Jordan and Egypt – Destination NOW

Homeward Bound

I know, after EVERY place we’ve stayed, I’ve said that it was the best place ever, and I didn’t want to leave, but THIS time, I really, really mean it. The Aswan Cataract Hotel made me feel like we were in an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, probably because this is exactly where the rich and famous HAVE stayed.

The Cataract Hotel is actually made up of two separate buildings. The “old” section was built in 1899, then in 1961, the “new” building was added. In a country that has existed for more than 5 centuries, “new” is definitely a relative term.

Although our rooms were in the “new” building, we were able to tour the “old” building. Portraits of the many famous visitors, like Princess Diana, Queen Nur, Henry Kissinger, Omar Sharif, Howard Carter line the corridors. But two of the many impressive guests were special enough to have had their names emblazoned on their suite door: Agatha Christie and Winston Churchill.

Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile during her one year stay in “her” suite. It has all the comforts of home and then some, complete with dining room, office and chandelier over her bed.

She was so inspired by her surroundings that she set some of her novel in the hotel. I haven’t seen the recent remake, but some of the scenes of the 1970’s movie were shot at the hotel. It was fun trying to figure out what scene was shot where. Hint: I’m convinced the dance scene was shot in the room where we had breakfast.

As impressive as it was, I actually preferred the Winston Churchill suite because of the balcony. I could easily envision Winston standing on it, drink in one hand, cigar in the other, watching the sun set. That’s exactly what I did, minus the cigar and whiskey.

See that building on the left? That’s where we stayed –in the“new” building. My room is on the 4th floor, the first one, with the huge balcony. I know, it looks a bit like a Holiday Inn from the exterior, but wait till you see the interior.

The following photo is the view of Churchill’s huge “balcony” from MY balcony. His sits atop the restaurant’s terrace, which is the ideal place for sharing a bottle of wine and a cheese platter. (The terrace, not Winnie’s balcony, although both would certainly work).

That’s just what what Jeanne and I did. We loved the hotel so much we decided to skip the evening’s planned activities: a visit to the market and dinner outside the hotel. It was the right decision…perfect weather, great food, drink, and conversation, plus a wonderful night time view of the Nile.

I promised a peek at my interior, so here you go. Agatha and Winston aren’t the only ones with a chandelier above their beds. You’re looking at only about half of my suite. It took a while for me to locate the entrance to the bathroom, because it was hiding behind a huge dressing room. Honestly, at this stage of my life, I prefer something smaller, with a bathroom a bit closer. I needed roller skates to get from my bed to the bathroom!

Here are some more shots of the hotel. Notice the painted arches? They reminded me of the Mosque in Cordoba, Spain–the one that the Christians repurposed as a church. Despite that, (and the Crusades), none of the Muslims I met appeared to have had any hard feelings toward the Christians, as evidenced by the abundance of Christmas decorations in this predominantly Muslim country.

Have you seen enough temples yet? There’s one more, located on an island in the middle of the Nile. Like the Temples at Abu Simbel, the structures at Philae were moved from their original location to save them from the rising waters of the Nile. Unfortunately, not soon enough. The structures were partially submerged by the time the rescue was initiated.

I’m so grateful that spray paint wasn’t available in the 1800’s. If it had been, then the French visitors wouldn’t have needed a chisel to leave their marks.

Lunch was at a colorfully decorated Nubian restaurant, right on the water. The Nubians love bright colors, as you can see from the joyous decorations on the exterior.

I’m not going to lie. Getting on and off the boat was a little tricky. That low canopy meant that you had to duck your head and leap onto the slightly wet rocks while the boat was doing its own rocking and rolling. Once again, I gave thanks to the Somerset Hills YMCA for keeping me in shape.

We couldn’t get too wild and crazy at our last dinner at the Cataract Hotel, because we had yet another early morning flight. Our departure was doubly painful–we were leaving this mini Paradise, plus we had to be on the bus at 5:45 AM. On a positive note, it DID allow us to have the beautifully illuminated gardens all to ourselves. They even rolled out the red carpet.

And now a word about airport security: in both Jordan and Egypt, you get to go through it twice. The first time, both your checked and carry on luggage are examined. THEN you get your boarding pass at the counter, and drop off your luggage. THEN you go through security yet again, with your carry on AND even if you don’t “beep” when going through the metal detectors, you STILL get thoroughly patted down, which is why women have to make sure there is a woman security guard waiting for you at the end of the line. But I will say that Egypt was much easier than Jordan. In Jordan, I was held up both coming and going, because I had binoculars, which are considered “military equipment”. It was actually worse leaving the country. One guy took my passport, photographed it, then walked around with it in his hand while he talked on the phone–to whom, we don’t know. Meanwhile another guard was switching my flashlight on and off. It looked like he was sending a message in morse code! And here I was worried that my husband’s ashes might have been problematic. They were fine–safely tucked away amidst my underwear.

Eventually we made it through and were able to visit two historic Cairo mosques. One doubles as the grave site for the former Shah of Iran. Remember him?

