Tuesday, December 29, 2009

20091229 – Cairo to New York

We flew from Cairo to JFK today on Egypt Air. It was a twelve hour flight. We are back at the Hilton Garden Inn in Queens trying to stay awake until at least 9:00. The weather here right now is 19 degrees F.

20091228 – Wadi Rum

We were up early today for our visit to Wadi Rum. Our bus ride took two hours. We stopped a couple of times for photos and coffee. It was sunny and cool but a little hazy. The panoramic photos I took along the way are a little fuzzy. I tried to capture mountains in the Negev desert on the horizon in Israel.

100_6313 When we got to Wadi Rum, the six of of plus our guide, Iyad, got into a four-wheeled pickup truck. Iyad sat in the cab while the rest of us sat in the back on face-to-face padded benches. Our driver was a Bedouin in traditional dress.

Wadi Rum is part of an ancient trade route. It is a vast desert with multi-colored sand and amazing rock formations. We made several 100_6339 stops for photos. One of the stops was at a Bedouin tent where we had tea and had the opportunity to buy some souvenirs. The salesman was very laid back and give us no pressure to buy.

Another stop was to look at some carvings on the rock cliffs. Apparently, the traders carved their names and hieroglyphics as they passed through the area on the trade route. We also stopped at a Bedouin camp where there was a monument to Lawrence with his image carved in a large stone. The final stop was at a camp ground. You can stay at this camp if you want to spend more time to explore Wadi Rum. It had a lot of comfortable looking tents. Hot water is available for two hours in the morning.

100_6329 Our tour took two hours. We were impressed with the different colors of the sand as well as the picturesque rock formations. It is very quiet in the desert – a marked contrast to the noise of the cities with their traffic and calls to prayer.

We boarded our bus and headed back to Petra to have lunch at our hotel and to pick up Beverly who decided not to go on the tour. Then it was a three-hour drive to the airport in Amman.

Ann and I had dinner in the Amman airport. Our flight left around 7:30 and we landed in Cairo 1 1/2 hours later. We checked into Le Passage Heliopolis Hotel for the third time this trip looking forward to to a shower and bed. Unfortunately, there was no hot water.

We got to sleep around 11:00.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

20091227 – Petra

100_6231 We left the hotel for a very short drive to Petra at 8:00. The weather was cool and sunny. Later in the day it was warm and sunny – shirt sleeves and shorts. We spent all day there, leaving at 4:00. It was an awesome visit. Iyad gave us very good explanations of the major sites. He lead us slowly down the King’s Highway increasing the anticipation of seeing the Treasury at each stop. The Treasury is the main attraction of Petra, although there are many other temples, tombs, caves, etc. to exclaim over. I can’t describe the physical layout or talk about its history. Go to this web site to learn more. Here’s what OAT has to say about it:

Nothing can prepare you for the splendor of this red-hued city of stone. Here the Nabataeans, Arabs who dominated the area prior to the Romans, carved elaborate temples and tombs out of the sandstone. There are only a few freestanding buildings here, with over 800 monuments carved into the stone.

You approach Petra astride a horse guided by a Bedouin (you can walk if you prefer). We leave our horse at the siq, a narrow passage between 600-foot-high overhanging sandstone cliffs, and enter on foot. Exiting the darkness of the siq, you stand agape before the towering brightness of El Kazneh (The Treasury), a 140-foot high edifice carved into a mountain. Then you see the hundreds of soaring temples, tombs, and houses, as well as a Roman theater, in the cliffs around you. The Victorian traveler and poet, Dean Burgon, gave Petra a description which holds to this day, “Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time”.

I took a lot of photos which will be referenced on our web site later.

Dinner tonight was at our hotel.

It’s now closing in on 9:00. We have to be up early to go to Wadi Rum. Then it’s on to Amman and Cairo.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

20091226 – Amman to Petra

(Some of this text is from the OAT handbook).

Today was a travel day plus some interesting visits. We left Amman at 8:30 bound for the King’s Highway. This ancient route was the road for traders, armies and pilgrims throughout history.

