Old Jerusalem

(This is second part of my mother's trip to Isreal after Egypt in Feb 27, 1997)

Day 1
Tony (friend I met on the Egypt part of my vacation) and I got picked up at the Salmo motel at 4 AM by a large public bus. Everything was great for an hour until the bus broke down. Waited a couple of hours until two small buses arrived and we all squished in with our luggage. It took about eight hours to drive to the Egyptian border. which we crossed without too much trouble. Had to leave the bus and walk with our luggage to the Israel border. Soldiers and customs officers both checked our papers and luggage. We wouldn’t let them stamp our passports with an Israel stamp, as the Arabian counties don’t like to acknowledge Israel exists. Another hour and we finally made our first coffee stop at a kibbutz. We then went on the Tel Aviv (away out of our way) and then to Jerusalem. We arrived there at 9 PM tired and hungry. Said goodbye to Tony as he was carrying on around the world on his own and had only come to Jerusalem with me so I would not have to take the bus by myself.
Had some soup and got our rooms assigned. Was told to knock on the door as my new roommate was already there. The door opened and I couldn’t see anyone until I looked down and saw a dwarf. We shared a room for the rest of the trip and really enjoyed her company. She’s a 26-year-old New Zealand girl who has been widowed for a year. Her husband died from taking pills to try and increase his size. These pills are experimental and have also caused the death of some small children so they are trying to get a class action suit going against the drug companies. It was incredible walking with Karen as everyone would flip out, especially the Arabs. Some of the children and parents were mean to her but she was a great sport about it all. She seemed to be fairly well off as she had beautiful tailor made clothes and said she had her house and car custom built for her.

Wailing Wall

Day 2
Met the new tour leader Jacki and the new group the next day. There were only nine of us; one couple from Ireland and one from Australia, a pretty Chinese American girl (who spent all her time posing in front of the sites), two other English girls and Karen and myself. Nice bunch, but not as much fun as the group from Egypt. Our tour guide was Miko, from Israel but we soon discovered that his main interest was in taking us to expensive cafes and stores that he got freebees from. Our meals on this tour weren’t included in the tour, so it made quite a difference.
Our hotel was only a block from the “Old Jerusalem” part of the city, so it was great as that’s where we spent most of our time. It is the neatest place, like going back to ancient times. It had narrow cobbled streets and lanes with little shops and stone houses, entirely surrounded by very tall stonewall. It seemed to be populated by mostly Arabs. It was really easy to get lost but there were five main gates so we would ask the way to the Damascus gate. The people were so friendly and curious about us. Miko took us on the same path that Jesus went, such as where he had the last supper, his trial, and crucifixion, etc. very interesting!

We had swarmis in Arab café. They are made of chicken, beef or lamb that is cooked hanging from a spike over open flames and they slice pieces off it. It is then put into pita bread with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and sauces. Delicious!

Wailing Wall
Next went to the “Wailing Wall” one side for the Jews and the other side for the Arabs. They are praying, chanting, kissing the wall, putting notes on the wall, etc. A lot of the orthodox Jews are dressed in long, black robes, with a broad brimmed hat and ringlets. The security is unbelievable! There were white police vans and hundreds of smart looking police and soldiers all over the place. We asked a soldier if this much security was normal and he said they are more careful on Arab holy days as when they congregate there is more of a chance of trouble. Especially as the Arabs are furious because the Jews are still building near Jerusalem and he expects that at Easter it will be a disaster.

Spent the rest of the day wandering around the old city. None of us did any shopping, as things are expensive. Had dinner at a very busy, friendly Arabian café. Had a small delicious pizza and wine and really enjoyed it. Ran into Tony again and said another good-bye.

Dead Sea, Masada, Dead Sea Scrolls

Day 3
Next morning met another tour leader, Andy, a tall nice Scotsman who had bad news about my tour. It seems that Vancouver booked me on a nonexistent tour, ending in Tel Aviv with my plane booked to fly from there. The head office said I would have to leave Jordan and catch a public bus by myself to Tel Aviv to catch the plane home it also meant staying in Tel Aviv 3 nights at my own expense in a hotel. I said that was totally unacceptable as I had paid to be part of a tour and not take a bus through the border at Jordan and Israel on my own as they were a nightmare, even with a guide from their countries looking after it. Besides Tel Aviv is a very expensive, modern city so had nothing that interested me. Andy faxed Vancouver and they arranged for me to stay with the group and end up back in Cairo and fly back from there. It meant getting a re-entry visa to get back into Egypt.

