The Widow and the Spinster: The Search for Adventure, Enlightenment, and the Quest for Forbidden food - Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, and New TR Link! 5/23

[tiggrbaby]

Late to the party!

What an amazing flight!

The first night room was lovely.

What a trip to your next stop! The camels were funny!

What a glamorous tent!

The desert tour was beautiful! So sorry about your tummy troubles. Dinner was lovely and looked tasty.

That balloon trip - wow, wow, wow! Petra was stunning!

What an adventure to get your camera fixed! Glad you were able to get it done.

You were quite brave to go into that pyramid! I got all nervous just looking at the picture!

Loving your TR!

 

[franandaj]

My thighs burn thinking about all those stairs.

Yeah, we got a serious workout on this trip! I had hoped I would lose some weight, but at home I usually have only two meals a day, but with all the exertion I ended up having three square meals a day. So it ended up being a wash.

It is awesome to go see the pyramids but yeah if its hot...no thanks!

Unfortunately most of the time it was hot. I think January or February is the ideal time to visit Egypt.

 

[franandaj]

The river is technically one of the canals from the Nile to bring the water further out into the valley.

Thanks for that bit of clarification! I missed or forgot a lot of what we were told. I do remember that farther south though.

There was trash everywhere!

Yes, that was very sad.

We saw lots of little plots of farmland where people were growing sugar cane and other crops.

Were they growing sugar cane near Cairo? I remember near Luxor, but I didn't know they were growing it near Cairo too!

Lots of date palms around the Dashur/Memphis area as well.

That I do remember!

I avoided buying a carpet too although it was cool to see how they were made. They used different fibers like cotton and silk. There were some beautiful carpets but they don't really fit my budget or lifestyle!

Yes, the carpets were very beautiful and it was neat to see how they were made, just not in my budget. Nor do I have anywhere to put them.

 

[franandaj]

Well you were practiced

Yeah, but I practiced at home. I could leave something behind if it didn't fit. Here it had to fit!

Wow smoking sections- crazy! haven't encountered that for a while

Yeah, we have a situation where we forget about this to our detriment.

Yowzas! That would be over $55 for me!

Crazy when you factor in all the exchange rates.

This looks soo good!
As does this! Yum!

That was hands down our best meal, but that doesn't mean we didn't have some other really good ones.

It's 8:26am and I could go for this right now as my second coffee of the day

The desserts were both lovely looking and with lots too them!

Yes! They were definitely fantastic.

I think I chatted with you at some strange times!

I know we did in Cairo. I'm not sure if we were chatting when I was in Jordan. It's all kind of a blur.

Whoops! I haven't drank much green tea to be honest, but I know a lot of people love it

Jill loves her green tea.

Maybe you told me this, that it was such a great price, but I didn't catch it, but it was such a handy little purse! I may need one!

It was so convenient for traveling! When I didn't need to worry about things like car keys, reading glasses, coupons, etc. It would never work at home, but great for travel.

That reminds me I need to get sorted in the Sim dept, but I do an eSim

I don't even know anything about that. When I go to Germany, I'm going to bring Fran's phone and get a local Sim card.

there's one at the Vancouver airport I love but it's super pricey without a corporate discount and my new company doesn't have that discount, boo!

I hate when things are so pricey. I don't even want to think how much that hotel cost, but it's a long time until we get there.....

Sounds like he came to make sure you guys were sorted out, dashing fellow sounds like!

Yeah, that's why we think someone dropped the ball and he had to clean up the mess. He certainly thought he was dashing! But he was very nice and made sure we were settled.

Oh boy, glad you got around safe!

I never really felt unsafe with our driver, but it was amazing how the cars "worked everything out" when it came to intersection and such.

what a pretty coin!

Probably costs more to make it than it's worth. I wouldn't be surprised if they've stopped making them.

This looks very yummy, crispy and good!

Jill enjoyed it a lot!

 

[franandaj]

Late to the party!

Better late than never!

What an amazing flight!

The first night room was lovely.

Thanks! We were pretty spoiled with the flight, and lucked out with that room.

What a trip to your next stop! The camels were funny!

What a glamorous tent!

That desert day and trip was nice.

The desert tour was beautiful! So sorry about your tummy troubles. Dinner was lovely and looked tasty.

Yeah, not fun. But dinner ended up being great.

That balloon trip - wow, wow, wow! Petra was stunning!

That whole day was a huge rush!

What an adventure to get your camera fixed! Glad you were able to get it done.

Me too. I was so happy to have that camera for a lot of the shots.

You were quite brave to go into that pyramid! I got all nervous just looking at the picture!

I didn't even think about brave. I was there to go into pyramids. Until I realized how strenuous it was!

