Traveling to Egypt with Contiki and loving it

The Egypt Contiki Trip

Day 1

I’m excited to leave the U.S. and go to Egypt. I had to go from La Guardia to Miami and then to Madrid, then finally to Cairo. The flights were OK but Americans transcontinental flight to Madrid needs serious upgrades. It no where near compares to British airways and Virgin Atlantic transcontinental service with their free wine and TV/games at each seat. The 8-hour layover in Madrid is the worst. In Madrid, I finish a paper, listen to 120 songs, eat, walk around, and still have time. I wait at the gate the agent told us to wait at, but I see that people on other flights have been scrambling around this airport all day since they were told the wrong gates. Out of curiosity, I check the boards 15 minutes before boarding and see that my gate is actually one flight up and in the back. I hurry upstairs to catch my plane.

Day 2

I arrive in Egypt on Iberia, and the flight was okay. I go to meet the contiki rep and we wait as all the luggage is unloaded except mine. We go to the airport baggage agent and ask about the luggage. The agent dials a number then says that the bag is probably still in Madrid. PROBABALY!! At this point, I am excited to be in Egypt, its only luggage right. I could buy some clothes in Egypt, at some shop nearby.

The Contiki greater gives me the first lesson on Baksheesh or tipping and how it is they make a living. After a brief tour of the city, we reach the hotel. I tip the cost of a cab ride in NY, which is $40 U.S. I know this is LE200 for them.

I meet my roommate Roy for the first time at 11pm and talk with him. We tell each other where we are from, etc. I tell him about my luggage. As soon as he hears about what happens, he offers to share some of his clothes. I am so fortunate that whenever I go places, I meet some wonderful people. Most people who travel want to get to know other people and do offer to help when needed. I’m left with the thought that if more people travel, the world would be a better place. I know it’s a corny thought, but it is true. With travel, you get to know different people and find out their experiences. In most cases, you find a lot of similarities with them. Also, it is fun to see movies and TV shows that take place in different places that you recognize because you have been there.

Day 3

We head to the Pyramids. I an amazed by what I see. How much time and work it must have taken to build these structures. How did people who were centuries before Christ have the knowledge to build the pyramids? The other question is, how could a people who were so advanced in mathematics, astronomy and medicine lose this knowledge over the centuries? Even with today’s equipment, would we be able to construct a pyramid? How much time would it have taken to build a pyramid with mud and brick ramps, as our guide sheriff states?

I pay $100 LE to see inside the Great (Cheops) Pyramid. After all the walking in the heat to the top, I am not impressed by what I see. There is just a stone box with not else much to see. The entire contents that were inside the pyramid before were either stolen or transferred to museums. Afterward, we walk to the tomb of Senegemib Mehi, which has Egyptian writing inside it, and you don’t have to pay an entrance fee to get in. There is a local inside who tell the stories about the tomb. I know what's coming and several of the girls on our tour duck out. We know that he will ask for a tip at the end of his speech. Russell and I decide to stay and listen. We only give him 1 LE, which is like 20 cents. The local is happy, and we are happy to learn some of the history of the tomb. After, I skip seeing the inside of the second smaller Chephrea pyramid. It’s a good decision, because from what I am told, the inside is the same as the first, and I avoid all the walking up the pyramid to see nothing. The second pyramid still has part of the original facing at the top. It is a shame that tomb-robbers and unscrupulous scholars destroyed the facing of the pyramids to get inside and take the riches. The original white facing may have shined for miles when the sun hit them; I can just imagine how they originally looked. You can at this point also see the smallest of the three pyramids at this site--Micernius. Afterward, our guide takes us to have a picture with a camel.

