The Mystery and Glory of Egypt

On the second day,Monday Oct. 1 we took off on a van to see 3 pyramids and the Sphinx. Our guide for the day was Olaf. Yes Pastor Olaf,her name was Olaf. A young graduate of the university in Cairo who has been working in the travel industry for 4 years. She had lots to say,but I am afraid it was difficult for me to get everything...the names of the kings,etc.

I did take some photos with the pyramids. One with me holding two pyramids in each hand.

They are amazing. Craig of Australia is a builder. Olaf pointed to the cornors of the temple where the kings were embalmed. The stone cornors overlap which makes them much stronger than matching cornors as most of our houses today are built.

We later visited the museum which held many many huge statues of the Kings. She explained all the symbolism of their head dress,beards,way their arms are held,etc. There is so much to see. The other three stayed at the museum,but I was so tired and my knees were still bothering me so after Olaf's presentations I decided to go back to the hotel with her where she parked her car.

I the museum is not too far from the hotel we are staying in so the others were going to walk back. At 1:30pm the traffic was so bad it took Olaf and I one hour to get a taxi. I wasn't able to get back until almost 3pm. I was able to get a good rest before getting ready to leave at 7pm for the train station. We were taking an overnight train to Aswan which would get us there about 9-10am the next morning

Although we had sleepers, the train was so noisy and bumpy it was difficult to sleep. But we all survived. We are now in Aswan. In the afternoon of Tuesday Oct. 2 we took a boat to Elephantine Island where we rode camels to view the St. Simeon's Monastery. My camel's name was Moon, a 4 year old camel. I talked to him a lot telling him he is a good boy and doing good.
I guess he liked that. We were last but caught up with the two lead camels.

After the camel ride(about 45 minutes) we took a boat again to visit a Nubian village and had supper at a Nubian family home; a friend of Esam, our guide. We will also be staying on a felucca for 2 nights which is owned by J.J. Santiago. Dinner was very nice,suppositely a typical Nubian meal;fish,rice,stew,lentel soup,salad,fried chicken,and lots of rice,and delicious fresh fruit juices.

We left early this morning at 3:30am for Abu Simbei,3 hours each way,to see the fabulous relocated King Ramsey ll statues,ect. The tomb of the Valley of the Kings. It is impressive!!!

I am so bushed that I think I better go to bed. Goodnight. I shall dream about these ancient Kings and their highly painted and carved tombs.

Until next time...................Aloha.