Loving your TR!

Thanks! LOTS more to come!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hi Alison,

I spent most of my me morning reading your report. I love it. Wow this is very interesting. Thank you so much for sharing.
i have been to Istanbul, Turkey but that is as far east in the world I have been.
i love all your pictures and what you two are experiencing thus far.
i was shocked when you ladies went on the Camfix expedition. I would have been really nervous especially in the sketchy elevator and stairwell.
Such history in everything you are experiencing
I thought Europe was old when visiting but wow the pyramid history just hard to wrap my head around how ancient.
Thanks for keeping it real and showing us the grit and everyday life in Cairo.
it is definitely different than America and what we take for granted!
looking forward to more and I’m glad I spent the morning reading and being caught up now!

 

[pkondz]

I decided that the problem with posting is me and potentially the number of external links that are associated with my username. So I created a new user name, and took a spin around the games board, and my own TRs. I'm not sure if my alter ego can post pictures yet. But we will see the next time this user name has a problem!

Good luck to the both of you!

Honestly I don't know. It was so quiet in Wadi Rum and there was no sound from below. I don't think that I heard anything on the later flight. I was so busy paying attention to other things going on.

Ah. I just remember being able to hear people having normal conversations on the ground.

Well I saw them refill the container and it came from an industrial sized prepackaged plastic container. However, it was so tasty that I think they were getting it from a very fresh source. I like OJ, but this was especially tasty OJ. I got a glass every day as we walked in even before we had selected a table.

Tasty OJ is good enough for me!

I always peel my carrots at home (though I know most of the nutrients are in the outside) because I don't like that taste. The only time I don't peel them is when I put them in the base of the pan when cooking a turkey.

If and when I get a juicer and if I ever juice carrots (I'm more of a fruit juice guy)... I'll keep that in mind.

I do venture to the beans for protein one day.....

Ah. I get it now. The magical fruit. Jill put a stop to it after one day. Totally understand. And my condolences to Jill.

I really didn't even know what some of the little bowls had in them, much less what I would put them on.

I'd still be tempted...

I remember while we were driving on a 4-5 lane highway, there was a pick up truck with a camper shell. There must have been a dozen guys in the back. I don't know if the back flap of the pick up bed was down or it was just missing. There was one guy sitting with his legs hanging off the back of the truck, another guy was standing up, and another guy was also precariously perched. This was going 50-60mph.

That first day driving around I was just so dumbstruck by how different everything was and how the drivers just weaved in and out of each other that I was in awe

I can see that.

There's definitely two sorts of climates. The Nile is a HUGE river, and there's a reason that the people have lived near the river for all these thousands of years. It's very humid near the river, and very dry when you get away from there.

And I really like this info. I had no idea. But now that you say it... it's even more interesting that one river (albeit a biiig one) can affect the climate so markedly.

No, I will give a spoiler alert. While we may have had a few "hiccups" in the trip, I highly recommend this tour company. Everything was top notch. You can't necessarily control all the circumstances, but they did the best that they could for everything that we needed.

Good to know. If I'm ever thinking of a trip that way... I'll ask for a reference.

I haven't even gotten started on the litter....

I have no doubt.
But in this case I guess I'm really venting a bit on a pet peeve of mine. Most people don't litter (most being the operative word there), but some people think tossing cigarette butts isn't littering or something. I don't know how many times on my road trips I've seen butts flying out of windows and sparking along the highway. Bugs me every time. Go ahead and pollute your own lungs if you want to, but do you have to pollute everything else, too?

Except that then I flushed my mark away.....

Easy come, easy go.

I'm sorry but a lot of these pop references are lost on me...should I recognize these people?

Sorry. That photo of her eyes is pretty well known. That's The Bangles. They had a hit called Walk Like an Egyptian.

I remember thinking, "this is definitely something for the Trip Report!"

I do that too.

I think because there are guides that are already in the tombs, but you have to give them baksheesh.

Ohhh... of course.

I'm not sure which little bit of light you're referring to. There were lights down in the tomb otherwise people would have been falling all over the place.

You answered my question.
I wondered if it was only lit from the outside or if there were lights inside.

Well throughout the trip Jill kept quoting this guy!

Well it's only proper to welcome new readers!

Going back up to read...

 

[pkondz]

and then we went to Memphis.

Whoops! Shoulda noted the chapter title.

This was once the capital of Egypt in early Pharaonic times.

I think I'd heard that?

I’m sure in the times when these sites were capitals of the nation they were far apart, but today we moved easily from place to place.

I do wonder about that sometimes. How people in ancient times, who'd spend days, weeks or even months getting a simple message somewhere would think of us communicating instantly anywhere on the globe, and travelling anywhere in a day or less.

