Happy Birthday Karin!!!

Well, this was certainly the warmest birthday I have EVER had! And one that will be very hard to beat!

March 25th dawned bright and sunny - as the last 45 days have done! Les had to work - poor baby - I think he should have had the day off in honour of my 52nd birthday. He did come home at 10 a.m. to take me to the Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna Hotel. It's the very nice, swanky hotel about 15 minutes from us. We've spent the odd day there lazing on their beach and swimming in the Gulf and I love the grass and trees and cleanliness of the place.

I was happily on the beach by 10:30 and man was it hot already. The tide was out so the walk to the water was long and even at the farthest buoy the water was only about knee high. I played in the Persian Gulf for awhile - I had too - when will I get this opportunity ever again! While I walked to find some depth, I watched a sting ray scuttle away from me. Is that what sting rays do - scuttle?? As long as he was moving away from me I was happy, and I've never seen one in an ocean before.

The beach was quiet, the busiest days are Thursday and Friday, so I had lots of peace and quiet as I suntanned and daydreamed. I finally had to move to the pool area as the day just got hotter and hotter. I swam and suntanned the afternoon away. A fighter jet flew over head at one point during the afternoon. He was so low that we could have touched the belly - and really, this wasn't a sight I wanted to see as I was sitting so close to the Persian Gulf!!

At 3:00 p.m. I went back into the hotel for the "special offer" available for residents of the area. This "special offer" was Les' gift to me! I was pampered within an inch of my life for 2 hours. A 60 minute massage, a manicure and a pedicure - Heaven!!! By the time I was done with the queen rituals, Les was back from work. We enjoyed a drink together before going outside to the lawn by the beach. Les wanted a sheesha - I think he was in withdrawal - he hadn't had sheesha since Egypt!!! The hotel sets up a great area in the evenings. It's like being in an oasis in the desert. Tents (without walls) filled with carpets, cushions, pillows, low table - very Arabian Nights! We lounged, Les smoked his sheesha and soon four of his co-workers joined us. Manon, Richard, Jules and Michaela, Les and I had a great evening of wine, laughter, sheesha, chocolate cake (I think Manon, who ordered the beautifully decorated chocolate mousse cake knows me all too well already!!). The entire grounds area between the hotel and the beach are lit up spectacularly. Feature lights on the palm trees, lanterns marking the pathways. It's magical!

I've had a birthday to remember for ever...but...50th in New York City...51st in Victoria, B.C....52nd in the UAE at the Persian Gulf...53rd will be where...?????

Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Our weather has not all been so fabulous...we had 3 or 4 days of wind and clouds and high temperatures. Unfortunately this time period was when Les and I planned to go to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Oh well, you just have to make the best of what you're given and enjoy. So we did.

Les took Thursday morning off and we were on the highway to Dubai by 8 a.m. And a good thing we left when we did because the drive was a bit white-knuckly!!! The wind was really bad and when you remember that we are living in the middle of a desert, you will imagine just what was blowing around out there - lots and lots and lots of sand. Visibility was poor, blowing sand on the highway and in some areas, the sand drifts were dangerous. This was a lot like driving in a snow storm. But the temperature was still in the high 20's and when we were in Dubai the mid 30's.

We arrived in Dubai and the wind was still with us. It was disappointing because we couldn't see as much as we wanted too. We could see the massive amount of construction that is going on in this very fast moving city. We saw the building that when completed will be the world's tallest building, tower after tower after tower - either under construction or standing tall already. You can not believe the number of cranes being used. Apparently 30% of the world's construction cranes are in use in Dubai as we speak. Not bad for a city that has been in existence for only 30 years. The traffic in Dubai reminded us of Cairo! But this time Les was driving and we didn't even have a map to navigate from!

Even without a map we managed to find a few places that interested us. The first was the Harley Davidson Shop. We stopped (of course!), looked at the bikes (and yes...like Cairo, the prices are comparable to Canadian prices), checked to see if they had t-shirts for Les (I really didn't want a repeat of the sad disaster at the Cairo Harley shop), and YAHOO!!!! success, a couple of new shirts for Les (and for me too!).

Our next adventure was to find the soukes - gold and spice - and I was told there is a sort of fabric souke too. We were happy to go around in circles for only about an hour before finally finding the souke area. Never in my life have I seen so much gold in any one place, or so many stores that sell gold all lined up one right beside the other. Wow! We had lots of fun looking at the sparkly, the tacky, the shiny, the BIG, the beautiful. And we found the spice souke too, what a wonderfully aromatic area that is. Fresh spices and herbs galore. We will be making some of our favorite cooks very happy when we get home! And of course the shawl and souvenir sellers as in Egypt. And just as pushy as the Egyptian ones, although in the end you couldn't bargain these guys down as good as we could in Egypt.

