Church at the summit

Church at the summit
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Having done so little in Dahab, I finally decided to check out the sunrise at Mt. Sinai. The minibus loaded with tourists sped away from Dahab at 2330 and arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai around 0200. There were loads of tourists there offloading the deluxe coaches. Touts descended upon our minibus and demanded that we pay them 5 LE each for guide services, which was required. Well, it wasn't required, but we didn't know any better, and I didn't walk with a guide anyways. So goes another buck to baksheesh. I met a Russian kid on the hike up. We tore up the trail, trying to pass camels bearing tourists, eventually making it to the summit two hours later in (almost) solitude. There was a small church on the summit.

Camel cooling off

Camel cooling off
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

I went for a walk along the boardwalk until it became sand. In Assalah, the small village north of Dahab City, Egyptian kids were playing in the water, fishing, and snorkelling. A dude brought a few camels over to the water to cool them off. I was impressed that one of the camels eagerly sat down, but then lost its balance and almost rolled over, so it quickly got up and walked out of the water, a little freaked out.

Diving in Dahab

Well, I haven't done much this week in Dahab, which is just as well. I went diving a couple times and the visibility was excellent, but it was a bit colder than I expected, and there weren't as many fish as I had seen in SE Asia. I was told that if the visibility is very good, there will be fewer smaller fish. Overall, I am a bit underimpressed with the diving here compared to SE Asia, however the weather is perfect and the prices are great.

Beer on the beach

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Beer on the beach
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Adam's Bar near the lighthouse has 500 mL bottles of Stella beer for 5 LE -- less than $1.

Dahab's beach

Dahab's beach
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Dahab is a resort and vacation spot on the Sinai peninsula. It has a lot of dive shops and hotels, but it is mostly geared toward the budget crowd.
The beach consists of rocks, but most people lounge in chairs. There is great snorkelling and diving just off the beach.

View of the Nile from the felucca

View of the Nile from the felucca

Watch the video

It was really quiet on the Nile. It's a great time.

Dahab!

I took an 18-hr bus journey from Luxor that brought me to the Red Sea coast, up to the Suez Canal, and down the Sinai peninsula to the Sea of Aqaba. I am now in Dahab, a few hours from Jordan, and a prime location for diving. Actually, there are a lot of dive resorts around here, and it is getting more and more crowded with the Easter break vacationers moving in for the week. Hopefully I will get some dives in and relax the Easter holiday away. There is cheap internet and cheap food here! Happy Easter!

Colossus of Memnon

Colossus of Memnon
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Actually, not "colossi" as this just refers to the statue on the right. The Greeks discovered it in pieces on the ground, shaken down by an earthquake. When the wind howled through the pieces, the Greeks thought it was King Agamemmnon's voice. The howling stopped when the statue was put back together.
These are the only remains of a temple built during Amenhotep III's reign.

Guards at the funerary temple of Hatshepsut

Guards at the funerary temple of Hatshepsut
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Pretty face

Pretty face
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Colorful walls in the funerary temple of Hatshepsut

Colorful walls in the funerary temple of Hatshepsut
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Funerary temple of Hatshepsut

Funerary temple of Hatshepsut
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Queen Hatshepsut had this massive funerary temple built just for her mummifcation process. She ruled over Egypt, as many of the pharoahs, but creating a story for her lineage. She claimed to be the "son" of a God and her mother, and thus had a claim to the throne despite being a woman. Many of the pharoahs, despite not being from royal blood did similar things by changing the hieroglyphs in temples and having the high priests recognize them as the God-kings during holy festivals.

Al-Qurn, "the Horn and the Valley of the Kings

Al-Qurn, "the Horn and the Valley of the Kings
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

With the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, pharoahs were buried in pyramids, but with the Middle and New Kingdoms, pharoahs were buried in hidden tombs in the Valley of the Kings, on the western banks of the Nile. The west, where the sunset, was considered closer to the underworld, and with this great natural pyramidal peak of Al-Qurn, they didn't need to built a pyramid. There are some 68 tombs discovered so far in the valley, but all of them were robbed, including the tomb of King Tutankhamon, but his was still in the best condition as the graverobbers only stole perfumes. A new tomb was just discovered six weeks prior to my visit.

Luxor Temple at dusk

Luxor Temple at dusk
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Avenue of Sphinx at Luxor Temple

Avenue of Sphinx at Luxor Temple
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Mosque built on Luxor Temple

Mosque built on Luxor Temple
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Interestingly, this mosque was built over the existing Luxor temple back when most of the temple was buried under sand.

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

The Temple of Luxor was built for three gods by several pharoahs and vandalized by them all, including Alexander the Great. Interestingly, there used to be two obelisks in front, but now one of them is in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Built by several pharoahs for three gods, this complex was huge. It was also vandalized by succeeding pharoahs (overwriting their names, or cartouches, over the previous names) and fleeing Christians from Roman persecution.

Karnak Temple entrance

Karnak Temple entrance
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

From Edfu, I took a nice long bladder-empty ride to Luxor. The modern tourist city of Luxor is built around the ancient capital of Thebes from the Middle and New Kingdoms of Egypt. This was also the site of the 1997 massacre of 58 tourists at the temple of Hatshepsut.
For Luxor, we had an excellent tour guide, Gad, with Amigo Tours.

Temple of Horus at Edfu

Temple of Horus at Edfu
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

I spent my time here searching for a toilet and ended up entering the temple through the exit for free. Sweeeet.