UNDERSTANDING THE ISLAM AND ISLAMIC CULTURE…

Today: Tourism generates approximately eleven percent of the total gross domestic product of the country. The jewelry stores that we visit today are gone; a victim of the looting and burning that consumed Cairo in the height of the demonstrations. The bazaar known as Kh el-Khalili in Cairo’s Islamic district is empty of tourists and the shop owners are ready for life to return to normal….but half of the shops are closed because of a lack of customers and the wild cats run in and out of the shops looking for food.

Tuesday, November 22^nd, 2005 Cairo Churches and Khan el-Khalil Bazaar

Hello all...before I tell you about our touring day; thought I'd give you some notes from observations and a lecture that we had before starting our day.....

Notes: Security is very high. We have an armed guard on our bus at all times; plus a car or truck with several guards behind us and sometimes another one out in front. Really feel very safe. Also; we see lots of VW buses and Toyota Vans. They are used for mini buses. The population of Egypt only uses six percent of the land so it is very expensive. Single family homes hardly exist anywhere in the cities, but you do find them in the countryside. Several generations of families build and/or purchase tall building together. Most of the homes in the north are unfinished brick buildings. They continue to build additional floors as the family grows. Family is very important in Egypt. Sons and daughters always live with their parents until they marry. Then the daughter moves to her husband’s family home. Sons stay with parents most of the time. In order to date a person…the family must approve and then they become engaged so that people will know that the family has approved of the relationship. A gold ring on right hand indicates that they are “engaged”. More than one engagement is common. The girls have the right to chose but family must approve. Generally the parents want someone who has same or similar status as their family.

Women now attend college. They hold jobs but the income is their own; even after they are married. The husband pays for all of the household expenses. If they are divorced and the wife remarries; daughters go to the husband so that they are not open to abuse from the unrelated new male in the family. After the age of sixteen; children can decide which parent they want to live with.

Main crops in Egypt: cotton, sugar cane, corn, wheat and rice

Notes from the Islamic Traditions lecture given by a guest speaker this morning:

Ramadan is the time to make changes and equalizes the difference between the rich and the poor. Similar to the Christian’s Lent it is a time to give up “things” . They do fast during the day (dawn to dusk and do not eat meat, fish, chicken or any by products such as eggs, milk, etc.) Also in addition to abstaining from food, they abstain from liquor and sex.

Haj: that is the pilgrimage that Muslims make at least once in the lifetime to Mecca. No one is allowed in Mecca unless you are Muslim. This custom teaches equality and harmony.

Prayers are always said facing Mecca. They have electronic gadgets that show the directions and also have alarms for the times during the day to pray.

Islam equals Submission

There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today (in 2005)

The Koran is the word of Mohammad

Mohammad was born in 570 BC in Mecca. At the age of 40 he started to write the Koran. He was given the words by the angel Gabriel. It took his 23 years to write the Koran.

The Hadith are the teachings of Mohammad.

Beliefs: Allah/God

Resurrection/ After life

There are always two angels with us: they check the good and bad things we do

Everything counts in life

Selah is prayer…Azan is the call for prayer…they must wash face (ears), arms to elbows, feet and impure thoughts from mind.

Prayers last for five to ten minutes and are a way to connect with God/Allah. The leader of each Mosque (and there are lots and lots of Mosques in every town) chants over a loudspeaker from the top of the Tower....no one can miss hearing it even when you're asleep!

After our lecture on Islam/Muslin traditions and practices we left on the bus for a spiritual tour of Cairo.

Note: While driving on the major highway on Tuesday evening I noticed that there were police cars stationed in the middle of the road (there was a large center divider) for security. They were permanent enough that there was a permanent overhead shade for the autos. I also notice that there were many pedestrians walking on the highway. I saw one man sitting on a box reading a book in the center of the highway. I’m finding some strange things or should I say very different customs in this country.

Condition of the city: Trash litters the ground everywhere. Rita says that the poor can not afford to pay the government cost for trash disposal so they dump it everywhere. Conditions are not good and we need to overlook the poverty. It is not the American standards that we enjoy. The south in Aswan is much cleaner but the population is not as large and is definitely more affluent.

We first went to two different Coptic Churches. The second one had a crypt where the holy family stayed while in Egypt for three months. Our guide noticed a Mosque that was getting ready for a funeral…we stopped and watched from the bus. All of the women were dressed head to toe in black and stood off to the side outside. The men came walking down the street carrying the coffin and went into the mosque. The women then walked near the doors but still stayed outside to grieve for the deceased.

Then we went to a Jewish Synagogue before entering the fort that holds the most important Mosque in Cairo. There we had to take our shoes off before entering the main area of the Mosque. There were several groups of school children visiting the Mosque also. The boys could have passed for Americans but the majority of the girls were beautifully garbed in pastel scarves.

Our lunch was at a local restaurant and we enjoyed skewered lamb and a sweet dessert that we all enjoyed as opposed to fresh fruit. From there we spent an hour at the bazaar where most spent too much money but had another learning experience. Jim found the scarab that he wanted and took half an hour to negotiate the price much to Martha’s dismay as we’d decided to stay together in the bazaar; so she cooled her heels as she stood nearby. We later changed that plan and decided to each go our own way while shopping. We definitely have different styles of negotiating price. On the way to the hotel we stopped at the Jewelry Store where several in our group spent hundreds of dollars purchasing silver or gold Cartouche pendants with their names in Egyptian letters. We saved money as we really weren’t speaking to each other at this point in the day!

Solved the problems before leaving in the evening for a trip to the suburbs to visit with a family in their home and have dinner with them. Long trip, heavy traffic but well worth the effort. Some notes on traffic: First of all they only use their headlights when there are no street lights. Even then, they turn them on and off and drive for long stretches without any headlights. At one point our lanes were very crowded and they took over several lanes going in the opposite direction. There were police cars stationed about every five miles; there were specially built sunshades for their cars to sit under.

