10/04/09
So I landed in Cairo around 11 PM purchased a visitors pass for 15 dollars and wondered out on to the streets and realized I had no phone that worked in Cairo and had no idea where I was going or how to get there. So I asked a guy in a suit if he spoke English and he said yes, and he let me use his phone. None of the numbers I had were working so I had to call the only other number that I had, Pat's grandma. This lady is 85 years old, doesn't speak english and is hard of hearing. This gentleman talked to her (repeated a bunch of his sentences numerous times) and got me a number to reach Pat. He came with his uncle and picked me up and we headed back to his Uncle's place to gather everyone. His uncle's place is located in the center of Egypt and it is a beautiful 3 bedroom 3 bath upper middle class apartment. Driving in Cairo is chaotic. No street lights, no lanes, no rules. I held on for dear life is cars cut us off and sped right past us. Kids walked through traffic like it was no problem. I can't explain it at all... Cairo is a city of about 24 million people and I feel that everyone was on the road at that time. The horn is a completely overused object. We then went out for dinner and sheesha at about midnight. Sheesha is flavored tobacco traditional to Egypt. It is served in a 4 foot high water pipe. I had a tradition meat dish and sat and talked until about 2 in the morning. Dan's flight didn't get in until 3, but ended up being delayed so we stayed up to wait for him; we had a flight at 6 anyways. The craziest thing about that night was that around 4 o'clock in the morning a guy got on a loud speaker that you could hear all throughout Cairo praying in Arabic. It gave me the creeps to hear it. You could hear other people following his prayer, and the cats and dogs of the streets howling.

11/04/07
After not sleeping at all the night before we boarded our plane around 7 A.M. to Asuan Egypt. We flew into Asuan and basically flew right into a desert. Once again we got picked up right at the door. Sidenote: Throughout me talking about this trip, it will seem like we are royalty. We honestly got treated like royalty and I can't thank Pat's uncle enough for everything. Pat was on the phone with him every half hour, if anything went wrong, or whatever. He got us hotels, tours, and travel for dirt cheap. He literally MADE this trip. We leave the airport and head to High Dam which was sort of like the hoover dam on a smaller level. It produces enough energy that Egypt can export energy to other countries. We then went to Philae temple. This temple was on an island so we had to take a small boat to get there; it was ghetto to say the least. So we see this temple, and having not eaten all day, sleep deprived, sweating, and in need of water, I did not learn much about it. Our guide was going on all these tangents about ancient Egyptian gods and history. I was completely lost. We then ate Guavas off of a tree, lets face it I have a horrible stomache and I am going to have stomache problems, why not enjoy the things I eat. After getting back to the bus, we went to a place where they make their own perfumes out of flowers. We didn't enjoy it, but the girls in our group LOVED it. We then got on the bus and were harassed by vendors trying to sell us crap that none of us wanted. Tannous would just speak in Arabic and the people would realize that we were not in the market to purchase their things. Then we headed to the Cruise. Pat's uncle is director of operations for a 5 star cruise line down the Nile. After a long day of travelling and sightseeing we dropped our luggage in our rooms and went for a few drinks on the top deck and watched as we sailed down the Nile. We then went to a delicious dinner and passed out listening to the waves of the Nile as we cruised along.

12/04/09 (Easter Sunday)
We awoke at 6 A.M. ate breakfast on the cruise and then headed to the Edfu temple. After a long night of sleep I was able to understand the history a lot better. The temple was dating back to 237 B.C. and it blew my mind standing in the middle of something that was created over 2000 years ago. Just looking at the structures, I wondered how they put everything together without any technology. After going to the temple we headed back to the ship. We left for Esna right away and made it there about midday. Everyone was sleeping as we docked, we then left and went through a lock in the Nile river. As everyone slept, I sat on the deck and watched small towns pass us. These towns made me realize how much of a third world country Egypt is. If this was any other country the Nile would be covered with million dollar mansions, instead it is covered with houses that look like they barely have running water. I then took an hour nap as we docked in Luxor and we got up and got ready for dinner. We said grace and had a delicious Easter dinner on the cruise. It was Pat's birthday a week ago, so we were to celebrate it that night on the cruise. He got Happy Birthday sung to him in Arabic, Spanish, and English and the chef on the boat cooked him his own special cake. We then got dressed up in Gabalas which are traditional egyptian wear; long robes worn on a daily basis. We hung out with some of the other people on the cruise and enjoyed the calm night on the Nile.
Literally, how many people can say they slept on the Nile and cruised down it for 3 days? Not many

This first picture is a view from our boat as we cruise down the Nile.
The second picture is of us dressed up in our Egyptian Wear.
The third picture is at Philae Temple.