Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year!

Our New Year's Eve excursion was to the Sound and Light show at the Pyramids in Giza.
We're pretty lucky to be able to just go hang out at the Pyramids on New Year's Eve.

There's not to much to say about the show. It's so pretty to see the Pyramids all lit up. Even with out the sound part, I could have just sat there and taken photos of all the different lights. They turned the Sphinx into a Pharaoh and made him talk! We liked that part. They gave a bit of history on how the Pyramids were made and the Pharaoh's who were buried there. Mostly it was just cool to watch the Pyramids and Sphinx change colours.

In the photos, we look like we're dressed for winter. It is winter here. This afternoon we walked to the mall and it was about 22 degrees and as soon as the sun went down we lost about 10 degrees. As you may know, I'm always cold, so 12 degrees in the dark with a breeze means scarf, vest and light gloves.




Saturday 29 December 2012

Desert Safari

Hurghada Day 3,  Dec 29th

Today was our desert safari trip. We were picked up at 12pm in a jeep and joined by a grandmother and her 4 year old grandson, Casper, from Norway and young couple from China that our guide called "made in China or Chinese".
The drive deep into the desert was long and very bumpy.
We rode 4 wheelers, climbed a small mountain, rode camels, visited the Bedouins, watched the sun set over the mountains, ate dates and bread and a full supper, played a few games and sang a song. Phew!! That was a packed full afternoon.

In the picture below the girls had just finished their camel rides. The camels are grouped in the background.

Friday 28 December 2012

Hurghada, day 2

Day two went something like this:
Breakfast
Trip downtown in the hotel shuttle for some shopping. We found some presents, a birthday gift for a special little boy turning 4 today, freshly squeezed orange and strawberry juice from a corner juice bar and some crunchy green imported apples. We also fought off some aggressive sales people that just can't leave us alone. I really hate that part.
We relaxed on the beach for the afternoon
Played uno on the balcony before dinner
Ate dinner
Enjoyed an after dinner cocktail
Watched the dance party from the balcony and headed to bed at 11.
Tomorrow ... Desert safari .....

Thursday 27 December 2012

Hurghada

We have arrived safely to our next destination. Hurghada was further away from Luxor than we expected and also a much bigger city than we imagined. The drive took almost 5 hours. Our little resort seems nice so far. The first thing on our list to do was find a market to stock our room fridge with drinks and fruit. At the market, the workers asked Bec if she would pose with them for a photo. She obliged but Bri wasn't interested.
The next item on our list - relax on a lounge chair on the beach. Done and Done.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Luxor

Today was a long and wonderful 8 hour day of touring. Brianna is NOT feeling well. It was bound to happen but we came prepared with drugs. Unfortunately they aren't working very quickly.
Our first stop was the temple of Queen Hatshesput which is carved out of the mountains on the opposite side of the valley of the kings. Each temple we see is bigger and better than the last. Maybe the most interesting thing we learned here was not about the queen but about our guide. He was here in 1997 on Nov. 17 when the terrorists killed all those tourists. He was shot at. He managed to save himself and one of the two people he was guiding.
More on this to come when I am not writing on my little cell phone.
Next was the amazing valley of the kings. We visited 3 tombs; Ramses the 3rd, 4th and 9th. Because the tombs are not exposed to the elements we were able to see the colours painted on the hieroglyphics still as vibrant as they were 4000 years ago. When king Tut's tomb was found, it was in tact. The robbers hadn't got to it first. And his tomb is the smallest. They can only imagine what these much larger tombs might have held. It is believed that there are still two tombs that haven't been discovered yet and when they find them, the treasures will still be there. The last morning stop was the alabaster factory where we learned all about rocks and minerals and how they still hand make statues and candle holders and tourist souvenirs. We did some shopping here knowing that what we chose was made with real alabaster in Egypt and not an imitation made in China.
After lunch and leaving a still sick Brianna behind we headed out to see the last two temples on our program. First the biggest of all the temples, the Karnak temple with its massive and really impressive columns and lastly the Luxor temple. By the time we got to the Luxor temple the sun had set and it was really pretty to see all lit up. Before we got to the Luxor temple we visited the papyrus factory where we learned how they make paper. We did a little shopping here too.
Back on the boat we had a nice dinner and then watched a bellydancer!
Tomorrow we head to Hurghada.

The photo below is the view out our window when we woke up .... hot air balloons over the valley of the kings.

Christmas Day in Edfu

Merry Christmas!

Our day started with breakfast on the boat. We met our guide at 8am and walked to the kom ombo temple. This was the first temple we saw that didn't have to be moved. The people used this temple to pray for health on one side and long life on the other. There were also doctors here who had already invented and practiced using stethoscopes!
This temple is also home to the Nilemeter which they used to measures the level of the water in the Nile and tax the farmers and the crocodile mummy museum. The Nile was full of crocks. They are now all living and protected in lake nasser.
Our boat sailed on to Edfu in the afternoon. Here we took a horse and carriage to the temple. Abdul likes this temple the best. It's very big. The people were separated into classes. 3rd class was outside and furthest away from the alter. Bri and Bec are standing in the 3rd class area in the photo below.
On our way out we bought galabayas for the party on the boat at dinner time.
Our Christmas feast included roast turkey.

