Sharm El Sheikh

I flew from Luxor to Sharm El Sheikh, on the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. It is gorgeous here, just like all of the pictures. While I was here, I did a lot of snorkeling just off the beach from the hotel, the coral is bright and there are so many kinds of fish. Water is a bit cool, but feels wonderful after being outside. Went on a snorkeling trip to Tiran Island which was fabulous- coral here was even brighter and there was a greater variety of fish. My favorite is this neon purple fish about three inches long.

Luxor- Trip 2

Today I went to three more temples- the Temple of the Nobels, Medinet Habu Temple and the Karnak Temple. Karnak is hands down the best in my opinion- 134 huge columns, pretty spectacular. Temple of the Nobels (last photo) was neat, but in a way, was a smaller version of Valley of the Kings. Habu (second photo) was beautiful- some of the reliefs still have perfect color despite being outside and exposed to the elements, I don't know how the Egyptians did it. Karnak was just incredible, I think it was my favorite- takes a long time just to walk around it. It is huge (first photo).

Luxor- Trip 1

From Cairo, I took a plane to Luxor- the Nile isn't high enough this time of the year to take a boat, which would have been my preference. Today I went to three temples in Luxor- Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens and the Hatshepsut Temple. They were all great, but it was very hot. It is amazing how far down into the ground the King's temples were. The paintings and carvings inside are beautiful- some look like they have been created yesterday. The photos are all from Hatshesput- pictures weren't allowed at the other sites, but the landscape looks the same at them all.

Day 3 in Cairo

Today Hamada and I went to the Egyptian museum, I saw mummies! They still have teeth, hair, fingernails, it is crazy. There were so many artifacts at the museum it was hard to take it all in, but it was really cool. No photos because photography isn't allowed. In the evening, we went on a cruise on the Nile- the river is beautiful. Kinda funny- I didn't get the photo in time, but there was a bird floating on a pile of garbage down the river. Or maybe that is sad....

No photos for now

Day 2 in Cairo

Today we went to see the pyramids. My first comment was wow, they are big. I don't think it is possible to understand just how big they are from the photos, you have to stand beside it to really understand. We walked all around the three pyramids and the sphinx. They are absolutely incredible. It is hard to imagine how exactly they were built thousands of years ago. I just can't believe it that they are so old. I also rode a camel around the largest pyramid- that was cool! They stand up from the back legs first so you feel like you are going to fall off for a second and the ride is surprisingly bumpy- not nearly as smooth as a horse ride.

Day 1 in Cairo

Cairo is great. I got here around noon and am at Hamada's house- a good friend of my mom's from graduate school. Tonight we went to a bazaar in old Cairo- it is amazing how old things are here. Coming from a country where there are very few old things, it is hard to wrap my mind around the idea that I am standing beside things that are over 1,000 years old, and they keep getting older. This is the view from Hamada's balcony.