2. The ancient Egyptians were amazing at sculpting. the statues and pillars in all the ancient temples we went to were unbelievable!
2 1/2. I think I actually prefer overnight train rides (from Cairo to Luxor) over plane rides. much more comfortable i'm not going to lie! you get a bed and everything! it may be true that Tylenol PM also played a role in this comfort :)
3. Hieroglyphics are beautiful! So detailed and yes they look just like the one's in the movie, The Prince of Egypt. Every inch of all the Pharaoh's tombs we went into are completely decorated in hieroglyphics. and apparently you cannot take photo's of them in certain tombs- oops. its not so bad getting yelled at though if you cannot understand the language :)
4. Sailing down the Nile at sunset = awesome!
Sailing on the Nile at night while all the ancient temples are light up = stellar!
Riding a camel through a tiny village along the Nile, while watching the sunset = priceless.
5. King Ramses II (the one from Moses' story) was a red head. Ok well at least it looks red now because yes I DID GET TO SEE HIM! we went to the famous Cairo Museum and if you paid a little extra you could go see the mummies of ancient Pharaohs including King Tut! it was so rad! they had been mummified and preserved so well because they were kings, that their bodies are still totally intact! and a few of them even still have hair and toenails! one of my favorite parts of Egypt was hanging with these dudes.
6. When I die, i think i would like a coffin and a mask of PURE gold to be buried in, because that is what King Tut got to have. We saw his actual mask and it is truly solid gold! Unbelievable!
7. Egypt is VERY dirty and the food is just as dirty. We had to be very careful what we ate- nothing fresh, no fruits or veggies, no sauces, pretty much nothing that was not hot, and absolutely no water. well even though we were all really careful, about 8 out of 10 kids got what we like to call a very bad case of Pharaoh's Revenge- including me. after taking some strong medicine to stop it though, my body was trying to take an alternative route and come up through my mouth instead. well it is quite possible you could be eternally cursed if you throw up in the holy of holy's in an ancient egyptian temple, so I did not allow myself too... that worked well until eventually i just fainted. don't be alarmed- i was caught before i hit the stone ground :)
8. there is only one thing Egyptians want and that is your money, and they are pretty good at getting it. They trick you anyway they can into getting you to pay them. They even go so far as to hand you a weed that you watched them pick off the ground and then make you pay them for it haha
9. Being on top of Mt. Siani (where Moses received the 10 commandments) for sunrise is like being on top of the world! we started hiking it at 2:30 AM so we could be there to watch sunrise and it was breath taking! we were up above the clouds, and all we could see is mountain range after mountain range. We all sang hymns as we stood where God quite possible appeared and watched the sun rise up over the Middle East- it doesn't get cooler than that!
10. Experiencing the culture and the beauty of Egypt first hand has been an eye opening and an unforgettable experience that i will never forget for the rest of my life!
*pictures to come...
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