Our visit took us to the private home of an upper class family; they all live in one building. The Grandmother lives on first level; brother on second level; our family unit on third level and an aunt on fourth level. Still more unused apartments in the building we were told for the sons to live in after they marry. The family also owns a compound in Alexander where they have individual villas to spend two months each summer during the worst of the heat. The father is a gentleman farmer…owns land where he grows crops and raises cattle; we didn't see him as he spends weekdays in the country at the farm.

His wife, their twenty three year old daughter and twin sons about nineteen hosted our group. Lots of antique furniture, herringbone wood floors, beautifully decorated. Very open design…like four large rooms combined; perfect for entertaining large groups. We were allowed to ask lots of questions and they were very open with us. The boys are in a private university, all the classes are taught in English; they will graduate next year. They will then serve one year in the army. Both are majoring in International Marketing and foreign Investments; one was more into the intellectual aspects while the other enjoyed working with his hands. Both hope to own their own business after graduation. Neither seemed interested in taking over the father’s business. The daughter graduated with a degree in economics and now works for a bank. She has been engaged once and has a new possible suitor and is waiting for family approval so that they can announce their engagement and start the courting process required before considering marriage.

Wonderful dinner served family style/buffet; we ate on our lap seated in a circle in the living room after finishing the open discussion with the family. They were very kind and tried to answer all of our questions after they gave us information on their family and daily activities. Several of us had followed the suggestion of the tour company and brought small gifts for the family. We brought a small book on the Nixon Library which represented our hometown of Yorba Linda.

The trip home was much easier as traffic was much lighter. When we arrived back at the hotel we all rushed to the top floor for night time photos of the pyramids before heading to bed after a long day.

GIZA PYRAMIDS AND THE VENDORS….

TODAY: An interesting note for those that watch the news; those horses & camels that we witnessed racing through Tahrir Square last week were normally entertaining the tourist around the pyramids in Giza! Several of the riders were severely injured during the mad dash through the center of the demonstrators. Since we have visited Egypt they have nearly completed a new Museum in Giza (across the river from Cairo) that will house many of the treasurers from the Cairo Museum which is jammed packed today with antiquities; not taking the place of the old one but provide space to exhibit more of the artifacts owned by the government. So far…the violence has stopped in Cairo and they have agreed to honor existing treaties with other countries.

On Valentine’s Day hundreds of Egyptian tour guides gathered near the pyramids to plead with tourists to return to Egypt. "Tourism is like a delicate bird, it flies off at the slightest sound. But there's nothing to fear here, quite the contrary," insisted 37-year-old guide Hazem Hashem.

Monday: November 21^st, 2005 VISITING THE GIZA PYRAMIDS….

The alarm woke us up at 8 am and we hurried to breakfast as we had to meet the group in the lobby at 9:15 am for our first day of touring. Weather is overcast; actually had light sprinkles during the day off and on. Not enough for umbrellas. Rita said that the weather is very unusual today. This is their autumn and you see lots of coats on the Egyptians. I realized that I’d left my coat in the room so I made due with my large black scarf in my backpack…that worked fine as a shawl.

Our first stop was walking distance to our hotel at the Giza Pyramids. There we walked around two of the three and toured the Solar Boat. This is a full size boat that was found buried next to the Great Pyramid of Cheops. That Pyramid was built around 2,600 B.C. and stands some 450 feet tall. It took them ten years to reconstruct the entire boat. It was built by using ropes to hold the wood together. They found traces of salt in the wood indicating that the king had actually used this boat to sail in the sea. It was buried there after it was used to carry the pharaoh’s mummy across the Nile to Memphis (now Cairo) a millennia ago to provide transport for the king in the next world. Boats are always found buried with the kings but they are usually small models only.

Outside the solar boat we experienced our first vendors. Very persistent people; they constantly ask you questions and imply that their goods are “free”. They try to hand things to you; then if you accept the item they start to negotiate. Rita said not to pay their price and usually you can go down from 50 to 90% of initial price given. Jim had two Arabic headdresses and postcards in his hands by the time we entered. Rita said….they will expect you to purchase them when we exit. If you don’t want to buy and they put items in your hands…just drop the item on the ground and they will leave you alone. Jim purchased the items as we left. They put the headdresses on us. By the time we left the area; four different vendors had taken it off my head and put it back on while they talked to me. Are you American? What is your name? My name is Jimmy Schmit or sometimes they give their Arabic name. Then say something like “hi oh Silver” or some other English TV or movie term. From there they either tried to sell you something or ask to take your photo…then they expect to be paid about $1.00. Nothing is free. Toilet paper is handed to you on the way in and you are expected to pay one Egyptian pound. If there is no one collecting fees at the entrance…you will not find any paper in the toilets.

Then we went by bus to see the Sphinx. Afterwards we met at the cafeteria and enjoyed a Mango drink before boarding the bus for our next stop. We have elected not to attend the Light Show tonight as we will have another opportunity in Aswan. That will be on the Temple as opposed to the one on the Pyramids tonight. We decided we needed a good nights sleep more than the show. Dinner is on our own tonight and we’re going to enjoy some of the food we brought from home. I think we’ll be using it for snacks as so far the food here is very good.

Our lunch was held at a local restaurant in Cairo. Walking in we watched them BBQ the chickens on open grills and the woman were baking the pieta bread in open ovens. There were lots of flies everywhere. This restaurant was open-air and very pretty. We were served oranges for desert…hard to peel as we only had a table knife to use. Fresh fruit we’re told is a very common dessert in Egypt.

The afternoon was spent touring Saqqara. We saw the step pyramid of Zoser; looked inside the two holes where we saw a copy of limestone statue of Zoser (the original is in the Cairo Museum), the bent pyramid and then went inside of another pyramid. To enter the tombs inside we had to walk down a long ramp bent at the waist, as it was very narrow and short. Inside we found three rooms; two of them had carvings still on the walls. Some people felt very claustrophobic while inside.

