Egypt - Day 6

We awoke Monday on final approach to the Rome Fiumicino Airport. After landing, we breezed through customs in typical Italian style and headed to the car rental building. After some confusion and negotiation, Lois ended up with a stick-shift Alfa Romeo sedan. The drive back to Foggia was smooth other than some unexpected snow over the pass and a couple stops for soda to keep us awake. We made it back to Foggia around 12:30 and went our separate ways. Lois and Richard remarkably went into work on Monday afternoon, but I headed home and crawled into bed. What was supposed to be a 2-hour nap turned into an 8-hour coma, from which I emerged around 9:00 pm. I ate a light dinner, brushed my teeth, and then slept another 8 hours! I think all the travel finally caught up to me!

Looking back at the trip, I can truly say it was an adventure of a lifetime! While there are other sights that we would have liked to see, I’m pretty sure that we could not have packed anything else into the itinerary. Watching the protests and riots in Cairo this week on the news, we are thankful that we made it out before the chaos erupted. I truly hope that we were not some of the last people to see the Egyptian Museum intact. Before the events of this week, I would have highly recommended a trip to Egypt. For now, I would hold off on any plans until the political situation calms down a bit.

Egypt - Day 5

After three days of seemingly endless touring, we were all looking forward to the last day of our trip: Cruising the Nile! We woke up early and checked out of the hotel. On our way out, we picked up a breakfast box which contained various pastries and fruit. We walked down the main street of Luxor to the Iberotel Hotel, where we boarded the boat and headed out for a day-long cruise.

While we had come prepared for another warm day, at 7:00 in the morning the temperature was quite frigid, especially once the boat got underway. We got situated on the upper deck on chaise lounges, but I soon moved downstairs to get out of the chilly wind. As we cruised up the Nile, it was amazing to see all the small villages and farms flanking the side of the river. At several locations there were even cows and donkeys out on the islands in the middle of the river! Even more remarkable was that entire families would come out to the bank to waive and say hi to us. Since most boats from Luxor head south towards Aswan, our tour to the North was quite a novelty for the locals. I spent most of the morning lazing on a couch reading a book and enjoying the scenery.

After 4 hours of cruising, we arrived in the town of Qina. We disembarked from the boat and boarded tour buses to take us to the Dendera Temple Complex. This was the first and only time on the entire trip that we were on a large tour bus with more than the 3 of us. The temple was only about 15 minutes from the boat, and we arrived and split into two groups for the tour. The temple was started by the Egyptians in 300 BC and continued by the Romans when they took over with the help of Cleopatra. As such, it is one of the best preserved and intact temples in Egypt. It was incredible to see the fully-intact ceiling that was so well preserved that we were able to safely climb the stairs to the second story. This was the only temple that we saw with a complete roof. One of the highlights of the temple is a scene featuring one of the only known images of Cleopatra. We had a few free minutes to explore the grounds on our own, then it was back to the boat for the return to Luxor.

We boarded the boat and were amused by the locals taking pictures of us, at the same time we were taking pictures of them. There was something very fitting about the scene. We were seated in the dining room of the boat and enjoyed a wonderful lunch buffet as we cruised up river. We sat with a group of British tourists and compared notes about what we had seen and our favorite moments. By the time we had finished lunch, the sun was out in full force and we were able to enjoy the warmth from the upper deck lounge chairs. I sat reading my book and waiving to all the local kids as we passed their farms.

We arrived back in Luxor at 7:00 pm and had enough time to return to the hotel and enjoy a great meal at a Japanese restaurant (I had been having cravings for teriyaki chicken!). The food was so good that Richard ordered extra shrimp tempura to eat on the way to the airport. After dinner, a driver picked us up and took us back to the Luxor airport for our return for Cairo. Our guide was nice enough to lead us into the airport all the way to the point where we were checked in and ready to go. We said goodbye and headed through the labyrinth of security to the gate.

