For me, the snorkeling is the best thing about Sharm El Sheikh and Naama Bay. Hundreds of colorful fish swam around us yet somehow none of them ever touched us. Only one other time in my life (in the Caribbean) have I swam with so many different and colorful fish. Most places you need to take a boat to arrive at great snorkeling, but there was a reef only about 50 yards from where we entered the sea by our hotel. Snorkeling made the day fun and the proximity to our beach loungers made the day relaxing too. I also really appreciated being on a sandy beach after spending the summer on Croatia’s rocky ones.

I chose to snorkel in my normal Nike swimming goggles because I found them more comfortable than snorkeling goggles, and I didn’t mind having to come up every few minutes for air (I probably do that with normal snorkeling gear anyways.). Fins would’ve been fun, but weren’t really necessary because the reef was small. I wish I knew all the names of the fish we saw. There were so many different types: green ones with big flapping fins on their sides, bright yellow ones with white and black stripes and a super tall thin fin on top, a slow fat reddish brown one with white speckles, and my favorite colorful ones that looked like superman ice cream (google it if you don’t know what it is).

We even saw a sting ray and then a poisonous lion fish. The lion fish’s venomous spines are not usually deadly, but extremely painful (and require a trip to the hospital) if touched. Kevin spotted it first at the sea floor near the base of the coral. Luckily it stayed down there. Still, I think Jay will be wearing his swim shoes tomorrow like the rest of us, just in case.

In the afternoon we played sand volleyball! – something Jay and I missed a lot over summer. We started out playing doubles: Kevin and Dad versus Jay and I (I don’t know who won). Then we had four more join us to make it quads and a multi-national game – they were all from Russia and didn’t speak much English. I think this was the first time I played sports with a group who didn’t speak English, which made the game quite interesting. It is amazing how much body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice communicate without actually understanding words.

We spent the evening walking around Naama Bay’s downtown district (like a boardwalk area), having a nice dinner, and window shopping. Being in Sharm feels like we have left Egypt. It feels a bit like Myrtle Beach meets Cancun meets Egypt. There is a vibrant (somewhat obnoxious) night life, nice restaurants, a Starbucks, and endless souvenir shops.

Thursday, November 26

Today was a lot like yesterday: snorkeling and lying on the beach. It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving, though it didn’t even feel like Thanksgiving. The water here has great buoyancy. I am an average swimmer, but I was able to stay out snorkeling (not standing) for an hour and a half. Tomorrow we are taking a day trip to Petra in Jordan and I know part of all of us doesn’t want to go because we are enjoying relaxing on the beach so much.

The only dark mark on the day was dinner. It was the crappiest Thanksgiving dinner I have ever had (food and service). After a discussion with the Iberotel Lido’s manager about our room mishap, they agreed to compensate us by giving us a buffet dinner (though I would’ve preferred my sea view room). All around the hotel there are signs posted advertising the buffet dinner saying it includes all you can eat food and one drink (beer, soda or water). The food was the worst we’ve had on the trip, but we tried to stay positive by thinking, “Eh, at least we got a free drink.” That was until they bought us a bill for the drinks! We tried to explain to them that we were supposed to have a complimentary buffet dinner and clearly a drink is included (based on many signs). They told us that only the people paying for the dinner got a drink included. They made us pay for the ridiculously expensive drinks, so in the end they made even more money off us. We got doubly screwed over by them. I’m just happy knowing that in the end this will be an insignificant blip on a great trip (though I sure would never stay here again).

Friday, November 27

I know yesterday we were questioning whether we wanted to go to Petra today, but we are sure glad we did. I think it might have been my favorite day of the entire trip, though I am having trouble picking just one. Jay confirms it was definitely his favorite. Petra is an archeological site in Jordan known for its rock cut architecture built around the turn of the millennium. Most people know it from its Hollywood debut in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (which I will have to watch when we get home).

We had one last early wake-up call at 3:30 am to catch our flight to Aqaba, Jordan. The flight was a small (about 60 people) chartered flight full of day-trippers visiting Petra. About half of the group were Russians, one fourth were Italians, and one fourth were English-speakers. When we arrived in Jordan we were divided into groups with tour guides based on our language preference. The Russians were on one bus and we shared a bus with the Italians. We could see Israel off in the distance as we drove away from the airport. Petra was a two hour drive from the airport. Usually I hate being stuck on a bus, but this trip has been different. The sun-lit mountain scenery made the drive enjoyable.

To get to the ancient city you walk through the Siq, a narrow opening (about 10 feet wide in many places), similar to a gorge. It was just over a kilometer in length. The Siq was naturally formed by tectonic forces, which caused the the red sandstone rocks to split dramatically in half. In the Siq we were flanked on either side by soaring 300 foot high cliffs. Walking through the Siq was just as fascinating as seeing the city because the path twisted and turned and the rocks appeared in so many different formations and colors.