Back on the bus we made a stop at a Carpet School. This was out in the countryside so that children could be trained there to continue the custom and also learn a trade for income without having to travel into the city. There were beautiful silk and wood carpets on display. All of the weavers were following a pattern to create their rugs except one fellow in his twenties who was actually creating a custom design as he weaved his rugs. He was an artist and his rugs were priced at over a thousand dollars each. A few people purchased small rugs.

We were tired and happy to stay at the hotel when we arrived back about 6 pm. Traffic was very heavy in Cairo. We’ve discovered that they have no rules of the road. Everyone drives reasonably; no signs of road rage. Horn honks were “gentle” and there are absolutely no left turns at any time. If necessary the driver goes blocks out of their way to make a u-turn to get back to where he can then turn right on his street. After dark the drivers do not use their headlights unless there are no street lights. When necessary, the drivers start using the reverse lanes if traffic is too heavy. Really crazy sometimes; even Jim admits that he would not like driving here!

The light show at the Pyramids was beautiful and I've included a few photos for you to enjoy. But we enjoyed a few extra hours of sleep by staying home this evening.

TRAVELING TO EGYPT....ARRIVING IN CAIRO...

TODAY: Newspapers, the Internet and television are all reporting that the damage to the antiquities of Egypt is minimal and it will be business as usual in the near future. However, just when the tourist will be returning is uncertain as we hear about new demonstrations in Algeria. Egypt has shown the power of the people and thousands of people are defying government bans on demonstrations.

Saturday, November 19^th, 2005 Flying to Cairo, Egypt….

Up early…2 am…to catch the Super Shuttle bus at 2:30 am. In preparation we went to Carl’s Jr. for dinner at 3 pm and then went to bed at 6 pm. So by 2 am we’d had the opportunity to catch 6 to 8 hours of sleep. That with the No Jet Lag pills we managed to arrive in Egypt without being totally zonked!

The shuttle bus made three more stops before we arrived at LAX about 4 am. The lady behind Jim was sneezing all the way to the airport but she insisted that she didn’t have a cold. There were a total of six passengers for the trip. The counter was open at United Airlines when we arrived so we were able to check in.

After breakfast at McDonalds, Jim took an airborne tablet just in case the lady did have a cold in the shuttle. Our flight left right on time at 7 am. Easy flight to JFK in New York except for about fifteen minutes over the Rocky Mountains (I think) when it was so rough that the flight attendants had to take their seats. Based on New York time we left Los Angeles at 10 am and arrived in New York at 3 pm. Luggage was checked through so we only had to take our carryon bags with us on the shuttle tram from terminal 7 to terminal 4. Easy transfer…checked us in and weighed our hand luggage before allowing us to take them on the airplane with us. We each have the OAT bag and a backpack. There was lots of security prior to boarding the plane.

I used my cell phone and called family to let them know we were in New York and on our way.While we waited in the terminal, Jim charged his Ipod so that it would be good for the rest of the trip; we took turns keeping an eye on the unit while it charged away in the wall near the waiting area…like watching water boil! We met some very interesting people while sitting in the terminal…one couple had worked for Embassies all over the world. They’d been in Jordan for two years and during the crisis had to be evacuated. We also met several people who were on a Grand Circle Tour…a larger group than ours. We are with Overseas Adventure Travel; maximum of sixteen people in our group. We actually ended with only fifteen as we had a widowed lady from Dallas traveling by herself. We are in tandem with another OAT group of sixteen and will share the cruise ship with them while on the Nile between Aswan and Luxor.

About 5:30 pm we lined up and there met a gentlemen from San Francisco on his way to explore tombs…he reads hieroglyphics and is meeting a friend who shares his interest…his wife elected to stay home. Another fellow was meeting friends who live in Cairo. His cell phone was not working and he used my cell phone with his 800 number to call his friend in Egypt to ask if he should buy cigarettes in USA before leaving as gift for them. Actually, he found out that they were lots cheaper in Cairo. We saw him later on plane with a facemask on…to keep away the germs I think. [Yes…we’ve used face masks ever since and have stayed healthy!] He was in Business class.

Soon we discovered why they had us line up so early. They were checking almost the entire carryon luggage prior to boarding. I got a pass but they checked both of Jim’s bags. Then they checked the tickets and passports. Again, half way down the skyway to the plane, they checked our passports for the final time. Finally at 7:15 pm we were airborne and hopefully still germ free!

We both had aisle seats. I sat next to an Egyptian banker…with a seat between that we put things into but neither of us used for sleep space. Jim was in the center and thought that he would have the whole row but by the time we left….every seat in his row was taken. Consequently neither of us got much sleep on the trip. Food was good…I’d seen both movies that they showed. Both were in English with Arabic subtitles; and yes, in Egypt movies on TV were in English also with Arabic subtitles. We had already lost three hours to New York and after leaving we turned our clocks ahead another seven hours. We are ten hours different from Los Angeles to Cairo. The fellow sitting behind Jim had a very bad cold and he coughed and sneezed and blew his nose frequently all the way to Cairo. It was so tempting to offer his some cold drugs but since he appeared to be Arab; I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut. But Jim and I both took the new drug Airborne during the flight to attempt to ward off the germs!

Sunday, November 20^th, 2005….Arrival in Cairo

We arrived in Cairo about half an hour late and we met our Tour Guide, Rita. We’re spending the first few nights at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel near the Giza Pyramids. One couple was already at the hotel; they’d done a tour of South Africa with OAT and now were waiting at the hotel for us as they’d arrived on Saturday. They combined the two tours so that they didn’t have the long flight time. Roger and Alice live in Red Bluff California but because of the situation; many on the tour thought for a while that they lived in South Africa. Unfortunately for them their luggage was sent to London (we found out later) instead of Egypt. It finally caught up with the group three days later as we arrived at the airport for our flight to Aswan. They’d not planned ahead and most of the items in their one carryon case were purchases made in South Africa. They wore the same clothes for three days!

