Category: North Africa & The Middle East

I was wide awake at 5:15 this morning.. but I did sleep better than the last few nights. So, that’s a big win. I laid in bed, writing out yesterday’s post until I was time for Mom to wake up and it was safe to start making racket.

We got ready and made it to breakfast early enough to eat, drink 3 cups of coffee, and make it to the ATM before Sherif arrived at 8:30. We’ve been crushing these mornings.. it’s got to be the excitement, that’s the only thing I can come up with.

Our first stop of the morning was to a pharmacy, so Andrea could get some non-drowsy antihistamine.. she might be having either an allergic reaction to something or a heat rash, but she wanted something on board just so it wouldn’t get worse. I feel awful for her, I know first hand how miserable it is to be itchy, even the slightest bit. We also pit stopped next door to get a soda-because-me. Ha. Sorry.

Our first half of the day was spent inside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was hectic and somewhat chaotic.. every nationality with their own guide, a cacophony of languages and people smacking into one another. Sherif navigated it so well for us, quickly choosing to show us things that weren’t crowded, or AS crowded as other exhibits. Then, he’d slide us in to the busier areas before they got overwhelming.

Listening to him teach us and explain ancient Egyptian history to us-his history-to us was nothing short of incredible. He was lively and seemed to love every bit of the knowledge he was sharing. We saw sarcophaguses, two preserved human mummies, mummies of animals buried with Pharohs, jewels and furniture and so so many other treasures.

The statues were stunning, every single detail carved without error. Seriously fascinating. Sherif showed us statues found in the great, second, and third pyramids, he taught us some letters in hieroglyphs-and how to tell the two names of a king or his wife, and the stories the carvings tell. We also learned about Hapshepsut and how she was one of the strongest and best Pharohs of Egypt, and how she’s depicted as a king with a beard and muscles in the valley of the kings (which we will get to visit as well).

We learned about King Tutankhamun-the youngest Pharoh, who reigned from the time he was 12 until he died at age 18. We got to see his sarcophagus, and see all of the treasures that were found in his tomb. This king was young and had a short reign, so the massive amounts of jewels and trinkets we saw from his tomb would have been nothing compared to the tombs of the other longer reigning Kings-but their tombs were raided and thieves stole their treasures.

Once we saw everything we could inside the museum, we were taken to Coptic Cairo-said to be one of the places Jesus, Mary, and Joseph stayed while in Egypt and escaping the persecution of infant boys by King Herod in Jerusalem. We saw the first Christian church, “hanging” on wooded rafters high above in a fortress built by the Romans. (Again, forgive me if my details aren’t correct-I should have taken notes! Haha).

Sherif pointed out details of the Christian church, the ivory inlays in the wooden crosses and their three points symbolizing the Coptic church: the father, the son, the holy spirit, and then the 4 corner tips, equaling to the 12 disciples. We saw the crypt that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph slept in, and the church above it-along with a stunning baptism pool. And we saw the first Jewish synagogue. The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities got along much better than we were led to believe. Sherif says the same is true now, between Christians and Muslims in Egypt, that they aren’t constantly fighting or segregated. All beliefs are respected and can live in harmony with each other without the hatred that the media portrays.. mosques and churches nearby one another. Beautiful, really.

From Coptic Cairo, we headed to a restaurant for a late lunch (we weren’t hungry before going to the second stop, but we all were now!). We had a wonderful meal at a nice restaurant near the hotel. It looked like a tiny place out front, but the restaurant was long and quite big inside. And the food! Phenomenal. We were served rice, bread, the best falafels so far, chicken and beef-along with 4-5 things to dip our breads and meats in: tahini, babaganush, eggplant, cheese with finely diced tomatoes.. it was all so great. My favorite part was desert though: RICE PUDDING. Hell yeah.

We made it back to the hotel before 4pm-and I was exhausted. The heat here is draining, and even though we were inside most of the day, it is hot inside the buildings. Once I was back in our room, with the air conditioner set to arctic blast, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I chatted with Mom awhile and rested my legs, but before long I was passed out.. like before 6pm. I didn’t pack or plan anything, just that my alarm would go off at 3am and I’d have to pack quickly for a 3:45 Hotel departure.

Our flight to Aswan leaves at 5:45 tomorrow and apparently that’s enough time to get there, check our bags, and get on the plane. We’ll see!

Somehow, the timing was perfect for our flight to Aswan. We were all up and in the van with our driver by 3:45am, breakfast boxes in tow. I was the only one that really ate anything out of it though.. no one else is a morning eater-they’re normal and wait for their tummies to wake up-I wake up and tell my tummy “if I’m awake, you’re awake-let’s do this!” Haha-and now with taking the synthroid, that first hour of no food literally almost kills me every single day. I’m a real delight.

