Chinese New Year was planned for a grand adventure to Egypt. We are traveling with the Humes (John, Mary, Kelly & Erin) as we did last year to South Africa.
This blog may take a few weeks to write. As I begin writing it, the people of Egypt have been protesting the government for 17 days. Living in Asia, we have traveled to many poor areas on this side of the world. I hope my children have a better outlook on the world from their travels. I hope they have more compassion for those in need. Lastly, I hope they realize they are blessed to be born an American. As Americans, we take rights, freedom and basic living for granted. I say it every time we travel – the only difference between me and the women working the field is the place I was born.
Let me take you on our journey. I try to write in detail so the girls will have a “diary” of their travels. I have added more photos from a request from Grandpa.
Travel Day to Egypt – Thursday, January 27:
Both Kelly and Emmy have drama this semester. They had their drama showcase presentation from 6pm – 7:30pm. See the Drama Showcase post. After the show, we drove to the airport to arrive at 9pm for our 11pm flight. Our first flight was a 10 hour flight from Shanghai to Dubai with a two hour stop. We spent the lay-over getting coffee and smoothies to start the day. Everyone slept well enough on the plane. Our next flight from Dubai to Cairo was 4 hours. Our girls spent the time doing homework since they will miss one week of school.
Day 1 – Friday, January 28 – Into The Eerie Calm, Luxor:
We arrived in Cairo to catch our connecting flight to Luxor (ancient name – Thebes). Our tour agency, Memphis Tours, met us at the airport since we needed to transfer from one airport terminal to another about 10 minutes away.
When we arrived in Cairo, we attempted to pay the balance on our tour. Our agent was having phone difficulties so he said to pay when we get to Luxor on the internet. We were also having troubles getting cash. We always use our HSBC Hong Kong account when we travel – a worldwide bank with better exchange rates/fees. We were unable to get cash, therefore, it forced us to use the Bank of America account which adds up to about $10 per transaction. We didn’t think much of it. We enjoyed a long lunch at Burger King before checking in for our last flight. In Cairo, 10, 000 people were protesting President Hosni Mubarak. He has been in control of Egypt for over 30 years. While enjoying our fast food, we watched the broadcasting of the protesting. As it was all peaceful, we were thinking it would be finished by the time we arrived back in Cairo at the end of the week. This protest was formed by internet connections of Facebook and Twitter. For this reason, all cell and internet connections were disabled in Cairo which affected the banking.
When we arrived in Luxor, it had been 26 hours from airport door to door with stop overs, check-ins and transfers. I love this photo of Erin…I think it says it all for the long travel. She is waiting for us to get checked into our hotel, Sonesta St. George.
By the time we checked in and moved our watches back six hours, it was time for dinner. We decided to stay at the hotel as they had a restaurant with tasty sounding local Mediterranean food. The hotel sits on the east bank of the Nile River. When we walked out the back of the hotel, we saw a mountain flooded with lights. We asked what this was…the answer was “Hatsu – something”. What…ok, I am sure it is on our tour tomorrow! We enjoyed a very tasty meal outside on the deck enjoying the view of the Nile and the “Hatsu-something” mountain.
The pool was very inviting to the girls, but no time to enjoy it. The girls had fun running around the large area while we waited for dinner. We could not order dinner until 7:15, after prayer time.
A toast to the start of another great adventure!
Day 2 – Saturday, January 29 – Temples, River Cruise and Revolution:
Jim was up early, as always. We are awaken by the Muslin call to prayer chant on the loud speaker each morning. The prayer time various as it is set by the sunrise, generally from 4:45am to 5:30am. Jim decided to go walking around with his camera. He came back with some people photo shots. These are hard to get as you need to do them fast since most people don’t like to have their picture taken. Many photos end up in the trash due to the blur from moving while taking the picture.
He walked by the Luxor temple, but declined to go in since we would be back later today. The Avenue of the Sphinx is a new site that was found only 9 months ago. The row of sphinxes will connect the Luxor Temple to the Karnak Temple when it is all dug up. The sphinxes are well preserved from being buried in the sand. Amazing how much has been dug up in 9 months. The buildings that were on top of the Avenue have been demolished. Therefore, we have seen a lot of new construction in Luxor. Jim walked down onto the site were the workers were just arriving – he was promptly chased away, as they wanted him to pay the entry fee at the temple.
Jim got back around 8am just as we were getting ready to go for breakfast. He said he had a man waiting to take us shopping – so eat fast. No problem there as I had already packed our bags this morning. We enjoyed a morning shop in the horse and cart. The girls had fun “driving” the horse through the streets of Luxor.
First, he took us to the local food market. It made our local wet market seem very small. All the fruits and vegetables looked so tasty. We did enjoy the bread for 5 LE (Egyptian Pounds) ($.85).
