Red Sea, Mt Sinai, and the mouse

Before I start, I want to tell family and friends to check out prufrockstar.org
This is a blog by Chris, and he did such a good job I'm electing not to write about Morocco or Luxor. Yeah....

OK - I think 32 hours with only 2 hours of broken sleep is not enough. Maybe, just maybe. Yesterday in Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula was beautiful. I spent a couple of my awake hours 20 meters under the sea surface observing the coral and sea life. How better to end a day like that than a pre-dawn hike of Mt. Sinai?

You know, Mt. Sinai - burning bush, ten commandments, Moses and all that.

Anyhow, Chris and I attempted to sleep some time in the evening after a seafood feast by the water. Unfortunately our lovely room has a third guest that we were not expecting - a cute little brown mouse. Well, I thought he was cute at first. Now he is really annoying and likes to play in plastic when we should all be sleeping. Alas, there was no sleep to be had before the journey to Mt Sinai that began at 11PM. Upon returning from the mountain at 12 noon (that's right, 13 hours later), the mousie is still very active and annoying.
Chris and I tried to live in harmony with the mouse, but he is just too noisy. After a day of diving, a night without sleep, 12 hours spent hiking 2300 meters and sitting in the frigid wind on top of a mountain waiting for the very slow sun to rise, and a bus ride made terrifying by the falling-asleep driver, the mouse needs to DIE! Yeah, I don't like to kill little mousies.....but we told the management (still a very lovely and peaceful guest house), and they apparently like to kill little mousies. So, here I sit in an internet cafe, giving the poor mousie a couple of hours to take the bait (some poison sprinkled on a tomato - I should have told them he likes cookies....) and kick it. Life is tragic.

I think Chris and I are not really looking forward to the 8 hour bus ride that will take us to the busy and chaotic Cairo tomorrow. However, I'm excited to see the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum, which houses many of the treasures that were once in the tombs we saw in Luxor.

I promise to post photos soon, and a story about the trek up Mt. Sinai. It was long and cold, but still beautiful. I'm happy to have sacrificed the sleep which I'm sure I'll get plenty of when back in the states.

Egypt

Hello all! I realized my last post was not only ages ago, but it was pretty depressing.

So, on my way back to Idaho for the winter holidays (we have 8 weeks off from work - woo-hoo), I stopped in Egypt.

A short flight from Doha (3 hours), it was while waiting for my luggage when I first thought, "hmm...I could turn around, change my tickets, and go straight home right now"

However, I'm toughing it out and putting up with all the hassle of Egypt to see the amazing things that can be seen here. The first experience with the tradition of baksheesh (tipping) was experience by my boyfriend and travel companion, Chris. After walking through the passport line, another customs official stopped Chris and demanded a "tip". For what, we are not sure, but he seemed to be stopping all male tourists to ask the same. Egh.
We were bombarded with baksheesh requests pretty much every ten minutes after that, and it has not ceased. I'm getting very good at my "mean" looks. I'm learning to suppress my smiles and "no thankyous" to just - "NO!"
The scowl accompanied by the NO seems to work the best. People expect baksheesh for everything from pointing out a direction (even when not requested to do so) to opening a door or smiling at you. Also, we are constantly asked to check out a shop, take a boat/taxi/carriage ride, and occasionally followed down the street for some time.
This is all very frustrating and neither Chris nor I like the feeling of being on-guard at all times to resist the scams. But, we've been told it is unavoidable and must be experienced to enjoy all that Egypt has to offer.

That being said, we enjoyed the visit to the Valley of the Kings, where the pharoahs built tombs to protect their bodies and treasures until their souls returned. Unfortunately many of the tombs were raided by thieves throughout the years. Thus, we are walking the paths of thieves, both new and old.....
We visited the tombs of Ramses the III, IV, and IX. Unfortunately, the tomb of King Tut was not much to offer as all its treasures are in the Museum in Cairo.
We are currently in Luxor, enjoying the Nile and the many temples and museums. Today, I found the mummification museum quite enjoyable. There's nothing like a mummified cat or crocodile 3000 years old to put things in perspective.

Tomorrow, we are off to Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula to SCUBA dive in some of the best areas in the world, as well as climb Mt. Sinai and hear the voice of God....

Miss you all....