Obligatory Photos of Arab Children

They are pretty damn cute.

A WonderoftheWorld-ful Place

Egypt is really bitter that the pyramids didn't make the "new seven wonders of the world" cut because they were part of the old group, but personally, I think Petra a more impressive. Well, more exciting anyway, because there is so much to explore, whereas with the pyramids you just stand there and stare up at them. I just wish I had been with Indy.

Hot Air is Incredibly Hot!!

A funeral.

Ruins

See how all the buildings in the background are white? I can't remember if I mentioned before that it is actually a law that buildings in Amman have no color! It makes it really hard to become familiar with the different neighborhoods. There are some Roman ruins on top of one the hills, and we visited them the first week while on a small tour. Did you know that Amman used to be called Philadelphia? It's true. It was also originally built upon seven hills, much like another slightly more famous city, though nowadays it covers something like 27 or 29 hills.

Taxi Ride

Al-Aqsur

Luxor. In all honesty, I didn't love Luxor all that much. Too much hassling, too hot...it just didn't feel right in a lot of ways. But the sights were certainly fantastic. And I did have good Thai food one night.

This is at the Temple of Luxor in the middle of downtown. Karnak Temple, a few kilometers north of the city center, was quite a bit more spectacular, but I have no pictures. We saw a sound and light show at night there, which is an activity I highly recommend. Masses of people were there, and you're all slowly guided through the temple by lights and booming voices telling you stories of the ways of the ancient Egyptians and impersonating Pharaohs. Totally cheesy, but a blast nonetheless.

On the waterfront is a splendid place to walk.

I am without comment, except for, W.T.F.?

Sorry...which way is Salah El Din Street?



I cannot believe I was able to get Khaled to pose for this!!!

Hatshep-what?

Hatshepsut, who reigned from 1479-1458BC. She was the daughter of a Pharaoh, Thutmose I, and married her half-brother. They ruled together until he died, then she took over. Apparently she wanted her own daughter to succeed her, but a son of her brother by another wife ended ruling after she died. People say she had a really successful reign, but I can't really comment on that; I wasn't around back then.

This is her mortuary temple, and by the time we got here, I had stopped enjoying then donkey ride. You know what is really awful? Donkey trotting. This one was of the hottest afternoons while in Egypt - usually I tried to be all like, I don't understand why people whine about how hot Egypt is in the summer. It's not like unbearable or anything. Well here, you better believe it was unbearable. Oh well...I wandered around in a daze until I could get some peach iced tea at the cafe nearby.

I have been assured that the paint, both here and in the other tombs we saw that I wasn't allowed to take pictures in, the paint is original. I have some amount of trouble grasping how hardcore this paint must have been, but if the tour guide says so, it must be true.

This is my friend Heather, and Cyrus is the one standing in the back looking awesome with his button-down shirt wrapped around his head. They have these nice vehicle that shuttle you the three block-length distance from the entrance to the base of the temple. One of my tour companions said she thought it was ridiculous to drive such a short distance. Khaled said, "well you know you can walk if you want to." She didn't walk.

These are somewhere else in the West Bank: the Colossi of Memnon - two statues of the same guy, Pharaoh Amenhotep III, and they were supposed to stand guard at the entrance to his mortuary temple, but now they are all that remain. This picture is pretty small, but I assure you, they are MASSIVE.

Luckily we didn't ride the donkeys back, we took these cool trucks!

Jess was having a little trouble with the heat. Zero air circulation in these things; they felt sort of like trucks that should take people to prison.