The little car on the right hand side of the photo is called a Tuk tuk.

Very familiar with those. I've seen too many movies/shows where they are featured.

Also in this picture is a donkey cart piled high with sacks. I was obsessed with these carts and how they were still in use in this century.

I get that. Just so out of our norm.

And these women transporting palm fronds on donkey back blew me away.

Well, yeah! I mean... how cool is that?!?!?!?

Stray dogs and cats were everywhere. I felt so bad for them.

I'm not surprised you'd say that. You have a big heart when it comes to animals.

I’m not sure that Egypt has what we in the US know of as “supermarkets”.

Huh!

There were many places like this that made fresh bread that we saw all over the country.

Huh! (again)
I like small bakeries, but... wow!

As we pulled into the parking lot here, one of them walked up to our van. Before the window was rolled down, Achmed said, “This is one of my favorite police officers.”

They greeted each other warmly and when Achmed shook his hand, there was more than just a hand shake in there. I saw him do the same thing later that day at Dahshur as well.

ohhhh...

The first sight Achmed took us to see was this statue of Ramses II

They don't do small in Egypt, do they!

These dogs are not dead, but they give you an idea of how hot it is outside they’re all sapped by the heat. You can also see how there are vendors everywhere at the monuments.

That photo sure tells a story.

The carving is believed to have taken place between 1700 and 1400 BCE, which was during the 18th Dynasty.

That's just... wild. I mean... 1700BCE... and that was the 18th Dynasty!

The Alabaster Sphinx was discovered in 1912 by Flinders Petrie, when an affiliate from the British School in America spotted a uniquely carved object jutting out of a sand hill. It was so far in the season that excavation was useless, but a year later in 1913 further digging displayed that the object was a Sphinx's tail.

Can you imagine spotting something like that, just sticking out of the sand??

These camel carcasses just hung outside of this market.

Here’s another snapshot of reality of daily life. The woman here is selling vegetables, while another vendor sells some sort of sandwiches, and in the background there is another market selling chips, and probably cold beverages.

Just... so foreign to what we're used to.

Now throughout our visit, our tour guides would take us to a variety of local businesses. I suppose they got some sort of kickbacks for bringing customers to them. While we somewhat appreciated the need for supporting the local economy, for the most part, we didn’t buy into these blatant attempts to sell us stuff. They weren’t high pressure like the folks in the bazaars, but there was definitely an implied, we’d like it if you bought something.

Ugh... necessary evil, I suppose.

This particular stop was in a carpet making factory. They showed us how they trained children to weave the carpets and how the kids ended up taking some profits from the carpets they made. It was a way to teach them a trade, and they also employed some ladies who might not otherwise have a way to earn money on their own.

Um... just what do you mean by "children"...?

It was in this place that I had my first “unexpected Disney moment” of the trip!

Doesn't stand out at all!

There was no way Jill or I were buying any carpets. While they were beautiful and we could appreciate the handiwork, they just weren't our thing.

I get that. I've seen many things in my travels that I love... but also know that wouldn't fit in with my style at all.

Despite their offers to ship home for free

I always wonder about that...
Will you actually get it? What are you gonna do... go back and complain??

I didn't need to spend that much for something the cats would just pee on.

I was astonished by all the trash that was alongside the road.

Yeah... Just so different.

there were more Antiquities Police, and again Achmed shook his hand with a relatively greasy palm, if you get my drift.

Yup.

By this time it was about 12:30 in the afternoon. It had been five hours since we had breakfast, we had climbed into a pyramid, walked the length of the Memphis archaeological site, and here we are presented with climbing the Red pyramid.

Um... no?
I can see why you balked at that!

Achmed said that it was up to us if we wanted to go inside. Now take a took at the picture below, and notice the size of the of the people, and the path to even get up to where the stairs start. And this is zoomed in.

Nope!

Now take a look at the walk from the parking lot just to get to the path, to climb up to the stairs.

You'd need the sand tires on your scooter... which you didn't have.

And don’t forget, once you get to the top of those stairs, you need to climb down who knows how many stairs to get to what you want to see inside the pyramid.

Then

You have to climb back up to get out of the pyramid, and then climb back down all those stairs.

By this point when I would get out of the van (I sat on the driver's side), he would get out and offer me his arm to steady me as I touched my foot to the ground.

Very nice of him.

I think Achmed paused his phone call enough to point out that the Bent pyramid had been covered with a layer of polished limestone, and that layer was largely still in tact.

That's really cool. And yet... in another few (or several) hundreds of years, that too will be gone.

we had to take this selfie to prove we were here.