We travel to a museum holding a solar bark. This is an ancient Egyptian boat which was discovered in 1954 in two pits south of the Cheops pyramid. It took 10 years to reconstruct the boat with the remnants that were found. It is thought that this bark may have accompanied Cheops Gizeh before he was buried in the pyramid. The boat was supposed to guide the pharaoh to the afterlife. Close by we go to the Sphinx, which is 350 meters in front of Cheop’s pyramid. The Sphinx has a human head and the body of a lion. It is said to stand guard over the tombs. The Sphinx was destroyed by someone named Mamelukes who used it as a target to shoot at and also by erosion over the centuries.

For lunch, our bus takes us to a restaurant on the Nile river. What was funny was that on the river, when looking at the scenery, we saw a paddleboat. On the boat, the women were using huge paddles to guide the boat while the man just directed where to go. We joke and say how women in the U.S. and Australia would not do this. The food was served buffet-style, and I sampled some fresh juices which was also good.

Later, we go to a papyrus demonstration. We see how papyrus paper is made and are shown how strong it is. We are shown how to spot real papyrus from fake one. You hold the paper to the light and the real papyrus should have criss-crosses like a basket. The pictures are nice, but there is no room at home to hang it, so I do not buy one.

In the evening we board the overnight train to Aswan. Everyone tries to find out how the sleeper cars work. When we get to our cars we see a hard bench and no beds. Everyone presses and pulls various button and levers but no-one can see anywhere where the bed is stored. We all are scared that we will have to sleep on a hard seat. However when we are out the conductor pull out the beds for us and when we return we see two bunk beds, and we have no idea how they appeared. We were served a dreadful dinner with some type of mystery meat. Half the people though it was fish the other half though it was chicken. Well what do you do on a cramped train with no space? Half our group decides to go to sleep. I head to the room that sounds the loudest which is of course Ben and Darens room, with the BROB party. We hang out with Caroline, Emily, and Roy and others that pass by. The music from the lounge car can be played in each of the room, at first everyone turns this music up in each room. A mix of Arabic and western music is placed. Eventually, it gets late and the music shuts down. We head for the lounge car for a couple of minutes. Someone shows us an interesting mix of cards which they picked up in Amsterdam. It becomes to smoky for us so we head back. Brilliant Matt has his laptop and plays some dance music for everyone to dance to.

At 1am, we see the train conductor, we ask if we are making too much noise but he says he is fine with it. Caroline asks him to join the party and actually gets him to dance with her. After a sexy dance, he jokes that we should not tell his wife. Daren get drunk and wants to streak the train. We all scared that we will be thrown of the train. Darren spends 30 minutes preparing and then suddenly comes out and streaks the train. The party continues somewhere into the AM. In the morning, we are treated to five different kinds of stale bread. Yum!! The views from the train window are pretty nice.

Day 4, Aswan

On the bus we travel to see the Aswan High Dam. The water rushes from the high side to the low side through some controlled gates The dam caused some problems when built. About 24 monuments such as Abu Simbel had to be moved due to possible flooding. In addition the fertile Nile Silt which flows on the river can no longer flow downstream. This causes the region below this point to become less fertile.

We see a monument dedicated to thanking the Russians for helping Egypt build the dam. The monument is in the form of a lotus flower meaning friendship and love. I lie back inside the monument. It is weird to see a combination of Russian and Egyptian writing on the walls of the monument. We then take a felucca , a small boat for a cruise on the Nile. We see the sites and then get off at an area to rest.

Some of the guys decide it would be a challenge to walk to the top of a sand dune on the Sahara desert. WHAT A GREAT IDEA--YEAH, RIGHT!! It is a hard time getting up, since the sand keeps pulling you back and because of the hot sun. It is easier when you walk in someone else's footsteps, but it still takes a long time. However, when we reach the top we are treated to a beautiful view of the Nile. Everyone who made it up is happy. Getting back down, some take a dip in the Nile, while others who are concerned about parasites relax and have a drink.

