Egypt with Uncle Gary

Day 4 - Thursday, October 22, 2009

I started the day with an incredible breakfast! Although they had everything you might imagine, I loaded up on the cheeses!! There were over a dozen kinds of cheese from Egypt, Holland, Lebanon, etc. (I asked the chef what each cheese was and wrote it down for future purchase!)

After breakfast we flew to Aswan, about 500 miles up the Nile River from Cairo (that's traveling south). After we landed we took a buss to board a boat to visit the ruins of Philae on island near Aswan. (That's Land, Sea and Air all in less than an hour!) I took LOTS of pictures as you would expect.



These many-thousand year old ruins definitely fascinate me!! They also fascinate Uncle Gary as you can see in the picture!



However, I couldn't read the hieroglyphics!!! Why don't you give it a shot. Uncle Gary can read them and it is interesting to listen as he reads the old stories chiseled into these rocks by the Pharaoh Osiris. The ruins on this island were built by Pharaoh Osiris to honor his wife Isis. Most of the hieroglyphics in this ruins are stories about Osiris and his victories, accomplishments, and his wife.



Tomorrow we fly across Lake Nasser to visited ruins another hundred miles further south, almost to Sudan's northern border.

Love you,

Dad

******************************************

Day 3 - Wednesday, August 21, 2009

Today I went to the Egyptian Museum. I saw about 20 mummies. They are all dried up and definitely gross looking, but to stand there, look at their face, and contemplate that these "people" lived very powerful lives thousands of years old was mind-boggling. There we guards everywhere, and for good reason. The wealth in jewelry, gold and silver, to say nothing of the historical value, was beyond comprehension. King Tut's saragopolis, the casing or casket which held his body, was solid gold. That's more gold than I will ever dig out of the Oom Paul! The one bad thing, which I expected, was I could not take my camera into the museum - bummer!



After the museum we enjoyed a traditional Egyptian lunch by a lake. The food was great - not bland like many European foods, and not overbearing with curry. Sitting there I counted a dozen mosques in my line of sight.



After lunch we visited the Papyrus Museum where they make paper from Papyrus plants - just like the Pharaoh's scribes did 5000 years ago. All the hieroglyphics were either chiseled in stone of written on this papyrus. Some of these papyrus documents have survived for 5000 years and I saw the originals in the museum this morning. On the way to the Papyrus Museum I saw the pyramids for the first time. I spend time up close with them next week, but it was exciting to see them out of the bus window.



We ended the evening at the Hard Rock Cafe here in Cairo. It was a very informative day. Tomorrow morning I board a plane to fly 500 miles upstream to see the ancient burial grounds around Aswan.

Love you all,

Dad

******************************************

Day 2 - Tuesday, August 20, 2009


After an overnight in New York City to be sure I wouldn't miss my connection, I joined up with Uncle Gary and about 13 of his Egyptology students. The flight to Cairo was uneventful (as we like flights to be!), and we landed about 11:00 this morning.

Gary established the total itinerary for this trip, but he worked with a local tour company to do all the incidentals such as getting everyone's plane tickets, hotel rooms, bus transportation, cruise ship rooms, etc.

Tonight I am on the 18th floor of the Grand Hyatt, right on the Nile. There is an outdoor balcony and the view looks like this:



The only bad thing about this accommodation is that Sharon is not here to share it with me!

After we checked in this afternoon, I needed to get some exercise after sitting in the plane for 12 hours. So I hiked around Cairo. This is a city with 18 million people and the traffic jams are horrendous!!! But walking was an experience such as I have never imagined!! The cars do not stop for traffic lights. The pedestrians just cross six lanes of traffic with cars passing them within a foot. It is just a maze of people and cars. At first, even I was hesitant to step off the curb into six lanes of traffic - but everyone else was doing it and it was the only way to get across the street. I must confess that for my first crossing, I waited until a mother and child stepped off the curb and then I stepped off right beside them - downstream of course!!! All three of us made it!! Three hours later I was an "old hat" at walking into traffic.



Two other things are of note. The first is the city is so polluted that you can hardly see more than six city blocks - way worse than L.A. ever was. Here is a picture with my Nikon camera - and my camera takes great pictures!!



The other thing of note is the peddlers. Those of you who have been to Mexico and have experienced the time-share bandits, will find it hard to believe that dealing with those guys is a piece of cake compared with the harassment of the Egyptian street-hawkers!!!

However, don't let the above three things give you the impression I am disappointed. This country has a 5000 year-old civilization, and its historical sites are unequaled. I am really looking forward to the next fifteen days, and I hope I can get this blog thing figured out so I can share some highlights with you as I travel up and down the Nile.

Dad

Test