Dead Sea
Took the bus to the Dead Sea. Paid to go into a huge building with hundreds of tourist. It had a lounge chars, coffee shops and changing rooms. Put on our bathing suits, then took open jitney to the sea. On the way the bus stops while everyone except me got off and covered themselves with sticky, black mud. Supposed to do wonders for health and beauty and of course they sell jars of the mud for unbelievable prices. You then walk into the Dead Sea. It was a cold, overcast day and the water looked dirty. Signs all over saying just to float on your back and not to swallow the water as it could be poisonous. I passed on the adventure and was thankful, as when they came out of the sea they still had to stand under cold, outside showers and try and get the mud out of their hair. It was a riot as everyone kept checking each other’s hair and skin and then were convinced that it had done wonders for them. I did go into the hot sulphur baths and they were wonderful.

Masada
We got back on the bus to Masada and saw remains of an ancient fort and city on top of a mountain. We paid $16.00 to take a cable car there and back. The history of Masada was that the Jews lived there and the Romans attacked them. You could still see where the Roman armies had camped below the mountain. They used slingshots that hurled huge rocks at them and battering rams to try and break into the stone fort. The Jews threw rocks and hot tar down on the Romans. After a year the Jews ran out of water and food so they nominated 10 elders to kill the 900 people and then kill themselves, as they knew they would be massacred anyway. When the Romans took over they found two grandmothers and two children alive. It was a fascinating place to see how they stored their supplies and water that long ago and to see how they lived.

Dead Sea Scrolls
We stopped at a museum and saw the “the dead se scrolls” they take up a large room and have been carefully put together like a jigsaw puzzle and are preserved under glass. There were so many treasures to see that it is hard to digest it all

Tiberius, Ceasorano, Akkro

Day 4
Tiberius
Next day we bussed to Tiberius, stopping at Nazareth on the way. Sad to see Nazareth and these biblical placed turned into tourist places selling garish trinkets, with expensive cafes and hotels. It must be a nightmare in the hot tourist season as it was so crowded and this was off-season.

Ceasorano
It was a pleasure to stop at the old town of Ceasorano, as it was a beautiful place with ancient Turkish steam baths. They had gorgeous arches and colored tiles still like new. The baths covered many rooms and had large pools to go into after their steam baths.

Akkro
Next stop at Akkro, another original ancient town. It had a stone medieval inn with 35 huge stone arches at ground level divided into rooms for their horses and donkeys. Above another 35 stone arches dividing rooms for the travellers. Immense cobble stoned courtyard in the centre. It was reminiscent of knights and their horses.
Stopped for the night at Tiberius at a lovely hotel. Miko had told us he was going to stop at a café the next day for fish and chips and would only cost us $20.00. We all agreed that we would buy stuff for our own lunch so we went shopping at a deli and bought buns and cold meats, salads, etc. I had a soldier search my purse before I could go in the store. Tiberius is a lovely city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The downtown had interesting shops, cafes and craft places.

Kibbutz, baptism, Golan Heights

Day 5
Kibbutz
Next morning we crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat. People on the boat were reading from the Bible and praying all the way across. We got off at a kibbutz and had to go through a gift shop first. Prices are very high. Walked through the kibbutz. They are now large towns with their own stores, schools, hospitals, etc. They also own huge farmlands with hundreds of greenhouses and are now one of the largest flower exporters in the world. Everyone works on the kibbutz for very low wages and all the profits go into the co-op. If anyone leaves they don’t get anything back.

Baptism
Caught the bus and drove to the river Jordan where Jacki had arranged for Karen to be baptized. She was very religious so it was important to her to be baptized at the same place that Jesus had been. She paid a priest $100.00 American and rented a child’s white robe to wear over her bathing suit. The priest walked with her into the river and said a prayer over her and then dunked her in the river. We all chipped in and gave her a card and a lovely religious book of biblical painting and she was thrilled.

Golan Heights
We then drove to the Golan Heights where most of the trouble spots were. There were two rows of electric fences and bunkers all along the borders of Syria and Jordan. Signs everywhere saying “danger buried mines.” Those lands aren’t farmed but are sometimes used to graze cattle and they take the chance of losing some of them. The counties are so beautiful and it looks so peaceful until you see all the checkpoints with armed soldiers. In Israel all men have to serve in the military for three years and the women too.
Went back to Tiberius for the night. Six of us walked down to open-air cafes along the Sea of Galilee. Fun as we were the only customers as it was a rainy night and off-season so we had people at three large Arabian cafés trying to get our business. First one offered a bottle of free wine, the second 10% discount and guaranteed the freshest fish and third café offered two free bottles of wine. We decide to take the middle offer as wine was expensive, so figured either the food or wine would have to suffer if we chose the other two. The waiter brought out four whole fish and explained each one. Very enjoyable evening as we had a great dinner while watching the lit up restaurant boats go by playing dance music.

Jerico, Bethlehem

Day 6
Jerico
Went to Jericho passing a lot of Bedouin tribes with their tents surrounded by goats and donkeys. Such a difference as they don’t grow anything so their camps are in desolate places, while the Israel settlements is irrigated and green. Stayed at Jericho for a few hours. Pleasant sitting in the sun at an outdoor café watching the cattlemen trying to sell rides or getting tips from tourist for having their picture take with the camels. Favourite trick was to have the camels kiss the girls. Jericho was one of the oldest towns and is now owned by the Palestinian state. They were the friendliest people and were delighted to have tourists.

