Up the Nile

I tried to post a camera phone pic but the local network doesn't like it.

We rose before dawn to watch the sun rise over Karnak temple. The complex is huge and every Pharoh added something to it so that the site is a bit of a mish mash. one could spend years studying it. We then visited the Luxor museum which houses some amazing pieces. I was very impressed with the chariot and bows found is Tuts tomb. The mummy of Ramesses I is here. It spent many years at a cheap Niagra Falls attraction before it was donated back to Egypt. It now lies in dignified repose near some few treasures that survived into this century.

We are now steaming up river towards Edfu. Our cabin was a bit of a disaster having no AC and a bathroom that was funky. We made a few calls and we are no longer sweltering. The bathroom is slightly less funky but I am planning on hitting a perfume shop to see if that will help any.

The Nile is smooth and the green fields and date palms glide by little changed for the last thousand years. Luxor is behind us but each new city seems to bring us bigger and more wonderous sites to explore.

Temples to the left of me...

Back on the West bank to see the Temple of Medinet Habu with a talk by one of the epigraphers from Chicago House, on to the Ramasseum (most impressive, some of the color is still on the columns and upper walls) and lastly the Temple of Hatchepsut (great Fung Shui). I have done my best but my poor brain is getting dangerously full of facts. This is a very rich and complex culture.

Still haven't had a chance to do any serious shopping. We did pop into a alabaster factory yesterday. They had a quick presentation about carving alabaster and their sales pitch was pretty good. In the end I bought a large scarab of unusually good quality and two Ushebti. Don't know what an Ushebti is? Go google it. We board our Nile steamer The Sun Goddess later today and depart Luxor tomorrow to head up river to Aswan. This will give us a much needed rest.

I will miss Luxor. I don't remember if I posted this but we took a horse drawn carriage over to the Winter Palace to enjoy a drink on the patio. It gave me a geeky thrill to sit where Howard Carter and most other early Egyptologists sat enjoying a drink, looking over the Nile and dreaming of finding unpilferred tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

The Valley of the Kings

Blogging from my phone makes it hard to fully describe the things we have seen today. We crossed the Nile and took a bus to the Valley of the Kings. We passed through old Gurneh, home of the greatest tomb robbers of the 19th century, the el Rassoul fanily. The current residents refuse to move to the new town near by build by the state because their houses still rest on undiscovered tombs.

We hiked up to the top of the Valley along a path used 3000 years ago by the tomb workers who lived in Dier el Medina. Although it was hazy the view from the top was awe inspiring. We returned to the valley and entered the Tomb of Seti I, which is not open to the public. It is amazing shape with beautiful walls still showing vibrant co.ored heiroglyphs. One room is incomplete but shows where the workers had started to draw the figures before carving them into the linestone.

Dr Weeks then opened KV5. Two men from the Supreme Council of Antiquities are there. One breaks the small seal, the other notes the date. As assistent has to set up lights so we can see. The inside is hot. The floor and ceiling uneven. Bracing is everywhere. This tomb was filled with debris from floods over the last 3000 years. Removing it is like chipping out concrete. Except the concrete has valuable artifacts in it. Although this the largest tomb ANYWHERE in Egypt we could only get into four main chambers. There are over 150 rooms mapped so far, more are still untouched.

Tuts tomb is a dinky closet compared to KV5. At least size wise. The Sarcophagus and an outer case lie in situ and are stunning, but the wall paintings are more lower quality.

My brain is now full

With Rossana on the mend I crossed the Nile at 5:30 this morning to take a hot air balloon ride over the temples of the west bank. The trip was great with unmatched views. After a harrowing bus ride back to the boat I returned to the hotel to find Rossana up and doing well. We visited the mumification museum and then the Luxor temple. We got to go 'behind the scenes' to see where they are repairing and arranging ornamental wall scenes.

Saw so much today. Must sleep...

