David's Big Adventure in China

The first semester ended and I went to Egypt for two weeks of site seeing. It was quite amazing to see what the Egyptians did so long ago considering the technology and tools available at the time. I found there were some similarities in what they did to what some of the Chinese emperors did in building tombs. I flew from Nanning to Guangzhou then to Cairo with a stopover in Bangkok and arrived early morning on Sunday January 31. After checking into the hotel (located near the Nile River) I went out on my own to see some sites and then in the evening met the others in my Intrepid Tours travel group. There were 12 of us plus our Egyptian tour guide. All of the others were from either Australia or Britain with one Aussie couple who were living in Pakistan and my Brit roommate living in Amsterdam. It was a really good group and everyone got along great.

On Day 2 we went to see the pyramids of Giza which were not too far from our hotel. We rode camels from a viewing area right up to the pyramids (see the pic’s by clicking on the link on the right). Then in the afternoon we went to the Egyptian Museum and saw many incredible artifacts including some of King Tut’s stuff. Considering the quality of the items they had to display, the museum didn’t do a very nice job displaying things. Apparently, they are working on building a new museum. That night we took a sleeper train to Aswan which is a city on the Nile considered to be a gateway to the rest of Africa and home to Nubian minority people. The next afternoon we took a Falucca (sail boat) ride to an island and visited a Nubian people’s home where we were treated to dinner and a party. Day 4 we started out at 3:30 a.m. on an almost 4 hour bus ride to Abu Simbel. Per Wikipedia “Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples in Nubia, southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 290 km southwest of Aswan. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the “Nubian Monuments”,[1] which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae (near Aswan).
The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors. However, the complex was relocated in its entirety in the 1960s, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir.
The relocation of the temples was necessary to avoid their being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River.” After viewing this incredible site for about 90 minutes we made the bus ride back to Aswan and then went to another Nubian home where we would spend the night (see pic’s). The next day (day 6) we got back on the Falucca where we would spend the day and night on the Nile. It was pretty cold that night to be sleeping outside (high 40’s F and windy) on a boat but my sleeping bag and knit hat mostly kept me warm. You can see the picture of the “galley” on the boat which was used to feed 16 people 3 meals. There was no toilet on the boat which made me glad I’m a man…..lol!

Day 7 we went by van to Luxor and stopped to see the Temple of Edfu along the way. Day 8 we saw some sites then hopped on donkeys for a ride to the Valley of the Kings where we visited some tombs then had lunch at the home of our local guide. On Day 9 we visited the Karnak Temple and then took an overnight train back to Cairo where we visited old Cairo and the Khan bazaar. Day 11 we left Cairo and headed to Mt. Sinai which we climbed, reaching the summit just before sunset. It was a bit challenging going back down in the dark. The next day we went to see St. Catherine monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai which is famous for the biblical burning bush before heading out for our Red Sea Beach camp. We spent the rest of day 12 and day 13 at the beach relaxing. We could see Saudi Arabia about 12 miles across the water. On Day 14 we went back to Cairo, going through a tunnel under the Suez Canal along the way. Later that night I went to the airport for my overnight flight back to China.

The Egyptian people were very friendly although most of them really wanted to be friendly with your wallet. The sellers had a habit of guessing where you were from or making some funny comment such as when they saw me wearing my hat they would say “hey cowboy, where’s your horse?” They were very aggressive about trying to get you to buy something and you really had to bargain hard to get a decent price. I was at one museum and after exiting an area a security guard asked me to go back in with him so he could explain some things. I didn’t really want to go back but he insisted then after we walked back out he asked for a tip for doing the explanations …..lol. This sort of thing happened several times during the trip.

I arrived in Guangzhou late afternoon on Valentines Day/Chinese New Year and had to spend the night in a freezing cold hotel room near the airport with no valentine to keep me warm since my flight to Nanning had been cancelled and there were no other flights. I arrived back in Nanning on the 15th and went from the airport to a friend’s house where we made traditional Chinese dumplings to celebrate the New Year. Now I’m catching up on things and having a vacation after my vacation. Classes start again on March 3. Until next time……