Egypt and Jordon - and our computer

Amman, Jordon
May 2, 2010

Egypt
History thousands of years old - being able to go in to the pyramids (bent over going in and out the small tunnel), cruising the Nile from Luxor to Aswan (4 days, 3 nights), having tea in an Egyptian market shop, sailing in a faluka on the Nile in Cairo past Paul's old apartment, and flying to Abu Simbel were all highlights of visiting Egypt.

Abu Simbel is a temple built by a Phaoroah in honor of his wife. The temple included incredible cliff carvings and rooms carved deep in to the mountain itself. When the Aswan Dam was built the entire half a mountain, cave rooms and all, was moved uphill to save it from drowning. The combination of old and new human inginuity combined to make an amazing wonder.

What surprised me most about Egypt? When cruising down the Nile I expected green palm trees and lush plants. What I didn't expect to see were the desert mountains rising behind the plants. The Nile must have eroded the land just like the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River (though the desert mountains are not as high). The mountains hovering above the lush green of the Nile plants are not sand dunes but rather mountains of eroded rock and rubble without a single plant or blade of grass growing on them - the Sahara Desert. The Sahara Desert borders the Nile and it's clear why the land adjacent to the Nile was such a welcoming place for human civilization for thousands of years.

Jordon
We are staying with new friends in Amman, Jordon and have greatly enjoyed their hospitality. Yesterday we toured Jerash, home of Hadrian's Arch. The arch is just a small part of the Roman ruins of a once grand town and the ruins, including the stone roads, sewer lines, hippodrome (where they still run chariot races every day), collosium, forum and more are considered to be the largest and most well preserved Roman ruins outside Italy.

Today we toured Amman and tomorrow we start our journey to Petra, the Dead Sea (where it's so salty you float) and a night in a Bedouin camp.

Computer
We've been able to get online quite a bit by connecting using wireless connections and our Acer netbook - unfortuneatley the computer has met an early death (undiagnosed issue) and for at least a while we will have to rely on friend's computers and internet cafes - we'll let you know how that goes...

Much love,

Jackie