At the end of the Siq you see Petra’s most impressive ruin, Al Khazneh (the Treasury). I found it fascinating that the Nabataeans, who built Petra, made such elaborate facades, but just small plain interior rooms. Surrounding this area were other smaller tombs and halls. And further beyond was a giant semi-circle ampitheater, which could seat 3,000 people. There were temples, sacrificial altars and a colonnaded street. And high above our path was the beautiful Urn Tomb. I wish we had time to make the climb to get a closer look, but four hours wasn’t nearly enough time to see everything. We just had time for the highlights (except we didn’t get to see Ad-Deir Monastery, the second most impressive ruin).

The sandstone rocks had their own unique lure and often times they almost appeared to be painted. We weren’t confined to the main path and Jay enjoyed going for a few small climbs up interesting rock formations. I’ve read that you need four or five days hiking through Petra to see it all. There is even a fairly new annual marathon that runs through Petra. That would be an impressive run, but it would be hard not to stop and stare.

Our English-speaking group ended up being a group of 12, and oddly enough, 8 of us had some sort of connection to this area (Croatia or Bosnia and Hercegovina). There were the five us in my family, a lady from Zagreb, and a Canadian couple living in Sarajevo. It was an unlikely group to find each other in Jordan. I really enjoyed talking with them, especially with the Canadian couple, and learning more about the region. The husband works for Bosnia’s Office of High Representative, which is the chief civilian peace implementation agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He had many fascinating stories about the struggles in trying to unite the region. It is still a steep uphill battle.

After leaving Petra, we enjoyed a delicious late lunch buffet at a nearby hotel (it made up well for last night), and headed back to the airport. The bus trip flew by quickly for me as I listened to more stories about Bosnia and Herzegovina (as the rest of the family slept).

Saturday, November 28

We almost didn’t make it out of Egypt. Today was a mess. We arrived at the Sharm airport an hour and a half before our flight was supposed to depart for Cairo. When we tried to check in we were told that we couldn’t because we didn’t get a new visa yesterday after arriving back from Jordan. The one we had purchased at the beginning of our trip was a single entry visa, so we should’ve bought a new one yesterday. That would’ve been great if someone told us that yesterday.

The only place we could purchase the visas were in the arrivals part of the airport, so Jay went with an Egypt Air worker through security to this area. The visas cost $15 USD. You can only pay cash in USD or Egyptian pounds, but we didn’t have any (we just had Croatian kunas). Jay figured he would just get cash out of an ATM. There were three ATMs at the airport. Two of them had Out of Order signs on them, and I am pretty sure the third one was out of order too. Jay tried his two cards, but neither worked. He went back through security check-points to get my cards. He tried my three cards. None of those worked either. Each time Jay had to go through several security check-points and the time kept ticking closer to our plane’s departure. I was almost in tears. I don’t understand how we could have five different ATM cards from three different banks in two different countries and none of them would work at an airport. (Yes, we learned our lesson to always travel with USD.)

Jay tried to convince a few workers to exchange us double or triple the value in kunas for what we needed in Egyptian pounds, but they didn’t buy it. I resorted to the only option I could think of besides begging random people (which Jay said he had already considered). There was a young Canadian woman who had taken the hotel shuttle bus to the airport with us. We had spoken briefly and I knew she was on the same flight as us. I convinced the Egypt Air worker to take me through security to the departure gates so I could ask her for money. We arrived at the gate and I panicked when I didn’t see her anywhere. Right when I was about to give up I saw her walk out of the smoking lounge. There was no time left to be embarrassed so I walked right up to her, explained our situation, and asked if she had any cash we could borrow. She was so kind; our traveling angel for the day. She said she didn’t know how much she had but we could have it all. She pulled out a wad of $1 bills (useful for tips) and started counting them out. She had $29 – $1 short! She had a few Egyptian pounds too, so all together it added up to what we needed.

I ran back to Jay. He ran to buy the visas (and, of course, he had trouble trying to explain that we were paying in both USD and Egyptian pounds, but they eventually figured it out). We then finally checked our luggage in at the check-in counter (it had been sitting there for 90 minutes – they wouldn’t process the luggage without our visas) five minutes before our scheduled departure time. We thought for sure we would miss the plane, and if by some stroke of luck we didn’t, our bags would never make it. We ran to departures. A security officer wanted to check inside one of our carry-on bags (I was about ready to flip out on him). We arrived at the gate exactly at the departure time. We were so happy to see that the flight had been a bit delayed and was just boarding. We couldn’t believe our luck.

It got even better when we arrived in Cairo and discovered our luggage made it too. We exchanged contact information with our travel angel, Reena, and headed on to our next three flights of the day. We had tight connections the entire way. We were rushed, but didn’t miss a flight.

When we arrived back in Split we didn’t see our luggage on the carousal. We assumed our luck had ran out for the day and it didn’t make one of the tight connections. We stood in line with a few other people to report it. The worker at the desk was yelling at someone on the phone. He hung up and politely said to us, “They found more luggage on the plane and it will be here shortly.” Only in Croatia would they not bother to get all of the luggage off the plane the first time.

Click here to view more of our photos from Sharm El Sheikh and Petra, Jordan.

