Adventures in Egypt

Wow! What an adventure! Last week was our spring break here at IBEX and the group I went with decided to head to Egypt. We were underprepared and did not know what to expect other than what we had been told by previous IBEXers who also went to Egypt. With nothing but a backpack full of a weeks worth of stuff, we headed out down to the Gulf of Elat and over the border into Egypt, across the Sinai Peninsula and into Cairo. From the get-go we realized that all the plans that we made and would make could change in an instant - and they did! God was really gracious to my group though. We were able to team up with other groups through out the whole trip, which helped with bargaining and finding places to stay, as well as good fun and fellowship. Cairo was very dirty. I thought Israel was dirty, but now that I'm back I feel like I could run around barefoot and eat my food off the street. Cairo is also extremely crowded and noisy and crossing the street is a death defying adventure in and of itself. Our first night we stayed in a sketchy hotel after wandering around looking for the one we planned on staying in only to find that it was booked. Courtney and I slept wrapped in the sheets we brought, although I got very little sleep because of all the noise going on outside. The next morning we got up at 5 am and headed to the pyramids to make sure we got a ticket to go up into the Great Pyramid. We were there plenty early and looked at a nice hotel nearby to waste time. The Pyramids were so much bigger than I thought they would be, although the surroundings were different from what I imagined. The city comes right up to them on two sides. After the Pyramids we had lunch at Pizza Hut which was really cheap and then we visited the Cairo Museum. I was sort of dissapointed by the museum, which really is more like a warehouse. It has tons and tons of treasures in it, but they do not organize it very well and most of the time the descriptions are not helpful at all. After that we spent an hour floating on the Nile River and walking around before heading to the train station. We went to Luxor on a night train - my first experience riding a train. It was pretty dirty and hard to sleep, but kind of fun at the same time. Luxor was a lot cleaner and less stressful than Cairo. After getting a hotel, one much nicer than the first, we visited the two temples there, Luxor and Karnak. We just walked around the outside of Luxor temple because it is small, but went in Karnak which was monolethic and breathtaking. It is amazing to think how much time, engery, money, and effort was put into building such a grand structure to gods that don't even exist. Talk about wasting your life. The next day we visited Valley of the Kings. We got to go inside three tombs, which dip down into the ground and are colorfully painted and carved. It was really hot and we would always come out dripping. Two people from our group got in trouble for taking pictures inside, I snapped two before I realized it was not allowed. Thankfully I did not have to go talk to the director like they did. We also went to Banana Island and were greatly overcharged...everything has to be bargained for here and it can be quite exhausting. Fortunately for us girls, the guys did all of the bargaining and purchasing. They took good care of us! That night my group joined up with another group going back to Cairo on another night train. The next morning we had a hard time getting a ride, but finally found two taxis to take us back over Sinai. While we were walking through the street I got splattered by some nasty red tomato paste like stuff...and got to stay that way for the drive across the desert sitting in a cramped hot taxi with 4 other people. I had my share of being sprayed and spattered while in Egypt! After the long drive across we made it to the border and crossed after being thoroughly questioned by the Israeli border patrol. Passover was still going on so Taxis were very expensive so we decided to walk to Elat from the border. We started after 10 p.m. and an hour and a half later thought it might have been a good idea to take the taxi. We had walked nearly six miles with our backpacks on. It was long and we were tired but most everyone was in a good mood and we had a good laugh. We got ourselves some icecream and found a hotel and went to bed. The next two days we spent in Elat relaxing on the beach, walking around the boardwalk, shopping, and drinking smoothies and eating different foods. It was nice to really relax and spend time with good friends.

Most of the people who went to Egypt had a great time, but will tell you they never want to go back. I would probably agree. I had so much fun with my group and don't regret it at all. Although it was hard, roughing it was exciting and created lots of good stories. We saw some amazing sites as well as experienced some bad ones, which makes us very thankful for the country we live in. We are all amazed at God's protection and how smoothly things went compared to how they could have gone. Overall it was lots of fun and I had a great time, and I didn't get the Nile Fever or the Plague or get sold for camels!

Here's just a glimpse of our trip. Enjoy!

Standing in front of the tomb of King Tut. I went into the tombs of three pharoahs but was not able to go into this one.

Daniel, Courtney, and I on our way to Luxor on the night train.

This is what was outside our scary hotel the first night. Needless to say...we did not sleep much.

The Nile River at sunset.

Heather and I at the Karnak Temple in Luxor.

Lily and I in front of the Sphinx and the Pyramids.

Court and I with the Pyramids of Cairo.