Ben, Laural, Kristy, Tonya and Joe sit by the water and smoke a Shisha Pipe. It kind of looks like they are smoking drugs, but it actually is an apple-flavored smoke. It’s kind of funny because when Ben gets home he’ll have all these pictures of him smoking we wonder what his mother will say. There are however place in Egypt where hashish may be offered. We take the felucca back to the cruise ship.

After a long shower, some relax by the pool, and others sleep for awhile in their rooms, etc. That evening, we eat some pretty good food on the ship.

After eating, we are treated to a show. A man in a brightly colored costume spins his costume around and does a few tricks. A few people are taken on stage with him.

After, a belly dancer did her routine. The girls on our tour complained how it was not a proper belly dance. After the show and drinking and dancing, we head up to the pool which has been drained. We ask the attendant if they can fill up the pool. He says it will take an hour. After a few drinks we ask again and he tells us it will be by morning. Matt, Christy, Caroline, Ben, Darren, Emily, Roy, and I stay up and look at the stars. It gets late, and I don’t want to fall asleep and wake up with sunburn in the morning, so I go to sleep at 1:30am while the others stay up. It seems that at least four couples have formed tonight.

On a side note, I still have no luggage. The airline says the bag is still in Madrid, although they do not seem too certain. Although Russell and Joe offer some clothes, I'm going to have to buy something if we ever stop in an area that has clothes! Aadvantage customer service also sucks. They say that they can’t help. I have to call Iberia, the parner airline that I flew in on. I hate Iberia; I hope they go bankrupt. Iberia says that I have to call Madrid for help. I’m in the middle of nowhere in Egypt, and they want me to call Madrid. There are no actual clothing shops or other stores around, so I am worried.

Day 5, Aswan to Edfu

That morning, we head for Abu Simbel by plane. During the ticketing process, the guide says that we may be given a ticket with a different name, but it does not matter. Russell got a ticket with a different name. He kept saying when he got the ticket, "I am not Borg, but I am not Borg." Half of our group was laughing when he said this. This could only happen to the Asian dude Russell. I guess we were waiting for him to say resistance is futile. The ticket, we found out later, belonged to Matt, and his was the Borg. Another funny thing is that to get to the plane, you have to take bus, which just takes you a few feet away. I am not sure why you can’t walk the 10 feet.

Abu Simbel is exactly the kind of landmark I wanted to see in Egypt. The structure was created for Ramses the Great and is dedicated to Amon Ra, Harmarkis, and Ptah. The temple is located in the Nubian desert, close to the Nile. The temple had to be moved when the Aswan dam was completed because the waters of Lake Nasser would have flooded the temple. The temple was sectioned off in different pieces and reassembled on higher ground. The angles had to be measured correctly when the temple was placed in the new site. On certain days--March and September 21st--the light of the sun enters in a precise way to focus on a picture within. On the picture, the light focuses on Amon Ra, Ramses, and Harmakis, while leaving Ptah, the God of Darkness, in darkness. Apparently, the company did a good job moving the temple since it does not looked sectioned and the light still seems to enter the temple correctly. The exterior of the temple has a façade with four massive statues of Ramses seated on his throne. The statues showed the people of the time that Ramses was equal with the Gods. Also, hieroglyphics on the walls show Ramses as a fearless warrior who single handedly defeats his enemies. Ramses dedicated the smaller temple of Hathorne to his Nubian wife Nefertari. Thus, Ramses tried to integrate Nubia into Egypt by intermarriage. What is interesting is the ancient graffiti on the walls. Some of it is written in Greek, and one is dated 1898.

Flying back to our cruise, we then sail to Kom Ombo, which is between Edfu and Aswan. This is another site that has to be seen to experience Egypt. Kom Ombo is actually a double temple. The right side of the temple is dedicated to the God Sebek the fertility god. It is the god in the Hieroglyphics with the big ***. These are sold everywhere in souvenir shops throughout Egypt. I wonder who actually buys this statue. The left side of the temple is dedicated to the God Haroeris who is the solar god of war. The columns with hieroglyphics were amazing as well as the setting sun.