The next stop on our shopping tour was papyrus. We began to notice it was like the Bangkok tuktuk tour (which will call the taktak or tooktook tour) – the guide takes you to certain shops and they get a kick back for what is purchased. We did buy a few papyrus prints. Emersyn has not studied Egyptian history in school, yet. However, she has had interest in the history on her own. She has read several books about the gods and the way of life. She knew so much about the prints I was amazed. From there, he took us to a few more shops. We did have a very short window to shop. We asked to go to the local tourist market. He wasn’t thrilled to take us there (no kickbacks), but we insisted. It was fun to walk through to see all the shops. We purchased a few small items, but figured we would do our big shop at the market in Cairo.
We rode the cart back to the hotel to gathering our bags and check out before our pickup to transfer to the boat docks. At the docks, many boats are all side-tied together along the banks. You cross over several boats until you reach your boat.
We were cruising down the Nile on the Sonesta Moon Goddess Boat. It was nice with basic rooms. With any boat cruise, we need two rooms per family since the cabins are always small. The best part of the boat was the upper deck with a pool! The cruise is scheduled for morning tours to avoid the heat of the day with afternoons to sail up river to the next attraction. This schedule would be perfect for the girls to play in the pool and not be too tired of seeing temples all day.
Before the boat leaves Luxor tomorrow afternoon, we will see the temples in the area. We had lunch on the boat which we noticed the lunch crowd was small. We were guessing others may come later and some may have cancelled due to the protesting in Cairo. We met in the lobby to be assigned to small groups for sightseeing. Our group included the eight of us, a father and son from Shanghai, a couple from Alameda, a Canadian women who worked/lived in Cairo and her friend. A nice small group to enjoy the temples. Our sights this afternoon were the Karnak and Luxor Temples both on the East bank of the Nile. The East bank is where the scared temples for the gods were built while the West back is were the tombs of the kings and queens were built.
I did a bit of internet search before we left Shanghai of the temples we will see on our adventure. I know there will be so much information that it will be hard to remember it all. Most of the history information is from Wikipedia which is in italics in my writing.
Our first stop was the Karnak Temple.
Temple of Karnak history:
The Karnak Temple Complex comprises a vast mix of ruined temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun, a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II (ca. 1391–1351 BC). Sacred Lake is part of the site as well. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut (“The Most Selected of Places”).
The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom and continued through to Ptolemaic times. Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity and diversity not seen elsewhere.
One famous aspects of Karnak, is the Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re, a hall area of 50, 000 sq ft (5, 000 m2) with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows. 122 of these columns are 10 meters (32 ft) tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters (69 ft) tall with a diameter of over three meters.
Our guide had so much knowledge that I couldn’t possible remember it all. I will write about the facts I found interesting which are the facts I remember. He took a rock to draw an illustration of the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Elle was very concerned about him writing on the stone. When I told her it was ok, she spent more time writing than listening. Emersyn was very interested in everything he had to say. It reinforced all the books she had read last year.
There were a rows of sphinxes before entering the temple. The sphinxes were of a ram’s head with a lion’s body. These sphinxes were for the Gods. Small and under the chin of the ram was a statue of the pharaoh in his likeness. The pharaoh statue would always be smaller than a statue for a God. If the sphinx was a man’s head with a lion’s body, it was for the pharaohs. The man’s head would be in the likeness of the pharaoh.
This temple had been added on by thirty pharaohs which makes it one of the largest temples in Egypt. It was left uncompleted after Alexander the Great. Since he was a Roman king, no one wanted to add to the temple after him. It was left unfinished and untouched. Based on the “ramp wall” left behind the front entrance, it was determine the temples were build by building up this ramp to build the walls. Once the walls were built, the ramp wall would be taken down as they carved and decorated the inside.
Inside the first chamber is a large statue of Ramses II with his wife. He had several wives, but not until this first and favorite wife died.
Another interest fact about the statues. If the statues are with the arms crossed, it was built after death. If the statue has a leg forward, it was built during his lifetime.
The Hypostyle Hall of 134 columns arranged in 16 rows is the most amazing part of this temple. The columns are 10 meter and 21 meter (32ft & 69ft) tall. The photos don’t do it justice!
All the columns were craved in detail from the top to the base.
Color can still be seen on some of the beams located on the under side which was protected from the sun.
This is an obelisk built by Queen Hatshepsut, the mountain with the flood lights we saw upon arrival in Luxor. Ok, lets see how much I remember from our guide. Women were not allowed to rule Egypt. When Hatshepsut’s father, King Thotmosis I, died, the throne was given to Thotmosis II. Thotmosis II married Hatshepsut, but died soon after taking the throne. He had a son, Thotmosis III, with a secondary queen. Because Thotmosis III was very young, Hatshepsut took the throne of Egypt. She ruled for about 20 years. When Thotmosis III came into rule, he destroyed many temples built for Hatshepsut out of angry of her taking his throne. In Karnak Temple, he built a room around her obelisk to bury it from sight because it was a gods temple (not proper to destroy it). Today, the obelisk is the most preserved as it was shelter from the weather and sun.
