here it is--missing petra

I've been home for nearly two weeks and haven't blogged about Petra, the Bedouin camp, the camel ride, Mt. Nebo and the Dead Sea. It was all wonderful, even the day we hiked back and forth in Petra covering close to 8 miles.

Traveling to Wadi Rum

We knew today was going to be a long travel day, with flights from Luxor to Cairo, and Cairo to Amman, ending with a drive to the southern desert of Wadi Rum. Since our connection in Cairo was a bit long, Moustafa met us at the airport and took us to our “home away from home” in Cairo, the Intercontinental. Although it is inconveniently located 30-45 minutes away from downtown Cairo, it is only 15 minutes from the airport. Besides sporting good food, wi-fi everywhere, pool and the fitness center, it has the best elevator system. Instead of choosing the up or down buttons to call it, you choose your floor destination from a panel of buttons outside the elevator bank. Your destination is shown on a small LED display screen and within moments the screen will flash up either A,B, or C which corresponds to one of the elevators, so you know which one to step into. The wait time for the elevator is no more than a minute, and usually you have it to yourself.

I watched the boys and Will swim and sunbathe from my perch on the elliptical machine inside the pyramid shaped fitness complex. Then while they ate their lunches, I showered in the ladies complex located on the second and third floor. This is where all those gulf state women feel free removing their black gowns and face coverings. They are safe from the eyes of men. There were massage rooms, steam and dry saunas, several whirlpools, and a beautiful tiled pool underneath the glass point of the pyramid. Several women with eyes rimmed in black eyeliner and dark hair streaked red and brassy blond lounged in the water.

After this two hour break, it was back to the airport for a 3:30 pm flight to Amman, Jordan. In contrast to the chaos of Egypt, Jordan seemed more orderly and calm. We got our visas and passports stamped and met Mohammed our van driver and guide for the next four days. Driving south on the Kings Highway, the Jordanian landscape looked bleak and monotonous. Chunks of caramel colored rocks stretched out from the edge of the road to the horizon. Apparently the Jordanians mine for potash along the road. The highway speed limit is 60 and when we approach residential areas speed is reduced and mandatory speed bumps appear to ensure compliance. None of knew why we had to stop at the scheduled late lunch at 6 pm at the tourist restaurant expensive souvenier shop. We already ate lunch at the hotel, then ate the sandwiches on the 50 minute Royal Jordanian flight, and we were planning on eating dinner at the Bedouin camp. Mohammed said its paid for so, we complied and ate the traditional oriental salads and grilled meats again. There wasn’t much difference that I could detect between the Jordanian and Egyptian fare.

Mohammed liked to talk which is both good and bad. He had attended college in Tallahassee and lived in Florida for a total of 13 years so his English had just a trace of an accent. Back in the car we rode for 4 more hours before arriving at the Captains Camp in Wadi Rum. We were all tired and grumpy. I thought we had missed dinner and the entertainment. Clearly I forgot we were in the middle east and in the low season. We pulled up to the camp nestled into a rock formation similar to those in Utah.

We were immediately offered tea and our bags carried into our tents. A small bonfire was going, and it appeared that we were the only guests. Within minutes were served the most delicious dinner. The light of the full moon obscured the star speckled sky.

