The White Desert
Sand Dunes in the Black Desert
Giza Pyramids
On the Nile River

March 3, 2010
Been in Egypt for 3 days now and haven’t done any writing about what has been going on. So here is the facts.
March 1, 2010
-Arrived at 2am at Cairo airport. The plane ride where much harder on me then before. People from the hotel met us with a bus and we headed to the hotel in Downtown Cairo. The architect here is very different from the other places and has a mix of old British style and ancient Egypt flare.
Woke up at 7am and took a shower and then headed for breakfast that was bread and cheese. There was also tea as always. After Breakfast I was able to get myself ready to go to the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. I was so excited because I have always wanted to come to Egypt and go to the museum. Also this time I get to have lots of time to free explore. The last time I was with a big group in New York I wasn’t with people that were into the museum so this will be nice because it seems that mostly everyone has a keen interest in the museum.
We are right across from the museum and we walked across the street with cars coming at us. There was a lot of security and cameras were not allowed inside the museum. So I had to leave my camera at the hotel so no pictures to document the time spent. Spend from noon to 2pm looking at the bottom floors with Denny, David and Sigrid because they had the map and the guidebooks. That was just the first floor. Its not as well organized as some museums because some things have descriptions and then new stuff is just placed in front of it with little or no description of the piece. The guidebook helped with the major pieces but most of the time those had descriptions on the display.
At around 2pm went out for lunch but I wanted to see King Tut’s exhibit so I walked back on my own and didn’t really have any problems. Saw the King Tut gold mask along with his coffins. The mummy isn’t on display due to the fragility of it. Two of the girls paid for the royal mummies and I wish I had. It was fun to see because some of the treasures I saw in 2008 in Michigan so I was able to focus my attention on the things I had not seen, which were a lot. After seeing King Tut I looked around more and there are just so many coffins and treasures everywhere. At 4pm I left still not seeing everything but very happy and I would love to come back with my sisters because I know that they would enjoy it very much.
Headed back to the hotel and got on a bus to go on a tour of the Nile. Was on just boats with seats and food was already prepared in takeout style. But still fun because I can say I was on the Nile River. The boat I was on stalled for some time so we were attached to the second boat until we got the motor up and running. It was a short trip but now I can say I was on the Nile River. When I think of the Nile I picture the ancient Egypt and it was hard for me to realize I was on the Nile with all the huge buildings and bridges on the river.
-Headed back to the hotel and then went to the Windsor for drinks. Went through the shopping area and people were out and about with there families. This was at like 9pm at night and it is so different from India and Thailand. I feel much safer here and the streets are much cleaner and have a New York feel to it. If it weren’t for the girls in headdresses I would have forgotten I was in Egypt. The time at Windsor was nice. It was a bar that was once an officers club during the British control. I enjoyed the time to relax and just talk with people about this and that. If there was more time I would like to come back but I don’t think I will be able to.
Got back to the hotel and was going to work on school but was too tired and just relaxed and checked email.

March 2, 2010
Today was a full day of touring the pyramids of Egypt. We were on a huge tour bus and had a guide with us who spoke pretty good English. The first stop was Memphis.
At the Memphis open air museum I saw one of the 2 statues that was found of Ramses the second. It was found in Aswan and had been in the mud so one side has a lot of erosion. After that we were given free time to look at the different statues and other artifacts. They are not sure how big Memphis was because all original walls are no longer there and this was just one site where they found things.
After Memphis the group headed of toward Sakkara. There we were able to go into one of the oldest tombs found. The Pyramid is just sand now due to erosion but the tomb is intact. I had to bend down to walk inside and we were not allowed to take pictures of the hieroglyphics on the walls. It is very small and only has 3 chambers that are small. The coffin is still there. In one of the chambers it had an eco to it. It was then time to head out because of all the things we had to see. I had to bend down again to go up and out of the tomb. It is easier to go out then to come into the tomb.
Next was the Step Pyramid and the Temple that was part of it. There was such amazing details and the stonework was beautiful. The Pyramid itself is being restored but we were able to see the outside. I always thought that pyramids were like the ones in Giza with strait sides and it was fun to learn that they were like steps going up. In the distance was some of the first pyramids constructed with the strait sides so the sides are leaning a little bit.
After that we headed for lunch before going to the Giza Pyramids. Lunch was at a touristy place but the food was good and I was very hungry. Then we got to the Giza Pyramids. There are 3 large pyramids and then 3 small ones of the queens. I really wanted to go inside the biggest one but we didn’t have time to go and see it. It was weird being on this ancient site and having the booming modern city right next to its landscape. One of the exciting things was there has been some resent discoveries of tombs of some of the builders of the pyramids and sphinx. There was some smaller tombs but we didn’t get told much about. I ended up asking and it was tombs of nobles. I wish I could have explored more but the sights were closing so we had to move on.
The final stop was at a papyrus museum/ art gallery. We learned about how papyrus paper is made and then they tried to sell us stuff. We did get good discounts because we are students. My student Id card came in handy for the places that were visited. After that we headed back to the hotel through the terrible traffic of Cairo. I had dinner at the hotel because the day made me super tired again.

