Libya - October 2008 - Leptis Magna

Troy, Gareth and I took off for Leptis Magna today. We swung by the Plasma to pick Don a new business travel. The trip was an hour and a half. I was able to go and see the stuff I missed the first time and took shots from different angles and walked a different route this time. We walked over to the light house which is located to the east of the city. Great views from this vantage point. Ended up to be a better time than I thought.

Egypt, 2008 - Last day in Egypt

Got up around 5:30AM, Bathed as much I could, no shower just a sink. The train arrived on time, surprise. They made up 90 minutes over night. The greeter met me at the station. We had time to kill so we went to a café across the street. Around 9AM Randa should up. We went to old Cairo for a tour. We toured the Hanging Church, St. George Church, Abu Serge, Ben Ezra Synagogue, Coptic Museum and Amer Abu El Ala Mosue. The Amer Abu El Ala Mosque was the last stop for the tour. The Mosque site on the highest point in Cairo surrounded by an ancient fort. We finished at 2PM. Had plenty of time to kill but I opted to head to the airport. Check in won’t be until 4:30 so I found a nice place to sit down. I grabbed some grub and a drink, and then updated my journals

Egypt, 2008 - Baloon Ride & Valley of the Kings

Early morning balloon ride today on the West bank. Not sure when I was suppose too be picked up so I got up at 4AM just in case there was a mistake. I went for an early morning walk to kill time. I met my guide in the lobby and proceed to the Nile where we took a river taxi. As soon as we got to the other side, I was personally escorted to a van where two other couples were waiting. We drove to the staging area where the balloon was being filled with hot air. After the balloon was ready, the five of us climb in the gondola. There was an Italian couple that was celebrating their 40th anniversary. The balloon ride was awesome! We climbed to 1,500’. As balloon rides go, we went up and down several times riding the currents and using the low altitudes for vertical maneuvering. We got low enough a few times on the cornfields that we could hear the bottom of the gondola scraping on the top of the corn stalks. After 30 minutes, the pilot was looking for a place to land. We ended up close to our departure point. A bunch of local farmers came out to collapse the balloon. The van met us at the landing spot. I was dropped off at a location near the river where I met up with Ahmed, my guide from yesterday. We drove to the valley of the workers that was not part of the tour but Ahmed had recommended it. I visited two underground tombs. Pictures were not allowed but it was early and no one else was around so I was able to take a few photos.
Next stop, the Valley of the Queen or temple of the Queen Hatshepsut. Very impressive and large. The guide gave a brief tour of the place then left me alone to take photos. When I was walking around I was at a location were a guard with an oozy want me to take his picture. I wasn’t going to argue. At first I thought, how strange, well he must do this a lot. Then he lured me into an open corridor for more pictures. Showing me good angles, then he wanted to take pictures of me. At this point I was feeling uncomfortable. I indicated that it was enough and I was going to leave. He gave me back my camera then asked for a tip. DOUGH! How could I have been so dumb? I gave him 5EP, he of coarse wanted more, so five more. Let’s call it a 10EP photo shot. Then I got the hell out of there. Met back up with Ahmed, we drove to a souvenir shop, why not, everyone gets a chance to take the tourist money. Bought a couple annex eggs.
Finally, we are going to the Valley of the Kings. Very cool, but not cold, in fact it was starting to get very hot and it’s not even noon yet. There are many tombs to visit but my package only allowed a trip to three tombs. Gee, I thought the outside temperature was warm, the tombs were like an oven. The color on the walls was still vibrant in most areas. Ahmed said they covered the paintings with egg whites and honey. The egg whites for the gloss and honey to keep the bacteria from eating the eggs. No pictures allowed inside the tombs, what else is new. Time to head back. We started our ride back through the west bank farmlands. Got back to the east bank then back to the hotel.
The train leaves at 8PM so I extended my stay for a fews hour so could shower and pack my bags. I had the hotel hold on to my bags so I could go out for the afternoon. I had lunch with the greeter at the same place we ate at yesterday but this time I wanted Egyptian food not the standard buffet stuff they have for the tourist. I went to the lobby bar had a few beers while I caught up on my journals. I walked to the market place near the hotel. I found the fez for Gareth’s kid I had been looking for this trip. Got back to the hotel around 3PM. I located a free Internet computer in the lobby so I checked out my email messages. I went to the hotel café for ice cream and a coffee ended up ordering a large salad. The first real salad I’ve had since I left the US.
I had a few more beers in the bar before I got my bags from the front desk. The driver was ready at 7:30PM to take me to the train station. The train was an hour and a half late but I got on in my private cabin and updated the journals and went to sleep