Luxor - part 3 - on my own

It is hard to try to navigate a new neighborhood when there aren’t street signs, when the streets intersect at all sorts of angles and curves, and particularly when you are on your guard. I figured as long as I know where the Nile is in relation to where I am, I could get back to the hotel. I made the mistake of letting a young boy fall in step with me—he begged to practice his English. I told him I wanted to find the Fair Trade Cooperative of Luxor and showed him the street name. I don’t know why I bothered. Even though Egyptians have lived in a place all their lives, many people don’t know the names of their streets, much less the location of an unfamiliar shop. He offered to take me there, and offered to show me the fruit market on the way. Before I knew it, we were in a real back alley with bare bottomed toddlers and sleeping bodies. Baskets of colorful fruit artfully arranged were interspersed with plastic colanders, cheap shoes, bolts of fabric, and other stuff. The walkway through this market was less than six feet wide and was strewn with trash, fruit peelings, and muddy puddles. Hanging above us were blue plastic tarps designed to provide shade. I was in search of authentic—and found it. We marched past an empty lot festooned in tinsel. He remarked it will be the site for a wedding tonight. Before I knew it, I was back on the street where I first met him. He urged me to take a look at a shop, which he insisted was the one I was looking for. It wasn’t, but I went in anyway. It was good to cool off in the AC and there was no harm in looking around. However, these guys were so pushy they made my skin crawl and I just wanted to get out.. So I did, despite their efforts to make me buy something. My young friend then insisted another store would have the pretty Coptic cross I was in search of. It didn’t but the owner asked me to just wait a few moments. He dashed out of the store to some buddy’s shop and came back with plain silver crosses that were not Coptic. I drew what I wanted and he said he could cut one to my specifications. By this time I was more than ready to walk home to the hotel and call it a day. I know that unemployment is high in Egypt with 30 percent of people without jobs, and these guys see tourists as fair fodder. A little bit of money goes a long way for them. I have to remember than when their hawking becomes disturbing and remember to be grateful for the chance to walk through their market place.

After an Italian dinner by the pool where we swatted flies, we were taken to the Karnak Temple for the sound and light show. It is very cool to see the these ancient ruins at night, but the narration was a bit too Disneyesque and long winded.

Luxor - part 2

The Karnak Temple was built in stages as each Pharoah put his "stamp" on it. Built for the worship of their sun god Amun, the sheer magnificance of this site cannot be captured by photos or words. It is remarkable that without modern technology or machinery, enormous blocks of granite and limestone could be quarried, transported, decorated and installed and still be standing 3000 years later! It had a lake which the priests used to clean themselves before performing sacrifies and various daily rituals int the temple. There were buildings next the lake that housed the animals waiting to be sacrificed. When I asked the guide what the hieroglyphic symbols meant, he said we know some of them tell the story of the afterlife, and some represent stories of life as a Pharoah, yet others remain a mystery because the priests wanted to be the only ones able to interpret them, thereby increasing their job security in the court of the Pharoahs.

To cool off we stopped in the 10 year old Luxor Museum which details excavation and restoration of fragments and statues is conducted. The highlight of the museum were two mummies blackened from the resin that helped preserve them. The mummies brains, liver, lungs and intestines were saved in special boxes. The heart was left in the body because it is representative of man's character and would be weighted at the judgement in the afterlive to see if he perfomed more good deeds than bad. One of these had been bought along time ago by a collector in Atlanta and recently returned to Egypt.

We headed to the nearby Luxor temple which was bathed golden in the late afternoon sun. After the pharoahs, the temple was used by the pagan Romans, then the Christians and finally the muslims. In fact a medieval village with a mosque was built 8 feet on top of the ruins of Karnak. It was only 200 years ago that archeologists began to unearth Karnak. They left the mosque but took away all other buildings on the temple site.

We ate dinner at the hotel by the pool where a sumptuous Egyptian buffet was set out. We were pleasantly suprised to hear live music and to see a man twirling in a oversized colorful skirt. He represents the ancient Sufi sect who twirled, faster and faster as a means of connecting to God. He lifted the parachute like skirt over this head and as if by magic another skirt appeared below it. We wondered how this whirling dervish didn't get dizzy.

Next a round faced, ponytailed belly dancer stepped joined the three musicians on the small platform. She moved in a deliberate, old fashioned belly dancing style which was a pleasant contrast to the sultry, sequined dancer we watched in Cairo.

We all are enjoying the Egyptian food--the hummus, tabouli, babaganoush (sp?), and fresh soft pita bread. The variety of salads-- lentil, cabbage, beet, tomato and cucumber, all bathed in subtle spices and sauces are exactly my kind of food. The boys enjoy the spicy grilled meats and rices flavored with cinnamon and cardamon.

DAY TWO IN LUXOR

This mornig we drove thirty minutes from the East Bank with the temples for the living, to the West Bank, the necropolis with the tombs and funerary temples. Just like Cairo, Luxor has brilliant blue skies and no clouds. We passed farmers working in their fields, donkeys tied to the side of the road, and children herding goats. It looks as nothing has changed in years...the only sign that we are in 2009 is that everybody sports a mobil phone. They may be barefoot and living in a shack--they are connected.

