Jordan & Egypt

Narrowly escaped the south massive winter storm that is barreling down on MT...even heard MT weather mentioned on BBC......several feet of snow expected at higher altitudes elevations.....surprisingly…..Seattle was sunny and pleasant.
Barely know what day it is or might be....arrived 11pm...finally staggered into the car just before midnight...driver and I bump off into the night...obvious police presence ....minarets wrapped in neon dot the hills along the way...lights scattered along the rolling hills...signs for Jericho and biblical names fly by…...population of Amman 4 million....but at night driving the mostly deserted roads you don’t get a sense of how large it is....people parked on the side of the boulevard.….picnicking at midnight…..belongings and hoo set up next to their cars...temperature upon arrival a balmy 85 ......finally bed and oblivion....Kempinski Hotel Ishtar situated directly across from the West Bank .....police even more in evidence...beautiful location..palm and ancient olive trees..acres of travertine paths and stairs connecting numerous pools and meandering down to the sea....and hookahs stacked near the pool...can’t wait to see one in use....spent the day lounging by the pool and getting a Dead Sea Salt scrub...just another Monday. LOL LOL
Another quiet day…..poolside...temps in low to mid 90’s (ps...my I pad doesn’t like high temps….went crazy in the heat).....almost debilitating in the late afternoon..and YES even this non swimmer bobbed high in the water.....sunsets over the West Bank are beautiful ..tomorrow the trip starts in earnest.
Met the group of 10 others this morning....a little like the first day of school...everyone being polite and sort of shy.....group in general seems pretty quiet ..... our guide Majdi, seems like he needs an assistant.….vague about a lot of details.....such as what time are we having dinner, do you want your plane tickets OR maybe I should keep them until we get to airport...YIKES....as long as the driver, Mohammed is tuned in, I will get by.
Drove back into Amman....a lot more agriculture than you would imagine in this sort an arid area...reminds me of Southern Calif or perhaps SE Utah...plenty of Cyprus and some type of pine....goats and sheep munching along right at the side of the road.....big time traffic.....people selling apples along the roads that were stacked high in colorful pyramids.....another fellow with a silver tray will bring you a quick cup of coffee...then off you go...our coffee drive thrus just don’t compare.....ac in the bus went out at one point...we were all a little warm when we arrived at Jaresh.  An ancient Roman city, that is amazingly intact....quite an extraordinary feeling to think that a Roman soldier had once stood where I standing.  You can still see the grooves in the road that the chariots made.....beautiful ( mostly intact ) mosaics in several buildings....hippodrome...2 massive amphitheaters.  Went to the Citadel...spectacular view of Amman...Roman ruins mixed in the a city full of modern limestone buildings....call to prayer echoing eerily in that strange mix of ancient and modern worlds.
I am constantly surprised by the people that join this type of trip......ESPECIALLY in warmer climates...that don’t really seem to have the stamina ...some with bad knees.....some that are dripping sweat 2 minutes into an hour +walk.....guide has to remind them to drink water........leave the Dead Sea area tomorrow..heading to Petra.

Departed Dead Sea...drive up to Mount Nero...biblical history surrounds you...this place looks like the epitome of any village you seen depicted in historical movies….great views of Amman in the far distance…..Jerusalem and Jericho ...plus a absolutely stunning and for the most part beautifully preserved mosaics in St George church.....visited a shop where they make the mosaics...incredibly intricate...sometimes using what amounts to a grain of stone to make the mosaics...really gorgeous.....drive for several hours through the most desolate and barren desert....not a tree in sight....finally reach Petra....houses cover the hillsides...our group had a lovely dinner at the rooftop restaurant...even needed a wrap now that we have left the extreme temps in the Dead Sea....woke up in the morning to see people on horse back riding down the hillside opposite my room...Movenpick Petra Hotel has a lot of charm..very Middle East in its decor...4 story lobby area with massive chandelier….wooden privacy screens...very cool bar with coffered ceilings
Personally think we should have started earlier this morning because of the heat......Petra is extraordinary…..awe inspiring in that it was built about 315 BC....think of something that looks like Antelope Canyon only wider and much taller.....structures carved into the sides of the canyon.....columns lining sections and other building and tombs set off to the side in the more open areas…..thankfully a small section is in the shade most of the time.....you amble along dodging the horse drawn carts...camels and donkeys that people ride either up or down....it is incredibly well maintained...we had lunch at the bottom ..then everyone was free to get back however they chose...if I had my walking sticks AND if we had started earlier I might have contemplated going up the mountain at the end to visit the monastery...BUT...it was well over 80 and it was difficult enough staggering back up the incline to the hotel...which thankfully was right across the street from the entrance....consider myself fortunate enough to have seen this amazing place.....off very early in the morning to fly to Cairo.
