Egypt vacation, part five

The felucca is a type of sailboat one sees on the Nile.



We sailed on a felucca in Aswan. It was lovely.

Sometimes you see little boys in tiny rowboats. They paddle with their hands or with little pieces of wood. They latch onto your boat and sing for tips.



From Aswan, we flew to Abu Simbel, site of the incredibly impressive Temple of Ramses II.



Ramses II had quite the ego, apparently. The entrance was flanked by two gigantic seated statues of himself on each side.



Like Philae temple, this temple had to be moved from its original site due to flooding caused by the construction of Aswan High Dam. They did a good job.



We flew back to Aswan and did a little touring before returning to Cairo. Our taxi driver waited for us while we visited a museum for 1.5 hours! Nice guy.

Egypt vacation, part four

Here are some more Egypt trip photos.

During our cruise down the Nile, we saw men in small rowboats offer their wares to cruise boat denizens by tossing them way up onto the top deck. The cruisers examine the merchandise, and if they like it, they toss down some money. Otherwise they throw back the goods.





It was not unusual to see donkey-pulled carts.



In Edfu we docked near this shop, which stayed open after dark.



Here's Edfu temple:







Apparently the pharoahs enjoyed root beer floats.



Walking like an Egyptian:



Sitting in contemplation next to the Nile:



Local transport:



Kom Ombo temple is a double temple dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile-headed god, and Horus, the falcon-headed god.







Near Aswan is Philae Temple, which was relocated from its original site due to flooding following the construction of Aswan High Dam.





Say "cheese!"



Thanks for taking the photo, sir.



What a beautiful place Philae is.

Egypt vacation, part three

Two giant seated figures, the Colossi of Memnon, used to flank the entrance the mortuary temple of Amenophis III on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor. The temple is lost to the ages, but the now faceless colossi remain. Above is a picture of the back of one colossus.



Next stop, the enormous temple complex of Karnak. We got there in the heat of midday. Notice the tourists above taking advantage of the shade of a lone palm tree.



Ram-headed sphinxes line one section of the path.



Karnak being one of the highlights of Egypt, hoards of people were there during our visit.



Standing shoulder to shoulder with crowds of overheated strangers did not enhance the experience, but we tried to focus on the unbelievable scale of the place and its floor to ceiling heiroglyphs, pharoah and god figures and obelisks.



We found an place free of people, at least for a moment:



Proof that we were there:



Columns galore:



Stay tuned for the next installment of our Egypt vacation!

Egypt vacation, part two

Where do they have the most flavorful fruits and vegetables? Egypt, apparently. Man, the veggies there are delicious! In Ghana we've gotten used to flavorless tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers, so we were blown away by the fantastic produce we ate in Egypt. The cucumbers were extra yummy, especially with the freshest feta cheese we had ever eaten.



Carrots fresh from the donkey cart:



Many locals here wear traditional clothes. This man's long shirt is called a galabiya. Looks comfy.



The ankh is a symbol of life. Here's a wall of ankhs.



These two don't shop at the same store:



More pictures of Egypt to come.

Egypt vacation, part one

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Egypt. Although my expectations were fairly high, they were surpasssed. I loved the place.

We had been wanting to visit the land of the pyramids for years, but now seemed like the perfect time to go, since a couple of friends recently moved to Cairo, and another friend who wanted to see us was going to Egypt for a work thing and was tacking time on the end for a vacation.

After a day of recovering from a red-eye flight to Cairo, four of us headed out to Luxor. First stop, Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, interestingly painted and carved tombs of royalty. Alas, photos were not allowed inside the tombs there, so we don't have pictures to share with you. However, we do have photos of the next stop, the Temple of Hatshepsut.



Inside were paintings of Queen Hatshepsut, various gods and goddesses, and below, offerings to those gods and goddesses. The plants on the right resemble art nouveau design to me.



There were lots of other tourists there, mainly Europeans.



This chapel in the temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor.



Heiroglyphs look cool, but we don't know what they say.



These statues depict Queen Hatshepsut as pharoah. According to our excellent guide, Ayman, Hatshepsut was the only woman to rule as pharoah, and sometimes she is depicted as a man to show that she ruled just as men did.



More coming soon...

Latrine Celebration

Yesterday I went to Volta region to attend the commissioning of a KVIP (latrine) in a village that hosts some refugees. Our embassy funded it through a grant to a local NGO. We're proud to have had a part in it. Believe me, latrines are a wonderful thing, and Ghana needs many more of them. (Maybe they would keep people from defecating on the side of the road or on the beach.)

The ceremony began in the village center. Below, a member of the village council tells the crowd why we are there.



Village elders, the chief and queen mother were all present. Here is the okyeame, or spokesman, of the chief, recognizable from the staff he carries.



Between speakers, we enjoyed a dancing and drumming interlude.



After the speakers were finished, we proceeded to the latrine site. There, some more spontaneous dancing and drumming broke out, complete with hankie waving.



Here's the ceremonial handing over of the keys to the queen mother.



Hmm, it appears that each stall accomodates 2 people.



Altogether there are 12 stalls with individual doors. 6 are for men, 6 are for women. (The men's and women's sections are separated by a dividing wall.



Now we know where to go if nature calls in Likpe Bakua.