walk like an egyptian
well i still have at least one more big exciting (more or less, you decide) post about Jordan i want to put on this blog...but it will have to wait and i'll do it later. til then, let me tell you about egypt.
the past couple of days in egypt have been amazing! it's fascinating here and i'm really enjoying it. we flew directly from Jordan to Cairo and we've had a really great tour guide for our time here. when we first got to cairo, we drove around through the city. an interesting city, full of life and people and buildings yet still infiltrated with poverty. we saw the pyramids and we crossed over the Nile River. we stopped on top of the bridge on the Nile to take some photos...and i had a friend try to take a photo of me. on the Nile. you would think this would be an easy task. however, let me show you the series of pictures that were the finals products of this undertaking.
so, i have yet to have a good, quality picture of me on the Nile. but this little series is far more entertaining to me than the single normal picture that i was aiming for.
anyway, we went to our hotel and it was an amazing hotel. called the Mercure. very beautiful inside and out, and the best part--i had a great balcony with a direct view of the pyramids!! they were right in front of me. as i was sitting on my balcony. it's really not often you can sit and relax and look at history looming right in front of you.
we really just enjoyed the evening at our hotel and swam and ate dinner.
the next day, we got up early and hit the road sight-seeing! we went directly to the pyramids (of Giza) and saw them up close and in person, rather than just a balcony view...they really are magnificant. and i felt so tiny compared to the size of them. i got the chance to climb up in the Great Pyramid. it was a rough climb because there aren't really stairs..it's more of a plank you are climbing up at a 75 degree angle while at the same time ducking down and bending over--the ceiling of the shaftway you have to climb is like 3 feet high. but it was very fun and adventurous! you get to the top chamber where the actual tomb is and there's nothing in there but an empty tomb--but it's crazy to think that a Pharoah was once buried right where you're standing. (no cameras were allow inside the pyramid)
aaand then i did it. i rode the awkward animal. the camel. i rode a camel in front of the pyramids! it was so fun. a little scary at first...(my camel didnt like me too much, and i didnt much trust him either) but so much fun. my camel's name was moses.
when the ride was over, i wanted to take a picture of the camel and myself--you know, how you hold a camera out in front of you and snap a shot? the typcial "let's take a picture together because no one else is here to do so OR we dont want other people to think we are as ridiculous as we truly are, so we'll do it ourselves" picture. i take these alot. and i wanted one with moses. but as i mentioned earlier, moses didn't like me too much...and when i tried to get close (no other camel did this to anyone else), he hissed at me. yes. my camel hissed. he showed me his awkwardly large yellow mouthful of teeth (they looked like giant dentures) and hissed. ok, ok, ok...i wont take a picture of the two of us, moses. sheesh.
so after this fun little ride (lasted about 40 minutes , we saw the Sphinx. it's not near as big as i had pictured in my head. but still cool. minus the fact that it was like 100 degrees and there were thousands of tourists trying to look at this thing at the same time.
we also some some other, earlier, pyramids and some more tombs and then we watched carpets being made at a carpet school and went to a perfumery--perfume is huge here, and it's 'essence' (with no alcohol) so it's very pure and lasts a long long time. i got some.
so, in the evening, we hopped on our overnight train to Luxor. this was my first overnight train and i slept like a baby. maybe it was the rocking of the train, as it wasn't a very smooth train or smooth tracks, that helped me sleep well. i'm not sure, but it was great and i really enjoyed it. we woke up to our 8 a.m. arrival in Luxor. Luxor is a gorgeous city. alot smaller than cairo, alot more peaceful, alot cleaner. aaaand alot hotter. it was 95 degrees by 9 a.m. not joking. it got up to about 120 degrees midday, i was told. who in their right minds goes sight seeing in that kind of weather? yes, well....we do. our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. i saw inside the tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IX, and Thutmes III.
the hyroglyphics on the walls are exquisite. (again, not allowed to take in cameras) i also saw the enterance to King Tut's tomb. i didn't go in because it was an extra fee that i couldn't afford, but apparently his actual mummy is inside his tomb as we speak. inside the sarcophocus. some political issues have been the causes for moving his mummy around (but never to the egyptian museum, where the rest of his treasure is on display) and back again to his tomb. you cannot see his mummy, but it's there. the valley of the kings was really interesting and i enjoyed it. i enjoyed it even more when a local gave me a giant chuck of ice to rub on my skin--it eventually turned my hands numb, which was a welcome feeling, for i embraced the coldness and the numbness took my mind off the of the heat.
from there we went to see the temple of Hatshepsut.
we also saw how they make alabaster stones and pottery and carvings--very beautiful. and then the heat was just too much to bear so we went to the hotel. this hotel was even more incredible than the cairo hotel. it was right on the Nile and was a 5 star lap of luxury. i thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon relaxing, cleaning up, shopping, and making friends. then i watched the sun set over the Nile and got some amazing shots that i'm in love with...:
i feel like i've learned alot of history so far in/about egypt, but i need to study it so much more. it's fascinating. and my thoughts while sitting on the Nile during the evening ran something along the lines of how Moses was put on this very river when he was a baby. such a small baby in the midst of a giant river--and God ended up using this tiny thing for greatness, while being a constant guardian and protector.
