is how a museum should be; this is how it must be laid out; this is how an information label should look! You have seen a jewel among Egypt’s museums!”  Then he led us through the museum skillfully illustrating the melding of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian culture in the time of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Ptolemy and Cleopatra with the mosaics, sculptures and artifacts held there.  After we had again been inundated with dates and rulers and tangled love affairs and politics, we were taken to do the touristy sightseeing.  We saw the Pillar of Pompeii which is said to have displayed General Pompeii’s head when it was cut off as a present for Julius Caesar.  We saw the catacombs which were excellent manifestations of the Greek attempt to assimilate to Egyptian culture.  The difference in architecture, symbolism, decoration and layout were very noticeable.   (They were also quite different from the catacombs in Rome with much more space and wider passageways.)

Pillar of Pompeii

Finally we drove back to the coast to get a view of the citadel from the boardwalk.  The clear water hitting the cement walls against the ancient limestone structure made for a stunning panorama. Galal didn’t even look at the citadel.  He gave us a few dates and then stared off into the horizon enjoying the view.  He confessed later that he takes his tours there because he likes to go enjoy the smell of the water and the view; the citadel itself isn’t much to see.  At this point we were kind of hungry and Galal had promised to take us to his favorite restaurant in Alexandria called Shaban Fish Restaurant.

For a little under 7 dollars per person, we again had a feast of 4 different kinds of salads, an entire fish freshly grilled on the fire in front of us after Galal had selected them from the bin, as well as piles of roasted shrimp, crab and steamed mussels.  Oh it was good, it was really really good.  Ben didn’t talk at all during the meal hardly, except to say “wow”.  He was too busy trying to eat, murmuring “mmmm” after every bite, and stopping to catch his breath and smile with satisfaction. Galal was very pleased with his reaction.  One of the best quotes of the trip was had at the meal when he stood up and looked at his crisp linen jacket, and said, “How did this fish get all over me?  It was taking its revenge on me! It hated me…but God knows I loved her.  (sighs with a smile) Women…”  Ben died when he heard this.  If you could see the gap-toothed grin of our guide, and hear his Arabic accent and the way he can’t say south, he says “thous”, you would laugh too.

Galal and I 

After lunch we were feeling really satisfied and Galal took us out for the last two things to see in the city: the library and Montazah Palace.  The library is just an amazing piece of architecture with the largest reading chamber in the world.  It has a big dome and a modernistic slanted solar-panelled roof. We just drove by it and every time I tried to take a picture, a palm tree popped out of nowhere and got in the way.

Citadel of Qaitbay

The palace was breathtaking.  Set on the low cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean, it stands in all its eastern glory with domed turrets on all four corners, beautiful tile designs on the outside, and landscaping incorporating interesting forms of cacti and other desert fauna into a sort of dry garden over looking the vast body of water before it.  There are bridges made of palm trees and sandy paths that lead to the sea from it.  There is even a gazebo where we ran across a Muslim couple smoochin’. It was funny to see the woman hastily fumble with her veil to restore it to its proper position, covering her blushing face.

Montaza Palace

After the visit to the palace, we drove along to coast again and headed back to Cairo.  Three hours later we checked back into the Flamenco hotel and bedded down for the night.  We had to be ready to go at 6:15am the next morning to catch our bus to Sharm El Sheik.  Diver’s Paradise.

Luxor: Temples and I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

Originally posted on May 15, 2004

We arrived in Luxor after the unpleasant and stinky train ride very tired. We unloaded our stuff in yet another gorgeous hotel. I am so unused to this 4-star lifestyle after hostels and cheap motels for the last year. It’s just unreal to get out and have someone take your bags for you and be greeted in the morning by the biggest breakfast buffet you have ever seen in your life. Pools with towels and cabana bars, marble floors and air conditioning, it’s so much more than I expected for the “budget tour”. It’s luxury embodied for a student traveling on a tight budget.

We flipped on the movie channel and Ben fell asleep watching “The World is Not Enough” while I was typing away trying to record the memories. I kept asking him how to spell things and to remind me of the names of gods and pharaohs because at this point it is all sort of mush in my head. I think the most amazing thing about it all is how old it is, and the proof that this great civilization and specific characters that seem like myths to me were real. When I see the hieroglyphs carved into the wall, I imagine slim, fine featured, olive-skinned craftsmen carefully etching the thousands of characters all day. It’s just amazing to me to think how different the world must have been and to try and comprehend what life might have been like 4500 years ago.
 

