Day 1- Newark to Amman, Jordan - Thursday, November 17

It was a day of long, cramped flights on Air France from Newark to Paris, a five hour layover in Paris where Bill slept on the floor for a quick 45 min nap. I got some water and a croissant, and then another 4 hour flight to Amman Jordan. arriving at 7:30pm. We were met by the Abercrombie & Kent man, Motasem Rababah before immigration who directed Bill to get 40JD for visas and walked me to the visa line. He walked us through the whole process, even cutting in line with our luggage at customs.

Outside, he turned us over to Fadi Marish, our driver for our stay in Jordan. Bill realized he had left his carry-on inside at the customs screening, so Motasen went back in to get it. Fadi drove us the 30 minutes to the Four Seasons Amman, where another A&K man was waiting for us. He checked us in. The hotel is beautiful. There was an amazing white floral arrangement in the lobby - all white. All the hotels we stayed at had amazing security procedures, with gates, spikes, just to drive to the entrance, and then a security screening process just like at the airports.

The A&K guys said he had arranged for us to have dinner at the hotel's Italian restaurant, Versace, at 9pm, and since is was already 8:45, he changed that to 9:15. We didn't think we got a dinner, but he said it came (it didn't!). We went to our room first which was a lovely room, luggage came, brushed our teeth and went to dinner. We got a a 3 course meal menu instead of the regular menu. The service and restaurant were both lovely. We got an amuse-bouche of beet root with cream cheese sauce. For the appetizer, I got air-dried beef, cantaloupe, figs, hazelnuts, balsamic reduction, and Parmesan cheese. Bill got thin spaghetti with crab meat, chili, and lemon. For entrees I got crispy chicken breasts, spring root vegetables (asparagus, carrot, green onion, green beans), beet root gnocchi (which was really different), pesto cream sauce. Bill got roasted fillet of cod, lemon black pepper, risotto, fava beans, chanterelle and morel mushrooms, and saffron cloud.

For dessert we had a choice of tiramisu parfait or panna cotta parfait. I got the tiramisu and Bill got the panna cotta. Both were great.

We went to our room, showered, and went to bed at midnight.

Abercrombie and Kent was the contract company that arranged the National Geographic trip. They had representatives (all in the same tan slacks, navy blazer, and A&K tie) everywhere that facilitated everything for us. We really got spoiled with check-in, check-out, airport arrivals and departures, van arrangements, etc.

Fadi, our driver, had an amazing resemblance to my nephew Ryan Greene. He was a real sweetheart during our entire stay in Jordan.

Day 2 - Amman, Jordan Friday - November 18

Friday in Muslim countries is like our Sunday - no school, religious day, most businesses (except services) are closed.

This morning we were up at 6:15 and went down to Seasons restaurant for the breakfast buffet. It was a large and decent buffet. We met the two ladies who will be traveling with us. Dot is a retired full col. in the Navy and Sandy works for the government in DC. Both were a pleasant addition to our tour. We were to be in the lobby at 7:45 to head out touring. Our A&K man was there to make sure our guide and driver showed up on time and all went well. Rabi Haddad (our guide for the time in Jordan) and Fabi showed up, and off we went for the hour drive to Jerash. Rabi is a college grad and certified by the state as a tour guide. He is on contract to A&K. He and Fabi are funny, delightful guys.

We got in our 8 passenger van and headed to Jerash at 8am. This drive took about an hour. We drove through the country side which was hilly, rocky. Jerash was conquered by the Romans in 63BC and built up by the Romans. The ruins are amazing. It was cold but not rainy at Jerash. We entered through what seemed to be the requisite vendor booths we saw at all the tourist sites on this trip. There were not many tourists, so we were the target of most of the vendors. Everyone in our group was bothered by the vendors throughout the trip, and sometimes they were like swarms of bees. I found them mostly to be pleasant but persistent. Usually when I stopped to talk, it became an interesting interaction.

Rabi showed us around and then we had an hour or so to wander by ourselves. Hadrian's Arch was the first impressive site to Jerash. This was built in 129AD to commemorate the visit of Emperor Hadrian. It is a massive and beautiful arch with lovely carved acanthus leaves at the base of the pillars. We walked by the Hippodrome, a large arena which could seat 15,000 people. There was a performance there later, but we passed on that in favor of wandering around the site.

We walked through the South Gate which dates from 130AD and passed what used to be the market area. This opened up into the amazing Oval Plaza. The size and remaining columns were what took our breath away. From there we walked up the hill to the Temple of Zeus and the South Theater which was built 90-92AD and seats more than 3000 people. There was a short performance by Jordanian bagpipe group.

We walked back down the hill, through the Oval Plaza and down The Cardo (Colonnaded Street) which is 874 yards long. We stopped at the intersection for some info by Rabi, and then stood in front of the Nymphaeum, a beautiful huge building with a fountain. Rabi let us go here to wander on our own. At the Cathedral, all four of us climbed the huge stairway up to the Temple of Artemis.

We split up here, and Bill and I went to the North Theater which was really awesome seen from the top level of seats. Next to it was the North Tetrapylon and the ruins of the West Baths. We finally ended up at the North Gate built in 115 AD. We started wandering back to the entrance and stopped to rest in front of the Nymphaeum where we were approached by a bracelet vendor, Hamid. We had a cute little chat with him, and he gave me a silver bracelet as a 'gift'. This happened quite often, but usually it meant they wanted money for it. Hamid did not. Bill felt badly about this and gave him $5, and in turn, Hamid gave Bill a bracelet as another 'gift'.

While we were there, we heard the first of the many Muslim call to prayer that we would hear throughout our trip. Loudspeakers from many mosques broadcast the call, and they all start a few seconds after each other which results in an amazing cacophony of sound. We made it back to the entrance where we stood with Rabi and Fadi while they talked to some of their vendor friends. One of the vendors played for me a one-string instrument that they were selling.

At noon we drove 10 min to the Green Valley restaurant. As we entered, there was a cage with two birds in it. A small cat was trying to stick a paw in, and the birds went after it with their beaks, and the cat jumped a mile high. The six of us had a family style meal which started off with an amazing lemon/lime/mint drink which looked awful but tasted great. Then we were served a traditional bread like Indian naan (khoboz) along with lots of dips - hummus, tahine, babaganouch, taboule, and a spicy one, all of which are called mezza. Then we got pans of kofta which is ground meat, tomatoes, spices, in a variety of ways - one with tahine sauce on top. These were served squashed in a round pan with various items on top. Usually kofta is just rolled up and grilled. It was all quite good. As we were leaving, the birds had been replaced with shisha (hooka) pipes. These are all over the Middle East - in fancy restaurants, village corner coffee shops.

Then we drove back to Amman. There were lots of stalls along the road selling pomegranates. It started to rain as we headed back into town. Amman is called the white city for all the buildings made of limestone. We powered on and went to the Citadel - a tall hill in the middle of town full of buried ruins that they are excavating. There is the old Jordanian Archeological Museum here (they are building a new one), Temple of Hercules built in 166AD with pieces of the statue of Hercules on the ground including a huge hand, Byzantine church built in the 5th and 6th centuries AD, the Umayyad Palace cir 730AD where I got my photo taken with a Tourist Police (who are there to assist people plus make sure they don't damage sites). Next to the Palace was an old huge cistern.