the past couple of days in egypt have been amazing! it's fascinating here and i'm really enjoying it. we flew directly from Jordan to Cairo and we've had a really great tour guide for our time here. when we first got to cairo, we drove around through the city. an interesting city, full of life and people and buildings yet still infiltrated with poverty. we saw the pyramids and we crossed over the Nile River. we stopped on top of the bridge on the Nile to take some photos...and i had a friend try to take a photo of me. on the Nile. you would think this would be an easy task. however, let me show you the series of pictures that were the finals products of this undertaking.
where's the Nile?
aleisha, quit talking.
hair in face.
shirt is about to blow off.
self explanitory.
so, i have yet to have a good, quality picture of me on the Nile. but this little series is far more entertaining to me than the single normal picture that i was aiming for.
anyway, we went to our hotel and it was an amazing hotel. called the Mercure. very beautiful inside and out, and the best part--i had a great balcony with a direct view of the pyramids!! they were right in front of me. as i was sitting on my balcony. it's really not often you can sit and relax and look at history looming right in front of you.
we really just enjoyed the evening at our hotel and swam and ate dinner.
the next day, we got up early and hit the road sight-seeing! we went directly to the pyramids (of Giza) and saw them up close and in person, rather than just a balcony view...they really are magnificant. and i felt so tiny compared to the size of them. i got the chance to climb up in the Great Pyramid. it was a rough climb because there aren't really stairs..it's more of a plank you are climbing up at a 75 degree angle while at the same time ducking down and bending over--the ceiling of the shaftway you have to climb is like 3 feet high. but it was very fun and adventurous! you get to the top chamber where the actual tomb is and there's nothing in there but an empty tomb--but it's crazy to think that a Pharoah was once buried right where you're standing. (no cameras were allow inside the pyramid)
aaand then i did it. i rode the awkward animal. the camel. i rode a camel in front of the pyramids! it was so fun. a little scary at first...(my camel didnt like me too much, and i didnt much trust him either) but so much fun. my camel's name was moses.
so after this fun little ride (lasted about 40 minutes , we saw the Sphinx. it's not near as big as i had pictured in my head. but still cool. minus the fact that it was like 100 degrees and there were thousands of tourists trying to look at this thing at the same time.
we also some some other, earlier, pyramids and some more tombs and then we watched carpets being made at a carpet school and went to a perfumery--perfume is huge here, and it's 'essence' (with no alcohol) so it's very pure and lasts a long long time. i got some.
so, in the evening, we hopped on our overnight train to Luxor. this was my first overnight train and i slept like a baby. maybe it was the rocking of the train, as it wasn't a very smooth train or smooth tracks, that helped me sleep well. i'm not sure, but it was great and i really enjoyed it. we woke up to our 8 a.m. arrival in Luxor. Luxor is a gorgeous city. alot smaller than cairo, alot more peaceful, alot cleaner. aaaand alot hotter. it was 95 degrees by 9 a.m. not joking. it got up to about 120 degrees midday, i was told. who in their right minds goes sight seeing in that kind of weather? yes, well....we do. our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. i saw inside the tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IX, and Thutmes III.
the hyroglyphics on the walls are exquisite. (again, not allowed to take in cameras) i also saw the enterance to King Tut's tomb. i didn't go in because it was an extra fee that i couldn't afford, but apparently his actual mummy is inside his tomb as we speak. inside the sarcophocus. some political issues have been the causes for moving his mummy around (but never to the egyptian museum, where the rest of his treasure is on display) and back again to his tomb. you cannot see his mummy, but it's there. the valley of the kings was really interesting and i enjoyed it. i enjoyed it even more when a local gave me a giant chuck of ice to rub on my skin--it eventually turned my hands numb, which was a welcome feeling, for i embraced the coldness and the numbness took my mind off the of the heat.
from there we went to see the temple of Hatshepsut.
we also saw how they make alabaster stones and pottery and carvings--very beautiful. and then the heat was just too much to bear so we went to the hotel. this hotel was even more incredible than the cairo hotel. it was right on the Nile and was a 5 star lap of luxury. i thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon relaxing, cleaning up, shopping, and making friends. then i watched the sun set over the Nile and got some amazing shots that i'm in love with...:
i feel like i've learned alot of history so far in/about egypt, but i need to study it so much more. it's fascinating. and my thoughts while sitting on the Nile during the evening ran something along the lines of how Moses was put on this very river when he was a baby. such a small baby in the midst of a giant river--and God ended up using this tiny thing for greatness, while being a constant guardian and protector.
Knowing & loving Him, He protects and guides us, too! Amazing God! He's protected & guided you on your journey...
ReplyDeleteand this journey with Him never ends!
Loving you, MJ