My Amazing Egypt Trip!

In Egypt, I first noticed the warm weather, the palm trees, and lots of Middle Eastern-looking men (some looked like Aladdin) and women in head coverings (some of them covered head to toe in all black and only showing their eyes). The language of Arabic looked so confusing on the signs and billboards- I didn’t even want to try to learn it. And to hear Arabic spoken by the people sounded like hacking to me. Cairo traffic was INSANE! No one stayed in lanes and it took forever to get anywhere. Cars, buses, people on donkeys, and people on camels - all trying to merge at the same time! Most of the cities I saw were dirty with litter and smog, and many of the people seemed poor. I saw desert sands and also lush green farmlands. Here is a map of Egypt so you can follow along if I mention specific places.
I saw so many historical sites and learned a ton of new information about Egyptian culture, but I have compiled a list of the top 10 favorite things - in no particular order - that I got to do in Egypt.

1) Visiting the beach at Alexandria
It was a beautiful day when we stopped off on the side of the road in Alexandria to stick our feet in the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. I wanted to get a picture on the rocks next to the water, so I did…

But as I was peering into the water, I slipped on some moss on the rock and fell in the sea - clothes, purse, and all! The picture above is taken right before I fell. Luckily, I could touch in the water and Dylan, a guy from my group, saw me and came to my rescue. I was drenched and still had a 3-hour bus ride ahead of me that night.
My friends offered me some extra dry clothes that they had with them in the bus. Although I felt silly, it’s neat that I can say I fell into the Mediterranean Sea!


2) Seeing the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx
The pyramids were actually smaller than I had imagined. It was so neat to be there! To top it off, I paid a small extra fee to actually climb down inside one of the pyramids! I felt very claustrophobic in the dark, cramped space with lots of other tourists, and one of our girls passed out. Sweat was dripping off my body as I reemerged out of the pyramid, but it was so worth it. I also got to sit on a pyramid!
Here I am kissing the Sphinx!

3) Riding on an African sleeper train overnight
I had never slept on a sleeper train before. It was very tight quarters, and my roommate, Kristina White, and I felt on top of each most of the time. The sway and noise of the train on the tracks helped me go to sleep though. Using the bathroom aboard the train was quite a task because the train was constantly moving! Our train porter brought us dinner on a tray, knocked on our door for a wake-up call, and served us tea in the morning. I’m glad we didn’t sleep like that every night, but it was quite an experience.

4) Having Osman as a tour guide
Our Egyptian tour guide Osman has been with Harding University for six years. He is a Biblical Egyptologist. Not only did he teach me so much, he befriended us all. Saying goodbye to him was very tearful. He treated us girls like his princesses, and I always felt safe whenever I was around him. He had such a good heart and even the guys hated to see him go. Plus, whenever we would get tired, he would say, “If you stay with me for 30 more minutes, I promise I’ll buy you all ice cream.” And he did every time. : ) Below is a picture of Osman and me at the pyramids.

5) Sailing on boats down the Nile River
One of my favorite parts of the trip was sitting on a small boat in the evening, going down the Nile River. With a cool breeze, it was so beautiful to see the reeds in the water, the camels on the shore, the palm trees, the setting sun, and the Egyptian men fishing in the shallow waters. One night, I was surprised when a little boy on a boogie board swam up next to our boat and grabbed on. Hanging on, he asked me what language I spoke. When I told him Spanish, he began singing “Guantanamera” loudly for our whole boat to hear! It was neat!

6) Riding a camel along the Nile River to a local Nubian village After taking a boat to a beach on the Nile, we were greeted by Nubian locals. The Nubian people are a specific type of Egyptian and look a lot like Ethiopians. Each person in my group got to ride from the shore to the Nubian village further in. My camel’s name was Bob Marley, and I couldn’t believe how tall it was! I loved being so high up and riding along the Nile River to the village. Some little Nubian boys walked with us, talking to us and guiding the camels.

Our whole group
Look! No hands!

When we arrived, we were welcomed into a Nubian family’s home and were served hot mint tea and a hibiscus drink. I got to hold the family's small pet crocodile, and I also got a henna tattoo on my neck of the Egyptian eye. It was so interesting to experience the Nubian culture!

7) Enjoying a 3-day Nile River cruise
Cruising down the Nile on the cruise ship was so relaxing. I enjoyed laying out by the swimming pool on the top deck and having tea time every afternoon with my friends.

One night on board was “Egyptian night” and we all bought Egyptian dresses and headdresses to wear to dinner. It was so fun to dress up like Cleopatra and see everyone else dressed up too! After dinner, we danced to Arabian music with other tourists on the cruise - which I thoroughly enjoyed!

Frank and I in Egyptian attire
Mark and Tish Elrod, our Harding sponsors/teachers

8) Learning hieroglyphics
One afternoon on the cruise ship, Osman taught us hieroglyphics, an ancient way of Egyptian writing. I learned how to spell - or rather, draw - my name and the name of everyone in my family in hieroglyphics.

9) Visiting the Temple of Luxor
At night we visited the Temple of Luxor, which was all beautifully lit up.

I wasn’t too excited to be there, actually - I was tired and it seemed like just another site. But I soon realized that it was the main temple during the time of Moses. Temples were used for worship, but also as schools and hospitals. When Moses lived as a prince of Egypt, he learned all the Egyptian ways in an Egyptian school. This was the school/temple used by the elite and the royal family during Moses’ time, so Moses definitely was taught here! It was surreal to imagine that Moses had sat where I was sitting!

10) Shopping for authentic Egyptian wares
Osman knew the quality of the Egyptian vendors, and he brought us to only the best places for shopping. I went to one of two places in Egypt that makes papyrus the original way. Also, I went to a perfumery and bought essences that were made by crushing real flowers and herbs. I shopped for alabaster in the only place in the world that produces alabaster - Luxor, Egypt. I went to Sphinx Carpet School and watched little Egyptian boys weaving rugs and carpets, faster than I could watch! I also enjoyed bargaining with the vendors but hated being hassled by the pushy ones.

This Egypt trip was INCREDIBLE! I would definitely recommend it, and especially to do it through Harding University with Osman as the tour guide. I appreciate your prayers - no one in our group got sick from the water and we all stayed safe, even in the crazy Cairo traffic. Feel free to comment or ask me questions. I saw a bunch more places that I didn’t have time to mention here in my blog. : )