Bethlehem
Carried on to Bethlehem, which now belongs to the Arabs. It is so weird going from one town owned by Israel and a few miles away one owned by the Arabs. Each has such a different feeling, must admit I find the Arabian places much more interesting and far friendlier. It is too bad that they are such bitter enemies, as they both seem to worship the same places and basic beliefs.
Saw the manger where Jesus was born only it was a huge cave. It had a baby doll in a crib with tourists kissing the crib, praying and lighting candles. Went through the church of the nativity, one of the oldest surviving Christian churches.
Stopped at a huge museum in Jerusalem. Enjoyed looking at the torahs of every size and description, dating back centuries. The scrolls were all handwritten. Some of the torahs were made of gold, some of silver and beautifully hand carved. They even had some tiny enough that they could be carried in their hand. They also had ancient wooden synagogues, beautifully hand painted. Spent our last night at Jerusalem and walked back to our favourite café in the old part of town.

Amman

Day 7
Amman
Andy took over as tour leader and we were off to Amman, the capital of Jordan. We crossed the Jordan border with no trouble and were very impressed at the lovely, clean country. The Jordanians are a good-looking mostly English-speaking people. Everyone said “welcome to Jordan.” We met our new tour guide, a handsome young Jordanian who looked like Omar Sheriff. He spoke fluent English and was very proud of his country and king Hussein. He’d only been married for 6 months and was thrilled that his wife was already pregnant.
Lovely day so four of us walked through town and stopped at a Kentucky fried chicken (KFC) for lunch. It tasted so good after some of the strange food and amazing to get exactly the same food as at home. Karen and I took a cab back and this was the first time since Vancouver that I didn’t have to dicker about the price or expect to be overcharged. It came to $1.00 and he also gave us a small tour of the city. Omar took us all to a Jordanian restaurant for supper and had a great meal. You are never sure what you are ordering but I ended up with rice and lamb, plus all their local dishes went with it. After the meal they set up huge water pipes, sishas, and who ever wants to puffs at it this one was apple flavoured and smelled lovely. I passed as I had tried it in Egypt and wasn’t keen on it.
Omar told us about his county which he says is only 50 years old and he gave most of the credit for it being so modern and clean to King Hussein. The King is also in favour of peace and Omar said they are sick of war. They have built all these hotels and cafés but the tourists are still afraid to come. The people have free schooling; medical, hospitals and they have no hunger. Their biggest problem is with refugees from Iraq since the Gulf war. I told him I had seen his King at our air show and he was pleased that I knew the history of his King. Evidently the King had dropped by an orphanage that day and wasn’t pleased with the way they were kept so he gave them one of his palaces to live in.

Mount Sinai

Day 9
Mount Sinai
Left Jordan and Omar and drove most of the next day to a hostel at the foot of Mount Sinai. Went into an old stone building where about 50 travellers were sitting around a bonfire in the room. The place was full plus they had dozens of tents outside. Five of us girls shared a room. The Arabs served us a great dinner. After dinner we sat around the fire with everyone and had a couple of beers.

The rest of the group left at 3 am to go to the top of Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise. It’s where God was supposed to have given Moses the Ten Commandments. It was two hours walk each way or some of them rode camels. I drew the line at riding a camel, they are too big, cranky, and uncomfortable so stayed in bed. They got back at nine tired and disappointed as it was so cloudy they didn’t see the sunrise

Petra

Day 8
Petra
Left early next morning to see the city of Petra. It is a deserted city of over 2,000 years old that was a wealthy capital of the Nabataens until the Romans conquered it. The city is hidden in a canyon with only one entrance, which is a narrow passage. It was lost until nearly 1000 years ago. No one is allowed to live in the city so that it won’t be destroyed. They allow the surrounding tribes to rent camels, donkeys and horses and sell food and souvenirs to the tourists. The bus drops you off about a mile away and you can take a horse drawn cart or ride a donkey, horse or camel. I chose the horse, led by an Arabian kid.

It is an unforgettable experience as you enter through the narrow passage. You first see the treasury; a gorgeous huge, pink building that was complexly carved out of the side of a mountain. You then pass by tremendous, carved columns and see hundreds of people. They had a unique coliseum different than other ones that we had seen that were built out of stone blocks. This one was carved out of the mountain. A walking trail went all the way, a climb of about two hours, but was well worth it as the view of three canyons and gorges on the way up was magnificent. The monastery at the top was also carved out of the mountain and was the size of a large hotel. Andy and several of the others climbed to the top of it and the Arabs were having a fit in case they fell. You could see for miles across the Negrev desert. Karen (she is a dwarf) insisted that she do the climb against Omar’s advice so poor Andy had to carry her most of the way up the climb.


