Aqaba, Jordan--Feb 25-29

the Red Sea from Bernice Beach Club

The Red Sea sparkles a beautiful combination of blues and greens, and although we'd love to swim, it is pretty chilly, so we decide to wade.  We are at a South Beach club complete with 3 swimming pools, restaurant, and beach area.  The beach in downtown Aqaba is surrounded by an industrial port and not the best for swimming.  Everybody goes to the South Beach area, so we do, too.  But the sand here is actually rocky, and, although we can see coral reefs from the dock and Russian tourists are in the water, we figure that they are more desperate for warm weather and swimming than we are.  We enjoy ourselves in the sun and count ourselves among the fortunate to have the opportunity to get out of winter coats.  Our first day
in Jordan is a success.

at the red dunes

Today we can see the sandstorm approaching, red like the hills around us, but keeping below the horizon so that the sky remains a bright blue.  We are in Wadi Rum, the Bedouin desert area of Lawrence of Arabia fame.  Our Jeep approaches a tent where we stop for a cup of tea (delicious with sage and cardamom) and yet another opportunity to purchase some handmade item.  We do.  Then it's into our vehicle and 15 more minutes of spinning in deep sand.  Our guide Sroe makes 3 attempts to climb up a particularly softsand hill and after backing down, gets a running start in 4 wheel drive, guns the motor, and makes it over and down the other side.  He explains that it's extremely soft because the sandstorm has just dropped light and loose sand as it passed over the area.  He halts on the edge of a beautiful, red sand dune where climbers clambor up the side and run lickity-split down again.  We don't (but it looks like fun).





Back into the Jeep again and this time we dismount at a narrow mountain canyon where we climb through to the back and out again, enjoying some fascinating petroglyphs along the way.  The mountain itself is solid rock, but the face of it looks like it has been melted and is dripping down like candle wax.  It's a vivid red, something that keeps calling you back to look again.  Another Bedouin tent with items to buy looms up at the base, this time with camels out front.  They are pretty cute with feet like leather-covered jelly which allows them to demurely step in the soft sand. 

camel herd with babies

After several times in and out of the Jeep to see some pretty amazing petroglyphs and rock formations, we are back at the Bedouin village where we started.  Our guide explains that this tribe, like most, were tenting people who moved around, and now they are settled in a specific area with real houses of cement.  As we drive through the village, we see boys playing soccer or leading camels, but we don't see any girls or women.  They keep themselves pretty scarce.  On our way out, we spot a woman tending sheep in the field and start to take a photo, but our taxi driver tells us that once a passenger took a photo of a woman and had stones thrown at his vehicle.  So, we don't.

It's a short stay in Aqaba, mostly to enjoy the Red Sea and to experience Wadi Rum.  We plan our next stop: Petra and hope to avoid the stormy weather we hear is coming.  It could even snow!!

Luxor and Cairo, Feb 20-25

~Luxor, Cairo Feb 19-24

sun bread baking

Dogs barking, donkeys braying, birds singing, motorcycles roaring past us, and this at only 7 am. We are riding these donkeys down the already-busy streets of the west bank of Luxor and into the countryside where people are putting out their round loaves of dough that will become the sun bread we have enjoyed so much. It is a slow pace that allows us to exchange waves with the children who run alongside us calling "Hello" and smiling up at us. We can see the sugar cane and wheat growing (we were told that cobras were in there) and women sweeping the eternal sand off their stone steps. It's a relaxing saunter, and I have to chuckle as I watch Terry ride his donkey, his feet almost touching the ground.

hot air balloon ride at dawn

The Valley of the Kings is a forlorn-looking place with rocks and sand as far as the eye can see. Remnants of once-sturdy square houses fill the area with box-like structures, roofs gone so that we see only mud brick sides. They are attached to each other, revealing an almost honeycomb effect. It is there that workers lived, slept, and built the tombs for the nobles and pharaohs. The nobles' tombs were beautiful and colorful, but as we oohed and awed, our guide Lorna gave a "wait and see" response. So, when we got to the royal tombs, I thought I was ready, but as I entered Ramses I's tomb, I was dumbstruck (gobsmacked as our English friends say). The painting was so fresh, I would have bet money that it was recently done. But no, it was in its original form, according to our guide Ahmed. We aren't allowed to take photos, but my hand twitched in my pocket fingering my camera. The scenes are phenomenal ones of the pharaoh and his family, the myriad of gods in the form of hawks, cows, cobras, rams, crocodiles, some with bodies of animal and others with bodies of humans. The colors are so vivid, bright and clear that I can only keep turning around in the small completely-covered-with-paintings room. No photos!!! Other tombs are also beautiful and some are larger, but the one of Ramses I is the one I'll remember. King Tutankhamun's tomb is also there, but despite all the treasures his contained, his tomb is undecorated.