Are you curious about that green Jedi? So was I. I surreptitiously took this photo of the very beautiful young woman as she was photographing the grave site. Yes, I know it’s a bit blurry. That’s what you get when you are sneaking a shot.

I’m home now, dealing with jet lag and a cold. But I won’t be here for long. I hope you’ll come along on my spring adventure — Japan.

On the Road to Abu Simbel

To acclimate us for the end of our leisurely float up the Nile, we used less luxurious modes of transportation to visit the town of Daraw. We’d been ferried across the Nile by small boats before, but this was our first time in the back of a pick up truck. The truck was covered, but there was such little headroom, I could barely sit upright. And no, that’s not a canvas top to the truck. It’s metal. If you’re wondering how I know, let’s just say there were more than a few bumps in the road.

You see all modes of transportation in Daraw: bikes, motorcycles, trucks, donkeys, tuk tuks, just about everything except cars.

Most OAT groups tour the livestock market, but because there are no markets on the day we were there, we visited the local entrepreneur. One of his many businesses is a “livestock hotel”. Hey, if you don’t sell all your animals on the first market day, you need someplace for them to stay, right?

Another of his businesses resembled a mini petting zoo, which we greatly enjoyed. I’d been warned that camels spit. After being taught a lesson by that rambunctious water buffalo a few days earlier, I kept my distance. Bobbie and I decided it was time to let others interact with the babies.

This camel bumped Jeanne in the head multiple times

There was significant bonding between Bill and baby donkey. We expected him to start negotiating a purchase price.

Next stop, shopping—and eating—in the marketplace. Mohamed purchased Falafel for us to sample. We had just watched as the street vendor was making it. I don’t know that I would have been brave enough to eat food from a street vendor if I were on my own, but with Mohamed choosing the vendor, I felt perfectly safe.

It felt like we were on the Amazing Race when Mohamed instructed us to search for, and purchase, specific fruits and vegetables with the 20 Egyptian pounds, (about $.62 in US currency) he gave us. We were all so focused on our task, there were no photos of the adventure. I foolishly pointed at potatoes and waved my 20 pound note. Any idea how many potatoes that amount would buy? A whole lot. A whole HEAVY lot. Good thing I’ve been going to the Y.

Bobbie, on the other hand, was a smart shopper. She purchased the required peppers, but she negotiated skillfully enough to be able to buy bread for us all. It was delicious and still warm from the oven.

Our last stop before leaving our beloved dahabiya was “Nile Beach”, where are some of us were perfectly content to just stick our feet in the water. Others, namely, Marianne and John, were far more adventurous.

Look how clear the water in the Nile is!

Our “farewell” dinner was even more spectacular than the other meals we’d enjoyed. We were sad to say goodbye to the crew that took such good care of us.

16 crew members for 9 passengers. Was the service outstanding? You bet!

We all got a surprise when we returned to our cabins. We each got a unique Egyptian creature waiting for us on our beds. I’ve seen towel art before, but these were, by far, the most creative. My favorites were the crocodile and the cobra. ( I got a scorpion).

How to describe the ride from Aswan to Abu Simbel? Three hours of sand, sand, and more sand with high tension wire strung along the roadside, delivering electricity from the dam to the populations further north. We needed to get closer to Abu Simbel for the landscape to change.

We stopped midway in our journey for a bathroom break. I think the term “food desert” was coined here. If it wasn’t, then it should have been. The “snack bar” could be best described as “selection-challenged”, but if you’re looking for potato chips, or packaged mystery snacks, you’ll be very happy.

Our group thought we’d seen so many temples and tombs, there was little left for us to see. Boy, were we wrong! The size of the 4 statues of Ramses 2’s temple ALONE was jaw dropping. But to think that this entire temple was MOVED block by block to the higher ground on which it currently stands, is truly hard to believe. Why is as that done? If it hadn’t been moved, it would now be well below the waters of Lake Nassar.

Back in the 60’s, 50 nations cooperated to rescue several temples threatened to be submerged by the creation of the High Dam at Aswan. To me, the engineering that went into the move was as awe inspiring as the temples.

But wait—there’s more to say about this temple. The ancient Egyptians were so knowledgeable about engineering and astronomy that in the 1200’s BC, they were able to construct this temple so that twice a year, on February 22 and October 22, the sun shone all the way through the temple to illuminate three of the four statues in the inner sanctum. The fourth statue is of Ptah, the god of the underworld, who was intentionally left in darkness. Two of the others represent different versions of Ra, the son god. Bet you can’t guess who was the last statue to be bathed in sunlight. None other than Ramses 2. Clearly he didn’t have a self esteem problem.

That black area falling across their laps is a shadow

Next to Ramses 2’s monument to himself, he built a temple honoring his favorite wife, Nefertari. Remember her? We visited her tomb in the Valley of the Queens.

That old goat lived well into his nineties, acquiring wives and children ( rumored to number approximately 200) along the way. Good thing he lived BEFORE viagra was invented! Of all his women, (thought to number about 100, if you include concubines and mistresses) Nefertari was his favorite—the only one who got her very own temple next to his. There is only one statue of her on the facade. The other five are, of course, of her husband, who was also known as “the Great” (probably self proclaimed).

