walk like an egyptian

Apr 6

A P R I L 6 , 2 0 1 1

“you must write it all out, at any cost. writing is thinking.
it is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.”

i feel this quote with all of my heart. it is an invaluable experience to sit down and consciously write each thought that comes into your head, and each feeling that arises in your body. to sit with them, allow them to be and not judge them, to let them pour freely from your mind to the paper beneath your pen. to control the flow, and be present with yourself, taking only one thing at a time. this is reflection, and awareness. and through personal awareness we evolve, reaching new heights and expanding our boundaries. able, from then on, to revisit our past, relive our experiences and rejoice in our ability to grow from them.

and now i sit here trying to relive an experience that took place almost 6 months ago – one that, for whatever reason, i did not record with words.

while i may not have a written account of our adventure, i have plenty of photographs and memories to work with. better late than never!

:: the first ancient wonder ::

5,000 years of cultural, spiritual, economic and biological evolution later, we found ourselves standing in the shadows beneath the great pyramids of giza -- arguably the most magnificent and mystical of all the world’s wonders.

we arrived at the cairo airport in the middle of the night and left in a bus bound for giza – a would-be 20-minute trip that actually takes over an hour due to horrific Egyptian traffic, and serious lack of road rules (there is only one stop light in all of cairo, and seemingly no such thing as law or lane-abiding). the streets were slammed, even at 3am. as our bus crawled down the highway, our anticipation grew -- we would soon be within eyesight of the legendary pyramids of giza!

our hotel, the le meridien pyramids, rested just around the corner from the ancient site, and they could be seen from our window! and while sitting at the pool bar. we spent the first day in total anticipation and excitement, seeing but not yet believing.

we finally found ourselves (humbled, awed and inspired) beneath the incredible monuments. we realized, more deeply than ever, that they represent so much more than just unfathomable man-made structures (which they most certainly are, still shrouded in the mystery of exactly how they came to be). they represent an immortal culture of unrivaled richness in human history and achievement. they saturate our imaginations with ideas of the world – the earth, the cosmos, humanity – that today seem beyond our reach. a breathtaking symbol of myth, magic and mystery.

our experience at the pyramids brought us back in time – riding camels and chariots through the desert to stand on sand dunes overlooking the wonders of the ancient world. even after our 2 visits we had trouble tearing ourselves away…

cairo may be famed for it’s ancient marvels, but it isn’t exactly a dream city. we generally felt unsafe walking around after dark, and the lack of taxis and general transportation was almost unbearable. our hotel staff was no help in that department (or any other department for that matter). in our experience so far, cairo as a whole wins the “worst customer service” award.

so we found ourselves confined to our hotel and it’s 2 poorly impersonated western restaurants for the duration of our stay. but we were thrilled to discover that our hotel would be hosting a big New Year’s Eve bash complete with a never-ending international buffet. score! culinary variety for the first time in weeks! and all-night dancing/dining.

the party was a huge hit, and we danced the night away with the kids, each of us drunk off of the looming jet lag, the abundance of food and the excitement. midnight was to be the latest little maddi had ever stayed up and she was quite the little trooper, frequently taking boogie breaks to stop dead in her tracks in the middle of the dance floor and zone out while twirling her hair, until someone would remind her that the balloons were about to drop (a huge net of them just over our heads) and she would perk up and get wild again. she made it to the countdown – a moment she will probably relive for the rest of her life – and then we happily retired to our quarters for the night.

while in Cairo we explored the massive market, Khan el-Khalili, getting lost in the winding alleys of a true egyptian bazaar. how surreal! throwing the maps away, with plenty of time to spare, we shopped til we were about to drop. one of the funnest things about traveling to third world countries is that we can take ourselves and maddi on full-blown shopping sprees, saying yes to nearly everything we want, without spending much over $50 USD… a luxury we don’t necessarily have back home. but mostly we like shopping so we can interact with the locals and sharpen our haggling skills (something Maddi excels in with her quick wit and adorable, undeniable sweetness).

southbound and down

a couple weeks into our trip, pat and i departed for luxor -- a short plane ride away -- to embark on a 5-day southbound cruise. it was a solo mission; maddi stayed behind with family in cairo while we journeyed down egypt’s famed River Nile.

our cruise ship was great – small and intimate. on the top deck there was a pool the size of a jacuzzi, with ice water, along with what could quite possibly have been the world’s first-ever edition of a piece of exercise equipment (of course not in working condition). but who needs exercise when you have baklava, booze, unlimited buffet ??

our ship departed luxor destined for aswan, stopping at various locations on the nile bank along the way. we explored temples more miraculous than our minds can fathom, wandered the valley of the kings (!!!) -- a mountain valley which holds 63 ancient pharoah tombs and chambers, all built by the pharoahs themselves during their lifetime -- and took off-the-beaten path excursions leading us into the heart of local villages (where pat, true to form, rallied a soccer match with a big group of local egyptian children). words can’t possibly do justice to these experiences, so we hope our photos will (except for the walley of the kings, where photography was prohibited… bummer - but sacred, understandable).

while Egypt may not have been the most comfortable or liberating travel adventure of our lives, it was without a doubt one of the most spiritual and cultural journeys we will ever take, and one we absolutely recommend to anyone who has the desire to take a step (a BIG step) back in time, to stand in awe of our own humanity, and to take in our beautiful planet Earth and it’s endless wonders.

below are some captures from the trip, in no particular order because they all got mixed up and i don’t feel like chronologically sorting them.