Background: Like probably everyone else, we had always said that someday we should go to Egypt and see the pyramids, tombs, Nile, etc. In addition we were motivated by the fact that we had a good friend from Utah graduate school days who was a professor of Physics at Cairo University so we would have an "in" in the area. Since he had two sons we figured we'd combine an Egyptian tourist trip with a wedding someday, but that never happened. Instead, his wife died and then he died; with the boys never getting married. Besides the lack of weddings as an excuse for not going there we also had been waiting for it to become safer. However, when we suggested doing some family outing over Xmas to our kids it turned out that Nathan and (especially) Dannette were really into an Egypt outing so we signed up for one even though Sabina had no interest in going. Her attitude was that a bunch of time in Cairo would be fine/fun, but drifting down the Nile and visiting ancient sights and having lectures about them would be very boring. The other four of us, felt just the opposite. Nathan & Dannette (N&D) decided on a packaged tour out of the UK that had a professor on it who was a reasonably well known Egyptologist, so we signed up for it.

This happened in the late summer so for the next few months we spend time getting a bit educated by listening to a series of lectures on tapes that Dannette had, doing some reading, going to museums in New York City, Boston, and Brooklyn that have excellent Egyptian collections, seeing various videos, etc, etc. All quite enjoyable and fascinating although we certainly didn't become experts (compared to Dannette and various folks, it turns out, on our tour).

Wednesday/Thursday-1: Twas 17 December, a date picked partially by the price of the tickets to London and partially to enable us to have a day on our own in Cairo before joining the tour group that was flying from London to Cairo on the 19th.

The airline schedules were such that we felt we might miss our connection in Heathrow if we took the late plane from SFO so unfortunately we had to take a plane that left SFO at 12:30 PM, which meant a very long layover at Heathrow on the next day. But so be it. Betty picked us up at our house (the "kids" having driven to our house and left their car there) at like 9:30 AM, the trip to the airport was smooth, checkin was nominal, the plane was full, and we had two seats together with one being a window and one an isle, so all was about as reasonable as it can be when you are crossing the ocean. We were on United Airlines and they did a reasonable job of service throughout the night. Neither of us got much sleep, but that's typical of these things. Arrived London at like 6:30 AM, went through customs extremely slowly, picked up our bags, and then spent many boring hours in the airport waiting for Egypt Air to even open their counter. Finally at 11 AM, they did, and we checked in for our 2 PM flight. Nathan was having stomach problems, unfortunately, which meant visiting several bathrooms. Boarding was slow, flight was late, all getting rather painful but eventually we got to Cairo and were greeted by a representative of the local tour group (Kuoni). Then it took an enormously long time to get through customs. Got some money, boarded a bus which took people to 3 different hotels before getting to ours. At each hotel the Tour Group Representative spent a fair amount of time being sure people got checked in OK, so the whole trip from airport to our hotel on the far side of town took quite awhile. Finally to bed at like 1:30 AM, totally wiped out from the "fun" of traveling. Yes, I've spent too long complaining about all this but it was painful. However, a bath made us feel better and then a good night's sleep and we were human again.

Friday-1: We had the day to do our own thing, adjust a bit to the traveling, etc. Extensive breakfast buffet which we took our time enjoying and then hired a car and driver to go to Saqqara - a very old site that is in the same general area as our hotel and the pyramids but up the Nile a bit.

Oops, I forgot to mention that upon arriving at our hotel at later than 1 AM it was discovered that one of N&D's bags weren’t there so this added to the trip strain and some effort was made to see if it had been left at any of the other hotels with the result being NO. Eventually it was determined the kids had picked up one too few bags at the airport so the missing bag was out there. Even more eventually, they went to the airport a couple days later and picked it up being unable to get it delivered to them due to security, etc, etc. Painful but one of those travel memories.

Back to the main story line. We had a great time at Saqqara doing things at our own pace and being quite impressed with several of the items there. In particular the Step Pyramid which was the forerunner of real pyramids it being "just" 5 burial tombs (mastabas) stacked on top of one another. It is very old (2700 BC) and what the eventual pyramids were modeled after. Other highlights of this outing included interacting with a large group of school children who were there on a field trip, Dawna riding a camel back from one of the underground tombs, and generally just wandering around the desert. Then, we made a visit to Memphis, which was the original capital of Egypt back in the pre-pyramid days and presently has little other than a nice open-air museum now. All in all a nice outing away from crowds, perfect for the first day after a long flight. Then back to the hotel for a beer, a bit of cleanup, and a bit of rest.

