After arriving in Cairo, we were treated to traditional Egyptian food by our Program Director.
Viewing the Great Pyramids was an inspiring sight. The skill of the builders thousands of years ago, without the use of technology as we know it, is indeed mind boggling. And yes, we did take a camel ride.
An additional highlight was having a meal in the home of a host family. The family was in business with the Xerox Company.
A day trip to Alexandra was highlighted by touring the library. It is a beautiful building. We also toured the old library and viewed numerous very old books.
After touring Cairo city, we traveled by air to Aswan. Our "hotel" was the ship on which we spent 7 nights on the Nile River. From the ship, we would do day trips to various temples situated along the Nile.
One of the most impressive temples was Abu Simble was a temple built by Ramas II. Reportedly he was "full of himself" as reported by our Program Director. There are many statues of his image around the country. This temple was moved when the High Dam was built. If it hadn't been moved, it would have been destroyed. The temple was cut in to smaller pieces and then put together using the dust from the cutting that was made into mortar.
The tour of the Valley of the Kings was not only interesting but HOT! Temperature reached 120 degrees. This is the area where numerous tombs have been discovered. We were able to go into several of the tombs, but it was not cool as you might expect. Mostly the temperature in the tombs was warm and humid.
As we traveled on the Nile, it was interesting to see that the vegetation only extended for several hundred yards on either side of the river. The temple at Luxor is said to have been the largest religious structure in the world. Inside the temple, there was still visible, original paint used to decorate the temple walls.
In one area of Luxor Temple, there was a painting of the last supper which had covered some of the original carvings. It was reported that early Christians had defaced many of the temple.
We ended our tour with a farewell banquet. The food was outstanding. We enjoyed the traditional Egyptian food.
Before we left Cairo, we visited with Lee and Lavern Yoder. Lee is Chet's cousin and they had been living in Egypt for 8 years. Both were employed at Narmer American College, Lee as Head Master and Lavern a teacher. Our last evening, we enjoyed a meal at a local restaurant.
This was a great trip. We learned much about the culture, religion and customs of the Egyptians.