 After a good night’s rest in Luxor we woke up at 5:45 and got ready to meet our guides at 7am. We have to meet them early because any later and the heat in the Valley of the Kings would be unbearable. Even at 8:30am it was hot as a frying pan and almost no shade. However, we saw the tomb and mummy of King Tutankhamen as well as Ramses IV and IX. The colorful decorations and inscriptions are well-preserved due to the extreme dryness and shelter from the sun. We saw depictions of the kings’ great deeds and their wives, the gods who are protecting them and their hopes for the afterlife. Everything inside them was gorgeous and I seeing them is like a dream. Studying all this so long ago and then actually seeing it makes so much difference in understanding and interest.

Valley of the Kings

Tut's Throne

After the Valley of the Kings we visited an alabaster factory and saw some gorgeous vases that sparkle and are translucent in the light. I ended up buying this bowl that was not made of alabaster, but polished onyx. I was thinking to myself as I contemplated buying it and started talking the guy down, am I really going to buy a bowl? What am I going to do with a bowl?” But I just loved it. It was so beautiful and I was immediately attracted as soon as I saw it tucked away in a little corner. So from now on, I will be eating fruit salad from an absolutely beautiful piece of Egyptian pottery until I can think of a more useful employment.


Leaving the shop was tough because it was air conditioned and cool inside, and I knew that the oven and harsh sun that awaited me outside would be intensified because it was around noon. We visited the temple of Hatshepsut, the most famous Egyptian queen, and our spunky and hilarious guide led us around telling us stories and flirting with my brother. (It was a girl this time). The temple was more dramatically cut out of the sandstone cliffs that make the Valley of the Kings, and even though it was hot, it was interesting to see the queen’s works and how her son tried to erase all traces of her from history because he resented her taking the throne in his stead.

Temple of Hatshepsut

We had the choice at this point to visit either the Valley of the Queens, or go to the Valley of the Workers. We decided we had had enough of royalty and we wanted to see the real people of Egypt, the common man, the “proletariat” as my brother said. We were told also by our guide that these tombs have the most intact paintings of any existing. They really did look like they were painted yesterday, just like she said. The burial sites were just outside the small stone village where the workers lived. We saw what their houses would have looked like and got an idea of how a non-noble would have lived then. Though it was small and probably less grand, I was happy with the decision we made to skip the Valley of the Queens.

Valley of the Workers

Temple of Karnak (and a teeny Ben at the base)

We were given a small break after the packed morning and were taken back to the hotel to lunch and to rest, recover from the heat basically. We flopped onto our hotel beds, turned on the movie channel and didn’t move for two hours. It was so cool and there was no sun beating down on us, it was bliss. We packed up our stuff, checked out of the hotel, and got some lunch in the bar. At 3pm, our guide picked us back up and we headed out to the Temple of Karnak to see more of Ramses’ self-glorification but also one of the most impressive pieces of architecture I have ever seen. The pillars in Karnak are gigantic and thick, it’s like walking through a forest of stone redwoods. There are two long rows of sphinx’s with a ram’s head leading up to the front gate of the temple. It’s also enormous. It must cover at least 4 square kilometers complete with a sacred lake and 3 separate shrines. I keep thinking I will get tired of seeing the hieroglyphics and that stuff will get boring, but it’s not. It still continually amazes me how these people rendered such beautiful and lasting creations with such perfection.

My brother and I were talking about the myth of modernism which, in part, deals with the question: why should we think that because we are the most modern society we are the smartest and the most advanced ever? While it is a controversial statement, it has some truth to it I think. We could learn a thing or two from the ancients. And though I am so overwhelmed by their ingenuity, should I be so in awe of a people who had the same brain capacity as I do now? Their minds were just as capable then as ours are today. That makes me think real hard when I see what they have made still standing in perfect condition 50 centuries later.