On the ride back to the hotel, the guys took us to a place called Jolie's for a sweet treat called kunafa - cream cheese mixed with dough, honey and topped with a wonderful shredded wheat. It was amazing, and one of the foods I had read about. I can't describe it adequately, so look it up on Google. They also had some amazing pastries ready to sell that I wish I could have brought home.

We arrived back at the hotel at 4, soaked but happy. Bill napped, and I wrote in my journal and then went to the Business Center to send email. I got 30 minutes free.

We met Dot and Sandy for dinner once again at Versace. The menu at Versace was the same as last night. Tonight for appetizers I had an eggplant and goat cheese ravioli topped with minted lamb Bolognese. Bill had buffalo mozzarella cheese, tomato and basil. Tonight I had the cod that Bill had last night, and he had the Milanese style veal cutlet (huge), oven baked potatoes, and rocket salad. We both got the tiramisu parfait.

Day 3 - Jordan - Mt Nebo, Wadi Rum to Petra - Saturday, November 19

We were up at 6, dressed, and went down to breakfast (a decent buffet) at 6:30. We ate with Dot and Sandy. It was raining pretty hard, and quite cool. Not what one would think of in Jordan.

We brought our luggage down and checked out. I stored my big bag since we will be returning there tomorrow night and the van doesn't hold that much luggage. The staff at the hotel was amazingly helpful and friendly.

Rabi (our guide) and Fadi (our driver) picked us up at 7:30, and off we went. First we stopped for Turkish coffee that Rabi got us. Talk about coffee being like mud. He also got us some Jordanian cookies and bananas. The bananas in this area are much smaller, but they taste like the bananas we are used to and not the too-sweet small bananas.

Our first stop was in Madaba (half hour out of Amman) at the St George's church. The attraction here is the floor mosaic discovered in the late 1800s. It is a huge map of the whole region down to Egypt. Parts are missing, but it is impressive. There are some other more modern mosaics of religious figures. I had looked forward to this, and it didn't disappoint.

Our next stop about 15 minutes away was Mt. Nebo - Moses' last stop where he died since God did not allow him into the promised land. At the start of the lovely walk up to the site, there is a monument to Pope John Paul II, a rather interesting one. There is another beautiful mosaic floor - huge. They are restoring many buildings, so the mosaic was the only thing to see except for the amazing view.

We did see the Brazen Serpent cross sculpture by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni. Luckily it stopped raining and cleared up enough so that we could see the very north end of the Dead Sea and the city of Jerico. Rather impressive. There was also a huge round stone called an abu badd which was used as a reinforced door to the monastery. As we were leaving, we could see the Spring of Moses where two churches were built and destroyed in the earthquake of 749AD.

We went down the street a ways to an Arts and Crafts center where this state sponsored center employs mostly handicapped individuals who make amazing mosaic pieces and other crafts. I loved the ostrich eggs that they basically tattoo with tiny needles into glorious pieces of art work. And of course there was a shop selling large mosaic pieces, the eggs (which ran anywhere from $100 on up to over $1000. I bought a couple of small items. We were served tea while we shopped.

Then we were really on the road to Wadi Rum and Petra. The rain totally stopped, and we saw mostly a dessert landscape. I would love to have the time to create a coffee table book of minarets. We stopped for lunch about an hour and a half later. We had the typical mezza (dips and bread) - hummus, tahine (this time is was a salad tahine with vegetables chopped quite finely) a kidney bean concoction, the Jordanian salsa, and the cuke and tomato salad. We also had two entrees. First was the local dish that the vender at Jerash recommended - mansaf. This is a bedoin dish of rice on a platter at one end and lamb beside it. The whole mess was covered with a thin piece of dough and it was served with a warm yogurt which was a little unusual. It is considered the national dish of Jordan. The other dish was kabseh - a rice dish with vegetables and spices. It was great. Dot and Sandy bought huge Bedouin type coats that must have weighed a ton.

On we drove through mostly flat, arid countryside. They are building a huge pipeline next to this road for water. After another hour and a half, the flat land gave way to large granite and limestone formations that were breath-taking. This is where large parts of Lawrence of Arabia were filmed and is a state preservation site.

We switched to a 4 wheel drive vehicle driven by a local in native garb. The limestone mountains were awesome. We drove over sand and saw amazing scenery. First stop was in front of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom which was a big feature in Lawrence of Arabia. We also stopped by the Anfashieh inscriptions, a Nabatean graffiti picturing a hoard of camels. Later we stopped at a 'local campground' where tourists can spend the night for a fee. It is in a canyon almost completely surrounded by towering limestone. Men with camels came by wanting us to ride. Saw a young camel suckling his mama. We went to the lounge tent - huge, and permanent - and were served tea by a fire. It was gorgeous, and even though it was cold, I would have loved to have spent a couple of nights here.

Back through the sand to the main road, back into our van, and on to Petra. The drive was about 1.25 hours to get to the town of Petre and our hotel, the Movenpick. We are right across the entrance to Petra. The hotel is lovely, and we were checked in quickly by the Ambercrombie and Kent guy in a suit who met us here. We went to our rooms, cleaned up, and met Dot and Sandy for a lovely buffet dinner. Rabi and Fadi stayed elsewhere. I think Rabi had a crash pad in town since he is there quite often.

I had kishkey (a yogurt, shredded wheat concoction that was great), pumpkin salad (not so great), onion salad - good, tabouli - average, spicy green olives, and the best stuffed grape leaves ever - cold, stuffed with rice. Entrees were a decent little grilled steak and chicken with the most amazing pistachio sauce. Dessert was to die for - a Jordanian bread pudding called osh alsarayea. There was also a ton of other desserts but they were not nearly as good. I also tried a local coconut cake called basbossa.

I found that an hour access was only $1.50, so I went to the business center right after dinner and sent a quick email.

Day 4 - Petra and return to Amman - Sunday, November 20

Our wake-up call was at 6am, and we went down to breakfast at 6:30. The buffet was really lovely as was the dining room. We went back to the bedroom to collect our luggage and brush our teeth. We checked out, and Rabi showed up at 7:30, got our luggage stored, and off we went to Petra. We just had to walk across the street from the hotel. It was cold and had been raining, but it soon stopped for the day.

We walked through the usual assortment of vendors, and Rabi bought our tickets and in we went through the gates to an amazing day. The landscape around us was hilly and arid. We walked down a wide dirt road, passed the horse corral where vendors were selling rides to the bottom of the road. We walked further down the road to our first site - the Djin Blocks. These are huge carved blocks that no one is really sure of their purpose. Further down the road is the Obelisk Tomb on top of the Bab Al-Siq Triclinium. They appear to be unrelated.

At the end of the road is a small souvenir shop and a dried up stream and bridge. This used to be a dam to send water through the Sig down to the village. Then we began the magical 1 mile walk down through the Sig. Photos and movies cannot begin to describe the majesty of this walk - towering cliffs of various levels of color, going from very narrow to more wide with the water trough following along. There were various niches, carvings. Periodically a horse drawn carriage would come flying by carrying tourist through the Sig. I cannot imagine taking one and missing most of the majesty of this walk. Rabi would stop and point out various items of interest.

