Saturday, 6/8 (bleeding into Sunday). No photos. Flight to Cairo. Delayed at Cairo Airport waiting for our police car escort. Visited Old Cairo, or Historic Cairo, or Islamic Cairo, take your pick. Toured two Coptic churches and one synagogue. I honestly wasn’t interested. Lunch was at a restaurant in one of the older markets. Spent time wandering the old market. Arrived at our hotel for a little rest. Farewell dinner was in a very pretty restaurant across a very busy street from the hotel (there are no crosswalks). Ate salmon. Farewells. Back to hotel for a few hours, then took a taxi to the airport. The driver complemented me on my ability to sleep in the car. Said most Americans are too terrified of the driving.

Flight to Moscow was extremely hot. Torture. Moscow Airport is surprising modern. Flight to LA was just fine.

Evaluation: It was unseasonably hot, which nicely kept the crowds away, but its constancy became a mental drag. Egyptians have embraced the “If the minimum wasn’t good enough, it wouldn’t be the minimum” concept. Streets are littered with trash. Driving is unregulated. Street hawkers were as common as pigeons, though more irritating. Police and army looked demoralized and worrisomely inattentive. The citizens we met were wonderfully cheerful, but clearly resigned to living without any government support. (The Nile River had NO navigation aids.) It’s a mystery where the (not insignificant) entry fees to all the ruins go. But the ruins were all fascinating and certainly worth the trip. Even though I’ve lived with pictures and stories of the pyramids, they were still awesome.

Next adventure is in October. Destination: Rio de Janeiro, Argentina, Chile.

Friday, 6/7. Departure for the balloon ride was 3:30. Boat across the Nile. Oddly, the nearest bridge is many miles north of Luxor. Revenue for ferries? Quick trip to the lift-off point. 8 balloons? Smooth ride. Captain was excellent pilot and tour guide. We rose, fell, rose again, to tour different vistas. Unfortunately, though the views were great, it was still too dark for good photos. Landing was exceptionally smooth. First recovery crew member arrived on a donkey. Overall, it was well worth the money and time.

After return to hotel and breakfast, departed for the Valley of the Kings. By boat again. First stop was, a huge temple built by the only Queen of Egypt, Hatshepsut. Lots of historical intrigue on how she became Queen and how future rulers tried to hide her existence. The temple has been largely rebuilt out of its ruins. It is very large, but after our visit to the Valley of the Kings, it shrank in our memories.

The Valley is actually on the opposite side of the mountain holding Hatshepsut’s temple. A 15 minute ride to the entrance, then a five minute tram shuttle. The area is much more compact and less glamorous than I expected. Could have been any simple box canyon. King Tut’s tomb is literally under another’s, which helped hide it. Visited five tombs, including Tut’s. Tut, having died young and unexpectedly, had far and away the simplest tomb. Indeed, it was originally meant for another purpose. Turns out that once a king dies, his servants have only 70 days to entomb him. Most tombs are in fact unfinished. The one completed tomb that we visited, holding two kings, was splendid. All were impressive. No cameras are allowed in Tut’s tomb, which is being carefully maintained. Has its own weather station to monitor atmospheric conditions.

Stopped by the house of the founder of Tut, Howard Carter. It’s a museum. Lunch in town. Dinner near hotel. Stuffed pigeon. I’m ready to head home. One more day.

Thursday, 6/6. Departed boat, nice drive along the Nile to Luxor. Lots of farmland. Luxor is smaller in appearance than expected. Hotel (on the shore of the Nile) is famous but ancient. Huge hallways, few electrical outlets, stuffy in attitude. Folks coming out of the dining room were formally dressed (one man had tux with long tails!). Many people were wearing period clothing for unknown reasons. For me (dressed in dusty cloths in need of a wash), it all just seemed wrong.

Karnack and Luxor Temples (on the eastern side of the Nile) were huge. Country is actively trying to rebuild both by re-erecting the torn down parts. A giant jigsaw puzzle. The two are connected by a 3 km avenue (nearly all renovated) lined with statues. Karnack had been expanded by generations of Kings in no particular fashion. Looked unorganized. Luxor is in the middle of the city and had been nearly buried in trash until Egypt began renovations. The still operating mosque’s original front door (in the center of the temple) is 20 feet above the dug-out temple grounds. Lots of young boys wandering round with no purpose. Made our security escort nervous.

Dinner was fine. Cafe afterwards (smoking pipes, loud music) not so much. Led half the group back to the hotel. Tour Leader Doug.

Thursday, 6/6. Long day today. Tomorrow begins at 3:30 for a balloon flight over the Valley of the Kings, wind permitting, then a full day’s tour of the West Bank. Up to five tombs. Still stifling hot. Frankly, I’m tired of temples, heat and social banter.

Post will have to wait.

Wednesday, 6/6. Visited a very small town on an island where the main topic is water, of all things. Each half of the island gets 8 consecutive days of irrigation water. There’s a government employee who monitors usage. We spent the morning with a retired official and his family. Great time. They dressed our ladies in traditional Egyptian clothing. I shot off balloons for a neighbor’s child to catch. Most children were on the other side of the island (in new post-Ramadan cloths) for festivities.

In the afternoon we arrived in Ensa, the end of the line for the cruise. (There is a dam with locks downriver that unpowered boats can’t use.) Luxor is only 60 kilometers away. Visited a Temple with original paint still visible. Covered by soot for centuries, now being cleaned off.

Skipped dinner. Chicken, fish, veggies. It’s becoming very redundant. Farewell music and dancing (sans me).

