Tuesday: December 21, 2010
Words cannot accurately describe the past three weeks. I’ve written in this blog (almost) daily describing the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met. It has easily been the most productive and most fun winter break I’ve had in college. Sure, some places and hotels were nicer than others, but all in all, it was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will treasure forever.
Between packing and being on the computer, I didn’t get much sleep the night before we left for New York. I woke up at 5:20am, finished packing my bag, took my bags to the lobby, and had breakfast in the hotel at 6am. We left for Cairo Airport on the early side (around 6:45am) to avoid the downtown Cairo traffic and I couldn’t stay awake on the bus. It was sort of melancholy on the bus as Professor Ghaly expressed how great the trip was and as the group expressed their praise for Professor Ghaly. He was crying—something I’ve never seen him do before. We arrived at the airport, took our bags from the bus, and entered the terminal. I hugged Professor Ghaly and Mama Ghaly as I went through the general terminal security. I looked back and saw memories of Egypt as I put my bags on the screener.
I didn’t have much time to say goodbye to Egypt as Melanie and I hurried to the check-in counter. Professor Ghaly and Melanie told me that the plane was going to be packed, but I thought since it was a Tuesday people wouldn’t be traveling—and I was very wrong. We waited inline for a good amount of time and I was happy that my luggage was not over weight.
We then went through Egyptian immigration and officially left the country—we were in no-man’s land—a crazy legal idea that we were in Egypt, but we technically weren’t. The main security area where you go through a metal detector was at the boarding area—different from NYC—so we sat outside the boarding area gate until they opened it. Once through security, we sat in the boarding area until a little after 10 am. After changing my seat a few times (26k to 38J to 39I to finally 39J), Melanie and I wound up sitting together, which was really nice. EgyptAir flight MS 985 took off at 10:55am, Cairo Time. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast at around noon, took 2 Dramamine, and started watching “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Happily and un-expectantly, I fell asleep—for 4 hours! It was glorious! I then woke up, read the free newspaper, and finished the movie. They also served us lunch (I had chicken and rice) on the plane and then I watched the movies “Flipped” (cute movie) and “The Day After Tomorrow” (yay, New York). After 9313 km of traveling, we landed at 3:15pm EST at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City. We were finally home!
We waited in line for awhile before we went though immigration—but once the officer stamped my passport, I was finally back in the United States. I then got my bags and went to the customs checkpoint. The guy told Melanie and I that we had to go to the secondary checkpoint where the officer asked us a few more questions and let us go without having to open our luggage.
With passing that last checkpoint, I was home. United States, New York, Home. Going to Egypt was amazing. Simply amazing. I learned about a whole new culture—different money, language, and religions. I learned how to haggle and I learned how to repack my suitcase every three days. The tombs and temples were remarkable in everyway. The ancient Egyptians were so advanced and so smart. They had technology and architecture that we struggle to achieve with computers and formulas. The mini-term concept is a fantastic one, and while expensive, it was worth every penny…or piaster, I wish I could do one every year. Sure, at times I struggled with the food and the security, but that was expected. At least I learned that I could be on a plane for almost 12 hours without losing my mind.
I want to thank everybody that has supported me in my journey across the world, including my parents and grandparents, my family, my friends, and my classmates. I also must thank Professor Ghaly for his hard work in making this trip a reality. He has been working since last February to put together this 3-week trip and it showed.
Egypt is a diverse and interesting place to visit and I suggest everybody try to check it out at some point. It’s been great blogging with you…and thank you to those who have read my rambling—I really appreciate everybody who took a few minutes out of their hectic days to see how my day had gone—yeah the seven hour time difference was rough at times—just ask my Mom! Anymore questions, ask them here or in email, I'll answer them! Until next time!
Don’t fear time, sometimes it feels like 10 seconds.
Showing posts with label early morning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label early morning. Show all posts
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Another Day, Another City: Alexandria
Sunday: December 19, 2010
After a few hours of much needed sleep, we got back on the road and traveled northwest to the second largest city in Egypt, Alexandria. The trip from Cairo to Alexandria took approximately 3 hours. We took one major highway, the Cairo-Alexandria-Matrouh Free Highway/Desert Road, to get to the city on the Mediterranean. It was cool to look out the window at this highway because many sections of it were under reconstruction or widening. Professor Ghaly said that the road is constantly being expanded to accommodate the growing population. In order to do this, many buildings were removed to expand the road’s right-of-way, something that is much harder to do in the United States. The road once went through a desert, but now the route is very developed. Just outside Cairo is an area called the Smart Village, which is designed after Silicon Valley in the United States. Tenants of the Smart Village include Microsoft, Oracle, HP, IBM, and Intel to name a few. It costs less for these American companies to have their Research and Development in Egypt because software engineers are paid less in Egypt than in the United States.