The ground slides away under our balloon as we take to the air. We had never been in a hot air balloon, but here we are, at dawn, with a big red orb over us and the ground gradually dropping away. We can see the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut's tomb, village after village with their little group of homes made out of mud bricks, open courtyards exposed to those who look from above. We see where the workers dug the tombs, where present families work the sugar cane fields, and young boys leading cattle and donkeys to pasture along the mud path. Over to the east, we see the Nile flowing by as it has done for who knows how many years. It sparkles and twists its way from one horizon to the other, bringing water to an otherwise desert environment. Magnificent!

We drop down to skim over the sugar cane fiends, the tips of the tall plants brushing against the basket that carries us. Thinking we're going to land, we brace ourselves, but then the pilot begins to climb into the air once again. After a time, we drop again to the ground, this time to be caught by a team of Egyptians whose job it is to hold the balloon from scooting along the dirt. We stop and their heads pop up over the rim of the basket like jack-in-the-boxes. We are done, but what a fantastic ride.

Now we go to Tehrir Square where much of the recent revolution took place. Right away a group of young boys comes to us wanting to paint our faces with the red, white and black of the Egyptian flag. I don't fancy my face to be painted, so I hold out my hand and they oblige. It's such a small part of their activity, but we are pleased to be there to witness where so many faced the threat of the police. Our guide Ahmed, who was himself a revolutionist (and still is) tells us many stories about the difficult days of demonstrations. There are too many to tell here, but we learn so much that we didn't read in the newspapers. What a brave group of people, and their work is not done.

The famous Cairo Museum is our last guide-led tour before we leave. Ahmed shows us the many treasures of Egypt's history and explains the plethora of items discovered in Tut's tomb It is the focus of our visit and that of many of the visitors we encounter because his tomb was the only one which had been discovered intact. All the other tombs had been looted by the ancient Egyptians. So, we proceeded to drool over the gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, carnelian, alabaster and painted belts, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, amulets, furniture, canopic jars, sarcophagi, and large gold nesting boxes that fit into a bigger one and ultimately held his mummy. We return the next day to see everything all over again. But this time, as we leave, I run into the bathroom as we are on our way out.

In the bathroom are 6 girls getting themselves ready for some event. They are applying makeup, twisting their scarves around their heads, and bubbling with laughter. I ask them if they are going to a party and indicate that I'm interested in seeing how they put their hajibs on. They pull out a scarf, fold it like they are getting ready to put it on, and motion that they want to put it on me. One winds it around my head and produces a mirror. We all shriek with laughter and then I begin to remove it. They will not take it back but insist that I keep it, and it's beautiful. What a fun way to end our trip, with such feelings of goodwill. We return to our hotel, pack our bags, and ready ourselves for the next leg of our trip—Jordan.

Aswan, Edfu, Luxor Feb. 15-19

~Aswan, Edfu and Luxor~February 15-19,2012

dinner at mahmoud's house

The flight on Egypt Air is fine, but clouds hide the geography that we were eager to see. Maybe we'll get another chance on the way back to Cairo in a few days, but we can tell that it's vast, as we all have learned in school. The climate is wonderful, we comment, as we deplane and realize the temperature has risen about 15 degrees.

Our first foray in Aswan is to lunch in the Souk, the open market place, and we find a little cafe whose owner has corralled us with his smiles and waves of welcome. Egyptian pizza is good and beer is cooling from the heat. In fact, it's really quite warm as we go into the souk, look at the vegetables that seem a little wilted, get a big glass of fresh orange juice, buy some water, and retreat back to the hotel for the hottest part of the day. We gaze out our window and pinch ourselves as we watch the Nile flow by.

Aswan has much to offer in the middle of the desert because of its approximation to the Nile. The history here is vast. The boatride across that life-giving body of water brings us to the west bank where we find ourselves on camels, riding across sand dunes toward a 7th century monastery called Deir Al-Anba Sama'an or San Simeon. Built by the Coptic Christians as a refuge from the Romans, it became a pilgrimage and lasted into the 1400's. We find it in ruins, wasted by invading armies and sand. Still, its huge form is evident, even to the stone slabs that served as beds, where the toilets, kitchens, and stables were located and its magnificent view of the Nile.