Then at the end of the Sig, we glimpsed the first view of the Treasury. All of Petra is unbelievable, but this view of the Treasury is a site to remember. The courtyard in front contained a good number of tourists (but not nearly the number that are usually here) and camel vendors wanting to sell rides. After sitting here for a while trying to absorb the view, we headed on down through Petra passing the Street of Facades each containing a tomb. There were many semi-permanent street vendors selling an enormous array of tourist items. One of these vendors was the son of Marguerite van Geldermalsen who wrote Married to a Bedodin. He remains in Petra selling his mother's book and other items.

We stopped for a coffee/potty break at one of the little primitive cafes. Having coffee outside while looking up at the many beautiful tombs carved into the cliffs was amazing. Rabi knew most of the vendors, and when Bill was looking at daggers, Rabi said the seller was okay, and a good price was decided upon. Bill stopped on the way out and bought it.

After coffee we continued on the main path past the Nymphaeum, the Colonnaded Street, the Arched Gate, and Qasr Al-Bint. We ended up at the Basin restaurant run by Crowne Plaza hotels. We were the first tourist there, and Rabi got great treatment. I got a personal tour of the buffet items by the main chef. He recommended magloubeh, a rice/lamb/peanut dish that was really great. The falafel was awesome (made with fava beans rather than chickpeas). I also liked a stuffed pickled baby eggplant. The dessert, however, became one of my favorites - Um Ali - a bread pudding made throughout the Middle East. As we were finishing, an enormous crowd of tourists swamped the restaurant, so Rabi's timing had been fortuitous.

Rabi set us free to ramble on our own. We went up a hill opposite the colonnade street to the Byzantine church to see the beautiful floor mosaics. Dot, Sandy, and I stopped for a lemon/lime/mint drink while Bill went to buy his dagger. The drink wasn't as good as the one at the Green Valley restaurant, but it was still fun.

We then started the long haul back out through the Sig. It is all uphill and quite a jaunt. At the end of the Sig, Bill and I took a horseback ride back up to the entrance. The whole trip down and back up through Petra is about a 6 mile walk, so we were pretty tired when we got back to the hotel.

We retrieved our luggage, and Fadi was waiting with the van. We started the long drive back to Amman at 4. We stopped for a rest stop and got back to the Four Seasons Amman at 7:30. Bill and I got room service - split a hamburger and mac and cheese. Then we crashed for the night.

Day 5 - Amman to Cairo Monday, November 21

We had a wake-up call at 5:45, packed, dressed, and went down to the lobby at 6:15. Boxed breakfasts were to be delivered to the front desk but were sent to our rooms instead. The desk clerks hurried to have them boxed up and sent to us in the lobby. They finally got there just as Fabi arrived to take us to the airport. The boxes contained enough food for an army - 2 croissants, 2 scones, danish, 6 jellies, 2 cans of oj, 2 bananas, and 2 apples. We ate in the van on the way to the airport and left the rest for Fabi to take home.

When we got to the airport, the A&K guy met us, got our tickets, checked our bags, got us through immigration, and sent us on our way. We only had 1 1/2 hours to wait for the 8:40am flight to Cairo. On the flight we had fruit cocktail, a roll, and a croissant.

We landed and were met by Mohamed (most Arabic families name their first-born sons Mohamed which is why there are so many) the A&K guy who got us through customs and immigration and out quite quickly. We drove in the van to the Fairmont Nile City Hotel which took about a 1/2 hour. There Mohamed walked us through security into the lobby where he got our passports and checked us in. While we were waiting, Bill went to use the facilities while our luggage was being scanned at the front door security. Dot came inside saying security needed Bill's luggage key to open his bag and hand over his dagger. Since he was not available, I had to go out, use my key, open his bag, and try and find the dagger. Dot and Sandy also had purchased daggers which the hotel will keep until we check out.

We had a beautiful room (724) with a view looking right down on the Nile River. We unpacked, sent some laundry out, and washed some underwear. Since we had the day free, we went up to check out the Sky Pool deck. Two British girls were leaving saying it was too cold. A waiter met us and told us we could sit anywhere, and he would bring us menus.

We had a lovely view of the Nile from up there, and I could even see the large pyramid at Giza in the distance. Baha’a was our waiter, and Bill ordered a cheeseburger while I got a croque-monsieur and some stuffed grape leaves. Everything was great and priced reasonably considering where we were. We ate and enjoyed ourselves. At 3:15 we returned to the room. Bill made an appointment in 20 minutes to get a pedicure at the Spa, and I went to the Business Center to send an email - 1/2 hour for $8.

After the internet session, I grabbed my Kindle, jacket, and travel stuff and went back to the Sky Pool deck. Baha’a gave me my coffee choices. I ordered and went to 'my' corner table, read, and watched the Nile traffic. One of the staff, Ahmed, was pulling staples out of the pillars from a wedding held a while ago. Not a fun job. In a few minutes, Ahmed came over to chat. He is the youngest of 7 kids, and his father died before he was born. His oldest brother lives in Kuwait. He has worked in pool management for 10 years, the last 3 here at the Fairmont. He worked for a year at the American Embassy, but tips are better at hotels.

Bill arrived and ordered a beer. A bit later Ahmed came up with a beautiful fruit platter - grapes, apples, oranges, kiwi, plum, and a fruit he called caka (persimmon) along with a yogurt/honey/mint dip. This was a gift from him for our chat and 'my smile'. Bill had a girl (Siska) from Bali do his pedicure, and they had a nice chat, too. Everyone on staff here is so friendly.

We watched a beautiful sunset, listened to call to prayers, and left the pool at 5:30. We went to the room, watched some TV, and went to bed at 10.

Day 6 - Cairo - Tuesday, November 22

We were up at 6:30, dressed, and went to the breakfast buffet at 7:15. It was a nice buffet. I had foul (a paste made from fava beans), cereal, grilled tomato. We went up to the room to brush our teeth. Bill got change at the bank for smaller Egyptian pounds. Then we went to a meeting room where Aki Afran, our guide for Egypt, introduced himself. We also met Michael and Judy, the two single people who were joining the tour for Egypt. Aki said that there was a change in our itinerary because of all the protests in Tahrir Square. The Egyptian Museum is right on the square, and it was deemed unsafe for us to go there right now. He said maybe when we get back from Luxor next week. After his talk, he let us go to our rooms to freshen up.

We met in the lobby at 9:30 and got on a nice mini bus with lots of room to spread out. Of course I went to the back where I could take photos from either side or out the back. On our drive to the Citadel, we went by Cairo Tower, Roman aqueducts, leather tanning racks on top of homes.

The Citadel is incredibly impressive even from a distance. The wall around the complex is huge. We entered on a stone walkway that had seaweed fossils in it. We passed Gawhara Palace that burned and is not open. The Muhammed Ali Mosque is huge and jaw-dropping. We removed our shoes and entered. Aki pointed out the clock that the French gave the Mohammed Ali in exchange for the obelisk that stands in the Place du Concorde in Paris. The clock has never worked. The outer mosque is used as an overflow and contains the ablution fountain and a deep well that Aki hollered down in to hear the echo that went on and on.