That random guy standing in front of Nefertari gives you an idea of the scale of these statues.

We only spent one night at the beautiful Seti Hotel in Abu Simbel. Can you see why we were reluctant to leave? The multi-level pool had a swim up bar; each room had a private balcony facing the Nile. It was SO very peaceful.

Before we left for the light show at the temples, we met Hassan, who enlightened us about Nubian culture and history. He also entertained us by playing instruments that were the forerunners of our guitar, banjo and harp.

In 1976, when Hassan visited his cousin in San Francisco, he was invited to play with what he described as “ a small folk group” —the Grateful Dead.

Once again, you had to be there to appreciate how wonderful it was to be sitting under the stars, watching a multimedia show projected onto the temple walls. I didn’t take any shots while the show was ongoing, but did so after, and used that shot the heading for this post.

I truly appreciate everyone’s comments on my blog posts. It almost feels like I’m having a conversation with my friends. Although I know who comments on Facebook and Linked in, many of the comments on WordPress are coming through anonymously. If I didn’t respond to you, that’s why.

Floating on the Nile for Five Glorious nights

I felt like Egyptian royalty, floating up the Nile in our private dahabiya. It’s mind boggling to think that the pharaohs used this mode of transportation centuries ago, when they traveled between their two capitals. Memphis no longer exists, but Thebes still does, except the Greeks changed its name to Luxor.

The dahabiya is certainly is a very comfortable way to travel. Of course, the pharaohs took months to make their journeys, stopping to visit temples along the way. We also are visiting temples, but our river trip only lasts five days.

Although the sails of our boat were unfurled, it was strictly for a photo op. The photo above was taken from the tugboat that pulled us upstream. It is illegal for dahabiyas to have motors because the Egyptian government wants to preserve this ancient mode of transportation. I’m glad they didn’t insist that the tugboat be replaced by a rowboat!

To show you what that looks like, I took the photo below from the back of our dahabiya. The larger boats, and we saw many of them on the river, are allowed to have motors.

We had lots of help climbing from the tug back onto our dahabiya

The Nile starts in Lake Victoria, and flows into the Mediterranean. That means when we travel south, we are going up the river, the opposite of what we are used to. Back in the day, the southern part of Egypt was known as the Upper Kingdom, with the Lower Kingdom extending to the shores of the Mediterranean.

To visit the temples, we had to disembark and when we did it felt like we were walking the gauntlet. The street vendors were laying in wait. “Hey lady, only $5”,or “Welcome to Alaska” which we heard at multiple sites. I didn’t dare take a photo of the chaotic scene. Instead, I focused on walking quickly, avoiding eye contact. It was difficult. I felt I was being rude by ignoring their greetings. After being bamboozled once however, I toughen up.

Was it worth it? Yes! The temples were an oasis of serenity and peace. Although we saw other, larger ships on the Nile, we were the only ones visiting the small temple of Khnum in Esna. Mohammed, our guide, knew the schedule well enough to plan our arrival after the larger ships had departed and before the afternoon ones arrived.

We were able to watch centuries of dirt and muck being cleaned from the temple walls. Mohamed told us that only recently have women been allowed to do restoration work.

Yes, the Sistine chapel’s ceiling is a masterpiece, but the ceilings of Egyptian temples are equally breathtaking. Not only that, but they were painted centuries earlier.

If you were standing below, looking up, this is what you would see. Check out the tops of the columns. Each one is different. It’s difficult to see in the photo, but the hieroglyphics between the columns are depicting the various phases of the moon, something my astronomer husband would have greatly enjoyed.

The next day’s temple was in Edfu. It is dedicated to Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris. Horus’ parents were both brother and sister and husband and wife, which might explain why their offspring had the head of a falcon. Sometimes, as in the statue below, he’s depicted as all bird, but on the temple walls, the carvings show him with a human body.

Horus, outside his temple’s inter sanctuary. His angry look was designed to keep the common folk out of the sacred spaces. On his head are the crowns of Egypt’s upper and lower kingdoms

Like medieval churches, the temple walls are used to tell a story. Here’s the Cliff Notes version of a rather long legend. Osiris was killed by his jealous brother Seth, who chopped him up and scattered the pieces all over Egypt, but Isis found the pieces and (unlike Humpty Dumpty) put Osiris back together again, except for one key piece—his most prized possession. (I hope I don’t have to spell it out for you. ) Anyway, Horus was determined to get revenge for his uncle’s dastardly deed. The two of them fought an epic battle. Although Horus won, during the battle he lost one eye, which then magically came to life. To this day, Horus’ eye is a symbol of healing and well-being.

Our guide claims the following wall carving represents incense being burned. The ladies in the group decided it was actually Osiris’ missing member. You decide who had the better interpretation.

As you can see from the visual of our 5 day journey, we took a temple break to visit a farm on Bishaw Island, where we met members of the village and had lunch in the home of the very charming Sayed.

In the USA, we can step back in time by visiting Plymouth Plantation or Williamsburg, where people dress up in period costumes and demonstrate how different tasks were performed during colonial days.