On our way to Alexandria, we stopped at a Zoo (it might have been called the “Lion Zoo,” but I can’t remember for sure) on the side of the highway. We saw Lions, ducks, ostriches, dogs, and monkeys. Yes, there were tons of dogs there…and it was pretty sad seeing all those pups in cages (at least they weren’t in Mike Vick-styled cages). There were Dalmatians, black labs, Greyhounds, and St. Bernards—all purebreds. Apparently, dogs aren’t house pets here like they are in the states—either way, many of us felt bad for those pups.
Once we arrived in Alexandria, Professor Ghaly’s hometown, he gave us a bus tour of some interesting sites of the city as we drove to our destination. It was the capital of Egypt for almost 1000 years until 642 AC. We saw Ghaly’s first construction sites and the buildings he supervised the concrete production of (his first love). He also pointed out where his house is. We also were told that archeologists discovered the entrance of Queen Cleopatra’s temple underwater. We passed Alexandria University, which has ~300,000 students on various campuses.
As we drove around Alexandria, it was very noticeable that it is a different type of city when compared to Cairo. The air and streets are cleaner in Alexandria and people follow traffic regulations—similar to Aswan and Luxor. The taxes in Alexandria are much higher than in other areas of Egypt and the real estate prices are also very high. There are high-rises on the shoreline since that is the only way for builders to make a profit. Hurghada and Sharm were also clean and had organized traffic flows but Hurghada is ½ tourist and ½ locals and Sharm is 99% resorts (there are more than 600 of them). The dirtiest areas around Alexandria are the oil refineries that smell like sulfur, but you can’t smell them from the city.
The road that follows the Mediterranean through the city (the Sea Road—46km long) was only 4 lanes wide (2 in each direction) when Professor Ghaly was a kid. Today it spans 8 lanes from reclaimed land from the sea. To protect against erosion, there are interlocking concrete blocks at the shoreline. Dulles (concrete pieces that look like jacks) also protects the shore. Additionally, the Mediterranean is 50 cm higher than it was 50 years ago due to rising sea levels. Many beaches no longer exist or are much smaller than they once were (there are 3 Miami beaches). This is occurring because of the dumping of wastewater and the reclamation of land in addition to global warming.
Our first stop in Alexandria was the Botanical Garden. We walked around the water. While it was a large place, it wasn’t anything like the Aswan Botanical Gardens. We also saw a King’s palace while there. Afterwards, we traveled a few minutes to a Roman Amphitheatre, which was actually not a place of entertainment in its heyday. It was one of ~1000 in Alexandria and is very small. It was cool to stand in the middle of it because when you speak from this spot, your voice gets louder—amazing technology and engineering. Unfortunately, it is the last remaining amphitheatre as ~1000 have been lost to time. There were also many artifacts around the site that were found under water. Apparently people can take scuba trips to artifacts that are still under water. Excavation continues under the sea to find the lost city of Alexandria.
Our second stop was the Kom El-Shuqafa (Mound of Shards) Monuments, an open-air museum and one of the seven wonders of the Middle Ages. We entered “Catacomb” (a Greek word), the Main Tomb. A catacomb is an underground burial area where families would stay with the dead at night so that they were not alone. We went down a deep shaft of 2 levels, ~27 m down, to see the burial rooms. This was an interesting place because it showed a combination of Greek and Egyptian styles. There were traditional Egyptian sun disks and Horus Falcons, historically Egyptian symbols while there were Medusas and Greek Horses, Greek symbols. There were also carvings of Anubis (Egyptian) with Greek military dress. There were also snakes with the head of Anubis. 300 people were buried in this tomb. Additionally, there is an unfinished tomb of an important person, but they don’t know who it was. After leaving the tomb, we saw another tomb, the Tigram Tomb that contained painted diagrams. It wasn’t Tigram’s tomb and is only named after him because the tomb was discovered on Tigram Street.
At this point it was around 3pm and we went for a late lunch at Professor Ghaly’s favorite restaurant. I had chicken and French fries with really good pita bread. It was nice eating with a view of the Mediterranean. Afterwards, we visited the outside of the Citadel of Alexandria, which was also right on the Sea. Across the street, Professor Ghaly took us to his favorite ice cream shop. I got a chocolate and vanilla cone, but it was different than ice cream in the states (I think it was more water-based) and it was very good.
