16 April 2001 - Day 4 - Cairo, Egypt We did absolutely NOTHING productive on this day and decided to just relax in the hotel all day, hang out by the pool, dangle our feet in the water, and sit out in the garden enjoying a day off. In the afternoon we transferred to the Oasis Hotel located in Giza about 3 km from the pyramids, which was the accommodation provided us as part of our packaged tour that officially began on the 17th. I kept joking with Aungela that the Oasis Hotel should have been named the Scare-asis Hotel and that we were now entering the ghetto-phase of our trip after having spent four days in the lap of luxury at the Marriott. The Oasis Hotel was more of a collection of bungalows than it was a proper hotel, and once we got settled into our second room (the first room was apparently a tobacco burning center at some time in the not-too-distant past), the hotel started growing on us - kind of like mold. The hotel complex was really only occupied by Egyptians and other Arabs so it was interesting to hang out with this largely mono-ethnic group as opposed to the international/global clientele of the Marriott. International scenes are fun, but so too are mono-ethnic ones, and the change was welcomed. That evening we walked 3 km along a backwoods highway (back desert highway?) out toward the pyramids - just to see them from afar - where we then ate at the neighboring Movenpick Hotel restaurant and pretended we were staying in a *real* hotel. :-) The walk out to the Movenpick Hotel was fun because all the local Egyptians drove by honking their horns, waving, and staring at Aungela and me who were holding hands the whole time and waving back! All along the elevated highway-sidewalk (i.e., pavement-walk) there were these curb-drops and dirt roads intersecting with the highway and over each one I gave Aungela a piggy-back ride so she wouldn't have to get her feet all dirty since she was wearing cute little sandals. I gave her a piggy-back ride over one of the dirt roads where there was this big group of younger-ish Egyptian women on the other side and they all smiled and waved as Aungela jumped up on my back and I carried her through the intersection. It was funny. Maybe they thought we were crazy? Or maybe they thought, "Now, that's how a man should treat a woman!" In any case, it was fun just walking around seeing the local Egyptian people going about their business and being so friendly! 17 April 2001 - Day 5 - The Egyptian Museum in Cairo We woke up around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday and slowly got ready for the day. We took turns in the going in and out of the bathroom, sat on the bed watching CNN International, and chitchatted for a while then went down to the Oasis buffet for breakfast where we sat for about half an hour and peoplewatched to see who was staying in the bungalows with us. Promptly at 9 a.m. we were greeted by our tourguide Hebba - a young Egyptian Christian woman (maybe age 23?) who had studied English and history at the University of Cairo and was now working as a tourguide for Saqqara Tours (the local operator for Cloud Tours, the company Aungela and I booked with in the USA). As it turned out, apparently Akhmed (the man who greeted me at the airport), the driver of the blue car with the sticker "I Love You" on the back breaklight, and Hebba were all working together for the same company because the driver with the blue Mazda was standing beside Hebba when she and Akhmed met us in the Oasis lobby. Akhmed set Aungela and me up with our tour-confirmation receipts for the rest of our journey to southern Egypt beginning the next day and gave us our itinerary for the day and introduced us to Hebba. Since we had a busy day ahead of us, we didn't spend too much time with idle chat in the lobby and were in the back of the blue Mazda before we knew it. Once in the back of the car we raced back up the Shari al-Haram thoroughfare (Road of the Pyramids) and sped back into downtown Cairo to stop at our first attraction for the day: the Egyptian Museum. (The second half of the day would be spent at the Giza Pyramids which you can visit by clicking HERE!) When Aungela and I first got into the car and were driving into downtown, I was slightly annoyed all of a sudden by the fact that we were touring as a single group and not with a larger tourbus type outfit. Originally I had wanted to be with a large group since I figured it would just be easier to hop on and off an airconditioned bus and that it would be a bit more leisurely than driving around in a mostly un-airconditioned car and zooming around Cairo all day long. Also, I thought it would have been fun to meet other people as part of a group tour, but apparently that wasn't our destiny for this leg of the trip at least.