100_6146Our first visit was to the mosaic city of Madaba. Here we saw the mosaic map on the floor of Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Church, the oldest map of the holy land. This 6th-century map shows the entire region from Jordan and Palestine in the north to Egypt in the south. Large portions of the mosaic are missing but it includes a fascinating plan of Jerusalem. To get to the church, we strolled through the town and saw many interesting shops and cafes.

100_6161 Our next stop was at Mount Nebo. This is where Moses stood on the top of the mountain a saw the Promised Land. He promptly collapsed and died. Mount Nebo is the presumed site of his burial. Pope John Paul visited the site in 2000 and ther is a monument commemorating his visit. The main sanctuary of the church is being restored, so we couldn’t go in. We did get a view of the Promised Land although it was a little hazy.

100_6176 Our third stop was at a institute of mosaic art. We watched artists create mosaics. Then we browsed their showroom to see if we wanted to buy any mosaics or other crafts that they had for sale.

Our next stop was for lunch. We had the typical buffet with other tourists. After lunch, we stopped at a liquor store to buy wine and beer. I was very surprised that there was a place to buy booze in a Muslim country. Maybe the king imbibes.

Speaking of the king, we have seen him on photos and billboards throughout the country. He is greatly respected. What is unusual about the billboards is that he is in different dress on many of them. The usual dress is native, but today we saw him in a basketball uniform.

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100_6188 We got into the bus and began our 3-hour drive to Petra. We made a tourist stop at a truck oasis. We made another stop at a castle built by the Crusaders where Ann picked up a bunch of rocks for Ellen. Another stop was close to our hotel at a spring where Moses smote a rock a water sprang forth. Local were filling water jugs there.

We finally reached our hotel around 5:00. We cleaned up, took a short walk and met everyone for dinner at 6:30. It’s now 8:30 and we are just thinking about bed.

Friday, December 25, 2009

20091225 – Christmas in Jordan

We have no snow – just warm sunny weather. This is unusual for Jordan. It’s supposed to be cold. Snow is normal. Our fortunate weather makes it pleasant to see all of the sites on our schedule.

 100_6082 Our first visit today was to Jerash, a part of the Decapolis which were the ten largest cities of the Eastern Roman Empire. According to the OATS literature, Jerash has been compared to Pompeii for its fine state of preservation. We have been to Pompeii and this claim is greatly exaggerated. It is very impressive, though. We saw Hadrian’s Arch, the Nymphaeum, temples dedicated to Zeus and Artemis and several theaters and churches laid out on colonnaded streets. The columns themselves are a highlight. We spent 2 1/2 hours wandering through the ruins getting explanations from Iyad, taking photos and listening to a serenade by traditionally dressed men playing bagpipes, of all things.

100_6083 Back on the bus, we rode to our lunch in a large  tented restaurant. Walking in, we watched men baking bread where they rolled out the dough like a pizza maker and placed it directly on the colas. It puffs up as it bakes. It tastes smoky. Our lunch had the traditional dips where we used the bread. Our main course was shish kabob with chicken and beef. Most of us ordered lemonade that had mint in it. It was very refreshing.

A100_6115 fter lunch, we drove on to the Saracens’ castle in Ajlun. This castle was built in the 12th century by Saladin to drive Crusaders from Jordan. It is well preserved with galleries, towers, staircases and many chambers forming a medieval maze. We climbed to the roof a got a panoramic view of the countryside. It was a little hazy but we could imaging seeing Israel, Syria, Iraq, etc.

After visiting the castle, it was time to head back to Amman. On the way we stopped at an operation that produced olive oil. This region is known as a prime olive producing region. We also stopped at a viewpoint for tea. The view was exceptional but it was damaged by all of the trash at the rest stop.

Dinner tonight was in the hotel’s restaurant. It was a buffet with lots of choices. Dessert included some special Christmas specialties including fruitcake.