The highlight of the day was most definitely the Library of Alexandria. Built in 2002, it was constructed in the memory of the ancient library that was lost to time. The library has 11 levels and is very impressive. It is built in a bathtub (like the World Trade Center) because some of the building is built below sea level. The façade of the building is made up of granite stones with letters from 1000 different languages to symbolize the meeting of the various people of the world. It is considered a modern wonder of Egypt. There are multiple libraries and museums within the library. There was an area overlooking the entire library designed for tourists so that we wouldn’t disturb the people studying there. The windows in the main room of the building look like eyes since they don’t let the sun’s rays directly into the room and also have eyelashes to control how much light comes in. There are also many fire curtains to prevent a fire from spreading to other parts of the library. We also went downstairs (below street level) and saw the modern art museum. (SEE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliotheca_Alexandrina for photos).
At around 7pm, we drove back to Cairo and returned to our hotel. Tomorrow, believe it or not, is my final full day in Egypt. We will be going to the Egyptian Museum and a bazaar to finish up the trip.
Mailbag
Little Chief Tunis: During your tour of the military museum, was any mention made by the tour guide that the Israelis were attacked on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year? No. None, just the date was mentioned. Did the guide refer to the conflict as the Ramadan War? No, but that was also going on. Was any post-war context provided, i.e. Camp David Peace Accord entered into by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter? Only Sadat was mentioned in this. Any comment on modern-day relations between the two countries or was his explanation of the etiology of the design of the Israeli flag emblematic of current thinking? None.
After a few hours of much needed sleep, we got back on the road and traveled northwest to the second largest city in Egypt, Alexandria. The trip from Cairo to Alexandria took approximately 3 hours. We took one major highway, the Cairo-Alexandria-Matrouh Free Highway/Desert Road, to get to the city on the Mediterranean. It was cool to look out the window at this highway because many sections of it were under reconstruction or widening. Professor Ghaly said that the road is constantly being expanded to accommodate the growing population. In order to do this, many buildings were removed to expand the road’s right-of-way, something that is much harder to do in the United States. The road once went through a desert, but now the route is very developed. Just outside Cairo is an area called the Smart Village, which is designed after Silicon Valley in the United States. Tenants of the Smart Village include Microsoft, Oracle, HP, IBM, and Intel to name a few. It costs less for these American companies to have their Research and Development in Egypt because software engineers are paid less in Egypt than in the United States.
On our way to Alexandria, we stopped at a Zoo (it might have been called the “Lion Zoo,” but I can’t remember for sure) on the side of the highway. We saw Lions, ducks, ostriches, dogs, and monkeys. Yes, there were tons of dogs there…and it was pretty sad seeing all those pups in cages (at least they weren’t in Mike Vick-styled cages). There were Dalmatians, black labs, Greyhounds, and St. Bernards—all purebreds. Apparently, dogs aren’t house pets here like they are in the states—either way, many of us felt bad for those pups.
Once we arrived in Alexandria, Professor Ghaly’s hometown, he gave us a bus tour of some interesting sites of the city as we drove to our destination. It was the capital of Egypt for almost 1000 years until 642 AC. We saw Ghaly’s first construction sites and the buildings he supervised the concrete production of (his first love). He also pointed out where his house is. We also were told that archeologists discovered the entrance of Queen Cleopatra’s temple underwater. We passed Alexandria University, which has ~300,000 students on various campuses.
As we drove around Alexandria, it was very noticeable that it is a different type of city when compared to Cairo. The air and streets are cleaner in Alexandria and people follow traffic regulations—similar to Aswan and Luxor. The taxes in Alexandria are much higher than in other areas of Egypt and the real estate prices are also very high. There are high-rises on the shoreline since that is the only way for builders to make a profit. Hurghada and Sharm were also clean and had organized traffic flows but Hurghada is ½ tourist and ½ locals and Sharm is 99% resorts (there are more than 600 of them). The dirtiest areas around Alexandria are the oil refineries that smell like sulfur, but you can’t smell them from the city.
The road that follows the Mediterranean through the city (the Sea Road—46km long) was only 4 lanes wide (2 in each direction) when Professor Ghaly was a kid. Today it spans 8 lanes from reclaimed land from the sea. To protect against erosion, there are interlocking concrete blocks at the shoreline. Dulles (concrete pieces that look like jacks) also protects the shore. Additionally, the Mediterranean is 50 cm higher than it was 50 years ago due to rising sea levels. Many beaches no longer exist or are much smaller than they once were (there are 3 Miami beaches). This is occurring because of the dumping of wastewater and the reclamation of land in addition to global warming.