Next was a dinner outing. We had called the Salam boys that morning and arranged for dinner with them that evening, with Magdy picking us up at the hotel. He did and then drove us to the center of Cairo where we met Osama and boarded a boat for dinner. The boat did a cruise up and then back down the Nile while we had a fine Egyptian buffet dinner followed by Egyptian entertainment. Of the latter, the Belly Dancer was just OK but the Skirt Dancer (who spins around in an amazing manner) was excellent. Plus the food was good, as was the interaction with the boys. All in all a super time and we were very glad we had taken the effort to contact them and get together with them. They were very appreciative as well..

This is perhaps a good spot to mention the Cairo traffic - lots of cars, everyone for himself, lots of honking, no consideration of the lines on the road that indicate lanes, and an exceptional capability for coming within inches of one another without contact. We had experienced a bit of this in the bus coming from the airport but that's a big vehicle, then some more in the car going to Saqqara but that was all on the edge of town, and then the full bit with Magdy who was driving a large American car in this mayhem -- both he and Osama are very large people, as was Ehab.

Boy did we sleep that night after this enjoyable and full day.

Saturday-1: Woke up in time for breakfast only to learn that the departure of the group was an hour later than previously announced since they had gotten in so late the prior evening (really that morning). So we two did a bit of walking around the area. The buffet for breakfast, by the way, was quite extensive what with excellent sea bass, excellent bread pudding, omelet on request, fruit, lots of pastries, and more and more including all the coffee one wanted.

Anyway, today was the first day with the tour group so we met the people including our local guide, Mahmoud, and our resident Egyptologist, Aidan Dodson, and his wife also knew a lot about Egypt. The day's outing was to the pyramids. They are as impressive as one expected and we enjoyed wandering around them very much. Of we four I guess I was the only one who went down into one of them, the other three turning around shortly after beginning because it was tight and steep and so many people going both ways as to be claustrophobic if you have any of that tendency. Besides the pyramids we viewed the solar boat that is kept in a special building next to the pyramids. It is an amazing item - a very large boat that was buried with the pharaoh some 4.5 thousand years ago so that he could use it to sail into the afterlife. After being found as many pieces (over a thousand) of still preserved wood buried in a pit in the sand it was beautifully reconstructed and put on display. I loved it and much preferred it to the two smaller ones that were also found at the pyramid area and are now displayed in the Cairo Egyptian Museum. The weather was cooler than we anticipated but OK for touring around. After the pyramids and the sphinx (impressive as well) and an old temple, the bus went back to the hotel. We four then went to a nearby Egyptian food place and had lunch - some interesting items that were not wonderful but in retrospect better than lots of what we ate later. I had a local specialty - stuffed pigeon, which meant little pigeon but lots of good rice stuffing. Dawna had a local thing as well – basically a lamb stew (called flaeffel).

The kids then went back to the hotel and Dawna and I took a taxi (after some bargaining) down to Old/Coptic Cairo. We weren't there to see the religious sights but just to wander around and we did that very extensively. Eventually, wandering back towards "home" including walking across the Nile on a bridge and having a nice piece of something like baklava. By the time our feet began giving out we hoped into a very local minibus sort of transport and rode almost back to the hotel for next to nothing along with experiencing some fun interactions with real/local folks. Our guide had very strongly told us not to use this form of crowded transportation, but luckily we don't listen to such statements. When we finally returned to the hotel with lots of dust/sand/grime on us we settled into the downstairs bar area for a fine beer and some snack food, a pattern we had established on the prior day. A most relaxing way to end each outing and a very nice waitress got to expect us and brought over salty snacks when we walked in. This bar was basically just in the lobby so one could watch all the goings on while relaxing; much of them having to do with the area being made ready for a variety of different parties/weddings/etc each day/night. Another fine sleep.

Sunday-1: The outing for this day was the Egyptian Museum. It is huge, contains so many ancient items that to spend a minute at each one would require more than 9 months of being in the museum, etc. It was VERY crowded, which distracted from enjoying it, but it was still excellent and the combination of our guide and our Egyptologists made moving around it and seeing (and hearing about) special items work out quite well. Quite a place. One amazing thing was how there was basically no gift shop at this huge and famous museum. They are missing out on a real money maker and we were disappointed in not being able to consider purchasing some high quality miniature copies of things, etc. The bus that took us there then went back to the hotel, but we four said "no thanks" and headed out for the afternoon on our own. First a cab to the citadel. A very visited place by tourists but rather disappointing compared to similar items in Turkey. Then a walk through part of town to a famous mosque, which again paled in comparison with those in Istanbul. Yes, it may not be fair to make such comparisons but one automatically does. More walking and a cab run to the center of town where we ate at a local place that did a pizza/pancake-like thing that was rather fun. A glimpse of Cairo after dark and then a cab to the hotel for some well earned sleep in preparation for a very early wake up.

