Well, after 23 hours of flying and a short drive home from Cincinnati, Lea, Frank and I made it home last night around 3:30 p.m. All the flights were F,F and E (fast, fun and easy)! The only hiccup was that Lea and Frank's checked luggage ended up being loaded on a later flight. Getting a delayed luggage claim filed, etc. took some extra time, but we were on the road to Lexington around 2:00. Bless Lillibeth's heart for coming to get us and for her patience. I couldn't get cell phone service in the airport. I received a voice mail from her once we landed, so I had coverage on the tarmac, but not inside the terminal. Anyway, it was all sorted out and we were on our way home tired, but happy.
Turns out that Martin was on the 3:30 flight that Lea and Frank's luggage was on. Apparently he saw their bags on the carousel and delivered them to our house last night! What an angel he is and what a gift it was to see them on our back porch last night around 9:30! That kind of thoughtfulness and generosity was experienced by us throughout our trip and we're so grateful to have friends and family who are so loving and considerate. We're truly blessed!
On our drive home from the Cincy airport, we were amazed at how green and hilly Kentucky now seems to us after 3-weeks in Egpyt!
We're, of course, jet lagged. Frank went to bed first. He's been fighting a cold that the group started sharing near the end of the cruise. Please send energy that Lea and I can avoid getting this. Thanks! Then Lea went to bed around 7:30 and I stayed up until 10:00. We all woke up this morning at 6:30 a.m.
Well, at this point, I think this will conclude my new entries for this Egypt Blog. If I think of something else to add, I will. I've already added some videos to previous posts, so if you get a chance, please feel free to go back and take a look at those. I could never get the videos to load properly while in Egpyt as the file size seemed to put me over my bandwidth limit. There are MANY things to be grateful for in being home, and true high-speed broadband is one of them (along with pups, soft tissues and thick toilet paper)!
Egypt is an amazing country and I highly recommend it as a destination for anyone wanting to have an adventure. The sites, temples, landscape, and Nile valley are magnificent and on a scale that no photo can do justice. However, Egypt's biggest treasure is her people. Egyptian hospitality knows no bounds and a visitor's comfort is of prime concern. As our dear friends Manal and Basem say, "Nothing is impossible." and that sums up the attitude and spirit of the Egyptian people. We're truly blessed to have visited Egypt again, and I hope to go back again some day!
Thanks for all those who visited my blog and who added comments along the way. I haven't had a chance to read them all, yet, but hope to later this morning. Knowing that you were following our journey with us motivated me to continue to post and I could feel you there in Egypt with us. Thanks for that support and for the love and energy you sent us--it made a HUGE difference. Please feel free to continue to comment. There's no reason we can't continue to discuss the highlights of the trip together in this blog by using the comments section. I hope that trip participants, most who weren't able to keep up with this blog while traveling, will add their comments and memories, too. This blog was written from my experiences only and there's so much more than any one person's perspective to share. I hope that the sharing and commenting continues. If not, this blog seems to have served it purpose by allowing me to share with you a little of what we experienced while in Egpyt. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.
I hope to see all of you again in person sometime soon. Until then, much love and gratitude,
Stuart
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
2 Flights down, one more and a drive to go!
We just landed in Richmond after an uneventful flight from JFK and awaiting our next flight which departs around 11:30.
Going back to the trip, we left the Black Desert and arrived at our hotel in the Bahariya Oasis shortly before dark. Lea, Frank and I were disappointed that the new section they were building in January was still under construction. This was the most disappointing oasis hotel experience we had had on our Inspection Trip in January and, unfortunately, the hotel hadn't changed any since. One trip participant commented to Lea the following morning that the hotel was the example of what happens when men build, design, run and maintain a hotel without any input from women! He's probably correct. The hotel grounds and common areas are nice enough considering you're in very rural Egypt in the poorest oasis in the desert. But the rooms sorely lack any comforts--for instance, no shower curtains. Like our visit in January, we had low water pressure and could only get a trickle of water from our hand-held shower head. Lea was exhausted and after spending the night in the desert we both desperately wanted a nice hot shower, but none was to be found at this hotel. After several visits from maintenance, and a shower head replacement, we figured we had it as good as it was going to get and took our showers.
