Entry 45 OMG we have seen the pyramids!!

Egypt, Spring Break 2010...we saw so much, learnt so much, and I took over 400 pictures! (This entry has the potential to be very long. ) I will try and keep it short and sweet yet try to capture the amazingness (is that a word?!?) of our travels.

FYI: Egypt is CRAZY! There are around 80 million people in a country a little smaller than Quebec. Around 20 million of those live in Cairo. When we decided to go to Egypt we were told by many people that this is one trip you shouldn't plan on your own, and definitely don't rent a car and tour the country by yourself. After being there, we agree 110%. We were recommended to a travel company in Egypt and they set up our itinerary and arranged for all our tours and a tour guide. It was nice to be picked up at the airport and shuttled around. We arrived on Saturday April 27th and started our adventure early on Sunday.


Day 1: Sunday March 28th: Giza Pyramids
We started out at the Giza Pyramids on our first day. It was about an hour drive (it would have been 30 without crazy traffic) and it was surreal to see the top of the pyramids over apartment buildings. It never occurred to me that people would live in the shadow of the pyramids but when you have 20 million people in a city you have to put them somewhere. Our driver told us he sees the pyramids everyday! However, many Egyptians have never been to see them up close. Even when I told my students I was going to Egypt they all asked if I was going to Sharm El-Sheik, which is the beach resort area in Egypt. They seemed surprised I would go see the historical spots. I guess when things are close by you take them for granted, much like PEI! :)

We spent about an hour at the pyramids and took a camel ride with the kids, which was the highlight of the trip for them. You could pay extra to go inside the pyramids but our guide said it was not worth it. "Just an empty room." Unfortunately, we left Isaac's Buzzlight Year bubbles in the van and he was distraught! We will always associate the pyramids with Buzz!

Two of the three great pyramids. When they were first built almost 4500 years ago the pyramids were covered with white limestone so that it was perfectly flat surface down each side. Over the years the rock was taken away to build other buildings and palaces. A few days after we were there a man climbed to the top of this pyramid and was arrested and taken off with the help of a helicopter.

The three great Giza Pyramids. The smaller three on the left were for queens and noble folk. Why do men need to make everything so big??? Even in ancient Egypt they were worried that size matters!

I am as tall as the pyramids!Isaac holding up the pyramids! GRRRRR!

This is one of my favourites!
The Sphinx, across the street from a lovely KFC and Pizza Hut. Our camel ride on Mickey Mouse and Moses. The man who took us was the first of many who asked us where we were from, and when we responded Canada he quickly said "Canada Dry!" It was funny the first three times, but got a little tired after the 50th!

From the pyramids we headed back into traffic and off to lunch. Then we hit a few other tourist spots. Then we headed back to the hotel for swimming.

Day 2: Monday March 29th: Sakkara Pyramids and the Museum
We were off early again on day two and drove for an hour outside of the city to the Sakkara Pyramids. These are the oldest pyramids (around 5000 years old) in Egypt and they are set up as steps. They are in the process of restoring these pyramids as their foundations are starting to crack and they are worried it will collapse. In my opinion this is just another example of some shoddy Egyptian workmanship, imagine a structure only lasting for 5000 years!

This hallway of pillars seemed impressive at the time. Little did we know what was waiting for us in Aswan and Luxor.
Here is the view from the Sakkara Pyramids. You can see different pyramids in the background.

We then headed off to the National Museum. It is an amazing museum and you could spend hours here and still not see it all. Our tour guide was trying to give us a tour but the kids just wanted to explore so he gave us an hour on our own. We paid extra to see the Mummy Room (oddly, there were no pictures of me in there....Zoe and Isaac liked this joke quite a bit!) and it was well worth it. The mummies are thousands of years old and you could still see their hair, teeth, and nails. We also visited Tutankhamen's room with all the treasures from his tomb. We couldn't bring cameras inside the museum so we could only get a few in front of the museum.

Side story: Some men were not so discreetly taking pictures of me in front of the museum. Not sure why they would be interested in a haggard looking white mother from Canada but they do have a few of me glaring at them and a few with me giving them the finger. Look for it on-line!! Seriously, we became very tired of people taking pictures of the kids. I know my kids are cute but really, what do you do with pictures of strangers kids!

Here is Flat Stanley in front of a sphinx at the museum.

A not so successful family picture in front of the museum.

We spent two full days in Cairo and that was enough for a life time. The traffic, the poverty, the litter, the air quality and the amount of people were just too much for us. We both thought Kuwait seemed tame after being there for 48 hours. We were happy that we would be heading out early the next morning.

I took this picture from the van and it is an example of the litter and pollution we passed by in Cairo.