Monday-1: What was going to be an early (7:30 AM) flight somehow became a 6:00 AM flight so we were up very early (like 3:15 AM) to get prepared to board the bus to go to the airport. However, the hotel folks did have the full buffet just laid out so we had some breakfast/coffee before getting on the bus. And we didn't have to get to the airport too long before the flight because Mahmoud was taking care of getting us boarding passes, getting our bags checked in, etc, etc. A benefit of a tour group. Had a window seat on a full plane but not much to see due to it just barely being light, the window being dirty (as was true on the Egyptian Air plane from London as well), and the haze in the air. Short bus ride from the Luxor airport to the boat that was to be our home for the next week or so and then a lot of time killing to get checked in as others had to get out of the rooms and the rooms had to be made up for us, etc.

Nathan was not feeling well this day, which meant a fair amount of time in restrooms. He took quite a few days to get feeling better and each of us, and nearly everyone on the tour, took turns with not feeling well for some period of time over the next week.

Once in our cabin, which was much larger than I had anticipated, we did a bit of resting and then had lunch - our first of many meals with the group in the boat's dining room. The essence of these meals was that there was lots of food and very little of it was good but much of it was eatable imho (in my humble opinion).

After lunch, many of our group went on an optional outing to two of the local museums but Nathan stayed in bed to try and get feeling better and Dawna and I went for a long walk. Basically we looped around the huge Karnak temple grounds on local streets getting fine perspectives of it and its surroundings, some exercise, and some interactions with the locals. The latter got a bit old when schoolchildren spent more time semi-hassling us than we would have liked. Back to the boat quite dirty, cleaned up, and had dinner at 8 PM - without Nathan. Oh, yes, I managed to lose my guide book on this outing (a Frommer item), most likely leaving it at a shop where we purchased water. So, I made good use of Nathan’s books as well as a specialized one that I also had and one I bought.

The boat made me think of a Mississippi steamboat even though I've never been on one. Large and old and comfortable - making one feel like an old British gentleman/person visiting one of the colonies. And while on the topic of Nile boats, an amazing thing to me was that there were probably a couple hundred of these on the Nile each with a couple of hundred people in them. While I'm on this aside, I might note that our specific group was about 18 folks, so a nice size, while the boat probably held 200 or so. A half dozen of our group were from the states and the rest from the UK with ages all the way across the board as well as different combinations of married, couples, and singles. Several interesting personalities but no one that we connected with in a way that would have anything to do with the future I think; partially because we are relatively stand-off-ish from the group thing.Tuesday-1: Breakfast followed by an outing of the group to Karnak and Luxor temples. They, especially Karnak, are amazing places as the various Pharaohs for a couple thousand years added to them with bigger and bigger monuments/sections and the total complex is amazing. Lots of tourists there but M&A managed to maneuver us around nicely and educate us in the process. It was nice that neither of them made a lot of jokes the way some guides do and drive me crazy. Nathan was able to make the outing even though he wasn't in great shape yet. Did both temples in less time than they deserved but it was still quite enjoyable. Then back to the boat for lunch and the cruising of the Nile began.

The weather had gotten to where I took off my windbreaker during the middle of the temple tours - quite nice. Now it was the PM and we were moving up (southward) the Nile so there was a cool breeze from that but it was still warm enough that I spent the afternoon up top watching the scenery go by with my binoculars at the ready to see special things and a book at my side for reading in between viewing or semi napping. Nice. It was too cool for Dawna, however, so she stayed down stairs. Tea time was like 4:30 and up on top, after which it was too cool even for me. We all went to the main lounge area and had a talk by Aidan who basically did all of Egyptian history in 90 minutes or so. Most enjoyable. By now we were at the Esna Lock, but so were about 3 dozen other boats. What with only 2 boats in the lock at a time and about an hour per cycle, this mean it would be a long time before we got through. The locals understand this situation and take advantage of it by coming out in small boats and peddling garments to the tourists. They stand in their boats and display items, throw them up for examination, barter over the price and eventually one throws back either the garment or some money. Quite an activity and most people bought outfits - both Nathan and Dannette did but we didn't. Eventually it was dinner and bed. The prediction was that we'd get through the Lock about 7 AM the next morning and I left a note with the front desk to wake me when this was about to happen.

I felt very full at the end of dinner so went off to bed when it ended but Dawna stayed up for the evening play time which was like a treasure hunt that involved groups and folks within the groups having to act out different roles and a bunch of game-playing like that. She probably got to bed after midnight and had had a reasonable time in the game/play world. In fact, she reports that her group won seconds place and thus some prizes.