Inside the mosque was large and impressive. We stood at the front while Aki gave us a lot of information about the Mosque and Muslims. The minbar (stairway and pulpit) is a beautiful green and gold. There is a mihrab (niche) in every mosque that points the qibla (direction to Mecca), and these were quite beautiful.

After retrieving our shoes, we took a short drive to the Mosque of Sultan Hassan completed in 1359AD. It was also a beautiful and impressive mosque. There was a beautiful floor in the outer mosque, a double mosque with a beautiful mihrab, and ornate inlaid chair for the Koran and reader. The best part was when Aki asked the imman to do a call to prayers. It was so beautiful.

After we left, we drove by the quarry where the stones were cut for the great pyramids of Giza, the Cairo cemetery, and a falafel store. We ended up at the Khan El-Khalili bazaar. The Al-Hussein Mosque is right beside the bazaar, and it has 3 really neat huge umbrellas in front that are opened on Fridays to shade the worshipers outside. We walked through the bazaar, and of course, were accosted by numerous vendors. We did stop to look at some spices and tea.

Then we had lunch at the Naguib Mahfouz restaurant named for the Nobel prize-winning Egyptian author. It is a pretty restaurant, and the food was excellent. We started off with karkady, a cold tea drink made from red hibiscus leaves. This version was frothed with a pretty head of foam. I love this drink! We had the standard mezza which we have grown to love - hummus, tahine, great falafel (made with fava not chickpeas), with khobez (naan type bread). Lentil soup came next followed by a mixed meat (lamb, veal, chicken) grill with great Egyptian rice (smaller grains than long grain) with raisins and nuts. For dessert we had Om Ali, the delightful bread pudding. It was a little different than what we had in Jordan with more coconut and thicker, but it was still wonderful.

After lunch, everyone else wandered through the bazaar. Bill and I went to the entrance, found a little cafe next to the mosque, ordered Pepsi so we could sit protected (sort of) from the mob of vendors. Bill did get his shoes shined from a vendor, and all the shoe shine guys wanted to repair the sole of one of his shoes. We talked to the guys running the place which was great fun. As more vendors kept approaching us, our new friends would shoo them away.

At the corner where we were to meet Aki, two young guys selling stuff decided it was more fun to chat with us and call a third friend crazy. We laughed, hung out, until Aki came to lead us to the van. We left the bazaar at 2:15 driving by the Al Azhar mosque, more crowded streets of the bazaar including a fabric store section. Aki said that the louder cheesier fabric was bought by country folks. We drove by the statue of Muhammad Ali's son Ibriham Pasha, an old French section of town (architecturally speaking), and the Supreme Court building.

Back at the hotel, Bill napped, and I went to the Sky Pool to write in my journal and have some filtered coffee (French press). Mohammed and Ahmed were there, and we chatted a bit. Bill came up at 3:45 and Dot and Sandy joined us soon after. They ordered the filtered coffee like mine. Michael joined us. Ahmed brought us all fresh made mango juice as a treat. He is a sweetheart.

Back in the room, we got our laundry back. Bill had sent out one pair of sox, and they were returned folded in a leather box. How funny! We had dinner at 6 in the Napa Grill as our 'welcome dinner'. We started with lentil/red pepper soup with cumin, walnuts, and goat cheese. We had a choice between steak or mushroom ravioli. Bill and I got the steak which came with truffle macaroni with fontina cheese, grilled asparagus with soy caramel sauce, and fried shallots. For dessert with had cheesecake with vanilla ice cream and a blueberry compote. Once again we were stuffed.

We were in bed asleep by 10. Touring is tiring work!

Day 7 - Giza, Egyptian home dinner - Wednesday, November 23

We were up at 6:50 and down to the breakfast buffet at 7:20. We went back to the room to clean up and made it to a meeting room at 9. Aki had arranged for us to have a speaker to discuss the current political situation in Egypt, especially Tahrir Square. Mirette F. Mabrouk is an Egyptian female journalist, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, and various other credentials. Her talk lasted an hour, and she was quite informative about the current political situation in Egypt.

At 10, Aki sent us to our rooms for a quick break, and then we headed off to Giza. Today we had our first armed guard accompanying us. He had on a suit and carried a Heckler MP5. That was a little disconcerting, but he was unobtrusive and just followed us around keeping an eye on us. After crossing the Nile, Aki said this all used to be green fertile farmland that helped feed Cairo. Now there are just hideous apartments going up right and left. An interesting note. Muslims do not borrow money because they do not believe in paying interest. Therefore, when they build homes, they build what they can afford at the time, stop, save more money, build some more. Hence, there are many partially finished buildings throughout Egypt. We drove through the town of Giza where the vendors, camel drivers, etc. live. We got our first glimpse of the pyramids over the roofs of town. We also drove by the Mena House Oberoi hotel where we would eat lunch later.

We drove through security at the Pyramids, and Aki gave out our tickets. The driver parked on the north side of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Cops were on pretty white camels patrolling. Aki said he hadn't seen so few tourists in decades. Lucky for us, but so bad for the local economy. We walked to the base of the Great Pyramid where Aki talked about pyramids. Granite covered one small section which is how the whole pyramid was when it was finished. Mike and Judy were the only two who bought tickets to go in the pyramid. They said it wasn't much. The rest of us wandered around the base over to the corner where King Farouk had built a 2-story 'rest house' in 1946 to entertain guests close to the pyramid. It is now in a state of disrepair and will probably be torn down.

In wandering around, I saw a neat bird that I saw all over called a hooded crow. I also looked at one of the two empty funerary boat pits. We got back in the van and drove by the second pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre which has the granite cap, and past the third pyramid, the Pyramid of Menkaure with the three Pyramids of the Queens. We went up to a parking lot for the best view/photo op of all three pyramids. On the way back to the Great Pyramid complex we saw two men sitting on rocks washing themselves from a water bottle preparing for prayer.

We parked and went into the Solar Boat building which houses the funerary boat of Khufu. Aki gave us lots of information and then let us wander around looking at it from various angles. As we were waiting to leave, a Libyan man told me he was in Cairo for medical treatment. I guess lots of people in the Middle East and Africa come to Cairo where there are better facilities.

We drove around to the Sphinx complex. We went in and Aki talked about the Sphinx. This was the most crowded place in Giza. They have a project in process (aided with US money) to drain water that is accumulating under the Sphinx. We could see drains and pumping stations around the Sphinx.

Finally we went to lunch at 2:15 at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel at the Khan El Khalili restaurant. This was a lovely restaurant with a view of the Great Pyramid. We had sweet corn soup, a choice of chicken or grouper, and a very rich vanilla ice cream over fresh fruit. I got the chicken which was good. The folks that got the grouper got a side of rice shaped like a pyramid.