THIS was authentic. It might look like the village women are making wood fired pizza, but they are actually baking a day’s worth of bread. Sour dough. The loaves all came out perfectly.

Bill was recruited to help remove seeds from hibiscus, which is used to make tea. He was a natural; in fact, he did such a good job, I was wondering if he’d be allowed to leave.

What are these women doing, you ask? Well, they are making sure there are no barley grains among the wheat. Why? I have no idea, and no one thought to ask.

Yes, this baby water buffalo is adorable. Especially when he is tied up. He wasn’t when we entered the enclosure, so he was able to charge at us, first at Bobbie, then when she moved aside, he came at me, either trying to bite or kiss my leg. The only thing I know for sure is the Bobbie and I were left with water buffalo lip smears all over our pants.

Our next stop was far more tame. We visited the quarry from which the pyramids’ sandstone building blocks were cut, then floated down the Nile. That block must have been enormous! I should have had someone stand beside it for scale.

Our final temple (for the cruise part of our adventure) was Kom Ombo, which was again timed to ensure that we avoided the crowds (at least of tourists—not of street vendors). This temple is unique in that it was dedicated to two gods: Sobek, who has the head of a crocodile, and Horus, the falcon, shown here with his human body.

The view of the Nile from inside Kom Ombo

Now here’s something you don’t see every day— mummified crocodiles. A live crocodile, believed to be the earthly incarnation of Sobek, was kept in a pit in the temple. When it died, it was mummified and replaced with another.

Although we have another day on our wonderful dabahiya, this post is already quite long, so I’ll end it with a sneak preview of tomorrow’s activity. Not another temple—tomorrow we go to the livestock market. Let’s see if another animal wants to get up close and personal with me!

Luxor

I was awakened from a deep sleep by Jeanne, who was standing at the foot of my bed, shaking my leg. That was strange, given that we weren’t rooming together. Was it a dream? Nope. It seems I managed to sleep thru my 4AM wake up call, my cell phone alarm, and numerous text messages. They say there’s one in every group, and this time it was me.

Fortunately, I had arrived early for every other meeting, so my group knew I wasn’t t just being an inconsiderate jerk. At least not this time. They were concerned that something bad had happened to me. Was I dead? (I probably looked like I was). Did I meet with foul play? (No). Was I unconscious? (Sorta). What happened was I woke up at 2:35 but made the mistake of not getting up then. Lesson learned. Next time, I’ll grab my phone and do wordle, read email, check Facebook until it is time to leave.

Good thing I had packed almost everything for our flight to Luxor the night before, and laid out my clothes, so with Jeanne’s help, instead of being on the bus at 4:45 AM, my butt was in my seat at 4:52 AM. I’m quite proud to say that those 7 minutes also included the elevator ride all the way down from the 17th floor. Still, l felt bad for keeping the others waiting.

Normally, I put my empty backpack into my carryon, but because I stuffed my toiletries into my carryon (so I could brush my teeth at the airport), I needed to pull out my backpack and allocate the carryon contents between two bags.

Well, I almost left my carryon at security. I was at the check in desk when I realized I should have THREE bags, not two. Yes, you put ALL luggage, including your checked bag thru the X-ray machines, before you arrive at the check in counter to get your boarding pass. Then your carryon goes thru security again, after you dropped off your checked luggage.

Maybe when I get home I’ll do a post about my “interesting” airport experiences, of which, so far, there have been several, especially in Jordan where I got intimately acquainted with security coming and going.

There is far too much to say about Luxor to dwell on my rocky start, so I’ll move on. .

Did you know that 1/3 of the world’s antiquities are in Luxor? And that Luxor was once known as Thebes? I hope those are trivia questions some day.

The reason we had such an early start was so that we could go straight from the airport to the Temple of Karnak, then on to lunch before checking in to our hotel.

At one time this avenue united the Karnak and Luxor temples. Notice the rams head sphinxes that lined the avenue.

Just about everyone has seen photos of Egypt’s temples and tombs, right? But let me tell you, it just isn’t the same. You really DO have to be there to appreciate the immensity of these structures.

Although it looks crowded, and certainly felt that way, this is about half of what the crowds normally are at this time of year.

If you walk counterclockwise around this beetle (scarab) seven times, your wish is supposed to be granted. I had nothing better to do, so why not?

I’ll admit it, by the 7th time around I was starting to feel a little dizzy. But if I get my wish, it will be well worth it.

Lots of school groups were touring Karnak Temple that day. As was our experience in Jordan, the children were adorable and oh so friendly. They blew kisses, waved, shouted “hello” “how are you” and “welcome”.

That evening, five of us had dinner at the home of Mansour and Azza. We were joined by their two gorgeous daughters-in-law and their two very outgoing and entertaining granddaughters.

It was the perfect way to end our first evening in Luxor.

We spent two nights at the historic Winter Palace Hotel. Besides us, other famous guests included Jackie Onassis, Princess Diana, Henry Kissinger, Al Gore and Richard Gere.

On our free afternoon, Jeanne and I enjoyed a glass of wine in the gorgeous gardens. Helpful hint: if you’re going to drink the local Egyptian wine, go for the white.

