Khan el Khalili

Tiny, teeny shops line the Khan el Khalili Market's narrow paved and unpaved lanes which seem to spread out over a 1 sq mile area. If you missed getting souvenirs anywhere in Egypt - you can find them here. Our guide said that locals will go here for gold jewelry, that this is the place in Cairo to get good deals. Once you finger an item at a shop, you have engaged the relationship and negotiation process. "What you looking for?" "I'll make you a good discount." "Where you from?" "Are you happy today?"

I asked if he had dried "red" peanuts that we see at cafes, and he said "Yes!" and then disappeared down the street. Typically, if they don't have it at their store, they know who does have it, usually "my brother's shop" and they bring it to you and get to share in the profit. He brought back a 1/4 kilo and offered me sample and once we agreed it was the right product, then the quibble over the amount. He started at 50 LE - I had paid 30 in Aswan. After haggling and talking we got it down to 30 ... and "what about 5 for me?" If you begin to waver on the deal, "Oh you break my heart" or "It's my birthday, you have to buy today" or "My queen, how can you do this to me" or ... there are a number of variations. When you go to the next shop and get out one of their lines before they do, they smile and again, the relationship and negotiation can begin.

I spied some scarves I wanted in a little store, the owner invited me in and then called for someone who could communicate with me. I tried the few words I know of Arabic, and this always gets a smile and "you know arabic" and off they are to giving you a better discount and helping you learn a new word or two. However at this store, the kid in the parka (they think that 70F is cold) spoke better Spanish than English so we exchanged a few words and conducted the bargaining in Spanish.

This is the huge chandelier in the Alabaster Mosque, built by Mohammad Ali in the 1500s when he conquered Egypt. He is considered the father of modern Egypt - modern meaning not the pharohs anymore. The doors and windows to the mosque were open and their was a stiff breeze blowing which caused the little glass pieces to tinkle together and make a very nice sound in the big space.

This is the Alabaster Mosque, so called because the inside prayer hall is covered with white and pink alabaster panels, pillars, door and window trim. The architecture and islamic design features were quite something to see. We took our shoes off before entering the outer courtyard where the fountain for abulations is located. The interior prayer hall is covered with well worn carpets. Men prayer in the huge open area. Women have a smaller section in the back which is separated by a curtain during prayer.

Everywhere we went, including the mosque children would practice their English on us. Mohammad and his friend Ahmed saw me and said "hallo, where you from?" and after a bit I said let me take your picture upon which most of their class wanted to get in on the act.

All for now.

Night and Pyramids

Twilight, just before the sound and light show.

Images from Afar

Baking Pita bread at a restaurant. I gave them baksheesh for the letting me take photo and gave them a postcard of Oregon Coast - they tittered, smiled and continued baking.


At our home hosted dinner. Not the mud brick house we were thinking we'd find, as we did in Peru!






A view of one of the meals. Tahini and pickled vegs, pita bread. Mossaka, lamb, rice, cinnamon rice, potatoes, zucchini. Tomato sauce and spices all vary, but this is the typical spread. Lamb and beef. Sometimes falafel.

In the Nubian village.

Me, Mickey Mouse and San Simeon.

Aswan at dawn from our room. The birds are singing.

Pyramids

The winds on the Giza Plateau were refreshing as we landed in front of the
big pyramid. An older man in a galebaya (typical egyptian robe/dress) and
turban came to shake my hand and welcome me to Egypt. "Where you from? ...
oh America, good place, welcome, welcome! Here are some scarabs for good
luck." We walk on, and he continues to put pyramids, Tut's bust, and
postcards into my hands ... all for good luck, welcome to Eygpt! Pulled out
my camera to take his picture, and he immediately took the camera and
positioned me and Susan for a couple of shots. And then I took his picture.
He asked for no money, but when I got some out to pay him baksheesh of 10
pounds, he said that most people pay 50... I ended up paying him 40, more
than what others would have, really, but still less than $5 for me.
The pyramids were very overwhelming in their size and history. Hard to have
any photo do them justice. We went into the 2nd pyramid, crouched down the
passage way and then crouched up to the burial chamber. No heiroglpyhs in
this one. There is still a granite coffin and a guard/old gentleman in a
galabeya and turban, that shines his flashlite in the coffin, for some
baksheesh. The only graffiti is from some Italians, dated 1818. The six of
us that went in were the only ones there with the guard and decided to test
the acoustics so we sang a verse of "Amazing Grace". It sounded great!
The solar boat that was found in the 1980s is huge. They built a museum on
top of the pit it was buried in so that they could recover and restore it
in a controlled environment - that's what the guide said. The boat pit was
covered, originally, with blocks of limestone each weighing around 12 tons.
The light show tonight was only surpassed by twilight and the shining
planet above the pyramid.

