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A Revolutionary Trip to Egypt

I originally scheduled my Egypt trip for January 29^th. I wanted to celebrate my 40^th birthday on this trip, but I had to cancel due to the revolution. I considered other places (Spain, Turkey, Germany) to visit. However, I decided to wait and reschedule because no other place would satisfy my appetite like Egypt.

Once the people’s demands were met and the travel bans were lifted, I booked the 9-day King Tutankhamen trip and prepared for a lifetime trip.

Shortly after my arrival into Cairo, I departed for the resort. The Cairo sights amazed me as 24 million inhabitants resume normal lives despite their historical transition less than a month ago. I arrived at the beautiful Oasis Hotel resort in Cairo and enjoyed a nice dinner at their restaurant for my first night.

The next day began early when the participants met in the hotel lobby to meet our tour guide, Sharif. After his introduction, we traveled to the Pyramids of Giza as he gave us their history. The sight was incredible and the vendors were ecstatic to see tourists again. They eagerly greeted us with various products. There are 130+ pyramids discovered in Egypt. We visited the legendary ones built for the Egyptian Pharoahs, King Khufu and King Khafre. To further enrich the experience, we paid for a half-hour camel ride. The most intimidating part of the ride is when the camel stands. Unlike a horse, the camel must lay down in order to get on it. First they stand up the back legs then their front ones, so you must hold on tightly. Once the ride concluded, we visited the Sphinx nearby and grabbed some photos.

We ended the tour with a visit to a papyrus shop. The presentation and the artwork were so impressive, I left with three items. Finally, we returned to our hotel to prepare for the overnight trip to Aswan.

Shortly after our arrival to Aswan, we took a short ride to our cruise ship. The spacious room with a balcony to view the Nile was beautiful. After a brief lunch with our new guide and fellow tourists, we visited the High Dam. Next, we headed to Philae Temple, which is situated on an island. We toured the temple for an hour and a half, made our way back to Aswan and went shopping in the local market.

Our first night on the ship, we enjoyed dinner and watched the Nubian musicians and dancers perform on the ship.

Day Four

The next morning, we gathered for a quick breakfast and caught a flight to Abu Simbel. The temples’ story describing how they moved them is amazing. Later that evening, we set sail to the Temple of Kom Ombo. As the cruise ship reached the location, we saw the beautiful temple aglow in the night sky. Only a short walk away, we toured the temple with Mohamed, and grabbed some beautiful night-time photos.

Day Five

We meet at 6:00 AM for a trip to the Temple of Horus. After leaving the ship, several carriages were awaiting to take us to the temple. We were the first tourists at the site and we enjoyed unobstructed views of the hieroglyphics. As we departed the temple, streets were bustling with tourist groups heading to the temple. We spent the remainder of the day aboard the ship. I took my iPod and enjoyed the day on the sun deck. After dinner, we watched the belly dancer and other entertainment,

Day Six

We checked out of the cruise ship, reunited with the Felucca group and checked into our Luxor hotel. It was a beautiful facility located on the Nile banks. Some of us toured the area capturing photos and enjoying the local dining. Our tour guide, Sharif, made reservations at a local restaurant and we enjoyed delicious Egyptian food.

Day Seven

We gathered in the lobby approximately an hour and a half prior to sunrise. With a boxed lunch, we boarded a small boat and headed across the Nile. After a short ride in a van, we arrived in an open field where several crew times were inflating the hot air balloons. The guide led us to our balloon basket and within a few minutes, the ground left us. Unlike the dramatic departure of a jet plane generating air to lift it, the engineless balloon drifted into the air with ease. For the next 45 minutes, we ascended to 2,500 feet overlooking the Nile and the surrounding countryside including Queen Hatshepsut’s temple and the Valley of the Kings.

Later that day, we visited the Temple of Karnak. This impressive temple featured elaborate columns and statues more impressive than any other we visited. The Egyptians ability to create such temples with precision and without modern-day machinery is amazing.

Some group members headed to Dahab, so we grabbed a group photo and those who remained later boarded a train to Cairo.

Day Eight

This is the last full day of my trip. We arrived at the Giza train station and returned to the Oasis Hotel. After checking in and taking a hot shower, we opted to visit the Cairo Museum. We left the museum and headed to the Cairo marketplace. With a population exceeding 24 million, Cairo possesses many shopping locales. We visited an area dedicated to tourists and the local population. We ended the day at a fast food restaurant. After returning to the hotel, our remaining group reminisced over the past week’s events. Later, I packed up for my next day’s flight.

