Egypt - Land of the Pharaohs

** All photos courtesy of Miss Rachel Sondergaard**

We found some lovely (economical) flights from Geneva to Sharm El Sheikh on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. We took the train bright and early and made the 3 hour trek to the Geneva airport arriving just in time for our 1200 departure.

Arriving in Sharm we made a connecting flight to Cairo where we were picked up by our hostel (all 15 of us) and also met by the train ticket man (we were planning an overnight train ride from cairo to luxor ).

The van ride back to the hostel was mesmerizing. I seemed that the city didn't sleep. not that it was THAt late or anything, but there was certainly a fair amount of bustling going on. The hostel was on the third and forth floors of a somewhat abandoned building. The staff were really great and directed us to a delicious eating house that was open till 4am. Apparently Egyptians tend to indulge in late dinners. Getting to the eating house was a little sketchy. the trick is always look like you know where you are going and if that fails don't stop walking. haha. but we found it a sketchy alley or two later and it was well worth it.

This is a view from our hostel window the next morning before we headed out on our Giza tour. The smog made it seem like we were looking at everything through a glass of watered down milk, but it was so very warm and nonetheless beautiful.

The Giza Necropolis. Situated right in cairo and extremely dirty (it seems they have a bit of a garbage problem in egypt in general) it was a be startling. This landmark, sustenance for for every childs imagination, the location of untold mysteries, movies, books and legends seemed to have it's own little cage of sand dunes (which did get cleaner the closer you got to the pyramids). It was very surreal. We got sort of coerced into taking a camel ride through instead of the usual tourist paths and it really was a good idea. The tourists, we saw later were corralled together and from a distance seemed to be doing strange (and colorful) dances of who can get what pictures without "that guy in the background", ect. very interesting. See bellow....

The camels are not the most graceful or creatures, but the whole adventure was was informative and awesome. Some people also rode horses. I'm sad (but not particularly surprised) to say that these camels especially did not seem to be treated particularly well...

Some of the camels in question. These ones were all tied toghether in a disgruntled chain of tourist bearing, long legged fury but later on in the week we rode some and got to hold their "bridle" almost like we were real camel riders of old (and new.....but real!).

That first day we saw the pyramids of Giza, the stepped pyramid of Saqqara and the Dahshur pyramids.

At Dahshur, one of the two was a " bent" or "false" pyramid because the ancients began building with a very steep angle and about halfway up realised it just wasn't going to work, they were finding things like cracks in the foundation, so they changed the angle and that is why it has such a strange shape. Below is the red pyramid at Dahshur. It is believed to be the first successful completion of the smooth sided pyramid and was the tallest man made structure in existence at it's completion.It currently stands at 104m. In the center about a thrid of the way up you can see the stairs ascend to a passageway 3' high and 4'wide that leads the curious down a 68m tunnel. I was kind of terrified. but when else would i be in a pyramid? the passage had a 27degree slope also. many of us complained of sore thighs and butt the next day from this little jaunt.

Here is the vaulted ceiling of one of the three main chambers at the end of the passageway. all in all there wasn't a whole lot to see but the smell was intriguing...

Our last stop on the tour was Memphis, the ancient capital of lower egypt. It now houses all sorts of statues remanicsent of it's past glory. Bellow is a gigantic statue of Ramses II. Said to have fathered more then 150 children with his harem of wives. He was by all accounts a forced to be reconed with. The second largest sphinx in the world , after the one standing guard at the Giza pyramids was also located here.

After our tour we split into factions to find food. One thing to note if anyone is going to Cairo is that you can cross a street anytime, no matter the traffic or lights. It is real life frogger but with a little more to lose. We dodged are way to our first glimpse of the Nile and were met by party boat bloc. The neon lights were flashing and music was blasting but once you boarded one of these boats you mostly just sat down on one of the seats and waited for your nile tour. all the makings for a party but we only saw one boats worth of dancing......

The next day we made a bee-line for the market. It was great. i love the markets. especially when you wind your way back into the little alleyways catering less to the tourists. You have to watch single file and keep your eyes open for for the market stall owners moving there merchandise from one place to another in huge nondescript sacs.