We went down to dinner hungry but for what turned out to be the poorest offerings we'd had all trip. There was little available to us other than salads. We sat around our table eating quietly looking every bit the travel-weary group we were. Many of us had been traveling together for three weeks which included a major Dragon energy working (and all that entails) with Samuel--we had good reason to be whipped. As Lea would say, we looked like we'd been "rode hard and put up wet." which is a phrase I think she picked up from Gwen back in her horseback riding days. Lea retired early, but I was concerned about going back to the room at 8:00 p.m. I knew that I should avoid going to bed that early if I wanted a full night's sleep.
So I joined another table and we chatted for a while. We left the dining room and as I was walking back to our room, I stumbled across a small group of ours sitting out in the garden chatting. The temperature was delightful, so I asked if I could join them. It was a delightful exchange of White Desert trip stories. Jeanean was sharing stories as only Jeanean can with Catherine S. egging her on every bit of the way! It was a hoot and I'm glad that our guide, Mena, was a part of this experience. He commented on how early we retired every night, especially when we had an early morning the next day. On this night he was able to see that not everyone was in bed by 10:00 p.m.
The following morning was a check out and a 9:00 a.m. departure. The tombs and museum of the Golden Mummies didn't open until 9:00. So, we made our brief visits and then stopped at a coffee shop under the guise of a bathroom stop for our group, but I think the real reason was that our drivers wanted to have a "shisha"--tobacco water pipe. After spending about 30-minutes there, they took us to a little oasis very near the hotel where we had spent the previous night. We walked back through some date palms and ended up having a delightful picnic in the shade of the trees consisting of: eggplant; tomatoes, olives and cucumbers; falafel; bananas, pears and dates collected from the trees we were sitting under for desert, and more.
There are many varieties of dates all of which can, and are, eaten at different times of the year. The picnic dates (as you can see) were yellow and tasted a little like caramel! Yum! At the restaurant in the Khan al Khalili market, we ate fresh red dates. These were sweet, had the texture of a crisp apple with a similar water contecnt, but were a little starchy. Apparently, these dates can be eaten once dried, as well, which must occur around Christmas time, as our guide referred to these as Christmas dates.
When we arrived at the picnic site, we walked past a donkey. Once we were settled in at our picnic area, Lea remembered we had an apple in our backpack and wanted to feed it to the donkey. When she was in college, she used to train donkeys for the Shriner Circus! She loves donkeys, and animals in general, so we went back so she could feed the apple to it.
We then loaded up in the Land Cruisers and headed towards Cairo. Shortly after we were on the main road one of the cruisers had a flat tire. We watched as they changed the tire and had us on the road again in less than 5-minutes. In watching at how efficiently this took place I assume this was a common occurrence in the desert. I was right. It happened again with another one of our vehicles later that afternoon. They must go through a lot of tires!
We made another unexpected stop enroute. Like the Black Desert stop, this wasn't something we had experienced in January and it was delightful. We went off road and up a steep sand dune for a photo op. The view was stunning!
Also stunning, was the fact that what we were standing on (had driven up) was a dune of compacted and crushed seabed shells.
What ended up happening was that every jeep had a photo taken with their driver. It all started rather spontaneously with jeep #1. Each vehicle "stole" their idea and wanted a photo with our fellow travelers and driver. After we did this, we agreed that we wanted a photo taken with everyone. To make a tri-pod, we attached Don's camera to a portable and flexible tri-pod I had brought with me. We then attached it to a hand-hold on one of the vehicles. Don set his camera to timer mode so he could join the frame. Thanks, Don, for catching this Kodak moment for us all and for emailing the photo to me so quickly so I could post it.
We had climbed up the dune in the Land Cruisers following a switch-back style path. However, we went straight down the steep side of the dune on our departure!
We hit the outskirts of Cairo around 5:30 p.m. Friday is the Islamic holy day of the week, so Thursday afternoon traffic is like our Friday afternoon rush hour traffic (but since it's Cairo you can multiply it by 100!). Traffic was bumper to bumper and moved at a snails pace! We didn't arrive at our hotel until 7:10 p.m. Eighteen of the 27-member group had a 12:30 a.m. flight, so we needed to check in to the hotel, shower/shave, repack and gather back in the hotel lobby at 9:00 p.m. for an airport transfer! Obviously, this was a real challenge to do after such a tiring day of travel and a long, 3-three week trip! It was a mad dash, and I didn't think we were going to be able to do it, (I think it took all the energy Lea could muster to be able to do all of this at such a frantic pace) but we all made it back in time to leave for the airport. Traffic again was very heavy and chaotic--typical Cairo traffic! Earlier in the trip, we had noticed that they steer their grocery carts the same way they drive. At the airport we learned that they do the same with the luggage carts. To us, it's complete madness, but to them it's organized chaos.
