Egypt

In both Jordan and Egypt travel representatives had badges that allowed them to meet us soon after we got off the plane and before we got to baggage claim.

We are taken to our hotel which is on Gezira Island which is in the Nile River.

The Giza Necropolis where the Great Pyramid is located is on the edge of Cairo.

What is now the Marriott was built in 1869 to house world leaders coming to Egypt for the Suez canal inaugural celebrations.

A wide angle view looking toward the original building. Two big modern wings have been added. We were in the right side high rise. There was also a casino in the building but only foreigners could go in.

The grand staircase in the original building. 3:03

Our rooms view wasn't so grand. 3:24

We meet the rest of our group and our trip leader Mohammed Ali. 9:02

We pass by people getting ready to vote in national elections. 10:50

Our first glimpse of the Great Pyramid of Giza. 11:04

Our bus drops us off and we walk into the GEM (Grand Egyption Museum). It had just opened and we were coming from the side as the main entrance area had been used for lots of opening ceramonies and that infrastructure was being dismantled. 11:21

Ali orients us to the museum and its 50,000 artefacts on display. 11:32

Faceing the main entrance and facing the statue of Ramses II. The colored wall is made from Alabaster. 11:34

Ramses II. The 3200 year-old statue weighs 83 tons and is 36 feet tall. It was found in 1820 broken into 6 pieces. 11:37

Ali talks about cartouches.

Looking at all of the cartouches around the main entrance. There is one panel that twice a year allows sunlight to align and shine on Ramses as at the temple at Amud Simble. Feb 22 marks his cononation and October 22 celebrates his birthday. 11:35

Looking toward the main entrance. 11:41

Impressive. How did the ancient Egyptions move such a big statue. 11:41

The main staircase is lined with artifacts 12:10

While riding the escalator to the top floor. 12:13

12:16

View of the Giza pyramids from the GEM. 12:19

A layout of the exhibits by Era and Society, Kingship and Beliefs. 12:22

A burial chamber. The plaque next to the chamber reads "A gradual development of funerary practices towards the end of the Old Kingdom meant that tomb chambers above ground became more like monuments to honour their owners. False doors and lists of offerings for the afterlife were often moved down into the burial chamber instead. False doors were symbolic doorways between the living and the ka (soul) of the dead. 12:56

Pharaohs with crossed arms. This was meant to emphsize their devine right to rule and also as a benevolent guardian. 1:00

A general view. 1:03

Mentuhotep II built many chapels for his own cult statues. The smiting scene on the rear wall of this chapel portrays him as a victorious leader. The side walls show him in close relationship with the local goddess Hathor, illustrating his divine kingship. Scenes of smiting and close relationship with the gods will be repeated often as we explore egyption history. 1:16

Figures change over time. 1:18

Sarcophagus of General Padisematawy. 26 Dynasty, Schist. 3:16

This timeline covers about five hundread years, during which time the shape and size of royal tombs evolved. They developed from simple mud-brick mastaba and step-sided tombs (about 2580BC and 2570BC) and King Khufu (about 2540BC) who built the Great Pyramid at Giza. The Great Pyramid is the largest pyramid ever buiilt and the only Wonder of the Ancient World still standing today. 12:38

In the afternoon we spent most of our time visiting the King Tutankhamun exhibit. He did not have a particularly large tomb but since it had not been substantially raided it still had most of its 5000 objects. How they got it all into his tomb required some good packing. We will visit his tomb outside of Luxor.

Looking down the length of the King Tutankhamun exhibit. 3:55

Canopic Chest. This box with four compartments probably contained the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines. 3:41

. 3:51

The famous mask. 3:51

The burial chamber layout. 4:05

Chairs from the chamber. 4:12

Beds from the chamber. 4:13

A display with various ideas on how he died. 3:59

Next door to the main museum is a reconstructed solar boat found next to the pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu. 4:28

Along the front entrance they are still removing the stands etc used for the grand opening. The obelisk is for Ramses II. 4:53

That evening on our way to dinner we passed by a shop selling alcohol. 6:31PM

But first our buffet breakfast. 6:54AM

Waiting to be bussed into the Giza plateau. We were too small of a bus (number of passengers) to technically get into the area but Ali knew how to get around the technicality and we were able to use our bus. 8:55

Our entrance ticket. 7:54

A plan view of the pyramids.

