Tuesday, December 29, 2009

December 24th – Christmas Eve Carriage Ride through the town of Luxor

As Ron explained we took a van from Aswan to Luxor.  After arriving & resting, we took a carriage ride through the town of Luxor.

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You can’t see the rest of us in the carriage – I think the horse was a bit exhausted pulling the 5 of us, Mina & the driver.  The town had some Christmas lights & Justin & Amanda had fun driving the horse.

December 23rd – Philae Temple, High Dam & the Quarry – evening Felucca tour

There is so much to share about the sites we saw….but the most interesting thing about Philae Temple (besides the amazing detailed carvings, the statues & the size) was that before the High Dam was built, it was underwater & they moved it, piece by piece, to higher land – imagine putting the below picture together like a jig saw puzzle….

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Since building the High Dam, Egypt can supply power to all of Egypt – pretty impressive!

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The Quarry was really neat & the kids loved climbing on the rocks!!!

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Evening Felucca tour.  The view was amazing & the ride was very relaxing – our own little paradise!

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Aswan – December 22nd

Praise the Lord, we are off the train & in a calmer clean environment!!!  The scenery in Aswan was beautiful! In this part of Egypt, they get rain about once every five years.  After showering, we headed to a Nubian Village to have lunch at a local families house & then to visit their school. I was a bit nervous to eat at the home but was reassured the food was safe – and after tasting it, I can say that it was very delicious!!!!! 

IMG_1597 IMG_1623on the way to the village

 

IMG_1645 IMG_1653 IMG_1662the village & our lunch spread

 

Interesting sites we saw heading to the school……

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The children were not in class at the time we visited but one of the Nubian teachers was more than happy to teach us a few things!

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December 21st – Egyptian Museum, Christian Church, Muslim Mosque – lots of history

In the morning, we headed to the Museum.  Our guide, Mina, told us that to see & learn about everything in the museum, we would need about 3 weeks since there is so much history in there – we opted for the 2 hour tour!!!  I am not a history buff but I have to admit, we saw some pretty neat stuff & learned a lot.  It is amazing to experience a piece of the history in Egypt & to hear a brief description of the main events that took place.  The kids were really excited to see the mummies but after going through a room of about 12 mummies, Justin & Amanda decided to stay with Mina while we toured another room full of mummies. 

Next, we headed to the Coptic Christian Church & the Muslim Mosque.  Again, the history & detailed art work was amazing.  

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The evening we went to the market to shop – it was crazy!  The vendors are very persistent, the alley was narrow, stray cats came out of nowhere & the smell of smoke was everywhere – I actually prefer China markets, & that’s saying a lot!!

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