Ok, I had to tell everyone about the great day that I am having today. :)
1. Got my haircut and I love it, even though the guy that cut it (Heiko) didn't really speak English. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Aveda salons? They are just the same in Germany as they are in the US.
2. Finally got my Blackberry!!! I'm back in the 21st Century. I even called up T-Mobile to activate my SIM card and spoke to the person all in German.
3. I purchased a Germany soccer scarf today. Now I'm all ready for the World Cup! It's amazing how the German people are showing tremendous national pride during this time. I have never seen so many flags flying and people wearing the colors. I'm very excited for the first match on Sunday night. I'll be watching it at Allianz Arena in Munich with 30,000 other Germans.
The blog about my trip through Eastern Europe is forthcoming. For now, check out all 4 of the photo albums linked above right (yep, almost 800 pictures from this trip).
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Roadtrip through the Netherlands
This past weekend, I went on a roadtrip through the Netherlands with Chloe and our German friend, Mirco. He also works for PwC, in Munich. We met him on the ski trip in Austria. He promised to drive us if we did one hour each day of speaking only in German.
Mirco picked us up on Saturday morning in his car, and we headed for the border. After 2.5 hours in the car, we arrived at Kinderdijk, an area with several windmills and canals that you can take a nice walk through. We wandered down the path, which was covered in duck poop (yuck), taking pictures and speaking German. It was quite fun! And, we got to climb up into one of the windmills.
From Kinderdijk, we got back in the car and drove to Den Haag (The Hague). The GPS was extremely helpful throughout the trip, and I'm starting to think it's a necessity in Europe since none of the roads are straight. The GPS even took us onto a car ferry to cross a random canal. On the way to Den Haag, Mirco pulled over and handed me the car keys. Eek, my first time driving in Europe, and it was of course a manual transmission (there are very few automatic transmission cars in Europe)! I finally put my German driving license to use. It's a good thing that my mother taught me to drive a manual transmission when I was 19 years old. Even though I haven't driven one in about 4 years, I did just fine and drove from Rotterdam to Den Haag. I'm glad that I got to practice driving, and I won't be too nervous the next time that I drive here.
In Den Haag, we went to the beach at Schveningen, but it was very cold and windy so we didn't stay too long. After lunch, we headed into Den Haag and visited the Mauritshuis Museum, which contains several works by Dutch artists, including The Girl with the Pearl Earring. That evening, we ate dinner and then found a pub to watch the Champions League final (soccer). Bayern Munich was playing Inter Milan in the final game, and it was fun to watch, especially with a packed pub full of Europeans, even though Munich lost.
On Sunday, we got back in the car and drove to Leiden. This is the town where Rembrandt was born, and there is a nice windmill in the middle of town. Unfortunately, this was just about all we found to be exciting in Leiden. So, we got back in the car, and I drove to Lisse. Lisse is the location of Keukenhof, a large tulip farm that is visited by thousands of people each spring. Sadly, we were about 4 days too late, and almost all of the tulips had been cut already.
So, we headed off to Haarlem (I got to drive again!). Haarlem turned out to be a good little town to visit. We got a tour of a windmill with a little museum inside. An old Dutch man was our tour guide and at the end, he tried to give me his phone number! I think he liked me because I understood French so while he was giving a tour to some French people, I could explain (sort of) what he was saying to Chloe and Mirco.
Also in Haarlem, we walked around and then sat in the warm sun to eat our lunch. We sat in the sun for a little bit too long, and ended up with red faces. I thought it was funny that I ended up with a sunburn in the Netherlands after avoiding getting sunburnt in Egypt.
We returned to the car and drove to Amsterdam. I have been to Amsterdam once before, but this was in college, it rained the whole time, and I was with 10 boys, so you can imagine what that trip was like. This time in Amsterdam was much more enjoyable. We took a canal cruise, wandered around the city and ate a nice dinner. On Monday, we split up since we all wanted to do something different. Chloe went to the Van Gogh Museum (I went there on my last trip), Mirco wandered around, and I went to the Rijksmuseum. I did the audio tour (which I enjoy when I'm in a museum where I don't really know exactly what to look at). It was a nice museum full of more Dutch artists, but nothing entirely special in my opinion. I easily made my decision of where to take Dad, Anne, and Sydney when we visit Amsterdam in July. We'll go to the Van Gogh Museum. And, I'll only drag them to one art museum, because too many gets to be monotonous. Also, we did some shopping and walked through the flower market on Monday before I had to catch my train back to Dusseldorf. Chloe and Mirco were staying until the next day.