While we were walking in the soukes we were constantly harassed by men who came close whispering, "Looking for watches", "Looking for handbags...Gucci...Parada...Channel...". Many of you will remember my adventures in New York City a couple of years ago when the little Oriental people would whisper in my ear about the handbags...well, yes, you guessed it...I followed. This time though we didn't go down dark alleys and staircases but close! We went down a very narrow little street (which actually took us closer to the spice souke I might add), and up a staircase. And as in New York, Les who has an intelligent, healthy fear of what might happen to us in a narrow little street muttered not nice words to me, who is probably too stupid to be afraid, all the way. We went up the stairs and were locked into a little room full of handbags of all descriptions. And all knock-offs of the best designers. Unfortunately for Sarah, the purse queen of the Jackson family, the prices quoted for these gems was way higher than I would pay and way higher than what we paid in New York. So down the stairs we went again and this time I not only had the salesman begging me to make another offer, I had Les giving me supreme you know what. But all is well and, as I mentioned, we were now right by the spice souke!

We also went through a little area of fabric sellers. Mostly fabrics for East Indian garments and upholstery fabrics. No quilting fabric!!!

We continued on our way back to Abu Dhabi, where we spent the night at Le Meridien Hotel. Les and his co-workers stay here, in a not so expensive wing of the hotel, when they are in Abu Dhabi. It is a beautiful hotel with 4 or 5 restaurants, 3 swimming pools (a regular one with a waterfall at one end, a kiddie pool and a larger hot tubby kind of pool), tennis courts, water features, birds, trees, grass (this is very important when you live surrounded by sand all the time), and best of all...a clean, sandy beach and Persian Gulf. We anticipated spending all day Friday laying on that sandy beach and swimming in the Gulf.

Too bad the wind gods weren't with us on this one!! Friday dawned and the wind continued. We did go to the beach and I swam in the Gulf and Les was sandblasted by the blowing sand. The water was rough and kind of scary so we found ourselves a nice secluded spot in the pool area and parked ourselves there for the morning. Because the weather really wasn't cooperating, and we knew the highway wouldn't be any better today than yesterday, we left in the early afternoon. On our way out of town, my lovely man who knows me well, stopped at...STARBUCKS!!!! I have not had a latte since I left home...yes believe it! It was sooo good and I truly enjoyed every last drop.

Our drive home wasn't any better today. On this side of the highway the sand drifts were, in some areas, really bad and we were glad to do the drive in the daylight when we could see them and avoid them or at the very least slow down for them. We did arrive home safely and are planning our next little outing!

Life AFTER Egypt!

Here we are back in the United Arab Emirates trying hard to adjust to life off the Nile River!!

Les went back to work the day after we returned from Egypt and I went back to my job of...sun tanning, day dreaming on my cliff by the Gulf, e-mailing and msn-ing with family and friends, reading, x-stitching, planning new quilts...you know...all the hard things in life!!!

We have had fun though continuing this adventure of living together. It is all in preparation for our new life after April 13th when Les is finished his job here in the UAE with SNC Lavalin. They have been fabulous to him but a new employer and job await him in Alberta. He'll be working for Shell Canada at the new Up-grader Plant in Fort Saskatchewan. Yes...we will actually be living together, same time-zone, same province, same town, same house!!! Should be very interesting!!!

Our weekends (Thursday afternoon and Friday) have been spent exploring and enjoying the sun and sand. We've walked the gulf beaches finding incredible treasures of shells, had a great bar-b-que with some of Les' co-workers - fresh tuna (I've never had b-b-q'ed tuna before - in fact I've never had tuna except from a can!!), shrimp, kofta, and wine and lots of laughter, a lovely evening of French wine and French cheese brought back from France by a co-worker, and a weekend in the hustle and bustle of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

I had a fabulous time writing the Egypt daily blog. It was like being there again and I remembered so much more as I was writing. I hope you all got a chance to read it and felt like you were there with us! I've started editing the pictures we took, I'd like them to be ready for printing when we get home. We've heard from some of our new friends (Hi Helen, Ian, Sandra and Brenda!!!! We miss you already!) I received a lovely gift from Afshan (the wife of Les' clerk - we had dinner with them before we went to Egypt). She made for me - and I still can't believe she did this - a most beautiful traditional Pakistani garment. Red pants, embroidered black shirt and red embroidered scarf. It is amazing! I will be a woman of the world when I return to Canada - an Egyptian galabea, a Pakistani outfit, and...a black embroidered robe and scarf as I've seen the Muslim women wear. The weather has been delightful for this Alberta girl - March and the sun shines daily and the temperature has been anywhere from high 20's to mid/high 30's - am I in heaven?????

