Cairo – The Dream
Crossing back into Israel went smoothly. We lounged for a few hours in Eilat, each of us at the table in silence with our Wi-Fi devices. We got a cab to the boarder of Egypt, where we caught our bus to Cairo. We'd drive all night and it was killing me that I'd not be able to see the terrain. I know it's just desert. I know that to most people it's boring. But I'm not most people. Look at the magic I found in driving through southern Israel!
When the sun came up, the heat went up as well. This is when we learned that the air conditioning in the bus only pseudo-worked. But that was OK, I was in Egypt for what I expected to be the highlight of this journey for me.
Our first stop was at the hotel. We, of course, wouldn’t be staying in it, so we'd be leaving our things in the lobby while touring the sights. That night we would sleep on the train to Luxor.
Cairo was huge and from what I could tell, poor. There were some larger, more expensive looking homes out in the suburbs, but along the highway were small 3-5 story dirty brick homes, most with balconies and most with laundry hanging out. Later, we would find out the reason most of the homes were unfinished were because with each new generation, they would build another story to the building; the oldest living on the lower floor, and the youngest upstairs. The air was brown and I'm not sure if it was smog or sand from the desert; most likely a combination. But the others were sure it was all pollution.
I'd just heard the night before about how bad traffic was and at first I thought they were wrong. I still thought Shanghai was worse. But I soon revised my opinion. Traffic here is like a huge, sloppy dance. There may be only 2 lanes of cars, but by golly, there's room for 3, maybe 4, so that's what they try to fit in. People cross all over and join the dance, narrowly avoiding impact and nearly being clipped by side mirrors. Scooters and motor bikes squeeze in where they can as well. And it's a real thrill to go through a round-a-bout! As far as I can tell, there are no rules. Just go for it. And don't forget to honk. One honks to say, "let's go, the light just turned," or, "hey, I'm in a hurry," or, "I'm just going to squeeze in this tight space between you and that truck, if you don't mind." It even works to say, "yay, we're about to enter this round-a-bout! "
Cairo from the Giza plateau
We fought traffic for some time, when suddenly, to my left and barely visible through the haze, 2 figures loomed in the distance, tall, pointed and a little thinner than I expected; the pyramids. The city has crept up to them as far as it could and stops at the wall protecting the Giza plateau, which to this point has kept it out. But our plan was to end at the pyramids; first stop- Memphis, once a capital city and now a small outdoor museum.
On our drive there, we were witness to a long canal branching off the Nile. I asked if this was the same as had been built in the ancient times. It was. And it was so sad to see the amount of trash and litter in the waters. A few times I could see people with rakes pushing the trash piled up on the banks down into the water; the same water where at times I saw men in small boats fishing! I couldn't help but wonder what the Pharaohs would have thought in seeing this.
Touching a sarcophagus in Memphis with our guide
Memphis would be my very first introduction to ancient Egyptian culture, and my first of many times to see the visage of Ramses II, one of the most prolific and powerful leaders of all ages, whose influence is felt far and wide in Egypt. Walking into the pavilion holding his broken statue lying on its back moved me so much that I fought the lump in my throat. Our tour guide showed us around very quickly, but was fairly thorough in her explanations of what we were viewing. Her heavy accent and lack of a full mastery of our language made it difficult at times to get answers. But she was terribly friendly. We had tea here and then a short drive over to Saqqara.
Here, was the Step Pyramid, the first to be built. I had not realized how close it was to the big ones in Giza, but we wouldn't be able to tour it. Instead, we toured a tomb. One of the guides let Tom lie down in a sarcophagus. I thought it a bit too morbid to do so as well. And then Tom had to haggle over what to pay the guide, as photos were prohibited, yet this is how he makes his money.
I ran my fingers on as many hieroglyphs as I could, wanting to touch something so old. The colors were still vibrant on many of the walls within the tombs. It was amazing to see and feel the work that has lasted for thousands of years!
Tom started to balk a bit about our stop at the papyrus factory. And, sure, it really wasn't a factory as much as a trap to get people to buy art. But I've been intrigued by papyrus since grade school and was happy to be a part of how these people made a living. The demonstration on how papyrus is made was fascinating and I found a few items that I got a really good deal on.