Returning to our cruise, the tour manager takes us to the bazaar. I hate the concept. I am not sure why people are so happy when they get 5LE off something; that’s less than $1. Give me something with prices, or I won’t buy it--I only buy in the bazaar out of necessity. I buy a couple of shirts. There are no pants--I search everywhere and finally find one that sells underwear. I give them what they want for a couple of pairs--no bargaining. I try to get some shorts, but they only have one in my size. I take it as well but do bargain for this one. God, I could not take another day with the same underwear, especially in that heat. Underwear--the simple things in life we take for granted.

After, getting the necessities, I purchase a galabyas for the night. That night after dinner, we party--the girls dress in belly dancer outfits, and the guys dress up in galabyas. We drink dance and have fun.

Day 6 Nile Cruise Edfu to Luxor

Edfu is a small town which houses one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt. We take a horse carriage to get to the temple. The temple dates back to the Ptolemaic period and was built on top of older temples of the time of Tutmose III. At the front of the temple are two statues of Horus in the form of a Falcoln. The front enterance walls have Horus and Hathor carved into the walls. Inside is a grey granite tabernacle which is still well preserved.Johnathan reads in his book that there is a secret staircase that you can bribe a guard to open a gate and go up for a view. A couple of the guys head over to try to do this. We get to the gate, however, and there is no guard waiting for us to bribe. It hits me that Johnathan reminds me of the guy that has his Frommers always out on the movie Eurotrip. Finding the horse carriage to get back was a nightmare; there were hundred of the waiting in the same place with only a small number. We couldn’t find ours for about half an hour.

Getting back to the ship we head to Luxor. When we reach Luxor we visit the temple of Luxor. The temple of Luxor was started by Amon-Ofis III, enlarged by Tutmose III and finished by Rames II. In front of the temple there should be 2 obelisks but only one remains standing now. The other obelisk now is in Paris. The outside has numerous pillars and columns.

Karnak is a few KM from the Luxor temple. Here, we see two rows of ram statues dedicated to montu the god of war. Montu is kind of like Aries with a different name. This temple of Amon is the largest temple supported by columns in the world. There are several amazing obelisks at this site. In addition, there is a lake in the middle which priest used to predict by the water level is the land would be fertile or not.

The Luxor museum houses various statues, hieroglyphs and artifacts. You have to pay extra to see the human mummies on display. However, the animal mummies are free to view, including the mummy of a giant crocodile and its baby.

Later that night a few of us venture into the city. I had a Turkish coffee while the other smoke on an apple Shisha Pipe. The girls take pictures with the locals sitting at another table. Caroline pretends to kiss one. We head back. Matt has made friends with the captain of another ship. Some of us head there to check out the bridge. The captain there is very nice. He shows us how he controls the ship by pressing two buttons.

Day 7

I get an hour of sleep since I have to meet Hyun-Ah at 3:30am to do the balloon ride over the valley of the Kings. The crew of the cruise ship who likes us told me a tip: they say not to say you are American to anyone. That determines a higher tip. They say to say you are Australian or something else. So I became Australian for a day. The guide kept asking questions about Australia; it’s a good thing I traveled there so I had some of the answers, and Hyun-Ah helped in the deception as well. Anyway, the balloon ride provided us with brilliant views of the Valley of the Kings and the houses of farmers. It was spectacular to see the sunrise. The sunrise actually changed what we were seeing; it looked like a changing painted picture.

