Mar 12, 2020 - Egypt to Day

Hello from Crystal Crane Hot Springs in central Oregon. With ending a fantastic trip to Egypt, we returned home intending to self-quarantine ourselves for 3 day. On the second day of our self-quarantine, we received a call from our Terraces staff asking us (telling us) to stay quarantine for 14 days. We were told that it was ok for us to go shopping, but we were not to have contact with the staff or residents or roam the halls. We sat for two more days and got bored so we packed up our camping trailer and headed out. We will stay as...

Mar 4, 2020 - Temple Two

Temples 2: We have had poor or no wi-fi for the last week. We are way behind! After visiting the Temple of Khnum, we boarded the small river yacht Asiya Dehabeya for our 5 night voyage up the Nile. It was a fantasist trip and we could devote many blogs to it, but we are kept so busy we have just time to touch the highlights. Our next temple was at Komo Ombo where we visited the Graeco-Roman Kom Ombo Temple - the twin temples. This temple is split down the middle with both sides looking like mirror images of the other. One side is...

Feb 21, 2020 - Suez Canal

So we left Israel and during the night started our transition through the Suez Canal. We’ve been through the Panama Canal a number of times, but this trip through the Suez is a first for us. Unlike the Panama Canal, which was built with “locks” to help the ships meet the oncoming waters by raising or lowing the ships as needed, the Suez Canal is a sea-level waterway. It is located in Egypt and connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. It was constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869,...

Feb 21, 2020 - Temples 1

Temples 1: When we arrived in Luxor, we stopped at Karnak Temple, built around 1360 BC, New Kingdom time. For our first Temple, it was impressive. It would have been impressive even if it were our last. It was large and graceful. Most striking to us was the Avenue of Sphinxes. Much is missing from when it was new, but it is still outstanding. The next day we visited the Valley of the Kings and on the way we stopped at the Temple of Hatshepsut. The Queen Hatshepsut built this Temple around 1450 BC, to honor the glory of Amun. It is situated...

Feb 18, 2020 - The Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Kings: This is also know as Valley of the Gates of the Kings. Monday the 17th We flew from Cairo to Luxor. Luxor, once an Ancient Egyptian capital, is known today as the world's greatest open-air museum. From the tomb of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings and the magnificent sunset views at the majestic temple complexes of Karnr, Roalak, and Luxor. Books have been written about the tombs and temples and our view there is still has much to be told. Tuesday we visited the Valley of the Kings. So far 63 tombs have been...

Feb 16, 2020 - Museum of Egyptian Antiquities

Egyptian National Museum We arrived in Cairo about 6:00 pm Thursday the 13th, just in time for rush hour traffic. We only need to go 14 miles to the Marriott hotel, but it took us over an hour and a half. The 4 lane “freeway” was 6 abreast, with vehicles cutting in and out with no room to spare. How they ever get so many cars in such “freeway”, We will never understand. We did make it to the Cairo Marriott in time for a good nights sleep. The Marriott is Cairo’s premier hotel. It dates back to 1867 when the Sues Canal opened. At that time...

Feb 16, 2020 - Jerusalem, Nazareth & Baha'i Gardens

Since we are “Platinum” members of the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) AND I now walk most of the time with a cane, we usually have priority boarding. Doesn’t really mean much because you are either waiting at the terminal to board or you are waiting somewhere on the ship (usually one of the dining rooms) until you are allowed access to your cabin. As I mentioned earlier, this cruise is somewhat of a “maiden” cruise for the Norwegian Spirit since it is just coming out of a major renovation and dry dock to two months, but we have learned that...

Feb 16, 2020 - Pyramids

Pyramids: We arrivd a day early for our OAT’s tour, so on day two, a travel day for most, we visited pyramids not covered on our OAT’s tour. Our OAT’s guide recommended a local tour group so we booked it and off we went. Our first stop was at Saqqara to see the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid built. When a pyramid was built, a number of other structures were also constructed. The Entrance Corridor of the Step Pyramid was made of limestone from the East side of the Nile. The corridor was lined with tall stone columns. At some...

Feb 13, 2020 - Vilnius

Hello from Egypt! It has taken us 7 days to get here, but it has been enjoyable. We flew from Boise to Denver, Denver to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Vilnius, Vilnius to Cairo. Believe it or not, we encountered no problems, but we do hate the long lines going through security. We spent 6 days with our Vilnius family partaking in all that a family does - shopping for groceries, going to ball games, play rehearsals, helping with home work, etc. We stayed as close to home as possible as it was cold, rainy and snowy. We did spend one cold, snowy...

Dec 3, 2019 - drive to the Pyramids

The leaders of Dubai have their heads screwed on straight when it comes to money management. They know that while all those petro dollars are rolling in now, they won’t last forever. We docked in a city called Sokhna, built in an empty spot in the desert with UAE funds. Today it is a huge container port handling 15% of Egypt’s trade, employing 20,000 Egyptians. Two million containers are processed annually. This high tech port scans each container rather than manually opening and inspecting them. A large, efficient tollway connects Sokhna...

Dec 2, 2019 - Explore the Valley of the Kings

We crossed the Nile to the west bank of Luxor to see the Valley of the Kings. It has been the site of royal burials since 2100BC, but it was the pharaohs that ruled from 1550 - 1069BC who chose the isolated valley we visited today. Perhaps they chose it because one of the mountains had a vaguely pyramid shape. Sixty-three magnificent tombs are located here and more remain to be found. Shortly before we left home to come here, a whole new treasure trove was unearthed. New techniques that allow imaging beneath the soil have made finding tombs...

Dec 1, 2019 - fly to Luxor

We had barely settled in on our cruise ship Clio and it was already time to leave. Thanks to government bureaucracy we had a late start, which was sorely needed after the mixed drinks at the captain’s welcome aboard party and the unlimited wine at dinner. I was shocked when one of the waitresses rushed up to us and gave us a hug. She remembered us from our cruise on the Corinthian on the Iberian peninsula two years ago. She did look vaguely familiar to us, but she seemed to have vivid memories of us for some reason. Wonder what we did....