Better now

Rossana thew up on the bus ride and immedietly felt better. We got to Luxor a short time later. The doctor promptly arrived and diagnosed inflamed lower intestines. She did everything right, staying away from salads and fresh fruits. She's an old pro at this. But it was the fish that did her in. He administered two shots that should have her back in shape by tomorrow (Inshallah!)

The Waddi Hammamat was a great journey. A trade and supply route between the Nile and the Red sea for the past 5000 years. A neolithic hunting ground over 8000 years ago. There are amazing heiroglyphs carved into the bassalt walls of the hills as clear today as they were when they were carved by expeditions sent to bring back materials for the temples of Egypt . These are mixed in places with ancient greek graphitti made by traders in Ptolomeic times.

I signed up for a sunrise hot air balloon trip over the Valley of the Kings and Luxor. So long as Rossana is in good shape I will again get up at 5 in the god awfull AM.

Luxor is much prettier than Cairo and the Nile is a real river here, not a dirty canal. Green and lush with huge sugar crops.

Not good

Rossana is sick. Not sure of the cause. Not taking any chances. When we arrive in Luxor we are calling a doctor. She is so upset and there's nothing I can do.

Departing Cairo

Bag arrived last night. Hattem, the local tour rep spent 3 hours at the airport getting it. The terminal was technically closed due to the Haj (Mecca pilgramage) he sneaks in but is told I have to get the bag personally, they need my passport etc. I am sure bribes were paid. Everyone amazed at how cool we are about this, but it wasn't the tour company's fault. Nothing is missing and I have my hat and chargers.

Short lecture last night by Dr. Weeks followed by dinner. Our last night at Mena house. We talked our way into a look at Montommery and Churchill suites. Amazing what $1450 a night gets you. Our rooms are in a modern (and much cheaper) wing but I will still miss this place.

Off to Hurhada by plane and then to Quisir. From thence to Luxor.

Speechless

There is word my luggage has been seen in Paris drinking absinthe and touring the Louvre. I hope it shows up soon. All my chargers are with it.

Visited Sakkara and Dashur yesterday. Amazing. Taday we rose at 5am to see the Sphinx and then watch the sun rise above the plateu. Toured the Phramid of Cheops (Khufu) inside and out, quite a climb. The Solar boat is no less amazing. Took many pictures which can't do the site justice.

Meals are excellent, travelling companions eclectic but friendly.

Telegram

Have arrived safe in Cairo STOP
1 piece luggage MIA STOP
Within spitting distance of Pyramids STOP
Exhausted from most uncomfortable flight (11 hours) No sleep for 22 hours STOP
Must pass out now STOP

The morning phone call

As I lay in bed last night I tried to relax, but this rather hard to do on the eve of a trip like this.

"Relax!" I told myself. "You're packed and good to go. Anything you forgot you can get on the way or at your destination".

"Unless you never get there" my pessimistic side says.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Your trip, everything you've planned for could all go south. All you have to do is over sleep, or have something delay your flight from Cleveland."

I could feel my heart rate rising. This is not the way to fall asleep. I'm already in Christmas eve mode. Time is at a near stand still. I slow my breathing and tell myself it's okay. We have an alarm clock and Rossana's internal clock always gets her up on time.

Indeed we were up right on time, and as I stood in the kitchen at 7 AM zipping up my suitcase in preparation for hauling it to the van we get... a phone call. The automated call tells me that the flight from Cleveland to D.C. for 'rzwrne fhcherruh' and 'stephm phlackkk' has been cancelled.

Heart rate...shooting...through...roof...

"Please hold while we transfer you to a reservation specialist" (aka 'The person who's head will shortly be resting on a pike in my front yard') There is a click and a bored sounding woman gets on the line. I'm having a hard time forming words.

"Flight...Cancelled...How..Egypt?"

"Mr Flack?" asks the voice.

"Pack."

"Pardon?" she asks.

"Pack. The name of the man who's dreams you've just crushed is Pack, not Flack. It's a small thing really, but it's all I have now" I look over to my wife and I think how sad it will be we will never see each other again when she is sent away for killing everyone at the Continental Airlines counter.