Day 12 - Saturday, March 3rd

We got up to have breakfast with Ian and Helen who were leaving this morning. They really made a difference to our holiday and we are so thankful to have met them and spent this dream time with them. I can hardly wait to go to Adelaide, Australia to visit with them!!

We waited with Helen and Ian for the Insight Travel agent to pick them up for their ride to the airport. We were happy to see the gentleman who had picked us up not that many days ago. We had a great conversation with him about our tour and when I mentioned that Les and I were going to make a visit to the Khan al-Khalili Souke, he insisted that he would drop us off there on the way to the airport. This is just another instance of Insight Travel going way beyond their duty! With heavy hearts we left the van at the souke and watched Helen and Ian drive away to the airport. The lovely Insight man gave us some tips for the souke and warned that we were very early and not a lot would be open, he even wanted to cross the street with us - just to keep us safe from the crazy Cairo drivers!

The souke, even when it's not really open is filthy. It's a rabbit's warren of narrow streets and alleys - lots of garbage (and who knows what), and very uneven to walk on, a combination or gravel, dirt, pavement. There was a lot of activity; delivery people on bicycles with huge flat boards or big baskets filled with pita or bread loaves, trucks, carts - all getting ready for the business day. As we walked, different vendors opened, gold, trinkets, scarves, shawls, all goods that we've seen everywhere; and lots of common household goods, clothing, etc. We stumbled onto a street of fabric sellers - rolls of upholstery fabric, bolts of cotton and heavier muslin, sheer fabrics, and baskets of fabric scraps. But, if you can believe it, I didn't buy a smidgen of fabric! The cottons looked like they were sold by the bolt and not really patterns that I would have used. We saw vendors that also sold heavy drapery trims and such. It was lovely to see though! We walked through the souke for a couple of hours and then headed back to the Marriott for our final packing, good-byes to members of our group still there, a relaxing lunch at the outdoor patio, and the wait for our ride to the airport.

We were escorted to the airport by a different agent who was also very good to us. He led us through security all the way to passport control, let us know exactly what we had to do to get to our departure gate. And then...the flight back to Abu Dhabi and the end of this holiday of a lifetime. It really was the "Splendours of Egypt" in so many ways.

We arrived in Abu Dhabi at around 10:00 p.m., met our driver and returned to our little apartment at Siemen's Camp about 1 a.m.

Tidbits from today:

• at risk of sounding like an advertisement for Insight Travel I think all of you who read this should know that they are a fabulous company who employ very highly qualified, friendly, and caring guides, staff and crew. Everything that could be done for us to make our tour easier, more interesting, safer, you name it - they did - from the time our feet landed in Cairo until we were on our way home. Nothing was left to chance, everything was organized, confirmed and ready for us at every turn. (We did witness some differences in care, organization, quality of service in the other tour company groups on our boat.)
• we used two travel books during our adventure, both very good, but I really liked the Eyewitness Travel Guide the best for everyday use. They were: "Eyewitness Travel Guides - Egypt" and "Lonely Planet Egypt"

Day 11 - Friday, March 2nd

Our last day...we are so sorry to see the end of this tour.

The first destination today is to the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara (which is very close to Cairo). This is the oldest pyramid in existence and it is said to be a prototype for the pyramids of Giza and all other pyramids that followed. It was built in the 27 century BC - that is almost 5000 years ago - not easy to comprehend. The small temple that we went through first is also the same age and made of sandstone. Some parts of the wall and pillars have been rubbed to a shine with the passing of years and hands rubbing on them, the other parts are the dull sheen of sandstone. I was able to take a picture of Les and his reflection in part of the wall in this temple. The sand in this area is so very fine and clean. Habibi mentioned that a lot of people take sand from here because it is so nice.

The area that we drove through on the way to Saqqara was very dirty, poor and medieval. Because it is Friday, it's a busy market day, day off from school and work. Lots of people, donkey carts, activity. This is all really interesting and the travel books don't tell you how the people live and what is acceptable to them. The small river or channel we drove beside on the way to Saqqara is full of garbage, the occasional dead animal, rats and STILL people were fishing in it (we saw them). Few or no motor vehicles, just donkey carts, horses and the occasional camel. No roofs on the mud brick houses, just dried rushes in some places. But the people all seem to be very hard working.