After we meet up with our tour bus, we then travel to the Colossus of Memnon. These are two massive statues which used to guard the temple of Amon-Ofis. The temple was destroyed but these statues still stand guard. These sandstone carved statues represent the pharaoh on his throne, with his hands on his knees. The Valley of the Kings is our next destination. Tutmose I was the pharaoh who first decided to hide his temple and put his treasures in a secret place so they would not be stolen. Successive Pharaohs followed in a similar manner. We visit the tombs of Ramses II, IX, and I. The tomb of Ramses IX is interesting for the scenes of the book of the dead on the walls. The ceiling shows two celestial hemispheres with stellar gods in procession behind solar barges sailing down the Celestial Nile. While others visit the tomb of King Tut, I remained outside with the other half of the group that were tired from walking up and down in the high heat. Most of us got pictures at the entrance pretending we were climbing out of Tut’s Tomb.

For lunch, we go to McDonalds. I order something they call McArabia, which is a pita with falafel, lettuce, tomatoes, and sauce. Everyone’s soda is flat, and we wonder if that is how they serve it here. This McDonalds has some good views of the city from the second-story seats.

Later, we reach the Meridian hotel and my luggage has finally arrived seven days later. I can finally wear something that is not a tourist Egyptian tee-shirt. Half of my luggage was wet for some reason. I am now sure that the luggage was not lost in Madrid as it was not raining there. It was however raining in NY and Miami, I am sure Iberia lied to me. They had no idea where the bags were lost. At the Meridian, we had a few hours to relax by the pool, which was great after all the heat. I get in with a few others from the tour. When I am separated, I get back to the group, and we start looking at the henna tattoos. I got a henna tattoo of the eye of protection on my back. Pretty cool one--temporary is the only way to go for me. The woman doing the henna kept flirting with me and saying how much she would like to be American. She tells me how Egypt is not as free for women as America is.

We do a camel ride through a village in Luxor. Perhaps it was the not sleeping, but I had a little mean streak today. I couldn’t be bothered to listen to the camel guide asking for a tip every second, so I pretend to be listening to my walkman, which is actually off. Poor Laural, who was in front of me, had to listen to my guide as well as hers. Laural knew what I was doing, since I could hear the guide a little too clearly at times, and I did confess later. The guide was screaming since he though I could not hear him. I asked if he could make the camel any faster since I was getting kind of bored, so he gave me the reins and made the camel go faster. However, the camel turned off the path a couple of minutes later to eat leaves from a tree. The guide redirected the camel but then let it go faster again. It was fun to run ahead of the pack a couple of times. At the end of the ride, instead of tipping him the 5-10LE that our guide told us to do, I gave him 40LE, since I had a lot of fun. Darren also tipped high since he told his guide to keep his camel in front, which his guide did.

We visited the small village we were riding the camel through. Here, there are homes with dirt floors, no running water, and animals running around. It was good that the tour brought us to one of the poorer sections of town. I know that a few people on our tour have never been exposed to that way of life living in the city. It helps you appreciate what you have and do something for others.

The house kind of reminds me of my trip to the Dominican Republic with Jes and Rob. We spent a night in his poor family’s house in DR, when we could have spent a night in a hotel instead. Rob and Jes stayed there because they didn’t want their family to feel bad. Even though Rob can be a jerk to some people, he does surprise sometimes. There was no running water. They collect rain water in buckets. We joked how we know we could get parasites from the water. I had to use the toilet at night, and all I remember was stepping on squishy, crunchy bugs when I was peeing. However, the family, though they did not have much, would give you what they had. They cooked a great breakfast for us in the morning. It was amazing to see people with so little have such a close-knit family, while those of us with a little something take it for granted. Some people think that this doesn’t exist in the US, but there are homes that I went to in New York that were worse. When I had to do homecare in New York for my job, I had to take care of people in their homes. Some had bugs and garbage everywhere, and some people would eat food that roaches had just walked through. There’s more to say, but I digress - let’s get back to the tour.

Going back to the Luxor Meridian, I ate with Sarah, Eric, Joe, Laural, and Hyun-Ah. We ate at the Mediterranean restaurant, while the others ate pizza at the Italian restaurant. I had to take a chair from another table since we did not have enough chairs. Five minutes later, two snooty women walk in and complain about the missing chair when there are clearly other tables available. They say they want to sit in this spot to people-watch and because it was closer to the entertainment. I guess they were too elderly to move their own chair. It was funny to watch. The waiter seemed to be pretending he didn’t know what they were saying and he made them wait. I think I would have done the same.

