A Memorable Trip

   Nothing much to write about today so I have dug out a photo from my Egypt trip. It's been some time since I went there - before the scary happenings during the "Arab Spring" of last year - so I have wonderful, but fuzzy, memories of the visit. This temple could be anywhere; I really must learn to label my photos at the time! Suffice to say the The Pyramids and the Sphinx were a bit of a disappointment, a sort of "been there, done that" moment. However I had a ride on a camel out into the desert just south of the pyramids which will stay in my mind forever.

   My favourite part of the trip was a river cruise down the Nile, over several days, from Cairo to the Aswan Dam. We were one of many boats doing the cruise but it was peaceful, almost idyllic. The river is very flat and broad but in places we were close enough to the shore to see people going about their daily activities, children playing by the water and animals being brought down for a drink. Of course, the Valley of the Kings, where Tutankhamen's tomb was found, was out of this world, literally. An almost moon-like topography, with craters and rocky outcrops. How they discovered it is a mystery! The tombs were unbelievably well-preserved, probably due to the hot, dry atmosphere.

This next tomb was a short flight south from Aswan at Abu Simbel, almost on the Sudanese border. It was part of a whole temple complex that had been removed from the Nile valley before it was flooded when the dam was built. It was reconstructed here, stone by carefully numbered stone to exactly conform to its original construction, an amazing feat!