Things Did Not Get Better

[Ed:  Photos now posted a few posts downstream.]  

Well here we are without Internet because the government of Egypt seems to have shut it down.  I assume we will have it again soon and I will be able to send this out.  I am a little afraid of being stuck in Egypt; the thought has crossed my mind.

Today, Friday, which is the Moslem Sabbath, we went by plane at 4:30 AM to Abu Simbel.  We returned to Aswan at 9:30 AM.  We are about to move to a boat for our trip on the Nile.  We check in at noon today but depart at noon tomorrow.

Last night Thursday we went to a Nubian house for dinner.  It was a highlight. The floor is all sand.  Straw mats come out to sit on. We sat on the floor and had a delicious dinner.  After dinner there was entertainment by Nubian drummers.  All the little girls came running over to ask all the blonds to dance.  I felt a little like a wallflower being a brunette.

Abu Simbel where we arrived before sunrise on Friday was magnificent.  Because of the Aswan Dam many antiquities were lost.  Some, like those at Abu Simbel, were moved to other sites.  In their original form there was a surreal design which allowed the sun to reach the holy of hollies, the inner sanctum, once a year.  Even though the configuration changed when they reconstructed the temple they have managed to have the sun do the same thing a day later.  The monumental figures outside the temple were a sight to behold.  Sadly graffiti started way before the twenty-first century and there are clear names and dates all over the temple from the 1800's. Kind of amusing but unfortunate to see. 

After a quite nice lunch buffet on the boat after we checked in, I decided to hang out instead of sightseeing. At 5:00 PM we all went for a walk to the tourist market.  On the way we saw the beginnings of a demonstration.  We walked through the market and on the way back the shops were being closed.  I thought it was the end of their day.  My eyes began to burn and breathing became a little difficult.  People were walking with tissues over their faces.  It didn't take rocket science to figure out it was tear gas.   Somehow I got separated from the person I was with and it became a little dicey. I found my way back to the corniche through a back street away from the running demonstrators.  Then I kind of had some real fear when I could not find my boat.  There were thirty boats at least. Finally miraculously I saw our tour guide and one fellow traveler on the sidewalk so at least I found the boat.  Bizarre to be on a tourist cruise boat on the Nile as Cairo burns.  I have no idea how I will return to Eilat Israel.  Events have proved unnerving.  

I now see on CNN that the demonstrations have spread all over Egypt.  I had a certain amount of anxiety about coming to Egypt in the first place which has certainly proved to be justified.
I see on TV that the army has moved into all major cities in tanks.  Mubarak's speech probably will inflame rather then remedy the situation. I am not afraid of the demonstrators or the army but I hope that terrorists don't use the situation to make trouble.  I am a Jewish American in a land where ne'er do wells could certainly target someone like me.  

SATURDAY  -- Well time to go to lunch.  The food is good though not too Middle Eastern.  We are supposed to visit sites this afternoon.  We are supposed to arrive in Luxor ON Monday. Time will tell what will happen.  Personally I think this is the beginning of a total Middle East shakeup of monarchies and dynasties.  We did not even stop at the temple we were supposed to see.  The boat slowed down slightly.  Feel like a prisoner on a cruise boat.  Anxiety increases.

Waiting for The Internet and WiFi

Things did not get better

Judy