The road trip turned out to be a fun, easy way to spend the three day weekend. And, the sunny, warm weather made it even more enjoyable. I am fortunate that interesting sites are just a short drive away.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Egypt and The Nile
This is going to be the longest post ever, so be prepared. If you want to read more about the sites, I have included a link with more information and history (thank you Wikipedia).
Last week, Chloe and I went on a tour of Egypt and The Nile through Contiki Tours. The trip started in Cairo on Saturday, so we flew in that afternoon (with a short stopover in Zurich, which has the strangest music on its airport terminal train - cows mooing, yodeling, birds chirping). It was actually really nice to only have to take a short 4 hour flight to get to Egypt. Almost everyone else on our tour was from Canada, US, and Australia, so they had to take multiple long flights. We landed in Cairo and were picked up by someone from our tour company who drove us to our hotel. First thing about Cairo - the traffic is insane! There are lines painted on the roads, but no one follows them. Cars cut in and out of traffic at very high speeds - more about this later. Also, the greater Cairo area has a population of 17 million people, so you can imagine the amount of traffic, too.
After checking into our hotel, we ventured out to explore a little bit before we had to meet our tour group. Apparently we made the wrong choice when we turned left out of our hotel, when we should have gone right. There was not much to see but shops selling power tools, one of the 1,000 mosques in Cairo, and dirty streets. There is so much sand and dust in the air, so it makes it very hazy and everything is dirty. It only rains 2 days per year, on average.
That night, we had our first meeting with our tour group. Contiki tours are for 18-35 year olds, so everyone is young and looking to have fun and meet people. There were 26 people in our group, plus our guide, Sherif. Sherif is a native Egyptian, and he has his university degree in Egyptian History. He has been leading these tours for 17 years, so he knew all the good places to go, people to talk to, where to get deals and how to make the tour really great! After our opening meeting, a bunch of us went to an Egyptian restaurant for dinner. We ate Egyptian pancakes and then ran some errands (pharmacy to buy hand sanitizer, moist towelettes, stomach medicine; convenience store to buy water, snacks and drinks for the next few days for in between meals).
On Sunday morning, we got up and left at 6:45 am. We board our bus and headed to the Egyptian Museum. Sherif knew to get there early so we were the first ones in the museum ahead of all the other tourists (this was the case at most everywhere we went, and it was a good idea). At the Egyptian Museum, we learned about the history of Ancient Egypt and got to see King Tut's gold burial mask and sarcophagus along with many other items from his tomb, several pharaoh mummies (gross), and parts of the Book of the Dead. It was very cool, and a good place to start our tour.
After the Egyptian Museum, we got back on the bus and drove to the Giza Pyramids! This was a huge highlight of the trip. We saw The Great Pyramid and the 2 pyramids that accompany it. We go to go inside The Great Pyramid and climb up to a room approximately halfway up the pyramid. It was very dark and SO hot inside. I couldn't believe how much I was sweating... oh wait, I could believe it, because it was over 100 degrees F outside!
After climbing the Great Pyramid, we went for a camel ride! Again, it was ridiculously hot and we were riding camels in the desert... no shade in sight. We got some great pictures of all of us on camels with the pyramids in the background. This is certainly a memory that I will never forget. My camel's name was Moses.
Next, we went to look at the Sphinx, which is also right next to the Great Pyramid. By this time in the afternoon, everyone was so hot and sweaty that we pretty much quickly took our pictures and got back on the nice air-conditioned bus. However, I managed to turn my ankle in the short period of time spent at the Sphinx. I'm such a klutz. Of course, I proceed to keep walking on my ankle for the rest of the week, which certainly did not help it. But, oh well, when am I ever going to be in Egypt again. I didn't want to miss a second of the tour!