The flight to Cairo was uneventful, other than the fact that I had finally broken my Airbus streak by flying an EgyptAir 737-800! We landed in Cairo at 11:30 pm. Our flight back to Rome left at 4:55 am the following morning, so there wasn’t even enough time to get a hotel room for a few hours. We decided to just get to the gate and snooze until the flight. This proved to be easier said than done. The first challenge was to get from the EgyptAir terminal to the international terminal. With no signs or logic, we followed verbal instructions to a shuttle bus that would take us to the other terminal. Of course it would make too much sense if the bus went directly to the other terminal. We ended up stopping at about 3 other locations and may have actually left the airport before we finally got to the right place. The next challenge was to get to the gate. Again, easier said than done. It turns out that the check-in counter doesn’t open until 3 hours before the flight, which in this case meant we had about 2 hours before we could even get into the terminal. Luckily we were able to talk our way into a waiting area where we snagged some hard metal benches and I finished my book. After 2 hours, we returned to the check-in area and were let through the door. The next challenge was check-in. Seeing no sign of an Alitalia desk, we were directed to wait in front of a very generic looking desk completely void of marking or anyone to help. Before we could question the logic, a group of Alitalia mechanics walked in pulling what looked like airline beverage carts. Sure enough they opened the carts and began assembling a check-in counter complete with a waiting queue, tickets, and luggage tags. Since there is only one flight a day, the airline just rents a generic counter and only sets it up as-needed. That way other airlines can use the counter. If you think about it, that makes a ton of sense! After watching the Alitalia transformation, we were able to check in and get our boarding passes. We found a quiet corner of the terminal to pass the remaining time, then proceeded through security and boarded the flight. As we departed Cairo, we all drifted off to sleep after being awake for nearly 22 hours.

Egypt - Day 4

The alarm went off at 3:30 am on Saturday morning. After a granola bar breakfast, we packed all our stuff and checked out of the hotel in time to meet our driver at 4:00. He drove us to the Cairo Airport for our flight to Luxor. We arrived at the airport and sere surprised that there was a security checkpoint just to get in to the airport. We were sure glad that we didn’t have any checked bags because those had to go through the x-ray machine as well. Once inside the airport, we found the EgyptAir counter and picked up boarding passes. As we walked out the gate, we were surprised by the number of flights departing to Luxor. They were leaving every 15 minutes! Hence the route got the nickname of “Tourist Express”.

The gates are a little strange at Cairo in that you have to go through security again and once inside there are no bathrooms or food outlets. This means that you can’t even purchase water in the airport to bring onboard. We made it through security, boarded a bus, and drove out to the EgyptAir A-320. I should mention that this was the 6^th consecutive Airbus that I had flown on (shame, shame). With flights every 15 minutes, we haven’t expected the flight to be full but it turned out to be packed. I sat next to a woman who was part of a tour group who had just come from 2 weeks of seeing Israel. She had all sorts of travel stories to keep me entertained for the 45-minute flight to Luxor.

As we landed in Luxor, the sun was just beginning to rise over the West Bank of the Nile. A driver picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel, the Sonesta St. George. As we drove through Luxor, we were impressed with the lack of traffic and calmness of driving. It was like night-and-day compared to Cairo! We arrived at the hotel and only had about 30 minutes to check in and clean up before heading out for a packed day of tours.

Our guide picked us up from the hotel and we headed across the river to the Valley of the Kings. Shortly after the pyramids were built, the kings in Egypt discovered that they were a beacon for looters. In an effort to hide the tombs, they started burying kings in a desolate valley west of Luxor. Despite the new locations, all but one of the tombs ended up being looted. The only tomb found intact was that of King Tut. We had time to tour three of the tombs, all of which were buried deep in the hillside. The construction of the tombs began when the king took the throne, so the longer-living kings had much deeper and intricate burial chambers. The inside of each tomb was decorated with incredibly intricate hieroglyphics that were in full color. The dry air allowed the paint to be preserved for many thousand years.

