We’re riding in a bus back from seeing Ramses II’s magnificent temples in Abu Simbel.  It was an early morning (up at 3:30, on the road by 4) because Abu Simbel is a 3-hour drive south of Aswan.  For those who know their Egyptian geography, this put us 50km from the border with Sudan.  Apparently there have been incidents of Sudanese bandits preying on tourist buses (not unlike ours) and kidnapping all aboard.  The trip is made early and with a huge convoy of other buses and police to reduce the risk.  The landscape is desert, and looks hot, even though the temperatures have been cool most days.  I can see mirages in the distance that look like huge lakes.

Abu Simbel is amazing for at least two reasons.  One is the grandeur of the temples themselves.  There are two: one dedicated to Ramses II and one to his favourite wife, Nefertari.  The scale of the temples is a reflection of the ambition and ego of the king considered to be the greatest of ancient Egypt.  His statue sits with three other gods at the far end of the temple, and the sun shines directly on him twice a year: February 22nd (his birthday) and October 22nd (his coronation).

The second thing that’s amazing is that the temple currently sits 200m above the hillside into which it was originally carved.  When the Nile was dammed in the late 50s to prevent flooding, the rising waters behind the dam started to cover these temples and many other ruins in the valley.  The Egyptian government, with help from UNESCO, carved the temple into pieces and re-constructed it in a man-made hillside.

Yesterday was another busy Gap day that was highlighted by the reason for this post’s title: a camel ride!  A motorboat took us across the Nile to West Aswan where we were paired up with a camel and a guide.  We rode our camels through the dunes as the sun was setting.  At times the dunes hid any hint of civilization and you could almost, almost, feel like an authentic desert explorer.

…and I cannot lie.  (Note: this opening was rated highest among all candidates for today’s post.  Read into that what you will.)

I’m lying here in the lower bunk on a sleeper train to Aswan.  We have a tidy, cozy, private cabin in a car with the rest of our tour buddies.  The bed is reasonably comfortable and the gentle rocking and swaying is soothing and should be conducive to sleep.  Unfortunately, the sudden stops and lurching are not.  We’ll see how the night plays out, but right now we’re sitting at about 50-50 sway vs. lurch.  We were served dinner as soon as we boarded (right).
Today was the first day of our Gap adventure and we really packed a lot in with a trip to the pyramids in Giza and the afternoon at the Egyptian Museum.  The museum is amazing.  It would take a week to really explore it in depth, but we crammed our visit into three hours.  Thankfully our guide Michael is very knowledgeable and took us to the most important exhibits, explaining each one in detail as we saw them.

The remnants of King Tut’s tomb were fascinating.  The museum holds everything except the mummy itself (that’s at the tomb in Luxor).  King Tut’s famous mask is the highlight of the exhibit.  It was very, very cool to see such a recognizable artifact in real life.  We also strolled through the room containing the mummies of some of Egypt’s most famous kings.  It was well worth the 100 Egyptian Pounds to see the spectacularly well-preserved remains of all of the kings, especially Ramses II, right down to his shock of wavy white hair.

The pyramids and the Sphinx were also very impressive.  Lying on the edge of the dusty Cairo suburb of Giza, the pyramids stand as majestic and proud now as they have for thousands of years.  I was blown away by their sheer size in real life, with the natural, “How’d they do that??” rolling through my engineer brain.  We took the opportunity to enter the smallest of the three pyramids—a claustrophobic trip downward through a long tunnel to the tomb chamber below the ground level.  The chamber itself is uninspiring, but the trip down was well worth the price of admission.  I’m just glad we took the trip in the middle of winter and not on a hot, sweltering summer day.
The train has switched back from lurching to swaying, so I’m going to take a stab at sleep.  Until next time…

We were woken at 4:30am this morning—a typically glum situation rendered much happier by the arrival of our bags.  My fatigue after roaming Cairo in search of replacement underwear was easily overcome by my joy at changing out of the ill-fitting boxers that we eventually found and into something a little more comfy.  (Note: men’s underwear is perhaps the single most challenging item to purchase in all of Cairo.)

Our underwear adventure came on the heels of a fantastic day of sightseeing that included only one obvious scam that anyway allowed us to look out over the city from the top of a minaret.  All in all, it is a story perhaps best told in pictures…

Delicious coffee at Cilantro Café.  Very westernized coffee shop near our hotel.  The American University is nearby and many of the restaurants cater to ex-pats.

The Nile!

Off to Islamic Cairo and the The Khan el Khalili Market, where you can find…

…shoes!  Also, stuffed camels, shawls, gold, silver, trinkets, etc., etc., all at Great Prices  For You My Friend!

Also…cats:

While we were in Islamic Cairo, we found ourselves on a private tour with the Muezzin at a mosque…which was fantastic, but also cost us more in baqsheesh (tips) than we’d anticipated.  A memorable experience nonetheless, especially getting to climb one of the minarets.

Today (Saturday), we walked along the Nile to Coptic Cairo.  Lots of police presence due to the recent attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria, but the city seemed very serene and safe.

We made a friend on the way.

And ended the day with a refreshing beer on the rooftop deck of the Osiris Hotel…

…as the sun set on Cairo.

Tomorrow we’re off on our Gap adventure, where we’ll finally see the pyramids!  An overnight train will then whisk us south to Aswan where we begin our trek back north along the Nile to Luxor…a trip that includes an overnight ride on a Felucca (which I mention mainly because I like saying the word Felucca).

Frankly, traveling with too much luggage is an encumbrance, so we say forget it!  Just leave your bags at Dulles International and go on with a couple of toothbrushes and no change of underwear.  We’re roughing it!

Thumbs up for a little shuteye!

Besides that minor issue, we made it to Cairo safely despite the white-knuckle cab ride from the airport and with only a half-hour delay leaving Frankfurt that we may or may not have caused (ok, that we definitely caused).  Moral: don’t get too comfy on the amazingly comfy chairs when you board in half an hour and aren’t actually at the gate.  A tasty dinner at a seafood café (they fed us “FEEEESH” the kids kept laughing and repeating “FEEEESH!”) capped off an eventful day.

It’s late now, and time to fall asleep with the incessant honking as a lullaby.  We dig into Cairo for real tomorrow!