This morning we arrived in Luxor. Luxor is home to the Valley of Kings and Queens and it is full of temples and tombs. Today we visited Karnak and Luxor Temples. Honestly, all of the temples are starting to run together in my head. They feel kind of like churches in Europe; most of them are beautiful, but they can be hard to keep straight. Karnak and Luxor Temples will stand out in my mind because they are huge (Karnak is the largest temple complex in the world), they are in the middle of downtown Luxor (which felt odd after seeing the other temples in isolation), and there were so many tourists (so many!). In Jay’s and my mind, Rome is the epitome of large swarms of tourists, and I felt like we were back there. There were thousands of people from all over the world speaking so many different languages and dressed so many different ways. If site seeing was like this everyday it might annoy me, but since this was the first time we felt like a large chaotic herd of cattle, people watching was part of the fun. And the guys surely enjoyed the odd influx of scantily clad women (cleavage, butt cheeks, and bare stomachs everywhere). Maybe this contributed to the improvement in Jay’s health, though it was probably the Cipro (I’m so glad my parents visited their doctors before the trip.)

After lunch onboard, we spent the afternoon relaxing in our swim suits on the upper deck by the pool. It was fun watching other boats pull in and out of dock. There are around 300 Nile cruises and all of them stop at Luxor at some point, so it is a busy area. Boats pay for dock space, so many boats share one dock and line up five to ten deep. Passengers must walk through the lobbies of the other boats to exit to shore. Most people’s Nile view turns into a view of someone else’s room. Luckily the Sonesta St. George owns their own dock and doesn’t share. This gave us a perfect view of the Nile all day. Dad and I even went on a run in the security enclosed dock area as the sun set.

Monday, November 23

Today I had another wow, woo hoo, holy camoly, yippee adventure. Now I am certain I won’t be able to pick my favorite part of the trip. This morning we went on a hot air balloon ride at sunrise. I know calling something breathtaking can get cliché, but that is the best word I can think of because it was breathtaking in so many way; I was nervous and my knees were wobbly and it was so gorgeous the entire time.

It was another early morning with a 3:30 am wakeup call. Our cruise boat was docked on the East Bank and after checking out, we took a small motor boat to the West Bank and drove to the launching site. Our balloon (and seven others) launched in complete darkness before the sun rose. The balloons glowed bright and colorful in the darkness as they inflated. The baskets were much larger than what I had pictured in my head. They could each hold 24 passengers. We had 20 in ours. The basket was divided into four passenger compartments (five passengers in each – perfect for us) and one in the middle for the pilot. The sides of the basket were chest high with a slightly raised platform inside. There were foot holes in the side to climb in. Some people had to be lifted up and over by the crew, but we all made it in without much trouble. Before launching we practiced our landing positions: holding onto ropes at the side of the basket and squatting so our head was below the height of the basket – just in case there was a rough landing.

I wasn’t nervous at first, but we kept getting higher and higher, and I couldn’t help but think about someone toppling over the edge to their death. My knees were wobbly and my heart raced for about five minutes. Then I relaxed a bit, felt a rush of excitement looking over a thousand feet to the ground below, calmed down even more, and felt happy and serene. It reminded me a bit of skydiving last year (except that was complete terror the few moments before toppling out of the plane, a huge rush of excitement and adrenaline, and then peacefulness). We passed over temples and tombs, observed the distinct line break from green agriculture to sandy desert, and saw the rugged mountains behind us and the sun rising in front of us. The temples looked like miniature architectural models so far below us. We watched the other seven balloons in the distance rising and falling taking turns at different altitudes and moving across the West Bank with us. The rising sun made the color of the landscape constantly change. The sky burnt a fiery orange as the sun broke above the horizon.

Jay and Kevin snapped photos and I took video (I’ll share this in another post). Before we knew it, 40 minutes had passed and we were lowering for a landing. We could see crews of chasers in trucks below following each balloon to help with the landings. We were told that sometimes landings are smooth and light; the ground crew pulls the basket out of the sky and gently places you on the ground. Other times landings are quite bouncy and very rarely the basket topples over on the landing. It all depends on the weather and wind. After seeing another balloon land before us, our pilot warned us we would have a bumpy landing and we did. We hit the ground a few times as we bounced up and down, tilted about 45°, and then thumped to a landing.

We waited about a minute for the crew to arrive; they came flying through the desert in their pickup truck. We exited the basket and watched the crew work to deflate the balloon and pack it all up. They were a frenzy of action the entire time as the crew leader yelled orders and encouragement to work fast. I know one word in Arabic: yella, meaning “let’s go!” or “hurry up!” It was the crew leaders favorite word. As the last part of the balloon got stuffed into a giant bag, the adventure felt officially over. I just wished it had lasted longer.

We spent the morning and early afternoon visiting the Colossi of Memnon, the Valley of the Kings including King Tut’s Tomb, the Valley of the Queens, and the Temple of Hatshepsut. The Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut were my favorites. The Valley of the Kings is a valley outside of Luxor where kings and powerful nobles were buried over a period of 500 years from 1500-1000 BC. 63 tombs have been discovered, with the most famous being King Tut’s in 1922. The tombs are decorated with elaborate scenes of Egyptian life and burial rituals. I found it most fascinating that these tombs came after the majestic pyramids.

