Cardio Contiki and Dangerous Donkeys

Thursday, November 4th. Awesome! I woke up feeling 80% better with just a slight hint of nausea. :) And that was great because today we were off to the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Karnak, and our West Village Tour.

This morning was just like the others, early wake up call! I was up by 6am and jumped into the shower before my roommate woke up so I could enjoy my last shower on the cruise. I once again skipped breakfast because I wasn't in the mood to eat, I'm just not a breakfast person. While my tour mates were eating their breakfast, I took that opportunity to fix up my luggage and to back up the pictures on my camera. I then left my luggage by the front door (cruise personnel will take your luggage to the lobby) and was ready for the day's adventures!

Today was an exciting day to be visiting the Valley of the Kings since it marked 88 years to the date that Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamen's tomb! Of course, leave it to someone like me to know that fact and Sherif was quick to capitalize on it, making me announce it to the bus via the microphone. The drive to the Valley of the Kings was quite scenic with great views of the Nile, farmland, villages, the mighty hills and cliffs of the valley, and finally Queen Hatshepsut's temple! Unfortunately, on this trip we didn't visit her temple or the Valley of the Queens but those are on my to do list for my next trip to Egypt.

When we arrived at the Valley of the Kings, I was very amazed at the large, steep cliffs and hills of the valley. I was now standing in one of the most important necropolis of the ancient world. Our visit to the Valley of the Kings included three tombs and we had the opportunity to purchase extra tickets, one for the tomb of Ramesses VI and another for Tutankhamen. Upon entering the valley, we boarded a tram that took us from the front gate to the tombs; Egyptians really love their trams. After the uneventful ride, Sherif gave us a brief history lesson and then took off power walking up the hill to our first tomb. Today was not only the hottest day of our tour (97 F/36 C), it was also the day that we got the biggest workout. The first tomb on our list was that of Thutmose III (aka Thutmosis III), a pharaoh who conquered almost 350 cities during his reign thus being called "The Napoleon of Egypt". Thutmose III was also the son of the famous Queen Hatshepsut.  His tomb is set high in the cliff so you need to climb some 200 plus steps to reach the entrance. What makes this tomb unique is that it was trapped ala Indiana Jones style to deter tomb robbers who were in search of buried treasure. The tomb was very interesting; the walls were covered with depictions of the underworld and with inscriptions from the Book of the Dead. On two of the pillars, that were not completed, you could see the red grid lines that Egyptians used as a guide when painting and chiseling. The next two tombs, those of Ramesses III and Ramesses IV, were very simple and really didn't have that much in terms of paintings and inscriptions. One thing that did make the tomb of Ramesses III interesting is that when the workers were digging the shaft, they came across the tomb of Amenemesses so they had to change the direction of the tunnel and work around the existing tomb.

After visiting those three tombs, it was time to visit the tomb I was most looking forward to, that of Ramesses VI!!! Along with Seti I's tomb, Ramesses VI's is one of the most impressive at the Valley of the Kings because of the massive amount of paintings found inside including the famous vaulted ceiling painted with images of the night sky and the goddess Nut (pronounced newt). The tomb is basic in terms of structure but the amount of paintings and the details found in such paintings is quite overwhelming. The paintings depict stories from the Book of Gates, Book of Caverns, Book of the Dead, Book of the Earth, and a few other Ancient Egyptian texts.  Another great thing about this tomb is that since it is an additional charge (35 LE/$6), few people visit so you can walk inside the tomb at your own pace without the hassles that come with hoards of tourists. Upon finishing my visit to Ramesses VI's tomb, I was off to see Tutankhamen's. This tomb also was an extra charge (100 LE/$17.30) but being Tutankhamen's it was packed! The tomb is the smallest in the Valley of the Kings since he died very young and there was no time to build a proper tomb. Despite being small, the size is impressive once you see the amount of items that were buried with the pharaoh (you can view the majority of the items at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo). Tutankhamen was buried inside four gold sarcophagi that in turn were placed in four giant wooden boxes; the four wooden boxes and the three outer sarcophagi are in the museum, the inner sarcophagus can be found in the tomb. Another interesting thing, one of the reasons why so many visit Tutankhamen's tomb, is that his mummy is on display, the only mummy displayed at the Valley of the Kings. All other mummies are in display at the museum in Cairo or in the basement of the museum awaiting identification. I'm glad I visited both tombs but I honestly preferred Ramesses VI's tomb; I actually wouldn't mind paying the extra fee to visit the tomb once again.

Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside the tombs but I will post a few images from Google's image gallery.

Between the visits to the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Karnak, we stopped to see the Colossi of Memnon. These statues are 60 ft tall and represent the great Amenhotep III. The statues guarded his mortuary temple which no longer stands since it was destroyed by the yearly Nile inundations. There are current excavations going on looking for the remains of the temple.