We went to eat a late lunch, which was kebab, hummus, babaganoush, pita bread... really great Egyptian food. Then, we were taken to a perfume factory, where we got to test all different scents that are made in Egypt and sold to perfume manufacturers in Italy, France, etc. Omar is the owner of the shop and he gave us a lesson on all of the scents. He was hilarious and his English speaking was hilarious. "It you buy, you are welcome. If you don't buy, you are welcome. But, if you buy, you are more welcome." That doesn't even do it justice. The accent and way he spoke was so funny, and one of the girls in our group did a great impression of him that kept us laughing the entire week. I bought some sandal wood (good for dry skin) and "golden water" which smells just like Tiger Balm and helps to clear your head when you're sick. So, neither are perfumes, but good things.
Wow, all that was just on Sunday, and we still had to go get on the overnight train to Aswan. Oh boy, the overnight train in Egypt... not so great. Even though we were in First Class and had sleeper compartments, this was probably the worst train ride of my life. First Class in Egypt is worse than Second Class in Europe, for sure. We had just spent an entire day outside in the heat getting sweaty and now we had to get on a train with no shower. At least we were all smelly and gross together. The dinner on the train was pretty gross. Sherif even told us not to eat any of the meat. So, I had bread, fruit (which I washed in bottled water first), rice, and some cake. Yummy... not so much. And, then, trying to actually sleep on the train... even with ear plugs, I could not fall asleep, mostly because the train was rocking back and forth so much and would slam on the brakes from time to time. Ugh, worst night of sleep of my life. Oh well, it was an experience and something I can say that I have done. Our tour group had our own entire car to ourselves, which was good. So, we just hung out in the hallway most of the time and left our compartment doors open. Somehow a window in our car was broken, the glass shattered and there was nothing covering the window. I didn't see it, but I heard that kids outside were throwing rocks at our train and broke the window while we were stopped somewhere. I won't name names, but apparently someone in our group was standing by the window and the kids were throwing rocks at her, ha!
We finally arrived in Aswan (in the south of Egypt) at 8:30 am on Monday, where we boarded our new bus and went to see the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nassar. This was pretty cool, and I took a ton of pictures of the turbines, transformers and power lines. I guess working in the Energy and Utilities industry meant this was really interesting to me! The lower dam was built in 1900 by the British and the high dam was built in 1960 by the Russians. Very interesting how the dam changed the landscape of the Nile and Egypt. The flooding each year used to be quite extensive and covered many of the temples and monuments that we went visited. Lake Nassar even was supposed to cover the beautiful temples at Abu Simbel, so 70 countries joined together to move the temples and mountain that they are built into. I still am amazed at how much precise work went into, first, building the original temple, and then, second, moving it so delicately to preserve all the parts and still have the sun hit the inside altar of the temple on certain days of the year. The engineering that went into building the temples is astounding, especially for people 3,000 years ago!
Also in Aswan, we saw the granite quarry which is 5,000 years old and the Unfinished Obelisk which was started 3,000 years ago and would have been the largest obelisk at that time. However, after 7 months of work, the granite cracked. So, the obelisk was never finished and is still sitting in the quarry today.
Then, we got to board our cruise ship, the M/S La Traviatta. We ate lunch and got to sit by the pool on the top deck! So nice and relaxing, and it felt great in the heat. Later that afternoon, we took a felucca ride. A felucca is a type of boat used in the Nile River by locals. They took us on a ride up the river and to the Aswan Botanical Gardens. We also saw some old carvings in the rocks on the river and took in the atmosphere. The Arabian Desert is on the east side of the Nile and the Sahara Desert is on the west side.
That night we ate dinner (the food on the cruise was nothing special, but it wasn't horrible) and were entertained by a belly dancer and spinning man. Not the best show I've seen in my life, but at least it was short! Afterwards, we went into town to shop at the bazaar. This was interesting, because Sherif told us that we had to have "husbands" when we went to the bazaar. Aka, we had to be with one of the guys from our tour group so we wouldn't be harassed by the locals. However, the girl/guy ratio on our tour was 3 to 1, so each lucky guy had 3 wives. But, this is ok, because in the Egyptian culture, you can have 4 wives! Needless to say, our husband was offered many camels to trade for us. We learned how to haggle at the markets, which was great fun. The men at the shops always start at a ridiculous price, and you should only offer about 1/4 to a 1/3 of the price that they offer and don't back down. Walking out of the shop helps too, because the men will run after you and keep lowering their price. I walked out of one shop 4 times before I finally agreed on a price.
