Jordan, and I am not talking anout MJ.

Hiro (Japan), Dave and Diamard “D” (Ireland), the two Korean girls, and I hopped into two taxis for Wadi Musa/Petra, located approximately an hour and half drive from the port/resort town of Aqaba. The three students, I hungout with initially, were planning to stay in Aqaba for a day, then head in the northeast direction for a night camping in the desert under the stars, a trip to Petra, and eventually the two Americans wanted to make the voyage to Jeruslaem, Israel. So we said our goodbyes, wished each one for a safe journey and broke off into two groups.

Jordan would be the first country that I would leave for without a travel guide, a map, or even a hostel or hotel reservation, but knowing that there were five others with me, brought a sense of security, and makes you see an obstacle as a challenge rather than just being lost in a foreign land. In the group environment, you often have many chiefs and many indians, its comforting to know that at anytime, one can/should be able to take a backseat and let someone else take the lead. However, after the long day we all had, I just wanted to get to a place to set my bags for the night, so it was my turn to take the lead. As we left the ferry station, I negiotated a fare for our ride and split into two taxis: Hiro and the girls in one, and the rest of us in the other. It was interesting to see Hiro and the girls, as they spoke very little english, actually come to think of it Hiro spoke little english, but I am not sure about the girls, as they never spoke. The interesting part was that they also had very little if any plan, but with the language barrier, they still took on the journey and figured somehow it was just work out, regardless if they met Dave, D and I. So after assuring them, that we had a plan, they somewhat hesitantly got into the cab, and we were on our way.

Not more than five minutes in the cab, you knew that you were not in Egypt anymore. The highway was smooth, wide in some stretches, and well lite, with lights places at probably 50 m intervals (sorry engineering reference). It was in some cases, better than some of the highways back home. During the ride we did have a somewhat of dodgy experience but for some reason, I just knew that it was going to be okay: after being on the road for approximately 45 minutes, we turned off a small paved road, where the driver pulled onto the dirt shoulder, he offered a smoke and got out of the cab. There was not another car anywhere, until the other cab joined us. Then the cab driver whom I negiotated the fare with, from the other cab, approached me, and said that he was not happy with our discussed fare. Back at the ferry station he asked for 50 Jordian Dinars (1 JD = $1.4 USD), but I told him based on my e-mail exchanges with the hostel at the ferry station, that it should be more like 40 JD. At that time, I didn’t want to negiotate back and forth, so I told him its 40 JD and he can talk to the hostel owner with whom I am sure he did business with. So here we were, on the side of a road in the middle of no where, in a foreign country, literally fresh off the boat, far enough from the highway, so that the only lights were the ones from the moon and the stars above. He then proceeds to hand me his cell phone, which shocked everyone from our group, it was Nasr the hostel owner, who I exchanged some e-mails with, while we were in route. Nasr told me that the cabbie was unhappy with the fare I gave him, and thinks that he should get 5 more JD for each cab, and that it was a bit higher, but still in the range of expectation. Honestly, I was ready to give it, at hello. So I played it off as okay, but we need to make a pit stop at the ATM. We finally arrived at our hostel sometime after 11 pm, so we dropped our bags down, and walked down to the local kebab establishment for the first non-snack food we had all day.

Hiro and I became roommates for the next couple nights. He cracked me up, standing not more than 5′-4″, he was a ball of energy and youthful exuberance. I envied him a bit, as its something that we all probably had at some point, when we were younger, innocent and less cynical, but there he was standing before me, smiling and telling me thanks, as he did not know what was going on, or where he was headed, when I told him to get into the cab earlier. Based in Sweden for the year, Hiro a recent university graduate, is on a work exchange program doing social work, which provides him the oppurtunity to travel Europe and the Middle East during his stay. This was the first time he had been away from home, and he was doing it all alone, I was truely amazed.

Early the next morning, Dave, D, Hiro and I departed for Petra, with the Korean girls no where in sight, which disappointed Hiro a bit, as he wanted to wait for them. But with none of us making any plans with them, or even speaking with them, Hiro would have to make his move on his own time. We arrived at the gates of Petra by 8:30 am, and hired our own personal tour guide for 2 hours, for only a total of 15 JD between the four of us. I purchased a 2 day pass for 26 JD, and the others only a one day, a max of a 3 day pass can be purchased for 31 JD, and if you want a couple of extra days you can get it free with the 3 day pass. After entering the gates, you take a stroll on a gravely road, where you see some historic man made caves, which served as home or tombs. The guide describe the carvings which explained the difference between the tombs versus homes, and a brief history of the Nabateans, the original inhabitians of this ancient lost city. Approximately 35,000 Nabateans over 2,300 years ago, lived in the area of Petra, during their stay here, they help create this Wonder of the World. I use the word help, because I think that Petra, in my humble opinion, is truely the epitome of a Wonder of the World. It combines both the beauty and marvel of the natural earth/terrain with man made creations. After the 0.8 km walk, you arrive at the entrance to the Siq, which is a walk way varying from less than 5 m to probably 20 m wide, located between jutting cliffs of varying degrees, heights and colors (primarily: brown, red, and yellow) on both sides. The beauty lies within the lines/patterns and colors that are exposed at the surface of these rocks/cliffs. Imagine a paint brush, brushed in a fluid motion across a fresh canvas, as to depict dust particals as it blows in the wind. The Siq was created by water and wind erosion, it is a 1.2 km walk that leads you to the doorsteps of the famed Treasury. As recent as 1960, a few French tourists were washed away during a flash flood, so many modern but hidden improvements had been made to prevent future incidents.

Walking through the Siq, where is some places, cliffs of over 50 m on each side close in on you and almost create a roof over your head, I had the feeling that I experienced standing before the Sphinx. Then darkness approached as the cliffs got closer and closer together, feeling as you were an ant walking through the crack of the sidewalk, and in front of you appeared a sliver of sunlight, with the a portion of the famed Treasury building appearing before you. This caused us all to pause, hold our breathe, and we all literally said: “you ready?”

As we walked into the sunlight, we eached tilted our heads up, looking from left to right, up and down, trying to take in each detail of the building. Personally, I had my own moment reflecting back to when I was much younger, watching the movie: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. I recalled seeing the Treasury building, and marveled at the imagination of Hollywood, of including a magnifcanct building in the face of a cliff. But years later, I would learn that this thing: cliff or building was not created by the minds of modern writers or producers, but by an ancient civilization which was once lost, I really honestly never thought that I would stand here. I was not along that day, but much like everybody else, everyday of the week, at anytime, I think that everyone there, probably felt that they were the only ones standing before this marvel.

The Treasury, is one of the only areas that is fenced off, but luckily its only at the entrance into the building. You can peer inside by going up to the short fence, and giving a quick hello to the guard. Appears that the building has been vandalized in modern history, even with the use of an automatic machine gun on the face of the building, which helps explain the metal detector at the entrance gate. It is not known the actual purpose of the building, but has been dubbed the Treasury, due to its magnifcanct detail, its grand size, much like one that you expect at a large and historical bank. After spending probably over half an hour at the Treasury, with our guide, whom we had long forgotten, ready to leave us at any moment, we continued on. Quick info: within the last four years, it was discovered that this large entrance into the Treasury, may actually be the second floor and that the first floor is still buried, therefore excavation has started where they have already discovered a lower level and entrances. This has also caused them to question the depth of other areas within Petra, remember that this area and its beauty was created by water and wind erosion, so plenty of sediment had a couple thousand years to deposit.