Well, the airport was stressful, but we made it through the gauntlet and our flight seemed to leave on time which leads us to where we are now, in Richmond. It looks like our flight to Cincy is getting ready to board, so I'll close for now.
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
Going back to the trip, we left the Black Desert and arrived at our hotel in the Bahariya Oasis shortly before dark. Lea, Frank and I were disappointed that the new section they were building in January was still under construction. This was the most disappointing oasis hotel experience we had had on our Inspection Trip in January and, unfortunately, the hotel hadn't changed any since. One trip participant commented to Lea the following morning that the hotel was the example of what happens when men build, design, run and maintain a hotel without any input from women! He's probably correct. The hotel grounds and common areas are nice enough considering you're in very rural Egypt in the poorest oasis in the desert. But the rooms sorely lack any comforts--for instance, no shower curtains. Like our visit in January, we had low water pressure and could only get a trickle of water from our hand-held shower head. Lea was exhausted and after spending the night in the desert we both desperately wanted a nice hot shower, but none was to be found at this hotel. After several visits from maintenance, and a shower head replacement, we figured we had it as good as it was going to get and took our showers.
We went down to dinner hungry but for what turned out to be the poorest offerings we'd had all trip. There was little available to us other than salads. We sat around our table eating quietly looking every bit the travel-weary group we were. Many of us had been traveling together for three weeks which included a major Dragon energy working (and all that entails) with Samuel--we had good reason to be whipped. As Lea would say, we looked like we'd been "rode hard and put up wet." which is a phrase I think she picked up from Gwen back in her horseback riding days. Lea retired early, but I was concerned about going back to the room at 8:00 p.m. I knew that I should avoid going to bed that early if I wanted a full night's sleep.
So I joined another table and we chatted for a while. We left the dining room and as I was walking back to our room, I stumbled across a small group of ours sitting out in the garden chatting. The temperature was delightful, so I asked if I could join them. It was a delightful exchange of White Desert trip stories. Jeanean was sharing stories as only Jeanean can with Catherine S. egging her on every bit of the way! It was a hoot and I'm glad that our guide, Mena, was a part of this experience. He commented on how early we retired every night, especially when we had an early morning the next day. On this night he was able to see that not everyone was in bed by 10:00 p.m.
The following morning was a check out and a 9:00 a.m. departure. The tombs and museum of the Golden Mummies didn't open until 9:00. So, we made our brief visits and then stopped at a coffee shop under the guise of a bathroom stop for our group, but I think the real reason was that our drivers wanted to have a "shisha"--tobacco water pipe. After spending about 30-minutes there, they took us to a little oasis very near the hotel where we had spent the previous night. We walked back through some date palms and ended up having a delightful picnic in the shade of the trees consisting of: eggplant; tomatoes, olives and cucumbers; falafel; bananas, pears and dates collected from the trees we were sitting under for desert, and more.
There are many varieties of dates all of which can, and are, eaten at different times of the year. The picnic dates (as you can see) were yellow and tasted a little like caramel! Yum! At the restaurant in the Khan al Khalili market, we ate fresh red dates. These were sweet, had the texture of a crisp apple with a similar water contecnt, but were a little starchy. Apparently, these dates can be eaten once dried, as well, which must occur around Christmas time, as our guide referred to these as Christmas dates.
When we arrived at the picnic site, we walked past a donkey. Once we were settled in at our picnic area, Lea remembered we had an apple in our backpack and wanted to feed it to the donkey. When she was in college, she used to train donkeys for the Shriner Circus! She loves donkeys, and animals in general, so we went back so she could feed the apple to it.
We then loaded up in the Land Cruisers and headed towards Cairo. Shortly after we were on the main road one of the cruisers had a flat tire. We watched as they changed the tire and had us on the road again in less than 5-minutes. In watching at how efficiently this took place I assume this was a common occurrence in the desert. I was right. It happened again with another one of our vehicles later that afternoon. They must go through a lot of tires!
We made another unexpected stop enroute. Like the Black Desert stop, this wasn't something we had experienced in January and it was delightful. We went off road and up a steep sand dune for a photo op. The view was stunning!
Also stunning, was the fact that what we were standing on (had driven up) was a dune of compacted and crushed seabed shells.
