EGYPT! Wow, I loved it! :)

Hello, everyone! I'm back in good ole England after a fabulous week in Egypt! It was simply amazing...I saw some awesome things, and learned so much! I'm going to have to break the trip into at least two days worth of posting, so I'll begin with Luxor. Walt and I flew out of Birmingham International Airport and arrived in Luxor, Egypt, on Wednesday night. The weather was surprisingly warm (it doesn't take much to be warmer than England - ha!), so Walt and I walked along a boardwalk on the Nile. The next day, we explored the town and went to Hatshepsut's Temple. The exchange rate in Egypt is amazing...10 Egyptian pounds = 1 British pound, and 5 Egyptian pounds = 1 U.S. dollar. Not too shabby! Walt and I hired a nice guy named Tourkey to drive us around the East and West Banks of Luxor for the day...for a grand total of $12! Luxor is a medium sized town, but very very poor. There are people all over the streets trying to sell you souvineers, taxi rides, carriage rides, everything! We quickly learned how to say "No, thank you" in Arabic - la shucron! :) I really like the Arabic language...it's beautiful! The main form of transportation for locals is a minibus (like a minivan, but serves the purpose of a city bus), car, and...donkey. No joke! I saw many people riding donkeys! It was very surreal! From Hatshepsut's Temple, you can see the lush Nile River Valley of the West Bank. It looks amazing when you contrast it with the desert on the other side of it! While at Hatshepsut's Temple, we met lots of Egyptian schoolchildren who enjoyed practicing their English on us..."Hello! How are you? What is your name?" - so cute! Three of them asked me for my autograph, and two took pictures with me...but I'm not sure why! Egypt is 90% Muslim, so there are mosques EVERYWHERE, and they're absolutely gorgeous. Muslims pray five times a day, so when it's time for prayer, someone in the mosque reads the Koran in Arabic over a loudspeaker from the mosque, which you can hear all over the city! The first prayer time is 4:30 a.m. Our hotel was next to a mosque, so imagine my surprise to be woken up at 4:30 a.m. to the sound of Arabic chanting! Since Luxor is very poor, the streets and town were pretty dirty, but the people were SO nice! Walt and I tried shawerma, a yummy Egytian food that is basically lamb meat on a baguette. On Friday, we went to the Valley of the Kings, where the tombs of the pharoahs have been discovered. They're located in the valley of a tall, limestone mountain. We got to roam around in tombs that are over 4,000 years old, including King Tut's tomb! It was pretty awesome. Later that afternoon, we went to Karnak Temple, which is supposed to be the largest temple in the world. I'm so amazed with the technology of the ancient Egyptians...wow! The temple was incredible, and I can only imagine what it looked like thousands of years ago. We also went on a falucca ride on the Nile. So cool! A falucca is like a sailboat, and the weather was perfect for a ride on the Nile...sunny and in the mid 80s! The Nile is gorgeous...I can totally picture Cleopatra floating down it on a royal barge! Our falucca was named the Mickey Mouse - pretty funny! On Friday night, Walt and I went to the Luxor train station to catch the sleeper train to Cairo, a nine hour trip. I must say, the Luxor train station is in an awful state of disrepair! We had to climb over rubble to get in our train! Check out the pictures below. Tomorrow I will write about Cairo, which is my FAVORITE...that city is just incredible! I can't wait to tell you all about it! Fun fact - the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" comes on Egyptian T.V., complete with Arabic subtitles. I'm sure my mom will be happy to know that! haha!

**England is ready for Christmas! There were two markets in Stratford today, and a little bitty ice skating rink, too. Tooley and I saw "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" tonight...it was great!**


Luxor Temple at night

A crowded street in Luxor

Nile River Valley from Hatshepsut's Temple

Guardians of the Valley of the Kings

For some reason, I can't upload any more pictures right now, but I'll put up more from Luxor tomorrow. :)