Leaving the Valley of the Kings, we wound through the hills and arrived at the breathtaking sight of the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The dramatic temple is built into the side of a mountain and appears to be still clawing its way out. Our guide explained the history of the temple, which involved the queen making up a story that she was born from the gods in order to keep her power. By the time our guide finished telling the story, we were all getting exhausted under the hot Egyptian sun (it was about 75 degrees both days in Luxor but it felt much warmer!). We toured around the temple and took lots of pictures of the dramatic architecture before retreating to the shade and a soda.

From the temple, we continued our tours with the Valley of the Queens. Similar to the Valley of the Kings, this valley was the burial ground for queens and children of the kings. The tombs were similarly decorated with elaborate hieroglyphics and beautiful color. After walking through two of the best tombs, we all agreed that it was time for lunch and a little time off our feet.

Our guide took us to a restaurant in downtown Luxor for lunch. Unlike the tourist restaurant in Giza, this one was completely empty (which should have been a red flag but we were very hungry). We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the breeze while waiting for the food. The meal turned out to be nearly identical to that of the previous day, except I ate lamb kabobs while Richard and Lois had the chicken.

After lunch, we covered the East Bank of the Nile. Our first stop was the Karnak Temple. We were amazed at the scale of the temple, with 134 columns that had the girth of mature sequoias. The temple was built over sever hundred years, with each king adding a unique feature or annex. We could only imagine what it must have looked like at the peak of Egyptian civilization!

From Karnak, we drove back to Luxor to see the Luxor Temple. While much smaller than the Karnak Temple, it was equally impressive. The highlight was an obelisk at the entrance of the temple. On the opposite side of the entrance there is an empty pedestal that used to hold an identical obelisk. That is the obelisk that is now in Paris (see the “Day 1 post” for more info). By the time we got to the temple, Lois was starting to feel a little queasy. We decided it would be prudent to return to the hotel to relax and refresh.

To this day we are not sure what the culprit was, but something that Lois had for lunch did not agree with her stomach. She unfortunately learned first-hand the meaning of “mummy tummy”. For the next 24 hours, she was essentially out of commission. We still cannot figure out what did her in, considering that Richard had the identical lunch. All I know is that we were carefully scrutinizing everything we ate for the remainder of the trip.

While Lois battled the mummy tummy, Richard and I took the opportunity to get refreshed. I can honestly say that I have never stayed in a hotel with a more technologically advanced bathroom. The toilet was fully electric with built in wash, rinse, and dry features. It also had an electronically-heated seat! To add to that, the shower came equipped with a remote control which controlled everything from water pressure to mood lighting and the built-in radio. By the time I finished playing with all the features, I think I ended up taking one of the longest showers of my life!

With Lois bedridden in the hotel, it was just Richard and I who made it to the night-time light show at the Karnak Temple. Our guide had talked up the show quite a bit, so we were expecting an amazing experience. What we found was a strange combination of light and very loud narration that attempted to explain the whole history of the temple. Having just done the tour mere hours before, we weren’t very interested in hearing the same information again. The only good part of the show was seeing the temple fully lit up at night, while in the background the entire mountainside leading to the Valley of the Kings was similarly lit. It was an awesome site, which kept being interrupted by the loudspeaker narration. The worst part was all the tourists who kept taking pictures with full flash. Since I’m sure that none of their pictures turned out well, the only affect was temporary blindness of everyone else at the site. After an hour of flashes and blaring sound, we were ready to leave and head back to Luxor. We got back to the hotel and crashed for a rare full-night sleep.

Egypt - Day 3

Friday was scheduled to be another packed day of touring, so we woke up early and skipped the buffet breakfast in favor of room-service. We had wonderful ham omelets and pastries while overlooking the Nile!

Muhammad and a driver picked us up promptly at 9:00 and we headed to our first stop, Sakkara. The plan was to start at the furthest destination and work our way back to Cairo. The drive to Sakkara took us through the ancient city of Memphis, which is now a collection of farms and very rudimentary living. We were amazed to see children and families riding mules and pulling rickety carts of vegetables. It was like going back in time several hundred years. Several times we had to stop in the middle of the road to let herds of sheep and cattle cross.

