Kissing the Sphinx

February 21, 2016

We’re here in Egypt on our annual pilgrimage. It’s been so wonderful already.
First of all, I want to say we are completely safe and we all feel completely safe. The Egyptians love Americans and they love seeing us because tourism has declined so much and we are definitely contributing to the Egyptian economy! Whenever they ask where we’re from and we say “America”, they say “we love Americans!”.
So far we have:
DebraKissingSphinx TutMask • Ridden camels to the Great Pyramid and then explored this amazing place
• Experienced the Valley Temple which is next to the Sphinx
• Seen the majestic Sphinx – how do you like the kissing?
• Went to an Egyptian oils shop and purchased some really exotic oils.
• We spent most of the day the next day exploring the Egyptian Museum where the wonders of King Tut are displayed. Seeing all the gold and all the jewelry and all the things he was buried with is so incredible. And then the rest of the Museum is jam packed with so many mummies (including mummies of cats and dogs and crocodiles!), sarcophagi, statues, etc., etc., it’s impossible to take it all in.
• Then on to the Khan el Khalili bazaar which has been part of Cairo for over 1000 years!
• We ate at a fantastic restaurant in the bazaar with wonderful falafel and koushari, an interesting Egyptian dish with noodles, fava beans, tomatoes, onions, lots of spices – yum!
Debra_Camel_New • Today we were in Sakkara, the home of the Steppe Pyramid. This is a picture of me in front of the Steppe Pyramid from last year – I love that camel!
• Then in Sakkara, we saw the Serrapium which is such a unique place. The ancient Egyptians worshipped the apis bull, huge animals which were considered sacred and which were mummified when they died. They were then placed in huge sarcophagi after the mummification. This place is underground and the energy is amazing. We did a wonderful ceremony here.
• Then it was off to the carpet store to see the amazing work that the Egyptians do in making silk carpets (as well as wool and cotton). I promised myself I wasn’t going to buy another rug, but I couldn’t resist!
Tomorrow we’ll visit the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, a Christian church and the oldest synagogue in Cairo. It’s so wonderful how the different faiths are represented within blocks of each other.
Then we’ll fly to Luxor tomorrow night to experience Karnak, the Luxor Temple and the Temple of Abydos. Next, we’ll board our cruise ship for our 5 day cruise down the Nile, stopping at temples along the way. More on all of that next week.
The best part is we’re having so much fun! Our guide Raafat is so knowledgeable and so entertaining, traveling with other like minded seekers is so inspiring, the food is great, the weather is perfect — Life doesn’t get much better than this.
Even though this is my 16th trip to Egypt (!), it’s always new. And amazingly, I always learn things I didn’t know before. But the most incredible part every time is being in the energy of this amazing place — and being able to share it with other like-minded people.
If Egypt is on your bucket list, think about joining us next year. We always go at the same time — the last 2 weeks in February, because the weather is so perfect. Everyone who is here is so happy they made the decision to come.
Sending you lots of love from Egypt,
Debra