Back with a new Internet card and a vengeance

I feel like I’ve been silenced for days.  We somehow had no Internet as we cruised down the Nile –  which is funny because we were in possession of Internet cards we had purchased for that very purpose.   But nonetheless, I just slapped that last post up without any witty closure just to get it out to you all.  And I realize I had made some promise, mid-post, to tell you more about Edfu Temple and then I did not have time to do that before I hastily got that post out.  Now I do have time to do it but I cannot recall anything specific about Edfu Temple other than it was quite beautiful. Sorry.

Grace points out that my last post is full of typos but I don’t feel responsible for them as it took me over 48 hours to put that post together and WordPress behaves really oddly on poor internet and it was cutting things and pasting things into that post like it was possessed.  Grace says she’s reading though it all and spiffying it all up…thank you:)

We’re in Aswan now, spending one more night on the Amarco I cruise boat before we move to a hotel here for one night.  We’re done with our big temple/burial site touring and now we’ve got a few sites hand-picked by me in Aswan and Cairo before we head to Germany on Sunday.  We’re doing markets in Aswan and Cairo and then a palace/museum type thing in Cairo I’m pretty excited about (You’re not bothered that I can’t currently recall the name of it are you?  I’m sitting up on the deck of our river boat and it’s too much trouble to go downstairs.)  A lot of what I’ve seen so far is starting to blend together in my head but not the Luxor Temple and not the Valley of the Kings.  Those are my standouts, worth the 14 hour flight time, imprinted in my mind.

Today we went out to the Aswan Dam and then over to the Temple of Philae.  At the Temple, I found the first stress-free shopping we’ve come across, where you could wander a little bit, look at things, ponder a purchase without feeling like you want to run off.  I used my comfortable freedom to purchase 3 ice cream bars – 20 Egyptian pounds each – about $1.  Emboldened by my success there, I purchased this funky looking Egyptian Snickers:

But that’s not really relevant as to the Temple.  More important was that we had to take a boat to get there. Here is a picture of the boat.  Please rank it, in terms of safety, in comparison to the speeding vehicles and the accident-damaged horse and carriage.  It floated extremely low in the water in the back and Ron and I kept inching our way forward to try to even us out and prevent any intake of water. No life jackets evident.   The smell of diesel fuel was intoxicating and complemented the atmosphere appropriately.

The temple is built on an island (thus the boat ride).   Here’s Mossallamy and Ron discussing something,  a few other shots and then these kittens that live there (for you, Grace – thanks for the editing).

I was worried about a lot of things before we came on this trip. I was worried about where we were traveling to, traveling by airplane since I’m terrified of flying and I worry extensively about getting a stomach bug because once I’m sick all of my coping skills disintegrate.  Pretty much every review I’ve ever read has stated that the reviewer had stomach issues. But it’s all been fine.  (Do you think I am cursing myself in making this declaration before we reach Germany?)  I use an extremely strict food limitation system that I inflict upon poor Ron.  I’ve been successful so far in Turkey, China and Egypt.  I force Ron to eat a yogurt with me each morning, we eat no uncooked produce whatsoever (I know people say that peelable produce is fine but I do not mess with it), we use bottled water for everything and we drink no juice, no ice and eat no street food.  Dull?  I guess, but better than the alternative.  There’s defintely a few people under the weather on the Amarco.

It’s encouraging to be here.  Is it intimidating?  Sure – a bit.  When Ron and I leave the company of our guides and strike out on a our own for a little walk, there is definitely a gauntlet of vendors, hawkers and very very very hopeful cab drivers to wade through.  But it’s workable.  I’ve perfected an Arabic no thank you – “la  shokran ” that I say with a ton of self-assurance and it ends some of the offers but not all of them.  Ron, polite to the core, feels compelled to answer questions and respond to requests (just begets more and more offers) until I plead/threaten him, which silences him for 2 or 3 minutes and then we start the process all over again.

But it’s not all hawkers and salespeople.  Today, as we walked the busy street away from our boat in Aswan, we walked through a little park that was filled with families and children.  We attracted a lot of stares – we are the only Americans in sight when we’re strolling around on our own.  But as we walked by these two young women, completely covered, very traditional, I saw them eyeing us.  And as we approached, one of them maintained eye contact with me and then I saw the slightest bit of a smile and so I smiled a bit and then a lot and, emboldened, she said “Hi” to us in lovely English and we greeted her back and she totally made my day.  

It’s easy, coming from the US – especially right now – to end up apprehensive about any Muslim culture I think.  But it’s shortsighted and wrong and CNN and Fox News and all the other outlets should be ashamed that they let such a single-minded and inaccurate message be the one that blankets our media conscience.  There is so much to the Egyptian culture – such pride in their history and unparalleled sites – and it’s painful to see the effect the tourism downfall has had on this amazing place.  The message I hear from everyone we talk to is to please spread the word that Egypt is safe and welcoming and wants tourism to return to its glory days and I hope that I am able to convey that to you.

Too serious, I know, but once you see the impact, you want to make it better. I leave you with a restaurant that might be of interest to corporate counsel at KFC and a large cabbage sitting randomly on the sidewalk:)

Talk to you all soon –