Our first stop in Alexandria was the Botanical Garden. We walked around the water. While it was a large place, it wasn’t anything like the Aswan Botanical Gardens. We also saw a King’s palace while there. Afterwards, we traveled a few minutes to a Roman Amphitheatre, which was actually not a place of entertainment in its heyday. It was one of ~1000 in Alexandria and is very small. It was cool to stand in the middle of it because when you speak from this spot, your voice gets louder—amazing technology and engineering. Unfortunately, it is the last remaining amphitheatre as ~1000 have been lost to time. There were also many artifacts around the site that were found under water. Apparently people can take scuba trips to artifacts that are still under water. Excavation continues under the sea to find the lost city of Alexandria.
Our second stop was the Kom El-Shuqafa (Mound of Shards) Monuments, an open-air museum and one of the seven wonders of the Middle Ages. We entered “Catacomb” (a Greek word), the Main Tomb. A catacomb is an underground burial area where families would stay with the dead at night so that they were not alone. We went down a deep shaft of 2 levels, ~27 m down, to see the burial rooms. This was an interesting place because it showed a combination of Greek and Egyptian styles. There were traditional Egyptian sun disks and Horus Falcons, historically Egyptian symbols while there were Medusas and Greek Horses, Greek symbols. There were also carvings of Anubis (Egyptian) with Greek military dress. There were also snakes with the head of Anubis. 300 people were buried in this tomb. Additionally, there is an unfinished tomb of an important person, but they don’t know who it was. After leaving the tomb, we saw another tomb, the Tigram Tomb that contained painted diagrams. It wasn’t Tigram’s tomb and is only named after him because the tomb was discovered on Tigram Street.
At this point it was around 3pm and we went for a late lunch at Professor Ghaly’s favorite restaurant. I had chicken and French fries with really good pita bread. It was nice eating with a view of the Mediterranean. Afterwards, we visited the outside of the Citadel of Alexandria, which was also right on the Sea. Across the street, Professor Ghaly took us to his favorite ice cream shop. I got a chocolate and vanilla cone, but it was different than ice cream in the states (I think it was more water-based) and it was very good.
The highlight of the day was most definitely the Library of Alexandria. Built in 2002, it was constructed in the memory of the ancient library that was lost to time. The library has 11 levels and is very impressive. It is built in a bathtub (like the World Trade Center) because some of the building is built below sea level. The façade of the building is made up of granite stones with letters from 1000 different languages to symbolize the meeting of the various people of the world. It is considered a modern wonder of Egypt. There are multiple libraries and museums within the library. There was an area overlooking the entire library designed for tourists so that we wouldn’t disturb the people studying there. The windows in the main room of the building look like eyes since they don’t let the sun’s rays directly into the room and also have eyelashes to control how much light comes in. There are also many fire curtains to prevent a fire from spreading to other parts of the library. We also went downstairs (below street level) and saw the modern art museum. (SEE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliotheca_Alexandrina for photos).
At around 7pm, we drove back to Cairo and returned to our hotel. Tomorrow, believe it or not, is my final full day in Egypt. We will be going to the Egyptian Museum and a bazaar to finish up the trip.
Mailbag
Little Chief Tunis: During your tour of the military museum, was any mention made by the tour guide that the Israelis were attacked on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year? No. None, just the date was mentioned. Did the guide refer to the conflict as the Ramadan War? No, but that was also going on. Was any post-war context provided, i.e. Camp David Peace Accord entered into by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter? Only Sadat was mentioned in this. Any comment on modern-day relations between the two countries or was his explanation of the etiology of the design of the Israeli flag emblematic of current thinking? None.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Far From One Gustave L. Levy Place
Saturday: December 18, 2010
Today was a long day. It started at 1:15am when I received a wake up call and had to get to the bus by 1:45am. I think I slept for an hour—in my jeans and a hooded sweatshirt (I had the hood up the entire time). I couldn’t sleep because of the mosquitoes flying around my head and making a buzzing noise in my ears. Apparently there was a repellent in the room, but Mike and I didn’t realize it. Even with my hood up, I got three bites on my face (Melanie’s room also had the same problem—and she got bites on her face, legs, and back).
Why did we wake up so early? We woke up soon after going to sleep to climb Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise at 5:50am at the mountain’s peak. With flashlights in hand and wearing many layers of warm clothes (it was pretty cold at the beginning of the night as well as at the top of the mountain), we were led up the mountain by a Bedouin (pronounced: Bedwin), a type of person who lives in the desert. This man is employed by the Egyptian government to lead groups to the top of Mt. Sinai in order to give them job opportunities and ensure that touring companies don’t take advantage of visitors.
