After not having travelled for nearly a year and a half, Cameron and I were more than ready for an adventure abroad! I wanted a lot of bang for our buck and found it with Intrepid, an Australian based budget travel company. Their trip, "Pyramids, Beaches and Desert," sounded perfect and covered all our dream destinations and activities in Egypt and Jordan (two countries that we had never been to before) and the price was right. Not only could we not have been able to do this trip on our own for less, but we wouldn't have wanted to with the security concerns in the region. 

Alas, once we announced our plans, we had to endure the next six months of hearing dire warnings from family and friends who thought we were crazy for wanting to visit the Middle East. We were determined not to give in to fear. Now, looking back, we are so glad we stuck to our convictions because of what a wonderful trip it was!

Cairo

We arrived in Cairo a day early so we could feel rested for the start of the tour. On our own we navigated the streets of a dusty bustling noisy city to find the metro train station. We had met two of the women who would be on our trip and they advised us which stop we needed to visit the Cairo Tower. I like to introduce myself to a city by finding its highest point and gaining an overview. The train pulled up and I hopped on only to be looking at Cameron standing on the platform waving good-bye to me. It turned out I had gotten on the "Ladies Only" car! Luckily I was able to jump off before the train left so we were able to catch the next one and make sure we got on the regular section, which allowed both men and women. 

The Cairo Tower was built during Nasser's presidency in 1956. The tower is 613 feet high and is found in an upscale part of town called Zamalek where it is surrounded by the Cairo Opera House, the Egyptian Museum and Tahir Square. On the day we went up, the skies were so dusty that we were unable to see the Khufu Pyramid in the distance. We were not too disappointed though, knowing that the next day we would be visiting the Pyramids of Giza up close and personal. I had thought that the skies were smoggy, but we were told that it was dust. The city of Cairo is rather dreary with dilapidated sand-colored buildings topped with satellite dishes and with air conditioners protruding from every window. The arms of the Nile run through the city but it was hard to appreciate it with all the dirt, noise and traffic. These people love their horns and crossing a street is just downright terrifying! 

That evening we met the rest of our group, who ranged in age from 21 to over 70, and included six Americans (including ourselves), five Australians and one young lady from The Netherlands. Our jobs ranged from a waitress, several medical professionals, a teacher, a geologist, and a retired Vietnam veteran… we felt covered for any contingency. And we all got along great under the leadership of our amazingly well educated guide, Mohammed. After a brief orientation, we took off for the Khan Al Khalili market which was crammed with souvenirs, clothes, spices and hookahs. We were introduced to some of the architecture and a mosque dating back to the 1600's. The best part though was the looks we were getting considering that most of the women were covered with full body burkas or at least head scarves. Our cute young women attracted a crowd of boys begging for photos with them, which they obliged and all had a good laugh. Although Egypt is primarily (but not exclusively) Islamic, the city of Cairo with its 20 million people, is quite international and therefore reasonably progressive. The stares were probably more for the fact that tourism had plummeted after the Arab Spring in 2010 and folks were shocked, albeit grateful, for the trickling return of our alien faces. 

The following day we were loaded on our private air conditioned tour van to head out to the big draw, the Pyramids of Giza, which are actually situated in what seems like a mere suburb of Cairo. The largest and oldest pyramid is that of Khufu (Cheops), and is nearly 4600 years old… let me repeat that… four thousand six hundred years old…! My mouth was dropped most of the time. Granted there was a Disney World feel to the place with all the tourists climbing around taking selfies, the touts selling souvenir crap, and the camel, donkey and horse riders, but still… 4600 years old, just took my breath away. The other two pyramids were those of Cheops’s son, Khafre (Cephren) and his grandson, Menkaure (Mycerinus), and although smaller, were equally magnificent. It was wonderful to imagine what it was like when they were still gleaming with the polished white stone that covered them. To top off the experience, we all rode camels to try to capture the feel of a desert crossing and coming upon these massive structures. But in retrospect I'm not sure if it was necessary to add to the awe.

To see what had been left in these tombs after years of looting, our group then went to the Egyptian Museum. I am not usually a fan of museums, which I blame on the years of my youth I spent being dragged through them by my mother (who had to read every single plaque), but this museum was brought to life by our guide. He was able to pick the displays that most told the story of what life was like so many years ago and to point out quirky details like how the artisans were able to make the eyes out of a clear stone and yet put a dark pupil in the center. 