Next stop .... Luxor

Tuesday 25 December 2012

Aswan

Today we met our guide Abdul. One of the first things he told us about himself is that he has two wives! He took us to the high dam first. Mike was very interested to learn about the 2nd largest dam in the world. Then we went to a little island by boat to visit the Philae temple. This is another temple that was underwater and moved. There was a lot to see and learn about here. Next we went to the essence house owned by the Alfayed family. We bought some oils and lotus flower essence. Our final stop was the unfinished obelisk. This giant granite pillar was worked on for 7 months until the day it cracked. Once cracked, it was no good. They decided granite wasn't strong enough for an obelisk and left it laying there on its side...unfinished.
After our tour, we checked in to the cruise. The boat is very nice. We spent the afternoon laying around in the sun. During supper, Santa came to visit with presents for everyone.
Merry Christmas!

Monday 24 December 2012

Abo Simbel

December 23, 2012
Abo Simbel is a town in Egypt just south of Aswan. Ramses II built a temple here for himself and another one for his favourite wife, Nefertari. He had 64 wives and 203 children but that's another story. When the high dam was built in Aswan and lake Laser was created the temple was submerged. So...they moved it to the top of the cliff. It's an incredible site.

Saturday 22 December 2012

Sleeper train to Aswan

Boarded at 8pm. Ate fish and rice for dinner. Now doing a little reading before bed. Yes, that's right, Becca Boo is reading a book!

P.s. No alcohol on this train.

Friday 21 December 2012

'Tis the season ...



Brianna's flight landed at 5:07am on Saturday the 15th. Seeing her come down those stairs to collect her luggage was a beautiful thing. She was so tired .... and couldn't wait to get out of the airport.

Christmas can come now .... she's HERE!!!




On Dec 22, we will board the sleeper train to Aswan to start our 9 day Christmas trip. I'm going to try and use my cell phone app to do updates on the go so you don't have to wait until we get back to see what were were up to.

And now for some upsetting news: On Monday the 17th of December, I was walking to the preschool at 7:45 am as usual .... a car pulled up behind me very closely and before I had time to register what was going on, the passenger in the car had too strong of a grip on my bag for me to pull it back. The car was a white taxi. They are supposed to be the ones you can trust. The man leaning out the window was Egyptian, in his early 20's. Dark clothes and short hair. But the car immediately turned right onto a very busy road and before I could even think about reading the licence plate or the cab number it was gone. My bag was gone. My cell phone holding all my passwords, contacts, e-books, addresses and phone numbers. My new little blue underwater dust/sand proof camera. The little speaker I use every day to dance and sing with the kids. My new wallet. My credit cards and bank cards. My 2 USB sticks. My keys to our flat. My special Creative Memories bag that I got this summer in Minneapolis. ALL GONE. I was freaking out - screaming and trying to breathe. The back of my arm was hurting but that was it. I wasn't hurt. I WAS NOT hurt. I went home .... no way I was continuing on to the school. I was SO thankful that Brianna and Becca were both home. (How else was I going to get into the apartment). I told them what happened. We used Becca's phone to call Mike. Then I had to use Skype to call the emergency credit card number. (You can not call collect or any 1-800 numbers from Egypt. Not very convenient when you're in a panic.) Skype worked perfectly. The people at MasterCard cancelled my card. They also told me that there was already a failed attempt to use my card! But because he didn't have the PIN, he did not get any money. (Mom and Dad, MasterCard and BMO are issuing me new cards which should arrive at your house next week.) Once that was taken care of, we unlocked Becca's Canadian cell phone, transferred over her SIM card and went to the phone company to get my SIM info switched from the stolen phone to Becca's Egypt phone. My phone number here has not changed. Becca's phone works ok but it's no HTC Incredible S. I've heard a lot of stories from Expats and Egyptian women alike who have all been victims of theft just like me. The only comfort that gives me is that I wasn't followed for days or watched .... it was completely random and it can happen to anyone at any time. I have heard all the lectures (walk facing traffic, have your bag on the inside or in front of you or under your coat). Last night, with the help of a shared bottle of wine, was the first night that I fell asleep without seeing his face.  ..... anyway .... now you know. This isn't something that just happens in Egypt. It can happen anywhere. It's just upsetting and a little frightening when it's the first time it happens to you. 

Brianna is here ....

.... And we're working on the blog! This is a test update from my phone.

Friday 7 December 2012

Ain Sokhnah







The golf course is beautifully kept, with excellent greens, tees and fairways. As you might expect when golfing in the desert, many sand traps but few trees. The traditionalist might claim that without tree-lined fairways it’s not a good course but since none of us are pro-level players, we really didn’t mind. Along the left hand side of several fairways were buildings, some already built and some in the process. We had a few slicing lefties playing with us and those buildings were definitely in play for those guys. Most of the guys don’t like to golf without a beer in their hand and since most of them are 25 years younger than myself, I didn’t try to keep up with them. It was a great experience and we will definitely return to Stella Di Mare.






http://www.stelladimare.com/golfHotel/default-en.html