The food was good. I had the mixed grill. At one point, someone suggested the mixed grill contained pigeon as one of the meats. I had to stop eating discretely at that point, until the waiter said that meat was chicken. I guess most of the table who ordered the grill was relieved at that point. After eating, I tapped the waiter who had problems with the chair incident and we joked about the ladies.

I then went with Darren, Ben, Emily, and a couple of others to an Irish bar in Egypt. There was a group of travelers from another group that were having fun and seemed crazier than us if that was possible. These other travels kind of remind me of the crew I was hanging out with in Australia. I guess that’s why I want to go to Australia again. This group was up and dancing and very rowdy. Emily challenges one of the guys to strip for her. He does, and then she followed suit. This got the attention of the patron of the bar, who started screaming, but to the other group. Darren started to leave and take Emily, and the rest of our group followed. I think I would have stayed if someone else from our group did also. When we get back, Emily runs around in the fountain of the Meridian. Some of us visit Sherrif, then decide to go to the pool. I go back to my room to sleep. I wonder if the rest did get to swim, since the pool was supposed to be closed.

Day 8 Luxor to Cairo

In the morning, we take a flight from Luxor to Cairo. I think this was the day that the bus that takes us a few feet to the plane dies and we have to wait for another one. Maybe this happened on a different day; I am not sure.

Anyway, when we get back to Cairo, our first stop is the Khan El Khalili bazaar, which is supposed to be a better bazaar with quality merchandise. All I see is the same old crap that is in Aswan made with cheaper material, if that is even possible. Also, many of the shops are closed, because it is early, I guess. The first stop for half our group is the famous coffee shop. Ben, of course, and some of the others share an apple Shisha smoke. I wonder if you can become addicted to apples? It is pretty nice just to sit, relax and talk, and just watch people walk by. After finishing, I pretty much decide I am buying nothing from here, so I opt to just follow Ben and Darren as they try to find something to buy. I find out that the locals were telling the truth. If you say you are Australian, like Ben is, you get a better price. Ben gets three pretty good statues for 60LE; that’s just $15 US, and they were better quality that most of the things at the bazaar. If you said you were American, good luck if you could get one at that price.

Heading back to the hotel, some of us decide to eat at a Mediterranean restaurant. The food was delicious, and after, we relax by the pool and drink. I get a massage that the hotel is offering, which comes out to only 20$ for 1 hour. The massage was okay, but not the sports massage that I had asked for. What is funny is that the man soliciting the massage was kind of chauvinistic, saying that men give harder massages. I guess he has to say that since he was the only one doing the massages. However, from my experience, what he said about female masseurs is not true. I, at first, hated to get massaged, because I felt embarrassed. However, I bought one for my friend Jessie, as she had just been in a car accident. I decided to try it as well. The person doing the massage was a female, and I did not tell her what was wrong. She found out that it was my shoulders that were the problem, and she said she was going to break up the muscle and scar tissue in that area. It hurt, but after I felt much better. In fact, I used to have numbness in my arms at times, but that went away. Two other females also knew it was my shoulder area that bothered me without me having to say. The times I was put with a male masseur, I have been disappointed. They didn’t know where my problem area was, and I had to tell them. It wasn’t as intense or focused as the female ones.

Back to the trip - After the massage, I head back to the pool again. For some strange reason, they are spraying pesticides while people are still in the pool. I guess in Egypt you can spray poisonous pesticides on people. Anyway, I go to the pool. I get in trouble when I dunk the laminated menu into the water. I thought it would not get wet. It did not seem to get wet at first, but it was. I try to order the ice cream I am craving, but the waiter ignores me, no doubt mad because of the menu. So I have to ask Emily, who is not in trouble, to order one for me. I finally get my ice cream, and the caramel is yummy. I continue in the pool until it is time to go. I shower and dress for the light and sound show. The show is very good. The stories of the pyramids are projected on the pyramids, sphinx, and an area nearby with lights, laser, and a projector. I think the show was worth the money.