and the henna

My story of the Nubian village was interrupted... We arrived, and walked a block to the Nubian house. We passed an older woman sitting outside her blue home, and I asked if I could take her picture - yes, did, and paid her 1 pound. As we arrived at the house we were to visit, the homeowner (woman) was there to greet us. We came into the "reception room" (seems many Egyptian homes have a reception room) and then off to another room with tables and benches.

She served us hibiscus juice or mint tea as a welcome drink - this is another custom here. When we arrive at a home or hotel, you are served a welcome drink, usually these options or a palm juice called dom. We heard, from her, of the USA woman who studied Nubian culture in the 1960s for her PhD, and lived with this family for 3 months. Homeowner, her mother, and sister and their husbands/kids all live here, and love Americans, they said.

We were told that Nubian women love bright colored clothing, are Moslem and keep heads and arms covered, and when out and about where a black see thru dress over their bright dresses and scarves. I have a pix of gigi in the dress.

We got a little education about the relocation to Aswan during the dam building, and some about the adoption of Islam for religion back in the olden days about 1500 AD. And we were served some appetizers - pita bread, baked in the brick oven in the next room, cabbage rolls, and falafel made with fava beans. It was all very delicious!

After this we were given the option of getting henna tattoos on our hands or arm - this for 20 LE. Of course, this you will see when I get home as it will last 10 -15 days. Took pictures all over the house. And then we bid them adieu.

Today, came to Cairo. It is 10:30pm and there is a wedding reception in the lobby, dancing and music!!

Camels and Henna

Taking a boat over to the big sand dune, we disembarked, hiked up the sandy
hill to the minor chaos of camels, camel drivers and tourists. I was
assigned Sienna, as a camel driver and my camel was Mickey Mouse. Once you
are seated on the camel, up close to the "saddle horn", you lean back and
the camel gets up in 2 phases. Then off we go, lumbering along up the hill.
Just like horses, lean back up and down the hill and you will do ok.
We visited San Simeon Monastery ruins. They are from 700 AD. The story of
their life and ruin involve "barbarians" and clash of religions in the area.
After, we continued onto a Nubian village to visit a local home. The camel
driver, walks beside the camel while you are riding. Sienna handed me the
rope rein and got the camel to giddyup into a cantor while he sauntered
along catching up a bit later. By this time, I was crossing my legs in
front, over the camel's neck, like an old camel hand. Sienna was pretty good
with my camera and took a couple of pictures. Again, I am at PC that won't
work for uploads, so you'll just have to imagine.
We were traversing the sand dunes and up over the rise there was a little
village appearing with many bright blue and dusky yellow houses. This,
Sienna said, is his village. He has lived here since a little boy, and the
relocation of Nubians due to the building of the dam. He is up every day to
take the camels to the boat landing by 7am, and home by 6pm. The traverse
from the monastery to the village was about 30 minutes. Once in the village
we come down an alleyway, where Sienna stopped to take a cold drink of water
out of a pottery water jug. Down the alley came a person that appeared to me
to be sight impaired, and Sienna yelled out to him a greeting. We ended up
in a courtyard, again with minor chaos as we all got off the camels - lean
back, camel lets his front legs down, lean forward and down go the back
legs. More later. my time is up!

At Aswan

We arrived today at Aswan. In China, after 3 days on a ship, I was happy to get off, but this cruise was so much more enjoyable, luxurious that we all wanted to commit mutiny and stay crusing up and down the Nile. But, here we are at Aswan.

