Giza, Pyramids

From Egypt, Cairo, Leap

We woke up in the morning and haggled with a couple taxi drivers on prices for driving us to the Pyramids. One driver got mad at us and decided not to help us out because he did not like our offer, but the other driver agreed to take us. He ended up staying with us for the afternoon and drove us back to the hotel from the pyramids. We had fun riding camels and soaking in the grandeur of the Great
Pyramids.



Our time with Nihad, her fiance and family was too short. They overwhelmed us with their warm hospitality and kindness. We were honored to enjoy a family dinner with them prior to departing for Beijing. Thank you Nihad for a wonderful experience while in Cairo.

From Egypt, Cairo, Last Supper

Cairo Street Market & Christmas Opera

Text coming soon. We will write while on the plane to Beijing tonight. We should arrive on the Tuesday. We are looking forward to a visit with the Fadling Family. We plan on celebrating Christmas with them.

Today we went to the markets with Nihad. We perused the market bargaining with the store owners. They were not happy that Nihad, an Arabic speaker was with us. She gave us more purchasing power. We developed a system where Mariella picked out what she was interested and Nihad would bargain in Arabic and I would say yes our no and tell how much I was willing to pay. We found that walking out of the store after bartering would usually result in the owner giving into the price that we were willing to purchase the item. A crazy lady spit on Nihad's back while we looked in one shop. I thought spitting on someones back was some sort of Egyptian greeting. Nihad and the store owner quickly corrected my inaccurate inference. After the market Nihad treated us to lunch at a park overlooking a significant area of Cairo. We concluded the evening with a Christmas Orchestra/Opera. It was a pleasant evening that sparked the warmth and excitement of the Christmas season. Our time with Nihad, her fiance and family was too short. They overwhelmed us with their warm hospitality and kindness. We were honored to enjoy a family dinner with them prior to departing for Beijing. Thank you Nihad for a wonderful experience while in Cairo.

Priest's Personal Museum Tour

We stayed at St. Katherine's Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai. We met a kind Greet Orthodox priest who was the care taker of a small but exquisite museum located on the premises. He invited us for a personal tour and was kind enough to take a bunch of photos of us near works of art, some dating back to the 5th century. Wow! We will write more when we have the opportunity. We leave on Sunday night for Beijing. Today we are meeting with our Egyptian friend, Nihad. I went to school with her at the Focus on the Family Institute. We hope to visit some street markets, take a float down the Nile River and see the Pyramids. Nihad invited us to attend and Opera tonight. Mariella is excited, but first we need to find some proper attire to wear to the event.

Hiking Mt. Sinai

Text coming soon.Yesterday we left Jordan crossed into Israel and then crossed the border into Egypt where the relentless pursuit of people petitioning us to buy things or hire their cab. Everything is bargained for. Upon exiting Egyptian customs a guy asked us if we needed a cab ride. We said that we would walk a mile to the bus station. He persisted along with many others to give us a ride. He ended up following us down the street and eventually he was waiting at the bus station. It turns out that one bus a day goes to Mt. Sinai. We were forced to begin haggling. After walking away from him a few times we agreed to a price then departed on the four hour journey through the beautiful desert. We wished the camera was working so we could take photos of the incredible landscape. On the way we picked up a hitchhiking police officer and we even stopped for the 3pm Muslim prayers. They pulled over for what I thought was a toilet break. Instead they got down on their knees and started praying and bowing in the direction of Mecca. Eventually we arrived to Sinai. We stayed at the monastery at the base of the mountain. The next morning I woke up at 3a.m. and began hiking the trail by the light of a crescent moon. There were Bedouin camel guides who petitioned me to hire them for a guide to the top. I opted for a solo journey. I lost the trail a couple times, but was able to get back on course while waiting for a Bedouin guide to appear. I could follow his camels and the clients he was guiding. Once on the mountain the trail was easy to follow. I made it through past the slippery ice covered steps at on the top of the mountain with another fifty minutes or so before sunrise. I expected to find many people at the top. All I found was a Bedouin man renting out blankets at mats. He told me I was the first one up. Slowly more people appeared as the sun rose from the direction of the Red Sea. Beautiful! I descended the mountain down the 3,750 steps of the trail called the “Steps of Repentance”. I made it back to the monastery to join Mariella for breakfast at 8:30 am.
P.S. The camera did not work the night before hiking Sinai, nor the morning prior to departure. I took it out while waiting for the sun to rise and it started working again. We are grateful.