Egypt 2005

In Cairo we stayed at the Cario Marriott which is located on an island in the Nile. No kidding. And our cruise ship when we went to Upper Egypt was the M/S River Anuket. Both were very nice, but the veranda of the Marriott wins hands down as the most relaxing place I've ever been.

Our Egyptian guide Basem Salah told us the first day that we would be walking in the shoes of the ancient Egyptians. He forgot to mention that we would also be sitting in stocking feet at a mosque like modern Egyptians. Basem was the delight of the trip. He has the teacher's knack of being able to break extreme time spans into comprehensible bites. For those of us who were novices at Egyptian history, he made it flow and meld so that we weren't merely seeing temple after temple after tomb, but a timeline of important and impressive events. And he could do this with patience and humor in temperatures of over 100 degrees. Awesome.

Not only did we get to delve into Basem's storehouse of knowledge about ancient and modern Egypt, but we got the chance to meet a delightful Egyptian family when we had dinner at their house. This charming extended family--from left, the mother, daughter, her son, the family's nephew, and the father--opened their home and hearts to us. They served a typical Egyptian meal and talked to us about the concerns and ideas floating around modern Cairo. I was particularly struck by my conversation with the nephew Mohammed, who is a great fan of the Internet and text messaging. (Hi, Mohammed!)

This Grand Circle Travel tour was superlative, an educational and recreational delight. But what made it extra special was the time and committment of Basem whose sense of humor and lightning fast recall of facts kept us entertained and informed the entire trip.

Remember to click on the small photos on the following pages to see them enlarged!

Here are the highlights of our trip. Enjoy!