The next day (Tuesday), we got up early to take a short 30 minute flight to Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel is on the other side of Lake Nassar (300 miles long), and a flight is basically the only way to get there). At Abu Simbel, we saw the incredible temples built for Ramses II and his favorite wife, Nefertari. Words can't describe these temples, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. The hieroglyphs and pictures inside were amazing, but no photos are allowed inside.
Just a short note about the airports at Aswan and Abu Simbel. These are both military airports and then also fly only to Cairo. The security was so lacking, I was quite surprised. No one ever looked at my passport. Ok, yes, we were a bunch of white people and clearly tourists. But, still... Also, there are metal detectors everywhere you go in Egypt. There was one at the entrance to our hotel, to get onto the cruise ship, at every site. But, the funny thing is, all of these metal detectors are just for show. They are either not turned on, or when they beep, no one cares. Very interesting.
After returning from Abu Simbel, the cruise ship set sail for Kom Ombo. This gave us some time to take naps and sit by the pool. We did a quick 2 hour stop in Kom Ombo to see the temple there. This temple is right on the water, so we were able to dock the ship and jump off to see "The Crocodile Temple". This one was cool because it was mostly used as a pseudo hospital, so most of the pictures show doctor's instruments or other medical related pictures. There are also drawing of Cleopatra and an actual ancient crocodile trap at this temple.
When we were done looking around, we got back on the boat and set sail again. That night, we had an Egyptian party on the boat, with costumes and dancing, and then we hung out on the top deck of the boat. Some people in our group even slept on the top deck that night.
Wednesday morning, we got up and left at 6:30 am to see Edfu Temple, the Temple of Horus, the falcon god. Another cool temple. There are so many!
We got back on the boat at Edfu and sailed most of the remainder of the day. I got to take another nap and then lay out in the sun. My tan is great! I got a little red, but no major sunburn. Nothing was hurting, so that's good. When we were cruising up the Nile River this day, we had to go through the Locks at Esna. This was very cool, and I took a ton of pictures. We had to go through a swing gate and then through actual hydraulic locks. Our boat barely fit through the canal, but I suppose that's how they make them.
In the late afternoon, we arrived in Luxor, which is full of sites. We took a drive through town and went to a papyrus factory. We were shown how papyrus plants are made into paper and then were able to buy some papyrus with pictures painted on. From the papyrus factory, we headed to Luxor temple. It was so pretty to see it lit up at night. We were unable to go to the sound and light show on Friday night at the Pyramids, so Sherif made it up to us by taking us to Luxor Temple at night. This temple had a great obelisk in front, and also a 2 mile long road lined with sphinxes that connect this temple to the Karnak Temple.
Finally that night, we ate dinner then went to a shisha bar next to the Nile River. We had some drinks, hookah, and hung out. There was even Europa League soccer on the television!
Thursday was yet again another early morning. At 6:45 am, we got up and drove to the Valley of the Kings. The mountain on the opposite side of the Nile River from Luxor has 62 tombs built into the mountain. Of these tombs, 26 are pharaoh tombs. We walked down into 5 different tombs, including King Tut! The tombs are carved into the limestone mountain and are completely covered (including the ceiling) with drawing and hieroglyphs. In ancient times, every temple and tomb was carved and then painted in elaborate colors. Most of the paint is gone from the temples due to exposure to the sun, but the tombs are still colorful because the light does not penetrate down inside. It was really pretty and interesting to see the pictures in each tomb. One tomb, Ramses VI, had many pictures of men being beheaded and blood being drained. This pharaoh must have liked to kill people! King Tut's tomb was cool to see, because it is so small and right underneath the tomb of Ramses VI. This is probably the reason that King Tut's tomb was not discovered until 1922. It was neat to see how this space had contained the huge burial boxes and sarcophagus that we had seen earlier in the week at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. King Tut's tomb was so small because he died so young, at 19 years old, so there wasn't enough time to build him a proper tomb.