What ended up happening was that every jeep had a photo taken with their driver. It all started rather spontaneously with jeep #1. Each vehicle "stole" their idea and wanted a photo with our fellow travelers and driver. After we did this, we agreed that we wanted a photo taken with everyone. To make a tri-pod, we attached Don's camera to a portable and flexible tri-pod I had brought with me. We then attached it to a hand-hold on one of the vehicles. Don set his camera to timer mode so he could join the frame. Thanks, Don, for catching this Kodak moment for us all and for emailing the photo to me so quickly so I could post it.
We had climbed up the dune in the Land Cruisers following a switch-back style path. However, we went straight down the steep side of the dune on our departure!
We hit the outskirts of Cairo around 5:30 p.m. Friday is the Islamic holy day of the week, so Thursday afternoon traffic is like our Friday afternoon rush hour traffic (but since it's Cairo you can multiply it by 100!). Traffic was bumper to bumper and moved at a snails pace! We didn't arrive at our hotel until 7:10 p.m. Eighteen of the 27-member group had a 12:30 a.m. flight, so we needed to check in to the hotel, shower/shave, repack and gather back in the hotel lobby at 9:00 p.m. for an airport transfer! Obviously, this was a real challenge to do after such a tiring day of travel and a long, 3-three week trip! It was a mad dash, and I didn't think we were going to be able to do it, (I think it took all the energy Lea could muster to be able to do all of this at such a frantic pace) but we all made it back in time to leave for the airport. Traffic again was very heavy and chaotic--typical Cairo traffic! Earlier in the trip, we had noticed that they steer their grocery carts the same way they drive. At the airport we learned that they do the same with the luggage carts. To us, it's complete madness, but to them it's organized chaos.
Well, the airport was stressful, but we made it through the gauntlet and our flight seemed to leave on time which leads us to where we are now, in Richmond. It looks like our flight to Cincy is getting ready to board, so I'll close for now.
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
Greetings from New York's JFK Airport!
We just arrived a few minutes ago and it's great to be back in the USA--the land of high-speed internet (among, of course, many other awesome things and people!)! :-)
First of all, Lea asked that I tell her folks hello for her! "Hi!" Clyde, Neva, Bob and E! :-)
Our flight from Cairo was fast, fun and easy. I may have written earlier that Lea and I are flying business class cashing in some (most) of our American Express points. The flight home was even better than the flight over. We both got a lot of sleep. Lea's was Ambien induced, mine was sheer exhaustion.
Our last day in the desert was good but really made for a long travel day. But before I get into that, I think I should fill you in more on the day before. I mentioned the white desert and how impressive it was. After visiting it, we went back to the camp for lunch and then packed our bags and headed to the final oasis on our safari--the Baharya Oasis--via the black desert.
Before reaching the Black Desert, we had a scheduled stop at the Crystal Mountain. Didn't I already mention this? I'm not sure. Sorry if this is a repeat. It's not so much of a mountain as it is a hill and the crystals aren't quartz crystals that we often think of when we think crystals, so at first, based entirely on the name, the site can be a disappointment. However, upon closer inspection, people began to realize how amazing it is to find all these crystals growing out in the middle of the desert. They're everywhere you look.
When we were packing up from lunch at the encampment in the desert, you could see water vapor, like steam, rising in the air. It was sooo hot!. After a while we noticed the formation of clouds--the first we'd seen on our entire trip! By the time we reached Crystal Mountain there were very distinct clouds over head, so providing us with much welcomed shade. Here's a photo of one. I thought it looked like a peace dove.
After Crystal Mountain, we were back in our LandCruisers and heading to the Black Desert. We made one brief roadside stop for a photo op, and hardly anyone left their vehicles. Mena told me he thought our group was tired of the desert, and maybe they were.
On our Inspection Trip, we didn't make an excursion into the black desert, we only saw it from the road. With the group, we actually went off road and got to see the black desert up close and personal. It was nothing like I imagined it to be. It was more awesome than I thought it would be. Here's a view from up top the mountain. The wind up there was a amazing the temperature must have been 20 degrees cooler than the white desert was during at noon. It felt so refreshing! At this stop everyone came back to life again. Everyone left the vehicles and enjoyed the desert. One of the drivers made tea using a tea pot on a propane fueled burner. Everyone was laughing and having a good time! Maybe we weren't tired of the desert as much as tired of the 120 degree temperatures! This site was shaded and much cooler. Yay!
I need to cut short as they're going to boarding our flight soon. We fly next to Richmond, then Cincinnati and then drive home! We're so looking forward to being home again soon and seeing our pups! We've really missed them! I'll add more from Richmond, if there's time. If not, I'll come back once we're settled in a bit at home and share with you the last day of our trip.