It’s nearing 9:00. Looks like we will have an early bedtime.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

20091224 – Amman and the Dead Sea

This was a day of discovery. First, I discovered a piece of glass in my Danish at breakfast. I let the restaurant staff know about it and they showed concern but didn’t take much action except isolating the Danish and taking it away. Everything was uphill after that except for our next-to-last excursion.

100_5982 Our morning was spent discovering different sights of Amman. First we went to the Amman Citadel where we saw the Temple of Hercules including his severed carved marble hand. At the site, we also toured the Amman Archeological Museum where they had some really old artifacts including statues that are about 7,000 years old. The site also included a restored mosque.

Next we went to a busy section of the city and visited a pet store, an artist studio and shop and a store where they made pastry. We had samples of honey-saturated sweets.

100_5994 Our third stop was at a Roman amphitheater where there were two small museums. On the way in, we bought mint and sage tea from a street vendor.

We got on the bus again and took off for lunch at the Dead Sea. On the way we stopped at a super market to buy snacks and to see what is available in a small market.

100_6019 Our lunch was at a buffet restaurant at a hotel on the banks of the Dead Sea. It was filling but not very good. After we ate, we went to the beach. Three people in our group brought bathing suits and went floating on the water. There are lots of minerals and salts in the water making it very buoyant and impossible to sink. The temperature of the water was around 70 degrees. Ann and I waded. The water left an oily residue on our skip.

100_6033 We got back to the hotel around 4:00, rested, cleaned up and met our crew in the lobby at 6:00 to go to a home-hosted dinner with a local family. Nassar, his wife and his three children were good hosts. They served us Arabian coffee and dates as appetizers. Our main meal was maqlouba, an upside down rice dish with chicken, eggplant and many other ingredients. We have the recipe and will bring it back with us. It’s worth trying to cook it ourselves.

The visit was culturally different. The TV was on in the living room where we were gathered to chat and eat. Soccer and weddings seemed to be the attraction on the tube. The shy 15 year old daughter surfed the web while we were talking. Nassar understood and spoke some English but Iyad, our guide, had to interpret a lot. Nassar’s wife did not speak English so she didn’t contribute to the conversation. We did have a good conversation, though.

100_6037 When we got back to the hotel, Santa was in front and greeted us.

It’s now 9:30 or so.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

20091223 – Cairo to Amman

We had to kill a lot of time today before our flight to Amman. We tried to sleep in, but couldn’t make it past 6:30. So we got up and went to the breakfast buffet. We said good-bye again to the people on our tour who were returning to the USA and then went for a walk around the block. We couldn’t get all of the way being blocked off by construction at the airport. So we settled on going half way. We walked into the grounds of the hotel next to ours but decided that it was not up to our hotel’s standards. So it wasn’t worth a visit.

We read, watched TV and dozed until it was time for lunch. At 1:30 we checked out of our room and waited until 2:15 for our ride to the airport. We got through security without any problems and sat around our gate for a long time.

We got to Amman about an hour late. Our OAT guide picked us up and took us to the hotel. I ate some dinner with the rest of the group but Ann decided to skip it and go to our room. Our room is very nice.

It’s now closing in on 10:00. You know what that means….

20091222 – Luxor to Cairo

Today was was a travel day. We flew from Luxor to Cairo. Our hotel is the same one as on the first day we arrived here. We spent most of the afternoon resting – reading and napping.

Our farewell dinner was on a landlocked river boat on the Nile. It was a good meal, but the travel time to and from it in the mad Cairo traffic made it a bit tedious. I know that it was a special occasion and it should have been a treat to eat on the Nile among the bright lights of the city, but we just spent four days cruising the Nile in a much more serene atmosphere.

Back at the hotel, we said goodbye to our companions that are flying home tomorrow. Seven of us are going on to Jordan.

As we were heading through the lobby to our rooms, we came upon a wedding. Guests were lined up at the bottom of the main staircase waiting for the bride and groom. When they appeared, music started playing from native instruments and women started ululating. It was fun watching and listening to it.