In the afternoon we made our way to the Cairo Museum, two floors wonders. Learned all about mummifying animals and people, there art and sport and funerary atiquities were everywhere. The most entertaining room was probably the one containing the statues from the time when the romans were in the picture. a most valiant attempt but some things are just not meant to be. Also the Mask of Tutankhamun and all his other treasure are on display. the mask of gold weighs ~10kg.

Night train to luxor went smooth. not much sleep but we made it there safe and sound and EARLY! we arrived at the hostelat 5-5:30 and checked in.It was called the bob marley hostel ad they wern't joking! The owner was great. we got booking into a valley of the kings tour for that very day and he made us up a traditional egyptian breakfast (sorta) of bread and fallafels, fruit, yogurt and bean dip. At this point only a couple of us were feeling adverse effects from eating all the delicious food. We all tried to stay away form the water but sometimes you can't help it. This is a view from the rroftop patio at the hostel. There was even a family of (mildly skittish) cats to share it with us!

Valley of the kings was not as enormous as i had pictured. there were no cameras allowed so we don't have any documentation but i believe we got to enter the tombs of Ramses I, III and the 9th. It is truly incredible that such beautiful things could last so very long. Apparently some of the first graffiti found was by a scribe in the Saqqara step pyramid in 1232 BC...

This is Djeser-Djeseru the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut one of the most successful female pharaohs.

The luxor temple.

Karnak temple.

Our sunset nile cruise. it was complete with the noticeably egyptian sails dotting the river and a stop at banana island to see the one remaining crocodile (caged) and indulge in some of fresh bananas. Here a jumble of masts on the river before we set out.

banana island docking point. quite official really.

That night we took a flight back to sharm to enjoy our last three days of sun and surf. We started by doing a camel ride into into RAs Abu Gallum national park where we ate lunch at a bedouin camp and scubaed waters with underwater life and color to rival the great barrier reef.Below is the our transportation waiting at the foot of the coastal trail into the park.

The Bedouin camp in the distance.

The final night we gave up sleeping for a midnight hike (1am start) up to the top of mount sinai where we rented matresses and blankets and bundeled up toghether to watch the sunrise on a peak long known as a pilgrimage destination. Unfortunately for us many of us were suffering more seriously due to poor eating choices at this point but the path was well equiped with at least rudimentary facilities. the sunrise was just as glorious as it should have been. The sun immediately warming the alledged -4 to something a little more balmy and were were stripping off the layers as we progrssed back down the mountain.


At the base is St. Katherines monastery, location of a cutting of the burning bush. Bellow the bush is a brick wall and in all the little crevices, small tattered notes have been pushed into the mortar. secret thought? prayers? a very mysterious and tantalizing potential for breach of privacy.

Go. It was great.

** All photos courtesy of Miss Rachel Sondergaard**

Eire - I love

Well there we were, 12 excited canadians, three (very) small vehicles and a whole weekend of open roads...
So i admit there was a couple rough spots driving-wise. christmas was the last time i was behind the wheel, that coupled with manual drive and a strong left side focus made for a slightly adrenaline fueled and yet strangely numbing 3 hours to Galway. I'm sorry to say we lost light pretty fast so there wasn't a whole lot to see on the way. luckily we had purchased four walkie talkies to "improve caravan cohesion". it was a good idea right? actually they were very helpful once we got the hang of the whole three car one entity situation.
i only got honked at once that night (and during the whole weekend) in a roundabout. it could have been worse....

We arrived in galway and due to the superior location of our hostel found ourselves on the busiest square in the city trying to navigate the strange looping traffic. Eyre Square to be specific. I'n my flustered state i drove down what i thought was a two way street but was promptly told that it wasn't. I subsequently caused a big ruckus getting turned around only to realise that it was in fact a two way street and i was just being ridiculous.... But it's ok, we found an out of the way car park and then walked the ~7 minutes back to the hostel.



This is Eyre Square. Not all that imposing but apparently a town center. Below is our cute little hostel. It sat right above Fox's Bar and the double windows, which was the common room, looked right out onto the square. Friday night we headed down to the Fox's bar for several pints of guiness and (at least at first) an excellent selection of musical entertainment.