This really was a trip of a lifetime and our group, the Egyptian people, the land, our guides and, of course, Manal and Basem, all made it so magical and memorable for us. This is a journey that we'll always remember.
I'll add more soon. Until then, much Love,
Stuart
First of all, Lea asked that I tell her folks hello for her! "Hi!" Clyde, Neva, Bob and E! :-)
Our flight from Cairo was fast, fun and easy. I may have written earlier that Lea and I are flying business class cashing in some (most) of our American Express points. The flight home was even better than the flight over. We both got a lot of sleep. Lea's was Ambien induced, mine was sheer exhaustion.
Our last day in the desert was good but really made for a long travel day. But before I get into that, I think I should fill you in more on the day before. I mentioned the white desert and how impressive it was. After visiting it, we went back to the camp for lunch and then packed our bags and headed to the final oasis on our safari--the Baharya Oasis--via the black desert.
Before reaching the Black Desert, we had a scheduled stop at the Crystal Mountain. Didn't I already mention this? I'm not sure. Sorry if this is a repeat. It's not so much of a mountain as it is a hill and the crystals aren't quartz crystals that we often think of when we think crystals, so at first, based entirely on the name, the site can be a disappointment. However, upon closer inspection, people began to realize how amazing it is to find all these crystals growing out in the middle of the desert. They're everywhere you look.
When we were packing up from lunch at the encampment in the desert, you could see water vapor, like steam, rising in the air. It was sooo hot!. After a while we noticed the formation of clouds--the first we'd seen on our entire trip! By the time we reached Crystal Mountain there were very distinct clouds over head, so providing us with much welcomed shade. Here's a photo of one. I thought it looked like a peace dove.
After Crystal Mountain, we were back in our LandCruisers and heading to the Black Desert. We made one brief roadside stop for a photo op, and hardly anyone left their vehicles. Mena told me he thought our group was tired of the desert, and maybe they were.
On our Inspection Trip, we didn't make an excursion into the black desert, we only saw it from the road. With the group, we actually went off road and got to see the black desert up close and personal. It was nothing like I imagined it to be. It was more awesome than I thought it would be. Here's a view from up top the mountain. The wind up there was a amazing the temperature must have been 20 degrees cooler than the white desert was during at noon. It felt so refreshing! At this stop everyone came back to life again. Everyone left the vehicles and enjoyed the desert. One of the drivers made tea using a tea pot on a propane fueled burner. Everyone was laughing and having a good time! Maybe we weren't tired of the desert as much as tired of the 120 degree temperatures! This site was shaded and much cooler. Yay!
I need to cut short as they're going to boarding our flight soon. We fly next to Richmond, then Cincinnati and then drive home! We're so looking forward to being home again soon and seeing our pups! We've really missed them! I'll add more from Richmond, if there's time. If not, I'll come back once we're settled in a bit at home and share with you the last day of our trip.
This really was a trip of a lifetime and our group, the Egyptian people, the land, our guides and, of course, Manal and Basem, all made it so magical and memorable for us. This is a journey that we'll always remember.
I'll add more soon. Until then, much Love,
Stuart
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Our last morning in the Desert
Marj says "Hello!" We're sitting in the courtyard of our Baharya Oasis with the hotel's kitty. She's ready for breakfast, I am, too!
Yesterday was an amazing day! The morning started with a delicious breakfast at our encampment. I wouldn't call what we did camping because we didn't pitch our own tents, we didn't slept in beds, we had running water (albeit no showers) and a mess hall and chef--let's hear it for 5-star camping in the desert!
After breakfast we went out into the white desert to enjoy seeing the very unusual rock formations. It was not hot yet, but the sun was strong and we knew it was only a matter of time.
Here's a photo of our tent. You can see it's quite comfortable and very romantic.
As we were heading out into the white desert, and before we went off-road, we came across some camels. Camels are not native to Egypt, but were imported from Asia.
We soon went off-road and visited the highlights of the White Desert, and there are many. It's such a unique area. In fact, one of the amazing things about the entire desert safari experience is that every excursion looks completely different! Such diversity in such a small area. The rock formations that are the most famous are the mushroom formations. The wind has eroded the rock in such a way that they're shaped like mushrooms. I guess the sediment layers near the base of the formations is softer (was less compacted?) and so erodes at a faster rate than the top layers. The wind and sand have created some masterful sculptures!
