We flew back to the Marriott Cairo for one night and a farewell dinner for six of our party. We had time on our arrival for a tour of houses of worship in Old Cairo. In the Hanging Church our lessons in Coptic Christianity, which includes 20% of the Egyptian population. Caroline, our Tour Leader is a Coptic Christian. “Coptic” means Egyptian. The Hanging Church is built over the foundation of a temple and has no foundation of its own. From there we moved onto the Ben Ezra Synagogue, now an  Egyptian Antiquarian site. It’s major claims to fame are its location where Moses was found in his basket in the Nile and the contents of the geniza which provides a rich documented history of the Jews up until  the first World War. (a geniza is a storage place for documents and books containing the name of G-d which are no longer usable). 

The next morning the rest of us were up and on the bus by 9 to head to Alexandria. The ride of about 3 1/2 hours was broken up by a stop at the Bishoy Monastery

which has many claims to fame ranging from its age to the body of Saint Bishoy which is in its casket in a totally uncorrupted state, as we were told. Its a long story but some time in the 4th century Saint Bishoy unknowingly carried Jesus up a long steep hill. Also two recent Egyptian Popes rose from the among the monks. The most recent died 12 years ago. There have been 118 such popes.

Arrival in Alexandria at the Steigenberger Cecil Hotel was in time to refresh with showers and relax a bit before Dinner.  Our room has a plaque reading Mohamed Ali Clay on the door and a picture of Mohamed Ali in the room, no further information.

 This is another of the classic old hotels with open cage elevators and rooms that open on to balconies over the Mediterranean. Fortunately the windows have been modernized and do a good job of keeping out the street noise. A late departure gave us a relief form the busy touring schedule. Our two stops were the Jewelry Museum where the wealth of the King Farouk and his royal predecessors is on display. The building housing the display is itself a lavish display of wealth and the jewelry and other articles on display  speak to a gilded age of royal wealth beyond any understandable bounds. Here is a link to several pictures  The last stop of the day, following lunch, was the Alexandria Library. This is not the famous library that was burned down centuries ago, this was completed 2002. It is near where scholars think the original was located. Rather than my raving on about this institution here is the English language version of the website be sure to click on the photo gallery link to view this exquisite complex.

From Luxor we boarded Asiya Dahabya for the 190 kilometer journey to Aswan. Unlike the large river cruise boats we see we are able to stop at many small places along the river to meet the people ans see sites that are otherwise very difficult to see. One example is the quarry where the sandstone for the temples and tombs of the kings was quarried. Note the pyramids are limestone, a softer material than sandstone. 

At our various stops we have traveled from Asyia by boat, horse drawn carriage and tuk-tuk, so far. Some pictures are missing because the computer has chosen not to download them from the card I was using. I expect I will recapture them later since they are still on the card. here are some of the photos I can use from our recent stop in Fares were we met a man who makes boxes for mangoes from palm fronds. He had a bit of help. 

We are currently under sail for the second time in this trip. After our visit to the box maker we have been at leisure until 4 when we will have another adventure ashore.

This link

should get you some pictures from the past 3 days. The Temple is 
Ramses VI the most colorful Temple and other less well known as well as some of our Ballooning and other experiences. More to come. 

This saves me having to upload over the ship’s wifi.

I am somewhat limited in ability to upload pictures from the Asiya Riverboat. They have asked us to limit wifi use from uploading all our pictures. I’ll see what I can do later.

Although the flight on the Boeing 777 -300 was not a first for the plane, it was a first for us on a B777, so I will start with that. Our Tour Leader, Caroline, is back from the cancellation of all tours following the revolution in Tahrir Square and this is her first tour of the season. We boarded an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Luxor and found ourselves on an A220. Never hear of that plane from Airbus. The captain announced that this was the first commercial flight of the A220 on Egypt Air and this was the first A220 in the fleet. A double first.

We are sailing on Dahabia Asiya on the Nile. This boat was out of service for 7 years following the revolution and after a first season last year it has been completely renovated and we are the first group to travel on her. Caroline says it was not a very comfortable boat before although it was always a welcoming boat by the crew.  It is now a very comfortable boat with a very warm and welcoming crew. When we booked I chose the Suite option. Little did I know at the time that this is the entire stern of the boat. It is very spacious and we have the only access to the lower aft deck. Pictures when I can.

