EGYPT
We returned to Heathrow from Scotland, picked up our stored luggage and retired for the night at Yotel inside the International Terminal.
Our room, better described as a cubby hole with pull-out bed, enabled us to make our early morning Air France flight to Paris. With only a one hour layover in Paris, we scurried and made the flight to Cairo.
DESTINATION #2 CAIRO
Sakkara
We were driven to Sakkara, an extensive archeological site. The Step Pyramid of King Zoser (2700 BC) is one of the oldest stone structures in the world. It is still one of the virgin archaeological sites with much reconstruction in progress. Note the piles of column sections to be assembled.
Memphis on the Nile
The cemetery for the capitol of Ancient Egypt was founded in 3100 B.C.
Cemeteries were located on one side of the Nile and the other side was for the living. Below, Statue of Ramses II. Note his size compared to the people walking below his head.
Our Egyptian tour was reserved through Blue Danube Holidays whose representative met us and drove us to the Mena House Oberoi, quite a contrast to Yotel!
Obama met us in the dining room. When I asked where are the pyramids, he told me to look out the window through the beads. Pretty impressive! And so was the entrance to the Mena House, a magnificent historical lodge, now a hotel.
The salesman tried to put his trinkets in Bob's pocket or force them into his hand, claiming they were real alabaster.
Along the way we saw many unusual sights including lots of buildings under construction because, with no mortgage system in place, people build as they get the money.
Cheops Colossal Pyramid
The stones that built the pyramids were taller than me. There were tourists but we never saw one American tourist. Behind the big pyramid were some smaller ones, the burial places for lessor Pharaoh family members.
Beef on the hook.
Oxen on the hoof.
Water bottles on heads.
Looking across the Nile from the pyramids at Giza, Cairo is a bustling city that we chose not to visit considering the dangerous political problems at the moment. Looking the other way, we saw just a few camels trekking across the vast desert.
The face of the Sphinx (King Chefren) is wearing away.
The Aswan Dam.
Up at 4 am we could hear the morning prayers coming from the nearby mosque. Our guide Ahmed met us after breakfast and whisked us off to the airport for our flight to Aswan on Egypt Air.
Our new guide, George met us at the airport and he and our driver took us to the dam. Shortly after, we realized we hadn't picked up our checked baggage at the airport. That was an experience dealing with the local authorities! But all's well that ends well.
George explained how the island of Philae is now under water but the gigantic monuments were reconstructed on another island as were many other archialogical sites covered when the water reached full capacity in 1976.
The granite from this Aswan area supplied the stones for the monuments all over Egypt.
We were taken by boat to see the reconstruction of Philae..
The capitols on the columns have many designs, mostly Egyptian flowers, as opposed to the four designs on Greek columns.......and all the ladies have belly buttons!
The travails of driving in Egypt: No traffic signals, no lane lines. A big intersection took about 25 minutes to negotiate. Traffic goes as fast as potholes, donkeys and people will allow.
Pictures shot
from the back seat
On a narrow street in Aswan, we were face to face with another car and no place to go as a pile of rocks was on one side and a caterpiller tractor on the other. Our driver got nowhere with the other driver until two monster sized guys in the car behind us convinced him to back up.
At one point, we were forced into a gas station and surrounded by local punks who opened my door and told me to get out. I refused; mostly because I was scared stiff!
Thankfully, the man in military camouflage uniform came over and disbursed them. This was the only time in 48 days, we ever felt threatened.
Egyptian Faceoff
Ubiquitous Coca Cola signs
After a long day, we were taken to the huge quarry in Aswan where many obelisks were cut out including the one we had seen in London. It was a 101 degree day and I wasn't too sure I wanted to climb this granite quarry to see the "unfinished obelisk". Picture on the right proves I made it!
We boarded MS Beau Soleil in Aswan. This Nile River boat did not live up to our expectations of a 5 star as promised. The dining room was below water level with no windows. Guests were mostly German and French. Our dinner companions from Wales were the only guests on board who spoke English. Our guide George would meet us at each port for our private tour.
Below, costume night with my "date" put together by our room service. My dress I had purchased in Morocco in the 80's. The shop owner wanted to buy it from me.
Sailing down the Nile
Seen from the top deck
The river's edge is green but the desert sands are close behind.
Workers are tending the crops and fishing. Date palms flourish near the shore and some islands were big enough to raise crops.
Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Luxor
It was horse and buggy to Kom Ombo Temple. Even then, we had to walk a long way to see the temple.
Another sail to Edfu Temple. The god Hours is represented by the falcon. After another night on board, we sailed to Luxor.
The Valley of the Kings
The Temple of Queen Hatshepsute (18th Dynasty).
The fifth Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty was one of a handful of female rulers in Ancient Egypt.
Undergoing reconstruction, this huge funerary temple with a commanding stairway still stands as a tribute to her incredible rise to power as she served the longest of all the female pharaohs in Ancient Egypt.
Preparing for her death, the temple was originally beautifully landscaped. Some of the paintings and sculptures are still visible. Note the partial face restored on the pillar below.
The two Colossi of Memnon are the gateway to the Valley of the Kings where we entered some tombs. Not allowed to take pictures, I must file in my memory the beautiful scenes painted on the walls of the tombs. Many looking as fresh as when they were painted centuries ago. Tombs of these ancient kings are still being discovered.
This is a real alabaster carving store. Bob bought an alabaster pyramid and I bought a camel. Nice people, treated us to an orange drink.
Luxor with
Karnak Temple
The Avenue of the Sphinxes is the dramatic entrance to this series of temples built in different reigns.
Everything built in these temples is huge including the Hypostyle Hall with its 134 gigantic columns and a sky-touching obelisk.
Our guide George was always there to meet us at the boat and show us important details about what we were seeing. He told us he is a Christian and having a very difficult time with the absence of visitors to these spectacular sights. Ours was the first tour he had in three months .
Bob walked around the scarob three times to bring us luck. We really needed it as we were looking at 4 flights and 48 hours without a bed!
Cairo to Delhi
Because our Air France flight from Cairo to Delhi was canceled just before we left home, two hours on the phone with Delta resulted in a crazy patchwork of flights.
Our Egypt Air flight from Luxor put us in Cairo near midnight. Kenya Airways flew us to Nairobi, landing in Khartum, Sudan, in the middle of the night to pick up passengers en route. We changed flights at Jomo Kenyatta Airport (familiar as we had landed there when we visited Kenya in 2007). Kenya Airways flew us to Entebbe, Uganda, for a 15 hour layover before a KLM flight to Amsterdam. Nearing Entebbe, we landed by Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River.
The State Department had issued a warning not to leave the airport. Luckily, for $30 we were able to use the very comfortable KLM Lounge. I slept for 6 hours on a yellow leather couch and the friendly natives had good food and drinks for us.