Our first fast paced information-packed day was ended with a visit to a fast food joint that served Koshary, a typical meal of pasta, rice, fried onion, various vegetables and a tomato based sauce. We quickly learned that Egypt is not necessarily a foodie destination. Breakfasts were bread, packaged cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers. French fries seemed to be served with every meal. Chicken was the most common meat and was simply served roasted or in a shwarma. 

Aswan

That night we all headed to the train station to take an overnight sleeper train down to Aswan. The train was actually quite comfortable with our bunk style beds and a small sink for a light wash up. The toilets were Western style seats and even had bidets for rinsing yourself! Muslims are expected to be clean prior to praying which they do five times a day. Mohammed was a devout Muslim and prayed whenever he could. He had never done a drug or had a drop of alcohol. The rest of us were allowed to drink if we wanted to but most of us stuck to the ubiquitous Coke or better yet, the delicious mint and lemon juice. Mohammed had a great sense of humor and was open to any question we posed including religion or politics. Muslims believe in all the other prophets and religious texts, they do not believe in violence and are strongly against the current outbreak of terrorists. Mohammed supports the current president Sisi, who was elected two years ago and hopes that with political stability the tourism will pick up again. He did not like the economic effect the Arab Spring had on Egypt and said with a smile, "Arabs should not have revolutions, they are too passionate and can't handle it!"

Aswan was beautiful. It was clean and situated on the banks of the Nile. We had a lovely hotel, with a pool, overlooking the famous river. Here, a few of us decided to visit a parlor for Essence. Egypt is known for extracting the oils from plants and flowers and creating thick oily perfumes such as Rose or Lotus. The parlor we went to even massaged all of us, nearly taking off our clothes right on the parlor couches! We all got a little heady with the yummy smells and ended up buying many bottles of essence, insisting that back home these would cost a fortune. In the evening, we all boarded a boat and cruised around small islands in the Nile to visit a Nubian village for a home cooked meal. On the way we passed an ancient water level gauge carved into the rock that was used to determine if taxes would be collected. If the river was too high or low, then no taxes due to the negative effects on farm yields. It was a lovely sunset cruise passing the layers of history that have been built in this magical land.

The Nubian village was a labyrinth of alleys by small cottages all painted yellow. Evidently each village votes on what its color will be. The Nubians are the race of Egyptians from the south of Egypt but since their inclusion as Muslims, there is very little cultural difference from any other Egyptian. They were darker skinned and described themselves as being more close knit in their communities. And the food was delicious! Salads, lentil soup, roasted chicken, eggplant and potatoes. Our hosts were gracious and welcoming and taught us one of their dances on the way home on the boat.

Leaving Aswan was yet another long standing dream of mine; sailing the Nile on a felucca. The conditions were perfect, with a warm sunny day, a strong breeze and clear water. We fashioned a pirate flag for our boat and renamed it the Flying Dutchwoman. Our crew consisted of Tarik and Yumyum, I'm assuming named after the wonderful meals he could create in the tiny galley of the boat. We stopped to eat and swim in the river, and then later to camp overnight on the river's edge. We built a toilet by digging a hole in the ground then placing a commode over it and surrounding it with poles and a tarp for privacy, it was quite civilized! We all slept side by side on mats with blankets on the open deck, it was lovely. The next day broke with a fabulous sunrise over the river Nile and Cameron's birthday, one he will surely never forget.

Luxor

We joined our van on the other side of the river and headed for Luxor to visit the temples of Karnak, its Arabic name. It was known as Ipet-Sut meaning the most esteemed of places, and was built and added to by many pharaohs to worship a variety of gods of ancient Egypt, the main one being Amun-Ra. This was yet another place whose grandeur makes it difficult to describe. A scene from Indiana Jones was filmed in the hypostyle hall filled with the enormous pillars carved with hieroglyphics. Again, Mohammed was able to point out details that could bring this overwhelming place down to bite-sized humorous pieces such as the glyph of a man with an enormous protruding penis and the story of how pregnancy happened by the man simply touching the woman's elbow. This scene was actually more about the Benben, the Egyptian Big Bang, the beginning of Creation.

The following day we visited the Valley of the Kings and were allowed to enter three tombs, some of which still had color on the hieroglyphics. As we proceeded through these sites we were told of the dates overlapping with the time of Moses and nearing the time of Christ. We did not visit, but did discuss, the brief interlude of Akhenaten, the pharaoh who believed in Aten, the one God, rather than the many gods that had been worshiped previously. Akhen-aten's son was born Tutankh-aten (honoring the god Aten) and changed his name upon his father's death to Tutankh-amun to venerate Amun, the chief deity of the Egyptian pantheon. I found it interesting to wonder if Akhenaten somehow effected the future of monotheism even though he was squelched so quickly.