Sites seen since Karnac; Hotshipsut Temple, the Valley of the Kings with five tombs including Tutankhamen, Ramses VI and 3 others. OMG the colors in the Ramses Tomb are hard to believe and Tutankhamen’s mummy still resides in his tomb, well nearby in any event. Pictures were not permitted except for 10 pound baksheesh. Will post them all as a gallery. Luxor Temple late afternoon. and then today we took a balloon ride at 5 AM to greet the sunrise. After breakfast we boarded the bus to stop at a “small temple” then we boarded Dahabia Asiya for 5 days travel up the Nile to Aswan. I’m sure I missed something but will have plenty of time to make it up as we sail.

The Giza Plateau with the Great Pyramid and the others is breathtaking and is on so many bucket lists. I am not sure we believed we would ever see it with our own eyes. Naturally once there it opens new challenges and expectations. Not the least was to actually enter the burial chamber high in the center of Pyramid.  From our group only Carol and I and four women ventured up the steep ramp to the center [picture]. The climb was strenuous. The ramp must be at 30 degrees with cleats on the walkway to prevent slipping .The overhead is so low that I was bent over at the waist for most of the climb. A taller person would have an interesting time. In both directions we passed other groups going the other way on this narrow path. ALthough the diagrams show ventilation shafts became instant friends. There was no sense of any air movement and it was hot.

Upon exiting we were greeted by a very smooth, aggressive salesman, one of several hundred it seems who make their living hustling tourists. Carol wanted to play along and in the end I was grateful to get clear for 200 Egyptian Pounds (about $12) and nothing to show for it except some fun pictures.

For this I paid good money? Don’t tell my Financial Planner

From there we drove around to the  Solar Boat. This wooden boat was built to take the spirit of the Pharaoh to the afterlife after which is was dismantled  and stored in a deep long pit (some 45 meters) and buried in sand and rubble. There it rested until the 1950’s when it was exhumed and 10 years were spent reassembling it. It is stitched together with cordage. The original cordage survived,  but not condition for reuse. The only nonoriginal parts are the cordage and one steering oar. The solar part is that it was considered to be dedicated to the Sun God and is so marked.

Collapse! The heat had been in low triple digits and the sun was merciless. Also we had a 7 AM flight to Luxor which meant a 3:30 wake up to be on the bus by 5:15 to get to the airport and clear security.  We were in bed by 8:30 with full stomachs from too much dinner. One hour flight to Luxor and on to the bus to begin touring Karnac by 9. We were among the first groups in and although the sun was already hot it continued to raise the temperature as the  morning progressed. I am not sure words or pictures can do justice to the largest religious structure in the world. The 134 columns alone are a massive construction, but they are merely a part of this group of temples built over 1000 years. 

Collapse! We stopped someplace for lunch and checked into the hotel early. Unpacked, showered and flat out slept until late afternoon. The temperature in the garden when we awoke was 104 
F. Very slow movement.

To be continued.

Yet another tour with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) We have mostly been letting days pass with minimal activity. The suitcases are already packed with our travel clothes and gear from the last trip. Preparing our travel phone for Egypt is a matter of recharging the multinational SIM card in it. Mostly we are running down the inventory of perishables in the apartment and thinking of things to put on the list. 

We fly into Cairo, direct from JFK and spend some time there seeing what needs to be seen, then we fly to Luxor for the usual sights there and a home hosted dinner. We may take a balloon ride while there, uh if weather permits we WILL take a balloon ride. From there we board ASIYA DEHABEYA to sail the Nile for 5 days. It is a small sail boat for 16 passengers. We will be slow and relaxed until we reach Aswan where we head for Abu Simbel. From there we fly back to Cairo and take a road trip to Alexandria. the trip ends with return to Cairo and flight back to JFK.on the 26th.

We will gather with family in NY on the 26th and return to Rochester the next day, the 27th. 

In the mean time (or as Steven Colbert would have it “mean while”)  I have delved into Ancestry.com and tracing my family’s genealogy. This is another time sink suitable only for people with no other job, or some might say no other life. For years I have been told that the family name “Goldberg” replaced Sklaroff when my grandfather entered through Ellis Island. I have now seen documentation of at least one member of the family using that name and tracking it back to a parent in Russia. I feel like I put a chip in a brick wall with that find. I also found a 3rd cousin who is tracking similar interests in a different line of the family. I will stop with that there or I will bore everyone with the minutia. 

Watch for my next post from Cairo Egypt (not Illinois).