Friday morning we took our time getting up and eating breakfast. We left around 10:30ish. Our taxi driver dropped us by the Papyrus Museum where they showed us how the ancient Egyptians made the stuff (it apparently takes 12 days - 6 for soaking, 6 for pressing). Then we continued onto the pyramids!! I was in shock ... I cannot believe I was there (along with enough people to fill Texas....). It was awesome! We took camels around the groupings. The guide even let us steer. We did pretty good so he let us do it the whole time. We tried to make them go fast... "Yalla yalla!!" but camels don't really seem inclined to "feel their oats." Much more at the 'laid back' end of the quadrupeds. However, Chelsea's camel did manage to get a reaction from mine... Hers bit mine! Mine then did this little crab-hop thing. Not really the best feeling when you're precariously perched 30ft in the air! (Slight exaggeration...)

We were a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing - being there, the amounts of people, etc. but it was awesome! We ended up taking over a hundred pictures (never thought you could get so many pictures of sand colored triangles, huh?). We also have a couple pictures of us kissing the Sphinx!! We had a little 8 yr old girl help us with our picture-taking (and managed to sucker me into buying little souvenir things from her!).

Our taxi driver then took us to the train station where we booked our train to Luxor, and then he dropped us off in the Khan al-Khalil Bazaar in Islamic Cairo. It was awesome! Like the Old City of Jerusalem but MUCH bigger and even more people (and much more marriage proposals). I must add a little note in here about the driver/pedestrian relationship. For one, the road seems to belong to both equally. Pedestrians just start heading across the road whenever they feel the need to reach the other side and the drivers managed to avoid them without actually appearing to move around them. Honking, while less than in Israel (thank heavens!), seems to just announce one's on coming presence to pedestrians - who don't seem to care. Also, lines in the road appear to be there simply for aesthetic pleasure... they provide no restraint for the vehicles! There can be about four lanes painted onto the road yet six lanes of cars, with motorcyclists tearing between! I have never seen a more crowded, road blocked, traffic jammed, functioning city. :)

We had Koushery (or something like that) for lunch. It was a layered dish of rice, noodles, fried onions, lentils, and ... I think that's it, then it came with an onion-y soup type thing that you added to it. Simple but really good!

Saturday, our taxi driver picked us up around 9:30 and took us to Coptic Cairo. We wandered around a complex that had a few churches (including the Church of Mari Girgis) and the Ben-Ezra Synagogue. Then we went to the Coptic Museum where we saw a lot of the best preserved Coptic works, we even saw some of the Nag Hammadi library! Next, we stopped by a "government" Bazaar where we were supposed to get inexpensive jewelry and perfume but it turned out to be just as expensive as the States. So we headed to the Citadel which has the Muhammad 'Ali Mosque and a palace and some other mosques. We became the attraction at this place. A group of local girls were very fascinated with us and even got their picture taken. Numerous others also came up asking for pictures. The mosque was beautiful.


Next, we drove through the City of the Dead - where, apparently, people are living in order to protect the bodies from grave robbers! Slightly disturbing.

Pretty crazy, huh?? I wish y'all were here to experience this! The sights (sites), sounds, smells (well, maybe not those so much) - all overwhelming and amazing!

We left that night for Luxor on the overnight train. We got in around 8:00. After a quick breakfast and nap at our hostel (which turned out to be a shrine to Bob Marley), we took a kalish (a horse-drawn carriage) to Karnak Temple. This is the largest ancient religious site and was built over hundreds of years by over thirty pharaohs! I have never said "wow" so much in my life. I must have been an Egyptian in my past life! I had such a feeling of nostalgia and an overwhelming desire to see what it would have looked like in it's prime. Hehe, it was definitely amazing.

After that, we went to the Mummification Museum. Smaller than I thought it would be but still learned a lot. I didn't realize the ancient Egyptians even mummified their pets.

Then next morning, we hooked up with a tour guide and went to the West Bank (of the Nile, not the other one). We visited the Colossi of Memnon, two tombs in the Valley of the Queens, three tombs in the Valley of the Kings (we stood in front of King Tutankhamen's tomb but didn't go in as it was really expensive and there is nothing to see!), and the Temple of Hatshepsut. All of which were amazing and, of course, a testimony to the largeness and beauty of the Egyptians' building abilities. I would definitely love to visit again if I have the chance! (Who's up for it!? I gotta break coming up in a few months!)


The following day was spent sailing up (south) the Nile in a falluca. It was the most relaxing day I have had in a long time. It was sunny, warm, beautiful water with gorgeous green fields on the banks. We passed camels, cows, egrets, kids swimming (who called out asking us to join them!), and a donkey or two.


That night things got a little interesting... we went with a few of the people from our hostel, including a few of the employees, to watch a belly dancer. Not quite what I expected but it was still fun! Until the police showed up! They searched most of the men in the room and detained six or seven. One of which was the owner of our hostel! His friends then asked Chelsea and I to go to the jail to convince the police to let him go. Supposedly our "tourist" status might help him be released - somehow. So after a lot of arguing and many stipulations, we agreed and headed off to the jail. (I know, I know - I said the one thing I was specifically going to avoid while in Egypt was their jails!!) They then sent us over to the Tourist Police, however, so we went there. I don't know if it helped or not but about thirty minutes of getting back to the hostel (I have never been so happy to see a Bob Marley hostel in my LIFE!), the owner arrived. The whole situation was a bit crazy but at least it worked out!

The next day was our last and we spent the whole day on the hostel roof talking to other travelers. Not the most "touristy" thing to do, but relaxing and the view was beautiful. We had one more piece of excitement before leaving. Apparently, Egypt has some trains for just locals and do not allow tourists on them. However, the two overnight trains which allowed tourists left too late for us to catch our bus which was leaving from Cairo at 7:30. We explained this to one of the men at the hostel and he said, "I can get you on a 7:00pm train from Luxor which will arrive in Cairo around 5:00am but it will cost a little more." We asked why and it was because he would have to buy the tickets off the black market and since it was on a locals only train, he'd have to pay off a guard! This was our best option so we went ahead and did it. We had an escort who waved us passed security into the train station then stayed with us until we got on the train. Once on, they told us not to tell anyone we were from America - say Australia instead! Thankfully, no one asked and the ride went smoothly! We got to our bus with plenty of time to spare then finally arrived back in Jerusalem around midnight.

It was a completely crazy and amazing trip! Chelsea was an awesome traveling companion! If anyone wants to hit up Egypt in the next couple years... let me know!! I can show you a great belly dancing place. ;) (Just kidding!) Here are some more pictures if you want. Check 'em out and let me know what you think!