We ended our day with another home visit meal which was again delicious. The host used to be a guide with Intrepid but had moved on with the crash in tourism. He lived on a lovely quiet alley where the children played and the laundry hung out to dry on walls that appeared as old as the tombs themselves.

Cairo

Another overnight sleeper train returned us to Cairo, with a surprise belated birthday cake for Cameron. What a wonderful extended family this travel group had become!

In Cairo, Cameron and I had a day to ourselves so we hired a taxi to do a drive by tour of some of the places we'd wanted to see but didn't feel up to fighting crowds or enduring the oppressive heat. We made a loop by the Citadel, an enormous complex of mosques and palaces begun in 1176 by Saladin to fortify against the Crusaders. Then we continued to the Northern Cemetery, or City of the Dead, because it is not only as enormous as a city, but it is where the poor live. Our driver stopped by a small entrance to a mausoleum which had been turned into a small apartment. There was a beautiful woman, uncovered, dressed in a pink shift. Her eyebrows were tattooed and she said she was a belly dancer. I knew this woman was not a dancer on the tourist boats who have dance shows and dinner cruises. This was a woman who danced in dark cafés, private parties and most likely had to do other things to make a living to support her young son, and her elderly grandmother, all of which joined in the warm welcoming of me with mint tea. She turned on the TV in the bedroom, as there was only a bedroom and small kitchen, so she could dance for me and with laughter try to get me to join her. These few moments with this family were for me the highlight of my trip, as it was the true heart of a city in pain.

Dahab

We lost four of our group, and gained two as the second part of the trip was about to begin. The now ten of us were trundled off to the airport to fly from Cairo to Sharm al-Sheik, a resort town in the South of the Sinai on the Red Sea. We had a bit of a snafu when the guard at the airport wanted to collect our passports and Mohammed lost his temper. Given that the guards had guns, I figured it was a no-brainer to hand over the documents even though the guard couldn't read and it was simply a prideful show of authority. It was a short flight and we were met by yet another armed guard, this one with a large automatic rifle, to escort us to Dahab, another beach town up the coast. Dahab used to be known as a laid back hippie destination and it was indeed still laid back, but it was nearly empty of tourists. There was an eerie feel to it as we passed on our camels and horses the countless half built structures. It looked like there had been a boon of growth that was suddenly stopped and what was left was this abandoned ghost town. There were the odd characters that were desperately scratching out an existence, and the desperation was palpable. I can say that we did our best to infuse good tourist dollars into the local economy.

The highlight in this area of course was the spectacular fish and coral of the Red Sea. We were told the name came from the color of the sand, but honestly it should have been called the crystal clear radiant blue turquoise sea, because that would describe it better. We chose not to scuba dive here because we were leery of the dive shop equipment so we snorkeled instead. And really, the vibrant colors were all at the top, so we did not feel cheated at all. It was fantastic! We swam around the reef edge of what was called the Blue Hole, which was where it dropped down 450 feet!

After the snorkel, I opted for an "Egyptian" massage, which turned out to be more like any old Swedish massage, but done by an amateur. After the massage, which she cut short because she didn't have a watch and I caught her trying to read mine, which she couldn't because I had it set in 24 hour time, she felt bad so she gave me a "free" hamam. Now that turned out to be just a wooden sauna with her then throwing cold water on me and scrubbing the bejeebus out of me! I tipped her well anyway because she gave me a good laugh.

From Dahab we drove to Naweiba, another coastal town where we stayed in beach shacks with mosquito nets. It was a beautiful setting and we could swim in the sea rimmed by the orange mountains and catch up on our reading and pizza eating. It was from here that we were to say good-bye to our guide Mohammed and board the ferry to cross over to Jordan. We were going to miss Mohammed, but we would not miss the flies, mosquitoes, stray cats and dogs fighting and the suffocating heat.