The next day I departed for the hotel, arrived safely in London where my friend took me home thus concluding my last, yet memorable, trip while in England.

After the wild car ride to the other base, I obtained my room and later met up with my co-workers. We went to dinner and hung out for the rest of the night. The next morning began very early. I woke up at 4:30 AM, exited my tent and walked 20-30 yards to the shower facility (In hindsight, it surprises me that I was used to going to another building just to use the bathroom and/or take a shower. If I were to return, I shudder at the idea of doing that during the colder months). My co-worker, Justin, and I met at the departure point and got into our vehicle headed to the airport. Justin was supposed to leave yesterday, but since he didn’t I was able to go with him. His flight was canceled and he hoped the same went happen today. I told him that we would leave today and on-time. The receptionist told us the flight was still scheduled and we had only five minutes before they would close the desk for anyone leaving to our site. Although we arrived more than two hours prior to the flight, they were closing the desk very early.

We waited in the lobby for approximately an hour then we were led to a C-130 airplane. I looked for the friendly airline attendants and the 1^st class or business-class seating, but there were none. Instead, there was a long stretched-nylon bench for us to sit. We were less than ten feet from a large palette of equipment that I prayed would remain in place. The airline attendants always warn you about items shifting during the flight. I hoped that wouldn’t be the case with that large palette.

Traveling with the military is interesting. As a first-timer, I watched helicopters take off and land. Everyone else ignored it as they were used to it. However, a couple of instances included jets that took off as well. Whenever they took flight, everyone would stop and watch.

Our flight was scheduled for 8:00 AM and we boarded the plane shortly after 7:00. We spent nearly an hour sitting on the seats waiting. However, at 8:00 sharp the plane began to take-off and take-off it did. I wasn’t near a window. However, there was a window across from me. In one instance, I would see the ground and the base of the mountains. Suddenly, the plane would sway and I would see nothing but the sky. The pilot would bank and turn and the mountains were so close I knew I could reach out and touch them if I wanted. He would speed up then slow down and the plane would drop. It was the roller-coaster ride from hell! However, a military guy and I must have been the only first-timers. He pulled out his camera to take photos and I couldn’t stop laughing. Everyone else was deep in thought or sleep. After approximately 15 minutes of fancy maneuvers, we reached a high altitude and the flight was routine. Approximately an hour and a half later, we landed at our destination.

Justin called our contact and within a few minutes we had a ride to our base. The base was an Italian post. Therefore, I knew since we would be there for a few days, I’d have to endure a few more days of pasta for lunch and dinner. We met our contacts and they showed us our lodging accommodations. It was a 7’x18’ room with four twin beds lined two-by-two. Across the hall were the bathroom and shower stalls. As we surveyed the grooming area, we noticed a few necessary items missing. There was no door for the bathroom and none of the stalls contained toilet paper. We asked a soldier staying in the next room and he told us that toilet paper around here is like, “white gold”. So, we kept the roll he gave us and used it sparingly.

We went to our work site and accessed the situation. Prior to working, the early morning start began to take a toll so we asked if we could break for lunch and if they would show us to the chow hall. After a less than pleasant lunch, we returned to work and fixed a few problems. We decided to pace the amount of work we’d do since we knew we weren’t leaving for a few days. The next stop was to our room for a siesta. We continued this pattern for the next three days, get up, work, eat lunch, nap, and work some more, and finally go to dinner to eat some more. Our first night on base was enlightening because the more remote bases do not have lights. Therefore, we walked by the built-in flash lights of our cell phones.

One night, we ran low on our “white gold”. We saw our sponsor and told him we needed toilet paper. He only understood, “paper”, so he put his hands together and motioned like he was turning pages in a book. We repeated the phrase only slower and louder (as if that ever works). We tried to get him to understand it was a different type of paper we needed. In the back of my mind, I knew what would make him understand, but I didn’t want to go there. Finally, after several unsuccessful attempts, I demonstrated the type of paper we needed. “Ohhhh, toilet paper”, he says while laughing. A few minutes later he returns with the goods.

We traveled to another base a day or so later. When we arrived, the officer took us to our rooms and we took a break prior to getting our work done. We walked around to pass the time when we came across a memorial. It is a reminder how the attacks over nine years ago changed the world.

Contractors often seize opportunities to work in Iraq and Afghanistan because of the economic opportunities. Nevertheless, we would have another realization of the life and death consequences due to the war before we completed our trip.

-Roger

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A Revolutionary Trip to Egypt

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