After touring Cairo, we took the train up to Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast.
In ancient times, one of the greatest respositories of human knowledge was the Library of Alexandria. Sadly, it was destroyed in stages, beginning in 48 BC and ending in 391 AD. In 2002 the new
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, inspired by the ancient library, was built. The building design and library systems are state of the art.
Our American friend Sophie, who was in town to work in conjunction with Egyptian librarians on a project called
The Big Read, introduced us to the head of reference services. She, in turn, kindly answered my numerous questions about the place. We also took the tour and wandered around to take a look at the collection, which was a lot less impressive than the building. Much of the collection is made up of donations, some from governments and organizations, others from individuals. In the American Literature section, we found Hawthorne and James, but also "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Clive Cussler. Hmmm.
Not all of Alexandria is this modern. Here's a shot from another part of town:
We decided our Egypt trip would not be complete without a jaunt into an oasis and the desert.
In the oasis town of Bawiti, we visited some tombs.
Later we stopped in a bedouin restaurant for lunch. The carpets are laid directly on the sand.
From there we headed out to the White Desert, where Dan's dream to experience a sandstorm came true. (The following photo was taken before the sandstorm made taking photos impossible.)
Due to the sandstorm, the plan to cook in the open air was scrapped. Instead, our guide made dinner in the Land Cruiser! Somehow we didn't die from inhaling propane fumes, and the food actually tasted pretty good. Notice sand-encrusted hair of our guide and driver.
The rock formations for which the White Desert is named looked particularly striking in the morning. That's me in front of the formation.
One of the desert's inhabitants:
The landscape was otherworldly.
