Trip to Egypt and Jordan, January, 2016
Linda Fitzgerald and Lynda Hughes
Slide Show of Photos with captions at end of trip information
When we said we were going to Egypt, friends said we were brave to go to such a dangerous area. After returning from our 19-day trip with the University of Washington Alumni Association and Odyssey Unlimited Travel we didn’t feel we were especially brave because we were never in danger. We had security with us when we were out of our hotels, but this was not because of ISIS. It had started in 1997 when German tourists were killed at the temple of Hatshepsut. Tourism is the biggest industry in Egypt and they want tourists to come and feel safe. We had security everywhere, on our bus, sometimes in a car following our bus, on our boats on Lake Nasser and the Nile River, and on our small boats when we visited temples.
We began our tour in Cairo where we visited the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, the Citadel, and Old Cairo. The museum has 120,000 items on display with 150,000 in storage that will be added to the exhibit when the new museum is opened. Besides the artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb there are pieces from every period of ancient Egypt with the oldest being from around 3100 BC. At the Great Pyramid at Giza we rode camels, viewed the Sphinx, and visited the Solar Boat that was reconstructed after it was found in 1954 in 1200 pieces.
After two days in Cairo we flew to Aswan and got on a bus for the desert ride to Abu Simbel and boarded the ship, Prince Abbas, for our 3-day cruise of Lake Nasser. We visited the land of the Nubians where King Ramses II had 6 temples built. Ramses II was the longest living pharaoh and was 90 years old when he died after having 34 wives and many children. These temples were discovered beginning in 1813 along the Nile River. When the Aswan Dam was built in the 1960’s these temples had to be moved to higher ground, piece by piece. The temples of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari were carved out of a solid stone cliff in the 13th century BC and to be moved had to be cut into pieces weighing from 30 to 60 tons! We continued our cruise visiting the other 4 temples. While on the ship, we had a lecture on hieroglyphics, so that we could try to read them while we visited the temples.
Departing our ship we visited “new” Kalabsha, site of the largest freestanding Nubian temple, and the Temple of Isis on the island of Philae. We viewed the Aswan Dam and boarded our new 150-passenger ship for the next four days on the Nile River. Like on our previous ship, we were the only passengers. Our guide was even able to change the itinerary of the ship so we could cruise the Nile during the day and see how the Egyptians lived and farmed on only a shallow strip of land before the rocky desert mounds took over. We saw horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, water buffalo, and plenty of dogs and cats. We left our ship after lunch to sail the Nile on feluccas, replicas of ancient Nile sailboats. While cruising the Nile we visited the ancient trading town of Kom Ombo, which was on the great caravan route from Nubia. Then it was on to Edfu where we saw the Temple of Horus, which was discovered in 1900 after centuries buried in the sand. Construction was begun under Ptolemy III in 237 BCE and took 200 years to complete.
Our ship reached Luxor where we spent time viewing the sites there. We began with a hot air balloon ride at dawn over the Valley of the Kings, which has the tombs of more than 50 kings, queens, and nobles. We later visited the site and went into several tombs. They were well lit and beautifully preserved because they had been filled with sand for centuries. Hieroglyphics lined the walls, telling the life story of the person entombed there. Our days in Luxor were filled with a visit to Karnak temple, Luxor temple and a carriage ride through the Sharia Souk, a narrow street market that sells the usual market wares, such as fabrics, pottery, spices and food.
The next day we crossed the Nile in a small boat and had lunch at a farmer’s house. We loved the experience, but the women in our group noted that we never saw his wife who had done all of the cooking of the delicious Egyptian meal. We then visited the archeologist Kent Weeks, who is from Everett and the University of Washington. He is working to help educate the children of Egypt about their wonderful heritage of antiquities and how they must work to preserve them.
We then flew back to Cairo for our last 2 days there. We traveled to the open-air museum at Memphis, Egypt’s first capital dating to the early 4th century BCE. Here we viewed a huge limestone colossus of Ramses II, which they found laying down so they built a building around it rather than move it. They were doing a lot of excavating in the area as they are finding more and more antiquities. We then proceeded to Sakkara where Old Kingdom (2700 to 2100 BC) royalty were buried for 3000 years. We visited several tombs and viewed the Step Pyramid. Our day ended with a shopping trip to a bazaar in Cairo where the vendors are very aggressive! Most of us succumbed and bought scarves or little trinkets.