Temple of Luxor

We then moved on to the Temple of Luxor which is smaller and less grand, but more intimate and with traces of the Coptic Christians and Alexander the Great inside. It set us up well for our visit that we have to Alexandria tomorrow. Plus our fantastic guide is from there and she was telling us all about what we have to do and places to eat and what to see when we get there. She made me want to stay a week, not just a day.

Temple of Luxor

After the temple visits it was time to say goodbye to our guide who I loved and we took pictures with her and she made us promise to send them to her. After our tourist activities for the day were over, we were dropped back off at the hotel with no room, and three hours to kill. We decided to hit up the pool. We had a nice relaxing dip to cool off, which was much needed before the all night sleeper train we had awaiting us, and got a chance to unwind and stretch out after a long day of sightseeing. I am so happy with this tour so far and I can’t express very well how different everything here is. It’s just incredible to see this part of the world and to see the modern and the ancient working together. I also get to practice my French almost every day because there are so many French people on vacation here! Napoleon’s influence still persists today I guess.

Hend, our guide, and I 

That, my friends, was our tour in Luxor. Moving back to Cairo with a day trip to Alexandria next. Then on to the Sinai peninsula to finish out the tour. Looking forward to some diving in the Red Sea on the last day. I will try to keep up to date. Home in ONE WEEK. Unbelievable.

Follow the Leader... in this case, Abdul.

Originally posted May 15, 2004

Ben and Galal, our Egyptologist

Sculpture of Ramses II

No rest for the weary they say. Or is it wicked? Well, either way, it’s true... oh so very true. Yesterday, which seems like three weeks ago, we visited historical Memphis and the archeological sites there, saw a gigantic statue of Ramses II. Then we moved on to the intricately decorated burial tomb of Mere Ruka, an Egyptian noble 4500 years ago, and his wife. Galal, a younger guide with a Masters in Egyptology and a degree in archeology took us through the rooms reading the hieroglyphics and interpreting things, pointing out the little details and explaining his theories to us. He still gets very excited over the things that he shows people and shares his passion for them with his groups, at least, he shared it with Ben and I, and in a very entertaining way. The noble’s tombs are floor to ceiling hieroglyphs with larger than life representations of the battles won or great achievements of the deceased to commemorate their spirit. The tombs are some of the best preserved and most intact in the world and are treasured for the accuracy and beauty of their decorations.

Stepped Pyramid of Sakkhara

Next we went over to the Stepped Pyramid of Sakkhara which is something anyone would recognize upon seeing a photo. It’s amazing to see because it existed 1000 years before the Great Pyramids, built during the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The more famous pyramids at Giza didn’t exist until the Middle Kingdom. So this pyramid was already ancient and a model for those built later on, and good starting point because from there we went to the Great Pyramids. In between Sakkhara and Giza we stopped at a carpet making school. It was a big warehouse where the village kids learn how to make carpets because there is no other form of education for them. I was taught how to weave like them and did a few knots. Then we were quickly shown to a warehouse where this guy laid it on thick and Ben almost bought a carpet, and I almost bought a wall hanging which was gorgeous. In the end we didn’t buy anything because they were still too expensive for us and I don’t have a house to put it in. Maybe when I come back? * We drove over to the Great Pyramids afterwards and walked around the largest one, built by the pharaoh Cheops, the second biggest, built by Keffrin, and we went inside the smallest one which was so stuffy and narrow that I got a little claustrophobic, but to be inside one of the Great Pyramids and see the burial chambers and the inner architecture was worth it.

Me at the loom.

With no rest in sight, we pressed on to the Sphinx and saw her in all her Egyptian glory, in the foreground against the Pyramids at Giza. It was amazing to see it with my own eyes but we didn’t spend too long there. We were hungry and it was h-o-t hot. After our gigantic morning of sightseeing and almost-carpet buying, Galal took us to this fantastic restaurant where they made the classic pita bread in a brick oven right in front of you and roast fish on a huge fire and serve that to you fresh. The meal was fantastic and very simple. We didn’t even see a menu, Galal ordered everything for us and we never said a word. We just followed his lead and enjoyed the meal. He is a really good guy and we got to know him a little bit better during the lunch as well.