Wednesday-2: I had diarrhea throughout the night so wasn't in great shape but got up when I heard the engines beginning to roll; and got my requested wakeup call a bit later. Went up top (it was cold) where there were a couple of other folks as well and watched a pair of boats go through the lock in front of us. The Sun come up, and then we went through. By this time N&D joined me as did various others. Dannette watched the action but I lost track of Nathan so don't know if he saw it or went back to his recovery room. Dawna didn't come up but did see a bit of the Lock out our window.

So, getting through the Lock went quite well, but then we sat and sat and sat. There was a draw bridge up front of us, actually, it didn't draw upward or slide upward but rather a hunk of the road pivoted out of the way more like a railroad thing. I waited until 8 AM but we were just sitting there so went back to rest my internals. For the next couple of hours we sat there as other boats gathered with us and eventually we all went through the slot. During this lull we met with the guide in the main room and arranged for what extras we wanted to do in the future - for us and many others this meant a special trip to Abu Simbel and a balloon flight/drift over the West Bank. Both quite expensive imho, but when in Rome (for the only time) ……

Although I preferred sitting on the top deck and watching the countryside go by, I tried to be good and took some medicine and laid in my cabin for the next few hours, beginning to feel better as time went on, so as to be up to going on our guided outing to the Temple of Horus at Edfu when we got there. Unfortunately, not only due to the long line prior to the lock and then the long line prior to the drawbridge, we had another stop along the way when somebody had (rumor says) a heart attack and had to be taken off the boat. All of this meant we were running a half day or so behind schedule and it was nearly 3 PM when we got to docking near Horus. We hustled to the Temple and had a rather fast but good tour of it with both M&A providing lots of interesting information and also moving from here to there in a manner that let us see things efficiently and also get to a few quiet areas where the mass of tour groups weren't so we could look at things more slowly and hear what our leaders had to say. There was a very active bazaar at the temple site entrance and we spent 15 minutes in it after seeing the temple, being pressured by all the merchants. Dawna even bought something - a piece of throw fabric that is in theory made of wool. Nathan didn’t make this outing so Dannette worked 2-3 cameras as well as having one of them recording the words of our guides, so he wouldn’t feel totally left out.

Back to the boat about 5 PM with the schedule for the evening being a bit weird to our thinking (8:30 "fancy" dinner party, 11 PM Nubian dancers, and 12:15 belly dancer). But it also meant more rest for the less-sick me; and that I did. Eventually it was off to dinner. They had many courses, it was French, it was all served, it was festive, it was VERY slow, nothing was especially good tasting although the soup was OK and the piece of fish was quite good - the steak was terrible as had been the case with all beef thus far, and the turkey was tasteless. I ate, however, which got me back into better condition. About 10:45 with desert yet to come we bailed out and went to bed. Dannette said the parade of deserts was worth observing and that she took lots of pictures during it and during the latter entertainment; Nathan having made none of these activities unfortunately.

I should have mentioned that I guess the reason for the long/"fancy" dinner was that it was Xmas eve. By the way, the boat had lots of Xmas decorations and music and one got rather tired of all this. As one person noted, the people on the boat were those who elected to not stay home with families and have a big tradition Xmas so it was rather weird to then have it emphasized so much on an Egyptian boat. But guess "they" were just trying to make "us" feel good.

Thursday-2: We had docked at Kom Ombo (another temple spot) along with lots of other boats and some people on our boat who were doing a one-way, 4-day trip, did a very early tour of the temple. This meant the rest of us slept in a bit and had a casual breakfast before setting "sail" to go further up the Nile. Dawna wasn't feeling great this AM, but not too bad either. I spent time up on top watching the coast go by, etc, etc; which was again quite enjoyable. Even did a bit of trip letter rough drafting on my Palm with its keyboard. Arrived Aswan as we were having lunch. Docked and then our group went on a tour. First to the quarry where so much of the granite for the various temples and obelisks had come from. A highlight there is the Unfinished Obelisk which would have been the largest ever made but a big crack was discovered in it before it was finished so it just lays there for we tourists to see how such an item was being made. Neat. It was a bit warm by now. Next we did the old and then the new (High) dam. This was followed by a visit to the Temple of Philae. It is on an island so a fun small boat ride out and back plus it makes for a fine setting. It, like so many items was moved to higher ground in the last few decades to avoid being covered with water by Lake Nassar. Again, a nice tour by A&M. Oh, yes, on the boat to the island a chap was selling necklaces without much bargaining/hassle and Dawna bought a few/bunch for gifts.