Now it was time to visit the Temple of Karnak, not only Egypt's largest temple but the largest ancient religious site in the world. This temple is very, very impressive so Shane and I were not happy that we really didn't have much time to walk around. After a 30 minute guided tour with Sherif, we only had 30 minutes of free time which is definitely not enough. You need a good two hours to really appreciate this magnificent temple! Unlike other temples in Egypt, this one wasn't dedicated to just one god or built to memorialize just one pharaoh. The construction of the Temple of Karnak started during the Middle Kingdom and then, each pharaoh until the Ptolemaic period added to it. The most impressive portion of the temple is the Great Hypostyle Hall which consists of 134 gigantic columns, 12 columns have a height of 68.8ft (21 meters) while the rest measure 32.8 ft (10 meters). Seti I started the construction of the Great Hypostyle Hall and it was completed by his son Ramesses II. Portions of the roof still contain traces of color and one can only imagine how the Temple of Karnak must have looked with each column brightly colored in red, blue, white, green, and yellow pigments. Another interesting site at the temple are the two remaining obelisk, one being the pink granite obelisk pertaining to Queen Hatshepsut. This obelisk is currently the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth and it is also one of the best preserved. When Queen Hatshepsut died, her son Thutmose III ordered that her obelisk be covered in stone hence preserving the structure. (There was a lot of drama between Hatshepsut and her son. When Hatshepsut's husband, Thutmose II, passed away she assumed the throne and left her son to be co-regent for a little over two decades. Until recently, when her mummy was identified, it had long been rumored and believed that Thutmose III had murdered his mother. Thutmose III and his son Amenhotep II went to great length to remove evidence of Hatshepsut from the temples of Egypt.)

Funny aside: At the Temple of Karnak, there is a giant stone scarab and you are suppose to walk around it 7 times making a wish at the end of each lap. So yes, my tour mates and I had fun walking laps around the giant beetle making wishes. I'm still waiting for those wishes to come true!!!

Once we wrapped up our site seeing in Luxor, we visited a local restaurant for lunch. Elisa, Sarah, and I opted not to eat so we sat together in a separate table. My stomach was still acting funny so I really didn't wish to spend money on a full meal when all I was going to be able to eat was the pita bread. Either way, a basket of pita bread was brought to our table so I stuffed myself with that for free!

After lunch, we returned to the cruise where we had the option of either staying and relaxing or doing the West Village tour. Once again, I wasn't going to miss out on anything so I went on the tour. Those doing the West Village tour boarded this motor boat to cross the Nile which can be best described as a journey getting high on boat exhaust. By this point, I had ridden on several boats but this was by far the worst. I did have the opportunity to get some great pictures of the Temple of Luxor in the distance and pictures of sailboats on the Nile. Once we finished crossing, it was off to our next mode of transportation: camel, donkey, or donkey cart. Shane, Angele, and I picked the donkey cart and that turned out to be the adventure of a life time!!! I was sitting in the front, Shane in the middle, and Angele in the back. Our donkey cart driver handed over the reins and told me to "drive the donkey". It wasn't too bad until our guide decided to hop off and go to the store leaving me in charge of the donkey cart!!! At this point my donkey decided to be a total ass (pun intended) and started trotting all over the place. I tried turning the donkey so it will go straight but instead it made it sharp right cutting off a motorcycle and almost knocking over the driver. Again, I tried turning the donkey but now it was headed towards a ditch that led to a canal. At this point, Shane and I were both trying to get the donkey to stop but it was just having too much fun. Finally, the guide returned and offered us some of the chocolates he had purchased at the store. By this point, I had enough of donkey driving so I switched with Shane and let him drive. All the while, Angele was in the back just grateful she survived!!!

Now that our donkey was under control, Shane, Angele, and I were able to sit back and enjoy the scenery. We were now passing through this village where we got to see first hand how people in Egypt lived. The roads were not paved and houses were very rundown. Quite a few were not painted and some were missing windows and doors. Others, on the other hand, were very nice with fresh paint and some landscaping. There were a lot of children playing in the streets and when they saw us they would wave and smile. Our donkey ride ended at the house of one of the locals. This guy was a lawyer but had to work two jobs to make ends meet and his house was rather run down. He spoke to us for a few minutes regarding life in Luxor and about family life in Egypt; then we had the opportunity to walk around the house. The house had a stone oven where bread was made every morning, a small kitchen, two bedrooms, and a backyard with some chickens. I took pictures of the kitchen and of the oven but for privacy reasons, I did not take pictures of the bedrooms. Walking through that house really gave you a sense of appreciation of everything we own and everything we take for granted. While Egyptians seem to be happy and content, poverty is very prevalent throughout the country especially in the rural villages. Afterwards, we walked through the village on our way back to the boat. Again, we got an up close look at the homes and how people live. And at times, someone will step in a giant pile of poop (camel, donkey, goat, sheep, dog, etc) since the roads were not paved and animals walked all over the place. We did see a lot of sheep, dogs, donkeys, and camels on this trip! When we boarded the boat, I took the opportunity to take some last pictures of the Nile and Luxor and to reflect on everything I had experienced the last couple of days. I couldn't believe it was already Thursday, almost the end of my trip!

When we finished crossing the Nile, we boarded our cruise for the final time to grab our luggages since tonight we will be heading to Cairo on the overnight train. On the way to the train station, we stopped at a local grocery store were we had the opportunity to buy food and snacks since once again we were warned not to eat the dinner on the train. I purchased a coke, almonds (brand name was Camel), and M&Ms, all very nutritious. After our shopping, we headed to the train station and then unto the train. Lisa and I were assigned Car 5, cabin 17/18. The only difference I noticed was this time around the fleece blankets were blue instead of red (yes, I tend to remember small details like that!). Lisa went to bed at around 8:30pm and by 9:30pm I was also in bed. There will be no club car party for me because I was beyond exhausted and just wanted to sleep! I think all those sleepless nights were finally catching up to me because throughout the day, I kept nodding off while on the bus and boat. Then at around 10pm, Angele knocked on my door wondering why I was not in the club car. I decided to go to the club car for a few to see what was happening but after 10 minutes, I went back to bed. I was sound a sleep for a while until the train braked and I fell off the bed. Thank God I was in the bottom bunk and after that experience, I slept closer to the wall because apparently, I was sleeping way to close to the edge. My 6th night in Egypt had come to an end.