Along with Abu Simbel, the Temple of Hatshepsut will be one that I will always remember and be able to picture in my mind. It was built into a cliff face the rises sharply behind it. It displays significant advances in architecture with its series of terraces and colonnades. Its colonnaded structure is perfect harmony with exact symmetry (and built nearly one thousand years before the Parthenon).

We were supposed to visit the Tomb of Nobles, Temple of Ramses III, and Ramesseum Temple later in the afternoon, but decided to bypass them for an afternoon of laying by hotel (Sonesta St. George Hotel) pool overlooking the Nile. We were exhausted from the 3:30 am wake up call, and with even more temples and tombs, they were really starting to run together. Plus, we have two more temples tomorrow. It ended being like a great decision; the weather was perfect (like it has been the entire trip) and the Nile was always bustling with interesting activity. Plus, we ate Pizza Hut, which we haven’t had in over eight months – yum.

Tuesday, November 24

Today we took a day trip to Abydos to see the temples of Seti I and Ramses II and then on to Denderah to see the Denderah Temple. The three hour drive through rural Egypt was fascinating and made the drive pass quickly. The temples were all massive and beautiful, but I know they will fall in line with many of the other temples I have seen; I will be able to picture them in my head, but I won’t know one from the other. I particularly enjoyed the colorful scenes and intricate carvings at Abydos, but what I will probably remember most is the tourist police at Denderah telling Jay to watch his head and then asking him for a tip. Sometimes the constant pressures to give tips is obnoxious, but sometimes it is just funny.

We returned to our hotel, said a final goodbye to our guide, Sayid, and enjoyed a delicious and pleasant dinner at the Italian restaurant there before heading to the airport for our flight to Sharm El Sheikh. When we arrived at the airport, about seven guys (who didn’t work for the airport) rushed down from the hills somewhere, grabbed our bags (one for each of them) before we could get out of the van. It was a comical scene. They rolled them about 10 feet across the driveway to the airport entrance and, of course, they each expected a tip. And my Dad was way too nice and gave them tips. He figures it’s easier to give them a small tip so they will go away than to have them hound you. I can see his point, but out of principle, I wouldn’t have tipped them because I didn’t ask for their help. Once inside, some guy lifted our bags about six inches onto the scale at the check-in counter and wanted a tip for that. He got one. At least all of the hounding makes for good stories (and we knew to expect it coming in).

The night ended on a sour note for two reasons: getting to our hotel and our hotel room. Once we left Luxor, it was the official end of our tour with Sti Travel and we were on our own. Trying to get a taxi to our hotel was a mess because the taxi drives kept changing their prices every few seconds. Eventually they told us they couldn’t even drive us all the way to our hotel due to security, but could just get about five minutes away and could walk the rest. We finally went back inside the airport to a classier looking hotel shuttle provider. It was pricier, but worth it.

Transportation was a minor hiccup. When we go to our hotel, the Iberotel Lido, they showed us to our rooms, but they had no sea view (we could see a staircase and a bit of the pool). We specifically reserved and payed for sea view rooms and had our printed reservation to prove it. We were told that they were out of sea view rooms so this is what we got. They had no plans to compensate us for the mistake. We were just supposed to accept it. I was not happy about it. This was our first accommodations on the trip where we were disappointed in our rooms and the staff seemed incompetent.

At least the sea looks inviting and beach looks soft and sandy. That is all I will need to make me happy tomorrow.

Click here to view more of our photos from Luxor and our hot air balloon ride.

Thursday, November 19

When you have an action-packed two week vacation, I know not every day can be magical. Today was a non-magical day (except for the awesome camel ride), which I guess is fair since yesterday was amazing, out of this world, unbelievable, super great. Like I mentioned in my last post, our overnight train to Aswan broke down. Luckily they fixed it, but it turned a twelve hour journey into a fifteen hour journey. I was happy to get caught up on my diary, but I guess I didn’t get as much sleep as I originally thought because I was ready to crash halfway through the day (and we didn’t get time for lunch). Those of you who know me, know that lack of sleep and lack of food means I was cranky.

The low points of the day were visiting a Nubian school and home. The Nubian school was not on our itinerary and our new guide, Sayid, added it to be “nice.” It consisted of some guy barking Arabic and Nubian numbers at us for fifteen minutes and then wanting a big tip. It really annoyed me. The Nubians are a unique ethnic group in Egypt (who in ancient times were enemies of the Egyptians) and the visit to a Nubian home was supposed to be a cultural experience where you got to meet a Nubian family, have tea with them, and learn about their customs. It ended up being just a big tourist trap. We visited a large home with about ten other groups of tourists. We had tea with our guide, saw sad and angry crocodiles that were kept in concrete boxes way too small for them, and bypassed the souvenir store they had in the home. I wish I had spent this time watching the boats on the Nile go by or swimming at our awesome hotel (Pyramisa Isis Island Resort) that overlooks the Nile that we aren’t going to get to enjoy because we leave before 3am tomorrow. Luckily my Mom was there to hug me and make it all better.

