Bathing Optional

Egypt : April 2003

Continents

Continents

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View from our penthouse suite in downtown Cairo.
View across to the apartment block roof across the street from our hotel balcony.
View over Islamic (old) Cairo.
Another view over Islamic Cairo with mosque domes in every direction.
Downtown Cairo where traffic gridlock takes on an entirely new meaning -- it NEVER lets up.
One of hundreds of mosques in Cairo.
Another city mosque.
Mosque turrets and grand buildings off Cairos Khan al-Khalili bazaar.
Mosque turrets.
View to one of Cairos most prized and honored mosques.
Giant and ancient mosque facade.
Inside one of the great mosques.
Inside a mosque.
Another mosque interior.
Dusty train arriving at the interesting Coptic Quarter of Cairo.
Old Coptic church, the highlight of Coptic Cairo.
Old jeep -- lots of these around in Egypt.
Bicycle bread delivery. How he balances that while veering through the crowds, well never know.
Old man sitting away the day -- lots of those guys around.
Another old man hard at work making sheeshas (pipes).
Kids by train station.
Mother and child in Cairo market.
Man sitting on curb.
Mobile coffee salesman.
Several of few relics that are actually glassed in in the Egyptian Museum which feels more like a giant warehouse than a museum.
Relics in the Museum.
Another golden treasure.
The most well-known treasures in the Museum are in the King Tut Room.
Golden mask.
King Tuts burial mask.
Our first glimpse of the Pyramids far in the distance.
Camel all dressed up for trips to the Pyramid.
This one probably needs no description.
A closer look at one of the worlds more famous faces.
On the horses that we were virtually forced onto and let me say that they were a couple unhappy and unhealthy horses which we felt awful riding.
Wall paintings inside one of the tombs in the Pyramids area.
The Pyramids are situated at the fringe of a desert that comes right up to the borders of Cairo.
Our guide got into an argument with the camel police probably because he doesnt have a permit to lead horse tours around the Pyramids.
The largest of the three great Pyramids with modern cemetery in the foreground -- probably the best place to be buried in all of Egypt.
Another angle of the great Pyramid with ancient burial tombs in front this time.
The Pyramids.
Camels and Pyramid.
Desert hug.
Camel rider in front of the stepped Pyramid of Saqqara.
Camel rider with Ashe.
Who doesnt belong?
One type of transportation meets another.
Entrance to one of the tombs near the Pyramids.
Tomb entrance.
Tomb wall paintings.
Tomb wall paintings.
More tomb wall paintings.
Statue inside the tomb.
We rode on a desert highway like this for hours before arriving in the desert oasis town of Baharia far into Egypts desert-filled west.
Street scene in Baharia.
Local vendor in Baharia.
Small bar in Baharia with bartender hidden behind those Egyptian favorites -- the sheesha pipes.
Small commotion in the streets of Baharia.
Baharia homes.
Local farmer returning from his grove.
Another farmer riding a donkey.
And a couple more.
Ashe in the jeep -- ready for our trip into the desert.
Parked out in the desert.
Desert view.
Ashe with Hamada, our tour guide turned molester.
Afternoon tea in the desert.
The Black Desert (appropriately named).
Worst place to break down; the middle of the desert.
Cleopatra cigarettes -- only in Egypt.
Welcome to Aswan, the lively market town on the south Nile. Loved this town!
Pots and pans for sale.
The people in Egypts south are much darker than those up north.
Spices for sale in Aswans market.
One of the more traditionally clothed ladies we spotted in Egypt where Muslim clothing traditions are loosely observed.
Horse carriage.
Street vendor selling ?? in Aswans market.
Man with bike.
Watermelon vendor.
Games on street corners.
No pictures!
All kinds of spices for sale.
Another roadside vendor.
Kids.
Gathered around the sheesha pipe -- an Egyptian pastime.
Local youngsters.
Typical market scene.
Boy, boy, boy, broken tv, boy.
Yet another street vendor.
Terrace cafe -- Egyptian style.
Group seated by the bridge that crossed over to the wrong side of the river, Aswans poor Nubian quarter.