So anyways, we headed up to the Egyptian Museum and were there within half an hour from departing our hotel. That was good for us and Hebba because as it turns out she has motion sickness and also gets nauseated by all the automobile pollution on the roadways (which is horrible in Egypt). So as we were driving up the expressway into downtown Aungela and I were having some random conversation in the back seat when Hebba suddenly rolls down the window, grabs a couple Kleenex out from a box resting on the dashboard of the car and BARFS into her hand!!! I didn't really notice at first and then was like, "Aungela, do you smell that strange odor?" then we heard Hebba dry-heaving into her tissues again and were like, "Oh, Hebba must be sick. Hmm." Aungela and I quietly conferred back and forth about the possibility of her being pregnant, but Hebba assured us it was the airpollution outside coupled with the motion of the car. Whatever the case, I'm sure she felt really bad trying to earn a living as a tourguide while she's sitting up front vomiting out her guts while her clients are squirming in the back seat seemingly not knowing what to do. So, me being the understanding-socially-understanding-young-liberal that I am (who believes in universal health care for all humans, copious amounts of maternity/paternity leave from work for parents, yadda yadda. . . ) I leaned up to Hebba and said, "You know Hebba, we all get sick. It's a part of being human, so don't worry about it." "I'm so sorry about this," she said, "but it happens whenever the pollution gets really bad. Again, I'm sorry." "Really, don't worry about it. Today is your day to be sick, and someday again it'll be my day. It happens to the best of us."

Above and below: some of the treasured contained therein. I shall annotate when I can remember what's what! :-) Above left: King Mycerinus between Goddess Hathor and the Goddess of a province (Giza Dynasty, 2700 B.C.) Above right: Dwarf Seneb with his family (Old Kingdom, 2700-2200 B.C.) Above: Part of painted limestone stela of Amenemhet (Abydos Dynasty, Middle Kingdom 2040 B.C.)   Above left: alabaster canopic chest on gilded sled for King Tutankhamun (King Tut 1350 B.C., New Empire 18th Dynasty 1552-1069 B.C.) The chest is actually composed for four jars which were used to store the organs of the King after death, found in King Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor fully intact by H. Carter in 1922. Above right: King Tutankhamun's golden throne. Above left: head of a funeral couch for King Tutankhamun; the goddess Thoueris in the form of a hippopotamus. Above right: unguent jar (slave jar) of the royal couple, with flower garlands. The following is a brief rundown of ancient Egyptian history as found in my Egyptian Museum - Cairo book ($15), copyright 1980, 5th Edition, Kurt and Edouard Lambelet, ISBN 977-243-004-5.

The Old Empire: 2700 - 2190 B.C. This period was preceded by various civilizations, the 1st to 3rd Dynasties. They left behind them dark-red fired and polished clay vessels decorated with white paintings of subjects from and animal world and, later, bright-red fired clay vessels with red paintings of ships and, at the same time, they left the rock pictures in Wadi Hammamaat. The palettes decorated in relief, votive offerings of the kings, date from the year 3000 B.C., and the invention of hieroglyphs and the beginnings of "the ordered reproductions in relief according to established proportions", can also be dated to this period. Stone vessels and handicrafts achieved a magnificent golden age even before the beginning of the Old Empire. The following structures were built during The Old Empire: the step pyramid at Saqqara, the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza. Also, the first papyrus texts were found during this period. The Middle Empire: 2040 - 1785 B.C. At the end of the 6th Dynasty, after internal confusion had led to the disintegration of the State and the intellectual world of the Old Empire, King Mentuhetep II, who introduced the Middle Empire, brought about the reunion of the whole of Egypt and the renaissance of Egyptian art. In the valley of Der al-Bahri, royal burial grounds were laid out and the pyramids near Dahshuur, together with a new residence in the vicinity of the Fayuum, were constructed. Sculpture and the goldsmith's art reached their zenith; under the dominion of King Amenemhet III, the art of portraiture achieved excellence. Built during this era were the pyramids at Dahshuur and Hawara as well as the Tomb at Thebes. Horses and chariots were introduced toward the end of this era. This period contained the 6th through 12th Dynasties. The New Empire: 1552 - 1069 B.C. Once again the unity of the country disintegrated and the Hyksos, a foreign Asiatic people, assumed dominion in Lower and Middle Egypt, the duration of which exceeded 100 years, until the princely dynasties