It’s past 9:30 and we are getting ready for bed.

Monday, December 21, 2009

20091221 - Luxor

This morning we drove to the Valley of the Kings, a site I had been anticipating for a long time. This is the place where tombs were constructed for the kings and the powerful nobles for a period of 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC. At Samy’s suggestion, we got there very early before the crowds arrived. Ann and I visited three tombs – Ramses III, Ramses VI and Thutmose III. We did not visit the tomb of Tutankhamen because Samy said that there were no special decorations on the walls. No mummies remain in the crypts, but the walls and ceilings are decorated with stories of the life of the pharaohs. In general, we walked through the tombs entrances and down into the chambers pausing to look at all of the paintings.

Cameras were not allowed in the valley. To get an idea of what the tombs look like, go to Valley of the Kings.

100_5940 Our next visit was to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. This is a mortuary temple built for Egypt’s only female pharaoh.

Our last visit to the statues of Amenophis III. These massive 64-foot-tall statues cast their eyes in the direction of the Nile.

After our morning tour, we went back to the hotel. Ann and I ate at a restaurant near the pool. I had a hamburger with a fried egg while Ann had grilled cheese. This was a rebellion to Egyptian food for at least one meal. We had the rest of the afternoon free until 4:00 when we started our Luxor by Night tour.

We toured the wonderful Luxor Museum whose collection of Theban relics was painstakingly gathered from the city’s temples and necropolises. We also visited a special exhibit which housed a remarkable collection of statues from the court of Amenhotep III which were discovered just 20 years ago in the middle of the Luxor Temple.

100_5943 After the museum, we got into horse-drawn carriages and rode through Luxor’s back roads and colorful markets. We could see, hear and smell the night life throughout the city. We also saw where buildings have been leveled to restore the Route of the Sphinxes from the Luxor Temple to the Karmak Temple.

When the buggy ride was done, we had a light dinner in the middle of an outdoor bazaar with lots of other tourists. We drank tea and ate pita sandwiches containing beef sausage.

We got back to the hotel at 8:00. It’s now nearing 9:15 and I’m getting sleepy.

20091220 – Luxor

100_5819 River boat to boat to bus to hot air balloon – all before 6:00. Yes, we rode in a hot air balloon over the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens and watched the sun rise at 2500 feet. Ann was thrilled. I was nervous. The views were hazy but still fantastic but I couldn’t look over the side of the basket. We were in the air for about 45 minutes with around 20 other people. There were seven other balloons in the air and we were all spaced out both vertically and horizontally. Our pilot was very skilled and professional. He patiently described all of the sights below repeatedly. Our landing was in the desert. It was extremely smooth with the ground crew catching us perfectly.

After we landed, we were picked up by our bus, driven to the boat and transported across the Nile to our river boat so that we could eat breakfast and pack our bags. We said good bye to our river boat at 9:00 and took another small boat across the Nile back to the west bank. It was time to take our “Day in the Life” bus tour.

100_5836 Our first stop was to an experimental school for young children. The school is prepared for children from pre-school through high school. We only saw the pre-schoolers and a couple of primary grades. We were met at the entrance by several kids who greeted us in English. Then we visited some classrooms where we were shown lesson books and given demonstrations of oral and written lessons. The children were very eager to show us their skills. All of the teachers and the principal were women. They seemed to be very happy and comfortable in their environment.

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100_5870 After the school, we drove back to the Nile and visited a farm. Our host was a 30-something man who was the middle child of 7. He and his sibs and their children all lived on their 2-acre farm with their mother. They farm wheat in the winter and eggplant, etc. during other seasons. There is a large vegetable garden along with sheep (for wool and meat) and ducks and chickens for food. They baked their own Nile bread from wheat ground on their own grinding stone that has been in their family for many years. Typically, he served us tea and gave us a tour of his farm and house. He was an extremely pleasant and friendly man.