The weather has increased its intensity, and is now 80F or more. Our hotel, the New Cataract, has a great view of the river and islands that comprise the waterfront here in Aswan. This is a destination for a bunch of people - the are all here. I had no idea that this was such a popular place. The little river harbor is crowded with Nile cruise ships, and feluccas. It appears, when one is in a felucca and at the mercy of the wind, that the folks "driving" the boats are using similar tactics as the drivers on land. Just point in the direction you want to go and hope everyone else gets out of the way.

We visited Philae Temple, which is dedicated to Isis (you can see someone else's pix at that link). We were there for the evening light show. It was interesting to hear the story of the temple, and Isis, and hear quotes from Anthony, Marus Aurelius, and other Greeks/Romans who also came to Aswan and remarked on their visits to this temple. The best part was when we were in the middle of the temple, they turned out all of the lights, and you could see the stars overhead. And then hearing the cricket.

The hotel, the New Cataract, is part of the Old Cataract - the place that Agatha Christie stayed when writing Death on the Nile. Its a restored early 1900s hotel - very nicely done. A big plus is the espresso machine in the cafe. First one we've seen in a week.

Up at 4am for a flight to Abu Simbel. Camel ride day after next.

Dispatch from MSS Hathor

On the boat - we are about to dock at Kom Ombo for the night. The cruise
has been great so far - we laze on the upper deck in the afternoon,
watching the Nile go by and taking pix of the farms, donkeys, men and
various riverside activities. Compared to the Yangtze river views we had
from our trip, there is much more down at the bank activity on this river,
where you are seeing someone every 100 yds or so. Not crowded, still rural,
and definitely lived in scenery.
Today we visited the Temple of Horus. Still unable to send photos of my
own, but this link http://www.molon.de/galleries/Egypt/Edfu/img.php?pic=15
should take you to a folder that someone else has posted from their trip.
This temple is one of the last ones that still has a roof, and you get a
real feel for what they must have been like. When found by a European
archeologist in the 1800s, the temple was 2/3 covered with sand, and people
were living in the top 1/3 of the building. The early Christians hid out at
this temple during their persecution years, and defaced many of the
carvings of the Egyptian pharohs and greek kings. Yes, Greek - the Greeks
actually demolished the first Temple of Horus and rebuilt this one on the
same spot in about 27 AD.
Yesterday was very full, starting with a hot air balloon ride over the West
Bank at Luxor. Then the Luxor Museum where they house the fine statues
discovered underground in 1989 at Luxor Temple. Exquisite artistry!
We were divided into 2 shopping groups, given a grocery list and some money
and sent off into Luxor Market (the open air street market) to secure
groceries for a meal we are having tonight on the boat. It involves okra
.... I am trying to remain open minded.
Some impressions of the country so far, from my American perspective, and
that of a tourist that has limited interaction and engagement ... with that
disclaimer:
- Men are out, alot. Women no so much. Men everywhere; men employed; the
entire 40 staff on the boat, men. The response to our question, can a pilot
pass his skills down to daughter, mish mah ool. Unbelievable.
- Yelling. Lots of yelling. Not in anger, just communicating / talking over
the noise. This is men yelling...because they are the ones out. Men in
buggies yelling to each other over the din of the traffic. Men on boats
yell to each other. Men on shore yell to boat. Men in taxis yell at us. Men
yelling to each other across the street. They all seem to know each other,
all over the country.
- You see people (men because they are out) taking time; sitting, talking,
visiting over shisha (tobacco water pipe)(yes, it's tobacco); sitting at
the riverside; visiting on the street. You see them working too, it's the
visiting that is a standout. You don't see this type of visiting on our
streets so much.
That's it for today. This 1/2 hr of time cost 50 LE, or about $8.00

Full Day

Up at 4:45 am today, off on a boat across the Nile to the West Bank at Luxor for a farmhouse breakfast (at a farmhouse, but managed and prep'd by the hotel). Food and outdoor dining was may-ya may-ya (excellent). Toured farmhouse, and took pictures of locals which included baksheesh to each one and all. I particularly like the one of the older gentleman with the rifle. But, you will have to wait to see it. Not able to upload pix at this internet cafe tonight.