Tuesday, 6/4. Many photos today. Traveled by buggy to the Temple of Horus. Very well preserved. Wall drawings had a significant number of boats. Temple surrounded by an ancient Coptic settlement, who scratched out many of the faces. But their presence helped save the temple from destruction.

In the afternoon we hoisted sails and proceeded to go . . . nowhere. No wind. But we piled into the tender to circle the boat for a photo op. Nice little cruise.

Tied up in a very rural area, so I took the opportunity to stretch my legs, alone. Ended up jogging for about ten minutes within the walk. It felt great to be in the great outdoors without keeping one eye on the tour guide. Everyone was very friendly. One group of kids were fishing plastic bottles out of the water, of which there were many. Contributed my water bottle when I’d emptied it.

Many companions watched Death On The Nile. I’m 60% through the book.

Monday, 6/3. Began with a visit to the sandstone quarry where most of the temple stones came from. (Pyramids were made with limestone). Small temple onsite. Various small inscriptions peppered about, probably made by bored quarrymen. Educational.

Lunch with a family in a very small community on an island. Interestingly, the population is growing. Lots of children. Host appears very intelligent, breaking the stereotype of a farmer. Grows mango trees mostly, but also bananas and other fruits. Also has some cows and does some fishing. Made balloons for his kids. Too much food, as usual. Great time, as usual.

BBQ at night. So-so time, what with the residual heat and an enormous quantity of flies. Music group came out and pestered everyone to dance.

Cruising up the Nile is a relaxing experience. Slow time.

Sunday, 6/2. Left early to ride in the back of a pickup truck during the morning commute through a small town. Kids kept leaping on board, only to be yelled off by our guide. Destination: Camel Auction. Not that many camels being actively auctioned off, but a lot of buyers/sellers. Learned a great deal about camels. (Example: They don’t kick.) Watched a heated exchange that none of us understood (including our translator). The place was a lot cleaner than we expected. I bought a camel harness for 60 cents. Seemed a suitably unusual souvenir. Afterwards we walked through the town-center and its market. Bought some camel meat for dinner (excellent, though a little tough).

After some cruising we visited a unique temple that honors two gods. The inscriptions were much better preserved than usual, even with some color remaining. It’s only(!) 2,100 years old. Built along Roman archectural lines, but writings were all Egyptian. Had a very interesting Roman well. The area was famous for its crocodiles, so naturally they mummified a lot of crocodiles. Yawn. Seen one crocodile mummy, etc.

Before dinner we went via three wheeled motorcycle taxis to a basket maker. Uses palm fronds for parts. I helped assemble one, leaving the cutting to him. Very simple process. Used his feet for some work. Eight children, two wives. One son willing to continue the business.

The heat continues. So far six travelers have admitted to getting ill, one bad enough to get a visit from a doctor. I’ve been fine.

Saturday, 6/1.  Before breakfast we went back to the temple to avoid the crowds (which never actually materialized).  Very very impressive.  Inside the temples there are far more chambers than any of us expected.  All had inscriptions.  Even many of the ceilings.  I didn’t know who to admire more; the builders or the international organization that moved the entire site up and over.  The present hills are entirely manufactured and are apparently hollow.  To remove the temples they essentially carved them out from above and behind, not from the front.  Most of the work was with handsaws to leave the thinnest cuts.  The work was done while the lake was rising, requiring coffer dams to protect the temples before they could be moved.  Incredible.  Absolutely worth the long drive there and back.

After breakfast we drove back to the lower Nile, about 15 miles north of Aswan.  Our boat is only a year old and totally decadent.  AC throughout!  (It’s still crazy hot.)  The nominal sailboat has a tugboat for motive power and the ride is smooth as silk. The crew will hoist sail one of these days for the photo op, but mostly we’re being towed.  Stopped along the way to allow for a swim, which only three did.  Others sat in deck chairs placed in the water.  Decadent.  Large ugly cruise ships pass us, the losers. The only thing missing were cocktails from uniformed waiters.  Water was fine.  Current of only 3 MPH felt surprisingly strong.

Saw a video about the camel market that we’ll visit tomorrow.  Looks pretty grim.  Great dinner.  Sitting outside is impractical due to a massive number of bugs, even though they have an industrial strength bug zapper.  AC will be turned off at 10 to quiet the boat.  Fans will operate via stored solar energy.

Nile riverbanks look just as Nile riverbanks should look like.  Great day.

Friday 5/31. After checking out of the wonderful Old Catarac Muse. . . er, Hotel, proceeded to the Aswan High Dam.  Tighter security than anywhere else. Very impressive in size, though not as wide as I expected.  An earthen dam, composed of 17 times the mass of the great pyramid.  The base is nearly a kilometer thick.

Long boring drive through the desert.  Abu Simbel was hot.  Hotel rooms have AC, but the rest of the hotel does not.  Abu Sembel has little shade.  Afternoon was free time to hide in the room.  Abu Simbel has dry, dry air. Bought some souvenirs for the first time.  Later we received a presentation from a Nubian about Nubian life and stories about their forced removal from their towns along the Nile when Lake Nassar was created.  They were moved far away and are now trying to create communities along the shore. Promising. Dinner was fine.  In the evening we went to the Rameses II temples (the Great and the Small, which is relative) for a light show.  It was in Spanish this night with English talking devices.  Too much story, not enough history.  A little disappointing .  At the end they lit up the statues and allowed us to walk around, which was really the high point of the evening.  Children came to dance for us at the hotel, but everyone was so hot, they were largely ignored.  I felt bad about it.  Made a few balloons for the younger ones.

Not an especially active day, but not a wasted one.