Yup. That's you alright.

And this is a close up of the corner where the limestone has fallen off.

They just don't build things to last anymore!

The Black Pyramid was built by King Amenemhat III during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2055–1650 BC). It is one of the five remaining pyramids of the original eleven pyramids at Dahshur in Egypt. Originally named Amenemhet is Mighty, the pyramid earned the name Black Pyramid for its dark, decaying appearance as a rubble mound. The Black Pyramid was the first to house both the deceased pharaoh and his queens. Jacques de Morgan, on a French mission, began the excavation on the pyramids at Dahshur in 1892. The German Archaeological Institute of Cairo completed excavation in 1983.

I really find this fascinating. Thanks for including all the info.

The river is technically one of the canals from the Nile to bring the water further out into the valley.

Ah! I was wondering about that. Thanks, Jill.

 

[franandaj]

Hi Alison,

I spent most of my me morning reading your report. I love it. Wow this is very interesting. Thank you so much for sharing.

Caroline! So glad to have you here!

i have been to Istanbul, Turkey but that is as far east in the world I have been.

All we did in Istanbul was change planes, but we have added it to the "to do" list!

i love all your pictures and what you two are experiencing thus far.

Thanks! It was such a crazy new experience! Nothing like I've ever done before!

i was shocked when you ladies went on the Camfix expedition. I would have been really nervous especially in the sketchy elevator and stairwell.

I was shocked as well! Those sketchy elevators really freaked me out, but then I realized that the citizens of Cairo rode them every day, so they must be OK.

Such history in everything you are experiencing

Yeah, when I studied up on it before the trip, I was amazed at just how much history there is in this region before Europe even began keeping track. Just mind boggling!

I thought Europe was old when visiting but wow the pyramid history just hard to wrap my head around how ancient.

Exactly!

Thanks for keeping it real and showing us the grit and everyday life in Cairo.
it is definitely different than America and what we take for granted!
looking forward to more and I’m glad I spent the morning reading and being caught up now!

Yeah, and there is lots more that made me appreciate where we live. Whatever problems/difficulties we have, traveling abroad really opens your eyes to how great we have it here!

 

[franandaj]

Good luck to the both of you!

Yeah, we'll see how it all works out!

Ah. I just remember being able to hear people having normal conversations on the ground.

Where did you do the flight?

If and when I get a juicer and if I ever juice carrots (I'm more of a fruit juice guy)... I'll keep that in mind.

I've had a juicer for 20+ years. Fran asked for it for Christmas back before we put a moratorium on Christmas gifts. Never used it once. Want mine? All you have to do is get it back to Canada!

Ah. I get it now. The magical fruit. Jill put a stop to it after one day. Totally understand. And my condolences to Jill.

I don't need magical fruit! And she never complained at all!

I have no doubt.
But in this case I guess I'm really venting a bit on a pet peeve of mine. Most people don't litter (most being the operative word there), but some people think tossing cigarette butts isn't littering or something. I don't know how many times on my road trips I've seen butts flying out of windows and sparking along the highway. Bugs me every time. Go ahead and pollute your own lungs if you want to, but do you have to pollute everything else, too?

Yeah, I think somehow they don't think that they are littering when they do that. The sad part is that I don't remember the statistics, but it takes a heck of a long time for one of those to decompose.

Sorry. That photo of her eyes is pretty well known. That's The Bangles. They had a hit called Walk Like an Egyptian.

Yeah, I heard references to that song a lot, but I never heard of them. After about 1979 when Led Zeppelin came out with Candelabra, that was one of the last Rock n Roll albums I truly remember. There's a few other that made my playlist, maybe one or two from Rush or AC/DC, but by 1984 I was back in the 1700s - early 20th century and it wasn't popular music I was listening to. If it was from the 20th century it was Jazz. So I've never even heard of the Bangles.

You answered my question.
I wondered if it was only lit from the outside or if there were lights inside.

Yeah, no inside light made it into the tombs. But they didn't light them much. It also damages the reliefs.

Whoops! Shoulda noted the chapter title.

Yes you should have!

I think I'd heard that?

So much of this was all news to me when I started researching and Fran and I listened to the entire series of books by Elizabeth Peters in the Amelia Peabody Series.

I do wonder about that sometimes. How people in ancient times, who'd spend days, weeks or even months getting a simple message somewhere would think of us communicating instantly anywhere on the globe, and travelling anywhere in a day or less.

I think they would have thought we were Ifrits or demons, or the space aliens who built the pyramids.

Very familiar with those. I've seen too many movies/shows where they are featured.

Really? I hadn't seen them and immediately concluded that they were tiny death traps.

I get that. Just so out of our norm.