Some eat KFC and Pizza after the show. I opt to eat the mixed grill at the hotel restaurant with Hyun-Ah. Joe, Sarah, Roy, and Laural later join us. We talk. Roy asks the hotel clerk for the name of a good Egyptian club. He suggests one at another hotel. The cab ride there is crazy. The cab goes at 100 miles an hour, and they do not obey the traffic lights. We wonder why they even have the lights. I was praying not to be killed. Anyway, we do get to the club safely.

We pay a cover to get in that includes one drink. We find they have belly dancing at 4am, but no one wants to stay out that late we opt to go to the nightclub. When we go to the club, we see all Egyptian people dancing and eel out of place. After, I have my drink and decide with Roy that we paid money to get in here and these people will never see us again, so we decide to get up and dance. At first, Egyptian music is played, but then the DJ switches to some English hip-hop music when he sees us. We start to have a good time, then the DJ plays Egyptian music again and the locals showed us how to dance. It was cool. At some point after, a different type of Egyptian music was played. This was a cue for only the girls to dance. We did not know that but were told. It seems the men sit up front and the Egyptian girls do some sexy belly-dancing moves. We were not sure what all this was about, but at some point, money was thrown at some of the girls. It was kind of weird to see one of the women in a traditional veil do this type of sexy dance with the other women. At some point, the music returns and we dance again, but then it is time to go, just when we are having fun. We all comment how this ended up being a great night. It is time to go on the cab again. This time I am in the front seat. I see the cab weave in and out of traffic, dodging pedestrians. It is so much like an obstacle course or frogger. I am glad we get to the hotel okay and without hitting a pedestrian.

In the morning, we head to Sakkarah, the step pyramid. The necropolis of Sakkarah was the largest in all of Egypt. All of the principal dynasties of Egypt are represented here. Its name comes from the Egyptian god Sokar. The most prominent ancient ruin at Sakkarah is the step pyramid of Zoser, the pharaoh who founded the third dynasty. Surrounding it are other pyramids and mastabas that are characteristic of the eras. Mastabas were the burial chambers of the nobility and its court dignitaries. They were rectangular with slightly inclined walls. Zoser was the first pharaoh to envision a more grandiose burial complex, and thus Zoser's was the first funerary structure to appear in the world. Next, we visit the Alabaster Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Mohammud Ali. The Mosque of Mohammud Ali was begun in 1820 by one of the local rulers of the Ottoman Empire that ruled from Turkey. It is built on a fortified bluff called a citadel, first used by Muslim invaders from Tunisia. Egypt at that time was attractive to invaders because it had a good agricultural system and was a trade center with all of Africa. The citadel itself reminds me of the fortresses I have seen in old San Juan. From the top of the citadel, there is a good view of the city. Also, the mosque has nice stained glass. I rest on the floor of the Mosque when Sherrif talks. I suddenly fall asleep. I think I start snoring, because someone from our group wakes me up. I guess the days of no sleep are taking their toll.

The girls with more risqué clothing have to wear robes. I have a picture with all the bad girls in green robes from our tour. From here, we then visit the Mosque of Sultan Hasan This building was erected between 1356 and 1361 next to the Citadel of Cairo. The project was never fully completed since the price was so high. Sultan Hasan was never buried in the mausoleum, as he was murdered and his body hidden. It is a huge complex four stories high, making it one of the largest mosques in Cairo. The main function of the building was as a madrassa with a tomb attached. It was recognized as a congregational mosque as well because of its size and beauty. What was cool here was that we saw the call to prayer while in the mosque.

