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Provided By: Muslim Harji
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Travel Log - From Cairo to
Cape Town
Update #3 - Jan. 22, 2006
Dear friends and family,
tomorrow, we are taking a ferry into the Sudan and so i wanted to take this last
opportunity in Egypt to write to you all quickly. I don't know what access to
Internet will be like later down the road, but i wanted to let you know that if
you don't hear from us for a little while, it's not for lack of desire to write,
but more the conditions.
The last few days of biking have been quite wonderful, with long distances, but
a lot of exciting things on the way to fill the time. One day, after biking for
three hours straight uphill and only traveling 40 kilometers, we were just
exhausted, but besides that, the roads have been flat, the sun has been shining
and the people in every small village and town have been thrilled to see us. All
along the route, little children line the road and wave, big smiles on their
faces, with looks that are either amazement or wonder about us foreigners with
our crazy machines. Tiny voices yelling at loud as they can "Hallooo", "Where
you from?" or "Lady, money money!" follow us everywhere, but just seeing cute
little kids is really uplifting for our spirits. Nothing can put a smile on my
face like a little kid.
We reached Aswan today after pedaling from Luxor. Luxor is by far my favorite
city in Egypt, and Cairo with its pyramids can't hold a candle to this place.
Luxor is like one giant living, breathing museum, and some of the most amazing
artifacts can be found in that city. We went to both the Valley of the Kings and
Queens, the Temple of Hab-shep-soot and the Temple of Karnak all in one day. It
was exhausting, but amazing and well worth the effort. In the valleys, we got to
go into tombs that have been discovered that are still in excellent conditions.
It is unbelievable that even after thousands of years, the colors in the
hieroglyphics are still vivid and clear and that they were carved with such
great attention to detail. My mouth was agape in awe the whole time I was there.
There are more than 42 tombs in the Valley of Kings right now and excavation
continues. There are still hundreds of discoveries being made and many different
organizations at work. Many crews use sonar waves and bounce them underground.
When they discover large empty air space underground, they begin to dig. I don't
know exactly how it works, but it's still pretty cool to see. By far, the Temple
of Karnak is the most incredible thing I have seen in my life. This temple is in
honor of a triad of gods and every pharaoh that lived added something on to it
as a symbol of their belief and dedication. There are enormous stone columns,
obelisks, hieroglyphs and even a large pool of water, said to be the location of
the birth of creation. We got a tour guide who looked pretty dodgy, but turned
out to be exceptionally knowledgeable about the whole place, and he informed us
about the entire place in great detail. The unfortunate thing is that the
details don't always stay with you, but it was quite exciting to learn.
In Luxor, I caved and went to eat at the McDonalds that they have there. This
was really for two reasons. First off, I wanted to eat something that didn't
taste like sand. Camp food, as great as it is, can really get to you, and if
it's always windy, as it has been, you inevitably eat a bunch of sand. As well,
i wanted to see exactly how similar the food there was to what we get in Canada.
Besides some local additions like the McArabia sandwich, things are pretty much
the same. The Big Mac tastes just about the same as well, not as good though.
Anyhow, today, we are in Aswan. Unfortunately, due to some immigration problems,
we will not get the chance to go to Abu Simbel and will all instead leave from
here to go to the Sudan. I was really looking forward to going to Abu Simbel,
but hey, you can't have it all..... In Aswan, we went to the Mausoleum of Sultan
Mohammed Shah, the burial site of an important past leader of the Ismaili
community. For people of the older generation, this site is really important
because they lived when he led the community. The mausoleum is very humble and
simple, with beautiful marble stone calligraphy. The grounds hold not only the
crypt and the monument, but also the summer home of Sultan Mohammed Shah and his
wife. There is also a little "zoo", with gazelles. In total, there are about 3
people on the grounds at any time, a gardener, a man who prays at the site, and
the manager. They also have a book with the names of everyone that has come to
visit the grave and where they come from. Looking through, we were able to find
the names of some people we know, even some that come from Montreal. My father
really enjoyed the visit, and although my enthusiasm was not at that same high
level, it was still really interesting to learn that my great-grandmother had
attended his burial and I'm glad I participated in that aspect of our religious
history.
So tomorrow, we take off for the Sudan. Just the other day, we had a patch of
road that was made of rocks and mud due to construction, and so we have had a
small taste of what awaits. I don't know how we are going to manage, it's going
to be quite tough, but as the saying goes, what doesn't kill you only makes you
stronger.
My general impressions of Egypt are really quite positive. Being here has really
given me the urge to take up learning Arabic, if only to understand what
everyone keeps yelling at us! We have seen some beautiful things here -
Bedouins, little villages, cars playing loud music in celebration of their
return from the Hajj pilgrimage - tempered by some negative things, like
corruption. Taking both the good with the bad, however, i have to say that
overall, my experience so far has been great.
We will write more as soon as we get a chance, perhaps in Dongola or in
Khartoum, the next two big city centers that we hit.
Thanks
Muslim & Ayesha Harji
“Luxor is by far my favourite city in
Egypt, and Cairo with its pyramids can't hold a candle to this place. Luxor is
like one giant living, breathing museum, and some of the most amazing artefacts
can be found in that city.”
“We went to both the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the
Temple of Hab-shep-soot and the Temple of Karnak all in one day. It was
exhausting, but amazing and well worth the effort. In the valleys, we got to go
into tombs that have been discovered that are still in excellent conditions. It
is unbelievable that even after thousands of years, the colors in the
hieroglyphics are still vivid and clear and that they were carved with such”
Beautiful Aswan
“The Mausoleum of Sultan Mohammed Shah, the burial site of an important
past leader of the Ismaili community. For people of the older generation, this
site is really important because they lived when he led the community. The
mausoleum is very humble and simple, with beautiful marble stone calligraphy.
The grounds holds not only the crypt and the monument, but also the summer home
of Sultan Mohammed Shah and Mata Salamat”.
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