Our last visit was to a fair trade hand craft work shop. This shop is run by a woman originally from Turkey and trained as an archeologist. She quit that work and opened a work shop that trains local women in crafts and sells their product. This had helped the local economy as well as given the local women more confidence.

Lunch came next in an outdoor restaurant on a second-story terrace. We had the usual salad choices plus grilled chicken and kofta (beef sausage).

We headed back across the Nile and checked into our hotel. It’s one of the nicer hotels on the trip. We have a large room overlooking the atrium in the center of the building. This gives it an airy feeling, but it is pretty noisy.

100_5910 Ann took a swim in the warm pool while I worked on photos and this blog. At 4:00 we were off again, this time to visit the Luxor Temple. This is another large temple built in the late kingdom and modified by Ramses II. Samy did an excellent job showing us a progression of hieroglyphics of the Pharaoh being barged from the Karmak Temple to the Luxor Temple and then back through the Avenue of the Sphinxes.

A papyrus shop was the final visit of the day. We got a demonstration of how it is made. Ann and I refrained from buying any.

We stopped at a fish restaurant for dinner where we had some delicious grilled sea bass.

We are back at the hotel now. It’s nearing 9:00 and we are ready for bed. It’s going to be another early morning tomorrow with a 6:00 departure. The problem we have with going to sleep is the noisy show going on in the courtyard of the atrium outside our window. I’m not sure if ear plugs can drown it out. We’ll see.

20091219 – Esna to Luxor

100_5705 We had some time this morning to walk around Esna – this time in the daylight. We started by walking through a dark, covered walkway past vendors’ stalls to the temple. We didn’t go in but we noticed that the pigeons were gone. (We learned from other tour members that the temple had some colorful frescos and the temple guide could not speak any English).

100_5715 The side streets that we walked on were not paved. They were dusty and then muddy where they had been watered down. There was paper garbage and animal droppings everywhere. Most of the buildings were in very bad shape. There were dirty on the outside and some of them were leaning. The vendors were not very aggressive but they tried to lure us into their shops and coffee bars.

100_5721 We walked away from the temple back to the street lining the river. It was paved but it also was covered with trash. Mustafa, a young boy, walked with us keeping up a constant chatter with words in several languages. He was neatly dressed and clean. He was obviously looking for a handout, but we didn’t give him anything. Suzie, one of our tour mates, slipped him some coins. He had lead her to the temple and back.

100_5733 Our boat sailed at 9:00. We headed towards the double locks (two ships in each), waited our turn and got through at about 10:30. Then it was free sailing until we arrived in Luxor. Ann and I ate lunch on the deck today. The tables were set up so that the wind was blocked. This made it shirt sleeve and shorts temperature. We spent the afternoon relaxing.

100_5745 We arrived in Luxor around 3:00 and docked next to four other boats. Walking through them to the dock, we caught our bus and made a very short drive to the Karmak Temple. We arrived there amid several hundred other tourists. This is the first time we have run into any crowds at the previous sites that we have visited. It was no problem for Samy, though. He was able to steer us through the temple and do an outstanding job describing the various points of interest. We were overawed with this temple especially the area with 134 columns.

Tonight was our last dinner on the river boat. Our special meal included prime rib followed by Baked Alaska. After dinner, we retired to the lounge where two of the crew performed twirling dances wearing elaborate skirt-like costumes. It reminded us of Whirling Dervishes in Turkey but with a showy flare and no religious significance.

We were now doing our preliminary packing before our departure from the boat tomorrow. We will be leaving very early for a hot-air balloon ride over Luxor and The Valley Of The Kings.

20091218 – Kom Ombo to Edfu and Esna

100_5644 The was a very relaxing day. We set sail at 6:00 while most of us were asleep. Our morning 5-hour cruise was to Edfu. We were able to sit on deck, watch the Nile scenery go by and take lots of photos. The Nile was very calm and the weather was clear and warm. We could see all of the fields and groves that proved that the Nile banks are very fertile. At around 10:00 we had a guided tour of our river boat. We visited the engine room, the kitchen and the bridge. Some of us got to honk the horn on the bridge.