Saturdays drive was from Galway to Doolin (a tiny little town, population 500). The roads were narrrrrrow and windy and absolutely the quaintest means of transportation i have ever seen. Using the walkie talkies we arranged several picture pull-offs, just to wallow in the myriad of quintessential irish landscapes.
Our

On the side of the road, our first stop of the morning we found an old manor house type thing. The field ar crisscrossed with beautiful old stone fences made sans mortar. They don't have gates so instead there is a "corner stone" type of thing where the wall can be easily disassembled, livestock move through, and then put back together. The wall pictured above is obviously not of the disassembling type.

The caravan and a stretch of lonely road.

We were so excited to be there.


Luke DAve and Bianca.
Stop number two of the morning came when we stumbled across a castle. It was quite literally on the side of the road and surrounded by shallow shallow water. It seemed the sea actually reached all the way inland to where we were (the coast is very jagged and meandering). There was seaweed and creatures to explore!

Rachel and castle.

The inlets charming coastline.


If you look closely you can spot two elusive photographers in their natural habitat.


K so back story. Coming back from Poland the previous week, Celia sprained her ankle and had to employ crutches to get around in Ireland. We actually did quite a bit of walking and she didn't complain once! Anyway, the presence of crutches and wheelchairs in these pictures is not due to widespread injury......
Celia and Pat looking cheery.

We made a point to stop at the Burren on our way through. The Burren is a karst-landscape which wikipedia tells me means it was shaped by the dissolution of soluble bedrock. The area is rife with megalithic-tombs, portal dolmens and ring forts. We didn't see any ruins that we recognized, but the landscape was none-the-less beautiful in the stark rugged way that comes through in the grays and blues. Incidentally the burren apparently has quite a history of traditional music, particularly a music festival in Doolin that just happened to occur while we were there. We must have a horseshoe up our collective a***.

Here the rolling hills are cleaved by the afore mention stone fences. The one in the foreground is made of larger than normal stones but....... The burren in the background towers lazily over the surrounding landscape adding a streak of wild to the otherwise well-inhabited lands.

I really like this picture.

and cows.....

and an irishman. so in his element he even dressed to match the landscape.

careful, you never know when you might accidentally drive off the end of a pier. This is when we first spotted legitimate ocean and couldn't pass up the opportunity to greet lady atlantic from her eastern side.

This swan was not impressed to have a curious canadian all up in his grill. i'm not sure who won the contest of wills but it was an exciting match.

i asked them to pose. what a nice family photo.....


consensus was, stairs probably far to slippery for everyone to make it down and then up without incurring harm unto their person. particularly when equipped with crutches.

Chris and Bruce, men of shadow and mystery.

My shoes! and a seashell.

The burren eventually meets the sea, resulting in crags to explore and tide pools brimming curiosities. This was also the most beautiful road! As stunning as the Sardinian coastline but in a less presumptuous way.

That some soluble bedrock right there!


And bianca demonstrating a leprechaunese salutation. is also sometimes used to show happiness or to celebrate a particularly mischievous achievement.

A proper stone fence running right out to sea. I didn't include any cow pictures, but there were cows.



The caravan. celia and pat staying warm. the wind was a bit whipping, if you understand my meaning.

Rainbow hostel in Doolin! It was incredibly laid back. ran by a family who had a bed and breakfast next door. they had an open door policy (literally) which made the common room quite chilly, but there is something so pleasant about a freely given implicit trust that i would not have complained if they left the door open all night.

Mainstreet Doolin. particularly good reception on the bridge? the italian restaurant in the background was TERRIBLE. probably the worst italian restaurant in doolin! we got takeaway from there because the pubs were fairly full. there was a very important rugby game going on so we didn't want to get in the way...

We did got to one of the pubs for lunch however. was great! tried a couple more types of beer and had a grand time.

In the afternoon we headed up to the cliffs of moher. about a 15 minutes drive.

Pat and celia had come to some sort of compromise.

Here O'Brien's tower peaking over the hill.

Rachel, warm and stylish!

Another family shot. nothing like the addition of a blue abyss!

The cliffs. of course this doesn't really do them justice. Gigantic sentinels posted to watch the seas eternally.



Bianca.

Dave, probably contemplating?

I'm not sure what this one is called but it is on the other side of O'Briens tower and is also quite large.