There was a very bright spot in the first part of the day though: a camel ride through the desert to visit St. Simon’s Monastery. There was no real road leading to the ancient ruins of the monastery so camels were a perfect option. To arrive at the camels we took a motorboat ride on the Nile. It felt very remote, though in one direction we could see Aswan in the distance. But the other direction it was just desert as far as the eye could see. The desert was so magnificent. I felt like I was in a movie. It gave me a little better understanding of how getting lost in the desert would be so devastating; it was a bit scary just thinking about it. The ride was beautiful and serene, but at the same time, fun and giggly. Riding a camel is like riding a horse (for us amateurs), except a bit more awkward. And I was trying to snap photos the entire time I was bouncing around, so that probably made it even more blundering. Getting on and off you feel like you are on a giant seesaw that you might just fall off (as the camel stands or sits). Luckily none of us did.

After a visit to the Nubian Museum (which was actually very interesting, but I was ready for the day to be over), McDonald’s (Don’t judge. We were starving, the price was right, and the food was good.), and a convenient store to buy bottled water, we returned to our hotel for a quiet night before our early morning tomorrow.

Friday, November 20

2:15 am is not a good time for a wake-up call, but we did it to see Abu Simbel, along with hundreds of other tourists in Aswan. Abu Simbel is a three hour drive south of Aswan and is a deservedly popular side trip from there. Tourists wanting to visit Abu Simbel from Aswan are required to go with one of two daily convoys, leaving at 4:00 am or 11:00 am. Like many others, we agreed to the early departure so we didn’t miss time (plus lunch and dinner) on our three-night Nile cruise. The police-escorted convoy is suppose to keep tourists safe from terrorists on the long remote drive through the desert (They’ve had a few problems in the past, but nothing in the last few years). Clearly it is just for appearances, just like all of the metal detectors you have to walk through when entering hotels or tourist sites. Half the time the tourist police we see are asleep (not joking – well, maybe 20% of the time, but still I’ve never seen so many on duty police sleeping – ridiculous).

Abu Simbel is two massive rock temples, one to Pharaoh Ramses II and the second to his queen Nefertari. Even with the early wake-up call, it was worth it. The engineering and historical significance of all of the sites in Egypt is just mind-boggling. Abu Simbel was originally built around 1257 BC. It’s colossal size is most impressive. The entire site was relocated in the 1960s on a hill 200 feet above its original site due to flooding dangers when the Aswan High Dam was built. The efforts cost $40 million. Staring up at the four 65 foot statues of Ramses II carved directly from the stone, it was hard to imagine how this possibly could’ve been created thousands of years ago, and also just as hard to imagine how they moved it.

The interior of the Ramses II temple was adorned with large statues and intricate carvings telling great stories. One of the most interesting interior features was the sanctuary in the back with four statues of gods that was positioned by ancient Egyptian architects so that just twice a year, October 22 and February 22, the sunlight would shine through the entire length of the temple to illuminate the gods of this innermost shrine – genius!

After the three hour journey back to Aswan, we checked into our Nile cruise on the Sonesta St. George, and it was only lunch time. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the boat. The rooms were gorgeous and fancy. The best part was the bathroom: beautiful teak wood (I think it was teak) everywhere and a futuristic shower/jacuzzi tub that had so many options, including a rainfall shower and the ability to call other rooms. It came with an instructions page and we will be testing all the options the next few days. Not only were the rooms great, but the food (especially the chocolate desserts) and the service was excellent too.

In the afternoon we were back out visiting sites: the Granite Quarries, the Aswan High Dam, and Temple of Philae. I thought the Granite Quarries with the unfinished obelisk was a waste of time, but at least it was short. The Aswan High Dam wasn’t anything special to see (nothing like Hoover Dam), but it was fascinating because it provides irrigation and electricity for the entire country. Its construction created a 30% increase in agricultural land and doubled Egypt’s available supply of electricity. The Temple of Philae is on a small island in the Nile so approaching it by boat added to its beauty. Like Abu Simbel it had to be moved in the 1960s to rescue it from flooding when the High Dam was built. It was a good site to cap off a great day of site seeing.

On a random side note: We were accompanied by a heavily armed police man for our afternoon touring. It was very bizarre. He rode in the van and tagged along to all the sites with the five of us and our guide. We were never given a sufficient explanation for his presence. We were just told that police accompany American tour groups sometimes to keep them safe. I would think that he should tag along with groups of 40, not a family of five, but we just went along with it (not that we had a choice). I was just pleasantly surprised when he hopped out of the van and didn’t expect a tip at the end.

Saturday, November 21

Today was a lovely day for me, but not so much for Jay. He definitely has a stomach virus (we suspected this yesterday) and today was a bit rough on him. My parents brought prescription Cipro and we are hoping that takes care of it. He was a trooper and didn’t miss a site. Luckily, it was an easy day because we had three short excursions spread throughout a day of sailing on the Nile, and he could enjoy that part from our room.