The trip back was also interesting. Every so often you would see a cave with Arabs sitting around a fire visiting with each other and they would smile at us. I turned a corner and ran into Tony again. Unbelievable, this is the second time this has happened in two different countries. He is having a great time and is leaving Jordan the next day for Turkey.
When we got to the bottom Andy put Karen on a donkey. She was having a ball when a truck with four police came tearing into the city and grabbed the kid that was leading her donkey and threw him in the truck. It seemed that he had rented his donkey without a licence and someone had reported him. It was bedlam as the kid was crying, Karen was having a fit trying to get off the donkey and everyone came crowding around, all talking at once. Omar took over and calmed everyone down and talked the police into letting the terrified kid go. Walked to the entrance and got back on a horse and gratefully reached the bus.
Spent the night in Aqaba. The rest went for dinner but I was tired so settled for a banana and bed. Andy came up to see if I was okay and said he was proud of me and couldn’t believe that I had climbed those cliffs.

Cairo

Day 10
Cairo
Had breakfast packed and left stopping to see St. Margaret’s monastery famous for where the burning bush was seen. It was so crowded you could hardly move.
We stopped and saw the Suez Canal on the way to the ferry we had to take to cross over the Gulf of Suez to Cairo. Andy got our ferry tickets and we sat in the sun and waited for the one o’clock ferry. Still waiting at two. It’s a wonder Andy doesn’t get ulcers but he keeps everyone happy. Finally a big old open sided bus arrives and we piled on with our luggage. Dozens of Arabs also got on carrying everything but the kitchen sink. We went a few blocks and then boarded a gorgeous huge hydro boat. Andy said we just hit it lucky as the rest of the day you go by a beat up old ferry. This was like a first class plane with stewardess serving drinks selling duty free liquor and cigarettes. On this trip you never know what you were riding in or on next. Great fun. It took about an hour to get across.
We got to the other side and it took about an hour to get my re-entry visa for Egypt. I can see why the company gets a native tour guide in each country or you would never get by the border officials. They are the most disorganized bunch and all the soldiers just make it more confusing. Back on the bus for another five hours drive to Cairo. Went through a lot of military roadblocks and a soldier got on the bus with his rifle and rode with us. He had the guide interpret that we weren’t to take any pictures of the soldiers and that we wouldn’t be able to make any stops. Made us wonder what was going on as we noticed that there weren’t any tour buses coming towards us, which would be usual. When we got near Cairo we stopped for a break and the soldiers left.

Home

Day 11
Home
Next day Andy finds out that I was only on standby to get home. He was great as he spent most of his day trying to sort it out. The plane wasn’t leaving until 4:40 AM next morning. We finally decided my only option was to taxi to the airport at 12:30 AM and hope to get on, as the next flight wouldn’t for another four days. I took a hotel in case I had to come back and I still had the rest of the day and night to wait. Hotel called me a cab at midnight and noticed that they wrote down the driver’s number and license number. They cheerfully said they would see me later. I said, “No thanks, I hope I never see Cairo again much as I have enjoyed it.” Waited at the airport till 4:15 AM and finally gratefully got on. Had breakfast and slept till Amsterdam. Great service so enjoyed the rest of the trip home.

Cairo

(This is the story of my mother's trip to Egypt)

Feb 10, 1997
Day 1
Flight to Egypt was pleasant with good food, free drinks, 2 movies and I lucked out having no one in the middle seat. I spent 8 hours in Amsterdam, which is a nice airport with couches to have a sleep and showers. Arrived in Cairo 1 AM (24 hours since Vancouver).

Day 2-4
A nice looking Egyptian met me and took care of everything and off we went to the hotel. It was a moderate nice hotel for $40 night including breakfast. I went 2 days before the rest of the tour started to rest up and get a feel of the place. I was awoken at 5 AM by loud speakers chanting prayers at a Mosque behind the hotel. Weird feeling as it then hit me that I was actually in Egypt! Went down to a good breakfast boiled eggs, cucumbers with every meal plus cheeses and jams.

I went for a walk in the city and the traffic was crazy. One-way streets with 4 lanes on each side for cars coming down at you. No stop lights, no stop signs, pedestrians just cross anywhere they want and the cars still don’t stop. They swerve around everyone and cross from lane to lane. Everyone stays good natured by it if you tried it here you would be run over or shot or fined. I didn’t have the nerve to cross by myself so I would ask a tourist cop to go with me or wait until a few Arabs crossed and I would go at the same time. They thought it was hilarious, they are the friendliest people and say welcome and if they speak English ask where you are from.

City is very dirty with no trashcans and stray cats everywhere. Sat in a park and people watched absolutely fascinating. Some of the women dressed completely in black, which isn’t a religious necessity but their choice (or men’s choice) most men have a turban. There are soldiers with rifles on every corner. Loads of police, some of them have a band on their arm saying tourist and they could speak English and were very helpful. Tried to find a pullover sweater but I was near exclusive stores but was too expensive. The women and children had beautiful clothes but then covered with chador.