We eventually made it to Sakkara, which is an archeological site that pre-dates the Great Pyramids by about 500 years. The site contains some of the first pyramids that were ever built, with the centerpiece being the step pyramid built by Djoser during the third dynasty. Our guide explained how the Egyptians believed that the West Bank of the Nile was considered the “land of the dead” because the sun always “died” in the West. Hence all the burial grounds lie on the West Bank. At Sakkara, we spent time exploring the museum and walking around the pyramids. The highlight was a panoramic viewpoint that provided fantastic views of the step pyramid and the surrounding desert. It was truly amazing to see how quickly the desert took over once you left the Nile River Valley.

The area around Sakkara is world-renowned for housing incredible carpet schools, where children learn how to intricately fabricate beautiful Egyptian carpets. We stopped at one of the schools and were blown away by the art of making carpets. They had several loons set up with kids making carpets stitch-by-stitch. After the demonstrations downstairs, they took us up to the gallery which showcased the incredible finished carpets. Some of the most exotic silk carpets were selling for upwards of $5000 US for a 4’ x 6’ section. That was a little bit outside my price range, so I bought a small wool section for about $30!

From the carpet school, we headed to a restaurant for an “authentic” Egyptian feast. We knew it would be safe to eat when we saw a row of tour buses lines up out front, indicating that the restaurant is definitely for the tourists. The food consisted of wonderful appetizers consisting of flat bread and various forms of hummus and dips, followed by a main course of spit-roasted chicken. We left completely stuffed and ready to take on the rest of the day.

It was now time for the main attraction: The Pyramids of Giza! After seeing so many pictures and postcards of the pyramids, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. It turns out that I was wrong; nothing compares to seeing the pyramids in person! Like the Eiffel Tower, they are much bigger in person and very impressive. Even more so is the fact that they were built over 4000 years ago and to this date scholars can’t agree on how such a feat was accomplished.

Our first stop was the Great Pyramid. We walked right up to the base of the pyramid, gazing skyward at the peak over 450 feet above us. The pyramid is so high that it was the tallest man-made structure on Earth for 3800 years, only surpassed by the Eiffel Tower! We were able to ascend the pyramid about 20 feet and get pictures, then return to the ground. Tourists are allowed inside the great pyramid, but it turns out that you have to buy tickets well in advance and there is a very limited supply.

From the base of the Great Pyramid, we drove to a plateau overlooking the entire site. This is where all the “postcard” shots are taken, with the pyramids providing an excellent backdrop. We joined hundreds of tourists in taking staged photos and felt no shame for being a stereotypical tourist.

The plateau was also home to about a hundred camels and handlers, ready to go on a tour for the right price. Luckily Muhammad was there to negotiate the arrangement and we bartered down to a reasonable price. Despite seeing camels in zoos and at the fair, I had never realized how tall they are until I was sitting on top of one! The amazing thing is that you get on the camel while it is sitting down and then it gets up, leaving you sitting at least 10 feet off the ground. It is like riding a horse that is much taller and always leaning forward (to compensate the saddle had hand-holds in both the front and back to prevent you from launching onto the camel’s neck). A kid no older than 10 led the three of us down the plateau and back to the base of the pyramids, stopping for several great pictures along the way. Muhammad and the driver were waiting for us at the bottom to whisk us off to the next stop: The Solar Boat Museum.

In 1954, archeologists were digging around the base of the great pyramid looking for new entrances to the tombs. What they found instead was a rock chamber holding the pieces of the oldest known ship in the world, constructed around 2500 BC. Over more than 10 years, scientists reconstructed the boat and built a museum at the site of its discovery to showcase the amazing piece. Fully assembled, it is over 140 feet long! It is believed that the boat was buried with the king so that he could use the vessel to sail in the heavens.