Although the tombs in this valley are extensive and include the Valley of the Kings, the Queens, the Nobles and those of the craftsmen/workers, we only visited three in the Valley of the Kings. They were carved into the sides of the limestone hills, and the work on a tomb was begun as soon as a new Pharoah was selected. Therefore, Pharoahs who reigned for many years had tombs that were deep and long with careful, extensive designs. The Pharoahs who had shorter reigns, had tombs that often looked like they were completed in haste. The workers had 70 days to prepare it which is the time it took to mummify the body. The tombs we visited Ramses I, Ramses II and Ramses IX were some of the prettiest and longest that were open for viewing. Egyptian authories are worried that the sweat and breath of all the visitors will hasten the deterioration of the painting in the tombs, so they rotate which tombs are avaialble to the public.

Standing at the entrance of each tomb were gnarled looking guards desperate to earn some baksheesh (tips). They handed out square cardboard pieces of paper so that we could fan ourselves in the stifling space. One followed Bear around, first fanning him, then directing him to a restricted cavity to one side of the tomb so Bear could see an underground chamber. This guard also gave bear a secretive thumbs up sign to take photos (which are strictly forbidden) in the tomb. Bear declined the photo opportunity but did give the man 50 egyptian piastres or about 10 cents.

We looked at two tombs in the Valley of the Queens, then moved onto the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut (hat-cheap-suit). She was the only woman who ruled like a pharoah. She wore the fake beard that all the Pharoahs wore and dressed like a man too. She ruled for 22 years and designed this unusual temple that once had magnificent gardens and pools gracing its front. I discovered that this temple was restored and looked after by a Polish Archeologicial group whose offices were attached to the temple.

After trodding through the dusty cemetaries of the Pharoahs, we were pleased to step onto the St. George, our private felucca ( is a traditional Egyptian sail boat) for lunch. We were seated at formally set table with linens, china and a fancy floral arrangement. Our first course was a tomato stuffed with tabouli, livers and onions, minced vegetables. Delicated drumsticks and warm falafel were also served. Next, a big plate of mixed grill and rice, followed by a platter of sweets. Despite our misgivings about the heat of the Nile, it was cool floating on the water. Because there was no wind, a boat pulled us. For security we had a little police boat behind us.

TO BE CONTINUED

Luxor

Moustafa met us in the lobby at 830 am. This affable Nubia Tours representative took us into his capable hands and propelled us through aiport security in less than 5 minutes, bypassing long lines of families and businessmen. He offered to stow the boys’ squash bags in his home for the next week. The flight to Luxor lasted only 50 minutes. The ride from the airport to the Sofitel Old Winter Palace another 15 minutes. Our hoel was built in the late 1800’s and renovated in 1994. It has a refined British Colonial atmosphere, worlds apart from the cruise ships moored three deep across the street on the Nile. A mustached, uniformed waiter served us deep pink hibiscus tea, We are so happy that Ahmed our tour guide suggests we meet for the Karnak Temple at 3:30 instead of 1:00. We are exhausted after the Egyptian wedding and head to the pool for swim and lunch, then all take a nap.

The grounds at othe Winter Palace are generous and green. They are dotted with palm trees, an aviary, a shisha smoking terrace with sofas and oriental rugs, a ping pong pavilion and a large pool with swim-up bar, and various water fountain features. Only one middle eastern family lounges among the crowd of French and English guests. The sign at the pool said 105 F (approximately 42 C). In Egypt when temperatures reach 50 C, the government won’t report it., insisting that it is only 49 C. Apparently if the temperature reaches 50 C people are excused from reporting to work, but the government must still pay them.

Our guide in Luxor was an Egyptologist named Ahmed. He graduated 8^th in his class at the University and works exclusively for Nubia Tours. His English is easy to understand, he has just a trace of an accent, this is important because he is giving us a tremendous amount of information, names of pharaohs, dates, names of gods, roman invaders, etc. Karnak temple is an impressive comples of pylons, gigantic lotus topped columnts, rows of ram headed sphinxes, obelisks, smaller temples, open courts and hieroglyph carvings.