We got to the airport by 4 something, went through a huge security check point with all of our luggage, then stood in line to check our luggage, walked to the gate and went through another security scanner to get on the plane-this one also includes a quite thorough pat down by a lady only speaking Arabic.. it makes for an exciting morning, lots of attempts to make them smile and way too many hand gestures for what to do and where to go. It always works out, though. And we were on our plane by 5:36am.

When we touched down in Aswan, we were happy to realize this cute city is nowhere near as large as Cairo, so also nowhere near as chaotic. The driving is still a neat song and dance, with everyone weaving in and out of each other-somehow always managing to not tap one another. If I were driving, I would have a complete collection of other vehicle’s side mirrors. Im sure the Egyptians are thankful I didn’t think I’d manage driving us around on this tour!

Coming out of the airport, we met Osama, our tour guide for the next several days. He’ll be with us from now in Aswan, all the way until we fly back to Cairo from Luxor. He’s a quick witted guy, and so full of information that I think at first everyone was still a little stunned from all of the early morning travel and couldn’t keep up with him, the information about the area and the ancient history here.. but after some rest we all managed just fine. Funny how lack of sleep makes you miss all the jokes 😉 I’m picking up what he’s putting down, now! Ha

First thing, after getting to the van, we were driven to a port to get on a boat to go to Philea Temple.. which is on an island in the Nile River. Let me also say-I knew the Nile was a huge river, but I didn’t realize exactly HOW HUGE the river is. I mean, it sustains life for so much of Africa, going through 11 countries and is the second longest river in the world.. just slightly shorter than the Amazon River. It also flows from the south to the north, emptying out into the Mediterranean Sea. And it is wayyyyy wider than I realized.

Back to the temple. This temple was built somewhere else entirely, but was getting ruined by the flood waters of the Nile, so in the 1970s when the high dam of the Nile was finished being built, UNESCO world heritage organization paid to have the temple disassembled and reassembled on an island that wouldn’t flood and that they leveled out.

We took a cute boat over to the island, and thankfully I didn’t slip off of this one like I did in Italy. Small victories, here folks. Osama took us through the site, showing us the Greek and Roman influence of the pillars and showing the way the carvings inside the temple tell the story of Isis, the Goddess of magic, healing, and birth, her husband, Osiris, God of the green lands and killed by his brother, first to enter the underworld-and how Isis fought to bring him back for one night to be impregnated and have their son, Horus.

This temple was also the place where many Egyptians came to worship their gods when Christianity started to take over in the area and people who differed in beliefs would fight and kill each other. It was one of the last places for the ancient Egyptian religion to be practiced, since it was on an island and not so easily accessed. Again, forgive any misled details. There was so much information given and it’s difficult to relay it at all, let alone properly. It does make me want to enroll in some history classes though!

We retreated to the boat after walking through on our own and getting pictures of the architecture and beauty of the place.. attempting to avoid all of the crowd. There’s always a crowd! I really enjoyed the boat ride, personally. I always love being on or in water. Back at the van, we made our way through downtown Aswan, and Osama was able to get us an early lunch at a cute little restaurant. It wasn’t open yet, but they graciously let us wait in a lobby with cushy chairs until they were ready for us inside the restaurant.

This may have been my favorite meal yet-don’t laugh-but it was PIZZA! It was perfection! Andrea and I also got a shawarma-a wrap with meat, grilled veggies and dipped in a sauce, served with fries. It was all delicious. All of us seemed to like this meal, too, not just me-so I think it was actually pretty good and not my post trail stomach enjoying everything that comes with bread.

We got to our hotel, Tolip Hotel, and checked in. It was beautiful! Pinkish red marble accents, chandeliers, a true gem. We unloaded our stuff (well, the bell hop did) and explored a little bit. Then all hung out in our rooms and rested. Everyone took a nap, except me, because I don’t nap well. If I had fallen asleep, I’d probably still be asleep now. I listened to my book and uploaded pictures, and scrolled the internet while sitting on the balcony staring out at the Nile River. What a stunning view.

At 4pm, we met Osama in the lobby and he took us across the street to the river, and onto another boat. We had a nice sunset ride up the river to a Nubian Village. The colors are incredible! The Nubians paint every brick in vivid bright colors-with gorgeous patterns and lively scenes. We were able to visit a house and tour the inside. And the upstairs balconies as well. The hosts were kind and welcoming, even giving us some tea to drink.

They had crocodiles to showcase, too. And, well, I’m about as fond of a reptile larger than me as I am of snakes. I peeked and then left before anyone got the bright idea of getting one out. No thank you. We walked through their markets and Andrea and I got some dresses-we are both horrible hagglers. This man tried to sell us a dress for $100! USD! Sir, are you on crack? Like I realize they set it crazy high to argue it down, but at that high price I’d rather just walk away. I find the whole thing of standing around arguing over price extremely annoying. It’s why I enjoy ordering online-no talking about my purchases required. Let me shop AND BUY in peace.