On the road again, we stopped at the Karnak Jewelry/Art store. I bought a small inlaid wood box. Dot bought a gold bracelet with a cartouche. Driving back through Giza we saw goats and sheep ready to be purchased and butchered, cauliflower on a wagon being pulled by a donkey, fresh fruit for sale, fish for sale. In the villages, it is quite apparent that Egypt is a third-world country.

We drove near Tahrir Square where we could see the protesters down a side street. As soon as we got back to the hotel, Bill and I went to the mall connected to the hotel to a shop called Mocabo where I bought 5 camel polo shirts for the nephews and one for myself. These are so cool since they look just like polo shirts but instead of the polo player, they have a camel. We went up to the Sky Pool so Bill could have a cigar break. It is a delightful place to relax and no one goes up there because they think it is "too cold". I had a lovely chat with Ahmed. He takes a bus from the hotel to Tahrir Square to catch a minibus to his home. Last night, he took a short detour around the Square, but he still got teary eyes and coughed from the residue of the tear gas being used in the Square. Ahmed is married to a British English teacher.

After we cleaned up, we gathered in the lobby at 6pm to meet up with Mohammed the A&K guy to go to an Egyptian home for dinner. His supervisor was there to see how things were going for us. We certainly do get a lot of care. We left the hotel and drove over the Nile to the home of Zeena and Sami. They were about our age. Sami ran a furniture manufacturing company, and the examples they had in their home were beautiful. The house was in an apartment building that Sami owned several apartments. Their son Mohammed stopped by and stayed to chat. Two other sons were in and out of the apartment. Zeena was complaining that her 32 year old son would not get married and move out on his own! Life can be the same everywhere.

We started out with some wonderful karkady (red hibiscus tea served cold). The Zeena served a lentil orzo soup that was really good. We chatted while Zeena and her help placed dishes on the dining room table for a buffet. There was a cucumber/tomato salad, spice eggplant/tomato, pickled (and hot!) vegetables, cheese pie (more like little cheese rolls), kushari (a mixture of rice, tiny lentils, chickpeas, and macaroni topped with tomato sauce, and fried onions), pasta (more like dumplings) with bechamel sauce with a little bit of ground beef, chicken nuggets, a rice dish, beef/mushroom/mushroom sauce. Dessert was a large many layered chocolate cake. It was a lovely dinner with lovely people and interesting conversation. This family does this maybe 2-3 times a week. I know they get paid for it, but they seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. Zeena gave us a tour of her apartment. We left about 8:30, returned to the hotel, and went to bed.

Day 8 - Dahshur, Memphis, Sakkara - Thursday, November 24

We woke up at 6:30, went to breakfast at 7, and left on the van at 8. We had a different guard today who wasn't as friendly as the other one. We crossed the Nile to the west bank and drove into the countryside along a vile canal filled with garbage to Dahshur. There were lots of egrets on the trash piles. Alfalfa was growing lushly along the countryside. This is camel/donkey feed. Cabbage, cauliflower, and corn were also growing. We drove through small villages with lots of fruit stands, men in the corner cafes drinking coffee. We passed a mare and a foal pulling a cart, a cow with a blanket on it to keep it warm, a boy on a donkey leading two cows, sheep and goats being herded down the road, date palms, railroad tracks leading out to an oasis, store selling home molding/wood products, falafel maker, camel meat markets with the meat hanging in the front of the open store, bread sellers, camels carrying palm fronds. I got one photo of some fresh camel meat hanging up with a large bucket to catch the blood and small children playing beside it. Aki told us that the people use all parts of the date palm, and we could see examples of that.

We finally arrived at the Red Pyramid in Dahshur. Aki talked about the pyramid. Absolutely no one else was there except cops on camels carrying big guns. There were some Egyptian stray dogs running around including two cute puppies. Bill, Dot, Judy, and Michael climbed to the entrance to the pyramid. The others went in, but Bill stayed outside. They all said it smelled really gross inside since it seems the interior is used as a porta potty. There were lots of tuk tuks (a tricycle type motorized vehicle used to transport passengers) running up and down the road.

We drove a little further down the road to the Bent Pyramid. This was built about 2600 BC. Sandy and I wandered around the pyramid, and Sandy found the bones of a camel. We saw the Black Pyramid in the distance. As we left Dahshur, we drove back the way we had come and saw a trader cart filled with lots of 'stuff' that is traded, not sold. We saw more meat markets, an ambulance, a sewage truck, shelters made from dried palm debris.

We arrived at the town of Mit Rahina to see the Colossus of Ramses II. This is a huge horizontal statue of Ramses II about 33 feet long even without his feet. Aki discussed the statue while we wandered around the viewing platform. Outside we saw a giant alabaster sphinx. We continued on to the Step Pyramid of Sakkara. This is the oldest of Egypt's pyramids and Bill's favorite. We first went to the new Imhotep Museum which was rather interesting. The complex was huge, and there were colonnades to walk through, huge walls topped with cobras. We stayed there for quite a while. Bill and Michael roamed all over. There were more Egyptian dogs running around our van looking for handouts.

At 1:15 we went to lunch at the Sakkara Palm Club. This was a lovely little resort with a huge swimming pool surrounded by lots of palm trees. We ate outside in a covered area. A chef was working on a grill when we were seated. We were first offered a variety of fresh fruit juices - mango, strawberry, white guava (tastes like pina colada). I got the white guava and loved it. These guava are quite different from the pink guava in Hawaii. We were served a large selection of mezza - beans, chickpeas, potatoes (chilled, diced, and spiced), tahine, baba ganoush, The main course was a little buffet by the grill - bbq chicken, kofta (ground spiced beef, rolled, and grilled), rice, peas/carrots, French fries, and grilled onions and peppers. For dessert there was flan, baklava, and kunafa (the great dessert of cream cheese, dough, and dried wheat). It was a lovely lunch in a lovely setting.

As we drove away, there was the usual herd of sheep and goats. These sheep had huge, grotesque looking tails that looked like tumors, but is actually made of fat. They are called fat-tailed sheep. Check out Wikipedia! We stopped just down the road at the Oriental Carpet School. Boys, some handicapped, were weaving silk and wool rugs. They were quite detailed and definitely beautiful. In the showroom, I fell in love again with the silk rugs.

Heading home, we passed a large concrete pigeon roost. We also saw the huge line for exchanging empty propane containers for full ones. We saw this quite often. Back in Cairo we passed the state TV Building which was a big target for the protesters in January. It was under heavy guard and surrounded by lots of barbed wire. A note. Everywhere in Egypt, on rich luxury buildings to the meanest of shacks, TV satellite dishes are everywhere.

When we got back to the hotel, we went up to the Sky Pool for coffee and a lovely last chat with my friend Ahmed. It rained a little, but that didn't bother us. The view was awesome. I did some email in the business center and chatted with Mandy. We had a room service dinner, splitting a burger, salad, and spring rolls. Went to bed at 10pm.