A quick aside about my traveling companions....there is one couple.....they hardly ever talk to each other or anyone else....they never sit together on the bus...both sit by the windows with cameras at the ready...taking thousands of pictures of whatever is outside the window...empty lot…..buildings…..desert...the clicking sounds of their cameras are constant...they must end of with so many photos titled “from the bus”.....she was ill one day...the husband never offered to check on her or assist...he left everything to our guide....good grief.
Departing Amman.....Chaotic scene at the airport...took forever just to get boarding pass...one hour flight to Cairo....spotting pyramids as we approach the airport....the city looks like a dust covered city of Legos...all the same type of building...stack after stack after stack....all bristling with satellite dishes...suddenly in the midst of it all the Nile..........all bags are collected and we are off into a city of just under 10 million...from street level  most of the streets are narrow canyons with an occasional wide boulevard ...like a labyrinth through a Lego city...colors are mostly the same sandstone with a dusting of yellow.....like so many places...driving lanes mean nothing...cars trucks vans  tuktuks and even horse drawn carts all vie for space to get ahead...plus pedestrians meandering across the street while looking at their phone...you just have to sit back and let it happen...6 more people join our group....tonite we went to see a laser show in front of the 3 pyramids...ARE YOU KIDDING???  ...so cool...I can see a pyramid from my room....can’t wait to get up close ......woke to a sort of dust filled fog...pyramid floating through the palm trees....surreal and magical....into the bus we go to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.....THOUSANDS of people....NO AC....acres of marble floors....artifacts beyond description....statues..mummies...sarcophagus...alabaster....and GOLD....Tutankhamen has a room with massive gold necklaces...headdresses/crown...plus that famous golden face....3 huge “boxes” go inside one another like a Matryoshka doll...inside the final box is an ornate  phone booth size box...inside that 2 sarcophagus ....2 foot tall  alabaster urns contained vital organs....and the rooms go on and on and on...so with no AC after 2 1/2 hours we were all starting to be a little less than enthusiastic and finally were sent off to meander back towards to exit....a couple quick detours to see 24 ft mummified alligators and the jewelry room....collapsed into the shade outside ....temp hovering in the low 90”s...gulped the rest of my water and longed for the cool interior of the bus....had lunch river side ....I will mention the hummus and baba ganoush are all exceptional and different at each stop...sometimes very smoky other times a more mild version...learning to pace myself at meals because the food is plentiful and always arrives in multiple courses.

Rise and shine….hit the trail of antiquities at 7:30  this morning...first stop Saqqara pyramid...this was the first pyramid ever built...not terribly large and thankfully we were the first ones there ...hieroglyphs and frescos...with the paint still vibrant...went down into the tomb….not easy task and all but one person intrepid enough to try...this pyramid lies right at the edge of the fertile land...it is virtually like desert on one side of a street and rich fertile land with palm trees on the other......probably by the end of the day we had scaled the stairs of the bus 40 times…..stairs in the pyramids are more like a step ladder in their steepness....who needs the gym..next pyramid very large but not as intact as others...huge area in front that was a courtyard...one small portion of the cobra fresco that surrounded the entire complex remains intact...went to the a rug factory......boys girls young men and apparently the entire village is involved in the process......workman’s village.......this where all the workers that work on the pyramids lived on sight...they were also buried there ...one can imagine that whole life times were spent in sight and working on the Great Pyramid ....one even had a curse inscribed...heat by now is staggering....lunch looking out at the Sphinx and the pyramids....back on the bus...arrived at the Great pyramid first...thousands of people....everyone off the bus to go through security....no one in our group decided to enter the Great pyramid….our guide stressed the back breaking entrance and claustrophobic nature of the entrance and we all wisely decided it wasn’t for us....wondered for a bit then went to a panoramic view point...could see 4 pyramids and a lot of Cairo ...can’t decide if it’s dust or a bad mixture of dust and smog, but cloud hangs over the city.,,,,had a quick photo op and ride on a camel...the group was generally  game and everyone had a good chuckle ....Visited the boat museum....they discovered buried in the sand under 41 huge stones this huge boat.......it was beautifully preserved with all the oars ....finally...the Sphinx....sadly like a lot of monuments...you can’t get very close...still it very impressive....by now today’s punishing schedule and heat is starting to wear on us all.