The rest of the day, the four of us played as kids hiking up and down, and every which way possible thoughout the site. The longest journey was to the Monastary, located deep into the site, with an additional hour hike from the base up to the building that makes the Treasury seem like the small little brother based on size. When compared side to side, one can argue weither the Monastery should deserve as much recognition as the Treasury, the truth probably being that everybody sees the Treasury, but far less every make it to the Monastery, especially in the +100 degree heat, if you go its a must. Our day ended at 6:30 pm, as we covered great ground through all the major spots, plus more. When referring to D’s travel guide, we had completed in one day, what they had roughly recommended for two. So it was decision time, as the rest of the guys, were leaving for Anman in the morning, and they wanted me to come with. I told them that I would think about it tonight, and would give them my answer before we turned in for bed.

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures.

Ok, I have locked myself in a secret location almost all day, so that I can work on uploading more photos and the next series of blog entries, with photos being the priority, as I currently have access to a higher speed computer. So with that said, here is the inital installment of my Russia photos with some brief explaination below, also refer to the ones on the right from Flickr, as I have included more detailed description of some pictures. Enjoy and stay tuned.

St Petersburg:

Brief Description: We spent three days in St Petersburg, arriving on a day of celebration, known as Graduation Day. It was the day that the High School kids graduated and the City had a celebration which included music and fireworks.  That is why you will see the girls in the picture, wearing a wide assortment of gowns. The dress code was fairly open, as it appeared some were attending a cocktail party, dance, to a wedding or maybe in a wedding.

The next morning we drove an hour away to a Palace (Peter and Frank?) that had hundreds of fountains throughout its grounds, the grandest of all was located just beyond the gates on the backside of the Palace, which I have included the most pictures of. Its sad to admit, but the only time that you see anything this magnificanct, that I can compare it to, would be in Vegas. It was a common joke between some of us, that you felt like you were in Vegas or Disneyland sometimes, when you stood before some of these building or grounds, as no one these days can build such projects and open them to the public.

Next we stopped by a church, which was used to store potatoes, during the time when churches were forebidden. This one is much lesser known that some of the other baroque style churches, but it was my favorite, as it looked older and faded, as if it was an old experienced man with a story to tell. Later, we stopped at the Siege Memorial, which pays respects to all those Russian soldiers who died defending the line aganist the Nazis. This is the most celebrated memorial in St Petersburg, as this event took many lives and defined the history of the city and country. When driving into St Petersburg, just before the large Ikea on the right side of the highway, you will see large metal criss crosses, not sure what its called, but looks like the shape of the things kids pick up when the dropped the small rubber ball and had to pick up as many as possible before the ball bounced again, or did I lose you. In any event, these are basically tank stoppers, as tanks could not plow over these large metal objects/criss crosses. They have been placed there before the Ikea, to signify the position that the Russian military was able to hold off the Nazi invasion. The second day was capped off with dinner at a well known Russian resturant, and a Russian folk dancing show, where alot of the moves may have been the pre-cursor for break dancing.

On our last day in St Petersburg, we had free time in the morning, where I visited St Issac’s and of course went to the top in the dome, and walked throughout the town, while others went to the Hermitage to see the exhibits on deformed babies. Yes you heard right, appearantly one of the Tsars (can’t recall, Peter or Alexander), like weird things, so he searched far and wide and bought/collected deformed babies. I couldn’t stomach such an exhibition, so I passed and just walked along the river. The night ended with a visit to the ballet, where we watched a performance of Romeo and Juliet, and capped by a night hanging out at the hotel lobby with our group.

The next morning we started our long ride towards Moscow with an overnight stop at Novagrad, which was actually the original capital of Russia. Along the way, we did a quick pit stop to peer through the fence at Tchaikovsky’s house, and was pulled over by the police for speeding. The later, being quite the interesting ordeal, but our bus driver Katia handed it great, she was calm and collected. Appearantly, being pulled over by the police is common, they will often say you are speeding when you may not have been, but in this case we were. The police ask you to go to the police car, where you sit in the back with an officer, and with one in the front. They discuss your violation, and a amount is offered as a fine. Now this is the interesting part, its negiotable, but the degree of negiotation is based on your innocents. As I was told, they said 50 euros, which was way more than Katia ever expected, as she expected it to start as 20 and work her way down to 5, as she was taught. She offered 5, and they said, no you were really speeding, so they offered 20 and she said that she didn’t have that on her and needed to go back to the bus. As she walked by us, she actually cracked a smile, got the money and walked back to the police car. Once inside you are not allowed to hand the money to the officer, but instead, just drop it on the floor of the car. Then when given the nod, you just casually open the door and exit the car. I guess it is not technically a bribe since you didn’t hand them any money, and just dropped it on your way out, after convincing the officer that there was no violation. truely an experience, but one that you may just want to take my word for. But if you are ever in that situation, just be calm, and don’t openly offer a bribe, and everythings should work out fine.

Slideshow Link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=78ky293.be2zgex3&x=0&y=oatyol

Bumped Heads, Stubbed Toes.

To mix things up a bit, here are some notes/lists that I put together on varying subjects (in no particular order):

Favorite local dishes/food:

1. Hungary – Goulash
2. Poland – Periogi (meat)
3. Germany – Dumpling and Pork Knuckle (not for the faint of heart)
4. Anywhere after midnight – Kebab (Lamb, chicken or beef)
5. Anywhere during a hot day – Ice Cream
6. Anywhere after a meal – Fruits

Items to bring, other than the normal stuff:

1. Extra ATM card, as previously explained in the blog entries.
2. US Dollars in denominations no greater than twenty, comes in handy when you need just a few more dollars to exchange so that you don’t have to hit the ATM again, also helpful for those pit stops when you are crossing a country to get to another on a bus.
3. Book(s), for those patiently waiting moments and when you just want to chill. Make sure its paperback so its light and you can trade for another at a book exchange/hostel.
4. Ipod, shouldn’t have to explain this one, but can also be used as storage hardware for pictures or documents.
5. Honestly you can get almost anything you need in Europe, so if you forget it, no worries.

Things I miss from home, other than people:

1. Gatorade
2. Dribbling a basketball
3. Driving a car, little shocked by this one.
4. Steak, hamburgers and even a chicken soft taco at Chipotle.
5. Falling asleep on my couch after a nice lunch on the weekend.

Things that I have lost, that I am aware off:

1. Collared, short sleeve, button down shirt, was one of my favorites.
2. Umbrella (broken)
3. Backpack/luggage lock (2)

Australian words/slang that I am adding to my vocabulary:

1. Heaps = lots/many
2. Reckon, used at end of the sentence with I or You, in form of question, but really a statement.
3. Dodgy = sketchy/shady, commonly used to describe a person or place.
4. Can’t be bothered – phrase, nice way of saying: doesn’t interest me or to much hassle, so I will pass.

Things to be careful off or be aware of:

1. Be aware of the dodgy information officer, who is not stationed at an official booth/desk, actually have had two run ins now.
2. When asking for water, add the words “no gas”.
3. When buying bottled water in plastic container, a supposed trick is to squeeze the bottle. If there is no give, than it is likely water with gas, if there is some give, than it hopefully is no gas. In some countries the word mineral is also included in water with no gas, just as table water is included for those with as well.
4. Be aware of low door ways, I swear that I almost cut my head a few times, especially in Turkey.
5. Be aware of uneven walking surfaces, I have stubbed my toes on many instances, especially in Belgrade.