The group was moving up the mountain in the dark at a pretty swift pace. Melanie and I decided to take it easy up the mountain (we each have a history of knee problems). As we climbed the mountain, there were dozens of people offering camel rides up the mountain. A good number of non-Union people paid at least 80 pounds for this service but personally I would have been scared to ride a camel in the dark up steep slopes. There were rest stops along the path with drinks and candy, but I didn’t buy anything. After a quick rest stop here and there (anything longer than 5 minutes would have caused our body temperatures to drop), we continued on to the top of the mountain. I often looked up at the stars and I’ve never seen them so bright—it’s too bad the camera couldn’t capture these images. The ground was pretty rocky and I often was looking down so I wouldn’t trip or step in camel dung.
At the 2/3 mark, we had to climb ~750 steps to get to the top of Mt. Sinai. Even with our moderate pace, we caught up with the rest of the Union group and arrived at the top at 5:30am. I didn’t see any tablets, nor did I see Moses. Many aren’t sure of the exact location of Mt. Sinai, but this spot was chosen after it was geolocated using texts and historical background (not truly hard evidence). We spent 45-50 minutes at the top of the mountain to watch the sun rise. After hot days in Sharm, I quickly found myself shivering while wearing 4 layers, two hoods, and winter gloves. Check out this video below!
After watching the sun peak through the clouds and avoiding the numerous vendors, we descended the mountain and got to the bottom around 9am.
The Union group met at the entrance of St. Catherine’s Monastery where we then entered as a group. Interestingly, St. Catherine herself had problems with the ruler of Alexandra regarding religion among other things and was beheaded. Later, a monk saw St. Catherine’s angel and was instructed to bury her in its present location. There are many churches in the area, including one on the top of Mt. Sinai. During the 3rd/4th centuries, the Bedouins living in the area would attack the monastery for food and water and killed monks while doing so. In order to protect themselves, they built walls around the monastery for protection, similar to the walls that surround castles. The wells in the monastery apparently were used during the time of Moses, according to Zach. The monastery is also home to the burning bush. This brush is thought of to be the actual burning bush that is mentioned in the Old Testament because this location has been passed on from generation to generation, pieces of papyrus say this is the correct location, it was there in 642 AD when the Arabs came to Egypt, and pure faith.
After spending time admiring the burning bush, we returned to our hotel, had breakfast, and got back on the road to head back to Cairo. On our way back to the capital city of Egypt, we made three stops. The first stop was a Moses Water Spring, a well-type structure near the Suez Canal made from stones of the Roman time.
The second stop was an open-air Egyptian military museum depicting the events of the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel. This site was 3.5 km from Moses Springs. Professor Ghaly was the translator for the special military guide who showed us around the site. He prefaced his translating by saying this is the Egyptian side and there might not be agreement. Before 1973, Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula and in 1973, Egypt regained control. We saw an Israeli-built shelter made from reinforced concrete and baskets with stones to absorb cannon ball hits that housed 6-inch caliber cannons. The guide explained that the shelter contains an Israeli flag—and that the 6-pointed star represents the 6 countries Israel wanted to conquer, the top blue strip represents the Nile River, and the bottom blue stripe represents the Tigris/ Euphrates Rivers. I’m not sure that I agree with this explanation being that the Israeli flag was designed in the 1800s, long before the creation of Israel in 1948, but I heard what the military personnel had to say.
We then left the museum and continued our ride back to Cairo. In order to move from Asia to Africa, we took a tunnel that went under the Suez Canal. Unlike tunnels in the New York City area (that were bored from hard rock), the Suez tunnel went through soft sand and needed reinforcement. It is located 10 meters below the canal and is ~4km long. There is a toll to use this tunnel—5 pounds (less than $1) for cars and 10 pounds for buses. After another hour in the bus, we arrived in Cairo and had dinner at a local restaurant where I had chicken and French fries. Next, we checked into our hotel, the Mercure, which was the first hotel we stayed in while in Egypt—we’ve come full circle. Moving around the country has been very exciting, though it is nice to return to where we started three weeks ago. After a night in a hotel like last night, Cairo was a sight for tired and weary eyes.
Tomorrow we take a long bus ride north to Alexandria for a day trip and return to Cairo in the evening. Any questions!? Ask! I’ll answer them! Thanks for reading!
**One Gustave L. Levy Place is the location of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City**
“Cairo has never looked so good.”
—Melanie Watman as we entered Cairo this evening.
Today was a long day. It started at 1:15am when I received a wake up call and had to get to the bus by 1:45am. I think I slept for an hour—in my jeans and a hooded sweatshirt (I had the hood up the entire time). I couldn’t sleep because of the mosquitoes flying around my head and making a buzzing noise in my ears. Apparently there was a repellent in the room, but Mike and I didn’t realize it. Even with my hood up, I got three bites on my face (Melanie’s room also had the same problem—and she got bites on her face, legs, and back).