That afternoon, we went to a local village near Luxor where we were given a tour of local Egyptian life and farming. We got to ride either a camel or a donkey on the tour, and I picked a camel. When else would I get to ride a camel? A little 9 year old boy, also named Sherif, gave us a tour of his family's home. It was good to see how every day people live in rural Egypt and also get an appreciation of the surroundings. One of the guides for our camel ride told us that he makes 300 Egyptian pounds per month by being a camel guide and is saving up this money to go to university. That is only 60 US dollars per month! But, everyone seemed happy and content with their lives. That is the one constant is everyone's life - happiness.
Thursday night, we got back on the overnight train to Cairo. This time was better, because we were all prepared for the journey and knew what we were getting into. Also, Sherif was wonderful and arranged for us to be able to shower on the cruise right before we left and then check into the hotel in Cairo and shower upon arrival. What a difference a shower can make! The train ride was actually quite fun this time. We hung out all together and laughed and told crazy stories. It was enjoyable to have such a fun tour group. Definitely made the trip even better.
After arriving in Cairo (and showering), we went to see The Citadel of Salah Al-Din and the Mosque inside. It was quite pretty and we got to go inside the mosque. Muhammed Ali's tomb is inside this mosque (not the boxer!).
Overall, this was probably the most incredible trip of my life. The sites were absolutely amazing and the group was so much fun. I am so glad that I decided to go to Egypt!
Last week, Chloe and I went on a tour of Egypt and The Nile through Contiki Tours. The trip started in Cairo on Saturday, so we flew in that afternoon (with a short stopover in Zurich, which has the strangest music on its airport terminal train - cows mooing, yodeling, birds chirping). It was actually really nice to only have to take a short 4 hour flight to get to Egypt. Almost everyone else on our tour was from Canada, US, and Australia, so they had to take multiple long flights. We landed in Cairo and were picked up by someone from our tour company who drove us to our hotel. First thing about Cairo - the traffic is insane! There are lines painted on the roads, but no one follows them. Cars cut in and out of traffic at very high speeds - more about this later. Also, the greater Cairo area has a population of 17 million people, so you can imagine the amount of traffic, too.
After checking into our hotel, we ventured out to explore a little bit before we had to meet our tour group. Apparently we made the wrong choice when we turned left out of our hotel, when we should have gone right. There was not much to see but shops selling power tools, one of the 1,000 mosques in Cairo, and dirty streets. There is so much sand and dust in the air, so it makes it very hazy and everything is dirty. It only rains 2 days per year, on average.
View from our hotel room, nice right? The mosque near our hotel
That night, we had our first meeting with our tour group. Contiki tours are for 18-35 year olds, so everyone is young and looking to have fun and meet people. There were 26 people in our group, plus our guide, Sherif. Sherif is a native Egyptian, and he has his university degree in Egyptian History. He has been leading these tours for 17 years, so he knew all the good places to go, people to talk to, where to get deals and how to make the tour really great! After our opening meeting, a bunch of us went to an Egyptian restaurant for dinner. We ate Egyptian pancakes and then ran some errands (pharmacy to buy hand sanitizer, moist towelettes, stomach medicine; convenience store to buy water, snacks and drinks for the next few days for in between meals).
On Sunday morning, we got up and left at 6:45 am. We board our bus and headed to the Egyptian Museum. Sherif knew to get there early so we were the first ones in the museum ahead of all the other tourists (this was the case at most everywhere we went, and it was a good idea). At the Egyptian Museum, we learned about the history of Ancient Egypt and got to see King Tut's gold burial mask and sarcophagus along with many other items from his tomb, several pharaoh mummies (gross), and parts of the Book of the Dead. It was very cool, and a good place to start our tour.
Outside the Egyptian Museum (no photos allowed inside)
After the Egyptian Museum, we got back on the bus and drove to the Giza Pyramids! This was a huge highlight of the trip. We saw The Great Pyramid and the 2 pyramids that accompany it. We go to go inside The Great Pyramid and climb up to a room approximately halfway up the pyramid. It was very dark and SO hot inside. I couldn't believe how much I was sweating... oh wait, I could believe it, because it was over 100 degrees F outside!
