NSU Goes To Egypt

Day 13 - The End

2008-06-19T21:40:00.006-05:00

June 5, 2008

We woke this morning at 1:30am to leave for the airport for our journey home. The Cairo airport had a fire in its computer room so it took forever for us to check in to our flight since they had to hand write the boarding passes and luggage tickets. It was crazy, especially since there was no assigned seating on the flight, we had to just sit wherever there was room. The flight itself (from Cairo to Frankfurt) wasn't that bad.

When we got to Frankfurt, we had to check-in again since we didn't get boarding passes for our connecting flight in Cairo. We made it on the plane by the skin of our teeth. The flight to Houston was kind of turbulent the whole way. The descent and landing was pretty horrific since there were 30 knot (1 knot is about 1.2 mph) winds in the area. Needless to say, we were all really glad when we landed. Surprisingly, all of our luggage made it to Houston (except for one of Elizabeth's bags) despite the hand written tags.

From Houston, it was a four hour van ride back to Natchitoches.

All told, we traveled for 26 hours today and my bed was a welcome sight when I got home. The best part about being home was being able to brush my teeth with running water again.

The trip was amazing and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

A lion on the pier in Alexandria:
Belinda

Day 12 - The Final Day

2008-06-19T21:20:00.005-05:00

June 4, 2008

We took the bus back to Cairo this morning. We stopped at a fruit stand and the truck stop again. Me and Elizabeth went to a jewelry store, while the others did various things around Cairo (I think Kate was involved in an adventure to find ATMs, banks, and Western Union locations). That evening, after dinner, some of them went to the Cultural Center to see a whirling dervish show (I didn't go - our wake up call was at 1:30am for our flight the next morning).

Our feet in the Mediterranean:A fruit stand on the way back to Cairo:

A street scene in Cairo:

At the Cultural Center:

The whirling dervish show:

Belinda

Day 11

2008-06-19T21:00:00.007-05:00

June 3, 2008

Today was a busy day in Alexandria. First we went to the Catacombs of Kamel Shoqafa, then we stopped at Pompey's Pillar for a photo op. Then we went to the Roman Theatre on the way to the Alexandria National Museum. We went to the new Library of Alexandria next and then went to the Tikka Grill and Fish Market for lunch. After lunch we stopped at Fort Qait Bey for another photo op. Then, Kate, me, Elizabeth, and James went to the local Greek Cemetery.

The catacombs: Pompey's Pillar: The Roman Theatre: Inside the Alexandria National Museum:
The Library of Alexandria:Lunch at the Tikka Grill:The Fort and the Citadel:Belinda

Day 10

2008-06-19T20:05:00.002-05:00

June 2, 2008

Today we took the bus to Alexandria, it was about a 3 hour drive. We stopped at a truck stop on the way for a "technical stop." We got to Alexandria and checked into the Mercure Hotel. After lunch, we went to the mall that was nearby. In the afternoon we went to the Montazah Gardens, the public gardens of the private residence of the Sultan of Oman.

Our hotel:The view from our room:Private residence of the Sultan of Oman:The public gardens:The lighthouse from the pier:Sunset on the Mediterannean:
Belinda

Day 9

2008-06-19T19:40:00.003-05:00

June 1, 2008

Pyramid Day!

We started today by going to the Giza Plateau to see the sphinx and the pyramids. While there, we went to the Cheops Boat Museum and then had lunch at the Pizza Hut across the street. We went to a Papyrus Institute on the way to Memphis. After Memphis we went to the Imhotep Museum, two desert tombs, and the step pyramid at Sakkarah. On the way back to dinner we went to a carpet school.

Cheops pyramid and the sphinx: Cheops solar boat inside the Cheops Boat Museum:We had lunch here:Getting a papyrus demonstration at the Papyrus Institute:A statue of Ramses II at Memphis:Me & Kate in front of a sphinx at Memphis:Inside the Imhotep Museum at Sakkarah:One of the desert tombs at Sakkarah:Kate and Erin riding a camel to the second tomb: Others riding camels to the step pyramid:
The step pyramid:The ancient causeway leading away from the pyramid complex:The carpet school. These were master carpet makers (they don't use a pattern): Belinda

Day 8

2008-06-19T14:30:00.001-05:00

May 31, 2008

We arrived in Cairo around 6:30am. We checked in at the Concorde Hotel and then went to the bazaar. The bazaar was located inside the Medieval walls of Medieval Cairo and then we went to the Mohammed Ali Mosque inside the Citadel of Salah as-Din. We ate lunch at the Hilton and then went to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Medieval Cairo:Some of the shops at the bazaar:The Muhammed Ali Mosque (inside the citadel): Inside the mosque:
A view of (a very smoggy) Cairo from the citadel: The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (no cameras past the gate):Belinda

Day 7

2008-06-18T00:46:00.010-05:00

May 30, 2008

Today was a "free" day since it was our last day on our cruise ship (we were leaving at 5pm). Most of us went to the Nubia Museum in Aswan and ate lunch at McDonald's. We boarded the night train from Aswan to Cairo around 6:15.