Rita gave us some quick Discoveries on the long drive to the hotel that is located next to the Giza Pyramids. We saw the City of the Dead; a cemetery used by the poor for homes; and the Citadel that houses the largest Mosque in Cairo from the highway. The city is very large and has a huge poor population. Trash litters the streets and river banks. The poor can not afford the fees that the government charges for trash removal; so they continue to dump it everywhere and then the city picks it up as often as possible. Big problem; people drop papers and trash everywhere and it’s compounded by the use of plastic bags! Lots of donkeys, camels and horses used for transportation and attached to wagons to haul produce, etc. They mix right in with the traffic. The taxi cabs are small black and white cars. The cheaper taxis are VW buses and Toyota vans. They tie open the sliding doors and are always packed. The really cheap transportation is the larger buses. Conditions are very poor. Traffic is unbelievable…everyone going every which way. Soon we saw the pyramids and knew that we were close to our hotel in Giza.

Had time to unpack and reorganize a bit before our cocktail and opportunity to meet with our tour guide before dinner. Her name is Rita, short for Francarita; and she seems really great. We found out later that she is a part time actress and has been a tour guide for about fifteen years. Very knowledgeable, a degree in Egyptology; and seems to keep close tabs on everything and everyone. She has a mild cold we noted; but we’re still healthy.

Some terms we were given…she will call us “Habebe” which means sweetheart in loose translation. Maya Maya means very good. One dollar equals five Egyptian pounds. La means no. The postage stamps for cards are only 1.5 Egyptian pounds each. The cards are about 2 Egyptian pounds each. Very reasonable I thought; especially compared to Europe. Mia Mia is water. Mango and lemon/lime are very common drinks.

Some information on Muslin practices: They pray five times a day including once at 4 am. Those that are very faithful about their prayers have a bruise on their forehead from constantly touching their head to the floor while praying. During dinner we shared a table with Paul and Sue who live in Manhattan Beach California. He’s about 75 years old and she’s a bit younger. Very nice people; Paul also has had surgery on both his ankles and was not able to walk for nearly a year. He’s just getting back on his feet and has difficultly standing for long period of time. He asks lots of questions, always ready with a funny question and or story; plus he says he takes lots of photos…I told him that the challenge was on as I also liked to take lots of photos. Good people. We finally hit the hay about 9:30 pm. It’s been a long two days!

A NEW ADVENTURE TO EGYPT….

I’d planned to share our trip to Egypt and Jordan in a couple of months but with the unrest in Egypt today I decided to share my journal and photos from a trip we took in 2005 with Overseas Adventure Travel now instead of later.

Tourism, a cornerstone of the Egyptian economy, has taken a tremendous setback from the current unrest in Egypt over the past several weeks. Thousands of foreigners have fled Egypt, many on emergency flights, leaving thousands of people in the vast tourism industry unemployed. And then there is the draining effect of the loss of foreign currency as the country spirals deeper and deeper into revolution.

The unbelievable poverty that we witnessed over six years ago has finally caused the people to revolt and demand their human rights. The Internet and television has shown the unemployed and poor what many in the world consider their right.

They camped in Tahrir Square waiting for the Government to meet their demands. Today they are leaderless to a great degree and the future is uncertain. Many of the country’s priceless trove of antiquities reside in buildings in or near Tahrir Square. Our prayers are for a peaceful resolution to this situation….

During this tour we visit the Museums of Cairo, the great pyramids of Giza, sail on the Nile, explore the tombs of the Kings and then fly to Jordan to explore their most precious treasures.

Here is a slideshow of some of our favorite photos from the trip that we will be sharing with you over the next several weeks….

Join us starting tomorrow for a day to day adventure……

HONG KONG FOR A NIGHT...THEN HOME TO USA..

April 9, 2007 CAMBODIA & HONG KONG

Nang arrived to take us to the airport at 8 am and he stayed with us until we were all checked in and through customs. We each had to pay a $25.00 (USA) fee to leave the airport (we were told ahead of time about this fee) and everybody sailed through security with our water bottles. We were on Bangkok Airlines in Economy class. They gave us a box lunch and this time we were in row 5 instead of the back of the airplane.

Arrived in Bangkok, located the China Air counter and checked in with no problems. They handed us our courtesy lounge cards and we found the lounge with only a minor problem…there were several different ones and it took us a few minute to find the Dynasty Lounge where we belonged. It was just as nice as the one in Hong Kong and we were delighted to be there for our four hour layover. We had drinks, food, several computer stations for internet and cable plus wireless for those who had their own computers. Plus there was a massage chair that many of our group enjoyed while we were waiting for our scheduled departure. I can see why people pay the extra to upgrade from economy when flying. I spent most of the time going through photos and setting up emails to send from Hong Kong of my Cambodian photos; I wasn’t very interested in the food.

Our seats were wonderful and again we had the full services with china, silverware, linen and the works as Dynasty Class passengers. Jim discovered that the napkin had a buttonhole in one corner for those that like to prevent dribbles on their shirts; what a great idea! The time flew by so quickly we hardly knew we’d been in the air.

Arrived in Hong Kong about 6:30 pm and found Robert from Overseas Adventure Travel waiting for us after we passed through customs. Christa’s suitcase arrived and the rest of us had only carryon so we were feeling very good about a successful day. I had eaten verrrrry lightly throughout the day and at this point, with taking some medication occasionally, I was feeling somewhat human again. Howard was also on the mend; he’d had a more severe attack than I’d had; but we’d both survived and lived to tell the tale.

