Luxor, Egypt - is a site of many large temples that were constructed by Egyptian Kings prior to the pyramids in Cario. There is also an area called the Valley of the Kings were during the past century that have discovered tombs of Kings that date back to 2,500BC.
It was incredible to stand in these temples and burial sites and try and imagine what it must have been like. The only things that I can relate this sense of awe is to the old movies such as Cleopatra and the more recent movie Gladiator (Russell Crowe). I always thought that Hollywood had over built the sets and displays and that nothing could be as grand as what they portrayed – how wrong I was!!!! If anything Hollywood did not capture the majesty and grandeur of these sites. The attached pictures from these sites do little justice to the real thing as in the pictures you don’t get a true sense of the size of the structures and sites.
Karnak's Temple Luxor
Temple at Luxor
Temple Luxor
Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt – is an area that the former dictator of Egypt; Mubarak tried to develop into a high end tourist resort. I found it not only ostentatious but totally artificial with no redeeming values save the beautiful beaches. However, there was no public free access to the beaches, you had to rent loungers or chairs to get to the beach and it seemed every section of the beach had different pricing and schemes. If anything the Egyptians are an entrepreneurial group who will figure out how to get the very last dollar out of your pocket.
Suez Canal, Egypt – the canal is an interesting place that once you start through it you see the significant contribution it makes not only to world trade but also to military involvement in the area. Each day convoys form up at the south and north entrance to the canal. Each ship requires prior permission to enter the canal and they transit the canal in convoys, one convoy leaves the north and another leaves the south. There is a point midway where the canal is wide enough for the convoys to pass. There are only three convoys a day allowed through (two from the north and one from the south). We were sandwiched between two American Navy War Ships so we felt very secure. There is a huge American Military presence throughout the region and we saw many American and NATO war ships throughout the transition between Dubai and the northern part of the Suez Canal. Part of this is of course the recurring pirate problem near Somalia an area we were within a few miles of the coast as we entered the region of Egypt.
On the way through the canal, it was a dull cloudy day
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