Artistic shot I took of Khufu's pyramid
Then, finally, on to Giza and the pyramids. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. All those stones stacked so high. I still have a very hard time believing it was done as they say. I mean, you'd have to lay a stone every 3 seconds to finish in the time it took them to build the pyramids. And the Egyptians, who wrote everything down, including builders who were sick, wrote nothing of how they were built. But there they were. They were real. And they'd been there since 2560BCE!
I grabbed my headphones and put Stevie Nicks on my i-pod. I wanted to hear her songs so that when I heard them back home, I could again be reminded of being there with them.
A horse-drawn carriage took us out into the desert a bit for some great photo opportunities. I even found a huge squared stone to lift up, as if I were going to add it to the pyramids. A man with a mule sold us a Coke and I enjoyed the cold liquid going down my parched throat. As we started back, I'd heard the songs that I wanted to from the mp3 player,so turned it off to experience my visit for the sounds that inhabit the desert space. Those were mostly the clip clops of our horse. But I kept watching the stone pyramids, as if at any moment, they could move. They never did, but more than once the heavy emotions of my joy in being there moved me nearly to tears, and you can see my eyes red in many of the photos. Or was it from a lack of sleep?
The sun set as we left the Sphinx and went back into the city for dinner. I studied the bread and shawarma meat spinning at a side street restaurant and felt safe in eating it. It was so good that I ordered a second. It was my first meal since a slice of pizza the night before while in Eilat.
Day one in Cairo was complete. I'd made it. I was in Egypt seeing the things I've heard about, read and saw on TV since I was a boy. At 9, they scared me; rumors of curses and such. And I've seen King Tut's treasures as a boy in Chicago, as well as mummies. But nothing is like seeing them in real life, up close. Nothing could beat this!
Cairo: The Nightmare
I thought the Israeli taxi driver was a funny man. He seemed to be bantering a lot in Hebrew with Ra. That and the sheer excitement of knowing I was about to enter Egypt had me all smiles and in a good mood. I walked first and entered the building for Israeli passport control. The first window stated, 'Exchange', and knowing I needed Egyptian pounds, I suggested a stop. I went to the window and stated that I needed to exchange money, and pulled out the last $40 in US that I had. I only needed enough to cover me for now. Then I recalled my Israeli money and asked if I could use that, too. Eyes rolled and nothing was said by the woman on the other side of the counter.
About this time, a couple with a loud baby entered the line just behind me. The shrieking made me wince each time he did so. I mean, this kid really knew the limit my ears could take and met that bar each time he shrieked, which was often. I glanced back and looked at Tom, saying, "Watch, they're on our bus to Cairo!"
The lady in front of me took a long time and referred often to her computer. She took my Israeli money and part of my US and presented me with a slip of paper she had just stamped. Then she looks up saying, "Is that it or am I crazy?" I looked back at her, thinking this was surely an odd attempt at humor, and said, "You're crazy, you took my money but didn't give me Egyptian pounds."
She thought I was paying the exit tax, but that was pre-paid at the tour office in Tel Aviv. Ra spoke to her in her native language. She was clearly miffed and blamed me, saying something in Israeli about being a stupid American. I got upset with this and informed her that I knew why it was that I was standing in front of her, and if she had listened, paying the exit tax was not on that list.
It took almost as long for her to figure out how much to give back. She tossed up some shekels and soon shoved US cash at me. She said to never come back to her window and I said no worries, never again! What a crazy woman. I grabbed the cash and left. As I tried to settle my cash away, I noticed that my $40 seemed too thick. I now had $46. Normally, I'd have taken it right back. But screw her, this money was now mine! But not for long, for within 3 minutes I see the Kraken walking in my direction. She shouts that her drawer is short $6. I look in my wallet, act shocked, shove it to her and we continued to exchange words as she slithered back to her desk. Ra said he thought I'd keep it and that she deserved to be short. But I'm too honest.
The Khafre pyramid
The shrieking baby was in close range again, shrieking to annoy me. My head began to throb. And it turns out we are missing something we need to leave Israel. Ra goes for it, which seems to take forever, as I'm left waiting near the loud brat, and all I wanted to do was get to the Egyptian side. The time is ticking and it's less than 10 minutes before we are to meet the bus. I knew we should have left Eilat sooner. I just knew it!
Ra comes back with some story of having had to sneak into Egypt for what he needed and then sneak back to get it to us to hand over to passport control. It takes them a fortnight to process the 4 of us and I’m happy to be leaving Israel, which is not how I had expected to feel.