After visiting the mushroom area, we went to a spot with what appeared to be a very ancient tree on top of a hill. From this spot we had a panorama of the entire mushroom section of the white desert! We gathered for a merging heart tone.
From there we were driven to a small oasis and after that went to a rock formation that I called the Uluru of the White Desert. It was a large white rock protruding out of the desert. The views from the top of the rock were incredible. I don't think any photo could do it justice, although I hope all of the ones we took come close! We'll see.
By the time we left this location, it was getting really hot! We began making our way back to the encampment driving through more of the mushroom rock formations. On these stops more and more people remained in the jeeps to avoid the heat. At some locations we simply took our photos from the car and moved on--in typical tourist mode: been there, saw that, bought the t-shirt! :-)
Once we arrived back at the encampment it was at least 110˚ F! We were all seeking any shade we could find. Fortunately, there was a nice breeze and that helps. We had another gourmet lunch (by camping standards). I ate my first fresh pomegranate. It's a little work to the get at the fruit, but once you do it's delicious! It reminds me of the taste of the Italian liquor Compari (which I happen to like).
After lunch we packed our bags and headed towards the Baharya Oasis. Enroute our first stop a the Crystal Mountain. We tried to prepare people for what they would see at this stop by having a photo of it in our brochure, but some people had images in the mind of well, a crystal mountain! The fact is that it's not really a mountain and not a quartz crystal formation. It is, however, a large out cropping in the middle of the desert of crystals! Again, photos will follow if I can't get them uploaded from here.
After a merging heart tone at the crystal mountain, we headed into the Black Desert. On our inspection trip in January, we drove though the Black Desert without making any stops. Yesterday, they took us to an amazing location off road and it was amazing to see the Black Desert up close. It was nothing like I thought it would be. The light was perfect for photography and the temperature was at least 20 degrees cooler than it was in the desert! There was a strong wind and now everyone was more than willing to get out of the jeeps and enjoy themselves. One of the drivers made tea for everyone. A couple hours earlier we were all wilted flowers with no energy and now we were all laughing and enjoying ourselves.
Well, we're getting ready to leave the hotel and a photo is still uploading. I'll go ahead and post this and add the photos later.
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
Yesterday was an amazing day! The morning started with a delicious breakfast at our encampment. I wouldn't call what we did camping because we didn't pitch our own tents, we didn't slept in beds, we had running water (albeit no showers) and a mess hall and chef--let's hear it for 5-star camping in the desert!
After breakfast we went out into the white desert to enjoy seeing the very unusual rock formations. It was not hot yet, but the sun was strong and we knew it was only a matter of time.
Here's a photo of our tent. You can see it's quite comfortable and very romantic.
As we were heading out into the white desert, and before we went off-road, we came across some camels. Camels are not native to Egypt, but were imported from Asia.
We soon went off-road and visited the highlights of the White Desert, and there are many. It's such a unique area. In fact, one of the amazing things about the entire desert safari experience is that every excursion looks completely different! Such diversity in such a small area. The rock formations that are the most famous are the mushroom formations. The wind has eroded the rock in such a way that they're shaped like mushrooms. I guess the sediment layers near the base of the formations is softer (was less compacted?) and so erodes at a faster rate than the top layers. The wind and sand have created some masterful sculptures!
After visiting the mushroom area, we went to a spot with what appeared to be a very ancient tree on top of a hill. From this spot we had a panorama of the entire mushroom section of the white desert! We gathered for a merging heart tone.
From there we were driven to a small oasis and after that went to a rock formation that I called the Uluru of the White Desert. It was a large white rock protruding out of the desert. The views from the top of the rock were incredible. I don't think any photo could do it justice, although I hope all of the ones we took come close! We'll see.
By the time we left this location, it was getting really hot! We began making our way back to the encampment driving through more of the mushroom rock formations. On these stops more and more people remained in the jeeps to avoid the heat. At some locations we simply took our photos from the car and moved on--in typical tourist mode: been there, saw that, bought the t-shirt! :-)
Once we arrived back at the encampment it was at least 110˚ F! We were all seeking any shade we could find. Fortunately, there was a nice breeze and that helps. We had another gourmet lunch (by camping standards). I ate my first fresh pomegranate. It's a little work to the get at the fruit, but once you do it's delicious! It reminds me of the taste of the Italian liquor Compari (which I happen to like).