Why did we wake up so early? We woke up soon after going to sleep to climb Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise at 5:50am at the mountain’s peak. With flashlights in hand and wearing many layers of warm clothes (it was pretty cold at the beginning of the night as well as at the top of the mountain), we were led up the mountain by a Bedouin (pronounced: Bedwin), a type of person who lives in the desert. This man is employed by the Egyptian government to lead groups to the top of Mt. Sinai in order to give them job opportunities and ensure that touring companies don’t take advantage of visitors.
The group was moving up the mountain in the dark at a pretty swift pace. Melanie and I decided to take it easy up the mountain (we each have a history of knee problems). As we climbed the mountain, there were dozens of people offering camel rides up the mountain. A good number of non-Union people paid at least 80 pounds for this service but personally I would have been scared to ride a camel in the dark up steep slopes. There were rest stops along the path with drinks and candy, but I didn’t buy anything. After a quick rest stop here and there (anything longer than 5 minutes would have caused our body temperatures to drop), we continued on to the top of the mountain. I often looked up at the stars and I’ve never seen them so bright—it’s too bad the camera couldn’t capture these images. The ground was pretty rocky and I often was looking down so I wouldn’t trip or step in camel dung.
At the 2/3 mark, we had to climb ~750 steps to get to the top of Mt. Sinai. Even with our moderate pace, we caught up with the rest of the Union group and arrived at the top at 5:30am. I didn’t see any tablets, nor did I see Moses. Many aren’t sure of the exact location of Mt. Sinai, but this spot was chosen after it was geolocated using texts and historical background (not truly hard evidence). We spent 45-50 minutes at the top of the mountain to watch the sun rise. After hot days in Sharm, I quickly found myself shivering while wearing 4 layers, two hoods, and winter gloves. Check out this video below!
The Union group met at the entrance of St. Catherine’s Monastery where we then entered as a group. Interestingly, St. Catherine herself had problems with the ruler of Alexandra regarding religion among other things and was beheaded. Later, a monk saw St. Catherine’s angel and was instructed to bury her in its present location. There are many churches in the area, including one on the top of Mt. Sinai. During the 3rd/4th centuries, the Bedouins living in the area would attack the monastery for food and water and killed monks while doing so. In order to protect themselves, they built walls around the monastery for protection, similar to the walls that surround castles. The wells in the monastery apparently were used during the time of Moses, according to Zach. The monastery is also home to the burning bush. This brush is thought of to be the actual burning bush that is mentioned in the Old Testament because this location has been passed on from generation to generation, pieces of papyrus say this is the correct location, it was there in 642 AD when the Arabs came to Egypt, and pure faith.
After spending time admiring the burning bush, we returned to our hotel, had breakfast, and got back on the road to head back to Cairo. On our way back to the capital city of Egypt, we made three stops. The first stop was a Moses Water Spring, a well-type structure near the Suez Canal made from stones of the Roman time.
The second stop was an open-air Egyptian military museum depicting the events of the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel. This site was 3.5 km from Moses Springs. Professor Ghaly was the translator for the special military guide who showed us around the site. He prefaced his translating by saying this is the Egyptian side and there might not be agreement. Before 1973, Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula and in 1973, Egypt regained control. We saw an Israeli-built shelter made from reinforced concrete and baskets with stones to absorb cannon ball hits that housed 6-inch caliber cannons. The guide explained that the shelter contains an Israeli flag—and that the 6-pointed star represents the 6 countries Israel wanted to conquer, the top blue strip represents the Nile River, and the bottom blue stripe represents the Tigris/ Euphrates Rivers. I’m not sure that I agree with this explanation being that the Israeli flag was designed in the 1800s, long before the creation of Israel in 1948, but I heard what the military personnel had to say.
We then left the museum and continued our ride back to Cairo. In order to move from Asia to Africa, we took a tunnel that went under the Suez Canal. Unlike tunnels in the New York City area (that were bored from hard rock), the Suez tunnel went through soft sand and needed reinforcement. It is located 10 meters below the canal and is ~4km long. There is a toll to use this tunnel—5 pounds (less than $1) for cars and 10 pounds for buses. After another hour in the bus, we arrived in Cairo and had dinner at a local restaurant where I had chicken and French fries. Next, we checked into our hotel, the Mercure, which was the first hotel we stayed in while in Egypt—we’ve come full circle. Moving around the country has been very exciting, though it is nice to return to where we started three weeks ago. After a night in a hotel like last night, Cairo was a sight for tired and weary eyes.