When we reached the no-man's land between borders, we were to meet our tour rep. We couldn't enter Egypt until he arrived with what ever it is we needed. When I arrived in this old, smokey waiting area, Ra says to slow down, the bus is late. It would be nearly 2 hours before we'd leave that hell. And to make things worse, that infernal screaming demon-child was there, too. They were indeed on our bus! And with each shriek, my head throbbed and my ears felt like they could bleed. I sat across from a no smoking sign, next to 2 men in Egyptian uniform who were smoking, mere feet from the shrieking hell-demon infant of evil. I didn't think the curse was supposed to affect one this soon!
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| Rasha spin poi in the no-man's-land between Israel and Egypt. |
The others handled things much better. They chatted with the parents and played with the little brat, while I rolled my eyes fuming over our delay. I wondered where the time would be taken from, since we were to start our tours as soon as we reached Cairo. I had things to see and a train to catch, so it wasn't like we could just push everything back. When did the pyramids close, I wondered? Rasha started spinning poi, which garnered the attention of everyone in a 1-mile radius, it seemed. They took photos of them and smiled and Rasha seemed to love the attention.
The guide arrived with a story of our bus breaking down and having to get another one. He lead us outside, where we waited even longer. And when the bus showed up, it wasn't a bus- it was a van. I was crestfallen. No comfortable ride in a large bus across the Sinai with only a few passengers. Nearly every seat would be filled. I chose the last row in hopes of staying as far from that kid as possible.
The van was so small that the only place for our luggage was on top of it. Ra grabbed my big bag and heaved it up to the guy, assuming Ra did this knowing it would have been difficult for me to do. I placed my smaller bag, which weighed almost as much as the larger one, next to Ra and climbed in the van. As the last person got settled in, someone asked who belonged to the black bag left on the sidewalk. It was mine; almost left behind. Fortunately, there was room for it inside the van. I would have died had I lost that bag!
Finally, nearly 3 hours late, we started for Cairo, bumping down the hastily and cheaply made Egyptian road, no place to lounge in the very upright seats, no comfortable place for my arms in the small van, our heads bobbing on what this country considered a highway; a highway that seemed as if it were possibly built in Moses' times and not often repaired since. And then we stopped for gas, not a mile down the road. On top of all the hell in leaving Israel, the damned thing had arrived empty!
Once we were back on the road, the van hit a particularly rough patch and went over a pothole the size of a camel. I left my seat momentarily, and when I landed, my spine compacted, sending pain shooting down my right leg and up to my neck, activating an old back injury, and I let out a yelp of pain. However, the van was loud, so I don't think anyone really noticed. But the pain was bad.
My first trip to Egypt after so many years of longing to see it. In my mind, I should be entering like a Pharaoh, but I was in this lousy, cramped van, bopping along a crudely made road, trying to sleep where that would prove near impossible, and all the while fuming that I had not spoken up in that Tel Aviv office about my concern for this happening and flying instead.
I reached my breaking point. I sat in the corner of the van, looked out the window, up to the sky full of stars, and cried. And this was how I entered Egypt. Not like a Pharaoh. Not like myself. But a tired, shriveled man reduced to painful tears in a huge disappointment of reality.
We were rushed through Memphis, obviously to make up time for our delay. Our tour guide started by repeating things twice, "First, there were 2 Egypts: upper and lower. Then, the king kill the other king, and he make 1 Egypt. First, there were 2 Egypts..." I asked baited questions, hoping they could lead to my learning more, but the answers she gave back didn't match things I had learned in the past few weeks. I had heard so much about the pyramid builders eating bread and drinking beer. She was very adamant that no beer was consumed, adding a bit of her faith into the history lesson and altering it. And the family with Shrieking Junior spoke a different language, so they had another tour guide saying things in another language. My head hurt.
Penguin has the Step Pyramid (photographer not doing such a great job and directing me).
Then we drove to Saqqara, home of the Step Pyramid. I was let down that my only interaction with it was when we would later stop on the side of the road to take a photo of it. It was such a major part of the history and I wasn't sure if we missed it because we were late or if it just wasn't part of the tour.
We reached the pyramids at Giza and I zoned out with my headphones while the group discussed getting a ride in a carriage after being told there was no other way to see it all in the 90 minutes left before closing. I just wanted to walk around listening to my mp3 player. I put on Gold Dust Woman and sang along a short distance from the others, in my own world, soaking it all in. Next thing I knew, Rasha were in a carriage and Tom was about to get in a second one. I asked what was going on and it appeared it had been decided that I was going to chip in for a ride.