After lunch we packed our bags and headed towards the Baharya Oasis. Enroute our first stop a the Crystal Mountain. We tried to prepare people for what they would see at this stop by having a photo of it in our brochure, but some people had images in the mind of well, a crystal mountain! The fact is that it's not really a mountain and not a quartz crystal formation. It is, however, a large out cropping in the middle of the desert of crystals! Again, photos will follow if I can't get them uploaded from here.
After a merging heart tone at the crystal mountain, we headed into the Black Desert. On our inspection trip in January, we drove though the Black Desert without making any stops. Yesterday, they took us to an amazing location off road and it was amazing to see the Black Desert up close. It was nothing like I thought it would be. The light was perfect for photography and the temperature was at least 20 degrees cooler than it was in the desert! There was a strong wind and now everyone was more than willing to get out of the jeeps and enjoy themselves. One of the drivers made tea for everyone. A couple hours earlier we were all wilted flowers with no energy and now we were all laughing and enjoying ourselves.
Well, we're getting ready to leave the hotel and a photo is still uploading. I'll go ahead and post this and add the photos later.
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Greetings from the Desert
Last night we camped in the desert and it was the best night's sleep Lea's had since we were in Cairo! I slept well, too. :-) Lea woke me up about 2:30 a.m. so I could escort her to the latrine, which was fine with me because I needed to go, too! The stars were amazing. We just stood outside the tent for a few minutes just taking them in. With Lea's impaired vision, it's very rare for Lea to see stars anymore--so for her to see so many was such a gift! At one point, we both said, "Shooting Star!" and she started crying. The two of us seeing the same shooting star was such a gift. As I was typing this, Lea said she was thinking about the shooting star last night. I told her that I was writing about it just now. She said that it was a "Universe Loves me best moment" for her and that it must have really wanted her to see that star.
Our camp is deluxe. Each tent has one or two beds (with enough room to move a round), a bed-side table, a peg rack, shelf and mirror combo, waste basket and a great view from our front and back door! If you're going to camp in the desert, this is the way to do it!
Last night before dinner, we did a Toning. It was such a gift to get to tone with our friends in the middle of the desert! During the Love Circle everyone shared their gratitudes for being able to be together in the desert and for the trip in general.
The chef prepared us a lovely vegan, wheat-free dinner of rice, moussaka, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, and a oriental pastry. After dinner, we went out to the desert and sat around a camp fire. We were so amazed at how cool the sand was. It was burning our feet a couple hours earlier. We were also amazed that we were so close to a fire when we were so hot earlier in the day. We shared ghost stories around the fire and people talked about their haunted houses and Lea told people about the ghost kitty in our house. One of the drivers (whose name escapes me) came over the camp fire and began making coffee Bedouin style. It involved crushing coffee beans by hand with a mortar and pestal. He also crushed and added ginger. He then stiffed it into a small long-necked ceramic pot. He took some coals from the fire and put them into a shallow pit in the sand and sat the pot in the coals. Every now and then, he would take the pot and rub the bottom of it with a oil-soaked cloth and put it back on the coals. The oil kept the pot from cracking, I was told. Once the pot started steaming, he put out 8 small cups and put a small amount of sugar in each one. He then put something fibrous into the spout (to filter out the grinds) and poured a small amount into each cup. It was an amazing ritual he shared with us. Many of us drank his coffee and it was delicious! So strong, sweet and spicy!
This morning we're heading into the White Desert. I'm really looking forward to going back and to sharing this amazing place with our friends! They're going to love it!
Lea sends her love and asks me to let her her folks know that she's doing well and that this blog is their postcard! :-)
Time for coffee!
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
Our camp is deluxe. Each tent has one or two beds (with enough room to move a round), a bed-side table, a peg rack, shelf and mirror combo, waste basket and a great view from our front and back door! If you're going to camp in the desert, this is the way to do it!
Last night before dinner, we did a Toning. It was such a gift to get to tone with our friends in the middle of the desert! During the Love Circle everyone shared their gratitudes for being able to be together in the desert and for the trip in general.
