Egypt continued...II

If I'm not mistaken, tourism is one of the biggest industries that fuel Egypt. Thus, the industry is somewhat controlled and directed by the government. If I remember right, we had a tour guide wherever we went at all times in Egypt, and that was because the tourism bureau requires visitors to have tour guides at all times. This also helps create jobs for many people like this man who was our tour guide for the whole time we were in Luxor. He was great. Been tour guiding for about 30+ years...I think.

Hot sunny day in the valley of the Kings. Actually, it was REALLY hot. I thought I was going faint at the valley of the Kings because it was so hot.

Fresco like paintings on the wall with symbols representing the sun-god Amon-Ra.

I'm not sure how correct I am if I said these were frescos, but they were something similar to frescos on the walls...brilliant colors shown above even after thousands of years. Can you imagine how amazing the place looked when they first finished it?

Hieroglyphics on one of the pillars in the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Amazing mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut located near the Valley of the Kings where the famous King Tut's tomb with untouched treasures were found. I wasn't able to get pictures at the Valley of the Kings because they didn't allow cameras if I remember right.

This Mortuary temple is dedicated to the Sun-god, Amon-Ra, and was placed at this location where a natural pyramid exists at the top of the mountain. (Seen at the top center of the photo above)

Queen Hatsepsut was the fifth reigning pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Ancient Egypt. A lot of the records and engravings that records her reign as pharaoh was destroyed after her death, so they have a hard time recovering information about her, but she was supposedly successful in deceiving everyone in Egypt in thinking that she was a man as most other pharaohs were.

Egypt continued...

This is our plane ride from Cairo to Luxor which is Southern Egypt or also called Upper Egypt or Kingdom in the olden days because the Nile river actually flows in the direction of south to north toward the Mediterranean sea. Jesse McLean is doing his thing.

Ancient wall carvings at the Step Pyramid of Zoser. Located in Memphis, Egypt. (Saqqara)

The colors are so vivid even after thousands of years.

Ancient Hieroglyphics

I think we were posing as the Pharaoh and the queen? Behind us is the roofed colonnade entrance to the burial complex for the step pyramid and other things.

This pyramid of Zoser in Saqqara built during the 27th century BC, is considered to be one of the first pyramids in the world, and also one of the first large stone constructed building. This pyramid consiste of several mastabas (a flat roofed, square or rectangular Egyptian tomb) built on top of each other.

Most of the guys...not all of them though

This guy showed us how papyrus was made...then this whole store ripped everyone off. They were really cool papyrus though.

I couldn't zoom out enough so I had to tilt the angle to get all of the pyramids

Represent BYUH

After about an hour of taking pictures and exploring the pyramids up close, we drove up to a near by hill to get a overview of the three greatest pyramids in the world.

That's how big they were. Miss all these faces. Adri, Kate the Jew, and Bryan Oats from left to right.

Had to include a jumping picture at the pyramids of Giza. Each block of stone was SO HUGE. It is truly a wonder how they put these pyramids together.

I don't know if the picture does justice but looking up at the pyramids at this angle was amazing.

I have dreamed of going to the pyramids in Cairo for as long as I can remember. I remember making sure to catch any kind of shows on TV about them. This is the biggest of the three of the Giza pyramids, the Pyramid of Khufu. If you look closely you will see a big hole or dimple at the bottom of the pyramid. That's where tomb raiders blasted a hold using explosives to forcefully enter the pyramid and raid it. It is also the entrance used today for tourists to go in to the chambers inside.

Inside was really hot and humid, and there was nothing there but an empty sarcophagus. The stone structure was impecable in its artisanship. The space between two stones that made up the walls of the main chamber was so tight and perfectly fitted, that they were barely noticeable. To see and experience all that I had seen on TV growing up was a dream come true.

Loads of people lining up to get tickets to get into the pyramid. Only 200 tourists are allowed to enter the main chambers of the pyramid of Khufu. Most of our BYU students got to go in. We got there early in order to get in line for our tickets, but the concept of being in line is non existent in Egypt. There were SO many people trying to cut in line we had to create a barricade, box out, do whatever we can to keep our places in line. This was one of the few times we were actually told to be rude and stand up for ourselves, otherwise other people will cut in line and you won't get a ticket to go in the pyramids. It seriously got pretty intense. There were people yelling at each other...we told people that they didn't belong in that part of the line to go back to the end of the line. A fun experience.

Redemption

Ok, I must admit that I was not the best blogger or journal keeper while I was in Jerusalem...which I partly regret. But, I did take about 10,000 photos to document my trip there. This is an attempt for me to redeem myself by picking up where I left off and completing my 'photo journal' from my travels in the Holy Land. It will take long, but I am determined to finish it. Here it goes...

Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee

where Christ called his Apostles, where he healed the sick, the lame, the blind, and performed many other miracles.

I had the most amazing 11 days of my life on the shores of Galilee.

Galilee was so beautiful. More pics to come.

Surf sesh on the Mediterranean!!!

We got to go to Tel Aviv again, but this time I was determined to rent a board not matter what because it started getting colder and I wasn't sure if I'll ever have the chance to surf in the Mediterranean Sea every again. Obviously these pictures are not in sequential order because this is a picture of when the sun was setting and we got to just chill and watch couple of wind surfers surf.

After enjoy a mean surf sesh in the Mediterranean, I just floated on the board for a little bit and just soaked it in. It was great.

Here is a picture of me all happy cuz it was super fun...to tell you the truth, the waves were so much better the last time we came, but I just wanted to get in the water. So I went to this place where they rent boards, and they told me they weren't renting boards that day because it was too windy for people to surf. I tried another place and this guy that was running the place told me that he was closing. I told him I was from Hawaii and he kinda lightened up and told me that he goes to Hawaii every year to surf and that all of his children were born there!

So, even though he was closing shop, he decided to just leave the keys under neath the mat and told me that I could just put the board back in the shop when I was done with it because he was going to leave as soon as he gave me the board! He was way cool about it. I also asked him how much it was per hour, and he told me 50 shekels/hour which is about $12, which is super cheap, but I decided I would ask him for a student discount and he said..."just give me however much you want, we respect people from Hawaii" - I'm glad I mentioned that I was from Hawaii...well I kinda had to because I was desperate and wanted him to know that I have come ALL THIS WAY to get a surf board! Anyhow, I kept it for about 2 hours and paid him 50 shekels since I didn't want to take advantage of his kindness. Alohas uncle.

Overall it was a GREAT day. This is a picture of us from the day. Brian Oats, Anna Banana, Brooklynn the bridge, Jewish Kate, and myself. I kinda wanted to post more pictures of all the biblical sites we've gone to but the internet just stopped working well so I'll do that another time.
Salamu walaykum!