From Saqqara we went to Memphis (no, not Tennessee!!) to see the huge, but fallen, limestone statue of Ramses II and the alabaster sphinx. Memphis was the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom and most of the Paranoiac period and was thought to be founded about 3100 BC. What is left of the statue of Ramses II - from top of head to knees - is huge and great to see up close. You can really see the detail that you wouldn't see if the statue was still standing. The sphinx is from the 18th Dynasty (from 1550 - 1290 BC), weighs 80 tons and is the largest calcite statue ever found. the village of Mit-Rahina sits above the old city of Memphis - I wonder what's still down there - if anything?

The area of Saqqara is famous for its carpet schools. There are many of them along the way to the Step Pyramid and we stopped at one for a visit. They make lovely silk and cotton carpets. From very traditional looking eastern carpets in all sizes to ones with designs reminding me of Navajo Indian rugs. Again we were treated to refreshments and clean bathrooms!!! I was able to go downstairs and see a couple of looms and weavers. The heavier carpets were woven on traditional floor looms and the lovely silk carpets were done on what looked like upright tapestry looms.

And now...we headed to the Pyramids of Giza, the only one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World to have survived to out day. This was, when we left home, to be one of the highlights of our tour. The 3 pyramids are truly a sight to be seen - we've seen them in the night and now in the bright light of day! We stopped at the Great Pyramid of Cheops - it is the largest and oldest in this Giza area - it stood 146 metres high when it was completed around 2570 BC (that's more than 4500 years ago!) You can;t imagine the size of it until you are standing right there beside it, or up on one of the blocks. Visitors are allowed to climb up to the original entrance which is now blocked and it was fabulous to be able to do that - the chance of a lifetime! We got some very good pictures of Cairo from the area just in front of the Great Pyramid, it really is amazing to see how close the city is to this area.

We drove up behind the 3 pyramids to an area where you can see all three at a good angle. This is also where there are so many camels and handlers all waiting for the tourist who want to ride a camel!! Our Habibi introduced us to a camel master who has a set, fair price for a ride and a picture, and wouldn't take us out of sight of Habibi. Of course I wanted to ride a camel and I was led to my little camel handler, Abraham, who is 14 years old, and his camel Charlie, a lovely 6 years old!! Charlie had on a very colourful blanket under the saddle and even though he was at his resting position, the saddle seemed so high up! But...wimpy but brave cow/camel girl that I am...I got on Charlie. Abraham led Charlie and I over some very rocky, bumpy terrain to an area where you could see the pyramids in the distance and let Les take a picture, then Charlie kneeled down so that Les could get on and Abraham could take a picture with our camera. Off got Les, up got Charlie (ooooohhhh I don't really like that getting up part), and back we went to our starting point. We had already paid the camel master for the ride and for the picture (that we took with our own camera) but Abraham's dad miraculously appeared and tried to get more money from us. Habibi saw this and yelled in Arabic to Abraham's dad who just as quickly disappeared again. Abraham, an Egyptian entrepreneur in training, did get some extra baqshish from us because he had done a very good job!

From here we went to the front of the 2nd pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre. This is the pyramid that you can go inside of. Les and I both declined this honor, both because of a bit of claustrophobia. Habibi did say that there is really nothing inside to see, it's a long, hot, narrow, low passageway and that helped us make up our already doubting minds. Instead I went for a walk up to the pyramid. And was so very sorry that I did. I was appalled. A lot of people who looked like they were living there; a whole bunch of kids, running and screaming and seemingly out of control; camels, donkeys, horses, (and their leavings) and their handlers, harassing anyone within earshot to take a ride; and garbage beyond belief. The poor animals were in very bad condition and the camels were made to kneel down on the rocks and debris and broken glass so that people could get on them. I wish I hadn't gone up there.

Now we were going to see the Sphinx up close! And wouldn't you know it - our camera battery died. Even though we re-charged it every night, we sometimes took so many pictures a day that the battery just got tired. Les did find a guy selling disposal cameras (of course - you can find anything for sale here!) Our pictures of the Sphinx are on that camera and that's why we haven't sent any out to you. The Sphinx is beautiful and now more than ever I think that our Jack does look like the sphinx when he lays on the floor watching his family! I couldn't believe we were this close to the Sphinx. You can't get close enough to touch him though but the walkway to see him is very close. Even with his shot off nose he was not to be missed!

Even with my disappointment at the Pyramid of Khafre, I am so glad to have seen this today. Les and I both always dreamed of coming to Egypt to see the Pyramids, but I don't think we really could understand just what we would feel if we did see them.