We walked to the Nubia Museum from the cruise ship because our tour guide told us it "was not far." It was actually 1.5 miles away. We figured out later that he told us everything "was not far" away so that we would go and not wimp out.

The Nubia Museum:
After the Nubia Museum, we ate at McDonald's. Check out that view, you don't get that here:Today was our last day on the cruise ship (boo!). Here's a shot of us waiting in the lounge to leave for the train:The ships lobby:The train station at Aswan:

The Club Car:This was our cabin, after the beds were turned down:A shot out the window of the train:

Belinda

Day 6

2008-06-18T00:42:00.011-05:00

May 29, 2008

Today we flew from Aswan to Abu Simbel, and back, to see the temples there. When we got back to Aswan, we stopped at the Aswan High Dam for a photo op. After the dam, we went back to the ship for lunch and then went to the Unfinished Obelisk at the quarry. After dinner, we went on a felucca ride (a felucca is a small sailboat) and then saw a show on ship (a whirling dervish and belly dancer).

The Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel:The Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel:Lake Nasser, from the Aswan High Dam:Pharaoh Hatchepsut's unfinished obelisk at the Aswan quarry:Hey, look! It's our cruise ship:

On the felluca:More towel craziness. Tonight, a crocodile:The show that night on the cruise was a Whirling Dervish and a Belly Dancer. Can you tell which is which?:

Belinda

Day 5

2008-06-18T00:37:00.012-05:00

May 28, 2008

This morning we were docked in Esna. We went to the Temple of Horus at Edfu. Then we sailed to Kom-Ombo, where we visited the Temple of Horus and Sobek at Kom-Ombo. The shipped sailed this evening for Aswan and we had an Egyptian Galabya Party on board.

Everybody at the entrance to the Temple of Horus at Edfu:Columns in the temple: Me and Kate by the back wall of the temple: After Edfu, we sailed to Kom-Ombo. Here is another example of the towel folding genius of our cabin crew, an elephant: Some shots from the upper deck of our ship on the way to Kom-Ombo:The dual Temple of Horus and Sobek at Kom-Ombo:Again, with the towels. Monkey!:
The Galabya Party:
Belinda

Day 4

2008-06-17T23:27:00.011-05:00

May 27, 2008

Today was Valley of the Kings and Hatchepsut's Temple Day. YAY!

We started out the day taking a boat across the Nile to catch our bus to the Valley of the Kings. On the way to the Valley, we stopped at the Colossi of Memnon for a photo op. At the Valley of the Kings, we went into 4 tombs: Tutankhamun, Thuthmosis III, Tauset/Sethnakht, and Ramses III. Me and Kate at the entrance to Tut's tomb...sweet!: The steep, crowded entrance to Thuthmosis III's tomb: When we left the Valley of the Kings, we went to Hatchepsut's Temple, which is actually a re-construction of the original temple. Only about 5% of this temple is original. If you look to the right of the ramp leading to the second terrace, you will notice it is about 4 feet higher than the left side. Oops: Some of the group, enjoying some of the original hieroglyphs at the temple site (on the first terrace):The ramp to the third terrace. Only a couple of people from our group went up there, it was so hot, we wimped out:After Hatchepsut's Temple, we went back to the ship. We were sailing this afternoon to Edfu. The cabin crew had a talent for folding towels. This evening, we had kissing swans:That night, we stopped in Esna to go through the Lock and Dam system there. Here is a shot of everyone waiting. Don't we look excited?Entering the lock:

Belinda

Update on Updates

2008-06-17T23:20:00.004-05:00

Kate and Annmarie and making their way to Arizona this week, so Kate won't be able to help with the updates until she gets back. I am going to do brief updates with pictures just so this gets done. When she gets back, if she wants to, she can add details and additional photos to what I post. Enjoy!

Hot air balloons on the Nile River:
Belinda

Day 3

2008-06-13T11:54:00.012-05:00

May 26, 2008

The third day of our trip started off at 2am. If we hadn't been awake already, we would have had one of the most startling wake-up call...ever. The phone was a rotary phone which rang very loudly. Not the most pleasant way to start one's day. Our wake-up call was so early because we had to catch a 5am flight to Luxor. Since we didn't have any luggage, it was a quick pack and down to our breakfast buffet. Since the water quality is so poor in Egypt, our guide, all of the books we read and all of the doctors who gave us our vaccines informed us not to drink the water. As such, we could not eat fresh fruits and vegetables and we had to brush our teeth with bottled water. Let me tell you, not being able to eat the b-e-a-utiful fresh foods was a killer. Although, the thought of suffering the mummy's revenge ensured that everyone stayed away from all of that.