Back onto the camels, we listen to the squish of sand between their toes as they plod along. It could be fairly hypnotizing to sway on the saddle of this beast in the warm sun, except my camel reaches out and bites the tail of our guide's camel. Hasan, my animal handler, the miniscule 12-year-old with big brown eyes, long eyelashes and dimples, saves the day by separating the two. He looks up at me and shrugs his shoulders. He has already made my camel run, only to be reprimanded by his father. It must have been the look of panic in my eyes. Or perhaps the grip on the saddle that almost popped the veins in my arms? We return, unscathed, and hop back in the boat to cross this grand river.

The breeze is up, so we can finally get our felucca ride that we have looked forward to. These ancient boats, largely unchanged over time, have been used on the Nile for centuries. They are old and elegant, with one large sail that billows as it is carried smoothly through the waves. Having read so much about these water carriers of goods, humans and beasts, we are delighted to be able to have this delightful experience. Relaxing in the warm breeze and warmer sun, we feel particularly fortunate.

The Nile is certainly the lifeblood of this beautiful and exotic country. Our whole experience here is centered around it. Later in the day, we have another amazing experience, that of visiting a Nubian home. I figured it was going to be a restaurant in disguise, but, in fact, it was in the home of a friend of our guide Lorna.

Mahmoud's home is two very large square connected buildings with side rooms for the myriad of family members that he has. Everything is painted blue because he is Nubian, with tile floors on one level and sand on the other. Colorful cushions cover the built-in couches, and a courtyard opens up to the starry sky. The dinner is served by Airi, Mahmoud's beautiful sister-in-law who is wearing a luxurious red scarf and a glittering smile. The food is scrumptious: lentil soup, sun bread, grilled chicken and 2 vegetable tagines with potato chips! We stuff ourselves, watch the children play, and prepare to depart. Back in the boat, we see that the sun has set and the sky is black with glittering stars. A little light but not enough to navigate by makes me nervous about going back through the rapids, but our boatman takes the safe passage, and we arrive at our hotel cool from the night air.

Airi with the tea things

Three in the morning finds us off on a 3 hour ride to Abu Simbel, the great temple of Ramses II, and another temple dedicated to his wife Nefertari. Built around 1274BC, Ramses' temple is the more famous with 4 big seated statues of the self-proclaimed god-king. It has beautifully carved and painted scenes of Ramses' battles, how he is to be received into the afterlife, and his devotion to the gods. It is enormous, with the seated statues about 20 feet in height.

There are far too many temples to mention them all. In Edfu we see Kom Ombo with its crocodile god Sobek. We also visit a crocodile museum that has lots of those beasts in mummified form. In Luxor, we visit Luxor Temple with still more huge statues of Ramses II and an avenue lined with more than 50 sphinxes that sweep toward my favorite temple Karnak Temple.



on our camels "Jimi" and "Rambo"



Karnak Temple's most famous part is the Hypostyle Hall with its 134 columns, 60 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter, each completely decorated with thousands of hieroglyphs and capped with giant flowers of papyrus and lotus blossoms. Still more statues of Ramses II (can we say self-centered?) adorn the grounds. Two obelisks shoot up into the brilliant blue sky. There were originally 6, but one was given to be erected in Istanbul, and the other 3 are lost. Coptic Christians also used this complex as a refuge while fleeing from the Romans. Their columns had painted images on them of Jesus and Mary, although very faint. We are in awe, standing and looking at history marching before our eyes, all the people who had a part in the building, all those who passed among the mighty and majestic columns, all refugees fleeing from the Romans. So much history in this one place; it's hard to take it all in.

terry and ramses II at Karnak Temple



at abu simbel



 No wonder we are so tired every night. We fall into our bed, exhausted with no reason other than our minds have done so much thinking!



felucca on the nile



 







Cairo Feb 10--14

The sun came out on the Great Pyramid---beautiful!!

