Saturday, February 5, 2011

Finally Home!

We enjoyed our brief stay in London but were glad to load our plane for home early afternoon on Friday.  We both watched several movies during our 10 1/2 hour flight and got a little shuteye. The sun followed us the whole way home.  We left at around 2:30 pm and arrived in San Francisco around 5:00 pm the same day due to the 8 hour time difference.  We had our car at a park and fly airport hotel so we spent the night.  After a good night’s sleep, we hit the road this morning, arriving in Modesto around 10:45.  All is well here, so now we have the chore of unpacking, laundry, and getting life back to normal after the jet lag subsides.

Cairo Airport ~ Monday, Jan. 31, 2011

I wasn’t able to get this video of the airport uploaded while we were traveling.  We were in this crowd for about 10 hours.  We were so lucky we got out the same day and are so thankful for all Hani did to make it happen. 

It is probably too soon to look back on the trip and say what were the highlights, but some things I will always remember include:

  • Staying with Dennis and Tommy.  They were such wonderful hosts.
  • Traveling with Anne and Mary Kay.  We all were very compatible travel partners and had many laughs together.  Bonnie and I will be ever so grateful for their strength and determination in getting our luggage out of Cairo. 
  • Our guide Ahmed in Cairo, Mina on the Nile cruise, plus Basil and our  driver Hani in Jordan. 
  • The staff and fun fellow travelers on our wonderful Nile Cruise.  The small boat was such fun and meant for lots of personal attention.
  • Seeing the pyramids at Giza for the first time.
  • Philae Temple near Aswan.  We were treated to the island at night for the sound and light show, plus a visit during the day.
  • Petra… the natural beauty of the siq and the manmade monuments were really something.

We feel so fortunate we made this trip when we did.  We managed to see everything in Cairo and on the Nile cruise that we had hoped for.  We were able to make it to Jordan so that we could visit Petra.

Omar planned a wonderful trip for us.  We were treated like royalty the entire time.  Below is a link to his website in case you are wanting to plan a trip where you truly travel in style: http://www.travelinstyle.com

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Day 19 ~ Amman to London

We stayed up until 1:00 am last night securing reservations near the Heathrow Airport for tonight.  Our flight out of Amman went without a hitch but was long, nearly 5 hours. 

We have certainly been spoiled by our travel arrangements on this trip.  Every time we arrived at an airport we had someone waiting to help us with our luggage and whisk us away to our hotel.  Today we had to collect our luggage, get to British Airways to secure our flight tomorrow, then figure out how to get ourselves to our hotel. We finally loaded an airport shuttle bus and arrived at our Holiday Inn Express around 5:00 pm.  We will just lay low this evening, eat at the hotel, and should be headed home on our 2:30 pm flight tomorrow.  We feel so fortunate that things have gone so well for us this entire trip. 

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Day 18 ~ Petra to Amman

Today we made our way back to Amman, this time in the day light. We made a few tour stops along the way. Most importantly we will leave Amman tomorrow morning for London where we will spend the night. We will then be able to keep our reserved flight from London to San Francisco.  Things only seem to deteriorate in Cairo, so we are ever so grateful to be able to fly out of Amman rather than return to Cairo.

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This is a view of a valley Moses walked through from the top of Mount Nebu, Memorial of Moses.  The bible says that Moses climbed this mountain at the end of his life to see the promised land.

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This is the view of the Dead Sea from the opposite side of the mountain top.  The church at Mount Nebo was closed for a major restoration. 

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This area is know for old (6th century AD) mosaics as well as new.  We stopped at a shop where artisans create handmade mosaics.  

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We also visited St George Greek Orthodox Church. On the floor of the church is this 6th century mosaic map of the Middle East.  This is just a small portion of the map.

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Not only are we staying at one of the most luxurious hotels I have ever been in (the Landmark), but we are treated to dinner at one of the best restaurants in Amman.  We thoroughly enjoyed or driver, Hani, and our guide, Basel, throughout our time in Jordan.

Day 17 ~ Petra

We absolutely loved our day in Petra.
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Here we are as we enter the siq (gorge) at Petra. The rain did not deter us. I always feel like I am in a balloon when I wear my poncho, but it works very well keeping me dry. 
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This is the canal the people of Petra constructed along the siq to transport water. Bonnie is bundled up in the background.
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The first view of the Treasury is breath taking.  The first people created the caves and buildings along the siq for burial purposes. The Romans came later and repurposed many of the structures.
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I feel so fortunate that my knee has managed to carry me through all the ruins of Egypt and now the siq of Petra.  I decided to give it a break and ride a donkey from the end to the Treasury, plus and donkey ride sounded fun.
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Bonnie and I then rode the carriage from the Treasury to the entrance.
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So what does a tired camel do at the end of a long day?  Rests his head on a rock, of course!
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Our hotel, Taybet Zaman, is really cool. It is located on a hilltop with views of the surrounding mountains. No single picture can do it justice.  We meandered through the many passageways of shops, residences, lobby and restaurant. Originally this was a small village 300 years ago.
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In the evening we went to the Petra Kitchen where we helped cook our Jordanian dinner. We got recipes, so we hope try our hand at preparing a Jordanian meal when we get home.