Thats it for now, hope all is well.

Egypt to Jordan – The road less traveled

Nuweiba, Egypt, 9:30 am. I said bye to the gang, shook hands with the tour leader, and proceded to hop off the mini bus, I gazed across the large patch of pavement of this tiny port town, located on the Egypt side of the Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba, what I saw, was the hustle and bustle that one would expect of a local transportation depot: the noises of honking horns of cars/buses/trucks, clunking & whining of donkeys carrying people and cargo, and thousands of people in motion, filled the air. The temperature was fast approaching 100 degrees, with no relief expected. This was going to be my personal final exam of traveling through Egypt, gone was the safety net of the tour leader, but probably more important: gone were the other travelers that you felt comfort in knowning that you when you felt lost, that you were not alone.

As I stepped of the bus, the tour leader passed me off to a guy who was going to lead me to the gates of the ferry, and that was when the test began. Within, literally a few steps from the bus, the guy put out his hand and said to me: “Me, tip”. I looked at him in amazement and said: “No, for what?” at this point I was actually leading, as I had spotted a line about 50 yards away. He continued to follow behind me with a hand out repeating “tip”, with every step we took. When we closed in on the line, and he knew that his value as a guide was non-existent, he started to needle my shoulder with his finger, repeating louder: “Tip!” This actually caused the others in line to start staring. I had finally had enough, I was somewhat okay with his attempts for a tip, but when he continued to needle me, I turned around pointed at him and raised my voice to show my fustration. I even went as far to ask another person to translate, as I wanted him to fully understand that the liklyhood of a tip was as good as the chances of snow that day in Cairo. I told him, that in fact he is the one that owed me a tip, as I led every step of the way, and what did he do to deserve a tip: did he help me with my bags, did he lead the way, did he provide me any useful information?, so since it was him who followed me, than it was him that owed me a tip. That’s when I put out my hand and did as he had, and repeated the words; “Tip, tip, tip”. This completely caught him off guard as he was bewildered by the turn of events and it looked as if he felt harassed, the guy in front who translated some of what I said (I think) started to laugh, and that caused the guy to walk away in fustration. The whole Egyptian experience with tipping and sales was widely discussed amongst the group during our trip. In general everybody felt that since the value of the Egyptian pound was so little, throwing a little here and there was fine, but our common fustration was to those that deserved it. No matter where you go, what service you purchased, within a few minutes it seemed the subject of tip would come up, there was even an incident where a few girls said that when they were on a horse drawn carriage, that the driver threatened to whip the horse excessively, if he wasn’t given an additional tip (the tour leader was already providing a tip, as the ride was part of our trip, but additional tips were at our discretion). And the reality was that in some cases whatever you gave, it just wasn’t enough in the eyes of the tippee. So, not more than five minutes into my private trip, I dealt with part one of my exam: tipping, not sure if I passed or failed but I had reached my boiling point.

After standing in line for a few minutes, I was summoned by the security guard at the gate, apparently tourist purchase different tickets than the locals, so he looked at my ticket and told me to proceed through security. Once through, there were trucks where people threw their luggage, and a shaded waiting area. I had purchased the fast ferry ($60 USD plus 50 LE for the exit visa) which was suppose to take an hour and half to crossing the Red Sea versus the regular ferry which would take four hours. The crazy part was that the regular ferry was suppose to leave around 12:30 pm and the fast ferry around 2:30 pm, which meant theoritically they would arrive within half hour of each other. So with four hours to wait, I took my time looking around, and figuring out how to go through customs and checking in for the ferry. If you decide to take the ferry from Egypt to Jordan, here is what you need to do:

1) Reconsider, there are probably some better options.

2) Okay, if you still haven’t change your mind, then: Skip the waiting area and keep your luggage with you at all times, never figured out where they took all those luggages or how they tracked them, as people just chucked them in, and moved on. Walk past the waiting area in front of you and turn left around the building in front of you on the left side. Half way down the building is the entrance to customs and the waiting area for the ferry. Once you enter this area, you are stuck until you leave for the ferry, so do not enter until you are ready, but there are not many options, once you passed the initial secuirty gate. I had read and later confirmed, that I could have hungout at a cafe somewhere outside before entering, but I didn’t want to risk it, as there are only one of each ferry each day and did not know how long customs would take. As you enter the room there are a number of lines leading to seperate booths. You need to pick up a customs card, fill it out and stand in the appropriate line. There is an information booth when you enter, where they can tell you which card and which line, I think it was the pink card and line 3.

Now Part 2a of the test was ready to begin: standing in line. This time cutting was harder to do, due to the metal bars seperating the different and numerous line, but not to say that it was not attempted by a few. In all it took me approimately 45 minutes to get my passport stamped and into the waiting area.

Once into the ferry waiting area, I confirmed that I had at least a four hour wait, found a nice open spot on the ground for my bag and popped open the David Baldacchi novel, that I had started on the Nile cruise. After a couple hours, I finally noticed a few non-Egyptian/Middle Eastern faces, it became almost like a faternity, if you saw any other backpacker, you immediatly became drawn to each other. That afternoon I initially hungout with 3 university students, studying an 8 weeks Arabic course in Cairo: 2 were from the States studying in Chicago and the other from England. As they time passed and we approached 1 pm, we discovered that our ferry was now delayed till 4 pm, then within 10 minutes, we were alerted that the ferry would be delayed till 5 pm. This would be part 3 of the exam, patience as you are on Egytian time. I was fully prepared for this and broke out my snacks, read some, wrote some drafts of the blog, and chatted with our small faternity. Later we added a few more to our club, when we saw across the waiting hall, a few more backpackers, there were: three girls from France, two guys from Ireland, one guy from Japan, and two girls from Korea. All of us, except the French girls, without a word decided to stick this journey out together. As 5 pm came and passed, everybody huddled around the gate where you would be let out, to hop on a bus which would take you to the ferry. From 5:30 pm to sometime around 7pm, chaos ensued, there was a series of three lines we had to go through (part 2b, 2c and 2d of the exam), first through the gate to the outside, then onto the bus, and last onto the ferry. With each of these lines, there was pushing, shoving, and innovative methods of cutting in line. Fortunately, we had two things working for us, first: women and kids were allowed to the front of the lines, so for the first line we tagged along with the girl from the states. For the second line, it was just a mad dash for the buses, and it was literally like sardins in a can. For the third we worked our way up to the front, by tagging along with the girls, but were allowed in based on our foreign status, really because we paid much more for our tickets than the locals, so they formed a special line for the tourists, to the dismay of the locals. Once on the ferry, we sat and waited for the rest to board the boat. We finally left some time around 7:30 pm, arrived on the otherside around 9 pm, and waited almost another hour before we got our passports back.

The whole experience, really became somewhat of a bonding experience, so for those of us continuing to Petra, we decided to stick together and visit that Wonder of the World together.

Egypt – The road much traveled.

