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.