After everything, I'm now back home. I've been doing nothing for the past two days but sitting around relaxing, uploading pictures online, and eating some great food that I haven't had for a while. I miss a lot about Tanzania, but there is also nothing quite as nice as sleeping in your own bed and really, really being able to relax.
Just wanted to tell anyone who is interested to check out the link on the right to see the pictures which I've posted. There are a lot of them and they're not quite in order, so you'll have to be patient to get through them all. (I've also put them on facebook and there are fewer and they're more in order.) It's been quite the summer, but I've only got 20 days more and I'm off to Spain, so there's lots to do now! Enjoy the pics!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
Oh the Nile!
Clarification: Andrew told the shop-keeper I was actually 500 camels. A bit surprisingly, he said he would still take me for that many. We ran out of there pretty quickly! ha
So this whole trip has been a complete whirlwind. We have covered so much ground and done so much in the last few days and I'm completely exhausted! We're running around like crazy and it's so so hot, but this is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience because I doubt I'll ever make it back to Egypt. I can try to give you some ideas and highlights...
The last night in Aswan we went to the sound and light show at the Philae Temple and it was quite cool although some of it was a bit corny with voices coming from different corners and funky lights in this old and beautiful architectural masterpiece. The next morning was a super early wake-up at 3am to board a really cramped bus to ride out to Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel is out in the middle of the dessert only about 40 miles from the Sudanese boarder and the two huge temples that Ramses II built are there. I'm sure if I showed you the picture you'd be able to recognize it at least - it's a pretty popular stop. We got to just look around there and go inside the two temples, one built for him, the other in dedication of his wife. It is simply unbelievable what these people did so long ago and without the technology we have today!
That afternoon we came back to Aswan to get on our "Felucca Cruise." The feluccas are the old style sail boats that the Nubian people (an African ethnic group spread between Egypt and Sudan) used to go down the Nile - e.g. they have no motors and no bathroom facilities. We stayed on this all afternoon and it was actually amazingly relaxing - they have a sheet over the top and they put mattresses across the top of the deck making it a great place to nap. Mid-afternoon we stopped to go swimming in the Nile. What a rush! The water was freezing, but it was so refreshing and fun. It's quite clean because the current is pretty fast moving and you definitely can't touch the bottom. After our swim we had a traditional Nubian style dinner at a nearby village on a Nubian island on the Nile. We visited their neighborhood for a bit and sat indian-style on some carpets on the floor while they served our food. I got some henna done around my ankle by the wife of our boat's captain and the food was great. After dinner we went back on the boats to sleep under the stars, floating on the Nile.
That next morning we had to get up early once again and left Aswan to go visit some other temples. We stopped at two on our way to Luxor, both of which were quite beautiful. Unfortunately, I think some of the temples are already becoming a blur in my mind. After we arrived in Luxor we went to see the famous Karnak temples. We had this great guide whose ancestors have actually lived in the area for thousands of years. He claims to be "Ramses 99." He is a terribly funny old man and so picturesque, but also exceptionally knowledgable. He picked me to be his queen for the tour group and called me "Her Majesty" and asked me to walk on his left side like a queen should, close to their King's heart. It was quite hilarious. The Karnak Temples were another amazing site, as well as the rest of old Luxor, which used to be the capital of Egypt quite a long time ago, but now remains as a huge tourist-hub. We rode back from the Temples by horse-drawn carriage and the young conductor (I'd say about 13, although he said 15) proposed to me and asked if I would like an Egyptian husband. "15 is really just like 20, you can live here with me." He was so cute! haha
Today we got up early again at 5am (surprise, surprise) to take a donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings. Donkeys are really not a bad way of getting around! The tombs themselves were in such good condition it was just breathtaking! I never really thought of it, but the temples and the tombs were actually really colorful, although that has largely faded away over the last 3000 years. But in the tomb of Ramses IV the colors were so vibrant and beautiful! It is so interesting what these people did to please their gods and try to create their perfect afterlives. It took 10-20 years to build most of the tombs and you can tell what hard work that must have been.
Now I am here finishing my time in Luxor. We have an overnight train tonight back to Cairo where we are staying again for the next two days, and then I am home! It's gone so fast and I've seen so much, but I also can't wait to be home. Talk to everyone soon!
So this whole trip has been a complete whirlwind. We have covered so much ground and done so much in the last few days and I'm completely exhausted! We're running around like crazy and it's so so hot, but this is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience because I doubt I'll ever make it back to Egypt. I can try to give you some ideas and highlights...
The last night in Aswan we went to the sound and light show at the Philae Temple and it was quite cool although some of it was a bit corny with voices coming from different corners and funky lights in this old and beautiful architectural masterpiece. The next morning was a super early wake-up at 3am to board a really cramped bus to ride out to Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel is out in the middle of the dessert only about 40 miles from the Sudanese boarder and the two huge temples that Ramses II built are there. I'm sure if I showed you the picture you'd be able to recognize it at least - it's a pretty popular stop. We got to just look around there and go inside the two temples, one built for him, the other in dedication of his wife. It is simply unbelievable what these people did so long ago and without the technology we have today!
That afternoon we came back to Aswan to get on our "Felucca Cruise." The feluccas are the old style sail boats that the Nubian people (an African ethnic group spread between Egypt and Sudan) used to go down the Nile - e.g. they have no motors and no bathroom facilities. We stayed on this all afternoon and it was actually amazingly relaxing - they have a sheet over the top and they put mattresses across the top of the deck making it a great place to nap. Mid-afternoon we stopped to go swimming in the Nile. What a rush! The water was freezing, but it was so refreshing and fun. It's quite clean because the current is pretty fast moving and you definitely can't touch the bottom. After our swim we had a traditional Nubian style dinner at a nearby village on a Nubian island on the Nile. We visited their neighborhood for a bit and sat indian-style on some carpets on the floor while they served our food. I got some henna done around my ankle by the wife of our boat's captain and the food was great. After dinner we went back on the boats to sleep under the stars, floating on the Nile.
That next morning we had to get up early once again and left Aswan to go visit some other temples. We stopped at two on our way to Luxor, both of which were quite beautiful. Unfortunately, I think some of the temples are already becoming a blur in my mind. After we arrived in Luxor we went to see the famous Karnak temples. We had this great guide whose ancestors have actually lived in the area for thousands of years. He claims to be "Ramses 99." He is a terribly funny old man and so picturesque, but also exceptionally knowledgable. He picked me to be his queen for the tour group and called me "Her Majesty" and asked me to walk on his left side like a queen should, close to their King's heart. It was quite hilarious. The Karnak Temples were another amazing site, as well as the rest of old Luxor, which used to be the capital of Egypt quite a long time ago, but now remains as a huge tourist-hub. We rode back from the Temples by horse-drawn carriage and the young conductor (I'd say about 13, although he said 15) proposed to me and asked if I would like an Egyptian husband. "15 is really just like 20, you can live here with me." He was so cute! haha
Today we got up early again at 5am (surprise, surprise) to take a donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings. Donkeys are really not a bad way of getting around! The tombs themselves were in such good condition it was just breathtaking! I never really thought of it, but the temples and the tombs were actually really colorful, although that has largely faded away over the last 3000 years. But in the tomb of Ramses IV the colors were so vibrant and beautiful! It is so interesting what these people did to please their gods and try to create their perfect afterlives. It took 10-20 years to build most of the tombs and you can tell what hard work that must have been.
Now I am here finishing my time in Luxor. We have an overnight train tonight back to Cairo where we are staying again for the next two days, and then I am home! It's gone so fast and I've seen so much, but I also can't wait to be home. Talk to everyone soon!
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