Trip to the Holy Land - Egypt 9/23/12 to 9/27/12

Cairo - 23 September 2012
Security was tight throughout the tour today.  We had a semi-automatic weapon toting security escort on each bus and at each stop several members of the Tourism Police with rifles and/or pistols met us.  I am sure the coverage "en force" was intended to reassure us but it was also a bit unnerving to think
that they thought it might be necessary.  Fortunately, nothing happened which required them to unleash their weapons but we could have used their help with the vendors!
The memorabilia vendors were the most aggressive I have experienced since Jamaica.  They were plentiful at every site and would confront tourists with their wares and pursue them even after several polite "no thank you"s.  Several members of our group were belligerently accosted by a couple of these vendors.  It left them very upset.  Repeated discomfiting encounters with the memorabilia vendors wiped away much of the excitement we should have felt in visiting these wonders of the ancient world.

Joni and Mick of Arabia

Joni in Giza with Sphinx and Pyramids

Egypt has, of course, some of the world's great extant antiquities.  We saw some of them today, the Giza pyramids.  They are certainly engineering marvels constructed over 4,000 years ago with a precision and skill enviable even in a time of more sophisticated tools like today?  However, similar to Greece, the sites are not well maintained.  It is more than that they are several thousand years old but the areas around the sites are unkempt, the sites are disorganized with materials strewn around the grounds and there is little explanation of the site and it's historical significance.  I suppose the tour guide guild works hard to keep it that way.

Common view of Egyptian housing

As we drove around Cairo (about 17 million inhabitants), unfinished and dilapidated buildings were plentiful on all sides of the road.  Some multi-story buildings had pylons protruding from the last finished story suggesting plans to add another story.  Other apartment buildings had no windows, holes in the walls, bricks or mortar missing in significant quantities.  Few structures were painted so they were all a dusty brown.  It looked as if poverty was as extreme as Jamaica.  Our guide suggested it was not as bad as it seemed because Egyptian tax laws motivated building owners to leave the building unfinished.  Our waiter for dinner at Fuddrucker's also explained that many families leave the top of the building unfinished so children can add another apartment when they come of age.

Cairo - 24 September 2012
Breakfast at the Intercontinental City Stars hotel is a large, diverse buffet.  This morning I asked the maitre de how to make a typical Egyptian breakfast.  He seemed to take great pleasure in helping me prepare my plate with traditional Egyptian breakfast foods.  He mixed up some Fava Beans (faoul with garlic) with spices and cream, prepared fatiere (pancakes) with honey, Egyptian flat bread, halawa (a sweet cake with nuts or chocolate mixed in) and Egyptian oatmeal with milk and cinnammon. It was quite good and very filling.  He brought the chef over to introduce us.  The chef turned out to be Swiss, married to a Korean and living in Egypt - quite international.
The Egyptian museum was another example of poor preservation and presentation of great ntiquities.  The museum building itself was in disrepair, dark and dirty.  The artifacts were stunning in their own right but poorly organized and presented.  The treasures of King Tutankhamen's tomb were very
impressive. The mind's eye can imagine a glorious, grand spectacle of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs' temples, palaces and cities at the pinnacle of their wealth and power.
Security continued to be tight during our last day in Cairo.  Our semi-automatic weapon toting friend was with us on the bus and as we drove through the city we had a two police car escort. Our guide joked that the police escort with sirens was a gift from their President.
We flew to Aswan (about 1.25 hour flight) and arrived at about 6:30pm.  It was very dark and there were few city lights.  Aswan is reportedly a city with one million inhabitants so much smaller and less congested than Cairo.  The road to the city ran across the Aswan dam which was quite long due to the width of the Nile river here.  They took us to a river cruise boat which they repeatedly
claimed was "5 star luxury Nile cruise".  The boat accommodations are comfortable but assigning them a 5 Star rating is a stretch.  Interestingly, they dock the boats parallel to the shore and stacked three deep.  Ours was the third boat so we had to walk through the lobbies of two other boats to reach the Alyssa.

Nile Cruise - 25 September 2012
Up at 5:30am this morning in preparation for an early morning tour of the Temple at Philae Island.  Even here in Aswan we have an armed security escort and the Tourism Police meet us at each stop.  Of course, the vendors are there to greet us at each stop too.