Tomorrow we take a long bus ride north to Alexandria for a day trip and return to Cairo in the evening. Any questions!? Ask! I’ll answer them! Thanks for reading!
**One Gustave L. Levy Place is the location of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City**
A One Camel Town
Friday: December 17, 2010
Hello there! I’m currently in the middle of the desert, otherwise known as St. Catherine, Egypt. We left beautiful Sharm El-Sheikh at around 10:30am and drove north through the desert of the Sinai Peninsula to reach our hotel, The Plaza at St. Catherine. There isn’t much in the town, however, 2,000 visitors come to St. Catherine every day. Since it is not connected to the Nile River, there are deep wells drilled to supply the town with water.
Prior to our arrival at our hotel, Professor Ghaly and Zach, our tour guide, advised us that this hotel was not on the same level as our previous hotels…and they were right. The Plaza is one of two hotels in St. Catherine and is considered the better of the two…but I’m still going to sleep in my clothes tonight. There was a buffet dinner at the hotel and a bunch of us did some shopping at the little shops in the hotel courtyard. One item that was a must have was a flashlight for our trip up Mount Sinai.
While I say that I’m going to sleep in my clothes, I probably will only sleep for an hour since we are leaving for Mount Sinai (Mountain Moses)—a five-minute drive from the hotel—at 2 am. Tomorrow, we hike up Mt. Sinai and travel back to Africa/Cairo for the final leg of the mini term. Talk to you soon!
Hello there! I’m currently in the middle of the desert, otherwise known as St. Catherine, Egypt. We left beautiful Sharm El-Sheikh at around 10:30am and drove north through the desert of the Sinai Peninsula to reach our hotel, The Plaza at St. Catherine. There isn’t much in the town, however, 2,000 visitors come to St. Catherine every day. Since it is not connected to the Nile River, there are deep wells drilled to supply the town with water.
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| In the middle of no where |
While I say that I’m going to sleep in my clothes, I probably will only sleep for an hour since we are leaving for Mount Sinai (Mountain Moses)—a five-minute drive from the hotel—at 2 am. Tomorrow, we hike up Mt. Sinai and travel back to Africa/Cairo for the final leg of the mini term. Talk to you soon!
Friday, December 10, 2010
A Day of Traveling
Wednesday: December 8, 2010
Welcome to day 8 of the Egypt Mini Term! Today marks the 1-week mark of touring various sites around Egypt and every site is interesting and breathtaking. Today we visited Abydos Temple in Abydos City of Sohag Province as well as Dandara Temple an hour and a half south of Abydos. We were given bag lunches (which I ate for breakfast because I fell asleep after my wake up call) and we headed off the cruise ship at 7am.
After a lengthy 2+ hour bus ride, we arrived in Abydos City, once the capital of Upper Egypt and is home to Abydos Temple. This temple is considered to be one of the oldest temples and was built before the time of dynasties, kingdoms, and the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. This would make the temple between 7,000 and 10,000 years old. It was originally thought that the tomb at this location only contained the tomb of one king since it was called “Narmah Ominas,” however; there are two different kings. While not the same person, they apparently lived through and dealt with similar situations. Today they are still looking for two tombs for Narmah and Ominas.
Osiris temple at Abydos was very interesting to see. The first half of the structure was destroyed but the second half still exists. It was built for King Ramses II. Interestingly, the remains of polish archeologists were found, indicating that they died trying to find this place. Egypt is going to try to rebuild the first half of the temple as they find new artifacts. There are also 200-300 year old houses around the site and they plan to move these houses to excavate underneath them. Officials believe that there was an extension of the temple located around the current site of the temple. It is really remarkable to see how archeologists are always working around Egypt’s major historical tourist sites to discover new treasures.
Osiris was the god of the second life, which was more important than the 1st life. There is a carving on the walls showing the god being presented with a gift—a Jed Pillar—, which is a cedar tree where they found the heart of Oziris. There was also a room in the temple that contained a false door to the second life, which is abnormal in a temple because it is usually only seen in tombs. Walking through the temple is interesting, even though the faces of the figures of the wall were chiseled away. This was done because a church occupied this temple and it couldn’t have any human features on the walls.
The original tomb of Osiris is located at this site before the temple was built. Many people believe that this area is a “high energy” area. Meditation groups and spiritual people come to this site because it is a place of the spirits of important kings. It contained a pool in ancient times, though is still filled with water. We couldn’t go into this area, however, there are many rooms inside. The large blocks used to construct the tomb were brought all the way from Aswan. What a schlep!
