Hey everyone -- we are back from Egypt and are finally unpacked, rested, and clean (ie. wearing different pants then the last 8 days). We had such a great time with Eric and Traci -- prepare yourself for a bombardment of pictures...

Above, with Eric and Traci at the airport on our way to Cairo!!! We were really excited to check out the pyramids so we headed there after settling into our hostel. They were 'closed', but obviously we still had a nice view with the sun setting.

The elevator in our hostel had no door (and a questionable floor) and was wide open for most of the lift. I took the stairs (and there were a lot of them). When we came back from Luxor to this same hostel for a few last days in Cairo, they had replaced the floor and added a door. I still took the stairs thank you.

This was the view from our hostel balcony in downtown Cairo. It is hard to explain what the city is like -- with a population of 16 million, you can imagine it is swarming with people, cars, a mess of garbage, and exhaust etc. etc...

Our first full day in Cairo was spent at the pyramids, and then off to the Museum. We arrived at the pyramids really early in order to secure tickets into the Great Pyramid (they limit the amount of visitors inside). Well we were the only people on foot beside many tour buses so we had to sprint a couple hundred meters uphill to beat the buses when they opened the gates -- we did manage to get the tickets.

Above: a Cairo police officer at the pyramids. Below is a shot of the 3 biggest pyramids: the Great pyramid is the one in front, the Pyramid of Khafre is the one in the middle that still has some of the limestone at the top that used to cover each of the pyramids. The pyramids are impressive from a distance but are really magnificent when up close -- bigger then I even expected (notice the tiny people at the bottom of the picture to give a sense of scale -- they are smaller then one stone)

Another police officer ...

It's hard to tell but Jer and I are standing about 250 m in front of the pyramid

We took a camel down to the sphinx -- Jer is in the front with Traci -- you can see me up close, holding on pretty tightly -- somehow I managed to get the biggest and bumpiest camel in Giza and was at least a foot higher then everyone else. I didn't think it would be much higher, or different then riding a horse -- I was wrong. (Yes Eric, I did steal this one)

After the Pyramids we set out to the Cairo museum. We checked out the Tut Ankh Amon (King Tut) exhibit which was great -- his was one of the only tombs in the Valley of the Kings that wasn't raided and the museum houses all 1700 of the 'treasures' buried with the young Pharoah. We also saw the 'mummy room' which was unbelievable -- there were about 15 or so mummies (all kings) and they were incredibly well preserved. The most interesting to us was Ramses II, who still had his white hair, and Tuthmosis III (or IV, I can't remember which number -- both were there though). These two mummies date back to the two possible times of the Exodus -- that's enough to blow your mind!!!!

Anyway, after the museum we took the overnight train to Luxor which is about a 9 hour trip south by train. Jer and I took a walk around Luxor that morning -- it has a very relaxed feeling -- much different then Cairo.

Birds for sale at the market...

Then we headed over to Karnak, which is the largest ruins of an ancient Temple in Egypt and is very impressive.

Above: the entrance to the Temple. Below is a Colossus of Ramses-- to give you an idea of how big it is (besides looking at the tree) , if you stand next to it, you come up to (around) the smaller figure's shins.

I'm in the 'Hypostyle' (big fancy hall)-- there were about 134 of these columns all decorated with painted hieroglyphics - you can't tell on these pillars, but much of those painted hieroglyphics remain in fairly good condition today. Below is the entrance to the Luxor Temple. The Colussus and the row of sphinx' were amazing.

After visiting the Temples, we took a ride on the Nile in a Felucca. There are so many of these boats on the Nile and you can usually take a 3 hour "sunset cruise" for about $3.50 a person. We had a whole boat to ourselves. It was really relaxing and I fell asleep and woke myself up when I almost fell backwards overboard.

Fishing on the Nile...

Wednesday we took a ferry across to Thebes where we visited the Valley of the Kings. We visted 4 tombs, all carved out of solid rock and usually underground. One of these was the recently discovered tomb of King Tut where his mummified body still lies in a golden sarcophagus'. I was bad and shot a quick picture of the painted wall (his sarcophagus is in the glass box but you can't see it here).

This was the burial chamber of Tuthmosis III. Jer and I are at the sarcophagus. Yes Eric, I stole this one too, but that's it (copyright belongs to Eric "triggerfinger" Tully)!!! Anyway, we made our way to the Temple of Hatshepsut by hiking over the mountain to the other side. Jer is overlooking the valley of the Kings (you can see the road into the valley in the distance).

Below is a picture from the mountain top, overlooking the Nile (in the distant haze) -- you can see a distinct line where they stop irrigation.

Overlooking the Temple of Hatshepsut. Below is another Colossus (the biggest in the area) -- there are two of these Colossus and when the Nile floods, they sit in the water.

We also went to the Valley of the Queens -- the tombs there are also very impressive with detailed paintings, much like that in King Tut's tomb (but not in gold). From there we went to another Temple, the Temple of Medinate Habu which was a mortuary Temple of Ramses III.

Here you can see the hieroglyphics on the pillars (and some of the paint as well). The hieroglyphics below are life size.

Some sights along the way to the Ramesseum (another big old Temple)...

A small village in Thebes with the Tombs of the Nobles in the hills (we didn't go to these tombs and I'm not totally sure who was all buried here).

Jer with the feet of a colossus of Ramses (at the Ramesseum) -- below he is with some Egyptian girls that wander around selling small handmade stuffed camels.

After Luxor and Thebes we took the overnight train back up through Cairo and on to Alexandria. There is not much to see there but it is a beautiful city right on the coast (where Cleopatra is said to have killed herself after Marc Antony is overtaken by Octavian -- I don't really know my history that well so I might be a bit off).

For sale on most sidewalks
Then we headed back to Cairo for a day in Coptic Cairo, Islamic Cairo, and the soccer game (Egypt beat Ivory Coast in the Africa cup of nations -- which is huge here -- i'm not sure if you hear about it back home). Needless to say it was a loud loud night in Cairo. I guess I'm done waiting for these pictures to upload and there are more then enough to look at so maybe I will quit for now. See ya.