Day 9 - Abu Simbel, Aswan, Sun Boat IV - Friday, November 25

We got a 4am wake-up call, and left for the airport at 5am. We were given breakfast boxes which we ate on the way. We flew the hour and a half to Aswan, waited on board for a half hour, and then flew another half hour to Abu Simbel. We loaded onto the van and drove to Abu Simbel, the temples of Ramses II and Nefertari. These temples were moved from 65m down below where they would have been flooded by Lake Nasar. They are incredibly huge and amazing. Even my photos won't do them justice. Lake Nasar was beautiful and cormorants, swallows, doves, and raptors were flying about. Inside the Ramses temple was a giant penis, unfinished wall in a chamber, but we couldn't take photos inside. We spent about an hour and 15 minutes here before flying the half hour back to Aswan.

In Aswan on the van to the boat, we passed truck loads of camels from Sudan being taken to a quarantine station. When we crossed over the Nile, we saw the first cataracts of the Nile in Egypt from the low Aswan Dam, saw the Temple of Phillae, and an old Muslim cemetery. We stopped at an old stone quarry to see the unfinished obelisk which cracked before it could be removed. We climbed to the top to see it.

We boarded the Sun Boat IV, which is one of the nicest boats cruising the Nile. It holds 80 people, but there were just our group and another group of a British couple, and two 20-something guys, one of which was the son of the Egyptian ambassador. So we basically had the ship to ourselves. We were upgraded from the lowest deck to a deck above with floor to ceiling windows because the ship was so empty. We were served karkady (hibiscus tea) on our arrival - what a treat since I love this stuff.

We went to our cabin which was lovely but small as on most cruise ships. The bathroom was tiny, but I was intrigued by the wood slat flooring which seemed to drain water from the shower through the slats. We freshened up and then went to lunch. We had a cheese and tomato salad, tomato soup, and a coconut/date cake. After lunch we went up to the sun deck (top deck) where there was a pool, lovely lounge chairs with awnings over the groupings. We could see an Arabian lighthouse on the west bank, feluccas on the river, minarets, and listened to the call to prayers. It was awesome!

We went back to the room, cleaned up, and got ready for the captain's cocktail hour, compliments of the boat manager, Samir. I had Stella, a lovely Egyptian beer. They had mini pizzas, fried mashed potato balls, and canapés. They gave the safety briefing and introduced the main supervisors on the boat. Then it was on to dinner. I had smoked Norwegian salmon with sour cream and capers, green and red pepper cream soup, pan fried hamour (which is a Red Sea grouper and unbelievably good!) layered on herbed rice and sauteed Chinese cabbage served with oyster sauce. For dessert we had brandy snap (a cookie) with a trio of ice cream and strawberry sauce.

Bill and I went back on deck so he could have his cigar, and we watched the lights on the Nile and the west bank. There seemed to be some kind of a wedding celebration going on with all kinds of vehicles driving around honking hours. Then we went to bed.

Day 10 - Aswan, Cruise to Luxor Saturday - November 26

We slept well on the boat and woke up at 6:30, dressed and went to the breakfast buffet at 6:45. The buffet had cold items, bread, etc., and then other hot items like omelets could be ordered from the wait staff. It was a large buffet for the small amount of people on the boat. I had an omelet, oatmeal, and a sweet roll. At 7:30 we took the van to the dock at Aswan to take a primitive ferry boat to Philae Temple. There were lots of vendors at the dock selling all kinds of tourist items. Aki's friend boarded with us to sell jewelry. Aki met him in Cairo when he called saying he had gotten his name from somewhere, was in Cairo and lost. Aki went to pick him up, took care of him, and got him home to Aswan. Next time Aki went to Aswan, the friend's family met Aki to thank him.

It was a 10 minute ride out to Aqilka Island to the Philae Temple. We were one of the first groups to land, and I got a great shot of the neat Trojan's Kiosk. Aki stopped in front of the West Colonnade to give his talk on the temple. I especially liked the carvings of Hathor - a female god with ears of a cow. We wandered around the Temple with Aki pointing out the wall carvings of gods and cartouches. I had read about a nilometer, so Michael and I went to check that out. A nilometer measured the height of the Nile, and people were taxed based upon the height of the Nile. We were there from 8 - 9:30, and took the boat back to the Aswan dock, where we maneuvered through the vendors. The van took us back to the Sun Boat IV where we set sail for Luxor at 10am.

At 10:30 the boat chef gave a cooking demo that only Michael and I showed up for. He showed us how to make baba ganoush, kushari (rice, lentils, pasta with a tomato sauce), and om ali (the bread pudding). Sandy showed up towards the end, and we all got to eat what he had made. I loved all three of these dishes.

We then went on the sun deck to watch the landscape as we cruised. It was quite windy, so we went down a deck to the covered lounge and spent the day watching Egypt float by. We watched the herders with their cows/donkeys/horses feeding and watering along the shore. We saw lots of different birds, fishermen on the water, other cruise boats, banana plantations. There were also lots of minarets. I would love to go back and photograph a coffee table book of minarets. They are so varied and beautiful. It was also interesting to see the lush greenness along the Nile and then the dessert behind it.

At 12:45 we docked to tour Kom Ombo, a temple built in the 2nd century BC. It is actually two temples, one dedicated to Sobek (crocodile god) and the other to Haroeris (Horus), the Egyptian sky god with the head of a falcon. I especially liked the carvings representing medical treatments. The temple also served as kind of a hospital with the priests acting as doctors. There were even game carvings on the floor where people played games while waiting to be seen. Aki also showed us what appears to be the first insurance policy carved on the floor. We saw the big pit where crocodiles where kept, and a well. And finally, there was a casket section so that people who died here could be sent home. We also saw a fertility symbol of two penises dripping semen.

On our walk back to the boat, we saw a little shop decorated with dom fruit from the dom palm. This appears to be a hard fruit, smaller than a coconut and also edible.

At 2pm, we had lunch - a set menu. I had a great cheese/tomato/cucumber salad, chicken orzo soup, and mixed grill with kofta/chicken/steak. For dessert we had flan. Then it was back to the covered deck for more cruise viewing. We saw a mama and baby water buffalo with the baby prancing and chasing all over. We saw feluccas, corn fields, more sheep and cows, El Kab (ancient tombs), and a beautiful sunset. We were served tea on the deck with tea, coffee, cookies, and cake.

At 5 we took a tour of the bridge, and I got my photo taken at the helm. Of course when I started to touch something, everyone politely jumped in to stop me!

At 6 we docked at Edfu and took a horse and carriage ride to the Temple of Horus. This was the only temple we saw at night, and it was dramatically lit and quite impressive. Listening to the call to prayers from within the temple was quite impressive. I love Horus because he has such neat bird shapes both in statues and carvings on the wall. All of the tombs and temples were over-whelming in terms of size, quantity of columns, carvings, cartouches. Aki explained lots of it, but most of it did not stick with me. I did enjoy the sheer beauty of the temples.

After our carriage ride back to the ship, we got under way and dressed for our "Egyptian Night" dinner. Bill and I had both purchased the galabeya (long Arabic dress) to wear. At 8 we had an Egyptian dinner buffet with the usual mezza (babaganoush, beans, hummus, tomato/cucumber salad, pickled lemons (wow!), entrees of kushari, beef with shallots/okra/tomatoes, spinach stuffed chicken, fish, and a variety of desserts including my favorite om ali (bread pudding).

