Waking up in Luxor, I recently discovered, makes for a really good start to a day! Driving through in the early morning sun, I saw such a contrast with Cairo; Luxor is a little slower paced and so much greener, with more agriculture and animals on the banks of the Nile than I saw in the crowded city limits of Cairo. Still a big city, but a little breath of fresh air after the day before :)
Today's destination? The west bank at Luxor--the Valley of the Kings! I was so disappointed to learn that cameras were strictly prohibited... so I can't offer too much by way of pictures for this one. But then again, I'm not sure all of the visitors would have sufficient oxygen if everyone stayed down in the tombs long enough to take all the shots they wanted, not to mention the risk of the flash harming the incredibly preserved colors on the walls. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide in Luxor (which was a real blessing--I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much out of the trip on my own!) There are a whole bunch of tombs all over the valley, but the tricky tourism department sells tickets that allow you to choose any three to see, and any additional tombs require separate tickets. So we visited the tombs of Rameses IX, Rameses VI, and Rameses I (these guys got so creative with their names...) Truly, having the chance to walk down those stairs, deep underground into these tombs was just extraordinary! The hieroglyphics and images engraved on the walls, many of which were still in color from the original paint, were in remarkable condition for their age--well over 3000 years old. As I looked at the intricate depictions of these stories and of the figures meant to guard and protect the mummy, it was hard to believe that they had been there, exactly as they are, for over a millennium before Christ was even born... hard to comprehend.
Traveling all the way to the Valley of the Dead without seeing its most famous resident (at least, his remains) would be unthinkable. So, saving the best for last--the tomb King Tutankhamen! In all honesty, the post-life abode of the mummy of this child-king is the smallest and probably least impressive of all of the tombs in the Valley--the only reason for its fame is that it was found intact, hidden away for thousands of years, undisturbed by the tomb raiders who looted all of the treasures (and history) of the other royals. But still, to call King Tut's 2-room tomb unimpressive would be so far from the truth! I actually looked into the blackened, shriveled face of King Tut down there! Crazy to think that this ruler of Egypt was younger than I am when his body was mummified and brought into that underground room. Also down there was the largest of his 3 coffins (supposedly as a measure of protection, Tut's coffins--with the golden death mask we all recognize--were stacked inside each other, like the little Russian nesting dolls! The other 2 coffins are in the Egyptian museum, along with a number of larger sarcophagi.) Given the grandeur of the burial and wealth of this relatively insignificant child king, it's difficult to even imagine what the tombs of the great, long-ruling pharaohs must have contained once upon a time!
Our adventures in the Valley of the Kings weren't over just yet. The Temple of Hatshepsut is just magnificent--the long causeway leading up to it made for quite the grand entrance. Hatshepsut, as a history refresher, was the daughter of Tutmoses I and wife of his successor, Tutmoses II, who died before she gave birth to an heir. Rather than step aside for a lesser wife who had born the pharaoh a son, Hatshepsut made herself co-regent of her stepson, functioning as ruler for the boy...and, of course, eventually assuming absolute power over Egypt. Smooth. Anyway, she made an effort to essentially legitimize her power by portraying herself as a male, with the pharaoh's beard and the title of king rather than queen. It's kind of funny now, but it's really extraordinary that as a rare queen at the time she could be as powerful and influential as she was!
By the way--in Egypt, random men would just pop up in our pictures all the time (sometimes we wouldn't even realize they were there until we went through our cameras later!) and then stick out their hands, trying to charge us for it. Umm... who are you and why are you posing for my picture?? It was almost creepy, but I was having a hard time trying not to laugh in this shot :)
This afternoon was a lot of fun, and another fantastic opportunity for touristy pictures! Our hotel in Luxor had a gorgeous view of the Nile, with the outside dining area extending right up to the water's edge (eating dinner there at sunset was magical!) So naturally in this region, when so many things are right on the river, the easiest way to get places is often by boat--it's like taking a bus around town, but about a hundred times cooler :) It was so fun to just take our sweet time cruising down the Nile in a falukkah :)
What was even more fun than the ride itself (depending on your definition of the word) was the actual purpose of the boat trip: to get across the river and ride camels! :) Not the most comfortable hour I've spent, nor the most pleasant smelling, but loads of fun! My 11 year old camel-guiding friend Basim was very helpful in explaining what all the crops and animals and buildings were and in picking practically every flower he saw for me, but he wasn't the most skilled photographer :) So, meet my camel, Bob Marley (they had the funniest names: Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Michael Shumichael...?) To the left is me riding a headless Bob Marley, and to the right is his head! I'll work on finding some pictures with all body parts in the same frame ;)
Okay, here are a couple of shots I want to include just because I thought they were pretty!
On the boat ride back, some little boys playing on the western bank actually swam out to and caught onto the boat--it would have been a fun ride if they hadn't gotten caught :) This was just such a beautiful scene!