At the base of the Great Pyramid

Sphinx

We have really benefited from this being a private tour. When I was making the arrangements I assumed that it would be with a large group like all the rest of the tourists I see. Everyday we fight gigantic hoards of all different nationalities for good vantage points, boats, entrances to tombs, and breathing room. It’s so awesome to have a guide all to ourselves and to get to know them as people. One leader, while taking us to the train station, sat down and had tea and talked with us for an hour before our train came and just hung out. It was really cool and he invited us back to Egypt as his guests. We move much faster and the tour is completely personalized based on what we want to do. It’s been fantastic so far and I can only see it getting better. I just hope my body can hold up against the heat and exhaustion.

After lunch we went to go see a Papyrus-making demonstration and learned why the plant was so important for the Egyptian empire. Then we were given some warnings and thrown into the narrow, crowded streets of the Khaleed El Khalali bazaar. This is an exercise of evasion more than a chance to enjoy the eastern market culture experience. People come up to me, being so obviously American, and start saying “Hello, you are welcome in Egypt, please come look at my store, I have many beautiful things, beautiful things for you and your family” and then they follow me until I make it clear that I'm not interested. Most of the stuff is pretty cheap quality. I wanted to buy some jewelry but I was warned against it. Ben bought some cool stuff for some of his friends and I am glad we went, but it was hectic and you really have to be on your guard.

On the other hand, it is awesome to be able to bargain someone down 150 LE (Egyptian pounds, $.22 USD = 1 LE) and get the thing you wanted for half the price it was originally. Ben and I got the hang of it. A sample transaction goes like this: (We walk by and something in the window catches our eye. 3 nanoseconds later…) Store owner: “Hello! You are welcome in Egypt. Excuse me, where you from?”

Us: “The states.”
Store Owner: Yes, yes very nice zer, I know California, ovie stars, very nice. So what you want? You know I am very good at finding what you want so just tell me what you want and I get it.
Us: Well, we liked these alabaster teacups.
Store Owner: Yes yes, very beautiful, alabaster, good stone, pharaohs use zees in zer jars, you know? Yes, finest Egyptian alabaster, hand crafted, I geev you very good price. Zees ees not beesnes, zees ees friends, you know I like your face, I geev you very good price. 300 LE for all four.
Ben (looking at me): I don’t think so. We saw them somewhere else cheaper. Thanks though.
Store Owner: Okay okay, I geev you 250 LE for all of zem.
Karla: No, we saw another vendor earlier who had them for less. But thanks. (turns to walk out).
Store Owner: Look, ok how much you want pay for zees, you see finest quality Egyptian alabaster, handcrafted, very rare. Ees very special.
Ben: I can’t pay more than 100LE.
Store Owner: A HUNDRED?? Oh my friend, zees ees impossible oh I can never ever do zees price, ees too low, you rob me if I give you zees price. 200LE. I cannot go any lower zan zat.
Karla: I’m sorry but we really can’t afford any more than 100.
Store Owner: Okay 175.
Ben: Nope, thank you for your help but we really have to go. Our tour guide is waiting for us.
Store Owner: Okay okay 150 Euros, okay? How ees zes? You like them zees much I want you to have zem. Ees very special price for my friend here.
Ben: (150 was originally what we had planned on.) Deal.

So the guy packs them up after we had threatened to walk out of the store about 4 times. That seemed to be the key. Just be ready to walk out.

After the bazaar, we went back to the hotel to get our stuff, wash the sand off our feet, and get ready for the trip to Aswan that night. We spent last night on a semi- comfortable sleeper train from Cairo in Northern Egypt at the base of the Nile Delta, to Aswan, in Southern Egypt, about 350km from the border of Sudan. We arrived this morning and went to our gorgeous hotel overlooking the Nile and Lake Aswan which is between the High Dam and the Low Dam.  This dam stopped the flooding of the Nile in 1960. Aswan is much more beautiful than Cairo and much smaller, though our first impressions were cut short as we were immediately whisked away to the Aswan airport to catch a flight to Abu Simbel to see an amazing temple that Ramses II constructed in his honor.

Aswan on the Nile

Lake Nasser, en route to Aswan

 Abu Simbel was originally 60 meters lower than it is today. When they built the Nile dams in Aswan they knew that it would flood the temple that was carved into the rock on the banks of the Nile. The temple itself was carved into a huge cliff itself, but they cut the entire thing out and moved it up, block by block, to save it. It was pretty incredible to see the technical engineering it took to move it and to see the temple itself. The hieroglyphics on the walls are beautiful. Ramses II built monuments like this all over Egypt to showcase his greatness. As our guides have told us, it was the size and quantity hat mattered, and not the quality. He just built stuff everywhere and made it huge so that everyone knew his name and his power.