The scarab bug is considered a lucky bug. The image of the scarab, conveying ideas of transformation, renewal, and resurrection, is ubiquitous in ancient Egyptian religious and funerary art. The scarab was of prime significance in the funerary cult of ancient Egypt. Scarabs, generally, though not always, were cut from green stone, and placed on the chest of the deceased. Perhaps the most famous example of such “heart scarabs” is the yellow-green pectoral scarab found among the entombed provisions of Tutankhamen. It was carved from a large piece of Libyan desert glass. The purpose of the “heart scarab” was to ensure that the heart would not bear witness against the deceased at judgement in the Afterlife.
Our guide said for luck to walk around the scarab seven times clockwise while thinking of our wish…so we did. We need this luck later!
We left the Karnak Temple at 5:30pm for our next stop at the Luxor Temple. As we drove to the temple, we noticed tanks had rolled into Luxor. We drove by a police station where all the policemen were in full riot gear standing in a line behind a iron gate to protect the station.
The Luxor Temple is in the center of town. We were unable to reach the temple due to protesters gathered in the square. It was decided it would be safer to go back to the boat. Our guide said tomorrow should be no problem with the protestors as we were going to the West Bank to see the Valley of the Kings.
We went back to the boat to turn on CNN to see what was going on in Cairo. The CNN reporting was 24/7 titled “Crisis in Egypt”. A curfew of 6pm is in effect for Cairo, Alexendria and Suez. We discovered the President had pulled all police protection off the street. It was reported this was a tactic to demonstrate this is what happens when there is no government in place. Prisoners from three prisons were said to be escape or were set free, depending on the reports. Now, the “thugs” were terrorize Egypt, not the protestors. The Egyptian museum was broke into. The news reported the protestors formed a human chain to keep people out and remain there until the army was sent it to protect it. From various report, it appears things were damaged and less than 20 items were missing.
We had dinner on the boat. Belly dancing was scheduled for later in the evening. However, it had been cancelled. We wondered if it was due to…a. lack of audience, b. the dancers were unable to reach the boat, c. all the above.
The girls and I retired early as it had been a long day. Emersyn’s leg was hurting because the large, uneven blocks were hard for her to walk on with her boot. The boot is designed with a roll on the bottom for easier walking…on flat surfaces. Jim and John enjoyed a late night on the upper deck with a bottle of wine.
Day 3 – Sunday, January 30 – Absent Security and Tough Decisions:
An early start with breakfast at 6am for a 7am tour of the West Bank. Before leaving, Jim put his “sand boot” on Emersyn. Jim can make anything work. We have been watching the series Project Runways as a family. Tim Gun always says, “make it work”. That would be Jim. I had a thought/concern about our travels in the sand. The boot she is wearing is hard plastic on the outer part. The inside is soft material, the kind that sand just sticks to like glue. Jim came up with a solution, as he always does. He went to Decathlon to buy a rollerblade bag for 29rmb ($4). The bag had a zipper in the back he could work from. He cut it up and sewed a sand boot for Emersyn on her new Christmas gift.
Another Shanghai family, Mike and Monica O’Mara, joined our small group for touring. They left Shangahi on Thursday morning, but decided to break up the flight time with a night in Dubai. They got stuck at the Cairo airport last night. They have two girls, Nicole (7) and Grace (10), that attend SAS. Mike and Monica knew some of the same people we did since they live in Jinqiao.
Our guide gave us an interesting fact about the East and West banks. The East banks are for temples while the West banks are for tombs. East from where the sun rises for life and west for death where the sun sets.
As we drove across the bridge to the West Bank, we were stopped by locals who had laid stones across the roadway. It appears there is no security at the site and unsafe for us to visit. We had to turn around to go back to the boat. Now, it was decision time and we had about 4 hours to come up with a plan. We had no internet to research any options. Things were getting worse and not better in Cairo. Currently, the Captain is going to sail directly to Aswan without stopping at any of the sights along the river. He will only sail if two patrol officers join the boat. This is standard procedure, however, with the unrest they may not show up.