At sunset with some of the girls :)
That night we took carriages to the local souk to do a little shopping. Shopping in this part of the world is such a different experience and so much fun :) That is, as long as you bring a guy along to pretend to be your brother (or husband) so the vendors will back off...he even turned down an offer of 5 million camels for me! What a good protector ;)
This was a day I checked a biggie off my bucket list--I saw the Pyramids of Giza, actually went inside a pyramid, and took loads of tacky tourist pictures! Put it all together and it made for one of the most memorable days of my life :D
Our first stop was at the Second Pyramid, Kaphre's Pyramid (the one that looks like it's snow-capped!) The entrance is a ramp down to this narrow, cramped tunnel you shuffle down while bent in half (bad if you're claustrophobic!) for a ways, and then you switch and go upwards through another tunnel the same cramped size... when I could finally stand up and look around, I was in the burial chamber. Oh my goodness. There wasn't much oxygen in there and it was surprisingly warm... but looking in the sarcophagus at the far end of the small, high-ceiling room, I kept imagining what it must have been like when the pharaoh's mummy was first placed in that room, before it had been looted and emptied. It must have been quite a sight! Also, looking around and thinking about the genius mathematical minds and all the sweat and blood that went into the computer-less architecture and machine-less manual labor... too much for me to comprehend!
Getting back out into the fresh air was a good feeling :) And it was definitely time just embrace the infamous tacky tourist in me that was aching to spring out for pictures! So... we all did :) This whole week--hats, sunglasses, headsets, some fanny packs, sandals, cheesy overdone poses... it was great :D
Here's Kaphre's Pyramid!
Feeling Egyptian with Mickell :)
Found it! ;)
Tahna, Rachel, and Amy... and the Pyramids!
My Jerusalem family- Tessa, Jacqueline, and Megan!
Isn't it gorgeous??
Yeah....
I'm going to stop here and spare myself further embarrassment. Just had to get these up!
Real quick: this whole pyramid thing was done by lunchtime! We also stopped at a papyrus factory, which was really neat. We got a demonstration of how they make it, and then got suckered into actually buying stuff :) It was fun, though!
Megan, Megan, and Jacqueline at the papyrus factory in Giza
Then- Saqqara and Memphis (the real one, not the one in Tennessee!) Memphis is home to the enormous statue of the the legendary and seemingly egotistical Ramses II (who is, according to many scholars, likely the pharaoh of the Exodus.) Truly a magnificent statue, though
There he is!
Then on to Saqqara, the necropolis for ancient Memphis and home of the stepped pyramid of King Djoser and the tomb of Ti, just one of the many tombs in that area. I was amazed by how well the color in the tomb has withstood the past 3000 years! If I'd been allowed to take pictures, I would have :)
It was a little windy- gotta keep the tourist hat on!
After all this fun stuff today, we actually loaded up all our junk and headed to the airport to fly from Cairo to Luxor! It was only about an hour-long flight, but saved us an awful lot of driving with 90 people. Got to the hotel, ate dinner, crashed... and that was the end of day 3!
Crossing the border into Egypt! Honestly, probably not among my top ten favorite parts of the trip, but still, an interesting experience. It felt like I had my passport checked about every 12 feet, and it was really, really hot... just made me grateful for the shade every time we got to the next building :) The border terminal is located literally on the shore of the Red Sea--just enough of a sea breeze to make us all sticky :) But all the sweat was worth it: I officially have an Egyptian stamp in my passport!!
Once we loaded the buses and took off, it wasn't long before I did a double take looking out the window--I could have sworn I saw a ship sailing through the middle of the desert. Hallucination, I thought... But it turned out I was right--we were approaching the Suez Canal! It was just such a funny sight :) We actually drove through a tunnel underneath it, which was a little bit disconcerting when I thought about it! But it's really such an incredible feat of engineering!
So... usually rest stops aren't worth any commentary, but the ones on this trip merit a short bit. And not in a good way. Oh man. I'd been warned ahead of time about the bathrooms in this country, but wasn't quite sure what to expect... Let's just say that it is a real blessing to have been raised in a country in which the average bathroom is free of charge, provides toilet paper, has a toilet seat (anything besides a hole in the ground, for that matter), a real door, and a toilet that flushes, has pump soap (and not a hair-covered bar of soap, if any, and crusty faucet handles,) and doesn't require the occupant to chase out spiders or to roll up his or her pant legs to avoid getting wet. Yep, I've never known how good I've had it :) Such an interesting experience! :)
Finally getting to our hotel in Cairo was such a relief! The drive into the city as the sun was going down was unforgettable, though, in a few ways. First, to look out over the skyline and see the pyramids--whoa! Second, I will never complain about Utah drivers again. These Egyptian drivers are nuts! Straddling the lane lines, just scraping past other cars... When you cross a street, you have to be careful not to change your speed in the middle, because the drivers have it timed and are planning on missing you by about 4 inches (to quote Dr. Muhlestein, "They know how thick their paint is.") No joke. Third--there are SO many people in Cairo! The amount of housing there blows my mind. It was weird to see how many of the buildings there have bars sticking out of the top, the roofs unfinished, until I learned that they had no intention of finishing them (with laws in the past, property taxes based on the value of the property were an awful lot lower if your property was "unfinished." Hmm.) I also loved seeing the colors: apparently, when you buy an apartment in Cairo, you're really only buying the walls. The windows, doors, paint, and everything else are up to you! Lots of personalization.