TO BE CONTINUED _WE ARE BOARDING OUR FLIGHT HOME

Egyptian Wedding

So, the Palace Hotel staff pressed our rumpled clothes and brought handfuls of toiletries to our steamy cabana room so we could emerge ready for the wedding at the super swanky Four Seasons. Even though the invitation said 9:00 pm, Amr assured us that nothing would get going until much later. He told us he'd meet us at 9:30, as we were arriving at the hotel, he texted to say he'd be coming at 10:15 because he was stuck in traffic. We went to the bar and it enchanted Will and Willy with its over the top atmosphere and service

The boys particularly enjoyed having their coke poured from a can into a class pitcher than into a slender rectangular glass.In fact, they ordered a second round just to experience it again. .

Amr arrived at 10:45, and his 22 year old girlfriend Rowana (who we've decided is the prettiest girl in Egypt) entered at 11;30. As we walked into the wedding there was no recieving line, but a video camera filmed entering. On either side of the dance floor, which took up a third of the ballroom, were tables for ten set with silvery white tablecloths with tall three and four foot gold candelabras covered with flowers, votive candles and strands of crystal drops. Behind these were tall fabric covered cocktail tables for the latecomers. Behind these were enormous screens that would later project live video of the bride and groom, the guests, the dancing. Between the massive chandeliers, a rectangular fringe of silver beads hung over the dance floor. The ceiling was covered in theatre lights and a green laser beamed its light erratically around the room. Later it would project the name of the wedding couple "Kareem and Hager" on the walls..

At midnight the bride and groom descended a staircase in the lobby to the sounds of tamborines, bagpipes and singing. Men dressed in tradtional barb serenaded the couple while women in silver sheaths with candelabras on their heads with real candles danced in front of the them. The couple made their way onto the dance floor where their young friends, family and we surrounded them clapping and swaying to the arab music. Then they slow danced to Its a Wonderful World.

We met the groom's brother, father, uncle, and assorted friends who were all warm, gracious and elegant. At 12:45 they served the first course, salad, shrimp and salmon. We danced at the insistence of Amr and Rowana. Then when the elaborate buffet was set out we had to say our good byes at 1:30 am for our 3 hour ride home.

Alexandria

On Friday morning, we left Cairo at 8 am for our drive north through the Nile Delta for Alexandria. Fields of sugarcane, tomatos and wheat bordered the highway. Two and a half hours later we arrived at Amr's squash club which are part of a huge country club type complex. The complex has two huge gymnasiusms with the olympic rings and sports, clay tennis courts, golf course, soccer fields, two pools, basketball field house, horse track, a bank, supermarket, clothing shops and a handful of restaurants. Willy and Amr trained and I went upstairs to the locker room to change. The attendant was giving herself a pedicure..one foot soaking in a red pail, the other hoisted up with her long dress on the bench where she was intently filing away. The locker room looked like it came from the 60s. Tired gray linolelum with touches of peeling orange trim. The workout room featured three walls of mirrors and one wall of windows looking out at the horse pasture. There were four treadmills, a stationary bike and nautilus equipment. I started pedaling on the bike and within a few minutes the two teenage attendants wearing headscarves, long sleeve jerseys and very baggy sweatpants conferred and started blasting arab techno for me to work out to. The only other people working out were a 7 year old boy who had finished playing squash and his mother who strolled along on the treadmill in sandals, jeans and headscarf. The teenage attendents walked around, stopping to do a few situps on the machines every so often. When I went to take a shower I discovered you had to bring your own towel, which I hadn't. So Amr found one for me. This time the attendant was on her prayer rug doing her prayers since the call to prayer had been announced over the loudspeaker. This call to prayer occurs five times a day and is a wailing sound broadcast through the entire city. We often didn't hear it because we are inside.

We see people here with ash wednesday type smudges on their foreheads. These are actually marks from prostrating during prayers. Supposedly the darker and larger this mark is the more pious they are. We ate foul sandwhiches and watched Willy and Amr play. They hit the ball so hard, the ball broke, and Will said it was the hottest ball he had ever felt. After a hard workout and game, Amr had Willy run drills from one corner to the next. It was exhausting just watching him.