From Aswan, we would still need to get to Cairo. Jim was making calls to see what he could find. John called Emirates Airline to get their flight moved to the first available time – Tuesday, February 1. Jim called 10 minutes later and the first available flight was Wednesday, February 2. This was not a good option as we still needed to get to Cairo. Luxor was an international airport, we just needed some options. The other Shanghai family, the O’Mara’s, were set on NOT going back to Cairo based on their experience. They mentioned Fly Dubai with direct flights from Luxor to Dubai. We called to get a price of $1, 000 per ticket with the first available on Tuesday, February 1. We needed more options. Mary had the idea of calling Julie, our travel agent in Shanghai. She would be working this Saturday as it was a work day in China before the Chinese New Year Holiday. She wasn’t familiar with Egypt, but she had internet access. She found us flights on Qatar Airways from Luxor to Doha to Dubai for $250 a ticket with the first available date of Tuesday, February 1. Must have been our luck from the scarab! We grabbed them. We talked with all three families and decided this was the best plan. We started throwing our stuff into our bags. The Captain was very nice and said he would set sail when we were off the boat and to take our time.
As we were packing, the boat started to move – there was rumor that protestors had set boats on fire. The captain was moving the boat to the middle of the river for safety. As it turned out, a fire had been set in the sugar cane fields on a small island at the same time one of the other boats was having problems with their generator – everyone was on edge!
Once everything settled down, we decided to go to the upper deck to enjoy a drink with our new friends while we waited for the boat to sail back to the other side of the river.
Jim was off on his own taking care of business for us. He cancelled all of our non-tour group reservations.
We called our tour agency, Memphis, to come and get us. As we drove back to the hotel, we saw more military presence.
The local people with sticks to protect their homes.
We went back to the Sonesta St. George as they had that nice pool for the kids. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was after 2pm. We put swim suits on the kids and headed to the pool to order lunch and drinks. Jim had spent the entire morning on the phone making calls for an evacuation plan. Once that was in place, he cancelled all our reservations that were not under the tour agency. It was a long stress filled morning, but we felt we had a good plan in place. All three families enjoyed a much needed afternoon at the pool. The girls had fun in the water while the parents enjoyed a few drinks pool side. We would have two nights at this hotel.
We enjoyed the same good food for dinner along with a show the kids really enjoyed. The show lasted about an hour. It started with a whirling dervish – a man spinning – many times. The next time he was on stage to do a spinning dance, Mary counted the spins. She counted 384 spins!
When we were in the rooms, we were watching CNN and the crisis in Egypt unfolding. CNN was announcing US evacuation planes from Cairo. The only problem was to connect with one of these flights, you need to go to a website. A slight problem since no one had internet access in all of Egypt.
Day 4 – Monday, January 31 – Final Push To See The Sites:
Jim and John were up early to go see the Luxor Temple. Jim and John said it was a different day in Luxor and it was more peaceful. How quickly 24 hours makes a big difference. We saw on CNN the protestors were hoping to reach one million people today. By the days end, two million people were protesting the government.
Jim and John enjoyed a tour of the Temple as they had the place to themselves. They met a couple of local guys who gave them a tour – for a tip. But they did not get the in-depth history of a true Egyptologist.
Temple of Lexor history:
Lexor Temple was founded in 1400 BCE., known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or “the southern sanctuary”, the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons. During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area.
At one point in time, Christians had taken over the temple – the Christian images were plastered and painted over the hieroglyphics.
At breakfast, many people were asking what our plans were for leaving Egypt. We discovered our same flight was now priced at $1, 000 per ticket. When Jim and John joined us at breakfast, they wanted to arrange a trip to see Valley of the Kings as it was reported security was back in place. We called our tour agency for a 10am pick-up. This was perfect as we were leaving tomorrow for Dubai and we didn’t know if we had a place to stay. We thought about staying a night in Doha, Qatar. When Jim called the airline, they seemed surprised about our discounted tickets – it looks like Julie got the Chinese price for us. There were no available flights without us staying for 3 nights. If we had an internet, we could see if this was a place we would want to stay for 3 nights. We decided it was best to go to Dubai to start a new holiday. Jim had called the Four Points Sheraton to move our reservation, but he had not heard back. When he called, they said all was good. They had sent us an email confirmation which we did not receive, of course.
The O’Mara family we met on the boat joined us for the tour of the Valley of the Kings. They arrived late Friday night and have not seen anything in Egypt but the Cairo airport.
Valley of the Kings & Queens history:
The Valley of the Queens is a place in Egypt where wives of Pharaohs were buried in ancient times. In ancient times, it was known as Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning –‘the place of the Children of the Pharaoh’, because along with the Queens of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties (1550–1070 BCE) many princes and princesses were also buried with various members of the nobility. The tombs of these individuals were maintained by mortuary priests who performed daily rituals and provided offerings and prayers for the deceased nobility.
The Valley of the Kings is a barren area in the western, limestone hills was chosen due to its relative isolation and proximity to the capital. The kings of the 18th dynasty found the pyramids and the protection built into the ancestors tombs failed to safeguard their ancestors’ bodies or funerary objects which were important for the next life. Thutmosis I was the the first king to chose this local for this burial.