Forget the fact that I had very little money, and it wasn't just about that, but I hesitated. This is not what I wanted to do. Israel was Ra's responsibility. India was Sasha's and we decided Petra was up to Tom. And for most of the trip I'd gone along with just about every plan (especially not flying into Egypt!). Now it was my part of the trip; I was the catalyst for our being in Egypt and the only one who had really done any research. I was tired, in pain and sick of just going along. I almost lost it. Ra said he'd pay. I told him the cost wasn't an issue, I was sick of being bounced around in conveyances and had in my mind a certain way I wanted to experience this. To save the embarrassment of behaving like a child and to avoid more stress with the others, who would have to pay more without my contribution, I reluctantly climbed in. It was the bumpiest ride of all time. And I was hating my life.
Rasha in their carriage on the Giza Plateau
We got out of range of the guides, who helped arrange the cost of this tour, when we stopped. A lot of arguing ensued, and at one point Rasha got out of their carriage. I was so sick of haggling, I almost said that I'd pay for the difference. But I sat in silence with Stevie playing in my headphones and kept staring at the pyramids, trying to ignore the drama. My attention was on the pyramids, so close to me now. It was interesting at how so many birds circled around and nested in the higher part of the pyramid. How did they build this thing? I noticed the guards at each corner and along the length keeping people from climbing up, or even touching it. Damn. I wanted to touch it!
In the end, an agreement was reached so we continued in our carriages. It wasn't until we got out in the desert a bit for our photo op that I started to feel more relaxed. I communed with the over-worked animals a bit, downed a cold coke, and found a magical looking rock in the desert sand to bring home. I wondered how many tons of rocks have left that desert sand over the years from people taking bits home.
We were forced out of the area as they closed to ready for the light show at night. I heard we were to meet our tour van next to the Pizza Hut (yes, there is a Pizza Hut in Giza, with awesome views of the pyramids!) but it took a while to find them. We had skipped lunch to make up time and now there was much discussion of the manner in which we would break our 19-hour fast, since it had to include vegetarian options for Ra, and gluten-free options for Sasha. (And I would have been more than happy to eat at that Pizza Hut!) We finally found a place nearby, where locals ate. But our communication had failed us and the dinner items brought out were things Sasha couldn't eat. Having reached her limit some time ago, she broke down in tears and I couldn't figure out if my touching her back would offer comfort or not. So I opted for letting her be, as I think that's what I would have wished for.
After we found something to eat, we were back in the van to drop off our tour guides before heading to the hotel to gather our belongings and be dropped off at the station for our ride to Luxor. It was a stressful day with less than 2 hours of sleep, no food in 19 hours, shooting back pain, light-headedness and I was sick of hearing my travel companions complain about everything. I felt like they had very little appreciation for anything we'd seen all day. Here I was in Egypt and I just wanted to go home.
Luxor
Fortunately, things went much smoother in Luxor. After the exhilarating yet stressful day in Cairo, we were delivered to the train station in our van, which sported a penguin on its side! We had a bit of a wait while we listened to the numerous horn blasts from street traffic below the station platform. Cairo was still bustling, while we sat calmly waiting for our train.
We had 2 sleeper car cabins for our overnight trek up the Nile River, and fortunately, they were connected. We, or at least I, enjoyed the included dinner and we all enjoyed a wet-wipe bath and then fell asleep as the car swayed and clacked its way south, to Upper Egypt. I figured no matter how bad the ride was, after not sleeping the night before, I could sleep through anything now.
We arrived just as the sun came up and our tour guide collected us. Actually, it wasn't that easy. We were early, so our tour guide was not there to meet us. Instead, we were greeted by about 10 men, all hawking taxi service. The others turned tail to wait back on the platform. But once I let the drivers know we had an arranged, pre-paid tour, they stopped and were nice to talk to. It was a shame the others never gave locals such a chance.
The sun made the day brighter as we crossed the Nile to the west bank. I quickly noticed a few hot air balloons in the sky and recalled the great time I once had in one. Ra said he'd love to do it, but he'd have to do so on his next trip.