In the poor Nubian quarter we ran into many children on the streets.
More kids.
And still more.
And even more kids -- poor but very happy!
A couple more serious kids.
Looking out over the Nile and about as far south in Egypt as one can go before reaching The Sudan, is Abu Simbel, burial tomb for one of Egypts greatest rulers.
Towering statues flank Abu Simbels main entrance.
Grand statues.
Back hall in Abu Simbels temple.
Wall carvings depict mythic battle scenes.
Ramses to the rescue!
The keyman at Abu Simbels huge entrance doors.
Abu Simbels main hall with even more grand statues.
All surfaces are covered in art and hieroglyphics.
Another mythical battle scene.
Wall etchings.
Interesting image of young pharaoh getting his calcium.
We spent a couple days sailing up the Nile from Aswan. This was our boat.
These were the two co-captains.
And Captain Boz himself.
On the felucca (sailboat).
Ashe navigating for a while.
Maciej, just taking it easy.
Our sailboat meets a small group of fishermen.
Fishing boat sails off.
Fishing.
View across the Nile.
A stop for lunch on the banks of the Nile.
Amazing contrasts along the edge of the Nile.
We made a stop at a tiny Nile-side town as we sailed up the Nile.
Locals at rest.
Father and son.
Young boys and the local mosque.
Sunset.
Our sailboat didnt quite make it to Luxor (as we were promised). Instead, we were left off at a the Temple of Isis a quarter of the distance to Luxor.
Remarkably well-preserved writing on the Temples walls.
Inside one of the temple chambers with light from a gap in the ceiling.
More wall images.
The temple building.
Wall carvings.
Still standing.
One of the Temple of Philaes massive walls.
Temple pillar -- even those are decorated.
A row of pillars.
Temple buildings. The entire Temple of Philae complex is all built on an island on the Nile River.
The only refuge for shade.
Temple statue.
We finally arrived in Luxor that evening. This was the view from our hotel room window.
Street scene in Luxor -- colorful blanket for sale.
We had to take water taxis to get from the town side of the Nile to the historic side of the Nile in Luxor.
With our new friends Jean-Pierre from Luxembourg and Andreas from Sweden, we hit the Valley of the Kings.
Map over entrance to one of the dozens of shaft tombs carved into the rock in the Valley of the Kings.
One of the better preserved color drawings inside one of the tombs.
Another colorful wall painting.
View from high up on the rocky bluff down to Luxor. From up there it was easy to see where the fertile region irrigated by the Nile ended and the desert began.
Ashe with Jean-Pierre and Andreas on the cliffs edge.
View down over one of Luxors more famous temple buildings built right into the cliff.
Statues and pillars at that same temple.
Deep blue skies over the temple gate.
Desert scene.
All of us in the back of a dusty taxi.
Roadside cafe.
Out in these deserted roads this boy was the only traffic we saw for most of our trip.
Forgotten temple.
Temple gate.
We visited one of the Valleys larger but less visited temples just before sundown. Colors still show clearly in its wall art.
Broken monolith.
Temple entrance.
Fantastic treasures.
More color on the walls.
Another interesting young pharaoh scene.
Can you translate it?
Back on busier side of the Luxor Nile we met our first crowds at the Temples of Karnak.
Seated statues at the Temple of Karnak.
The main building at the Temple of Karnak is a maze of pillars.
A giant obelisk somehow managed to keep standing...
Fallen statues -- only the legs remain.
Are those doric, ionic or something else altogether... ?
An untoppled statue -- rare in Karnak.
A couple men mingle amongst Karnaks giant pillars.
Maciej doing some kind of pose at one of Karnaks pillars.
Ashe wandering amongst those same pillars.
Ashe by pillar.
Our last days in Egypt were spent on the lower tip of the Sinai Peninsula where we stayed in the relaxing Red Sea town of Dahab and just took it easy for a couple of days.
Dahabs beach.
Maciej in Dahab and keeping the suns effects to a minimum.
Camel parking by the local mosque in Dahab.
A kiss on the beach and a farewell to Egypt.

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