We went to the deck for a final night view. We motored down the Nile during the night, docking for a short while somewhere.

Day 11 - Luxor - Sunday, November 27

We were up at 7 and had our breakfast buffet at 7:30. We went on deck to watch our docking in Luxor. At 8:30 we boarded our van, and went to Luxor Temple. We crossed over the Avenue of the Sphinx which is under renovation. This is a long avenue of sphinxes connecting Luxor Temple to Karnak. This will be a long-term project as many buildings have been constructed over the avenue.

At the entrance to Luxor Temple there are impressive statues of Ramses II and one obelisk (the other was sent to France as a gift and is in the Place de la Concorde). Inside is the Mosque of Abu el-Haggar sitting on top of part of the temple. It is considered an historic building, so it has been allowed to remain. We saw several archeologists doing restoration work within the temple.

As with the other temples, there was an overwhelming amount of massive columns, carvings covering every square inch of temple columns and walls, huge statues, and Aki's information. We spent an hour and fifteen minutes here. As we left, there were some beautiful trees with yellow flowers that Aki said were Tacoma trees. There were also lots of dom palm trees.

From the temple, the van took us through crowded streets to the Luxor Museum. Across the Nile we had a beautiful view of the Valley of the Kings and Queens about 3 miles away. There were no photos in the museum, so I had to take some notes. Impressive was the statue of Amenhotep III that was excavated in Luxor Temple (Aki was there when they found it!). National Geographic has funded and built an expanded section of the museum which contained two mummies. We spent about an hour here. It is a beautiful museum and quite well done.

We took a carriage ride back to the boat for lunch at noon which was a set menu with a couple of choices for each course. I had the mezza (tahine, baba ganoush, kofta, and diced potatoes), leek and potato soup, stuffed hamour fish (incredibly good fish, a kind of grouper from the Red Sea), and for dessert a date/banana tart.

At 1 we took a ferry over to the west bank where our van picked us up. It was a party boat that was just for us. Apparently there isn’t a bridge close to where we were and where we needed to go, so using a ferry was the solution. We drove through Gorna, the town near the Valley of Kings and Queens. It was interesting to note that many homes had paintings on the front showing the owner had been to Mecca with pictures of planes, boats, donkeys, and Mecca. This pilgrimage brings great honor to anyone who has made it, so the memorialize it on their homes.

Our first stop was at the Valley of the Queens where we went into the tomb of Amun-her-khepeshef. This tomb was beautifully painted. There was a box near the entrance with the skeletal remains of a fetus that was determined not to be ancient. There were lotus paintings all along the cornice. As usual, there were the huge lines of vendors all trying to sell items.

From there we went to the Valley of the Kings. We had to leave our cameras on the van which was a shame. We took a tram up to the entrance to the valley. We went into 3 tombs. The first was Ramses IX. On the ceiling was a rare painting of a frontal face. It was badly distorted which shows that ancient Egyptian artists could only do profiles well. On the ceiling of the rear chamber is a painting of Nut swallowing the sun at night, going through her body to emerge at sunrise. In most tombs there is a prolific display of the Book of the Dead.

The second tomb was King Tutankhamen. This costs extra (part of our tour), so there was no one else in there. It is one of the smallest tombs, but the mummy is still there. Aki says it is to be removed and placed elsewhere. Aki told lots of stories about the paintings of the priest Ay opening Tut's mouth to release his soul. Ay was already wearing the crown before Tut was mummified. The 12 baboons on the far wall indicated the months of the year. There was a boat with a large scarab to carry Tut to the next life. No one can remember what the third tomb was. That is the problem without a camera.

From the Valley of the Kings we went to the temple of Hatshepsut. We took a tram from the entrance to the bottom of the temple. This is a pretty impressive temple that we could see both from the boat and our hotel. I went with the group to see a few things, but I was about temple/tombed out. So I went back to the tram parking and chatted with some vendors. One little 10-year old (Haysim) kept trying to sell me a 'homemade' doll that looked awful. Instead I paid him 10EP ($1) to pose for a photo. I did chat with a vendor who was selling fake papyrus (banana leaves). He was a delightful man. Most of the vendors will ask where we are from, and when we say the US, they will say they love Obama. Anyway, after a nice chat, we rode back on the tram with the vendor and Haysim. The vendor gave me a small soapstone scarab as a gift when we got on the van.

The van took us back to the ferry which took us back to the Sun Boat IV for our last night on board. We had 3 hours to rest, sit on the deck, pack, and get ready for dinner.

At 8 we had our final dinner on board which was a set menu with choices. I had an awesome avocado salad with a tomato aioli and balsamic reduction, a great cappuccino mushroom cream soup, grilled tenderloin (which wasn't too tender) with potato wedges, broccoli and Gorgonzola sauce. The dessert was a flaming baked Alaska (Egyptian style) carried out by the waiters.

At 9:50 we had a performance by a belly dancer. The best part of that was watching John and Andrew dance with her. The most impressive part of the show was the whirling dervish. That was really cool especially the skirt of the costume that swirled out and over his head. After the performance, we went up on deck where the Valley of the Kings and Queens and Hatshepsut's Temple were all lit up. It was quite impressive. We packed, showered, and were in bed at 12:30.

Day 12 - Luxor - Monday, November 28

We were up at 6:30 and out on the deck at 6:50 to get some photos of Hatshepsut Temple at Valley of the Queens in the sunlight. Then it was the lovely breakfast buffet at 7. I had a cheese omelet, cereal, juice, and coffee. We left the boat for good at 8am and walked to the ferry over to the west bank of Luxor. On the way we saw a Nile ambulance boat which was kind of cool.

We drove down the same road as yesterday for a few miles, stopping for a photo op at the Colossi of Memnon - two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III built in 1350 BC. As we drove on, we saw more homes painted after a family member made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

At 8:30 we arrived at Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramses III. It was another interesting tour of a temple with lots of carvings, statues, columns, etc. The fun part was seeing the carvings of Ramses III fighting and winning battles. Rewards were given to soldiers for proof of killing the enemy, all of which were carved into the walls. First, a reward was given for a hand, but that resulted in cutting off both hands and saying two guys were killed. So they went for tongues, and finally penises. In a big courtyard of columns, doves were roosting on all four sides, rather like “The Birds”.

From there we drove on to Ramesseum Temple, Ramses II’s mortuary temple. We first saw the fallen statue of the Ozymandias Colossus which would have stood 62’ in the air. I passed on the tour and watched an archeological dig at the site. These were mainly French archeologists, and it was great fun to watch them carry buckets of rocks, brushing away sections, and digging out finds.

We drove on to Deir El Medina – the workers village for the Valley of the Kings. We went into two tombs here – Sennedjem (which was beautiful) and Inherka (which was not so beautiful). I really wanted to go into the tomb of Pasheda, but we didn’t have enough time. This is one spot where I would have liked to have spent much more time. We weren’t allowed to have cameras in the tombs, so I bought some postcards to remember the site.

From there we went to Nefertary Papyrus Institute. Aki, our guide, had them bring us a loaf of sun bread. This is like sourdough bread but baked in the sun. It was quite good. Then we had a demo of how papyrus is made which was quite informative. Bill bought three papyrus paintings. I went outside with Mike and looked at an old donkey water wheel.

