Queen Hatshepsut's Temple

This temple looks amazing from the distance. It is built right up in front of the mountain. It has three levels and blends into the mountain terrain nicely. Queen Hatshepsut was the only female ruler in ancient Egypt. She claimed to be the daughter of Ammon-Ra in order to establish her legitimacy. She also had the sculptors depict her with many of the features of the male pharoahs. They even showed her wearing a beard! See the photographic evidence above....

Valley of the Kings

It's still oven baking hot here such that you cannot stand on the stone floor by the pool without burning your feet in seconds. Pool temperature is 27 degrees and it's a good idea to keep your hat on. I havent seen anyone frying an egg on the floor yet but it would be an interesting experiment.

Nile cruise - Forgotten how aggressive European holidaymakers are when there is a free food and tea and cakes available. Lots of pink frying bodies with tight trunks and beer bellies reserving river side seats. We had great pleasure removing towels and conversing loudly french - il est interdit de reserver les chaises..sacre blue, waterloo etc We had a little table on our own after that...

Luxor - The town is famous for its tombs cut into the mountain and its enormous temple. It's hard work shuffling around looking at ruins in the heat - 45 in the shade - but it's still amazing looking at the colossal monuments

Good things
Early morning visit it tombs and temples. Beautiful colours in the sand and we avoided most of the tour buses that come in hoards after 9am
Feluca boat ride - fat little sailing boat that tacks slowly along the Nile

Bad things
Tipping porters that grab our bags before we can and run off to the taxi
Being hassled by horse and carriage drivers to go for a ride
The smell of horse dung in the heat mixed with the smell of kebabs
Feluca boat captain waiting until you're midstream before flogging you local handicrafts

Edfu Temple

In spite of the 6:30am wake-up call, we enjoyed our early morning visit to Edfu Temple. It is in much better condition than Co'omombo because it is farther away from the Nile River. In fact, it is the best-preserved example of a Greek temple in Egypt. The imposing presence of the outer wall and gates, the floral capitals and the small birthing house are all features typical of Greek temples. Edfu Temple is dedicated to Horus and it celebrates his victory over his uncle, Set. Set tricked Osiris and killed him. When Horus reached manhood he avenged his father. Several of the temple reliefs depict Horus killing a hippo because Set is represented by the hippopatamus. Each year the priest of the temple donned the mask of Horus and killed a live hippo with a spear in front of the people in order to commemorate this event. Other interesting facts - Egyptian priests had to bathe 4 times a day, they wore papyrus sandals, shaved all of the hair off of their bodies and remained unmarried.

Co'mombo Temple

Greek temple remains and our first stop on the Nile Cruise. Co'mombo was dedicated to the Egyptian gods, Sobek (the crocodile god) and Horus (the falcon-headed son of Isis and Osiris). The view of the temple from the cruise ship on the Nile was particularly impressive. The front gate was destroyed so you can actually see all of the huge columns of the inner court from the river. It is also one of the only temples located right beside the Nile.

The large, circular pit full of green water was where the priests used to keep crocodiles. They caught them, kept them in a crocodile tank and fed them regularly. They did this in honor of Sobek, the crocodile god.

The other notable fact about Co'mombo Temple is that it served as a surgical hospital in ancient times - indeed, the first hospital on record. There is a famous relief showing the pharoah making an offering to the Greek god of medicine. The relief also depicts several medical implements such as tweezers, forcepts, a saw for bones, needles, etc....

Co'mombo also contains a relief depicting the Egyptian calendar. It shows the three seasons: flooding, planting and harvesting.

The images of the gods show musculature, which is another indication that this is a Greek temple.

Best of all, we visited a chamber containing three mummified crocodiles!

Aswan

We took an overnight train from Cairo to Aswan. It was such a nice experience after taking all of the Chinese trains with 6 people stuffed into each open compartment. We had our own compartment with our very own sink inside. It was wonderful! The next morning I didn't have to line up behind 20 Chinese people all waiting to go through their entire grooming process when all I had to do was use the toilet. Stephen's expression in the photo says it all...

Aswan is a really nice town along the Nile River. We got to stay in a fancy hotel on the Elephantine Island in the middle of the river. The views were lovely. We took the ferry right past the hotel (and former winter palace of the king) where Agatha Christie wrote 'Death on the Nile'. We enjoyed the pool after the overnight train ride. We met our wonderful guide, Mohammed at 1pm. He stayed with us throughout our time in Aswan and Luxor. He even went on the Nile cruise with us...nice job for a tour guide! He was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed questioning him all about life in Egypt. Anyway, we visited the High Dam, Philae Temple and the Nubian Museum the first day. The construction of the High Dam was completed in 1971 and it was made possible by help from the Soviet Union. It now protects many communities from flooding. It also generates quite a bit of power for Egypt. The construction of the dam lead to the creation of the world's largest manmade lake, Lake Nasser. It extends all the way to Sudan. There are no longer any crocodiles in the Nile River, but there are over a million in Lake Nasser. I wouldn't want to fall off my boat in there...I am on the High Dam and overlooking Lake Nasser in the photo.

Next, we took a boat out to the Philae Temple.

The entire temple was under water and had to be moved to a higher island. It was taken apart and rebuilt piece by piece. It is a nice example of a temple from the Greek period in Egypt. The columns are in the Greek style and topped with floral capitals. The shrine used to house the statue of Isis and the boat used to carry the statue out of the temple during certain festivals. It was really nice.

Finally, we visited the Nubian museum. Our guide pointed out some important pieces and also showed us the replicas of traditional Nubian houses. Many of the Nubians had to relocate during the construction of the High Dam because their villages were submerged by Lake Nasser. The government provided them with new housing, but they preferred to build their own in typical Nubian style. Tourists now stay in local Nubian villages to experience Nubian culture. Many of the Nubians in Aswan live on the Elephantine Island.

That night we explored Aswan. The people selling things weren't nearly as agressive as the vendors in Cairo so we enjoyed our walk around the city so much more. We even found a local restaurant overlooking the Nile River. The owner greeted us and cooked our food. He made the best hummous I have ever had!

The next day we took a feluca (sailboat) around the island and over to our cruise boat for the Nile Cruise. I loved the feluca. It was so peaceful sailing on the Nile River. We were lucky enough to have a nice breeze up as we sailed. I could have stayed on the feluca all day. Once we were out in the middle of the river our captain spead out a blanket full of local handicrafts to sell to us. He knew he had a captive audience. At least he didn't say anything. He just left them there and let us decide whether we wanted anything or not.

Cairo

We have been enjoying Egypt. It is nice to be on a tour though because all of the vendors are desperate to try to sell you things, especially in Cairo. Everyone wants to bring you into their perfume shop or their papyrus shop... It was nice to hide in the 5 star hotel for a little while. The facilities were great. We got to play tennis on the tennis courts, we frequented the gym and we used the pool most of the day when we arrived.

The second day we had a local Egyptologist take us around the 'Great Pyramid' complex and then we went to see King Zhoser's (from the 3rd dynasty) step pyramid. It was the first burial chamber built in a pyramid. The second day we visited the citadel and mosque of Mohammed Ali, the Egyptian museum, a papyrus making factory, and the Khalili Bazaar. Stephen didn't have much patience for the bazaar. It is difficult to walk through it with everyone calling out to you. It makes you not want to look at anything because then you would be expected to buy it! Our guide was excellent though and we learned a lot. The artefacts recovered from King Tutenkamen's tomb were amazing. The famous gold mask was there and it was really beautiful and bigger than I expected.

Stephen's notes:

Cairo

22 million people live here and 30 million of them try to drive around the streets without concerns for parking, lanes or direction. The odd donkey padding against the traffic doesnt help with the flow either. It's a chaotic city full of cars and honking people. The river's nice though.

Good things
Pyramids - whoppers and guarded by police on camels
Huge mosque on a hill overlooking the city. Inside was quiet and cool with nice carpets and loads of low soft lights more suitable for ballroom dancing.

Bad things
Stick dance - part of the caberet on our Nile Cruise. Men dancing with sticks - as camp as you could imagine..
Mad market - lots of nice smells but the sellers pretty much try to haul you inside their shops and all the porters hiss at you to get you out of their way
Police with guns taking your photo and then charging you for the pleasure
Taxi driver with an unnerving twitch slaloming through the Cairo traffic

Mountain Biking Adventure

Yesterday, we went on a 'downhill' guided mountain bike ride from the top of Doi Suthep, a mountain about 15 km from Chiang Mai. It was really good, but incredibly tough. I think I had what Stephen might call a 'sense of humor' failure when I fell over into the mud after about three hours of intensive cycling. I was exhausted by that point.

We had signed up to do a ride that was 90 percent downhill and suitable for ambitious beginners. However, there were only six people signed to do any tours on our day so our guide took one look at us and said he was going to 'upgrade' our tour. As I was the only girl and two of the guys had signed up for the advanced/expert run, I knew I was in trouble. The upgraded tour really meant uphill. So, after pushing my bike up a few treacherous hills I was pretty tired. I really enjoyed the first few hours, but the downhill was pretty technical. Luckily, I have some experience bouncing over rocks and avoiding deep ruts so I managed to stay on my bicycle. The downhill was also incredibly steep in places. After a few hours we got to a village and I immediately perked up. I was really tired and ready for the promised lunch at the end of the tour. Unfortunately, our guide had other ideas. We ended up going on a tough, single track trail through the jungle and we had to keep stopping to repair bikes. Stephen alone had a puncture, a rear spindle break, a wobbly wheel, his chain came off and he got stuck in a river. Three of the other guys also had punctures and other problems. Fortunately, the guides had all of the equipment to repair the bikes, but it was slow going with so many problems. I was especially miserable when they had to repair a bike in the middle of the bug-infested jungle.

Soon, I was too tired to push my bike up any more hills. Stephen and the guide took turns with my bike. Fortunately, we were almost finished. I think the upgraded tour ended up being an extra 10km of uphill and difficult terrain. All the guys were impressed that I made it to the end and many said their relationship wouldn't have survived it. I managed to keep going, but Stephen was worried I would vent to him later when we were away from everyone. Really I was too tired to even vent...If we would have stopped in the first village it would have been perfect for me.

I really enjoyed my lunch and I slept especially well on the train to Bangkok last night. We managed to make it back to our hotel in time to use the outdoor shower and go for a swim in the pool to get all of the mud off before we jumped on the overnight train. It was a really good train. There were only four people in each compartment and you could actually sit up in your bunk. They even had curtains and reading lights. Best of all, they had a western-style toilet with toilet paper which made a big change from the overnight trains in China!

Doi Inthanon National Park - Thailand

Chiang Mai continued..

Good things
Wandering round the huge nightmarket slurping lychee rice wine
Thai guitarists with harmonicas doing Dylan and CCR covers
Overnight train to Bangkok was much more comfortable than the ones in China and you got fed at your table. They did insist on leaving the lights on all night though which necessitated top cat masks for a snooze
Downhill moutain biking through the jungle overlooking the city

Bad things
Pushing the bike up steep inclines, getting a puncture;breaking rear sprocket, chain coming off, wobbly front wheel, getting stuck in a river and flying off the bike headfirst - cartoon style into a sandy cliff. Got completely filthy and then had to sneak into a guesthouse to use their swimming pool and shower before we jumped on the night train to Bangkok
Thai guitarists playing banjos
Getting bitten by things in the yoga class while doing the relaxation
Taking a granny tour to see the Doi National park. Got shuttled around in a van and dropped off to see various things. Nice waterfalls, pagodas for the king and queen when they eventually snuff it, pretty flowers replacing opium poppies; nice villages next to paddy fields, nice if you're a granny...

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai's old town is full of monks and temples and surrounded by a moat. All the hostels are stuffed inside the moat with the sausage selling markets, cafes and tuk tuk drivers. Nice mountains overlooking the town in the west are supposed to be linked to the Himalayan chain. Reminds me of being in Peru. Have had two yoga sessions today where I got tangled up in knots. They kept telling me to put my arms in the air with my eyes closed, only they didn't realise that I was the only one below a high speed rotating fan. Looked like I was snake dancing with one eye open while trying to avoid getting any hands severed....

Good things

Northern sausage

Found cocktail bar where you get to sit in the gutter and listen to African fusion jazz

Bad things

Bed bugs, nibbling insects

Mekong River Cruise

Stephen and I managed to find a deal on a two day cruise up the Mekong River to the Thai border. During peak season it is double the price and the boat is usually completely full, carrying 40 + passengers. On our cruise there were only 16 people. It was great! We could sprawl out all over the boat and take turns sitting up on the bow.

Each day we battled against the current for about 7 hours, but the scenery was spectacular. The river snaked its way through the mountains and past teak plantations. Hmong, Yao and Khmer villages populated the hills along the river. In some places the river was calm, reflecting images of the hills towering above it. In other places, we fought our way through small whirlpools and larger rapids. The first night we stayed at the Luangsay Lodge, a picturesque wooden village nestled in the hills. It was built just past the town of Pak Beng. Nearly the entire town turned out on the banks of the river to wave as we went by...

We had a delicious meal and chatted with our travelling companions. We met a fun Canadian couple who have been sailing around the world for 10 years. They had several stories to tell about their adventures on remote islands. We had a great time with them! The lodge was comfortable and we slept well, but they had us up bright and early for breakfast at 6am - definitely not Stephen's favorite part of the journey!

The next day, we continued chugging up the Mekong. We stopped and visited a Khmer village. The wooden houses were built on stilts and all of the farm animals lived below them. There were baby piglets, chicks, turkeys, puppies and kittens roaming around. I loved all of the animals! There was no electricity, but they had managed to construct one aerial giving them access to a single TV. The government had also provided them with running water. It was an interesting visit, but I felt a little awkward disrupting the harmony of their lives. It was almost like we came to look at them in the same way we would look at animals in the zoo....so I was glad we didn't make any other stops. It was interesting to watch the local fisherman dropping and gathering their nets from long, wooden canoes. Villagers also pan for gold when the river is low.

We arrived at the Thai border about 5pm. We quickly found a place to stay for the night. The owner of the Bamboo Riverside Guest House was a real character. He had a lovely restaurant overlooking the river and he took great pride in serving up authentic Mexican food. It was actually really good, especially his salsa. He orders his pinto beans from Bangkok so that he can make real Mexican refried beans. I hadn't had Mexican food since our California visit so it was a refreshing change. He also entertained us with stories of former disgruntled customers and he gave us his philosophy on everything from guitar music to cooking fresh food and running a guest house. He was a real character. He was Thai, but he looked an awful lot like Carlos Santana!