"Mr. Pack we've booked you on a direct flight to New York leaving later this afternoon." She gives me the flight info,

"You mean we're still going?" Outside the sun stops cowering behind the horizon and I swear I see flowers begin to spontaneously blossom to the tune of 'O Fortuna'.

"Yes sir, you will arrive at 5:30".

So we will have to wait around the house while. To tell the truth I wasn't crazy about our original flight. We would have been sitting around in New York for 4 hours, now we will have only 90 minutes. I'm praying that's enough time to transfer terminals and clear any security strip searches (I've done away with wearing underwear today in the interest of saving time for this procedure).

I can't see how this could possibly go wrong.

As soon as I got this shirt from Angryamericantshirts.com I said, jokingly, "I should wear this somewhere in Egypt". Of course, I say a LOT of things, most of which I quickly forget, which is for the best I suppose.

But this idea seemed to stick around, prompted by people practically daring me to be so crass while in a foreign country. Although we will be pretending to be Canadians on this trip ('Hey, this is my wife, she's from Manitoba and I'm from Winnipeg, eh'), there is no denying that we are Americans. It is our birthright to be slightly 'ugly'. And as such, a little poking is in order. I'm willing to risk becoming a social outcast, and maybe a dank Egyptian prison but I want something from you in return. So here's the deal:

I will wear this shirt in public, preferably near a recognizable monument. For each photo I post on the site YOU will make a donation of at least $5 to a charity of your choice. 2 photo's = $10. 5 photo's=$25. It would be great if you would consider helping the Theban Mapping Project, but any charity is okay. Go check out their amazing website. They are doing some great work.

This is all on the honor system, don't send anything to me. Of course, if I AM arrested, that donation can be used to help pay my bail, or hire the A-Team to break me out. Whichever, I'm not picky.

Peace me unto you!

Steve

I am sick

I do not know how I got this way, or if it will clear up or get worse. All I can say is that I am beyond pissed off. If it's a typical cold I will suffer through 1 week of misery and at least another week as it trails off. It doesn't feel like a typical cold yet, and that has me worried. Last time I felt under the weather I discovered that I had BOTH strep throat and walking pneumonia.

I basically have one day to figure out if I should go see a doctor and try to score some general antibiotics. I am not a pill person. My magic exilur of healing is Nyquil. But I am about to leave this country on a trip I have been waiting along time for. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck....damn.

The packing is basically done. At the last minute I talked myself into buying a new digital camera. I managed to finish a website for a client and there should be some money waiting for me when I get home. My current camera is okay but it's starting to act funny at times. Plus its only 2 megapixels. The new camera, the Canon Powershot SD500 is 7.1 I picked up a generic spare battery and a 1 gig sd card. I do not want to run out of space for pics on this trip.

As is typical, a client contacted yesterday me to tell me their website was broken in some way. It is a goddamn mathmatical certainty that if I try to leave home ( or better, I am 1,000 miles away from it) something breaks. Luckily the fix was pretty simple. I have asked the client not to make any changes to the site while I am gone. In fact, it would be best if they didn't even look at it. Do you hear me Rupp? Turn the computer off.

Land of the Pharoah's

In three days my wife and I depart for Egypt. This has been a trip we have been planning, scrimping and saving for for several years. This is the kind of thing some people call a 'once in a lifetime' trip. I actually hope to have more of these kinds of trips. I don't know, I'm greedy that way.

Although any trip to Egypt will deal with its ancient history our tour is very focused on archeology. We will be traveling with Dr Kent Weeks and will also have lectures with 2 other egyptologists as well as a meeting with Dr. Zahi Hawass. (If you've watched ANYTHING about Egypt in the last 5 years, he's been in it) He is the secretary General of the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities.

