Spring Break 2009 -- DAY 6

Then it was back to the boat (TIP the carriage driver, who, of course, is not happy with the ammount- but it is the ammount our guide said to pay)... relaxing, swimming, napping, etc. After the Temple of Sobek, we got back on the boat for lunch and a cruise a little further up the Nile to Edfu. We got off the boat in Edfu and got into horse carriages that took us to see the Temple of Horus. (Darren's favorite, I'm sure -- he is the Falcon God ...)

We wake on the boat in Kom Ombo. We have breakfast on the boat, and then leave the boat at 9am. We went to see the Temple of Sobek. (Can't remember how we got there! hmmm... walked I think...)

The funny thing about this temple ... our guide pointed us to a little room and told us there were mummified alligators in there ... We walked in, saw nothing and walked out -- Mostafa, figuring we must be dense, walked over to show us where they were - Yep, they were gone. He was quite surprised! They had moved them to a museum that is under construction. There is also a statue here with a missing head on the statue ... we wanted our $ back...

Dinner is lateish - 7pm... there is a "party" at night. Dress in Egyptian garb and play games... our guide was the MC (master of ceremonies), so, some people felt compelled to go - Darren, Grandma, Bry & Ann-Marie... The rest of us enjoyed the towel arrangements in the hallways, and then went to bed ....

Whenever you left the room in the morning, the house cleaning would come in, make up the room, and then leave you a towel creation ... The kids loved it!

Towel scorpian .... towel monkey hanging from the ceiling, complete with TP tail ....

Lotus flower ... alligator eating a cobra, with another cobra on top ...

Spring Break 2009 -- DAY 5

3:00 AM start!! We were in the lobby, sack breakfast in hand, and ready to load the van... We had to meet a Convoy to drive to Abu Simble. Apparently, there are only a couple convoys each day that drive down to Abu Simble - police car, van, van, van, van, police car, etc.

Various states of sleep on the way to Abu Simble ....

Once we got to Abu Simble, we got some of the history from Mostafa and then got to look around and take pictures. This is another one of the structures that had to be moved to be saved from the high waters of the Nile.

I should know the name of this king ... (Ramses?) ... but, it's all a blur now ....

Below, you can see Devin's "DoDDs face". Our kids go to DoDDs schools (department of defense). Devin was bummed to be missing a soccer game - his coach said it right when he said, "Typical Dodds kid- I don't want to go to Egypt, I want to play soccer"! Only in Europe and only in a DoDDs school would you hear that!

After browsing for a while, we head back in the convoy and then arrive to our boat for our "cruise" down the Nile! We got to the boat about 1:00, had lunch, and then got to relax. We read, had naps, played games, and the kids even swam. Dinner is late on a cruise boat (about 7pm), and then there is usually night time entertainment -- we all skipped it this night.

Cruising down the Nile ... "She sailed away, on a bright and sunny day..."

Shelby and McKayla .... Devin ... too afraid of chilly water ....

Loading the boat ... The Nile Princess ....

Chilling on the deck of the boat ....

Spring Break 2009 -- DAY 4

Sunday morning we woke up on the train around 8am, and had "breakfast" (various peices of dry bread, with one good crossaint). We left the train (TIPPING the train cabin guy for our group - obviously not the ammount he wanted as he followed us down the sidewalk jabbering at our guide in Egyptian), met our new driver (TIP later...), and then loaded a little motor boat to go to our hotel for the night. It was gorgeous!! Mostafa gave us time to shower, swim or whatever (birding for Darren and co.), and then met us at 1:00. View from one of the rooms ... See the pretty pool? (one of two at this hotel - we swam in the other one, it was a little warmer) And ... yes, that is the Nile river ... Isn't that cool!?

At 1:00 we grabbed a quick lunch, then loaded the van for our trip to the "unfinished obelisk". During the carving out of this obelisk (they had to be made of one piece of granite), there was a mistake, and the obelisk cracked. (probably ending the worker's life as well...). So, here it sits, unfinished. This was a huge quarry of red granite and they used for many of the temples and construction all throughout Egypt. There was also a Sheite cementary (above) that you could see from the top of the quarry.

After the quarry, it was back to the van and a drive to the High Dam. This dam was built to help control the flood waters from the Nile. The construction of the dam also created the largest man-made lake, Lake Nasser. By creating the dam, they also put some ancient structures and temples in peril... so, they had to be moved. The Egyptian government asked several countries for monetary contributions, but only Russia helped. There is a large lotus monument at the dam in appreciation for Russia.

Ahhh .... isn't that a cute group of American kids ....

Our last stop before heading back to the hotel was to an island to see Philae temple. This was one of our favorite. The hyrogliphics on this temple were carved in relief form instead of carved IN ... they were amazing!

This is the "guest house" at the Philae Temple (above) and this is the view of the Philae temple as you approach by boat ... (below)

Lucky scarob beetle ... (above) ... two boys on "left over" peices of the temple. This temple as one of the temples that had to be moved to higher ground when the High Dam was built.

Ahh... yes... the scarifical teenager ....

We grabbed dinner on the outside and headed back to the hotel to eat and go to bed ...