Met tour leader Andi, a fun loving English girl, and 17 of other people from the tour. Four group members were from Canada, 1 from Winnipeg, and 1 from Duncan, a couple of new Zealanders, 3 young Dutch guys and the rest were Aussie’s, they were a great bunch, my kind of guys. They had been everywhere so it was great fun hearing about their adventures.

Spent the first day getting acquainted and shopping at outdoor bazaar. It was dirty but interesting. Peddlers were a real pain they would grab your arm and try to get you into their stores.

Egyptian Museum, King Tut's Tomb, Whirling Dervish

Day 5
Next day had breakfast and met our tour guide. He was a young Arab man with a good sense of humour and spoke fluent English. We went in a large bus and it was great as the driver stayed with the bus so we could leave things in the bus instead of packing things around, for example water and cameras, etc.


Egyptian Museum
First stop was the Egyptian museum a lovely huge building. Highlight was king Tut’s treasures. Guide said “Englishman spent forty years trying to find his tomb when a donkey fell in hole, so Egyptian donkey found the treasure not Englishman.” The other tombs were robbed of everything. The kings spent years getting their tombs ready with secret tunnels and rooms for all their treasures. They even blind folded their workers and architects before they were taken to the pyramids and then killed them afterwards. After the work was done they found out that as fast as they were sealing off the rooms the priests and politicians were stealing all the treasures.


King Tut’s Tomb
King’s Tut’s tomb was the only one found so far that was intact. It stayed hidden until 1923. Half the large museum was filled with just the things he had saved for his after life. Statues of his servants, soldiers all dressed in their suitable garments, jewels, money, gold throne, furniture, chariots, clothes, food, and armaments. They also had his caskets from the Valley of the Kings, there were four of them all made of pure gold that fit one inside the other, the last one was the size of a large room. Even had his dogs (with original hair) and crocodiles mummified.

We went to large Arab café for lunch and had all the different dishes, not too impressed. Next stop was king Tut’s pyramids. There were 3 of them one for him, medium one for his wife, and smaller for kids and parents. What a wonderful sight to see them with the camels and horses and donkeys in the background. The Bedouins own camels, a nasty looking bunch they were. I took a picture of one of them on a camel and he rode after me looking for “baksheesh” after that I took their pictures when they weren’t looking.

Peddlers were all selling post cards and for change they give you the dirtiest, filthiest bills then when you try to use them again they give you a bad time and don’t want to accept them. Guide takes you inside the pyramids and the drawings and colors are gorgeous and look like they had just been done. , Hieroglyphics tell the whole history of their past. We then went to the sphinxes it was so big and impressive it was built to guard the pyramids. It was sad to see townhouses built right beside them

Back to the hotel and we all went to the old part of Cairo to an Arabian café. Had a dollar dinner a bowl of dried onions, barley, chickpeas, pasta and heaven knows what else, they all gobbled it up, yuck. We then walked through this crowded old part of town; very safe as in Egypt you never worry about crime because their laws are too strict.

Whirling Dervish
Andi took us to an old hall to see a free performance, no liquor served in Arab places. It had 6 piece Arabian band and this character did a dance called “The whirling Dervish” it is a part of a cult that is banned in most of the Arabians countries as they worship the devil, it was the weirdest most fascinating dance I have ever seen. He was dressed in a long skirt and spun rapidly around without stopping for 35 minutes; he seemed to go into a trance. He was in his sixties so it was amazing to watch him. They would not let Shane take videos of it, which was disappointing because he is going to make me a copy of the video for me and I would have loved to have a record of this weird dance. When he was finished we all gave him a standing ovation. We then went to a karaoke bar in a fancy hotel, which are the only places, which sell alcohol and had a ball. The Arabian countries are so strict about drinking that even tourists can be arrested for being too high in public. Left at 1 a.m. and took a terrifying taxi ride back to hotel. Great day and by then we felt we had known each other for months.

Citadel, Mosque, City of the Dead

Day 6
Citadel and Mosque
Bus with tour guide picked us up the next morning and went to a large citadel. Guide told me his story about how he had married an Australian girl 10 years before. It was very interesting as she had him sign a document that he couldn’t take another wife and he made her sign that the children would be Muslim. They had a wedding in Australia and again in Egypt, they had 2 kids and he said he loved her dearly but wouldn’t do it again as there are too many differences in their cultures. Next went to a Mosque and he told us about the Muslim religion which was very interesting. They can have 4 wives but have to treat them all well or the wives can leave and the men have to support them and their children. If he wants to divorce one of them he only has to say “I divorce you” three times but he has to look after her and her children. They believe there is one god, Allah and Jesus and Mohamed were prophets. They have to pray facing Mecca 5 times a day, but first have to wash their hands, feet and hair. If they are busy working they can make up their prayers later.

