When I was in elementary school we studied ancient Egypt. I was fascinated by all things Egyptian. I even had a scarab bracelet and a watch with a scarab band. Later my sweetheart gifted me a scarab necklace and a scarab ring. In high school my world history teacher took us to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to an exhibit with Egyptian mummies. I remember visiting this fantastic place that showcased everything from jewels to ancient vessels used in the mummification process. I remember thinking how wonderful to be viewing things that were three to four thousand years old. I've never lost my interest in ancient Egypt. Never in my wildest young dreams did I think I would be able to visit the ancient land of Egypt!
Today I'd like to continue sharing one of our World Voyage destinations. When the Queen Mary 2 docked in Safaga, Egypt we had the perfect opportunity to take the excursion of my life! Though it was going to be quite a long day on our journey to Luxor (ancient city of Thebes), we felt honored to have this opportunity to travel with an Egyptologist to the land of the Valley of the Kings.
This is our first visit to Egypt, so please pardon our excitement as we take off on our journey to Luxor.
The scenery out the coach window was desert with mountains and beautiful blue skies. As we rode along our guide filled our heads with so much information about Egypt. He called us all by the Arabic enduring term--Habibi. Clearly this gentleman loved his job!
As we giddily looked out the window, it could have been a landscape from the moon!
Continuing on we see small villages doting the landscape along with small farms. We see a canal that allows crops to grow along with people to live in small villages.
Egypt's major cash crop is cotton. Because of the long strong fiber and softness of Egyptian cotton it is popular all over the world. You may have Egyptian cotton towels in your home.
Everywhere we looked folks were busy going about their daily tasks.
The modes of transportation varied greatly. We saw a lot of mopeds, small trucks, and carts pulled by donkeys. Men were selling fruits and vegetables alongside the roads.
The Nile river runs north flowing into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria. Most of the population of Egypt, since ancient times, have been around the valley of the Nile. It is considered the longest river in the world, but when we went down the Amazon a few years ago they made that claim as well! Let's just agree that they are both long flowing rivers.