After dinner we drove over to the Giza to watch the Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids! Really cool--mostly just because they were the pyramids. The Sphinx's voice wasn't quite as deep as I imagined it would be... ;) It was hard to see much in the dark, but loads of fun just to be there! (I'd post a picture, but I can't tell you how difficult it was to get a good one with the weird lighting!)
What. A. Week! I just got home (funny to be referring to Jerusalem as "home" already) last night from a trip to the Arab Republic of Egypt, which probably constituted the most amazing but draining 8 days of my life! And as such, I think I'm going to have to break it up day by day for blogging purposes :)
So, to start: we didn't take the most direct route to Egypt, but the detours were worth the, er, educational benefits (I am in school, after all!) Tel Be'er Sheva and Tel Arad are now archaeological sites, both in southern Israel (far enough south, in fact, to merit use in the phrase "from "Be'er Sheva to Dan" in the Bible, Dan being in the north--not unlike Americans talking about the entire country, from New York to L.A... Random fact of the day!) I won't regurgitate my history lessons here, but these ancient ruins made life in Abraham's time seem a little more real to me; walking through the streets and gates, visiting the Holy of Holies in the remains of the temple, peering into the wells that once sustained life in this desert--amazing that it's all still here. And I love slowly becoming more familiar with the geography of this land!
Maybe I shouldn't count this as day 1, because we didn't actually get all the way to Egypt the first night! Instead, we spent the night at a kibbutz near the border. The term "kibbutz" was new to me-- it's a collective community of people (about 150 where we stayed) who live for the community. It's amazing to me how selfless they are: each person has a job in the community, be it milking cows, washing dishes, or teaching school. All salaries go directly into a group bank account, and committees make all the decisions collectively on how and where to spend the money, how to manage the business aspects (what they grow/produce and sell), and other community matters. There are 7 cars they take turns using, if I remember correctly, and each person receives a weekly allowance for personal spending. Housing, food, clothing allowances, etc. are distributed to each family based on size and need. I have a lot of respect for people who can live like this--no greed, no self-centeredness, just living for the good of the whole, taking only what you need, and serving those around you. I'm not sure I'm at the point where I could live this way, but it's really a neat thing.
Some of the happiest, most welcoming people you'll ever meet...we had a barbecue with them and went swimming that night :) Actually, though, before eating, we actually drove a few minutes outside the kibbutz and spent some time in the sand dunes. It's simply stunning out there--rippling waves of sand and the low mountains against a pink and orange sunset... I expected the sand to be hot as I repeatedly stumbled and rolled down the slopes, but it wasn't--apparently, quartz is usually the reason sand absorbs so much heat, and this desert sand was quartz-free.
Our adventures in the Valley of the Kings weren't over just yet. The Temple of Hatshepsut is just magnificent--the long causeway leading up to it made for quite the grand entrance. Hatshepsut, as a history refresher, was the daughter of Tutmoses I and wife of his successor, Tutmoses II, who died before she gave birth to an heir. Rather than step aside for a lesser wife who had born the pharaoh a son, Hatshepsut made herself co-regent of her stepson, functioning as ruler for the boy...and, of course, eventually assuming absolute power over Egypt. Smooth. Anyway, she made an effort to essentially legitimize her power by portraying herself as a male, with the pharaoh's beard and the title of king rather than queen. It's kind of funny now, but it's really extraordinary that as a rare queen at the time she could be as powerful and influential as she was!
This afternoon was a lot of fun, and another fantastic opportunity for touristy pictures! Our hotel in Luxor had a gorgeous view of the Nile, with the outside dining area extending right up to the water's edge (eating dinner there at sunset was magical!) So naturally in this region, when so many things are right on the river, the easiest way to get places is often by boat--it's like taking a bus around town, but about a hundred times cooler :) It was so fun to just take our sweet time cruising down the Nile in a falukkah :) 
What was even more fun than the ride itself (depending on your definition of the word) was the actual purpose of the boat trip: to get across the river and ride camels! :) Not the most comfortable hour I've spent, nor the most pleasant smelling, but loads of fun! My 11 year old camel-guiding friend Basim was very helpful in explaining what all the crops and animals and buildings were and in picking practically every flower he saw for me, but he wasn't the most skilled photographer :) So, meet my camel, 