A quick aside about the security around here....bomb sniffing dogs check all vehicles that enter hotel complex....after passing multiple checkpoints surrounded by police that are positioned behind steel barricades...the hotel itself has armed security guards at EVERY door along with metal detectors ....metal detectors at all public places...museum especially are extremely cautious...we also have an armed guard with us at all times...he rides on the bus...wonders the sights with us always keeping us in sight...he’s packing a machine gun and a side arm..and wearing bulletproof vest.
Wake up call at 3AM....urgh....we all silently filed on to the bus....least traffic we have experienced yet in Cairo....catch flight to Aswan....quick change of planes there and we are off to Abu Simbel to visit Ramses II temple....iconic pictures we have all seen really don’t do it justice...several sections of frescos inside still had vibrant colors....everywhere you looked there was a scene more amazing than the last...what incredible engineering skills and workmanship....temp as we crawled back up from Lake Nasser 109....caught a flight back to Aswan...and finally arrived at our boat.....everyone in a heat caused stupor...a very full day....went to bed early.  Food on board is excellent and nice change from tahini ,hummus and baba ganouche and bread.
This morning visited the Unfinished Obelisk.....the work needed to quarrying the granite is hard to fathom from the modern prospective ...chisels and handmade tools....... next Philae temple….very interesting in the Orthodox Coptic took over part of the temple so there is a curious mixture of hieroglyphics and crosses and alters with Roman elements tossed in.... The temple is on an island in the Nile so a short boat ride over to saunter through the beautiful buildings ...could see the old Aswan dam as we crossed....BTW Roman influences can be seen Cairo as well...viaducts are still standing today.
Went to a papyrus shop...quick demo on how they make papyrus...the art was lost for decades but now is making a respectable comeback....temp 112 as we jump in a felucca for a sail on the Nile....fortunately there is a bit of a breeze and we are all grateful to sit and enjoy a lovely sail....past botanical gardens...mosques....and ruins....there are lighthouses on the hills along this section of river that were used to guide caravans in from the desert....Egypt is starting to recognize that building right on the banks of the river is not the best use of that lush green space...so the city of Aswan is starting to move the city center away from the river about a 1/2 mile ....the river is clean and such a refreshing sight after so much heat and desert....not far from the river it is true desert....NO vegetation.....dunes with mountains in the far distance perhaps in Sudan since we are at the southern border of Egypt.

Finally we got out on the river...ship left port just after sunset....but prior to departure....we toured Kom Ombo temple of crocodiles....all the stones were radiating the heat of the day...109 temp....very crowded...if you were lucky enough to catch a breeze you were very grateful....did a super fast pass through the museum....stifling...could hardly breathe...crowds surging all around...could only think of AC and a shower....boat left KomOmbo and this am we are in Edfu.
We take a horse drawn buggy to to the temple.....This is the most well preserved temple in Egypt....center courtyard....the main structure supported by massive columns....room after room after room...the further back you got in the temple the less air and higher temps...we are all sweating profusely and trying to focus on what Raffat is saying.  Raffat , our Egyptologist is extremely knowledgeable, very personable and has a great sense of humor .....we left Edfu and I skipped the lecture to get a tour of the bridge...captain is an Arab ..he doesn’t use computers or any type of navigation system...he knows the river and its current so well....his second in command suddenly grabs my arm and says come with me I want to show you something....this fellow is 6’5” and goes galloping down the corridor....we bolt up 2 flights of stairs ...on the top most level...all umbrellas and shade pavilions have been dismantled...he tells me to sit...several minutes later we fly under a bridge...I literally could have touched it had I been standing....VERY exciting....this is the most lush and scenic section of river.....palm trees....date palms....eucalyptus trees...papyrus going as far back from the river as you can see...peaceful and serene....hard to imagine the desert lurking not far away.
The people here as so grateful that tourism has picked up again ...since the Arab Spring when the tourist industry took a big hit.   Everyone is friendly and welcoming and seem to go out of their way to give you a positive experience.....except perhaps the street vendors......they are like magpies on road kill......they swarm you ...saying anything to make you stop and shop...our guide warned us never to make any comment that would encourage them to think that a sale might be possible.....otherwise they follow you.....they further from their stall they get the price goes lower and lower...One day we were all crowded under a tiny slice a shade listening to the guide when 5 or 6 vendors started edging closer and closer....his voice was like whip...causing everyone to stop in their tracks....we were all watching in awe...the guide took a deep breath and gave them one more very stern warning and they all melted away...I think we all secretly wanted to applaud but dare not in case it cancelled his effort to save us.