Yeah, in the book series I've been listening to (mentioned above) the donkey carts were common. I never thought 100+ years later they would still be using them!

Well, yeah! I mean... how cool is that?!?!?!?

I don't know, it seemed pretty labor intensive.

I'm not surprised you'd say that. You have a big heart when it comes to animals.

Yeah, but I still didn't touch them. As much as I would have loved to pet the kitties, I was afraid of what they might be carrying. I doubt they visited the vet regularly.

They don't do small in Egypt, do they!

Well Ramses II didn't do small....keep an eye out for him, he makes quite a few cameos, or probably more than just a cameo!

That photo sure tells a story.

A lot of my photos do!

That's just... wild. I mean... 1700BCE... and that was the 18th Dynasty!

Technically Ancient Egypt starts around 3000BC.

Um... just what do you mean by "children"...?

I think they were around 10-13 years when they started. They didn't really say, But it seemed more like an education service than child labor.

I get that. I've seen many things in my travels that I love... but also know that wouldn't fit in with my style at all.
I always wonder about that...
Will you actually get it? What are you gonna do... go back and complain??

You could file a complaint with your credit card.......

Um... no?
I can see why you balked at that!

Yeah, that first pyramid was quite a climb and that was tiny. This one was huge!

Very nice of him.

He was a very sweet guy, from what we could tell. He didn't speak English or he gave that appearance....(foreshadowing)

That's really cool. And yet... in another few (or several) hundreds of years, that too will be gone.

I really find this fascinating. Thanks for including all the info.

Wikipedia is my friend! A lot of this stuff I know just enough to sound stupid, so I'm glad that resource is there!

 

[pkondz]

Where did you do the flight?

Here in Winnipeg.

I've had a juicer for 20+ years. Fran asked for it for Christmas back before we put a moratorium on Christmas gifts. Never used it once. Want mine? All you have to do is get it back to Canada!

I don't need magical fruit! And she never complained at all!

Yeah, I heard references to that song a lot, but I never heard of them. After about 1979 when Led Zeppelin came out with Candelabra, that was one of the last Rock n Roll albums I truly remember. There's a few other that made my playlist, maybe one or two from Rush or AC/DC, but by 1984 I was back in the 1700s - early 20th century and it wasn't popular music I was listening to. If it was from the 20th century it was Jazz. So I've never even heard of the Bangles.

Well now you know them.

I think they would have thought we were Ifrits or demons, or the space aliens who built the pyramids.

You’re probably right!
This from Arthur C. Clarke (Well known Sci fi author. Penned 2091 Space odyssey for one: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”

Really? I hadn't seen them and immediately concluded that they were tiny death traps.

They’re used a lot.

Yeah, in the book series I've been listening to (mentioned above) the donkey carts were common. I never thought 100+ years later they would still be using them!

Right???

Yeah, but I still didn't touch them. As much as I would have loved to pet the kitties, I was afraid of what they might be carrying. I doubt they visited the vet regularly.

I’d feel the same.
Nice doggie… stay away.

A lot of my photos do!

Technically Ancient Egypt starts around 3000BC.

So. Long.

I think they were around 10-13 years when they started. They didn't really say, But it seemed more like an education service than child labor.

I’ll take your word for it. You were there.

You could file a complaint with your credit card.......

That’s true. Done that before.

He was a very sweet guy, from what we could tell. He didn't speak English or he gave that appearance....(foreshadowing)

Wikipedia is my friend! A lot of this stuff I know just enough to sound stupid, so I'm glad that resource is there!

 

[franandaj]

They’re used a lot.

I saw an ad this morning that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is now on Disney+ and there was a clip of a chase scene where he's driving a tuk tuk. Did not even realize that!

I’d feel the same.
Nice doggie… stay away.

 

[franandaj]

On our way to lunch, we saw all kinds of great local life. When I say “great” I mean representative of the culture. Those first few days in Egypt were quite a shock to me. We didn’t see a lot of local life in Jordan, but even in the big city of Amman, most of the life we saw looked similar to what we are used to living in LA (or Denver for Jill). In Egypt there was one standard of life in the International hotels, and a completely different standard going on in the streets.

Right now we were technically in the countryside, so we saw a lot more life that didn’t appear to have made it into the 21st century. This was a residential neighborhood, I’m not sure if these were single family homes, or if extended families lived in them together. We didn’t get out and knock on any doors….

This home breeded chickens, I saw quite a few of them running in the yard. One of them was thoughtful enough to pose for my picture.

These appear to be multi family dwellings.

I wonder what they do with these harvested palm fronds? When the ones in my yard are cut down, they’re put in the chipper and discarded.