After climbing the Great Pyramid, we went for a camel ride! Again, it was ridiculously hot and we were riding camels in the desert... no shade in sight. We got some great pictures of all of us on camels with the pyramids in the background. This is certainly a memory that I will never forget. My camel's name was Moses.
Next, we went to look at the Sphinx, which is also right next to the Great Pyramid. By this time in the afternoon, everyone was so hot and sweaty that we pretty much quickly took our pictures and got back on the nice air-conditioned bus. However, I managed to turn my ankle in the short period of time spent at the Sphinx. I'm such a klutz. Of course, I proceed to keep walking on my ankle for the rest of the week, which certainly did not help it. But, oh well, when am I ever going to be in Egypt again. I didn't want to miss a second of the tour!
We went to eat a late lunch, which was kebab, hummus, babaganoush, pita bread... really great Egyptian food. Then, we were taken to a perfume factory, where we got to test all different scents that are made in Egypt and sold to perfume manufacturers in Italy, France, etc. Omar is the owner of the shop and he gave us a lesson on all of the scents. He was hilarious and his English speaking was hilarious. "It you buy, you are welcome. If you don't buy, you are welcome. But, if you buy, you are more welcome." That doesn't even do it justice. The accent and way he spoke was so funny, and one of the girls in our group did a great impression of him that kept us laughing the entire week. I bought some sandal wood (good for dry skin) and "golden water" which smells just like Tiger Balm and helps to clear your head when you're sick. So, neither are perfumes, but good things.
Wow, all that was just on Sunday, and we still had to go get on the overnight train to Aswan. Oh boy, the overnight train in Egypt... not so great. Even though we were in First Class and had sleeper compartments, this was probably the worst train ride of my life. First Class in Egypt is worse than Second Class in Europe, for sure. We had just spent an entire day outside in the heat getting sweaty and now we had to get on a train with no shower. At least we were all smelly and gross together. The dinner on the train was pretty gross. Sherif even told us not to eat any of the meat. So, I had bread, fruit (which I washed in bottled water first), rice, and some cake. Yummy... not so much. And, then, trying to actually sleep on the train... even with ear plugs, I could not fall asleep, mostly because the train was rocking back and forth so much and would slam on the brakes from time to time. Ugh, worst night of sleep of my life. Oh well, it was an experience and something I can say that I have done. Our tour group had our own entire car to ourselves, which was good. So, we just hung out in the hallway most of the time and left our compartment doors open. Somehow a window in our car was broken, the glass shattered and there was nothing covering the window. I didn't see it, but I heard that kids outside were throwing rocks at our train and broke the window while we were stopped somewhere. I won't name names, but apparently someone in our group was standing by the window and the kids were throwing rocks at her, ha!
We finally arrived in Aswan (in the south of Egypt) at 8:30 am on Monday, where we boarded our new bus and went to see the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nassar. This was pretty cool, and I took a ton of pictures of the turbines, transformers and power lines. I guess working in the Energy and Utilities industry meant this was really interesting to me! The lower dam was built in 1900 by the British and the high dam was built in 1960 by the Russians. Very interesting how the dam changed the landscape of the Nile and Egypt. The flooding each year used to be quite extensive and covered many of the temples and monuments that we went visited. Lake Nassar even was supposed to cover the beautiful temples at Abu Simbel, so 70 countries joined together to move the temples and mountain that they are built into. I still am amazed at how much precise work went into, first, building the original temple, and then, second, moving it so delicately to preserve all the parts and still have the sun hit the inside altar of the temple on certain days of the year. The engineering that went into building the temples is astounding, especially for people 3,000 years ago!
Also in Aswan, we saw the granite quarry which is 5,000 years old and the Unfinished Obelisk which was started 3,000 years ago and would have been the largest obelisk at that time. However, after 7 months of work, the granite cracked. So, the obelisk was never finished and is still sitting in the quarry today.
Then, we got to board our cruise ship, the M/S La Traviatta. We ate lunch and got to sit by the pool on the top deck! So nice and relaxing, and it felt great in the heat. Later that afternoon, we took a felucca ride. A felucca is a type of boat used in the Nile River by locals. They took us on a ride up the river and to the Aswan Botanical Gardens. We also saw some old carvings in the rocks on the river and took in the atmosphere. The Arabian Desert is on the east side of the Nile and the Sahara Desert is on the west side.
