Thursday, December 07, 2006

final photos from Egypt

I know most of you already forgot that I went to Egypt, because you have fish memories. But here are the final photos from my October trip.


Eggplant, covered by ground meat, with an egg on top. Best thing I ate in Egypt.


Egyptian pharaohs had great abs.


Chamber inside Abu Simbel. This reminded me of the Fire Temple in "Zelda: Ocarina of Time".


Doorway into Karnak.


The Nile at dusk.


The Aswan airport showcased this list of objects forbidden on the flight. Amongst the list, "Spiral Taking Away Instrument For Cork Plug".


Little bear at Edfu.


Ah, how peaceful the Nile looks. Of course, the water is so polluted by chemical waste that a drop on your tongue will grow a second head out of your spine. But so serene.


Pyramid panorama.


Brian ordered this dish. I thought it was food for birds, not humans. It's a combo of chick peas, pasta, rice. Mingjing and Julie tasted it and started ordering it every meal.


The Pharaoh (I believe Hapshetsut) ordered engineers to build the largest obelisk in history. The engineers calculated load-bearing properties of the stone. They determined the day the Nile would flood enough to transport the obelisk on a boat. This became their "ship date", as it were.

This was before invention of iron tools. The workers chipped the obelisk out of its rock bed, by raising melon-sized stones above their head and bringing it down against the side of the obelisk, breaking away a few flakes on impact.

After eight months of working in what rose to be 130 F weather, their obelisk cracked down the middle. You can see the crack on the far end of this photo.

I feel for you, Egpytian engineers from 4000 years ago.


Recreation of an Egyptian house occupied by pyramid laborers. That red pit in the bottom right sure looks like a latrine. Brian's archaeologist friend told us it was a storage container.


Tunnel hewn into the innards of the Great Pyramid. An explorer centuries ago wanted to find the King's Chamber, so he dynamited into the pyramid side and dug his way in. This is his legacy.

10 comments:

Natalia Burina said...

This post is an advertisement for Egypt. I love it!

karen said...

that chickpea dish looks like koshary... i LOVE koshary... but even more than koshary i love the little bear at edfu! yes! <3

Soids said...

Mmmmmmm, that eggplant dish looks great!

Anonymous said...

"fish memories"?

Anonymous said...

Oh, how much can a koala bear...???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala

http://justin.justnet.com.au/oz/australiana/

They are not a bear...

Argrow Images said...

Great photos!
Really love it!

Thanks for sharing!

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Anonymous said...

Yes, the dish is koshary and I first introduced the gang to it in Aswan. My favorite koshary place is a lively little place where Nana (Niniane), Dan, Julie, and I had dinner near Sultan Hassan mosque.

Anonymous said...

Fish Memories...

You bird brain.

:-) (-:

Johnny said...

21 cool points for the Zelda reference.