Perhaps this can explain some of the crazy driving. Cows, donkeys and carts competing with cars and trucks!

Day 3: Tuesday March 30th: Aswan

We were up and out the door by 5:00 to catch our flight to Aswan. (Does that not sound like a naughty word?!? You are such an ASWAN!) Flight was short and uneventful. However, as I was putting Isaac in a timeout at the airport for punching me in the face an Arab man approached me and asked me what I was doing. I told him it was none of his concern. He told me I should not be punishing a child and he was going to take him. I kept responding that it was not his concern. I was so angry! I called him an aswan and kicked him in the shins! No, that is what I wanted to do but instead I took Isaac out of time out and stormed off...I showed him!!

We arrived in Aswan and met up with our new tour guide, Mohamed. He took us to our cruise ship and we spent a few hours getting settled and checking out the boat. I should explain that when I say 'cruise ship' I mean river boat. Our boat was five floors, six if you include the top deck with a mini pool and it could accommodate 200 people at the most. There were hundreds of these boats cruising up and down the Nile River. The kids were very excited to be on a hotel on the water.

That afternoon we went to Botanical Gardens on the Nile and to a Nubian Village (original group to settle in Egypt). Both spots were nice but very touristy and we were hassled quite a bit to buy things. We were actually in a Nubian home and they had crocodiles. When we ask Mohamed what cultural significance they had, he looked at us like we were crazy and said, "Well, the tourists like them!". The highlight of our afternoon was being on a small little boat getting a close up view of the Nile.

We had a late supper on the boat and spent the night docked in Aswan.

Lush trees in the Botanical Gardens

A nice change from the dusty streets of Kuwait!

The Nile River with the Sahara Desert in the background.

On the banks of the Nile.

Overlooking the Nubian Village. All the houses have thatched roofs and some of their rooms had sand on the floor.

The crocodile for the tourists...complete with poking stick. VERY SAD!

Day 4: Wednesday March 31st : Aswan and on to Kom Ombo Temple
We were out the door and into the van by 8:00 and drove to the High Damn. It was the only part of the tour that focused on Egypt in the world today. We found the information interesting but the High Damn was..., well a dam! We then a caught a small boat and headed out to Philae Temple. This was our first temple and it was breathtaking. The kids were so excited to find hieroglyphics and kept saying, "Come check this out Mommy!" I didn't have the heart to tell them that they were not the first to discover these things. This temple was actually moved from it's original spot because when Egypt built the High Damn on the Nile the water levels changed and many of the temples were covered in water. I believe our guide said it took 8 years to move.

We then headed back to the boat for a quiet afternoon sailing down the Nile. The scenery was breathtaking and I took many many pictures. We sailed for a few hours and then docked at Kom Ombo Temple. This temple was dedicated to two different Gods. One was the crocodile god Sobek, who was god of fertility and creator of the world. Over the years almost 300 mummified crocodiles have been discovered around the Temple.

On the way back from the Temple we picked up some Egyptian clothes for the kids. There was an Egyptian party that night after dinner and Zoe was very excited about it. Unfortunately, she didn't even make it to dessert and feel asleep in her chair.

Zoe (with her adventure hat on) discovering hieroglyphics.

The outer wall of Philae Temple

Flat Stanley in front of the entrance to the temple!

Isaac discovering a boat!

The view from the boat. The sail boats are Falukas and were all over the Nile.

Isaac taking a nap on the deck!

An evening visit to Kom Ombo Temple

I like this picture because it shows the detail of the hieroglyphics. At this point we had seen three temples but I was still awed by the hieroglyphics.

This roof would have been covered at the time of construction.

Isaac is ready to party!

Walk like an Egyptian! She couldn't quite figure out which way to put her arms.

Zoe, not so ready to party!!

Day 5: Thursday April 1st: Edfu Temple and on to Luxor

FYI: Buffet meals for 5 days running is not cool!

We were out the door by 7:00 to take a horse and buggy ride to Edfu Temple. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. Edfu temple was built in Greco Roman times and is approximately 3000 years old. But I have no pictures to show you!

We had to be back to the boat by 9:00 for an eight hour sail to Luxor. On the way to Luxor we passed through a damn. The boat had to wait its turn and enter a lock to get past the damn. As we waited men tried selling us things from the platform.

I am not sure how they expected us to get the money to them but they kept throwing things up to us. I started to barter (not very seriously...offered 1 dollar for a table cloth!) and the man called me crazy and was extremely angry with me! I was very glad to be on the top of the boat.