That night we ate dinner (the food on the cruise was nothing special, but it wasn't horrible) and were entertained by a belly dancer and spinning man. Not the best show I've seen in my life, but at least it was short! Afterwards, we went into town to shop at the bazaar. This was interesting, because Sherif told us that we had to have "husbands" when we went to the bazaar. Aka, we had to be with one of the guys from our tour group so we wouldn't be harassed by the locals. However, the girl/guy ratio on our tour was 3 to 1, so each lucky guy had 3 wives. But, this is ok, because in the Egyptian culture, you can have 4 wives! Needless to say, our husband was offered many camels to trade for us. We learned how to haggle at the markets, which was great fun. The men at the shops always start at a ridiculous price, and you should only offer about 1/4 to a 1/3 of the price that they offer and don't back down. Walking out of the shop helps too, because the men will run after you and keep lowering their price. I walked out of one shop 4 times before I finally agreed on a price.
Spices at the bazaar
The next day (Tuesday), we got up early to take a short 30 minute flight to Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel is on the other side of Lake Nassar (300 miles long), and a flight is basically the only way to get there). At Abu Simbel, we saw the incredible temples built for Ramses II and his favorite wife, Nefertari. Words can't describe these temples, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. The hieroglyphs and pictures inside were amazing, but no photos are allowed inside.
Mom - I almost bought this for you. I figured you were missing your old one after you got rid of it!
Just a short note about the airports at Aswan and Abu Simbel. These are both military airports and then also fly only to Cairo. The security was so lacking, I was quite surprised. No one ever looked at my passport. Ok, yes, we were a bunch of white people and clearly tourists. But, still... Also, there are metal detectors everywhere you go in Egypt. There was one at the entrance to our hotel, to get onto the cruise ship, at every site. But, the funny thing is, all of these metal detectors are just for show. They are either not turned on, or when they beep, no one cares. Very interesting.
After returning from Abu Simbel, the cruise ship set sail for Kom Ombo. This gave us some time to take naps and sit by the pool. We did a quick 2 hour stop in Kom Ombo to see the temple there. This temple is right on the water, so we were able to dock the ship and jump off to see "The Crocodile Temple". This one was cool because it was mostly used as a pseudo hospital, so most of the pictures show doctor's instruments or other medical related pictures. There are also drawing of Cleopatra and an actual ancient crocodile trap at this temple.
When we were done looking around, we got back on the boat and set sail again. That night, we had an Egyptian party on the boat, with costumes and dancing, and then we hung out on the top deck of the boat. Some people in our group even slept on the top deck that night.
Wednesday morning, we got up and left at 6:30 am to see Edfu Temple, the Temple of Horus, the falcon god. Another cool temple. There are so many!
Sunrise on the boat
We got back on the boat at Edfu and sailed most of the remainder of the day. I got to take another nap and then lay out in the sun. My tan is great! I got a little red, but no major sunburn. Nothing was hurting, so that's good. When we were cruising up the Nile River this day, we had to go through the Locks at Esna. This was very cool, and I took a ton of pictures. We had to go through a swing gate and then through actual hydraulic locks. Our boat barely fit through the canal, but I suppose that's how they make them.
In the late afternoon, we arrived in Luxor, which is full of sites. We took a drive through town and went to a papyrus factory. We were shown how papyrus plants are made into paper and then were able to buy some papyrus with pictures painted on. From the papyrus factory, we headed to Luxor temple. It was so pretty to see it lit up at night. We were unable to go to the sound and light show on Friday night at the Pyramids, so Sherif made it up to us by taking us to Luxor Temple at night. This temple had a great obelisk in front, and also a 2 mile long road lined with sphinxes that connect this temple to the Karnak Temple.
Finally that night, we ate dinner then went to a shisha bar next to the Nile River. We had some drinks, hookah, and hung out. There was even Europa League soccer on the television!