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut 

Valley of the Kings

Colossi of Memnon

Entrance of the Temple of Karnak

Column at the Temple of Karnak

The Great Hypostyle Column Hall at the Temple of Karnak

Section of a roof at the Temple of Karnak

The Great Hypostyle Column Hall at the Temple of Karnak

The good luck scarab beetle.

Queen Hatshepsut's pink granite obelisk

Temple of Luxor in the distance

Riding through the West Village

Banana trees in the village's farms

The infamous donkey, yes it'll stop every 2 mins to eat

Homes in the village

Stone oven in the house we visited

The home's kitchen

Families will paint their homes as such when going to Mecca

More homes in the village

IMAGE COURTESY OF TOUR EGYPT'S WEBSITE: TOMB OF RAMESSES VI

Beautiful Temples and Spinning Rooms

Wednesday, November 3rd. Of all the days on the trip, this was probably the worst because I was feeling really, really bad. Luckily, the day just consisted of two sites and a papyrus museum.

The day started out like so many before, with a 6:30am wake up call. I decided to skip breakfast so I can sleep in a bit but either way I knew I was not going to be able to handle food. As I was getting ready, I was feeling really nausea but there was no way I was going to miss the Temple of Horus!!! I had been looking forward to this temple since I LOVE the story of Horus; a beautiful story of love, heartbreak, and creation from his parents Osiris and Isis and the story of betrayal, murder, and revenge courtesy of his jealous uncle Set. The story isn't the only impressive part of the Temple of Horus, said temple is the best preserved in Egypt and has massive amounts of inscriptions written on its tall walls. The temple was a short drive from the boat and the morning was beautiful, clear skies and a cool breeze. We arrived as the temple was about to open and there were already massive hoards of tourists waiting at the front gate. After Shane and I pushed our way through the turnstiles and security, we caught our first glimpses of the amazing temple. The entrance walls were almost completely intact as were the inscriptions and the mud/brick wall surrounding the temple still had evidence of where the workers used to live. As we walked through the temple, I was amazed at all the details and all the stories found on the walls: the story of how the priests will march through the temple and to the entrance with an ark holding a statue of the god Horus so commoners can see and praise him, the story of how the goddess Nut (pronounced like newt) was believed to swallow the sun at night and then give birth to it at sunrise, the story of the murder of Osiris and how Isis brought him back to life, the story of how Horus avenged his father's death, and so many other fascinating stories. I could have easily spent two to three hours in this amazing temple!! The tour Sherif gave us was very interesting and Shane and I felt like we got a lot out of it. Of course, certain parts of the creation story of Horus weren't exactly suitable for children under the age of 13 but we all got a good laugh at the side comments Sherif would say while recounting the story. After the tour, we had about 30 minutes of free time to walk around the temple and take a few pictures. Again, I wish I could have spent at least an hour more!

Afterwards, we were off to the boat for an afternoon of relaxing and lunch! When we boarded the boat, I made a beeline for my room to get some rest to see if additional sleep will help me feel better. I can't even begin to describe how comfortable those beds were!! I slept for about three hours when I woke up feeling really sick (more sick than before) and a tad disoriented. I was rather hot but the AC was blasting. Nothing worse than being sick on a trip and 6000 miles from home. :( I took a cold shower and got ready for lunch; I needed to try to eat something because my empty stomach was not helping me feel better. Then I realized we were moving through the Esna Locks (similar to the Panama Canal but 100 times smaller). I walked to my window and started taking pictures of the locks since I honestly did not feel like going to the top deck even though the pictures would have been a tad more interesting. After taking a few pictures I made my way to the restaurant for my last lunch on the boat. I grabbed some rice and bread figuring that was bland enough but alas, that didn't work. I was able to keep my food down but I was feeling more nausea than ever. I decided to return to my room and not move from there until it was time to go the papyrus museum and the Temple of Luxor . My roommate Lisa then offered me a protein shake and that helped fill up my stomach a bit more.

At about 6pm, it was time to head out to the papyrus museum and the Temple of Luxor. From the moment I booked my trip, the one souvenir I definitely wanted to purchase was a papyrus painting (or two) so I was very much looking forward to this evening. Despite being extremely nausea and rather dizzy, there was no way I was going to miss going to the museum. We meet in the lobby and start walking towards the dock. This was always the fun part. Since dock space along the Nile is limited and there are so many cruise ships, they line up one next to the other, usually four or five in a row. For some reason, our boat was always the last one so we would need to walk through the lobby of three to four other boats before reaching the dock. After reaching the dock, we climbed up some stairs and boarded our bus.

When we arrived at the museum, I was amazed at the selection! We walked towards the back of the museum/store where this guy gave us a great demonstration on papyrus 101: intro on the papyrus plant, the history of papyrus paper making, how to make papyrus paper, the difference between the light and dark style papers, and how to determine if papyrus paper is authentic. I greatly enjoyed the demonstration and liked the opportunity to hold a papyrus plant. It is amazingly light and soft! After the demonstration, we were free to browse the selection of paintings without the hassle of annoying sales people. As I was walking along, there was one painting I completely fell in love with. It is a very beautiful, colorful painting of Ramsesses II offering the goddess Hathor some lotus flowers. The goddess Hathor is the goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy in Ancient Egypt. Along with that painting, I purchased another one that is a map of Egypt and it shows a few of the main historical site. All together, I spent 660 Egyptian pounds which translates to roughly $115. Both paintings are amazing and are authentic, wonderful reminders of such a great trip!! Quite a few of my tour mates purchased papyrus paintings and I'm sure there were some that spent more than me.