The chef prepared us a lovely vegan, wheat-free dinner of rice, moussaka, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, and a oriental pastry. After dinner, we went out to the desert and sat around a camp fire. We were so amazed at how cool the sand was. It was burning our feet a couple hours earlier. We were also amazed that we were so close to a fire when we were so hot earlier in the day. We shared ghost stories around the fire and people talked about their haunted houses and Lea told people about the ghost kitty in our house. One of the drivers (whose name escapes me) came over the camp fire and began making coffee Bedouin style. It involved crushing coffee beans by hand with a mortar and pestal. He also crushed and added ginger. He then stiffed it into a small long-necked ceramic pot. He took some coals from the fire and put them into a shallow pit in the sand and sat the pot in the coals. Every now and then, he would take the pot and rub the bottom of it with a oil-soaked cloth and put it back on the coals. The oil kept the pot from cracking, I was told. Once the pot started steaming, he put out 8 small cups and put a small amount of sugar in each one. He then put something fibrous into the spout (to filter out the grinds) and poured a small amount into each cup. It was an amazing ritual he shared with us. Many of us drank his coffee and it was delicious! So strong, sweet and spicy!
This morning we're heading into the White Desert. I'm really looking forward to going back and to sharing this amazing place with our friends! They're going to love it!
Lea sends her love and asks me to let her her folks know that she's doing well and that this blog is their postcard! :-)
Time for coffee!
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
Monday, September 28, 2009
Getting ready to depart the Dakhla Desert Lodge
We're going to be heading into the white desert today and will be leaving soon. We have a lot of ground to cover, but not as much as yesterday. I slept pretty well but woke up a lot due to the heat. I slept better than Lea, did, though. She eventually got up and soaked a wash cloth to lay on her body to try to cool down and that seemed to help. Here are some photos of the Desert Lodge. Everyone loved this hotel, in spite of the heat, and many said they wished we could stay there another night.
Soon after we arrived, and as we were checking in, we were gifted with a panoramic view of a lovely sunset.
This morning, some folks went out to the abandoned Islamic city, Qsar, while the rest of us took a leisurely morning. I woke at 6:00 a.m. without an alarm and headed down to the hot-spring pool. I was the only one there. It was relaxing, refreshing and very peaceful. Here's a photo of the man-made pool. On the far right-hand side of the photo is where the hot spring water comes into the pool. It feels great to sit there and let the incoming water massage your back. The rest of the pool is from cool to tepid, depending on where you are. When you get out the breeze really cools you down and being that this is in the desert you dry off rather quickly.
After departing our hotel, we made a quick stop at some nearby tombs. I noticed that we could see the Desert Lodge hotel from the tombs.
I hope to have internet access while in the White Desert. We'll see.
Thanks for reading and love from Egypt,
Stuart
Soon after we arrived, and as we were checking in, we were gifted with a panoramic view of a lovely sunset.
This morning, some folks went out to the abandoned Islamic city, Qsar, while the rest of us took a leisurely morning. I woke at 6:00 a.m. without an alarm and headed down to the hot-spring pool. I was the only one there. It was relaxing, refreshing and very peaceful. Here's a photo of the man-made pool. On the far right-hand side of the photo is where the hot spring water comes into the pool. It feels great to sit there and let the incoming water massage your back. The rest of the pool is from cool to tepid, depending on where you are. When you get out the breeze really cools you down and being that this is in the desert you dry off rather quickly.
After departing our hotel, we made a quick stop at some nearby tombs. I noticed that we could see the Desert Lodge hotel from the tombs.
I hope to have internet access while in the White Desert. We'll see.
Thanks for reading and love from Egypt,
Stuart
Greetings from the Dakhla Oasis
Tonight we're in the Dakhla Oasis for one night after a long day of driving through the desert. It was a fantastic day, but a long and hot one! We arrived at this incredible desert lodge as tired puppies. Everyone seems to be enjoying the lodge in spite of their lack of AC. It's unbearably hot, but other than that it's all great!
We made several stops on the way from Luxor to here. I think everyone was really impressed to be in the desert. Here's a photo of some of our folks walking along a sand dune at our first stop of the day.
Here's a video of one of the Land Cruisers in the desert. It will hopefully give you an idea of some of the off-road treks we made.
I'd love to post more, but this connection is really slow and I'm really tired. Tomorrow should be an easier day of travel. I'm looking forward to spending the night in the desert. I won't have internet access there. Will try to connect somewhere soon.
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
We made several stops on the way from Luxor to here. I think everyone was really impressed to be in the desert. Here's a photo of some of our folks walking along a sand dune at our first stop of the day.
Here's a video of one of the Land Cruisers in the desert. It will hopefully give you an idea of some of the off-road treks we made.
I'd love to post more, but this connection is really slow and I'm really tired. Tomorrow should be an easier day of travel. I'm looking forward to spending the night in the desert. I won't have internet access there. Will try to connect somewhere soon.
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)