Egypt

Irene and I spent December 13-21, 2006 in Egypt under the auspices of Lindblad Expeditions, the company which
had treated us so well in the Galapagos and Antarctica. We began with two nights in Cairo, then four aboard the
M/S Triton for a Nile cruise, and then two final nights at the foot of the pyramids.

Here's just a taste of the more than 750 pictures we took.

An early morning view of the Nile from our window at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo	Looking up outside the Saladin Citadel	The ablution fountain inside the courtyard of the Saladin Citadel
Circles of light within the Mohamed Ali Mosque	King Farouk presented this pulpit to the mosque in 1939	Looking up at the mosque's central dome
The Mosque of El-Nasser Mohamed	Gazing up, both outside ...	... and in
Because the Shah of Iran was too controversial a figure to be buried in his home country, he ended up in Cairo	Scott poses by King Farouk's tomb inside the Al-Refa'ey Mosque	As we drove past this synagogue, our tour guide told us that only 300 Jews remained in Cairo
We spent an afternoon at the Egyptian Museum, which houses over 120,000 antiquities—but we could have spent weeks	The next day we flew on to the Abu Simbel Airport, where we were greeted by this mosaic mural	The great temple of Ramses the Great at Abu Simbel
Irene and Scott happily pose before Ramses—but he doesn't seem happy to see us	One of the heads of Ramses broke off during an earthquake thousands of years ago	The colossi are more than 20 meters tall, with heads that stretch 4.2 meters from ear to ear
Beside the great temple of Ramses lies the smaller temple of Ramses' royal wife Nefertari	Scott prepares to enter the smaller temple	The unfinished obelisk in the quarry at Aswan would have weighed 1168 tons if it had been successfully extracted
We arrive at the M/S Triton, which would be our home on the Nile for four nights	Irene shows off our cabin	Before dinner, we took a felucca ride along the Nile
We enjoy the sights and smells of the Nile as the wind pushes us along	The legendary Old Cataract Hotel, which opened in 1899, inspired the Agatha Christie novel Death on the Nile	The sun sets on the Nile as the felucca takes us back to our ship
At dinner that night, my Chicken Topkaki was presented to look like, well, a chicken	We cross by motorboat to the island of Agilika, where we'll be able to walk through ...	... the Philae Temple, dedicated to the cult of Isis
Isis was worshipped here long after Theodosius declared that pagan temples should be closed in 395 A.D.	The temple remained intact through the ages, but was partially submerged when the first Aswan dam was built in 1912	The temple stood half under water from 1934 through 1964
The work to move the temple to higher ground began in 1972, and took two-and-a-half years	Inside Philae Temple	Once more, Scott and Irene prove that they were actually there
Later that day, the M/S Triton takes us on to Kom Ombo	The temple is less than 100 yards from the water	Kom Ombo was built as a dual temple to two unrelated dieties—the hawk god Harois and Sobec the crocodile god
The temple is Greco-Roman in age, and took over 400 years to construct	Looking up at the columns of Kom Ombo	A relief at Kom Ombo
Scott and Irene at Kom Ombo	As we sailed along the Nile that night, we could see the brightly lit tombs of noblemen	Scott and fellow traveler Jerry Homsy arrive for dinner in the traditional Egyptian galabeya
The chef aboard the M/S Triton built pyramids out of rice pudding	That night, our towels and blankets were formed into the shape of an alligator	We arrive at Edfu, the best preserved of Egypt's monuments
Edfu contains some of the finest art and architecture of the Ptolemaic period	Text on the outer wall indicates that construction began in 237 B.C. and was completed in 57 B.C.	The temple is dedicated to Horus, Hathor, and their son Horus the younger
Two cute birds perch at Edfu	Ptolemy III claimed that he was building Edfu based on a plan by Imhotep	And then it was on to Karnak, approached via an alley of ram-headed sphinxes
Karnak isn't a single temple, but a huge complex of shrines and temples	A 45-foot tall statue of Ramses II welcomes visitors to Karnak	Almost all of the kings of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties recorded their names and deeds at Karnak
Hatshepsut's standing obelisk, at 29.5 meters, is the tallest standing obelisk in Egypt	In more than two centuries of digging, only 11.4% of Karnak has been excavated down to the ancient soil level	Even after thousands of years, the paint on the god the Greeks called Thoth is still brilliant
A bus ride brings us to the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut	This temple, designed by the architect Semnut, was carved out of the face of the cliff	Once more, we marvelled at the traces of paint which could still be seen after centuries
Painted relief of Anubis	Painted relief of the Pharaoh Thuthmosis III seated at a feast table	These Colossi of Memnon are all that remain of the mortuary temple of Amnehotep III
We join other passengers, for a traditional Egyptian dinner, all of us dressed in galabeyas	Luxor Temple, built on the east bank of the Nile, at dawn	The main entrance was originally flanked by six statues of Ramses, but only two have survived
Luxor Temple was built by Amenhotep III, who ruled Egypt during the 18th dynasty	This wall carving tells the story of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt	The 328-foot long processional colonnade of 14 papyrus-capital columns
Ancient Christians once covered over the Egyptian gods with plaster and painted their own scenes	Pharaoh Ramesses II approaching the God Amun Ra	The columns and Pharaonic statues at Luxor
Luxor's alley of sphinxes once led all the way to Karnak	We pose with Ramses as we prepare to leave Luxor	The step pyramid of Zoser in Saqqara
We couldn't find Elvis in Memphis—but we did find a giant statue of Ramses II	The alabaster Sphinx at Memphis is 26 feet long, 13 feet tall and weighs around 90 tons	Then it was on to the pyramids, which are so large that they're more easily photographed from a distance
The Great Pyramid—the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of Ancient World	We certainly look happy to be at the pyramids!	We circle the pyramids to find ourselves face to face with the Sphinx
Scott poses with the Sphinx	Look closely, you'll see the shadows of Scott and Irene waving on the rump of the Sphinx	Scott prepares to head off on a camel ride, while Irene waits behind and wonders whether she'll ever see him again
It turns out that the hardest part of riding a camel is getting down	The view from the balcony of our room at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel	As the sun goes down over the pyramids, we prepare to say goodbye to Egypt

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