If memory serves me correctly, the flight to Luxor was a quick one. I honestly can't remember if they even served us beverages. I took dramamex which makes me a little loopy. The first thing we did when we got into the city of Luxor was go to the Karnak Temple.

The Temple of Karnak:
After we left the Temple of Karnak, we checked in on our cruise ship, the MS Sindbad which would be our home for the next 5 days. We had lunch and then some of us went to the Luxor Museum. It was a great museum, but photos weren't allowed. After dinner, around 7pm, we went to the Temple of Luxor.

The Temple of Luxor:

Kate/Belinda

The City of Cairo

2008-06-13T11:37:00.002-05:00

Cairo. I’m not even sure how to begin describing the city of Cairo. Nearly 8 million people live within the city and over 17 million live in the greater Cairo area – it is Egypt’s largest city and the most populated city on the continent of Africa. It’s hard to wrap your head around those numbers when you’re from a town with, approximately, 10,000 (Leesville) or 20,000 (Natchitoches) people in it.

Traffic. People in Egypt drive like no place I have ever been (I thought Italy was bad, they have nothing on Egypt). Traffic lanes mean nothing, speed limits are arbitrary, turn signals are voluntary, and people and animals share the road with the vehicular traffic. A couple of us were coming back from a jewelry store and our driver took the wrong road off the traffic circle near our hotel (Alexandria’s (Louisiana, that is) traffic circle has nothing on these things – they were huge!). So, instead of just continuing down the road and turning around, he just backed up – on a one way street, INTO the traffic circle. He wasn’t the only one, this turned out to be pretty standard practice (I – I’m sure we all did – still feared for my life every time it happened). They also use a honking system to warn other drivers of their intent – 1 honk: I’m approaching, 2 honks: I’m passing, and 3 honks: I’m approaching quickly and passing. I also never wanted to be involved in an emergency situation while we were there because people just ignored the sirens of emergency vehicles.
Trash. When we got to Cairo, the first thing we noticed was the trash and dirt. There was trash everywhere, in addition to the dirt that blew in from the desert constantly. We found our later that the trash issue was because the government of Egypt had sub-contracted the trash collection and now only people who could afford it go their trash collected.
Pollution. The city was really polluted. You’ll notice in most of the pictures that the pollution just hangs over the city. The day we went to the pyramids, you could barely see all three of them when we were standing by the sphinx (a pretty short distance). Vehicle emissions are not regulated, the city grew unbelievably quickly, and unregulated lead and copper smelting all contribute to the problem (in addition to industry and trash burning).
Architecture. The city has some amazing architecture. We spent an afternoon at the bazaar and it was located inside the medieval walls of medieval Cairo. It was pretty awesome. Many of the structures in this area date from the 1100 and 1200s.
It was amazing. Despite all the things mentioned previously, I was fascinated by this city. At first, all the “city noise” was grating, but once I got used to it it was almost comforting. The sheer volume of people in one place was amazing to me and the fact that crime was so low was surprising. Most of the Egyptians we met were extremely nice and more than willing to help the silly Americas find their way to or from a location. It was also amazing to learn how many of them not only spoke English (and very well), but also spoke French or Spanish. One of our drivers told us that he spoke 8 languages (EIGHT!!) and that it only took him six months to learn each one. Our tour guide spoke 3.5 (as he told me) languages: Arabic, French, English, and some German.

Belinda

Day 1 & 2 - The Trip Begins

2008-06-13T07:20:00.013-05:00

Sorry for the delay, folks. It's taken me a little longer to get my act together to start posting. As Belinda indicated, we had no internet access during the entire duration of the trip. For those who live by their email, this was both a blessing and a curse. I think 13 days is the longest I've gone without checking my email in years. The first few nights, I actually had dreams about checking my email. Scary.

Anyway, the first two days of our trip were spent traveling to Cairo. We left for the Houston airport on Saturday morning around 8ish and didn't arrive at our final destination until 3-ish the next day. We left Natchitoches around 8:30 on Saturday morning to drive to Houston to catch a 9.5 hour Lufthansa Airlines flight to Frankfurt, Germany. *Note: a recurring theme throughout the journey through the breadbasket of the world is fraught with sickness – air, motion, and food.* Spirits were high at this point as we all crammed our luggage and 13 people into a 15 person passenger van. I’m not sure who the makers of this vehicle were kidding but 13 people do not fit comfortable in one of those vans and you can certainly not fit luggage into what they call “cargo space.” Thank goodness Dr. Hailey drilled us that we were to pack light. If anyone had packed adequately for a 13 day trip we most certainly would not have arrived in Houston fully luggaged.