On the boat/cruise we were provided: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, mostly buffet style, so if there was something you liked, it was pretty much all you can eat. This was just what the doctored had ordered, as my appetite finally returned to me, and I had some catching up to do, on making up some calories. A little before the trip started, I had actually started to develop a decent diet, this may cause many of you to laugh, as you know what my historical diet included. But seriously, I had made an effort to put on some weight, and live a more healthier lifestyle. A few weeks before my departure I had reached my peak/optimum weight, and felt that I was ready for the journey ahead. In the past I have always lost weight while traveling, but that was always for a week or two, so nothing was going to prepare me for this trip. Now approximately two months into my trip, and determined that my recent illness had passed, I was determined to gain back some weight (I estimate that I dropped over 10 pounds, or approximately 4.5 kg for my overseas friends). Egyptian cuisine, assuming that we ate anything remotely authentic, was good, but my favorite default in all countries continued to be chicken and fruits. I was amazed at the abundance of fruits in Egypt, although the fruit with peel/skin did not look unappetizing, the fruit juices were amazing. Some helpful hints, when traveling in Egypt, stay away from the tap water, which would mean anything that is prepared without the benefit of boiled water, including: lettuce for salads, pasta which are rinsed after cooking, juice drinks that are watered down, and even drinking from cups that are washed with tap water. In all honesty, the tap won’t kill you, its just heavily chlorinated, so your stomach is not use it. So with the benefit of the buffet style meals, and the air conditioned rooms, I was quickly starting to feel like my old self again.

Early the next morning, we visited one of my favorite temples: Edfu Temple. This is arguably one of the best preserved temples of all of ancient Egypt, as it was still in use well beyond the time, many other temples were abandoned. Throughout Egypt, temples of similar periods maintained similar footprint, not in size/dimension, but in configuration. During the later stages of ancient Egypt, there are really four distinct areas to a temple:

1. The entry point, a great entrance wall with opening. Edfu’s was massive and almost worth the visit just by itself.
2. Courtyard of columns, this was the real beginning of the temple, and was were much of the story is told. The columns were often decorated with the top in the form of a lotus flower or papyrus plant representing Upper or Lower Egypt. The more recent temples would have a decorated column top of a hybrid of the lotus and papyrus representing the united Egypt. This area was were the priest would enter, study, and socialize.
3. The further you got into the temple, the more restrictive it got. The third area would often be a room that led you to the altars at the end. This room was only available to the Pharaoh, high priest, and I think some other priests of distinct level/honor. This room would include hieroglyphics, often telling the story of the Pharaohs worthiness of a greater after-life, whereas the entrance courtyard would often brag of his accomplishments and power.
4. At the end of the temple would be the altars, often three, with the center one including a stone tablet/table which would hold a statue. In this altar/shrine, only the Pharaoh or high priest could enter and pray. The statue may be of one of the many gods that best symbolized this Pharaoh or may have included the Sun Boat, which in Egyptian belief is what helps you sail into the after life. (Side note: a sun boat was unearthed next to the Great Pyramid, and is now on display in the small building next to the Pyramid for a small fee).

Edfu’s altar statue of Horus and the sun boat, is the only one known to have survived all these years, and is now on display in a museum. The hieroglyphics throughout this temple, inside, outside, in rooms, on corridor walls, on columns, up and down, were detailed and amazing. After our 2 hour visit, we returned back to the boat for a free afternoon and evening.

The next day, we embarked on our marathon day, bright and early. In the morning we visited The Valley of the Kings, this was the location where most of the Pharaohs were buried, after the establishment of Luxor being the capital of Egypt during ancient times. Depending on the type of ticket that you purchased, it allowed for a certain number of entrances to the temple. Our tour would allow for 3 entrances, which were carefully selected by our great tour guide for the day. He selected these three, as they represented three distinct periods, and therefore three different styles of temple, and hieroglyphics:

1. Tuttimoses II
2. Sety II
3. Ramses IV

The temples varied in configuration, sophistication in artwork, colors, and location of temple. Depending on the time periods, some were built below ground, above and below, and fully above. The most famous of all tombs and which require an additional admission fee is the one for King Tut, as he is widely recognized for the discovered treasures. According to most tour guides, it is not worth the additional fee as there is nothing remarkable to see. Remember that he was only a Pharaoh for nine years and therefore his temple would be less encompassing than one that was in construction for twenty or thirty years. A good story is the discovery of King Tut’s tomb: they had been searching for his tomb for sometime, the notable archaeologist who eventually discovered it, had led a team and knew it was in this generally location, as a tomb for King Tut’s relative was nearby. So they continued to search little success, but one day a bucket of water was spilled, and they noticed that it was absorbed quickly by the ground. As much of the area was comprised of rock, this raised a few eyebrows. So, they did some digging and unearthed a staircase that led to the entrance corridor to King Tut’s tomb. The reason that this tomb had not been discovered for so many years, and as a result escaped the attention of thieves, was that another temple was built directly above it, and the spoils/rubbles from that construction was placed over the entrance to King Tut’s. According to the guide two of the best preserved and most intriguing temples to visit are currently closed, and it is unknown as to when it will be re-opened (therefore Egyptian time), one of which has been closed for approximately 15 years, already.

Next we visited the Temple for Hatshepsut, which is located on the other side of the hill from Valley of the Kings. Hatshepsut is one of the more interesting stories in Egyptian history, as she is a Queen, but took on the role of a King. There is a Valley of the Queen, but Hatshepsut is not buried there as she was considered a King, and not merely married to one. As a matter of fact during her reign she was not married. Her Temple is an amazing scene carved into the hills and grand in its stature as you drive up and walk up the long walk and stairs starting from hundreds of yards away. A couple of the more interesting stories associated with the Temple, is that: you will note that most of the head of the Queen in the hieroglyphics has been vandalized/scratched out. This was not done by some drunkard teenagers, or the Coptics, but one of the later Pharaohs, one of the younger Tuttimoses. The elder Tuttimoses had died and his son was still very young. That’s when Hatshepsut convinced the Egyptians that she was the daughter of a God, I think of the sun. As Tuttimoses got older, he hated the fact that he did not have the throne, which he believed was rightfully his (Hatshepsut, was very popular, and is considered one of the best and influential Pharaohs), so after her death, he had her Temple vandalized.

The second story is more disturbing, and I had to research the story on the Internet. Turns out, back in 17 Nov 1997, six gunman associated with a militant group gunned down and killed 60 people at Hatshepsut’s Temple: 2 policeman, 1 tour guide, and 57 tourists, mostly Swedish and Japanese, the preceding five years had brought other acts of violence against tourists, resulting in 34 deaths, as it was a statement to the Egyptian government regarding their trials of members from their militant group. Walking down the steps/ramp of the temple after hearing mutterings of this incident was ere. Here they were, people from all different walks of life, thousands of miles away from home, to visit/respect the accomplishments of other cultures from many years ago, only to be gunned down as a statement from a militant group to their government, nothing more than a pawn in a game of chess. Quite disturbing, but did not mention this to worry anybody or dissuade anybody from traveling. Rather, I have continued to write the blog to share with you my experiences and travels, in the hopes that it might awaken that travel bug that lies within you. Anyways, sorry for that downer, but its an important part of history,
and can help to explain the existence and presence of the Police of Tourism and Antiquities.

After lunch, a few of us visited Karnak Temple, which is a collection of Temples built by the individual Pharaohs to pay respect to the Gods. Its hard to describe as the complex is massive, but in essence one Pharaoh would build one component, than another would add to it and build the next, and the next would follow. The column courtyard was massive with a huge number of large diameter and tall columns and a large roof that has been long since destroyed. One of the notable features was Tuttimoses’ continued destruction of Hatshepsut’s existence, with the destruction of one of her obelisk.