From the solar boat museum, we walked down the hill to another famous sight: the Great Sphinx. This was another instance where pictures just can’t describe how large the statue is. To get the best vantage point, we stood in line and went to the top of a rock outcropping on the side of the statue. We took several pictures, but by that time we were getting a little tired and didn’t spend too much time there.

Our last stop of the day was a papyrus museum, where we learned about the art of making paper from papyrus and were suckered into buying all sorts of papyrus art. Surprisingly, this was one of the highlights of the day. We all were impressed with the art and purchased several of the pieces to bring home. I don’t think that our guide expected us to spend so much time there, because we didn’t get back to the hotel until about 6:30.

This concluded our adventures in Cairo. We got back to the hotel and had another wonderful dinner (duck breast and prime rib!). After filling out and mailing all our postcards, we settled in to sleep for what would be a very short night. Before the sun rose the next day, we would be down in Luxor for the second half of the trip.

Egypt - Day 2

After sleeping in late on Thursday morning, we awoke from our travel-induced haze and headed downstairs for breakfast. This was the first time seeing the hotel during the daylight, and it was quite a spectacular sight! All of our rooms overlooked the Nile River and had great views of the city. We were a little surprised to see the entire city shrouded in dense smog and the river littered with trash, but one must remember that Cairo is a city of nearly 22 million people! We had an incredible breakfast buffet at the hotel and then headed off for a day of sight-seeing.

Our guide picked us up promptly at noon and we headed off to our first stop, The Citadel. The three of us with a guide and driver fit very comfortably in a 15-passenger touring van. Our guide introduced himself as Muhammad, and explained that 99% of men in Egypt are named Muhammad or some variation. He turned out to be an incredible source of knowledge, who guided us around Cairo for two days straight reciting the entire history of the country without ever once consulting notes or a book. It turns out that he had been guiding tours for over 10 years.

Having lived in Italy for sever months, we thought that we had seen just about every crazy thing that can happen while driving. Cairo took this to a whole new level. It is truly hard to describe the chaos, but I am just shocked that we came through the experience unscathed. All sense of order is lost, and the Egyptians communicate entirely by honking. Someone described it like driving with your eyes closed, using your horn as a sonar to detect everything around you. People would honk to say hi, honk to pass, honk when getting passed, honk when they’re happy, and honk when they’re mad. It was absolutely incredible. Here's a good video to show you what I mean.

We eventually arrived at the Citadel, which is perched high on a hill overlooking Cairo. The main sights are the Mosque of Muhammad Ali (Built in 1848) and the Qalawun Mosque (Built in 1335). The walls surrounding the Citadel were built from the facing stones of the Great Pyramids (have to give it to them for recycling!). As we entered the site, Muhammad gave us an extensive lesson on the history of Egypt and all the various regimes that inhabited the land over the last 5000 years. It was absolutely incredible, though I must admit I lost track of most of what he said!

We spent time at the Citadel touring the outside and inside of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. It was interesting to learn that the design and architecture was actually Turkish in origin, because Muhammad Ali was from the area now known as Turkey. An interesting feature of the mosque was the clock tower installed in the courtyard. It was a gift from the King of France back in the 1800’s after the King of Egypt gifted an Obelisk to France. That is the obelisk now on display on the Concorde in Paris. It turns out that the clock only worked for 2 weeks! Our last stop at the Citadel was a vista overlooking the city and supposedly the pyramids in the distance. Unfortunately, the combination of fog and smog limited the view. As our guide said, it was a “fogoramic view”.

From the Citadel, we braved the streets again and headed to Coptic Cairo. We visited the Hanging Church and Ben Ezra Synagogue and also wandered the streets a bit. Including the Citadel, we visited churches from three major religions in as many hours! The buildings were impressive both inside and out, but we were getting a little hungry and tired by that point.

Our next stop was the Egyptian Museum. On our way, we stopped at a take-away restaurant and picked up some wonderful chicken wraps and sodas to consume during the ride. After the initial shock of driving though Cairo wore off, we were able to sit back and enjoy the spectacle. My favorite was the BWM with a Stairmaster tied to its roof weaving through traffic and, yes, honking its horn.