We were not allowed to take our camera into the area. It seems tourist were not following the rules of no photos. The flash over time can damage the color in the tombs. The color and artwork in the tombs is amazing. These tunnels were hand dug by men along with the artwork done by artisans. Below is a photo taken from the parking lot of the Valley of the Kings.
We saw three different tombs. From our guide, the tombs are built during the Pharaoh’s lifetime. Once he dies, the tomb work is completed when he is put to rest. They are still finding more tombs. The tombs are numbered to track the progress – they are up to 63 royal tombs plus other non-royal (family members) tombs. All mummies and artifacts are kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo – hopefully still safe!!
The next stop on the West Bank is Hatshepsut Temple (the mountain with the flood lights and the oblesik at Karnak Temple). Many of the statues in the temple have no faces. Thutmosis III defaced them when he became king.
A bit more history as it is all a bit confusing:
Hatshepsut, the fifth ruler of the 18th Dynasty, was the daughter of Thutmosis I and Queen Ahmose. As was common in royal families, she married her half-brother, Thutmosis II. When her father died her half brother, Thutmosis II, ascended to the throne. He was young, apparently younger than Hatshepsut herself.
The Egyptian tradition of having the Pharaoh marry a royal woman led Thutmosis II to marry Hatshepsut. (The women in Egypt carried the royal blood, not the males. To become Pharaoh, the man had to marry a female of royal blood, often a sister, half sister or other near relative. Usually it was the eldest daughter of the previous Pharaoh.) Thutmosis II died soon after becoming Pharaoh, leaving the widow Hatshepsut, a daughter and a son by another wife – Thutmosis III.
When Thutmosis II died in 1479 B.C. his son, Thutmosis III, was appointed heir. However, Hatshepsut was appointed regent due to the boy’s young age. They ruled jointly until 1473 when she declared herself pharaoh (perhaps when Thutmosis III was reaching manhood) – something almost unheard of, despite the higher status of women in Egypt compared to women in other cultures at the time. Before Hatshepsut, there were queens who had ruled Egypt… but not a female Pharaoh. Dressed in men’s attire, Hatshepsut administered affairs of the nation, with the full support of the high priest of Amon and other officials. Hatshepsut disappeared in 1458 B.C. when Thutmosis III, wishing to reclaim the throne, led a revolt. Thutmosis III had her shrines, statues and reliefs mutilated.
Brilliant colors can be found in places protected from the weather and sun.
Since we got a late start to see the West Bank, it was after 2pm and we haven’t feed our kids, again! We took our girls to the pool for lunch and a swim. After lunch, Mary, Jim and I went out for a short shop. Mary and I felt it would be safer if one of the men went with us. John claimed poolside beers and kid watch first which means Jim got stuck with us!!
By the time we got back to the room, everyone was tired. I had a cold that was hitting me hard. We needed to pack for our departure from Egypt. We ordered room service and watched CNN. Both girls were asleep before the food arrived. We saw on CNN that tourist revenue is $13 billion a year! This hotel was full of people trying to get out. I really feel bad for the people of Egypt because once this boom of people were gone, the hotel would be empty. The people are going to have a tough year as it will take time before tourist will feel it is safe to go back. We also saw a segment on CNN on “getting outâ€. The Cairo airport was a mess with people everywhere, cancelled flights, no food and water…again, we felt we made the right decision to jump ship. Our flight was scheduled for tomorrow at 10:55am.
Day 5 – Tuesday, February 1 – Escape from Egypt:
These are the scenes on the drive to the airport.
At the airport, we walked in the international side with no problems. The check-in counters for ticketing and baggage was a small queue compared to what we normally see in China. After we checked in, we went upstairs to see this difference.
For Domestic check-in:
For International check-in:
Our final photo in Egypt, boarding the plane to Doha, Qatar. The luck of the scarab came through!
Once we arrived in Qatar, everyone was busy getting emails since we had internet access for the first time. Good thing the airport had a great kids’ play zone for the children to run around. In addition, there was an A&W Root beer in the food court. Mike bought all the kids an A&W root beer for about $20. We don’t get A&W in Shanghai so this was a treat.
Next stop – Dubai. As we boarded the plane, you begin to see a real difference in the people. We just left Egypt with the same religion, however, the Egyptian people are dressed as peasants – grey, plane robes (probably to hide the dirt). The men boarding this plane had crisp white robes with gold cufflinks.
We checked into our hotel, the Four Points Sheraton. The Sheraton is a basic business hotel. We chose it because it was the only reasonably room we could find. There is one word to describe Dubai – EXPENSIVE!
Once we were settled in our rooms, we decided no one wanted to venture out so we had dinner at the Moroccan restaurant in the hotel. It was very good food. The girls had soup and it was one of the best soups I have ever tasted.
Day 6 – Wednesday, February 2 – Stability Dubai Style:
We started the day off with a visit to the local markets, souqs. We would be traveling by taxis in this City and would need one for each family. Mobile phones were a life saver as we were dropped off in different areas.