There were lots of donkeys out here in the countryside.

Then we were back out on that main road, but we were still on the part where it was a two way road. These women were doing a good business selling various fruits.

We are back to the stretch of the road where each direction of travel is on the opposite banks of the river. More dredging going on.

Here’s another look at a Tuk tuk.

So much pollution going on.

Now on our way to the monuments this morning, Achmed had pointed out this stretch of the highway where there was a series of “wedding location destinations”. Evidently each place has a different theme so you can shop for the location of your choosing depending on the style of place you want. This seemed odd to me that you would want to have a wedding adjacent to this nasty river. You can see a few of them across the river from where we are.



I believe that our destination for lunch was in close proximity to these “wedding destinations”. Especially since that was my last picture before lunch! It was very nice inside.

Almost as soon as we sat down, Achmed was off on his phone again. Jill and I ordered drinks. We each ordered water, I think she got a coke. I tried fresh strawberry juice and it was quite tasty!

The table already had plates with the green salad and cole slaw when we sat down. Shortly thereafter we were served this rice. Shaped rice like this seems to be a “thing” in Egypt, perhaps a favored plating choice.

They also gave us these sauces. I assumed that we were to eat them to enhance the rest of the meal. Later Achmed told us that it was “soup” and he polished off the bowl. The weird thing was that there were three of us at the table, but there were only two bowls of “soup”.

This bread was very tasty.

Then we were served this Mixed Grill, it was a combination of Chicken and Kefta. Because Achmed was gone the entire time while the food was served, we sort of figured it out ourselves. I put some of the “soup” on my meats as I ate them with the pita bread. Who knows if I was doing it right, but it was very good.

He finally joined us. We told him about our adventure the day before. He asked why we didn’t have Mahmoud help us find a camera store, but we didn’t even think about that. We figured he probably had other fires to put out.

Lunch came with dessert. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was good. I ate both pieces, I think Jill did too.

We headed back to Cairo from the countryside, here are some shots of us returning to the city.

Notice how all the cars are driving right on the lines rather than in between them.

Goats under the overpass, something you don’t see every day.

Now this is when Achmed pointed out the camel carcasses. I just happened to take my picture by chance, Jill took this one when he mentioned that they eat camels and they are tasty.

After lunch we stopped at the jewelry store that Achmed mentioned when I told him I wanted a scarab pin. At first I was all into customizing the piece, she asked if I had a budget in mind. I did not, but would know if the piece did not fit into said budget. We picked out a stone for my beetle, and I said I wanted gold. She went to talk to the manager for pricing and came back with a price of around $1300. {Cough, cough} Um even with selling the Lincoln I'm not spending that kind of money on a souvenir pin!

So I said, "Let's take a look at what you have that is stock and can be converted into a pin." And walked over to another counter where I had seen some premade beetles while I was waiting on the quote from the manager. I found a pretty blue one which was meant to hang on a necklace. It was also about one 10th the price of the custom made pin. She said that they could remove the pendant portion and add a pin clasp. It would be ready later that evening and they would drop it by the hotel. Instead our guide said that we would be in the neighborhood and would be happy to just pick it up the next day.

This picture is out of order, but this is the pin that I ended up with.

I also found a small statue of Bastet the cat for $30.

We had one before, I found it and the two cats have been united.

As we drove through the city to get back to our hotel, our guide pointed out the various areas that we drove through. Evidently businesses of a similar type gravitate to the same neighborhood. We noticed that yesterday when we drove into the city. We passed through the garment district and we could tell because every shop had fabric bolts. Today we passed through the medical equipment district. There was shop after shop with wheelchairs, walkers, bathing aids, etc.

Here is the map from my Google timeline for that day showing where we went.

When we got back to the room, we had towel animals on our beds! The steward came by to see if he had done an adequate job on the room. Evidently we should have tipped him at that time, but we did not know…..

After a long day, we wanted a glass of wine, we figured out that we could ask room service to bring us up a corkscrew so we could open our bottles of wine. They said sure, they'd send someone up. In the meantime I poured us a glass from the one screw-top bottle of wine we bought.

As I was pouring the wine, the guy with our clean laundry showed up. We gave him a tip and said thanks. When we looked at the price on the receipt, mine was about $32 for five shirts, five pairs of pants/capris and two bras. It would have been $40 had I sent the undies and socks! Jill's came to almost $50. For this much laundry. This is my laundry, $32 for this much.

As we were putting away our newly cleaned laundry, the guy with the corkscrew showed up. Rather than just give us a corkscrew, he was going to open the wine for us. He was impressed that we had Egyptian wine. We gave him a tip for opening the bottle and he was on his way.