In the morning we sailed to the botanical gardens on Kitchener’s Island by felucca (traditional Nile sailboat). It was a small boat and a one man operation. It was fascinating to see our captain in action. He had to steer and operate the sails; we curved sharply back and forth across the width of the Nile to make our way back against the flow of the Nile. It was quite impressive, and he was one of the few people that has had his hand out for a tip that deserved a good one.

The other two sites of the day were the Temple of Kom Ombo in the afternoon and the Temple of Horus at Edfu in the evening. Both were impressive in their own ways, especially getting to see the Temple of Horus all lit up at night. Even getting to the Temple of Horus was fun: we took a horse carriage ride with a crazy driver and shared the roads of Edfu with cars, donkeys, carts, and horses.

The best part of the day was sitting on the upper deck of our cruise boat sailing down the Nile. We could see lush green farmlands with a desert backdrop in the distance, forests of palm trees, small villages, trains passing by, locals fishing and children waving at us from the shore. It made me wish we had more days of sailing (even though it’s a three night cruise, we only sail during the day today). I know everyone else does too, especially Dad. I think this has been his favorite part of the trip. He sat at the bow of the boat most of the day taking in the views.

Click here to view more of our photos from Aswan, Abu Simbel and Cruising the Nile.

Sunday, November 14

I’ll never understand why some women travel in tight pencil skirts and stiletto high heels. Obviously, it is not comfortable. I understand the need to look professional if you are stepping off the plane and into a business meeting, but it was Sunday morning at 6:00am so there was no way all of these women were going to business meetings after the flight. Clearly it was a cultural thing; most Croatian women got dolled-up for taking the flight, even though they had to get up at 4:00am. I couldn’t decide if it was admirable or sad. All I knew is that I would be sticking to my valor pants and soft cotton shirts.

We left Split for Cairo, Egypt early this morning. If we were able to fly directly it would’ve taken about two hours, but Split isn’t the most well connected city, so we ended up on three flight over seven hours. Luckily the flights were pretty uneventful, other than almost vomiting after stepping onto the Austrian Airlines plane because the decor colors were so nauseating. All of the seats were bright teal with red, yellow, and white alternating head rests. The carpet was a lime green. And the flight attendants wore head to toe candy apple red: red suit jacket, red shirt, red skirt, red tights, and red shoes. And this ensemble was topped off with a light blue scarf. It all looked ridiculous.

We arrived in Cairo, got Egyptian Pounds out of an ATM, bought our $15 travel visas, went through customs and immigration, and were met by our “handler” from Sakarra Travel Group who took us to our hotel, Le Meridians Pyramid. Just getting to our hotel was the start of a fun adventure. There are 17 million people in Cairo, so there is so much traffic and so many people everywhere. Vehicles are often loaded past capacity and no one follows traffic lanes. It’s a free-for-all with lots of horn honking. Every car has at least one noticeable dent. It was an odd paradox to be surrounded by such chaos, and then suddenly look up to see two pyramids in the distance with the sun setting in a bright pink sky behind them.

Our hotel room is nice, yet pretty standard, except for the view: We can see two of the large pyramids from our balcony, and the tip of the third pyramid too. I look forward to waking up to this view tomorrow morning. We spent the evening exploring the large hotel and the surrounding area and waiting for my parents and Kevin to arrive. I was ridiculously excited to see them, so I was quite impatient and antsy as we waited. I even called the concierge to see if he could check if their flight had arrived, but right when I was asking, I heard a knock on the door. They finally arrived around 9:00pm with great big bear-hugs, good conversations, and goodies from home.

Monday, November 15

Luckily we did not plan much for today. We figured having a nice relaxing day to start would let my family recover from jet lag (their travel time was around 20 hours and they also had to combat a 7-hour time change) and enjoy the trip even more. This was a great idea. We slept in, had breakfast around 10:00, and went for a walk. As soon as we left the hotel, all of the locals around wanted to talk to us, or really just wanted our money. They wanted to take us in their taxi, show us to their store or restaurant, walk with us to our destination, or help us cross the street. It was amusing for about two minutes, but then it got a bit annoying. I could see right away one of the advantages to seeing Egypt with a guide: you are hassled just a little bit less.

Close by, we visited the Mena House, a grand high-brow hotel founded in 1869 close to the foot of the Great Pyramid. The interior was opulent and lavishly over-the-top featuring lots of rich jewel-tone colors and golds, detailed metal and glass works, and intricate fabrics. The gardens were a perfect extension of the hotel: perfectly green and manicured.

Just across the street, we walked to the Giza pyramids’ visitor entrance. We would be visiting them with our guide in two days, but couldn’t wait to get a closer look. Their immense size and architectural precision can’t really be felt from a photo.

After returning the hotel and working out, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and lounging in the heated pool with the pyramids in the background. It was wonderfully relaxing.

