Pictures of Egypt

I finally got my pictures back from my recent holiday in Egypt. It turns out I took almost 250! Don't worry, though, I will only subject certain people to all of them. However, I would like to post a few of them here for those who might be interested.

(NOTE- you may click on any of the pictures to open them to fullsize)

The picture above, of course, is of me standing in front of some of the pyramids. To the right is a picture of me standing on the steps of the Great Pyramid, which is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. It was from this pyramid that I used my cell phone to send text messages to a few of my friends in America and Britain. It was a strange feeling really to be using such technology to communicate instantly with people all around the world while standing on stones that were erected 4565 years ago.


While on my two week holiday, I spent the first week on this Nile cruise boat. We sailed up the river, stopping at various ports and visiting ancient temples and tombs as well as other interesting sites. We also had the opportunity to see some of the local towns and meet a lot of interesting people.

The picture to the right is one of the many I took of the River Nile. I spent many peaceful hours on the deck of the boat reading books, writing in my journal, or just contemplating the beauty of God's creation.



Besides visiting a lot of tourist sites and meeting a lot of people, I also read a lot of books while I was there. One of the books I read was Death on the Nile, by Agatha Christie. Part of that book was written at the Old Cataract Hotel, which is pictured here. This hotel was featured both in the book and in the film which featured Peter Ustinov as the detective, Hercule Poirot. Feeling very much like a true tourist, I visited this hotel with the book in hand when the boat docked in the city of Aswan.

The picture below is one of the many ancient temples I visited:


It's amazing how well some of these places are preserved after thousands of years. In some places, as shown in the picture below, the original colours are even still present on the stones.





It was a real adventure! As I went through all these ancient temples, I felt like a true Indiana Jones. It was great! In the picture below I'm reading an ancient message written in heiroglyphics.


Actually, I don't have a clue what it says! All I know is it has something to do with some pharaoh.

Almost as difficult to understand as the writing on the wall, by the way, is that shirt! I'm not sure what I was thinking when I put that on. I guess it made me feel more like a tourist or something!


As interesting as the ancient culture was, however, I was also very interested in meeting the people of today. The row of shops in this picture is a typical row of local shops and reminds me in many ways of many of the villages I have known in central Africa.

When you leave the resorts and boats which are filled with tourists, you see a very different world than most of the tourists see. There is a lot of poverty in Egypt. It is not considered one of the poorest countries in the world, but still statistics say that 23 per-cent of the population were living in abject poverty in the 1980s and that the poverty rate has increased steadily since then. Most of the tourists I met did their best not to see this side of Egypt, but I made a point of going out where the people were to see for myself. What I saw, in many cases, was quite sad indeed.

On the positive side, however, the locals that I met were all gems. Though I did get hassled a lot in the tourist areas by people desperate to sell their wares, when I looked past the hassle I found genuine people with a genuine love of life.

The young man in the picture above is one of many that I enjoyed meeting. He took me and some new friends I'd made out on a felucca and showed us around a lovely little island in the middle of the Nile called Banana Island.

The island was small and consisted mostly of trees bearing bananas and other fruits, though there was one small shop which was obviously there for British tourists.






The picture to the left was taken on Banana Island with my new friends. They are a lovely family from England. The dad originally came from India, so we had some fascinating conversations about his home country, especially after they found out I'm hoping to go do some work in India next year.



The picture on the right was taken on the felucca. A felucca ride is a great way to enjoy the Nile as feluccas are small open sail boats that are small enough to sit very close to the water. As a matter of fact, they are so close to the water that I was able to reach down and put my hand in the Nile at one point as we were sailing.




The only difficulty with feluccas in Egypt is that there is often no wind at all, so when that happens they have to call a motorboat in to tow it. However, it is still a lovely way to relax out on the river, and it is a great place to be during a sunset!




The second week of my holiday was spent in a hotel in the town of Luxor. The picture to the right is the view from my hotel room. As the first week had been very busy with tours of temples, tombs and such, I took it easy for most of the second week. I read a lot of books, spent time with people, and just enjoyed being there.

I also got to visit some of the local restaurants and sample the Egyptian food. On the boat, we had mostly been given British food because most of the tourists were from Britain. Once I was on my own, however, I was able to eat what the locals eat, and the food was delicious! This picture taken in one of these restaurants on my last night there.


In the second week, the only truly busy day was on Saturday because that was when I took a day trip to Cairo. It was on that day, of course, that I visited the pyramids, and I also saw the Great Sphinx, which is 4,500 years old and is the oldest truly collosal royal statue in Egypt.






I also visited the Egyptian Museum, which is truly one of the most amazing museums in the world. It houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities anywhere, including the treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb and the mummies of many of the pharaohs, including the mummified body of Ramses II, whom many believe to have been the Pharaoh talked about in the story of Moses and the Exodus. It's a strange feeling to look at his distinct features, as you can almost visualise him as a living man even though he's been dead for over 3,200 years! I wasn't allowed to take any pictures at the museum, but I carry pictures in my head that I am sure to remember for many years to come!

I also got to go inside one of the pyramids! It was an amazing experience. The path inside was so small that I had to bend over the whole way, and though I had never suffered from claustrophobia before, as I crawled deep into this ancient structure with hundreds of people crawling through the same tunnel in front and behind me, my heart raced so fast that I could almost visualise it jumping through my chest. Though it was great to have had the experience of being inside the pyramid, it was even greater to get out!

In the picture on the right I am in typical Egyptian dress. I kept this outfit and wore it to preach at the local church here in Kirkintilloch when I got home. I don't know if anybody remembers what I preached about that day, but I doubt if they'll soon forget what I wore!

I truly had a great holiday in Egypt! I got a lot of rest, met a lot of good people, and had amazing experiences. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, and I hope one day to return!