Aqaba

The ferry to Jordan was an interesting experience starting with our VIP treatment at the gate, quickly passing us through and by all of the other passengers waiting in line. Once on the ferry, which must have had at least six hundred or so people on it, we were the only foreign tourists, and we stood out. Our group was young and colorful and some were wearing shorts, low cut tops, flip-flops and had tattoos. At one point a creepy guy was video taping the girls and making crude gestures. Our group had been joined by a couple who were American and Canadian but had been working in Saudi Arabia so they not only understood most of the customs, they understood some of the language. The young man was able to set limits with the creepy guy to the point that the guy went and found a guard to interpret his apologies to the girls… I think he learned his lesson. And, so did we, which was to dress more modestly.

Arriving to Aqaba, Jordan was in Cameron's words, "like having a weight lifted off my shoulders.” Jordan just felt less desperate, more modern, cleaner and a hell of a lot quieter. No one was honking! We met our new guide, Mohammed (Mohammed the Second to us), and he was as well informed and organized as was Mohammed the First. His welcoming talk to us on the van was moving and nearly brought me to tears. He said "I welcome you as heroes, and hope you will leave here as ambassadors". He described Jordan as the eye of the storm, the quiet surrounded by volcanoes, and he was grateful that we had not listened to the propaganda but had chosen to visit his peaceful country.

Wadi Rum

Our first day was the drive to Wadi Rum, an enormous protected desert valley scattered with giant mountains that have been carved into bizarre shapes by weather, water and time. We drove in jeeps to our Bedouin camp where we would spend the night. Along the way we passed the spring where Lawrence of Arabia was said to have stayed. We then visited Anfasheih Siq, a canyon that was a cool oasis with trees and water, and was speckled with ancient drawings from the Thamudic period, dating from approximately 1500 to 200 BC.

We arrived to our Bedouin campsite in time for a spectacular sunset that was balanced in the East by the rising of a full moon. This meant that star gazing wasn't as spectacular as usual, but the magic of the moon was an equal beauty. Our hosts cooked our Bedouin zarb meal underground with tasty chicken and potatoes accompanied by lentil soup and followed by a gooey cake dessert called Harisah. In contrast to how hot it had been during the day, the evening cooled down with a lovely breeze. We could sleep in our tent cabin with the window open to the mystical landscape lit up by the moon and watch the shadows of the camels roam and the fires dim at the far off camps on the horizon.

Petra

Jordan is a small country so travelling to Petra was quick -- but then we spent the next six hours exploring this amazing place in the wretched heat. It was again like walking into an Indiana Jones movie.

Petra is considered the ancient capital of the Nabataean Empire in the first century BC.  Exploring the site starts with a walk down a narrow cavernous path through a siq (canyon) that was carved out of rose colored rock by ages of flowing water. The natural beauty is truly breathtaking, however you must mind the horse drawn carriages that race by carrying exhausted tourists, crying children, or the elderly. At the bottom of the siq is a tomb called The Treasury, and once you round the bend to reveal the striking facade you are also greeted with camel and donkey drivers who look like Captain Jack Sparrow asking, "you need a taxi?" referring to their sweaty steeds. And then there are all the stalls with souvenirs. And the bookstore with the lady from New Zealand who married a Bedouin. And the stray cats and dogs. Despite these distractions, it is amazing.

The second day we had free so Cameron and I walked the entire path again to the very end of the site to climb the over 500 carved stone stairs to the tomb called The Monastery, gaze in awe, drink a mint-lemon juice, and stumble back down the 500 stairs gaping at the views the entire time. The young whipper snappers in our group climbed all the paths to all the sites and we were impressed but not jealous one bit. Instead we were grateful they went so we could enjoy their pictures over a cold beer in an air conditioned hotel lobby.

The Dead Sea

The final day was spent at the Dead Sea with a castle stop, Qal'at ash-Shawbak, on the way. Mohammed filled our heads with history of Crusaders and pointed out The Rift Valley and Israel just over on the horizon. The Dead Sea is shared by the two countries and, according to Mohammed, shared peacefully. It was a strange sensation floating in the salty sea, bobbing around, unable to really dive into it not just for it being so thick, but also not to burn your eyes out. Because burning the mucous membranes was exactly what it did! There was a fresh water pool available to jump in after a shower and the crowd was interesting and international. It was easy to see the difference. The Muslim women were in full body bathing suits, including having their hair covered, and the rest of us were barely dressed.

We had crossed in a mere three weeks through thousands of years from pharaohs, to various tribes, to Moses, the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans and Muslims. We had seen where it all began, the Big Bang of Benben, the Rift valley, Sodom, Gomorrah and Lot's wife's salt pillar. We saw great civilizations come and go and we saw them through the dust and smog and poverty of the present, and we wondered, how will our layer look?