We enjoyed a morning shop, but realized we got too late of a start by the time we found each other is was 11am. Many of the shops were closing at 11:30 for prayer and afternoon rest. They would reopen at 4pm. We finished our shop at a few more shops that were still open. Everyone is buying a “traditional Arabic dress”. The boys purchased the head scarf to go with their dress. The ladies and girls all picked out something we could wear to the pool as a cover-up. The thought was to get a family photo – but there was no follow through to get the photo. Elle picked out a very “costumey” dress, but it was very cheap…cost and material. We decided we should join the locals for afternoon rest back at the hotel.
It was after 2pm and we haven’t feed our kids, again! This is becoming a common problem. We stopped at Burger King because the food would be fast! There is something wrong with being on holiday and eating so much Burger King.
When we got back to the hotel, the girls changed for some pool time fun. The pool is on the roof of the hotel. We poured ourselves a glass of wine and headed to the pool. At the pool, we had other parents asking where we got the wine. Oh, we have lived long enough in Asia to know you ALWAYS hit the duty free at the airport. The men came out of the Qatar duty free with six bottles per family. I don’t think we will be drinking them all, but we will take them back with us as wine is very expensive in Shanghai.
While the girls swam, we used the time to make some plans for the days we were in Dubai. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon.
The view from the roof top pool.
We went to dinner at “Old Town”. A Pakistani man we met in line at immigration at the airport suggested it as a good option to Jim. He said it is not old, but new. We guessed it might be like Xintindi in Shanghai. Well, we were close, but 1, 000 times bigger. Again, good thing we had working phones because we had to find a map of the place to find each other.
We enjoyed some good local food, but expensive (about $90 per family). The fountain outside had a show about every 20 minutes. The girls would go out to watch the show. It was similar to Disneyland without the music. The fountain show is in front of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, 818 meters (2, 700 ft) tall. The World Financial Center (WFC) we see from our deck is 492 meters (1, 614 ft) tall. The Burj Khalifa doesn’t seem 1, 000 ft higher. It is probably the illusion as the Burj Khalifa is a thin building and the WFC is wide all the way to the top. The WFC has the highest occupied floor and the tallest observation deck in the world surpassing even the Burj Khalifa.
When we got home, we turned on CNN, as we do every time we get back to the hotel. Wow, 24 hours has made a big difference, again. Pro-government people are attacking the protestors. It is reported, these people are part of the government or paid by the government. It is ugly.
Parts of a story from the news article listed below. This article has amazing photos of the clash.
More than 1, 500 people were injured in the latest violence, as protesters remained in the street through the night following a day of clashes between supporters of President Hosni Mubarak and dissidents. Pro-government demonstrators rode into Tahrir square on horse back and camel attacking the protestors. At least four buildings were set alight while Mubarak supporters, who were reported to have sealed-off the square, trapping anti-government supporters inside, took over control of roof tops to hurl debris and petrol bombs on the crowds below.
If you would like to read more from this article or see the photos, Click Here.
Day 7 – Thursday, February 3 – Dubai, Finding Islam:
We started the morning by visiting a mosque that gave tours and explained the customs of the religion. The Jumeirah Mosque is open to the public to look inside (normally non-Muslims are not able to enter mosques). It is aimed at promoting greater understanding between Muslims and other religions and cultures. The tour is called, “Open Doors, Open Minds”.
The ladies needed to wear a head scarf when entering the mosque. No shorts or bare arms were acceptable attire. Jim put on his pants from the market as he didn’t bring anything but shorts.
The tour lasted about an hour. It was lead by two British women who converted to Islam. They talked about the prayer times and rituals. Before prayer, a washing is done in a specific way washing three times. Everything they told us was very politically correct. Women pray in a separate room only to avoid distractions during prayer. The black hijab to cover the women is to avoid unwanted advances from men. I was thinking as she said this…”hum at my age I can’t remember the last time I had unwanted advances”! The ladies will leave the black hijab on at friends’ homes when men are around to avoid unwanted advances. Again, I was thinking…”hum, I never get unwanted advances from my friend’s husbands”. The covering of the entire face is the women’s choice.
The seven conditions for women’s dress in Islam I found on the internet.
Hijab is a word that indicates not just the headscarf but clothing in its entirety which meets the following conditions :
1. Clothing must cover the entire body, only the hands and face may remain visible
2. The material must not be so thin that one can see through it.
3. The clothing must hang loose so that the shape/form of the body is not apparent.
4. The female clothing must not resemble the man’s clothing.
5. The design of the clothing must not resemble the clothing of the non believing women.
6. The design must not consist of bold designs which attract attention.
7. Clothing should not be worn for the sole purpose of gaining reputation or increasing one’s status in society.
The reason for this strictness is so that the woman is protected from the lustful gaze of men. She should not attract attention to herself in any way. Islam protects the woman. It is for this reason that Allah gave these laws.