Osama saw my face and came in to help, he got us down a lot lower than where Andrea and I were, and then got the man to give us a scarf, too.. hahaha-so, I know we overpaid, but we paid a hell of a lot less than $100 a dress! Insane. And stressful. I wonder if they bargain on absolutely everything? I told Andrea on the ride back, it would be like bargaining in Kroger for the chicken to be a quarter of the listed price. It’s just not an easy concept for us to manage.. I feel like it makes us think everyone is a cheat or a swindler, I have enough trust issues as it is-no need to bring shopping into it.

We really loved the peaceful boat ride back to the hotel, it was dark outside and the lights were beautiful. There was music playing and it was wonderful to just soak in the moment. Like, we’re really here. We’re really enjoying these crazy chaotic days with our mamas at our sides, taking it all in, too. What could possibly be better?

Back at the hotel, we walked around a good 20-30 minutes until we found the restaurant. We got the buffet and filled up our bellies before making our way back to the rooms. Tomorrow is another very early day, because we’re going to Abu Simbel Temples-and this has been a bucket list visit since planning this whole trip. The problem? It’s a 3 hour drive to get there. Whoops. Sorry, guys!

Today included another very early morning. We were up, showered, packed and leaving the hotel by 4:30am-breakfast boxes in tow. This one had a few more options, including chips. Nice.

We had an almost 4 hour ride in our van to get to Abu Simbel Temples. It’s close to the Sudan border and not much was visible between Aswan and there.. mostly open desert for as far as the eye can see. Andrea got some fantastic pictures of the sunrise along the way.

We got to the temples just after 8am, including a pit stop for the bathroom and a coffee. At the pit stop we saw all the big tour buses coming in, so we rushed a little, to try and beat the crowd to the temples. This is a place I’ve been soooo looking forward to seeing with my own eyes, the magnitude of the statues-I didn’t want another 300 people to shuffle through with me.

When we got through the entry point, Osama saw the excitement on our faces and let us go without explaining first-so we could get our pretty pictures without all of the people, and then learn about it afterwards. I don’t think he minded being able to wait for us in the shade, and I was brought to tears by the beauty of it all. Some things just need to be taken in before they’re explained.

The first temple was built by King Ramsey II, and outside into the mountainside there were four statues of himself that were over 60 feet tall. They were incredible to witness in person and to walk between. Inside the temple were columns and statues all of Ramses, and the scenes etched into the walls were of his great battles. My favorite piece is the one with him on a chariot shooting an arrow (it looks like Sagittarius to me lol).

The second temple is also stunning. It was built by Ramses for his wife, Nefritari. Outside, there are 6 statues carved into the mountainside, all over 30 feet tall. Two on each side of the entrance are of the King and one on each side is is the Queen, but they’re all the same height, which wasn’t something typically done. Usually queens are made shorter than the kings. Inside was also gorgeous, with scenes including Ramses and Nefritari making offerings to the goddess Hathor. I’m not great with the details, but there was more of a softness to this temple compared to the battle scenes in the other. The beauty in the carvings was undeniable.

We enjoyed our time, walking around and taking it all in. When we made it back to Osama, he explained what we saw and answered our questions. We were extremely pleased to do this in the shade, because about half way through the temples, the tour buses descended upon us and it got HOT and way too crowded. He would have been shouting over entirely too many people. We got back in the van and took naps on our very long ride back to Aswan.

Exhausted, we made it back to Aswan. Osama surprised us with ice cream before getting us checked in on our Nile River cruise ship: Le Fayan. Y’all. It is GORGEOUS. It is so beautifully decorated and the rooms are spacious for being a cruise! I was thrilled! We got our room keys and then headed off to eat lunch on board. It was set up buffet style and the food was perfect.

With full bellies and free time, we explored the ship before giving in and taking naps. I know I accidentally conked out pretty quick. By the time we were all awake again, the sun had set and there wasn’t much to do but wait for it to be dinner time. We strolled the top deck, lounging for awhile taking in the city lights of Aswan.

When we went downstairs for dinner, we were told they weren’t quite ready for us yet, so we strolled back upstairs to the little shops on board. Mom found some earrings and Terri found a pretty dress. By the time we were finished shopping, it was dinner time! We chose our dinner order at lunchtime, since this meal wasn’t buffet style. I had a chicken Cesar salad, creamy mushroom soup, beef medallions with herb sauce, and a brownie with ice cream. It was all superb.

When we got back to the room, I didn’t even last 20 minutes before I was asleep. Mom said she was going to brush her teeth and that’s the last thing I recall before waking up this morning. I think it was a pretty good day!