Tina & Rob’s excellent adventure

First, the Valley of the Kings–An area on the West Bank of the Nile where the tombs of Egyptian Kings have been unearthed. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the dead should be buried where the sun sets. Their homes were built on the East where the sun rises… symbolizing life and death. Pyramid tombs had been robbed during previous dynasties so in later dynasties they built their tombs in the mountains of the desert. King Ramses and King Tut’s tombs are in the Valley of the Kings. When you see the interior of these tombs it is unbelievable the work that went into them. The hieroglyphics and colored pictures telling the story of the journey into the after-life carved into stone. Also separate chambers were built for food and possessions to take with them into the after-life. The Egyptians were more concerned with the after life then the present, so their homes were made of common materials. Their tombs and Temples elaborate works of art.

You can see some sights of life in everyday Luxor. The people live simply. We are also here during Ramadan a holy month of prayer (5x a day), fasting and celebration. It has been really interesting to witness the people participating in their most important holiday. During Ramadan the Muslim people fast from sunrise to sunset. In the evening after the final call to prayer, the people gather to break the fast inviting friends and family for meals.

Some mosques provide meals for the not so fortunate, and it is a time for giving gifts to family and friends and for gifts of charity. The people enjoy the festivities late into the evening. Mosques and homes are decorated with colored lights and lanterns.

We drove from Scotland to London Heathrow to catch our flight to Egypt. We  signed up for a tour for 10 days. When we arrive we are greeted by the man in charge of taking us to our first hotel. To our surprise there is no one else on the bus, turns out we will be the only ones for the entire trip! Cool huh?

Wow! Egypt is an amazing land! Our first stop is Cairo. 20 million inhabitants all driving like crazy. We took a photo of the traffic from our bus. We had just been involved in a minor fender bender (a taxi hit us in the rear) It was interesting…the drivers exchange a flurry of words for about 20 minutes, the taxi driver finally pays a bit of $ and within 20-30 minutes we are on our way again. Weaving in and out of 3 lanes of traffic when there is really only 2 lanes on the highway!

We took a tour of the Pyramids, attended a light show in the evening, and visited the Egyptian Museum where the contents of King Tut’s tomb are on display. Amazing!

Cairo is this huge city with modern buildings and Mosques, KFC, Pizza Hut AND men driving donkey carts with sugar cane along old, shabby, run down buildings. The local market in Old Cairo teems with carts and baskets full of dates, spices, fruits and the reddest tomatoes I have ever seen. In the doorways hang fresh meat, crates hold live chickens and pigeons It is quite something to see.

As you are driving away from busy Cairo into Giza all of a sudden you see the tips of the Pyramids! They sit right on the edge of the city with a vast desert behind them. A place of sharp contrasts indeed!

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The Highlands are ruggedly beautiful and desolate with towns far ... [Continue reading this entry]

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We (Rob, Tina and Lil Booger) took the ferry from Ijmuiden Holland to Newcastle England. The crossing over the North ... [Continue reading this entry]

Meet the new members of Ed and Sabine's family- Not one, but two Rhodesian Ridgeback pups! We enjoyed puppy-sitting these ... [Continue reading this entry]

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In the old fishing village of Enkhuizen, which dates back to the Middle Ages, we visited the Zuiderzee ... [Continue reading this entry]

We are back in Wijk aan Zee in the house of our friend Ed. I (Rob) spent the past weekend with the guys camping (as you know, not my favorite pastime) in Nijmegen. Every year one of ... [Continue reading this entry]