We make a short stop in the town of Esna....dodge into a large alley that is covered with corrugated metal....it does keep the sun off but you can imagine the noise...luckily it wasn’t too crowded...3 flights of stairs...got to get our steps/stairs in since we are no longer in and out of the bus multiple times a day....the Temple of Khnum is not very large and is being restored....the section that has been completed is magnificent...the colors so vibrant ...I close my eyes and try to imagine what the other temples we have seen must have looked like when the colors were new and bright.....it had to have been extraordinary....zip back to the ship since I had decided to get a massage....................this was by a tiny Arab women......no AC in the room and I am already a little warm from the jaunt to the temple....the room is level with the dock NO curtains...I question whether people outside can see in...she assures me they cannot....hummmmm .........well let’s see ...it’s me that will be naked in front of the window...dock has police….dock workers etc....deep breath...I get on the  table ..she stuffs my face into a black hole of a face rest that is swaddled in a huge towel...I am already warm....now I can hardly breath....sensing some tension in my back and neck she attacks that area with VIGOR....slaps on oil...then she jumps up on my back and starts kidney punching ...I am making a lot of ouffs and some kind of choking sound and attempt to ask her to reduce the pressure...she sternly says NO talk no talk....frankly don’t have a lot of air in my lungs at the moment because she keeps jumping on me...using those iron thumbs of hers...she slowly starts up my spinal column...hissing something...not sure if it’s a positive sound or her annoyance ....at some point she asks me what my name is....I make some kind of garbled noise...she’s says that an odd name.....thinking this might be one of the longest hours of my life....I can only be grateful when she moves to a different area.....time slowly crawls by ....now my nose is dripping...probably because I still can hardly breath through the towel.....when she finally steps back and with a flourish removes the towel covering.....I can barely lift my head and feel like I have been assaulted by a plucking machine.....I collect myself and stagger up the stairs into the main lobby....thankfully only 3 people were there....head for the shower.
Some random comments....
Some men have a dark  square marks (callous)on the foreheads from praying
Several times we have been at a temple or monument...someone dropped a camera battery etc....inevitably it is found AND returned....a airport employee just walked through the waiting area announcing that some had lost their cell phone...how refreshing
Final day on the Nile...docked in Luxor....quick boat ride to Valley of the Kings....huge complex......it looks like a moon scape...rocks.....heat shimmering ...quick ride up to the entrance...then the hot walk starts...there was an interesting 3D model of the entire area...which really gave you an idea of the size and scope of this area....the tombs were beautifully preserved....down down down you go...frescos on all surfaces...stars in the ceiling... vibrant colors...room upon room....King Tuts tomb is small and unassuming...his mummy devoid of all his gold is still in situ....Seti I ...Ramses IV etc....massive amounts of people...languages too numerous to mention...on the opposite side of this valley...facing the river is the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut...3 story building built in to the hill side...tombs scattered all around...this section of the river is quite wide and incredibly fertile....corn….bulrushes….papyrus…..oh happy days...lunch on the boat and time for a nap AND a break from the heat which is now starting to fry our brains...temps have been hovering between 106-112...enthusiasm for hieroglyphics starting to wane....being below ground with hundreds of other hot sweating people is becoming the norm.....traffic in Luxor seems nonexistent after the chaos of Cairo...we visit the 2000 acre complex of the Temple of Karnak....heat from the stone paving is pulsating through my shoes...we are all weaving from exhaustion...still we carry on...walking looking ..listening to the guide drone on and on about this obelisk or that scarab....thankfully in short ride in the bus under full blast AC ...a big gulp of water...by now the sun is just below the horizon....we are at the Temple of Luxor....huge columns...incredible statues....all well lit and best of all the sun isn’t beating down on our heads....no words can describe the splendor...over 3000 sphinxes line the avenue leading to Karnak...jaw dropping is an understatement....WOW.
Fly back to Cairo...more airport mayhem….we all take comfort in our group of 18.....one older gentleman did get misplaced once we were all scanning the crowds until someone spotted him...safety in numbers...beautiful hotel looking down on the Nile...blissful afternoon of NOTHING…...pool ...naps…..heaven....final morning we all collect for a visit to the Islamic section....woman all have to wear appropriate attire...mosques are architectural wonders..honeycomb domes....chanting echoes throughout....I would have been happy to sit and listen for a while...quick stop by several more smaller mosques with very intricate minarets then we visit the souk...so much fun wandering through all the various stalls...wish we had more time on our own to explore....so tonite is farewell dinner and up at 4AM...dread....homeward bound....except for the high temperatures we encountered further south.....it has been an amazing experience