Lunch was so much food it took a while for us to build up an appetite, so we had a few glasses of wine in the room. We had decided that we would try the dinner buffet tonight. It was in the same location as the breakfast buffet.

On this particular evening we did not choose wisely. There wasn’t a lot of really good stuff here. There was no large meat being carved. I ended up with what they called Canneloni (which technically in my book is actually Manicotti, Cannelloni should be meat filled). Some meat Samosas, a piece of Sea Bass in a cream sauce and rice, plus a green salad and some tomatoes and mozzarella. For a $30 buffet, I would like to have more things.

I didn’t get a picture of Jill’s dinner plate, nor did she. I did load up on desserts. Besides chocolate cake and what they called “oriental cake”, not sure what the little bites were, but at least they were tasty!

This is Jill’s plate.

Then it was up to the room for bed. I think I was asleep by 8:21 according to my fitbit.

Next up: Mosques, Churches, and Synagogues, Oh My!

 

[pkondz]

I saw an ad this morning that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is now on Disney+ and there was a clip of a chase scene where he's driving a tuk tuk. Did not even realize that!

And you've seen them in real life.

In Egypt there was one standard of life in the International hotels, and a completely different standard going on in the streets.

You'll see that here too if you travel far enough from the cities.

Right now we were technically in the countryside, so we saw a lot more life that didn’t appear to have made it into the 21st century.

I wonder if it's more a case of poverty or more a case of "this is the way we've always done it."

We didn’t get out and knock on any doors….

Now I'm curious what kind of reception you'd get?
Cold? Welcoming? Fearful? Angry?

I wonder what they do with these harvested palm fronds?

I did a quick Google search.
Palm thatch roofs
Long-wearing mulch
Hugelkultur Bulk (I didn't get what this was)
Filling swales paths
Biodegradable shade cloth
Garden fencing
Windbreaks
Woven crafts
Garden stakes
Fuel for fire

These women were doing a good business selling various fruits.

Did you see the fruit close up? Did you recognize all of it? Some of it?

So much pollution going on.

This seemed odd to me that you would want to have a wedding adjacent to this nasty river.

I bet the locals think of the river differently. Maybe more like "bringer of life" sort of thing.

Shaped rice like this seems to be a “thing” in Egypt, perhaps a favored plating choice.

I've seen that in higher end restaurants too.

The weird thing was that there were three of us at the table, but there were only two bowls of “soup”.

Odd. Maybe you were meant to share?

Who knows if I was doing it right, but it was very good.

Then you were doing it right.

Notice how all the cars are driving right on the lines rather than in between them.

I didn't notice! How interesting!

Goats under the overpass, something you don’t see every day.

True. Usually they're above it.

She went to talk to the manager for pricing and came back with a price of around $1300. {Cough, cough} Um even with selling the Lincoln I'm not spending that kind of money on a souvenir pin!

Nope!

This picture is out of order, but this is the pin that I ended up with.

I like it. Pretty blue.

When we got back to the room, we had towel animals on our beds!

Another little touch of "Disney"

The steward came by to see if he had done an adequate job on the room. Evidently we should have tipped him at that time, but we did not know…..

Whoops. Different cultures, different rules.

As I was pouring the wine, the guy with our clean laundry showed up. We gave him a tip and said thanks. When we looked at the price on the receipt, mine was about $32 for five shirts, five pairs of pants/capris and two bras. It would have been $40 had I sent the undies and socks! Jill's came to almost $50. For this much laundry. This is my laundry, $32 for this much.

I'm not at all surprised. I've been caught by the hotel laundry service before.

As we were putting away our newly cleaned laundry

Did you lock it up in the safe?

On this particular evening we did not choose wisely.

Oh dear...

I ended up with what they called Canneloni (which technically in my book is actually Manicotti, Cannelloni should be meat filled).

Interesting. I've never thought of that before.
Another quick Google trip showed:

"Manicotti is the Italian-American version of Cannelloni. Both are pasta tubes, but the difference between the two is fairly minimal: Manicotti tubes are ridged, larger and slightly thicker. Cannelloni tubes are smooth, a touch smaller and slightly thinner."

Besides chocolate cake and what they called “oriental cake”, not sure what the little bites were, but at least they were tasty!

That all looks good.

 

[franandaj]

And you've seen them in real life.

Yeah, they look like little potential death traps, especially with the traffic flow there!

You'll see that here too if you travel far enough from the cities.

Yeah, I've seen that in rural california.

I wonder if it's more a case of poverty or more a case of "this is the way we've always done it."

Could be a bit of both.....

Now I'm curious what kind of reception you'd get?
Cold? Welcoming? Fearful? Angry?