Our second full day was spent exploring the Valley of the Kings in the morning, and the Valley of the Queens in the afternoon.

The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s first female ruler, was our first stop on the way to the valley of the Kings. According to historians, her reign was quite successful—no wars, a prosperous economy, but that didn’t stop her successors from trying to completely erase her from history.

Fortunately, archaeologists were able to recreate her story by studying the empty spaces on the walls, and the remaining, very faint outlines.

On our visits to the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, we explored the tombs of Ramses 1, 3, 4 , King Tut and Queen Nefertari (wife of Ramses the Great, also known as Ramses 2). All were spectacular, covered with vibrant hieroglyphics, but Tut’s tomb was unique in that his actual body—with face and feet exposed—is still in his tomb.

I had originally planned to leave Mike’s ashes inside King Tut’s tomb, but then I thought the caretakers might sweep him up, so I went with Plan B. I dug a little hole in the ground outside Tut’s tomb, inserted the ashes, then constructed this little pyramid atop them using stones lying nearby.

Okay, so maybe it doesn’t look like much, but I didn’t take 20 years to build it and I didn’t have the help of thousands of workers.

By the time we’d finished with the tombs, we were all too tired to tour the Temple of Luxor. It was just down the street from our hotel, so I caught a glimpse of the outside at night when it was lit up. That was good enough for me.

Our final Luxor activity was an optional one—a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. Only 4 of us were willing to endure yet another early morning departure (5AM). THIS time I was early!

To get to the balloon site, we had to cross the Nile by boat. Well, there were many boats lined up at the pier. To reach our boat, we had to climb through other boats. In one instance, it felt like we were walking “the plank”. But there was a reward. Take a look at what we got for our efforts. Yes indeed, that is a Twinkie in my hand. I hadn’t seen one of those in decades; it was so long ago, they came two in a package! No, I didn’t eat it, but it did make me smile.

The day before our balloon ride , we had seen these statues of Amenhotep III from the ground.

Here is the aerial view.

Next post will be about our 5 day cruise on the Nile.

Cairo

Cairo is a complete sensory assault, especially after the serenity of Petra. The noise of thousands of horns blaring reminds me of a Las Vegas casino. Smoking is allowed EVERYWHERE, so the smell of cigarette smoke is omnipresent. On the positive side, however, the people are quite lovely and gracious, going out of their way to make us feel welcome. In this Muslim country, we were frequently greeted on December 25th with “ Merry Christmas”. If one must stereotype huge populations of individuals, why not picture Muslims the way we are experiencing them on this trip — as friendly, kind, helpful and warm, instead of envisioning all of them being like the small minority we see on the nightly news?

But enough of that. Let’s get to the magnificent sights from our first full day in Cairo.

Unfortunately, the GEM, the new museum, is still not finished. It was started in 2010, but has been delayed by wars, covid, the Arab Spring. The Egyptians were hopeful that it would be completed by November 2022, the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. Maybe next year? Or the year after?

The new museum, as seen from the pyramids. These two major attractions are within walking distance of each other.

Many treasures have been removed from the “old” Cairo Museum to the “new”, unfinished one. Still, there was no shortage of truly spectacular objects in the old museum. In fact, it was hard for me to imagine how more artifacts could have fit into the available space. I actually was glad that there was less to see; it was less overwhelming.

After having the sites pretty much to ourselves in Jordan, we weren’t used to having to wait to view or get a clear shot of a particular object. Even so, it wasn’t bad because the number of visitors was about a third of the normal amount for this time of year, according to Mohammed, our guide.

Once again, I’m not going to post the usual photos of famous items everyone has already seen, like Tut’s gold death mask. Instead, these are a select few of the objects that caught MY interest.

How in the world did they ever get those tomb paintings to line up so perfectly? Well, this unfinished segment shows us. This is the Egyptian equivalent of our graph paper, but drawn on the wall. By the time the wall is completed, those guide lines will have been covered up, painted or plastered over.

Talk about aging well! This papyrus, found in one of the tombs is thousands of years old. The colors are vibrant and the papyrus shows absolutely no sign of wear.

Ever wonder about those strange “things” hanging from the pharaohs’ chins? I sure have. Mohammed explained they are made from goat hair, and held in place by strings attached to the headdress. Why? Well, because the ancient Egyptians thought the gods had similar beards, and the pharaohs wanted to appear Godlike. (Interestingly enough, the Egyptians refer to their leaders as Kings; pharaoh is just one of the king’s 5 titles).

In case you’re wondering, this is King Khafre, the builder of the middle pyramid in Giza.

From the side view, you can see Horus, the falcon god, spreading his wings around the king’s head to protect him.

Carved on the side of the throne are papyrus and lotus which symbolizes the unification of the upper and lower kingdoms of Egypt.

The statue below represents a member of the working class. Look carefully. In addition to carrying something in his hands, he’s also wearing a backpack! I’ll bet it was this planet’s first.

One more photo, before we move on to the pyramids in Giza. Take a look at the eyes of the “seated scribe”. They are made of crystal and are amazingly lifelike, when you see them “in person”. This statue and the one above are carved from wood.