Egypt, 2008 - Luxor

Found out that there is no shower on the train so I had to take a French shower until I can get to my hotel room.  My train got in 4 hours late.  Met the greeter we went straight to the hotel so I was able to take a shower before moving on to the first destination.  This hotel is much nicer than the Oasis, maybe not as much entertainment within the hotel but just right.  We went to the Karnak Temple first.  The guide, Ahmed was very good, he asked how much information I wanted before we started, little; some; or a lot.  He gave me extra time to take photos while he waited.  The guide in Cairo did not do either of these things.  Next, we went to the Luxor temple, much smaller that the Karnak finished the tour in an hour.  Afterwards he took me to a Mideast rug broker, a friend of his.  This guy had tons of silk rugs from the Mideast and Africa.  He showed me 20 or so rugs.  I took pictures for Phil then we started haggling for a smaller rug.  I had no intensions of buying a rug but I set my price at sub $900.  He said the two I was interested in were $1,800 and $2,400 I thought there was no way I was going to walk out with a rug.  I started at $800 and said I just simply cannot pay more than that.  He came down to $1,400 but I was committed, I did go up to $900 thinking there was no way he would sell at that price.  He asked for my very best price but I did not budge, he grabbed my hand and shook, deal!  Wow, I was not expecting that.  Half price!  Ahmed was apologetic he thought I was pressured in to purchasing a rug.  We went to lunch at a restaurant on the Nile.  The food was buffet style and was so-so.  We talked about tomorrows plans. I said I needed to do some shopping.  I took a nap then wondered around the hotel area.  Had dinner at the bar.  I received am message that I will need to get up early to leave for the balloon ride around 4:30AM.  Time to go to bed.  When I got to my room I received a call that the balloon ride will be at 6:30 so I get to sleep an extra hour

Egypt, 2008 - Egyptian Museum and Train ride to Luxor

The night club was rockin’ out again for two or more hours. This is ridiculous! Was woke up by music chanting for at least an hour starting around 5:30AM. Had breakfast, was so-so this morning. Went for a walk and took pictures of the grounds. The tour driver arrived around noon, then departed for the museum. We met up with Randa and went on a three hour tour of the Egyptian Museum. She filled me up with too much information again, very exhausting. This is like any other museum in that there’s too much to see in just one visit. The number of artifacts is overwhelming. I saw the King Tut stuff and only remembered the parts that were in the special room of the museum. Learned a lot about Egypt history but it will be hard to retain the information simply because there was too much to comprehend. My legs were still killing me on the stairs especially walking down. I need to stretch them out tonight.
We then went to a tourist restaurant Sou’ree. It was a buffet style meal and pretty good. I was very tired and had two espressos to wake me up. After lunch I had four hours to kill before the train departed to Luxor. We drove around Cairo for awhile. Ended up stopping at the “Egypt Hotel” to rest in the lobby and catch up with my journal. Both Randa and the greeter were in the hotel with me. I’m looking forward to the train ride tonight. Its 700KM to Luxor. Thinking about doing the balloon ride in Luxor which is $85 (485 EP). I gave the greeter the money so they left the hotel to go to the office to drop the money off. The greeter got back around 6:30PM then we left for the train station. We still had two hours to kill so we drove around some more. Got to the train station around 7:30PM. The greeter stayed with me until the train arrived. The temperature was nice and there was a good breeze, very comfortable. The train arrived I boarded and went to my private cabin. Its slightly bigger than Amtrak but not as nice. Dinner was severed as soon as we left the station. This is not Amtrak food, more like airline food. Had a beer and a rum and coke. The beer was Luxor Beer, a larger 330ml 5%.