The day had called for a visit to a fourth Temple, Luxor Temple, but unfortunately, I had to leave the cruise group and rejoin my initial group, as we departed for Hurgada, on our way to the resort community of Dahab. Our group was now down to six, as two of our eight returned to Cairo, as their Egypt tour was ending. So I bid a temporary farewell to most of the cruise group, as we would meet again at Dahab in a few days, as they were returning to Cairo to drop some people off and to visit the Zoser Step Pyramid.

When Russ and I rejoined the other four, they told us of the great experience that they enjoyed on the the felucca. We were happy for them, but at the same time completely satisfied with our own decision to take the cruise. This was were I started to notice the line drawn in the sand, as a tug of war game between the original group and the “new” group took form. During our conversations, Russ and I would mention the great people we met and would be joining us in Dahab, but our original group seemed disinterested, it really didn’t matter, but we were usually met with a response of we really loved the felucca and you guys missed out, which had nothing to do with our conversation. At this point, we all seemed to get along fine, but I was still unusually quiet for the most part. The main reason, was there was one guy who was a great story teller and was probably more talkative than me. He had great stories and jokes, and kept the group from having to any quiet moments during meals. The main thing was that I didn’t have much to contribute to the stories/conversations as they were generally regarding subjects, such as: drinking, partying, concerts, raves, and music that I was not into. When I did try to participate and start a conversation, he would take the reigns over again, I didn’t mind, and actually enjoyed sitting back. But when we joined the other group in Dahab, and he noticed how social and lively I was with the other group, he asked me in front of our original group, why I wasn’t like that with them, and if it was that I didn’t like our group, and liked the other one more. Seriously, how do you respond to that, it felt like a childish conversation to have, so I just told them that there was nothing to it, other than we had gotten into a subject matter that I had a funny story to tell. In the end, I did feel more comfortable with the larger group, as there was a greater pool of people to figure out who you connected with, and it was easier to move from smaller groups to smaller groups. So for the remaining few days of Dahab, I became the Benedict Arnold of the our original group, but continued to enjoy the company of both groups.

We stayed in Dahab for a total of five days, with not much to do, but sleep, read, swim and eat. It was nice change of pace, but I could have done with 2 or 3 days, instead of five. During that time, the highlights included: an early morning hike to see the sunrise at Mt Sinai, visiting St Catharine’s where you can see “the” burning bush, and snorkeling the Blue Hole.

With a day left on the tour, much like the one through Russia, I hopped off the bus, said goodbye to the group, and made my way to Jordan, as they returned to Cairo.

Oh by the way, I did meet some great people, that I hope to stay in touch with, so a quick hello to: Russ, Leah, Sharon, Cameron and Julia.

Ancient Ancient Egypt

Since arriving in Egypt, we had mostly stayed on the path of the common tourist, going from one ancient temple to the next, via a private tour bus. But, this changed when we arrived at the Cairo train station, our group stuck out like sore thumbs, as we wandered through with our large packs on our back, while the eyes and fingers of the locals (especially the kids) followed our path. We were warned by our tour guide that when traveling in Egypt you must abandon all expectations for timely departures and arrivals, and to remember that you are no longer home, but rather in Egypt. This actually rang very famaliar, as this was the same advıce we heard over and over again, during my trip through Russia. Upon our arrival, we learned that our train was late by only half an hour, which was as good as being right on time.

When the train arrived, we all jumped on to the car/carriage, believe me this is no small feat. Advice number one while in Egypt, there is no such thing as a single file line. It may appear to start that way, but when the door/window opens for whatever line you are waiting for, a wedge formation usually develops, where all late comers just squeeze into the line by attacking it from both sides. Even after spending a couple weeks in Egypt and experienced it in other parts of Europe, I really have no words of wisdom, other than to be aggressive when you are standing your ground in line, you do not feel right participating in the cutting, but we have no right to criticize as it seems like a common practice in their culture. The group was able to hop on the train with no issues and found our seats (turned out to be second class) for the night. The seats turned out to be rather roomie compared to others, the difference was that we were not in sleeper cabins, as my tour group included second class accomadations instead of first. I was actually not aware of this, and had originally thought that the price seemed somewhat reasonable, and only selected the tour based on: availability, start date, and proximaty to the Jordan border. The seats had plenty of leg room and actually reclined beyond the normal train and airplane seat, the trade off was the noise and smell that permeated the train car throughout the night. In all it was a decent experience and not that one that I would try to avoid in the future, but also not one that I would necessarily look forward too. The only other interesting tidbit is regarding the restroom, keep in mind that I was still ill at the time. Two things: bring plenty of you own water, for drinking, brushing your teeth and washing you hands, and bring toliet paper, this applies throughout Egypt, not just the train. The interesting thing, was that many of the train restroom didn’t smell as bad as I expected (but remember, I can be quite cynıcal), as a few went before me and informed me of the ones to avoid. After listening to the warnings, I entered the third bathroom in our car, to find that the toilet had no plumbing and that everything just dropped to the tracks, no pun intended. When I discussed this with the group, a few went to investigate for themselves, and somebody mentioned that they have seen the same in other countries (I think, India) and that is why you are not allowed to use the facilitaties when stopped at a statıon. Okay, thats it for the restroom talk for the rest of this blog.

We arrived in Aswan just before mid-day, which meant that we were only a couple hours late, according to our guide that was good. In Egypt, it is said that the government and its run facilatities for the Egyptians runs on its own schedule, and there are little complaints as it would only fall on deaf ears. The Egyptians are basically out to fend for themselves, and maybe as a result, have resorted to their hard sell techniques and the line cutting wedge formations, because you have to act now, before its gone. After keeping this in mind, things start to make sense, but is still one of the discomforts when traveling in Egypt. A few hours after arrival in Aswan, a few of us, hopped on a bus to visit the High Dam and Philae Temple of Isis. The Nile once ran rampant in Egypt, with it upstream end all the way south to approximately Zimbabwe, the volume of water collected along the way, would flood Egypt such that it was seperated into two regions: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Upper and Lower refers to upstream and downstream, respectıvely, as the river flows and not North and South, therefore Cairo is located in Lower Egypt; whereas Aswan and Luxor, are located in Upper Egypt. In ancient ancient Egypt there were two Pharoahs one for each Egypt, and they each had their own respective symbols/insignia, if you well: the Papyrus plant for Lower Egypt and the Lotus for Upper Egypt. Originally (ın more modern tımes) a smaller dam was constructed with the help of the British, but this dam had little capacity and flooding and more importantly lose of the valuable Nile waters into the delta and ultimately into the Mediterrian Sea continued. Then with the assistance of the Russians (more recent), the High Dam was constructed, which resulted in the creation of the World’s Largest Lake, Lake Nasr, which would help collect and store the valuable Nile water and generate electricity. But the negative impact was that many ancient Temples would be lost forever. Through public/governmental pleas to other countries, selected Temples were relocated to high ground above the flood line created by the construction of the Dam. The Philae Temple is one of them, it tells the story of Horus and Isis, which is very famailar to the story of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The Temple is magnificanct in its size, detail of story telling and history. Unfortunately many of the wall carvings were intentionally scraped out by Coptics, as they believed that anything not consistent with their own beliefs was not right. Many Temples and Tombs throughout Egypt were actually occupied by the Coptics, as they were hiding out, unfortunately, during their stay many of those buildings and art was damaged due to deliberate actions or due to smoke from cooking, lighting or heating, probably less of the later, as it is hot in herre!