Next stop for the day (in the late afternoon) was Dandora Temple, built in the Greek-Roman style. The temple is located in Dandora City in the Kena Province in Upper Egypt. Like in Osiris, Dandora was also used as a church for a long time. There was a small sphinx at this temple because kings and queens liked to use it to show power. There is a graveyard found in the area with tombs as old as 7,000 years. The mummies that were found are now located in the Egyptian Museum, which I will see towards the end of my trip. Above the entrances to the rooms of most temples, I had noticed a feathery-looking carving. Zach, our tour guide, told me that it is a sun disk with wings that are present for protection. (picture eventually!) Construction took place during Greek times and was built for Tolemays III. This temple was pretty cool because we got to go underground into a Crypt. In terms of the overall temple, 24 columns held up the ceiling. While we were there, there was a lot of scaffolding at the front of the temple removing the soot from the ceiling caused by the smoke from the church. There was also a calendar on a ceiling that was stolen by an Italian and it has seen been replaced by a replica.
Later that evening, we had dinner on the cruise and are staying tonight on the ship. Tomorrow comes the Valley of the Kings and Downtown Luxor! Talk to you soon! Thanks for reading!
Welcome to day 8 of the Egypt Mini Term! Today marks the 1-week mark of touring various sites around Egypt and every site is interesting and breathtaking. Today we visited Abydos Temple in Abydos City of Sohag Province as well as Dandara Temple an hour and a half south of Abydos. We were given bag lunches (which I ate for breakfast because I fell asleep after my wake up call) and we headed off the cruise ship at 7am.
After a lengthy 2+ hour bus ride, we arrived in Abydos City, once the capital of Upper Egypt and is home to Abydos Temple. This temple is considered to be one of the oldest temples and was built before the time of dynasties, kingdoms, and the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. This would make the temple between 7,000 and 10,000 years old. It was originally thought that the tomb at this location only contained the tomb of one king since it was called “Narmah Ominas,” however; there are two different kings. While not the same person, they apparently lived through and dealt with similar situations. Today they are still looking for two tombs for Narmah and Ominas.
Osiris temple at Abydos was very interesting to see. The first half of the structure was destroyed but the second half still exists. It was built for King Ramses II. Interestingly, the remains of polish archeologists were found, indicating that they died trying to find this place. Egypt is going to try to rebuild the first half of the temple as they find new artifacts. There are also 200-300 year old houses around the site and they plan to move these houses to excavate underneath them. Officials believe that there was an extension of the temple located around the current site of the temple. It is really remarkable to see how archeologists are always working around Egypt’s major historical tourist sites to discover new treasures.
Osiris was the god of the second life, which was more important than the 1st life. There is a carving on the walls showing the god being presented with a gift—a Jed Pillar—, which is a cedar tree where they found the heart of Oziris. There was also a room in the temple that contained a false door to the second life, which is abnormal in a temple because it is usually only seen in tombs. Walking through the temple is interesting, even though the faces of the figures of the wall were chiseled away. This was done because a church occupied this temple and it couldn’t have any human features on the walls.
The original tomb of Osiris is located at this site before the temple was built. Many people believe that this area is a “high energy” area. Meditation groups and spiritual people come to this site because it is a place of the spirits of important kings. It contained a pool in ancient times, though is still filled with water. We couldn’t go into this area, however, there are many rooms inside. The large blocks used to construct the tomb were brought all the way from Aswan. What a schlep!
Next stop for the day (in the late afternoon) was Dandora Temple, built in the Greek-Roman style. The temple is located in Dandora City in the Kena Province in Upper Egypt. Like in Osiris, Dandora was also used as a church for a long time. There was a small sphinx at this temple because kings and queens liked to use it to show power. There is a graveyard found in the area with tombs as old as 7,000 years. The mummies that were found are now located in the Egyptian Museum, which I will see towards the end of my trip. Above the entrances to the rooms of most temples, I had noticed a feathery-looking carving. Zach, our tour guide, told me that it is a sun disk with wings that are present for protection. (picture eventually!) Construction took place during Greek times and was built for Tolemays III. This temple was pretty cool because we got to go underground into a Crypt. In terms of the overall temple, 24 columns held up the ceiling. While we were there, there was a lot of scaffolding at the front of the temple removing the soot from the ceiling caused by the smoke from the church. There was also a calendar on a ceiling that was stolen by an Italian and it has seen been replaced by a replica.
Later that evening, we had dinner on the cruise and are staying tonight on the ship. Tomorrow comes the Valley of the Kings and Downtown Luxor! Talk to you soon! Thanks for reading!
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