Our first stop was on the side of the road. There, like some touristy gimmick, like a giant T-rex or golf ball or shoe-shaped house, were 2 ancient statues, known as the Colossi of Memnon. We stopped briefly for photos and I noticed 2 downtrodden dogs. I commented that most doges I had seen since arriving in Egypt looked so pitiful. Was it from heat? A hard life? Were they abused? Perhaps a combination.
As we proceeded through the hills, I soon noticed trails branching out in the stones linking numerous small caves to one another. These were the tombs of the nobles. Further in the hills we came to a large visitor center inside of which was an impressive clear plastic 3-D map of the valley of the Kings. Above ground it showed the mountainside and valleys and the numerous tomb entrances. But duck to look underground and it showed the tombs and how deep they were dug into the hills.
Our admission price included tours of 3 tombs, which our guide chose for us. I was impressed at the amount of work, the detail and the fact that in many places within the tombs, the same inscriptions were repeated so many times. What tedious work! It was fun searching for symbols and figures I had become familiar with, and sharing my knowledge of Egypt with the others. Rasha seemed very interested in this portion of the trip, taking their time to explore the walls.
As the sun continued to climb, so did the temperature, a desert concept we were all familiar with from our Burning Man experiences. We took our time in the cool tombs and walked quickly between them.
We next stopped in an alabaster shop for a demo on how they made vases from stone. We drank teas as we got a tour of their wares and I shopped for a souvenir. I just had to have a stone cat to take home in honor of Kipper and Adelie, my deceased cats. It took me a while to narrow down the choices, while Ra and our guide smoked hookah. And when my selection made its presence known to me, it hit me really hard. This was a statue Adelie approved of, I could feel it. I tried to hold back my tears, but I couldn't. Possibly a combination of the stresses thus far and the emotions of my cat and the carved object I was buying in his honor opened the gates. I excused myself from the worried salesman for a moment to regain my composure and informed him of my selection. He included a scarab for luck and wrapped them up, happy to understand I was not upset with him, but emotional for the relevance of what I was buying
In front of the temple of Hatshepsut
At the temple of Hatshepsut, we explored and took photos and set up for Rasha to spin poi. This was something they had wanted to do at the pyramids, but they didn't bring their poi. And once we set up the shot, they only got a few seconds before someone ran over to stop them. He said no dancing, and Tom, not understanding that this was the only word he knew to convey what he meant, started to take him to task over whether they could spin poi and juggle. "We're not dancing," he said. It didn't matter what it was called, he was not allowing it to go on, not here, not at a temple sacred to one of the more powerful women rulers in all of ancient Egypt. But Tom likes to push things and I just stayed silent and watched him press his point.
Next came a long debate over lunch as we drove to our next stop, Karnak Temple, the holiest place of ancient Thebes. The lunch debate was after an offer to take us to a tourist buffet. I was for the buffet knowing that in third world countries, this is where you find good, safe food. It may not be luxury cuisine, but it won't get you sick. And in the term, "tourist", it is meant that it is tourist quality, not a tourist trap. But the others could only understand a buffet in the terms of most American buffets, which I agree is usually something to miss; stale, luke-warm food. I didn't fight them on it, but I advocated my position. Their fear of a tourist-quality buffet and unwillingness to allow our guide to make commission, which for some reason really bothered them, won out.
Inside Karnak Temple
Karnak was a great experience, only slightly muddied by the huge amount of tourists. Our guide did a really great job here, showing us the architecture, explaining the heightened meanings of going further into the temple's interior and explaining the stories of some hieroglyphs. He even showed me a carving of the god, Thoth, who I was familiar with for being a god of creativity and of writing.
With time on our own, I split from the others. They all wanted to go one way and I another. It was nice to be on my own, although, more difficult to get photos with me in them. But I managed. I got a stone from near the base of Hatshepsut's obelisk and spoke to some ladies from Germany, while resting in the shade.
After running into the others, we explored together again. They started to spin poi and I was torn between thinking it was neat and knowing that it would be frowned on here, in the most holy of ancient Egyptian temples. So I sort of walked away. But I was close enough to hear the return of complaints over the guide and our upcoming lunch. I let them know I was tired of hearing it, telling them that they should back off of the concept of guides making commission on taking us places. I wanted papyrus art. I wanted alabaster cats and I wanted a buffet. And if my desires of these things meant our guide took more money home to his family, then I was happy to assist! But they just didn't seem to get it.