City of the Dead
On the way back we drove by the “city of the dead.” Centuries ago they buried their dead in small 2 room stone houses, one room for husband and one for women and children. There were miles and miles of them, they looked quite comfortable, poor people live in them now, and the guide said it is better then living in the street. There are no beggars in the street. They have free medical and schools and university is free if their grades are good enough.

Had dinner at a fun place and howled at the menu as they spell the words on the menu totally wrong. I had “good food pizza,” which turned out to be pita bread with stew on top. The rest all had crazy orders too. After went shopping with Shane and Donna. He had fun teasing the Arabs in the markets they always ask if we are his wives and he tells them we are 2 of them and he has 2 more at home and 27 children. They pat him on the back and say good man; he does all the haggling for me when we shop. These peddlers need someone like him, as they don’t understand women being by themselves. Peddlers have some of the funniest saying as you walk past their shops “buy it quickly before I change my mind” “last chance, closing out sale” “ buy it now as you are breaking my heart” or “come into my store as it is hassle free.” It was fun! I bought myself a lovely lace shawl for $4.00 and it turned out to be the most practical thing I owned. Put it off and on as the weather changed, use as a pillow or a blanket, plus the Arabs loved me wearing it and the women would show me how to put it on my head, but I never caught on to it.

Luxor

Day 7
Luxor
Packed next day and bussed to Luxor, driving across miles of dessert and went by the red sea. Beautiful sight, the water is bright blue and green like Kalamalka Lake, only much brighter colours. Followed it for miles and saw dozens of ships waiting to go through the Suez Canal. They had to wait up to 2 days and it cost them up to $200,000.00 to go through it. Our tour guide showed us miles of empty condos they had built for the workers on the pipelines and said the Arabs wouldn’t leave their families even after they had built places for them

Lots of Bedouin camps with their tents. They live the same as in Israel with their 4 wives with separate tents for each one and children of each camp with their own coloured clothes in case they got lost. They make big money with their camels renting rides at the pyramids. The camels cost about $1,000.00 and live for an approximately 35 years and when they get too old to work, they eat them. Small farms everywhere with donkeys that they use for everything from pack horses to turning water wheels, kids riding them, etc.

It took us eight hours to get to Luxor, as we would have to wait on some parts of the trip for a convoy to take us through where they felt it wasn’t safe. They are very careful of their tourists, as that is their biggest industry.




Had dinner in hotel and went off to bed early as we have to get up at 3 a.m. the next morning.

Valley of the Kings, Nile River

Day 8
Valley of the Kings
Walked a few blocks to the Nile on trip to the Valley of the Kings. Boarded a small boat, in the dark, going up a narrow plank, for a 10-minute ride. Walked to small town and met three donkey men who got each of us on a donkey. We were all in stitches and the drivers kept saying, “shush, shush” I asked them why they were telling us to be quiet and they said they didn’t mean us they were talking to the donkeys to make them calm down. After that my poor donkey heard “shush” from me for the next hour until we stopped for breakfast.

We went into some of the king’s tombs. There are 64 pharaoh’s tombs and 57 tombs in the valley of the queens. They are so beautiful you can’t describe them, with statues, hieroglyphics and carvings still in beautiful colours. All the statues everywhere in Egypt had their noses broken. They believed that their spirits came back through their noses and a famous queen ordered all their noses to be broken, including the sphinx, so she would be the only one to return. The Christians also did a lot of damage by using the tombs as churches and by carvings their crosses, etc. in the walls and statues. Of course all the treasures from the storage rooms had been stolen.

After seeing three tombs, it takes at least two hours; we had to climb out of the valley. It was steep and hard clambering over the rocks and sand in the heat. When we finally got to the top we were not too pleased to be pestered with peddlers. Back came the donkeys. I took one look at the single trail along the high cliffs and told the head Arab, Abdul, that there was no way I was riding a donkey over those trails. He told me he would look after me. He gave his donkey to the other Arab and led me over the cliffs.

Pretty good for a 71 year old

He spoke perfect English so was very interesting and I relaxed and started to really enjoy myself. He gathered fossilized sea sells to show me that was how the floods were during Noah’s time. He had a wife and three kids and three donkeys with a small farm. I asked him if he was considered well off and he replied, “Yes, thanks to the blessings of Allah.” We rode for about an hour to the bottom of the cliffs. Abdul then got on his donkey and still led mine as we followed the group through his village. His friends in the village were calling out to him and laughing as we rode by. I asked him what was so funny and he said they asking if he was bringing home a second wife and that they were going to run and tell his wife I was coming. It was great fun and of course everyone teased me about my friend “Abdul.” Shane videoed it all, especially me getting off and on the donkey. I tipped Abdul $10.00, the best money I ever spent.

