Sunday, April 1, 2012

Upper Egypt




So close to the end of our program…Spring Break in Hurghada was a success maybe I’ll get around to writing a blog about it sometime =P but during Spring Break we hit our half way mark. 2 months living in Cairo…2 to go…of course for me I am staying 7 weeks later into the summer and working as an Intern with my program so the end is not as close for me but it feels like it is…This weekend we went on a Nile River Cruise from Luxor to Aswan! And now all we have is a month of classes left then we all will go our separate directions! But more about that later! Our cruise was amazing I will tell you all about it!






Early morning flight…went to bed at 12am-ish woke up at 2:30am…leaving for the airport at 4am! I need to learn to get my sleep before flights! Because not only are we flying o Luxor super early but we are also beginning our tours the same morning that we arrive at 7am! Yikes! But true to form I don’t get much sleep but sleep on the way to the airport and on the plane =)



Finally, Karnak Temple. I am an ancient Egypt buff =) or dork as some may say =D but I don’t deny it! I love ancient Egyptian history! So Karnak Temple was definitely top on my sites I wanted to see! It is a temple complex added upon by many famous Pharaohs including Ramsess II (or the Great), Hatshepsut (one of the few woman Pharaohs), and Thutmosis III (Hatshepsut’s step-son who had her likeness and name removed from her temples!). We also feel special because my Egyptology professor is showing us around the temple and is a much more legit source then others… =P






But anyways we arrive to our cruise ship just in time for buffet lunch! Lunch, laying out, reading, napping…it is a very relaxing rest of the day =) This really does feel like Spring Break part 2!  






picture from a different temple


Day 2 – Early morning again!!! Nooooo! Lol up at 6:30am for…wait for it…buffet breakfast! =) Then promptly leave for our next excursion to…the Valley of the Kings….again a bit of a history lesson for those who don’t know the Valley of the Kings is where 60 plus pharaonic  tombs are. Located on the west bank of the Nile because that is where the dead lives because it is where the Sun completes his journey across the sky and begins his nightly journey…so anyways! We go to the Valley and see some tombs =) No photography allowed though!







Next is Hatshepsut’s temple…I won’t bore you with the historical details behind this wonderful female Pharaoh but she really is an amazing topic I’d suggest for anyone who is slightly interested in ancient Egypt to look her up! In her temple we had a bit of excitement…first when we were doing our classic jump shot, the excavators on the side of the walk got mad and said we could break the stone! Fat Americans… lol so THEN me and both of the professors with us got in trouble for touching the temple! A little background…the temple is mostly newly built! They are rebuilding the temple to its former glory using the bits and pieces of the original that they had found…so all three of us clearly were touching new building parts! But they started yelling at us! Well to keep a long story short there was some yelling then everything was ok =P Not sure if they will want us back anytime soon tho!








Also, we got surrounded by small children…which was pretty scary considering I don’t like kids! =P











Good thing about having to wake up at 6:30am for breakfast and go on tours till lunch is that you get the rest of the afternoon free to do whatever you want! Well what we wanted to do was go up to the deck and get some sun, read, and swim =) So we did! I even did a couple of homework questions... =P








Dinner on the boat then early bedtime so we can be up tomorrow for our Murder Mystery game and more tours!



TO BE CONTINUED…