Later that night, our small group of eight further seperated into two groups of four, as four of us upgraded to travel the Nile by way of ship rather than Felucca. The Felucca is a small boat that can probably comfortably accomodate 8 to 10 with no cabins, but deck space for all to hang out and sleep. The thought of chilling (but not really considering
the heat) on the deck of a boat all day, with no facilities other than going to shore in the bushes (ok, I promise, last reference) did not amuse me, considering the state of my stomach. Therefore a few of us upgraded to the more comfortable confinds of a ship, think cruise ship using the analogy of what you picture in your mind as a BMW, okay now our cruise ship is VW bug, not the new one, but the old rusted one sitting in someone’s backyard, still does the job, but amazed that the tin can still works. Luckily my roommate for the tour, Russ was all for the ship, so it made splitting up easy, with four on each side.

Our ship remained docked for the first day, so we just spent part of the day exploring Aswan, really not much to see, in the City itself. Then we took a smaller boat to a beach on the Nile, where we could swim, and ride a Camel to a Nubian Village/Home. The highlight of the swim, was the fact that the beach itself is part of the Sahara Desert, so you could actually set foot in the World’s largest desert at the same time as the World’s longest river. The camel ride itself was nothing spectatcular but just seemed like one of those must do things while in Egypt, my camel’s name was Rambo, and his guide was Mustafa. Rambo and I literally went from last to first during our ride to the Nubian Village, no I am not competitive, seriously.

At the Nubian Village, we learned about the history of these people/culture. They were once their own people/country seperate from Egypt, pretty much left on their own. But most, if not all of them, lived within the areas affected by the construction of the High Dam, as a result had to be relocated. The Nubians live in seperate ındıvıdual communities, where each one is comprised only of their extended families. Crime does not exist in their Village and therefore doors do not exisit at many homes, and you never see any police. If any disagreements/conflicts arise and can not be resolved by the two parties, the eldest female in the village becomes the arbitartor and her final word is gospel.

Early the following morning, around 4 AM, we hopped on a bus and joined a police escorted convey for the 3 hour bus ride to Abu Simbel. This would be a good time to explain, the special branch of Police that exist in Egypt. There are the normal policeman, but what you see more are the “Police of Tourism and Antiquities”, they are everywhere that tourist, like myself, would generally go. There goal, is to (for the most part) protect the tourist, such that they have a decent experience, as tourism is probably the greatest generation of revenue for Egypt. Of course, this does not detour the vendors from hassling you and trying to make a sale or pulling one of the locals scams, but if you catch them scamming you, and you call them on it, it is said that they would return the money, as they know that the tourism police would be your next contact. We never had any incidents that required such assistance, and from what I hear they do their job really based on their presence, rather than any actions. So when traveling between cities, each group/bus is actually accompanied by a police escort comprised of a truck, where two policeman armed with AKs sit in the rear of a covered truck. When in a convey, there are one of these armed trucks at the lead and one at the rear, initially you feel special. But, when giving it additional thought, you realized, that there must be a reason for this, and when sitting in a convey of 10 large buses, aren’t we more of a target, shouting out “Look at us, we are a convey of tourists, come get us, there are only four armed guys, but over 300 foreigners with some loot,” what a plesant thought. We arrived in Abu Simbel as soon as it opened, and we were actually the first to enter the Ramses II Temple on that particular day. The Temple inside and outside is truely amazing, and I am actually disappointed in myself, that I really knew nothing about this Temple, before my arrival to Cairo. Ramses II had this temple built for him, far from all others, as this site was where much of the gold was mined, and his statement was that he should have his hand over the site that brought/gave so much to Egypt as he also gave so much to Egypt and should be remembered as such. Now, the amazing part is that the Temple was also relocated, due to the creation of Lake Nasr, the temple’s current site is 300m behind and 80m above the original site, amazing considering it shear size. Just next door to Ramses II Temple, is the Nefertari Temple, the one built for his wife, also amazing, but on a smaller scale in size. After spending a couple hours at this site, we conveyed back to our home on the Nile and was set to leave dock in the afternoon.

In the evening we docked for a couple hours, and a handful of us visited the Kom-Ombo Temple. Of all the temples I visited during my trip, this was the least impressionable, but probably had to do with the fact that we had no guide, and the temple was not in great shape, but then again it is approximately 4000 years old.

Later in the evening, had a chance to hangout with the new group that the four of us joined. You probably noticed by know, that I have not really talked about anyone from this trip, other than a quick reference of my roommate and a head count. Many reasons account for this: the state of my health; the speed of the trip and the awesome history, therefore more caught up ın the sites than socializing. The truth is that it was a combination of both and the fact that İ was abit burned out on socializıng over drınks, and talkıng about drinking scene. İ just found out that İ had little in common wıth some of the more out going individuals in our small group, so for a change of scene, İ took a backseats and just laid low for abit. But, this would change when we co-mingled with the larger group, and to my surprise would be the cause for some slight tension by the end of our trip.

Month Two

Yesterday marked the completion of my second month away from home. Its a funny feeling to realize that home for the time being, is anywhere that you plan to lay your head for the night. But then again, not to be poetic, but home is never where you physically are, but rather it is the place that you feel most complete, comfortable, at one with your surroundings/people. During these past two months, I have experienced a wide range of feelings and emotions, many of which I have shared with you in my previous blog entries. Most of these cited emotions were brought on by the historical monuments/places, that I stood in front of, or some of the more positive personal interactions. But, it is the emotions and feelings brought on by the human element/nature, that is harder to express, and maybe the truth is that I can not express them, especially by this forum/medium, as that is what makes them personal. These include as many highs as well as lows, and it is this range of feelings and emotions, that make you appreciate what you have, and not worry about whatever it is that you don’t have. It is also those things, that make you appreciate your: family, friends, and the “real” comforts of home (I will let you decide for yourself, what you define “real” as). Again, it has been nice to recieve e-mails from many of you, as it gives me something to do during the down time waiting or riding on buses/trains/ferries, and does not makes it seem like I am on the other side of the world.

As of today, I am approximately, two weeks behind on the blog, and still have much of my Russia trip to still write, there are some drafts in the works, but it has been a busy past few weeks. First, as you can tell by now, I made it through whatever illness I got as I arrived in Cairo, it took a couple days, but nothing that drugs, will-power, and frequent trips to the restroom, couldn’t solve (okay, maybe I could have left the last bit out, TMI). Went to Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor, spent a couple days on a cruise boat/ship on the Nile, then went to Dahab for 5 days, which included a trip to Mount Sinai to see the sunrise, what a hike. From there I left the tour, and made my way to Jordan via a ferry, and that was quite the experience, what was suppose to take alittle more than a few hours, became an adventure and truely a cultural experience, word of advice, don’t take the ferry from Egypt to Jordan, spend the extra money and find a different mode of transportation. Then the trek/journey via the ferry was forgotten when I got to see Petra first hand, it is truely in my humble opinion one of the Great Wonders of the World. Then a previously unplanned trip to swim in the Dead Sea, made Jordan a must if you are ever in the Middle East Now, I am in Istanbul, and leaving in the morning to work my way, counter-clockwise through Turkey for the next couple plus weeks.