Once we finished at the museum, we headed to the Temple of Luxor. By this point, I honestly just wanted to go back to the boat; I had gotten my papyrus paintings and I wasn't feeling well at all. When we arrived at the temple, we were the only people there so I definitely wasn't going to stay by myself on the bus. I walked to the temple with my tour mates and after taking a couple of pictures, I decided to sit on the floor while Sherif was giving his history lesson. Words cannot describe how bad I was feeling! But here are some interesting facts on the temple: The temple was appropriated by Tuthmosis III, Hatshepsut built the chapels that are still seen today, the main part of the temple, the colonnade and the sun court, were built by Amenhotep III, and then Ramesses II built the entrance pylon and the two obelisks. There wasn't a temple or site that Ramesses II did not add to; he loved to make his mark where ever he could. At the entrance of the temple, only one obelisk is seen because the other was given to the French as a gift. In return, the French gave the Egyptians a clock tower that really never worked (clock tower now found at the Citadel, pictures in a later blog). Another interesting fact regarding the temple is that it was buried for thousands of years and as such, a city was built on top of it. One of the structures of the city, a mosque, can still be seen atop of the temple and it can not be demolished because it is now a tomb. Also, some of the statues are missing their heads because despite the temple being buried by sand, a few heads were sticking out and people obviously did not want a statue head in the middle of their living room. And a final interesting fact is the Avenue of the Sphinxes. This "avenue" consists of hundreds of Sphinx statues that cover a distance of almost 2 miles stretching from the Temple of Luxor to the Karnak Temple. The local government at Luxor is currently relocating residents and knocking down homes and buildings in a major excavation project to find the rest of the avenue. Earlier this year, they dug up a major section of the avenue and found a lot of the statues in good condition. After the history lesson, it was then time for the walking tour. For the first 10 minutes, I was some what focused and I was understanding Sherif and taking pictures with a purpose. After that, everything was a blur. I was just dragging myself along, standing in the back of the group, and I can't figure out some of the pictures I took. It was obvious I was out of it because 99% of the pictures I took on the trip had a reason and story behind them. These that I took at the Temple of Luxor are completely random. I was so glad this was a short trip and we soon were on the bus and heading back to the boat. On the boat, I went to dinner to eat something but right after dinner I ran to bed in the hopes I will wake up feeling better!

Entrance to the Temple of Horus

Ark where the priests will place the statue of Horus

The priests (high priest in the middle) carrying the ark to the waiting crowds

The pharaoh receiving the blessings of both Upper and Lower Egypt

The story of Horus that covers many of the walls in the temple

Horus riding his uncle Set (who is drawn as a hippo) in victory

Wall that encloses the temple

Front of the Temple of Horus

Esna Locks

Bread Sculptures on the cruise

View from my room

Entrance of the Temple of Luxor

Avenue of the Sphinx

Great entrance hall

Slamming Planes and Dancing Norwegian

Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Today is definitely a day I will never forget since the highlight of my trip was the visit to Abu Simbel to see the Temple of Ramesses II. I am one that prefers the temples over the pyramids! 

This day started very early, with a 3:30am wake up. I was actually tired that night so I managed to grab about 3 hrs of sleep, more than what I had slept the previous two nights combined! And the 3:30am wake up call was not too bad considering previous tour groups have had a 2am wake up call. I guess it all depends on the time of your flight. Lisa and I went to breakfast and it was rather quiet; you can tell most were still half asleep. After breakfast, we headed out to the bus and it was quite a chilly morning! Thank goodness I packed a jacket and long sleeve shirt because there were a few cool mornings and evenings during my trip. On the bus ride to the airport (Abu Simbel is a 40 minute flight from Aswan or a 3 hr bus ride), Sherif didn't give a history lesson or pep talk since most just wanted to sleep. Shane and I on the other hand were so excited we couldn't stop talking; who would have thought that me who loves sleep so much and is rather cranky in the mornings would be so chipper with 3 hrs of sleep! We arrived at the airport and it was a lot nicer than the Cairo airport but then again, I'm sure it didn't handle that many flights. Sherif distributed the boarding passes and we headed to the trams that took us to our airplane. I am not a good flier and flying Egypt Air had me a bit nervous but at least it was a normal plane, not one of those small things with propellers. The take off was uneventful and then the flight attendants proceeded to go down the aisle with a cart full of water bottles offering passengers little cups of water. I know it was a short flight but couldn't they have offered at least some juice or soda?!? Sorry, it just felt weird being offered a tiny cup of water. The flight was going great when all of a sudden BAM, SLAM, WHAM! Someone forgot how to land a plane!! There was no slowing down, no slow descend...nope this pilot apparently got bored of flying and thought it'll be funny to slam the plane down. Those that were half asleep were now definitely more than an awake. Elisa, tour mate sitting next to me, and I were still in shock and our hearts were racing. I wanted out of that airplane and now!

We got off the plane and walked into the Abu Simbel airport which was the size of a hotel lobby. Then again, the airport serves less than half a million people a year and all those are tourists stopping by to visit the Temple of Ramesses II and the temple of his favorite queen, Nefertari. On our way to Abu Simbel, I started feeling a bit overwhelmed because this was what I was waiting for. The pyramids were interesting and amazing but nothing compares to the magnitude and importance of the Temple of Ramesses II especially to someone like myself who is so familiar with the life, conquests, and struggles of one of Egypt's greatest leaders. As we were walking around the outside of the temple and I caught my first glimpse of the four giant statues of Ramesses II, I got a tad emotional and had a few tears in my eye (luckily my sunglasses covered that up). It was then that it hit me...I was in Egypt fulfilling a life long dream! Until then, everything felt like a dream but seeing the Temple of Ramesses II brought me down to reality and to the fact I really was in Egypt and everything I had read in books and articles and everything I had seen in pictures was now coming to life before my own eyes. I no longer had to dream because I was living it!