residing in Thebes threw off the foreign yoke. The New Empire is often described as the "Era of World Power". Egypt extended eastward right up to the River Euphrates (modern day Iraq) and south to Nubia (modern day Sudan). A lively building activity began once more to develop and not only temples, rock tombs and obelisks date from this time, but, more important, also royal and private graves richly decorated with wall-paintings. Queen Hatshepsut built a terrace-temple at Der al-Bahri, which gave new impulse and a new direction to art in general often described as "ageless". The Rameses, who later administered the country, distinguished themselves by their numerous buildings between Abu Simbel (in the far south) and the Eastern Delta, while the Ptolemaic era followed after the incorporation of Egypt into the world empire of Alexander the Great. Most burial grounds had already been plundered by this era, but the tomb of King Tutankhamon had been found completely intact and gives an idea of the pomp and splendor of the funeral sites of this time. This period contained the 18th to 20th Dynasties. The Late Period: 1069 - 332 B.C. Notable events/constructions of this era: Tomb at Tanis, Seizure of Jerusalem, Circumnavigation of Africa, and completion of a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. This era contained the 21st through the 30th Dynasty - the last Egyptian dynasty. Ptolemaic Period: 332 - 30 B.C. Foundation of Alexandria with the Pharos Lighthouse. Temple of Edfu and Philae were built, and this era was ruled by Alexander, Ptolemy, and Cleopatra. Roman Period: 30 B.C. - 395 A.D. Persecution of Christians and foundation of monasteries. Coptic Christianity develops. Byzantine Period: 395 to 651 A.D. 452 A.D., the last ancient texts found in Demotic at Philae. Arab Period: 651 A.D. to present Amr Ibn al-Aas leads the Arab conquest of Egypt [thereby introducing the Islamic religion which reigns up to the present day].

Got it? :-) And below: the King Tutankhamun room. Admission 20 pounds / $5. To see the true gems of the Egyptian Museum, you need to pay an extra fee to get into these specially partitioned chambers packed elbow to elbow with tourists all clambering to see the priceless treasures of The New Kingdom. Aungela and I gladly forked out the extra 20 Egyptian pounds to see one of the greatest ancient treasures of human civilization: the golden funerary mask of King Tutankhamun (18th Dynasty). Above left: frontal view of the King Tutankhamun funerary mask. Above right: the never shown rear view of the King Tutankhamun funerary mask with its gorgeous hieroglyphs etched into solid gold. Above: King Tutankhamun's richly decorated gold coffin. Above: solid gold jewelry found inside the Tomb of King Tutankhamun. We roamed around the King Tutankhamun Room for about 20 minutes snapping up pictures and watching as Japanese tourists got busted by the security officers for photographing the golden funerary mask with their camera flashes on. "Gomen-nasai!!!" ("Sorry!!!") they squealed as security screamed at them in Arabic. Once we had our fix of staring at a gazillion dollars worth of gold, we met up with Hebba outside in one of the main corridors of the museum and walked over to the Mummy Room for a leisurely stroll through a dimly lit chamber of death. As to be expected, we had to pay an additional fee of 40 Egyptian pounds ($12) to view the mummies of ancient Egypt. But we didn't complain. After all, it's only $12, and if the museum needs the extra $$$ for the upkeep of all these amazing treasures, I'm more than happy to pay to preserve history. As you walk into the Mummy Room, which is accessible via a 20 meter/yard sealed glass chamber, there's a big sign beside the narrow entrance door that says "ABSOLUTELY NO PHOTOGRAPHY!" and when I read it I was kind of bummed at the prospect of not being able to take any interesting pictures of the 4,000 year old dead rulers of ancient Egypt. But to my delight, I quickly came to find out that just like everywhere else in Egypt, people are totally corrupt and willing to make an extra buck off you anyway they can. So as I walked into the Mummy Room - a darkened chamber filled with rectangular glass boxes containing the mummies - one of the security guys dressed in a white uniform and blue hat slides up beside me and starts pinching me in the arm, right beside where my camera was hanging off my shoulder. "Ok, this is bizarre." I thought. "Some random Egyptian security man is pinching me in the arm. Maybe if I ignore him he'll just go away. In the mean time, I'll just hold my camera all that much tighter." Well, Mr. Security didn't go away and as I continued to walk on he "bumped" into me again which this time didn't seem too terribly coincidental. "Hmm. Maybe he likes me??? I mean, you just never know these days." So I figured I'd ignore him, again, and hope that he'd go away. Well, after