Back to the hotel with very sad faces. This is the end of our tour. We have a final good-bye to Walid and to some of our group who were leaving later in the night. We would not be together as a group again. (I think that it might have been as hard for Habibi to say good-bye to us - we were a great, fun group!!) This entire tour has been like a dream. Egypt isn't just the Pyramids and the Sphinx, we discovered Temples and treasures that we, even now are having a hard time comprehending. We will always thank our Habibi for giving us such a gift - his knowledge and love of his country were gifts to US. We will pray for Walid to receive his own life's desires, dreams and blessings.

Tidbits from today:

• Happy Birthday Leah!!!!
• while we were at Memphis we were harassed by a very pushy "sales person" - all of us on our tour are by now very discriminating bargain hunters and didn't like the mans goods or his prices so no one bought...I heard him call us "cheap shits" as he finally walked away!!
• the police who guard in the pyramid area all ride camels - they don't seem to do anything except try to get baqshish from anyone who looks like they might be taking a picture of them
• the entire area around the pyramids and sphinx is an area of many, many camels, donkeys, and horses and their owners
• as with the Sphinx, a lot of the temples and statues that we saw had been used as shooting practice targets over the centuries - by occupying military artillery
• on the way to the hotel from Giza, Habibi told us about the problems Cairo has with the garbage - the citizens won't pay for garbage pick-up so the people just throw it out, wherever - the city is thinking of starting to add the price of garbage pick-up to the electricity bill - but I really don't know how they will clean up the mess of many, many years
• the green fields within Cairo are almost all gone - selling out, building houses

Day 10 - Thursday, March 1st

We had final packing and good-byes to our favorite Giselle crew members. I really think they will be sorry to see our group go, we were a lot of fun and we included the crew in that fun when they were around.

We left at 8:00 a.m. for our flight back to Cairo and were at the Marriott Hotel by noon. Habibi had given Les the address of the Cairo Harley Shop and he was anxious to check it out! We took a cab to the haven of all Harley riders. The store was very HD traditional in look - a few bikes in the showroom (and yes...for our HD reader friends, the prices are the same as in Canada), and upstairs the boutique - clothing and stuff! Les dearly wanted a t-shirt from Cairo and so we looked...and we looked...and we looked...and...we found the largest t-shirt in the store...just barely big enough for me... Sadly, we left the store without a shirt for my big guy! We decided to walk back to the hotel, just to walk off the blues, and had another great look at the insanity of Cairo. We had almost forgotten the traffic, the smog, the huge numbers of people.

We enjoyed a nice mid-eastern dinner under the stars at the Egyptian Nights Restaurant in the hotel''s courtyard with Helen and Ian (we love this couple and will definitely keep this friendship alive), Les of course enjoyed his sheesha after dinner.

Tidbits from today:

• we have had sunshine and the blue skies everyday of our tour - only the one day of iffy weather and even that wasn't so bad
• our cab ride to the Harley shop was an experience - it's one thing to be in a big bus and going through the streets of no rules, but it's quite another to be at street level in a little cab - the "merging", the horns, the crazy turns...insane!

Day 9 - Wednesday, February 28th

We sailed to Edfu during the night and will have a very quiet day of cruising. We had a tour of the "Bridge" and met the 2 captains of our ship!

Apparently, piloting the cruise boats of the Nile River, is a family industry. All boat pilots are from the same area and learn from their dad's, grandpa's, uncle's and learn from a very young age. During school holidays boys from as young as 7 years old come aboard and learn. And they continue until they are done school and start to apprentice on boats. Our two captains are uncle and nephew.

We stopped at Esna to wait for our turn to go through the locks again. This time we don't get to shop from the floating market though...too bad!!! Once we were on the other side of the lock - the floating market side - we saw quite a few boats having the fun we did a few days ago. And let me tell you, experiencing it from this side of the river is almost as much fun. As we passed the boats we could hear the yelling and laughter!

We had a "Habibi Group" meeting in the afternoon. We talked about our tour so far, asked questions that we had - a little knowledge is dangerous - the more we knew the more we wanted to know - poor Habibi!! We talked about what we would be doing once we arrived back in Cairo, the tour isn't over, we still have sights to see! Walid interpreted our papyrus pictures for us - he knows EVERYTHING!

We had a fabulous last dinner and Les thanked the dining room crew for taking such care of us and feeding us so well. After dinner Les and Habibi went for a sheesha and some male bonding. This is our last night on board and it's a sad one.