What a great hike!

Finally getting out to see what's growing. Some duplicates from previous album, while trying to figure out a sizing problem.

A nice day in mid-May, perfect light, low tide, silence.

Odds and sods from April, May, June 2008

On our last day in Cairo we took a brief tour to the Mohamed Ali Mosque at the Citadel, (date forgotten) and to the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo (built in the 4th century AD). We stopped in the Marriot Garden for an exhorbitantly expensive lunch, and went on our way to pack or bags for a late night return.

After passing through the lock at 8pm, we sailed to Luxor during the night. In the early morning light we drove the the Valley of the Kings, paused at an alabaster factory (very high pressure and touchy-feely salesmen), then took an afternoon tour to Karnak and Luxor temples. Luxor is a tourist destination, and much has been done to beautify the city, and excavation and restoration efforts are evident everywhere.

After leaving Kom Ombu, we sailed during the night to Edfu, where we got a very early start to see the temple there. It is the best preserved temple, having lain under sand for centuries. It has a functioning Nilometer -- the height of the flood determine the level of taxes paid by the farmers -- and a nice layout map that explains how all the temples are designed. Everyone is early as we must travel to Esna and wait in line to get through a lock with an elevation of 7m, and which takes 2 cruis boats at a time. We waited there from around noon until 8pm. We were fortunate to be docked right at the street (rather than being the second or 3rd boat out) so we could see the comings and goings of the townspeople very well.

These pictures are scenes of the riverbank as we sailed for an afternoon past farmlands and small towns. The farming seen here could be from centuries ago. Imagine the call to prayer ringing out from the towns over the water, and the setting sun illuminating the temple as we approached from the water.

We flew to Aswan to meet our Cruise Boat, the Nile Ritz. Aswan depends heavily on tourism. The streets are lined with trees and flowers, and an attractive park-like area follows the river. Cruise boats are docked 3 deep along the waterfront. The market nearby is sadly, not up to the standards of the city's welcome. Vendors, children, carriage drivers and even a few beggars are merciless in their assault. Here we bought seriously overpriced T-shirts at least giving us a story to tell. Our first night aboard was spent at the dock, and the next morning we toured the Aswan High Dam and the Temple of Philae, which was taken apart and rebuilt on a higher island to prevent its destruction by rising waters of the dam. It is as miraculous to me that 47,000 pieces were reconstructed as it is that the temple was built in the first place. In the afternoon we finally set sail.

In the morning, we took a walk along the Nile near Ali's apartment. Traffic and noise were a bit muted by the water, and the beautiful warm day. Later, we took a taxi to another nearby location, much older and more 'authentic' than the Khan. Here clothing, car parts, and numerous other things are sold, but we went to see the Fabric Market, which was totally overwhelming. I bought only one piece, which was cotton, but probably made in China. It would take a lot of knowing to find what you want here. In this place they do not usually see tourists, so our reception was quite different and not nearly so high pressure. After finishing there, we went downtown for supper at a fabulous Egyptian restaurant, Falfala, then home again.

We took an afternoon pyramid tour from the Marriot. It was very comfortable with only 6 people in the van, but was very rushed and touristy. The awe you feel first time you see the pyramids can never be repeated. This time, I learned a lot, and explored the funerary chapel at the base of the Sphinx, but mostly I saw the interaction of tourists, hucksters and the array of camels for rent.

A visit to this fabulous market is never long enough, yet the energy required to negotiate the space wears you down after a couple of hours. Everything is available here. Of course, there is always a pitch and a bargain to be made, but less so in the non-tourist part of the bazaar where most of these pictures were taken.

This was not a great trip. We had drivers who did not seem to care about washrooms, and who took us to a very grungy sheesha place for coffee. They did, however, stop for us to photograph a small camel herd and their Bedouin herdsman. We also enjoyed the experience of wind blown sand, fortunately, from inside the van.

Today we visited "the other side of the mountain", crossing the salt lake, seeing mud from the evaporated shallows which is used for making bricks, visiting a very hot spring, seeing rain and rainbows in the desert, and visiting some Roman ruins and graveyards where shards of broken pottery lie everywhere. We concluded the day with some shopping, and a visit to Mohamed I's shop and Internet service where the quote of the day ocurred:"Ah yes, I have the Internet, but my computer is not here today." As he was out guiding, he loaned it to his buddy. Good fellow, that.

Today we awoke to find the pool at our hotel full to overflowing, an increase of at least 18". Our desert trek began with a stop to pick up "Military Man" who must accompany us to this protected area. We then let the air out of the tires and went 4-wheeling over the sand dunes to our great surprise and delight (except Norah who was scared witless). It was a cloudy day, so there are not striking dunes-at-sunset pictures, but the views were spectacular nonetheless. We had supper and camped at a campground outside the town where the desert meets the farmland. Pictures cannot convey this bizarre experience, or the freezing night and morning. But I would not have missed it for a soft hotel bed.

This is the second part of the day including some shots of the town, and our visit to Fatnos Island during the day and again at sunset by donkey cart.

Our first day in Siwa was a busy one, with excellent light, and visits to the Temple of the Oracle, Cleopatra's well, Fatnos Island and other bits and pieces through the day.

It is a 10-12 hour drive to Siwa from Cairo. We were picked up by 2 drivers in a mini-van. These shots are mostly OCW, but try to show the desert and views enroute. The city of Marsa Matrouh is on the Mediterranean coast, and the last stop before a 3-4 hour trek to the oasis. It is not a particularly nice place in my opinion, however, the restaurant shown is excellent.

On our first day in Cairo we went for a morning walk in Ali's neighborhood, then spent most of the rest of the day traveling to and from the airport to pick up a suitcase that somehow had got left behind the night before. Not too swift, I know, but each experience has its own merit. For this one we have a lot of people to thank, especially Ali's driver Azzet (whose name is likely spelled wrong.) Some of these pictures are OCW (out the car window) hence may not be of the best quality. However, they do suggest the character of the city in some way.

The best flight of my life was from Zürich to Cairo over the Swiss Alps and the Aegean Sea on a clear wintry day. The best airline by far is Swiss Air.

Descriptions and names later. Here I was looking for lines, angles, lighting and windows. You can find photos of hieroglyphs everywhere.

Just a few unedited shots to give an idea of the Nile countryside, and the cruise experience.

A few photos from Siwa, not the whole collection....more later.

A day on the trail and at the beach