On the way back we stopped at a Papyrus factory and saw how they make it now days and bought one as our main souvenir. Others bought many for gifts, etc --- quite a business these tourists. In fact, someone said that 90% of the income in Luxor is from tourists and almost as much in Aswan. Dawna and I then asked to be dropped off near the Nubian Museum while everyone else elected to go back to the boat to rest/cleanup. Spent like an hour and a half there - quite enjoyable, nicely laid out, great building with granite everywhere (of course). Most enjoyable. Then we walked back to the boat - which was further than we had thought but we made it just in time for dinner and were actually a bit hungry for a change. By now we were also sharing a bottle of wine at each evening meal and it was reasonable (by our standards) even though it was Egyptian.

Friday-2: We had elected to take the optional excursion to Abu Simbel, which meant getting up a bit before 5 AM, some breakfast, and then into the bus by 6 AM and out to the small/new airport at Aswan. Abu Simbel is like 250 km up the Nile, or more appropriate now days, down Lake Nassar. It is famous for being a big show place of Ramsses II with enormous statues of him and a very well preserved pair of temples for him and his favorite wife - Nefertari. The plane flight was only about half an hour and I had a window seat to look at the desert to the west. It would have been interesting to have gone one way by bus/vehicle and the other by boat, but those weren't options and the plane was certainly efficient (and filled with tourists paying the non-trivial price of such an outing). Go there, had a short bus ride to the site and then an hour and a half or so at the site. Very, very impressive to say the least. Oh yes, I should have mentioned that another piece of its fame is that when they built the high dam Lake Nassar would have covered/destroyed it. So, with the help of many nations they moved it a few hundred meters up the "hill". Given that this was not a temple made of blocks but rather one cut out of a mountain - that was an amazing undertaking and they did it extremely well. So, a very interesting outing to say the least. The downside, in addition to being a bit time limited, was that when we got to the airport to return to Aswan we had to wait an hour or so to get on a plane and that was rather painful giving how early we had gotten up that morning. Too bad we didn’t spend that extra hour at the site.

Quick flight back and then back to our boat for lunch. Dawna rested instead and we had one of the better meals given that it was fish. The after lunch schedule was to go for a ride on a classic felucca (small/traditional sailboat). But Mahmoud decided it was too windy so we did a small motorboat instead. Some feluccas were out, however, so I wished we had given it a try. But in any case, it was nice cruising around and seeing more sights with Aidan given us insights into what we were seeing - quite a few items that would be worth stopping at for mini tours if one had been in Aswan longer. My suggestion to anyone playing in this area on their own would be to spend a couple days in Aswan and one over night in Abu Simbel to really get a feeling for things.

Next we left our berth and headed down the Nile (north towards Cairo/Luxor). I sat up top until the Sun went down but it was cool (and I was alone basically) and in fact too cold for having afternoon tea up there - it took place down in the main lounge instead. By about 7 PM, we (and a dozen or two dozen other tour boats) parked at Kom Ombo and did a night time tour of the temple (for the crocodile god Sobek). Again quite nice and rather different to be doing it in the nighttime with all the things lit up, etc. Also, again some informative descriptions by both Aidan and Mahmoud.

As an aside .... docking here and many places is an interesting activity in that there is no where near enough shoreline and docks for all the boats so they just pull up next to one another and when you leave your boat you walk through the adjacent boats to get to the shore. This time we walked through 4 boats that spanned the distance to the shore, each lined up parallel to the riverside and you walk through the respective reception halls of each boat all of which are aligned with one another. Interesting to see the interior of the other boats and certainly needed that the boats are mostly about the same size/layout.

Back to the boat and dinner around 8:30. This meal was a buffet of Egyptian food and probably the best meal we had on the boat. Almost everyone was wearing a Galabea (local outfit that is a loose fitting robe like item and many had been purchased in the interesting manner of shopping between the big boat and row boats that I described before) since that was the theme for the evening. I didn't and neither did Dawna, but she had something similar that came from home .... just not much into these sorts of activities I admit. After dinner they had a party in the main lounge but after a few minutes, when they started into playing games, we headed off to bed. Clearly we are not into these late night game playing in the lounge sort of activities for which some folks even skip the day time outings in order to be more awake throughout the evening. I guess it ended about 2 AM.

Saturday-2: The only goal today was to cruise down the Nile to Luxor. We got up slowly, had breakfast and then cruised. More sunshine but after awhile even I agreed it was too cold out to stay up top what with the extra wind created by the movement of the boat. So, moved into the loung, sat by a couple windows, watched the Nile banks go by, did some typing of this Trip Letter on my Palm with foldout keyboard, read some of a book, etc. Quite lush countryside next to the Nile, lots of agriculture, many villages, lots of birds, various fishermen, various farmers, so rather neat even if I would have preferred being up top where the view is more expansive. The binoculars sure were nice to have.