At the Temple on Philae Island

The vendors at Philae Island were primarily Nubians (more African than Arab).  It seemed that these people were more gentle and kind by the way they approached the tour group.  However, these vendors also seemed to be more impoverished than there Arab counterparts.  We rode in boats piloted by Nubians over to the island and when we returned to the dock, the pilot actually forced his boat in between two already docked boats.  There surely would be violence at any U.S. dock if that happened, but it was clearly very accepted by all the other pilots.
In addition to the Temple of Philae we visited the Temples of Koohmbo and Edfu.  All were striking in their own ways.  The size and extent of the stonework and the ubiquity of the sculpture reliefs amazed me.  The investment of labor and craftsmanship required to construct these temples with 2500 B.C. technology had to be extraordinary.  It struck me that visiting these temples is like walking a top flight museum - it requires either a lengthy, highly detailed review of each carved story and nook of the temple or a quick, casual drive by with little interest in understanding the purposes (what it was intended to do for the people or its benefactors) and motivations (why was it built) behind the
temple.  Something in the middle will not work.

Riding the calash to Edfu Temple

Here in Edfu we rode in calashes from the boat to the temple.  It was about a 30 minute ride through the city in a questionably roadworthy calash.  Again, the poverty was obvious and saddening.  With their spectacular history I did not expect Egypt to be a third world country but the city sights belie exactly that.
We had dinner tonight with Ken and Marlene Astle (Sacramento) and John and Diane Madsen (Provo).  Brother Madsen is a General Authority Emeritis (former member of the Seventy), and the "LDS host" for the tour.  We had some good discussion on the ways the ancient Egyptians, and thereby their temples imitated priesthood principles, the decline of Egypt (once one of the greatest civilizations in the world), the sorry state of the U.S., Mitt Romney's candidacy for president, and other topics.  An enjoyable evening.

Nile Cruise - 26 September 2012
Visited the Valley of the Kings, Temple of Rameses III, Temple of Karnak, Temple of Luxor and an alabaster sculpture studio.  We were up at 4:45am, it was very warm (even very early in the Valley of the Kings) and we did quit a bit of walking so many people in the group are dragging today.  Add to that, several people have been struck with stomach problems likely resulting from exposure to
Egyptian tap water.  Joni has felt a little puny this afternoon but hopefully it is just a minor infection and passes quickly.

At the Luxor Temple

After seeing the magnificent temple structures built by Egyptians 3,000 to 5,000 years ago it sharpens the contrast between the extraordinary architecture of the Pharaohs (built in such grand design and with such precision) and the poor quality of the unfinished homes of today (built many times with poorly laid crude bricks, finished crudely with widows and doors, and left in an unfinished state).  A sad loss of skill and pride over the centuries as the people have been subjected to foreign conquerors and spiritual decline.
Struck by evidences in the temples of imitations of the order of the Priesthood (e.g., garments on the priests, robes on the right shoulder changing to the left shoulder, washings, anointings, having to answer several questions before reaching a helper at a veil, questioned at a veil before passing through into God's kingdom) by the pharoaronic Egyptians.

Taba, Egypt - 27 September 2012
We flew from Luxor to Taba this morning on a turbo prop plane (2 planes for the group).  I sat by the window with the plan to observe the land and people from 14,000 feet.  I kept a pretty persistent eye on things and all I saw was rock and sand for the entire 1.5 hour flight across the Sinai peninsula.  I have a better understanding of the resistant attitude of the children of Israel when Moses led them out of Egypt.  I have never seen such an immense expanse of absolute desolation anywhere else.  I believe I would have been one of the lead whiners if I had been there!  They could have survived only by divine intervention (manna, water from the rock, etc.).

Around Taba (and later throughout Jordan) there are Bedouins who raise their temporary housing in open areas and tend their flocks of goats, sheep and camels.  Below is one of the Bedouin encampments we drove by on our way to the Marriott resort.  Our extreme good fortune in enjoying Marriott accomodations as compared to the quality of the Bedouin lifestyle was not lost on me.

One of many Bedouin encampments

The drive from the Taba airport to the Taba Marriott on the Red Sea was about 45 minutes down a twisted broken rock canyon.  We did not see a tree or even any significant vegetation until about 5 minutes from the Red Sea.  The resort is just what you would expect from a Marriott resort property - a stark contrast to what the rest of the buildings in Egypt look like.  The tour company had already checked us in and given us our keys before we arrived but I introduced myself at the front desk and presented them my Platinum card.  Just after we arrived in our small but comfortable room, but before the air conditioner had a chance to cool it down, we received a call from the front desk


Balcony view at the Taba Marriott Resort to the Red Sea

apologizing for not knowing our status at arrival and telling me that they "must" upgrade us to a "beautiful suite" as soon as we were ready.  Three gentlemen came to our room helped us load our luggage onto a cart, took our request for two welcome gifts, and drove us to our bi-level full oceanfront suite.  Oh, the blessings of frequent stayer status!