100_5687 We reached Edfu at 11:00 and disembarked for our tour of the Temple of Horus – the raven headed god. This enormous temple is said to be the best preserved temple in Egypt. We walked from the large sunny courtyard lined with columns to the dark inner recesses of the offering chambers. The temple is almost entirely intact with decorated hieroglyphs and bas reliefs. Samy led us all around the temple and gave us excellent explanations of what we were seeing. We were also able to watch some scientists measuring water levels under the temple through instruments that were lowered into drill holes. This is part of the effort to preserve this and many other temples in Egypt.

Back on the boat, we had lunch and then sat back and relaxed as we sailed on to Esna. We were able to catch up on reading and sleep. At 5:00, Samy gave us a lecture on the history of Egypt from 7000 BC to the current day. He paid a lot of attention to the political and social situations that have evolved in the last few years. Several of our tour mates had good questions and comments from very conservative to very liberal.

After dinner, Ann and I took a short walk along the river bank. The streets were both paved and unpaved with lots of dirt and garbage. It was dark, but there were lots of local people walking around. Men in their galabeyas, women in various stages of covers and children in western clothes. There were very few vendors still open and those that were were fairly passive and not demanding. We received many friendly greetings in English, German and other languages that we didn’t understand. We went to the town’s renowned temple which was closed for the night to everything but the hundreds of pigeons nesting on its roof, columns and walls. This is to be an optional tour tomorrow. We are going to pass on it.

We saw cars, motorcycles and donkey carts. We also saw several men armed with automatic weapons either walking around or sitting at the gates to the piers where the river boats were tied up. This has been a common sight in all of the cities that we have visited. Since we boarded our boat, our government issued body guard has disappeared, though.

This is the first time we have been able to independently leave the group and go for a walk. Ann loved it. I was a little nervous.

Back at the boat, Ann has turned on the movie, “Death on the Nile”. I don’t know how long it will last, but we are tired and ready to go to bed.

20091217 – Aswan to Kom Ombo

100_5539 We left the river boat at 7:30 and caught a motor boat to go up the river to the St Simeon Monastery. When we got to shore, we were met by a herd of camels, one per person. After mounting our steeds, we rode up the hill to the monastery. It was an easy 15 minute ride very similar to riding a horse.

The monastery is in disrepair. It was built in the 6th century. It is a large, fortress-like structure surrounded by desert sands and is supposedly one of the best preserved Christian sites in Egypt. Amid the crumbling structures, we saw the monks’ living quarters, their mill, their bread oven within the defensive walls.

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After our visit, we got back onto our camels for a 30-minute ride across the desert to a Nubian village. We dismounted and said good-bye to our rides and their handlers. Then we walked to a Nubian house where our host served us tea and answered questions about life in the village. He also gave us a tour of his house which was situated around a large courtyard.

Leaving the Nubian house, we walked through the village past primitive houses, two schools and, of course, the village market.

Our motor boat took us back to our river boat where we set sail down the Nile. Lunch was served in the dining room. We watched the shores of the Nile go past us while we ate.

100_5590 Our first major stop on the Nile was Kom Ombo. We visited the Greco-Roman temple which is dramatically set on the river bank on a bend in the river. This is Egypt’s only double temple with one side dedicated to the crocodile god, Sobek, and the other side to the falcon god, Haroeris. The temple was built on top of an ancient Egyptian temple. Some of the original colors on the walls are remarkably preserved. We were amazed that we could walk in, around and on top of the ruins. It appears that there are so many ancient monuments in Egypt that they cannot be roped off so that people will not destroy them. These structure would be a sensation at home.

100_5620 Tonight’s dinner had an Egyptian theme. We were supposed to wear traditional Egyptian dress called Galabeya. Some did, some didn’t. The food was good and the after-dinner games were fun.