Nile River
We took the boat back across the Nile and sat on balcony outside my room and sun bathed while the rest went shopping.

Aswan, King Farouk's Palace, Abu Simple

Day 9
Aswan
Packed and left a 6 a.m. for Aswan, a lovely town by a lake, that was made by the Aswan dam. Took felucca (sail boat) on this lovely day. It was like a picture seeing all the white sailboats around us. We heard a loud voice singing, “row, row, row, your boat” and I looked over the side and saw an Arab boy, about five years old, in a tiny rubber raft. He was paddling with rubber flaps on his hands, keeping up with our boat. I gave him a tip and he asked where I was from. When I told him, he immediately started singing “I’m back in the saddle again” in a loud voice.

King Farouk’s Palace
We stopped at King Farouk’s palace, now a fancy hotel, and had a beer at $10.00. That evening we went to a Nubian village on a nearby island. They are a tribe of very proud, nice looking black people. Ten Nubian men played drums and sang and danced on the ½ hour boat trip on the way to their island. All the houses are built out of stone and they led us to a large one with a huge bedroom where the women served us dinner. Everything was fine until they brought in their stuff and did some high pressure selling. When we got outside it was pitch black so we had a terrible time walking over the rocks and sand to get to the boat.

Day 10
Abu Simble
Away next morning at 4 a.m. to Abu Simble, a three-hour bus trip through the desert. We were escorted by a convoy and found out later that the next day they stopped all tourist trips to this site as it got too dangerous because of terrorists. It was an impressive place with two tremendous temples, flanked by four statues of King Ramses. They were 65 feet high, built in 1200 B.C. Inside were 3 halls, one of them 2000 feet long, containing statues hieroglyphics and carvings in gorgeous colors, and in great shape. These two, huge temples had to be moved to save them when the Aswan dam was built. The world ecologist society paid to have them and Ramses statues taken apart and reassembled a mile away, incredible.

Aswan, Karnack Temple

Day 11-14
Aswan to Doma
Bussed back to Aswan and got on Doma boat. Same 17 people, a great, fun bunch. Neat boat, with decks front and back and with seats to sit in the sun. First deck had thick cushions, in bright colors to sit on and lean against, with small table in front of them, with both sides open. Bar and counter for buffet meals at one end. We helped ourselves to beer or pop, tea or coffee. Eighteen small rooms and two bathrooms downstairs, again I lucked out with my own room for the three days we spent on the boat. We travelled slowly down the Nile taking in all the sights and the weather was beautiful.

We had a three-man crew of great Arabs. At night they tied up beside farms right out of bible days with their water buffalo, goats, ducks and chickens. Kids all lined up as we tied up. We gave them candy, cookies and the main thing they wanted was a pen. We all wished we had brought loads of them. Shane went ashore and videoed the little village as we watched from the boat. Villagers and us howled as we watched him taping a huge tethered water buffalo as it broke loose and started chasing him. It was a friendly buffalo and all it wanted was to lick everyone. He took some great pictures; the captain steering the boat with his feet; scenes and ruins along the way, etc. When we left in the morning the kids would hold on to the lines and try and stop us from going. It was such a relaxing time after our very busy schedules. Sadly left the Doma for Luxor and checked in a nice hotel. Luxor is a lovely town near the Nile. It was fun shopping and good cafes.

Day 15
Karnack Temple
Next was a town near Karnack temple and hundreds of beautifully colored horse drawn carriages that tourists rented to go sightseeing. We all took the carriages to the Karnak temple. It was a very impressive, with rows of lion statues on one side, sheep on the other side…again with broken noses.

These ruins covered 640 acres and we had an Arab lady guide that spoke good English and told us the history of the place. Really enjoyed the sunny day and sitting on the ruins and listening to her. I went into one of the buildings on my own and watched a German tourists taking flash pictures. Signs everywhere not to take flash pictures and the Arab had also warned us. The little Arabian guard tried to take the camera from around his neck and it got ugly as four big Germans started to gang up on him. The little guy stood his ground and kept telling them to stay back. He finally ripped the strap and camera off the tourist and ran out of the room with it. Later saw the police take the film out and give the guy back his camera and gave him heck. I admired the Arab for standing up to the arrogant bunch and told him so. He was pleased.

Had one other run in with the guards with one of our bunch. It wasn’t his fault as it wasn’t posted but one of the Dutch boys started climbing steps outside the temple. Suddenly two guards ran after him and grabbed him and said they were taking him to the police. He broke away from them and ran out of the place. You don’t fool around in these countries. We went back to the hotel to get our luggage and had an hour’s flight back to Cairo. Enjoyed seeing the scenery out the window. The desert is so different and the sunsets are incredible. Had last dinner at Cairo hotel with the bunch as some going in different directions the next day. We all exchanged addresses and promised to keep in touch.