I plan to take the next couple weeks slower, with only a couple sites a day, which should offer me the proper time to write more about Egypt and Jordan, as well as Russia, as they deserve more words than I would ever be able to write or express. But just wanted to keep you all updated, and to say hi and hope everybody is well and hope things are great at Home.

The Streak is Over.

Salam, from Egypt.

So my streak is finally over. Some may argue that it may have ended earlier, but there will be no more arguement, as it is now officially over.  What streak is that, you may ask, I will get to that in a moment.

I didn’t mention that I started to feel very tired while in Istanbul. But since I only had two days and one night in Istanbul, there was no way that I was going to let something like being tired, get in the way of see this city that is spread over two continents. When I finally arrived at the airport, and was seated on the plane, I finally exhaled as I was now on my way to Egypt/Africa. But that is when I noticed that the tiredness had not escaped me, but rather I was exhausted and had body aches namely down my legs. I tried to sleep it off, but that didn’t work well. Then upon arrival to Cairo and after deplaning into the 90 degree heat, I felt the shivers, now I knew something was not quite right, but the hotel bed was hopefully less than an hour away and hopefully I would feel normal again in the morning.

I was met by a tour representative just before passport check, where he reviewed to make sure I filled out my entry slip correctly, and help me purchase my entry visa (at counter almost immediately before passport check, for $15 USD). He led me through the passport check, which kicks you directly out to the baggage claim area. One of the tour managers then picked us up on the side of the street, to take me to the hotel. The time was 2 AM and I got my first hand view of the Nile, it was amazing how many people were actually on the bridge this late at night. The tour manager explained that this is common as the weather is more bearable at this time, and people love the Nile as it is the blood that pumps through the veins of Egypt. This would soon be a common theme in the many stories I heard about the Egyptian culture and belief.

At around 3 am, I finally got to check into my room, but only to find that the air conditioning unit was not working properly, and that it was actually cooler outside than inside my room. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well, if at all, that night. My tour group was not officially starting until 8 PM that night, whereas another one had just returned to Cairo that day, so Rafik, one of the tour manager, offered me the oppurtunity to join the other group to visit the: Step Pryamids and the Egyptian Market, since I plan to leave the group after Dahab rather than return to Cairo. I had gladly accepted this offer when he picked me up at the airport at 2 AM, but now at 8 AM, I wished I hadn’t. My body was starting to ache more, with stomach aches mixed in. But when in Cairo/Egypt, pop some aspirin and get on the bus, I always say.

A few of us joined the group of four, who was wrapping up their 9 day tour of Egypt, they were excitied to add others to their group, and to share with us some of the stories and experiences they just had. We first visited Saqqara’s Zoser Step Pryamid, much lesser known than the Great Pryamid, but very distinct in its appearance as the side are made up of steps up to the top. This type of pryamid pre-dates the Great Pryamids, and the Zoser Pryamid was the first to have more than one level of masaba (?) which is basically the tomb. One of the more interesting stories behind this temple or ruler (Zoser) is that of his architect: Imhotep, who became regarded as a god himself and therefore had his own temple, which did not ring well with the ruler. Not sure how or who, but it is said that Imhotep was later killed because of his popularity and god like status.

In ancient Egyptian belief, the rulers became gods after death, therefore the Temples such as the Pryamids were constructed for thie life as gods. They believed that their life here was minimal in time, but eternal as a god and therefore had all the people work on their temples immediately once they took rein so that it would be complete by the time of their death. That is also why you don’t hear about the palace of an Egyptian King, only the tomb.

After the step pryamid complex we visited a few historical churches in Old Cairo:

El-Muallaqua Church (aka The Hanging Church), a Coptic (Christian) church. Egypt is now approximately 80 percent Muslim, with majority of the remaining 20 percent Christian, but sometime ago there was a mucher higher number of Christian Egyptian. Their cross had equal length up and down, as side to side, this is known as the coptic cross and hence Coptic Church. This Church is most significanct as it was said that this church was built with no building foundation but rather supported by a tree on each four side and branches/beams running across, hence the Hanging Church. One of the Ancient Wonders of the World was said to use this same method of construction.

St. Sergius Church or Abu Sarga was the second church we visited. This church was significanct as it is said that the Holy Family rested on this site after fleeing Herod. Through parts of Egypt, churches were built on many sites that the Holy Family rested and escaped to.

Ben Ezra Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in Egypt. Originally a Coptic Church purchased and converted to a Jewish Synagouge. The architecture of this Synagouge is very similar to The Hanging Church, the three alters representing the Trinity, and the roof constructed to symbolize Noah’s Arc. The main difference is that the Coptic crosses have been replaced with the Star of David.

We then headed to lunch and a quick visit to the Cairo Market/Swapmeet. It was the Bizarre in Turkey all over again. You hear it all up and down the street:
“Hallo, What’s your name, Where you from, I give you good price.” If you are interested they will give you an over inflated price, as there are no price tag on anything. So the supposed trick is to act minimally, but better not-interested, offer one-third their asking price (or less, without insulting), be ready to walk away, and settle somewhere less than half their original price, of course this differs with the type of merchandise. If you are not interested in buying anything, and only walk the market for the cultural (using that term very loosely) experience, the key is to make no eye contact with them or their goods. If they perceive that you are interested or respond to their numerous questions, you will actually be followed down the street. Simple just say “No shokarum (thank you),” and keep walking.

Upon returning to the hotel, I popped a couple more aspirans and took a shower and went to bed. Later that night, I met my tour group, a much  smaller one than the one for Russia, only five of us with three joining us for the first 9 days, for a total of eight. After our orientation, I went to bed not feeling much better hoping for a healthier day tomorrow, as it was going to be one of intense: heat and sightseeing.