Now back to the day's events...

The group gathered around Sherif for a history lesson on Ramesses II and here is the basics...The Temple of Ramses II was carved out of a solid cliff during the 13th century BC and was dedicated to the patron deities of Egypt's great cities - Amun of Thebes, Ptah of Memphis, and Ra-Harakhty of Heliopolis. Next to his temple, is the temple dedicated to his favorite wife, Queen Nefertari. In the 1960s, the construction of the High Dam in Aswan threatened to submerge the whole temple under Lake Nasser. With the help of UNESCO, the whole cliff was cut into blocks and moved 688 ft back and 213 ft above their original position.

Then it was time to go inside the temple!! Tour guides aren't allowed inside the temples in Abu Simbel so Sherif took a few minutes to tell me where I could find specific stories on the walls inside the temple. He knew I was particularly interested in the story of the two spies from the Hittie Empire that tricked Ramesses II, an action that almost caused the demise of the Egyptian Empire. As Shane and I walked into the temple, we were amazed at the amount of detail and hints of colors found throughout (unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside). The temple was really crowded so it took some patience navigating from room to room and sometimes when you would be standing in front of a wall looking at the paintings and inscriptions someone will just walk in front of you. While the Egyptians were really nice people, quite a few of the tourists I came across lacked basic manners! Since we only had 40 minutes to visit both temples (Queen Nefertari's temple was next door), I unfortunately didn't have much time to really look at each painting and take the time to read some of the stories (I can pick up quite a few hieroglyphic symbols). It was amazing to see the amount of detail and workmanship that went into each painting and how a few were drawn to look animated. In one of the rooms, an unfinished room, you can actually see the charcoal highlights of where an image would have been painted along with a few grid lines. The Egyptians usually drew grids then outlined an image in charcoal before drawing the black outlines and filling in with color. After about 20 minutes of walking through the temple, we headed out to visit the Temple of Queen Nefertari. Her temple is a lot smaller but I thought the art was a lot more impressive. The paintings and inscriptions were chiseled in a lot deeper so the images looked almost 3-D. Also, the colors were better preserved especially the green and red hues. While walking around the temple, I noticed quite a few unfinished rooms which are always interesting because you could see the different stages of work from the sketches to the outlines to the first layer of coloring.

Another wonderful thing about Abu Simbel is the breathtaking views of Lake Nasser! Standing in front of the temples, you get a magnificent view of the water and since it is early in the day, the sun is still low in the sky creating some amazing photo opportunities.

When we finished, we headed off to the bus for the drive to the airport. After the morning's slamming landing no one was looking forward to the flight back to Aswan. We boarded the plane and when the came time to land, my tour mates and I all had this panic look on our face. I grabbed my seat belt and placed it as tightly as I could. Another one of my tour mates was holding on to the armrests for dear life. Then the moment of truth...we got a pilot that knew how to land an airplane!! We were all so happy that we started clapping and cheering!! Others on the plane must have thought we were nuts but after that morning's experience, a great landing meant the world to us. Back on the bus and off to the cruise for an afternoon of relaxing!

After our journey to Abu Simbel, the rest of the afternoon and evening was pretty relaxing. We had free time on the boat until about 6pm when we visted a temple in Kom Ombo and in the evening it was our Egyptian themed party. We returned to the boat at around 11:30am and most headed to the top deck for some tanning and lounging. I too headed to the top deck where I met up with Sherif and we spent a little over an hour talking about Ancient Egypt and Egypt in general. Then it was time for another big all you can eat meal! The lunch was really tasty and after lunch I stopped by the jewelry store on the boat to order my personalized cartouche, which has my name written out in hieroglyphs. I had planned on returning to the top deck to hang out with some tour mates but I actually took the free time to return to my cabin and take a much needed nap. In the middle of my nap, I woke up feeling really hot and rather nausea. I figured it was maybe something I ate so I took some meds, drank some water, and tried going to bed. About an hour later, I woke up on fire and feeling really light-headed and nausea. This will be the start of a long day and a half that would consist of me bonding with the toilet since I frequently had to puke (sorry for the graphic image!). I was starting to think this was some sort of bug/virus and not food poisoning since I didn't have any of the symptoms associated with the latter. I kept drinking water and I tried munching on a granola bar I brought from home but nothing was settling right. I laid in bed until it was time to go to our next temple.

Despite feeling like garbage, I wasn't going to miss out on anything! Luckily, this temple was just a walk away from our boat so it wasn't too bad. I was still feeling a tad light-headed but the cool, fresh breeze was helping a little. We were off to the Temple of Kom Ombo!! This temple is the most symmetrical of all temples and it has a lot of Greco-Roman influence. It is unusual in that the temple is dedicated to two gods; the left side to the falcon god Horus and the right side to the local crocodile god Sobek. The temple was built during the reigns of Ptolemy VI through Ptolemy XII, hence the Greco-Roman influence. This was our first night visit to a site and while it provided for a nice view, when it came to taking pictures and viewing the details of the temple, I would have preferred daylight. Some parts of the temple were poorly lit so you couldn't clearly see the details and colors on the wall. The history and stories behind the temple were really interesting especially the stories of our how the Egyptians feared the Nile crocodiles hence creating an altar so they could make offerings to appease the creatures. After Sherif finished the tour, Shane and I spent about 20 minutes walking around the temple. Then came the fun part; on the way to the boat we had to pass this market which had really aggressive sales people, some of the worst I encountered in Egypt. As we were walking towards the boat, this young boy, maybe 8 or 9 years old, kept following us trying to sell us some trinkets. Shane and I kept saying no and then he started grabbing my arm trying to get me to stop. After about 3 minutes, I lost my patience and elbowed (not that hard) the kid so he could leave me alone. I tend to be a patient and tolerant person but since I was not feeling well and just wanted to get to the boat, my patience was a tad shorter than normal. 