Sherriff tells Anu, Eric, and I about a mall that is good in Cairo. We decide to head over there. I go because at least everything will have prices on them and I will not have to haggle. When we get there, it is a small mall and not much is there. I do see a shirt I might want to buy, but no one else sees anything. We end up taking a cab back to the bazaar. Anu tries to find a belly-dancing outfit. She spends an hour trying on costumes and haggling to get a good price. FINALLY, we leave and Anu buys some spices and a bracelets. I still don’t want anything from here, and Eric didn’t find anything either. People at the bazaar were not as pushy and more stores were opened. It was weird to walk up and through a store to get to the main street on the other side. We take a cab back to the mall to catch the cab that will be waiting for us. There is about 15 minutes left, and I decide that after coming all this way, I have to at least get the shirt that I saw. I do get it, but it is wrinkled and I want to wear it tonight. So I have the guy iron it before I buy it. We race and catch our cab back.

When we get back, I hang out with the others by the pool. They decide that they want to go to the nightclub we went to yesterday. This time, when we got to the same nightclub, no one was there. Apparently, this was a day of rest. We ended up dancing by ourselves, waiting for the time for the cab to pick us up. What a difference a day makes!!

Returning to the hotel, I stay up with Kristy, Caroline, Darren, Ben, Jeff, and Matt. I was going to try to just stay up because the shuttle van for my plane home is at 4:30am. We sit, talk, and drink. A couple, I am not saying who, ended up in Darren and Ben’s room. So they had to stay in a different room. Thing were getting late, so we decide to go to bed.

Day 10

At 4:30am, I get up to go to the shuttle. I meet Laural, Joe, Emily etc. Everyone shows up except Darren. We tell them Darren is a different room and give them the room number. They first open the room Darren is supposed to be in, but no one is there. They then call the room we tell them, but the person who picks up says he is not there. It is getting late, so the van takes off without Darren. At the airport, I say goodbye to everyone since they are taking an early Air France flight. I have to wait since the British Airways check-in has not opened up. Darren appears just as check-in is about to open up. I call him over and skip him ahead of everyone since I’m first in line. I asked what happened. He tells me that he did answer the first call they made, but then hung up. They called again an hour later, and this time he woke up. He had to catch a cab by himself. When Darren checks in, his bags are overweight and he has to pay a hefty sum. I secretly wonder how Caroline will get her stuff on the plane. I mean, she has those big, heavy statues bought at every store. She still has vacationing to do. That must cost a small fortune. Anyway, Darren has the agent sit us together. I try to spend the money I have left. Apparently the Egyptian duty-free does not accept Egyptian currency. I tried to find an airport store that did. I got a book on Egypt, and at the candy counter, I asked the guy to give me as many chocolates as I could get with my remaining money. Daren continue to be Daren the rest of the trip. He flirts and talks with two English girls the whole flight. At least the cowboy is consistent. Darren says he knows that people don’t like him because he says what he means. However, I like his honesty; it is refreshing and he is fun to hang out with. We say goodbye when the flight ends. I still have two flights which go well. At the baggage claim, however, the bags were put on two different counters and mixed with different flights. I eventually found mine and was happy it was not lost again.

Day 11

With no recovery period, I have to work at 7am as a physician’s assistant for a 12-hour shift. I really do not want to hear my patient’s problems today. Half asleep, I do my job, but I leave one hour early. I got comped tickets to the Killers Concert, which were waiting for me when I got home. I have to go, as I love the band and I know I'll regret it if I do not go. Wow, the concert was great!! Me and my sister were right up front touching the stage and the band was right there. Brandon was so cool. I loved the concert.

They probably would have an after-party, but I leave at 12am because I have to work at 7m the next day. I enjoyed the whole concert, as it was better then any concert that I have seen, including Prince, Pearl Jam, and Coldplay. The Killers RULE. It was worth the dementia I had running on no sleep at work.