Ok! We Go Now!

Well, with barely a nap in all of us, its off to the night train and down to Luxor for another day of pain. The mystery meat on the train didnt do much to sate our appetites. As we woke up with the sun speeding through the desert we watched the landscapes of sand give way to lush fields of sugar cane and palm trees. Donkeys pulled carts piled high with bricks or bags. Bicycles outnumber cars, people plow their fields by hand, and building scatter the landscape half finished.
Soon enough we arrive in the city and meet up with our Egyptologist (aka tour guide), Mouhammed, who has the habit of walking fast (VERY fast!), making fun other tour groups, and shouting things like: Hello! Ok! We Go Now! Hurry Hurry! Americans 7 stars, pretty girls 10 stars! I have secrets! Hurry We Go NOW!
Quite the character but so knowledgable I caught about a 1/3 of everything he said. We started the morning at the West Bank with the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Nobles, an alabaster factory, papyrus factory, and the Temple of Hatshepsut. All impressive, though most of the tombs were closed in the valley of the kings, including Ramses II. We did however get into Tuts tomb, and since it was low season the four of us had the place to ourselves, with the exception of creepy Tut. We wandered into the tombs of a couple nobles which were so beautifully decorated and intact. Unreal! The afternoon was spent at the Temple of Karnak and Luxor Temple which used to be connected by 2 miles of spinxs lining the way. We were all awestruck at both, but Karnak stands alone in my mind as the highlight. There is such a grandness and mystery to it, not unlike the pyramids. I tried to piece the walls back together in my mind and imagine its glory days, when Pharohs and priests roamed the walkways. The women in their elaborate outfits and wigs. What a sight it must have been! I could have wandered the columns for hours. but..."OK! We Go Now!" Back to the train, back to the mystery meat.

Ba Boom Go the Pyramids!

Well Jeff didnt like my less than spectacular synopsis of the pyramids (hello! I have a hangover). So a little Redux:
Let me preface with that, NO, I do not believe they were built by aliens. As long as men have been dreamers and builders we have, and will continue, to build beautiful things. The Colessum, The Taj Majal, The Great Wall....
If there was a sound to describe the pyramids it would be a low long slow drum that reverberates and feels as though the sand shakes with it. Ba Boom..... Ba Boom..... Ba Boom..... Part of the greatness of the pyramids is the mystery of them. I like not knowing all the hows and whys and the ins and the outs. They are so massive and masculine and old and wonderous. Looking at a single stone can be impressive but to see so many stacked upon each other is at once overwhelming and awe-striking.
And as I stand there sweating, stinking, dirty, tired, and hungover, I can close my eyes and hear the drums and feel the aura of something so Great.

The Best Pyramid I Ever Saw

Woke up feeling great. Yawn. Yuck. Couldn't have been all that beer and jet lag and lack of food. Im sure it was just the hooka. Hangover or not, Giza awaits. Highlights of the day:
1. Shower
2. Starbucks
3. Airconditioned Jeep Cherokee
4. Water
5. Great Pyramid, Second Pyramid, Small Pyramid
6. Sphinx
7. The tiny tunnel in the second pyramid I couldnt make it down because I thought I was going to suffocate
8. Sitting outside in the blazing sun, getting harrassed by small children while everyone else braved the tunnel. Still better than passing out.
9. Camel Ride
10. Jeff getting us all arrested at the Pyramids for holding up the DKE flag to take a picture. (don't worry they let us go, it wasnt all that bad. sorry i wasnt allowed to keep the pic. at least they eventually gave his flag back)
11. Lunch at Fuddruckers and endless soda refills.
12. Surviving another car ride.
13. The nap I am about to take before we rev up again and take the night train to Luxor. Yawn. Yuck.
I'll get pictures/video up soon.....promise.

Getting Here Is Only Half The Fun

Well, flight to NYC went good after a couple delays at PHX. Our Delta flight to Cairo was packed and being the lucky person that I am, I was assigned a middle seat directly in front a kicking, screaming and puking(!) child. Evidently the parents thought this was good behavior for a 11 hour flight. I must have accured some bad karma somewhere. But all was well and it was good to see our neighbor, Jim, waiting to pick us up. Now I heard the driving was bad here but how bad? BAD! I think the words "I dont want to die" came flying out of my mouth on more than one occasion. There are no such things as "lanes" on the highway. Well, there are but its just a waste of paint because no one follows them anyway. Public transportation buses are weird minivan sometimes without doors that will stop along the highway to pick up hitchhikers. And dodging the people, donkeys, vehicles and other zillion objects (ie rocks!) flying at you while driving feels a bit like a video game. I have also seen 1 (uno, single, lone, only) stop light in this city. yeah. Sometimes a suicidal cop may run into the middle of the road to allow a car to make a left, otherwise you hit the horn, avoid eye contact, and say a prayer. When we safely made it to Jims place it was time to slam a Coors Light and check out the pyramids from the roof of his apartment building and jump in the pool. Thats right, we were drinking beer in a pool looking at the pyramids on top of a building in Cairo. Please take a moment to picture it and feel envious. After cleaning up we headed out to the Nile with some more beers and sangria in tow for a sunset Felluca (small sailboat) river cruise. I, of course, donned my Cleopatra best and the locals were quite impressed if I do say so myself. It was lovely, and I dont just mean the outfit. As the beautiful sunset faded to dark the city of Cairo light up the shoreline. Since we ran out of beer we hit the TGI Fridays on the river for some local brew and smoke some peach tabacco out of the hooka. Im not very good on the hooka but Jeff did well enough to impress some locals. What a day!
On a side note: You will not see Sparty in any of the pictures as he went missing somewhere between JFK and Cairo. RIP Sparty. You will be missed.

Pack it up, pack it in.

It seems the only one around here all ready to go is Sparty. Did I mention I hate packing? The only thing worse than packing is unpacking all the dirty stuff. It doesn't help that half this trip I'll be covering every square inch of myself (Egypt) and in Ibiza I'll barely have anything on (bathing suit, dirty minds!). Makes packing rather tricky tricky. Not to mention my husband leaves me with barely enough room for shampoo in our bag because he has packed necessities such as:
1. A beach tent (no, I'm not kidding)
2. Mini Coleman Coolers x2!!
3. Not one, but two snorkel sets (masks, snorkels, and wait for it... FINS!)
My necessities are out there but packable:
1. Cleopatra outfit (including wig) Hello! I'm in Egypt you know I cant resist
2. My Mini-Sparty (he's my travel buddy)
3. Morrocan Oil (the sea will not be good to my hair)
Speaking of packing, I better get back to it...Friday will be here before you know it!