Once on board the boat, I decided to skip dinner to get some rest before the party. I ate some snacks that I had and just relaxed on my super comfortable bed. Then it was time to get ready, time to wear my belly dancing outfit!!! My outfit was sheer so I wore a red tank top underneath (thank God I packed one!) and a tour mate let me borrow her shorts (thanks Megan!!). Sick as I was, I was feeling awesome in my belly dancing outfit. I finished getting ready and walked downstairs to join the party. It was great seeing everyone all dolled up in their outfits and accessories and it was especially hilarious seeing the boys in their Egyptian tunics. I didn't dance since I was feeling really nausea and was actually starting to feel a tad worse. But since I was not going to miss one thing on this trip, I sat and watched the crowd go wild. HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: The best part of the evening was the Dancing Norwegian. No this wasn't an act courtesy of the cruise, it was one of my tour mates gone wild. Erik had been really shy and quiet throughout the trip but today all that changed. After arriving from the temple, Erik started drinking some whiskey so by the time the party rolled around, he was a total dance machine! Hands up in the air, hips moving from side to side, and sometimes a little break dancing on the floor. Sometimes, it looked like he was going into seizures but he was totally living it up. When they played the Isley Brother's "Shout", Erik completely set the place on fire! I'm not sure if any of my tour mates caught his dancing on video but it was definitely one of the highlights on everyone's tour. After the party, quite a few of us went to the top deck to hang out and relax making it another long, but very fun evening! 

Sun shining over Lake Nasser 

My first glimpse of the Temple of Ramesses II. 

Statues of Ramesses II

Front view of the Temple of Ramesses II

Lake Nasser

Temple of Nefertari

Temple of Kom Ombo

Nile crocodile being appeased at the altar

Floating Along The Nile And An Evening With Pushy Sales People

Monday, November 1st. Today was very different from Sunday in that it was more relaxing and the schedule wasn't as packed. We received our "wake up knock" at around 6:30am and Lisa and I were off to get ready in a cabin the size of a closet. What made the cabin that much smaller was our two luggages and day bags but we did manage to get ready without too much trouble. Then we had our "breakfast is here knock" and which was nice because I was starving! Breakfast was served in a small blue tray which had the following: three pieces of bread (a croissant, some sort of French toast,  and some sort of roll), butter, jam, and cheese. Sherif had warned us not to eat the butter so I assumed if the butter was not safe then the cheese wasn't either. I tried a piece of each of the breads and two were really good but the third was very dry (don't remember which is which). After breakfast, Lisa and I enjoyed the views of Aswan from our window as the train rolled on to the Aswan train station.

The moment you step outside of the train station, you notice several differences between Aswan and Cairo. The air is a lot more clear, the city is a lot less crowded, and there is obviously a lot less traffic. We board our bus and head on over to the Aswan High Dam which built between 1960 and 1971 with the support of the Soviet Union. The dam is 12,562 ft across, 364 ft high, and 980 ft wide. The construction of the dam created Lake Nasser, the largest man made lake. The lake covered a lot of towns and historical sites which is why before it was built, there was a lot of archeological activity in Southern Egypt so historians can grab as my artifacts and information before the area became flooded. A lot of the important temples and structures were actually moved to higher ground. We got off the bus and walked around for about 10 minutes. It was a beautiful cool morning and the views were just breathtaking. Lake Nasser was a lovely shade of blue and the sand dunes in the distance provided a great backdrop for some wonderful pictures. We then headed to visit a monument, a lotus shaped tower, that was built to commemorate the Soviet Union's support in the dam construction project. The tower was interesting but there wasn't much to see so after 5 minutes of posing for pictures we were back on the bus.

Next stop was the unfinished obelisk! A lot of the stones used for the pyramids and temples came from the stone quarries in Aswan. The unfinished obelisk dates from the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom and was never completed because after they quarried three sides of the shaft, the Egyptians discovered a major crack in the stone. Had the obelisk been completed, it would have weighted 1,197 tons and stood 134 ft high meaning it would have been one of the largest obelisk in history. Shane (who is a big Egypt nerd like myself) and I likened the experience to a theme park ride. We first saw a short documentary on the obelisk, then we visited the "attraction", and afterwards, there were stores at the end of the "attraction". The documentary is actually something that we had seen on TV before but nevertheless we found it interesting. The quarry itself is very interesting since you can see how the Egyptians carved the massive stones, how they removed the stones from the rock walls, and how they moved the stones down ramps. Shane and I also found areas were other smaller obelisk were created. In the market, we came across a bookstore from the American University in Cairo and I did some serious shopping there. It was great in that they had a good selection and everything was a fixed price meaning no haggling. By the time Shane and I arrived at book store, the majority of people were already on the bus and Sherif was a stickler for people getting to the bus on time. But when Sherif saw his two fellow Egypt nerds in the store, he actually joined us and said we could have a few extra minutes. He knew I was very interested in purchasing good books and that this might be my last opportunity to do so on the trip. Sherif helped Shane and I pick out an awesome book titled "Historic Egypt" which has tons of pictures and information. I also purchased the "Official Guide to the Egyptian Museum", "Christians in Egypt", and "Los Dioses de Egipto", a Spanish guide to the gods in Egypt (yes, I'm fluent in both English and Spanish). In total, I spent roughly $80 which isn't too bad for the amazing books I purchased! I also like to think that included in those $80 was a tranquility fee which allows one to browse without the annoyance of haggling sales people.