Checked into the L’Hotel about half an hour from the airport; owned by the same company as our previous Hong Kong Hotel in town but this one is very new. Known as the Nina Et Convention Centre, there are two towers and final construction is still in progress. One tower is 42 stories and the other is 89 stories; they are connected by a sky bridge on the 41^st floor. Our breakfast restaurant had access to the bridge so we were able to walk on it after enjoying a wonderful buffet breakfast on the 41^st floor with window walls that offered views of Hong Kong Harbor and the nearby skyscrapers that dot Lantau Island, the part of Hong Kong that has Disneyland, the big Buddha on the top of the mountain and the new airport. This particular hotel was built by Nina Wang. She was the wealthiest woman in China and died of cancer on April 3^rd. We’d just read an article about her in the newspapers on our way to Cambodia last week.

The design of the hotel was planned to represent she and her late husband. She is the shorter tower that is finished and he is the taller tower; she wanted that one to be even taller but the government refused to allow the added height due to the proximity to the airport. The bridge is their connection. There is a glass section in the floor of the bridge that allows you to look down to the ground; a real mind bender if you have problems with heights. Personally I enjoyed the opportunity and took multiple photos of my feet with nothing but space underneath.

Our rooms were similar to the Regent Hotel in Shanghai with a glass wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom. However, the outside wall had a huge window as opposed to a wall of glass. Beds were not as soft as in Cambodia but better than many we’ve had in China. A nice way to spend our last night as we repacked our luggage to put the breakables in our hand carry luggage and everything else into the big suitcases after we expanded the size. We had to watch for gels and liquids as we knew we’d be checked extra carefully leaving Hong Kong for the USA. Remembered to change the time on our alarm clock, we had to move the clock forward as we’d lost an hour during the day’s travels.

April 10, 2007 HONG KONG AND USA

Travel Day. We’d all said goodbye to Howard and Betty last night as they had to leave for the airport at 6 am. Their flight takes them to Tokyo, Japan and then they change there for a direct flight to Los Angeles.

We met Gena, Gene and Christa in the breakfast room. It’s raining outside so photos from the view windows are not too great. We left the hotel at 9 am and our plane left at 11:35 am. Gene and Gena were on the same flight to San Francisco as we were. Christa left about an hour later headed for Chicago so she stayed with the group until we boarded the airplane. Security was intense and we even had a final inspection in the boarding tunnel before getting on the airplane. We’d not planned to wear our surgical masks on the way home but after hearing the coughs, etc, on the plane; we changed our minds and put them on. I had the last four with me and when Gena said they had someone in their row with problems she accepted the last two when I asked if they wanted them. So there were four of us with masks on for the entire trip. Actually, it not only protects you somewhat from germs in the air; it helps keep your nose and throat moist from the dry air in the airplane. I think that I’ll definitely continue to use them on airplane flights. We had four movies back to back: Night At the Museum, Stranger Than Fiction, Freedom Writers, Pursuit of Happiness; they kept us all busy and we were also taking our No Jet Lag pills regularly every two hours. We were bright eyed and bushy tailed for sure during the flight.

We arrived in San Francisco early, went through customs, rechecked our luggage and then had to endure the USA security checkpoint. Wow; what a difference from Hong Kong. Shoes off, plastic bags out, computers and camcorders out, jackets off…but as upsetting as it can sometimes be for people; I like to think that we’re a bit safer than we were prior to 9/11. Found our gate and discovered that Gene and Gena were still with us; their gate to Atlanta was just across from us so we continued to visit while we waited. I plugged in the cell phone and made some calls to let people know we’d made it to San Francisco.

Uneventful flight to Los Angeles, arrived right on time around noon and went to the baggage area for our big suitcases. It took United Airlines an hour to unload our bags. Everyone was furious with the staff and their only reaction was to say that they were shorthanded and couldn’t do anything about the situation. Our daughter Jennifer had arrived just as we landed and she slowly drove around and around the airport until we finally said, “yes, we have our luggage”!

Arrived home where we were met by our two youngest grandchildren and daughter-in-law from San Francisco who were staying at our house. They’d driven down last week for the Easter family gathering and stayed to visit with us. Our son had to be back at work so had flown home on Sunday evening. Monday was spent at Disneyland with their four cousins. So we had lots to keep us moving until we finally went to bed about 9 pm. That was about thirty-nine hours after we left the hotel in Hong Kong; but who’s counting!

[Postscript: Since 2007 our China group has gotten together twice at our home. The first time was Christa's visit to her sister in Los Angeles; all of the California people showed up and we had dinner at a nearby Chinese Restaurant as we reminisced about our trip. Then about a year later; Norm and Nancy came to visit from Iowa and again our California people came for an evening of fun. We've continued to be connected by the magic of the Internet and many of them have enjoyed this journey again with you.]

TUNE IN TOMORROW AS WE BEGIN A JOURNEY TO EGYPT!

WE BEGAN OUR DAY RIDING ON THE ELEPHANT.......

Sunday, April 8, 2007 CAMBODIA

Easter Sunday and not able to attend church; it’s very hard to arrange when you are in an organized tour. We’re leaving at 8 am this morning but the wakeup call was still at 6 am. We had a few extra minutes to check the internet in the lobby. Everyone brought there umbrellas as it rained last night. It is still overcast but not raining; very humid.

Our first stop this morning was out in the temple area where we climbed aboard the elephants for a $10.00 ride down the road. Lots of fun and great photo opportunities as we lumbered along the edge of the forest; I found it more comfortable to let go of the frame of the chair and roll with the elephant. Howard stayed home this morning as he was having some food reactions so Betty shared an elephant with Christa. Well worth the extra fee and definitely a highlight of our adventure in Cambodia.

Then we drove over to the Hot Air Balloon and had our second adventure of the day. The balloon was tethered and rose about two hundred feet into the air. If the sky had been clear it would have had great views of Angkor Wat and the surrounding moat but we could barely see the temple. It probably would have been much better last night but the winds prohibited our trip for safety reasons.

