Israel, Jordan, and Egypt

 

At the Sphynx in Cairo. The rock wasn't solid
 enough for the Pyramids, so they carved this.

 Happy New Year from St. Albans, UK. I lugged my new laptop everywhere on this trip, hoping to write a post about each country and maybe even a short post on certain topics within each country.  But all I did was weigh down my bag and create guilt. Road Scholar jam-packs their trips with non-stop information and activities, leaving little free time. Hopefully our Facebook and Instagram posts gave you a taste of what we experienced.

Israel 

Of the 39 countries we have visited, Israel is the most complex and conflicted. It was both very interesting but also one of our least favorites. It is a web of politics, religions, history, culture, geography, grievances, senses of entitlement, and geopolitical concerns. 

At the  Western Wall

Fortunately, visiting it through Road Scholar with its emphasis on education, gave us some ability to put the news into context.  And the latest news about the new government is not very encouraging. One of our guest lecturers was a 5^th generation Palestinian, age 50, educated at Oxford. The night before his presentation he was harassed by two hot-headed 20-year-old soldiers as he tried to cross the West Bank on his way to Jerusalem for a lecture.

Inside the Church of the Holy Sep

We covered a lot: Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea Scrolls area, a kibbutz, two guest lectures, and much more.   Many of the sites, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulture, Masada National Park, and the Holocaust Museum were stunning.  Our biggest surprise was just how compact the Jerusalem area is. One could look from the Mt. of the Olives (really just a hill) and see the holy sites of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions, some right on top of or next to each other. And that might be part of the Israel’s problems.  We’re glad we went, but once was enough.

You can see more Israel photos here.

(Note:  most photos in this link and those that follow are mine, but some are from fellow travelers, especially Warren Dupuis and Louise Meadows.)

Jordan

We loved Jordan, described as “a quiet house in a bad neighborhood.”  Our time there was too short.  Our focus was on Petra, but we also visited the impressive 200 BC to 400 AD Roman ruins of Jerash, some of Amman, the Dead Sea, and Mt. Nebo where Moses is thought to be buried.

The 1st Century Treasury at Petra

We’ve seen photos of some of the Petra structures, like the 1^st century treasury.  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was partly filmed there.  But when we saw it in person, it was a breathtaking “holy crap” moment.  Even more astounding was the natural beauty of the rock formations as we hiked to the monuments.  Here are more Petra photos.

Amman is a bustling city of 2.2 million with hilltop ruins.  Its initial name 2,000 years ago was Philadelphia.  With a population of only 500,000 in 1975, it boasted only one hotel.  It turns out that two of our fellow travelers stayed in it in 1975.  Most of its growth has been from migration from neighboring countries, mostly from Syria and Israel.

We tried to swim in the Dead Sea but couldn’t; all we could do is float in the viscous salty water. Its salinity is 7-10x sea water, and at 1245 below sea level, it is the lowest point on earth. 

Floating fun in the Dead Sea

We had a little excitement while in Jordan.  Truckers protesting over high fuel prices were blocking roads, throwing rocks at vehicles, and more.  We were delayed as the police formed a convoy for us, some other tour busses, and non-striking truckers. 

You can see more Jordan photos here.

Egypt

The Pyramids of Giza. They're huge, but so are 
other wonders you can see in our link below

The least impressive site we saw in Egypt were the Great Pyramids in Giza.  Not that they weren’t great or impressive, but because there were so many other ancient Egyptian marvels that we thought were more spectacular and unique to us.

The three themes of all of them are (1 the Egyptian obsession with the afterlife, 2) the advanced technology required to design and build them, and 3) many of them are huge!  And nearly everything we saw—including some spectacular ancient paintings and bas relief carvings--was original, but for an occasional supporting pillar.

The massive temple of Karnak at Luxor

After the pyramids in Cairo, we flew south over the vast Egyptian desert to the Aswan Dam. We slowly cruised three nights down the Nile to Luxor on a ship that accommodated about 100 passengers.  It was a great way to stop and explore temples, and on one rare afternoon with nothing scheduled, to watch Egyptian life along the Nile, where 90% of Egypt’s 102 million population lives within a few miles of its banks.

Morning on the Nile at Luxor

Heat-packing guards assigned to
most tourist groups. They stand out
in any crowd, and are hyper vigilant.

Luxor is a great hub for seeing some of Egypt’s best wonders, some which are over 3500 years old.  Highlights were King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the Hatshepsut Temple, the massive Temple of Karnak, and the Luxor temple in the evening. The original artwork was astounding. In all these places and on busses, we were under the protective eye of a heavily armed plain clothes guard.

Heba teaching us hieroglyphics

Heba, our Egyptian guide with a PhD in Egyptology, exuded enthusiasm about the art and mythology. She translated the hieroglyphics on the walls like she was reading a bedtime story to the 18 of us.  She said she never learned about ancient Egypt history in school because there was too much of to learn, and it was deemed to be irrelevant. She said she was proud of the amazing achievements at a time when other people were living in caves struggling to make fire.  But she said, “I’m sad because we are no longer on the top, but near the bottom.”  When asked why, she said, “foreign conquests dating back to the Greeks and Romans, colonialism, constant wars with Israel, and corruption.”

The long entry way into one of 
the massive tombs. Note the
original color on the walls and
ceiling

We flew from Luxor to Cairo for our last two nights. Let’s just say that Cairo isn’t one of our favorite cities.  It was polluted and crowded with epic traffic jams. It had a few skyscrapers among dilapidated tenements, slums, and old colonial buildings.  But it did have some fun and crowded alley markets—one dating back to 1382--with everything imaginable for sale by hawkers that wouldn’t take a polite ‘no’ for an answer.  

Want to buy a used phone?

One of King Tut's eight coffins

A separate coffin for the embalmed
organs, except for the heart

Best of all, Cairo has the Egyptian Museum where many of the artifacts from the Valley of the Kings were housed.  They were unbelievably accessible; some could be touched.  Photographs were prohibited only in the room housing Kin Tut’s treasures.

You can see more Egypt photos here, and I strongly encourage to look at and enlarge at least a few of them on something larger than a cell phone to see the craftsmanship.  Egypt was truly astounding, if nothing else than for the sheer quantity of its well preserved temples, tombs, monuments, and art work.  

Overall, it was a good trip and not a part of the world we normally travel. I had a bad head and chest cold most of the time, annoying to me and everyone else, but it didn’t affect my energy level.  Our three guides were so knowledgeable, likeable, and organized, and we enjoyed extended mealtime conversations with most of our well-traveled members of the group.  It was definitely not a trip for lounging on the beach or shopping, but rather a firehose of information, walking, and jam-packed site seeing in a troubled part of the world.

The stunning Luxor Temple at night

St. Albans

We flew from Cairo to London on Christmas Eve.  It was weird being parachuted from the Middle East into the Christmas scene here, but we quickly got into the groove. It was so fun experiencing Christmas with a young child, the first in over 35 years.  But watching a toddler while Mom and Dad work is both rewarding and exhausting!  Hazel seemed to have change so much in the 2 1/2 weeks while we were gone.

 

It's so nice to have a greeter at the
airport!

Christmas Day in St. Albans (Thanks, Alan for
taking our photo)

We look forward to being home in a few days. But meanwhile, we have a few more projects around the house to complete, including helping get Hazel potty trained. Wish us luck!

“What We Can, While We Can”