They followed me away and Ra walked with me, although he may not have realized just how pissed I really was. Our guide rejoined us, and we left for lunch. Fortunately, I think we all liked Rasha's lunch selection, made from my guide book, except that Tom said his kebab tasted like cat food. It was nice to have the stress of lunch finally behind us.
Penguin on the Nile River
One of the numerous items on my Egypt bucket list was to set sail on the Nile. It may have been motorized, but the boat ride that followed lunch met my needs. We boarded a boat that could easily have fit 20, so it was nice and comfortable for the 5 of us. The captain and his young son, who would later lead our tour of Banana Island, completed our sailing party. I'd never seen so many banana trees at once and was able to see them in various stages of growth; from just flowering to fully ripe. And the samples of fresh bananas were the best bananas ever; yet so much smaller than ones I am used to.
More hookah was smoked as we relaxed in the afternoon shade. A group of Germans, and especially the locals, were wowed as Rasha got out their poi. Finally, we'd found an appropriate location in which to spin. And they even got to give a lesson to a local boy, who really seemed to catch on quickly.
As if reading my mind, the guide had the captain stop the engine on our way back and I was soon falling asleep as we drifted free, to the north, down the mighty Nile River, just as the Pharaohs had done so long ago.
Our last tour, as the sun set, was Luxor Temple. I found it sad how the Christians and Muslims had come along to leave their marks on this treasure. A mosque still stands and the Christians used part of the holier sections of the temple as their church, covering up the hieroglyphs with images of saints and such.
As the sun set, the lights came on in the open-air temple. And while I enjoyed how they lit up the columns, the light structures at their bases took away from their charm. With our tour at an end, we took our time here and sat for a while taking it all in.
With a few hours to kill before our train back to Cairo, we opted to stop at an internet café. I was done in an hour, but the others took about twice as long. I was so bored waiting for them, I decided to inform them that I was going to walk around and meet them later. But they said they only needed another 5 minutes, which was more like 15 (we had come to call them Egyptian minutes; where 5 meant more like 15), so I waited, while talking to a man on the street who had moved to Luxor a year ago from Nubia, further south. He was very eager to know a foreigner and seemed disappointed that I had to leave with my friends.
We took a long walk for dinner and then rushed back to meet the van for our belongings and were dropped off at the train station. Our meal was fairly good and filling enough that I declined eating the meal on the train. It was late, so instead, we went to bed almost immediately after the train left the station for Cairo.
Sleep was tougher to come by this night, as the weather turned to fog and there were numerous times the train lurched to a stop- once spilling hot coffee on Tom, which made him lose it in a torrent of cursing. I would swear we had hit something, but I never could get conformation on this. Once again, we arrived in Cairo late.
Finally, we had a chance to shower in our hotel room, which was afforded to us for only an hour. The others were off to see more sights of Cairo. For several reasons, I decided not to join them. I knew that if I spent 1 more day touring with them that I'd do or say something I would regret. I also knew the flight to Mumbai was full and there was a chance I wouldn't make it on the flight, since I was flying standby. Not wanting to get to India a day later than them, I opted to ditch all sight seeing on the last day in order to catch an earlier flight to India with a stop over in Kuwait City. I'd miss out on things I wanted to see, but it was a necessary decision. Perhaps I'll return one day.
I got upgraded into business for both flights and really enjoyed being pampered after all the hell of Cairo. On board, I was treated to fresh juice, tasty dates served on a silver platter, hot towels, Arabian coffee, a tasty seafood dinner and was served by neatly dressed flight attendants, who were all smiles and waited on me like royalty. And I found out that most of the smog and pollution was, indeed, dust coming from the desert.
As we took off to the south, we flew over Cairo and the pyramids, and the vast desert to the south and west. I couldn't see these sights, however, due to the amount of desert sand blowing into the city. Oh, if only it had been clear and I could have seen those pyramids from our climb into the heavens! But I had been there, as I had dreamed. And I know that one day, certainly, I will return.
I may not have entered Egypt like a king, but flying out in luxury, I left as one!
Penguin, Rasha and Tom at the Khufu pyramid
For my favorite photos of Egypt, click here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/brogott/EgyptFavorites#
To view other photos left out of the favorites, and for the complete Middle East experience, see the link here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/brogott/MiddleEast#
Penguin in front of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
Sasha, Ra, Tom and Penguin in Jerusalem
Tom looking over family photos
Enjoying German beer in front of the wall of books.
A 747 taken at SFO
Our first night in Israel