Sunday-2: This was the last day of the package tour and a full one for those who were going to do everything possible. A balloon ride over on the West Bank was a quite early morning option, touring the tombs and temples of the West Bank was the main activity for the day, and then there was a sound-and-light show at Karnac Temple that night as yet another option. We elected to concentrate on the highlight of the trip (the day portion), save the balloon ride for when we were in Luxor on our own, and not to go the sound-and-light-show as it sounded rather hokey. So didn't have to get up super early but just fairly early as the day outing started at like 8:30 AM or so.

Went by bus to the west side of the Nile, using the bridge that is south of town several miles so drove south, west, and then back north to relatively opposite where we were docked; and then into the famous hills a bit further west. First stop was at the pair of huge statues -- the Colossi of Memnon. This was also where the balloon folks joined us. They had a good flight but had landed back on the eastern side of the Nile so I question how good their viewing of the western mountains and temples/tombs was. From there it was on to the Valley of the Kings. One gets a ticket good for any 3 (of many) tombs and then visits them. We basically went along with the choices of Aidan so as to get more information on them from him as we looked at them. Unbelievably spectacular wall paintings and neat going into the hillside tombs quite a distance. Boy did they do a lot of work on these things. The only downsides were they were VERY crowded with tourists and also we were on a timeline. Next was Hatshepsut's Temple at Deir el-Bahri. This was less impressive to me than I had anticipated but maybe I was getting templed out and really now more into these tombs; or maybe it had been reconstructed so much it lost some of its neatness for me. Then it was on to Medinat Habu temple complex, which was quite enjoyable and impressive (as was everything). A full morning, actually more than a morning as we got back to the boat for lunch around 2 or 2:30 PM. People were even hungry for a change plus some of the food was better than usual. Oh, yes, the weather was excellent for this outing and it must be hotter than heck most of the time.

Don't remember a lot about the rest of the day but imagine we did some resting, some reading, perhaps some typing, and definitely did a walk towards town for more "looking" with an emphasis on seeing the Sun set over the Nile before returning. Only so-so I admit although rather neat in that it went down with a palm tree right in the center of it and with the smog that existed we (or at least I) was able to look at this neat phenomenon without harm (I claim) by glancing off and on at it.

We went to dinner roughly on time (8:30 PM) but basically no one was there for everyone had gone to the sound-and-light show, but they showed up later. Nothing special for dinner, said good byes as the others would be getting up earlier than we would, and went to bed.

Monday-2: No hurry get up, breakfast (I've had enough omelets for awhile for I had one every morning), and then a cab to our hotel that was a mile or so south (right in town). Dannette was feeling lousy unfortunately. Checked in and had a lunch of pizza at pool side after which she rested while we other 3 went walking to see a new part of town and some of the markets. Dawna bought some high-quality material from which she will redo the dinning room chairs one of these days and she also bought gold earrings with a simple turquoise stone setting. Although we spent some time in a good bookstore I don't think Nathan bought any books but I bought a little one on the West Bank Tombs since we were going to go back there again. It was about 30% of the price of a similar style booklet I had bought in SFO by the way. I think dinner that night amounted to Dawna and I pigging out on pistachios and a drink or two in our room and getting to bed early.

Tuesday-2: Up early and into a cab at 5:15, 5 minute drive, joined others, small boat across the Nile, into a minivan, and out to the balloon launching spot. Twenty folks to a balloon (which given 5 balloons in the air and a second flight time for some of them it is like a $20K morning for the businesses doing this. We left the ground before the Sun was up but it was plenty light enough for good viewing (although Nathan said his photos didn't do well). Great drifting and super neat views, an excellent pilot, and all-in-all a fine experience. Dawna may have enjoyed it even more than I did. Really great to look down on the temples and monuments and general landscape of this fertile valley. Certainly recommended for "rich people." Retraced our steps back to the hotel and partook of their rather large buffet. Oh, yes, Dannette was still not feeling good but she had been well enough to do the balloon flight as it had been high on her lists of must-do's.

She hit the hay and we three headed back to the West Bank. This time we took the local ferry across the Nile, got a cab to the ticket office, got tickets for a bunch of Tombs of the Nobles as well as for a couple of tombs in the city of Deir el Medina, and off we went on foot. Although not as deep and extensive as the tombs of the Kings, the paintings and intimacy of these tombs was probably superior. Really, excellent/impressive/etc. The downside was that locals in each tomb did a bit of showing you around and then got small elements of money and that's all a bit of a pain. Walking between the tombs was enjoyable as they are within a village. Eventually, walked past Hatshepsut's place and then climbed a hill and circled around it back toward the Valley of the Queens along a ridge trail. Relatively hot, relatively steep, very dusty, and quite enjoyable with spectacular and different views from up on the ridge. Came down at Deir el Medina where we saw two more excellent tombs and also the remains of the village that is now being studied and reconstructed. It is where the artists for the other tombs lived and they did a few for themselves! Caught a ride in a local taxi, which meant the enclosed back end of a pickup truck, then the ferry, and back to the hotel. Dannette was up working on the computer in the garden, and we joined her for a well-earned beer or two and more pistachios.