We arrived at the Egyptian Museum and spent some time walking around the garden area which contained several statues and the sarcophagus of the Frenchman who founded the museum. After visiting the Vatican and Louvre, I was surprised that there were any Egyptian artifacts left to display. While we wandered the museum, Muhammad continued the history lesson on Egypt, this time reaching back to the earliest civilizations and kings. The highlight of the museum is the collection from King Tutankhamun’s tomb. Out of 162 known tombs in Egypt, King Tut’s was the only one to be found intact. There were many statues and pieces of jewelry, and the centerpiece was the solid gold mask that he was buried in. The incredible thing was that he was really just a minor king, who died when he was 17. I can only image what the grander kings may have stashed in their tombs!

From the museum, our driver dropped us off at a personal stop: Harley-Davidson of Cairo. We had planned for weeks to stop here and buy t-shirts for various folks back home and we were not disappointed by the selection! We took a taxi back to the hotel, which was an interesting experience in that our driver had to stop and ask a group of teenage boys for directions to the hotel. Either it really was a new hotel or we didn’t really get in a legitimate taxi. Either way, we made it back safely for a bargain rate ($6 US).

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed a buffet dinner with a wonderful chocolate dessert. After dinner, I went to the rooftop pool deck of the hotel and talked with Christina on Skype (the pool deck had free WiFi that worked decently with my iPhone). By 10:00 I was exhausted from the days adventures and had little trouble falling asleep.

Egypt - Day 1

At 4:00 on Wednesday, we set out from Foggia for the adventure of a lifetime. We were heading to Egypt for a long weekend of exploring pyramids and cruising the Nile. There were 3 of us on the trip: myself, Lois, and Richard. All three of us are manufacturing engineers working on-site at Alenia. Christina was back in Seattle (still waiting for me to get my Italian visa).

We left Foggia and headed north towards Rome. Lois drove us up in her big rental Mercedes C-class sedan, and we made it to the Rome airport in record time. After returning the car and making arrangements for a car upon our return, we entered the chaos of Rome Fiumicino Airport. To get from the street to the plane took a stop at check-in, security, passport control, and a train and bus ride. The most amusing part of the experience was passport control, where the agent was searching Facebook on a separate computer and didn’t want to deal with the inconvenience of stamping passports (especially U.S. passports!). We were waived through without even opening our passports.

We were a little surprised when the bus to the plane stopped at an A320 painted in “Air One” colors, since our tickets had been booked on Alitalia. It turns out that they are code-share partners and we were assured that the plane was indeed heading to Cairo. The flight was very smooth, with large reclining seats even in peasant class and a surprising meal service en-route. We all ended up dosing off during the 2.5 hour flight down to Cairo. The only worrisome moments occurred when several men got up right before landing and started walking around anxiously. It turns out that they were merely clueless and posed no threat to the flight.

We landed in Cairo at about 2:30 am local time. This actually turned out to be quite nice because the airport was deserted, making customs a breeze. To get into Egypt, you have to purchase an entry visa for $15 and stick it on a page in your passport. I can definitely say that it is the coolest stamp I have in my passport to date!

We had pre-arranged all our transportation an tours in Cairo through a company called SEEgypt, so we were glad to meet our driver outside the arrivals area at the airport to whisk us off to the hotel for some much-needed sleep. For our time in Cairo we were staying at the Fairmont Nile City, a beautiful new 5-star hotel on the banks of the Nile River. The drive to the hotel took us through abandoned streets and the run-down slums of old-town Cairo (there were times when we got concerned that we weren’t actually going to the hotel). Eventually, we did make it to the hotel and were greeted by a security checkpoint complete with armed guards and a bomb-sniffing dog. Once the van was sniffed and cleared, we proceeded to the entrance where we had to go through an airport-style security checkpoint complete with a metal detector and x-ray machine. This was the first sober indication that we were indeed in a very foreign country. We checked in with no problem and settled in for some much-needed sleep.