It's a cloudy day in front of the Great Pyramid

It's a cacophony of color that we see as we watch passengers file onto the Royal Jordanian jet. Women with head scarves of every color and shade, darling children in little outfits of pastels and prints, and the airline staff in bright red uniforms with jaunty navy hats. Men mostly wear Bedouin scarves of red or black and white with black clothes, as do some women, but that only gives the colorful attire some contrast. It's like looking at a continuous, swirling ribbon dancing by us. In a few minutes we are airborne, watching the lights of New York, then Boston, and other North American cities, finally seeing Halifax drift off in the distance behind us as we fly the northward arc that would take us over the North Atlantic then down over England, France, the Mediterranean, the tip of Italy, the Peloponnese and Greek Islands, and finally into Amman, Jordan. While we wait at the airport for our next flight into Cairo, we see happy Jordanians celebrating. One, a young man returning from college, his degree in his hand and still dressed in his graduation robes, is being carried on the shoulders of some family members while the others carry his father who joins hands with him and dances in the air. Another group spins around a recently married couple who are either leaving for or returning from a honeymoon; we can't quite tell. Everyone is yelling, whistling and clapping. It's quite a joyous sight. At last we are called to our departure lounge and soon we are off, flying over small villages and then over dark land below us. We know it's the desert and probably the Sinai Peninsula. But we are tired and happy to land, find our taxi and get to our hotel. I wonder in which direction the Pyramids are.

~Cairo~

We are awake very, very early because I have set the clock incorrectly. It's only 3:30 and already the traffic outside is audible. Again at 5:30 we awake to ever-increasing sounds of traffic and yelling voices. The crowd at the corner is waiting for buses, yelling at each other and selling newspapers or something else. Above it all is the honking of every bus, truck and car. Evidently, they honk at every circumstance: “get out of the way, watch out, hello, I like your shirt.” At least it seems so. Eventually we get up to get ready for the day. It is already getting light and there, right in the center of our window is the Great Pyramid! “Wow,” I say out loud.

Along with our guide Aladdin (really) we take his car with our friends Bruce and Louise whom we met in Chile when we were there in 2008. Our favorite sight is the Mohammed Ali (first emperor or a united Egypt) Cemetery. It is most fascinating to see not only beautifully carved tombs and mausoleums but homes (such as they are) in among the relatives'graves which the owners care for. We also drive through a most interesting market and visit the Mena House Hotel which was built by the British in the 1800's and used both in WWI and WWII. A drive by the Pyramids and a stop at a restaurant for tea completes our day.

muhammed ali cemetery in cairo

gloria and new friend at alexandria fortress

Our tour officially begins at a different hotel in the middle of Cairo the next day. We meet our guides Lorna and Ahmed. Today we go to the Pyramids and get to see them up close and personal. They are huge and amazing, but the action is happening at the base where tourists meet camels and their drivers, horses and their riders, vendors and their souvenirs, and people who want you to take their picture so they can ask for some money from you. It's really an interesting and amusing chaos. There are actually seven pyramids which are all smaller than the Great Pyramid plus the Sphinx and all within a few blocks of town. It's true that many years ago they were in the outlying desert, but today the city has grown up around them. So, one can walk up the path from town. They are incredible structures, and we are lucky that more people aren't there but we feel sad that more people aren't there because the Egyptians are hurting because the revolution is keeping them away. Understandably, visitors are nervous about coming to Egypt, but we find only friendliness and welcoming people here. More on that later.



Selling protest flags




 

water bottles at the market

two egyptians in memphis



 Saqqara, a spot on the edge of the Sahara (which actually means desert in Arabic) houses several famous structures, among them the Step Pyramid (2650BC) which is the world's oldest stone monument that has so far been discovered and the entry hall of Pharaoh Zoser which is thought to have possibly been built by Jacob called Imhotep at that time. Both are amazing buildings, but our favorite is mastaba of Vizier Mereruka which contains the only painted reliefs of everyday life in ancient Egypt. It is magnificent in its detail given to fishing, river animals including crocodile, hippopotamus, fish, birds, cattle, pigs and other domesticated animals, farming, religious rituals, beermaking, breadmaking, and many other types of activities that people would do in their villages along the Nile. We also have a chance to go into a pyramid, built by Teti in 2345BC. The entry is low and steep but not as long as some we'll encounter so we decide to give it a try. We pay with knee and neck pain and resolve not to pay money to do ourselves in at a big one.

Our next destination is Alexandria in the north of the country. It is a more refined town than Cairo and has a heavy European influence: a lot of Spanish, Italian and Greek buildings. We explore Roman ruins and underground catacombs, and swing by Pompey's column, but our favorite is the Alexandria Library. It's new and built very near the famous library of early Egypt with 11 floors, an amazing art gallery, one million plus books, places for 3000 readers, and a dynamite view of the Mediterranean. We could have stayed all day, but it's way past time for lunch and our three hour ride back to Cairo. Besides, we must get back to our hotel, pack and get ready for an early flight to Aswan tomorrow.