20091216 – Aswan

100_5422 This was a fairly relaxing day. We were able to sleep in slightly and then check out of our hotel by 9:00. Our first visit was to the Nubian Museum. This is a relatively new facility displaying artifacts saved before Lake Nassar flooded the area behind the Aswan High Dam erasing the traditional homelands of the Nubian people. We saw a small portion of the 3000 objects on display. The museum has an open concept which means that we could get very close to many of the relics and monuments. Some of them were over 4000 years old. The only criticism that we had was that many light bulbs were burned out and some exhibits were hard to see.

100_5434 As a bonus, Samy arranged for us to visit the museum’s art director who was in charge of arranging all of the displays in the museum. He is an artist himself and he showed us many of his works that were in his office.

Next, we made a very short visit to a new Coptic church. It was a lot different than the ancient churches that we saw in Cairo. Still unfinished inside, it had a very modern style.

We then made quick stops at an ATM for cash, an Egypt Airlines ticket office for some people to get seat assignments for their flight home and to a pharmacy for miscellaneous drugs.

100_5445 Our assignment for the day was to go to the local market to shop for ingredients for a cooking demonstration tomorrow. This gave us a feel for how the locals shop and bargain for their daily needs. We broke up into two groups to buy specific items. Afterwards, we had some time to do some personal shopping. Ann bought an embroidered cotton nightgown.

100_5458 After the shopping, we checked into our river boat – The Royal Serenade. Our room is slightly smaller than some of the hotel rooms we have been in on this trip, but it is clean and comfortable. Our lunch on board was a buffet with too many choices.

100_5478 We had some down time until 3:00 when we boarded a felucca and sailed to a 19th century  island botanical garden on Kitchner’s Island. There were several varities of palm and other trees. It was very lush and pleasant to walk through.

Finally, we sailed back to shore and rode the bus back to our ship. After a rest, we were introduced to the crew in a welcoming ceremony that included fruit drinks and finger snacks. Then we had dinner in the main dining room. It’s now around 9:00 and we are getting ready to read and sleep.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

20091215 – Aswan and Abu Simbel

We got on a 40-passanger bus at 5:00 this morning for a three-hour ride to Abu Simbel. When we arrived, there were several busloads of tourists there already. This was OK because all of the people left before we were halfway through our tour. It was magic having the place empty except for us and a dozen other visitors. Samy and OAT have this tour timed perfectly. Even the weather was perfect – shirtsleeve warm.

100_5378 Abu Simbel consists of two temples honoring Pharaoh Ramses II and Nefertari, his queen. It is an ancient wonder with its huge guardian statues seemingly emerging from a cliff and its elaborate depictions of famous battles on the inner walls of Ramses’ Temple. Photos are not allowed inside the temples, so I can only display shots of the outside.

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The construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960 threatened to cover the temples with Lake Nassar. It was decided to save them beginning a huge engineering project. The temples were cut into large blocks and moved 200 feet up the cliffs.

We spent a couple of hours here gawking at the statues, colorful paintings and bas relief carving inside the temples. Then it was back on the bus for the three hour ride back to Aswan. On the way, we ate a box brunch that the hotel supplied to us.

When we arrived in Aswan, we transferred our personal items to our small bus and went to lunch on a floating restaurant on the Nile. After lunch, we went back to the hotel for some down time.

000_0013 We met again at 5:30 and drove to a perfumery. We received a lecture on perfumes and their essence. They had several essences to sell, some to smell good and some to make you feel better. As a demonstration, the women went upstairs as the men stayed downstairs. The staff proceeded to give us massages using their oils. My masseuse  used eucalyptus and sandalwood oils. It felt good.

000_0018 From there we went to the Spice Market where they sell spices and everything else. The vendors were just as aggressive as others we have seen. It was fun, though, to walk through the streets and see the variety of things for sale.

Then it was off to dinner for our fourth meal of the day. We ate outdoors and had soup, the regular bread and salad, and a mixed grill of chicken and lamb sausage. It was really good.

It’s closing in on 10:00 so we are going to bed.