Our third adventure for this morning was a visit to “The Killing Fields”; now a monastery that was formerly a prison by the Khmer Rouge forces led by Pol Pot during the 1970’s wars. People were taken there and killed generally because they were too educated. Several different memorials held the bones of people who died in this prison. We encouraged Nang to tell us about his experiences during the war and he told us about a celebration that he was attending when he was about fourteen years old. He knew something was wrong when the Pol Pot soldiers asked everyone to get on the trucks and go to another celebration (for the good harvest); he took off, swam across the river and ran thirteen miles into the jungle where he hid for several days. He later found out that nearly everyone at the party had been killed. He lost his grandfather, two sisters and a brother during this period of time. His wife lost all of her family.

Back to hotel for an hour and picked up Howard for our lunch at a local restaurant. We ate at the Angkor Cashew Restaurant, a French Restaurant that was on the second floor of an open-air building that reminded us all of Hawaii. The building was surrounded by Mango Trees and one Cashew Tree. We were able to take photos of the fruit and nut growing on the tree. The fruit is yellow and the hull holding the nut is at the bottom of the fruit. Always learning new things!

Enjoyed many different dishes and for dessert our fresh fruit including the Dragon Fruit that we so enjoy. I’ll try to find that one in the USA when we get home. We then had a short break at the hotel before heading out for our last adventure.

Just before we left the hotel for the afternoon event; I developed stomach problems. Went on the bus and half way enjoyed the very long and bumpy bus ride (over twenty miles) to tour the Pre Rup Temple. Along the way we stopped for photos at the Banteay Srei Temple. Coming back we stopped to visit the Sugar Palm Village where Nang showed us how they collect and make the sugar from the palm trees. Nang was willing to stop for anyone who wanted to climb to the top of Banteay Srei Temple but Christa was gracious and knew I needed to return to the hotel and so we continued back to the hotel.

Tonight they are at dinner at the Neary Khmer Restaurant in town for the final dinner. I decided to opt out of this adventure.

[ I went to bed about 8 pm, unable to keep anything down, I felt like something the “cat drug home through the dirt”! However in between visits to the bathroom I did manage to finish my Journal and back it up to a flash drive. So the next morning after eating some bread with my coffee I used the hotel internet and managed to send the journal before leaving Cambodia. ]

RIDING IN AN OX CART & EXPLORING TONLE SAP LAKE BY BOAT

Saturday, April 7, 2007 CAMBODIA

At breakfast this morning we all announced to Nang that we all wanted to ride the elephants and would willing pay the $10.00 fee and forgo the Silk Farm in order to ride the elephants. He has reluctantly agreed to our request and will make arrangements for us to ride the elephants tomorrow. By 7:30 am we were on the bus and headed for our first adventure of the day. I asked Nang to confirm the temperatures yesterday and he said that in Cambodia you only ask if it is “hot” or “cold”; nothing more! But when pushed agreed that Jim was correct on the temperature that I gave you for yesterday. It was a “warm” day! Today it is much more comfortable; seems to be cooler and maybe only a two or three shower day.

As we passed streets full of markets, Nang said that these were rice fields just a few years ago. We noticed many little houses outside the front doors; they are “spirit” houses for the ancestors and offerings of fruit and incense are made regularly by the family.

As we continued the area became much more primitive; especially as we went along the river and into the farming area and we noticed that well pumps served the neighborhoods as there is no running water in the homes. Suddenly we pulled over and started walking. As we passed one home we noticed that the owner was butchering a dog. He was cutting off the head as we passed by; reminding us that dog is considered a meat much as we consider a cow as meat.

We were assigned two to an Oxen Cart and headed off with our driver through the farming community. Table after table was loaded with filleted fish laid out to dry in the sun before taking it to market. Many toddlers were running naked in their yards. Nearly all of the houses were built on stilts as this entire area floods during the monsoon season. Suddenly we each went a different way and found that we were being taken to our individual driver’s homes. There we took off our shoes and entered their home where we met the other members of the family and visited for a brief time. Our family had a large marker board on the wall with English words written on it and when we asked about the board they told us that they are using this to learn the English language. Afterwards we were invited to stroll through the village with the farmer, our ox cart driver, to visit his rice field. What an unexpected and unique experience. He even stopped to pull some lemon grass so that we could smell the lemon flavor; they use this in this cooking extensively for the flavor.

We’d had such a good time that we were the last to arrive back at the bus to continue our journey. Soon we were passing through an area with extremely small grass huts built on stilts that had no water and no electricity! But, we could see TV antennas; they have batteries to run the televisions for a few hours a day. They only get two channels but enjoy learning about the outside world, Nang said. Later we saw some of these houses being moved…they put them on the back of a pickup truck and move then regularly depending on where the river is flowing. Most of the residents are fishermen and as the weather changes so does the location of their home. Eventually we reached the boat area and boarded a boat for the trip out to the floating village on Tonle Sap Lake. This is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and the lifeblood of this area of Cambodia; it is home to hundreds of people living in thatched-roof houses on hollow bamboo poles. Everything they need is out there; beauty parlors, small markets, clothing, fruits and vegetables and more regularly float by sooner or later. The people who live on the water are constantly on the move as the water level rises or recedes depending on the time of year. On the way back we nearly got broadsided by a boatload of Japanese tourist who’s driver had lost control of his boat…our driver jumped to the side of our boat and prevented the pending crash and was back at the steering wheel before we could react and take photos. We all decided to increase his tip for saving our buns!

The school boats are also used as hospitals if necessary. Several of them have been donated by different countries; one of the newest and largest was donated by Japan. At this time of the year the water level is very low and they use motors with very long props that extend out behind their boat about ten feet. They have to clean the props often because of the debris in the water.

We got off our boat and boarded a floating restaurant/souvenir shop where they also had crocodiles penned where we could see them. After a short stay, just enough time for photos and Jim to get “taken” on one of his negotiated bargains. He bought a map of Cambodia and after we left on our boat we discovered that the one they gave him was dirty and torn. I think we’ll look for a new one before we leave.