bump number three I looked at him with this quizzical look on my face as if to say, "Yes, may I help you?" Then he suddenly rubs his fingers back and forth (the international sign for money) and says, "20 pounds, pictures OK. 20 pounds, pictures OK." And I was like, "What?!?" and he repeated, "20 pounds, pictures OK." So I stood there for a millisecond and wrestled with the moral dilemma in my mind of paying this guy off and taking a couple pictures of the mummies: "Is corruption bad? Yes. Well, as defined by my culture and my mind. But as it stands I am currently in a foreign country being subjected to foreign and alien codes of conduct, and apparently in this culture it's totally acceptable to pay a fee in exchange for "privileged service". If it weren't, all these Egyptian workers everywhere I go wouldn't be offering this "privileged service" to me left and right. And since the tenants of multi-culturalism demand that I respect all cultures equally and abide by their rules when I am within their boarders, it is clear that the only right thing to do in this case is to do as the Egyptians do: give the man 20 pounds and photograph these mummies like a fiend!!!" Moral crisis resolved. And you can see the fruits of this cross-cultural exchange below! Above left: mummy in a blanket. Above right: box o' mummy. Above: Mummy of King Seti I, 19th Dynasty of Thebes - around 1200 B.C. Above: I'm not sure the name of this mummy, or most of the mummies here actually because I was too busy trying to be sly with my camera to read and remember their name plaques! Above left: interesting head shot. Above right: this is a creepy shot that actually turned out nearly jet black when I uploaded it into my computer but totally came to life when I ran it through Photoshop, brightened it and reversed some of the color values. Check out that eery smile and the tiny hand propped up on his shoulder. Freaky, eh? As I was walking around and looking at all these mummies I couldn't help but think, "You know, what a horrible destiny for these people: they were once the great divine rulers of one of the world's greatest civilizations and after they sat in their pyramids and tombs for thousands of years, along come these infidels who unbury them, zap 'em with with X-rays, study their genetic make up, and then put them on display for the entire peasantry of Planet Earth to view. If I were any one of these mummies and were aware of what was going on here, I'd be really bitter! I'd feel like saying, "I was the ruler of Egypt damn it! The direct descendant of the Sun God Ra. Now away with you all before I curse each and every last one of ye!" Scorecard: Cremation 1 - Burial 0. We finished our very interesting tour of the Mummy Room in about 10 minutes and met Hebba outside in the hallway where she was waiting for us. We descended a big set of steps and noticed this nice group of Egyptian art students doing some sketchings of several busts located in the museum. I was happy to see these Egyptians publicly interested in the arts since public displays of art are largely illegal in Saudi Arabia (especially in Riyadh where allegedly they are said to interrupt one's obligatory single-minded devotion to the worship of God - which also explains why movie theaters, music and all other forms of entertainment are publicly banned in Saudi Arabia as well). Just after I took this picture and was in the midst of admiring the more liberally minded Egyptians, Aungela leaned over to me and asked, "Daniel, have you seen the sun hat I came into the museum with and had hanging off me when we entered the Mummy Room?" "No, I haven't seen it, but maybe we can go back into the Mummy Room and look for it?" So we asked Hebba to escort us back to the Mummy Room, where only Aungela was allowed to enter, but after several minutes of searching, the hat was nowhere to be found! It seems that the mummies swiped it right off from around Aungela's neck and sucked it straight into their wicked netherworld never to be seen again! Aungela was understandably somewhat unhappy with this supernatural theft since it really was quite a nice sun hat, but she admitted defeat and accepted that she'd have to leave the Egyptian Museum with one of her belongings floating around somewhere in the Mummy Room for eternity. Scorecard: The Mummies 1 - Aungela and Daniel 0 After our trip to the Egyptian Museum, we drove down to Giza for our Part II visit of the pyramids where I subsequently banged my head on the inside ceiling of the pitch black Mykerinus pyramid, and then later that evening returned to our hotel where I started to notice an infectious tingle in the back of my throat. . . Scorecard: The Mummies 3 - Aungela and Daniel 0 Next trip: our flight to the southern city of Aswan where we were scheduled to begin our tour of the great Nile River! Next: Aswan Back: Alexandria Egypt Tour 2001 Links / Daniel's Links Megasite