One of the signs in the waiting room. 9:04

The age old question is how did they move these stones. The stones weigh between 2-30 tons. Some stones for the burial chamber weigh 70 tons. The missing casing stones are estimated to have weighed 15 tons. 9:59.

Looking up at the Great Pyramid of Khufu. It's estimated 2.3 million blocks were used in its construction. 10:04

A sign about the pyramid. 10:07

In front of the Pyramid of Khafre. 10:13

Looking toward the top. 10:13

Where the solar boat we saw yesterday was found buried next to the pyramid. 10:15

Our group in front of the Great Pyramid. 10:23

Just the two of us. 10:25

We feel so lucky to see these great sights. 10:54

We slowly approach the sphink . 11:15

The stones were even polished with curves for a proper fit. 11:08

The head of a human and body of a lion. 11:19

I never thought about a tail. 11:27

A closeup of its head. 11:31

A sign about the King Menkaure complex. 11:53

A camel ride. They sure are tall. 12:26

Getting ready to ride out. 12:33

We travel out to a rise with a nice view of the desert, pyramids and Cairo in the background. 12:44

A closer view. 12:46

What great fun. 12:47

Yes it is. 12:49

We pass by some guys having tea back at the start. 12:58

We meet with a young lady who describes what it is like working in a male dominated society. 5:41

The Cairo Tower. 8:16

A view of athletic fields from the tower. 8:35

The boats are also casinos. There is a casino in the Marriott but only foreigners can go inside. 8:36

We arrive in Aswan. 5:19

A lot of traffic. We noticed a lot of vehicles don't turn of their headlights. It seems that in the recent past a lot of people bought really bright headlights from China and they were so bright they stopped using their lights instead of getting dimmer ones. 5:45

Our accomodations in Aswan are at the Old Cataract Hotel. 8:08

Our 1st room. 6:17

The view of the entrance garden from our room.

We go and have a home cooked meal that evening. We broke into two seperate groups with different hosts. 7:12

The grandma sings for us. 17:57

Our group for the meal. 8:05

Back at the hotel we check out the bar. 10:14

Martini night on the patio. All of the mixed drinks were around $40 so the waiter poured our much less expensive beer into Martini glasses. Cheers or ...........

For breakfast they send us down a hallway and told to turn left and we start down this hallway looking for our breakfast nook. 9:23

We turn another corner and wow, a beautiful place for breakfast. 9:22

Our morning view off the patio. 9:27

We go to Philae. It is on an island between the Aswan low dam completed in 1902 and Aswan high dam (1970). The complex was actually moved from the island of Philae after the dam was built and it flooded. 10:24

Ali talks about the flooding of Philae and moving the complex. 10:24

The Temple complex is dedicated to Isis. 10:35

We learned a lot from Ali. 10:37

Ali explains about the Ankh etc. 10:40

The figure on the left has been defaced long ago. 10:45

The Coptic church used the complex starting in the forth century. 10:55

The birth house. A child was not acknowledged until it was 7 days old. It's hard to see here but the faces on the seven pillars get increasingly upbeat as the days go along and the child survives. 11:04

Birth house sign.

Kiosk of Trajan built by the Romans. 11:27

Information about the Kiosk. 11:39

A view from the island . 11:47

Another view from the island. 11:51

Our boat stopped here for lunch. 12:37

A papyrus demonstration. 2:24

Linda took a tour of the suite in our hotel where Agatha Christie stayed while writing Death on the Nile. 4:08

We switched rooms from the older section to a more modern room and had a different view. 4:13

These are very traditional looking boats. 4:14

We go to a market and pass by this delivery vehicle. 5:35

A spice shop we visited. 5:38

Definitly catering to us tourists. We did enjoy the spices we bought. 5:39

Last views our our window. 8:18

We drive below the Aswan low dam. 9:57

If it's not watered it's a very dry desert. Without the Nile there would be no Egypt. 10:51

A stop for refreshments and the WC. We were in a van not the bus. 11:47

Chips anyone. 11:54

The Sheikh Zayed irrigation canal. 12:36

Corn growing. This is an agricultural area thanks to irrigation. 12:43

Irrigation only goes so far. 1:11

We are given a lecture about Nubians. 4:37

He went through quite a few interesting slides. A lot of the Nubian land was covered by Lake Nasser. He is very proud of his Nubian heritage. 4:55

The sunset and the building with our room. 5:40

We go to an evening light show at Abu Simbel. The Temple of Hathor and Nefertari. 6:45

The Great Temple of Ramesses II. 7:09

Nubian houses are known for their domed ceilings.