Cleaned up and then the three of us went to dinner while Dannette continued to work on recovering. We, especially her, also worked on our plans for the next day. The situation was that when we first got to London we received our various Egypt Air tickets, when we got to Cairo the Kuoni Rep took them to do reconfirming and things, and before leaving the boat we got back the ticket for Luxor to Cairo but not for Cairo to London. Everyone sort of told us this was normal, but we felt insecure. After a bunch of phone calls we were assured that a Kuoni Rep would meet us at the Cairo airport and get us from the Domestic Terminal to the International Terminal and give us our boarding passes, etc. OK, I guess, but sounded weird In addition, it meant we couldn't check our bags through to London - painful/silly.

Back to the main story line. We three went to dinner - OK food and nice terrace overlooking an active street with the temperature being perfect. Then it was early to bed as yet again we'd be leaving the hotel at 5:15 AM.

Wednesday-3: New Year's eve day and off to the airport in the dark. Checkin was a bit painful but not terrible, had a coffee, and to kill time and get rid of Egyptian money, Dawna bought a few more souvenirs The plane was full but not very late leaving and soon we were in the Cairo airport awaiting our luggage. Sure enough a Kuoni Rep was there to usher us along and we needed it! Given that we had only a little more than an hour to get our bags, change terminals, recheck-in, etc. we'd not have made it without him pushing to the front of lines, speaking the language, and getting special prerogatives that Tour Guides get. Another neat thing was that Mahmoud was at the airport to say hello, give us a present, and wish us goodbye. As Dawna would say, "quite cute" of him; and I was glad to learn he hadn't made a totally special trip to do this but rather was meeting some new tourists as well. What a zoo of an airport but eventually we were where we belonged with a few minutes to spare.

In getting our boarding passes it seemed like the plane was full and we could only have poor seats, but after getting on it turned out to not be very full at all and we switched around. D&I got a pair with a window with a view. Fun seeing the fertile Nile delta and going right over Alexandria but then nothing much to see the rest of the way. Did some reading (finishing a simple mystery novel set in the Luxor area and written by a Egyptologist who does this in her spare time,(and for a better living, some resting, some eating, and some typing on this trip letter).

Got delayed the better part of an hour due to the air over Heathrow being filled (what else is new) and then finally landed, cleared customs, and took the tube to our hotel. From the air, one had a nice view of the Dover coast and it appeared to be a nicer day out than we had anticipated. But once in London, it wasn't. Instead, it was like just freezing, and heavy overcast and a bit of drizzle. All more what we anticipated.

Checked into our hotel. Good location, friendly people/place, and a tiny room. OK, though. Got a bit organized and then N&D went out for a veggiburger and we went to a recommenced (by the Indian lady who checked us into the hotel) Indian restaurant. Got there at 5 PM UK time, which was 7 Egypt time, but the place didn't open until 6 PM so we killed some time in a shopping mall as well as an Internet Cafe. Then dinner. Crowded but not especially good (or at least the two dishes we got were nothing special). Disappointing. Back to the hotel and to bed relatively early with no need to get up early the next day! So, CY-03 changed to CY-04 without our help.

Thursday-3: New Year's Day and we got up very slowly (rather than at 5:15 AM as had been the case the last two days). Light breakfast that came with the room and then we went to the Victoria-Albert Museum which was just a 10 minute walk away. We meant Dawna and I, while the kids went off to the New Tate Modern museum. The V&A opened at 10 AM and we were there a few minutes later and stayed until like 3:30 PM. Great place and did things at our own/slow pace. Also did a 1.5 hour or so docent tour that covered entirely different items than we had done on our own. Fantastic building as well as exhibits. Nice. Did a bit of walking to locate a Thai restaurant that was a high candidate for dinner and also to have a pint of bitters at a pub (without that I’d have been in the UK for nearly two days without a pint …), and then back to the hotel. Met up with the kids, learned that the play we had booked for the evening was at 7:30 PM rather than 8 PM as we had thought so after a bit of cleanup headed out for dinner. The Thai place wasn't open that early, walked to a Chinese place the kids new about but it both wasn't open either and had changed hands, so caught the underground to near our theater and then found some food to eat - pizza that was OK. Went to the play "Betrayal" and enjoyed it a bunch. Had excellent seats in a relatively small theater. Back to the hotel and another long night of sleep.