I think the Muslim people need to review their own beliefs. There is a high rate of sex crimes against women in these areas. They probably do wear this hijab to protect themselves as it is not safe for them.
The ladies also enlighten us the head scarf the men wear is a regional option and not religious. The head scarf was worn to provide protection from the sand storms. The black piece worn with the scarf was used to tie the camel up when they stopped.
We left the mosque to visit a Arabian style souq, Madinat Jumeira. Our guide book reported it had one of the better views of the hotel, Burj Al Arab. The Burj Al Arab is built on an artificial island 280 meters (920 ft) off the shore and the sail-shaped building is 321 meters (1, 053 ft) tall.
Today, we actually feed our children at lunch time for the first time on this trip! We enjoyed a nice lunch outside. We walked around the shops, but as always, everything is just expensive. Back to the hotel for afternoon rest and pool time. With the roof-top pool, the wind was really howling today.
After showers, we headed out to check out a shopping area from our guide book. Well, we have missed the time on this one. This area was open all day and closing at 5pm. We took a boat across the water to find a local Afghan place Jim found in his book. While walking, I took this photo of the shoes. They are fun. Mary and I thought about buying them but they are the most uncomfortable shoes ever AND too expensive for something you won’t wear. The Afghan place was a local “hole in the wall” place with good food (about $45 for all 8). We sat at two tables since the place was small. The boys and younger girls raved at how good the food was at their table. Mary and I with the older girls found it good, but the meat over cooked. Then, the boys handed us a some of their meat as Emmy was still hungry – their food was better!
After dinner, we walked through the gold souqs, but it was getting late. We found a taxi to take us home to bed.
Day 8 – Friday, February 4 – Safari, Dubai Style:
Mary and I hit the gold souqs this morning. However, it is Friday which is prayer day similar to our Sunday church day. Most of the shops were closed and we only had until 11:30. We left with nothing, but a plan to come back tomorrow morning.
Jim and the girls slept in and worked on homework while I was out shopping. When I got back, we walked down the road for lunch. We ate at Burger King, again! It is fast and simple – I guess. By the time we got back to the room, it was after 2:30. We needed to get ready for our sand safari adventure. We were meeting in the lobby at 3:15. The O’Mara family was joining us on this adventure. It was the first sun filled day as we had hoped for when we planned our sand safari. Jim and I went to the roof to get a photo of the clear, blue sky day. The girls enjoyed a little Disney channel since it is something they don’t get in Shanghai.
After much internet search (nice to have the internet back), we decided on the sand safari with Arabian Adventures. We were on the “Sundowner Dune Dinner Safari” tour. It wasn’t cheap at $345 per family, but it included dinner and drinks along with the entertainment.
We began our sand safari adventure at 3pm. It took about 45 minutes to drive to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. We had two SUVs for our three families. The Moms took the younger girls while the Dads took the older girls. The first part of the journey was riding the dunes – or dune pounding. Everyone had fun as the driver took us up, over and sliding down dunes.
Our first stop after reaching the desert was for a refreshing soft drink. We all passed on the drinks with the bumpy ride. The girls were having fun in the sand dunes except for the sand in the eyes problem.
But, they solved that problem!
We got back into the SUVs to rides the dunes further into the desert. We stopped to watch the sunset. This was the first clear night all week – we had a beautiful sunset.
Next stop was camp. Eleri was eager to hold the bird, but she said it was heavy. She need both hands to hold it up.
Camp was set up to “conjure up images of the Arabian nights” with low cushion seats in Bedouin-style tents. The tables were just the right size to fit the three families. The kid sat at one end and the adults at the other. The children enjoyed a belly dancing show and the adults enjoyed the wine. Dinner was grilled meats, vegetables and sides. It was all very good with nice flavor, but not spicy to please the crowd.
First on the list of fun for the girls was henna. We have done henna twice at the World Expo so both the girls were excited to have it done again. I decided to join in on the fun with the girls.
We took camel rides before dinner. Eleri rode for about 20 minutes as she really enjoyed it. The camel is VERY difficult to hang onto as the camel stands and sits. When the camel comes up, he stands up with his back legs first. It sends the person in the front flying forward. Same in sitting, the front legs go down first. Both times, the camel man had to grab me from flying over the head of the camel. But, it was fun.
After dinner, the lights were turned out to see the stars. This is a special treat for us living in China. We don’t see stars so we enjoyed the beautiful sky. We got home around 10pm, but everyone needed a shower before bed to remove the layers of sand. It was a fun sand safari adventure.