Alexandria-Pompeii Pillar, Monastery,Cairo, Alamein

Day 16
Alexandria-Pompeii’s Pillar
Gary and Danielle, fun Aussie couple and Shane and Donna and I were picked up by a driver with a small bus and another tour leader and went to Alexandria. We stopped on the way to see Pompeii’s pillar, a huge remaining column and catacombs, hundreds of tombs in caves under a mountain. They sure worried about their after lives. Had hotel overlooking Mediterranean Sea. We took local, dirty old tram downtown with all the natives. Bazaars were unique. They had little fenced areas on the ground, and shelves and roofs with live chickens, ducks and turkeys on them for sale. Great vegetables, fruit and spices all neatly piled up. Everyone is very friendly. These people are darker and very good looking.

We went shopping and I bought a heavy sweater for $18.00, as it was windy and quite cold. This town is famous for its ice cream so we gorged ourselves on different kinds. Walked down lanes by old open stores where you could see them ironing clothes with ancient flat irons, hand weaving, washing clothes with a scrub board, etc. They wouldn’t let Shane take pictures as I guess they were too embarrassed. Had dinner on the balcony at the hotel as they were having a wedding reception in the dining room. We got to watch it but I was disappointed to see the bride dressed in our type of wedding dress and our music. The only difference was that her and the groom had to sit on two decorated chairs while everyone else danced and they weren’t allowed to dance. We got invited to join them for a glass of non-alcoholic punch (Arabs never touch liquor). Everyone is allowed to smoke the huge water pies, filled with fruit tobacco. Each person is given a plastic end to use on the pipe and they really inhale it and then blow out huge bursts of smoke. I didn’t like it at all and yet the ones that didn’t smoke enjoyed it. Strange! Ancient

Monastery
We then went to a large, ancient monastery in the middle of the desert. It is still occupied by the Coptiks (Christian) monks and they live in the same way. They are bitter enemies with the Arabs and while we were there three sonic Arabian planes flew around making a terrible noise and driving the monks crazy. The monks said they did this to them every day just to annoy them. A bearded monk told us to take off our shoes and he would who around he said there would be no charge but a donation would be welcome. Anyway we finished a boring tour and left the tour guide to give him his donation. All charges were left up to him, as they were included in our package. He gave him 5 Egyptian lbs, ($2.50 Canadian) for each of us and the monk went ballistic! He wanted 20 lbs. each and our leader said he had taken tourists there before and that was all the tour companies ever paid. The monk screamed at him and told him to get out and never come back again. Poor guide was so embarrassed so much for Christianity.

Cairo
Drove a different way back to Cairo and very interesting sights. There were tiny farms with boys herding sheep and goats on their donkeys. Nearly every farm has a pigeon hive. They are about ten feet high with holes in the sides and top and the pigeons nest there. One of there main dishes is stuffed pigeon, so when they want them they go out to the hive and help themselves. Passed many miles of gorgeous

El Alamein
Bus took us to El Alamein, site of famous World War II battles, where British General Montgomery and allies made one of the first large wins against the Germans and Italians in 1942. There were three huge cemeteries for the allies, Germans and Italians. There were also three museums; the British one had a large room kept the same as it was during the war with long tables with maps with small replicas of ships, tanks, planes, armed forces, etc. and long wooden prongs that they used to move the models as the battles changed. It also contained clothes and memorabilia showing how they lived in the desert. Hard for the allies coping with the heat and in those days they didn’t even have accurate maps of Egypt. They had life-sized statues of the famous leaders, such as Churchill. They had a Korean sculpture make the statues and it was hilarious as he made all the British and American faces look Korean. Outside had displays of tanks and trucks. One 1939 truck belonged to a Canadian soldier. It was found in the desert fifty years later. All it needed was a battery and some gas and it started right up. Figured the soldier got lost in the desert and left the truck and died. His body was never found. Next went through the German museum. They brought their own huge stones from Germany and built a large, ugly fortress like building. They had a life like statue from Rommel, German leader on his famous motorcycle. The way the exhibits were laid out you would never have believed they lost the war. The third museum was built by the Italians, a truly beautiful marble building.


Arabian horse farms. They had beautiful statues of horses everywhere. Would love to have had a chance to go though the farms.
We drove through lovely country, with miles of palm trees and expensive homes. There are checkpoints along the way with soldiers and their rifles. We definitely made use of our Arab guide, as he would show them some papers and talk to them and they would wave us through. The guides were also great a telling us stories of the people and country so the time flew by as we drove miles nearly every day.
Arrived back at our original hotel in Cairo and had nice buffet dinner. Said good-bye to everyone as were all leaving the next day. Tony met me back in Cairo, he was nice enough to change his plans to go by bus to Israel, so he could go with me so I wouldn’t have to go alone. Went to bed early as had to get up at 3 AM to get bus. Watched TV for a while as it is a riot, they have American comedies, such as Coach, dubbed in English voices and the same person says all the parts.

So long “Egypt” had a memorable time and met some great people