And in the evening we returned to the pyramids for the Sound and Light Show, which honestly I found mediocre. For about 45 minutes a deep booming cheesy fake voice explains some of the history of the pyramids as laser lights depict some images on the pyramids. I would have much more enjoyed seeing moving artistic lights set to music, or even just sitting and seeing the pyramids brightly lit up.

We had dinner at the Nubian Village Restaurant poolside at our hotel. We each ordered a meal or appetizer and shared everything. It was a delicious sampling and a great way to be a bit adventurous with our food since we knew there would be something among the five meals we would like. My favorite was the Sambusak with cheese – fluffy cheese fried in a sweet dough – of course that was good.

Tuesday, November 16

Some cities I fall in love with after just a few hours and some I don’t think I could ever love. Honestly, Cairo falls in the latter group. We spent the day in Cairo with our guide, Sam, visiting the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, the Coptic Hanging Church, St. Serguis Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue, a perfume shop, the Citadel of Salah El- Din, the Muhammad Ali Mosque, and the Khan El Khalili Bazaar. The sites were lovely, though not overwhelming (King Tut’s collection was the exception.). The city was overcrowded and chaotic. It felt like it took forever to get anywhere in the congested traffic.

The highlight of the day for me was seeing the King Tut collection at the Antiquities Museum (no cameras allowed). For having one of the smaller of the royal tombs, it was amazing to see how much stuff he took to the afterlife. I almost couldn’t believe the great condition it was all in after almost 5,000 years. The famous gold sarcophagus and mask were exquisite to see. The rest of the collection was new knowledge for me and it was just as fascinating. I was really impressed with King Tut’s royal chair and also the four very large gilded boxes that his sarcophagus was placed in to help protect him from thieves.

My second favorite site was the Muhammad Ali (not the famous boxer) Mosque. The interior artistic patterns and colors were mesmerizing. I have only been inside two mosques in my life, but their architecture and decoration seem to have a such a special lure. I really enjoy seeing all of the domes on the exterior and the detailed patterns on the interior. They have a timeless attraction to me.

Actually, my favorite part of Cairo wasn’t a site at all, it was seeing the mix of the new and old, the urban and the rural. We would see a BMW driving alongside a guy riding a cart-pulling donkey. Across from a McDonald’s would be a farmer selling live sheep. And less than a block from a tall modern sky-scraper you could buy a live chicken. There would be a lady covered head to toe in black loose fabric with just their eyes peeking out walking next to a young women wearing skin tight jeans, high heels, and huge hoop earrings with her long black hear blowing freely in the breeze. There were so many intriguing dichotomies.

After a day full of historical stories, facts, and dates I know I will probably forget most of them, yet I’ll remember some of the random stories that our guide, Sam, shared with us about her life. For example, when I asked Sam why we weren’t asked to wear head scarves in the mosque, she told us that she didn’t see head scarves being worn in Egypt until she was a teeny bopper. Her grandmother, a muslim who died just a few years ago at the age of 87 didn’t even wear one. According to Sam, head scarves became fashionable (I’m not suggesting that head scarves are about fashion, but Sam was very opinionated about them.) when she was a teenager so she asked her father if she could wear one. Sam wasn’t a devout Muslim, so her father said she would have to start praying more first if she wanted to wear a head scarf. She considered the idea until he told her she couldn’t wear her bikini and go swimming in the summer if she wore a head scarf. She never brought it up again.

Our day in Cairo was capped off on a high note with a Nile dinner cruise. We enjoyed a couple hours of good food, amusing entertainment, and Cairo lit up at night. I’m looking forward to the pyramids tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 17

This is why I wanted to come to Egypt: the pyramids. We started our day in Dahshur at the Red Pyramid and Bent Pyramid, and the Red Pyramid may end up being my favorite site of the entire trip (though that is yet to be seen). Places always feel more special to me when I can enjoy them alone or just without hordes of tourists. I didn’t expect to find any of the large pyramids to be “off the beaten track,” but these were. Up until 2007 Dahshur was a military base and no one could get near the pyramids. Since they’ve opened up to the public, I guess the large tour groups haven’t changed their itineraries to include them yet. This completely baffles me, especially considering the Red Pyramid is one of the few you can enter inside and it is only a 20 minute drive from Memphis and Sakkara, which are teeming with hundreds of tourists.

Unlike the impressive Giza pyramids, which are surrounded by gates, ticket houses, and souvenir peddlers, the Red Pyramid is alone in the middle of the dessert. The five of us (plus our driver and tour guide) shared the site with just one other group of about ten travelers who left shortly after we arrived, and a few tourist police, one which was on a camel. We climbed up stone steps a third of the way up the pyramid and entered into a long descending tunnel 3 feet high and 200 feet long (which felt VERY long in our awkward crawl) that led to the burial chamber. The guys chose to squat and waddle like ducks all the way down, while mom and I chose the wiser form and climbed down backwards (Our legs weren’t quite as sore the next day). There were railings on the side to steady your descent and every couple feet there was a rod to step down on. Jay joked that he wished there weren’t rods and he could just slide all the way down, though I don’t think he would’ve made it in one piece. As we entered the tunnel, we noticed that lights lined the floor, but they weren’t on (maybe they were installed when the pyramid opened to the public, but it doesn’t get enough use to justify the cost of turning them on.). As we descended further and further our light eventually disappeared and we were in complete darkness. I couldn’t see my hand a foot in front of my face and I had to carefully feel for the next rod, considering they were not evenly spaced apart. It felt primitive and adventuresome. Thank goodness none of us were claustrophobic, and luckily they did have a light working in the burial chamber. The burial chamber was undecorated, but had an interesting step shaped corbel-vaulted ceiling ceiling. It was hard to believe we were standing inside the middle of a 5000 year old limestone pyramid.