On the way back into town, Nang pointed out his home and on our request agreed to stop so that we could meet his family. His wife and two small children were very gracious. His home is on government land along the river and they will be forced to leave in a few years as this land is being cleared to create a park along the river. He has purchased a small plot of land and plans to build a home on that land. For now he has planted it with fruit trees and vegetables for his family. We all enjoyed our extra “discovery” and the fact that he was willing to give us a glimpse into his family life.

Arriving back into the city center we stopped at Les Artisans D’Angkor School where they teach students the art of stone carving, woodcarving, lacquering, gilding and silk painting. Very interesting and beautiful things for sale in the showroom but we all left empty handed. Our lunch today was at Carnets D’Asie Restaurant, a French restaurant in Angkor; very classic and beautifully served. There were seven courses served at our round table in a covered courtyard. Just as we were finishing the workers who are constructing a building next door returned; the noise level was rather intense and we were glad that it happened during the dessert. Back to the hotel for a rest and swimming by 1:30 pm.

At 3:30 we headed out again for our tethered balloon ride to see the views from on high. When we arrived we found that the winds were such that they were not flying right now so we headed over to the War Museum while we waited to see if the wind would dry down enough for the balloon.

The War Museum was an old mine field where they had gathered rusted hulks of tanks, machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, a MIG airplane, a Russian helicopter, several American made things that were left over from the Korean War before they used them during their wars. Our guide was a career army soldier who had lost one leg and was wounded several other times. Lots of displays of land mines and he gave us a great demonstration on the different types and how they worked. We were all surprised when we realized that Cambodia was at war for thirty years. Their last war only ended in 1999. With that in mind we all changed some of our opinions about the conditions that we are finding in this country.

The balloon was still not flying so we drove over to the King’s residence which is across the street from the Golden Spirit of Shrine Preah Ang Chewck and Preah Ang Chorm; two golden Buddha’s. One of the unusual things located here are the fruit bats that live in the trees above the Temple. They are very big and were flying in and out of the trees. We were able to snap photos of them both flying and hanging from the tree limbs.

We returned to the hotel about 5:30 pm and at 7:00 we met in the lobby to go to dinner at a local restaurant. We rode the remoks (rickshaws pulled by motorbikes) again through the town…it’s Saturday night and the traffic was wild! Arrived at the Bayon I Restaurant and enjoyed dinner along with a shadow puppet show performed and narrated by teenagers. Another very nice evening that concluded with a short bus ride back to the hotel.

Some interesting notes:

Scaffolding is generally bamboo tied together with ropes on even very tall building projects.

Motorbikes are used for transporting everything. No license needed, only have to be 18 years of age. We’ve seen husband, wife and three small kids on one bike. Many of the women ride side-saddle. Women ride their own bikes with high heeled shoes. Very few people wear helmets. We’ve seen up to 24 chickens on the back of one bike. Think about two dead pigs on the back of a motorcycle! Anything and everything is transported on these vehicles.

Large groups of Tourists from other parts of Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam regularly arrive in a stake truck. They cram in and stand in some of them. Others have a tarp over the top and narrow wooden benches for them to sit on. They travel for hours in this manner.

Termite hills up to three feet tall are very common everywhere there is dirt and/or trees; many times there is a tree in the center of a hill.

Bathrooms or WC for water closets are generally very clean, regular toilets and always fully stocked with paper supplies; a nice change from China.

Trash: multitudes of trash is littered everywhere, the bulk seems to be plastic bags and bottles. Next to a beautiful hotel or home you will find a pile of trash burning and/or littering the ground. Most of the roads are red dirt and even the paved ones are very rough.

One corner has about a block of rugs set out every day with hundreds of black shoes; this is the flea market for second hand shoes. Another corner has a mirror propped on a table for an outdoors barbershop for one! This street is one of our shortcuts so we’ve seen them nearly every day of our stay. They are very ingenious in their ways to make a living.

Gasoline: there are gas stations and then in the countryside they sell gas in one and two liter bottles on the side of the road; the one litter bottles are old whiskey bottles and the two litter bottles are old soda bottles that they get from the recycle centers after the hotels and restaurants turn them in for cash.

The greeting in Cambodia is a bowed head and hands folded in prayer as opposed to a handshake; this means that they are showing you respect.

We see so much so fast that it’s sometimes hard to relate in these journals just how much information we are seeing and hearing. It really makes us all appreciate our lives in the good old USA!

Postscript: A reader asked what tour company we use when traveling in Europe...Grand Circle and their small group OAT is hard to beat but have also used Rick Steves and Trafalgar Tours. But must admit that when traveling in Europe we make our own plans and travel on our own by auto ninety nine percent of the time. With the Internet it's fun and a piece of cake!

EXPLORING THE ANCIENT TEMPLES OF ANGKOR WAT

Friday, April 6, 2007 CAMBODIA

Woke up at 6 am before the alarm went off, waited for our 6 am wake up call and when it didn’t happen realized that we’d forgotten to turn back the alarm clock! It was 5 am when we got up! Oh well, we’re awake and dressed so it’s too late to get an extra hour of sleep!

Had breakfast 6:30 after checking for emails on the lobby computer. We were all on the bus at 7:30 am for our morning tour. It was already getting very warm…it finally got up to 95 degrees with about 85 percent humidity. We’ve had three showers today! The bus driver has cold bottles of water and cold wipes ready for us each time we get back into the bus!

After driving through the modern city of Angkor for a brief glimpse of the emerging economy we arrived at the ancient holy city of Angkor. It was built somewhere back in the eighth century and then was lost for centuries under the jungle according to some reports and other just indicate that people knew about it.... they just didn’t go there. It was built by the Khmer aristocrats and covers an area roughly six by sixteen miles. The temples and monuments are based on their Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. A massive complex of structures built of stone and partially restored first by the French in the 1800’s and again after the wars. It took us over an hour to walk the Temples of Angkor: Thom, Bayon, Baphound, Elephants Terrace and Terrace of Leper King. We then drove to the Angkor Ta Prohm Temple that is covered with Banyon Trees that have intertwined under, over and surrounding the temple walls and buildings. Our guide Nang is very good with all the history and stories and very patient with the huge numbers of tourist in every venue that we visited.