Thursday was yet again another early morning. At 6:45 am, we got up and drove to the Valley of the Kings. The mountain on the opposite side of the Nile River from Luxor has 62 tombs built into the mountain. Of these tombs, 26 are pharaoh tombs. We walked down into 5 different tombs, including King Tut! The tombs are carved into the limestone mountain and are completely covered (including the ceiling) with drawing and hieroglyphs. In ancient times, every temple and tomb was carved and then painted in elaborate colors. Most of the paint is gone from the temples due to exposure to the sun, but the tombs are still colorful because the light does not penetrate down inside. It was really pretty and interesting to see the pictures in each tomb. One tomb, Ramses VI, had many pictures of men being beheaded and blood being drained. This pharaoh must have liked to kill people! King Tut's tomb was cool to see, because it is so small and right underneath the tomb of Ramses VI. This is probably the reason that King Tut's tomb was not discovered until 1922. It was neat to see how this space had contained the huge burial boxes and sarcophagus that we had seen earlier in the week at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. King Tut's tomb was so small because he died so young, at 19 years old, so there wasn't enough time to build him a proper tomb.
Next, we drove back into Luxor to the Karnak Temple. This temple was so large in ancient times, because each pharaoh kept adding on pieces. Originally, the temple was 2 miles long from the entrance to the back. There are 8 obelisks at this temple, including one made of all granite (from Aswan). There is a scarab (beetle) statue that you must walk around 7 times and make a wish each time you go around. And, the very first swimming pool is within this temple.
Thursday night, we got back on the overnight train to Cairo. This time was better, because we were all prepared for the journey and knew what we were getting into. Also, Sherif was wonderful and arranged for us to be able to shower on the cruise right before we left and then check into the hotel in Cairo and shower upon arrival. What a difference a shower can make! The train ride was actually quite fun this time. We hung out all together and laughed and told crazy stories. It was enjoyable to have such a fun tour group. Definitely made the trip even better.
After arriving in Cairo (and showering), we went to see The Citadel of Salah Al-Din and the Mosque inside. It was quite pretty and we got to go inside the mosque. Muhammed Ali's tomb is inside this mosque (not the boxer!).
Next, we drove to Sakkara to see the Step Pyramid, which is the oldest pyramid in history! After that, we ate another great Egyptian lunch of kebab, hummus, tahina.
Sahara Desert - Nothing in sight for miles
Then, we headed back into Cairo to shop at the large bazaar, Khan el-Khalili. This was another fun experience of shopping and haggling and having the local men yell at you. We were all used to it now and had fun trying to find good deals. I bought a couple scarves, and we looked at jewelry and alabaster jars. It's also funny how every shop seems to have all the same things. At the bazaar, we also were able to see one of the daily prayer times at the nearby mosque. Friday is the holy day for Muslims, and they must pray 5 times per day. All the men and women pray separately, too. There is a calling from the mosque each time and the men run to the mosque, take off their shoes, and join in the pray, always facing Mecca. It was neat to see them all lined up and doing the prayers (first standing, then bowing, then kneeling with their foreheads touching the ground).
That evening, Omar from the perfume shop invited us over to his rooftop to watch the sunset over the Pyramids. It was a wonderful sight and a great ending to our trip. However, one of the most fun moments of the entire trip was the crazy taxi rides that we took to get to Omar's and then to dinner and then back to the hotel. First, you negotiate the price of the trip before you get in the taxi. Then, like I mentioned before, the drivers are super crazy and all over the road. You have no idea how many times I thought I was going to die. But, after awhile, you get used to it, and it doesn't phase you. The best ride was the taxi trip from Omar's to dinner. Omar's friends basically just said, ok, we'll be taxis and drive you there. We had a caravan of 5 taxis flying down the highway in Cairo all together blasting Egyptian techno music (and trying to play Celine Dion for us, too - cause we're white, so we must like this white singer, right?). The drivers were so funny, trying to scare us by weaving through traffic and getting really close to the other cars. Another memory that I will not soon forget.
Dinner on our last night was at a touristy Egyptian restaurant, again really good - molokeyah, koshari, yum. Afterwards, we went to a nice bar at the Sofitel along the Nile River, and you could actually see a nice looking skyline. This was the only time I have ever thought that Cairo looked nice. We had a few drinks at the bar and then we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep before departing for the airport in the morning.
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