We took the van back to the Nile where we were lucky enough to have some wind so we could ride a felucca on the Nile down to the Sonesta St George Hotel where we were spending the night. The ride was really quite pleasant and definitely unique. Aki got us checked in to the hotel. We were in room 509 which had a great balcony overlooking the Nile, the west bank and the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. We met for lunch at the Beban restaurant in the hotel overlooking the Nile. We had a tomato/mozzarella salad, tomato soup that tasted like Campbells, pizza with rocket/sauce/some cheese, a beef filet, mashed potato fingers, zucchini/carrot/broccoli, and an apple tart for dessert.

Everyone else left to go to Karnak Temple. I was about templed out, so I went to the room and sat on the balcony for 3 hours watching the activity on the Nile and river bank. There were ferries, feluccas, cruise ships, barges, birds, animals and herders on the other bank, and the wonderful call to prayers. I was a really happy camper. I especially liked the Egyptian/Mediterranean/hooded crow which we saw all over Egypt. It is a large and pretty black and gray crow.

After the group got back from Karnak, a few of them went down to the Winter Palace Hotel for a drink and snacks. Bill and were both tired, so we ordered up a burger from room service and hit the bed.

Day 13 – Cairo - Tuesday, November 29

We got our wake-up call at 4:30, had our bags out at 5, and went down to have some coffee in the Lotus Café before we boarded the van and headed to the airport at 5:30. Aki got me another coffee at the airport with his frequent flyer membership. I needed it! The flight took off at 7:05. Once again we had our breakfast boxes from the hotel. I had learned to take a plastic bag and put all the items I wanted into the bag and leave the rest for the van driver. They usually contained a banana, an apple, juice box, and a ton of pastry products.

The flight which took off at 7:05 landed in Cairo at 8:10. At baggage claim, all of our bags arrived except for Aki’s. We had to wait almost a half hour for them to find his luggage. The van dropped us off at the Egyptian Museum which was a highlight for most people in our group. The ride went past Tahrir Square which had lots of people but was pretty quiet.

It truly is a magnificent museum with an overwhelming amount of exhibits. We went upstairs first to the King Tut exhibit which was huge. There were no cameras allowed which made it difficult for me to keep track of all that we were seeing. I tried to take notes instead. We started our tour at 10:15. Aki had provided headsets so we could hear all that he had to say without disturbing other visitors.

Here is some of what we saw that I can remember, all of which is from the Tut collection: chairs, guard statues, mask, earrings (with large screws), Tut’s two babies’ coffins, cat with gold that one sees copies everywhere, bows, arrows, sarcophagus, alabaster boxes/vases (one fragile and quite beautiful one carved from a single block), lots of wood items covered in gold (maces), bedframes, beds with papyrus as the woven mattress, and on and on.

I gave up the tour at 11:45, went to the bathroom, and on outside to sit in the Movenpick café. I ordered a coffee and sat reading the menu. Parts of it were quite amusing: Florida Sandwich – grilled hot dog served with mustard and ketchup sauce, Oriental salad (mixed salad), tahine, balady, yogurt, col slow [sic], pickles, each. I asked what in the world this was and was told that each of these items should have been under Mezza instead of Oriental Salad. It was pick and choose with a single price for each item. I asked about the balady and the waiter had to go find out. He came back saying it was probably an error because balady means ‘in the local way’, but in this instance, they meant a common tomato and cucumber salad. I also liked rings of onion. Under ice cream they had a caramel flavor with the description – the ultimate for sweet teeth.

The waiter who was answering all of my questions started to get very sad and told me that every time he met an American woman, it reminds him of his true love whom he met 4 years ago. He is married, but he loves this woman who apparently did not want to be woman #2 in his life. It was a very strange conversation.

Everyone else came out of the museum at 1:15. The van took us back to the Fairmont Nile City Hotel where we got our new rooms (1224 – 5 floors higher than we were before) where we washed our hands and went to the Bab El Nil restaurant for lunch. It is a hookah place, too, so I was thrilled since I had wanted to try it even before we left for the trip. About a dozen people were sitting in comfy booths (and outside) smoking. It was not a ‘smoky’ smell, but more of incense type of smell. Dot was definitely not pleased. We told her we could sit outside or split up. In the end, she sat with us inside. We had a wonderful meal of mezza – hummus, baba ganoush, tahine, grape leaves, cheese and spinach samosas. As if that wasn’t enough (and it seemed it never was), we then had grilled chicken which was quite good. We got a lovely fruit plate for dessert.

Sandy and Judy went back to their rooms. Dot and Michael headed out to Coptic Cairo. Bill stayed with me while I smoked a shisha. I ordered the apple tobacco from a whole menu of different flavors. The shisha is like a large hookah (waterpipe). The water container is on the bottom. Then there is a silver candle-stick like base, and the tobacco is on top with charcoal on top of that. With some instruction I finally figured it out and had great fun blowing smoke. Bill got some interesting photos.

I went to the Sky Pool for a last relaxing look at Cairo. Bill went to the room for a nap. My friend Ahmed had left early, so I missed him. However, Baha’a was still there, and we had a nice chat. I sat in ‘my corner’, had some coffee and enjoyed the view. I left at 4:20 to go wake Bill and then on to the business center to send one last email. When I walked in the center, Marian saw me, smiled, and said “Welcome back.” I thought that was sweet that she had remembered me. Everyone at the Fairmont Nile couldn’t have been nicer.

At 5 we got ready for our final, farewell dinner at Saigon Restaurant in the hotel. This was a really upscale, lovely restaurant, but it wasn’t very Asian. The amuse bouche was a shrimp. The salad plate was quite pretty with 4 different items: beef and chicken satay, glass noodle salad, 2 pieces of sushi, and a mango salad. My entrée was a beef filet (best one on the trip) with a micro salad, mushrooms and caramelized onions and peppercorns which was quite spicy. Dessert was a large standard crème brulee with a very interesting carrot sorbet.

We all said our farewells and goodnight and gave Aki tip envelopes. Then it was upstairs to finish packing and hit the bed.

Day 14 – Cairo to home - Wednesday, November 30

It was another early morning wake-up at 4. We had to have our bags out at 4:30 as the van was leaving at 4:45. I met Judy down in the lobby, got my breakfast box transferred to a plastic bag, and then waited on Bill. Mohamed (our A&K guy) and the hotel folks were having a fit because Bill needed to be there with his claim check to get his dagger out from captivity. He finally showed up, dagger was retrieved, and off we went to the airport. Mohamed got us as far as he could, and then said his farewells. He still had the other 3 to collect later and get to the airport.

The trip home didn’t seem as bad as going over. Flying during the day seems better, and this time we only had a two-hour layover in Paris. We got back to Newark at 4pm. The car picked us up and said we would be better off not going through Manhattan because of the time and because Obama was in town. So we went across the Varazanno Narrows Bridge which we rarely do.

Home sweet home in Raleigh on Dec 4. It will be a while before I totally absorb all that we saw, did, ate during our trip. Processing photos and loading them online always helps.