I'm guessing ***?

I did a quick Google search.
Palm thatch roofs
Long-wearing mulch
Hugelkultur Bulk (I didn't get what this was)
Filling swales paths
Biodegradable shade cloth
Garden fencing
Windbreaks
Woven crafts
Garden stakes
Fuel for fire

Wow! I had no idea that they would have so many uses! No wonder they harvest them. Makes me feel bad that mine just get thrown away in to a landfill.

Did you see the fruit close up? Did you recognize all of it? Some of it?

No. I was lucky to catch that picture. We whizzed past that stand once on the way in and I made sure to be ready for it when we went through on the way back.

I bet the locals think of the river differently. Maybe more like "bringer of life" sort of thing.

You are very right. Here I am Americanizing that!

I've seen that in higher end restaurants too.

Huh. I've never seen rice plated as a thing.

Odd. Maybe you were meant to share?

Well I think it was a sauce to be used by everyone. Odd that he thought it was a soup.

Then you were doing it right.

I didn't notice! How interesting!

Yeah, no one seemed to follow lines.

True. Usually they're above it.

Nope!

Yeah. I agree!

I like it. Pretty blue.

Thanks! It is a very pretty blue. Although I may have had red in my mind, but this was just perfect.

Another little touch of "Disney"

I don't think Disney has the exclusive on Towel Animals.

Whoops. Different cultures, different rules.

Yup. We made it up later.

I'm not at all surprised. I've been caught by the hotel laundry service before.

We didn't have a choice. If self service had been an option we would have done it, but they just don't have it here. If you don't have your own washer, you either do it by hand or pay someone to do it.

Did you lock it up in the safe?

Interesting. I've never thought of that before.
Another quick Google trip showed:

"Manicotti is the Italian-American version of Cannelloni. Both are pasta tubes, but the difference between the two is fairly minimal: Manicotti tubes are ridged, larger and slightly thicker. Cannelloni tubes are smooth, a touch smaller and slightly thinner."

Interesting. I've ordered both. But in most restaurants when I've been served Manicotti, it was filled with cheese and spinach. When I've ordered Canneloni it's been filled with a meat and cheese mixture. That reminds me. I need to put Canneloni on the menu. I made quite a few tubes last April and they need to be eaten.

 

[pkondz]

Yeah, they look like little potential death traps, especially with the traffic flow there!

So… not keen on riding in one, huh?

I'm guessing ***?

Now I wonder what you wrote there.

You are very right. Here I am Americanizing that!

Not many (any?) rivers in North America look like that.

Huh. I've never seen rice plated as a thing.

You have now!

I don't think Disney has the exclusive on Towel Animals.

Probably not… but it’s who I associate it with.

We didn't have a choice. If self service had been an option we would have done it, but they just don't have it here. If you don't have your own washer, you either do it by hand or pay someone to do it.

Betting not many pay those prices.

 

[ACDSNY]

Whew, finally got caught up again.

 

[jedijill]

hen we were back out on that main road, but we were still on the part where it was a two way road. These women were doing a good business selling various fruits.

I recognized dates, bananas, and nectarines. The bananas were much shorter than we have in the US....we'll see more bananas when we get to Luxor.

hen we were served this Mixed Grill, it was a combination of Chicken and Kefta. Because Achmed was gone the entire time while the food was served, we sort of figured it out ourselves. I put some of the “soup” on my meats as I ate them with the pita bread. Who knows if I was doing it right, but it was very good.

The grilled meat was amazing and my favorite part of the trip although everything was tasty.

On this particular evening we did not choose wisely. There wasn’t a lot of really good stuff here. There was no large meat being carved. I ended up with what they called Canneloni (which technically in my book is actually Manicotti, Cannelloni should be meat filled). Some meat Samosas, a piece of Sea Bass in a cream sauce and rice, plus a green salad and some tomatoes and mozzarella. For a $30 buffet, I would like to have more things.

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

So… not keen on riding in one, huh?

Not really, I had a hard enough time taking an Uber/Lyft......

Now I wonder what you wrote there.

Whisky Tango Foxtrot

Not many (any?) rivers in North America look like that.

At least not in modern times.

Betting not many pay those prices.

Or maybe they do. Achmed had some comments about spoiled wives....when I get to that part, I'll have more details.

 

[pkondz]

this trip was too good not to share, even if nobody reads it!

I recognized dates, bananas, and nectarines. The bananas were much shorter than we have in the US....we'll see more bananas when we get to Luxor.

Thanks, Jill.

Whisky Tango Foxtrot

Ah. Copy, red leader.

Or maybe they do. Achmed had some comments about spoiled wives....when I get to that part, I'll have more details.