Day 9 – Saturday, February 5 – Dubai, The Final Day:
Our last day of our adventure. Mary and I did another quick shop in the gold souqs. Mary had a mission and she wasn’t leaving without. Jim and the girls went to another shopping place. We were to meet them at noon, but Mary and I got a little side tracked. By the time we found a taxi and fought through the traffic, it was 1pm. Good thing we had phones as Mary and I were not dropped off anywhere near Jim and the girls. We had to walk about 10 blocks to find them. We enjoyed some local Pakistan food for cheap where there was a men only side and another room for women and families. Then, a quick shop as we were looking for the large pots used to wash the feet prior to prayer. We purchased our large Arabic pots and the girls were ready to go home.
We had decided to go to the Shopping Festival tonight at Global Village. We weren’t real clear on what is was, but everyone said you need to go. It comes once a year for one month. The girls didn’t get an afternoon rest, but we wanted to beat the evening crowds. The Shopping Festival has countries with pavilions to sell their merchandise. It was interesting, but many of the places seem to be selling the Chinese things we see all the time. I did find my desk lamps for cheaper than any of the souqs. I bought the first one in Turkey for 200dhs ($54). As we were walking out, Istanbul had the SAME lamp for 150dhs ($40), so I got a second one. Emmy can have the blue one on her desk and the red one can go on my desk. I purchased a beautiful hand painted bowl in Turkey for 200dhs ($54). Unfortunately, it did get a small chip in it on the way home. My friend, Jennifer, purchased the same kind of bowl on her trip to Australia…only she paid $120!
There were rides at one end of the festival. We thought the girls would enjoy a few rides until we saw the prices. One ride was about $6. The girls enjoyed some good cotton candy – much better tasting than the stuff we find in China.
This photo we found interesting. In China, queue etiquette is lacking. The orderly queue for an air conditioned cash machine with lines drawn on the concrete to stand in was amusing.
It was now past 7pm and we haven’t feed our girls, again. Emmy really wanted the soup back at the hotel, which I can’t blame her. Also, the girls have been shopping all day. Not once did they complain or whine (even with a broken leg) – they get an A+++. We went back to the hotel for soup, showers and the final pack. Our adventure is over as we fly home tomorrow.
Day 10 – Sunday, February 6 – Heading Home:
We flew from Dubai to Shangahi today. The flight time was 8 hours. The girls are brilliant travelers and old enough to plug into the movies. Both Mary and I commented how short 8 hours feels after doing 12 hour flights to America. The time change was 4 hours later from Dubai. We arrived at home around 11:30pm on one of the important days of Chinese New Year. Driving down into our part of town was interesting as fireworks were going off all over the place. With the tall buildings, the fire crackers echo. We had a hard time pulling into our complex because of all the fireworks exploding in our driveway. Most of the fireworks are the fire crackers. When we got upstairs, we could see the explosion of fireworks in the sky.
As I finish this post, President Mubarak has step down as ruler of Egypt. The “Crisis in Egypt” reporting had changed to “Historically Events in Egypt” to “The Revolution in Egypt”. The conflict in the Arabic Countries began with the Tunisia protest.
The protests in Tunisia were sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi on December 17 and led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 28 days later on 14 January 2011, when he officially resigned after fleeing to Saudi Arabia, ending 23 years in power.
The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 began in Egypt on 25 January 2011, with a series of street demonstrations, marches, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, and throughout other cities in Egypt, following similar events in Tunisia and as part of a longer-term campaign of civil resistance. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and religions demanded the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, along with an end to corruption and police repression, and enactment of democratic reforms of the political system. On 11 February, Mubarak resigned from office as a result of determined popular protest and pressure.
As of 16 February, at least 365 deaths had been reported, and those injured number in the thousands. The capital city of Cairo was described as “a war zone, ” and the port city of Suez has been the scene of frequent violent clashes. The government imposed a curfew that protesters defied and that the police and military did not enforce. The presence of Egypt’s Central Security Forces police, loyal to Mubarak, was gradually replaced by largely restrained military troops. In the absence of police, there was looting by gangs that opposition sources said were instigated by plainclothes police officers. In response, civilians self-organised watch groups to protect neighborhoods.
The protests inspired similar actions throughout the Arab world; the Egyptian revolution began after the events in Tunisia; furthermore, protests have also taken place in Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Pakistan and elsewhere in the wider Middle East and North Africa.
We knew two other Concordia families that were in Egypt with us. They have stories of “getting out” of Cairo – spending 10 to 12 hours at the airport. They both took US Evacuations flights as the commercial airlines were not flying. The commercial airlines did not have a crew to fly the planes. They confirmed the CNN report of the Cairo airport was true.
In the end, it was not the grand trip we had planned to Egypt. Instead, we found ourselves in the middle of a revolution. It was one week out of our lives, these people were fighting for freedom for a lifetime. We will go back as one can not step in Egypt and not see the Great Pyramids! We had a taste, but left hungry!