Friday-3: Time to go home. But since we had deliberately booked a relatively late flight from the UK there was no hurry so slept in a bit, had breakfast, finished packing, and then walked back to the V&A museum for another half hour of viewing - Dawna did a style (clothes) exhibit and I did the exhibit on Musical Instruments (along with a few clocks). Excellent items yet again.

Back to the hotel to checkout before 11 AM, underground to Heathrow, easy checkin and security passing and then spent an hour or so in the Red Carpet Lounge. On a prior trip to the UK I learned from one of my co-workers that as a United Premier member you can get into the foreign lounges so we gave it a try. They said "No, you can only do it if you are from the UK" but then let us in anyway this one time. Relaxed in a couple of chairs while I had a couple of beers and Dawna a couple of glasses of wine, and a bunch of snacks. Not bad. Near the end of the time I found they had Internet connections but in the limited time I had I couldn't get it to work for me. Out to the gate and boarded the huge 747. We had long ago gotten seat assignments for two of two seats with a window that looked out without a wing blocking its view; but that was on a smaller plane. They had such a large demand that they changed to the larger plane and our same tickets meant 2 seats together in a 3 seat area and a window that was over the wing (although looking backwards I could see out a bit). It was, however, in the Economy Plus section of the plane where they put Premier folks so had the additional legroom that is nice. As I was throwing my carry-on suitcase into the overhead I realized I didn't have my backpack! Was able to get off the plane (bucking the stream of folks coming the other way) and retrieve it in the waiting area - a close call and stupid happening on my part and I was surprised with all the security going on that they even let me off the plane. Speaking of security - British Airways had cancelled its flights to DC this day and the prior day due to high rumors of a terrorist action, but United to SFO wasn't affected. Our huge plane was full but it left on time, had decent service, and arrived a bit early; so hard to complain. But then it took over an hour to get the one bag we had shipped through. Painful. Dick Weaver was there to give us a ride home.

As an aside, the kids were to come home from London on the same flight the following day and I was to pick them up (at like 5:30 PM). They got bumped, put onto a flight to Chicago, the change of planes there was delayed and delayed, and I eventually got them at 1:30 AM in the morning. Painful for all of us.

Summary: We had always wanted to see the standard sights of Egypt and are glad to have now done it. And seeing the Salam boys was a special event. Of course it made us sorry we hadn't made our trip years earlier and seen Ehab and Nabila. The boat cruise "thing" is still not to our liking. So much time is spent doing nothing and/or eating and the emphasis on game playing/entertainment in the late evening isn't our style. I did like, and always wanted, to cruise on the Nile, however, but just not so many days to go so little distance. A much more efficient way to see many more sights for longer periods of time and less money would be to spend a few days in Luxor taking day tours in both directions (we never got north for example) and do likewise from Aswan. With a bit of Nile cruising thrown in. Taking a boat to Abu Simbel (via Lake Nassar) would have been fun as would staying over night there. Being on a tour had all the anticipated pros and cons. The education/guiding was excellent, as were the semi-formal and totally informal talks by/with Aidan and his wife (I realize I didn’t note the second of these in the main body of the text but it was enjoyable). On the flip side, the schedule was rigid and the time at sites often quite limited. The group size (<20) was fine as were the individuals in the group although we did get a bit tired of hearing people complain about getting up so early for some of the outings. The constant hassle by people trying to sell you things and sometimes by kids wanting pens or candy or money was also tiring/distracting. The weather was cooler than I'd have preferred - like no one ever even got into our small swimming pool on the boat although folks did get into the pool at the hotel in Luxor. Food was poor for the most part with a few exceptions. And going on the busiest week of the year was insane other than the fact that it fit in with time-off from work for N&D (and me but that's much less critical). Any other time would have resulted in much smaller crowds, etc, etc; plus better weather if one picked a month like November or February. The tombs with their wall (and ceiling) paintings were more of a highlight than the massive temples to me, although both were certainly impressive, as were the pyramids for sure. The day in London was quite enjoyable although too darn cold to spend much time walking around seeing things.

Next Up: Since Kingsburys decided to back out on the planned trip to South Africa in February, the next outing will be Italy in May. One week of this will be with 13 or so others of the Lockheed gang at a rented villa in Tuscany and then we'll spend a week or two doing our own thing. Haven't planned that part out yet but will be getting on to it shortly.

Oh, yes, the Italians enjoyed using our house while we were gone, as well as the Honda van. In fact, they took off for some sightseeing in southern California on the 1st and didn't return until the 4^th and they stayed at Josie’s that night so we actually had the house to ourselves when we first returned which was convenient in that it made it easier for us to unwind and catch up on things