The extension of our trip was to Jordan so we flew the next morning to Amman. We headed to Petra on the Desert Highway, but stopped on the way at Mount Nebo where it is believed Moses is buried. From the mountain we could see the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and some spires from Jerusalem. This is an area of many mosaics, which we viewed in a Greek Orthodox Church. The next morning we began our walk through the mile long chasm called the Siq into Petra. We were all impressed when we turned a corner and saw the Treasury building that was carved out of the rose colored stone. We learned about the Nabataean times when Petra was an important city of the caravan routes. They were a very advanced society that developed a system of dams, canals, and aqueducts to provide water for the city. By the time of the Crusades, Petra was forgotten and soon abandoned. It was about a 3-mile walk in, almost all downhill, and the same out, but uphill. We were given the chance at times to either ride a carriage, a donkey, a camel, or a horse.
The next day we traveled the highway back to Amman where we toured the Citadel and a museum with a statue of the oldest depiction of humans ever found, between 8000 and 6000 BC. After having a falafel lunch on the street we had dessert on the street where there was a long line for service. Our visit to a food market was next where we walked through throngs of people with a lot of noise of the vendors calling our about their wares. The market had all kinds of fruits, vegetables and meats beautifully displayed.
Our last day in Jordan was spent in Jerash, a Greco-Roman city that became an urban center in the 3rd century BC. It continued to prosper during the 1st century BC as it was on the incense and trade route from the Arabian Peninsula to Syria and the Mediterranean. Roman emperor Hadrian loved this city and it reached its zenith in 130AD. Decline came after that and was captured by the Muslims in 635. The city excavation began in the1920’s and continues today. Another thing that struck us was how much in both Egypt and Jordan remain underground and unexcavated. It’s exciting to think of what still remains to be found by archeologists.
The countries of Egypt and Jordan are fascinating with the history that we’ve read about in school coming alive. To see the hieroglyphics on the wall of a tomb from 2300 BC is awesome. This area of Egypt and Jordan desperately need tourists and they are extremely welcoming. We all agreed that this trip was one of the best ever.
Linda Fitzgerald and Lynda Hughes
Slide Show of Photos with captions at end of trip information
When we said we were going to Egypt, friends said we were brave to go to such a dangerous area. After returning from our 19-day trip with the University of Washington Alumni Association and Odyssey Unlimited Travel we didn’t feel we were especially brave because we were never in danger. We had security with us when we were out of our hotels, but this was not because of ISIS. It had started in 1997 when German tourists were killed at the temple of Hatshepsut. Tourism is the biggest industry in Egypt and they want tourists to come and feel safe. We had security everywhere, on our bus, sometimes in a car following our bus, on our boats on Lake Nasser and the Nile River, and on our small boats when we visited temples.
We began our tour in Cairo where we visited the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, the Citadel, and Old Cairo. The museum has 120,000 items on display with 150,000 in storage that will be added to the exhibit when the new museum is opened. Besides the artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb there are pieces from every period of ancient Egypt with the oldest being from around 3100 BC. At the Great Pyramid at Giza we rode camels, viewed the Sphinx, and visited the Solar Boat that was reconstructed after it was found in 1954 in 1200 pieces.
After two days in Cairo we flew to Aswan and got on a bus for the desert ride to Abu Simbel and boarded the ship, Prince Abbas, for our 3-day cruise of Lake Nasser. We visited the land of the Nubians where King Ramses II had 6 temples built. Ramses II was the longest living pharaoh and was 90 years old when he died after having 34 wives and many children. These temples were discovered beginning in 1813 along the Nile River. When the Aswan Dam was built in the 1960’s these temples had to be moved to higher ground, piece by piece. The temples of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari were carved out of a solid stone cliff in the 13th century BC and to be moved had to be cut into pieces weighing from 30 to 60 tons! We continued our cruise visiting the other 4 temples. While on the ship, we had a lecture on hieroglyphics, so that we could try to read them while we visited the temples.