Spring Break 2009 -- DAY 3

On Saturday (April 4th), we started out early with breakfast and then onto the bus ... We drove to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast. We got to go in Catacombs that were discovered when a donkey fell through the ceiling while working on a road... They were really neat, and the kids loved roaming through the maze of rooms underground. We went to see the Bombay Pillar. Apparently this pillar was floated up the Nile on three long boats hooked together. Somebody in Alexandria (I can't remember who), wanted Bombay's head on the pillar - thus, the name "Bombay's Pillar". The whole time we were in Egypt, we got to hear the many "Call to Prayer" from the different mosques 5 times a day. When we first got to the site of the pillar, Devin was next to me and we heard what sounded like someone tapping a microphone. I told Devin they were probably testing the mics for the call to prayer -- he replied, "testing, testing, if you can hear me - wave your rug". funny - but a little disrespectful -- hopefully our guide nor anyone else heard! Three adorable children by the Citadel in Alexadria ...

After the Citadel, we drove to the Muntaza Gardens. Here we walked around some, and took a few pictures by a palace. If you look carefully, you will see a little darker face in our group shot. (hint: to the right of me) I looked behind me, and an Egyptian man had stepped in our picture! I joked with him and told him to hold up a peace sign with his fingers. We saw him later taking a picture with his wife, and I said, wait for me! He laughed and had someone take a picture of us with his wife. They were on their honeymoon ... I found most of the Egyptians had a good since of humor ...

(Shelby in the sleeper car on the train , while it is still seats)

Next ... the long bus ride back to Cairo ... Here, we departed with our driver (and his TIP), and loaded onto a sleeper train! I've never been on one - what an adventure! We had two to a room and got dinner at 8 pm when the train started rolling. It was a surprisingly pleasant ride...

Spring Break 2009 -- DAY 2

Friday morning after breakfast, we met our guide Mostafa (not to be confused with Mufassa - although the kids and I often did confuse his name - just not to him), to begin our day. he introduced us to our driver for the next couple of days (TIP to be expected when we parted company), and our security gaurd. (Americans traveling with travel groups in Eypt have an armed security man from the government just about everywhere we go. -- no tip, though!) Mostafa wanted to pick a name for our group so that when he called, we would come. We had too many birders in our group, so they spoke up and chose Sunbirds (for the Nile River Sun Bird) before any of us could come up with something better. With Mostafa's accent, we often thought we were being called "sunburns" or even "thunder"... We started by going to the famous pyramids of Giza. The grand pyramids. They were AMAZING ... can't believe that have stood for thousands of years!! We got to go inside the largest pyramid and see the room where the King's sarcophagus was. We read somewhere that Napolean slept alone in this room once, with gaurds outside only, and was never the same afterwards and wouldn't talk about it. After climbing the narrow stairs, hunched over, to the hot room ... maybe he was just parched. But, it would have been VERY dark with no lights ...

After the pyramids, and a camel ride, and requisite TIPS, (above, Spencer & I) to the pyramids, we headed around the back to the Sphinx. I think we were told it was the largest one in Egypt. (that's our whole group above - Bodens on the left, our family in the middle, extended Shirley's on the right) We were told that the Egyptians don't really care for the British (who took the beard off and have in a museum in London), and the Turks (who used the nose of the Sphinx for target practice).

Here is our family (above) next to the grand pyramid. The one in the background is actually shorter, but built on higher ground, and has some of the original finish still on top of the tip. They built with large blocks, then covered it all with cement-like stuff.

This is Shelby (above) petting the Sphinx ...

This is Devin, having grown huge muscles this year, squashing the pyramid...

After pyramids and the Sphinx, we went to a Papyrus museum. Here we saw a demonstration of papyrus paper being made and had the chance to purchase a print. Darren got one with Eyptian ducks. Spencer got one with his name in a Cartouse (horizontal oval that Kings names were written in hyrogliphics).

We had lunch at McDonald's - so anyone who wanted could try the McArabian. The kids enjoyed this meal MUCH better than dinner at the hotel the night before, and it was about 1/4 the price!!

After lunch, we went to the Cairo museum. It had an impressive display of the treasures from King Tut's tomb. It was amazing what they fit in it! King Tut became king at 10 years old (the boy king), and lived until he was 19. Apparently, tombs began construction when a king came to rule, and was continually built and expanded until the death of the king. Then there were 70 days (during the mumification period) to finish the tomb.

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel. The kids had another nice dip in the pool. The Bodens were kind enough to watch Shelby & Spencer and take them to dinner. The rest of the Shirleys (me, Darren, Devin, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Bry, & Ann-Marie) went "outside the wire" with our friend Will who lives near Cairo. Will came to our hotel, and MUCH to the dismay of the hotel security, we got a taxi for the 8 of us back to his side of town. The taxi driver agreed to wait a couple of hours for us, and then return us to our hotel (good thing, or we could still be wandering Cairo!!). We went to a shop where Will likes to get his souvenirs. This man had replicas of the prints from the Pearl of Great Price on (replica, I think) papyrus paper. We got those and a few more things and enjoyed talking with the shop owner. Then had dinner at a "fast food" Egyptian place. It was a great evening! (THANKS Will!!)