A look inside our room. 6:40

And a view from our patio of an arm of lake Nasser . 6:41

The entrance to our hotel. 6:43

We approach Abu Simbel in the morning. They were carved in the 13th century BC. They were designed to impress the Nubians of the Egyption might. 7:11

We are in front of the Great Temple of Ramesses II. I remember reading about this temple when they did the move. They were moved up to get keep them from being flooded by Lake Nasser. The planned completion date was August 1966. 7:36

Ramsses II. 7:40

When I read about this as a boy I thought they only moved the statues you see in front. I was quiet surprised to see how much there was inside to move. 7:42

A look inside. 7:44

More of their artwork. 7:53

The Pharaoh does some more smiting. Probably a message to the Nubians who visited the temple to stay in line. 7:54

Linda in a side room. 7:55

7:58

The smaller Temple of Hathor and Nefertari. 8:07

More smiting going on here. 8:11

A sign at the temple. 8:16

A panoramic view of the temples. There are a large number of busses that bring people from Aswan in the early morning to look at the sunrise here. Our guide timed our arrival to just after they had all left and the tourists who stayed in the town had not arrived. 8:17

We leave Abu Simbel and head back to Aswan and stop at the High Dam.

A cross section of the Dam. 12:29

A display of the Nile drainage area. The two major rivers, The Blue and White Niles join in Khartoum Sudan. The Blue Nile supplies about 80% of the Nile water. 12:27

We arrive at our boat for our trip downriver. Who ever thought we would be boating on the Nile when we were younger. 1:32

Our boat was very new. There were a lot like this that used a tug to pull them up and down the river. It made for a very smooth ride. We did have two generators providing electrical power but you could not hear or feel them. 2:44

There was a small shop here but nowhere on the river were we approached by vendors. 4:05

I wade into the Nile. 4:03

Linda comes down. 4:05

And takes her turn in wading in the water. Nobody else on our boat tried it out. 4:08

Ali shows us a video he did about the amazing quality and exactness of the sarcophagus' at the Sakkara tombs. It wasn't a part of our itinerary but it looks pretty spectacular. 6:24

A prop to keep us off the rocks. 7:42

A hand to ward off evil. 7:42

We go into the town of Daraw. 9:08

On our way to the Daraw camel market 9:20

This was the second day of the market with camels that had not sold the previous day. 9:24

They are hobbled to keep them from running away. 9:25

The sellers come from Sudan. 9:27

We get to see a negotiation. 9:42

After th camel market we take a walk in town.

A local meat shop. 10:05

A green grocer. 10:06

Cutting a chickens neck off with a knife. When Emerson was growing up his Mom and Sisters did it with an axe. 10:06

More groceries. 10:08

An industrial size sewing machine. Emerson learned to sew on a tredle sewing machine a bit smaller than this one. 10:11

A corner shop making......with fava beans. 10:13

They were really good tasting. 10:16

The local hardware store. 10:19

remove better picture somewhere. 11:00

We stop at Kom Ombo. Ali is pointing out the........ 11:47

A piece of wood holding stones together, very old. 11:48

Info on the Open-Air Courtyard. 11:51

Ali explains this column. 11:58

Information on Calendars. 12:08

Ali explains the calendar. 12:08

A closer look at the calendar. 12:10

Some French archaeologists. 12:14

The French group setting up a Lidar to map the complex. 12:18

Medical instruments. 12:19

What The Well was used for. 12:23

A look inside the well. 12:24

About the Kom Ombo birth house. 12:27

Ancient Egyptions admired powerful creatures.. 12:35

A mummified crocodile. 12:37

More about Sobek and Kom Ombo. 12:45

A boat on the Nile that is actually using its sail. 1:40

Some fishermen rowing. Their paddles are very straight. 1:40

We get off in Fares and take a ride through town. 4:00

We stop at this craftsman house. 4:06

He teaches us how to make baskets used for transporting mangos. We have seen them in trucks transporting fruit. He uses his foot as a third hand.

Dawn takes her turn.