We spent a quiet day on the boat and arrived in Luxor around 5:00 and left for the Temple of Luxor at 5:30. This Temple was incredible! It was located in the middle of the city and was quite large. As each Pharoh ruled over Egypt they would add to the Luxor Temple. And when I say added to it, I mean had big statues of themselves built...low self-esteem was not an issue in ancient times! Ramsis II built the most in this temple. Outside of the temple there was a road that lead away from the temple called Sphinx Ally. This road leads to another temple quite a distance away (I think Habu Temple) and lined on either sides with Sphinx statues. Right now much of the road is covered with houses and resturants. They are in the procees of uncovering it and re-locating people and buisnesses. Unfortunately, my camera didn't like taking pictures at night without a tripod so some of the pictures are blurry.

Isaac checking things out!

Just one of the many Ramses the II statues.

Outside of Luxor Temple

A blurry family picture at Luxor Temple.

An obelisk outside of the Temple. The Pharaoh's would build these with messages to the Gods. Some are as large as 97 feet!

Luxor Temple at night.

Day 6: Friday April 2nd: Luxor

Today was a busy day and we saw some amazing things. We started at Habu Temple just outside of Luxor. The most remarkable thing about this temple was that there was actually still colour left on the carvings, heiroglypics, and pictures. It actually hurts my head to think about how old these things are yet they are still standing.

This is a good example of what the walls looked like at the time of construction.

The ceiling of the temple in colour!

I like this picture because it shows the size of the Temple and the fact that Isaac was more interested in his Lighting MacQueen car then the Temple!

After Habu Temple (and Zoe having to pee in the inner temple room!) we headed off to the Temple of Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was the first female pharoah and apparently she did an amazing job. Egypt prospered under her reign and she created many temples and monuments around Egypt. Historians did not know much about her for a long time since many of her statues have her dressed in men's clothing and this caused some confusion. She would have had to work hard to convince the priests and noble families that she was up to the job. After her first husband died (and this is intially how she came into the job) she never re-married but had many lovers. Our tour guide told us she would kill them off if she thought that they were trying to take her position. Perhaps we can trace the roots of feminism back to Hatshepsut! After her death someone tried to erase her from history so many of her drawings that told her story are marked out and statues of her as the pharaoh have been been destroyed.

Girl Power!!

Her many statues!

This is Hatshepsut's Temple. It has three terraces that reach 97 feet.

Then we were off to the Vally of the Kings (and I should note that the drive between each of these sites was maybe 10 minutes!) After building pryamids went out of style, (for the obvious reasons of expense, construction time, and tomb raiders) King's began to find spots in the mountains and valleys to build their tombs. The Valley of the Kings contains at least 63 discovered tombs (the latest was discovered in 2008) "The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues to the beliefs and funerary rituals of the period. All of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea of the opulence and power of the rulers of this time. " (Wiki) You are allowed entrance to three tombs with your ticket but no camera's allowed. Some of the tombs had stairs down into the mountain and other had long ramps. All of the colours were still on the heiroglyphics and cravings. It was amazing! There was an option of paying extra to see Tutankhamun's Tomb which was discovered in 1922 completely in tact. We decided to pass since we saw all the treasures from the tomb at the museum in Cario.

It was a hot day and the kids were running out of steam! Ice cream can only work as a bribe for so long. We arrived back at the boat for the afternoon and then walked around Luxor with our tour guide in the evening.

Day 7: Saturday April 3rd: Last Day!
We were packed up and ready for check out at 9:00 and off for our last adventure. We spent our last day visiting the Karnak Temple Complex. This is a huge combination of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings all started by Pharaoh Ramses II (ca. 1391–1351 BC) but added on to by other Pharaohs. It was INCREDIBLE!

Here I am in the Precinct of Amon-Re. It is one of the most visited monuments of Ancient Egypt.The hall covers an area of 50,000 sq ft (5,000 m2). The roof, now fallen, was supported by 134 columns in 16 rows; the 2 middle rows are higher than the others (being 33 feet (10 m) in circumference and 80 feet (24 m) high). (from wiki)

The Hughes/Leck Family!

The ice cream bribe!!

Zoe took on the role of tour guide. Our tour guide called us "The Pharaoh's" and gave Zoe the sign. The tour guides would hold a sign or some sort of item up so that each group could stay together. Here she is using a water bottle to lead us. She would have us ask questions and make up answers. Another tourist saw what she was doing and asked how tall an obelisk was and without missing a beat responded "very tall!" (She is witty, like her mother!!)

I thought this pictures gives an apprecitation of the how big everything is!

There is our Egypt trip for you! I hope you enjoyed. As I look back at the pictures it amazes me that we were there and we saw all this history. This trip was our last big trip from Kuwait and it really does signify the beginning of the end of our Middle East adventure. Now we focus on selling our belongings and packing our keepsakes. There will be a few more blogs before I return and then KrazyaboutKuwait will be complete...where does the time go??