Okay, we do finally land in Egypt with our party of 10!!! We have my Mother in Law, our family friend Vicci, my sister in law, Alison and her 12 year old daughter Olivia, my sister in law Anne and her hubby Bobby and about 30 pieces of luggage. We are at the part of the trip that we are now officially traveling with the others. Goodbye the quiet family time in London, goodbye the quiet family time at the beach house in Saudi Arabia (the others were staying in Dharan about 40 miles away). Hello, the in-laws with adjoining hotel rooms and masses amounts of luggage! Thru the trip we maintained our 1 suitcase per person that we started out with. These were not fully packed when we left the states but now crammed with souvenirs. We wanted to avoid what his sisters managed to do which is shop until they had to purchase more suitcases. Peter finds it embarrassing to travel overloaded like that. Especially when you are dealing with valet, bellmen,etc.
we landed in Cairo and cleared customs, picked our bags up and then had to recheck in for our Luxor flight. I will post pics of all the luggage (well, I have a pic of the lugagge on the carts but it doesn't show all the pieces everyone was rolling. I also have lost of other pics on my facebook) so you can visual what a pain this truly was! We had our tour operator meet us for this process. We originally were going to stay the whole time in Cairo but a last minute decision by the "group" to fly down to Luxor for 2 nights. We got down to Luxor and our Tour Operator met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel. I am sure the person that met us in Cairo called ahead and warned the people in Luxor about us and all the luggage ahead of time!!!
We checked into our "5 star" accommodations that the tour operator booked for us. Okay, the lobby and the grounds did look nice, but as soon as I stepped foot onto the death trap elevator I knew there would be problems. We open the door to our room and we have three twin beds! The A/C did not seem to be working and the floor looked dirty. First I have to admit that we are a little bit spoiled in the fact that we get to stay in very nice hotels all of the time thanks to Peter's job. We are used to designer shampoo, plasma TV’s in the bathroom and chocolates left on our pillows at night.
The kids immediately asked if we could go stay at a "nice" hotel instead of this one. We had to open the doors to the balcony to let cooler air in. The cooler air smelled like a campfire. I told myself and them to just pretend we are camping and it is only for two nights, we were going to suck it up, no matter what.
Getting out and about in Luxor the following days, we did begin to realize that compared to how many people there lived - we really were staying in "five star" accommodations. Many people lived in shacks or mudhouses with thatched roofs, their cars were donkeys and carts. It was a good reality check for us and the kids to be grateful for the things we do have in our lives.
We spent the next few days going to the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, the Karnack Temple, the Luxor Temple, etc. Peter told me after we left we left the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut that back in 1997 60 people were gunned down there in a terrorist attack... I probably remember this happening way back then, but my mind has a good way of forgetting things. (Maybe that can be a good thing for me!)
We did have armed guards follow our group at most of the tourist sites. Again, I kept hearing my parent’s voices in my head! We had a good time in Luxor and even took a Faluca boat ride on the Nile. Back to Cairo on an hour flight and checking in to the Cairo Marriott! I could hardly contain my excitement and being back at a Marriott. We did get humbled for a few days, but now it was time to get some decent sleep and be comfortable.
We did the whirlwind tour of Cairo including going out to the Giza Pyramids. Okay, in my head whenever I thought of seeing the pyramids, I imagined driving way out in the hot desert for miles and then coming across these majestic pyramids - wrong!!! I guess that is how it used to be, but now the urban sprawl of Cairo has reached right up to the pyramids! There is a Pizza Hut across the street!!! However, on the other side of the Pyramids there is desert and that is where you get dropped off so you can take a camel ride up the pyramids - breathtaking!!!!! Peter and Jake shared a camel and Bailey and I shared a camel! Riding a camel was a little different from riding a horse. For one thing, the camel has to bend down so you can get on it, then it jerks back and forth to stand up! These kids were leading our camels to the pyramids. 1/2 way there our kid comes over and hands me the rope and starts taking off!!! Panicked, I yelled for him to come back and finish "driving" this camel over to the pyramids. It was quiet the experience!
We also got to go back and see the sounds and light show at night! Impressive to be there but they could take some hints from Disney to make it a little more exciting. I got a little bored but I was also exhausted and on the verge of bronchitis! Also, in Cairo we went to the Egyptian Museum - very interesting!!! We got to see King Tut's collection! I loved it there although Peter and I were taking turns carrying Bailey who started running a fever. Thankfully we had a private tour guide for our entire stay in Egypt otherwise we would have come across looking like the Griswalds!!!
Flying home we went from Cairo to London, London to Miami (where we discovered were missing a bag), Miami then home. It was a marathon day of flying! The kids were really good flying back considering they were sick and extremely tired.
All in all, I am so glad we did this entire trip! I know it was a crazy trip to take with two kids venturing off into the Middle East. However, my belief is that you just have to live your life and not worry about what may or may not happen. There are bombings, shootings and terrorist activities right here in the United States. I am glad we had this opportunity and would do it all again in a heart beat. This trip did make me appreciate our country and the freedoms we do have. After spending time in Egypt I am grateful for things like air conditioning, cars, washers and dryers, etc. I hope it made an impression on my kids to be grateful for what they have.
