it's been awhile since my last post and i have done sooo much. the rest of the family and the masts arrived safely in cairo and we have been so busy ever since. it has been so nice to have the entire family together and spend time cooking, playing games, talking and hiding from the heat at adam and sarahs. adam and sarah has been spectacular hosts and have showed us their territory and i am beginning to feel maadi is a second home...although arabic doesn't come too easy... one of our first days together we went to the citadel with the muhamoud ali mosque which boosts vasts views of cairo from above and later that evening we bought take out egyptian food and boarded a felucca down the nile for dinner and a sunset. the breeze was refreshing and the sights breathtaking. adam toured us around his school, narmer, which is seriously out in the middle of the desert one morning. of course we headed out to giza very early one morning to see the three great pyramids and the sphinx, all were so monumental in size and it was so fun to really feel the ancientness of egypt and all the history here. the khan al kalili market in downtown cairo captured our attention one evening and we had fun browsing, bartering and adam pretending he was egyptian. three days ago the whole gang boarded the overnight train to upper egypt (which is actually south) to the city of luxor. in luxor we saw so much and what i like to call "egypt fatique" set in. all the sights were spectacular but there is just so much! we saw luxor temple, the temples of karnak, valley of the kings, valley of the queens, the temple of hatshepsut and the colossi of memnon. luxor also has beautiful views of the nile from the corniche and a charming market. well i say charming but there was a bit too much hasseling involved in the adventures there! our group parted in luxor and dad and i plus the masts took a van further south to aswan. we arrived yesterday in aswan and browsed the streets in the evening and then crashed seeing as we had been up since 4:30am. today we awoke at 3:30am (i'm serious) and took another van 3 hours south to the small town of abu simbel to see 2 temples there that had been rescued from the nile when the aswan dam was built. dad and i napped this afternoon after returning and are just now venturing into the city. we will spend tomorrow here and then the following day will catch the overnight train back up to cairo. the pictures are of me on a camel, the whole group in the valley of the kings, adam pretending to be egyptian at the khan a kalili market and my family at the luxor temple
1 comment:
Oh, Amanda! It is so good to see Egypt through you! We are reliving our trip there with your descriptions. Cairo, the Nile, the temples, the markets! But most of all, visiting with Sarah and Adam was so sweet. Getting to know their neighborhood and shops made it easier to be HERE without them, as we can really picture them THERE. Savor every moment-and keep those blogs coming. We really appreciate it! Hugs all around!
Love, Patty
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