He gave each of us an Ankh. 4:27

People gather at the dock as we are leaving. 4:56

A quiet evening. 6:17

A kingfisher using our boat to fish from. 6:59

Our room name and number. 7:56

We make a stop at a stone quarry location. 8:35

Listen and learn. 8:43

We learn more about the quarry and the quarrymen. 9:05

. 9:13

These statues have been split apart. 9:13

Giraffes. 9:18

A view of the quarry. 9:27

Chisel marks and grooves where the chisles were sharpened. 9:31

Another view of the quarry. 9:35

We vist a farming village on an island. Before the Aswan High Dam was built the island would flood every year and they would move to Esna. Now they stay there year round in permanent housing. 10:54

We help make sun bread. 11:04

Linda loads a loaf into the oven. 11:06

..? explains how the cooking platters they used were made from old egg cartons. 11:13

Whats up? 11:15

It was pretty funny. 11:15

..Explains island water.

A young girl looks out as we go past. 11:29

Bananas are one of his crops. 11:34

We go inside his house. 11:49

And we meet his daughter. A very proud father. 11:52

And Mom. 11:52

The daughters room. 12:20

The kitchen. 12:00

We help take out the food. 12:23

Another good meal. 12:47

And before we leave we see a young calf and a boy who really likes it. 1:23

Raising the sail. 3:35

We get on the tug and go around our boat. There were a lot of boats of similar size none of which had a sail up.4:02

Some of the crew. 4:05

We are eating on shore tonight. 6:58

. 6:59

Some of our food. 7:07

A young man has been collecting reeds. 9:01

This young man tended the rudder and always had a smile on his face. He climbed up so I could take the picture. 9:08

Helping steer our boat toward the dock. 9:20

Carriages wait at the Edfu dock to carry tourists. Oat used to use them but after finding out how poorly the horses were treated they refused to use them anymore. 10:08

. 10:46

There used to be a door hinged here. 10:54

Ali discribes a myth for us. 10:57

Horus. 11:17

Ali explains more. 11:23

A lot of soot from fires. 11:25

. 11:45

These are perfums shown coming down. 11:47

An overhead view of the Edfu temple. 12:12

In front of the temple. 12:24

. 12:34

Another scene of driving through traffic. 12:57

These young guys tied off to our boat and got a free ride for awhile. 2:39

We do get tired but it sure is a nice place to rest. 3:39

We tied off for the evening. These kids found a fresh pile of dirt to play in. 3:54

We are getting ready for the days adventures. 8:51

Our guide for the morning. 9:02

Linda and ..... talk as we walk around her village. We are right next to an irrigation ditch that goes about 2 km in and then branches out. 9:22

The courtyard of her house with her mother waiting for us. On the wall is a picture of a plane and a boat. It shows that her husband took a plane for the Hajj and she took a boat to get to Mecca and the Hajj. 9:26

Ali explains what we are about to see made. 9:38

After our demonstration Richard gives it a go. 9:49

An outdoor oven. When it hardly rains you don't need to cover everything. 10:05

Ali shows us how to eat the dish we just made. These were baked earlier. 10:06

Now our chef gives us a demonstration. 11:02

Egyptian Mousska. 11:10

Where we would eat all of our on board meals. 1:08

The bouffet. 1:08

At our final dock. 3:03

Get your cloths pressed. He has a piece of wood he puts down between his foot and the hot iron. 3:22

We go below the surrounding ground to visit the Khnum Temple. 3:27

3:28

It's amazing how well the colors have survived. . 3:28

More colors inside the temple. 3:54

Images on the ceiling. 3:49

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. 3:53

. 4:01

A German University is helping with the restoration. 4:02

. 4:02

Another side to the temple. Farther to the right in this picture archiologists think there is a lot more to be explored but it is under buildings that the owners don't want to give up. 4:07

A last look at our room.