We ended our first full day with a delicious dinner at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. I was particularly grateful for our guide and our security guard who helped us avoid getting run over on our way back to the hotel. No photos of that particular adventure, but I did take one of the view from our restaurant.

Old and new structures separated by the Nile.

Our last day in Cairo was spent visiting the pyramids at Giza in the morning and at Saqqara in the afternoon. We were supposed to have the afternoon free, but because all 9 of us wanted to see Saqqara, Mohammed changed the itinerary to accommodate us. Now, that’s a great guide.

Everyone has seen Cheop’s pyramid, which is the largest of the three great pyramids of Giza. But those aren’t the ONLY pyramids—just the most spectacular. They aren’t even the only tombs. Take a look at these, which are close to the great pyramids. These tombs were for lesser beings, like the pharaoh’s administrators.

I found myself quite taken with the camels and spent as much time gazing at them as I did at the pyramids. They have such expressive faces!

Check out the tattoos on the camel on the right. these two were engaged in some very deep communication

Giza was even more chaotic than Cairo. Fortunately Mohammed prepared us for what to expect. He explained that the helpful men who offer to take your photo expect to be paid. There were so MANY of them! It was hard for me not to engage with the friendly young men, but I heeded Mohammed’s warning. Most wanted me to hold my hand up so that it looked like I was touching the pyramid’s top.

When we moved away from the craziness of Giza to get a panoramic view at a quieter site, we discovered this young man taking a more creative approach.

Our final stop before heading back to our hotel was to view Egypt’s very first pyramid, the step pyramid at Saqqara. We didn’t have much time at the site so we had to choose between entering the pyramid or visiting Serapeum, the tomb for the sacred bulls. I chose the latter.

The serapeum is an underground structure with huge sarcophagi located in each alcove.

The Egyptians worshiped one bull at a time. When it died, it was mummified and placed in one of the 24 sarcophagi. Unfortunately, the site had been looted, so there is nothing left to see other than the immense sarcophagi.

The step pyramid as seen from the serapeum

It was a tiring day, and we have to be on the van at 4:45 tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Luxor, so it is time to press “publish” and hope for the best.

Petra

Just about everyone has seen a photo of Petra’s Treasury. To be honest, that structure was my #1 reason for visiting Jordan. And yes, the Treasury is quite magnificent. But there is SO much more to Petra. So, despite taking many photos of the Treasury, I’m not going to post any in this blog. If you want to see what it looks like, just ask Ms. Google.

The Treasury is a little more than a mile from the entrance. Although there are several options for getting there—golf cart, horse or donkey—Hisham, our guide, told us the very best way is on foot. That way, you can take your time and truly experience Petra’s magic. There are incredible rock formations everywhere, both naturally occurring and man made. Hisham did an excellent job drawing our attention to both, like this formation that resembles an elephant,

and this Nabatean carving of a camel driver leading his herd into the city. All that remains are the legs of the man, and some parts of the camels, still it was wonderful to see. And look at those glorious colors!

Can you spot the camels feet ( Hooves? Paws? Whatever camels have at the end of their legs)?

I could go on and on about Petra, and I will. For a little while, at least. It is far, far bigger than I ever expected.

In the morning, it was cold enough for jackets, sweaters and hats, but by afternoon, Jeanne and I had shed a couple of layers.

Two members of our group, Paulina and Bill are travel guides in Moab, Utah. In fact, if you want to see the highlights of Arches, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point, contact Paulina (moabinaday.com)—it’s her company, and she’s terrific. There WILL be a Moab visit and blog post before the end of 2024. I promise.

But back to Petra…even Paulina, who lives in Moab, ( and is a geologist) was blown away by the colors, the canyons, the enormity and the unbelievable carvings of Petra. Now that’s saying something.

Petra is strategically located between the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and Yemen, which places it right smack dab in the middle of both the Silk and Spice Roads.

The Nabateans could offer the caravans food, shelter and safety. And the traders could make the Nabateans very wealthy. The Nabateans had a good thing going, at least until the Romans came along in 106 AD, and conquered them. As usual, the Romans had to leave their mark, so of course Petra has Roman ruins. Yet another fact that I never knew. I hope it comes up in Trivia one of these days.

This was a Nabatean theater, which the Romans took over. Did they add the columns? I forgot to ask.

After lunch, we were given several options. We could go back to the hotel or climb to the monastery, the Royal Tombs or the High Place of Sacrifice. The Monastery was 950 steps. I don’t remember how high the other two were, just that they were significantly less than 950. I knew we still had to walk almost 3 miles to get back to the hotel, so the Royal Tombs it was.

It was impossible to get all of the royal tombs into one shot, so the photo atop this post gives you a view of another section.

Before your eyes glaze over, I’ll post one last photo of Petra then move on to some of the other fantastic, but little known (at least to me) highlights of Jordan.

When we left Amman, Hisham gave us the option of following the regular itinerary or paying a bit more, and making a detour to the Dead Sea. Our very compatible group unanimously opted for the Dead Sea detour. But first, we followed the proscribed itinerary, stopping to view the mosaic on the floor of St George’s Church in Madaba.