Over two weeks we will be covering a great deal of ground; from the pyramids at Giza and Saqqara to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor as well as Aswan and Abu Simbel. We are getting access to a tomb that is normally closed to the public, a private tour of the Egyptian Museum after it is closed and access to KV5 the largest tomb yet discovered in the Valley of the Kings and still being excavated.

I am, to be blunt, stoked.

Right now we are in the gearing and packing phase. These are two different things. When we gear up for a trip we pull out EVERYTHING we think we might need. Clothes, books, maps, luggage, toiletries... then we systematically go through all of it eliminating what we don't need. When we've paired it down we do a test pack, this invariably leads us to dumping more unneeded items.

Once we are happy with what we have we pack a set of our clothes in each others luggage. In the event one of our bags is lost we will have at least 2 sets of clothes. Our personal gear selection is another rigorous project. If you travel anywhere abroad it is a good idea to plan for the possibility that someone, somewhere, wants your stuff. When we travel we dump our wallets/purses. Money and travelers checks get split up. Some carried in an easy to get to travel wallet, some in a neck or belly pouch, some in an ankle wallet and some secured back at the hotel. We use pants with button or velcro flaps. We make copies of ALL our travel documents as well as track down numbers for embassies etc.

Because this trip covers a lot of history and ground I wanted to carry more gear than I usually do. I've tried backpacks but they are bulky and not comfortable to wear. I'm trying something new with a messenger-type bag I got at goodwill for 4 bucks. It has tons of pockets to hold my maps, guidebooks, compass, flashlight, journal, camera, pens, baby wipes etc. It also slings across the shoulder making it hard to grab in a run-by. I've been testing it out over the past few days and it's very comfortable to wear. I only wish it was brown, instead of black so that it didn't stand out at all.

Unlike journeys on the past, we are going with a tour group. This means that we won't get to meet any many native Egyptians as we would if we were hoofing it solo. We are also at the mercy and schedule of the tour operators. This was a real issue the one other time we took a tour in Sicily. We could have spent two whole days crawling all over Pompeii, but we were rushed through the entire affair in a few hours and were forced to visit a cameo shop to boot. Then there's having to deal with other humans. I'm optimistic that this will be a fun group to travel with. If they aren;t I am confident that the shifting sands of the dessert will quickly cover the bodies after Rossana kills them.

It's 2:30 in the morning but I am still pouring over websites trying to cram my brain with as much information as I can. I found a great website that documents the work being done in the Valley of the Kings. Wonderful stuff. I'm scribbling down questions. There have been some big controversies in the field of Egyptology in the past few years and I'm just starting to pick up on some of them. Since we'll be getting our information straight from some of the top people in the field I hope we get some answers.

Flava

You nay recall a few weeks ago that I was in the final stages of the 'meading process' and that soon the sweet nectar MIGHT be ready, that is, if I didn't completely fuck it up. Well, it seems that I did not fuck it up and the results are here for all to see. Behold! I give you Bag End Strawberry Mead.



"How much does it cost?" you ask. Foolish mortal! You cannot buy ambrosia, the food of the gods! But if you beg on bent knee (or just stand near me long enough) I will likely whip out a bottle in the way proud parents enjoy inflicting endless photos of their progeny on complete strangers.

I am told by people with palletes that would know that it is extremely drinkable, if not , in fact tasty. I like my mead sweet and this fulfill my tastes well. Your milage may vary. I am hoping that I can make another batch this February, provided Grimm is willing to hold my hand again. I cannot thank him anough for his help and advice. If you're thinking of making mead I recommend it highly, if only because you might get to set up a contraption that looks this cool in your kitchen (at least for a little while):

War is Peace - Ingorance is Strength

It seems that a white-as-wonder-bread average Joe who just happened to have written an Anti-Bush book now finds himself on the TSA 'No Fly' list. This is a list you can't get off of. This is a list with between 35 and 80 thousand names on it. You cannot sue to find out how you got on this list. Yes, it might all just be a misunderstanding. Might just be a glitch in the computer. No reason to get bent out of shape, is there? Unless it was you on that list.

Are we paying attention yet?