Boat corridor from in front of our room. 5:05

Sami shakes up our Martini, must be Wednesday. 5:06

And we toast. 5:08

The boats kitchen. 7:08

The crew quarters. 7:09

Sami Wadeaa out boat manager. 7:12

Mustafa our head waiter and master comedian. Goodby.7:50

Scenes as we drive out of town. 8:09

Waiting for a sale? 8:10

A women and child along the road. 8:12

Taxi's waiting. 8:14

Equine transport is a bit slower than our bus. 8:16

A passenger train speeds past. 8:28

Farmers working in the field. 8:41

A roadside stand. 8:45

. 9:52

Layout of the Temple of Karnak. 9:52

Linda before entering the temple. 10:05

. 10:05

. 10:10

One of the sculptures that lined the entry. 10:16

The last pillar had not been finished. 10:25

One of our busiest stops. 10:32

Ali explains 10:39

Ali explains why some of the carvings are deeper. 10:46

A picture from Ali's phone of the biggest oblesk made but it probably cracked during construction and never left the quarry. It's estimated to weigh 1200 tons and is 42 meters long. 11:07

Hatshepsut 11:18

You walk around the turtle 7 times for good luck. 11:35

. 11:40

. 11:43

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More unfinished columns. 11:45

A bit of a maze. 11:47

. 11:50

. 11:54

An interesting photo. 11:57

Some explanation. 12:00

We leave the Temple. 12:01

We drive by ..... 1:35

We are staying at the Winter Palace in Luxor. 2:00

The gardens behind the hotel. There is a nice swimming pool farther back. 4:22

Some scuptures in the garden. 2:08

In the evening we visit the Luxor Temple which is near our hotel. 4:45

The Avenue of Sphinxes connect Karnak with Luxor Temple. 4:49

A mosque extends into he Temple. 5:11

Ramses II?????. 5:13

A panorama view inside the temple. 5:23

A lot of blocks. 5:40

Where do they all fit? 5:42

Some Christen paintings on top of the older figures. 5:52

A view inside the Temple.. 5:53

Another night time view. 5:59

Avenue of the Spinxes. 6:15

. 6:16

Up early for a ballon ride. 5:38

Irrigated farmland with the Nile in the background. 6:02

The temple of Hatshepsut. 6:03

. 6:06

. 6:11

A recovery vehicle plus some riders following us. 6:14

The crew is telling this very short man to stay away. I don't know what was wrong with his legs but he had a very unusual waddle. There were a couple of younger kids there trying to sell us stuff and one of the ballon guys threw a rock in his general direction but not right at him. 6:32

Heading back to our hotel. 7:10

That is our hotel the Winter Palace. 7:11

Another great breakfast. 7:34

A big book mockup describing Howard Carter announcing the discovery of King Tutankhamens tomb from the front of the Winter Palace entrance. 8:30

Modern and old agricultural tools. 8:52

A layout of the Valley of the Kings. It shows 62 but they have found a couple more but not listed them. 9:14

A model of the valley. 9:17

A 3D model showing tomb structures below ground. 9:17

The young man who alerted Howard Carter to a place he should check out because of how water was draining. 10:09

King Tutankhamen. 10:10

. 12:20

We approach the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, we had seen it earlier from the ballon. 12:26

Expedition to the Land of Punt. 12:27

A story about the Red Sea. 6:32

Information about the Temple. 12:53

We go in between the Pharoah of the North and South. 12:51

It's really built into the mountain. 12:54

A view from the Temple. 12:59

And a view as we walk toward the Temple. 1:01

More about the Temple. 1:07

We stop at the Colossi of Memnon. 1:27

A few pieces are missing. 1:30

The front view of the two Colossi. 1:35

Some guys we passed on motorcycles. 2:35

Coming back we pass by the Luxor Temple. 2:51

More of the Temple. 2:51

A meeting on our last night in Luxor. 8:14

A sign in the hotel. 8:23

An early morning start as we head back to Cairo. 5:03

A lonely corridor. One of our fellow travellers has their bags out for pickup. 5:18

The elevator did not have an inside door. 6:32

An airline hostess giving our safety briefing video. 8:03

In Cairo we pass by the reviewing stands where Anwar Sadat was assassinated on October 6 1981. 10:07

We next go to the Al-Rifa'i Mosque. 10:35

Ali talks to us about his Islam religion. 6:32

Ali looking at the carpet. 11:11

He found a very old date on when it was made but I don't remember it. 11:11

The last Shah of Iran is entombed here. 11:17

Another view. 11:20

Where the Imam speaks. 11:24

Lines are drawn to help place the prayer mats. 11:25

We go to Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan Students are drawing here. 11:35

Inside. 11:37

The small carpet on the floor faces toward Mecca. 11:50

The two mosques are side by side. 11:55

A father? opening up his store with his son?. 12:07

A market street scene. 12:08

Tahrir square. 12:18

Our farewell dinner. 10:47

Flying into London. 10:34

Our final route home.