The church is being renovated, but we were still able to view the mosaic, which is encircled by the red chain. Fortunately, the graphic of the map, in the visitor’s center was much easier to read, perhaps because there weren’t columns in the middle of it.

Hisham, explaining the significance of various sites in the map.

Next stop was to a mosaics workshop where we watched items being created. .

In ancient times, the craftsmen scoured the area, searching for rocks of the right colors; these days, it’s much easier. They simply visit the granite countertops place, and collect the scraps.

For the rest of the day, I felt like we were journeying through the Old Testament. Take another look at the names on the map above. Am I the only one who kept hearing “Joshua at the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down” over and over in my head?

Just like Moses, we were able to gaze at the land of milk and honey from Mount Nebo, except back then, there wasn’t t a road running thru the landscape. Maybe it looked more promising thousands of years ago.

It was incredibly windy atop the mountain,

and that wind was responsible for the whitecaps on the Dead Sea. It was so rough, we weren’t allowed to go into the water. Undaunted, I decided to sit on the little pier, dangle my legs, and take a photo. I’m a Massachusetts girl, so I mistakenly thought the tide was creating the waves and the “tide” was going out. Suddenly a strong gust of wind pushed the water over the pier. So, no photo. Luckily, the lack of moisture in the air meant my pants dried rather quickly.

Although we weren’t able to go into the sea, we DID experience what it would have been to float in it like when we used the salt water pool in the Crown Plaza resort. It was quite an experience! Again, no photos, except this one of the view of the Dead Sea from the resort patio.

We took an elevator down to the beach, but still had to walk down—and then up— the equivalent (according to my Apple Watch) of 9 flights of stairs

The rest of the drive, through the Jordan Mountains, was gorgeous.

Roadside stop. For 1 dinar, you can sit on the swing and get your photo taken. I preferred the view of the sunset.

This morning, We departed from our hotel at 4:30 AM for the 3 hour drive to the Amman airport. We should be in Cairo before 1 PM today.

The van has WiFi, so I’m writing this as we bump along dark deserted streets toward the King’s Highway. Nothing to see, except the glow from my fellow passengers’ iPhones.

Merry Christmas to all!

Three Days in Amman, Jordan

Remember learning about the “Dark Ages” in school? Well, come to find out, it wasn’t dark everywhere. In the Muslim world, for instance, the “Golden Ages” is a more apt description. Don’t believe me? Then come to the magnificent Jordan Museum. In addition to archaeological treasures, like Dead Sea Scrolls, the museum has a wonderful short video about the many significant contributions Muslims made to the world during Europe’s dark days, plus several interactive, multi-media displays.

Even if Amman isn’t on your bucket list (although Jordan should be) you can still experience some of the museum’s wonders by visiting this website ( if the link doesn’t work type in 1001inventions.com. )

The Jordan Museum was not part of the OAT tour, however my friend Jeanne and I arrived a day early, so we had free time to explore before we met up with Hisham, our trip leader. My virtual travel buddy, Esther, who I hope to meet in person someday, had highly recommended the Jordan Museum, and I’m so very glad she did.

For those who like antiquities, the first floor has plenty of pottery and jewelry, plus something you don’t see in most museums— Dead Sea Scrolls

The upper floor has the video and the interactive displays that delighted me. Bet you can’t guess what this elephant contraption is.

Believe it or not, this is a replica of an 800 year old clock. “ The large clock uses Greek water-raising technology, an Indian elephant, an Egyptian phoenix, Arabian figures and Chinese dragons, to celebrate the diversity of the world”. ( description courtesy of the website).

The Crowne Plaza Hotel linked us up with Sam, who drove us to the museum, waited for us for over an hour and drove us back, for about $45 total. Best of all, there was no extra charge for Sam’s great commentary, delivered on the way to and from the museum.

The area around our hotel is definitely NOT conducive to walking, however that didn’t stop Bobbie and me from venturing out for lunch at Kabob Express, where our language barrier resulted in our ordering one lunch instead of two. (It turned out fine, because there was still food left over even after we’d both had our fill). Would I recommend it? Well, it was close to the hotel, they accepted credit cards, you got a lot of satisfying food for your money— and as my dad used to say, “it filled the hole”.

Jeanne, Bobbie and I met the remaining 4 travelers at our dinner, in the hotel restaurant. One of the reasons I enjoy traveling with OAT is the small group size allows you to really get to know your traveling companions, who are usually interesting, curious, friendly and seasoned travelers. This group is certainly all that, and more.

On our tour’s first full day, we visited Amman’s most important sites: the Citadel, which is located atop one of Amman’s seven hills, and the Roman theater; both have on site museums, which we explored.

The sites weren’t crowded at all, so you could take your time perfecting your next instagram post. And believe me, this couple did.

It was easy to get whatever shot you desired, like these fingers and an elbow from what was once a 42 foot statue of Hercules. You can also get a feel for the old section of Amman, which appears in the background.

Check out this great view of the Roman theater from the Citadel. The theater is so large, this was the only way to get all three tiers of it into one shot.