We toured another house in this area that was designed by famous Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy who was interested in using local materials to maximize energy efficiency and low cost construction. Built in the 50s, it is the last of the 70 houses he built in this town. Under restoration by a family who worked with the architect for 20 yrs. Needless to say, the historic preservation struck a chord with me, which garnered higher baksheesh to our hosts.

Onto lunch at the Thebes Urban Village, and then a stop at an alabaster factory. There are many such here.

In the eve, a ride on a felucca sailing boat, and then a horse/buggy ride around Luxor, which included going down the narrow streets of the Luxor Market. Since I can't upload pix, this link will take you to a view of the market and one of the horse and buggies.

We ended the eve with a stop at an outdoor cafe, where we had Turkish coffee - gritty for those of you who haven't had the pleasure. And some scarf buying. Back to the hotel to see a wedding reception come out of the entrance - lost of musicians, drums and egyptian horns, and tambourines; dancing by the wedding party, mother-in-laws, and singing by the crowd. Very festive. The local banker we visited later, said that was the 4th wedding today at the hotel; that it is very cold and this way you can get some warmth....

It's now almost 10pm and we are in an internet cafe. So that's it for now - we have to get ready for a 4:45 am early rise for a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings in a basket that seats 20!

Lunch

Mostly I was testing the process of transferring a picture from photobucket to the blog. Works really well. This is the naam, cracker and spreads.

And this is a huge bowl of fragrant flower petals floating in water. Several of the hotels and restaurants place these decorative pieces in the lobby areas.

Lunch

The food has been delicious so far. A breakfast buffet at the hotel that included fruits, sweets, porridge (millet, oat, barley mix), sausage, etc. For lunch in this restaurant, we had freshly made pita bread, and something like nan (cracker like) with babaganoush, bead spread, and yogurt spread. Chicken kabobs, rice and vegies. And dessert was a plate of fresh fruit.

The afternoon we spent at the Egyptian Museum which house many antiquities, including all of the artifacts from King Tut's tomb. Hundreds of items! Very interesting.

On the way to and fro we see many many unfinished buildings. Gives the appearance of a great level of poverty, or some sort f devastation. However, what we learned was that by having unfinished buildings, owners by pass property taxes. So they only build so far, and when child gets married, they add on, but not finish. You see these buildings all over the areas we have been too in Cairo.

Cairo

We're here! This is our hotel. Right next to the pyramids. The rooms are nice, the hotel an old palace. When we came to the pc center, the staff were all ready to meet and greet a German diplomat (this is at 10pm). Turns out to be Angela Merkel (chancellor, I think). Lots of cars, security, k9 corps, etc.

We had a real Oregon welcome when we landed - there was a downpour. It rained for 30 minutes and has bee cold and windy since. Full moon, yes!

Some have asked for a run down on the food: For dinner we had a buffet that had all sorts of Egyption offerings - lamb stew, coucous, tabouleh, humus, turkey, beef kofta, indian bbq chicken, myriad of vegies, like green beans with red/yellow peppers, salads with lettuce/tomato/olives/egyptian cheese. Desserts included your normal tiramisu, cheesecake, etc. Didn't do dessert - the guidebook says E eat fruit for dessert, but didn't see any. We had water to drink, and bought an extra liter @ 15 Egyptian pounds, or $2.63.

Left NYC at 6:45pm on 2/2 and arrived in Egypt 2/3 at noon. 10 hr flight. Food on the plane was very good. Had dinner and breakfast. Plus mango and guave juice to drink along with sodas and water.

Met up with some of our group today, ok, just 1 other person. The rest of the group did the pre-trip in Jordan. There are 7 of them. Plus us 4 and the 1 other we met. Total=12. That's a good number. There is another group that started today too. came over on the flight with us. But they have their own OATS tour guide.

Fur coats

On our tour of Manhattan this morning, we saw 7 women wearing real fur coats. ! Coming from the hubbub about Schumachers, it feels odd to see real fur coats on the street, not spray painted.