After safely arriving at Houston Intercontinental Airport with a brief “technical stop” in Lufkin, everyone managed to make it through check-in and security in one piece. Prior to boarding, a few of us separated from the group to enjoy one last meal on American soil at a diner in the international terminal. Word to the wise, do not eat a guacamole hamburger and fried zucchini before getting on an international flight. I don’t know about those who ate with me but too much fried food does not a happy Kate make.

After we landed in Frankfurt, our connecting flight to Cairo was so close that we literally stepped off one plane and right onto the next. Fifteen or so hours in a tin can hurtling across space at 500 miles an hour is exhausting, especially once you've crammed 13 people into a 15 passenger van, including luggage, for four additional hours.

On the first leg of the trip, Belinda, Florence and I got a little punchy and decided to take lots of pictures of Boudin (which might be some of the only ones you'll see). For those of you who don't know, we took a little bit of Louisiana with us to Egypt. We officially dubbed him Boudin Praline LaFitte, or Bou for short. Surprisingly, he met a friend while over there, a little dinosaur named Melvin. We had a last-minute addition to our tour group, Michelle, a recent graduate from a small college in Massachusetts, who decided to bring a little bit of home with her as well.

The next leg of our flight left much to be desired. Belinda and I both suffer motion sickness. On the flight to Cairo it felt like we were on a bad rollercoaster. I guess the winds were high that day because for the last hour of the trip there were many moans and groans coming from various areas of the plane. Three of us sat in the middle section of the plane, me on the aisle, then Florence, then Belinda. Florence does not suffer this crippling ailment and was fine as our plane was tossed about. B and I, on the other hand, were miserable. At one point, a scream rang out in the back section of the plane. Apparently, a passenger couldn't contain himself and threw up on the flight attendant seated opposite him. If I had seen that, I would have surely lost it. Despite the trauma of flying into Africa, we made it safely to the ground -- only after the steering mechanism of the plane broke and we had to be ferried to the gate. (I'm not sure when that happened and I didn't want to ask.)

Following a quick trip through customs to purchase our visa and get a stamp in our passports, we made it to baggage. It was there we discovered that 7 pieces of luggage decided they needed a longer stay in Frankfurt and would join us two days later, meaning we would be wearing basically the same sets of clothing for four days in a row. Our tour coordinator, Tarek, was wonderful about it. Since this was an EF (Education First!) tour, we had a tour coordinator (TC), a tour guide, and full-time security. The TC met us at the airport and during our three stays in Cairo.

I don't remember the bus ride from the airport to the hotel, I was too sick to look out the window. Maybe Belinda can expound on that. We stayed in the Concorde Hotel about a block from the Nile River. We did not have a view of it, but we did have a lovely view of the building next door. Thankfully our guide, Magdi, was kind to us that first day and, after we arrived at the hotel, allowed us to eat dinner and go to bed. The next morning we were awoken at 2am to board a flight to Luxor to cruise down the Nile. More to come, so stay tuned!

Kate

Coming soon

2008-06-12T23:35:00.007-05:00

June 12, 2008

Updates are in the works and will be posted soon. I promise.

Kate & Belinda at the Colossi of Memnon:

Belinda & Kate at the Memphis museum:

Belinda

Egypt

2008-06-07T20:27:00.001-05:00

We made it safely back from Egypt. The trip was great, but exhausting. We didn't have ready access to the internet while we were gone (there were cafes near our hotels, but - honestly - I was too tired to bother with finding them) so that's why there were no updates. I am uploading my pictures now (there are nearly 3000 of them) and I will post a day-by-day review of our trip soon.

I'm not sure what it means, but the best view of the sphinx and the pyramids is from the Pizza Hut across the street (I'm not kidding).

Belinda

News & Weather

2008-05-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

At the bottom of this page you will find a news feed showing current events in Egypt (you can click on them to read the articles) as well as a Weather Bug application so that you can see just how hot it really is while we are over there.

Belinda

Getting Ready

2008-05-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

So, Kate and I will be leaving on Saturday for our trip. I'm really excited and can't wait to go, but I seriously hate packing and I haven't gotten very far. I'm still trying to figure out how to fit 12 days worth of stuff into the smallest suitcase I own. This little crawfish is going with us on our trip. Sadly, he doesn't have a name. I think it's because we can't make a decision (you should see us trying to decided on a place to eat). A couple of days ago we had a crawfish boil (sorry little guy) and during the festivities we voted on a name - we didn't like it. So he remains nameless.

Belinda