Now it was time to relax on the Nile! We boarded a boat that went around Elephantine Island and took us to the Aswan Botanical Gardens. Not only were the views amazing, Shane and I had a great time talking about the history of Elephantine Island. The island was home to several forts that the Egyptians used to protect the country against attacks from the Nubians, their neighbor to the south. The island also has a few temples and interesting sites. We unfortunately did not visit the island but Shane and I do plan on returning to Egypt and do have Elephantine Island on our things to see! The boat ride was amazing since we did get to see a lot including giant cartouches (oblong enclosure with a horizontal line at one end and the name of the pharaoh written in hieroglyphs inside) carved on boulders, the Sofitel Cataract Hotel where Agatha Christie wrote "Death on the Nile", Nubian fishermen preparing their nets and gears, plenty of sand dunes, and remains from many temples and historic sites. We also saw the Aga Khan Mausoleum which its history is one of Egypt's greatest love stories (the love story is below the pictures).

After a relaxing ride on the Nile, we visited Aswan's Botanical Garden in Kitchener's Island. This little island was truly an oasis in the middle of the desert! It was filled with trees and flowers from around the world and in the distance, the mighty Saharan sand dunes provided a magnificent backdrop. We spent about 20 minutes in the garden which I felt was not enough. I would have liked more time to really enjoy the variety of plants and to take in the amazing views. But alas we had to move on to our next adventure, a ride on a Felucca, a typical Egyptian sail boat. Unlike our previous boat, this one was more peaceful since there was no sound from a motor and I found the ride to be smoother. Of course, the peacefulness was interrupted when one of my tour mates decided it will be fun to take a "dive" in the Nile. This tour mate gave the impression that she just wanted to bend over and dip her hands in the Nile so Sherif volunteered to help her balance. As Sherif was holding her, said tour mate lunged forward to stick her whole upper body in the river. Needless to say hilarity ensued when Sherif was struggling to not to lose his grip and since said tour mate was wearing a dress, we all got a lovely view of her underwear. It was a moment I don't think any of us will ever forget!! Then things got better. One of the "captains" on the boat brought out this giant tambourine and we all sang and danced. I managed to capture a lot of the moment on video! :)

Then the Felucca docked and it was time to board our Nile Cruise (M/S Norma), the opportunity to live in luxury for three days! I think this is the moment everyone was looking forward to; spacious rooms, lots of hot water, all you can eat buffets, a gift shop without the haggling, and an upper deck with amazing views. Once we boarded the cruise, we met in the lounge to wait for our room assignments and were offered something to drink. It was some sort of tea but it was tasty. Lisa and I were assigned room 323 and much to our dismay there was no elevator on the boat though fortunately, cruise personnel took care of our luggage (I don't think I would have survived dragging my suitcase up three flights on a spiral staircase). But then came the fun part, apparently you needed a PH.D to figure out how to open the cabin doors. It went something like keep turning your key to the right, then you pull the door, and then you push it open. Sometimes you would hear the moans of frustration from a tour mate as they valiantly struggled to open the door. Luckily, Lisa and I were able to figure out the door opening thing pretty quickly. After getting a lesson in how to open a door, we were off to lunch!!! I think a few of us were quite hungry because we attacked that buffet like dinosaurs on the hunt. There were all sorts of salads, veggies, dips, cheeses, hot entrées (rice, potato, veggies, meats), and a whole lot of desserts. Oh, and there was a table filled with a variety of breads and a few bread sculptures. At this lunch, I learned lesson 4...to recap: Lesson 1: Egyptians are crazy drivers. Lesson 2: Egyptians love their bread. Lesson 3: Egyptians love their metal detectors. Lesson 4: Drinks are never included. After lunch, it was time for a hot shower and a little relaxation before an evening of dealing with some very annoying sales people.

This evening, we had the opportunity to visit a local perfume shop and the Aswan market. Not everyone went, a few stayed behind enjoying the luxuries of the ship while I was enjoying the luxury of self-constraint. Sherif told us this perfume shop was owned by a good friend and that he was going to give us a talk about local perfumes and essential oils. What he did not tell us is that we were going to be hounded by people very skilled in the art of pressure selling. And unfortunately, while most tour mates were able to say no and just buy what they wanted, I caved in to one of their so called "great deals". When we walked in, there was a guy giving a quick demo on glass blowing so we stood and watched while he created a perfume bottle. Then we walked upstairs where my tour mates and I sat on these sofas to hear the owner talk about various perfumes and essential oils. We were offered some tea while listening to this guy ramble on in what can be described as a cheesy speech with equally cheesy sound effects. You could tell the guy and his employees had rehearsed the skit for the "enjoyment" of tourists. After the guy finished talking, this herd of sales people came barreling towards us with pads in hand ready to take orders. I was only interested in the eucalyptus essential oil but the guy assigned to me refused to accept the fact that was the only thing I wanted! After about 5 minutes of going back and forth, I caved in and went for the buy 3, get 1 free deal. I bought a bottle of following; eucalyptus, sandalwood, peppermint, and frankincense. I think your experience at the perfume shop depended on your sales rep because some tour mates said they had a great time and that their rep wasn't that pushy. But I survived and to this day I'm still figuring out what to do with my bottles of essential oils.