Departing our ship we visited “new” Kalabsha, site of the largest freestanding Nubian temple, and the Temple of Isis on the island of Philae. We viewed the Aswan Dam and boarded our new 150-passenger ship for the next four days on the Nile River. Like on our previous ship, we were the only passengers. Our guide was even able to change the itinerary of the ship so we could cruise the Nile during the day and see how the Egyptians lived and farmed on only a shallow strip of land before the rocky desert mounds took over. We saw horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, water buffalo, and plenty of dogs and cats. We left our ship after lunch to sail the Nile on feluccas, replicas of ancient Nile sailboats. While cruising the Nile we visited the ancient trading town of Kom Ombo, which was on the great caravan route from Nubia. Then it was on to Edfu where we saw the Temple of Horus, which was discovered in 1900 after centuries buried in the sand. Construction was begun under Ptolemy III in 237 BCE and took 200 years to complete.
Our ship reached Luxor where we spent time viewing the sites there. We began with a hot air balloon ride at dawn over the Valley of the Kings, which has the tombs of more than 50 kings, queens, and nobles. We later visited the site and went into several tombs. They were well lit and beautifully preserved because they had been filled with sand for centuries. Hieroglyphics lined the walls, telling the life story of the person entombed there. Our days in Luxor were filled with a visit to Karnak temple, Luxor temple and a carriage ride through the Sharia Souk, a narrow street market that sells the usual market wares, such as fabrics, pottery, spices and food.
The next day we crossed the Nile in a small boat and had lunch at a farmer’s house. We loved the experience, but the women in our group noted that we never saw his wife who had done all of the cooking of the delicious Egyptian meal. We then visited the archeologist Kent Weeks, who is from Everett and the University of Washington. He is working to help educate the children of Egypt about their wonderful heritage of antiquities and how they must work to preserve them.
We then flew back to Cairo for our last 2 days there. We traveled to the open-air museum at Memphis, Egypt’s first capital dating to the early 4th century BCE. Here we viewed a huge limestone colossus of Ramses II, which they found laying down so they built a building around it rather than move it. They were doing a lot of excavating in the area as they are finding more and more antiquities. We then proceeded to Sakkara where Old Kingdom (2700 to 2100 BC) royalty were buried for 3000 years. We visited several tombs and viewed the Step Pyramid. Our day ended with a shopping trip to a bazaar in Cairo where the vendors are very aggressive! Most of us succumbed and bought scarves or little trinkets.
The extension of our trip was to Jordan so we flew the next morning to Amman. We headed to Petra on the Desert Highway, but stopped on the way at Mount Nebo where it is believed Moses is buried. From the mountain we could see the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and some spires from Jerusalem. This is an area of many mosaics, which we viewed in a Greek Orthodox Church. The next morning we began our walk through the mile long chasm called the Siq into Petra. We were all impressed when we turned a corner and saw the Treasury building that was carved out of the rose colored stone. We learned about the Nabataean times when Petra was an important city of the caravan routes. They were a very advanced society that developed a system of dams, canals, and aqueducts to provide water for the city. By the time of the Crusades, Petra was forgotten and soon abandoned. It was about a 3-mile walk in, almost all downhill, and the same out, but uphill. We were given the chance at times to either ride a carriage, a donkey, a camel, or a horse.
The next day we traveled the highway back to Amman where we toured the Citadel and a museum with a statue of the oldest depiction of humans ever found, between 8000 and 6000 BC. After having a falafel lunch on the street we had dessert on the street where there was a long line for service. Our visit to a food market was next where we walked through throngs of people with a lot of noise of the vendors calling our about their wares. The market had all kinds of fruits, vegetables and meats beautifully displayed.
Our last day in Jordan was spent in Jerash, a Greco-Roman city that became an urban center in the 3rd century BC. It continued to prosper during the 1st century BC as it was on the incense and trade route from the Arabian Peninsula to Syria and the Mediterranean. Roman emperor Hadrian loved this city and it reached its zenith in 130AD. Decline came after that and was captured by the Muslims in 635. The city excavation began in the1920’s and continues today. Another thing that struck us was how much in both Egypt and Jordan remain underground and unexcavated. It’s exciting to think of what still remains to be found by archeologists.
The countries of Egypt and Jordan are fascinating with the history that we’ve read about in school coming alive. To see the hieroglyphics on the wall of a tomb from 2300 BC is awesome. This area of Egypt and Jordan desperately need tourists and they are extremely welcoming. We all agreed that this trip was one of the best ever.