By now it was after noon and we drove pass the Krovan Primary School that has been built by donations from the Grand Circle Foundation; the children are on holiday because of the New Year celebration so we couldn’t visit the school as we had in China. Our home hosted lunch was held in the village of Srah Srang. The house was built on stilts as it is located next to a large lake and the area floods during the monsoon season. The house was very rudimentary without windows or doors; they basically spend most of their time outside except in bad weather. We ate on the porch and enjoyed a wonderful home cooked Cambodian meal. She taught us how to make the dessert: sticky rice coconut balls with a piece of palm sugar inside and served on a banana leaf. We also enjoyed the hostess’ photo album of her son’s wedding that lasted for two days. Her niece, who helped to prepared and serve the meal, spoke excellent English.

We were all ready for a siesta and showers by this time and headed back to the hotel arriving about three. Christa and I decided to take a swim in the pool and then we showered and changed for the afternoon tour at 4:30 to see Angkor Wat for the sunset views. Lots of walking and climbing; four of us climbed all the way to the top for some fabulous views. At sunset we were all back to the moat where we enjoyed a nice wine and snacks provided by Nang as we talked with the children vendors and watched the final sunset before heading back to the hotel at six for another shower before dinner.

Our dinner was at the Angkor Mondial Restaurant; we enjoyed a traditional Cambodian buffet dinner and watched a Khmer Cultural Show. At the end of the show the dancers stayed on stage and willingly posed with customers for photos…that surprised us! Our trip back to the hotel was made on remoks; they’re a rickshaw pulled by a motorbike instead of a bicycle…very exciting on a very dark street full of other motorbikes, buses, cars and bicycles! Jim was glad when we were safely back at the hotel after our fifteen minute ride! Another day is finished and it’s early to bed after our final showers of the day as we have another early morning tomorrow.

A STOP IN BANGKOK ... THEN ON TO CAMBODIA....

Thursday, April 05, 2007 CAMBODIA

Jim was awake by 5 am and went downstairs to say goodbye to the first three of our group to head for home; their bus left at 5:30 am. By seven we were at breakfast, and then checked the Internet on the lobby computers before our bus left for the airport at 8:30 am. Seven of us are headed for five days in Cambodia. We stopped at the L’Hotel near the airport to leave our big pieces of luggage; we’ll stay there the last night of our trip before leaving for home from Hong Kong next week.

Arrived at the airport, checked in and found out that we all received passes to the China Airlines Hospitality Lounge. We were all surprised and delighted as we had an hour before the flight. Food, coffee and free wireless internet!

When we lined up for the boarding, Gene noticed that our tickets all said Dynasty Class and we had a separate line with the First Class passengers. Wow…we were all in Business Class! Big seats, individual screens, and when they served us drinks in stemware before the plane took off we knew we’d gone to heaven!

Our lunch was served with linens, crystal, real silverware, etc. etc. etc. What a meal…fit for a king and queen! Can you tell we’ve only been upgraded once in our lives! The meal ended with Haagen-Dazs ice cream. We lost one hour on our flight that took two and half hours of luxury….there was twenty-four of us with two attendants plus a steward in our section of the airplane.

Arrived in Bangkok and the fun began. We walked and walked and walked some more trying to find our connection. We were told that we were flying Bangkok Air to Cambodia. Stopping for directions only confused the issue…we went back and forth along a very long concourse several times before we finally figured it out when we were able to get a map instead of just verbal directions from an information booth. By this time Betty, who is 81 years young, was exhausted and we managed to hook a wheelchair attendant. We kept her in the wheelchair until she was loaded on the plane. We lost Betty and Howard between the check-in and the boarding area. The attendants who were pushing her wheelchair took them to the Airline Lounge area. We’d been told that we could go there but we’d all decided to go directly to the gate area. They showed up at the gate just before boarding; we were all concerned and Jim was walking the concourse looking for them for most of the hour that we waited. Gena checked at the counter and they assured her that if she was with airline attendants that they would have her at the gate before boarding; and they did.

Because of the wheelchair Betty and Howard were pre-boarded and had been given seats in the first row. We boarded the plane and found that Jim and I were at the very back of the plane and Gene, Gena and Christa were scattered in between. It was only an hour flight and went very fast; our meal was a boxed snack and yes, we were in Economy Class this time! We’re not sure why but who is to question the fact that we've discovered on our flight itinerary sheet that we are also going to fly from Bangkok back to Hong Kong on the Dynasty Flight again next week. We’re all eagerly anticipating being spoiled again by China Air.

We arrived an hour later than expected at 6:00 pm, our flight was delayed in Bangkok (we were happy about this as I’m not sure that we would have made the flight if it hadn't been delayed), and found our OAT Tour Guide, Samnang called Nang, was waiting for us outside of Customs to guide us to the bus and our driver by the name of Saron. We will be at the same hotel for the whole stay: Khemara Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap. It’s a very nice hotel with air conditioning and a very large and nicely appointed room. There is Internet access on two computers in the lobby for ten cents a minute. One nice thing is that we don’t have to change any money; they accept American Dollars as well as the local currency. But, it can not be old money or torn, we’ve been warned to check our change to make sure that we receive usable bills out on the street.

On the fifteen minute drive from the airport we saw many examples of why this is considered a “developing country”; but there are also many new large hotels as the tourist trade is expanding rapidly. We’re near the end of the dry season and it is very warm and humid during the day. The problem at night is misquotes; I think I’ll stay inside at night as much as possible. We did bring 100% deet lotion with us if we do go outside.

After a short briefing in the bar we headed to our rooms about 6:45 and came back downstairs for a wonderful dinner in the hotel at 7:15. For now I’m calling it a night at the alarm will go off early…we leave the hotel at 7:30 am for our morning tour.