After the perfume shop, we headed to the Aswan market. I was a tad worried after all the horror stories I had heard about Egyptian markets but I found this one to be quite tame. Shane and I were "husband and wife" for the trip so we ventured together into the Aswan market. As we were entering the market, a typical crazy Egyptian driver almost ran me over and Shane said "good grief, we just got married, I don't want to lose my wife on the first day". Hahaha...That was a classic and I still laugh at that line! We met up with Matt and Kim, a real life couple, and we went into this store that had all sorts of belly dancing outfits. Tuesday night is theme night were the girls have to wear some sort of belly dancing attire (a full outfit or the scarf with jingles) and the guys wear the tunic so tonight my mission was to find something to wear. I wasn't too fond of the scarves with jingles and then I spotted this awesome belly dancing outfit!!! It was a dark red color and had the jingling coins on both the top and bottom. Shane knew I was looking for a full outfit and he too thought that was the best of the bunch. There were some seriously hideous outfits in that store! I asked the guy in the store to grab the outfit for me and then I went to the back of the store to try it on. The store obviously didn't have a dressing room so I just tried it over my shirt and jeans. It fit almost perfectly!! It was the right length (I had to go Egypt to finally find a pair of pants that were the right length) and the top fit just right. Then the fun part began, the haggling. The guy started out at 400 pounds which is about $70 USD. Way too high! I told him 300 pounds and he was a little iffy but when I saw he was willing to to decrease the price, I said 200 pounds. The guy said "no no no too low 270" and I said "no 200 pounds". I knew 200 pounds ($35 USD) was still a tad high in Egyptian standards (everything in that country including silver is very inexpensive) but I had my heart set in that outfit. It was an awesome color and the fit was almost perfect. Shane was just standing next to me with a smirk on his face watching me haggle with the guy. I kept saying 200 pounds until he brought it down to 240 pounds and at this point, I pretended to walk away. He then said "no no 230 pounds" and I said "no 200 pounds" and continued walking. The guy finally caved in and said ok 200 pounds. Woohoo!! I got my outfit!! I'm sure I could have haggled a bit more but time was running out since we only had an hour and Shane still needed to get his outfit. Either way, I was very happy with my purchase and now I have an authentic belly dancing outfit to wear on Halloween ($35 is not too bad when you consider the average Halloween costume in the US costs upwards of $60). Now we were off to another store for the "hubby's" tunic. Right across the street, we found a place that had more menswear so Shane went at it and started looking for an outfit. He found one right away, a black tunic, and purchased a head piece as well. I can't remember what he paid but I remember he got a really good deal. We wrapped up just in time and headed over to the bus. The market experience wasn't too bad and I was rather happy with my purchase. When I got to the bus Sherif asked us what we had purchased and how much we paid. He obviously laughed and said I needed to work on my haggling skills! Later in the week, he would say that the outfit I purchased was worth the 200 pounds because the outfit I purchased was of better quality in terms of the workmanship and material.  To this day, I love my outfit and I can't wait for the opportunity to wear it again!

After a crazy evening, we headed back to the boat for dinner and an evening show. Dinner again was an all you can eat buffet but with different items. I was rather hungry so I piled on the plate especially with the desserts! After dinner, some of my tour mates and I headed out to the lounge to watch the show. The first act was a "whirling dervish" which is basically a guy that spins around nonstop for about 10 minutes (see picture below). He doesn't get dizzy but we all do. I thought it was rather interesting especially since I had never seen a "whirling dervish". Next up was the belly dancer! She was definitely not your stereotypical belly dancer with the great body and beautiful face. Nope, this lady was packing some serious rolls, had a rather manly face, and was wearing the weirdest belly dancing outfit I had ever seen. My outfit seemed more authentic! After a few minutes of dancing, she starts walking towards me and I was horrified; I so did not want to go on the dance floor to dance with this lady. Instead, she picked Shane that was sitting next to me!!! I stayed for a few seconds to watch Shane and then I ran upstairs before I became the next victim. After a while, I returned to the lounge but the show was over. Very short show, maybe lasted 25 minutes. A group of us then headed to the top deck to relax under a sky filled with stars! The weather was great, there was a cool breeze blowing, so a few of us were tempted to actually sleep there. But alas, it was time to call it a night because the next morning we had a 3:30am wake up call to go to Abu Simbel!!!!!!!

Aswan Train Station

Lake Nasser

Aswan High Dam

Lotus Momument

Unfinished Obelisk

Boulders with cartouches around Elephantine Island

Nubian fishermen

Aswan Botanical Gardens

Saharan Sand Dune

Trees in the gardens.

Beds on the cruise.

Whirling Dervish

Belly Dancer

One of Egypt's Greatest Love Stories: Aga Khan III was born in 1877 and went to become one of the richest men in the world as a result of being one of the founders and first presidents of the All India Muslim League. He married four women but his favorite was the fourth, Yvonne Blanche Labrousse whose name changed to Begum Om Habibeh when she converted to Islam. When Aga Khan passed away, in 1957, he wanted to be buried in Aswan next to the house he shared with Habibheh so she commissioned the construction of the Aga Khan Mausoleum. When the tomb was completed 16 month later, Habibeh visited it every single day leaving a red rose for her late husband. She continued doing this until she passed away on July of 2000. For a little over 40 years, without missing a day, Habibeh did this and at times tourists will gather to see her leave the house and walk up the hill to the mausoleum. Today, a red rose still finds its way to the tomb every so often. 

Aga Khan Mausoleum