Abu Simbel entrance

Heiroglyphs of Nefertiri's coronation

After Abu Simbel we were given the afternoon off and spent it resting and enjoying the pool at our plush desert oasis. Then we met our guide again for a trip to the Nubian museum that night. I knew absolutely nothing about Nubian culture so it was an informative visit. I guess the coolest part about it was going to the museum at night. It is set on a hill overlooking Aswan and the Nile (the same hill as our hotel in fact) and there is a huge winding garden in the back from which you get a great panorama of the city. We sat outside after our visit ended around 9pm and took in the city. I like it better than Cairo, in which I was totally disoriented and felt a little edgy about leaving even my hotel, here I don’t feel safe walking alone at all and people come up to you trying to sell you something every four feet, but it’s much less oppressive, dusty and overwhelming. Even though it’s 10 degrees hotter here, the Nile seems to cool everything off, with its sparkling blue in the midday sun it just feels cooler even though it’s 110. We took the hotel bus into town to find some water and we also stopped at a pastry store and bought some local sweets which were AMAZING. We were dead tired that night, not having had a good night’s rest on the train the night before so we went to bed early.

Just inside Abu Simbel

We started the next day at 6:30 am and went out to see the High Dam of Aswan and learn how it has helped Egypt and we also learned that Egypt’s electricity is all hydro-electric and 70% of it comes from the High Dam. Since the beginning of time this civilization has depended on the Nile, “the Nile is Life” you hear everyone say here. It’s true. The ankh symbol, which looks like a cross with a loop at the top, is the symbol for life in ancient Egyptian religion. It represents the beginning of the Nile, the two branches, and the Nile Delta, which if you look at a map, is accurate!


After the High Dam we went to Philae temple which was erected by Ptolemy and saw some of the remnants of the Greek Dynasty in Egyptian history. We took a boat ride to get out there and it was a madhouse to get on and off the boats. It’s all tourists and Egyptians coming at you from every direction either trying to follow a tour guide, trying to get on a boat, or trying to get you on their boat and drive you out to the island. It was crazy but once on the boat it calmed a bit. We arrived at a beautiful view of the dam and the Nile. I saw all these people that are so different from me and a little rest from people trying to sell you cheap souvenirs.

Boat boarding zoo. 

Philae temple

After the visit to the temple we went to a Perfume Palace because Aswan specializes in plant extracts and we were regaled with all the medicinal and special purposes of the plants they cultivate and process. Ben and I bought a few small bottles and were very pleased with our choices. Our guide told us that the bases for all the designer perfumes are bought from Egypt. They had a few at the palace that smelled just like D&G or Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, all the big French names. I bought three small bottles, but only local plant extracts which, in my opinion, were better than the imitations.

Abdul, our guide, who bade us follow him via his shirt.  

Then we went to the stone quarry to see the unfinished Obelisk. Aswan is famous for its pink granite quarries and the fruits of these are seen all over Egypt especially in the construction of the ancient temples and pyramids. We learned how the clever engineers erected the monuments and a little about Egyptian stones. After that we were dropped off at a traditional restaurant in the middle of town where we ate a veritable feast of fresh hummus, cucumber and tomato salad, grilled eggplant, stuffed pigeon, vegetable soup, barley broth, and sweet pastry for dessert, all for about 11 dollars for the two of us. Unbelievable. We then went to buy more water then go back to the hotel to get out of the heat and rest. We watched a little VH1 on the TV in the hotel, then I went down to the pool, then we had to check out and get on the train to Luxor. There was a stench that seemed to follow us, coming and going for three hours, and it was not a very pleasant train ride. Seeing all of Egypt has its ups and downs. We have to do a lot of intra-country travel to get everywhere. But it’s not bad. It’s spread out so that we don’t feel it too much.

Unfinished obelisk at Aswan

So that brings us up to Luxor. I better start a new entry.




*Oh, the optimism! Would that time, money, and life would permit such extravagance.