The morning started bright and early, as we departed for the National Museum. The Museum was packed with people, and this is considered the off season due to the heat. Generally, Egypt is visited by Americans and Canadians during the summer months, and the winter months by the Europeans, with Ozzies throughout the year. I’d hate to see how pack the museum is during the peak season, as it was filled with tour groups from all around the world. It was probably the first time, that I noticed that english speaking tour groups were no longer the majority, or even the plurality. Through my travels thus far, I have developed a new level of respect for the travelers from non-english speaking countries. Just think of everywhere you have ever traveled, almost everywhere on the planet, if their is a second language to be spoken other than their native, it is english. Now imagine if you native language is not english, and you want to see all the wonders of the world, how much more difficult would that be. It takes that additional level of desire, interest, and energy to suffer through that additional language barrier to travel for them, then for me. But back to the museum, ancient Egytian history dates back over 3000 years BC, which means that the history is well over 5000 year old, remember that Columbus discover the “Americas” in 1492 AD, and our country established independence in 1776 AD, well less than 250 years ago versus over 5000 years. Many ancient artifacts are included in the museum: statues, papyrus w/ hierographics, mummies, coffins, tools, furnitures, jewelry… To me the most interesting was: a black tablet, which included writings in hierographic and in greek. This tablet is one of the main reasons that hierographic writings/symbols have been deciphered and translated. The other main attraction is the treasures from King Tut’s tomb. King Tut in the history of Egytian history was actually of little signifcance as compared to other pharoahs, as he only reigned for 9 years, at a very young age. But the legacy/history he left behind is probably one of the most signifcanct, becuase of the treasures discovered in his tomb. Most if not all other tombs, had been robbed of their treasures over 2000 to 3000 years ago, but King Tut’s tomb was left untouched, because it was not discovered by the thieves. As I learned in the Valley of the Kings (later), King Tut’s tomb was buried, and the passage way to his tomb, was covered when another tomb was constructed above it. The majority of the fine gold clad jewelry and artifacts from the tomb are displayed on the second floor in an air conditioned room, when I entered this room and started to gaze at the collection, I had to step back for a moment. As many pointed and discussed the value: culturally and monetary of the treasures, I recalled how less than 18-months ago, a small portion of the King Tut Tomb treasures were on displaying through the US. The collection arrived in Southern California and was on display in LA. I recalled wanting to see the exhibit, but the tickets were sold out well in advance for a weekend visit, and would have required me to take a day off work to see the exhibit, which I never ended doing. Now, if someone back than had told me, not to worry about fussing to only see a small collection, and that in less than 18-months you would get to see the real collection, I would have said: “Huh, what chu talkin about Willis?” But seriously, the treasures, especially the coffins and mask are amazing, I would be hard pressed to think that goldsmiths today can do a better job than they did 4000 years ago. Quick fact: King Tut, much like other pharoahs, were buried in the tomb and enclosed in a serious of coffins. Starting from outside in, there is a large stone coffin, generally with carvings, maybe of the pharoah with symbols to represent protection, strength, and power, that would hold the other coffins. Then there would be two coffins one inside the other, that would be mostly carved from wood, but the outside surface would be covered of gold, which is what you have generally seen pictures, in the shape of the sleeping pharoah. The fourth tomb was made of gold, 111 kg of gold to be exact, and within it, held the mummy of the pharoah, wearing a gold mask weighing 11 kg. The mask is prominently displayed in the center of the air conditioned room, and rightfully so, but the coffins are equally magnifcanct.

As you can imagine, the museum is just covered with amazing artifacts, with its stories, history, and significnace, But any tour guide will only give you a taste of the main ones, and ones they find most interesting. After which you are generally given some free time to explore, but you find that the sculpture/statue does not have as much meaning to you, when you don’t have the story behind it. Thats when I use my eavsdropping trick, stand next to or in front of the artifact that you want to learn about, of course this needs to be that you have seen other tour group at. Just stand there and wait for a tour group to come next to you, and just listen to their guide talk about the rich and interesting history. Of course, this technique did not work quite as well at this museum, as many of the groups that came up spoke: German, Korean, Spanish, Japanese….

Next, we visited the Great Pryamids, the Great one is the largest with the second pryamid next door and the third not even really discussed. Each pryamid was built as the tomb for a seperate pharoah. At this stage in ancient Egypt, only one person was allowed to be buried in each tomb, which differed from Zoser’s Step Pryamid. Standing at the base of the Great Pryamid was surreal and amazing, but the experience a bit dimished when constantly bombared by the vendors who would approach you one after the other, for pictures with them, their camels, offers to buy: cameras, postcards, headcovers, jewelry, junk, junk and more junk. Literally, it is overwhelming, as they would follow you, like the Cairo swapmeet ask you questions, and because you do not know the culture do not want to offend, so you play along. But after the fifth person in two minutes, I just shut down, I acted like I was invisible, I walked and did not respond to their calls for attention, I did not put out my hands, when they offered to shake it, I felt like a jerk, but there was nothing else I could do, otherwise I would have been at the swapmeet and not the Pryamids, so be prepared. We spent some time at the Great Pryamids, then the Second Pryamid, then the Sphinx. At the Second Pryamid, there was an oppurtunity to go through the underground passage way to the actual tomb for 25 L.E. (conversion $1 USD equals 5.7 L.E.), whereas the Great Pryamid Tomb is limited to 100 people a day and the cost is 75 or 100 L.E. As told to me they are both very similar, with really nothing to see, except the Great Pryamid Tomb was 130 meters down and up, in a tiny hot, musty passage way, and the Second Pryamid Tomb was only 65 meters. Initially, I decided aganist it, based on the raving review of the tour directors, and the thought of being in an inclined and declined crawl space of a 4000 year old musty tunnel, in 100 degree heat, butt to cheek in front and behind of some sweaty person (remember Prague). But, when I arrived at the entrance of the tunnel only to have a peak in, I noticed that not a sole had entered except for three others from my tour. Everybody must have had the same vision, so I changed my mind, bought a ticket and entered. At the bottom of the declined, my fellow tour mates, made the way back up, and were sweaty perfusely. I then went up the incline to the location of the actual timb, basically a room that has long since been emptied, with a coffin on the far side. Thats when I realized that, for that few minutes, I was the only person in the world that was under the Second Pryamid at that time. I just stood there for a minute, and did not hear anyone else entering the tunnel. It was pretty cool for a minute, but then to be honest, it was pretty freaky. I then said goodbye to the tomb, and worked my way back down the decline, then up the incline, I did not see a sole until I say daylight, back at the entrance of the tunnel. Only because of my special along time under the Pryamid was it worth it, your call if its packed with people, but then again its less than $5 USD.

We then headed over to the Sphinx, which was just a few minutes drive from the Pryamids. There are no tunnels to enter, no portion of the Sphinx that you can touch, just alot more vendors to avoid. But, the view/sight was amazing, I mean here I was in front of the actual Sphnix with the Pryamids in the background. Remember back to all the pictures you saw, and stories you heard, not to mention the cartoons where they shoot off the nose of the Sphinx, this was it! Not sure, what else to say other than, wish you all were here, and can see it for yourself.

The day finally came to a close, with a stop at a Papyrus institue where they told us the history and signifcance of the Papyrus plant to Lower Egypt (I will have to explain that later), and how the Papyrus was used and converted to a type of paper, which how the history could be tracked with the use of heirographics.

Upon returning to the hotel, I could finally stop hiding the fact that I felt like crap all day, and just lie down, take more aspirans and try to sleep. But we were set to board an overnight train to Aswan that night and rest would be hard to achieve. So while the rest of the group went to get a drink and hangout at the bar on the roof, I just lied there in the fetal position and hoped for the aches to go away, but no matter what I promised, that I was not going to call in sick no matter how ill I got. That is when I broke my rule and therefore my streak. The last real meal that I ate and actually felt decent about was a couple days ago in Istanbul, nothing tasted good, or even had any flavor. Not knowning if it was the local cusine or my taste buds, I had to get something that I knew that I liked from back home, as I had to put some calories into my system, or it was going to get worse, as I was running on empty. So I went to the grocery store and found nothing the least bit appetizing, but was estatic to find Gatorade, which cost an arm and leg by there standards, but just over $2USD for less than a half liter, and with nothing sounding good, I did it… the streak is over. I went to KFC and got two drumsticks. I know, probably not the best thing considering my health, but I knew what it was suppose to taste like, and I love drumsticks. So after all my international travels, I have never ate at an American fast food chain, and I made the same pact for this trip as well (but did cheat twice before by getting a soft serve cone at Mickey Dees, but come on its soft serve and not a meal), the streak was over. The food went down okay, but did not please my taste buds, as now I knew, not much would. But the Gatorade, really hit the spot. For the next couple hours, I just sat still and waited for the dredded call to go to the train station, as I did not want to move.