After climbing out of the Red Pyramid, we walked around its circumference enjoying views of the far-stretching desert and the Bent Pyramid. The single road leading to the Bent Pyramid was closed under construction so we couldn’t get as close as we hoped, but it was still impressive shortly off in the distance. If our small bus wanted to go off-roading through the sand we could’ve made it, but that wasn’t on the agenda.

We continued on to visit the sites at Memphis, including a giant 35 foot statue of Ramses II, and then to Sakkara to see the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid ever built. This pyramid most likely started as a mastaba, or flat roofed tomb, but as more mastabas were added on top it gained its impressive pyramid shape and went on to influence architecture for thousands of years to come.

Before visiting Giza we stopped at a carpet school, which was not originally part of our itinerary. Like the perfume shop the day before our guide added this stop in hopes of earning commission from us buying stuff (though we didn’t). This is common practice among guides in Egypt, which we knew before we came, so we should’ve just declined all “free” additions to our tour, but we were too polite.

The carpet school was at least fascinating, but I was not sure how I felt about it. According to our guide, Sam, carpet schools offer opportunities for the poorest of children to learn a skill and escape desperate poverty. We were told that the children, supposedly ages 12 to 20, go to school half the day and make carpets half the day. Children are ideal for making the carpets because of their tiny fingers. As the boys fingers get too big, they become teachers and shop owners. When the girls get older and get married, they get a loom in their home and make carpets there for additional family income. This program was once abused and the children worked long hard hours, but now it is supposedly a beneficial program regulated by the government. I’ve yet to decide if I think it is an escape for poverty or child exploitation. I plan on doing my own additional research before making any conclusions.

After leaving the carpet school, we capped off our day at Giza seeing the pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure, and the Sphynx. The size of the Giza pyramids is most impressive with Cheops Great Pyramid measuring 455 feet tall. Each stone weighs about three tons. The heaviest stone, which is in the King’s chamber, weighs 80 tons. Standing at the base and looking up the pyramid seems to go up and up forever. We entered in the Great Pyramid. The first part of our climb was in a narrow tunnel like at the Red Pyramid, but it wasn’t nearly as daunting because it was well lit and full of other visitors. The ceiling opened up for the second part of our climb, and though there were a lot of steps, it felt like a piece of cake after climbing all hunched over for the first part. Like inside the Red Pyramid, the burial chamber was nondescript and uneventful; climbing there was the fun part.

There was an eerie number of young children (8-12 years old) peddling postcards and wooden figurines. As a young girl tried to show my mom a booklet of ten postcards a young boy stepped in front of her trying to sell the same thing. He was promptly yelled at in a Arabic by an older man and he sauntered away. It all reminded me a bit too much of the children begging in Slumdog Millionaire and collecting money for their ‘caregiver,’ and I hoped that the situations had few similarities. It was sobering to think about all of the great opportunities I’ve had in life (like visiting Egypt) and to wonder what their life situation was really like and what their future held for them. As with many other Americans, traveling often reminds me of how blessed I am.

Seeing all three pyramids at Giza together is an unforgettable site, and we had fun taking photos, doing silly poses, and watching other people trying to pose so their photos would look like they were holding one of the pyramids. After visiting the Great Sphinx, we had dinner and headed to the train station for our overnight train to Aswan. The town was even noisier than usual, as Egypt was to play soccer that night against Algeria in their final chance to qualify for the World Cup. People were wearing red, chanting, and carrying flags or had them hanging from their car windows. Somehow there was even more horn honking than the days before, but this was to a musical tune. It reminded me of the Ohio State cheer where someone yells O-H and every fan around will yell I-O, except it was with car horns, which you can imagine made it more fun, but quite obnoxious too. Sadly, Egypt ended up losing 1-0.

The overnight train (with private sleeping cars) was a good way to get from Cairo to Aswan (Flying was the other option.) because it allowed us to see the country landscapes and saved on a night in a hotel. The train was bumpier than the overnight trains I had been on in Europe, which I guess I should expect in Africa, but I was still able to get a good bit of sleep. The train broke down at one point, so the trip ended up being 15 hours instead of 12, but I didn’t mind too much. We had a small, but comfortable room and it allowed me to catch up on some sleep and my daily diary. And seeing the changing landscape from city to deserts and remote farms along the Nile is a perfect set-up for the next part of our trip, which centers on the Nile.

Click here to view more photos from our trip in Cairo, Giza, Dahshur, Memphis and Sakkara.