Pyramids and Abu Simbel

I am not even sure where to begin with respect to the pyramids. I am blessed and grateful to have experienced something so magnificent with my brother and Heather, two people I have grown quite fond of over the last few months. We rode camels up to the pyramids where we were immediately told that the grounds were closed (apparently they close at 4pm, and it was 4:30), to which we replied with one Ghanaian cedi (one dollar CDN), and we were left on our own. Another bribe to the keeper of the middle pyramid that amounted to about $1.80 CDN and we were left on our own until the police found us climbing the big pyramid around 5:45 and we were escorted off the grounds in the back of the truck. No harm done. We got some of our best photos from the truck as the sun was setting at the perfect height to the pyramids and desert. Although the entire experience was magical, there was a moment when two falcons were hovering motionless at the very tip of the pyramid, with the moon directly above it that captured me and will forever be etched in my memory.

The next day Matt and Heather flew to Madrid, effectively ending our fellowship in Africa. The same day I walked around Islamic Cairo, a fascinating place that seems to be a step back in time, and then I left for Aswan on the second class night train. The second class train was nicer than the regular class on VIA trains in Canada.

From Aswan I setup a day trip to Abu Simbel to see the temple of Ramses II and the temple of Neferteri, and the Temple of Philae. The temple of Ramses II boasts the largest Pharoah statues in Egypt - a serious claim in a country full of incredible monuments to Pharoahs. This trip also offered me a view of Lake Nasser, the largest man-made lake in the world. It was formed in 1971 when the dam in Aswan was built to control the annual flood of the Nile. This is also the day my camera slipped out of my pocket into the Nile at the Temple of Philae. Luckily, I must have been at the shallowest point in the Nile, with the water only about 5m deep. As I stripped down into my boxers to retrieve it (incredibly, my camera is waterproof up to ten meters- too bad it doesn't float though), the police stopped me and told me I was not allowed to get it myself. Instead, a young boy was nominated to retrieve it, and after two tries he returned to the surface successul to a chorus of cheers and hand-clapping (this spectacle turned out to be the highlight of the Temple of Philae for many tourists). In return I gave him the snowboarding goggles I had brought along in case of sandstorms, and a week's wage in Egyptian pounds (about $10 CDN). He seemed most grateful for the goggles - evident by his wearing them proudly as our boat pulled away from the island. The camera is fine.

After Aswan I took a day train to Luxor, again second class. This train was not of the same standard of the first, but it did result in some nice experiences. As there were children all around - many straining necks to get a better look of me reading my book - I passed around my MP3 player for them to listen to. As it was passed around, and smiles were being shared amongst everyone, a lady passed my her baby girl to hold. It did not take long for the baby to start crying at my ghostly complexion and blue eyes - at which point I passed the baby back - but it gave the mother great pleasure to share with me her child for the moment. All of this took place with no verbal communication because my Arabic is extremely limited, and really consists of 'please', 'thank you', 'you're welcome', and 'Sorry, I don't understand'. Nonetheless, we all understood one another and felt better for our time together when I got off the train in Luxor.

It is from Luxor that I write this, having gone to visit the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens today, along with the Temple of Hatshepsut. The Valley of the Kings is where the Pharoahs of the New Kingdom moved all their tombs after grave robbers continued to harrass the pyramids of the Old Kingdom. It is an entire valley within a mountain - chosen because it is so hidden and the mountain tops are similar in shape to the pyramids - that houses 62 tombs. The ticket is only good for entrance into three tombs, but the art and detail in each tomb is painstaking. The Valley of the Queens has fewer tombs and is located in another valley within the same mountain. Less impressive and less exhausting are the two tombs I visited here. Even so, the hieroglyphics inside the tombs are amazing and my favourite part of the Ancient Egyptian sites.

Tomorrow I head back up to Cairo and then on to the Sinai peninsula where I hope to snorkel, scuba dive, and hike up Mt Sinai.