O Briens tower.

Some good old lunging man love.









Don't step on the fire in view of birds. never know what they might think. Ha no but really this was apparently a bird sanctuary. we didn't see any puffins but they were there somewhere.....

frolicking sheeps.

Luke's big fat eyeball.

highfive.

this was a pseudo accident but lots of emotion on those faces....

Strolling around Doolin. bianca is making sure chris' lens is clean. i beleive the answer was affirmative.

bathtub+old church = perfect

group photo

old church and celtic crosses.
the man who ran the hostel actually got out his projector and a screen and showed us some of his own photos. gave us a bit of a picture tour, as it were. it was really quite informative. He told us about the potato famine, that the population of ireland dropped by ~25%, half of those deaths and the other half emigration. Also County Clare, the west coast, apparently has some pretty good surfing....

celtic crosses

That night he headed to the pubs to enjoy the live music and overall atmosphere of the world renown "irish pub". everyone was there. the young(very young) and they old, ladies and gentlemen. you could wear whatever you wanted and everyone seemed boisterously joyful.
sunday's breakfast was a ham egg onion mushroom and blood pudding sandwich that we found fresh to in in a supermarket of all places. very tasty. a long lasting breakfast for certain.

Chris photobomb

Chernobyl? i havn't looke dit up but i assume it's not what i think it is. oh i'm wrong. it seems that it was established to help children and families following the Chernobyle reactor explosion. very interesting.

canadian speedskating team on the left

the gang

Bunratty castle and folk park. i didn't realise it was going to be quite so touristy but it was still really very interesting.

too small!

sheep.

can't remember his name for the life of me.... angus maybe? anyway he gave us a very enthusiastic (and complementary) tour of the castle!

The great hall. sorry about the terrible picture quality, these are for documentation purposes only. the mounted antlers ar giant irish deer. look them up they were gigantic!

all the stairs were built to turn clockwise when ascending. this inhibited attacker coming up the stairs from being able to use the sword, ther simply wasn't room to swing in the direction.

a peep hole, normally covered by a tapestry or something and useful for keeping tabs on all the dinner gossip.

A sheila! or Sheela na Gig in Gaelic. the following description may be a little too in depth.... they are carvings of naked women exposing their over exagerated vulva. apparently wards off evil spirits but the guide told us not to touch! it's also a symbol of fertility....

from the top of the castle...


yea!



my favotie room i think. everything in that palce was soo small. we had to fold luke up and carry him up the stairs! (just joking luke)

the dungeon! head down the stairs.... and then fall straight down to meters onto a bed of dirty straw! how homey.

the wheelchair! facilitate folk park exploration for celia. found other uses.

Arn't they just the cutest!

big rooster was real mad at little rooster..

pig! i tried to communicate with him briefly but i must have been speaking gibberish because after the first few grunts he completely ignored me.



We drove through Limerick on the way back to Dublin. no pictures unfortunately but quite beautiful!
Dublin!
so we're walking to our hostel an don route the group of us appeared to have been large enough to insight interest followed by chanting from a group of "machine "fucking" head" fans waiting for their show. i had to document! luckily this monster truck pulled up. calming the fans with numerous energy drinks (?).


City hall!

Ours was the oK hostel up on the right. We went out for some delicious pub-ish food. i couldn't decide what i wanted and ended up with goats cheese salad, mussels and chowder. sumptuous. we then purchased beer (or in my case cheese cake) and headed back to the hostel to watch tat nail-biting mens hockey final. took ten years off my life.

Seahorses and they early morning sun along the river. We got up REALLY early to be able to do a bit of a tour before we headed back to the airport. considering the whirlwind nature of our overall plans i think we did quite well!




if luke were a mythical beast we would be a unicorn.

Mr Moore, on the picture prowl

a very flattering picture of myself with a statue. included because it was the only on i had of me...


Trinity college. beautiful campus, if only u of c would pull up their socks!




chan is a suspicious guy!


this little lane reminded me of dodgers alley in munich.


We starteled some birds in the park.



Luke foudn some of his english delights here and proceeded to try them all.

Mr moore

and , in my opinion, mr moore's historical doppelganger.

flight home was regular. no disasters apart from having to leave such a wonderful country.....