Just like Cairo, Alexandria is notorious for traffic, especially on the weekend which in muslim countries is Friday and Saturday. We drove to the Citadel , a fortress built upon an old light house. It is situated at the far west point of the coastline. Alexandria is best known for its literary history, not its monuments. Alexander the great for whom the city is named wnated to collect copies of all the printed books in the world. This was in 332 BC and he developed this place where ideas and knowledge were exchanged and revered. Several years ago a new fabulous library was built in Alexandria resurrecting its name as a cultural center. It is an architectural gem--looks like a disc representing the mediterranean sun rising. Unfortunately for us it didn't open until 3 on Saturday and our plan was to spend the afternoon at the beach, so we just drove by.

The public beaches we passed were the MOST crowded I had ever seen. People sat shoulder to shoulder on plastic chairs -- 10 under an umbrella. It took us 45 minutes to crawl along the beachfront to our "private beach". Amr had arranged a day room for us at a friend's hotel. This way we could sit by the pool or on the beach and have a place to shower and hang out in before the big wedding of his best friends brother, Kareem. As we've come to realize in Egypt, you must drop all expectations and just go with the flow. Once we checked in, we were escorted through the fake, luxurious lobby (read tacky and cheap), past the pool with every lounge chair occupied, through the scruffy garden with outdoor stage, to the beach area and our room in a cabana. It was a tiny room with a plastic lounger and a shower in the corner. The walls were stretched canvas. Witgh our duffels and suitcases and backpacks there was hardly room to walk. The only thing to do was to don our suits and enjoy the ocean.

The water was the perfect temperature and super salty. We were surrounded by people in bikinis, swim dresses and full black long dresses and headscarv es. One side of the beach was dominated by a stage with a dj in a speedo and three dancing Russian Blondes in bikinis. The music was American and Arab techno. After the swim I found our guest relations person who carried in a 2x3 mirror and attached it to a grommet hook in our cabana and brought me a hair dryer so I could get ready for the fancy wedding at the four seasons.

cairo sightseeing

Wi-fi and some downtime at last. We have been on the go, and getting home too late to get on the computer. We like the Intercontinental but it is a 30-45 minute car ride from any sites in Cairo. So for two excursions a day, we need to allow lots of traveling time. Fortunately we all fall asleep in the car, and enjoy our catnaps.

In Cairo, it turns out our mornings were spent playing squash either at the Intercontinental Hotel or at the National Squash facility, followed by a pool side lunch at the hotel. In the afternoons we would go exploring some neighborhood in Cairo. One afternoon we explored Coptic Cairo. The very first Christian churches dating back to the 9th centuryare here with all their elaborate wood carving, inlay work and stained glass windows. Egyptian Copts have their own pope and their own churches. One is called the hanging church because its foundation is built upon Roman ruins. People claim that Mary, Joseph and Jesus hid in it. This area is very tranquil and charming with its cobblestone alleys and twisting streets. It was a welcome relief from the traffic that chokes the rest of Cairo. To enter this little neighborhood we had to walk through a police guard and metal detector. The next afternoon we went to the Citadel, several Islamic mosques and the famed Khan al Khalili bazaar. We had Aida guide us through the craziness of the merchants hawking their t-shirts, mummies, boxes, etc. Aida is half Egyptian and half Austrian and provided us with history, practical information and perspective on life in Egypt.


One evening we met with Amr and his girlfriend, Rowana. They took us to a hip, white tented lounge called Sequoia on the banks of the Nile. We sat on white sofas and eating Egyptian specialties. The crowd was Egyptian but there wasn't a headscarf in sight. Another evening Will and I went to the top of the Hyatt hotel for drinks and a terrific view of the Nile at night. This hotel was slick with Saudis, Americans, Europeans, and Egyptians pulling up in Bentleys and Mercedes. The requisite German Shephards sniffed our car for bombs. Next to the hotel is the Hard Rock Cafe Cairo. While we went out, Willy navigated the City Stars Mall alone and Bear crashed. Bear has had the sniffles and a chest cold and has been a trooper going along with the program, though he doesn't feel 100 percent himself.