Up, Up and Away

The next morning reminded me of a song by my mom’s beloved Engelbert Humperdink as we went “up, up and away”.


This was a first for both me and Marty, and the hot air balloon ride was one of the highlights of the week. We were supposed to float over the Valley of the Kings, but balloons are rather dependent upon the way the wind is blowing. And this morning, it was blowing us straight toward the River Nile.


We floated over buildings, and I found it fascinating how few have roofs.


We were able to get a bird’s eye view of this church


And here is a look at the full grounds of the Luxor Temple. Very cool!


Our balloon led the way, and we had an excellent captain who was in constant contact with the airport. The balloons are not supposed to float past the river, but he’d received special permission because it was so early and airport traffic had not started.


I wonder what these cows thought of us as we floated past. "What's that thing?" "Mama, why are those humans in a basket? Is it like when the farmer gathers eggs?" "That's udderly ridiculous." "Look at the pretty colors." "If I could fly, I'd jump over the moon or somethin'"


Our ground crew was amazing. They were ahead of us at all times in their vans, and as we started to land, they came running across the fields, grabbed the bottom of our basket and walked us over to a tilled field that had no plants coming up yet, and gently set us down. Then they proceeded to take the balloon down with incredible efficiency.





We watched some of the other balloons coming in for a landing.


The farmer who’s field we’d used as a landing pad, offered us a ride on his donkey. We love the donkeys. In Egypt, they call them Cadillacs, and the camels are their Ferraris.


Next we visited the Valley of the Kings, where 63 tombs have been discovered. Only 15 are open at any one time, and we visited 3 of them: Ramses I, Ramses III, and the last I don’t remember and could hardly spell anyway. They don’t allow cameras, so I have no pictures to present. You’ll just have to go check it out yourself someday. Next we visited a shop where Marty learned about the process of boring out alabaster to make vases.


Then we visited the Temple of Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh who dressed like a man; even wearing a fake beard.



Marty and I enjoyed a couple of opportunities to “walk like an Egyptian”.



Next we visited Karnak Temple, where I spotted this giant potted palm tree. Well, it at least looks like one, don’t you think?


And finally, here is our tour guide and picture taker from the last 3 days: Peter. He was a great "guy"de.

Egypt Day 4 - Edfu & Luxor Temples

The next day we visited the Temple at Edfu.


Marty strikes an Egyptian pose.


Cats! There were cats everywhere in Egypt, running around all of the monuments and temples. Marty was cuter than the kitty as he captured this shot.


We continued our float down the Nile, catching glimpses of more pastoral life.




Here’s another picture of those unfinished buildings we would see throughout Egypt.


We caught sight of a few ships that had run into trouble.



When we arrived in Luxor in the late afternoon we went to tour the Luxor Temple. Marty would have made a good Pharoah, don’t you think?


There were a few wispy clouds that made for a beautiful sunset. It rarely ever rains in Egypt. They said on the one or two days per year that it does rain, everyone goes outside and just stands looking up, enjoying the miracle.


Touring the temples in the evenings is the best. The weather is cooler and you get to see them in the light of the sun and then as they turn up the lights for the night.



They truly look like they are made of silver and gold.

Egypt Day 3 - Nile Cruise

Our second day in Aswan included an optional tour to Abu Simbel. When we heard that we had to get up at 2:30am for a 7 hour round trip bus ride to go see it, we decided NOT to. Our new Brazilian friends, Fabiano and Felismina, went and shared their pictures with us. We all called him “Brazilian Jones” because he wore an authentic Indiana Jones hat, and he was about as hot as Harrison Ford.


And before I go any further, I’ll go ahead and introduce the other two couples we hung out with on our Nile Cruise. It was quite an international party. This is Matthew and Rhianna from Perth, Australia. I’m sure I’ve not spelled her name correctly, but she told us she was named after the Fleetwood Mac song that was playing on the radio the day she was born. She said her mom didn’t spell it that way either because she just guessed based on how she thought it was pronounced in the song.


And speaking of spelling names correctly, I’m sure I’ll get this one wrong. This is Dragun and Ivana from Serbia. I don’t know how to spell either of their names, but I just know his sounds very much like Dragon and he was having to correct everyone’s pronunciation to give it just a bit more of a “u” sound. Ivana totally reminded us of Doris Proctor. They were very cool and invited us to visit them in Belgrade. I think we will!


We went on a city tour of Aswan. We saw the second biggest cathedral in Egypt, and this big mosque up on a hill overlooking the city.


It was the first time I personally got to see inside a mosque.


Here’s a shot of a typical building in Egypt. I’ve never seen so many incomplete buildings with rebar sticking out the top of pillars on the roof.


It was rather hot, so we stopped at a sidewalk café for some refreshment. It’s easy to read some Arabic. I subsequently passed out from the heat.


Next we started our cruise down the River Nile. The scenes along the way were visions of serenity and peace.


It was interesting to watch a sailboat adjust as it went under this very cool suspension bridge.




I just liked the colors in the water of this shot. It reminds me of a Monet.


This guy on a donkey made me laugh. I think he was wishing that he was on a cruise.


More images along the Nile. It was a beautiful day.


And then we spotted our sleeper train, so I took the customary pic for my dad who appreciates such things.


Next, Marty visited the Kom Ombo Temple while I napped, recovering from heat exhaustion.

Egypt Day 2 - Aswan

We arrived via our sleeper train in Aswan the next morning. We visited the High Dam which was built with the help of the Russians to control the flooding of the Nile. As a result, it created Lake Nassar, the largest man-made lake in the world.


We took a boat trip over to an island in the middle of the Nile. This little Nubian boy was my new friend who sold me some African bracelets. He was quite the young salesman.


There we visited Temple Philae…


And found evidence that the Pharoahs were the first “Burger” Kings.


You can tell from the columns that there was a lot of Greek influence at the time it was built. Reminded us of Athens.


Later in the afternoon, we took another sailboat on the Nile, and this was our young captain. You can see the local McDonald’s in the background. Christianity needs to be like McDonald’s… reaching to every possible place on earth. =)


This was our cruise ship for the next 3 days: The SemiRamis II


We sailed over to the Aswan Botanical Gardens.



It was a nice cool escape from the desert heat.



Marty started monkeying around.


We took a dip in the Nile.


We did the Titanic pose on the way back.


Nighttime was especially nice (and cool) on the top deck of our cruise ship. Here’s a picture of Aswan by nightfall.