Here at the theater, the preferred photo op was to plop your toddler atop the front pedestal and then give the child directions on exactly how to pose. This little girl was having none of that.

Notice the special seats carved from stone in the first tier, right behind her? Those were the royals’ (Caesar’s) box seats. Way up high, in the nose bleed seats was where the women and slaves were relegated.

So, of course we ladies had to do something about that!

We spent our last day in Amman driving about an hour north to Jerash. Don’t feel bad if you’d never heard of it. Neither had I, before this trip.

Despite having been partially destroyed by the earthquake of 749, it is still one of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities, as interesting as Ephesus to me.

This is normally the high season, with thousands of daily visitors, but because of the fighting between Israel and Hamas, we had the site almost to ourselves. Although I am so sorry for the Jordanian people who make their living in the tourist trade, I am even more sorry for all the Palestinian and Israeli victims of this horrible war.

Still a work in progress, these stones are sitting on the ground, waiting to be fitted together.

View of the oval forum from one of the temples

The theater, with incredible acoustics brought about by the series of niches. They didn’t need microphonesGood thing because they hadn’t been invented yet.

We will be leaving shortly for our dinner with a Jordanian family in their home. Tomorrow we travel to Petra, stopping at the Dead Sea along the way.

Jordan Adventure

Timing is everything in life, and right now, the jury is still out as to whether my timing is extremely foolhardy or rather brilliant.

I booked the Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip to Egypt in late February of 2023. For years, I’ve wanted to visit Petra, and OAT’s trip offered the opportunity to spend five nights in Jordan, prior to the start of the main trip in Egypt. OAT limits their trips to a maximum of 16 travelers, and their single rooms get snapped up quickly, so I knew if I hesitated, I would lose out. I also knew that it would be wise to spend the my first holidays without Mike, Sandy, and my dad away from home.

You’d have to be living in a cave on a deserted island not to know that things changed in the Middle East rather dramatically on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. Given Jordan’s proximity to Israel, one might question the wisdom of traveling so close to a war zone. In fact, MANY questioned that decision. So, I figured I’d share my thought process. (Yes, I actually DID put some thought into the decision to “stay the course”.)

Take a look at the visual atop this post. You will see (as I did, because I did indeed look) that Jordan is on Israel’s eastern border, and the Gaza Strip is on the west, with quite a few miles separating Gaza from Amman and Petra. Here’s a more detailed view of where we will be while in Jordan.

The parts of Egypt that I will be visiting are even further away from the action. The following map provides an overview of the main trip, including the two internal flights and the Nile cruise.

These are all familiar places, but for those interested in more detail, check out the map below. Lots of new names!

I’m comforted by the knowledge that OAT has, in the past, canceled trips whenever there is even a remote chance for danger. In fact, this particular trip offered a choice of two pre-trips, either Jordan or Israel. Not surprisingly, the Israel pre-trip has been canceled.

The wonderful members of the Facebook Group, “Friends of Overseas Adventure Travel”, who have recently, or are currently following my itinerary have been posting photos and urging us future travelers not to cancel. They feel safe and welcome. An added bonus? They have reported that the sites are not crowded!

I’ll confess, getting to Amman is no picnic. Departure day started with NPR announcing flight cancellations at JFK and Newark airports, then the neighborhood Facebook forum was full of inquiries about flooded roads. I kept a careful eye on my United app, which assured me that everything would go as planned. And it did.

I left Newark at 7:30 PM to arrive in Frankfurt a little after 9 AM, which to my body is 3 AM. Normally, l prefer to travel with carry on only. But not when the Frankfurt airport is part of the itinerary. Every time I’ve flown into Frankfurt, the plane has parked in East No-Jetway-land and this trip was no exception. We carried our luggage down the stairs, then crammed into a bus that deposited us at one of the Terminal 1 concourses. Sometimes it’s the concourse you want, sometimes it’s not. This time it was not. It took a while for me to figure that out, because the gate for my flight to Amman was not showing up on the board. Eventually, I learned that I needed to get into the VERY long line for (what else) the bus to concourse B, and then walk down two flights, with my blessedly light carry on bag slung over my shoulder.

Fortunately, OAT was offering reasonably priced business class flights. Business class usually comes with lounge access, so while at home, I checked out their lounge using this helpful link that a member of Friends of OAT sent. Hanging out for 6 hours in the airport didn’t seem so bad given the showers and sleeping facilities the link promised.

Guess what? That lounge was a HUGE disappointment. Yes, there were 4 leather “beds” but there was no door to the room, and based on the clanging noises, I suspect it was near the kitchen. Still, I was able to get about an hour’s rest. It was downhill after that. The shower room was frigid — I didn’t want to remove my sweater, never mind the rest of my clothes—and that lounge had the WORST food ever! I actually left the lounge early to hang out at the gate instead. Maybe the good stuff is all in the First Class lounge?

Business class between Frankfurt and Amman is nothing special. The middle seat is unoccupied, so you at least get a little more room. I guess this explains why business class was so affordable. But enough of the bitchin’ and moanin’. In a little more than 4 hours, I’ll be in Jordan!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: