Canada Dry....Never Die!

For those of you who experienced elementary school in Canada it is with little doubt that you can remember those dusty well used social studies books that informed you about people who lived long ago who walked in a funny way, wrote on papyrus, and specialized in rock grafitti. Well...whether you enjoyed those classes or napped your way through them, Egypt was, is and will continue to be fascinating.

We only had the opportunity to get briefly introduced to what Egypt has to offer and it seems to us that you could stay for years in this country and never see the same sight twice. Now here is our brief history of our time in Egypt.

Yes... but I am a creepy guy, and I'm doing just great right now

We arrived in Cairo to be greeted by very outgoing Egyptians who couldn't help but say 'Canada Dry, Never Die' every time we answered their question - 'Where are you from'? And EVERYONE asked us, and EVERYONE replied with the same joke......it wouldn't have been that bad and we could have easily ignored it if it wasn't for the strange accent the Egyptians used when sharing this saying with us...AGHHHHH! Anyways, being consistent with our experiences thus far on our trip, the Egyptians we met were very welcoming, great sales people, and love to laugh.

Living up to it's billing Cairo was chaotic. But we loved it. However, we could have done without having to take our lives into our own hands when trying to cross the street. Really... doesn't anyone here know how to stay in a traffic lane! Anyways, we were able to spend a day at the extraordinary national museum, which houses of thousands of Egyptian statues and antiquities including the treasures from King Tuts tomb as well as a room full of royal mummies (Thanks Jenna and Scott). Some of which you can still see what hair style they sported in their prime. Once in the museum, only steps past the final security check Alisa, in such awe, instantly turned into a schoolgirl and ran up to a massive 3000 year old statue and touched it while making an 'oooooooo' sound. How embarrassing! I swear you can't take her anywhere.

We met up with our Florida friends, Sean and Dawn, who we had previously traveled with in Jordan, and toured around the 4000+ year old Pyramids of Giza, Saqqara and Dahshur (Thanks Jenna and Scott). It became obvious how out of shape we are as the steep walk down and back up and out of the Red Pyramid (world's oldest true pyramid) left us with aching legs. We would like to blame the humidity and the overwhelming scent of ammonia inside the Pyramid, but it's most likely the lack of exercise.

Getting from Cairo to Aswan was a treat. The 15 hour trip flew by as we took a plush overnight train (Thanks again Jenna and Scott) alongside the Nile. Once in Aswan we saw the Temple of Isis on the Island of Philae. With massive carvings, pillars, statues, and hieroglyphics all over the temples it was a great sample of what beautiful structures this civilization created (Thanks Mom and Dad Nelson). A quick train trip to Luxor and off to see more mind boggling temples and tombs. Struggling for superlatives to describe visiting the Valley of the Kings, Karnak Temples, Luxor Temple and the Temple of Hetshepsut, we will sum it up as 'REALLY REALLY COOL' and move on from there. See pictures attached (Thanks again Mom and Dad Nelson).

Most people take a taxi from the Valley of the Kings to Hetshepsut but we opted to hike over the mountain. The short hike offered stunning views of the Nile River, Luxor town, and the Valley of the Kings. As well, we had the opportunity to walk with a local teenage boy who took a liking to Alisa and wanted to be our 'guide.' We told him we didn't require his services but of course he didn't listen and followed us for about 20 minutes. Finally we had enough and asked him to try guiding other tourists. As we walked away he said to Alisa 'I like your eyes... I like your body...' at which point Matt turned around and the boy said 'uhhh ... I like everyBODY?!?!

Back in Cairo we jumped on a subway train towards the city centre. To start the train was fairly empty, then it started to fill up at each stop. After about 4 stops Matt realized that the male to female ratio was about 80:1, he being the 1. As the doors closed to go to the next stop a young lady leaned over and said 'this is a women's only car' at which point Matt should have responded 'yes... but I am a creepy guy, and I'm doing just great right now', however, Matt just quietly apologized for his lack of awareness and crept out of the train car at the next stop. We spent our last days in Cairo just enjoying the vibe of this busy but historical city.

Next stop Morocco... our last African country!