Egypt...

We loved Egypt. It was hot, dirty, poor, ancient and modern at the same time, and interesting! The first day we spent in Cairo, where no one drives in the lines, they honk to get a space in the road, and headlights are optional. You are just as likely to see a horse and cart as a Toyota. The women mostly wear at least a scarf over their hair, if not full coverage birkas, and the school kids are curious and beautiful. The "City of the Dead" is basically a cemetery with above-ground tombs, where over a million homeless people live, and they make their homes inside the tombs. The rich people who own the tombs just call the outside guard if they have a family member to bury and the people occupying the tomb clear out for a few days so the family can have the funeral and their mourning period. I think the rich consider it their contribution to society to allow the poor to stay.

The Nile Valley extends about six miles on both sides of the Nile River, and 95% of the Egyptian people occupy that small piece of inhabitable land that consists of about 5% of Egypt. The rest is desert with no water. As we flew over Cairo and Luxor we could see the green, cultivated strips down the Nile where the people farm, and then it becomes just desolate. Apparently, there used to be crocodiles in the Nile, but when the Aswan Dam was built in the southern part of Egypt in the 70's, they shot all the crocodiles on this side of the dam, completely eliminating them from the northern part of the country.

The first day in Cairo we visited the Alabaster Mosque, built by Muhommed Ali in the 19th century. (Not the boxer.) Our Egyptian tour guide, Emad, gave us a little lecture on the Muslim faith that was interesting. We also went to the famous Cairo Museum, which contains all the treasures found in King Tut's tomb, including the solid gold sarcophogus. We couldn't take pictures, so I had to buy a book. A Hall of Mummies is also inside the museum, which was gross and fascinating, all at the same time. Ramses II was there, who is reportedly the Pharoah that Moses dealt with when he led the Israelite exodus from Egypt. Ironic that Ramses thought he would be immortal, and now his body lies in a museum in all its shriveled glory. We even saw his feet!

We stayed in a nice place in Cairo, called the Heliopolis Hotel. The food was excellent, and after our three-day excursion down to Luxor, where the hotel was like a Motel 6, we got to return to the luxury of the Heliopolis. We still couldn't drink the water, but at least there was no mildew in the shower!

Next: Luxor