Today
Got up and out of the hotel by 8am to head to the Bahariyya Oasis. We were on the bus for about 6 hours and finally got in at around 2pm. We had lunch and then were taken to the hotel.
it’s a small hotel but its clean and air-conditioned, which we didn’t need, and that is what counts. We were only at the hotel for about a half hour before we got picked up by the land cruisers for a tour of the Oasis.
The first stop was the center of the oasis at the date palm grove. At the Oasis they grow dates and apricots as well. In the ancient times the water was on the surface now they have to pump about 1 thousand meters to reach the water. Also the water comes out hot not cold as some people would think. Its were to see the green and right next to it is a hill of sand. After that we went to look at the salt lake. The lake is too salty to be of use to anything but flamingos come and eat from it at certain times of the year.
We then went to another side of the oasis. It was fun to be driving on the sand. The drivers are really fast in order to get across the sand and that is one of the only was to get to certain areas. We reached a mountain that looked like a pyramid of sandstone. I climbed to the top and was very proud of myself. By the time I was close it was like I was on a drug or something wanting to get to the top. I wasn’t as tired after that and it felt good that my old self would not have done that before. The change is mental and physical for me now. Caitlin and I took to long so we got slightly scolded by the drivers.
We then saw the old pump for the new pump for one of the spring. It goes down over a thousand meters to get water. It was really neat to see it. Almost every year a new one has to be put in. After that we headed to an area of shale and watched the sunset and got a panoramic view of most of the oasis.
Then back to the hotel and had dinner. Some people went into the pool. I just watched because I forgot my swimsuit and was to tired to go in and try to dry my clothes.

March 4, 2010
Ate breakfast and then headed out after having some class time. We went to the black and white desert.
We had to go offloading to get a site in the Black desert but the desert stretches for a long way so while driving to other sport we were still inside the black desert. It is basalt that is the black layer over the landscape. It was cool to see and it makes me wish to go back into geology. Its too bad I cant minor in it.
We then went to a Sand dune. It was huge and so cool. I have learned about sand dunes but this just blew me away. The one side of coming off the mountain and slowing narrowed and then there was s steep drop before the dune started again. We climbed to the top and it is harder then I thought. The sand is very soft so my feet were falling up to the ankles. I got to the top and looked down at those who didn’t come up and they were very small. We took picture and then walked down. I tried to slide down but it didn’t work so I walked down. I had to lift my feet every time to get them out of the sand to move down. It wasn’t that scary to go down.
We then entered the white desert that is a national park. The first stop was an area that was formed from Quartz and Mica. It was really nice and I love seeing the quartz formations. After that we headed towards the campsite. The stone around there is limestone. So the bottom is eroding before most of the top causing the mushroom look. I got in a slight heated debate over Tim calling it chalk because when in geology class chalk and limestone were 2 different things.
We got to the campsite and hung out around the fire and then had dinner. It was rice and chicken. After that there was music and dancing by the fire before bed. Liz and I stayed in a tent in hopes to keep the bugs away. The only thing is the tent to far from the rest of the group.

March 5, 2010
Got up around 6am. It was so cold last night that I couldn’t keep warm so I kept waking up and going back to sleep. The tent did keep the bugs out because some of the people that slept outside had bug bites. There was fox tracks from a few foxes that came out at night to see what was up. I guess Swaffy woke up with one right in front of him.
We then had breakfast and headed out of the White desert. We stopped at a few sites and found fossils of seashells and acorns. It just proves that the area was underwater at one time and that means that there was a flood. We then headed back to Cairo. It wasn’t that bad this time and we made it in the 4 hour due to no stops and no traffic. Along the way a new part of towns were coming up and then after that there was a lot of farmland in the area.
It felt weird being in that big bus in the middle of the city. I hate standing out and looking like the typical tourist. When we got back I headed out for dinner. It was very cheap and good. It was Egyptian food so it was fun to get local flavor.

March 6, 2010
Travel
Arrive in Turkey
Have dinner and stayed at a really nice hotel
For those who have read the news about the earthquake in Turkey just to let you know that it was in the east and I am on the coast in the West so it did not effect me and the group.